16 Weeks and Counting

Holy geez. I'm already 16 weeks pregnant. No complaints really. Okay so maybe I'm a little bit anxious to look and feel a little less fat and a little more pregnant. I'm not really fond of this in between stage. I've made the jump from my regular pants to maternity pants because well, they just fit and feel so much better. In just a few weeks it will be time for the ultrasound that will hopefully tell us if we are having a boy or a girl. I'm pretty anxious for this. The suspense is killing me. I hate not knowing.
I had my first prenatal appointment with the midwife this week. I am happy to report that I have gained only 2 pounds since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. How I made it through the Christmas holidays with two turkey dinners and unlimited sweets at my fingertips with only a 2 pound weight gain I don't know but I sure as hell am not going to complain.

Jack and Oliver are doing well. I can't believe that in only a months time Jack is going to be celebrating his 5th birthday. Holy crap! Five is a big birthday. It's hard for me to believe I've been a Mommy for almost 5 years now. It sure has been a blessing and a heck of a lot of fun.
What to say about Oliver. Hmmm. The boy keeps us busy. He's as sweet as pie but can be a little hellion. I guess it goes along with being 2. He is also a little chatter box. It will be nice when he isn't just saying "No. Don't want to (insert whatever it is I'm asking him to do or telling him it's time to do). Lately his favorite thing to do is recite the alphabet. It's really quite cute listening to him. He really only gets like the first 3 or 4 letters right then it's just him stammering through the rest but he does make 26 sounds and sings the "now I know my alphabet" part. The boy never ceases to amaze me.

I think the best part about my boys, is watching them love each other and being kind to each other. I mean, they have their moments but overall they really seem to genuinely like each other. Jack says every day how cute his brother is and that he loves him. Oliver gets super excited every morning when Jack wakes up or comes home from school. They greet each other with a "good morning and did you have a good sleep" every day. I just love seeing them love each other. It gives me nice warm fuzzies. Being a Mommy rocks. I love and enjoy it more and more every day.

And Then There Were Five...

That's right. You read correctly. We are having a baby. Our third baby. I wasn't too sure how I felt about this at first but am now getting excited. I am 11 weeks and 1 day according to today's ultrasound. Our due date is June 22, 2010.
I've been feeling very tired. For about 3 weeks I had the worse case of nausea/vomiting ever. Something I wouldn't wish on my worse enemy. Then, as quickly as it came, it went. Aside from feeling totally and completely exhausted, I feel great.
Should be every interesting going from having two kids to three. We are going to be outnumbered. I wonder how that will go.
Here is a picture of our little bambino.

Shared Laundry.

We live in a triplex with shared laundry. There is something that I find truly annoying and very inconsiderate and wonder if it's just me being petty or if I have some legitimate complaining to do.
I realize we live in an apartment with shared laundry. I get it that sometimes the washing machine and dryer are going to be in use. I do understand this.
What is starting to bother me is that it seems that every time I go downstairs to do laundry, there is laundry sitting stagnant in either the washing machine, dryer or both. I'm not just talking a small amount of time either but hours and sometimes until the next day.
For instance, two weeks ago I went downstairs to do laundry at 9am and there was clothes in both the washer and dryer. I went down again at 1030 to find the same laundry in the same place. I went down again at 130 and it was still the same.
The same has happened again last week. I went down at 1045 with laundry sitting in the washing machine and the dryer. Neither were running. I went down again at 1200 and it was the same.
Today, at 430 Shawn went down to do laundry and there is laundry in the washing machine. I went down again at 600 and it was still there. There wasn't even any cars in the driveway which means nobody was home.
After these long periods of time, I go ahead and fold the laundry that is in the dryer and put the wet clothes that are sitting in the washer on top of the dryer. I once even dried a load of someone's laundry so that I could use the washer and not feel so bad about doing it.
I don't know what to do. Do I knock on their door and ask them to finish their Ahhhh.

Saying Goodbye

Today has been a trying day. I attended a child's funeral. This past Wednesday, one of the young ladies I worked with in the group home passed away. She would have been 8 November 25th. This is the 3rd kid in as many years. It hasn't gotten any easier. I mean, of course it hasn't. It's never easy but when they are so young, it's even harder. When you've spent most days caring for and loving these children as if they were your own, it just plain old sucks. I've recently (in May) stopped working at the group home after 5.5 years, including two mat leaves. These kids have taught me so much. They will never, ever realize the pleasure it has been knowing them. They are by far the most amazing, wonderful, loving children I will ever have the pleasure of knowing. RIP sweet little angel. I will never forget you. xo

Bowling

For some time now Jack has been asking me to take him bowling. When he first asked, my reply was that I would take him some day. Last week he started asking me when some day was that I was going to take him bowling. Today was that day. I took him bowling for the first time. It was fun. He enjoyed himself. I was afraid that maybe he wouldn't like it when he realized he wasn't a pro bowler, throwing only strikes like he does when he plays on the Wii. That wasn't the case at all. I explained to him that he might not throw any strikes and he didn't and he was okay with that. We did have the bumpers down. I hate to have to admit this but we tied. I think I bowled the worse game of my life. It was fun. I'm looking forward to taking him again. Here are a few photos.

The Early Mornings Begin.

I've been noticing that I'm starting to wake up early again. First it was 630/700, then it was 6ish and now my dear friends I'm waking up between 500/520. Today was even better. It wasn't even 4 fuckin' 30.
I don't get it you know. I just don't get it. This sleep problem I have, it's only from the months of October until about March/April. I sleep very normal, socially acceptable hours for 6 months and the other 6 months I have the bedtime routine of an elderly person. Fuck. I'm still in my 20's, I should not have anything in common with someone who is elderly. I'm been debating whether or not to take Melatonin. It's been suggested to me a couple of times, including from my Doctor.
I was doing some reading on early waking. It seems that there are people who want to wake up early. You can easily find books and articles with techniques to wake up early. Here I am complaining about it and there are some poor souls out there who wish they could.
Benjamin Franklin is quoted to have said: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Huh.

First Day

Jack survived his first day of school. It seemed to have went well. He was looking forward to going. He didn't seem the least apprehensive. He kindly gave me a kiss before going off to play and said "I'm going to miss you today Mommy". Melt my heart. I sent him off and told him to have a good day. I held back my tears until after the door closed behind him.
Jack later told me school was fun. I asked him if he wanted to go back. He told me he was going back next Tuesday.
I still can't believe my little Jack is now a school boy. Such a big, big milestone. I'm so glad I was able to spend as much time at home with him as I have. I will never regret working only part time while he was young.
Although it saddens me that I'm working much more now and not spending as much time with Oliver, it helps knowing that Shawn is able to be home with Oliver, at least for another couple of months.