The Books Never Mentioned This...

I just caught my 9.5 month old daughter humping her bottle. Am I supposed to just let her do it, or should I take it away? I'm kind of at a loss on this one. Any pointers? lol.

Free Lunch

When I was in college, I had no trouble going places by myself, movies, dinner, it didn't matter. I found it easier than finding someone who actually wanted to see what I wanted to see, or eat where I wanted to eat. It was not unusual to find me alone on a weekday eating lunch in a restaurant with a good book.

On this particular day, I was dining by myself at Olive Garden reading Persuasion for the 20th time,  someone decided to pay for my lunch. They included a little card, some sort of "come to church" thing with a little quote about how I was loved.

At the time, I was super insulted, and thought it meant I must have looked like some lonely weirdo, and this person must have felt so badly for me, thinking I had no one in my life. Even though technically, that was true. Maybe I looked too much into it. Now, about 6 years later. I see it as just a kind gesture. Making someone who perhaps really did feel very alone, not so alone.

There are those moments in life, where sometimes someone who is at the end of their rope and about to take that leap just needs one person, just one to be nice to them. To smile, to say hello, to make them feel like there is just one person in the world who noticed them, even if just for a moment. Sometimes knowing someone cared can make a world of difference.

I try most days if I can, to say one nice thing, or do something small for someone else. If it's reaching out to a friend I haven't heard from in a while, or smiling and greeting an elderly stranger in the store. You just never know when that small little moment can help someone when they need it most.

Game On

Hubbs is exremely excited for World of Warcraft's new expansion, Warlords of Draenor, which launches tonight. He even went to bed at 7:30 so he can wake up at 1am and play for a bit, go back to sleep, and not be a complete zombie at work tomorrow. It's an impressive level of dedication to a video game. If you are unfamiliar with World of Warcraft, see the awesome trailer for the new game below.

Hubbs and I actually met playing World of Warcraft. Different things in our lives brought us to the game, but somehow, among dozens of servers, and 2 different factions, we managed to find each other. I'm always extremely amazed with the random happenstances that had to occur for us to meet.

I like that it's something we can do together and also enjoy separately. There really is something for everyone in the game. Whether you play seriously or just for fun. I actually have an idea for a WoW YouTube series, but I'll actually have to have time to dedicate to it and see if it's as hilarious as I think it will be.

I am a firm believer that the family that plays together, stays together. We also love board games and play both console and table top games often. It gives us a chance to unwind and goof around. Some games are extremely stressful (I'm looking at you Pandemic), but overall, it's very fun. Hubbs and I are both very competitive, so we tend to do better in cooperative games, but it is equally as fun to try to destroy each other every once in a while.

If you're ever looking for some table top game fun, but don't have a table big enough, you can always watch TableTop on Geek & Sundry's YouTube Channel. I absolutely love the show, and our game collection has grown significantly since I started watching.

There's actually a game store near us that will let you test out and rent table top games. It's an awesome way to really take the game for a test drive and see if you like it. Perhaps a store near you also allows rentals.

Some of our go-to games include:

Fluxx (any version)
Munchkin
Smallworld
Forbidden Island
Zombies

I've been dying to try a few new games including:
Castle Ravenloft (a Dungeons and Dragons game)
Ticket to Ride

We also like the simple stuff like Pass the Pigs, Yahtzee, Phase 10, etc.

We might pick up the WoW trading card game, since Hubbs finally found all of his old cards. I sucked at Magic the Gathering in high school/college, and I'm sure I'll suck at the WoW game too.

We've been neglecting my shiny Halo 3 special edition Xbox 360, it's kind of on the fritz. Halo was a HUUUUUGE part of my life.

How about you? Are there any games that you love to play as a family?

Prompt Post #1

If you could permanently get rid of one worry, what would it be?

I tend to not worry. Even when Hubbs and I were dirt poor, had literally $2 in our bank account and were a day away from getting evicted from our first apartment we shared together. I didn't worry, and knew that everything would work out ok. I have a reckless optimism when it comes to believing that things will work out in life.

For some reason though, I can't seem to translate that optimism to a pregnancy. I don't know if it's because it took us so long to get pregnant in the first place, but the entire time I was pregnant with Ducky, I couldn't let myself enjoy it. I would go a day, maybe two, and then that little negative voice would start nagging me, telling me that something could go wrong, that things weren't just going to work out and be OK.

I wish I could get rid of that voice. This time around, I hear it creep back every once in a while. So far, I've known I've been pregnant for 15 days. In that 15 days I've heard more of that negative voice than anything else. It didn't help that my dating ultrasound put me at least 2 weeks behind where my LMP says I should be. This time, I want to shut that voice up. I want to be able to enjoy this experience. I have another 15 days before my next dating/viability ultrasound. In that time, I will endeavor to silence that voice. I will dwell on names, and come up with a middle name to go with the girl name I love. Figure out which middle name/first name combo for a boy, and every time I hear that little voice try to creep up and whisper in my ear. I'm going to tell it to shut the hell up and instead of listening to it, I'll talk to the baby instead.

Time Ticks By

I find myself wishing time would go by faster. I want it to be the 26th, so I can have my second dating ultrasound and hopefully actually see a heartbeat this time. I want it to be the 27th so we can announce to my family that Ducky is going to be a big sister. I want it to be Christmas, because I freaking LOVE Christmas. It's also nice that Hannukkah ends on Christmas Eve this year. Very thrilling when they overlap.

I wish time would slow down! Ducky is growing so fast. She can almost crawl, she can definitely propel herself in the direction she wishes to go. She can pull herself up to stand. She hugs and smiles and thinks it's funny to tug on my ears. In 3 short months we're going to transition her to a toddler bed and make her room a bit Montessori-styled. I want to enjoy these 7-8-ish months with her as an only child and watch her grow and learn and become more independent. She doesn't need Mommy and Daddy all the time anymore. When we get home from work, she manages so stay awake for about an hour before she's just too tuckered out to stay up. Weekends with her are so precious.

We have so many big upcoming plans that we're excited for. Hubbs might join the military. We're planning on refinancing our house. We want to turn the under-stairs storage room into a playroom for Ducky. We want to put grass on a portion of our back patio so Gibbs will actually poop in the backyard.

I guess instead of wishing time would speed up or slow down, I could just enjoy every day. Relish in those Ducky cuddles, remember her lopsided toothy smiles. Kiss Hubbs just because, let Gibbs cuddle on my belly (because he totally knows what's up). Love my little family and our home that we've made for ourselves and just remember to be happy.

Just Another Sunday

I spent most of today catching up on TV and caring for a fussy baby. She is starting to get frustrated because she can't make her body move the way she wants it to. She occasionally gets a leg stuck under herself while transitioning from sitting to her little army crawl, and she gets mad about it.

In the mornings now, when we go in to get her ready for the day, instead of laying down and scratching at the sides of her pack-n-play, she's sitting up and playing with her binky. It's pretty crazy. She is such a little person now and it still amazes us every day.

Tonight for dinner I made meatball parmesan and creamed spinach and kale. I'd spent all day making the tomato sauce from scratch, so I'm pretty proud of myself.

Tomorrow starts the first stage of part one of my promotion, then Thursday, part one will kick in fully. It's a little daunting, but I think I'm ready. Probably... we'll see.

I hope all of you had a great weekend. Is it just me, or is November going by really quickly for anyone else? We only have 2.5 weeks until Thanksgiving, that is crazy talk!

Lazy Day

I'd like to say that I did things today, but that would mostly be a lie. Ducky was super fussy and refused to nap. I think she knows something is up. I did manage to make braised lamb chops and pumpkin/sweet potato/squash gnocchi, but most of that was during the 30 minutes she actually fell asleep. I prepped the stuff for the gnocchi and she woke up, sad as ever. Poor little one. I really think her teeth are just kicking her butt.

She's figured out how to do this half army crawl, half launch herself forward thing. It's really cute. Apparently trying to catch the dog was all of the motivation she needed.

I was insanely tired today, and still am. When Hubbs got home from work, I thought about taking a nap, but there was too much to do. Tomorrow on his "watch football with the baby all day" day, perhaps I'll sneak in a nap.

9 Months already?!

Our little Ducky had her 9 month checkup today. That is completely crazy to me. It's also crazy to me that in less than 9 months, we'll be having another baby, but that's beside the point.

After worrying so much about her growth in the beginning, it's so nice to go to a checkup and hear that she's growing excellently.

She still has a tiny head, around 39th percentile, weight 55th, and height a whopping 81st! Hopefully she keeps growing like a little string bean and is tall like us. lol.

She's been rocking a fever still and is so miserable from teething that she whimpers and cries in her sleep. It's so sad. Tylenol seems to be helping a bit, so that's good.

I'm looking forward to relaxing all weekend. Next week is a big week at work, starting Thursday, I'll begin my new job title. A little scared and nervous, but excited. I'm sure it will be fine. Lots of new and exciting things brewing over here, that's for sure.

Dating Ultrasound

I went to my dating ultrasound today and I'm pretty disappointed. Apparently instead of being 7 weeks along (based on LMP), I'm actually closer to 4.5, the doctor found a gestational sac, but it was really too small to see much. Apparently though it is right on track for how far along he thinks I am. He said with my long and unpredictable cycles that he's really not worried and to come back in 2-3 weeks for another one.

We decided to schedule it 3 weeks from now, right before we leave for Vegas for Thanksgiving. This way, we can be pretty sure that I'll be far enough along to see something, good or bad. It's been a little over a week and a half since I got my BFP, so it must have just been the absolute earliest I could have gotten a positive. He pretty much just said, pretend like you're not pregnant, and don't worry about it. We'll just wait and see in a few weeks. I think this is a good idea. It would be a lot easier if I didn't get RLP every time I stand up from my desk, and random bouts of nausea hit me, but I shall try my best.  I'm going to try to stay positive about it and not think the worst. There was only 1 sac though, so that ruins my fun of thinking our last pregnancy would be twins. Well, it rules out fraternal twins anyway. Fingers crossed for identical!! (So not happening, but it's ok. Two is a fine number of total kids for us)

At work, we found out our insurance is changing in January. Luckily, the OB's office I've chosen takes both. Unfortunately, our deductible will double, and our monthly premium will go up by $100/mo. So that's fun. No one at the office is happy about it, but it's all good, because corporate gave us all coupons for free 16lb turkeys.... that makes it ALL better....

Ducky has her 9-month check-up tomorrow. We're excited to see how much she's grown. She is absolutely growing like a weed! At daycare, we dropped off a new can of formula (the regular can size for powder), and she already needs a new one for tomorrow. She went through a whole can in FOUR DAYS!! That is crazy. She's also rocking the 12-month clothes pretty well, which is shocking. She's skinny, but so tall! She also has a bit of a fever today, I think it's mostly from the 2 new teeth that are coming in. She's got 5 that are mostly out, and 2 more coming in. Poor little thing.

Hubbs and I went to a military recruiter today. We have an active duty friend who came with us and helped with questions. Hubbs is very interested and it seems like an excellent opportunity for him and for our family. We'll make a decision about it within the next few weeks. Hopefully, we could time things so that he'd be finished with basic training just as the baby is going to be born. If he decides to join, of course.

Ultrasound Tomorrow

I bumped up my ultrasound to tomorrow, with needing Progesterone supplements super early on last time, and my stupidly long and irregular cycles, it seemed like a good idea to get blood work and a dating ultrasound out of the way. Last time I had all of the fun of being high risk at the end of my pregnancy, I'm really hoping to avoid it all together this time around. Supposedly your chances of developing Pre-eclampsia the second time around is less when you have them back-to-back. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm nervous and excited. I'm just really hoping I'm far enough along that we can actually see a heartbeat and know for sure that this one is actually viable. Hubbs is going to come along, somewhat for support and mostly because it means he gets to go to work an hour later.

I'm trying out a different Dr's office this time. They have midwives as well as doctors. I would have to deliver at a different hospital, but it's really not that bad. I hear good things about that one. Sure it's a little further from our house, but still less than a 20 min drive away. I liked the experience I had last time, but I figure it can't hurt to give another office a try. They both follow the "rotating doctor" model, so it really doesn't matter who I see.

Wish us luck! I really just hope the visit alleviates a lot of my worry and fears. Last time, it did the opposite, but I'm optimistic about this time around.

Work Update

Things have been going great at work. I shall provide a little rundown/breakdown for new readers.

I found out I was pregnant with Ducky shortly after starting work at Job A.
Massive layoffs a few months later, survived the first round. Applied for Job B and Job C to be safe
Get interview and job offer for Job C.
Leverage Job C offer to Job A. Get verbal promise for raise and promotion. 
Decide to stay at Job A.
2 weeks later, even bigger layoffs, did not make it. Laid off at 5 months pregnant.
Put on bed-rest shortly thereafter.
Get interview and testing for Job B.
Pass background screening for Job B and get offer to start whenever I want after Ducky is born.
Start Job B when Ducky was 6 weeks old.
Job A calls begging me to come back. I string them along for a while making them up their offer until it's worth it for me to leave awesome Job B.
Return to Job A.

I've been back at Job A for 3 months now. I'm almost done with my licensing to become a Loan Officer. Even though I'm only getting promoted to Loan Processor, the company decided they wanted all of the Processors licensed so we could discuss rates and other fun things with borrowers.

My promotion should be completed by February. So I'm just learning the last few bits now. My new title involves a significant pay raise and the fun addition of bonuses, so I'm really looking forward to that.

Now the snag. I am TERRIFIED to tell them I'm pregnant again. They laid me off in the middle of the last one, and while the timing of it turned out to be a good thing, I really don't want to go through that again. Hubbs was super stressed and worried how we were going to afford everything. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep this one a secret until my belly gets so huge that it's incredibly obvious. Hubbs will keep working through my maternity leave, but when I go back to work, he will leave and stay home with the kiddos. It doesn't make financial sense for us to pay for 2 kids in daycare.

It would be nice if they'd let me work from home, since Hubbs would be there with me taking care of the munchkins. Sometimes they let people do it, we'll see if I can persuade them when the time is right.

I really don't know. To tell, not to tell. Management really is awesome and was extremely supportive last time with Dr's appointments and letting me take extra sick time. I just really don't want to risk that my promotion will be jeopardized. It's not like there's anyone else up for it, it's guaranteed to be mine. I will of course give them ample time to plan for my absence. Maybe I'll just wait till 20 weeks. I doubt I'll be able to play off the bump as me just getting fatter around the middle for much longer than that.

Any ideas? Positive or Negative experiences telling employers? It would be nice to hear other people's experiences whether good or bad. 

Baby Names

It's funny, with our first, we couldn't agree on a boy name. We had a girl name picked out that we liked for years before we even started trying to have kids. Ducky turned out to be a girl, so naming was rather easy.

This time around, we're having a bit more trouble. I want to get cracking and really narrow it down to our top choices. Hubbs is like "um, we have months to figure that out. I don't even want to think about it until 2015" BAAAAAH.

Luckily, he hasn't shot down any of the names that I love. I'm trying to convince him that one I like would make a better first name than middle name, but he's really not having it. I just want to settle on one boy name and one girl name. Then, when we find out what we're having, all of the hard work is over.

My first prenatal appointment feels so far away. It would just be so nice to get in there and see that we're actually having a real baby, a wiggling little jumping bean. Alas, waiting and waiting. Symptoms seem fine so far. Occasional nausea, some cramps, and the rare backache. Headaches are few and far between, nowhere near as terrible as last time. I'm trying to remember when morning sickness kicked in last time. I want to say it was much closer to the 2nd trimester and that I was fine before that. We'll just have to wait and see. Since we are planning to have this be our last, I just want to savor the experience and really try to enjoy being pregnant. Last time, it was not as fun, especially towards the end. It'd be nice if things were more relaxed this time.

This whole daylight savings thing messed us up today. Ducky still woke up at her usual time, but now when it feels like it should be super late and time for bed, it's just way too early. Although, I am pregnant, so I can just say to hell with it and go to bed anyway. So tempting. 

I Have Been Neglecting You

Poor little blog, I have been neglecting you! I didn't even check to see how long it has been since I posted, I'm pretty sure I posted something after our little bundle of awesome was born. Man I really suck.

The kiddo is great, she'll be 9 months this week and babbles a lot, rolls herself around the room, and can pull herself to a standing position. If she's laying down, she can't sit up all the way though. She tries so hard... it's adorable. She is also getting so incredibly BIG! For the longest time, up until she was a little over 6 months, she was in 0-3 month clothes. In the last 3 months, she's jumped all the way up to 12-month clothes. WHAT?! She is just growing like crazy!

Since I've been gone, I got a job, left that job to go back to my old job, got a promotion, bought a house, traded in our old car, had our 4th wedding anniversary, and turned 30. Overall I'd say we did pretty well.

Hubbs and I had been trying to get pregnant again pretty much immediately after Ducky was born. We got the Dr's OK at my 6-week post-partum visit, and had been trying ever since. Supposedly, you're extra fertile right after having a baby. It just was not happening for us. Not at all. Finally, on my 30th birthday, after about 6 months of actively trying, I got my BFP!

Our first prenatal appointment is in a little over 2 weeks, which I found surprising considering all the problems last time with my progesterone levels and things, but we'll see. While we are a little scared of the idea of having 2 under 2, we are extremely amazed and excited that we were even able to get pregnant again at all. This little one and Ducky will be about 16 months apart. So glad we upgraded our car to one with a few more seats and a lot more trunk space.

I'll try to post as much as I can. It will mostly be a weekly weekend post. Thankfully, I have a normal work schedule now, but I'll have the most time to post in depth on weekends.  I guess I'll try to do a short little daily snippet, or random thought of the day or photo. I will try to come back to NaBloPoMo strong!