The War of the Pets: How My Cat Tried to Kill My Dog

Guiliani, our black cat, was my first pet. My first real pet that I had living on my own, that is. He was my baby for 2 years, until we got Layla, our little Siamese. Their personalities are opposite, but after Isaac was born, they finally began to tolerate each other to the point of kitty friendship. Layla is very skittish, very afraid of strangers, but very very sweet. Guiliani is fearless, very friendly, and has a load of attitude. When we moved across the country, Layla claimed the basement and was barely coming upstairs. Guiliani was fine.

And then we got Luna Lu.

The cats hate her. She tries in vain to play with them with no avail. They HATE her. Layla refuses to even look at her, and when Luna manages to get close to her...it isn't pretty. Layla arches her backs or hunkers down and hisses. Growls. Guiliani is more tolerant, until Luna tries to play. Sometimes he indulges her, but most times he acts pissed. And swats. And hisses. At the old house we used to have a baby gate up in our bedroom door so Luna couldn't get in. The cats would sleep up there. Layla ran from the basement to the bedroom, never really figuring out there was a whole front half to the house. Guiliani went where he wanted. When we moved, we opted not to put up the baby gate. Partly because it was broken and I didn't want to buy a new one. And partly because it seemed like it was a good time to let Luna into the bedroom. She sleeps on the floor next to the bed.

Guiliani doesn't approve. He likes to sleep on the bed, preferably on my head. Having Luna in the bedroom, even on the floor, cramps his style (Layla is once again a basement kitty and we hope to see her upstairs sometime in the next year). He sits atop the bedside dresser, watching and scowling as Luna sleeps.

Every night before we go to sleep my husband sets out his prescription painkillers for the next morning. Three of them. This morning he woke me up. There was only one on the edge of the dresser, balancing precariously.

I'm pretty sure Guiliani knocked them onto the floor and Luna ate them. Because LUNA EATS EVERYTHING.

What do signs of narcotic overdose look like in a 75lb Siberian Husky?

We aren't sure when said acts happened. Isaac came into my room about 4am and I got up to take him back to bed. At that time Guiliani jumped off the bed and Luna chased him out of the room. Nine times out of ten, I don't put my glasses on to stumble the 10 feet to Isaac's bedroom from my own. So I don't know if the pills were on the dresser then. However, Luna came back up to the bedroom after a quick jaunt into the yard and wolfing down some food (munchies?!). Guiliani did not. Why return to the seen of the crime?

Luna seems fine. I called the vet, and they assured me that a dog of her size could handle a few pills. I watched for any signs of strange behavior, but for Luna that would mean behaving and being calm. None such behavior was seen today.

And I am pretty sure that upon seeing Luna reenter the house this morning, Guiliani gave her a look that cleary said "What are you still doing here?!"

Tonight the pills will not be on the dresser. Just in case Guiliani takes another stab at offing Luna. .

It's Only 8AM and I Feel Like I Should Have Been Drinking for At Least 2 Hours Already...

I get up at 6AM every morning, regardless of when I actually have to be on campus. This is really the only time that works for our family in terms of showering, etc. I need the time before I wake Isaac up to get ready uninterrupted. I need the time to walk Luna. I need the time to prepare for the day.

And it is not enough time. By far. But I am unwilling to get up any earlier unless absolutely necessary.

By 8AM, sometimes sooner, I am ready to tear out my freshly washed hair, lock myself in the closet with a bottle of wine, and rock back and forth in the fetal position (although that may be counterproductive to the drinking...never really tried it except in my mind).

As you may recall, I recently uprooted and moved across the country, took massive paycuts and started new lives. He got a new job. I started graduate school as a PhD student and TA. Isaac is 2 1/2 and potty training and starting his new life with a new school, new room, and new friends. New everything. That's alot to deal with. To make things more complicated, we got a puppy. Before I say anything more, I will say that I love my life. I am happy. We made the  best decisions that we ever could have made. But those decisions came with an elevated stress level that I am still trying to figure out how to deal with and balance.

Let's back up. Isaac has not been sleeping well. This is in part because his crib broke. IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT BROKE DURING THE 2700+ MILE MOVE. Of all the things packed into that moving truck, I would have rather it been the TV...or my leg. I had already ordered him a toddler bed for when he was ready for it, but had planned on keeping him in his familiar bed until he was adjusted. I could justify buying a new TV. I can't justify buying a new crib for a few weeks or month.

I should have shelled out the cash. In all fairness, people have offered theirs up for us to borrow. But at that point we had been trying to get Isaac into the toddler bed for about 3 weeks and the idea of backtracking was blaring warning sirens and red lights. All signs point to keep working on it.

Sigh.

In addition to him not staying in bed, he now had a 3 hour time difference to get used to. I didn't know that small children had such circadian rhythms that needed a massive overall to adjust to living in a new time zone. Even though we drove and adjusted time over a period of days, he still believed that 12am or later was perfectly suitable for a bedtime, since he was still operating on PST.

If I wasn't up with him, I was up with Luna. God help us if there is a massive thunderstorm. No one is sleeping then.

Anyway, the point of this is that Isaac isn't sleeping well, I am not sleeping well...and waking up is a pain. Isaac wakes up like his father...a grizzly bear coming out of an exorcism. That brightens my day. After I finally convince him to change his diaper and put on clothes, I have to haul him kicking and screaming down stairs. Some days, I get really lucky and get to tell jokes and make funny noise and sing songs to keep the whining and crying a bay. It's short lived though.

You know what's fun before you have had enough caffeine in the morning? Trying to referee a puppy and a toddler. One whom does not seem to understand that when he runs and screams across the house, the puppy thinks he is playing. Luna is a Siberian Husky. She's a puppy, but she's massive. She weighs more than him. And she nips. Try explaining to a Husky puppy that she can't body check and bite my son's arms and legs like she would a puppy brother or sister. No one outside her species thinks that is affectionate. At least not in this house.

Once I can get Isaac set up on the couch with Mickey Mouse and Luna chewing a frozen carrot, my hair has frizzed out and I have to restyle it. Most times I have to change my shirt because it's all sweaty. I have now figured out to just keep my AC on full blast and put on a ratty Tshirt. If my husband comments on the amount of laundry I create in one day, he better think the couch is comfier than our Cal King. Then comes the task of breakfast.

Did I mention Isaac is 2 1/2? The independent age that requires him to do everything for himself and make his own decisions? Oh, sorry. My bad.

He likes to eat his breakfast on the couch 4 days out of 5. Sometimes he will sit at the breakfast nook. Those are blessed days. He carries his food around. He leaves it laying and wanders away....see where I am going with this?

This morning for example, I made him a waffle. I made myself one too. I cut it in half and put it on his plate. I walked him to the couch and gave him the plate. All was quiet.

Now, given his mood, Isaac has the tendency to scream if Luna looks at him wrong. Like, looks at him at all or even walks in front of him. The screaming...oh, the scream. After a few times of checking on pointless screams, I hear him offer Luna his waffle. Like, he put it in her MOUTH. Then he realizes he doesn't have more and Luna won't give it back. So I give him mine and explain that puppies don't eat waffles and Luna has her own breakfast. Back to restyling my frizz.

I then hear a scream that Luna, who now thinks Isaac shares waffles, has taken her half of the new waffle. And now I am forced to put Luna, who really has done nothing wrong, back into her crate only to have her splash water all over so when Isaac runs into the kitchen, he will slip and fall. Meanwhile, since I haven't been able to take her out again, she has gone potty somewhere in the house. I know she has, because I can smell it. The carrots keep her from chewing anything of value...but they don't do wonders for her digestive system some days.

By the time I am able to take Luna for her final walk, I have to keep Isaac distracted because Lord help me, I cannot walk a toddler and a puppy at the same time. And we are running late. When I get back in the house, Isaac has spilled milk that he tried to get out of the fridge all over himself and somehow there are 14 soggy dog bone treats in Luna's cage. The cats have appeared and are demanding food. Isaac is screaming that he doesn't want to see his friends today and that Luna is not allowed to stand near Buddy, the blue bunny.

I stare longing at my stone cold coffee, mentally check my bank balance to ensure adequate Starbucks funds, and can't help but wish that I had a mimosa thermos. These are just my mornings before I get to school. I go a full day with meetings, classes, seminars, research...and then pick up Isaac, make dinner, and finish up what I didn't get done for the day. The house is messy. I am messy.

It's ok that my hair is frizzy because I probably will pull it all out soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

and Twelve...bringing us back to One

Yesterday was Isaac's first birthday!

He has grown so much in the past 12 months, it's hard to believe that the picture of the itty bitty newborn that hangs in his room and that little man in jeans sitting on the bed are the same baby. He has changed so much, and the past year has flown by. Even since last month, he is so different!

He still is not walking, but he sure is trying! This kid is FEARLESS. He climbs over stuff and tries to jump off stuff. He tries to swim in the bath. He flops over on his tummy and puts his face into the water and kicks his legs. He gives me heart attacks routinely, every day. He also tries to do somersaults, putting his head down on the ground and trying to flip his body over his head.

He talks, boy, does he talk! My proudest moment thus far is teaching him to say "Daddy did it." Isaac, who broke this plate? "Daddy did it!" Isaac, who pooped his pants? "Daddy did it!" Ah, the joys! He also says "No Mama!" We are working on please and thank you. He waves and says "hi" and "bub bub." He claps and says "yay!" and squeals.

I love seeing his personality come through, more and more. It amazes me how he is his own little person, with favorite toys, his mannerisms, his expressions. He knows that certain things he does are funny, others are not. His growing comprehension blows my mind. I like to watch him figure out new toys and how he can work them. He figured out how to make the recliner rock, and now he loves to sit in it like a big boy and throw himself back against it to make it rock. He loves to push buttons, both literally and figuratively. He has definately begun to test his boundaries.

I think he is done with purees. I am trying to use up the last of them, creatively. He doesn't like to be fed anymore, he wants to do it all himself. I started giving him his own spoon. He can't really use it yet but he does know food goes on the spoon. He eats more and more big boy food everyday. He loves mac and cheese, toast, pancakes, grilled cheese, litte oranges, chicken nuggets, carrots....he's like his daddy and will eat anything. He has been on whole milk for about a month. He loves it! As happy as I am to be done with nursing, I actually miss it. I miss that closeness and bonding time.

And the kitties...he likes to lay down on top of them to cuddle them. If Guiliani wonders into Isaac's room, Isaac will bee line over to him, grab him, and flop down on him. It's cute, like he's hugging them, but they don't really um...find it so affectionate.

My favorite thing?

He still lets me snuggle him. :) I will take every precious snuggling moment I can get. I will drop everything to snuggle because I know it's fleeting.

Recharged

Our family just took our first vacation in a long time that did not somehow involve a wedding, our parents, or Ohio. (Hmmmm, our layover was in Cin.cinnati, but that doesn't count right?) Not that those are bad things, but still. They aren't really vacations then.

We went to North Carolina to visit my husband's best friend and his wife and son. And we didn't do ANYTHING. We didn't plan anything, we didn't go on day trips. We layed around. We relaxed. We took the boys to see Santa. Ben and I went to see "A Christmas Carol" (PS, NOT a suitable movie for kids. Holy cow, some of those ghosts were SCARY!). Isaac enjoyed Otis, the dog and he learned to stand up. He liked having other people's stuff to play with. I liked not having a house to maintain or work to worry about. We rolled with the punches and it was wonderful. We played and watched TV.

It was exactly what we all needed, more so than we thought. We came back refreshed, me especially. We had the next day to get our Christmas tree and decorate. We felt like a family. :)

I came back to work feeling more motivated and ready to tackle things. I am more focused.

Seriously, we didn't do ANYTHING. I suggest you try it!

Isaac does well with the tree. I put a bunch of baby friendly ornaments around the bottom. He only plays with those. :) The cats....not so much. I just had to strap him down so I could a good picture. He doesn't hold still. AT ALL. And it looks like I need a haircut. :)

Patience Is A Kitty Virtue

These are my furry children. Guiliani Rufus and Princess Layla Penelope. They love to sit a the windows and watch the birds, small woodland creatures, turkeys, peacocks (yes, we have wild peacocks running around), and neighborhood cats run around the yard. Before Isaac was born, I was pretty worried as to how they would adapt. Especially Guiliani.

Guiliani was my first baby. Seriously. And he is a Mama's Boy and proud of it. He went all BAT $#%@ CRAZY when I brought Layla into the house. He was actually fine with her. Just not with me. He was beyond angry at me for bringing another cat into his house in which he reigned as king. Whenever I would do anything with Layla, he would hiss at me. I remember when I brought her home, he sniffed the carrier, looked directly in my eyes, hissed and gave me a look that clearly said "what the hell did you do?!" Because of this reaction and our mommy-kitty bond, I was a little worried how he would react to the baby. I mean, the cat sleeps on my head...or back....or legs....pretty much whatever he can get to. And he follows me around.

Turns out I really didn't have anything to worry about....

And just fyi, that is my 9 day old newborn (see how big the binky is? as I sob quietly at how fast he's grown)

They turned into naptime pals and their sleepy-time relationship continued to grow....

(Note: you'll notice that there are no more pictures of Layla. This is because to this day she chooses to pretend that Isaac does not actually exist. True story)

Anyway, he and Isaac were all buddy-buddy. And then one day Isaac seemed to realize "Hey! That little black thing moves! It makes noise! I want to grab it!"

That marked the beginning of this:

He's been pretty good about it. And truthfully, so has Layla. Isaac loves to grab at them. We are trying to teach him to "pet the kitty nice." And he tries sometimes. Most times, petting them involves grabbing fistfulls of fur (and skin) and yanking.

Both Layla and Guiliani handle it remarkably well. As opposed to me, who when Isaac grabs a handful of my hair and yanks may or may not scream in pain and yell curse words (not at the baby...I don't swear at him. Just at the painful situation). They usually just sit there and take it. It's like they understand he's a baby and doesn't know any better. And if I did that, you can bet I would have scratches all over my arms.

IT'S LIKE THEY HAVE PATIENCE!

Which I surely do not have a lot of. I have never been very patient, but I am learning to be more so because of the baby. But just with the baby. With my husband, yeah not so much.

Guiliani is also very patient during those sleepless night as I pace up and down the hall, bouncing a wide-awake, ready to party baby back to sleep. He simply lays on the rug or back of the couch, waiting for me to put Isaac back in his crib so we can return to the bed and he can resume his position on my head. Or back. Or legs.

He hasn't been getting alot of sleep these days either, so most days he ends up looking like this:

Again, levels of patience that I, myself do not demonstrate as illustrated by the late night begging I do, pleading Isaac to just go back to sleep for another few hours.

However, as Isaac can now move himself toward the kitties as they slumber peacefully, they are becoming increasingly wary of them. It is only a matter of time before he is chasing them with a little plastic bat! (Note: I will not encourage this behavior. But it's bound to happen. I can already see it)

O-H!........I-O!!!!!

Isaac has been a football fan since birth. No, really. It's true. At 5 days, he was already throwing up his arms for touchdowns.

See? That's even his OSU baby fleece blanket. (PS, that is a NEWBORN onesie hanging off of him! Sob. My baby!)



Ok, so he may have been a little too small to understand what he was doing. And, ok, he probably still is. But he's a Buckeye Baby. And yesterday was the first OSU football game of the season and that meant we had spirit! Since Daddy had to work, we had to wear OSU jammies.

We DVRed the game so Ben could watch it, and he was thrilled when Isaac woke up just before he sat down to watch it (Me, not so much. It was 8:45.) Anyway, he was so excited, I let Isaac stay up an extra 30 minutes to watch some football with his Dad.


You know, that's why Dad's want boys! :) To have a football buddy. And he's got plenty of Buckeye Baby clothes to wear for all the games. And a special one for the Michigan game, coem November. :) Don't even get me started on his halloween costume. :)

Isaac enjoyed it. He liked the whistles. Ben was thrilled he got his first Father-Son Football game. They were both THRILLED when I pulled their attention away for a picture. Thank goodness we have the ability to pause. :) And Guiliani likes the games too. He tries to follow the football on the screen. Seriously.

And the Buckeyes won! :) Isaac wasn't up for that part, he was back asleep by 9:30. We had to have a whole conversation about how to watch football while the baby is sleeping, ahem...no SCREAMING at the TV and no loud cheers and claps. When I was pregnant last season, I swear every time Ben would yell, Isaac jumped in my belly. SWEAR.

Not Quite Ready

We recently noticed Isaac's bassinet is becoming smaller and smaller in sleeping area. And when I say noticed, I mean he hits the sides with his legs and arms while stretching out in his sleep, causing banging and clanging of the said furniture. I think it wakes him up sometimes. So begins the discussion of the crib...

Or rather, so begins the separation anxiety for Mommy.

I told myself and all interested parties inquiring about this impending transition that it would take place when a certain baby slept through the night or starting rolling over. The rolling happened on Friday. Feeling amazingly proud of his accomplishment, I also felt the pit drop in my stomach. I begged my husband for one more night with my baby boy next to me. And then...he slept through the night. I didn't even get to pull him in bed with me to eat his midnight snack. Sigh. He hit both conditions in one day. I really had no excuse now.

So Saturday night rolled around. The crib tent was assembled and Guiliani was already climbing all over it trying to figure out how to get through it into his napping place. The baby monitors were charged and remounted. The mobile and Oc.ean Won.ders Aq.uarium were fully loaded with new batteries and their remotes hanging in place on the door knob. Mr. Sea.horse had made the journey from bassinet and was happily nestled in the crib. And then it was time...Isaac ate his cereal bottle and cuddle with Mommy until he drifted off.

I held him an extra long time, avoiding the walk down the hallway to the end where I would turn right to Isaac's room instead of left into mine. I finally bit the bullet and set him down. The tent wasn't even zipped before the tears started to roll down my cheeks. I stood there and watching my little pumpkin face sleep peacefully, stretched out on his new mattress and freshly washed sheets. I cried.

Then I laid on the couch and cried. When I stopped I moved into my bedroom to read before bedtime. I saw the bassinet pushed against the wall, where it sits during the day, and not right up against my bed. And I cried again. Finally, I fell asleep with the monitor turned up to max volume. He woke up around his normal feeding time and somehow he didn't make it back into the crib...or the bassinet. He stayed nestled next to Mommy. He kicked me to let me know he was uncomfy, and I was instantly taken back to the kicks I used to feel when he was uncomfy in my belly during my pregnancy. He wanted more space to sleep and stretch out. I cried again.

He was ready....I was not.

I am still not. I don't want to let go. I want my baby with me at night. I don't get him during the day all time anymore. Why can't I keep the nights?

Maybe Crop Tops Will Come Back In Style....

Because seriously, I now have a ton. :)

Ok, so they aren't REAL crop tops. In the recent move, I cleaned out my closet and drawers yet again, this time with the intent of "what am I seriously never going to wear again, as a new mother?" I also tried to find anything that would fit over "the belly." I have had a hard time finding maternity clothes that fit me right, so I have been relying on longer and baby doll style shirts that I have had in my closet and hand me downs. As the days tick by, fewer items are fitting me. In fact, quite a few shirts do not cover my belly anymore but land somewhere below the belly button. So started my collection of preggo crop tops. Keeping in mind that these shirts fit me fine just a week or two ago, I may have to raid Ben's sweatshirt collection. My pjs no longer fit and the pants have to be worn well below my waist, creating a spanse of belly not covered by anything.

I can't really complain. I have had a pretty good pregnancy so far: No serious morning sickness, just some nausea. No massive headaches frequenting.

I am growing increasingly tired. Lugging around this little boy is quite tedious these days. I can't bend over to put on pants, socks, or shoes anymore. Everything must be done sitting down. Climbing in and out of bed is always a feat that involves quite a bit of grunting and rocking around (This is of great amusement to my husband. Although last night he did seem more sympathetic as I was arranging my 10,000 pillows and explaining that yes, I have to do this everytime I get in and out of bed at night). I have to potty about every 30 minutes it seems (this may be a slight exaggeration...I am known to do that from time to time). And yes, the stretch marks I fought so hard to avoid have won the battle and have emerged.

My blood sugar has been pretty good. I have had a few high readings, but nothing that could be deemed seriously out of control. I was reading about it online the other night, and am now convinced that every cramp I have is preclampsia. I have figured out what sets the sugar off, and try to avoid those foods if possible (sometimes it is just not feasible to avoid a cookie). I am sure everything is fine, but have a long list of things to go over with the doctor next week, including that I think the baby has dropped. The pressure in my hips is maddening, and my left hip gets stiff if I sit or lay too long. I then look like an old woman as I hobble around (an astute observation from Ben). I have also had a little bit of discharge that could be considered to be the start of effacing and passing of the mucous plug (sorry if that is TMI....I could have been more descriptive). I can breathe alot easier, also leading me to think Baby Lahman may have dropped and my tummy looks different. the bump is lower than before.

The nursery is coming together. We got the rocking chair in there and all of the pictures to be hung elsewhere out and on the walls last night. I finally called Graco and requested a new motor tower for the swing. It just doesn't sound right. I also registered all our products online with their various manufacturers for notification of product and parts recalls or replacements. I separated out all of the 0-3 months clothes and those are first in line for a trip to the washer. I am trying really really hard to hold off on purchasing anything else until after the shower next weekend, but it is very hard. I am at the nesting stage where everything needs to be done and ready for Peanut. EVERYTHING. Ben promised that we would go to BRU the Wednesday following the shower and get everything else we need.

Yesterday was the offical 35 week, 35 days left marker. I can't wait to meet this little boy! (He still does not have an official name). If he cooks until next week, he will be able to stay in Sonoma instead of going to a NICU in Santa Rosa.

Things to do:
-Get drawer liners for dresser
-Resubmit paperwork to hospital
-Update photos (still not done :( )
-Work on Baby Book (I did update the calendar)
-Pack hospital bags
-Get batteries
-Wash clothes and other fabrics

Oh! Ps...the kitties are doing really well with the baby furniture. Layla just hides underneath it, which is fine. Guiliani has had some incidents in the bassinet and pack and play, but he is learning. He hates the spray bottle. :)

I just wanna sleeeeeeeepppppp.....

It has been a crazy busy week.

Starting with the Thanksgiving prep last week on Wednesday...I made two pies, meatballs, and my husband's deviled eggs (Note: I usually do way more than this for snacking food during the day. I scaled back and we each picked one food we wanted). Ben actually woke up early on Thanksgiving Day and cleaned up the kitchen for me. The turkey went into the oven, and the day was pretty easy compared to other years. The rolls didn't rise correctly, so I may have goofed the yeast somehow. We had a good day and the clean up went really fast. I ate alot. In fact, I was the only one whoe ate everything on their plate and I had a second helping that night.

I slept in the next day. I decided to go into work later because Ben and I wanted to get our washer and dryer after he got off work. The day was pretty slow, but I got a lot done at work. By the time we actually got to Bes.t Bu.y, the Black Friday craziness had died down. We got our washer and dryer set for a great price, and we also got a freezer for the basement for when I start to pump and go back to work. We browsed a little bit and looked at some different electronics. Of course, Ben wanted the 62 inch plasma that cost as much as a car. We did find a printer we liked, but it was not on sale. After we left, we had to run next door to Off.ice De.pot because Ben had to get printer ink for work. We browsed a little there, and noticed that the printer we had wanted was $30 off there! But...they were out. The good news: Be.st Bu.y did a price match, so we ended up taking it home. :) It will print really nice photos, so we were happy.

Saturday was filled with errands and train painting. I have 34 done. We packed Saturday night. Let me tell you, I am a horrible packer. I start going through things and organizing, and I usually end up with several big messy piles. We were only planning to move our guest room on Sunday. This is the room where I dump everything that does not have a place somewhere else, so it ends up being one big clusterf#$k of stuff. It took quite a bit of time, and I am pretty sure it traumatized the cats. Sunday, we picked up the moving truck and then Cousin A. We loaded up everything we could, and were on our way to the new place. We got everything unloaded and the landlord met us to sign the lease and collect my bank account for the security deposit and 1st month's rent. :( Then we helped pick up our replacement fridge which was pretty far and pretty strenuous...on Ben at least. I didn't have to really lift anything all day :). Yay for Peanut. We didn't get home until almost 8 and it was a long day.

Work week started good. My temp has been hired, which is kinda wierd, but oh well. It has just proven to be a busy busy week with lots going on in the office. We have been moving stuff everyday, which has made me very very tired. We took last night off and watched the VS Fashion Show (old habits die hard ;) ) The kitties are going nutso in a bare apartment. I have to look for soem rugs tonight, because we have all hardwood floors in the new place. We are hemorraging money right now with the two residences and bills. I just havent' found anything I really like. I am very picky. :)

Tomorrow morning I have to take my 3 hour glucola test. :( Fingers crossed. Then starts a busy weekend to finish moving.

I have been fighting with our current apartment managers because they have all these insane security deposit deductions for cleaning and such. I am sorry, but 3 years in an apartment constitutes different wear and tear than does 1 year. And I don't believe for one second that my apartment was thoroughly cleaned by professional cleaners before I moved in. I believe the maintenance man cleaned it, sure. But is he a professional cleaner? Most likely not. The whole situation just irritates me. I am not a happy renter.

In terms of Peanut: the belly continues to grow. I am not even going to lie. I spaced on taking the 28 week and 29 week belly pictures. Today marks 30 weeks! Only 10 weeks to go! Yikes and Yippee! He still moves alot and Ben felt him kick for the first time on Saturday night. :) The cats feel him quite frequently. I am getting alot more winded when I do alot of walking. If I am doing anything but sitting down when I am talking on the phone, I sound like I am running a marathon. I am excited to go back to Ohio for the baby shower.

Ugh, I am sooooo tired.

Let the Hormones Rage On

I forgot to mention the strongest and most noticeable pregnancy symptom that I have these days: My raging hormones.

In addition to the crying, I have rapid irrational mood swings. I can go from elated to severely pissed off in about 2 seconds. It doesn't take much. The longer I am left to stew about something, the angrier I get. This includes things that I have been angry about and have had resolved. I also manage to come up with illogical rationalizations for my anger and can direct it upon anyone.

Last night I was angry at Ben for something that happened about a week ago. I wasn't mad about it at the time, but yesterday I decided I was mad about it. When I told him about it, I started to cry. I wasn't mad anymore, now my feelings were hurt. And then I yelled at the cat about what an a$$hole he was being that day. This all took place in about 10 minutes. And then I was fine. Ben and the cat are also recovering.

The Belly Shots

So I know I have been slacking in putting up the belly shots. Here is my excuse. I am not the best photographer. Neither is my husband. Therefore, more often than not, our pictures need cropped and other wonderful photoshop editing before they can be presented to the world. With that said, I have photshop on my laptop and on our desktop. However, my laptop hates the internet, so I can edit the pictures on my laptop, but there they sit. The desktop is in our guest room, no where near the couch. Get where I am going with this? Although I use my husband's laptop, I am not about to ask if I can put photoshop onto it (I pick my battles).


So without further ado:


The 17 week belly shot:

Some things of note in this picture: I had to take it myself in the mirror. That is why it looks blurry. Apparently I just shake for no reason at all. Also, I had to twist slightly to get my arms into position to hold the camera, so my belly is actually appearing smaller than it is. Oh, and see how big the ta-tas are becoming? :( On a fun note: see the new down comforter in the background? :)

And the 18 week belly shot: Ben took this one. I think I look mis-shapen as he cut off my upper body completely. Also Guiliani has made an appearance. He is such a clingy kitty. :)

Where Has All The Hunger Gone?

Today I am 18 weeks preggers. I will try to comemorate the day with a belly shot. I still have the 17 week belly on my camera....but I haven't had the time to post it yet.

Anyway, ever since the good old doctor told me that I needed to drink way way more, I have been. I used to drink what I thought was quite a bit: a glass of milk or coke in the morning (Hey! Sometimes I need the caffeine, ok?), a juice or water at lunch, water in the afternoon, milk or juice with dinner, and more water before bed. It is still the same but with added in water. For instance, today I drank some sprite this morning (my tummy hurt a little), a water before lunch, a pomegranate lemonade with lunch (so, so good), and I just refilled my water bottle again. So my doctor would definately be happy with me....I have already peed 5 times today.

However, my hunger has lulled. My tummy is so full of liquid, there doesn't seem to be much room for food. I am trying to munch here and there and still eating lunch and dinner, but breakfast has been harder (it has always been hard for me to eat breakfast...I don't think my stomach wakes up along with the rest of my body).

I guess I am slightly concerned that I am not eating enough. :( I know Peanut is getting bigger, as my belly is. But still. I will mentioned to the doctor next week.

Other than that the week has been ok....better than last week for sure. My bridesmaid dress came! And it fits in all the big places...and that is about it. I have to chop about a foot of fabric off of it, and take in the shoulders. I have also decided that a small panel of leftover fabric needs to be sewn into the v-neck to prevent any appearances of certain body parts during the wedding.

I have actually gotten alot done this week, at least in terms of househould administrative things that needed to be done...aka phone calls to credit cards and other agencies, filling prescriptions, organizing finances, etc. I even planned out a menu for grocery shopping, which I haven't done in AGES (more like months, but still....feels like forever.)

Ben and I are communicating alot better this week and the outlook is much better than I previously thought. I will keep thinking positively and sending out good vibes....come on law of attraction.

I still haven't been sleeping very well though. :( Therefore, neither are the kitties. Layla was sleeping on the bed with me the other night, and she has been alot more cuddly. (Sidenote: I was just informed at the shelter event that I went to that she was abused! Apparently her old owner beat her and threw her outside to rid her. Then the poor little kitty got knocked up and kept coming back because she was hungry and such. Finally the lady brought her into the shelter. :( Seriously, who does that? From there, she had to be fixed and the kittens terminated because she was too small and sickly to give birth to them (I knew that part). Poor little thing!)

Oh, and I went to Target the other day and I always scope out the baby stuff. This visit I chose to look at breast pumps and bottles. I seriously FREAKED OUT. I was so overwhelmed by the different kinds of pumps, bottles, nipples, sterilizers, warmers, liners....I thought my head was going to explode. I realized I knew NOTHING about these things and have started reading about them online. I even found a website that allows you to compare the different kinds of pumps side by side. It also leads you through the different features and things you may want in a pump.

Despite my increasing knowledge, next time I go into Target, I think I will look at booties and socks. :)

Unintentional Punishment

Last night I went to bed around 11 and read for a bit before falling asleep. I must have been asleep for about an hour before I woke with a jolt. I felt like something was off, not with the baby, but with my sleeping situation. I layed in bed for about 20 minutes trying to decide what it was. Finally, I got up to go to the bathroom and I realized what was wrong. Guiliani was not sleeping on my head. Not only was he not there when I got up to go to the potty, he hadn't been there when I got in bed or fell asleep. This is unusual because he at least always jumps up on the bed for a bit before I fall asleep, even if he leaves for a while before settling in for the night.

I walked around the apartment and looked for him. Layla was asleep under the air vent on the armchair like always. He wasn't behind the curtains, pretending to be a nighttime hunter. He wasn't in the windows, nor in the guest room. I was starting to get a little worried. I started turning lights on, because I didn't have my contacts in or glasses on and I am blind as a bat, and I thought maybe I just missed him in the dark. Layla just sat on her chair smuggly, as I walked through the apartment calling for him.

Then it hit me. I had opened the coat/junk closet near the kitchen to get out more paper towel. Being the curious kitty he is, Guiliani had run in and neither Ben nor I had realized it. Sure enough, when I opened the door, the kitty ran out and rubbed up on my legs. Poor little thing had been in there for about 3+ hours, probably thinking he would be in there all night for some type of punishment. I felt so bad. Poor kitty. :(

I slept fine after that, with him purring happily on my head.

Furry Children

No, I am not referring to my actual child, who I sincerely hope is not furry. I am talking about my baby kitties.

Yep, that is them. :) The one that looks like he is one with the black floor mat is Guliani, and the fat little one is Layla. When we first got Layla, she and Guiliani did not get along very well. Now all they do is play, play, play. I have only seen them cuddle with each other once, as in sleep wrapped up together. Mostly they wrestle and give each other baths. Layla seems to use the bath technique as a method of starting her attack. One minute she is licking...the next she is smacking.

This would be Guiliani in the dryer. He likes to climb in and nap on the clothes...which isn't so much a problem until I notice the large quantities of black fur on the whites. (Note: If by chance you have noticed the cat to dryer size ratio, please know that my cat is not ginormous...the dryer is very small. It is one of those little stackables that came with the apartment.

And as I previously mentioned, Layla has finally started to really warm up to me and my husband. She is incredibly skittish and jumpy, but this picture was taken during a relatively calm moment. As soon as she heard the camera noise, she woke up and stared at me in loathing for waking her, so I took another picture of her then. However, her eyes were glowing red (probably because she was so angry with me), and I haven't figured out how to correct for cat red eyes in photos. Anyhoo, here she is all sleeping and being cute and cuddly with my husband.

I love my kitties. :) Hopefully they will adjust well to Peanut's arrival.

More baby cuteness

[For some reason I always forget that the website goes down on Friday afternoons. This causes me great aggravation, as I was being very industrious in posting.]

Yes, this is my third post today. I can't concentrate on anything or get anything productive done at work because what I need to do involves reading and taking notes, and they are jack-hammering the concrete outside, as they have been all day. Plus, I said I had the pictures ready, didn't I?

So the preface to this baby gift, and why I like it so much goes baby to when I was a baby. My uncle had given me a cloth rabbit puppet that came from the local grocery called the County Pride. I loved the rabbit, and I still do. It was my security blanket. It sits in my guestroom now, in a box with my actual baby blanket.

This is Bunny. The plaid material that makes up his body was kind of flannel-y and lined with satin ribbon, which you can see has torn off the edges. His body has also become quite threadbare over the years. His head is actually the puppet-y part. And his ears have fallen off several times and had to be re-sewn. The center part of the ears is also satin. His face, ears, and paws feel like a jersey material of sorts. (Note: I am bad at fabric names and descriptions, so my use of them could be way way off.)

A couple of weeks ago, my grandma, Nana, sent me a package for the baby. I was a bit nervous, as some of her gifts can be a bit questionable at times, and she has a taste that is all her own. In it was this:

It is a Winnie the Pooh blanket buddy. It has the same material body lined with the same type of satin as Bunny. The small green thing in the corner is a teether, so the baby can chew on it. And Winnie is like a little plush toy.

When I realized what it was, I started to cry. I don't know if Nana realized how close to Bunny it was, or picked it intentionally for those reasons, but it touched me that this was Peanut's first gift from Nana. It means alot to me. I take it out of the box that is holding all the baby gifts, and I run my fingers along the silky edges, like I did with Bunny, and I picture my baby doing the same.

Another meaningful gift that Peanut has received is this:

I don't know the exact "baby-term" for what this is, but it is for the crib. You pull the bee that is hanging from the sunshine and it plays music and little lights dance around the sun's rays as the bee rises up to the sun. The bee has shiny crinkly wings (I don't know why that seems important, but it does). What I love about this is the music it plays... "You Are My Sunshine." This is a song that I remember Nana and my mother singing to me from the time I was a baby. This was a gift to Peanut from my mother, who is chosing to be referred to as "Nonnie." I also take this out of the box, and listen to the song everynow and then. However, the cats are fascinated by the rising bee and flashing lights, so they must be kept at bay.

Speaking of my baby kitties, they seem to be fine with my pregnancy. Guiliani still is a mama's boy, and demands lots of my attention. Layla is continuing to warm up to us. I think having the in-laws here really helped with that, as they were sleeping in her room, on the bed where she usually slept at night. This caused her to sleep on the foot of our bed. (Note:she tired to sleep on my chest once. She climbed up and closed her eyes and started to purr. Guiliani, who lays on the pillow at the foot of the bed until I fall asleep and then moves up to lay on my head, lifted his head, made a wierd crying noise and ran up to Layla, bit her neck, and dragged her off of me.)

Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub

I don't have a lot of time to update, but the appointment yesterday went really well! We didn't get to see Peanut, but we did get to hear the heartbeat with the DopTone! It was the most amazing sound, and it was so fast. The NP spent the better part of 20 minutes and a tube of that wondorous cold gel (seriously, do they refridgerate that?) trying to find a heartbeat and she couldn't, which made me very nervous. She said she would have the doctor come in and listen and probably do an ultrasound. Well, the doc found the heartbeat right away, and it was so loud. :) There was no ultrasound, so no baby measurements were taken, leaving me with the same EDD. I have another appointment in 4 weeks. Fingers crossed. :)

I asked about CVS and some other tests. The doc advised against them, as I am only 27 and those tests increase the rate of miscarriage in women my age. He said another blood test will be done between 16-18 weeks. Oh joy, more needles.

Oh and all previous the blood tests came back fine, except that I haven't been exposed to toxoplasmosis, forcing a certain husband to keep cleaning the cat poo.

Prego Dreams

So last night I had a dream that all of the teeth on the upper right side of my mouth fell out and to get to the dentist to put them back in, I had to climb up this ladder and walk across a tiny metal ledge with flimsy pegs to hold onto. I should add that my teeth fell out while watching someone I knew if college get her wedding pictures taken and her dress was changing from pink to blue (like in Sleeping Beauty).

Is pregnancy supposed to give me wierd dreams? This is the second night (see below post about cat dream).

I got very little sleep last night. I was so excited because my inlaws and my husband went to his brother's house to play Ro.ck B.and, and I got a few hours of relaxing silence before falling asleep. I woke up when every light in the apartment was turned on, doors were opening and closing with force, and a loud movie was blaring at about 12:30 AM. This mass of activity caused the cats to become wide awake and run amok because clearly it was "playtime." This included jumping and wrestling on the bed, knocking over lotion and perfume bottles on the dress, and yowling as loud as they could. I could not get back to sleep, and continued to wake up about every 30-60 minutes to go to the bathroom or drink. Oh, and someone who shall remain nameless turned off the air conditioner, which I need to have on. I must be bundled up and surrounded by cold.

And I have a splitting headache today.

Population Growth in South Bay :)

I received the news yesterday that my friend Daniela had her twin boys! Welcome to the world Drey and Drew!

This is very happy news. However, the babies are a full two months early, and are consequently very tiny, around 3lbs 10 oz each. This means that they have to spend a minimum of 5 weeks in the NICU. I spoke with Daniela and Drew is struggling with breathing on his own. I am going to try to visit her this weekend, since she will be released on saturday. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to be at home without your new babies. (Sidenote: Her two-year old son, Jesiah, is adorable.)

So that is the big news thus far this week. I got called for jury duty on Monday afternoon and had to sit for about 2 hours before I was instructed to go to the courthouse and sit for another hour. Luckily, I was dismissed before I had to go through jury selection (even though I had a story all worked out on why I could not serve jury duty). Sunday nights do not proove to be very restful for me, so I got home a little early and took a nap. My tummy had started to hurt around the middle of the first two hour sitting, and when I woke up from my nap, it was terrible. I tried to eat some macaroni, but no avail. Ben brought me home some saltines, which I tried to eat as well. For the next 14 hours I was in the bathroom about once every hour or so. Needless to say, I was worthless yesterday and layed on the couch all day. I feel better today, but my tummy is still a little weary of anything I eat (which thus far has been a biscuit and some sprite).

Guiliani was quite concerned about my stomach upheavel. He got up with me during the night and layed outside the bathroom door. Around 1 am, or so, I got extremely hot and short of breath, and layed on the nice cool carpet under the air conditioning vent outside the bathroom, and apparently fell back asleep. Guiliani began to nuzzle my face and walk on my back to wake me up, and then followed me back to the bed. And yesterday he slept on his couch pillow all day while I layed there. I love my kitties. :)