Sunday, September 12, 2010
Feeling Pretty
Well, I walk up to this salon and walk in and immediately get surrounded by 3 employees saying "We close! We close!" So I asked, "When do you close?" To which the response was a more insistent, "We close!" So I asked more slowly, "Ok, but when do you close?" "At 7 we close!" "Alright, when do you open tomorrow?" "NO! WE CLOSE!" They were looking at me like I was some lunatic person that really didn't grasp that concept that 'we close'! So I left and got a soda and then grabbed some things at the store on my way home.
The next day, I went back and were open, so I asked for a pedicure and was seated. I had picked my colors and knew what I wanted. The lady doing my pedicure did an awesome job and asked what color I wanted. I told her I wanted purple toenails with pink baby feet on my big toe. She smiled and nodded and got busy painting. Apparently what I wanted was interpreted as all my toes but my baby toes as being purple and my baby toes being pink. "No," I said. And again made the requested, pointing this time at where I wanted the baby feet to be painted on. "Oh, ok." She said and then got busy fixing the error. This time, she had only painted the base coat as purple and started to paint the top coat as pink. "Um, no, no, no." I again explained what I wanted and the person sitting next to me had to explain to her (in her own language) that I wanted the baby feet design on my big toes. She finally got it, and did a great job, especially since it was her first time painting baby feet! Oh, she also tried to convince me that pink feet wouldn't show up as good so we should just leave them white (she had used white to put the design on). I kept telling her that I really wanted them PINK! She finally relented. My goodness, it shouldn't be that hard having pretty feet! LOL
I got home and since Chris had taken the kids out fishing, the house was still quiet. I figured that now would be a good time to straighten my hair to complete the "pretty" look. I got everything rounded up, and got one small chunk of hair straightened and in walks all of the kids from fishing, dripping wet, dirty, and trying to crawl on my lap. I had to get them all out of my room so they wouldn't get burned by the curling irons. This still didn't help, as they wanted to hand my the brush, and my straightening cream, and they even tried to grab the irons on my dresser. Chris finally came to the rescue and got them busy with baths and chores. *sigh* And people wonder why I don't straighten my hair very often! Seriously takes too much effort with kids around and by the time they're not around (at school or in bed) I'm way to tired to do that! LOL
Sunday, August 15, 2010
"Old school" drama faces, possible concussions and a lost tooth
(this was typed at 11 pm Saturday night)
Today was a pretty lazy day...for me at least. Chris was awesome - he cooked an awesome breakfast (I even got that in bed, YAY ME!!!), took Terra shopping with her tooth fairy money and she found some used roller blades with knee and elbow pads at a thrift store (she's been wearing them in the house all day today)...they look almost new too, cleaned up the kitchen some, got kids down for naps, and then took everyone fishing! I decided to brave it and go along for the ride. My back didn't hurt as bad today, and everything else was "minding its manners", so to say. I grabbed all my YW stuff so I could plan out my lesson for tomorrow and off we went.
We got there and the kids started throwing rocks in and finding sticks (James found and "old man's walking stick...it really did look like a cane and was the perfect size for him to use a such). They immediately started getting "bites" but would always reel in a twig or some such nonsense. I have a "proud" pic of this on my phone that I'll upload soon. They did end up catching a few fish, but they were tiny, so we'd have to throw them back. One particular fish was having issues adapting back into the water, so Chris was playing with it for a bit to try and "jolt" it back to its senses. I pointed that out to Celeste and told her to go look at the fish. She got this terror-filled look on her face, put the back of her hand up to her mouth and screamed "NOOOOO!" (like they did in the ol' school horror films) Yup, she's VERY girlie. Fish freak her out terribly! She cried whenever she saw anyone touching them. Chris finally tossed the fish out there a ways and went back to casting his line out. Celeste finally started exploring close to the water and tripped and fell in. She came up crying and saying "NO FISH!!! NO FISH!!!" I don't think she much cared that she was wet...she was just worried about those darn fish! LOL
We packed everyone up and decided to go to IHOP to eat dinner (we had 4 coupons for free kids meals...why not?!). Of course we stopped by home to change poor Celeste's clothes and then went and found the place. The kids had fun with their smiley face pancakes and fruit and of course the coloring pages! I HAD to save those to bring home. We just won't tell the kids where they ended up being put after they all went to bed! After we packed everyone up, we headed out the door. Terra and James were goofing off and there was a car backing up...no one (driver included) was paying attention, so I was frantically telling those two to get back up on the sidewalk, and not paying attention to what was behind me. Suddenly, Chris calls out, "TYLER, NO, LOOK OUT!" Totally made my heart stop, but when I looked back, he was blissfully unaware of his surroundings, eating some fruit he'd grabbed off the table, and stepped just barely off the side walk and biffed it. He hit his face against the edge of the side walk, did a half turn and whent he rest of his body came to a stop....his head hit the pavement hard. He very quietly got up, bent over to get his dropped fruit, and when he looked at me, he had silent tears streaming down his poor little face, so I hugged him and then the sobs let loose. Chris picked him up and carried him to the car and asked him where he hurt. Head? No. Face? No. He stopped crying long enough to say his foot hurt, but nothing else ("no, just dat." while pointing to his foot). We got a wipe out and cleaned off his piece of fruit (this seemed to be bothering him the most...don't mess with this kid's food), and gave it back to him and the crying ceased. I'm thinking that he was just embarrassed about the fall, but it really looked (and sounded) like it hurt!!! I'm still awake right now so I can go and check on him and make sure he's still responsive (he started to fall asleep on the way home, but that could also be passed off as "end of the day drowsiness"). Yes, I'm paranoid like that! Concussions scare me. What scares me more is he hit his head hard enough to cause a bump, but there isn't one forming. He's still responsive though whenever I go to wake him up a bit.
We got home and threw everyone in the tub and then had "bunny milk" and started sending everyone off to bed. Terra came in to show us her wiggly tooth. There was a tooth growing underneath it and it was VERY loose and ready to come out. She immediately started screaming and hollering about the fact that she didn't want it to fall out yet! We sprayed her mouth with throat spray (we're out of ora-gel), gave her a cold wash cloth, and I wiggled it here, and there and finally when her eyes were closed...mid-scream...I pulled and it came out. She didn't even realize this fact until she took a breath and opened her eyes. Then she was all smiles and giggles. But then she saw blood...everything fell apart again and it started hurting all over again! A Vitamin-C (disguised as a pain med...haha, we're evil parents, I know) and another drink of bunny milk later, and she's just peachy!
Recent Dr. Visit
The appointment started and she "translated" the ultrasound papers to let me know what they found. Its a girl (YAY), the SCH is no longer visible, which in theory means its been dissolved (cautiously hoping this is the case), she's breech (which isn't abnormal in most pregnancies this early on, but all my kids have been head down from the beginning...so, it's odd for me to have that happen), she's very low in the pelvis, she's measuring small, but not so small that it causes concern (I've always had big babies that measure a week and a half or more ahead). I asked if the baby kicking my cervix could be the reason for a fair amount of the pain I've been feeling and she rolled her eyes at me and told me not to expect to have the muscle tone I had with my first pregnancy and that all I've been feeling has been normal pregnancy pains. Sorry, but I very strongly disagree with this. There is a problem when you can't get up and move around without having constant contractions!!
She then asked if I'd gotten the results of my past blood tests, and I told her that I had thought things were normal. She said that I'm no longer immune to German measle so I need to get the MMR shot after I give birth (I was also told that I'd probably need the Tetanus booster as well, which I totally am fine with because I'm accident prone and step on things all the time). I found this rather odd, but she also said that it happens in some women and it can't really be explained. I asked her some other questions about the contractions I felt after doing pretty much anything in my normal activity and she basically blew me off and told me that I needed to drink more and stay hydrated (um, I generally stay fairly well hydrated, thanks so much). I was irritated by this, but she was happy about everything and said things sounded normal and fine. I told her that I could time my contractions and she skeptically looked at me and asked how close they usually are. I said 15-20 minutes and she again blew me off and said that unless they're less than 15 minutes it's nothing to worry about, but to definitely give them a call if I'm worried about it (after being blown off, sure I want to call you).
She started feeling my belly to tell where the baby is, and she jumped back and got a startled look on her face, so I asked what was wrong. She said whenever she meets someone for the first time and starts to feel their tummy, she gets impressions on what baby's name is, and this time it was SO strong! (WACKO!!!!!) She says my baby's name is Ingrid. When I told her no, she acted all offended and told me there was still time to change it, that the baby REALLY wanted that name and that I'd eventually come around by the time I saw her in my arms. NOPE SORRY LADY! I told her what we are naming her and she just wrinkled her nose and asked what was wrong with the name Ingrid?! Nothing is wrong with it, that's just not what I want to name my child, thanks!
So, Chris and I joked about it on the way home a bit and it didn't bother me as much at first, but the more I ponder on what was said and done, the more irritated I am that I wasn't taken seriously on some things and really not sure I want her to be the one on-call when I deliver...she might change my birth certificate from Aralynn to Ingrid! LOL
She also told me the stats on the flu shots and such and I told her I wasn't really interested in getting one, and she became agitated that I was ignoring the facts that were placed before me and I explained that if I lived closer to my family, I would probably get one because of illnesses and other issues in my family, but since I don't travel out to see them much during the flu season, I'd rather not since we've had bad luck with them in the past. She again just waved her hand and said "whatever, dear, I know how it is, you hear what you want to hear and nothing else."
So things I gathered from all this - everything is healthy and normal and all the negative I've been experiencing is all in my head. What is actually going on (according to Sandi) - growth and development are on track and normal but because of her positioning and presentation, I've been feeling things I've never had to deal with before with everyone else, and for some reason my stomach/uterus is not tolerating strain and other activity very well. Frustrating, for sure. Things are getting better in some ways and staying the same in others, I still have up days and down days, but I'm counting my blessings and trying to stay positive. I want to be more independent and not have to rely on everyone else for small every day things. I'm working with the compassionate service lady in our Ward and are hopefully getting some sort of arrangement in place. I'm hoping things will improve and that all things will start to improve soon!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 1 Of No Help
* Eat breakfast
* Talk to Chris about his schedule and what time he'll be home
* Chris got kids situated downstairs and leaves for work
* I start to think of things I need from downstairs and make a list (going downstairs is VERY painful for me to do right now)
* Tyler comes upstairs without a diaper....with poo dripping down his legs (BLAH)
* Make him sit on the toilet until I come back upstairs (remarkably he stays there), go down and clean up the floor (carpet) and throw away a couple books and a kids' chair (because I didn't think they'd be sanitary anymore)
* Grabbed a few things on the list and came back upstairs and put Tyler in the tub.
*Called Chris (near tears) and find out he's been called to a couple other stops and the truck he was supposed to load was delayed...blew a tire
* Get Tyler out of the tub and get him dressed again
* Put Celeste down for a nap
* Fix lunch for the kids
* Go downstairs for the rest of what was on my list AND a meal from the freezer and find the living room trashed...just blow it off (sort of) and go back upstairs with above said items
* Lay down and drink more fluids (contractions are starting...but not regular yet)
* Load the dishes in the sink in the empty dishwasher and grab a snack for myself
* Feed Celeste when she woke up
* Try to calm a tantrum from her because she wants "damma"
*Find a picture of my mom and hand it to her and she calms down
* Tyler comes upstairs without pants OR diaper...again poo mess is following him
* Clean up the mess and get a diaper back on him
* Cry for a few minutes (frustrated and feeling like I can't do this alone...and contractions are starting to become regular)
* Got dinner ready and tried to feed the kids...apparently I'm not a good cook and they want Grandma back (Grandma Ida, you're being requested by name)
* Send kids downstairs and tell them they can play a video game...this will FOR SURE keep them occupied for a while...until Chris gets home (I'm hoping anyway)
* Drink more and lay down to start counting the minutes between contractions (17 minutes)
* Chris got home, gave me a muscle relaxer and tylenol and took over the kids (feeding them the dinner that they refused to eat before, getting them ready for bed, cleaning up messes {laundry soap being among the many messes} and cleaning up the kitchen a bit)
* Kids come in and give me hugs and kisses and tell me they hope I feel better and am nicer tomorrow (that's a confidence booster right there...I'm SUCH a great mom)
* Meds finally are starting to kick in (1.5 hours after taking them) and contractions are spreading out (30 mins apart now)
Here's to hoping tomorrow goes better and that our new schedule will work itself out soon. I have my appt. tomorrow to discuss what was found during the ultrasound, so hopefully things are looking better, because the way I feel right now...it sure isn't feeling like they're getting better! (sorry to vent, just had a crappy day)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sugar And Spice And Everything Nice
The u/s tech was awesome and very thorough! She couldn't technically tell us if things looked good or bad...it's against the law, so we have to wait to talk to the midwife about things this next Friday. She did say that she knew I wouldn't "nark" on her so she said that there was ONE picture that she couldn't get a clear image of and if we had to come back, that would be the only reason because everything was good and clear - and normal. It was wonderful to know that to her knowledge things looked good, but when I asked her about the SCH and whether it was still there or not, she said that she couldn't say anything, mainly because she didn't have my previous ultrasounds there to compare to. We did discover that Aralynn is still breach, which is odd for my children, because they've always been head down from the very beginning, but there is still lots of time for her to turn and is NOT abnormal when you look at the average pregnancy. Aralynn is also VERY low in the pelvis area, so she's literally sitting on my cervix and has her legs tucked under her bum...so kicking and wiggling would, I imagine, cause a lot of that pain that I've been feeling.
As for the u/s pics, you'll just have to wait till I can actually go downstairs and scan them in...that might take a while! Sorry about that!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Special Needs
There are also challenges that go with this sort of thing as well. How do you get others to understand? How do you help them cope? These are two questions swirling through my mind right now. He's causing trouble in the nursery, and they want me to tell them how to "fix it". The problem is...I have no idea! His whole world was thrown into turmoil this summer with the lack of structure to his schedule. It's not his fault, they know that, but there are other little children that they're worried about as well. I don't blame them. There are days I'm at my wits end with him, so I know that frustration very well. The only difference between them and me is I still love him very dearly at the end of the day (when he's angelically sleeping...LOL, just kidding, I love him regardless). My best reply to give to them when put on the spot? If he's causing that much trouble, please come get us, we totally understand (been there, done that). They are in the process of getting an extra nursery aid to help out in there (Ty isn't the only one with special needs and certainly isn't the most "needy"...don't take that as a rude comment, because it's not meant that way).
Earlier today, someone asked Celeste where mommy was. She replied something that sounded like "da bom". When asked to repeat it, it sounded more like "da bum". Yes, I am a bum, but I also like to think of myself at the moment as "da bum that is da bom" !! LOL, yes, I'm a nerd, that's ok - I'm at peace with that fact!!
Friday, July 30, 2010
LolliLocks Kids Hair Salon
We decided to go grocery shopping, so I got a "clown car" and drove around the store. The kids laughed and poked fun of me...which was great for my image, but today, for the first time since I've been driving those things, I had people jumping to help me out. I had employees getting things for me, other customers grabbing this and that...it was rather nice not getting smart-alec comments from people. I guess I should go shopping mid-day if I'm going to go at all. We got back out to the car and I had to take some pain meds. Not cool. We went to Sam's Club and then Costco, and then I made mom drive home. I started having contractions in Costco, and they didn't subside until after we got home (Costco is a good 25 minute drive from home).
After we got home, Tyler had a MAJOR melt-down. Think of an autistic child throwing a fit. This is Tyler. You can't reason with him, if anyone invades his "space" (about a 2-foot perimeter around him) he becomes violent, even if they're just trying to grab their toy that has landed near him, he doesn't like it one bit! A while after finally getting him calmed down, he came and sat by me. He started to get angry again and bit my arm. I bit him back...he got this look of total shock and surprise and couldn't figure out just WHY I had bitten him. He promptly stopped his crying and went and told on me. Nice (*rolling my eyes*).
And, apparently, when doing "science experiments", one time is NEVER enough to satisfy the imagination! I'll let you know MY experience and hopefully, your children will NEVER want to do this...
When your child unrolls the TP, and drapes it (still attached to the roll) into the toilet and flushes...it does NOT keep unraveling as it's being flushed...regardless of how many times the toilet is flushed OR how much TP is in the toilet. Yup, it's been a FUN day at our house!