My Mom is the BEST (sarcasm)

I am so pissed at my mother right now. I truly can't hardly see through the tears right now. She enrages me so much.

First of all, we normally get along pretty well. We have a lot in common, both math teachers, similar styles and a lot of similar views. We talk on the phone a lot, and hang out quite a bit. I could identify with the mom posts today and figured I had a bit to write about later tonight. Then I had a conversation on the phone with my mom and we got into a huge fight!

A bit of background, Owen's birthday is a week before the baby is due. Both kids were born two weeks early, so we figure we will either have a baby a few days old, or I will be on major labor watch. We can't plan a party at birthday place, because we may need to cancel at the last minute. So we need to have the party at our house. In order to make things easier we are having a cleaning lady the day before the party, we are ordering food, and in a total departure for me, we are ordering an ice cream cake instead of making it. (Maddie is two weeks later so postponing a week isn't a great option either)

Owen has gone to the same private school the last two years, they don't offer past kindergarten so the kids who have known each other for years will be moving on. His school also asks that you invite everyone so no one is left out, which I understand. Because he won't be seeing his good friends next year, and they will all kind of drift off I would like to be able to invite all of them. I figure we will include a note on the invite letting people know they need to call the morning of and see if the party is still on, this will maybe discourage some that he isn't real close to, also a home party may seem more boring than the bowling parties, gymboree parties that are so popular. But with kids and family we are looking at maybe 30 people (not counting parents of the kids we invite). That is a lot of people for our house.

The other morning I thought of a bright idea, have just kids in the morning, with a clearly defined time frame. Then have family over later in the day, and they can hang out, see the new baby if she is here, etc. Bud suggested that my mom bring T (same age cousin, bff) to the party with the kids, T would like hanging with the kids, my mom would like seeing the kids.

So today on the phone I asked her advice. At first she seem to agree, then shit got out of hand. She started going on about family only being allowed over for coffee and cake, and booted out, and getting all offended. I don't think my grandparents care about hanging with a bunch of 6 year olds, but whatever. So I pointed out that maybe people would be ok with it since I will probably have just experience labor and my whoo hoo will still be stitched, and they would be a bit understanding. To which she responded maybe we shouldn't have a party at all. yeah real nice. I got off the phone at that point.

I was fuming so I called back 5 minutes later and asked her if her opinion was really that it was better to tell Owen no party than for her to be offended. She went on about how we planned all our kids to be in May, so we should have thought about it more. She always complains about her mom being selfish and never thinking of her. I pointed out that is exactly how she was treating me, she was not thinking of me, my health or for the love pete, her grandson.

I don't think I was being unreasonable. So now we have this long process of her ignoring me til she isn't mad at me, and then pretending like it didn't happen. It is so irritating, I am proud of myself for calling her back and giving her a piece of my mind though. I swear she doesn't do this shit to my brother.

Noodles with White Sauce

I have been totally negligent is my recipes, so here we go. Both of my kids love pasta and I usually give them the option of what sauce they want to use. This is very quick, and I make it alot on Tuesdays when Bud has class. This is not the healthiest meal, but on those days you need something quick....

12 oz - 16 oz cooked pasta ( angel hair and the spiral noodles work well)
1C milk
1C mayo
1 package ranch dressing mix
Parmesan cheese

Mix the milk, mayo and ranch mix, then let it thicken for a bit. When the pasta is done and the ranch until it is the appropriate sauciness for your family. Then add Parmesan to your liking. I have never tried the bottled ranch for this, we keep a giant bottle of ranch mix on hand, so I can make just a little or a lot.

This tastes a bit like Alfredo sauce, and is probably just as unhealthy, but it is fast! And kids like it, so winner, winner chicken dinner.

Just do your job!

Bad news. Our dryer stopped working on Wednesday. As you all know with children, you can not let the laundry get the upper hand. If we skip more than a day we are in deep ummmm laundry. We have had issues with our washer and dryer off and on for a while now. One of the two keeps putting holes in our clothes, not helpful. So rather than fix the dryer we went out and bought a new set. And we bought a much better set, so hopefully we will have better luck. Now I can focus my hatred on our crappy oven. Personally, I shouldn't have to have feelings about my appliances. They should just do their job! Anywho, they will be delivered tomorrow.

We had another ultrasound on Thursday and the baby is about 4 lbs. Everything still looks good. I am sure the ultrasound tech thinks I am a cold person. They always say how cute she is, and really don't all babies look the same on an ultra sound? I don't really believe that they can tell if she is cute or not. I am sure she will be beautiful when she is born. The week after next I start going to the perinatologist TWICE a week. And my regular doctor every other week. It is really time consuming being high risk. Also expensive. The diabetes thing is going well, I haven't had any trouble keeping my number below the limit. However, I would eat a thousand oreo's if given the chance. Luckily my loved ones bring me many treats when the babe is born.

Babies!

How cute is my niece? My BIL and SIL seem to be doing really well. I am trying to come up with a great gift idea for them, something that will be really useful. But I know with each of my kids, whatever our lifesaver was changed. Owen loved the bouncy chair, Maddie loved the swing. We used the bottle warmer a lot with Owen, but only once with Maddie, diaper genie, not so much. Breast pump? a gift from the heavens.



With so many people having babies lately, and the new one on its way in the next 2 months or so I have been thinking a lot about how different it is after the first. I loved Swistle's beginning of labor post. Even more than the labor I just remember thinking "this is NOT what I expected".



I had a nice little picture in my head of what things would be like after Owen was born. For some reason I didn't really get my mind set on the labor, I just assumed that part would all suck, and I would be lucky if I lived through it. It is helpful to have low expectations. But somehow I expected a nice rosy glow after he was born. Instead, I always felt like I was doing it wrong. Don't ask me what "it" was. There are two incidents at the hospital that really stick out in my mind .......



1) Shortly after Owen was born, I nursed him for the first time. I think it went ok, but a few hours later (2:00am) he was hungry again, and didn't seem to be latching on right. The nurse was there and she was very helpful and encouraging. We tried a variety of different holds, and positions. Felt like he was having a hard time getting a hold of my nipple, she suggested ..... rubbing ice on it so it would perk up and he could get it. So there I am, with the nurse and Bud looking on while I rub ice on myself. Hot. So not how I pictured motherhood.



2) I got really nauseous the second night in the hospital. I woke up in the middle of the night and started throwing up. Well because of the stress on the various parts of my girly parts every time I threw up I also would pee, luckily I was wearing the giant pad they give you. Bud was asleep the whole time, then Owen started crying in his bassinet and Bud was still sleeping! I started crying in the bathroom, because this wasn't what I envisioned.

I now find these stories hysterical. At the time everything seemed so important, I wanted to have this nice memory to look back on. I now appreciate that I have a lot of funny stories to tell people.

I am I the only one that felt this way? It seems everyone else had a handle on what they were doing.

100/4 is not 30...... just sayin

So I have a brand new niece! She was born on Thursday to Bud's brother and his wife. They named her Isabella Grace, isn't that beautiful? She is only 5 lbs 2 oz and 18 inches, but my SIL is very tiny. She was about 10 days early, which is always nice. They had a lot of fertility issues and went through IVF so this has been a very long road.

It brings back memories of having Owen. Remember how different it is the first time? How you can just hang in hospital room, rather than being in labor and wondering how the older child is doing? When we had Maddie, Bud would leave the hospital room at 5:30 am so that he could go to mom's so she could leave for work. Then he would get Owen up and ready and take him to daycare when she opened at 7:00. Not quite as idyllic.

Speaking of idyllic, aren't pregnant hormones like being bathed in serenity all day long? On Thursday my glucose monitor stopped working, I have had it for 6 years (yes I replaced the batteries). So on Friday I called my doc so he could call in a new prescription for one. This morning I called to make sure he had called my pharmacy and he had. Then I asked about refilling my prescription for testing strips, I was told that insurance will only pay for one month at a time, which is a box, of 100 strips. Well standard practice is to test 4 or 5 times a day, which means I will run out 5 days before I can renew. The "helpful" technician informed me I can pay for some if I would like..... gee thanks. I pointed out it is mathematically impossible for 100 strips to be a month supply, but maybe math is not her strong suit. I understand it isn't her fault, but seriously she could have been a bit more helpful. Or at least understood the point I was making. If she had just said "yes, you are right you will run out. I suggest calling your dr and having him call in a more specific prescription for you" that would have been great. Rather than "yeah that's how it works I guess...hm". So clearly the best option is to cry about for 20 minutes, which I did.


But I have a new niece withe a head of dark curly hair.

Technical Difficulties

Yippeee we finally have our new laptop. On Tuesday it was only 40 minutes away, then they shipped it 10 hours away. I don't understand the shipping system, oh well. We finally got it on Saturday, the same day our other laptop developed a worm! So instead of Bud and I spending our time on Saturday working on separate lap tops, Bud spent his time battling the computer demons. He thinks he finally got it fixed. Keeping my fingers crossed. I have a bunch of lessons due by midnight tonight so I am sure I will be busy until late.

Mom took the kids overnight, so that is helpful. I got a decent night sleep, so that was good. Mom called a bit ago, Maddie was having one of her screaming fits. She rarely does that in front of other people, everyone thinks she is an angel. Usually she is, but she is stubborn, and feisty and when she is mad she goes into these rages. You can see she is trying to learn how to control herself, and you can see what a struggle it is. I feel so proud of her when she manages to pull herself together.


I have neglected recipes lately, also I have neglected cooking. I am sure cereal is a nutritious dinner for growing children. Another popular option has been "whatever you find in the fridge, that is not growing stuff". Yep low standard parenting, I am so proud. I hope this summer when we are both done with our classes we can get a system that works better.

Last weekend Owen and I made these brownies . They were so good, and Owen loves helping in the kitchen, instead of semi-sweet Owen made up a cup of random chips, milk chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter. I am sure brownies are on the gestational diabetes diet, right?

Catching Up

Wow, I guess I disappeared for awhile. Things have been super busy around here, my dad was in town. We had a lot of fun. And Maddie didn't cry at all around him, she hugged him and even gave him kisses. Of course, now he is completely smitten with her. Owen read him a few books with his mad reading skillz. We also had to rearrange all the freezer space for the great meat gift.

Mom ended up picking the kids up from school for us 3 of the 5 days last week. Bud and I are the coaches for a quiz bowl team. We have had playoff matches the last few weeks. We are now in the championship. So that was Monday, Tuesday Bud has classes until 9:30 pm, Wednesday I had a doctor appointment. Then Thursday was an appointment with the high risk doctor and another ultrasound. The baby looks great and is right on track growth wise. Then on Friday we had a memorial to attend. Whew busy week.

Also my birthday was last week and Bud got me this cute t-shirt. I like to display my dorkiness as much as possible, plus with the belly the calculator really pops. He also got me a gift certificate for a prenatal massage. I am so excited. We don't really do the valentine's day thing. I don't like going out to eat when there are tons of other people eating, it just isn't that romantic. We both have had a ton of work to get done, so mom took all four of her grandkids for Saturday night. Bud and I spent the evening grading and doing homework for our various classes. I have two online classes going right now, and Bud has a few 20 page papers due this semester. I am a bit ashamed to say that one laptop does not cut it for two people who are on the computer all the time. So we ordered another, I feel like such a consumer. It will be delivered tomorrow or the next day! I am so excited. I haven't been keeping up with some online things that I would like. I can't really tell Bud to do his paper later, I need to comment on various blogs. Luckily he is sleeping right now, he was up until 2:ooam working on school stuff.

Well Maddie smells like she needs a new diaper, so off to the trenches I go.