Yesterday started with Evan saying to me at the breakfast table, "Mama, you nice Mama." Isn't that the sweetest? I worked from home in the morning so that James could go to court and then I giddily drove to work at 11. I was just so happy to get out of the house untethered for a while.

Last night, we went to dinner with Jen, Jose, and Jasmine. It was a nice time. James was playing with Jasmine and Evan got super jealous. He said, "That my daddy." and then went over to wrap his arms around James. I think it made James feel really good. I love it when Evan tries to enter the adult conversation. Jose said something about not needing 2 1/2 of something. And Evan jumped in, "I two half." LOL. He also jumped into our conversations about movies, "I saw Marley! I saw Marley!" It was a nice time.

Evan woke up this morning crying about his "bug." He picked up this plastic bug (looked like it would glow in the dark and go on a ceiling) on our walk two days ago. He must have set it down to crawl like a dog. He kept saying, "I lost my bug." Poor kid. Maybe he can find it today. If it didn't blow away.

The wind woke me this morning. It was really blowing. They said on the way in that some of the gusts were measuring 80 mph! There was trash and trash cans all over the neighborhood this morning.

It will probably be a long day today. Not much going on. Still in a holding pattern at work...will probably last at least through Inaugeration.

Dog Days

Whew. I am glad it is Sunday. I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow. Sadly, it will be a little late because James has court so I have to work from home in the morning. I will be one of the only ones there still though--because most people (who don't have to save their time for maternity leave) are taking both weeks off.

Today, we took Evan to see Marley and Me. It was a pretty good movie. Evan was getting a little restless the last 30 minutes or so, so I didn't get to pay as much attention as I would like. Evan really like the parts with the dog. He really was a bad dog. Worse than Daisy...lol.

Evan is firmly entrenched in playing make believe. He likes to pretend that he is a dog. A lot. He will bark to strangers and keep it up regardless of what you ask him. Evan and I took Daisy for a walk and Evan crawled a good block on his hands and knees...because he was a dog. Good times :)

We are watching Toy Story. It seems to hold Evan's attention. And like most kid's movies, it is pretty short.

It has been a strange sort of holiday. Exciting for Evan to have his Christmas and all that comes with it. But lonely for me too. I am sure it is partly the hormones. Partly. I am sort of lonely though. James just left for work and I have the Notebook on. I need to go to bed though.

Mom, Emily, and Brandon came over to celebrate Christmas with me and Evan. An abbreviated family celebration. Evan sure liked his new gifts. A workbench from Grandma and Grandpa, a Thomas the Train tent from Emily, and a Thomas the Train hay loader from Madeline. We went to lunch and then Mom came with me and Evan to urgent care for his latest ear infection. I am sure it was thrilling for her :) It was very nice to have the company though. Evan has really been button pushing lately. Or maybe I have been less patient.

As our evening wore on, Evan played with his ear more and more and then I realized that there was fluid coming from it. So either his tube came out or it finally unclogged. Poor kid was in a lot of pain though. Hopefully the Motrin will help tonight. He was still claiming it hurt an hour after his full dose though....I gave him some acidophillus for the placebo effect...and it can only help the issues the antibiotics cause.

I haven't eaten anything in about two hours and I still have heartburn. Yuck. I bought a bassinett on a whim today. It was 50% off at Target. I am a sucker for the red sticker. It will be nice to have a place to put baby in our room for the first couple of weeks. Oh well, I suppose it is time for a snack and bed.

Christmas

This morning was an exciting one here for us. I went in at Evan's (very vocal) insistence and Evan said, "Santa didn't come." I told him, "Yes, he did!" And he was shocked and excited. You can see the fun that followed.

I am feeling a little down right now. The letdown after the excitement of presents, the sugar slump, hormones, feeling lonely. James has to sleep all day in preparation of tonight's work. I have some cooking to do as well.

Evan seemed to enjoy his Christmas, so that is good. It just seems like it is going to be a long day, and a long, long weekend.

Ah, the joys of pregnancy

Last night, I woke up literally choking on stomach acid. I coughed so hard I wet my pants. Gotta love pregnancy.

I did pass my glucose test. Great! Who wants a modified diet while pregnant? No, thank you.

There are about 5 people here at work today. There is nothing for me to do. I am waiting for a phone call/email from an agency that will probably not come before the holidays. I am pouting because James and Evan are out to lunch with David and Linda and I would rather be with them then stuck in here. Boo.

Tonight, I have a couple more gifts to wrap and cookies to make for Santa. I am going to work from home tomorrow, but have much more to do tomorrow.

Odds and Ends

We had a nice weekend. A little crazy since James was out of town. I had a lovely time with my little sister, Madeline, who came to visit. She and I made Penne alla Vodka and watched a movie. It was really fun. I was thankful that she was there too to help keep the loneliness away. Saturday was busy with lunch with Madeline and Kala and then making some crafts with Evan. Sunday, Jen and Baby Jasmine came over to have lunch. Evan was very excited to see them. He has a special place in his heart for Baby Jasmine. He is very good about sharing his toys with her (too good...he plunked his back pack about an inch away from her face...lol). James came home after that and it was good to have him home. Evan was very happy to see his daddy after the weekend.

We were trying to think of something we could do with Evan to get out of the house that wouldn't involve a shopping center of any kind (they are crazy right now!!). So we decided on Chuck E. Cheese's. I haven't been there since I went for a birthday party when I was a little kid. Eric Smith's shoes got stolen while we were in the ball pit. :( On our way, I mentioned needing to go to Target at some point. At which point, Evan started yelling, "I want to go to Target! I want to go to Target!" and crying. Definitely my kid. I am pretty sure he associates Target with toys. We had to convince him that we were going to someplace better than Target. He enjoyed CEC... rode a bunch of rides, took dad for a climb in the tubes, ate some crappy pizza. It was fun. I got a little crazy at the gambling type games where you have to hit the button at the right moment and you will win the jackpot of tickets. LOL. We won 113 tickets all told, which got Evan a plastic spider and a rubber frog. (Did you know that spiders make clicking noises when they chase you?) When we got back in the car, Evan wanted to go to Target, so I did the old bait and switch and told him we would go get ice cream. Win-win! (What? Ice cream when it is 11 degrees? Absolutely!)

Today was back to work and a busy day that went quickly. I had my 28 week appointment at the OB's office. We discussed the risks and benefits of a VBAC. She is very supportive of the decision, and I am trying to remain flexible because who knows what will happen in the next three weeks. Best laid plans and all. I had the glucose test today...blech, flat orange soda that you have to drink 10 oz. of in 5 minutes. But baby liked all the sugar, and her heart rate was up another 10 bpm today. LOL. Measuring 29 cm (normal). Gained 6 lbs since 4 weeks ago...but I am sure that some of that was today's lunch. LOL. 21 lbs total since my first appointment 20 weeks ago. She said she doesn't know where I put the weight (I told her it is in my butt).

Some excitement for my Wednesday

I started having some mild contractions this morning at work. Some tightening with some cramps. After 7 in an hour, called the doctors. The nurse said that no doctors were in this morning so that I should go right to Labor and Delivery at the hospital. Yikes. That sort of freaked me out. So I drove myself down there and got all hooked up to the monitors. Yep, having tiny contractions. The midwife there said that my uterus was "irritated." Couldn't find a reason why, no bladder infection, etc. My cervix is fine. So after about three hours, they sent me away with the instructions to come back if it gets worse.

Still feeling them now and then. But not worse. So there. I am glad all is well. Baby was moving around like crazy! She is still little enough to really flop around. First the head was down, then the feet, then the back, then the butt. So really moving.

Updated: Oh and I found out that I got a 77% on my final. Not good. But combined with the scores that I got the rest of the semester, I got an A in the class. Go me!

My pants are mocking me...

Yes, with every step my corderoy pants are letting me know that my thighs are bigger this week than when I bought them a couple weeks ago. Oh well, right? I am supposed to be bigger.

Yesterday, Evan was worried that it was going to be a school day and was very happy that we got to stay home. He sat next to me on the couch and said, "Mama, I am so glad you home." It cracks me up when he tries these new statements out for the first time. We braved the below zero temps and bad roads to go to the Museum yesterday. Evan had a lot of fun running from room to room to see all of the dinosaurs. When he got mad at James for something he yelled, "I not see you again, Dad-E!" It makes us laugh. When he gets really mad at James it isn't "daddy" it is "Dad-E".

Last night, I had a bunch of cookie cutters out to make some presents for co-workers, and Evan was playing with some of them...making them talk and such. It became evident that his religious training has not begun when he insisted that the angel shape was a duck. LOL.

I am still recovering from this weekend. Body is sore and I am tired. Hopefully, bed will come early tonight!

Graduation

James and I graduated today. I am much too tired to enter in a description of the whole event, so I will 'sum up.' (Name that movie..). Woke at 5 and started lunch. Got my foot squashed by Sasquatch in high heels. Got my graduate degree. Woo hoo! Saw my husband get his BA after 8 years of hard work (school and otherwise). Double Woohoo! Had a nice little miniparty with my family. Got screwed by Michaels.

The best part of the day was by far that Evan was convinced that since we were all together and there was "cake" that it was his birthday. We even sang to him and let him blow out some candles. Hilarious.

Anyhow, I promised you my squinty-eyed monster and Santa (who looks a little like Mickey Rooney, I think):

Strange day already

I parked in our parking garage at work and was walking to the stairwell when I heard a crash. Our parking garage looks out over Speer and Cherry Creek. I looked out to see a car out of control head nose-first into the Cherry Creek. Luckily, it landed rightside up and didn't go into the water, but that is like a 9 foot drop at least from the road. I called 911 immediately, as the construction workers in the parking lot below me ran to the car. Those kind souls even waded through the creek to get to the car! They started trying to open the door or crack the window. I told the 911 operator about the scene unfolding. She had to ask some questions that I had no way of seeing from there, like how many people were involved. But I did have a pretty good vantage point. Luckily, there is a fire department about a block away so rescue was there quickly. And thankfully, no one was seriously injured. I guess one car clipped another (the first crash I heard) and spun this car out and down the embankment. Yowza.

Next up, I walked to the Convention Center to pick up our caps and gowns. It is a hefty walk for someone who is almost 7 months pregnant. And it is COLD! I got there and was told I was too early. But these nice ladies took pity on me and let me pick them up anyhow. Big day tomorrow! Graduation!!!

Evan was a hoot last night. He was in a pretty good mood until he realized that his gingerbread house was gone (I tossed it because he had eaten most of the candy and it was falling apart). He kept asking for his "Wafflehouse." LOL. I know he cared more about the candy than the house, so I plied him with candy. Which was a mistake because then he wanted more and more. Soooo. I asked him if he wanted to help me make the corn muffins. He actually really likes to help me make things. So he was so excited. And he ate two corn muffins for dinner (but nothing else). During dinner, he stood on his chair and put his leg up on the chair behind him. "I'm doing ballet," he said. Crazy kid.

This morning he told me that it was still dark, so he wanted to stay in bed. Not that I blame him. I told him that if he stayed, Daisy would have to get him his juice. He thought that was funny. "FUNNY, RIGHT GUYS?" So he came with me. But kitty cat stayed home to wait for him today.

Dreams...

I am 26 weeks pregnant now. Still feeling pretty good. Night before last I had a dream that my baby girl was born (without much effort, I might add) with really long red hair. She looked a little like the Cornsilk Cabbage Patch Doll that Emily got all those Christmases ago from Grandma. Last night, I dreamed that the baby was born, but SURPRISE! it was a boy. Man, that threw me for a loop. I started thinking about how weird that would be. I would love a little boy...but after planning for a girl, that would be tough.

Today, we had our faciliated discussions on race. There was a study done at my work that showed that African Americans are rated lower than their white counterparts. At my organization. So, this is their answer to the problem. We are going to get together to talk about race. I really expected it to go a little like this:


It wasn't quite that bad. Some good discussions. And after watching that video...I really noticed that Steve Carell has gotten some major hair plugs since the first season. I guess they are paying him pretty well.

I don't have any funny Evan stories for you. Last night was relatively drama free...which is good for us, but makes for a lot less funny stories. He took black Kitty Cat with him to daycare today. He leaves it in his "covey" (cubby) all day though. I look forward to picking him up this afternoon. He says every afternoon, "Mama, you come back?" Yep, sure did!

First post of a new blog

This is my first post of my new blog. I have had a blog on myspace, but don't really keep it current. And sometimes I am too busy or too tired of writing (for work or school) that I don't even bother. I wanted to have a place for my "mom-type" thoughts that only those who really care would want to read. And then I will have a record of all the cute things my boy is saying or doing.

The title of my blog shouldn't be a mystery to my family. I figured this is one place where it is really is all about me. LOL.

This blog (and others following it if I am going to be honest) will be barebones. I don't have the time or the photography skillz to upload a picture for every thought. You might get lucky every once in a while.

So yesterday sucked pretty bad. I got a flat on my way home. Tore my brand new tire. Had to buy another for $200. Grr. But the upside of that was that we spent about two hours at the mall waiting for the car to be done. And Evan got to see Santa. When we were standing in line, Evan was waving to Santa, but when I mentioned to him that he would have to go sit on Santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas, he got very shy and hid behind my legs. So we were expecting a repeat of last year:

(Ooooh, look, a picture!!!). Instead, when it was Evan's turn, he ran toward Santa and climbed right up on his "yap." And I guess he whispered that he wanted Choo Choo Trains....luckily for him, he is getting some. And when it came time to smile for the picture, he did his silly little squint that he thinks is smiling. Can't wait for you guys to see that one.

Then we headed up to the food court for some dinner. Evan is hard to please in places like these because they don't typically have Mac and Cheese or Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches. So James and I ordered at Chick Fil'A and figured he would eat some french fries. The kid must have been hungry because he ended his months long No Meat phase and grabbed a chicken tender right off of James's tray. He ate two pieces of chicken and then french fries. And then he wanted a "chocolate pretzel." No such thing, so I got him some equally delicious Cinnabuns. Our evening ended on a bad note though when the Moo got angry in the car about the fact that no one would put his shoes back on him. This continued through the car ride, the walk inside, time out for hitting, walking upstairs, getting ready for bed, and eventually some "calming down" alone in his room. He kept screaming, "I calm, I calm, I calm!" James and I had a hard time keeping a straight face when he was just screaming as loud as he could. As you know, there is nothing worse than people laughing at you when you are PISSED. But I got the giggles anyhow. We kept saying, "who is this kid?" Apparently, this is three year olds???? Xenu save us.

Anyhow, a doozy for my first blog here. Hope you enjoy! Come March, I bet I have tons of time to blog! LMAO.