28 Weeks and Woe is the Glucose Test

First off:

This is my 105th post! Woot!

So anyways, back to 28 weeks. Ah, 28 weeks. It's an exciting week to be pregnant, let me tell you.

First up on the list is the amazing glucose tolerance test. To finish this test, first you starve yourself overnight, skip breakfast and mosey on over to the lab at the bright hour of 7am. I was starving, tired and cranky since I don't go to bed before midnight ever and getting up at 6:30am was a distant dream from the past. I also had to sweet talk Ryan into watching the Smartie as making her sit in the lab for over an hour is horrifically terror-inducing. He agreed to stay home from work for an hour or so until I got back. She is fairly docile in the morning as she doesn't usually get up until, oh, say 10am or so.

Turns out not bringing her was the best choice. Upon arrival at the lab, the only seat available was in the corner between a older bigger grandfather-ish type and an old lady that tried to kill me with a glare. It became apparent why this seat was vacant almost instantly. The grandfather-ish type had boundary issues (as in NOT staying in his own bubble) and the old lady had a killer losing-a-lung-hack cough. Whenever her sweater would brush against my arm, she would flinch back violently like she'd been stung. I felt vaguely insulted and wished I had been there a few minutes earlier to procure a better seat.

At any rate, they handed me the glucose bottle and bottoms up, it went down the hatch. That slop reminds me of Sunny D. I can't stand either. If they wanted me to go on a sugar rush, I could have inhaled 354 jelly beans for them in record time. Sure beats the ol' glucose slurpie.

It didn't take long for the rush to kick in. Being hungry and sugar rushed can make you a tad miserable I suppose. Mr. Grandfatherish Guy kicking me and Old Lady Hacker Cough Flincher sure weren't helping me any.

I brought a book to pass the time. Actually, it was kind of peaceful to have an hour scheduled to do nothing more strenuous than to read. Soon enough the hour was up. I went up and got my blood drawn, along with another few vials to check for any other issues. I was sick and shakey feeling, but not as bad as I was with Cailin two years ago.

I drove home and refused to talk to anyone but the toaster and some whole grain bread with natural peanut butter. I didn't want anything to do with sugar until at least lunchtime. Cailin slept in til 11am so I was able to have a rest. Eventually the sugar rush went away, but I felt the sugar hangover for the rest of the day. Maybe it was all the blood they drew too.... But I'm sure I have enough to spare at the moment.

By the way, I passed my glucose test. I do not have to endure the 3hr long glucose test again! Yippee!!

So, glucose and multiple blood tests done. Groovy. Next: Rhogam injection. Simply put, I have RH negative blood and my babies most likely have RH positive blood (Cailin does). The shot is an antibody so my body doesn't do anything funky to the babies since our blood types fight and argue and stuff.

Now, needles don't bug me at all. Finding parking at the hospital (and paying for it), waiting for three hours to receive said needle in an extremely dirty public area and having to wait to see if there's a reaction does. That's what happened when I was pregnant with Cailin. Understandably, I was not looking forward to the same kinda ordeal. This time, I either had to bring Cailin or leave her home with Ryan.

I was so scared of her touching everything in the hospital and getting some awful cold or something that I asked Ryan to watch her. Unfortunately, work has been crazy busy lately and he wasn't sure when he'd be able to take the afternoon off. I phoned the hospital and got the scoop on the situation. They've changed how they do things, and the whole procedure shouldn't take more than an hour - plus they do it in the maternity ward now. I decided to try it with Cailin after all.

After breakfast the next day, I packed Cailin up with the small stroller and bravely forged ahead to the hospital. I found parking instantly, yay for little cars! and wheeled Cailin up to registration. We were next in line. Up to the maternity ward (which was impeccably neat and scoured clean) where they ordered my shot and we had about a 20 minute wait. Cailin sat patiently in her stroller and played with the straps. For a while. Then she got out, sat on the couch and ate some cereal. Pushed the stroller around. Leafed through a magazine. When she started to get antsy, the shot arrived.

The normal procedure ensued (they stuck me) and since I've had it before with no reaction, they bid me adieu. I was so proud of myself for sucking it up and taking Cailin with me. She was the poster child of well-behaved. I rewarded her with a visit to the office to see Papa and Daddy. She had a great time. That was on Wednesday.

Today I had another prenatal appointment. Which means that Cailin cried again in the doctor's office. She's sure someone is going to barge across the room and give her a needle, I'm sure. They gave her a sucker at the end, but it didn't seem to help until we got back to the car and she went to town on it.

I'm now 29 weeks along - which means 10 weeks or less to go. Jellybean is measuring big for his age. Surprise, surprise. The doctor told me sorry, no little babies for me; this one is also going to be big. I'm measuring at about 32 weeks. I'm positive he's going to be a ten pounder.

My blood pressure is perfect, baby's heartbeat is strong (he's also incredibly wiggly) and everything looks good. I have another appointment in June to schedule a consult with the surgeon. And it's looking like they will bump Jellybean's birthday up even farther - to August 1st maybe. I hope he decides to stay in there until his planned birthday.

I've gained a total of 26.5 lbs. Whew! I thought that number was going to be a lot worse. I would have had to have a cry right alongside Cailin in the doctor's office.

Things I Didn't Know About Summer Until Now

Or, in other words, things I didn't know about summer when you have kids.

- Despite playing in water most of the day, Cailin gets absolutely filthy and requires a bath every night.

- Every night she leaves an impressive ring around the tub; again, despite playing in water all day.

- Kiddie pools and water tables double as nifty bird baths. In fact, the birds sit in the cherry tree and give Cailin heck until she gets out of their bathing area.

- Because of these newly discovered water toys, we're up to three outfit changes a day, plus jammies. The laundry piles up quick!

- For some reason, wherever Cailin finds water, she is also able to somehow find dirt. Becoming a scientific genius, she mixes the two to form mud. See above mentioned laundry.

- Cailin isn't that fond of ice cream and popsicles are definitely outside treats.

- Bailey insists on being wherever Cailin is and keeps an eye on her in the backyard. It's adorable. Cailin gives her drinks out of the water table.

- Stagnant leaves tossed out of the kiddie pool are absolutely perfect for rolling in. So says Bailey at any rate.

- Both Cailin and Bailey are permanently scented like tree sap. See above.

- Speaking of those sticky tree sap things, the poplars are dropping them like crazy and I have a billion or so to pick off the floor, furniture, kid and dog half a dozen times a day. The broom vac is full of 'em.

- Cailin is not scared of bugs at all. Or loud noises. Or much of anything.

- Cailin thinks cats are dogs and calls them 'puppies'. She also calls them into the yard, much to Bailey's chagrin. Bailey is terrified of cats.

- Bedtime is getting later and later because of all the extra daylight. It's hard to go to bed when the sun is still shining!

Happy Birthday Papa Ray!

If I'm counting backwards correctly, this would be your "53rd" birthday (or thereabouts). I have your birthday present all ready to go, all 27-wiggly-curly-tailed-pounds of her. She says she misses staying at your house. Did I mention it's thundering out here?

Growing up, I had no idea how much you did for us. Mowing the lawn, keeping the yard in order and building stuff for us - including a playhouse. It seemed effortless on your part. Now that I'm grown up and have a family of my own, I realize it's anything but effortless! It takes a lot of time and energy to keep up on things like yardwork (and the wishes of some demanding grandkids).

I remember going on trips in the big truck with you and talking your ear off, though probably not as bad as Dustin did. Hee! I remember sneaking cups of coffee out of your thermos because Gramma wouldn't let me have any in the house. Sorry Gramma, I was still getting that coffee! So much for it stunting my growth though.

Playing in the shop was a huge treat since it was mostly forbidden. Getting in trouble for watching the welding arc was fairly traumatizing though! And I'm very sorry for breaking all those welding rods too.

Growing up with you, we were able to do so much more than kids normally do. We were exposed to so much more - motor vehicles, horses, being safe around the dugout/lagoon, grass fires and countless others. I'm sorry we scared you when riding the little trike - enough that you took it back and got a little four wheeler instead! We had so much fun on that bike. Summer days were the best when you were around to supervise us since the ladies weren't too keen on it.

Summer also brought camping, and I'm very glad we got to go with you and Gramma on a few trips. I look back with the fondest memories of camping by the creek and playing in the mud. And being too scared to sleep under the window in the camper in case a bear looked in. I couldn't admit it to Gramma, but you knew what my problem was. I didn't have to sleep under the window after all, so thank you for that!

When I got all growed up, I followed along the same path that you did, working for the same company and with a lot of the same people. It was a great experience working in the same plant sites with the same people as my Dad and Grampa did before me. They had a lot of expectations of me based on who my dad and grandfather were, and I hope I lived up to their expectations and both of your high standards.

Thank you for the advice you've given me over the years. Thank you for looking after Bailey so much, I know she's a handful. Especially that burying of the toast in your bed and such behavior. For some reason we still love her, even if she is a huge pain. Thank you for kicking her in the bum when she tries to take food from Cailin. That is hilarious.

Speaking of which: just when you thought it was time to kick back and relax, the next batch of grandkids comes along with their demands! Thank you so much for building Cailin's playhouse, it just simply would not have gotten done if you weren't there.

We thought a lot about you on your birthday. I wish we could have been there to help celebrate and eat a bunch of your cake!

A Happy Reunion

So yesterday was kind of a hairy day. Cailin was wild, at best, for most of the day. Even taking her outside to blow off steam didn't stem the energy she was expelling. Bailey too was a little on the eccentric side, pacing and running about the house and yard, never settling in one spot for too long.

It was like they knew Ryan was on his way home.

I was pulling my hair out by suppertime. The kid and dog were doing laps around the house making as much noise as they possibly could make. I wondered a few times how creatures so much on the small side could produce the cacophony my eardrums were being subjected to.

Finally the hours ticked down and it was getting time to ready ourselves to pick Daddy up from the airport. Then he texted that the plane was delayed by 30 minutes. Not a huge deal, but that's another half hour Cailin would be up past her bedtime. Already acting like a monkey on glue, I wasn't sure how the walls would remain standing if she was up too late again.

I put up with their antics for a while yet, then gathered my pajama-clad dynamo and went to drop off movies before getting Daddy. I sighed in frustration looking at the clock. We still had 25 minutes to burn before Daddy even got off the plane. Going against my better judgement, I let the Smartie loose in the movie store. Oh boy.

You know that kid in the movie store that runs around crazy and tosses DVDs and candy everywhere, begs for chips and gets into everything and you think, "Lordy, I'm glad that's not my child"? Or perhaps, "Where is your mother"? Well, that was my child last night. She ran around collecting movies and tossing them around while I waddled and puffed after her, picked up her mess and waddled and puffed after her some more. Thank goodness she's cute and everyone thought she was hilarious. I did get some pitying looks though. Maybe because my pants were ill-fitting?

We managed to survive the DVD fury that was, got one movie out of the deal (free rental, woot!) and got strapped back into the carseat with only a little sweat on my brow. At which point Ryan called and said he had landed - apparently the pilot had really put a fire under it and they were only 15 minutes late instead of the proposed half hour. He suggested parking outside the door and he'd run out to the pickup so we didn't have to come in. I readily agreed, not too eager to release the Smartie in the airport after all. Security and such, you understand.

I had grand dreams of waiting for Daddy while the plane landed and sharing a beautiful family reunion in the bustle of the airport, but hey, sometimes real life happens. And this little beauty? Was on rampage mode.

Daddy was able to get out to the pickup before anyone threatened me with a towing, and was Cailin ever happy to see him! She talked to him all the way home, dancing and wiggling in her seat. Once we got home, I expected Bailey to be all over Ryan like white on rice. She politely wagged her tail a bit at him, and that was his entire greeting. She remained glued to my ankles instead. I had hoped that his homecoming would calm her unsettled behavior of the past week.

Daddy brought a few treasures home with him for Cailin. The first was his Care Bear from when he was a little boy back in Nova Scotia. Cailin took a liking to Care Bear right away. She made sure he was sitting upright, and packed him around the basement. When we asked her to give him kisses, she hugged him tight and gave him kisses:
She doesn't usually give kisses on command, so we thought that was pretty cool. Looks like she and Care Bear are going to be fast friends. In fact, when she did deign to go to bed (at 11:30pm oh my) she took Care Bear with her.

She also got a couple dinky cars - big rigs - that she played with instantly. Cailin's favorite though, had to be the book that plays music. Ryan got it when he was just a baby, and it still works! She sat in the suitcase and danced to the music as she leafed through the book.

Ryan was able to find his John Deere tractors and accessories, and got them shipped out from his grandparents' place. He marvelled over how he had played with these toys as a boy and how his son would play with them soon. I'm thinking Jellybean will have to fight Cailin for the tractors; she loves playing with cars and such.

Cailin has decided that next time Daddy goes somewhere, he's gonna be taking her too:
We're so glad that Daddy had such a good time while he was away. We're even happier that he's home!

Thunder on the Prairie

It was supposed to rain this morning. The sky clouded up, an almost chilly breeze picked up and it certainly looked like it was going to rain. I opened the kitchen window to let the fresh air breeze on in and got down to some baking.

I had half a dozen ripe bananas just begging to be turned into something useful. Failing useful, at least something yummy. I opened the cupboard and was hit by the wall of ripe banana stank. Yep, they were ready. At the late hour of 11:30am, Cailin decided to grace me with her presence and joined me in the kitchen. She devoured half of one of those stank bananas before I even blinked. Um, yum? I eat bananas half green and crunchy and not a second after that. But hey, each to their own.

I pulled her chair up to the counter and let her help pour stuff into the mixer. She promptly ignored what I was doing and played in the sink instead. Then she would put things in and out of the microwave. Occasionally she would peek over the bowl to see if the batter was ready for testing.

I made banana bread with chocolate milk this time. I have no idea how chocolate milk goes sour in this house, what with all the milk guzzling that goes on and all, but I digress. I also added chocolate chips, a real treat in Cailin's eyes. She got a few to sample, and helped taste the batter off the mixer. She said it was delicious. Well, in her own words. Into the oven it went and I focused my attention on using up some more fruit in muffin batter.

While I mixed up strawberry banana muffins, Cailin continued to play in the sink. She knows how to run the faucet and went to town flooding out that portion of the kitchen. I honestly didn't know how bad it was until the muffins were going into the toaster oven and I was able to see the damage. By the way, the toaster oven does work to bake muffins. Not well mind you, but it does work in a pinch when the oven is otherwise occupied.

Cailin then helped me wash baking dishes and helped to load the dishwasher. That went just as well as you think it did. One soaked kitchen cabinet, one soaked toddler, one soaked doggie and one soaked mommy later, we found ourselves on hands and knees towelling up water from under the sink and floor. Cailin thought the whole process was hilarious, especially the part where she stripped down to nothing and sat under the sink while I tried to mop around her.

Outfit #2 for the day was quickly put on. Once I got tired of Cailin chasing Bailey around with the doll stroller, I suggested going outside. Perhaps we could get some playing in before it rained. It didn't end up raining; in fact, the sun came out and heated up our already hot-from-having-the-ovens-on-all-morning house to approximately four billion degrees. I tried to leave the screen door open to get some air moving through the inferno of our house, but guess who would have none of that? The doors must remain closed in her eyes. Also? She wore one single pony tail today, her hair is long enough to fit!

So we played outside until someone started yawning her wee head off and I whisked her off for a nap. Bailey took the opportunity to become a real jackass; barking and jumping on and off furniture and pacing outside Cailin's door. I kicked her outside then thought, meh, why not join her? I sat in my comfy chair and enjoyed the sun and breeze. For all of five minutes. Bailey continued to run about the yard howling her head off. The neighbors across the back were being louder than necessary and were playing annoying tinny music. Then they lit up some pot, or a joint or however you say it and did the proverbial "pass it around" thing.

What kind of freaking neighborhood do we live in exactly? If one neighbor isn't trying to burn the entire place down, another is blatantly smoking the reefer in plain sight and yet more are trying to kill me with sleep deprivation via their devious evil cats or screaming children. And that's if even more neighbors aren't making all the damn racket they possibly can. I can't possibly think of a good reason to fire up the ol' pressure washer to wash rocks off the lawn at 9:00 at night. Or why the little kids three doors up should be screaming bloody murder on the trampoline when it's obviously past bedtime. And I'm talking my bedtime.

You know that old woman in the neighborhood that stands on the front porch waving her cane and yelling at everyone to behave their damn selves? That's going to be me soon. Minus the cane of course. Or... Maybe it could be useful....

At any rate, once the neighbors across the back quieted down for a blessed minute, yet another cat appeared and yowled its way across the front of the fence and settled down for a good yodelling session right in plain view of me. Bailey thought she'd do me a favor and run that 'ugly dog' off, but once she got close enough to see what it was, she tucked tail and ran in the opposite direction. Yeah, real brave, dog. Real brave. Actually, it's a great thing that she runs away from cats; she'll have a hard time getting a cat-related injury that way.

Maybe I'm just a grouchy pregnant woman complaining about all the noise and activity in the neighborhood (I refuse to refer to myself as crotchety or old). But then again, I pretty much felt this way about noise and being courteous long before kids were even thought of. Of course, I don't mind my own obnoxious half-beagle dog baying away in the backyard. Beats the heck out of screaming kids any day in my eyes.

So I phoned my dear grandparents and ranted about noise, fires, ant hills (don't even ask, we're being taken over) and cats. I may have gotten some sadistic advice about cat removal methods, but I sure appreciated it. Like minds and all that. Thanks, Grampa.

When Cailin got up, she devoured two slices of banana bread with a fervour even a pregnant woman couldn't compete with. I know, I tried. I did manage to get some rice and cheese into her as well. We played in the house until the darn doll stroller made its appearance again. After chasing Bailey with it for a while she went to the back door and said, "Peese!" Smart kid.

The wind was actually picking up now, and the clouds were moving in. Bailey had been acting skittish all day, and she took it to the next level now. I listened for thunder, but I couldn't hear any. Bailey swore up and down that she could hear it. I called her stoopid. Cailin played outside for a while, but it was obvious that she was a little chilly in the wind. She climbed the back steps and waited patiently for me to open the door for her.

Once inside, Bailey continued to pace, pant and generally be frantic. She's been like this off and on since Ryan's been gone and it's driving me crazy. Then a bright flash zipped across the sky and lit up the living room. Uh oh, I thought. BOOOOM!!! Yep, turns out Bailey isn't that stoopid after all.

Cailin continued her bath, had a snack, went to bed and didn't care a bit about the thunder. Jellybean doesn't seem all that worried this time either. During the last storm we had, he jumped as high as Bailey did when the thunder would crash and boom. I had it doubly bad; Jellybean was shaking in his boots on the inside and Bailey was swarming me from the outside. Thankfully this time it was just the dog, although really? That's plenty to deal with.

So now I have a very unhappy dog hiding beneath my foot rest. You know, just in case the thunder comes back.

I can't wait to pick Ryan up at the airport tomorrow.

Happy 60th Anniversary Nanny & Gramps!

Whew, it's safe to tell now. Last Wednesday Ryan flew out to the East Coast to surprise his grandparents on their 60th anniversary. Since it was a BIG HUGE secret, I wasn't to tell, mention or even hint about it in any form - whether texing, Facebooking or here on the blog. He was pretty worried I would let the cat out of the bag, but I didn't! Well, I did, but more about that later. I wasn't able to go because my doctor forbade me to travel.

Ryan started off his journey in Windsor to visit Grampy and Pammy first. I can just imagine their surprise when he knocked on their door! He got to see Nanny Pauline and have family dinner with her too. I still wasn't allowed to breath word of his trip since he was still going to surprise everyone with showing up in Moncton the day of the anniversary party though.

The very first day Ryan was gone I noticed the neighbors' house across the back suddenly had a smashed out window and their screen was laying against the house. I'm not sure if they locked themselves out, got a baseball through the window or were broken into. It kind of freaked me out since there were three police cars across the street on the other side of the house a few days prior to that. Seems like a little rash of crime has been going through the neighborhood. And this, just days after we turned down an offer for a very sweet (but holy, expensive) home alarm system.

Bailey took the opportunity to become Terrified of Something that night as well. I'm not sure if she heard thunder, or was scared of the balloon floating around in the living room, but she shook and shivered and acted all squirrel-y that whole night. I don't know how many times I was up with her. Ugh. That was the first night of 3-4 nights where she didn't sleep very well. Meaning we didn't sleep very well. Cailin was fine for the most part, but her teeth were bothering her so she was awake crying a few times in those nights too.

I think she and Bailey were both out of sorts over Daddy being gone. Bailey was for sure, and still is.

We did have a wonderful weekend at the farm even though sleep was scarce around these parts. It was dreadfully windy at times, but we had a blast playing outside. Cailin helped Papa rake and shovel rocks off the lawn and got to ride around in the wheelbarrow. Although having never seen a wheelbarrow before, it took her no time at all to figure out how to work it. She also taught herself how to throw rocks and had a great time doing donuts in her Little Tykes car. She helped Nana pick rocks off the lawn and put them in buckets to pack to the wheelbarrow. They had fights over whose bucket was whose, mostly Cailin would yell, "Mine!" and get both buckets while Nana had none. She played in her playhouse, walked both Buster and Bella and trucked around the yard after Papa.

We made a couple trips into Beaver City for supplies and such, and one emergency trip to replace a forgotten suckie for naptime. Bailey was so pooped by the end of the third day at the farm that she slept that entire night through. Cailin too, that fresh air really wipes them out. It was a great weekend.

I did have a little more neighborly excitement though. When we got home in the windstorm that was, I realized that the neighbors two doors down HAD LIT A FIRE in their backyard. It was big enough to see over the fence line. It wasn't just a little windy either, it was downright dangerous to have an open flame and the yard between us is filled with flammable goodies. Gas cans, paint, paint thinner cans, garbage cans full of leaves and all sorts of used engine oil in various containers. Bailey had an absolute meltdown over the fire - she's terrified of flames - and wouldn't stop barking at the neighbors as they visited over their flaming disaster while listening to some crappy country music. Now, I don't want to be that neighbor. The one that calls the authorities every time something is a little out of line on our street. This young couple is very nice, and they're getting married this summer. But I seriously thought about it as their noise and music irritated me and their fire scared me. Next time I won't hesitate to call the fire department. It wouldn't take much to have another out of control fire here in the province.

Meanwhile, Ryan made his way to Moncton on Sunday morning to surprise his grandparents at their anniversary party. Oh boy, did he surprise them! Sounds like they had a great time and great turnout, with 50 guests or so. When he called later that night, Cailin sure put on a show for Nanny June, Grampy and Nanny. She knows how to work my Blackberry better than I do, turning on the speakerphone and talking away to them for quite a while. Since the big surprise is over, I can talk about it now, yippee!

Now it's Monday. The sun is out, the wind is minimal and Cailin slept in til 11am. Breakfast was a quick affair, much slathering of the 60 SPF sunscreen occurred and we went out to work over the water table. I painstakingly cleaned the water table out only for it to fill up with grass and tree droppings almost instantly. Cailin doesn't care though. She stole my coffee mug and used it to play in the water. We were out there for a long time, until I got too hot and thought maybe we should get out of the sun for a while. I had to drag her out of the wagon to get her inside. She wasn't all that happy.

How I let the cat out of the bag:

A quick trip to the bank was refreshingly pain free and actually quick. On our arrival home, I wasn't even out of the car yet when I heard the yowling of a very angry cat. I gathered up my sleepy toddler and deposited the diaper bag on the front step to investigate the horrible noises coming out of the next door neighbor's tarp covered storage area thingy. There was a cat screaming in there, a lump moving around under the tarp. So I did what anyone would do, I poked a toe into that moving lump. It jumped surprisingly high into the air and another lump made a horrible screeching noise next to it. There were two cats fighting under the tarp. I got mad. I'm so sick of cats screeching under my windows when we're trying to sleep. I poked a toe into the other lump (cat) and yelled at them to get out of there. It took a few more pokes, but they eventually tore out from under the tarp and ran away. Not surprisingly, it's the new neighbor's cat that was one of the culprits.

This black and white beast is at the center of every single cat issue we've had this spring. Cat pooping in our yard? He's the guy. Cats fighting around our house? He's involved. I've driven in the yard to break up several fights now - all with this feline being in the center of it. It's not fair; I don't even have a cat! I don't want a cat, and I don't particularly like cats, why am I cleaning up after them and chasing them out of my yard?! I need some advice on how to manage this.

Oh! I forgot to mention my last prenatal appointment. I'm seeing the baby doctor now, I'm getting referred to the surgeon at 32 weeks and I've been bumped up a week according to my size and ultrasound. I'm now almost 28 weeks along. That means Jellybean will be making his appearance the first week in August. He's doing very well. I haz heartburn. I'm also grounded from all travel due to an episode I had back in March. No worries, Jellybean and I are just fine and everything's great. Just no travel for us until he's on the outside.

Birthday & Mother's Day Weekend

First of all, thank you everyone for your birthday wishes and your Happy Mother's Day greetings. They were all so very appreciated!

Cailin didn't feel good in the wee hours of Friday morning so we spent some snuggle time in the chair in her room until she could go back to sleep. Luckily she slept in a little. I didn't so much, I was excited for the day to start.

I bought a new cake pan a while back and decided to try it out for making my birthday cake. Now, I'm not sure why Cailin and Bailey act up when I bake 'serious' cakes, but they sure kick up a fuss. They handle regular baking with ease - muffins, cupcakes, cookies and cakes that don't require much/any icing or decorating. But alas, Friday morning found me frantically trying to manage a new cake recipe on its maiden voyage in my kitchen while wrangling an angry toddler and unmanageable puggle. I don't know how they know, but they know how to lay it on really thick.

Cailin really wanted to crack an egg and I just didn't want to handle the mess and that started her meltdown. At any rate, the cake batter went together nicely, and baked up just right. Maiden voyage a success! To ease Cailin's baking-fury, I unplugged the big mixer and let her spoon bits of icing off the beater with her finger. It kept her busy while I pulled the cake out of the oven and cleaned the tornado that had somehow hit my kitchen. And yes, I'm still waiting for my Mother of the Year Award. It should be coming in the mail any day now.

One horrifying kitchen mess aggravated by toddler help plus underfoot dog made for a not very happy mommy - but once Cailin was escorted to an early nap (she needed it) I sat down with my icing and finished the cake up:
Ta da! Orange blossom cake with classic vanilla buttercream icing. I was expecting the cake part to taste a lot more orange-y, but the flavor was pretty subtle. Everyone loved it, so I'm happy.

After her nap, I packed Cailin a picnic lunch to eat in the car and headed out to the farm. She loves having her lunch in a little tupperware container and she ate the whole thing! GG and Papa Ray were there waiting for us when we arrived. Of course, Bailey got to go too, and the second we hit the farm's driveway she mellowed right out. Not a bit of her morning mood or status came through.

It took Cailin a little bit before she warmed up to GG and Papa Ray, but once she did, they were in trouble. She's got them both tied around her little finger. She played with GG like crazy before we ventured outside to play. Nana got a new lawn tractor and Cailin loved to sit on it and 'steer' with the steering arms.
We played outside until suppertime. Cailin was such a stinker at the dinner table, teasing Papa Ray by putting her feet up on the table until he would tickle them. Then she was stealing his napkins and throwing them on the floor. Dad was eyeballing my birthday cake and asked if we were going to dig into it. Since Cailin had been begging for cake all day, I didn't see why we'd wait, even if it wasn't my birthday until the next day.

Cailin entertained us until I realized how late it was. Mom suggested that we both stay over to avoid the long drive home. I agreed since I'm all for avoiding deer and moose on the highway like the plague.

Bedtime started out promising enough. Cailin refused to lay down in the playpen while I was in the room with her, so I rocked her to sleep. I made sure she was sleeping hard before I put her down. At 2:30am, she woke up crying. I picked her up and proceeded to try to rock her back to sleep like before. Ha, ha. Not so much. After a while, I relented and put her in the big bed with me. She proceeded to kick me and elbow me while she flailed around trying to get comfortable. After a while she got off the bed and starting winging toys around, laughing like crazy when they would bounce off of me. She talked loudly during this whole session, and her favorite phrase was to ask me if 'B went poopoo outside.' Did I mention Bailey was also in the bed with us? Yeah.

Eventually Cailin woke Bella up and she started meeping to get out of her kennel. Nana got up to walk her and Cailin started calling for Nana quite loudly. I tried to keep her laying down on the bed, but it just wasn't happening. That kid was so happy and so excited to be at Nana and Papa's that she simply could not sleep.

After a few things hit my forehead, including my Blackberry, I made her get back on the bed. I was trying to doze a little bit between watching her out of my one cracked eyelid. She managed to get the lid off the Gaviscon bottle and pour them out in the bed. I put them back in the bottle and let her out of the room. She wanted to see Buster and Bella, so I opened the office door and there was Nana, trying to shush the dogs. Cailin was so loud she had woken them up. So I walked the dogs with the sun rising across the field and Nana had a cup of tea. It was 5:30am.

I was tired. No bones about it. After she had been up for a while yet, Cailin started yawning like crazy and I took her back to bed. She brought a noisy toy into bed to play with and I laid down and tried to doze again amidst some annoying toy noises. I woke in a panic realizing that Cailin was being quiet. She was sleeping next to me on the pillow, snoring softly. Bailey was snoring at my feet. Every time I wiggled away from Cailin she would snuggle right back up to me. We fell asleep snuggling in a pile with Bailey. I had a nap until ten.

I got up to a glorious morning and coffee on the deck. I left Cailin sleeping on the pillow and went to greet my 30th birthday. It was going to be a beautiful day. Cailin slept til eleven or so, and we had A&W for birthday lunch. I'm not proud to say she had a cookie and french fries with some milkshake for breakfast. Again, Mother of the Year Award is in the mail.

At any rate, there was lots of playing outside and walking around the farm. The Papas got to work building Cailin's playhouse that Nana had bought for her birthday next month. Ryan came out with my birthday present - a brand new polarized filter for my camera. I tried it out a lot over the next few days, but this one is my favorite:
Eventually Cailin went for a nap, it rained a bunch and Nana and Papa made birthday supper. Steaks and potatoes and veggies oh my! There was hockey watching, dining with good family friends and more pictures. Cailin got coated in icing from the leftover cake and was escorted immediately to the tub after dinner. She got the sillies and really performed for us again. Since she was sporting a bit of a cold (and still is) I decided to take her home for a good night's sleep. We both needed it. I was scared to try to sleep in the same room with her again.

It was such a good day, I was sad for it to be over. But the next day was Mother's Day, so I was looking forward to that too.

We got up late in the morning to go to Mother's Day brunch with family friends. When we got to the hotel restaurant it was a complete zoo. They had opened up a conference room for the reservation-ed people and it was packed. The line for the buffet wound around the room through the tables and nearly touched the back wall. There was a 45 minute wait for food. Eventually the line got as short as it was going to get, and I lined up to dish myself and Cailin some food. She hung back at the table with Nana and Papa and Daddy. 35 long minutes later and full of rage from the woman-behind-me's unnecessary comments, I made it back to the table and fed Cailin and myself some sadly mediocre brunch food. The line had gotten long again in my absence. Ryan, Mom and Dad refused to stand in the line for pricey substandard food and I felt really bad that only Cailin and I had gotten to eat.

I was absolutely disgusted with the whole ordeal and I wish I had known that no one else was going to eat. We could have and should have left! But we did enjoy visiting with the family friends that were with us, so there was that. When we did finally leave, the hallways were lined with people on either side right back to the lobby entrance waiting to get a table. What a fiasco. Never again. We're doing Father's Day brunch at the farm and avoiding the hell that was.

Cailin and I caught a ride out to the farm with Nana and Papa and were really glad to see GG and Papa Ray again. Cailin loves them, and went crazy showing off for them in her own way. Poor Ryan had to go in to work, so while we waited for him we walked dogs (Bailey had stayed home) and played outside. Eventually Cailin asked Nana to put her down for a nap and went without a peep.

During her nap the Papas loaded up her new playhouse on the trailer and drove it to its new location by the deck and patio. I chose a spot against the lovely pine tree. We were excited for Cailin to wake up and check it out. It didn't take long before she was up and out there exploring her new house. She carefully figured out how to work the door and its tricky spring loaded hinges. She played with the taps and sink, toted the phone around and definitely worked over the doorbell. At one point she convinced GG to come inside with her and thought it was hilarious that GG did!
We had another lovely dinner and an all-round great day. Cailin grabbed Papa Ray's finger and lead him to the playpen where he was supposed to stand around and watch her jump for an indeterminate amount of time. Which he did. She thought it was hilarious. They played in the living room with the car seat for a long time too.

We missed having Uncle Duster, Auntie Hedder and the cousins around, but can't wait for the weekend that we can all get together and share the farm with everyone. The kids are going to have so much fun playing on the extensive lawn (get mowing Nana!) and harassing Papa for rides in the Ranger. The next big event is Cailin's 2nd Birthday and it will be at the farm next month. Can't wait!

We said some sad goodbyes since GG and Papa Ray were heading home the next morning. We headed home ourselves and all slept in really late - except Ryan since he had to work.

We rolled out of bed, had a leisurely breakfast and rolled over to the playground in the new stroller. Cailin has no clue what a playground is. She didn't like the swings much, but the slide was pretty fun.

After nap and lunch, I finally put her water table together. No sooner than it was together and right side up, Cailin climbed aboard, sat in it and played with toys. I removed her from the table and filled it with water. She stared at me in disbelief - then a smile spread across her face as wide as it would go. Her little face beamed as she realized that yes, she was allowed to play in all that glorious water. And she did.

We had a nice little Monday. Missing you already GG and Papa Ray. Thank you so much for the fun and gifts and everything this weekend and all the hard work on Cailin's playhouse!

Puggle Tail

Once upon a time, long ago and far-ish away there was a magical place where Kraft Dinner and hot dogs grew on trees and Lucky Charms appeared in the pantry every night. It was called Auntie's House.

Auntie's House had two residents: Auntie herself of course, master of Staying Up Late and Making Messes and Feeding The Niece Junk; and a tiny wrinkled puppy named Bailey. Auntie and Bailey, for the most part, lived happily in the magical land of mud pies, no nap times and not-good-for-you-food. Although, for the record, Auntie does NOT eat hot dogs. Ahem.

Auntie loved Bailey fiercely, and Bailey loved Auntie back about the same. Things should have been peaceful and gone on forever, happily ever after-ish, except for one thing.

Bailey was a puggle.

Being a puggle meant that Bailey NEVER SLEPT. EVAH. Being a puggle meant that anything in sight was pinged on puggle radar, chewed and destroyed. Shoes. Carpets. Toys. Lilac trees. Fences. Baseboards. Electrical cords. Driver's seats in work trucks. Anything Bailey could reach ended up in her mouth and chewed to a thousand itty bitty pieces.

What Auntie really wanted more than anything was for Bailey to sleep at night. Bailey wanted nothing more than to not have to sleep at night and preferred staying up to play in the yard, have a snack or run around the house on destruction mode. There were long terrible fights between them that usually ended in sleepless-ish nights; Auntie in the bed with a pillow over her head and Bailey in the kennel howling her sad song of discontent.

Bailey went everywhere with Auntie, even to work. They were hardly ever separated and soon Bailey developed separation anxiety of the greatest magnitude during the brief breaks when they were apart. Like when Auntie had to go grocery shopping or to the movie store that had a strict no puggles allowed rule.

On several occasions Bailey managed to sneak out of the yard and cause Auntie no end of consternation and downright panic. One such time Bailey was found sitting under the neighbor's barbecue licking their cooking utensils, causing them to chime against each other and announce the location of the wily pup. Auntie marched up the neighbor's driveway and removed her greasy companion from the scene of the crime muttering curses all the while. In hindsight, she should have left a note for her neighbors so they would wash their utensils before using them again. Oops.

Time went on and still Bailey wouldn't sleep the whole night through. Christmas came, and Bailey pruned the Christmas tree to perfection and gently placed the chewed branches under Auntie's pillow. Auntie was not so amused. Bailey couldn't figure out why.

Bailey was going on two years old now and still couldn't sleep through the night. Auntie was very close to going to the puzzle factory. But then Auntie made an amazing discovery: if she let Bailey sleep in the big bed, Bailey would sleep much better and sometimes even all night! Auntie was ecstatic and heard a choir of angels after a few nights of real sleep. Bailey might snore or even let a toot out occasionally, but Auntie didn't mind too much. Usually.

Still, even though Bailey didn't sleep through the night all the days in a week, Auntie was glad to get more sleep than she had had in a few years. Bailey's midnight wanderings lessened to a few nights a week as time went on.

As is wont to happen, changes came down the proverbial pipe and Auntie's House was magically whisked away to a location somewhat south and a little east of its current position. Change often begets more change, and Auntie fell in love with Uncle RR who resided in the new Auntie's House.

As time went on, Auntie and Uncle RR took on more roles and added a second title to their names - Mommy and Daddy to Princess Cailin. As is fitting for a little family, Auntie's House was renamed to be The R's House. Bailey was very accepting of her new little Princess Cailin and loved her right from the day they met.

From that day forward, Bailey and Princess Cailin were never apart, sharing snacks, secrets and personal space. However, Bailey still hadn't slept through all the nights in a week yet, even though the tiny princess could and often did. Mommy (as she is called now) would laugh ruefully and say, "The baby sleeps through the night, but the dog doesn't yet." In the meantime, Mommy and Daddy were finding it very difficult to sleep with a wiggly, snoring, oft-times gas-passing puggle that took up more room than allotted. Something had to be done, but what?

One day in The R's House, it was decreed that "thou shall get a king sized bed to sustain peace in the kingdom". Always willing to obey the law, Mommy and Daddy took Princess Cailin to the magical bed shoppe and purchased said king sized bed (and bedding) and set it up. There was acres of room in the bed but it was discovered that Bailey could no longer jump up on the bed as it was too tall.

Daddy took a week of patient training to get Bailey to sleep in her very own puggle nest on the floor beside Mommy's side of the bed. Although extremely miffed, Bailey came around and began to sleep in her own bed with no prompting. In time, she came to love her snuggly little nest and would go to bed long before Mommy and Daddy did. She still did not sleep through an entire week however.

Time marched on (and whew, so does this story) and Mommy and Daddy began to prepare for the arrival of his royal highness, Prince Jellybean. They moved their room downstairs to make room upstairs for the little prince. Bailey, true to form, was completely whigged out by the arrangement and took days to calm down as her bed was now downstairs as well. Sometimes she would disappear at night, and be found sleeping in Princess Cailin's play tent which was in the approximate location of where her nest had been previously.

But then Bailey made an amazing discovery: she could use the carpeting as grip and jump up on the big bed! She had been banished for a year from the big bed, and now she was back. Daddy was not amused as he had thoroughly enjoyed his puggle free sleep for the past year.

War was waged. Daddy would banish Bailey to her bed at bedtime, but by morning she was usually able to sneak in the big bed without anyone knowing. Upon waking, Mommy and Daddy would be surprised to see a puggle spread out, taking up more room than allotted and oft-times snoring and worse.

After a while, Bailey didn't even bother with sneaking. She would simply jump in the big bed and stretch out wherever she felt suited her best at the time. Mommy didn't mind so much, but Daddy's head would get big and swollen and in danger of popping every single time he caught Bailey in the bed. And then? Finally it happened: Bailey went nearly two weeks sleeping straight through the night!

Daily battles are fought, but the war is far from over. Mommy watches bemused from a distance as Daddy struggles with the troubles of puggles and their sleeping arrangements.

Mommy is never amused however, when Bailey and Princess Cailin share snacks, whether intentionally or not. But that is a tale for a different day.

On Turning 30

Or alternate title: Call the Fire Department (that's a lot of candles!)

When I was a teenager, I dreaded turning 30. 30 was old! Old as dirt! 30 was wrinkles and grey hairs and one foot in the grave. 30 was the end of your youth; it meant minivans and succumbing to soccer mom-ness, high waisted jeans and the end of being cool. Anything about you that was hip died a horrible death when you turned 30.

I have a much different and educated view on 30 now. I may have found a grey hair the other day (either that or it was very blonde) and high waisted jeans have nothing on maternity jeans (let me tell you) but turning 30 ain't so bad. I have some wrinkles around my eyes, but that's because I laugh a lot and love the sun. 30? Isn't old.

Five years ago, I turned 25 (duh). I was very excited to turn a quarter century old, and put a lot of unrealistic expectations and goals on the upcoming year. It turned out to be the worst and hardest year I'd ever been through. I was in an accident that nearly claimed my life. I remember thinking that this was completely going to mess up "My Plans".

Turns out, the best way to make God laugh is tell Him about "My Plans".

Recovering from that accident was difficult. I will never be 100% again of course, and I carry a new diagnosis of Degenerative Disk Disease (DDD) in my lower back (yowch) with me everywhere I go, but I'm here and that's the important thing.

Every single one of those days since then has been a gift. On bad days when I'm pulling my hair out and being driven crazy, I remember that, 'Today is a gift.' I almost wasn't here to have those bad days. I would go through it all again in a heartbeat to have Ryan, Cailin and Jellybean in my life and I know how very blessed I am to have my little family.

So is turning 30 a Big Deal to me? Not really, and at the same time, yes. It's just a number, though I am glad to have the chance to have another birthday. I know people put a lot of emphasis on the passing of their 20s and embarking on a new decade, and celebrate by taking elaborate vacations and such, but that just isn't me.

While I would have loved to take a trip to Hawaii, I don't need to celebrate a milestone birthday to do that. I just need lots of money and time. Since we don't have much of either to spare, this will have to wait. I have a feeling that Disneyland is going to come first though. Kids will do that to you.

I also would have liked to use my 29th year to work my butt off (hee!) to get fit and healthy and lose a bunch of weight in honor of my 30th birthday, but being pregnant and all.... Well, maybe for my 31st birthday. It's going to happen eventually; I want to be really healthy for my kids.

This I do know: I'm going to celebrate in my own style. As it turns out, that means wearing flipflops and sporting a fairly big baby bump. With a large piece of cake in my hand. Shared with Cailin of course.

They don't tell you what life will be like after having kids. They don't tell you that you will organize your memories into those of Before Kids and those of After Kids. That you will split your life into those same categories.

The best part about turning 30? It will be the year I will have completed my family; both my kids will be here and we will have been married for two years. Bring it on, 30s. I'm ready for you (but take it easy on my back okay?).