Far Sighted

After like 15 years, my eye prescription has apparently changed.

"I'm not surprised," the young Dr. Baker surmised," after all, when you get older, you get less near sighed and more far sighted...that's why as people get older they often need reading glasses."

Dr. Baker, who looks like he's 12, seems to be an expert on what happens as we get older.  I was also tested to make sure I didn't need bifocals.

What?  Did I miss something?  When did 36 become..so old?  I mean, it's not even half my life expectancy.  Sure, I remember when my Mom was this age and I thought SHE was OLD.  But that's different... I try and listen to hip music and use purses that aren't from the clearance grandma shelf..well, that may be a bad comparison because I do see LOTS of mature women with Vera Bradley.

I've said before, the age thing doesn't bother me.  Or even the look thing.  Sure, I see an older version of me which I'm not excited about it, but I don't obsess.  But things like this certainly drive it home.  It's my world anymore.

Or, as Todd thought, maybe he just wanted to sell me some more glasses.  It was pretty expensive. I wish that were the case.

Oh, and Dr. Baker?  The "great" eye surgeon you sent me to failed.

"That really surprised me," he said.  "He IS the best."

Yes, you said that last year.  So did your assistant.   And all his assistants.

"I can send you to someone else," he said.  "But odds are, they would screw up the same thing...  but you really want to consider having it done because it's just going to keep getting worse."

Yeah, I heard that, too.   Many times.  Next year, I said.  After I have the baby.

"Yes, I'll finish up here," the smart and nerdy Dr. Baker joked, "and you can resume being pregnant."

"Resume?" I joked back, as I can have a geek sense of humor, too, " I can tell you, I never stopped."

We had a nerd chuckle and he had me lean forward to look through his machine.  You know, where they say "1 or 2" and you're stuck wondering why you see no difference between the two lenses.  Especially, as every time I had to lean forward to look into an eye machine, I could hardly catch my breath as little Miss has been sending more and more time lodged in my lungs and just that movement takes away even more lung capacity.

Which is why I almost got no sleep last night.  I'd fall asleep for a minute and wake up trying to catch my breath.

"Not long!" Todd said this morning to cheer me up.

Nine weeks, I said... no, he said less than that.

EIGHT weeks I realized, with a bit of a change of heart.  Because that's even scarier...we are going to have ANOTHER BABY in 8 weeks....  I'm kind of not in a hurry.

I'm allowed not to make sense.  I'm pregnant.  And ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE.  Did you forget that part?

St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday, we drove out to Camden, which is about an hour away to see their annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.  Travis Bliss invited us and I was hesitant because of the cold, but he assured me we would be at someone's house if the kids got cold.  And they had never been to a parade.  So we decided to try it out.  I am so glad we did.  The kids LOVED it.

Turns out, we were at Corey Bliss' future home, the former home of his fiancee's grandmother right on Main Street.  They had a fire barrel going, which I guess in Camden, no one cares about for St. Pat's day, with chili cooking and a whole spread inside.  It was mostly her family, but everyone was friendly.  The kids sat right down at the food table and Abbey planted in front of the cupcake stand and started eating the frosting off them.  I had to cut her off pretty quick.  Adam started going through the brownies.  Todd likes to joke I don't give them the good stuff so they hoard when they have access.

The parade started and they each had bags for candy.  The yard was full of snow and it was really muddy next to the curb.  Adam didn't care, he was digging for it.  Abbey was most interested in the music.  She was dancing to everything!

Love the look on Adam's face... he's got his Dad next to him holding his bag.

Abbey waiting for something interesting to come.  We had to stop here from dancing down the street. Travis gave his brother Cory a hard time about the mud, she he came and shoveled it. Made things a little easier!

Mom, please don't bother me with the camera... I have candy to get!

Afterwards, we hung out inside.  Everyone was really friendly and didn't seem to mind we had two toddlers running around.  Most places, I really can't relax because there's always the fear they are going to get into stuff.  But everyone was kind of looking out for them... I sat in the dining room and didn't have to worry like I usually do, especially at people's houses.  Adam was busy making friends with the cute teenage girls, sitting with them and watching basketball and Abbey was putting party hats on everyone.  Besides one little freak out when we came inside and the living room was really crowded and Abbey didn't want to take her boots off, they were really well behaved and had fun.  I was so glad that we went.  We don't get have a lot of those occasions, a house full of people for the kids to adapt to and hang out.  And needless to say, they LOVED the parade.

Spring Is Knocking

Yesterday, I took Abbey to the library story time for the first time in a while.  I didn't realize it had been months until I got there.  The librarian came over and mentioned it had been a while.  I told her I was pregnant and that had knocked a lot of the energy out of me for the winter.  There is a huge banner hanging there that says "Spring has Sprung" and kind of kicked me in the behind how much time had passed sine we had been there last. Spring?  When did that happen??  It seems like it was JUST Christmas.

I had just had my OB appointment and was very happy to learn that I did not have gestational diabetes again.  I didn't realize how worried I was when I had failed the first test until the doctor told me and I felt a huge weight lift off. ( I was, however, once again advised that my uterus was measuring weeks bigger than it should be and that they would probably be doing another OMG big baby ultrasound down the road.)  It's not that I always assume the worst, but really, statistically, with having had it before, my age, my history and having high blood pressure, I should've had it.  Nice to have some good news after a week of bad news.  The only thing?  Now I won't be induced... I liked "knowing" when I was having Abbey!

So as we sat down to listen to the stories, I started to think about everything between last fall and now.  Abbey's behavior is a lot better.  She did not constantly try and bolt.  Did she get up to go look at the fish?  Sure.  But she wasn't running away.  And when I asked her to come with to the story corner from the toys, she wasn't thrilled, but there was no tantrum.  Her behavior has really improved, between the stand I knew I had to take after Christmas, her ability to communicate more and her getting older.

The last time I had taken her to the library, I remember someone asking me how old she was because she didn't talk and I remember I was still in the defensive stage, worried something was wrong with my kids and not sure how to deal with it.  That consumed me until mid-December.  Now we just know, they have a language delay, we are working on it, and they'll be fine.  Obviously...since now Adam never stops talking hahaha  Adam started speech therapy a few weeks ago and is doing great.  He picks up quickly.  He's pretty smart.

And way back then, I wasn't sure how I was handling another baby.  The pregnancy was relatively new and I hadn't been telling people.  Now, if you can't tell when I walk into a room, you're blind!

I feel older and a bit wiser than that version of me.  It seems like the last 4-5 months flew by.  Actually, time itself has sped up every single year since I had Adam.

When I think about 11 more weeks, it feels both like a long time (yes, I have scary weird rashy back-acne, I limp like Humpty Dumpty and I get tired after doing ANYTHING) and really close.  To think everything will change in just over 2 months is kind of intimidating!

Adam's Valentine Day Sledding Party

I have a confession...I have never taken my kids sledding.  Sure, we go outside.  But sledding?  First off, I'm not fond of it.  I broke my leg sledding and while I'm not scared, it lost it's fun.  Second, there was no way I could picture myself keeping up with the two of them, especially with Abbey's love of taking off.  But on Valentine's Day (actually February 15), Adam's school combined his class party with a sledding party.  I left Abbey home and went for it.  Wasn't sure what Adam would think.  Guess what?  HE LOVED IT!

I was fortunate that the TA, Mrs. Pelow helped me out because I had gotten round enough where going up and down probably would have resulted in a Humpty Dumpty type spill.  Adam even loved it when he fell off.  He couldn't get enough!  He was GRINNING from ear to ear.

And here's a class photo...see Adam on the end in the front with his monkey hat? :)

Afterwards, they had a Valentine's ice cream sundae party.  It's funny because Adam is actually a fairly neat eater with most things but boy, does he dig into ice cream or cake.  

Milestone Day

 I am aware that sometimes when my kids reach a milestone, it can be one for me, too.  Last Wednesday, I took Abbey with me to drop Adam off to school for the first time.  It may not sound like a big deal, but I'm not just walking him to the door.  There's a whole procedure which includes him getting his name tag, putting it on the fridge hanging to show he's there, hanging up his coat and bag, putting hid folder in his mailbox and then finding his seat, where he has to practice writing his name and I help.  And then I would always guide him into playtime and help him socialize well with his peers.

I had started leaving the week before before play time was over.  I knew it was time to let him stand on his own two feet learning how to socialize and the teachers thought so, too.  He's come along way.  This would be the first day I left right away.

With Abbey, there's always the concern with whether or not she'll act out.  As with most two year olds.  But she's been doing better and I knew it was time.  She walked right into the classroom and helped herself to a lollipop.  While I wasn't thrilled about this at 9am, I know when to pick my battles.  She was kind of walking around while Adam did his routine, me stressed and hurrying him, waiting for her to get into something.  But the lollipop turned out to be a great distraction and when we sat down to do Adam's name, I was able to make her sit with us because she knows she has to eat sitting down.  It went well and then I left.  I felt bad, worried that Adam wouldn't have me as back-up to help him through play time.

I decided to take Abbey up to Barnes and Noble, something Adam and I did a lot when he was little.  She has been doing better and she is even better when it's just her and me.  Do you think she was happy to sit at the cafe with me and eat a cookie?

Afterwards, she was much better than I expected....she did run around some, but she didn't take off like she has the last few times we went there.  I could keep up with her.  And in the kid's area, she was quite taken with Thomas and actually played for a while, and I was able to "shop" in that area without fear she would run away.  I actually got her to leave without a tantrum and when we were waiting in line, she didn't yell.  She did play with some stuff around her, but she wasn't breaking anything!  It was a milestone day.  She had moved to another level in which, on occasion, I could take her places without knowing there'd probably be a tantrum or run off.

We went and got Adam and right away his teachers met me at the door to tell me that Adam had had the BEST day ever.  He was talking to everyone and did all his work. They couldn't believe it...he was even talking to teachers in the hallway!  He got a sticker he was so proud of.  I had been worried about leaving him alone and he had excelled.  I was very proud of him.

Their milestones sometimes feel like mine because I have to allow them to get there and soar.  I felt like we all got a bit "bigger" that day.

Entering the Third Trimester

It seems like I've been pregnant a long time, but now that I'm in the third trimester, it feels faster.  I'm achy and my hands are giving me huge problems.  The carpal tunnel is really bad.  Heck, I'm carrying so big they did an ultrasound last week to make sure everything was on target.  It is.  She was two pounds already, but well within normal.

A lot of women have problems with their feet and legs, but fortunately, I don't.  I think it's because I had spent a year riding the exercise bike before I got pregnant and they were the only in shape part of me!

As I know this is most likely the last time I will be pregnant, I'm enjoying the part with all the movement and dancing.  It's a pretty cool thing and makes all the misery worth it (except labor...those woman who say labor is some hippie awesome thing didn't push Adam out for three days).  She gets hiccups a lot, which is a funny feeling.  Abbey did, too and Adam, not so much.  

I'm starting to get more projects ticked off my list, despite how tired I am.  Getting the kitchen done and being able to work on organizing my space has been great.  I have insomnia to begin with and begin pregnant I get up 3-4 times a night instead of two.  The dreams are getting wilder, even for me...

I look so pregnant, people hold doors and walk around me.  At Adam's sledding party, parents were helping me.  I didn't get this kind of treatment until closer to the eight month mark last time :)

I've bought her a few outfits, she has clothes from Abbey of course (though the NB is kind of on the warm side which is why I've done some shopping).  I have gotten to the part where I'm starting to try and picture what she looks like...will she resemble her tall, curly brown haired siblings?  Will she actually be laid back??  Probably not :)

A little less than three months to go.  Time to clear out her corner in our room and clean up the bassinet.  Buy a swing and figure out if we need a new car seat.  (they "expire" every five years I guess..!)