I'm exhausted. I'm not sleepy, I'm exhausted. My poor body aches. *sigh*
These last few days have been full of, what feels like, non-stop, go, go, go, hurry up, don't be late, blah blah blah things.

It all started when this guy sent us this thing... sheesh, how dare he do that! LoL Just kidding. Bart sent us his kid's old ball pit -a cute three peice bulldozer-, and of course, as soon as the huge box was left on our front porch, I just had to whip it out for Troy to play with. Troy absolutely loved it... for the first 15 minutes. LoL You know how a one year old's attention span is! But he loved it pretty darn good for those 15 minutes! At least he played with it the hardest for the first 15 minutes or so, and I left it up, so he came and went as he pleased with it, all the while, enjoying his new favorite toy.
Troy tossed balls in the air and giggled at himself as he tried to crawl through the 'pit', only to fall face first into them when he slipped. He learned how to work the doors, pushing the little hanging wheel and side door to crawl through... but to be truthful, he enjoyed taking a dive through one of the windows to get in over using the doors! It was so fun just to watch him play! I had called Bruce at work to tell him there was a surprise for Troy that he *had* to see when he came home for his lunch break, so he took an early lunch to come home and see it. When he got off of work that afternoon, Bruce joined Troy in the ball pit, tossing balls and laughing. I *wish* I could have gotten in to play too, but my proceeding belly has been sore from braxton hicks and more stretching, so I opted to sit and watch, or 'stand on the side lines' tossing balls that flew out back into the bulldozer. I really should have taken pictures because it was so darn cute to see Troy playing in the ball pit, but I was having too much fun watching him, so the thought didn't even cross my mind. We had set the thing up in our living room (which is decent sized) and with our furniture and all, it took up most of the space. By that evening our living room was covered in bright, colorful balls with a big bulldozer still sitting in the middle of the floor. We'd had the thing less than a day and it was already well loved and well used! Thanks Bart and the wife! I'll eventually post pics... it's too cute!

On Wednesday I had had it with my darn belly getting in the way of our bedtime routine with Troy. Our crib was a hand me down and two of the peices of hardware for the side of the crib are broken, so when Troy was big enough that his crib mattress had to be put on the lowest setting, we had to affix the adjustable side to it's upright setting permanently so that it would be safe for him to sleep in without him falling out and getting hurt. This has since become a PAIN IN MY BUTT. LoL I have to lean over the side of the crib to lay Troy down, and with a belly beginning to get in the way, it was getting to be a pretty painful part of our bedtime routine and it had to be stopped. People have told us that we can get a regular toddler bed for about $40... but of the places we've been, they've been up in the hundreds and we haven't budgeted for that yet, sooooo my only option was to simply take the mattress out of the crib and lay it on the floor as Troy's new 'big boy bed' until we get the toddler bed frame or get a twin bed for him. We hope to get a new crib for baby #2 but seeming as our current one works fine, (it's just a problem while I'm PREGNANT!) and is in good condition, we're not sure about that yet. I also haven't gotten my lazy butt in to gear to figure out what make and model this crib is so I can try and order new hardware for the adjustable drop down side. *sigh* Just one more thing on my TO DO list.
Anyway, like I was saying, on Wednesday I'd had it with trying to reach over the side of the crib to lay Troy down so we took his mattress out. I decided to try letting him sleep on it during naptime first to see how he did and then determine after that whether he could sleep there at night too. He did GREAT for his first nap AND the first night! But the last few nights he's been waking up at least two times a night and won't go back to sleep without me cuddling him or a sippy of milk. (Don't shame shame me, I do what I can... and we're working on it... go nitpick at your own mothering if you don't like mine.) Now I've realized that it's just as much a pain in the butt to get up from off the floor next to his tiny little peanut sized mattress as it is to reach over the side of the crib. *sigh*
There may be a solution to my little dilemma. I just recently found a fun website... www.freecycle.org and I've signed up for the FreeCycle in my area. I posted a *WANT* for a toddler bed frame or a twin sized matress and boxspring set for Troy, but I never recieved a response. I'm thinking that the majority of the wants don't get responded to, since both of the *OFFERS* I put up to get rid of my junk (our ugly couch and chair set and some romance novels that my mil gave me and I REFUSE to read *gag!*) had multiple responses, and were gone within a few days. Howwwwever... tonight as I was looking at the site again, I noticed that someone posted an offer for a twin bed and frame, so I replied, saying that I'd posted a want for a bed a few days before but had no response and hoped that they would consider giving us the bed for Troy, and that we could pick up by the Thursday, the day they specified that they wanted to get rid of it by. I *hope hope hope* that the bed isn't gone already and that if it isn't, they choose us to have it, since I haven't receieved anything when I've responded to other offers yet. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please! I desperately want a new bed for Troy and we could just go out and get one... but wouldn't it be so much nicer to get one for FREE because someone else doesn't want theirs anymore??? I hope I hope I hope!

Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, I think Troy is allergic to eggs, but I'm not quite sure what all the signs of a food allergy are (I know throat closing and rashes are serious ones, but what about mild allergies... what would those symptoms be? I need to do some googling, people, seriously!). On Thursday we had a tossed salad with hard boiled eggs on top. Troy wanted some, so I gave him a couple of bites and he just wanted more, so I ended up feeding him almost a whole egg for himself. That night after we put him to bed and he'd been out for a while, I did as I normally did each night before I go to bed myself. I checked to make sure the doors were locked, turned off all the nights, then went to check on Troy. Unfortunately, Troy heard me and woke up. Normally I just let him fuss for a few minutes to put himself back to sleep when he wakes up like that, but this time he woke up SCREAMING. I decided that since I was still up, I might as well check to make sure he hadn't made a mess in his diaper or needed something for his teeth (he's been teething). I picked him up and made a sippy for him. He drank it and when he was done I went to go lay him back down when I realized that his mattress was soaked. His diaper hadn't been too wet, so I knew it hadn't leaked *yuck* or anything. Normally I use the hall light when he wakes up at night to keep him from becoming wide awake, so I turned on his bedroom light to see what it was. He had vomitted evvvverywhere. His whole sheet and both blankets were soaked, along with his stuffed puppy that he sleeps with. Nasty! He has thrown up every time we've given him plain eggs (scrambled, hard boiled, fried, etc) or even regular egg subsitute, so I think he may be allergic to them. I took his bedding off and wiped down his mattress and then used some disinfectant on it before putting new bedding on. He seemed fine as soon as I gave him his sippy, and he never fussed when he threw up from the eggs previous times either, so I was never really sure if it was eggs or not, but we don't plan to give him eggs or egg subsitute again until we get a chance to talk to his nutritionist.

Due to Troy vomitting, I wanted to get his sheets washed right away so I called over to my brothers and asked if we could use their washer and dryer. On Friday, after wanting to pull my hair out from waking up late and feeling rushed to get Troy ready to go, we dropped Bruce back off at work from his lunch break and headed over to Jon and Kathy's with a load of laundry and the ball pit in tow. That day was more chaotic than any. I had been sick that morning when I woke up and the night before I hadn't slept much (I've been sleeping restlessly lately with strange dreams that I cant seem to shake... ugh!) then I hadn't gotten everything together by the time Bruce came home for lunch, so I was rushing here and there and feeling like I was being ripped apart on a taffy pull... but more mentally than physically if you could imagine that! Kathy had a work thing to go to so I watched the kids for her and thought the ball pit would keep them preoccupied so that I could relax a little bit while she was gone and the laundry was going. Boy was I wrong! My neice's friend came over to play too, so watching two one year olds and two 3 year olds play with a ball pit was more work than I had imagined! Ugh! Needless to say, I was pooped long before Kathy got home from her little thing at work.

On Saturday Kathy called me up and asked me if I could watch all three of the kids next Saturday for her while she's at work. I don't know WHY she keeps asking me this, but I just *can't* keep up with three little people under the age of two, and one weighing far more than I should be carrying around (she keeps telling me, oh you don't have to carry him, he'll just play on the floor.... yeeeeah right... I end up carrying him at her place when I'm not even there to watch the kids!) plus a 4 year old that is normally 'good' but tends not to listen well... like any little kid, really. I just can't take on that kind of responsiblity while I'm on a medication that makes me sleepy AND because it's way too physically demanding on my body... I'm already having contractions on and off as it is. Ugh! She seemed annoyed that I told her I could watch the older two if she really needed me to, but I just *could NOT* watch all of them at once. Sorry that I need to think of myself sometimes!

Today was a BLAST. It was "Pioneer Day" so Bruce suggested we pack up a lunch and go for a picnic up in the mountains. A while after my nausea calmed down (pills, of course), Bruce made sandwiches and got chips and drinks for lunch and we headed out. We drove up to Mill Creek Canyon, which was open for once (every other time we try going there, it's closed for the season). We found a decent picnic table and had our lunch while Troy was more interested in toddling around everywhere. Since the canyon was completely open we drove all the way to the trail head and turned around and went back down, picked up some ice cream and headed home. It was a gorgeous drive. I really miss taking drives like that, like Bruce and I used to do before we had Troy, and like my family used to do when I was little. I hope we can do that again soon and more often.
We went over and did fireworks tonight at Jon and Kathy's and again, Troy loved them. I made Bruce take a few pics cuz I'm so mean, but I haven't put them on the computer yet. I'll do that when I get a chance... or when I'm not feeling so lazy.

But as for right now... I am getting tired, it's about 1am and I have to get up early to watch the Sidney, the 6 mon old daughter of one of Bruce's coworkers. I hope I'll be able to sleep, since tomorrow I'll have to be up and about with no nap at all in the afternoon ( I think that's how I get through my days now... give me a nap!) ... I'm going to be soooo exhausted, especially if I only toss and turn all night, with strange dreams that wake me up when I *do* get to sleep. Oh welll... maybe in another day or two things will settle down and I won't feel so rushed, busy, tired and beat all the time!

...before people begin to think I fell off the face of the earth. Yeah right. No one would care, really. I've noticed that not many people read this anymore, so what do I care? Umm, I guess I don't! I'm writing for my own benefit anyway. :)

As I mentioned in a prior post, I'd finished Nina's baby blanket... BUT I forgot to take pictures of it before giving it to her. Not a biggie really. I finished up another blanket I'd been working on (that I LOVE) and had stopped half way through. Now I've put it up on Ebay to see if it sells. If you'd like to take a look at it, I've provided the link right here. I'm surprised at how well the pictures turned out, too, considering our camera often takes fuzzy pictures. You'll just have to see them for yourself. :) I've also started working on another blanket, which will most likely be infant-toddler sized as I chose to use a yard and a half vs just a yard in length. I think I've posted pictures of the fabric before, but if I haven't, you'll get to see it when it's done. It's a green striped Winnie-The-Pooh fabric with bounching balls and Pooh and Piglet playing on the larger ones. I think it's more girl oriented, but I suppose it could be unisex. I hope to have this one done within 2 months (just cuz I don't want to set a goal I can't reach) and will post pictures of it then. I'll probably sell that one on Ebay too, or give it as another gift. Who knows...

Troy's birthday was on the 7th. Due to the rough week we'd had with the hospital trip and teething, not to mention Bruce's dental visits and me being completely overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted, we decided that doing anything for Troy's birthday was out of the question. We had originally planned to do a Build-A-Bear party for friends and family who wanted to come, then decided that that might be a little too much for a 1 year old, even though it would have mostly been for *me* (it's always for the parents at that age!) and finally we decided to just invite family over and do a simple BBQ down at the pool so the kids could swim. After the hospital visit it all felt very unnecessary so we just didn't do anything at all. I, of course, am bummed about that, but what can ya do when medical necessities and health issues get in the way, right? *sigh* Next year we'll do something I guess. Other than the inlaws stopping buy to drop off two outfits for Troy and my parents sending something in the mail (that hasn't arrived yet) Troy didn't recieve anything from family or friends alike. We did buy him a new carseat (which he absolutely loves) and plan to get him some educational 'big boy' toys, but aren't stressing about getting him gifts as he wouldn't know what to do with them anyway. It's just depressing... in a pitiful-cuz-it-shouldn't-be-depressing sort of way... that I wasn't able to celebrate the biggest blessing in my life the way that I would have liked to. I was even called an ignorant bitch in one of the chatrooms I like to visit because I simply asked whether or not others had done anything big for their children's first birthday's. I normally don't take offense to petty and childish remarks like that but after not having done anything at all, it hurts now.
I'm such a nice mother too... I scheduled Troy's 12 month WBV (Well-Baby Visit) on his birthday because they wouldn't allow me to get it done two days prior because the state mandates that vaccinations be given on or after the time specified, in this case, 12 months. I felt a little bad for doing that, but because of the trip to the hospital I was glad that his WBV was only a day away so that I could speak with the doctors about the results of the US. Troy did excellent on recieving his shots. Two of the doctors came in to give them at the same time, as they said that the 12 months shots are the most painful ones, so they wanted to give them both at the same time. I held Troy in my lap with his arms crossed and one leg held between my legs while holding the other with my free hand. I was expecting him to start thrashing and crying when they gave the shots, but to both mine and the doctors' surprise, he didn't thrash, nor cry... he didn't even flinch. The doctors were shocked and went out into the hall to tell other nurses and doctors about it, no joke, and even said that they'd seen 10 year olds get those shots and leave bawling in pain. I, as usual, was beaming!
The US results were reviewed by the head ped, but she wasn't at the clinic during our visit, so basically we were just told that should Troy start acting up again at all or anything else, like fussiness when he urinates, shows up, they would be keeping the US results in the back of the doc's mind, but otherwise he should be ok for now and to call if anything else arrises. That was completely disappointing, considering the fact that my child had a flippin enema, a catherter, AND an US after being in so much pain and discomfort, being unable to eat or drink anything for about 8 hours, only to be told that they'd keep it in mind if anything else comes up. I really think that they should have looked in to what was going on with his kidney's more, but they're the doctors, and Primary Children's is probably the best place in the state for Children to be when it comes to medical issues, so I can't argue much. I just hope and am crossing my fingers that this was a one time thing and nothing else DOES arise because I know that if something does come up, I'll be livid for allowing them to pass up investigating the issue deeper the first time. *sigh* I'm so stubborn and grumpy and opinionated when I'm pregnant... LOL AND when I'm not!

As far as the pregnancy goes, I'm doing -ok- still. I lost the last bottle of my perscription phenergan when there were only about 4 or 5 pills left in it, so I decided I could try and go without them. I did well for a few days, but then started vomitting and getting nauseated all the time again, so at my visit with the midwife on Friday, she wrote me a new perscription for it and told me that if I need to be on it my entire pregnancy, it doesn't matter as long as the baby is doing ok. Easy for her to say, she's not he one taking them and having to care for a toddler at the same time. LoL I do agree with her though, it's just hard to accept the fact that I really *might* be on the meds throughout the majority of this pregnancy, just like last time.
I apparently haven't gained or lost any weight, so as far as my weight gain goes, I still need to gain 21 lbs in order to reach my goal of gaining 15 lbs from my startweight this pregnancy. That ought to be fun.
Ive been having a lot of cramping lately and have started feeling braxton hick's contractions. I'm a little worried that I'll end up on bedrest like last time, but much earlier this time. I hope tht isn't the case, and my midwife doesn't seem too worried about the cramping, so I guess for now, I just need to take it easy as best I can.
I think I've gained a belly over night. It felt like I woke up on Saturday morning and suddenly had a giant belly proceeding from my abdomen. I knew I was growing a lot too because of all the ligament pain I felt on Saturday and Sunday. I feel much better today, despite the BH's... which surprisingly haven't hurt much. When I was pregnant with Troy, the BH's hurt quite a bit.

Anyway, I'm gonna get going. My peanut is throwing a tantrum for no apparent reason... my motherly duty is never over. :)