Life is always switching things up on you

Do you ever feel like right when you have things figured out, life takes a U-turn and everything you figured out goes down the drain and you have to start over?  I swear that is what always happens to me.  I have spent so many months trying to figure out transportation to and from school and how my husband and I are going to survive on one car, etc.  and then when I have a tentative plan in place everything changes.

First, because my husband worked overtime during the winter his company decided to cut his hours down to 20 a week for eight weeks.  Seriously, I think that would stress most people out.  So then we were scrambling to figure out how to make ends meet when in three weeks my salary was going to be cut by 2/3rds.  And then, out of the blue, his old boss who now works at a private golf course calls him up and offers him 16 hours at his course to make up the hours he's losing.  I was pleasantly shocked that his old boss would be willing to do that and that he would shift things around so that my husband could still get his regular hours for the most part.  The catch though?  His old boss's golf course is 45 minutes away and he has to start at 6am.  Not that big a deal except that now we have to drop Evan off at my sister's at 5am.  I can tell you she is none too pleased.  She at least didn't flat out refuse but no one likes to be up that early...this I know because I am up earlier than that and it is no fun.  And then who knows when school starts...how we are going to get everything to work out.  I really just wish there was someone who was completely devoted to helping me out...who would out of the blue just offer to watch Evan in the mornings at 5am or come pick Evan and me up and give us a ride or things like that.  Someone who wouldn't make me feel guilty and who would totally understand that we have no other options and we are just trying to make ends meet...not trying to inconvenience everyone in the world.  Of course there is really no person like that because even very compassionate, loving, amazing people have their own lives and get inconvenienced at times...but still, it would be nice.

Ugg.  I can only handle so much stress and problem solving and I am about up to my ears.

Aside from that I got the pleasurable experience of trying to sign up for the Marketplaces (Affordable Care Act) yesterday.  It wasn't completely miserable, but it wasn't pleasant either.  The lady on the other side of the phone really just wanted to do something else because every time she asked for a document that I didn't have in front of me she would give me my reference number and tell me I could call her back.  I was determined to finish it all except that I couldn't find Ivan's green card number fast enough so I do have to call her back.  Not the end of the world except that if I want insurance coverage starting 1 Sept I have to fill out the paperwork by 15 August...which is tomorrow. I am hoping I get a chance to do it today or tomorrow otherwise we'll be out of luck.

Ok, that's all I have to report.  No pictures, no great stories, just complaints....

But let me leave you with a picture of Evan because I don't want you to end this reading session feeling down and depressed!

 

Morning blues

Good morning!  At least I hope it is.  I feel extra awake this morning, probably because I slept an extra 40 minutes.  Whoops!  My alarm went off and I talked myself into cuddling with Evan for a few more minutes and the next time I looked at the clock it was 40 minutes later.  So much for doing my hair.  I am trying my best to blow dry it out but that has only happened one time this week.  I am determined to do better.  And last night I got to bed early, so that makes no sense.  My alarm said I had a full 6 hours and 6 minutes before the alarm went off, I don't remember the last time it said 6 hours.  Apparently that doesn't matter, come 4:30am I still don't want to get up.  Wanna know who else doesn't want to get up?

Maple Baby.  He is never thrilled when I turn the lights on to wake him up.  He woke up this morning when Ivan woke up so then I had to carry him around while putting our bags together.  We have lots of bags that I have to organize and put together - three lunch bags, a pump bag (for me to take to work), and a milk bag (for Evan to take to Aunt Melissa's).  I am running out of lunch ideas and probably need to visit Pinterest.  I feel like I put the same thing in there each day.  And for myself, I actually do.  A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, carrot sticks, hummus, cheese, and an apple.  Not very exciting.  Evan got eggs and rice for breakfast, homemade Mac and cheese and yogurt with blueberries for lunch, and crackers for a snack.  Yeah, my creativity is really lacking.

This morning Evan clung to my little neck, probably wishing he could go back to bed.  At least he usually does sleep a few hours more at my sister's house, so it's not the worst situation.  Next week we have to bring him to a different daycare and I am totally dreading it...I think he will cry every day when I leave him there.  Poor guy.  I hope he doesn't. 

I am wearing my new Stitch Fix shirt today.  So far I like the look of it.  I am still pleased that I purchased it.  I am also hoping to get a run in today. On Saturday my running friends and I agreed to do some trail running on the weekends and some track workouts during the week.  I am excited!  The weekend trail running may be difficult because Ivan has to work on Sundays and I have to work on Saturdays but we'll see how it goes.  And we'll see if we actually do go.  It's hard to find time these days to do any running, but maybe it'll work out.

I think I will banana split, I don't have much else to say and don't want to bore you.  I am a bit overwhelmed at work with Interim Progress Reprts, Quarterly Reports, and grant writing - all during the  month I have to take a week of vacation and decide about nursing school (aka the rest of my life). My mind is going a mile a minute.

Do you like trail running?

Do you pack a lunch or buy a lunch?

What's a big decision you have to make this month?

Snow and ice

Wow, this weekend went super fast.  Maybe because I had a meeting all day on Friday instead of working from home.  And those three days of meetings really wore me out.  I wanted to sleep in on Saturday but Evan had other plans.  He was cutting a tooth and so pretty much was up all night.  I think he fell asleep at around 4am.  And then he was up at 7am.  Definitely not what I was hoping for after only getting a few hours of sleep all week.  He made up for it on Sunday though and we slept until 8am.

Sunday we got our first snow fall of the season!

It ended up being about two or three inches.  I was pretty excited.  Except that my friend Sarah was supposed to come and help me pack but we were too worried about the road conditions so she didn't come.  It was a good thing too because the roads were horrible.  However,  I was sad I didn't get to see her.  Hopefully she makes it on Saturday!

I put Evan in his new snowsuit (compliments of Mimi), and we took Dolce for a walk.

It was getting a little dark so it Is kind of hard to see Evan, but he was all bundled up in snow pants and a winter coat.  That little hat is a bit problematic because it likes to fall down and cover his entire face.  That made him a bit unhappy.  At one point I took him out and let him play in the snow, which he loved, but then getting him back into the stroller was a fight.  Dolce spent the entire time eating snow, which is so annoying because then he has to go out nineteen times in the next hour.  It's a struggle I tell you!

I did get some packing done, even without Sarah's motivation.  I also made English muffin bread, pumpkin soup, chicken soup, and chicken enchilada soup.  And Ivan nicely washed the dishes while. I gave Evan a bath.

This week is a bit stressful because I have my Chem lecture final tomorrow and then moving on Saturday...which means I have to be packed by Saturday too.  The other night while I was rocking Evan to sleep (I know, he's probably too old for this but I don't care), I heard rodents in the walls scurrying about.  I'm not sure if it was mice, rats, squirrels, or what - but it was disgusting and I was counting my blessings that we were moving to a better place (can it be worse???).  We just have to physically move to that other place and that is what stresses me out!

P.S. I found the BOB weather shield!!!!!  I had been looking for it for months and couldn't find it - and then I'm packing up the bedroom closet and found it in a bag.  I was SO HAPPY!!

Did it snow where you live this weekend?

Wow is it cold, mixed with a lot of stress

It sure is blustery outside this morning! It's getting a bit cold to have my hair wet while waiting for the bus, but until I get it cut it's pointless to blow dry it because it looks hideous.  My ears hurt from the wind, which is never fun.  And I'm exhausted because Evan's had a cough for the past few days and it makes for fitful nights of sleep...for both of us.

So this weekend had lots of good aspects.  Hubs joined Evan and me on two of our walks with the dog.  This is always a highlight because normally we split the dog walking duties-he goes in the morning and I go at night.  But the last two nights we went together and Evan got to go in the backpack one night (his favorite thing in the world) and in his truck the second night (his second favorite thing in the world).  

And both nights he got to go on the swings, which he's obsessed with.  We pass a playground with swings on our walk, and he points and exclaims in extreme excitement and then cries if we pass it without stopping.  Even if it's cold and so dark your can't even see the swings.  But he got to go these two times.  I even dressed him up in an old sweater jacket of mine that my parents bought when we lived in Greece and I wore when I was 2 or something.  He looked adorable.

Instagram: mapleandmud

I also did a ton of cooking, since it was a three day holiday.  I made minestrone soup, which is one of my favorite recipes.  It's filled with tons of veggies but somehow the flavors blend well and it's fantastic (I only say that because I am not a huge veggie fan - especially when it comes to two onions, two zucchinis, and a bunch of green beans - if you like veggies then you may not care that the flavors blend together, you would be happy if the soup tasted like veggies).  Great for these chilly days we are having.  I also made more spinach and quinoa patties for Evan.  These are tasty too but I try not to eat too many of them because I like to freeze them for Evan when I can't think of what to make him.  And for Ivan I made shrimp-stuffed shells.  He says he hates lasagna and this is similar to lasagna, but for some reason he loves it.   So it was definitely a weekend filled with cooking and washing dishes.

These are just a small sampling of the veggies that went into the minestrone soup - so much chopping!

The most exciting thing I did was go for a run on Saturday morning with a running friend from Team In Training.  I was going to bring Evan but then Ivan came home from work early so I got to go sans baby jogger.  It was the perfect running morning and we did six miles and I didn't even notice it.  It was great having company because I haven't been able to go with my sister for a while and usually I am paranoid about Evan pitching a fit three miles into a run that I don't enjoy it as much.  We also ran into my best running partner from TNT whom I did all my training runs with...which was random but fun.  This was a great week for running - I did ALL my training runs.

And now for the horrible news.  Remember all that misery we were dealing with at our condo?? Nothing getting fixed, $300 electricity bills, etc.?  Well, now we have to move out.  The owner is getting kicked out of his house so he will either move back in to the condo or he will try and sell the place, because he can't afford to fix it.  There is a small, small chance we could stay but I'm not taking the risk.  But this means we have to find a new place and specifically a new place we can afford and that takes large dogs. I am super stressed and annoyed that we have to use our savings to move rather than for Christmas.  Before I was trying to see if we could afford to buy a Christmas tree this year and now I am wondering if we can afford to buy anything.  And who wants to move in the middle of the winter?  We will either be moving Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas, just what we wanted.  We have to be out by 1 Jan., so not a ton of time.  Moving + winter + toddler + no money + dog + finals for chemistry + nursing school apps = boo x 10.

Tell me some good news in your life so I can stop focusing on the stresses in mine!!

Anniversaries and Stress

I really thought that after we turned in our grant that my stress level would go down.  Nope.  That would be too easy.  I've become so stressed that I started clenching my jaw, something I've never done before in my life.  If I'm not stressed about work, what am I stressed about?  Umm, my living situation.

We live in a dump.  We moved here last year because we wanted a two bedroom with the baby and the place is owned by my sister's in laws, so I thought it would be safer knowing the people we were renting from.  WRONG.  I didn't know how run down the place was until we moved in and it's been an entire year and hardly anything has been fixed and many things have broken.  The location is awesome - close to where I pick up the bus, close to my sister's place where we drop Evan off, and close to Ivan's job.  Plus, close to many biking and hiking paths.  However, the windows are crap and either don't open or don't stay open, there are broken closets, the bath tub has a bunch of cracks in it, the back porch door is taped to keep bugs and drafts from coming in, etc.  Recently, the dryer broke and the air conditioner broke.  And the main problem?  In June our electricity bill jumped from $189 to $310.  We are on the budget plan so they average the bills out so we pay the same each month based on the energy used the prior months.  So, while we were paying $189 a month we were actually using a lot more.  Looking back at how much energy we used...in Dec, Jan, and Feb our bill was close to $400 - so that means this year we have to pay a lot more on the budget plan.  It is impossible to use $400 worth of energy in an 1100sq ft. condo unless something is broken.  So, I emailed the owner and said I wanted to pay less rent because the condo was in bad shape and our electricity was too high (and the bill wasn't going to go down unless something was fixed).  That was a week ago. And I still haven't heard back...except my sister said that they got the email...meaning the were pissed and told her husband.  So now I am just confused as to what to do...continue to push for lower rent and piss him and the rest of my sister's in laws off (and probably never have a single thing fixed again) or find a new place.  If we stay and pay lower rent, I'm sure nothing will ever be fixed in the condo again.  If we move, we have to find a place that takes dogs and it will probably cost more money (although with a cheaper electricity bill we may not realize it) and it is expensive to move.  What would you do???  Please tell me what do to!!!!

Ok, it feels a little better getting that off my chest.  But I'm still mega stressed.  And I'm finding it hard to think rationally about it and make a clear decision.

How about we take a break and look at Evan sitting in a box.

That cheers me up.  We were reading the Tickle Monster Laughter Kit and he insisted on sitting in the box.

We also celebrated his one year baptism anniversary.  It wasn't a huge party or anything, but we tried to do something.  We lit his baptism candle, read this passage from the Bible:

Then we said a short prayer, did the sign of the cross with water, and ate some cookies.

Then we took a mini photo with Evan and his candle.

(I'm not sure why my arms look so skinny in that photo - they aren't that bony, trust me.)

It was nice and I really wanted to remember his baptism.  Next year I'll try and be more on top of things and buy him a little baptism present or something.

Then the rest of the night was studying for my Chem exam tonight and trying to catch up on sleep. Which I'd like to do more of right now.

***********************
What is stressing you out these days?

How often do you move?

Do you celebrate baptism or christening anniversaries?

Sick Little Boy

It has been a week of sickness in this house.  Last weekend Evan was just not himself.  He was super clingy, wouldn’t sleep in his crib, wouldn’t nap, and didn’t want to be put down.  This made life quite difficult – especially bedtime.  I had a very tired little boy.  And because he didn’t want to sleep in his crib at all and was waking up all night with a fever, I didn’t sleep much either.

What?  Me?  Cause problems?  Never!

By Monday night he seemed to be back to normal, minus a severely runny noise.  I got him to go down pretty easily and he was fine at my sister’s on Tuesday.  Then he started coughing – one of those wet, congested coughs.  And he coughed all night long – little coughs that wracked his tiny little body.  So I stayed home with him today, took him to the doctor, and am trying to nurse him back to health by giving him lots of steam baths.

The doctor checked him out and ruled out an ear infection (the fever + him pulling on his ears made me think maybe an ear infection or teething – neither it seems).  She gave him some meds to put in a nebulizer if he starts coughing at my sister’s house (however, he’s not going back there until Monday…hopefully he’s better by then).

What are you talking about?  I’m the cutest thing around town!

Sick babies cause lots of stress.  And not just stress because it’s horrible to have a sick baby, but the stress of trying to balance work and family.

Yes, the dreaded work-life balance.  A stressful balance here in the United States of America.

I work for a great organization that recognizes that family is very important.  That’s definitely made my life so much easier.  I can work from home a couple days a week, I can adjust my schedule as needed, I can take Evan on my work trips (although someone always comes with me to watch him).  However, it is still hard.  All night long Evan was coughing and coughing and coughing and I kept thinking: do I work or do I stay home?  Do I stay home and take Evan to the doctor?  Do I go to work and hope he’s ok?  Is he well enough to go to daycare?  Can I take him to the doctor on Friday (when I work from home)?  I already had Monday off and I worked from home on Wednesday – if I don’t go to work today then I will have only gone one day this week.  What’s the right choice in this situation?

It’s always better to stay home and play with me!

Yes – all this was running through my head at 2am.  I don’t want to be a slacker at work and I don’t want to be a mom that works when she should stay home with her sick baby.  That balance is SO HARD.  And honestly, I never really imagined these types of things when I was growing up.  I guess in my head I thought maybe I’d stay home with my kids, like my mom did.  Then I wouldn’t have had to make choices like this on a daily basis.  But I went to college and grad school and Peace Corps and I love my job and I love working.  And there is NO WAY we can afford for me to stay home and take care of the little one. 

But on days like these – I kind of wish I could.  When there is no relief from the guilt – guilt for not going to work or guilt for sending my baby to daycare when he’s sick.  Either way, there is guilt.

Look at me – I can move around now!  I make life more challenging!

I guess I’ll just have to get used to that guilt because I have a feeling I’ll be struggling with these issues of work vs. family for a long time.  Unless I win the lottery.  Which means I should probably buy a ticket because although the lottery is pretty impossible to win – it’s even more impossible to win if you don’t have a ticket.

And another thought – why is it so much easier for me to take off work than for my husband???  It is so much harder for him to ask for off, so I usually end up taking the day off unless I’ve taken a bunch of time off already.

Such is life.  And no matter what – this little angel always comes first!

I’m a little angel and I like to smother you with kisses and hugs!

Bump Shot: Week 38

And another week has passed us by.  They sure do go by fast.  I am still a bit in shock that I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and actually almost 39 (since the Bump Shots always get posted a bit late).  It seems like yesterday I was just 8 weeks pregnant feeling like I had so long to go.  I know, I know, I could still have over three weeks to go.  But still - it's coming up fast.

I feel like I should be a pregnancy pro these days (I mean, I have 38 weeks of experience!), but things just keep changing every week.  I was reading Baby Kerf and she was talking about new pregnancy symptoms that were cropping up and I could relate almost to the T.

** I am experience some serious hot flashes.  It is the weirdest thing because I am NEVER hot.  I am always the cold one.  I always cover up at night, I can wear pants when it's 100* outside, I am freezing in my office when everyone else is complaining of the heat.  I now know what they are going through.  I also know what menopausal women are going through too!  I'll be sitting at my desk and all of a sudden I'll feel my body temperature slowly rising.  And rising.  And rising.  Until I'm really hot and a little sweaty.  I don't actually have sweat running down my face, but I probably have a few beads sitting on my forehead.  It lasts for a while and then goes away.  STRANGE!

Ok, I thought I had some more new pregnancy symptoms but I can't think of anything else.  I am still sleeping GREAT (except when hubs wakes up and wants to have long conversations at 3am or Dolce the Dog has nightmares and starts barking/howling/crying in the middle of the night and I have to go over and wake him up).

** My biggest fear these days is that my water will break without me knowing it and hubs and I will have sex and infect the baby (sorry about the sex mention - probably TMI but how do you think I got pregnant...).  It's probably a crazy fear, but something I think about.  But so many people tell me that your sex drive disappears after you give birth and you don't want to think about sex for weeks and weeks - so I feel like if I'm up for it now, we should keep on doing it.   Ok - enough sex talk!

**  I'm also a tad bit nervous that I was really stressed and anxious this entire pregnancy and I've somehow damaged Maple Baby emotionally.  I read somewhere that women who are pregnant in war zones have a higher tendency to give birth to children that later develop schizophrenia.  And schizophrenia is more common in boys to begin with...  Ok, so I don't live in a war zone but I've been stressed for a lot of the pregnancy.  And not just superficial stress - I've had numerous occassions where I'm so anxious and stressed that I get that pit in my stomach and my heart races.  That can't be too good for the baby.  I really hope that when I wasn't stressed I was super happy and that those emotions transferred stronger than my stress hormones.  I hate to think I already screwed up his little life....

** I only have one more work day left at the office.  I can't believe I'm going to be gone for an entire month.  There are so many transitions happening at work that I'm a bit nervous about what will be going on when I get back.  I still have a week of working from home, but it will be so weird not being at the office every day.  And not commuting.  I'm excited to get some time off and to be able to be home with the baby, but I think I will miss work and my project.  So many exciting things are going on and I had to pass them on to other people.  However, I'm sure I'll cry the day I have to bring Maple Baby to daycare and return to work!

** By far the hardest thing this pregnancy has been drinking enough water.  Isn't that crazy!  I thought the hardest thing might be back pain or sleeping or heartburn or any other symptom.  But no, I didn't have any of those symptoms.  The most difficult thing for me has been trying to get enough liquid in my body.  Yesterday I had a cup of coffee in the morning (decaf) and then it was 3:30pm and I realized I hadn't had a single other thing to drink.  All day.  Whoops.  So I guzzled 16oz of water before going home and then brought a bottle of coconut water to Chemistry.  However, the midwives told me I needed to drink 2L of water a day and I am completely falling short.  I hope I don't give birth to a camel...

**  And lastly, as stated above, I had coffee yesterday!  My love of coffee is returning!!  Woo hoo!!!  I loved coffee with a passion.  Last year while I was training for the marathon I switched to decaf because I thought it would help reduce inflammation in my legs, but I still drank it every morning.  Then I went to Guatemala in January and suffered some serious morning sickness and my love of coffee went down the drain.  I didn't want a single cup.  Ever.  I think during this entire pregnancy I had coffee a total of five times.  I just didn't have any desire for it.  If I needed a small pick-me-up I drank a cup of green tea.  However, this past week I made some coffee and realized I now love it again.  Yum, yum.  Ahh, the simple pleasures.

Husband prepares for baby

Slightly unclear photo...

 My husband is so excited about Maple Baby.  There is no doubt about it.  He is over-the-moon.  He can't wait to meet Maple Baby.  At times I think maybe he is more excited than I am (don't worry Maple Baby, I am super excited too).  I am excited but I'm also worried about things - like finances, childcare, commuting long hours to and from work, exhaustion, postpartum depression, etc.  Hubs is not concerned about these things.  His philosophy is that everything will work out.  While this can be a great philosophy, it can be annoying at times too.  Because I am left with all the worrying to do.  These things are not keeping me up at night or anything, but it's stuff I think about.

However, I can't deny that hubs is excited.  He talks to the baby all the time - he even says good morning, good night, hello, and good bye.  All the time.  And he calls me at work at least twice a day to ask if the baby is moving.  He sings the baby songs and gives my belly high-fives.  It's quite adorable actually.  I am anxious to see how he is once the baby is actually born and cries and poops all the time though!

And because of our Bradley Method class, he has taken it upon himself to inform me of all the things I need to do.  Hmm, not so cute all the time.  Especially if it's something that I should do and just don't feel like it.

Like what, you say?

How about packing my hospital bag.  Yup, still haven't done that even though it's recommended to do that at like week 31.  And I'm on week 35 (and I promise a bump shot is coming).  Yes, I realize I could go into labor any day and I have no bag packed, but I kinda think Maple Baby won't come until I pack my bag.  That's logical, isn't it?  So, hubs reminds me at least once a day that I need to pack my hospital bag.  Yup, fun stuff.

He also likes to remind me that I need to eat.  Although I eat a big lunch, I am not super hungry at dinner time.  The midwife said it's normal and not to worry about it, but hubs likes to remind me that I need lots of protein.  And that I should eat a huge dinner.  It's sweet that he's concerned, but it can annoy me to pieces too.

Washing the baby clothes.  I mentioned last week that I had a baby shower (if anyone ever sends me pictures, I'll post them) and we got a ton of great gifts, including lots of clothes.  This was awesome because we hadn't bought any clothes.  We had one or two onesies and then my amazing aunt bought me a bunch, but that was it.  So it was nice getting a bunch of clothes.  However, husby really wanted me to wash the clothes.  Like right away.  I didn't really feel like washing clothes after work so I kept telling him that we had to cut all the tags off first.

So, one day after dinner, he did:

Yup, he dragged all the clothes out into the living room and starting cutting all the tags off.  He then proceeded to hold the baby clothes like they were babies.  When I asked what he was doing he said that I got to "hold" the baby all the time but he never did, so he wanted to pretend that his baby was inside the baby clothes.  It was actually quite adorable.

This is what I did while he cut all the tags off:

  

I played tug-of-war with Dolce.  From the sofa.  It was a great way to make sure that Dolce didn't eat any tiny baby socks.  Or walk all over the baby zone that was all set up.  So, it was a very important job....

And my feet looked like this:

 

Yeah, so I wasn't really wanting to move.  Husband made me a couch tower so I could put my feet up but it didn't help too much.  They still looked fat and swollen.  They don't always look like that but they have been beginning to swell more these days.  And by more, I mean they have started to swell.  I haven't really had much swelling yet, maybe one or two days in the entire 35 weeks I've been pregnant.  But, over the weekend the swelling has started.  So while husby was happily cutting tags off the clothes I was playing with the dog while putting my feet up.

And I may have also been watching the Olympics.

But, I did end up washing the clothes this weekend!

 

Birth Class Drop-outs

It's official.  Hubs and I have missed a total of 5 Bradley Method classes.  I know, I know - how prepared are we going to be if we never show up.  It wasn't all my fault though.  We missed the first one because I was on a business trip to Atlanta.  We missed the second and third because I was on a business trip to Las Vegas.  We missed the fourth last week because I was too tired.  And we missed tonight's class because I was too tired.

So, work and being tired seem to be to blame.  We really had plans to go today but it just didn't happen.  I had a semi-breakdown this afternoon and then we had to drive 45 minutes for my pre-natal visit and then an hour in the opposite direction to pick up our dog from his grooming appointment and then would have had to drive 30 minutes in another direction to get to class.  I didn't feel like it.  Plus, by the time we got home from picking up the dog, walking him, and grabbing a bite to eat it was almost 7pm - and that's what time class starts.  But we were 30 minutes away.  I feel badly - especially since we spent $300 on the classes and then have missed half.  I'm hoping she lets us make some of them up or at least borrow some of the videos to watch at home.  The information is interesting but by the end of the week, by 7pm, I'm pretty exhausted.

Today should have been nice and relaxing because I took a sick day.  I usually work from home when I have a doctor's appointment but I decided to just take the entire day as a sick day instead.  I thought I'd have some time to relax and catch up on life before my appointment, but it didn't work out that way.  Hence the mini-breakdown.  And by mini, I mean mini.  I don't actually have real breakdowns so really all that happened was that I wanted to cry.  A meltdown usually means that I actually cry.  That's pretty much it.

So what instigated my mini-breakdown?  Well, I got up and drove hubs to work and then came home.  I checked my work email (I had some press statements that I was waiting to get back and wanted to send out today - so wanted to make sure I checked my email a few times).  No one had emailed me since it was only 6:30am so I decided to take a nap.  I fell asleep until 9:15!  I then got up and flew into the shower and then rushed to get Dolce to his grooming appointment by 10am.  We were only a few minutes late (ok, more like ten).

After dropping him off I headed to PetSmart because I wanted to pick up a cover for our car seats to protect them from Dolce's massive amount of hair.  It's kind of embarrassing when we have someone in our car and they emerge looking like they just rolled around in a cotton bin!  I also picked up a few toys because Dolce didn't have any toys and I wanted him to have a few things to play with.  Next stop was Target because I was hoping to pick up a few things for the house.  I mainly wanted something to put our shoes on but ended up eliminating that from my list and instead buying a shower caddy to put my shampoo on, a new 10" frying pan (mine has a bunch of scratches on it and I worry about cancer), a mitten that gets dog hair off fabric, and a stud finder (as in studs found in houses, not good-looking men!).

I started getting pretty stressed because everything was adding up and we are trying to save money and I keep "throwing" it all away.  Moving and dogs are really expensive!

When I got home I got sucked into work and did that for a while - until hubs called me to ask if I had gotten my emissions test done. 

Whoops!  That was the other thing to do on my list and it had TOTALLY slipped my mind.  I had already asked for an extension so I don't have much more time.  So I looked for the emissions slip but couldn't find it.  I still haven't had time to fully unpack the house and so many things are still "lost".  I guess that's one of the things.  Apparently you can get your emissions test with your car registration though, so I figured that was good enough.  However, when I got to my car and decided to look for the registration, all I found was an old registration that expired in 2011. 

Ahhh!

That won't work and my new registration had come in October so I had NO IDEA where it might be.  So much for being organized.  Somehow I had managed to get my registration stickers on my license plate but had completely misplaced my actual registration card.

No emissions test today then.

I did go online and order a new registration for my car though.  And since it wouldn't come for a few weeks I figured I should print the temporary registration they give you - just in case hubs or I get stopped.  Well, I had never used the old printer my dad had given me last year so I pulled it out and tried to set it up.  After about an hour of setting it up and finding all the cords and printing the documents - it became apparent that it was out of ink and you couldn't make any of the registration information out. 

So, I gave up and decided that I wasn't going to do the emissions test and I would just print the emissions out at work.

But by now it was time for me to pick up hubs and head to our appointment.

So I got none of the things I wanted to get done, done.  Like wash our towels, put away our clean clothes from last week, wash the dishes, unpack, hang-up pictures, and RELAX.  Hence, the mini-meltdown and not going to class.

There is just too much to do!

And I started to hyperventilate when the receptionist was making my next few appointments and she was saying things like 36 week and 39 weeks and things like that.  I am running out to do things before Maple Baby comes!!!!

Hubs made me happy though when he decided to skip his golf league so he could go with me to my pre-natal visit.  I didn't even make it seem like he should come - I told him that I was totally fine going alone.  However, he said he really wanted to go with me so we went together.  I thought that was sweet.

And then I got a package in the mail from my lovely aunt with a bunch of onesies for Maple Baby!  She said that it was sad I only had one onesie and I was almost 8 months pregnant - so she sent a bunch.  And they were soooooooo cute!

And hubs said maybe we can play Yahtzee tonight.  And playing games always puts me in a good mood.  I'm trying to relax a bit because I keep reading about how stress really affects the baby and I don't want to give my baby ulcers.  And poor Maple Baby already had to live through A&P II with me and experience all that stress, and the stress from moving, and the stress from my trip to Vegas, and the stress of having so many things to buy and no money.  Ugg, poor Maple Baby.

How was your Thursday?

Were you stressed during your pregnancy at all?  If so, did your kids turn out ok?

Are you happy tomorrow is Friday???