Its a cryptic rhyming title of this week's blog, but its so true.
Our home renovation projects are finally coming to a close. I'll post some pics tonight of the progress we've made and I have to say, it really looks wonderful. The bathroom is all fresh and clean with new paint, tile, tub, vanity and mirror (and our plumber even fixed the leaky pipe today). The kitchen got new paint, tile, floor, lighting and cabinets (and as of tonight, we should have our sink back). The painter is painting. The built-ins are... well... built in. Its amazing how personalizing our house ties us to it more and more. In the beginning, Joel and I were keenly aware of all of the things that were wrong with it. The kitchen was just a mess. We knew the people that lived there previously hadn't cared much for upkeep or cleanliness. They weren't handy. They weren't in for the long haul. Now, I'm happy to say that our house feels like home. Ahhhhhhh.
Brice continues to grow like a weed. We've completely taken him off the baby food purees (except for the peaches... he really likes them) and now he eats pretty much whatever we eat. Last night he had chicken, rice, peas, mandarin oranges, half an English muffin, a couple of animal crackers and an 8oz bottle. He slept from 7:30-5:30, woke up for a quick bottle and then passed out again until 8am. I love it. He's very talkative now too. Obviously he's not using real words but his babble is just totally lovable and hilarious. Oftentimes, Joel and I wake up to Brice talking to his toys in his crib. I wonder what sort of crazy story he's telling them. I'm sure it has something to do with wrangling Lucy and giving her big kisses (he's a little obsessed these days).
Work has been...interesting. We'd heard rumors of layoffs coming for a few weeks now and yesterday, the ax fell. Today it continues as HR calls people in to conference rooms one by one to tell them their fate. We've lost four fabulous people from our communications team thus far and we've heard that more are coming for other teams around the organization. The sad thing is, there is no apparent rhyme or reason. The layoffs are not related to poor performance, poor attitude or poor standing within the company. They just are. I guess that's the new economy for you. I'm taking the advice of our former colleague before HR called him. "Keep working, keep your head down and pray."
And in Baby H2 news, we've hit the 24 week mark. Yay for viability. At 24 weeks, a baby has a chance of surviving outside of the womb in the event of premature labor or some other incident. It's a good milestone to reach. One of my co-workers gave birth to her daughter at 27 weeks. From the photos, her little girl looks like a very rambunctious child. I'm feeling good overall. Just tired. I'm not sure if that's pregnancy related or if it has to do with the stresses of work and home reno. Needless to say, I'm ready for a weekend when I can just kick back, snuggle with my two favorite men and relax.
I promise to put up some pics this weekend!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
23 Week Update
How far along? 23 weeks exactly
Total weight gain: According to my doc, I'm up somewhere between 14 and 16lbs. She was very pleased as I was up 25lbs at this point with Brice. I'm sure that the ballooning effect will take place momentarily.
Maternity clothes? Yes. With Brice, I managed to avoid "business attire" events throughout my pregnancy, so I survived in what I call "business casual" or sweaters and pants. I have to go to an event in NYC on Tuesday and it looks like I'm going to have to buy something more appropriate. Sigh. So unfair. Does anyone really want to see a pregnant lady squeezed into a suit?
Best moment this week: When the cleaning ladies came and magically removed the layer of dust that coated our entire house. Even our nanny was excited about this. Brice also learned how to give kisses which is now my favorite request. He especially likes delivering kisses to Lucy. Its sort of one-sided.
Symptoms: I'm starting to get my waddle on. Sexy!
Movement: H2 is still a low kicker. She seems to enjoy dancing on my bladder. Joel sat with his head in my lap the other day and said she feels like a dragon. I have no idea what that means.
Food cravings: Butter continues. Also raisins, chocolate pudding and sushi.
Gender? Our little girlie cooperated! It was so nice to see her again at the ultrasound.
Sleep: Off and on. Brice sleeps great some nights and other nights, he wants to party. I would say we're good with getting sleep from 10pm-5am. Everything else is a crap shoot.
Belly Button in or out? Booooo. Totally out. It looks like a gross, weird nose.
What I miss: I'm going to stick with my dishwasher, my downstairs toilet and warmth. Its snowing in October. Why do we live in Connecticut again?
Weekly Wisdom: Hmmm. This week I'm going to steal a line from Abe Lincoln: "You can't please all the people all of the time." Nuff said.
Milestones: Next week we hit viability, which is pretty cool. Also, we're looking forward to dressing Brice up for his first Halloween (he's going to be a lion) and my nephew, Jake, is being bar mitzvah ed. Many October milestones!
Total weight gain: According to my doc, I'm up somewhere between 14 and 16lbs. She was very pleased as I was up 25lbs at this point with Brice. I'm sure that the ballooning effect will take place momentarily.
Maternity clothes? Yes. With Brice, I managed to avoid "business attire" events throughout my pregnancy, so I survived in what I call "business casual" or sweaters and pants. I have to go to an event in NYC on Tuesday and it looks like I'm going to have to buy something more appropriate. Sigh. So unfair. Does anyone really want to see a pregnant lady squeezed into a suit?
Best moment this week: When the cleaning ladies came and magically removed the layer of dust that coated our entire house. Even our nanny was excited about this. Brice also learned how to give kisses which is now my favorite request. He especially likes delivering kisses to Lucy. Its sort of one-sided.
Symptoms: I'm starting to get my waddle on. Sexy!
Movement: H2 is still a low kicker. She seems to enjoy dancing on my bladder. Joel sat with his head in my lap the other day and said she feels like a dragon. I have no idea what that means.
Food cravings: Butter continues. Also raisins, chocolate pudding and sushi.
Gender? Our little girlie cooperated! It was so nice to see her again at the ultrasound.
Sleep: Off and on. Brice sleeps great some nights and other nights, he wants to party. I would say we're good with getting sleep from 10pm-5am. Everything else is a crap shoot.
Belly Button in or out? Booooo. Totally out. It looks like a gross, weird nose.
What I miss: I'm going to stick with my dishwasher, my downstairs toilet and warmth. Its snowing in October. Why do we live in Connecticut again?
Weekly Wisdom: Hmmm. This week I'm going to steal a line from Abe Lincoln: "You can't please all the people all of the time." Nuff said.
Milestones: Next week we hit viability, which is pretty cool. Also, we're looking forward to dressing Brice up for his first Halloween (he's going to be a lion) and my nephew, Jake, is being bar mitzvah ed. Many October milestones!
Monday, October 12, 2009
I now sleep two feet from my toilet
That's right folks. My bathroom has been demolished and for the time being, my toilet has been relocated to our bedroom. I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and rolled over to see Shamus asleep in a pile of blankets and towels that once occupied our linen closet in the hallway. Just beyond the pile is our toilet. It is empty and to my best knowledge, it is pretty clean. You can't use it, which totally sucks because the second I see it, it reminds me that I have to go to the bathroom. The closest toilet is now a flight of stairs away. That's really far at 5:00 a.m. Nonetheless, its a little nasty to wake up and have that clear of a view of our porcelain throne. I'm ready for this toilet to get moved back across the hall to its usual bathroom resting place.
Thankfully Brice hasn't noticed the toilet in the bedroom yet or we'd be in big trouble. Last week he learned how to flush and now spends the bulk of the evening unrolling the toilet paper and flushing it. Its a cheap thrill so I don't stop him, but now that our toilet isn't attached to any water supply, I have to keep him away from it for as long as possible. The last thing I want to come home to is an entire roll of toilet paper and God only knows what else shoved in there.
So, we've survived phase one of the kitchen renovation project. The kitchen was demolished, new floors installed, new ceilings and drywall on the walls, new recessed lights, new cabinets, new paint. We're just waiting for the lovely people at Viking to install our countertops with our new sink and faucet. I can't wait to have water back so that I can use my dishwasher again. Washing dishes in the upstairs bathroom sink or tub is just totally uncool. I never thought I'd say it, but I also really miss cooking. Since we have no ability to wash dishes, we've been eating frozen dinners or ordering out and I swear, we're on a first name basis with the folks from NPP and Nagoya.
Now we begin on the bathroom. This weekend we gutted the joint. Tub is out. Vanity is gone. Toilet, as I mentioned has been relocated. Tiles have fallen. Joel spent the majority of the day rebuilding the walls and floor so that our tile guy can get to work today. Our plumber came in to hook up the new 300lb tub that was installed yesterday thanks to Joel and some friends. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can be back to having a functional bathroom by the weekend. We still have to paint, put up the wainscotting and replace the vanity, mirror and light fixture. Did I mention how thankful I am to have a handy husband? Well, I am.
Brice has done great through all of this. He somehow sleeps through the bulk of the construction work and he's now taken to carrying the broom around the house. Perhaps he's trying to tell me something. He's getting really good at sleeping through the night and we usually don't hear a peep out of him until about 5:30 a.m. at which point Joel and I are content to bring him into bed with us for some snuggles. He's also totally infatuated with Shamus and Lucy, so if you find any bald spots on our dogs... well, we're trying to teach him how to pet.
As far as Baby H2 goes, we had a great 22 week ultrasound on Friday and a good visit with Dr. Pendyala. After TWO HOURS of drinking coffee, soda and water and doing laps around the block and the office, H2 decided to flip over onto her back and let us get the measurements that we needed. The heart, lungs, bladder and brain all looked perfect and our little girl is now measuring about 1lb, 2oz. She's been happily dancing on my bladder since then and seems to be rolling along with the massive construction work we've been doing. Dr. Pendyala told me that I'm not up 14lbs total for this pregnancy, a whopping 16lbs less than where I was at this point with Brice (yikes!). She's adamant about me getting the H1N1 shot so I guess I'll be the first one waiting in line when it finally comes out in Connecticut. I'm still torn on how I feel about it, but I guess if it reduces the risk of hospitalization, count me in. I'm done with ultrasounds for the next 14 weeks or so and the next thing I have to look forward to is the glorious glucose test at 26 weeks (yuck).
I'll post some pics tonight of the kitchen and bathroom!
Thankfully Brice hasn't noticed the toilet in the bedroom yet or we'd be in big trouble. Last week he learned how to flush and now spends the bulk of the evening unrolling the toilet paper and flushing it. Its a cheap thrill so I don't stop him, but now that our toilet isn't attached to any water supply, I have to keep him away from it for as long as possible. The last thing I want to come home to is an entire roll of toilet paper and God only knows what else shoved in there.
So, we've survived phase one of the kitchen renovation project. The kitchen was demolished, new floors installed, new ceilings and drywall on the walls, new recessed lights, new cabinets, new paint. We're just waiting for the lovely people at Viking to install our countertops with our new sink and faucet. I can't wait to have water back so that I can use my dishwasher again. Washing dishes in the upstairs bathroom sink or tub is just totally uncool. I never thought I'd say it, but I also really miss cooking. Since we have no ability to wash dishes, we've been eating frozen dinners or ordering out and I swear, we're on a first name basis with the folks from NPP and Nagoya.
Now we begin on the bathroom. This weekend we gutted the joint. Tub is out. Vanity is gone. Toilet, as I mentioned has been relocated. Tiles have fallen. Joel spent the majority of the day rebuilding the walls and floor so that our tile guy can get to work today. Our plumber came in to hook up the new 300lb tub that was installed yesterday thanks to Joel and some friends. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we can be back to having a functional bathroom by the weekend. We still have to paint, put up the wainscotting and replace the vanity, mirror and light fixture. Did I mention how thankful I am to have a handy husband? Well, I am.
Brice has done great through all of this. He somehow sleeps through the bulk of the construction work and he's now taken to carrying the broom around the house. Perhaps he's trying to tell me something. He's getting really good at sleeping through the night and we usually don't hear a peep out of him until about 5:30 a.m. at which point Joel and I are content to bring him into bed with us for some snuggles. He's also totally infatuated with Shamus and Lucy, so if you find any bald spots on our dogs... well, we're trying to teach him how to pet.
As far as Baby H2 goes, we had a great 22 week ultrasound on Friday and a good visit with Dr. Pendyala. After TWO HOURS of drinking coffee, soda and water and doing laps around the block and the office, H2 decided to flip over onto her back and let us get the measurements that we needed. The heart, lungs, bladder and brain all looked perfect and our little girl is now measuring about 1lb, 2oz. She's been happily dancing on my bladder since then and seems to be rolling along with the massive construction work we've been doing. Dr. Pendyala told me that I'm not up 14lbs total for this pregnancy, a whopping 16lbs less than where I was at this point with Brice (yikes!). She's adamant about me getting the H1N1 shot so I guess I'll be the first one waiting in line when it finally comes out in Connecticut. I'm still torn on how I feel about it, but I guess if it reduces the risk of hospitalization, count me in. I'm done with ultrasounds for the next 14 weeks or so and the next thing I have to look forward to is the glorious glucose test at 26 weeks (yuck).
I'll post some pics tonight of the kitchen and bathroom!
Friday, October 2, 2009
21 week update
How far along? 21 weeks exactly
Total weight gain: Still no clue, due in part to the kitchen construction that is keeping me from my upstairs bathroom. Yeah, that's it.
Maternity clothes? Yes and thank goodness. October 1 brought true fall weather here so I was happy to have some comfy pants and sweaters for work.
Best moment this week: It was technically last week, but my best moment was taking a sledgehammer to my ugly white counter tops. Man, what a great way to blow off some steam!
Symptoms: Metallic taste continues!
Movement: Flutters are turning into kicks. She's a low kicker, unlike Brice who spent his days elbowing and kicking me in the upper ribcage. I'm just waiting for the day when she gives me a swift kick to the bladder and I wet my pants.
Food cravings: Salted butter. The kind my grandma used to buy to spread on challah bread.
Gender? We have a follow-up ultrasound one week from today, so I'm still going girlie!
Sleep: None to speak of. Between home renovation projects, Brice teething and general discomfort, I feel like I'm probably maxing out somewhere around 4 hours per night.
Belly Button in or out? Almost totally out. I hate this.
What I miss: Summer (yeah, its gone already), sleeping with the windows open, Brice sleeping through the night, my kitchen, running water, cooking without use of the microwave oven, using a dishwasher instead of my bathroom sink, the general feeling of calm instead of chaos in my house.
Weekly Wisdom: Hire a contractor if you work full time or buy a brand new house. While it feels great to say, "I did that" I also have to assume that it feels pretty good to not be coated in three different colors of paint, have a gutted kitchen and appliances sitting in my front foyer and being able to sleep at night without worrying about if the counter tops will be too light, the floors will be too dark or the dry-wall taping job on the ceiling is going to show. Invest in Home Depot stock. I can't walk into that place without dropping $200.
Milestones: Looking forward to seeing little H2 on the ultrasound next week. Just 5 short weeks away from the third trimester. Hurray!
Total weight gain: Still no clue, due in part to the kitchen construction that is keeping me from my upstairs bathroom. Yeah, that's it.
Maternity clothes? Yes and thank goodness. October 1 brought true fall weather here so I was happy to have some comfy pants and sweaters for work.
Best moment this week: It was technically last week, but my best moment was taking a sledgehammer to my ugly white counter tops. Man, what a great way to blow off some steam!
Symptoms: Metallic taste continues!
Movement: Flutters are turning into kicks. She's a low kicker, unlike Brice who spent his days elbowing and kicking me in the upper ribcage. I'm just waiting for the day when she gives me a swift kick to the bladder and I wet my pants.
Food cravings: Salted butter. The kind my grandma used to buy to spread on challah bread.
Gender? We have a follow-up ultrasound one week from today, so I'm still going girlie!
Sleep: None to speak of. Between home renovation projects, Brice teething and general discomfort, I feel like I'm probably maxing out somewhere around 4 hours per night.
Belly Button in or out? Almost totally out. I hate this.
What I miss: Summer (yeah, its gone already), sleeping with the windows open, Brice sleeping through the night, my kitchen, running water, cooking without use of the microwave oven, using a dishwasher instead of my bathroom sink, the general feeling of calm instead of chaos in my house.
Weekly Wisdom: Hire a contractor if you work full time or buy a brand new house. While it feels great to say, "I did that" I also have to assume that it feels pretty good to not be coated in three different colors of paint, have a gutted kitchen and appliances sitting in my front foyer and being able to sleep at night without worrying about if the counter tops will be too light, the floors will be too dark or the dry-wall taping job on the ceiling is going to show. Invest in Home Depot stock. I can't walk into that place without dropping $200.
Milestones: Looking forward to seeing little H2 on the ultrasound next week. Just 5 short weeks away from the third trimester. Hurray!
Some updated photos - Nate's Baptism Weekend in Maryland
I wanted to share a couple of photos from Nate Lydem's Baptism weekend in Maryland. We had a great time with the Lydem and Amato families. Unfortunately, due to miles in between, rambunctious children and chaotic work/life schedules, we don't get to see one another nearly enough and one weekend just couldn't make up for the months of catching up that we need to do!
Me, Kelly and Heather enjoying the beautiful weather and the view from Kelly's backyard.
How things change in three years. We went from three single ladies to three married ladies to three moms. Here's a great picture of the Lydem, Harvill and Amato families. Yeah, its impossible to get all kiddos looking at the camera (or any kiddos for that matter).
Our three sons. Brice at 9 months, Nate at 6 months and Alexander at 20 months. How three brunettes end up with three fair-haired boys is beyond me.
Mommy at 19 weeks pregnant and briefly dressed up for the occasion. Brice sported his favorite "crab" shirt since we were at a true Maryland crab feast!
Me, Kelly and Heather enjoying the beautiful weather and the view from Kelly's backyard.
How things change in three years. We went from three single ladies to three married ladies to three moms. Here's a great picture of the Lydem, Harvill and Amato families. Yeah, its impossible to get all kiddos looking at the camera (or any kiddos for that matter).
Our three sons. Brice at 9 months, Nate at 6 months and Alexander at 20 months. How three brunettes end up with three fair-haired boys is beyond me.
Mommy at 19 weeks pregnant and briefly dressed up for the occasion. Brice sported his favorite "crab" shirt since we were at a true Maryland crab feast!
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