Get Me Some Rogaine... Stat

For the last month or so my hair has been falling out, practically in clumps. I was freaking myself out last night, because I swear it looks thinner. However, the mass shedding seems to be slowing down. I guess this is the post-partum hair loss issue that I’ve read about but don’t remember experiencing with my other two kids. Oh well. I hope it stops or I will be bald soon.

Toby is becoming the sweet baby I’d hoped he would be. I wasn’t so sure, because his first few months on earth he was a troubled little guy. I was seriously worried that he would be so sensitive about every little thing. He seems to be over that and only fusses when he gets tired or bored. Now we just need him to get to bed earlier. He doesn’t go down until sometime around midnight. At least he sleeps straight through until 8:30 when I almost always have to wake him up to take his big sister to school. If he would go down by 9 pm, we would be in heaven. Yes, I know, way to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I was going through the kids baby books last night trying to add a few bits and pieces since I haven’t been the most diligent about filling them out. I went through Roan’s and realized that she’s almost “done” with the book. The book is designed to record stuff up through age 7. I remember when I first got the book and thought that it would be AGES before we could fill out any of that stuff and now it’s almost done. Man, I’m old. And going bald.

A couple nights ago the girls were playing freeze dance. That one is always a sanity saver. All it requires of me is to press the pause/play button on the Apple TV remote. I can participate more, if I wish, but it’s nice to be able to do something so easy that the kids love and it doesn’t make any mess. It’s also really easy to do with a baby on your lap.

Hmmm... I had a bunch more, but of course when I actually get time to sit down and type it all flew out of my head.

Forgot to Post- OCT 28

Nothing more sad than an abandoned blog. I’ve been a little busy lately. Baby Toby is three months old now. Yay. He’s sleeping through the night (most of the time), so I’m not as crazy as I was even a few weeks ago. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still crazy around here. It’s just now there are moments of sanity sprinkled in.

Halloween is Friday. Roan is going to be Ash Ketchum (the Pokemon trainer kid). I just about have her costume finished. Sage is going to be Princess Peach (Nintendo). I have fabric cut for her, but it still has to be sewn. We’ll see how that goes. The baby might wear a spider hat, if I can find it. Otherwise he doesn’t have a costume. Maybe I can just put him in girl’s clothes and he can go as a baby girl. That’s just terrible.

We went to a wedding on Saturday with ALL of the kids. I thought it was going to be a total nightmare, but it wasn’t too bad. Luckily a friend’s mom was there. She loves babies and didn’t know too many people at the wedding. She held Toby for hours. The girls had a blast. I really wasn’t expecting them to, but there was a stage and when the music started, the kids (there were others) danced and played up on the stage. Much excitement was had when a giant cart of cupcakes was wheeled out onto the dance floor.

Of course we had to get up on the early side the next morning to go to a birthday party at Funderland. It was Roan’s “boyfriend’s” birthday. I never refer to him as her boyfriend around her, but I caught them holding hands one morning before school. They share a love of Pokemon. At the party another male classmate of Roan’s decided he should lead her around and often had his arm around her. Wtf? They’re six! He would start crying if it looked like he would have to ride by himself (he never did). It was a pretty mellow party. I took the girls and Luciglom stayed home with the boy.

More exciting news is that we finally got Sage potty trained. Hurrah! Now we have only one kid in diapers. We’ve been changing diapers continually for six years now. Think about it. That’s just crazy. In about 3 more years, we should be done. Ugh.

Why do you have a Monster Claw?

I’m back (baaa-aaack). Well, maybe. 30 Rock last night was hilarious. That is all.

Well, not all. Halloween was fun. Roan was Ash, Pokemon trainer and Sage was Princess Peach (of Nintendo fame). I made both of their costumes. I don’t “really” know how to sew.

Roan’s was harder. She needed a short-sleeve jacket type thing. I didn’t have a pattern so I ripped the seams of an old t-shirt to make pattern pieces. It came out okay except how I finished the front. It didn’t button or close in anyway so the front edges turned out a bit when it was on and it was a thread nightmare. I should have turned the edge over twice or something so the raw edge would be tucked in, I guess. It was denim, though and I wouldn’t really want to sew through that many layers. The best part didn't involve sewing. We hand painted a hat for her costume and then she left it at school on Halloween. The hat was pretty much half of her costume. We were supposed to meet friends for trick-or-treating and of course realized she didn't have her hat at the last minute. I had to cut out red and white construction paper and tape it to a blue Cinderella hat. Oh well.

Sage’s was easier because I had a cheap dress pattern and no zippers or anything, just elastic. It wasn’t quite as fancy as the dress Peach really wears, but close enough for jazz.

Toby wore a Christmas hat. Poor Toby. Next year he’ll be big enough for the giraffe costume. Roan got to wear that one twice. Sage wore it once. They hated it. Now it’s a rite of passage.

Random Stuff

I’m so fraking tired. We had a busy weekend culminating in Roan’s dance recital on Sunday. I have not recovered.

I’m starting to freak out because my 36 week appointment is this week (I’ll be a few days shy of 36 weeks). Which means (basing this on my history) I could have the kid pretty much anytime now. At my 32 week appointment I somehow avoided being sent to NST’s 2x a week like I was with Sage. My blood pressure hasn’t really been any better this time, so I was sort of confused. It was a good thing not having to go, since those appointments are twice a week and can sometimes last over an hour. If I can get through my 36 week appointment with out getting sent to L&D or made to start NST’s, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll make it to 38 weeks, which would be really strange.

Physically I’m totally ready to be done. Every ache, pain and heartburn attack has been way worse this time around. I’m sure part of it is due to the fact that I’m older and have two kids to cart around. Not to mention Roan being in Kindergarten this last year, so we had to be very scheduled.

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Recently, we did the old “switch-a-roo” with one of our goldfish. Poor Googly passed away. This was Sage’s fish. She named him. The kids didn’t notice and grandparents happened to be in town that weekend so we went out to get a replacement. For some reason, it was hard to find any googly-eyed fish. Capitol had a few (they had a whole bunch when we bought Googly). So we ended up getting one that didn’t really “match.”

A few weeks have gone by and the kids haven’t said anything until today. Roan came to tell me that Googly “changed.” “Now he’s whiter with spots.” She was pretty excited about it. I felt like a big fat liar, but went along with it.

We mainly did the switch because of Sage. Roan gets the whole pet dying thing and we’ve had dead fish before and it hasn’t bothered her too much. When we had to put Sluggo (the cat) to sleep earlier this year, it was pretty traumatic. The end result being Gary and Fry our two new(ish) kittens.

Puking Fun

So, we’re dealing with another bout of stomach flu. The virus reared it’s ugly head at just about the perfect (meaning imperfect) time. Saturday started just like any other Saturday, albeit a bit busier. We had ballet class at 9:30 and that went just like it always does. The kids got their ($40!!!!) recital costumes so they could have them in time for picture day (more $$$$). Then we went home and got ready to leave for Henry’s 4th birthday party in Pleasanton.

The drive was going fine until about an hour away from home. Roan started getting whiney about being hungry (we ate before we left). I ended up giving her a juice box because she was complaining about being thirsty. Sage was asleep. Then she wanted her window rolled down. This should’ve been my tip off, but I thought she was just being difficult. The whole time she never mentions feeling sick. Then it came. A little barf. And then the crying. And then the parents yelling back in forth about where to get off the freeway as we were quickly approaching a bridge.

We made it to a gas station. I took Roan inside to clean her up and Luciglom worked on the van. Roan seemed a little better so we got her some crackers and water and decided we go on a little farther, stop at a Target (I didn’t pack any extra clothes and now hers were pretty wet) and see how it goes. At this point we were thinking “car sick” since she’s complained about being car sick before and I remember getting car sick a lot as a kid.

We made it to Target. I came out with a package of wet wipes and a sundress. I see that Roan is out of the van with her dad. That’s when I knew it wasn’t car sick and we’d be turning around and driving home.

Missing the party sucked. It was for a 4 year old, but also lots of adults and they were BBQing! So we got back on the freeway going towards home now. We get out side of Fairfield and the floodgates opened. This time Roan had a bag. She got about half of it in the bag and the rest everywhere else. Later she said we needed to give her a bigger bag.

So, Saturday we spent about 3 hours in the car and basically went nowhere and had lots of puke to clean up. So fun.

Roan is on her third day home from school today because of it. I knew she wouldn’t be able to go on Monday. She still had a little fever, but had stopped puking. We had a diarrhea disaster late Monday night. I feel like I should leave out those details. So Tuesday was another “no go” day for school. She seemed like she was getting better Tuesday afternoon, but she was still dealing a little with the ‘rhea, but I was pretty sure we’d make it to school today. I even got her dressed and all ready, but she said her stomach still hurt and she wanted to “rest.” So I called her in. I don’t want to risk a poop disaster at school. That would be devastating.

Now I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. Last time Roan got the stomach flu, the rest of us got it A WEEK LATER. I can’t even sneeze with out it hurting right now (big preggo belly) I can’t imagine barfing.

I was just thinking how we have the school’s spaghetti dinner to go to on Friday night. Sounds like the perfect recipe for puking disaster.

And I forgot...

I wish PETA would shut the hell up, blaming the jockey. They're claiming he whipped her into two broken front legs. Soooo stupid.

R.I.P. Eight Belles

Most people who know me, know I’m really into horses. Well, maybe a lot of people don’t, since I’ve been on horse hiatus for some time. Anyhow, I’ve always had a sort of love/hate feeling towards horse racing. I love the horses, but there’s a lot about the “sport” (business) that I hate.

I grew up going to Bay Meadows. The newspaper always had the racing program for each day and I’d make my picks and then follow up by watching “A Day at the Races” to see how well I did.

So it follows that I still watch the Triple Crown races every year, at least when I remember they’re on. I pretty much had nothing to do last Saturday and the Kentucky Derby was on, so I set the DVR to record it, pre-show and all, went grocery shopping and came home to watch. I even got Davey in on the watching. He looked in the paper to make his “pick.” Horse racing is pretty much the only horse event I seem to be able to get him a little interested in. He has sat through his share of “dancing horses” on my account. He’s also come to a few horse shows I rode in, and those have to be the most boring of all. It must be the wagering aspect that makes it more appealing.

NBC had this horrible “red carpet” show before the race. I really don’t care which B (now that I think about it, more like C) list celebrity went to Churchill Downs to wear a stupid looking hat and drink nasty mint juleps. It was really horrible.

After the “red carpet” show, the actual coverage started and usually they have some taped pieces on some of the favorite or notable horses. Not so much this year. They mostly focused on one of the jockeys (who ended up winning) and an obnoxious sounding trainer (he won too). There wasn’t as much focus on the horses. Lame.

So, I can tell Davey kind of wants me to pick one. I liked the name of the one he picked. Colonel...John? I can’t remember and I’m too lazy to look it up. Then I saw a filly was running. And she was big, 17 hands. She also had a pretty good (undefeated?) record as a 3 year old. So, Eight Belles it was.

My point in all of this description is that I was having a fun afternoon, watching horses. Davey actually seemed like he wanted to watch it with me. I even had a swig of his beer (shame on me). I found a good horse to root for and it was just a nice day, all around.

When they were putting the horses in the gate, I had the thought “please don’t let any horses break down.” Seriously. I think a lot of people think it doesn’t happen a lot, but it does. Anyhow, the thought came and then drifted off as the race started.

Then the race was over, the favorite one. The filly, Eight Belles came in second, which was pretty cool and everyone appeared to have a safe trip. By this time I had my girls out watching too, trying to get them into it.

I didn’t actually see her go down on the broadcast (I saw it later) but I saw the winner spook and dump his jockey as they went by her. I did see two vans/horse ambulances. I told Davey, “uh-oh, that’s not good.” The commentator mentioned she was laying on the track. I kept hoping they were somehow making her stay down, but when a horse is down on a track it’s never good.

The NBC coverage switches back to focusing on the winner until they can talk to one of the vets who reveals that they put her down with both of her front legs broken. I know pregnancy hormones played a part in this, but I completely lost it. I had to leave the room because I didn’t want to upset my kids, who remained oblivious. It was kind of strange, how much it upset me.

Basically, a 3 year old horse isn’t even completely done growing. They start racing them at 2. I should mention that Thoroughbreds are all given the same “birthday.” I can’t remember the rules off the top of my head, but it works out kind of like grades in school. You need to be born in a certain bracket of time to be eligible for Kindergarten, it’s not based on your exact age.

There’s a really good documentary about horse racing. It might be called “Jockey” or something like that. It focuses on jockies, but there’s a lot about horses “breaking down” (basically snapping a leg in the middle of a race). It’s hard to watch.

I told myself I was going to keep the horse racing bit to a paragraph, but now you see what happens if I start going into “horse talk.”

I had some other stuff. I went to Target yesterday to get some birthday cards. Is everyone born in May? Why are there so many cards with fart humor? I was astonished. It seemed like every other birthday card had some sort of fart joke on it. If you go to buy a Mother’s Day card this week, check out the birthday cards and see what you think.

As soon as Davey puts the video up, I should have a link to Roan’s first performance in a play called “What’s Missing.” She had the role of Cat 3. I’ll write about that next time. I have to get the girls ready to go to the library/park.

Has It Really Been Almost A Year??!!!

Hey. Is this thing on?

Big news is I’m preggo again. I’m almost 24 weeks and this one turned out to be a boy. I was shocked and amazed when we found out. After two girls it just seemed like we’d just have another girl. I will have no idea what to do with a little boy. At least there will finally be one that Luciglom can take to the bathroom when we go out.

So the little bugger is due 7/27. I actually think the date is really 7/25 based on my calculation and the first ultrasound. But the doctors office likes to stick to their little “wheel thingie” that they pull out when they ask you the date of your LMP, so they have it as the 27th.

Like any of that matters. I know there’s no way I will get to my due date. My blood pressure already started acting up at my last two appointments. It’s been pretty good at home, though. But that won’t matter much.

I’m thinking of trying hypnobabies with this one. It’s a technique of self hypnosis for childbirth. I will most likely get an epidural again, but my experiences with epidurals are not exactly positive. Both times they worked “eventually” but there was a lot of yelling and writhing in pain WITH the fracking epidurals. Maybe my spine is crooked. I don’t know.

I don’t know if I can take the hypnobabies thing seriously enough to really give it a fair chance, though. They do things like call contractions “pressure waves” and new agey stuff like that. I remember taking the hospital “prepared childbirth” with Luciglom when I was pregnant with Roan. They had us do this kind of dance that is supposed to be helpful during labor (think slow dance). I kept laughing so hard, I was in tears. That was also the class that they had us put clothespins on our fingers to help us “practice” getting through contractions. I should’ve known that if the clothespin hurt that much, I was just doomed.

The one thing they don’t talk about too much about in labor is the NAUSEA. With Roan i was on the verge of barfing a few times. Once while I was getting my first epidural (yes, they had to eventually take that one out and give me a new one). They gave Luciglom this tiny little kidney shaped pan and he kept shoving it inches away from my face. Seriously. Why don’t they give you a bucket to puke in? If I had thrown up, it wouldn’t have been contained in that tiny shallow pan.

With Sage I threw up twice. One time it came on so fast I barely had time to lean over and remove the oxygen mask on my face. I felt terrible because I had a really nice (male) nurse and he had to clean it up. Luckily they hadn’t let me eat and I was on water restriction (due to the meds I was one... gotta love preeclampsia) so it wasn’t as gross as it could have been.

The other time, Luciglom was sleeping on the chair that pulls out into a sort of bed. I was feeling sick and trying to wake him up so he could find something for me to barf in. He would NOT wake up. I was so pathetic. I was trying to find something to throw at him. Remember I can’t get out of bed at all at this point. I remember throwing a straw at him. I ended up barfing in my water pitcher while he continued to sleep.

I didn’t really intend to write a post about throwing up, but sometimes these things just take on a life of their own. I promise I will write more about World of Warcraft in the future.

See the Magic

Here's a You Tube video of the Disneyland fireworks show. I came across it while perusing the Disney nerd forums. Don't laugh. I got some helpful tips from the Disney nerds. Davey gave me grief when I told him about the fastpass strategies. Then on the second and third day, he was using them for full effect. Anyhow, the video clocks in at 17 minutes. No wonder my feet and back were killing me, standing there holding up a 35+ pound kid. I've watched a few minutes of the video and it's not too bad. Of course, they're way better in person. And don't watch if you're going to go soon. It's more fun if you don't know what to expect.