disclaimer- I work retail and the holidays suck.
Black Friday went off without a hitch. Finally. 2 months of lead up to one moronic shopping event which then transitions to 4 weeks of having your brain slowly rot from listening to Christmas music 9 hours a day. Then you get off work sometime between 6 and 7pm (because customers won't leave the mall) on Christmas Eve and race to your family only to discover you have missed everyone and only your hippie Uncle is still there. It's what happens every year.
But this year will be different! Since the economy has tanked a few more of my relatives have become retail workers. This means there are 4 faces missing from the Christmas dinner table. This means I am no longer the only voice asking for our family to gather at some time OTHER than 3pm on Dec 24th. Praise the sweet baby Jesus that the Lord works in mysterious ways. Or something.
So my family is getting together on the actual day of Christmas, when all the stores are closed. For the first time in. . . I don't know, 12 years. . . I'm going to see ALL of my family on the holiday. I'll get to see them open their gifts. I'll get to see my younger cousins sneak beer in to my G-ma's house while everyone snickers and lets them think they're getting away with something. I get to see everyone, including my hippie Uncle before his 9th trip to the fruit plate.
YAY!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Distant, but Could be Inbreeding
So. . . Yeah. At that party we had for Morgan's relatives last week his Uncle surprised us by giving us a book detailing the family history for my MIL's family. He had to sneak this book to us so my MIL would not pitch a holy hell fit that it was being passed to Morgan instead of her, but that's another story.
The History of the Descendants of John Hottel was published in 1930 and details the lives of everyone involved starting in the 1700's. Pretty awesome. It even gives details of what their weddings were like. This morning we were flipping thru the pages looking for baby name inspiration when we came across a section dedicated to all the Seibert's in the family. No shit.
Seibert, being my maiden name, is German in origin and not overly common. It's not like Smith or something like that. There are a bunch of us in our area, but only because we all decended from one horny man who liked to sleep around and steal horses. Or so the story goes.
So, this means there is a decent chance that my family and Morgan's family has a few roots in the same tree. Good news is that these ancient relatives lived in the early to mid 1800's. Plenty of genetic diversity has been breed in since then. But still, what are the odds of that?
The History of the Descendants of John Hottel was published in 1930 and details the lives of everyone involved starting in the 1700's. Pretty awesome. It even gives details of what their weddings were like. This morning we were flipping thru the pages looking for baby name inspiration when we came across a section dedicated to all the Seibert's in the family. No shit.
Seibert, being my maiden name, is German in origin and not overly common. It's not like Smith or something like that. There are a bunch of us in our area, but only because we all decended from one horny man who liked to sleep around and steal horses. Or so the story goes.
So, this means there is a decent chance that my family and Morgan's family has a few roots in the same tree. Good news is that these ancient relatives lived in the early to mid 1800's. Plenty of genetic diversity has been breed in since then. But still, what are the odds of that?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
More of the Same, Less of the New
Today I had my 24 week Dr appointment. I was shocked to discover I have not gained any weight since my last appointment. So strange considering how much bigger I am. Baby seems to be fine and I go back in a month.
The 8 quarts cooking program is going great! This week we are devouring Slippery Chicken Pot Pie. Something I now realize is not a well known dish. At least that is what the confused and repulsed expressions on others faces leaves me to believe. If you are unfamiliar, just think pot pie with dough patches instead of a pie crust. Kind of like a stew. . . Kind of. Trust me, it's good.
Hard to believe it's only Tuesday. Yesterday at work was stressful enough to make me wish it was Friday. I mean, wow. Hope the rest of the week flies by!
The 8 quarts cooking program is going great! This week we are devouring Slippery Chicken Pot Pie. Something I now realize is not a well known dish. At least that is what the confused and repulsed expressions on others faces leaves me to believe. If you are unfamiliar, just think pot pie with dough patches instead of a pie crust. Kind of like a stew. . . Kind of. Trust me, it's good.
Hard to believe it's only Tuesday. Yesterday at work was stressful enough to make me wish it was Friday. I mean, wow. Hope the rest of the week flies by!
Friday, November 11, 2011
I Ramble On
This past week has been a really hard one. I'm so glad it's over.
Crazy Ass Boss Lady was in rare form this week. See, it's almost go time for the holiday season rush. And when you operate a mall, not just a store, the pressure can be a bit much. CABL is a Marketing Director. She is responsible for making the entire mall an attractive place to shop and bring your family. . . and she sucks at her job. I'm going to leave it at that and not proceed to write five paragraphs on the topic of her suckage. Just know that she blows and tends to take her frustrations out on others. It's fun.
But the week from hell is over! Next week looks to be equally stressful as our seasonal staff starts their training and I'm hosting our staff holiday meeting on Thursday. Somewhere between all of that, working till 9 every night, and organizing a 500 piece mailer I have my next prenatal appointment. Almost 6 months! Only 3 and 1/2 more months to go!
On the topic of baby - we picked up some more Craigslist stuff tonight. A snowsuit and a few other clothing items that are super cute for pretty darn cheap. Plus the woman we got the stuff from lives 3 blocks away from our favorite ice cream place, so YAY for an excuse to get ice cream!
Tomorrow Morgan's relatives that helped us move his mother into her new apartment are coming over for a November BBQ. Burgers, deviled eggs, chips, fruit, cake, etc. It's the least we can do to thank them for their time and efforts. Hopefully it goes well!
Crazy Ass Boss Lady was in rare form this week. See, it's almost go time for the holiday season rush. And when you operate a mall, not just a store, the pressure can be a bit much. CABL is a Marketing Director. She is responsible for making the entire mall an attractive place to shop and bring your family. . . and she sucks at her job. I'm going to leave it at that and not proceed to write five paragraphs on the topic of her suckage. Just know that she blows and tends to take her frustrations out on others. It's fun.
But the week from hell is over! Next week looks to be equally stressful as our seasonal staff starts their training and I'm hosting our staff holiday meeting on Thursday. Somewhere between all of that, working till 9 every night, and organizing a 500 piece mailer I have my next prenatal appointment. Almost 6 months! Only 3 and 1/2 more months to go!
On the topic of baby - we picked up some more Craigslist stuff tonight. A snowsuit and a few other clothing items that are super cute for pretty darn cheap. Plus the woman we got the stuff from lives 3 blocks away from our favorite ice cream place, so YAY for an excuse to get ice cream!
Tomorrow Morgan's relatives that helped us move his mother into her new apartment are coming over for a November BBQ. Burgers, deviled eggs, chips, fruit, cake, etc. It's the least we can do to thank them for their time and efforts. Hopefully it goes well!
Monday, November 7, 2011
8 Quarts of Love
Last Sunday we made 8 quarts of veggie soup and it lasted us for 6 days. 6 days of lunches, dinners, and on a couple of occasions both for the day. It was good. Really good. And it cut down on the number of food truck lunches for the husband, and food court purchases for me. Healthy, hearty, and delicious.
We decided to repeat this idea. Hopefully we can do this through the fall and winter season. These one pot cold weather meals are ideal for my eating for baby goals. So now we have 8 quarts of stuffed cabbage rolls. Hmmmmmmmmm. Sooooo goooood.
We decided to repeat this idea. Hopefully we can do this through the fall and winter season. These one pot cold weather meals are ideal for my eating for baby goals. So now we have 8 quarts of stuffed cabbage rolls. Hmmmmmmmmm. Sooooo goooood.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Pregnancy To This Point
This morning marks the beginning of week 23. I am getting closer and closer to that important milestone known as viability. The magic point at which a hospital would attempt to save the baby if something were to happen. It's little details like this that I worry about but never tell the husband about. He doesn't need that thought lingering in his head when he is helpless to do anything about it.
But I digress. Pregnancy up to this point has been pretty good. The nausea and indigestion (especially in the first trimester) has been manageable. I have had a few moments where I thought something was wrong. Like when I pulled a groin muscle while doing yoga and had those extreme cramps. But for the most part I have pushed on and tried not to change my habits much despite my infertility anxiety. And it does seem to be true that the second trimester is easy. I almost feel completely normal.
Now we get to the fun part. Where I list my most important moments of the past 23 weeks. Those little memory nuggets that I hope to never forget.
1. Saturday, June 25th. I was at work at a kids event when I first started to put the pieces of the puzzle together in my head. It had almost been 2 weeks since the IUI and I felt like crap. When I got home I took my husband upstairs with me and took a pee test. He had the most bewildered expression on his face when I told him it was positive. I think he forgot how to breath for a few seconds.
2. Seeing the developing baby on our first ultrasound at Shady Grove Fertility. After the loss of the last pregnancy it was the most amazing thing to see. Proof that things were okay. Mongo was only 5 weeks along at that point, so there was no movement, but there was a heartbeat! A tiny primitive heart that was beating.
3. At 7 weeks I had my first appointment with an OB. It was a horrible experience and I changed Dr offices after what happened. But everything was fine and the OB Dr was wrong when he told me the baby was dead. This experience may have taken a couple of years off the end of my life with the stress of it all, but I never want to forget the way it made me realize how much I loved this baby even then.
4. Feeling those first tiny movements around week 11 or 12. Not sure when I first felt it because I kept telling myself it was gas. But it was Mongo. And it felt like tiny bumps and flutters.
5. The kicks. Wow. The difference a few weeks can make! Right around week 18 all those little bumps turned into definite kicks with some force behind them! It scared me at first.
6. Finding out that Mongo is a boy. We strongly suspected he was. But there's nothing like being told if your life will be all about mud pies or dance recitals! Morgan was so proud. He kept reaching over and squeezing my foot during the long ultrasound because he couldn't hug me. Although the baby skeleton did freak him out a little during the anatomy scan. Which was funny.
7. Week 22. I was sitting at my desk typing when Mongo kicked my side where my elbow was resting. I gave my stomach a good poke right where he had kicked me and a little foot returned a kick to my finger. We did this a few times as I marveled at our first mother/son interaction. Then it hit me like a freight train that I was really going to have a baby and the combination of pride and terror almost made me cry at work.
And that brings us to today. I'm nesting. Gathering baby things and outfits cautiously, but feeling like things are really going to be fine. Trying to pick out a name. Or more truthfully, trying to find a name that Morgan doesn't hate. Sorry, but despite what Morgan may want, Mongo will not be named Tiberius. Besides, I'm pretty sure Matt has first dibs on that one. Yes, I am serious.
But I digress. Pregnancy up to this point has been pretty good. The nausea and indigestion (especially in the first trimester) has been manageable. I have had a few moments where I thought something was wrong. Like when I pulled a groin muscle while doing yoga and had those extreme cramps. But for the most part I have pushed on and tried not to change my habits much despite my infertility anxiety. And it does seem to be true that the second trimester is easy. I almost feel completely normal.
Now we get to the fun part. Where I list my most important moments of the past 23 weeks. Those little memory nuggets that I hope to never forget.
1. Saturday, June 25th. I was at work at a kids event when I first started to put the pieces of the puzzle together in my head. It had almost been 2 weeks since the IUI and I felt like crap. When I got home I took my husband upstairs with me and took a pee test. He had the most bewildered expression on his face when I told him it was positive. I think he forgot how to breath for a few seconds.
2. Seeing the developing baby on our first ultrasound at Shady Grove Fertility. After the loss of the last pregnancy it was the most amazing thing to see. Proof that things were okay. Mongo was only 5 weeks along at that point, so there was no movement, but there was a heartbeat! A tiny primitive heart that was beating.
3. At 7 weeks I had my first appointment with an OB. It was a horrible experience and I changed Dr offices after what happened. But everything was fine and the OB Dr was wrong when he told me the baby was dead. This experience may have taken a couple of years off the end of my life with the stress of it all, but I never want to forget the way it made me realize how much I loved this baby even then.
4. Feeling those first tiny movements around week 11 or 12. Not sure when I first felt it because I kept telling myself it was gas. But it was Mongo. And it felt like tiny bumps and flutters.
5. The kicks. Wow. The difference a few weeks can make! Right around week 18 all those little bumps turned into definite kicks with some force behind them! It scared me at first.
6. Finding out that Mongo is a boy. We strongly suspected he was. But there's nothing like being told if your life will be all about mud pies or dance recitals! Morgan was so proud. He kept reaching over and squeezing my foot during the long ultrasound because he couldn't hug me. Although the baby skeleton did freak him out a little during the anatomy scan. Which was funny.
7. Week 22. I was sitting at my desk typing when Mongo kicked my side where my elbow was resting. I gave my stomach a good poke right where he had kicked me and a little foot returned a kick to my finger. We did this a few times as I marveled at our first mother/son interaction. Then it hit me like a freight train that I was really going to have a baby and the combination of pride and terror almost made me cry at work.
And that brings us to today. I'm nesting. Gathering baby things and outfits cautiously, but feeling like things are really going to be fine. Trying to pick out a name. Or more truthfully, trying to find a name that Morgan doesn't hate. Sorry, but despite what Morgan may want, Mongo will not be named Tiberius. Besides, I'm pretty sure Matt has first dibs on that one. Yes, I am serious.
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