Yikes, it's been a long time.

I can't believe it's been over one month now since the last time I posted on here. It just doesn't seem even remotely possible. And now, with a mere...9 days left before Delaney arrives, I feel so insanely overwhelmed I can barely function!

Or maybe it's simply because I've morphed into a planet with my own gravitational pull?

Delaney will be delivered via C-Section on the 13th, should she not decide to ruffle things up sooner. Secretly (well, not so secretly anymore) I hope things progress faster as my blood pressure has now jumped and I'm having so many contractions I could kill with my eyes. Stupid hormones making me all crazy. I need a vacation from my body already, and my life, that would be grand.

The crib has been reassembled and all my old sheets are on it again. Still looks cute, of course, though I do wish for newer supplies every now and again. It's been a very tough time with the gas issue and then Rudy's job tanking terribly. We've been living on next to nothing and it's scary when you're trying to prep for another person to take care of. I desperately try not to think about it, but when you can't sleep for all the other pains in the world, it's almost impossible keeping it from the forefront of my mind. Ugh.

You gotta to do whatcha gotta do, whatcha gotta do.

Seven Weeks and Counting.

Wow, is there a lot to accomplish before Delaney arrives. One would think that with a second child, especially of the same gender, things would be fairly straight-forward and not much preparation involved. Wrong!

We have to finish cleaning up the kids' room, remove the old dresser (which I really wish would fit ANYWHERE because we could use the extra clothing storage), put the crib back together, find a new bumper for the crib, finish my art projects, get the newborn clothes rewashed...the list just seems to have multiplied out of the blue.

In the meantime, Rudy is being jerked around at work. It seems that his bosses are punishing him for going to school because it will interfere with their want to have him at work constantly as a salaried manager. So they've postponed his MIT from April until June, which is right in the middle of his summer classes, most likely because they want to push him out of the program entirely. It is a HUGE letdown for us, because we really need the money the promotion was going to bring. It almost feels like we've gone back to square one. This has been our luck for years.

And as I bring up luck, how lucky is it that the gas company accidentally turns off our gas, then comes back and turns it on, but somewhere in there someone manages to break something pertaining to the meter and fails to report it. After what seems like hundreds of calls to the gas company, we find that they are attempting to fix the problem, but in the meanwhile, we've been without hot water for an entire week. What.thehell.man.

I don't want to end this post on a negative note, so I'll say that tonight Afton was goofing around pretending to drink from a block and shaking her head a bunch of times. She was giggling and babbling and at one point Rudy and I imitated her babble by saying "nigh-nigh", to which she turned suddenly, said "nigh-nigh" back to us and began waving as she ran down the hall. We both just stopped and stared at her because we couldn't really believe that maybe, finally, we had happened upon a truly recognizable word! So we began saying it again, asking Afton if she wanted to go "nigh-nigh", and sure enough she continued to turn, wave and run down the hall toward her room. Rudy then picked her up, and to test the theory he put her to bed. Not a peep!

Talk about awesome.

Just a few weeks left now!

My insides are Bewitched!

I have been sick for an entire week now, and I am so absolutely tired of it I could scream! I understand that one's immune system takes a major hit when harboring a fetus, but for someone who never gets sick to fall ill twice in just a few months is, well...annoying to say the least. At least this time I didn't need to go to the hospital, which is a plus.

I feel bad for Afton, though, because I am so wasted tired that I can barely get out of bed/couch/floor/any surface I may be laying on, let alone actively play with her. Everything I do makes me want to fall over, or my heart will start racing and pounding. I can't even sleep anymore because I am so uncomfortable and because of my heart, it's wearing me out! My next appointment is on Tuesday and it cannot come soon enough.

In the meantime I need to muster enough strength to get the house cleaned up, the laundry completed and finish some work on an art project. Oh, and I guess it might be important to feed Afton at some point as well. Poor baby girl.

Did I mention I hate being sick?

10 Weeks and Counting.

Since Afton and Delaney will be sharing a room, it's important to me to have some sort of...well, symmetry. I've always had a knack for decorating, but I find myself going in ten-hundred thousand directions when it comes to what I want to do with the girls' room. I was exploring a website the other day and created the most beautiful crib bedding set for Delaney.

I was able to pick the patterns I wanted and attach them to each individual part of the set, creating something uniquely individual (because individual alone just doesn't cut it in Karlyville). I am absolutely in love with my crib set, but I couldn't possibly ever afford it, since the total is somewhere around $425. I'm sure many people wouldn't bat an eyelash at a price like that, but I don't even spend that much on my OWN bedding, which I lovingly buy from Ikea every few years.

It is a time like this that I wish I had a sewing machine, because I would love to add something like making a crib set to my to-do list. For you know, my kids' kids. Until then, I will just keep the crib set on my wish list and wish for a miracle.

The only other thing on my list for Delaney is a double stroller. I spent a lot of time watching mothers and children in double strollers to try to determine what would be the best buy for me and my family. In the end I came to this stroller:

The Baby Trend Sit N Stand. I learned from watching other families as well as talking to Mom that a lot of younger siblings have a high desire to help push the stroller with new baby on board. This leaves little desire to have a stroller that I would have to constantly buckle and unbuckle Afton into. The front seat of the stroller is made compatible so I can attach my Graco infant carseat easily, and the jumpseat in back would allow Afton to sit when tired, or stand when engaged, or to even step off and walk when she felt like it. And I won't have to be troubled with taking anything apart! This makes the stroller lighter than other doubles and more compact.

I did debate the jogging strollers for awhile because they are supposed to be easier to push and more maneuverable, but they are just gigantic and ill-equipped to handle small spaces and stores with narrow aisles. And since I am not a jogger, why bother? The reviews for the Sit N Stand seem to be pretty overwhelmingly positive and the product itself is only $129.99 at Babiesrus.com, which is remarkably inexpensive. I think I can convince my husband to go for it, I can hope!

In the meantime, I have several small projects to work on for the kids' room, but all this sitting around is starting to leave me frustrated and depressed. I need friends down here, and so far I have none. And I don't have any customers either. It's all very lonesome. So off to bed I go.

Diaper Adventure

Recently I received an e-giftcard from Dad to buy some diapers for Afton. I decided to take this opportunity and explore the world of cloth/washable diapers.
I picked up my delivery at the store yesterday and just moments ago strapped Afton into her first diaper. We'll see how this goes. I'm hoping well, of course.



The Kushies diaper is the first one I put on Afton. It is really bulky compared to a normal diaper, but I can now put on Afton's 18mo. pants without them falling down all the time. Sweet.











The gDiapers little gPants are much smaller than the Kushies, and the liners are insertable, rather than built in. I will be trying these ones on Afton in a few days probably.

I chose the cloth inserts rather than the disposable, because I initially thought they would be easier to deal with. I have to wash them six times though before I can even use them, in hot water no less, because it is supposed to make them softer and more absorbent. They are made with Hemp I do believe.



Needless to say, if this works out, I'll be buying a bunch to use with Delaney when she is born, which will save so much money on disposable diapers. Wish me luck, folks.

Peanut the Puppy.

On Monday I gave up my dog, Peanut. It was the hardest thing I've done in a long, long time. Needless to say, even if I wasn't completely overrun with hormones, I would have bawled anyway.

We knew this was going to happen at some point. We've tried and tried and tried to get Peanut's barking and aggression under control but nothing has worked. Finally, after moving into our new apartment, we received a complaint from our neighbor about the non-stop barking and that was the end. We had two weeks to try to find Peanut a home and had no luck at all. So on Monday I took Peanut and her favorite rope toy to the Humane Society and gave her up.

I hope upon hope that someone adopts her and gives her the training that we were unable to instill in her. She's a beautiful dog, and a loving dog too. I miss her.

Sunny Days

The nice thing about living in Arizona is that while all my counterparts in Minnesota are bundled up in jackets and boots and cursing the cold, I'm jumping in a nice, cool pool at my complex in temperatures reaching the upper 70s. Sigh, life is so hard sometimes.


Afton points at everything and nothing. Sometimes I think she is seeing ghosts, which inevitably creeps me out and I await the day she comes to me and tells me "They're here..."
That'll be the day I check myself into an institution, after burning my place of residence down.

For some reason when I tell people that Afton likes to play with rocks, they seem to think that she gets it from me. I don't remember ever being someone who just arbitrarily played with rocks, but I guess it must be written all over my face. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Or in this case the rock doesn't roll far from the hill. Har har har.
I'm having a fairly special time trying to cope with the "heat", since the vast majority of my pregnancy with Afton occurred in Minnesota, in fall. The cool air felt nice when I was flopping around town like a beached whale. But now I get so hot so fast that even a tank top is little relief. And I still have three months to go! I may be spending many days by the pool turning into a fine piece of leather for slaughter.

Gotta crack out some SPF for the toddler though, and save that pretty little skin of hers.