Dear Weather...please cooperate!

Dear Weather,
I can appreciate a good snow/ice day like the next gal! Staying in my PJ's all day with Jackson, cleaning out closets, having hot chocolate, etc. But we are supposed to get tubes in Jackson's ears tomorrow AM at 7:30!!! Not that we couldn't reschedule it, but I'd prefer not too. We both have the day off of school, I've already cancelled coaching, and made Jello. I'm a planner and I'd really just like to stick with the plan! So please cooperate and spare the roads from heavy ice or atleast snow on top of it so we don't have to drive on ice in the morning.
Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

Panic is setting in

As my nesting phase begins my level of panic is increasing! Lately I've been cleaning out closets, reorganizing our filing cabinets, preparing Jackson's old clothing for the Just Between Friends Sale, and getting ready to redecorate the nursery....all amidst my normal weekly chores and responsibilities. Unfortunately I'm at the point where everything looks like a disaster! I haven't gotten to the point where I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know I'll get there, I'm just not there yet! If I remember correctly, when I was doing this "nesting phase" while pregnant with Jackson I felt much more under control and not really paniced. I realize that now that I have to care for Jackson at the same time as I accomplish my projects that things are going to be a little bit more chaotic. But I also think I'm realizing that with baby #2, I have a much healthier sense of what I'm getting into...time commitment wise, nursing, lack of sleep, etc. all whilst chasing a 3 yr old. So here's for hoping that she's a laid back baby!!!

A fun Jackson quote for the day "Mommy, we're best friends like Thomas and Percy" (refering to THomas the train and his sidekick Percy). It was SO stinkin' cute!!!
Goodnight all!

Manic Monday

Yesterday was a busy day! We began the day with a trip to the Audiologist and ENT. Jackson had tubes put in October of '08 due to multiple ear infections, so we were supposed to return for a one year check-up...obviously the 1 year recheck turned into a 15 month recheck, oh well, atleast we made it at all!
So we saw the Audiologist first, **nervous that Jackson was going to have a melt down about having things put in his ears and having to sit in a sound proof booth etc.** but he did great. He even let her put some ear buds in to do some sound field testing. As a Speech pathologist I'm well versed in what hearing issues/loss can do to a child's speech, so I was anxious to get the results of his hearing test. All in all he did ok, but his hearing isn't where the audiologist would like it to be.
Next we headed into the ENT and he told us that Jackson's first set of tubes had fallen out and were just laying in the ear canal, which in and of itself wasn't a problem. THe problem is that he continues to have fluid behind his middle ear...which shouldn't be there. It should be draining. So basically it sounds like everything is muffled to Jackson...I compare it to what it sounds like if you were sitting on the bottome of a pool and someone was talking to you....yeah, not so good when you're trying to learn phonics and correct production of speech sounds. So we've decided to put a 2nd set of tubes in his ears next week and remove his adenoids while we're at it. We have the option to "wait him out" and see if as he gets bigger this will resolve itself or just put the new tubes in. But since the ENT called him a "repeat offender" (which I love...because he is a repeat offender in many ways outside of ear infections!! but aren't most toddlers??? LOL) we decided why wait!
So after the wild morning we had it was nice to spend the afternoon playing outside at the park and riding the new bicycle Jackson got for Christmas. The weather was AMAZING!! For those of you who live in or around the Tulsa area, I hope you were able to get out and get some sunshine!!!

"renovation" has become a dirty word at my house!

A master shower renovation has been underway at my house since October, with seemingly no end in sight. Jeremy has been the main workman on the project along with a friend of ours that has tons of experience in home reno projects. Anyhow, we're about sick of it eating up our free time. As usual, every step in this project has taken 5 times as long as we had planned for...and let me tell you Jackson is a GREAT help!!!*sigh* We're lucky to get to work on it a few hours each Sunday and Monday due to work and various other responsibilities. And for those of you who think we're nuts for taking on this project ourselves...we got a few different quotes to have the work done for us all ranging in the $4000-6000 range. Woah buddy! No way was I spending that much money! We originally had a bathtub/shower with sliding glass doors and we wanted to pull all of that out and put in just a stand up shower with glass doors. But let me tell you, as we started pulling out the tile and dry wall, that quote would have gone up exponentially due to the water damage that was hidden behind the walls!!!



So as you can see there was tons of mold and general water damage. We had to replace EVERYTHING...down to the sidding on the outside of the house that shared the exterior shower wall! So with new siding, new plywood, new 2X4's, new floor, plumbing ect. we are finally approaching the phase where we get to see some walls go back up. It's been a long journey and I don't recommend it for the faint of heart or faint marriages! I'm sure it will be great when it's done....but man am I ready to be using our shower again!

I hope everyone had a good weekend....whether you were renovating or relaxing!!!

my moment....

"This is my moment...this is my miracle" (quoting the movie 9 months). So those of you who know me well, know that I am a planner by nature. I LOVE TO PLAN!! I know, a fair amount of life can be missed while planning, but nontheless, I love to plan, make lists, get organized, etc. So Jeremy and I have been discussing how we (mostly me) would like for the birthday of baby girl to go. Granted, we have like 3 months before B-day, but did I mention that I like to plan ahead?!?! Anywho, I will have a repeat c-section on March 31st early am. And I have decided that there are definate cons to having a scheduled delivery of any kind. One being that if you would like any quiet time it's harder to do as a repeat c-section, I mean the line "I'm not sure when we're delivering" is only going to fly for so long! So when we had Jackson it was really all about Jeremy and I. Both our parents were there, my brother and sister-in-law, my grandmother, and 2 of my aunts. That's a room full of people! And while I love my extended family, everyone got to hold him and touch him and look into his beautiful blue eyes 30 minutes to an hour before I did. And yes, I know that's a selfish thing to say, I have subsequently gotten to hold him everyday since...but I think my mommy friends will understand. There is something about carrying a baby for 9 months and all of a sudden being separated from that baby that is difficult. So, while this wasn't a huge deal when we had Jackson it has become a bigger deal to me with baby #2, mainly for when it comes to Jackson. Now that we have Jackson I feel a responsibility to introducing Jackson to his baby sister and us getting some quiet time together as "our" little family before the masses come visit. We know that this is going to completely change our lives, but more so Jacksons and we would like to try and start off on the right foot. We are planning on jackson still going to school on the day the baby gets here, after she's born of course. We really just want to keep his schedule as normal as possible. The planner in my has thought about it a bunch and whilst my plan probably isn't perfect....it's my plan. And if there was ever a time where people should respect (I didn't necessarily say "like") my plan it should be on the day I give birth! Right?!?!
So I'm having the above conversation with my mom...whom I love dearly...and I'm trying to nicely ask that she tell my extended family to wait to visit until later in the morning after the baby gets here and Jeremy and I have had some time to spend with her and Jackson. And my mom looks at me like I'm 12, and in that "mother knows best" tone of voice tells me to consider everyone elses feelings about that and how that would make them feel. Seriously?!?! Are you kidding me?!?! I know she meant well, but I seriously felt like for just a moment that I was 12 and telling her that I wasn't going to invite certain people to my birthday party or something...and I was being told to not be rude!! I quickly snapped out of it of course and remembered that I was almost 30, have been married for almost 6 years, and am having my 2nd child....I can voice my opinion! And since this is "my moment" I hope that my family can respect my wishes to wait until 10 am that morning to come visit me...I don't think that's too much to ask!
So enough venting about that! In other news I don't think I've shared the name of this baby girl. We've decided...after much debate...that we're going to name her Campbell Rose. Campbell is my maiden name and Roselle is my grandmother's name...so an all around family name. Jackson was named after Jeremy's family, so we decided to share the wealth with my family. I can not tell you how hard it was to decide on her name....shesh!!! Jackson was a sinch to name in comparison. We had a list 15-20 names long....from the girliest and feminine names like Sophia, Charlotte, Sabrina, to the strong and sturdy Alexandria. But in the end none of the other names meant more to me then Campbell.
So to all the mom's out there....why did you pick the name you picked for your kid/kiddos? And do you remember the other names that you were considering? I myself saved the name lists to put in baby books!

I think it's a sixth sense

So why is it my toddler can sense when we have somewhere to be in the afternoon after his nap....therefor deciding to mess with his naptime and dilly dally for an hour and a half in bed prior to falling asleep for his hour and a half nap??? OMG...it's not often we have someplace to be after naptime, for this very reason. But today I had arranged a playdate with some friends and their kiddos post naptime, ballparking that he'd be up by 2 (he usually goes down around 12 ish). So we did lunch and our normal naptime routine and he was in bed by a few minutes after 12. The child didn't go to sleep until 1:40....after numerous requests for his fan on/off, needing me to cover him up, needing a diaper change etc. UUUGGHHH!!! I hadn't even told him we were going anywhere after naptime, as I have figured out that doing that is a death sentence to any plans that I may have made for us! Anyhow, he finally went to sleep and we were still able to make our playdate just fine. I mean afterall, it was just a playdate, very flexible....thanks goodness it wasn't a Dr.'s appt or something!!!
So is it just my child...or does anyone else's kids have this sixth sense??
Have a good Wednesday!!!

A little winter vacation getaway....

Happy 2010 to everyone!!! I hope you all had a great New Year's holiday. Jeremy and I were able to take a little winter vacation getaway to the Grand Lake area for a few days. My parents have a condo up there, which they were wonderful to let us use...but even more wonderful, they were willing/brave enough to keep Jackson and our dog Tanner for 3 days/2 nights! I must say, as much as I love my son, I love having some time for just Jeremy and I....which is one of my resolution/goals for the year. We were able to sleep in, if you call sleeping uninterrupted till between 8-9am sleeping in, which I do! We watched movies and did some reading and internet surfing in front of the fire....it was great! When we got to the condo there was still a few inches of snow on the ground, but we woke up to 4-6 inches more this morning when we went to leave. It's a darn good thing we brought a snow shovel. And it's also a darn good thing I got a new all-wheel drive car last week...which has now seen 2 different snow falls and I haven't even had it a full week yet!



In the second picture you can just barely see my car...it's a blue subaru outback...and I llloooovvveee it!

So several of my blogging friends have made new year's resolution posts, and to be perfectly honest, I've never been a huge resolution person. I think I am more of a detail oriented person, so when I set goals I set them on a smaller scale and I set more of them. Jeremy, on the other hand, is a big picture person. So he does much better at setting yearly goals. So to keep with new year's traditions here are some of my up and coming goals (let's say 3-6 months worth):
1) Finish my current home renovation projects before baby #2 gets here. This goal somewhat feeds into my current nesting needs...that and I know there won't be much time/energy for home projects for a while after March. Project A-finish redoing our master bathroom shower. We're in the rebuilding phase so we're getting there. This is a whole post to itself. I'll get before, during, and God-willing after pictures up soon. Project B- redoing the nursery. This too I'll go into further detail at a later date, but basically it's very boy right now and I'm going to change it to very girlie.
2) Work on more appropriately dividing my time between wife, mom, and professional duties. I will say that 2009 was an eye opening year on this subject. If I had to assign a percentage of my time to various categories, as I spent it in 2009, it would be as follows: mommy duties 60%, household duties 20%, professional duties 10%, wifely duties 9%, self-preservation duties (i.e. reading a book, getting a pedicure, dinner with friends, etc.) 1%. I'll be the first to admitt that this needs some real work....so I'll be interested to see what percents I give these categories a year from now!
3) Better my financial planning. With a second baby on the way where and how I spend my money is going to have to improve. I'm definately more of a saver then Jeremy is...so hopefully I can continue this trend.
4) Get in better shape. This is going to be a hard goal to work on for the next several months, for obvious reasons. But after the baby gets here and I'm cleared by my Dr. I HAVE GOT TO GET MOVING! This goal goes somewhat hand in hand with goal #2 under the self-preservation category. I think I will feel better and I think I need the time (both mentally and physically) that getting some exercise will provide. That and I've been eating like crazy with this pregnancy!!
5) Professional continuity. So this has been coming and going off of my goals list for 3 years now. I've been a part time speech pathologist and part time figure skating coach for several years now. And while I've enjoyed my work schedule and this has afforded me the ability to stay home with Jackson 2 days per week....it's also been very complicated. Meaning, I don't have 1 day of the week that looks the same, schedule-wise, every day is different. And when it was just Jeremy and I this worked just fine. But this doesn't work so well for my very schedule-oriented toddler. So, I'm not sure of the solution at this point, but I'm working on it.

So those 5 goals should be more then enough to keep me busy for the next 3-6 months, if not for the entire next year, especially with baby #2 joining the scene soon!