I'm back again

and this time, I was out of town. Ha, not for the whole time, I wish. Just for this past weekend. It was wonderful. I just wish I had been feeling better. I went away to a scrapbooking retreat to a really lovely "Camp" - we stayed in a lodge that slept 16, and downstairs was our "meeting" area where we trudged from our beds to scrap. Okay, first we trudged to the main hall in the freezing cold to eat, then back to our tables to scrap. I'm not complaining about the cold, it was only outside, and was very helpful in refreshing me after I'd been sitting for hours at a time. And how can one complain when the food you are eating was neither prepared by yourself, nor do you have to do more than clear your plate and wipe the table? It was so nice not to have a two year old hanging off of me, or anyone asking what was for the next meal. I probably chatted and relaxed more than I scrapped, but I was feeling kinda grim, and couldn't concentrate. It was still a nice time.

However, by the end of the weekend, though being 21 weeks, I looked about 30. I came home, and to my horror, had gained about 7 pounds in 5 days. Much to my relief, when I woke up this morning, I again looked about 22 weeks, and had lost 6 1/2 of those pounds. I guess the mountain air/higher elevation had something to do with it, as well as sitting most of the weekend. Strangely, the only thing that was bigger was my tummy yesterday. Oh well, it made for interesting conversation (or as a stopper) when one of the girls asked me sunday afternoon how far along I was, and the look of horror that crossed her face when I said 21 weeks. All she could mutter was, OH WOW, and hurried away. When I looked in the mirror, I understood why she had looked so startled!!!!!!! No longer, my friend.

I was so exhausted yesterday that I slept 11 hours last night, and did NOT wake up refreshed - at first. But now I'm not tired. SIGH. Oh well.

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In other news, I found this interesting (and frustrating). My husband and I have amazing extended health. Or so I thought. We are covered 100% for perscriptions, 80% for all dental, 100% for semi-private hospital stays, $500 each for each kind of health practitioner you can think of (naturopaths, acupuncture, massage, etc - the list is huge) as well as breast and limb prosthesis, and some really obscure crap you would never think you are covered for. So the point of this? We are NOT covered for glasses or contacts. NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. ZILCH. Why does this suck? I have glasses and contacts. I am blind as a freakin bat without them. Except I don't have radar. My last glasses cost over $900. That was 8 years ago. You do the math. My newest contact was purchased this last week. $70 for one. Maybe we should look into a seperate rider just for me! WHATEVER.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

I swore I would never be one of "those" moms who let their children watch a lot of tv. I believe in fostering a child's imagination and learning, in playing outside, in getting down on the floor with your kids, and never saying no to reading a story. See, prior to being a stay at home mom, I was a Child Protection, and Children and Families Services Social Worker. Yes, I was. And before I got my BSW degree, I ran an Out-of-School-Care for four years, with a year of training for it. And before that, I was doing a Psychology degree. Yup, I have probably more training and schooling on the psyche of children, their development, and their needs than most people even know exists.

Yet for the last 3 months (or so) I have let my 2 1/2 year old son watch more tv than I ever watched in my entire childhood. YES I DID. See, as my good friend H tells me, it is a game of Survivor when you have a 2 yr old boy, and suffer from morning sickness. She knows, her boy is a year older than mine, and her baby will be exactly a year older than our new one. And her morning sickness was on par with mine. She told me, shortly into this ms experience that as long as everyone was alive at the end of the day, I had done a good job. I wholeheartedly believe her. You can only do so much when the room is spinning, and the smell of your child's breakfast makes you run. The only position I usually feel okay in, is lying on my side. My poor child now asks daily "Mommy okay?", or "Mommy feel better?". I feel so guilty for the amount of time I have not spent doing the things I take pride in as a good mom. And I am very thankful for the copiously ridiculous amount of toys my child has. And I am thankful for 24 hour a day Treehouse television. YES I AM. Seriously, I can reverse this bad habit, can't I???

Of course, not just yet, because, see I was a little premature saying I was feeling better. I knew Murphy's Law would hit as soon as I told someone I felt kind of okay. I was going to go get my nephew's birthday present today. No sooner had I gotten off the phone with my sister after verifying sizes, than I was all of a sudden running for the bathroom to loose my breakfast. And the yucky pukey feeling has lasted all day long. Sorry Kel, Kaiser may not be getting any Old Navy clothing after all. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Oh, and as I was laying down resting while T was napping, DH calls to say he's gonna be late. Great timing hon. I know, it's not his fault, but I almost strangled him through the phone.

Ahhh, the 2 yr old monster is awaking . . .

Hello out there . . .

You probably got bored of waiting for me to return. Believe me, I've gotten bored of waiting for the morning sickness to stop. It still hasn't, by the way, and I am now 20 weeks along. That's right folks, halfway there, and the nausea is hanging on. Not nearly as bad as it was, but I still have those moments where I run for the bathroom. I vow here and now to all of you that I intend on never being pregnant again. I had thought I wanted three kids. NOPE. Two pregnancies are more than enough for me. The morning sickness was bad enough the first time when I was trying to perform at my very demanding, very stressful job. It was about ten times worse this time, on top of trying to be a mom to a 2 year old. I didn't think it could be worse than the first time. Man was I wrong. Anyway, on to other topics.

I was going to log on and post the other day, for the first time in while because I was feeling a bit better. A very short time before I was heading to the computer, my sister called and stopped me in my tracks. Apparently, a "friend" of ours died suddenly on Friday night. I say "friend", because while I had only met her in person 2 or 3 times, I felt like I really knew her. And I really liked her, from the moment I met her. She was one of those people with that warm personality that brings you in, and makes you smile. I knew her from a bulletin board, and I read her blog every day. Though she was going through some tough stuff, she seemed to keep a good sense of humour, and she and her husband were building a house. She didn't have any kids, but desperately wanted them, and I think she would have made an awesome mom. She was only a few years younger than I, and she hadn't even turned 30. I've been in shock for days, and I can NOT imagine what her husband and her parents are going through.

This tragedy has made me realize a few things: that though we haven't met many of the people we blog with, they are very important to us; that life can be very short, and to live each and every day the best you can; to let every person in your life know how important they are to you.

On that note, I need to go to bed and try to sleep - little baby is kicking up a storm, so it may take a while to nod off - but I want to have energy to play with the little man tomorrow.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I will be by to visit in the next little while.