Not making a decision

Moo and I decided way back around November or December of last year that we would wait until after baby girl was a year old to make a decision about whether or not to try to have another child.

It really is strange to phrase it that way. It took us two years of trying to get baby girl. I monitored my cycles using a crazy fertility monitor, tracking software and thermometers for over two years in the hopes of getting pregnant. It finally took reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler and a couple of rounds of Glucophage to get pregnant.

So having known my history, you would think that we would have to go through the whole thing again if we want another child. I have to admit, Glucophage was not kind to me. I had really bad gastrointestinal side effects with it and almost gave up on it.

Moo and I have talked about this subject over and over again and I think he's gotten tired of it. His attitude is and always has been that if we are supposed to have children then we will. I have always been more the controlling type - I know you are absolutely shocked to know that I am a control freak. So his relaxed attitude about this of all things drives me round the bend.

So it comes to this: we have decided not to decide. This is quite a feat for me. I, who plotted my cycles, took my temperature every morning, endured that dreadful Glucophage all with my eye on increasing the chances of getting pregnant, have decided to relax and see what happens.

So we aren't doing anything to increase our chances but we aren't doing anything detrimental either.

I put a time limit on this too: no matter what, I'm getting "fixed" in two years or when I deliver another child whichever happens first.

It's strange, but making this decision is strangely freeing. I am still using the TCOYF software because I can plot out my cycles. Otherwise I can never remember dates. Sure other people use a calendar but I'm a gadget person and like this better.

But as I said, it's strangly freeing. I am keeping my mind off of it and this will likely be one of the last times I discuss it - at least until I get spontaneously pregnant or get "fixed".



My Darling Girl is 1 year old

We had a little birthday party for baby girl on Saturday. Well maybe not so little. We literally had 25 people at this party and the kid was at her cutest.
Happy birthday baby girl. Your mama is so happy you came to join us.

It's official.. my kid walks...


Random thoughts from a scattered mind...

Time for a random update of what's going on at the Nervous Breakdown ranch.
  1. Moo's toe is completely healed - hallelujah!
  2. Remember when I ran over my toe in February and had to have the toenail removed in March? We'll a couple of weeks ago, I did it again. This time, I stubbed my toe on the couch and knocked the nail almost completely loose. Took a trip to urgent care and got the nail removed. If you're into looking at sick things, you can see the pic of my toe here.
  3. I have started my business full time. I am still doing a lot of groundwork type stuff. You know setting up my books, making contacts, that sort of thing. I've done one workshop and have another one scheduled later this month. If you're interested in card making, scrapbooking, making gifts, etc. drop me a line. I can help you host your own private workshop. If you'd rather just take a look, check out my creative blog at www.hyppychick.com
  4. Baby girl is coming up on her first birthday. I KNOW! This year has flown by. She's so different than the lump that I first held on July 16, 2008. Moo doesn't like it when I say that newborns are the larva of humans. I mean, they don't do anything but eat, crap and sleep. They can't even turn their heads at first. And to top it off? Take a close look at several newborn babies. You'll notice they all look strangely the same. I mean sure you can pick out the essence of uncle Charlie's nose or grandma Smith's eyes, but they all look mostly alike.
  5. Baby girl is now drinking - pretty reliably - from a sippy cup. We tried every sippy cup in the world trying to figure out which cup to use. This one says it's most like drinking from a regular cup; that one says it's leak proof. This one has complicated valve things that look easy to lose; that one is all one piece but a terror to clean. We finally had success with a simple cup that had no moving parts and no valves. It's not completely leak proof but she willingingly drinks from it.
  6. Walking: hmmmm.. what to say about walking. Can she walk? She take a few steps and has been known to toddle across the living room. But I'm not sure I classify her as a walker yet. If she has any distance to go to, say, grab the remote control, then she takes a step or two, drops to her knees and ZOOM! She's off.
That's it for now. I'll be uploading a bunch of pics of little girl soon.

Things I wish someone had told me... part duh

First edition of this is here:

3. What to do when your baby girl, who has been whining most of the night in her crib at grandma's house, wakes up at 4 am with a 102.8 fever. However, I feel vindicated because even the doc at urgent care didn't see that she had an ear infection. Took the regular pediatrician digging the ear wax out of her ear to see it. Bad mother. Bad. Bad.

How cute is this?




Brain Dump: The Revenge

It's been a million years since I blogged, but seriously, I have so much going on but none of it really lends itself to a post...

  1. We just got back from DisneyWorld. Yes, this obviously lends itself to a post and I AM writing it, but it's not done and I don't know when it will be done.
  2. We had a great time by the way.
  3. Moo got a massive blister turned ulcer on his toe while at WDW. We're doing a lot of running back and forth to the doc. Moo has diabetes, as you recall, so this is no laughing, put a band-aid on it and get on with your life matter. They've talked about skin grafts.. YOW!!
  4. I have joined a direct sales company as a demonstrator. I'm going to have a new website forthcoming. My web designer has a sore toe (see above) but when it's ready, you guys will be the first to know about it.
  5. Little girl did really great on the trip and I will go ahead and post some photos so you can bask in her cuteness tomorrow.
  6. I have lost some weight. Most of it was at Disney World, but I've lost a little more since getting home. Mostly, I've just added more exercise in.
  7. But also I'm eating better. Little girl LOVES veggies and you can't feed your child crap and I don't want to cook 2 meals so I eat what she eats. This means more veggies and salads for momma and little girl eats carrots and sweet potatoes and green beans and lean meats.

Donuts and My Sin

What does your mother smell like? Smell is one of the most primal of our senses capable of reviving intense memories and emotions.

My mother, gone now 5 years, smelled of cake donuts and My Sin perfume.

When I was kid, she worked for a large Income Tax preparation company during tax season. The rest of the year, she was a stay at home mom. During tax season, she'd go by a local bakery/restaurant and pick up scrambled egg and cheese biscuits for herself and her co-workers a couple times a week. That's where the smell of cake donuts came from. The bakery had the best cake donuts you have ever had but it was the smell that permeated your clothing.

She'd come home from work and hug me and ask me about my day and I would smell that combination of perfume and donuts and feel completely loved and cared for.

To this day, if I smell either of those scents, I instantly think of my mother.

How do you smell to your kids? I hope Phoebe remembers me from the Dial soap I use and the lemon verbena cologne I wear.

What does your mother smell like and what do you as a parent smell like?

PS. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.

Grand Ideas

I am working on some crazy ideas right now. For one, I am getting my work at home business started (look for more about this in the next few days) and I am in the midst of preparing for a giant Disney World trip. I also have a ninth month old (!) intent on killing herself.
I say that because no matter how often I vacuum the floor, she manages to find the one thing she shouldn't and promptly puts it in her mouth. I then have sweep her mouth with my finger whereupon she sinks her tiny needle like teeth into my flesh. Those six teeth are sharp!

Hey! It's a blog post!

Yeah yeah I know. It's been a couple - well a few - days. Moo and I took little girl to grandma's house weekend before last and when we got home, little girl had the sniffles. I think she picked up something at play group the Friday before.

Anyways, she was sick. Feverish, snotty, sneezing and the most pitiful coughing I've ever heard. Took her to the doc to confirm a cold and that's it. By Wednesday, Moo wasn't feeling too good. I was congested myself but fought through it to finally succumb to it myself this week. My voice is gone but I'm feeling ok now.

During all the snottiness, I found that little girl had cut another tooth for a total of 5 teeth.