Let’s be honest here…

It happened, and I’m officially crazy and hormonal. 

Saturday morning I started feeling slightly nauseated.  We had to go somewhere, so I told Clay I should drive because I’ll just get sick again if he drives. (he’s not a fan of gentle braking and accelerating)  So we’re driving, I’m feeling great, and he makes some joke that I find hilarious.  I start laughing really, really hard.  When I laugh hard, I have a tendency to cry a little…just a little eye-watering, nothing major.  So started tearing-up a bit.  Then, next thing I know, I seamlessly transitioned from laughing into sobbing.   Without realizing how or why, there I am driving down the road crying my eyes out and not being a very safe driver.  Clay started getting really worried about my driving and made me pull-over so I could get ahold of myself!

This happened several times when I was pregnant with Ev, one minute I’d be laughing hysterically, the next I’d be crying hysterically.  Nothing was wrong, I wasn’t upset about anything, nothing was bothering me…it was just crazy hormones that made me cry hard for about 10 minutes!  It’s the weirdest thing to sob your eyes out when you can’t think of a thing that’s bothering you. 

So I went to the doctor today, got a six-week ultrasound, and saw the heartbeat!  My little bean is .6 centimeters with a heartrate of 113.  SO tiny!  My appointment was for this morning at 10, so Clay, Evelyne, and I show-up all excited just to learn that apparently I made the appointment at the wrong office location and my doctor was halfway across town.  Thankfully, they were able to work us in two hours later, so we got some Chick-fil-A, dropped Ev off at home where my grandmother was going to watch her, and Clay and I headed back to the doctor. 

It was kinda weird to be back there, honestly.  Good weird, just weird.  Like, didn’t I just do this?  I love my doctor, she’s so sweet and really takes time with me and always asks me a million times if I have any more questions, and I always just smile and shrug and say, “I don’t think so…?!”  The ultrasound technician was apparently in a big hurry because we were in and out of there in about five minutes, but we saw what we needed.  At one point I thought she said, “There’s not a baby in there,” so I said, “Did you just say there’s not a baby in there?”  She looked at me, raised her voice about a million decibels and said, “NO, I SAID THERE’S WHAT YOU HAVE OF A BABY IN THERE!!!!!!!!!”  I was all, geez, don’t yell at me, I just thought you said my womb was empty, I wasn’t giving a personal insult!  Clay thought it was weird, too. 

Anyway, so I’m six weeks and three days along, my official due date is January 9th.  (I was kinda hoping for the 10th since I like the number 10 a lot more than I like the number 9, but oh well.)  I’ve had a bit more of an uneasy stomach the past couple of mornings…nothing major, just a tad bit of yuck.  And I’m still waking every hour during the night to throw-off the covers and fan my sweaty body with them.  Other than that, I’m good so far!

So Clay and I were talking the other night.  We had taken Evelyne outside to run around on the tennis courts just behind our apartment, and were watching her wander around doing her “I’m trying to run but my legs are too short and I’m not quite coordinated enough yet so I’ll just walk fast” thing.  I told him that I’ve really noticed in the past few months that she’s totally turned into such a sweetheart.  Not that she wasn’t a sweetheart before…. but it seems like her temperament has changed.  Or at least the way she expresses it.

Evelyne wasn’t really an easy baby.  She was colicky, and not necessarily the kind that screams all the time (thank GOD), but the kind where you have to be constantly doing something to prevent her from crying or fussing.  So you’re always jiggling and bouncing and nursing because she didn’t know how to sit in one place that wasn’t in my arms and be content for more than five seconds.  And often she didn’t know how to be content in my arms while I was sitting still… I had to be standing-up and rocking or bouncing.  There wasn’t much relaxed lounging on her part.  And she never slept.  

But even when she wasn’t such a newborn anymore, she was still draining.  She got major separation anxiety at about six months and cried if I left the room.  Even if she could see me in the other room, it was distressing that I wasn’t next to her.  So I schlepped her from room to room, even when I had to pee.  I remember spending afternoons with her sitting in between my legs playing because she couldn’t be next to me…she had to be touching me.  And when she learned to stand-up when I was holding her and bang-on her little piano… I would spend HOURS holding her in an upright position because that’s the only thing that kept her happy.  She wasn’t an unhappy baby…. just always on the verge of it if we made one wrong move. 

So we were watching Ev run around on the tennis court, amusing herself with nothing but her freedom, and it struck me that she is probably a pretty easy toddler so far.  At 17 months, her colic is a thing of the past.  She knows how to stand by herself, and while she still sometimes gets uncomfortable if I leave her in a weird situation, she just follows me from room to room instead of me having to drag her everywhere I go.  She’ll play for hours by herself (always with me sitting near) and be amused by the most boring inantimate object.  (blocks and links are still her favorite!)  She hasn’t really gotten into the tantrum stage yet… she’s just recently started screaming when she doesn’t get something she wants, but it never lasts more than about 10 seconds and then she’s easily distracted and over it.  She has a great sense of humor!  It’s strange to me that she’s not even one and a half yet and she already is so fun to be around.  She makes me laugh all the time, and she’s very quick to laugh when I do something silly to her.  I mean, I really have fun hanging out with her, we’re kinda starting to be buddies, the girl is hilarious!  She’ll still have off days, and she still doesn’t sleep as long as I wish she did (although most of the time she does great), but overall, there’s nothing that is really hard about her personality right now.

Maybe we’re in a golden period and she’ll snap out of it in a couple of months.  I have heard that 18 months is a pivotal age for that.  Maybe we’re finally just getting a break after being so stressed throughout her infancy.  Clay and I agreed that part of us still thinks of her now in the same way we thought of her then: that she’s difficult, demanding, touchy, hard to please….  And then we sat back and realized that those words don’t characterize her at all anymore!  She’s fun, she’s hilarious, she’s sweet, and she’s generally pretty easygoing.  So for now we’re really enjoying this stage of her life.  I loved baby Evelyne, but I’m really loving toddler Evelyne even more! 

So the Sunday before last I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.  And I haven’t had any sort of period.  And I took another test a couple of days ago and it was still positive with the line slightly darker.  I had some cramps last week, and I’ve been an emotional basketcase.  These things tell me that I must be pregnant.  However, I’ve had no other symptoms of which to speak. 

With Evelyne I never really got morning sickness, although I did have some stomach uneasiness and intense hunger.  So it wouldn’t surprise me if I didn’t get sick again with this pregnancy.  (I know, I know, don’t hate me!  I think God just knows that I’m not strong enough to handle it.  Anytime I’m slightly nauseated, it renders me completely incapacitated and I can’t do anything but lie on the floor and moan.)  But it is a little disconcerting to not have any symptoms, nothing to make me really feel pregnant.  Always makes me wonder if something’s wrong.  I’m just under six weeks, so I know it’s still super early and anything can happen.  I did have a bit of an uneasy stomach this morning for the first time, so maybe it’s starting? 

I have my first doctor’s appointment next Monday morning where I’ll probably get an ultrasound.  Once I see a little heartbeat, I’ll be thankful for a lack of symptoms and enjoy it while it lasts!

Anyone else have NO symptoms by this point?

I really enjoyed tonight’s show.  Each contestant sang three songs: one song picked by a judge, one picked by a show producer, and one they pick themselves.  I always love hearing what everyone picks and how it turns-out.  Here’s what I thought of each performance:

David Archuletta

And So It Goes: It was really beautifully sung, but like Simon said, it was good but not outstanding.  And it was predictable.  David always sounds good, so it doesn’t really make much of an impression on me when he does well.  But I had never heard that song before, so I really enjoyed the performance.

With You: He was kinda pitchy on it and just sounded…..white.  I do love that song, but again, like Simon said (I think I’m going to be saying that a lot tonight!), it wasn’t really him.  Overall he did a good job, though.

I’ve Been in Love With You: OK, all I kept thinking was that I’m so TIRED of seeing the exact same expression on his face in every song!!!!  Eyes half-closed, dreamy far-off look…. WAKE-UP!!!  He sounded great, but singing something like that ain’t gonna sell records.

Syesha

If I Ain’t Got You: I loved it.  She’s awesome.  Alicia Keyes she’s not, but it was still great and totally her style.

Fever:  I really loved the performance, she did a great job with the dancing and playing to the audience… but I also agree with the judges that it was probably a bad song selection.  It’s not relevant to the kind of music that she could potentially record.  So while I really enjoyed it, it’s probably gonna bite her in the butt.

Hit Me Up: I could totally picture her singing something like this in the future as part of a career, I think she fit well into the groove.  I had a hard time understanding the words in the beginning, though, and it was pitchy at times.  Again, like Simon said, there was no “defining moment.”

David Cook

First Time Ever I Saw Your Face:  I love this song, so I was really excited when they said he was going to sing it…but it was not as good as I was expecting.  I wasn’t too sure about that falsetto in the beginning, but the last note was amazing.  (By the way, when he wished his mother a “Happy Belated Mother’s Day”… it kinda just made him look like he forgot to say something to her a couple days ago on Mother’s Day!  At least his mom seemed to think he was singing the song just to her, so maybe that made-up for it.)

Dare You to Move: It really dragged at the beginning, but once he got it going it was awesome.  I thought it was a great song choice, but was way too short.  I agreed with Paula that once he started getting it really going it was over just like that.

Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing:  What was up with the violins playing staccato?  Not my favorite arrangement, but it was definitely original.  I wasn’t too sure at first, but he ended great. 

Final Thoughts

My opinion never seems to change about David A.  He’s too young, he’s too Disney, and he needs to open his eyes.  His voice is wonderful, but I just can’t bring myself to care.  I’m really impressed with the way Syesha has come out of her shell.  I love her voice and I’ll be really disappointed to see her go home…. probably tomorrow.  I don’t think tonight was David Cook’s best night, but I think it’ll be a battle of the David’s next week.  I’m for Cook all the way!!!

(Did anyone notice how when Ryan stood next to David Cook, Ryan’s head looked like a tiny little acorn that I could just flick off of his neck while David’s looked like a large watermelon?  Fascinating comparisons.)

So I’m not trying to turn my blog into a public service announcement about cheap diapers…buuuutt…..

MoneySavingMom has a great scenario on how to get Huggies for super cheap at Kroger this week.  It works-out to be spending $18.46 for 182 diapers!  It involves lots of printing-off Internet coupons and sending-in a rebate, but good grief that’s a pretty great deal!!!

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2008/05/kroger-huggies-buy-20-get-4-off-deal.html

Babycenter recently had an article about how dangerous levels of arsenic are being found in baby rice cereal, even the organic ones.  If you have an infant, you should read this article.  Other forms of grain are reccomended to use instead of rice, such as oatmeal or barley. 

Just wanted to let y’all know that Target is having a sale on Luvs diaper this week—in addition to offering a $1.50 printable coupon.  here is where you can print-off the coupons.  This Target coupon generator lets you print-off as many as you like.  No kidding.  (When there was a Gerber baby food sale I printed-off about 150!) 

One Family Pack box is normally $15.99

This week it’s on sale for $13.99

Plus a $1.50 coupon

Total spent: $12.50 

(I know for size 3 that’s 92 diapers and size 4 it’s 78)  When this sale comes around, I normally print-off several coupons and buy four or five boxes to stock me until the next time the coupon and sale come out together.  I highly reccomend Luvs, especially if you’re used to using Pampers Baby Dry.  They’re definitely cheaper and I can hardly tell a difference between them.  Now would be a great opportunity to try a box!