It's been far too long, again

So! Wow, it has definitely been a while since I last updated. Last day I wrote, my mom and grandma were on their way here. That was an interesting visit. It was nice having them here, yet stressful at the same time.
Erin arrived on May 6th, but my water first broke on May 4th. I woke up and had a small gush that turned into just a light trickle throughout the day. I went to the hospital to get checked, and they couldn't find any evidence of amniotic fluid, so they sent me home. May 5th, I woke up and the same thing again. But it was an even bigger gush and I was leaking even more than the day before. So, I went to the doctor's to get checked out this time instead of the hospital. They found evidence of leaking that time and sent me up to the hospital. My doctor wanted to get me started on pitocin since I wasn't having any contractions after my water broke.
Erin entered the world at 1:04 am on the 6th. My labor experience was SO much better this time around. I did end up getting the epidural, but I rarely needed to hit the button for it. Unlike Shannon, I didn't push for 2 hours, she was out in 3 contractions. They immediately placed her on my stomach/chest to clean her off, and the first thing she did was grasp my finger with her tiny, strong hand. I was able to give her the first bath and everything. It was really special for me since I missed out on it with Shannon.
Erin is now 2 and a half weeks old and is such a wonderful baby. With 2 kids now though, I feel there is nowhere near enough time in the day. Everything is just going by so fast, I just wish things would slow down a little bit. Well, except Warren going back to work. He's been off since the beginning of the month basically. This is officially the most time we have EVER spent together, and it's getting to the point where I want to strangle him. So, even though I have liked the little bit of help I've had, I'm excited for him to go back to work tomorrow night.
Lastly, Shannon is 3 today! I can't believe it. Back to the whole "time is going by too fast" thing..I can't believe in 2 years she'll be old enough for school. We celebrated her birthday on Friday with my husband's family. Her party was going to happen yesterday, but Friday morning we found out my father-in-law was leaving for his deployment a week early. So, he left yesterday. It was a fun party. The funny thing was Shannon had NO idea it was her birthday party, and today could care less that it's her birthday. Guess we will see next year when she's 4. Anyway, I think this is enough for now!

Playing the waiting game!

In a little more than 3 hours, my mom and grandma will be here. I'm pretty excited, but stressed at the same time. I am SO not the best housekeeper, period. My grandma has always had some comment to make about wherever we are living. This time around, the less she has to say, the happier I will be! So, I'll do some little spot cleaning and an hour or so before they arrive, I will do some scrubbing to make it smell nice haha.
With all the pressure and the pre-labor contractions, I am ready to be done! I hate walking around like I am hodling a watermelon between my thighs, or like I just finished a 4 hour horse ride. I went to the hospital Saturday night, because I was feeling contractions every 3-5 minutes. They saw a few occurring every 2-3 minutes on the monitor, but sent me home due to lack of progression. Warren was sooo ready that night too! He was even happy to show me his polo shirt so he didn't look like a scrub in baby pictures. His family gave him a lot of flack for what he was wearing when Shannon was born. So, he decided to dress a tad differently this time around. I was so frustrated after that night, all I could do was cry. They told me to go home, take a darvocet and get some sleep, so I did. I haven't really had contractions since then. I had a few last night about 4 minutes apart when I was trying to do dinner and dishes, so I sat down and they went away. But the pressure is still there. The nurse told me the pressure is what could potentially break my water. I had no idea since I was induced last time. I feel like a complete newb about going into labor this pregnancy.
Warren is taking some leave off this week to help me and spend some time with my family. His first day, he ended up staying up until 8 am playing video games, then crawled into the bed when I got up. So far, no time with me =o( Hopefully he'll decide to wake up once my family arrives. Anyway, I should probably get started on my to do lists. I foresee A LOT of breaks and pauses in the process, so I definitely need to get a move on!

Gold patent leather pants are hideous.

So, yeah, I've been bad and it's been a while since I've written anything. I guess a whole lot hasn't taken place. Still pregnant, still pulling my hair out over Shannon, and 75% of me is still hating my husband's schedule.
I love having the bed to myself at night. I love being able to utilize all pillows and every inch of the bed. But, I HATE being alone at night. Especially since I could have sworn I heard gun shots last night around 2 am. This place just freaks me out, and I'm so tired of telling the people below me to shut up. They throw more parties during the week than they do on the weekend. I can't wait until Erin is here so I can have 10 days of "normalcy" with my husband. I guess I took much for granted when we lived in Monterey.
Shannon finds so much humor in driving me NUTS. Like, I swear she still poops in her pants just to spite me. The other day she even thanked me for changing her diaper. I have just been so tempted to sit her on the toilet for a full day. Since we moved her toys to her room, put a small tv in there, and take her outside more, she has been a little easier to deal with. There have definitely been fewer time outs.
And yes, still pregnant! I guess I'm right around 36 weeks. Already at 2-3cm and about 50% effaced. I've had some spouts with irregular contractions and most days I feel like someone kicked me between the legs with a steel toe boot. I have no idea what I'm doing really right now. Since I was induced with Shannon, I didn't really go through any of this. So, I feel like I'm walking up to the batter's box with a blindfold on! My poor doctor's nurse, I call her constantly to tell her about some new symptom I'm feeling, or something to do with my gall bladder. I'm pretty excited though, we finally have everything we need or wanted. Also, my mom and grandma will be arriving on Monday. So, it will be nice to see them and hopefully get some sightseeing in before Erin arrives.

Losing my Mind!

Holy cow, it's hitting me..I'm almost a mom to two little girls. I seem to be finding myself feeling more and more overwhelmed everyday. Kicking my lazy habits is WAY harder than I thought it was going to be. Not to mention, all I did yesterday was the dishes and some rearranging in the living room. I was so tired of tripping over toys and cursing, so I moved her two big boxes of toys into her room. I may be crazy but, oh well.
Reason 1, I am absolutely tired of my entire living room floor taken over by toys. Warren and I were CONSTANTLY tripping over things or moving things to the side with our feet. Also, Warren doesn't watch where he walks, and he stepped right on part of her tea set the other day and broke it. =o(
Reason 2, I'm trying to get her out of the "baby" stage. I'm trying to give her a bit more independence. Also, moving the toys out of the living room has limited the amount of tv she has been watching.
This may sound selfish, but I'm sure every pregnant woman has either thought it or spoken it at least once. I WANT MY BODY BACK! I'm so tired of being uncomfortable, exhausted, and the lack of sleep SUCKS! I finally fell asleep shortly after midnight last night. But, Shannon was up and ready to go at 4:30 this morning! I'm really worried if my sleep is already out of sync now, what it would be like when Erin arrives. The late nights and early mornings really will kick my ass. Also, she will wake up at odd hours and just randomly climb in my bed. Last night she spun around and kicked me in the head. Well, she wasn't even attempting to sleep. When Warren came home at 6:45, he was immediately on Shannon duty. I don't know what to do about her sleep schedule. I have tried putting her into a schedule, and I have tried without a schedule. Both were epic fails! Not to mention, since October, she has taken maybe 2 naps. I just feel like I'm at my wits end some days, most days. Her behavior has durastically improved, but I feel like I have got to get her sleeping habits under control. Then, maybe I will think about potty training. Lol, I honestly think I slept more when she was a newborn than I do now. She wakes up in the night more than she did then too.

Wow! It's been well over a month since the last time I have written. I guess I have been busy, or I've just been keeping everything in my head. Or possibly both?
I went on my trip to California already. It was nice to be able to lounge around most days and not having to go anywhere. The weather was absolutely perfect. Other than family, that's the only part about California I miss. The day after I returned I had a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound.
Both appointments showed any signs of the echogenic (sp?) bowel or any complications associated with it to have disappeared. Big relief! I still have to go in for ultrasounds every month for other reasons. The last two ultrasounds they noticed the due date to have possibly changed because of her size. They want to make sure the placenta isn't allowing for any growth problems. With this pregnancy, I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another.
Warren and I are doing awesome. This is the best we have been probably ever. He's made the efforts lately of giving me the quality time I need, and even let me cuddle with him a few times. We both are not big on cuddling. It's usually uncomfortable for him and too hot for me. But, the last three nights we have watched tv and curled up on the couch together. He's been more helpful with things needing to be done around the house. And he hasn't nagged at me too bad about not getting stuff done in a "timely manner."
We are both getting excited for the arrival of Erin. We are slowly trying to get everything ready. It's still around 10 weeks before she will be here. So, we have just been looking at the last few items we will need, or want. Some people have asked if I am having a baby shower. And I have said I refuse to plan my own again lol. I'm not big on baby showers for consequtive children, but if someone wants to throw one, by all means, have at it! Anyway, I will hopefully update tomorrow after my appointments! TTFN!

I know I should just get over it, but...

I can't! I don't know if it's his work schedule or sleep schedule I am the most irritated over. He's been working 5pm-3am, but it's soon going to be changing to 9pm-7am. His sleep schedule used to be like 4am-2pm, before he left for Maryland a month ago. He came back and started sleeping like 7am-4-5pm. He even slept like this during his Christmas leave. With the most recent sleeping schedule, Shannon has either been going to bed later, or waking up at 1-4am just to spend time with daddy.
We had been talking about having a date night for about a week now and decided Friday, tonight, would be the best night for everyone. He was supposed to call his mom 2 days ago and ask if she could watch Shannon, never did. So, I woke him up briefly a few hours ago so I could call her and figure out a time. He still has yet to give me a time, just shouted and told me 5pm was too early and to basically just let him sleep. Then proceeded to tell me he is changing his sleeping schedule, yet again, for his new work schedule.
I never like talking ill about my husband or the discussions we have, but I am beyond irritated at this point. I just don't see why he can't change his schedule to spend more time with us!? He lays down a fat guilt trip on me every time I confront him about it too. So, am I just supposed to sit back and deal?? As a military wife I'm used to it, I'm used to going with the flow, I'm used to just sitting back and waiting. I don't know but to me, asking him to spend more conscious time with us does not seem unreasonable.

Wow, it's real now!

I'm 20 weeks pregnant. I'm halfway there, but more than likely a little over halfway until she will actually be in our arms. I will more than likely be induced on or around 37 weeks.
She has gotten way more active. I feel so much movement throughout the day now. I forgot how painful it is to have little feet bouncing off my bladder, empty or not. I love it. I haven't started the whole "nesting" thing yet, but I'm planning the nesting stages. ;o)

Christmas for us

Wow! It's hit me, starting to get really, really, really excited! If you couldn't tell. Shannon woke up and immediately started saying "Merry Christmas" to anyone or anything that would listen. I love it, I love watching her excitement and joy associated with this holiday. I NEVER liked it this much as a kid. But I love her admiration for all the little things. Growing up, I thought our celebrations were rather normal.

When I was younger, we used to go ten-fifteen minutes up the road to find a Christmas tree. Sometimes we would even go higher up, depending on the snow. Still to this day, I love the smell of a fresh-cut tree. So, between the first week and middle weeks of the month, our tree would go up. My mom and I were the ones to decorate the tree, it wasn't until later years when it was just me (with her occasional input). One year we even got a flocked tree, and I promised myself and my husband we would never get one lol. This year was fantastic, because Shannon was quite involved with the decoration process. Things really started to pick up the days following Christmas.

Until I was a teenager, my grandma (mom's mom) would drive up from San Francisco a few days before Christmas. When I was 12 or 13 she moved up to northern California, so from that point on we always celebrated Christmas at her house. We would wrap and finish any last minute shopping, then relax and just enjoy the family time. Christmas Eve would sneak up pretty quick. It was usually a pretty slow day. Depending on which relatives house we were going to on Christmas, my mom would sometimes cook on the eve. One year she made a pumpkin cheesecake. It was HORRIBLE, you needed a chainsaw just to get through the crust. We always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. I always seemed to find the most embarrassing gift to open, usually socks, underwear, or something just as bad. Christmas was always the busiest day.

I used to wake up incredibly early, just to check my stockings. I always had at least 3 to go through, mom would go hog-wild on Christmas. So, at like 5 am I would wake up, check my stockings, then shove everything back in to open with my parents when they woke up. Mom and step dad would wake up, we'd do stockings, then prepare for whoever was coming over that day. Usually just my grandma and my real dad. When everyone would get there, by the late morning, we would open presents. Mom took pictures every year as well, I don't remember a year when she wasn't behind a camera. We would finish up, then head over to my step dad's parents house to finish up the unwrapping and have Christmas lunch/dinner.

That is the type of Christmas I am comfortable with, and the type I want for my kids. No one was alone on Christmas, not even my father. After his large fallout with my grandmother, he started going to his first wife's house or nowhere at all. I felt so bad his last few Christmasses alive, especially his last Christmas in '05. All he had was me, well, Warren came too, but family wise, we were it! He was so sick and couldn't really leave the house either. I wanted to give him the world that day, I would have if I could.

Christmas was not about Jesus to my family. No nativity scenes, nothing. We didn't read anything from the bible and didn't go to church. A) we were agnostic B) Jesus wasn't even born on Christmas. So, there was no point to it. Sometimes I feel so nervous when celebrating with my in-laws. Every year they read about the birth of Jesus and make that the point of Christmas. I don't and won't raise my children to believe that is the point of Christmas. I will tell them about it, and read to them about it. Like me, I want them to know all the reasons people celebrate Hannukah and Christmas, and historical traditions. My favorite one is when children would put their shoes outside the door, or near the chimney at night and they would be filled with candy and other goodies when they woke up. I would like if they knew about all kinds of Christmas celebrations, especially when they are in my shoes someday to start or carry on traditions with their own family. I don't judge how others celebrate, and I sure as hell won't judge my own children. So, with that being said MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Organization and Motivation

I seem to lack any form of organizational skills. So, things pile up. The biggest disorganized mess I'm currently trying to deal with is my kitchen. There just isn't enough room for all of our dishes, period. I kind of need a spot for all of our cocktail type glasses.
Maybe I just need a yard sale too..we have so much stuff! I don't know how I'm going to completely clear out the babies room. If only husband could get rid of his 5-man LoveSac. I hate that thing and it takes up at least a quarter of the room.
I still have had zero motivation for anything cleaning and organizationally related since we moved from Monterey in October. I really should have some motivation. I need to find some form of motivation soon. I would love to see my house spotless and clutter-free before the new baby comes..*sigh*

New Year to Bring New Adventures

Yes, I'm ready. I'm ready for a new chapter, or even a whole new story. It's interesting how I'm starting to feel like this as 2008 is coming to an end. Don't get me wrong 2008 was probably my BEST year yet, I am just really ready for 2009. I hope I'm ready, I'd like to think I'm ready.
I made some great and memorable friends over the last year. I learned a little bit more about who I am and what I want out of life. I think that's part of the reason I am looking forward to something different in the next year. Now I FINALLY know what I want, I need to start moving in the right direction.
I refuse to make New Years resolutions. I actually tend to believe in my hatred for any form of short-term goals. I make lists, and don't finish them, sometimes I don't even start them. Ha! So maybe I should make a resolution to not hate short-term goals...like that'll happen.
Yes, and we will even have a new edition to the family in the next year. I'm so excited about having another baby, at the same time I can't help but feel guilty. I'm so worried to how Shannon may react to not being the baby any more. She's been acting so weird lately. I don't know how to describe it other than like, HOLY FREAKING TERROR! Her newest issue is spitting. She won't flat out "spit in your face," but she will blow an uber raspberry with great distance. Husband is the only one who remains to live "shower free." I know it's just a phase and I know she can't quite use her words for expressing her feelings, but it's sooooo difficult! My patience tends to just fly out the window sometimes. Wow! Anyway, just realized it's 10:30 pm and I need some sleep!