This year is very different from most of the New Year's Eve celebrations Clark and I have shared through the years... But I think it is still one that I will remember fondly in years to come... This is the last time we will celebrate the new year as a family of three... This is the last time that I will bring in the new year while pregnant... And this is the last time one of us will actually be in our 20s as we ring in the new year! Teeheehee... Boogie is upstairs in bed, having stayed up almost 2 hours later than normal, and we are about to head down to the basement to watch a movie by ourselves... I may or may not make it all the way to midnight without falling asleep, but Clark has at least promised to wake me before the ball drops... Hope this was a good year for all of you -- or that 2010 looks to be better than 2009 if it wasn't... I know we've had plenty of ups and downs in 2009, but I'm happy with the way the year turned out, overall... Hugs and kisses to all of you, and thanks for being there when I needed you... Later days!
Clark and I agreed not to have Santa as a part of our Christmas celebrations back before Boogie was even born... It was for a variety of reasons, and I don't feel like I need to defend the decision on my blog, so let's just say that we neither consider Santa evil nor feel that he is a necessary part of Christmas celebrations... So, when Clarks mom got here a little while ago and brought in two presents that were left by "Santa" on our front doorstep, I was really confused as to whom it could have been... Boogie got the Clone Wars TV series on DVD, and Clark and I got a box with a bunch of smaller boxes inside... Each one had been impeccably wrapped and had both a ribbon around it and a bow on top... A LOT of work went into just wrapping this stuff... Inside some boxes, there were Reese's Christmas trees... But a bunch of the others were stuffed with poly-fiber filling and had clip art of couples dancing on them... Underneath everything, there was an envelope from Arthur Murray Dance Studio with a gift certificate for dance lessons inside... When Clark asked me if I knew who had left the gifts, I really had no idea at first... Then, I mentioned that maybe Uncle Ninja had gotten it for us [since I had exclaimed, at a mutual friend's wedding, that I was jealous of his girlfriend for the fact that they were taking lessons together]... Clark just looked at me weird and said he didn't think it was Uncle Ninja... I asked my brother-in-law if it was his mom who did it, but he said no... My sister-in-law acted pretty suspiciously when I asked her if she knew who it was, but she wasn't giving anything up... The whole time, I kept thinking that it must have been Clark, but I was so thrown by the fact that it was left by "Santa" that I figured it couldn't have been him... As it turns out, my suspicions were right... Clark had a feeling that I would be getting pretty frustrated by trying to figure it out, and he didn't want another pregnancy-induced-meltdown like I had during my birthday surprise stuff, so he came out an admitted that he was the mysterious gift giver... I am over the moon that he knows me well enough to realize that this gift would mean so much to me, but I can't help but be a little confused [still] by the fact that he didn't just skip the charade and give the gifts under his own name... I guess that's a discussion to have another time, though, since I want to enjoy the time with my in-laws... Speaking of which, I should probably get off the computer and hang out more! Merry Christmas, everybody... Later days...
I don't seem to have much today... I have gotten my Flickr better organized and updated... I have updated and caught up on Facebook... I have checked my e-mail... But I haven't done much "in real life"... I suppose I could claim that it's because Clark and Boogie are watching cartoons and I am just following suit and vegging too... But I know there are plenty of things I should be doing now, and I am just too lazy to get up and do them... Bah... Maybe I will make them turn off the TV when this show ends and we can all get going for the day... Sounds reasonable... Oh... BTW... I uploaded a super-crazy video of Gummy Bear's movements last night, so I am going to link to it in this post while I'm still online... Enjoy! http://www.flickr.com/photos/jewjewbee/4195854707/ Later days...
Bagel just turned to me and said, "POS." I was all like, "Why did she just call me a Piece Of Shit?" But then she elaborated and explained that she was telling me there was a "Patron Over my Shoulder"... Then she asked something like, "POS -- isn't that what's wrong with you?" And I was like, "OK. So, NOW she is calling me a Piece Of Shit?!?" But then I realized that she was referring to my PCOS... Good times! Later days...
Looks like we'll be having a lot of brown and pink baby clothes! Check out how cute she is!!!!!!!!!
Please... For the love of your mommy... Let me see whether you're a boy or a girl when we have the ultrasound tomorrow morning... That is all... Later days...
I finally got around to clicking this link -- http://www.earlyword.com/2009/11/16/stephenie-meyer-on-oprah/ -- and watching the videos for Oprah's interview of Stephenie Meyer (thanks to Flower who sent it to me in the first place!)... I am sure y'all know I am a HUGE fan of the Twilight series, and also that I truly adore Robert Pattinson in the role of Edward... But I think I am becoming even more of a fan girl for Stephenie Meyer as I watch the interview, and even I didn't know that was possible... On a funny side note: the middle school librarian they talk to at one point is named Crystal Methvin... Teeheehee... Her name is "Crystal Meth"... Yeah, I know... I'm immature... Why do you think I manage to get along so well as a teen librarian?!? In other news... Stephenie Meyer later said something about a movie for The Host... http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost_movie.html... Holy crap! Later days...
My husband, my son, and I are all self-proclaimed geeks... We honestly love every minute of it... So, I was thrilled when I saw this book on the shelf as we shifted the parenting collection: BRINGING UP GEEKS [Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids]: how to protect your kid's childhood in a grow-up-too-fast world... I vaguely remember ordering this book in my brief stint as the person responsible for ordering parenting books, but I forgot to ever check it out... With glowing reviews by people like Chris Hansen (the guy from Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator"), I'm sure that Marybeth Hicks won't let me down! Later days...
I think I honestly spent about 2 hours this morning/afternoon just filling out medical release and patient information forms... Even though I have been saying I would do it for a couple of years now, I have just finally gotten around to switching our general practitioner to a well-recommended doctor in the town where we now live... As much as I liked the former doctor on a personal level, I am so happy to be done with her snotty/stupid staff, the 25 minute drive to get to her office, and the unreasonably-long wait times (even when I arrive 15 minutes early for an appointment, it's not uncommon to be in the waiting room for at least an hour and then to wait another 15-20 minutes in the room before being seen)... This doctor's office has a great reputation -- according to some neighbors and our former physician's assistant -- and is only a 1-2 minute drive from our house... I suppose we could walk if we really wanted/needed to, but we'd have to go down a busy main road on a winding hill... Boogie and I have our first appointment there in the morning, and I can't wait to meet the new doctors... I also filled out paperwork so that I could switch over to the home-birth midwife! Clark told me, Friday morning, that he was ok with the switch, so we are going to start meeting with the new midwife and planning for a home-birth... Yay! I felt kinda bad switching from the midwives at the OB/GYN office I have been going to for almost 6 years, since they are still awesome... But, I am much happier with my choice for this baby's birth... I will just go back to that office next fall when I need my "well care" visit... So, yeah... After filling out forms, I called to schedule and cancel necessary prenatal appointments and then ran around delivering the paperwork to all of the offices that needed them... I could have waited until tomorrow's appointments to drop off forms with the new doctor, but they were super happy to see that they could get our charts ready ahead of time, and I was happy to make a nice first impression! And since the old doctor's office has such incompetent staff, I figured I would hand-deliver the release forms and give them no excuse but to get started... Let's hope they don't eff it up... Later days...
Some people -- my husband included -- do not understand why I am ok with the idea of having this baby at home... And I can't necessarily explain it well enough for anyone to understand if they don't already "get" it... But, the idea of a home-birth first entered my consciousness quite a while ago... It was when I saw a movie called The Business of being Born... Since I had already given birth with the assistance of a midwife, I understood how wonderful it is to work with a midwife who fully supports my educated decisions instead of a doctor who thinks I couldn't possibly know enough to make choices for myself... After all, I had already put up with quite a prick of an OB/GYN in order to get the necessary fertility treatments in order to become pregnant in the first place... There was NO FREAKIN' WAY I wanted that man anywhere near me when it came time to deliver the baby [Boogie], so I was thrilled to have access to a wonderful staff of midwives in that same practice... I was even more happy when my labor and delivery were able to progress without medical intervention, which is near impossible if you're dealing with an OB/GYN... I am technically still with the same practice [midwives] right now, but I am seriously contemplating moving to a private midwifery practice which supports home-birthing... To be completely honest, I did not start off with a desire to do things so completely differently than the first time around... I fully intended to give birth to Gummy Bear at the same childbirth center and with the assistance of the same midwives... "Status quo" was fine by me... But, then came the swine flu... Now, I get so depressed every time I think about the fact that a hospital would not give Boogie the chance to be there when his baby brother or sister is born... Because of some stupid virus -- and the resulting hospital protocols -- my child could be robbed of this miracle which he still believes he will be witnessing?!? We have been planning on him being there from the moment we first discussed this baby with him... It was just a given that he would be there, and now there is next to no chance of that happening if we stick with the childbirth center at the hospital... I don't have the heart to tell him that he can't be there unless I am absolutely positive there is no way it can happen... I just can't... And to think that he would not even be allowed to come and visit me or the baby, either, just breaks my heart... When I spoke with one of the midwives at my appointment yesterday, she said that she fully supports home-birthing and that I am a perfect candidate, but that they do not attend home-births in that practice... I asked if she had any recommendations, and was nervous that she would not want to help me find her "replacement"... On the contrary! She was happy to help me, even if it meant that I would have to jump ship for a while... She recommended a specific local midwife, and it just so happened to be a midwife I already know -- since she used to be work for the practice to which I belong! I called that midwife and everything sounded perfect... She even remembered me, for goodness sake! Well, she said my "formal" name didn't sound too familiar but that she recalled someone with a nickname variant... When I explained that that was my nickname, she said, "Oh! It is you!" Man, that felt awesome... So, yeah... Now I have a reasonable plan that supports my birthing ideals/goals, a midwife who is willing and able to work with me to that end, and the knowledge that my insurance company already has an established relationship with her practice... All I NEED is to get my husband on board so that I don't have to sacrifice my ideal birth or my marriage in the coming months... ::sigh:: Later days...
