Wednesday already?

Yeesh, I feel like my whole life is flying by. Well, not really, but time does seem to be flying lately. I'll be thirteen weeks on Friday, which means next Friday I'll officially be in my second trimester. Theoretically I should have some relief from my morning sickness by then, but I'm not holding my breath. I calculated yesterday just how long I've been suffering. The first day I started feeling nauseous was the day I came home from meeting all the May moms in NYC. That was September 20th! If you add another week to that, because I probably won't feel better just yet. I will have been suffering for two months straight. Ugh and double ugh. Seriously, I hope I remember this time when I think I want another baby!

Okay time for some randomness...

Speaking of time flying by, can you believe it's going to be Christmas soon? (Don't even talk to me about Thanksgiving.) I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year. This will be our first Christmas ever spent at home. We're always traveling to visit family. It will be so nice to celebrate in our own home.

• I'm wondering if we need a new tree this year (although I doubt we'll get one.) We've always lived in a teeny apartment, so we only have a six foot artificial. Well, here we not only have a lot more room, we have ten foot ceilings. That poor tree is going to look puny!
• Speaking of small apartments, when Batman was a baby I would always hear everyone talking about baby monitors and I thought it was funny that everyone used them. I guess what I didn't realize at the time was that most people live in much bigger houses than me! When Batman was a baby we lived in a 600 sq foot apartment, there was no where I could go that I couldn't hear him.
• I think I'm finally starting to feel the baby fever, I'll admit it. Batman is just getting so big! He loves to snuggle with me in the mornings and that's nice. But he's too big for me to carry around now and I sort of miss it! I mean, good grief, is that not the cutest thing ever?


• So yeah, it's not all bad. Just don't remind me of the sleepless nights, breastfeeding, trying to lose weight, all while dealing with a four-year-old.


• Everyone keeps asking me if I want a girl this time and I never know what to say. Honestly, I love my little boy so much I would gladly take another one. Little girls are just foreign territory to me right now. Of course, I don't get a choice, so I'll take what I can get!


• Wow, I really shouldn't have started looking at Batman's baby pictures. He's three and half today and I'm feeling sentimental. Check out this picture of him and my dad at his first Christmas (yeah my dad is wearing shorts, that's Christmas in Florida for you!)


• Okay I'll stop now, I promise. I was too lazy to upload these to Flickr so they're kinda crappy.


• Oh yeah, I mentioned on Twitter that I want to get my hair chopped off, I'll show y'all what I mean. Yes another picture! Anyway, I was thinking about going back to this length.
• I'm pretty sure there was more I was going to say. In fact, it was probably really witty and funny so you can just go ahead and post a pre-emptive "lol" comment, thanks. Until I remember what it was.
• I think my new year's resolution will be to stop typing lol.

Alrighty I've got to go do some housework before it's time to start school

Not a fan...

of 3.5 so far.

I've noticed this is a common theme of my fellow May mommies' blogs right now so at least I'm not alone in this.

The amount of attitude in this kid has escalated so much in the past few months it astounds me. Although I'm pretty sure this is just payback for my own childhood. My nick-name growing up was always "Sassy" because I had answer for everything. Batman is no different.

Yesterday he walked into the living room talking about something, when I responded to him he shot me a dirty look and said, "I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to my friends." Oh jeez, I'm sorry.

He signed his name on the wall the other day, thank goodness only in pencil. Yeesh!

He hasn't napped in for-freaking-ever. This sucks more than anything! Not only that, we try to have "quiet time" where he goes in his room and reads in bed for a little while. Well, he finds an excuse to get out of bed every five seconds so I get no rest.

I guess he's growing, but he's eating me out of house and home! I guess I shouldn't complain about this one, he's been shrimpy his whole life and I was thrilled to see he had finally reached thirty pounds.

Oh and we're also into the "I want I want I want" stage. Ugh, worst thing EVER. First off, he's the most unspoiled kid ever. We never buy him any toys, except an occasional Hot Wheel. We simply can't afford it. Granted his Mimi (my mom) finds an excuse to send him a package every few months, mostly with clothes, school stuff and maybe a small toy. But, seriously, where did this come from? It's really, really annoying. Especially when he clamors for random, useless toys on tv commercials. And if it's a toy he's too old for he says "I want that for our baby!" I suppose this year we'll be learning the "real meaning of Christmas".

I'm not sure if it's laziness or just independence, but he's developed a new way of taking himself potty. Normally this process involves him going and finding his step stool wherever it might be, putting it outside the bathroom door and turning on the light, (our light switch is outside the bathroom) then taking the step stool inside the bathroom, putting on the potty seat, pull pants down and climb up. Well, the other day I caught him in the bathroom in the dark, perched on the side of the big potty (without his potty seat) hanging onto the bathroom counter for balance. I have no idea how he got up there without the step stool since he is a shorty. And well, peeing in the dark is never a good idea.

When the Professor and I were talking about how difficult this phase was I tried to reassure him that we've been here before. Every six months or so you just have to change your MO as a parent. Alter discipline, re-enforce new rules. Hopefully after a few weeks he'll shift back into his normal, sweet self. I hope! Four is going to be a lot of fun, right? His whole world is about to turn upside down!

Roundup...

So, it was a busy weekend around here, starting Friday. I'm just going to ramble through for lack of anything better to say, so bear with me.

Friday Batman and I got up early and went to school with the Professor. Since we only have one car, if I need to go anywhere this is what we have to do. It's perfectly fine though. Batman and I found a nice spot to sit and do our school work while the Professor put in his hours at the library. After about two hours Batman started getting bored, so we went up to the cafeteria for some lunch. I let Batman pick whatever he wanted for us to share. Not surprisingly he picked Caesar salad, his favorite, with extra black olives. After lunch we ran into a coupe of people we knew and chatted for a while. By then the Professor was done with work and we all headed off to the hospital.

I don't think I've written too much about my doctor issue lately. It's been such a huge stress point I didn't even feel like talking about it. Well, as soon as we moved here I applied for health care through the state for Batman and I (Medicaid). After a bunch of paperwork and jumping through hoops we were both approved. Not a moment too soon, since that was right around the time I found out I was preggo. Now, my coverage officially started Nov. 1, so about a week before that I started calling around to different OB/GYNs trying to get an appointment. Turns out no one accepts that insurance around here...literally no one. Talk about stress. So I called the insurance company that my insurance is through now (they send you to different providers when you're on Medicaid) and they promise to find me a doctor. Well, they never call back. Anyway, to make a long story short I ended up finding my own doctor. Most of the hospitals take my insurance and since they have their own OB/GYNs I made an appointment there.

So, anyway, that's that. Before I could make an appointment they asked me to come in and get a pregnancy test, which is what we did Friday afternoon. It was, of course, positive (there you go, Joanna!) and they scheduled my first appointment for next Tuesday. Talk about having a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! I've been so stressed out over this whole situation it's ridiculous.

Saturday Batman and I got up early to go grocery shopping. I realized that by committing myself to do this, I've given up my only day to sleep in, we get up fairly early for church on Sundays. But I usually take a nap Saturday afternoon so it evens out. After the grocery store I cleaned out my pantry and my fridge. I gave both boys much-needed haircuts (of course Batman looks about ten now instead of three and a half!). Batman and I made cookies and then I made a big dinner. Seriously, I don't know what got into me!

Sunday was more laid-back. We went to church, for the first time in a while and I survived. (I have a massive phobia of puking in church, well, who wouldn't?) Came home and had lunch, another nap and talked to my mom for a bit.

As you can probably tell, I'm feeling a bit better. At least my energy seems to be back. Nausea is at a minimum most of the time, although I still manage to puke every single day still. Ugh, as soon as that's done with I will be a new woman, I tell you...

Also, last night I dreamed I was shopping for baby clothes with my mom, PINK baby clothes.

But then again I also dreamed that someone bashed all the windows in my car, so lets hope these aren't prophetic...

Waxing philosophical...

Yesterday, after coming home from a walk around the neighborhood, Batman and I sat down at the table to have some hot chocolate. He, of course, chugged his in about five minutes, so I got up to wash some dishes. I started up my computer and brought up my iTunes to listen to some music while I worked. Batman requested some "Bon Jobi" so I clicked on the first Bon Jovi album I saw on there. (I think I have them all.) The on I clicked happened to be one of their newer ones and not one of my favorites (Have a Nice Day.)

Anyway, the first song is the one called "Have a Nice Day" which is probably the best one on there. It's your typical, "I'm not gonna take any crap from anyone" song, which I tend to favor. The second song that came on is a slower one I've only heard a few times. It's called, "Welcome to Wherever You Are." I stopped washing dishes for a minute and really listened to the chorus. I know it's cheesy, it's just a dumb, Bon Jovi song, but it has one of the best choruses I've heard. Or at least, it sort of spoke to me yesterday....

"Welcome to wherever you are, this is your life, you've made it this far. Welcome, you've gotta believe, that right here right now, you're exactly where you're supposed to be."

The best way to make myself feel better about my situation in life is to remember everything I've been through in the past, and recognize just how far I've come. Just last year we were having to move out of our campus apartment because the Professor was graduating and moving into an apartment we didn't even really know how we were going to pay for. The Professor ended up teaching three classes at UGA that following semester and we had more money than we ever did before.

Well, I'm not expecting to come into more money anytime soon. But I do know that things always work out for us. You don't have to be religious to believe in everything happening for a reason. You can call it God, fate or just dumb luck, I guess.

Despite the craziness of this move, living 900 miles from all our family, having another baby and barely living paycheck to paycheck, right now this is exactly where we're supposed to be. Life can be completely unexpected sometimes and I'm still trying to get used to it.

Wednesday...

and we know what that means...randomness! Or hump day, whichever you like. Why do they call it that? Because it's in the middle of the week or because...well, never mind.

• I have to be quick because I sort of overslept this morning. So much for getting on a good schedule! Anyway, I've got to hurry and get all my chores done so we can start school at ten.
• As nice as it is to sleep in, I really hate how much it throws me off. I tried to login to blogger about five times before I realized I had accidentally hit caps lock. Duh.
• It is cold this morning. The thermometer says it's 43, but it feels colder inside. We sleep with the heat off, since we have a really warm down comforter, but when you wake up it's so cold. Well, we had turned the thermostat down to 63 and it actually came on. Yup, it was 63 degrees in here when I got up.
• I dreamed about babies last night. Huh, I wonder why?
• Did I mention my parents ended up booking a flight to come visit? They'll be coming in early January. My mom really wanted to come before Christmas but my dad couldn't get off work. I'm so excited! Of course, they're also planning on coming in May when the baby's born, but that's too far away.
• As far as I know most of the Professor's family is coming up for Thanksgiving. I really need to call and find out for sure. Last I heard my fil, who has his pilot's license, was actually planning on borrowing a plane from a friend and flying them all up here. Crazy huh? Yeah I know. Anyway, I have a bunch of baby stuff in their attic so I'm going to see if they'll bring some of it.
• Is it weird that I get nervous every time I have a new friend request on Facebook? I'm always afraid it's going to be a crazy ex-boyfriend or crazy ex-best friend or something. Even though I only go by my married name. I'm delusional, I know.
• Oh never mind, it was just some random weirdo I don't know.
• So, I went two days without puking this week, which is pretty awesome. Too bad it didn't last longer. I really think the worst is behind me, yay!
• Good thing too.
• Hey, question. Are your kids really picky when it comes to breakfast? Batman is the most un-picky eater, but he always asks for the same thing every single morning. Milk and a cereal bar. So strange. Occasionally, he'll eat yogurt, cereal or eggs, but he'd much rather have his cereal bar.
• It's sort of bittersweet that the World Series may be over tonight. I like watching it, but at the same time, I think I've had enough. I feel the same way about NFL and college football. A girl can only take so much.
• Dangit. My shows come on tonight I'm going to miss them for the stupid game! Grrrr.
• The Professor and I have been arguing, well not really arguing, about baby names. For a girl I wanted Sophia Marie, he totally shot that down. We agreed on Anna Marie (tentatively). For a boy I wanted Micah Thomas, he shot that down. He doesn't want to do more Old Testament names. He wants Timothy Luke. Why is this so hard? We picked Batman's name in like, two seconds and loved it.
• I really shouldn't have bragged about Batman's reading skills. We've gotten through at, an, ap, ad and ag words and now it's time to start learning "helper words" like, and, the, but. So much harder!
• Don't you love it how some pregnancy side effects completely suck and some aren't so bad? Let me give you an example. Morning sickness, it sucks. But I'm nearly 12 weeks and have only gained...two pounds. (I gained 36 in total with Batman, which was probably way too much for someone my size!) Also, I miraculously have boobs again. It's the only time I ever actually have boobs, when I'm pregnant and breastfeeding. The way I see it, I get to keep them until May 2011 if I nurse this one as long as I did Batman. After that I'll be back to less than B. Oh well.
• Man, I'm really dragging this morning. I think I'm going to need some caffeine. I guess I'll go make a cup of tea. I have a massive aversion to coffee when I'm pregnant, it smells so bad!
• Ugh I hate Wednesdays lately. The Professor doesn't get home until 8:30. I didn't even see him this morning. Loooong day.

Okay, I guess I should go. Do...something?

I be home teached...

First off, let me say that my mom would kill me if saw my post title, but it got your attention didn't it?

So, as you probably guessed I'm blogging about something really important to me today. Home schooling. Most of you know I'm "attempting" to home school Batman and we have been doing preschool at home this fall, with a lot of success.

I'm sure I've mentioned this as well, but I was home schooled as a child, all the way from preschool through high school graduation. I've only stepped foot in a public school twice in my life, once to participate in a talent show with some middle school friends and in high school to take my SATs.

I really can't say enough good things about my education growing up. I'm so thankful to my parents for sacrificing so much for me and my brothers. There seems to be a lot of stereotypes about home schooled kids, which I would like to address. The number one thing that I always hear is that home schooled kids will turn out introverted and un-socialized. First, if you've ever met me, you know this isn't true! My older brother is a little quiet and introverted, but this is due to his personality, not home schooling.

I had a very normal childhood. I had a ton of friends, I played organized sports, in high school I dated, I even had a big high school graduation with all my other home schooled friends. The only difference is I did school at home at my desk.

The other stereotype is about the quality of education we receive being home schooled. This I really can't address for anyone other than myself. I'm sure there are parents out there who are slacking and not providing a good education for their children. As for my mom, you never met a more strict teacher. My brothers and I all went on to get some form of higher education. While I only received a Cosmetology certificate, both my brothers have associates degrees and very successful careers so far.

So, when Batman was born it was more or less a no-brainer that we wanted to home school him. I already knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. The Professor was not home schooled, but grew up around some friends who did, so it was not a hard decision for him to make.

Let me start by saying, homeschooling is easier said than done. Even just starting what I called "pre-preschool" the year before I had so many questions. Where to start? I am expecting too much? How long should we do school every day? We weren't really to strict last year. He learned his numbers 1-10 and his ABCs. No big deal.

This year I wanted to get serious, I knew a lot of other kids his age were going to preschool, so I knew it was time for some real school. To be honest, this was a hard Fall to try and start this stuff up! We had the whole moving thing, getting settled, and then my morning sickness has really sidelined me. But finally, in the past two weeks we've really been getting down to business, and I have admit, I'm really enjoying it. I used to dread doing school with him, there are about a million things I'd rather be doing than trying to teach a rambunctious three and a half year old.

I'm not sure what's changed, maybe it's just my attitude, or the fact that he's actually learning now, but it's so much fun. Like I mentioned, he's finally learning to read and it's amazing. You have know idea just how rewarding it is to teach a little kid to read, it's more satisfying than potty training!

Anyway, I'm by no means an expert on this sort of thing. I pretty much rely on my mom for everything, she send him most of his books and school supplies and helps me find online materials. We try to do four days a week, two hours a day. Oh and did I mention Batman loves it? He definitely takes after the Professor in that regard.

I just realized how scary next Fall is going to be!

(Sorry for the typos if you read this right after I posted, my S button is acting up!)

Why I love daylight savings time..

Yeah I said it.

I know most of you are cursing it right now since your kid probably woke you up at five a.m. Not I! I'm going to be honest with you for a minute and hopefully you won't hate me for it. But lately, especially since all this pregnancy sickness/tiredness, I haven't really been getting out of bed until....nine. Yup. Nine o clock. That's so bad I don't even know where to start! Also, I'm convinced this is probably the reason why my kid no longer naps. He's getting way too much sleep at night!

So, I didn't really cross my mind that this weekend might help get us back on track. Since I've already been feeling a little bit better (either that or I'm just more determined not to let all this crap get to me) we've been struggling to get back on decent schedule.

I impressed myself on Saturday by not only getting up at eight, instead of sleeping in until oh, ten, but I also headed off to the grocery store before nine. (Go me!) Best idea I ever had. We only have one car, so during the weekdays I'm either limited to places within walking distance, or going after dinner. So, lately I've been going grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons. This became problematic because a.) that makes for a long day when we have church and b.) the grocery store is a zoo on Sunday afternoons! I was hoping that by going on Saturday morning I could avoid a large crowd, and I was right! There were only a few other shoppers there and I was in and out in less than an hour. So nice!

Anyway, so I know you're proud of me for not being a lazy bum for once.

Sunday morning wasn't so bad. Batman did get up around seven, but was coerced into going back to bed for another 45 mins, so that wasn't too bad. Throughout the day it became apparent that daylight savings time hadn't affected him at all. On the other hand I felt like I was dragging the whole day. I fell alseep on the couch once during the afternoon football game and again after dinner. Well, we ate dinner at 8:30 so that one was not so bad. By ten I was completely passed out on the couch. I heard the Professor get up to put Batman to bed (yes we let him stay up and watch the World Series) I drug myself off the couch and into bed. Yup, in my clothes and everything. Yeesh.

So, the moral of the story, yeah I'm getting to it. I woke up at seven this morning feeling completely awesome, refreshed and ready to take on the week. (Wait, who am I?) So I guess it was worth it. Also, Batman got up at eight on the dot so here's hoping for a nap today!

Hmm maybe tomorrow I'll tell you all about my completely heathen, devil-worshipping Halloween. ;)