No time for anything these days....

HUH...I feel like I absolutely have no time for anything these days! Except work of course. Man oh man...they are really getting their monies worth out of me right now. I pretty much hate it! I feel like I'm constantly working and when I'm not working I feel like I should be working as I'm stressed about everything that I need to get done. Now that's just not right! The worst part is due to the stress at work I've cut all things good out of my life such as exercise, eating healthy, etc. Awesome! I have got to bring some of this stuff back into my life especially since I'm preggers but I just don't know how to do it with my schedule. It looks like I'll have to start the 5:30 a.m. runs again but I still don't know when I'll find time to squeeze in yoga. I guess I'll figure it all out at one point.

In the meantime, I've decided I'm boycotting my doctors appointments as I don't want to step on the scale. That's right....I literally can't go in and face the number the scale will reveal this month. So, I've cancelled my appt which was scheduled for Monday. Yep, not going! I'm assuming that's not good but I just don't have the will power to go right now. I'm really hoping that my doc will call and say "Amy, You really have to come in! Your pregnant for goodness sake!" but she hasn't yet. Until then, I'll wait for the call. Clay doesn't know this or else I'm sure he would force me to go. I'm hoping my fellow blog readers keep this little secret for me. Surely I'll work up the will power to go by next month.

Now to some better stuff. I still hate pregnancy! Wait, didn't I say "better stuff"??? And here I am continuing on with my negativity. Seriously, I'm not sure how anyone stands to be around me right now for more than 5 minutes due to my complaining about my hate for pregnancy. I do make sure to apologize constantly for my attitude. Maybe that makes me somewhat tolerable to be around??? Or, come to think of it...maybe that's why I'm sitting home alone at 8:30 pm when my hubby and all our friends are out rocking at South by Southwest (SXSW -http://sxsw.com/). Hmmmm.....

Ok, I digress...onto the better stuff...

Little Lola is still just as adorable as they get. I hate to brag but I just love that little hellion more than life itself. She's really into elevators right now or what she calls "alligators". One day we were going up in an elevator and Lola shouted "Mommy, Alligator upstairs!" I thought this comment was VERY random considering we weren't near any swamps and I said "No Lo. No alligators will be upstairs". Then when it was time to head back and we got back in the elevator, Lola got all excited again and said "Mommy, alligator going down!" and she jumped up and down. I suddenly realized that the "elevator" was an "alligator" to her. Love it! Now Lo is constantly talking about "alligators"...."Mommy, Will we go in an alligator today?" I get that one a lot. So I took her to my office the other day to ride the "alligator" again and she just loved it.

In the past, Lola would sometimes be shy with strangers. She's pretty much gotten over that. If strangers aren't coming up to her saying something, she'll certainly go up to them and at least say "Hi" with a big wave and smile on her face. If a stranger comes up to her, she has her speech down pat. If they say to her "What's your name?" She'll quickly reply "Lola! I'm two!" Yep, she always beats them to the second question which is usually "How old are you?". She just knocks it all out in one shot. Keep in mind she says this with much confidence and points to herself while saying it. Sometimes she gets so anxious to tell someone her name and age that she doesn't even give them a chance to get the question out. She just immediately walks up and says "I'm Lola and I'm two!". She's something else!

Let me think of some other things.... One of my fav breakfast/snack food are sausage balls or what I also like to call "fat pellets". If you know the ingredients in sausage balls there is no reason for me to explain why I've given them the nick name of fat pellets. I've cooked these the past two weekends because I love them oh so much. Do you think maybe this is why I feel ultra fat and bad about myself right now? I do always finish the fat pellets off by myself...Ugh. Anyway, one morning Lola kept talking about soccer balls. I thought why in the world does she keep talking about soccer balls. I wondered how she even knew what a soccer ball was as we don't have one but she kept saying "I want soccer balls". I finally figured out that she calls sausage balls "soccer balls". Thank goodness she loves them as much as me....the less there for me to eat the better.

Lola is also into the word "beautiful" right now and she is VERY dramatic when she uses it. She uses this acronym in front of just about everything. "Look at this beautiful picture" or "That chair is beautiful". Or, this was my favorite...the other day we were shopping around looking for Lo some Spring clothes. She was getting fussy and was ready to go home. I pulled out a t-shirt with a cute flower on it and asked her if she liked it. Her reply was "No. I don't like that t-shirt with the beautiful flower on it". I literally stopped right there and started rolling laughing. She of course proceeded to tell me to stop laughing.

I just know I had a few more funny Lola things I wanted to post but I can't remember right now. I usually type it into my blackberry as soon as she's says something funny but I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately. Oh, I just remembered one...and this is a good one....

So, I've been talking to Lola about the baby in my belly. To back up, as most of you know, Lo's Aunt Beans and Uncle Adam just had baby Curry (I say "just" she's actually 13 or 14 weeks now or older...gosh time flies). Basically, Lola knows Brana was pregnant and her belly was big and now her belly is small and they have baby Curry. So when I tell Lola that "Mommy has a baby in her belly" her response is "Baby Curry?". Basically, Lola thinks baby Curry is in my belly and that is the baby I'm having. What will make matters even more confusing is if our baby is born with a full head of black hair (which I'm sure he will be) and looks just like baby Curry. I have a feeling this will all take muchos explaining. Anyway, it's all real cute. She sometimes says "I'm going to be a big sister". I know she doesn't know what it means but I'm trying to explain to her that big sisters LOVE LOVE LOVE to help Mommy around the house and they LOVE LOVE LOVE to tinkle on the big girl toilet and they don't usually throw toddler fits. When I say things like this, Lola just stares at me in awe almost as if I'm a nut. Actually, at this point, she's probably not too far off thinking that. Heck, she may be right on!!!!

Big weekend with SXSW. Extra 3 Million people have come to Austin from all over the world to attend the festivities. We're excited uber excited about all the music!!! Hope to update yall next week....

This blog is about to get real interesting....

Baby #2 at 12 weeks.....is it a boy????

Well, just when I think things are settling down for us and we may have this parenting thing figured out, I find out I'm preggers with baby #2. Who am I kidding??? Things have never settled down for us and we still don't have this parenting thing down so why not add heat to the fire! I mean really...why not?!?!?!? Here are my thoughts....maybe if there are two, things will settle down a bit b/c the babies will entertain each other? HA,HA,HA,HA! Yes, I know I'm just kidding myself. But, I continue to try to convince myself of this so lets not burst my bubble.

Ok so I'm going to share some good news and then get to the bad news and then some good news again:

Good news: I'm now 15 weeks pregnant and the baby is doing great. They also think it's a boy! That's a change right?!?!? Clay and I kind of thought we would have all girls. I don't know why...it was just a feeling we had. We know what to do with girls but boys....not so much. I've already had some girlfriends tell me some funny boy stuff that I can't imagine myself dealing with but I guess you just figure it out as you go. At least we won't have to deal with massive diaper rash this round. Well, I don't think boys get diaper rash like girls??? Maybe they do. Again, something we'll possibly figure out soon. Regardless, boy or girl...we're so excited!

Bad news: I HATE being pregnant! I'm not kidding about this one. I'm thinking I could possibly be in the book of Guinness World Records as the person who hates being pregnant the most. Is this a category??? If so, I'm totally going for it...not even kidding. Literally, when I'm pregnant, I'm a MISERABLE human being (at least for the first 6 months). How horrible is this??? Seriously! Here we are creating this little "miracle" and I disdain every single waking moment. Lovely! I really can't help it though. I just hate hate hate hate hate it!!! Ok, I'm getting wound up thinking about how much I hate it. Moving on....

More bad news: I've already gained 17 lbs. Can you believe??? See...you wonder why I hate this. I'm not even half way there and I've already gained more than half the weight I should gain over the full 9 months. NICE! Now I can only gain 10 - 15 lbs at most over the next 6 months.

Now, in my defense, I'm sure the holidays helped me with the weight gain but it doesn't make the situation any better. In addition, I'm fairly certain the mass amounts of cocoa pebbles along with the multiple packs of Reese's peanut butter cups isn't good either. You gotta love the cravings. Clay keeps bringing Reese's peanut butter cups home for me. It started with a 2-pack a couple times a week. Then it became a 4-pack a couple times a week. Then it was 8-packs. And then he just decided to bring home a whole bag (No he didn't!) which I proceeded to eat in one evening. He says it's the only thing he can do right now that will make me happy. Poor thing! I think he really feels this way. Hormones are awesome!

So, I started feeling real guilty about the chocolate cravings that I continue to satisfy with either cocoa pebbles, Reese's and/or chocolate brownies until I read in my Top 100 Healthiest Foods to Eat During Pregnancy book that you should add cocoa to your diet during the second trimester as it's high in antioxidants. No they didn't tell me this. Just when I was ready to cut myself off from chocolate for good they tell me I need it. Of course, they actually recommend chocolate milk vs. Reese's peanut butter cup so I figure that after I eat all my cocoa pebbles the leftover milk is the bowl is basically chocolate milk right?!?!?!? See...you can spin anything.

Some good news: With Lola I did the same thing...massive weight gain in the first trimester. The good news is I was able to reel it back in starting at about month 4 and I only gained 25 lbs the entire pregnancy. I'm really hoping the same thing will happen with this pregnancy but at the rate I'm going (i.e. eat horrible, no time to exercise, etc.) it doesn't look like it's going to happen. No, I can't say that. It has to happen! If not, my obsessive compulsive personality will drive me insane thinking about it and the stress isn't good for the baby so I have to do it for the baby. I'm starting all new tomorrow....ready to start my day with a brisk jog in the morn, fill my belly with lots of rabbit food and cocoa of course b/c they say I need it.

Some more good news: Overall, I'm finally starting to feel better (other than the depression of being pregnant). I have to say it's been a rough couple months. I was sick for a while. Not just morning sickness but wake up feeling horrible, the sickness would last until about 10:30 and then it would come back at 4:00ish and stay through the evening. Then I finally got through the nausea and fatigue and I had MASSIVE round ligament pain (stretching of uterus in lower ab area). For any of those who haven't had this....the pain is pretty much excruciating....it was even unbearable at times. It was so bad that I literally thought I was growing twins and I called to doctor to ask if I should come in asap so she could double check. She didn't think it was necessary. I remember having it slightly with Lola but nothing like this. The doc said some things can be worse with the second pregnancy and it all happens earlier. This just doesn't make sense to me. I mean my body was stretched and prodded by Lola for 9 months so you would think it would be able to take this one no problemo. Not so much.... Anyway, due to the round ligament pain, I couldn't really use my abs causing me to depend on my low back too much and I ended up pulling a muscle in the back. I was out for the count with MAJOR back pain most of last week. Ugh! Add the raging hormones, bladder that can't hold anything for more than an hour, constipation and the depression and this all equals pure joy! So, that's it in a nutshell so far! It's been just glorious!

I really am truly sorry for all the complaining about the pregnancy. I'm just not a good pregnant woman and will probably be full of complaints over the next 6 months. Woohoo!!! I apologize in advance for all of it. Of course, please know this does not mean we're not absolutely ELATED about a new little baby entering our life. We wanted it and can't wait for the little thing to get here! We're just thrilled! Of course for me the day can't come soon enough. The count down shall begin now....

Our little Hellion...

You're probably wondering how I could call a precious little girl like this a hellion. I mean look at her....she's just sitting there trying to enjoy her ice cream right?!?!?!? Well, I can guarantee you that although she seems very content this sweet little baby girl's mind is cranking and she's in the process of working up her next move. What it is...who knows????

I have to say over the weekend the word "hellion" came to mind a number of times.

Definition: hel·lion - A mischievous, troublesome, or unruly person.

Alright...let me break this down even further for you so everyone has a crystal clear idea as to what our life entails on a daily basis:

Definition: mis·chie·vous - 1. playfully annoying. 2. causing annoyance, harm, or trouble. 3. roguishly or slyly teasing, as a glance

Definition: trou·ble·some - 1. causing trouble, annoyance, or difficulty; vexatious: a troublesome situation; a troublesome person. 2. laborious; difficult.

Definition: un·ru·ly - not submissive or conforming to rule; ungovernable; turbulent; intractable; refractory; lawless:

Yep. That pretty much hits the nail on the head. This definition perfectly describes our baby girl (whose no longer a baby anymore of course). Why do I say this? Let me give you some examples of things that took place over the past 3 days. I must preface that Clay and I try to discipline and set boundaries but we seem to be failing in this area at the current time.

Ok...let's see...Well, I took Lola to Hobby Lobby to get some stickers and she refused to get in the basket without screaming at the top of her lungs so to avoid total embarrassment I gave in (bad parent move #1). Instead she ran through the store hiding and running from me and pulling things off the shelves. Awesome! Or, when we went to the pet store to buy a fish (I was doing this to try to motivate her to tinkle on the big girl potty...nothing like blackmail when it comes to a toddler (bad parent move #2)) she instead whined that she wanted a puppy over and over. Then when I finally got her away from the puppies and inside the store, she began banging on the guinea pig's glass cage yelling "Here little rabbit, come here little rabbit" and giving a kiss, kiss, snap, snap trying to call them over as if they could get out of the cage. I explained to her numerous times they were not rabbits but she still continued to scream this so loud that there was an echo through the store. At one point the store employees began giving me evil glares. Their eyes all but saying "Get your child out of here now for the love of God!". Needless to say Lola was NOT interested in fish whatsoever so we left. Not without having to pass the puppies again though. AHHHHH!!! THEN, when we got in the car, she started saying "I want a fishy". ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I told her too bad so sad that she just missed her opportunity.

Another example...one morning over the weekend I was getting ready. Lola took my make-up and went to the other room. She came back with mascara all over her face. She looked somewhat like Gene Simmons from Kiss don't you think????

Lola after mascara episode....

Gene Simmons....

Ok...Not exactly but if I would have given her a little more time I think she would have. Here's the best part (or what you could also call the hellion part)....when I saw the mascara all over her face, naturally I took it way from her (good parent move #1). This caused her to throw one of her little toddler fits and she ran to the other room where Clay was. Then get this.... Clay asked her "What's wrong". Lola said "Mommy bit me". I walked in and Clay said "What happened?". I said "Nothing. She was making a mess with the mascara and I took it away". Clay looked at Lola and said "Did Mommy bite you" and she answered ever so sweetly "No". Ok. NO SHE DIDN'T!!!! Trying to work her parents against each other but we out smarted her didn't we. Can you say HELLION!!!

On Sunday we went to the Austin zoo and Lola was on her own mission and didn't care if I was there or not. I was chasing her all around that place for over 3 hours. At points, I would find her climbing the fence trying to get over on the side of the animals. SERIOUSLY....I only looked away for 10 seconds, I look back and my child is almost in a cage with a fox. Lovely! Thank goodness it was a fox cage vs a tiger cage. OMG!!!

You probably thought I was over exaggerating about the climbing fence thing didn't you??? Oh no. A lady at the zoo who I guess had been observing us for a while came up to me and said "She has a mind of her own doesn't she". I said "YES, to say the least". She said "That's a good thing!". My comment back was "That's what I hear but right now I'm having a hard time seeing the good part of it all". Anyway, I was finally able to trick Lola out of the zoo. She wouldn't leave willingly so I had to tell her that we were going to feed the animals again when we were actually going to the parking lot (bad parent move #3). Then when we got to the parking lot, I told her we were locked out and couldn't get back in. Lovely that I lie now. It's only to keep some sanity in my life though...does that make it ok?!?!?!?

Now, keep in mind these examples don't include all of the fun in between which includes whining which I HATE and absolutely WILL NOT tolerate and it also doesn't include all the pee and poop all over the floor that I had to clean up all weekend. Will go into more detail later but lets just say Lola absolutely knows what to do and doesn't do it at home which makes it all the more frustrating. Especially when she does not have any accidents while she is at school. Hmmm...how does that work???? No accidents at school...pee and poop everywhere at home.....

I finally made it through the weekend in one piece (I say "I" only because I have a harder time with the unruliness than Clay does). Then yesterday we came home from school and Lola would not come inside....absolutely refused. It was chilly and she only had a t-shirt on. I had driven to Houston and back for a meeting, my back hurt and I was exhausted...just wasn't up for a fight. So, I left her outside in the cold. (bad parent move #4). I checked on her ever so often of course. While she was out there she peed on herself. LOVELY!!!! All over her clothes! When she finally came in she wouldn't let me change her and she wouldn't let me take her to the big girl toilet. Then she added to the pee and also took it upon herself to poop in her panties. NICE!!! Once again, wouldn't let me change her. I finally fought that one and got her cleaned up and took a few deep, deep, deep breathes. Then it was time to eat....

I sat Lo down to eat and she wouldn't eat of course. She said "I want to get down". I said "Not until you finish your dinner". She looked at me, took her bowl of food and dumped it out on the floor and said "I'm finished". This made me blow a gasket. I mean seriously...what in the heck should one do in this situation???? I reacted in a very mature motherly way and told her that I was VERY VERY VERY mad at her and that she was a VERY VERY VERY bad girl and not only was I not going to take her to the playground all week but she also couldn't watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. None of this phased her AT ALL!!! I gave up and just sat in silence waiting for Clay to get home (bad parent move #5).

Even with all of this craziness and yes it is always PURE CRAZINESS in our household (lets just say she keeps us busy), I wouldn't change her for the world. This child is the sweetest thing you have ever met. Oh my goodness...my words will never be able to explain her sweetness. She'll come up to me several times a day and give me a big hug or just pat me on the hand and say "Mommy, I love you". She loves to snuggle, kiss and hug. She is really just soooooo affectionate. Sometimes she'll just roll up in a little ball on my lap and just talk to me and hug on me and tell me she loves me. Now, every parent needs this. So, if we're able to get through the crazy times (and we usually are), we know there's always this little lover bear that's going to make it all ok. Thank goodness for this. Otherwise, I'm not quite sure how I would make it through.