Nakita Baby

You are asked for your password to log into blog and you not 100% you can remember it! ; )

February feels like a blur at this point. It’s been nearly six weeks since SBJ lost his job and I’d lie if I said I was not a bit worried. However, in that very same breath I can very easily say that it’s been the most precious time we’ve been given that’s it hard to not see that first and foremost. To have him here and spending this much time with us has been this unbelievable precious moment in time that we would have never had, and just may not for some time to come! Relationships have grown stronger and we’ve had so much time and laughter together. That’s just not something you are ever awarded when in the grind of everyday life.

We took the plunge and headed to the waterpark for UWWG. It was a fabulous week away and can’t believe that was 3 weeks ago! We swam our little hearts out most of the days, attended many of the workshops that were offered, and just loved every minute of the entire experience. We can’t wait till next year’s gathering and already talk about “the next time.”

Upon return from the trip it was hard to plunge back into the activities. At least for me it was. I think I’ve spent much of this month catching up from that excursion and trying to feel like I’m back in the swing of things. It is one thing being in the first trimester and already pooped most of each day, but to add that trip and jumping right back into things was rough. I have been incredibly fortunate that SBJ has been around and he’s been getting up with the kids most mornings (the ones I don’t have to rush out the door anyway) and letting me sleep in more than I’d ever get. I’ve also had the luxury of grabbing a nap here or there and that’s helped ten-fold.

Trivia is still going strong. We have 2 more weeks left of that gathering. This coming week some of the kids who have not yet finished up will get the chance to do so. The last week they will all bring their games back to play withthe others and test-run their newly created trivia games. Those trivia cards were nearly the death of me I tell ya. It was so incredible to get assistance from another family in the group in getting all of the trivia inputted and formatted, but then to take it over to OfficeMax was just the start of my problems. They somehow could not understand what I needed done and instead of calling me to ask, or say it was not completed… waited till the night before I needed them for me to come in and get them…. undone. They dork behind the counter just said he could not get them done and had absolutely no reason for not calling me during they day. So there I was at about 6pm with over 400 trivia cards to hand-cut. UGH. I came home ranting and raving that evening and of course, my awesome SBJ jumps up and offers to take them over the FedEx for me to have them cut. He wraps up the project, jump on a bus and brings them home just a short while later all cut. He even sat up with to sort them into the right piles and this was after he had done laundry in the AM, and sat with the kids all day, cooked them a really lovely dinner, and had them fed and ready for bed when I got home! Now that’s a hubby I tell ya.

I had accepted and resigned a position before even starting. I don’t know what I was thinking really. Taking on a 3rd job with 3 kids, pregnant and homeschooling. I must have been fr%#(@ing out of my mind. But maybe just feeling the stress of unemployment lingering. It would have been an awesome fit for me. I would have loved it. But it just could not fit into a 24 hour day… if I was going to get any sleep at all. So with in 2 weeks of accepting I needed to resigned. I felt horrible and I know the woman who hired is probably really upset as I never heard back from her when I did step down. But it does feel quite right as a decision. I just don’t know how I would have been able to add that to the plate.

K’s been in new drama class that he really seems to be loving. I’m proud that he’s tried a few new things lately. He’s kinda had a rough-go lately in wanting to give anything at all a try. And I feel in some sorts, I have pushed a little more than he appreciates. But in 2 specific instances he’s really ended up loving the event and wants to return. It’s that initial hurtle that’s always very hard for him it seems. (I so can relate to this feeling at times!) And of course, he’s totally in love with his Orion class. Princess Bride is plugging along and he’s just so in love the process and the class. Very cool.

D is in more activities than I can count and funny thing is, it’s still not enough for her. What a bloom from the past year I tell ya. There is no way I would have ever suspected this of her. I knew she’d eventually come out of her shell. Well, not that she’s totally out of her shell. She’s still pretty quiet around people. But there isn’t a class out there that she’d say ‘no’ to at this point. She’s loving it all. Now for my sake I need to get her to focus on a couple so that we can do a few here and a few there, and not ALL at one time! Time for me to ton things down a bit for mama-sanity.

S is just as funny as can be. I can’t even describe this emerging personality. It’s a real trip. He is saying 2-3 word sentences already. Totally communicates with everyone about everything. And is just sure he is just as big as the big kids. He plays right along and totally digs it. Today is a prime example. They had swords out and were sword fighting. K shouts, “I’m going to get you”…. and proceeds to (pretend) stroke him with the sword. S closes his eyes and falls down on the floor and everyone leans over shouting, “Oh no S… are you dead? Are you ok?” And he’s laying there for as long as possible  with his eyes totally squinting closed, faking dead. It’s hilarious. Then he was kinda taking a break to nurse and K wanted him to jump back into the game. So he says, “come on S we want you to be the monster.” And of course, S jumps up and says “OK”, and proceeds to put his arms up in the air and start growling like a monster and chasing them into the other room. Just awesome. He’s a real trip that little man. OH… and of course I can’t forget to mention his LOVE for guitar. He puts the kids guitar strap ON and holds the guitar and plays and sings for us *several* times a day. This one is bound to be a musician in some way-shape or form. He just loves it. He’s back in Kindermusik with his lovely Ms. Leah. She really digs her and her classes. And he’s also doing art class with D at the end of the week. He really digs this class too b/c he can sit and squirt bottles and bottles of glue… and paint as many pix as he wants. It’s fun to watch this little person emerge.

Hmmm… so other than that we’ve been battling a little illness. D came home from the waterpark and puked for a day. She was kinda flu-y for less than 36 hours… then back to her chipper self. But then, this past week she collected a cold from a friend and the boys were gifted with it as well just 2 days later. So this weekend went from super-duper busy to just sitting and chillin’ the whole weekend away. For me, it was well-needed. We’ve been on the go for some time now, even last weekend, I had tons of work stuff going on. So this weekend was nice that we went from super packed to just recuperating.

I was ever-so-proud of myself today. I had actually got my desk organized and threw a ton out as well as got my annual shredding project ready and in order. I feel my cleared, settled and organized to get these taxes done this week. I know that it’s going to be tough b/c I don’t have last year’s electronic file. So I have to go through and back track manually this year. Hopefully its not nearly as daunting as I’m setting it up to be in my head. But now that my desk and space has had its spring cleaning, its time for me to quit procrastinating on this and get them done already!

More stuff in the works, but I’ll update when things transpire. We are about 11 weeks along now in this pregnancy and I’m no swaying on my gut feeling of whether it’s a boy or a girl ; ) I still won’t find out though. I can’t bare to know that much in advance. Aside from tired, I feel great. It’s been a pretty easy preg, as the rest, and I am so thankful for that! I will be eager to meet this one and see if he/she is a completely different (4th) personality! Motherhood is precious. I feel blessed and excited to be on this incredible journey.

Yet again a long time running since I’ve mustered a blog entry. I can tell you all seriousness… life has been a whirlwind in these last couple of weeks. With in just days of my last posting, SBJ was laid off. A shock I was totally not prepared for, but somehow everything seems ok right now. Basically the co. decided that his position would be restructured and that if he reapplied for the newly constructed position he would be paid hourly vs. salary. Or he could take the severance package and walk. He opted for the severance package and is in the market for another job. There have been a couple interviews, lots of resumes going out, one offer on the table that is currently in negotiation. So, I guess we will have sit tight and see what pans out. In the mean time he is getting his resume out there and hopefully other things will surface soon.

Just a day after he was laid off, my very strong suspicion was well comfirmed. We are pregnant! Certainly the fabulous with the not-so-much-so. But we are just so extremely excited! It’s wonderful news. Of course, I never fully trust this theory till I actually see the first ultrasound and the little pitter-patter of the baby’s heart beat. I mean, who’s to trust this little stick you pee on that just randomly selects your are pregnant. It’s really bizzare. At any rate, today was our first appointment and first ultrasound! We saw a very strong heart beat and they tech was even able to detect the beat pattern. It was so cool. She measured us at about 7 weeks 2 days, and so we are due just around Sept. 22nd. So awesome! It really brings it all to reality seeing and experiencing all that! We are all so excited!

So the end-ish part of January we had a ton going on. I had my au pair meeting and parents social, as well as an orientation to conduct with a new au pair that just came to town. We have trivia mania and girls club going on, and that’s been going pretty well. I feel really bummed to be missing all of D’s girls club though. That’s been kinda hard to send her off into the other room and miss out on all of her fun activities. And trivia has been a learning process for sure. I feel like at this point we’ve found a pretty good groove and the really fun part of the class is about to kick off. The kids have spent the last 4 weeks collecting trivia, and the next 4 will be the game building. So that will be a ton of creative fun.

D had a girl scouts field trip to this cool bowling alley open in 1918! It was the coolest lil’ place I’ve seen and can’t believe the history still preserved there. That was a super fun event. That same week we made it out to Des Plaines for the homeschool classes they have out there. That month’s class was on fur trading which was really quite interesting. K’s started up is Princess Bride class and that’s been going pretty well. The first week he was certainly nervous being the ‘big kid class’. We did ask to push him up to the 9 years and up class, and so he has big shoes to fill if he was going to give this a whirl. He’s doing fabulously. The second week he kinda had a minor freak out the night after class. He was a lil’ overwhelmed with his role and felt that kids may be laughing at him in class. But having gone through the script with him and having watched the movie with him has calmed his nerves quite a bit. He seems quite excited now to get back to class and partake. He feels much more confident and will really do a fabulous job I am sure.

D and S really seem to love the Fri art class as well. They are enjoying working together and doing there thing. S especially has taken to it more than I would have pressumed. I suppose I just did not know what to expect with him. D just loves art, so this is totally her thing. S has really enjoyed the class and just encourages his desire to be the “big kid” like the rest of ‘em. He definitely does not want any preferential treatment! He’s one funny joe.

K took part in a science class at Emily Oaks which he really seemed to love. I think I could have easily signed him up for the whole session he took to it quite a bit. He had a few more to attend, but at sporatic times. R and I did a childcare fair at the Skokie Library which I kinda thought was going to be great, and it really did not turn out that way at all. I think we only gave away like 4 brochures and not a single was really very interested. Open gym has been sort of not been so great. K is not loving it due to a certain peer in the group and some of the games that come up during the time there. He’s feeling like they are really unfair and unwanted games and they really cross the lines of personal space and comfortability. That’s been a tough road in our home b/c this issue affects him a great deal. He’s a sensitive soul who really wants to do right by others and expects others to be the same to him. So when this type of thing is going on, it’s distraughting to him. I feel for him real bad. It’s hard to feel his hurt and try to help him through it, but also preping him for different personalities he will eventually run into in life. Talk about life lessons there!

Of course can’t forget to mention my birthday! It was a nice weekend for me. Mom cooked us a nice dinner one night and SBJ cooked for me the next night. In between, lots of spoilage and and kindness makes for a fabulous b-day weekend! This last week has felt like a blur. I’ve been dying to get to today to see this little munchkin growing in me, and trying to keep the unemployment anxiety to the way-side…. and then yesterday, in the midst of me making my bi-weekly waffle marathon batch and listening to the lovely giggles from kiddos in the other room, I get a call from my father’s fiance that he’s landed in the ER. Yipes…. what a day.

So, he had come back from Florida quite sick. He assumes this is the flu. But 9-10 days later he’s still feeling quite crappy and the abdominable pain is quite bad. He’s not shaking it, so he goes to primary care dr. saying he thinks this could be swine flu. Dr. checks him out and immediately after an ekg decides there are signs of a possible heart attack (recovering from what could have been), and sends him to the ER. He has a-fib and they feel this is just not regular. They get him all hooked up and start meds, keep track, run tests. All tests come back normal. No signs of heart attack, nor ever having one. They admit him. He is still having pretty bad abdominable pain and I, for one, can’t figure out why this is still not the focus. Yes, I agree they should track the heart, but from what these test are showing…. shouldn’t we be looking at what the cause of this abdomin stuff is (that then could be causing the a-fib!)? So I leave him last night. Great news is… not the heart. Bad news… they are keeping him and really don’t seem to have any clue as to what they are doing, nor what they are looking for.

Today’s dr’s appt for us and lil’ munchkin took us the whole day so I have not been out to see him. There is nothing more serious than a call like that that will send you into a whirlwind of emotions, and set priorities straight. Wow…. what an experience. Maybe I can delve into that more later when I can more clearly grabble my thoughts.

Ah… so K’s got princess bride again tomorrow, D and S have art, need to get some stuff done…. we are leaving town this Sunday! I was not sure this would happen after all, but things seem to be OK and we can reimburse this with my work, so we are taking advantage and going to the waterpark retreat for a full week. We are super excited and time is ticking till we hit the road. This week flew by and not much has been done to get me, personally, out the door, let alone the children I am packing for! ; ) But all will work out just fine. As long as we have our suits, we’re good to go. We have a room with a kitchen which I am SO happy about. I feel that’s the hardest part of being away from home is eating right and not feeling like crap b/c of it. So I’m psyched that we will have a kitchen and just be having a ton of swimming fun, and meeting some pretty cool unschoolin’ families from around the country! Yea!