Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Mommy's Little Helper


Recently, Brett has discovered that he can be a great helper, and it's so darn cute!

Over the summer, he started "helping" as soon as he could walk. When he saw us grab the swiffer or the broom, he was all over it. He'd grab it and "sweep" the floor as best as he could. He even knew to sweep toward the dust pan (smart kid!).

Then, last week he about melted my heart. I was doing the mundane, aka laundry, and he was kind of wandering around, but then he saw that after I folded the clothes I put them in the laundry basket, well HE had to do the same. So, as soon as I turned around from folding a piece of laundry I noticed that like he'd randomly thrown like 5 pieces of unfolded laundry in the basket to help me. Yes, it did create extra work, but it was so sweet!

The best yet happened this past weekend. As we never sold our house, we are converting our loft into a 3rd bedroom with my dad's help (thanks, dad) and so we are rearranging the furniture in our house to accommodate it. So, we moved our t.v. and other furniture downstairs on Saturday, and had to set the room up slightly differently, which meant I had to move the coffee table. I started to pull it, and suddenly I felt a push on the other end. Brett was right there helping me push it in to place. Sooo cute and sooo sweet.

I love him more and more every day.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Brett Watches His Favorite Show

I decided to take some video of B watching WonderPets. He didn't dance for me... that's what I had hoped to catch...but you can see that he likes to give Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming advice on how to save the animals.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Leave It To Me To Be The One In A Million

I debated back and forth about blogging about this, since it is way personal, but I figured that maybe someone can at least gain some useful knowledge from my post.

So, as I blogged about last month, we are trying to have a sibling for Brett. We haven't been trying too long, and I really have kind of resigned myself to the fact that it probably won't happen anytime in the near future and to try to be patient.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I knew I was close to knowing whether we were pregnant or not. I tested on a Thursday and got a negative, but then I decided to test on Friday to see what the result would be. I woke up shortly after Steve left for work and tested (since it is recommended to test first thing in the morning). Now, I don't bother with the tests that give the pink lines because they can be a bit confusing. I buy the tests that SPELL OUT whether you are pregnant or not. They cost a bit more, but I figure they are about as "for sure" as you can get. So, anyway, after about 30 seconds, I get this result...

I was ecstatic and freaking out at the same time. You know, they say a positive home pregnancy test these days is as good as having your doc confirm it. So, I called Steve immediately and texted my BFF. I was so not expecting this. I then dropped B off at my parents so I could go to work, and I told them too. (I mean, how can I NOT share this news with my closest friends and family).

Then after work we told Steve's parents and our siblings. So exciting, we were going to be parents again! I was already picking out names in my head and calculating the due date and all. I called my doctor to schedule an appointment and got my prescription called in for my prenatals. Yay, Yay! I was in pregnancyland bliss.

But then Saturday night I started spotting. Okay, I know this can happen, right? It's not uncommon. I watched it stay about the same until Sunday night when it was much more than spotting. I freaked out. I mean, what? I was scared to death. So, the next morning with a huge knot in my stomach I called the doctor. I knew at this point I couldn't continue to carry a baby with the way things were progressing. I was certain I was having a miscarriage. Suddenly, my hopes and dreams of this baby were dashed and I was mourning the loss of this little one. I went to my doctor in a daze and had them do a blood draw. It was horrible and so sad. I was all by myself, feeling like I was having a miscarriage, NOT a good combination. Thankfully, my friend Cathy caught on that something was awry with me and was so wonderful to meet me with lunch and hugs and friendship. Just what I needed. I didn't need to hear "if it sticks, it sticks, if it doesn't it doesn't", I needed someone with a sympathetic ear, and Cathy was THAT person. For that I am so grateful. My BFF was there for me too with her sympathetic ear too, and I was happy for that as well, but the difference is that she lives 300 miles away!

Anyway, I was told that I would have an answer Tuesday. I had to wait, but I knew that the answer would not be good. I knew I'd lost this baby for sure. So, I had a knot in my stomach all Tuesday morning until I got the call from my doctor. What she said made me take a step back and say "what". Apparently I had gotten a FALSE POSITIVE, as they found no trace of pregnancy hormones in my blood to begin with. Are you kidding me???? Reference the picture above. Seriously??? 1. I didn't think that could happen, and 2. I took the easiest test you could read. My immediate reaction was thankfulness, that I hadn't lost a baby at all. I was so glad that there wasn't anything there to begin with. But then my next reaction was of embarrassment.

Embarrassment because I had told like 10 people and I had to tell them that I was just plain wrong. It was like I was stupid for even thinking I was pregnant when in fact a pregnancy never existed. Embarrassment that my friends had spent time and money helping me through this, and it was all a sham. Back in college, there was a girl who told everyone she had cancer and got everyone's sympathy and then we all found out she lied. For a day or two I kind of felt like her. Not a good feeling, especially since everyone was so angry at her when the truth was uncovered.

So, anyway, it's been a week or so and I finally feel a little better and have new perspective on things, but let this be a lesson to you, take like 3 positive pregnancy tests before you call your doctor and tell your friends because I am living, breathing, walking proof that FALSE POSITIVES do in fact happen to people!

Monday, November 2, 2009

About as Unfestive of a Halloween as You Can Have

I came into Halloween this year with hopes that Brett would appreciate the holiday and have fun dressing up and everything. Um, not so much. He decided pretty much immediately that he wanted nothing to do with his costume and then we knew we were in trouble.

Tina had loaned Brett her son Evan's costume from last year, an adorable lion (and I am pretty sure Tina has pics of it from her blog from last Halloween). It was a 12-24 month costume and for the most part, fit pretty well. Well, from what I could tell. We put it on him for the first time last Sunday (the Sunday BEFORE Halloween) as we were preparing to go to ZooBoo at the IndyZoo. It was a nice day and we thought he'd enjoy it. Umm... not so much. He pretty much decided instantly that he hated it and cried and screamed. I wasn't feeling too great anyway, so we said icksnay on the trip.

Well, the following Thursday, the 29th I had a playdate with my friend Andrea, and we decided to go to ZooBoo together. Her girls had been already and loved it. Perfect. I tried to put the costume back on Brett. The instant he saw it, he started screaming. I couldn't even get it mostly on him and try to console him with his favorite show ever, WonderPets. It was over. So, we went sans costume, but had a pretty fun time.

For whatever reason, I didn't get any good pics of the actual event, or Andrea or her girls or whatever... yeah I was really on it huh? But I did snap a couple of cute shots of B riding the train. And, I learned a cute term for mother's attacking their kiddos with cameras "momeratzi". Cute!




So, flash forward to Saturday. I managed to pick up a pumpkin for B on Friday night (yeah, we didn't even do the pumpkin patch this year). We had hopes that Brett would at least enjoy watching us carve the pumpkin, even if he didn't want to wear his costume. So, Steve started carving the pumpkin Saturday afternoon and Brett started having a meltdown. Not only did he not want to watch, he wanted to play outside. So, B and I went outside and played while Steve carved the pumpkin. Great family fun!!!

But, Brett was at least interested in the finished product..
And decided to give it a little kiss on the mouth..

To wrap up our totally unfestive day, since he wasn't going to go trick or treating (we figured he was still too young to get it) and he wasn't going to wear his costume to save his life, we went out to eat. But, when we came home, Steve lit the pumpkin, and Brett was at least interested in that. I gave him a piece of candy and it was pretty much time for bed. What a great and memorable Halloween :). Next year can only be better (I hope!)