Alec is growing up!

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Saturday, June 23, 2012

Life's downers

Ok. So Keith and I should be pretty happy with where we are in life, right? I mean, we just bought our first home, our marriage, while not perfect (and if you say yours is, you're a lying liar), is pretty great; we have an awesome kid, are getting ready to place the order for Number Two. Our house is in chaos, but we knew it would be. Work is good. We both have good, solid jobs, good benefits, etc. We see FIL and stepMIL every weekend, and MIL maybe once a week. Alec is total Papa's boy; he loves his grandpa.
Life is good. We've worked our asses off to get to this point.
But there is still a pretty big bone of contention in our lives, and it's one that we both try not to speak of, but yet it's constantly underlying.
We have not spoken to Keith's sister or her husband since mid-January. We haven't seen our niece since then, either. Keith tried speaking to his sister a few weeks ago, but it ended poorly. Apparently, the problem is me. I'm the devil, simply because I speak my mind, and have my own opinions. Yes, I am opinionated. Yes, I want what's right for our family, and will also stop at nothing to attain a dream. So this makes me a horrible and manipulative person, who's turned her husband against his sister.
At this point, the original 'crime' isn't worth going into. At this point, it isn't worth going into what the problem escalated to. Because it's not pretty or pleasant. I was threatened, and then called a f@cking bitch, blamed for anything and everything, and told that an entire family hates me and that everyone "can see through me and my bull".
What I don't understand is how someone can be so narrow-minded that she will be downright abusive to anyone who doesn't agree with her. I don't understand how someone can be so spoiled and self-centered that it's deemed ok to spew nasty and hateful words towards someone, yet not expect to get it back.
This entire ordeal has eaten us alive. During a time that we should be happy, we know that we can't count on Keith's sister, and this kills a lot of it for us. The parents have to divide their time, plan around schedules, choose sides. Because Keith's dad was told on his birthday that if we were there, they would not be there. It's heartbreaking.
And then there's the constant calls made to the parents. My mother in law actually took it upon herself to tell me that "I need to learn my lesson about her daughter". This was in a league of it's own. What lesson is there to learn?
I can come up with a few different lessons learned. And they're not nice.
For those who know me, as well as those who don't; I pride myself on trying to make educated and informed decisions. I try to lead my child by example. I treat others as I would like to be treated. This is me. It works for our family, both individually and as a unit. If you disagree with me, I will always respect your position, and not hold it against you. For I am not you, and you are not me. I don't beat around the bush, and I don't mince words. I have my opinions, and so do you. The world would be a pretty boring place if we all agreed on everything, right?
And who knows? It's been known to happen that we learn something new from people on a daily basis.
This is my point.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Little tidbits

A few things have been going on in what I have lovingly dubbed House of Napalm. The first is that, despite the fact we have lived in our new home for two months, the place still looks like disaster struck. Work has been at a standstill for a little over a month, and we've started getting fed up with the lack of progress. I finally had to have a heart-to-heart with our contractor; who had to take on a few other jobs in order to pay his workers. Note to self: don't get another 203k loan. It's tough enough to do work on a house you live in, without adding into the equation all the costs of materials and labour. Also, everything we touch turns into WWIII. Not fun.
We've had issues varying from what to do with the lack of clearance for the new basement stairs, to my clear typo in writing down kitchen measurements (a mistake that cost us an extra $800.00). Our counters are taking forever because nobody approved the final template until I called and raised hell. They will finally be installed on the 29th. At this point, we will finally be able to cook a homemade meal that doesn't involve using the microwave. Andplusalso, eating the kind of crap that can be cooked in the microwave is both costly and gross.
We have a mold issue in the master bedroom. The three of us are room sharing. Nobody sleeps as a result. Luckily, we've gone to nobody calling us back regarding our inquiries on this, to a company actually scheduling an inspection (for free!).
Our belongings are still packed away in the garage.
Hopefully, we will be able to unpack some stuff once the kitchen is fully done.

On other matters.

Keith and I have decided that we can't let this hold us back on family planning. My IUD was removed earlier this week, and we will start trying to make a baby in August. Shooting for a June baby - no pun intended. This way, Keith will be home during the majority of my maternity leave, and this shall make matters easier.

Alec loves his new daycare. Loves. He's one of five boys, so logically, he's becoming quite rough and tumbly! He is, however, struggling with sharing. Oh well. He's only 20 months old.

Seriously. Alec is definitely starting to blossom. He has a new word everyday, and has become a little chatterbox with his 'Russian'.

I'm still nursing Alec. This, in and of itself, is a feat. One that I'm happy about, as well as proud of. With my early struggles, I don't see the point in weaning him forcefully. Let him do it on his own accord. He will most likely wean while I'm pregnant anyway.

This is my first post in a long time. But, I will try to post more often.



Thursday, March 8, 2012

What's new?

So yeah.

Um.

I made a promise to myself that I'd try to write an entry a week. It's not as easy as it once was. But, here goes.

A few months ago, actually, in mid-December, I was at a routine visit with my doctor, when I happened to ask him if he knew which vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies caused what. My nail-beds were getting ucky, and my nail-moons were non-existant. He mentioned a lot of women suffer thyroid problems post-pregnancy, and that he would send out bloodwork.

About a week later, his office called me, saying that my thyroid levels were pretty high. I got sent to an endocrinologist, and for a thyroid ultrasound. Fun times.

I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease, and was placed on Methimazole. My eye doctor told me my eyes' diameter had increased. Yay. One of the side effects of this, is that your eyes bulge out. Pleasant, right?

I'm not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg. Since that initial order for bloodwork in December, I've lost about 30 pounds. Drastically. Despite being on medication now, I'm still losing weight at about 3-4 pounds a week. It's great that my pre-pregnancy pants now fit me again, but it's definitely not fun having to take a medication every.single.day.

What else is new?

The hubby's birthday was this past Monday. We went to a really nice steak house, and brought Alec with us. We love going out with him, since he's so good. Strangers will randomly walk up to our table, commenting on how much of a good little boy he is. So, Monday night was no different. Keith ordered some escargot for his appetizer, while I had some French onion soup...it was delicious! Alec decided to eat about half of Keith's escargot. I mean, I don't even eat it...how the heck can I expect a 1.5 year old to eat it - and LIKE it??? I guess this proves that he's a really good eater...or at the very least that he's a piglet.

Alec is a little piglet. And, he also likes to drink Apollo's water.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Little updates

Time flies. Especially when you're having a blast.

I think my last blog entry was about two or three months ago, and in this post, I lamented the state of the world. I still lament it. But I've learned that there are things that are so completely out of my control, and although it still bothers me, I can't let it really GET to me.

I have enough problems of my own, to worry about other people's problems.

But, I digress.

Alec is getting big. He will always be my Smallness, but he's definitely growing and developing, as he should be. At his 15 month appointment, Alec weighed 21 pounds, and was a bit over 28 inches tall. He is healthy, intelligent, funny and is just all around AWESOME.

At 17 months, Alec is doing the following:

1. He tortures the dog. He loves the dog. He pees on the poor dog. The dog takes it, because Alec feeds him from the table.
2. Walking/running from Point A to Point B.
3. Plays with the dog bowls. If Apollo is eating, Alec is sitting right there next to him, splashing around in the water bowl. I let him do it because Apollo doesn't mind it (not food aggressive), and because it seems like a senseless thing to fight him on.
4. Knows how to use the control remote, turn off/on the cable box, and 'talk' into a phone (it might also be the control remote).
5. Dances. Man, oh man, this boy has moves! The second he hears music, he shakes his little butt.
6. Talks. A LOT. Mainly, he talks to the dog, but he will talk to anyone who listens. I think the kid speaks Russian.
7. Breastfeeds. Still. A feat that I'm both proud of, and happy to do.

As for daycare, Alec loves it. The second we walk through the door at daycare in the morning, Mummie becomes chopped liver. I have to chase him down, grab him, and squeeze him very fast before he squiggles out of my arms. It makes me sad, but I realize that he truly loves it there, so the Mummie Guilt of having to work isn't as bad. Of course, I feel bad that I'm not there witnessing many of his 'firsts', but it's for the better. If it weren't for my job, we wouldn't be putting money into savings, we wouldn't be able to buy a house, and we surely would be slaves to penny-pinching.

We are buying a house. We're supposed to close on March 23rd, and we are so excited. The house is a major fixer-upper, having been vacant and bank-owned for at least a year, but...we got it for an amazing price, and it's in a great town. The schools are great, and we'll be back closer to my old stomping grounds - which makes me happy.

I will try to make time to blog more often. I miss it, and I truly enjoy having this outlet.

And? Here is Alec, in all his dog-bowl-splashing glory: