Good Friends, Good Food!

Nate and I have an obsession with finding the "good" food in our city. Usually the best, authentic foods are in hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the arm pit of Denver. There's this place called "Burbon Grill" that is probably the best food I've had in my life, but it's not even a sit down restaurant. It's literally a little window that you walk up to on Colfax and take the food home. But, man, it is awesome.

Last night we decided we wanted to spend some time with friends so we took them to one of our favorites: "Absynnia," which is an authentic Ethopian restaurant. The restaurant was busier than we've ever seen it, so it took over an hour before we were seated and had food. But as always it was worth the wait!

For those who have never had Ethopian food, you sit around this tiny little table and everyone's food comes out on the same tray. You eat with your hands by picking up your food with little pieces of their homemade bread, "Anjura."

The spices they use to make their food is DIVINE.

We had sucha good night and it was nice to get a break from Cale. He has been driving me a little batty.

The worst day of motherhood...

Are you ready for this? Today I have seriously had the absolute worst day of motherhood I've ever had. It probably doesn't help that I'm pregnant and easily irritated as it is, but things just got out of control today and I've spent the majority of my evening in tears.

Let me begin by explaining that Cale turns 2 in March and is well into his "terrible twos." He loves to hit, head butt, throw books and toys at me, and arch his back and fall to the ground. It's probably my least favorite thing in the world.

Today when I got off work I decided to have a fun day, so I took Cale and my niece Cheyna to the local indoor kids play place and they had so much fun. The terror started when we got home.

Cale spilled juice and soda all over the entertainment center (where the PS2, Wii, DVD player, and dish reciever are...) and thought it was hilarious. When I cleaned it up, he got another glass and did it again.

Soon after that, I smelled that he had a dirty diaper but he refused to let me change it. So he sat in it for a while, until he came up to me with a handful of poop. (I am pregnant and the smell of his poop is the WORST. I nearly puke every time I smell it.) Nate was at work and I was the only one who could clean it up. It was horiffic.

After that he continued with his hitting, throwing, head butting etc, until it was time to meet Nate for dinner. I thought getting him out of the house would help his attitude. WRONG! He was a complete terror in the restaurant, throwing himself on the floor, climbing out of his high chair, not listening to a word I said, and screaming bloody murder if I tried to control him. So I left Nate at the restaurant and took Cale home before either of us finished eating.

The whole way home I bawled my eyes out. I honestly have never felt hatred toward motherhood the way I did tonight. I felt like my child hates me and didn't know why we were going through it.

Lucky for me it was Cale's bedtime when we got home. But of course it turned into a nightmare.

I laid Cale on the floor in his room and tried to get him ready for bed. OF COURSE he had a sick crappy diaper again, so as I'm changing him the smell is getting to me and I instantly (no warning whatsoever) blow CHUNKS everywhere! -- It was ALL over me (my hair, my clothes, my legs...) ALL over Cale, all over the rug in his room, and worst of all, all over "NyNy," his security blanket which goes everywhere with him. There was NO way he was going to bed without that blanket but I had no choice but to throw it in the washer. He threw a bloody fit while it washed, and in the meantime I am still bawling and trying to wipe the puke off of us.

Cale finally went to sleep, I think we were both drained.

But I am a wreck. I'm laying in bed, smelling of dried vomit, with absolutely no energy in the world to take a shower. Cale's bedroom reeks of puke. It's a wonder he can even sleep in there. My hair is crispy from the barf. I have the headache from hell. I'm feeling all of the worst emotions in the world, and hoping that typing this will make it better. Who knows. For now, it just makes me feel guilty. I feel like an awful mother. Punishing him does nothing except make me feel like the bad guy. I yelled at a toddler. Who gave me that right?

Sometimes I wonder why I chose the responsibility of parenthood. I'm failing miserably.

The Fetus.

About 2 weeks ago we found out our little fetus is a GIRL! We are super excited that we get to have a girl and a boy now! We have had 3 ultrasounds so far and it is so much fun to see her grow. The first ultrasound was just to determine her due date which will be June 27, 2012. The second was the NT Scan, which determines the risk of genetic abnormalities and birth defects (she passed with flying colors, YAY!) and then a couple weeks ago we had an elective 3D/4D scan to determine the sex of the baby. She's all girl and we couldn't be happier.

During the ultrasound, the tech said, "Well, here's three lines, so it's a girl!" and immediately Cale looked up and said "Ohhhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" We all died of laughter. He knows what he's in for with a baby sissy.

..."Sissy" is her name for now. Not because we don't have a name - we do, but we aren't telling! I hated all the crappy opinions we got when we told everyone about Cale's name so this time they aren't getting the priveledge of knowing the name until she arrives. Maybe that'll teach them to insult a pregnant lady! Ugh.

(For example...the other night after we found out she was a girl, we all went out to dinner and I told my mom what we were going to name the baby if it was a boy, which was Cohen. She said it was awful and gave Nate a high-five for making a girl so we couldn't use that name...FML. I didn't let her see, but that comment made me cry. She should understand that comments like THAT are why she's not in the 'know' this time. And she wasn't the only one that gave comments like that when I was pregnant with Cale.)

Anyway, moving on...

This pregnancy has been a dream compared to Cale's. With Cale I was so sick that I lost 11 lbs in first trimester, and my heartburn was of the devil. This little girl is very sweet to mommy. She doesn't make me sick hardly at all, and I've been lucky to avoid the heartburn. I hope she's as sweet to me in her terrible two's as she is right now.

I'm 17.5 weeks pregnant right now and I'm excited to approach the half way mark in a couple weeks. On February 13th we will go for the anatomy ultrasound where they check all her bones and organs to make sure she's developing properly. I'm nervous but mostly excited to see how she's growing!

Here are a couple more pictures of her:

Cale has an Announcement!

Yep, we are so excited to be having Baby #2! Our first ultrasound is tomorrow, and we'll get an exact due date then, but for now I think I'm due sometime between June 25-July 2, 2012.

Exhaustion is my main grievance so far, and Cale takes what little energy I can muster up. I'm queasy sometimes but my morning sickness hasn't really set in too bad yet. I can't wait to see my little babe on the monitor tomorrow and hear that beautiful heartbeat :)

This time around we are keeping some things a secret! We can't decide if we are going to tell people the gender of the baby or not, but if we do then we are definitely keeping the name a secret until (s)he's born. Some surprises are good. :)

If you don't want to hear about my "lady parts" --- stop reading!

The title says it all. This post is going to be about my lady parts. Consider yourself warned.

I'd like to begin by saying that I've had a little miracle this month. That miracle was in the form of removing my IUD. Now don't get me wrong, my IUD was my bestie for 17 months...but it was the kind of bestie that stabs you in the back.

Lemme "esplain" -- I had an IUD placed 6 weeks after having Cale and it was UH-MAZING. No periods? Yes please! I literally had no spotting, bleeding, nada, for a year and a half. I would have kissed my IUD if I could have. It.was.blissful.

Not so blissful was my 100% disinterest in being intimate with my husband since having Cale. And not even just disinterest. It was almost to the point of disgust. I'm so sad to say that, because I love Nate! He's amazing! But something was happening with me and my body, and I was NOT interested...Nothing was working and it was a big source of contention for us. Even a trip to my Gyno and a prescription medication didn't fix the issue. I was made to believe that hormones caused by breastfeeding were causing my body to be out of whack, causing the issue with being intimate. Since I still breastfeed and nothing else seemed to be a good explaination, I eventually believed it.

I finally accepted that until I was ready to wean Cale that I just would have to make a huge effort to seem interested in sex. Ugh. And it really wasn't working. Poor Nate.

Anyway, fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I finally told Nate that I really believed my IUD was causing this problem. He agreed that I should take the IUD out since we want to concieve soon anyway, so about 2 weeks ago I went to the doctor and had it removed. (Side note -- OUCH! It hurt worse coming out than putting it in, geesh!) Anyway, I felt an IMMEDIATE difference in my body. I don't know how to explain it other than that it felt like a foreign object that my body was rejecting for 18 months was finally gone. I was in a good mood, I felt instantly better about myself, I even felt lighter (literally, like I lost 10 lbs in 5 minutes) It was crazy!

Over the last two weeks things have gotten so good. (I don't need to mention that having an IUD removed causes two weeks of HORRIBLE bleeding/clotting/all that nasty stuff) but it's gone now and I am better than ever! I feel like a new woman and I can confidently say that my intimate relationship is back on the fast track. Nate (and I) couldn't be more thrilled.

As happy as I am that removing my IUD fixed my problem, I am sad that the IUD had such an effect on me. It really was the best birth control I had ever used and I'm sad that I'll probably never be able to use it again.

Use my experience as proof that miracles DO happen, and if they can happen to my lady parts then they can happen to YOU!

Woo hoo!

My laptop has been shipped out for repair for 3 weeks and I'm SO happy to have it back! We do have another computer but it's packed away for now. We've had to rely on using our cell phones for the internet for weeks and it SUCKED. Especially for Nate who is in school and needs the internet constantly. Anyway, the computer is back and I'm excited I can finally post a blog, even though not much is happening with us lately.

Nate and I have been married 2.5 months now and it's pretty much back to business as usual. We do our best to spend as much time together as we can, but working opposite shifts for 18 months is really taking it's toll. When I was working part time it wasn't so bad, but my job has stopped allowing part time shifts so I had to go full time. There's a similar job up the road that does allow part time shifts so Nate and I are talking about me quitting and applying up the street. We'll see how that goes. Unfortunately I make a lot of money where I'm at and I think it would be a pay cut to go anywhere else.

In other news, Cale is turning 18 months on tomorrow! I can't believe it. He is truely a toddler these days, and only rarely do I get a glimpse of my little baby still in him. Staying true to tradition, here are some noteworthy things about Cale right now:

*He is obsessed with the movie "Cars" and loves anything with Lightening McQueen.

*He has started to form small sentences, although only once in a while. The other day he stared up at the sky and said, "Sky Airplane...WOAH!" - That made me chuckle!

*His doctor appointment is tomorrow, but since we were just in the doctors office for his dislocated elbow (that's another story!) I know he's roughly 23 pounds. He's still a tall, skinny kid although he eats like a pig.

*We are still nursing, though I'd say we are about 90% weaned. He only nurses when he's tired or hurt, or when he just wants to cuddle.

*He hates being inside. I think it's time to throw out all his toys and get a new set of toys cause he gets bored so easily. Many times he puts on my flip flops, hands me my keys and says, "side? side?" (meaning 'let's go outside')

*I'm obsessed with Cale's teeth. They are big and beautiful and straight! He has no gaps in his teeth at all, it's like the perfect set of baby teeth. He's still missing a couple teeth toward the back, but for the most part they are all there and they look so great. Even strangers comment on his pearly whites :) He is so lucky! I wasn't as lucky as a child. Braces were my only saving grace.

*He still wears a lot of 12 month clothing, but he also has 18 month clothing. The hard thing right now is getting him to fit in jeans. 12 month jeans fit him around the belly but they are way too short. To get pants that are long enough he needs 18 month but they fall down around his waist. :/ ....and I can't find a baby belt anywhere!

*He makes the cutest kissing noise when he wants something. --- You know how when you see a dog and you want to call it over to you so you make a little kissing noise over and over? That's what he does, but he does it for everything! If he wants his sippy milk, he makes his kissing noise and runs to get it. Ugh, SO cute.

*He calls his cousin "auntie." And I'll tell you why.... my niece (the first grandchild in our family, who is now 5 years old) has always called me Auntie. It's just who I am to her. Cale absolutely ADORES her and has heard her call me Auntie, so he started saying it too. Now he calls HER auntie and we all think it's pretty funny. Whenever I say, "Wanna go see Cheyna?" He says, "Auntie! Auntie!"


Anyway, that's all I can think of right now.

Last story though...Last week Cale was climbing the stairs outside and began to fall backward. Luckily I was holding his arm so I was able to scoop him up to prevent his fall. Unfortunately I dislocated his arm in the process. Poor Cale was screaming and I was a mess. I felt awful. I rushed him to the doctor who promptly popped it back in, and Cale was back to his old self. It was his first real injury but I'm sure there will be many more to come.

I want another one of these.

That is all.