Our Little House

I notice that I am becoming sentimental as we near the big move.  Believe it or not, one of the things I am getting sentimental about is our house.  There is a country song called Little Houses.  It talks about how small houses allow love to grow big.  That is true for our current house.   While the space is seeming to grow smaller every day, I am going to miss many things about it.  I will miss our one big living space.  It has given me the opportunity to see Doodle play and grow without her realizing it.  I will desperately miss our courtyard and all of our friends.  I will miss Doodle's cozy little room that started as a nursery and turned into a big kid room.  I will miss that because there is no one else to be, My Favoritest and I spend lots of time together doing our own thing.  It is nice to be in each other's company.  Pretty much, I will miss the house in general.  
They say that smell has a strong link to memory.  I know this is true.  To this day, the smell of confederate jasmine makes my brain flash to the entrance of Children's Medical Center at MCG in Augusta, GA.  The smell of spearmint gum makes me think to long summer road trips.  And now, the smell of wild honey suckle will always remind me of the back yard of our little townhouse in VA.  It is only fragrant and blooming for a few weeks, but I love every minute of that sweet smell:)

May 11 (295/365)

Lip Picker

Almost 30 years ago my family moved to Valdosta, Ga.  When we moved, my parents made friends with people who would eventually become our family.  This friendship allowed me to grow up with the feeling of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins close by.  All of our blood family was in Chicago/Indiana at the time.  Aunt Debbie, Uncle Marvin, Page, and Ben became our second family (and by extension, all their extended family became ours too).  When we were kids, you couldn't convince us that we were NOT related somehow.  And in our defense, we do all favor one another.  On a recent Sunday morning, I snapped this picture and had to send it to Page.

May 10 (294/365)

If you know Page at all, you know why I had to send it to her.  Lip picking is her trademark fidget.  Somehow, it has become Doodles newest pastime.  I think my text said something like "are you sure we don't share any genetic material?"
The picture got me thinking about how lucky I am to have this extended family.  There is so much to be said for having friends who know your history and your past.  Friends who are there to share your hardships and laugh at your celebrations.  We are grown, have children of our own, busy lives, and live far apart, but there is a history that connects us to each other.  A history that makes a random text perfectly acceptable.  
As we move ever closer to moving day,  I have been thinking a lot about my circle of friends and how important they are to me as I make my way in the world.  Just to warn you that there will be many a sappy post coming your way on this subject.  This has also reminded me how grateful I am that my parents taught me the value of maintaining friendships, and that they made every effort to allow me to hold onto friends.  It is a value that I hope to pass on to Doodle as we make this first "memorable for her" move.  I hope that when she is in her mid-thirties, she can look back on her childhood friendships with the same nostalgic fondness that I do.

Head Games

My pregnancy with Doodle was pretty idyllic.  I ate a ton, gained a bunch of weight, (somewhere between big and Jessica Simpson) and pretty much loved being pregnant.  Until the end, that is.  At about 33 weeks, I started having some headaches and swelling.  By 36 weeks I was admitted to the hospital and at 36 wks and 4 days, Doodle joined our family.  My blood pressure was out of control and I was on medicine for about 6 weeks after delivery.  
This go round, I have tried to be healthier.  Although they don't know for sure what causes pre-e, weight gain is a risk factor.  To that end, I have really paid attention to my diet, exercise and weight.  They (doctors) say that once you have pre-e you have somewhere between a 20-40% of a recurrence.  It is also thought that if you have a recurrence, it will follow much the same course it did the first time.  
So pretty much, since I hit the 20 week mark, I have been waiting for signs of pre-e.  The way I figure it, with all the drama surrounding this pregnancy and my life right now, I am sure to have it!  So, at the beginning of May when I had a headache for 36 hours straight, I just knew that was what was going on.  My Favoritest insisted I call the doctor and go in for a check up.  The doctors took it pretty seriously.  My blood pressure was a little elevated in the office, but I was also very nervous and very anxious.  There was no protein in my urine, but they wanted a base line, so I got sent home with a jug and a hat.  Yup, 24 hour collection!  Yippee!  And this is pretty much what the next 24 hours of my life looked like

May 8 (292/365)

May 9 (293/365)

Sorry to share the gory details, but this whole thing started off as a way to document a year of my life, so there you have it!  Anyway, long story short everything was fine.  Blood pressure was great, no protein in my urine and no reason for the headaches.  Got a prescription for Tylonol 3 and an appointment in a week.  
At the appointment the next week, I mentioned that I was still having headaches off and on, but that my blood pressure had been fine.  The doctor looked at me and basically said that on top of all the other stress of my life right now, the thought of having pre-e was probably adding to the stress and wasn't helping the headaches.  I think she is probably right.  It probably is part head game.  So, I have really tried to manage my stress lately, but it isn't working.  Maybe I need to focus on happy things, like bubbles on the post rain grass:)

May 7 (291/365)

P.S. I think it is a testament to how well I have managed my weight that at 30 weeks preggo I could almost lay down (and get up) to get ground level with the bubbles:)

My Little Mess!

When I describe Doodle, I often say she is a mess.  It is a description that matches her physically at times, and almost always matches her personality.   Here are just a few examples of my mess.


She must be the only child who can eat an icy pop and manage to get syrup on her leg!  Like I said.... a mess!

May 1 (285/365)

Lucky for me she is willing to help in the task of cleaning up.  She is obsessed with helping with the laundry.  Always has been.  Recently she has been obsessed with using the stool to be able to reach and help me do more and more things.  Now she can really help with the laundry.

May 3 (287/365)

She amazes me at the level of excitement she can create around something so boring!  For example, new shoes.  My friend Kate sent me a box of clothes and shoes that her daughter had outgrown.  We have slowly been working our way through the box for the last 2 years.  Amongst the shoes, there were a pair of purple crocs.  They have fit Doodle for a while now, but we haven't been able to wear them because of the weather.  I pulled them out the other day because they matched her outfit perfectly.  She was so excited!  She told me they helped her to jump "the biggest jump you ever seen"!

May 4 (288/365)

When Bubbie was here, she bought Doodle some outdoor toys.  Among them was a medium size yellow ball.  A couple of weeks ago, our neighbors dog got ahold of the yellow ball and it no longer exists.  They were so sorry and apologetic.  They replaced the ball, but couldn't find a medium sized one.  So instead, Doodle is the proud owner of a big green ball.  That now lives inside.  That has become her main entertainment source.  She is constantly rolling around on it trying to figure out new tricks to try!

May 5 (289/365)

And while she may be to busy getting into messes to stop for  a hug or a kiss, she is always willing to slow down and share some zert (dessert) with her daddy:)

May 6 (290/365)

Berry Odd

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my friend Amy.  I was walking in the door and quickly asked if I could call her back.  She said she had been at the strawberry patch near our house and had way to many berries.  She wanted to drop some off.  I told her to bring it on!  I have to share a bit about Amy.  She has 3 boys and the oldest is a week older than Doodle.  Her husband is in residency and works more hours than I can even fathom.  Over our 3 years here, Amy and I have learned that we can call one another to vent, complain, laugh, and commiserate.  We don't see each other often.  That makes me sad.  What makes me even more sad is that while I am moving to the "steel arm pit of the US" as Amy so lovingly called it, she is moving to what I imagine is the garden of Eden, Aukland New Zeland.  Even though we don't see each other regularly, I love knowing that her support and understanding of our crazy lifestyle is only a text or phone call away.  Being on the opposite side of the planet, makes that a little more complicated.  Lucky for us we life in the era of Facebook, FaceTime, and Skype.  Also, lucky for me, when I am up at 3:00 AM feeding Sadie Jane, she will be sitting down for dinner.  Having moved around all my life, I know that if the effort is made, friendships can last time and distance.  And who knows, maybe I'll find a cheap plane ticket to NZ:)  Anyway, enough about sad stuff.  Here is the picture that made me think of Amy.  As she handed me over the flat of berries she told me she could not be held responsible for the quality of the berries picked.  She had 2 of the three AJ's (her sons) helping her pick.  As I put the berries up, I found some not so good ones, and I also found lots of tasty fresh strawberries.  I also found this gem of a mutant berry!  

May 2 (286/365)

He's All Mine!

When you are the stay at home parent, you are the constant.  You are always around.  No one is really excited to see you.  Even when I pick Doodle up from school there is no excitement.  She expects to see me at the door.  The working parent on the other hand, gets squeals, claps, jumps and in our house barks and 360 spins!  All the kids are excited when Daddy comes home.  They love to see hime walk in the door.  As the initial excitement dies down after about 5 minutes, they continue to vie for his attention until Doodle goes to bed.  Seriously, they don't leave him alone until she goes to bed.  And by "they" I do mean Doodle, and both dogs.  Here are two examples of their undying love and need for daddy affection!  I am seriously surprised that one of them hasn't peed on him to claim him as their own!

April 28 (282/365)

April 29 (283/365)

Preparing for Baby

We are slowly getting ready for the arrival of Sadie Jane.  Since we have already been there and done that, there isn't much that we need to do.  Between the bulk of thinks we have left over from Doodle and the impending move the instinct to nest has been put on the back burner.  There are a couple of things that we needed to get ready for number two.  One was a stroller to hold both girls.  I know, Doodle is going to be 4 in october, but remember she has short legs and they tire easily.  Besides, as I learned from my dear friend Matt Saw Abear you aren't done with strollers until one collapses on you going up the curb:)  So, we purchased a new stroller that can be a single or a double.  Here is Doodle modeling her new ride.  She loves it because she can climb in by herself!  We will see how much she likes it when she is on the bottom!

April 27 (281/365)

Bonus Belly Pic 29 weeks

Because there are a few other odds and ends that we need to get, I emptied my friend the piggy bank!  We don't spend change in our house, it all goes into a piggy bank I painted years ago during a visit with  my younger more fun mom:)  It's missing an ear, but still holds a ton of change!  My plan is to take that bag of money to the coinstar machine, get an amazon gift card and finish picking up the odds and ends that we need.

April 30 (284/365)