Ten Things Tuesday

KH826

What 10 things do you have to share today? Let's see 'em!

mrs&mrsk

1. on a plane to florida. a bit nervous of flying at 30 weeks but it should be ok

2. glad to be getting out of the cold wet windy weather in ny

3. hypnobabies was really fun & informative at our first class last sunday

4. but wow is there a lot of home play/ homework!

5. i left my umbrella @ the ticket counter but was too winded/tired/ annoyed to go back through security 2x, even in our small-ish airport

6. ugh whenever i go out of the office it's a cluster @ work.  bombarded by emails once it started working

7. really glad we are getting an u/s @ 32 wk visit-- we had to scheme a bit

8. got very sad news yesterday, the man we used to deal with at the vendor i am visiting passed away last night.  i may end up staying extra days if there is a wake. 

9. i can't wait to eat some strawberries right off the plant

10. even though im on a new plane, seats are still uncomfortable (more than expected) and i ahve to pee!  oh crap there's something medical going on on the plane

KH826

1. So, I wrote my cheery parenting check-in yesterday before the events of the day unfolded. Poor Will is definitely back in an accute teething stage, and he seems to be struggling with his two top front teeth at the moment. He was really fussy last night, and he just couldn't settle down and get comfortable. We gave him teething tablets, and I think that helped a little, but the poor little bugger was not himself.

2. Speaking of him not being himself, he woke up at 12:30am crying last night. After about 20 mins of rocking (and some more teething tablets) he went back down. We also had a hard time getting him down at bedtime last night. Until 2 days ago, the routine would be bottle, and then put him down while he was still awake and he would be asleep within 5-10 mins, but never cried. Well, the last two nights have been very different. Last night, he cried (really it was more of a mixture of yelling and whining than true crying) for about 7 mins, and then J couldn't take it anymore and she got him up and rocked him until he was in a deep sleep and then put him back down. I would have given it a little longer, I think he probably could have settled himself. I don't think he was in any true distress, and I think he was more mad than anything else based on the noises he was making.... anyway, I learned a valuable lesson last night: my wife and I are totally not on the same page when it comes to handling potential sleep issues.

3. We have had such a stellar sleeper for the 1st 6 months that we have not really taken much time to talk about what our joint parenting philosophy would be in terms of dealing with sleep issues. After about 7 mins when he was fussing/crying at bedtime, I looked at my wife and whispered "I will do whatever you think is best. I think he is OK, and I support giving it more time, but if you are not OK with letting him cry, that is OK with me too." She sprang out of bed and said "Well we can't let him keep doing this - it's not healthy!" ... Ummm?!?!?!.... I didn't say anything. When he woke up at 12:30am he cried out (literally not more than 30 seconds), I started to get up to get him and she said "Wait - Why are you getting him? I thought you wanted to let him cry." I was so confused. I told her we need to sit down and talk about sleep stuff and get on the same page. This could just be because of the acute teething. It could be related to a Wonder Week (this is week 26, and I have read that is a doozy), it could be related to his recent transition out of the lounger and into the mini crib... OR this could just be our new Will. Either way, we will roll with it, but we need to talk about what our approach will be. We tend to not be patient with each other in the middle of the night when we are both tired, and as I have mentioned before, sometimes J thinks I should be able to read her mind... I am still working on that skill...

4. I am in a little bit of a foul mood today. I actually don't think it is sleep related (but maybe I am fooling myself -- I haven't slept well myself in at least a week).... J and I have been snapping at each other, which upsets me. I don't know. I feel a bit like a loony tune since I posted this happy update yesterday, and today I just feel "Bleh." I also feel like some of you are probably glad to hear that Will didn't sleep through the night and that he has been fussy, etc. I know a few people IRL who would be thrilled with this news. Ugh oh, I feel like I might be slipping from "bleh" to "grrrr".... crap!

5. This afternoon is my annual review at work. I don't expect my boss to be ready to talk $$, so I feel like the review is going to be a lot of fluff and annoying. I will probably get an email about the $$ piece in a couple of weeks... I'm not going to lie, that is about 80% of what I care about at this point.

6. I wish that we weren't going back up to Boston in 2 weeks (we are going the weekend before Christmas -- driving up on Saturday and home on Monday). I wanted to make my family happy and give them a chance to see Will at Christmas time and exchange gifts... even though we were just up there at Thanksgiving.... that was dumb. I am now dreading it. Especially if Will is going to start not sleeping through the night. My sisters will not tolerate that well. I am tired just thinking about it. My family has made it very clear that they have no intention of traveling here for a holiday....

7. I have lived in PA for 12.5 years. In that time my family has been here to see me 5 times: my college graduation, my bridal shower, my wedding, my baby shower, and to meet Will 3 weeks after he was born. I think they would be thrilled to not have to come back until baby #2 is born. Why is it that I am always the one that has to exert all of the effort? It is exhausting!

8. Friday is my work holiday party. I am also feeling "bleh" about that...

9. I need an attitude adjustment FAST!

10. I think I am in denial about how much weight I still need to drop. Looking at some pictures of myself from over the weekend made me sad...   

ATXmommas

1. I didn't have time last night to write about my IL drama in the confession thread. Z and I needed to spend some time together. I'll try today. It's heavy stuff for me, which is why I haven't shared. It's exhausting to think about.

2. Christmas shopping is almost complete! Just a couple more things to get. I relied heavily on Amazon this year. This may be the least stressed I've ever been about Xmas shopping.

3. Ash woke up for the day before 6am today. This is not unusual. What's wrong with this kid?!

4. @KH826 - I've lived in Austin for 10 years and my dad and stepmom have been here twice. They told me they are trying to plan a trip here during my little sister's spring break. I'm not holding my breath.

5. I mentioned this in the Parenting thread, but my kid who has always been an adventurous eater with a healthy appetite is being very picky about what he eats and doesn't seem to be eating a whole lot. I've been experimenting with new things, but often resort to a peanut butter sandwich if I can't get him to eat much of anything else. Two things he can't get enough of - grilled tofu and mandarin oranges. I told him that I'm going to ask Santa to put a block of tofu in his stocking. Any parents of older kids experience a similar stage?

6. I suck and haven't managed to order holiday cards. Z took an incredible pic of Ash over the weekend that would be perfect for a card. I actually tried to create a card, but since it's an iPhone photo the resolution is too low for the designs I like. I kinda gave up after that. maybe next year.

7. @trisholio and @doodah1013 - how about some friendly rivalry on January 2nd (you're both OSU fans, right?)

8. We're traveling to see my family the day after Christmas. We're all flying there together, but Z has to come back early, which means I'll be solo with Ash on the return. I'm too cheap to buy a ticket for him until I have to, but trying to wrangle this very active kid by myself makes me nervous.

9. Some people in my office have starts wearing leggings with boots and long tops to work. I do not feel that it is ok attire for the office. I don't manage any of these individuals and I guess my peers (their bosses) don't mind. Am I being a fuddyduddy?

10. If you have never mixed peanut butter into your oatmeal, you should try it. Delish.

Karlamo

1. @KH826, I am not happy to see Will have a bad night.  We have been dealing with R's sleep issues since day 1, I can't imagine if he was a great sleeper and then 6 months later, not.  BTW, there's a reason why sleep deprivation is used as a torture method.  It makes you crazy and irrational.  Our rule is anything my wife and I say in the middle of the night doesn't count.

2. @ATXmommas, Good luck with solo flying.  Is it a short flight? I'mwith you on tickets.  I won't pay till legaly forced to.

3. Did I mention I will be pregnant tomorrow?

4.  With #3, the past 2 nights I have been having nightmares of my cycle being canceled.  I hope these are my nerves talking and not intution.

5.  I will be solo parenting Thursday and Friday while my wife is in ATL for work.  I'm sending R to daycare on Thursday so I can rest a little.  It'll behis first lesson in sharing mommy with his sibling.

6.  Our new house is on a cul de sac and it's the only one without a garage.  I called city hall yesterday to see if we could built one and they said the orginal plans included one but the buyer took it off.  Grrr.  The good news is now we don't have to move to get build one.

7.  For Christmas we are going to an island off the coast of TX.  I'm looking forward to warm weather and a beach Christmas!

8.  My wife and I are in desperate need of a date so we are having my in laws watch R while we're there for Christmas.  I hope his obsession with me lessens by the time we're there so we can go out.

9.  My wife and I met while we were year long volunteers at a medical clinc for the homeless in DC.  I loved seeing the true spirit of Christmas in those patients.  It inspired us to limit the number of gifts we wanted to give our kids at Christmas.  So with that,  we decided that 5 was a good number. And I'm happy to report we have stuck to it!

10.  R middle name comes from the name of the volunteer house where we met and lived during that year.  Emmanuel House.  I hope we teach him and pass on to him our love of philanthropy.

trisholio

1. I have been doing my best to keep up on the boards, but most of the time I am reading updates in the middle of the night while nursing.  So I am not sure how much information I am actually absorbing.  Sorry 

ATXmommas  yes I am a huge Ohio State fan!  I am hoping for a good game, but honestly I think that Alabama is going to kick our butts, lol.  I like friendly rivalry :-)

3. The only reason I am able to get my TTT done on time is because M and K are on respite until tomorrow afternoon.  I mentioned in the confession thread, I feel bad that I don't miss them as much as I feel like I should.  

4. I am so thankful that Adalyn is a good baby.  She has started smiling a ton more and laughing, it is so adorable!  She isn't fussy usually unless she is tired, hungry or cold.  She is not anywhere near sleeping thru the night, but she nurses and then goes right back to sleep.

5. I am also so thankful that M and K both sleep thru the night also.  I read about parents that their kids don't sleep thru the night at their ages (almost 3 and 15 months). I don't know how I could get up multiple times with multiple children.

6. I am officially back to my pre pregnancy weight, most women would be excited about this but I actually lost a total of 25lbs between my pregnancy and the birth.  So I have gained it all back, which is super frustrating!  I am hungry all the time and have a crazy sweet tooth.  I am not sure what to do about the weight gain :-(

ATXmommas I am also experiencing a picky eater.  K is 15 months old and we started purees at 6 months (i think) and probably around 10 months we started giving her food that we were eating, but in small quantities.  She eats whatever we eat now and used to eat anything we put in front of her (except green beans).  But lately she hasn't wanted to eat much and I understand resorting to a peanut butter sandwich.  The problem is that M is almost 3 years old and understands that her little sister is getting something different to eat and sometimes throws a fit.  So I struggle between making K eat what I give them or giving in to M not eating her meal.  I am afraid of starting bad habits but giving in and making her something else to eat, but I worry about her not getting enough to eat.  

8. We are required to keep "Life Books" on the girls while they are in our care.  So basically a scrapbook, we should do this anyway but life just gets busy and there is never enough time.  Well we could actually get in trouble for not having them, so we got our butt in gear and printed tons of pictures and started their books this weekend.  It is crazy to go back and look at pictures of them when we first got them in February.  

9. I need to download all the pictures on my phone to the computer, I have so many pictures of all three of our girls!!!  I hate that I can't share pictures of M and K.  I shared a picture on Facebook of my wife, Adalyn and I after Adalyn was baptized and I hated that M and K were not able to be a part of it.  They are our family too.

10. Speaking of family, they have been a little MIA since Adalyn has been born.  My mom has come to our house less than 5 times.  My mom watches my nephew all the time (I understand my sister is a single mom) and my mom took a week off work to be with my sister after giving birth.  Yet my mom can't even come over to spend time with me and the girls (Sunday she was supposed to come over but she was too hungover)  My mom is our only approved caregiver for M and K, unless they go on respite to another foster home.  We don't want it to always be all or nothing.  It would be nice to get a few hours here or there.  It is really starting to become an issue and it upsets me greatly.

I love reading everyone's updates even if it doesn't all sink it because I am half asleep.  I will be an active poster one of these days again.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

2MamazInSeattle

1. @ATXmommas‌ I put almond butter in my oatmeal (along with vanilla, cinnamon and currants) everyday! I love how creamy it is!

2. A tip based on the confession thread...if you don't have an automatic backup for your phone, consider it. Icloud, SkyDrive or, if you have Amazon Prime you get free cloud storage. Ok, so no dirty pix

bfonz619

1. @KH826, I hope Will starts feeling better soon! 

2. @ATXmommas, Sending lots of positivity and thoughts your way. GL on your flight with Ash!

3. GL and FX for you @karlamo!

4. @trisholio, That is tough where your Mom's lack of visits is concerned.  Have you had an open discussion with her about it (sorry if you've mentioned this in previous posts and I missed it)?  My Mom isn't a huge participant in my life due to comfort reasons on her part.  When DW and I started TTC, I had to have a discussion along the line of either be there or don't because the in between tends to be more upsetting.  I wish you all the best.

5. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!

6. Excited to have our nephew for Christmas Eve.  This wasn't expected, and after the CP we were planning to keep things low key, but are excited to have something new to focus on and plan for.

7. We haven't pulled out our Christmas decorations from storage yet!

8. I haven't had much of an appetite the last few days and suddenly feel like I should head up last night's ragu that I brought for lunch early.

9. Our donor's schedule is going to be a little hectic this month between being flown our during our FW to do an IUI and working around his son's birthday party.  DW and I discussed going into this cycle with an open hearts letting whatever is meant to happen, happen.

10. Aside from student loans, DW and I are debt free and it feels incredible!

2MamazInSeattle

2MamazInSeattle said:

1. @ATXmommas‌ I put almond butter in my oatmeal (along with vanilla, cinnamon and currants) everyday! I love how creamy it is!

2. A tip based on the confession thread...if you don't have an automatic backup for your phone, consider it. Icloud, SkyDrive or, if you have Amazon Prime you get free cloud storage. Ok, so no dirty pix

Omg I got clipped again! And I had 10!!! Dammit.

doodah1013

1.  Today is my last day at work before leave...  I haven't been here very long today and don't plan to be here much longer.  I am excited to be done with work, but worried that sitting home and worrying about baby's appearance is going to make me crazy!

2.  Went to the MW today... Everything is good.  Baby has dropped, but not all the way.  She said a few good contractions should take care of it!  We don't have another appointment until next Friday (if she hasn't come by then...)  That feels like an ETERNITY.

3.  My co-workers took A and I out for dinner last night and it was super fun.  We don't always get along as a group (because we are all type A people), but it was really enjoyable!  I am going to miss them while I am out.

4.  We have our tree up, and our stockings!  I put out my snow-globe collection and everything looks so festive in our house.  I feel like such an adult...  a homeowner and a kid on the way.  Ridiculous!

5.  @ATXMommas , I love some friendly rivalry.  OSU Football is INSANE...  I come from Kentucky originally, where the only thing we care about it basketball... In fact when we moved to Columbus, the first thing my parents said was:  Don't become an OSU fan, we hate the Big 10.  But.... I must say it is awesome to have a Football team who is usually very good to watch, and then we turn around during basketball season and I have my Louisville Cardinals to root for...  But like @trisholio said, I don't really expect much out of the game. 

6.  We made a bunch of baked goods for a charity event where kids who wouldn't get to meet Santa can come and get their pictures taken... if we don't get them out of the house soon, there will probably not be any left.

7.  My birthday is on Sunday, and I totally forgot...  Part of me hopes I share a birthday with baby H... I have always hated my birthday, and if we shared it, I would always make it special for her, and she would always make it special for me

8.  I think A and I are going to the zoo tonight to see it all decorated with Christmas lights.  Not a bad place to get some walking in...

9.  We got a new computer (after talking about it for 3 years...).  It is very exciting.

10.  Tomorrow I am going to wrap Christmas presents all day and watch the Star Wars Trilogy... it is my own Christmas tradition that I share only with myself.  My Mom went in to labor with me after wrapping gifts all day... so maybe it will help?!?  We shall see!

redrockmama

1. J is out of town for work and our nanny is on vacation this week so um hope from work with M today. I'm so tired. I should be trying to nap with M,oh well.

2. I tried to shower with M this morning. It was like wrestling with a slippery octopus. He's clean though.

3. We haven't really started any Christmas shopping yet, oops.

4. We are taking M to get Santa photos taken on Saturday. They have the parent dress up as Santa so they get really cute photos. I'm excited, but have no clue what he is going to wear.

5. We are thinking of taking M on his first little road trip to see J's family after Christmas. I'm nervous about it. Also not looking forward to driving 3 hours there and back the same day.

6. I have no idea what to get J for Christmas its stressing me out a little.

7. M still fits in most of his 0-3 month clothes. I keep expecting a huge growth spurt lengthwise, but nothing so far.He's just a shorty.

8. I'm starving, but stuck under a sleeping baby. I'm afraid to get up, the kid needs his sleep.

9. I can't wait for J to get home tonight.

10. Ok must find food, hoping M stays asleep.

ball.and.chain

1. We just bought our convertible carseat for $65.00. Original price: $329.99. On sale at Amazon and we had two $100 gift cards. Score. My dad bought us the other one for Christmas, so we are all set as soon as B gets big enough...which makes me laugh because he is so tiny. Still, I imagine we will need it sometime in the next 6 months at most!

2. The weather is totally gross today.

3. I ordered something online from L.L. Bean yesterday morning and it was delivered at 9:15 this morning. And they don't even make you pay for shipping! Craziness.

4. I feel like this is The Week of Sleep (or unfortunately the lack thereof for several people) on this board! Seems to be the biggest topic of conversation. @karlamo, I am glad things look like they are moving in a promising direction with R! @KH826, I am sorry W had a bit of a rough night! Hopefully things will go back to his normal baby-champ sleep pattern. If not I will give you the names of the sleep books I read -- I promise they are not as harsh as "CIO" sounds! (And of course you don't have to follow the methods but I think they give you a good lay of the land. You might find a common ground that you and J agree on).

5. Why am I so hungry today? Ugh. I totally fell off the weight-loss train.

6. My wife hired a handyman who just fixed our toilet, re-hung the wonky door to B's room (which wouldn't shut properly), and checked (and will eventually replace for us) some woodwork on our front door frame. We are only minimally handy and just can't find the time to do things like this, plus we tend to do them poorly. So nice to have them taken care of.

7. My MIL is coming this weekend for four days. I'm looking forward to her and my wife and B getting to do Christmasy things together (I'll join them for some of it but will also be working on two of those days). We never get to go down to see my ILs at Christmas due to my wife's work schedule, so I feel like it's going to be fun for them, especially adding B to the mix.

8. I think we are finished with Christmas shopping for B! He's getting a chair with his name embroidered on it and a teddy bear. OK I guess I should be honest -- it's possible (likely?) we'll still pick out more stuff. But I think it's fine to stop where we are, and we probably should. If we get anything else it will be practical stuff he needs anyway.

9. Oh and he's also getting a Hess truck which my wife randomly bought for him. She was supposed to get them for our niece and nephew because their mom said they wanted them...and I was not shocked when S came home with 3 trucks. Why? Because she always wanted one when she was a kid. She wanted every "boy" toy and no one ever got them for her. Wouldn't be my choice and he is too young but whatever -- if it makes her happy, OK!

10. I took advantage of the holidays sales to buy him lots of 6-9 clothes, since he'll need them soon and we don't have much in that size from our showers. But I'm not sure whether to wrap some/all up as Christmas presents or not -- it seems unnecessary and he doesn't care. Just one more thing for US to unwrap on Christmas, really.

2MamazInSeattle

TwoMomsInTX said:

2MamazInSeattle said:

Omg I got clipped again! And I had 10!!! Dammit.

This happens to me whenever I use an emoji from my iphone!  Grrr....

Good tip, oh nearly-ready-to-birth one. No emoji's to be used from my phone again. Evah.

StacyLH24

1. @doodah1013 - I am so excited for you and @firstcomeslove2013‌!

2. Still no word from my RE's office. Usually they are so on top of things. This is the first time that I've ever felt like I'm forgotten with them.

3. I have been sick since Friday. Just some sinus stuff I believe, but still miserable.

4. I hope something breaks soon on the job front for C. Things are getting beyond tight for us.

5. Day 4 of BCPs. Probably about 20 left until stimming...I would know if I had a calendar.....

6. The last episode of SOA is tonight. C and I likely won't watch it until tomorrow since it's on late and will be long. I have an idea what's going to happen and I'm sad.

7. C may end up driving over the road for a year to get experience needed for local jobs. We briefly discussed putting TTC on hold if this happens. If she does this, she would be gone for 2-3 weeks at a time. She doesn't want to miss out on a potential birth, etc. I am working it all out in my head. I'm willing to do this if we need to. We have until July to start our fresh cycle if need be. Also, I was very real with her and said that we cannot put a job opportunity on hold for TTC. We've been at it almost a year and a half now and still nothing. Yes I could get pregnant if we do this fresh cycle now, but the odds aren't exactly in our favor either.

8. I think all of my head congestion is now turning into stomach issues...ugh.

9. Garth Brooks is coming to Buffalo the weekend of C's birthday in March. I got her tickets has a Christmas/birthday present. I probably shouldn't have because of #4 but she has been talking about seeing him live since we started dating. Thankfully he doesn't sell crazy expensive tickets. Plus she has been to see Aerosmith with me twice and those tickets were pricey and both times we had to travel a few hours. It's the least I could do.

10. I'm not a religious person, nor have I ever been, but I've been talking to God for a few weeks now. I do believe there is something bigger out there. I always hear people saying that they trust in God and that God helps them through, so I figured that it couldn't hurt. I feel selfish asking for a baby and a good job for C. We are very blessed and I am truly thankful for all that we have and for our positions in life. I figure if people can ask for material things, then it isn't so bad to ask for a baby and a good job for C. On the other hand, there are so many people in the world who need things that are much more essential. Most of the time I just express my thankfulness for all that we have and just ask for guidance in the other stuff.

2MamazInSeattle

Once more with feeling........

1. @ATXmommas‌ I put almond butter in my oatmeal (along with vanilla, cinnamon and currants) everyday! I love how creamy it is!

2. A tip based on the confession thread...if you don't have an automatic backup for your phone, consider it. Icloud, SkyDrive or, if you have Amazon Prime you get free cloud storage. Ok, so no dirty pix - but it is a great solution!! I literally turned mine on after some cloud-based commercial of a guy dropping his phone in the toilet after just taking picture of his child's birth. Sorry that happened to so many of you. I would cry 10,000 tears.

3. @KH826 - Thought of you on St. Nick's day, when I had to travel, oh, like 2 miles, to my sister's house for 4 hours of family time. It was exhausting - and it was close to home and short!! I forgot to re-load the diaper bag so I had only 1 diaper (and everyone said "oh you should keep ER ones in the car" - um. no shit sherlock. I did. but it was a size 1)... I cannot imagine the time you had in Boston, or, well, I can imagine - and I'm sorry you have to do it again so soon. Bummer that your family doesn't make more of an effort.

4. Y'all have dinky babies. Geez, my kid is a giant. She is 3.5 months old and I just pulled the 6, 6-9, and 6-12 month bin that is packed to the gills. She's out of 3m and pushing it in some of her 3-6m. The huge bummer is, most of the things in the 6-12 range that were gifts were for warmer weather. I'll be sad for her to 'miss' some of these cute fit'outs. Or I guess we can crank up the heat and have a photo shoot for those who gave them to her.

5. @trisholio - About the weight, I was facing the same thing. I ended my pregnancy down 19 lbs from the day I had my first u/s. Five lbs had already crept back on so I started WW. I'm not doing it perfectly, but it has decidedly helped me to stop snacking, avoid empty calories (sugar, alcohol) and eat more fruits and veggies. Not sure I'll win any weight loss awards but it definitely stopped the bleeding, so-to-speak. I joke that if I just have 2 more babies, I'd be a perfect weight!

6. @Karlamo and @Mamosey!!! Wishing you 1000x luck with your FET tomorrow. I want it to work for you so badly. Here's hoping once R's little sib is aboard he or she is there to stay...until your EDD that is .

7. @JGY, OMG.

8. @ATXMommas - I'm very interested to hear about your IL's situation. It sounds like it is horrible for you, and know that you have a great community of fans here who will be on your side and supportive whenever you are ready to share. (It's ok if I speak for all of us, right..everyone?).

9. Illness is upon us. J has a horrible cold which neither S or I seem to have yet; but I have some intestinal distress, which neither J or S have succumbed to. Here's hoping this is as far as it goes. I've been dreading S's first illness.

10. Tree has been up for a week! Cards go out on Thursday! We kept S's Christmas pile reasonable (really, just a couple things, more sentimental than voluminous - love the 5 gift limit idea!). J and I are exchanging new iPod Nano's for xmas, and we did 'small gifts' for family on St. Nick's day instead of Xmas, so our tree looks rather sparse in comparison to years' past. It's ok, but I almost want to wrap empty boxes to fill it out. But I won't, because that would be silly, right @ball.and.chain?

Esquette

1. Next week is finals week, then I get Christmas break.  Some of the children I work with are falling apart right now.  It's pretty exhausting.

2. Holy bananas!  Two more weeks and two more days until Christmas!  I have done pretty much no shopping.  Anybody else plan to buy everything on Amazon in a week and a half?  That's my master plan.

3. Sweetie is watching a replay of the Notre Dame - UConn women's basketball game.  She loves women's college basketball, and her whole family are die hard UConn fans.  It makes me smile.  (Unless they are losing, and Sweetie yells at the TV.  Then it makes me hide in the bedroom until the game is over.  Too much tension! Must flee!)

4. This weekend Sweetie and I are going to look over our finances and see where we sit.  A year ago, we were considering buying a house, but my surgery ate a good portion of our down payment.  We also got married, which our parents have (almost) paid us back for, and I need to decide if I should just tell my parents "thank you for everything, don't worry about the rest" of the money they said they'd give us.  We also need to decide if we want to try to find a townhouse to buy for the rest of the time Sweetie is in grad school.  And we need to decide if TTC in 2015 makes any sense at all.  

5.  The problem with #4 is that a lot depends on the details: do we want to try to use a KD and do the DIY route?  Do we want to buy sperm from a bank and then do at-home ICIs?  Do we want to skip the ICIs with the sperm bank sperm and go straight to IUIs?  How did you all make these decisions?!  There are so damn many.

6.  Tomorrow we have a holiday party for Sweetie's lab and Friday my department is having a holiday party.  Saturday is a speech and debate tournament (I'm the coach).  How is it only Tuesday?!

7. I really like reading these boards. Everybody here always seems so supportive and nice. I've spent some time lurking around some other boards on TB, and found some communities to be less supportive.  So, thanks for being nice!

8. What were your favorite resources as you moved into your TTC journey?  I've already read Expecting Better, which was fun, since I studied economics as an undergraduate.  I'm thinking TCOYF would be a good find.  I'd love to read some LGBT-parenting blogs, if you know of any great ones!  I love researching things.

9.  I'm not excited for the holidays this year.  I've had weird almost-drama with my parents for the past few years.  (Awkward Times + I'm Sensitive.  My feelings get hurt, they don't usually notice.  To be fair, I don't usually tell them.) I feel like we are in between: we are too old for Christmas as children and not old enough to do Christmas as grown-ups.  I am excited to build traditions with our kids someday, but for now, it just seems... Blah.

10.  Boy, it is hard to come up with 10 whole things!  I can't remember what I wrote about last week... Sorry if there's repeats!

Jazibel

1. I'm going to jump on here and write out my TTT while I have access to my laptop (gulp!  Before reading all the posts).

2. The last couple of days have flown by. Kaden woke up around 5:20am followed shortly by this little brother. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, even though they often wake early when I remember today is garbage day and I had forgotten to put the cans out!  Our trucks come super early so I rushed them to the curb.  I was glad that I was awake.

3. Having EV home is great, I wish we could win the lottery big time and just live as a family all the time.  On Monday we drove out to San Francisco so I could meet with a client about an event we have this week. EV took the kids to Pier 39 to hang out and watch the seals. Kaden had so much fun with her. I met up with them later and found Kaden in his t-shirt (he'd spilled water on his long sleeve shirt) running around happily. There was nothing in the stroller just the kids.  Haha.  If I so much as walk into the store I bring clothes, diapers, etc. (OK maybe not the store, but it's still such a stark contrast between our two "parenting styles").  It works though, and travelling light is faster.

4. I am busy with work!  It's kinda crazy and exciting and nerve wracking. We have two events this week, poor EV is going to be on babysitting duty.  I love having this opportunity and it's weird to work at home. I took a call yesterday and wrote down the clients contact information in sidewalk chalk on the ground outside (going inside would have meant being surrounded by the sounds of kiddos).

5. We're planning on cutting our Christmas tree down this year.  It's a tradition I had growing up and I loved it. EV (who's not that big into the holidays) is totally on board so it should be fun. 

6. Last winter in California we had more sunny warm days than not. Of course that led to the drought which wasn't good. This winter we're expecting flooding in some places and most days have been cloudy, cold and rainy. I feel guilty but I miss last winter's weather.  I'm tired of these cold icky days and it's only mid-December.

7. St. Nicholas day was a success!  I bought EV a "dinopet" it has bioluminescents in it that glow at night when you gently shake the container. It's sooo cool and EV was thrilled :-)

8. I am so happy for @JGY!!!  

9. Owen is starting to fuss (it's an hour after I started typing this)...

10. Wishing everyone a great week! 

StacyLH24

@wittyandwaiting - Congrats on 94 days smoke free!  C quit back on my birthday.  She wasn't smoking when we started dating, but then she started and gradually it became a full on habit when she was at work. 

Also, I think it is 100% fine to retract your TTC sharing.  We were quiet about it when we started, then we were very open and at this point, I'm back to being quiet about it again.  People constantly ask us and it's depressing to say that we're still at it.  Plus then I get all sorts of unsolicited comments that most generally end up making me angry.  It has become one of those things that I only want to talk about when I want to, not when someone else feels like it's a great topic of conversation.  We decided to share our first IVF cycle with several women in our family.  I would text my Mom and MIL separately, and then we had a Facebook group conversation where I would include them plus some other family members.  I won't do it this time around.  It can be exhausting and it sucks when you have built up all of this excitement and then have to tell everyone that it didn't work. 

trisholio

sdfonz619 said:

4. @trisholio, That is tough where your Mom's lack of visits is concerned.  Have you had an open discussion with her about it (sorry if you've mentioned this in previous posts and I missed it)?  My Mom isn't a huge participant in my life due to comfort reasons on her part.  When DW and I started TTC, I had to have a discussion along the line of either be there or don't because the in between tends to be more upsetting.  I wish you all the best.

I haven't had a specific conversation about her not being around.  She always makes a point to say how busy she is all the time, but it is her choice to be busy, so I don't feel bad for her.  We always seem to have a discussion which turns into an argument around the holidays, so I am trying to keep my mouth shut for now.  It is irritating because she will make passive aggressive comments about wanting to spend more time with her granddaughter, sometimes I respond sometimes I don't.  I just hate always having to be the adult in our relationship.