getting educated

Here we are at three-ish months to go until baby #2 makes his or her entrance.  It's time to figure this thing out, or at least figure how to get it out.  Yes, I realize that humans have been doing this since there were humans and we are designed to do this, and blah blah blah, but a little education can't hurt...right?  Plus, why isn't some sort of education required before having a kid?

To adopt a Russian Jim and I had to log 10 hours of education each.  Book reports, online lectures, etc.  That requirement is way more intense these days.  These days, ha, that makes it sound like we adopted ages ago...things just change so fast. 

Anyway, Jim and I signed up for a course through our hospital.  It's a five week course that goes through pre-labor, labor, delivery, natural measures, medication, a tour of the hospital, newborn care basics, and Jim even gets to wear "the belly."  Fantastic.  I'll keep you on the edge of your chair waiting for that photo. 

We had our first meeting on Monday.  I didn't think it was too intense.  Jim said "oh my, there is so much to know."  Oh, let me clear things up for you Jim.  When I say lets go to the hospital, you drive me there.  Once at the hospital you continue to follow my instructions.  At least that's what I gleaned from the class.

Besides this five week basics class, we are going to take a nursing class and Oliver is going to take a sibling class.  Sure, he had like 149 "siblings" back at the orphanage, but that was awhile ago, he needs a refresher.  

shower time

Ah the preschool/elementary school "walk of shame."  You know it.  It's when your kid comes home in that extra pair of clothes that you sent in for accidents.  In my history as a kindergarten teacher the most popular accidents include...

-peeing or pooping in your pants
-drama at the water fountain or sink
-inability to open your milk at lunch thus resulting in a milk explosion
-other lunch related issues
-mud or water found outside at recess or on a nature walk
-sudden rain storm while navigating the streets of Boston
-snack issues
-paint problems
-puke
-bloody nose


There may be more, but at the current time I can't think of them.

Anyway, I went to pick Oliver up from preschool today and he was wearing "those clothes."  I ask, "Oh man did you forget to pee in the potty?"  Nope.  "Did you have a hard time eating your yogurt snack?" Nope.  "Did you get messy outside, did you do messy art, did you have a problem at the sink?" Nope. Nope. Nope.  I turn to his teacher.  Then she tells me a reason I've actually not come across.

HE PUT HIS HEAD IN THE URINAL WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY FLUSHING IT!!!!!! 

That's right, my kid took a shower in the urinal.  His teachers says "He really likes water." 

Yeah I know.  Maybe I went a little overboard with the whole "tub is not torture" series back in 2011.

good mom?

really?

I keep seeing these signs popping up on Pinterest and Facebook and they annoy me every time.  I want to have a clean house AND a happy kid and I kinda think that kids actually like living in a clean semi organized space.  When Oliver gets too many toys out in his toy room, he will stop going in there until we put everything away and "reboot."

I think the sign is implying that happy kids have mommies that play with them and aren't all consumed with housework. True.  I spend a lot of time with Oliver.  We read stories, we build stuff, when it's under 90 million degrees (rare) we play outside, and we also clean together.  After all, doesn't your daughter want a husband that knows how to separate laundry and work a vacuum?  Shouldn't a three year old be able to play on their own for 20 minutes while I clean out some science experiment growing in my fridge?  I actually really love listening to him play alone, being all chatty with his trains.    

Is the sign trying to make me feel guilty for having a clean house? Or is it trying to give others validation for having a messy one?  In either case I'm quite sure being a "good mom" is way more complicated.  Like way complicated.  


P.S. I put up a little poll on the top right side of the page.  Get your vote in.  Is baby #2 going to be a girl or a boy? 

the drop off

08.27.09  - Oliver, age 2 months & 27 days was dropped off at his orphanage.

08.27.12 - Oliver, age 3 years, 2 months & 27 days was dropped off at his preschool

God's got such a sense of humor or timing or both.  Today is just one of those days where you see the full circle and it's simply amazing.

We prepped for preschool, we talked about it all month, we visited, and he could recite the routine... "Mama is going to take me to preschool, I say "bye bye mama," then I go and play with my friends, I listen to Miss. Davis, and then mama comes back."  And amazingly it actually happened all just like that.  Snapped some photos, walked him in, put his stuff in his cubbie, smooch face, bye bye...no tears, because what's sad about preschool?

shiny & gold, no more

Continuing on with the theme of getting baby's room ready, let's talk about ceiling fans.  Ceiling fans are not stylish, they are functional, especially when it's hot.  As much as I'd really love to rip them all out, and replace them with something so much prettier, I know it would be foolish.

However, something really had to be done with this hot gold mess...

the before

 First thing we did was remove the lights and shades, then unscrew all the blades.  We gave everything a good cleaning and then took the removable parts outside to spray paint away their goldness.

Oliver putting all the screws into a
play-doh pancake, so they can be easily painted

 

two thin coats of primer
two thin coats of semi gloss white

Now I was unable to remove the whole thing from the ceiling, I'm just not that skilled.  Instead I made a newspaper tent around it and spray painted it right there on the ceiling...with the windows open, a fan in the window, and a mask over my face.  I'd run in, give it a quick spay, and run back out X3

put it all back together
add new shades

 
Amazing? No, not really. 
Better?  Yes, white is better then gold. 

dresser, refinished

Back here I raved about a $40 dresser I scored.  I finally got around to giving it a bit of love. 

the before

After arriving home the dresser spent a few weeks hanging out by the front door, classy.  Later, when we had help, is was drug down to the basement...where many projects go to die.  Eventually I came across a pin for some "Gel Stain."  The pin led me to a blog post about a lady trying to make her kitchen less oaky.  She claimed that with this type of stain you didn't have to sand and sand for an eternity before you could start staining.  Sanding is my least favorite part, so I jumped over to amazon and ordered a 1/2 pint of gel stain, in java.  I also went over to Lowe's and picked up a quart of oil based white paint, for the top. 

 

I didn't take any photos of the during.  You can read her detailed post for all that.  Just trust me, it was easy.  Like really really easy.  Clean with a damp cloth, sand for a few seconds, wipe off dust, wipe on stain, let dry over night, apply second coat of stain, let dry over night, call it done.  If I wanted a darker color I could have used a third coat, but I really liked it after two, it felt close to the original without being orange-y.  

 

Side note; this stain is really amazing.  It is indeed a gel, so it's super thick.  I used a paint stick to scoop out about a tablespoon, plopped it on the drawer and used a cloth to rub it in, following along with the grain.  For the curvy hard to reach grooves of the drawers I used a Q-trip.  No brushes necessary, which means not having to clean them.  Ya!  I did however get a bunch of stain on my hands, because I hate wearing rubber gloves.  A splash of olive oil and some salt took the stain off my hands in no time.  

 

I also ordered some poly to finish everything off.  However, I felt that the stain was amazingly smooth and seemingly very durable, so I skipped that part. Also, the oil based paint clung nicely to the top, even though it was veneer and not actual wood.  I'll admit I was skeptical about the top, the first coat was really rough and streaky looking.  I just kept at it, a high density foam roller does amazing things.  Coat of paint, light sanding, dry...X3.  It's super smooth and scrub-able, which seems important since it's also going to serve as baby's changing table.   

 

the after

now baby had a place to keep his/her diapers

 

I'll admit it, I'm feeling a bit jealous....baby has a way nicer dresser then I do!  Also, it came in way under my $200 baby dresser budget.  

rashy

There were a few blissful weeks, two to be exact.  I stopped throwing up, I was rested and happy after vacation, and things were well with the babe at the week 20 check up.  At said 20 week check up I had a very small patch of itchy skin on my jaw line.  I mentioned it to the doctor, because I was there, she said I could take benadrly  if I found it necessary.  Got it.  That was a Monday.

Tuesday, rash moves to neck & chest
Wednesday, pain and intense itching increase
Thursday, rash moves to hips, very painful, can't stand it, call the doctor.

OB says see my general practitioner, his office can't take me and I can't wait, get sent to urgent care.  Urgent care diagnoses me with, wait for it....a rash.  Pretty sure I knew that, pretty sure even Oliver knew that.  They give me a script for a steroid cream.

Friday, the pain is out of control, it hurts to exist, my stomach is solid red and hot, everything itches, and it's moving down my legs and arms.  Plus the steroid cream seems to have made it worse, feels like a chemical burn.  Forget about sleeping, or sitting, or moving in general.

By Monday I hadn't slept in a few days and demanded an appointment with my OB.  She didn't know what it was, but wrote a script for a high powered allergy medication that might take the itching down and help me sleep, she requested I come back Thursday to check in.  The medication did help me sleep, but it didn't do anything else.  Drug myself back in on Thursday, no improvement, a new script for oral steroids. 

Let's pause for a second.  That's three prescriptions over the course of a week and a half.  That's more prescriptions then I've been on in the last 10 years.  I don't get sick.  I rarely take any medication.  I've actually got a fairly high pain tolerance.  Being pregnant makes me want to take any medication even less, you just never know.  But I couldn't stand it, my body was on fire and itching like crazy, so I said yes to the steroids.  They are the strongest medication I've ever been on.

WoW! Steroids are amazing.  I was warned they could make me moody, and have some crazy dreams.  I was nervous but being crazy actually sounded better then what I was enduring.  Well for me, they were amazing.  My energy level went through the roof.  I painted the baby's room, refinished baby's dresser, hung curtains, cleaned my house like a crazy woman, all while my rash slowly vanished.  Now I'm almost to the end of the dose and I'm nervous that when the medication is finished the rash is going to come back.  My doctor thinks it could be a allergic reaction to something, but since I don't know what, I might still be doing it....let's hope not.  Let's log a couple more weeks before something else happens.