Saturday Saturday

Where to start?  Hmm Let's see.  First of all and most importantly I had the most fabulous day on Thursday!  Like I really don't know what could have made it better.  I'm not sure if I had mentioned it around these parts but my company is pretty slow and Adam and I were sorta hoping I'd get laid off so that I'd be able to collect some unemployment while I was out with the baby.  We were excited and pushing for that for a couple of reasons.  Of course after talking with my boss and realizing that he wasn't planning to lay anyone off until at least after Thanksgiving, it became clear that I couldn't count on that option.  I mean what if I give birth beforehand?  I wouldn't be eligible for Unemployment then so I was sort of bummed out as I didn'tthink I was going to end up getting any pay while on leave.  Until one of the ladies from our corporate called me.  I had asked a few months ago if there was any paperwork I needed to fill out for my leave.  I didn't have any last time and so when they never got back to me I really didn't think much of it.  But she told me yes, I need to fill out a form because I was eligible for Short Term Disability.  Of course I had to ask because I wasn't eligible for Short Term Disability last time.  This is where it got interesting.  She told me actually yes, I was eligible for it last time and our old HR lady was wrong.  And that I was not the only one that got screwed out of a paid maternity leave.  In fact because I am a salaried employee I should have gotten my full pay instead of the capped amount the production employees get.  Ok.  Interesting right?

So in the end it turns out I get my FULL pay for 6 weeks (or 8 for a c-section)  I would have a waiting week but my boss said he'll pay me for it since I got screwed out of my paid time when I had Lily.  So YAY!  I'm So beyond thankful that I am getting paid for my time, and while I am disappointed that I missed out on it last time (no wonder our old HR lady got fired), I understand their reasons for not giving me the back pay.

So Adam and I decided to go out for steak to celebrate!  And as we were sitting there I was beginning to think I was starting to go into labor.  I had a lot of contractions and they were even starting to get painful.  But I drank of ton of water and then when we got home I laid down to rest and it stopped.  Which I suppose is a good thing.  But we are officially ready for her to make her appearance any time she is ready!

Today my brother and Sister-in-law were supposed to come up and spend the weekend.  But as usual Minnesota had other plans.  Snow, and lots of it.  As of this morning they had already a couple inches on the ground and it was coming down pretty hard here.  I heard later some places got like 10 inches.  I don't know for sure how much we got, it pretty much all melted as it fell around here.  We ran some errands (finally got a new laptop....LONG overdue) and when we were coming back it was starting to stick to the roads and the grass a bit more.  So tomorrow we'll take the girl out as she pestered us all day about going out to play in the "stow".

So things are good.  And I'll take it.  Now just for the waiting game.

Where to start.

Well I hit 36 weeks yesterday!  I am VERY happy about that.  It means less than 4 weeks til my due date and after my appointment yesterday I really don't think I'll make it that far.  As of yesterday I was already dilated to 2.5cm.  I will take it.  Even though my doctor really did make it clear that that didn't mean anything especially with a second baby, it still made my day and made me happier to hear that then I haven't made any progress at all.  So I'll take it.  And hope that she comes soon.

Secondly, it looks like I will for sure be getting laid off here in the next couple weeks.  But don't feel sad for me.  This is a blessing.  Instead of having to take 6 weeks of unpaid time off from work and still having to pay half time for daycare for lily (to keep her spot), I will be able to collect unemployment and at least have some type of income, and depending on how things go, we may drop daycare all together.  Transitioning to lower income might help us make the transition to me being a stay at home mom.  I would have some time to job search something part time, or back again with the option of watching someone else's kid for a little income or whatever.

So things are good right now.  I'll take it.

I couldn't have done it without you.

Yesterday we had another of what I like to call, "Philippi family fun days".  This is meant sarcastically of course in the sense that it's usually a day we take to be productive and get things that are long overdue marked off the to-do list.  They don't happen as often as they should and I had no idea that yesterday was going to turn into one of those days.  But I'm glad it did.

In the morning I did dishes and got some other stuff cleaned up.  Lily was a major help (as she usually is)  She picked up her toys, and I gave her a wash cloth and she cleaned the tables and helped put things away.  It still amazes me how helpful a two year old can actually be.  She saved me a lot of bending and picking up.  She kept asking me for "another really important job".   I'm thankful that she is so willing to help and I hope it lasts for a long time even though I know it won't.  But after I put her down for her nap I seriously debated taking one myself.  But I figured my time would be better served actually staying awake and catching up with laundry.  There was also a big task I've been meaning to tackle for a while now.  Cleaning the entry.

For those of you who don't know or aren't familiar with our house we have an uninsulated entry right off the kitchen.  We put shelves out there when we moved in and used it for extra food storage.  Until we got mice.  Oh the mice.  So I made sure we  no longer keep food out there and instead I keep things like our crock pots, larger Tupperware, serving trays.  Stuff like that.  And it was a mess.  A hot mess actually.  Plus we have mice out there again (why I'm not sure there is no food for them)  So it's annoying and gross.  I finally got up the energy and motivation to clean it out and get rid of some stuff and clean everything and whatnot.  I felt really good getting it done.

Then Adam cut and installed some shelves for me on the inside of our basement so I can put some canned goods and things like that there to free up some cabinet space.  We've been meaning to do it for a while now and just haven't gotten around to it.    Then came Lily's next "really important job"  I unloaded all the stuff I wanted to put on the shelves onto the kitchen floor.  Lily got her shopping cart and loaded everything up and brought it to me and handed it to me so I didn't have to bend down to pick it up.  She was Awesome.  It's amazing to me how helpful she is and how excited she is to help me.

Yesterday I really don't think I could have done it without her.  And thanks Adam for putting in the shelves!  They are everything I hoped for and more!

Now I just need to train the dog to clean up his own fur off the floor.

It's the little things in life....

10 things that make me happy (in no particular order)

1. Listening to my 2 year old sing.  I could listen to it all day it's just so dang cute.  Of course under normal circumstances I'd rather use 3 sets of earplugs and a few headphones to drown out the sound of a little kid singing.  But when it's your own kid, it's different.  So let's face it.  I'll be the mom that just stays to listen to my own kid at concerts and stuff and then leaves.  Sorry world.  I also won't hate on you if you don't feel the same love for my kids singing.  But for now at least. I could listen to the ABC's or Twinkle Twinkle, ALL. DAY. LONG. and never get tired of it.

2. When the dishes are done and caught up.  Now granted I fully admit that this is rarely the case in my house but I love the feeling of not having anything super important I need to do at any one moment.  Plus in general it smells better in here.  Don't judge.

3. Baby clothes/shoes.  Anyone who knows me knows I have a terrible addiction to baby clothes and shoes.  I am not generally the type to leave my babies in sleepers all day.  In fact I don't remember EVERY doing that with Lily and I highly doubt that will be the case with Claire either.  I get dressed every day and I love that my babies look good and put together too.

4. Our family cuddle time in bed before Lily goes to sleep at night.  In fact I think this is what I will miss the most about Lily being an only child.  Oh the cuddles and closeness of that half hour of family time.

5. Coffee.  Sure I've given it up many times since I seem to react not so great to the caffeine and totally become dependant on it.  It's sad when I give it up but I always come back.

6. The Wonder Pets.  Yes.  Again, don't judge.  I like the show and have on occasion watched it even when Lily was in bed. 

7. The fact that Adam likes to cuddle (sorry honey, the 3 people that read my blog now know your secret).  He may not be the most romantic man but he sure does love to cuddle and that makes me smile.

8. Fresh, clean sheets.  I don't think I need to add anything else to that one.

9. When Lily says sweet things to me like "I love you mommy" or "I so proud of you"  Or when she says completely wacky things.  Kids really do say the darndest things.

10. Chocolate.  Do I need it?  Nope but it sure would be a sad world without it.

I suppose it even seems funny now

Back story:  I'm an idiot.  I thought I could just take Lily anywhere for a flu shot and she could get one and be done.  Reality, that is not the case.  Most places the kid has to be at least 16 or even 19.  I did find one that was 10 and one that was 4.  But the problem is, Lily is not any of those ages.  So I was stuck.  I had to call the clinic.  I had to take her in.  All this while I was trying to avoid having to pay the dang copay for a flu shot.  So I end up calling late.  After all the flu shot clinics are done at her normal Dr. Office.  And the only ones they have available are at another clinic here in town on Thursdays or in the next town over on Wednesdays.  Both days suck for me, as I have to take time off work, pull her out of daycare and pay the dang co-pay for the visit.  Now, normally I would have just probably skipped it as I don't think the flu shot is the be all and end all in medical importance, BUT we will have a newborn, who can't be vaccinated in prime flu season.  So I suck it up since I suppose it was mostly my fault for waiting so long and schedule her an appt at the clinic here in town.  For 9:15 this morning.  So I debated long and hard my options, as I start work at 7 and so 9:15 isn't the most convenient time for me.  I ultimately decided to just stay home and take her and then come to work after.

Fast Forward to this morning.  Miss Lily was super excited to go to the Dr. Yes, I think she is the only kid ever that LIKES going to the Dr.   We left the house at 9 because the clinic is close to the house and I new the general area it was located.  So I didn't think much of it.  Until I drive out there and I can't find a building marked as the clinic ANYWHERE.  After turning around and making several loops I ultimately decided to stop at the Business office (that I drove past several times) and asked them where the clinic was.  She takes me to the back door, points to a building a couple blocks away and says "See that green building over there? that's it."  Now this wouldn't have been a big deal had I planned ahead and actually gave myself some time.  But nope, at this point it was at least 10 after 9 or so and I'm holding Lily, 8 months pregnant and I have to make a choice.  The choice to either walk/run to the clinic to make it there on time, or to walk/run around the building and get back in the car and drive over, get out and hope I can make it in time.  Well I figured it would be quicker to just walk/run over.  So I'm carrying Lily, Running across these parking lots trying to make it there on time.  Then my brain starts swimming with thoughts about how I'm going to miss this appointment and have to reschedule and take MORE time off work and miss MORE daycare (that I have to pay for anyway)  And then the tears come.  Yes, I'm running across parking lots carrying my 28 pound little girl, crying.  Then miss Lily hugged me and told me this: "Calm down mommy, I'll wipe your tears for you"  Which of course made me cry harder because it was so unbelievably sweet.  So we finally make it to the clinic.  Now to find the door.  I put lily down and asked her to be a big girl and run with me so I can catch my breath a bit before we go in so I don't look like a crazed lunatic going into the clinic.

We get there at 9:17.  I was nervous.  I mean you all know how Dr.'s offices are.  They can make you wait for 45 minutes after your appt time but heaven forbid you are a few minutes late.  But thankfully they were understanding and she told me people get lost back there all the time.  Which actually made me feel a lot better.  So we get our form and go wait.  (we ended up waiting 5-10 minutes yet anyway)  Lily was happy though cause she got to watch the fish swim around in the fish tank.  We get called back to the room and she was happy.  Remember my kid loves the Dr. office.  Until we have to take her pants off so they can give her the shot in her leg.  She cried.  A Lot.  Poor thing.  But she was rewarded with a scratch n sniff Strawberry shortcake sticker.  She was happy, wanted to go and look at the fish again.  OK.  Fine, we made it, hopefully things will calm down now right?  WRONG.  She started crying when an elderly man in a wheel chair said hi to her.  I don't know what her deal was, but I figured we wouldn't subject all the poor people in the waiting room to her crying so we left.

I knew we had a walk back to the car but Lily usually wants to walk and the weather wasn't too bad so I assumed this would be a piece of cake.  Boy was I wrong.  She screamed to be carried.  Then screamed when I asked her to walk, So I carried her.  She cried anyway.  THE WHOLE WAY BACK TO THE CAR.  And she was carrying a paper and pen and it was windy so at one point the paper went flying out of her hands and I was left to run after it to make her just be quiet for 2 minutes.  I tried bribing her with Halloween candy I put in my purse as her reward for being good at the Dr.  That did not work, In fact I think it angered her more that I bribed her and she cried harder.  FINALLY we made it to the car and she stopped crying....which is where I started.  I was physically in a lot of pain (remember, 8 months pregnant) and tired and disappointed in myself for not planning ahead better.

So long story short....I've never been so happy to get to work than I was today.

Just Like Dora Does

Oh Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that saying through the course of a day.  I sure would have a lot of nickels.

The other day I asked Lily if Dora jumped off a cliff if she would want to do that too.  Her response was not what I was expecting when she excitedly ran over to get one of her little Dora dolls and asked me if we should throw her off a cliff.  Can I? Can I? Can We?  Sigh.  And of course my kid doesn't forget so she brings this up frequently to me now.

And yesterday I told her when I picked her up from daycare. "We are going to go and vote and then you can have mommy's sticker"  and as we were getting out of the car at the polling place she told me this: "We are going to go and get a yellow boat, just like Dora does."

Where did I go wrong?

35 Weeks.

My thoughts on the whole thing?  Get her the hell out.  I really can't believe how similar my pregnancies have started out and yet how different they seem to have turned here towards the end.  With Lily the end was my favorite.  I wasn't terribly uncomfortable. I didn't experience a lot of pain and mostly I just enjoyed feeling her move, after a rough start to the pregnancy I was just enjoying not feeling sick all the time and the fun of decorating her room and getting ready for her arrival.  With this one though, I am SO sore.  Sore in areas I didn't know could be sore.  I can't sleep right.  It is painful and uncomfortable to walk or even really move my legs a whole lot.  I really just want to be done.

2 weeks until I am FULL term.  And I am hoping by sheer willpower that she will be born before her due date.  That would be so wonderful.