Ah, 32...

This week I celebrated a birthday. Sigh.

While I am not unhappy about aging, my birthday just reminds me that time is moving along at a rather fast clip. This week not only marks my 32nd birthday, but also my son's first month of life and my maternity leave rapidly coming to a close.

Sigh.

On Sunday, my friends Janet and Amanda came over with cake, wine, and their girls. Justin and Eliot were certainly outnumbered. Eliot did not seem to notice. Justin read a book. :)

Monday I had more visitors, this time my friends Stephanie and Renee from my old district in Milpitas. They also brought cake (I have good friends), but this time it was ice cream. I cannot remember the last time I had ice cream cake. So dang good.

We chatted about work stuff, I showed off Eliot, and we had lunch. It was really nice getting to hang out with them. I haven't seen either of them since Stephanie was pregnant with her second child, who is going to turn two this year. Yeah, it's been a while.

Tuesday was my actual birthday, and I was up early with Eliot to begin celebrating it. We rang in my new year by breastfeeding and watching Angel. :) Later that day, I was fortunate enough to continue my birthday celebrations with a doctor's visit. I took Em to daycare, and Eliot and I braved my first exam post labor. Fun. Luckily, I had El to distract me.

That evening, Justin brought home Chinese food and chocolate cake. He and Emerson gave me perfume and the Rats of Nimh for my birthday, so we ate dinner and watched the movie. It was a very relaxing birthday, which is about all I can handle at this point.

Wednesday and Thursday were both pretty relaxed. I mostly hung out with Eliot, folded laundry, and napped. I am really going to miss maternity leave. :(

On Friday, Justin's parents came by. They watched the kids in the evening so Justin and I could go out for dinner. I chose sushi, which I consider an adult meal. However, the restaurant was FULL of families. Oh, well. We had a nice time.

We don't have any big plans for this weekend (I'm not sure if we are capable of big plans at this point to be honest.) I'm just looking forward to hanging out and enjoying the nice weather. It's supposed to rain soon...just in time for Easter.

I enjoyed my birthday this week, but I am ready to get focused again on getting healthy. I didn't lose any weight this week. Not a big surprise given all the cake. :) But I did exercise three times to a Jillian Michals DVD. The first day it was rough, but I felt much stronger on day two; day three was rough again. Hopefully, I am able to do it again today. We shall see...

Week Four

This upcoming week, Eliot turns a month old. I know this is cliche to say, but I really can't believe how quickly it is going. I have had so much fun spending time with him and incorporating him into our family.

Last Sunday, the four of us headed to the grocery store. Eliot marked the occasion by napping. No big surprise there. :)

This last week was very pleasant, as I had no work to do. I really just got to focus on my family, and it was lovely.

Monday was Eliot's doctor's appointment. He has the same pediatrician as Emerson, who for the most part I like. Right after Eliot was born, the doctors said that he should be back up to his birth weight by the first appointment. Well, he weighed in at 7 pounds, 4 oz, so he is doing well. He is still a little guy when compared to his peers, as he is in the 10th percentile for weight. Justin and I make little babies. No complaints here.

Tuesday I dropped Em off at daycare, and took Eliot on my first solo shopping trip. Again, he did great. We relaxed at home, and I actually cooked dinner. I haven't cooked much this year, so I can't say my stir fry was perfect but at least the effort was there.

Wednesday I got a late start. It was pretty much a mad dash trying to get three of us ready to drop Em off at school. Luckily, I was able to head home and recover with a nap. Rough times. :)

On Thursday I kept Em home, so that we could meet friends for coffee in Sacramento. It was nice to get out and show off my little guy. After coffee we headed to a friend's house, so our girls could play. All went well until we had to leave. Then Emerson threw a massive fit. Massive fit. I was not happy, and she lost her ability to watch Barbie movies this weekend.

When we got back, I took advantage of a sudden desire to clean (these do not come often so it is best to jump on it.) I cleared out my dresser and closet of all maternity clothes and old stuff. I typically do this clearing out in August, but we were so busy in August (and I was so tired and sick) that I never got around to it. My dresser has been a disaster ever since. So three garbage bags later, I can finally close my drawers and we now have enough hangers.

Part of my motivation for cleaning out my dresser was my need to get some clothes. My maternity clothes are too big, but I am not ready for my pre-pregnancy stuff yet. However, I did not want to add more crap to my overtaxed drawers, so I made myself organize before I was allowed to go shopping.

On Friday, Eliot and I headed to Old Navy. I was not thrilled to buy size 12 jeans, but I know that it is temporary. It was nice, though, to buy pants that zip. :)

Later that day, and after a mad house cleaning effort, my dad and his girlfriend came over. Lys had not met Eliot yet, so it was nice to finally introduce them. They got us dinner, and we hung out for a couple hours. I will never tire of showing off Eliot. :)

Justin and I went to bed literally a half hour after our guests left. I was so tired that I fell asleep before I even put my head down on the pillow. I was so happy to get a nice chunk of sleep before Eliot woke up at two. We ended up needing it, as we headed to the Bay Area for my grandmother's birthday party. The trip went well, we got to see family, and we returned home pretty easily.

However, Eliot decided that he was in a funky mood, so he was up every three hours last night. I have been really lucky with him, and he normally gives me a good five hour chunk of sleep at night. Last night, not so much. He was up at 1. Then 4. Then 7. Owie. Now he is asleep. Of course. :)

Today some friends are coming over for a visit, which will be nice. That's about all I have planned. Maybe a nap. Big plans. :)

I only have two weeks left of leave, which I am trying not to think about too much. Luckily, I only have three weeks of school after I go back. I'm sure it will all work out, but I am not looking forward to getting two kids to daycare and trying to make it to work by 7:15 every day. Luckily, Justin's mom will be staying with us for my first week back. Thank gawd for that.

On the baby weight front, I have also begun focusing on getting back to a healthy weight. I have 30 pounds to lose, so I have begun tracking my diet. I hope to begin exercising soon; hopefully that helps speed my weight loss along. So far I have lost two pounds. At that rate, I'll lose my baby weight by the time Eliot starts kindergarten. :)

Well, off to take a hurried shower before little guy wakes up.

The first (almost) three weeks

I cannot believe that this Tuesday, my little guy will be three weeks old. It has been an interesting time so far.

Week 1

Eliot was born on a Tuesday morning, and we spent a relatively short time in the hospital. After the delivery, Eliot, Justin, and I got transferred to our teeny, yet private (thank goodness) room. Since it was 5 am, Justin fell asleep immediately. I was not able to, as I could not take my eyes off my new little boy, who fell asleep sucking his fingers.

A couple hours later, Justin headed home to be with Emerson and bring her to the hospital. My sister and mom came by the hospital and their arrival began the family visits. All in all, Justin's parents, my dad, my sister, my mom, my grandmother, my cousin Beth, and our friend Jennifer came by. Most of them brought some sort of sweet thing for me to eat--highly appreciated. :)

Wednesday we got the go ahead to go home. Eliot passed all his tests, and he appeared to be healthy enough to go home. We weren't quite breastfeeding champs yet, but we had a good start.

So Wednesday evening was our first night home. It was good to be home. I felt completely zonked, but it was great to have family to keep Emerson entertained. Eliot and I persevered with the breast feeding, but it became apparent to me by Thursday that things were not as good as they could be. My milk had not come in yet and his cry was really hoarse. Plus, he had virtually no wet diapers.

Friday was our first medical check, and I was not surprised when we found out he had lost too much weight. I was pretty upset, but not surprised. They gave us a bunch of formula and a pumping plan (oh, how I didn't miss that). When we came back on Saturday, Eliot had gained five ounces (the doctor had said she would like him to gain an ounce...an ounce kid! You overachiever.) The new doctor on Saturday noticed that Eliot's tongue may have been causing the issue because the the ligament connecting the tongue to his mouth, so she referred us to a specialist.

Over the weekend my sister and her family came up. It was great to see her and her little boy, Owen. We just hung out and chatted most of the weekend. The weather was terrible, so there wasn't much else to do.

On Monday, we took El to the specialist, who sniped his frenulum. This was highly unpleasant for mommy. It also opened my eyes to what it will be like having a son. After performing the procedure, the doctor joked, "I have just made his future girl friends very happy." Ew. No one says dirty crap like that when you have a girl.

Week 2

Justin returned to work on Tuesday, and my mom stayed in town for the week to help out. She tends to be a night owl, which was wonderfully convenient. I have found that I start to get really tired 11 or so, which just happens to be when Eliot gets gassy and has a hard time falling asleep. Every other feeding the little guy follows the "plan" perfectly: eats, gets a diaper change, hangs out for 15 minutes or so looking at his hands, and falls asleep on his own. The feeding between 9 and 11 is a different story. Luckily, my mom was on hand to watch him so that I could get to sleep for a couple hours. For the next two feedings I would feel fine, and for the most part, he would go to sleep okay.

The rest of the week went quickly. Emerson went to pre-school and hung out with my mom most of the week. I started to get the hang of things, and I was feeling good about being on my own, when I got slammed by a terrible sore throat.

By Saturday, my sore throat was accompanied by pink eye.

Seriously. Effing pink eye.

I got a prescription and hoped to see some relief quickly. I was not so lucky.

Week 3

This past week was pretty intense. First, I paid for my procrastination in terms of not writing my evaluations. I basically wrote all week to get them done in time. (I still have one to go, but I should be able to make short work of it.)

Second, my eye infection turned out to be super stubborn. My throat killed me all week and I lost my voice. This was fine when I was at home with Eliot during the day, but not so great when Justin and Em came home.

About Wednesday, I called uncle and asked Justin for help at night. It was (and still is) my intention to do the nighttime duties on my own during my leave. Justin works really hard, he has a terrible commute to Stockton at a terrible time, and he does most of the cooking and cleaning. I think it's only fair that I take care of the nighttime stuff, which I am totally willing to do.

However, the cold and pink eye proved too much and I needed a little help from him. So Justin stayed up with Eliot until he would fall asleep at 11 or 12. Then Justin would pull his tired butt out of bed at 5 to go to work. Luckily, he only did it two nights, but it took a toll on him.

On Friday, Eliot and I had a big day. I wore something other than my yoga pants, we took Em to pre-school, and we headed to my work to turn in the evals. And do a little baby showing off. Immediately after, we headed to my doctor's appointment to deal with my stupid eyes. Later in the afternoon, my friend Janet and her daughter came over and we hung out for a bit.

I was all set for a fun weekend with friends and family visiting when I looked down and saw Eliot's eye was all gunky (technical term I know.) I cancelled the visits and called the doctor. We got a prescription and so far his eye seems to be responding, as has mine to my new medication.

Today we all slept in a little bit (our little angel boy fell asleep after his 8 am feeding, so I followed suit.) Em and I had a mommy-daughter trip to lunch and Target, and Justin and Eliot rested at home.

Tomorrow also looks to be pretty quiet. I need to finish that last evaluation and tackle the ridiculous pile of laundry hiding in Eliot's room. Monday we have his doctor's appointment, and I'll be interested to see how much weight he has gained.

So far our little family of four is doing well. I do wish we were healthier, but Eliot is fitting in quite nicely. :)

Hello Mr. Eliot!

On March 15th, our long wait for our son finally came to an end. Our son's birth marked the conclusion of an often-challenging, never boring, pregnancy.

About four weeks before my due date, Justin, Emerson, and I headed to Roseville for the final time for a doctor's appointment. Once there, I found out what I had thought might be happening--I had begun to dilate. The doctor decided it was prudent to begin my leave earlier than expected.

That weekend I was very excited to attend my shower, especially since I did not have a shower before Emerson was born. My mom and sister did a great job with everything. The theme was super cute--monkeys and jungle animals, and the games were actually fun. (Sometimes baby shower games can DRAG, but my sister's games were highly enjoyable.)

My final week at work was fast-paced and exhausting. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, but I did the best I could. It was especially challenging that week because Emerson got very sick. Luckily, Justin's mom watched her in Redding. While I felt terrible not being able to take care of her, I was able to accomplish more at work, and Justin and I were able to go out for our fifth wedding anniversary. Part of me thought that I would go into labor that evening, but despite hard contractions, I did not go into labor.

The next two weeks I stayed at home, resting and spending time with Emerson. I will admit that I got more than a little restless waiting for my son to be born. During the second week, I pretty much had contractions all day. They were never at regular intervals, but they were annoying as heck. Also, the diabetic diet and insulin had both become seriously tiresome. I just felt ready for it all to be done.

The last weekend before my induction date, March 17th, Justin developed a begin-labor plan. We ran all over town, and even attended a kid's birthday party. One would think that being at a party with 24 kids would send a lady into labor. Nope.

On Monday, Justin begun his spring break. I tried to reason with myself, but I felt really frustrated that I showed no signs of going into labor. I didn't want to give birth when Justin was just about to go to work. However, on Monday, I became suspicious that things had begun to change. I didn't want to get too excited, but I noticed at breakfast that my contractions were more painful than days previous. After we picked up Emerson from preschool, I noticed that they had not gone away. Plus, they were 15 minutes apart.

I spent the remainder of the day tracking my contractions. Slowly, ever so slowing, they began to become closer together. We are talking about a SLOW process here. They started 15 minutes apart, then 12, then 10...it was a long day. Around 5 pm, they became 7 minutes apart. I stuck there for awhile. At 7:30, they got even closer together, so we placed a call into Labor and Delivery and they suggested I come in.

However, when we got to Labor and Delivery (with a very unhappy Emerson), the doctor told me that I was still only 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. So we got sent home. I was immensely disappointed and embarrassed, especially since our family started heading our way. Justin called them and everyone except my mother headed back home.

Once home, I tried to relax with Justin and my mother on the couch. I ate my snack, took my insulin, and watched Criminal Minds...a pretty typical evening. Then I got hit with two LARGE contractions. At about 11:30, I felt a distinct "pop" and felt a gush of water (this is a very strange sensation, by the way.) We waited a bit, but my contractions soon became unbearable.

Justin and I drove, once again, to the hospital. This time it was very clear that I was in labor, as talking and walking became nearly impossible. When we got into Labor and Delivery, a nurse checked us in. I just remember being super annoyed with all the stupid questions they have to ask: what's your phone number, medical record number, address...etc. It's highly frustrating to have to remember numbers while your body is threatening to split into two.

The nurse and doctor determined that I was clearly in labor and I was brought into a delivery room. Once in the room, I was examined and the midwife told me that I four cm dilated. My nurse administered some pain medication, which I was hugely grateful for. They asked if I wanted an epidural. It was not necessary for me to respond, and they put the order in.

Within an hour, I was 8 cm dilated. It became very clear that the epidural was not likely. When I was told this, I believe I cried. I'm a little ashamed to admit that, but the idea of giving birth and feeling ALL of it sounded highly unpleasant. However, I ended up having no choice. My transition labor (aka HELL) last less than 30 minutes, and I was pushing.

I would love to say that I was the woman who pushed twice and voila, baby. That unfortunately did not happen. I would like to say that I got quiet and focused and just pushed my kid out. Um, nope. I may have complained and whined a bit. I may have told my medical team that I couldn't do it and I may have cried.

My strongest memory is being told to hold my legs as I pushed. For some reason, that annoyed the CRAP out of me. It really hurt. I fought the urge to yell and scream, and I was helped by my nurses and midwife and Justin, who reminded me to breathe and not yell. After about 10 pushes (I lost count), I finally felt the burning which indicated that he was starting to crown. I experienced a moment of fear at the pain I was about to experience. However, it turned out that the contractions hurt so much worse than pushing the baby out the rest of the way.

During my final push, I actually pushed when I wasn't contracting. I was so ready to be done. I do remember telling him to "get out!" (Hey, at least I didn't swear.) One comical moment was when I said that I just wanted to see him. My nurse misinterpreted this as my wanting a mirror. Um, hell no. I made it clear that I did not want to see my son's entrance. Experiencing the pain was enough, thank you very much.

So I gave one more push, and my widwife instructed me to stop so she could help with the shoulders (ow), and then my son was born. He was placed immediately on my chest (after being wiped down, of course), and he stayed there for an hour. I turned to Justin at one point and told him that I would like him to include Jerome in Eliot's name (we had discussed this earlier and I had not committed to the idea. After giving birth, it seemed appropriate.)

Once he was born, Justin and I both were hit with a wave of exhaustion. I just remember holding him and shaking uncontrollably. Eventually, he was taken, weighed, measured, and given his first bath. Eliot Jakob Jerome Moeckli was born at 3:24 am on Tuesday, March 15th at 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 19 inches.

We spent the next day and a half at the hospital, and then headed home. We've spent the last almost two weeks getting to know our sweet little boy. So far he has been a very nice baby. He likes to snuggle and he sleeps pretty well. He does get a mean case of the hiccups a couple times a day, which is cute but sad for him.

I still marvel at the fact that Eliot is actually here. It is odd to no longer have him kicking inside me. I am super excited to finally have met him, and I feel so blessed that my pregnancy and labor went well. I am a lucky lady. :)

Three-day Weekends=Bliss

This one has been particularly nice.

First, the weather on Saturday and Sunday was gorgeous. We had the windows open; Justin barbecued. It was good stuff. Today it's raining, but I okay with that. I hope it stays that way this week, as middle schoolers plus too much sunshine equal not fun.

This weekend has been especially nice because it has been all about the three of us. We had no plans, no place to be, etc. Now, we weren't slackers. Getting the baby's room ready took up much of the weekend.

On Saturday, Justin cleaned out Emerson's room and rearranged her furniture to incorporate the desk. The desk also had to be cleaned out. All of this cleaning resulted in about five garbage bags worth of junk. Seriously, I don't know how three people produce so much crap.

I ordered a dresser online for Em, which makes me a little nervous. But we shall see when it arrives later this week. It came with good reviews, so I'm hopeful, but I've never ordered anything like this online so I am a little nervous.

On Sunday, Justin found the screws to the crib (whew!) and set that up. Amazingly, this took place with no audible swearing. (Justin swears he did under his breath, but I heard nothing, so I am good.) He also moved one dresser into the baby's room and attacked that bad boy with a sponge. I think it looks pretty good, but he still wants to paint it. Sigh.

While the room is still pretty bare (no decorations yet), I feel loads better about it. If our boy comes early, we will at least have things in place for him. This gives me comfort.

My shower is next weekend. My plan is to purchase decorations and related items next weekend, so that we can get those into place before our little guy is here. Luckily, that stuff is fun and relatively easy. Most of the stuff I like from Target is only online, but I may swing by Toys R Us. It's a little more expensive, but they had cute stuff too. We have chosen a jungle theme again, but this time we are going with darker colors--reds, browns, greens, blues. Luckily, there is a ton of jungle stuff to choose from. I am partial to elephants and monkeys. :)

Today is Valentine's Day, and our plans include making cookies with Em (pink of course) and hanging close to home. This will be my final holiday without sugar (thank goodness), and I am very happy that I have made it this far without going completely nuts. Right now I am battling some serious juice cravings, but at least I can see the light.

In addition to family time, I need to work on Advocacy lessons (the final for the year...whoo-hoo!). I also need to rest up so that I am focused this week. It is hugely important that I go to every one of my evaluatee's classrooms this week as soon as possible. I have done all their formal observations, but I need to get walk throughs done. If I am put on bed rest, I can easily write evaluations from home, but I need the data.

Well, I'm off to make a sugar (sigh) cookie dough. :)

35 Weeks!

According to some, I'm on my 35th week of pregnancy. There is still some disagreement about my due date, which really doesn't mean a whole lot. If I get to March 19th, which is my due date according to my numbers and my original doctor, they will induce me anyways because of my diabetes.

So I'm 34/35 weeks now, depending on who you ask, and I'm pretty excited (not too much because I am huge and tired.) At this point with Emerson, I was placed on bed rest. While I didn't exactly pass my stress test this Thursday with flying colors (the nurse got very quiet), I was not sent to labor and delivery. No bed rest for me and sea horse; at least, not yet.

I was feeling a little guilty last weekend because I overdid it on Saturday. First there was the birthday party, then I took Justin out for dinner. Dinner was lovely, and it was very nice to dress up and go out with Justin, just us grown-ups. That hasn't happened since the summer.

However, the night got long when we had to go pick up Em from her friend's. She was just too scared to sleep over at someone's house, and she needed to head back home. I knew it was a long shot to have her sleep at a friend's house at this age, but I thought we could at least try. Oh, well. We'll try again later.

So I started Sunday pretty tired, and then we headed to the store, which completely wiped me out. I had a ton of contractions all day, and I spent most of it in bed. I started to feel anxious about not being ready for the baby, so I sorted baby clothes to see what sizes I have and I updated my registry.

(By the way, the clothes are still on the floor of his room.) :)

Monday, however, I felt great and my non-stress test went really smoothly. Tuesday and Wednesday were both a blur, as we spent the week getting ready for my boss to leave on her vacation. I remember planning for February a couple months ago and thinking how far it seemed. It blows my mind that we are already here.

Thursday was a doozy. First, I got handed a project that needed to be cranked out quickly. Luckily, I enjoy working under the gun like that, but it kind of sent the rest of my day into a tail spin. Thursdays always feel crammed anyways because of my NST in the afternoon.

So by the time I got to my appointment, I knew my blood pressure was high and the contractions were pretty intense. This was the first time my nurse seemed to take them seriously. Luckily, my blood pressure went down after I relaxed a bit. However, the contractions kept coming. She seemed ready to send me to Labor and Delivery, but instead she sent me home with the directions to rest and pay attention to them.

Pay attention I did. I had about six an hour, but none took my breath away and eventually I had less. I never really stopped contracting all evening, but they slowed down to about four an hour. Amazingly, I slept through the night and I felt so much better on Friday.

Friday evening was a little rough, but I think I'm just getting used to (again) how uncomfortable the end of pregnancy is for me. Uncomfortable may be too harsh a word. It's just that I can't really get anything else done because of the contractions. They kind of take all my focus. With my first pregnancy, that was okay because it was the end of the school year, I had little work to do, and I did not have a four-year-old to take care of. Now, I feel immensely guilty that I can't devote the time I want to to my family and work. It's pretty frustrating.

This morning, around 4, I woke up contracting, which annoys me to no end. I get that at the end of a long work day, my body will respond to stress by contracting. But in the middle of the night. Um, no thank you.

Thankfully, I drank a glass of water, had my oh-so-cheerful husband rub my back, and I was able to go back to sleep.

I am hugely grateful that I have a three day weekend to spend with my family, getting the baby's room more ready, and working on projects for school. I really think having two back-to-back four-day work weeks will help me hang on at work until my boss gets back.

While I anxiously await the "big" day, I am simultaneously amazed how quickly this pregnancy has gone. I am so excited to meet my little boy and complete our family. I just have a couple things to do first. :)

Moving along

Slowly, yes, but we Moeckli's are moving closer to meeting our baby boy. I really just have one long (so long) check list in my head. I wish I was getting things done faster, and I basically live in a constant state of low-level anxiety because of all the work stuff I have to do. However, I feel myself entering that end-of-pregnancy numbness mindset. It's a nice place to be.

On the work front, it was a loooooong week. Monday took a lot out of me. My boss and I discussed my priorities for the rest of February and her expectations for my performance. I find it funny that the easiest, most straight forward part of my job--supervision--is the aspect that really wipes me out. We discussed how I would pull back on that part so that I can focus on what I really need to do, what only I can do--evaluations and Advocacy.

Monday I had a non-stress test. I was a little concerned because I had a lot of contractions during the day, but the test went fine. I headed to Target afterward, and it became very apparent that simple things like shopping on my own are just not simple anymore.

Tuesday and Wednesday went fine. I actually felt really good and my energy was relatively high. I spent a lot of time getting my second round of observations done. I have two more to do next week, and then I need to do walk-throughs once for each person. I'd like to start writing the evaluations up next week; luckily, they are much abbreviated than last time. I can't believe that I will actually finish up my second round of evaluations. I'm pretty sure I will cry when I do the last one. :)

Thursday was another quick day because of my NST test. It went quicker than the other two. These tests are beginning to feel rather routine and a little more than tiresome. I like getting confirmation that the boy is doing well, especially when I get to see an ultrasound, but I could really use the time to get work done. We're talking about missing out on two hours of crucial work time. It's a bit frustrating.

On Friday, my replacement administrator shadowed me for a day. I felt a little sheepish because I didn't have things completely prepared for him, but we had a good day. It was a little exhausting because for the first time this week I did my supervision to show Shack what my routine was and our procedures. It was a long day.

On the home front, we are celebrating Justin's birthday this weekend. Emerson and I went to target last night and got him a birthday present. She insisted on getting him a pillow pet, a dog to be exact. I'm not sure how thrilled he was about it, but she was very excited. To her, a pillow pet is the ultimate. :)

Last night, our brother-in-law Ben came from Redding and took Justin to see a movie. I went to bed--I'm dang exciting. Today I took Em to a birthday party, and tonight Justin and I are going out for dinner. To a restaurant. With cloth napkins. And no high chairs. And no children's menu. I hope he enjoys it. It may be awhile until we can do this again...a long while.

Emerson is sleeping over at a friend's house. I have my fingers crossed that everything goes well, and that she doesn't experience one of her delightful meltdowns (those have been happening at higher frequencies lately.) She seemed in good spirits when I left the party today. We shall see.

Tomorrow I will probably head into work. Sigh. I also would like to look at a dresser for Em, move the desk into her room, and get her dresser into the baby's room. The crib may have to wait because we have a screws situation. Meaning, we can't find the screws for the crib. So.Freaking.Annoying.

Next week will be the last before my principal goes on her vacation (anxiety level rising...), and it will be the last weekend before my family shower. I would like to get the room done next weekend, or at least looking somewhat like a baby room. :)

Again, we shall see. :)