Cream of Potato Soup

Tonight, both boys are in bed already and it's only a little after eight. It's Evan's regular bedtime, but I think Mike was feeling a little headachy and so he's taking it easy too. This has to be the first night in months that I'm the last one to bed. Not to say that I won't be there momentarily, but for now I'm still awake.

Today Evan had a crappy day. He was a stinker at speech, wouldn't cooperate when I had to run errands, and was just generally difficult. His behavior has been pretty good lately, so I was a little surprised. I hope he's not coming down with something again. Look at me, I remembered something. Maybe I am learning a little after all. Either way I'm hoping tomorrow is better. He's got school and that always seems to make him happy. Next week he starts taking the bus to school, and boy will that make me happy!

I think we've settled the name thing. We asked Evan's opinion, and he's got it narrowed down to "Ohno" or "Poopypants". I think Ohno is more likely, as it's easier for him to say.

I guess that's it for now. There's a new "How I Met Your Mother" on tonight--I think I'll catch that, have a snack, and head for bed.

Posted by jenny at 8:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I've been meaning to write all week about the names. Thanks to everyone for their opinions and suggestions. We've reworked the list a little bit, with some different information, so I thought I'd just post it for your enjoyment.

Adam (#64)
Alan
Andrew (#10)
Ben (#97)
Brendan (#84)
Colin (#68)
Jack (#8)
Jonas
Simon

The numbers following the names are their position in the top 100 baby names for 2005. For comparision, Evan was #62 in 2002, and #24 in 2005. Yikes. You may also notice that Declan and James are off the list. Declan is one of those names that I love in theory, but it just wasn't going to work for us, and I think James would be better as a middle name. During the week, Mike added Colin and Brendan, and I added Jonas, lest we think we're narrowing things down at all.

Let me do my little rant about name origins. Jonas was on my list before, but I took it off because it's a form of the name John. Evan is also a form of the name John. So I figured we shouldn't use a two names that are technically the same name--though George Foreman got away with it, I thought we should pick something else. I have the same objection to the name Jack (also from John), but Mike really seems to like it so it has stayed on the list. I know I'm being picky, and Mike thinks this is a stupid reason for eliminating a name. He says not many people would know they're both John, and I should just get over it. And I'm trying, I really am.

As for the popularity thing, I'm not sure how much it should play into our decision making. I think Lora pointed out that Michael and Jennifer were the #1 most popular names for most of the 70's and 80's, and Mike and I are none the worse for wear. But I will tell you it was annoying always being one of 8 Jennifers in every classroom--that's why I still insist on being called Jenny. And it continues today. My last two OB visits I've been one of four Jennifers in the waiting room at the same time, and we all stand up when our name is called. Totally irritating.

So we're still struggling with the name thing. My hope is that we can get it down to maybe three or four good names and pick the right one when he arrives. Either that or he loses his penis somewhere along the line and we can use one of the girl names we fell in love with and both agree on. I really didn't think this was going to be so hard!

Posted by jenny at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I can't stop eating. Honestly, I can't. I'm so hungry. I'm drinking all my water like a good little girl, but that hasn't stopped me from the pb & j's, the chex mix, the big bowls of cereal, and the milk and graham crackers. If I keep eating like this, I am going to explode.

Mike changed the page a little yesterday. He put a new link up next to Ev's wishlist--one for baby's registry. It's funny, I thought I wouldn't need all that much because this is our second baby, but I was wrong. Because it's been 4+ years between kids, I've given some stuff away, and realized lots of other stuff has been used until it's falling apart (like our stroller). We do have tons of clothes--thank God I kept those! So we did register for a lot of things. Most are things we need, but some are just fun (like the stroller that has an iPod dock and speakers in the handle). It's awfully hard to exercise restraint when there's all that cool baby stuff in front of you!

We're also in the market for a new car seat for Ev. He's almost outgrown his convertable seat, so we're looking for a good high back booster. I'm a little worried about this though, as I'm picky and neurotic when it comes to car safety. I want a safe seat (with the LATCH system) that has a lot of cushioning and that won't allow him to unbuckle the belt. I have a feeling this will be a tall order, but I want to pick the right seat since he'll probably be in it until he's 7 or 8 years old! If anyone with older kids has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Well, Ev wants the computer, so I'm off to do laundry. I love lazy Fridays!

Posted by jenny at 10:13 AM | Permalink

My meeting with Evan's speech therapists went well yesterday. We didn't do anything earth shattering, just talked about his progress and what we'll be working on next. Ev's in a funny place right now--his speech (pronunciation) is about at a 2 year old level, but his language skills (sentence structure, vocabulary, etc.) are much higher than that, so it's hard to pinpoint where he is developmentally. As long as he continues to make progress, it doesn't really matter, but I always like to have an idea of where we are and where we're going.

At therapy, they're going to be starting the hard work now--apraxia drills and concentrating on training Ev's brain to make sounds properly. At home, we're just supposed to keep encouraging speech and gently correcting when needed. For example, if Ev says, "More apple juice in pup!" we're supposed to say back to him, "okay, more juice in your CUP", stressing the hard "c" sound but not making him sit there and repeat the word until he says it right. He already knows he's saying it differently than we do, and there's no use in frustrating him over it. We'll just keep modeling the proper speech and eventually he'll get there.

My doctor's appointment went well also. I've really started gaining weight now, so look out! Only 9 pounds total for the pregnancy, but 6 of those were this month. I'm not going to stress about it though--I'm going to get as fat as I get and I'll worry about getting un-fat later. My blood pressure and protein are still fine, and I've been advised not to take my BP at home anymore. Dr. S correctly assumed that I would drive myself nuts with that if the reading was off, so I will just leave that go for now.

I've been given the choice between having a vaginal delivery this time or a repeat c-section. It's up to me, and I will really have to give it some thought. My c-section was really easy, and my recovery was too, but this time I'll have a four year old at home. So I'm going to have to think about this one. I don't handle pain well, and I don't like things that can't be planned, so you'd think the repeat c would be the way to go. But honestly, I have to give it some thought and research and see what works best for us. Of course, I was also told that if I get sick again, I will not have a choice, so this might not even end up being an issue. We'll just have to wait and see.

Posted by jenny at 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My weekend away was fun and far too short. It's always nice to take a little girl time, especially now when I know that time will be limited over the next year or so. Unfortunately I returned home to a plumbing problem, but that's been taken care of as well and it's back to life as usual.

I'm having such cravings today it's terrible. I am so hungry, and I would about kill for some pasta salad. I seriously will need to go to the store tonight and get the stuff to make it. I'm also dying for pizza, or a great big sub from Valerio's. I need to stop thinking about it. But the mushrooms! And the olives! I must have them!

I've been pretty tired the last few days too, even with early bedtimes and sleeping for 10 hours. I'm going to ask the doctor about it at my appointment tomorrow. I have a list of things to ask him about--back pain and delivery options and travel and tons of other stuff. He's going to see me whip out my little notebook and run the other way. But I like Dr. S a lot (he's the one who delivered Ev) and I trust him to give me straight answers, so I'm actually looking forward to talking with him.

Speaking of Ev, he's doing fine. His gift from my shopping trip was a new pair of jammies, and he was thrilled with them. He took them out of the bag, exclaimed about how nice they were, and proceeded to strip down so he could put them on. I like knowing how to make him happy, that kid. I have a meeting with his two SLP's tomorrow morning, so maybe I'll have more technical stuff to report after that. Until then, we're just doing our thing. Wheel of Fortune, jammies, basketball and hockey.

Posted by jenny at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Since I'll be away this weekend and Mike and Evan will be busy, I thought I'd finally share our baby name list with everyone. Feel free to discuss, comment, and offer suggestions, as we are by no means settled on anything yet. Now, some of these are Mike's picks, some are mine, and if they have any significance I'll share that too. Thanks in advance for any input--we'll take whatever help we can get.

Adam (was at the top of our list last time too, but we don't seem to like it as well this time around)
Alan (my youngest brother's middle name, also the name of a close friend of ours)
Andrew (Mike's grandfather and godfather share this name, as well as a cousin of his, but none have our last name)
Ben (yes, like Big Ben. but we like just Ben, not Benjamin--not sure if that's an issue)
Declan (our good friend Tessa's husband, not sure if people would have pronunciation problems with this one. also, we're not Irish)
Jack (for Jack Bauer from 24, I will not comment further)
James (Mike has an uncle of the same name, might cause confusion. not sure if Jim or Jamie would be a nickname)
Simon (no special ties to this one, but it made the list)

So there you have it. Please feel free to be honest, and share any suggestions you might have (for middle names too). We could really use the assistance--thank you, Interweb.

Posted by jenny at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Suddenly, I'm feeling very pregnant. My belly has started getting in the way, and I can't see certain parts of me anymore. My hips are killing me, and so is my lower back. And I begin to wonder if I'll ever stop peeing. I'm going to try not to complain too much about it though, because I'm really making an effort to enjoy this pregnancy. But I do have a blog, so let me take a moment to bellyache.

Last night I was so excited to go to my swim class because that's the only place I feel normal anymore. No achy joints, no heavy belly when I'm in the water. It was wonderful, but within 5 minutes of getting out of the pool I was waddling again. The pain isn't bad enough to limit my activity, but it is getting annoying. The kicker is that I haven't even gained that much weight yet--I'd say maybe six or seven pounds for the whole pregnancy. But somehow it's all migrated to the front, and it's making my back very angry.

Even though I'm feeling well, I told Mike that I'm probably going to spend the next few months waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I was pregnant with Ev, preeclampsia started to come on at about 26 or 27 weeks, and it worsened to "emergency status" very suddenly. I'm always on guard now--checking my blood pressure, looking at my face and hands for signs of swelling. And while it's good to be vigilant, it's also kind of weird. The whole thing took me by surprise last time, and this time I think I'll know it's coming if it does. And I wouldn't be the least bit shocked. What's going to shock me more is if May comes and I'm still pregnant.

Maybe this isn't the best attitude, but I'm feeling pretty calm about it. I know that was Mike's biggest fear about having another child--my inevitable freakout if my health began to decline. I feel better knowing what I'm up against though. When I try to talk about it, so many people say, "well, that won't happen this time," and I know they're trying to convince me that all will be well, that last time was just a fluke. And while that's great, I almost feel better thinking that it is going to happen again. That way I can prepare myself, I can be ready for what's ahead. I know that I've done everything in my power to prevent it, but if it comes anyway then that's how it has to be.

Posted by jenny at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We returned last night from a weekend away visiting Mike's folks. It seems more and more though that when we just drop in for a visit, Evan spends time with his grandparents while Mike and I run off for a quiet lunch or a movie. It's great for us to get time alone, and Evan always has a ball, so I guess it works out for the best. This time around we made our baby registry (we may have gone a little wild with the scanner), had a nice lunch out, and did some other shopping. I think we all really enjoyed the time away.

Evan is talking so much it's frightening, and his pronunciation is steadily improving as well. He did his "apraxia cards" with Shelley at therapy today, and scored between 50-80% on each exercise, so that's awesome. It's wonderful to see him making measurable progress now. I'm actually trying to schedule a meeting with Shelley and Emily (Ev's two SLP's) sometime soon so that we can sit down and talk about Ev's progress and what we should be doing at home. He's improving so quickly and I want to make sure we're helping him as much as we can too.

Baby is doing fine, from what I can see. He must be getting taller now, because I'm feeling movement up at the top of my belly and near the bottom at the same time. I'm suddenly feeling much larger too, so I guess I'm just trying to accommodate his flailing arms and legs. I'll be 23 weeks tomorrow, so I have between 7 and 17 weeks left, depending on your count. I'm still feeling well (aside from some back and hip pain), and trying not to panic too much, so that's good. I really think the excercise has helped this time around, but I'm still checking my blood pressure regularly just in case.

It's 110/74 today, for those of you keeping score at home.

Posted by jenny at 3:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In the last few months, Evan has started to realize what money is. He knows coins go in his piggy bank, and when he got a $20 in one of his birthday cards, he ran around with it yelling, "money money money!". He also knows what the ATM is for, and how to use the card, so we are in big trouble if he ever finds out our PIN number.

Speaking of money, we got a statement from our health insurance company in the mail today. We get one every two weeks or so, and they detail each submitted charge. This one had my recent sonograms on it, and all of Ev's therapy visits for the last month. My two sonograms cost almost $2000, and all the bloodwork and labs I had done the week before tacked on another $400. But that didn't surprise me--I know prenatal care isn't cheap. It was Evan's therapies that were the killer.

You might want to sit down for this one: a half hour of speech therapy is billed at $138, and a half hour of OT is billed at $126. So if we were paying out of pocket, Evan's weekly therapy bill would be $402, or about $1600 a month. $1600 for 6 hours of therapy. Um, yeah. Thank God for good insurance, that's all I have to say. I can't imagine what we'd do without it.

Posted by jenny at 2:40 PM | Permalink

I baked chocolate chip cookies this week and Evan helped--he loves the mixer. I made them partly as penance for my bitchiness, and partly because they're just a tasty treat. I have to say they've been a very good bedtime snack with a glass of milk.

It's Girl Scout cookie time, and I've yet to see any Girl Scouts around. I want some Thin Mints and Tagalongs, dammit. If I were a Girl Scout now, I'd set up a booth outside my OB's office. There's good traffic, and over half the people there are always starving and looking for chocolate. You could make a killing.

It's still snowing here, for something like the sixth straight day. I know we had it really good in January and I shouldn't complain, but I'm sick of it already. Evan and I have cabin fever, and waddling around in the snowy yard just isn't helping. If it doesn't let up soon, I cannot be held responsible for whatever destruction occurs inside my home.

Nothing else of note is going on here. Evan is fine, I'm still pregnant, and that's about all there is to it. These last few weeks of winter always really drag, and my current state of mind isn't helping matters any. I think those bears have the right idea--what we all need is a long winter's nap. And some more cookies.

Posted by jenny at 12:33 PM | Permalink

Evan's almost back to normal, though he does have a bit of a lingering cough. Nothing too worrisome, as he's sleeping and eating and playing well, so I'll say that we've recovered. Now let's just hope that I don't pick it up, because I'm sure I'll be miserable and whiny and generally unbearable if I do.

Speaking of being generally unbearable, I think I am. I feel badly for Mike, because as this pregnancy progresses, I become more moody and anxious and I know he bears the brunt of that. And it's not as simple as saying to myself, "hey, stop being a total bitch". I'd really like to, but it's almost like I have no control over it. I recognize that I'm being horrible and irrational, but I'm powerless to stop it. That sounds like such a copout, but that's exactly how it feels.

I was trying to describe this bitchiness to Cara on the phone the other day. She and I are planning a "girls retreat" with Beth for next weekend, and I was trying to explain my state of mind. I told her that I could turn into a raving lunatic within moments, and that she should be aware. The best defense against this is to feed me, preferrably every two hours. She sounded unconvinced, but I told her that I would pack snacks just in case. Luckily, Mike has the good sense to keep me fed (he learned the hard way), and that has kept the worst of the crazies away.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go toast a bagel.

Posted by jenny at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

What a game last night! We're so excited that the Steelers won, though it was pretty tense up until the final moments. Mike talks about the game and his feelings yesterday, and he summed it up perfectly. He was nervous all day (so much he would barely talk) and Evan was wound up like a top. I fell somewhere in between, so it was an interesting evening for us and our guests. It's great to be a Steelers fan today though--since we were about Ev's age the last time they won a Super Bowl, this is just fantastic.

Aside from the big game, Evan has been sick on and off since Thursday. Still just a runny nose and cough, but enough to keep us at home and resting. He won't take anything for it (somehow he can tell when I spike his juice without even tasting it), so he's been sleeping poorly and that's not helping any of us. We're all overtired and ready for Ev to get back to himself.

We got quite a bit of snow overnight, and I think we're just going to take it easy today. I cancelled Ev's speech therapy for this morning because he's still coughing a lot, so we have nowhere to go. Maybe if we rest up and relax today, Ev will be ready to return to school tomorrow.

Posted by jenny at 10:03 AM | Permalink

I never understood this whole Punxsutawney Phil thing. He saw his shadow this morning, six more weeks of winter. Big deal. When have we ever known winter to end sooner than mid-March around here? (I suppose Brian could answer that better than me). We all know we get a huge blizzard for St. Patrick's Day, and half the time it's snowing on Easter. So why get our panties in a twist over 6 more weeks? Now, if the groundhog said 12 more weeks, I'd have to get pissy.

I've been shortsighted this week, and my lack of patience has gotten me into trouble. My last post complained about Evan's horrible behavior, and how irritated I was. It turns out he probably wasn't feeling well that day, because by that evening he had developed a runny nose and a cough. Nothing serious, but I'm sure it's what made him so cranky.

And then I feel badly--I know how much I need a little sympathy when I'm not feeling well, and I didn't give Evan the same. His communication skills are still not the best, and if he can't tell me he's sick and I can't guess, we fall into this pattern of him getting out of hand and me getting angry. I need to remember this, because it's one of my greatest faults as a wife and mother. I have to give everyone else the same consideration they give me, and I need to keep working on being patient. It's hard when there's someone screaming on the floor at your feet though, I will say that.

We're gearing up for the Super Bowl this weekend, and it's pretty exciting. Evan has been really into football this year, and he's already got his Steelers shirt set out to wear Sunday. I've got mine too, even though it is a little tight in places! And the Terrible Towel is ready too--Ev can even say "terrible towel", which is almost as impressive as the Steelers playoff run. Almost.

Posted by jenny at 9:48 AM | Permalink