Happy Last Day of the First Month of the New Year!

What did you do to celebrate?

I sat in a chair and enjoyed a chocolate covered marzipan from See's candy.

It was divine.

Otherwise most of the day was un-divine, as I spent it wondering when my child became such a brat.

Most of the time the Big O is a sweet little boy. A child who tells me almost hourly that he loves me, throws few tantrums, is nice to his friends and others, and overall is just a pleasant kid.

Today he returned from a short stay at his grandmother's and was rotten all day long. He had three friends over and spent most of that time in time-out, while the three other children played happily with his toys.

Theric and I are noticing that when the Big O returns from spending time with either set of grandparents he becomes noticeably more bratty. I suppose our parents are only doing what grandparents feel is their calling--spoiling the grandkids. Oh well. There's really not much I can do about that. Usually the extreme brattiness is gone by the next day, so I shouldn't worry too much I guess.

On a completeley different subject: The Thteed's Last Day of the First Month of the New Year letter is obviously running late. So, just so you all know, it will be very late in coming this year. We are working on it but running into some problems with our hardware. Please wait patiently; it will arrive soon.

Hide it!

Theric is hiding things from me.

Over the course of this week I have found a four items whose purchasing were never mentioned to me.

I'm not quite sure what to think about this. I'm not angry or displeased, just...flummoxed?

The items have not really been hidden--when Theric wants to hide something he can hide it. No, rather these items were put away in a place that is proper for them.

They do say that the best hiding place is one out in the open.

Perhaps he thought I would not notice them and just assume they had been there all along. I am not that type of person, I notice when something new enters my realm.

The one item that made me laugh out loud was a book. Theric is often bringing home books and quietly adding them to the bookshelf. Usually these books are from the free box at the library, so at least they don't cost us anything, though we are running out of room for books. Some boys bring home stray puppies, Theric brings home orphaned books.

Anyways, I found the newest book on the shelf in his nightstand. I was dusting, not snooping. The book was not a free book from the library. In fact I had pointed this book out to him about three weeks ago when we were at a bookstore buying a calender. It was his sort of book and I asked him if he had seen it before. I do not remember his response, but I do remember that we did not buy it.

So, my question now is, did he not buy that book that day because he had already purchased it without telling me? Or did he buy it later?

Most often, after books, Theric purchases foodstuffs. Two of my discoveries this week were food.
He usually purchases foreign dark chocolate or interesting cookies. He brings these purchases home and quietly puts them away in the cupboard. I either notice them in the cupboard a few days later and say, "Hey! What's this?" or I notice him eating something that I do not recall purchasing and say, "Hey! What are you eating? Is it good? Can I have some?" I have begun to expect these purchases whenever I send him out to do some shopping without me.

That leaves the last hidden purchase, a CD. A CD that he bought used, while I was away for the weekend at my mother's. A CD we both wanted but which Theric wanted more.

I'm fine with this. However, I am noticing that the hidden purchases are slowing changing. They are no longer just food. So, my question is, what will I find next?

There’s something in there . . . .

On Thursday I finally went to go see a medical professional regarding my pregnancy. And I am very pleased to announce that there is something with a heart beat growing in my tummy. I don't know exactly what it is yet, but based on prior experience, and biology, I will guess that it is not an alien baby nor a lizard baby but, in fact, a real human baby! I hope my guess is right. Imagine my shock when they hand me a small scaly creature on the day I give birth!

I am now entering my second trimester. Nausea is pretty much gone. For the last week or two I have been feeling like a normal person again. I can now eat food. I want to get out of bed. I shower and leave the house. It's great! Of course feeling normal again led me to wonder if maybe I wasn't really pregnant. Perhaps the two positive pregnancy tests were false positives. Perhaps I so badly wanted to be pregnant I had made myself sick for the last three months and also made my period disappear! They say the brain is a powerful thing. I was beginning to wonder if I had created a psychosomatic pregnancy or, even worse, I had been pregnant but the baby was dead.

Part of the reason I had not been to see a doctor was because we have no insurance (this problem has now been handled) and because for some completely ridiculous reason I was having a hard time finding a midwife. In Berkeley. I know it's unbelievable, but it's true. No one I knew used midwives and all the midwives I did find only did home births. Eventually I found this midwife in the phone book. I found some reviews of her online and perused her website. She sounded like the one for me. We saw her last Thursday and I think she's a great fit.

She's been practicing for 20 years and specializes in VBACs. We discussed my last birth and she weighed me and measured my uterus. She figured out a due date, June 18th (my birthday), and says I seem to be right on track. Whew! She was even able to barely touch my tummy and feel the hips of whatever is inside.

But the best thing about going to the midwife was hearing the heartbeat and knowing that there was indeed something alive growing in my tummy.

I can now blame the past three months of misery on someone else.

Pancakes

The Big O loves pancakes, but not for breakfast. He asks for pancakes for dinner nearly every night. And because I rarely have anything planned for, or feel like making, dinner; Theric usually whips up a small batch of pancakes for him.

Recently I have begun to wonder if pancakes for dinner, three times a week, is such a good and healthy idea. See, we don't make our pancakes from scratch. Oh no. The last time we were at COSTCO Theric suggested we get the huge bag of Krusteaz pancake mix. I obliged.

I have yet to look at the ingredient list, but I am sure it is not good. If I were any sort of responsible parent I would be whipping up pancakes from scratch using whole wheat, bran and flax. But no. No, we're using a mix and the Big O is loving his pancakes.

Yesterday Theric introduced the Big O to the healthiness that is chocolate chip pancakes.

YUM!

Childhood obesity, here we come.

Happy New Year

For most this would be the post where I share with you, my readers, all the fantastic New Year's Resolutions I have made. How I'm going to start this year afresh and improve myself, and get in shape and read more and become more spiritual, and blah blah blah.

If you were hoping to hear this from Lady Steed, tough beans. I don't do New Year's Resolutions. I do not like setting myself up for failure and disappointment.

I have never been a good goal setter, despite going through the Young Women's program. I also never got my Young Womanhood Recognition Medallion...but I still got married!!! HAHAHA!!!

Here's to the rest of you--Cheers! and best of luck.

I hope you all manage to keep your resolutions and end up as improved versions of yourselves at the end of this year, 2007.

Me, well, I guess I'll just stagnate into oblivion.