Let’s see, anything new? Probably not.

Um, last week I had bean sprouts on a sandwich. Can you believe it? Me? Yeah I never thought I’d see that day either. They were too hard to pull off though, mixed with lettuce, so I ate it anyway and it wasn’t half bad. Might as well have been eating grass, but it wasn’t too bad. However, today, I traded the bean sprouts for roast beef. Yum.

Had to have more tests the end of last week. It’s gross, I know, but had to do this 24 hour urine test then get my blood drawn. I think the tests have something to do with my blood pressure or kidneys. Yesterday, we all rejoiced over the fact that my blood pressure was better than my grandpa’s… but only by a little, lol. But learning a bit more about it from his girlfriend (who took my pressure), I know I am going to double my efforts of keeping it down now and hopefully not having it be very high once mid-spring or so rolls in.

And, yes, as I mentioned before, we’re having a girl. At least the ultrasound lady says she’s positive. My mom’s been the only one to question it. She says they told her my littlest brother was a girl but, of course, they turned out to be wrong. All I can say is I hope ultrasounds have come along at least somewhat in the last 20 years!
I’ve never seen so many people expressing excitement, though. People are yelling my name across the church lobby then hugging me and saying, “a girl, I’m so excited!” heehee Today our music guy told me that I needed a girl after all of Elijah’s boy energy to which I had to respond, “Oh, by the way, that’s what they said we’re having.” lol I forget who all already knows.

And, yes, she has a name already. Yes, the same name I decided on before Elijah was born. No, I’m not changing it. Yes, I’m spelling it my way, but not the way I really wanted because that way would only confuse people. Yup, still naming after ancestors! And I’m happy I can finally put to use GIRL digiscrapping kits… not that I’ve been scrapping much but that should change when I start getting some more photos and being able to do things outside more.

One thing I find at least slightly strange is that people are already asking us if we will have more kids or if this is it. Maybe they ask that because everyone assumed Elijah was our first and last. He is going on 6 years after all. But either way the answer is I don’t know. I don’t really feel it’s MY decision in the first place and we’ll probably continue to neither try to nor try to stop but, dang, I’m wondering if my body could handle this again. I really feel fine but tired most days but I just feel like I’m going through a big fight for this kid, a real big ordeal.

Elijah got to take Valentines with candy to church today which was fun for all the kids (not so much for me, the one who had to prepare it all). But now he won’t stop saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mommy!” He doesn’t believe me that VDay isn’t for another 6 days. However, since we changed the candy we were going to send due to finding out one boy in his class is allergic to peanuts, I now have lots of chocolate to snack on. I am not allergic to peanuts (hallelujah).

I’ve been practicing with the flash and 50mm lens where I can. I think that this week I’ll get to go see the church where my sister-in-law is getting married so I can get a feel for how the flash and lens and what not are going to take it all on. I’ve also recently printed her wedding invitations and they look GREAT. Seriously, you can’t tell they’re “amateur printed.” Also did her reply cards and the reply card envelopes, need to do the main envelopes very soon, once I get all the addresses organized.

Steve is not working all this week. I’m sure I will be insane by the end of the week. We’re hoping he can go back to work after that. Basically, his job is caught up and they are now waiting on other trades to finish their junk so the electricians can get on with theirs. But in the meantime, there is nowhere for these guys to go so they are forced into taking the week off. What’s the difference, though? He was already down to 3 days a week. He’s hopeful that if they can get through March, things will pick up again. It’s always slower in the winter for construction trades, and, as everyone knows, this year is the worst in recent memory. We are hoping he doesn’t get officially laid off to the point where he has to sign the books at the hall. If that happens… he says he’ll probably never get work this year as he’d be over #420 to have to sign. So that means over 420 guys get work before he does. I know everything will be ok though. Might have some hard times and will probably have to change the way we do things but it will all work out.

I’m hungry. But what else is new?

Two of these episodes were over candy.

Not long after breakfast, he discovered the bag of Hershey’s Kissables I’d accidentally left on the countertop. He brought them into the living room with this look of utter accomplishment on his face, sat on the couch, and popped a handful into his mouth before I could do anything.

I took the bag away and gave him a couple more and said that that was all he got. He scarfed them all down and demanded more. I told him he could have more if he went poopy on the potty (yes, we’re still having trouble there, too) he said to me, “NO. I go pee-pee.” He then came back here and I know I shouldn’t have, but I gave in and gave him a few more, again stressing that that was all he was getting. I put the rest on top of the fridge.

He scarfed those down, too, and then exploded. He wanted more. He screamed, he yelled, he cried, he made demands. I didn’t give in this time and he ended up getting his butt put in bed.

Then in the evening, it happened again. I’d sent some with Steve to work for his lunch and he had some left in a little Tupperware thingy. Elijah got into his lunch “bucket” and found them immediately. He shoved in a whole mouthful and I took the rest away – I was getting ready to do something for supper.

The kid totally freaked. He went absolutely nuts. He started screaming again, about 3 times as worse as before. He just went completely beserk, I’ve never seen him so psycho before. It didn’t help, either, that Steve had come home with a migraine and was lying on the couch and I was getting ready to go to a meeting.

This ate up enough time that I finally just went to McDonald’s and got us a quick supper since I only had about 20 minutes to spare. I put him in bed before I left and told him he had to be quiet for 10 minutes. When I came back, I got the impression he’d actually been quiet and that Steve hadn’t budged from his spot on the couch where he lay with a blanket over his head.

I know that practically ever since he was born I’ve said that he’s an active child, into everything, etc. It’s always been true, but lately it’s been overly true. He’s driving me crazy. He’s not just into everything, he’s into everything constantly. I mean that instead of giving me a break of even five minutes between getting into things that he already knows he’s not supposed to be into, he goes to the next immediately, while I’m cleaning up the previous mess.

He throws fits all the time now. Yesterday during his big fit, he got poked in the eye by my finger because he attempted to drop down away from me. My hands that were around his waist (trying to get him to face me and listen to me) were then in his face and his eye dropped right into my finger. I’m sure that hurt pretty good.

Today he kept opening the back door while I was on the phone and yelling at the dog who was outside. I told him to stop it a couple of times and then finally locked the outer door – he can’t open it when it’s locked. So he started screaming bloody murder. Then he got his chair and took the tray off and slid it to the sink, claiming he was going to do dishes. He knows he’s not supposed to do that – can we say sharp knives and other things that could hurt a three-year-old? That and the fact that the kitchen faucet is broken, you’re not supposed to turn it on. Oh, yes, that one’s fun, too. I pulled him away and told him no two or three times. He moved the chair back again. I pulled him into the living room. He screamed the whole time. Yes, I was still on the phone.

Twice today he was supposed to be going to the bathroom but I caught him at one point rubbing body wash all over himself and the second time into my make-up. This is normal toddlerness, I know, but it’s just constant here. Constant.

When he gets caught at things, too, he tries to tell me what to do. For instance, last month, he was kicking the back of the driver’s seat in the Jeep. Steve was driving so I turned around and told him to stop and gave him a look. He looked me straight in the eye and told me to turn around. Today when I caught him in my make-up, he started screaming and told me to “go in the living room.” He tells me to leave the room he’s in whenever he gets in trouble, I guess so he can go about his business. Add this to the constant screaming of, “NO!!!!!”

I mean, I love the little guy and I would never hurt him but I just don’t know what to do with this kid anymore. He is driving me nuts! It’s like he doesn’t respect me or something.