i dunno if it's because i found out i have gestational diabetes so my mind's playing tricks on me...but i've been feeling weird after eating. i want to hurry up and meet with a dietician so that i can find out for sure what i should and should not be eating. i've read some stuff online, but you know how that goes, and all of them say that you have to talk to a dietician regarding your body's specific needs. i know i need to stay away from refined sugars...so there goes all candies and cookies, which i've been loving during this pregnancy. i also gotta make sure i get some exercise, even if that just means walking around more. great. all i know is i'm not gonna poke my big fat stomach with a fat needle filled with insulin. i watched my sister do that when she was pregnant with kaelah and it wasn't a pretty sight.

made caleb salmon, asparagus and rice...and he hated it. this is the first thing he's ever rejected. previously i've always made chicken or beef with veggies and rice but i figured his brain needs more omega 3s so i tried this out. last night he fully did not want to eat his dinner and i had to resort to giving him a bottled meal because i didn't want him not to eat. instead of throwing out what i made, though, i tried "doctoring" it with chicken broth...and lo and behold, he just ate his entire bowl. thank goodness cuz i wouldn't want to waste that food.

so dave and i have been addicted to criminal minds...been dvr-ing every episode possible, plus watching it on the ion station (dunno what channel this is on digital...anyone know??) when we get into bed. dave is now my shemar moore...lol. dave's impersonations of him are kind of funny. i was never into that guy...he's a bit too "pretty" for me...but damn, he's HOT. told dave he can grow his little mustache connected goatie like that too. and wear tight shirts. and work out so that his body looks like that. just kidding. dave's favorite on that show is jj, and i know it's not only for her brains, so i can admire morgan...

gonna do pics with caleb on saturday with the same person who did our engagement photos. that should be interesting. she wants to do preggos pics too, but i'm not so keen on memorializing this big belly. we'll see.

gramma's coming back today and caleb's going to relish the attention! he's such a cutie pie...and i'm sure that's cuz i'm biased, but he is so funny and cute in his mannerisms now that he's a little boy. dancing is one of his favorite things lately...and he also has learned to shake his head "no" for everything under the sun. today is the first time he started to unravel the toilet paper roll. he likes to throw things into the trash or into his playpen and clap for himself. if he does something he deems "good", like put toys in the bucket or put my makeup brushes back where they belong, he claps for himself. he's obsessed with turning the tv on and off and still loves cell phones, especially jamming it up to your ear and listening to you say "hello." he will grab a pen and fake write, and grab a book and fake read. being home with him this break has been cool, just to see the different things he does.

we bought him one of those backpack leashes cuz he likes to walk around, but sometimes will not want us to hold his hand and will want to cruise on his own. he's getting frustrated with being in the stroller when we go out and his walking is at a point where he'd be able to handle walking for longer periods of time. i never thought i'd put a leash on my child, but for him, i'm all for it.

started him on a sippy cup...this is the nuby one which has a silicone sipper part. he didn't like the playtex or fogo one we got him, which has a hard sipper part. i think the nuby one still looks like a bottle, but at least it's a step in the right direction.

went to the doctor on monday and then the dentist on tuesday. i think i'm going to request a different dentist...this one has a scary hyper voice...not into it. dave and i held in our laughter till we got to the car, then did impersonations of how scary he was. i don't think i can handle seeing him every six months, even if the appointment only took about 10 minutes.

seriously, in like 2 months brynna is going to be here. that's nutts. we need to find beds for my mom and caleb and figure everything out. i have a feeling brynna's going to be a little bit early...maybe end of feb or early march...due date is the 6th but i'll be surprised if i last until then. plus, i was reading about gestational diabetes and how it can cause baby to be bigger, especially in the shoulders, and how that can cause more trauma during birth. i don't want a c-section...but i do remember the pain of caleb's birth in the days following. nutts. i mean, i tore all the way to butt with caleb...can't tear any more than that, right? blech.

soooo....we made the biggest mistake and will pay for it for the next few nights or so... since my dad was here and he wakes up when caleb starts crying (not like my mom, who has grown immune to his cries at night!), we picked caleb up when he started crying...and put him in our bed. BIG mistake. now he's getting up and SCREAMING at about 12:30 so that he can come to our bed. he's a smart little sucker. and we're dummies. so, starting tonight, he's going to have some screaming fits because we need to get him back into the habit of sleeping in his crib. i feel a little bit sad for him because he got 4 sore shots today at his 1 year check up, but sleeping with him in our bed is NOT an option. i thought i'd like having him snuggle up near me...you know, that super mommy/son bonding feeling...but maybe it's cuz i'm hella huge, or maybe it's cuz i just can't get comfortable even without him there, but sheez, that guy kicks me, takes up the most room on the bed, and makes me even hotter than i already am. my dad has to sleep in the living room tonight because he can't handle when caleb is screaming and ended up picking caleb up last night. we were trying to make him scream, but if you're not used to hearing it, it does sound kind of scary and heartbreaking. oh well...poor caleb, poor neighbors... i didn't think it was such a bad thing that i slept with my mom until i got kicked out when she got a boyfriend, but i really don't think the three of us sleeping together would work...dave and i don't like it and don't want him sleeping with us forever...

i wonder what my results from the blood test are...i wonder if doctor will call me. we have to see him again on monday already, so hopefully if i don't hear from him before then we'll assume everything is all good.

don't know what's going on with caleb, but his sleeps have been not so wonderful lately. last night he woke up at 12:30, went back to bed (in our bed), woke up at 2:30, drank 4 oz, woke up at 5:30, fussed and then drank another 4 oz. i dunno if he's having another growth spurt, or if his runny nose was bothering him, or if he's just not used to having grandpa instead of gramma in the room with him...

took my 3 hour glucose test today...the diet actually wasn't as bad as i thought it would be, though it did make me feel funny kine after eating 1 cup of rice and 1 apple...maybe i do have gestational diabetes after all. this morning i went to the diagnostic lab place after fasting since 8 p.m...started the first blood draw at 8:27, then 9:27, 10:27, 11:27...man. 4 blood draws sucks! after that I thought I'd be famished and grouchy, but I was actually fairly okay. went upstairs and ate at that mongolian beef place...was okay, but a little too "sauce-y" for me. after eating, though, I felt kind of funny. maybe it's my body telling me that I'm big enough and I don't need to overdo the eating...lol.

brynna's starting to do the caleb-style moving around now. can't see her moving too much yet, but i can sure feel it...i'm sure we'll start seeing it too since she's getting bigger and bigger. i really am starting to wonder what she'll look like, how big she'll be, what temperment she'll have, if she'll put us through the hell caleb did...lol. i'm still pretty clueless as to how different doodoo with a girl will be...and it kind of grosses me out to think about having to dig the doodoo out of her chingching...yuck. i also wonder about how caleb will be...at least he'll have gramma here to shower him with attention when we're busy with baby. i wonder what this labor will be like, if i'll actually be in labor this time before we go to the hospital or if they'll have to give me pitocin again. i wonder if it'll take 12 hours...if i'll be able to hold out on the meds (haha...torture). i hope her breathing is not like caleb's was so that we can go home on time and not have to stay in a little closet.

things i still have to get ready before time comes...figure out the bed situation in that room (get rid of the full size, buy two twins)...figure out the crib situation in our room (i'm pretty sure i measured correctly and it'll fit where i want it to go...wash the bassinet sheets...figure out newborn clothes to take out for her...pack a bag for dave and me for the hospital...make and freeze food for caleb for when we're gone (i don't even know what he'll be eating by then, but i figure i'll just make some food in case).

i need a nap...

Being home with Caleb over break and seeing his little antics is so cool. right now he's lying on the carpet, mumbling to himself, with his head snuggling his little lovey blanket. He just got up from a nap, doesn't want to drink his milk, but is in a pretty good mood.

His new thing is throwing things in the rubbish can, so I suppose we really should get a new one that has a top he can't manipulate. He threw two of his shapes in there this morning and who knows what else. I'm sure we've lost some toys due to his throwing them away. We just gotta teach him to throw away his diapers and nothing else...

He's such a little person now...I just trip. He's not a baby-baby anymore and this age is so cute! I can understand why people start getting the urge to have more kids when their kids start getting bigger...this age is so cute!!!! He understands more, interacts a lot, and definitely shows his personality!

Caleb is bi-polar like me...he only has two speeds...super happy and smiley and loving, and super pissed, irritated, and frustrated. And the ease with which he switches between the two is funny...just like me!!!

Started giving Caleb some different stuff to eat...for breakfast I've been giving him yogurt, which he really likes, and then we've started to give him some whole milk. He seems to like the formula better than the whole milk...he'll drink the whole milk if I give it to him in the sippy cup, but only if the stopper thing is not in there so he doesn't have to suck. I don't get it. I don't know how to get him to use the sippy cup good. Also gave him eggs...when I gave it to him with rice, he liked it...with bread, not so much. No allergic reactions thus far, knock on wood.

So I'm sure most people make their Christmas cards more religiously once they have kids...I, on the other hand, seem to be the opposite. If I'm motivated, I'll get a New Year's card out...otherwise I'll wait until baby comes and do an Easter card or something like that. Didn't even make photo announcements for Caleb...I'm just bad at stuff like that!

Tomorrow I have to start a 3 day diet which consists basically of fruit and either two slices of bread or 2/3 cup rice for breakfast, sandwich and soup for lunch, and then 1 cup rice and meat and veges for dinner. Then in the evening I can have a snack of fruit or a sandwich. It says "any meat, fish, poultry, tofu as desired and any vegetables you enjoy" so I'm assuming it's the starches that I gotta watch. Great. Oh well. I better do this diet good so my blood sugar level is good cuz otherwise I'm going to have to start poking myself 4 times a day to monitor. Frick. I know I screwed up when I did the first blood test. Dieting on Christmas and the weekend...wth?!

woohoo...dentist appointment for Caleb made!!! I was seriously thinking there was no way I would be able to get in, but luckily they had an appointment for next week Wednesday! So 1 year check up on Tuesday, first dentist appointment on Wednesday! Knowing Caleb, he's going to throw fits for both of them...lol.

So today's doctor...

weight = 138.5

gestational diabetes = possible...blood sugar count was 174 (140 is the high end of the range)

I might have screwed it up because I followed the directions...lol...

It said...eat a big breakfast 2 hours before drinking glucola. Drink glucola within 5 minutes. Go to have blood drawn exactly 1 hour after drinking glucola.

Nowhere in those directions do I see, "Don't eat anything during that two hour time span." Because of that, I ate and drank soda...so doctor said that might have caused the high number.

I'm hoping it is cuz I'm a wuss when it comes to needles and the idea of having to prick my finger 4 times a day does not appeal to me.

So because of the high count, I now have to be on a freakin diet on Christmas day so that I can get my blood drawn on Monday. The diet is pretty strict in terms of my intake of fruit and starch...so I'll be munching on lots of veggies and being grouchy. Then on Monday I have to fast, go in to the lab, and have my blood drawn three times...on the hour for 3 hours...that means I'll be starving the whole time...it won't be a pretty sight.

Grrrreat....just another difference between this pregnancy and the first one...

Oh yea, and my brain cells are officially on gone due to pregnancy. Today I tried to deliver presents to Tash only to find after we reached her house that I never have the bag of presents in the car...

And then when I was having a conversation, I had to ask Dave what we were talking about because the little lull made me lose track and I didn't understand what his comment back was referring to...

Sheesh...

Dang...went to Queen's today to pay our portion of the delivery bill...our portion...$750!!! How do people afford to have babies? I mean, sheez, we both have careers that pay fairly well...we aren't rolling, but we do okay, and still for us, $750 isn't pocket change! How do these young kids or people working hourly jobs pay for their babies? And then, how do they pay for their blinged out cars, phones, vices, etc?? Credit card debt, that's how.

With Caleb, I think we paid $600-something...guess the cost of having a baby went up! Lol. We got the whole thing back, though...dunno why, didn't ask questions! :-)

For some reason, I keep thinking this baby is going to come in February...she's been moving around a lot today (could be due to the Mountain Dew I drank...lol). I feel her everywhere so I wonder if she'll be as long as Caleb was. My torso is not that big so my poor babies are all cramped up in there!

I'm addicted to watching Criminal Minds, but it sure makes me paranoid and have some weird dreams!

I'm prone to passing out hard in the afternoon these days....today I intended to take a 20 minute nap, which then turned into an hour long, dead to the world deep sleep. It's necessary, though, cuz I'm hella tired!

30th week starts today...nutts. When we get to the 30s, it starts to kick in that baby will be here REAL soon...

Tried to put Caleb in the seat forward facing but he looks like a little midget and I know he's not quite 34 inches yet so we're going to keep him back facing for a little while more. We have doctor on the 29th for his 1 year check up so we'll see how tall he is then...at his 9 months he was 29 1/8 in.

When we saw Caeden the other night I was shocked because I didn't remember Caleb being that big at 6 months....then I went back to look at his pictures and his weight...yea, Caleb WAS that big too! Lol.

Caleb on his 1st birthday...

Caleb on his 1st day on earth...
(hmm...I think Aunty Leish took both these pictures!)

Okay, this reflection is a little bit belated, but we're on break now so I have more time to digest this year of Caleb's life....

So cliche, I know, but it seems like just yesterday AND a lifetime ago that we were in the hospital, struggling to push this huge baby out.

December 13, 2008 - go to hospital about 1:30 p.m....water had in fact broken the night before, but labor hadn't set in so they started me on pitocin to get the labor going

December 14, 2008 - about 1:00 a.m....Caleb finally makes his debut and we're shocked to see his full head of black hair and all 21 inches, 8 lbs 11 oz of him...he's pissed, hungry, and screaming...

December 17, 2008 - we finally get to come home after Caleb's breathing calms down a little bit....but we have to take him to the doctor the following day to check his jaundice

December 18, 2008 - jaundice is okay...start of the longest three months of our lives

December - Marchish - Caleb lets us know who really runs this operation...HIM! he displays bouts of colicky behavior, settling in for crying fits at around 6 p.m. every evening...breastfeeding didn't work after a couple weeks of intense frustration...his sleep is not so wonderful, and will occasionally wake us up for long bouts of inconsolable crying in the wee hours of the morning...

Marchish-June - back to work, mom watches Caleb, nutts doesn't even begin to describe what life is like...but he's interacting more and to see him smile makes up for the hellish life we first knew as parents

June-December - everyday is a new day...we fall into our routine, but Caleb reminds us by changing it up that life revolves around him now...he hits all his benchmarks (i can't ever remember what you call them for kids) pretty solidly, teeth come in at 4 months, crawling around 6 months, walking at 10 months....

December 14, 2009 - he celebrates his first year of life with Gramma Elaine, Gramma Letty, Grandpa Jun, Uncle Mark and Aunty Leish...enjoys new toys, tons of attention, and CAKE!!!

I'm so thankful for how blessed we've been...I can honestly say it's been the hardest freakin' thing I've ever done in my life, but I'm more convinced than ever that being a mommy will always be the greatest accomplishment of my life. I always said that I'd rather be a mom than be married, but for sure I've learned in this last year that life would have sucked hard if not for Dave. I've also learned that I have to let go of my control and that grandparents really do know more than me (sometimes...lol...my mommy instinct still trumps all, though!). I'm lucky to have a mom who is willing and able to take care of him so that we don't have to worry about it. We're lucky to have two sets of grandparents who can shower him with love and attention and lessons. I'm lucky to have friends who can enjoy and support me on this rollercoaster ride of parenthood. We're lucky to have careers that allow us time to spend with Caleb.

I can't even begin to imagine what the next year (and baby!) has in store for us and it makes me sad and excited to see Caleb growing up and showing his personality and independence. I dread the day that he doesn't let me cuddle him, but I look forward to seeing the little man that he'll become.

My last real day with kids for a while...yesterday I felt kind of sad about it, today I'm feeling indifferent so far.

Not looking forward to the dance at the end of the day. Sweaty, stink kids acting dumb...grrreat.

Half a year gone by...wow...nutts...sometimes it felt like it was taking forever, now I know the rest of the year is going to fly by.

Caleb was up at 4:30 a.m. Don't know what his problem was. He just seemed to want to be held, touched, near human bodies. Put him in bed with us but he didn't go to sleep, which means Dave and I didn't go to sleep either. Finally around 5:30 he started to fuss so I picked him up and took him into the living room. He fell asleep and I tried to sleep a little bit on the couch. At 6:05 I heard our alarm go off so I got up and tried to put him the crib but he started crying again. He drank some milk and stayed up as we got ready. Left him with my mom in her bed at around 6:45...doubt that he let her get any more sleep when we left. I'm thinking it's going to be a grouchy day for him...

Oh, bell rang. Yay, start of the last day before break...and start of the last day before a semester long break from kids for me...dunno if I'm going to enjoy it or not cuz I heard I gotta work with teachers, which is gonna probably be even more frustrating and difficult...

I'm hella tired. It's almost 4 p.m. and I want to go home but one kid's parent just left Waianae and is on her way to pick him up so I'm here. And two other kids are still working on their science.

Caleb turned ONE yesterday...nutts. He enjoyed himself with lots of attention from the two grammas, grampa, and uncle Mark and aunty Leisha. He also got two new toys to play with, a new book, and a soft blanket. He's not much of a present opener...doesn't really know what to do with it and is so distractable, but it's all good.

He got to eat some cake with frosting...it caused me anxiety for him to get his hands all dirty, but luckily he was pretty good about it, just sticking his fingers in the frosting and not mashing the entire thing. He didn't even stick his finger in his mouth to taste the frosting...weirdo. He enjoyed eating the cake, and didn't seem to get too crazy afterwards. He actually had a pretty late night, and woke up crying a little bit at around 12 but then went back to sleep on his own until 5:30. Hopefully he didn't have sore stomach today!

Good thing I've been keeping this blog from his debut cuz I'm sure I would have forgotten most of the milestones by now. It's crazy to look at his picture right after birth, and then to see him now. I can still remember the trauma of birth and the first three months...man, that sucked. But now things are MUCH better and at least we have a taste of what it can be like so we won't be totally blindsided when Brynna comes along.

12 more weeks until baby #2. For some reason I think she's coming sooner than her due date. Caleb was two days later than his due date...we'll see. Her movements are definitely more noticeable now but she doesn't seem to move around as much as Caleb did. He was nutts, though, and still is, so maybe she'll be calmer. She seems to move around mainly in response to what I eat and drink. My stomach is huge, but sits much lower than it did with Caleb. Then again, he was so huge that there really wasn't any room for him to be any lower. I wonder if she'll be as big as him...I'm thinking not, but who knows. In a way, I want another big baby, but I definitely don't look forward to the after-effects of popping a huge baby out.

Two more days before break. Tomorrow I'll tell two of my classes that I won't be with them after break, and then the next day I'll tell the other three. I meet the new teacher tomorrow...she's finishing up her student teaching at Moanalua (high school, I think) right now, so at least she'll have a little bit of experience. I'm anxious...I know it's out of my control and that it'll be all good, but I'm still scared. That's my pride and ego, though...can't let go of the control.

Break should be interesting. My mom won't be here, so Caleb will have withdrawals. My dad will come up for Christmas and that will be interesting to see him integrated with Dave's filipino "family." I'm not looking forward to figuring out three meals a day, nor am I looking forward to spending more money since we'll be at home. It's going to suck too that break is a week shorter. We won't be going home to Maui at all during break just cuz it's too expensive and too humbug. I can't even imagine how often we'll make it home after Brynna is born...especially if my mom sells her house...where will we stay??? That'll be interesting.

Frick, I just wanna go home....go home, kids...get out of here already!!! Lol.

holy smokes...one year ago right now i was in the hospital, just taking the epidural and experiencing relief...nutts!!!!

i've figured out that if i eat school breakfast, i get gas and backpains. lol. the breakfast puts me over the top in terms of full-ness, so i gotta lay off the breakfast. but i woke up this morning so hungry, so i had to eat, and then i paid the price. not as bad as last week, though.

i know it sounds completely ungrateful, and i'm not...in fact, i'm very grateful for being blessed with another baby....BUT I am OVER being PREGNANT. i can't breathe right, can't walk right, have pain all over, am huge, have heartburn, am grouchy, am tired...it's just one of those days when i'm not loving being pregnant at all...

I have a stack of work (Bk #3 Assignments) to look at...but I just don't want to...

Boss is not here today, so I don't know if I'm in or out of the classroom for quarter 3. I just want to know already so I can get my mind wrapped around it.

I ate portuguese sausage and rice for breakfast and i'm eating two chocolate chip cookies right now...I better watch out because it was last week Tuesday that I had the major gas pains...

I'm tired. Cold days like these are meant to be spent snuggled in bed, taking naps...

Okay, I don't have anything to write about so I'm going to actually attempt to do some work...

so we have two more weeks...and i'm over it already....but in a way, i'm also kind of sad because there may be some changes that involve me not being with my kids. as much as they irritate me, i am sad and scared to leave them. but that's okay, if it's God's plan, it'll be all good, whatever happens.

i just started the third trimester...week 28...how nutts is that? we have a mere 13 weeks (well, depends on baby) before life changes completely again. i know nothing could have prepared me for caleb...i'm sure nothing can prepare me for brynna too. at least this time, i hope, the tears will be less since i already know that my milk production might suck, breast feeding is hard, and i'll be more tired than tired.

we seriously are going to have to figure out a house situation. i told my mom we should go to maui this summer and start cleaning out her house so she can sell it. she said she'll do that only if we promise that we'll get a house up here cuz she doesn't want to live filipino style with ten of us (kay, only five) in a two bedroom apartment with only one bathroom. the living arrangement is going to be a bit nutts until we can figure out how we're going to manage to sell our place and buy another one. imagine, caleb and my mom in one bedroom, dave, brynna, and me in our bedroom....and ONE bathroom. that's crazy.

we saw some babies at my cousin's twin's birthday party yesterday...man...i can and can't remember caleb being that little. i think the first three-four months are a blur, but then he started to have more personality and it got a little bit more fun. plus too, i think we stayed in the house with him for the first two-three months cuz doctor said that's safer for him...so i guess we'll be on lockdown for brynna too.

anyways, i should be correcting some work this morning....got up at 530 with caleb and decided to stay up since i had to do some stuff this morning...right now i feel good...we'll see how i feel by the end of the day. my right butt cheek has been feeling sore...and i'm stupidly wearing not-pregnancy-smart shoes today, so i'm sure i'll be in pain later on.

Whew...what I thought was my first stretch mark on my stomach has disappeared. We haven't been as on it with the lotion every night, but from here on out, we're slathering it on cuz I don't wanna end up with a bunch of stretch marks on my belly.

Went to a craft fair and Waikele today and I think I'm going to pay for it tonight. Passed out when we got home, then my body felt sore and stiff. We'll see how sleeping goes tonight. These legs were not made for an extra 30 lbs...

Told Dave my goal after giving birth to Brynna is to be within ten pounds of my goal weight by the time we return to school. Seeing as how I'm fully not motivated to exercise, we'll see if that happens. Wonder if I'll ever get back into those "wishful thinking" clothes again. What a waste if I don't.

Caleb is a gramma's boy. If he ever refuses to come to me when I reach out for him and gramma's carrying him, I might have to slap his head. He cries for her when she goes outside or to bocha. Oh well...he spends more time with her anyways. As long as he likes me more than Daddy, I'm all good. Lol.

We put up our Christmas tree today. Putting it up means taking it out of our closet and out of the bag. Wonder if we'll ever get a real tree...not anytime soon, that's for sure, cuz I'm not too keen on trying to keep kiddies away from the ornaments and Caleb would probably try to tackle the tree and take it down. He seems to like the Christmas lights on the tree...

His new thing is dancing...it's so cute! He loves music. No matter what the beat, his dance is the same, though.

He's into everything and anything...nutts. We have to invest in a new garbage can and a container for recyclables so he can't grab stuff from there.

Tried to take a Christmas picture using the timer on the camera...didn't work. Caleb would not cooperate. Dunno if I'm even going to do a card this year. Got a pic of him and Tash, but it's not the best. We'll see.

Yesterday really sucked...

At lunch I ate a huge tuna sandwich with some veggie chips and then a yucky chocolate kudos bar...

During Period 3, I felt like I was having back contractions...it was so sore I had to stop myself during teaching to just kind of bend over and breathe. I really wondered what I was going to do it I couldn't continue. Thank GOD period 3 is my wonderful class and they were all good and focused even when I could barely get out the words I needed to say to them.

Period 4 is inclusion so I ran to the bathroom and let out a load. I felt tremendously better...

After school I'm sitting with the kids at tutoring, working on math problems and eating some red vines...and I start to have the back contractions and also lower stomach cramping. Go to the bathroom again but nothing...it hurts like hell and James keeps asking me if the baby's going to fall out.

We go home, I use the bathroom a little bit, put a heat pack on my lower back, and just lie down for a while. Eat some antacids too. In about half an hour, I feel better.

Go to group, eat some chowder and fries, feel fine. I eat three more antacids just in case. After group is pau, while walking around, I start to feel funny again. Then when I get home, my back is nutts again. Taking a shower is ridiculous and I can't even bend down to wash my legs. I can't stand straight up either. I lie down for a while and rest. I don't feel much better but good enough to make Caleb's food for the next day, brush my teeth, then head back to bed.

At around 10:40 I get up to use the bathroom and make a huge fut. Ahhhh.

Back to bed...wake up around 1:10 to use the bathroom again, back feels good.

This morning, back is good. But I'm hungry as heck and scared to eat...I have some sweet bread and a soda...lol...yea, kind of stupid on the soda part, but it wasn't soda that made me feel funny kine yesterday (my rationalization).

We'll see how today goes...I'm kind of scared to eat, but hella hungry...I brought soup for lunch so I'm going to be a starving maniac by the end of the day.

haha...so God knew my tongue was out of control today...cuz right now, that's what Pastor Wayne is talking about. I don't usually watch channel two news cuz i think it sucks, but I just so happened to watch it tonight, and New Hope came on right after news. Well...control my tongue...that's my goal for this week.

Things I took for GRANTED before Caleb...

• sleep
• easy traveling
• washing only adult dishes
• leaving my crap wherever I wanted
• wires
• eating out
• bocha time
• everything

Things I wonder how we'll manage with Caleb AND Baby...

• sleep
• traveling
• bottles
• diapers
• bocha time
• having any kind of life

Things I can't imagine life without now...

• Caleb's cutest little smiles
• his open mouth kisses (when he feels like it!)
• being able to snuggle him and smell his baby smell
• seeing his unreal development day after day
  

I wouldn't trade parenthood for anything, but as we traveled back to Oahu yesterday, on a full plane at 10:05 p.m., not sitting together because I made our flight late and never have seats together already, I thought about how easy going to Maui used to be. I would NEVER have to check a bag, much less a suitcase AND a carseat...I could easily and comfortably get to the airport an hour ahead of time and feel secure that I'd get to my gate on time...stops at the counter NEVER had to happen with online checkin and no bags...I never had to feel sore stomach before getting on the plane cuz of wondering what Caleb would be like and if we'd be "those people" with the screaming, out of control baby.

I can't even imagine what taking him to California is going to be like this summer...and Brynna will be with us too! CRAZY.

Countdown...14 weeks...nutts...

took a 2 hour nap today....thought i'd be up all night...but it's now 8:23 and i'm super tired again...what the heck?

weight at dr's on friday (end week 25)...134...up 7 lbs from the previous week. i was 141 at the end of my pregnancy with caleb. gotta go do the gestational diabetes test before the next dr's and he said to watch my diet so i don't gain too much. grrreat.

so freakin' heartburn-y. i feel nauseous tonight too..dunno why.

my right hand is often numb now...don't remember having that with caleb, but read it's normal.

sleeping is uncomfortable.

brynna moves around more now...noticed her first bout of hiccups today. she isn't kicking me and punching me violently like caleb did, but i expect that she will by the end.

Before I go nene and put this to rest for good, I have to write it out...

Today my kids pissed me off. I haven't been this pissed off at them for a while. I literally HATED them today. I HATED their attitude toward life in general. I HATED their complacency and apathy.

3 of my 5 classes had homework over the weekend (the other two finished the work in class cuz we had an extra day with them last week). They had to freakin' finish their worksheet...which we started in class...we read and discussed the article and went over every single question together...they just had to finish it...

Period 1 - 8 out of 26
Period 2 - 2 out of 13
Period 5 - 7 out of 19

Piss me off. I gave them my lecture, with the whole, "I cannot believe you guys...it sickens me...this is ridiculous...it's not about one assignment, it's about the attitude you have toward life..." I made eye contact and gave them the full on disappointed look. How many of them are thinking about it right now or even attempting to do their damn homework??? Maybe 3...if I'm lucky.

WTF???? I asked my mom how she knew I was doing my homework when I was in school...she said she didn't. Dave said his parents didn't really get on his case about it either. So why did we do what we had to do???? Cuz our parents struck the fear into us early on...if we didn't do what we were supposed to do, we would get lickens.

Lickens solves all evils...lol. But for reals, an occasional beat down, in my opinion, works. I got lickens (mainly slaps on the face, pinches on the arm or wherever, and punches on the arm) until I was a freshman in college, and I bet if I acted super stupid, my mom would still hit me today. Dave got lickens...the kine with the belt and whatever else could be found. Did we act dumb? Sometimes, but not to the extent where we were totally off the right path in life...

So...Caleb and Baby...expect some lickens in your life...cuz I am NOT going to have a child who acts like some of these damn kids do...my kids are gonna have the fear struck in them...lol.

Caleb just had a fit trying to go to bed. He cried for about 15-20 minutes...vigorously. When I was trying to read to him, he didn't want to listen...he wanted to get up and play more. And when I picked him up to hold him for a little bit before I put him down in the crib, he already started fighting me and crying so I just put him down and walked out. I think he's realizing that he's "missing out" when it's sleep time so he's starting to fight it more. Geez.

He's so funny...he "learned" to do the okole in the air with his hands and feet on the ground, looking at his toes thing. It's so cute. He also, when he wants to, will open mouth kiss you if you ask for a kiss and pucker your lips. It was funny today because he open mouth kisses me, then when Dave leans in for his kiss Caleb sticks out his tongue to lick him. Lol.

On Saturday he makes 11 months...nutts.

Okay, so I'm HUGE....many, many, many comments about how HUGE I am today. Jeez, it was the tight shirt, okay!!! Nah, I'm HUGE...it's ridiculous. We gotta remember to slather on that lotion cuz I'm scared I'm going to get a whole lot of stretch marks this time around. I saw Kate's stomach on the show from last night (the one prior to the tummy tuck) and that made me scared!!!

I have 16 more weeks...16 more weeks to get more big than big. Grrreat. Lol. Whatever, it's all good.

Holy smokes my feet and legs are hella swollen by the end of the day. I'm sure they were like this with Caleb, but I just trip out when I look at my legs after school and realize what fat sausages they are. Actually, I know they must have been pretty swollen with Caleb cuz a fellow teacher commented on HOW swollen they were with Caleb (frick...).

My back also hurts like heck. I dunno if it's cuz of my bad posture too, but by the time i get in bed at night, I'm dying. I'm loving, though, that the weather is cooling down and "winter" is settling in...nights are nice...with the fan still blowing, of course.

Hard to imagine it's my 24th week...16 more to go and then NO MORE BEING PREGNANT EVER AGAIN for me...lol!!!!

This is a vent session, so if you're not interested, don't read on...nothing to do with path to parenthood...everything to do with needing to release this irritation before I explode...

I'm so effin hella irritated right now...tiredness has a lot to do with it...it's 7:45 p.m. and I'm ready to get into bed and just freakin' go to sleep so my pissy-ness doesn't erupt.

I know I'm preaching to the choir cuz most of the people who read this are WOMEN who I'm sure have similar situations...

Everyday seems to be a never ending chore...there's always something that needs to be done...by me...

Now granted, I do have a husband who will help when asked to...and therein lies part of my pissed-offed-ness. I don't think husbands realize that the fact that you have to think about what they have to do so you can tell them what to do only adds to your list of things to do...

Today we got home a little bit later than usual because we left school later and had to stop at the market to get some last minute stuff for dinner...so by the time we got home it was already about 4:30.

Before I can start cooking, I need things in order...so I wash the dishes and bottles so that the sink area is clean for me to begin.

Bought a big tray of hamburger from Sam's so that had to be dealt with....separated, bagged, put in the freezer.

Started cooking the hamburger, cutting up the mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, and portuguese sausage. Finished the sauce, on to the noodles. Spaghetti is not a difficult dinner...but standing there for about 1/2 hour getting everything together gets tiring....my feet are sore, I'm tired, I just wanna sit and relax.

Finished dinner, ate. After dinner, chill for a bit, then dishes have to be done because I can't get Caleb's meals ready with the dishes all over the place.

Finish the dishes...decide to make Caleb's meals...and instead of just using the jar food, I remember that I have apples that need to be used so I figure I'll puree' those for his breakfast instead. Dumb me...cuz that means cutting up the apples, peeling them, and processing them in the food processor thing. In the meantime, I figure out lunch tomorrow which will be egg salad sandwich cuz Dave has tutoring at lunch so it has to be something easy, portable, and preferably not needing microwaving. So the eggs go on to boil while I finish up Caleb's meals.

Making Caleb's meals means making dishes, so it's time to wash yet again.

Bocha time...get Caleb's tub, set it up, get myself ready to bocha since I jump in the tub with him. Waiting to see how long it will take Dave to get his ass off the computer to come and help. In the meantime, since it always seems the case that when I'm getting pissy more things start to go wrong, I position the shower hose in Caleb's tub so that I can grab him and take off his diaper....what does the hose do?? Freakin' spray out of the tub, onto Caleb's head and the bathroom counter/drawers. Dave finally comes after hearing my scream, and can't seem to figure out what happened, though why he can't figure it out with Caleb would be dripping with water while standing outside the tub with his diaper on is beyond me.

We bocha, I'm pissed so I remain silent, and then when Dave wants a hug, I refuse and he proceeds to get mad at ME for being mad...wtf???

So bocha is pau, Dave takes Caleb to put his clothes on, I go to put my clothes on. I come out of the bedroom, and what is my wonderful husband doing??? Back on the damn computer. I give him the stinkest possible eye and move back into the kitchen to finish up making our lunch.

Seriously...I'm tired. I expressed that I was tired. Can a brutha figure out what the hell to do to be helpful around here??? Sheez. And don't even begin to think that the whole time this is going on, he's watching Caleb...cuz he's not. In fact, I tell him how ridiculous it looks when he's intently staring at the computer, one hand on the mouse, the other hand trying to make noise with Caleb's toy to "entertain" him.

Whew....I feel better. I'm going to go brush my teeth, give Caleb some milk, brush his teeth, read to him, and put his ass in bed...then I'm going to get in bed, read my bible so I can hopefully get some words of wisdom to calm me down some more, and then maybe I'll calmly talk to Dave about what pisses me off.

Is Caleb going to turn out to be a little brat??? He's a tempermental mofo right now...has been for a while now...and I just wonder...does that signal future tantrums, breakdowns, stubborn behaviors, and insubordination??

Here are some examples of his "tantrums"

• yell
• scream
• arch his back
• kick his legs
• throw stuff
  
• hit
  
• scratch

We don't know if this is normal behavior for his age, him exerting more independence, or him being a spoiled brat. He's rough...he likes to push things over, fling things around, throw things...is that just being a boy, or is that being a little butt?

I really wonder what life is going to be like with a little girl...will she be polar opposites of Caleb, will they like each other, will he show a gentle side with his little sister? If he treats her anything like he treats us, we're going to have to keep him away because he'll scratch and slap the heck out of her! 4 months and she'll be here...nutts...

the shishi and the shishi squirts are ridiculous.

Thank GOD it's Friday, kind of! I dunno, but even short weeks are hellish to get through these days. The heat and humidity and vog doesn't help much either...it's so gross...I don't remember the vog being quite so bad before...I can only imagine what it's like on the Big Island and Maui. Good thing I'm not there cuz it would only add to my pissy moods.

Baby's moving around more now...can't say it's quite the movement I remember with Caleb yet, but we'll see how it goes as we progress. I told my mom and Dave last night that I think this one's going to be bigger than Caleb was with the amount of crap I eat...I'm seriously always wanting sweets...and not apples this time, like it was with Caleb, but chocolate, cookies, candies, etc. Nutts.

I'm freakin' tired. Dunno why. Been going to sleep pretty early this week but somehow, I'm just tired. It's the freakin' 2nd trimester...I'm supposed to be all good. Oh well.

Caleb's been eating his homemade meals for lunch and dinner for the past two days. I boiled a chicken breast, 1 cup rice, and 2 carrots, then blended it all together. It looks like orangey kamaboko dip. Thought it would last him a while, but that'll last him 3 days...I gotta make some more tonight. Plus too, I dunno if he's still hungry or what, but he CRIES and SCREAMS when he knows we're getting to the end of the meal...when you start scraping the last bits in the bowl, he starts to fuss...if you try to take him out of his eating chair, he throws a fit. I dunno what the deal is. We give him his meal AND snacks for dessert after each meal and he still acts like he's hungry. I don't get it.

Please let this day go quickly, nicely, and quietly...I'm tired...

It's a GIRL...we went for our ultrasound at Queen's Hospital today (which, if you ever get to make the choice of where to go for ultrasound or delivery, I would DEFINITELY recommend here)...kidneys have some fluid in them, but the technician said that it doesn't look like it's too bad or abnormal. It's amazing what they can see on that thing...we asked how she knew it was a girl, if it was just the absence of a dingding, and she smiled and replied that they can actually see labia. She pointed it out to me, but it just looked like two little white dots. Baby was sucking her thumb...you could actually see her putting her hand to her mouth and then you could see the tongue lapping vigorously...like she was hungry or something. Grrrreat, we gonna have another hungry sucker like Caleb! She weighs about a pound now....which means that there's a whole lot of time for her to get to Caleb's weight!!!

Our name right now is Bryna Su Colmenares. We're debating on the double-n or not...Bryna or Brynna. Colmenares is such a long last name that we wanted to cut out any unnecessary letters, but as I look at it typed out, Bryna looks kind of weird...like we're dyslexically trying to spell Bryan or something.

Caleb just finished his dinner, and is whimpering/crying because he hates when his meal ends. He LOVES to eat. I've been making him less food (giving him rice cereal instead of regular rice, cutting down on the portion) so that he would take in more milk...he is drinking more, but he seems hungry...he's waking up at 3:30-4:00 instead of his usual 5:00-5:30, and hungrily inhaling his 6 oz. of milk. This morning he drank 6 oz at 3:30, then had another 4 oz at 6:10...which sucks for us.

I made his first homemade meal tonight...rice, carrots, and chicken boiled in chicken broth and water. I'm gonna try to blenderize it and see how it turns out. He needs more food.

He's freakin' crying now cuz Dave took him out of his eating seat...wth?!

We can feel the baby moving now...we'll see if he/she is as active as Caleb was in there.

My feeling now is that it's a she...we'll see on Monday.

Caleb's been having issues about drinking his milk...so I'm cutting back on his meals a little bit, using milk to mix his rice cereal, and not giving him much table food (doctor said stick to rice and tofu for now). So we'll see...what this means, though, is I gotta go get him more baby food, which I wasn't planning on doing...oh well...only little bit more until he's a year and able to eat more table food.

His new thing is crossing his arms. He's also been a bit of a crybaby lately. Caleb knows what he wants and what he doesn't and will let you know loudly when you are not meeting his need. Gosh...sounds like his mama...

Okay, we're watching Milk and it's kind of disturbing to see James Franco and Sean Penn full on kiss and make out.

well, baby was not cooperating so we couldn't find out if it's a boy or girl...

gotta go to Queen's for an ultrasound on Monday morning...partially to find out if it's a boy or girl, partially because doctor wants better/clearer pics of baby to determine what the spot/s he saw on baby's kidneys are. he said could be just blood vessels, but could be a cyst so he wants to make sure.

heart seemed fine. growth seemed fine. got a blurry pic of baby's profile but not much else.

caleb had a rough day. didn't drink anything except 3 oz of milk...ate his breakfast, lunch and dinner fine, though. took 2 maybe 30 minute naps. went to bed at 7:00 p.m. after a fast-kine shower since he was being a big fussy butt.

i'm tired and grouchy. finished figuring out what i'm doing tomorrow so i'm going to sleep.

holy smokes, i'm making another hairy baby. the heartburn is starting to get ridiculous again...yuck. oh well. at least this time i know what it is and that it's never going to go away so no sense trip about it too much.

looked at my week 21 pic from last time. my stomach is huge this time around. oh well. whatever. people will wonder why i've been pregnant forever cuz it looks like i should be in my 7th month or so...

gotta go nene...been getting super tired again the past few days. probs cuz i'm sleeping in the daytime, then not being able to sleep as early as i should at night.

i think i'm feeling baby again...bubbling feelings, small kine kicks. it feels so much less than what i remember of caleb, but of course what i remember with caleb was already when he was a big monster moving around in there...

i already feel like we're neglecting this next baby...we don't talk to her/him, we don't read to her/him, we don't make her/him listen to music...

i don't watch what i eat like i did with caleb, i don't watch what i lift or how i move, i'm not as on it when it comes to taking my prenatal pills...

i keep thinking, maybe when i start feeling this one move it'll be different...or maybe when we find out if it's a girl or a boy...

poor baby...will never get the undivided attention that caleb got...

my body aches...i have a kink in my shoulder/neck that is driving me nutts. i have arthritis in my right hand and it aches. the kink is making me feel a sore feeling running down the length of my entire arm. my body is rejecting being back in school. i miss caleb. i wonder if he notices that i'm not home with him after being home with him for a week. hehe...probably not cuz he has gramma back.

4 day weeks are a blessing in disguise. the money will be tighter, but hopefully the mental health will be stronger. until, that is, i realize how much the kids are missing because of it and how much harder i have to push them to learn what they need to know. then i'll just be pissed off even more.

i need a massage.

On Wednesday Caleb will be 10 months old...that's a trip! And it does make me a little sad, but also very, very happy that his cranky, colicky days are long gone. He's turning into an "easy" baby now...pretty good on a routine, eating well, developmentally sound. He seems happy, content, and like he's learning things in leaps and bounds. I'm wondering how he'll transition to having a new sister or brother...he's very clingy at times and doesn't like to be ignored. In a week we'll find out, hopefully, whether it's a brother or a sister we should expect...Dave prays for a girl...I dunno. With Caleb, before we went in for the ultrasound, I asked Dave what he thought we were having...he said boy and I agreed. This time, I don't have a clue.

Being with other parents and kids makes me see things I want to do and things I definitely don't want to do as a parent. The main thing, though, is consistent discipline and praise. I'm wondering if the "terrible twos" can be avoided or if it's just a natural course of action for kids...cuz seeing some of those "terrible two" antics from other kids...I'm gonna wanna hang Caleb up from the ceiling if I see that in him...

Anyways, tomorrow should be an adventure...heading to Maui at noon for a funeral and coming back on the 9:15 flight...which will mean it's gonna be way past Caleb's and our bedtimes by the time we get home and settled...yikes. Then the 2nd quarter starts and I'm kind of scared for it cuz I definitely don't feel as confident about 2nd quarter as I did about 1st...oh well.

We're gonna miss our first Teacher's Institute Day on Monday...wait, I'M going to miss my first one, Dave only started going since he's been forced to with me. Anyways, we're going to Maui for the day for my gramma's funeral so that will be interesting. First two times Caleb did wonderfully on the plane, we'll see about this time now that he's mobile and wants to move non-stop. My mom will come back with us on Monday night...late flight, so Tuesday and the rest of the week should be interesting.

Caleb's been waking up earlier than usual lately.....well, since we've been on break. What the heck? Usually he's still knocked out when we leave the house at around 7. This week, he's waking up much earlier than that and insisting on being out of his crib. Tried to make him just cry this morning cuz I was hella tired, but he cried for like 25 minutes so I figured it was time to get his butt out of jail. Actually, Dave went to get him but he was in need of a mommy-fix so he was still cranky until I paid undivided attention to him.

We finished his Halloween costume yesterday...saw the idea in a Parenting magazine and thought that it was something I could do. Caleb's gonna be a little tamago sushi for his first Halloween. We'll see how that goes. Anyone know where we can get those Genki sushi hapi coats?? Then we can be a sushi family...lol.

My dad will be here for the weekend...he hasn't seen Caleb since July and I hope the weekend goes smoothly. It should be fine...hopefully Dave isn't forced to drink too much. Thankfully I can't be forced to drink so it's all good.

Okay, gotta get ready and figure out Dave's lunch since I won't be home for lunch. Dave is going to enjoy his day of no harassment while he watches ESPN and goes on the computer to incessantly look at his fantasy football stuff and play bejeweled. He'll probably get in a few games of baseball too...his idea of a heavenly day. Hopefully Caleb takes a nice, long nap for him so he can play.

so on day one of our break week, i managed to clean the kitchen, vacuum the living room, and finish correcting some assignments. my back is hella sore, but that's nothing new. it's incredibly hot and sticky, which is irritating. and i wanna do something with dave and caleb tomorrow, but i just don't know what. made beef stew for dinner, but with just dave and me it'll take a while for us to finish it up. have tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onion, but no lime to make the shrimp ceviche. bought a whole bunch of apples because i figure that i need to stop eating junks and start eating fruits to cure my sweet tooth...but i did finish making the rest of my refrigerator choc chip cookies today, and that was ono. and i just really wanna eat a piece of chocolate or some ice cream but i'm trying to curb the urge. the other day at ala moana i fully cut tash off mid-sentence to say that i wanted to eat ice cream cuz i saw a guy eating a cone. so bad.

caleb is probably wondering where gramma is....he crawled to the bedroom like he usually does, looking for her, but no gramma.

i hope he sleeps better tonight than he did last night...we've been getting up to hold him and put gel on his gums when he's been waking up but last night, when i held him he immediately stopped crying so i knew it wasn't his teething...he's just wanting to be held. so i let him cry but it ended up making me and my mom wake up and stay up...so that sucks.

dave is watching the damn football game again even though he already watched it earlier. i'm mindlessly blogging cuz i'm bored. i'm getting grouchy cuz i'm so bored. but really, what is there to do??? i should go read or something...or take a nice, leisurely shower by myself, without caleb and his tub in there with me...yea, that's what i'm going to go do...

caleb had a bloody mouth today...not super bad, and good thing he never cry plenty so i didn't get all nutts. he hit his mouth on the little japanese table thing, so now i can't put that out anymore until he's at an age where he won't be liable to fall over and bump himself on it.

i was looking at his baby pictures...man...it's a trip that in about 2 months he'll be a year old already! well, at least i won't have too much time to be sad about him not being a baby anymore cuz soon we'll have another baby. good thing i have short term memory loss so although i remember how crazy it was when caleb was a baby, i don't quite remember. lol. i'm sure it will all come flooding back to me as we endure sleepless nights, disability with breastfeeding, incessant crying, paranoia, etc. lol. everyone keeps telling me that you get a nutts baby and a mellow one, so i'm hoping caleb was really the nutts one cuz if there's something more nutts than him, i'm done for.

holy smokes...i went back to look at my week 19 picture to compare what my belly looked like the first time around compared to this time...wth!!!!!! Seriously, at week 19 with Caleb, I looked normal...sheez, I never even get back to that before I got pregnant again!!!! Whoa. That's crazy. I'm in shock.

So anyways, he finally got caught, after a couple of weeks...

So I asked Dave if he thinks Caleb will try to pull that kind of crap with us. I could foresee myself being the hounding mom, making sure Caleb did all his work, double checking, making him redo, etc. I also see, though, that the kids I have who are sneaky about whiting crap out of their planner, "forgetting" their planner on the day I'm stamping grades, etc, are the ones whose parents (usually moms) are on top of them and give them hell for missing work and falling behind. So will my hounding be the cause of his sneaky behavior?

I don't remember being hounded to do my work...I just did. Dave says his parents only hounded him if he wasn't getting his stuff done...so to avoid getting hounded, he did what he needed to do. I just can't see myself not being very involved in Caleb's education...like not looking in his folders and not checking his homework every night would be weird to me. But I would also want him to learn to be independently responsible and not just on it cuz I'm on it for him...

I guess if we set the foundation up from the beginning, early education, he should be in the habit when he gets to those slacking intermediate years. I hope he has something like athletics to motivate him to do well too, and that he doesn't succumb to the pressure of being the cool dumbass.

In a way, I do hope Caleb is one of those awkward boys who doesn't blossom until he's a man so that the social part doesn't catch up with him until later on in life...hehe...like his daddy...people think I'm a butt for saying it, but seriously, you gotta see Dave's intermediate and high school pictures...

Anyways, I'm going to keep learning all the tricks these damn kids have up their sleeves so hopefully Caleb will never be able to pull one over me...lol.

Here I am, in my room, at lunchtime...which never happens cuz I know that if I don't eat lunch, everyone will suffer for it. Luckily, Dave brought me down my sandwich, in his bare hands, with no napkin, but hey, I'm not going to complain cuz at least I have lunch...lol.

Kay, this will get to be about parenthood...promise.

I'm in here with a student who has been pulling a fast one over his mom for the past couple weeks. Now, she's not a dumb parent, nor is she not a dilligent one. In fact, she's a school counselor and checks his planner daily to see that he's staying on top of his assignments. She was under the impression that teachers have not been stamping planners for the past couple weeks cuz she hasn't seen anything but his writing in there. So what's going on??? Brudda has two planners...one he shows us, one he shows mom. It all caught up with him today because I was emailing back and forth with the mom and it finally came out that this was the reason there was a lack of communication about what he's been doing this past couple weeks.

See, he was coming to tutoring after school, doing what he needed to do, turning everything in...until the last few weeks. And now he is sitting in here with me, and won't be going to the dance, because of his poor choice.

I'll continue laters...

Before I forget...

Yesterday Caleb took his first multi-step "walk." Wow. Nutts. He's 9 months 2 weeks.

Today I noticed that his right top tooth, the one just outside his bunny teeth, is out. The other side gum is hella swollen, so most likely that one's gonna pop out soon too.

His new thing is "winking"...soooo cute!!!!! It's the double eye scrunch.

I think a dimple is coming out on his right side cheek...could just be wishful thinking, but I swear I see it sometimes!

His bedtime is getting earlier and earlier...tonight he went down at 8:15...couldn't wait for his book to be read so he could go to bed. He's still eating dinner at about 7, then bocha around 7:30-8:00, then vitamins, brush teeth (oops, forgot that tonight!), read a book or two, hold him for a little bit with his paci in, then put him in the crib with his "lovey" (a shirt of mine) and he tosses for a bit, rubs his face in his lovey, and goes to sleep. Wow. I remember the days of freakin' crying like a maniac for what seemed like hours on end.

Kay, I guess I've done enough procrastinating so now I will actually go look in my school bag for what I gotta do...I just want to be lazy like the kids already!

dave and I are now soccer-moms...minivan driving soccer moms. hehe. never thought i'd succumb to the van thing, especially after driving one to my junior prom and thinking that was ridiculous, but here we are...at least it's a cool-looking van, if a van can be cool-looking...nah, i love it and it's pretty and smooth and much more powerful and roomy than our box. i miss the box, though, just like i miss my purple corolla.

trying to remember to do the kegels cuz this shishi business is yucky. plus i have a damn bladder infection, which i didn't even realize i had until doctor called following my shishi test. so i'm on antibiotics now and trying to shishi whenever the urge arises so i don't make it more worse...

starting to have those restless mid-night hours...sucks cuz i'm already tired as it is. and starting to have the restless leg feeling...and a husband who isn't nearly as sympathetic to my pregnancy pains anymore...

caleb's two teeth on the top, outside of the middle ones, are starting to come out, i think. he was hella cranky yesterday and has been waking up in the middle of the night screaming. hopefully they bus' through the gums soon so normalcy can return.

can't wait for the break next week. all i wanna do is clean house, plan for 2nd quarter, sleep, and veg.

Doctor's Visit:

• 123 lbs, up 5 lbs since the beginning of the pregnancy....
• lightheadedness, racing heartbeat due to increase in blood and changes in transitioning from sitting to standing...just gotta take it easy and try to prop my feet up while I'm sitting down
• had to give 6 vials of blood and a cup of shishi to check for all kinds of stuff...
• sex will hopefully be found out on oct 19 when we go back

It's freakin' ridiculously hot. This classroom sucks. Even with my mini fan blasting on me, it doesn't make a difference.

Yay for small victories...like my aloha print dress, which I thought would definitely not fit, actually fitting for today's "Statehood Day" Spirit Week dress up.

Caleb slept all freakin' night...he woke up at about 7:00 as we were getting ready to leave the house. Wow. He did, though, eat dinner later than usual since we were at volleyball...

My stomach hurts. No prep until the end of the day...how am I supposed to go make doodoo????

Pregnancy Updates....

Dang, I look EXTREMELY pregnant for going into my 15th week. What the heck?? My tummy is round and I can't imagine what I'm going to look like at the end of this pregnancy. I remember having a big basketball with Caleb...of course, the WAS huge, but still...

I gotta do my Kegel exercises cuz this shishi with the sneeze thing is getting ridiculous. And wouldn't be so bad, but my nose is getting all nutts so I'm sneezing choke.

I'm having those racing heartbeats again and the breathlessness has begun.

Caleb Updates...

He's been sleeping like a champ...finally. Well, I guess in hindsight we could have had him sleeping like a champ much earlier, but we gotta learn the lessons as we go as first time parents, right? Last weekend we finally had enough of getting up twice a night with him and decided that he really didn't need to eat before 5 a.m. So...he got up, cried his butt off, but then went back to sleep. Happened several nights at around 2:00 a.m...which made for us being tired, but at least now he'll sleep pretty much until 5-5:30, then get up, eat 5 or 6 ounces, and go back to sleep.

He's eating 3rd stage foods now and I can totally see how it helps him to feel more full. The little chunks are cool now...he's had vegetable beef, vegetable turkey, and spaghetti with meat sauce. I've also added rice cereal with his breakfast...he's had mixed cereal with apple/banana and oatmeal with cinnamon apple...yum. The sucky part, though, is that I've freakin' dropped two pretty much full bottles and busted them on the floor...which not only means having to lug out the vacuum and relentlessly search for glass shards, but also means wasting $1.09 a pop!

He's also getting better at using his pincer grasp or whatever the heck it's called...with his thumb and pointer finger he's better able to grasp his mum-mums or baby cheetos.

On Monday he'll be 9 months old. Nutts. Dang, that means it's 6 more months until his baby brother or sister gets here...lol.

Sooo...thought the nausea thing was over...guess again. More barfage last night. Not as bad as before, but still...

Bleeding/spotting slowed down a bit, now it's just darkish discharge. This pregnancy is so different.

I'm tired as heck...hour-2 hour nap now is no problem...and a necessity. Hope I get a lot of rest this long weekend cuz I can't do the nap thing during the school week.

More spotting/bleeding so doctor said to just kind of relax over the weekend. Fine with me...I'm tired anyways. Yesterday it was especially alarming cuz there was some tissue discharge in the toilet and there was a little bit more blood and reddish instead of brownish. I started to get sore stomach last night so that worried me a little bit, but it turned out to be doodoo sore stomach and not cramping.

Trying to get Caleb to sleep through the night...upped his meals to 3rd stage foods, making his rice cereal thicker, trying to make him drink a bottle before bed. So our new schedule is breakfast around 8, lunch around 12, dinner at 630, then bottle before bed. He did it last night, but still woke up at 2:00 howling...I let him cry for a while, then went in to give him a bottle...he only drank 4. At 400 he cried for a little bit but went back to sleep. At 630 he was up again, standing and howling, and drank 5 oz. But then, of course, he didn't want to go back to sleep. I had to get up before 5 to take Dave to school for his cross country stuff, so needless to say, I am tired as heck.

Caleb stood on his own for about 5 seconds today...I was trippin. It was so cool. But of course that means that he'll be walking well before 1...and we'll be chasing him like no nuff. Yay. Oh well, I'll hopefully lose the baby fat after this baby from chasing Caleb and tending to the new one.

I think I'm going to take a nap now cuz Caleb's napping too.

Caleb...woke up at 11:30 to eat...went back to sleep...

Woke up at 2 a.m...crying and crying...wouldn't be consoled by Dave...I took him and he fell asleep...tried to put him down, wouldn't go down and cried again, then decided it was time for him to have some up time...finally went back to sleep again at 330...with me, on the couch, with half my butt hanging off the couch and my legs positioned super awkwardly so as not to wake the dang kid...

Woke up again at 5 a.m....ate...went back to sleep...

Needless to say, I'm tired.

We are finally moving him to 3rd stage food and i'm going to try to make his rice cereal a little bit thicker...my cousin suggested that maybe it's cuz he's not getting enough calories in the day time that he still feels the need to drink milk at night. The hard part is that he doesn't want to drink his milk, especially when it's the late afternoon, early evening time. He doesn't want to drink before he goes to sleep at around 9 either. So then, inevitably, he wakes up to eat in the night. I don't know how to force him to drink cuz he arches his back and starts screaming and kicking like a freakin' tantrum throwing two year old when he doesn't want anymore and you try to force it in his mouth. He's been eating about 6 tbsp of fruit at breakfast and 7-8 tbsp of rice, vegetable, and meat for lunch and dinner. Then he gets about 22-26 ounces of milk, but that includes the dreaded nighttime feedings too...

Anyways, he's in bed now so I better get my butt to bed too...

Day two of no nausea...woohoo!!! My belly is getting round again!!! It's kind of weird. My worry is that Caleb climbing all over my belly, when I'm lying down especially, is detrimental in some way...and when he wants to walk across my stomach and chest...must not be good, I figure...

I don't want to jinx it, but I feel good today. Tired, but not nauseous. I'm sure after I get off of here I'll probably barf since I said I feel good. At around 4:30 when we got home I realized I didn't feel sick...and we just ate dinner and I took my yucky prenatal pill and I still feel good. We'll see how it goes.

For the past two days I've had some spotting, which I read is normal, but just different than my first pregnancy. The first time I wiped and saw it I was kind of surprised, but now it's just like almost pau period discharge and not blood red so I figure it's all good. Dunno what triggered it cuz there was NO penetration whatsoever and no strenuous activity, so I guess it's just one of those things.

Had to take out the body pillow again to get comfy when I'm sleeping...although it makes my legs super hot, it does lend to a more comfortable sleep throughout the night.

One of my kids told me in tutoring today that my "belly got bigger." Thanks, dude. Funny. It must be interesting, though, to see your teacher's stomach expand almost overnight!

We took Caleb to the volleyball game this past weekend...he was pretty good...we just gotta remember to take him out of the arena area to feed him (too distracting and loud inside) and to make sure we get seats pretty high up so that we don't bother anyone behind us when we stand up to carry him when he gets futless. I also have to remember not to yell too loudly while he's in my arms.

Okay, gotta go motivate myself to correct some revisions...aftr I make Caleb's food, bocha him, bocha myself, pack our lunch, etc...lol...no wonder why I don't get crap done at home...cuz I busy myself with all these other miscellaneous stuff. I have noticed, though, that I've gotten a whole lot more efficient while at work! The only thing that's going to suck is that someone is going to be coming into my classroom during my prep now. Oh well...hopefully I can just stay at my back desk and work anyways without too many interruptions or irritations. I remember when someone else floated into my classroom and I had to get out of there or feel the need to explode! Lol.

I'm so incredibly OVER this whole nausea, dry-heaving thing. It sucks royally. And I know, I'm lucky to have it as mild as I do, but still, it sucks. No matter what I'm doing, when that 3:30 mark hits, it's over. This is the 13 week, which marks the end of the first trimester, so I pray it ends soon.

My mom just gave me an article to read about how it is to add on another baby to the mix...it's gonna be hella crazy, that's all I know. I'm sure we'll fall into a rhythm, but I just can't even begin to imagine it. Like now, once we get home from school, it's Caleb time...granted, we're lucky to have my mom here so I can still cook dinner and Dave can correct papers and whatevers...but to think of not one, but two feedings, bochas, playing, and soothing...whew. Of course, nothing could have prepared us for what life with Caleb would be like, so I know that nothing but the sheer experience of going through it will prepare us for what life with two will be like. Yikes. I'm going sleep now.

It's hot.

This weekend has been pretty restful...on our holiday off, Dave and I got to do three loads of laundry, eat lunch, take a short nap, and watch Harry Potter. The best part about the day was sitting in AC to watch the movie and feeling like we got something done with the laundry...

Saturday we ended up not having to pick up Tash because she had other things she wanted to do...so we just cruised. I got to make my crab rice, finally, and I got to take two nice naps. We even made it to Sam's Club.

Today was all about correcting papers...which we got done. Now it's 3:30 and I think I want to take a nap...it's hot as heck and I'm feeling barfy. After that, I'll figure out dinner and figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow. Yay.

it's so freakin' ridiculously hot in this classroom...try walk in...it's like walking into a freakin' oven. and even with one new fan, no make difference. i like the admin come sit in my room for a period so they can see how incredibly distracting the heat is...

kay, happy kind of friday...

I'm pooped. Tired, tired, tired. Grouchy, grouchy, grouchy.

You know, even though at 10% pay cut is gonna hurt...the idea of two Fridays off just makes me smile a little bit...especially today, when all I want to do is get a good sleep.

Last night my dreams weren't as crazy, but I did have to get up at 1:15 with Caleb to feed him...and then, of course, I couldn't fall back asleep so I got up, washed his bottles (usually I'll just leave um soaking in the sink so that I can go back to sleep), and read some in my book. I hate that. That's why I end up so tired...but I can't seem to figure it out and just go back to sleep.

Friday is our first holiday...and we are really going to have a holiday because the Colmenares grandparents are going to take Caleb for the day. My mom gets to go out with some friends...and when Dave asked me what I wanted to do, all I could think of was, "SLEEP." I wanna eat a good lunch out together somewhere, and sleep. That's what I want to do.

Next week Wednesday is my second doctor's appointment for this pregnancy. At least I know to expect that it will be anti-climatic. I'm interested to see how much weight I've gained since the last appointment a month ago. I told Leish yesterday that by the end of the day I look like I'm 3 months pregnant...then I realized later on that, yes, I am 3 months pregnant...it's my 12th week and after next week I'll move into my 4th month. That's crazy. Time flies when you're nauseous, tired, and grouchy.

So my latest wondering has been on what the sleeping situation is going to be like with baby #2. Another crib??? Heck no. I think the best idea I've heard so far is to buy a trundle bed...so my mom can sleep on the regular bed part, Caleb can sleep on the drawer pull-out part, and baby can go in the crib. Another idea, which makes a lot of sense too, is to buy Caleb a toddler bed, then put the crib in our room and baby can sleep in the crib. I like that idea too. A toddler bed will fit in the space the crib is in, and then I don't have to buy another bed and get rid of the full size one we have for my mom to sleep on. Hmm...I like that idea too. We'll see.

Another wondering....what are we going to do with the car situation? With just the four of us, the XB is still all good...but try to put anyone else in there, and it's a tight squeeze. With two seats in the back, I'll barely fit in the middle of the two...which means just one other passenger...if we had to take Tash and my mom out at the same time, it couldn't happen. That's another one I'll put on the backburner...when the time comes, if we need it, we'll figure it out.

Kay, time to bocha Caleb and myself and start heading to bed. Please, please, please, Caleb, sleep all night...yea, but even if he does, bet you anything I don't...

Dang, Caleb almost made it through the night...woke up at 5:30, but didn't want to take his bottle from Dave...my mom tried again at 6:15 and then he drank it...

I'm starting to have those weird, vivid pregnancy dreams again...they're so tiring.

Now that I'm in my 12th week, I'm hoping the nausea calms down a bit...it's been good in the mornings and throughout the work day, but once about 3:30 hits, I start feeling kind of weird. It lasts through dinner and bocha, then after about 8:30-9:00 I feel okay again...

Happily, since the mornings are good, I'm enjoying ONE diet coke...which really makes me happy in the morning...lol. Previously the soda made my stomach feel yucks so I was barely drinking at all...yay.

Holy smokes...Caleb slept the WHOLE night! He didn't have good naps yesterday, in fact, his long nap was taken at around 6:15 so I was worried that he wouldn't sleep good. But he went down at around 9:15 after drinking his final bottle...and woke up at at 6:45 this morning!!!!! The only thing that has changed recently is feeding him a little bit more...so maybe that helps!!

I, on the other hand, did not sleep the whole night...but at least it was just shishi wake ups and I was able to go right back to sleep after that. Wow. I wonder how come my eye was still twitching as we drove to school, though...maybe just not ready to face the week...

Ill....sometimes I hate where my classroom is located...like when there are stupid kids hanging out in the hall acting like idiots...I better check my attitude before the day starts cuz I'm hella grouchy already...

Caleb's two top teeth have now emerged...finally. Hopefully that will be it for a little while and he'll have some time to adjust to those before new ones start busting through.

Last night he went to bed on his own after his bottle at 9. Woke up at around 1:45 to eat...woke up at 5:00 to eat...then he woke up when we were leaving for school a little after 7. Not bad, but hopefully he'll be able to eliminate at least one night feeding soon. The thing is, it's not like he's just sipping when he gets up to eat at those times...he's inhaling his 6 ounces and then going back to sleep. I don't mind getting up with him if he's hungry...I KNOW what it's like to have delayed gratification when you're hungry and it's not fun...lol.

Yay for a short day...boo for "collaboration" meeting...yay for the middle of the week already...

It's gonna be a rough week. Caleb has been being a fussy butt, not sleeping like he needs to. I know his teeth are coming in, and that's sore, but sheesh. Yesterday when we got home from school he had only taken one nap...usually he takes three. He slept while Dave was carrying him, but once he was put down, he started to cry like a maniac. Picked him up, slept again, but didn't want to be put down. Did this a few times. Bedtime came and he didn't want to go to bed. Kept crying and crying...more like screaming and wailing. Pissing me off. Got out of bed...carried him and said that starting tonight his butt is going down by himself...he has to learn that whole thing all over again. He slept from about 10:30 - 4:40...Dave fed him, he went back to sleep...and then someone's freakin' car alarm goes off just long enough to wake his butt up again...dammit. So he's crying again, won't go back down...grrr. Needless to say, I needed a soda this morning. And tomorrow's going to be worse...

I'm so freakin' tired. Went to bed at around 9:30 last night...fed Caleb right before that...and that little bugger wakes up at 11:15 wanting to eat again!!! WTH. I really can't even remember what time he woke up again after that. I know I was up after that feeding for a good hour or so, tossing and turning and then finally reading until I could fall asleep again. I woke up feeling good this morning, but by the time homeroom was pau, I was feeling it already.

I went back to read some of my old posts to see what the pregnancy was like around this time...but I never really start blogging until a little bit later cuz we didn't tell people until about the 14th week. I'm in my 10th week now, so we have 3 more weeks until the end of the first trimester...yesterday I only felt yucky in the evening, which might have been partly because of being exhausted around that time. We'll see how this evening goes... I have group, so we'll see.

Seriously, it scares me to think of what life will be like with TWO BABIES. It's all I can muster to have enough energy to play with Caleb when we get home from work until he goes to sleep in the night...and I seriously have to amp myself up to bocha him and prepare his food for the following day before I can get to sleep. I remember how crazy tired we were in the first three months with Caleb...and now we'll have not only the baby to take care of, but Caleb too. It'll be nutts. I'll go nutts. I'll cry a lot. Dave will hopefully be able to maintain some semblance of sanity, even when he has to go back to work. And thank GOD my mom will be with us to help. Seriously, I know people do it on their own, and I know I would do it if I had to, but having help is the best thing EVER. I used to say that I would have kids on my own if I never got married...haha, yea right! Props to single moms or moms whose husbands don't help cuz I dunno how they do it.

Caleb's top two teeth are breaking through...finally! His bottom teeth came out in March so we've been waiting for a while for more to emerge.

He is adept at crawling now...he can't go fast, but he can get where ever he wants to. Sometimes, though, he doesn't understand that he has to go around things and gets frustrated when he meets an obstacle.

Today he's been a fussy butt...hopefully it's because of the pain of the emerging teeth and not anything else.

Week 10 has begun. I'm debating whether or not to post pics of the growing belly this time...probs not as often, and probs only when I start really looking pregs instead of just getting a round, soft belly.

So Friday I felt pretty good...no barfing...then Saturday came. Part of it was due to overeating cuz I felt so freakin' hungry, and part of it, I think, was due to the yucky prenatal pill. After taking it with my new routine dinner...cup o' noodle...I proceeded to barf up all the noodles...and since it was right after eating, it was kind of funny to see the exact same thing I put in, in the same consistency, come right back up. I'm hoping today will be better...I'm going to try, even though I'm starving like a mutha, not to overeat so that I don't feel so gross.

Woohoo...first day of for real school tomorrow...we'll see how it goes...I got buckets in my classroom so I'll just barf in that if I have to. Lol.

I hate my fat stomach. It's so round already...what the heck??? That's what I get for not letting my abdominal muscles mend. I know I'm going to complain about it a lot...and then Dave's going to get busted cuz his answer is, "Well, you're pregnant, what do you expect? What do you want to do about it?" Lol.

I feel bloated. No barfing today, some dry heaves, though. I don't feel so wonderful, but that could be due to exhaustion and gas too.

Caleb bit me last night...he bit my chin and it was actually sore! He's been doing this cute little kiss thing...open mouth, of course! Lol. He likes to french kiss mommy.

Soooo, after not barfing yesterday, I thought the previous day was just a fluke and figured maybe I don't really have dreaded morning sicknes...nope...ate breakfast today, took my prenatal pill, and barfed. Yuck. I'm just wondering how it's going to work when school starts...the bathroom is not that close...I guess I could run over to k2...I'll just pray hard that God lets me at least have these bouts of barfing before school starts, at recess, and during lunch or after school...lol.

It's so hella hot these days...and I noticed when we went in for registration day that one of my stand fans is all bus' so I may have to replace it...and though it's not frugal to spend money on fans for my classroom, in the long run, for sanity's sake, i think it will be a good investment.

Caleb's taking a nap right now...yesterday he didn't nap in the early evening, was super tired, and went down at 7:30...which made for the early wake up time this morning. So I'm hoping that this evening nap will help him to stay up until 9 so he can wake up a little bit later.

Last official day of summer tomorrow...nutts. Gotta figure out lunches for me, Dave, and my mom...and actually plan a little bit too...lol. I have barely thought about school at all this summer...never went into my class until registration on Friday...my mind is just not there at all...

What the hell am I doing up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning?????

Caleb....brutha went to sleep at 7:30 p.m. last night because he refused to take an early evening nap and was hella tired...so of course, he's now up at the crack of dawn...tonight I'm MAKING him take a nap in the early evening so he can go to bed a little bit later and wake his butt up a little bit later too. But today, oh well...he can have his way.

Tomorrow is the official last day of summer...how nutts is that?? We enjoyed our summer, except for the bout of flu. Holy smokes...by next summer, we'll have two babies instead of just one!

Okay, I'm too tired to post more right now...

Sooo...pregnancy #2...I guess I should chronicle this one too...

I've been feeling a lot more nauseous than I remember feeling with Caleb. Yesterday it finally resulted in barfing...after lunch and after dinner...which really sucked.

This morning after breakfast I felt queasy, dry heaved some, but managed to keep the food down. I'm hungry again now, so I'm making some ramen...hopefully that stays down too.

I'm not sure how feeling like crap is going to mesh with starting the school year and teaching...like, seriously, am I going to have to excuse myself and go outside and barf? How am I going to do that? Well, I'll figure it out when I get there...I'm sure I'm not the first teacher in history who had to deal with barfing...

Dave is wonderful...he is going to have to be cuz some things, like laundry and straightening up, I just don't have energy for. I'll still do the cooking, cuz that can't be avoided, and making Caleb's meals and stuff for him, but Dave's going to have to pitch in a bunch. Luckily, he's cool with that, so it's all good...I feel bad sometimes, but he just takes it in stride and does what I ask him to. I better be appreciative and not bitchy about it.

Kay, water's boiling...let's hope the ramen stays down...

Caleb will be a big brother sometime around March 6. He'll be just shy of 15 months old. We have a lot of adventures to come...

Caleb has been screaming for almost an hour now. He is extremely tired, but will not go to sleep. He has been having a hard time going down, even for naps, because of his preoccupation with standing and sitting up in his crib. Right now he is refusing to stay lying down and is screaming his head off.

Soon it will be time for him to drink milk...so if we pick him up to feed him, I'm afraid that he'll come to expect that we will pick him up after a while. This is WORSE than the first time we tried to have him sleep on his own....

This is HARD...

Caleb has mastered the art of standing up in his crib...so instead of going down for his naps like he's supposed to, he will get up and stand in the crib and look around and play. It takes him forever and a day to go down for his nap...

Tomorrow we're lowering the mattress...which will only serve to piss him off, but will hopefully result in better naps and bedtimes.

He doesn't seem to like applesauce too much. We just started fruits with him now that we've worked through vegetables and meats...and we thought he'd LOVE applesauce, but no, he makes an ugly face and will eat it but not enthusiastically. I'd think the fruits would be the best but he likes his meat (beef mix) and squash and sweet potato still.

Today is Day 4 without Caleb...I have my bouts of intense depression and crying, but since I've been so out of it and in and out of sleep, it hasn't actually been as bad as I thought it would be. Now that I'm starting to feel better, I'm getting impatient, though, and just want to be fever free so I can be with him again. I'm just praying that he isn't sick at all. I started feeling funny on Thursday night/Friday morning, then it just got super bad Friday thru now. Today is the first day I feel semi-normal, even though there's still an off and on lingering fever. At noon I took my temp, it was fine. I ate lunch and just took it again (1:30) and it's 99.5. My throat is super sore too and my sinuses are still all messed up.

I realized that my lesson in all of this is that I had to learn to give up control when it comes to Caleb and trust others to take care of him....and it would never have happened unless something like this, where it HAD to happen. So far he seems content and happy at his grandparent's house...he's still smiling and active and Grandma Colmenares says he always perks up when the phone rings so she thinks he knows it's either me or Dave calling. I can't wait to see him again...and even though I'm not the most patient person, I have to remember that I do not want to get Caleb sick so I have to really wait until I'm fully fever free before I am around him again.

Caleb's growth is amazing...every day it seems like he's able to do something new or better...

Right now he's really good at sitting up...he can't really get there on his own, but if you sit him down, he'll stay there for a long time now.

He can move himself around pretty quickly...especially if he has his sights set on something he wants.

He will "come" to you now...like if he's being carried and someone tells him to "come" he'll usually kind of reach out to you.

When he's on the floor and wants you to lift him up, he'll reach for you and grab at your hands.

He makes a gurgling sound...loves it...will lie on his back and just gurgle away.

He vocalizes a lot now...different sounds, shrieks, babbles...

He no longer has to sleep on his belly...in fact, he'll roll around and seems to like sleeping on his side a lot.

He can't crawl...but he'll lift his butt all the way up in the air with his hands and toes on the ground...or he'll move his hands, then fall forward, then get up again and repeat until he reaches his destination...but his favorite is to be holding on to your hands and standing up and "walking".

He's super smiley and energetic now...like he can't keep still at all...it's cool that he's not a bump on a log, but it sure gets tiring fast, especially cuz he's so heavy!

I'm just thoroughly amazed at everything he does...and I know I'm going to miss many milestones while I'm at work and he's home with gramma...oh well.

In the book I was reading the character was talking about how life changes when you become a parent...and though it sounds so cliche', it really is true...my life does not revolve around me anymore...not my career, not my wants, not my needs...it revolves solely around Caleb and us as a family. Our schedule, our plans, our time...all dedicated to what Caleb needs. It's a trip...I never really understood it before (when I thought about other parents), but I totally get it now. My first thought in the morning...not what do I need, or what am I going to do today...what does Caleb need, what are WE going to do today...it's a change I love...I know I still need time of my own, and so does Dave, but really, time with Caleb and just seeing what he does and providing for him, that is what life is really all about now.

since we've been on maui caleb's schedule is a little bit out of wack...but hopefully he'll be able to slide back into his routine fairly easily when he gets back home...

two more days...then back on the plane, where caleb will probably bless us with making doots again. lol.

once we get home we're going to have to seriously start moving stuff and figuring out how to configure our living room mess so that caleb can't get into too much mischief...he's moving quickly now, especially when he sees something he wants (usually paper or wires). no crawling yet, but he's doing a strange okole in the air, on his toes and hands movement...

right now he's taking a nap...a kind of long one...hopefully he still sleeps good tonight. sleeping between him and dave is not fun...caleb moves around a lot and snores, and dave snores LOUD so i have to shake his head cuz caleb stirs when dave snores too loud...it does not make for restful sleep at all. i'll be glad when we're back in our own bed and caleb's back in his crib where i don't have to worry about him falling off!

We called it...we said, guaranz caleb going take a crap on the plane...well, he decided to make doots right before we boarded...we're waiting by the gate for them to call "people traveling with children under the age of 5" and what does he start doing??? Pushing and grunting...

So, I got to do my first diaper change in the airplane bathroom...which wouldn't have been too bad except for Caleb not understanding what was going on and whimpering/crying as I changed him. Then I was embarrassed because the flight attendant had to go in to retrieve the doodoo diaper that I had thrown into the garbage in there.

Caleb wasn't too bad in the plane...he fussed because he was sleepy and did some screeching (seriously, is that the right way to spell it??)...and this time it was DADDY who could calm him and put him to sleep.... :-(

Right now it's 9:20 and the little boy is still up and playing with his toys...no crib to throw him into and our bedtime routine kind of went out the window since we're sleeping in the living room with him...we'll see how tonight's sleep goes...

And btw, our luggage weighed 48 pounds...garsh...

Tonight while I was at hula Dave said Caleb got even closer to crawling....he put him down in the middle of the living room and Caleb scooted himself to the ps2...then he put um back again and he scooted to the ps2 again. Dave says by the time we come back from Maui he'll be crawling...he did have his FIRST sleeping through the night on Maui so maybe he'll have his first crawling on Maui too.

Tomorrow we go on the plane...and though our first experience was all good, I'm interested to see how this time goes. Caleb is such a squirmy boy so I foresee the sitting still in our laps to be a big problem. Dave just hopes he doesn't take a big crap right at the beginning of the flight...I just hope he doesn't scream the whole way there. We'll pray hard tonight and tomorrow before we get on the plane.

It'll be interesting to see how this longer vacation goes too...2 nights at my mom's in Lahaina and 3 nights at my dad's in Waiehu. And since we don't have the luxury of a crib there, he'll be sleeping with us...which means I won't be getting a good sleep at all!!!! Oh well.

I better go sleep...he's sleeping now but he didn't eat too well today so he may need a feeding tonight...he was refusing his bottle and food for lunch...so instead of close to 30 oz of milk and 3 meals, he had 2 meals and 22 oz of milk. We'll see if that tides him over to the morning...he only took one doots today, so maybe he's still full. lol.