Party Crunch

I've planned FIVE parties in ONE weekend, at MY house. Seriously. This is not a joke. It started with an incentive program with my ballet students...they could earn "points" through hard work, listening, being a good example and overall improvement. If they achieved a certain number of points then they would qualify for a party. It seemed simple enough in the beginning. Then, the girls (whom Christian calls "The Baa-yay Girls") started getting excited: "Can we have the party at your house?" (Twist arm) "Can each class have their own class party, instead of one big party?" (Apply pressure to twisting arm.) When I think about what they talked me into, I become very glad that I am not raising girls! :) So, this weekend is THE weekend. The weekend of Baa-yay parties. Christian has been SO excited! He loves the ballet girls...big surprise here, they adore him and run around and play with him every time he sees them. The last time we were at the dance studio, we were leaving and he said, "There are a lot of friends at baa-yay, right Mama?" Yes, sweetie. There are a lot of friends at Ballet. Sooooo cute! I could eat him!

I'm packing a lot into each day these days and really hoping that a) I can get it all done, and 2) that Peanut stays put for a couple to (ideally) 3 or 4 more weeks. Just this week, I've ordered the curtains and blackout curtains for our bedroom (where Peanut will sleep for the first 3 to 4 months.) Thanks to the HGTV backyard make-over show we did, we have french doors in the bedroom and have been enjoying a beautiful view onto the garden. However, a newborn is going to need a dark room in the beginning, so this became a priority. I'm also trying to create some organization for the room my boys will share. The closets are nicely sized, but are just big, open spaces, so closet organization stuff became necessary. It was harder than I anticipated to choose what we need, but I've finally decided and now just need to put in my order. Last on my to-do list for this week, was catching up on laundry. I had gotten so behind that I was staring down about 8 large loads of laundry that seemed insurmountable with my one washing machine and dryer. So, I packed up the laundry, my best friend, and some junk food and headed over to a near-by laundromat. Eight loads, 3 hours, and about 5000 calories later, we had clean clothes! Brilliant!
P.S. When you're pregnant, perfect strangers feel free to converse, discuss the size of your belly and sometimes even touch you. I got the gamut of these that night. It's just such an interesting dynamic.

On my short list of grievances, I am still desperately missing my dog Buddy. I think of him all of the time. I had nightmares about him all night last night, but had one good dream early this morning. It was simple: I dreamt that I came home, walked in the front door and he was standing there with one of his doggy friends, Lucy, and they both had perky ears and big grins for me. I cried, "Buddy!!!!", then woke up. I decided it was a good note to wake up on and quickly got out of bed. The vet called today, and didn't say why...but, I know why...they have his ashes ready for me. I didn't call back. Baa-yay parties first, dealing with grief and ashes next. I'm also dealing with horrible allergies, which I can only assume are worsened by my pregnant state. I deal with minimal to no allergies normally, so this is really throwing my for a loop. I've been doing saline rinses for the congestion (works amazingly) and eye drops for my red, itchy eyes. I still kinda want to scratch my eyes out, but I think I'm starting to get used to it a little. I read that acupuncture can really help allergy symptoms and that it is very good for pregnant women. So, I got a referral from a friend and am doing my first-ever acupuncture appointment on Monday. I hope it works! I'll let you know...

Well, I've got 2 parties of my own tomorrow, plus a birthday party I'm taking Christian to in the morning, so I better wind down asap. And thanks....to whoever is reading. I always feel like I'm getting just a little bit of therapy by writing all of this down. And to think that some people are actually reading it is so cool. I feel supported. And I appreciate it. Truly.