It’s been an interesting spring and summer. As you all know, I had my thyroid out in May. I’ve recovered very nicely and the scar is very pretty, actually. It’s time I started Vitamin E and/or Mederma on it to get it to fade and remain supple. I’m on 125 mcG of synthroid, and after 30 days, it put my thyroid levels right back to where they should be. That, in turn, has put my cycle right back to where it should be (so far – we’ll see if the communists invade on the 23rd), so hopefully, a second pregnancy is hopefully imminent. However, on the outside chance that I might not be able to conceive, Joe and I have been talking about adoption. Michigan has a deal where, if you adopt from the pool of DHS kids, the state pays for the adoption. There is a website that has pictures and bios of the kids that are waiting for permanent placement. It’s so very sad. Like, right now there are two-year old twins, a boy and a girl, that are up for placement. They have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and had some drug exposure during gestation, but they have very little physical impairments and some developmental delays. For instance, they haven’t been walking very long, and the girl is still not running. They are beautiful. And if I could, I would go to where they are and take them home tomorrow. It was them that made me broach the subject of adoption with Joe. I was … nervous to bring it up to him. I wasn’t sure how he’d feel about adopting kids of a different race (the twins are African-American). He’s totally all for it and looked at me like I was crazy-cakes for even thinking that he would have a problem with racially different kids being ours. “If they’re ours, they’re ours. No matter what.” But we’d never talked about it before so I honestly didn’t know. Anyway, we talked about it at length, and we are going to probably adopt whether or not I get pregnant again. Ideally, we’d like to adopt siblings. We’re going to try for a biological baby for six months and in the meantime, start the paperwork with the state. The lag time is so that we can get a couple of semesters with both of us in school full time and see how we handle it. Joe’s right in thinking that we have had a lot of things going on in the past few months, so taking our time is probably prudent. And I brought up that I’m kind of baby-crazy right now, so am totally thinking with my uterus and heart right now.
On other fronts, Joe is doing great in school – as I knew he would be. He’s gaining his confidence in himself back and as a result, he and I are getting along gloriously. Our relationship is really, really great.
Emeline continues to be a four year old. I’m a bit concerned about her bouts of rage – tonight’s culminated in all toys being removed from her room and no story, song, or tickle spider for bedtime. I also laid down the law. I told her that we were done with the screaming, the hitting, the kicking, the crying, the tantrums and that the next time it happened, I was emptying her room of everything but her mattress, her pillow, and a blanket. Her eyes got big and she stopped her fit pretty much immediately. I’m going to talk to her pediatrician about it. Those with children – was this a phase you experienced?
(Random – I just found a huge pimple on my browbone and dammit it hurts. I digress.) Sometimes, it’s really hard to keep my patience in check and I find myself sending her to her room and going outside for a mom time out. But most of the time, she’s a total love. She tells us she loves us all the time and is a total snuggle bunny. She’s smart as hell, too. Last week, I wasn’t fast enough spelling words for her to write on her picture (she draws and colors CONSTANTLY) so she sounded out the words “go” and “to” and wrote them. Right there in front of me. I was astounded. With Joe in school most nights, she and I go for lots of walks and trips down to the park. She also has a bike that she likes riding and a scooter. She does a lot of imaginative play and has taken to telling stories about everything and talking to the girl in the mirror - like Anne Shirley. Hee! She needs a sibling in the worst way. Or at least more face-time with kids her own age. I’m hoping with kindergarten, she gets more friends that we can hang out with.
As for me, well, I’ve (mostly) quit smoking and am trying to get 10,000 steps in each day. I have been walking/running/biking as many days a week as possible, as well as keeping my calories at about 1500/day. I’m down about 10 lbs so far, but am taking it slow and steady this time around. It’s mostly for maintenance and not gaining weight. I have a bunch of energy and am expanding my cooking repertoire and am trying to cook more whole and seasonal foods. I’m on an organizing kick – I built a bookcase out of six vintage apple crates to house all of Emeline’s art supplies. Next up: converting kitchen cabinets from the Habitat ReStore into toy storage and getting my sewing supplies in order. Also, I need to get my machine cleaned.
We’re going to Minneapolis in a week for my brother’s wedding and I need to bust my ass on the flower girl dresses – one is 80% done, the other 0%. But, they’ll get done. The Ya-Ya’s are having a Ya-Ya weekend at my parent’s cabin the weekend of my birthday. WOOHOO!! Will be a lot of fun.
And of course, HARRY POTTER!!! WOOOHOOO!!! Ahem. I are a dork.
It’s amazing how much some synthroid and some exercise can change your outlook on life.