Father's Day

I should begin by saying that I started this post a few days ago but I could never quite get it right, hence why it's being posted a bit late.

When C and I met, I had NO idea the depth of his abilities as a father. I had no idea when A was born. I just didn't.

He is amazing with her. There are no words that can describe the bond between the 2 of them. I remember being in the hospital after she was born and being in awe. For the most part, we tried to keep her with us at night as much as possible. There was one night that she was a bit fussy (BF was NOT going well at all) so C laid down with her on his cot and they slept like that for most of the night. He was so careful and so gentle with her. I was so worried that he was going to roll and smother her (totally ridiculous now that I look back on it) but he knew where she was the whole time.

I had an inkling that he was going to be a good dad but I never imagined that he was going to be as involved and gentle and patient as he is. You see, my husband has no patience. When "they" say that you marry your father, it is 100% correct in this case. This includes the good and bad traits (lol). My dad had no patience when I was a kid. He's better now but still has his moments. C is very much like him. But the limits to his patience with A have astounded me. He has his moments as we all do but this is one area where I can say he truly, truly surprised me.

So C, Happy Father's Day. I hope you know how much we both love and appreciate you!!! And I know that I can't wait to see you with this little one too. I'm sure you will continue to astound me.

Happy Father's Day to my dad also. I've written about him in the past so I won't rehash it but he is amazing also. I can't imagine my life without him. And he is an incredible "Bop" to A. I never thought he would be as awesome as he is!

xoxo

8 x 8

Des tagged me so here goes! (Sorry for the delay Des!)

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:

* Vacation in about 3 weeks
* Our anniversary dinner at Ruth's Chris and a morning to sleep in after
* The arrival of Baby McQ #2
* Finishing this #&&@^$@$ house
* Swimming in the pool that is finally ready after 5 weeks of treatment
* Watching Amelia grow up and be a fantastic big sister
* Losing weight and getting into shape in the fall
* My brother moving back to the east coast next year


8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:

* Went to work
* Played Guitar Hero with C
* Played blocks with A
* Made dinner
* Read books to A and put her to bed
* Folded laundry
* took a shower
* Made the grocery list and left it on my desk. oops.

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:

* Go on a nice vacation with my husband and just relax
* Have more patience with things I cannot control
* Visit my brother again
* Lose weight and feel better about myself
* Know when this child is arriving
* Watch my daughter be a flower girl for the first time
* Run 5K's again
* Successfully decorate a cake

8 SHOWS I WATCH:

* Army Wives
* The First 48
* Sprout's Good Night Show (does that count?)
* Family Guy (only when C is watching it)
* House Hunters
* Law & Order (any of them)
* ??
* ??

8 FAVORITE FOODS:

* Ice cream
* Nachos
* Coffee
* Lobster ravioli
* Lobster
* Extra cheese pizza
* PB&J
* Pizza

8 PLACES I'VE TRAVELED:

* France
* Toronto
* Florida
* San Francisco
* Las Vegas
* Aruba
* St Thomas and St Maarten
* New York

8 PLACES I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL:

* Ireland
* Australia
* Hawaii
* Italy
* Alaska
* Key West
* St Lucia
* anywhere were the drinks are fruity and the pool is clean

8 PEOPLE I TAGGED

I don't think I have 8 people I can tag but here goes:

*Shelby at Irish Mama
*Meghan at I've Won the Megabucks
*Karen at Venezie Bags
ok so I have 3. Sue me.

:)

It's been a while . . .

And I really do not have a good excuse other than, I've been really really busy at work and at home. I'm getting a slight reprieve at work today and although I should be off documenting processes and procedures for my maternity leave, I'm procrastinating! This could be a long rambling post catching everyone (the whole 2 people that read this blog semi-regularly. lol) up on what has been happening at the McQ household. You've been warned.

First and foremost . . . CONGRATULATIONS MEGHAN!!!!! My dear friend Meghan had twin girls on May 27 (also my little bro's b-day so a good day!). Welcome to the world Bridget and Emily! Now let mommy get some sleep! hehe

The house is coming along - the contractors finished up on May 22 and C and I have been working on painting and drywall touch up work since then. The half bath is painted and just last night we painted A's room. We are waiting on the plumber to put the sink, vanity, and toilet in but there's really not a huge rush for that. We've been w/o a half bath for 5 years now, we can wait a little longer. Tonight we are going to buy A's new furniture and we can hopefully get her in her room in the next 1-2 weeks. According to my calculations (and my husband may have more stuff that I'm not thinking of) we still need to do the following before that can happen:

• Sort through the boxes in the middle of A's room and purge/reorganize (this is all our stuff)
• Prime the linen closet
• Install the rest of the flooring in linen closet (we ran out when the contractors were doing it - oops)
• Move remaining stuff from bullet #1 into linen closet
• Paint trim and doors in bathroom and A's room
• Paint ceiling in A's room
• Put trim back up around door in A's room
• Thoroughly clean the floor in A's room (it's a mess from paint and drywall residue)
• Thoroughly clean the windows in A's room
• Install closet fixtures in A's room (this could wait - not essential)

I figure if we divide and conquer, we can get it all done next week. Hopefully. I'm an expert trim painter so I'm sure I'll be busy with that while he is working in the linen closet but we'll see. I will post pics of everything once it's done!

C and his brothers have also ROCKED on the outside work. I cannot thank them enough for all the time and effort they have put in!

On the baby front, all is well. I am 29 weeks (per the above adorable ticker. hehe) and just chugging along. I'm about as big now as I was when I delivered A so I can't wait to see myself in 10 weeks. Right now we are still planning on VBAC but I am booking a tentative C-section for the 41 week mark in case I just don't go into labor on my own. My midwife and I talked about induction but we really don't feel it's in my best interests so we (C and I) decided that we'd let my body go to about 41 weeks before we called it quits. So at my next appointment, I'll be booking it with Dr F for anywhere between Aug 27-31, her schedule permitting. Hopefully we won't need it but it's there if we do.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Cape (after swimming, of course) for my brother's family wedding party. We are doing a clambake at my parents house on Sunday so it should be a good time. I'm looking forward to some quality time with family. Tonight I need to go out and find something to wear!

Weekends are filling up fast between now and the arrival of Baby McQ #2. It's nuts actually! But at least we'll be busy!

Adios for now - I hope to be back next week with some good pics of the house and the party!

This is hard

I'm in a whiny mood so please feel free to ignore this post. And here is my disclaimer before I even begin:

I know how lucky I am. I know the long road that it took for us to get here. I'm not complaining, just venting before I lose it. I would not trade this experience for anything.

I'm not superwoman, as much as I try to pretend I am. Things get to me after a while and I just can't deal anymore. I'm tired, my feet are swollen, I can't get my rings on, I have little extremities poking places that are making it hard to breath at times, my 2 year old is pushing major buttons, and I'm faced with my nemesis, drywall dust, this week. Again, I know how lucky I am but it's getting old. And given that it's only May, it's going to get considerably worse. Most days I can just shrug it all off but some days, it just gets to me.

I'm sorry to everyone if I'm cranky, pissy, whiny, and downright bitchy. I truly am. I'm just trying to find a temporary "normal" that I can live with until August.

Mother's Day

I have a hard time writing about Mother's Day because I know there are so many people who are where I used to be. All I can say is that I wish that everyone can experience being a mother in their lives and my heart aches for those who are waiting. I apologize in advance if any part of my post hurts or offends anyone. This is my blog and it's where I post about my feelings so I cannot apologize for my feelings.

As usual, A went above and beyond for me and I loved it all. That being said, the best part of my day, every day, is when she first sees me either in the morning or after work. The look on her face and the way it just brightens and breaks into a huge smile is the best feeling in the world. If I could be assured that I would get that same look every day between now and when I die, I would not need another gift ever (not that I need them anyway, but you know what I mean). I'm not foolish enough to think that will happen b/c you know, we do have the teenage years coming up in 11 years. LOL I have a feeling I'll see enough scowls then to last me a lifetime and make me rue the day I ever gave my mom a hard time.

I cannot even begin to imagine what this little one will be like but I cannot wait to meet him or her. This week, it's a boy. This changes every week with me but I guess I'm entitled as I am the mama. C felt the baby kick for the first time last night and it was awesome. He never had that opportunity with A b/c she was breech for so long and never did kicks that you could feel from the outside. This is a whole new experience for both of us and it rocks. I find it very hard to believe that next year I will be a mom to 2 on Mother's Day (fingers crossed, of course b/c everyone knows that nothing is certain unfortunately).

As of my OB appointment this coming Friday, I am on 2 week visits. How the hell did that happen??? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was gagging and dry heaving. In 2 weeks, I'll be in the 3rd trimester - really???? Can you tell that this blows my mind? I think it's more that I'm in denial about this little one arriving and everything that still needs to be done. C is making awesome progress (b/c he rocks!!) on the list and the contractors will be here Monday so I think we'll be ok. I started a list today of stuff we need to buy for both A and the little one before August. It's not a short list. LOL

Rainy Saturday

It's definitely a rainy, dreary Saturday here in New England. We have not seen much of the sun this week at all but maybe tomorrow?!?!?

I'll start with some updates to previous posts (in bulleted form b/c i'm really lazy sometimes):

• My brother and J tied the knot on Thursday in Yosemite. They sent some pics and it was gorgeous. I really am happy for them even if I'm disappointed that we were not there. Congrats L and J! xoxo
• My husband and my BIL's (J and J) just rule. Last weekend they put the swingset back together, laid down new deckboards, built a retaining wall, and other thing. Thanks guys!!!

That's really it for the updates. We had our second swimming class this AM and A had fun but I don't think she enjoyed it as much as last week. She was also tired and has been a royal brat since we got home. So I'm blaming that. C took some pics today and if they aren't too bad (aka of me), I'll post some when I get around to downloading the camera.

We are heading to MIL's this afternoon to have dinner with her and some BIL's for Mother's Day. My MIL always wants Mother's Day to herself so we try to see her on Saturday. I have no idea what I'll do tomorrow but if I know my husband and my daughter, I'll be spoiled rotten. We probably won't get to see my mom but who knows. The woman just can't stay in 1 place for very long. lol

That's it from rainy NE. Best wishes to Des' husband next week! I'll be thinking of you F!!!!

And a happy belated birthday to Meghan!!!!

Another sleepless night

This seems to happen more and more often lately. I just can't sleep. And it sucks. It's 2:19 am and both C and I are wide awake. I have no idea how long he's been up but I went to bed at 10pm and couldn't fall asleep until about midnight. Then I woke up around 1am and I've been up ever since. Eh, either way, I'm just trying to make myself tired enough to go to sleep at this point.

There is good news and forward progress on the construction/remodeling front. The plumber was here last week and finished up the rough plumbing on Saturday! And C spoke with the contractor tonight and he'll be here the week of May 18!!! We planned on about 6 weeks before he could start as that is typically how far out he is booking so this is very good news! And because I can't sleep, here is a short (hahahaha) list of what needs to be done around here before Baby McQ, Jr shows up:

• Clean crap out of new half-bath and A's big girl room
  
• Contractor will fix floor in new half bath, put up remaining drywall, put in tile or laminate flooring, replace door, build linen closet
  
• Contractor will put full wall back up in A's new big girl room, install door, and replace attic access door to that room
• We need to pick out toilet, vanity, sink, lighting for bathroom
• Plumber needs to come back to finish plumbing and install above
• Paint, paint, paint (new bath, A's new room)
• Pick out and buy/order A's new furniture
• Move A's room, steam clean carpet in nursery
• Set up nursery for baby
  
• Go through all newborn clothes to take inventory and buy what we need
• Potty training (this should be fun. BAER)
  
• Clean out foyer and move the playroom (which is a corner of our living room right now) out there to make room for all the baby stuff that needs to come out of the attic
• Put A's swingset back together
• Replace decking with Trex (this was a last minute addition b/c we are insane and don't have enough to do already)
• Open pool (and soon!)
• Plant annuals and finish cleaning flower beds
• Rototill veggie garden and plant
• Do Spring shed rearranging (move snowblower, etc)

In between all this falls birthdays for 2 brother-in-laws, my brother, MIL, and my nephew. Not to mention Mother's Day, Father's Day, our anniversary, my brother's Mass wedding reception, BIL's fiancee's shower, BIL's wedding, Memorial Day on the Cape, a week in Truro in July, swimming lessons, concerts, and dinners with friends. YIKES. I'm really unsure how it's all going to get done but rest assured, it somehow will.

We've been working on clearing out some junk so craigslist and ebay have been busy. Our house is just too small to accumulate stuff.

In other good news, we bought a minivan! C picked it up this morning. It's a white 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan with 20K miles. It's so nice to have that off the list! So far, he really likes it so that's good considering he'll be driving it to work and daycare for the next 5 years.

I think that's enough babbling from me. And yes it is babble considering the time. oy. This is not the week for me to be sleep deprived!!!! Work is too nuts!

Sweet dreams everyone! I'm going to attempt sleep again.

It doesn't matter which way you slice it

Being a mom (and a Dad) is HARD. I've been thinking a lot recently about the age old working mom vs SAH mom debate. First, why is there a debate? As far as I'm concerned, most moms choose what is best for their families. For me, working is best for mine. For me to not work means that my family takes a large monetary hit that just doesn't make sense for us. I would love to work part-time instead but it's just not in the cards right now. I also know that SAHM's make that choice b/c it's what is best for their family and I respect that. I'm also very jealous of it some days! haha I guess I just don't understand why some people on each side feel the need to push why their situation is better. Neither is better. Both have their pro's and con's and I wish people could see that.

This is on my mind because frankly, my job blows lately. Blows big chunks actually. It's so bad that I went home last night and had a convo with C about whether I can give notice w/o having another job. With the economy the way it is, that answer is a resounding NO. And I understand this. But it doesn't make it any easier.

That is all. Just some thoughts wandering around in my head right now.

Sick, sick, sick

For once, I have valid reasons for the large amount of time in between posts. Early last week I cam down with a little cold. I thought it was on the way out when I left for FL on Friday AM. I was wrong. I felt ok in FL until Sunday when I was just bone tired. I flew home on Monday AM, walked into my house at 11:50am and crawled into bed. I woke up/got up at 2pm sick as a dog. Fever, chills, etc.

Now C started getting my cold before I left as well and did not indicate that he was feeling horrible before I left on Friday. When I called him at lunch time on a layover, I found out he was home sick. My husband does NOT call in sick. Ever. So I knew he was really sick. I hovered between feeling horrible for him and being royally pissed off at him for not telling me how sick he really was. I never would have left!!!! Luckily my parents came to the rescue and picked A up from daycare and took her to the Cape for the weekend. C spent the entire weekend in bed. I really don't know what he would have done had they (or anyone else) not been available to help him. He said he felt so horrible that he was scared to drive to pick her up.

But we are both on the mend finally and still praying that A doesn't come down with it. It's been a long, long week though and I'm still walking around with a box of tissues and peeing myself from coughing. Nice visual, huh?

We had our 18week ultrasound on Tuesday and although we were both (yes, BOTH of us!) tempted to find out the sex of Baby McQ #2, we did not. Honestly, I'm regretting it. I really want to know. But unless we get another u/s for some reason, I guess I lost my chance. The baby looks great and my fluid and cervix look great. They did see a calcium spot on one of the heart valves that they said is a soft marker for Downs. It is not a defect in any way, thankfully. And that coupled with my early screening results still put me well in the normal range so we are not worrying about it.

Well, I broke my new rule by posting about everyday life but I'm not feeling witty enough tonight to post on anything else. We took A to Friendly's tonight as a special treat and she was great. It's nice to be able to take her out and have a normal meal. My stomach is now a mess but oh well.

I'm still waiting on some name ideas (hint hint hint hint). lol

What's in a name?

That is the question that C and I are taxed with at the moment. As I'm sure everyone who knows us knows, we will not find out the sex of Baby McQ#2 prior to birth. We didn't find out with A either. So, we need to go into this with 2 names picked out.

Our boy name is the same boy name that we had picked out when I was pregnant with A. That name is very special to me and it was non-negotiable that it was our boy name for this pregnancy too. If this little one is a boy, he will be Michael James. The Michael is after my father who is so incredibly special to me. We haven't always seen eye to eye, especially during my teen/college years but as we've gotten older, we've developed a very close relationship. I cannot picture my life without him.

Once typical "Dad" move that I recall is when I was in high school and it was summer. I had a boyfriend who was 4 years older than me (and not a fave of my parents) and I would go to his house on week nights he didn't work. My Dad used to tell me that i needed to be home by the time he and my mom went to bed (11:30pm) or he was waking me up when he got up. LOL It worked. At that age, who wants to get up that early?!?!

I also remember when I got accepted to a particular college and got a scholarship. He was so proud of me that he came home with a rose for me. That is SO not my Dad. Or when I was away at college and it was freshman year and I was sick. He went out, bought me a get well card, and sent it himself. Again, SO not my Dad. I can only hope that if we do have a son, he gets all the great traits that his Bop has. I love you Dad.

Here is a one of my favorite pics of my Dad and A:

And another pic just because I can't pick just one:



The middle name for our little boy is James. This is after C's brother and IMO best friend. We've all been through a lot over the years but what it comes down to is a mutual respect and love. He is a special (I'm using that word alot, aren't I?) part of the family and we are blessed to have him.

If only our girl name was as easy to come by. We are at a loss. Well, that's not exactly right. We aren't really discussing it. C has very few ideas for names and I have 1 that I'm stuck on that he isn't fond of. Deciding on A's name was so easy compared to this! I think after our U/S next week, we need to start the discussion again. I'm not sold on the 1 name he has offered up (and I'm not sure he is either) so we need to come up with other ideas at least for comparison. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to them! Here are the unofficial requirements:

• Cannot be shortened to a common nickname (or at least isn't usually)
• Must go with a very Irish last name starting with McQ
• Cannot be a version of Chris (for obvious reasons!)

On your mark, get set, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

T-minus 7 days

Until I will be in sunny Florida. I decided to splurge with some of my bonus $$ (the rest will go into savings) and use up my unused United ticket and go to FL to see my friend Evelyn. So, I'm leaving next Friday and will be back on Monday. Just a quick trip but enough to get away and catch up with her. I'm very much looking forward to it. We are planning to get massages too so that will be awesome!!! I am very lucky in that I have a husband who supports my love of travel and has no issues staying home with the chubkin. Thanks C!!! xoxo

Well, another birthday down, blah, blah, blah. I'm in denial about it so we'll leave it at that. I will say that I have the best family ever and was spoiled rotten so thank you everyone!!! C's b-day is tomorrow and we are dropping A at Nana's for the night and we'll go to a nice dinner. At least I hope it's nice b/c I left it up to him. We'll see what he decides and if he remembers to make reservations if we need them. My only requirement was that we not go to a chain restaurant. I know it's his b-day so you are probably wondering why I left the restaurant choice up to him? Well a few reasons 1) it's a dinner to celebrate both of our birthdays, 2) I planned our last date night as a surprise, and 3) he was NO help in helping me come up with a place so I put it on him. LOL

I'm trying to get out of the habit about just blogging about every day life b/c let's be honest here folks, it's boring. Today I could vent about the unfairness of some work situations, the unrealistic view of life of a few family members, or the weather in NE. I'll do none of that b/c it's Friday and I want to stay remotely happy. I know it's Friday the 13th for the second month in a row but who believes all the horseshit surrounding that anyway? Not I.

I will leave you with this thought (and it's a little TMI so you have been warned) . . . . second trimester pregnancy sex ROCKS. Seriously rocks. That's all folks! hehe

Well I've been slacking again and not updating regularly. Oops. In my defense, I have been extremely busy! I was out 2 nights last week and work was nuts b/c it was a closing week. I got to have dinner with my good high school friend, Ellen and it's always good to see her. We sit down and just talk and talk. The poor waiter kept coming back to take our order and we kept sending him away b/c we hadn't looked at the menu yet! lol

Then my sweet friend Meghan invited me to the Bruins game on Thursday. It was a great game and we had a good time. Thanks M!!

C pulled a muscle in his back doing work around the house on Thursday so he was hurting all weekend. I tried to do as much as I could so he wouldn't have to so I was pretty busy.

A weekend wouldn't be complete w/o a traumatic event right? BAER. On Saturday we had to take A for a lead test. We were notified last week by daycare that it was due at 1 year. Um, you are a year late in telling us?? Evidently the state just changed it to 1 year. So we trudged to the lab after music class expecting a simple finger stick test like we were told. Um no. It was a full blood draw. I almost died. My poor baby. Yes, I'm being dramatic but I can be. She was very good but I still feel horrible that she had to have it done :(

Yesterday we were blessed with a lovely Nor 'Easter. Fun times all around. But we got through and even had dinner with Nana and the uncles!

C is going to the B's game tonight with HP so A and I will have a Mommy/Baby Girl night. We'll have dinner at McD's and then go see the Moo's and get milk.

Not much else going on around here. Pretty boring stuff actually so I'll be surprised if anyone even reads this! lol

What is wrong with me?

C and A have been gone visiting family since about 7:30 this morning and they are on their way home now (it's about 3:20pm). I miss them SO much and I've been ready for them to come home since about 10:30am.

I usually love my alone time but not today. Today I'm weepy and can't wait to see my family.

Venezie Bags contest!

Visit Venezie Bags and come up with a name for her newest bag style! And then visit her store and shop! Her bags are the best!

New Spring layout

I'm sick of winter and snow (and yes, we are due to get more snow today!). So I'm hitting the cheery spring layout early!

Saturday night . . .

and I'm home alone watching the Bruins and eating fried wontons. C had to go into work for a bit. We never had dinner so I'm eating leftover wontons. C suggested the other day that we get takeout tonight. At 5:30 tonight he says that he's waiting for me to decide where. Um, I didn't know I was deciding! So we never had dinner b/c by the time we would have made a decision and got the food, it would have been A's bathtime. So he said that if he finishes up early enough, he'll stop and get us something on his way home. In the meantime, it's wontons for me. He did make us a yummy homemade pizza for lunch. He rocks.

I took A out this AM so C could do some cutting of wood in the basement (she hates the sound of the saw). We started at the grocery store then on to get her hair cut then to Sears to get big girl underwear! I can't believe it's about that time! She picked out Minnie Mouse and Princess ones. I think we'll give this a shot next weekend as our only plans (right now) are her music class.

We came home and she ate lunch and went down for a nap. I actually got some Wii time. I never think to play it but C got a Tetris game and that was an addiction for me in college so I had to play a little. I also did 3 songs on Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock and played a little Super Mario Brothers (circa 1985ish - I remember playing it with my little brother when it first came out!) I left around 1:30 to go meet a Craigslister to buy this jogging stroller. It's brand new, still in the box and I snagged it for $70. Sweet! I'm SO looking forward to using it on maternity leave b/c the weather should actually be ok! I do not have an option but to get this weight off after Baby McQ#2 is born. It's a necessity for my health. So I will be walking as much as possible on ML and will also begin running again once I get cleared to exercise. I'm determined to be a healthy mom for my kids. I'm going to be 36 in 13 days and it's scaring me. It's scaring me to be that age and this weight. I'm just asking for trouble.

I have an extremely busy week ahead. It's a closing week at work so Mon and Tues will be nuts trying to finalize the financials and get them submitted on Wed. I also have dinner plans with my HS friend Ellen on Tuesday night. We don't get to see each other often b/c she lives over an hour away so I'm looking forward to it. On Thursday night, my lovely friend Meghan invited me to the Bruins game. The two preggos will be painting the town red! LOL We can't drink so we've already planned out our food. That's bad. LOL In the middle of all this, I have an OB appt on Tues and my mom is leaving at noon on Wed for a week. Her and my dad are going to see my little brother in San Francisco for a week.

Well now that I've seriously bored you to death, I'm out. I think I'm going to look for a new blog theme so stay tuned for changes!

xoxo everyone!

I got nothing in way of a title.

Well it's been less than a week since my last post so I'm doing better! lol

A was sick all weekend and then her and I were home on Monday for the President's Day Holiday. We had a great playdate with Heather and Ryan and then we fought over naptime. Mommy eventually won :)

Now C and I are fighting her illness. I think I'm winning the battle better than he is which I'm going to selfishly say is good b/c he can take more meds than I can.

My life is boring lately so there isn't much to write about. Work blows and my boss quit so now I'm like a ship just floating all by myself out at sea. Lovely. Eh, either way I'll get through it. I don't have much of a choice!

We are trying to get our plumber over to do the rough plumbing for the upstairs bathroom. We cannot get the contractors in (or start the work ourselves if that is the route that we choose) until this is done. A needs to move into her big girl room at least a few months before this baby comes so she doesn't feel kicked out of her room. Her big girl room is part of the construction. I cannot believe she is ready for a real bed!!! Very scary!

We are also in the process of looking for rental property to buy and getting pre-approved for a mortgage for said property. The RE market is so down right now that it's the perfect time for someone like us to get in on it. C assures me that he is ready to be a landlord so it's full steam ahead. I have my concerns over how much time it will take on his part as he would be responsible for the repairs, etc and I would be responsible for the bookkeeping, etc. I just don't want it to take more time than he estimates and then for him to be bitter and pissed off that he's not home with the family. He assures me that this won't happen. I hope not. And obviously the more time he spends there puts an additional burden on me being home with 2 kids. So we are hoping that we can find a property that is pretty turnkey and will only require the occasional repair or maintenance. We shall see. And we will only buy something that is at least 2/3 occupied or fully occupied. I will not go through the hassle of trying to rent out an entire building. I saw what my MIL went through trying to rent the 2nd floor of her house and it sucked.

That's really it from here. I wish there were more exciting updates but really, my life is boring. lol

Next OB appt is Tuesday, Feb 24 with my fave OB, Dr F. I love her.

And congrats to Holly on the birth of her daughter! I'm so incredibly happy for her and her husband!!!

Finally!!!

I can come out of the pregnancy closet :) Baby McQ #2 is due on August 20, 2009. We had our 2nd ultrasound today and all is well. I am currently 13 weeks so just heading into the 2nd trimester. I was stupid and didn't scan the u/s pics when I was at MIL's this afternoon so I need to do that. Although we are breathing more comfortably after today's u/s, we could still use all the thoughts and prayers that you have!

Now that that little piece of news is out, I'll be blogging more. It was so hard to write about stuff when most of it revolved around the pregnancy or how absolutely shitty I felt during the first tri! lol This pregnancy has been much more difficult than A's (at least it feels that way now) but I think I'm starting to feel human again finally.

A has been a sick little girl all week and I'm just hoping that she can get some sleep tonight. Her and I were up all night Sunday night and her and Daddy were up most of last night because of her cough. We did go see the pedi yesterday and she thinks it's just a bad cold but if her fever isn't gone by Sunday, I need to bring her back on Monday. Now C is getting it and I'm pretty achy too. C is sleeping downstairs sans monitor tonight and I"ll do A duty. God, I hope she sleeps fairly well! At least if she doesn't, it's the weekend and we don't have to trudge through work on no sleep (like I did on Monday!).

I have so, so, so much to do and not an ounce of time to do it. I need to get to the outlets to exchange a pair of jeans by tomorrow, drive to Wellesley to have bloodwork done tomorrow, grocery shop, get my hair cut and colored, hit Barnes & Noble for a lapdesk so maybe my stupid neck will stop hurting, go to the library to get a book, go to the bank, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things! lol Oh and my insane husband and I are looking at rental property to possibly purchase on Sunday afternoon. Seriously, what are we thinking??? lol

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know . . .

It's been a while. Well, this is just a tease post to tell you to check back later tomorrow for a much better post :)

In the meantime, I'll leave you with these recent pics of the cutest little girl in the world. She's been sick lately, poor little thing.

Bad Blogger

I know I haven't been blogging much at all lately but I have my reasons. I hope I can share them in the next week or two but that remains to be seen. I know I'm being very cryptic and I apologize.

In other news . . . my baby will be 2 on Sunday! How is that possible??? Really, how is it possible??? Here is a pic of her on her birth day (awwwww)


And now a recent pic of her (ok so it's from Thanksgiving - we are slacking with the camera lately!)

She truly is the light of our life. I was rocking her tonight (her new favorite habit is rocking and singing in her room before bed so C and I alternate nights) and we were singing the only part of "You are my Sunshine" that mama knows. When I got to "you make me happy", she joined in and sang with me and the "happy" was in this big full high pitched voice. It was SO cute. God, I love this kid!!!

Stay tuned next week for B-day pics and maybe some answers to why I have not been posting!

Have a great weekend everyone!

xoxo

I have to say this

Mamas please, please give your kids an extra hug and kiss (or two) tonight. I heard a story today that shook me to my core and I will not post it or repeat it b/c no one needs to hear it. Just trust me that it's horrific.

I can only hope that over time I'll be able to get this image out of my head.

I have mini-van envy

And I'm not proud of it. We had dinner with our friends Mike and Heather on Saturday (Hi Heather!) and when we pulled in the driveway, there was a nice shiny new Honda Odyssey sitting there. I never thought I would fall in love with a minivan but it happened. That Odyssey is a pimpin' ride! lol Don't get me wrong, I love my "new" car but in terms of practicality, that minivan is awesome! Anyway, dinner was great and it's always to great to see them and their son who is 9 weeks older than A. The kids had a blast and trashed the house (which is to be expected).

Not much else going on in McQ land. BIL and his fiancee set the date. The wedding will be Aug 15 in New Haven, CT here. Should be a good time but I have a feeling that the 7 months leading up to it will be total drama-rama. I like my future SIL but she's very high maintenance. Very.

We started Amelia's music class on Saturday and I think she'll really enjoy it. She was very shy the first 15min or so but then she started getting into it. We'll also do swimming lessons in the spring so she's all ready for when the pool opens at home! C has already told me that those are all me in terms of getting in the water. I just pray that no one harpoons me! lol

That's really it from our little world! I'll try to be better about updating! I also need to take some new pics of A - we've really been slacking on that lately! I think when I get my bonus (which I better get!), I'll do what I've done before and take some money for myself and maybe buy a Digital SLR camera. They are just so much faster and take much better pics. I feel like I miss so much with the Point-n-Shoot. We'll see . . .