Child, Why Won't You Sleep?

Ryan has entered the separation anxiety/ teething you can't leave my room while I'm still awake phase. It's really, really, really (NOT) fun. My once capable of falling sleep by himself sleeper is now not so much. We have to sit by his crib and wait for him to fall asleep. It.is.miserable.

It is also the reason why my whole household was awake at 3:08am this morning and have since stayed awake.

I'm ready to pack it in and sleep my day away.

Too bad I'm giving tours all day at a business expo (and getting a pedicure).

Thus, no working out this morning. And no sanity, definitely, definitely no sanity.

Standing Still....

Things have been busy around these parts as of late.......

Mr. Berg is entering another busy season at work. He's had a lot of early mornings and late nights. All are understandable and normal for his industry. While I know it's hard for him to be away and miss out of all the toddler fun at our house, I know it in the long run it will pay off substantially. 

On top of the busy parts at work, he is also studying for another designation. This is a pretty big deal. I'm so proud of him. He had four more parts to complete, which equals about two years worth of time. He's studying for his next exam which is scheduled for later in May. This means when he's not at work doing work, he's at work studying. 

Why is doesn't want to study at home with a screaming, fit throwing, super loud toddler, I'll never know

This makes for an interesting situation when trying for another baby. He's not really home and when he is home, I'm flat out exhausted. Housework, toddler wrangling, my job, job activities. It's a lot.... a lot, a lot.

Plus, my body has decided to be a jerk about things. My first cycle off birth control was 43 very long days. The second cycle 13 days. Yes, you read that right. 13 Days. As in, less then 2 weeks.  I know all of this is very, very normal when coming off of the pill. But seriously? 13 days....

There is also the toddler-ness of life right now. Ryan is entering a new phase where everything must be done his way ALL.THE.TIME. Since he's not the sun, life does not revolve around him. This means there's many, many melt downs and many, many boundaries to push. Fun right? Most of the time, it's pretty funny. But other times its taxing and frustrating. Those are the times I question myself as a parent. Am I doing the right things? Is he happy? Are these meltdowns normal? What am I doing wrong that he suddenly hates bedtime?

It's exhausting... It's also causes twp new diseases: TOOMUCHEASTERCANDYITIS and JESSICAGOTLAZYITIS.

These are very serious conditions. Someone should start a foundation and create bumper stickers, STAT!

So basically, I wrote the long narrative of excuses above to tell you that I'm stress eating and not working out. Give me three more days of this and I won't fit into the 6 pairs of khaki pants I just found in my spring wardrobe boxes.... 

Why I have 6 pairs of the same kinds of pants, I don't know. But apparently, I needed 6 of them.
     Even worse, 2 pairs still have the tags on them..... I know!

Basically, right now I'm standing still. Waiting for tests to be over, busy season to wind down, for a new rhythm to find its way into our lives. for a new baby....

Truthfully, there is not real point in standing still. Life will just pass me by in the meantime. I just need to get back on the horse.... if only I knew where the motivation for doing that lies.

The Problem with Yard Sales

This weekend our megahood is hosting it's annual yard sale (tag sale for you super northerners). I look forward to this event every year as a way to rid our house of excess crap. Plus, it gives my husband something to do for several hours, which is helpful.

However, the yard sale also comes with its own set of problems.


1. Mr. Berg never wants to sell anything 
We could seriously be entering hoarder territory in the next few years if we don't stop stock piling crap in our garage. Through out the year I put our yard sale worthy items in the garage to be sold. The week before I sale I go through everything, clean it up and get it ready to move on to better pastures. Shortly thereafter Mr. Berg decided he can't part with 1/2 of it. So begins the arguing. 

1a- He doesn't want to sell it for cheap.

His latest tactic: price jacking. If he doesn't want it sold, he puts a ridiculous price on it and hopes that 1. I don't notice and 2. No one tries to talk him down.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole purpose of a yard sale is to get rid of crap and quickly. I don't care if everything sells for a dollar, just as long as it's gone. 


2. Mr. Berg decides we don't need to have a yard sale. This happens every Tuesday before the sale. It doesn't matter what the weather report looks like, how over full our garage is or what needs to get sold. He has a 24 hour period where he decides we don't need to sell anything.


This is about the time my head explodes. As would yours, if you were lucky enough to live at my house.



And finally... the biggest problem


3. Mr. Berg attempts to send me out to find new crap. 

New crap that we do not need.
I kid you not. Every year, same story. Go find stuff.


WHY?

I just hauled our shit out to the yard for random strangers to buy. We don't need new stuff.


Wish us luck. We just moved out of the I'm not selling anything phase to the do you think I can sell this half rotted, particle board TV stand for $50 phase.  



My head is going to explode.

On the Bright Side

Oh Monday.... how did you get here so fast?


I have never been a fan of Mondays, but so far, today has gotten off to an excellent start.

For starters.....

The high today is 70 degrees with sunshine. I'll take it.

I woke up on time and actually worked out for once in a my life. Awesome

Because I was up on time, I actually had time to get ready, get dinner in the crock pot, eat breakfast, and do all the Mom things with time to spare. Who would've thought?

I totally forgot how great early morning workout endorphins are. Again, awesome!


It's nice to know I'm getting my week started on the right foot.


And now for the weekly line up:

Workout Rotation:

Monday- The Firm's Total Body Toner

Tuesday- JM's Hard Body

Wednesday- JM'S Hips, Buns and Thighs (Lord knows I need it)

Thursday- JM'S Hard Body

Friday: JM's Yoga Melt Down and some ab work


Menu:

Breakfasts: Green Smoothie and Spark

Lunches: Lunch Meetings Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday- Friday: Soup Left Overs and Wraps with Hummus

Dinners:
Monday/Tuesday: Chicken Taco Salads
Wednesday/Thursday: Potato Soup with Corn Bread
Friday: Fish of some sort


Last full week of April- Bring it On!

The Unexpected Blogging Break....

And just like that, I feel off the face of the earth. Nice, right?

For purposes of full disclosure, I also feel off the work out wagon, the waking up early wagon and the getting monthly pedicures wagon. Apparently, I'm not big on wagon rides... who knew?

Honestly, life just got in the way. Between traveling, Ryan's 3rd ear infection, the "." from Hades (seriously, I thought it was never going to end) and some emotional baggage that followed me around, I just let life roll for a minute. It turned out to be a very good thing and just what I needed. I'm feel refreshed and recharged. My productivity has increased at work and life just feels more manageable even though nothing has really changed. In other words, I was overwhelmed and didn't realize it.

And now I'm not.


So, come Monday, the work out wagon rides again and I'm grateful for it. I missed it. 

My Week: In Bullet Points

My head is swimming with random thoughts this morning. It's making it hard for me to concentrate on the important things, like work. You know, that place I go to every morning where they pay me to do a job. In order to have a more productive day and be a model employee and HR Director, I need to dump all my randomness out here:

• We are leaving for our trip down south in 4 hours. I CANNOT wait. Granted, this trip won't be fun until after we are out of the car with the screaming toddler, but still. My friends, I cannot wait to see my friends.
• I am drooling over a Lilly Pulitzer Thompson Shift Dress in I Herd You. Since I'm not the world's smallest budget, I can't buy anything. It's really, really sad.
• I painted my nailed Easter Egg Purple. While it's annoying the crap out of Mr. Berg, I love it!
• I haven't worked out in one week. It's been a nice break, but I'm looking forward to getting back at it.
• Lately I have wanted to do nothing more then eat all the food and drink all the wine. That's not good.
• I finally figured out how to work my curling iron. This is great news seeing as I'm almost 32... about darn time.
• I need to do a major closet purge and sell some stuff. I have far too much crap that I never wear.
• If I don't soon tackle my filing, my office will qualify for an episode of Hoarders.

Alright, time to get at it.

See ya next week. 

Off Our Game

My in-laws were in town this weekend. In typical fashion, it was an uncomfortable and trying visit. While I know they enjoy visiting Ryan and Mr. Berg, I can't help but be exceedingly grateful when they pull out of my driveway on Sunday evening. It's hard to explain visits with the in-laws. All I can say is that my husband's relationship with his parents isn't typical. My in-laws relationship with each other isn't typical. Therefore, nothing about a weekend with the grandparents is typical. By the time Sunday evening rolls around I am mentally and emotionally drained. This weekend was no exception.

I didn't sleep well last night. I had belly ache and my head wouldn't shut off. All to be expected after that kind of weekend. Thus, when my alarm went off this morning, I shut it off and went back to sleep. I just didn't have it in this morning. I think that's okay. Sometimes, you just don't.


Our little family is in regroup mode this morning. Ryan, having been over stimulated for two days, was full of no's, mine's and melt downs this morning. Mr. Berg is in over compensation mode and altering between being lost in his own thoughts and being overly helpful and complimentary. (The last part, I like a little too much). I'm sure by tomorrow our little ship will have righted itself again. It is just a matter of waiting out the storm.

We have three jam packed days of meetings, appointments and planning before we leave for a trip down south. I'm excited to see my friends and swap stories from our Bahamas adventure last month. Plus, it will be warmer there then it is here. Sunshine is good for the soul.


As for working out and eating right and all of that good stuff.... I'm in a regroup mode for the moment. While I skipped my workout this morning, I will be hitting it hard Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Come Monday I'm going to rework my rotations and meal plan. More to come on all of that...


Now, to see about my To-Do List......

The Irony of this Post is Not Lost on Me

For 14 of Bob's 15 years on this earth I got lectured about his weight, his eating habits and how he was someday going to end up with diabetes and it would be all my fault. Okay, so maybe it didn't always happen exactly like that but more times then not I'd hear about diabetes at his many, many, MANY vet appointments.

In his later years his blood sugar levels were checked at every appointment and at every appointment, much to the dismay of several pissy pants vets techs, Bob's levels were always text book perfect. I think I secretly took pride in knowing that despite his lack of a penis, a deformed liver, low digestive enzymes and every other crazy thing that was wrong with him, his blood sugar was never a problem.

Thus, you can imagine my surprise when Sophie's vet called last night to tell me she had developed diabetes. We were anticipating kidney disease or maybe even cancer, but diabetes? Never crossed our minds. She was the same weight on Tuesday as she was in November. Her vision and gait were still steady (yes, she's some what blind but not more blind then usual) and while she had been drinking more, it wasn't considered alarming.

Sophie's reign as The Healthy One was finally over.

This afternoon she will start a new diet and with any luck, that will keep her insulin under control. Our goal is to keep her off insulin if we can. Daily blood checks and shots won't exactly make Miss Sassy Pants happy. That, and I like the arms cat scratch free.

Wish us luck :)

Oh Child....

It won't be long and Mr. Ryan will be a full fledged two year old. This statement make me equally as proud as it does terrified. How can my little squirt of a baby be a running, talking, opinion sharing little man? 

We are starting to see peaks into what having a two year old will be like. Some of it is wonderful fun, some of it, not so much.....

For starters....

Ryan wants to help with everything. This is awesome when it comes to throwing away trash, picking up toys and working the i-pad. It's also great that he wanted to slide down the steps on his own every morning, grab his own coat and hat, pick up his shoes, etc.

I also love that his language is developing so rapidly. He says: no, yes, kitty cat, more, cheese, row-row (for the song), yucky, yeah, wow, woah, buh-bye, hi, hey, Mama, Daddy,sssssh, car, ball, doggie, Moo, Choo-Choo, the list goes on and on and on.

And then there's.....

Temper tantrums to beat the band,  melt downs over lord only knows what, opinions- lots of opinions, fake tears, throwing, hitting, biting (yes, still, yes, I know...) 

This week alone I have had to defuse the following situations:


The Banana Incident: Lately Ryan has taken to eating a banana in the morning before we leave. I peel it about 1/2 way and let him eat at while he roams the kitchen or sits in his chair.  Earlier this week, I handed him his prepared banana and he proceeded to break the top of it off. Chaos ensued, and quickly. There were tears, screams and howls all because the top of the banana wouldn't go back on.

Somehow by an act of God, I was able to mash the broken ends of the banana together. This appeased said toddler long enough for him to take a bite. The remains of the broken piece again fell off, but this time it was deemed acceptable.

The Case of the Missing Hat:  During school pickup last evening I had to negotiate leaving the classroom, with my child, without a toy spatula, a Care Bear, and a toy milk carton.  The process included three other toddler spokes people, who all agreed with Ryan. We reached agreement with the promise of playing outside.

In the process, I managed to leave school without Ryan's winter hat. (He needs it in the morning but by the afternoon he doesn't even need a jacket half the time.... PA weather is like that sometimes)

We get home, I get changed and then I announce it's time to go play outside. Ryan insisted on wearing his jacket. Seeing as it was getting later in the evening and cooler, I complied. Then Ryan went looking for his hat.... you know, the one I felt at school.

OH SWEET JESUS  (never mind that it was 60 some degrees outside)

He cried as he looked for it in the kitchen, he practiced his best pout lip as he took me by the hand to look in the car. It was pathetic and frustrating all at the same time. He was also not appeased by any of the baseball hats I offered him, or the toys I made appear for no wear.

He finally caught of glimpse of his water table in the garage and for whatever reason found the diving board piece to be a good replacement. 

Whatever works.

Early Morning Alligator Wrestling

Ryan does not wake up sweetly. If anything, he wakes up angry and hungry. Thus Hangry. It's beautiful, really.

Thus, the first 15 minutes of Ryan's day are spent crying, alligator death rolling on the changing pad and refusing to wear pants. I don't really blame him on that part.

There are often tears because he either does or does not want to sit in his high chair. He wants Cheerios, then he doesn't want Cheerios, and how dare I give him the milk he just asked for.

Part of me thinks waking him up a little earlier would be helpful.
The other part of me says "yes, but then he'll be awake"

All in all, it's been a wild ride and I wouldn't change a thing.

Goodness, I love that little man!!

A Detailed Explanation of Why I Am Not a Fan of Today

One year ago today I took a very ill cat to the vet's office for his final visit. I left covered in cat hair but without the cat. I walked in knowing that would be the case but it didn't make it any less hard.

Today I'll be taking another ill cat of the vet's office. My only prayer is that I'll leave with the cat. At nearly 17, Sophie is having some trouble. I'm well aware time isn't exactly on her side, but I'm hoping for the best.

I tried a new video this morning and it was hard. I ended up pooping out half way through. This always puts me in a mad mood. It also makes me shift my workout rotation for the week so I can try it again. I'll be hitting it again on Thursday.

I can't figure out what my body is doing. But I can tell you that having period cramps without your period really sucks. (And no, I don't think I'm pregnant. One would have to ovulate in order to do that.)


I didn't like a single outfit I put on this morning. I'm not entirely sold on the one I'm wearing either.

I'm hoping the cramps and moodiness mean my period is on its way. 

That would be a fantastic thing to add to my in-laws visit this weekend.


I promise your typically pleasant poster will be back sometime soon. However, there is no guarantee you'll see her this week. Just sayin.....