Sometimes Tuesdays don't go my way.

I planned on writing this on Tuesday but I was a little occupied.

I had my schedule road test on Tuesday morning at 9. But- a few days before, my exhaust on the car fell down (and dragged along the road until we tied it up with towing rope), and we couldn't get it in to fix it before my test. So I called mom to see if her car was in good enough shape to drive for my test (ie signal lights working, nothing falling off, etc.) She said yes, and we were all systems go again. So, I arrive to take her car Tuesday morning, 10 minutes before the test, and she doesn't know where her up-to-date insurance card is, although she is sure she had it somewhere.

Ok, no problem, I will drive my car with the exhaust falling off, and explain the situation to the tester, and make a new appointment if necessary. So, she overlooks our faxed insurance- because we couldn't get the actual card in time from the company, and then goes to look at the car. She laughs but says, "you do what you have to do", and tells me to get in the car to start the test.

Arms signals- check. Signal lights- check. Brake lights- .... Brake lights? Yep- one of them is not working.

So- no test. Now I have to make a new appointment. but, at least she let me keep the original receipt so I don't have to pay again :)

To top it all off- I spent the rest of the day being the most sick I have been so far- couldn't get off the couch the rest of the day except to run to the washroom....

Oh the joys...

Names for Grandma

(Phone rings)

Micaela: Oh! PHONE!!!
(runs toward kitchen, trying to pass Nannie/Thelma on the way)

Thelma: (picks up phone) "Hello?"

Micaela: "It's ok, G-Mama got it"

The first baby convo

"Micaela, when you are a little bit older, and a little taller, mommy and daddy will give you a new baby. Would you like that?"

(Micaela nods)

"A real baby, just like Freddy or Rowan, but one that's your very own"

"Own baby" (points to self).... "This is MY toast".

(sigh)"Yes, Micaela, that's your toast"

Too good to be true

For the last week and 2 days, I've been knocking on wood. Nope, not sick yet. Maybe it'll stay that way. In fact, I have had a cold all week and still felt better than I did when I was first pregnant with Micaela. But, my hopes have been dashed. I didn't even make it to the 6 wk mark before getting sick :( For the record, I'm not drinking chocolate milk again.

Rules

Call me crazy, but I like to fall asleep with Micaela. I like to take her in bed with me. I like to fall asleep watching tv with her. I like to sing her 15 songs before bed, and then 3 more because she asks. I like to give her cookies before bed, and let her throw a tantrum and get her feelings out without getting in trouble.

Once in a while.

But every parent, and probably anyone who has ever spent any amount of time with a 2 year old, knows that "once in a while" just doesn't work. At least not at this age. If I sing her 15 songs, she'll want 26 tomorrow. If I let her eat cookies, she'll expect them tomorrow for breakfast. If I let her throw a tantrum, without a consequence, she'll learn that it's acceptable behavior and she'll throw them everyday.


But at one o'clock this morning, when my little girl was crying and coughing like mad, I jumped at the chance to scoop her up and take her in bed with me to cuddle for the rest of the night.

There are no rules when she's sick.

I dislike runny noses.

Micaela has a cold.
She has been rubbing her germy fingers all over me, all day long.

I will undoubtedly have a cold tomorrow.

But, on the cuter side, she sneezes and then says "God bless you".

I hope the next baby is just as cute. I don't want cuter or less cute because I don't want to favor one over the other, and I definitely don't want cuter because cuteness makes it incredibly difficult to not laugh when they are doing something they aren't supposed to be doing, and I have enough trouble with this issue with Micaela.

Speaking of baby "lo" #2 (LO:'Little One', 'Liam and Onj', or 'it' in Spanish) , I had my first doctor appointment yesterday. When I told the doctor I was pregnant, she asked me how old I am, shook her head slightly, and said 'Oh, Ann'. (I can sort of understand shortening the name Andrea, but she shortens Liam to Lee- not really necessary). Anyway, I'm not sure what her little head shake/ sigh thing was all about, but last I checked, Liam and I were the ones who got to make the decision on whether or not "we" wanted to get pregnant, and it wasn't really anyone else's business to sigh about, least of all my doctor who gets paid a lot of money to weigh me, give me a due date that I could have (and did) just as easily calculated online and tell me to come back next month. Argh. People.

The due date, by the way, is May 20th. Graduation is May 1st.

Wearing a giant black moo-moo across the stage is going to make me look amazing. :)

A few little notes

I am on my way to drama class (I love re-living grade 10), but Geordie wanted to know about the car, so I thought I'd post a picture of my beautiful Nissan SENTRA. ;)

Getting it registered on Monday...

It's fancy, I know :)

May-B?

When we found out we were pregnant with Micaela (and by we, I mean I, but Liam gets included anyway), I won't say it was awful or miserable or sad, but it certainly was scary. Not that anyone is ever prepared for a baby, but man, were we ever not prepared! However, in the almost three years since we first saw those two little pink lines, our lives have changed dramatically, and we'd never go back. A few days ago, Liam and I got the PC game plants vs. zombies (addictive- stay away), and Micaela now no longer asks for Elmo. Instead, she "wanna watch sombies". She sits and points them out as they appear on the screen. She is two and obsessed with zombies. Great.
She also loves Old MacDonald had a Farm, which she simply calls "Donald" and washing dishes. (I promise to post a picture soon, cuz it's pretty cute).

So, my ramble has a point. The fact that we love her dearly (and we now know exactly what baby rearing is all about) is what made it all the more sweeter when we saw two more little pink lines this morning.

I know: Wait 3 months before telling people!!! Well, if you're reading this on this date, you're family. Keep it to yourselves for a couple months :)

Our guess is a May baby (may-b?), we'll know more once we see the doctor.

P.S. After saying how excited she was, mom said "You're a trooper". I guess that beats dad's "who made these biscuits?"

Monkey see, Monkey Do.

When Micaela wants to put on blush, I think it's cute. When she walks around in mommy's shoes, I laugh. When she repeats what I say, word for word, I think it's sweet (unless a less than favorable word slips out, but that's another topic for another day). But when she picks up her purse and says "Bye, See ya" and heads off for 'work', a little piece of my heart breaks. I don't want that to be how she sees me.

Don't get me wrong, I know she doesn't resent me for leaving, and I know that I have good reason to leave everyday, but it sure does tug on the heart strings.

Today her exact quote after "Bye, See Ya" was "I'm back, only have a few minutes".

Only 8 months 'til graduation.

The First Day of School

Fall is a bittersweet season.

One the one hand, I have to go back to school. I leave my darling daughter for hours at a time everyday- added to the hours I already leave her for my part-time job serving coffee. Then, when I do get home, I have schoolwork, I am tired, I have to make supper, do dishes, laundry, what-have-you and I'm not always the mom I want to be. That's hard to take some days. (Disclaimer: I AM working on my patience though you may not believe it if you have ever heard my very loud, very exasperated "MiCAYYYlahhhhh!"- with the emphasis on the H that is not even in her name).

On the other hand, although I still deal with my mommy guilt over the amount and quality of time I spend with Micaela, I get to be a better, more rounded person- and, I hope, mom. I see lots of other people, get to have new and different conversations, and, most importantly, I am working towards a degree that's going to benefit our family and soon I'll have an income, a real one, even if it's only a substitute teacher's income, and that makes me happy.

So feeling the dichotomy of the excited schoolkid and the mom dragging her feet, I went off to register today. Basically, I filled out all the forms that I filled out last year, got paper copies of the schedule that I already had been sent in my email, and listened to people say "welcome back".

Tomorrow is my first day of classes.

Tonight, my daughter is asleep, after being sung the "frog song" more times than I'd like to admit. ("Now we all know frogs go, la dee da dee da, la dee da dee da, la dee da dee da, but they don't go mmm mmm ahh"). My bed is made, my floors are swept, and I am ignoring the 2 baskets of laundry at the end of my bed. My husband will be done work in about an hour, and I am thinking of enjoying one relaxing glass of wine before the tornado that is the school-year actually starts.

Yes, it's bittersweet.

A "New" Car.

I feel like I have a pretty good life. I just married a man who, for 3 and a half years has been my lover, my friend, my confidante, my support, and for the last couple years, the wonderful father of our feisty 2 year old daughter. (Anyone with a two year old knows how difficult it can be to find an appropriate adjective for their toddler without sounding like a bad mother- I think feisty works). I joke about Micaela's "terribleness" but she's a wonderful little girl who certainly keeps us on our toes and I love being her mom.

This summer we bought our first home. It's a small, 3 bedroom home that's a 2 minute drive from the beach. It's 30 km out of town, mind you, but we love it.

I am in school, learning to be a teacher, and will have this second degree in 8 months.

Exhausting, yes, but it's all going to be very worth it.



So, like I said, I feel like I have a good life.

So, this week, when my husband brought me home a "new" car, I felt over the moon. Now, the reason I put new in quotations is this car is 13 years old. It's a '97 Nissan, but I love it just the same. The reason for this purchase is because (for the 4th time in my life) I wrote my learner's test the other day. But, my husband drives a standard, and that's just a little too much for me to try to learn right now, so he bought me a little automatic. Now, I just need to take my road test and I'll be able to legally drive my daughter to the babysitter's on the way to school.

I realize that most people do this as 16, and I missed the boat by about 10 years, but at least I'm getting on :)