Ugh...

Ugh pretty much explains my life right now.  I do not have any projects, Sterly pics or interesting things to post these days.  I am in a pregnancy funk and can't seem to get out of it.  I am not as sick as my pregnancy with Sterling, which doesn't say much because I lost 15 pounds the first 3 months with him because of the constant vomiting.  I may not be as sick but I am having a much harder time coping with the stress and exhaustion.  When stress happens it really happens is boat loads of it.  I got a promotion at work, got pregnant, got a new puppy, Sterlings has an exhausting round of medical appointments (9 appointments scheduled for June) these next couple of months and Trevor has had to work some overtime lately.  I am just really tired and feel like I am sucking at everything.  I can't seem to keep my house clean and I can't seem to find the energy to get any of my projects on hold done.  Ugh!  At work I can't seem to grasp my new position as well as I normally would because I am so tired that my mind can't seem to remember anything and things are getting muddled around.  I seriously would love to take a couple days off of work just to relax and get my bearings straight again, but unfortunately out of my 5 weeks of vacation only about 1 week of it isn't dedicated to Sterling's medical appointments.  Seriously can't wait for my year of Mat. leave and not having to worry and juggle medical appointments and how I can manage them without missing too much work!

Good news though, Trevor got promoted at work!  Yea!  I think something really good had to happen or else my head was going to explode from stress related issues.  More money has got to = not so stressed, I lying and telling myself!

But bad news also....Sterls seems to be allergic to Zoey!  He started getting these red itchy eyes every time he plays with her sooooooooo....I think we have to sell the little rat dog.  She is only 3 months old, so she should adjust well, but I feel like such the parental jerk.  Sterling absolutely loves loves loves Zoey.  Every time I pick him up from day home he says 'Puppy, Home' over and over the whole way home.  We tried to tell him this weekend that we had to take the puppy to a new home and he said "No, my puppy, my puppy!"  So I really feel like a jerk for taking away a puppy from a almost 2-year-old boy!  Yea, so nice of me!

Surprise, Surprise!

Yes that is me and the picture was taken today, No I did not gain a beer belly in the last few weeks.  I am 12 weeks pregnant with baby number two!  Coming December 7th we will have a new addition to our family.  I just looked back at my Sterly pregnant belly photos and I did not look this pregnant until I was 20 weeks!  No I am not gaining too much weight, I am the exact same weight that I was 12 weeks ago!

There really was a good reason for lack of blog posts!  I have pretty much resorted to sleeping 24/7 because of the exhaustion is takes to create a little bean.  Hopefully, it will pass soon and we can resume regular blog posts and projects (seeing as how I have about 20 projects just waiting for me in my basement and a room to finish into a shared room).

How did that happen?

Every once and a while I look at Sterling and it just hits me "How did that happen?" He has changed from my little baby into a little boy! I seriously don't know how it slipped past me that my little guy isn't a baby anymore and he is starting to grow up so fast. I just assumed he was a baby until I was watching a video of a 1-year-old and they little guy just seem so much younger than Sterls. (Although, Sterls hair hasn't caught up to his age yet. He is still a pretty bald little guy and we have to grow his hair out long so it looks like there is hair there.) In three months my little guy is going to be 2-years-old! Wow, it is always so weird to think that I am a parent of a toddler and why is it called the terrible two's? More like terrible ones when they learn that they can be defiant and will create havoc everywhere they go. Things Sterling now does that makes me happy...
1) Maneuvers his wheelchair better than most adults.
2) Builds towers with his mega blocks just to hit them down and start all over again laughing.
3) Gets into mischief with his cousins. Ex. Dumping out all aunties' flour and pouring water over it only to play in the wet sticky flour mess.
4) Says please and thank-you whenever he wants something.
5) Talks about 'puppy' non-stop to everyone and anyone including at the grocery store.
6) Introduces us as 'My Mama' and 'My Papa' to everyone that even looks at him anywhere, anytime, anyplace.
7) Loves to dance to music anytime it is on.
8) Fights to the death to not have his diaper changed!
9) Gives me about 50 hugs and kisses a day (I have to get them while he wants to give them).
10) He can do 10 pull-ups on the monkey bars!
We have ordered Sterls his new dynamic stander this last week. It is coming in the colour of electric lime. My theory is the brighter the chair the easier it will be to spot him and the harder it will be for him to smash my ankles. I am pretty sure I am just kidding myself because I think my ankles have had enough of being rammed 10 times a day but I can always dream, right? Health care doesn't cover these little suckers but luckily for me I have a health spending account that is very generous from my company that will pay for little beauty. I do NOT look forward for paying for the next one out of my pocket. I mean it is only $3500, why wouldn't I look forward to this.
Sterling finally got set up for his appointment for his new AFO's (Ankle-Foot Orthosis) on June 7th. Luckily they were able to squeeze the appointment in on the same day he gets his twice yearly kidney ultrasound. I seriously think that this year I will be able to take 2 days off out of my 25 vacation days for my own personal use. Every other day has been used for half days for his medical appointments or him getting sick. I don't know how people manage to take off this much time for their kids when they A) Don't have as much vacation time as I am lucky to have and B) Their work isn't as flexible. I go to PT/OT appointments once or twice a month and luckily for me they are willing to have them a little later at 3:15pm so I can work through lunch and leave an hour early from work. Those days I don't have to take off work but I can't imagine what I would do if my company did not allow me to do this and I had to take half days. Whew, I am tired just thinking about what it would be like to have a vacation day just to enjoy with no medical appointment or sick baby to deal with. Maybe in my next life, eh?

Back to AFO's....June 7th they are casting his feet and legs. June 21st they are going to fit him with his new high tech AFO's. June 28th we have to go back in to make sure he isn't getting any pressure sores and everything is working out A-ok. The AFO's he has now are little green boots that were made by OT while he was there in about 2 hours. They no longer fit and slide off his little feet. These new ones are made from his leg casts and have joints in them and are made in a lab with a machine after. They are only going to run my health care $1,300. Ouch! Happy that isn't coming out of my wallet...Well, temporarily it is, but at least not for very long.

To see old and new AFO's check out the post HERE!

The new addition...

Here is the goods as promised. We just had a new addition to our family. Her name is Zoey and she is a 2 and half month old Chihuahua. She is well behaved and Sterls is in love with her. I am not much of a dog person myself but this little thing does grow on you. She is about 7 inches tall (oh yeah, she is that small) and just a good little puppy. Sterling and Zoey have a love/hate relationship with each other. He is at the same height as her when he is crawling around on the ground which leaves an opening for her to mount her attack. Whenever he is on the ground she jumps all over his back and head and licks him all over his face and head. After about 5 minutes straight of her attacking he starts hitting her away but she just keeps coming back for more. The nasty thing is that he starts licking her back!
Trevor showed Zoey where to go potty once on the first night and she has only had one accident since. We go to bed pathetically early at 9pm most days and we put her in her kennel at night. When we let her out this morning she had to go so bad she lost it about 2 feet from her 'spot'. Still pretty good odds for a new puppy. Plus, she sleeps all night long and doesn't whine at all. I think we picked a good one. We got to have our pick out of the whole 6 puppy litter. She was the only one that came up to us and started playing instead of hiding the the puppy jumble with the others.
We are pretty excited with our new addition and hope that things keep riding along smoothly!

More Lamp Chronicles...

While I am on the subject of lamps.....I have just redone my bedroom side table lamps. They started out as a ivory colour which didn't match the bright white theme of my master bedroom. I put my fabric of choice over the lampshade which was a bright white with a little bit of texture. What happened was.......when the light got turned on, it turned my white fabric back into the ivory shade beneath the fabric. So, I got out my trusty acrylics and paintbrush and 10 minutes later it went from this to this: After the acrylic paint dried I used some spray adhesive and attached my fabric of choice (as seen below). I love love love the texture of this fabric.
This is the end result. A much better colour match and I super love the texture of the fabric. It certainly adds a lot of character (that cannot be seen in the below shot).
Yeah easy projects that only take 10 minutes and make everything look so much better. And yes, that is the side table that I refinished with black paint and silver leafing. And no, I am not ready to share until I have finished decorating (notice the lack of photo in my photo frame?).

Some exciting new to share this week after proper photos have been taken. I will give you a hint: It is super cute and is named Zoey.