Up All Night

Well, last night sucked. I wasn’t feeling too wonderful after dinner, but figured it was just indigestion. Shortly after after turning off the lights, just as I was drifting off, my body told me that I needed to be awake again and I spent a good portion of the next hour and a half on the bathroom floor. Apparently, kielbasa no longer agrees with me. And I’d been avoiding getting sick so nicely too. Even in the first trimester it was mostly just a constant nausea and feeling of motion sickness without much vomiting. Now I look like a raccoon because of all the capillaries that burst under my eyes. I’m just glad that none burst IN my eyes. That’s always super creepy. I took a shower afterward just to warm up and settle my stomach a bit more. I hate being sick.

On the bright side, I felt a lot better when it was all over and I didn’t have a fever. So it was clearly just a reaction to what I ate, which happens to me sometimes for some reason.

And I’m better today. I just look absolutely terrible.

So what’s going on in my life? Let’s see…

Pippa is kicking up a storm. I was sorting through my shoes and switching over my summer and winter stuff earlier and she gave me a really swift kick in the belly button. I’ve been seeing Pippa crop up on name lists more recently, but so far I haven’t come across anyone else who’s actually using it. It seems to get a lot of negative feedback. A lot of people don’t see the appeal, but then I don’t see the appeal of all the -ayden, -ayla, and -ayley names and those are still topping name lists (especially Brayden and Cayden, which I really hate). Most people also say it’s a nickname and should be short for Phillipa, but I hate Phillipa… it’s like someone just stuck an A on the end of Phillip and that magically made it a feminine name. Gah!

Alan is leaving for Louisiana tomorrow for about a month. Sucks. It did finally spur him to clean up the mountain of crap that was sitting on the floor of the second bedroom though. I’m just going to be lonely. We haven’t been apart that long since he finished AIT. And I’m going to be so bored! I mark my days to a large degree by his presence or absence at particular times. So having him not coming home at night blows. I’ve prepared some things to keep me busy though. I have a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle and a stack of magazines to cut out for my paper crane project. And once the puzzle is off the dining room table (I started it yesterday), I can go to JoAnn and get fabric and make curtains for our bedroom, Pippa’s room, and the dining room. I actually already have fabric for the ones for Pippa, but I wanted to get some ribbon to trim them and to use for tabs. I may also line the backs so they block out more light.

I suppose I could also start Christmas shopping soon, especially since we’re actually going to be seeing everyone for Christmas this year. I’m hoping for nothing but baby stuff personally… except for a video camera. Granted, it sort of is baby stuff, since I wouldn’t want one if I weren’t pregnant. But it’s also a way for me to keep Alan up to date on baby developments while he’s gone.

Dan and Katie gave us a couple things for the baby that used to be Claire’s. One is a swing, which I wasn’t planning on buying, but will probably come in handy. The other is a bouncy seat, which I was definitely going to buy, having seen first hand how convenient they are. Katie also tried to give us Claire’s old Bumbo chair, which is a molded plastic chair for feeding them that’s actually their size instead of a high chair. It’s what I’d like to do when she’s still little and eating more frequently. When she gets bigger, I’ll probably just buy a booster seat for our dining room chairs instead of a separate high chair and have her eat at the table. As I said, Katie tried to give it to us, but Claire decided that she wasn’t done with it. Another pound or two and her legs would be stuck in it and she’s much too tall for it, but there’s only so much arguing you can do with a toddler. Besides, by the time ours is sitting up and eating, Claire will be old enough and big enough that she won’t need or want it.

I found out that they’re going to be home over Christmas because Dan is still on gate guard duty, so I may ask Katie to come feed our cats while we’re gone. She likes cats and Claire loves them and for them it’s a short walk across the parking lot to get here. Alan thought maybe we could get away with just filling up a huge bowl with food, putting the sink on to drip into a mixing bowl, and buying a spare litter box, but I think that would make them feel like we’d abandoned them. At least if someone is coming by once a day to scoop out the litter box and feed them canned food they’ll know that someone is paying attention. Besides, Aladdin is neurotic and has been known to destroy things and cause floods when left alone for too long. Plus if someone’s checking on them, they’re also checking on the house in general and making sure everything is okay.

Anyway, I’m starving, so I’m going to make myself a calzone.

~Liz