Matthew is 6 weeks old now. He is really starting to fill out, my guess is 11ish pounds by now (he was 9lbs 7 oz two weeks ago and had gained like 6 ounces in 3 days.) I am also guessing that by his 2 month check up, he will have already nearly doubled his birth weight. He likes eating, a lot.
We had the stomach flu last week. It started with Luke on our anniversary. He had the mildest case, it only lasted half the day so we weren't quite sure if it was a virus or something he ate or a fluke. Saturday morning, we discovered it must have been a virus as both Joe and I ended up sick. It was especially bad for me since Matthew wanted to nurse and nurse and nurse and nurse and I couldn't even keep down water. It was MISERABLE. I contemplated going to the ER for IV fluids, but I didn't want to leave the house. Miraculously we survived. And my milk supply seems to be doing okay too.
This week, both boys have colds. Since Thanksgiving, we've had colds, the stomach flu, and now colds again. Luke went 6 months before getting sick at all and even then it was only a cold. I wasn't planning on doing the flu shot thing this year but now I'm seriously reconsidering. Our pediatrician's office said "only immediate family" for the first 2 months around Matthew, but I'd go insane with that. That being said, I really need to figure out how to use my new Maya wrap and I'm going to try to keep our social interactions restricted, which sucks, but I'm tired Matthew being sick and don't want to risk him getting something worse when he's still so young. Most of the sickness is coming in through Luke, and I'm pretty sure Luke is picking it up from the kid's gym. He loves that fricking place even if he doesn't do most of the class activities (still no luck with circle time). You better believe I scrubbed both our hands down with sanitizer before we left Saturday. Anyway, the germ thing has me on edge.
I am really behind on everything Christmas. Our tree isn't up yet, although that's mostly intentional because I figure the less time we have it up, the less I have to tell Luke to leave the ornaments alone, etc. etc. We went over to my parents tonight for dinner and he did better than I expected with their tree (though he totally picked up a ball ornament and threw it and said "ball"). I think if he was at OUR house, with a tree 24/7, I am going to spend a lot of time telling him to leave the ornaments alone, watching him carry them all over while I'm nursing Matthew, etc. It just won't be good. So no tree yet. I haven't done much shopping yet either, except for ourselves. (We just got a new king size memory foam bed, and my new stroller came in the mail late last week.) My cards are supposed to arrive tomorrow so I hope to have them in the mail by the end of the week.
So I attempted to take the math test on Friday. I had to get a certain score to not have to take College Algebra. I did well on the "pre-algebra" questions and the "algebra" but bombed the "college algebra" part except when they say "college algebra", it was really more like trig/pre-calc. So, this messes up everything. I can retake the test, and I'm going to try but not very optimistic about it (I have been studying.) Worst case scenario is that I don't pass again and have to take college algebra online from January through May. I kinda have my plate full already and don't really want to add a freaking class, nor do I want to pay to take a class I've already earned an A in (ten years ago.) But, I think one class...that I've already taken...should be do-able, albeit ANNOYING. The worst part of it is that I wanted to get on the waiting list this winter for the class starting next fall. (They don't let you get on the waiting list until you are done with all of the prereqs and requirements. This is the ONLY thing I have left.) The acceptance letters for the fall 2013 class start going out in May, when I won't be done with this class yet if I have to take it, so most likely I wouldn't get in. And none of the area community colleges offer an accelerated version of it to do it in fewer weeks than a regular length semester. So, it's annoying. I don't really want to wait until fall 2014 to start the ultrasound program, especially after I rushed to get everything done but this. It's mostly out of my control though, I guess. STUPID FREAKING MATH.
Alright, Matthew is sleeping finally, I better sleep while I can.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Ten years
Ten years in pictures and "our songs". I put this together for Joe for our anniversary today.
Monday, November 19, 2012
How it's going.
Trying to find time to post these days is hard. This will probably have to be fast, Luke is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Matthew is in the Rock N Play "sleeping" but is kinda squawky about it so that may not last long.
Sleep is pretty crappy these days. Luke goes to bed right about the time Matthew wakes up to eat for a freaking hour. Then Matthew goes to sleep for a couple of hours while I try to run around and get important stuff done like laundry and dishes (forget about cleaning beyond that). Then Matthew is up and ready to eat again. If I'm lucky, he'll go back to sleep for a couple more hours so I can get a couple hours of sleep then too. And then he is up again for his marathon cluster feeding. Last night it was from about 12:30 till about 2:45 am. I'm not sure why I even look at the clock, to torture myself I guess. He eats a little, stops for awhile, eats a little more, stops for awhile, repeat repeat repeat. Seriously kid, why can't you just eat and go back to sleep?!? Last night he still wasn't really done when I pulled him off and gave him a pacifier instead because I was totally empty and totally DONE with it whether he was or not. He gave me a disgusted look when I tried to put the pacifier in his mouth, yawned, and went to sleep instead. And then Luke was up bright and early at 5 am sharp for the day. And that was a "good night" because I didn't have Luke up at 3 right after Matthew went back to sleep, like he does some nights. So, it's kinda rough. This too shall pass...someday...right? It's a nice problem to have, but exhausting.
And then Luke. He's not afraid of the baby anymore. He's quite comfortable poking his grubby little hands on the baby's face. "Bayee?" (baby) "Yep, that's the baby." (He has no interest in saying anything close to Matthew.) He also likes touching Matthew's nose and saying "no". He has managed to climb in the swing and in the rock n play about 50 times already (And he's good about waiting for a prime opportunity to do it, like when I'm changing a diaper.)-thankfully not with the baby in them-I don't think he would if the baby was there, while he doesn't mind touching him, he's not that comfortable around him, even so, I don't leave them in the same room together where Luke can reach Matthew. It will be a miracle if our swing survives beyond two kids at this rate.
I started taking Luke to My Gym this week. He is one of the biggest kids in his class and also the least cooperative. Circle time was a joke, I had to take him off to the side because he decided to throw a huge tantrum instead of doing the hand clapping things and songs and stuff. The problem was that they let the kids play for a few minutes before it started, and they had all kinds of beloved toddler stuff like mats and a ball pit and bouncy balls and a trampoline and climbers and slides. So Luke got a taste of that and then when I dragged him off the climber for "circle time" he was pretty pissed about it and really not impressed with the circle time activities. Luckily circle time only lasts for 5ish minutes or less and the rest of the "class" is a lot less structured...they have activities...but the kids can also just keep playing if they want...so Luke really didn't do much of the "class" and mostly just played. I am HOPING that after another week or two of this, he will get with the program and at least sit still if not comply with circle time. I think we would have been better off starting this a couple months ago, when he was a little more compliant, but it is too late for that now. The nice thing is that they have "free play" time every day at different times and you can go unlimited times a week for free (well, not really free because we are paying for classes, but it's free to go to free play as much as you want.) SO, we are going to be spending A LOT of time there this winter, I predict. My mom watched Matthew for us while we went though when we go for free play I will probably have to bring him most of the time and use a baby carrier.
Joe got the job he started interviewing for a couple months ago! It starts in a week or two and will be a lot better. Slightly shorter drive, better pay, much better benefits, much better training and job opportunities. They have training in Florida, actually, so I foresee a Florida vacation in our future. (Because Joe is out of his mind if he thinks he's going to Florida and leaving me here with a toddler and a baby on my own while he's in freaking Florida. We will all go, thank you very much.)
Time to feed the baby, then get dressed and take Luke outside to play for a bit (I dress the baby warmly, put him in the carseat with blankets and a carseat cover, and put it next to the door but inside the house, so I can see the baby from our porch and front yard, but he can still stay warm inside and I have my hands free to chase Luke around. It has worked pretty well so far but it's going to be harder when it gets cold.
Hopefully the planets will all align and we can take a long nap, all at the same time, today. Not holding my breath for that and I usually end up doing other stuff during the rare times both boys are asleep at the same time anyway.
Sleep is pretty crappy these days. Luke goes to bed right about the time Matthew wakes up to eat for a freaking hour. Then Matthew goes to sleep for a couple of hours while I try to run around and get important stuff done like laundry and dishes (forget about cleaning beyond that). Then Matthew is up and ready to eat again. If I'm lucky, he'll go back to sleep for a couple more hours so I can get a couple hours of sleep then too. And then he is up again for his marathon cluster feeding. Last night it was from about 12:30 till about 2:45 am. I'm not sure why I even look at the clock, to torture myself I guess. He eats a little, stops for awhile, eats a little more, stops for awhile, repeat repeat repeat. Seriously kid, why can't you just eat and go back to sleep?!? Last night he still wasn't really done when I pulled him off and gave him a pacifier instead because I was totally empty and totally DONE with it whether he was or not. He gave me a disgusted look when I tried to put the pacifier in his mouth, yawned, and went to sleep instead. And then Luke was up bright and early at 5 am sharp for the day. And that was a "good night" because I didn't have Luke up at 3 right after Matthew went back to sleep, like he does some nights. So, it's kinda rough. This too shall pass...someday...right? It's a nice problem to have, but exhausting.
And then Luke. He's not afraid of the baby anymore. He's quite comfortable poking his grubby little hands on the baby's face. "Bayee?" (baby) "Yep, that's the baby." (He has no interest in saying anything close to Matthew.) He also likes touching Matthew's nose and saying "no". He has managed to climb in the swing and in the rock n play about 50 times already (And he's good about waiting for a prime opportunity to do it, like when I'm changing a diaper.)-thankfully not with the baby in them-I don't think he would if the baby was there, while he doesn't mind touching him, he's not that comfortable around him, even so, I don't leave them in the same room together where Luke can reach Matthew. It will be a miracle if our swing survives beyond two kids at this rate.
I started taking Luke to My Gym this week. He is one of the biggest kids in his class and also the least cooperative. Circle time was a joke, I had to take him off to the side because he decided to throw a huge tantrum instead of doing the hand clapping things and songs and stuff. The problem was that they let the kids play for a few minutes before it started, and they had all kinds of beloved toddler stuff like mats and a ball pit and bouncy balls and a trampoline and climbers and slides. So Luke got a taste of that and then when I dragged him off the climber for "circle time" he was pretty pissed about it and really not impressed with the circle time activities. Luckily circle time only lasts for 5ish minutes or less and the rest of the "class" is a lot less structured...they have activities...but the kids can also just keep playing if they want...so Luke really didn't do much of the "class" and mostly just played. I am HOPING that after another week or two of this, he will get with the program and at least sit still if not comply with circle time. I think we would have been better off starting this a couple months ago, when he was a little more compliant, but it is too late for that now. The nice thing is that they have "free play" time every day at different times and you can go unlimited times a week for free (well, not really free because we are paying for classes, but it's free to go to free play as much as you want.) SO, we are going to be spending A LOT of time there this winter, I predict. My mom watched Matthew for us while we went though when we go for free play I will probably have to bring him most of the time and use a baby carrier.
Joe got the job he started interviewing for a couple months ago! It starts in a week or two and will be a lot better. Slightly shorter drive, better pay, much better benefits, much better training and job opportunities. They have training in Florida, actually, so I foresee a Florida vacation in our future. (Because Joe is out of his mind if he thinks he's going to Florida and leaving me here with a toddler and a baby on my own while he's in freaking Florida. We will all go, thank you very much.)
Time to feed the baby, then get dressed and take Luke outside to play for a bit (I dress the baby warmly, put him in the carseat with blankets and a carseat cover, and put it next to the door but inside the house, so I can see the baby from our porch and front yard, but he can still stay warm inside and I have my hands free to chase Luke around. It has worked pretty well so far but it's going to be harder when it gets cold.
Hopefully the planets will all align and we can take a long nap, all at the same time, today. Not holding my breath for that and I usually end up doing other stuff during the rare times both boys are asleep at the same time anyway.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Matthew is here!
Just a quick post while Matthew is in the nursery with the pediatrician and I'm waiting for my own doctor to discharge me (which she is not super thrilled tiabout but sighed and went with.)
Matthew was born at 7:50 am on Friday, Oct. 26th, weighing in at 6 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches long. He is long and tiny and perfect. Newborn diapers are still falling off him. (Also have gotten so many comments especially his first day, "Oh I love how round c-section babies' heads are!") C-section went perfectly, right as scheduled, no vaccums or extra drama, although evidently I am cursed with epidurals forever.
He is already really good at nursing and pretty opinionated on what he likes and doesn't like. (Doesn't like- being put down in his bed, diaper changes, not being able to move his arms.) He has a little jaundice but below the levels where they get concerned and it's leveling down. I initially didn't think he looked a lot like Luke but upon further review after looking at some of their pictures right after birth (especially with the same hats and everything), they are practically identical.
Luke has been up to the hospital every day. He's been doing well being shuffled back and forth between my parents and Joe, for the most part. He wants nothing to do with the baby at all (including sitting on one of us while the baby is being held), but he doesn't seem "against" him either, just "eh...where is my car?"
One thing I forgot about is that I have a 30 lb toddler and my husband is only off work for another week. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to (er...or supposed to...I sorta lifted him yesterday already and it was fine) lift him for a couple weeks. That could make things difficult. Note to self: pregnancy with a toddler, not my greatest plan ever, (DO NOT ATTEMPT AGAIN) but oh so worth it, and we'll muddle our way through the next part.
Matthew was born at 7:50 am on Friday, Oct. 26th, weighing in at 6 lbs 5 oz, 19 inches long. He is long and tiny and perfect. Newborn diapers are still falling off him. (Also have gotten so many comments especially his first day, "Oh I love how round c-section babies' heads are!") C-section went perfectly, right as scheduled, no vaccums or extra drama, although evidently I am cursed with epidurals forever.
He is already really good at nursing and pretty opinionated on what he likes and doesn't like. (Doesn't like- being put down in his bed, diaper changes, not being able to move his arms.) He has a little jaundice but below the levels where they get concerned and it's leveling down. I initially didn't think he looked a lot like Luke but upon further review after looking at some of their pictures right after birth (especially with the same hats and everything), they are practically identical.
Luke has been up to the hospital every day. He's been doing well being shuffled back and forth between my parents and Joe, for the most part. He wants nothing to do with the baby at all (including sitting on one of us while the baby is being held), but he doesn't seem "against" him either, just "eh...where is my car?"
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| Matthew Joseph 10-26-12 |
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| My boys |
One thing I forgot about is that I have a 30 lb toddler and my husband is only off work for another week. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to (er...or supposed to...I sorta lifted him yesterday already and it was fine) lift him for a couple weeks. That could make things difficult. Note to self: pregnancy with a toddler, not my greatest plan ever, (DO NOT ATTEMPT AGAIN) but oh so worth it, and we'll muddle our way through the next part.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Uh, I guess this is it.
I am starting to get a little nervous about the whole c-section thing. This will be the first time that I've had much time to think about it in advance. With Olivia, we were just still shell shocked and devastated and numb and hoping that maybe she'd beat the 1% chance of survival odds they gave us, I was a little nervous, but really, there was so much going on and it happened so quickly, there was no time to think about it. And with Luke, we weren't really positive we would be delivering the next day until our amnio results came back saying his lungs were mature. And then we scrambled to get ready for him. And then my water broke and we rushed to the hospital and I hadn't even gotten my entire list done yet, and I was worried about being in labor and still not entirely convinced that we were really going to get to bring home a baby. This time, I feel like I have a lot more time to think about it (even though we still have plenty to do, we know it's for sure happening Friday and rather unlikely for anything crazy to happen between then and now.) My OB has already warned me that it will probably take longer then the other two because of scar tissue and everything. I'm also a little more nervous about infection this time after the hand saga got out of control so quickly. Hopefully it will be uneventful, no water breaking, no infection, no drama.
I may not have the carseat installed yet or the Pack N Play or Rock N Play or swing or bouncer seat upstairs yet (mainly because I had to relocate a few of Luke's big toys to make room for all the baby stuff...our living room is going to be out of control ridiculous between the toddler toys and then baby stuff in another week. Now that he's in the bigger room, with us keeping all of the diapering stuff in his "old" room for both kids, at least there is room for toys.) Anyway, still have quite a few things to do, but I managed to find time today to go get a pedicure with my mom. I decided to have my toenails painted sparkle orange to go for Halloween and Thanksgiving and fall in general. It is probably going to be awhile, maybe never, before my regular shoes fit again. I would have MUCH RATHER had them painted red for the Cardinals, but let's not even talk about that. I'm still pretty bitter. Anyway, good thing I have my priorities straight. (Actually, not too worried about bringing the baby stuff up early, I'm in the process of re-washing the covers anyway, but I figure it's less stuff for Luke to try to climb on. And Joe will be going back and forth between home and the hospital a lot since he's going to come home to stay with Luke, so it's not like he won't have time to do whatever I don't get done.) I have lots of baby clothes clean and put away, lots of clean baby blankets and bibs and hats, so I think we'll be okay.
And now off to bed. Only one more day and night to go.
I may not have the carseat installed yet or the Pack N Play or Rock N Play or swing or bouncer seat upstairs yet (mainly because I had to relocate a few of Luke's big toys to make room for all the baby stuff...our living room is going to be out of control ridiculous between the toddler toys and then baby stuff in another week. Now that he's in the bigger room, with us keeping all of the diapering stuff in his "old" room for both kids, at least there is room for toys.) Anyway, still have quite a few things to do, but I managed to find time today to go get a pedicure with my mom. I decided to have my toenails painted sparkle orange to go for Halloween and Thanksgiving and fall in general. It is probably going to be awhile, maybe never, before my regular shoes fit again. I would have MUCH RATHER had them painted red for the Cardinals, but let's not even talk about that. I'm still pretty bitter. Anyway, good thing I have my priorities straight. (Actually, not too worried about bringing the baby stuff up early, I'm in the process of re-washing the covers anyway, but I figure it's less stuff for Luke to try to climb on. And Joe will be going back and forth between home and the hospital a lot since he's going to come home to stay with Luke, so it's not like he won't have time to do whatever I don't get done.) I have lots of baby clothes clean and put away, lots of clean baby blankets and bibs and hats, so I think we'll be okay.
And now off to bed. Only one more day and night to go.
Monday, October 22, 2012
36+3
Well, today I am the most pregnant than I have ever been before, since Luke was born in the wee hours (4 am!) when I was 36 weeks and 2 days. 37 weeks is pretty close (FRIDAY! Like in 4 days...), I think we'll actually make it. My appointments today were pretty uneventful except ...oh my gawd, the characters you see at a high risk doctor's office and perinatal center. Yeesh. Every time I go, I pretty much end up thinking that to myself, but today it was especially....interesting. Saturday Night Live has no idea what they are missing, it's like watching a skit in real life.
For once, nothing dramatic to report. Same old, same old. Very active baby, normal fluid levels, normal blood pressure, no protein, we have the okay to stay pregnant.
Now we need to get serious about getting ready for this baby. I have already washed a lot of the baby clothes and put it away, washed the car seat cover, the rock n play cover, etc. I need to start bringing the actual baby stuff out, although I don't really want to give Luke the opportunity to start having new stuff to climb on just yet, so I may wait till Thursday night or even have Joe bring it out Sunday night.
It is going to be a busy few days.
Freaking Cardinals. They only had to win ONE GAME, just one, out of three, so we could call this baby our 'world series baby', since the world series starts Wednesday and the baby will be born in the middle of them. I mean, I guess he's a world series baby no matter which teams are in it, but I don't really care much about the world series if our home team isn't in it. I actually didn't have a great feeling about this year anyway, (not like last year), but still, since we made it into the playoffs and then kept winning, they got my hopes up. Also they have now ruined a lot of presents I planned to buy. Maybe next year. There are certainly much worse problems to have so I can't complain too much.
For once, nothing dramatic to report. Same old, same old. Very active baby, normal fluid levels, normal blood pressure, no protein, we have the okay to stay pregnant.
Now we need to get serious about getting ready for this baby. I have already washed a lot of the baby clothes and put it away, washed the car seat cover, the rock n play cover, etc. I need to start bringing the actual baby stuff out, although I don't really want to give Luke the opportunity to start having new stuff to climb on just yet, so I may wait till Thursday night or even have Joe bring it out Sunday night.
It is going to be a busy few days.
Freaking Cardinals. They only had to win ONE GAME, just one, out of three, so we could call this baby our 'world series baby', since the world series starts Wednesday and the baby will be born in the middle of them. I mean, I guess he's a world series baby no matter which teams are in it, but I don't really care much about the world series if our home team isn't in it. I actually didn't have a great feeling about this year anyway, (not like last year), but still, since we made it into the playoffs and then kept winning, they got my hopes up. Also they have now ruined a lot of presents I planned to buy. Maybe next year. There are certainly much worse problems to have so I can't complain too much.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Yeesh.
Today was rough.
It started last night as I was about to go to bed when the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway got my attention. Luke had fallen asleep early and was awake just as I was about to go to bed. Ugh. And not only was he awake, he was WIDE AWAKE. I am not sure what time we FINALLY fell back to sleep, together in the recliner, I do know it was after an episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog and several episodes of Thomas the Train, and also well after 2 am. When Joe got up for work a couple hours later, I woke up from the recliner and laid Luke down so I could sleep without a kid on me for a little while. That was probably a big mistake because Luke woke up an hour or so later and was up for the day.It was still dark out.
I went online to make sure we had enough money in our bank account and to pay our bills when I noticed four purchases from Amazon that we did not make. I did buy a couple things in early October, just a small $26 order of 2 things I had already received. I have not been shopping much on Amazon lately because they keep quietly changing a lot of their policies-in a sneaky fashion that I don't like- to be less customer friendly. I knew I definitely did not make 4 more purchases there just this month...when I had Prime/free shipping, there have been months I probably did, but I don't anymore so I definitely don't routinely shop there online anymore. The purchases were made on different days but near each other and were for different various amounts of under $200 total. If they had made them from a variety of places that we typically shop, I might not have even noticed. Joe never shops on Amazon and doesn't even have an account. I checked my Amazon account and the last order they had listed was the last thing I had bought early in the month, none of the 4 orders. I called Joe at work just to be sure he didn't order anything (Christmas presents, etc., which would be incredibly unlikely for him), he had not. So then I had the fun of calling our bank and Amazon.
The first person at our bank (USAA) was friendly and helpful, however, a little dumb. I asked if they should cancel my card and send me a new one, after the dispute stuff was filed, and she said, "Oh no. We have to wait for the dispute to process so they can refund your money back through your card." That sounded a little off to me but kinda made sense. She suggested I call Amazon as well. So I did that. They were also helpful although the first lady I talked to was a little annoying "Are you SURE you didn't have a large order that shipped separately so you are having separate charges?" Uh, yeah, I only ordered two things, for under $30 total, and they both arrived together and none of these things I supposedly ordered are anywhere in my order history. Then she asked if there was anyone else in our house who could have used my card on Amazon. Well, I'm pretty sure Luke is not quite THAT advanced yet, and Joe doesn't have an account on Amazon and if he did, wouldn't lie about it. I said, "theoretically my husband could have, but I asked him before calling and he hasn't. And he would have used his own card and/or my account because he doesn't even have an amazon account." She transferred me to their fraud dept. and the guy was a lot more helpful. He asked if I knew someone named Randy, I said no, he said okay that they'll dispute the charges and I should call my bank to cancel my card as the info has been compromised and get a new card. I told him what the girl at the bank had said and he said that wasn't true at all. There shouldn't be any trouble getting our money back with a new card, the card is linked to our account, not the card number. Duh.
So in between that I'm taking care of Luke, feeding him lunch, he fell asleep in his high chair and I laid him down. I get back on the phone to USAA and the guy who answers is all, "well, if that's what the person from USAA told you, they know our banking system better than Amazon so I guess your card is okay. You won't be responsible for any fraudulant charges anyway, just keep an eye on your account." Dude, I'm having a baby in a week or less, I don't have time to babysit every transaction on our bank account when we KNOW someone else has the numbers and has been able to use it. But as I was about to just say okay and call back and talk to someone else, or let Joe deal with it, he asked why we are disputing the charges instead of going through the fraud department. The hell if I know! I told him I just told the first person there were charges on our account that we didn't make, then talked to Amazon, and that's what they did. So he decided to transfer me to the fraud department. As I am on hold with them, all of a sudden our house starts REEKING of gasoline and Luke wakes up completely spazzing out. He won't let me put him down, he is screaming and crying, he won't even let me sit down to hold him. He still hasn't calmed down when they answer the phone, I tried to talk to them for a second but then hung up because it was pointless, I couldn't hear them over Luke and couldn't calm down Luke and deal with it at the same time. And I was concerned about the gas smell and wondering if we needed to get out of there before our house exploded or something.
So I called my Mommy and told her as soon as she answered that our house was reeking of gas and I had no idea where it was coming from or if we should leave, Luke was being crazy clingy and screaming his head off, and someone stole my card info and was using it and my bank was being stupid. She was off today because they had long days on Wed and Thurs, and said she'd come over. This is why I love living 5 minutes away from them.
She came over and fixed almost everything in like 10 minutes. Luke was still super clingy but eventually let her hold him without screaming his head off. We figured out that the gasoline smell
was coming from our dogs spilling a gas can that Joe left by the fence (long story, there's a good reason it was there- when we keep it in the garage, the smell reeks into the house, and Luke doesn't play in the backyard) and walking around in it and possibly rolling in it. Actually, when I say dogs, I really think it was just Koda our husky since the smell followed him especially. We opened windows, turned on fans, and made the dogs go outside in the drizzling rain and left them there. I called the bank back with Luke calm and this time managed to get someone who immediately said, "so we need to cancel your card and get you a new one" as soon as I explained what happened. Then we decided that since Luke was still REALLY tired (he had napped less than a half hour after being up most of the night), we would drive to get fast food for ourselves and let him fall asleep. It ended up taking a half hour of driving around to get the kid to fall asleep but FINALLY he did. We came back and I brought the dogs in the garage on leashes while Luke slept in the car, I have this waterless bath stuff for dogs so we wiped them down well with that and when they both passed the smell test let them back in the house. I went to get Luke out of the car just in time for him to wake up (he'd only been asleep for about 10-20 minutes.) Ugh. He was up for the rest of the afternoon. But the false charges will be fixed, I'm getting a new card (in forever! this is going to put a serious damper on my spending, not having a card, since we don't use other credit cards), our house no longer smells, our dogs are clean, and Luke is finally asleep. Mom's fix everything. I hate my dogs today. And I'm pretty sure this next c-section and hospital stay, even with a newborn, is going to seem like a vacation compared to days like this.
Joe worked late today and didn't get home till almost 6:30. When he did, I stuffed my face as quickly as possible with dinner and then went to sleep while he took care of Luke. I woke up feeling a lot better at 8 pm, only to find Joe and Luke together fast asleep on the couch. They went to Luke's bed soon after that and are all cuddled up together asleep now. Hopefully Luke will be so tired he'll sleep through the night tonight. My burst of energy is spent and I'm about to go crash in my bed which will be glorious. No snoring, clingy husband invading my sleep bubble (I seriously don't like to be touched while I'm sleeping, not even his arm around me, it feels suffocating...I need my space! Joe is cuddly and so is Luke so they pair up nicely.) No toddler flopping around all over me, trying to put his hands in my mouth because he thinks that's funny while I'm trying to sleep, knees and elbows poking into my gigantic belly, etc. Hopefully this will be a much better night.
It started last night as I was about to go to bed when the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway got my attention. Luke had fallen asleep early and was awake just as I was about to go to bed. Ugh. And not only was he awake, he was WIDE AWAKE. I am not sure what time we FINALLY fell back to sleep, together in the recliner, I do know it was after an episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog and several episodes of Thomas the Train, and also well after 2 am. When Joe got up for work a couple hours later, I woke up from the recliner and laid Luke down so I could sleep without a kid on me for a little while. That was probably a big mistake because Luke woke up an hour or so later and was up for the day.It was still dark out.
I went online to make sure we had enough money in our bank account and to pay our bills when I noticed four purchases from Amazon that we did not make. I did buy a couple things in early October, just a small $26 order of 2 things I had already received. I have not been shopping much on Amazon lately because they keep quietly changing a lot of their policies-in a sneaky fashion that I don't like- to be less customer friendly. I knew I definitely did not make 4 more purchases there just this month...when I had Prime/free shipping, there have been months I probably did, but I don't anymore so I definitely don't routinely shop there online anymore. The purchases were made on different days but near each other and were for different various amounts of under $200 total. If they had made them from a variety of places that we typically shop, I might not have even noticed. Joe never shops on Amazon and doesn't even have an account. I checked my Amazon account and the last order they had listed was the last thing I had bought early in the month, none of the 4 orders. I called Joe at work just to be sure he didn't order anything (Christmas presents, etc., which would be incredibly unlikely for him), he had not. So then I had the fun of calling our bank and Amazon.
The first person at our bank (USAA) was friendly and helpful, however, a little dumb. I asked if they should cancel my card and send me a new one, after the dispute stuff was filed, and she said, "Oh no. We have to wait for the dispute to process so they can refund your money back through your card." That sounded a little off to me but kinda made sense. She suggested I call Amazon as well. So I did that. They were also helpful although the first lady I talked to was a little annoying "Are you SURE you didn't have a large order that shipped separately so you are having separate charges?" Uh, yeah, I only ordered two things, for under $30 total, and they both arrived together and none of these things I supposedly ordered are anywhere in my order history. Then she asked if there was anyone else in our house who could have used my card on Amazon. Well, I'm pretty sure Luke is not quite THAT advanced yet, and Joe doesn't have an account on Amazon and if he did, wouldn't lie about it. I said, "theoretically my husband could have, but I asked him before calling and he hasn't. And he would have used his own card and/or my account because he doesn't even have an amazon account." She transferred me to their fraud dept. and the guy was a lot more helpful. He asked if I knew someone named Randy, I said no, he said okay that they'll dispute the charges and I should call my bank to cancel my card as the info has been compromised and get a new card. I told him what the girl at the bank had said and he said that wasn't true at all. There shouldn't be any trouble getting our money back with a new card, the card is linked to our account, not the card number. Duh.
So in between that I'm taking care of Luke, feeding him lunch, he fell asleep in his high chair and I laid him down. I get back on the phone to USAA and the guy who answers is all, "well, if that's what the person from USAA told you, they know our banking system better than Amazon so I guess your card is okay. You won't be responsible for any fraudulant charges anyway, just keep an eye on your account." Dude, I'm having a baby in a week or less, I don't have time to babysit every transaction on our bank account when we KNOW someone else has the numbers and has been able to use it. But as I was about to just say okay and call back and talk to someone else, or let Joe deal with it, he asked why we are disputing the charges instead of going through the fraud department. The hell if I know! I told him I just told the first person there were charges on our account that we didn't make, then talked to Amazon, and that's what they did. So he decided to transfer me to the fraud department. As I am on hold with them, all of a sudden our house starts REEKING of gasoline and Luke wakes up completely spazzing out. He won't let me put him down, he is screaming and crying, he won't even let me sit down to hold him. He still hasn't calmed down when they answer the phone, I tried to talk to them for a second but then hung up because it was pointless, I couldn't hear them over Luke and couldn't calm down Luke and deal with it at the same time. And I was concerned about the gas smell and wondering if we needed to get out of there before our house exploded or something.
So I called my Mommy and told her as soon as she answered that our house was reeking of gas and I had no idea where it was coming from or if we should leave, Luke was being crazy clingy and screaming his head off, and someone stole my card info and was using it and my bank was being stupid. She was off today because they had long days on Wed and Thurs, and said she'd come over. This is why I love living 5 minutes away from them.
She came over and fixed almost everything in like 10 minutes. Luke was still super clingy but eventually let her hold him without screaming his head off. We figured out that the gasoline smell
was coming from our dogs spilling a gas can that Joe left by the fence (long story, there's a good reason it was there- when we keep it in the garage, the smell reeks into the house, and Luke doesn't play in the backyard) and walking around in it and possibly rolling in it. Actually, when I say dogs, I really think it was just Koda our husky since the smell followed him especially. We opened windows, turned on fans, and made the dogs go outside in the drizzling rain and left them there. I called the bank back with Luke calm and this time managed to get someone who immediately said, "so we need to cancel your card and get you a new one" as soon as I explained what happened. Then we decided that since Luke was still REALLY tired (he had napped less than a half hour after being up most of the night), we would drive to get fast food for ourselves and let him fall asleep. It ended up taking a half hour of driving around to get the kid to fall asleep but FINALLY he did. We came back and I brought the dogs in the garage on leashes while Luke slept in the car, I have this waterless bath stuff for dogs so we wiped them down well with that and when they both passed the smell test let them back in the house. I went to get Luke out of the car just in time for him to wake up (he'd only been asleep for about 10-20 minutes.) Ugh. He was up for the rest of the afternoon. But the false charges will be fixed, I'm getting a new card (in forever! this is going to put a serious damper on my spending, not having a card, since we don't use other credit cards), our house no longer smells, our dogs are clean, and Luke is finally asleep. Mom's fix everything. I hate my dogs today. And I'm pretty sure this next c-section and hospital stay, even with a newborn, is going to seem like a vacation compared to days like this.
Joe worked late today and didn't get home till almost 6:30. When he did, I stuffed my face as quickly as possible with dinner and then went to sleep while he took care of Luke. I woke up feeling a lot better at 8 pm, only to find Joe and Luke together fast asleep on the couch. They went to Luke's bed soon after that and are all cuddled up together asleep now. Hopefully Luke will be so tired he'll sleep through the night tonight. My burst of energy is spent and I'm about to go crash in my bed which will be glorious. No snoring, clingy husband invading my sleep bubble (I seriously don't like to be touched while I'm sleeping, not even his arm around me, it feels suffocating...I need my space! Joe is cuddly and so is Luke so they pair up nicely.) No toddler flopping around all over me, trying to put his hands in my mouth because he thinks that's funny while I'm trying to sleep, knees and elbows poking into my gigantic belly, etc. Hopefully this will be a much better night.
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