Awareness

I am very aware of my blogging habits. I know it looks as though I've had a rough week. I didn't post much this week. My mother posted once on the weekend, then I posted my WWWAT and about Joshua's birthday. But there's nothing else. And it may appear to the outside eye that I am so distraught over his birthday that I cannot find it in myself to blog.

That's simply not the case. Often I do not blog because I have nothing to say that I would say to the wider public. It has become increasingly obvious to me that what I say on this blog will make its way around the world, down the street, to both strangers and friends.

I sometimes don't talk/write because I can't think of anything to say. But let me at least catch you up on us. Is that okay? Oh good, I thought that was why you people stalk me read my blog.

It's hot here. And you'll notice that all these pictures of Oceana? There's not a whole lot of clothing happening. Well, to be fair, I've had enough trouble with stains lately. I wasn't about to give her purple paint, inside, while she was dressed. Are you kidding? Naked it is! And outside for that matter! But then I destroyed all common sense and used the last of the paint on her. That's right folks, I gave my daughter body paint. I then carried her gingerly to the bathroom where she was strictly instructed to SCRUB! Yeah, and that went about as well as you think it did. I had to do the scrubbing, and when she got up this morning there were still some hints of purple. But whatever. She had fun. And it made for some adorable photos.

And if you're wondering what she's using: Cheap paintbrushes, tempera paints diluted with water (works like watercolors that way), art paper ripped from one of my books, and a cookie tupperware container. It worked like a charm. *Most of* the paint remained inside the box as the papers were in there. The only mishaps were from her setting own her paintbrushes and knocking over the cup of paint several times. Next time I'll use a plastic plate... that way she can't topple it over every blinking time she touches it.

This puzzle was one of her Christmas presents. When Matt saw what I'd brought home, he thought it might be a bit too intricate for her just yet. I worried that it would end up a bunch of little pieces strew across the house, never to be seen again. But so far that hasn't been the case. She asked for her puzzles tonight (they are kept up high in two ziplocks, she usually only gets one at a time) and it didn't occur to me for the first hour that I hadn't really had much interaction with her. She was quietly sitting on the floor doing this. I'm not kidding, the time on this photo is 4:30pm. She was still doing it when she went to bed at 8:30pm! I was amazed!
In fact she brought me one of the pieces without its letter because she couldn't find it. I sorted through and found 3 letters with no home. She rejected the "D" as I held it up, as she did the "B". She saw the "A" and when I said, "Is this the right one?" She says, "Yeah..." takes it from my hand and plops it in. Smartie-Pants! Haha. Oh, what's that you say? No shorts? No. No shorts. It's hot here, remember?

The last two days have been quiet days. Matt and I start back to work next Monday and we're savouring the "nothingness" of Christmas/New Years. Matt's been golfing. I've been hanging at home, crafting, and trying to find the energy to clean.

The third trimester came along like a strong wind and took me off my feet this week. I have been so exhausted. Unfortunately I have gotten used to stay up late (11-12 every night) but Oceana still wakes up between 6 and 7 every morning. It's quite painful to get up that early when you're so exhausted that you can't think straight. I have found that throughout my days I try to get up and do something, only to sit down halfway through it. I took a 2 1/2 hour nap (from the very moment I left Oceana in her bed for nap to the moment I heard her cry) yesterday, and finally I had the energy to do something!

Today I slept on the couch from 6:30am - 8:30am while Oceana watched Shrek. (Not my favourite, I wish it would find a hole to fall into. It just might...). Today was one of the first days I had the energy to get up and do stuff all day without feeling like I was going to fall asleep standing up.

The baby's movements are becoming more recognisable now. It's a bit strange, this is the least I've felt a baby before. I'm positive my placenta (the thickest part) is in the front - anterior placenta. Basically it's working like really good insulation. So sometimes when she's moving I feel "something" but I'm not sure if it's the baby or not because I can't feel it on the outside. But when she gets her feet up high or way down low - there's no mistakin it. She's in there. She's happy.

People ask all the time, "How's that belly/baby doing?" and my dumb response is, "It's still there." Well no duh Susie, they can *see* that!

I discovered that I can do @ responses for Twitter even though I'm not doing it from my phone. Haha. I really should spend more time looking around. Really, I should. Oh, on that note - you may notice a few changes on the sidebars - some links were deleted (for continuity's sake) and some things have been adjusted/moved. Please don't think I'm not reading your blog if it's not on the sidebar. I have Google Reader and that thing is FULL of stuff to read every morning. In fact, I think I read about 25 posts a day. And approve your comments. And check my Facebook. And check in on my Mommy board. It's a lot of internet-ing. I think I'm going to have to add to my New Years resolutions - only be on the computer when I'm feeding the baby. So, come April that'll be a lot. Haha. I'm kidding myself. I think I spend a lot more time than that on the Internet. And as much as Matt doesn't think I'm productive - if he only knew how many places I go!!! :)

Wanna know some stuff I don't want to tell you?

I haven't showered in a few days. Yes, it's hot. I know. I should have showered. But I haven't. I will tomorrow. I promise. Because I'm going to my friend's birthday party. And I won't tell you how old she's turning, because I'm a good friend like that. :) She's a pretty frequent commenter too - so I'll simply leave you with this - Margo's having a very cool formal birthday party tomorrow night. I'm excited because it means I get to see my friends, get to see my girls (from the youth group we led for 18 months) sing, get to take pictures for the evening, and wear a fancy dress (the one I'm wearing to Cate's wedding in February). Yes, yes, yes, I'll post pictures. ;) Coz I love you.

A name is still not nailed down. In fact, names aren't even out of the box. But that's okay. We have somewhere between 10 and 13 weeks to figure that one out. Oh my goodness, when it hits single digits I'm gonna lose it. You watch me!

This week I did manage to go through all the baby gear. I forgot how much gear we had. Good grief. With Joshua so much of our girlie stuff wasn't going to work for him, so when I started pulling out all things pink I was reminded how much I really did have. And I only picked out the Preemie to 0-3 sizes! Whoa! The boxes and gear take up a whole corner about 3' high in Oceana's room. Okeedokee. And it's all been in boxes for over 2 years. Which means it's dusty and nasty and will all need a really good wash. So, I probably should tackle that before I'm the size of a blimp. Because I do have to carry it all downstairs, outside, up three steps, across the lawn, hang it up, take it in, carry it down three steps, fold it, carry it upstairs and find a dresser that's empty enough to make it the baby's dresser. Oh my goodness. It's sounds like a bigger job than I thought it was. Oops. I'll have to get to that soon!

I'll catch you all later. I've blathered on for long enough. I don't care about spelling and grammar, because it's 25 minutes to 11. And morning comes early around these parts! So, goodnight, sleep tight!