Month: July 2012

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Sayonara

Well, today is the day. My last day as a member of the gainfully employed.

Bittersweet? Definitely. I’m beyond sad to be leaving a workplace I loved, but I’m also excited to get to spend time at home with Della. I think these next couple months with just her before the new baby comes will be priceless.

And we already have plans for our first day home together. I should say I’ve made plans for us, she’ll just be along for the ride. Since tomorrow is her birthday, I’m going to take her to the zoo for the first time. I hope she loves it, since she totally digs animals right now. I think 1 or 2 of my girlfriends and their little ones may join us, so D might have a birthday entourage.

And although tomorrow is her actual 2 year birthday, her monthly update post will have to wait a bit. (nothing new there, though) We have her 2 year checkup tomorrow night, so I’ll get her official height/weight stats there to include. Plus during the day we’ll be busy zooing, not blogging, duh.

I sent my farewell email out at work yesterday with tears in my eyes, but they dried pretty quickly. I’ve realized I need to just calm down and enjoy this time off instead of constantly bemoaning the fact that my paychecks have dried up like those tears. This is the time I so craved after D was born. What am I afraid of now?

So hopefully I’ll still be around fairly regularly to keep you all entertained, even though I’ll no longer be sitting in front of 4 computer screens all day. Maybe my eyesight will enjoy this break too, come to think of it. I do owe you a lot of pictures from our recent travels though, plus I’ll still keep you abreast of my weekly pregnancy growth.

And with that I say good-bye, desk at work; hello, summer!

 

 

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Friday Funk – 26 weeks

So tomorrow will be 27 weeks. Is that 3rd trimester? Holy shit.

Please pardon the setting for this week’s pics. I took them in the little bathroom area of one of the motels we stayed in on our northern WI getaway last weekend. Do you like the tie-dye? It’s Ryan’s Swing Crew t-shirt from high school that has long been part of my pajama wardrobe.

  • How far along?  26 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  24.5 lbs. as of yesterday morning. There we go; I knew that gain would come slamming back into place after a few static weeks.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely. Tops – for the most part. And lots of dresses.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  Getting a little uncomfortable, but for the most part it’s still decent. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet. And I am finding that I’m getting sorer and sorer each time I wake up lying on my back now too.
  • Best moment this week:  Our little family vacation to the northern parts of our state. The whole thing was the best moment this week.
  • Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that it’s HOT oustide.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks are pretty low, which I’ve heard signals there’s a boy in there.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No.
  • Symptoms:  Pretty much nightly heartburn (still mild though, thankfully), SI pain, my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. I’ve started feeling my stomach muscles tweak sharply when I try to use my abs sometimes now too. Guess this kid really is growing in there.
  • Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  Well, I guess the start of my staying home come Wednesday next week? I’m certainly not looking forward to no longer earning a paycheck, but I am pretty excited about taking D to the zoo that day for her birthday.

Here’s the comparison picture for this week, and they are to the exact same day this time. 26w1d with D on the left; 26w1d with Dv2.0 on the right. They seem to be pretty equal now, eh?

 

 

 

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The End

2 words. So simple, yet so final.

And my reality in just 1 week’s time.

As of next Wednesday, August 1, I will be unemployed. Yep, that’s right. J-O-B-less.

Unfortunately, I now know what it feels like to be fired. Well, technically terminated, but still. I’m out of a job.

Here’s the scoop…

I work at a hedge fund, and in a nutshell we’ve lost all of our outside investors. I say outside because I think all of the Principals have some of their own money invested, but you can’t really run a business with the employee base we’ve been carrying based solely on funds from the Principals. You need outside dough coming in, and that is one thing we’ve been severely lacking for a couple years now.

So they made the hard decision to close down our main investment funds and return all outside investors’ capital. In plain English, we went broke.

Now here’s the thing. This was no surprise. Those of you who know me well know that we’ve been living through this possible scenario for the past 4 years. Thankfully I survived every round of downsizing and layoffs until the end, so I do take that as a sign of my worth and standing as an employee. This was due to no fault of my own, and the Principals had nothing but praises to sing about my intelligence, work ethic, qualifications, etc., when the hammer finally dropped and I learned my final date. So that makes me feel a little better about everything.

Still, though, it means the end of a paycheck. The end of 401k contributions. The end of 100% employer-paid health insurance and medical benefits. The end of working in an awesome building with a full cafeteria staff who cooked us breakfast and lunch every day. The end of year-end bonuses. The end of working with people who have become good friends over the last almost 8 years. The end of my career?

That last one is probably the one that scares me most. This is the only “real” type of job I’ve held since graduating college – finance. And now, after a decade, I’m out. And I honestly don’t know if I’ll want to get back in when the time comes. I’ll be off at least the rest of this year, for who wants to hire a 6+ months pregnant chick who they know will be off for about 3 months with a baby shortly after she starts work? Yeah that’s what I thought too – no one.

Thankfully everyone is receiving severance packages, including continued health insurance coverage. And they did throw me a bone since I’m knocked up and extended my insurance coverage through the end of January instead of through October like most have been receiving.

I was really hoping to get just a couple more months out of the deal, since people are being let go in waves – July, August, September, and December, with a very small group staying for 1 year to get everything wound down. End of September would have been ideal. But such is not the case. In speaking with the Principals when I was given my final date they did say there’s always the possibility they could start something back up with a pool of their money, in which case I am high on their list of people they’d want back, but I’m not holding my breath on that whatsoever. I’m fairly certain that when I pull out of the garage on July 31, that will be the last time I see most everyone who’s left.

It’s sad. I’m sad. I foresaw myself working there for the rest of my career, however long that was to be. And for as much as it tore me up to send Della to daycare at 5 months old, I actually hate having to take her out now. She talks about her friends there constantly, she loves the teachers, and we love what they do for the kids. I hope I can keep some semblance of a social routine up for her once she’s at home with me full time. I’ve been saving their weekly lesson plans for the past couple weeks for ideas of what to do, and I’m planning on keeping their daily schedule in tact as much as I can at home, but I’m not going to lie. I’m nervous.

I have no idea how to be a stay at home mom anymore. What if she hates being home with me all day? What if I have no idea what to teach her or how to teach her what she would’ve been learning at daycare? What if she drives me crazy? What if I drive her crazy? What if we drive each other crazy and Ryan comes home to find 2 heaps on the floor, dead from all the crazy?

And then there’s the whole issue of a new baby coming in October. Oh yeah, that!! Someone, anyone, please tell me how to simultaneously (and successfully, mind you) take care of a 2 year old and a newborn all day alone. That is probably the part that makes me most frightened. I don’t know how to do it! The other day I was trying to remember what we did with Della and having her go to daycare when she was born, and then I remembered – she WAS the one who was born. DUH!! See, my mind is already partially gone. How am I going to survive the double kid whammy?

So you see, times they are a-changin’ at our house. Whether for better or worse, I have no idea, but it was out of my control. So it’s just happening. Fortunately, with the severance we’ll be ok financially for awhile. Thank god. And I am hoping to pick up a little freelance work between now and when the baby’s born to help tide us over too.

For those who don’t know, I’m an excellent proofreader/editor. Please check out that JEditing button at the very bottom of the page to be taken to my website for a little more info. And if you need any proofreading/editing services, EMAIL ME! I’m not just being egotistical when I say I’m good. I really am.

If I could do proofreading/editing work indefinitely after the baby’s born this fall, that would be ideal. I like it, I’m very good at it, I love finishing a project and knowing I made it correct, and I could do it from home. And if I were to get enough hours doing that, we could always send the kids to daycare once or twice a week so I could get large chunks of time in to work. Ahh, pipe dreams.

So, my friends, my days as a working mom are numbered. Like I said, I have no idea how I’ll be as a stay at home mom now, but I guess we’ll find out in a few days. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

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Friday Funk – 25 weeks

Check out my little photo bomber this week…

No, I didn’t really wear shorts under my dress that day, but I didn’t want my butt hanging out for the world to see in this picture either. My belly is plenty, thanks.

  • How far along?  25 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  21.5 lbs. as of yesterday morning. That’s the same as last week and still down 1 lb. from 2 weeks ago, and I’m not sure why. My dumb cold is still hanging on, but this week has been just congestion and some coughing, not the feeling like crap that I experienced last week. My appetite has been back too, so who knows what gives.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely. Tops – for the most part. And lots of dresses.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  Getting a little uncomfortable, but when D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s still pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet. And I am finding that I’m getting sorer and sorer each time I wake up lying on my back now too.
  • Best moment this week:  When D learned there’s a baby in my belly and said “hi, baby”.
  • Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that it’s HOT oustide.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks are pretty low, which I’ve heard signals there’s a boy in there.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No.
  • Symptoms:  Pretty much nightly heartburn (still mild though, thankfully, and this week hasn’t been as bad either), SI pain, my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain.
  • Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  Our little family vacation this weekend. We’re taking a few extra days on either side and driving up to explore northern WI.

Want another comparison to my pregnancy with D? Great. Here it is – 25w with D on the left (last one with the arm, i promise) and 25w2d with Dv2.0 on the right, as usual. See you next week!

 

 

 

 

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23 month stats

Yes, this post is over 2 weeks late. But do you know what that means? Della will be 2 years old in just over 2 weeks!!

Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor because I just fainted at that thought…

official 23 mo. pics

This child amazes and entertains me more and more each day. I am, however, starting to get a little nervous about what life will be like when there are 2 of them.

Besides growing like a serious weed, there isn’t a ton of new stuff going on since the last updates. I will refer you to the 21 month and 22 month stats for her ever-growing vocabulary, because I don’t feel like typing them all out again. Oh come on, you know I’m lazy.

Since then, however, there have been a couple new additions:

  • hammock (which she says surprisingly perfectly. guess she finally learned that “k” sound after all)
  • truck (which she has also had in her repertoire for awhile now, but it’s been perfected)
  • Hemmy (her friend Hemingway at school. this was the mystery “emmy” word that took me months to figure out)
  • Nay-nay (her friend Nathan at school)
  • No-no (her friend Noah at school)
  • up! (when she wants to be picked up)
  • PaPa (pronounced paw-paw, and what she calls all of her grandparents. so we have to distinguish between which grandma and which grandpa, just to make sure who we’re talking about)
  • Mo-mochs (my mom and stepdad’s dog is named Mocha and we often call her “Mochie-Mochs”. so this is d’s version)
  • mine & me (actually her new favorite phrase is “no mine, della’s!” her “della” still sounds suspiciously like “dada”, but when she yanks whatever it is you’re dealing with away while saying this, you know she’s definitely talking about della. almost 2? yes)
  • starting to learn black, green, and brown instead of calling everything she doesn’t know “purple”
  • heavy (been saying this for awhile, i’ve just forgotten to list it)
  • empty (same as with “heavy”, and sounds very similar)
  • rag (pronounced more like “rye”, how she refers to the burp rag with which she sleeps)
  • almost (doesn’t say this one often, but will repeat it after you)
  • outside
  • broke
  • hot dog (have i listed this one before? she’s been saying it forever)
  • mouth (sounds like “moushe”)
  • nose
  • neck (another one that doesn’t really come out on its own, but she’ll repeat it very well)
  • starting to count, even though her “1, 2, 3” sounds more like “oo, doo, eee”

I’m sure there are more, but her sibling is currently feasting on my brain cells and not allowing me to recall them for you at this moment.

She’s also become fond of standing with her back against the height board Ryan made for her 1st birthday last year and seeing how much she’s grown since she turned 1. It’s so funny to watch because she’ll just back up against it and wait for you to measure how tall she is.

2 years old. Wow. I seriously can’t believe it. It still doesn’t seem like these past 2 years have flown by like time usually does, but saying we have a 2 year old just blows my mind.

Here are some pictures from the past couple weeks. Her 4th of July outfit was so cute with those stars on her shorts, but I felt bad for the poor kid – it was about 470 degrees outside and she’s constantly in motion, as evidenced by the blur factor below.

my little flower…

naked baby alert!

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Friday Funk – 24 weeks

Hmm, I don’t really have anything witty to say right now, so I’ll just get to the picture…

  • How far along?  24 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  21.5 lbs. as of Tuesday morning when I weighed myself before my doctor appointment that day. That’s down 1 lb. since last week, but I blame that solely on the wicked cold I’ve had this week that left me with no appetite for a couple days. I’m sure next week’s weigh-in will more than make up for that.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely. Tops – for the most part.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  When D sleeps through the night (which is almost always), it’s pretty good. Sometimes I have to get up to pee, but that isn’t a constant yet. And I am finding that I’m getting sorer and sorer each time I wake up lying on my back now too.
  • Best moment this week:  I’m actually going to cheat and use one from last week, but it happened after I had written last week’s post – seeing Zac Brown Band at Summerfest. They were phenomenal!
  • Miss anything?  Beer, especially now that the weather’s warming up.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks are getting stronger, so that’s a good sign. They’ve gotten to the point now, too, where when he/she really stretches out I not only feel a kick in the front/side/wherever the kid happens to be, but I feel it against my butt too. It’s like woah I have to poop! Oh, nope, no I don’t; just a kick. TMI? So sorry.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No.
  • Symptoms:  Pretty much nightly heartburn (still mild though, thankfully, and this week hasn’t been as bad for some reason), SI pain, my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. And gas. Wow, definite TMI post today. Lucky you!
  • Belly button in or out?  In. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  Getting a pedicure tomorrow afternoon. Ahhh…

And here’s the D vs. Dv2.0 comparison shot. Sorry again for the dreaded arm-on-hip pose. That should stop after next week. Do you think there’s a difference between these two kids?