Bayboro Visit

Last weekend we went to Bayboro to visit the Lee grandparents. We ended up visiting the NC Aquarium on Sunday and were treated to a tour by my former roommate from App, Carmen. Evie was a little apprehensive after recognizing her from our last visit, but was happy to hear there are no dolphins at this aquarium.

Carmen gave us a tour of Discovery Cove when she worked there as a dolphin trainer. Turns out Evie doesn't think too highly of them.

We told Evie it was time for breakfast and as we were preparing her plate, we looked in the dining room to see that she had sat herself at the table and placed a placemat in her lap like a napkin. What a little lady!

Evie is a huge fan of Brenda, Grandparent Lees' prehistoric-looking mastiff, who she renamed "Big Dog." I'd say that's pretty accurate.

As she was trying to pet Brenda, she said, "Hold me, Big Dog?" I don't think so. Later that night, I was rocking her and said, "Evie, Mama loves you" and she responded with, "'ow 'bout Big Dog?"

Above the shark tank with Carmen

a couple of cuties

Thinking about joining Dad for a dip in the pool, a.k.a., "big baff"

This is so Evie. Cracking up at her dad with her finger in her belly button.

For some reason, Evie has started pointing at the house across the street and calling it "Dada House" and the house next door is "Mama House." I asked her if Mama House was pretty and she responded with, "Mama pretty." Admittedly, I was fishing for that one, but it's still sweet!

Last night Evie delivered her first unsolicited "I love you!" As we should have expected, one of our pets was the recipient. I was rocking her before bed and she reached back to pet Murray who was perched on the back of the chair and said, "I yah, Mowwy." So cute, that girl.

Yesterday afternoon my parents drove in to visit their favorite granddaughter. Evie and I were taking a walk on our street and when my parents drove up, Evie excitedly waved at the car, shouting, "HI, BEE BEET (beep beep, what she calls cars)!!"  When they stopped right next to us, she saw who was inside and was STUNNED. Her eyes were like saucers. She reached out and practically fell into my dad's arms and melted into the sweetest hug ever. She didn't even talk for the next 30 minutes, she just wanted to hug her Nana and Baboo.

Update

We had our last monitoring appointment this morning and it went well! We have three potential follicles, which in theory could mean three babies, though with our history that's highly unlikely. It's a weird place to be simultaneously worried about not getting pregnant and getting pregnant with multiples. Now for my least favorite part: waiting. I'm not so good at it.

She likes to pretend to put Dada to sleep and usually strokes his hair and tucks him in. This night she decided to snuggle in next to him.

Inspecting the "mailbox"

Lookin good in Dad's coat

Evie's starting to recognize more letters from the alphabet, or "OEIs" as she calls it. She correctly identifies "B" but "D"is "B for Dada". Ha!

Sometimes I think I'm being tested to see how much I'll endure to get pregnant. I had to give myself an injection this morning because our stupid pharmacy forgot to order my meds, which I discovered after business hours last night and about 30 minutes before I was scheduled to take my first dose. My doctor gave me an extra vial from their office and told me to take it ASAP. Matt has given me all of my shots until now because I'm not a fan of needles. Getting past the mental hurdle of giving it to myself was not easy, but I did it! It opens a lot of doors for new things I can inject in the future.

Next Steps

Last weekend, Matt went to NYC for a work trip and was kind enough to invite me to join. My mom came in to stay with Evie, so it's tough to say who had a better weekend. I missed her like crazy, and thought about her constantly, but still managed to have a pretty awesome time. The incredible food helped, as did the company and entertainment. We stayed with Matt's college buddy, who took us to some of the best restaurants I've ever visited. If you're in Park Slope, or anywhere in the vicinity, you must go to Juventino (truffled eggs!!!!) or Kiwiana. That night, we met some more friends at Alta, a tapas restaurant in the city, before seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway. I wasn't sure what I'd think about that show, but we all loved it! The talent was stunning.  At least I thought so until I saw Matt's "Step In Time" routine outside the theater.

After the trip, I was refreshed and excited to get back to my daily routine with Eves. My daily routine is going to involve a few more steps for the next few weeks, however. We're trying for a second, which for us means blood tests, ultrasounds, pills and injections. Up first is Femara, which is typically used to treat breast cancer, but some crafty scientists in Canada found that it's also able to induce ovulation. I've been on it for three days and in that time I've had hot flashes, dizzy spells, and a raging headache--the type that pounds with noise, light and toddlers begging to visit the mailbox for the 11th time that hour. However, ovulation stimulators also raise your mood, so I've been pretty cheerful despite all that! I'm on this for a few more days and start injections tomorrow. They'll monitor me closely during that, so as to avoid a litter of Lees, and then we hope, pray and wait! I was warned that my mood would plummet post-ovulation, and I'll be on Progesterone, so Matt will probably just want to plan to be away for work for that 2 week period.

As hard as it is mentally and physically to go through this process, it's 100 times easier going through it with a child at home. It's also a pretty great reminder of how lucky we are to be parents at all.

Since we'd just had a great weekend together I didn't have any Valentine's expectations, but Matt surprised me at home 4:00! He brought Evie and I some goodies, but his early arrival took the cake. Evie loved the Valentine "mailboxes" Matt gave her and showed her appreciation by calling him a Poo Pie. She pulled out that insult last week and doubles over whenever she uses it. She's been practicing it since, and if she knows your name you can bet she's called you a Poo Pie as well. If she's really angry, she'll call you a "No-No Boy", so be careful not to get on her bad side.

Focus

My parents are in town for some Evie Time, so I'm able to catch up on some freelance, blog writing and contemplation. Last weekend was another where we didn't get to spend much time with Matt and when he took off work at 5 on Sunday to hang out with us, I was in a bitter, nasty mood. I'd wanted to hang out with him so badly and when I got the opportunity I ruined it because I was indulging myself in a pity party. For the past year I've been waiting for his busy period to let up so we could get back to normal, but I think it's time to acknowledge that it may not be a busy period and I need to learn to deal with it. Lately I've been perfecting my skills at creating lists of reasons to be overwhelmed and unhappy and it's time for a change of focus.

This morning, my first choice for Evie's preschool had open registration. I did some research and after deciding it would be perfect for Evie, I discovered it's in walking distance of our house! So this morning I arrived an hour before they opened their doors and pulled in to the parking lot next to five other cars with their occupants staying warm inside rather than waiting out in the cold. I definitely preferred that plan rather than sitting in the 30 degree weather, assuming there was some sort of unspoken code that we would try to respect who arrived first. Several more cars arrived and around 7:30, 30 minutes after my arrival, two women got out of their cars and walked to the front door. I figured the game was over, so I followed them. I was so angry when I got to the door and saw a sign up sheet! I was #9 and I knew there were only a couple more spots in the 2 year old class. When they finally started calling our names, the two women who shouldn't have been in front of me signed up for the class I wanted! Thankfully, someone had dropped out because I snagged the last spot. Whew! It must be good because one of the men in front of me was coming from the hospital where his wife had just given birth. Apparently, her first words after she started labor was, "Don't forget the preschool registration tomorrow!"

I spent most of my day working, but we took some time to take Evie to Pullen Park, one of Raleigh's gems. This place is awesome. If I lived somewhere else, say, San Diego, I might be convinced to move to Raleigh because of this park alone. It has a beautiful lake with paddle boats, several playgrounds, an authentic antique carousel, a train ride and a delicious cafe with local, seasonal food, all covered in a canopy of beautiful oaks.

Evie insisted on riding the pigs and grunting at them in their language during the ride.

Another reason my girl is awesome: she said "bye bye" and gave the pig a kiss when we got off. Unsanitary but adorable.

Little red caboose, chug, chug, chug

Unimpressed with the train and pretty certain it was trying to chase her

After finding these disgusting glasses and putting them on Nana, she saw them and said, "no, please" and promtly threw them on the ground.

weeeeeee!

they don't have anything this good in San Diego, trust me.

Disney Cruise #2

We returned a week ago today from cruise #2, though it already seems like ages since we were there. As much as I would like to plan an adventurous trip to another country or perhaps even a destination that doesn't feature costumed characters, Disney is hard to beat with a little one. Going on a trip with a toddler is humbling and any previous experience traveling will be virtually useless. Disney has considered all of the typical stressors and their cruises are just about as easy and relaxing as it gets! We were on their new ship and had a blast, though Matt was sorely missed. Here's a photo tour of the trip:

Am I dreaming?

Check out the expression. She was completely overwhelmed.

We had just boarded and she could not contain her excitement!

Planning our next cruise with Baboo's help

She insisted on wearing her sunglasses at dinner. She's starting to form strong opinions about fashion!

Catching a late movie on deck. It was so pretty at night!

Playing Tick Tock with Baboo

Can't talk. Ice Cream.

She insisted on sleeping on me during nap time. It doesn't get better.

"a-BOO, toes!"

Plum tuckered.

Theme of the week. She could not get enough of Nana!

Enthralled by the live-action pirate show. Check out the water slide!

Jack would be pissed if he saw this picture. Who knew dogs were allowed on cruises!? Evie named this one "Mamo Dog."

Enjoying the requisite kid-free meal at Palo. I may or may not have obsessively watched the cell phone the entire time for a call from the nursery.

Feeling brave by the end of the cruise! She asked Mickey to do the Hot Dog Dance (he declined- rude), and freely gave kisses and high-fives to all the mice, ducks, chipmunks and dogs!

Cancel the cleaning crew. I'll take it from here.

Last meal before our return to the real world.