Lost My Job

My job is over. About a month ago the company I worked for filed for Chapter 11, (bankruptcy). 80% of employees were let go. I was one of the few that stayed in hopes of re-organizing and getting back up and running. It did not work and last Friday we closed for business and I stayed to clean up some accounts until Wednesday. Wednesday at 11:00 am I left for good. I had been there since 1999.

I know I mentioned in the past that I would rather be a stay at home mom. However, Rob is in nursing school full time and won't be able to get real work until he completes the program. That will be at least another year and 1/2. Maybe 2. As much as I want to be home we need an income and health insurance. We will survive as we still have some savings left. I just have to start job hunting and hope to get something soon. Insurance will run out by the end of December and COBRA is going to hurt. Being a stay at home mom by choice is one thing, losing a job the way I did hits on a whole other level.

This is more depressing then I thought it would be. I'm trying very hard to look on the bright side and see this as a new chapter in life. I can get some extra time to spend with Kevin and then hopefully will start a new job and move on. It's just affecting me emotionally more then I thought it would. I liked my job and really liked the people I worked with and I will miss everyone. It's a big chunk of my life that just went away. Uncertainty about the future and not having much security is extremely scary.

We will get through this. All 3 of us are healthy and the holidays are coming and I WILL make this holiday season super fun and exciting for all of us.

Kevin is doing great. He is 9 months and standing up on his own. He pulls up on everything now. Coffee tables, book shelves, his high chair, anything that he can. He is saying mama and dada and baba. He says dada the most :) He doesn't know what they mean though. He just randomly yells them out. lol. He loves going to the playground and the kids center we have here. He is very social. Crawls right up to other babies/children and shares toys and tries to touch them and play with them.

He is eating some pieces of turkey and chicken with his purees now. I give him chunks of fruit or steamed veggies sometimes but he is still learning finger foods. I'm not rushing it. He will munch on teething biscuits and the heels of bread. He also eats those Gerber cheese puffs. He takes four 8oz bottles of formula a day and 3 meals. He's a fat one and so adorable!

Happy Halloween!

And He's Off....

Kevin is officially crawling! He's been sort of crawling, sort of inching around, for a few weeks. He was big on getting on his knees and then diving forward. He was great at crawling backwards. On Monday he crawled for real. Forwards, about 5 feet. I was on the couch and he was on his play matt and he decided to crawl right to me. It was pretty awesome :)

As far as baby proofing goes we have done the minimum. We locked the toilet bowl lid and gated off the kitchen. We also covered open outlets. He has already tried to stick things, especially his fingers in those baby magnets. I cleaned off one low shelf of breakables. That's about it. We have an apartment with no stairs so I think it's enough.

Now that he can crawl all he wants to do is explore the place. Each corner is a new find for him. It is amazing to witness. He made it over to the desk last night and spent a good 20 minutes under it playing with the wheel of the desk chair. He really loves hanging out under the coffee table.

Oh and that step stool I bought to help me reach things. He thinks it's a play table for him.lol. So that is what it has become for now:

Kevin Eats Wood

Wood. He loves it. The leg of the coffee table and the crib railing are his favorite. He is not unlike a mischeivous puppy. Bite marks from his only 2 teeth have covered these items.

I'm a little concerned. I posted this on TMP looking for re-assurance it is normal behavior for an 8 month old and I received that re-assurance. I'm still a bit skeptic though. I'm worried he is going to end up on that reality show about people with strange addictions. I may have actually seen one where a women ate wood. I am hoping it's a phase he will grow out of.

Crib picture

The Crib Problem

Kevin turned 8 months on Saturday. He also sat up by himself for the first time! So exciting. He loves to play sitting up and has been doing so for over 2 months now but on Saturday he actually got himself from a lying down position to a sitting up position. He's very proud of himself and looks up at us and gives the hugest smile when he does it. (Our cheering probably doesn't hurt)

So we were all very excited about this new development until last night. I went to put him to bed and he wasn't really in the mood. I left the room for a few minutes to see if he would settle himself down. I hear happy noises but no crying so I leave him for a little while and when I go check on him he is sitting up....in his crib. When he sees me he flashes that huge smile and reaches for the side of the crib and I realize to my horror...He is moments away from figuring out how to pull himself up. UP AND OVER. Oh Crap.

So I rock him and sing to him until he falls asleep and then lay him in his crib for the night. I text Rob, who is in Chemistry class, and tell him tomorrow we have to lower the crib mattress. No big deal. Except it is kind of a big deal because I am 5 feet tall. Once the mattress is lowered I don't think I can reach to pick Kevin up and get him into or out of the crib by myself. Why don't they make a safe drop side crib?

Rob is home with Kevin today and I asked him to look around the city for a step stool. I have no idea if it will work or not but it's the only idea I have.

Maybe it won't even be an issue. This morning when I went to get Kevin he was already sitting up in his crib. That amazing smile on his face. I had to cheer :) If he does that every morning I'll be able to reach.

Thyroid Issues

I plan on blogging from work. I need to space the day out better and Kevin takes up most of my home time anyway. I seem to have a problem with the comment boxes though. My work computer will not allow me to comment on my own blog or anyone elses. I'll see if I can fix it but I'm not all that tech-savvy. I'll probably read blogs here and comment at night or on weekends from home.

I want to explain a little about the thyroid issue I am having. I don't understand much about it. I went to the GP for allergies in June. I was still breastfeeding and wanted a nasal spray because I wasn't to keen on taking any medication while breast feeding. My GP hadn't seen me in a while and wanted to run some blood work. I let her, took my allergy Rx, and went on my way.

Fast forward 3 months and it's September 30th, I have stopped breastfeeding, started working, and my allergies are acting up again. I go back to the doctor. She checks me out and tells me I have an ear infection and my thyroid levels came back a little high. I had a slight case of HYPERthyroidism. Probably from the pregnancy and it would probably fix itself but she needed to re-run the blood work. So I let her and go get my Z-pack for my ear infection, (that didn't hurt), and go on my way.

A few days later I get a call from the doctor saying my thyroid is now under producing and I have HYPOthyroidism. uuuggghhh. I need to take Synthroid once a day and go get an ultrasound of my thyroid done and we'll take it from there. So seems my thyroid is just not regulating.

Basically, if I do not get it regulated this can cause serious issues for TTC and future pregnancies. So I guess it was lucky my allergies acted up and I found this out now. Still.... I am a little annoyed I went to the doctor for nasal spray and came out of there with an ear infection and hyper AND hypothyroidism.

I'm not a doctor and don't really understand the function of the thyroid but I can't help but wonder if this would have regulated itself. My blood was taken 2 weeks after I stopped breastfeeding and the day of my first period since becoming pregnant with Kevin. Who knows.

I am taking the medication daily and have a thyroid ultrasound scheduled for October 25th.