What's new in my life

I haven't written in awhile and that's because . . . there's not much to tell around these parts. First of all, I've been sicker than a dog, as that familiar phrase goes. I've never had morning sickness quite like this. I'm sickest from 8 pm until 8 am. That sounds great since I am okay during the day as long as I avoid meat or anything that smells like meat, or books with fish in them (poor Emeline had to pick a replacement book because I couldn't get through her favorite ocean book), and I snack constantly and never eat more than the equivalent of half a sandwich at one time.

But the downside to "night" morning sickness is that you DON'T sleep. Instead, you lay in bed feeling nauseous and you absolutely cannot roll onto your sides since that intensifies the nauseousness 300%. I am finding that waking up at 3:00 am to throw up isn't that great. I'm also finding that perpetual exhaustion from not sleeping well does not help with my abilities to deal with my kiddos.

Poor Cowen, he is such a hyperactive thing and is into pushing all the boundaries, that he sometimes bears the brunt. I know, I know, he's my darling, the apple of my eye, the absolutely most charming boy on the planet. But for some reason, his habit of kicking me under the table suddenly drives me nuts instead of being something I could easily ignore. And his desire to constantly jump on me suddenly isn't so cute. And the way he acts offended and slinks over to a corner to hide if I so much as raise an eyebrow at him suddenly doesn't melt my heart in quite the same way. I know, I'm pathetic. It's just that I NEED MORE SLEEP. Lame excuse for being a grouchy mom.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, Timothy was temporarily out of work for the past few weeks so he has been an enormous help. He starts his new job next week, and I am THRILLED because it is in Ogden, and even better the side of Ogden closest to us, so his commute will be less than 20 minutes one way, instead of an hour and a half during rush hour. Also, the new firm has terrific medical benefits which his old job most emphatically did not, and best yet, it is called Wiggins and Co. so Timothy can get a kick out of pretending to work for Ender Wiggins. Or something along those lines. Since Tim admires Orson Scott Card WAY too much, that is a fun perk for him.

So, like I said, Tim has been a huge help. The morning after waking up a few too many times, he let me sit on the couch while he took care of everyone. Then this morning he took the kids for two and a half hours so I could work on my book. I got so much done!! Yeah! I basically had stopped working on it after morning sickness hit because I was too tired to work up any creative energy and at night, when I usually work on it, I was too sick. So this morning Timothy definitely won the Best Husband Ever award. I'll be sure to put that in the dedication too. As a side note, Kami read through my edit and couldn't think of a single criticism. She said she'd read it again slower just to make sure, but I am positive this has never happened before and I am pretty excited about it.

Next, our basement flooded. That was bad, but at least we finally figured out where water was leaking. Water had mysteriously shown up on Cowen's floor on three occasions, but not that much, and without any indication of where it came from. When Timothy hooked up the swamp cooler all became clear . . . and wet. Timothy won Husband of the Year that night as well, since I was extremely nauseous and trying to grade a bunch of papers so he cleaned up the entire basement himself.

On a happier note, Timothy and I snuck away for a night without children. It was glorious and grand, and very, very fun. I gave Timothy the kinky gift I've been SO EXCITED to give him for some time now, and, of course, he loved it. Megan had a good time with our kids, as indicated by the sheriff showing up to ask about a 911 call he received from her house. The only kids in the house were Anders (2) and Emeline (1). I maintain it was Anders!

So that's my life.

Just a small note for those of you who get morning sickness or "night" morning sickness. My favorite "treatment" is drinking a slimfast first thing in the morning. It has really helped me. I tried drinking a slimfast right before I went to bed, and it has worked fairly well. I haven't thrown up in the middle of the night since I started doing it--so that is a good thing! Anyway, just thought I would throw that out there for those of you who get sick during pregnancy.