So my new blog design is in the works and will be done as soon as my free time doesn't consist of finishing chores and catching up on sleep. I'm so excited to have the new layout out and the many possibilities of good things! I'm really looking forward to this.

I'm currently waiting for the last load of laundry to finish before I head to bed. Fortunately, it's been a rather quiet night for Maya so I'm taking this time to update. It's been a couple of weeks of almost sleepless nights and full days of looking after Maya alone while also doing my job as a housewife. It's tough but I'm getting the hang of it. We have established a routine that works for us and it's getting easier everyday. It's new for me to have a structured routine since I've been used to living without one for years, and being consistent is a challenge. I find myself liking the predictability of the day, though. And, surprisingly enough, I am more motivated to do things that I always tend to put aside for "tomorrow". I don't leave things unfinished when I can have it done before I retreat in the comforts of my bedroom unlike before. No more dirty dishes in the sink or laundry in the washing machine. I tidy up the living area so not to be greeted by chaos in the morning. I like my mornings clear of clutter.

I've been talking about sleep or the lack thereof in my Facebook status as of late. Maya is teething and has reached many milestones in her 6 months of life. Her erratic sleeping pattern is driving us crazy for the past two weeks and there's nothing much we can do about it. She wakes up every half an hour, sometimes fifteen minutes after we put her down for her bedtime, leaving us no room for rest. This goes on until morning and the cycle continues again when the day ends. I dread the evenings/nights since then. I have now officially become a morning person.



Her sleeping issues aside, she is a very happy baby. She can sit up straight by herself for a minute. She mimics sounds. She can crawl backwards, roll over and back, pick up and hold things in her tiny hands. She loves sucking her big toe. Sometimes she stuffs her foot in her mouth. She sucks her thumb rarely. She laughs a lot, too, even at times when I'm not trying to make her. She eats solids now and loves fruits and carrots. She gags and make a face when we feed her beans so we alternate it with fruit just so she finishes it. She's still breastfeeding and won't take the bottle. We're teaching her to drink from a sippy cup now. She only chews on it but it's only been a week. She mumbles when she cries like she's telling you something. A series of "M" sounds like mommy, mama, mmmm and a whole lot of other nonsensical syllables only she understands. She's a talker, I'm pretty sure of it.

Anyway, the laundry is done, finally! So this is it for now.

I'm thinking of refurbishing this site. As you can see, most of the photos are gone in my previous entries because Mike accidentally deleted the photo folder in the webserver and I don't have them saved somewhere, so I was thinking, maybe, it'd be nice to have a clean break and start anew. I don't have the time to dig through my photo library and update it. I barely have time to blog nowadays. So, hopefully, I get this blog restarted very soon.

xoxo

Where to start?

My Macbook's hard drive recently died along with all of Maya's photos. To say that I'm devastated is an understatement. It wasn't backed up except for the first 15 days I was able to save. I've learned to tune the thought of it out lest I burst into tears and I'm still in denial. I didn't mourn the death of my first Macbook, which I loved dearly, as much as I did Maya's photographs.

Maya is growing really well. She weighs 6.2 kgs and is 60 cms long at three months! Carrying her is a workout on its own - not to mention the rocking, dancing and bending we do to get her to sleep. Yes, I meant bending like you're doing an air squat with her in your arms. It's the only action that gets her to stay still and quiet immediately when she fusses. It's our fault, I know, and there's nothing much we can do about it now unless we do the pick-up/put-down method I read in baby books, which is a real pain to do and can't be done alone. I just hope she'll outgrow this pretty soon.

She can lift her head and shoulders now and is starting to attempt crawling. She does this swimming pose when lying on her belly. She has really strong legs and can stand on her own supported by the arm of a sofa or when held under her arms.

~*~

This blog entry was 2 months delayed. Didn't want to delete it so I'm just posting it as it is. I want to write again as I miss blogging so much! I simply just don't have the time.

1. I miss feeling the baby move in my belly but having her in my arms, seeing her move, hearing her make sounds make up for it. Ten times more.

2. I love being able to sleep on my stomach now. It felt strange to do that the first time after months of sleeping on my side. I'm a pillow hugger so I'm not entirely sleeping on my belly - half of it is on the bed while the other half is on the pillow. That was one good 3-straight hours nap I've had since B was born! I try not to sleep like that all the time because I slept through my alarm that night!

3. I can clean the way I want to. The other day, while Mike was on baby-watch duty because she didn't want to be put down to bed, I scrubbed the staircase outside and the bathroom tiles, I dusted around the house, vacuumed the rooms, did a load of laundry, washed dishes and cooked dinner. All in one day with only 3 hours of sleep to operate. Add to that a 2-hour shopping trip at the mall. I felt like wonder woman!

4. I miss having the excuse to sleep as much as I want to. Now, I don't have that luxury. :(

5. I miss the baby bump. All I have left are the flabby parts that will take months to get rid of and spring and summer are just right around the corner. Ugh!

6. I'm so excited to fit my regular clothes! Last Sunday, I was able to wear a pair of my regular jeans. It was still a tad tight but I was able to close the button. It made me so happy!

I only bought one pregnancy skirt and a pair of stretchy pants. I found it a waste of money to buy more when I wouldn't be wearing them anymore after 9 months. Good thing I own a lot of loose clothes.

7. Being able to eat some food I wasn't "allowed" to. But, darn it, I can't splurge or binge or I'd gain more weight when I'm supposed to be losing it. It's a toughie to watch my food intake now because I can't justify it by having pregnancy cravings or just being pregnant. I was able to get away with it then but now, well...

Yesterday, we celebrated B's 2nd week with a chocolate mousse cake. Oops!

8. People are generally nice to you when you're pregnant. I kind of miss that attention.

9. Being pregnant in the winter has its advantages. I didn't have to wear that many layers because my body heat was higher. While Mike was buried under the duvet, I slept on top of it because it was too warm. One time, I even asked for a fan and he thought I was crazy.

10. While other pregnant women blame their hormones for their wacky emotional behavior, I was thanking mine for not giving me that problem. Mike said I was a lot more agreeable without any mood swings whatsoever and I felt happier like I was on a natural high.

Was admitted to the hospital this afternoon due to bladder infection, fever and back pains after an almost hour-long intense chills all over my body and we were out walking to the metro station when it happened on our way to watch Avatar with friends. All I could think about was, "I want to lie down when I'm feeling this way." The floor was very very tempting. That was an experience I don't want to relive again especially when I have B inside me to think about too. I wasn't worried about myself but her and it scared me so much because I couldn't control the chills and my belly was all so tensed the whole time. She didn't move until after an hour or so and we were already at the hospital and they were dragging me in a wheelchair.

I'm currently hooked up with an IV and antibiotics. I feel a bit groggy.

This is my first time to be admitted to a hospital. Good thing there's free wi-fi internet, I won't be bored.

Wow, where did all the time go? It's been over a month again without any updates. Getting back on the blogging groove has proven a bit difficult seeing as I'm not used to writing regularly anymore since my hiatus, but I'll keep trying amidst all the things going on in my life right now.

So, what's been up with me?

I'm still pregnant, 24 weeks and counting. Gained 5 kgs so far. And we're having a baby girl. She's currently kicking and nudging as I write this. She's very responsive to me. Just yesterday as I was speaking to her and said, "I love you B, I love you B" while caressing my bump, she gave me two huge kicks 3 seconds later. It's like she was telling me she loves me back. Prior to that she's been quiet and she didn't move after that either. There has been a couple of other incidents like that when she made her presence known. One night, I couldn't sleep and was so distressed I started to cry, she wouldn't stop kicking and it made me cry more because it felt like she was comforting me and saying, I'm here Mommy. I'm already so in love with her.

We're also busy with home maintenance (still - I know) and bought new furniture for the house and the nursery. We decided it's time for a new look for our living/dining room as I'm currently obsessed with having everything lighter and having more space so we got rid of our Tiffany lamps and dining set in exchange for something simpler, smaller and cheaper. I spent several hours a day browsing through Marktplaats to find good deals. It's addicting! Why should I buy new chairs for 35 euros each when I could get four of them for 10? What makes it even great, they're a lot sturdier and prettier too so I'm more than happy to have them. Our living/dining room now is mostly white (except for the walls and some old furniture) and has the modern meet shabby chic look going on. I just love it. It's still a work-in-progress though because there's still wall-painting that is yet to be done but that will have to wait until the nursery is finished. Our hallway is also stripped off the lime green wallpaper and is now stark white. It's busy and messy in Casa van Vliet but it'll be fulfilling when it's all done. And there's going to be lots and lots of pictures. I know I've been saying that but the perfectionist in me wants to have everything in place before I bombard this website with pictures plus taking photos isn't part of my agenda at the moment so it will have to wait.

I'm sad to say that I had to quit school. Sigh. I just couldn't handle the stress of everything right now. It doesn't help that I'm a worrier and I tend to over-think things so my stress levels had gone off the charts last month. It wasn't pretty. So we decided that it'd be best for me to just quit and focus my attention on preparing for B and things that have yet to be done here at home and stay as positive and stress-free as possible. It was the best choice and I don't regret it. I'm just sad because I liked my class and the routine. It was just poor timing.

What else...



Here's a picture of me, Mike and my cousin David from NY who visited us for a day two weeks ago during his week-long holiday.

Click THIS if you want to see the baby bump.

Yes, I decided to go to school and I couldn't regret the decision. In fact, I am very happy that I did despite not feeling up to waking up early in the morning now that it's starting to get gloomy and jackets are taken out of the closet. It gives me the excuse to dress up and mix and match my outfits as I've recently discovered that I actually own quite a number of clothes. Now I feel almost normal and not socially retarded.

One thing I enjoy in the mornings though is watching people on their way to work in their pressed suits and neat clothes, and students in their variety of funky and trendy outfits. I make up stories about them in my head while listening to my artist of the day on my beloved iPod. Some days I look at their faces and study their moods but most days, like today, I just check out what they're wearing. It's like looking through a live fashion magazine or watching a music video or a movie, only I'm actually part of the cast and it feels great to be a part of something even if it's as trivial as being a regular commuter. My 8 a.m subway ride is one of the most interesting parts of my day.