Hey ladies,

How is everyone? I think my hormones are all over the place at the moment. My skins a mess and have felt really blue for the last week or so. The weather here probably hasn't helped as it's been wet for the last few days plus the last 3 weeks with hubby being away more often than not I think are catching up with me. We have our baby sitter sorted for Saturday and we're heading off to a casino for something different to do. I can't wait and have offered my taxi service to keep me on the straight and narrow :). At least we're half way through the week now and today is my cleaner day so she's busy sorting out the house now, I loathe housework

How are you Babbs after the juicing incident? You feeling any better?

Anyways - hope everyone's ok and I'll check in again soon xxxxxx

Hi everyone,

Just checking in to say Hi. Not much going on here. Been busy trying to plan things and enjoy the last month of summer with my daughter. I get a little emotional when I think about how this is our "last" summer together (just the 2 of us hanging out, going to pool, zoo, parks, etc. ). I am very excited for the baby, but it has just been the 2 of us for 4.5 years and we have such a special bond. I guess I'm just a little worried we won't have as much quality time together, etc. People tell me it is normal to feel this way and that it will all be fine. Maybe I'm just having some mid pregnancy jitters? 22 weeks now ...

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!! Have a great Wednesday xxx

Ladybug- I felt the exact same way when I was pregnant with my second daughter. My heart was so heavy with sadness feeling like I was changing my oldest daughter's world forever. I remember having so many moments of tears thinking about how we will never be the same. As you know, the gift you are giving your daughter is bigger than anything. And you will be amazed at how natural and wonderful your relationship grows because of the new baby.

Thank you 21reeves - you don't know how much I needed to hear that :)

Hi girls! Thought I would check in. Why do kids always muck around when you're sick?? Ughh! Have a headache this morning and 5 year old is driving me insane. Hard week last week..5 year old was diagnosed with ASD (mild). But very hard to take in :( I didn't drink though. She's hard to deal with though, so atleast now I know why. We have been trying to get a diagnosis since she was 2! It's been a long road. Anyway I haven't been drinking....I just hate how crsp I feel after it and how I put on weight. The next day I'm also in a terrible mood which doesn't work with kids!!!

Love the green juice recipes! I love green juices!! Hope everyone is well :)

Hi ladies! Just checking in. Ladybug, I think I can sympathize with your situation. I can imagine how that would be really difficult. But! I think this is a really great thing for everyone because while this might be your last summer exclusively together, you're both gaining another wonderful person in your life! You'll still be together and you'll always have that special bond. I don't think anything will ever change that. In fact, my sister is 7 years older than I am and I must admit that she and my mom have that special bond as well. However, I also have a special bond with my mother, it's just different. I'm also wondering if hormones have anything to do with this :)

Speaking of hormones, I've been very affected by PMS ever since I had my IUD placed/ having a baby. I was feeling very sorry for myself today (see earlier post regarding friendship). And I'm still doing a lot of soul searching. I feel like I have so much to sort out lately. It's like I've pulled everything out of a closet that I'm trying to reorganize and sometimes it's overwhelming. There's a lot of stuff that I have to decide if I'm going to throw out or keep. Meanwhile my 11 month old baby has decided to get like all of his teeth all at once. Full out teething crisis here. Naps are out the window. I'm lucky if he just stays asleep after I put him to bed. AND now that the little biter has teeth he has decided to use them on ME sometimes.

It's hard, but I'm starting to feel a lot better than I have in a long time and my marriage is benefiting as well. I'm starting to feel a lot of peace in my life. This must be what people go through when they do a 4th step inventory in AA.

new star I'm sorry you had a hard time last week. You should be so proud of yourself for not drinking during this time. You're only benefiting yourself by doing so. Just think, every time you don't drink to cope with a problem you're teaching yourself healthy coping mechanisms.

Man, there are some really strong women on here, aren't there? You are all so inspirational to me. Take care ladies.

Just reading over this thread. Bebetter I'm so very sorry for your loss. I hope you're ok, sending you big big hugs

Lulu what IUD do you have? I have the copper one and love it- no hormones!!!

I'm trying hard not to eat sugar...have put on 5 kilos so want them gone again!

Lulu- and all of you moms who have babies!!! That's such a hard stage in life. Now that my youngest is 9 I'm enjoying a little peace. To be truthful the baby stage was very difficult for me. I can't imagine quitting drinking at that time and really am impressed by any of you doing that! I felt depressed, frumpy and lonely while in the baby stage!

lulu - I also had trouble with the IUD - I had the copper one with no hormones. Periods were awful! I hope it eases up for you.

lady - I felt that way, too, and now that my daughter is going to K, I feel even sadder - like our bonding time is coming to an end. She'll be so busy and wrapped up with school. I know it isn't true, as they bond even more in different ways as they get older. My girls are now at the stage where they play together, and it's really awesome that they have each other through their journeys of life.

Thank you Lulu & BeBetter! It's nice to know that other moms can relate :)

Lulu, I hope your little one gets through his teething soon. I remember those days - you feel so helpless. Are you still bf? Is so be careful of the biting - that happened to me and I got a bad infection and had to go on antibiotics. It was soooo painful. Glad you are starting to find peace in your life. That's one of the best things about sobriety isn't it?

So, my BIL and his wife are coming into town and staying with us this weekend (Fri - Mon). UGH!! I am really not up for playing hostess and cleaning up after them all weekend. They are the "moochers" I have talked about before (long time ago). They will expect to stay with us all weekend, have home cooked meals, etc and not once offer to buy a pizza or something. Just the way they are. I used to drink my way through their visits so this should be interesting. I know hubby will help with the cooking, but he is horrible with cleanup/dishes/etc. Anyway, just needed to vent, thanks :)

Have a wonderful Thursday ladies! Will check back later.

Good Morning Mamas....

There's a lot I want to talk about but haven't sorted it in my head. My therapist NEEDS to get back from vacation, STAT!

I too have an IUD, I had it for 5 years before taking it out to try for baby and have it back in now. I got pregnant 2 weeks after taking it out and 8 weeks after baby I got it put back in. So, I haven't had a period in 7 or so years and the IUD has been miracle for me. I have the mirena and its amazing. I coudn't be happier with it. I think the box of tampons under the bathroom sink have moved 4 houses with me. :)

Ladybug - the whole weekend with your BIL irritates me so bad. Moochers drive me insane. How do you not think to contribute to the place you're staying? Offer to buy dinner? Send them a gift certificate for a cleaning service after you've left! UGH! Makes me nuts! I'm sorry you have to put up with them.

I have an event tonight and I didn't realize it until this morning what a luxury it is to NOT worry about coming home wasted to pay the sitter or leaving the event with enough time to go get another bottle of wine. Husband is out of town too, so tonight would be one of the nights I decided to get wasted - no husband, girls night, its Friday tomorrow, no meetings.... all the reason to get **** housed tonight... I'd come home and get on the phone to anyone on the west coast.. "I can't sleep, wanna chat?" UGH.. Tomorrow, I'd wake up wondering who I called, what I'd said, with a screaming headache wondering how I'd get through the day. Likely blow off work early to get a bottle of wine before husband came home. I'm so, so happy and thankful to avoid that alternative reality...

On another note - I got a call yesterday from one of my brother's bill collectors. At some point he must have used me as a reference. I haven't talked to my brother in over 3 years. He and I have never been close. He's had a lifetime of abuse/recovery/abuse/recovery. He was hit by a car when he was 13 after wandering into the street drunk and he's been varying degrees of a nightmare his whole life. His last relapse about 4 years ago he wound up on the street shooting heroin. He relapsed the weekend I was engaged and my mom was so overwhelmed with worry/concern/etc. over my brother she couldn't share in that wonderful moment. His relapses on and off throughout the next year basically stole so many moments the engagement, wedding planning etc. from me and my mom. I can't figure out if I'm still angry or if the years of his dysfunction made me hardened to his behavior. In one of my drunken breakdowns to my mom, I cried about him stealing so many milestone moments from me and how she always chose him and always had to focus on him. In a moment of true honesty my mom said 'If I could I'd have nothing to do with your brother, he has drained me from the moment he was born. He has been difficult every moment of his life. As a mother you are never done, no matter how badly you want to be. I'd like to not worry about him every day. I don't want to solve his problems anymore..." My mind has been swirling with thoughts of my brother and how angry/hardened/pissed I am at him. He's such a huge trigger for me.... I'm trying to keep my head on straight and think about my daughter and my own sobriety. Here I am... dealing with my own sobriety. I hate that he and I share this disease. Long Rant.... Ugh, sorry ladies....

Okay, I have to get some lunch and unwind myself.

XO

Babs- I'm sorry to hear about your brother. I'm not really sure what to say, but I think I can sort of empathize with your situation. My mother has a sister who has... some problems. It's an addiction of sorts. She has a hoarding problem and some serious social dysfunctions. It might not sound like a big deal but it is. About a year ago the city tried to condemn and tear down her house because she was living in such bad squalor. I'm talking like... rotting food, trash, even dead animals. If you've ever seen that show on hoarders this is like... worst case scenario. On top of that she has had problems her whole life. Something has always just been a little off and she has more or less always been a "problem" for her entire family. Don't get me wrong, I love her very much, but some people tend to take a lot more than they give. And it's extremely hard on my mother. My mom is the eldest in her family and has always taken care of her younger siblings. My grandma passed away at a very young age and when she did my mom ended up taking care of her sister. Ever since then it has been a very draining situation for my mother and it has gotten way worse over the past few years. She now faces having to place her younger sister, who is so so so SO stubborn, into assisted living because she cannot care for herself and her health is deteriorating rapidly. My aunt has never married, and the job that she held for several years which she was recently fired from because she smelled so awful (she worked at a veterinarian clinic, mind you), didn't pay ANY sort of retirement and hardly any insurance. Any extra money she had went to buying things like... toys. Yes, toys. Like children's toys. So, I can kind of understand what it's like to have that family member that is so draining and I feel for you. I guess the only sort of advice I can give is to realize that he's in his own little world and what he does has nothing to do with you. Remember that serenity prayer too. :grouphug:

So, things have been a little crazy here lately and I totally forgot that yesterday was 6 months of sobriety for me. I can't believe it! Anyway, I have to get going because baby is waking up from his nap but I'll catch up with you all later. Take care!

Congrats lulu on 6 months!!!!!

I ladies...

Congrats on 6 months Lulu!! So proud of you!

Babs, that must be so hard dealing with your brothers issues on top of taking care if your own recovery. Hang in there, and I hope it gets better.

Lady....moochers suck. I wouldn't go out of your way too much playing hostess. Screw cooking for them. Give them the option of take out/eating out or throw a nice cold cut platter on the table:-)

Spent an exhausting but fun day at the museum with my daughter. Now in bed with my aching feet up:-). So happy it's Friday tomorrow.
Have to buy some clothes for my daughter for school. She has put on a little weight since the spring and none of her pants fit her. Going to work on incorporating some healthier snacks into her diet, and encourage more exercise. Nothing too drastic and won't use words like diet or weight loss, but just want her to have healthier eating habits.

That's it for now...chat later.

Congrats on 6 months Lulu, that's fantastic :)

So nice to hear from you NewStar:-).

Congrats on 6 months Lulu - that's fab stuff.

This week has been a rtoughy as Gibbs has been away again - he's back later today and I cannot wait - I'm tired of being a single mum! I've been so strict with my diet and exercise this week and have list 3 lbs - sooo happy!! It's giving me the luck I need to stay good this weekend :)

Anyways - just playing with the little one

Hope everyones ok xx

Congrats Lulu! 6 months is awesome :)

I'm coming up on 5 months soon, but it has definitely been easier since getting pregnant. I kind of feel like I haven't really done it on my own? The true test will be after the baby is born and I am stressed/anxious again about having a newborn AND toddler. I know tons of Moms do it without the help of alcohol/drugs so I will just have to stay strong and do it! I know from experience how quickly it can all go downhill.

Doing last minute cleaning/laundry before the "moochers" arrive this afternoon. Sigh. At least my BIL is good with my daughter and will play with her a lot. Will be checking in lots over the weekend. Have a great one ladies :)

Good morning mamas!

Yesterday was kind of a crazy day. I invited my neighbor over for an afternoon "interview" because she had been asking about possibly babysitting my baby for me. She's an older woman and it's just she and her husband here. She has 3 older sons and no grandchildren. It sounds like she's a little lonely. She has a lot of experience in child care, but she isn't licensed so that's a concern. Anyway, I saw her yesterday morning and invited her over that afternoon. So I was madly spiffing up the house and doing research on questions I could ask. The interview went really well and I'm quite excited about it.

I called my sister to get some advice on what I should ask at the interview and after she gave me some advice she started to talk about how I can go back to work now. I told her that I had decided that I wasn't going to go back to work until after I had my next baby. It was like she didn't hear a word I said. I was trying to tell her that I had really thought about it a lot and I'm very happy with the decision I made to take a little time off of work. I tried to tell her that right now I'm happier than I have been in a long time. She kept saying things like "Well, you can always change your mind". I hung up the phone feeling a little angry. I've been trying to not take things personally, but when it comes to my sister I'm finding that really hard to do. What business is it of hers anyway? I know I'm her little sister, but I'm an adult now. I know what it's like to work as a nurse while pregnant. I know the type of stress it brings on me. She doesn't. Then, I thought it must sound a little strange that I'm looking for child care and not working. But it's only for 4 hours a day twice a week. And I'm doing it so I have time to do things like clean the house, make dinners, maybe even take care of myself every once in a while so I can spend quality time with my baby instead of juggling everything all of the time. She has the luxury of having our mom and dad close by so she can drop her kids off whenever she wants to go on a date with her husband or she has some other obligation. I don't have that luxury. She chooses to work and send her girls to daycare full time and she pays a maid to clean her house. That's great. I think it works out really well for her and her family and I'm happy for her. I never tried to force my opinion on her. I never told her that she should be a stay at home mom. I never told her it'd be best for her to quit her job or that she'd be happier if she did it MY way. Plus, our careers are completely different. She has a job that is a lot harder to come by. I can see how hard it'd be to take time off from a job like that because she may never have the opportunity again if she left. And as far as I know she sits in a safe little cubical most of the time. She isn't exposed to radiation from X-rays, needles that could be infected with who knows what, chemotherapy patients, and violent patients (I have seen a pregnant woman get kicked in the belly by a violent patient). She isn't on her feet for a 13 hour shift with hardly any potty breaks and a half hour lunch. I really don't want to be around all the hazards I'm around at work while I'm pregnant. I know about a thousand pregnant nurses that have done it and I admire them for it, but it makes me nervous and I don't want to do it. Ok. End of rant.

So aside from interviewing babysitters, my husband has been working very hard on selling one of our cars to a private party so he has been MIA for a few days. Hopefully tonight we'll sell the damn thing and just relax.

Lulu-I had a babysitter come once a week! It made such a difference! Good for you to find an older lady who is lonely. It's a win/win. Family can be so inconsiderate. People only see their situations. Try not to let her get to you:-)

Lady- so glad your pregnancy is going well:-)

My hubby is coming home tonight from rehab. He's going to be traveling a lot to give us a lot of space.

We still have these charges to face. I'm hoping his lawyer can help with it today. The court date is on Tuesday and if it doesn't work it's going to be tons of money. The stress is overwhelming.

I'm trying to detach from this but it's so hard. Hubby is really making great efforts on being sober and changing his ways. It sure would be easier if we could just focus on our health and not the law!!! The government sucks!!

But maybe this is what we all needed to see how serious it all was/is.

I'm trying to see the positive in everything!

6 months sober today!!!!!