Adventures of Janet

So last night I sat with my oldest and we reviewed his course program for high school. This week is registration for incoming Freshmen and I just can’t believe my little boy is going to be a Freshmen, like how?!!! After my initial shock wore off that the time is here, we picked out his schedule for next school year. It was so much fun reading all the courses and what they offer. I saw so many classes I would have loved to take like sculpture, world crafts, jewelry designs of the world, ceramics, global foods, and fear and fiction to name a few, but of course he didn’t want any of those Lololololol. He gets to pick 6 classes next year, English, Science, Social Studies, and Math take up 4 of those slots so he gets 2 electives. He interviewed to be part of a program that if he gets in takes up 1 slot every year for the 4 years he is in high school so he really only gets to pick 1 slot as an elective if he gets in. After much consideration he decided on Spanish, if he doesn’t get into the program he interviewed for then the other elective would be wood working which I must admit I LOVE!!!

See (story time), I grew up in Chicago so in 1999 we had to take a separate test for every “good” public high school we wanted to go to, and for me my dream high school was Lane Technical High School as it was known then, I think now its Lane Tech College Prep. I hate standardized tests and I still remember my mom dropping me off at the school that looked like a college and finding the cafeteria to take a test and in true Janet form as soon as I got to the math section I fell asleep!!! Thank goodness I only fell asleep for like 15 min but man did I cry so hard when I got home thinking I ruined my chance to get in. My brother had gone there and spoke about how awesome the school was and I needed to go and all I had to do was place well in the test and get in but of course I thought the worse and thought I ruined my chance. I ended up getting in though and it was the best news ever!!! I can still see the big envelope in the mail with my name and the school’s name and me jumping up and down screaming and immediately calling my best friend, Elaine to see if she got in. We both went to a small private school so our graduating class was like 20 I think and the incoming freshmen class was close to 1000 for this school so I really hoped we would get in together and have each other and she did! She is super smart though and got placed in their “Alpha” program so that meant the chance of having a class with her besides gym or lunch were super slim. Thank goodness we had been best friends since 2nd Grade and our bond was strong and we still managed to find time to hang out with her strenuous school work and my intense sports schedule.

Anyways, back to the point of my story, back then we had 3 options to decide what we would do for the next 4 years of high school, you could change it but that meant you still had to do the prerequisites of that “major” they were Art, Band, and Tech. I didn’t want to practice an instrument so no band for me, and my stick figure drawing still needs help to this day so art was a no, so the obvious major for me was Tech. As Freshmen we had to have a huge T Square for our architecture classes and we had to take shop classes, auto shop, electric shop, print shop, and WOOD SHOP, were our classes. I was lucky and had my brother’s T Square so I didn’t have to shuffle mine back and forth to class and home for homework and I didn’t get noticed as a Freshmen right away, but I didn’t know what to expect for wood shop except that my brother loved it!!! I ended up LOVING my wood shop class, I still think about how awesome that class was and speak highly of it to my sons. We got to build a shield, a key chain, a cutting board, and other random things but to be given the chance to explore something I had no idea I would love so much was amazing!! I was very fortunate in the fact that we were only suppose to have wood shop for a semester but our print shop teacher for the next semester got sick so they kept us in the same class for the year and I am so thankful for that because to this day it is still one of my favorite classes ever. I am sad to hear they don’t offer those architecture or shop classes anymore at my old high school so to have my son here in some little suburb of Minnesota have that opportunity to explore it I am beyond ecstatic. I do want him to get into the program he interviewed for but if he doesn’t I don’t think he will be too upset and will be able to take the woodworking class.

I just can’t believe he is growing so fast and as much as I wish time would slow down a little I can’t help to feel proud of the young man he is becoming. I hope high school treats him well and he ends up making some awesome friends, but if days get too hard for him I will for sure tell him one of my many embarrassing stories I have from my high school days. I was very fortunate and besides having Elaine already I met my other future best friends that I am still best friends with for over 20+ years. I will ask them if they will let me post their pictures so as posts go along you can see who I am speaking about lolol

How exciting, a whole new year! We didn’t do much last night and 2 out of the 3 kids fell asleep so we quietly rang in the new year with some mineral water and some laughs. We played our annual game of Clue and this morning had our big breakfast with some yummy mimosas.

Here is a selfie of me and my husband, Dan. We were exhausted by midnight but I am glad we snapped a quick picture before we eventually went to bed. I miss being young and partying the night away and I constantly tell my oldest to enjoy his youth because it won’t last and soon you will be like us in our late 30s and tired Lololololol. To be fair, in normal years we would go to our typical community party that goes from 6-9pm with bouncy houses, ice skating, and dancing and a fun balloon drop at 9pm for the kids then after we put the kids to bed we would play board games and drink Pina coladas but this year I think it was perfect to spend it low key.

Here is hoping 2021 is a lot better than 2020 and we can return to a somewhat normal lifestyle again.

I can’t believe we are so close to the end of 2020. How did the time fly? I started writing right when our baby was born and now he turns 8 months tomorrow. Wowzers!!!! He is growing so much and I am loving this time with him. He is crawling and getting into so much mischief but he has been an awesome distraction to what is going on in the world. We have been very fortunate that my husband’s job has been awesome and we have everything we need. My oldest is still in distance learning and my middle still gets to go to preschool three times a week. I wish we could attend some ECFE classes but I am hopeful I can sign up the baby for classes next fall. I always love this time of the year and how much hope everyone has and how the end of a year is sometimes sad but how a majority of people can’t wait for 2020 to end. I think my only goal for the coming year besides the obvious of staying healthy and be more appreciative of everything I have is to really blog more, I was rereading my other posts and really enjoyed remembering what I was feeling.

I normally would be so busy with kid and adult parties this time of year that I am at a lost what to do now. We have been organizing and cleaning a lot but there is only so much you can do before boredom hits. I hope museums open soon for us again because it’s a favorite of ours to do during the cold Minnesota winters. I will be trying to convince my husband to try snowshoeing and maybe sign up my middle for skiing but we shall see…..

In the mean time I will be posting random thoughts and finds. I have been really loving the toys I got the baby for Christmas lolol and feel I must share.

Where has the time gone? I feel like I just wrote my last post but it’s been weeks!

Nothing really new here, same old same old with this pandemic. I do get torn whether to go out and at least see some of my friends so they can meet the baby but then I go back to feeling lost and not sure whether going out is even ok at all.

It is nice some things are slowly opening up here in MN but we still haven’t really gone out to check anything out. I still haven’t taken the kids shopping with me and they still aren’t going on playground sets, but maybe I’m being too strict? I can’t and am in constant turmoil.

Some of my closest friends have lost those close to them and so I know this virus is real and deadly but how can others go out and not get sick or show symptoms at all? How is school going to be in the fall? Should I send my kids at all? Ahhhh!! I can’t!

I got to take this day by day or else it would just eat me alive! I do think I’m going to introduce the baby to some of my friends that have also been quarantined and if hair cut places open taking my two older ones to get a trim but that’s it. But I don’t know, these are just thoughts and again I might just scared off and do nothing.

I mean they cancelled the state fair and that is saying a lot! I’m so sad about camps, fairs, and other favorite outdoor activities that are no more this summer but I understand. I just have to be more creative this year for the kids and try to make this summer fun.

Hopefully my next post will be better and more cheerful because right now I’m just blah and like everyone else over this virus.

It’s been 1 week since I gave birth and man has it been magical. This baby has been so different than my other two and it is hard to articulate how happy I am right now.

With my oldest, I was 22, terrified. A single mom and if it wasn’t for my family’s support I don’t know where I’d be right now. I also had my friends and the comfort of everything I was already used to so it didn’t seem that hard. A little scary for the unknown and what was to come but nothing I couldn’t handle.

My second, I was in a new city, married, and without friends or family. Thank goodness my mom flew up for a couple of weeks but once she left I was again scared and lonely. I had post partum depression and it felt like I would never be the same again. This baby had colic and would just eat and cry, eat and cry. With that though and only having my husband and my then 8 year old I was able to find myself slowly. My oldest made me a mom and my second made me a better mom. He taught me so much patience and to go out and explore the world. Since I wasn’t myself it took a lot to even go out and thankfully with my husband’s encouragement and company I started going to library story time and eventually heard about ECFE, an early childhood program that is beyond amazing, and found me again. I have made lots of new friends thanks to my middle child and for that I will forever be grateful.

My third baby has made me beyond happy. Maybe because I’m older and I am sure of myself and 35 isn’t so young anymore so this will be my last baby and knowing all of that I appreciate and am enjoying every second with my little baby.

We have been super lucky so far and he eats and sleeps. We do tummy time and fun little activities that his brothers love doing with him like stretching and singing songs and going outside but he is mostly calm and deals with all the crazy his older brothers bring.

Time is definitely a thief and while the days are long the years are too short. This pandemic has been crazy but I’m also happy I get extra time with my boys without the hustle and bustle of school and after school activities and just talking and creating with them.

I gave birth on Tuesday April 28, 2020.

We went to the hospital around 8:30pm on Monday and when we arrived they had us wear masks and I was measuring 5cm dilated with 5 min contractions. They immediately took me to a labor room where they got me hooked up and I waited for my epidural. I didn’t have an epidural for my first or second so I was kind of excited to have one this time around.

It was all going great until around 2am I felt lower pressure pain and when I mentioned it to the nurse she apologized and said unfortunately that is an area the epidural doesn’t really help. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself because all this time my only birth plan was to get an epidural and even though it helped so much with the contractions it still hurt with the pressure going on.

Finally around 7:30am my cervix went away and I was ready push. Of course he was turned around and didn’t want to come out so I kept pushing and they kept mentioning if I didn’t push him out they would need to get the vacuum or perform a C section. It was as if they thought I just wasn’t trying which was the most frustrating thing since this would be my 3rd vaginal birth. Finally, at 8:24am he came out and I had no tears or lacerations and after cord cutting and clean up, I had lots of skin on skin.

After a couple of hours I was moved to the post partum rooms and baby got to stay with me and my husband all night. I should mentioned during delivery my husband wore a mask and I tried but couldn’t breathe so for my final pushes I took it off. The delivery felt very similar to my 2nd so I knew what to expect.

Once in the new room, me and baby got settled in and ate. It was so nice he latched on right away since my other two didn’t so I was beyond happy for this moment.

The next morning they mentioned something about his breathing too fast so they had someone come in every couple of hours to check on his breathing and then they took him for all of his testing. When they came back they said breathing was fine but now he might have jaundice!!! My other two didn’t have it so I was surprised but I knew it was much better news than his breathing. They tested him again and he was on the higher level of jaundice but we could still go home. So after a day and a half we went home with a doctor’s appt scheduled for the next day.

My oldest who is 12 did an amazing job watching his 4 year old brother. Thank goodness we got him into babysitting classes and cpr classes before all this crazy happened. I really wish my mom could have come up but it all ended up working out and we came home to the house still in tact lol.

Follow up appt went great for baby but not so great for me and they told me I had an infection so I’m currently on antibiotics. I’m feeling good though and beyond relieved baby is doing great.

This pregnancy was very bittersweet and happy I enjoyed it as much as I could during this pandemic.

This is such a crazy time and so weird to be part of something so surreal.

Let’s get into knowing me first, I used to have a makeup blog with my friend that I loved but just didn’t make enough time for it. Now 4 years later I’m getting the itch to blog again.

I’m currently 9 months pregnant and every day feels like it’s going to be the day the baby is born. This will be my third son and I’m beyond excited!! I have dreamed of having 3 boys my whole life and can’t believe my dreams have come true! I have 3 older brothers so it’s really all I know although I know a girl would be amazing too I’m just so happy I’m having my little boy. This will be my last pregnancy so it’s bittersweet feeling all this excitement but then having this Covid 19 lingering and cancelling a lot of my plans like a photo shoot and last hangouts with my two other boys. Really stinks but everything happens for a reason so I have accepted it and have enjoyed my time at home with my family which in hindsight is way more than I could have asked for and wished for with them.

These past weeks have been going surprisingly well. Of course a lot of that is because of my family. My oldest is in 7th grade and has been enjoying Distance Learning mainly because he was getting mediocre grades before because he wasn’t turning in assignments but with just hitting submit he has thrived and all of his grades have been As so far. My husband has been home a lot which is a real treat since he typically travels a lot and we always miss him so much. My youngest who is 4 is the one not necessarily struggling but missing preschool and his friends a lot. He does his work sheets and enjoys his weekly zoom meetings but he is the one that has always kept me busy with an activity or three a day. He is my social butterfly and loves having something planned everyday. He definitely misses his museum and zoo outings a lot and can’t wait until they open up. As for me, as social as I can be and love to be busy too I grew up never leaving the house. This time right now reminds me of my whole childhood during the summer of never leaving my house except for the back yard and only being able to watch tv or read. So in a way it’s the exact same except this time I have company lol.

Anyway, this is just a gist of me and hope to continue writing random thoughts!