End of pregnancy exhaustion…

Well, folks, we’re nearing the end of the road now. 4 weeks and 6 days until the scheduled C-section and I’m so tired my hair hurts. Honestly.  ‘Course, it doesn’t help that my toddler is battling some sort of infection. We’ve been to the doctor multiple times and are now on our third medication. I’ve been having serious fears that I’m going to be able to handle baby number two. I keep reassuring myself that people have had more than one child for centuries. Oddly, that doesn’t seem to make me feel much better…

In other news, I’m still waiting to hear back about my book that’s on sub. Hurricane Sandy fried a bunch of the publisher’s servers, so we had to resend my manuscript last week. Of course that means the waiting period had to be restarted as well. Maybe it’s for the best.  I’m certainly in no shape to do revisions right at the moment.

Finding joy in life.

My husband and I are the same in many areas; we have many of the same beliefs, hobbies, etc. But there is one area where we are vastly different. He is a pessimist and I am an optimist.

I actually think this is a good thing. He helps keep me grounded and I help him to find the joy in life. It’s a good balance.

This year has been a difficult year. We’ve had a lot of very good things happen to us, but it’s also been very stressful. And we both know it’s only going to get harder before it gets better; as our second son will be coming at the start of December.

This weekend, we took a drive to look at the fall leaves. My husband was thinking about his new job, which he’s had since september. It pays great, but he works a ten-hour day, with a one hour commute in the morning and again in the evening. On top of that, he sometimes has to work overtime. To add in another difficulty, we live in an area where we usually get over 200 inches of snow in a season.They’re predicting snow already for Friday and saturday. I know he’s worried about managing the job and drive while also having a newborn at home.

He turned to me while we were driving down a quiet country road and said, “Life is just plugging away day after day, isn’t it?”

I thought for a minute and said, “Sometimes. But I saw you laughing at our son this morning when he was running around the house pretending to be  a Tyrannosaurus Rex. You weren’t plugging away then, were you?”

I was just trying to make him feel better, but I thought more about it when I got home. Yes, life is about plugging away. But it’s also about looking at beautiful fall leaves, laughing at the funny things your kids do, enjoying a good tv show, book, or movie, going for a long walk outside, and getting excited about the first snowfall. Making sure you notice and enjoy the small things in life is what makes your life a joyful one. Sometimes, you  might have to force yourself to do it, but it will always make you happier.

As a perpetual optimist, that’s my key to a happy life. Enjoy!

How do you make time to write?

My life has been so exhausting lately; I’m usually asleep before my head hits the pillow. I’m pregnant and I have a two-year-and-two-month-old-child. I’ve been applying for mortgages, house hunting, trying to get our current home ready to go on the market, and trying to finish my first round of editing on my novel. On top of that, I have all my other, normal duties, like cooking supper and cleaning. My husband has a demanding, physical job and works long hours, so we don’t get to see much of him. So my question is, when you are crazy-busy (and I know I’m no the only one who is!), how do you fit writing into your life?

I usually write during my son’s nap time, but to be honest, a lot of the first trimester of my pregnancy involved me sleeping during my son’s nap time instead. I’m feeling a little better now, but I still have a problem. I usually end up making a lot of my important calls to the bank and real-estate office during nap time.

Maybe I should have titled this post, “How do you keep a two-year-old from banging on your laptop?” Because really, that’s the problem. I could probably work for a while well he was awake if he wasn’t fascinated by it. Do you guys have any tips for writing with a toddler in the room? I’d love (am desperate?) to hear them!

I’m Back!

Here is an update on what is going on:

Writing: I’m working frantically on my first round of edits, trying to get them done and back to the editor. As you all know I’ve had a hell of a time the last few weeks, but hopefully things are going to even out now.

Pregnancy: I’m entering the fourteenth week and am hoping the danger is behind me now. I appear to have a sub-chorionic hemorrhage, but it seems to be resolving itself. I would love if you all would cross your fingers, send kind thoughts, pray, etc. I just want the baby to be okay.

House-hunting: Our offer has been accepted and is moving forward. It should have less paperwork to deal with now, and hopefully less stress. Our mortgage is going forward as well, although there is more paperwork to be dealt with there.

House-selling: Other than taking care of my son, this is going to be the biggest time-consumer in my life at the moment. My husband and I are trying to make the house as pretty as we can, as the real estate agent is coming out next weekend to take pictures of the house and officially list it for sale. My poor husband spent Father’s Day staining the front deck, but I made it up to him by making snow-crab for supper.

Child-rearing: My son is healthy, happy, and well. I can’t ask for more than that, even if last week he somehow became convinced that the blue people from Avatar are coming to get him, and now repeatedly wakes up at night. *Note to self- Don’t flip through the channels at 8 o’clock at night  while son is in the room. You never know what might bother a little kid.

P.S. My posting schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Hopefully things will be calmer now and there won’t be any lapses.

What do You do When you Feel like Life is Going to Fast?

As all of my regular readers know, I’ve had a lot of good things happen in a very short time; my husband got a new, better job, I signed a contract with a publisher for one of my novels, and I discovered I was pregnant for the second time. Now I have something else to add to that list: I just found out that the offer we put in on a new house was accepted. Soon, we’ll be moving to a new home, an hour and a half away from here, but closer to family and my husband’s job.

All of this is wonderful, great, spectacular, except… I suddenly feel like everything is changing too much, and too quickly. I feel like I’m standing still and the whole world is rushing past in a blur of color and movement. I can’t seem to get a hold on anything. My world is turned upside down, and I’m not turning with it very well.

I do know that all of these things are wonderful. I guess I’m just feeling lost, extremely stressed out, and maybe even a little scared. Everything is so very different from the way it was. What if, once I’m on this new path, I can’t handle it, or discover I don’t like it? What if I made a mistake choosing to go in this direction? (Not with the baby. I know that’s not a mistake, although I am a little scared about being able to handle a new-born and a 2-1/2-year-old.)

Has anything like this ever happened to you? How did you handle it? Do you have any advice for me that might help be get my feet back where they belong? I sure would appreciate it!

I Have a Big Announcement!

So I said in a post last week that I had some big news to share. Hopefully this will explain my erratic posting schedule of the last few weeks; I’m pregnant!

This will be our second baby. It’s due December 25. That’s right, Christmas day! Anyway, I”ve been absolutely exhausted. I’ve barely been able to keep up with my son (who just turned two) and work on revisions for my novel, let alone manage posting on this blog, although I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ll be out of the first trimester in a few weeks here, and I’m hoping I’ll be a little less tired, and that things can get back to normal.

So anyway, that’s my big news! It was hard waiting to share it! I also received another full request for my YA contemporary novel from an agent last night, bringing the total to nine full requests. It’s been good news all around, although I really am exhausted…

What Do You Do when You Feel like Life is Giving You more than You can Handle?

First of all, I wanted to apologize about posting so sporadically. I always make the appointed days, but my posts aren’t going up first thing in the morning anymore. At least I’m still getting them up!

Life has been extremely crazy on my end, to the point that I’m wondering if I can handle it all. My husband has been working twelve-hour days and not getting home until eight at night. My son has started going through the terrible twos. I’ve been feeling a little sick and exhausted. And on top of that, I’m supposed to be getting our house ready to go up on the market, as we’re planning to move shortly, so that my husband can be closer to his job.

Soon, my editor will be done with the first round of edits on my book, and I just have to wonder; how am I going to handle this all?

I know that we’re not supposed to receive more than we can handle, but I sure feel like I’m teetering right on the edge at the moment. I know I can afford to fall over. Everyone’s counting on me. I’m counting on me. But I’m so tired…

What about you? Do you ever feel like that? How do you deal with it? Any tips or tricks you can share with me that might help?

Relaxing Today

After signing all my publishing forms and contracts, we’re taking a well deserved break today and visiting with family. My sister is visiting from Seattle, and it’s lovely to see her, even if my little boy did offend her by telling her she was a little boy. Of course, he then told her she was Winnie the Pooh, and called her Pooh all day. She said it was less offensive then being called a little boy!

As soon as I start working with an editor or artist on the cover, I’ll be sure to update you all! I guess now I’ll go play with my little boy and the other not-so-little boy who is actually a girl!

Anybody Have Sick Kid Advice?

Sorry, no post today. My little boy is sick with a nasty cold/respiratory thing. We’ve been doing the whole steamy baths, saline nose drops, orange juice and homemade chicken noodle soup thing, but it’s not helping much. Anybody have any advice or tips for me? He’s not two yet, so he’s too little for meds, other than a little Motrin for his fever…

You’ve got an Hour of Free Time; do you Read or Write?

This is the conundrum I face every day. Let’s face it, there are only so many hours of peace and quiet in my household, and those hours have a name: Nap Time. By the time this much-needed hour and a half rolls around, I’m feeling worn out, although not as worn out as I’ll be feeling by bedtime.

 

So what do you do? Do you read or write? Nothing’s more relaxing then having a cup of tea and getting lost in another world for a while. It’s refreshing too, recharging my parenting batteries for the second half of the day. And there is absolutely nothing I enjoy more than reading. I’ve been passionate about books for as long as I can remember.

 

But here’s the problem; if you think it’s hard to read with a toddler in the room, imagine writing. It is truly impossible in my house. I can maybe sit in front of the computer for ten minutes before he gets upset that I’m not paying attention to him. And his tactics for getting my attention are pretty darn good. (Let’s see if we can unravel and flush a whole roll of toilet paper at once!) If I want to write, that’s really the only time of day it’s going to happen, because let’s face it, by 10 PM, I’m so tired I can barely function.

 

So what do I do? This week, I’ve been reading. My son hasn’t been sleeping well, which means I’m confused and tired. It should be okay to read, right? Nope, I guess not, because I’ve been feeling guilty as all get out.

 

Does anyone else face this problem? How do you cope with it?