Life Catch Up!

Well, the Caylee Catch Up post tells much of what I've been up to the past couple of months. :-)  It's been an absolute blast!  Fortunately for my sanity, however, I do have other things going on in my life other than the many joys of motherhood!

For example, I am definitely still knitting!  I haven't gotten to knit as much as I would like, but believe it or not, that has little to do with the munchkin.  My RA is tending to get the best of me when it comes to my hands.  We--and by we I mean my doctor:-)--are still trying to get my meds back in alignment.  Dr. C warned me that it would take time after my pregnancy to get everything straightened back out--I just naively assumed that "time" meant a couple of months after starting my meds back up.  Turns out, not the case lol.  It gets frustrating some days, having to choose what I'm going to spend my spoons on--but since most of those tend to go to cuddling and playing with my little girl, it's not as frustrating it could be!  Eventually, we'll get the RA under control.  The question is whether my current combination of drugs will be the answer.  If not, we have a plan of action, but I'd really rather the Remicade get it's act together and get to work!

Other than that, the 20 mg of daily prednisone I was on during my pregnancy seems to have had the unfortunate side effects of throwing me into Cushing's Syndrome and insulin resistance.  I'm shopping for a good endocrinologist at the moment, but have made an appointment with a Dr. C that a friend highly recommends.  I've had excellent luck with my current Dr. C, so I'm hoping the letter is lucky!  Both Cushing's and insulin resistance are treatable, and I'm currently taking metformin for the latter.  I hate metformin almost as much as I hate methotrexate--possibly more--but if it controls the situation enough to keep me from developing full-out diabetes, I'll deal with it.  In the meantime, I get to check my blood sugar and try to avoid bottoming it out...which has happened a couple of times.  Not fun, not fun at all, just in case you're curious.  Here's hoping the next endo I see can help me understand what's going on and get it under control.

I've also read some good books lately--City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte being the most recent.  Reading helps keep my mind active, as opposed to saying "Yes!  That's a red block!" and agreeing with Caylee's latest cooing sounds.  While fun and adorable, not exactly mentally stimulating lol.  I'm also trying to speak Spanish to Caylee for at least one hour a week, just to keep in practice, and I'm learning Japanese!  Why Japanese?  Well, I've always wanted to learn it, and I have access to plenty of anime to practice listening to native speakers.  Also, we were planning a trip to Japan this fall, which we ended up having to cancel in order to replace our truck when it cratered.  That was pretty disappointing, but at least now, by the time we do go, I'll hopefully be fairly proficient!  I have a friend who speaks Japanese, and so does her mom, so I'm hoping to practice conversational skills with them, once I've learned enough to have conversations.  Right now, I can greet and comment on general weather conditions--I think I need a bit more lol.

Bryan, Caylee and I have gotten to hang out with Ethan and Julie and Lucy.  The adults played cards and the girls just played.  We also got together with Jake and Alicia--who are expecting a little boy in April!  We went with Lindsay and Ben to the paint pub, and Lindsay and I also had a girls' night at a local sushi place!  Julie, Alicia and I had a girls' lunch with Caylee and Lucy!  Bryan and I  have also enjoyed a few child-free weekends just the two of us, while Caylee visited her Ganma and Grandpa (my parents).  It was great to spend quality adult time together as well as with our friends, going out, having some drinks, watching movies, going to a paint pub and getting projects done around the house.  It's always fun getting to spend time with your best friend!

In the next few weeks, Bryanne-Michelle is coming in, as are Victoria and Philip!  We and Vic and Philip are going to Vic and my 10 year high school reunion, where we'll meet up with Kim and Clay!  That same weekend I'm also hosting Alicia's baby shower!  Lots of fun stuff coming up!  And that pretty much brings us up to date on what's up with me!  

Caylee is waking up, so that' my cue to fix her dinner!  Hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping up with this now that I've gotten started again!