Mind you, my folks came out last week, not only to help me, but to do extra special stuff with Russell because we all wanted to make sure he knew how loved and special he was and because it would give me option to lay down, nurse or otherwise take care of myself or the baby. People have been very generous with gifts for both Russell and the baby.

The problem of course is that everyone is fawning over Genevieve. And I'll grant you, she's a pretty little thing and of course, I'm biased, so don't EVEN ask. And it's hard to fawn the same way over a 6 year old. And Russell is cute, but he's definitely grown out of being fawning material.

He's at the stage where you tell him how proud you are of him and how smart he is and what a great kid he is. Only lately, he's been a whiny pain in the ass, so "great kid" hasn't been in the vocabulary much. Mostly, I've been trying to say what a big help he is and to praise each thing he does to help out with regards to his sister and to make sure that we keep to his schedule and handle his needs in addition to his sister's and his parents' needs. It's a hell of a juggling act and it's taking some adjustment.

Last night, I'd finally hit critical mass though and I just blew. I absolutely let him know how angry I felt about some of his behavior and how frustrated I was and how I was NOT having a great mother's day with him. I told him I was tired of the whining, the baby talk, the "what?" syndrome, etc. The "what" syndrome for those of you who don't know is when you tell a kid something he doesn't want to hear and he says "what?" 2 or 3 times, pretending he didn't hear it when you know damned well he did. Russell tries this when he is really checking his boundaries.

And Russell has been doing a lot of boundary checking lately. He's doing shit he never does just to make sure he'll still get busted for it, if he does it. I don't mind him checking the fences, as it were, but it does get tiresome and well, I'm tired and a little cranky to begin with, so I've been getting irritable about it.

One of the things he does that really has been pissing me off no end is various shit, he knows will wake up the baby. Making high pitched or loud noises, slamming the front door, or touching the sleeping baby in an attempt to wake her up. Tonight he slammed the door, 3 feet from where the baby had just dropped off, and this was after a round of trying this high pitched baby talk crap that I had already gotten after him about and I sent him to his room until I wasn't ready to scream at him any more. Then I went in and let him have it.

I told him that if he really wasn't willing to be a help to me, then he could stay in his room because I didn't want to be around him. I said if he really wanted to help me, he could choose to do that and come into the kitchen and give me a hand putting away the groceries. He started to play with the whole thing in his head for about 3 seconds and then saw the dark cloud forming above my head and let go the play thing (while he recoiled in terror) and said, "I want to be a help, Mom" and came out to the kitchen and helped me get everything put away.

I know if I can summon a little more patience that things will settle out nicely, because he's a good kid, but in the interim, I just want to string him up by his heels. I guess I'll just stick to same old routines as always and say the same old things over and over again, but dude, give me strength!

Nursing has been going well. We tried the breast pump my brother sent and pumped a small bottle of milk for Miss G. Mike is about to warm it and try to give it to Miss G. I'm also noticing that my horrible dry skin is better. I don't know if that is as a result of getting off the insulin or what, but I've got silky soft skin right now and Mike can't wait until the 6 week celibacy window ends. He liked rubbing my butt before, but he's been liking it even more lately.

My fasting sugars have been under 100 and I've been sticking to my food plan. I had a 112/60 blood pressure at my one week post-partum visit and I also got weighed today and it's official: I lost 30lbs while pregnant. For those of you who are groaning in envy, I just wish to remind you of the down side: I'm still a diabetic and I will be for the rest of my life.

But this diabetic found that she can get a half gallon of thin mint ice cream (no sugar added) at Baskin-Robbins for $5. God Bless Baskin Robbins. Of course, I can't eat the whole half gallon at once, but I will have my little bowls over the next week and relish every bite.

And thank the heavens above, the relatives are GONE! My folks left Friday morning and Mike's mom and brother showed up for the weekend. Mike took off work at noon on Friday and we had lunch together. It was fun and romantic just to have lunch together and to have adult conversation with each other. We actually make a point of going to the bedroom, shutting the door and talking to each other for a half hour when Mike gets home. Otherwise our conversations take place sleepily at bedtime and aren't nearly as rewarding. I liked having my folks here because they helped. Mike's family was fine, just requiring entertainment. It kind of sucked, but they bought dinner Saturday night, so that was nice.

Of course, Pauline called yesterday and was trying to invite herself over today and all I could think is "I want time ALONE!!!!" I ended up doing a lot of errands and taking care of a lot of stuff, so if she came by, I don't know about it. I just wish once she'd call me up and ask if she could come over and do a load of laundry for me, rather than list her demands on me. A list of her demands just makes me wanna reach through the phone and slap her and brings the phrase, "fuck off" to mind.

On an unrelated note, Genevieve's appearance is changing; folks say she's looking more like me and it seems like that to me, too. I've got some newer picts, so I'll scan when I can and put them up there for you, soon. I've also got some wedding stuff, but geesh, I'm a little busy lately. I'll get them up when I can. Promise.