Things

• Bud’s surgery went amazingly well yesterday. Better than I could have imagined. For one, they only had to take out the extra tooth, when they planned on taking his 2 front teeth along with it. For another, they just yanked it out. Like, with pliers. I couldn’t watch. So, he is on a diet of soft foods until Saturday while he heels, but he is really no worse for the wear. I took before and after shots, but there are at home. Here is a picture of the actual tooth, which I guess was the rarest kind they usually see. The pointed part is the root. Creepy, right? I’m just glad it’s out of there.


• In other dental news, Bud has his first loose tooth, AND we can see his 2 bottom permanent teeth on the way. I can’t believe it!
• We have a kindergarten orientation picnic on Friday and Bud officially goes to school next Thursday. The bus stopped by the other day mapping out it’s route. I can’t say for certain that we will let him take the bus on the very first day. How will he know where to go? This is very stressful from a parent’s perspective. I feel like I am sending my boy out on his own or something. At least when Lucy goes next year, she’ll have Bud to show her the way.
• Speaking of Lucy, she turned 4 last week and I’m sorry to say that there was no change in her behavior as she changed from 3 to 4. She is, perhaps, more dramatic. We bought her Hello Kitty rain boots that she refuses, I mean REFUSES to take off. I would not allow her to wear them to the county fair last Thursday because it was 95 humid degrees outside and she pouted most of the day. We were caught in a rain storm on our way out of the fairgrounds. After finally making it to the truck, she cried indignantly “See Mom! I told you I should have worn my RAIN BOOTS!” Yes, I suppose she should have.


• We went to the library Saturday, where Bud got his library card and we took out our first chapter book, which we’ve been reading at bed time. Liv had a great time too.

• We went on a picnic Saturday, just on a whim, and I threw the kids’ water shoes in the car because there is a rocky brook at the park, where Hub and I used to wander when we camped. After lunch, all 3 of the kids took to the water. Imagine my surprise when Liv was the most enthusiastic of all of them. She was genuinely pissed when I made her hold my hand as she navigated the rocks and water. She is a dare devil, that is for sure.
• Finally, I will leave you with some photos from the girls’ big birthday bash. We had a great day, and the only glitch was trying to facilitate the opening of gifts between both girls. Next year, I will definitely ask for a second set of hands. (contrary to popular belief, Bud was at the party. He was just off with his cousins all day, and not in any photos)

Bullets!

I can not believe my lack of posting. Especially since there is a lot going on. But alas, work is ridiculously busy too, so I have not been able to write or comment. I’ve been reading though, all of your holiday preparation stories, all of your tweets, and I am hoping to catch up on commenting today. Anyhooskers, today seems like a good day for a list:

• Last Thursday was a bad day which inspired my post on Friday. Things are fine. I have a great husband who really enjoys taking care of our kids. He just really irritates me sometimes. A LOT.
• I applied and interviewed for a new position within my company this week. I’m not actually sure how I feel about leaving what I do now. I’m an awful interview anyway. I have a really hard time tooting my own horn, you know? I hear myself speaking and I sound like an idiot and I get nervous and short of breath……almost to the point of panic. Inside, I am screaming “This is so STUPID!! You interview people ALL THE TIME!!” but on the outside, I’m all “ah…duh duh”. So I guess we’ll see how it plays out, but it’s not looking good.
• After one month (+) of trying, and many washed clothes and sheets, we’ve decided to put Bud back in to pull-ups at night. He just can’t do it overnight. I kind of wish we hadn’t stopped because of the mixed message it sends, but I was starting to feel like it was cruel to have him sleeping in a wet bed all night because no matter what happened, he did not wake up. Poor pumpkin.
• Liv has finally gotten over her horror cough and cold. She is trying really hard to roll over but hasn’t been able to do it yet. She has plenty of other tricks though which include blowing very large spit bubbles, pulling on everyone’s lips, nose and hair, and throwing herself backwards when you are holding on to her. And she thinks all of it is hysterical.
• Lucy has caught the horror cold, complete with fever. This should put me in line to get it, oh, right about Christmas.
• Hub was reorganizing the basement last weekend and thinking out loud as to whether we should keep Bud’s and Liv’s outgrown clothes or just plan on buying all new clothes should another baby come around. He then tells me that if we’re going to have one more baby, we may as well have 2. How can you go from saying NO!!! to saying 2 more? Maybe he was trying to scare me?? The thought of 5 honestly scares me. 4 is my number. And honestly, the more I think about it, 3 might be my number. I feel like going from 3-4 equals a lifestyle change whereas going from 2-3 was business as usual. I don’t know. I change my mind every day.
• We are buying Bud and Lucy new beds for Christmas. This will allow us to put all 3 kids in our master bedroom while we take their smaller room that leads to the upstairs while we start remodeling up there. The end result will be to have the girls share a room and Bud on his own. I’m not exactly sure how this is going to play out.
• I will leave you with some kid speak:

Lucy: When I grow up and become a mom, will I be a mom forever then?
Me: Yes, once you are a mom, you are always a mom.
Lucy: I can’t wait to be a mom FOREVER!!
Bud: You can’t be a mom forever Lucy because someday YOU WILL BE DEAD!

Thankful

I’m in a really bad mood today. I found out yesterday, at about 7PM that our house was being appraised at 10 this morning. We were gone all weekend so the house was a disaster and Hub had already left for work. I stayed up until 12:30 cleaning and dusting. Couple this with an underlying cold and yeah, I’m a freaking peach. I’m trying to get out of my funk though, and this is likely the last time I will post this week, so I figured I would do my cliché “I’m thankful for…” list.

I thought that maybe I‘d take a cue from last year’s list and do something a little bit off again this year. Yes, I am thankful for my kids, and a roof over my head, and being blessed enough to have been able to do some substantial remodeling this year, with the prospect of more to come very soon (upstairs). I am thankful to have had a third child, a decent husband—who loves that he gets to stay home with the kids part time, and that I have a good job. Here though are some of the OTHER things that I am so thankful for.

1. The bright yellow walls of our kitchen that make it seem warm and inviting, even when it’s a messy shithole.
2. That spell check didn’t kick out the word “shithole”
3. That Dunkin’ Donuts has finally learned the meaning of “extra butter”.
4. That the goofy baby doesn’t just smile, but she stretches her face as wide as she can, almost maniacally, to express just how happy she is.
5. And that she fits right in with all of us
6. That Lucy marches to her own beat, even if she is a force of nature, and doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks.
7. That Bud, in his nearly 5-ness, lets me pick him up and carry him around—even if he is almost up to my shoulders.
8. Those $1 racks at the Target entrance.
9. Ok, Target in general
10. Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Twist
11. My Kitchenaid
12. That when my alarm goes off in the AM, Christmas music is already playing
13. Broccoli Cheddar Soup in our cafeteria
14. Facebook and it’s endless hours of fulfilling my “nosy” requirement
15. Warm baby neck to snuffle
16. I would LIKE TO say Gmail Themes, but I do not have it yet.
17. Mario Kart Wii
18. Sunday morning breakfast
19. cold mornings in bed, buried under blankets AND CATS
20. This Blog

So there you have it, 2008’s Thankful List. What are you thankful for?

A List and a Question

• I am only working 2 days this week, so I feel like I have no business taking time to write. But honestly, I probably won’t do too much work today and tomorrow. Holidays make me lazy. Besides, I have lists to make!
• Per usual, I am not cooking Thanksgiving dinner until Friday. We are going to my mothers on Thanksgiving Day, which is new; I can not remember the last time we spent Thanksgiving with my parents. My mother though, was almost in tears asking my brother, Hub and I to come. So that’s what we’re doing. And I don’t know how it’s going to go because of the way she has been lately. But, we will be there and I will try to stay sane. And I will bring pies.
• My menu for Friday includes turkey, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes & gravy and creamed corn. For dessert we will have pumpkin, apple and some sort of chocolate pie. With Cool Whip, of course.
• I have a vinyl burn on my back from taking Lucy down the slide at the bounce house yesterday. It hurts like a bitch.
• We had our annual Kiwanis dinner on Saturday and as usual the dinner itself was boring, but the food was great. I was telling Hub how last year, on the Saturday of that same dinner, I had realized there was a chance I could be pregnant. (not the case this year, fo sho)
• Wednesday I am seeing a friend who I have not seen in 6 years. We had a stupid fight just before I got pregnant with Bud. We’ve been emailing again for a year or so. I’m excited. Still not sure what we are going to do. We lead extremely different lives now. It’s weird how tings change.

I’d like to end with a question: What is your one non-negotiable Thanksgiving food? You know, like it wouldn’t be Turkey Day without it? Mine is pumpkin pie WITH Cool Whip. I don’t eat it any other time of the year. Honestly, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. If for nothing else than the turkey sandwiches (with mayo and green olives, of course) for days to come.

Mish Mosh

• I think that my blog is officially like “What the hell??” after receiving 40 comments yesterday and double that in hits. This contest thing is kind of weird. All of these bloggers that I’ve “seen around” but never visited were at my blog yesterday, and I was at theirs. It was like a mixer of sorts, huh?
• Though I usually do their shoe shopping on my own, I took Bud and Lucy with me last night so that they could try things on. Things were ok while I was taking care of Lucy, who ended up with some light-up princess sandals and a cute pair of pink Mary Jane style sneakers. Bud ran up and down the aisles a bit, but overall, he was manageable. While trying to find him a new pair of sneakers though, Lucy was a tyrant. Running, screaming, pulling things off of shelves—you name it. She was completely out of my control. Finally, she knocked a garbage can over causing a huge crash and then started screaming and crying “I’m sorry Mama!!” over and over again while flailing her arms in an all out freak-fest. The way she behaved you would think that she received regular beatings or something. She finally calmed down and then she and Bud locked the doors and put down the door stops while I was paying at which point the store manager yelled at them and gave me a dirty look. I can never go back there again. Lesson learned—we went right from school. I totally should have fed them first.
• Bud got a pair of Spiderman sandals, by the way, but no sneakers. I don’t know what it is about size 11.5, which is what he has worn for nearly a year. I can never find anything. (unless it’s really ugly) So I guess I’ll be checking out Target or something for new sneakers because he needs them for school.
• Things I have said in the last 2 days that I never thought I would: “Please take your mouth off of the garbage can!!” and “Why are your sneakers in the cupboard next to my clean plates?” (The answer was “So Lucy can’t find them and put them on……”) OMG.
• For Bud, today was the best day ever because they started work on our street. The equipment has been there since Friday, but this morning they actually started working……at 6AM. I was up already, but Bud came out of his room screaming “Mommy!! The back hoe!! The digger!!! A FORKLIFT!!!” They also put their outhouse on my neighbor’s lawn right across the street. She must be loving that. The good about this? We are getting a brand new street with proper drainage, new water lines to support sump pumps, brand new 4-foot wide cement sidewalks, and a tree out front. The bad? We can not park on the street (or in our driveways if we’d like to leave during the day) from like 7AM to 7PM. We live one house from the corner and Hub is going to ask our neighbor whose driveway is just around the corner if I could maybe park there during the day so that I don’t have to park at Walgreens or around the block or something.
• Did I mention that today is my actual last full day of work??? OMG!! There is so much to do!! We are having a baby!!!

Friday Free For All--Work Stuff

1. I had a minor nervous breakdown on Tuesday when I was working late and could not find my evening Zantac in my purse. The laughter of my employees brought me out of it, as I had the entire contents of my purse, including tampons (um, why are they still there??) spread across my desk. For some reason, none of us could stop laughing. I did find the pill, entangled in about 400 receipts held together with a broken off pen top.
2. We actually laugh a lot at work. One of my employees is a complete germophobe and slathers her entire body in antibacterial gel about 30 times a day. Another employee came over last Friday to tell me that she had seen the girl disinfect the change she just got back from the pop machine. I laughed so hard that I cried. I’ve thought about rubbing my ass on her keyboard A la Elaine, but she actually wipes down her entire desk when she gets in every morning.
3. Tomorrow is my scheduled Saturday to work. I was thinking about taking some photos of my desk to show the world where I blog from. You might be disgusted though because I keep it in a horrible state of disarray. But I know where everything is.
4. I still have one of three bags of Munchos left. You thought I didn’t have any self control.
5. My boss regularly sends me links to check out celebrity gossip and odd things she finds online. She is the best laid back kind of boss there is. She’s also a bad influence on me when it comes to eating and shopping, which is why I have to be well on track with a post-pregnancy diet before I get back to work.
6. We have an employee in my department who has “chemical sensitivity”. A few years ago it was mandated that nobody on our side of the building wear perfume/cologne/scented lotions and no cleaners from home were allowed. We actually invested in this vinegar based cleaner that 1. smells like, well, vinegar (or douche, I’m told) and 2. does not do a very good job. This employee lost a lot of weight last year and all of the sudden we noticed the smell of perfume on her. Scented hairspray too. And she started coloring her own hair. Nobody takes precautions any longer; however the “chemical sensitivity” signs are still posted all over our side of the building.
7. Our coffee machines dispense coffee for free. It is not good coffee. We are not allowed to brew coffee at our desks, or have any other small appliances either.
8. We have an unofficial Lactation Room that despite my booking months in advance had people in it holding meetings at my designated times. I found an abandoned office with a lock and no windows the last time around, but we have since remodeled. I am contacting site management to turn the original room in to an official Lactation Room so that nursing mothers no longer have to worry about being evacuated to the bathroom in order to bring milk home to their babies. (I use an electric pump anyway, so the bathroom thing does not fly for me.)

Friday Free For All (28-week check-up edition)

• I don’t have Gestational Diabetes!! Hooray! No more of that orange crap!!
• I am in the “meet all of the doctors in our practice in case they deliver your baby” phase. I met Dr. 2 of 3 today and liked her just as much as my regular doctor. I feel very validated in changing practices.
• As of now, I am on every 2 week visits. The third trimester!! Holy Hell!!
• Doctor asked “how many kids is this for you???” and when I said 3 she immediately asked me what I was doing about birth control post-baby. What if I said nothing?? (I said Mirena because I’ve heard it’s an excellent option for breastfeeding moms and she agreed stating “more effective than tubal ligation!! They should put that on a billboard.)
• She wants me to see a surgeon regarding my hernia. They will probably do nothing while I am pregnant, however, it’s better to have a relationship with someone incase something does happen. So I’ll schedule that shortly.
• To date I have gained 18 lbs. I weigh right now what I did at the end of my pregnancy with Bud. (shoot harpoon me)
• I am measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule, which is on par for me. We will be evaluating size between 34 and 36 weeks.
• Olivia kicked or punched the Doppler in every spot the doctor placed it. Already, she has SPUNK. (I am in for it………)

In blast from the past news: The last song I heard on my way in today was Michael Jackson “Black or White”. Wasn’t this the coolest video back in the day? I loved Macauley Culkin and the morphing faces! Then my very favorite show at the time, “In Living Color” spoofed it. “Am I black or white, please tell me! We don’t know!” It’s funny what you remember when you least expect it. This goes back to me being in 8th grade—like 15 years.

On one hand, reminiscing is good, but the other hand makes me want to vomit.

I’m old.

Minor Annoyance

1. I just got an email from Target that the going home outfit I ordered will not ship until at least 7/15. Yeah, that’s a problem. I’m only somewhat irritated though because upon closer inspection of the baby clothes we already have, it is the exact same outfit Lucy came home in. Both kids came home in a Winnie the Pooh outfit that came with hat and booties. I would like something similar for Olivia but I’m not sure what. More shopping for me……yay.

This is the only picture I have of Bud coming home????


Here's Lucy!

2. Hub just called because his mother called to ask him which I prefer: silver or gold. The short answer is none of the above. I am annoyed for 2 reasons---1. Hub should know that the answer is white gold AND that anything that is not 100% gold will give me a horrific rash. 2. Both of them should know that I do not wear jewelry and buying me jewelry gives me this awkward feeling of obligation to wear it OR makes me feel like crap when after say, 3 years you have never seen me wear the earrings you bought me. Seriously, I can’t even be bothered to wear my wedding ring. People should know this.
3. I have to go to three banks on my lunch break which I pretty much think is shit.
4. Lucy is constipated and it’s not her diet. She just plain refuses to poop. I sat on the floor in the bathroom with her for about 20 minutes last night letting her hug me while she squeezed it out—she screamed and cried the entire time. Who knew that being a mother could be so glamorous? And also, thanks to Hub for teaching her to say “I growed a big tail!!”
5. Bud has a Tae Kwon Do expo on Saturday. There is no way he’s going to do it in front of anyone who is not normally there. I’m not looking forward to it.
6. Hub has also invited a friend over on Saturday to help him finish tearing out the kitchen—which is great!. His friend is bringing his 8 and 5-year-old because his wife is out of town, which leaves me responsible for 4 children. Great news—it will be cold and rainy!! We’ll all be cooped up in the living room!
7. It is times like these when I miss booze.

Friday Free For All

• This is actually my 100th entry here, however I have 143 entries over here, so I’m not celebrating. If you want to know 100 things about me, you can read them here.
• I am getting bored of using abbreviations for the kid’s names on here. It’s tiring. I don’t want to use their real names because I don’t want my immediate family to find me, however typing ED and CA is annoying me. Would it be too confusing if I changed their names to pseudonyms?
• I think that the parents at daycare think I am a bad mom. They must. They all dress their kids in long sleeves and pants. It is in the 50’s in the morning……but it will be 80 degrees this afternoon, so I dress my kids in shorts and t-shirts with a jacket for the morning.
• I’ve never been big on the whole bundling the kids or even a newborn phenomenon anyway. I dress them the way that I would dress myself. This drives my mother INSANE. I still remember her covering ED with tons of blankets after he was born, when he was already in a blanket sleeper. Irritating! He was warm enough. Both of my kids, like Hub are warm all the time anyway.
• Did I ever mention that I did, in fact, have strep throat this week? (for some reason I just wrote french toast instead of strep throat—weird) What a miserable freaking experience.
• I decided last night, that since I hadn’t slept in my own bed all week due to acid reflux, that I was not eating any dinner. It worked; I slept in bed without coughing up food in the middle of the night. I did wake up starving on several occasions though. Not sure which was worse?
• We have decided not to travel to Atlanta next month. There is no way I am sitting in a car for 13 hours. We will take a shorter, and closer (read cheaper) trip instead. Regardless of what we do I am off for a week and a half—YIPPEE!
• It smells like pizza and wings in here and it is making me nauseous. Tonight is pizza night at home. BOO!
• Oh! I updated my links for who I’m reading. Check out the newbies!
• ED’s injury is completely healed. He is no worse for the wear. YAY.

Friday Fun with a Twist!!

Mommy Brain tagged me like 2 weeks ago for the 7 facts MEME which I have already done here, so I thought that I would give it a little twist. Here are 7 fun facts about each of my family members.

Hub

1. He has been in business for himself as a carpet cleaner for the last 7 years. As a previous “corporate whore” he says there is no way he could ever work for “the man” again.
2. He loves to cook and is really very good at it. His favorite thing to make me is broiled fish, which I love. But he ALWAYS forgets to buy a lemon.
3. He aspires to be handy around the house. His problem---he has no patience. He is getting better though.
4. He was a Theatre Major in college and acted in several productions.
5. He was also the stage manager for the college dance troupe.
6. He always read the paper while we are watching TV and I never tell him that it drives me crazy.
7. He is more family oriented than I ever thought he would be. He’s always the one to suggest fun family activities.

ED
1. He weighed 10lbs 2 oz at birth; his cheeks were so fat they looked like they would fall right off of his face.
2. His favorite way to comfort himself is to twirl my hair around his fingers; he is a mama’s boy through and through
3. Like me, he is extremely over-sensitive and has a tendency to be shy until he knows people---then he will talk your ear off. It is very hard for him to be in awkward situations.
4. He and Hub’s dad are like kindred spirits or something. They are the best of friends. (It’s cute, but also annoying)
5. His first sentence, at 11 months old was “More corn please.”
6. Corn is one of the only veggies I can still get him to eat. He used to eat EVERYTHING. He is finally getting better though, especially if I let him help me cook.
7. He refuses to answer to his full first name (E.dmu.nd) or to write it out when his teacher tells him to at school. He’ll say, “No, there’s another D and an I and an E.”

CA

1. She was covered in hair from head to toe at birth. I felt funny putting her in sundresses because of her hairy shoulders.
2. She is the best eating 2-year-old I know, asking for things like salad and fruit. When we go to a restaurant, she orders broccoli. The one thing she hates: tomatoes.
3. On her first birthday, she only had 2 teeth. She popped the rest of them last summer just before she turned two. I could tell when she was getting molars because she would run a high fever and throw up every time.
4. Like her father, she is very outgoing and talkative. For a two-year-old she has an amazing vocabulary. She really talks constantly.
5. Still like her father, (and not at all like me) she is a determined go-getter. She potty-trained herself in one day just after she turned 2, both day and night time. It was her decision, not ours. She has always been that way, doing what she wants when she wants to and doing whatever she can to get her own way.
6. When she is not talking, she is singing. She especially loves to sing in the car and will serenade us for hours on end. She totally gets this from me.
7. She also loves dancing and gymnastics. Her favorite dance: The chicken dance. Her favorite part of gymnastics: jumping on the trampoline and somersaults down the ramp.

Thursday Three

1.

Hell Yes. I would forgo my previously required 30th birthday bash in favor of front row tickets to their reunion tour. And might I say Donnie, you have NEVER looked better. Tivo is set for The Today Show tomorrow morning. And if my BFF wasn’t 8 months preggo, we would be on our way to NYC right now.
2. I scalded my hand this morning making tea for Hub. I actually cried; it hurt so badly. I have iced it all day and it still kills and is very swollen. Any suggestions on pregnancy ok pain relief? I’m typing this with one hand which is so not cool.
3. Um, Oreo Shakes from BK? YUMMY!

L O V E

I love this point in pregnancy, when the baby is moving so much, and she still has a lot of room to work with. I feel every tiny kick and punch and watch my belly move like it is a circus. I can place my hand on my belly and feel her kick inside and out.

I love this point in pregnancy, when I feel like the baby has a personality. We are using her name daily, integrating her in to our lives before she is here. We are slowly preparing for her debut, and it is more exciting by the day.

I love that it is no less exciting the third time around than it was the first time around.

I love that when I get home from work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, CA is waiting at the top of the stairs to greet me with one of her signature hugs. She tells me without fail “Mama, it’s so nice to have you back home!!”

I love that she gives me the same hug at bedtime and after hearing it from me over and over, says “I give the best hugs!”.

I love that ED can put things in to perspective. If today is Friday, it is pizza night—and that means tomorrow is Saturday and there is no school.

I love that he has legitimate interests and can spend hours in his own world zooming trucks back and forth, sorting and organizing his little cars, or just conversing like an adult with his Grandfather.

I love that my kids are old enough to entertain each other while I laze on the couch after work as the week comes to an end.

I love that they, like me, are bored with going for a walk when we get to the corner, and are content to turn around and go home.

I love that my husband isn’t giving me a hard time about not keeping up on the housework during the week.

I love that he doesn’t mind my granny panties.

I love that he brings home little surprises for the kids after being out all night working.

I love that it upsets him that he is not home for a lot of dinners and bedtimes, and makes up for it by making the time that he is home count.

I love that we have decided to stay in our house and work on it piece by piece instead of packing up and starting from scratch.

I love that our cabinets are here, and our kitchen is really going to be done soon; and that we got an amazing deal on our countertop and sink.

I love that despite a snowstorm last night, we are starting to see signs of spring and warmth.

I love that it isn’t dark when I’m driving home from work anymore.

I love that the ducks have returned to our business park and waddle around in their male/female pairs and will soon be leading their ducklings around.

I love that Starbucks has introduced a delicious Honey Late right in the middle of my honey-craving phase.

I love that I have money to blow on Starbucks.

I love that I have the time in my workday to blog and comment to my heart’s content.

I love that I will have at least 10 weeks of paid time off this summer.

I love that I have the ability to take paid time off before the baby is here.

I love that I am ok with having nothing good to end this with.

Sooooooo...

• CA is probably fine. Dusty either doesn’t know how to read x-rays or was taking some extra precautions, but the orthopedic surgeon did not see any buckle or fracture—apparently a 2-year-old’s bones are still soft and there is still a lot of cartilage and things can be hard to determine. He took the temporary cast off, and she was able to move it with no problems. He suggested letting her wear the cast, if she would keep it on, for the next week or so, and removing it for bathing. He seemed to think that once she realized she was fine without it though, it would be hard to get her to wear it. He was right; she took it off in her sleep last night. He will see her again on Monday for new x-rays to be sure; but it’s a safe bet that she is fine.
• Since I was already out of work, CA and I picked ED up and took him to the early Tae Kwon Do class. To say that he was a real piss pot is an understatement. He wouldn’t start the class with the other kids (there were 2 new boys) and when he did go out there, he sat behind the teacher, facing the class, and goofed off. He poked and distracted the teacher and was a real distraction for the other kids. The last straw was when he took his belt and started dragging it all over the floor. I grabbed him, put his shoes on, and we left. I have never been more embarrassed. He spent the entire night in his room, with the exception of dinner. I’m reasonably sure that being tired and hungry played in to all of this, as he refused his lunch yesterday (potato pancakes) and had his snack taken away from him for smashing it on the table. Combine that with the 8lbs of Easter candy and being out late on Sunday……I don’t know, to me it is inexcusable. I’m not entirely sure where to go from here.
• My hips, tailbone and legs are so stiff and sore; I think the baby must be laying on something. I’ve never been in this much pain while pregnant.
• A friend at work, has a friend who had a baby today……guess what they named her?? ***sigh***
• Hub felt the baby move for the first time on Sunday. YAY!
• Have I ever mentioned that we earn points at work? They are much like credit card points; you can use them for travel or merchandise. I now have close to 10,000 thanks to figuring out how the hell Visio works, and creating 5 flow charts before I left at 1:30 yesterday. Anyway, I’m trying to decide what to do with them. I could get a new high chair and bouncy seat, I could get a new camera, I could get the pasta attachment and the grinder attachment for my mixer, or I could get a Wii. There are actually a million other things I could get as well. What would you do?? Be practical or be frivolous?
• I went to WalMart on lunch, to (finally) get some comfortable underwear, and ended up buying 6 dresses and 3 creepers for The Bean—I spent less than $40. I typically don’t like their clothes, but these were cute. I’m glad to have some new things for her so she won’t completely be the handy-me-down kid.
• Our cabinets are in!! We have to tear apart our kitchen and decide on a floor to prepare for the install. Holy crap!! It’s really going to happen! Maybe I’ll add “before” photos to the list of photos I’ve been meaning to post here.

Fun Facts- The Hub N Me Edition

Tessie did fun facts today, and I am going to follow suit. These, however, are fun facts about Hub and me.

• I met my husband on the school bus when I was in 7th grade. I hated him, for he was loud and obnoxious. (He still is today) He had this “nice guy” reputation in high school and semi-dated my friend Lee. I sat with him on the bus a few times and talked to him about my then-boyfriend; a good friend of his. The summer after 10th grade he asked my friend Melissa about me, and called me one day in July to go to Six Flags with a bunch of people. We have been together ever since. I was 15 years old.
• That same summer, before we were “officially” together, I went to VA beach with my friend Staci. I met a boy there and made out with him for the entire week. I told Hub about it, reluctantly, because I didn’t want it hanging over us. He never let on that he was upset (but will tell anyone now that he was crushed).
• Our relationship was made official during a weekend party at Melissa’s dad’s house where he had ordered “Woodstock 1994” on pay per view. Hub drove up there on Saturday afternoon and had to leave Sunday morning by 5AM for work. He didn’t actually “ask me out” until we were on the phone the following Monday.
• My mother was not thrilled about our relationship, since he was 18 and I was 15 (nearly 16).
• We went back to school, for his senior and my junior year.
• I spent a lot of time skipping classes that year, because he had late arrival and early release privileges. I actually dropped morning and afternoon classes and never signed in to the new ones and nobody caught on.
• We both did theatre while we were there, and Hub climbed up to the catwalks and spray painted “Ed loves Sara” on the wall. As of 2 years ago, when my youngest brother was there, it was still on the wall.
• When my class held elections for Senior Class President, Hub and I lowered my friend Jer down from the rafters of the stage and blasted Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra (heard in 2001 a space Odyssey) through the aud. Up until that point everyone thought Jer was a no show and had dropped out of the election. He won the election, and though we all had a good talking to from the principal, we didn’t really get in any trouble.
• Hub graduated and I went back for senior year, and had probably the best year of my life (at that point anyway). All of the fun did not pay off though, and I was “let go” from our show choir, and ended up failing my last semester Government class. That being said, I did not graduate with my class in June, but rather after summer school in August. I never “walked across the stage” and to this day, my mother insists that I did not graduate. I have a diploma to prove that I did, in fact, graduate high school in 1996.
• That wasn’t really about our relationship, but was kind of a lead in.
• This is back tracking a bit……At my senior prom, my friend Ben, whom I’d spent a lot of time with that year (sans Hub), kissed me. Hub was furious.
• The day summer school let out, Hub and I left on a trip to Cedar Point. I had about 10 days before college started. When I cam home, my parents had completely locked me out of the house because they didn’t agree to me spending time in a hotel room, out of state with my boyfriend. This was when I made the decision to leave my parent’s house.
• It took a year of working 3 jobs in addition to going to school, but Hub and I moved in to our first apartment, a cute one bedroom basement apartment, on my 19th birthday. We are still paying off the credit card debt, now rolled in to our mortgage, but it was probably the most liberating and best thing I ever did for myself.
• 2 months after we moved in together, I had my wisdom teeth removed and Hub needed to take care of me. I’m surprised that he didn’t go running for the hills.
• The first piece of furniture we ever bought, a kitchen table and 2 chairs, is the same kitchen table we use today.
• One of my best memories of our apartment is coming home from a very long day to a warm bath and soft music playing. Once I was in the tub, Hub brought me a piece of home made chocolate pie.
• In 1999 we moved in to our current house, then owned by Hub’s dad. He was charging us half of what we paid for our tiny apartment, and we had the whole front and upstairs of the house. This afforded us the opportunity to stop working as much, concentrate on school, and have a little bit of fun.
• In June 2000, I started at my current employer, and soon after, Hub and I got our 1st cat Sebastian---who we still refer to as our 1st born.


• Hub proposed to me at Cedar Point, where we had vacationed every year since 1996, on August 14, 2000.
• We were married 9/14/02 and had the best day of our lives. We threw a kick-ass reception!


• (You guys know the rest)
• I was pregnant by April 2003 and we had our first baby, a boy, January 7, 2004.

• By November 2004 we were expecting our second, a girl, who was born August 18, 2005.

• We are currently expecting our third, another girl, on August 6, 2008

This all kind of makes me wonder where we will go next.

10 For Thursday

1. I came in to work early again today because my calendar is booked solid from 9-4. I am double booked twice and I have to do 2 interviews. What the heck?? Of course, instead of getting work done, here I am……

2. Hub has worked every night this week leaving me to deal with the kids on my own. It’s not really a big deal, but I sure am wiped out. He will be home tonight until 10, so I feel like I’m getting a break.

3. I have 2 videos that I want to post and I keep forgetting to upload them. One is of ED on the sled, screaming up to Hub after he says “all right ED!” that he is actually Jeff Gordon. The other is of CA who wanted to watch herself sing the ABC’s on camera. So we recorded that, and then she insisted on singing “I love you”. Maybe tonight.

4. My mother had a panic attack last night because the ham she ordered from QVC for Easter Dinner is on back order. Am I the only one who thinks that ordering a ham from QVC, as well as a ham being on back order in general, is hysterical? She didn’t find it very funny.

5. I’ve been on the border of getting sick all week. I has stomach issues on Tues and Weds and today my throat and ears hurt. I credit the prenatal vitamins with keeping me healthy. As opposed to the 2 other times, I have hardly been sick at all. It’s refreshing.

6. I found out that our hospital has remodeled all of their post-partum rooms; they are all private and they boast a home-like atmosphere. The baby gets to room in with you the whole time you are there. I’m pretty sure the nurses will still barge in on me at all hours of the night. I wouldn’t exactly call that home-like.

7. I’ve been giving more thought to my proposed early induction. I hated being induced, however, if it gives me the chance of having a smaller baby, one who does not have to go to the NICU for hypoglycemia, I think I’m going to do it. I would rather be uncomfortable and somewhat miserable instead of going through what I did with CA. That thought has terrified me since I got pregnant; I can not leave the hospital without my baby again. It’s not going to happen. So when we evaluate at 36 weeks, I will ask for a scheduled induction.

8. Speaking of this baby bean, Hub has decided he really doesn’t like the middle name we have chosen. He’ll go with it, but I’m not sure that I want to hear his incessant complaining about it. Every time he hears CA’s middle name, he makes a comment. He hates it. Whatev. We’ll see what happens.

9. I’m also prepping myself to begin dieting before I come back to work from my maternity leave. This will be hard because typically I am hungrier when I am breastfeeding than I am when I am pregnant. It’s been proven, however, that I can not start a diet at work. I need to establish the good habits prior to coming back. It’s going to be hard, but I need to do something. I can’t look like this anymore. I bought “You on a Diet” just before I got pregnant, so I’m going to study up and figure out a way to do this without depleting my milk etc. (there is a huge change that post-partum feelings will send this all down the toilet, but it’s good in theory, right????)

10. Finally, I commented somewhere the other day that CA was 26 months old. Am I on drugs? She is 2 years and 7 months old, which makes her what, 31 months old? Holy hell! She’s closer to being 3 than I realized!! I worry about her not being the baby anymore. She is SO the baby. I had similar worries for ED before she was born and it all worked out fine, but I can’t help but worry that we are forever impacting her life by making her the middle child. It’s valid; her life—all of our lives—will change forever when the bean is here. She’s just had so much time to herself as the baby of our family, where as ED had less than 2 years, and it scares me. I’m encouraged though that she has already offered to help change diapers, and rub the baby’s back, and be my helper. She’s going to be a great big sister, of that, I am sure.

There Is Nothing Holding This Post Together.....

To say that I am lazy when it comes to housework is a huge understatement. Clutter is kind of a way of life for us. I don’t see a huge point in spending 2 hours cleaning every night after work when I could be spending time with the kids. I’ve been a little more lax than I should be concerning the kitchen lately, since we are getting all new stuff, but yesterday I got some sort of bug up my ass, and decided at 8:30 that I was scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom. It was like I went in to panic mode or something. There will be people in our house, installing cupboards and what not. They’re not going to think, “Oh, the floor is dirty because they’re getting a new one” but rather “these people are scumbags and rather than clean, they’re getting new stuff!!” So I cleaned until 11PM, and am paying for it today.

Hub noticed though and thanked me (at 2:30 am) without stating the obvious, which is, “What’s the point”. I think I need to have a serious talk with him about talking to me when he gets home though. Isn’t it bad enough that the bean keeps me up with her cervix kicking, leg cramps and heartburn all night?

Funny story---one of my reps who is pregnant called in 3 days in a row last week without giving me a reason. When she came back, she told me that she had called in because she was just so tired, and she knew I would understand. Seriously? Talk to me when you have 2 kids getting up in the middle of the night AND you’re tired from being 6-months pregnant. Ass. (I feel like I told you this story already)

Another story about a pregnant friend (and employee)……she actually had her baby today! She tried for 9 years, since her 1st was born and had been through fertility treatment and several miscarriages. Last summer she said she had enough; and if she was not pregnant by the time she turned 30, she was done. She attempted to sell all of her baby stuff at a garage sale in June, and nobody came. She found out days before her birthday in July that she was pregnant. She had tons of problems and has been out of work since November, and against all odds, this baby, who she named Faith, was born today, healthy and almost 9lbs. I am so thrilled for her and her family. Did you know that today is St. Joseph’s day? He is the patron saint of families. The whole situation, if you ask me, is remarkable.

I am 20 weeks today!! WOOT!! Half way there!!

The Weekend, Wind Burn, The Monday After and a Crisis of Underwear

We had a pretty big snow storm this weekend which forced many cancellations, including CA’s gymnastics on Saturday morning. I drove home from a baby shower on Friday evening, willing the snow to cancel my bowl-a-thon on Saturday morning, but alas, I had no luck and had to bowl anyway. I came home and Hub, CA and I ventured downtown for our local home and garden show. It was pretty interesting, especially the part where we talked to a guy about remodeling our existing house VS. building a brand new house and how comparable the price would actually be, and the vanilla ice cream with a minty swirl in it.

Hub snowblowed a pretty good hill on to our porch, so the kids spent the day sledding in the front yard yesterday. Well, CA mostly threw snowballs, but ED really enjoyed the sledding. I have photos and video to prove it, but you know me……you may not see them for a while……or at all. The kids’ cheeks were rosy like apples from the cold and the wind, but I was not so lucky. I ended up with a horrible windburn, complete with raised blotchy bumps, all over my cheeks and chin. At first I thought I was having some sort of allergic reaction, but the fact that it only appeared where my skin was exposed convinced me that I did not need to bust out the benedryl (though I had to try harder to convince myself that my throat was not closing up as I drifted off to sleep last night). I’d also decided that if I woke up today looking the same, that I was not coming in to work.

My skin today is red and blotchy, but not bumpy, so I did come to work, but only after dealing with horrific dreams filled with blood and miscarriage all night long (can we do something to shut the dreams off already? It’s getting OLD!), the kids not wanting to get out of bed this morning because it was still dark, a partially flat tire—I thought it was fine but drove FIL’s car in anyway, and an underwear crisis.

I have never had to buy new underwear during pregnancy. I wear them below my belly anyhow, so it has never been an issue. (TMI?? Perhaps.) But this baby girl, she is so low in my belly, that all of my underwear is severely uncomfortable. She is kicking me in my waistband as we speak. I fear that I will be investing in granny panties soon. I’m telling you, its one thing after another these days.

In any case, I arrived at work less than an hour late. And I won another free coffee, bringing my tally to 4 out of, say, 11. Not an entirely bad start to my week.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was long, and not the good kind of long. Although we were busy, it seemed to drag on and on and I constantly had the feeling of “when is this going to end??” I guess maybe I was just tired, but I am looking forward to this coming weekend when we have nothing to do.

I called my mom on Saturday to get her sloppy joe recipe and was told that when she had her chest x-ray for pneumonia, 2 weeks ago, something else showed up and she had a cat scan a week ago. She didn’t want to tell me because I’m pregnant; she didn’t want me to worry. The Dr. is optimistic that it is scar tissue from a previous infection, but as of now she hasn’t got the results. It would be nice if it was scar tissue, but honestly, after 40 years of heavy smoking, I won’t be surprised if it’s more. Not that I’m wishing for it to be more—it would be great if it was just a scar, but I am preparing myself for it being much more. I’m the type of person who doesn’t worry until I have all of the facts, but this----this is gnawing at the back of my brain like crazy. Until we know more though, that’s all I’m going to say.

CA did well at gymnastics, especially any of the parts that involved jumping. ED still would not participate in Tae Kwon Do. Hub is taking him this afternoon when there will be no other children there to give him one last shot. It may just not be for him. I actually think he would enjoy gymnastics too, but the discipline factor of the Tae Kwon Do is what makes it attractive. So again, we’ll see how today goes……but this time, it really is the last time.

The kids enjoyed Sesame Street Live yesterday. CA got cranky during the second half and fell asleep on me before the end. She was crabby when we got home around 4 and was running a temperature so I bathed her, and she crawled up on top of me around 6:00 and passed out. She was in bed by 6:30 and slept all night. ED was in bed by 8, which is rare and Hub and I retired as soon as “The Simpsons” was over.

This baby is very low in my pelvis, which has never been the case before. I keep thinking that it is way too early to feel it jumping around on my bladder, but honestly, that’s one of the only places I ever feel it. It seems low, and far back. I’m nervous about Thursday—what if, at 18 weeks, they can’t tell? And I waste my time and my one and only sonogram shot until I’m like, 38 weeks? I need to know! I need to buy a baby book and start taking inventory of what we have compared to what we need. I need to make lists, tons of lists!! Everything hinges on the sex of this baby!! Ok, it really doesn’t. I’m stressed, nonetheless. (It is jumping like crazy right now, BTW)

In an odd twist I dreamt that the baby was a girl last night. Of course, in this dream the dr. was unavailable so the Assistant Director from our Daycare stepped in to do the sonogram…… I had another dream that I was riding in a log flume boat with an old manager of mine and we got trapped in an underground cave. There were lots of people there, including my Uncle Jim, who had superpowers that could get us all out, but he didn’t want anyone to know that he was a superhero. He was dressed all in yellow spandex though, so everyone knew he was a superhero. It was ridiculous.

It is Monday and I have an awful headache (but that is not news). I’m ready to go home. At least I finally won a free coffee! 1 out of 6….not bad.

S E V E N

Ok, Carrie tagged me, so here it goes!!

The rules are as follows:
# Link to the person who tagged you
# Post the rules on your blog.
# Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
# Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
# Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

1. I am overly freaked out by feet—to a ridiculous extent. It took me years to be able to even touch my husband’s feet, and even now, seeing him barefoot, disgusts me. True story: a friend and I went to a new health club downtown (a few years ago) and took a tae bo-type class upstairs and then headed downstairs where we had signed up for a free martial arts lesson. When I saw all of the naked feet on the mat, I had a panic attack and could not go through with the class. What was worse was that I had to cross the mat with the naked feet in order to leave the building. It was horrifying and I am truly scarred for life from that one. (The exception to my foot issue is my kid’s feet—I have no problem with them at all.)
2. I am mildly obsessive compulsive about a couple of things in my life but none more so than my alarm clock which I obsessively set and reset no fewer than 6 times before bed. It goes a little something like this: set, view to see that time was set correctly, double check to make sure alarm is set to AM and clock shows it is currently PM, turn the alarm off, click it back on and repeat the entire process. Yeah.
3. I can not handle any type opf repetitive noise (think someone tapping their pencil or clicking their pen—or better yet the dinging in your car when you forget your keys or leave your lights on; even the microwave beeping at the end KILLS ME) OR any sort of repetitive blinking (think the light on the answering machine). It seriously takes me over the edge. I may have some sort of mild sensory integration disorder.
4. When I was a kid, I used to practice smiling in the mirror so that I would always look great in photos. Seriously. (It was time well spent though, my wedding photos being proof)
5. I loathe board games and puzzles. The thought of sitting down and going through the motions of any board game, especially monopoly, is worse to me than having to peel off my fingernails one by one. This carries over to all of those crappy kids board games too. (I’m talking to YOU Chutes and Ladders!!!) They actually make me feel claustrophobic and confined—like I’m in a straight jacket. There is one exception though, and it is Scrabble. I love it!!
6. I will only eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese if it is doused in ketchup. If you haven’t tried it, you should!
7. I pretend to be pretty outgoing—especially at work, but typically I feel out of place and somewhat retarded in social situations. I can always be counted on to say the wrong thing in an awkward moment. In fact, I often create awkward moments.

Umm, here is who I tag:

Emily

Misty

Shelly (if she hasn’t been killed by a rogue realtor)

Bananafana

Mom of the Year

Shannon