One of Those Days:

Ever have one of THOSE days, when the kids are driving you completely bonkers and you just want to hide out in the bathroom with the shower on, pretending you can't hear anything outside the door????

Yeah. I'm having one of THOSE. In fact, I'm only posting this blog in order to avoid the last few loads of laundry that will quickly become an impossible mountain if I don't wash them TODAY.

*sigh* It has actually gotten to the point that I would rather workout than wash and fold laundry. That's what I just finished doing, and now I'm thinking a shower would be way better than running through a load of wash.

Remember when NB was just starting school and I was all boo-hooey about her going off into the big wide world? Yeah... now as soon as I wake up saturday mornings, I'm counting down the hours until monday morning when I drop her off at the front door. Not that I don't love her, or even that I don't miss her, but now that she's gotten use to that much stimulation throughout her day, she is nearly impossible to deal with on the weekends.

She gets so wired up, and it's too cold to send her outside, so she just goes wild indoors. Neither of the babies nap when she is home, either. She's way too loud. Tomorrow is a holiday, so my weekend has been extended by one more day. Tim is on night shifts, so he is spending the days sleeping and the nights away from home.

I realise this blog is turning into random tidbits and probably should have written it in list form. Oh well! In other news, I tried Zumba this past week! In Public! TWICE! I actually really enjoyed it and am planning on going back this week too.

Sorry for this random post, but it wouldn't really fit in on my other blogs. So now it's here.

Wow... So Yeah

I am rather ashamed at how horrible I've done about updating this blog here. I mean... it's still decorated for Christmas for crying out loud! (By the way, Tammie, I got your Christmas card! I'm saving it, since it was your first time celebrating the holiday!)

I have been working on trying to get fit and healthy. However, this is NOT a "resolution." I started back at the beginning of December and so far have lost 10 lbs. I even did really well over the holidays about not over indulging. I'm using sparkpeople and the 400 Calorie Fix cookbook that my Mom got me for a Christmas present. That's been where a lot of my focus has been lately, which isn't helping my blog situation any. Also, I am trying to move more, so when I sit down at the computer, I set a timer for 15 minutes. When it's up, I get up and do something else until I need to track something. Since I've been focusing mainly on sparkpeople, that doesn't leave me a lot of time to update here.

Anyway, as of January 1st, the baby is 4 months old. She is rolling all over the place, eating mushy baby cereal, and laughing real belly laughs. If her body would do what she wants it to, she would be crawling all over the place. You can tell from how she moves when you are holding her that she is just ready to GO.

This picture is from a couple of months ago, and is of NB and her new best friend, Joker. We have been trying to make sure she gets out by Tim's grandparents fairly often as she is learning to ride. She has been doing mostly really well in school, with a few difficult days here and there, but I think the break was good for her.

Other than that, we've mostly just been enjoying our spare time with one another, driving off the occasional cold weather with fires in the fire place. Calvin thinks they are better than Spongebob, which is saying something for our house. He just sits there like this, in front of the fire for hours and says "Ohhhhhh! Ahhhh! YAY YAY YAY!!"

Hey, what do you know, An update!

As of today, our little Lena Bena Bobena is 3 months old. In the last month she has discovered that she has hands and they are probably the single most interesting thing happening in her life right now. In every picture we get of her she is studying her hands. She will wave them around in front of her own face for nearly an hour. She is smiling in response to our smiles and making those cute little baby gurgles and sounds. She can also do push ups now and will pop that darling little head up and look around. She loves tummy time, especially when we are enjoying it with her. She loves to be talked to. It really doesn't even matter what you're saying, she just thinks it's hilarious. She's already rolled over from her tummy to her back a couple of times but it's not happening consistently yet, though that could change by tomorrow.

Calvin is about 16 months old now and a right handful, for sure. He is now climbing all over the place. He figured out how to go up and down stairs, how to climb up onto the couch and back off again and he loves doing it over and over again. Lately, we call him CalvinBobPlunderPants because he is ALWAYS into something. He likes to pull out everything from the cabinets and sort through it. He loves to stack Lena's formula cans and blocks, but mostly the cans. He is also a little chatterbox these days. He just babbles on and on, and it's so stinking adorable. His new favorite things to say are "Whaizz dat?!" and "Whoizz dat?!" On the other hand, he has also developed quite the temper, which isn't cute in the least. Any time he's not getting his way or thinks we aren't getting the message he will let out this really aggravated sounding yell, like: "AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!" It's horrible. I think I would prefer crying to that noise. On the other, other hand (how many am I up to now?) he's learned how to give real kisses and LOVES giving them. He kisses me, Tim, NB, the baby, stuffed animals, his cars. It just melts my heart every time. He definitely keeps me back and forth on my toes. The stinker.

NB is still pretty much 95% sas. I think the week long break from school was good for her though, because her behavior and school work are both improved since they've been back at school this week. I'm still trying to keep the creative stimuli coming at home in hopes that it is helping. I made a felt board for the kids a couple of days ago and they have been at it nearly non-stop. Even Calvin gets how he is supposed to use it and will spend a good solid 1/2 hour peeling off the shapes and then sticking them back on. NB informed me today that they made hand print Santa Clauses at school today, so I'm excited about that too! NB had another dentist appointment today for a regular cleaning and then they removed one of her teeth that had an abscess. I think I was more nervous than she was, but she went back there all by herself like a big girl. They somehow numbed her jaw without the use of shots and she did just great. There was no whining, crying, or (thank God) biting, she just sat through it like a big girl. All of which makes me wonder why we were given the big run around through the out of town dentist office in the first place. Seriously, if you can numb the kid's jaw without shots why would anyone do it any other way??!! Why would give an adult a shot for that matter!? I'd much prefer the miracle gel stuff or whatever they used for her. Anyway, I'm just glad that's all over and done with.

In other news, my Grandpa passed away over the Thanksgiving break. My sister and I drove down to Nola for the wake and then back home all in the same day. Even though the circumstances were sad, it was good to see and reconnect with all of our relatives and I wish we'd been able to visit longer. I also wish I had brought the kids with me, but it just seemed like so much to travel that far with the two little ones. Hopefully we will be able to make it down for a more cheerful visit when they are a bit older.

Until next time! Have a Happy Holiday Season!

Whatever Happened to Construction Paper Turkeys?

This is a post that is primarily about me and Nadi-B. She missed school today because we were supposed to be going to the dentist to have some cavities filled as well as a couple of teeth pulled. However there was some kind of mix-up in the scheduling so what ended up happening is that we got up at 4:30 am and drove for 2 hours to the nearest pediatric dentist to end up rescheduling.

Just to get this out of the way, I feel like a big fat failure as a Mom for NB's teeth having any cavities in the first place. I mean, it's not like we allow the child to consume obscene amounts of sweets or sodas. I would feel pretty confident that she doesn't get any more of those things than any normal kid. In fact, I would feel pretty confident saying that she probably gets less than what is "normal." The only thing I can figure is that we started letting her brush her own teeth a little too early on in the game and she just wasn't prepared to do a good job. I mean, at least these are her baby teeth, but it still makes me feel like when that dentist hygienist is looking at me she just sees words like: "Irresponsible Parent" or "Fail"


In any case, we drove all that way for nothing more than a frustrating hour spent alternating between waiting and explaining over and over again what we were supposed to be there for; followed by a few back and forth phone calls between Tim, myself, and NB's regular dentist. I *think* we finally have it all straightened out, but I'll know for sure when she goes for her cleaning in December.

We are still having issues with Nadia's behavior at school. I don't really know how to explain it. She's not behaving badly really. She just can't focus or be still or stop talking so much. She was doing really awesome for a good while, but all of a sudden over the last month or so, she just can't seem to concentrate on anything. Well... that's not entirely true.. it's like she can only focus on one thing. If she's concentrating on not talking or playing during class time then she isn't doing her work. If she's concentrating on doing her work, she's getting in trouble for silly behavior or playing during class time.

If she comes home from a bad day and we talk about it, the next day she does great, but every day after that she goes back to the same behavior. I am pretty much at my wits' end. I don't know what else to do, having exhausted all parenting things I can come up with, or approve of. It just seems not to sink in. I'm quite frankly, tired of having the same conversations every day.

And while I'm at it, I am also kind of bummed about her school's curriculum. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it is AWESOME to see NB sounding out and reading words and so forth, but whatever happened to the fun stuff? When I was in kindergarten we were coloring pictures every day. At this time of year we were making construction paper turkeys and hand print turkeys to bring home to our moms. I was so looking forward to NB bringing home a turkey or a Popsicle stick reindeer to hang on the tree or SOMETHING for crying out loud! But all we ever get are worksheets, worksheets, worksheets. Do they even get to do things like that at school anymore? As far as I can tell, no.

I actually think that might be part of the problem with NB's behavior. There doesn't seem to be any time cut out in their day to create anything. She gets to draw on the back of her worksheets if she finishes on time, but other than that they haven't brought home a single art project of any kind. It makes me feel sad and even jipped on her part.

So today, after our nice road trip, and our nice lunch out, just us two; NB and I made a construction paper turkey. I have already started researching any and all holiday art projects I can find for us to do in the afternoons when she is home. I'm hoping that the creative stimulation might help curb her enthusiasm a little at school. I also have ONE more thing I'm going to try with her for behavior, and that's meditation.

I don't mean anything lengthy or structured or anything. Just simple transcendental meditation, which is simply sitting quietly with one's eyes closed for a short amount of time. I am thinking 5 minutes in the morning after waking up and 5 minutes in the evenings before bed. I'm going to do it with her. I think it will help her "practice" being still and calm and quiet, and that it will also teach her to still her constantly turning mind so she can focus better. I am excited to see how this will do with NB and with myself. In the meantime, we are making our own construction paper turkeys and popsicle reindeer.

Mundane Update:

Wow! So things have finally slowed down enough that I can post a little mundane family update. Well... they aren't really slow at all, actually. I'm just forcing the time. The last few weeks I have been working part time at my favorite discount fabric store to fill in for one of their employees who got bit by a brown recluse. *shudder* Anyway, she is now back at work, even though she isn't quite at 100%, and I'm a little bummed. I really enjoyed filling in there. However, they are considering having me come in on Fridays from now on just to help out with their busiest day! I hope that works out because I really do/did LOVE working there.



Yesterday I hosted my very first Pampered Chef cooking show for a friend and it was AWESOME! We made homemade pizza, a cheese torta, and mini tirramissu cakes using all the fancy shmancy pampered chef gear. Then we got to eat the outcome while shopping. It was a fairly good/entertaining show and we did pretty well with the sales too which means more free stuff for me for hosting! Whaa-hoo! I'm so excited! Mom also ordered me a pizza stone for my birthday, so that's one thing I don't have to spend my free on.


Okay! Enough about me, moving on to the important people: the kids.

Lena is 2 months old, as of November 1st. She is all smiles these days and just today started rolling over from her tummy to her back! At her 2 month check up, she was a little over 8lbs. She is still small for her age, but since she's been small since birth, developmentally, she's right on track. Our pretty girl is somewhat of a miracle baby. At 2 months she already sleeps the majority of the night. Occasionally, she will get up once during the night, but about 5/7 nights of the week she will sleep the whole night. It's pretty awesome to say the least.

Calvin is getting bigger by the day! He is now 15 months. He is a little jabber box these days. Most of it is just cute baby jibberish, but there are a few words he's getting really good at. He now recognizes us in photos. He likes to point at NB's picture on the fireplace and say "Sisser?!" He also knows the baby, Daddy, and Momma. I think he also says "Papa," for my dad. He can also say "Uh oh," and "tank u!"

He is my little heart throb. I am so in love with this kid, I tell ya. He is so goofy and silly and sweet. Most of the time. He has a temper though when he isn't getting his way! But he is growing super fast it seems. It's already hard to imagine him as Lena sized.

And here's my other pretty girl! NB is modelling a dress I made her this past weekend. NB is just her own kind of person. She is doing well in school, but every day is a struggle for her to get a "smiley face." It's not that she's a bad kid, by any means. It's that she's over imaginative and sociable and silly, so her greatest offenses are often just forgetting herself and talking too much at times that are inappropriate. We've also been having a little issue with her rushing through her work so she can spend more time drawing kitty cats. NB is OBSESSED with cats. Her teacher sent me a message informing me that NB now insists on being called "Nadia Cat." *laughs* See what I mean about being her own person?

It has also become apparent that she is very sensitive. She gets it from her momma, so she comes by it honest. Yesterday she got her feelings hurt over a few other kids laughing at the name she calls her Gigi. Apparently "Gigi" sounds funny to a five year old, but NB thought they were making fun of her Gigi. So instead of doing her work, she spent her time making a necklace for her Gigi. Oh geeze! So that was a whole other discussion we had to have with her. Nothing is ever mundane or boring with NB around, that's for sure! My biggest challenge as a Mom has been to balance correcting her without crushing her spirit and individuality, which are the things I love in her.

My life is a Mom's life. But it's a happy one!

Wabbit Season

This is an actual jar on an actual shelf, inside my actual house, and if I get one more phone call from one more political candidate for whatever.... I'm going to start putting people in it.

Let me explain how I feel about politics/politicians: I HATE them. I don't just hate this party or that party... I hate them all. I don't watch them on the news. I don't read about them in the paper. I don't listen to their pre-recorded phone calls. Ugh.. mostly this time of year, I just try to avoid them as much as possible.

Seriously?! Don't call my house, during dinner time, and chirp to me over the phone about your "traditional family values!" Really?! If you're such a stand-up family man how come you aren't at home, I dunno, eating dinner with your family? And why are you annoyingly interrupting other families' dinners? I don't want to take your stupid survey. I don't want to listen to your campaign. I just want you to shut-up, stop calling my house, and leave me alone so I can listen to my daughter describe the entire plot line of Marmaduke one more time, K?

OH! And what is with all you creepy politicians squatting outside of my house?! This is no exaggeration: last week, I noticed a huge red SUV, emblazoned with posters and American flags, parked outside on the grass right in between my next door neighbor's yard and my own. It, and the guy inside of it, sat out there for 30 minutes. Just sat there, staring at our houses. It was right at the time I always go pick up NB from school. He sat there and watched me as I carted Calvin out, strapped him into his car seat, came back inside, grabbed the baby, strapped her into her seat, came back inside, grabbed my purse and my keys, and as I'm trying to sit down in my car, he GETS OUT and walks over to my WINDOW and starts tapping the glass trying to hand me a damned political pamphlet!!!! The old man is lucky I didn't run him over with my car. He is lucky all he got was a slammed car door in his face and a very blunt, "I don't have time for this now!!!!" before I quickly backed out of the driveway.

The very next night, I noticed, yet another car parked across the street facing our house. It and the man inside sat there for a good while. I noticed it when I was leaving to go pick up some dinner (dinner time, again). I had enough time to drive into town, wait in line for 15 minutes or so, stop at the grocery and get drinks, and drive back home, at which point he was STILL SITTING there. As I get out and start gathering up all of my grocery bags and such, he gets out and starts making his way over to my house. I could see the pamphlets out of the corner of my eye. It was like one of those horrific dreams you have where you are trying to run away from a monster and you just know you aren't going to make it. But I did, and I closed the door and locked it before he made it halfway across our yard. He must have knocked on the door a good 5 times before he gave up and realized that even though we were in there, we weren't going to answer it. So he just shoved his pamphlet into the door and FINALLY left.

The next time I see some creepy politician perched out on the street I'm calling the police and reporting them for loitering. Even if nothing comes of it, maybe they will at least move along.

It's politician season, folks. And the little buggers are everywhere!!!!

Halloween Costume Photo Dump!

So. Every year, I have the same grand idea: I will MAKE the kids' costumes! They will be awesome and better than store bought crap costumes that are way overpriced! I will get lots of cute photos!!

And every year: I FAIL. Usually one of two things happen: I run out of time and energy to get them completed, OR I mess up the costume and am unable to fix it due to time constraints or there not being enough fabric to start over. And then I'm always rushing around trying to get out trick or treating and snapping crap pictures that barely show the crap costumes I had to run out and buy at the last minute. *sigh*

But this year?! I DID IT! I made 3 costumes! Three. Whole. Costumes. And they are all awesome (IMO). AND they all match a theme! Yay! AND! AND!! I got lots of super cute pictures! So here they are:

Here is Nadia, all decked out as the Cheshire Cat. I made her dress and her ears and did her make-up, but we bought the awesome pinky-purple hair.


This is my favorite photo of NB. Apparently, the trick to getting her to be all smiles for the camera is to paint her face like a cat! She would wear the make-up every day if I would let her.


Here is the Baby! She is the Queen of hearts, obviously. I like to imagine that in the above picture she has just said "Off with their heads... bleh" in a very bored tone.


I made her tutu, stenciled her onesie, and made her head poof. The center of it has a sparkly red heart, but it's kinda hard to see it in this picture.


And here is Calvin, giving ole' Johnny a run for his money! He is such a handsome Hatter!


I made his hat and his bow tie and vest. The rest is just a white shirt and black pants.


Like any toddler, he wasn't a big fan of leaving the hat on for very long and kept yanking it off, which is why Tim's hand is in the photos.

I don't believe I'm going to dress up this year myself. If I decide to, I have a closet full of things like peasant dresses, witches' hats, coin scarves, etc. But I'm really thinking I'm just going to enjoy the kids this year.

I am so proud of myself for completing these costumes! I even made costumes for OTHER PEOPLE'S kids! I made a Wicked Witch of the West, Wicked Witch of the East, and Dorothy costume set for three little girls, a Tinkerbell tutu for my niece, and a purple fairy tutu for my other niece. I don't have any pics of them in their costumes yet though.

So what you doing for Halloween? Are you dressing up? Going trick or treating? Staying in?

Aplin Farms Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, Tim and I loaded up the kidlets and drove up to see my sister a couple of towns over. After meeting up with them for lunch at their place, we took a family trip over to Aplin Farms for their annual pumpkin patch. It was AWESOME. It was hands down the BEST pumpkin patch I've ever attended.

When you arrive, the very first thing you see is a huge produce pagoda where they sell pumpkins as well as other produce from their farm such as: apples, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, etc. You can buy pumpkins from that area, but it's much more fun to do the "You pick" pumpkins. They load several people onto these huge tractor-pulled wagons, and then drive you up into the fields where you can pick your own pumpkins, fresh from the fields.

One of their other features is that they also grow large fields of sunflowers! Which they let you pick: FOR FREE! They are SO pretty, but they start to wilt almost immediately after you pick them. We brought home a few and I have them in a vase now. I'm hoping they will start to perk up a little, so that we can enjoy them for a bit longer.

I took quite a few pictures of the sunflowers, but this one with the bee inside of it was my favorite. They also kept a few bee-hives on the farm as well and were selling jars of honey in the produce pagoda. I unfortunately didn't get any, but I'm definitely purchasing a jar next year!



I love this picture of our whole family coming back from the wagon ride. We rarely get any of these, since I'm usually the one behind the camera. There's me, holding Lena; Tim holding Calvin, and of course, NB who is not looking at the camera (typical) but is at least, smiling! I'm going to have this one blown up and framed for above the fireplace. Speaking of fires, another feature of Aplin Farms is that you can arrange to have a bonfire after dark on their property! We've already decided that next year we are going to plan it where more of the family can come so we can have a bonfire and smores after our day of pumpkin picking!





All around the front end of the farm, they have hay bales "dressed up" in costume! We saw spiders and pumpkin hay bales, but our personal favorites were these piggies. (that's my sister, Allie and her b/f's daughter, Haley).

There were also the obligatory "face in hole" photo opportunities, inflatable bouncy slides, a corn maze, reasonably price concessions, an animal barn or two, and train rides. Needless to say, we had an amazing afternoon followed by this:

on the way back to Allie and Jeff's. You can't see Lena because she is rear facing (we're legal that way), but she is having a screaming melt down too! Apparently wedging three tired, cranky, hungry kids into the back seat of a small vehicle brings out the worst in them! I can't WAIT until we get the new car. Only a couple more weeks!!! Anyway, we took them back to my sisters where she was gracious enough to cook all of us an awesome dinner, after which we headed back home. The kids slept most of the way on the home trip, except for the last 20 minutes, in which Calvin woke up and screamed the rest of the way home. I can't wait to go back next year! But, before I go, here is one more sunflower pic.

This one has a grass hopper on it!

Stoooopid Comment Thingy:

For some reason, a few of my comments have been disappearing after I hit "publish" and not posting to the blogs, so if you have commented recently and it hasn't shown up this is why.

So, HI BONNIE! I was so excited to hear from you and then stoooopid blogger ate your comment! You'll have to send me your email so we can catch up!

All about Lena

~***** Warning! This post contains gross stuff like news on baby spit-up and poop is mentioned.*****~

* The other night she did this crazy little fluke thing where she slept through the entire night. She is only 6 weeks old, so as far as I know, sleeping through the night is unheard of for her age. We were kind of astounded, and I spent the morning hovering around her crib checking her breathing and nudging her every now and again to make sure she was ok. But, not to worry! It was only a fluke and hasn't happened since!

*Spit-up. Ohhhhhhh my! Lately it has seemed as though our little Beanah has been practicing for her upcoming role in the exorcist. I mean, I know babies spit up, it's what they do, but I'm beginning to become concerned that she isn't getting enough nutrition what with the constant spitting up and also: poop. I am thinking she might be lactose intolerant or at least lactose sensitive, so I'm going to talk to her doctor about it on Monday and see about switching her formula.

* Speaking of formula, how about that scary recall of Similac? I've been diligent about checking all of ours to make sure we didn't bring home any bad cans, but still.......it makes you nervous.

* Lena is so different from my first two children. Where they were BIG babies (9-6 and 8-8 respectively), she is small. Where they were chubby and dimpled, she is long and skinny. Where they had little fat feet with sausage toes and fingers, she has long skinny feet and fingers and toes. Her eyes are big and blue, just like my other two, but are shaped differently. I just can't seem to get enough of looking at her. While my other two weren't big fans of the sling, she is content to chill in there all day. She just has a different energy and personality all together. I am so interested to see her grow and develop.

Ahh... Fall!

The leaves! The cool weather! The colors! The incessant coughing! Every year around this time, NB develops this horrible chest-y cough. It seems no matter what we do, we can't get rid of it. We've tried cough and cold stuff and allergy stuff. We've taken her to the doctor to see if it might be asthma since Tim has it, but even that trip proved worthless in defeating the cough. It has gotten to the point where yesterday she was having a bit of difficulty speaking, so back to the doctor we will go. Hopefully we can get her an appointment for this afternoon.

In other news, I feel like a complete jerk. Nadia has been chirping about popcorn at school for the last few weeks, and I had NO IDEA what she was going on about. It is sometimes really difficult to get information out of NB that makes sense, because you have to try to filter it through her 5 year old brain which is jammed packed with shiny things and unicorns and rainbows and happiness from what I can tell. I thought it might have been something that the school supplied for snack every once in awhile, so I tried sending snack money for a week or two. According to NB, all they ever gave for snack was chips and juice boxes and she was tired of eating the same things every day, so we went back to sending her snack from home. Then yesterday, I'm reading over the daily behavior report that they send home DAILY, and I notice in tiny print along the bottom "Kid's may bring popcorn money every Friday" or something along those lines. So now I feel like "jerk mom" because it's probably been there for weeks, and it's only $0.50, and I haven't sent any money, and she really, really wanted that popcorn. I sent the $0.50 today, but I still feel like a jerk. I hate for her to feel left out of things like that, and it's obvious from the way she asked about it before that she did. I apologized for my jerk-ness on the way to school this morning to which NB replied, "It's okay, Mommy!" and all was again right in the world.

In other news, Calvin did the sweetest thing a couple days ago. We had just gotten back from the store and Lena was crying to be fed. I propped her up in the boppy and went into the kitchen to fix her bottle. When I returned to living room, Calvin was crouched by her pillow and alternating between giving her big sloppy kisses and poking her in the face with his sippy cup. It was obvious he was trying to console her as well as share his milk with her. It was so sweet, my heart just melted. However, Lena was not impressed. All she got out of the idea was brother slobber and a face full of milk. I have to admit that sometimes I am surprised by the amount of empathy Calvin feels for her. Whenever she is upset or crying, he will come over to "pet" her and say "Ohhhhhhh."

I finally finished up all of the Halloween costumes and things people had ordered in the last few weeks. I am also all finished with NB's and Lena's costumes. We are doing an Alice in Wonderland theme this year with NB as the Cheshire cat, Lena as the queen of hearts, and Calvin as the Hatter (of course!). All I have left to finish Calvin's costume is to make his bow-tie. I can't wait to get a picture of them.

Other exciting news includes:

We're soon getting a new (not brand new, but new to us) car that will actually fit all of us comfortably and safely!

We're going to a big pumpkin patch this Sunday with my sisters and their kids and possibly some visiting relatives from New Orleans. There will be corn mazes and hay rides and a petting zoo and of course PUNKINS!!

I have a stack of fire wood to burn!

And that about wraps it up.

Well... You can Hang that Up....

Yanno... when I was preggers and BORED and had NOTHING TO DO, it seemed as though all of you went on a blogging hiatus. Now that I'm bargaining for five minutes to sit down that the computer, you have all started posting bookoo blogs. Let's be honest. As much as I love reading about you guys and your lives and your kids.. I am NEVER going to get caught up on all of these blogs! Sheesh! So I'm thinking I'm just going to pick up on the latest ones you've posted and just keep going from there. Sorry. :(

Also........just out of curiosity, has anyone watched any of the new TLC series, "Sister Wives?" I am so intrigued! And not really in a "yeah I could see myself doing this" kind of way, just more like, "hunh???!!!!" kind of way, followed by daydreaming about having another person here every day helping me do laundry and make dinner and feed babies all day. Is there anyway to have a Sister Mom instead of a Sister wife. Because I really don't dig on sharing my hubs.

Making No Promises

I haven't updated this poor blog in so long! I even have to admit that I haven't caught up on reading your blog posts either. Did you know that having 3 kids is kinda crazy? Especially when one is in kindergarten, one is a toddler, and the other one is an infant? Well, I'm telling you right now, IT'S CRAZY. I'm consider myself pretty lucky at this point if I get the opportunity to pee more than once a day. (did I just say that on the internet? You bet your bottom I did)

Here's the latest picture of our little Lena-Bean-ah. She is one month old and she HATES me for putting that silly flower on her head. Or she could be passing gas. She does that. A LOT.

Here's one where she could either be smiling or passing gas.

She is a really good baby. She sleeps fairly well at night and is awake and alert during a good part of the day. She is very expressive and Tim says she looks a lot like me! Especially when she is annoyed. I must agree. Her mad face looks a lot like mine!

NB is still doing fairly well in school. About 2 months ago, I thought I'd try my hand at making her some hair bows because we didn't have very many. NB likes to wear hair things, but it was difficult finding some to match her clothes and also? I didn't want to spend a fortune on bows when ribbon is fairly inexpensive.

Check out my handy work here. Oh, and you might notice NB's drastically shorter hair. I took her to get it TRIMMED and the lady butchered her hair. I seriously should have snapped a photo of the job she did. It looked like NB had done the job herself. I had to rush her to another salon to have them fix it so she wouldn't have to go to school looking all funk-i-fied. I was in hysterics, guys, but ya know, hair grows and she loves it, so I guess it's okay. And if you are wondering what that obscene ball of fluff is that she is holding, it's a webkin that her Aunt Barb sent her. ......... we THINK it's a cat.........we could be wrong.

Since NB has been wearing her new hair bows to school, her teacher has started sending home notes requesting me to make some for her little girl and sending notes to all of her friends with little girls. I have learned that just because I am not willing to spend tons of money on hair things, doesn't mean that other people aren't. These ladies have some serious obsession with hair things. BUT, it's actually turned into a nice little at home side business for me. So far be it from me to complain.

NB is already reading short words! She gets a new word list every week that she reads over every night for homework. There are about 12 words on each week's list. I can't believe she is already that far along! It's pretty neat though!

As for Calvin. He is just ALL boy. He is walking and starting to talk. He loves Lena. He will walk up to her and touch her very gently and say "Ohhhhhh Bay-bee! Ohhhhhhhhh." He is a little rotten stinker though. You can't leave any open cup or bottle laying around or he will grab it and start chugging frat boy style. The other morning I forgot and he finished off my diet pepsi in about 2 seconds.

In other news, the weather here has FINALLY started to reflect the season! To celebrate we had a bunch of friends out last night and I cooked up a big pot of gumbo. It was AWESOME. The first chance I get I am putting our fire pit to use. I already have a nice big stack of wood and limbs just waiting for me in the backyard.

I'm sure there is plenty I've left out as far as updating everything goes. I am going to try to blog more now that we are starting to settle a little more, but I'm not making any promises. I hope you all are well!!

Still Alive and Breathing

I just wanted to pop in here and let everyone know that I'm still alive and breathing. So are the kids. I will leave an actual, more detailed update on how things are going with the new little one and the other little one and the kindergartner as soon as I get to it.

We have Baby!! And You'll never guess what happened!!

We arrived at the hospital, bright and early at 5:30 am to begin the prep for the c-section. I was set up in a room, my IV was put in and we were minutes away from being rolled into the OR to begin the anesthesia when Dr. Bowen decided to do one final ultrasound.


Imagine our surprise! Lena had decided to flip over night!! She must have done so while I was sleeping because I don't remember feeling anything. I guess she decided that she didn't want surgery either, because she was miraculously head down, and I was dialated to 2.5 cm. Deciding that the opportunity was just too good to pass up, Dr. B had me transferred directly to a labor room and began the process of inducing labor instead.


By 10:30 am, I was to 4 cm, my water was broken, and my epidural was put in. We had a little bit of a scare after that when Lena's heartrate started to decrease with every contraction. The nurses repositioned me onto first one side and then the other to try and relieve some pressure from the umbillocal chord. The right side turned out to be the correct one, and for awhile we didn't have any more issues with her heartrate.


I napped through most of the afternoon, since due to the epidural I had little to no discomfort. By 4:45 pm, I was fully dialated and it was time to begin pushing. The nurse got all of her things set up, called in the Doctor, Tim came in, everything was ready to go!


We decided to push with the next contraction, so as soon as it started, I started. I pushed ONCE for literally 10-15 seconds, and there she was! After all of that stressing and worrying that she put me through the last nine months, one push and she was here!! Safe and sound and healthy!

Helena

Born Sept. 1st, 2010

6 lbs. 9 oz

20 1/2 inches long

Preggo Update!

Today I am 38 weeks and 2 days, and I had an exam scheduled with my dr. to see if it would be at all possible to induce before he takes off on his Alaskan ice fishing vacation on the 4th. By this point, I was really hoping to have already had to go in for labor anyhow, but things have been holding out in the "pretty damn miserable" stage for days now. I have been having some pretty intense contractions/braxton hicks for the last couple of days, so I was really hoping to hear some good news about the exam.


Once he started the exam, I could tell from the look on his face that whatever the news was, it wasn't going to be anything like the "Hey! You're 4 cm dialated and ready to go!!" news I had dreamed about. On top of which, it was kind of painful as I've been pretty swollen in the girly parts region. He finishes the exam, sighs, and then says, "You have a few wierd things going on, so I'm going to let you get dressed first, and then we'll talk." Gee... that sounds promising!


Apparently, aside from my cervix being no where near ready for labor (very high and barely 1 cm dialated), he could not feel any part of the baby whatsoever. She was not head down, or anywhere near the cervix area, and he couldn't determine her position. The ultrasound they did at 32 weeks had shown she was breech and that the placenta was low lying, though there was no previa. His concern was that the placenta may have moved lower, though he couldn't feel that either, and that the baby was still either breech, or transverse (the position she was in for all the other ultrasounds up until the 32 weeks one). At this point he pretty much told me that my chances of delivering vaginally were basically nill, but he was sending me over for another ultrasound just to be sure.


The ultrasound tech couldn't even find the placenta. She had to call in the doctor and have him show her. The baby is a wierd position. Her head is way up, almost in my rib cage on the right side. Her feet are up and even with her head on the left side, with her butt pointing straight down in the middle. So she's in this little "U" shape. The placenta isn't lower than her or blocking the cervix, it's far over the left exactly even with the baby.


I was then sent back to Dr. B's office where he presented me with 3 equally craptacular options.


Option 1: I could wait in hopes that she would decide to turn at the last minute, before labor, though hopefully not until after he returned from his trip in two weeks. The risks here would be that she would not turn and I could go into labor with a doctor who had no previous knowledge of the earlier complications we've had with this pregnancy. Also, if she didn't turn, I'd end up having to have a c-section in the end.


Option 2: We could try an external version to try and turn her. However, if he turned her, we would then need to induce labor rather than waiting for natural labor because waiting could mean she would simply re-posistion herself in the original or an even worse posistion for delivery. Of course, she could also turn durning the labor. On top of which, the condition my cervix is currently in, inducing labor would be nearly impossible and could cause even more complications and would probably end in a c-section.


Option 3: I could just go ahead an opt for the c-section. Of course, the risks here are all of the normal risks associated with c-sections.


I knew there was no way I was waiting. I would drive myself crazy with worry and in the end could end up waiting around stressing for nothing and have to have a c-section anyway. I was not interested in the version at all. From what I hear they are pretty painful and honestly, I felt like it would be a complete waste of time considering he would then have to induce and we had already determined that induction would be unlikely. So I opted to just go ahead and do the c-section. I honestly feel like this was going to be the end result no matter what I chose, so I figured we might as well go ahead and get it over with so I could stop stressing about it all. So my c-section is scheduled for 7:30 am tomorrow.


At least she is full term and not having to be taken early. Part of me is really relieved that it's almost all over and that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The other part of me is really stressed and worried. I've never had any kind of surgery before, so I'm naturally nervous. I know doctors do these sorts of things every day, but I don't.


So, anyway, wish me luck!! Tomorrow I go to have a baby!!

Happy Birthday!

One year ago, today, our little viking was born! It's hard to believe he's a year old already! I'm not sure if being pregnant through most of this time has made it seem to pass faster than usual, or if time is just speeding up on me anyway. Either way, the last year seems to have flown by, and I feel like somehow I missed out on Calvin being a baby. Of course, in a lot of ways, he is still very much a baby. He still has all of that beautiful baby chub going on. But he is also walking all over the place now and beginning to communicate better and sometimes when I catch an eyeful of him acting all toddler-ish, I feel a little twinge of sadness.


Happy 1st Birthday Calvin! You are growing up too fast.

A couple of Book Reviews:

So, to pass the time away, how about a couple of book reviews? First up:

I'm a really big Terry Pratchett/Discworld fan, but even if you aren't, this is still a really awesome book. The sheer amount of information concerning myths, legends, folklore, their origins, etc. from our own world, that is in this book is baffling. I'm talking everything from the origins of English football to Santa Clause. If you like interesting factoids, you would probably really enjoy this book. I did. I more or less just piddled through it for about a month, and every time I would pick it up to read a chapter I'd find out something really interesting that I never knew before.

Next up is:

If we were scaling on a 1-5 basis, I'd have to give this book somewhere around 3.5-4. I really liked the IDEA behind the story. It's obviously a different version of the classic Alice in Wonderland but also so much more than that. This is supposedly the TRUE story of the real "Alyss" and the book Alice in Wonderland is actually somewhat of an insult to her "real life" story. Anyway. It has a kind of steam-punky vibe to it, which I enjoyed. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it seemed VERY rushed through. The author had all these really great ideas and concepts and I felt like he should have spent more time on them than he did. I didn't feel like there was ENOUGH story. It's the first book in a trilogy and I'm having a hard time getting into the second one. I kind of feel like he should of concentrated on fleshing out the first book more before trying to develop the series. You can almost feel him rushing through the writing to get to the next part. Meanwhile, he's leaving behind all of these really interesting tidbits that I wish he would tell his readers more about. So it was a good book, but it could have been GREAT. And that kind of sucks. *sighs*

Anyway. I'm still pregnant.

In other news, Calvin turns 1 year old tomorrow!! I can hardly believe it. Already. 1 whole year. *sniffles*

Pomplamoose

Somebody on Offsprung posted a link to this band and now I can't get enough. They have amazing original stuff and awesome covers. This is a cover of "Beat it" by Michael Jackson. Of course, I suppose it's all a matter of taste. This is the style of music I tend towards. Her voice is perfect for me to sing along with. Plus, she and the guy, Jack are really goofy and cute, which is just a bonus for me. Just thought I'd pass it along in case anybody actually shares my taste in music!

Off

I have not felt "right" for the last couple of days. I don't know how to explain it, other than that:

"I just don't feel right."

"Something feels wierd."

"Something is OFF."

Some of it might have to do with the fact that I haven't gotten a decent night's rest in the last 3 nights. However, it's kind of a "chicken or the egg" situation in that I'm not sleeping well because I feel wierd and can't get comfortable, and also, I feel a little off from not sleeping well.

Last night I rolled around in bed for a good two hours unable to find a way to fall asleep comfortably. I had even taken a benadryl ANOTHER hour before lying down in hopes that I'd lay down while it started to work and zonk out regardless. Didn't. Happen. I don't know what time it was when I finally fell asleep, but I was up by 2 am and unable to fall back asleep. So I just rolled around and huffed until it was time to get up with the kids.

I can't focus or concentrate. I sit. I stand up. I walk around. I sit. I lay down. I get up. I flip through channels. I try to read blogs. I try to comment. I lose track of my thoughts and just start rambling on. I get up. I walk around. Etc.


I've also been whining about it to Tim and my friends the last couple of days too. I'm very flustered and well.....just.......I don't feel right. *sigh* So I thought I'd complain to you guys too.