Christmas Recap

Its December 27th and we are snowed in. (Well, the boys and I are, but Scott is off to work this morning). I'm thankful for a boat load of new toys to occupy the big boys while we are couped up. I may try to take us all out for lunch this afternoon for a change of scenery, but its so windy out and I loathe getting in and out of the car on windy days. We shall see.
The last couple of days have passed in a blur.
And all the typical Christmas craziness has occurred in my house.
Hyper Children. Check.
Grumpy Parents. Check.
Loads of presents. Check.
A meltdown or two. check.
A Christmas spanking or four. Check.
Questioning how and why did Christmas get to be like this. Check.
A time to reflect about God's love for us thru His greatest gift, Jesus. Check, check and check!
Christmas eve started out fine. I cooked my annual ham and scalloped potatoes. We invited a friend of ours and her mother who had no family in town this year for Christmas eve dinner, and that went well. I had started to make a red velvet cake for dessert, but alas, I did not account for a nursing baby in my timeline of events and cooking schedule and it sat un-iced in my kitchen until last night.
Dinner turned out nicely and the kids actually ate some ham, and my guests were lovely and my mom wasn't too late for dinner. (she always runs late, I know where I get it from.)
Christmas eve church service was a disaster. We got there late, and the church was packed. I wasn't expecting it to be so crowded since it was at 6pm and there are 3 services. We couldn't even sit together, but it was a good thing cause B was in rare form and drove Scott bonkers until I removed him. J got hungry mid service and wasn't going to be patient about eating, so B and I took him downstairs. I was soooo paranoid to let B in nursery, since I know of at least 3 families with a stomach virus (all from church), so I made him sit next to me while I nursed J. When we returned after the service was over, B did something that pissed Scott off so bad we left in a huff. Later I found out that during the service, B 'colored' on the chairs with the candle we were supposed to use for singing...and a raft of other offenses. We skipped our annual visit to a local live nativity and went home and supplied some discipline and got the kids in bed quickly after our birthday party to Jesus. It was a little bit of a mess, but I was expecting it. The kids were wound up. I think that Scott wasn't expecting it and the kids behavior really set him off.
Christmas day was nice. Not too crazy and no fighting. I was expecting worse, but it was really a nice relaxing family day. No family drama, no trips to the ER. (Last year MIL went to ER on Christmas day).
As always, Scott spoiled me with gifts, and I felt terrible because his big gift is on back order and he basically got 3 gifts...lame ones at that.
Scott is a gifted gift giver, and knows things to get me that I didn't even know I wanted. This year he got me a Keurig Coffee maker...because he knows how much I HATE to make a pot of coffee in the morning, but need to drink my coffee or no one is happy. So he got me this single cup brewer, which is very nice. I think I may prefer our Mr. Coffee coffee better, but the Keurig is nice. Very nice. And very convenient. He also bought me some outfits which are the right size and something I will actually wear. I'm always impressed with his sense of fashion. (that's a little scary). Ha!

I still always wonder how Christmas got to be so crazy and commercialized and so far fetched from the amazing true meaning of Christmas. We try to focus on our Savior being born with the kids. Q knows the true meaning and will recite that to you when you ask. But I think as long as there are presents involved in Christmas, kids will always get crazy about that. Q was so excited to open presents, he asked about 100times the week previous to open presents. It was a little annoying. This year with our Advent calendar we read a verse and did some nativity crafts almost every night. It was fun, but B, not being the crafty type, enjoyed destroying whatever Q made. I wanted to ring his neck several times. I discovered that if the craft is a bit over his head, he just becomes destructive. He enjoyed things like coloring and gluing. But anything more than that, no gots.
I attempted to make cookies with the boys several times, but it always ended up with me yelling and not the beautiful picture of a Christmas tradition I was looking for. Why do the kids always have to ruin it for me? Ha!

All in all, I am thankful for a nice Christmas with my family. Thankful for a reason to celebrate. Thankful for a God to humble himself and come to this earth to save us.

Nervous (again)

Its totally normal to get nervous when your kids are being quiet, too quiet, right?

Today's First

Well, today I had my first call from the school nurse. SHe called right as I was headed out the door to pick him up off the bus. "Q fell and hit his head, and I'd rather not put him on the bus." She said. That was enough to make my stomach flip flop to my feet. The kid has fallen and hit his dome so many times. Each time I wonder if it will be the time it causes damage enough for a concussion. I'm so used to him and B falling and hitting their heads, it happens a ton. But this time freaked me out since she called and didn't want him on the bus ride which is less than 2 minutes.
I raced over there thinking the worst, expecting blood or something. I get there and my poor boy is sitting with an ice pack on his head, and looking so pathetic. He's fine, thankfully, and a nice egg on there which will look perfect for Christmas pictures. Aparantly, Q does not know that hands are a good thing to extend out in front of one's self to stop the cranium from hitting the floor when falling.

Nervous

Is it normal to get nervous when you hear your two older children giggling in the other room?
Or have I been conditioned to know they're up to something?
Must go investigate said giggling now...

Gibreckle

-J had his first well check yesterday. He's now 11lbs 4oz. and 23" long. Tall boy, 96% in that area. And his head is NOT off the charts like I thought it'd be.

-B was super cute at Dr's office yesterday while J was being examined, the doctor was looking at J and talking to him, "are you going to talk?" B pipes in, "No, he doesn't talk, he just makes noises." He goes on and on w/ the doctor who is this older guy with no personality. I was shocked that he was making Dr. Personality laugh with his antics. Then he turned to me and asked how old B was. When I told him 2, he was blown away. Apparently, speaking in 6 word sentences is advanced for B. Who knew? Well, I sorta knew, he sounds like a attitudy 4 year old at times. And when the exam was over, B left the office while I was packing up J.
The doctor saw him leave and said, "I guess he's really independent, or doesn't care that he just left you..." I said "why, did he just leave?"
Yep, he was out the exam room, down a long hallway, and out at the front door, trying to push it open. (and Dr. Personality was kind enough to rescue him for me.) This is not the first time this has happened. He was almost outside at the bowling alley last week when I realized he was gone.

-I pulled out the Christmas decorations and B is now calling Christmas balls, cannon balls. And the candles have become bombs. Suddenly he and Q are really in to bombs and cannons and pumpkin chunkin. I had some left over pumpkins that I put in the trash that they rescued. Q then asked if they could play "pumpkin chunkin'". Hmm, I guess. They then spent the next hour tossing the pumpkin down the stairs to see if they could make it "explode". I was sitting trying to figure out why they're so into all of this explosion stuff now, and I finally remembered. Scott likes to watch Mythbusters with them, and they are often blowing things up on that show. And for Thanksgiving, Mythbusters hosted a pumpkin chucking contest. I think I might have to put a kibosh on the Mythbusters thing. Or maybe the whole discovery channel (they like to play Dirty jobs too). Q has only had two bad dreams that I am aware of (or have been awoken out of sleep to deal with). One was two nights ago, and that one was about bombs.

-My mom is done with chemo. Praying she doesn't need anymore treatment ever! We're awaiting test results to see if she is a genetic carrier for cancer.

-My last meal delivery is tonight. I now have to cook. Waaah. I never can time it right so that J doesn't need to eat in them middle of me prepping dinner. Or he just decides to be fussy all through the late afternoon. Getting meals is such a blessing. I'm so thankful for my friends who have given us meals over the last month.

-I have no Christmas shopping done, not started anything or even thought of any gifts for anyone but the kids. This is not unusual for me. I'm not a planner or organized at any point in my life have I ever had anything done at this point.

-This may be TMI, but I laughed so hard at this, I thought I'd share. At my Dr's appt this am, my doctor asked me if I needed a scrip for bc. I said no, I don't like to do hormonal bc when breastfeeding. So he says, "so you're going to use the exhaustion method then?" Huh? "With 3 kids you're too exhausted for that?" or "The avoidance method?" or "The two separate beds method." Seriously, who'd have thought my doc was such a comedian.

That is all for today.

One Month

My newest baby is one month old. He's still so tiny, yet so big. He is fast out growing 0-3month baby clothes. I can't snap my favorite outfit on him anymore. He's busting out. I don't know how much he weighs, but I'm guessing at least 11.5 lbs. He's gotten very round in the face and belly. His hair is falling out and he's got acne so bad. I hope the other babies in the nursery don't make fun of him. Ha!

I'm still so in love with newborn baby stage. I have a rule where he must nap on me once a day. He will nap in the car seat or swing or crib, but I HAVE to experience that newborn snuggliness once a day. He is quite fussy when he's awake, and must be moving to be happy. He has one period in the day , when he first wakes up in the morning, that he will sit and chill somewhere. But other than that, he's got to be moving, moving, moving.

The past two nights he's giving me a 6 to 7 hour stretch of sleep at night. A blessing, I know.

Q is still majorly loving him. He asked me tonight if he could listen to "J sounds" all night long (instead of his favorite cd on repeat). J does make the cutest baby snoring sounds and purrs. Q has to say goodnight to him every night. Its sweet.
B likes him, but only shows interest in him once or twice a day. Most of the time B asks/tells me to put J in "his bouncy chair". B got quite pissed at Scott yesterday when Scott wouldn't put J down to help him blow his nose. B actually gets quite mad when he has a runny nose, and hates to have it dripping. I have to say its sorta funny and unusual that he doesn't just wipe his nose on his sleeve like most kids I know. I'm not complaining, but he could go about it better, like saying, "can I have a tissue please?" Instead he screams, "I NEED A TISSUE NOW!!!!"

I have gone out with all three kids on my own lots lately. It has brought me to one conclusion. I MUST have a mini-van. There, I said it. It is an ass pain to put three kids in our Pilot. It must look hilarious to see us arrive and depart. I keep forgetting to close the tail gate after Q gets out or in, and only realize it AFTER I'm sitting down to pull out of the driveway or something. Argh. Its annoying. Anywhoo. I think someone has been praying for me lately, cause the kids have been on their best cooperative behavior when we go out just me and them. Really, its weird how good they've been.

I must say too, that one month seems like an eternity ago, yet has gone too fast. The memories of pregnancy and all its glory has faded so much I find myself thinking, am I really done? Really? It wasn't all that bad. Was it? Fortunately, Scott's memory is much clearer than mine, and reminds me frequently what reality is when I'm pregnant (read:Scott has to work double while I loaf around and eat bon bons!). So, no more babies. Aww, but our babies are soo cute. (Dude, what is it about a baby that alters my memory?)

Happy One Month J.

The Four Food Groups

1. Candy
2. Candy Canes
3. Candy Corns
4. Syrup

(name that movie).
We try to stick to the four food groups in our house. It is apparent because,
A)I buy our 100% Pure Maple Syrup in bulk at BJ's. (I think its a quart bottle.)
B)That quart of syrup lasts us no longer than a month. Maybe 3 weeks if we're lucky. I am NOT exaggerating. We have back up blueberry syrup on stand by for when the maple variety runs out.
C)My older boys (and inadvertantly my youngest), have partaken in at least 2 peices of the first food group daily for the last couple of weeks.

Broccoli Wars and Other News

My big boys had a fight over broccoli today. Yes, broccoli. Who knew it was worth fist fighting about. But it is.
It went like this.
B: Q, can I have some of your broccoli?
Q: No.
B: But I want some brwaccoli!! (tries to snatch it off his plate).
Q: I SAID NO!!!!!!!!!*smack*
More screaming from both parties.
I was sitting in the same room, nursing J, who didn't seem to mind the screaming or even notice it.
Me: Boys. Guys! Q! B! Hello? Look at me!!!!!!!!!! B, I can make you some of your own broccoli!!
B: NO! I want Q's brwaccoli!
He kept trying to steal it, Q kicked and smacked at him to stop, and then cried like a baby. Oh lordy. Over broccoli. I think its funny, simply cause well, its broccoli.

In other news. J's umbilical stump fell off yesterday, Q wants to keep it in his treasure box. Eww.
B has taken to taking of his pants and pullup/diaper during nap time and now bedtime in a form of protest. Last night I found him naked waist down and that he'd peed the bed. Would have been fine IF i hadn't taken OFF the waterproof mattress pad to wash it earlier during the day because he had done the same thing during nap time. Anybody know how to get pee out of a mattress? A brand new mattress at that?

I went to the bank with B and J today by myself, and survived. I have been dreading leaving the house with B and the baby, cause B is a wild card. You never know what you're going to get with him. But it went well. I think because there were lollipops involved (in fact he calls the bank the "lollipop store".

That is all.

One Week

I have determined that the sole benefit of having a c-section, is having an awesome husband who waits on you hand and foot, while you snuggle a newborn. I have savored this one week of baby-gazing. J is awesome. I have spend hours holed up in my bedroom, nursing then snoozing with him on my chest. Its bliss. It WAS bliss.
Also, I have determined that my beloved c-sections, are not so beloved or fun as the last two were. I previously enjoyed a c-section, honestly, who on earth would want to push out a 10lb baby with the head the size of a small cantaloupe (have you seen Q's head??), out their vajay jay? Not me. However, I have had such a longer recovery time with this one and it totally, totally sucks that I cannot pick up B. Not to mention that this surgery was intense. I was a wreck going into it, so I'm pretty sure that didn't help matters.

In addition to snuggling the new J, we also spent way too much time carting him back and forth to the hospital for 5 bilirubin checks and a trip to the pediatrician. His jaundice is finally on its way down after 8 days, but now he has a cold, which I'm pretty sure I'm going to worry about constantly for a week about.

But anyway. My week of bliss is over. Scott took off to church this morning leaving me to man my station alone for the first time. It would be fine, if I wasn't having some MORE complications from this 3rd c-section. I'm SUPPOSED to be "taking it easy" still. Once I got the all clear to resume semi-normal activity on Thursday, I think I over did it. I got orders last night from the doctor to chill out. I'm trying to.

It was an interesting first week home as well. With Scott at the helm of our household, it was interesting to see our roles reverse. To his defense, he has spent the majority of the weekend before with the kids by themselves and was already burnt out. But the first couple of days home, I watched him lose his cool. (shh don't tell.) It was as though he had become me, and I him. He would lose it, and I would sorta take over and be the rational one. It made me feel a little better to know that I'm not the only one to get frustrated by the kids behavior. However, Scott was somehow able to reset himself and regain composure (something that I am not good at). Scott did make me look bad. He never sat down (truly) and prepared meals like a restaurant chef. If I could just tell you what he made...I ate good. Real good. He also said he gained some insight into my life, like why I overlook somethings, that in itself is a huge gift.

One week in, Q is still enamored by J. B is aware of him and shows interest, but not as much as Q. B seems to have grown into a big boy overnight. I'm sure its because I'm staring and a teensy baby all day and compared to him, he's huge.

Scott goes back to work tomorrow. I am soo thankful for him. I'm also really thankful that his job is not as demanding and he can work a true 8 hour work day. I remember crying when he went back to work after both B and Q were born, knowing he'd be gone for 12 hours.

My one week is over. My new life with 3 boys has just begun. *gulp*
Pray for me.

Newest Addition

For Aunt Karen and the crew especially...

Fresh out of the oven, meeting Mama for the first time.


Meet Jonathan Davis 8lb 13oz. We call him the runt.


The big brothers love him. Especially Q. He's awesome. I'm smitten. God is so good.

A Day in the Life of My Two Year Old

Well, I'm 38weeks plus 4 days today. I was feeling good, like superwoman, till Friday. I agreed to babysit for MOPS last Friday(which I will never do again), and that went well, but got scolded by Scott for doing such a thing. I believe it was delivered via text message that said something like: "WTH? You're having a baby in 7 days, why are you babysitting? Why did they ask?" Well, they were desperate, and we've all been desperate before, so I agreed to help.
I came home and made lunch for the boys and then suddenly I felt a big shift in the belly and then the pain began. Every movement Ham made cause excruciating pain and then I started with those crazy contractions again. I was almost convinced that labor was starting. I even packed my hospital bag... but no gots. I'm still here, and still in frigging pain when Ham is moving. Before Friday, I was NOT ready and anxious for Ham to arrive. Today, I'm ready. Let's go remove this beast from my abdomen, thankyouverymuch! I also feel like he weighs double what he did last week, I'm swelling much more (what does it mean when your moles swell? really?--I"m a freak show--thankfully its close to Halloween and I sorta fit in).

And now, I decided to do one last post of my life, just before we become a family of 5.

I was up at 3:30am to pee, and could not return to sleep cause its so stinking hot. Yes, its like 73degrees in the house, and that is not a good sleeping temp. I finally succumbed to the fact that I wasn't going to fall asleep and migrated downstairs and watched a few shows only to fall asleep at 7am, to awaken at 7:30am to children fighting. God bless them. Its great to roll out of bed and pummel your brother. I never really know who starts these fights...
Scott has been a saint and has taken Q to school for the last week, but today he had an appointment and could not take him, so I broke the cardinal rule of Kate, and left the house unshowered to take him to school. Yikes. Seriously, I never do that. Even if its just to drop a kid off at school. I decided to leave B in the car, cause I had to wrestle him into the carseat to begin with and didn't want to do that again, B was not pleased that I left him there to run Q in to school.
Screaming began and continued while I drove home, drug him inside, took a shower, dressed and applied make up. Then he decided he was "done being sad, I'm happy now." He was happy for all about 15minutes till I decided to make a run to Babies R Us. Another fight to get in the car seat. Lovely.
Happy again. Till he trips up the curb at BRU and skins his knee. Screaming and then pouting, then flops himself on the floor at BRU and refuses to cooperate. I scoop him up, put him in the cart and wrestle him into the buckle...more screaming. I love 2 year olds. B then starts directing me where to go in the store. More screaming when I don't comply. Happy again when I allow him to hold a Thomas train. Screaming again when I push the cart away from the trains. Happy. Screaming. Love it. Really. (Scott lectures me that I'm going to miss this stage in life. Not days like today, really I promise, I won't miss it).
B does ok for a while then I check out and there's one of those stupid ride on toys that he really wants to ride. "No, not today." I say, rather calmly and sweetly. Screaming. Wrestling into carseat again. Screaming "Mama! Go back!! Go back right now!!!!" If this kid knew swear words, he'd use them.
Screaming and crying, oh and he's discovered how to take off his shoes and throw them at the driver when pissed. Nice. Did I mention how much I love 2 year olds?
Then something turns off the screaming and he starts asking me to build him a train track when we go home. Sure. Why not. When I do, he states "this isn't right!"
Ungrateful.
Q gets home all is fine and good. I even got B to nap without a huge battle. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. All I know is, I will miss this. That's what everyone says!

Hey, did I mention that B peed in the air conditioning vent on Sunday? Talented 2 year old--we think he did it on purpose! Scott was so pissed.

Pictures

Some pictures from the last couple of months.
One special picture for Karen especially...don't say I don't love you. The one and ONLY picture of me pregnant. (This was last week, and I swear, I'm twice this size).
Q's first soccer game, first day of school, fun face painting and his birthday.

I....

I...
I'm stealing this from Shay who stole it from someone else. :)

I...

i am: lazy
i know: that I should really try harder
i want: time to myself
i have: lost my patience too many times today
i wish: I had at least one sibling living close by
i hate: Cancer
i miss: my pre-kids days
i fear: a 3rd c-section
i feel: meh
i hear: beautiful silence
i smell: nothing (I'm all congested)
i crave: baked goods
i search: for confidence
i regret: wearing my emotions on my sleeve all the time
i love: my family
i care: about what others think of me
i always: threaten, rarely follow thru
i believe: in Jesus ♥
i dance: naked. No just kidding. I'm a baptist at heart, we don't dance.
i sing: in different languages. 4 to be exact. Gotta love 2 years of classical training...still deciding if it was a waste of time and money?
i don’t always: like to cook
i truly desire: to find peace in God having control over my life and to stop striving to control everything and everyone myself.
I like: watching cooking shows.
i write: blog posts very infrequently.
i lose: my patience a lot...
i win: the award for biggest/best nose/face expansion--thank you pregnancy gods.
i try: not to judge others parenting decisions.
i never: enjoy whining
i am grateful: for my life
i listen: to Christian worship music and kids music.
i am scared: completely losing my mind when the third child arrives.
i need: some baked goods.
i am happy about: having the kids in bed, and a quiet house.
i tag: anyone who wants to do this :)

The Countdown Begins

OK, so I've counting down for 9months, but now it really begins.


Yesterday marked the 3 week count down to the long awaited arrival of Ham via c-section. I think 3 weeks is a long time, but when I look at my calendar and already most of my weekends in October are booked with events, and my next two weeks are packed full of stuff, I think 3 weeks is NOT long enough.
I still feel good. Really. Despite being tired, I'm good. I'm looking forward to some things, like laying on my back to sleep, and just being able to maneuver better and I'm really looking forward to meeting this little boy. Its weird. When I look at Q and B, and then think about Ham, I'm really almost dumbfounded that we will have another boy to get to know. Who's he going to be like? What will his temperament be, will he sleep as well as the other two? Could he possible be easier than B was as a baby? I really look forward to watching Scott interact with a newborn. Really, its the most awe inspiring thing to watch my man with an itty bitty thing. For a guy that had NO experience with kids at all before Q arrived, he is such a seasoned "baby whisperer." Lots of times, he was able to calm the babies when I couldn't (probably cause I wasn't so calm myself and about ready to flip out). Anyway...so much to look forward to. I wonder too, if I'll enjoy this new baby like I did the other two. (I happen to think the first year of life is the easiest age and enjoy it alot, but I know I have had 2 good experiences..no colic, no reflux and my babies slept pretty good).

I'm a little anxious as to how I will cope with 3 kids. Just this morning, Q slept a little later than usual and I forgot that he had homework to finish up so it was a chaotic morning. Really terrible, running around and just frustration. I'm a little under the weather with a head cold and no voice, so that put me behind the eight ball to start. I got in the shower with B while Q ate his breakfast, and then when I get ready, I let B play in the tub with some water in it to keep him contained and occupied. I was getting dressed, and running upstairs and downstairs, realizing it was already 8:30 and only one of the 3 of us was dressed and we needed to leave in 10 minutes to make it school on time. I helped Q get his homework book finished and gave him a pile of clothes to put on and went to get B out of the tub. As I get into the bathroom, B informs me that he is 'cleaning up'. He had pooped in the tub and was trying to clean it up. Gross. I got that mess cleaned up and just reconciled the fact that we were going to be late for school.

We were late to school, but still managed to beat the late bell, so bonus. You have to walk kindergartner's in to the hallway to drop them off, and I because I had to watch to make sure Q made it to his classroom (his class was already gone), B came inside the school doors. Big mistake. Well, he decided he wanted to stay and plopped himself on the floor in the hallway and refused to get up. I grabbed him by the hand and tried to lift him off the floor, well he wasn't having that either and pulled his legs up. I then scooped him up and carried him back to the car as he kicked and screamed the entire way. Thankfully, he's still a little light weight at 28lbs and it wasn't too taxing, but the struggle was making my maternity pants fall down. So I had to put him down and re-adjust my pants. The second I put him down, he darts back for the school. I'm ready to kill him at this point. Thankfully, because we were late, there weren't any spectators besides the crossing guard. I'm sure we were a sight. I finally did get him to the car and wrestled him into his car seat and buckled it and the screaming continued. I seriously was fighting the urge to smack him across the face with every ounce of my being. Instead I just turned up the music in the car so loud, in attempt to drown him out.
But anyway, all that being said, how on earth will I deal with these tantrums while a newborn is hanging from my body. (Because today's tantrum was mild in comparison to yesterday's.). We'll see what this third one does to me. I think I have 2 options, lose it entirely, or stand tall and finally feel like I have this mommy thing under control. (Is that last statement laughable or what?)

I have lots to do on my "to-do" list left in order to be ready for Ham to get here.

1. Think about a name for Ham.
2. Pull out the itty bitty baby clothes and put them in the dresser for Ham.
3. Clean the rest of this disgustingly dirty house.
4. Think about a name for Ham, get annoyed when Scott shoots down all my name favs.
5. Make lists of things I will need to buy for Ham.
6. Buy things on list.
7. Move crib mattress to top level and make the crib.
8. Install curtain rod and hang the valance my mom made for Ham's room.
9. Think about baby names, discuss them with Scott, determine that Scott is no help and then finally agree to some terrible name in the hospital that I will regret forever and ever.
10. Pack for my hotel, I mean, hospital stay.

So, 20 more days. Crazy.

Gibreckle

Randomness from a tired and cranky Mama.
-Q has been in school for 2 full weeks now and still likes it. I went to 'back to school night' on Tuesday and was blown away by the kindergarten "curriculum". My word. I remember kindergarten vividly. My teacher's name was Mrs. Johnson, she had red hair...all I did in kindergarten was arts and crafts and played dress up. I was fond of the policeman outfit. Q has math, writing, reading and science. He also has a special a day...I definately did NOT go to specials. Crazy. I'm so glad I'm not homeschooling (I thought about it very breifly), cause kindergarten is for real these days. For real. He even has homework every night, like several pages of it. Wild!

-I feel pretty good lately. Can't complain too much. I sleep more than half the night, which is nice. Sometimes, I don't even have to get up to pee. I do loathe the way I look, my whole self is pregnant, face, hands, belly, feet. I have a lovely skin texture these days too, I'm broken out all over my back, face and chest, I'm positively attractive. I make pregnancy look good!

-B is potty trained. I'm still in awe of how easy he was. I'm not sure if he'll ask other people to use the potty yet, but he does for me. Unless he's outside playing he's pretty much self-sufficient, he doesn't like to stop playing to go.

-Q is starting Awana next week. I'm apprehensive about it, cause he complains about going to church. He LOVES VBS, so I've sorta described it as VBS only on Wednesday nights. We'll see how that flys.

-Q has decided he wants to name Ham, Shane Victorino (who is an outfielder for the Phillies). If not Shane, he likes Placido Polanco.

-B has a runny nose and cannot breathe today. So everytime he tries to breathe thru his nose he cries, "I have a runny nose! Give me a tissue!" (its so cute cause he's all stuffy and so pathetic).

-We finally got reimbursed for our car accident in July. Thank you God! I'm so glad to have recovered all that money.

That is all.

Same Poop, Different Day

Ok, long story ahead. But I still find myself in shock as to what transpired yesterday.
So, you remember the accident I was involved in on July 22. We're still waiting for the driver that caused the wreck to claim responsibility (well SHE claimed responsibility, but her insurance company is still not). Well it took a month to get our car repaired, and I was just getting less jumpy behind the wheel.

Well yesterday, I was having painful contractions off and on all morning, so I called the doc. They told me to come in, so I found a babysitter for the boys and headed over. On the way over I was stopped at the same intersection that we had the accident, reminiscing about the irresponsible person who caused the event, and the whole event in general. Waiting for the light to turn green, I pondered how lucky I was to escape that accident unscathed and then BAM! I was slammed back into reality by the car behind me. Really. I was rear-ended again, at the same intersection. This time by a young girl, who was talking on her cell phone. And thankfully, I have a witness to this. My first thoughts were, my insurance company is not going to believe me...
We waited and waited for the police to arrive, because there's no way I'm not going the 'official' route with car accidents. My contractions are less obvious to me, cause at this point, I'm just pissed. The girl keeps saying to me "there's no damage to your car, can we just go?" Uh, NO! (there IS damage to my car, albeit, not bad damage, but still).
Meanwhile, I called Scott who was meeting me at my dr's appt to tell him what happened and he came and met me at the accident intersection. The cop finally arrives and the girl goes into waterworks majorly. I start feeling bad for her. Then she starts fighting Scott and I about whether or not to report the accident at all. (Dude, how are you not going to? Her car was wrecked). I have to report it, cause I know I'll have to make a medical claim, cause I could predict what was going to happen being pregnant and involved in a car accident (minor as it was). At this point, I'm back to wanting to slap her in the face... We got things sorted out and a police report and just as I'm about to leave the cop tells me not to feel bad about reporting anything, he found out somehow that she's recently been involved in 3 fender benders (and this time with a car less than a month old--she only had the temporary insurance and registration).
So off to the doc I go. He's not concerned about the contractions I was having. Then I happen to drop that I was involved in this fender bender on the way over and he tells me to go to Labor and Delivery to be monitored. I start whining about how insignificant it was, really no damage to my car...but he insists.
I go and it turns out I was contracting regularly (every 4minutes to be exact) and landed myself in the L&D department over night which was a great time. The contractions finally stopped long enough for them to let me go home.
I just could not believe that I was rear ended again. So thankful the damage wasn't significant and that the baby seems fine. But what are the chances? Bizzaro, I tell you.
I asked Scott if we could name our baby Fender or Crash, but he wasn't into it.
(our church music pastor has already started naming his kids after guitars, so we couldn't use Fender).

Things I love

Right now, I love...
-My morning cup of coffee. Really, despite the fact that if I don't have it, I get a headache, I love the warmth of it, and the creamy sweetness...so heavenly. I can't wait to have more cups everyday. I'm limiting it to one cup a day while Ham brews himself in my womb.
-Watermelon. Sweet and cold and refreshing. Yum.
-Waking up to B coming into our room in the morning say, "I jus' wake up!" He's seriously so cute.
-Playing outside after dinner or before dinner with the boys. Taking the kids to ride bikes and cracking up at their pretend play. Most recently they reenact "accidents" where a police officer comes and tow trucks and ambulances...wonder where they got that one? Drive-thrus are also a popular bike "game". Or letting them play in the dirt patch out back and upon asking Q what he was playing, he says "We're playing Dirty Jobs." Its a show on discovery where the host seeks out jobs where you get really dirty...and the kids were both really dirty.
-Making a dinner that everyone loves (that's not chicken nuggets). I just love watching my kids inhale some sort of healthy food. Scott made turkey meatballs and sauce the other day (both from scratch), and both kids and myself had seconds and thirds. Last night it was steak and roasted potatoes that B ate an adult size portion of, then ate whatever was leftover...I just love that for some reason.
-Family time in general. Like our beach trips or just hanging out outback.
-Church. I love the music, and sermon. Love learning more about Jesus. Its always eye opening that I've been a "christian" since I was a kid, but never really learned much about anything other than the simple gospel...there's so much in God's word. So cool.
-I love my God and that he is so present and real in my life. That He is so mighty and still so evident in the little things of life. It amazes me that he created so much and still cares about me. Little ol' me.
-Not to be trivial after the God stuff, but I love me some Greek yogurt. Seriously. It is thicker than normal yogurt, but its awesome! It has more than twice the protein as normal yogurt and less sugar. Even the fruit flavor kind has less sugar. Its delicious too.
-Scott's new job. I'm not sure he loves it as much as I do, but I love it. He's home much more and we don't miss the money like I thought I would.
-My man. Scott is seriously the better half of the relationship. He's just so thoughtful and considerate, and I love watching him with the boys. There are things that annoy me about him, but his positive attributes outweigh the negative by far.
Just last night he ran out and got me makings for nachos and diet cherry pepsi and a movie to fulfill a craving. That's love.

(BTW--Is it bad that most of my loves revolve around food?)

Fünf Jahre Alt

Five Years Old
My oldest is 5 years old. And he's starting kindergarten this week. We went for his orientation today and I'm so sad. Sad that he won't be with me everyday all day and that its the beginning of formal schooling for the next 12+ years. Sad that I'm sending this little semi-innocent person to learn from someone else. That I'll have little control over the information being fed to him. Ugh. Its scary to me.
I fully understand why people homeschool, but thankful we are in a good district.
But anyway. He's 5!!
We celebrated several times, just so I didn't have to mix in-laws for less stress on my part. He had a tiny friend part, because no one could come, but it ended up being great. The two kids that came were his close friends that he plays with the most anyway.

What can I say about Q now that he's 5?
-He's an avid sports fan. Comes downstairs in the morning and flips thru the channels till he finds a game to watch. It can be anything too, football, hockey, soccer, racing, but I think baseball is his favorite.
-His favorite color is red.
-His favorite food is meatballs and noodles (if you ask him this week--but I really think its STILL chicken nuggets and fries).
-Is a good big brother for the most part.
-Is helpful and considerate for the most part.
-His best friend is Kaitlyn.
-Likes to watch Phineas and Ferb and Mickey Mouse club house.
-Knows his right from his left.
-Can count to 110.
-Knows all letters (upper and lower)and numbers.
-Can button and zipper independently.
-Loves knock knock jokes.
-Loves cars and monster trucks.
-Loves sweets and treats.
-Prays that God will help him not punch people and is thankful for his family.
-Rocks out to 'church music' (praise and worship CD's that Scott rehearses with for church). And when I say rock out, I mean it. He cranks the volume and sings and plays air guitar. I love it.
-Still eats the same thing for breakfast...yogurt, a bar and something to drink.
-Has graduated from the "T" clothing. He officially wears 'boys department' clothing, a size 5 to be exact. (hey, why are they so much more expensive than the "T"'s?

All in all, he's a great kid. I'm blessed to be his mother. Really, he's a joy. And so funny. (I'll have to tell you about the Geico funny guy sometime.)

Do you Sabbath?

I've been thinking about the 10 Commandments lately (thanks to the 10 Commandment Boogie from the dreaded Go Fish Guys). And it has me thinking more things. Now as Christians, I know we live under a new covenant and all, but I never get what exactly that means. Yes, I know it means that the new covenant is the promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life if we trust in Jesus Christ, but does it mean we toss out all the old testament rules? I know Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love others...
We still do teach our kids the ten commandments, and they are good rules to live by right? So when I go down the list of the commandments, I can check off all but one of them as rules I live by. The one that gets me is the one about keeping the Sabbath holy. I asked Scott about it. First question, "do we keep the sabbath Holy?". His response, "Uh, good question." Second question, "Are we still supposed to?" His response, "Another good question."

We spent the better part of an evening looking it up and were left with the same uncertainty. So my question is to my 4 fabulous blog readers is, what's your take? Do you keep the sabbath holy? I'll answer first. I don't think that we do as a family...we do go to church, but I do not think that counts, or is even the same thing as keeping the sabbath.

Finally, she's back.

My 2005 Honda Pilot has returned home. Finally. I missed her. A lot. I missed her silverness and the awesome gas mileage for a car her size, and her maneuverability and the greater visibility. I feel like an uncaged woman when I drive now. We had a GMC Acadia for a month, and I felt like I was driving a tank. It was big and sluggish and hard to see out of.
And there's a bonus...she was fully detailed while in the shop. Its like driving a new car! Yay!

In other news. Potty training...on going, but going well. Room sharing, still a big friggin deal to Q. Not quite what I expected, and I'm not sure how to deal with it, but right now, they're both in there, together, sleeping (I think). It only took 2 hours....

Transitions

In my efforts to prepare for Big Fat Ham to get here, we are attempting a few things this week. Potty training B, and moving the boys into a room together. I had wanted to do both before August hit, but we are always slow moving. Last Thursday, I decided to start the potty training process with B and it went really well that day. No accidents, no battles getting to the potty and we even got him to do a BM on the potty. It was a great day (also, cause I didn't totally get potty Nazi on him). That night, I put him to bed in his crib and he did not release me to go, but I had sung my obligatory 3 songs and needed to go and put Q to bed, so I decided to just let him cry and I went on to getting Q in bed. About 20 minutes into the screaming for mama (Mama, get back here!! Sing me a song!!), Q and I heard a loud crash and sure enough, B had discovered how to scale the crib and kamikaze out of it. But not very gracefully. I walked into his room and his found him crying and holding his right arm. He cried/screamed for about 20minutes and wouldn't allow me to touch his arm, but he eventually stopped crying and layed in bed with Q to read more books and went to bed w/out fussing after that.
The next am, he kept complaining about his arm and would not use it, and he's a right hander. Wouldn't pick up a cup, wouldn't use a spoon, nothing. So off to the doctor we went. He was still his happy self and the doctor assured me if there was something REALLY wrong with it, he wouldn't let her touch it (and he did) and he wouldn't tolerate her twisting it around like she had. He still didn't use his arm for another 3 days. I think yesterday was the first day he used a fork in his right hand, so it must be getting better. Anyway, that long story perpetuated us deciding that we would just transition B to a big boy bed.
I had hemmed and hawed about what to do with him, I was going to borrow a second crib and just keep him in that until he learned to get out of it, not thinking it would be so soon. So we bought bunk beds on Friday and Scott assembled them (we are NOT stacking them though).
Fast forward to last night.
We situated the boys for sleeping in the same room together. Said goodnight, stay in your beds, no talking and left. It would have been fine, if I had children that loved each other and obeyed. This is how it went.
Us: Goodnight.
Them: Goodnight.
B: *snore*
Q: Mom, B is snoring. B! Stop snoring.
B: *laugh* *snore* *laugh*
Q: Mom, B is snoring again!
Me: B, be quiet. Q just be quiet and listen to your music, I will take care of B. (walks out of room.)
B: (as soon as I'm out of the room). *snore*
Q: B! stop snoring!! MOM!!!! B keeps snoring!
This happens at least 20 times before I lose it. I pull Q out of the room, and give B enough time to fall asleep and he's quiet and doesn't get out of bed. After about 40minutes we go back in to put Q to bed and wake B up and the snoring continues. Q begins sobbing and just wants B to be in his own room in his crib. I do too. Cause its now 9:30pm and I'm done.
So, tonight, Scott and I will devise a game plan and try again. Maybe...

Oh, potty training is going OK. It would be much more effective if:
-I paid attention 100% of the time
-Other members of the parenting team actually responded to him in a timely fashion when he says he needs to go
-I didn't have approximately 1000 things to do in the next couple of days. We've only had 4 accidents to date which isn't that bad.
-the child had bowel movements like a normal person. He only goes every couple of days, making it hard to predict (Q was like clock work everyday). But the kids digestive system is screwy (another post for another day, we had a follow up GI appt on Friday as well, and still no real explanation for his random vomiting...)

Am a glutton for punishment attempting two things at once? Probably.

A Day at the Beach

Last Saturday, our CareRing decided to hit the beach for the day. Only 3 of the 4 families in our CR right now actually made it there, but it was a beyond glorious day.
We arrived about 10am after a 50minute drive and found parking easily. The day was gorgeous and about 85degrees tops. A nice breeze, no humidity. Just perfect weather. Scott and I have a good system for the beach now. Scott carries everything like a pack mule and the boys and I frolic along to the beach. No, I do carry something. The boys both start out carrying something, then start whining, so I end up with their stuff.
Once we got there we got situated and the boys dove into the sand and played and played and played. There was no referring, no disciplining, just an awesome day of family time and some hanging out with friends.
The waves at this particular beach were a little rough for my liking, but the boys loved it. At one point, B fell/tripped and then seconds later a big wave hit and completely covered him with water. I freaked, there's nothing like seeing your baby look up at you panic stricken from UNDER a foot of water. But I quickly rescued him and he didn't even squawk about it. Didn't even gag and cough, just went right back to jumping the waves. He refused to hold your hand too, wanted to do it himself, so you had to stand directly behind him so he would fall against your legs when the wave hit. He's a crazy child.
We enjoyed a packed lunch and bought Popsicles as big as your head.
Again, it was just a great day. Some fellowship and family time, just great.

Updates and Gibreckle

Gibreckle. That's right. I have no idea if I spelled that right, but my Oma used to make a dish from leftover bits of stuff and pan fry it and call it that. So I will call my hodgepodge posts that from now on. Cause I can, and I like it.

-Speaking of Oma. I was just about to write that I have finally gotten to a point where I can think about her without my eyes welling up with tears, but thinking about gibreckle has given me blurry vision and a lump in my throat. I do miss her. And I really pray that I don't have to watch another loved one spiral down to just another person laying in a bed, a shadow of themselves.

-The driver that caused our accident, DID have insurance. I'm very relieved. We STILL do not have our car back and we have gotten calls twice that they found more damage and most likely will not have a car till late next week, but hopefully, my insurance company will have the ability to recover our money.

-This pregnancy has proven to follow the tradition of little weight gain for a while, then suddenly I'm gaining weight at a rate of a pound a day. *gasp* Yes, a pound a day. I gained no weight for about a month and then sometime last week, I started gaining. Ugh. Its true to my typical pattern. With both Q and B, I gained like 15 pounds in a month during weeks 24-28 weeks (and I'll be 28 weeks on Friday). Thankfully, I stopped gaining after that month for a while. I'm hoping for the same thing to happen. I am NOT eating more. I am drinking like a camel though, I'm sooo thirsty and I love ice cold water, but I'm not eating enough to justify the weight gain, so I'm calling it water weight. Right? Don't laugh.

-I had been praying for a while for God to give me sometime during this pregnancy where I'd feel good. And he has delivered. I've had a couple of really good weeks. Really good. If I get in my nap during the afternoon, I can function on all four cylinders and be pleasant and almost joyful. Despite my tantrum the other day, I've had a great couple of weeks.

-We still do not have a name for Big Fat Ham. Correction. Scott still doesn't like any of the names I think about. I have a name that I love, but Scott doesn't love it. And he has yet to contribute to the name game.

-We are no where near ready for Ham to get here. I wanted to have the boys together in Q's room before August began. I wanted a solid month of them sharing a room before school starts for Q. (However, it looks like school won't start when it should so I might have more time *more on that later.). Maybe this weekend we'll get them in there together. I have been sitting on the fence about what to do about beds. I'm scared to death to do bunk beds with B. He's a little less cautious than I'd like, and NOT obedient enough for me to put him in a room w/ bunk beds and close the door at night. He's already proven his dare devil self at my mom's. So I think I'll purchase bunk beds, but only build half of them or just keep it as two singles for a while. I'm really not looking forward to it, I hate messing with the kids sleep, and I'm not sure how it will go.

-We had a great day at the beach on Saturday. It was awesome. I'll do a post later w/ pictures and everything.

Here's a picture of our cuties...


That is all.

A Deep Breath

Breathe, breathe, breathe. I need to remember to at least take a deep breath before I engage in a Kate sized tantrum. Maybe it would stop the utter ridiculousness that escapes my lips during one.
Today was just one of those days. Started out with the boys at each other's throats, while I had a million things on a to-do list to get done. I don't usually aspire to much during the day when the kids are up and about, if I do anything its running errands or play dates to keep the kids out of the house so they don't kill each other.
But alas, I had things to do. Birthday invitations to fill out and address and mail (all in one day, that's a biggie for me), finish uploading songs onto the iPod to get rid of some CD's, clean, put some laundry away. This and that. But by 9am, the boys were on top of each other and hurting each other left and right, and I grew tired of refereeing pretty quickly. I got a text from a friend for a play date and immediately agreed, thinking getting them out of the house would be a good thing. It wasn't. They continued to fight at the friend's house and Q knows that he's too big for me to pick up, so he goes limp noodle when I try to get him away from the scene of the crime to talk about it and discipline him. Thankfully, it was a short lived fighting scene and they were able to pull it together to play nicely with everyone for a little while.

I got everyone home for naps, but did not get one for myself today. I had plans to go to a friend's house for some swim time, since both of our husbands were going to a Phillie's game. But those plans got thwarted when the pool was closed for mechanical problems. Plan B. Order pizza, feed the kids then go to a playground that sells ice cream and play.
Oh plan B, they always seem like a good idea. My oldest child has taken to getting extremely hyper and show-offy when other people set foot in our door. So in true Q form, as soon as our guests arrived for dinner, he went into hyper drive, which in turn makes B a flurried frenzy of craziness as well. My favorite. My tolerance level for noise is so Nil (I would say while pregnant, but I'm always annoyed by high kid noise levels). I could feel my nerves fraying one by one as Q goes on and on, getting everyone rilled up. My friend and I decide a TV show might remedy the noise and increasing activity level of our crew, and we turn on a show and slap a slice of pizza in front of everyone. It was quiet for a good 15minutes. Then we quickly ate and left for the playground. It was an OK time at the playground, but lots of work, when we got home, I was just about done. My legs ached, I was tired and easily annoyed. I tell B NOT to take his nasty dirty crocs off at the door (cause his feet are even nastier), and he does not listen. Q starts whining at me that he's hungry. Really? You should try eating your dinner when its served then, sweetest Q! Oh the whining. I cannot tolerate that either (which is ironic, because my mom used to always say I whined constantly--pretty sure Scott would agree).
I'm not even sure why when Q slammed the door in B and my face that I started my tantrum. I'm not even sure what I said...it was just loud and attitudy and I'm sure the baby turned breach at that moment. Q's response is always, "mommy, you should NOT yell, its not nice." Ugh, I know, but I just needed to yell. I hate it when I feel like no one is listening to me. So I scream and yell and stomp my feet. I must look ridiculous and very similar to a 2 year old who hasn't gotten his way. Oh to be that mother that takes a deep breath and calmly explains to her child why it is wrong to slam a door in someones face. Will I ever get there? Will I ever learn not to react to everything in such a child-like fashion? Will I learn to take the deep breath and not let every emotion I have play out in front of my kids?

I Just Got Back

I just got back from a date with my husband. The first one we've had in probably months and it was sooo nice. His birthday was on Thursday, and my mom's chemo treatment was unexpectedly cancelled on Wednesday, so she had a pretty good weekend of good health and offered to watch the kids, so we jumped at the opportunity to go on a date to celebrate his birthday (read: spend money without feeling bad;).
We dropped the boys off at mom's around 10:30 and headed out. We took a short road trip (about an hour) to some place in New Jersey that Scott has been passing on his work route for a couple of weeks. It was a Mexican/BBQ joint and the food was fabulously satisfyingly delicious. I love me some good Mexican food and there's no place local that is any good. It was nice to be in the car just the two of us and chat about whatever we wanted without speaking in code. And it was a nice conversation. I was just telling my care ring girls that date nights for us can sometimes be awkward because we try to observe the no talking about the kids rule. An important rule, but honestly, I haven't got much more to talk about than that sometimes. They are my life. I eat, sleep and breathe baby boys. But today, we didn't have any problem finding something to talk about. Just so nice.
We even went to see a movie. Just went to the theater and looked to see what movie we could make. It happened to be the only choice we had was Dinner for Schmucks.. I really didn't have the desire to see it, because I thought all the funny stuff would be on the TV trailers, but it was hilarious. And not too inappropriate. I almost peed my pants a couple of times. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my baby boy is sitting on my bladder and/or dancing on it most of the time. After the movie we took the long way home and picked up the kids.

It was a great day. Even my youngest stepping in dog poo and tracking it all over my mom's house wasn't enough to ruin it. Even when some of said poo got on Scott's shirt didn't ruin it either. And to top off the day, dearest Scott drove home without his shirt on. Q kept saying, "Daddy, I don't like you driving like that. People are going to think you are funny." Scott kept the windows down and waved at everyone he could, wearing just his hairy sweater vest (as my nieces like to call his chest hair).

Irresponsible People

On Monday, I picked up the police report for the accident we were involved in last week. I was anxious to get it because I was pretty clueless as to what actually had happened. After reading the police report, I'm pissed. As it turns out, the 3rd car involved that hit the car that hit me was responsible. The driver admitted to taking percocet and Oxycontin and blacking out at the wheel. There were two eye witnesses that said it did not appear that she attempted to stop and was going at least 40mph when she hit the car that hit me. On top of that, she gave the cop an expired insurance card. (I'm so praying that she actually has insurance, just didn't have the updated card with her). The report stated that the police officer suspected illegal drug use and was pursuing a warrant for a toxicology report from the hospital. Both of the other drivers had real injuries and were taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Man, God's angels were watching over us. The other two cars were not drivable and had considerably more damage than ours. I'm so so glad that we were not injured in this accident.

After finding out the cause of the accident though, I'm truly aggravated by the irresponsibility of the driver who hit everyone. I've taken percocet before and it clearly states on the bottle not to drive. I'm trying hard not to be judgmental and maybe there are serious reasons she needs to be so heavily medicated, but why get in the car and drive? I'm also annoyed because it appears that she is uninsured and that I will be responsible to pay a $1000 deductible to have my car fixed. (and it needed to get fixed).

I could rant on and on, but I will not. It'll just get me all riled up.

My Glorious Week

*note sarcasm heavily applied*

It wasn't all that bad. Monday started out awesome, Scott took the kids to a minor league ball game with my father and I had the evening to myself. I got a pedicure and went to Friendly's for dinner. Funny that I chose to go to a very kid friendly restaurant for a meal w/out children. I was trying to be frugal, and didn't think it thru very well. It was nice anyway.
I cannot remember what happened on Tuesday. On Wednesday, with it being so hot, we haven't been out of the house much and I made an effort to get out of the house early before the heat. We did make it out around 9am and I took the kids to a newly refurbished playground down the street from us. Being the fat, lazy, cranky, woman that I am lately, we drove. So glad we did, cause a) even at 9am, it was friggin hot, b)I got hungry about 30 seconds after we got there. So after being there for about 10minutes, I bribed the kids with treats from Wawa if we could leave. They were busy running laps around the play lot, and I seriously had to beg to leave. We went to WaWa, got our treats (I was jonesin' for a lemonade), and went for a ride.
We ended up in our old neighborhood of Bristol on the waterfront which is very nice. (the waterfront area, not Bristol--that town is a pit). For some odd reason, I decided I'd get B out of the car first and then apply sunblock to Q. Well, as I was putting sunblock on Q, B runs away. And I mean runs. At this point I'm watching him go further and further away, thinking he'll reach his max of distance between us and turn back. (aren't 2 year olds supposed to be afraid if they can no longer see their mommy?). He apparently hasn't been told this rule. Well, I lost him. Could not see him, but I heard his maniacal laughter from inside some brush. At the waterfront area, there is a nature trail that he found the entrance for and started to explore. So, knowing I wasn't going to haul after him. I sent the Mighty Q after him. He found him, and then sat on him, literally, till I got hold of him. Swearing in my head all sorts of bad words, I scooped him up and threw him over my shoulder to carry him back. The whole time I'm carrying him he's crying, "ow, you're hurting me." I really wanted to scream "well, good." I wasn't hurting him for the record. This running away game has become a new thing for B. In stores he does it, and also in front of the house. If I don't pick him up inside and physically take him to the car, he takes off. Usually, I find him in the neighbors back yard laughing at me. He's in the fence that I cannot easily get in, its wide enough spaced for him to duck under, but I can't, not in my current non-limber state. Oh, its enough for me to want to leash this child.
So after this hot miserable Wednesday, I looked forward to Thursday's Bible study morning at my friend's house. In doors, babysitting provided. Glorious.

Thursday, I packed up the boys and forgot that i had agreed to babysit a friend's little girl too, so I packed her up too and went off to study. It was a nice morning. I had to drop of one of the sitters and then my friend's little girl before going home. While I was on my way back to my friends, I was stopped at a light, and when it turned green, I was rear ended not once, but twice. The first time, I was like, what just happened? The second time, I was like, what idiot is behind me? My second reaction was to see that the kids were OK, and they were. Q was like, "what was that noise?" I pulled off to the side of the rode to get out of the traffic and wait for the event to unfold. I got out of the car to check the damage, and one of the witnesses who stopped, had a cow noticing I was pregnant. I was told to return to my car and that police were on the way. Fine with me. The cop came instantly and took my info and assured me he'd get everyone else's info involved. Then the EMT's came and freaked out cause I was pregnant. Initially, I was just going to go home, but because I had to sign a form saying I refused treatment when it was recommended, I had a friend drive me to the ER about a half hour later. *note to self* A pregnant woman gets lots of attention and super quick service in an ER. I was actually hauled off the Labor and Delivery for observation quicker than I thought possible in an ER department. Everything is fine. Baby is fine, and I actually enjoyed a day of bed rest. Exciting stuff.
The truck is in bad shape, but drivable and thankfully not totalled. We will be getting it fixed ASAP cause besides looking bad, I can't open the tailgate anymore and I'm pretty sure rain is getting in it.

Friday was uneventful despite numerous errands and phone calls related to the accident. I actually felt pretty good despite being sore. A half day of bed rest the day before was a nice thing. I was well rested and enjoyed being with the kids after it. I'd never want to be on bed rest for real though. Tht would stink royally.

Hoping this week will be uneventful and cooler. I'm so looking forward to nice fall days of cool evenings and warm days.

Boy Town Baseball

Before we even had kids, I always said I wanted all boys. I guess its a good thing, cause it seems as that's what we will have. A little girl in the mix would have been great, but I do love having me some dirty, smelly boys in my house.

Last night, after a noisy dinner in which Scott and I both prodded the first born child to eat several times, told the second boy child to slow down and chew and finally finished eating ourselves, we went outback to play. Our after dinner play time is perhaps my favorite time of day. I love it when the weather cooperates for after dinner play time outside. While we wait for Q to finish eating, we clean up then head outside...usually, B is already out there cause you can't hold him back, he loves it outback. Nine times out of 10, we commence with a game of baseball.

Q has always been an avid baseball fan. Seriously, his first word was ball. At age 2 he could hit off a tee like you wouldn't believe (incidentally, as coordinated as B is, he still cannot hit a ball off a tee). So we are most likely playing baseball as a family. Q studies baseball games on T.V., I have to take a video of his skills. When he pitches, he winds up and has the perfect routine when throwing. And he actually has a pretty good arm. We started letting him use a real tee ball instead of a wiffle ball and his accuracy is pretty good. He's learning to catch with a glove on, which is funny cause he's getting over being scared of the ball. He's now learned to keep his eyes open when catching...its pretty funny. While Q pitches to Scott or I, B runs around the outfield chasing the ball, then refuses to relinquish it back to the pitcher. To rectify this situation, we play with approximately 100 balls, well really 4 (cause he can't carry more than 3 at a time). We rotate pitchers and catchers and fielders. Its a blast. I'm a terrible fielder cause I refuse to chase anybody to make an out, but Q is always commenting how good I hit. Yeah that's right, I can hit AND I'm a girl. HA. Lately, my legs get so heavy at night, I sit and play the 'umpire'. Lame and lazy, I know.

We have a little dirt patch in the back by the fence where Scott's smoker killed the grass and it makes the perfect home plate. Q loves to catch and slide into home. B likes to roll around in the dirt there. It makes for a messy game. But I love it. There's something about when a kid comes inside from playing, covered in dirt that secretly delights me. I never care about what gets stained or destroyed by dirt and grime. To me being dirty is evidence of fun. And last night was no exception, I wish I could have taken a picture of our "Pig Pens" after last nights game. B had shed his shorts and was just wearing a onesie (how white trash,I know), and Q was covered head to toe in dusty dirt from home plate. Both were hot sweaty messes, and I could not have been more pleased. They hit the showers and came out squeaky clean and ready for bed.

I love it. Love my boys and am excited for another one to join the mix.

This and That

Again, I am at home with a vomitous B. It is getting old and I have another GI doc apppointment for him on the 27th. But it gives me reason to put the T.V. on and let them veg while I get my blog on without feeling guilty.
So here's a random post about all sorts of things.

-I called poision control again 2 weeks ago. And get this--I recognized the woman who answered the phone. Her name is Joan. We are becoming fast friends. This time I called because Q shot himself in the eye with aresol sun block. I didn't think I'd need to call the P.C., but the doctor made me do it. My doc's office is always passing the buck.

-Yesterday I started a project which essentially vomitted baby clothes all across my living room. And today, it still looks like that. Piles and piles of baby clothes are strewn about. I'm sorting sizes (cause I wasn't so organized when packing them away after B), and tossing stained stuff, and stuff I just don't like. I have really no idea what to do with them. There are some seasonal clothes I don't think I'll use with this baby, and I'd love to get rid of them too, but neither of my boys followed the same growth curve so I'm not sure if getting rid of them would be benefitial. And for some reason, I have approx one THOUSAND onesies. Really, why I bought so many is beyond me.

-Did I mention that I planted a vegetable garden this year? I use the term 'garden' loosely. Scott built me a 4'X4' raised garden bed and I planted 5 things. Cucumbers, green beans, watermelon, tomatoes and lettuce. Well, apparently 4 of the 5 things just happen to be a ground hogs favorite salad fixins cause I now have only the tomatoes left. The rest are eaten down to the sticks. The lettuce is completely gone. It happened early on, and we put up a little fence around our bitty garden, but it was not enough to stop said ground hog. He's a bold motha too. Sits in my back yard laughing at me. I'm about ready to go Caddy Shack on him. And I thought the bunnies that live out there too would be a problem. Not so.

-Good news. This pregnancy has been all too kind to me. Only 22 weeks in and I have lovely new spider veins and varicos veins on my right leg which are a permanant fixture now. My nose has begun to enlargen already and my hands get tingly when I sleep. I also get completely out of breath walking up our little half flight of steps. I cannot wait to see what the next 18 weeks will provide. I am sleeping beautifully at night though, and I can take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon without any problem sleeping later that night too. That is something different this pregnancy. Usually I have terrible insomnia.

Well, in true B fashion, he's all perked up now and ready to destroy the house. So I better go.

Baby Baby Baby

Last Friday morning we had our 'big' ultrasound in which they measured every bit of 'big fat ham'. We ended up taking both of our children to the event which was fun.
So, we had a very nice ultrasound tech who was fast and informative.
Q has been very open that he wants a baby sister and B is clueless. She determined rather quickly, that we are having another boy! When I announced it to everyone there (she whispered it to me), Q was instantly sad. He turned around and wouldn't watch the screen anymore and would not talk to me or Scott. I felt myself get sad for like 30 seconds at the realization that I would not have a girl in my life, but quickly got over it. I think I was more sad at the fact that I couldn't just go home and donate the 10 boxes of boy baby clothes to someone and just get them out of the house. I was really looking forward to that.
At one point in the ultrasound, I told the tech that I was not convinced that it was another boy and she started laughing and got a 'boy part shot' that was unmistakeable. Truly, even the untrained eye knows what they are looking at. (If I was a good blogger or whatever, I'd figure a way to scan it in and post it.) Afterwards, Q refused to discuss the event and told us that we would "find out tomorrow what it is." Poor kid. It didn't take him too long to come to grips with it though, after naptime, he came down and told Scott and I that "its ok that we're having a boy." I find myself more and more delighted that its another boy. Really.
And before you ask, we have no names in mind. He will probably go to birth day unnamed or referred to as 'big fat ham'. (Incidentally, he's measuring more than a week ahead and 15oz).

Stating the Obvious

Cancer Sucks.
My mom was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Thankfully, they caught it really early. It is a stage 1c cancer, whatever that is, but its good when it comes to cancer. Especially ovarian cancer since really there's no test for it, and really, no symptoms until its too late. It was a long and really cool story on how they found it. I know God was directing this whole thing. I have a peace about it, but I'm sad that my mom has to endure it.
So yesterday, I went with my mom to her first chemotherapy treatment and discovered somethings. They may be quite obvious:
1. The oncology waiting room, is a scary scary place. It doesn't have to be, but it was yesterday. My mom is most afraid of like 2 symptoms. Her port getting infected (her cousin died from an infected port), and losing feeling in her feet--neuropathy.
So while waiting in the waiting room, two women start swapping stories of their symptoms rather indiscreetly. And of course, they had awful stories of how you guessed it, one's port got infected and when they placed another one in, they punctured her lung and ended up in the hospital for 8 days. And then she talked about how numb her hands and feet were. I was freaked. My mom was freaked, we exchanged the deer-in-the-headlights look to each other and wished they'd shut up. I didn't want to hear anymore. I'm sure my mom didn't want to hear anymore.
2. The treatment room is scary scary place too. Its a large, long room with recliners lined up. When we got there about 6 people were already lined up getting treatment. It was amazing to me that cancer spares no one. There were a lot of women my age, men, old women, middle-aged women, young men getting treatment. I knew that you can have cancer at any age, but it really hit home when I saw 3 women my age in there for treatment. In and out all day were such an array of people. A couple of hours into treatment, an older woman was wheeled in, he face was fallen on one side and she could not walk. The nurses were shocked that she was in a wheelchair, turns out, she did not have a stroke, NOPE. It was from the side effects, neuropathy to be exact.
3. The nurses in the oncology office are NOT scary. They are awesome. So nice, so informative and caring.
4. Treatment for cancer is a scary scary thing. They pump you FULL of toxic chemicals to destroy rapidly producing cells. The side-effect list is scary; pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, fingernails turning black and falling out, neuropathy, metal mouth, fatigue, to name just some.

My mom was there for 5 hours getting treatment, most people were in and out within and hour. It was a longer treatment cause it was her first, but she'll still have longer treatments than most because of the type of cancer she has.
I'm not fully freaked out yet by all this. I'm sure its because I haven't seen her symptomatic and suffering from the treatment. I hope and pray that God will be merciful and spare her the worst of the side effects. I'm anxious to see His glory through this whole thing. I know he has an amazing plan, and can't wait to see it unfold. I already know He's in it, I can see some threads of His grace and love already.

This and That

Because I'm stuck at home with a vomitous child, I will post a post about nothing in particular.
About 2 weeks ago, I washed my iPod. Correction. Since I don't do our laundry, technically Scott washed it, but since I left it in my pants pocket, I washed it. (And not to nit pick, but I know if he left his in his pocket, and I washed it, I would have been the guilty party). Anyway. I let it dry out and it still works, but only if plugged in or docked. I guess that's better than nothing. I'm sad, cause I do love that piece of modern technology and its less than 6months old. I love to put the headphones in and tune out...

My anatomy ultrasound in which we hope to discover what gender the thing lurking in my uterus is, is scheduled for next Friday. I cannot decide whether or not I would really want a girl child in this house. I think it would be great fun to have a little girly thing here to dress in cute clothes, but she would look like a ragamuffin no matter what. I cannot do hair and I tend to dress my boys in mismatched socks which I feel is totally unacceptable for a girl. Who knows what she'd leave the house in...
I think a girl would be great up until puberty. Do you remember what it was like to be 12-19 and a girl? I was and still am, pretty hormonally driven and I would be scared to see how the two of us would interact. I'm still trying to do the math to see if I would actually still be at an age where PMS would figure into the equation at the same time as this perspective girl.
I would however, love to have a girl later in life to chat with and discuss how gross the brothers and father Milli tend to be. And I think I would need a girl to make sure that they put me in a nicer nursing home.
I'm so scared to actually be a godly role model for another female, but I do know that if God chose for us to raise a girl, he'd give me what it takes to do so. Its still a scary thought in my head.
I know whatever is in there, boy or girl, I will love and will screw up mothering in some aspect. So bring it! I can't wait to meet it, and am starting to really look forward to nursing and have a teensy thing to hold that doesn't blatantly disobey and laugh while doing so.

B is definitely testing every one's patience these days by expressing his dislike for things in tantrum form. He's definitely hit that defiance/terrible 2 stage. It's fun times. I don't remember if Q went thru a stage like this and if he did, I blocked it from my memory.

Q has moved into a stage of potty mouth. And it is sooo funny, and hard not to laugh at such behavior. I feel terrible disciplining him for it, cause I feel like I started it. I actually taught him the potty words to God Bless America a loooong time ago and was shocked when he started singing them. The words are going thru my head as I type....god bless my underwear...
I'm a terrible mom.

We are at the second week of no school or any other type regularly scheduled activities and I'm scrambling to find something to do everyday. Any ideas?

A Reunion

Scott and I went to a reunion last night. We both refused to go to our high school reunion, but get this. We went to his ELEMENTARY school reunion last night. Scott went to a small Christian school from kindergarten to 8th grade and he knew these people better than I know some of my current friends. It was an interesting night. On the 40minute ride to the bar/restaurant we met at, Scott filled me in on the 24 people that we went to school with. It was crazy the details he knew on these people. He knew about most of their families, their parents occupations and so much stuff I could never have told you about my elementary school buddies. Since Scott was so close to his classmates and spent so much time with them, he was eager to reunite, so we went.

It was interesting to find out that two of his classmates could NOT make it cause they were incarcerated. I also noted that maybe one other person was a 'church goer' (I cannot account for her salvation, but one admitted that she still went to church). Most of them made fun of their Christian schooling and mocked the fact that they were living in opposition of how the school taught them about Jesus. It was a little sad to hear some of their mockery of the faith. I will admit that I don't know where their hearts were, but it just proved to me that Christian Schooling does NOT equal a Christian kid. But it may go to prove the statistic I recently heard that 65% of teenagers deny faith in Christ in college (that was from my BIL when they went to visit a Christian university w/ my niece). Scary.

You know what also struck me as I watched people filter in to the restaurant? That these people were OLD. Then of course it dawned on me that I'm the exact same age. Do I look that old? Am I really over 30? Seriously, I was thinking that wow...she looks old. I had no idea that I look that old. I guess it goes to explain why I get called 'ma'am' now, instead of 'miss'.

One girl or should I say woman was 8 months pregnant with her first baby. She looked at me and said, "is this your first?" "No, this is my 3rd." Her eyes about popped out of her head. "Third?! I cannot imagine having 3 kids at this stage in my life." Well, guess what? I did not say this, but I can't imagine just getting started w/ kids now. I felt like I spent the whole evening defending or pretending that 3 kids IS crazy and what were we thinking. (I do admit that I sometimes feel like that as well, but is 3 kids really that off the wall?--I'm still trying to decide).

In all, it was a very interesting evening. I got some interesting tid bits of info about my dearest as well. Like he used to fart in class and wave his hands in the air and say "Share the air people, share the air." He denies it, but I can hear him saying it.

It's All About Me

I have come to the gruesome reality that it isn't all about me. I still try to claim that it is. I have had some serious scales removed from my eyes revealing how much I think that it SHOULD be about me and how much I still live to keep myself happy as a main motivation. I hate to say it, but I've know it for a while. I. Am. Selfish.
I had been praying for the better parts of a year that God would empty me of my self and help me to put aside my dreadful shelfishness and fill me with His love so that I could freely show his love to others. And its interesting. Shortly after praying this, I became pregnant. To be honest, I wasn't completely overjoyed to learn this news and the thoughts came into my head..."oh stink. I have to nurse another one, and get fat and get up in the middle of the night and the youngeset now is just getting to a good age and more independent and sleeping thru the night and now, I just, argh...." Don't judge. I'm completely happy that our family is expanding. But those thoughts overwhelm me at times. I can't wait to hold a baby baby again. Can't wait to introduce he/she to the other two, and to watch Scott with a baby.
Anyway. I thought it was kinda funny the timing of this pregnancy. Then in my Moms to Mom's biblestudy, our regular study finished up and we still had 6weeks to fill, so we decided to do the Love Dare. Ah, the Love Dare. Initially, I thought, whatever, I have this covered, my marriage is good. I'm happy. With the first meeting we were challenged with this verse.
"Put the interest of others before your own interests." Phil. 2:4
And then I actually started reading the Love Dare and I was befuddled to think, I actually do suck pretty bad when it comes to marriage. One of the dares was to buy something for your loved one, a small token or gesture to show them that you're thinking of them. Easy right? Wrong. My immediate thought was, "HA! I'm not doing that." Scott is the WORST person to buy anything for. He doesn't appreciate anything, and why would I go out of my way to do something nice if he doesn't even care.
What is wrong with me? Should I only try to do something 'nice' if it somehow benefits me? Dare after dare was like this. Just pointing out my selfishness and ugliness. Its not destroying me, and I'm not devestated by this news (and I'm sure that its because God is a gentle corrector and knew the right time to start working on this with me), just shocked at how every aspect of my actions are based on me. I don't think I truly thought I was that selfish. I have become more and more aware of how my anger is associated with me not getting my way. Especially with my kids. I immediately start ranting and yelling when Q disobeys because I'm not getting my way. So, I know I need improvement in that area.
With all the sin exposed to me now that I'm so selfish, I'm praying for more opportunity to serve and further empty myself.
Praying for humbleness, and gentleness (something I am totally not know for) and ways to show love and kindness to others.

"Be completley humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
Ephesians 4:2

I Had to Write This Down

So, being pregnant w/ #3 child has given me a bigger belly than I remember at 15weeks with previous pregnancies. And ew gross, its mushy, not the hard glorious baby belly w/ the other two babies. So anyway, Q is now a little more aware of my 'big fat belly' as he calls it. Today I asked Q what I had in my belly.
So Q responds: "A big fat ham?" What?!
Me: "No."
Q: "A big fat head?"
Me: "No."
Q: "what is it?"
Me: "A baby."
Q: "Oh yeah."
Q: "did you eat a baby?"
Me: "No."
Q: "Then how'd it get in there."
Me: "welll, uh, there was an egg that is now growing into a baby." (I've told you before people, I'm terrible at explaining things to kids.)
Q" "What?! No, babies don't come from eggs."
Me: "Its a different kind of egg, it...."
Q: "No mom, that's not right."
Me: "You're right Q. God put a baby in there and it will grow and grow and then come out around Halloween."
Q: "Oh, ok. Happy Halloween!!!!"

Thus ended my attempt at explaining gestation to my 4.5 year old. Luckily, when it comes time and he asks how it will get out, I can easily say, "I'll go to the doctor and she will cut it out of my belly." Yes, a much better/easier explanation than the other way.

What Happens When You Pee

One day in March, I raced home from an outing and got the kids out of the car, into the house and rushed upstairs to use the bathroom. I had been in the lou all about 1 minute and returned downstairs to discover the Messmaker 2008 had found the homemade hot chocolate mix in the cabinet that has a child proof lock. (can you see the lock on the floor covered in the mix?) I actually had a clue that something was wrong when Q said, "Oh B, are you making hot chocolate?". My cue to hurry and investigate.
See what happens when you decide to pee in private?
It was fun to clean up too. I think there are still remnants of hot chocolate in the cabinet.

A Staycation at Home

The week after our Paradise vacation, Scott had another week off between jobs and we just stayed home. It was awesome. We both were able to relax and get some things done. Here's the list of what we did that week.

-A new faucet put on the sink.
-3 shrubs pulled out of the front 'landscaping'. (Halleighluia!!)
-A trip to Citzen's Bank Park
-Sleeping late on my part.
-Scott took a trip to NYC to meet up w/ a friend.
-Cleaning and organizing.
-Much playing w/ the kiddos.
-Scott helped my Dad clean his garage and fix the door.
-Much playing in the back yard and a trip to a baseball field to play baseball.

The kids grew so attached to Scott during his weeks at home. If I wasn't so confident that I actually AM my kids favorite deep down, I would have cried in my cornflakes. Everytime Scott got out of sight, both kids would lose it. B would just cry and cry until I offered some sort of sugary snack. And Q would sulk and stomp off to his room and stare out the window to wait for daddy. Even if he just left the room the wailing began. I was constantly saying, he's just going downstairs and he'll be right back. It got to be a little annoying. They also demanded that he do everything for them, like, "daddy's putting me to bed, I want daddy to brush my teeth..." Needless to say I didn't argue, just threw my hands up and went to get him.

It was a nice week.

The things kids say...

A sample of these two cuties cuteness...

Q: "Mom, I'm going to marry you when I'm big. Hey dad, can I borrow your special suit?" (I'm assuming he meant the tux he wore to the wedding).

B: (when I got him after nap time). "Mommy, I pooped."
Me: "Really?"
B: "No, I just kidding." He was just kidding.

Q: (In the middle of the night) "Mom, I'm just sad because I miss the Bahamas." Me too buddy, me too--but I'm not losing sleep over it.