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.