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.)