Greasy Goodness

This morning as I was cleaning and tidying and changing sheets yet again (ok, I was checking my email and my blogs, don't tell), I started smelling the faintest smell of vaporub. Now I love that smell and was relishing in it when it started to get a little stronger and I finally began to wonder why was I smelling vaporub so early in the morning? Upon further inspection, I found Adam hiding in a corner with my last remaining vat of the stuff. He was rubbing coats of the stuff all over himself and then taking big whiffs from the jar with a big smile on his face. It's safe to say he inherited my love for vaporub.

Now, if I had caught two year old Jacob doing something like that I would have hit the roof, probably popped his diapered butt, scrubbed him clean, and timed him out for as long as it took for me to calm my nerves. Instead, I brought Adam a towel, sat him on that and let him finish off the jar. He was happy and extremely shiny. I was able to throw some clothes in the dryer and and finish my email. What I didn't take into account was just how hard it would be to scrub that oily mess from his skin and hair. After two baths and a romp in my shower, he is still greasy. His hair looks like he was dunked in the french frier at the McDs. He still smells vaporubbery.....which after awhile, strangely, starts to smell like stale coffee. I am starting to see the error in my ways. How long will he be like that and will everyone at the school function tonight notice? I am thinking turpentine and the magic eraser aren't going to be good quick fixes here, so anybody have any suggestions?

Two Memes for the Price of One

Sadie tagged me to list seven songs or albums (do they call them that anymore?) I have listened to recently. I, sadly, am sinking deeper and deeper into music oblivion much as my parents did. Yes, I am an old fogie like they were listening to my old stuff and having no idea what that "crap" is on the radio. It's a shame really. I remember making so much fun of my mom for not knowing who Foreigner was.....it all comes back to bite you in the ass in the end. But anyway.....

I do have and know what an Ipod is, so that is where most of my tunes come from:

1. Goodbye Stranger by: Supertramp Yep, takes me back to the fifth grade. I heart Supertramp.....Goodbye Stranger, it's been nice, hope you find your paradise.......

2. Just Like Heaven by: The Cure My favorite song of all time.

3. The Police The Singles Here's an album. Have this in the disc changer and I like to listen to it while I cook dinner. Jacob especially likes Roxanne. I really need to catch him on videotape singing his rendition....it's hysterical. Do you think it's wrong that I let my son sing about a hooker?

4. The Best of Van Morrison This one's in the disc changer too. I always dig it out when spring rolls around, reminds me of those warm days in college hanging out at the lake I guess.

5. Cars Soundtrack Sometimes we listen to this in the car on the way to school. Jacob loves it. I can tolerate it because Brad Paisley has some tunes on it.

6. That Bob Marley CD everyone has I don't even know the name of it, it was on every juke box at every bar in college, you know the one. I don't think I still have the case to it. It pretty much stays in my disc changer. Sometimes Bob is the only thing that can help you on a stressful day.

7. Think of Laura by: Christopher Cross Jacob likes it. He misses Laura. The totally weird thing about this song is that it is the whole reason her mother wanted her named Laura when she was born. How eerie that it's about a girl who died too young?


I have tons of tunes on the IPod and tons and tons of CDs, more than I really need, but she only asked for seven.......if you are reading this consider yourself tagged if you like music. I know OneHung does.


And......



One Hung tagged me for this little ditty......

1. Go to Wikipedia and type your birth month and day (not year)
2. List three events from that day
3. List two important births and one death
4. List one holiday or observance
5. Tag five others
So, here goes:

Three Events:
1. In 1881, Chester A. Arthur was inaugurated as the 21st president of the United States.
2. In 1973, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a battle of the sexes match at the Houston Astrodome.
3. In 1998, Cal Ripkin Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles took a day off after playing a record 2,632 consecutive games.

Important Births:
1. Sophia Loren in 1934
2. Duh, me

Death:
1. 1973 - Jim Croce

Holiday or Observance:
Feast Day of the Korean Martyrs

Tag Five Others:
Five others who want to play......

And the date was........
September 20

Tuesday Tidbits.....Two Days late

All good things must come to an end.....

It was nice while it lasted but my sister went home and I had to come back and be a mom again to my kids. I did miss them, but boy, it was so nice to do nothing for a change.

I took Jacob in for his ADD/Aspergers evaluation this morning. She initially handed me some papers to fill out regarding both, but then as we were leaving she gave me only the ADD paper for the teachers to fill out. In my mind, this means she is ruling out Aspergers and leaning towards ADD. This is a load off my mind, the Aspergers thing was really worrying me. Of course, we don't have the results of anything yet, but I feel better about it.

I think my unborn baby hates me. It's killing me over here. Used to be the best thing about pregnancy (to me) was feeling the baby move, now I can't wait for it to get out and do it on the outside. It continues to pummel my bladder, kidneys and diaphragm. I even got some wrenching pain on my spine last night. It never stops. Even people not looking for it can see it go....it's quite creepy.

OK, Sanjaya and his whacked out do slid by another week. If it weren't for Melinda I wouldn't watch that show anymore. I was also really disappointed in the media when every dern show had that unstable little girl who was crying over him last week. People starving, people dying and that's big news.

I know I got memed last week ya'll.....I'm working on it, I swear.

My mom is coming next Friday. Yeah! I have been living in fear that I would go into labor in the middle of the night (like I did with the other two) and have to drag the boys with us to the hospital. I have a couple families I might call if it happened during the day, but no one I would feel comfortable enough waking to help us out. I will feel ready to go once Mom gets here and I know she can handle the overnight shift.

I am seriously craving grits and sweet, sweet tea. I have lived in the south way too long.

OK, PlainJaneMom got me hooked on Maya's Mom. I may not have friends in my neighborhood, but I have lots of friends on the web, yo. I may need to use Jacob's tv timer to limit my computer time now. The whole point of being a SAHM is to actually spend time with your children, must remember that.

Guess where I am NOT at this morning and who I am NOT with?

Hahaha.....I am alone. I had a full night's sleep (relatively). I am still in my pajamas. It's awesome.

I didn't want my sister's hotel room to go to waste all day long while she was working so I volunteered to keep it warm while she was away.

Well, it's not quite a hotel. My sister, for whatever strange reason, gave up her cushy digs at the Doubletree for a cheap motel off the interstate, something about wanting to save her company money, but whatever.....I'm alone.

I'm alone and watching cheesy movies on HBO while lying in bed without a shower. I haven't changed a diaper, I didn't drive anyone to school, I haven't started any laundry. I haven't done a thing and I don't intend to do a thing all day. I wonder if I'll be able to handle the excitement.

A shout out to the husband who took a vacation day when he really wasn't able to give me this one last moment of peace before we become a family of five (ACH..five!). I hope he makes it through the day.

So, I need to go....another movie is starting. I need to crawl downstairs for my fancy continental breakfast, and most likely turn over and go back to bed for a while. I'll be thinking of all you busy people.......

Hello......

My name is Andria.

I am a boymom.



Yes, it's true. If you have seen the caption at the top, I have two boys. I have zero girls. This officially makes me a boy mom.

It wasn't the way I pictured my life, in fact, I pictured curly headed carrot tops wearing frilly dresses and lacy anklets with their spit shined mary janes. Super heroes and match box cars did not compute in my unliberated brain. When I found out at 22 weeks pregnant with Jacob that he was a boy, all blood flow went to my feet and I started seeing stars. I almost passed out right then. It was hard not to cry, but I didn't....at least at that moment. I would stare at those black and white blobs and try to convince myself that the boy part I was seeing was something else....a tail maybe? I had no idea what to do with a boy. I have no brothers. My friends at that time didn't have boys. I knew ponytails and baby dolls. THAT was me.

Until I brought a boy home.

Who knew you could have just as much fun with a boy? That overalls are cute and hearing vroom, vroom would make you dig out the video camera? It took some adjusting, but I learned to relish my new role as a boymom. As I dug deeper into that one, those girly longings seemed to fade away more and more. I liked pitching softballs and digging in sand and hunting for bugs. I enjoyed buying little boy duds and baseball caps. I got excited when new Thomas trains came out. I am surrounded by Legos and Hot Wheels and it just seems right.

I never really thought much about Adam being a girl, I just knew from the beginning that he was a boy. I dreamt about him and, truly, I wanted another boy so that Jacob would have a brother he could be close to now and later in life. Adding that second boy just confirmed my boy mom status. I was getting good at it.

But now.....

Now I hear daily....."I hope you have a girl this time," and it makes me wonder.

What if it is a girl this time?

What will I do?


I have no idea how to be a girlmom. I am just not a girl mom. As I wash the little newborn blue things and dig out my blue crib bedding, my husband asks, "What will you do if it's a girl?". It's weird, but I cannot even wrap my mind around that. I have gotten so used to doing things the boy way, I wouldn't even know where to start. I mean, I can't fix hair, I don't like Barbie dolls, and I absolutely hate pink. Now, that doesn't mean I won't love my child if it turns out to be a girl, I know that I will, it's just, well, different, weird, unknown.

At Jacob's birthday party I was chatting with one of the moms who has one boy, her only child, the only one she could have. She was telling me how upset she was when she found out her one and only was a boy. I told her I could relate. I also told her that I could never picture her with a little girl that she was just a boymom and she was good at it and she agreed. Then it dawned on me. All those times when I was crying over my missed baby girl and those well-meaners kept saying that God gives you the baby you are meant to have, the one who fits with you, that they were right. I can see it now.

I am a boymom. And I am good at it.

Early Morning Phone Conversation....

I called my sister this morning, mostly to catch my mom who is there visiting and with whom I speak every single day without fail. I got the sister instead (obviously, it being her house and all) and she insisted I speak with Abigail for a while.

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time talking with little ones over the phone, even my own, they are usually hard to understand and sometimes leave the phone dangling for many minutes.

But anyway.....Abigail was very talkative telling me about her new strawberry dress and doodads for her hair and how Gammy would have to find another bathroom to use because her bathroom was only for kids. How dare that Gammy set foot in her bathroom! Then this exchange:

Abigail: You are going to have a baby?
Me: Yes
Abigail: Adam is a baby.
Me: Yes, now there will be two babies.
Abigail: I know! Duh. The new baby is a girl. She is pretty like me.
Me: Oh, it is huh?
Abigail: Oh yes, the baby girl's name is Lucy Petunia.
Me: Oh really? Jacob actually picked out another name.
Abigail: Didn't you hear me? The baby's name is Lucy Petunia. It is that because I say so!
Me: Well, it might be a boy you know.
Abigail: Didn't you hear me? It is a girl. It will not be a boy because I said so. It is Lucy Petunia.
Me: Ok then. Put Gammy on the phone.

So......there you have it. We have been waiting on Lucy Petunia all along. The mighty priss Abigail has spoken!

Here You Go....

Wow.....tons of hits to the old blog yesterday (and this morning too!). Really makes a girl feel popular......

Until you find out everyone is looking for the same darn thing and have absolutely no interest whatsoever in your little ole blog......

So to all you googlers across the country who have been searching for Brad Paisley's mother's name and whether or not she is dead:

Her name is Sandy.
She is alive and well and teaching fourth grade this morning in West Virginia.
She's a nice lady so I am trusting no one is going out to stalk her for some reason.

Is there some sort of scavenger hunt going on or what?

Since I gave you the answer, please be so kind and leave a comment to let me know why the world needs this information so badly.

Just Wondering......

My husband and I are attachment parenters.

We didn't start out to be that way, it just sort of evolved. We were Baby Wise parenters before the children were ever born. It seemed so simple, so right. Teach your child to adapt to your world and never, ever give them attention beyond the alloted time and your life will be a dream. Alas, Baby One had not read that book and didn't take kindly to any of that dude's suggestions. That's when our life became about 1. doing whatever made Baby happy and 2. doing whatever would give us the longest stretch of sleep. That's when we began holding our kid all day, feeding him on demand, and pretty much making him the complete center of our world. It worked for us.

I found the book Attachment Parenting while pregnant with Adam and was so relieved to find that what we were doing was an actual process and we weren't just crazy people flying by the seat of our pants. Ha! Ha! Family....we were trendsetters, followers of the almighty Dr. Sears, not weirdos.

So according to Dr. Sears, my first child is going to grow up to be a miserable mess who will be unable to contribute to society because he was formula fed. That was hard to read, but too late to do anything about. He can discuss it later in life with his therapist and I will go in and hang my head in shame at the grief I have caused him. So, I made plans to breastfed the second child and aside from the gut wrenching pain and lack of sleep, it went pretty well. I breastfed number 2 until he was 15 months old. I didn't try to wean him, he just quit on his own, and seriously, I may have breast fed him until he was three if he so desired, but I have no idea how that would have turned out as it didn't become an issue here.

On Monday nights, Jacob and I curl up in bed and watch Super Nanny. He loves Super Nanny. I mean, really, he's in love with Nanny Jo. He writes her love letters and wishes to know where she lives and would probably stalk her if he could. According to him, she is beautiful and fun and a good person. It doesn't hurt that she is teaching him some discipline while he watches either. But anyway, we were watching an episode last week where Nanny Jo was helping a family with two older boys and a baby girl. From what I could tell, the biggest discipline issues were with the middle boy, but I didn't get much from that. Nanny Jo started focusing on the fact that the baby was still breastfeeding and being held a good portion of the day at *GASP* fourteen months old! Jo wanted that baby weaned and sat down so that she could socially interact with her siblings.....her siblings who were like ten years older. What??? I couldn't bear to watch it in parts. At one point Jo is making this mom shove a pillow between herself and the baby to keep her from wanting that comfort nurse at naptime. AAHH.....it actually made me nervous, I had to change and watch a little Anna Nicole drama on CNN during that. I thought Super Nanny was there for discipline issues.....when is breastfeeding a discipline issue? I felt badly for that mom. I felt like she was railroaded into weaning that baby. At the end everyone was all happy because their family is so much easier to deal with now, but I never did see where they straightened anything out with those boys. Maybe I missed that while I was watching Nancy Grace, but she sure straightened that baby out. Bad baby expecting to be held and fed!

Now, I am most definitely not a member of the breast feeders only club. I formula fed Jacob and there were plenty, I mean plenty, of women who thought he should be in a foster home because I didn't. There were reasons behind that decision, but truly, it's no one's business but my own so I'm not going to get into it. I breastfed Adam and it was hard. I cried the first three months everytime he'd want to eat. I stuck to it because I didn't want anymore breast feeders to say I was a bad mom because I used formula and the kid never drank a drop of formula. I intend to breast feed this baby, but if it doesn't work out, I know where to buy the Enfamil. In short, I think you should feed your baby however it works out for you and the baby. As long as the baby is fed, everyone should be happy. That goes for how long you choose to do that, too. I, personally, don't think I would enjoy nursing when my kid is old enough to use the toilet on his own, but really, to each his own. It's hard enough raising kids without a bunch of experts and nosy bodies butting in deciding what is right for your family. I think you gotta go with your gut on this one.

With that being said though......

When is a child too old to be breastfed in public?

Don't send me hate mail, I agree breastfeeding women have rights and should be able to feed their baby anywhere they desire, I mean a baby has to eat and sometimes you just can't limit your outings to two hour trips. Been there, done that.

This is where I get confused.....

Last week I took Jacob and Adam to the preschool story time at the library. It's for kids aged three to six. While we were there one of the moms went over to the circle where the kids were sitting and listening and scooped up her precious, at least four year old, boy, plopped him into her lap and began nursing him right there. Honestly, I couldn't believe it. The kid had an AC/DC shirt on for goodness sake. The library lady about fell out of her chair. This kid was definitely no baby....in fact he was bigger than my six year old. I don't think he needed sustenance immediately at that moment or the moment ten minutes later when the kid trotted back for more. I don't condemn the lady for continuing to breast feed her kid, that's their family issue, but since it was clear the kid could eat and nursing wasn't necessary to his well being, was that appropriate? I just know it was uncomfortable for pretty much all of us there and I don't have problems with that typically. Where do we draw the line, or do we?

Tuesday Tidbits

I am officially baked. I don't think I have anymore room in my body to gestate baby. I am almost 35 weeks....let's get this party started. Of course, I start to panic when I think about dealing with three children every day, but I would really like to breath again and maybe roll over in bed without pain. My c-section is scheduled for April 19, only three more weeks.

Last night the husband took the kids outside and I settled into my new Shabby Chic sheets ready to watch How I Met Your Mother (which wasn't a rerun) and New Christine. I was looking forward to it. Turned on the tube and our CBS station had two Frasier episodes playing instead with a little note scrolling across the screen saying that the two shows I was looking for would be shown at like 2 in the morning. WTF? Our tv stations here do that all the time and I have never figured out why. Asses. Yeah, good thing I have tivo, but I am sure it will be erased before I ever get around to watching it, and what do the poor folks who don't have tivo do? That kind of crap is just ridiculous. Another reason I hate Houston.

The penny you ask? You're all thinking it was Adam aren't you? Nope, guess again. My SIX year old swallowed a penny. Of course, we've been waiting for something like this to happen as he can't keep things out of his mouth. I mean, he licks poles when we pass them, he is so gross that way. Anyway, he found two pennies out in the street that day and I had told him to put them in his bank so his brother wouldn't find them and swallow them. I should have led him there and watched him do it. Instead he bathed them in his mouth most all afternoon and at one point did his usual acrobatic couch flip (which gets him in trouble everytime) and as he slammed back onto his back those pennies went for the intestines. The look on his face was absolutely priceless. He ran upstairs and I heard wretching, first thinking he still had that stomach bug, but he ran down crying a few seconds later asking me how he could make himself throw up and I knew. My first instinct was to go for the ipecac but good old google steered me away from that and after a call to the pediatrician we were steered away from the ER as well. I kind of wanted to go to the ER to scare the hell out of him, hoping to teach him a lesson, but it was a Friday evening and that couldn't have gone well. I have no idea if he passed those pennies or not. I was not about to dig through his poop all weekend, I just couldn't do it. I just assume it's gone and hope for the best. Of course, I caught him yesterday with some paperclips, some tiny plastic army men guns, and marker tops all in his mouth, so it's just a matter of time before he does it again.

Any guesses on what the baby might be? Care to guess what it's name will be? I am thinking about giving out a prize for anyone who guesses correctly. I still have tons of garage sale junk I could mail away.

Adam is now saying Eza. That's our dog, Ezra. He also says "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding" over and over. Jacob taught it to him. I have no idea why, but that's about all he'll say. I still haven't called the speech people, trying to get through this ADD mess with Jacob first. One medical crisis at a time please.

I made some three chocolate cookies last week. Even the burnt ones were good. They are very much bad for you with all the butter and shortening and all, but you know what they say....everything in moderation. I am going to post it on my recipe blog when I find the time. I highly recommend them.

Happy Tuesday!

It's a Good Thing They're Cute......

You know there's not much I like about Texas. It's incessantly hot, we're under constant attack from mosquitoes and fire ants, and it's just so dang crowded it's like living in a sardine can. I won't elaborate further, you've heard it before, BUT, there is one thing I absolutely love about Texas.....the bluebonnets. Now we don't see many because all free land has been bulldozed to make way for Walgreens and housing, but there are still a few patches that remain in our neck of the woods. They are so beautiful, I get excited every time I see them.

Of course, every parent in this vast state is required to take the yearly photo of their precious children amidst the bluebonnets. It's a law, I think. Every year I trek out to the same patch with high hopes. I have.....

2003:

2006:

and today:




*Sigh*

Today.....

We are having a garage sale today.

I HATE having garage sales.

All our stuff on display for random people to dig through and reject. It would be so much easier to drop it all off at the Good Will, but husband likes the feel of cold, hard cash in his hand so it's garage sale day at Casa Boy Crazy.

The husband had never garage saled until about three years ago. He didn't think it would be his thing at first, but I think he has started to enjoy it. He loves the bargaining, the talking, and especially the money. That first year we didn't make much money at all because he wasn't very good at it. I put out Banana Republic shirts with tags for five bucks and if someone came in and offered him a quarter, he'd give it to them, his goal to rid his house of junk. Those people told their friends and in an hour we had sold everything, yet only had twenty bucks. I had to give him lessons before the next sale. It's different now....I just walked out there and he's holding out for another buck on a Barney doll that doesn't work. At least he gets it now.

When we lived up north, I loved garage sales, having them and going to them. We met so many nice people that way and we got tons of cool stuff. My mom's friend once paid ten bucks for a Lladro figurine (didn't even know what that was) and we thought she was nuts because it was so ugly. A year later her brother was at an antique store and saw the very same thing for 1,000 bucks. Sure enough that figurine she bought is rare and desirable and costs a pretty penny. So cool. Of course, we've never had that kind of luck, but it was fun to try.

Down here, garage sales are crazy. People come in packs and they have a "system". A couple of the pack will corner you to ask a question or have you show them that something works or just chit-chat you all up, while someone else in the pack goes deeper into the recesses of your garage, you know back to the non-junk stuff, and starts picking through it. We almost lost Jacob's bicycle and some of husband's good tools that way last year. So, where the garage sale used to be husband's domain, now it has to be a joint venture just to keep our stuff from being stolen. Sucks.

So, that's what we are doing this weekend. Must go out and make sure my junk goes for a decent price. Wouldn't want to give up those size 2 80s pegged jeans up for the wrong price now.

FYI....

If your child swallows a penny you DO NOT need to go to the emergency room.

You wait to see if it passes for a few days, THEN head to the ER if necessary.

Don't ask me how we are supposed to know if it passes.

The Nursery......Sort Of

I love when I run across a pregnancy blog and the writer has posted pictures of their beautiful nursery. The colors, the clothes, the anticipation of all that will go on there. So sweet. It's like eye candy for moms, really.

Then you have MY nursery......

Well, the crib is standing, but that's only because we were too lazy to take it down last year. It has served as more of a catch all than a sleeping apparatus. Six years old and never been slept in. I do intend to change the sheets that have been on there for the past 18 months when we quit trying to get Adam to sleep there. I think I saw some puffs of dust blow up when the cat jumped in the other day.



Then you have my lovely attempt at decorating, the birthday banner from Jacob's first birthday. I meant to remove this when we moved Jacob into his new room, three years ago, but it was so high and then we moved the crib in the way....
Sure hope Baby likes Blues Clues.


Don't you just love seeing tiny little newborn clothing hanging in the closet just ready to be worn? I do too. Too bad I don't have any. I did make some space in the closet, but it was hard. Two year old has an extensive wardrobe. He also likes to vacuum.




One day these might make their way into a box onto a shelf all neat and organized the way they should be, but that probably won't be until all my children are in college. I give up.

Then you have the letters I bought when Adam was four weeks old with all intentions of painting them a beautiful blue and hanging them on his door shouting to the world that this was Adam's room. Yeah, I never really got around to that, but they did leave a nice dust cut out on the dresser. I have no idea what I am going to do with these now. Two rooms, three kids.....who is going to go where?









So there you have it. This is our "nursery". Not at all what I had in mind when I anticipated having children, but it works.....for now.

Makes you feel a lot better about your own nurseries now doesn't it?

Tuesday Tidbits

It's spring break this week. You don't know how happy it makes me NOT to have to trek down to that school twice a day. Of course, the kids are sleeping until eight and I am up at five, but we can keep our pajamas on all day and that counts for something.



I had big plans this week. We were going to the beach, the rodeo, the park, and the zoo. Now it is raining and they say it will rain all week. I need to find a plan B. We went to the library yesterday and it was not a peaceful place. Rainy day + unsupervised school kids = complete chaos. I knew it was bad when my library lover asked to leave. Any suggestions?



My sister is coming to town in two weeks, some sort of business conference. She was bringing Abigail and I was to keep her for three days while she worked, but now my mom says it overlaps with the time she was going to be in Florida so she will just keep Abigail there with here while Teresa is gone because my asshat brother-in-law refuses to "babysit" his kid. No joke. If my sister has to be away on business, my mom either makes the 14 hour trip to watch her or my sister pays the baby sitter extra to keep her overnight. Baffles my mind. Anyway, so my sister will be in Houston for two nights at an ultraswanky hotel and guess who is going to go stay with her? Please baby, don't decide to come early because Mama needs some rest and room service.



Did you see where Brad Paisley and his wife had a baby last month? My mom knew before everyone else because her cardiac rehab nurse is related to him somehow. She has even seen pictures that weren't supposed to be shared with anyone. How cool is that? She also knew his name before they announced it, and yeah I can see where that poor girl in her post partum haze was hesitant to divulge that info.....William Huckleberry Paisley. WTF? I lurve Brad Paisley, but what was he thinking?



BUT, I have come up with an excellent boy name if number three is a son. It has taken some time and much thought and gnashing of teeth, but after going over that list we just couldn't find anything that fit our kid so we took the advice of the blogger world and just went with the one we loved to begin with, you know the one other people we know used. It rolls fantastically off the tongue and looks great on paper, so much so that I am leaning toward wanting a boy because it would be such a shame not to use it. I wish I could share it, but in the case that it's a girl, then said friends would never have to know we were planning to snag their name.

Here's something cool.....my cousin and his family just moved into their brand new home built specially for them by Extreme Home Makeover, you know that show on Sunday nights? Neat, huh? Their show should air April 22.

Woo Hoo....Spring Break!

Must. Find. Fun.

Ugh....

We've had the creepy, crawly stomach bug here at our house the past few days. Nothing like being eight months pregnant trying to stoop down and puke your guts up. Or worse, clean up someone elses. The Daddy got it first and actually missed a day of work which means, holy crap, he must be ready to call funeral homes because that never happens. Jacob got it later that same afternoon and went to bed at 6 pm and Adam and I got it yesterday, just in time for Daddy to go back to work. Thank goodness Jacob is a big six year old kid who can be bribed with television and new toys because he was completely ignored yesterday. I think we are all on the mend now, but the house has suffered. It's amazing what will happen to the home when Mommy doesn't pick up for 24 hours. It might be easier to run away and start anew.

I am officially sick of being pregnant. I cannot breathe, I cannot eat, I cannot sleep, and I pee every 45 minutes, day and night. Aside from the 20 weeks of morning sickness hell, this has been the easiest pregnancy I have had until now. I have a foot in my ribs and a head on my hip bone and sometimes I can see little toes (or maybe knuckles) running across my side. I find it all very miraculous, but it's starting to hurt and I think it's scaring my kids. Only five more weeks to go.

Speaking of babies......I took the boys with me the other morning to preregister at the hospital. I don't really know why we have to do that as we fill out the same dang papers and answer the same dang questions when I'm admitted for the birth, but whatever, I did what I was told. It actually started out well. They got me set up in ten minutes (a record), we had breakfast in the cafeteria (I love hospital food!) and then ventured up to see the babes. Jacob was really excited. He loves to hear the story (over and over again) of the day he was born and be shown where he stayed for so long and wave at the nurses who fed him and rocked him when we weren't there. I thought Adam would like seeing the babies BUT he did not. He buried his head in my shoulder and kept shaking his head no. I made the mistake of asking him if he was going to have a baby at his house soon and he cried. Oh, my heart was so broken. HE is my baby. I am not ready to replace him with another and he, obviously, isn't either. So, we booked it out of there and he was happy, but I cannot wipe his tears out of my mind. WHAT am I going to do with TWO babies? Oh my, I hope this won't turn him into some sort of jealous serial killer one day. I assume I should start saving for therapy now, huh?

Jacob lost another tooth. The second one that came in was the second one to fall out. He was so excited about it, I couldn't get him to put it down and, dontcha know, he lost it somewhere. I am mean, but I feel vindicated, because I told him to put that stupid thing up, but would he listen? Hell no, he is a male after all. So, guess what I get to do the rest of the day?

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I Am Tired of Hearing1. When's your baby due? 2. Do you know what you're having? 3. I have a friend with a birthday in April. 4. Third times the charm. 5. I hope you have a girl. 6. Aren't you hoping for a girl? 7. Are you going to try for a girl right away if this turns out to be a boy? 8. Gee, three kids, you're really going to have your hands full. 9. Don't be too sad if you have another boy, you can always have another. 10. I am so glad I have one of each, the perfect family. 11. Those boys need a sister. 12. I would kill myself if I had three boys. 13. I have a cousin who lives in Richmond, do you know him? Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Another Year Down....

Well, the party was a success! I tend to fret and stress over these affairs for weeks in advance, and although they are fun, I am always a little glad to get them over with.



We held Jacob's sixth birthday party at a nearby park. There was just no way we could fit the amount of kids he wanted to invite into our house or our yard so that was the plan. I started calling parks back in January thinking I would have plenty of time to set something up, but I was wrong. Most parks were booked through summer on Saturdays so I proceeded to freak out. Then it occured to me to just inquire about a Sunday and, lo and behold, the very Sunday I wanted was free, crisis diverted. Of course, then there were the weeks of wondering how the weather would turn out and figuring out what we would do in that worst case scenario....which we never did, I guess we would have played in the rain, but thankfully, the weather was wonderful. There were tons of kids, many more parents, and tons and tons of food. My husband insisted on cooking lunch for everyone, even though as I suspected, most everyone went out for lunch between church and the party. We will be eating hot dogs and chips throughout March.



Let me ask your opinion on this, though: Siblings.....what is the proper etiquette about bringing them to a party when they weren't exactly invited? I know I'm not the only one presented with this dilemma either.



Now, I don't really have a problem with the siblings coming, especially at the park where there is plenty of room to roam, but I asked for an RSVP on the invitations because, well, I am cheap and I didn't want to have to fill a bunch of goodie bags with expensive junk if I didn't need to. I mean, have you SEEN how much that crap costs? So, I purchased just enough stuff to fill bags for the party kids plus two. Now, should the party guest's parent have informed me when they RSVP'd that they were bringing the sibling or should I have just assumed they would come? Should I have added a little note to the invite asking them to let me know if the brother/sister was coming or would that be too rude? I guess I am wondering because I want to be prepared for next year. The same thing happened to us at the fifth birthday party, the only difference was last year I had to pay fifteen bucks a kid at that party and four extra kids really added up. This year I just had to tell my good friends that I would make up a goody bag for their kids later as my husband, even after having been told that I didn't have enough, gave all the siblings a goody bag. I hate not being prepared and hate it even worse when I am prepared and something like that throws me off. Also, when are they too old for the goody bag? Seven right?



Anyway, even with all that minor stress, it was a good time. I highly recommend the bouncy slide, your kids will fall asleep as soon as you return and stay that way for the rest of the night. It's okay that they are covered in sugar and mud, you will have three extra hours of free time you won't know what to do with.



I got, like, four pictures the entire afternoon. My fantabulous, expensive camera decided to eat batteries all day long and never did really work. My friend ran the video camera and that also decided to die half way through. This was all I got.....

Seems Like Yesterday......

Six years ago yesterday, on a rainy Saturday, the husband and I were a childless couple annoyed at the thought of having to wake early on a weekend to attend an all day childbirth class. We stumbled in there looking like death warmed over, but we were there. I could not believe they would seat all those hugely pregnant women in those hard, hard chairs for so many hours (eight to be exact) and I had trouble with them right away. I could never get comfortable and my back hurt immensely, actually the first back pain of the pregnancy. It was the chairs I said, I would be allright. Towards the end of the day we got to practice breathing and rolling around on the big ball and I should have been suspect at that point when it made me feel better. But no, I had never had a baby before and I had the latest due date in the class. I was fine. When we took the tour through the birthing suite, the nurse asked for volunteers to hook up to the contraction monitor. I should have taken her up on it. But no, that pressure I felt was surely from being on my feet walking around the fourth floor all that time, nothing wrong with me.

I remember returning home from the class and taking my usual sprawl out on the couch and I called my mom to tell her all that we would do in eight or nine weeks when the baby came. She was excited. We had plans. I chose to take a bath and retire early as we were having a full Sunday of Ez day. We had left him all day after all and that was never done on a weekend. We were going to the park and tossing the frisbee and buying him chicken nuggets and possibly a fun bath. We were looking forward to it.

At 11:59 that night I heard a loud pop and thought we had been shot at. I then realized I was sopping wet and assumed, crap, my cycle started. Then I awoke a little more out of my sleepy stupor and realized that, HEY, I am pregnant, no cycles for me, and it hit me. SHIT, my water just broke. I woke the husband who proceeded to completely panic, very unlike him. I, amazingly, remained calm. I attempted to clean the mess (impossible) and began gathering things into a bag and called the doctor who sent me to the hospital. The husband began rattling about installing the car seat RIGHT THEN when I had to remind him that this baby wasn't going home with us for a while, that could wait. He ran red lights and sped to the hospital where they whisked us right in, cleaned me up, changed my clothes, strapped me to monitors, gave me a big honking dose of magnesium sulfate (which flipped me the freak out), and did an ultrasound where they found the baby was well, but sideways and high requiring an emergency c-section. It was there that things went NASCAR on me. I was rushed away, without my husband, poked, moved, and strapped down and counseled by a nice red haired lady with glasses standing over me that my baby would be small, would not be breathing on his own, would require a stay in the downtown NICU, and see all those nice people in the corner? They are the ambulance drivers ready to whisk him away and we can call the chaplain if you want. A few seconds later I felt like I was being strangled from the inside and then I heard the loudest, shrillest cry that I wasn't even expecting. The doctor said, "I'll be damned, he's breathing room air" and I cried on the spot. Even the red haired lady cried when she brought him over to me a few minutes later, all bundled and red but looking around with those blindingly blue eyes. It was so extremely odd to have been pregnant one second then a real, live human staring back at you the next. I will never forget that moment as long as live. It was 2:23 am.

My doctor is still impressed to this day that he did so well without the steroids and other interventions they give preemies these days. He also didn't expect a four pound, nine ounce baby, big for that gestation I guess. He stayed in the NICU, at that hospital, for three weeks. It felt like three months. In the end, it was just a small portion of our life to get to where we are today. He's not perfect and he has his moments, but he is mine. The little bitty dude who made me what I am today.......a mom. He is six years old today, a Sunday just like the day he was born. I have been a mom for six years and I couldn't have done it without him.

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Six Years of Jacob

In just two days my tiny baby will be six years old. The years have flown by. How is it possible that he has permanent teeth and attends school?

Victory is Mine!

Here is Jacob with his birthday present from Gammy and Grandpa. He has been wanting that for a long time and was so excited to receive it in the mail.




Adam is thinking in Stewie mode...."Haha, brother, I am counting the minutes until you leave our domicile for school as I will tear that thing to pieces and enjoy every second of it.



And he did. That fun toy lasted less than 24 hours.

Sometimes it just sucks to be the oldest.