My cousin Julie very appropriately named this current situation I am in, "Bedrest Bootcamp" and it couldn't be more true.
To be completely honest with you, I think my doctors are totally over-reacting and I am just taking a bed up in the hospital that could be used by someone in a much more dire situation than I, but what do I know. My babies are measuring small, but so did my other two girls. And here is the thing; wouldn't you think if the babies were in some sort of distress that they would be showing distress in some of these millions of tests they are running on them every live-long day?! Their NSTs (non-stress tests) are always perfect; they are scoring perfect on their bio-physical profiles; their heart rates are perfect; there is no question in anyone's mind that they are having no difficulty moving--BELIEVE ME. But I am not a doctor and I am told this is where I am supposed to be, so here is where I am. I feel like a lazy, fat slob sitting here in this hospital bed having nurses wait on me hand and foot when I feel absolutely perfectly fine. The last time I had a long stay here was when I was here for pneumonia, but then I was really, really sick and hardly remember a single detail of that stay. Believe me, I am aware of every single boring moment here this time.
I miss my girls. I am greatly distressed that the final days/weeks before two more children enter our chaotic lives I am spending here strapped to a hospital bed rather than being able to hang out with them and do fun things with them before I no longer can do that with ease.
Then of course, not an hour goes by when visions of my utterly disastrous house enter my mind. We are talking utter and total disaster. Not a thing has been done to it since I officially went on bedrest which I believe was almost two weeks ago. Add to that Christmas mess, clean laundry piled up all over my house and dishes everywhere and you've got a recipe for yuck!! It is so bad.
Thank you all so much for your nice comments and your prayers. You will never know how much they are appreciated. Emma and Kate could be here as early as next week. We'll see. In the meantime, I am trying to keep myself from going nuts by knitting hats for my big girls and the babies with a cool kit that my cousin got for me and playing on this laptop that the hospital lent me. Is that cool or what?! Oh, I'm also over-dosing on Law & Order: SVU. I've seen two marathons since I've been on bed-rest. It's been one of my favorite shows for years and I fear that once I leave here I may never be able to watch it again!!
I'm going to get my mom to take one last belly shot of me and maybe pictures of the little knit hats I'm making. The fruits of my "labor". (HAHA....pun intended).
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a blessed New Year! I'll be ringing in 2008 right here in this hospital bed. I'm really starting to feel sorry for myself now.
Dec 30, 2007
Dec 28, 2007
Dec 14, 2007
Some "Hoopla" and Some News
My new blogging buddy, Andrea, from Lifesong has created a new Christmas meme; but we aren't allowed to call it a meme. She has made the executive decision to heretofore refer to it as a "hoopla". I like it. The word "meme" has never made much sense to me. She has tagged me for the meme hoopla so I'm going to attempt to do this today. I'll post her instructions for the hoopla here and if I tag you, you'd better do it, y'here?? So, here are the rules:
So, are you up for it? I hope so. This could be hard for me because the juices that flow to my brain just aren't doing their job as of late; so we'll see how it goes!1. List 12 random things about yourself that has to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.
12 CHRISTMAS THINGS ABOUT ME
1. I have to have my Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Before is, obviously, too early. And after, to me, is just unacceptable. The sooner I can get Christmas spirit flowing through my house, the better.
2. The more lights, the better. And they have to be multi-colored; and blinking, if possible. None of these plain, white, non-blinking lights for me, thankyouverymuch.
3. I don't care if it's 70 degrees in December; if at all possible (i.e. I have firewood at my disposal) I must have a fire in the evening to go along with the lights and festive-ness of the Christmas decorations.
4. I don't bake at all much at Christmas time. I feel like such a schmuck, too; especially this year when that seems to be the big thing around the blog-o-sphere right now. Man, my poor kids. Now that I have more time (more on that in a little bit), maybe I can do a little more baking.
5. When I was a kid, we always opened our presents on Christmas Eve. In my family, the kids open their gifts on Christmas morning. (Except for the grandparents gifts, which they open on Eve---whichever grandparents we happen to be spending Eve with).
6. I didn't believe in Santa as a child. Not that my parents ever said, "Santa does not exist". They just never did the Santa thing so we didn't know any different. Until other kids would talk about Santa.
7. My kids do believe in Santa Claus. And I love living vicariously through them. They write letters to Santa every year, and I (as Santa) write them letters back. They look forward to checking the mail every day until they receive their letter from Santa. I think it's about as much fun for this mama as it is for them.
8. One of my favorite things to do when I was young (and still to this day) is drive around looking at the lights on people's houses. We would always try to find the houses and neighborhoods with the most lights and drive around for hours looking at them while we played Christmas music in the car. I have passed this most favorite tradition of mine onto our children and they love it just as much as I did. In fact, this is our plan for the evening after I get home from work. They can't wait.
9. We always had a real tree when I was growing up. I love, love, love the smell of pine that comes with a real tree. Alas, as an adult, I have a fake tree. We had a real tree for a couple of years, but the difficulty we had getting one that would stand up straight, plus the fun of keeping it watered and not drying out before Christmas was just too big a pain. Of course, now we have a fake tree that literally takes me almost two hours to get put together, so I'm about to scrap that idea and go for a real one again next year. Who knows. My kids want two trees. They don't ask for much. (Probably cuz Grandma has two trees......)
10. I can't stand tinsle. And I mean that silver, stringy stuff that gets all over the house and rarely stays on the tree. I won't buy it.
11. I am notorious for leaving my tree up for a good month after Christmas is over. I have a horrible time letting go. That and the fact that it's much more fun to put it up than take it down.
12. I can't remember the last time I travelled anywhere for Christmas. I prefer to stay on the home-front.
I DID IT. Can't believe my brain came up with 12 things! Now it's your turn.
I tag:
Pea
Mom (Grandma Dawn)
Joey
Diane
Sherry
And now for some news. I visited my perinatal specialist's office again yesterday. They want to continue to "keep tabs" on the babies since one, in particular, is measuring significantly smaller than she should. As it turns out, they are both measuring significantly smaller than they should, which has them concerned. Apparently (and I never knew this--in fact, I've learned more about pregnancy through this one than I probably ever cared to know), there are two arteries that flow from/to each umbilical cord. They believe that the reason the babies are measuring so small has to do with the fact that the blood flow from one of these arteries to each baby isn't quite doing its job as well as it should. They don't believe the babies are in any immediate danger, but are concerned that because of this, the girls might just decide, "Screw this....let's get out of here" much quicker than they should. I'm right at 29.5 weeks. Wayyyy, wayyyy to early to have these children. So, basically, I was told under no uncertain terms that I am "not to be working 40 hours a week anymore". And today, as a result of Dr. Hobbins frustration with how difficult this is becoming to accomplish for me, he is almost flat out saying he doesn't want me working at all. Needless to say, he's justalittleirritatedwithmyemployers. So, anyhoooo.....that's what's going on with me. I don't know what my official schedule is going to look like, or if I'm going to have one at all. Every day is an adventure and a mystery in my world.
Please pray for little Emma and Kate that they'll grow and stay put for at least another 7 or 8 weeks at least. Oh, yeah. Did I forget to tell you? Emma and Kate. Those are their names. Their real names. I don't have the brain power to come up with clever nicknames for babies I haven't met yet and I'm tired of calling them squirts. So, it's Emma Faith and Katherine Hope. (Kate). I guess the baby name game can be officially over. I had a lot of fun reading everyone's suggestions and I appreciate all the input. Hope you all like the names we chose.....although I'm sure it's impossible to please everyone!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Dec 11, 2007
Those Kids Of Mine
First, I want to thank everyone for the nice birthday wishes this weekend! Nothing spectacular occurred over the weekend for me in regards to birthday celebration; as I mentioned before, most of the celebrating had already happened. Care Bear was a little dismayed over the lack of excitement for my big day exclaiming "What is a birthday without a party or a cake?!" Hard to explain to an enthusiastic 5 year old party connoseur that the older you get, the less you care (in fact you actually prefer) to have your birthday made a big deal of.
I did go to a Scentsy party on Saturday at Sherry's house and purchased a warmer and two scents. Right off the top of my head I can't remember which ones they are, but they smell good! I was going to get Cozy Fireside like Karen suggested, because it is definitely yummy, but she would have had to order it and I was simply too impatient to have to wait to use it, so I got one that was already in stock.
I did go to a Scentsy party on Saturday at Sherry's house and purchased a warmer and two scents. Right off the top of my head I can't remember which ones they are, but they smell good! I was going to get Cozy Fireside like Karen suggested, because it is definitely yummy, but she would have had to order it and I was simply too impatient to have to wait to use it, so I got one that was already in stock.
We are currently in the midst of our first major snowstorm of the year here in Colorado. It's lovely to look at, and I would be thoroughly enjoying it if I were sitting at home in my giant recliner, snuggled up in my electric blanket by the fire drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee. But instead I had to brave the storm and make my way up north and the drive which normally takes me between 15-20 minutes took me an hour and a half. An hour and a half people! I was over 30 minutes late to work this morning and as it was I gave myself 45 minutes to get here, which I thought would be plenty of time. I should have known better.
Last night, when I arrived home from work, my kids were in full Christmas spirit mode. They had been outside building snowmen and Care Bear was in the process of writing and illustrating a new Christmas Carol. When it was complete, we all had to assemble on the couch where she taught us the new Christmas carol and led us in a sing-a-long. Anakin and I were to sing the song with her, and Feisty was to provide background vocals. I am going to post the Christmas Carol now for you and I advise you to learn it because I am 100% positive that it will be the next great Christmas Carol of our time!
"SNOWBALL FIGHT DAY"
"In my stocking is a candy cane and some candy"
"Outside there is a snowman and snow"
"Under the tree there is some presents"
"The tree is so pretty"
Once we learned the new carol and she felt satisfied that we had sung it satisfactorily, she hopped on "stage" (the fireplace bricks) with Feisty and they performed "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph". This was all done with a rather "goofy" and lighthearted air, but then Anakin wanted to perform. And he got up on stage in all seriousness and proceeded to sing "Away In A Manger" in perfect, falsetto pitch. It makes me sad that he can not ever be a part of the children's musical performances at church because he is never there on Sunday. I know without a doubt that Miss Tammy (the children's music director) would have some great part for him in their performances because he really does have an amazing voice and ability to sing on pitch. Anakin's singing ability is one of the few things that he has a high level of confidence in. I wish he had the opportunity to showcase it more.
After the performances, we had to rush to church to practice for Mom and Dad's (a.k.a. me and Mike's) deal on Christmas Eve. The praise band is leading the Christmas Eve service this year. I don't think that's ever happened before, but I think what we have planned is going to be great and I'm looking forward to it. On the way to church for practice, I told the kids about Grandma Dawn's accident in Hawaii and that we needed to be sure to remember to pray for her when we went to bed that night.
Feisty became very distraught at this news. In a little teary voice she said that she wanted to get Grandma a "washcloth with ice in it to help her feel better" (Feisty's answer to any type of pain whether it be a cut, scrape, bruise, splinter or tummy ache is water, whether in the form of a bath, a warm cloth, or a cloth with ice wrapped in it.) I told her that Grandma is in Hawaii right now, but I'm sure she would love that when she gets home. Feisty sat there for a minute quietly then said, "I'm worried about her. In the morning, I am going to get her a washcloth with ice in it to make her feel better." Since reading Grandma Dawn's post today, I am going to have to let her know that she is feeling better today so she can quit worrying so much. She's also very concerned about the pain I will be in when I have the babies. She assures me she will be there to "take care of me". I love that child.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Dec 7, 2007
Birthday Eve
It is the day before my birthday and I am looking out my window at work to a fresh blanket of snow covering the lawn, slushy streets and snow brushed trees. It's a beautiful, Christmas-ey scene. When I was a young girl, it was always my dream to have snow on my birthday. Most of the time it didn't happen. I have always loved snow; always loved winter; always loved the "cozy" feeling it creates. I still love the snow, but it has gotten more now to where I enjoy looking at it more than being out in it and playing in it. I am happy that there will be snow for my birthday this year; since my birthday is on a Saturday this year, I look forward to (hopefully) being able to sleep in a little, enjoy the current book I am reading and having a fire in the fireplace. I don't have many plans for tomorrow since for the most part my birthday has already been celebrated. I do have a Scentsy party to go to tomorrow at Sherry's house and I'm hoping I feel like I have enough cash to get a little something for myself. We'll see.
Last night, Mike and I and the troops went to Applebee's for dinner to use my gift cards that my mom and dad got for me for my birthday. The kids love Applebee's (mainly I think because they like to get balloons there). It was a nice time and we spent all but $.13 (that's cents) of the gift cards. How is that for planning?! After that, we took them on a little drive around one of the neighborhoods where we live to look at some fabulous lights and lawn decorations. Their excitement of the decorations and their awe of them (particularly the lit up reindeer that moved) was contagious and it made me feel like a kid again sitting in the backseat of my parent's car and feeling the excitement of Christmas.
I received the most precious birthday gift last night that I have ever received. It instantly became one of my most prized posessions and I wish I could somehow preserve it to ensure it never gets ripped, smeared, written on, or in anyway destroyed. My precious little Care Bear spent the entire morning creating a birthday present for me; she even painted the wrapping paper herself and wrapped it up in a box all by herself. I have never seen her more proud, and my heart has never felt more full than when I received this wonderful present from my little girl who thought of me and created a gift for me from her heart. Care Bear loves to draw, color, paint, etc... and she loves to make up stories. She wrote me a book complete with illustrations. I'm going to post it for you because you just have to see it. I'll have to interpret for you because she didn't ask for any help with spelling; she sounds out words herself and is very literal and phonetic.
Last night, Mike and I and the troops went to Applebee's for dinner to use my gift cards that my mom and dad got for me for my birthday. The kids love Applebee's (mainly I think because they like to get balloons there). It was a nice time and we spent all but $.13 (that's cents) of the gift cards. How is that for planning?! After that, we took them on a little drive around one of the neighborhoods where we live to look at some fabulous lights and lawn decorations. Their excitement of the decorations and their awe of them (particularly the lit up reindeer that moved) was contagious and it made me feel like a kid again sitting in the backseat of my parent's car and feeling the excitement of Christmas.
I received the most precious birthday gift last night that I have ever received. It instantly became one of my most prized posessions and I wish I could somehow preserve it to ensure it never gets ripped, smeared, written on, or in anyway destroyed. My precious little Care Bear spent the entire morning creating a birthday present for me; she even painted the wrapping paper herself and wrapped it up in a box all by herself. I have never seen her more proud, and my heart has never felt more full than when I received this wonderful present from my little girl who thought of me and created a gift for me from her heart. Care Bear loves to draw, color, paint, etc... and she loves to make up stories. She wrote me a book complete with illustrations. I'm going to post it for you because you just have to see it. I'll have to interpret for you because she didn't ask for any help with spelling; she sounds out words herself and is very literal and phonetic.
FRONT COVER
PAGE 1
"Hi! Today is my Mommy's Birthday. I can't wait!"
PAGE 2
"My Mommy (something I can't make out here). I'm going to go do something." (Note the picture in the corner of her going out the door.)
PAGE 3
"Let's go get my Mommy's present!" (the picture is of her and her friend, Blondie 1)
PAGE 4
"Let's split up, OK?" (Care Bear and Blondie 1 again)
PAGE 5
"No."
(This is me looking for my party and my present).
PAGE 6
"No!"
(Still looking for the party and my present).
PAGE 7
"No!"
(And still!)
PAGE 8
"Happy Birthday!"
(And I finally found my party and my presents!)
BACK COVER
I will cherish this forever and ever, AMEN!!
Next time you hear from me, I will officially be 33.
And as I sit here enjoying the wintery scene and the cold, my parents are currently on a plane jetting towards tropical weather and beaches to celebrate their 35 years of marriage. As jealous as I am, they greatly deserve it and I hope they have a fabulous time!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Dec 5, 2007
Wednesday
Yeah, you read the title right. Wednesday. That is all I can come up with for today. I'd probably be better off without any title, huh?
As is par for the course for me lately, this is a post full of random bits of things that fly through my brain at any unsuspecting moment that I think I absolutely must preserve for prosperity; when in reality, someday I'll look back at these posts and say, "Why did I think that was important?!?!" If nothing else, it will remind me how scattered my brain was the year I was pregnant with twins.
Twins. I can't believe I'm having twins. It hits me like that every now and then. Scary.
It’s the sick-sickiest season of all
When the cold man is calling
And Lysol is spraying
No friends come to call!!
It’s the sick-sickiest season of all!There’ll be Pepto a-plenty
And stomachs are empty
And hacking is all you can hear
There’ll be foreheads a –roasting
No time for blog posting
It’s not a good season I fear!It’s the Germ-Germiest time OF THE YEAR!
As is par for the course for me lately, this is a post full of random bits of things that fly through my brain at any unsuspecting moment that I think I absolutely must preserve for prosperity; when in reality, someday I'll look back at these posts and say, "Why did I think that was important?!?!" If nothing else, it will remind me how scattered my brain was the year I was pregnant with twins.
Twins. I can't believe I'm having twins. It hits me like that every now and then. Scary.
I would first like to thank a new commenter on my blog for her sweet comment to me the other day. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to have a blog, so I can't return the favor by visiting her blog, so I would just like to say "Hi!" to Samantha and thank her for the nice comment. I'm glad you enjoy it here and I hope you come back to visit again!
And then I would like to apologize. I have been neglecting you. Yes, you. You who so faithfully read my blog and continue to come back every time I post; but who rarely gets a return visit. That would be probably the majority of people I have on my blog-roll. I go through my bloglines every day with good intentions. However, I'm lucky if I get through the day having commented on two or three blogs. And I used to be so faithful! I'm sorry. I haven't forgotten you. I still love you all! I just can't form many complete thoughts lately, much less focus on a blog long enough to read it and then comment. Is there a condition called "Pregnancy ADD"? Cuz I think I have it. For sure. But I have made an early New Year's Resolution. (Is that allowed?! And if it is, does that negate me from making a resolution on January 1?? I hope so!) My resolution is to be better about keeping in touch with all of you. I miss you all and I'll tell you what! All those harassing phone calls and pesky people pestering me at work all day? Well, they can take a back seat for now. OK, that was a lie. I'm just kidding. But I am going to try to be better about stopping by all of your places. Did you see that caveat in there? Try. I don't make many promises right now. (*But I do love you!!*)
This Saturday is my birthday. Wee! Yipee Skippy! Hurrah! We actually celebrated it for the most part this past weekend for several reasons; most of which revolve around the fact that my parents are skipping town on me and will probably be sipping on non-alcoholic Mai Tai's and swimming with sting-rays at the exact moment 33 years ago that I entered this world. Or rather, my Dad will be swimming with sting rays. My mom will probably be sitting on a beach with her nose buried in some book. I'm not jealous though. Oh, no....not at all!
Anyway, it just so happened that this past Saturday at our church was "Parent Freedom Night". About once every other month, the teens are lucky enough to get to be paid by us for the priviledge of watching all of our little rug-rats so us adults can go out and do whatever our little hearts desire. This was perfect timing for Mike and I to be able to go out and celebrate my b-day without completely imposing on my parents. They were imposed on at 9:00, however, when they had to go pick them up and have them stay overnight at their house. But at least they didn't have to entertain them the whole evening, right? I mean, come on. How many opportunities do you really think I am going to be able to go out and enjoy an evening out sans kids once the squirts arrive?! Who in their right mind will ever agree to take on five kids for the evening just for our sakes?! I feel the walls caving in. The little freedom I have left is slipping away at a fairly rapid pace. I'm starting to suffocate!!
Um, anyway. So, we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant where we ran into two other couples from our church also out enjoying a kidless evening. I mean, there's probably about 200 restaurants in the area; what are the odds of running into two other couples at the same restaurant?! We then decided to go to a movie. The one we really wanted to see we were late for, so we made a big mistake and chose to see "The Mist". I implore of you not to waste your hard earned money on this movie. Worst $15 I ever spent. We walked out 45 minutes into it and ended up going home to watch a movie on DVD. Something we could do any other night of the week after the kids go to bed. Oh, well. It was nice and quiet and peaceful.
Sunday, my mom had our family and my SIL (who shares the same b-day over) and Kevin over for a birthday dinner. It was tasty, and I ate way too much cake. WAY too much cake. She got me my electric blanket!! I walk around my house with that thing now like it's a security blanket. I wuv my new bwankie!!
I am now going to re-post a little poem I wrote last year at about this time, because right now it is so apropos.
--Adapted from “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Kristen P. December, 2006 (sung with the same tune)
It’s the most germiest time of the year
When the kids are all coughing
And Mommy is puking
Oh please don’t come near!
It’s the most germiest time of the Year!
When the cold man is calling
And Lysol is spraying
No friends come to call!!
It’s the sick-sickiest season of all!
And stomachs are empty
And hacking is all you can hear
There’ll be foreheads a –roasting
No time for blog posting
It’s not a good season I fear!
Last week Care Bear and I had the stomach crap. Whilst Feisty was fighting yet another UTI, unbelievable as that is. Feisty finished her antibiotic, and the doctor is now convinced that her UTIs are a result of her constipation problem. We are supposed to be putting a stool softener in her apple juice once a day for her to drink, but right after we started doing that, she came down with a stomach bug and let me tell you how messy things can get when you combine a stomach bug with bowel movements loosened by stool softener! Yeah. The smell isn't so pleasant either. (I bet I lost about half of you right about here!)
Anyway, due to the stomach yuckies, we decided to hold back on the laxative because, well, the bug seemed to be doing the job for her. But now she's backed up again. She's consistently complaining of stomach pain. Last night I was in the car taking her to the ER when she vomited all over the car and then promptly fell asleep. I got about a good 3 hours of sleep last night. So did she. I'm so tired of this. She's so tired of this. Why can't the doctors figure out what is really going on with my baby and help me come up with a solution that will actually work?! I'm tired of watching my 3 year old precious girl suffer and constantly have to be on antibiotics. Something has to give.
I have a playlist of Christmas music currently playing in my side bar. One of my favorite Christmas songs (sung by one of my favorite male singers) is playing in it: "Mary Did You Know" sung by Clay Aiken. Our praise band is going to sing this song on Sunday for the offeratory. I love it. Wish I could find a way to record it and stream it here because we're doing a pretty cool version of it. Hmmm. Anyone know a way to do that? Easily?
And one more little item that had me seeing dark red this week. A little tidbit of celebrity "news" that I have seen all over the place. Go to TMZ.com and see what the huge buzz this week is. I'm sure you already have, but it makes me so mad. Leave the girl alone. She's normal. She just got engaged. Let her frolic in the ocean in peace! For cryin' out LOUD!
Wow I'm jabbery today. Must be all the sugar from the three donuts I have eaten this morning. Three donuts! What is wrong with me?!?!
Hope your Wednesday is fabulous!
Dec 4, 2007
I'll Be A Model In My Next Life
I was visiting Steph over at "Adventures in Babywearing" today, and she had posted a picture of herself morphing into Kelly Clarkson. I thought it looked like fun, so I decided to see who I would morph into. There were several options I could choose from, but if you were told you looked like a super-model, wouldn't you pick that one, too? So, here is me morphing into Christie Brinkley:
Pretty cool, eh? Other choices for me were Kate Hudson, Tara Reid, Thandie Newton and Josh Duhamel?!?!?! What the?! Please tell me I don't look like Fergie's boy toy!
Anyway, if you want to join in the fun, Steph has a Mr. Linky up. A fun, mindless thing to post and if you're like I am today, fun and mindless is all I can manage.
Pretty cool, eh? Other choices for me were Kate Hudson, Tara Reid, Thandie Newton and Josh Duhamel?!?!?! What the?! Please tell me I don't look like Fergie's boy toy!
Anyway, if you want to join in the fun, Steph has a Mr. Linky up. A fun, mindless thing to post and if you're like I am today, fun and mindless is all I can manage.
Nov 30, 2007
Thank the LORD it's Friday!!
I could not be happier to see this Friday arrive. For one, it's been the week from H*E* double hockey sticks here at work. It's the week after Thanksgiving and the dreaded week before deadline here and every single person in the world who has waited until the last minute to apply here all of a sudden has decided that they need to know what is going on with their applications NOW. Never mind that they were the irresponsible ones who waited until the last minute to apply. No, it's our fault that we're not able to put their applications at the top of the pile because of course their applications are more important than the 4,329,435 others we've received.
I'm also thrilled to see this particular Friday arrive because it is PAYDAY. I'm doing the happy dance right now; and it's a pretty goofy sight to see a 6.5 month pregnant lady do the happy dance.
I'm also thrilled to see this particular Friday arrive because it is PAYDAY. I'm doing the happy dance right now; and it's a pretty goofy sight to see a 6.5 month pregnant lady do the happy dance.
I changed up my look a little bit for Christmas. What do you think? I was extremely hesitant to do this since I have a custom design from Susie at Bluebird Blogs. But I just couldn't resist dressing up my blog for Christmas. I'll just be holding my breath when I try to re-install my Bluebird design after Christmas is over. Scary stuff. I get itchy feet when it comes to my blog design. I get bored after awhile--even with a fabulous custom design. I've been curing the itch by goofing around with my Mom's template every few months or so since I haven't felt like I can mess around with mine. Half the time I don't even ask her if she wants me to do something, I just do it. I hope she doesn't mind.
A couple of posts ago, I did a quote and asked people to guess if they knew what show the quote came from. I keep forgetting to post the answer. The quote (which is not verbatim) was:
"I'm browned, basted and ready to be carved!!"
A couple of you guessed the show "Friends" which is absolutely.....correct! Anyone who has read my blog for any significant period of time knows what a humongous fan of Friends I am. The episode that I took this quote from was from the 5th season when Chandler and Monica were still dating in secret and were spending some time with Chandler's boss and his wife. They were playing a game of tennis doubles and Monica (being the competitive person she is) was of course beating them at every game. Chandler begged her to back off a little and let his boss and wife win a game. Monica looked at him like he was crazy and said,
"Are you crazy? Look at them. He can barely breathe and
she's popping pills. Those birds are browned, basted, and
ready to be carved."
So, there you have it! :-) Man, I miss that show! I would be a super happy camper if I were to get the entire 10 season boxed DVD set for Christmas or my birthday. (*ahem Mom) That and an electric blanket. I don't ask for a lot.
And now I must whine a little bit. I whine a lot lately; it's my prerogative right now. But today I must whine about the fact that in one week, my parents are going to be jetting off to Hawaii for their 35th wedding anniversary. Not like they deserve it or anything. (tongue in cheek). However, they did this to me ten years ago and their trip falls over my birthday. I know, get over it, Kristen. I'm an adult, I don't need my mommy and daddy around for my birthday. But, come on! Twice in ten years they have done this to me. Good grief. Hope you're guilt ridden all day on the 8th, guys! JUST KIDDING! Have a fabulous time.
We have no major plans this weekend, except I was thinking it would be fun to take the kids driving around to look at Christmas lights. It's one of their favorite things to do at this time of year; a little tradition that I have passed on to my family from my childhood as it was always one of my very favorite things to do as a child. I'm just looking forward to a (hopefully) relaxing weekend. We'll see.
Have a wonderful Friday and an even more wonderful weekend!!
Nov 28, 2007
Wednesday Randomness
My Babies Are PO'd At Me!!
Thanksgiving was nice. We, as usual had two dinners. One around mid-day at my parent's house with all of my side of the family, then one hosted at my house with Mike's side of the family. MIL handled pretty much everything; I made the green-bean casserole (GO ME!!) but MIL did everything else. I think we had more food for the eight of us then there was for 19 at my parent's dinner. Can you say leftovers?! My fridge (which was pretty barren prior to that day) was stuffed to the gills by Thursday night. The remainder of the weekend was spent figuring how many ways you can possibly eat turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, rolls, twenty-five different types of salad, jellos and pies. By Sunday night we had dumped all of it in a huge pan together (pies, jello and salad included---um, just kidding) and cooked it all together. It was sort of shepherd pie-ish. Not too bad. At least it didn't look too bad. I wouldn't know because I didn't eat any of it. In fact, beyond Thursday and up until this very moment, I have eaten very little. Which is part of the reason my babies are PO'd at me. The other reason is because of the pure ruckus my body has caused in my stomach for the past four days or so.
Care Bear and I both came down with a hellish case of the flu on Friday. She woke up with it; it hit me sometime mid-day; shortly after I had indulged in two pieces of apple pie. MIL I still think is convinced it's because I ate two pieces of pie. I keep trying to tell her that I highly doubt that two pieces of pie could cause four days of vomiting and other stomach ailments which I will not discuss. Nor would my eating two pieces of pie cause my sweet little girl to have pretty much the same issues as me. I don't think over-indulging in pie is contagious.
So, the poor little squirts have not only had to endure earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes in their safe little haven, they have also had to endure being mal-nourished for over half a week. They are maaaaaaaddd! They are proving this to me by kicking, punching and stabbing every spare nook and cranny they can find. I can hardly blame them. This is reminiscient of the week prior to my giving birth to Care Bear when I was sick for an entire week with the stomach flu. She got so sick of it that she said, "Forget this!" and decided to come three weeks early. Recalling this, I panicked a little concerned due to the fact that if these babies got so sick of being in the chaos that is my body right now, they would try to come two and a half months early, which of course is in no way acceptable. So I called my doctor's office. When they panicked, I panicked more. They made me come in right then and even made me call inside the office when I was in the parking lot so that they could come out and sterlize me before I came in (read: sport an oh-so-cool surgical mask and slather myself with sterizing hand wash). I felt like a leper. They strapped a fetal monitor on to me to do a non-stress test, took a urine sample to make sure I don't have a bladder infection (which I think I do--those results still pending), and informed that I was probably going to be sent over to the hospital for the rest of the day to get hooked up to an IV to get rehydrated. SCORE!
Luckily, babies showed no signs of stress, heart-rates were good and instead of sending me to the hospital, they sent me on my way with instructions to drink plenty of Gatorade.
I'm on the mend. I was able to eat a cheese sandwich last night. Or rather, half of a cheese sandwich. I'm able to consume liquids again, which is also good. Care Bear as well has recovered for the most part and has been able to go to school this week. Now, if we can just get through the rest of this month with no illness, it will be the best Christmas present I could get--well, that and a new mini-van for my own personal daycare.
Baby Name Update
We thought we had names picked out. They were going to be Samantha Hope and Victoria Faith. And then the girls got involved. The big girls that is. They have very strong ideas as to what they want to name the babies. Feisty is bound and determined to name one of the babies Emma. She has not wavered from this point. I'm considering it. It's a real name (albeit quite over used right now) and it's cute. Care Bear has come up with quite an assortment of interesting names. One of her more viable options is Sierra (a friend's name at school) and her most recent choice: Janessa (also a friend from school). These are more acceptable to me than her previous suggestions such as: Olive (there is a specific reason I will not choose this name) and Guitarra (a completely made up, fabricrated name).
So, the whole baby name thing is still up in the air. I have all the suggestions everyone has given me written in a handy-dandy notebook which I refer to quite often. I love all of the suggestions. Keep them coming. It could be months still before the squirts have names. They could quite possibly go to Kindergarten without names. I think Little Squirt and Big Squirt are perfectly fine names to grow up with, don't you?!?!
Occupational Stuff
My husband is, as we speak, 3 miles west of me and about 3 hours into his new job joining the ranks of the rest of us esteemed employees of this higher education establishment. I am t-minus 22 minutes away from a meeting with my supervisors to discuss returning to part-time. Pray for us both. If you are a prayin' person. Thanks!
The Make Up Artist
And last but not least. Care Bear got a new Bratz doll this week. Don't criticize me on getting my daughter a Bratz doll. Daddy got it for her. In her mind, she's just a pretty doll. That's it. Anyhooooo.....the doll came with a little compact full of sparkly powder with which to adorn the doll's face. Adorning the doll's face, however, was not enough for Care Bear. It was turned into a full scale make-up salon. The evening was spent getting sparkly powder make-overs. Come to think of it, I probably should have double checked faces this morning to make sure any sparkly's were not left over. Oh, well.
The "salon " came complete with flowers for decoration, a keyboard for musical entertainment, a "tip jar" (I was informed right away that I must pay to receive facial treatments), cotton balls and her new winter gloves (lest she get sparkles on her fingers). The facials were done concurrently while watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Good times.
And that's it for me! Happy Wednesday.
Nov 21, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I'm sitting here at work, looking at the beautiful, wintery scene outside my window. Just in time for the first "winter" holiday; just in time for putting up Christmas decorations; and just in time to host our families 3rd annual "Polar Express" viewing night, we have snow. It could not be more perfect, in my opinion. The only thing that would make it more perfect right now, for me, would to be snuggling at home with the rest of my family....and the rest of the world for that matter.....on the day before Thanksgiving, instead of here at work talking to people who are obsessing over their applications rather than getting ready for turkey day. Good grief. My MIL is travelling here from North Dakota today. She is notorious for leaving later than she says she is going to, and getting later than her well-intentioned plan. Since her plan is to leave today, I'm concerned (especially with the weather) that she won't make it until well past turkey time tomorrow. Which is a problem, since she's bringing the turkey and the turkey roaster. And I'm hosting at my house this year. Yikes. We could be looking at the first ever "side dish only" Thanksgiving dinner. Woo-hoo! Luckily, if the worst should happen, I will have already eaten on Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's house. I have to eat two every year. That's good this year. I do, after all, have two babies to feed. Speaking of which (and speaking of turkeys), this is how I feel right about now:
"I'm browned, basted and ready to be carved!! "
(10 points if you know what TV show that line comes from and extra bonus points if you can name the episode!)
I find it interesting the differing opinions on the current size of my mid-section. Some people look at me and can't resist telling me how huge I am; others look at me and inform me there is no way I could be carrying twins. To these folks I would like to say, "Well, then live in my shoes for day; once your 24 hours is up, tell me how much rest you got with two very active little girls in your belly kicking you non-stop and squeezing out your bladder every 20 minutes."
I will say that with this pregnancy it is all belly. With the other two I gained in my face, butt and everywhere else. Not this time. I truly look like I just took a basketball and strapped it onto my front. It's a very interesting look. Take a gander for yourself:
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Kristen at 26 weeks
So, my guess is that the majority of you are going to comment and agree with the ones who say that there's no way I'm carrying twins. Let me say, however, that I still have 3 months left of this pregnancy. And then, let me tell you how big I did not get with either of my other two pregnancies. Here's some proof:
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This is me at my baby shower for Care Bear. A mere two weeks before I gave birth. Note the face; the rear end, and the non-basket-ball appearance of my belly in this picture. And then note that indeed, I am larger in the belly area this time with three months to go.
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And this is me nearing the end of my pregnancy with Feisty. (Not exactly sure on the timing). Same thing with the rear and the face. And the non-hugeness.
So, this is just me defending myself and my tendency to not be massively huge in my pregnancies. Not sure why I feel the need to defend myself, except to say that it drives me crazy when people have to continually give me their "expert" opinions on how large I should be at this point in my pregnancy. Everyone has to have their say.
I feel huge and I have quite a ways to go. Heartburn is setting in; Mylanta is a mainstay. Leg pain continues and life continues to move on at a way too rapid pace for me; especially considering how not ready I am yet for these babies to be here!
The dreams continue as well. The one I had last night had me giving birth to the twins. I was lucky enough to not have to have a C-section in the dream and they were born literally 30 seconds apart. One weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and one weighed 5 lbs 6 oz. They released me from the hospital two hours after they were born. I was bummed about that in my dream because I wanted to get some rest. (Not like anyone in a hospital having children ever gets any rest.) It'll be interesting to see how accurate my dream is (about the timing of the births and the birth weights....not the two hour stay. If that happens, they'll have to drag me out of that hospital kicking and screaming!)
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving is happy and wonderful and thankful. If you're travelling, travel safe; if you're cooking, try not to burn the turkey; and if you are lucky and just get to relax and enjoy the whole thing while someone else does all the work, well then.....I hope someone else makes you do the dishes.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Nov 12, 2007
The Depths of Despair
Have you ever read the "Anne of Green Gables" series? If so, you will remember that Anne was a very passionate and emotional young lady. Where a "typical" person might say, "Wow, I'm a little sad today", Anne would moan, "I am in the depths of despair!"
I am most definitely in the depths of despair today.
Every year on January 1, I wonder to myself what the year ahead is going to bring me. And of course, my wish is always that it will be better and smoother than the year that has just passed. If I had known on January 1, 2007 what this year was going to bring me, I may just have crawled into bed, taken a years worth of NyQuil and buried my head for the entire year.
My livelihood and very possibly my likelihood disappeared yesterday in a moment of chaos and arms that were too full.
Feisty and I had stopped by Little Caesar's Pizza yesterday after church to pick up a little something for lunch. I walked out of the restaurant holding two pizzas, a bag of crazy bread and sauce, a two-liter of pop and Feisty's hand. When we got to the car, I set the food and my purse on top of the car to get Feisty in. For some weird, compulsive reason, Feisty decided that she wanted the car seats switched around in the car. I was frustrated a little by this, but knowing my daughter the way I do, I knew that we would not be on our way until this was done. So a little flustered and with the car seat switching done, I grabbed the pizzas, crazy bread and sauce and pop and threw them in the back of the car. And apparently.....left the purse on top of the car. At least that is the only thing I can figure out.
It wasn't until four hours later when I went to fetch my purse and get a few bucks out that I realized that my purse wasn't where it typically is. No biggie. I looked in the various other spots it sometimes gets thrown. I looked in the backyard which is where I went with the pizzas after I got home. Wasn't there. I began to panic and looked in my car to see if was there because maybe I had left it in there while trying to juggle all of that food out of the car. It wasn't in there. I tried to think back to when I was at Little Caesar's and recall if I had it on my shoulder when I left the restaurant and I remembered I did have it then. Then I remembered the car-seat switching debacle....and could not for the life of me recall if I had thrown the purse in the car after I had thrown the pizzas in the car. Usually I can replay moments of my life back in my head pretty well and remember little details about things; with this I could not, which I took as a very bad sign. That and the fact that my 20 lb, very large purse was nowhere to be found.
By this time I was in full panic mode. The kids were at the park with my Dad so Mike and I took off to re-visit the scene of the stupidity hoping by hope that someone had found it in the parking lot or on the street and possibly (improbably) turned it into either the 7-11, the tattoo shop, or the "drug paraphernalia" shop located in the strip mall. Based on the various types of shops in the strip mall, and the neighborhood in which this Little Caesar's is located, I didn't hold out much hope.
All the way there, we kept our eyes peeled on the side of the road for any sign of my purse, or perhaps the contents of the purse. When we got to the strip mall, we split up and went to the different shops, with no luck. The clerk at the 7-11 went so far as to say, "Well, I'd check the other stores down the way, but keep in mind where we are located." Yeah. That right there took away any last shred of hope I had.
We finally went back home, totally defeated and I called the police department in a last ditch attempt to find out if someone had a heart and turned it into them. Again, no such luck. However, they did get all sorts of details from me about the purse, what was in the purse, when I lost the purse, where I lost the purse, phone numbers, address, etc.....
I still don't hold out much hope. I'm sure it's long gone. Along with everything in it:
**My money for the rest of the month (all money)
**Mine and the girls' social security cards
**Health insurance cards
**Car insurance cards
**Vehicle registration
**Drivers license
**The girls' drawings and artwork from Sunday School that day
and on and on and on.
I feel very insecure and very concerned that someone is out there as we speak in the process of stealing mine, or my daughters' identity. And spending the rest of my paycheck.
Isn't it amazing how ones identity can be so wrapped up in a few pieces of paper and plastic? And how when those pieces of paper and plastic go missing, it can throw one into the depths of despair?
I don't know what I'm going to do. Yet another episode in the soap opera that is my life. If I were you, I'd go watch "Days of Our Lives" or "All My Children" instead.
I am most definitely in the depths of despair today.
Every year on January 1, I wonder to myself what the year ahead is going to bring me. And of course, my wish is always that it will be better and smoother than the year that has just passed. If I had known on January 1, 2007 what this year was going to bring me, I may just have crawled into bed, taken a years worth of NyQuil and buried my head for the entire year.
My livelihood and very possibly my likelihood disappeared yesterday in a moment of chaos and arms that were too full.
Feisty and I had stopped by Little Caesar's Pizza yesterday after church to pick up a little something for lunch. I walked out of the restaurant holding two pizzas, a bag of crazy bread and sauce, a two-liter of pop and Feisty's hand. When we got to the car, I set the food and my purse on top of the car to get Feisty in. For some weird, compulsive reason, Feisty decided that she wanted the car seats switched around in the car. I was frustrated a little by this, but knowing my daughter the way I do, I knew that we would not be on our way until this was done. So a little flustered and with the car seat switching done, I grabbed the pizzas, crazy bread and sauce and pop and threw them in the back of the car. And apparently.....left the purse on top of the car. At least that is the only thing I can figure out.
It wasn't until four hours later when I went to fetch my purse and get a few bucks out that I realized that my purse wasn't where it typically is. No biggie. I looked in the various other spots it sometimes gets thrown. I looked in the backyard which is where I went with the pizzas after I got home. Wasn't there. I began to panic and looked in my car to see if was there because maybe I had left it in there while trying to juggle all of that food out of the car. It wasn't in there. I tried to think back to when I was at Little Caesar's and recall if I had it on my shoulder when I left the restaurant and I remembered I did have it then. Then I remembered the car-seat switching debacle....and could not for the life of me recall if I had thrown the purse in the car after I had thrown the pizzas in the car. Usually I can replay moments of my life back in my head pretty well and remember little details about things; with this I could not, which I took as a very bad sign. That and the fact that my 20 lb, very large purse was nowhere to be found.
By this time I was in full panic mode. The kids were at the park with my Dad so Mike and I took off to re-visit the scene of the stupidity hoping by hope that someone had found it in the parking lot or on the street and possibly (improbably) turned it into either the 7-11, the tattoo shop, or the "drug paraphernalia" shop located in the strip mall. Based on the various types of shops in the strip mall, and the neighborhood in which this Little Caesar's is located, I didn't hold out much hope.
All the way there, we kept our eyes peeled on the side of the road for any sign of my purse, or perhaps the contents of the purse. When we got to the strip mall, we split up and went to the different shops, with no luck. The clerk at the 7-11 went so far as to say, "Well, I'd check the other stores down the way, but keep in mind where we are located." Yeah. That right there took away any last shred of hope I had.
We finally went back home, totally defeated and I called the police department in a last ditch attempt to find out if someone had a heart and turned it into them. Again, no such luck. However, they did get all sorts of details from me about the purse, what was in the purse, when I lost the purse, where I lost the purse, phone numbers, address, etc.....
I still don't hold out much hope. I'm sure it's long gone. Along with everything in it:
**My money for the rest of the month (all money)
**Mine and the girls' social security cards
**Health insurance cards
**Car insurance cards
**Vehicle registration
**Drivers license
**The girls' drawings and artwork from Sunday School that day
and on and on and on.
I feel very insecure and very concerned that someone is out there as we speak in the process of stealing mine, or my daughters' identity. And spending the rest of my paycheck.
Isn't it amazing how ones identity can be so wrapped up in a few pieces of paper and plastic? And how when those pieces of paper and plastic go missing, it can throw one into the depths of despair?
I don't know what I'm going to do. Yet another episode in the soap opera that is my life. If I were you, I'd go watch "Days of Our Lives" or "All My Children" instead.
Nov 8, 2007
Perils of (this particular) Pregnancy
I believe that there is an unwritten rule out there that very few people are aware of that has become very apparent to me through this latest pregnancy. That rule is that eventually, if you get pregnant enough times and you have been lucky enough in the past to have fairly uneventful, easy pregnancies (and deliveries) that subsequent pregnancies will not follow that same protocol. I am living proof of this rule. So beware....I am warning you now.....if you have had simple, un-problematic, easy pregnancies thus far....and you get pregnant again, it probably won't go that way for you again! Your luck will run out. Sorry to be the bearer of that bad news. But let's examine the proof in my case. With Care Bear and Feisty, my pregnancies, for the most part were easy and simple as were the labors and deliveries. Both girls were born with no complications within six hours of me arriving at the hospital. Following are experiences that I have had with this pregnancy that I did not experience with the other two: (and I have to say that if this were my first pregnancy, it would be my last!)
**Horrificmorning all day sickness--While this for the most part has subsided, I still have to be extremely careful about what goes in my mouth and how much goes in my mouth. Otherwise, I will regret it very shortly thereafter.
**A mild scare early on in the pregnancy--heh, heh...mild. Did you catch that sarcasm there? If not, take a cold glass of water and splash it in your face and wake up.
**TWINS. Enough said.
**Leg Pain and Cramps--The leg pain in my upper legs that makes me feel like someone is using me as a wish bone is one thing. I'm actually starting to get used to walking like an invalid. But I haven't quite gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night with my legs straight up in the air and charley horses that make it feel like someone is taking a sledge hammer to my calves. Let me tell ya---those are fun times!!
**Breech babies--Breech babie(s)! Not one breech baby---two breech babies. Both using my uterus and my cervix as a punching bag. And so, since they are both breech, if they don't turn around and do it soon, I will be experiencing......
**A C-Section!--Never had one---don't want one. I am a complete and total weenie when it comes to needles, knives, or anything of the sort coming anywhere near any part of my body. I about passed out during my amniocentesis. Yeah, I know, I know. I'll be numbed, I won't feel a thing if I have to have a c-section. You're missing the point. The point is that I will know and be fully aware of the fact that on the other side of that little curtain separating the upper and lower parts of my body that a knife is cutting into me and two human beings are being pulled out. Whoa. Pardon me for a moment I think all the blood in my body rushed to my head and I need to lay down for a second. UGH.
**Ridiculous and sometimes scary dreams--I've always read and heard about dreams people have during pregnancy, but I never have had this experience....until this pregnancy and only very recently. I could write down the dream I had last night and sell it to Wes Craven. He'd have his next great horror movie.
**A lovely complexion--(insert more sarcasm). The current condition of my skin gives new meaning to the words "pizza face". I'm 32. I'm too old for acne, for crying out loud. I didn't have one single zit in high school. What is this?!?!
There is one thing that I have been lucky enough to avoid in all three pregnancies and that is stretch marks. How I have avoided these is beyond me; I must have elastic in my skin. So I'm thankful for that small little consolation.
And now I sit here at 9:02 in the morning after a horrible night of sleep; stomach issues, fun horror like dreams, etc.....re-reading this post as I feel the two little squirts kicking away in my stomach. And I know that once I hold those two little healthy bundles in my arms that this will all be a distant memory. And it will have all been worth it.
The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
**Horrific
**A mild scare early on in the pregnancy--heh, heh...mild. Did you catch that sarcasm there? If not, take a cold glass of water and splash it in your face and wake up.
**TWINS. Enough said.
**Leg Pain and Cramps--The leg pain in my upper legs that makes me feel like someone is using me as a wish bone is one thing. I'm actually starting to get used to walking like an invalid. But I haven't quite gotten used to waking up in the middle of the night with my legs straight up in the air and charley horses that make it feel like someone is taking a sledge hammer to my calves. Let me tell ya---those are fun times!!
**Breech babies--Breech babie(s)! Not one breech baby---two breech babies. Both using my uterus and my cervix as a punching bag. And so, since they are both breech, if they don't turn around and do it soon, I will be experiencing......
**A C-Section!--Never had one---don't want one. I am a complete and total weenie when it comes to needles, knives, or anything of the sort coming anywhere near any part of my body. I about passed out during my amniocentesis. Yeah, I know, I know. I'll be numbed, I won't feel a thing if I have to have a c-section. You're missing the point. The point is that I will know and be fully aware of the fact that on the other side of that little curtain separating the upper and lower parts of my body that a knife is cutting into me and two human beings are being pulled out. Whoa. Pardon me for a moment I think all the blood in my body rushed to my head and I need to lay down for a second. UGH.
**Ridiculous and sometimes scary dreams--I've always read and heard about dreams people have during pregnancy, but I never have had this experience....until this pregnancy and only very recently. I could write down the dream I had last night and sell it to Wes Craven. He'd have his next great horror movie.
**A lovely complexion--(insert more sarcasm). The current condition of my skin gives new meaning to the words "pizza face". I'm 32. I'm too old for acne, for crying out loud. I didn't have one single zit in high school. What is this?!?!
There is one thing that I have been lucky enough to avoid in all three pregnancies and that is stretch marks. How I have avoided these is beyond me; I must have elastic in my skin. So I'm thankful for that small little consolation.
And now I sit here at 9:02 in the morning after a horrible night of sleep; stomach issues, fun horror like dreams, etc.....re-reading this post as I feel the two little squirts kicking away in my stomach. And I know that once I hold those two little healthy bundles in my arms that this will all be a distant memory. And it will have all been worth it.
The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
Nov 7, 2007
Random Tidbits
I'll start with some pictures for this random post:
Care Bear's Official Kindergarten Picture
Don't you just want to eat her up?! Mmmwwwaaahhhh!! Feisty in Grandma's Backyard
I'm not quite full yet so I'll eat her up a little bit, too! She'll be getting some professional pics done soon.The Family at "Light In The Night"
This was taken at our church's annual Halloween activity called "Light in the Night". The kids look forward to it every year and it is really a lot of fun. Anakin actually got a picture taken with his mom and was off out and about running around the church so we couldn't track him down to get a picture taken with us. He dressed as Harry Potter. Good boy. He looked very cute.3-D Pics of Little Squirt
Pics of Little Squirt who would not sit still last time for a snap shot. She did a little better this time. The top one is her foot, and the bottom two are of her grabbing onto her foot. Mike said he thinks this one looks more like Care Bear. When I told Care Bear that Daddy thinks that one of the babies looks like her, she asked me, "Is she going to wear glasses, Mommy?" I almost hope for her sake that maybe she will. Almost.
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A quote from Feisty as she got out of the tub last night but wasn't quite in her jammies yet:
I've got juice bumps on my tummy mommy!!I will heretofore be referring to goose bumps as "juice bumps" because I think that is just about the cutest thing I have ever heard! Daddy was beginning to tell her what they are really called. I stopped him. I like juice bumps better.
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Care Bear received an award yesterday at a school assembly in front of the whole school for selling the 4th most amount of cookie dough for their cookie dough fund raiser. She has a pretty award with her name on it and she gets an extra recess and gets to go to lunch at McDonald's with the principal and the other winners. The play place McDonald's...that part is very important, you see.
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I've been having baby related dreams as of late. In one that I had a few weeks ago, I dreamed that each of the twins was born weighing in at 10 lbs a piece. Two nights ago I had a dream that when they were born, one of them fit in the palm of my hand. I remember vividly in my dream while I was holding the baby in my hand that my first thought was, "How am I ever going to find diapers to fit this baby?" Proof of how ridiculous dreams are because if one of my babies was born that small, I highly doubt my first concern would be that of appropriately fitting diapers. I don't know which scenario would be worse....10 lbs twins or twins that fit in the palm of my hand. Neither are a very good option. I'm not sleeping so good lately because of these dreams. *sigh* Will I ever sleep again?!
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I suppose I should get back to work. At least it's already Wednesday.
Nov 5, 2007
Good Weekend/Bad Weekend
The weekend started with me leaving work early to head down to Denver for yet another appointment at the perinatal specialist. They want to continue to monitor the growth of the babies. Same news....different day. Babies are fine. Baby A is smaller than Baby B. They want to continue to monitor this. Baby A (small baby---Little Squirt) is the one they didn't think would be alive to make it to my next appointment when all of this started way back in August. Little Squirt is still really little. But she is the one who they have a hard time getting to sit still for any kind of measurements or decent pictures. She's a rambunctious little monkey.
We were able to get a picture of her this time---unfortunately, I left them at home. So I'll try to remember to bring them tomorrow to scan and post. My memory isn't so good these days---apparently a side effect of pregnancy. (As is clumsiness.....).
Anyhoo---after the appointment, Mike and I headed back north and decided that we wanted to take the kids for a treat that evening to see "Bee Movie". So we stopped by the theater to by tickets ahead of time for the 6:00 showing. We didn't get back home to pick up the kids from my mom's until about 5:45 and the theater is clear across town; so we raced home, literally grabbed the kids and threw them in the car and headed off to the movie. They were thrilled. We hadn't been to a movie since Shrek the Third and so they were really excited. It was a cute movie; I still prefer the Shrek movies and Over The Hedge, but it was still real cute. All the kids were pretty tired by the time we got home and practically went to bed right away. Care Bear fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Saturday morning: The girls and I had a play date with Sherry and her two little adorable ones at one of the kids' favorite parks. It was a good time. The weather was real nice and Care Bear in particular had a great time following around and gushing over Silas (1 year old). I love to watch her with babies (particularly one little girl at our church who she absolutely adores). I can tell she's going to be a very good, attentive, loving big sister to our babies when they are born. So will Feisty---when she has the time or inclination to slow down and pay attention to them.
Saturday afternoon: Care Bear had a good time collecting worms and trying to convince me to let her keep them as pets with Blondie 1 and Blondie 2. Feisty hung out in the house with me. Despite all good intentions to ONCE AGAIN organize and sort through the massive amounts of clothes I need to go through, I simply did not have the energy. I felt kind of blah and a little bit achy all afternoon. At around 5 or so that evening, the girls and I got in the car to run an errand and Care Bear started to complain of a sore throat. By later that night, she was fully miserable. This child hasn't been sick in so long I don't think she knew quite how to handle it. I gave her some chewable Children's Tylenol and put her to bed. Sunday morning she still wasn't feeling well. And by that time, neither was I, or Mike. Feisty, on the other hand....the one who is usually sick was perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, since Mike and I are in the praise band at church, it's a little hard at last minute to cancel on the band and not show up; especially considering Mike is the drummer. They could probably do fine without me---what's one more voice? But the drummer would be a little bit more noticeable. So we all trudged to church and spent the afternoon laying around the house. Poor Feisty, by the end of the evening had such horrible cabin fever that she had gotten rather goofy and hyper and basically could not sit still any longer. She performed for us, she spoon fed us our dinner, she "took care" of us. It was very cute and very sweet.
Today, I am at work...feeling better for the most part. Care Bear seemed to be in much better spirits this morning and says her throat doesn't hurt anymore. Mike says his back still hurts some, but I think he is surviving.
So, spent the weekend feeling like crud and we're feeling better just in time for the work/school week to begin. Good times. It's just now November--barely November--and I'm sick of illness. I think I'm in for a loooooong winter.
The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
We were able to get a picture of her this time---unfortunately, I left them at home. So I'll try to remember to bring them tomorrow to scan and post. My memory isn't so good these days---apparently a side effect of pregnancy. (As is clumsiness.....).
Anyhoo---after the appointment, Mike and I headed back north and decided that we wanted to take the kids for a treat that evening to see "Bee Movie". So we stopped by the theater to by tickets ahead of time for the 6:00 showing. We didn't get back home to pick up the kids from my mom's until about 5:45 and the theater is clear across town; so we raced home, literally grabbed the kids and threw them in the car and headed off to the movie. They were thrilled. We hadn't been to a movie since Shrek the Third and so they were really excited. It was a cute movie; I still prefer the Shrek movies and Over The Hedge, but it was still real cute. All the kids were pretty tired by the time we got home and practically went to bed right away. Care Bear fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Saturday morning: The girls and I had a play date with Sherry and her two little adorable ones at one of the kids' favorite parks. It was a good time. The weather was real nice and Care Bear in particular had a great time following around and gushing over Silas (1 year old). I love to watch her with babies (particularly one little girl at our church who she absolutely adores). I can tell she's going to be a very good, attentive, loving big sister to our babies when they are born. So will Feisty---when she has the time or inclination to slow down and pay attention to them.
Saturday afternoon: Care Bear had a good time collecting worms and trying to convince me to let her keep them as pets with Blondie 1 and Blondie 2. Feisty hung out in the house with me. Despite all good intentions to ONCE AGAIN organize and sort through the massive amounts of clothes I need to go through, I simply did not have the energy. I felt kind of blah and a little bit achy all afternoon. At around 5 or so that evening, the girls and I got in the car to run an errand and Care Bear started to complain of a sore throat. By later that night, she was fully miserable. This child hasn't been sick in so long I don't think she knew quite how to handle it. I gave her some chewable Children's Tylenol and put her to bed. Sunday morning she still wasn't feeling well. And by that time, neither was I, or Mike. Feisty, on the other hand....the one who is usually sick was perfectly healthy. Unfortunately, since Mike and I are in the praise band at church, it's a little hard at last minute to cancel on the band and not show up; especially considering Mike is the drummer. They could probably do fine without me---what's one more voice? But the drummer would be a little bit more noticeable. So we all trudged to church and spent the afternoon laying around the house. Poor Feisty, by the end of the evening had such horrible cabin fever that she had gotten rather goofy and hyper and basically could not sit still any longer. She performed for us, she spoon fed us our dinner, she "took care" of us. It was very cute and very sweet.
Today, I am at work...feeling better for the most part. Care Bear seemed to be in much better spirits this morning and says her throat doesn't hurt anymore. Mike says his back still hurts some, but I think he is surviving.
So, spent the weekend feeling like crud and we're feeling better just in time for the work/school week to begin. Good times. It's just now November--barely November--and I'm sick of illness. I think I'm in for a loooooong winter.
The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
Oct 31, 2007
Care Bear's First Conference
This is going to be a grossly, braggy, Mommy post. So if you hate grossly, braggy, Mommy type posts, click away now. You've been warned.
It is an understatement to say that Care Bear looooooves school. I knew she would, but it's so refreshing to have a child who loooooovvveees school and who dives into her (albeit minimal) homework the minute she gets home from school and tells her friends she can't play until she does her homework.
I really like Care Bear's teacher. She is new to our school this year and is very young and has young children herself. She reminds me a lot of Ramona Quimby's kindergarten teacher and awhile back I actually did a comparison between Ramona Quimby and Care Bear. The comparison is more evident than ever now. (Except that Care Bear does not cause the problems Miss Ramona did).
Anyhoo.....Care Bear received a glowing report from her teacher. Her report card consisted of all 3s and 4s (Kindergarten equivalent to A+ and As). 3s mean she is performing at expected grade level and 4s mean she exceeds expected grade level. By the end of this quarter she was supposed to be able to count to 25. Yeah. She was counting to 25 before she was 3. Feisty can count to 25. She knows all her letters, capital and lower case. She can write all of her letters--capital and lower case. She knows and can write all of her numbers. She knows her phone number, her mommy and daddy's first and last names (which apparently, some kids don't know--hmmmmm). She can use scissors, glue, crayons and all other art accessories properly--she should be able to considering the monumental hours she logs in using these items at home. She can hop on one foot, skip, run, do hop-scotch, etc....She finishes her centers so quickly she wanders around the class aimlessly until her teacher pulls her over and has her read books to her. Care Bear read five books to her the other day. Her teacher adores her, which means I adore her teacher. She can not get over her artistic ability.
Go throw up now because the bragging is not over yet.
On the way up here today (today is a non-kindergarten day so she goes to the Early Childhood Center which is here on campus) she asked me if I would like to hear how far she can count. Of course I said I would love nothing more. She got to 200 and then I decided that we could go on like this until she got to infinitiy and beyond so I quizzed her on other things. I asked her our phone number, which she knew. I asked her who she would call if something happened to mommy or daddy and there was an emergency, and she knew (except she was concerned about the fact that she can't reach the phone--we might need to find another location). Then, just for kicks I thought I'd ask her some math facts. I asked her 5+5, 2+2, 4+4, 10+10 and she answered all with no hesitation. That actually surprised me a little bit. My kid is a freakin' genius. She really amazes me and her capacity of knowledge surprises me every day. How she innately knows the things she knows is unbelievable to me. I hope she always relishes learning and school the way she does now. I hope nothing ever deters her from it.
I'm a proud mama. Sorry to brag shamelessly this way--I just can't help it. I burst at the seams over my Care Bear (I do with all my kids, however I just had a glowing parent/teacher conference with Care Bear's teacher so my seams are currently bursting over her).
To shamelessly steal from Karen: Ilovehermadly!!
It is an understatement to say that Care Bear looooooves school. I knew she would, but it's so refreshing to have a child who loooooovvveees school and who dives into her (albeit minimal) homework the minute she gets home from school and tells her friends she can't play until she does her homework.
I really like Care Bear's teacher. She is new to our school this year and is very young and has young children herself. She reminds me a lot of Ramona Quimby's kindergarten teacher and awhile back I actually did a comparison between Ramona Quimby and Care Bear. The comparison is more evident than ever now. (Except that Care Bear does not cause the problems Miss Ramona did).
Anyhoo.....Care Bear received a glowing report from her teacher. Her report card consisted of all 3s and 4s (Kindergarten equivalent to A+ and As). 3s mean she is performing at expected grade level and 4s mean she exceeds expected grade level. By the end of this quarter she was supposed to be able to count to 25. Yeah. She was counting to 25 before she was 3. Feisty can count to 25. She knows all her letters, capital and lower case. She can write all of her letters--capital and lower case. She knows and can write all of her numbers. She knows her phone number, her mommy and daddy's first and last names (which apparently, some kids don't know--hmmmmm). She can use scissors, glue, crayons and all other art accessories properly--she should be able to considering the monumental hours she logs in using these items at home. She can hop on one foot, skip, run, do hop-scotch, etc....She finishes her centers so quickly she wanders around the class aimlessly until her teacher pulls her over and has her read books to her. Care Bear read five books to her the other day. Her teacher adores her, which means I adore her teacher. She can not get over her artistic ability.
Go throw up now because the bragging is not over yet.
On the way up here today (today is a non-kindergarten day so she goes to the Early Childhood Center which is here on campus) she asked me if I would like to hear how far she can count. Of course I said I would love nothing more. She got to 200 and then I decided that we could go on like this until she got to infinitiy and beyond so I quizzed her on other things. I asked her our phone number, which she knew. I asked her who she would call if something happened to mommy or daddy and there was an emergency, and she knew (except she was concerned about the fact that she can't reach the phone--we might need to find another location). Then, just for kicks I thought I'd ask her some math facts. I asked her 5+5, 2+2, 4+4, 10+10 and she answered all with no hesitation. That actually surprised me a little bit. My kid is a freakin' genius. She really amazes me and her capacity of knowledge surprises me every day. How she innately knows the things she knows is unbelievable to me. I hope she always relishes learning and school the way she does now. I hope nothing ever deters her from it.
I'm a proud mama. Sorry to brag shamelessly this way--I just can't help it. I burst at the seams over my Care Bear (I do with all my kids, however I just had a glowing parent/teacher conference with Care Bear's teacher so my seams are currently bursting over her).
To shamelessly steal from Karen: Ilovehermadly!!
Oct 22, 2007
Mooooooooooo!!!
The Scene: Early this morning. Mom (me) is in the bathroom brushing her teeth. Care Bear is in Mom's room sitting on the bed watching Mom get ready for work. Mom is wearing a cute, never worn before pink maternity top.
Mmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Care Bear: You look like a big, pink cow!!
Mom: (Immediately drops toothbrush, rips off pink blouse and searches
feverishly for another top that will hopefully not make me look like a cow. I
find a striped shirt--also never yet been worn--and put that on).
Care Bear: No! I like the pink shirt that makes you
look like a pink cow. Now you just look like a striped cow.
Mom: (Picks up dropped toothbrush and continues to brush--laughing so hard
in spite of myself that I'm about to spew milk out of my udders).
Mmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Oct 19, 2007
Pumpkin Carving Contest
So, here's a fun little thing to do to get you in the Halloween spirit and keep you busy for a few if you're bored (or simply not quite in the mood yet to be doing whatever it is you're supposed to be doing)....
I found this contest through Pea and the contest is held over at "Spilt Milk". Go on over there for the rules for the contest.
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The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
I found this contest through Pea and the contest is held over at "Spilt Milk". Go on over there for the rules for the contest.
Here is my pumpkin that I carved.
HAPPY PUMPKIN CARVING!!
The "Baby Name Game" will continue throughout the remainder of my pregnancy (or until I decide on names, whichever comes first). Click on the button in the sidebar to add any names you think of. This is much harder than I thought!
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