Mmmmm...

Ben and Jerry are gods who fell to earth, and Chunky Monkey is the manna they brought forth.

we survived!!!

Christmas is over, and we survived! All in all I don't think it went too bad, being my first year hosting. Nobody severed a limb, or set themselves on fire, and even though I burnt two fingers making breakfast, they aren't too badly burnt. I have many ideas of things I will change for next year. First and formost, I will have more seating, and I will have a more open design to my furniture, enableing people to sit more comfortably. I will make sure there is ample room at the table, and probably purchase a card table, just to be sure-aside from that-the morning portion is pretty smooth. The evening, however, will be much, much different. I will plan the meal carefully ahead of time, and it will probably end up being a meat/cheese/veggie spread unless someone other than Auntie is willing to come over and help me cook-I had offers of help, just not enough prep on my part to be able to accept said offers. Two-I will have a set time that food will be ready at, and iffen you are not here at that time, tough nookies, you get what you get.Third, and joint with the last, I will not ask anybody to bring anything unless I am fairly certain they will be here when they say they will, not two and a half hours later.
Some people might be asking themselves why I want to host again next year, with my mini-list of bitching and moaning above-Quite simply, even with all the cleaning, cooking, rearrangeing and prep-work-it will be easier than carting three kids around all day long. Kids who will get easily over stimulated and cranky, and if we are at home, can remove themselves to their room. Also, I have no desire to load the van up with what will equal 1 infant seat, 1 car seat, 1 booster seat, two parents, and presents, even more presents going home. Nope-just gonna stay home and make everyone come to me.


The boys did good. The slept most of the day on monday, and were not really themselves again until tuesday evening. Theor festivities lasted longer, and they tire more quickly. Hubby managed not to be too terribly Scroogey, and even left the computer room to eat, open presents, and some minor socialization. I think I did fairly well, but everything hit me up alongside the back of the head on tuesday morning. I woke up just long enough to figure out I felt like crap, and went back to bed. Hubby did a magnificant job of taking care of everything around the house, and not panicking too badly. Until the Dr puts a firmer percentage on my chances of popping premature, Hubby is easily panicked by any aches, pains, or tiredness he deems unnusual. Also, I am now having some truely awesome heartburn and acid reflux issues, and get to go pick up some meds for that tonight so that I can hopefully sleep in a semi reclined possition again.

For the record-the house was very clean for the holiday, I had handtowels in the bathroom, plenty of clean dishes, and it is once again clean. There are some toys about, but the get put away at night. It is not as clean as it was christmas morning, but it is still very clean-YAY US. Also YAY for the guys who pitched in a lot to clean the main floor, and ultra YAY yo Bro-in-law, who single handedly saved christmas breakfast by going on a bisuit hunt for me!

'Twas a few nights before christmas....

'Twas a few night before christmas, whne all thruogh the house, elephants could have been marching...I ended up going to bed before ten pm last night, something unheard of for me. With the boys gone untill later today, and the shopping, and cleaning, and Hubby's abnormal snoring, I haven't been sleeping well, add to that being in the third trimester of pregnancy with a very, very, active fetus, and I was wiped. On the plus side-I finished all of our christmas shopping and wrapping last night, and seperated out the gifts that need to come with today. I only have a few minor areas to clean and vaccum, then thats done-well-that and the boysroom, but hey-if it gets done a little late-no sweat, right? I have to hit the grocery store, but Cub is open till four and I am leaving in half an hour, there cannot be too many people shopping at 9 am, Can there?

I will not be posting anything else till after christmas day has passed, and I have the boys calmed down a little more. I will be BabyBear free both Monday and tuesday, so will have plenty of time to assemble, find batteries, and what not.

Also, it appears that the mail runs today, but not on monday...Hmmmm

cleaning, physically and mentally

I have been cleaning the house in preperation for Christmas. Really cleaning, I sppose the best wy to describe it would be spring cleaning, in the winter, minus the airing out part, eing until today, it has been below freezing out, and between small children and small animals, we need to keep the house warm. Anyways, I am cleaning, and moreover, decluttering. The boys room will be done late friday night, when they will both be gone, and it will be finished, and many things will be romoved and never missed. My room, well, it'll get done sometime after Christmas, even though I know it should be a priority, it isn't, as long as I can safely manuever, and keep my clean and dirty stuff separate, it can wait. The common areas, however, are starting to look good. It is a slow process, but that is because it is being done right. I don't want my house to just look clean, I want it to actually be CLEAN. I will be scrubbing down the bathrooms after BabyBear gets picked up, he is less than six months, and I don''t want him to have a bad reaction to any cleaning supplies, but everything else will hopefully be done before then. Boxes will be emptied, stored, or gotten rid of if I cannot find their contents a home, floors will be vacuumed, furniture will be dusted, shelves will be organized, and once done, it will be kept that way. Everyone of an age to help cleanup has been informed that it will be staying clean, under penalty of pissing off the pregnant woman who makes their meals!

What I am finding, though, is that as the house is getting clean, everything else is getting less hectic, a little more calm, and a little less troubled. As the floor is taken care of, Littleman has a place to roam, which reminds me of the need for baby gates, Bigguy has areas where he can color, or have a toy out, ONE AT A TIME!!!, and I am able to think more clearly. Hubby is less stressed whne he gets home from work, and I am less stressed because I am less worried. This all gives me time to collect myself, my thoughts, and my mind. It's starting to give me time to relax-without feeling guilty for it. I see this trend continueing, and that is good. I see Bigguy playing in his room after christmas, instead of wanting to play in the kitchen while I am trying to cook. I see Littleman walking, cause he'll have all the clutter free space he needs.

Generally, I do not make New Years resolutions, i feel that if something neds changeing, you should resolve to change it when the impact fully hits you. Even with everything I've delt with, and all the clutter I've always had around me, I resolve to keep my world within the walls of my house clean and relatively clutter free. I resolve to keep the boys home and homelife as chaos free as possible, and I resolve to not feel guilty if it takes me a few tries to get everything right. I can try to be supermom, but I am only me, and I need to remember that.

May your holidays be relatively chaos free, comfortable, and full of love.

Christmas and nudity

Bigguy is a natural nudist. Maybe it's from being born during a very hot summer, naybe it's because I never forced him to stay dressed, either way, he likes to be naked. Now that he is older we have him to a point where he keeps his underwear on almost all of the time, and generally, if we are not leaving the house, I can talk him into a pair of pants-generally through threatening his computer time, but he is in pants nonetheless. Just now I finished a conversation with him that I will be having everyday until after christmas. It is the talk wherein I remind him that even though Christmas is going to be at our house this year, he still has to get dressed. Yes, pajammies (I love how he says that!) count as clothing, and yes, he has to keep dressed the ENTIRE time that we have company. Company is anyone that does not live in our house. Yes, everyone will know that he is wearing underwear even if they do not see it. No, he does not have to announce when he poops, and yes, he does have to close the bathroom door. Yes, he even has to be dressed when he is eating, and no, I am not worried about him spilling on his clothing and staining it-we can wash it. Yes, everyone else will be wearing cl;othes, even his little brother...well, no, the new baby won't be wearing clothes, 'cause he won't be born yet, but momma will be wearing clothes. Yes, I am sure that Poppa Jazzdad will be very proud that you are wearing clean underwear, and that you don't have to show him, and Auntie Sistah-girl and Uncle Rice will both be here, and yes, they will see that you are wearing clothes.
Imagine that, multipl times, daiy, for the next five days.

Merry Christmas!

personal thoughts on being a dad, made less personal by posting them here

Growing up, I thought for a while that I had two dads. Sistah-girl and I are half sisters, we share a mom, but have different dads. That a pretty forign concept for a small girl to fully understand, so I was certain I had two dads. As I got older, it slowly dawned on me that neither of them were very good at being a dad. My dad was gone most of the time between my being three and eight an a half. He ran off to the navy, and I saw him twice a year, if I was lucky. During this time, he married Evil-step-mom, and made a family that very neatly excluded me, then, when he came back, tried very hard to force me to fit in, also trying to convince me that living with him and ESM would be better. In retrospect, it would have been horrid. Sistah-girls dad just, well,...he didn't to too hot either. I had uncles, and mom dated, but I never really saw what a good dad was like, up close and personal, until Jazz-dad. He is a good father to his own kids, and a very good father to me and Sista-girl, and I know I don't tell him this enough, because I don't know exactly how to tell him this in the first place...Something just feels awkward about sitting down one day and going- "Excuse me, Jazzdad? Thanks for being a good dad, and for being there for us." OK, on paper it looks easy, but I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet.
Hubby, I think, is a good dad. He is a little hard, sometimes, but for the most part he is good. Also, he realizes that I do not get a day off from being a mom, full time, and is doing much better at spending time with the boys so I can have some "me time". What really impresses me about Hubby is that he had no real idea of what he would be getting into, no one other than uncles to speak to about being a dad, since he never knew who is dad was. My sons have two really good grandfathers, neither of whom are related by blood. Jazzdad is wonderful, but that isn't surprising, he was and is, a good dad. Then there is Father-in-law. Hubby's step-dad, basically. He wasn't, and sometimes isn't, a very good dad, but he is a very good grandpa as well, in a different way than Jazzdad, but still good. I hope that my boys grow up one day to be good dads, but they have good rolemodels, so that should help.

Yet another installment of "Ask Housewife"

Recently some asked me "Housewife2000, How on earth do you do all your Christmas shopping while pregnant, and having two kids?"
Well, valued readers, I'll share my secrets. If at all possible, I avoid it. I will write detailed lists of what I need, and send others to do my bidding...namely Hubby. Failing that, I go on weekdays around midmorning...after work starts, but before lunchtime-around 10ish, if I can get someone to watch the boys, or I go in the middle of the night. Barring all of those options, I do what anyone else does. Shops at the last minute, while vowing not to do it again, knowing I will next year and it'll be even worse, and going home to pass out before wrapping everything and taking massive amounts of ibuprofin to get the headache brought on by thousands of screaming children to abate.

Next!
"Hey, HW2K!! How do you deal with your tree with the kids and all?"
Well, to be honest, this will be my first year with kids and a tree to worry about. Here's what we're gonna do- As much as it hurts-I will be using a fake tree-yes a FAKE TREE, needles can be poisenous, painfuk and all around dangerous to the crawling and just starting to walk set, with #3 on the way, I am gaurenteed a crawler next year as well, so we bought a tree in a box. Second-NO BREAKABLE OR HEIRLOOM ORNAMENTS-you would think this is commen sense, but many a person has made the mistake of overestimating their childs good behaviour in the past, and lost something irreplaceable. Third- pretty much all the lights, garland and ornaments will be on the upper two thirds of the tree. For pictures the presents will be possitioned in such a way as to where it isn't noticable-that or I won't give a damn-I got kids-remember!?

"Housewife,"some one else asked, "How do you keep your kids out of the presents before it's time to open them?"
Your kidding, right? I have problems keeping myself out of the gifts. You just keep an eye on 'em. just like everything else.

Well, that's about all for now-time to go and clean for the rearrangeing so that we have a home for the tree-hopefully minimal rearrangeing only

snotty noses

Littleman had to be brought to the doctors today. His normal doctor was out of the office, her own child is ill, so we saw one of the other pediatricians. His first response was "WOW, 27 pounds at fourteen months! He's a big'un!" Dr V-something-eastern-european-that-I-can-neither-pronounce-remember-nor-spell then let me know that it is a sinus infection. Rather a Sinus Infection, capitol letters. Apparently it is possible to have both a viral and a bacterial infection at the exact same time. Giving a 'scrip for the bacterial won't do any real good until the viral is gone, and by the time the virus is gone, the bacterial will have largely run it's course. What Dr V did impart to me was the knowledge of what over the counters to give Littleman, and in what dosages, to clear everything up. All said and done, even with the box of Kleenex, I spent less that I would've on a prescription, and get the benifits of med induced drowsiness to boot. YAY!!!

Bigguy, btw, is just fine, a little feverish, but nothing to worry about and no more snotty-nose.

really, I have nothing at all of interest to say right now. I cannot even convince myself of it's preintabilaty. I just wanted to put something down in bloggy form right now to give me a very temporary respite from the land of whiny, crying, snotty-nosed children with colds. by the way. my usage of the term "snotty-nosed" is to be taken litterally, not figuratively- I have a house full of children, under the age of five, only on of whome speaks clearly, and that's on a good day, with snotty noses, weepy eyes, and sneezes. Yay for me!

of birthdays and food

It's my birthday! I'm gonna clean and cook and take a bath, WOOHOO!!!!
Seriously, though, I don't have any big plans for the night, but will be going out with my mom on sunday. It'll be just us two, as adults, with Jazzdad watching the boys. Sistah-girl asked me when the last time Mom and I did anything, just the two of us, no kids, and my innitial response was, "Bigguy's what, 4 years olds now?" But, that's not quite true-we used to go to our weightwatchers meetings together, and that was relatively kid free-but rarely did we actually go out and do anything. I am looking forward to that. Tomorrow, Auntie is gonna swing buy, bring me my card, and maybe we'll go shopping, once again, no boys. I saw her, child free, on wednesday, but that was to take her to the hopsital and then to get her truck, so I don't think that counts. Auntie's man was upset when he found out she hadn't gotten me my card yet, and demanded that she see me tomorrow-he's the one who was in the hospital, so he want's to make sure I have a good birthday since I helped out him and auntie. Tonight, I will probably just make dinner for me and Hubby and the boys. The only way we can go out is if Bear and Mrs Bear pay me the full amount they owe me, and that'll pro'lly not happen. Since I will more than likely be cooking, I asked Bigguy what he wanted for dinner, to get some ideas. his response is as follows
"Meatloaf, with ketchup...yep, you should by the stuff for meatloaf...been a long time since we had meat loaf...OH!! Or maybe...a GIGANTIC PIZZAAAA!!!!! yep, pizza or a ginormous meatloaf...you should go to the Gigantic Pizza and Humongus Meatloaf Store" and by me dinner there, momma. Momma...why are you laughing so hard?"

So, if you call me, and I'm not home, I am at the really big foodstuff store, I guess.

DAMN YOU BRAXTON HICKS, DAMN YOU!!!!!!!!!

two days til' twenty-seven

Dec ninth will be my twenty-seventh birthday. Hubby is twenty-eight. I am pregnant with our third, and last, biological child. A friend of mine will be thirty-five in January, she and her husband, who is also a year older, like mine, are expecting their first child four or five months after Baby#3 is due. I am a young parent, just like my mom, my mother-in-law, and many other people I know. I am finding, though, that the other stay-at-home moms are older than me, and don't understand where I am coming from, but other people my age who are working are not moms, and they no longer understand me, either.

People keep asking me what I really, truly, want for my birthday. Just last night, I relized it would be nice to have some new spices for my kitchen, and maybe a free standing rack or lazy-susan for them to be displayed at. I felt odd after saying this, like somehow the wild girl from my youth and the 55 year old future me suddenly merged, and thus I am the almost 27 year old HW2K. I really want useful things, especially kitchen things. The kitchen is my haven. I keep it clean and unclutterred, and my life feels the same. It is one of the few spots in my life where I know I can teach Bigguy something, something good, and he isn't just humouring me, he is actually learning, and doesn't already know.
I love getting clothing, but being pregnant makes that slightly impractical, I can get maternity clothing, and never wear it again, or get clothing that might not fit me for who-knows-how-long after the baby arrives.

I will tell all of you, here and now, what I really, truly, want. I feel guilty for admitting it, though. I want my sons' room to be clean, without my having to do most of it, I want to sit down for a meal at a restaraunt, and get to eat all my food, while hot, without having to cut up peices for a child, I want to go anywhere, and not have to keep an eye on a very active four year old, and a very loud one year old, no matter how well behaved they are in public, I want to go some where, come back home, and find my house, completely clean, without having to lift a finger or telling other that I need help. In short, I want a fantasy world, and I feel guilty for it. Somehow I feel that not being able to be super woman, all the time, even while pregnant, diminishes my stay-at-home mom cred, and other housewives the world over are being notified of my shortcomings in their super secret mop bucket communication devices. I also know, however, that my family appreciates what I do, that I am a good mom, and as long as it is clean for Christmas, I am all good.

Oh, and since it is almost my birthday, it is almost time to get a tree and decorate. We all know that it is a crime to have a real tree up BEFORE my birthday, but after is OK.

living life in black and white, also, sundogs

Driving Hubby to work, I cross over The River--people in MN know whereof I speak-more over, I can state I cross The River on 494, and they know exactly the bridge I am on-bwahahaha--There was a very dense fog this morning, coupled with a pre-awakening dusting of snow-and the salt and sludge being thrown onto my windshield faster than I can slear it off-and the world had an oddly black and white feel to it. I am looking around as much as driving allows, gasped, and almost pulled off the road for a few moments, just to look. Then, I saw a literally breathtaking view(breathtaking events, btw, are not as pleasent as they could be if you are opperating a minivan at 65 mph) There was a beautiful pair of sundogs, in full clolor, standing out against the fog in such a way you could see the top of the circle. I have never seen anything so powerful while driving hubby to work before. It's as if Mother Nature was saying "It's okay, child, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone does right, and it all works out beautifully anyhow" For some reason, Mother Nature always sounds like The Oracle, from The Matrix, in my mind, and I find it soothing.

Do sondogs come in pairs, or is the dual sundog counted as one-you always get two, and they form a circle-any of you science types can fill me in?

Bigguy, in all his diabolical glory

I amsitting at the computer, fretting over what is going to end up being a large checking oversight in the banks favor, when Bigguy comes into the room.
"Momma, I am thirsty"
The rule, that he knows all to well, is that he can have ONE cup of cocoa, or warm milk with honey, or chamomile tea, at bedtime. He hadn't yet had it, so I make him some caffiene free cocoa.
Cut to half an hour later, and me deciding that the error won't kill us, we will be in the hole till friday, at the max, I do not now when the check will go through, or even if it was deposited yet, andI have my banks assurance that they will homor it-because they make four more dollors by charging me an overdraft instead of an NSF-greedy bastards. But friday, I will be getting paid by Bear, which will cover everything, and by one of the basement dwelling roommates, which will cover groceries, and my going out for my birthday. Getting ready to go to bed when in comes Bigguy, again.
"Momma, I am still thirsty," setting cup on edge of my desk, and while walking out the door, "Oh, and I am hungry!"
It's the hungry part that he knows gets me, everytime. I promised myself a long, long, time ago that my children would never have to go to sleep hungry while they lived under my roof and were under age 18 or in school. Bigguy is really skinny. The combination of those two things gets him a bedtime sandwich, or popcorn, or cookie almost every time. I have finally wised up to his ruse, claver though it is, and started enforcing dinner time eating a little heavier, as he will eat just enough a dinner, so he can be hungry at bedtime. I have learned that letting him go to bed when it is his own fault he is hungry, then feeding him in the morning seems to be working.
In my defense, if we ate dinner at 5, I would give him a snack before now, nooo problem, but dinner ended up being at about eight tonight, so he get nothing!!!
BWAHAHAHAHA
time for me to go to bed now

playing my memories over the airwaves for everyone to hear

Scientists believe that out of all the senses, smell is the sence most closely linked to memory. I will argue this with them any day of the week. For me, it's hearing. Yes, smelss can bring back fond feelings, good and bad memeries, and brief glimpses of the past, but a sound, a song, a phrase brings back entire relationships, whole months and days, and sometimes an ecstatic joy or profound grief and sadness.

When I drive, I listen to the radio, and will constantly flip through the stations untill I here what I want. The kicker is, I often times don't know what I want to listen to until I hear it. Today, while driving, a song came on that reminded of an old boyfriend. He was a friend, dirst and formost, and somehow a romantic relationship came out of that, and in my youthful stupidity, or ignorance, I threw that relationship away for, well, something and someone stupid. My point, though, is that this one song by a group that we both like, brought back memories of the happiness and silliness we had, his intesity, our inside jokes, our moments alone, the pain that I caused and the sadness and anger I had towards myself afterwards. A three minute song made me relive about a year of my life.

Sometimes, music will just make me feel. Sometimes, it makes me laugh, occasionally, a song can make me cry. Movie, book and tv quotes bring back soo much, but songs, playing for everyone to hear, bring back my past, in all it's splendor and squalor, for everyone to hear.

Train asses and other funnies

Bigguy had Sistah-Girl and me laughing so hard after dinner that I was afraid we would break. The expression 4 year olds can use to describe things are priceless!

busy day

It all started with hubby staying home sick, again. He is feeling better, has an appetite again, will be going back to work tomorrow, and, thankfully, it's not a kidney stone. All we can figure is everyone in the house keeps playing tag withthe mystery illness. I have been spared due to my constant stuffiness of pregnancy. I have to drive one of the basement dwelling roommates to and ome from work, but he is appreciative, and I hear a report on the radio that his job's corporate office(Walgreen's) has suspended 4 St Louis Park pharmacists, WITHOUT PAY, for failing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception. Yay Walgreens!!! WOOHOO!!! I will get all my prescriptions filled there now for sure! As I leave to pick him up, my cell phone rings-it's the Doctor's office, they have all the results from my ultrasound. Everything is perfect! Yes, the plecenta is a little close to the cervix, but is anchored in such a way that it will grow AWAY from the cervix, not toward it. No placenta Previa for me. Oh, did I mention my slip onto my ass and wrench my sholder down the stairs this morning? After ascertaining that myself and BabyBoy#3 were fine, everyone yelled at me for being silly enough to fall on the stairs, while preggers. Yeah...like I tried! Then, everyone cleaned! Not, just me, I have a dining room again, plus a kitchen and a fair portion of living room.
Oh, also, we decided on the name for BB#3, which will not be divulged here, because I don't use any of the boys names here.
I am rambly and tired and want an orange.

Oh. My. God.

This will be an open letter in two parts-
First to the People Of Minnesota
Dear POMN,
It snowed! It snowed last week, last year, and pretty much every year since there's been a minnesota! Why is it that y'all seem to forget, evry yeear, that this white fluffy stuff, that is cold, and often slipperry, falls from the sky and clogs the roads. Why do you forget, every year, that people will be idiots, including you, by driving at vastly different speeds and swerving all around in bad conditions. PEOPLE! GET A GRIP!! It's just SNOW, it comes, it goes, sometimes it does both in the same day, sometime it sticks around for a while, but it happens every year. Oh, and if I can brush the snow off the top of my minivan, while PREGNANT, you can sure as hell brish the snow off the roof of your ford festiva or whatever the fuck your little tuiny car right in front of me is, that is blowing all the accumilated snow and ice from it's roof into my window any time we go faster than say...twenty miles an hour. Thank You.

Part two, to the Drunken Girl I Used to Go to High School With
Dear Chick-
I am really, really, glad that you finally got help for your drinking problem, I know that it couldn't have been easy. I am sorry, that in your teens, you felt the urge to drink yourself into a stupor and do stupid things. I also understand that one of the twelve steps is seeking forgiveness. However, I do not think that the powers that be at AA wanted you, if by chance you were to run into someone from highschool, say ME, at the grocery store, right before a holiday, to fess up to having slept with my boyfreind from almost 11 years ago. Really honey, it was an awkward situation, and I could care less, it's over and done, and I haven't seen him in YEARS. Did you give anythought to if I really needed to know this, or did you just decide, "Oh, Theres HW2K, I should dredge up really bad, potentially painful, and deffinately awkward things from our past, in the MIDDLE OF THE PRODUCE DEPT?""" This struck you as a good idea?! To be perfectly blunt, I knew he slept with you, and pretty much every other woman in the school, I was young and stupid, and insecure. You were popular, drunk and easy. We were both easy marks. Get over it, and please, don't corner anyone else in the store.


Oh, and for anyone wondering-Littleman is doing fairly much better, Bigguy is whiny, and Hubby is home sick today, and I am praying it's not a kidney stone.

more thanksgiving stuff

My mom does her thanksgiving the sunday following, so that, feasably, everyone can be there. This only works, however, when someones youngest child decided to become heavily conjested and starts vomitting profusely. I am rather frustrated, in that this is the second major, and I don't know how many total, family get together I've missed in the last just over a year. I know it's not entirely my fault, as I cannot control when my kids fall ill, but it still sucks.

thanksgiving, the recap

Everything came out well, I think. Relatively on time, and, as always for turkey day, there was more than enough food. The only real problem I have is this-My turkey was very flavorful, but cooked faster than it should have by almost an hour, and was dry-but only on one side!! Otherwise-it rocked. Oh, and it became painfully obvious that I need a large serving platter, and a large cutting board of the meat carving variety-in a pinch-a pizza pan works though.

Now, for something completely different-
My Mother-in-Law does many a thing to piss me off, being she is queen passive-aggressive, and as I said, I don't like to play that fame, but every now and again, she does something that is genuinely nice for me. She has a fabulous pot that I have envied for a while, it is heavy, cooks evenly, rarely sticks, and, well, it just rocks. She and the FIL found on at the thrifst store they frequent, picked it up for me, are giving it a proper cleaning and dis-infecting first-just to be on the safeside, and then it will be mine! Plus, they are taking the boys tomorrow so that I can finally see the Harry Potter movie, since I didn't go when everyone else did.

my kitchen, part three...

Pies are made and cooling, well, okay, they are baked and cooling, the Mrs Smith's Pies people baked them. Sink is shined, counters sscrubbed, floors mopped, stove shiny. Now, can I keep it cleaned? If I am smart, I will clean as I go tomorrow.

my kitchen, part two...

After going to the grocery store, and miraculously buying everything I need to make dinner tomorrow for less than $35, well okay, like 40 cents less, but still, less, I came home, recovered from the horror of day before thanksgiving at Cub Foods, oh Dear God, the humanity, and prepared to clean afformentioned kitchen. I have pies to bake tonight, so I can get in a 17 pound turkey tomorrow, so I can feed my household and Sistah-Girl,(as I have decided to call her here). One needs cleanliness, and perhaps more importantly, space and dishes, in order to cook. No, not all my dishes are dirty, not even half, just the diches essential to making Thanksgiving dinner, oh, and tonights dinner, must remember to feed the Hubby and children tonight! I open the dishwasher...pull out the bottem rack...and notice...wait for it.. THE THREE INCHES OF STANDING WATER!!! Yes, standing water in my dishwasher, so I decided to run it again, with all the original dishes in there, to make sure someone who is roughly 3 and a half feet tall didn't walk in and turn the dial with his four year old fingers. Yes, I could do the dishes by hand, but that will take longer, and I need the sink clear to thaw the turkey in it's luxurious ice-water bath, otherwise it'll get thawed in the tub, and then the boys cannot have baths tonight. Let's be honest, the chances of either son getting a bath tonoght is slim to none anywho.

Oh, and did I mention I still need to get toilet paper and laundry degertent-neither of which are necessary to dinner tonight or tomorrow, but both will make life easier and cleaner.

It's almost over-And then, Mom-the-Hipple gets to do it all on sunday! Well, minus the Green bean casserrole, I'll bring that.

my kitchen...

my kitchen is a mess, my stove is filthy, I need to do the dishes and mop the floor, but...my entire house smells like two fresh loves of crispy banana bread, tomorrow it will smell like pie, and thursday it will just smell good!

Baby # 3

I had my 20 week ultra sound today, well 20 weeks 1 day. I am halfway through this pregnancy with baby#3, and everything is looking good. My doctor will be getting back to me early next week to set up an appointment before our next regularly scheduled endevor if it looks like anything is amiss, but I doubt that will happen. I was lucky in that I got a very honest ultrasound technician. US techs have a hard row to hoe, especially when they are working with pregnant women. They are limitted by liability laws in what they can tell the family,but at the same tame, can use their judgement to decide what is necessary. The US tech, when I had my ultra sound with Littleman, was withen their legal right to tell me about the 2 vessel cord, as that was obvious, not easily prone to error, and within her guidelines of what is doable, but chose instead to make a lot of "uh-huh" and "hmmm" noises that freaked the shit out of me and Hubby. This time, Hubby was home with the kids, all of whom were still in bed. The tech had everything warmed up and ready to go, she let me know everytime she found what she needed, if she needed to look a little more what she was saving images of, and if it all looked good. It was very reassuring that she had no problems finding the 4-chamber heart, and that the beat was stable, as both the boys have murmers. Innocent murmers, but they could become more malicious as they age and become more active. She found the cord right away, all three vessels in tact, entering the baby's belly and leaving the placenta. Both lungs, diaphragm, kidneys, liver, bladder and stomach all accounted for. I am so pleased. Many people do not have the luxery of giving birth to a healthy baby, with all parts present, accounted for, and functional, and it appears that I will be having this for the third time in three years. Her only concern was very, very mild, she stressed that Dr A will call me if he thinks it's an issue- My placenta is sitting nearer to the cervix than is normal. It is not touching the cervix, nor is it overlapping the cervix, so it does NOT look like placenta previa will be an issue, but she just wanted to give me a heads up. Everything looks fine, healthy and on track for the babies developmental age, incliding Hubby and my baby's trademark big head and linebacker shoulders. The circumferance is already measuring in at roughly 17.5 cenimeters, which translates roughly into 6.5 to 7 inches. It will be at least double that come birth. The shoulders you ask? I do not have an exact measurement, but the tech said they were sizeable.
I am happy to have a healthy baby, I am blessed to have a heathy baby.

Oh, what's that you ask? Wasn't I supposed to find out gender today? I did! It appears that baby#3, who still doesn't have a name picked out yet, is going to be Baby BOY #3. Well, either that, or I'm having a girl with a pronounced penis!

7:30 tomorrow morning

ultrasound at 7:30 am. I gained too much weight, again.

four in the morning?

I wake up, I had rolled over onto my back again, and cannot feel my feet. I need to pee, badly. I need to figure out if it's okay to wake up Hubby, to help me out of bed, 'cause I slept wrong, and cannot feel my feet, at four in the morning. Have I set the scene yet?
All of a sudden, I realise Hubby isn't in bed, he is in the hallway, grumbling, and Bigguy is whining. Okay, I think, Bigguy has had a nightmare, and Hubby, in one of his superdad moments, is dealing with it. WRONG!!!! Bigguy was still awake at four this morning! Quarter after four to be precise!!! What is a four year old boy doing awake at four in the morning???? Hubby impresses upon Bigguy the importance of going to sleep, immediately, and crawls into the room, explaining to me that when he got up to go to the bathroom, he saw that Bigguy was awake, and obviously had been all night long. After he helps me out of bed, and I go pee, we all drift off to sleep.
Cut to the morning. I woke up early, Baby bear needed to be watched for a few hours this morning as his Poppa Bear had a doctors appointment. I woke up early, three hours after the earlier incedent. Everyone is snug in bed. When Hubby wakes up, he lets me know that he wants Bigguy awake after I get home from dropping him at work. We wake up one of the roommates, drive Hubby to work, and begin the hour long task of waking up a four year old. It is 9:30 approximately when I get him down stairs, and about 10:30 when he stops whining and fussing and carrying on. I explain to him that when we say it's bedtime, he needs to stay in bed. Now, I get to keep a four year old, who hasn't gotten enough sleep, awake until at least 7:30 or 8 pm in order to try to get him on some semblance of a schedule.
Fun for me!!

NOOOO!!!!!

One of my favorite books is being turned into a movie-it looks to be good, so I am looking forward to seeing "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." I grew up with them, and hope they are done justice. The VIDEO GAME, however, disturbs me. I was fine with the Lord of the Rings game, and am cool with all the Harry Potter commercialization, but not C.S. Lewis, please.

Old friends

I am quite lucky in that I have some friends yet that have known me for over ten years. Most of them are very honest with me, and I with them. While having a converation with one particular friends, whom I have not always seen eye to eye with due to religeous differences, he pointed out just how much I have changed since becoming a mom. I realized some of the changes right off the bat, but others surprised me. I always knew that being a mom mellowed me out in many respects. It made me take my relationship with Hubby more seriously, took me off the dating scene, changed how I dressed, and in many respects, changed my attitude about life in general. What I didn't realize was how ahppy it made my long time friends to see these changes. They no longer live in fear of me getting hurt, badly hurt, or running away, or hurting myself, or snapping. What amazed me, is I never knew how scared they were for me. I never knew, with as honest as we all are with each other, how much I was hurting them by just being me, which at the time was a pretty messed up person.
I am very glad that I came, relatively unscathed, all said and done, through the forest of my past, and I am glad that I have a few, close friends who were there with me the entire way, to remind where I came from, and how proud I should be of what I have now.
I have a husband, two kids with a third on the way, a fabulous, and supporting family. I am lucky, and I know it.

a few blessed moments of almost silence

For what seems like the first time in days, it is almost quiet on the small child front. Baby Bear is finally napping, after a morning and early afternoon full of false starts. As we all know, giggling at your feet is much more productive than sleep, yes. Littleman has his One-Year-Molars coming in. Oddly enough, these are molars that arrive in the generally time frame that a child turns one. Out of all of his teath that arrive on schedule in his poor cross-teething mouth, it is his molar on the bottom. The half of his mouth that, until yesterday, only had 2 of his 6 teeth, and therefor the harder area in which for a tooth to come thru. For newer readers to this here thing called my blog, Cross-Teething is a phenomena wherein the teeth cut through the gums in an order distinctly out of the normal pattern. In littleman's mouth, it happenned thussly-bottom two center teeth, almost at the same time, aound ten months(teething started at three), top right two(being right center then one just to right of that) at about 11 months, followed by the left top two at about 12 and a half months. Now, at thirteen months, the left bottom molar came out of nowhere in just two and a half days, teething and all, the other three, plus the other two bottom teeth that go into making the front eight are all really close, but look to be taking as long as they can without medical intervention. Bigguy still has the mystery virus. It is deffinately a virus, not the flu, and not hugely communicable, so I suppose it could be worse. All said and done, I have a four year old that doesn't feel well, so is whiney and clingy, not to mention hugely frustrated, because he was feeling much. much better yesterday, and woke up feeling "very angry and unhappy" in his tummy, nose and throat. (It isn't right that he is that cute, while that sick), I have a cranky, sleep deprived Bugguy, coming in at thirteen months, who is hurting, and mad because Momma cannot make it all better, and what am I doing holding and feeding another baby when he doesn't feel good, and Ohh1 Is that banana and cheerios and pepperoni and milk(eat eat eat, sleep), and a three and a half month old who is more interested in his outer limbs than sleep, so is becoming more cranky. Just about the time that I get one or even two settled down, the others act up, and all are awake and cranky! And just think, in a few more months, I will have a newborn!! Granted, I won't have Baby Bear anymore, and Littleman will be older and more used to having a baby around, and Bigguy should be starting school in september.

On a different note, we have the bed set up, and will be very comfy for the few months until we buy a queen size. I figure we will need the queen by february so that my rapidly growing tummy will stay in bed and ubder the covers. Oy, I am getting huge. Yes, some of it isn't baby wight, but all of the fat is at the arms and thighs-the tummy is all baby. Yep,all baby, and that watermelon I swallowed whole on a dare.

blogiversary, and cardboard boxes

First, let us all stop to wish my blog a Happy first birthday!! YAY!!!

Second, something that will come to no surprise of anyone with smallish children, or anyone who has seen my oldest's favorite playthings The Cardboard box is added to the Toy Hall Of Fame!!! This is fabulous, and about time. I am not certain of how long the National Toy Hall of Fame has been around, but the box should have been the first entrant. Thank you!

hubbub

There's been a lot of hubbub recently about various places asserting stroller rules, rules that keep children behaved, and the like. Here now, is my official standing on this matter.
1-it takes a man and a woman to have a child, please remember that fathers are parents, too.
2- let your kids run wild at home, Hell! I know I do, but in public teach them manners. Nice people don't through tantrums, food, or hard plastic items at one another. If you misbehave, we leave. End of story.
3- very small children will occasionally fuss, they do that, if they get to be annoying, leave and sooth them, then come back.
4- Breastfeeding is a normal thing, it is not dirty, nasty or wrong...however, it may offend other people, so try to be discreet. I am not suggesting you leave a room, but try not to whip out the tit and spray someone, OK?
5- If you disagree with how I am raising my child-keep it to yourself-exceptions-if your child had the EXACT same problem as mine, and something worked well for you, offer a suggestion politely and non forcefully, if you think I am hurting my child by doing/not doing something, aproach me, nonconfrontationally, and we can talk...otherwise-BACK THE HELL OFF
6- if I am bothering you in public, say something politely instead of shooting me dirty looks, I respond to conversation

I'll add more as I think about it.

"I do not love shots!"

Bigguy was not doing to hot this week. He woke up just fine on tuesday, and in the hour between 3 and 4 pm, he was stuffy, feverish, and had a swollen and sore throat. I have a fear of sore throats. As a child, I had strep more times than I can count, I had so much pennecillin(sic?) that it doesn't even work for me anymore, instead, I get a Z-pac, or whatever new cure-all drug is on the market, as amoxycillen doesn't work to hot either. I finally had my tonsils out at 15, after getting very, very ill. I remember, in all those doctors visits, my mom demanding they do something, and being told not to worry, I'd grow out of it. Yeah, right! A tonsilectomy and adnoidectoly at 15 is NOT growing out of it. What all this boils down to, is anytime my kids run a fever with a sore throat, I panic. I am always certain it is going to be strep, or their tonsils, and they are going to have to endure what I went through. Hubby knows that if they ever get strep more than once in a year, I am DEMANDING that their tonsils be romoved. It is not very complicated, and it's not like your tonsils really do anything anyway, do they?
After a trip to the Dr on wed. it turns out that it was "just a virus". This means, no medication, it'll go away on it's own, you could be misserable for 2 days, you could be misserable for a week. I was glad to hear that, but I felt bad, because I knew Bigguy wasn't leaving that office without a shot. If it turned out to be strep, he would get an antibiotic shot(the hard to spell pennicilen(sic?)), if it wasn't bacterial, and his fever was in check or gone, which it was, he was getting his flu vaccine. Well, flu shot in the thigh won! All I have heard since is "But Momma, I do not love shots!" Apparently, in Bigguy's world, if you do not love something, you should not have to deal with it.
Now that he is feeling better, I am going to have a fairly child-free weekend! The in-laws are taking both boys overnight tonight. The male portion of the in-laws is taking Bigguy to the Train Museum, which bigguy just looooves, to surprise bigguy with the new exhibit. What is the new exhibit, you might ask? Why Thomas the Tank Engine, of course! Only Bigguys very favoritest train that ever was...ever!!! That four year old boy is going to be on cloud nine! Then, for dinner, they are going to Old Country Buffet! Food nirvana for the small tyke who adores slad and veggies crowd. If at than point you think the weekend couldn't get any better, you're wrong. After they get brought home tomorrow, my Sister, Bigguy's Auntie, is taking him over night!!! I have no idea what they will be doing, I just know he is thrilled to get to sleep on his aunties couch. And to top it all off, his Auntie step-sister and Uncle Rice will be here for brunch on sunday. Littleman will be happy to see people over night friday, and to have momma and poppa all to himself on saturday, and to see more people on sunday, but Bigguy-man, this is shaping up to be the ultimate four-year-old weekend!

What's that you ask? What are Hubby and I going to do with a childfree zone tonight, and a one, small, child zone tomorrow night? We have a very romantic weekend chock full of CLEANING!! I shit you not. Child free time, and we are going to clean. The boys room cannot really be cleaned unless they are gone, being they make more messes trying to help clean then they actually clean. Once I've got it good and thouroghly clean, Bigguy can keep his toys and books and clothes put away, until then, it's a war zone. We will be deep cleaning everything, including the bathrooms, and instituting "The Chore Wheel" probably one of the most usefull housecleaning tools.(Props to Jazz-Dad for introducing me to the chore wheel) I will have a house that is baby safe, clean, presentable, and comfortable at all times, damnit! I want to have one of those houses where people go, lets go to HW2K's house and visit, it's always clean, she always has coffee, and I bet she'll have some fresh baked goods too. I WANNA BE JUNE CLEAVER!!!!!!!

Holy Tired, Batman!!

Man, am I tired. I do not know why, I got plenty of sleep, I have been eating right, and the weather hasn't changed too drastically over the last few days. Normally I would blame the pregnancy for making me sleeping, but at this point, 18 weeks, I should be having much more energy. Maybe I have been sleeping, but not getting restfull sleep. For a long while, Hubby and I have been saying that we will be getting our "real" bed soon, as opposed to our collection of mattresses. Well, Poppa Bear just moved 6 doors down, and informed us that he and Mamma Bear have a full size bed for us with frame. Granted, it's a little bit smaller than a Queen, but it will tide us over until after tax return season, when we will have the money for a better quality of matress than what we would be getting now. I will have this fabulous, free, bed tonight or tomorrow, so I will be able to update you soon on how much your sleeping surface affects your quality of sleep, and maybe even your quantity of sleep. Also, with a better bed, I will hopefully be able to get into a possition, comfortably, that forces Baby#3 off of my bladder and my Vargas nerve, without the baby pinching my Scaitic nerve. FUNFUNFUN!!!

dear god

read this, pay close attention people, and read all the way down, where you will encounter this statement:
The Army now admits that it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard agents into the sea, along with 400,000 chemical-filled bombs, land mines and rockets and more than 500 tons of radioactive waste - either tossed overboard or packed into the holds of scuttled vessels.
followed by
These weapons of mass destruction virtually ring the country, concealed off at least 11 states - six on the East Coast, two on the Gulf Coast, California, Hawaii and Alaska. Few, if any, state officials have been informed of their existence.

The chemical agents could pose a hazard for generations. The Army has examined only a few of its 26 dump zones and none in the past 30 years.

I will quit quoting from the article now. I will continue to pray that it comes to light that this is just some cruel hoax, but unfortunately, it is all to true.

Things like this are what make me fear, truly fear, for my childrens future.

breakfast this morning

My sister came over for breakfast this morning, we ate, drank coffee, and talked for a really long time. Then bigguy woke up, we talked and laughed some more, then Auntie came over, and there was more laughing and talking. All in all, it was really good. What surprised me was how many of my recolections of growing up are simmilar to hers. Sometimes, when siblings talk about ther childhood there is a bit of a "what family are you from?!" mentality, not today. We remebered, we laughed, we talked about relegion and magik and beliefs and all sorts of stuff, and we ate. There is something about eating together that brings people closer. Maybe it's because we like our eggs the same way, sunny side up, yokey, all cut up, so the yolk is blanded with everything else. You eat this by dredging butterred toast thru the yolk, place some of the whites on the toast, and eat. It is not pretty to watch. She told me a funny story about eating eggs like that in France, and her hosts shock. It rocked. I highly suggest to everyone that they sit down, soon, and eat a homemade breakfast with someone that they do not see every day.

On a different note-
Bigguy is at an age where he is testing his limits with lying, and back-talking. The backtalking is more frustrating and annaoying than anything else, because it is very logical balk talk eighty percent of the time, and the other twenty, it is so illogical as to not make any sense at all. The lying is frustrating because he will do something right in front of me, but when I call him on it, he denies it and changes the subject. We are working on cutting this particular quirk off immediatly. Littleman, in order to not be outdone, has decided to balance the utter frustration of trying not to nap anymore, or at the least force us to drastically change our schedule to the point where we don't have one anymore, with the absolute cuteness of the lopsided "kissyface". If you want to see the kissyface, look in the mirror and do a very exagerated lip pucker, as if you were going to kiss someone. Now do this with your bottom lip lightly sucked in and very, very slightly to the right.
Heart.
Meltingly.
Cute.

Telemarketters

When Hubby and I got married, I had my name legally changed. On top of the whole taking his last name thing, I hyphenated my first and middle names. I've always signed it this way, without the huphen, but with my sig, it's hard to tell if the
'-' is there or not. My name is telemarketing HELL. The first four letters, that which comprise the name pre-hyphen, are almost always mispronounced, as is the second part of my name, when free standing. They look like they should both have long vowels where the vowels are short, and short where it is long. To add to the confusion, if, say, the list where the marketers got my name from omits the hyphen(generally because I will occasionally omit it, just to mess with the list selling masses), you then have a matched set of vowels right next to each other. Two A's to be precise. No one thinks that there should be a break there, so they try to pronounce my (when hyphenated) easily four and a half to five syllable name, in three.
Heehee, years of having a funkily pronounced name have finally come out in my favor!

It's Nanowrimo!...but, not...

November is NanoWrimo-National Novel Writing Month, but, well, not for me. After thinking it over for the last few days, I have come to the conclusion that Nano just doesn't jibe with my writing style. I am more of a quality, even if it takes me a month to get the perfect paragraph, sort of person, not a quantity person. Ask any english teacher I had over the years who would become very frustrated that I was turning in 'A' papers, but only able to get a 'C-' because I waited so long to turn tham in. I very much have a perfectionist streak in me, and writing 50,000 words in a month, around everything else I do...not gonna happen. Also, I prioritiezed, and writing, though important, ranks kinda low at the moment. Marriage and Kids, then Household, then Fiber arts, with me time sprinkled in wherever for good measure. Writing for anything other than relaxation and unwinding was down somewhere with de-crumbing the toaster and cleaning under my oven. If I manage to get my book written, that I plan on eventually writing and publishing, while doing my relaxing and unwinding, Great-If not, it can wait till I have the time. My kids are only going to grow up once, and I need to be fully preasent when that happens. So, for everyone who is still doing Nano-Good luck, I hope it works for you. For those who decided not to-You are doing what is best for you, and ultimately-that is what matters.

Be good, have fun, and enjoy the little things. In a week-there won't be any color left in the trees, so go out and find the brightest red, orange, and yellow(if you can) leaves possible-press them between wax paper, wax sides together, with a low iron, and remember for years how perfect the weather was today, and that you took the time to enjoy it.

Candy!!!!

All said and done, I think the boys only hav about two pounds of candy, each. Granted, Littleman's is mostly Hubby's and Bigguy's, since they carried him and his bag, respectively, and oddly enough, Littleman got a little more loot. I think it was the cuteness factor, very little beats a 1-year-old, smiley pirate, in an eyepatch. He loves that eyepatch.
We would have stayed out longer, but for two things. 1) it was getting really, really, cold out. Especially for little hands that refused to wear mittens. 2) Many people started trick-or-treating way earlier than we did, and apparently more people were out in this area this year as compared to years past, and people were running out of candy! Nothing upsets a four-year-old as much as being told, "Sorry, I just gave away my last peice!"
Hubby decided, that due to their being "good troopers", he would hit the after Hallowe'en candy clearance sales. Did I mention that one of our roommies works retail, and we get a discount? Also, we will have tons of leftover candy coming in from the In-Laws, because the MIL feels that it is her responsibilty to try to givemy kids candy, that I will later have to hide, or throw out.....or eat.

Hallowe'en, Nanowrimo, and then the other holidays

Honestly, folks, I have no idea whatsoever how much ya'll will be seeing of me over the next few months. Today is every childs favorite holiday in October-Greedy Candy Grab Day! November is Nanowrimo, which I am a participant of this year, which is kinda nuts, since I have two small children, and starting the 7th, will have BabyBear on a regular basis again. After that...The Holiday(cue scary music here.) I am starting to like Christmas more, now that I have kids to be happy for when they get what they want from Santa, but it's a hectic time. I might not blog much at all, I might be here multiple times daily. It all depends on my mood, time, and energy.
Just a heads up.
I will be blogging the Candy Report later tonight or tomorrow with weight and maybe even variety.

tomorrows Hallowe'en

Last year, Bigguy hauled home FIVE POUNDS of candy, that was way too much, when we moved, at the end of July, we found some we had hidden...eeewwww....

Penis and vaginas

It is quiet so far this morning. Baby Bear is in a restful slumber, dreaming of pleasant baby things. Littleman is practicing his jumping skills and gleefully babbleing to himself in a language that almost sounds like american english, if only he would open his mouth, and us constanants other than n, g, m, and d. Bigguy is sleeping. Normally we would wake him up by now, but he has had a very big last few days.
After much confusion on his part about anatomy, on monday, he and I sat down and discussed the simple fact that boys have a penis, and girls have a vagina. If you ask any doctor, teacher, or child behaviorist or psychologist, they will all inform you that it is very age appropriate for four year old chidren to know the proper names for parts of the anatomy, and since I am pregnant, it makes things less confusing for him...supossedly. This started when he asked if the baby would come out of my butt.
"No, Bigguy, the baby will not come out mommy's butt."
"Then where? you said not your belly button and not your butt, will the baby come out your penis?"
"No, Mommy doesn't have a penis, she has a vagina. Boys, like you and poppa and Littleman and your grandpas all have a penis, and girls, like momma and Auntie and your grandmas all have a vagina."
"Well, if you don't have a penis, how do you pee?"
I tried my best to explain how a vagina was like a penis, in that it was what girls used to pee, but it backfired. Later that night, while helping his poppa with the laundry, I get called downstairs to find Bugguy laughing insanely, and Hubby giggling, but perplexed.
"What have you been teaching him!"
"What you do mean"
"He just told me that vagina was a girls name!"
"Bigguy, what did you tell Poppa?"
Bigguy turns slightly red, not from embarresment, but from trying not to laugh, he screws up his features into his little frowny-I-am-trying-to-think-and-speak-face, and looking me square in they eyes, screams...
"VAGINA!!!!" and then falls over laughing.

We eventually get worked out that he was trying to tell Hubby that "vagina is the girls name for a girls penis" so obviously, we need a little more work.
My biggest concern about all this, however, is that he is not shy. He likes to exclaim many wonderful things about his penis, and for the longest time, would ask any random passerby in public if they, too, had a penis. Apparently, a penis is a wonderful thing to have, and if you don't possess one, you are missing out. I do not need him asking every woman he sees at the grocery store if they have a vagina. Granted, I would rather have him saying penis and vagina, as opposed to peepee and hoohoo( I kid you not, I have heard people teach these to their children), I would just rather it not be used quite so liberally.
Well, we managed to teach him that holiday dinners are not the time nor place to say "Goddamnit" and "Fuck". We managed to convine him that it really is important to keep your clothes on in restaraunts, and, well, in general while you are awake. Maybe, with time, we can teach him that not everyone likes being asked if they posess a penis or a vagina, and not everyone in the public bathroom likes to here how big his penis is.
He is very proud of his penis.
No self esteem issues there.
No sirree bob!

Hubby's home sick

Hubby's sick, Bigguy is cranky and Littleman is trying to give up one of his naps, unsuccessfully.
Of course, Bigguy wouldn't be cranky if we didn't wake him up at 8:30 this morning, but that's what he gets for staying up untill 2:30 the previous night.
We have no idea why Littleman feels the urge to cut down on naps at the delicate age of 1, but I will do my darndest to keep him on a schedule, if he wants to back down to one, longer, nap in the middle of the day, fine, but he WILL nap. Bigguy gave up napping altogether, with the exception of special occasions, at 18 months, and not his messed up sleep schedule.
I am wide awake, but tires at he same time, I showered this morning, so my body is relaxed and kind of sleepy, but my brain is awake. I think cleaning and going about my normal routine will help wake up the body better than sitting here typing.

I woke up, had a glass of milk, played on the computer, then made brunch...

After having a kind of jagged last few days, I am amazed at how "normal" today seems. I woke up this morning, and had a 12 ounce glass of 2% milk, just like Dr A's nurse said I should. Then I sat for half an hour to let my body process it, and played on the computer. I made brunch, fed the boys, talked with Hubby...Laughed with Hubby, and have been feeling nicely put together all morning. I have plans to clean my kitchen counters and floor today, alrgely because I finally have good floor cleaner, and a bucket big enough for my mop. I am going to do some laundry, and try to vacuum, but if everything doesn't get done, it's no problem. I think I might bake some bread, because bread is one of the least demanding, yet most rewarding things you can bake. Being as I don't have any bread pans yet, I am either going to have to make a bagette stule loaf, or a "rustic" round loaf, but it will be good.

I have come to the rather odd conclusion that freshly made, homemade, bread is theraputic. First, you mix together very basic ingredient. You lightly knead it, then you place it in a bowl, cover it up, and put it someplace warm for a while. After your dough has sat, you remove it from it's bowl, and BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF IT!!! This is very good at releaving pent up stress and agression, not to mention good for building up your arms. Then you shape it and let it sit again. After a while longer, it goes in the oven to bake. This is when the house fills with the glorious yeasty smell you get from bread. Ever since I was a little tiny girl, that smell has made me feel safe and protected. Then, once it is done, you break off a slab and slather it with butter and it is sooo good. For a special treat add a little honey.

I also noticed that Littlemn took his early nap today, something he didn't do yeaterday...I shedule my life very heavilly around my childrens schedules, and when they are off, I am off. I deffinately think I need to rethink our daily routine.

Funky Blogger

Blogger has been acting up over the last twenty-four hours. It is not listing all the comments, nor was I under the impression that either of the "good news?" posts had published. I am leaving tham both up, however, so that you can see the difference between how I followwed a train of thought before and after I ate. Spelling aside, one of them is much more concise and to the point. Classic sign of blood sugar issues.

Also, I would like to welcome my new readers! Thanks for your support!

good news?

I called my nurse at Dr A's office. She said that everything I've been dealing with sounds like fluctuations in blood sugar levels, and I shouldn't worry too much. I need to keep track of what I eat, make sure I always have milk and juice in the house, and if I start to feel odd or shaky, eat a little something. She also said that some of it may be hormolan, the pregnancy hormones seem to affect women more if their current pregnancy started less than a year after their last pregnancy ended. Since Littleman just recently turned 1, and I am roughly 3 and 1/2 months pregnant, I am in that group.

The only thing that worries me about fluctuating blood sugar, is that I am in a very, very high risk group for type 2 adult onset diabetes, and for gestational diabetes. I really have to take care of myself, and sometimes, in taking care of everyone else, I forget that.

I am just fine, I am not losing it...yet

good news?

so...after feeling out of sorts for a while, and not liking it, I made some calls, and charted some things, and it seems like blood sugar levels may be the culprit. In another month or so we will be doing the 1 hour blood glucose check, and if need be, the three hour. What worries me about this, is diabetes runs in the family, I am in a high risk catagory for diabetes, and I am in a very high risk group for gestational diabetes. When I was pregnant with Littleman, they got some funky readings, but not severe enough to classify. In the meantime, I am going to try to keep myself balanced out, food and drink wise, and see if that helps, and if I keep having wierd mood changes, we will run the tests sooner.
They said, btw, that hormones could be playing part of it, especially with this pregnancy being less than a year after littleman was born, and thet I shouldn't be overly concerned with my mental health...everything I have been going through, including the things I haven't stated here, can be caused by fluctuations in blood sugar, and i should try to maintain a schedule with eating and sleeping.

My children are sleeping, or at least doing a reasonable facsimile thereof, and I should be relaxing, but I cannot. I have this niggling feeling that I desperately needed to do something today, and it din't get done. I have wracked my mind, and connot think of anything that I didn't do that couldn't wait. To try to ease the feeling, I work on the dishes, but that isn't it, so I move to wipe down the ccounters, but that isn't it. Laundry? Why would I need to do laundry on a saturday night, when we don't have any plans for sunday, and even if we did we have clean clothes? Maybe I'm supposed to be knitting? No, the only project in the future that has a deadline is still a little ways off, and I don't even have the yarn for it yet...I know that's not it. The rational part of me knows that absolutely nothing needs to be done right now but still I cannot let go of the feeling.

This coupled with the uncontrollabe crying jags has me concerned.

unexplained, uncontrolable sobbing

When I was pregnant with each of my two sons, I would often find myself crying. Generally there was a reason, even if it was only a TV commercial, and when you're pregnant a commercial is reason enough to cry. Very rarely would I cry without a discernable reason, and when this happenned, a few deep, calming, breaths would equal no more tears. Lately I have found myself crying alot, often when I am alone or can be percieved as being alone(the boys are sleeping/upstairs while I am downstairs, or I am in the bath or in my room, by myself.) There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to this. I can be reading, watching TV, cleaning, folding laundry, trying to sleep, or doing nothing at all. If I am thinking about something sad or upsetting, I can explain it. If I am reading something sad, upsetting, heartwarming, endearing, sweet, whatever... I can deal with it. This is just...I start crying. I realize I am crying. I try to stop. It gets worse. I take deep breaths, with each exhale, I go from crying to sobbing. I realize there is no reason for me to be carrying on like this, and it gets even worse. If someone comes into the room, I can generally stop then, and if not, they chalk it up to me being preggers. If I start crying while someone is in the room, it stops itself before I even really notice. I am rather upset about this, I don't understand really, and I am strongly thinking about talking to my doctor about it. I am afraid that he will tell me it is just hormones, while simultaniously hoping he tells me it's just my hormones. As much as I hate the hormone excuse, it is somewhat valid, and it means that there isn't anything wrong with me. I am afraid, at the same time, that there will be something wrong with me. I have children and a husband to take care of. I need to be strong for them, they need to see that I can handle anything that life throws at me. Otherwise I will be shelterred. No one wants to upset the pregnant woman, no one wants to hurt the feelings of the pregnant woman, no one wants to be the cause of the pregnant woman over extending/over exerting herself. If I am not strong for my family, they will crumble. The boys rely on me to be Mommy. Mommy is damn near to God as far as they are concerned. Hubby works damn hard so that I can stay home with the boys, raising them, and seeing that we have everything that we need. I can talk to him about things that are upsetting me, but he is a "fixer". If something is wrong, he wants to fix it, to make it all better, to be Prince Valliant, the Hero. I don't know what's wrong, I don't know how to fix it, I do not even know if anything needs to be fixed in the first place.

I slept in this morning. I didn't get my hour to myself. I feel out of sorts because of it. Maybe this is contributing. I do not know, but, please, do not let this be a sign of things to come.

But, *mommmm*,sigh, huff, I'm only four!

Sometimes your children are so smart, you forget how old they really are. Sometimes they do something to remind you. If all else fails, an huffy, sighing, whining, "But, mooommmmm, I'm only four slams it right home.
Sometimes I wished it still worked...but,"huff sigh..."annoying booosss, I know you want hubby to work late tomorrow, and come in on saturday, again, but he's only twenty-eight!" - just doesn't have the same ring

Help! The Aleins That Have Invaded My Life Are Demanding To Be Fed!!!

Things we really need to tell woman about pregnancy and motherhood, but rarely do, part 1.

My auntie is fond of saying about children, "That's right, you have to feed them, don't you."
This is probably the fist thing we need to make more women clear on. All people understand that you need to feed a baby and children, that's just the way it is. Not all women understand before the fact just how often babies eat. Newborns can eat as often as every two hours. Two hours is timed, by the way, from the beginning of the feeding. If it takes your baby 30 minutes to eat, you are looking at up to SIX hours of baby feeding a day. You will have 1 hour and 30 minutes in between feedings to change daipers, get dressed, make dinners, clean houses, and, maybe, if you are really, really lucky, you might get to shower.

Yes, babies will eventually go longer without being fed, and they will even sleep for a couple hours at a stretch, but then you have to feed YOURSELF! If you breastfeed, your babies dietary needs are being met solely off of how well you eat, your milk supply is based off of how much and often your baby eats, how much water you drink, and how well you eat. You CANNOT eat healthy enough, it doesn't matter what the doctors and lactational cunsultants will tell you. EAT FAT-you need it, EAT FRUIT-it has water.

As your baby grows, it will undergrow occassional "growth spurts", short periods of time in which your child will rapidly grow, somehow, even if it is just their feet. Growth spurts are another name for "Your Baby Is Going To Eat More Than You Thought Was Humanly Possible For A Child It's Size, spurts", the older they are, the more they will eat, and the more you will have to spend on clothes to keep them from being naked(unless you kid is like Bigguy, then you will spend it all on shoes, he grows feet first) Grouth spurt, they happen straight through to adulthood by the way. In fact, the coincidentally stop right about the time that you can make them pay their own way...hmmmm....

I have found that very little will rival the hunger of the Four Year Old Boy. I have witnissed teenagers, active in sports teenagers, watch him eat when he gets the mood to, and wonder where he puts it. There will be days where he really doesn't eat that much, I think my 1 year old boy pro'lly eats more. Then comes the "Momma I'n HUNGRY!!!" whine. This means that he will eat, darn near a full meal, every ninety minutes, while he is awake. Sometimes, I think he sneaks into the fridge, when everyone, including himself, are asleep, and even eats then.

Now, for the Pregnant mommy or mommy-to-be! I haven't forgotten you. This is the point where you first become aware of the alien presense. Extra-terrestrial lifeforms are the only reason you could be eating this much, and craving such odd combinations of food. The doctors will try to tell you that it is your bodies way of getting what it needs, nutritionally, but I don't by it. Donuts(chocolate glazed), cheesy eggs, and orange juice may be a decent breakfast, and may have protiens, calsium, carbs, and fats that you needd when pregnant. I do not argue that. What I argue is that any earthling woman will vuluntarily eat the cheesy eggs like a sandwich with the chocolate donut, and wash it all down with the O.J. Yet we do. The cheesay T.V and movie stereotype of pickles and icecream have to come from somewhere. From Personal experience-Pinnaples and dill pickle potato chips should not be eaten AT THE SAME TIME, yet I did, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Aliens, I tell ya, aliens.

an hour early

Lately I've been waking up at least an hour earlier than everyone else. This is largely because of watching baby-bear, but it has certain other benefits. In my quiet, yes, quiet hour in the morning, I can take care of last night's dishes, wipe down the counter, and get a pot of coffee going. I can sit down and eat an uninterupted bowl of cereal(iron fortified, good for momma and for Baby#3!)
I can gather my thoughts while eating said cereal, and while drinking my hot, tasty, beverage, I can plan dinner if I hadn't already. Most of all, I can be alone with my tummy. I am constantly on the move, even when I am sprawled out on the couch, my muscles are poised for action. Moms do not get to sit! Moms do not get to relax! Moms work is never done! (At least while little chidren are awake) So, when I am the only one up, and my work is begun, i can take some time, after I eat, to focus on the life growing inside of me. I can just start to feel Baby#3 as it moves in it's constant bath. I can marvel that at this point, my baby has fingers and toes, eyelids, nostrils, and all the other parts a baby has. At this point, the baby looks very much like a miniaturized person, who has been stewing in body temperature water for the past coupla months. I imagine what sort of personality it will have, based solely on theese early, private, nobody but me can feel them, moments. I try and determine if the baby is more active when I eat foods that are savory, or sweet, spicy, or mild, carbs or protiens. I see if, somehow, I can sense it's gender, if the baby has a girl vibe, or a boy vibe, so that I can tell myself I knew before the doctors and ultrasound technicians. Sometimes, I talk to the baby, sometimes I talk to my grandma, who passed away over ten years ago, sometimes I wonder if grandmas can talk to babies before they are born. I like that thought.

One hour earlier. Only 60 minutes.

It could be a lifetime of tranquility before the rest of the world wakes up to hurry me on my way.

the importance of gender in babies

People ask me if I want a boy or a girl. Sometimes it's a complete stranger at the grocery store, assuming I am pregnant, and not just oddly fat. My normal response to non-family is to pause, smile lovingly at my children, both boys, and say that I don't care what we have, as long as baby is healthy, and happy, and preferably has all requisite parts. Sometimes, I believe it myself.
I have people tell me how, financially it makes more sense to have another boy, hand me downs, you know. Excuse me? I have two boys already, born in different months and growing at two completely unrelated speeds. I haven't been able to use any hand me downs yet. On top of that, one day, they will be teenagers. Teens wear through their clothing quickly. Teens also eat... a lot...food costs money.
I have the people tell me how nice it would be after two sons, to have a daughter. I can see that, They rarely elaborate. I can understand. Secretly, I really, really, want a daughter. Hubby has wanted a daughter from the start. It;s the whole "mamma's boy & daddy;s girl" thing. Bigguy has always favored me, and I know that hurts Hubby. Honestly we will be happy with a boy or a girl, we will love the child regardless, and cherish the child regardless.
But, still, I want a girl.
As frustrating as all this is, it's the people who tell me I need to have a girl. Like somehow, I, a female, have some choice in gender selection, especially after conception. They somehow seem to think that the gender of my baby is somehow going to upset the delicte balance of the world, if I have a boy. A third baby boy will be responsible for the complete undoing as civilization as we know it, but a girl...NO PROBLEM!!! She will bring sweetness and light, she will be gentle, she will not scream all night.
You know what? A baby is a baby. Until a certain age, there is really no differense between a boy baby and a girl baby with the exception of the following-how you dress them, and the dangly bits. That's all. A girl child will not be any more or less prone to anything than a boy child is. Well, that's not quite true, colorblindness favors men, as do hemophilia. A woman will not get prostrate cancer or suffer from erectile dysfunction, but you understand my meaning.
What difference does it matter what I have, as long as we, as a family, love the baby.
And ya know what? we already do.

weird pregnancy dreams, and revalations

During the 9 months of pregnancy, women will have a multitude of very strange dreams. Many of these dreams, for some reason, seam unsettlingly realistic at the time. There are many supposed pshychological reasons behind the different types of pregnancy dream. Insecurity about the changing body can cause dreams of past loves and lovers, insecurity about being a mom can cause very negative dreams, especially dreams where you forget the baby. Being certain you will be a good mom can cause dreams of having hyper inteligent babies, who hardly need you for anything, but credit you with everything. Then, well, there are the dreams which defy explanation. While pregnant with Bigguy, I had a dream that I gave birth to a baby carrot, and no one, including the doctors, thought this was in any way wrong. We were all relatively OK with the carrot, untill Christmas dinner and the veggie tray, anytime we would here a *crunch* we would all look around frantically to make sure no one was eating the baby. I have yet to meet anyone who can explain that one.
Last night, however, I had a dream that made me sad to wake up. Everything was the same as it is now, but Sept 11 had never happened. The "War on Terror" had never occured. Gas prices were low, there were no terrorist threats, numerous friends were not shipped out, so were active in my, my husbands, and my childrens life. It made me realise what life was like when Bigguy was born, as opposed to what life is like now. Bigguy was born a few months pre 9/11/01. We did not fear for family and freinds whenever we heard of a bombing in a forign country. We did not regret every family function we could not attend for Hubby's family, knowing that it might be the last time we see some cousins. Bro-in-law was going to join the military after highschool, we thank god now that he was outed for medical reasons. People I have known for years, years, that I never had any doubt Hubby or my kids would meet, are currently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and various other locals. Most of them were supposed to be home two or three years ago, but are still gone. Sadness to wake up and realize that that was a dream, and this is reality.

clarification

I was going to go back and edit an older post, but I will just explain it here. There has been some slight confusion by multiple parties as to my son's birthdays. To clarify, without giving the exact d.o.b.'s(I would like to keep that private, thank you!) Bigguy - June, **, 2001 Littleman - October, **, 2004 unspecified-gender-as-of-yet Baby#3 estimated due date April, **, 2006. When Baby#3 is born, I will have 3 chidlren, ages four and under. They are not all born in the same year. My original dates were unclear.

Littleman, not so little.

Littleman had his 1 year check-up today. He had 4 shots, plus a finger prick-ouch!and, one of the shots was the flu shot, so it's gonna be sticky around the house for the next two days-come his party-he'll be feelin fine. What shocked me was how big he was. At birth he was just shy of 7 lbs, just over 19 inches, and had an almost 14inch head. Now, he weighs 25lbs 2 oz (upper 75th percentile) is 33 inches long(over the upper 95th persentile(also 3 inches shy of 3 feet)) and has a 19 1/4 inch head (once again, over the 95th perscentile) Loosely translated, theese numbers mean that my youngest son, at just barely shy of 1 year, is the same size as a relatively healthy 18month old, or a small 2 year old.
Conversely, Bigguy, at 4, is big for a three year old, but a little small for a four year old. Hmmm....maybe I need to come up with new names for them.

bedtime rebellion

I am supposed to be going to bed now, but I cannot for two reasons. Bigguy is still awake, and I am wondering why biggiuy is still awake. I do not need to stay up with him-it's Hubby's night to do that, as I have BabyBear being dropped off at 7:30 tomorrow AM(his mom has to work, his dad has phys therapy early) and need to be up early, especially if I want breakfast pre 10AM(which Dr A says is necessary to keep my blood sugars level thruoghout the day-supposedly lessoning my chances of gestational diabetes.)
It dawned on me, about the time I started this post that the reason Bigguy is still awake is because he is my child. Hubby is fairly nocturnal, when given the chance, but would always go to sleep when told. Me-i fight it when told, but the rest of the time, can fall asleep at the drop of...well... anything. Hubby sometimes jokes that I am partially narcoleptic. Get me in any reasonably comfy possition, I'm out, unless you tell me you want me to sleep. I think I just need to start putting Bigguy in his room at the same time every night, but not tell him it's bedtime, not act like it's bedtime, just tell him not to wake up his brother. Kid'll probably be out cold in thirty minutes everynight. I think I have a new experiment for next week.(I always start new sleep routines with the boys on a monday, so that it is fairly sunk in come the weekend)
Wish me luck, and please don't tell me it's bedtime!

Changed some things, misplaced some others

Well, as you can see, I changed the face of my blog some. Wanted something cleaner looking, easier on the eyes, and more my current style. Unfortunately, when I did this, I lost my links and google ads. I can put them back after I do two things a)remember how to format the code to add my links where I want them in my side bar area space, and b) remeber what my password was for google ads. Of course, I could probably e-mail Google ads, and they would help me out, and I could get help with the links as well, just not right now.
I hope you enjoy the new look, and the new posts. You might notice the posts taking on a different angle, tone, or who knows what, but as you start to put your house in order-even if it is slow going-your brain gets put back in order, and everything in your life takes on a slightly differrent hue. Less frenzied, less harried, less stressed.

clutter and cleaning house

I am notoriously messy, slobby, clutterred, and not very neat. Sometimes, my house is downright dirty. I am trying, Oh Lord! am I trying. I have often felt that there are not enough hours in the day, not enough space in the world, not enough help in the house. I have two sons, a Hubby, and in the basement, a Bro-in-Law and a close friend of the family-almost brother sort of friend(he dated my step-sister once, unfortunately at the time, he was a abd boyfriend! Now, he is a good boyfriend to a non-family member, he learned from his mistakes!!) On top of this, I am babysitting/daycare providing for a good friends baby boy. They both have to work, so I am watching their precious, at this point two month old son, untill March. Why only March, one might ask? Because in the beginning of April, Baby#3 is due to be born. I will then have THREE children, plus Hubby, and roommates. We are teaching the roommates the importance cleaning up after themselves. I am not a maid. The are doing pretty well, but I am still the one doing the dishes, and the actual cleaning. I have to have a clean house. I have a birthday party in a week, I want to host Christmas, and I will be having a newborn in april!!!I NEED CLEANLINESS!!!

In the midst of all the frustration, the guilt(I should be cleaning, but I want to knit, read, watch a movie, blog..., the embarassment, the constant appologizing for the state of the house, SistahGirl springs to the rescue!! SistahGirl! The Older Sister, the unmarried, no kids, can still go out and party, go to a coffeeshop, go to a concert/club/movie/dinner without having to plan forever in advance doesn't have to worry about a babysitter, doesn't have to worry about the state of her house because if nothing else she has a single roommate she could blame it on as long as her room is clean, can actually go to someone elses house without an arsenal of toys, daipers, bottles, snacks, spare clothes for all involved(just in case), works out of the house and gets adult contact everyday, doesn't have to worry about people dropping by just to see(insert name here), saved me. (Sometimes you don't realize how many pent up emotions you have until you start typing. in my defense-I love being a stay-at-home mom. I love seeing all the milestone, knowing that I am raising my kids, not some just out of school, who knows what they are really being tought giant child care center worker. I really have no resentment, I made my own decisions, but sometimes, I miss my single days. I also know how much healthier my life and lifestyle is now, then it was in my singledays, and I am so thankful for what I have-sometimes, you just need to vent. SistahGirl-please don't take anything I said there the wrong way).
Anyways, as I was saying, SistahGirl was my salvation. She gave me the information for a kick-ass website, which I will eventually get around to furnishing the info for here, unless someone beats me too it( I want to be selfish for a few days)that really helps sort everything out-both in the actual getting the place clean way, and in the mental how your thought processes work when you need to clean-way. I feel like I have found a little bit of sanity-just enough to guide me through, and help me find which pile of laundry I left my own sanity under.
All said and done, I need to have the house clean and reaaranged in a week's time, and that'll be a little tough, but I will incorporate my daily steps each day, and most importantly, after this week is over, I will keep it clean-clean it right, and maintain. When I am in the hospital after delivery, I won't have to worry about what I am bringing Baby#3 home too, I don't have to worry about what BabyBear(the boy I am watching) Is going to be in everyday, I can stay on top of it, feel good, and work on organizing the rest of my life as well.

It is nice, when you start to see the end to the chaos, when the light starts to peek through the grime on the windows, and when you can find where you put the coffee creamer.

so, anyways

SistahGirl has a blog. Once I remeber how to add links to my sidebar, I will be adding her, and others. Also, I will be fixing the now defunct link for Waiterrant. Thank you.

I saw Dr A today!

I am having a text bok pregnancy, according to the amazing Dr A. Everything is how it's supposed to be in the illusive "average" pregnancy. My next appointment is in three weeks, they will be drawing lots o' blood to run lots o' tests. We will also be deciding when to schedule the next "official" ultra sound. However, Dr A has a nifty 1980's era ultrasound machine-grainy picture, no zoom, no measurements, no pics. What it will do is let us see the baby, and maybe, just maybe determine gender. We will be finding out the sex of Baby#3-it's just easier if we do, easier to prepare the boys, easier to have clothing ready, easier for people to buy us things, and that 1980 US machine might just be what tells us.

SistahGirl had fun with Bigguy, Bigguy had fun with SistahGirl, Bigguy is telling me, now, at his bedtime, that SistahGirl let him play with her Gameboy at bedtime, and we should get him a gameboy for to play with because he wants on and then he wouldn't havetogotobedbecauseheisnottiredandhedoesn'twanttosleepandhewantsauntiesgameboyandandandandand.....
I think he just crashed.

I am freakin' AWESOME!!!

I, the housewife2ooo, just singlehandedly changed Littleman's crib bedding, matress pad nd all. What is so freakin' awesome about that, you might ask, people change crib beddings all the time by themselves. Yes, they do, but does everyone do it with the baby still IN the crib??? I didn't want to set him down, as he can crawl faster than I can walk, and I try not to run in the house, so I put him in the far left side of the crib, changed the right side, switched him to the far right side, then changed the left side. Littleman is now sitting in the crib, looking at, and feeling, the different sheet with an expression, and sounds, of complete wonder. I am magic, as far as he is concerned. I change daipers, make food, give toys, cuddle, and ghange the crib. I am supermom!!!!!

two totally unrelated items

Auntie Sistah Girl has Bigguy for the night. she starts a new job soon, and wanted to spend some time with him beforehand. He is so happy. Normally, his first night spending the night somewhere new, he calls me a couple times, since I only heard from him when I called, I know he is having a good time, and hopefully behaving. I am glad that they are spending this time together. I have a pretty close relationship with my auntie, and I have a pretty close relationship with my sister(though it hasn't always been as great as it is now, but were sisters, what do you expect?) I want my kids to be close to family members outside of the immediate household. As they grow older, it will give them a good friend, and a trusted adult. If I ever needed to talk about something when I was younger, I could go to auntie if I didn't want to go to Mom. If I was grounded, but really needed to get out, once again, Auntie was there. I am not saying that this was always good, nor did I always go to her-when I was really fucking up with my life, I dodn't want to go to family at all, partly due to shame, partly fear, partly stupidity, but for the most part, I think it would have been much worse if not for my relationship with her. I wonder how much of what we talked about ever got back to mom? But anyways, I am glad Bigguy is having a good time, and not only does he get to see auntie Sistah Girl, he gets to see Uncle Rice-Man, so that's cool TIMES TEN!!!!!

Second-Suspenders-I really really want a pair of suspenders. I am entering my second tri-I cannot comfortably wear belts anymore, unless it's below the belly, and that looks kinda silly with certain pants. On top of that, not all maternity pants have belt loops or drawstrings, so I can have comfy and long-enough, but falling down, or tight enought at the waist, but too short. Suspenders would solve all that. If I am planning on wearing a shirt that wouldn't tuck in or down well? I would wear a tank under my shirt so the suspenders would rest on that, not my skin. I WANT SUSPENDERS!!! Anyone know where I can find a decent pair of adjustable suspenders??
I wonder what this is going to do to my google ads?

even longer to wait

Dr A is awesome, and he does care for his patients, for this reason, my appt is now pushed back till next friday. The erasoning is sound, and It will ultimately be easier, bit it still sucks.

I'm supposed to be at the doctor's right now...

Half an hour before my prenatal appointment this morning, my Dr's office called to let me know that Dr A was currently delivering a baby, but he'd be able to see me at 11:30, two hours later than my scheduled appointment. All said and done, I have mixed feelings about this. I am glad Dr A delivers his patients babies, not all ob/gyns do that, oddly enough, but I also planned my childcare and day around a 9:30 appointment.I think most of my frustration comes from carrying around a cup'o'pee for two hours longer than anticipated.

the quest for the ultimate babysling

I NEED to get a baby sling before Baby#3 graces us with it's presence. I use the term sling, as opposed to carrier. S carrier denotes a backpack/frontpack thing in my mind. I have had those, and not been terribly fond of them. If you are just you and the babe, it's cumbersome to work. I want a baby sling. Something versatile, that I can use from birth to about 35 lbs, front, hip, and back carry. If any one outhtere in blogland have a suggestion, I would appreciate it. I am doing research, but it never hurts to get other oppinions before I purchase.
Thanks. Babywearing is not only good for momma and baby, it's about the only way I'll be able to kee on eye on all three at once, or go shopping with all three alone.

shameless plug for gifts

I really, really, want some Flying Spaghetti Monster loot. Especially the pirate flagfront/graph on back shirt and the pirate fish shirt. Hmmmm...if people need gift ideas for birthday, x-mas, or just lavishing presents on me for no reason, one of them thar shirts would sure be swell!
(please note, I did not request for baby related gift giving, if they have anything in baby-sizes or children sizes, that would be great for the kids, especially the "my dad is a pirate" shirt, but I will not use the kids or pregnancy as a way for me to get non-maternity/nursing clothing) Oh, yeah, size large should be good, once Baby#3 is here, and I am no longer breastfeeding/blessed with mommy boobage.

Three down, six to go...

I have hit the point in my pregnancy where roughly the first third is over. In roughly six months, I will have Baby#3! What this means for me: soon I will be able to feel the baby move, we will be able to tell in the next two months the gender by untrasound, I will hopefully put on a reasonable amount of weight, and I will have much anticipated boob growth! One of the things that rocks about mommyhood is the boobage. Hands down some of the nicest cleavage ever...untill you stop breastfeeding, then they go away...sadness.

Ideal life

According to the federal gov't myself, hubby, and the boys are NOT in poverty. Well, fed gov't, that's good to know! Have you tried raising a family my size on 28000 a year, including overtime, pretax? It's doable, and we have roommates, which drfrays some of the costs, but it's not easy. Some will ask why I am not working. What's the point? If I get a job working outside the house, most, if not all, of the money that I bring in would go for child care. I could work a shift opposite my husband. Yeah, and never get to spend time with him, leave the kids to him, after his long day at work, so I can have a long day at work, come home and try to sleep before we start it all again. I've seen the remains of relationships that have done that. Very few work out in my experience. What we do is this. We budget, we cook in bulk, we shop on sale and buy in bulk if it's feasable, we make as much as we can from scratch as possible. We are cuurently setting money aside for a chest freezer, so that I can make more food ahead and freeze it, and also so that I can start making bread again. With a second freezer, I can make large batches of dough, freeze the excess for up to three months pull it out, thaw and bake as needed. The funny thing is the amount of money people would pay for what I make on the cheap. Homemade bread does not cost much to make, nor mac 'n' cheese, lasagna, and most caserroles that freeze well, yet Hubbies coworkers are amazed by how well we eat, and relay to us what it would cost them to eat the same way, if they bought frozen premade, then relay to us what they would pay for the same food, homemade, and generally organic. I could make a huge profit! Of course, I would be cooking, shopping and cleaning 20hours out of everyday to meet demand.

What I am serriously thinking about doing, however, is sellink my knitting, and eventual quilting. I have recieved many compliments on my work, I enjoy doing it, and if it didn't sell, I ould be assured that my family had blankets, lots of blankets. The only real cost for this would be the materials-which are surprisingly cheap, really, and the tables at craft shows and flea markets, also surprisingly cheap. Tis is not somethingI woud be doing untill after Baby#3 is born, at this point. I will keep working of peices, but I probably won't have enough to sell untill then, being right now most of what I am working on is for my kids. If it works, great! I can work my way up to bigger and better venues, if not I can say I tried. Also, I would like to get a new sewing machine and a serger...maybe x-mas, or tax returns.

Ultimately, if we became well to do, either by hard work, or winning the lotterry, I dont think we'd live a glamorous lifestyle. Ultimately what I want is what I want, no matter how much money I have, and it will be attainable someday. I want to own a house, somethingthat is mine, and I want to have land. The land does not need to with the house, but it would be nice. It needs to be enough land to garden, maybe have fruiting trees, and eventually keep chicken and sheep. I want, someday, to live a very natural lifestyle, on my little farm, with hubby and the kids. Granted, it will have to have internet access, so were not talking "Little House on the Prairie" or anything like that. I don't know, maybe like a new sort of hippie for a new century. Living organic, making our own clothes, living as much off the land as possible, while at the same time, selling product, homegrown organic food, hand-made yarns and blankets, specialty quilts, letting Hubby do the internet game he's designed, but hasn't gotten backing for yet, having a computer for everyone, websites all around. Techno-hippies...yeah...I like that. That would be ideal.