Child Labor, Getting Bigger, etc...

It's a good thing that I am not subject to child labor laws because I've been having my kids do lots for me lately from laundry to picking stuff up off the floor to peeling potatoes. Aly is becoming quite the domestic one these days. She carries all the laundry into the laundry and puts it in the washer for me and then she takes it all of out the dryer and carries it to the bed for me so I can fold it. Now if I could just teach her how to fold properly and put it away that will be the day!

The other day she wanted to peel the potatoes. I finally relented and let her. If you have ever been out to eat with my kids then you know that they HATE potatoes, even french friends...from Mickey D's! I realized a couple of weeks ago that they will eat REAL mashed potatoes with gravy. I usually just use instant. When we were kids my mom always made REAL potatoes and instant potatoes were a treat so I have never really made real mashed potatoes much. Well finally I'm getting sick of instant and my kids don't like them so I guess Aly will be peeling more potatoes in the days to come.






































It's really hard for me to let the kids help me in the kitchen, with cleaning, etc. I have such a perfectionist personality and like to have everything in just the right place and order that when they want to help it seems to make more work for me. I am trying to relax (and keep my blood pressure down) and let them help a little more. I can definitely use it more now than ever! It seems like after you've carried more than 2 kids pregnancy gets so much harder on your body. I guess because your chasing a couple of kids around, your older and things are stretched out already so the ache much sooner! For me this pregnancy seems like it's taking forever! I'm not complaining...much, after everything it took to get us here I am thankful and feel very blessed to have 3 healthy children. My mom's been requesting a profile picture so I took one while I was in front of the bathroom mirror yesterday. I do not like to have my picture taken when I'm pregnant so this one's for you Mom. You might have to wait until June when I see you in person if you want to see my profile again.

Toilet Paper and Kleenex

It's a good thing we are having a boy because I am amazed at the amount of toilet paper and kleenex that 3 girls go through in a week's time! Holy Moly!

Happy 50th Birthday MawMaw!

Finally, 3rd Trimester!

Today is the day! 12 weeks or less to go. I am so excited to finally be on the downhill slope, sometimes I feel like I've been on the ski-lift forever! I took the girls to meet Clifford at the library on Friday. The sequence of pictures is funny. The were expressing their sisterly love when we got there. Ashley got a picture of her and Clifford. Aly wanted a picture of her and Clifford so she is pushing Ashley out of the way. Grumpy girls, Aly was peeved that Ashley was in the picture and Ash was mad that Aly pushed her. Finally, Aly with Cliffford!

I Should Be Sleeping...

but Ashley woke about around 3am saying she wasn't feeling good and that she wanted to sleep in bed with us. FUN! I guess she knew I needed to find time to update my blog so this as good a time as any. We got out of bed around 4:15am and now she's happy as can be watching Disney Chanel downstairs.

I need to get on taking some pictures. The only pics I've really taken are of 3 Mexican guys digging up our yard yesterday and I don't really think you all are interested in seeing that. The cable box for some other houses down the street is in our yard and our neighbor's yard (the box has nothing to do with our cable). They have been messing around in our yard for months trying to fix some sort of problem and have this huge long cable that extends through our entire yard all the way through about 4 other yards. I looked out the window yesterday morning to find part of our yard completely dug up (sod and all) with 3 guys in a huge hole messing around with some pipes, cables, etc. I promptly called Corey and took a picture. They left us a flyer saying everything would be returned to it's original state...yeah, right, if you would've seen my yard you would've had doubts too. I've got to hand it to the Mexicans...they really know how to do landscaping and sod! You cannot even tell that anyone was in our yard. We had a few white guys digging in our yard a few months ago and we have a big mound with our sod laid on top of it where they "fixed" it.

The girls had their "Big Sister" class on Monday at the hospital and we got to see a newborn baby. We are all getting really excited for Joel's arrival! We had our usual dance on Tuesday, Wednesday I went to the office so they got to go to preschool (which they LOVE) and then yesterday I had a "Mom meltdown" as I tried to clean house with two fighting girls who were one step behind me messing up what I just cleaned. What is it with kids, bathrooms, lotion, soap and water? Ugh, I don't think I need to say anymore!

Tonight we are having Corey's family over for his Mom's 50th b-day. Corey's little bro who just moved to California flew in last night to surprise their Mom and he'll be here for a week. We are all going to see Cirque Du Soleil next Wednesday for her b-day. We are headed to good ole CoMO tomorrow to check on the properties, get my hair down and hopefully visit some friends. Sunday is church as usual and then R & R for the rest of the day!

Now I know Why

Now I know why there are bathrooms in master bedrooms...for pregnant moms (it only took me how many pregnancies to figure this out?)!! Anyway, moving on.

Aly had Kindergarten sign-ups this past Thursday. What a complete mess! Not me or her, the process. I called the school a few months ago to obtain the date and any pertinent info we would need (i.e. what I need to bring, screenings, etc.). Last Friday I decided to be SMART and call the school to confirm that sign ups were Monday since Corey had taken the day off work, WRONG-O, the lady told me that they were on Thursday ( I seriously think they changed the date although the lady at the school denied it). I was so hacked off at that point that I didn't think to reconfirm the items that we would need to bring. I call the school on Monday, no answer, just voicemail. I call the school on Tuesday, same song and dance but this time I left a message. No return phone call. I call the school on Thursday right before we leave and get a laundry list of items. I gather all the items together and we head up to the school.

It was a complete madhouse of MOMS...SOME CRAZY MOMS! It's complete ciaos and one Mom had to tell us where we needed to go. I go to the first table to pick up this ridiculously huge packet of paperwork to fill out and the lady asked me, "are you here for Kindergarten screening as well". WHAT?!?! I asked about this a few months ago and was told they weren't going to be doing screenings at this time. "That's okay" the lady says "they'll give you a piece a of paper with a number on it and you can call to schedule your screening". Whatever, so AFTER you fill out the paperwork you get to stand in a line that's an hour long...seriously, 1 hour. Thankfully Corey came with me, I sent him to stand in line and entertain the girls while I filled out paperwork. Finally we get to the front of the line only to find out that in addition to our utility bills as proof of residency we also need our tax bill. The lady on the phone said utility OR tax bills, not both! Fortunately they let me sign her up and I can drop a copy of the bill by later on.

In conclusion, Corey and I came up with what they should've done:
1. Posted the date of sign ups on the online school calendar at the beginning of the year (for proactive and moms who like to plan)
2. Posted a list on the web of the items you need to bring with you (i.e. birth certificate, immunizations, TAX BILL, etc.)
3. Had all of the forms available to be downloaded and printed off at home so you can fill them out ahead of time and bring them with you
Corey also thought you should take this one step further and have the forms online but be able to be submitted electronically. Have laptops there, pull up the info...etc. You get it, the mind of a software engineer.

Now we are on to our relaxing weekend. I think we are going to a St. Patrick's Day Parade today and then Grandma is going to take the girls for a couple of hours so that we can go see "He's Just Not That Into You". Yeah, I know, 2 movies, 2 weekends in a row...we are living large now, well some of us pregnant ones are anyway.

Quick Update

The doctor's appointment went well on Friday. I did the glucose test, had blood drawn, had my belly measured and heard Joel's heartbeat. The weight gain wasn't too bad so that was a relief. I asked him about taking a 10 hour drive to Texas for Easter and he pretty much said you can do it but you have to stop EVERY hour and you will be extremely uncomfortable. We have decided to go the Texas for Thanksgiving instead of Easter. The stopping will turn a 10 hour drive into a 20 hour drive!

We went out on a date Friday night with some friends from church and saw "Gran Turino". Awesome movie! I absolutely loved it. I had no expectations for the movie except that I would have rather seen "He's just not that into you". I was pleasantly surprised and think that "Gran Turino" is one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

Corey painted our master bathroom yesterday while I took the girls out to look for summer shoes...not too much of a selection right now. We dropped the girlies off with my parents to spend the night and then we had another date night. We ended up going to Corey's grandparents house for dinner and to do their taxes for them, Corey has been the unofficial tax man for his family these days.

We headed to church this morning, had a quick Taco Bell lunch and will be headed to The Butterfly House in Chesterfield shortly. We are having our March For Babies Family Team Kick Off this afternoon so it should be fun. The Butterfly House is free to all of our family teams who participate in March. I am totally loving working for MOD. I am really believing that they will find a permanant position for me after the grant expires, they've assured me that they are working on it! Right now I am working with families who have been affected by premature birth and managing 100+ family teams that will participate in the March For Babies on April 25th. When I was in college I never would've thought I would love working in non-profit this much, it's just so rewarding and fun!

Nervous

I have my almost 26 week dr. appt tomorrow and do you want to know what I'm most nervous about...not the glucose test...being weighed! Ugh. It's been 5 weeks in between appts and at my last appt I gained a little more than I wanted to, don't ask for numbers because I am not telling!

My doctor is really a stickler about not gaining too much weight and in the past I've always gained somewhere in the 35-45 lb range with my previous pregnancies, hopefully not that much this time. I am sure Corey appreciates my doctors "concerns" about weight gain. I feel like I have two weight nazi's on my back this time instead of just one! So as of the last appointment I quit donuts (I had only gone to Heaven Scent 4 times this pregnancy but whatever) and the daily can of Dr. Pepper that I was drinking and I have been trying to work out more.

I guess I should be happy that I am "healthy" but it's so gosh darn hard to watch the scale go up on a regular basis. I told Corey last night that at least if you're overeating you gain weight gradually so I wouldn't think you would notice it as much but when you're preggo you feel like you turn into a whale overnight! Wish me luck and low numbers on the scale!

BUSTED

So I got busted speeding today. Go figure! I haven't gotten a speeding ticket since College and here I am 31, pregnant with two kids in the backseat being pulled over. Honestly, I had no idea that I was speeding. The girls and I were just minding our own business when I heard the the sound and saw the lights behind me, we didn't even have music on and I wasn't talking on the phone.

I asked the "friendly" Dardenne Prairie officer for a warning and he ignored me. Even Aly said, "Mom, this is the first time we've been pulled over, ever"! I'm sure if I was not pregnant and sporting my "A" game he would've given me a warning. Well here's hoping for a little grace and mercy from the dear hubby since I haven't had a ticket in 11 or 12 years. Good thing I have my little part-time gig with MOD!

Question for my dear sweet friend Nicole - do you think it's worth showing up and contesting? I asked for a warning, haven't had an offense in over 11 years or an accident in 9 years and I seriously couldn't tell you if I was speeding much less how fast, I feel like he boosted my speed to bring me to the next fine level since it was only 1mph over the previous fine level...what's your "expert" opinion???

Time For A Real Update

I don't really feel like posting, it must be pregnancy. It seems that everything is pregnancy related these days. It's nice to know that I am closing in on my 3rd trimester. In less than 15 weeks I'll be bringing a sweet baby boy home, in less than 15 weeks hopefully my mood swings will improve. Seriously, I do not remember pregnancy being this emotionally draining. The mood swings I've had this pregnancy have been ridiculous, one minute I'm up, the next minute I'm down. Honestly I just don't get it. I am extremely thankful to be having another child, this is what we spent nine months praying for at the dinner table with the girls every night but I cannot wait to have the baby home with us! It's almost as if I've been having an out of body experience and that I'll be returned to this planet again really soon. If this all sounds weird it's probably because I'm pregnant!

Anyway, my mom and sister and niece came in town from Dallas last weekend and we had a wonderful but too short visit. My sister gave her new nephew a baby shower. It felt kind of weird to be receiving gifts since this is my third but everyone seemed really excited to be celebrating with us. The girls absolutely loved it! I let them open all of the gifts for their new brother and I wish I would've had a video camera because their reactions were priceless and so sweet. We've got a good start for the little guy including bedding. It's a vintage sports theme, per Corey's request, nothing cartoonish. I'm looking forward to getting the crib out of the basement and starting to get things together for his arrival.

We also celebrated the girls 3rd and 5th birthday with a family birthday party last Saturday. All this excitement made for a very fun but exhausting weekend. Aly had her b-day on Thursday. She woke up to Camp Rock decorations in the kitchen and a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, donut holes (her choice, not mine) and raspberries, at her request. We took her to have her pictures done, to Red Robin and bowling. When we weren't involved in any family festivities you could find her curled up on the couch watching HSM 3 continuously. She is so 5 going on 15!

So after a busy week we've had a pretty relaxing weekend. So now I guess it's time for me to go recharge my batteries for the next week. I am really hoping for nice spring weather this week, I think getting outside in the warmth will help my moods and that will be help for all of us!