Friday, June 28, 2013

Seven Quick Takes - It is pay day Friday Style



--- 1 ---

{Here's to Papa...}

I am sure Lee said something funny this week I just didn't write it down so I am going to fill in with the fantastic logical of my OB

Me - I don't want to take my glucose test (etc etc etc)
Dr - Well your first was 6/13 and your second was 7/10 so you are on track for an 8 or 9 lb baby
Me - I am all about 6 or 7 lb babies but that still does not change the fact I don't want to take the test
Dr - But you are trending towards a big baby
Me - Yeah, and if I had 8 or 9 kids that means that they'd be 14 or 15 lb babies...

--- 2 ---

On the topic of the doctor - sorry I just went yesterday... my doctor scored major points because we compromised and he let me take the glucose juice home! He asked me what my problem was with the test  (no base line blood reading before drinking the mess and high percentage of false positives) and among other things I said I have to be here at 8 am and I have two kids. So after I after asked him what happens if I just didn't show up and that I am the patients and I did not think I should have to negotiate - though I will for the baby's sake - he proposed the bring the drink home and come in at 9. BAM! His nurses were shocked and the lab tech (who is awesome) couldn't believe it. Score one for me, people!!!

Saving it for a raining day... aka my glucose test day!!!
                                    


--- 3 ---
Okay last baby topic take. Had the ultrasound and I PROMISE and I did not see any evidence of boy or girl. Tech said (of course) she knew. So that makes me lean towards girl because it should be pretty easy to spot a boy, right? Well I have been leaning towards a girl since.... forever, so I had best get on board with this girl name, right? : )







Like mother, like child : ) I totally don't like having my pic taken too, little one



--- 4 ---

On the similar doctor vain.... How about E had a dentist appointment this week. Not a problem. 30ish minutes late getting pulled back. Hygienist brushes her front teeth with the world's most expensive non-electric toothbrush. Brush same teeth with sonic toothbrush and a DAP of toothpaste. Flosses a few teeth. Wait 3 minutes for the dentist. Dentist looks at teeth and bite. Hygienist puts insta-dry fluoride on her teeth. E gets 3 stickers. Check out. Bill.... $126!!!! I looked at the lady and said this is the rate for people who are paying in full because they don't have dental insurance. Yes ma'am. Me - Last time it was $70. Lady -Right well its $125. Me - That is more than I pay at my dentist. 

E's toothbrush and toothpaste... Grrrrrrr
                                     

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!??!?

Still trying to figure this out. 

A. From time in chair to time out of chair is approximately 5 minutes. That breaks down to a little less than .50 per SECOND!!!!!!!!! and they did not even do ANYTHING
B. I am still fuming
C. My kids are NOT going to a peds dentist every six months. Maybe, maybe once a year. 
D. Let's not get me started


--- 5 ---

R is starting to get over her fear of water outside and to show off dumped shovel fulls of sandy water on her head. Let's just say bathtime was not a pleasant experience for her.
                                    







I have been trying to figure out why the dirt and sand WON'T come out of her outfit. First wash sprayed it with Shout. 

                                 

That's what came out after wash one. Wash load two, Tide Pod on stain and presoak cycle. There was improvement but FAR from acceptably clean. So now I am going to go with Oxiclean and/or Clorox 2. Very perplexed by my stain situation.


--- 6 ---
This kid is definitely a Southern Belle. She begged for more "cheeees" aka pimento cheese. It is my first batch of the summer and could have used a bit more cayene pepper but it is still really really really good.





--- 7 ---
Have you checked out and entered my giveaway? If not you totally should because, A. Entering is super easy B. You probably know somebody who has a baby and breastfeeds (excuse me as I make some sweeping assumptions!) C. These onesies are SO SO SO CUTE!




For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

                               Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Giveaway - Keep Calm and Latch on Onesie or T-shirt

Okay I looked at the shipping times from Cafe Press and I decided I better get this giveaway going.

I saw these yesterday when I was checking out the Big Latch 2013 site. They caught my eye and I am kinda obsessed with them. So I am giving away one onesies or infant t-shirt or toddler t-shirt (not longsleeve and not an organic one). You can pick the color of the onesie/shirt - blue, pink, white, green, yellow and the color of the button - blue, pink or green. Go check them out. If you are interested in the Big Latch check out that Web site too. R and I went last year (E and her baby went too : ) and it is an awesome way to meet lots of other nursing moms and share all your nursing secrets! Really bummed that baby #3 won't be here yet to participate but there is always 2014.

So what combo is your favorite. There are a million (not really) different color combinations. Check them all out on Cafe Press. Here are a few:










a Rafflecopter giveaway




Other legal-ish stuff.
Big Latch and Cafe Press have nothing to do with this giveaway. Consider it a Public Service Announcement : )
I will post the name of the winner as well as try and contact you for your pick and your address
I will order and ship you the onesies or t-shirt if you win - to a USA address.
It is my hope that the onesie/t-shirt will get to you by the time Big Latch event are going on - but I am not guaranteeing it.



Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

I'll Take One of These...


Okay apparently I'm way behind on the times and have no idea what the obsession/fad/thing is with the "Keep Calm and...".  Sorry I don't get out much and have no idea what goes on in pop culture so feel free to clue me in.



Well any-who... I LOVE this onesie and I think I might just get one. Kinda disappointed baby numero 3 and I won't be able to participate in the Big Latch this year... this baby needs to bake well into October or early November. R and I did last year - maybe this baby will still be nursing come time for Big Latch 2014. If you are a nursing mom and can participate... Totally recommend it. Nursing moms who are complete strangers always have a MILLION things to talk about so get out and socialize at the very least : )

Maybe I'll even giveaway a onesie or toddler shirt away just to support the cause... Anyone up for it?

Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

My better side

Thanks E for the outline....


Hopefully you got that I am the top one.

Circular blob on the lowered left is E's cycle.

E is lower right.

R outlined the baby on my shirt while E was tracing me

Weekend Best 6.23.13 and other musings

I have a bit of a weekend recap plus I think I owe it to the girls to let the world know that church on Sunday was 1000% more manageable than normal - even though I have not seen any Sunday church behavior posts so whatever... I'm doing it anyways.

Saturday we traipsed up to Raleigh for a wedding - that's after we got on the highway and realized we forgot my dad's Fathers Day present and whipped around to get it! E waffled on whether or not she wanted to stay with Grammy and make cookies or come to the wedding and eat cake. She decided on cookies. After a brief lunch stint at my parents (my mom had sandwiches already made in case we ran out of time) Lee and I were off to the Hill for the wedding. It was so nice to see a million people from Newman (where I went to church while at UNC but also made a ton of friends). There were a million kids there too so then I felt bad that E was not there - but then I got over that pretty quick! Reception was great. Actually got to talk to people and catch up. Get the scoop on jobs, next weddings etc etc.

The point I want to make about the wedding is this. Msg. Wall in his homily said this, "In order to love, you have to be loved." How profound is that? Or maybe I'm the only one... but seriously. Think about it. Now think about all the kids/people out the who do not experience love.

Okay for some less heavy stuff. Sunday morning we woke up to egg bake and crumb cake - I wish I had the A. Energy to cook like my mom and B. the patience to learn how to cook like my mom. I can knock out the egg bake but I need to get this crumb cake figured out because it is AWESOME with a cup of coffee (yes I drink coffee while pregnant) and its not too sweet.

We made it out the door on time to church. I got eaten up by mosquitos in the parking lot getting the girls dressed. Then we rolled the dice inside.

E only went to the potty one time before Liturgy started. She sat down more than I would have liked but that's fine. She sang parts of the songs in between litanies. I think there was only one crisis before the Gospel which was manageable. She helped get the basket around with the other girls. We stood in the back for parts 2nd half of Liturgy - which was fine because then I can sort of tell her what's going on. Then she was fine. And she did not even make a mess of the blessed bread like she did last week. Significant improvement I tell you

R - now fully walking - had a fantastic time a church. First she was walking over a .5 in step up in the floor and went airborne. She sat in her chair some and threw around icon cards - still trying to figure out if they are worth bringing in. She and E traded their bible/Liturgy books. She did get taken outside by a super nice lady - I mean outside the building - it was a little hot so I think R enjoyed the fresh air. She crawled and walked around but did not go too far up to the front. She walked in circles during the Anaphora (but was pretty quiet). She did have a minor meltdown towards the end but nothing like the head banging screaming fits of weeks past. She also tried swipe a check or two from the offertory but I took care of that : ) so she was a million times better than normal. Let's hope we have a new norm.

Back to my parents house for Father's Day lunch/dinner. E had a blast with Uncle Kevin. The food was great. The girls and I took naps. E got to play in the sprinkler. We all ate blueberry pie (did I mention I need to inherit some of her baking skills?). We packed our stuff, E did not want to leave, and we all left.
Color coded bags... Makes my life just a tad bit easier. 


Seeing our normal-ish / manageable size pile of luggage made me think in the car. How is baby #3 going to effect our overnight stays? Will we get invited to stay overnight (the answer is yes we will - probably) BUT Will we want to stay overnight? Who knows... We stay at my parents house probably - on average once a month. Some months its a few nights and others it is none. What will Christmas look like? We have done Christmas morning at my parents since... hmmm... a long time. Will we do it this year? What will Christmas be like with a 2 month old? And a 22 month old? And a 3.5 yr old? What about Thanksgiving?

Before I had time to delve into the ins and outs of that holiday I hear the most fantastic noise coming from the back of the van. E and R screaming with delight.

The sisters latest game : ) 


Then I realize that A. it will all work out and B. that as long as the kids are happy and Lee and I are maintaining our sanity then it does not matter.

In other news, E has a dentist appointment today - which I seriously considered canceling. I mean if all you do is count her teeth again I'm not going back for a year.

AND we are breaking down and getting a swingset. I found a really good deal on a really nice one (and it comes installed so Lee is 1000% in favor of it). We can add on to it down the road if we want. I kind of stubbled across it because I had written it off for next year. But Lee and I have been talked about having a pig picking this fall and with the potential number of kids that may or may not come, a swingset would be crucial. So I perused the few really good places, made some phone calls and I think we are making a good decision. I'll post some pics when it goes up.

FINALLY, if you haven't stopped reading yet... I had a dream last night Lee and I were doing some crazy gender reveal party thing and the baby was a boy. I guess I could find out Thursday but even if I did, I doubt I'd tell : )


Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Overheard...

( 95 million degrees with 100% humidity)

E - Mama, why is it not snowing?
Me - mmmm... Its a little too hot...





Friday, June 21, 2013

How I earned my Friday


Stayed up entirely too late last night watching the Tarheels baseball game so I was dragging a bit this morning. Managed to get out of the house with very little crisis to speak of.

Talked to a mom in the parking lot after dropping the girls off - we bonded over going to the same OB practice. Being pregnant gives you so much to discuss with other pregnant women its insane. You start telling these women you have met for a hot minute details you normally would not delve into... you know?

Work.. Man. Cliche but totally TGIF. I earned my Friday dealing with stuff and stuff and more stuff...

In the car home:
E - You don't need the air conditioning on...
Me - Why?
E - Its kind of cold-ish
Me - Oh
E - Its kind of warm-ish outside
Me- Okay

Lunch is great because R is usually asleep and E and I just get to talk. She licked all the hummus off her pita and then tried to convince me she needed to dip her pita into the hummus 'jar' - negative ghostwriter. I introduced her to PB and banana. Let me tell you the preggo-nose did not approve of the tunafish/garlic hummus/banana/PB odors wafting from the kitchen... so I cleaned up in stages.

E did not sleep during her rest and I am presently paying the price for that. I did not think much of it until about 15 minutes ago when she started melting down during dinner.

R got up and loaded up on some nana and crackers (aka graham crackers). I asked E to move the wet clothes into the dryer (aka the clean washer) and bam it was done. I had this moment of 'oh wow she actually did it. things will get easier.' Then I rounded up some spare change and thanked her for her services.

We had a nice walk around the neighborhood. We did sprinklers and sandboxes. Hung out with Papa for a minute. Took sink baths. Ran to get the pizza. Dominos delivers but come now its not the same. E announced that she did not want spinach. Talked to a guy in line who thought the girls were about the same age. 3 and 16 months don't seem to qualify as the 'same' but whatever. He has kids 11 months apart and said 'that's the way to go'. Right well good thing I don't think he realized I am pregnant : )

Everyone at the pizza place was prepared to help us make our exit. Next time I shall consider it because the parking lot walk was the only issue. Good thing a nice lady insisted on walking us 100 ft to the van and promptly announced she could not wait to be a grandma. : )

R ate and was whisked away to bed. E began the meltdown over the 2nd piece of pizza because the cheese was not 'sticking' to the pizza. She was scoffing at it. I told her she needed to eat it or be done eating. After about 3-5 minutes of scoffing and no consumed pizza I put it in the frig. {Enter meltdown mania}

Screams over wanting to eat the pizza, finish her milk, {running and banging into frig}, screaming while trying to eat her vitamins, {getting dragged to bathroom to wash hands and brush teeth}, screams, loses a vitamin down the sink, more screams, {dragged to bed} refuses to put on pajamas

I am waiting this meltdown out with her door closed. Wondering how in the world she and R are going to share a room. I mean I know they will and I guess she and R will just have to meltdown in front of the other and keep the other up? It is a mystery the logistics of everything but I cannot worry about it too much.

The good thing about E and her meltdowns are she is very emotional and you cannot talk to her until she has gotten the meltdown out of her system or she realizes she has another crisis to worry about (currently she is worried about not having her Nini - I am not withholding it, it just was not in her room when the meltdown started). Once she has moved on, she is relatively normal again and you can at least reason with her. It will be interesting to see how R's meltdowns go and how they need to be handled because I think different kids have different modes/outlets for meltdowns and of course there are thousands of theories about how parents should deal with them.

Anyways enough of the philosophical junk. I had a good day and I'm not letting this meltdown get in my way!

Going in with the Nini : )



Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

7 Quick Takes - How 'bout them Heels???? Edition



--- 1 ---

{Here's to Papa...}


{{While watching baseball and people get pelleted by foul balls}}

Me - I just don't like those
Lee - I'll protect you
Me - Yeah... sitting next to the guy who can catch a ball
Lee - You just gotta duck further than I duck Chicky

How about those Heels last night??? Yes I stayed up for the whole game. Yes The Mount was representing on the mound 8 1/3 innings - really was hoping he was going to finish out the game but very happy for the W.


--- 2 ---

Here's another one just because I love him so much!

Me - {giggling}
Lee - What is it?
Me - Nothing..
Lee - Are you doing some vicious blog post?
Me - {giggling}
Lee - I guess I'll find out some time



--- 3 ---
So I really have been mum on this pregnancy for no particular reason other than my kids who I see every day give me a run for my dinero so #3 can keep kicking away at all hours of the day and night and that is nothing to the humor/joy/stress/laughs I get out of the girls.

Ultrasound next week... Lee is 90% likely not to come and I have seriously debating bringing E. I think she would enjoy it but it is during her rest time - she could totally power through it though. She came to this ultrasound when I was pregnant with R and it was HORRIBLE. Now I cannot imagine bringing R with me to this one. I was crazy.

Still have not gained any significant weight - definitely under the 10 lb mark at 21.5 weeks which is fine for me as long as the doctor says its fine. I'm sure I'll find out next week... I am really excited about the ultrasound. I am hoping I have the nerve NOT to peak to see if baby is a boy or girl. NOT looking forward to that glucose test and still trying to devise a way out of it. Thinking that this baby is probably a girl just because we have two already but I have some fantastic pregnancy acne which I don't think I had before so that's my only holdout for boy.


--- 4 ---

How about the weather? These past 10 days have made me wish we had a basement! Seriously? Tornado warnings north and south of us - we are talking a few miles. 


E watching it rain after we finally put her in bed while we waited out the bad weather. Oh and she got a new umbrella and has been taking it to school everyday... even though its not raining!!!


--- 5 ---

E FINALLY did her ballerina puzzle all by herself. I'm all about puzzles but for a few months she had it in her head that she needed help with this one. One night I told her she had to figure it out or just go to bed because I was tired... guess what? She figured it out. 

                                    

And then proceeded to do her ballet 'moves' around it. 


--- 6 ---
So... about this photo collage thing... I could not post anything because good ole Papa reads the blog-o. So My inspiration is something like this.




Courtesy of Pinterest.... I love things to be equal and even and matching... Yes SLIGHTLY OCD about it. But you know my favorite collages are the ones that none of the frames match. So ran with a gold and black theme because the only 8x12 frame I could find was solid black. I need some vision... and some creative twist and probably more pics because the wall I am going to put this on is massive. 

                                    x                                                                                     x            
xx

This is how OCD I am... I measure the wall height and length. Made a canvas in Photoshop then resized all my pictures to the size they would be printed to and this is what I came up with. Sorry for the white background. Probably not going with something like this after everything I have seen on Pinterest  but a math person does NOT need to be doing this kind of thing!



--- 7 ---
{Here's to R's walking status (or non-status : )



F-I-N-A-L-L-Y the girl is a walker!!!! Oh my goodness. I am so happy for her. R is full blown walking like a mad woman. Bobbing and weaving and stepping around things and people and not falling over. She is/will be a much happy TODDLER for it. We were over at my MILs for our normal Thursday dinner (yeah it was pretty darn good - per the usual) and E and R were having a BLAST and a half just walking around and carrying their babies. I LOVE it so much seeing them together. I had to tell E not to hold R's hand because E would got slow at first and then power walk which R was not up for... yet.

Ahh.... nostalgia! Just a another milestone. My first big milestone is teeth. As soon as the girls got their first tooth I lamented to Lee that they weren't babies anymore (clearly they were and are and will be my babies) BUT still that's the first thing for me. Walking is the 'official' toddler milestone so I guess it is safe to say we have a 3 yr old, toddler and baby on the way.

Speaking of toddler this one is talking up a storm too here's a few...

Mama
Papa
Cup-cup
Nana
Down
No
Go
Nani - which I think she means Night-night or Nini - sorry Nani : )
Cow - last night we stopped (and got out of the van of course and admired the cows and R belted that one out first time)
Bubble - she loves bubbles

I know she is saying more but the girls will be calling so I need to shut this one down


For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

                               Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Sunday Best 6.16.13


Happy Father's Day to all the Papas out there... Or as E would say 'Fod-ders Day'

Part of Papa's Father's Day present... Framed photos for a photo collage...

We were slightly late departing this morning due to E chasing Papa around with his "Fod-ders Day card." We still made it in plenty of time to gas up and determine we are going to put 20K on the van within a year of owning it and eat breakfast.

Yet again I forgot our icon cards and children's bible and children's Liturgy book. Minus points for me. The girls were pretty manageable up until after the homily then it was normal unsettled antics.

E was a helper and turned on all the lights when we got into church but then announced as Liturgy was starting that she needed to go potty. She ran to the back several times to get books and handouts. Totally melted down before the Gospel claiming she needed to go potty; I told her she had to wait 2 minutes until after the Gospel reading which did not end well. Get into the bathroom and says she doesn't need to go. Tell her she is not having good behavior and is losing her cookie after church. Tears. Screams. The Works. Papa takes over during the homily. E helps get the basket passed for the offertory. Then sits with the priest's family - not good. Distraction (she is that is). We all go out with R as both are screaming. Priest's wife takes R (she is a saint I tell you). E and I stand in the back and practice how we should behave at church. Bowing and crossing ourselves at the right time in order to win back the coveted cookie. She belted out parts of the Our Father and sang parts of the Communion song which she was highly praised for. After our last 1/3 of excellent behavior, she totally made a massive mess of the blessed bread we get following Liturgy - so she and Papa had to clean it up.

R was neither significantly better or worse than last week. She did get annexed to the Narthex for several minutes with E post-homily. She is such a mover and shaker and into everything and instead of touching and pointing to icons on the walls she wants to manhandle and beat them - which is kind of cute. I did not have an trash passed to me from the floor today - thank goodness.

Next week I'm bringing a fence.



Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory

Happy Father's Day!!!




Happy Father's Day Papa!!! It only took two nights and many Smarties to bribe the girls into this pic. Can't imagine trying to take a family pic in another year!

We love you soooooo much...

You hold us

even after naptime

We LOVE watching your every move


We love sharing snacks

and riding on the digger

and helping you mow the grass

you are such a great helper

and can still hold us both at one time

We love to dress up for you

and go swimming

and look 'beautiful'

And here's to my dad... {Sorry I could not find a more Father's Day-ish pic} but this is quintessential Grandpa Joe : ) 


                                                       
And I could not resist this pic for two reasons. 1. It looks like my dad is totally wearing and massive Christmas bow - and he would wear one too and 2. R is giving him this look like 'who are you' and I gave his dad a similar look - its nicely put away in an album. Maybe I'll have to put them side by side because the look is totally generational : )


Ni Hao Yall




Vote for me @ Top Mommy Blogs - Mom Blog Directory