Is this not stinkin' adorable?

I do still want a girl. But if it does happen to be a boy I'm so getting this when it goes on sale.

It's not me! It's my Swine Flu Vaccination!

Common Systemic Side Effects from Swine Flu Vaccines

Systemic effects were also reported by CSL and Novartis vaccine recipients. Approximately 36% of volunteers that received the swine flu vaccine manufactured by CSL experienced mild systemic side effects. 8% of vaccine recipients reported moderate systemic side effects, and less than 1% experienced a severe adverse reaction to immunization. Severe side effects reported include, malaise, muscle pain, and nausea. Muscle aches were the most common systemic side effect reported by participants receiving the H1N1 vaccine produced by Novartis, and no severe systemic side effects were reported. The following are common whole-body side effects occurring in response to either H1N1 vaccination.

• Headache
• Malaise (feeling out-of-sorts)
• Muscle pain
• Chills
• Nausea
• Fever
• Vomiting

Well I have all sorts of excuses for erratic behavior! Great! Now I feel like I need to do something crazy just so I can take advantage of it! Darn me and my stable mental health!!!! :-)

Pregnancy Perks!

I had my first appointment today! It went splendidly,well other than the 2 flu shots and 6 vials of blood- well and the whole EXAM (those are never fun). We did get to take a look at our little *girl* :-). Who happens to be measuring right on schedule! So I am officially 8 weeks 5 days! And my child will be born no later than August 30Th (planned C-sections kind of take out that whole element of surprise huh?).

My absolute FAVORITE perk of having another baby is- Getting to shop in the baby department again! And if it's a girl then I can do a lot more shopping (since i gave most of Leia's stuff away)! Woohoo! So. Excited. About. This. However, I'm not really loving any of the baby lines that are out at this very moment. Oh well, I'm sure things will change a lot in the next 7 months.

Pa*RANT!*

As I've mentioned before we've been watching through the 80's sitcom Full House and this got me thinking.

What has become of family sitcoms or really family TV in general?

We don't have cable but I still cannot think of 1 show that's on during prime time that I would be able to watch with my kids. Isn't that sad? You always hear of how TV is aiding childhood obesity, so what are they watching? I have fond memories of watching The Cosby Show and ABC's TGIF line up on Friday nights with my family. Where are all the family based shows now? Forget reality TV I want family values back!!! And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

(Feel free to enlighten me if there is some little gem of a show out there that I don't know about. FYI: Hannah Montana doesn't count!)

Consider Yourself Warned!

Your Pregnancy (8 weeks): Feeling like a drama queen? Don't worry, mood swings are perfectly normal at this stage.

Comments to the Editor

I didn't really know what to expect with our recent announcement of our expanding family. I mean we are now entering the "big" family status (at least in today's standards). But no weird comments, so far! This whole weekend seems like a whirlwind. News travels fast when you're part of a big family (42 members combined!) and a close-knit church family (not to mention a mother and 8 year old son who are EXTREMELY excited about telling everyone the news). But I just want to re-live a couple of my absolute favorite reactions, and one "scary" one. :-)

1.) I was really looking forward to telling my 3 oldest nieces (ages: 10, 9, and 7) and their reaction did NOT disappoint me! We ended up having to call them because when we stopped at their house to tell them they weren't home. So we put our kids on speaker phone and had them yell "WE'RE HAVING A BABY". The girls started yelling and screaming and running about their house to tell their mom, who was napping because she works nights at the hospital.

2.) We ran into one of my favorite ladies from church at the store while we were out trying to find my family (another story for another day) so we could make the announcement. When we told her, she started crying and hugging us because she was so happy.

3.) And last but DEFINITELY not least was Xavier's reaction. The first words out of his mouth were "Now we'll be even with the Kohlers" (who are some really close friends of ours with 4 children). And then once we gave him the okay to tell anyone he wanted he promptly when to EVERY person in church and told them.

And then the one reaction I wasn't expecting was my dad telling me that he really wants me to have twins....Is he crazy?

So needless to say we're pretty excited around here!

Oh and P.S. I'm feeling pretty good! I can't really eat (but I'm not throwing up at least), in fact at the moment the only things that really sound tempting to me at any given time are Grapefruit, Raisin Bran, and yogurt (not all together). Thankfully they're all healthy. Since watching the scale go the other way is going to be VERY difficult for me!

Wake Me Up When September *Comes*

Don't look at us like we're crazy, but...


...come on! You knew it was coming sooner or later!
Pink PLEASE!!!

P.S. I'd forgotten how utterly exhausting pregnancy is.

A glimpse into a 3 yr old's mind:

"We are the pirates who don't do anything. We stay home and eat." ¬Gaius

A countdown doesn't quite have the same effect when you start at 2, huh? Oh well.

The H1N1 Rosies

"Ring around the rosies, pockets full of posies. RASHES, RASHES we call fall down"~ Leia

Gaius Logic Alternately titled: I should've taken it as a sign when I would find him stripped down in his crib at the age of 8 months.

"Come on Gaius it's time to get dressed"

"uh. I have underwear on"

"Yes you do. But you need to wear more than underwear."

"AW!!!!"

Mama Files: The January Itch.

I think a trip to Joann's is in store this weekend (that is if it will stop snowing for a minute). I have some projects I'm dying to tackle!

The end.

Pardon Me!

****Please bear with me while I explain something (trust me the conversation at the end of this will be worth a chuckle or 2). At our house we call farting "tooting". I'm not exactly sure why I started this. There just seems to be something disheartening about explaining to a 2 year old what a fart is called (you can blame my mother! She still won't say the word). So tonight at dinner this was one of the conversations we had.

Xav- "Mom, how much is college?"

me- "a lot"

Xav- "can you do homeschool for college?"

me -"yeah*, but you still have to pay money" *online courses

Xav- "well I hope that includes a tudor."

Leia- "I hate tooters"

Just another day with the Gingerbread Kids!

Tuesday's Tidbits

*snow, snow, and more SNOW!!!! Over the past 4 days we've gotten more than 3 feet (why do we live in NY again?)

*here comes the "homeschooling long haul". No real vacations in sight for a very long time.

* I swear Gaius grew a couple inches over Christmas break. AND he recognizes G's as being in his name.

*my van has been broken down for a month and 6 days while. But is going to be fixed this week!!!!

*Leia is still a lover of all things shoes

*We've been watching through the first 2 seasons of Full House, and now my kids go around the house saying "Have Mercy!"- which I'm not sure I like, considering Uncle Jesse always says this after kissing various women.

*IT IS COLD OUTSIDE!

*we are now the proud owners of an Easy Bake Oven....and Moon Sand (Grandma was NOT nice to Mommy this year)

*the Jets are going to the play-offs! All is well here at the Gingerbread house!

Here We Go Again...

And there's no sign of it stopping for DAYS.