Nervous.

Pray for me.

Per My Husband's Request:

One last belly shot!

44 hours and counting.

Thank you Jesus!

Advice?

Today was my last prenatal appointment!!! I couldn't see my regular OB because he's has been on call at the hospital all week. So I saw a different Dr. and his advice for this weekend was "Well if you think you're going into labor before Monday, just cross your legs or something *laugh*" Oh boy! Thanks Mr.!

I'm not sure if I'll be more surprised if I go into labor this weekend or if I don't. Will this baby actually follow the preset schedule?!? Maybe I'm growing another Xavier (he arrived right on his EDD), I could handle that!

In other news! We made some headway on picking names today! We are almost positively set for a boy!!! And we have a girl's first and middle name we just aren't sure which is which yet! YAY!!!! I'm excited (relieved, happy, etc.)!

We're having a baby people!

Pregnancy Insomnia

Here's a couple things I've realized this morning.

1. I can now look and see what the weather is projected to be and make adjustments to the "coming home" outfits!
2. Mine and Marc's names combined do not make a very good baby name. Let's see do we want Marleen or Kork?
3. I have bought absolutely ZERO baby boys clothes.
4. Even though it's still early and I know the end is in sight (6 days!) it's still depressing to wake up every morning uncomfortably pregnant.
5. Sleep is highly over-rated
6. A clean house is sooo nice to wake up to! I wish I nested more often!

All before 7AM! Have I mentioned I'm not normally a morning person?

Counting Down in Weeks is....

...SO last week!

Days!

I Just Can't Do It!

For some reason I can't trust my intuition. I've been to SO many yard sales with adorable, name brand, little girl stuff. But I just can't bring myself to buy any of it (well except for one sale where everything was 10¢). Come to think of it I don't think I've been to a single sale that had baby boy clothes. Maybe God's trying to tell me something. Or maybe he's trying to teach me some patience. Either way, 8 more days and all my questions will be answered!!!

August 30th it remains.

269 days down, 11 to go!

I can't wait to meet my baby!

OMGaius

OH MY GOODNESS!

Camping with my parents has turned my 3 year old into a fish! I took him swimming today for the first time since he's gotten back. HE IS CRAZY!!! He'll (while wearing a flotation device) jump into the pool, go under water, and swim all over ALL BY HIMSELF!

He's also doing a lot of other big, grown-up, kid stuff. Like he'll end a sentence with "or maybe not", if something doesn't turn out the way he expects.

However, he does still have some sweet little baby boyness left. Marc asked him if he was going to hold the baby when it was born. He answered "Nope, but I will still suck my fingers".

Tuesday's Tidbits

• I consider myself a patient person, but waiting in the waiting room for more than a hour is ridiculous. And it's happened to me twice recently, at 2 different places. Not cool!!!

• Youth Soccer starts this week!!!

• This week seems to be dragging.

• Marc has taken to his normal paranoid daddy self ( it does tend to happen right around the 37th week). "No honey, I don't think I'm going into labor tonight, or last night, or the night before." :-) But, I still love him!

• My kids have been extra funny this week! And really good! I never know what to expect when they come home from a week with my parents. This time it has gone very smoothly!

• I am actually starting to get excited to meet our baby soon, instead of just dreading the surgery/recovery.

• Just when I think we've almost nailed down a name, one of us decides we haven't. Right now the girl's list is at 3 (I think), and I have no clue about the boy's.

• My parents want to put in a new kitchen floor for us while we are at the hospital! Right now it's carpet (YES! carpet in a kitchen, not the best idea ), so I'm looking forward to that!

• I feel like my brain needs a rest from ALL-THINGS-BABY (you know how you get that way late in pregnancy?).

• We are about to finally get rid of the last piece of bedroom furniture out of our living room! My dad has one of the boys' beds completed! WoooHoo!

And I do believe that's it. Hopefully, I'll have some more exciting news on Thursday!

Happy Tuesday!

Can I Get a Drum Roll Please?!?!

Hello full term!

Mama and Daddy sittin' in a tree...

A conversation upon arriving home from 5 days camping with their grandparents:

Xavier- So mom what did you do all week?

Me- I don't know, not much.

Leia- They probably just kissed the whole time.

***well not the WHOLE time!***

Ready or Not...

Things are starting to move fast now!!! Well they've actually been moving at the same pace, but you know!

Today Marc wanted me to bring my hospital bag with us to my Dr. visit and it hit me; YIKES I only have 2 more appointments left. I mean I JUST packed my bag THIS WEEK!

Then upon talking to my Dr. today he's thinking of actually pushing the c-section up by a week. Because I went 2 weeks early with Leia and he doesn't want to risk me going into labor and being a hour drive away. That would be 9 days from today. Holy toot!!!! I'm not ready!!! I mean yes I'm uncomfortable and hot. But I haven't even really started nesting or anything yet. I'm definitely not to the point where

"I want this baby out of me, no matter the cost".

In fact surgery really freaks me out. Or at least it has in the past. I'm hoping the anxiety attack (a.k.a. uncontrollable bawling) hits at home rather than in front of the panic stricken nurse and anesthesiologist again. Or it could not happen at all, since I'm better prepared (mentally) this time. Yes! Yes! I definitely want to go with the last one. :-)

[insert slow, even, deep breaths here]

So anyway...9 days is so soon and even 16 days is coming fast. This whole procreating is nerve wrecking stuff.

When i first saw these I thought they were a great idea (pricey but great)! But the more I got thinking about it, the more I realized I don't want to wear a baby teether around my neck. Now, I consider myself to be a very devoted mother (I have 4 kids, that takes a lot of devotion in itself), but this just seems to be going too far. Can't I just stick a teether in my bag!?!

What do you think is this necklace a genius or silly idea?

http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/

I wanted to write a post

But, my house is child-free this week (well except for the lil soccer player, I'm baking). It appears that life without my kids isn't overly entertaining... I'm okay with that!

What do people without children do?

Happy Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day! (one day late)

I don't usually do this on here but I thought I'd post a recipe that I found.

Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 
  

  Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

You can go here if you want the printable version

P.S. We made these over the winter and Xavier has been asking for them ever since.

I know I've said it before...

But! Parenting is not for the faint of heart.

Today's Lesson: Buyer's Remorse

Yesterday I took a trip to Wally World, with 3 kids in tow, to get supplies for my kids' camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa. Leia was armed with $8 birthday money. Xavier had $3 he was willing to part with (he's saving up for a DS game). And Gaius had $5 or less, that I was willing to part with. We made our selections (Leia playing her normal game of indecision that takes FOREVER) then go to pay. Upon reaching the register we find A. candy, B. Lip gloss, C. other odds and ends that the store puts there to taunt children. So, WHAM!!! In a split second decision Gaius decides he wants a candy bar instead of a Winnie the Pooh toy (that he was "going to love forever and ever") he's been carrying around the whole store. And Leia decides she wants the lip gloss rather than this little dog we spent 20 minutes deciding on. We leave the toys and pick up the goodies, pay, and instantly burst into tears. So I head out to the car with 2 sobbing children and leave.

Now I'm still at a loss about what should have been done in this situation. I feel really bad that they were so upset. But, they are just toys that they will probably forget about by next week. I expected the tears from Gaius but was surprised by Leia's. My first reaction is to just go back and get them the toys and save them for a gift "from" the baby. However, that would completely defeat the lesson. Plus, I don't want to train them that as long as you cry you get your way. *sigh* I'm thinking the lesson might be worth more than the toys and I should stick with my first gut feeling. After all not going with our gut is what got us into this mess.

I guess we all learned a lesson here!

I really wish parenting wasn't so heart wrenching sometimes.

I miss you sweet stamina

Today was completely NUTS!

It started bright and early this morning and well hasn't really ended yet.

Two Dr. appointments, a 2 hour stretch at the Sprint store, and 2 hours (round trip) of driving time, got me this:

MY FIRST SMART PHONE!

It's pretty cool (and pretty) so far and I've barely scratched the surface on what it can do! If I wasn't so tired I'd watch the DVD that came with it or read the manual. Perhaps tomorrow.

For the record I do actually like my husband's Blackberry Bold better. But they only had one in stock. Oh well.

Now to get the kiddies to bed!

If I didn't know any better...

...I'd think that our dog was a teenage girl in his first life.

He loves:

Spending the whole day laying out in the sun

Taking showers- if you turn the hose on he goes nuts!!

Cuddling

Traveling- I think he's trying to dig his way to China, he's about ¼ of the way there.

I've never tried taking him to mall, but I'm sure he'd love that too.

Baby S.'s Eviction Notice!

I am issuing 30 day notice for EVICTION. Tenant will have 30 days in which he can either gather his belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, he will be physically removed from the property.

He's being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made!

Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

After 30 days from this day that he doesn’t comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.