BURN DOWN THE HOUSE!

Well - it's inevitable. I was feeling better - things were looking good - and WHAM. Julia is sick again! She says her ears hurt - and her belly hurts. She has a high fever and is just laying in bed - occasionally napping. Mostly crying. We'll try to get her in to the doctor tomorrow. In the meantime - manage with fluids, Motrin and if we can find them in a store around here - Similsan Earache drops.

I think it's time to burn down the house and kill off the sick bugs!

Here are Julia's lethargic answers to Kelly's Sunday Six...

1. Why do we go to school?
To learn

2. What is your favorite subject in school?
ummm outside time

3. How do we learn new things?
by learning letters

4. Do you (or do you think you will) like your teacher?
yes

5. How do you get to school?
drive

6. What does it mean to make straight A's?
i don't know

Ok - it's time

I'm 36 weeks pregnant. That means that this week (Thursday) I will find out what day the doctor will be inducing me next week. I have just over one week left of pregnancy.

We have a car seat for her now.

We're ready. In denial of her existence... but ready.

Damn - your funny kid...

Dan and I were talking about our disapointment with Arrested Development being cancelled... and hoping that Showtime picks it up.

Julia from the back of the van says "You know what show I like... I like the Office. That's a funny show"

So I asked her, "what other shows do you like"

Julia - "Princess and Barbie ones. OH and Earl. I like that show about Earl"

The Office - Princesses - Barbies - and EARL.

Isn't this adorable....

One of my dear friends sent this Cookie gram to me today... it has a funny 'blonde' story attached to it (she accidentally sent it to herself first... by putting her name in the TO area. :) She talked the UPS store to open up for her so she could them ship it to me by telling them the story!)... so it's even better.

Isn't it precious. It has a buggy (think stroller, not BUG) cookie, a bottle GIRL cookie, a rubber ducky cookie, a pink bib cookie, a block cookie... they are just beautiful - and delicious. Julia was circling the basket with foam coming from her mouth while waiting for us to open them...

So thanks to my super special friend (I don't know if I'm allowed to OUT you or not)... I appreciate it (and everything else). The card says it's from a place called funcarepackages.com so if you are in the market - check it out!

But you gotta have friends.............

It's times like these when you realize that you really are loved. I've been very secluded lately due to the girls' illnesses and now mine - but sometimes people take that extra step to show you how much they do care.

People have really made me feel special this week - some people - VERY VERY special. Although I am a bit afraid to check my mail now... for a hear things on sticks are all the rage for new babies. :)

oh - and someone has actually offered to watch the Doughkids so Dan and I can go out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it??? (Thanks Joanna!).

So - me and all my love are going to go do something I definitely didn't think I'd get a chance to do this pregnancy - SHOP!

Speaking of going potty...

Anna has started using the actual toilet/potty again. Not with any regularity - but one every day or so she is actually going on the potty.

I have NO idea what to do. Can you actually potty train a 21 month old - or are you just being potty trained. She doesn't really tell us she needs to go (occasionally she does - but usually we do the asking) and she hasn't mastered getting her clothes on and off by herself (once again - clarification - she can take her shirt on and off - but that doesn't help much in the world of potty time).

So - do we just let it continue for a while? I'm inclined to head in this direction since baby will be here in 2 weeks - and I certainly don't want to deal with potty stuff too. BUT - am I missing a good opportunity?

Whew.....

So - we had two good pieces of news today... first - the Portland job called and they wanted to make sure that Dan knew they were still interested. The person Dan needed to interview with next was out of the office unexpectedly last week and this week, and probably part of next week. She told Dan they were really excited about him - and didn't want to lose him - so they just wanted to keep him up to date. That's always good right???

Then - we got a call from the best accountants in the entire world... to let us know that even with all the adjustments we made last year, we will be getting a big enough tax refund to get us through April and possibly May if nothing else comes along. Knowing we could use the money - super accountant Brad put a rush on our taxes. I love him. LOVE him.

Dan got his substitute teaching license yesterday - so he can probably start work as early as next week (yeah - that's a week before baby comes)....

So WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEWWWWW!

Like this is much of a surprise...

I stole this from Kelly's blog....

You Are 32% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul. You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

How Abnormal Are You?

Yeah - I have to go potty - so what???

Dan called just moments ago to say "night night" to Anna and I since 2p is normally our nap time.

I found this funny that my - less than 2 weeks away from his 30th birthday- husband called to tell me - his 30 year old wife - "night night".

My response - "I can't talk right now - I have to go potty"

I can hear you breathe...

I'm 35 weeks 2 days pregnant. How freaking exciting!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe in 2 weeks and possibly a couple days I will be holding my precious third dose of estrogen!

My only concern is this damn chest cold. I absolutely did not figure in hacking up green goo (not to be confused with chunky green discharge) and heavy wheezing as part of that beautiful birth experience. If you miss hearing me breathe from 3 rooms away - give me a minute and you'll be able to hear me hacking.

Oh and my voice. This baby is going to wonder who this chain smoking raspy voiced person is after she's born. For someone who has never had a SINGLE cigarette in her life - I certainly do have a lovely Marlboro voice. I said to Dan last night that I had officially crossed the line between that sexy voice into scary woman with emphysema voice. He was nice enough to lead me to believe it was still somewhat sexy.

And I've already been up for an hour!

It's amazing - the only thing that can account for being up before 8am - hell 9am - is a road trip, illness or cute kids. Sometimes on a day like today it's a combination of both.

Anna decided getting up early was a good idea. She was up at around 6am. Dan brought her into me - and we cuddled for a while. This particular morning this consists of her laying still for about 5 minutes then switching positions and trying again. After about 30 minutes of this - alternating with me coughing up a lung - I beg dan to take her far, far away so that I can attempt to breathe without Anna pressing her head into mine (her favorite way to fall asleep - forehead to forehead).

30 minutes later - he brings her back. She's obviously not the least bit tired and now wired on yogurt covered Cheerio's. But she's damn cute and knows it. She's giggling and being silly. Eventually after a couple minutes of this - she wakes up Julia - who has also chosen our bed this morning to spend her early daylight hours. These two are now apparently working on their comedy routine. Then they decided to wake up the baby (yes, she's still in utero) - so they are yelling into my belly - "WAKE UP" and giving her raspberries. This works and number 3 begins kicking up a storm.

It's futile to resist their giggling and silliness. So - here I am. Awake - out of bed. The girls are continuing their fun - Julia is telling Anna what they will be doing at each step of their day and Anna just shakes her head in adoration and says "okay".

I am waiting for Julia to tell me when my nap time is. I guarantee I'll just shake my head in adoration and say "okay".

WHOO HOO! I hit 5,000 visitors! (m)

I'm soooo excited. I do understand that 4,999 are my parents page visits - but still! ;)

I also hit the 1,600 mark - so I've had 1.600 page visits since I switched to Sitemeter on Nov 22!

So - thanks for coming by. I appreciate it!

hugs


het

Sunday Six - Food ya'll!

My good friend Kelly at Missing JT Snow has given up our Sunday Six assignment...

The idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Get your pet, co-worker, neighbor, your elderly family member, roommate, significant other, etc. Better yet... try to answer them yourself like you are a 5 year old!

Here are Miss Julia's answers to the Sunday Six...

1. What is your favorite meal? "ummm - Mcdonalds"

2. What is your favorite dessert? "ummm - ice cream and lollipops and sugar"

3. Why do we eat food? "cause it will help us grow"

4. Where does milk come from? "cows"

5. Where does bread come from? "I don't know"

6. What do you not like to eat? "spicy chicken AND I don't like peas"

Yes indeedy - they're mine...

Julia - today was Julia's big sister class at the hospital. She had a blast and said she learned a lot. They learned about choking hazards for babies and various other safety tips for dealing with babies. They were able to go up to the L&D and see a room that mommies have babies in. They also were able to stop by the nursery and saw a REAL baby. Dan said they baby was really small - but cute. Julia told him the baby was 'creepy". So yes - she is my daughter. I also find most newborns kind of 'creepy' looking. Even my own.

Anna - I'm still sick and last night was not a good night for sleep, BUT I'm so excited about being off of bedrest that I'm partying with Anna. For a snack we had Golden Oreos. Anna squealed when I gave her two. She sat right down on the floor and began her busy work of dissescting the cookies so that she could get to the creme filling. I've never seen an almost 21 month old so nimble! Both cookies came apart with no break in the creme. She scraped the cream out of the first one and ate every bite. The second one she licked the cream off the cookie. so yes - she is my daughter.

No epidural needed....

You guessed it - I'm the sick one now. Woke up this morning feeling like I'd been chewing on glass all night - and couldn't breathe. I quickly found out why breathing was so difficult - my lungs were full of crud.

Under normal circumstances I would get heavily medicated and sleep for the next three days. Wake up and go about my business.

Small problem - I'm pregnant and on blood pressure medication - so guess what my choice of pain reliever is... plain old Tylenol. Yep - this woman who needs 4 ibuprophen under normal circumstances to kill pain - has to rely on Tylenol. Tylenol doesn't knock you on your ass!!!

Surprisingly - it took the pain down to a manageable level. So - I'm thinking that quite frankly I don't need no stinking epidural for labor and delivery - just some Tylenol. Extra strength? Not necessary. Yeah - this is some serious pain relieving stuff. I can't believe they sell it OTC!

Attachment Parenting...

When I was pregnant with Julia I lived in a land of ignorance and denial. My views on parenting were skewed to how I was raised.

There would be NO baby in my bed... co-sleeping is dangerous and bad for parents and kids.

Breastfeeding would last one year.

I had views on potty training, spanking (I was pro spanking), discipline... FULL OF OPINIONS on how I would raise my children.

From the moment after her delivery everything changed. What came naturally to me as a mom was so foreign to my views that it was almost painful. I questioned everything.

I know the parenting Gods were looking out for me - because instead of the pediatrician we had originally chosen to see - we saw the on-call ped. Ahhhh - glorious Dr. Littleguy. He made the parent I am today (the good stuff - the bad stuff is all me!).

I wanted to sleep with my baby... she would sleep about 15 minutes in the plastic shoebox they give you to hold your precious cargo, but would sleep for 5-6 hours on my chest. The nurses were thoroughly against this. "She needs to be in her bassinet honey. You can't sleep with your baby" They were missing the point - I wasn't sleeping - but she was!!

So when Dr. Littleguy came in to check on us... I asked him why I couldn't sleep with her. He let me in on a little secret. It is OK to sleep with your baby. You just have to take many precautions to do so safely - but it was ok. He also told me that the nurses were out at the desk smoking crack in between checking on their patients. He told me I don't have to wake her up every two hours on the hour to feed her as long as she was growing and having wet diapers.

I fell in love with that Little Guy.

When I got home on my own ---- all those doubts beleagured (ummm - is that a word??) me again. I spent two hours one night frantically searching for help on the internet to my parenting questions. Then I came across a term that changed my life. Attachment Parenting. It was as if someone had read my mind. It was OK to go with the flow in your parenting... it was OK not to have to schedule every minute of my newborn babies day... it was ok to not want her to have to cry herself to sleep so that she'd figure it out on her own.

My biggest enemy was myself in those early days. Giving up the vision I had of how I would parent. Accepting that it was ok to do what felt natural now - not what I thought I would do.

Julia spent the first 8 months of her life sleeping on my chest almost everytime she slept. I nursed her until she was 20 months old. I only tried the Cry it out method one time - and after 1/2 an hour gave in. Julia slept in her bed in our room until she was 3 1/2. We still let her sleep with us sometimes.

Things were different with Anna - she didn't like sleeping with me - so she was in a bassinet from birth - and rarely ever slept with me (now she loves napping with her mommy), I stopped nursing her at 15 months and i've had to learn a completely different style of parenting with her. This time I'm ok with it. Real attachment parenting is about following your child's cues. I completely understand that now.

AP has gotten a bad rap because a lot of women view it under very strict guidelines - in order to really AP - you MUST follow a checklist of things - and if you don't do them all you aren't really APing your child. I think this is bull-shit.

BUT - My Dan had a funny realization that I thought I'd share with you. As I stumbled through parenting Julia - my parents were very supportive - but they were - well - grandparents. LIttle comments piled up here and there... "she really needs to be in her own room", "she'll never sleep in her crib if you don't move her now" "are you going to nurse her to college", "are you ever going to let someone else watch her"

I know that they meant well - and sometimes they were right - and sometimes just not so right. (The first night I put Julia in her crib to sleep at 8 months- she slept the entire night there - and was continued after).

A lot of this came from my dad. Don't get me wrong - I completely understand he was trying to funny more often than not - but sometimes it just gets to you. One night - after a couple too many comments about my style of parenting, I was venting to Dan. He started laughing and said "well, you can't listen to that man, for God sakes, he Attachment parents his dogs"

It all became clear... he did/does indeed AP his dogs. His chief complaint was me co-sleeping - I'll let you guess if his 130lb Mastiff sleeps in bed with him... and not just in his bed, but usually spooning and cuddling with him. He doesn't put her in a dog kennel anymore - even the $5k air-conditioned/automatic watering/indoor-outdoor/double kennel he had attached to their new house. He refers to her going to the bathroom as going "tee tee". He'd rather sleep in a van with her than in the house with the rest of his extended family. I swear to God that he would nurse that dog if he could figure out how to do it.

So - apparently I came by the AP philosphy honestly.

yeah - it's here!

My favorite part of pregnancy needs to be acknowledged and celebrated.... when the belly shelf arrives! I've had it for a while - but it's finally in good shape for action.

The baby belly shelf - when your belly is so round that you can put fun stuff on it!

Bowls and plates of food, your phone, magazines - THE REMOTE... even Martha would agree that it's a good thing. The only small problem with it is that this baby enjoys kicking things off of my belly - but I'm prepared for it now.

Stop this ride... I want to get off

I'm so tired. It's 3am and the banana is still wired and giving belly raspberries. Which is frustrating but awfully damn precious.

Julia just had herself one heck of a coughing fit, almost to the point where she's vomiting. So - realizing it was 6 hours later - gave her another dose of her Tussin with Codeine.

At this point - AFTER I give it to her I realize that it's prescribed to give as ONE dose at bedtime - not every 6 hours. So what the hell - Now I'm O'ding my kids on codeine????

Like the painfully unprepared dork that I am - I grab the computer and look up poison control - AND robitussin/codeine overdose info. in the meantime - danny smarty pants has taken the bottle and gone into another room. i'm cursing him under my breath for not helping... and then 2 minutes later he walks back in and informs of what the pharmacist just told him... apparently I won't be going to hell for overdosing her. It is safe to be prescribed every 6 hours... so she should be absolutely fine. He was just concerned that it only lasted 6 hours - when it should hold her over all night.

Ummm - sorry Dan.

Now - I know you all love Dan and are decided on the fact that I'm a psychotic b i t ch - and you're right. BUT here is Dan's rationale for not calling Poison Control: they track that information and would report us to CPS and we'd lose our kids. Yeah- he's rational! ;) I did point out that it's the parents ODing their kids and NOT calling poison control that are the CPS problem... not parents who are too stupid and tired to read the label before giving their kids their actual prescribed meds. Those moms just get taken away by trained medical staff and get to go sleep in a luxorious hotel room with lots of drugs of their own to help them sleep in a big fluffy bed with a crisp, clean white down comforter. then they bring you yummy, healthy professional chef catered meals when you want them. oH yeah - and good desserts. then you get to sleep some more. Right????? right?????????????????? right?????????????????????????

Whew...

thanks so much for your sweet e-mails. they made my day.

Anna Banana is doing better today. She spent more time smiling than whining today - and that's a huge improvement. She's still very, very sick but I think she's going to beat this. She only coughed so hard she vomited twice today. That's improvement.

She's soooo cute doing her breathing treatment. She sits so patiently. I think it provides her immediate relief and she knows it. She even holds it herself now. It's sad - but cute. she will shake it when it gets toward the end and isn't putting out as much "steam".

When we turn it on she smiles and says "ooohhhhhhhhhhhh hot" since it looks like smoke.

So thanks for all the positive thoughts for her. I'm sure she'll be back to her normal crazy, silly self soon!

Edited to add sucky update: Anna was having big time coughing till she vomits fits tonight. One of them was about 10 minutes long - and she and Dan were covered in vomit. it was really, really bad, to the point where we were walking out to the door to the ER when the doctor called us back. We're trying some new drugs (cuz she's not on enough yet) and steam treatments every hour. Hopefully she'll get to sleep soon - we're bushed and this is a bit stressful wondering how seriously ill she is.

My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.. the one where I talk even more about poop

I just love to sing this song to the girls. They find it hilarious... not as funny as I do though. I of course change all the words to fit the appropriate situation.

"my mac and cheese brings all the boys to the yard... " it's pretty funny. You can sing this song to almost any situation. And since I'm on a roll talking about poop - let me just tell you the absolute funniest version was created by Julia Doughkid.

"my mom's poops chase all the boys from the yard... "

yeah - what's funnier than that I tell you.

My point to her was - perhaps if the entire family didn't have to be in the bathroom with me when said poop is being made - no one would be concerned about the smell. jeez.

What's grosser than gross??

I used to love that game. You know :
"what's grosser than gross?" "a frog in a blender"
"what grosser than gross?" "you are putting a frog in a blender when it goes off while your hand is still in it" :)

oooh that was always a good one!

Well - tonight for a special Valentine's Day present - Anna played her inaugural "What's grosser than gross" game with her big sister. It went something like this:
"what's grosser than gross?" baby poop.
"what's grosser than gross?" baby poop in the bath
"what's grosser than gross" baby poop in the bath while you are in it with said baby
"what's grosser than gross" baby poop in the bath while you are in it with said baby - but you don't notice it right away so you are happily playing in baby poop bath water.

yeah... that's right. Happy Valentine's Day to you!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

You know it's bad when....

You heard about the beginning of my night... Anna still up at midnight? Well - it went down from there. Julia and Anna tag teamed us all night with their coughing and fevers. It was fun - to the tune of still awake when the sun comes up kind of fun.

Finally at 630a, both girls were asleep. I fell asleep. Woke up at 1030a and counted my lucky stars it wasn't 7am!!!!

I then had to explain to Julia that she couldn't go to school - even though it was her super cool Valentine's day party. Her little heart was broken. She had spent SO much time working on her Valentine's Day cards for all her friends and teachers. Through her tears she says "It's ok if I can't go momma, I don't want to get my friends sick". that's my girl!!!!! I ended up buying her a Princess movie to give her for Valentine's Day for being such a special friend. Then - tears again when she realized that she also had to miss her Ballet class party.

After all this fun... we had to all load up in the van and head to my OB appt to get a non-stress test (NST) which is a fun hour away. SO - I pull into the parking lot (on time!) and there are no parking spots - so i have to park in front of the dumpster... then Anna is in mid-coughing fit and vomits all over herself from coughing so hard. I call Dan and ask him to call my ob and tell them I'll be a couple minutes late - and they can check the parking lot if they need to - and to call the girls doctor to see if they can get in. Now I have to get Anna out of her vomit covered clothes - and that's when I discover the poopy diaper. You have to be freaking kidding me... I have to now clean vomit and SHIT! I don't think so.

Yes - I cleaned her up - but discovered that in my mini-van full of everything else under the sun - a change of clothes is not in the cards... I find a little tank top - no pants.

Now we head to the OB - and wait in line to sign in. I get signed in and then Receptionist lady (who is really nice - but got the smack down from me today!!) called me up to tell me that since I was late they probably couldn't get me in.

Let's just say I'm not proud of how I handled this. I lost my shit. Right there in front of all the other pregnant women and women just coming in to get their hooha's hooked up. I started sobbing. No sleep, stress of the last 6 months, a month of sickness in my sweet Doughkids, my own exhaustion and a tiny thing called an hour plus drive to get to this freaking office all came up. Not to mention that I had to point out I was stuck in their parking lot cleaning up puk and shit - in an illegal parking spot because they don't have enough parking for days like today when EVERY FUCKING pregnant woman has to be in their office. Then I also have to point out that I was 9 minutes late. 9 FUCKING minutes late. She had the balls (God bless her) to point out that I signed in at 15 minutes after. ... so I had to so nicely point out that I had to wait in FUCKING line to sign in. Now I'm on a roll - and once I'm on a roll - you are in trouble. I took this time to also point out that my appointments vary from 1-2 hours and that I usually spend 10-20 minutes in the waiting room so I think they could give me 9 minutes. Did I mention i hadn't slept or that I'm 34 weeks pregnant??? oh yeah - I have really sick kids with me because everyone keeps telling me I absolutely HAVE to do this test two times a week - and it has to be at least three FUCKING days apart. ok - I didn't really swear at her. I PROMISE. Not even once. Really. I did sob though - and I did say those things - minus the swearing.

She got me in.

Now it's appointment time and the Doughkids were Troopers. For an hour Julia entertained her sick little sister. The baby was more cooperative than usual and the nurse could tell I just wanted out. My BP was a little high - but they were sure it was in normal limits. Apparently the only problem was that my pee was the color of mud. I guess it's a bad thing. So - they did some thing to check it and I was read the riot act. All about how seriously dehydrated I was and that if I was like this on Thursday they would admit to the hospital for fluids. ok - i barely got past the word hospital. I bet I could take an uninterupted nap there.... but of course - I'm so tired and cranky I also point out that I'm normally very hydrated. the nurse agrees. It says so in my chart. WHAT?????? they are tracking my pee in their charts???

Now we are done - load the sick kids in the car. I start to head home when Dan calls to say that he needs to call back at 5pm to see ifthe girls get in to their doctor.

At 5:05 I am at the doctors office. Dan calls to say that I can get them in at 6:45. what am I going to do with two sick kids for almost two hours???? Well - I hit Toys r US. I need to buy Anna an outfit to wear... and then pick up 1-2 small things for baby to be, and the aforementioned princess DVD.

Yes - I know - get the hell on with it already.... ok to wrap it up.

Julia - OK - has a cold, keep an eye on her. Drugs with codeine to help limit her coughing up a lung at night and hopefully she'll sleep more than 6 hours tonight.

Anna. She's one sick little puppy. after a month of illness - she has ANOTHER ear infection (first one was a month ago!!) - this time a double. She is also borderline for pneumonia. If she's not better by Thursday - she has to go in for the chest x-ray. So she's on multiple drugs.

Great.

One kid is down and out at midnight - and it looks like mini-me might be out soon too. Damn - I'm going to bed!

As if there haven't been enough tears..

I swear these hormones are trying to rid me of any tough skin I used to have. I have cried more tonight - about unbelievably stupid things - than any one human should.

- that Dove self-esteem commercial for little girls (oh man... that just makes me sob)
- Grey's Anatomy
- the Olympics (hearing the National Anthem played - and watching a grown man cry)

ummmm way more than I can tell ya! I'm just a big baby!!

ummm - ewwwwwwwwwwww

I just checked out my referrals - and scary! 6 different people have found my blog by searching google for "chunky green discharge"!

I had no idea that so many people were having this problem!

And yes - it is indeed 6 separate people that found me that way.

I'm also getting a lot of searches about Gunnar Nelson's haircut... weird.

They blew him up!!!

Anyone else watch Grey's Anatomy tonight?

I cried even more than I did last week. if that was possible. I thought it was because of my hormones - but after chatting with a friend who is usually not only not pregnant - but also not a crier... and she cried through the whole thing.

WOW. good tv.

And George... I wish he'd be my labor coach! When he got behind Bailey to help her push - I just bawled and bawled. What a good man. Geez - and then when she introduced her son to Tucker... and said William George.... Oy! (Ok - I thought she said William...)

SO- I'm spent. If Anna was asleep, I'd go too - but she's too busy coughing to sleep right now.

Smiling...

Things that made me smile today...

- Ghostbusters "yes, it's true, this man has no d i c k" Damn - that's funny.
- Anna smiles
-Julia's excitement as we took the extra links off the paper chain counting down to babies arrival
- Julia telling us it was time to start cleaning if we're having this baby soon
- Anna constantly picking her nose and smiling gleefully, 'boogey!"
-the Olympics (Michelle's grace in stepping aside, that cross country guy who silver medaled after starting in last place due to a fall)
- the luge - that sport just cracks me up
- cleaning my bathroom cabinets out
- napping with Anna and her cuddly, sweet self when she woke up and wanted to snuggle instead of go play
- Dan taking the girls grocery shopping
- Looking at houses in Maine!!
- Did I mention Ghostbusters?

Aww the coughing, whining, crying...

and I'm talking about me.

I'm exhausted. I hate to do the super whiny thing here - but alas - I am anyway! it's been almost a month since I've had a good night sleep. The kids have been miserable with their allergies - and playing musical beds. Now that Anna's sick - my sweet happy baby has been doing nothing but whining, alternating with crying... she's miserable and she's making me miserable.

Now - Julia is stressing out because Anna's getting all the sick kid attention and she is being difficult. So, I'm trying very hard... but tired and cranky myself. Did I mention that I have a sore throat and headache too????

Right now - it's 11:11p (make a wish!!) - and both girls are awake. Anna is screaming and crying because she wants to get down and play with her balloon, and we're trying to get her tired, sick butt to sleep. Julia has been moved from our bed to her bed because of the 18th trip out of bed and misbehaving. So now she's screaming from her room.

There is no need to respond to this. I'm just tired and pregnant and whiny. Just needed to vent here.

Where's my man??????

I guess my bitchy pregnant self shouldn't have told Dan to get a girlfriend! He's out now and I'm home alone with the super sick kid.

Oh - did I mention that Dan's out with Julia Doughkid - they are going to their 2nd Annual Daddy/Daughter dance. :) sooooooooooo cute. Julia is so proud to be out with her Daddy - although she was giving him shit about his shoes! ;)

Anna Banana is officially sick - sick. Instead of just the allergy stuff we've been dealing with for about a month - she has a fever and is super lethargic. poor baby!

Whoo hoo - I knew it!

I got this in an email - and saw it on a couple of blogs so I thought I'd share it with ya'll. I always knew I was mostly Wonder-woman. What a surprise to be more Superman!

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% Wonder Woman 65% Supergirl 55% The Flash 55% Green Lantern 55% Robin 54% Spider-Man 50% Iron Man 50% Catwoman 45% Batman 40% Hulk 40%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

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Inaugural Half Nekkid Thursday

Yes - you read it correctly... I'm joining the HNT phenomenon... exposed actual flesh. I know you were hoping to see more fat assed pregnant women showing off their bodies so I'm here! (Geez - how many scary referrals am I going to have now?? )

Of course for my first - I'm showing the body part that is the most impressive right now... the belly. Sorry it's such an obvious choice, but I had to do it...

In this picture - in mid-contraction you can see the exact bump of my baby! This is my view of the yet un-named Princess.

So - are you half nekkid too??? Wondering who would get millions (ok - hundreds???) of people to show their flesh? Go check out the man Osbasso and see what it's all about!

Late comer - WBW - Gone but not Forgotten

Mama Duck has spoken and let the tears stream forth - for this installment of Way Back Wednesday The Kept Woman has asked to see those that are gone but not forgotten. Still tearful from reading everyone else's WBW's - here is mine.

This week we are remembering those people who have touched our lives and are now gone either through death or because we've lost touch with them. Who knows? Perhaps some of you will be inspired to make amends or rekindle friendships as a result of this week's theme. Or maybe world peace will final come to fruition.

SAVANNAH So first - my most recent loss. Less than a week after the big shit can (12/05) - we had to put our beautiful Savannah down. She was a birthday present for Dan 7 years ago. She was a Humane Society rescue and the sweetest dog. I'm sure Trooper misses her too - but he's actually happy to be the lone dog in the family. He loves all the extra attention that Savannah used to steal from him. He is allowed to play with his toys again. I miss that red dog though.

SARAH and BRANDON - Now - I already talked about one of the two most influential losses on my life - Sarah. The other was a friend of mine that died in a drunk driving accident when I was 15 years old. Brandon's death changed a large portion of my life. I stepped outside of myself and jumped into drunk driving awareness education. I became the president of our SADD chapter, went to school administration meetings and even took a job as a student liaison for a alcohol awareness campaign in our town. I still think of him often - and I hope his families pain has lessened over the past 15 years.

GRAMMY and POP POP - I know you were thinking that it's strange that my family wasn't included in the most influential losses in my life... but you see it was the nature of Brandon and Sarah's death that was so influential (although Sarah's life was also influential as my role model - but it was her death that taught me the importance of really living your life and not wasting your time). The last two people I want to talk about are my grandparents - my paternal grandparents - My Grammy and my Pop Pop.

It's hard for me to think of my Grammy because she was so unhappy at the end of her life - and I fight hard to not remember her that way - but the crazy woman I know she was. I hold on tight to the stories of her drunken vacation escapades - of her bawdy jokes that she kept track of in little notebooks. Of course I will always remember both of them in their crazy old timer bathing suits that summer in Maine. My grandma rocked. She was a nurse, a high priestess of the Galilee Shrine and the more I learned about her after her death the more she amazed me. I was lucky that I was able to say goodbye to her both while she was alive and at her funeral after she died. I remember with perfect clarity the last moment I saw her. When I said good-bye to her - she knew she didn't have long. I remember telling Dan as we pulled away from their house that it was the last time I'd see her. We both knew that was true.

My Pop Pop was awesome. I just loved everything about him. I was so lucky to get a chance to know him as an adult. For a long time he was in a medicated haze for his Parkinson's. After switching around some meds - he came back to us. He caused my Dad and Uncle (and Grammy!) headaches with his new found vigor and interest in life. Garage Sales, squirrel hunting in his back yard, pool tables... but it was exciting to see him full of life. By moving to Arizona I was kind of spared of watching his final descent and although it broke my heart - I'm grateful for it. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him in person and although we desperately tried to make it for his funeral - I missed that as well.

Strangely - I know without a doubt that both of my grandparents are still firmly planted in my life. I had a moment once where I was alone in my house and felt a sudden urge to lay down on the couch. I felt dizzy and strange... very, very strange. As I laid there it felt as if someone had turned on a radio in my head and it was playing Amazing Grace over and over again. :) I all of a sudden felt very connected to my grandmother (she used to teach me how to play AG on her organ) and began to sing Amazing Grace. I knew all the verses. I've never known all the verses. Regardless - I still believe without an inkling of doubt that she was with me.

With my Pop Pop I had a similar situation when on our way to the funeral we ended up detouring to the Painted Desert and Grand Canyon (Julia was not tolerating the ride in the car from AZ to PA!). I went off by myself at the Painted Desert and found this little bench under this beautiful tree. I sat there listening to the complete silence. All of a sudden I just felt this overwhelming feeling of peace. True inner peace. I could feel my Grandfather with me. All of the guilt and sadness I had over not being able to attend his funeral disappeared instantly. I knew he was there and at that moment I understood with incredible clarity that he always would be.

Those two moments helped shape my views on death - yes I miss them but I also know that they are free from the medical hurdles they were faced with - AND they have the best seat in the house to watch their family grow and live their lives.

So - gone but definitely not forgotten.

Look at the big brain on Brad...

ok - Julia.

Here is our conversation last night....

Me - "Did you have a good time running with dad today"

Julia - "Yes, but mom, RECENTLY I haven't been playing outside in my Barbie Jeep as much as I'd like"

Me - to myself - Recently??? Did she just say recently????

Julia - "and RECENTLY I haven't been riding my bike as much as I want"


Ok - RECENTLY???? Love that kid.

And here's a conversation with Anna .... another future nuclear scientist

Anna - "Daddy bite"

Me - "Daddy bit you?"

Anna - "yeah, daddy bite"

Me - "where did Daddy bite you"

Anna - "potty"


Ok - now this one needs some clarification. Anna's been asking for food by yelling "BITE?" at us, sometimes adding a sweet "peese?" at the end - but usually just the adamant yelling. So - as a joke we have started gently biting her on the arm when she yells it. She thinks this is hysterical. So - when she was in the bathroom (potty) with Dan brushing her teeth - she started yelling at him "BITE!" - and so he did. Funny stuff. ok - maybe it's only funny if you hear her giggling hysterically at it.

Give my man a job - PLEASE????!!!!!

We have some promising things going on in the world of job hunting. Let's just say one of the companies on the top of Dan's list has called him to chat. Then they wanted to set up a time to call back and chat some more. They even used the word "relocation". I can't give any details - but let's just say it's NOT Ben and Jerry's (DAMN THEM.... do they not understand what kind of amazing things my man could do for them???? 1/2 of our t-shirts from the 90s are of B&J... jeez - half my ass is B&J). We love you B&J!!

This job would require us to relocate to a VERY, VERY cool place - also at the top of our relocation list. Dan would kick ass working for this company. He's very qualified AND they would have a to offer him in terms of marketing education. It's damn near a perfect fit.

So - come on. Someone needs to give this man a job.

Yeah - I'm about to go off here - so either strap in or get out...

I am at a complete loss as to why people aren't beating down our door (or using the phone) to get my man to work for them. A COMPLETE LOSS! He is an amazingly hard worker... he's had a full time job since he was 16 years old - and his Senior year in high school had 3 jobs. He worked full time at a restaurant, part time in a meat market and then on weekends he worked doing landscaping and grunt work at a golf course. Oh yeah - he had his best year in high school too. He graduated and to help pay for school, joined the Marine Reserves. Then he spent the next forever at boot camp and then schools for his training. Then he came back, worked full time, went to school and did his Marine stuff. Then we got married moved out here - and he did the same thing. He worked his fanny off. He was working as a restaurant manager, he was the NCO in charge of training for his Marine unit (which meant he even worked when it wasn't drill weekend!), was in school with 18 credits and then started a family.

For the last 4 years he's worked his butt off in marketing. Working for a great company but quite frankly - some questionable management. He decided to stay in his position because it would be conducive to getting his MBA. So - for the last 1 1/2 years he's been an amazing dad and husband (coaching teams, going to dance classes - this is a man who is there for his family), working above and beyond his job description taking his market off the charts in terms of numbers and getting his MBA. Oh yeah - did I mention - he gets good grades too?

When the big shit can of 2005 occurred in December - he had so many people calling to offer letters of recommendation and remark upon what a loss it was for the company to lose a guy like him. (Trust me - if I was allowed to get into the details I would... it's one hell of a story.) They meant it too. I truly believe he's better off - much, much better off.

So - where does this leave us. Oh - unemployed. His former employer in their normal - non organized manner - still has not paid his last expense check (which should help us pay bill in March!), and hasn't signed off on his paperwork for unemployment - which they received well over a month ago. The guy from AZ Unemployment told Dan "wow, I've never really dealt with a company that knows less about what they are doing than this one." :) Yeah - we know.

Some of ya'll have asked if I would post his resume here - but in order to maintain a certain amount of anonymity - I'd have to slice and dice it. But thanks for the offer ya'll.

So - we're just hoping it's a matter of time before someone realizes what a catch he is... because he is.

33 WEEKS!

Ok - this makes me a little nervous since my U/S estimated that she was 4lb6oz 2 WEEKS AGO! But yeah - it's getting closer!

Just to let you know - I'm pissed....

Tonight was a very big DVR disapointment. I always tape the Super Bowl - so I can watch the commercials on my own schedule. For some reason... it didn't tape.

Then - I added all this time to Grey's Anatomy to tape it so that if the game ran long I wouldn't miss it. It's not over yet - but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to see the end. I'm going to freak the hell out. How do you not see the end of something like this episode. I will be back... but I'm pretty sure I'll be very, very angry.

Oh - by the way - I had a great time at a Super Bowl party tonight. Really - me - out with actual people! The Steelers won too!

Edited to add: OK - I got to see the end - but A CLIffHANGER??? Come-on. What a good, great episode. WHEW - that was awesome. Luckily it switched over to tape the post game coverage and caught the end of the show. I cried no less than 10 times... and Bailey - I just want to go and hold her hand. DId you see the preview for next week????? WOW.

Oh my!

My momma commented on my blog (see poking post). This is good stuff people - my momma said so!

Something happened today that has me thinking...

A family friend's son lost a friend and had two other friends injured in an avalanche. Scary stuff.

This just reminded me of my only brush with an avalanche.

Growing up we always went to maine in the summer. My dad has been going to the same cabins for over 50 years now. There is another family we vacation with. They have two children - Chris and Sarah. Sarah was an inspiration to me growing up. She was older than me, and drop dead gorgeous. She was a beautiful young woman, with long blonde hair and a huge smile. She went to Brown University, she did triathlons... and funny enough she was one of the ONLY people I knew that didn't always shave her armpits and legs. I thought that was really cool since she was strong enough to not conform to all of societies rules.

I didn't know her all that well because of our age difference, but she as always so nice to me. Made me feel special. Every summer she'd sit down with me a couple of times to talk to me about MY life. I thought this was the coolest.

She earned idol status in my book the summer she brought her 'friend' with her on vacation. He was indeed a friend, but she had actually helped him escape from a divided Germany. AMAZING.

In 1994 Sarah died in an avalanche. The story that I have heard lifted her to legendary status in my book. She was with her fiancee, and he carried her body back down the mountain. beautiful. I have always found beauty in the fact that although a terrible tragedy, it seems like the most poetic way for her to have had her life ended.

Now - 11+ years later I still think of her often, especially in Maine when I see the Mountain that her family spread her ashes on. I know her family still mourns their daughter, sister, neice and cousin, as do all those whose lives she touched. She lives on forever in my mind as a beautiful woman who loved life, lived life and was essentially life.

So today, in wake of another tragedy, I am again reminded of Sarah.

Damn, that's funny

I'm a big fan of Project Runway - and so is Julia. She knows the designers and can actually have a discussion of their work. It's one hour of TV that she sits through and is enthralled.

I'm just not sure that there is much funnier than Santino's impersonation of Tim Gunn. Geez, it's just sooo funny. Tim is pretty funny himself - but Santino's story of Tim and Andrae - is TOO much.

Poking...

So last night was a tough night. I had nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. It was terrible.

At one point I was laying on my right side - facing the opposite side of the bed. In a deep sleep, i felt a sharp poke on the left side of my back. I immediately woke up and flipped over (not an easy feat for this fat preggo) expecting to find Julia standing there waiting to be welcomed into our bed... but she wasn't. In a panic - I started feeling the floor around the bed thinking maybe she laid down on the floor. She wasn't there.

I just had this terrible feeling. I KNOW someTHING poked me on my back. Dan denied it profusely (of course I woke him up!!!). I got up to go to the bathroom adn I was seized with a growing new panicked feeling, something only a pregnant woman could understand....

the poking, it's coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

(get it????, I know, its bad, but I did think of this at 3am...)

HOO HA!

Yes I know - you are so excited to once again hear about my HOO HA. Well - this time - you are going to be sorely disapointed. My friendly OB/GYN did not get to do a cervical check this week. He's going to wait another week to two to check it out again. I know, I know. It's sad. What the hell am I paying him for???

So - today was fun and excitement even without someone sticking a gloved, lubed hand UP my Hoo ha to squeeze around.

I had my 32 weeks appointment AND non-stress test (NST). Things are good.

I was there almost 2 hours - and almost all of that was hooked up to the damn machine! ugh. While I was there I apparently had contractions on a regular
basis - that I wasn't feeling. MR OB (who is too busy to touch my cervix) is not concerned since they weren't very strong and they were still pretty far apart and non regular. I didn't feel a single one.

She wasn't very active (which she usually isn't during that time of
day) so they kept buzzing my belly with v ibratin g wand thing to make
her jump. Ummm - this made me slightly uncomfortable. This thing is suspiciously NON-MEDICAL looking... in fact I'm pretty sure I've seen things that look like that on some of the blogs I've come along while doing a random blogspot search. THe other fun part was that the first time Mr. Too Busy OB did it - he didn't tell me what he was doing and scared the shit out of me. Apparently it scared little Miss No-Name-in-Ute as well since she jumped the hell UP and ran out of my uterus. At one point she did have the hiccups - which was just precious!

Then I got to schedule 2x a week appts and NSTs through the end of
my pregnancy - and surprise... they are considering the end of my
prengnancy MARCH 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mrs. Slow-as-hell-scheduler lady got to March 9 - scheduled my test for that day and then said "oh, I'm not going to schedule any more since you won't get past this" so I said "well - the nurse said to schedule
ALL of my appts now" the Mrs. SAHS lady says "yes, hun, but I have a note here
that they are going to let you go past March 9 - and not to schedule you
past that"!! I had to ask her 2 more times to be sure!

HOLY COW! Mr. OB really meant it when he said he was going to get me to 37
weeks! I thought he might have meant "don't worry fat chick - we're going to get you to AT LEAST 37 weeks." but I think now that he was saying more "Geez fat chick - I HOPE we get you to 37 weeks and then I'm done with ya, we'll load you up with some good meds and force that child out"

37 weeks - that's March 5! THat's only a month away! OH MY!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkk - it's time to panic again - I'm having
a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my - I'm going to have 3 children!!

So - I'm going to ask about that on Monday - is he really intending
to induce or does he just think I won't get that far?

other than the disappointment of not getting a HOO HA check - things went well and lucky me - I get to do it again on Monday!