Belly Laughs...

So we had some company over for dinner tonight. We talked about this and that, and got to talking about the baby coming. We chatted names, and at some point one of them must've seen me squish my belly or something to that affect. It blew his mind. He didn't think you should be able to squish a pregnant belly like that. His reaction made me laugh so hard, I'm probably lucky I didn't pee my pants.  I guess some people don't realize that the big belly you see is not all baby. (Although I've been told by all my doctors that I am mostly all baby, but still.) I tried to explain how all the major organs are squished out of the way and there's tons of fluid in there. But it still weirded him out. I really don't recall the last time I laughed quite that hard. Every time I did, it made my belly button poke out from under my shirt, making me laugh more.  We talked a ton about labor and delivery, pregnancy and whatnot. It was hilarious to hear his point of view, being a single early 20's guy. When they left, I had to thank him for the laughs. I'll definitely make a point of giving my belly a good squish the next time I see him. Just for fun. :)

Happy Day...

Today is my hub's birthday. That's why it's a happy day! We didn't do anything out of the ordinary (that's his way. Not really a celebratory type.) but it was still a nice day. Oh, despite the 6:15 wake up from Moose who had way too much to drink last night while he avoided his black bean soup. But we had a nice outing together as a fam running some errands. I made a killer dinner. A recipe from Applebee's called chicken fajita roll-ups. Yummy. Then the hubs played with the kids while I took a short bath. Right now they're getting jammies on, possibly in the hopes of watching a few minutes of Star Wars. We're in the midst of the second one. Will they be able to rescue Han Solo before he's taken to Jabba the Hut? We'll have to wait and see. It's been fun watching it with Moose and explaining it to him.

We officially took down Christmas, which was sad, but fun. Leads the way for a new beginning, the new year, etc. We like change.

Monkey just came to tell me Moose is getting his jammies on. She finally has her own version of his name. It doesn't exactly sound like his name, but it's consistent now so we know when she's referring to him. I like it. When he first tried saying his own name when he was younger, his version was way off. We still don't know where it came from. It became a silly nickname we still use for him on occasion. I imagine her version of his name will become a nickname for him one day as well.

Happy Birthday Hubs. You're the best father and husband I could've asked for. It's been the best 6 1/2 years married to you, and 7 years of having you in my life. I can't believe it's been that long. Sometimes it feels like it should be much more, and other times it feels like it's been such a short time. But either way, the best years I've had. So Happy 29th sweety. I couldn't do it without you. :)

This and That...

Each day is almost always filled with a little bit of this or that.  Here are some bits from today or the last few days. (Sometimes the details run together.)

*Why is it that Moose so often forgets to flush when he really has something worth flushing?

*Monkey's newest pasttime is playing in the sink. Pros: She's drinking more water. (Out of those little medicine cups) She is also giving me a reason to clean the floor infront of the sink. It's hand-mopped almost every day.

*A million questions game. This is Moose's latest thing. He just asks questions about every single detail of things. Especially if it's a conversation between me and the hubs. We've decided he does his best listening when no one is talking to him.

*Monkey actually dinner without prodding. Black Bean Soup ala TGI Friday's. I was so impressed I gave her tons of dessert. (pieces of candy from her gingerbread house.) On the other hand, Moose was dragging his feet big time. He didn't end up finishing, or getting dessert.

*I love having the hubs home this much. He's got enough energy to drain them of energy. Like taking them outside to play in the snow for 15 minutes while dinner finished cooking. Or playing with them after dinner while I relaxed for a few.

*Monkey has an absolutely adorable run. I don't know if I'll ever get tired of watching her run down the hallway. She bounces, her hair moves a certain way, she turns kinda funny. It's just so darn cute.

*Monkey just threw a fit cause Moose went into the bathroom. Can't wait til we're over that one. Now she's playing in the kitchen sink with the most minimal amount of water coming out of the faucet.

*Monkey's latest bedtime routine is all the normal stuff, we sing, close the door. She cries, goes to the door. The hubs goes in, she freaks out. He gets her in bed, calms her down and sings a few more songs. Then when he leaves she goes to bed. Everytime. We don't really get that one either.

*Another thing Moose does lately is that he tries to do things on his own that he shouldn't be, or that we do for him. He says it's because he wants to be big like us. Like the other night he took the initiative to brush his own teeth. Normally this would be sweet, but our routine is that he brushes in the morning, and we do it at night to make sure it gets done well at least once.  It's the little things. But it gets old after a while. I keep telling him that if he wants to be big like us, he has to start by not whining or complaining. Afraid he's not going to be big until he's married and living elsewhere. (Hopefully by then the whining will fall on his wife's ears and not on ours.)

*We still sing the kids Christmas songs when we put them to bed. Don't know when we'll go back to other songs. I like it.

*The last few days at naptime, Monkey has been so tired that I'll sit next to her and sing. I'll stroke her temple and cheek, and within a few verses, she'll be asleep. It's sweet.

Tomorrow we're putting away Christmas stuff, most likely. Oh, and tomorrow is the hubs birthday. The big 2-9. He's not into celebrations and whatnot, so we'll keep it low key. But it is still kinda exciting. Can't believe he's almost 30. Then a week from tomorrow I've got my glucose test for the pregnancy. Make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. Haven't had it yet, and hopefully that trend'll continue. I'm just about in the last trimester. Still doing well and not at all eager for her to be born. I'm totally not there yet. Hopefully 3 months will be long enough for me to get there.

Potty Breakdowns...

So this is surprisingly not about my one potty trained kid, but the one still in diapers. Every single time Moose says he has to go to the bathroom, Monkey tries to follow him in the bathroom. We've taught him to quickly close and lock the door (since she can open doors) so he can have privacy and she can learn that bathroom time for him is private. (Even if it's not for me) So whenever he locks the door, she falls on the floor and starts bawling. Every time. It's getting so annoying.

A potty trained obstacle I never considered. Oh well. Perhaps her fascination with the bathroom will mean she'll potty train before she's 3. (Which is how long it took Moose.) I'm all for that.

In Christmas wrap-ups, we made our gingerbread houses. Finally. We didn't have a very large selection of candy. 2 sizes of red and green M&M's, some leftover gumballs, smarties (leftover from a birthday pinata back at Thanksgiving), mini candy canes and some Peep Trees. Moose loved making it, as expected. Monkey was completely unable to stop from eating anything. She immediately ate one half of her roof, turning her house into a box. Then she continued to try and eat everything we gave her to decorate with. So the hubs took her to take a bath while Moose and I finished. It was fun. And now our Christmas festivities are officially over. Oh, and I finished cross-stitching my last Christmas present today. So yes, we're officially done with Christmas. Perhaps we'll have to put away Christmas next.

Baby Number 3...

So I realized a while ago that I hadn't been posting much about the baby or pregnancy. Pregnancy-wise, things are great. I've got a nice bump, and I love it. I'm eating great, the heartburn has calmed down the last month (yay!!) and I can sleep comfortably at night. Really, you can't ask for too much more than that.

We still haven't settled on a name yet. We have a short list that's more or less constantly changing, and our number 1 name changes pretty regularly too. But we'll pick one.

Moose has felt the baby kick multiple times now. I love how aware he is of her and what's going to happen. He understood when Monkey was born almost 2 years ago (he was almost 3 at the time), so there's no doubt in my mind he's fully comprehending what's coming. Although me and him can't agree on any names. :)

The hubs is already prepping to take work off. He has to put in paperwork to get a substitute for his classes. He's going to take 3 weeks off! :) He took none off with Moose, and wasn't really working formally when Monkey was born, so he took none off then. So this should be pretty interesting. And the due date is at the end of his spring break. So we'll basically have him for 4 weeks. My mom will be here for 2 weeks, hopefully getting here before she comes. (Unless she's a week early, which is still okay with me.)

It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone. The first pregnancy was completely all-consuming. I thought about it every minute of every day. I was constantly internet searching, reading, and more or less counting down every day.  With Monkey's pregnancy it was slightly less so. I was busy taking care of Moose and my other daycare kid. I was more familiar with what was going on (pregnancy wise, not delivery wise. He was a c-section, so I had a bit of prepping to do for my VBAC.)  But with this one, I'm so busy with 2 kids and everything that entails, that half the time I don't think at all about the fact that I'm pregnant. The baby doesn't move a ton during the day. She's a night owl. I'm sure as she gets bigger and makes her presence all the more known, it'll be harder to ignore her. But it's really just another thing on the day's list. In a way it's great, because the pregnancy goes by faster. I'm about to take a glucose test to see if I've got gestational diabetes, and after that I'm visiting the doc every 2 weeks. I can't believe I'm at that point already. It's nuts. This Friday I'll be 27 weeks. Once you hit 30 it seems like it starts to wind down really fast and everyone starts anticipating the baby's arrival. I feel like that's so far away, but I know that the new year is going to go by so fast. We're a somewhat busy family, and time just seems to fly. I hope I'll feel really ready by the time she's coming.

So that's Baby Number 3. Eventually she'll have a name. Although I suppose I won't post it here, as part of my agreement with the hubs. I guess she'll end up with another nickname. Perhaps it should start with an M?

Any suggestions??

Christmas Aftermath...

The last few days were quite busy and hectic. I spent a large portion of them sewing, shopping and wrapping. And otherwise spending time with the hubs (when he wasn't working) and the kids.  Christmas Eve he took the kids sledding while I cross-stitched a present. (Still not entirely finished, unfortunately) Due to the busy-ness, the kids did not take naps. For Moose that was okay, but for Monkey not so much. We stayed up late Christmas Eve with a big family dinner, and other Christmas Eve traditions.

Christmas morning was great. The kids got up at 7. Monkey was grouchy, unfortunately, but we dealt with it best we could. We opened stockings, ate breakfast and then slowly opened presents for over an hour. The kids would open one and want to play, so we'd open them up and let them play. Then we'd open some more. It was nice. We had one hiatus while the hubs put Monkey back to bed. She didn't ultimately stay there, but it let her know we were serious about dealing with her serious grouchiness. After we were all done at home, we went to a family member's house for more present opening and lunch. We got back by 2, and Monkey had conked out in the car. But unfortunately she wouldn't nap. I had her asleep all the way in the house and laying her down. But in the last minute she woke up and wouldn't sleep. We took her out of the room since Moose was in there and we didn't want her to wake him.

After he woke up we went to another family member's house and hung out til dinner time. We got home a little late that night and the kids were in bed around 8:30. Monkey fell asleep on the hubs while he sang her songs. She slept in til about 8 this morning (yay!) and took a nap today (double yay!), so hopefully she's on the mend.  

We managed to organize toys a bit today. It's amazing how much you end with. We have such generous family, we're always taken back by how much they give. The kids have tons of new things to keep them busy and happy. I'm amazing we've found homes for most of it.

This next week should be slightly less crazy since the holiday is past. We still have a decent amount of things going on, but we're hoping it feels slightly more vacation-y. It's hard to believe Christmas is over. But I'm glad it's come and gone. There's so much work that goes into it, I'm okay with it being over. But I love the feel of Christmas, and we'll try and make that last a little bit longer. At least through this next week before the hubs goes back to his normal job. (He's still working some random days in his holiday/summer/weekend job, including tomorrow.)

So I realize I haven't mentioned much about the pregnancy or our little bun. Perhaps tomorrow. I've got a sweet baby bump, which I love, and 3 more months to go (more or less. Mostly more.) I hope everyone out there was able to have a great Christmas, and remember what it's really about. I know we did. :)

Ouch...

This morning I woke up and the kids were up playing with the hubs. So I sat down on the floor and started playing. Monkey found this dragon toy we got at McDonalds. It has fire that goes in the mouth, and when you pull the tail the fire comes out. But she can't figure that part out. So she points to the fire and grunts or whines. I saw this going on and told her to bring it to me and I would help her. So she started walking towards me, and then a few feet infront of me she threw it at me. It hit me square in the nose.

I thought I might be bleeding or something. Luckily the toy isn't that heavy. But it still stung like crazy and I felt silly for crying, but I couldn't help it. The hubs rushed over and gave me some space while I worked through the sting. Moose was very sympathetic, which was cute. After I was alright, I tried talking to her about it and told her she gave me an owie. (A concept she understands for the most part.) She seemed slightly sad (or maybe intrigued) for a while. A few times during the morning she came up and would touch my nose very softly.

Hopefully that'll be the first, and last time for that.

Ipsy Dipsy...

We spent a large portion of the evening, right before dinner, in the car delivering goodie plates. By the end Monkey was getting tired and bored of being in the car. So we took to singing her favorite songs to her.  Lately, her most favorite is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". Every now and then, Moose would offer to sing her a song. He sang her spider song, but instead of "itsy bitsy" he says "Ipsy Dipsy".   Guess that spider isn't the smartest in the bunch. :)

Looking forward to another day of Christmas vacation with the hubs home tomorrow. Although I'll admit we're busier when he's home. He's intense about getting things done. They're all important and good things. But it makes for an interesting and busy vacation. Maybe we'll get all the important things done this week so that next week can be a more typical relaxing vacation.

We'll see. :)

Really Vacation...

So we decided that today was really the first day of vacation. Sundays are generally somewhat relaxing and rejuvenating, but since the hubs worked yesterday, it was officially our first day of vacation.

My morning was pretty busy with 2 choir practices in the morning before church, then 3 separate numbers I participated in during our church meeting. (Never singing, mind you. Conducting or playing piano.) But it all turned out great and was nice.

The afternoon was capped with naps from all (but the hubs), followed by prepping apples for making applesauce. The hubs and I made (simultaneously) applesauce, banana bread, banana pudding (with instant vanilla pudding mix) and stir fry for dinner. Every now and then the hubs gets on these types of rampages. It seemed chaotic at first, but the kids more or less left us alone, so it wasn't so bad.

Then we capped off the night going to a Christmas play at a local church. It was quite the production, with 2 sets, songs, and choreography. The family was pretty amused by how closely Moose paid attention when he was choosing to listen. At one point it mentioned that everyone dies, and he says "I don't want to die." So we had a small chat about that. Then a character said "stupid" and he reminded me that we don't say that word. As the characters shared that Jesus is what Christmas is about, he made notice and then when another character said it was about money, he made sure to point out that he was wrong. Christmas is about Jesus. I told Moose that he was right, and the character was wrong. Monkey basically played on the stairs next to us the entire performance.

Tomorrow should be a nice vacation day. The hubs is taking the kids to the store first thing to do a major shopping trip. I'm going to be at home sewing. :) Then tomorrow evening is caroling at my bro-in-law's house. And yes mom, I'm going to make the artichoke dip. :)

Tidbits...

Today doesn't have any one remarkable moment or thought. Just lots of little things. I thought today would be the first day of vacation, but the hubs was asked last night if he would work today, so he did. Then he got asked to stay later because someone else was sick, so he did. So it wasn't really much of a vacation day after all. He did take the kids with him to the store this morning and bought a new phone to replace the one Monkey broke in half the other day. I was able to make some serious progress on Monkey's next Christmas present, a little pinafore. All I have left is the straps that will go around her neck and to finish the straps that tie behind her back. But it's mostly done. Yay!  Oh, and I might add a pocket too, if I get enough time next week with the hubs being at home. (Which might not really be what I was anticipating since the manager really wants him to work next week, although the owner of the store isn't on board. So we don't know what's going to happen.)

Despite the kids undeserving behavior, we painted some homemade ornaments (courtesy of their grandma who gave us leftover supplies from her third grade class) complete with googly eyes, ribbon and mini-buttons. Super cute. Monkey painted one, mostly. Moose did 2, and I did 1.  Then after Monkey went to bed, me and Moose (Yes, I know the grammar is wrong Mom. I don't care.) made some oatmeal cookies. We've got one more treat to make (fudge!) and then we'll be able to finish our treat plates. We're going to take them to some select homes and do a bit of caroling. :)

Now that the kids are bathed and jammied, we're doing another installment of Star Wars for Moose. They're currently trying to escape the Death Star with the Princess. We're having a bit of fun watching it with him in small pieces. We pause it often so he can ask him questions (which are many) and answer them fully. I don't know exactly how long it'll take us to finish the movie, but it'll be fun enjoying it with him.  He's getting a few Star Wars action figures for Christmas, so it'll be nice for him to understand something. Although he's getting an Anakin, and we're starting with the originals. But he'll at least be able to understand it more.

Tomorrow's going to be insanely busy for me. Send me good thoughts. :)

Why Did You Say Candy...

We've noticed that when Moose gets tired, he will get focused, or more like obsessed, with one concept/idea/word. It can be terribly annoying. Tonight as we were putting the kids down, the hubs told him if he did something we asked him not to, he would lose all his candy for tomorrow. (Post-meal desserts, and the like) A few minutes later as we were finishing up a few Christmas songs for them, he starts asking us, "Why did you say candy?" over and over and over again.

I'll admit I'm not in anyway patient when he gets this way. We basically closed the door after our songs and ignored him completely. I don't think he'll be scarred for it. :)

Vacation...

I only say vacation because I'm sorely looking forward to next week when the hubs is on his Christmas vacation. Today was a good but rough day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was just a grouch. I really wanted more sleep for whatever reason and just struggled a bit. Monkey is pretty much all better. She took an awesome nap, which helped too. But what helped the most was the nap I took. I was able to wake up feeling like a completely different person. I didn't craft or anything like that, which I usually use naptime for, but I decided the way I used my time was by far the best use. I told the hubs the house was pretty messy because I slept during naptime and didn't make the kids clean a ton because I wasn't patient enough. He said he didn't care one bit. He'd rather have a messy house and a happy wife than the other way around. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that guy?

This week is going to remain pretty busy. Preschool at our house tomorrow. I've got a pretty big choir performance at church Sunday that I've been practicing the piano for. We've also got a caroling that I'm planning, which is happening Monday. (I'm playing the piano for that too.) I've got 4 Christmas presents to finish. (1 in the works, the others waiting) I've got 2 treats to make (fudge and oatmeal cookies) for treat plates we're planning on giving out. Granted, that one I'm not responsible for solely. It was the hub's idea and he wants to help and be in charge of it. But still, it's on the to-do list. I've got a few Christmas decorations I've planned to make with Moose for his tree.

Don't get me wrong, I know hat ultimately some things just don't get done. And I know that. But I really like the feeling of productivity and accomplishing things. We'll see what happens. And then there's getting over my cold, and getting enough sleep.

On a lighter note, the hubs introduced Moose to Star Wars tonight. :)

I want to scream at Mama...

Despite the heading, today was a good day. We used some alternative tactics to get Monkey to sleep last night. She was really struggling with the cough. She just hates coughing when it's time to be sleeping and gets so frustrated. So the hubs propped himself up in bed, and got her to lay with him. Then when she was comfortable and sleeping, we made a small pillow pile between us in our bed and laid her on it so she would be propped up. We tried propping up her mattress, but she still moves so much I was worried she'd spend half the night with her feet where her head should be, making her cough worse.  But nestled between the two of us she didn't squirm nearly as much, and she was probably so tired that helped too.  So she slept in our bed til around 2 or 3 when I took her to her own bed. (At her own insistence. The hubs was going to carry her and she asked for me. Half-asleep at 2 am and she still prefers me. Go figure.)

Today was significantly better. She slept in til 7:20 and took a nap from 12:30 til 3:30 without crying or coughing at all. It was miraculous. And she just went to bed and I have yet to hear her cough. That doesn't mean she won't, but the progress is fantastic compared to the last few days. I'm hoping she'll be over it within a day or two as long as she can keep sleeping this well.

So, the title. I sang her songs and told her good night. When I shut the door she started crying and screaming. After a minute or so she got up and opened the door. The hubs was the one who went in there and once she saw him she started crying, "Mama!" I thought to myself, "What? You'd rather scream at me, and not him?" I know she's clingy about me still but sometimes it just makes me laugh. Like the occasional time when she walks out into the living room and if he starts to walk towards her she starts crying "Mama" and running away from him. It's kinda cute, but tiresome after the first few times.

Yay for kids getting better. We ended up not having preschool today. With Monkey sick, another kid's brother was sick and in the end you have to have more than 2 kids, so it just ended up falling through. But I'm truly surprised we've gone this long with a group of 5 kids without having it cancelled due to sickness.

Well, she's crying now (5 minutes after I started this post) but it's not due to coughing. I guess that can be counted as progress, right? :)

Cough, cough, cough...

So today was up and down, mostly about Monkey. She's still coughing a bit, although she didn't wake up once last night. So at first I thought it was going to be a better day. But when it came to naptime, things just didn't work out. I put her down early, and she cried on and off, possibly sleeping in the off times, for about 3 hours. It was awful. I felt so bad for her. But she only coughs during sleep times. She doesn't cough consistently throughout the day, but when it comes to sleeptime, that's a whole other story. Then she also ended up staying up a little late tonight too, due to company. But she's quiet now, so maybe, just maybe she's already passed out from exhaustion. And if her cough is actually improving like I think it is, she might even sleep in to make up for lost time.

It was a slightly difficult/tiresome day, but despite that it was still productive. For one, we had some killer homemade pizza for dinner. :) Then I was also able to work on one of Monkey's Christmas present during "naptime". I'm definitely gearing up for some relaxation tonight.

Oh, and I'm hosting preschool tomorrow. Asssuming they still bring their kids after I emailed the moms all about Monkey's coughing situation. We'll see. :)

Another Day...

Today was pretty average. We all went to church. The kids took naps. The kids are now in bed. The only news is that Monkey is still struggling wtih a cough that wakes her up too early in the morning and too early from her nap. I can't wait til it's gone because I'm betting she'll sleep in really late that morning since she'll finally be able to sleep more peacefully.

Me and the hubs set up our new computer (from which I'm blogging). Our old one is 6 1/2 years old and we worry it's going to crash on us. So we got our wonderful new computer set up and I taught Moose how to play some news games, introduced him to "paintbrush" (what kid doesn't love playing with that) and overall got more organized. It feels awesome.

This coming Tuesday and Thursday it's my day to do preschool. Let's hope I can handle it all in my somewhat more advanced pregnant state. We'll see.

Hope Monkey doesn't cough too bad tonight. Well, I'm off to see "The End" of Lost. Can't believe it's finally over. :)

Have I Mentioned Being Busy...

As predicted, the busy-ness hasn't slowed down one bit. Yesterday was a busy Friday, as usual. Not to mention the nasty cold I have/had. It hit me really hard that morning, so I spent as long as possible dozing in bed while Moose watched a movie from the library and Monkey played around me. Then last night me and the hubs had a date night, finishing off most of our Christmas funds and hooking up our new Blu-ray player to our tv and setting it up to watch our Netflix on the tv. (Very exciting for us!) So we were psyched up to watch an episode of our show on tv last night (via our new Blu-ray) and blogging was postponed. Not to mention the pure exhaustion I was feeling.

Today was slightly better. Equally busy, although the hubs was home most of the day. (YAY!) Me and Moose made some chocolate chip cookies. We're planning on making goodie plates to give to a few families, and wanted to get him involved in the giving process. Then we had a great Christmas party tonight where we experienced "Bethlehem" and ate foods they would eat, dressed up (yes, towels on the head, that sorta thing) and sang some great Christmas songs to a short program. It was great and the kids had a good time. Monkey loved it because we all sat on the floor for the most part, so everything was on her level. They also got a driedel. (I'm sure that's spelled wrong) A top, for those who can't figure out what that says. It comes complete with instructions one how to play a game with it. Moose was super excited because he was able to figure out how to spin it. (Quite the fine motor skills involved in that one.)

Now the kids are in bed (hopefully for the night), things are mostly  put away, and we're about to finish the last episode of "Lost". Oh, and I started making Christmas project #5 today. It's a pinafore for Monkey. Gonna be adorable. Anyway, time to relax. With the insane busy-ness lately, we take our relaxing very seriously. As should you all. :)

So tired...

That's about all I can say. Last night wasn't nearly as smooth as I was hoping.  Monkey woke up at 3, still with a fever, and pretty much stayed awake til somewhere around 4:45. I slept by her bed on the floor to keep her reigned in and not coming out of her room every few minutes. We slept in til a little after 8, but it was still exhausting. Her fever has persisted today, but it's slightly lower. So hopefully by the end of tomorrow it'll be low enough that it won't bother her so much. I know she's pretty exhausted too.

Christmas is continually coming closer. I can hardly believe it's almost 2 weeks away. I just hope I can get my projects done by then. Even if I don't, I'll still make them for the kids. But it'd be nice to meet the deadline.

I'm looking forward to a day of nothing to do but school with Moose. (at home) Mondays and Fridays are my haven at home days. Nowhere to go, no schedules to meet. Since he started preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Wednesday has become our official library day, (all of these good things) it keeps us really busy. It's been good for the kids to get out of the house so regularly, especially in the snowy winter. But it makes me enjoy those days at home all the more.

Can't wait til the kids are in bed. I'm looking forward to a big bowl of popcorn and watching a few episodes of "Lost" in bed. Hope Monkey sleeps better tonight. For all our sakes. :)

Keeping busy...

I am learning that over this holiday season I will be kept very busy. Unless I completely drop the ball, anyway.

Yesterday we had preschool, me and Monkey kept busy while he was gone. I've been Christmas crafting during naptime, getting some serious work done. The hubs had an evening meeting, so I was busy with kiddos and bedtime. Then we relaxed with some tv episode watching on Netflix, one of our more favorite past times.

Today was equally busy. No preschool, but our weekly trip to the library. More crafting during naptime, finishing Christmas project #4 out of 8. Then I had some evening business to take care of. There's still wrapping to be done, shopping to be done (probably get it done during our date Friday night), and more sewing!

Poor Monkey is feverish. She woke up with a pretty high fever. I hate seeing her lethargic or sicky. I mostly just saw her grouchy, but gave her a dose of tylenol while she was in bed (when we put Moose to bed) and she just seemed so sad. I'm sure it was just her being tired because she was woken up 2 hours into her nightly sleeping, but still. I hope she's feeling better tomorrow and doesn't wake up at night due to fever or other discomforts.

Darn those winter maladies. We've almost all got coughs and runny noses. Grrr.

Spring Cleaning...

Sorry for the two day lapse. Saturday night we had a long day with the hubs at work and we spent dinnertime with a friend who was in town. Yesterday ended up being a mass spring cleaning day. The hubs was inspired by one thing and it turned out being a huge overhaul of the apartment. It was great. We have tons of tubs. Living in apartments and moving often, we've acquired plastic tubs. Big ones, small ones, medium size ones. We pulled them all out (over half of them hold the kids smaller clothes, for when we need them again) and rearranged, consolidated, and purged. We also put together a bookshelf deal with doors that's been in its box on the floor for a week. We ended up with multiple empty tubs and an empty shelf. We were able to put it all away and have the house feel less cluttered and more organized. I did one last bit of it this morning with Moose and he was so excited to organize. He thinks it's the best.

So, an update on the big girl bed saga. It's getting better. We've had a few rough go downs, but all in all she's getting used to it. Although she woke up crying at 6:00 this morning and was basically awake from then on. Needless to say, she had an early and long nap.

As part of our cleaning, the school/craft area is extremely more organized. (That's what the new bookshelf deal was for.) I was feeling super inspired to rejuvenate Moose's school we do at home. So we had school today. We didn't really do anything new, but with things more organized it just felt better. He was super motivated too and did a ton of pages from one of his activity books, practicing writing the alphabet and numbers. It was great.

I'm trying to pick up my Christmas crafting, knowing that the holiday is going to spring up on me before I know it. I just finished Monkey's first project today, a dress-up skirt. It has jewel type things all over it, so it's a bit sparkly. I like it. Next is project #4, a camera case for Moose. (for his digital camera he got for his birthday.)

And a few days ago me and Moose made a Christmas paper chain from my Christmas scrapbooking papers and put it on their Charlie Brown tree in their bedroom. It's not long enough to really go around the tree more than once, but it still looks great. It's currently decorating the bottom half of the tree. Sometime during the rest of the week we're going to make a popcorn chain, and paint a few styrofoam balls. Perhaps even toss some glitter on them. :)

Monkey's already broken one Christmas ornament. Luckily, it was fixable. :) Hopefully the rest of the ornament will survive the Christmas season.

Progress...

So today was better. Slightly worse in some ways, but better still in the end. If that makes any sense. 

Monkey was up at 6:30 in the am with her brother, who normally gets up at that time. (Take note, that's over 2 hourse earlier than usual for her.) They still went to nap at their normal time of 1 o'clock. Moose ended up in my bed again, after one strike from missy getting out of her bed. She was better about staying in it. She'd just get up, get toys, go back to bed, and repeat over and over. But once he was gone, she wasn't a happy camper. She noticed immediately that I locked the door. It only took 2 visits to her room before she was down for the count. The second visit was mainly due to the fact that she dropped her paci and couldn't find it. So all in all it was very productive. And she took a 3 hour nap, thanks to her early wake up.

Bedtime, fantastic. Didn't go in once.

And I haven't found her on the floor lately. Ever since that one night, I check on her everytime I get up for my midnight/early morning potty break. She maybe she's slowly figuring out this bed thing. Perhaps I'll even be able to let them nap in the same room soon.

Progress is progress. Thank goodness.

0-Me, 1-Someone Else...

I'm going to sum today up, then drown my sorrows in a bowl of vanilla, chocolate syrup and whipped topping.

I was woken up by Moose, who had shoved a small plastic something up his nose. Fortunately I was able to remove it, using a dull-tipped crochet needle. Thank goodness. No trip to the ER today.

Naptime was a total bust. Monkey is just not digging the idea of napping on that mattress. So after 1 1/2 hours, I put Moose to bed in my room (he was such a trooper the whole time) and locked her in her room. She fell asleep within an hour or so. Unfortunately, I went to check on her after a long quiet period, only to realize she was asleep against the door, and I stirred her. She fussed, went back to sleep for 20 minutes, until Moose woke up, closed my door in a not-so-quiet manner, reawakening her.

Then there's the diaper change. She was poopy, so I went to change her. She wouldn't lay down, so I laid her down. Not entirely unusual. But she completely lost it. I ended up wiping her bum while holding her with one hand on her ankle, body mostly hanging upside down. Putting her diaper on was equally difficult. After that little escapade she had another time in her room with the lock on, so I could cool off and recover from such an exciting diaper change.

So I don't know who got the points today, but it certainly wasn't me. Tomorrow's another day. Let's just hope it's not another one like this one. :)

Big Girl Bed Saga...

I have a feeling this one will be lasting a while.

Miss Monkey woke up at 6:30 again this morning when Moose got out of bed. So again, I went into their room and laid on Moose's bed while she went back to sleep. (For those who are wondering what on earth Moose is doing, he sat on the couch til 7, then watched a DVD from the library with headphones on.) She did fall asleep again, and slept til 9:45. I think I won't let her sleep in this long. Because her normal 1 o'clock naptime was too early for her and she struggled. So I ended up in their room at naptime to help her fall asleep. I ended up laying next to her on her mattress and watched her fall asleep. (I've never done that before, with a kid this age. It was actually really cool. Once she stopped squirming and fighting me.)

However, bedtime tonight didn't go so hot. I came home from somewhere as the hubs was calming her down for the first time. They heard me come in, and instantly she started crying. (Her whole attached-to-Mama-at-bedtime-unless-she's-not-here thing.) So I calmed her down and put her to bed. She came out of their room about 3 times after that. Finally, I think, she's down for good. I was starting to get worried that she secretly liked me being there when she fell asleep, even if I terrorized her for the first 45 minutes of it. (It took an hour.)

But she didn't wake up at all last night, not until 6:30 anyway. But she's definitely getting a 9 a.m. wake up call from now on. Especially since Moose has preschool tomorrow at 9. I'm teaching him to be fashionably late at a young age. Even if our version of fashionable is questionable. :)

Big Girl Bed...

So we got a free twin mattress through the hub's second (actually, third) job. So very suddenly (last night) she went from her crib to a twin mattress on the floor. We were somewhat concerned about how it would go. Well, let me report that it's going AWESOME!

Last night we kept them up a bit to help her be tired and hopefully not fight the bed too much. She got up once and went to the door. (Where Mr. Cop Moose came out and told on her.) Then she cried out maybe 3 other times after that, but from her bed. Usually, her pacifier was missing.  She woke up once or twice last night. I can't remember. But was easily put back to sleep.

For today's nap, she didn't even get out of bed once! It was so awesome! And when she woke up, she just got up and opened the door herself. It was so sweet! I praised her a ton and gave her a candy for sleeping like such a big girl.

Tonight I was out while the hubs put the kids down. He kept them up again, hoping to tire her out and facilitate going to bed. Apparently, she didn't get out of bed once. I can't wait to check on her and see exactly where on that mattress she is. :)

Soo happy to have such a great 4 1/2 year old who's such a good example to his little sister. This transition is (so far) going SO much easier than I thought it would. When we brought the mattress into their room (the crib was already re-assembled in my bedroom) she ran into her room and got on it, super excited. I asked her if it was her new bed and she said, "Uh huh."

Love it. :)

Threats...

Lately Monkey has been quite the stinker about going to bed. She now refuses to be put to bed by the hubs if I'm at home. And most recently she throws a fit whenever we close the door. Last night she was being a real tough cookie, and I was bothered. She eventually quieted down, but it was such a fuss. Today's naptime looked like she was trying the same tactic, and I had had it. So I went to her and said that if she didn't cut it out, I would take away her pacifier. That did the trick. I did it again tonight, and she didn't throw a single fit. Yay for that. We'll see how long it lasts. (And no, it's not an empty threat. I would take it away.)

We got out Christmas decorations today. Me and Moose put them out. We're doing the tree tomorrow. Which, by the way, we have a fake tree that we've had for a few years now. Great for apartments. But Moose went Christmas treeing with the fam and he picked out a perfect little tree for the kids room. He told my mother in law that it was the perfect tree. Too cute. So we're going to set it up in their room and let the kids put paper chains, strung popcorn, and painted styrofoam balls all over it. So long as they don't beat on it, it can stay in there. The hubs was actually for the idea, so I jumped on board. I think it'll be adorable. I guess we'll have to get them some lights too. I think Moose will just love it.

We're completely covered in snow here. It really makes it feel Christmasy. I'm actually really excited about all the countdowns we'll have going on. We have at least 2 advent calendars here at the house we'll be doing. Too fun. I just love how infectious the spirit of Christmas is! (Moose makes it even more so!)

Gold Digger...

As I was reading Monkey's book for bed tonight, she randomly put her finger in her nose. Not entirely unusual. When I told her not to do it and helped to take it out, she revealed one big booger sitting on the end of her finger. Based on her reaction, I think the discovery was entirely accidental, though she was quite intrigued with it while we waited for Moose to quickly grab us a tissue. (I refused to move, keeping my hand on hers so that boogie didn't end up somewhere other than in the tissue.)  Oh the joys of storytime with little kids. :)

Happy Thanksgiving...

A wonderful Thanksgiving to everyone! Today was a very laid back and relaxed Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful. I spent the morning with my two adorable kiddos playing with each other, happily, for such a long time while I made rolls. Then they took wonderful naps while me and the hubs got the rest of our food contributions ready and cleaned up. We had a fantastic meal with family (who also happen to be friends!) and just had a great time.  What an amazing way to spend a day.

Today I am amazingly thankful for my kids, the one who inspire me every day, and led me to write this little blog of ditties every day. (Well, mostly every day.)  I am supremely thankful for my husband. He cooks, he cleans, he gives unselfishly every day. He's my daily battery that keeps me going and is constantly reminding me why I do what I do, and that I'm actually good at it.  I am thankful for my family, all the crazy siblings I grew up with, my parents, my new family and their kids. I have been so blessed with family that a day can't go by that I don't think of it.  I have so many wonderful people in my life, many who read this little blog. As we've moved around many times in our 6 1/2 years together, we've been able to have a new family everywhere we go. It's been such a pick-me-up. I have so much to be thankful for everyday, and I truly do my best to remember. But on a day like this, you just have to say these things out loud. (Or well, publicly.)

I hope everyone was able to remember one good thing today, one blessing. Sometimes I feel so spoiled, because I have enough to share multiple times over. Hopefully my little thoughts are one way I can do that. I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving, and a huge *thank you* to everyone who reads my little thoughts on motherhood and life.

Snow Day...

Today was a good old snow day. We had tons of snow yesterday and last night, and it was uber cold today. Even I got a bit stir crazy, wanting to go out, but knowing the cold would stop the kids from enjoying the snow play. But fortunately the hubs won't be working a full day tomorrow, since he's not in school, so we might be able to  make a go of snow play, even though it's supposed to be even colder tomorrow than it was today.

I'm still working on Project 2, and started Project 3, which is for Moose. It's a little bag for him to carry his scriptures to church. It's pretty darn cute. It's the most simple project I'm doing for Christmas, so I thought I'd do it early on, to help me get my sewing mojo.
We still don't have a name for Baby 3. We recently looked at our family trees to try and find some fun and interesting names. There are a few. But mostly I've been pretty uninspired. I know it's going to be the same as last time, and it will hit us in one day and we'll get our creative flow and pick the first and middle name in one sitting.  I just don't have a list of girl's names in the back of my mind. If we were having a girl, the first name would be chosen. I've thought about using it for a girl's name (it's one of those that goes either way) but I think I'm going to wait and save it for a boy. I'm pretty sure we'll have at least one more baby, and it could be a boy. That's years away, but I really had my mind set on using the name for a boy.

Any name suggestions? We like traditional names that might be out of use. We dig scriptural names, or names with cool meanings. But we really have no clue what direction we're going in. We will certainly take any suggestions we can get. :)

Thanskgiving is coming. Hope you all enjoy the day with people you care about. We're having a huge gathering. It might hamper my posting over the next 2-3 days. But I will certainly have things to talk about, with around 20+ people coming for dinner. Should be interesting...

:)

Banshee...

Today was my day one for getting Christmas Projects done. I did pretty good. Although the project I worked on was actually not Christmas related. But I bought the rest of my pillow cover fabric at the same time, so I got it done first. Although I am starting to work on a cross-stitch project tonight, that is Christmas related, which I'll probably work on a bit every night.

Today was a super stormy snowy day. Moose was rather bummed out that we couldn't go play in the snow. It was just so darn windy, it would've been pretty miserable. Especially for little Monkey who is still so new to snow, since she doesn't remember her first winter in it.

So, Monkey might be unofficially named Banshee if I have anything to say about it.  Yesterday night she was sitting and playing with a toy. She was having a hard time with something and got frustrated, and so she dropped what was in her hands and screamed as loud as she could. It was really funny at the time because you could tell it was born of pure frustration, though I made myself keep a straight face, not wanting to encourage that type of screaming.

But she seemed to like something about it, because everytime she got frustrated today, or maybe even just for no real reason, she let out a scream that I associate with horror movies. She spent a large portion of the morning in time out. This is one of those things that was only cute the first time. Not a single time after.

And I can only imagine what our neighbors must be thinking. :)

Deep Fat Fryer...

So today was a pretty ordinary Sunday for us. The most unusual and exciting thing that happened was we inherited a bunch of kitchen appliances and tools from the hub's Grandma. Among those appliances is a deep fat fryer. I've been wanting one of these for a while now. I'm not a big fried food eater, but I have come across a number of recipes that use fryers. The foods on the menu tonight both happened to be things that could be fried. (Chicken strips and french fries.) I wasn't going to be frying them, since I wasn't anticipating having one, but we got one, so I fried!

So for dinner, we ate McDonald's at home. I thought it was super good. The hubs did too. The kids ate okay. Monkey doesn't eat that stuff very well anyhow. Moose liked my french fries. We also borrowed an apple peeler-corer-slicer and they did up a bunch of apples at the table. Moose absolutely loved doing this. It was better than playing at the park. He happily rinsed off apples, and then was able to turn the crank and eat his delicious creations. It was ultimately a super fun dinner. Most unexpected and wonderful.

That was the most exciting thing that happened today. We're currently dehydrating the apples that weren't eaten at dinner. (Another acquisition from Grandma.) Hope they turn out. We'll be snacking dried apples for the next few days.

Can't wait to see Grandma in a few days and tell her what an exciting dinner we had thanks to her! :)

Christmas Shopping...

So the hubs and I did a bunch of Christmas shopping yesterday. (Half of which is now wrapped.) This evening after he got home from work, I went off on my own to JoAnns to pick up materials for the homemade projects I have in mind. I was actually able to stay in budget (Yay!) and I'm super excited. Most of them are really easy, so they shouldn't take too long. I can't wait.

Moose saw the wrapped presents when he got up from his nap. He wanted to know who they were for and which were his. He's so excited. As we said good night he asked me when the new month would begin. I told him not until after Thanksgiving. Then he got excited and said something about, "That's when Christmas comes!" It's so cute.

I'm pretty eager for Thanksgiving to be over. Not that I'm not thankful. :)  I'm so excited to get out Christmas decorations, satisfy my urge to bake (won't have time til Thanksgiving is over for that.), and decorate the tree. I love the anticipation I get from Moose. Last year he was jazzed about opening the presents, but he didn't have the anticipation. Moose has been waiting for Christmas all year long. It's so cute. It just brings out the childhood excitement for me all over again. Only now I'm excited to watch my kids open their presents, not to open my own.

Oh, have I mentioned we're not teaching him about Santa? I don't remember ever believing in Santa and I was fine. I just can't lie to him about some fictional big guy going down chimneys and bringing him presents. (I don't think it's wrong to do so, I just can't bring myself to do it.) I'm very proud of the fact that we bought those presents with our hard-earned money. Not Santa. Anyway, what are your philosophies on Santa? Like I said, I'm not against him. But my kid might be the one who decides to tell your kid he's not real. :)

Movie Night...

Spent our date night Christmas shopping. Was actually quite fine. Makes me super excited to watch them open their Christmas presents. Now we're having movie night with MOose. We got How To Train Your Dragon in the mail today. So we're letting Moose stay up way late and watch it with me and the hubs, while we scarf down some dinner. Spent our whole eating time shopping. Can't wait to wrap it all! :)

On with the movie and popcorn!

Tears and Time out...

So the last few days, Moose has been particularly weepy. My only guess is because he's been waking up super early to go to the bathroom. He goes back to bed, but I'm sure it disrupts his sleep, and I don't know how much he sleeps when he goes back to bed. This morning, it was in the 5 o'clock hour. (Maybe even around 5:00) The smallest things set him off and he literally starts bawling. So I severely limited any liquid intake this evening to try and prevent a super early potty trip. We'll see what happens.

Monkey has been a semi-permanent fixture in time out today. Mostly for yelling. My father-in-law and I discussed this just recently. Girls have a thing for screaming. Some boys do too, but it's still not the same decibel level that girls have. Something about girls and screaming. Anyhow, so she spent time there for that. And for not sitting in her chair at dinner. Even if we buckle her into her high chair, she can still get onto her knees and turn around. (I admit, I hate the buckle on our high chair. Silly design.) She just can't sit still in that chair very long. (Which I know is normal.) So she spent much of dinner in time out for not sitting in her chair. Oh, and for throwing. I don't know if she understands exactly what throwing means. It wouldn't surprise me, but I try to give her some wiggle room. But she was sent there a few times for throwing legos too. Was a few inches away from taking out one of Moose's eyes.

Tomorrow starts the Christmas shopping for us. We're going to go out during our date night tomorrow and start looking/buying. Pretty exciting. :) This is the first year we've had a budget to spend Christmas money on our kids, and we're pretty jazzed about it. It's hard to decide what to get though. But I know they'll love whatever they get. And they're getting plenty spoiled from their grandparents too. Lucky kiddos. :)

Winter has begun...

So two days ago it started snowing. It didn't snow today, but it didn't melt either. We've already had to explain to Moose multiple times that snow does not mean it's Christmas. Only that it's winter. Guess that means we ought to get the kid's gear in order. They both need winter boots, and Monkey needs some thermals. She's actually old enough this year to be a part of the snow playing. We'll see if she likes it or not. I think she might enjoy sledding. As long as there are no wipe outs. Moose can't wait for snow ball fights, snow forts, igloos (I don't know why he thinks I can make one), snow angels, and more. He has a checklist he likes to rattle off every now and then.

At least when it's snowing, Monkey let me put a hat on her. I tried a month or so ago at a football game and she screamed til the hat came off.  This should be an interesting winter. :)

Daddy Date...

Today was the first Papa-Moose-time. The hubs decided he wanted to start doing this with the kids, so we picked one day a month for each kid. Today was Moose's turn. So after dinner, they went over to the mall (for those who know, it doesn't deserve the name mall) and walked around. He loves seeing the decorations and whatnot for Christmas. Then the hubs took him to the candy store and let him pick something out. They also (Moose was so jazzed) got to get a gumball from one of those big gumball machines that probably has a big slide on the bottom half so you can watch your gumball go down. They BOTH got blue ones! :)

So me and Monkey hung out at home together. She chose to take a bath, but that ended as soon as she pooped in the tub. (Yes, she still does this rather often. And she stares and freaks out, pointing at it until we remedy the situation.) Then we did puzzles, played ball, organized shapes, and played with her pop-up animal toy. All in all a bonding experience, I'm sure. :)

In other news today, Monkey was running through the house with her paci in her mouth, fell over, and it bonked her nose. She got her first bloody nose. At first I wasn't sure exactly how to handle it since she wouldn't let me pinch it. (That's what adults do. I was really hoping it would work for her too.) So I did my best to semi-pinch it and clean it up. Fortunately, it didn't bleed long. But Moose was a doll and gave her some of his Halloween candy to sweeten the deal since "she was so brave". (That's what he told the hubs.)

Then after our dates with the kids, we all cleaned the bathroom. Ahh, the family bonding. :)

Bed Time...

So last night was quite a night, which made today interesting. The hubs is sick, poor guy. He gets coughs like no other. It's so weird. Anyway, it keeps him up and he literally can't sleep. Nyquil and those types don't help a bit. So he was up til past 2 in the morning last night, trying to relax with our netflix. He finally fell asleep on the couch, thank goodness. Then, at 5:42 am, Moose came in. (Let me preface this story with "We are not early risers. Never have been. Period.") He went to the bathroom and then back to bed. He came back in at 6:00. I couldn't believe this. On a normal day he's up between 6:30 and 7, so I was not a happy camper. So I put him in my bed where the hubs would be and tried my best to sleep. Of course, he woke me up every 5 minutes or so. I did catch a few z's in there, but not nearly enough. Then at 7, the hubs was still sleeping, so I turned the light on in my bathroom, grabbed him some books and crayons and mostly closed the door. (This bathroom is in our bedroom, so it wasn't near the hubs on the couch.) This lasted for another hour. By 8, the hubs was up and around, having gotten maybe 5 hours of sleep. Poor guy was exhausted, and thanks to Moose, so was I. (Although I have to say Monkey stayed in her bed til after 8:30, bless that sweet girl. An early wake up from her could've done some serious damage this morning.)

So needless to say, today was a group nap day. The hubs still wasn't able to sleep really, since his codine had worn off, but it was too early to take another dose. (That's one of the only things that helps him.) But I rested, the kids sorta rested, and we all felt better after.

Then the hubs, bless his heart, took the kids out of the house while I had my piano student over. So it was peace and quiet, but for her sweet music.

Here's hoping we all sleep better tonight.

About Time...

Monkey finally slept in. She wasn't even asleep the whole time. We went in at 8:30 (to get to church on time. Otherwise I would've left her until she demanded to come out. She was happily laying in her bed when we went in.) to bring her out. She was noticeably less grouchy today, and in general much more happy than usual. It was awesome. It was so nice to have our sweet Monkey back instead of Grouchy McGee.

We had a program in church today with all the kids 12 and under. Moose had memorized his part, which he said at two different times. "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." He was so sweet. I was sitting at the piano helping out, and was super proud. After the second time, a few people gave him high-5's on his way back to his seat, and stopped and asked his aunt why they were doing that. :)

Ooh, best thing. Last night, we were laying in bed and I felt little Baby Girly kick twice. I thought to myself, maybe if I get the hubs to feel, he'll catch at least one. He was propped up in bed on his back, being kinda sick. But I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly. (His hand was super warm. It was kinda nice.) Once I put his hand on my belly, little baby Girly started doing jumping jacks. He got to feel tons of movement, on the first try. It was really great. So on our first try, Baby Girly had tons to say to her Papa.

Makes me smile everytime I think about it. :)

T.I.M.E...

Today managed to be another busy day. The hubs was working his Saturday job, then had a two hour meeting immediately afterwards. So me and the kiddos were flying solo. We ran over and I got fabric to cover the pillows to our new couch. That was kinda fun. Although two kids in a fabric store can be slightly stressful from time to time. But they did okay.

The rest of the day went pretty well. Naps happened. I worked on a day-project. A little diaper pouch. My darling friend shared her pattern for it, so I made it. Monkey hardly needs an entire diaper bag for our outings. Usually a diaper or two and some wipes, maybe diaper cream, and we're good. So I made that this afternoon, just for fun. Then dinner happened. Finally, the hubs came home. Yay.

Oh, and tons of laundry has been happening. But, after dinner, the hubs more or less commandeered  (probably spelled wrong, I know.) the kids and went to their room. They built a fort, played with the sheets, wrestled on the bed, and other exciting things. He mentioned as he was dragging a sheet down the hallway, with the kids clinging on for dear life and giggling uncontrollably, that he was giving them some quality T-I-M-E to show them how much he loves them.  I liked that.

Sometimes, as the parent who stays home all day, that concept is pretty much lost. For me, time is what they get no matter what. I suppose I should work on the quality aspect. But I loved that the hubs has been making an effort this past week to give them some time, though it may not be in large amounts due to his work schedule. But he gives them time, and I love that. I grew up with a dad who had an insane work schedule, who commuted multiple hours everyday, and didn't have a ton of time at home. But I have very specific memories of him making time for us. Whether there's a lot of it or not, making it special, setting it aside, makes all the difference. They probably won't recognize some of that til they're older, but eventually they will.

So glad my kiddos have such an awesome Papa. :)

Finally...

So yesterday was a big day. Super busy, yet again. Me and Monkey spent over an hour doing errands after Moose went to pre-school. Then we picked up the hubs early from work, ate dinner, and went out to get things ready for our new couch. Oh, and before dinner we loaded up and gave away the 2 couches we had in our apartment. The kids were real troopers throughout the whole thing. Especially Monkey, who spent half the day in the car. She wasn't necessarily very happy about it, but all things considered, she did pretty good.

So today was slightly restful, finally. I did take the kids to Target this morning to return a slipcover we bought and get a different one. But other than that, things were much less busy. Oh, and then we had to return the truck we had borrowed for yesterday's errands. Oh, and then watched a friend's little guy so they could have a date. He's such a doll, that wasn't really anything. The kiddos are finally in bed. And to think I wanted to have them in bed closer to 7 or 7:30 tonight. Nope. They've gotten to bed at around 8 or later all week because of our couch hunting escapades. Well, certainly tomorrow they should get to bed at a normal time.

Monkey's still trying to adjust from the time change. The kids nap normally, go to bed normally, but she still wakes up an hour earlier. I can see it in her everyday. She's been much grouchier and more tired. Today I put her down for her nap an hour earlier, to see if it would help. But it didn't really. She just woke up from her nap an hour earlier.

Oh well. The hubs is working tomorrow, so we probably won't do much at all. Possibly laundry. And Moose really wants to watch Mulan. Can't blame him. I love those songs. :)

Oh, and Baby 3 is now the length of a banana.

Busy Days...

The last few days, I have been super productive. I say this because, well, I'm pretty proud of myself. We've been going couch hunting, I had a choir practice tonight, and Monday night was ultrasound, etc. So it's been busy. Today we ran by the library, went to a playgroup, went couch shopping, and I had my practice. Dinner was ready in the oven when we got home. (Love those oven timers.) It's hard to say how long I can keep this up, but I must say it feels great. Not only have I been on top of dinner the last 3 days, but it's given me time to do lots on my to-do list, which is fun. I've done small tasks, fun stuff, boring stuff, but lots of it. I'm currently working on a quilt topper that I started when Moose was just a baby. I'm pretty excited about it. He decided it could be for the baby. It's made of tons of different purple squares.

Anyhow, here's to busy days, and using the time wisely. Hope I can keep it up for a while longer. :)

Adjusting...

Today has been a mental day to adjust to the new knowledge we have. Finding out the sex of a baby can take some time to settle in. At least for this one. With the first two, they were the first boy or first girl, so it had its own excitment aspect. But with this little one, it's more about adjusting to the idea of another little personality. I'm realizing that this girl is not going to be another Monkey. She'll be completely different (possibly) and her own little person. With the first two it was easy to expect differences because one was boy and one was girl. But this is a whole new ballgame in a way. But I'm completely okay with the fact that we're having a little girl. It feels strangely natural and expected. I guess, I feel strangely calm about it. It's hard to explain. I guess I know that this baby is meant to be in our family. I did tell Moose yesterday, when he was sad about not having a little brother, that we probably weren't done having kids, so we might have a boy after this one. Isn't it strange to know that we will probably have more kids? I know that time will tell, and who knows what will happen when this little one actually joins the family. But for now, my gut feeling tells me that 3 is not our final number.

Monkey's still working on those darn canines. She chewed a huge hole in one of her pacifiers. Her congestion is really bad and she's getting a cough. I hope those teeth come in the next day or two so she will be back to herself. She's been so dramatic and grouchy the last 2 days. But this is the same thing that happened with her last 2 molars, so I'm hoping that's all it is. We haven't had a cold yet, and I'd like to last as long as possible before we start passing one around.

Today when we were calling some family to tell them about the baby, Moose was doing the talking and when he told his Uncle about the baby being a girl, he said that he would be able to protect his sisters. Isn't he the sweetest thing? :)

Drumroll please...

We had the ultrasound this evening. We're having a little girl! It was not what I expected, well, not what I was hoping. But I knew that overall whatever we are having is what is meant to be in our family, so I'm pleased. It's going to take a while to sink into the idea, but we're happy. She's perfectly healthy and proportioned. She's approx. 12 oz. (which is a bit bigger than the average 8.5 oz at this stage). She measures a week earlier than my due date, but we're not changing anything. Moose and Monkey both measured big too. Moose was on his due date and Monkey was 5 days early.

When we came home and told Moose, he was sad. :(  He had told me earlier when I asked that he wanted a boy, so he could have a little brother. I don't know if I'd ever asked him before what he wanted the baby to be. I didn't follow up with, "Well, it might be a girl, so..." which I'm usually so careful to do. So he was a bit bummed out. But he quickly cheered up and is now perfectly okay with it. He has changed his name of choice to Suzy.

It was nice to finally see pictures of our little one. She was active and moving the whole time. We saw her smacking her lips, folding her hands, and tapping her feet.

20 more weeks to go. :)

Time change...

So last night we moved the clocks back. It was so great. We went to bed at "9" and I woke up at "7" feeling super rested. I even woke multiple times during the night (had to have a potty break, of course) and recall each time thinking how great I felt. Moose didn't wake up til around 6:30, which meant he slept in past 7! Monkey woke up around 8:30. Could've even been later, but I went in once I heard sounds, since we had to leave for church shortly afterwards. But it was so nice to not have to wake her up to go. I know tomorrow won't feel the same for me. It seems those things are a one-night deal for me, so I try to soak it up. Perhaps my body will slowly transition, but I usually snap right into the time I'm in. (Traveling can do that to you, which I did a bit after high school.)

It was also a nice Sunday. Me and the hubs took some nice reflection time, talked about goals, changes we want to make, and brainstormed some ideas for Moose. We want to help him learn that Sunday is a different day, it's not like Saturdays. He already knows this, but we wanted to help him find more appropriate Sunday activities. So we designated a tub, and printed out tons of things from The Friend website. (if you're interested in where it's at, let me know. Awesome resources!) So we have a stack of scripture-oriented coloring pages, mazes, and activity pages. I made a list for him of things he can do, to help him when he's getting bored. He gets to watch one Sunday show, which has been our habit for years now. He usually watches Veggie Tales. (I really love those things.)  But now he has all of his Sunday books and print-outs in one place. Also on his list are to write letters to family/friends, cook with the hubs or me, or play quiet games. This afternoon his post-nap was great. He was really jazzed up about the print-outs and we wrote a letter to a lucky family member. (Getting mailed tomorrow. Who will it be??) I imagine we'll probably end up writing a letter every Sunday. He really liked that part. It was nice to try and help him set apart Sunday as a special day and find things to do that will help us all to remember that.

A great day. I have some changes to implement into my daily routines tomorrow. Here's hoping it goes well. :)

Burnt out...

The hubs worked his Saturday job again today. And probably will be working Saturdays through December. Although I'm super grateful for this extra income, because we are grateful for every bit we can get, I'm afraid I was not prepared for his absence today. I missed a baby shower (though there are going to be many coming up, I was still excited about this one), and mostly spent the day at home with the kids. That wasn't so bad. I was really productive, trying to make the best of the day. I got lots of good things done. But by the time 4 rolled around, I was done with the day. Me and the hubs were trying to talk via phone the whole day, but they were having a huge sale, so it was real busy. It was really hard to even get through to the store, since apparently they set one line to "busy" all day and only had one functioning phone line. Then everytime we tried to talk, he'd have to get off and help a customer. It was no one's fault, but still ultimately frustrating. We were having a date night tonight. By the time it came around, we got some Dominos pizza and watched part of an episode of Numb3rs. (our current Netflix tv series we're finishing. Last season!) I think I was also bummed out because we were planning a big date night. A friday night, saturday morning deal. But with him working Saturdays the next 2 months, that will take some of the relax out of our "sleep-in have a nice big breakfast without rushing" motif. Ahh well. Maybe we'll be able to buy a new couch. (We really need one.) The hubs is completely fixated on a new tv. He wants to be able to stream Netflix to our tv. But without a Wii or other game console, we have to get a really expensive tv in order to do it. Anyway, lame details. Dominos made me feel much better, and after the hubs is back with the kids and they're quietly sleeping in their beds (The quiet is optional) I'm going to continue to self-medicate with the tub of Moose Tracks that's in our freezer.

Have a nice night everyone. :)

Teaching Life...

This is something I've been thinking about lately. As a parent, you literally have to teach your kids how to live. Sure, some things will come naturally, like eventually falling asleep when you're tired, or eventually eating when you're hungry. However, as we all know, kids rarely know what's best for them. With my short experience with my 2 kids, I've learned for a certainty that we parents are literally teaching them how to do everything, and it's GOOD we do, because if we don't, no one will.

~How to sleep. Sure, there are some babies who are fantastic sleepers right out of the womb, but I like to think those are more rare. They don't know how to fall asleep on their own, they don't know how to stay asleep once they get there, they don't know how much sleep they need to function for a day. All of these things must be learned, and we need not feel bad for teaching it. This is one area we've taken very seriously (since me and the hubs take our sleep very seriously) and I feel like it's been such an awesome investment.

~How to eat. Even as newborns, some can't figure out nursing alone. They need help. When it comes to solid foods, they definitely need help.  They don't know what's good for them, what keeps them healthy, what makes a balanced diet, what helps their poops keep coming. They know nothing. We are the teachers. Another area where we've taken a lot of care (at least with Moose. Monkey's still young, but I hope she'll come out as well as he did) and it's paid great rewards.

~How to obey. They definitely need to learn this. They need to learn that we know more, see more, and understand more than they do. I don't hesititate to tell Moose I don't know everything. It stops him from asking so many questions. But I most certainly know more than he does. He needs to listen up and do what I ask. Parents know more than their kids. Period. They need to learn, from us, how to obey and listen up. This one is such a super hard task, but so completely worth it. I'm still working on it everyday (and probably will til they move away) but it's worth it.

~How to disobey. Sadly, we teach them this too. When we make empty threats, tell them no and then ignore them, or a million other ways. When they're young (Monkey's in this stage now) they will test your boundaries. They want to know where they are.  If you let them think there are none, they will attempt to walk all over you. And they do. I witnessed it at the McD's play area today. Sad business. No kid should walk all over their parent. We are the adults, we know better. Again, a difficult one to make sure you don't do, but so important.

Along with a million other things we teach our kids. I read once that the people your children will become is mostly set in their minds by the age of 6. The big things, anyway, about who they are as people. I can see this. I've worked in preschools and it's so apparent the type of people they are becoming, even at such a young age. And if you are a parent who stays at home, even if only most of the day, their primary teacher and example is you. Unfortunately (I don't mean that really, but it's a huge responsibility) that means I'm the one teaching my kids all their good, and bad, habits.

I don't think of these to frighten myself (or you!) or lay out a heavy responsibility or burden. Just to keep us all aware. Sometimes I think they should know certain things. Common sense, right? But really, they're being molded and shaped by us. If we don't teach it first, by example or word, who knows if they'll learn it. I think the biggest change I've experienced since becoming a parent is that I've made myself become a better person. Not for any noble reason other than I didn't want my kids to learn my bad habits. There are certain words my kids cannot use, and I don't use them either. They were common place for about 20 years in my vocab, until I had kids. I wouldn't think of using them now, because I want my kids to behave better. There are still so many areas that I want to improve on, so I can be that example. I'm glad Moose is not yet aware of hypocrisy, because when he is, I might end up in trouble. But hopefully I'll have covered all my bases by then and changed any more of my lingering bad habits.

So buck up parents. We are the examples, we are the teachers. Teach well. Their behavior is most certainly a reflection of you and your environment at home. (I can't say this would apply evenly for kids who spend a large amount of their days in day care.) I sure hope the reflection my kids are giving out is a good one. :)

Just another day...

Today was a good day. We had preschool here at our place and it went great. (minus 2 bathroom incidents from separate kids) The kiddos napped great, and were overall sweeties. Monkey is definitely still teething, and chewing on her fingers throughout the day. I'm hoping once her top 2 canines come out a bit more, she'll be out of the woods. She is still so adorable when you ask her for eskimo kisses. She promptly puts her nose out and lets you rub it with yours. It's so sweet!

Tomorrow we'll likely head to a special lunch at McD's. He earns stickers when we do school at home and when he fills a page we go to McD's for lunch and play. It's like Disneyland to him. (Which he's never been to, but one day.) I actually look forward to not cooking. It takes him months to fill one up, especially now that he does preschool twice a week. So it's a real treat for us all. (And yes, ice cream is included.) :)

I'm feeling Baby 3 move more and more. Not regularly yet, but more frequently. I really do enjoy it. I look forward to the next few months as the baby will get just a bit bigger and everyone else will be able to feel its presence as well. I love sharing it. (With those who are invited, although I've never once had a stranger put their hands on my pregnant belly before.)

4 more days. He or she, he or she...

Not Yet...

So I was continuing in my desire to take away Monkey's paci today when I stumbled upon a small obstacle. I don't think she's done teething yet. Before her nap she was chewing on her thumb and pointer finger. I pulled it out of her mouth and the entire area was red. Then she cried for an hour after being put down and when I went in to her it was as though she had tried chewing on just about everything to try and soothe her need.

So I'm going to wait. But once those teeth finish coming in, the quest will be one once again. Can't having the girl chew her fingers off because I took away her pacifier, after all.

The Paci Saga Continues...

So this afternoon before Monkey's nap, I snipped the end of her pacifier. (I'd heard of this technique, but had forgotten about it for a while.) I have to say that it was absolutely hilarious watching her put it in her mouth the first time. It was absolute confusion. She would show it to me, stare at the broken part, put it in her mouth and point, and had a variety of facial expressions. She'd give it to me, want it back. It was really funny. She went to sleep fine, but Moose woke up after 1 1/2 hours and wasn't very quiet about opening or closing the door. She wouldn't go back to sleep after that, even though I tried giving her an unbroken paci. She stayed in bed for another 30 min. but I doubt she slept.

I didn't try it at bedtime. I'm going to slit another one tomorrow before her nap, and have Moose nap in the other room. It should be interesting. If it works, I'll do it again tomorrow night.

I was telling Monkey about the baby in my belly yesterday while she was looking at a picture of the baby Jesus. She stared at my belly real intently when I pointed to the picture of the baby and then pointed to my belly and said there was a baby in there. She wanted to look under my clothes to get a better look. I think she was curious. I mentioned it to her again tonight and rubbed my belly. She rubbed my belly too. It was so cute. She was in a rare cuddly mood, when she'd lean over and just give me a "cuddle" lean. After the belly rubbing, she'd lean onto the belly too. So sweet.

I told Moose yesterday about the ultrasound next Monday. He mentioned tonight that he's so excited to find out if it's a boy or girl. When I told him yesterday he mentioned again that if it's a boy we can call it Steve. Or Michael or Mike. I tried to pitch Micah, my current fave name. He thought it was a girl name and didn't like it. Go figure.

Less than a week. Can't wait!

The Paci...

In our house, a pacifier is called a paci (PASS-ee). Not a binky. (To me, that's a baby blanket.) Anyway, today at nap time, I felt so inspired, as it's been on my mind, to try and put Monkey down without it. I'm not completely ready to go cold turkey, all out on her. I might soon, but not yet. I have preschool Tuesday and Thursday and don't want to royally ruin the mood at the house with a cranky kid. Anyway, she went to sleep without it, but woke up 1 1/2 later (only half a nap) crying. So I went in and gave it to her. She's currently freaking out right now cause she doesn't have it. If she's still doing that when I'm done typing, I'll give it to her. I don't mind the crying really, but I feel awful for Moose, who shares her room. I know he can't fall asleep with her screaming banshee style.

But I can tell she's certainly ready for this. When she first realizes it's gone, she asks me for it (sign language) and I say it's all gone, or missing or something. Or "I don't know". (What an awful lie, right?) She didn't even cry for her nap at first. This time she was okay until I tried to shut the door. But until then she was sweet and charming and oh so generous with the eskimo kisses. (So darn cute, let me tell you.)

What do you think? Cold turkey? (That's how Moose did it.) Slow but surely? (I won't cave, that's for sure, so if I do get started, it will continue one way or another.) What's your experience?

The Countdown Begins...

A week from tomorrow and we'll finally have an ultrasound. Not just to find out the sex of the baby, but just a picture. I'm so excited. Last night I was having a hard time slowing down my brain for sleep and started imagining the ultrasound and finding out we're having twins. I'm pretty sure this is highly unlikely at this point, but without ever having had an ultrasound, surprises have happened. I have absolutely no desire for twins, let's set the record straight. My bro in law has twin girls, my older sisters are twins. My mom says she loved twins and actually wanted another set. Me? I'm good with one at a time. Even if that means I'm pregnant more often. It's all good. One at a time is how I like to do it. So I think I'm definitely getting anxious to get a snapshot of this little one, and to know if I can refer to it as "he" or "she". I think I'm almost most excited about telling Moose what the baby is. It's so much fun sharing all of this with him. He's so excited.

I forgot to update back on Friday. Baby 3 is now a bell pepper. Moose is amazed at how big it is. (5 1/2 inches from head to bum) As I was holding Monkey tonight for bed, she was sitting ontop of my belly and before I laid her down, Baby 3 made its presence known. It's still somewhat rare when I get to feel kicking or whatnot, but I enjoy it and look forward to feeling it more regularly, and being able to share it with the hubs and Moose. (I know eventually it'll get tiresome at night, but it's so reassuring to feel the baby moving and know "all is well".)

It's hard to believe tomorrow is November 1st. The fall is flying by so fast. It's practically winter. Which I'm not particularly looking forward to, being in a cold, dark, and snowy climate. But Moose is excited about snow play, so hopefully he's old enough now that it'll be more fun.

I'm almost half way through with the pregnancy. Can you believe that? And I know a ton of people who are pregnant as well. 4 who live here right by me. Plus my own sister, about 3 or so cousins (not counting the 3 who had babies over the summer) and 3 gals that I grew up with. It's crazy! I love it!

Getting married was the best decision of my somewhat adult life. (I wasn't too old) But having children, and creating a family with my hubs has by far been our crown jewel, greatest achievement and accomplishment. I suppose the only thing that will top it will be to see my own sweet babies become parents one day. I'm so glad so many other people apparently feel the same way!

Sleeping...

So today was an unusual day for Monkey sleepwise. She had another intense sleep-in. I'm guessing that was due to her sugar overload yesterday. So she didn't wake up til 10:20 or so. Then we skipped nap. I figured she wouldn't take one. We all went couch shopping instead. While we were out and about, she hit her peak at 3. But we kept her out and about til a little after 4 and she recovered without a nap. But we put her down at 6 and she's been asleep since.

I'm betting we'll still have to wake her for church tomorrow.

Happy Halloween...

So today was the big Halloween Party. It was a blast. Not everything turned out the way I wanted it to, and I felt like I could've been prepped a bit better for some things, but it was all in all a great time, and the kids had fun. What more can you ask for? We had 4 guests. Sleeping Beauty, a dinosaur, a bumble bee, and Alice in Wonderland. (with my Super Hero and Monkey, no costume required for her.) Here's a sum-up of our food and activities.

Mini pizzas. Dough made from Pillsbury Grand Biscuits. Pepperonis cut into bats. (I did this a as a kid with bologna. Apparently the only one who did. Fold it in half and bite either end. Of course I didn't bite the pepperonis. I used scissors.)

Hawaiian Punch (such a treat in itself) with ice cubes housing gummy worms. Moose loved getting his worms out of his ice cubes. Bit hit with him.

Apple slices with caramel. I tried to dip them in caramel and set them, but caramel doesn't stick to juicy apples. I learned my lesson.

We played musical chairs, but with pictures on the floor. (Thank you Stacee!) It was perfect for the age group we had. I made sure each kid won one time. (I picked the winning picture when the music turned off. At first it was random, but I wanted them all to win, so it wasn't all that random by the end.)

Ghostly pinata. I used a paper bag and covered it with white streamers and cut out some black circles for eyes and a mouth. It was actually way hard to break. I didn't think it would be so tough. But our fearless pinata holder (yes, fearless. Moose was super close to taking a swing at you multiple times.) helped the pinata out with a tear here and there.

They all left with a ball of mostly orange play-doh which we ran out of time to play with.

They also got a ball of orange candied popcorn. Another treat from my childhood. It was such a blast to make. Although I learned that if you want to make them into a ball, you have to form the ball while it's still warm. Once it hardens, if you move the popcorn and it separates, it won't stick again. So they weren't really popcorn balls, but close enough.

Moose had a blast having a party. He wore his cape and looked dashing. By this evening, I whipped out some wrist bands to match. (We had a family party with the hub's fam.) Maybe one day I'll even make a mask. (Since this is now in the toy-dress-up category since Halloween is mostly over.)

Overall, very successful. Tons of fun. Glad I did it. Maybe once I get the pictures downloaded, I'll share some of them. Not with the kiddos in them, per my agreement with the hubs, but of other stuff.

Happy Halloween everybody! :)

Silliness and potty breaks...

That was pretty much all today was. Tons of silliness from the kids and a bunch of potty breaks for me. Guess I was drinking more water today than normal. Of course, lots of silliness also leads to a good amount of tears, as any parent knows. But for the most part it was just silliness. The kids are sleeping for now. (Unless Monkey starts having her bedtime party, as she likes to do.) Tomorrow is a preschool day and I need to prep things for Moose's Halloween party on Friday. I've got a ghost pinata to make, candied popcorn (which I'm so jazzed about), some pizza crust (for the parents), and maybe some orange play-doh or a pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern.  I don't have many Halloween games. Any suggestions?

Moose's cape is awesome. Did I already talk about it? Red, with white borders on the sides and bottom, and a blue border on top/neck connecting piece. It has a big white heart (his choice of shape) and his first name initial in blue. He wore it to playgroup today and I must say he looked rather dashined riding around on his bike. (Which he's getting much better at.) We'll see if I get any mask or wristbands chomped out by Friday or Saturday. We'll see.

I'm completely looking forward to watching Alias with the hubs tonight. We're finishing the series. I was dreading it, since my friend said she hated it. But we were so invested, we have to finish. I was worried I'd hate it too, but accidentally saw a spoiler and think I'll actually love it. Still remains to be seen.

Ooh, and I just finished a book. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend it. :)

Haunted Houses...

So today was our Second Annual Haunted House Making. I started it last year. We make "gingerbread houses" each year, using graham crackers. Last year I got the idea to do the same thing, but make them into haunted houses. So we decked them out with Halloween M&M's, ghost peeps, candy corns and pumpkins. Today was our Second Annual. :)

It turned out to be so much fun. Moose was way more detail oriented this year, filling in every little space. Monkey wasn't even involved last year. We probably did it after she went to bed. But she was there this year. Moose did his own, and Monkey, the hubs and I shared one. They literally filled every empty space on the roof and walls. I'm amazed they haven't fallen down yet. That royal icing recipe is pretty great. :) They even refrained from snacking on the candy. Although we let them both have one piece when they were done. Now all Moose is excited for is eating a little bit of his house each day. :)

After Halloween, we're pretty much stocked for candy til Easter. I only let him have a piece after lunch and one after dinner, so it lasts a long time. I can't handle the sugary candies anymore, so even I'm safe for the most part. (Except for when there's chocolate involved. But we won't go there.)

Sunday naps...

Today was a regular Sunday. Slightly busy, but overall quite relaxing and rejuvenating. Monkey is still sleeping in til at least 9 every day. Which means on Sunday she gets woken up in order to get to church on time. I hate having to wake kids early in the morning. At leat at this age. My theory is (have I told this already? It's likely.) that kids of a certain age don't sleep more than needed. Monkey is definitely still in this category for me. But naps were great. I napped, the kids napped. It was nice.

We carved our jack-o-lantern tonight. Tomorrow will be our second annual Haunted House making. Basically graham cracker houses decorated spooky instead of like Christmas. It was a hit last year. I used orange frosting too. Then of course, they get slowly eaten for the rest of the week.

So yesterday I went to an evening event. Still feeling dirty from a potato harvesting that morning (which was quite an experience, never having done it before) I took a shower right before. This was the first time I looked at myself and said "I look pregnant." It's still not super apparent when I'm all dressed up. But to me, with a naked eye (yes, there's a pun. So bad, huh?), it's very much there. My pregnant pooch is sitting up a bit higher than usual and I'm occasionally getting sucker punched by Baby Steve. Like yesterday in the shower. I still don't get to enjoy (and I mean that, the word enjoy) the more steady movement and feeling. I'm sure that's not too far away. But every other day or so, Baby Steve makes its presence known by giving me a nice swift punch or kick. For the most part, they make me laugh. I like to think the baby is communicating something, like "Hey! Get Monkey off me!" or "Mama! The shower water is too hot!" But in the end, who knows.

This week should be super busy. I've got a cape and mask to make before Thursday, a Halloween kiddy party to get organized (especially since I left the invites home today on accident and now need to get them out asap), and finish our last minute Halloween touches. Not to mention everything else non-Halloween related that I want to get done. But everything in it's time.

That'll be the mantra this week. Not everything needs to be done right now. Everything in it's time.

A Real Holiday...

The hubs had Thursday and today off from work. It has been such a great holiday. Yesterday felt like a Friday, today felt like Saturday, so technically tomorrow should be Sunday. But it's not! It's Saturday! Tomorrow is going to feel so luxurious. A second Saturday. It's been a slightly busy "weekend", but what a fun one.

My brother came up with his fam and spent a day hanging out and vacationing with us. We spent yesterday hanging out and the kids played. A lot. They had so much fun. His little guy is 5, and he gets along with Moose great. I love watching them play together. And Monkey loves their little baby, even though we won't let her touch the baby. (Which doesn't stop her from trying.)

We spent today hanging out at our place, then headed over to the Little Bitty Ranch. The kids all rode the horse and saw the other animals. Monkey was particularly fascinated with their massive turkey. They all fed the teeny tiny ponies some carrots. Monkey was surprisingly okay with feeding them carrots. Although if they got near her with their mouths when she didn't have a carrot, she was not happy about it. 

Then we got some sweet super hero fabric for Moose's halloween costume. He's going to be a super hero. No one specifically. His super hero name is "Super Moose". (Although, it's not really Moose, but his actual name.) We got fabric for a cape and mask. He's very excited, which makes us excited too. The kiddos took a late nap, I made invites for his Halloween party next week. Then we had some fantastic calzones (my new favorite thing to cook. And eat.) before a trip to the hub's school football game. It's their last home game, so we were excited to go. Moose asked me a few days ago if we had any plans for dinner, like going to a football game. I thought it was so neat that he asked about it, that we made sure to go. They had a blast. It was less crowded, and they actually did really well. We had extra food, as always, a trash bag of popcorn, and crayons and sticker books. Although it was way colder this time, and I was so glad the hubs decked the kids out in multiple layers. Moose was whining that he had "4 shirts" on, but at the game, he was totally glad. Guess we know what we're doing after all, huh?

Baby 3 is now a turnip. :) I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I gained a pound or two, and the heartbeat was super strong. The ultrasound is in 3 weeks.

Hope everyone enjoys their second Saturday as much as we will. :)

Journals...

Today was a nice day, filled with more highs than lows. Monkey slept in til 9, which I enjoyed thoroughly. We had a nice trip to storytime at the library, and lunch and naps followed. Moose's nap was only 1 hour, which is a bit short for him and somewhat unusual. But he's old enough now that he can manage himself by that time and I can still do what I want. Monkey napped til about 4, which allowed me time to work on my to-do list. One thing, which has been on it for a while, was to write in my journals. Yes, that's plural. I have one, which I've kept since I was a teen. Then I started one for each of my children. I try to occasionally update them, include cute stories, milestones, etc. For the beginning of each, I try to keep track of doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, the beginning of movement, and other anticipations or excitements regarding the new arrival. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up, but I enjoy it, and hope the kids will enjoy them one day.

Monkey has been noticeably more agreeable since her sleep has regulated again. I love a well-rested kiddo. I always say that me and the hubs greatly value our sleep, so I guess we must have instilled that need in our kids. Either way, we know how to keep them happy and good sleep is a major factor.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Then the ultrasound in 3 weeks. The ultrasound. Very excited.  Moose thinks that if it's a boy, we should name him Steve. It's become a bit of a joke, and now we lovingly refer to the baby as Baby Steve. But no, I will not name the baby Steve. Not on my list of possible names. But a fine nickname.

Or maybe it'll be Sally. (That's his girl name.)

Growing Girl...

Today Monkey had a doctor's appointment. She is finally getting back to her old schedule, sleeping in til 9 this morning and taking a nap from 1-4. (I actually had to get her up so we wouldn't be late to the doctor's.) I didn't catch how much the lady weighs, but I think it's around 24 lbs. She's a whopping 33 1/2 inches long. Growing in all the ways she should, and seems to be healthy as a horse. Or Monkey. :)

The kiddos are in bed, and I'm hoping for another good day tomorrow. She was such a happy girl this morning, it was so nice. Now that her teething woes seem to be mostly over, and her appetite has returned, I'm hoping to see more of my sweet little lady.

Oh, and she had 4 shots at the doctor's office. She was so brave. I couldn't watch. Moose sat in a chair and covered his ears. He was dreading it the entire time. Two nurses came in to get them done as fast as possible. They counted to 3 and did 2 at a time. She, however, realized what was going on, and was sad and almost crying before it began. She let into the crying after those first two. Then they did the second two, one of which is for MMR. They warned me that one hurts real bad, and boy could I see the difference. She was really tender about that leg for a while, and kept wanting to touch it. But that sweet girl calmed down so fast. I was very proud. Yes, there were some M&M's involved, but still. I was proud of my little Monkey.

They grow so fast. She's 18 months old now. (As of 2 days ago.) Six more months (a little less than) and she'll be a big sister. And turning 2. I can hardly believe it. Her babyhood has gone by so much faster than Moose's did. It'll only go faster from here.