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.

Weekend Extravaganza...

So we spent the weekend at few hours away where my brother lives. My parents drove two days to be there on Sunday when my brother blessed his little baby. So we drove down on Saturday and spent a day and a half with them all. It was tons of fun. It was tons of work, and a bit of stress, but overall such a great time.  Here's our agenda, with my own little comments and notes.

Saturday Morning - leave
Drive 2 hours - stopping halfway because I felt absolutely awful. Luckily the second hour wasn't as bad.
Arrive at destination and drop off stuff at the hub's brother's house. He also lives in the same city as my bro. He let us sleep in his basement for the weekend.
Meet Moose's best buds and fam for lunch at a special play place. - It's a great indoor mall with a play area. So awesome in the winter. Our current city has zilch like that for winter, so we miss it a lot. The kids had a blast. Minus the end when there was a little girl barfing in a trash can, who was then allowed to continue playing. Come on Mom!
Meet up with my parents and head over to brother's house. - My mom gave us all some things she had stored up. Clothes for Moose, an adorable pillow/blanket for Monkey, with adorable Monkeys on it! And the remaining 4 boxes of my stuff from the garage that they found the day before they left. I didn't even know it was there.
Meet sweet baby (yes, the one born in the car) and visit a bit.
Then our fam went out to dinner while the parents ate with my bro and his in-laws. - By this point, we had driven across the city like 4 times. My bro and the hub's bro live across the city from each other, and we kept going back and forth. Oh, and the kids had no naps, so they were wired. Moose told us like 4 times Saturday that he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. We ate out at Denny's, which gave them a bit of renewed strength for the rest of the night.
We went back to my parent's hotel room that night, intending to swim, but ultimately didn't. Instead we all chowed down on microwave popcorn and the kids got silly.
Monkey fell asleep on the way home and Moose was asleep before his head hit the pillow. It was nice.

Now, the only problem we had was our sleeping arrangement. We brought our great queen sized air mattress. The big double thick kind. Except, at 3:30, we realized we were halfway to the floor. The hubs blew it up with air, to realize he could feel a leak. Well, we got back in, hoping it would last til 7. By 4:30 we were sinking again and he couldn't sleep. So he got up, showered, and rested on a couch upstairs. I stuck it out on the mattress alone. It was also pretty darn cold. It made for a slightly difficult night, but we managed to stick through it.

The next morning we went to church with my bro and saw his sweet baby get blessed. So precious. She's such a doll. After that, my mom offered to take family pictures for us. We don't have any with Monkey and thought it would be nice to do so before we have Baby 3 on our hands too. So we did that. It was pretty darn fun. Then us and the parents all went out to lunch at a great place. I stuffed my pregnant face. It was awesome. We then proceeded to my bro's house and visited for a short while before heading home. Me and the hubs were exhausted, our kids were still exhausted and we wouldn't make a drive 2 hours in the dark. Moose finally fell asleep over halfway home. Monkey had fallen asleep between our restaurant and my bro's house and woke up before we left for him. She stayed awake the whole time. We were back home by 5 and ate leftovers and put the kids to bed. It was exhausting overall, but completely worth it. If we hadn't had the air mattress issue, it would've been top notch.

So that was our weekend. Insanely busy, non-stop really. But so great to be around my fam and the hub's fam. A huge thanks to them for letting us stay at their house. Something about the hub's bro and his sweet wife make Moose so goofy and he's a complete goof ball the entire time we're around them. Well rested or not. It was a blast. So good to see you all.

Today was a day to try and get back on track. It went pretty good. Hopefully a good night's rest will get the kids back to themselves even more so. I hope so!

Great news!

As I was getting ready to write a post about Monkey's wacky day of waking up too early, having a very early nap, and then being awake from 11:30-8, I found out something way better that I wanted to post.

My sweet friend from High School had her first baby this Monday. She actually named her after Monkey. Okay, not after her, but she really likes her name, and decided to use it too. (Which I am thrilled about!) And no, she's not named Monkey. :) She has had such a tough pregnancy (being sick constantly) and she's a really tiny gal, so I can only imagine how tough this has been on her body. Especially since the sweet one was a little over 8 pounds! (Seriously, my friend is teeny tiny.)

I'm so excited for her new arrival. The birth of a baby is so wonderful. It can be horrible and painful to go through, but I find in looking back on the births of my two kiddos, the pain and difficulties of childbirth are the first things to be forgotten in the long run. I can always remember difficulties of pregnancy (probably since it lasts so long), but for some reason their births (though I do remember how hard they were) don't stick in my mind as much as far as how rough they were. (And I know I might be unique in this way. But that's my experience.)

I wish I lived closer so I could see the little darling. Being a new parent is so tough. Looking back at our beginning with Moose, despite how prepared I felt, I ultimately had no clue what I was doing. He was a tough cookie, and really took it out of us. I hope your little one isn't nearly that difficult. :)

So congrats to my dear friend "Lil P" and her hubby. I hope your sweet little girl is the joy of your days and that you're more comfortable now that she's screaming at you instead of jumping on your bladder and kicking you in the ribs. :) And welcome to the world sweet lady. Your Mommy and Daddy have been waiting a long time for you and love you very much. Be nice.

Getting Things Done...

Today was a rather productive day. With another 7 o'clock wake up from Monkey, my day started early. I took the liberty to lay down on the couch for an hour right after everyone was fed. Then Moose was whisked off to preschool. Me and Monkey were able to go and get my hair cut! The first time since before she was born. I used to have short hair, and now it's nearing my waist! A trim was definitely needed, and it was a nice morning activity to loosen me up. The kiddos had good naps and Monkey's was quite long. I think these 7 am wakeups are starting to get to her. (Her nap was 4 hours.) She didn't stay up chattering for an hour after we put her to bed at night either.

Her appetite is back (Woohoo!) and we can tell she's had a growth spurt. She's now opening doors and holding onto the stair rail on her way down. (Though we still won't let her go down on her own.)

Thanks to Monkey's 4 hour nap, I was able to relax, read, and sew. I have a quiet book I started over 2 years ago that I'm just finishing. I worked on it a bunch the month before Monkey was born, but then didn't touch it for a long time. I'm sewing a cover around the outside so little pieces don't fall out and get lost while it's being carted around. I'm pretty sure it'll be done tomorrow. Just in time for a short trip!

Saturday morning we're taking a short drive down to my brother's place. He's blessing his new baby, Taylor, on Sunday. (Yes, the one born in the car.) We're heading down to visit and enjoy the occasion. My parents are also coming, which is a point of excitement for us since they're a full 2 days drive away. (Long days.) The kiddos don't get to see them very much. The last time we saw them was back in May, when my brother gradauted. Before that, it was when Monkey was 3 months old or so. So big stretches. After this short weekend visit, we won't see them again until Baby 3 is born. And even then it'll probably just be my mom when she comes up to help out when Baby 3 is born. Unless I can squeak out a flight down to their place for me and the kiddos. (That would be fantastic, but don't know how probable, since plane tickets can be so pricey.)

Anyhow, so today was a good productive day. Tomorrow's a day without preschool or any other planned activities. So who knows what'll happen. Maybe some bike riding for Moose. Maybe a quick grocery trip for all of us. Maybe some frosting of Halloween cookies. The possibilities are (almost) endless.

Early to Rise...

So this morning, Monkey decided to be up at 7 with Moose, which meant over 1 1/2 hours less sleep for me. (Boo!) Let's just say I was not the happiest camper ever. As I realized my own grouchiness, I decided to take a long, hot shower to cool off. (Ironic, I know.) It did the trick (possibly because during part of it, Monkey accidentally shut herself out of my bathroom, so I was actually alone.) but withint a few minutes of being out of the shower, the grouch was back. So I ate and then laid down on the couch in my robe and decided I wasn't moving. Eventually, Monkey gave up on my trying to read her books, and Moose was happily playing the computer (since his chores were done.). I was actually able to fall asleep on and off. I laid there for an hour. (More of it being spent awake, but the bits of sleep I did get did the trick.) I finally found myself feeling rested and like I can face the day.

So my moral for the day is, when your day starts out the wrong way, try again. When your first try to restart your day doesn't work, try again. Maybe the second try will work. But if it doesn't, feel free to try again. With ice cream or chocolate. :)

Tuning Tuesday...

Today gets to be Tuning Tuesday because the piano was tuned this morning! It took 2 whole hours, but it sounds great and now I could actually teach someone on it. (I'm vaguely considering starting Moose on it. With some great little kid books of course. I'll have to check the selection. For now, just a thought.) Moose had preschool today. Then naps happened. (Yay!) The afternoon was unremarkable. Computer games, some small me-tasks, books to read, then pancakes and bacon for dinner.

Is it so funny that my kids love bacon? (I like to say they get it from their Grandpa, my fantastic Dad. Happy Birthday Daddy!) Moose seriously ate like 3 strips of bacon at dinner. He actually ate more than me, since he ate 2 pancakes and I only ate 1. Monkey even ate decent today. Cheerios, applesauce, some macaroni, crackers and cheese, pancakes, and yes, a few pieces of bacon. :)

I feel like I'm finally past the caution stage of eating where I don't eat things for fear they would make me throw up. But now I'm starting to feel (already) like I'm in the stage where I fill up really fast, so I can't eat much. (Bummer!) I don't know if this will pass and then come back later on, when it usually hits, or if it's just coming early. But it's no fun to finally feel like you can eat things, only to have to seriously limit your portion size. (Or keep the tums handy, which I've already had to use.)

Although, I find there's always room for ice cream or chocolate. Just saying. :)

Just A Monday...

There really wasn't anything outstanding about today. It was just a good day. I say this in a good way. Today was a good day. Nothing really specific that comes to mind that I wanted to write about. But it feels good to have had a pretty normal day. We had a friend over this morning (who lives far, so it was a treat) and that was really fun. The boys played, Monkey stalked around, we made some Halloween cookies. Good times. During naptime I was hit with a productive bug and tried to do as many of my projects as possible. (I did pretty good too. Not finishing as much as I wanted to, but feeling so good about what I did finish.) We had a great dinner of fried fish, rice and zucchini. Family Night, with some more frosted cookies as our dessert. The hubs is attempting to put the kids down. I only say attempting because lately Monkey only goes to bed with me. But all I do is lay her down in her crib, on her little pillow (a new thing. It's tiny.) and sing a few songs. She's still been a bit of a crank pot today, so we'll see. Although we already gave her some yummy tylenol to help ease the canine pain. Can't wait til this teething business is done. She was still picky-ish today. Cheerios, cheese, saltines, applesauce, milk, apple juice, bread, and maybe a bite of rice. Oh, and frosted sugar cookies. Of course those are okay. All in all a really good day. Hope tomorrow is equally good. We're getting the piano tuned. (Can I hear a hooray?) Very excited for this. Now when my mom mails me a copy of "Bridge over Troubled Waters" I can play it and it will sound fantastic. Can't wait. :)

Picky Eater...

I can't really talk about being a picky eater. I was a very picky eater growing up and didn't broaden my horizons until after I was married. Even more so until after Monkey was born, for some odd reason. But with kids, you have no idea what their tastes and preferences will be. We're not super tolerant of picky eaters (gotta avoid creating more like me, right?) and make our kids eat a little of everything. Because of it, (and probably because he's like the hubs) Moose is a fantastic eater and eats a wide variety of things, that makes a Mama proud. But Monkey is still a bit young and getting teeth, so she still can't handle the full gamut of foods. This makes her occasional picky bouts harder to deal with. She's currently getting all 4 canines at the same time, giving her occasional discomfort and food issues. Today was one of those days. Outside of Ritz crackers, milk or juice, she hardly touched a thing. Even foods she generally loves, like saltines or grapes. She had a few strawberries from our dessert, but otherwise didn't want anything. We even offered her a fruit bar, which are her favorite, and she turned it down and asked for milk. What do you do? I try not to let myself get up in arms over it, because with my kiddos, this sort of thing generally doesn't last longer than a day or two at most. And the last 2 days, the hubs has spent more time with her during meals, so I can't really account for what's been going on. I'm usually the food giver with her, so I know how to read her signals and body language really well. I may be more persuasive or convincing about making her eat a reasonable amount of decent food too. But whenever they're teething, I try to let things slide knowing that by tomorrow she's going to be hungry, and when she finally decides she wants to eat, I'll be there with something yummy and nutritious.

Regular Saturday...

Now that the hubs is no longer working Saturdays (yay!) he's home for a more regular feeling Saturday. He's been working Saturdays since late May. It's been so long, it feels so luxurious. When he spends a whole day at home, he's usually extremely productive the whole time (barring sickness or a bad night's sleep.) so it's always fun to see what happens.

Me and Moose went to a friend's birthday party, so the hubs spent the morning/afternoon with Monkey. He hasn't done that since, maybe since she was a newborn. Probably not even then since she was breastfeeding back then. It was fun for him and her. She just loves Papa time and I think she was in heaven, once he decided to stop trying to ignore her. (In his defense, he was doing dinner prep, laundry, and chores.) After me and Moose got home and he was in bed, I was able to head off to JoAnns for the first time in a long time and get a few finishing touches for some projects and some Halloween touches for the house. Moose is SO excited about Halloween. This is the first year he's been able to anticipate it and he's so excited! It's so contagious. Then we spent an evening together eating dinner and watching Beauty and the Beast. (I probably enjoyed it more than Moose did.) It was a great day. We had corn on the cob at dinner and Moose was able to try eating it on the cob for the first time. I told him how much I liked it when I was little and talked about our corn stalks in our front yard growing up. Not in the backyard, the front yard. Good times. :)

I have really missed these "regular" Saturdays. At one point, the hubs had both kids with him on their hands and knees with rags mopping the kitchen floor. Needless to say, it was awesome. :)

Head Bonks...

So we were on our way to drop off the kids for a date tonight. (Digiorno pizza/breadsticks and the end of Season 4 Alias.) When I was getting Monkey in the car, she walked into part of the door, getting a nice, small red welt on her left temple. Upon arriving, Moose was getting out of the car and when he shut his door, he caught his nose with it. It wasn't bleeding or broken, thank goodness. But he might get a good sized bruise on it, although it's been a few hours and it's not looking too bad. But it sure was super sad when it happened. To both of them. I was super close to whacking my head on a freezer door at Albertsons while we were getting our pizza. I guess it was just one of those head-beating days. (So long as there aren't any major bruises or headaches, I think it'll turn out alright.)

And Baby 3 is now an apple. :)

More Preschool...

So I had my second day with the kiddos today. It turned out SO much better. I had 4 kids today, the addition is 3 1/2 and a sweetheart. I was less physically prepared, but more mentally, which completely balanced out. Monkey sleeping in til 9:45 didn't hurt either. My favorite activity was cutting out sugar cookies with my leaf shaped cutter and frosting them in brown, red, and orange in honor of our new and wonderful season. The kids had a good time, they spent significantly less time in free playtime, and I felt really good afterwards. Yay for that.

And one of the moms told me that on Tuesday on the way home, her little one told her something along the lines of "B, Bus". (B was our letter Tuesday.) So yay! Something I'm doing actually sticks. And when the hubs asked him about school today, he remembered that our letter today was "H". A good day. Glad I won't have to do this again for 5 weeks, but I ultimately had a great time.

The rest of the day was spent in recovery mode/cleaning up. Moose didn't take a nap really, so that always crimps my style just a bit. But those two crazy kids are in bed, and me and the hubs are looking forward to the remainder of our science fiction miniseries tonight. (Netflix fans!)

Maybe Monkey will sleep in again tomorrow...  :)

Preschool and Parks...

So I didn't post after my preschool adventure yesterday. Sorry to keep any of you in suspense. My mom had to call just to find out how it went. It wasn't bad. It wasn't what I expected. I only had 3 of 5 kids. With the group I had, the dynamic was a bit different. Moose is 4, the youngest won't be 3 til February. The other one will be 3 in December. The youngest is super comfy at our house, the other little one thinks he is her boyfriend and mimics him a lot. This made the group dynamic slightly difficult. I wasn't as prepared to educationally entertain as I was to teach. It's been so long since I started doing this with Moose, that I forgot how hard it can be. He's so big now and has a good attention span. So it was difficult. But I'm better prepared for tomorrow, I think. I had an activity that went over really well last time, and I think I have one for tomorrow that will definitely be a hit.

Anyhow, today was a great day. Well, I had to wake Monkey up at 8:45 so we could make it to Moose's 9:00 doctor's appointment 10 minutes late. And he got the flu shot. (One sad Moose.) But the doctor gave him a strawberry lollipop per request and that helped a bit. After that fun outing, we packed a picnic, stopped by the library for a renewal of books and videos, and ran over to the park for a playdate. The doctor inspired me to take Moose's bike. (It was one of the developmental questions, "Can he ride a bike?") He hasn't ridden it very often due to weather and living upstairs. So we took it and he had a good time. He asked to ride it again after his nap, before dinnertime and we all went downstairs and he rode around our small sidewalk area. He actually did really good! I was very impressed. I even showed him how to back pedal and use the brakes. It was really fun and I enjoyed watching how well he rode. (Monkey had a good time during all this too.)

So overall, a good preschool adventure (a learning experience for me) and a great day outside today. I love this fall weather with sunshine and cool temperatures. Awesome! So here's to a hopeful great preschool day tomorrow, with another big kid in the group. (Yay!)

Discipline Day...

Today wasn't a bad day, just have to say that. But there was one huge moment that made me think about discipline. Let me lay it out for you.

Shortly before the hubs came home, Moose was gearing up to play his vSmile on the tv. Monkey, however, likes to play with the power buttons on it. So, of course, he starts telling her no and putting his hands over the buttons. This, of course, makes her angry. I was sitting right next to them at the time. So I ask him to step back so I can handle her quietly and on my own. But he refused to move his hands from infront of the buttons. He moved his body away, but wouldn't give up. I asked him multiple times to move back, but he wouldn't do it. So I snapped at him to back off and he responded by throwing his controller on the ground and throwing a fit. To which I immediately said, "Go to the corner." To which he began to throw an even larger fit. Complete with screaming and flailing limbs. Now, his limbs are getting pretty darn big, so it can be hazardous. I proceeded to pick him up and take him to the corner. In the process, getting hit by said limbs the whole way. He was full on screaming at this point, and well, my tone of voice wasn't much better. I guess pregnancy has made me a bit more emotional than I realized. He sat in the corner and cried for a while.

During his tantrum, Monkey kept wanting to be near him, which he doesn't like. So I looked at her and said no, shaking my head. She gave me an unhappy look, so I just started ignoring her. Then she starts bawling too. I wanted the hubs to walk in at that exact moment so he could see the insanity for himself. But he didn't.

Anyway, Moose eventually calmed down and we had a big talk. Monkey moved from one tantrum to another after that point. I didn't take a really deep breath until they were both in bed.

It's been a long time since Moose has acted that way. I didn't enjoy the flashback. We're finding Monkey's misbehaviors are becoming more intentional, and you'd better believe she's going to learn the meaning of time out and I don't think she's going to like it as much. (75% of the time now, she thinks time out is cool.) Monkey's biggest thing now is screaming at us. It's very intentional and really obnoxious. We'll see how it goes.

I'm hosting Moose's preschool group tomorrow. I've got some sweet stuff planned. Hope it all goes as planned! (Because does it ever?)

The belly...

So I just noticed that my last post was my 200th post! Woohoo! I haven't done 100%, but I'm proud of what I've done and enjoy the thought process that goes into thinking about my days and my kids. It's good for me.

So, the belly. When we went to the football game on Friday night, I noticed for the first time that I have a belly. I know it's there, and I've been aware that I'm starting to show for a while now. But it's just not been that apparent to other people. The pants I generally wear are somewhat loose (aka comfortable) so you can't really see the belly much. But those ones were dirty, so I pulled out another pair and they're more form fitting than my regulars. Because of this, you could actually see the belly. I was pleased. I like seeing the belly. I know that at 14 weeks they say the uterus is just getting above the pelvis, so it's natural to start showing now if you aren't already. But I like it. Since I can't feel the baby yet (although I'm pretty sure I actually have, maybe twice, but only in very strange positions.) and haven't had an ultrasound yet, the pregnancy is still not very real from day to day. I know there's a baby in there, and I don't doubt that everything's okay. But I just don't feel all that pregnant everyday. But once the belly is coming and hanging out, the feeling comes. And I like it. I like feeling pregnant. Not feeling nauseated. Very different things. I like feeling pregnant. I love that glowy feeling of "Yes, there's a baby growing in my belly. Isn't that awesome?"

And it is awesome. :)

Football and Poop...

So we did go to the Homecoming Football game yesterday. What a blast! We learned from our previous experience and made a few changes to hopefully keep the kids happier and be able to stay longer. We almost lasted the entire game! We had a garbage bag full of popcorn from home (in our backpack of course), a leftover calzone from dinner (which were homemade and turned out awesome!), some small plums that the kids adore, drinks, and sticker books for Moose to enjoy.  We were ultimately only missing 2 things that would've made the night completely smooth. (The hubs brought a coloring book, but no crayons, and we brought Monkey's paci, but not her baby and with her, the two sorta go together.) But overall, so great! Moose loved halftime and danced along with the band. He tried to cheer for the team too. He had a hard time remembering "Go Wolfpack", and we knew one of the players, so he opted to cheer "Go Bryan!" the whole time. It was also a super warm night, and me and the hubs didn't even wear our coats. It was great!

So, the poop. I had to mention this, just because it's kind of become Monkey's thing. Although I have to give her credit, she did try and warn me this time. I was home alone with Monkey for the evening and gave her a bath to kill time and keep her happy. She played for a long time. I was sitting in the bathroom reading a book. She tooted a few times, and everytime she'd point at her bum. I'd acknowledge what happened, and then go back to my book. Then a few minutes after the last toot, she pointed to her diaper on the counter. I talked to her about it, "Yes, that's your diaper." but didn't think too much of it. (Like I should have.) Within 5 minutes, she was sitting and playing with a cup. She held the cup up and looked at me, pointing inside the cup. I figured she had a toy in there, so I looked. Guess what was in the cup? You guessed it. Poop. She had scooped some up inside the cup. My talented daughter. So needless to say, bathtime was over, and I had the task of scooping out the rest of it.

Oh, the joys of motherhood. :)