Monday, January 31, 2011

Photos of the Champ Bump

So I finally got about a thousand photos off my camera. There were some on there from BEFORE Thanksgiving.....I should have never gotten the bigger memory card; it just makes me lazy about downloading (let alone printing) photos!

Anyways, without making you wait any longer, here are photos:

This one is from the beginning of November 2010, there is just a slight bump:

This one is From after Thanksgiving; clearly I ate well-the bump is much bigger here:


This is from the beginning of January 2011; ignore the dirty mirror. Clearly I have loved having all the holiday food around me while I wear stretchy pants:

Here is an awesome front one photo from the last week of January:

The belly, side view at the end of January 2011 (that is Emily petting Champ on her last day hanging out with us):


So, don't I look cute?  The best part is that NOW we can watch my belly move and roll around as the baby moves and kicks-it is really the coolest thing ever. Not much longer, only 72 days to my due date! Yay!



Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My Princess Buddy

I'm really bummed.

But at the same time, excited.

You see, this week is my last week caring for Miss Emily. I've had her to play with and be girly with and just sit in amazement together as the boys perform yet another set of super hero feats and show us how they are defeating the bad guys.....

Needless to say, she has been SO FUN.

And Friday is my last day with her. I'm super sad about it.

But then, Monday will be super nice, because I won't have to get up at 6:30 to get ready for her arrival-I could even just stay in my pj's til after breakfast, since the only people seeing me will be the boys.

Or even stay in them all day, if I wanted.

And grocery shopping will be much simpler with two than with three. And if I go while Little Dude is in school, then I'll be shopping with ONE-wow. THAT will actually be super amazing.

And I'm looking forward to spending some great one on one time with JR while Little Dude is in preschool. JR has never had that, so I am super happy I get a good month (or hopefully two) to spend Tues. and Thurs. doing just what JR wants to do, reading the books he wants to read, and making the lunch he wants to eat instead of having to find the balance for three.

It is going to be super awesome.

But gosh, I am really going to miss having a little princess around.



(JR, Little Dude, and Emily this past Halloween at my house)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Parts of Being Pregnant

For the overwhelming 99% of the time, I LOVE being pregnant. But I do have to admit, the last few months do get tiring-and not just because I'm crazy and always have my kids and neighborhood kids playing at my house-being this large and off balance is just tiring in general.

I remember coming home for work when I was pregnant with Little Dude and being exhausted. But back then (almost 5 years ago...goodness!) I could just put my feet up and watch "A Baby Story".

Now, I do get some down time during naps/quiet time, but usually that is the time I use to clean up a bit, start dinner plans, catch up on work, and hold my work calls. So, yea, there isn't much time for "resting".

This week and next I am watching my neighbor's boys, ages 7 and 5, while they are sill on track out. Oh, and I also have Emily and my boys, as well. Then at the end of January, all the kids will be back at school or starting daycare.

I'll go from a couple of weeks of keeping 5 kids happy(mostly), fed(wow), and alive(yay!), to suddenly only having my own two boys. The really crazy thing? Only having JR while Little Dude is in his morning preschool class twice a week.

I'm really going to miss having Emily, and in a way I will miss the fun of playing with older kids (Star Wars Monopoly is SO much better when everyone can follow the rules and definitely beats out playing hungry hippos for the 100th time....).

But GOSH, it is REALLY going to feel so amazingly wonderful to sleep in on the first of February. It might even feel so great that I take a nap later in the afternoon, too.




Friday, January 14, 2011

The Acid Reflux

There is one thing I don't enjoy about my pregnancies-acid reflux. I even have a more sinister type of acid reflux called "silent reflux". That means the acid actually comes up into my mouth, burns my throat, and causes damage to my voice box and whatever that little flap of skin is called that helps with your swallowing.

The damage I've had over my previous two pregnancies is/was BAD. I was at the point where I couldn't swallow, my throat just wouldn't work in unison to push food down. So it would it in my throat until so much saliva and acid build up that it would just come back up.

Not quite as gross as throwing up stomach contents, at least to me, but still, pretty gross. More really on the embarrassing side, because I never know when it might hit, and it has hit me a few times at the mall-once when I was out with my sister in law while I was pregnant with JR. I didn't make it to the bathroom and had to throw up in a trash can in the food court. I was completely mortified.

The good thing is that there is medicine I can take that controls it and has really made all my acid problems go away.

The bad thing is that you can't take it while you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Thus far in my pregnancy with Champ, I haven't had any problems. Until last night. Then I made the mistake of trying to eat some spicy sausage and I guess the spicy-ness set off my acid. I have been struggling to swallow since dinner last night and STILL can't keep anything down, even water.

And I am a bit anxious, which I have found makes it worse, because I am supposed to have lunch with a friend today.

If I can't get my throat to work by then, there is no way I can go eat in public and risk having to suddenly run to the bathroom.

Arg.


Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Tummy

So I have about a zillion pictures on my camera, patiently waiting to be loaded onto my computer and then shared on here. Why must they wait there? Because I am lazy. The camera is upstairs in my bag; the computer is downstairs.

You can see how this is just a logistical problem.

Eventually, I will remember to grab the camera out of my bag and bring it downstairs with me.

Anyways, I have some super cute tummy pictures I want to share-or at least save in one spot for quick view by family and friends (and me!).

And when I say cute, I do mean it. I seriously have the cutest pregnant tummy in the entire world. No stretch marks, and perfect curvy-ness. Can you tell I love being pregnant? I do.

I absolutely love my body when I'm pregnant. I almost wish I could just have the big belly the whole entire time, because really, this is the most fun part for me.

I feel absolutely gorgeous and glamorous in pregnant clothes and I just love showing off the tummy. And I don't really feel quite that way when I'm not. I guess in a way, part of the adoration I have for my cute belly is the fact that all my curves and lumps are quite expected, natural, and considered so beautiful by everyone, myself included.

I'll have to work hard on keeping the body euphoria going, even after Champ comes, though I will probably do what I've done after the last two pregnancies and just go crazy making sure I work the weight off (breastfeeding helps like crazy) and then still poke and prod my lumpy belly with a sigh.

So, I have roughly 90 days left to enjoy the freedom of not sucking in, and walking with my belly proudly stuck out. And all the work I'll have to do after? Oh so totally worth it for the cute little guy I know is cooking in there.

I swear I'll get photos at some point. Eventually.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Living With Boys

I grew up in a house of girls.

The majority of my childhood my dad was off traveling for work, so we really only saw him on Saturdays and Sundays before he would be taking off again for the next week.

So yes, it was 4 women, and thus there were lots of Barbie play, tea parties, dress up, and makeup demos. I would even play with all my baby dolls and pretend they were my daughters and take them for grand walks in the woods and tea parties under the huge pine tree with my sisters.

I didn't even have any cousins or neighbors nearby, so beyond interacting with boys at school (which, of course, could give you cooties until late middle school/high school) I had NO idea what kind of play my boys would do.

They have quickly informed me though, about how BOYS play, much to my dismay.

You see, there are no quiet tea parties going on in our play kitchen. NOOOOO.

Instead, they are building bombs to get bad buys, poisoning food to get bad guys, and cooking stuff they declare to be better than the veggies I try to stuff in them on a daily occurrence. Usually all this cooking goes on with quite a LOUD fan fare; the results usually have food thrown about everywhere, the play table turned topsey turvy, and an impromptu battle against bad guys takes place involving the poor play cupcakes.

Occasionally they will take the baby doll we have on a ride in the grocery cart, but usually the baby gets covered in items they pick up around the playroom, like the play food, blankets, baskets, and trains, and when they are done, she is usually tossed into the play oven.

I am a bit worried about their future parenting techniques.

Needless to say, I am a bit out of water with boy stuff. Most of what they play makes me cringe and I often find myself repeating:

Calm Down!
Slow Down!
Be Careful!
Be Gentle!!
Don't Throw THAT!
Don't Jump On Your Brother!
NOT IN FRONT OF THE STAIRS!!!

Those are pretty much all the phrases I need to get through my day.

Lately, their new game is "wreaking ball".

What, may you ask, is wreaking ball?

It is when one guy stands braced in the doorway and the other one RUNS at him AS FAST AS HE CAN and attempts to knock down the guy in the doorway.

The first time they played it a few nights ago, I didn't quite realize what they were doing, because all I caught were glimpses of them as they ran by the kitchen, and then I would hear hysterical laughter, so I figured all was good.

Parenting mistake number one-o-one: I should have remembered that just as equally dangerous as silence is hysterical laughter.

Later, when Bill got home he saw what they were doing and thought it was fantastic, and when I asked for more details on why he thought them running down the hall was so great, he pulled me out to the living room to show me the impact moment.

It was quite lucky Bill was there because I just about lost it.

I mean, really, THAT is a GAME? And they kept taking turns and doing it over and over and over....and over.

I was certain someone was going to get seriously injured and wanted to put a stop to it; however, Bill reminded me to step back and let them be; they are boys.

Which, I trust my husband with, since he and his brother were, apparently, just like these guys.

And they WERE having fun. And taking turns. And Sharing. And getting energy out.

It was just giving me a heartattack to watch, because, after all, it was a lot of WORK and PAIN to get those guys into this world, so I certainly don't want them to break each other.

So I had to go to something a bit more calm, like washing dishes.




Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Back To Blogging

Awhile back, I forgot to renew my domain, and lost it, which made me feel really sad about blogging. I lost a lot of my readers, and my feedburner information was all messed up-and the thought of going through and trying to contact each and every individual follower I had once had was just an overwhelming thought.

Enough, that really I have slacked off on blogging here the last few months.

But you know, it hit me the other day, that in a way, this was a very freeing slip up.

I don't have people bugging me to do reviews, or sending me stuff I just have to send back if I don't want to review, or even mess with trying to keep up with deadlines to get writing projects in.

I'm back to blogging for me, and my family, which is what this whole blog started as 4 years ago. And that makes me super duper happy.

I think I only have a handful of regular readers now(and one is my adorable husband) and I'm really not feeling so stressed about trying to get my ranking up, or my SEO all hyper active in Google.

This year, there is a re-defined purpose to my blog-to get back to the basics of why I started writing. As a way to meet people, as a way to chronicle the changing years of my children, and as a fun outlet for me.

Even though I am a little sad I definitely won't get tickets to the Thomas Theater Show, or Disney On Ice, or get paid trips to Blogging Conferences in Disney World, I am pretty happy to be back to writing purely for me.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Happy New Year, 2011

Do you know, that THIS year, will be 10 years that my sweet husband and I have been together?

Amazing and awesome, I know!

We have had such grand adventures, and while it feels like we just met not long ago, at the same time it seems as though we have been together forever. It is a wonderful feeling to have.

And this year, we will welcome our third son, our little Champ, into the world, for that I am SO very excited.

I've got the nursery pretty much done, and the bassinet is patiently waiting by our bed with a few outfits I am debating as his coming home gear.

100 more days and he will be here. It is getting really exciting now that we all (the boys included) can sit and watch my belly move. Little Dude and JR get a huge kick out of feeling their brother move around. I am so excited to see them all play together; our three little musketeers.

We were lame for New Years, and spent most of the day either working (me) or doing construction in our basement for the new pantry (Bill). And by the time we go the kids all settled and into bed after watching "Despicable Me" (awesome movie, by the way) we realized our cable box wasn't working.

So we sat up and talked about years past and years to come, and ended up going to bed right before midnight.

While not at all exciting, at the same time, I think it was one of my favorite New Years.

Though it does figure that I tried unplugging and plugging in the cable box ONE LAST TIME this morning before heading over to Time Warner Cable and demanding a new box, and it started up like nothing was ever wrong. Even though we had plugged and unplugged it a zillion times throughout the weekend. Now I am debating if I want to still go get another box, or just skip it and go with the working box, since that would mean not having to take everyone out with me. Hmmmm.

I hope everyone had a safe, peaceful, wonderful New Years, and enjoy the year to come.


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