Baby Belly + Housecleaning = Complicated

At 28+ weeks, the my belly has grown to the point that it is VERY uncomfortable to bend over or even to squat down to pick stuff up off the floor. I seriously considered today that I might need to invest in one of those "Help I've fallen and I can't get up" things when I got down on the floor to change Lucy's pull-up and couldn't figure out how to get up. It involved scooting over to the couch and rolling over onto my knees...well, let's just say it wasn't pretty!
But I digress, in the interest of not falling down while bending or squatting down I was thinking that something is going to have to change. The way I see it, these are my options...

1. Nobody ever drops anything on the floor and leaves it there anymore (HA! Yeah right!)

2. I will pick up anything that does not fall below my knees (anything else is someone else's problem)

3. If other members of the family choose to ignore items left on the floor that obviously do not belong there (can you say clothes, toys, towels coloring books and crayons?), I will have to ignore them as well and we can see how long it takes until we can't see the floor anymore :)

Fortunately, I have the (freakish...according to my husband) ability to pick things up with my toes (a trait inherited from my dad's side of the family...along with pinching with my toes) and toss them up to my waiting hands (comes in handy when I drop my razor in the shower!) so some items I can continue to pick up...

Just a little venting here...don't pay it any attention...

On another note, I DO realize I have not done Lucy's birthday post yet and I do plan to do it VERY soon. I wanted to wait until I can get the pictures my dad took at the party first. So thanks for your patience.

P.S. Oh yeah, all 3 of my children have demonstrated, early on, that they too have the ability to pick things up with their toes...John just shakes his head...makes a mama proud I tell ya! :)

Ears, Noses, Teeth, 2 years, and Baby...Updates...

Bet I got you scratchin' your head in confusion with that title, didn't I? :) What do all those things have in common you ask? They are things that members of our household have been to the doctor for recently...or will be going for.

EARS and NOSE ~ Max had his 6 month checkup with his ENT today to see how his tubes are doing. As I had begun to suspect...the tube in his right ear is completely out and his ear has already filled with fluid (which explains me having to raise my voice and repeat myself umpteen times to get his attention). The tube in the left ear is still in but looks like it is starting to work itself out as well. Will Max have to get a 5th set of tubes? We don't know. The Dr. wants to take a "wait and see" approach to see what the left ear will do when that tube comes out and also to see if the fluid in the right ear will go away on it's own. Not likely if you ask me since it hasn't done that the last 3 times. He has to go back in December for another checkup or sooner if we notice his hearing going downhill again.
*** I also asked the Dr. about Max's nose because he has had numerous nosebleeds lately. Now, being 6 and being a boy, yes, he does put his finger in his nose and we have done everything we could think of to get him to stop. Seriously though, having been a first grade teacher for several years and looking out at a sea of sweet young faces at story time and finding at least two or three of those with fingers digging around in their noses (some of them even hiding it behind their hands...as if) I know that it is common at this age. However, John and I have talked and fussed and explained until we are blue in the face and he kept having nosebleeds. Lately when he has had them he has even sworn up and down that he didn't even touch his nose...we didn't really believe him...NOW I FEEL GUILTY! The Dr. said he has two VERY prominent blood vessels in his nose that are very close to the surface and probably starts bleeding just if he rubs his nose with his hand or when he turns his head into his pillow in his sleep...UGH! He recommended Vaseline in the nose morning and night, a humidifier in his room, and saline nose drops, all to keep the nostrils moist. Poor baby!

TEETH ~ Abby's appointment for her extensive dental work is set for Oct. 7th. With the sedation and two root canals, crowns, and "minor" work to a couple of cavities, the process should take about 3-4 hours! YIKES!!!!! John can't take off work so I'll have to get a sitter for Lucy (thankfully Max will be in school). I don't know how she will react to the sedatives they give her or how long she'll be in a "sleepy state" afterwards. I have always taken a long time to snap out of it so if she takes after me she'll get some REALLY good sleep that day. Since I will be about 29 1/2 weeks along then I might have to ask someone there to carry her out to the car...hmmmmm...so what do I do with her when I get home and we are by ourselves? I'll have to rethink that :)

2 YEARS ~ Lucy goes for her 2 year well visit this Wednesday. I will post her stats (and do her birthday post) either Wednesday or Thursday.

BABY ~ I had a checkup last Friday. I have started rotating to the other doctors in the practice just so I can meet everyone just in case it will be one of them delivering me. My blood pressure was good at 120/70 (which, strangely enough, is a little high for me). Baby's heart rate was good and measuring right on time. The doctor asked me if I had any problems with my other pregnancies and I told her about my two hospital visits while pregnant with Lucy for preterm contractions. I also told her about my VERY QUICK deliveries with Abby and Lucy. She said they would take me seriously then when I call in with contractions! I told her even if they didn't, John would take me to the hospital anyway :) I have my next checkup on the 9th of October with another doctor in the practice.

Well, that's the whole long boring story. Don't you feel better now that you asked? What? You didn't...oh well :)

Lucy

Sorry my picture is blurry...can't stand still long enough!

Hey Everyone!!!! Can I tell you how excited I am getting about my upcoming birthday party???? Did you know I am 2 years old now???? I'm such a big girl but I'll tell you all about what I'm doing these days in another post.

For now I wanted to share a little video I made about who is coming to my party...

Coming Up Soon...

Lucy's birthday post...

Although TODAY...SEPTEMBER 16th is her actual birthday...her party is on Saturday so I will post pictures and stuff after that. She and I did go and get her monkey cake pan today...she was so excited. We also stopped by Daddy's office for some quick kisses and hugs for the birthday girl.

Lucy also got to tag along on Mommy's visit to the doctor and got to hear her baby sister's heartbeat again. Her eyes get so big when she hears that sound...it is so cute :)

We had Mommy's homemade chicken nuggets for dinner then headed out to Max's soccer game where Lucy had a great time making Mommy and Nana laugh at her silliness!

Nana also took us out for ice cream at Chick-fil-a after Max's soccer game! YUMMMMMMM!!!!! Thanks Nana :)

On This Day 8 Years Ago...

Our wedding day...

September 15, 2001

Ummm...who the heck is that skinny chick and why is she standing so close to my husband???

I married "THE ONE"...my best friend...my other half....the one I had been waiting for...my heart...the one God chose for me...

John and I met on a blind date. Set up by a friend of a friend that worked with John. I never thought John would call when my friend asked if her friend could give him my number. He did and we talked for awhile then he said he'd call me back either Sunday or Monday. Didn't hear from him Sunday so I thought, "oh well..." He DID call Monday night. We made plans for that Thursday. Part of me still thought he would call and cancel before then. He showed up to pick me up and I was smitten :) The date went great. He told me he would call me the next night. HE DID!!!! We've been together ever since and I could not imagine one moment of my life for the past 9 1/2 years without him.

March 9, 2000 ~ First Date
November 29, 2000 ~ John proposed on the beach at sunset
September 15, 2001 ~ We got married

We've loved, we've laughed, we've fought, we've cried, we've grown...together.

Here's to the rest of forever sweetie...
I Love You :)

Abby's 1st Day of School...

Okay, it's a few days late but I'm doing it before Christmas break so I'm doing good :)

Last Tuesday the 8th was Abby's 1st day of 4 year old preschool. WOW!!! I can't believe I'm going to be signing this kid up for Kindergarten in the Spring!

Anyway, Lucy and I walked her in and she acted a little shy when we got there so I wasn't sure if there were going to be any tears or not. I had her stand in front of the Welcome poster so I could take her picture then she saw another little girl she knew from her 2 year old class and went off to play with her. I had to remind her to give me a kiss! I guess I'm lucky I got a "Bye Mommy"...made me feel better though that there weren't any tears. Max had the same teachers two years ago and Abby knew them so that wasn't a concern...just the first day of school jitters and her best friend from last year is in a different class.

Here's our little/big girl on her first day...

School bag...check! Tinkerbell lunchbox...check!

I have no clue what Lucy was doing in this picture :)

I think Abby was pointing to her name on her nametag in this one :)

On another matter...

Max has been begging since last year to ride the bus to/from school. I had and still have reseravtions about it just because the primary school (K-2) shares the bus with the elementary school kids (3-5) since the school are on the same campus and start and end within ten minutes of each other. When I was teaching and had to put my first graders on the bus I would cringe at the way some of the older kids were acting. I had a hard time putting my first grade babies on the bus...now to put my OWN first grade baby on it?????

Well, this year we are in a carpool Mon-Thurs and on Fridays either John or I takes him in the morning and I pick him up in the afternoon. I started thinking that this may be a little difficult once the baby comes so John and I have decided to let Max "try out" the bus on Fridays only right now. I told him he had to wait until October to do it though (trying to hold on for as long as I can). One of the boys that we carpool with also rides the bus on Fridays so that helps a little. Max is beside himself with excitement and I caught him in his room last night (when he was supposed to be sleeping) counting how many days until the first Friday in October...ugh.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

WOW!!! 39 years. You guys are an inspiration :)
High school sweethearts and still in love. Here's to another 39 more!!!!!!


Love you so much!!!

Where Were You?

There are certain events in history that make such an impact on us that we can remember where we were and what we were doing when it happened.

The Bombing of Pearl Harbor ~ ask a WWII vet and I bet they could tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard about it.
John Lennon being shot
President Kennedy's assassination
Elvis's death
and maybe even for some now, Michael Jackson's death

I wasn't around for the first 3 of these and I was too young to remember the 4th and the 5th was shocking and sad. However 9/11/01 is a date and day that I remember VERY vividly.
~I remember I was teaching my first graders,
~I had a phone call from a parent that morning saying she wouldn't be able to come in and volunteer.
~I remember the principal coming over the PA system asking teachers to turn off their tv's (apparently some had them on during their planning periods and word had spread after the first plane hit).
~ I remember walking into the library and seeing on the tv (in the librarian's office) the second plane hit.
~I remember calling my mom because she had a good friend whose daughter lived in New York and after learning about the Pentagon being hit I was worried about my cousin who lived in DC at the time.
~ I remember holding my breath waiting for the next tragedy to strike at any moment.
~I remember walking my kids around the school that day trying to be as normal as possible for them.
~ I remembered thinking at some point during the day that my wedding was only 4 days away. I was worried about family and friend's that had to travel and if it would be safe or possible for them to do so.
~I remember going home and making sloppy joe's and french fries for dinner and watching nothing but the news all night.
~ I remember hugging John so tight when I saw him.
~ I remember being in a state of shock and disbelief that all those people had lost their lives.
~ I remember crying and praying for the mothers and fathers who lost a son or daughter.
~ I remember crying and praying for the husbands and wives who lost their other half.
~ I remember crying and praying for the sons and daughters who lost their fathers and mothers.
~ I remember crying and praying for those firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, etc who did everything they could to save anyone they could.
~I remember crying and praying.

When I went to school in Hawaii, on December 7th every year at the morning assembly we would say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing our patriotic song, say our prayer (it was a Catholic school), then in remembrance of those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor we had a moment of silence.

I hope that school children in 40 years will honor this day, Sept. 11th. They will read about it in their history books, they will have grandparents who will tell them the stories about where they were and what they were doing. I hope that they will know that those people died because of the hate of others and that our country did not fall under the crushing weight of that hatred and the horrible acts of that day. Our country banded together and the men and women who make up our military answered the call duty and are still serving to protect the very freedoms that those who hate us would take away.

So, do you remember where you were? Do you you remember what you were doing on September 11, 2001?

Deja vu

Last night I went to Abby's preschool for the Parent Night/Meet the Teacher. I didn't really need to "meet the teachers" because she has the same teachers Max had in 4K...which John and I are thrilled about :)

Anyway, the feeling of deja vu hit when I walked into the classroom. Two years ago I walked into that same room on Parent Night AND I was pregnant then too! I just realized...maybe I should get my kids outta that school...must be something in the water :)

Abby is SO excited to be going back to school and to have Max's "old" teachers and to meet new friends. She will be going 5 days a week and all but 1 of her classmates from last year (and the year before that) are only going 4 days a week so they'll be in different classes. John and I really thought about this decision because Abby is so shy at times and we were worried about her not having her "best friends" with her anymore. I asked her about it and explained that she wouldn't know anyone right away but she would make new friends. She was fine with it...big girl :)

So next Tuesday I send off another one of my babies to the first day of the last year of preschool :( I can't wrap my brain around the fact that this coming April I will be filling out registration forms for KINDERGARTEN...AGAIN!!!!!! That's a deja vu that can wait :)

Another deja vu...

Notice the time stamp on this post...3/4ish AM. This pregnancy deja vu has to do with SERIOUS heartburn and sleepless nights...UGH!

Tattling...

As a former first grade teacher (and a big sister, and a long time babysitter), I thought I had heard just about every tattle in the book. Max and Abby are well versed in this skill and have passed on their knowledge to their little sister Lucy (why they can't just teach her something useful like going potty or eating with a utensil and not dumping it down the front of herself I'll never know).

I tell you what though...she has really floored me with some of her tattling. Obviously you can't take EVERY tattle seriously otherwise it will take over your life (or school day) so I try to explain to the kids what would constitute the need to come running to tattle (obviously serious things that I would NEED to know about).

Okay, back to Lucy. I can tell when she's coming to tattle because she always starts with the sing-songy "Moooommmmy"! When I ask her what is wrong she is usually ratting out her sister for some minor offense (usually true but sometimes questionable...gotta give Abby the benefit of the doubt sometimes). Well, lately Lucy has found a different member of the family to tattle on...our cat, Tai!

The first time she did it I was stumped. I heard the call of the tattle..."Moooommmmy!" Asked her what was wrong, getting my response ready...then she said, "Tai touched my Bobby (her lovey)". Uhhhhhhh, my mouth hung open for a few seconds as I tried to come up with some kind of response to this? Does she want me to make the CAT apologize? Put the cat in time out? I just told her that I was sorry and maybe she should pick bobby up off the floor and put it somewhere that Tai couldn't get it. Her response? "Oh yeah, I forgot"! OY!!!!

Tai's other "supposed" offenses have been that she ate a crumb off the floor (that probably fell off Lucy's chest after falling off her fork and down the front of her). Tai has also jumped up onto the couch when Lucy was sitting there (GASP!...the horror), "hit" Lucy (walked past the child and swished her tail on her leg), and was laying at the top of the steps (leaving plenty of room for Lucy to go up or down but I guess Lucy didn't see it that way)!

I'd love to know what Tai is thinking about all of this... "Seriously kid? You're TELLING on me? Ooooooooh, I'm soooooooo scared!" :) I don't know why she's picking on the poor cat...her brother and sister give her LOTS of ammunition! Our other cat, Chi is smart enough to stay out of Lucy's way :)

Disclaimer... I have to say that neither of the cats has ever tried to hurt the kids in ANY way. Like I said, Chi avoids them at ALL COSTS and runs in the opposite direction when she hears the pitter-patter...umm...make that stomp-clomp of little/big feet. Tai will venture around them when she's feeling adventurous and even let them pet her and love on her (Lucy is at the top of the list)...she loves to have a little snuggle at bedtime as well. All this to say that there has been NO reason for any of the kids to fear the cats...Lucy just likes to tattle :)