Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down.

Here is what a Weeble is.

I had these as a very small child. They were great. I am now comparing myself to a Weeble. Round, plump and a little rolly polley..

For the past couple of days, I have felt like a Weeble. I lose my balance when attempting to pick something off the floor...but I don't fall down, because Weebles just wobble but they don't fall. I have resorted to using the boy's play claw to grab things that are high or things that need to be picked up off the floor. They are handy little suckers.


I watched Aaron pick weeds yesterday...feeling helpless. I knew if I got down on the ground, I would never get back up. Besides, the last time I picked weeds, I was attacked by fire ants. I found Owens Froggy chair (made for children) and use to sit and get up with no problemo. Well, I was feeling a like I needed to sit and the froggy chair kindly invited me. Minutes later, I wanted up....but couldn't maneuver my body to get out. I asked Aaron to help and he laughed and attempted to find the video camera to tape the attempts of me escaping out of the froggy chair. Fortunately, he couldn't find it.

Getting out of bed lately has been a challenge. I think I need an acrobat bar hanging from the ceiling. That would be nice. Andrew and Owen have learned that mom needs help with most getting out of chairs and bed types of tasks. They help with a little grin.

I haven't fallen YET because of my growing belly. I have officially adopted the phrase "Weebles wobble, but I wont fall down" as my motto of the week. I think it is a bit humorous that I have grown so incredibly big.

I know....

I know it is getting close to my delivery when I saw that the yogurt I purchased at the store has an expiration date of September 28th. Yipppeee.

Corny video of Me on the first day of school!

Ok, yes, this video is a bit corny. Especially the fact that I look like I am ready to explode and trying to act so graceful like a ballerina. Laugh if you want to, I really don't care...I laughed at myself.
My sister Nancy says she does a similar dance every year when her kids head off to school. I love my boys, and it was a great summer. However, it was good to cut the umbilical cord yet a second time when Owen headed off to school today. I am alone for the time being. I have some much needed mommy time to get out of the way before Elliott arrives.

Dr's appointment today...

Well, I am officially dilated to 1 and a 1/2 ish. I even got this "congratulations" letter from my doctor. Hilarious. When she told me, I kind of paused and made a sound like "ugh". She asked "Aren't you excited that your body has begun the process?" I said "NO, I was really looking forward to about 2 weeks of no kids in the house for the first time in say...7 1/2 years". I haven't even started the nesting phase...well, maybe a little (Elliott has a pretty cute room to come home to).

Anyway, what date do you expect Elliott to arrive? Leave your prediction as a comment(anyone can comment). The winner gets a special prize! Aaron thinks it will be September 7th. I think it will be the 15th...but I am not sure if I am brain washing myself out to think that because I REALLY, REALLY want my 2 weeks ALONE!

It's here!

Owen's first day...I snap a picture in the same spot every year. Aaron wanted to take the picture this morning, but I told him "It's MY thing". Andrew's first day... The boys and their Principal... Aaron took the morning off to get the kiddos off to their first day of school. We took Andrew to his 2nd grade classroom first. As he gets higher in grade, it seems like his class becomes smaller and smaller. I guess that is a good thing...more one on one time with teacher. I guess it is pretty typical for this to happen in a city school. Parents tend to freak out a little about their kids entering junior high in a few years, so they make the transition to suburban schools early on in elementary (that is just my sociological take on the matter). Anyway, Andrew was excited to see all of his friends from last year. He sits with a grouping of good friends which can be a good thing or a bad thing. Andrew adjusted well to becoming a second grader and made himself at home. One funny thing about today in the world of Andrew...We were unpacking his backpack in the classroom and he said "I can do it mom" so, I thought he was just wanting to do it himself (ya know those big independent 2ND graders). I stepped back and a friend of mine noticed that he needed help getting his school box out of his backpack. She looked on the bottom of the bag and said "Does your mom know you have that?". My instincts knew what it was. After looking in the backpack, it was confirmed that he brought his GAME BOY to school with him. The reason he didn't want me to help him was that he didn't want me to see the GAME BOY. Little stinker. Owen had a 2 hour orientation with his class. He was in the Library while parents were in the classroom taking care of the business of Kindergarten. (I was having contractions the entire time while in there might I add!! I cant have this baby this week. I want at least 2 weeks of PEACE AND QUIET!) After orientation, we went out for a special lunch with Owen. Here are some pictures and a video montage of the morning.

Our special lunch with Owen... Andrew and his bestest friend...in Kindergarten (they bonded imediatly after noticing they had the same Batman lunchbox) First grade... Second Grade...

One more day till school BEGINS!

I remember the anticipation of the first day of school. As I hung out with my boys today, the memories came back to me. We really are fortunate to not have to buy a ton of clothes for the boys. First, boys love t-shirts and this makes things easy for us. They also wear the same size of shirts so their wardrobe doubles. My dad's neighbor also supplies us with a great amount of hand me downs from her son (Thanks Sarah!). It is a true blessing.

I remember wearing a new outfit on the first day of school. It made me feel so proud and "new". I thought it would be fun to take the boys on a little shopping spree and buy new shoes and a new shirt for the big day. Let me tell you...Owen can Shop! He needed to have just the right shirt for the big day. I am not kidding you when I say we drove around Columbus from 10:30 am until 3:00 p.m. looking for that shirt. We found the shirt at a Target store (after 4 Target stores did not have his size). He Immediatly took off his shirt, right there in the middle of the store, and tried on his new shirt. In the meantime, he was shaking with excitement. His big brother was very patient with him.

I also remember getting everything ready the night before. In my kid's case, they came home from a long day of shopping and layed everything on the floor in the living room. They even found matching socks. Owen is so excited and kept asking me all day "how long is it until tomorrow mom?" I hope the novelty of being excited for school doesn't wear off.

Here is what our living room looks like...


This is what it looked like right after the boys went to bed. I am not sure if the cats are excited to have them go to school or if they are protesting.


I am not sure how I will do tomorrow. I cried when Andrew went to Kindergarten. I will be alone for a few weeks during the day (until Elliott arrives). Owen will no longer be my coffee house date on Friday mornings. hmmm. The more I think of it, I think I will be an emotional wreck tomorrow. I am getting a little teary eyed just thinking about it right now. I guess it doesn't help that there are more hormones than usual that are invading my body right now. My babies are growing up.

Saying goodbye to an old friend...

We got a letter in the mail yesterday. We were informed that our good friend from College would no longer be a part of our lives. Even though this friend has been a part of our lives for the past 13 years, IT WAS GOOD TO SEE HER GO! I am talking about our SALLY MAE STUDENT LOAN! She is Gone! It was so good to get that "Congratulations" letter in the mail from the loan company. Our final payment of $2.70 will be deducted next month. YIPPEEEEE! Sally has been through thick and thin with us, but I am not sad to see this annoying little friend leave our lives. We thought she would never leave us.

My little gamers...

So, my kids had a friend over today. We spent most of the day in the miserably hot weather, so I thought I would let the boys play some Xbox for a while in the afternoon. As I was checking my email, I looked over into the living room to see this...


(While recording the video, I almost peed my pants just watching their little heads bop up and down).


Like I said before, video games are an extracurricular activity for my kids. Andrew was actually sweating when I went up to watch them. Hilarious. I am listening to them right now and they are actually "panting" like dogs thirsty for water. I love my smelly boys...they rock.

Elliots Nursery Phase 3 !!!! F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D. !!!!

Crib up, bedding in...DONE!

Mobile up...DONE!

Changing station...DONE!

Rocker up and cleaned, dresser dusted...DONE!

Coming home outfit, washed and ready...DONE!

Diaper pail ready for those dirties...DONE!

Closet filled with cutsie clothes...(too filled, oops!
I told myself I would not do this)...But it's DONE!


Diapers ready....DONE!

Desitin and wipes...DONE!

Bassinett ready for downstairs...DONE!

Carseat ready for the hospital...DONE!

Drawers Full...Done!




"Sigh" as my feet go up and sip on a huge glass of icewater. It feels good.
Now all we need is ELLIOTT!

Birthday girl...

So as you may have already read, my nieces came out to visit me this weekend. It was a great weekend of thrifting, eating, thrifting and more eating. These girls (they have another sister as well, but working and a baby prevented her from coming) and I grew up like sisters more than nieces. We were always at each others houses. The age difference is less than 4 years between them and me. My niece Trina is expecting her 2nd child in February. We were pregnant at the same time 7 years ago. How fun. Anyway the girls helped me work on the nursery hanging things up and organizing. For a special birthday celebration, we went to Don Pablos Mexican restaurant. I thought I would try Mexican food again...and again, I barfed it up that night. Someone PLEASE put me in a straight jacket so I won't go into another Mexican Grille! Here are some pictures and a priceless video of the pregnant birthday girl. My nieces Theresa and Alicia... The kiddos.... Aaron and I...Can you tell I am running on about 3 hours sleep here? The food that made me sick again... Trina and Theresa... \ The "VIDEO"...



We also did some shots of my great niece (Trina's daughter) before they left. Ahhh, the benefits of having a photographer in the family!

Good morning!

A video of our ultrasound...Meet Elliott. He is learning at a young age how to smile for the camera.

34 weeks and counting...

I went in for another 3d/4d ultrasound today. My nieces were down for a visit and I thought it would be fun to schedule my last one while they were here. The package that I originally purchased was a 2 session package.

Of course, I started to cry as soon as I saw a facial picture of Elliott. It was a bit emotional for me.

Andrew wanted to sit next to me while the ultrasound was going on. I told him to talk to Elliott. As soon as he put his face up to my torso and started talking, Elliott started to make facial expressions. The "smiling" picture you see was taken about 5 seconds after Andrew started to talk to him. Amazing. Andrew felt so good about this. He had a smile from ear to ear.
I will post a video when I get a chance. I haven't been sleeping well (again) and need to retire.

Here is the images of Elliott. I plan to get the smiling shot enlarged to an 8x10 for our home. It is too precious.

Ouch

Tetnus shots hurt. Stupid mole.

Cancer really, really stinks.

My big sister Vivian was having problems with her vision. Her lymph nodes around her neck were also very swollen. She went to the Hospital last week and with many tests later, it was confirmed that she has cancer. She has a small spot on her brain, in her lung and the lymph node was removed and tested for Cancer. The news of the lymph node came back last night and it was cancerous. She will undergo a series of radiation and chemo treatments. All we can do is hope and pray for the best outcome. Please pray for her and pray for everyone involved. Cancer has never been a topic of discussion until my mom passed away of cancer last year. Unfortunately, my mom's cancer was progressed. From what I am hearing of my sister's situation, it is in it's early stages. There is hope.

If you feel inclined, please donate to help early detection of Lung Cancer. Click here to enter mymom's personal site on the the American Lung Association's Wall of Remembrance.

I will keep you posted on her progress. Right now, hope is there and she is in good spirits.

I feel helpless at this point. Traveling to see her is hard. My body is preparing for the baby. I am going to try to make a trip up there in the next week to see her and pray with her. Unfortunatly, I cannot help in any other way right now. Even after the baby is born, it is going to be difficult to go up to Michigan and offer her any type of help. I feel stuck and sad that I cannot do anything.

How many people can say....

they have been bit by a mole?


Yes, that is what happened to the ever so kind, pregnant me. I got bit by a mole today.


Here is a little background on the story. Last night, I noticed a shoe stuck under the garage door. It has propped the door open about 1 inch. I thought to myself "Crap, I better move that shoe or we will have a mouse in the house".
Well, this morning I hear this weird kind of squeeking. The cats were going crazy chasing around this squeeking thing. I then realized I never took care of the shoe under the garage door problem.

I saw the little creature. I wasn't too concerned for it was only about 1 1/2 inches long. All morning (and part of the afternoon) was spent trying to find this cute, little, furry ball of fun.

I didn't want to kill it. I am not a fan of mouse traps, so I got out this bucket. The cats assisted me in cornering it. At this point, I was still convinced that it was a baby mousie. Well, the cats did a great job of cornering the cute furry creature and I set the bucket next to it and thought it would be ok to "Shew" it in the bucket with my hands (covered with a ziplock bag). Well, not so clever of an idea. The stupid thing bit me. It wasn't so cute to me at this point and as I looked at my bleeding finger, I wished I would have gotten a killer mouse trap and strangled the neck off that thing. As I looked a little closer at this nasty, butt head of a mammal, it was not a mouse but a mole. ewwww.

Fortunatly, moles do not carry rabies. I do have to go in for a tetnus shot tomorrow. Lucky me.

Bad Kitty!

Elliott's Feline brother Pharaoh thinks we put the crib up for him. The funny part of this story is that we have no clue how our 26 pound cat got into the high crib. His belly gets in the way of EVERYTHING! He can barely fit into the cat door.

Wiped out.

So, we woke up Saturday morning (after the crazy party night) and looked at the weather. It couldn't be a better day ahead of us! I couldn't stand to think we would let this day waste away doing things around the house (that REALLY needed to be done). I was just not feeling like doing anything other than spend time with "the men of the house" on this beautiful day. It also helps that I have been feeling pretty good. Yippy.

Since Aaron travels a lot, he gets "points" for staying at Marriott hotels. We have many free nights that have accumulated and thought it would be good to just get away. His traveling DOES have it's perks. The boys LOVE to stay at a hotel and have been asking to do so for quite sometime. They get the royal treatment and it allows them to enjoy being messy Marvins. They aren't required to clean up the room, they get to jump on the beds and get to swim as much as they want, the buffet breakfast is free, and they feel like Kings. Andrew especially loves the fluffy comforters and pillows. The first thing he does is gets under the fluffy comforter and says "I love Hotels". I have to say, I never sleep well away from home, but at this particular Marriott, I always sleep really well. It is by far my favorite hotel.

The boys at the hotel...



We decided to just play it by ear of what we were going to do. If the boys were grumpy on the way down, we were going to just hang out at the hotel. If they were not grumpy, we were going to hit Kings Island on the way down. We ended up going to Kinds Island. Fortunately, they have a reduced price if you come after 5:00. BONUS!
It felt kind of nice to not have a plan and just GO. Aaron likes to plan, so I think being spontaneous was a bit much for him...he deals with me well.

The boys absolutely loved King's Island. Andrew got to ride his first real roller coaster (THE RACER) and most of the adult sized rides. Owen did not like the coasters as much. He did like the kids coaster in the Kids section of the park. He rode one of the bigger kids coasters, but he ended up with a mighty big bruise on his back from it. Click on the image below for a larger view of our time at Kings Island.


Time to head out...


Two Tired Boys...


We headed back to the hotel around 10:30 and collapsed about 10:31. Today (Sunday) we hung out at the hotel until 1:00 just swimming and having a relaxed time together. We are wiped out, but it was good.

Oh, we did manage to hit the IKEA store too. CRAZINESS!
I could get into a lot of trouble there! Good thing Aaron was with me.

Owen's birthday bash...

Owen is 6. He made it well known that his birthday was this week. All we heard was "The birthday boy doesn't have to clean the table", "The birthday boy gets breakfast in bed", "Be nice to the birthday boy", "The birthday boy gets the most cereal Andrew!". He didn't let us forget it for a minute. Owen and his Breakfast in Bed Request... As for his party, he kept giving mommy ideas on how to run the party (like I have NEVER had any parties before). He knew it was a special day for HIM. He told me that the only drink he wanted to serve was Rootbeer, because that is what the birthday boys likes. He wanted Pizza, because that is what the birthday boys favorite food is (fortunatly, Little Ceasers has $5 pizzas). We also served Subway subs and lemonade against the "Birthday Boy's" wishes. The theme (as you may have read) was Spongebob Squarepants. Well, being the party nerd that I am, I decided to create our backyard into the home of Spongebob...bikini bottom. I have about 3 bins (pitiful isnt it?) of Luau decorations. Yes, I am a nerd. We had a good time and the kiddos enjoyed themselves as well. My friend Cindy made these INCREDABLE cookies! She is starting up a business for personalized cookies and I was her first Spongebob customer. I almost cried when I saw them. They were more than I expected! If you are a local reader, I am happy to give out her contact information! Just email me! I am tired today and ready to relax. Here are some pictures of the celebration. The food corner..(Spongebobs resturant) Sandy's Candy...Sugar sand art (I call it Crack for kid). It is like the sand art that kids do at the fair but YOU CAN EAT IT! I did tell the kids that they couldn't indulge until they got home...Smart mommy here! Every Limbo Boy and Girl!

Crazy Hair Creations...

Then, the big moment...Singing to the birthday boy. It was all fun and games until the wax dripped.


MMMMM...cupcakes too!