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!

Christian the Lion...

My dad shared this story with me the last time I was in Michigan. I am surprised that I have never heard of this. I made sure to check it on snopes.com before posting. It is a true story and will make you cry if you are an animal lover like myself. You can check the snopes version out here.

My hubby is coming home!

Aaron has been in Singapore for 12 days and is returning today. He was on his last business trip before the little bambino is born. Here are a couple of pictures that he sent from his first couple days there. I am getting excited to have him back home.


Going for a little stroll in the Rain forest...Notice the monkey on the left of the picture.


Note, Owen is really into Sponge bob Square pants right now. There is a character on the cartoon that is named "Mr. Crab". Owen's jaw dropped a little when I told him that daddy ate a huge Mr. Crab. I wasn't thinking at all of the Sponge bob character, but just put "Mr." in front of "crab". Oops. Sorry for traumatizing you Owen.

Feeling a little better...

I got so much done today. I honestly think I have had a virus or something going on for the last week. I know I am preggo and all, but I have felt like crap. For the past week, I have lounged on the couch as my kids have played A LOT of X Box and helped themselves to one too many frozen yogurts. (oh, I am so fine with that by the way...there are those days, I use to get down on myself, but I am so over that). I just haven't had the energy to do anything. I am not kidding you when I say the spare bathroom's toilet was so disgusting I almost puked when it was time to clean it. My hubby would have totally done this for me, but he in flight returning from a business trip to Singapore. The toilet was so moldy it was pathetic.

Well, last night I wasn't able to sleep so I cleaned away. Ahhh...it felt so good. I tossed a ton of stuff out and worked on Elliott's room. I sewed some curtains, did some preparation for Owen's Sponge bob Square pants Birthday party (this Friday), and even researched some information on cloth diapering and breastfeeding.
It was a productive 24 hours. I then rewarded myself with a much needed Starbucks fluffy drink.



In the midst of all of the business, I was able to rock in my rocking chair my mom and dad bought for me just enjoying and soaking up Elliot's movement within me. I got a little teary eyed bonding with him. His little knee kept jabbing me at the top of my belly. The more I pushed his knee down, the more he pushed it up. It was the first time he really responded to my touch. It definatly made up for a crappy week.

Life is good for the time being. My hubby will be home soon and life will be even better.

Sibling Class for the boys...

Andrew and Owen learned everything they need to know about the arrival of the baby. They had their sibling class at the Hospital today. Andrew and Owen were the oldest kids there. They were required to bring a doll or teddy bear with them. The best part of the entire class was when the instructor gave all of the kids a newborn diaper to put on their teddy bears. Of course, my boys being at "that stage" where they think diapers and potty talk is hilarious, took the whole thing as a joke. They giggled at the diaper and all everything about it. Owen immediately took the diaper off after the instructor was finished. They thought the smell was funny, the look of the diaper was funny, and the picture on the diaper was funny.
Andrew was very cooperative and participated in discussion. He answered all of the questions and even shared that when "mommy puts a can of pop on her belly, the baby kicks it off". We went up to the floor where I will be staying and looked at all of the baby's in the nursery. One baby had just been born and it was MAD to be out of a comfy-cozy mommy. I think the boys finally realized that THIS IS REAL!!! THEY ARE GOING TO BE BIG BROTHERS!


This is going to be a fun ride.

Before the class


Owen's Teddy after being diapered


Practicing holding the baby


A special donut after the class

This baby does not like mexican I guess...

Dinner at Don Pablos- $18.59
Gas to get to Don Pablos- $2.25
Puking on the way home- Priceless.


This is the 2nd attempt at Mexican while pregnant, and the second successful puking session. It's all good now...off to bed.

Don Pablos Here I COME!

We have celebrated many birthdays this month. I LOVE BIRTHDAYS! Yummy food, good times and great memories. Our friends Heidi and Wes celebrated their birthdays, our friend Cal celebrated his 30th birthday a couple of weekends ago and tonight, my friend Kristi (Heidi's sister, Cal's wife) is celebrating her birthday at one of my favorite restaurants...DON PABLO'S! I found someone to take the boys and I am off to eat some yummy Queso, stuff myself with a chimichunga drenched with cheese, and indulge myself in Soda. Oh, did I mention that I will also be taking a few antacids before, during and after?

Happy Birthday Kristi! Turning thirty isn't always fun, but enjoy a Margarita and suck it up.