Labor and Delivery

Labor and delivery according to a four year old. Apparently she thinks I am a balloon.

"Mommy, I know how our baby will come out."

"Oh, really! How?"

"You will get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and POP!!! Then the baby will be in our house."

What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

8 weeks and counting....!!

Just checking things off my list, one item at a time!

Since my complete breakdown in the last post with my LIST. I have been making progress. Slowly, we are checking things off. Some are easier than others, but changes are being made.

One item on the list was to find a really cute diaper bag. Dawn and Shelley both told me about this bag on Earen's blog. I may be able to check that off the list! Whew!

All I have to do is win it. Then I have to send Earen an apology note and beg her to still be my friend.

If you want to see this super-cute bag for yourself, click here.

I can just feel the stress melting away one item at a time!

The Countdown List

Twenty eight weeks down, twelve to go.

The mad rush to finish projects has begun. I thought I would post my list just for accountability purposes. I am the #1 procrastinator. But if all of you will promise to nag me, then hopefully I will be more motivated.

As it stands now, I would rather sleep for the next 12 weeks and hope the baby likes the Pack-N-Play in the closet idea. I am beginning to be OK with that. People, I don't want to be OK with that. Please nag.

Daily and often.

Unless, of course, any of you can tell me how to access my inner genie so all I have to do is wiggle my nose and VOILA! It is doubtful that any of you are genies, so I guess I better make my list.

Today's list:
--cook dinner. We are having this. Yummy!
--figure out what I spent $200 on at the local grocery store. It just doesn't seem like I got that much.
--call my mom and ask if she's mad at me (check. She's not.)
--pull out Spring maternity clothes and pack away Winter
--find my toenail polish and attempt to polish sad, swollen toes
--form guest list for my shower!! Wanna come?
--finish this post before I become overwhelmed and SHUT DOWN occurs.

Before April 19th list:
--plan son's birthday party, send invites, call bakery
--light a fire under contractor's behind so the new bathroom gets finished. I have already cried on his shoulder, maybe tears just aren't effective anymore...
--clean up mess from construction
--decorate new sport's room and bathroom
--shop for bathroom stuff
--call mural painter for bathroom and baby's room (check. She is coming April 16th.)
--pass the Glucola test tomorrow
--birthday shop for Z
--clean and organize office equipment that we are pulling out of Z's new room
--find a place for said office equipment, probably the craft room.
--shed a few tears over loss of my craft space. Not that I have crafted anything in the last 2 years, but still it requires a period of mourning.
--buy a gift for the incredible girl who sewed baby's new bedding, any ideas?
--eat more fruits and vegetables and less Oreo's
--attend 5 family birthday parties
--participate in meetings planning our annual Walk for Life to benefit local pregnancy clinic
--try to survive these 2 weeks while keeping it all in perspective. These are my deadlines, not necessarily God's.

Before mid-June list:
--find a cool diaper bag
--check car seat expiration date
--weigh the pros and cons of using our double stroller (check. Shelley said so!)
--plan meals for freezer cooking. This was my best survival idea after Loulabelle was born. The freezer was packed with meals.
--actually cook those meals
--beg mom to help with landscaping crisis
--get carpet professionally cleaned
--give dog a bath, or two
--figure out how to keep son in brand-new bedroom
--get Z ready for camp, then actually send him...
--touch-up any paint in baby's room
--set up crib and decorate
--purge playroom
--stop buying Oreo's, for goodness sake.
--participate in Walk for Life
--buy a cute dress for my shower!
--sort through baby boy clothes and organize baby's closet
--smell the brand new Pampers (unused, I am not a sick-o)
--monogram something, anything
--try to finish Loulabelle's baby book. This may be a pipe dream.
--attend school field trip and music concert
--plan the kid's days/nights while I am in the hospital
--buy a king-sized bed. It's time.
--take maternity pictures with kids
--relax and enjoy the final days of being pregnant for the last time. It has gone by way too fast.

Nag on, my friends. You have my permission to be unbearable and bossy. Or, better yet, keep me company while I procrastinate.

Spring Break. It does a body good.

I realize that it is now Tuesday. I am having a really hard time completing tasks these days.

Mondays. Monday is typically met with resistance, especially from Zman as he gets ready for school. Today, it was me who struggled.

Our Spring Break is over and I am sad. Before it started I wondered how in the world we were going to fill all that time, 9 days. We were planning a family vacation but at the last minute it fell through. I have to admit, I was NERVOUS. The kids can't last 9 minutes without fighting, let alone 9 whole days!! My first thought was to keep them SUPER busy so they wouldn't have time to bicker, whine, moan or groan.

But somewhere along the line I took a breath. I relaxed and let the schedule naturally fall into place. We had lazy mornings, late lunches, movies in bed, games, reading, and LOTS of snuggle time. We did go someplace everyday just to keep it fresh, but for the most part we hibernated. It was wonderful and something we all needed. The time at home brought my kids together. It did my heart good to see my two playing like friends. They laughed together, created together, shared secrets, planned games, played tag. Basically, they were inseparable. FOLKS, THAT NEVER HAPPENS!!

It was delightful and made me crave summer. The endless amount of time and flexibility of our schedule is good. Very, very good.

I will leave you with our Easter highlights.

Nothing says Easter like...

Bed Hair....

Christmas jammies from 2 years ago...

A basket full of bunnies...

and sparkly shoes.

A big piece of humble pie.

Maternity swimwear.

Talk about an oxymoron. Your body gets big and round while the swimwear stays the same size, covering only 9% of you. Not matter how cute the suit is, it doesn't do the complete job. I thought I still had a month or two before I had to go down this road. But today we decided to visit a local indoor waterpark. I am all for having fun with my family, but I usually like to do it fully clothed.

I have 4 suits to choose from, thanks to the generosity of several friends. They are very cute and stylish. Loulabelle wanted me to wear the pink one with white flowers. So I tried it on and did an overall assessment.

Not bad. The bump in front minimizes the bump in back.

I made my appearance from the bathroom. I knew Lou would be excited that I chose the suit she picked out. Z-man saw me first.

"That swimsuit doesn't make you look near as big as you are."

I am choosing to take that as a compliment as I face the day with only 9% of my body covered. Thankfully, we will be surrounded by complete strangers and they may or may not remember the whale in the pink floral suit.

Happy Spring Break!!

Oh no, she didn't!

Before you proceed with the rest of this post, please read this to catch up. My story will be regarding the same girl.

Don't worry. I will wait for you to come back......

OK...now that you are up to speed, let's rewind a couple of weeks.

I was mostly dressed. I had the appropriate undergarments, jeans and a cami. Z walked in and said, "Mom, you look hot!"

WHAT??!!

I look hot? From a six year old? What is going on here and where did he learn that? Skip and I talked and decided we would lay low with it. If it was something that he learned, it would repeat itself.

Sure enough, it did. Yesterday in the car with Spice from the Spice Rack, Z asked if he knew what hot was. "Yeah, it's like when you sweat and stuff." (Good answer, Spice.) Z told him that was not the "hot" he was referring to. He whispered the meaning of the new word in Spice's ear.

It was now time for action.

"Z, where did you learn that?"

"School. From Bri."

"What else is Bri teaching you at school?"

"About L-O-V-E and K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Skip and I exchange looks. This isn't good. I know what kind of knowledge this little girl has considering what she taught him last year. I don't have a good feeling about this. I'm no fool, I taught school long enough to hear what kids are talking about. Mostly they have it all wrong, but still they are talking. This is something we all have to face with our little ones, and it is scary.

Later in the day when we had time to ourselves with Z we questioned him more. We found out that this girl has been showing them how to kiss by using books or her hand. I am guessing this isn't the innocent kiss you would give your grandpa either. Boy does my blood boil just thinking about what this girl must know and WHY she knows it. Her loss of innocence saddens me deeply. I hurt for her.

We explained to Z that we want to be the ones to teach him about love based on what God teaches us. We told him that he is not old enough to be talking about that yet, but that he can always come to us with questions. We promised him that we would be truthful with him if he will promise to be truthful with us. We gave him some strategies to avoid talking with this particular girl about such grown up things.

I am left feeling uneasy and angry. This world is cruel and fast and ugly. We are good parents who try to protect our kids from such things. But the world finds it's way in and infiltrates it's message. This poor girl has lost her childhood to grown up things. I don't feel one nice thing about her teaching my son her knowledge. But is it her fault? If it wasn't her, it would have been someone else.

There is always someone else.

"Father, please protect our children from the cruelties of this world. Please guard their hearts and minds to things they don't need knowledge of. Help them turn a blind eye and deaf ear on things that could hurt them. Protect them, Lord, from the evil one who seeks to steal, kill and destroy their innocence. Give us as parents the wisdom to teach our children Your ways and Your truth. Help us guide them down the path You have chosen for them."

It's the little things.

A glob of toothpaste by the sink.

A water ring on the table.

A leaf on the laundry room floor.

A handprint on the window.

A pillow thrown off the couch.

A knife with peanut butter in the sink.

A dog that perpetually sheds.

A wet wad of toilet paper on the floor.

A plunger in the bathtub. (Hmmmmm?)

A discarded M&M wrapper hides under the book.

A broken hanger in the entry way.

A blue stain on the carpet.

A leaky juice bag on the counter.

A pile of Easter grass strewn along the hallway.

These are the things I have been picking up all day. I am feeling frustrated by the amount of little messes that I have chased today. My wheels have been spinning in no obvious direction. I haven't been able to keep up with the mess or contain the mess-makers. I am upset and tired and grumpy.

Finally, I took a nap. I was right in the middle of folding a load of towels left-over from Monday and I couldn't take it anymore. I quit. Laid down and slept.

But the "others" were lurking as I slept. Now the mess is bigger and harder to handle. What am I going to do next week during Spring Break?

Help me, Lord Jesus.