I Love These Two.

They are so weird, but they are weird together.

Grounding FAIL.

Hallie got her first sad face at pre-K on Tuesday. We were pretty disappointed, but not really. She bit Mackenzie on the school bus going to school.

Fighting with Mackenzie = normal.

On the bus = bad.

These girls are like sisters. Kenz put her hand over Hal's mouth and Hal bit down. Not a shocker. But still warrented a sad face, so that's what she got. I feel sorry for Miss Elisha a lot of times and this is one of them.

Anyway.

We decided that we would ground her for the first time. After supper, she went to her room with instructions not to come out unless she needed to use the bathroom. Dave and I went outside to do some yard work (planted some new strawberries!) and every once in a while we would hear her bang on her bedroom window.

We just ignored. But we kept saying things like, "it's so nice, I wish Hallie was outside with us."

We peeked in her window a little later and she was....passed out on her bed. Dead asleep. Passed out cold. It was pretty funny. It was also only 6:30pm, so I went in to wake her up.

Dave came in a little bit later and we somehow migrated to Hallie's room. Apparently we couldn't handle not hanging out with our kid.

We are pathetic.

We suck at grounding.

How Now Brown Cow? Oh, Bite Me.

Why does it seem like people lose their filters around pregnant people? When did it become okay to say rude things about someone's size or weight? Just because I am pregnant doesn't give anyone the right to be rude - whether they think they are rude or not.

Things not to say or I will punch you in the face:

*Wow, you're about to pop! (heard this a few minutes ago!)

*Oh my gosh, you could go anytime! I'm scared for you! (heard this at lunch!)

*You're as big as a house! (heard this yesterday!)

*You are huge! (hear this EVERYDAY).

I mean, I am not the first to complain about people saying tactless and rude things to pregnant people. There are all sorts of articles, blog posts, etc, written about this very topic. It's common sense.

COMMON SENSE.

It's rude.

Just, rude.

I love talking about my pregnany otherwise.

I love belly rubs (no lie - feels good!).

I love hearing nice things.

I do not love hearing rude things about my size. I know that I am big. I feel big. I feel huge, in fact. As big as a house, yes. I do feel like I can pop any day.

But do you think I need to hear it from you? Nope. So don't expect a response if you say something like that to me.

Just expect a death glare.

I Love Lists - Kitchen Edition.

Just a few things before the baby is born for the kitchen:

• Make frozen meals! My goal is to stock my deep freezer with meals to hopefully alleviate some of the - oh crap, what's for dinner moments that I'm sure we'll have.
• Lasagna
• Baked Ziti
• Taco meat
• Stuff shells
• Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
• Enchiladas
• Burgers
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Sloppy Joe Meat
• Chocolate Chip Cookies (because, really)
• Muffins
• Breakfast Burritos
• Frozen Pizza Crust
• Figure out where to put the baby bottles. We moved to our new house when Hallie was two, and I've got my kitchen organized "just so." But time to make room for Baby Mason!
• Hang up stained glass from Dad
• Clean out top of fridge cabinet

Easy.
Right?!

I Love Lists - Garden Edition.

Forget the onions. I missed that boat. I'm actually really sad about that boat, but that's okay.

Dad is bringing the compost this weekend, Dave will be home to till and I'll have them both to help. Suckers.

Here is my Garden Plan 2011:

Strawberries (done and looking nice and bushy!) - need to be weeded, desperately.
Onions - crap. Too bad, so sad. I might plant them anyway for green onions.
Tomatoes
Basil
Cilantro
Peppers
Zukes & Cukes

AND THAT IS IT.

Simple. Easy. No potatoes this year. And I'm mulching the crap out of everything.

A Good Reminder.

Last night I had to remind myself that I really, really, really wanted to get pregnant. That I took my temperature, tried herbs, tests and good timing...all to have what I have now. A precious life growing inside of me.

Because last night I was not grateful. I was not counting my blessings. At all. I was grumpy. I didn't want to cook. I didn't want to clean my messy house. I was mad that Dave was being messy and both were being loud and I just needed a time out.

So I sent them outside while I cleaned the kitchen. Which always makes me feel better (nothing better than a clean kitchen!). And then I bundled up and went outside to snuggle on the porch swing with my daughter while we watched Dave hit golf balls over the pond.

And I started counting. I have a whole bunch of blessings. Lots and lots. And then I felt better. And then we watched Parenthood and I cried because they were talking about all sorts of issues that I never want to have to deal with for Hallie, but know that I probably will. And then I had a really weird dream about taking a walk with Hallie up our gravel driveway, having one contraction and delivering on the side of the driveway with only Hallie there to help. Weird.

And then I woke up enjoying the rain and the stormy weather.

I Love Lists - Nursery Edition

I'm trying to get organized.

I need to get organized.

I have no energy to be organized.

I gotta suck it up and get some of this stuff done.

For the Nursery:

• Buy fresh, white onsies
• Wash existing onsies and other gender neutral gowns/clothes
• Wash receiving blankets, crib sheets and boppy cover
• Prep and wash cloth diapers
• Wash basinett bedding - get basinett from Barb's house
• Sort through overwhelming giant box of toys to sort out baby toys
• Hang artwork on walls
• Make and hang mobile
• Bring monitors upstairs (buy video monitor?)
• Purchase sound machine
• Purchase wipes
• Purchase batteries for the swing
• Purchase California Baby diaper cream
• Purchase Vaseline (anticipating a circumcision!)
• Find 2nd base for the carseat - get other carseat stuff ready
• Dave to build shelves
• Bring in DiaperChamp
• Newborn diapers from Morgan

And on, and on and on. I'm sure I'm forgetting so much. But hey, really. As long as they have a place to sleep, eat and poop, we're good.

The Crack Down.

Crack down - Crackdown? One word or two?

Anyway.

It has begun.

Somewhere along the line our daughter has turned into a major crybaby, sort of a wimp and a tattletale.

 What a lovely combination.

Now, I'm not one AT ALL to minimize if a kiddo is hurt or had their feelings hurt.  And my kid ROCKS, that is to be certain. But sometimes enough is enough.

A few examples of why:

1. Mackenzie gets hurt and Hallie cries harder...to get attention.

2. I get poison ivy and Hallie gets jealous because *she* doesn't have poison ivy...therefore not getting that attention.

3. Hallie picks her toenail. It bleeds slightly. This now requires a bandaid, Neosporin and she limps around....for attention.

4. Hallie bumps into the side of a soft, leather chair. Immediate tears. For attention.

See?

So Dave and I have started cracking down. Our crackdown plan is quite simple: shut it down immediately, ignore and NO MORE BANDAIDS (unless it is actually needed).

She tattles - I don't want to hear it (unless someone hits, pinches, etc).

She cries - I shut it down.

She whines - uh uh, none of that.

Little owies? Get over it.

Does it feel mean? Yep. Does it really suck sometimes when you just really want to give a hug for that tiny hurt, but don't? Yep. Is it working?

YEP.

(I feel mean just typing all of this)

This is Only a Test.

Testing out the new FLIP!

Ignore the poison ivy on my face - gross. And  my awesome camera skills.

God Bless Friday.

Oh Friday how I love thee. This has been a trying week, but it's Friiiiday and things are really looking up!

1. Fabulous news from fabulous friends. God is so good!

2. Patty might come visit!*

3. Sarah might come visit!*

4. Erin might come visit!*

5. Alison might come visit!*

6. Kate??? If 2-5 come, will you come too? Please?*

7. My poison ivy is getting better. I didn't scratch myself to death when the hot water hit my hands this morning.

8. I got my new FLIP camcorder in the mail yesterday (thank you, mom!!!!!). I love it already as it sits charging in the USB port of my computer. Handy!

9. I get to sleep in a smidge tomorrow!

10. Dave will be home in a mere three days!

*Writing out that people will visit means they will, right?

Poison Ivy and PUPPS.

This is a really fun week.

I have poison ivy on my hands, specifically in betwen my fingers. That's a real treat.

And I have developed PUPPS (you go ahead and google it) on my stomach.

But the baby has turned head down, so yay for that!

And it is going to be 72 and sunny today, so yippee for that!

And i'm going with Hallie on her pre-K fieldtrip today, so hooray for that!

Just Another Monday Evening.

Dave is home for two days (yippee!), so we crammed in as much as we could. You know...to enjoy family time or whatnot.

1.  We picked up golfballs. Our favorite activity!

2. Hallie played with our "neighbor" aka the person who lives closest to us.

3. Dave worked on his "Honey Do" list.

4. We got the bones of the nursery done - hooray!

In other news, I have poison ivy on my hands and face. And I think now in my ear. It's really awesome.

This Morning.

I wonder what time my family will wake up this morning. I left them both snoozing in my bed with cool air circulating (finally!) and mouths wide open.

I'm not at all resentful that I had to wake up, get ready and go to work.

Oh no, not at all.

Last night was awesome.

The way I couldn't get comfortable BEFORE the storm, much less DURING or AFTER the storm, as our little blonde-haired girl decided she needed to sleep with us.

I ended up sleeping on the couch, and I might end up staying there. It hugs my, uh, curves better than my bed does.

That's okay. This too shall pass.

Frriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiday!!!

It's Friday - Friday - Friday - Oh, hip hip HOORAY!

I'm thrilled, so thrilled.

I slept awesome last night.

So did Hallie.

We have nothing planned for tonight.

How I love thee, Friday.

(old picture of Miss Hallie - first birthday party!)

Today is a Better Day Than Yesterday.

I'm not gonna lie. Yesterday was rough.

I was running on fumes from a poor night's sleep the night before and was feeling the stress of organizing and running an event that evening. Plus, we had a crazy work schedule that included interviewing people for a new position at LLCC - yay for that!!

Oh yeah, and I'm as big as a HOUSE.

All of that together meant I was very, very, oh-so-very tired by the time the event finished last night at 7pm.

And then I took off my shoes and my feet were fat.

I sort of wanted to cry. But my daughter picked every daffodile in Barb's yard and made a gorgeous bouquet. And I slept decent last night. And Hallie slept without waking (me) up last night. And she wasn't a total wreck this morning from the Zyrtec.

So today is better. I am better. But still as big as a house. So big.

My feet in Hawaii. Nice and skinny.

Zyrtec for Kiddos.

Makes them not want to wake up in the morning?

My chipper morning girl was a rag doll this morning. We tried her first dose of Zyrtec last night before bed and good grief it made her super sleepy this morning. I knew it caused drowsiness, but was hoping giving it to her at night would knock out that side effect by the morning.

Hopefully that will go away with time.

She was also up between 2-3am last night, so that was fun.

This mama is tired. I haven't had a cup of college in ages, as I gave it up for Lent, but I have a cup sitting in front of me right now. I have a very long day of student appointments, interviews for a few staff person and an honors reception tonight until 7pm.

I need sleep, but instead of sleep, I'm having coffee.

Please pray for me.

I Swept the Floor

about 10 minutes before this picture was taken. We were already past supper and snack time, so I thought I was safe to finally clean the kitchen floor.

Wrong.

Apparently lemon-blueberry-coffee-cake was too tempting for Hallie to munch on right before bed.

Prenatal Progress.

I took pictures. But left my camera at home. I promise to make this blog more interesting this week - I promise! I just haven't taken many pictures lately and it just seems like we are always busy doing something - work or home, just busy!

This weekend was a good one. Thanks to the help of Bob-o, Dave got the blue room cleared out, crib set up and the dresser brought up from downstairs. I feel much better now. I didn't like looking at his schedule and seeing that he basically has one free weekend in April and May left before the baby is born.

Plus, now I can start decorating - yippee!

Dave also got my garden tilled up. We are awaiting some compost from my dad and then we will re-till it just one more time. Then it's time to plant! I can't wait.

The baby is growing daily, at least that's what people are telling me. I feel like a giant.

Melissa took this picture yesterday.

Yes, that is an outie. My bellybutton is officially in the out position, permanently. Or, at least until he/she comes out! Please also notice the chocolate stain on the bottom left corner of my shirt.

Classy.

But I love it.

PS - Happy birthday to ELI!!!!!