January....hmmpf what happened???

Apparently January has come and gone and I have not one photo on my camera card to show  you from this month.  Seriously not a one.  Not sure what happened.  So let me update you on what might have happened.  Take this all with a grain of salt...my memory is not so great these days.

However here are few from my iPhone.

Josh and I took the biggest two tikes to their first Saints game.  They loved being in the dome.

My dining room turned into a parking garage.  Santa must have been hitting the crack pipe when he thought all those trucks were a good idea.

Josh and I traveled back into the 70s for a fun birthday party.

Margot learned how to skate.  Video proof coming soon!

Giving Thanks

For God choosing and trusting me to the be the Momma of these three precious babies, I am eternally grateful and thankful.  What a wonderful blessing they are.  I love you guys.

What day is it???

I know it's been a while, what can I say.  I've been busy, I'm 4 issues behind in my US Weekly...you know it's been rough around here.  But, I've missed  blogging and documenting all of the kiddo's milestones and things they say  and do that just make me smile.

Let's see....

Margot....oh my little caboose.  The girl has more energy than my other children combined.  She NEVER stops.  She is constantly in motion and when she is strapped into her car seat she is a jibber jabbering away.  She cannot stop moving.  It's different.  Her favorite things to do these days are to climb...anything.  To shove stuff in places they don't belong.  I found a sippy cup with week old milk in the crystal cabinet.  A cabinet that I don't frequent often and therefore I was lucky to find this sippy full of yucky goodness.  She is talking alot.  Her favorite thing to say is Noah....O-wah!  She repeats everything her big sister says and trys to say Meredith, but Ta-ta works for now.  She went to the pediatrician for her 15 month check up.  Besides her constant runny nose and changing her thyroid dosage again, she is the picture of health.  I just love this one to pieces.  Melts her Momma's heart.  She loves to cuddle and give kisses.  She loves to wave and say bye-bye.  She claps for herself when she is proud of her accomplishment.  And if you don't pay her enough attention she walks over, tilts her head and sticks her smiling face right in yours.  Her favorite place to be is outside.  She would go to anyone if they promised to take her out to walk, play, ride or swing.  She's our giddy girl!

Noah....This boy....oh the love of my life.  He is such a Momma's boy.  He wrote the definition on that.  He has me wrapped around those little fingers of his and I often forget in less than a month he will be 4 years old.  Independent is not a word I would use to describe my little ham. He likes for his Momma to do everything for him.  He is always smiling, always willing to give you a  hug and a kiss.  He is as tender hearted as they come.  He wakes up everyone morning in the best mood and is so dang lovable.  It's hard not to start your day off right with Noah.  He LOVES school.  He is learning so much this year.  He is writing his name and knows all of his letter sounds.  He loves to ride his bike and begs to do it everyday all day.  He stills loves trucks, planes, trains and automobiles.  When he grows up he is going to be a monster truck driver and a jet fighter pilot.  He wants to play all sports and loved soccer.  He is getting ready for t-ball.  Oh how I love this boy.

Meredith....my big girl.  My first.  The one I tried the hardest with and worried the most.  The one who will probably have a complex because of it.  Oh I kid.  She's my learning curve.  She sets the pace.  She is getting so big so fast.  She is so sweet and compassionate.  She loves fiercely, worries constantly and has a heart of gold.  She is loving school this year and loves her teacher.  She is reading....thank goodness...she's been wanting to for so long.  She absorbs so much....I'm impressed on a daily basis.  She is cheering and dancing and loves being center stage.  She is funny.  She loves being the big sister and the boss.  She loves riding bikes, and writing....all over everything....list after list after list....she is her father's daughter.  She is my first....my big....my love.

So that's where we have been.  Josh and I well....we are blessed.  

A year ago today.....hmm some things change....some things stay the same.

Occasionally on my blog I like to go back to the same month  in years past and read those posts.  It gives me a good perspective on where we have been and where we are going.  This month was super easy.  I had one post to read.  It pretty much summed up life back then.....come to think of it, it still pretty much sums up life today.  Except that little person isn't just spitting up anymore....now she is fussing right along with them.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2010

THREE!

It's been a while, what can I say, being the mother of three is a lot busier than I ever imagined.  Well three that are stepping stones and all under 4, because in some way or another they all still need the momma.  The one and only momma and no one else will do.


Let me describe three....so you can get the mental picture....


Three is standing at the back door trying to put the smallest in the car seat to get ready to get donuts, trying to answer the questions being spit out by the other two about can we leave now?  when are we going?  where are we going?  are we getting chocolate milk?  can I get sprinkles?  is the sky blue?  can  we get a pet dinosaur? can we take a trip to the moon?  all while consoling the crying.....scratch that....now screaming infant, who doesn't' really want to get in the car seat and go to get donuts.  Nope that infant would rather just be held all day at home, because she can't even eat the damn donuts.  So you finally console her and are about to buckle her, but at this point your 2 year old has grown so impatient he has unlocked the lock and deadbolt that you have constantly told him never to do and it is at that exact second that you remember that you forgot to turn off the alarm... the alarm whose speaker for the siren is located on the wall of the mud room that you are currently standing in with all three kids, approixamately 4 feet above you, in a room that is 6ft by 4ft and it is at that split second that you hear the door open and that tiny mudroom is instantly filled with the most awful, loudest, screeching noise you have ever heard.  The only thing louder is the wails from the infant who has projectile spit up all over you and your hair in fear, and is now using her tiny palms and fingers to grab on to you for dear life....screw that car seat.  The other two have now wrapped their entire little bodies around your two legs and aren't sure if they should cry or not....but surely they are beyond terrified and I am pretty sure the 2 year old has now shit in his diaper.  And you are frozen, because you are covered in spit up, and can't move due to the two kiddos who have firmly attached themselves to you and make it increasingly difficult to walk.  The alarm pad is 2 feet away....you are pretty sure you ear drums have blown and you now have a migraine from the noise at 7:30am....and you are thinking that at any moment someone is gonna throw you a break and scoop in and make it all better..... and then you realize you are the momma..... now the momma of three....and life is always going to be some sort of alarm just blaring in your ear waiting for you to fix it.....because the momma fixes everything....no breaks coming your way.


In the end we got the alarm turned off  and told the alarm company we didn't need any rescue vehicles, I explained to the tikes, who never realized we had such a cool feature before, what it was for.  I didn't use the whole it is to make sure intruders never enter the house speech....I went with the....it is to make sure that you guys never open a door to go outside without me knowing speech.  I'm a mom...of course I gave the latter explanation.  I then got the infant and myself cleaned....the infant who also had the shit scared out of her literally and it was all up her back....and then I reloaded everyone back into the car seats and headed to get doughnuts...eventually we were all sitting at the table enjoying our sprinkles and chocolate milk, it just took a hell of a lot longer than it would have taken with one tike or even two...but that's my life now....THREE!  Welcome to my new journey.  I promise I'm back...I think I've been missed, based on the various emails to please post on this blog again...well I've missed you too internets!

Around here somewhere

When Margot was first born things were hectic.  Doctor appointments, doctor appointments and more doctor appointments.  I felt like I was always running, trying to catch up.....not even dreaming of keeping up.  Almost 10 months later, things are still crazy.  I'm convinced this is it.  Life will not slow down.  There are no more mornings of sleeping in and hanging in our jammies all day.  Now there is school and car pools.  Ballet lessons and appointments.  I'm always running.  ALWAYS.

So more often than not, my house is a wreck.  There is always a load of laundry to be done, dishes to be washed, clothes to be folded and put away, dinner to be cooked and cleaned, toys to be put away, beds to be made, butts to be wiped and tiny hand prints to be wiped away.  I've tried to keep it clean, I've tried to keep it presentable.  I've tried and wished and hoped to channel my inner Type A self, but it just isn't happening.  Hell at this point I'd settle for just being able to find a place to sit on the couch and possibly find my car keys without having to curse repetitively to myself.

Before kids I was the type that did baseboards when company was coming over.  Now I settle for at least straightening up the areas the company will see.  So it utterly shocked me when I had someone coming to the house that I barely knew for the first time and did nothing.  Someone who I barely knew and normally would require having a spotless house to let walk through the door.  However it was a day Josh was on call, my son was miserable from a tonsillectomy and hadn't slept in day, I was working on zero sleep,  and my very last nerve was dangling from a thin string.  I was barely keeping it all together.

In fact I had totally forgotten the appointment and that someone was even supposed to come by.  So when I got a text that day that she was 5 minutes away, I quickly surveyed the house wreckage and deemed the mess impossible to be cleaned in 5 minutes.  I targeted one area of the disaster.  The kitchen.  In four minutes I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, I cleaned off the counter tops and table and quickly wiped them down.  I gathered all the toys my two arms could hold and threw them into the toy room.  With a minute to spare I walked into the living room to survey the rest of the house.  I cried.  Why had I picked the kitchen???....................why the HELL did I not do a damn thing about the living room.  Where the hell was my brain????  So with 30 seconds to spare, I gathered up the toys in the living room and foyer and pitched them into the toy room, I grabbed blankets and pajamas that were strewn all over and threw them into the laundry room and then I saw her car pulling up.  There was still a mountain of laundry on the coffee table and loads of unfolded laundry on the couches.  I hauled all of the laundry onto one couch and grabbed the unsightly Cars sleeping bag that was heaped up in the middle of the floor and threw it on top of all the clothes to hide them.  Because that was all I had left in me and surely that shit would work...right?  I mean really would you even notice this.....

Would you think less of me?  Or that I was at least a little off?  Would you think....damn this woman has stooped to an all new low and has lost it?

Exactly!  I can't even see that large unsightly, red sleeping bag....sleeping bag?  What sleeping bag?  I mean as long as I think that, then it works right?  My visitor briefly let her eyes flutter in that direction, but she never mentioned it.  She also spent a total of 20 minutes here and never made it to my "clean" kitchen.  But she never mentioned the mess and for that I love her.

Yes, that is what I have stooped too.  Josh and I are picking up a few more sleeping bags for our next cocktail party.  Especially since the Caboose's new favorite activity is to create a mess like this in under 2 minutes.  Yes, 2 minutes, the approximate amount of time I have to take a shower these days.

My loves

Plain and simple.

An the universe throws me another curve ball

Today I took the youngest two tikes to see good ole' Dr. H.  Our ENT.  Noah had an appointment for a re-check.  The last time we saw Dr. H it was more of an emergent situation.  Noah was screaming in pain and I called begging for them to fit us in immediately....which they did considering we were under a tornado watch or warning at the time....whichever one it is that they actually see a tornado.  We were the only people there that day....no wonder they fit me in.

Anyway today was our "2 week check-up" to make sure the antibiotics that Dr. H gave Noah worked.  Well since the Universe thinks I am awesome with dealing with sickness, guess what....his ears are still infected.  Yep, Dr. H said Noah will once again need surgery to put tubes back in.  And then he so casually mentioned that while he was under we might as well take his adenoids and tonsils.  I knew that part was coming.  Then he asked where in the world my children got such large adenoids and tonsils?

This is where it all went to hell in a hand basket.  I said..."well I've never had an ear infection, but I do have abnormally large tonsils.  I've had lots of doctors trying to take those suckers out for years, but I wouldn't let them."  Big Mistake.  HUGE.  Dr. H then told me to open wide and say Ahh.  He peeked in with his super cool light and tongue depressor and said "Holy smoke they are huge....we have got to get them out of there." 

He asked if my throat was bothering me now....which it is.  He then asked what kind of medicine I was on....to which I said none.  He then said that they were infected now with lots of puss and stuff on them.  And that whether I liked it or not he was getting those tonsils out of there.  He then proceeded to sit me in his fancy chair and suction the disgusting stuff off my tonsils.....too much information.  That's why I put all the cute pictures. 

So after he was done with me. I asked him to peek into Margot's ears....you know for shits and giggles. She had just gotten the all clear on her ears last week from Dr. B, our pediatrician.  So we held Margot down so Dr. H could take a peek and again he said "Holy smoke has she got fluid in those ears....yep I have to do something about those ears too." 

I told him just last week they were fine, and he disagreed based on the amount of fluid in them and the consistency of it. He asked how long this had been going on and when I told him since November, he was a little blown away that we hadn't made it there with Margot's own appointment by now.

So the next thing I know, Dr. H's sweet nurse is putting all three of us on his surgery schedule.  And while I committed to a date for the two youngest tikes, I would not commit to a date for me.  No three for one special for me.  Come on, we have all heard of the scary tonsil removal in an adult story.  No way am I doing that.  I'll keep my tonsils and my funk with me and that is exactly what I told Dr. H.  He took me very serious to my word because before I could get everyone loaded up and in the car he had called Josh to break the news to him and made him promise to see my tonsillectomy through.

And that my friends is how it goes here.  Never a dull moment.  Never a doctor visit that says...things are going great.  See you next year.  Or even see you in three months, nope it is more of a "see you for surgery in a few weeks", or "we need to get this kidney stone out right away", or "you really need to get that MRI now", or "she will then follow up with a neurosurgeon on Thursday", or "we need to repeat her blood work in a month", or "your blood work came back abnormal for xyz and we need to draw some more". 

Yes, that is what we have been going through here on top of stomach bugs, viruses and ear infections.  And it is no freaking fun.  AT ALL.  Yes, Margot has a diagnosis of Congenital Hypothyroidism.  We have no other diagnosis for her at the this time.  She is growing well and meeting all her age appropriate milestones, but we do have a surgery scheduled now and we also have an MRI on the books for her, with a follow up appointment with a neurosurgeon.  We could use your thoughts and prayers.

Noah has a diagnosis of shitty ears and abnormally large tonsils.  I hear his surgery won't be pretty either.  Although it will be prettier than mine.  I'm guessing my mother of the year award will be in the mail for making him go first and me being too chicken to do it.  So when you are praying for my sweet baby girl, please pray for my baby boy as well.  And hell go ahead and throw a little prayer in that Meredith's tubes stay put or we will be doing a three for one special that day.

And that my friends is a small sampling of what my life has been like for the last 7 months.  Okay let's be honest.  The last 15 months.  Margot has kept us on our toes.  But she is perfectly healthy and perfectly, perfect.  And for that I am so very thankful.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures from my impromptu photo shoot with Margot and Noah.  I am by no means a photographer.  I have the fancy camera, but I just point and shoot and I know that is sad.  But at least I am taking it out again and taking pictures.  My motivation to do that lately has been overshadowed by my exhaustion.  But Margot is growing so fast these days andI know I need to document it.  You can also see how easy it is too take pictures of two children when one is named Noah.  You ought to see the outtakes of trying to photograph three.  Well hell the only way for you to do that is for me to show you, so tomorrow I will.

And one last photo of Margot in deep thought.....I wonder how long she is going to point that thing in my face and yell Margot....Margot....clearly if Noah doesn't need to listen, then neither do I. 

Since you've been gone...

Since you've been gone.....well since I've been gone, but the song doesn't say that so.....since you've been gone...here is a little of what you missed.  Condensed.  Trust me...you want the condensed version.  And because blogger and I are disagreeing over which orientation my pictures should be, this is now really condensed.  Damn you blogger!

Noah turned three and had a shark party to celebrate....

It was a join birthday party with his girlfriend Bella and all 6 of our kiddos matched...

Margot started eating baby food...and by the look on my face it must have been pretty tasty!

We once again took the kids to the north pole tea at the Roosevelt.

Noah was Joseph in a play and Bella was Mary.

For the most part Joseph sat still, but then......well he's three come on.

And they were the cutest Mary and Joseph ever, I think the star might have been a little jealous.

We made it to Christmas Eve Mass.

The guy in the big red suit and boy did he deliver...

and deliver.....

and deliver....

and deliver!

We snuggled and giggled and played, the entire two weeks Meredith had off for Christmas break.

Margot started sitting up by herself.

The kids took a train ride with Josh and got some funky looking cute train hats.

They were a tad excited about this experience.  Margot and I traveled by Yukon to pick them up from the following train station.  They beat us there, thanks to On-star.  That is a post for another day.

The Chaos

Even taking family photos with tikes is chaotic now!  This is the one and only we have of all of us, except for in the hospital.  Partially because as soon as we got everyone positioned in their matching outfits, the camera broke and partially because cooperation from three tikes is never going to happen simultaneously.  It's the way it works here.

Look at the hospital pictures if you don't believe me...chaos at it's best...that's how I would describe life now, good chaos.  These are our two family photos, I LOVE them.

 

Life really isn't bad, I mean it as chaotic as all get out, and still as crazy as this post, but not bad....it's good old fun chaos.  In fact I decided to change things up a little bit since Margot has come around.  Like my ass never hits the sofa anymore during the day.  And as you can tell from my blogging, it hardly ever hits the computer chair.  I do sit here often  and play bejeweled blitz, my biggest vice.  Mainly because I can do it with one hand while nursing and because Margot loves to watch all the bright colors moving so quickly.  It has nothing to do with my addiction to it at all...it has everything to do with nursing and Margot.

Other things I have started doing is making the bed!  I know, I now have three kids to get out the door on time, 2 lunches to make and I all of a sudden decided I cannot leave the house without the bed made.

I read two books and joined a book club.  I am sleep deprived and exhausted, but yet I stayed up very late several nights in the last two months to finish two books, The Help and The Castaways.  Both books I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

I also had someone plants tons of shrubs and bushes in my backyard that I am now have to water daily.  Just a few more living things, depending on me to take care of them.  I suck at gardening and anything green.  I am taking bets on how long these plants will live. 

I stay on top of the laundry or as on top of the laundry I can.  It is a never ending process and I never see the bottom of the basket, however everyone is always wearing clean underwear these days and not turning them inside out.  I've also enlisted the help of my children with this....hurry and run to call the child labor agencies on me.

I accepted the invitation to join the Junior Auxiliary. I think it is a wonderful organization that does wonderful things for the community. I added one more thing to my very full plate.

I once again, like the ladies on Wisteria Lane, am in the garden club. It hasn't helped me one bit in the past with my gardening skills, maybe this will be the year it does, if not I will go to the meetings and eat bon bons, like all the other stay at home moms.

I developed a new method for letting one know their gas tank is empty. I didn't find the light that most car manufacturers install to let one know an effective method at all.

I decided to tackle potty training my two year old.  It's a slow process and I am not doing so well....neither is he.  I'm going to blame it on the diarrhea.  Yeah that sounds good doesn't it.

I've decided the 8lbs of baby weight that won't fall off  looks good....I'm loving it.  My gym won't let me drop off Margot in the child care room until she is 6 months old.  I am currently scouting out places to get her a fake ID.

I have taken up the practice of letting people cook for me and my family and then devouring every last bite.  It went on for at least 5 weeks after Margot's birth.  I am so damn blessed to have such fabulous friends. I'm considering a 4th baby just so that I won't have to cook for 5 weeks again....kidding Joshua!

I now have a wake up time of 4:30am.  I'm not complaining because at least I'm not setting an alarm to wake my baby up like I was having to do.

I have taken up "spending time in doctors waiting rooms" as a hobby, I do it at least once a week, here are two of my favorite people doing it with me. 

I am becoming very well versed in the the condition of congenital hypothyroidism.  It has been many a topic of conversation around here lately.

I dispense medication like I have an RN behind my name instead of an SLP.


I enrolled my tikes at 2 different schools, because I thought waiting in two different car lines all the way across town from one another would be awesome...it's overrated, but they are both loving their schools and teachers, so I am confident I made the right decision for each of them.

I ate lunch with an adult friend with no kids for the first time today in well over 2 months.  Then I had to rush out and pick up kids at 2 different schools, but it was a nice change of pace to only have to worry about feeding two people instead of 4 and having an adult conversation while doing it.  **I realized after publishing this and talking with the friend I had lunch with, that I counted eating with just Margot as eating by myself.  Yes one child feels like being alone, three feels like a damn circus.

I let my kids take responsibility for putting on their own shoes in the morning.  Sometimes we go to school like this.  Yes, we both knew they were different, it's just what he chose to wear.  He is expressing his sense of style and creativity.  I was picking my battles.  Roll with it, I did.

I've become addicted to sister schubert's yeast rolls....they are so not helping my 8lbs.  But I cannot resist buying them in the grocery.  At least I've contained myself to only fixing them every other night!

I let my kids have a lot of say in what they are wearing these days.  Call it lazy, ridiculous, absurd or you can just call it smart parenting like I do.  His sister picked the outfit, he picked the hat, and I picked the lime green crocs to go with it.

I've also let them start fixing their own hair....it helps on days when we got like 30 seconds left to get out the house before I miss the car lines at both the schools.  And if I miss them I would have to get out and walk them in....in my pj's.....that is my motivation people....CAR LINES!

 

So that is an update on me I promise to give one on each of the kids this week too.  And here is one of my butter bean, because she is too cute for words.  She is literally growing right out of her bouncy seat.  I stinkin' love it!  Although she is getting way too big too fast!

Dear Time,

What the hell is going on?  I swear it was just last week that I was wrapping up the summer and starting my three year old in 3 year old preschool and my baby in mother's day out.  Last week....not almost 9 months ago.  Where has the school year gone?  And no I'm not complaining that my babies are now going to be home with me 5 full days in the week and weekends too.  I'm absolutely not the one complaining, it's my babies that are complaining.

Meredith is convinced that she is the only one being kept out of school for the summer.  After many days explaining that school is almost over and all the kids will be staying home I have given up...I am now telling her "Yes, I am keeping you home to torture myself while all the other kids go to school just like normal."  She is having a really hard time with this.  I am too....wasn't it just August 2009.  I know in a few years she will be counting down the days, hours and minutes until the summer, but we just aren't there yet.  The end of this school year means I only have one more school year before she trots off to big school all day.  Before she is in kindergarten and gone forever!

Not to mention that in a few short months my baby....yes baby who will be three this year.....three for God's sake....will be starting preschool.   How could you let this happen?  He was just cooing and babbling and learning to walk.  Preschool....three freaking years old.  What are you doing to me?  He's not ready for school.  I'm not ready for him to be in school.  He's my little buddy, my extra appendage.  He's not a very ueseful appendage in the sense of folding clothes faster or washing dishes faster...he's more of an appearance appendage, but still I'm going to feel like it was amputated in a few months when the summer has also come and gone.  And that's going to be really hard on me! 

I know this summer will be filled with lots of fun activities and there will never be a dull moment.  Between bible schools, dance camps, swimming lessons, art camp and many afternoons of baby pools in the driveway with popsicles we will be very busy.  I also know that it will be over before I know it.

So yes, I am complaining right now.....because I'm not ready for summer.  I'm not ready, because that time always goes way too fast.  Because you lay your head down one night in May and you wake up in August and you have no clue where the time went in between the two.  Because all too quickly Target will take all the inflatable stuff for pools down and fill it with pencils and crayons and lunch boxes.  I'm no fool time, I know how this works.

And let's be really honest come summer, it won't just be the two tikes, but three tikes.  And I'm just not ready for that yet.  I thought I had 9 months to prepare....what happened...now I have a little over two....how did this happen time?  I'm not ready for Noah not to the be the baby....I'm not sure I can handle three.  I know what is coming, I thought I was busy before I was only kidding myself.  Because in two and a half very short months I'm gonna have one more tiny mouth to feed and tiny heiny to wipe. And part of me can't wait to meet my new baby girl, but part of me is scared to death.  And is not that I fear I won't love her like I love the other two, I know I will love her as completely as I love my other two.  But I am scared to death.  I mean really, three kids to feed, dress and corral out the door soon.  I'm not sure I can do it.

How about we just stop time for a little while and live life here, not moving forward or back, but enjoying the moment and the cool weather?  Because see time, that's my other thing.  Mother nature is not on my side and in a month or two it's going to be like a 109 degrees with a heat index of 130 degrees and no I'm not exaggerating. I'm pregnant, so come July when the temperature is breaking my thermostat because it doesn't read temps that high, I will be cursing you and mother nature.  So let's just hang out here in April...how does that sound?

sincerely,
one momma scared out of her mind!

how quickly we forget....how quickly we learn

Today Josh and I headed an hour and a half north to the big city.  We had an appointment with a perinatologist to check out a few things with our new baby girl.  After our appointment, which was great, we decided to spend the day together without children.....thanks Mimi! 

A little back story....At my 20 week ultrasound, we learned the baby looked great, was a girl and that I still had a cyst in my uterus that appeared to be attached to my placenta.  The cyst was also there at my 6 and 10 week ultrasounds and we assumed it was a hematoma and would go away.  That wasn't the case.

We met Dr. P today and he confirmed I do in fact have a beautiful, perfectly round subchorionic placental cyst.  It was really weird to see, a perfect, little circle in ther with the baby.  The doctor and ultrasound tech were pretty amazed.  The good news is, it is no where near the cord and at this time, it is not causing any problems with the baby or her development.  Dr. P also said that he doesn't foresee any major problems, but he did tell us he does not have a crystal ball to predict exactly what will happen in the future.  This type of cyst is pretty rare according to him and each case can be very different depending on where the cyst is located and how big it is.  He has recommended that my regular ob follow up with a series of ultrasounds during my regular appointments to closely monitor the cyst to make sure it doesn't cause any constriction of fetal growth or any other issues.  Overall he was very positive and so was I....at least while I was in his office....I tend to worry a lot, if you don't know me. 

However, I have to confess for this pregnancy I have been pretty laid back in the worrying department.  Maybe it is due to the fact that I now have 2 tikes to chase and haul around and I really don't have time to get my head on straight to worry so much.  If I'm not doing laundy, cooking, playing choo choos or princesses, then I am way too exhausted to do anything other than sit and veg out.  So honestly, I had forgotten how much pregnant women do truly worry until my ultrasound 2 weeks ago.  Then the worrying mode kicked in to full gear.  With both of my other healthy and uneventful pregnancies, I worried constantly.  I think Dr. B saw me weekly for some crazy reason or another when I was pregnant with Meredith; and with Noah not quite weekly, but definitely bi-monthly.  My reasons for going to the ob were lots of things....the baby wasn't moving, the baby was moving too much, false contractions, pre-term labor, unexplained pain, uti's, or just because I haven't seen you in a while doc!,etc, etc. 

With the caboose I rarely have a second to worry in between appointments and when I get my reminder call 2 days before my appointment I honestly say to myself...."really it's been 4 weeks already?"   Then I had this huge scare with my cyst and I remembered real quick what it is to be pregnant and worried constantly.  The good news is, that the baby  is healthy and looks great, so each morning I will remind myself of that and go on about the day.

After our appointment, Josh and I spent the day together alone, we had lunch and we went shopping, in which we picked up a new ride (stroller) for the baby.  Why did I need a new stroller you may ask?  Because after Noah was born I swore I would never go through that again and was totally done with having chldren and so I sold everything baby related at our garage sale, except the crib and my children.  That means this baby needs a new car seat, high chair, swing  and a new ride.  I know....how quickly one can forget, I am sure as I am prepping for surgery early one morning in July I will remember why I said I wasn't doing it again......and then when I meet my baby girl, I will quickly forget all over again.

In the baby store today, Josh and I were like first time parents.  We had no idea how to get the car seat out of the base or how to put it in a stroller or how to fold the stroller.  I mean there was a label with pictures to show us and we still couldn't' figure the damn thing out.  We also have two kids, both who needed strollers and car seats and we used them successfully when they were babies.  After our frustration level got a little high we grabbed a stroller, forgot the rest and headed out of the store running.....determined to just relax on our day.  I'm hoping all this baby business comes back to us soon.... I mean I only have another 4 months to remember!

So to my caboose, while I may have forgotten a lot of things about babies and pregnancies I do know this.  I know that I don't need to worry about how I can love another child as much as I love the first two, because I already love you as much.  And I know that I don't need all that baby gear to be a mom, nope....I just need to make sure you are fed, changed, loved and not dumped on the floor by your big, jealous brother or smothered by your proud, new, big sister.  The rest I am sure will come to me as we go...you are just going to have to be my go with the flow baby...don't worry, we will quickly remember it all and if not we will figure it out along the way.

N-E-G-L-E-C-T

My new name for the blog, you like it?  Me too.  The poor neglected blog.  At the insistence of my babysitter, my good friend and my husband I will come back to my poor neglected blog.  Why haven't I blogged?  Because I have spent loads less time online and when I am online I am so addicted to bejeweled blitz, I cannot find the few minutes a day to head over here. 

I used to blog while was working, yes I have also majorly neglected that blog as well.  For the record, my online stationery store is open and has been open for a while, I might update that blog soon too, so I can let everyone else know as well.  However at some point in the last 6 months, I have transformed my home office into a pink princess bedroom, complete with pink walls and a hot pink ceiling, and moved my office downstairs to share with my husband.  And since my kids no longer nap and keep me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I don't have time to sit at a desk and leisurely upload pictures and then blog.  When I do sit I take every minute to work and play bejeweled blitz, it's a sickness I tell ya!  And at night I can't sit and upload pics and blog, because my husband is typically holed up in his office working or paying the bills and doing whatever it is that husbands do in their office, like watch ESPN.

But enough excuses about why I NEGLECT the blog.  The important thing is, is that I'm back.  I have been very busy since I last blogged, some things I may actually go back and blog about, others I just won't. So if there is something you want to hear about, like my fantastic roast beef poboy, tell me.   But since I vowed to make this blog into a book for my kids and I am only several years behind on that too, I am going to start blogging again regularly, at least until our third little bundle of joy gets here to keep me up all night and reminds me of all the joys of motherhood and what it is to function on two hours of sleep.  Yes, until then.  So here is what when down since you heard or "read" me ramble on last....in no particular order...

- I went to Miami
- My team won the freaking Superbowl...no shit!
- I cried when they did.
- I sat in Sun Stadium as they did it!
- We had the most awesome experience there and funny tales to tell about it, I might blog about some.

- My baby girl is started growing up and surprised me with some of things she says

- My baby boy started getting too cute for words
- He has gotten sassy

- The kids and I painted with a jaguar
- I thought I was going to die...figured out it was only a kidney stone
- Passed the kidney stone with no pain medication....would NOT recommend that

- I ate one of the best damn roast beef poboys ever and have been craving it since

- I booked the location for Meredith's 4th birthday party

- I took several trips to the zoo

- I took several trips to the playground

- I went on the best picnic ever with my little family
- I was a single mother for a week
- I went out on a girls night...okay a few

- I attended 2 valentine parties

- I played in the snow AGAIN in SOUTH MISSISSIPPI

- I decided that global warming was not as serious as Al Gore proposed

- I read 4 books, yes I've been reading instead of blogging
- I've felt the caboose kick everyday....alot...this caboose may be a soccer player or a field goal kicker one day!

- I attended a conference to continue my speech therapy license, just in case I ever need it again

- I've eaten more Big Macs than I should have, pregnancy cravings...not my fault

- My most frequent restaurant ever became McDonald's

- I have been going to the gym...damn McDonald's

- I watched our priest, the one who baptised Meredith and Noah on Jay Leno

- I also saw him on TMZ.com....yes our priest who does mass on Sundays....seriously

- I am currently craving a roast beef poboy from short stop

- I decided strawberries are my new favorite food along with Big Macs and roast beef poboys

- I am also loving french fries

- I have gained 14 pounds....I'm pregnant...it's good to gain weight right?

- I found out I have a placental cyst and am heading to see a specialist to make sure everything is okay with the caboose

- I found out the caboose is going to be a LITTLE GIRL!

- I picked out a name for our little girl, with some help from my husband

- I went on a shopping spree by myself and bought her some "new" newborn clothes, poor baby isn't getting much else new, at least not yet.

Well there you go, tomorrow I will regale you with stories from the Superbowl and our experience of painting with the jaguar and about finding out the sex of our caboose and update you on the cyst.  Why, because I just finished my last book and taking two kids to the bookstore right now only results in me sitting by the train table and not perusing the books.  So yes, I'll blog again at least until July or until I get a new book to read.

Later peeps....have you missed me?

Where I'm at...

Here goes some rambling because honestly I've got nothing for you.  I'm feeling better....better, not great.  I'm still sluggish and throw up every other day to every three days.  That's great, but not at all would be so much better.  I still get  nauseated daily, but not getting sick.  Which means I'm gaining weight, I know, now I'm throwing up and gaining weight.  4lbs in a month!  4lbs!  I would like to blame it on the muscle gain since I've started back regularly at the gym, but I'm going to go with it has to do with all the shit I have been eating since I've gotten an appetite back and am not worshipping the porcelain gods!

Now if I could only do something about the extreme fatigue.  You would think officially being in my second trimester I wouldn't be not so tired. I think working out at the gym kicks my ass at night.  Although I feel great doing it and right after, I am exhausted by about 4:30.  Maybe it's the gym and the tikes that wear me down.  Hell they wore me down before I was preggers, now I'm really dragging ass!  I know, I'm not winning mother of the year award lounging on the couch.  On a good note, I have started cooking again.  The kids are happy.  They hate to eat out.  Or they don't eat out.  We buy them extravagantly priced chicken nuggets for them to waste, but if I cook at home they gobble it down.  So back to cooking it's been.

The kids are great.  Busy, but great.  Noah started mother's day out 2 days a week....he LOVES it.  He loves to ask continuously "what dat noise?"  And whenever you ask him why?  He responds with "Because said so!"  He also wants to "wide in big twuck momma!"  He says that when he sees any 18 wheeler, garbage truck or any other larger truck on the road.  When I try and explain that he can't he gets really upset and cries.  Then he ask "wanna touch twuck momma!"  He is very verbal, he knows what he wants and he tells you what he wants.  Listening to him working on forming sentences warms my heart, you can tell he is the child of a "speech teratist!"  He generally is a very good child, he listens well, he shares when told with tears, but he shares.  He doesn't get into too much trouble, but he is busy.  BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!  He never sits still, well except for when he fell asleep on the hard wood floor in front of the tv which had one of the daily soap operas on.  Is that it, soap opera?  I think I called them soap bops when I was little.  Hell I don't know, I don't watch them, this one just happen to be on and he was too tired to ask me to put toons on instead.

Meredith is Meredith.  Serious as ever.  At night she plays Dr. B.  The girl one, because my Dr. B, the boy one who is the ob, is married  to her Dr. B, the girl one who is the pediatrician.  Did you get that?  The Dr. B's are married, the boy an ob, the girl a pediatrician.  I refer to them as girl and boy, because that's what she does.  They are really man and woman, with 4 of their own busy tikes!  Anyway every night she is Dr. B, the girl one, however she delivers the baby in this scenario, like the boy one does in real life.  So I lay on the couch, sofa, floor, wherever she tells me while she checks my vitals and then the Margot's, then she yells " Call the AMBULANCER" (yes I said ambulancer, isn't it cute!) and then she starts shouting things like "Don't worry, Ms. Mandi....I'M GONNA GET THAT BABY OUT!"  Yes, I am very worried when my 3 1/2 year old shouts things like that.  How can you not worry?  I'm thinking she might be a surgeon one day....she has absolutely no bed side manners.  She is also pregnant right now.  Yes, she is also carrying a girl baby, who she has named Girl Tate.  It's more of a double first name then a first and middle name.  Every morning I hear...."Momma your belly is getting so big!"  And I thank her for noticing those 4lbs I put on this month.  Then she retorts with "well look at mine it's getting so big too!  Don't you think?"  So then I comment on her every growing belly.  She is seriously too much, her imagination is awesome.  I love it!

Speaking of growing belly, today a few ladies in my circuit training class noticed the baby bump.  It is there.  I was 17 weeks with Meredith before I showed.  I'm still wearing all of my own jeans and shirts.  Although the bump is totally there.  I mean it is hard to hide it in yoga pants and a tight fitting yoga shirt.  Oh well, I'm preggers right.  

So there you go internets, that's where I'm at.....what about you?  What's going on?

Greetings from the Artic Tundra

No, I'm not seriously in the arctic tundra, I'm still here is South Mississippi, where it was 21 degrees.....read that people 21 degrees when I woke up this bright and early this morning.  With a wind chill of 15 degrees.....yes, I said FIFTEEN degrees...I didn't even know the temperatures could go that low here in the South. I mean we are in the South, not as southern as I used to be down in New Orleans, but still pretty freaking South.  The kids and I are so not used to it.  I mean putting on jackets and hats to head outside, it's just plain easier to stay in. 

Tomorrow though that all changes, Meredith goes back to preschool, with a hat and gloves, and thermal underwear if wehad any!  Yep, tomorrow we have to head out the house in these frigid conditions.  Tomorrow means back to our reality.  Back to the gym, back to the school, back to dance, back to all the other errands that I normally run.  I've really enjoyed our Christmas break, I'm sure when the tikes enter big school, I will enjoy these breaks even more so. 
We have had lots of fun during our time off, we went on a little overnight stay, saw many christmas lights, seen movies, rode in a horse drawn open sleigh, made smores over a firepit, made Christmas cookies, took art lessons, had multiple playdates with friends, lots of Christmas parties, unwrapped many a present, visited with often not seen family, hung out with cousins, spent many a day in our pajamas, spent many morning watching Cars in my warm bed snuggled together, we laughed, smiled and were just plain merry.  The time has flown, I'm gonna miss having my big girl home with us every morning, but she is really excited to get back to school and dance and back to seeing her little friends.  She misses them and her teacher Mrs. K. 

So, so long Christmas break, we look forward to meeting up with you again next year!

A new year....anticipating lots of new adventures

I have to say that 2009 was a great year.  I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, 2 fabulous tikes who mean more to me and my husband than anything and another blessing on the way.  I mean seriously, it's just been a great ride.  Every year that I have known my husband has gotten better and better.  Saying I'm a lucky girl doesn't even begin to cover it. 

So, I am very sad to see 2009 go.....well some of it.  There were some events (uh-hm major rennovation) that I thought would never end.  Just thinking about it is causing me to break out in hives.   However, there were many great memories and a new year means my kids are getting another year older, more independent and growing up.  Time waits for no one. 

So here is a recap on some of the highlights and lowlights of this year, I mean what's the good without the bad:     Noah started walking, we put our house up for sale,   we took our first camping trip,  I turned 30 , I suffered with kidney stones again,  Meredith turned 3,  our house came off the market and started down the path of losing one's insanity,  the construction started, we went on one of our 3 beach vacays and came home to hell on earth, my sister graduated from law school,  we had our first dance recital, we went back to the beach, the remodel continued,  I began drinking heavily, I started going back to the gym, one tike became pacifier free,  I went insane, but I got a new kitchen and living room,  we went back to the happiest place on earth,  I avoided you for a long time, Noah turned 2, I found out I was pregnant and that pretty much sums up our year.

Ahhh, the trip down memory lane.  I didn't think I would do that, but it was fun.  My blogs were also way more entertaining in the beginning of the year if I may say so myself.  Read entertaining if my mundane life, entertains you.  

Anyway 2010 is here.  I'm back I am anticipating no major life changes this year....besides adding another little mouth to feed, gaining 40 pounds, hopefully losing it to, undergoing my 3rd c-section and you know becoming the mom to three tikes ages 4 and under......now that doesn't sound like anything life altering.  I mean I will not be putting the house up for sale or doing any more major remodeling projects, yes, nothing remotely close to any of that.
Happy New Years interenets!  I hope there are many new and exciting adventures awaiting you this year too!

I'm back....but making no promises

Well here is my first blog in almost forever.  I had to just take a break.  For a while I quit reading blogs, quit blogging, in fact I went ahead and took my own blog out of my favorites.  Life just felt like it was too much and as much as I wanted to head over here and write down the million cute things my kids were doing and saying or blog about birthdays and holidays and every little mundane thing in between I couldn't.  Seriously, I could not bring myself to even log in to blogger.

In the last week or so I started trying to catch up on blogs, it made me miss mine.  A lot.  Then I had several request by friends (mainly Carrie) to please blog.  And then one from my husband.  So that did it for me.  At least two people missed me!  I'm not promising to be here everyday,but I feel the urge to blog again so here I am. 

Playing catch up. That probably won't happen.  But I will blog about my birthday boy whose birthday I neglected on the blog.  And since this blog is for them to one day read, I will definitely post that soon.  Noah man, I am sorry.  I just needed a moment.  One day you will understand that.  Or maybe I am just preparing you for middle child syndrome now.

In other news.  In case you haven't heard Internets.  I am preggers with number 3.  The caboose.  And yes there is only one little caboose in there with a nice strong heartbeat.  Along with two very large polyps, but that is another worry for another day.  What is life without something to worry about your children.  This has been the month of worries for me.  I am hoping next year will be a lot less worrisome.  I am also hoping in the next week or so I can stop vomiting, but I'm not expecting that to happen either.   For the record little caboose, I have been sicker with you than I was with either your big sister or big brother.   

Noh a big brother....WOW that is scary....I hope saying that gets less scary in the next 32 weeks!  I have to admit the thought of having three little stepping stones soon scares the crap out of me, but I'm ready!

So here I am back in action.  I hope you all have missed me.  Expect some more of me and a whole new look soon. I think the look was really getting me down.  Yeah it had nothing to do with my exhaustion, life, anxiety or pure laziness when it came to blogging.....it was all the look.

Welcome back interenets!  I hope you are still around and continue to come back.