Friday, July 31, 2009
nine...but we are gonna call it 6
we have, what seems to be a very workable schedule going. chad feeds the kids breakfast before he leaves for the office mondays through thursdays. my mom comes at 10 am on mondays and tuesdays and stays until he can get home in the afternoon. on mondays, she does the laundry...even washing and changing the sheets!! i can sit on the couch and help fold...which i actually like doing because i feel like i'm helping a little. on every other tuesday, we have...GET THIS...a sweet lady that is coming to clean the house. this will happen until i get to 36 weeks and can safely do it again!! thanks to miss ann for her name and number and for "loaning" her to us. my sweet mother in law offered to help us in this way and it makes me giddy just thinking about it!! i do love a clean house and i do love the idea of someone else doing it and i do love the idea of it being done on a regular basis!!!! thanks sue! then, on wednesday morning, honey (my sweet grandmother) comes, spends wed night with us and is here on thursdays too. all of my doctor's appointments are on thursday mornings while she is here, so that makes that easier. then, chad is off on fridays, saturdays, and takes the kids to church with him on sundays. i made a breakfast and lunch plan that will remain the same each week, so whoever is here can just look at the fridge and know exactly what the kids are supposed to have to eat without any questions. this also helps chad with the grocery shopping each week. it's basically the same list every week. (not that he doesn't come home with the occasional box of lucky charms that was NOT on the list) then...the other huge help are the dinners that are coming every other night from friends!!!! they don't know how forward i look to the hot meal and especially the visit with them! let's face it...at this point...one of my consistant excitements is "what am i gonna eat next?" :)
so...1 week down and i feel like a pro at sitting.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
ten
i have been put on bedrest for the duration of the pregnancy. technically, until 36 weeks...(same as with aiden)...when they will take me off and let things happen. the hospital stay was not entirely bad. the bad part...chad being out of town and me really wanting him there with me. the bright side...a little sleep aid known as ambien. anyhow...the facts are:
1. dilated to 1 cm (not super uncommon for a fourth pregnancy at this stage in the game)
2. short cervix (also not uncommon with 4th and how low she is and all the pressure i'v felt since about 12 weeks)
3. 0 station (still unsure about this one...but i'm doing everything i can to keep her up high in my uterus and not on my cervix-short of standing on my head)
hence the bed rest and drinking more water than i thought humanly possible. i think i got up to pee 6 times in the night last night. and that is conservative compared to what it is during the day. i'm allowed to get up to go to the bathroom; take a shower or bath; get my water and a small snack that doesn't have to be prepared. no cleaning, laundry, cooking, carrying kids, going upstairs, etc.etc.etc. this isn't my first rodeo with this arrangement. it happened with aiden at 30 weeks. i was somewhat expecting it this time, but really hoping my body would last. the doctor didn't think i would have trouble when we started talking about having a 4th because we thought it was caused by a virus, fever and dehydration with aiden...so we thought the chances of it happening again were slim. however, i had a feeling a little while back that we may be in the same situation toward the end because of how similar aiden's little sister's pregnancy is to her's. anyway...here we are.
when i first got home from the hospital, i was struggling with being really down and wondering how i was going to lay here for 10 weeks...not because my body felt like getting up and running around the block a few times but because of how lonely you get. that's what i remember from last time. i'm feeling better now. a new week has started and we have a plan in place. a good friend has already put a meal plan in place and my mom and grandmother are on duty mondays through thursday. annslee and i both owe you all.
i intend to keep this updated on a regular basis. after all...i've got some time on my hands!!
9 weeks 5 days and counting...
Friday, July 17, 2009
the new latchkey kids
Saturday, July 11, 2009
everyone's just livin' life around here
chad and i went to austin for a couple of days and my parents kept the kids for us. that was fun. we were only back 2 days before we drove the 17 hours to iowa. we were there for 10 days and then we were only back 2 days before chad had to leave for a church planter's training at mark driscoll's church in seattle and his master's work at fuller in california. it would sure be nice to have some sort of relaxing vacation...like in hawaii...for a couple of weeks to end the summer. however, traveling is the opposite of relaxing for me, so even if i was relaxing while i was there (as much as you could relax being in the 3rd trimester of a 4th pregnancy while watching 3 young kids on the beach) i would most likely be stressed and tired again by the time we got home.
i'm trying to muster up the energy each day to do something fun with the kids. i don't want them to be bored. i am taking them to space center houston next week to see all the star wars exhibits, but i'm actually dreading being on my feet the whole time. do you think anyone would notice if i took a lawn chair or something? maybe i can talk my mommy into going with me! :)
kevin is leaving for a european excursion tomorrow. it is weird to think that by the time everyone gets back and settled again, it will be almost time to start school. the plus...closer to baby time! he was telling me of all his plans yesterday...vienna; germany; prague; the beaches of croatia; etc...and i told him of my new and exciting brunch/dinner schedule. i started feeling sorry for myself for a second...thinking that he was really living and i was so hum drum...but then the funniest thing happened: i felt my little, baby girl kick inside me and at that i smiled and thought...now, that's life!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
F.S.M.
Turkey Bacon and Light Mayo Sandwiches (I enjoyed 2 fat slices of tomato on mine!! no lettuce please.)
Peaches & Cream Corn on the Cobb
Tomato Slices w/ salt and pepper
Pink Lemonade
It hit the spot and everyone (including the kids) raved that it was the best meal ever and even said that I was the best "cooker" in the world. And everyone knows that's not true!!
Oh yeah...honorable mention goes to Aiden Annee-Grace, who ate 3 ears (is that how you spell that in the context of corn?) of corn. She was covered in butter from head to toe!! It was even in her hair. That... I should have taken a picture of.
Friday, May 29, 2009
we love our sons and daughter.......S!!
so...here is where you come in. we know what her name is and each have our favorite spelling...but thought it would be fun to take a vote. what is your favorite spelling of this little girl's name?
1. Ansley
2. Anslee
3. Anslie
4. Ansleigh
5. Anslye
6. Annsley
7. Annslee
8. Annslie
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
barrettes are for girls
and swimming (YEAH!).
chad started things off on saturday with a little painting. i'm happy to say that i helped him by dusting the woodwork so that the tape would stick when he went to tape the room off. i used to think that i was good at such projects...the detail of the taping, the edging, the color picking outing...however i find myself getting edged right out of the situation. which is really fine by me because i H-A-T-E painting. being pregnant, i find, is a great excuse to not have to feel guilty about not being around to help. my job was to...like i said...dust the molding and clear everything out of the bathroom before chad got to it. (he had already prepared aiden's new, big girl room.) and i did just that. then...i took the kids to my parents to hang out there for the day in order to leave chad to his masterful work in peace. the smell is not good for me or the kids and the windows needed to be open upstairs. my rules...no windows open upstairs with kids in the house. and...no kids around paint.
he finished it in 1 day and i loved coming home to the finished product. well...almost finished. my jobs also include getting the rooms put back together.
today, we (i) made a picnic lunch and then we took the kids to the pool. they were loving this little outing. we (they) swam a while and then we ate lunch. after getting in the pool to cool off a little, chad and i were able to lounge and watch the kids play. during adult swim, all the kids get in the baby pool. this is where we could have potentially had a problem. chase, true to form was making friends with everyone there and we overheard him chatting with an older boy. i'd say he was about 10 or 11. i heard chase ask him what his name was. i did not hear the boy answer, but did hear chase respond with, "that's a girl name." now, i knew he was not meaning this to be rude...he was legitimately confused. the boy must have said, "what?" because chase repeated himself and i immediately called chad's attention to the potential issue. luckily, the kid just sorta shrugged and went on and luckily they called all swim...so he left the baby pool. i called chase over to us and he was very confused as to why he was being called down. we asked him what he said to the boy. he said..."i said that he had a girl name." chad said, "what was his name?" chase said, "bret." chad said, "that's a boy's name." chase said, "no it's not. it's what aiden wears in her hair. you know. barrette."
i was rolling. seriously stifling the laughter. chad said, "no chase...it's bret. and it's a boy's name." i said, "even if his name was kristen, don't tell an older and bigger kid that he has a girl's name." chase shrugged and said ok and trotted back to the pool. chad and i just looked at each other with big eyes and laughed some more. you really can't argue with his logic.
Monday, May 18, 2009
you spin me right round...
we have small group at our house every sunday night, starting at 5:30. my brother, kevin has been having 2-a-days ever since he was put on the fight card for a june fight and decided to take colton to train with him last night. colton had been wanting to go and last night was perfect for him to go watch because it was just kevin, one of his training partners and his coach. colton got to punch around on the bags, learn some techniques and watch kevin in action. however, that left chase and aiden to take care of themselves upstairs during group. normally, we set them up in the movie room and let colton "watch" them and it works out fine. why spend $25 every sunday night on a babysitter when colton can do it? well...chad and i wondered how it would go without colton (the responsible one) to keep an eye on the decision making of the younger ones, but figured we would give it a go. how much trouble could they really get into? this, i have now learned is never really the question...but only a matter of options. they could not be in the movie room because we had been cleaning out the guest bedroom, turning it into aiden's big girl room all day and it was full of holiday bins and gift wrap stuff. so, we put them in pj's, tucked them into the boy's beds and put a special movie on. i told them that they would get to get up after group was over, but to stay there for the movie. "okay," they said. at least i thought they said okay.
about 1/2 the way into group, i started having that mommy instinct that i should go check on them. i hadn't really heard anything...but just had that feeling. i made a mental note to do that at the next lull in the conversation only i heard both of them on the stairs before i had the chance. i met them half way up the stairs and aiden was holding a part of the ceiling fan chain in her hand. she informed me that chase had "broken the fan in his room". chase began explaining the "accident". he said, "i just wanted to hold onto the fan and spin around, but it broke and it was an accident." all the while, he was doing the full body motion of hanging from a ceiling fan while letting it spin him around in the air. i was somewhat in shock that he would actually try this, while also thinking, "why have i not addressed this as a no go before?" i should have known one of them would try it. luckily, when he jumped from his bed, he only grabbed the chains, and not the fan blades...which were spinning at the time. only the chains broke and not the entire fan. i guess the group had heard some of the commotion because when i walked back into the living room, they were just kind of looking at me. i calmly said, "yeah...we need colton to watch them. chase just tried to hang from his fan and spin around." most of the other moms looked at me with their mouths hanging open while the dad's said, "that's awesome!!"
i tossed the fan part to chad and said, "could you please go explain to your son why he can't spin from fans."
Thursday, May 07, 2009
not my best afternoon
everything went great until the getting to aiden's school to pick her up part. the freeway was closed and it was stand still along the feeder. glancing at the clock, i figured i would only be about 5 minutes late. no big deal. 5 minutes ended up being 10 and when i got to the school, she was 1 of 2 kids left. i already felt like a criminal at that point. however, it was about to get worse. i rounded the doorway and saw her teacher...ready to go home (if it weren't for the delinquent mom's who don't pick up their kids on time) and she said, "is everything okay?" i said, "yeah...it's just that getting here from the north is impossible with the freeway shut down." she just looked at me and said, "you do realize you missed the mother's day party today." this was more of a statement than a question. i, in complete horror and shock said, "WHAT????" she proceeded to tell me that it had been written in the news letter AND that she had sent an e-mail on tuesday. how could i have possibly missed it? i felt terrible. aiden was playing on the other side of the room and had missed the whole exchange and all i wanted to do was run to her and profusely apologize and tell her that i would buy her a pony to make up for my thoughtless mistake. that's when the teacher said, "yeah...she was 1 of only 3 kids whose mom's didn't come. she was pretty upset." ok. not only was i buying her a pony...but we were now taking a trip to disney world. i called for her and she skipped over to me and said, "mooooommmmmmyyyyyy" in her most loving and happy tone. had she forgiven me? she was talking to me. that was a good sign. i apologized and told her how sorry i was. i started crying like a baby and she said that it was okay. she gave me my presents that she had made which turned the knife in my heart a little more. in the car, on the way to the boy's school, we went over all the details of the party so that we can re-create it at home tomorrow. we are going to the grocery store in the morning to get all the same snacks and paper plates, etc.
fast forward to the boy's school. i delivered the pedicure gift card without a hitch, and checked both the boys out of their classes with only 5 minutes left in the school day. it was at this point that i realized i didn't have my keys. i combed chase's teacher's class...listened to the kids come up with all kinds of stories about who "took" them...and retraced my steps to the office where i thought i may have layed them down. keep in mind that all this traipsing about was happening with 3 kids following me around, just wanting to go home. we got out to the car and i saw them in my purse. through the windows. of the locked car. now...i didn't really feel bad about this because it was my first time to lock the keys in the car and i have driven all over creation rescuing chad from the very same dilemma on multiple occasion. i went and used chase's teacher's phone to call my knight in shining armour to come to our rescue. the conversation went like this:
mindy: "chad...i'm at the school and i locked the keys in the car."
chad: "how did you do that?"
mindy: "oh, i don't know. similar to the way you've done it a bazillion times."
chad: "silence."
we decided that i would start walking home with the kids instead of standing on the curb waiting. he would meet us at home to unlock the house. about 1/8th of the way into the trip, i said, "come on kids! this is like an adventure!!" that's when aiden started screaming that her foot hurt. her new flips had rubbed a blister and it was then that i had to go barefoot in order to convince her that it was ok to go barefoot. about 1/2 way into the trip, we ran into an unfortunate dead rat in the middle of the sidewalk. it was all furry and looked like it was sleeping. only with bugs on it. the kids...just seeing the tale of desperoux, didn't like that. and neither did i for that matter. i told them to walk in the grass to get around it and aiden freaked out about walking in the grass without her shoes. i ended up having to carry her. i couldn't look at that rat another minute. it was then that i decided that this had not been one of my finer afternoons.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
confusion at its best
the real entertainment came on the drive home from the ice cream parlor...and i do love calling it that. it makes me feel like i live in the early 60's or on the brady bunch or something. we have 2 family shows that we all watch together weekly. the first is dancing with the stars and the second is american idol. in the car...on this particular night, the conversation turned to dwts. aiden was informing us that melissa was out of the competition this week due to "dropping her ribbons." in actuality, she had overheard the announcer speaking of a rib injury and mistaked it for dropping her hair ribbons. when i asked her to clarify, she said, "you know...she lost her bows!" bruised ribs...hair ribbons...same difference. she can't compete.
chase, who is totally and completely fascinated with gilles (all due to the superman dance that he did at the beginning of the season) informed us all for the bazillionth time that he was, in fact going to be like gilles when he grew up and do a dance on dwts and rip open his shirt to reveal a big super S on his chest.
when one is listening intently and is somewhat befuddled by the actual conversation happening between her 3 very unique and entertaining kids in the backseat, you can understand how one may or may not completely tune out what is playing on the radio. it would not be unheard of to not realize that a "questionable" song was playing, rather loudly, throughout the vehicle. it was when it got quiet and i heard...and i quote..."she moves her body like a cyclone. she makes me want to do it all night long," that i turned it off with haste. i then said, "wow...that was a song about the iowa state cyclones," attempting to do damage control. there was a short silence followed by colton saying, "that didn't sound like no fight song to me."
Monday, April 27, 2009
my big little man
colton has been steadily improving all season and is somewhere in the middle of the batting order. he rarely missed, but he always grounded it mid field somewhere. he had a late game a couple of weeks ago where during both his at bats, he struck out. he was visibly frustrated and developed a less than desirable attitude at home as a result of his "1 game slump". so...here we are at his next game. "get back on the horse." "shake it off." "quick bat." he was feeling in pretty good spirits when i dropped him at the field, annnnd i "accidentaly" left his "unlucky" bat at home. i told the team mom who stays in the dugout with the boys that we wanted him to use another kid's 17 oz bat. (his is 19 oz.) his first at bat, he struck out. uh oh. this is not going to be good. he came up again and tension was high. he was a bundle of nerves and i was yelling from the stands that it was his turn. "you have this, baby." 1 pitch...strike 1. 2nd pitch...strike 2. "come on colton...you can do this!" 3rd pitch...SMACK!! a beautiful line drive down the 3rd base line to the fence!! i could barely contain myself. i was not even embarrassed by my pregnant belly flopping around as i jumped up and down in the stands. everyone went nuts because he knocked in our leading run. as he stopped on second base, he gave the ole' fist pump to the sky and adjusted his batting helmet as if he was biggio, berkman, or bagwell. that won him the game ball that they give out after each game. what a complete thrill!! at his game on friday night, he hit a sailer into the outfield that landed perfectly between the outfielders and then went on to catch a pop fly at 2nd. i think his confidence is back and the "1 game slump" is behind him. i'm so proud of my little ball player. i can still see him, at 4 and 5 years old, practicing for hours in the backyard...glove in hand...pretending it was bottom of the 9th; tie game; he makes the winning play. i remember thinking...i bet that never comes to fruition. who would have known!!
take me out to the ball game. as long as it's colton's.
Friday, April 24, 2009
modesty at 3
Thursday, April 23, 2009
today
in other news...aiden has chosen her room. we have 4 bedrooms upstairs. 1...what has always been the nursery and where aiden still is now; 2...a guest room; 3...the boy's room, now that they share; and 4...another guest room that was chase's before they moved in together. so...she got to pick whether or not she wanted to be on the same side with "her boys" or next to the baby. she said that she needed to be with her baby, so indeed...that is where she will be. so...we are in the market for the cutest white day bed and trundle that a girl ever saw. i found one online at jcpenney.com that i l....o....v....e, so i am going there today to see if we can order it. oh...the most important part of this story is that we were not going to be able to get it for her, except for a very sweet, and generous granna and grandaddy offered to get her a bed for her birthday!! so they are getting the bed and we are getting the trundle and i could not be more excited about it.
and chase...he's chase!! i think he is the happiest kid on the planet (unless he is tired or hungry...and then you would think he was possessed). he is at school right now...charming his way out of doing his "cutting with scissors". he hates cutting...and his teacher loves him so that she just lets him skip it. that's chase. and he won that battle without even knowing he was fighting it. he has baseball practice tonight where he will work on his crowd pleasing skills. like running out of the dugout to bat and waving at everyone in the crowd and then after he hits it...waving to the crowd again before he starts running. i mean, getting to first on time is over rated. colton, however believes that every one of his games is a tryout for the majors. every time chase bats...everyone turns around and tells me the same thing..."he's gonna be an entertainer for sure!!" he's entertaining all right. let it be said that those dimples had me at first sight when he was about 15 minutes old. i was his first fan.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
lately
chad has pretty much been having to pick up the slack around here. seeing as i can't enter the kitchen without feeling as though i will either throw up or pass out...meals have been a bit of a challenge. he has to get the kid's breakfast in the morning, and feed them dinner. i try to stay out of there. as chase would say..."it's not my favorite."
secondly, the house has pretty much taken on a mind of it's own. if i had the energy, i would take pictures. it is quite the sight. dishes everywhere (because i can't look at them without gagging); clothes covering the floors (they may or may not be clean. if they don't smell...they wear them); the playroom probably has things growing under the layers of toys (i don't even want to think about that); at least 1 bathroom seems to be clogged all the time; the main one seems to always smell like urine (i hold my breath). you get the drift. i would pay a large sum of money for someone to come clean my house for me right now.
colton and chase are in full baseball mode. they have 2 games a week and sometimes they don't start until 7:45...putting us getting home around 9:45 on a school night. that's fun. the plus...2 words........concession and stand. i survive on snow cones. grape please.
aiden has become used to our "special playtime" really being "come crawl in bed with mommy and watch playhouse disney until noon" time. i tell myself they are educational programs and she won't remember this later.
i just choked down milk of magnesia for dinner. that speaks for itself.
everyday chase asks, "are you still sick mommy?" poor guy. it's becoming his norm. aiden takes it all in stride. and last night, colton wanted to know how much longer til the first trimester is over. i knew what he meant though. how much longer til i won't bark orders from the couch and stop flying off the handle at the drop of a hat. that's when i said..."not much longer baby...and i'll feel a lot better. just a couple of weeks." then i realized he has the timing compared to how much school he has left until summer...which is what he was more concerned with...which made me feel a little better. i am watching my "angry voice" though. when aiden thinks she's in trouble, she just starts saying, "i'm cold." not sure what that's about. and if chase gets in trouble and i call for him...he says from the other room, "are you going to talk rude to me?" geeeeez. that makes one feel fantastic.
i know, i know...stop complaining. there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 11 weeks down. mommy will be back soon.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
cuteness is...
so, chase had his first scrimmage of the season today and i think it went quite well. it took some coaxing to get him there, but once he was there...it was all business. well...more like pleasure, which is exactly as it should be. i'm a "mean" mom and make the siblings sit and support the one playing instead of going to the park, etc. it was chase's turn to be cheered on today and colton and aiden did a great job. i'm thinking that chase may take after me and love the attention!!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
happiness is...
i am the girl who will wash her face with whatever is by the sink when the hankering arises to wash the face. i have been known to use baby soap, hand soap, and even shampoo when i find myself in the shower with nothing else to use! yet, lately i have noticed, less than exciting images in the mirror when looking closely. okay...even when not looking so closely. dryness...flakyness...lines...bumps...and even crows feet...are taking up residence on my 30 something face. yikes! thanks to a dear friend, who has beautiful 50 something skin, i have been turned on to a new face product. i love it for several reasons. a.) it is pre-soaped. the individual pads have enough soap on them to create a generous lather...which is the problem that i have found with other pre-soaped products. b.) one side is smooth for removing make-up while the other side has little bumps to remove dead skin...sort of a microderm abrasion thing. and c.) they have alpha-hydroxy in them, which is known to make the skin healthier. and d.) they are fairly inexpensive when compared to other face products out there. i find myself excited to wash my face at night. next purchase...the aveeno moisturizing lotion.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
redemption is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=295TRv7EXaM
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
entertainment is...colton at baseball practice & change
well...the real point here is that i am already tired of my new blog page. all those pink flowers staring me in the face every time i log on. enough already!! so...that is going to have to change pretty soon. but not now, as i am already running a bit late to pick up the little girl sweetness from preschool. but you can imagine my "giddy-ness" when i noticed (yes. it took me 2 years) that i could change font size, color, boldness, and use italics. i am actually feeling joyful over it!! expect a lot of this in the future...probably to the point of irritation.
so...to provide the humor in this post...because it is very unlike me to not have anything that will at least, hopefully, produce a grin...if not a soft chuckle (and i really just wanted to use the word "chuckle"): my main man took my little man to baseball practice the other night and texted me about something he had just watched him do in disbelief. here is what the text said...
"colton just made a play and then proceeded to look up and point to the sky. as if thanking God. seriously."
entertainment at it's finest.