Contest

Yes there is another contest going on over at 5 Minutes for Mom it is for a 37inch flat panel HDTV. So click on over there and sign up for it by Aug 17th.

Another Boating Day!

Today was J's first time on my dad's boat and we had a blast. We left our house at 9:45am and we just got back a few minutes ago. J is giving the kids a bath to get the lake water off of them. We rode the boat then we parked it, ate lunch then anyone who wanted to swim got out and swam. My dad blew up the Big Maple for after swimming. Red didn't like the water so I got him to take a nap on the boat while everyone else swam. Then the fun began and J, my dad, GG and Monkey got on the Big Maple and we pulled them with the boat. Monkey didn't like to go as fast as his sister though. Various people took turns riding on the tube except for Red and I, him being to small and me being pregnant, we just had to watch the fun, which was fun. At one point J and Roberta were the only ones on the tube and somehow the tube went underwater and they went in. All of us on the boat were laughing so hard my belly still hurts! Their faces were priceless as they sank. Then watching them try and get back on the tube was hilarious. We docked the boat around 5pm after being on the water for about 5 1/2 hours and then we went out to eat with my parents. It was a great day out too. GG actually got burned a little on her shoulders and cheeks and I put water babies on her. The boys seemed to be fine though. Well that was our day in a nutshell. Tomorrow J gets to go golfing with his dad and mine. They should have fun ;)

Wonderful Friday!

We had a great day together celebrating J's Golden birthday. He wanted to go to Rain Forest Cafe for his birthday lunch but we didn't end up getting to go there because the kids and I had a dentist appointment at 1:15 and it was taking too long to get seated. We ate at a different restaurant in the Mall instead. Then it was to the dentist...not my favorite place to go while pregnant because my teeth and gums are really sensitive and I end up bleeding A LOT. When we got home J wanted to go to the store to get paint and other things needed to do our bathroom. He has the whole week off so it is a prefect time to get it done! This evening my dad and step mom came over and we finished off the brownie cake I had made. I got a video of Red and I reading his favorite book but I have to do something to the size of it first which I hope to get done tomorrow but for tonight I want to leave you with 32 week belly shots!

Birthdays

Monkey's birthday was on Sunday and J's birthday is tomorrow so I made a cake for the both of them because that is what they wanted me to do. I tried to make a ice cream type of cake and it turned out pretty good. I used brownie mix and made two equally sized brownies. Then I took mint chocolate chip ice cream covered the first brownie then laid the other brownie on top and then covered that with the ice cream. It was really yummy! Tomorrow is going to be a fun day with J's birthday plus it is his first day off and he doesn't have to go back to work until next Friday a full 7 days off!!

I don't think the exercises for getting this little girl to turn are working. I still feel her hiccups in the same spot. But I will say I got to check off a few more things from my list of things to do and get for her. We got the outfit she is going to be coming home in today, I just need to wash it. I got her a baby book and some diapers and wipes, too. I think we found the type of car seat we want but they didn't have any at the store we found them, bummer. J thinks we can find that brand online somewhere else cheaper...I don't really know but it is worth looking into.

The Monkey rides on...

Yesterday Monkey learned to start his bike without help from me. It was a great day as I didn't have to keep getting up and helping him start the bike. He also learned a few days ago how to turn around so that he didn't have to fall to turn the bike around. These two things have made being outside so much more enjoyable for me.

On the Potty Training front. I had a baby sitter last night while I went to Bible study and when I got home there were no accidents to report! Yay. Red woke up last night in the middle of the night and went potty, which meant that this morning the pull up was dry again. Two mornings in a row. I am so happy. Also today we went swimming and he told me while swimming he needed to pee and he waited until we got out and went in the potty. He is really getting it! But we are taking it one day at a time. I know when the baby comes there might come a few accidents because of the adjustment but for now he is doing GREAT. Way to go RED!

Not doing WW today....

Even though I have the cutest picture of J and Monkey shaving after their shower. I will hopefully put it up next week. It is stuck in my camera until I get the batteries recharged! I also have to get a video of Red when we read his favorite book The Quiet Little Cricket by Eric Carle. He pretty much knows all the words but I want to get it on video because the way he says it is too funny! If you have never read that book it repeats the same words on every page almost.

Well I need to go research getting this baby to flip and be head down so later...

This may not make sense!

Well I had my ultrasound today and she is still a she ;) Also she is not head down so I'm praying she turns by my next appointment or I will have to take serious measures to get her to flip. They estimate that her weight is a little over 4 lbs...she might be a big one! As for me I only gained 3 lbs this past 4 weeks so much better then the 10 I gained last month, bringing my total to 23 gained to date.

Moving along, it is now day 10 I believe in the potty training of the Red-man. This morning was the first morning he woke up and his pull up was completely dry! I was so excited. He has also had one full day of no accidents, which I believe was Sunday and none so far today. He tends to have accidents at night when I am by myself and I am at exhaustion point and have let my guard down. I am very pleased with how well he is doing. The only rewards he has gotten are hugs, kisses, high fives and a lot of praise too!

Yesterday was a fun day we went to the library in the morning and got the kids reading rewards and then after dinner, which we did picnic style outside, we went to Culver's for a free kids sundae. Then we went to the department to bring daddy one. I was feeling energetic so we walked over to the fire station which is right next to the police department but it is a huge brand new building. J came with us and they gave us a grand tour of the fire trucks, ambulance, sleeping quarters, living quarters, kitchen, training room and weight room. I think it was because J was with us because I've never gotten to see all of that before.

GG was being funny and took one of Monkey's streamers that had come off his door and taped it to her behind. Then ran through the house telling everyone she had a tail. She's goofy. But today she proved to be a great help! While Red was taking his nap I needed to get the 7 loads of laundry folded and put away. It probably would of taken me his whole nap but she helped fold and put away which I think cut the time almost in half.

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Five years ago today I was holding my little boy for the first time. I was so happy and I was already in love with that sweet little man. I wanted to write his birth story but instead I think I want to write about all the fun we had today with him. I am hoping to have each of the kids birth stories on my side bar in the future but today is not the day. I just can't believe he is a whole hand now! Time really does fly and I have enjoyed these 5 years so much.

As for today we started the morning out with Monkey waking up and coming into our room with the biggest smile on his face asking if today was his birthday. I think the streamers, balloons and cards hanging on his door were a big indicator :) (I just have to say that my sweet GlamorGirl helped me decorate his door and she loved it) He crawled into bed with daddy and me and opened his cards. Then we got ready for church and made a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts so Monkey could bring them to Sunday School to celebrate his day. After J played a few songs in Children's Church we got the kids and headed out for the big birthday lunch of Monkey's choice. So we went to Wendy's for lunch. Red was so excited when we got there he said, "We see Peter Pan?" It was funny.

This afternoon J had to work but Amy came over and we took the kids to an open field and they flew their kites for the first time this year. Monkey and GG did great getting the kites to fly. Red had a little trouble but did pretty well for his first time ever and with no help! Then we came home for drinks and dinner. While I made dinner Amy traced the kids bodies and then they got to paint, color, glue, glitter and use whatever other art supplies they wanted to decorate themselves. Very cute finished products...I might have to take pictures and share ;) Oh and somewhere in there I told GG and Monkey about the night he was born. I went into labor on the 21st but he was born at 12:05am on the 22nd!

"Thank you Lord for giving us this precious little boy to raise. I pray that we can teach him Your ways and to walk in Your truth all the days of his life. Amen"

The List Gets Smaller!

I can check one more thing off of my to do list before the baby is born. I just sent 769 - 4x6 and 4 - 5x7 pictures to get printed off and I got a great deal! It cost a little under $55...Wal-mart can't even beat that price! I got my 5x7's for only 29 cents each. It is just a great feeling to have one more thing done. The only major thing I HAVE to get done before the baby is born is getting her an infant car seat. The one we used for the other three kids had expired and J didn't feel it was safe to use anymore. I was just so excited to finally get those pictures off to print, it seriously took me about a week to upload them to the site because of my busy schedule.

What's Grosser than Gross?

Stephanie over at Adventures in Babywearing is having another contest! We get to tell our gross mommy stories and could possibly win a Dirt Devil Kone. So as I sit here I was thinking about what gross story I could share. Everyone knows that us moms handle some pretty gross things in our time.

I think this story has tied with one of my puke stories but I am only suppose to share one! We had gone on a day trip to visit my mom at a Mall halfway between her house and ours. As we were shopping Monkey said he had to go poop. I left the other two kids with my mom and took him in the bathroom. He did his business and we came back out. About 5 minutes later and after my mom had run out to her car to get something he grabs his butt and says, "I NEED TO GO POOP, AGAIN!" I proceed to the bathroom with all three of them. I get in there and we didn't make it in time. It was diarrhea-ish. I had to throw the underwear away, they were so gross with poop. It had leaked through them and got on his pants and I wanted to worry about cleaning them instead of the underwear. After I cleaned the pants my daughter dried them under the blower and I cleaned him up. He had poop everywhere from his arms down to his feet. Poor guy was so sad and kept saying he was sorry. It was so gross and a day I will never forget. Oh yeah did I mention I was pregnant at the time.

Holy Hotness...

Our air conditioner hasn't been working very well, as in it will kick on at 9am and run all day long until 1am and I don't even have it set low I keep it at about 76. Throughout the day I will go look and the temperature will be getting hotter in the house instead of colder. Basically it was time for a new unit. We priced 4 different places and then we choose one we trusted to do a good job, which they did. They came yesterday and got it all installed then ran air through to make sure everything was okay. Well there was a leak in one of the hoses, a factory defect, so we ended up packing a bag and heading over to my parents house around 7:30pm. There was no way we were going to be able to sleep in our house with the temperature being in the 80's!

I was just in the kitchen and I have decided it looks like a Farmers Market. On the counter top there are tomatoes, corn on the cob, potatoes, onion, head of lettuce, green pepper, bananas, apples, and nectarines. Then if you open the fridge there are cherries, strawberries, pineapple, a lime and watermelon. I guess you could say we love us some fruits and veggies!

Tonight it is in the high 60's with a nice breeze so we ended up opening the windows, after we just spend all that money we don't need to use it tonight! J took GlamorGirl on a daddy/daughter date to the pool and I have the two boys. We went outside and did a bag of pop it's we had left over from the 4th of July and our neighbor came over and brought us some sparklers and so we lit a box of those too. Now we are inside because it is actually chilly out and they are watching Tom Thumb.

Randomness

Today we went to playgroup and when we got home we had a package. Inside was all of GG's books for this next school year. It is making me realize that the summer really is getting closer to being over. We looked through the books that she will be doing next year in school and I remember doing the math and reading in these books in 2nd or 3rd grade. My feelings about the books are mixed, I'm excited but sad because my baby girl, who is my oldest but still and will forever be my baby, is going to school full days. Moving along, Red kept dry at playgroup today and only had one accident so far today and that was at nap time. It was a hot day today and on a whim we decided to go to the pool. That is the beauty of having the pool passes we didn't have to worry about going only for an hour and 15 minutes because we didn't have to pay to get in ;) GlamorGirl went off the diving board for the first time today and she did AWESOME. The first few times J was on the side of the pool to help if she needed it but she didn't so from there on out she was on her own. She even went off the big slide in the 12ft 6in deep water. I have Bible study tonight and J is doing something fun with the kids he refuses to tell me about so I'll have to wait until I get home to find out what they did.

Just to clarify if you have read my blog before now, you have noticed I have changed the kids names. I have been doing a lot of thinking about my kids safety and the internet. I don't really want to explain my reasons or do I feel I need to elaborate on them they are my kids and I feel I need to protect them in this way. So my oldest will be referred to as GlamorGirl or GG for short. My second oldest will be called Monkey and my youngest will be called Red. When the baby is born I am thinking of calling her something like Baby Girl but I haven't completely decided on that one yet kind of want to meet her first. I know people have not liked this change and I am sorry, I hope my making the connections between the kids age and name is helpful.

Potty Training update!

He woke up with the pull up wet again, he is obviously not ready for nighttime potty-ing. I will wait and see each morning how his pull ups are and go from there. Anyways, we left our house at 9:20 drove the 30 minutes to church. We made it there and everything was DRY! I took Red to his sunday school class and told the teachers about our new adventure and how he had no diaper on or underwear for that matter. I then took him to the potty before I left him with them. I picked him up after our class was over and they took him once because he said he had to go but he didn't actually pee. So daddy took him and he went and I dropped him off at the nursery and gave them the whole run down of the potty training and instructions. I picked him up a little early from the nursery and took him potty again before we headed home, well we actually went out to eat for lunch, but before we got in the car. We ate our lunch and he went potty before we came home and then he took his nap. He woke up and went potty and then Amy came over with some movies for the kids. Since we had rearranged GG's room Monkey wanted his done too. I am totally at the nesting stage of this pregnancy so sure we cleaned his room and changed it somewhat. I left the bed and nightstand in the same place. While I was doing that and the kids were watching their movie Red had an accident. Ooops bad mommy for not being available or around. I had gotten slack in my watchful eye because he had done so great that morning and then after his nap. He had one more accident and then started getting everything else in the toilet. I think he honestly forgot he didn't have a diaper on! Tomorrow is another day.

My MonkeyBoy...

After I posted my friend Amy came over and we took the kids outside to play, even Red with only shorts on. A neighborhood boy came over to play with his dad and the first thing out of GG's mouth was, "Red is naked." I said, "He's not naked he just doesn't have a diaper on." Which then started the potty training questions from this father, which I answered them the best to my experience with the other two kids. I asked him how old his son was to which he said, "He is 3 1/2 and his birthday is in October." Then my Monkey says to the kid and loud enough for everyone to hear, "You are 3 1/2 and STILL wear a diaper. GROSS!" Extreme laughing from both Monkey and GG at this statement. What was I suppose to say to that?!

Well as far as the potty is going Red has done pretty good today. He has only had three accidents one of which was really bad because he had shorts on but the other two were little tinkles followed by running to the potty. And he pooped again today in the potty no problem! Tomorrow is church so we'll see how that goes I am bring tons of extra clothes and a towel for him to sit on in the van.

Other than that Amy and I along with the help of GG rearranged GG's room. I think it looks so cute and it actually looks bigger for some reason. She has a special reading place which she is extremely excited about. I just hope it stays clean! I will also mention that Amy did all the heavy lifting, I would just push if she needed help.

Kids

Yesterday and today the kids have been fascinated with a caterpillar they have named Poosie. It is about 2 inches long and really fat for a caterpillar. They put it in their bug house and gave it "food" which was a leaf. Then today they let it go in the tree and about 30 minutes later wanted to play with it again. It ended up falling out of the tree and they can't find it now. They are pretty funny to listen too. Well they just found Poosie

In other news Red has been without a diaper since 2:30 and has had no accidents but has gone pee pee in the potty twice. I am expecting to have at least one or two accidents today though. He is currently sitting right next to me (with no clothes on) in the kitchen coloring his new cars coloring book.

On the nesting front I just have to label all of the school supplies you know each crayon and marker and so on. Oh so much fun. I have there extra clothes for their locker and art shirts packed, too. I know I'm on top of it, not really but I'd like to think so. I also found out when their orientation for school is so I can mark that on the calendar.

Well so I had to stop this post to run Red to the potty because he did start peeing on the kitchen floor, which is hardwood, so it was easy clean up and it wasn't a whole lot because he stopped himself to put the rest in the POTTY! I'm so excited, he seems to really be getting it. Then I started typing again and noticed out of the corner of my eye Red doing a funny squat type thing and looking down. I asked him if he had to pee again and he said no then I asked if he needed to poop to which HE ran to the potty shacking his head yes. He pooped and now he is back to coloring. My other two kids were so easy to potty train that I thought Red was going to be hard but he is proving me wrong. We are doing the Potty Dance ;)

The nesting continues...

But first let me tell you how clumsy I have been...I was making myself dinner and I spilled salsa all over me and the floor! Anyways, I got the kids doctor changed, their books for school ordered and paid for, and started roundin' up their school supplies. We are going to go shopping for the rest tomorrow but I had almost all of them on hand. I buy throughout the year so it isn't such a shock to the wallet. Last year I didn't do that and I believe between the two kids their supplies were about $150 at the cheap Wal-mart price. I am hoping to get away with about $40 tomorrow ;) I am preparing myself for having all 4 kids in school! The only other nesting thing I have been up to is those pesky pictures I need to get printed off. I think I only have about 40 more to download and I will be done. It just takes so long to download them to that website. But I can't find a better price, 6 cents a print, that is AWESOME especially when you have to print off more then 600.

I have a picture of me and my older brother with my grandpa when I was about 2 years old. My friend saw it today and said how much that Red looks like me. I have always thought that of him but hearing from her was cool. I took the picture and showed it to Red who is only 2 years old and asked him who it was in the picture. He said his name. I told him it was mommy when she was his age. He started laughing and said, "no" like I was never his age. It was really funny to see the look on his face as he was trying to process mommy as a little kid!

Well I'm tired so I'm going to go crawl into my bed.

Summer

Have I mentioned I LOVE summer? Yesterday we were so busy doing things that I didn't even get a chance to get on the computer. We had playgroup in the morning, a noon playdate with one of MonkeyBoy's friends at McDonald's playland and then a pool date with one of GlamorGirl's friends and her 3 siblings and the youngest is Red's friend from playgroup, we got home at dinner time and had breakfast food for dinner and then I went to Bible study, and then hubby and I had a date on the couch watching a movie.

Today we got groceries and then had lunch, it was a full morning event! After Red's nap we meet a boy from GlamorGirl's class and his twin brothers who are MonkeyBoy's age at the pool for another pool date. Can I just say I have the nicest tan ;) Between the new to us swingset we have in the yard and the pool passes we have been in the sun A LOT and I totally have the skin to prove it. I am so getting pool passes for next summer too. We have already more then paid them off and summer is only half over, score. Not to mention that we have 2 pool dates already lined up for next week.

As for the list of boredom busters we can now also check off #13, #18, #25, #29, #36, #45, #50, and #53. We are going to try and do a couple more things from the list and then we will probably repeat some of the things because the kids really enjoyed them. #13 the flash light tag is probably one of my favorite things to let the kids do. It gets dark out and they run through the house with their lights with screams of delight and giggles! We bought them some really cool flashlights too that can either be laser pointers or regular flashlights. They tend to like the lasers ;)

Other than that I have been nesting like CRAZY, and it is actually driving me crazy. I have 10 weeks before my due date and I haven't made it to the date so far so the chances this time around are slim to none. With all the activities it is hard to find time to keep up with the normal up keep of the house let alone tackle some projects. But I am very motivated lately so things have been getting done. I need to get the doctor situation taken care of tomorrow and also pay for the kids books for school and get their supply list. I am going to beg the office to have an advanced copy of the supply list because of my pregnancy situation. Once I have those two things underfoot I will feel much better and relaxed.

Spider Baby

The Fest

This years Festival is over last night being the last night of it and we stayed until closing. We were a little bummed though because hubby was suppose to have the day off but it got canceled because of injuries at work. Anyways, I had at least one other person with me every night which was a great help because the kids don't always want to go on the same rides. On Saturday night I had Becky and Amy with me then 3 high school kids showed up from our school and totally took over taking the kids on rides. It was AWESOME. They each had one and away they went. Of course, the high schoolers thought it was cool to be able to go on the rides without paying for them. The one boy ripped his pants going on the carousel, which was pretty funny, maybe he shouldn't have been wearing his pants so low! Anyways, I will have to remember for next year when I have 4 kids to enlist the help of the high schoolers! TheKing is off the next three days so we are planning on taking it easy especially since he didn't get home until 3am last night.

We have had so much fun these past few days that today we (I really mean I) needed a little down time. So Amy came over right before J left for work and took GlamorGirl and MonekyBoy to the pool. I laid Red down for a nap and I have been working on getting my pictures uploaded to the print shop online. I have over 500 on there now and have about 60 more to go I think, I have two folders on my computer to go through still. Anyways, I thought I would show you some of the things we have been up to!

We have gone to the carnival the last 3 days and we are headed there again tonight. I have only spent $5, which was last night because the pregnant one wanted a funnel cake :) Of course, I shared with the kids but GlamorGirl didn't really like it but my boys did. I can't wait til next year and I can ride on the rides again because GlamorGirl is so MY daughter. She loves the fast spinning rides like the Tilt-a-whirl, or what J calls barf rides! She is tall enough this year to go on them by herself and she does! I have a feeling that Red is going to be just like her and MonkeyBoy likes the rides like the bumper cars and swings. We have been staying up really late too, oh summer nights! The main thing is they are having a blast...isn't that what summer is all about?

Contest

Another contest, I am so excited. I have some friends who are having babies and I want them to have slings because I love them so much! So I am going to try and win some. There is a contest going on over at Steph's and you guessed it, the prize is a sling :) It is an all new type as well so I am hoping if I do win I won't fall in love with it and not want to give it away. Anyways, Jenn from All Natural Mommies is the one making the sling it is called the Podonbutai and it looks really comfortable. I bought a Mei Tai from Jenn about a month ago and I love it. She does great work, so hurry up and go sign up for the contest at Steph's and make sure you make a post about it with all the links so you are eligible to win the contest ends July 11th.

Happy 4th of July!

We had such a jammed packed fun filled day! We got up and went to the 2 hour parade. Yes, that is right the parade lasted 2 HOURS! At least it was overcast and so we weren't hot! Then we went out to eat for lunch right afterwards because it was lunchtime and I was HUNGRY. When we got home we set off some fireworks and pop its MonkeyBoy had gotten for his birthday, J told the kids that he would have some more tonight after he came home, we'll see. Then it was naps for everyone even ME. Both the boys slept but GlamorGirl just took a quiet time in her room resting. J called to tell me he got some special wrist bands for us ;) A total perk of his job! So Amy came over we ate an early dinner and off to the carnival we went. The kids went on so many rides and had a blast I wish I had brought my camera, they are real thrill seekers. Then it was off to the fireworks. The kids played with sparklers and wore their light up necklaces we had gotten in Disney. I love J's job sometimes but at others I wish he worked somewhere else. He didn't get to watch the fireworks with us which was a bummer but we did get special parking and were home in a matter of 10 minutes. The kids enjoyed the $40,000 fireworks display that the town puts on, I just can't believe that they cost so much money. I hope everyone out in blogland had as much fun today as we did.

Nesting

I have a list of things I want to get done before the baby comes one of them is to get all the pictures that are only on my computer printed off so I have the actual picture. So the last few days all the computer time I have I have used to upload my pictures to this server so I can have the hard copies. I found a website that prints 4x6 pictures for 6 cents a print that is a great deal considering I have about 800 pictures on my computer that need to be printed. I have uploaded a little over 200 and have 25 folders to go through still, it's a very slow process and I have very little computer time as it is with it being summer. I haven't printed pictures since Nov 2006: note to self keep up to date with the printing of pictures. I know I am going to have a ton once our new bundle of joy is born which is why I need to get the ones on here done NOW.

I do feel like I have accomplished some stuff though because I went through all of GlamorGirls old clothes and pulled the season and size she can use and then put them away up to size 9 month I only had 3 draws to put clothes into.

As for the home front we were going to camp last night in the yard but the kids were being naughty so it got postponed. Tomorrow on the 4th the kids got invited to ride in one of the squad cars during the parade. J has to work it so I don't know how it is going to work out but GlamorGirl really wants to be in the parade and MonkeyBoy wants to get candy. I told them that if they rode in the parade they had to be together as I would have Red watching the parade. I am still trying to work out the details as to where they go after the parade because they are at the beginning. I am leaning towards just having the kids with me watching instead of riding so less complicated. We'll see! I think it would be easier if J was driving the car but he's not.

Oh yeah and I put our blanket out for the parade tomorrow. I used duck tape that had been in a hot car so as I was unrolling it the sticky stuff was on both sides. My sandals kept getting stuck and coming off. Just as I got done with the last piece of tape my sandal got stuck came off, I tripped over it and rolled my ankle, fell onto J's squad, ripped a piece of skin off of my arm from something on the car and fell on my butt. Very graceful I tell you ;)

Have a GREAT 4th of July!!!

Picture Time

These first pictures are of my 28 week pregnant belly!




Slide show of our day yesterday we went to the zoo after church and then to a bbq with some people from church. It was a very fun day as prefect as it gets this side of heaven!