Getting used to doing nothing

Several times in the past few weeks, Kate has asked me, "Mommy, what are we doing today? Is today the day we're going to the park?" She looks sad and extremely disappointed when I tell her that no, today is not the day we are going to the park. I think the kids are starting to live for the weekends when Tim is home and we can actually do something. There has been a lot of TV lately, and the girls are getting really good at playing by themselves together. (Is it really 'by themselves' if they're together?) I guess this is good preparation for what is likely to be happening for the next couple of months, but I feel guilty! Yesterday I felt proud that both the girls painted a picture. Look, art! They did something today! They were also over-excited by their accomplishments, a sure sign of boredom.

Everyone has been practicing sleep deprivation, in preparation for the big event next week. Last night, Kate came into our room at 12:30 crying about the bees in her room and how she was scared. Tim went back to bed with her, and proceeded to get kicked for the next four hours, while listening to Claire thrash around in the toddler bed across the room. I, who ought to have gotten hours of uninterrupted sleep, tossed and turned, trying in vain to roll myself out of the crater my butt has made in our bed. I'm afraid the bed will never be the same. Then Claire woke up crying just before 6am, and there was no more sleep for the adults in the family. I know that starting next week, we'll be getting a lot less sleep than we are getting now. But I am looking forward to the fact that when I'm sleeping, I will be able to lie on my back, rise out of bed without huffing and puffing, and won't be waking up to pee every two hours. It's the little things.

Sooner than expected

I had my weekly OB appointment this morning (child-free, due to Tim flying tonight!), and after my doctor told me that he was glad I went to the hospital last week ("you are in what I call 'latent labor', meaning that you're having contractions without actually progressing towards actual delivery" ??), he mentioned that he'd like to move my induction date up.

I immediately sat up straighter and my eyes brightened. Earlier? His concern: he will be gone during the window he would really like to induce me (April 4-8), and is thinking that if I don't have the baby before he leaves, I will have it while he's gone. [Thoughts of crazy Dr. Kuni running through my mind here...] His solution: induce me next Friday, April 3rd.

I'm torn! The thought of delivering next week is causing me great excitement and anxiety.

Pros:

• One less week of being pregnant! Everyone by now is fully aware how much I dislike the last few weeks of pregnancy.
• A planned date and time that I am more likely to make it to; less worrying about going into labor at 2am on Monday, having to call our neighbor at such an ungodly hour.
• Having Sheila here the 2nd week of the baby's birth, which if I remember correctly, can be more challenging than the first week when the baby may (or may not) sleep a lot.
• One less week of maternity pants! I know you're thinking, "Wow, that's a big one, Jen," but I hate maternity pants. This is a serious pro for me.
• One less week of being pregnant! Did I already mention that?

Cons:

• Sheila won't arrive until April 8th, so we still need to find childcare for the girls.
• Will being induced a week earlier make labor more difficult?
• I'll be 38 weeks, which is full-term, but the baby will have one less week in the womb. Of course, Kate was born at 37 1/2 weeks and was just fine.

In any case, I have an appointment next Tuesday to determine if he will move my induction date forward.

Kate likes to sing

Oh, and our new car, finally clean.

Ugh

I'm fine. Sadly, I am not in labor, although I swore I was for a few hours yesterday. Tim is convinced that I am doing too many things (but if I didn't do them, the state of our household would be even worse than what it currently is! I have no good solution for this besides hiring a nanny. Would one of you like to nanny for me?). I am frustrated because I hate to be That Person. I try not to freak out and take my children to the ER at every ailment. I try to take care of the family without intervention whenever possible, yet I have been to labor and delivery twice with this baby! That seems ridiculous to me.

When I wrote yesterday's post, I was having some major back pain while sitting on the sofa, and painful contractions. I did call the OB's office, and the nurse told me that it was possible it was false labor, but that my OB would want me to head to the hospital. So we did. And the pain lessened and the contractions slowed and after a couple of hours they sent me home. Again. I did find out that I'm 60% effaced, which is some sign of progression, but I wasn't going to have the baby last night (obviously, as I sit at my desk and type this!). What was all that back pain about? I do not know. Clearly, I am losing it.

So, hopefully I will not be That Woman who gives birth at home because she waited too long, thinking it was false labor yet again. Seriously, though, in all likelihood, y'all will stop reading about my labor pains and just wait for picture evidence that a baby has been born. Which, at the latest, will be April 9th. Countdown!

I should be better at this

Can watching Knocked Up cause one to go into pre-term labor?

Having given birth to two children already, you would think that I would have a firm grasp on when I am in true labor and when I am in, as they call it, false labor. But I Don't Know! Our shopping trip to the commissary this morning was...challenging, and since we've been home, I've felt the need to once again write down contraction times. When I can breathe through them, that is. I'm planning to call the OB as soon as I get done blogging (addicted much?), and Tim is on alert. If this is indeed another false alarm, I promise not to cry wolf on my blog about labor again. Riiiiiight.

Also, if these contractions are fake, I am in serious TRUH-BULL for the real thing, because: OUCH.

Dr. Mom

Symptoms:

• bossy, slightly indignant 3 1/2 year old tells her mother in loud voice to "come ON", in attempt to get mother to pick up her sweatshirt and leave already from school
• has minor tantrum on way to car when mother tells her she can have glitter-encrusted shamrock back when we get home, and that no, she may not hold it in the brand new car
• has major tantrum when said adult takes previously mentioned shamrock from her at brand new car
• won't get into car without high-pitched screaming fit
• inspires younger sibling to join in the noise; extremely loud crying from both children ensues on way home; mother becomes certain she will be sent into labor by own previously-born children
• eldest daughter refuses to get out of car once home, despite promises that she can go straight to bed if she would prefer to disobey
• mother finally removes children from car, begins making lunch amidst crying children who stand in way and impede progress
• youngest daughter finally calms down when given milk; oldest daughter continues to cry for her father
• after approximately 2 bites of sandwich, eldest daughter refuses to eat another morsel of food; mother sends her to bed
• all is quiet within 45 seconds

Diagnosis:

• numerous nights of "sleepovers" during which the children play, giggle and talk until approximately 9pm, followed by morning awakenings of 7am and minimal naps, have caused this phenomenon to occur

Prescription:

• immediate naps for all children, and mother (if she can stop nesting long enough to rest)
• glass of wine for mother, with potential for reisling-flavored sippy cup drinks for children if chaos does not dissipate*

*CPS: totally kidding on the alcoholic drinks for children. Hey, you never know who might be waiting to come take your children away.

Kidisms

Last week when my sister was here, we were having a nice, respectable dinner together when Claire tooted rather loudly. My sister tried to hide her smile, asking, "Is there an elephant under your chair?!" The kids spent the rest of dinner trying to find the elephant. Kate swore she spotted it several times.

Single-handedly keeping Spray 'N Wash in business

Otherwise entitled: why I feel like I can never get anything done around here.

They were supposedly napping.

Claire works on her pointilism technique, using my make-up.

My little German dictator gets an afternoon bath.

I guess all kids go through this stage?

Lost: 2 weeks of pre-baby time

Warning! Pissed off pregnant chick here! Two weeks ago I spent 30 minutes (thirty minutes!) on the phone with Ikea trying to order 3 pieces of furniture. I would have ordered it online, because that is always easier, but their website wouldn't accept my address. Said the zip code didn't match the address or something asinine like that. So I called them up and tried over and over to place the order. Their computer ate my order at least 3 times. Tim was in the other room wondering why I kept trying. The furniture was CUTE, that's why. And it was cheap, compared to other options we had tried. FINALLY the woman gave me a confirmation number and said a delivery company would be calling us to schedule a time to bring the furniture.

Fast forward two weeks to yesterday when I began to doubt that my furniture was coming to Las Vegas. I got online to track my order, but there is no way to do that online. Wha? Is it 2009, or is it just me? So I emailed customer service, and got an email back this morning telling me that I needed to call their 800 number, because they couldn't help me over email, either. OMG. After going round and round on phone tree hell, I finally got connected to a sales person, who abruptly transferred me to someone else when she apparently got confused. I gave the new woman my confirmation number 4 times (the first 3 times resulted in other people's orders: "Uh, no, I'm not John Hornblower in Detroit...") after which she confirmed that my order had been cancelled. Lovely. Back to square one. I have always loved Ikea, but will never order anything online (or on the phone, since my address doesn't exist!) from them again.

The best part about living in Las Vegas

The visitors! In the past week, we've had more friends and family visit us than anywhere else we have ever lived. My sister and her daughters were here for ten days, Tim's aunt and uncle stopped by overnight on their way back to Oregon last week, his Uncle Bob was here for dinner tonight, and my friend Dana is here from Tucson (I haven't even had a chance to see her yet, we've been so busy!). My friend Kristen will also be here in about ten days for a conference. Life is good.

Uncle Bob and the girls in front of his truck. He's headed back to Portland tomorrow, but we enjoyed dinner with him tonight while he had some free time.

Very exciting.

This is the BEST!

How to pre-register at labor and delivery the long way

1. Have numerous contractions each hour over the course of several days.

2. Hem and haw about going to the hospital or calling your OB. Surely at 34 1/2 weeks, this can't be true labor, right?

3. Begin to doubt self after reading several online articles about the signs of labor and when to go to the hospital. Realize you have been ignoring 3 major signs for days, including specific instructions from OB about going to the hospital if having more than 6 contractions in one hour.

4. When he arrives home that night, watch husband roll eyes at the fact that you are not already being checked out by labor and delivery. Listen meekly as he says, "At least call and ask!"

5. Run around house making sure the kids are settled in bed, apologize profusely to sister who must now be in charge of 3-year old, 2-year old, 22-mo old, and 3-mo old at bedtime, for God knows how long.

6. Tell funny stories to husband on way to hospital about my pregnancy brain, and listen as he alternates between certainty that I will have the baby when we get there (because he has 3 flights where he gets to drop live weapons over the next 3 days) and certainty that I will not have the baby (because I am *laughing* as I tell my stories).

7. Find labor and delivery in the hospital, repeat my social security number approximately 6 times, get hooked up to various monitors and lie in very uncomfortable position on my back as they call my OB.

8. Receive a shot of some sort to stop the contractions, and then get dismissed an hour later.

9. Arrive back home by 10:30, exhausted and ready to sleep for 12 hours. Sleep until 7:30 the next morning (!) and then run around like crazy person trying to get Kate ready for school, and myself ready for a timely OB appointment.

So, here we are. My doctor chastised me in a nice way this morning about not going in sooner, and said that had I been a few more weeks along, they wouldn't have given me the shot and would have kept me longer to see how things went. As it stands now, I have an induction date of April 9th, if I "last that long" (says OB).

We dropped my sister and her daughters off at the airport 2 hours ago, and we miss them dearly already. They were so fun to have around, and Jessica was such a huge help to me. Now it's nap time and I'm going to try to rest a bit. Thank you, everyone, for your calls and concern!

Trial run?

After the third day of a crazy number of contractions within one hour (today's count at lunchtime was 13; they did decrease when I sat down and rested, so I decided against calling my OB. Wise? Probably not), and increasing discomfort, I am dragging Tim to the hospital. Actually, the on call nurse (?) told me to go, after I called and told her the situation. I think her response was something like, "Honey, you just get yourself to labor and delivery now." This was not how I pictured my evening going, but I'm beginning to think I won't make it until my appointment tomorrow morning without severe repercussions.

I'll either be back posting tomorrow on the silliness of all this, or will be posting pictures of a new little baby.

Adding an adult to the chaos

We went back downtown today, this time taking Tim with us for reinforcement. The kids were still all over the place, but this time I didn't have to chase them! I waddled meandered slowly through the crowds with the stroller as Tim attempted to corral the children. It wasn't relaxing, but it was much more fun than the last trip. Since it was a gorgeous day (mid-60s), we opted for the outdoor dolphin exhibit and the Secret Garden at the Mirage, which the girls and I went to last year when Tim was deployed. This time, the girls were less impressed with the dolphins and the big kitties, and totally dismissive of the alpacas, making me glad all children were under 4 and therefore free. In September, Kate will cost $10 for admission and that's when we will no longer be taking trips to see the wildlife at the Mirage.

Somehow, although I was not solely responsible for tracking the children, I was unable to get a single good photo.

Taking over the Revolution Bar at the Mirage.

Claire adopts an unknown family at the baby leopard room.

When we had had our fill of the animals (which took about 30 minutes), we beelined for lunch at one of the casino restaurants, where we made too much noise and got in trouble for letting the children out of their chairs. ? The greeter told me that there were too many things for them to climb on and they could get hurt. As opposed to other restaurants? Whatevah.

Last night I got another abdomen cramp, at nearly the same time as the one the night before. This time, Tim's aunt and uncle's RV wasn't blocking the driveway, which had me slightly stressed the night before (how would I get around them without waking them up at 2am? this is probably a false alarm anyway. but how do I know?).

This second round of pain caused different stresses: why is this happening again? is this labor? do I need to go to the hospital? we were going to talk more about names, but still haven't narrowed things down entirely. I haven't transferred any of Claire's clothes to Kate's room yet, and we still don't have the new furniture we ordered. who will take my sister to the airport if this IS labor? You know, important things to think about in the middle of the night. The 8 contractions within an hour around dinner time, along with some moderate low back pain and general crampiness have me wondering if I'm going to make it to April. I'm glad I have an OB appointment on Tuesday to answer some of these questions.

Paint and contractions

Jessica and I took the girls to the MGM Grand to see the lions yesterday. It was chaos. I will never do that again: the next time we all go downtown, Tim will be with us to help maintain order. Two adults, a three-year old, a two-year old, a 22-mo old, and a 3-mo old...the ratio of adults to children was not nearly high enough, and at the end I was concerned I was going to go into labor at the Rainforest Cafe.

Right after we got to the lions, Lucy decided she needed to eat, so we all hiked over to some tables and set up shop. Then a waitress informed us that we couldn't sit there because some of us were clearly under 21. She mentioned that we could sit on the "wall" near the Rainforest Cafe just around the corner. The wall turned out to be not entirely sit-on-able, so Jess fed Lucy her bottle while standing up. She's talented, and Lucy is a patient baby.

During Lucy's lunch, Kate pretended she could no longer hear a word I said and disobeyed all commands. Claire was not much better, and I had a lot of difficulty trying to be in two places at once and maintain sight of both children. We decided that we needed to just eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe to save our sanity, and all was well for a short time. Claire and Tempie were very interested in the surroundings, and loved waving at the butterflies and leopards on the walls and in the trees. Kate, not so much. She kept getting out of her chair and wandering around the restaurant. At the end of lunch, I'd had enough and strapped her into the stroller. This caused much shrieking (the kind where all patrons look at you, embarrassed) and yelling by Kate.

Last night I woke up at 1am with a severe abdomen cramp, and began to worry that I was going into labor. It finally subsided about 20 minutes later, and I slept okay the rest of the night. We were supposed to all go to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef today, but I'm still feeling a little weird, so we're hanging out at home.

Now for the paint:

Kate and Claire's room.


Nursery. I went with 'Treasured Jade' on the accent wall. I LOVE it.


Our room. The wall behind the headboard is a darker shade of brown (Fawn's Leap by Ralph Lauren) than the other walls, but it's sort of hard to tell in pictures.

Where do they get this stuff?

No baby, just crazy busy

My sister and her daughters got here a week ago and we've been non-stop busy since then. We've been to the park several times to enjoy the 70* weather (these have also been fruitless attempts to wear out the children). We've been stuck in the house a fair amount, too, as we try to get the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom disaster worked out. The painters are here today and everything should be back to normal (better, really; you should SEE the paint, it's so cool) soon.

Claire's favorite thing lately is to come into our bedroom at approximately too early (6:15am) and declare that she wants up in bed with me. She quietly hands me her blanket, then her puppy, then her bunny, and then demands I help pull her up and get her settled under the covers. She is much more relaxed than Kate was at this age, and will lay there quietly enough that I am often able to go back to sleep, snuggling with her. I love it, but wish it would happen about an hour later.

Kate is thoroughly enjoying being a big sister/cousin, and has been pretty good with baby Lucy. I am so thankful for this, as it's really a dry run for us. We are still working on not touching the baby's face and hands, but both Kate and Claire have been very lovey towards Lucy. As for Tempie, who is 22mo, I think Kate sees her as another little sister to boss around. Tempie plays into this by declaring that everything is "MINE", and sets Kate off occasionally. Mostly things are going well, though. I, for one, am so very happy to have my sister here for such a long stay, and wish fervently that she lived closer. Sadly, they leave on Tuesday, and Jessica heads back to work not long after that.

We have plans to fly my sister-in-law and her youngest daughter out to help us with the kids during the baby/hospital stay. I have an OB appointment next Tuesday at which we should be able to set a date for the delivery. Then I can let the countdown really begin.

I am trying so very hard to enjoy these last few weeks of pregnancy, since it will be my last, and there truly are amazing things about being pregnant. But I really just don't enjoy pregnancy; in particular, I dislike the last 6-8 weeks. I am very impatient, and I hate being so big and uncomfortable. And it is very frustrating not being able to play with the girls and be as active as I would like to be. That being said, I do love feeling the baby kick and knowing that we will soon have a tiny bundle of joy to love and hold. And that should be happening in approximately 30-some days.

And to think

I spent all that time on Claire's panda bear cupcakes for her birthday party, when I could have just done bunnies. The cake wrecks blog has become one of my favorites in recent weeks. I do not know how people come up with some of these ideas, but they are accidentally hysterical, which makes them even better.

The 32 week OB appointment went well. We will attempt to schedule my delivery for the week of April 6th at my next appointment. Kate helped the doc with the heartbeat monitor, and my OB is convinced she has a calling. Also, Kate is absolutely positive that she is having a baby brother, except when she occasionally says it's a baby sister. Mostly it's a baby brother, though.

The unintentional house remodel is almost complete. The tile guy is re-tiling the bathroom (score!) today and will grout tomorrow. Kate's carpet is re-tacked and clean. Pretty much all that is left is the painting, which will hopefully take place next week. Which is good, because I think we're getting close to being within one month of meeting a certain new baby.

Tease

Our friend Melissa took us up to Red Rock Canyon on Saturday for Claire's 2-year pictures. She is still working on editing them, but this is one of my favorites so far. More as soon as I get them. Thank you, Melissa!

Saving my bank account, one pre-schooler at a time

My sister got me a gift card to Pottery Barn for my birthday late last year...and I finally made it to the store to wander around in bliss, breathing the smells and basking in the glow of their soft leather arm chairs and floral prints. These hopes were dashed, as I had Claire with me. Instead, my morning went something like this:

Claire, come over here. Come over here come over here come over here. Don't touch that. No, that's glass, don't touch the glass bunny, yes he's cute, don't touch him. Please don't lean against that mirror, OMG it costs over $300, DO NOT TOUCH that mirror. Do you want me to pick you up? I'm going to pick you up if you don't stay by me. Why did I not bring the stroller? Next time I'm bringing the stroller. You are so heavy. Okay, you can get down if you don't touch anything. No, you can't have those apples. Or the pears. Yes, they're pretty. Come here. Come here now. [Store clerk: Can I help you find something? Me: yes, do you have daycare?] Claire, don't go over there. That is not a toy. No glasses, yes they're pretty, no glasses no no, put it down. Get off the bed. No shoes on the bed, that's a white bedspread, do you see? Yes, those are shoe prints on the white bedspread. It's time to get down. Oh, pretty vase. No, you can't play with it. Put the flowers back. Come this way this way this way, I want to look at the clocks. See the pretty clocks? Come THIS WAY. No, don't go out the front door. Why is the front door wide open? Don't they realize that's a parking lot with cars out there? Stay inside. No, not in the display window. Get out of there, please. Be good, or no Mary Poppins on the way home.

And here I was, thinking it was a good thing we live so far away from Pottery Barn. Really, my checking account is saved by pre-schoolers.

Anti-nesting phase

Has anyone else gone through something like this during their pregnancies? I don't feel like doing anything, even though I have so many things to do before the baby is born that I could be busy every minute of the day for the next 60 days until I'm due. Maybe I am just overwhelmed. I have a tendency to get that way when the house is a disaster, which it most certainly is. I'm still not entirely unpacked from our vacation, and we've been home for 6 days... Must snap out of funk asap. The dishes and laundry are piling up and more projects are going onto my list than coming off of it. Okay, done whining. HAHAHAHA!

Kate's first day of school last week. Note how cute she looks in her navy and white color-coordinating outfit, which are two of the colors that the kids are allowed to wear. Except they can't wear polka dots. Or shirts without collars. And apparently a teacher also commented in a non-favorable way about her shoes, which I am choosing to ignore. And I bought this outfit specifically for her to wear to school! Argh.

We went to breakfast for Valentine's Day. The Original Pancake House. YUM. It was totally not romantic, and most of our time was spent corralling the children and telling them not to touch things, or wander off with strangers, and to please stop coloring on the silverware, but it was fun anyway.

Afterwards, we went to Home Depot. Claire thoroughly enjoyed the flower section. And the puddles.

This van keeps roaming our neighborhood, playing lullabies. I have never seen anyone buying anything from the person inside. Would you buy ice cream from this vehicle?

Today I had another ultrasound. I am technically about 31 1/2 weeks along, but am measuring more like 33 1/2 weeks (I think? Pregnancy brain has officially set in)...and the baby is already 5lb4oz. Um, hello. The doctor said I would likely have a 9+lb baby, if I didn't give birth early. I will be discussing this with my regular OB as soon as possible. I'm thinking late March sounds fab. You?

More design questions

Since the upstairs is a mess (not to mention the kitchen), I am making it into an opportunity to get some more painting done. Several months ago we had the majority of the interior painted:

Here you can see the 2 main colors we've chosen for the living spaces: the darker shade on the left wall and the lighter shade in the TV cove. Pay no attention to the hole in the ceiling, or the hideous vertical blinds on the sliding glass door.

We didn't paint the bedrooms or the girls' bathroom, in hopes that we could save up and get it done at a later date. It's later, and now that Kate's room and the bathroom are semi-destructed, I want to get the rest of the house done. Here's my dilemma: I have no idea how long we will be here and therefore it's probably best to paint in tones that will maximize our resale potential. Kate has a red bed and will hopefully be getting some new black-brown dressers soon. More on that in a moment. Claire will be permanently sharing Kate's room with her as soon as the mess is cleaned up, and the baby will have its own room.

Question 1: what color do I paint Kate's room? I am leaning towards the lighter shade that is in the TV cove because she already has some bright colored furniture, and also her room is on the northish side of the house and I don't want to go too dark.

Question 2: what color do I paint the nursery? I have never been a fan of baby blue, so I won't do that unless one of you can come up with an extremely compelling reason to do so. We don't know the gender of the baby, so I also don't want to go with pink (this would potentially create resale issues later, anyway). Do I go with the same light color?

Our room is above the family room, and I am pretty sure I am going with the darker color in there, since we get a lot of sun, and I want some variety upstairs. I think we'll do a darker brown accent wall (suede if the painters can create the look without significant cost to our retirement fund) in Fawn's Leap, on the wall where our headboard is.

Isn't this a nice picture? Lots going on.

Question 3: has anyone recently purchased furniture from Ikea? I found some decent looking furniture that I think will go with Kate's room, and the price is good. My other option is Target furniture and I think they have a crap selection right now. I just can't justify spending a gazillion dollars on dressers and such for pre-schoolers. I am leaning towards 2 dressers and a nightstand, since each child likely needs a dresser and Claire will be losing hers to the baby soon. There is no Ikea near us, so I have to buy sight-unseen. Please help!

Home again

It was a long trip, in terms of the amount of driving and whining we experienced. But it felt like a short trip in terms of family time, especially since a good portion of time was devoted to car stuff.

The girls did okay on the way up to Oregon. We got up early and were actually on the road just after 8am: a record for us, and possibly anyone with small children. It still took us more than 2 days to get to our destination, but we survived, and didn't even encounter any bad weather. Kate and Claire decided it would be fun to not nap in the car on the way north, and they also apparently thought it a good idea to not go to sleep until approximately 10pm each night, so they were good and crabby by the time we reached Oregon.

A rare nap.

Surrounded by princesses.

Not a new look for Kate, but an old favorite: underwear on the head. At least it's clean.

A short run-down on events, to be expanded upon later: we bought the Mazda CX-9. LOVE. Love love love. Even after (gah) 1200 miles of driving it. Super comfortable, super luxurious, super pretty, super super super.

We spent almost all of our free time with family, soaking up every minute. The girls had so much fun with their cousins. We all had so much fun with everyone. We had a family birthday party for Claire and Aunt Donna, and a baptism ceremony afterwards for Claire. And we sadly drove away the next day to return to Las Vegas. We are glad to be home, but we miss everyone!

Update!

Drove approx. 1500 miles with 2 pre-schoolers through CA and OR. Finally reached destination. Bought new car. Been spending time with family. Enjoying rain. Kids beginning to nap more regularly, but still going to bed at ridiculous time. Kids also sharing air mattress on floor, so should be happy they are sleeping at all. Organizing Claire's baptism/birthday party. Hoping for actual family/relaxation time now that car stuff is done. Not ready to leave on Monday.

Stolen from Facebook

Just because it's fun:

25 Random Things About Me

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself.

1. I say I want to live somewhere with all 4 seasons, but I think I might be miserable if it was less than 50* for any significant amount of time. (But I still harbor dreams of living in Boise.)

2. I love going out to eat; it's just so much EASIER. But it's usually more fun if the kids are elsewhere!

3. I am due with our last baby in mid-April, but hope the baby is slightly early, because I don't really like being pregnant.

4. I have never been more than a few thousand dollars in debt (besides a mortgage). The thought of owing money totally freaks me out.

5. I am supposed to run a half-marathon in December. I am anxious and excited about it.

6. I used to race sailboats when I lived in Seattle, and also in North Carolina. Thistle class. LOTS of fun.

7. We are getting a new car next week! This will be my first new car ever.

8. One of the sad things about this is that I will no longer have my 5-speed Subaru. I love my 5-speed.

9. I met my husband at an AFROTC conference when I was 19, but we didn't officially start dating (the first time) until I was about 25 and he was living in Idaho. I was living in Seattle at the time, and I felt that the distance wasn't so great that we couldn't date. Also, I found out how much fun dating him was, and I was hooked.

10. Until he went to pilot training in Texas and we stopped seeing each other, because I refused to move from Seattle to Texas, or date long-distance through pilot training. Once he moved to Arizona, we began dating again. Wow, was I an opportunistic dater or what?

11. We got engaged 6 months later, and moved to North Carolina. I was 27 when we got married.

12. I got stung by a bark scorpion when we lived in Arizona. It hurt like blazes, literally, for 36 hours.

13. I climbed Mt. Adams in Washington state in the late 1990s. It is 12,281', and it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I carried my ski gear up the mountain and skied down.

14. I took tap, ballet and jazz dance lessons for years as a child/teenager. After college, I took years of swing dancing lessons, with some salsa lessons thrown in. I love to dance.

15. I miss being able to drink red wine with dinner.

16. I have lived in South Korea (with the military) and London (without), and I hope to live in Europe someday.

17. I am a closet (okay, I guess it's not that secret) sci-fi fan.

18. I love it when my daughters cuddle up with me. I especially love their hugs.

19. I used to love to ski and snowboard, but I don't know if I do anymore: it's so damn cold. I hope to try it again when the kids are a little older.

20. I got my private pilot's license when I was 6 months pregnant with Kate. I have not been able to fly much since, although I would like to. I love it, and the weather here is perfect for it. Much better than Korea, where I began flying. I had enough hours to test in Korea, but after my "practice test session" with Mr. Cho, the only FAA examiner on the peninsula, I was in tears and thought I would never get my license. After we moved to Arizona, I had a few refresher lessons (including a repeat long cross-country since my one in Korea didn't count) and passed the FAA exam with flying colors. Take that, Mr. Cho!

21. Two of my favorite places in the world are Queenstown, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.

22. I have no idea what I am going to do for work when the kids go to school. This sort of stresses me out, but I'm trying to enjoy my time home with the kids as much as possible.

23. I have worked in finance for most of my adult life, although my degree is in International Studies.

24. I am pretty sure the word "no" comes out of my mouth a bazillion times a day.

25. I love to cook, although I don't have much time for it these days. I would like to become a better chef, and would love to take cake decorating classes.

Now, show me some love, and tell me a little about your 25 random things.

Good news

The fFN test was negative! No bedrest! No impending childbirth! Oregon is back on!

Also, the water situation seems to be okay. We have about 8 fans/heaters running to dry everything out, and the water remediation team will be back out today to inspect.

Worst week

Isn't there a show called 'Worst Week'? My week has been going okay, it's just today that hasn't gone swimmingly.

It started out at the OB this morning. They did a fetal fibronectin test to make sure I'm not leaking fluid. I'll find out the results tomorrow morning. I've been having contractions...say 6 times an hour off and on for a few weeks, so I'm on the lookout for pre-term labor. I'm really hoping the test is negative, obv, as the RN told me if I am leaking fluid, there is a very good chance I'll deliver within the next 2 weeks. And I'm only 29 weeks right now. So, as much as I am ready to be done with pregnancy forever, I would ideally like to wait at least another 8 weeks until I have the baby. Also, if the test is positive, I would have to go on bedrest for the next couple of weeks, which is sort of impossible. Also also we are supposed to drive to Oregon on Saturday where we will buy our new car, a trip which would be difficult when one is on bedrest preparing for imminent childbirth. So, let's just hope that that little test is negative, shall we? Mmmmkay.

Next: post-lunch, I helped Kate use the bathroom, and the toilet overflowed. Like all-over-the-large-bathroom-floor-perhaps-.5"-deep overflowed. Awesome. After I got the children to bed for naps and came downstairs to find all my cleaning stuff, I heard dripping. In the kitchen. Sure enough, water (TOILET water) was dripping from the AC vent in the ceiling. I had no idea what to do. Of course, the way things go, this sort of event only seems to happen when either 1) Tim is deployed, or 2) he is flying in a Red Flag and is completely unavailable. Today it was option #2. I called both his squadrons with no luck, but someone told me they would run down to the building he was in to tell him to call me. Maybe it was the stress in my voice. Pregnant woman sounds like she is close to tears: better help out. Luckily he called me, because besides calling a plumber, I was at a loss. He suggested calling our insurance company (brilliant!) and they sent a water remediation team over. [My response to the claims adjuster who asked what caused the plumbing problem: "Um...I have a 3-year-old?"] Currently, they are tearing out a large section of my ceiling, peeling back the carpet in Kate's room, and taking all the molding off the bathroom walls. Sweet. It seems the likelihood of us leaving on Saturday is decreasing.

This is not the kind of remodelling I like to do.

In the spirit of "you can't make this shit up" (no pun intended), I heard Kate whimpering from her room where she was playing. She came out and told me she had pooped in her underwear.

So that is the sort of day it's been here. How's your day going?

Happy Birthday, Claire Bear

Dear Claire,

You are such a joy to be with. You are happy, obstinate, precocious, sweet, and ever cheerful. You love to dance, sing (your favorite song is Once Upon a Dream, or perhaps Baa, Baa, Black Sheep), jump, have tea parties, and help me in the kitchen. You almost always talk in complete sentences, with occasional Claireisms like, "I want all done," and "I sorry, Mommy". You are learning to get what you want by either being exceptionally cute, or accusing your sister of taking 'your' toy. You love Elmo and princesses, playing in the dirt and wearing dress-up shoes. You want to sleep in a 'big-girl bed' all the time, and you sleep well unless you have a bad dream or your sister wakes you up. You get very cuddly at nap time, and suck your thumb and rub your cheek when you are tired. After nap you happily exclaim, "All done nap!" and then you like to watch The Backyardigans or Toot & Puddle.

You want to be a big girl like your sister, and you look up to Kate with great respect. But you also are your own person, and I have seen Kate follow you in your activities from time to time. Your imagination is abundant and I am often amazed by what you come up with. I think you are looking forward to being a big sister, and the songs you sing to the "baby in Mommy's belly" are cherished. You love to read now, and will often sit down by yourself and read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? aloud, skipping the colors of the animals. You delight in playing hide and seek with Kate, even though you rarely hide, preferring to count loudly to ten.

We love you very much, Claire, and look forward to seeing you grow up before our eyes.

McLaren at her birthday party, refusing to let the sugar-induced cough stop her from eating more frosting.

The party

The house is quiet, and the kids are asleep. I was pretty sure they were never going to calm down after the gobs of sugar they ingested over the course of 2 hours the festivities this afternoon, but apparently they exhausted themselves. And us.

The party went really well; the kids were fairly well-behaved, and they all played together nicely, allowing the adults to talk together for at least a minute at a time. Claire wanted panda bear cupcakes, and they were a huge hit with the kids.

I put 2 candles on her cupcake and lit them; she blew them out before we could start singing. I re-lit them, and she blew them out. Once they were lit again and we had finished singing, she refused to blow them out. After a good minute of cajoling Claire, Kate came to the rescue, along with several of her friends.

Some of the uncouth bears might be flipping off future eaters, but it's hard to say with pandas.

There was surprisingly little fighting over presents, although Claire did not get to open many of them by herself.

MIA frosting, after Claire realized some of her friends did not consume theirs.

Presents!

The play kitchen from hell: OMG there must be 1,000,000 pieces.

Oughtta be

I should probably be making dinner right now, but these were too good to pass up.

Kate has been making me crazy at nap time recently. She plays in her room for the entire time, even when she clearly needs a nap. She'll be nodding off at lunch but will get a second wind at nap time, playing for hours with her Sleeping Beauty Barbie and all her accoutrements, refusing to close her eyes. Then at dinner she is a MESS, throwing fits and tantrums that make me want to pull my hair out. Today I had a grand idea: nap time in Claire's crib. Turns out 'sleep' was not what she had in mind until nearly the end of nap time: at one point she had the purple box in the lower left corner IN the crib with her (it had been within arm's distance), and I'm fairly certain the blanket she is lying next to was on the rocker which is NOT within arm's reach...

Claire came out of the pantry with this jar of fluff after nap, demanding, "Moshmallows fo' beckfast!" Note the look of glee on her face. She is a little confused about which meal time is when, but not what constitutes a good snack.

Haircut

Probably not the best idea right before her 2-year-old pictures: new bangs. In her defense, this picture is post-nap, and they can look cuter than they do here. Right? Right?! Argh.

Helping wash the windows.

Also, I checked my Chinese pregnancy calendar and Kate was supposed to be a boy. The prediction tool is said to have a 93% accuracy rate, but so far we're 50/50. The current baby is also supposed to be a boy. Ninety-some days until we find out for sure!

Getting creative with dinner

It always happens: I go to the grocery store (alone!) for milk while Tim watches the girls, and 45 minutes later I return with ... a few more items than were on my list. Yesterday, that meant trout.

I was wandering slowly through the deli/cheese area, where I picked up some shaved turkey breast, ham and salami, and found myself facing the seafood department. Flash of genius: we don't have anything for dinner! Let's have fish! Instead of having the nice fish people fillet my trout for me, I bought them whole (or semi-whole: innards removed). I figured I would show Kate what a whole fish looked like, quickly and cleanly fillet all the fish, and fry them up for a tasty dinner. Kate was intrigued by the whole fish. I told her I bought Nemo for dinner and she was downright enthusiastic. [Later, after returning from Home Depot, Kate mumbled something about Nemo, and Tim asked her if she wanted to watch Finding Nemo. "No, I want to eat Nemo." Classic.]

As I prepared the pecan-flour mixture and egg wash, I had Tim look up how to fillet a fish. Before he found a site explaining it, I went at it with my knife. The fillets weren't pretty, but I thought I did a decent job with it, until I cut two of my fingers. Tim then got to try his hand at filleting. The fish turned out great, and the girls LOVED it. Looks like fish is back on the menu, boys.

According to Mary

I got my hair cut last week. Mary, my stylist, was taken aback by the fact that I do not know whether I am having a boy or a girl. She promptly demanded my ring, found some string, and performed the "baby gender" trick in which she swung the ring over my very large belly. According to Mary, I am having a boy. She also asked me if I had consulted my Chinese pregnancy calendar, which I had completely forgotten about, and which I have not consulted (if I wanted to know what I was having, I would have had several opportunities prior to this to actually find out).

I suppose I could take this opportunity to poll you all, however. Place your bets! Is it a boy or a girl?

Woooo boy

I just signed up for my first half-marathon, scheduled to take place in December in downtown Las Vegas. I munched on coconut chocolate chip cookies as I tried to figure out how long it would take me to complete the race. I settled on 2 hours 30 minutes. I have no idea, really, as the farthest I have ever run is a 12K, and the last one of those I ran was at least a decade and 2.5 children ago. I am pretty much completely freaked out right now, and hope that my attitude changes once I can see my toes again. If not, I will be talking smack about Elizabeth for ages. She swears she will mentally train with me (?) and will fly out from San Antonio to run the race by my side. Or maybe really far in front of me, but at least she'll be in the general vicinity, thinking good thoughts.

We test-drove more cars yesterday. UGH. Someone tell me we are done already! We started with the Honda Pilot, which we both crossed off the list almost immediately. I love Honda, but I don't love that vehicle. There are too many things about it that I don't love, so I'll just leave it at that.

We also drove the GMC Acadia, which is flippin' expensive. I think they quoted us $44K for the one we drove? It was crazy talk. It was the nice model, but still. It was no Acura MDX, I can assure you. So, unless they can come up with a significantly better price and ditch the whole "we're getting a bailout so we don't need to lower our prices" attitude, we will not be buying one of those.

We then re-tested the Mazda CX-9, because it's my fave. I still love it. And it's waaaaay cheaper and better equipped than the GMC, so it's sort of a no-brainer. The only thing I realized, as I rode in the 3rd row, was that there are no ceiling vents. So if you are unfortunate enough to have to ride back there in the nose-bleed section (I'm looking at you, Claire), you have to rely on your older sister to not cut off your AC supply (located in the center console in front of the 2nd row) in the heat of summer. Also, there is no option for captain's chairs in the second row, which is so frustrating! That car would kick ass if it could have captain's chairs. And vents. Those two options are really why the Saturn Outlook and the GMC Acadia are still on the list.

After naps, we also drove the Toyota Highlander. I was in love and ready to walk down the aisle with it until we got back to the dealership and found out that the 3rd row doesn't split. So you either have the whole back seat up or the whole back seat down. I would have to choose between leaving a child home alone (a surprisingly appealing alternative, actually) and piling groceries in the front seat, because where am I going to put all my stuff? Unfortunate design, Toyota. You almost had me at "super comfy leather seats and a flip-up hatch window".

I think we are done test-driving, though, as I can't think of any other vehicles that appeal to me that we haven't already driven. I refuse to drive a mini-van because I will end up buying one of the damn things (see also: captain's chairs, good gas mileage, space space space, and sweet entertainment packages).

Going all Martha

In preparation for Claire's birthday in 2 weeks, I tested out my cupcake decorating skillz. Are those not the cutest lion cupcakes ever? Claire picked off all the "mane" and refused to eat it. Then she ate mostly just the frosting (and the M&Ms, of course), leaving the strawberry cupcake behind. Kate nibbled at hers so much that half of it ended up on the floor. Instead of a vacuum, I should have bought a dog.


Claire decided to dress herself over the weekend. Tim brought her downstairs in this ensemble, and I was sure it was his doing until he corrected me. You never can tell.

More consumer stuff

I bought a hard-surface vacuum! I ended up getting the Dirt Devil Accucharge, and so far it is great. My favorite part about it is that IT HAS NO CORD, so you can take it anywhere, like in the pantry and close the door. When's the last time you vacuumed behind doors? For me, that was never, because the cord always got stuck or wasn't long enough and it was a royal pain. Now, I can vacuum my whole first floor with ease. And this particular vacuum held the charge for the whole cleaning, although it was dying a slow wheezy death at the end. I'm hopeful that the next charge will last longer (since I might have cheated a little on the first charge just so I could turn the thing on and make sure the noise wasn't going to kill me, which it did not). Next researching job: carpet vacuum. Anyone have one they love? Hate?

We also went car-shopping again yesterday. Joy. We drove the Hyundai Veracruz and the Chevy Traverse. Tim also drove the Acura MDX. I avoided driving it because it is way out of our price range and I didn't want to see the model house and have to buy the starter one, you know? Plus, I am pretty sure I drove one a little over a year ago, and fell in lurve with it.

Hyundai: not that memorable. The warranties are crazy good (one of them is 10 years, one is 5 and one is 3, I think, and you get all of them on your new vehicle), but the car itself doesn't stick out in my mind. It drove fine, had a good turning radius, was comfy, and the back row was fairly easy to access. It drove sort of like a truck, and I felt that the road noise was significant (possibly because I started out in the 3rd row, where it was very apparent).

Chevy: meh. I didn't like it that much. Tim liked it a lot, but he just rode as a passenger in the back and didn't drive it. For me, it was very squirrelly. I felt like we were driving in high winds, when the weather was pretty calm outside. Also, the heater/radio/accessory controls killed me. They were totally not intuitive at all; why would a car manufacturer do that? Why make things more complicated? Tim has told me about how they changed a couple of things from the old A-10 to the A-10C, and now you have to press 9 buttons to get the airplane to do something it used to take one button push to do...and that is what I thought of when I looked at the dash. When Claire and I were in the second row together, she pushed a button on the center console and turned the heat on full-blast. It took me nearly an entire minute to figure out how to turn it off. In the meantime, I accidentally turned on the radio (from the backseat! I hope the driver can disable that feature!). So, I'm pretty sure we will not be purchasing a Traverse.

Finally

Finally, FINALLY, after being on the waiting list for months, Kate is scheduled to start pre-school at the beginning of February. It is ridiculously expensive, and is not as long nor as flexible as I would like, but I WILL TAKE IT.

This week, Kate has decided that she no longer needs afternoon naps. This, of course, coincides with my need to start taking them, so we've been a bit at odds. And the evenings. Well, those have not been so very pleasant. She is a wreck by dinner. Luckily, Tim has not been on nights, so he has been around to head off the tantrums, or at least deal with them civilly.

I keep forgetting to talk about my ultrasound last week. Isn't that just like a pregnant woman? The poor third child. The perinatologist said things are looking pretty good, except that there is extra fluid in the placenta. I'm not at the danger level, but they will keep an eye on it, as I guess one of the possible complications can be pre-term labor. Me, I just think that my body likes the extra fluid, because I am fairly certain I was fluid-heavy with Claire, as well, and also, have you SEEN my belly? Trust me, it's huge. Let's just say that when the doctor broke my water with Claire, he got soaked, mentioned something like, "WOW, that was a lot of fluid," and then went to change his scrubs. I also saw my belly visibly shrink, and I commented to Tim that I felt like I had just lost 5 pounds. TMI? Oh, sorry. But my point is that I don't think there is anything wrong with the baby, just that extra fluid is one of my pregnancy quirks.

Also, I got a couple of 4D pictures at the ultrasound! One of them is totally creepy: it looks like it's just a shin and foot floating there, not attached to anything, which I'm pretty sure they would have put in the "not normal" category if the leg really wasn't attached, so I'm not going to get too worked up over it. The face ones are kinda cute. Eh, on second-look, those ones could be considered kind of creepy, too, especially when I digitize them. How about if I just wait until the baby is born and then post pictures. I'm sure those photos will be a lot more generous.

Torn

I found out about this dollhouse from Katie, and am in love with it. The question is, will my children fall in love with it like I have? It's marked down to $63!! With free shipping! That seems ridiculously cheap to me for such a product, but I hate spending big money on one toy and then having said toy sit in a corner collecting dust and cat fur. Also, it's sort of big, so it's something one has to really want in their toy room.

Also, does anyone have this Dirt Devil Accucharge stick vacuum? I am in desperate need of a (preferably cordless) vacuum that I can use for the daily under-the-kitchen-table cleaning that must be done. This one has good reviews on amazon, but I am concerned about the noise level. Do you have any insight or recommendations for me?

Oh, you WANT to hear about car stuff

Okay then! If you've clicked on this entry by accident, move right along, but know that I'll likely be back to posting about silly kid tricks in no time.

Due to the pending due date of our third child, we need a new car. Me, I'm not really the mini-van type. I remember back in the 80s when my parents were shopping for a new car. It came down to the Mercury Sable station wagon or a mini-van, and I vehemently voted against the mini-van. Don't get me wrong; the Honda Odyssey is a wonderful machine (as are others, I'm sure), and there are many positive aspects to having a mini-van. But I just don't really want one at this point. So, crossover or large SUV it is. And I'm also not that into the large SUV, so we I have come up with a list of about 10 acceptable crossovers. Would you like to see the list?

1. Acura MDX (originally my favorite. Love love love.)


2. Hyundai Veracruz


3. Ford Taurus X


4. Mazda CX-9


5. Mitsubishi Outlander


6. Toyota Highlander


7. GMC Acadia


8. Saturn Outlook (the Acadia, Outlook, Buick Enclave and Chevy Traverse are all pretty much the same vehicle, supposedly, although I think some of them look quite different than one another)


9. Honda Pilot


10. Honda Odyssey


11. Toyota Sienna
    

Warning: geek-out mode now activated. I printed out the Consumer Reports sheets on all of them, and we went shopping. All of the cars, except the Saturn Outlook and look-alikes, are CR-recommended. Which totally bummed me out (and also confused me to no end), because I LOVE the Saturn Outlook. CR offers some wonderful opinions, but I don't always understand how they arrive at their conclusions. For instance, they give the Outlook a 75 and don't recommend it, but the CX-9 gets a 76 and a 'CR Recommended' rating. Wha?

We drove two, like I mentioned before, and liked both of them. The Mazda CX-9 is more luxury-vehicle than the Saturn Outlook. This surprised me, in that I didn't expect Mazda to be equated with luxury. When I think of Mazda, I think of the Miata and the RX-7, 80s throw-backs. But the CX-9 was really, really nice. Of course, it helps to drive the very highest of the high-end models, you know? But the leather seats: SO comfortable (and the heated leather seats: a wonderful experience for my tush on that chilly day). Lots of adjustments and extras and comfort features that I was not expecting (bluetooth enabled so you can hook up your phone to the car, voice-command navigation, tilt-adjustable headlights!), and the best part: the ease of moving the second row of seats to get to the 3rd row. You could do it with one hand. I would prefer captains chairs in the 2nd row, but you have to get to the bigger SUVs for that.

The Outlook had captains chairs in the 2nd row, which I loved. The captains chairs also rolled forward for even easier access to the 3rd row. All rows were surprisingly comfortable (as they were in the CX-9), with enough leg-room even for Tim. The Outlook drove more like a truck, and had less of a luxury feel as a result. But it handled well, and I liked it quite a bit.

Next weekend: Acura and hopefully the Honda Pilot, as these are the last two in my top-tier. I have a feeling that I will love everything about the Acura except the 3rd row (the vehicle is almost a full foot shorter than the CX-9 and the Outlook, so how can it possibly have as much leg room?).

Now, on a totally unrelated note, I am irrationally discouraged by the fact that my fat jeans are saran-wrap tight and that I am left with the choice between maternity pants and stretch pants. I am glad that it is winter and that I can get away with wearing my comfy velour track suit pants for the next couple of months, but am sad for the loss of my low-rise Old Navy jeans. I know I'm almost 26 weeks, and that maternity pants were unavoidable, but I still grieve.

2009

Grump.

Freakishly large snowmen made out of flowers.


Princess Kate at the Bellagio Conservatory.

We began the New Year the way every parent hopes to: with a late arrival home, and an obscene bedtime for the children. You know you're in for pain the next day when you can hear the kids still whimpering at 10:30pm. The next morning, they awoke bright and early, and seemed to be in decent moods, so we took them to the Bellagio. They loved it. So did I: the Bellagio Conservatory is one of my absolute favorite places in Las Vegas.

Since then, it's been non-stop college football and car shopping. Sounds fun, right? Meh. The games have been somewhat lame, in my opinion, and the car shopping. OMG, what a pain in the ass! The research! The endless opinions of those who supposedly own the vehicles and are rating them online! The dragging of small children to car dealerships! I think the salesmen eyed us with dread every time we walked into a showroom. Have you seen the damage two young ones can do to a vehicle in mere minutes? They have. But, it was great fun seeing my little girls behind the wheel of a red Saturn Sky (convertible with doors that open up).

It seems like we've been at it forever days, but we only test-drove yesterday. And we only drove 2 cars, at that. We looked at the Hyundai Vera Cruz, but the batteries were dead on the two that were on the lot (?), so we left and went to Mazda where we drove a CX-9. Nice, nice, nice. Loved it. From there it was meltdown city, so we took the children home for a nap. Then, because we like to torture them, we went back out to drive the Saturn Outlook. Nice, as well, but in different ways. And because you don't really care about our car-shopping experience, I'll just end there. But, do you have a vehicle with a 3rd row? If so, what is it, and do you love it? Hate it? Why? Please share.

Also, did you make a list of New Year's resolutions? I only have a couple so far:

1. Have a baby. (cheater)

2. Lose weight. (cheater!)

3. Go downtown at least once a month, preferably with the
children, but also sometimes without them, because it's nice to have a chance to
look around at your surroundings without yelling at someone to "come back here
right now or I'll put you in the stroller!".

4. Begin running again after the baby is born.

5. Find more creative ways to play with the children.

What are your resolutions?