Movies with the fam.....never again!

Well at least not for a very long time. A few months back when they were hyping up the movie and selling the first 2 Toy Story's, I got the package deal (with stellar coupons) and inside were coupons for free tickets. With movie tickets costing the amount that they do now, that made my day. We planned on taking the kids once it came out. 2 child tickets shouldn't be so bad right?

Wrong, we had to pay for my 1 year old. $6 freaking dollars. But let's not get carried away. You can't put a price on quality family time, right? We missed the early movie (4:35) so we ended up with the 7:40 showing (sleepy time for little people) and still ended up in the front. I got popcorn and a large drink and we settled in for an enjoyable time. First gripe, there should not be 20 min of previews in the beginning of a child's movie. Under the age of 5, they don't understand or care. They just want to see the movie already. Plus, that's 20 min of 30 min of time my 1 year old had in her to sit, eat popcorn and pretend that she would stay that way the whole movie.

Finally, it starts. All is well, I'm proud that my kids are almost quietly stuffing their faces and paying some attention to the screen. Soon the popcorn and juice gets old for the diva and she starts to move around a little too much for the chair which she is already in danger of falling through, LOL. Nothing is appeasing her.....I can't let her get loud......she doesn't want popcorn....think mommy think, what do we do? Right, pass her down to daddy. She waddles down a chair and sits for all of 5 minutes before she starts whining. Aw shucks, the back up pacifier is not in the bag, I think I saw it on the couch earlier today. Dang it, plan C, candy. Not the best choice but I know it'll keep her quiet. Now big brother has decided that all the popcorn is finished and he needs to go throw the bucket and napkins away. Um no dude, we just put it on the floor until the movie is over. "But I just want to get up for a minute," oh my, what have we gotten ourselves into. Candy for big brother too. Whew, this buys us about 10-15 min before diva loses her first piece and mommy must indulge some more. But now she wants to walk and eat......is the movie over already? She's sticking her head in between the seats talking to people and totally not concerned about the screen.

So for the last 45 min, it was just a toss up between sitting, walking, talking, minimal whining (thankfully) and the movie finally ended. Whew! I think it was good. I do remember seeing some parts. Definitely getting it when it comes out on dvd and definitely leaving the visits out to the movie theater with the whole family for a few years down the line. Maybe preteen years, LOL.

The toothbrushes are downstairs

Yep, they are. In the guest bathroom of all places. And now that you're wondering what I'm talking about....I'll indulge. So I had this slight problem. We spend most of our time as a family downstairs. The kids do everything down here except sleep and take a bath. Most of the time, they even get dressed downstairs both in the morning and evening. So when it was time to brush teeth, the toothbrushes were upstairs. Instead of them brushing twice a day, it was usually just once. Not good at all if you're trying to instill good dental practices. They had no problem brushing when it was time, but mom was just lazy. *shame*

I follow several mom blogs and one that I read recently was talking about how hard it was for her to keep up with laundry because she hated the task of folding her 5 boys clothes and them putting them away....upstairs. She and her husband decided that since the laundry room was connected to their closet and it was a huge closet, they would move their kids dressers downstairs into the closet and hang up their clothes there. Therefore making the whole process easy and never having to worry about piles of clothes waiting for attention because they could be put up as soon as they were cleaned. That got me to thinking about teeth brushing. What if I moved the toothbrushes downstairs????? Hmmm....yep. I decided to try it and it's working. Yay! Good clean teeth at least twice a day. Of course since they are in the guest bathroom I have to be ready in case we have some drop ins but that's no prob. Grab and throw in our bathroom and we're good to go.

In other news, it's a 4 day wknd. Woohoo! I love these. 4 days of no work. So far, not sure what we're going to do for the 4th of July but I'm pretty sure we'll grill before the weekend is out. The weather has been nice here for the past few days since we've had some light showers so it makes being outside actually bearable. I'm hoping we can chill with some friends and neighbors but we'll have to see.

Another great weekend over!

Well, it's Sunday night and time to go to bed. Unfortunately, I'm not looking forward to Monday but I am looking forward to Thursday because that starts our 4 day weekend for the 4th! Woohoo. Then just two more weeks and the ceremony will be over and my plate will be clear from this craziness!

I did get alot done this weekend which was the goal. My last two Friday's I had been coming home for lunch with this unknown energy source and making waves in cleaning up the house. It just doesn't get done during the week. But this past Friday, I laid on the couch for over an hour with the intentions of getting some rest and them jumping up. Yeah.....that so didn't happen. And once I actually got up, I lingered on the computer for over an hour as if I didn't have a job to get back to. I got hubs to help which was a whole other story for another day and all of the bathroooms got cleaned, the floors swept and mopped, and a bunch of other stuff that was just behind. Now if I would just stop ignoring the overflowing pile of laundry in our room. Maybe this weekend....who knows?

However, baby #3 is doing well! For the time being, I'm calling him he! We officially find out on the 16th of July. Another reason to miss Germany, no ultrasounds. I went for my monthly checkup this week and I won't say it was a waste of time...but it was. The midwife felt my uterus and that was all. I could've done that at the house. And I don't go back for another 6 weeks. I get a more cozy feeling with my midwife that I'm paying but maybe that's how it goes. I really am spoiled from the other two so I know the ropes but I still felt that my doctor actually gave me a good 20 to 30 min of patient time every time I went in. In the end though, I feel good, I know little man's good 'cause he's moving around and letting me know so all is well!

On that note, I'm off to do some reading and maybe some sleep. Hubs is playing the tv and talking loud. I gotta teach these guys how to whisper, LOL!

On being a mom...

"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." — J.R. Miller

All baby talk!

Well it's been over a month since I last blogged. Where does the time go?

But let's talk baby. So I'm approximately 12 or 13 weeks now. Depends on what online calendar you look at, lol. First trimester done, check. First appointment done, still pending. I'm spoiled. I admit it. In Germany, as soon as you learned you were pregnant and the stick turned pink, at 5 or 6 weeks you were in for your first appointment. It seems they do things a little different here in the states. And really different here in El Paso.

I went in about a month ago to set up my first appointment where I learned that I would first have to go through an orientation and then they would book me. *sigh* This is so not my first child so please tell me why I have to sit through a 2 hour event where you talk to me about everything baby. How about if I have questions, I'll ask you. Well the day has finally come, my orientation is tomorrow. I'm thinking since it's Friday then my appt SHOULD be sometime next week, I'm not holding my breath.

Otherwise, I'm feeling healthy. Of course the exhaustion is unbelievable at times. I really don't remember being this tired the first two times around but then again, I wasn't chasing two kids around either. There are some nights when I climb into bed and before hubs can even say good night, I'm out. Done until the alarm sounds again.

For the first time in life ever, I got a migraine this week. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not having had one before, especially while pregnant, I was a bit scared at first and thought that maybe my blood pressure needed to be checked but I talked with my midwife and she walked me through it. I ended up popping the maximum dose of Extra Strength Tylenol and drinking as much caffeine as I could manage. Large double shots of espressos and a very large Mountain Dew. No wonder I wasn't able to sleep Tuesday night. Tuesday I could hardly move, Wednesday I was on the road to recovery. Today, I'm good. Still hurts when I cough and for some reason, I'm having to do alot of that but otherwise, I'm good. Thank the Lord! I'm hoping to never have to experience that again.

And speaking of midwives, I now have one on hire. This will be the first pregnancy I'm having to pay for out of pocket ($2400) but its worth the cost for me. I've not been too happy with the care I've received with the hospital here yet. I'm not going to completely make up my mind to write them off until after the orientation and first appt. Give me a couple of weeks for that update.

But overall, all is well in the world of baby! Stay tuned for more.

Accomplished

Well today was a good day! After the week I had, I needed a day like today to bring me back to the world. In fact, I didn't realize how out of it I was until today when I woke up not tired and out of my fog. However, it was a shocker that my house was in shambles. I guess I did notice it during the week but I really did not feel well all this week and daily my only thought was make it until you can lay down and go to sleep.

I was up early and did grocery shopping at 7. It is an Army pay day weekend so I had to get in early otherwise, it would've been a jungle in there. Got back around 830 and the family was still in bed. WHAT?! But they soon got up and while I unpacked groceries, I fed the kids whatever was near. It is so good to have food back in the house. We were really, really low on supplies. I'm surprised we made it this week, lol! The refrigerator was in bad shape so I cleaned it out all the while making space for the new stuff. I cut up all the fruit and got it ready for the week. Something I never do on the first day! I'm so proud of myself. Got the kitchen back in order and life was feeling better already.

Didn't finish until around 11 which was much later than I wanted to leave the house but I had to go and get my eyebrows threaded and needed to run to Target to get some things on sale before it ended today. I took the kids! 8-O Is that a good surprised face? It really wasn't horrible but it was first nap time for baby girl so she was a bit irritable. Bug was just bored so he just asked alot of questions and wanted to eat all of the snacks I brought along. And I had to wait 30 min to get through the line at the mall to get my eyes done. I so wanted to leave but my brows were out of control and I didn't know when was the next time I would be able to come through. Though I love the mall, I only go about once a month and that's pushing it. But we made it and back to the car with only a slight meltdown. One errand down, one to go.

Baby girl fell asleep on the way to Target, ugh. I wanted to drop her home but I knew that it would be nonsense to go all the way there and then come back out here. So we pushed through. I had my list made out and got in and out in 30 min. Victory! She lost it on the way home but that was okay, I had gotten everything we needed for the next two weeks.

Got home, put her immediately in the bed, downloaded the newly purchased items and put them up. Then proceeded to get ready for GNO (girls night out). Showered and took a very short nap which was inundated with thoughts of sex so I guess I need some, lol. Dressed and out we went. I have to say, I was very snazzy. Visited a new restaurant called Crave, definitely a date night joint! It was delish. I can't wait to eat the leftovers. Now it's time to say goodbye...I probably won't remember my head hitting the pillow but it was definitely a good day!

Time flies!

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've posted. What have I been doing? LOL, alot can be said for that. Well for one, I now know why I was so tired when I wrote that last post. The day after, I found out I am PREGNANT! Yes, having another baby. One year after my 2nd one.

We were shocked! I mean really shocked. With the previous two, we were planning. I was temping, counting days to ovulation, looking at cervical mucous, etc. The whole kit and kaboodle. When I tested before, I knew the stick would turn pink just based on what my body had been telling me. This time around, I wasn't even paying attention to my body. We weren't trying. I wasn't on any BC but we were using condoms. I knew that the week after my cycle, we were good. Usually about half way through the 2nd week we would wrap things up until the next week after. It had been working for a year now so I don't know what happened. Maybe hubs had some super sperm that stayed alive for a few days or I ovulated early. Whatever, it was not what we were planning.

We're happy now, we just weren't prepared. I'm turning 3o this July and I was so excited about being able to have a big shindig and wear a fabulous dress or outfit and just have a whole weekend to celebrate the beginning of my next decade! NOPE, not gonna happen now. I mean I'm happy about it but I'm also kinda bummed. We were really going to start trying this winter only because that's what we've always done. I'm used to having spring/summer babies. I'm still bugging that I'm going to have some winter kids. And yes, I did pluralize kids because I was praying that my husband would change his mind about us having more kids (he said we were done with two) and I also was asking for 2 more (boy & girl) so I could have 2 of each. So since I was surprised about this pregnancy and his mind was changed for him, I shan't be surprised about twins! *We'll see*

Anyhoo, the story goes I was playing last Wednesday morning with the guys in our weekly football game. Not doing too bad but not at all thrilled about being out there. During the game, I'm noticing that I have a little heartburn/indigestion going on so I'm thinking of what could have caused this. I didn't have anything spicy the night before or eat too late so what could be causing this. Then I thought, shoot, that's the first symptom I had with the other two. Panic now begins to set in. I cannot be pregnant, can I? I'm counting back and then realize that my period should've been here 2 weeks ago. I'm not regular but it shouldn't have taken this long to come. I have been extremely tired and out of sorts but I was just thinking that I needed a break. I remembered that I had a dollar store test in the cabinet and decide to just test to east my mind because I just know that my period should be here at any time.

I get home and go straight to take a shower. Well run the water so I can open the box without questions from hubs just in case he's listening, lol. I sit down, breathe deep and pee. Before I can even finish peeing and put the test down to simmer, the line is PINK! You've got to be kidding me. I'm breathing fast, I'm sweating and it's not even hot, I'm shaking. What in the world is hubs going to say? I quickly jump in the shower to give myself some time to think. How did this happen? What day did I calculate wrong? Are we ready for another one? I'll definitely have to quit my job now. Are we going to stay in El Paso? 20 questions are running through my head. After about 15 min of thinking, I decide to finally wash and get out. No use in running, it's gotta be tackled.

I get dressed and then walk out. Everyone is up and eating and I pass hubs the test. I have my hand closed and he gives me the fist bump. I say nope, open up. He questions it, lol, as if he's never seen one before. I reassure him, it's as real as they come! He flounders on the floor for a minute and then for the next 45 min we try to grasp the big picture. I'm not even thinking about work. Needless to say, we are in a fog all day!

So a week later, it has all sunk in. I'm feeling great! No issues. A little nausea if I'm not eating on time and I lose consciousness every night when my head hits the pillow. We've told our families and I guess the 3rd pregnancy is just not as exciting, lol. I mean they were happy but there were not a lot of questions this time around. We will have to purchase a vehicle. The 4runner will not hold 3 car seats across. I'm almost tempted to give up the mini-van fight but hubs is against it and I'll take a Tahoe (if we can get it for a good price!). Don't know where that cash will come from but we don't want to incur a car note because we haven't had one in almost 2 years. You can get used to that freedom really quickly. All in all, I'm about to be the mother of a small tribe, lol. I've always wanted to be a wife and mom but I really have to let go of my day job. I cannot do all of these jobs well and at 100% because it's just too much to ask of one person. My desire is to stay at home at least until the kids all get into school. I still want to finish my Master's before my 7 year time limit is up. Choices, choices, choices...more to come.