I have to say congratulations to my big tall hubby. He was formally accepted into the PhD program and he will begin working towards that degree this fall. Yahoo! He has been taking some classes and doing a lot of work to get to this point but he wasn't "officially" accepted until his interview yesterday. I am so proud of him. I never in a million years would have guessed he'd be working towards this the day I met him at the swimming pool 11 years ago. :) It will probably take about three years total to complete (if he works really hard) but it is something that he has wanted to do for a while and it will also make it easier for him to teach at a college someday, a dream he has. Don't you just love seeing people fulfill dreams?
Ugh! Why do these kinds of "nests" keep popping up all over my house?
We are back from the beach and I am here to tell you that a 35 week preggers should NOT be in Southwest Florida's 100 degree heat no matter how much she wants to be there.
I hope to post a few pics soon.
Until then, I am asking for a very selfish request my bloggy mom friends...
Yesterday I went to the doctor and they discovered that our baby is laying sideways instead of headfirst (I am now 36 weeks). So this apparently means I will have to be "manually manipulated" next week if he doesn't move on his own. That sounds really awful. I barely like to touch my own sensitive belly, let alone a doctor who has to move my baby in there! If that doesn't work I will probably have to get a C-section, which is right up there with my fear of tornadoes. Seriously, I have prayed and prayed with each child to go naturally and so far I have not had to have a C-section. AND there is a chance that I would have to have an emergency C-section that day if the baby gets distressed. OK, so that would make him three weeks early. I know, I know, C-sections are pretty standard and so are early babies but let's be honest here, who wants to have any complications with pregnancy? I can bet none of us.
So my selfish request for you is, would you pretty please with extra sugar on top add me and my little bundle to your prayer list this week? I am not an overtly religious person but I am deeply spiritual and totally believe in the power of prayers. I promise to keep you all posted. And until then, I'm going to be doing a lot of weird exercises I found to try to get this little guy to turn himself around.
This is a message my big tall hubby forwarded to me, I thought it was so cute. Probably because I used to teach these kinds of kids...
Forwarded message:
Some of these are HILARIOUS:
Children Writing About the Ocean...for the teacher's assignment
1) - This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, age 6)
2) - Oysters' balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6)
3) - If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don't have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. (Mike, age 7) 4) - Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson . She's not my friend any more. (Kylie, age 6)
5) - A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 8)
6) - My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and pots and comes back with crabs. (Millie, age 6)
7) - When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn't blow the sailors would whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been better off eating beans. (William, age 7) 8) - Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get pregnant? Like, really? (Helen, age 6) 9) - I'm not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got pregnant, so I can't think what to write. (Amy, age 6) 10) - Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves in to chargers. (Christopher, age 7) 11) - When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes my willy small. (Kevin, age 6)
12) - Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers can't go down alone, so they have to go down on each other. (Becky, age 8) 13) - On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won't do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass. (Julie, age 7) 14) - The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don't drown I don't know. (Bobby, age 6)
15) - My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean. What he doesn't know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom. (James, age 7)
Here they are after their haircuts yesterday, all fresh and cute as ever.Tanner looks so serious but he was the best boy ever. He smiled and giggled and even talked about his "mohawk" when she was cutting the top. He didn't flinch or cry or anything! Yes!!! A small victory I will take.
He looks so big now! OMG, it is killing me! The Great Clips gals did a super job and told me my kids were "so sweet" why thanks ladies.
No more crazy Gary Busey curls, *sniff* but I love how he just looks so adorably little boyish and you couldn't have seen a prouder boy. He was telling everyone that he got a hair cut and he was about to bust when big tall daddy got home and he could show him his new 'do.
Do you find it hard to make the final decision sometimes? I sure do. Drives my big tall hubby crazy. I definitely like to try to weigh all the options and try to figure out the end result before it happens even though I know I can't predict the future (wouldn't that be terrific?). This is true for big decisions and small ones. I remember agonizing over the color of tile when we built our house(s) but now that I have that tile, I love it and don't have any plans to change it. Sometimes all this mental figuring is exhausting. I am trying harder to just make a decision and be ok with it whatever the outcome is. Having three (almost 4) kids and a big tall hubby and animals and a house to take care of doesn't give me a whole lot of time to make pros and cons lists, ya know?
With all that being said, I have decided to trash this dumb temporary closet and buy a stinkin' new one. There. I said it. You know I have had "fixing it" on my things to do list for a few weeks. I am not going to try to fix it, somehow a couple of the poles got broken (two wild boys perhaps?) and it would require a lot of effort to repair it, something I just don't have right now. So I am going to bite the bullet and get a new one. I'm glad I made this decision but it doesn't make me like spending more money on a new one. (Typically I'd fix this one but honestly, I just kind of surrender!)
Next, I think I am going to get this guy's hair cut. **sniff** It will be his first hair cut. Trauma for me. I hate thinking he is getting bigger. He is my baby and so freakin' cute with all the crazy curls and Gary Busey wiry hair but yesterday he got a giant lollipop stuck in his hair. It was literally hanging in his hair and it was he#@ getting it out (I was too panicked to take a picture, wish I had). Little boys always look so much bigger after a fresh cut, it just breaks my heart. **more sniffs** I know he will be just as cute and probably more comfortable but I hate it. That's my decision, just have to stick with it now. **sniff sniff**
It's Monday and I am so crazed right now... we have about three days to get ready for our beach vacation. Yikes! I have about a million things to do and about an inch worth of energy to get it all done.
Anyway, we went to a wedding Friday afternoon for one of Paul's oldest friends. I tried like the dickens to get a pic of the bride and groom but they were always surrounded by a crowd and when I wasn't trying to take their picture I was chasing one of my kids. It was an outside wedding and my boys loved all the trees and rocks and other boy stuff (sticks, bugs, decorative water fountains, rock walls to climb on, you get the idea.) Trust me, the bride and groom and their children all looked lovely and the wedding was just simple and perfect. We are so happy for them and hope that they have a lifetime of happiness.
It was really humid, look at what the humidity does to Tanner's hair, just like mine! Eek! Poor guy, I really need to get his hair cut but I just love those curls. Why does Parker have to carry a critter or something everywhere we go? Grr!
Lots of poles and things to hang on...
How 2 year olds like to watch wedding ceremonies... under Big Tall Daddy's legs.
My cuties love 'em a bunch, you can see the onery-ness about to come out can't you?
Zoe looking so cute, she wants to be a flower girl so bad, if you need one, give me a call, she is dying to do the job!!!
My things to do this week:
pack and get ready for vacation
take animals to boarding places
clean house (yuck!)
laundry galore
go to the beach (yipee!)
my menus for this week: (easy stuff I can make fast and the kids will eat, no time for messing around this week!)
My song recommendation for this week is "Hot Lunch" from the original Fame movie. Not sure why, maybe it is all the dancing Zoe did lately? Anyway, I love this song, always have. I still have my original Fame soundtrack record. I so wanted to go to this school when I was a youngin'. Cincinnati has a school for performing arts (you may have seen the MTV show about it?) and I wanted to go there too but you have to live within city limits and I have always lived on the outskirts. This movie and TV show are what prompted me to start playing cello way back in grade school. *sigh* I think Zoe would excel at a school like this too, I have never seen a kid liven up like she does at the idea of performing. This song is fun, fast, and has cute lyrics, a definite download for your Ipod.
P.S. Has anyone watched any of our favorite childhood movies? Holy moly, the sexual references and innuendos are insane. Of course I had no idea what that all meant back then but I do now. I have been wanting to watch "Grease" with Zoe forever but I just can't do it yet. Too many things I'd have to explain. Is it weird that I knew every word to every song at age 5? And I used to act out scenes from the movie? Hmm, something to think about...
Have you checked out the new food guidelines put out by the FDA? It is all about the "my plate" campaign. You should definitely give it a look-see. I find it to be quite refreshing and much easier to follow than our old food pyramid and food guidelines. I hope it helps a lot of people get healthy. It reminds me a lot of the Weight Watchers' plan, and you all know I believe in that 100%!
I just saw one of my mommy friends at the pool yesterday who lost a whole bunch of weight on Weight Watchers and she looks so fabulous. Her success is going to be a good reminder for me to get back in the saddle after the baby is born. If you are reading, hot momma, I am very proud of you!!!! :)
Speaking of weight (ha, it is Wednesday, isn't it? Oops, I just realized it is THURSDAY!!!!! Blame pregnancy brain!)...
At Zoe's first recital (of the three), one of the other dance moms said, "Wow, you really got big this time didn't you?" In a very not nice kind of way. Seriously, I am not kidding. She said it. I promise. I almost fell to the floor. Not only did she say it but she said it in front of a whole bunch of other team moms and it was just mortifying to me. This was so humiliating. I was so sad. I held back tears until I got home and then I let them fly. I actually tried to dress rather pretty (as pretty as you can with a watermelon belly.) for the whole weekend, trying to disguise the fact that I am weeks away from delivering a human being. If I am at a function to support my child, I try to look nice. Actually, I try to look nice every day and some days of course are better than others.
I am seriously going to find a way to do some sort of public service announcement about the things you should say to pregnant women. I have said it before and I will say it again... lie people, lie a lot, tell every preggers you know and those you don't that they look beautiful and so tiny! I still cannot believe that people feel that it is ok to comment on MY body regardless of it's condition. My big tall hubby tells me that people are just trying to make conversation about the obvious and they don't mean to be so hurtful but I completely disagree. I have never told a pregnant woman she looks big. I will never. I only say positive things. Things that will make her feel better. "Cute top!" or "Your hair looks so great, did you get it cut?" or "You look so small, I can't believe you are going to have a baby in a few weeks!" Will you please join my quest to make pregnant women everywhere feel beautiful?
Just a side note: I have edited this post slightly from its original. I felt like I was being just as mean as the dance mom who spoke rudely to me. I didn't change the story, just some of my ranting. So if you are reading it and reading a comment and it doesn't make sense, you will understand why.
My computer/internet connection has been kind of wonky lately sorry for my absences...
Zoe danced in three recitals over the weekend. Why three? Because she is a member of the studio's competitive team and the director likes to show off their teams at every recital. They are great advertisement for the studio. I think, because they perform and practice so much more than the recreational kids, the team routines are noticeably better. The girls (and boy) did a great job. It was a crazy, hectic weekend and I can honestly say I am glad it is over. We had TONS going on besides the recitals so it was jam-packed. I am still recovering two days later. So are the kids honestly.
I wrote Zoe a message on our chalkboard. She thought it was soooo funny.
(The little tag is for big tall hubby, it looks just like his Vespa scooter.)
Here she is all dressed for her tap routine. Can you believe she danced with that giant cast on? She was a trooper and performed like her usual star-studded self. The song for this one is "Trashin' the Camp" from Tarzan.
I forgot to take a picture of her in her jazz costume this weekend, here is one from a competition (before she broke her arm). The song for this one is the World Cup soccer theme song, "Wavin' Flags."
Some of her team members, they have so much fun together.
Accepting an award for being a member of the Petite Team. Zoe also got a "five year" award for dancing at the studio for five years. I can't believe she has been there that long!
Here is what the boys looked like after all this girly bruhaha...
Wish I could nap like that too, I definitely needed it.
So after another dance season ends, we are now in the process of trying out for next year's team. (Well, Zoe, not me.) She will be taking a just for fun hip hop class this summer as well.
Have a great day everyone!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Whew, crazy weekend is done.
Hope to be back tomorrow after big tall hubby's graduation ceremony tonight.
This is what I found in the dining room this morning as I went to dust...
I am assuming Parker turned Zoe and Tanner's pictures around so only his was visible. What do you think he is trying to convey? It reminded me of when Peter Brady (The Brady Bunch) was all bummed being the middle child. Maybe Parker thinks this room can only handle his handsomeness and his alone. Or perhaps he is ticked at his brother and sister for something. Hmm, I am going to ponder this one for a bit. I do want to tell all my bloggy momma friends that I cracked up when I saw this, but of course I had to talk to him about how this was so "not nice" and it "looks pretty goofy." Don't tell him I laughed, OK?
So not only do we have three dance recitals this weekend, graduation for big tall hubby's school, baccalaureate for his school, 4 graduation parties for some of his students, out of town guests, a wrecked van, THEN, this morning I discovered my garbage disposal was leaking, a lot. It must have been leaking for a while because there was this big brown sludgy water under my sink in the cabinet. Yuck. I guess when it rains it pours (or leaks!). Going to wait for the emergency plumber now! I am not even complaining, see how calm I am trying to be? I am just taking it minute by minute...
Today is Zoe's last day of 2nd grade. When the heck did she get so big? Holy moly this year flew by. She is already telling me that she is "so mad" that school has to end. The girl is nuts about school. She has cried every last day of school since preschool. Jeez, I mean, am I that boring to be around all day?! Just kidding. I am so glad she loves school. Funny thing about today, she wore that exact same outfit on the last day of first grade, she showed me pictures this morning (minus the cast)! She thought that was so crazy. Her dance studio has changed names but she loves this shirt and wears it all the time.We have a very busy weekend coming up. She is going to try to dance in all three of her recitals this weekend. Poor thing, can't really do arm extensions with that big giant cast, but I give her credit for trying. Hopefully she will be ok.
For her teachers (and bus driver, nurse, and classroom aide) I put together these ice cream scoops with a $10 gift card for an ice cream parlor. I made the little tag gift card holders using mostly scrap paper and stamps. I of course, wanted them to be way fancier but it just didn't happen. For her classroom teacher, I put together a gift bag of office goodies like pens, post its, highlighters, etc. and added in an Outback Steakhouse gift card (he mentioned once to the kids that was his favorite). I forgot to take a picture, sorry, but I think it was a nice gift. It was probably better suited for the first day of school but again, my intentions were better than my actual efforts. Can I blame pregnancy on my inability to get it done? ;)
Add this song to your workout playlist, you won't be disappointed! I love Cee Lo, and I am obsessed with "the Voice" and you might remember that I touted my love for his other hit, "Forget You" a while back. I am thinking he rules right now.
My local newspaper listed some of the worst "healthy" food options available at fast food restaurants (Study from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine). I was so sad. Some of these I have eaten, recently. :( I really try to avoid fast food but sometimes it is just next to impossible. I am really beginning to think that fast food companies are somehow in cahoots with drug companies to make us all fat and unhealthy so we have to take regular medication to make the CEOs of the drug companies rich. Have I ever mentioned my love of a good conspiracy theory?! Maybe some other time...
Some more reasons to avoid fast food:
Wendy's: Baja Salad contains 1900 milligrams of sodium, more than should be consumed in an entire day.
McDonald's: Fruit and Maple oatmeal contains more sugar than a Snickers bar.
Subway: Fresh fit 6" turkey breast sub jumps to 24 grams of fat when cheese and mayo are added and the meat is processed.
Sonic: Strawberry Smoothie contains more sugar than five Twinkies.
KFC: Grilled Chicken contains PhIP, a chemical that is classified as a carcinogen by the federal government.
YIKES!!!!!! Seriously, if these do not convince me to become a raw food convert, nothing will.
And my own personal reason for avoiding fast food just occurred today... while big tall hubby and the boys and myself were leaving Skyline Chili (I love this place, it is a Cincinnati staple and one of my true favorites- kind of don't want to know about their nutrition values! Sometimes ignorance is bliss.) after we watched Zoe's award assembly, some woman slammed her car into my van doing a bunch of damage. Yes, this is our second accident in less than a month. (last time big tall hubby hit a deer!) Honestly I am really considering locking myself in my house and never leaving!!!
