Updates later today :)

December is always a crazy month for us. Trying to fit in blogging is just impossible.
Hopefully today I will get a few pics up and a few updates.

All in all we are doing well. See you later today.

15 weeks and growing!

How Many Weeks? 15 weeks, which is a bit depressing since I thought I was on week 16. I have no idea where I even got that from. Maybe it is the size of the bump that has me thrown off ? Exhibit A:

Um- seriously? Wow.

What is baby up to? Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now out measure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. The baby is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb.

Weight Gain: not sure. I weigh myself at home but the scale here is not very reliable. I think about 3 lbs though.

Sleep: I am still sleeping pretty well.

How big is baby?: The size of a orange- 4 inches & 2.5 ounces. I am not sure how this is even possible! The bump would argue, if it could talk.

Movement: I feel the baby about 3 times a day. Usually I am relaxing and I can feel him or her.

Maternity clothes?: Uh- yeah, and I am loving them! They have so many stylish maternity clothes these days.

Food cravings?: Salt and Vinegar chips and Sour Patch Kids. Salt and Sugar are food groups right?

Gender: Still no feeling one way or the other. We are not finding out either. We will have our "BIG" ultrasound sometime in January.

Feeling: I am still tired. I am not sure if that is pregnancy related or being a mother of 3 related. Maybe a little of both? I have also been having headaches. Not just little baby aches either. They are monster headaches that about take me down. My doctor is deciding on something to help me with this, hopefully a good solution will be made quickly.

Health: besides the headaches I think I am doing well.

Belly Button: Still in and even deeper than before.

Weekly Pregnancy Update

Ok- I am going to try my hardest to update this blog every week. If you get lucky you might see me twice a week ;)


How Many Weeks? 14 weeks today (pic from 13 wks but no change)
The little baby is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.


Weight Gain: ZERO!! Still shocked...

Sleep: No issues- except I like A LOT of it :)



How big is baby?: The size of a lemon- 3.4 inches & 1.5 ounces



Maternity clothes?: Yes.

Food cravings?: Salty chips mmmmmmmm.

Stretch marks?: No additional ones- not that I would be able to find them. I already look like I was mauled by a tiger, or three.

Gender: Don't know and we plan to keep it that way until the baby gets here. I have no feeling yet on what I think it is. I am sure as the weeks progress I will have guesses.

Feeling: I am tired a lot and still fighting nasuea but it is getting better. Heartburn is a daily thing too. It is driving me nuts. Everytime I eat something I have to follow with a bunch of chalky Tums. Ick.

Health: Blood pressure is still perfect.

Movement: I think I have felt the baby a few times but it could be gas ;)

Belly Button: In. In fact it is in so much that a Polly Pocket could use it as a pool, for herself and a few friends. It is insane how deep it is. I can stick my finger in there and lose 1/3 of it in there. It is wide too. I have considered putting a bandaid over it or stuffing it with tissue a few times to make it even with my belly. You can see the massiveness in my shirts. Gross.

Conversing with a 2 year old

Jace: Nonny, et Duddy out.

Me: Nonny's working, you let Buddy out.

Jace: No, I boss Nonny!

Nice.
after a little back and forth he finally gave in and let the dog out.

It is good to know he is the boss now though. I would be glad to hand over the bills and my job to him.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious......

Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious!
If you say it loud enough, you'll always sound precocious....

I took Nylin to her first ever show at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Mary Poppins.



It just so happens that Mary Poppins was/is my favorite movie of ALL TIME. When I heard it was coming to my city, I just knew it was the perfect show for Nylin and I to see together.



We also took my mom for her birthday present from us and Lori and Jake also joined us. We had a spectacular time! Who wouldn't have a grand time with Mary Poppins???



I have to say- I did not expect to love it as much as I did. I mean Mary Poppins without Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke??



It happens a lot with movies you love and then you see the play- it just isn't the same. It was not the same at all. Of course the most popular songs and most of the storyline was the same but you just cannot do somethings on stage that you can in a movie. You also can not do things in a movie (and expect greatness) like you can in a play. There was some super cool things that would not have made Mary Poppins the movie great but it sure made Mary Poppins the play AWESOME! I hear that the play actually follows the book more closely than the movie.

I have no idea why I never thought to look for Mary Poppins THE BOOK. I always read the book! After a little googling I have found that there are actually 8 children's books that feature Mary Poppins. I will be starting this series (reading it with Nylin!) after I am done with the current series I am reading- Sookie Stackhouse, a way different type of book, but a welcome change!

Original Cover Art for the 1st Mary Poppins book by P.L.Travers



The props in this production were amazing. The transitions happened right there on stage, curtains open and lights on. Nylin loved this. Seeing the living room turn into a kitchen in a few spins was exciting for her!! She was asking questions about it and talking about how cool it was all night (and all day today). I am so glad she payed attention and noticed things like this.

Of course my favorite part and Nylin's are one in the same. They had a scene where the chimney sweeps were tapping all over the place. About midway through the song Bert (played by actor Gavin Lee) started tapping up the side of the stage wall, when he reached the top he tapped all the way across the top of the stage, then back down the other side. Amazing. This is the only way I can describe this scene. Just amazing.

Of course we all enjoyed Mary Poppins flying into the audience at the end of the show. It was GREAT. All in all I had a great night, watched a great show and spent it with great people. I am so happy that Nylin enjoyed herself. She acted like such a little lady. It is a great compliment when people stop you to tell you how amazingly beautiful and well behaved your child is. We were actually stopped 3 times, each time complimenting Nylin. It is just heart warming.

Nylin and Jake, both first timers at The Fox!



Nylin giving her first ticket at The Fox. I wish they would have let me keep my camera out so I could show you the amazed look on her face when we walked in, the ornate ceiling and columns had her mesmerized.



Posing out front



My attempt at being creative. I like it, but I am not in love with it.

New Do's

Nylin and I were tired of our hair so we cut it all off!!!

Kara Ann

It occurred to me last night that I have not had a post dedicated to Ms. Kara in a while. She deserves her very own post! She is such a little ham these days. She is growing like a weed and she is really starting to come into her own little personality. She has always had a big personality but as of lately it is popping even more. She is starting to realize that she can hold her own too. I just laugh and laugh at her and Jace fighting. Jace is so used to "winning" and Kara is having NONE of it anymore. It is really quite cute.

Kara is now 18 months old. It just amazes me how big she is getting!

Here are some pictures of my Little Miss!

At the Wabash Train. She loved this train ride!



She stole my phone and was CRACKING up! Little Booger!



with her homemade tattoo from Sadie :)

Fish for breakfast?

As I am typing I am eating salmon for breakfast! Strange? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely!

My in laws brought some grilled salmon over last night and since I had already had dinner I just popped it in the fridge. I needed a high protein breakfast and this salmon sounded WAY better than egg whites.

I will say that whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner- this is the best salmon I have ever had. Some of the family members caught it while on vacation in Wisconsin. Jason and I still have an entire Ziploc bag full of it to cook- but who needs it when everyone shares theirs when they cook?

2 down, 1 to go!!!!

So Nylin started school last week and Jace started this week. I feel a little lost!!!

Jace did better than expected which was a tiny blow to Nonny's heart. I needed him to cry and NEED ME, haha. I guess to help Mommy feel better Nylin cried, she was worried about Jace being alone in school all day without her. What a good big sister she is!!!

Jace is AWESOME, according to his teachers, Ms. Sharon and Ms. Michelle.

Nylin started kindergarten

My baby turned into a big girl today, her momma turned into a baby.

Most parents plan for weepy children on that first day but my baby walked right on that school bus and did not turn back. I was the one that got teary eyed and worried about her day. Nylin was so excited to start her school career! I met her at the school for the "Boohoo Breakfast" and said our final goodbyes for the day. I was a the weepy one and again, she did not look back.

I am so proud of Ms. Nylin and I hope to goodness she is having a good day as I type this!!!


Meet the teacher night- on Monday!


Her spot at the table!



Getting on the bus, hardly stopping for a pic!



Posing at the bus stop



Boohoo breakfast!



Waiting in line to go to class



Off she goes!



No turning back :(

Things I want

I do not ask for much I just want less to do, more time to do it, and higher pay for not getting it done.

If someone could help me out with that it would be great.

thanks.

Simple note to self

Do not combine 2 crabby babies in a confined space, unless you want to witness a toddler version of WWE Smackdown, especially the bathtub, adding water to the equation is only deadly.

As much as Jace and Kara love each other, they sure love to beat up on each other!
I heard more smacks, ows and no's during that bathtime that I had all week.
You would have thought I would seperate them. If I did that, what would I blog about??

A little note to DQ....

Dear Dairy Queen,

Please define "limited time only". The Tag-A-Long blizzard has been out for quite a while. How do I know you ask? The pants that the nutcase I am attached to keeps trying to squeeze over me is cutting off the ciculation of my saddlebags.
I would prefer if you would promptly take these off your menu.

Thank you and have a great day.

Sincerly,
Ever Growing Backside

Best compliment of my life.

I received the best compliment of my life the other day. Someone told me that someone else said that they love my kids so much and then proceeded to say that my kids are well behaved and have the best mother ever.

AWW! Who knew such a simple complement would be the best of my life? LOL
Just knowing that other people see how hard Jason and I try and how much work we put into being good parents makes my whole day. The fact that my kids actually behave in front of other people and give me a good name makes me even happier ;)

I hope the person who said this reads my blog today and realizes what an impact that little comment made on me. Thanks!

I am locking my blog- send email if you would like to be added to reader list.

I will send invites to people to view my blog. After hearing the following story I have no other choice. I also have taken my blog off of search engines. I hope you all continue you to read my blog and I hope even more that I find more time to post ;)

ABINGTON, Mass. -- The dangers of the Internet struck home for an Abington mother when she found her own child for sale on Craigslist as part of what appears to be an international adoption scam.

Seven-month old Jacob Brennan was busy playing with toys when his mother, Jenni, got what she called a shocking e-mail.


"Out of the blue some girl e-mailed us and said 'I think you should know someone's using Jake's picture in an adoption scam'," said Brennan, who said she found the message hard to believe.

Brennan followed the link included in the e-mail and found an ad on the Craigslist Web site. The ad promised that a "cute baby boy" was available for adoption, but did not include a picture.

Brennan decided to play detective and sent an e-mail to the address listed. She quickly received a picture in her inbox.

"The picture he sends you is a picture of Jake," Brennan said. "It was horrifying. I never would have thought in a million years that I would have the emotional reaction that I did."

The e-mail claimed her son is Canadian born and living at an orphanage in Cameroon and said that for $300 she could begin the adoption process.

"Then it was my child and I realized he was being used in a scam. I got really angry, incredibly angry," she said.

Brennan discovered that the picture was taken from her own family blog.

"I know other people had access to it, but I didn't think anyone would really want to (take the picture from it)," she said.


Brennan called both the FBI and the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. Yahoo told her they have now shut down the e-mail account used in the posting.

Brennan has also now restricted access to her family blog.

"It Nay-ning"

That means it's raining, duh.

Ok so maybe it took me 10 minutes to figure out what it meant BUT he's talking. At least the boy is finally trying. I feel so bad for Jace since he tries tries and then tries again. I try, try and try again and sometimes I figure out what he is saying. Sadie is better at it than I am and she is really teaching him so much stuff. I am SHOCKED at how much he is learning. This week alone he has learned to say his colors (if you count Wellow, Boo, Ohanage and Geen as colors) and even recognizes 2 of them!

Where has time gone. I remember when he was such a short little whiney, babbling baby.

Oh that was yesterday ;)
vacation update coming soon, promise.

Wisconsin or bust

We are leaving in the middle of the night to go Wisconsin.
I hope to update every so often but I would not bet your last dollar on it.

You know you are a mom when...

you stand in the aisle at the grocery store and cry.

Let me explain.

Kara has had stomach issues since she was a little tiny baby. I think we may have finally figured out what the problem is- thanks Becky! We out Kara on a gluten free diet for a week and monitored her bowel movements (nice right?). Things have gotten MUCH better.

Most meal times have not been an issue (fruits, veggies and meats) but snacking has been very difficult. Thanks to Dierbergs I should never have that issue again!!! Dierbergs has an entire aisle dedicated to gluten free food. I walked into the aisle and saw all those awesome blue gluten free tags and started to cry. I must have looked like a blubbering idiot but I did not even care! $50 later I had some yum-o snacks for my baby girl!!!

Thanks Dierbergs!

There was so much to choose from but I would go bankrupt if I bought everything at once. So on this trip I picked up 2 types of crackers, waffles, pretzels, cereal, 2 types of cookies and 2 different yogurts (also dairy free!).

Vacation countdown!

I am SO READY to leave for vacation.

counting down widget

© hotelscombined.com

Chicken no more.

I know I JUST posted about our chickens but we had to get rid of them. We came home yesterday to 2 dead chickens and one seriously injured. I think there is more than one rooster in that group and he started to dominate.

We gave them to a very nice family very close to us and they have offered for us to go see them whenever we want.

Strange fact of the day- Michael Jackson and Billy Mayes were the chickens that were killed.

Chickens

I could have come up with a more clever title, however those of you that know me will be laughing hard enough at the following post.

Yes I have chickens. If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I would ever touch a chicken I would have laughed at you and walked away- thinking you were crazy.
I hate chickens, I hate birds or ANYTHING with a beak for that matter. I was attacked by geese at a very early age and I have been afraid of them ever since. This makes going to the park to feed the ducks a very stressful event for my family. We usually just skip it.

So- one of my not so nice brother in laws bought Jace chickens for his birthday. 2 of them to be exact. We were thinking of getting rid of them but the stupid things grew on me. Then one was murdered. We are not exactly sure what happened but we woke up to blood, feathers and a few bones on the front step. Being the sucker that I am I agreed to purchase a FEW more to keep Nugget company. We ended up with 10 more.

We have started to name the stupid things- which I hear is a bad idea if you ever plan to eat them- which is why we decided to name one Dinner. We figure that will prepare us if we ever eat one. We actually do not plan to eat them but do plan to eat the eggs when they start laying them (which will be in about 3 months).

Some of the names we have so far are....

Nugget
Dinner (apparently Sadie and Nylin thought this one looked good enough to eat)
Pumpkin (nice orange shade)
Michael Jackson (very nice black and white chicken)
Little Dude (for some reason this one is MUCH smaller than the rest)
Oreo (also a black and white one)
Misty- (nice shade of gray)

The rest of the names escape me at this time. I will update when Sadie fills me in. Oddly enough she has been handling the chickens every so often. I thought FOR SURE that she would scream and run the other way!

Me= Stepping away from the water!

I am very slowly stepping away from the water. SHHHHHHHH! Any sudden moves could cause a splash of unexpected, unwanted BABY WATER on me! I have so many friends pregnant right now I am thinking is HAS to be in the water around here. Congratulations to them but it is just not for me!

After much thought and much discussion and I am 99% sure that Jason and I are DONE having babies. I know you are all very sad that I will not be blessing this world with anymore beautiful children but that is just the way the cookie crumbled for us.
We love our three amazing children but man are they are handful.

Nylin is growing like a weed and seeing her change into a "big kid" has been rough on me. She is attending summer school right now which allows her to ride the bus. She is getting so big and so independent that I have to remind her to give her poor momma a hug and a kiss before she leaves.

Jace is starting to come into his own as well. He has calmed down on acting like a crazy child and has been sweet and kissy lately. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when he crawls onto my lap and just gives me a huge hug and kiss.

Kara is walking and running all over the place. She is starting to spit out a few words as well. She is also giving us kisses- they may include a little more tongue and droll than I prefer but they are very welcome!!!

I am so proud of my babies and I love them more and more everyday but I thank God everyday that they are getting bigger and more independent. I am so DONE with the infant stage.

Pizza, Pizza

We are enjoying a wonderful $5 Hot and Yummy, I mean Hot and Ready pizza from Little Caesers. They just opened one in my area and I am stoked. My waistline is pissed but the kids are happy.

How cool is it that I can walk right in, ask for a pepporoni pizza, pay and walk out in less than 5 minutes?

Freaking cool.

What a great weekend!

We had an awesome weekend! Pictures to come I promise....

We spent time with family, friends and most importantly each other- well except Nylin who I am pretty sure plans to move out in the next few weeks to live with her new bestie. They were together from Friday till Monday morning! When Jason went to get her that morning she huffed, puffed and complained because he had interrupted her playing. But back to MY weekend.....

Not going anywhere and keeping it low key proved to be even more tiring than actually going somewhere (like to a lake or river). Although we stayed home we worked our tails off!

We actually got some much needed cleaning done, but of course we are still not 100% done, will we ever be?

Lately it seems like we cannot actually FINISH a project before another one gets thrown in our lap that needs immediate attention. For example we have been having loads of dirt dumped in our yard for a few weeks, this pile is no longer a small hill either! Our plan was to scoop and spread that in different places all over the property this weekend WELL then we realize that the tractor (high lift) we need borrow to spread said dirt is out of commission. My father in law has been working tirelessly to get it fixed- to no avail! So Jason went over to help with that and the dirt never got spread. It is still sitting there. In a huge mountain. In my yard. In the rain. Ergh.

Jason also got a wild hair somewhere ;) and decided to clean out a shed and move it this weekend. When he did that he broke the darn thing which FORCED me to make room in "MY" shed for the other stuff. I ended up selling a boatload of crap on craigslist and making room for it. Although I got money and a slight tan from it- it was NOT what I had planned for the holiday weekend!!!

All in all I had a good weekend though. I feel slightly accomplished so it evens out the tiredness.

Please do not send the firing squad after me!

It has almost been an entire month since I have blogged. I know I know- New years resolution out the frackin window. It has just been crazy around these parts. My life is moving so fast that I can barely keep up with it these days. I feel like I am running in circles chasing my own tail. Not good. We (Jason and I) are trying to slow things down but with warmer weather and the summer approaching I just do not see that happening. We love to be around people and have fun way to much to actually listen to ourselves and slow down.

So since the last time I visited my very own site here so many things have happened.
Some of the major highlights would be.....

1. Jace turned 2 years old- I am pretty sure the devil himself sent Jace a a message to let him know that 2 year olds are supposed to give their parents hell. Since the day he turned 2 he has been the most difficult child ever. He throws fits, screams, hits and even bites. All which did not occur before his actual birthday. I tell you the devil has decided to form himself into a 2 year old boy for now. I am pretty confident with a few loud yells, a few time outs and a lot of NO NO's I can scare the devil right out of my boy! We shall see. To give Jace a tad bit of credit he is super cute (even with a buzz cut!) and still loves me! He tells me almost everyday now :)

2. Jason and I are being granted legal guardians of Kara now. Alicia has decided to allow Jason and I to make legal desisions for her for the time being. It was a very responsible thing that she decided to do and we are all very happy with this.

3. Nylin has turned herself into a kid. She is no longer a toddler or a little kid, she is like a big kid. She is tying her shoe, riding a bike without training wheels and starting to read. WAH!!!!!! I want my baby baby back!!!!

That is all for now folks. I must get back to chasing my tail.

Things to remember

In life there are so many memories that stick out in your mind. There are things that you will maybe never forget. Maybe your first day of school, your first kiss, your first date with you signifigant other, the day your child was born etc.

Today a memory was made. A memory that will never be forgotten. I hope when days are bad I can think of today and the feeling I have.

Jace, my amazing almost 2 year old son looked straight in my eye and said "Yuv u Nonna."

Now THAT is a memory to never be forgotten.

I Love New Stuff!

Remember this ?


Well guess what?

Now we have this! It is not actually done yet. It is only set. It will be grouted on Thursday. I will try to remember to update with pictures of that!






And since I never posted pictures of the hardwood floors- here ya go.
It is so strange to walk in the house now. I almost want to do a double take and check this address! My house looks so different!

Passionate Blogger Award

I am not sure how I got this- as I have been a super slacker lately. I do love blogging, I really do, but finding time is like pulling teeth. After the kids have ran me through the dirt a million times and I finally have them down to sleep I can barely make myself do anything but crawl into bed, much less come up with something witty to blog about. Anyway the AMAZING Brea has tagged me and I will take the award and run with it. lol




The Rules:
1. Put the logo in your blog >CHECK<
2. Write five things you are passionate about apart from blogging >CHECK<
3. Tag 5 people on your lists and let them know you tagged them. >WORKING ON IT!<

Things I am passionate about:

*Family and Friends: Of course this is at the top of my list. My kids and my husband are the most important things in my world, actually they are my world. Of course I have to have friends to save me from the insanity of my world. I may not have a million+ friends but the ones I do have are amazing- online and in real life. Yes I said online. I have some AMAZING online friends. Most of them I have been friends with for 5+ years and some of them are real life friends now, hell one was even in my wedding.

*Health & Fitness- I know I know, how is someone with fat rolls into health & fitness? Well my friends the fat rolls have made me passioniate about my health, and the health of my children. I love working out now, if you would have asked me to workout 5 months ago I would have laughed you out of the room. I really feel like being healthy and being into fitness is going to benefit myself and my family in the long run. Did you know that 1 out of every 3 children are considered overweight or obese? Wow. That number is staggering.

*Food- OK OK, I know you are thinking HOW THE HELL can she be so passionaiate about health and fitness AND food??? GUESS WHAT?? There is actually healthy foods out there that taste good. >GASP< As we speak I am scarfing down a tuna salad sandwich with less than 300 calories, and it is freaking good. My husband is an awesome cook (and maybe the cause of the fatrools mentioned above, lol) but he has made me enjoy food so much more since we have been together. He really knows how to add things to something simple and make it AMAZING.

*Reading- oh how I love a good book! Current read? Jodi Picoult, Plain Truth.

*Saving money-oh yeah I LOVE a good deal!


Passionate Bloggers I pass this award on to:

I. like Brea, am cheating here. I am not going to tag anyone here. I will leave comments on peoples pages and tag them there.

Participation is not mandatory.

Conversation with an almost 2 year old.

Me- Jace did you find some gum in Mommy's purse?

Jace- No

Me- What's in your mouth?

Jace- Gum

Snow today, 60 tonight ??

Seriously the weather has been CRAZY around here. I went to bed to rain and woke up to snow.

HOPEFULLY this is the last snow of the season, if not Dave Murray and I are going to have to have a conversation.