Becoming a Sideshow

Last week we were invited to a party which occurred last night. When the woman invited D., she said the kids were welcome also, and then said, "Since we aren't having too many people, we could invite you." D. said, "Don't worry, we'll leave the kids in the car." She was oblivious to having insulted us, but her husband looked mortified at that point.

But we went anyway, and once we got there it was apparent that many of the other guests had been told about our family and our big Sprinter van, since we fielded many questions and comments from people, none of whom we knew. D. said we were the "zoo animals." LOL

We have never been the "poster children" for large families before. Thankfully, our children behaved perfectly, including the 18 month old and the 6 week old. We stayed till 10pm without a single whine or tear.

Actually, we have received many compliments this holiday season from people we socialized with on what nice children we have and how well behaved they are. I am both proud and grateful for this.

Our First Cache

We went geocaching for the first time yesterday. It was at a park very close to home. Geocaching in the winter seemed like a good idea if the weather was warm, which it was, but there was still a lot of snow on the ground, making it extremely challenging.

We found it! It was a microcache, in a film cannister.

We would not have found it without the clue, however, and had to call home to ask D. to look up the clue for us. We need to learn more about using the GPS for the future.

The 3 Days of Christmas

Now that it's over I'm feeling in much more of a holiday spirit. LOL

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents with my sister and her family. Everyone was in a relaxed mood, (notable for my family) and we had a nice time. We atea midday meal -- the traditional kielbasa dinner--and exchanged gifts. When we arrived home we had a small prayer service--we read the bible readings for Christmas Eve and each of us said a prayer while lighting a candle. We did this in lieu of attending mass. At our church you need to arrive at least an hour early to get a seat at any of the Christmas services, and with bitter cold weather, a newborn and a very active toddler we decided not to do that, and had our own servide instead. It was very nice. Then we made a fire and had cheese, crackers and fruit in front of it, another family tradition. The kids were bed by 10pm and we commenced wrapping. I wasn't able to do too much since A. wanted to nurse the entire time, but we still finished and were in bed by midnight. D scared me when he let out a LOUD HOHOHO in the hall in case anyone was listening.

On Christmas day we woke to the sound of the kids in the kitchen (around 7:30am) making coffee for us. The family rule is that they can't get up until it it light out, thankfully fairly late in (8am) our neck of the woods. We got up, and I made banana bread real quickly, which was baking while the kids unwrapped gifts. It was our most extravagant year ever, and the kids enjoyed what they received, which included an electronic keyboard and a GPS unit so we can begin geocaching.

Around 11am D and I both began to get headaches, and we soon discovered that the kids had inadvertently made us decaf coffee! LOL So we had to make more and start over.

We had a beef rib roast, garlic mashed potatoes and a caesar salad for dinner, followed by D's "famous" (famous because he told me he made a great apple pie for the first 15 years of our marriage but never made one until then--2 years ago) homemade apple pie for dessert, and then we watched "A Christmas Story".

On Dec. 26 we had Christmas with D's family, and we stayed fairly late, arriving home at 10:30pm.

We have done a lot of socializing these holidays. On Tuesday we had old friends (a family of 4) come and spend the night, and Wednesday evening another friend came for dinner. Thursday we were invited to a party.

Is it over yet?

That sums up my feelings about this Christmas season!!

Saturday was Ds bday, and it was also his extended family's Christmas celebration. It took all morning to get us ready and out the door on time, and we didn't get home until around 7pm, so not much of a birthday celebration happened. I had hoped to get a birthday cake to take as our dish to pass, but ran out of time. D went to the store to get some appetizers as our dish to pass and I had called the local bakery, which had some cakes available, so I told him to go there instead and get himself a cake, which he didn't. I don't blame him, I wouldn't have either. Luckily someone brought a cake for dessert and the hosts had candles, so we sang to him there.

I gave him a pair of concert tickets to a blues artist, Eric Bibb, that he really likes, and I have already arranged babysitting and confirmed that they will allow me to bring an infant. I also gave him a book and a magazine subscription. None of this seemed to excite him.

Today, the kids are done with school, and although we have snow, it is too cold to force them to go outside. D is out of town until tomorrow night, Young D is ill with a stomach bug that the rest of us are sure to get, and the grandparents that promised to help have backed out because THEY are too busy. LOL Actually, my dear MIL is coming tomorrow to visit and we are taking the kids to the movies and dinner. She was supposed to come tonight and have dinner and spend the night and tomorrow.

Last night my parents made a brief appearance to drop off D's birthday gift. I had previously asked them to stay for dinner to help me out, but they said they were too busy. After they had been there about 30 minutes, D had to leave for the airport and they were ready to go home (they live about an hour away, and staying less time than it takes to drive somewhere is something I never really understand). I desperately needed groceries and didn't want to take A out in the frigid weather, and don't trust the older siblings to watch her for very long yet, so I asked my parents to stay while I ran to the store, telling them it would take me about 30 minutes. I didn't get out of the house right away, because I had to put K down for his nap before I left, and then it took me about 45 minutes to spend $252, so it was a little over an hour before they left. My dad was so impatient and visibly irritated with me when I returned--it made me feel bad. Also, my 7yo dd told me that he had been pacing and looking out the window and saying "She's not here yet!" My parents often offer to help but are rarely actually available, unless it is really urgent, like I am about to give birth!

So we are spending the day making as big of a mess as possible, an activity which masquerades as making cookies and paper snowflakes. And listening to Raffi's Christmas music over and over as loud as I can stand. I am feeling better than last week but still somewhat scroogelike.

The Clan: Christmas Card 2004

IMG_2230, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

Here we are in all our glory: D, L, T, I, J holding K, Paula holding A, and Daryl

Birth Announcement

IMG_2217, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

This is the photo I used for her birth announcement, which I picked up today, and plan to enclose in the Christmas cards.

Holiday Events and Irritations

It's been a busy few weeks. I (foolishly or kindly, depending on what your perspective is) agreed to let D. invite his students/coworkers over last weekend for a holiday party. Kind of a lot considering we had a 3 week old baby. I hired someone to clean, and we did potluck. We bought some meat to grill and 2 already prepared side dishes. D. did the shopping and most of the cleanup.

We put our tree up, and deviated from tradition by not cutting out own, but buying one from a lot. I stayed home with A. as it was raining (and I was dying for a few minutes alone--it didn't take them nearly long enough! lol). D. said they scared away the nice men from the Lions Club who approached them as they were getting out of the van. He had 2 crying children (one thought she was being accidentally left in the van), 2 pouting children (they were mad that we weren't cutting our own tree), and 1 child complaining loudly "These trees are PUNY!" Only the oldest, D., was behaving normally. I had no idea we'd created such strong traditions. The next morning D helped them put the lights on, and then we put ornaments on. Normally I unwrap, put hooks on and hand out ornaments, but I was nursing A., so I told them to go ahead. The idea that we were doing it differently was not well received, and neither was the fact that D. left for the store at that point to go buy party supplies. He doesn't normally help with ornaments anyway, but he is usually on the premises. Once A. was done eating, I handed out ornaments as always.

The party went well--delicious food (we asked people to bring ethnic or holiday favorites) the house looked festive and our kids were really well behaved.

I ended up with a sore spot/plugged duct after the party anyway, even though I was still taking antibiotics from the previous bout of mastitis, but at least it didn't progress into full blown mastitis again.

Midweek D invited an out of town colleague to dinner at our house. I made a nice pasta and we had a good time. He is a nice man that enjoys our kids. His children are grown and his wife had early onset Alzheimer's and is now in an advanced stage of the illness, totally noncommunicative and requiring constant care, living in a nursing home, so I think it's nice for him to spend some time with a family.

Yesterday I spent most of the day ordering last minute gifts, shopping for teacher presents and taking J shopping for her friends. Last night was my book club meeting. I left at 7pm with 2 simple requests: Please have one of the kids sprinkle sidewalk salt on the path to the car since it hasn't been shoveled and is slippery (it is a small slope) and I will be carrying a baby and please bring in the 3 packages that arrived so that the dogs don't chew them up. I also instructed L to take out a garbage bag from the diaper pail and I was supposed to be completing her dinner chore of loading the dishwasher (she'd already been asked about 5 times).

When I arrived home several hours later this is the scene that greeted me: Darkness (although I always turn the lights on for D he never remembers to turn them on for me), the path is not salted or shoveled, the packages are still on the porch, the garbage bag of diapers is still in the house but has been ripped up by our 2 dogs and dirty ripped open half eaten diapers are all over the carpet, dishes aren't done.

I was very upset. Apparently D went to bed before the older kids and the dogs did the damage after he went to bed. The older kids put the dogs outside but didn't clean up the mess. I couldn't clean the mess because A was very fussy and needed to lay down and nurse to sleep. When I awoke this morning, although D and J and young D had been up for 45 minutes and eaten breakfast in the room with the mess, they hadn't cleaned it. Since J had missed the bus (2nd day in a row) and was waiting for D to shower and take her to school on his way to work, I made her clean it up. I woke up L and I to help her and to give I time to finish the dishes. When K awoke this morning I discovered he'd been put to bed with marker all over his hands, feet and face, not washed off. He'd also made some marks on the wood floor.

Are you picking up on my feeling that I do a lot for others but get nothing in return? Spent most of today feeling sorry for myself. Tomorrow is D's extended family holiday gathering. We are supposed to bring a dish to pass so I told him to think of something, buy it and cook it or get a bag of chips, but I'm not doing it. I don't even really feel like going--I'll probably end up with mastitis again.

Mastitis

I am always very prone to plugged milk ducts and mastitis in the first 2 months of a new baby's life, and this time is unfortunately no exception. Early last week I had a sore spot on the left breast, but it wasn't too bad and cleared right up with heat and frequent nursing. But Saturday night was a different story. I got a sore spot on the right breast--really the whole underside, and it was excruciating, and by bedtime I felt feverish and achy. It got worse during the night, and I slept terribly as a result. Luckily I was able to convince the doctor to prescribe antibiotics over the phone. It is slowly getting better. I just felt very tired and run down today. Possible causes are: overdoing it (taking kids Christmas shopping, doing a lot of walking), using sling and having it press on breast (I didn't think it was, but it could have been), and the fact that I couldn't get A to nurse very well on that side before we left, and then she slept through most of the shopping, and when I next nursed her I offered the other side. It really is irritating, whatever the cause. As a La Leche League Leader I know a lot about this, but still can't prevent it for myself.

The Mouse Died...

in one of our couch cushions!! EWWWW!

Saturday morning I smelled a familiar bad smell upstairs in the rec room. By Sat. afternoon the odor was overpowering, and I informed D that it needed to be found and dealt with. He went up there and began hunting, and narrowed it to a section of our leather sectional couch, but wasn't sure where in the section it was. He wanted me to help him by smelling the couch and telling him where the smell was the strongest, but I declined. I found the last dead rodent (inside a hand puppet in the toy box) while in the throes of morning sickness, so I felt justified in making him take a turn at this fun game alone. He did find it and disposed of it. The smell lingered for hours, even with the window open.

What's funny is, J's friend K spent the night Friday, and not only was there no odor in that room then, but the dead mouse was in the section of couch she slept on right near where her head was!! Maybe she killed it by laying on it?

In past years we have had many mice, but none this year except this one. I purchased these electronic devices that emit a high pitched sound that is supposed to drive away both mice and spiders. The spiders seem impervious, but considering that in previous years we killed about a dozen mice in Oct./Nov. (when it got cold and they entered the house), the devices seem to work.

A Bad Mother Shows Her Christmas Spirit

On Friday one daughter had a friend over afterschool. When the others arrived home, they wanted friends over too. It was now almost 5pm and I didn't feel up for it, so I said no. This resulted in a lot of grumbling and dissatisfaction. So I told them we could get out a box of Christmas decorations, which appeased them. FIrst I went to the school to pick up D from basketball practice, forgetting that another mother was picking him up and taking him with her son to a trombone lesson to practice a duet for solo and ensemble festival. Not only did I look silly, but I'd also forgotten to send money with him to pay for the lesson, and of course my checkbook was at home. I rushed home, called the trombone teacher and arranged to mail him a check.

Then I got out 2 Christmas boxes. This immediately hypes the kids up. I had asked them to empty the book cabinet before we got started, where books are stashed until no more will fit and they pour out onto the floor when you open the door, but they didn't do it. Soon there was Christmas music playing loudly and stuff all over the floor, not being put up. The kids were reading Christmas books that were in the box, crumpled newspaper is strewn everywhere (used to wrap fragile items). When I'd had enough, I insisted they stop what they were doing, put away the book cabinet books and help me clean up the mess, putting empty Christmas boxes back in basement. I, who is 7 and alternately goes by the title "The Princess" or "Miss Entitled," totally ignored me. I came over and took the book from her hand and began telling her what to do. At this point she shrieked in my face that she'd do it when she was finished with her book. And then I snapped, yelling back "No Christmas for you, then!" She got upset, as did her 4yo sister who asked "Are we really not going to have Christmas?" I reassured her, and apologized to I, but felt like Scrooge.

My only defense is that I have a 2 week old baby, and D was not yet home with the pizza he was supposed to pick up, so I was hungry and tired as well.

The Princess has Arrived!!

Aren't I Sweet?, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

Beautiful Babe

Beautiful Babe, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

Paula and A

Paula and A, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

4 Days Old

4 Days Old, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

Mom and Babe

Mom and Babe, originally uploaded by PaulaK.

The Princess has Arrived!! (birth story)

She was born at 11:16am on Friday, Nov. 19, 2004, weighing in at 9lbs. 11oz., our smallest!

Had about one contraction per hour, but hard, all night long on Thursday, in fact even woke D at midnight to say "this is it" but when it didn't pick up after an hour, went back to bed. So I would just go back to sleep after each one. Got up at 6am, still felt very tired, went back to bed and water broke with one really hard contraction aided by a kick at 6:30am.

Got to hospital at 7am, and nothing was really happening! Contrax had more or less stopped altogether. By the time they did a monitor strip, checked baby's position with ultrasound, rechecked it because inept resident couldn't tell if that was a head or not (more on her later), checked my cervix (4-5 centimeters, stretchy but baby was way high) and got the IV antibiotics in, and moved me to my own room, it was about 9:15am and contrax had just gotten going with a bang, about 5 minutes apart and much more intense. Around 10am the resident checked again, now I was 6-7 and baby had come down to +3 station.

I began debating an epidural at this point, and spent a while discussing that with the anesthesia nurse, D and the resident. I wanted it but was afraid I couldn't keep still and that it would adversely affect the labor, delivery, baby, etc. D was trying hard to talk me out of it, even insisted they call my dr., who was already driving there.

By the time the anesthesiologist arrived, I was getting close to pushing, so we sent him away.

Then the resident attempts to check me again, concluding she "thinks" I'm complete, but can't really tell, so she has to go get a more senior resident to come and check. This resident, who would also be delivering if the dr. didn't get there in time, said I was 8-9.

After a few more minutes, I began to REALLY feel like pushing, and my dr. arrived, saying "Just give me a minute to get my scrubs on." Then she called the inept resident, who I thought she was going to allow to try to check me again and I said "She is NOT checking me again!" but dr. said she would check herself, but resident would assist with delivery. She wanted to have her hands free to put counterpressure against perineum and ease shoulders out if necessary, thinking this might be my biggest baby yet.

While they were dressing and getting stuff ready, I sat myself down on the bed, spread my legs and began pushing. Resident said, "We better hurry up, I see a head." Doctor ordered me to push more slowly so I wouldn't tear, saying, "I know you can shoot this baby across the room, but don't. Let her head be partway out to stretch you." The next push the head came the rest of the way out, and then they told me "OK now, give it all you got", and out came the rest of her body. I reached down and grabbed her, and they helped me get her on my chest. I thought I saw a penis, but then I asked (by now they'd thrown a blanket over her) and they told me to look for myself (D had already seen but wasn't saying!) and I saw she was a girl. I didn't have any tear or stitches, have a minor hemorrhoid, but feel great in general.

She has dark hair and looks like me, or like I did as a baby. The birth went exactly as I'd hoped, and I'm SO happy. I AM glad that I didn't have an epicural, even though I sure wanted it at the time! The only thing that didn't work out was that 3 of my kids wanted to be there, and they went to school, (I thought they should just stay at home but D didn't) and when my dad went to pick them up, he wasn't on the emergency list, so it took a long time to convince 3 different schools to release them, and they missed the delivery.

Human Pincushion

That's what I feel like--my nerves are very on edge. During the day I can be relaxed, but at dinner time I just start to lose it. Yesterday's arsenic hour featured:

Painter using shop vac very loudly
4yo and 7yo dds fighting, 4yo crying
7yo weeping hysterically at the thought of cleaning her rabbit's cage
Washing machine repairman showing up (supposed to be here between 1-3pm)
Lots of whimpering from the 1yo who was hungry, but I was struggling to make dinner with him hanging on me
Me trying to talk on phone to old friend who called from AZ


Dr. appt. update:

Dilated to 3-4 cm with bulging sack of waters
Biophysical profile done at hospital after nonreactive nonstress test in office--baby looks great
Induction which had been tentatively scheduled for tomorrow cancelled--hospital is swamped and I don't want to be induced
Dr. leaves to go out of town on Sat.

Lots of contrax, that hurt more than ever, but not real labor yet

My Favorite Room

Here is a not very flattering picture of me, with 2 of my cuties, T and K, taken by D who was sitting and looking up at us. This is the room we call the "quiet room." Behind me is my nursing chair. We just painted this room a week ago and we are just loving how it looks.

Belly Art

A friend came by yesterday with a henna kit, and made a design on my belly.

First is how it looked while henna paste was still on the belly:



and next is how it came out after it was done:




Hope it lasts till delivery, which better be soon!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

No baby yet! And quit asking me! D cancelled a 1 day business trip to DC yesterday, at my request, just in case. That of course guaranteed that the baby didn't come yesterday! I did lose the mucus plug yesterday evening, so maybe today?

14 Toothbrushes

That is the number of extra toothbrushes (used, not new) that I threw away this week. How can a family of 8 have so many extra toothbrushes? The kids are each supposed to have 2 toothbrushes, one for regular use and a spare. For some peculiar reason, they are very reluctant to part with any old toothbrush, so any time they get a new one, and I say, "Throw out one of your old ones", they apparently don't. Then they promptly forget which brushes are theirs and so when they lose their regular toothbrush or leave at someone's house, and I say, "Use your spare," I am always told that they don't HAVE a spare, only the one, and now I need to buy them a new toothbrush. So now we are down to one toothbrush each, not counting a couple of electric ones they got as gifts. Everyone went to the dentist last week and got a new one, so they are all fresh.

Full Term Belly

This afternoon I was feeling strange: nauseous, crampy, some contractions, lots of fatigue. I'd spent the day doing laundry--lots of it! D came home and said "Paula's going to have a baby tonight." He said I had a certain look in my eyes. Nothing definite is going on, and I actually feel better than I did earlier.

Meanwhile, I did pack my bag, just in case!

Waiting is Driving Me Crazy!!!

Well, I'm to that point that most women who've had a baby will recognize--I can't stand the waiting and not knowing any more! Since being pregnant is all I think about, it's all I can write about at this point, too!

Last week my doctor offered to schedule an induction if I think I want one. She said that she would have to justify it but thinks she can due to previous large babies and previous gestational diabetes (I've had sugar in my urine the past 2 visits), but it needs to be requested at least a week in advance for non-emergency. I don't want to be induced, but it is tempting! I am going for an ultrasound next week to estimate the baby's size. Apparently any info,. no matter how inaccurate, is better than none. Did another nonstress test, this time with no toddler to mess it up, and it was fine.

We were disappointed by the election results. D is very worried--I think he is being melodramatic, although I do wish Kerry had won.

I've had some painting done--finish the foyer/staircase/hall area that D started and was never finished after we changed our minds about the trim color; finish the girls' room which was primed but never painted; and paint the parlor area we refer to as the "quiet room", which is theoretically an adult only area. I had that painted a warm peachy color with rich chocolaty brown trim, and it's beautiful. It was DIRTY flat white with cream trim.

Group B Strep

At my doctor's appointment last week I discovered that I tested positive for Group B Strep. Current medical practice is to prophylactically treat all women who test positive with IV antibiotics during labor. This means that they want you to get there ASAP, instead of waiting till the last minute, which was my plan. It also means that you need an IV, which was NOT in my plan. My doctor said I could have the IV just during the antibiotics, and then have them disconnect it and walk around with a heplock until it is time for the next dose. Another issue is that they want the baby to stay 36 hours after delivery for observation to be sure he/she isn't becoming ill, which I also hadn't planned to do.

According to my pediatrician, about 5% of infants of mothers with Group B Strep will become ill, but they become very ill with sepsis, a bodywide infection. My father-in-law died of sepsis (which he acquired due to the destruction of white blood cells and suppression of his immune system caused by chemotherapy) so I know it is serious. Despite the severity of the potential illness, the number of babies who become ill is so small that it seems like overkill to treat every woman who tests positive with antibiotics. I am concerned about the potential for yeast overgrowth if I take the antibiotics. Vaginal yeast infections, thrush in baby's mouth, yeast infection of my nipples, and yeast infection of baby's diaper area are all possibilities. Yeast can be tough to get rid of. I have known mothers who have struggled with these problems for months, and it is NOT fun.

My pediatrician, who is not conservative, said he truthfully wishes they wouldn't routinely test people, since the risk is so small, but knowing that I am positive, he does recommend that I do the treatment and stay the 36 hours. So after mulling over declining the treatment and/or having the antibiotics but leaving earlier than 36 AMA, I have decided to just go ahead and do it, to be safe. The only problem I can see is that with a short labor, I may not be ABLE to get there 4-6 hours ahead of time and receive at least 2 doses of antibiotic. Oh well, we'll just see how it goes.

Appointment updates: Baby is head down, feels like at least 9 pounds according to my doctor. I had sugar in my urine, so doctor suggested a nonstress test since I'd had gestational diabetes in a previous pregnancy. I really wasn't feeling well that day, think it was a minor stomach virus, and I'd slept terribly and been up since 4am, so that could have raised my blood sugar. I did the nonstress test but had to interrupt it numerous times due to K, who was with me, and at 16 months can't really be expected to behave well or obey when his mama is strapped to a chair! He decimated the room. In the end I had to unhook the belts myself and rush out without checking out or saying goodbye, because it was time to get T from preschool and neither the doctor or nurse had returned, although more than 20 minutes had passed. I'm sure the test was pretty useless, since the data was really messed up by all the jumping around I did. I'm not worried though, baby is moving a lot and I have tested my blood sugar at home several times since then and the levels were fine.

She offered to try to strip my membranes and get labor going, but I wasn't ready! And feeling as yucky as I was, it just wasn't the day to do that. Normally I'm dying to go early, but I had a lot yet to do. Since I was having a lot of contractions that day anyway, the first thing I did was to come home and get out and clean up the carseat and wash the baby clothes, just in case!
We talked about doing it next week, but since then I read that stripping the membranes increases the risk of the baby becoming infected with Group B Strep, so that really isn't option (and my doctor should have known that!)

Fall

Recently Chris at The Big Yellow House and Gretchen at A House Full of Boys posted pictures of their neighborhoods in fall color. Inspired by them, here is a photo of the old stone wall in front of my house (SE Michigan)--at the end of the driveway, actually, and some of the colorful trees around it. It was more dramatic, but many of the leaves have already fallen off these trees before I got out there to take the photo.



These are photos of my 2 sweeties who are at home during the day, T and K, in the leaves.



Fall is my favorite season, and all of the time I lived in Arizona I longed for it each October in a physical way. It just felt wrong for it to be 95-100 until Halloween. I am so happy that we have returned to Michigan!

Not to be Trifled With

I am currently in the stage of pregnancy that should be known as "Woman Not to be Trifled WIth." My threshold for irritation is VERY low. This wasn't helped by D going out of town for 5 days, including the weekend.

Friday I awoke to my dog, who has a sensitive stomach, having had diarrhea all over the carpet. I have had issues with this poor animal for a while now (she has numerous behavior problems in addition to a weak stomach), and I totally lost it, called D. and suggested that we take her to a shelter that afternoon. He rightly felt that this was rash, and that we would regret it, so she is still here and we are seeking another home for her.


Saturday went like this:

7:00am Say goodbye to D, who is leaving for a business trip to the west coast.
7:15am Wake up J, who has to leave for a soccer game at 7:45am.
8:30am Meet with potential car buyers.
9:30am Drive L to soccer game
12pm Washing machine repairman arrives
12:30pm Furniture is delivered


Good news! I sold the car! I even dickered and cut a deal. They are picking it up tomorrow.

While standing outside cutting the car deal, the meter man came to read the meter, and the stopped to regale the buyers and I with a story of how the aforementioned dog chased him and behaved extremely threatening on a previous visit, but our other dog ran interference, distracting the mean dog and escorting him back to his car.

Predictably, the washing machine behaved perfectly normal while the repair man was here, so I paid $73 for a service call during which he did nothing! If the problem resumes, he will come back for no charge except parts, but still....

Then the furniture store delivered the WRONG mattress. I had specifically chosen a mattress without a pillowtop, and this mattress had a LARGE spongy pillowtop. I informed the deliveryman that this was the wrong mattress. He pointed out that 1) My old mattress (which they remove for free) was now outside, wet and dirty and 2) they would not be able to bring me another mattress today and 3) once the mattress has been unwrapped (it had been) it cannot be returned or resold/reused, so whether or not I slept on it didn't matter, because that mattress had become useless unless I kept it. He also reminded me that the store has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so exchanging it for another mattress would not be a problem.

I called the salesman, who suggested I come into the store and choose which mattress I REALLY wanted. He was unable to accept that I really didn't order the one they delivered. Later that evening, with 5 kids in tow, I did visit the store. The salesman was very friendly, but did argue with me about which mattress I ordered. He claimed that I was laying on the mattress when he wrote the name down. I assured him that I hadn't tried out any pillowtops because I didn't want one! Luckily, he only went one round with me and then said "We want you to be happy, so show me which mattress you want." There it was, in the same spot in the store as I remembered, and the same price as the other mattress. So next Sat. they will deliver the correct mattress and take the other one, probably to the dump! The wastefulness of that sickens me, although I know they must do that to conform with health laws.

Mostly I was astonished that he would argue with a woman 8.5 months pregnant, late on a Sat. evening, when she has 5 kids in tow.

Excitement and Cancellations while Negotiating with a 1 Year Old

You would think I'd never had a toddler before, based on today's episodes. K, who is 16 months old, had previously shown an aversion to wearing a perfectly adorable pair of overalls. He will wear other overalls, but not these. Currently, however, my washing machine is broken, so the clothing choices are limited. He began to scream when I tried to put them on him, but I persisted, forcibly dressing him. He progressed to crying and yanking on the cuffs. These overalls are tan with plaid cuffs, and the cuffs are the issue. When I finished dressing him, he threw himself on the floor, sobbing. Of course this occurred as we were attempting to hurry out the door to preschool, and were already late. I left him in the bedroom, and after a few minutes he picked himself up and followed me into the kitchen. Once we were out the door he perked up, but unfortunately, from his vantage point in his carseat he had a good view of his ankles, and this set him off again.

I am baffled by this! At what age do children become aware of their clothing, let alone have a preference? I have never had a child pay any attention until they got close to the age of 2.

After leaving the preschool, we headed to the furniture store, where I had been yesterday, scoping out bedroom furniture. They were having a "no money down, no interest, and no payments for 2 years" sale that ends today, so D. had agreed to meet me there and see what I'd selected. (We love using their money for free, and always pay it off before the deadline). K was still crying, so I plyed him with Teddy Grahams, which shut him right up. D liked my furniture selection, and somehow, although I had intended to purchase a bedframe, mattresses, 2 nightstands and possibly an armoire, we ended up with those items AND the matching dresser and chest. Unnerving to spend a lot more than I planned, but exciting to have bought an entire room full of matching furniture for the first time ever! It will be delivered Saturday.

I rushed back toward home to pick up J from school because she had an orthodontist appointment. When we got into the BRAND NEW van outside the school and pulled away, the way the van drove felt different--no pickup, and when I looked at the instrument panel, the engine light was on! I consulted the manual which said that this could be caused by totally running out of fuel and driving the vehicle empty (I didn't think that was possible) or a myriad of other problems that must be solved by the professionals at the service department of the dealership. I was low on fuel yesterday, but not totally empty, and the problem occurred today, many miles after I put fuel in. I called the service department of the dealership, because I wanted to know if I could continue to drive it without causing further damage. I was told it was safe to drive unless the engine light is flashing, which it is not, and that the problem might be that the fuel cap wasn't screwed on tightly. I checked this and rescrewed it but the engine light remained on.

A call to the orthodontist was next, to determine if they could still see J, even though we would now be rather late. Of course not! We need to reschedule (they make appointments at least a month in advance). J was now missing lunch at school, so we picked up sub sandwiches and a slice of pizza for K and went to the park to eat. I put some pop in K's sippy cup because it was all I had, and didn't even have water to dilute it with. He refused to eat pizza, which he normally loves.

The exciting part about lunch with J was that I got to find out how she did in the spelling bee-2nd place in the entire 5th grade! She gets to attend both the school spelling bee, which will be 5th and 6th grade, and the regional bee. I was so happy for her.

After lunch, I took J back to school, and had a little time to kill before preschool ended, so bought a few Christmas gifts, which made me feel productive. We retrieved T from preschool, and on our way home, I put the gas pedal to the floor, and the van would not go over 55mph.

K had a yogurt and took a nap. When I went to pick up J from soccer practice, I realized we'd made another mistake: today was a piano party at her piano teacher's and I'd planned to pick her up early from soccer so she could attend it, but I had forgotten, as had J. It would have been more than half over by the time I could get her there, so she decided to just skip it entirely. On the way home from picking her up, the van drove normally, accelerating easily over 55mph, although the engine light was still on.

We had an extremely minimalist dinner, hamburgers on bread instead of buns, no side dishes. Dessert was caramel apples. K, who had had a few Cheezits and part of a donut as a snack, would not eat the hamburger, which I anticipated since he doesn't each much meat. He then ate a few bites of leftover pasta. When it came time for the caramel apples, he wanted one. He doesn't really have the teeth for either apples or caramel, so I planned to sit him on my lap and let him lick mine. Oh no, that was not at all acceptable: he wanted to sit in his highchair and expected his own apple. I cut off a small piece of mine, but that was no good either. Then I realized, he wanted it on a stick! I stuck an extra stick in his piece and he was happy, and was able to do a better job of chewing up the apple than I predicted.


Today my 1 year old ate the following:

1 bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal
1 cup of whole milk
1 small package teddy grahams
1/2 cup Sierra Mist pop
1 whole milk vanilla yogurt
1/2 cinnamon sugar covered pumkin donut
few Cheezits
Few bites pasta
1/2 Caramel apple

Doesn't look too healthy, does it? Not to mention high in sugar.

K also mildly objected to his blanket sleeper, but got over it quickly. The amazing thing about all of today's negotiations and arguments with him is that he cannot talk! This was all done nonverbally. He does point and gesture, and do things like get a plate or bowl out of the cupboard and present it to me, or climb into his own highchair, and of course scream, cry and run away. It's amazing how well he communicates with no words. His verbal understanding is excellent--I can tell him it's time for bed, or ask him if he's hungry or thirsty, or tell him to go get something and he totally understands. The few words he says so far don't help: hi, bye, various names of family members.

Rainy Day

Being as though it was a cold, rainy day today, I decided to go to the mall, something I only do 2 or 3 times a year. My sister sent the kids some belated birthday gifts, which were adorable and expensive clothing, all in a size too big, but she thoughtfully included gift receipts. There were no parking spots near the door, and we didn't have umbrellas, so we got a little cold and wet. The girls and I went, and unfortunately had to take K, as D had to work in the morning. In the past he has been happy to ride in the stroller for short periods of time, provided there is good people watching and he has a snack. Not today.

At our first stop, the Children's Place, I had difficulty finding the same clothes in a smaller size, but did find a winter jacket and a blanket sleeper (known as a bunny suit at our house) for K. I eventually asked for help, and did end up being able to exchange the clothes for the same items in a smaller size. They were now on sale, so I even saved a few $$ since the gift receipt entitled me to be credited for the full price that my sister had paid. During this stop K kept throwing himself on the floor, running all around, and generally misbehaving.

So we went to have lunch at Olga's, a favorite of mine. Rather pricey for what it is, but I like it. T loved her 3 cheese sandwich, but I and J barely touched their burgers. I enjoyed mine, and K made a mess of his PB&J. J, the potato queen, ate a lot of french fries and we all slurped down the fresh squeezed lemonade.

Now K was happy to ride! As usual, I guess he had been hungry. Eddie Bauer, our next stop, was at the opposite end of the mall. It was easy to find the shirt and exchange it for a smaller size.

Next we needed to buy a gift for J's friend who was having a sleepover birthday party tonight. She doesn't know her friend that well, and wasn't sure what to get, so we went to the Discovery Store, where there were lots of cool things, but most of them more than she wanted to spend. We are on an increased allowance program where the kids now purchase things like gifts for friends with their own money. Eventually she settled on a scratch notebook, where the pages are black but when scratched color underneath is exposed.

We were now running late to get home, because J had a soccer game to play, and of course I made a wrong turn in the mall, because I was getting tired. We usually enter through Sears, but today we entered through JCPenney, which is at the opposite end of the mall. I remembered this just as we got close to Sears.

I, the Shopper, was now pouting that she hadn't had a chance to buy anything, and when I say anything, that's what I mean: she will buy anything. She is 7 and doesn't have much impulse control yet. She was so busy playing with the remote control vehicles on display at the Discovery Store that she didn't look around, and was mad when I said we had to go (not that she needed a keychain anyway) once J had completed her purchase.

Finally, at the van! Now I remembered why I rarely go to the mall.

As we arrived home, an old friend from AZ called, who I haven't spoken to in close to a year, and we chatted for a while.

I. invited her friend M over, but M needed a ride, and I agreed to go pick her up so that I could satisfy my craving for a white chocolate cafe mocha at the coffee shop on the way.

Once home, highly sugared and caffeined, I took on the clothes sorting project. I was able to do about 75% of them in about an hour! I am so happy. Then I made chicken noodle soup for dinner, while washing down the filthy fronts of my cabinets. The only bummer of today was that the washer leaked AGAIN, after I was just about caught up on laundry, soaking all the clean clothes awaiting folding, which will have to be rewashed! AAGH! We aren't sure what is causing the problem, it has happened 3 times in the past 2 weeks, but not every load. D thinks it is a clogged drain, which he will check out tomorrow.

Now M is spending the night, since we have an empty bed while J is at the sleepover party.

All kids are now watching movies, Chicken Run for the little girls and Dumb and Dumberer for the boys, and when the little girls are in bed, D and I will watch Mystic River, if we can stay awake!

Frantic Nesting

With 5 official weeks of pregnancy to go, probably 6, I have entered the frantic nesting phase.

I have the following goals to complete before this baby arrives:

1) Christmas shopping--I have actually begun, have 5 extended family gifts, most of K's (toddlers are easy), and finally some ideas for the rest of the crew. D. and I have decided that our gift to one another will be a new bed! We are sleeping on a saggy, almost 10 year old mattress and box springs, on the floor. Very collegish, but now that we are 40 and 41, married for 17 years, perhaps it is time to acquire an actual bedframe/headboard and new mattress/boxsprings to go with it.

2) Clean basement refrigerator--I refuse to state how long it has been, but can you say EWWWWW?

3) Clean out medicine closet--I have a very deep long closet in the bathroom with 3 shelves, most of which can't be reached, extremely dusty and full of stuff I don't need or is outdated. I have been waiting for allergy season to end before tackling this, since I was sneezing so much already.

4) Complete filing--I have a year's worth of kid papers that I am saving that need to go into their individual files.

5) Catch up on photo albums--about a year behind.

6) Put away outgrown clothes into totes--currently they are in garbage bags awaiting sorting and putting away.

Sounds like a lot, but refrigerator and medicine closet are each one day jobs, filing also. Photo albums could be 3-5 evenings worth and clothes, let's say 2-3 days. Problem is, most of these chores can't be done with K awake, and I need to nap when he does. I have arranged a babysitter to do some of the Christmas shopping.



Tonight I made a seasonal favorite, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Sounds weird, but they are SO good! Have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like them. A soft cookie and the chips usually remain soft as well, slightly cinnamon--MMMMM!

The Girls and K

The Girls and K
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.

These are my 3 daughters, J and I and T, and little brother K.

Our Old Stone House

Our Old Stone House
Originally uploaded by PaulaK.

This is the front view of our house, built in 1862.

Paula's belly

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Originally uploaded by PaulaK.

Here I am, looking large and pregnant.

Our New Sprinter

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Originally uploaded by PaulaK.

This is our new van.

Side view of house

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Originally uploaded by PaulaK.

This is the side we enter from, using the left door.

Large and Forgetful

The title refers to me, large and forgetful. I feel like I got a lot larger this week, am really straining my clothes and even from my point of view, my belly sticks further out horizontally. Perhaps the baby has dropped some, so it is lower and sticking out more, but it doesn't feel like it. In addition, I've had heartburn the past few days. Last night it was bad during the night, so I took Tums, which coat my mouth with a most disgusting taste, which is still there today, 18 hours later, even after brushing and flossing.

The forgetful part actually refers to last week, when not once, but twice, I forgot to pick up a child at the right time and place. The first incident was when I went to pick up D from soccer practice at 4:45pm, and was alarmed to see that no one was there, only to then realize that it was Tuesday, not Monday, and I was supposed to have picked him up at 4:00pm from a trombone lesson at a different location. He was rather annoyed with me, especially since I laughed when I told him why I was an hour late.

The second incident was Thursday, when I picked up J from her piano lesson and took her to her soccer game, an unusual occurrence on a weeknight. Usually she stays until both her piano lesson and I's are done and I pick them both up. Then I took L to his soccer practice, and was heading home, when D called me from home to say that the piano teacher had called and was wondering when I planned to come back and get I. Her lesson had ended 30 minutes earlier. I think I confused myself into thinking I'd already done the piano lesson pickup, since normally I only go there twice, not 3 times. Ugh! I was mortified and had to apologize profusely to the piano teacher. I was nonplussed, however.

I think I am trying to do to many things at once!

Treating myself Right and Wacked Out Thursday

On Monday I had a massage with a certified prenatal massage therapist. It was lovely, and she said I'm in great shape. My lower back has been hurting some of the time, and it was tight, but not too bad. This inspired me to do something else I've been wanting to do, get a belly portrait of myself taken while pregnant. I look really great right now, large belly but thin extremities, no swelling, nice tan. People have been commenting on it. So I made an appointment to have it taken in 2 weeks--hope I still look great then!

Last weekend D and I went to a huge antiques show. We were looking for a piece of furniture to hold our stereo and CDs. Currently the stereo sits on top of an antique buffet/sideboard that I inherited from my grandparents, which I want to put my antique pitcher and washbowl on. We didn't find anything that was the right size, style and price, but I stumbled on an old photograph, late 1800s, of a woman in a long white gown holding her baby. It is somewhat beat up, but large, 13x19", and very beautiful. It is perfect for our house, which was built in 1862. So we bought it, and looked for an antique frame but couldn't find one we could agree on. All in all it was a nice date, but I was exhausted when we got home from all of that walking. Then my mother-in-law came for a visit, to see our new car. It is always nice to see her, and she stayed for dinner, which was delicious: beef on the grill rotisserie, caesar salad and crusty french bread.

Our oldest is at 7th grade camp this week, and it seems very different without him. He comes home tomorrow. We have missed him! I hope he isn't too grouchy--I'm sure he'll be worn out.

I'm renaming Thursday: Wacked out Thursday. Everyone is exhausted and has just about had enough by Thursday night, so there is usually lots of fighting and crying.

Today my stupid dogs ran away--the invisible fence isn't working due to a break in the line. I got home in the early afternoon, and they were gone. I took a nap, and was awakened by J telling me that the telephone man was here. Not expecting any repairman, I hurried out. He had the dogs in the cab of his truck. He'd found them about 1/2 mile down the very busy road we live on, laying next to a deer carcass. I'm not sure if they killed it or not, although it is certainly a possibility. If they did they are very lucky, because it is illegal for dogs to run deer down here and it is legal for someone to SHOOT the dogs for doing so! Anyway, they were exhausted and filthy.

J felt sorry for them and put their food and water dishes right next to their dog pillows. The food and water are supposed to be kept outside to keep K out of them. Sure enough, not long after that, K dumped the water bowl on the floor, and not long after that I slipped in the spilled water and fell. K was right behind me, and so before I could even begin to wipe it up (after picking myself up) HE slipped and fell, got his backside all wet and hit his head. All of this led me to tell D that we should go out to dinner.

We attended a school open house first, and so it was after 7pm when we arrived at the restaurant. I had fed K before we left, but he will usually eat twice without hesitation. He was in a very unruly mood, however, and was screaming, and when let out of his high chair kept running along the bench of the round booth we were in, then began playing on floor under the table. At this point, D was done, and took him outside while the rest of us finished eating. All in all, not a very relaxing experience. And I am blaming ALL of it on the dogs! They aren't good for much else, but they make GREAT scapegoats.

J is worried they will catch a disease from eating the deer. I am worried they will get sick in the house, and D says if they get sick and die it is OK as long as it is done cheaply and quietly!

New Car

Our Dodge Sprinter arrived today, delivered to my door, no less. It is one LARGE vehicle. At 102" high (8' 6") it is the SHORT version. It looked so tall that I made them give me the height measurement, since I live near a narrow one lane underpass that is only 11 feet high and I was worried I wouldn't be able to get under it!

The past few days have been miserable, between the amount of driving kids place to place, with 4 school open houses in addition to the usual activities, a husband who has had to work late 3 days out of 5 the past 2 weeks, and 3rd trimester fatigue combined with trouble sleeping kicking in.

The weather is also not helping--I hate hot weather! Who wished for this? Autumn is my favorite season--bring it on!

Tonight is book club again--we are reading "Hell at the Breech" this month. No one volunteered to hostess, so we are meeting at one of my favorite restaurants. A night off for me! Woohoo!

Trip to the ER

D has to work late 3 nights this week and next, leaving all of the driving to me. Last Thursday went something like this:

4:55pm Load everyone into car and take girls to piano lessons.

5:10pm Pick up D at soccer scrimmage.

5:15pm Pick up pizzas for dinner.

5:25pm Eat pizza.

5:45pm Take L to soccer practice, picking up teammate on the way.

6:10pm Pick up girls from piano lessons.

6: 40pm Change shirt and go to bathroom as preparation for attending middle school open house. When someone calls my name while in the bathroom, yell, "I'm in the bathroom!" and think with annoyance that I can't have literally one minute of peace.

6:40 and 30 seconds: Hear bloodcurdling shrieks emanating from the other room. Try not to hurt myself scrambling to pull up shorts and race out of bathroom. Run by 12 year old D who is on the computer and apparently oblivious to whatever emergency has just occurred--he hasn't even looked up.

When I arrived in the kitchen/family room area, 1 year old K was crying, picked him up and realized he wasn't the one hurt, just scared by all the screaming. Hand him to 10 year old J who is not screaming, but talking really fast in a voice an octave higher than normal, telling me what happend.

Go around kitchen island and couch and see 7 year old I screaming her head off, as though she was being murdered, and flapping her arms really hard. Next to her is 4 year old T, dripping blood off of her hands, her shirt front half soaked. I escort her to bathroom to wash her off and assess damage. I runs from the room at this point. While washing her hands I realize that they are not injured, and see blood pouring from her right temple, where there is a 1.5 inch laceration, maybe 2mm wide and deep. After a few minutes of pressure, the bleeding subsides and I am pretty sure that it needs stitches, though not 100% positive, I wish D was here, he would know for sure, and I call him but he doesn't answer--is teaching an evening class.

7:00pm--I inform T and her siblings that she needs to have a doctor look at her injury (carefully not mentioning the word hospital or emergency room so as not to alarm the patient). Amazingly, she agrees without protest, but does refuse to change her shirt. We drive 15 minutes to a nearby community hospital, where there is no wait, and she is stitched up, using that amazing numbing gel instead of the painful numbing shot. Somehow this all takes almost 2 hours, including drive time, even though they are not busy--hospital time is different from real time I have discovered previously, and this experience only corroborates that theory. Meanwhile I attempt to call D every 15 minutes or so, and do call home every 15 minutes or so in an attempt to movitate my other children to finish homework, do chores and get ready for bed.

9:00pm--we arrive home. T proudly shows off her hospital bracelet and the stuffed animal she received. The other kids are mostly ready for bed.

Fretting and Worrying

This pregnancy, although going absolutely fine, has had me worried from the beginning. I have had a normal ultrasound, and declined any other tests. I am worrying about everything ranging from a genetic defect, cord accident, emergency during the birth, cleft palate, etc. I guess it is my age and the closeness of these 2 pregnancies that is preying on my mind.

Last week a friend who was 2 weeks before me had her baby via c-section at 30 weeks, 2.5 lbs. but breathing on his own and doing OK for now. She had HELLP syndrome, which is a severe form of preeclampsia. I just got a message today about a mother who delivered a stillborn 31 week old baby needing advice about drying up her milk. I am 30 weeks, 4 days today. I guess I need to just keep praying, both for a healthy baby and for peace of mind.

I am considering hiring a doula for the birth. Perhaps that will be a calming influence.

Meanwhile, I posted to this blog last night but it wouldn't publish for some reason, so I lost it. The entry was titled "The End of Summer" and basically said that we had an OK Labor Day weekend. It was too hot for me, and I spent Sunday not feeling well and very grouchy, but Monday D. and I planned a family end of summer celebration, which included lots of swimming, a badminton tournament, cookout, music and junk food. It was supposed to also include leftover fireworks and a bonfire with somemores, but it rained in the evening. The best part was, at the end of the day we covered the pool! Less worry for me, and less work for all of us, and less money being spent on chemicals! The pool is surrounded by trees and literally hundreds of leaves per day were falling into it--there is no way we can keep up with the vacuuming this time of year.

Summer is Over

Labor Day weekend was uneventful. We just hung around the house Sat., in the evening went to some friends' house to visit and swim. Their pool was blue! Ours is green. They have no children and spend a lot of time on gardening and home maintenance so everything always looks great. Sunday I felt very tired, and it was SO HOT! I HATE to be hot, and was pouting. I wanted to escape my life--messy house, husband involved in outdoor project so not helping me supervise kids, who were pretty unwilling to do any chores, and green pool. After K was in bed, we left the big kids in charge and went out to my favorite restaurant, the Common Grill, where we had calamari with citrus aioli, caesar salad, lobster ravioli in a saffron cream sauce, and warm chocolate croissant bread pudding. We shared everything and it was scrumptious. Monday we planned together a family "end of summer" party. We swam all day in the green pool, bbqed and ate lots of junk food, listened to music and had a family badminton tournament. It was a lot of fun.

First Day of School

School started yesterday--half day only. It was so exciting!! It's not that I wanted to get rid of my dear children--I love having them home, but I also love the first day of school, the newness and freshness of it. It is part of the yearly cycle, a season unto itself. I think I feel that way because I spent SO many years in school and D is now a professor, so that cycle remains an important part of our lives.

The kids enjoyed their first day also. My oldest is now in middle school--and I continue to not be ready for them to grow up.

It has been a busy week. Monday I finally got around to the task I've been avoiding all summer--sorting out clothes in kids' dressers and removing outgrown ones. Then I had to go to the store and buy more totes to store the outgrown ones in, along with groceries and a number of school supplies that we didn't know we needed when we did our school shopping a month ago. $300 later I emerged, hot, tired and having to go to the bathroom. This was a trip to my least favorite store, Meijer, where they had a LARGE sign out front advertising "New curbside service--just ask!" So ask I did, only to be greeted with an eye roll from the cashier, who said, "I'll check--I don't know if there's anyone here to do that." If a largely pregnant woman pushing a cart with 2 kids and merchandise mounded up high on top doesn't need curbside service, then who does? Luckily for me, the 3 giant totes I bought wouldn't fit on the cart in any way, and I couldn't carry them, so a customer service person HAD to carry them out to the car for me, and then she did help me unload the rest of the bags into the car. Not curbside, but acceptable.

Family

My sister is in town visiting for a few days, so my parents had us all over for dinner (all being my 6 kids and I, my out of town sister, and my other sister, her husband and 4 kids). My parents rarely have us over, once or twice a year. I brought dessert, blueberry pie. We ate outside but it began raining just before dessert so we moved in. Of course, my 4yo dropped her entire bowl on the carpet, upside down. I actually found this amusing (cruel daughter that I am) but managed to hide that inappropriate emotion. It was amusing because my parents are very uptight about wanting everything perfect and clean all of the time.

My husband was unable to attend this family function, which was really a shame, since my family rarely all get together. He has an extremely busy month ahead of him at work, and had planned to use part of today to do some work at home, in the hopes of getting a little ahead so that he will be more available to the kids and I later. I was disappointed, but could hardly argue with this logic. My family, however, was not able to understand, and think less of him for it. None of them have really demanding jobs that require anything more than 9 to 5, so it is hard for them to relate to the extremely intense nature of his job.

My sister that lives in MI was in a very bad mood, her baby is 4 months old and still very fussy, has been since birth. Still, she vented her mood at me by saying that she hopes my next baby will be grouchy since it isn't fair that I will have had 7 happy babies and she's had 2 happy and 2 grouchy. I keep reminding myself that she is coming from a difficult place right now, to wish that on me! She is also unaware of how bad the most difficult years of having small children were, since we lived out of state during that time and she and I didn't talk much then. It didn't help much that my niece was being very cute and happy, not at all fussy, and we kept teasing my sister that we didn't believe her. She has a hot temper and that really irked her.

Vacation is OVER!!

The rest of family vacation went well. A week on the shore of Lake Huron, Georgian Bay in Ontario. Lots of sun and sand and relaxation.

Now we are home and vacation is OVER!

Tonight I'm staying up late to wait up for my sister who is flying in from CO to visit, flight arrives at 11:45pm, she will probably get here more like 1am. Ugh. I love her and want to see her, but that is too late for me!

I am happy--I had a prenatal checkup yesterday, and had to take the 1 hour glucose tolerance test, and passed it. Last pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, based on extremely borderline 3 hrs. GTT scores and never really accepted that diagnosis. This time I drank the glucola at home, went for a brisk 20 min. stroll, and then went in for the test. Feels sort of like cheating but my dr. said it was OK. So no silly diet or insulin this time! Yeah! I still have to watch my carbs, and not binge on sugar, but that's OK. I was also found to be low in iron, so need to eat more or take a supplement. I am already eating a lot of red meat, so I may try supplement. I actually felt sort of faint earlier today in the grocery store, so was relieved to learn that there was a reason.

I was hostess of my book club tonight, and only 1 person came! All that getting ready for nothing. Oh well. I hadn't read the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me. It is nonfiction--challenges some of the mainstream revisionist incorrect history most of us were taught in school. I do plan to read it, just didn't have time this month.

Vacation begins

We are beginning 2 weeks of family vacation. Week 1 consists of vacation at home, where my husband does not go to work and we do lots of FUN things together. Things I have planned are: trip to local waterpark, zoo, movies and dinner, canoeing. I have arranged a babysitter for those too young to do certain things, like canoeing and movies.

I did school shopping yesterday and today, to try and get that chore out of the way before vacation, since school starts one week after vacation ends. Yesterday I took the 2 school aged girls to Target and Mervyn's. Target featured great deals on school supplies--$1 for markers, 33 cents for crayons, 27 cents for a ruler, $1.22 for Fiskars scissors. I even got some extra for little ones at home. Unfortunately, my 6 year old daughter, who LOVES to shop, also has ZERO self control, and asked me for EVERYTHING and ANYTHING she saw, even things that she couldn't identify, like a protractor, and things for the house, like flowered sponges. It got so that my 10 year old daughter and I would just laugh and walk away without even answering her. We had lunch at Big Boy. I had an omelette--I love breakfast food for lunch. Each child also got 2 school outfits--one summer (clearance!) and one fall.

Today I took the boys shopping. We went back to Target, even though I had bought their school supplies the day before, because I had to return a pair of shorts that didn't fit, and to look at backpacks for my 12 year old son, who wanted a messenger style bag. I ended up getting a bunch of stuff for the house like bandaids, paper towels, toilet paper, etc. Then off to Kohl's, where they were having a big sale with screaming values. Almost everything in the store was on sale, and when you entered they gave you a scratch off card with an additional discount amount, good on EVERYTHING, even clearance. We scratched off 20%. It was a little challenging finding things that fit for both boys, because the 8 year old is too big for a size 7 and too small for many size 8s. The 12 year old is 5'6" and has size 11 feet and is too big for size 14 pants, yet there are no 16s (the problem is the proliferation of husky sizes, to go along with the bloating of America, so lots of those but no regular 16s), so we had to go to the men's dept. A 29 waist and 30 inseam fits him well, but is EXTREMELY hard to find. We did, however, find a Nike messenger bag that he had seen on Amazon for $40, on sale for $21, plus 20% off! The 8 year old whined a LOT about being done shopping, being hungry, wanting to leave, etc. Famished, we went to TGI Fridays for lunch, which was scrumptious (I don't usually like going to chains, but this was particularly good--did the fact I was STARVING help?)

We began our vacation tonight with a work picnic for my husband, followed by a trip to the video store to get movies. An argument between the 6 year old daughter and 8 year old son ensued (Beethoven's 2nd vs. The Black Stallion), so we got both movies, one to watch tomorrow. The 12 year old wanted to watch a funny crude movie, something like Caddyshack or anything featuring Adam Sandler. I wanted to watch an adult movie with my husband, but watching 3 movies in a row would require staying up till 2am (we only have 1 TV set up to watch movies), so we compromised on 50 First Dates, featuring Adam Sandler. The kids went outside and rode bikes for a while after we got home and by the time they were ready to start a movie it was 8:30pm. Then--the movies could not be found! We left them at the video store! It is now 9:15pm and my husband has returned to the store to get the movies. We decided it will be too late for the younger kids to watch a movie, so they are watching a few cartoons and will see the movie tomorrow.

Tomorrow will feature an early morning shopping trip to stock up on EVERYTHING, as well as food for a family birthday party for my soon-to-be 7 year old daughter in the afternoon, with 20+ relatives in attendance. I placed an online order with Sam's club earlier in the week, which is supposed to be a great service, where they get all the merchandise together and you show up and pay for it. However, the first day my husband went there they had closed at 5pm to get ready for a grand reopening the next day--they moved around the corner. The next day he returned to the store to find that they did not have the order ready, despite the fact that they emailed me to say it was ready. They said it may have been left at the old store, and were supposedly checking, but after some time had passed without any further news, my husband left in disgust. I have used this service once successfully, and this is the 2nd time they have failed to actually get the order ready. I think I may just quit shopping there.

40 Today

My fortieth birthday seems an auspicious day for starting a blog. I've wanted to for a while, and here I am! A beastly hot and muggy day and a Monday. So far, in addition to creating this blog, I've taken the kids out to breakfast and done some yoga. Now on to locating a birthday cake for myself (too hot to bake) and go swimming. I've received the traditional call from my parents, which features them serenading me over the phone, as well as calls from 2 friends. Hanging up in the family room are 2 banners that my mother made for the surprise party thay my husband D and good friend L threw me a month ago, which she forgot to bring. She gave them to the kids yesterday on the sly to surprise me today. I also need to finish the thank you notes from that surprise party!