Daily deposit

I just found a load of laundry that has been in the washer, forgotten, since sometime over the weekend. Probably Saturday. Can we just say, "Grody to the MAX." Whoops!

I think I have some psychic connection to the world around me. I can't tell you how many times I totally unconsciously pick out outfits for kids and myself that are the same color, so then we look like a bunch of weirdos all running around in green. Or red. And then one of the kids will also pick out their own outfit that matches. And Grammie will be wearing the same color. Stuff like that. It's weird. Completely unintentional. Now this cosmic connection is invading my cooking. I rarely plan meals more than 20 minutes ahead of time (and yes, I realize how much of a problem this is and how much it complicates my life and stresses me out) but twice, no, thrice in the last week and a half I have planned the same thing for supper as the kids had for lunch. Both times involving pizza. Only, this time, pizza is what I planned for tomorrow, but we're having it today instead of tacos. Unfortunately, homemade pizza takes a long time (dough rises for an hour). So once again, we will be practicing European meal times and eating post- 7:30 pm. Oh well.

I hope the yeast works this time. I'm not really a fan of flat-bread pizza. Actually, it's more like deadbread.

My contractions have basically stopped, which I'm glad for. It is very possible that it was linked to dehydration, though my normal response is to get a raging headache. The thing I don't like about dehydration, not that there's much to like about it, is that it takes so freakin' long for my body to rehydrate itself, so I must endure whatever misery for days. Today I'm hydrated, and now I have a headache. Go figure.

And now my kid is banging on the xylophone. A w e s o m e .

In response to the contractions, I have tried to do more things sitting down, like food prep and cooking. So when I'm making a meal, the kids tend to come sit at the table with me. Naturally they want to help, which is all fine and dandy (ok, no it's not, but I can't help it) except for all the sneezing and coughing they do all over the contents of our meals. Greeeaaaattt. I think I may actually get a flu shot this year. At least we're not feeding guests today. (And Sarah, they were not at the table for chicken pot pie prep. :D)

I'm tired of the rain. I need for it to dry up a bit outside. Little boys need to run, and mommy needs it to be mud-free.

Out of the Mouths of Babes. And Moms

I don't really think about the things I say to my kids. Well, I mean, I DO, but then again, I don't. Not always. (And sometimes those moments I wish I did pay attention come in retrospect, but that's another post.)

So as most moms do, I was multitasking / trying to entertain some littles so I could do other things, all while talking on the phone to my friend. I had put Cheeks and Boots in the bathtub while I paid bills/cleaned the kitchen/made cookies/etc. Boots of coarse was in and out after about 15 minutes but Cheeks was still playing away. I went in to check on her. She had injured herself.

This is what my friend on the phone heared:

"Honey, you can be a monster but just don't hurt your peepee."

She sort of giggled and said, "Well that's not something you hear everyday."

Hm... giggle. I guess not.

Last night, George quickly downed his supper beverage, hopped off his chair and said, "I think I'm drunk." Stunned, I asked him what "drunk" means. He didn't know. "Well, where did you hear that word? (because he certainly didn't hear it from me)" "Martha Speaks." Um, yeah, I don't think so. I never did figure it out.

Makes our recent family conversation about feces, and all the names for feces we could think of, seem pretty normal.

Long story... long.

Well, not that long.

But how else would *I* tell a story.

So I've been having lots of contractions since mid-day Friday. Mild, but they seem essentially continuous. And since I'm only 29 weeks, and I've never experienced this before on any of my previous four pregnancies, that's been worrisome for me.

Today I had my regularly scheduled appt. As expected, my OB checked me and hooked me up to monitor the contractions, baby's heartbeat etc.

If there are any boys/men reading, this is the point at which you can probably just come back later when there's real news to hear. Now, girls, on to the gory details...

So my cervix checked out completely closed and ?long. (I'm assuming that means thick or not effaced.) It was, in fact, "longer" than she expected considering how many pregnancies I've had. So that's good.

She also did an fFN which came back negative. (A test to check if preterm labor is possible or likely within the next 2 weeks. Neg means 97% no, Pos means - it's possible but not for sure.) Also neg on bladder infection/UTI kind of thing.

The monitor showed that I definitely am having contractions. Though they are mild, they are basically constant, rolling up and down frequently (which makes the online info of "more than 4 per hour" a joke for me). And boy, do they make this baby MOVE! He's surely protesting, and I don't blame him. The funny thing on the contractions is, when I was last monitored (with ?Cheeks?, maybe around the 35-36 week mark) my contractions registered around 30 or 40 at least, and I didn't even know I was having them. The nurse pointed it out to me, oh you're having one right now. And I was like, really? Now, they are registering at around 15 and I can definitely tell I'm having them, as they are uncomfortable. Not debilitating, just uncomfortable. And low.

So, I guess the verdict is... nothing, other than I'm having contractions. (Nooo.. really!?!?) Call her if something changes. And try harder to test my sugars. Which I'm not worried about anyway. I think I need to buy a timer that will clip onto my shirt. I just can't remember to check, or recheck, them at the correct time, and it's pointless to do if it's not at the correct time. blah. So boring and tedious, that part. Surprisingly, she never said to stay off my feet. But don't tell my husband that. I'm gonna work that aspect of this whole thing as much as I can. hehe

Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

What's new?

What's new in my house? Why, underarm farts and spitballs, of coarse. I have yet to ascertain the answer as to WHO in the bleepity bleep taught my son how to make these offensive things. His father's response to learning of these new skills was to laugh an "oh yeah. hahaha." Well, I'm. NOT. laughing. Let's see you clean those things off the inside of my backseat car windows, Buck-O!

I finally got Koko to stop belching for sport, and now this. We were in Walmart yesterday in search of maternity underwear (which Walmart no longer carries. Old Navy doesn't carry maternity in store anymore either. Ask me how I know. sigh.) because I can't find my "old" ones and I'm getting tired of my draw's either falling down or cutting off circulation. And if being a pregnant mom of 4 children under age 7 doesn't call enough attention to oneself, there's my son farting his armpits. Gosh that's embarrassing. Let's also not forget the 3 yr old then getting left behind in the "Intimates" department, bawling her eyes out.

I think I liked the "butt" phase better. Because "butt" isn't a bad word, and eventually it does become funny. Armpit farts... NOT FUNNY. yet.

Ah, the joys of 6 year old boys.

Let's see... what else? Well, I had contractions yesterday from about noon til well past midnight, which is kinda freaky considering I'm only 29 weeks. It's got this little bugger moving around like crazy, too. Which I like. I have never had contractions, that I knew of anyway, this early. I suppose I need to space out my cleaning tasks a bit more. I do really well, normally, by taking reeeaaalllllyy long breaks parked in a nice comfy chair updating my Facebook obsession needs, but the problem is, when I sit down, I usually never find the motivation to get back up. I'll have to work on that. So yesterday, in a cleaning spree, I picked up "the addition," dismantled a broken table, dealt with some boxes that were stashed there (and coincidentally, found the Mother's Day card for my mom. I'm gonna give it to her late. I don't care. I don't only love her on Mother's Day, right?), moved the furniture around and vacuumed up a ton of popcorn, washed my dishes/pots-and-pans, cleaned the stovetop, flipped the chairs up on the table, swept, mopped, picked up the living room and vacuumed, all in about 2 1/2 - 3 hrs. That probably was overdoing it a bit, which was evidently clear to me when I did sit down, and then promptly informed the Kong that I would be doing essentially nothing on Saturday. Partially due to the history of me doing lots one day and then being totally wiped out and in pain the next. (Let's see how that pans out. A mom doing "nothing" is basically a joke.)

I have actually been a bit worried about premature labor. Not sure if it was triggered by something (maybe one of the many episodes of Teen Mom or 16 and Pregnant I've watched lately. And boy could I write a blog post/rant on each episode I watch. It could be intuition though, so that's disconcerting.) but it certainly got me wondering if I should head to the hospital or just wait it out. The rational side of me said wait, the mom of 4, who recognizes that 2-6 am is not a convenient time to find a babysitter to come over, couldn't sleep. But they weren't too painful, so it really didn't make sense to go in. Thankfully, my mom and a friend were praying for me and I'm certain it helped as I woke up at 6am to make my long travel to the loo, and noticed my belly was seeming better. But man do my tummy, thigh and gluteus maximus muscles hurt today.

All the kids (well, the ones that will go) are in school now, and I'm feeling the relief settle in a bit. Too much time together, not enough time off for the mama. I was getting to be one weary soul, in terms of parenting. And going the whole summer without getting much time for myself just reaffirmed to me how much I NEEEEEED to have that time. And how much I need my Women's Bible Study group. Even with the older ones gone all day, and Cheeks only gone 2 mornings a week, Boots likes to make up for the lack of other noise makers. The first day of school, he walked around shouting and banging as much as he could. I swear. He's toned it down a bit, but let's face it, he's still two. He does seem to like the "alone time" with mama. He makes a little face that's so funny. Kinda like this:

It's sort of smirky while trying not to smile. It says he likes something, but he's trying not to show it. So cute.

And as I alluded to earlier, I'm having problems finding clothes that will fit me that aren't a sort of financial rape to obtain. Even on eBay, maternity clothes are expensive. For USED ones. I did get a great deal on a pair of jeans - I have yet to recieve - but normally there's a huge mark-up on maternity, and it doesn't seem to go on sale much. IMO, 20% isn't really that great of a sale. 40% and now we're talking. Sorry, I'm not paying $45 for one pair of jeans I'll be wearing for a mere 2 months, much less buying two or three. Of coarse I gave away all, or most of, my maternity clothes after Boots was born (because 4 kids is enough, right? hahaha), and the one thing I'm really lacking in, now that the weather has turned cool, is pants. Shorts and white capri pants probably won't carry me til December, I'm thinking. Well.... :D ... Yesterday I happened upon a garage sale where they had a good bit of maternity clothes, and seeing the opportunity and confering with my hubs, I bought up a bunch and am going to try to make a little dough by selling it on eBay myself. I don't think there's any possible way for me to lose money on the deal, so... Wish me luck.

Other than boys stuff and contractions, I'm nesting a little. Mostly in seeing the need for things to be done, and wishing my husband would do it. Haha. That or I'd magically have enough energy and time to do the growing list of things. Some of which can be found here. Things like trimming windows, making curtains, clearing out boxes/getting rid of junk, repainting the entire interior of my house. You know, simple stuff.

So, what's new with you?

Is this thing on?

Google has a gadget, and I don't think it works. Which is irritating. It's this little box that pops up on my internet home page, and is SUPPOSED to allow me to write a blog post straight from here. Liars.

Well, crikey! It worked this time. Amazing!!! Hmm.. that could be fun. But if you see some random posts with nonsense typing, assume it's little fingers.

With that, I'll blabber on a bit more. :D

Morning confessional:

I ate ice cream twice yesterday. And a donut. Don't tell my OB. Not that I've gained any weight, but it wouldn't jive well with the whole Gestational Diabetes thing.

And I fed chips to my children at 9am today.

And someone else had hotdogs for breakfast. (not me)

We're on a health kick. Can you tell?

I'm not sure why my husband took a picture of that. **shivers**

Here's sweet Cheeks yesterday on her first day of preschool. She was so excited, and ready to finally join the big kids. Took off like a bullet and never looked back. Not even a "see ya later, mom." She was also very bummed this morning to find out that it was not her school day.

And these handsome fellas... Mm mm. Love 'em! We went to a local state park for a family outing last weekend. They have some nice walking trails, with the highlight being a large waterfall, and two sets of stairs both fit to send a pregnant woman into labor. Fall is coming, as evident by leaves already turning (Yippee!!), and you have to enjoy those nice last days while you have them. Daddy had a hard time "letting go" and letting a certain little one run around the dangerous territory of hills and cliffs and such. But here they shared a nice moment of checking stuff out, cheek to cheek. I love how little hands rest so tenderly upon big protective shoulders. Daddy shoulders are good stuff.

Ok. All done.

Wait, I take that back.

Check this out...

I totally want one. I love this stuff (The Vintage Pearl) but there are so many options it makes an indecisive girl like me get stuck. Plus, I have too many kids for some of the things. Not enough space for all their names. Well, that and I don't know all their names, yet.

You can click here to win one, too. :D

Ok, now I'm really done.

Status

Sometimes I wish I could just have my Facebook status show up as a blog post. Or rather, maybe I should just start posting blog posts as my FB status.

It's just they're pretty short.

Like...

**it's weird to have a baby moving around inside you and also be able to feel your organs moving around too. Cool, but definitely weird.

**Chapstick for bugs. Bet you wish you had some.

And my favorite one from today...

**Guess what?....................................................................... Chicken butt.

And, Yep. I taught that to my 2yo, and I'm darned happy I did. It's a little remnant of my high school immature goofy sense of humor, and it makes me smile every time I hear it, and I think of how my friends and I used to say it to each other and get a big kick out of it. (I also know I'm probably not the only person who still gets a giggle from it. My best bud from then is sure to crack a smile, I'm sure!) And having my little guy running around saying "chicken butt" is hilarious. Today he even added the "Guess what" part.

It's the little things, people. We parents have to find our amusement somewhere.

My hubs finds his amusement by teaching our children to say "taking a piss" or "taking a crap". I know. We're great parents. (Though we, ok I, do teach them that you don't say those things at school. ahem. I hope.)

Not that that has anything to do with Facebook. But I think I'm done with that anyway.

I'm also the proud parent of a Kinde and 1st grader. Woohoo for school! No, I'm not one of those moms who gets teary eyed about school. It's more like "thank god and see ya later!" It's not that I don't love my kids. I do. I also love a break from them occasionally, and that's about the only way I get it these days. Plus, I still have 2 1/2 at home.

Being so totally on the ball, I was reminded to take "First Day of School" pics when we got to school and saw at least 3 moms blocking the sidewalk lined up snapping shots of their chillens. Actually, I was elated just to be getting them to school on time, and we hadn't forgotten anything that I could think of. (A snack and a paint shirt. Big whoop. They survived.) I tried to get after school shots. Just not the same. By then, the nervous excitement had worn off, there was dust covering shoes and the nicely placed barrette had found a new home inside a pencil box somewhere. And George, he absolutely refuses to smile. He's just not a fan of being in front of the camera. Thus, the grump face.

Well, I'd better go sleep. Or rather, attempt to. A pinched nerve in my back and arms that fall asleep keep me tossing and turning. But at least I get the bed to myself tonight. Kong's working, so I won't be worried about disturbing him. (Funny, he never worries like that about me. Men. **shakes head** How do they turn that internal dialogue stuff off?)

Nighty night.

Endless summer

I enjoy having a nice garden, though I have only dabbled. I have gone the seed route (which can often prove to be quite a challenge - read unsuccessful) and I have just gone and bought some stuff from the store (which can be very costly).

A few years ago, when the Endless Summer hydrangea came out, I found one at a local grocery store on sale. Really cheap on sale. I grew up having hydrangeas outside our house, that had probably been there since forever (that house was built in the late 1800's), but were the "old" style that really weren't that colorful. I still loved them, but when this hydrangea came out, I was sold. I loved that it was colorful, I loved that you could alter the color, and I loved that it bloomed all summer. And the best part, full sun was not a prerequisite. I don't have much full sun, and I really envisioned these in front of my house, under a large picture window, that just happens to be the north side of the house. It's not shaded, but neither is it sunny.

So I planted my plant there. And it never flowered. Or, maybe I got one mophead on it. The next year... nothing. I got bad advice and pruned it - a no-no for the Endless Summer, which blooms on new and old growth. I thought for sure the thing was a goner. It just never really went anywhere. I was going to move it actually. Then, this year, maybe due to the warm, early spring we had, or maybe it just decided it was time, it sort of came to life. It had more leaves on it, and low and behold TWO mopheads. (That's what they call the cluster of flowers. Not all hydrangeas are mopheads, though.) And later, a third. Wow. I realize that 3 clusters of flowers is not great, but it's still a very small bush, probaly not even reaching 2 feet high.

The flower heads were a nice lavender color, but then I dumped some pickle juice on the plant and the 3rd bloom came out really pink. The thing that I am most surprised and pleased by is the color they turned after they were "done." Normally, the hydrangeas I've seen turn pale or brownish or white. This one turned kind of greenish, and then got this beautiful bright pink blush on it.

Funny how a plant can make a person so happy.

Fun Fun Fun

Fun for boys, good... ?clean... fun.

A mother's laundry nightmare.

At least their shirts weren't white. :D