van de Blog

Failed again.

2012-01-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

I knew the glucose test was going to be especially fun when I woke up at 2 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep until 4 am. Because the only thing better than getting up at 6 to get blood drawn (repeatedly) is to do it on not enough sleep!

Anyway, I had forgotten how sweet the 3 hour stuff is. The 1 hour stuff tastes like flat soda to me, so I have no problem drinking it. The 3 hour stuff, on the other hand? Is like drinking sno-cone syrup. It was so sweet I felt like it should have been thicker. But I got it down and the blood draws commenced. I have about one good vein, so it's bruised all to hell (even though the nurse who did the 3rd blood draw managed to get a different vein.)

If you don't know how a 3 hour glucose test works, here are the basics. You go in fasting 10-12 hours (hence first thing in the AM.) They draw blood to check fasting sugar levels, then you drink the nasty sugar drink and then wait. They draw blood again after 1, 2, and 3, hours.

At the last blood draw the nurse asked me if I wanted to know the numbers and OF COURSE I did. Obviously she couldn't give me the number for the blood she'd just taken, but I figured if the others were good I'd be fine. Here's what I learned:

Acceptable Numbers My numbers
Fasting: less than 95 (mg/dL) 83 (mg/dL) perfectly fine
1 hour: less than 180 255 Not okay
2 hour: less than 155 217 Not even okay for the 1 hour reading- HA HA HA.
3 hour: less than 140 Well they didn't have it yet, but considering the other ones I'm gonna guess IT DOESN'T MATTER.

So yes, it's welcome to gestational diabetes for me. *sigh*

32 weeks

2012-01-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we're getting to the end of things here, aren't we? And be "we" I mean "me" and by "things" I mean "pregnancy." Brian and I were joking about how getting gestational diabetes would really just top things off for this pregnancy. Because it would mean I spent essentially the whole time sick with one thing or another. At least I haven't had kidney stones right? (When I was pregnant with Kalena I had kidney stones. NOT FUN.)

At least I have an early morning gestational diabetes test tomorrow to look forward to! Oh wait.

Will with bed head

2012-01-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

It appears that Will has also inherited Brian's crazy hair. He woke up from his nap yesterday looking like this:

And just as a refresher, here's what Kalena's bed head looked like at 16 months old:

More pictures of that here.

I guess it's a good thing Will's hair is short, otherwise it would get even crazier. By the way, his expression in that picture isn't because he's still tired, it's because he's incapable of keeping his eyes open if the camera flashes.

More fun blood draws!

2012-01-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

The nurse from my doctor's office called this morning. As soon as I saw the phone number I knew what she was going to say- I failed the 1 hour glucose test. This means I (once again) get to participate in the super-duper fun 3 hour glucose test! Awesome right? The nurse told me she'd fax the order over today and I can go anytime this week, but I'll be going in on Friday. It's not that I'm putting it off (really I'd like to get it over with) but my dad has Fridays off so he'll watch the kids if I go then. And I think we can all agree that 3 hour glucose test with zero toddlers will at least be more enjoyable than 3 hour glucose test with two toddlers.

I had to do the 3 hour glucose when I was pregnant with Will, but I've looked through the archives and can't see that I actually wrote about it, so here's what I remember. I didn't fail that 3 hour, but I did have 1 high reading (I don't know the number, or how much higher than the cutoff it actually was.) My doctor just recommended that I stay away from concentrated sugar (no soda, no dessert, etc.) and that was that. If I remember right, it was the 3rd blood draw that was high (the 3rd of the 4) and the lab techs had a particularly difficult time doing that draw. I tend to not have great veins and there's really only one that ever works but by the 3rd stick it was not cooperating. Anyway, point being- that draw ended up being like 35 minutes late by the time they actually got it to work. (I'm not sure if that affected anything, but that's how it happened.)

I do warn them, by the way, that I tend to have bad veins. I've found the lab techs pay more attention and are more likely to get it on the first shot if I say that. Plus they're more likely to bring in whoever is the bad vein "expert" if they start having trouble.

Anyway. Fun times for Friday.

31 weeks

2012-01-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that I *did* talk to my doctor about my forever long cough when I was there last week. She listened to my lungs and said they sounded clear so it was nothing to worry about. And I am feeling MUCH better, by the way. Only took like 6 weeks. So here I am, 31 weeks along.

Less than 10 weeks to go. We don't have a name picked out yet. Definitely the longest we've gone without settling on a name. When I was pregnant with Kalena we picked out her name, but we also picked out a boys name. And used that name for Will. Apparently we were only capable of agreeing on 2 names. I'm sure we'll get it figured out eventually.

30 weeks in: so far so good

2012-01-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

At my OB appointment last month, my doctor gave me the paperwork to go get my glucose tolerance test done. I asked when I needed to do it and my doctor replied, "Oh, anytime you want." And then turned around and looked at me and said, "Before your next appointment." I sort of laughed to myself because OF COURSE I would get it done sometime in the next 4 weeks. No problem right? At that point I'd had my cough for about 2 weeks and I figured it'd be over soon (HA!) So I was waiting to get better. And waiting, and waiting, and waiting. By this Monday I was coughing less, so I figured sometime later in the week I'd go do the test. Then Tuesday evening I got a message from my OB's office reminding me of my appointment the next day. WHOOPS. Fortunately for me, I'd scheduled the appointment for late in the afternoon. That left me time between Brian coming home from school (noon) and the OB appointment (4:20) to get the glucose test done. Anyway, that's mostly just a long story to tell you that I did my glucose test yesterday. I'd tell you the results, but the doctor's office didn't have them yet. Apparently they'll call if I need to go in for the 3 hour test. (I didn't have to with Kalena, but I did with Will.)

So. Then I had my appointment. I don't know if this is a third child thing, but I am paying way less attention this time around. I know my blood pressure is good because the nurse always tells me the numbers (100 over 70 yesterday.) I think I've gained about 27 lbs- ish. That's based on my home scale. And a guess at my pre-pregnancy weight. Also, pretty sure I had gained more and I've lost some while I've been sick. I don't know what I'm measuring (I assume she'd tell me if it was too far off) or what the heartbeat is (again, I assume she'd tell me if something was wrong.) I also have a hard time keeping track of just how far along I am, but I think that's mostly because *my* dates have me changing weeks on Fridays, the original ultrasound dates had me changing weeks on Thursdays, but somehow the due date they gave me (based on that original ultrasound) has me changing weeks on Wednesdays. I don't know how that happened.

Anyway, apparently I'm now moving to the every other week appointments. And since I'm 31 weeks (yesterday, today, or tomorrow DEPENDING) I'm officially down to the single digits for weeks left. Whoa.

Definitely nap time

2012-01-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Starting at the beginning of this year, church is at 1 pm. We weren't sure exactly how well this would work out considering that both the kids usually nap at 1. It was mostly Will we were worried about since Kalena is generally okay without a nap. Anyway, he's been okay but it's pretty obvious he's tired, especially by the time he's in nursery.

In fact, last Sunday the music leader told me that when she went in to sing with the nursery kids, Will laid down on the floor and pulled his carpet square up over himself like a blanket. I guess he really was ready for a nap.

30 weeks

2012-01-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it 3/4 of the way through. Don't know how that's possible since I've been sick for this WHOLE ENTIRE PREGNANCY. Alright, that's probably a little bit of an exaggeration but it started with 14 weeks of round the clock nausea, then daily headaches, then a stomach bug, then this ridiculous cough. I would like to be well when I have this baby. Is that too much to ask?

Anyway, here I am. In the best non-maternity maternity dress ever. (Compliments of Kari.)

Free books!

2012-01-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that you've probably all heard about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library by now, right?

Well, if you haven't, it's a great program that sends books to kids under 5. You register your kids, and then every month until they turn 5 they get a book in the mail. For free! The only catch is that your area has to be participating in the program. You can check out this map to find out.

Anyway, I first heard about the program in our local paper actually, when they advertised that our library was doing it. And since I am addicted to books (and you know, encouraging my kids to also be addicted to books) I signed them up right away. I registered both kids separately (since it says they send age appropriate books and my kids are different ages) and we got our first books in October. I was a little worried when we got our first books because it was 2 copies of The Little Engine That Could, and I thought we might be in for 2 copies of the same book every month, but it turns out that's just the first book EVERY kid gets. The kids have received different books every time since. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm rambling here. I just can't get over how FUN it is to get new books in the mail every month! Kalena especially loves it, since the book comes addressed to her. They've mostly been books I haven't heard of (but not all) but they've all been enjoyable reading. Plus, they're books we don't already own!

So. Go find out if they have this where you are and if they do, get signed up!

Shot myself in the foot with this one

2012-01-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

So, I started New Baby's stitchery the other day. Because, you know, I want to PRETEND like I'm going to get it done anytime in the near future. And I like the pattern, I really think it's cute. Here's a picture of what it should look like when I'm finished:

I do have to say I really hope that they used the name Noah just as an example and that nobody actually bought a Noah's Ark themed stitchery for a child named Noah. Anyway, cute yes? But the pattern is SO much more complicated than the one I did for Will or the one I did for Kalena. The picture doesn't make it look more complicated, but IT IS. So now I'm kicking myself for not realizing how much more time this one would take (even though HOW COULD I KNOW?) And yeah. Maybe I'll get it done by the time he starts kindergarten?

Blargh.

2012-01-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

You guys, I am STILL SICK. This is the cough that never ends. Thursday will be 4 weeks that I've had it. And at this point I am SO ready for it to be over that I'm even looking forward to my gestational diabetes test because at least I'll be better! (I won't be able to take the test until I've over it because right now I can't make it an hour without cough drops or something.)

Anyway, how about if I just throw some more pictures of my kids up here hmm?

Here's Will, feeding mac & cheese to his dinosaur. Because, why not?

And Kalena, dressed up for church. Not sure what's up with that smile, but I love that little dress.

Will trying to hide from the camera.

And hopefully one of these days I'll be better again.

Completed!

2012-01-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

So, I finally finished Will's stitchery. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it at some point, long, long ago when I was assuring you all (stupidly) that I would finish it before he was 16 months old (I finished Kalena's when she was 16 months old.) Since I started it while I was pregnant with him and finished it yesterday and he's two, it means it only took me approximately forever to get it done.

And I'm getting ready to start the one for this new baby, but this time I won't be making any rash promises about when I'll get it done. Also, I'm going to have to apologize in advance to my youngest child, because it seems that pregnancy of "next baby" is what gets me to finish any of these things so youngest child's is just never going to get done.

29 weeks

2012-01-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yep. That's me.

I'd tell you to ignore the fact that I'm in yoga pants and wearing no makeup, but that's true 99% of the time. So really this picture is more accurate than my others.

Giant head photo evidence

2012-01-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

The kids played outside today, and since it's pretty cold out they needed to be bundled up. Here's Will in child sized coat and mittens and an adult sized hat.

I guess you can't argue with cute.

Will: the 2 year old

2012-01-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

As you know, this kid turned 2 recently.

And that means well visit time! (My life it just one thrill after another, let me tell you.) Anyway, he continues to be what the doctor calls "short and sturdy" with a giant head.

He is 33 inches tall- 15%, 28.2 lbs- 52%, and his head is 20 1/2 inches around- 99%.

He got a couple of shots and made it through those with nothing more than a betrayed look in my direction. Then burst into tears because I wouldn't put his shoes on the wrong feet. He has his priorities you know.

Yes, we go to the dinosaur museum all the time

2012-01-01T18:34:00.000-07:00

Since Kirsta is here and her kids are *almost* as obsessed with dinosaurs as my kids, we took everyone to the dinosaur museum yesterday. Okay, everyone but Caroline because she was napping. Anyway, I know you don't think it's possible that I could have taken MORE pictures of the kids playing at the dinosaur museum, but I DID.

Here are Patrick and Kalena "discovering fossils!" as Patrick put it.

Will is pretty sure the "quarry" is actually a beach, so he's lounging.

Here's one of all the kids making dinosaur footprints in the sand. Left to right: Espen, Kalena, Will, Eli, Patrick. And would you believe Eil is only 6 weeks older than Will? He seems WAY older than that.

And, last but not last, family photo! We don't take nearly enough of these.

Happy new year everyone!

28 weeks

2011-12-31T20:50:00.000-07:00

28 weeks just in time for the new year.

So far my resolutions are: 1) Have healthy baby. 2) Survive life with 3 kids.

Well see how it goes after that.

Looking snazzy

2011-12-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Kalena recently rediscovered her sunglasses. You'd think putting them on by herself would give her a 50/50 shot at getting them on right, but I'd guess she gets them on upside down 95% of the time.

And of course Will wants to do everything Kalena does.

And we now own enough dinosaur shirts to get him through a week. Because pretty much the only way to convince him to get dressed is to show him whatever dinosaur shirt I've picked out for the day.

Christmas photo overload

2011-12-27T20:57:00.001-07:00

The Christmas tree before hand. Looking a little dead. We've decided the options with real trees are: one that dies like a week after you get it or one that gets sap all over everything.

(By the way, there are presents for like 10 people under that tree.)

Growing up we always had one big gift left unwrapped next to our stocking. We don't do stockings for the kids yet, but we do leave one gift unwrapped. Here's Kalena with hers.

She was so excited about her gift (the cart and food are from my parents) that she would smile and say cheese but not look at the camera.

Here's Will's unwrapped gift (the Little People Zoo from Brian and I.) I didn't get a shot of him with it, but it has been the most fought over gift of the bunch.

Brian's parents got each of the kids a triceratops pillow pet and good thing there are two! Because there would be some serious fighting otherwise. There actually has been a little fighting anyway because the pillows have names on them and Kalena wants to make sure she always has hers.

Will made several thrilled and excited faces throughout the morning. I managed to capture zero of them on camera.

Kalena was happy to smile for me though.

Will testing out his gift from my parents, a Vtech alphabet train. Again, I promise he was excited about it, despite the face here.

Here's my sister, proving to the world that you never have to stop wearing footed pajamas. (Also featuring Will and Amelia in their own footed pajamas.)

I mentioned on Twitter the other day that even though my mom's mother died in September, she had already finished all her Christmas gifts, so we each got one last gift from her this year. Her great-grandkids (my kids & nieces and nephews) each got a set of Little Golden books. (Which, incidentally, my mom and I helped her pick out when we were visiting in August.) And her grandkids and my parents got handmade blankets. It was bittersweet to open them. Here's ours.

(Not sure why I look half asleep. I blame Brian, because he took the picture.)

And, last but not least, I managed to get one good picture of Amelia and Kalena dressed up before church Christmas morning. I shouldn't really take credit though, they weren't coopering at ALL for me, then Jonathan walked over and asked them to smile and voila! Smiles all around. (Plus Amelia eating real food which is a rare sight.)

And if you made it all the way through this you deserve a cookie. Or whatever yummy treat you have left at your house.

27 weeks

2011-12-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Um, it does not seem possible that I am 27 weeks along, but my last pregnancy post says 26 weeks and I'm going to assume that's correct.

I have a horrible cough and it's making me miserable. So, uh, that's been fun. It's been like a week and a half now, so hopefully I'll be over it soon. And soon I'll post more Christmas pictures than you ever wanted to see in your life.

He's getting to be an old man

2011-12-22T20:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up to snow this morning, which made me smile because it snowed on December 22, 2009, the day Will was born. I've always thought it was appropriate that there was snow, since it was December in Colorado, after all.

Yep, 2 years ago, after just 28 1/2 hours of labor (wasn't THAT fun?) we welcomed this little guy into our family:

And now he's this big guy:

We did most of his birthday gifts over the summer, but Brian's parents sent one for today. He's signing "please" so I'll help him open it.

Showing me how good his cake is. (Cake that I totally copied from Jen and her rainbow birthday party)

And making a face for the camera. I assume this will happen more and more from here on out.

Happy second birthday Will!

Weirdest pregnancy symptom

2011-12-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

We all know pregnancy is weird and does crazy things to your body, but some things are weirder than others. For instance, my most bizarre symptom this time around? Claustrophobia!

Okay, I don't know that it's actually claustrophobia, but it's something like that. I get anxious and feel like I can't breath if someone hugs me for too long. I can't stand to have both kids sitting on my lap. There are even certain clothes that I can't wear for too long because I feel trapped in them or something. It's all very weird. Definitely looking forward to this symptom going away.

What was your craziest pregnancy symptom?

The real deal about Kalena waking up

2011-12-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

The other day when I tucked Kalena in, she said something about going in to see Grandma and Grandpa when she woke up. I thought this was odd, since they're usually gone by the time her sun comes on at 6:45, so I tried to clarify. "You mean you'll see them when your sun comes on?" But she assured me that she would see them when she woke up. So then I asked my mom who confirmed that yes, Kalena DOES go into their room every morning when she wakes up. At 5:00 am. EVERY MORNING.

Apparently this is fine with them, and when they're leaving for work they send her back to her room where she waits for her sun to come on. Right now my sister is here with her two daughters and they're staying in Kalena's room, which means we had to move Kalena. So my parents (because they are SAINTS) have Kalena and her little toddler bed in their room. According to my mom, every morning at 5:08 (she says Kalena is very consistent) she wakes up and walks over to my dad's side of the bed and just gets right in his face until he wakes up. (I'm sure those of you with toddlers are all familiar with this- I know she's done it to me.) My dad finds this amusing, so then he tells her stories and lets her play on his iPad until he leaves. And then she stays in there until her sun comes on.

I can't even find it in me to be mad at her for not staying in her room (obviously this doesn't apply while she's actually staying in my parents' room), because she's not waking *me* up. My parents get up that early anyway so they don't mind. And then she will go back to her room until it's officially time to come out which I just find sort of weird. Plus, you know, it's their right as grandparents to let her bend the rules, right?

Selling the house

2011-12-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

So we closed on our house last Friday. Selling our house has actually been one of the relatively easy parts of this whole deal.

Here's a little background, for those of you who don't know. The house we owned was right next to the college here. We lived less than a block from the dorms. The college has been expanding (and is planning to continue expanding) and we knew that eventually they would want to buy the house from us. So our original plan was to live in the house for a few years, then use it as a rental, then sell it to the college. But less than 6 months after we moved in the college was buying houses on our block and tearing them down for parking lots. (I wrote about this when our next door neighbors sold and their house was torn down.)

Anyway, that meant when we started with our whole- Brian finishing school/moving back in with my parents/selling our house- business we knew the college would be interested in buying. And they definitely were. And because we'd been in the house for less than a year (we started this whole process back in October) they were willing to use the appraisal that had been done when we'd bought the house. Which meant that even though housing prices have continued to fall here, they offered us what it appraised for when we bought it.

So. We had to deal with no showings, no real estate agent, no cleaning (HALLELUJAH!) no fixing anything up, no dropped price, and they offered us up to six months to pack up and move out. We didn't need six months, so we told them we'd be out by January 1, but still, that would be really nice if we needed it. All in all a MUCH better experience than selling our house in Texas. I highly recommend buying property somewhere where you'll have a guaranteed buyer when you're ready to sell.

26 weeks

2011-12-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

26 weeks already. Crazy.

I asked Kari if this shirt looked different on me than it did on her, jokingly referencing the fact that my bra size is considerably larger than hers, and she looked at me seriously and said, "Yeah, I don't think my belly got that big." I guess it's a package deal.

Christmas decorating

2011-12-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

This is our 6th Christmas as a married couple, and so far we've amassed 2 good sized bins worth of Christmas decor. (Not including my nativities which all have their own boxes.) Anyway, it seems like quite a bit of Christmas stuff, but not so much that we can't put it all out.

My mom, however, has had quite a bit longer to acquire Christmas decorations. As a result she has lots. Like, lots and lots. So many, in fact, that for the past several years she themes the house when she decorates. Last year it was snowmen. This year it's Santa stuff. We could have picked angels. Or reindeer and sleighs. It really makes decorating more fun. It's like having a whole new set of decorations every year! Of course, it helps that my parents have the space to store it all.

Anyway, how do you do it- do you get out all your Christmas stuff every year? Or do you pick and choose? And how do you resist buying new things every year to add to your collection? (I don't resist. And that's why my collection continues to grow.)

No peeking!

2011-12-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

I never, ever peeked at my Christmas presents as a child. And not just because I was a good kid. I mean, I was a good kid, but that's not the point. I just never wanted to know ahead of time. I think anticipating the presents is just as much fun as opening them.

I have heard some funny stories about kids who got into their presents ahead of time though. For instance, one of my brother's friends in high school told the story of how she and her brother got into their presents, which were already wrapped. They carefully unwrapped each gift and looked and then started wrapping them back up. But apparently at some point during the "wrapping them back up" part they ran out of tape. At which point they moved on (thinking they were still being so sneaky) to using elmer's glue. Neon colored elmer's glue. Yeah, pretty sure that didn't fool anyone.

So what about you? Did you peek?

25 weeks

2011-12-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

25 weeks already. I should probably find somewhere else to take these pictures, the lighting by the front door is so weird. Or maybe I just need to keep doing them here for consistency.

Anyway, tonight was the annual Christmas dinner thing for one of the book clubs I'm in. And since my mom runs that book club and this dinner thing is for couples, it's like the one night of the year we actually hire a babysitter to watch the kids. My point was, going out without the kids is why I actually straightened my hair and put on some makeup. In case you were wondering.

Bedtime

2011-12-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's been a LONG day y'all. So how about if you just click on over and read my Food Lush post and tell me your stories. (Here or there, comments are my favorite, no matter where they are.)

And now goodnight.

Christmas gifts- lists or no?

2011-12-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

I pretty much know what I'm getting every year for Christmas and you know what? That's okay with me. Brian asks for a list every year and I give him one. And really, I give him one that is at least fairly close to our budget, meaning I could end up with everything on it. He gives me a list too, and he's usually even more specific than I am. Like, he figures out what everything costs and then gives me a list that costs exactly what we have budgeted. And that's fine by me.

That said, neither of us are "receiving gifts" love language people. So I like gifts, and I'm not going to turn them down, but I don't feel less loved if Brian buys from a list instead of taking it upon himself to come up with the perfect gift on his own. (Gifts are low enough on each of our love language things that we don't do gifts for Valentines Day, our anniversary, or mother's/father's day.)

Anyway, how do you do it? Do you write a list? Do you prefer to buy from a list, or do you want to come up with something on your own? Are we super boring because we're list people? (I do love me some lists you know.)

Too many things!

2011-12-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

All that blogging in November and apparently I've run out of topics. It seems like I should have lots to write about because I've been insanely busy, but then I sit down and my mind is blank. Want to hear about packing? I've been doing a lot of that lately!

As you know, we've moved back in with my parents, so pretty much everything that's coming over here is over here. And that means everything else needs to get packed up and go into storage.

A little side story here- when we moved back here from Texas we sort of guessed at what we would need, took that to my parents' house and put the rest in storage. But we didn't know everything that we'd need and we didn't know how long we were going to live with my parents, so periodically we had to get into the storage unit and find stuff. That? Was a BIG FAT PAIN. And a big part of why it was a giant pain is that Brian has issues with the way he packs and labels stuff. Brian is awesome at many, MANY things. Labeling the contents of boxes? Not one of them. For instance, when we did move into our house I finally found a DVD series that I'd been looking for. In a box marked "Nativities." So at some point, probably during one of the trips to the storage unit when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I told Brian that the next time we moved I would do ALL the packing. If only so I would know where stuff was when I unpacked.

Now here we are. Moving again. Which means packing. And I'm doing it. Don't get me wrong, I'd still prefer to pack it all myself and know where everything is, but MAN is it tiring to pack boxes when you're pregnant. Fortunately we have some time still before everything has to be out of the house. And one of the upsides of Brian being laid off is that he can stay home with the kids while I go pack. I do not have any idea how I'd get anything done if I had to pack while they were there. Anyway, packing is really taking away from my free time, but the sooner I get it done the better. So wish me luck, I'll be doing more of it this week.

It's Friday!

2011-12-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

And that means I'm gonna show you my belly again! 24 weeks now. I typed 23 the first time so time must be going faster than I feel like it is.

I feel like an old lady. I have trouble getting up out of chairs or off the couch and I have contractions every time I do. Plus I'm still tired all the time.

I freaked out a little bit the other day because I missed an unexpected call from my OB's office. So many "something's wrong with the baby" thoughts went through my head before I listened to the voicemail. Don't worry though, they were just letting me know that I'm not insured any more! I knew that, seeing as Brian got laid off. We don't have our Cobra stuff yet and as insanely expensive as Cobra is, we're gonna have to do it because I'm pregnant and therefore not eligible for anything else! In Colorado if you're rejected by an insurance carrier you can apply for Cover Colorado (they cover people who can't get coverage elsewhere.) But not if you're eligible for Cobra! Ah insurance. Always so helpful and accommodating and inexpensive.

The Christmas things we DON'T do

2011-11-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

I've read many posts on Christmas traditions (and don't you worry, I intend to write one myself) but I thought it might be interesting to post a little list of Christmas traditions we don't participate in and why.

1) We don't look at lights on Christmas eve. I love to drive around looking at all the twinkly lights, and we definitely will do that at least once (probably multiple times) this December. However. My parents' neighborhood has long been one of THE PLACES to go light-looking. Like, it's made the newspaper's list of places to go more than once. So on Christmas eve? This neighborhood is a crazy mess. We've gone to other things on Christmas eve a time or two and come home and had it take a good 20 minutes to get from the only neighborhood entrance to our house. (It should take about 2.) It's not fun, so we try to stay home Christmas eve.

2) We don't open any gifts on Christmas eve. I know some people do stockings, some people open all the gifts, some people do grandparent gifts or whatever. We wait until Christmas morning for all of it.

3) We don't do Christmas pajamas. I have purchased Christmasy pajamas for the kids once or twice, but it's not a *thing* we do.

4) We don't leave treats for the reindeer. We always did the cookies for Santa, but that was it. My kids are a little young for this yet, but I will not be doing anything for the reindeer even when they are older. If reindeer come to our house they're just going to have to go hungry.

5) We don't read "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas eve. I'm sure we'll read it at some point in December, but on Christmas eve I prefer to read the Christmas story in Luke chapter 2.

So, what traditions do you skip out on?

What the kids are getting for Christmas

2011-11-29T23:01:00.000-07:00

Probably you don't care, but if you're interested, here's what the kids are getting for Christmas this year.

For Kalena from Brian and I:

A Disney princess dress up set. (Photo credit: biglots.com) That's not the exact one, but it's the closest picture I could find.

Dinosaur flash cards. The girl is obsessed with dinosaurs.

From my parents:

Melissa and Doug shopping cart and food. She loves her play kitchen (last year's gift) and at one point she had a shopping cart. They played with it until the wheels fell off. Literally. So we figured this would be an excellent choice. (Photo credit: amazon.com)

For both kids from Brian and I:

A Mega Bloks table. The kids love their set of mega bloks, but they always want something to build their towers on. Here it is. (Photo credit: amazon.com)

For Will from Brian and I:

The Little People Zoo. I'm actually not positive this is the one I bought, apparently there are two. I got one a couple months ago on clearance and I'm too lazy to go look at which one it is. (Photo credit: target.com)

What can I say? Both my kids are obsessed with dinosaurs. (Photo credit: amazon.com)

From my parents:

A Vtech Alphabet Train. The kids played with one of these in the waiting room at the dentist's office and both loved it. So now we'll have one of our own for them to fight over. Good times. (Photo credit: amazon.com)

So. What are your kids getting for Christmas?

So close

2011-11-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

I really want to start writing about Christmas. Christmas traditions, thoughts on Santa, how much I love hot chocolate, etc. But I feel like I shouldn't be doing that until December. Seeing as December is only days away, I feel like I should be able to hold out until then. Unfortunately that leaves me topic-less until then. And NaBloPoMo isn't over yet, so now you just get to listen to my rambling!

On to other topics. (Okay, so maybe I'm not completely topic-less.) Baby clothes. When I found out we are having another boy I felt a little bad that my sisters weren't going to get to unload all the baby girl clothes to me. And a little sad that I wasn't going to have boxes and boxes of darling baby clothes to go through. But then my parents went to Kirsta's house for Thanksgiving (if you don't know, Kirsta has 2 boys and a girl) and came home with two giant tubs of baby boy clothes! It's like the maternity clothes all over again! So once again, WOOHOO for having sisters and all these babies being close in age.

This kid

2011-11-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure this kid is in for a rude awakening when the new baby gets here. Kalena is excited. Will has told me things like, "No baby. Ucky." And, "Baby? No baby!"

Too late now kid!

Well that's a first

2011-11-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

We put Kalena to bed every night at 7. She usually plays in her room for an hour or two, which I suppose means 7 is a touch early for bedtime. However, she gets up at 6:45 no matter what time we put her to bed, and she's perfectly happy to play in her room by herself starting at 7, so that's what we're sticking to.

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, well, okay there are two points. The first is that the lamp we put in there? Has made a HUGE difference. She doesn't leave her door open anymore, nor does she come out in the middle of the night and turn the hall light back on (usually.) However, the lamp has 3 settings and Kalena goes to sleep with it on the brightest setting (of course) which means someone has to go in and turn it down to the lowest setting before we go to bed. That's not a problem, but it does lead me to my second point which is this: when I go in Kalena is always in her bed. (That's another reason I don't worry about putting her to bed at 7- she is obviously very good about getting in bed once she actually gets tired.)

But last night she wasn't! She was asleep on the floor, next to her bed. And I'm not sure what to think about that.

23 weeks

2011-11-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little surprised to find myself at 23 weeks already, but here I am.

The holidays are the best time to be pregnant. Stretchy pants all the time! Of course, by Christmas I'm going to look like I'm about 8 1/2 months along, but OH WELL.

Thankful

2011-11-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Even in the midst of everything going on here, there are always things that I'm thankful for. Actually, I feel extra thankful this year, to the point of being cheesy even. I blame the pregnancy hormones. So I'll keep my list brief.

1) I'm thankful for my parents who happily took us in, AGAIN, when we needed it.
2) I'm thankful this pregnancy happened before everything else went south, so that we don't have to wait for "better timing" to have a third.
3) I'm thankful for kids who are healthy and happy, for the most part.
4) I'm thankful that all of our family is being supportive of Brian going back to school.
5) And, of course, I'm thankful for Brian, who is a wonderful husband and father. And that's something I probably don't say enough.

Alright, cheesiness over. Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

A Thanksgiving related question

2011-11-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here's what I want to know: how many of you make your own pie crust? (I also wrote about this at Food Lush today, but I am very curious.) I grew up in a house that made pie. A LOT. I mean, when you have cherry, apple, and peach trees in your back yard pie is sort of a necessity. And we always made the crust. So I grew up thinking that's what people did.

I've always sort of equated it with buying prepared cookie dough. I was aware that you could do it, but not sure why people would since 1) making it isn't hard and 2) the homemade product is FAR superior. But the subject of pie is big right now (what with Thanksgiving being tomorrow and all) and I keep hearing about how nobody wants to make pie crust. So do you make pie crust? And if not, why not?

Ultrasound says...

2011-11-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

We're having another boy!

I was surprised since the symptoms have been so similar to my pregnancy with Kalena. Kalena has insisted every time I've asked that it was a boy, so she was unsurprised when I informed her. Will repeated "baby boy" when I told him, but I'm pretty sure he has no idea what's going on.

Time to think about names!

Big changes y'all

2011-11-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

So, Brian got laid off today.

Maybe I should back up. See, pretty shortly after I found out we were expecting again, things were not great in the industry Brian works (well, worked) in. I won't go into details, but we decided that we probably ought to come up with a plan B. After much thought and deliberation we decided that this would be a good time for Brian to finish school. He's halfway through a computer science degree but had to quit school back when I got laid off in 2009 so we could move back to Colorado. He's wanted to finish school since we've been back, and we've talked about it several times but it's never felt right. This time it did.

Anyway, for him to go to school full time, he wasn't going to be able to work full time. And if he couldn't work full time, we needed to cut WAY back on expenses. So we went to my parents and proposed that we move back in with them while Brian finishes school. They were pretty excited about this plan (no sarcasm here, my parents really like having us around. Okay, maybe it's my darling children they like having around but whatever.) We started the process of moving back in with them and selling our house. (Which is another post for another time.) Brian got registered for school, financial aid in order, then went to his boss and suggested that he switch to working part time. And his boss said sure. This was a couple weeks ago. We figured he'd work full time until January when the semester starts, then go to part time. And then today happened.

To summarize:
I'm pregnant
We're living with my parents
We have no income
AND THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME. (Unfamiliar with our history of this? Check out this post.)

We'll have to seriously consider these patterns next time we want another baby.

22 weeks

2011-11-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

And here's what I look like now.

Note to self for future pictures- backlighting plus flash = weird looking picture. Also, I think I may have mislead you all, but not on purpose! I'm pretty sure I said my ultrasound was scheduled for tomorrow, but I think it's actually scheduled for Tuesday. Since I can't actually find my appointment card and apparently I didn't write the time and date down ANYWHERE, this thought is based on two things: 1) No reminder call on Friday (and my OB's office is VERY good about reminder calls) and 2) My mom was pretty sure I told her it was on Tuesday. Pregnant Elsha does not have a particularly good memory, so I believe my mom is more reliable in this situation.

Also, my mom should be coming with me to the ultrasound because despite this being her ninth (!!!) grandchild, she hasn't been to one, so she hasn't seen all the cool new stuff they do. Brian is indifferent about coming (which I get, if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all, and he went to 4 when I was pregnant with Kalena) so he'll be watching the kids.

And one last thing I forgot to mention on the predictions post- this baby will be a tie breaker. Obviously for us, since we have one of each, but for my parents as well. Right now they have 4 grandsons and 4 granddaughters. If this is a girl it will be the first time the girls outnumber the boys. And the poll is over tomorrow, so if you haven't voted yet it's over there in the upper right.

Hopefully it's over

2011-11-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we've made it 24 hours without any more vomiting, so I'm REALLY hoping that's the end of it. Brian and I both felt pretty icky today (and slept a lot) and Will also seemed fussy, but that was all.

Now it's bedtime for the kids which means some mindless movie for me. Wish us luck that we'll all wake up tomorrow back at 100%!

Hating the germs

2011-11-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that on Wednesday Brian left to go to Denver with the kids? He had to go to a funeral (his grandmother's husband) and offered to take the kids so they could see his family. So this morning he got up and got the kids loaded in the car ready to come home. They stopped at a gas station on the way out of Denver to get gas and something to drink. And that's where the vomiting started.

Kalena spent the 4 hour drive home throwing up. And I was here, so poor Brian had to deal with it all without any help. Fortunately Will was fine, but still NO FUN. They did make it home eventually, so now we get to deal with the plague here. There's a small part of me that's hoping Kalena will be the only one who get sick, but the realistic me says- HA HA HA. Like we would get that lucky.

Well, at least I can hope it's only a 24 hour thing, right?

Avoiding cooking for Thanksgiving

2011-11-17T15:39:00.001-07:00

Y'all, we've been married for over 5 years and I have yet to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Here's how our Thanksgivings have gone down.

2006: We got married in June and honeymooned over Thanksgiving. So for our first Thanksgiving we ate duck in Bora Bora. (I really think this should be a yearly thing.)
2007: I was pregnant with Kalena so Brian's family came to Texas for Thanksgiving. His mom cooked. She even made a ham because I had a ridiculous aversion to all poultry.
2008: We drove to Pueblo and had Thanksgiving at my sister's house. (Long drive from Texas.) And we ended up having to stay an extra day because of snow.
2009: Back living in Colorado, we went to Alamosa to see Brian's family over Thanksgiving. One last trip before Will was born.
2010: Thanksgiving at my parents' house.

And now this year. I figured it would be Thanksgiving at my parents' house again. BUT. Then my parents decided to ditch out on us for no reason! (Actual reason: Kari and Jonathan are blessing the baby over that weekend so my parents are going to that.) Fortunately I am a genius, so I suggested to Brian that we invite his family here. And they accepted which means, once again, no cooking for me! So. How long do you think I can keep this up? Do you cook for Thanksgiving or weasel out of it like me?

Too late for more Halloween pictures?

2011-11-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we like to joke that Will's finger must taste like chocolate, because it is ALWAYS in his mouth. Well, this time it actually did:

And I suspect if I'd kissed him his whole face also would have tasted like chocolate. He sure enjoyed that candy though.

How to ask without asking

2011-11-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure we all know that it's a big no-no to ask a woman if she's pregnant, right? Well, I discovered the other day that you can ask without really asking and therefore without sticking your foot in your mouth. Here's what happened.

I was at the grocery store with my mom when we ran into a woman we hadn't seen in a long time. I don't know how long it's been since my mom has seen her, but I'd guess I was in high school the last time I did. Anyway, she and my mom chat for a minute-- how are things, how are all the (now grown up) kids, etc. Then she looks at me and says, "And look at you!" She could have been referring to a million things. I'm taller. My hair is shorter. I'm (obviously) older. If I hadn't said anything she could have easily continued with something like, "You look great!" Instead (because I am nice) I answered the question she didn't ask and said, "I know, this is my third!" So we chatted about that for a minute and then we all went back to our shopping.

And there you have it. A tactful way to find out if someone who looks pregnant actually is pregnant without asking her.

*Disclaimer: I'm sure people say "Look at you!" for many reasons other than thinking you might be pregnant. So you know, don't be offended if someone says that to you and you aren't. That's also the beauty of it- it works for so many things.

Prediction time!

2011-11-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Are you all ready with your best guesses as to whether this baby is a boy or a girl? Here's how symptoms compare (if you're into that kind of thing):

Symptoms similar to my pregnancy with Kalena:
Heartburn starting in the first trimester and as a result of pretty much anything.
Weight gain all over. I don't actually know how much weight I've gained, but it's definitely not just belly. (Brian helpfully pointed out that this may be a result of how often I eat, not the sex of this baby, but I'm throwing it in there anyway.)
Chicken aversion. Not as serious as it was with Kalena, but still there.

Symptoms similar to my pregnancy with Will:
No sweets craving (no more than usual- with Kalena I wanted cake like every 5 minutes.)
PB&J cravings.

Symptoms I had with both Kalena and Will:
Juice cravings. I can go months without having juice. Unless I'm pregnant, then I want it every day.
Lunchmeat sandwich cravings. They're just SO GOOD.
Allergies are worse than usual.

Symptoms that are new with this pregnancy:
Continuation of The Tired. Normally this lets up at 14 weeks. Not this time.
Horrible, lay on the couch wanting to die nausea. Other pregnancies required nothing more than crackers to calm my stomach.
Aspartame aversion. I couldn't stand diet soda for the whole first trimester. I now totally get what people mean when they say they can't stand artificial sweetener. It's alright now, but it still has a very obvious taste so I mostly avoid it. (I can even taste it in yogurt.)
Craving regular potato chips. Normally I'm a cheddar and sour cream girl.
The constant headaches.

And there you have it. Brian and I are both leaning toward girl, but I would have sworn Will was a girl until the ultrasound. In fact, I believe my response to my OB saying, "Looks like it's a boy!" was "Really? Are you sure?" So there's that. Anyway, vote on the poll, (upper right) and give me your reasoning in the comments if you want!

Kalena when she's sad

2011-11-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

Kalena makes me laugh when she's sad. Not that I'm laughing at her sadness (although some of the things she gets sad about are pretty laughable) but she says funny things when she's sad. For instance.

If she gets sad over something and you tell her it's okay she'll say, "No, I feeling a little sad."
If she's crying and you tell her she needs to be happy before she can [fill in the blank with whatever we're doing next] she'll tell you, "No, I still crying."
The other day she got put in time out for pitching a fit over something and after a few minutes I told her she could get down (off the time out chair) whenever she was ready to be happy. She told me, "No, I not done, there's still water coming out in my eyes!" (By the way, she says "out in" instead of "out of" and I don't ever intend to correct her.)

It's not as funny as Will and the awesomely pouty face he used to make, but it still makes me laugh.

21 week photo time

2011-11-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here's what I look like at 21 weeks.

For the record, I feel a lot more pregnant than 21 weeks. Which I don't think bodes well for the rest of this pregnancy. I feel like I'm waddling already. I get winded walking up the stairs (which, in a 2 story house with a basement happens A LOT.) I have braxton hicks on a daily basis. I'm REALLY hoping these things are specific to this pregnancy, and not just a result of this being a third pregnancy. (Guess we'll find that out next time.) Anyway. On the one hand, 21 weeks already, woohoo! On the other hand, 19 left to go.

Also, for those of you who are wondering, yes we intend to find out the sex of this baby. I have an ultrasound scheduled for the 21st, so we'll find out then provided the baby cooperates. And obviously I'll be polling you all before then to see what you think! Because it's fun to guess when you've got a 50/50 shot at being right.

Out of it

2011-11-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time (this morning even) I had an idea for a blog post today. And then I spent all day doing actual, physical work. And now I'm totally worthless. Plus I don't know where my computer charger is and I'm getting low on battery, so I don't even have time to sit here and come up with something entertaining for your amusement. Because that's what I'm here for you guys- your amusement.

In other news, I'm 21 weeks pregnant today! So now everything give me heartburn! I should invest in Tums.

Ummmm, that's really all. Early bedtime tonight.

Lucky

2011-11-10T21:37:00.001-07:00

I've always felt lucky to have sisters so close to my age. Growing up it meant built in friends, people to share clothes with, and (since I have Kari for a sister) someone to say, "Are you *really* leaving the house like that?" And now that we're all in the baby-having phase of our lives, there is a whole new list of reasons I'm lucky to have sisters.

First off, as Nik-Nak commented on my maternity clothes post, I'm lucky to have someone to share maternity clothes with. It's expensive to buy clothes, and it seems wasteful to buy them knowing you'll only wear them for a few months. Even though I plan on several pregnancies, it's still expensive. But now? Three times the clothes! And while Kari was pregnant she had three times the clothes. And they'll continue to get passed around until we're all done having babies.

But it's not just maternity clothes. Check out Kari's post today on the obscene amount of baby girl clothes we've accumulated. So many that it stresses her out. Those of you who know Kari know that only a ridiculous amount of clothing would stress her out. And if I have a girl? I'll get those clothes. Or if I have a boy? I'll get baby boy clothes from Kirsta. Like the maternity clothes, the baby clothes just get rotated to whoever needs them at the moment.

The newborn stuff gets passed around too. Kari is currently in possession of a swing and exersaucer originally purchased by us. Also a bouncer given to Kirsta when Patrick was born. Because we're not using those things. Why should she buy her own while we store ours? Addilyn is the third baby to get good use out of the swing we bought for Will. Does it make me feel better about the $50 I spent on it? Definitely. And it'll come back to us when this next baby is born.

So anyway. Sisters. Just one of the many reasons I feel lucky.

The best games

2011-11-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

My kids (and most kids, I assume) do some really obnoxious things. But lately they also play a couple "games" that I'm a big fan of.

The first involves me sitting on the couch saying "ready, set, go" while the kids run around in a big circle. Let's see: this game wears them out- good. This game involves me sitting on the couch- good. They will play this game for up to 30 minutes at a time and involves no fighting- GOOD! I actually wish they'd do this more.

The other "game" they play? Nap time.

Now, this game does often involve fighting. You know, four identical pillows- definitely something to fight over. But it's so cute to watch! And Will has totally started fake sleeping every time I go to get him out of his crib. As soon as I open the door he'll lay back down and pretend to snore. With his eyes wide open. Kills me every time.

I guess he was feeling fancy!

2011-11-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

I got Will dressed this morning in some nice little boy clothes. Long sleeved t-shirt and camo pants (we're always classy around here.) And then Will insisted on adding a tie. He held it out to me and said, "Help! Tie!" over and over until I put it on him.

Really completes the look, don't you think?

Family photos!

2011-11-07T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yay! They're done! So here are some of the ones I love, but probably won't be going on the cards.

This is a hug, not wrestling. Looks like it could be either one.

Feeling a little sad that she couldn't go jump on the trampoline next door.

I think it's cute that she'll "give the new baby" a kiss, but I feel like it's a little too cutesy for Christmas cards. By the way Sally told me I was "lucky to have a belly so early" because it was good for the pictures. I think that's the nicest way I've ever been told I look really pregnant for how far along I am.

Being thrown in the air, a favorite pastime for both our children.

Sometimes toddler smiles get a little out of hand.

Or a lot out of hand. Even Will is wondering what she's doing.

Now to go pick my actual favorite card to go with the pictures...

You'll just have to wait some more.

2011-11-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

We did end up getting pictures done this afternoon. And I was hoping to post some of them (in fact, I put off writing this post to see if she'd send me the link to the pictures) but I don't have them yet. The session went well, the kids were happy and we did a variety of poses so I'm hoping there are lots of good ones! Anyway. SOON.

And now a question: what do you do if your kids get up super early in the morning?

Here's the situation at our house. Kalena still has her good nite lite, so hypothetically she should be staying in her room until 6:45. But she's developed a couple of habits that are screwing with this. For one thing, she is in a phase of wanting her door open and the hall light on. All night. I close her door and turn the light off before I go to bed only to wake up at 2 am and discover that she's turned the light back on and opened her door. (Apparently she's inherited my light sleeping.) Side note here, we've added a lamp to her room in the hopes that being able to turn a lamp on will keep her from needing the hall light. And it's a touch lamp so she doesn't have to mess with switches or anything. Anyway, the other thing she does is wake up at like 5 am and take herself to the bathroom. And then instead of going back to bed she sits in her open doorway, usually playing with noisy toys.

So, any great suggestions from anyone out there? Because I'm a BIG FAN of 6:45. It's way better than 5 am.

Foiled!

2011-11-05T21:27:00.000-06:00

I had big plans for today's blog. Well, big plans for today actually. See, my friend Sally was going to take family pictures for us. For our Christmas cards. For free even, because she's awesome. And then it was 40 degrees and it poured down rain for most of the day, which really interfered with our "pictures in the yard" plan. I'm hoping we can do them tomorrow, because I'd really like to get these things ordered. (Am a giant procrastinator, so the sooner I get them the better.)

ANYWAY. Then I was going to come home and post them on the blog and tell you how fun or stressful or crazy it was. And how it's impossible to get two small children to look at the camera and smile at the same time. (That's just a fact of life.) But all day rain and no pictures instead.

I do have this picture though:

Bedtime stories with grandpa in front of the fire. Does it get any better?

20 weeks

2011-11-04T21:16:00.000-06:00

Halfway there!

And in other, cuter pictures, Will was dressed like a lumberjack today.

And that is the face he makes when you tell him "say cheese!"

Maternity clothes galore

2011-11-03T22:45:00.000-06:00

Remember when I mentioned in my 13 things that my sister was borrowing most of my maternity clothes? Well. I have them back. AND THEN SOME. My parents came home from seeing the new baby on Sunday evening. My mom handed me a couple dresses and then told me there was another box in the laundry room. I glanced in and there was a diaper box, filled past the top and I thought, "Well good, more pants I can wear." And that was about it.

Monday I talked to Kari who asked if I was excited to see all those clothes and I told her I hadn't really sorted it. Then she mentioned that there was also a box of stuff from Kirsta. Good deal right? So yesterday I started putting away the diaper box stuff and I realized that this box? Was the box from Kirsta. The box Kari referred to as the "small box." I asked my mom about the other box and she told me it was still in the car. And that she'd need help getting it out, but that I shouldn't be helping because it was too heavy. Okaaaay. Yeah, so here's the box Kari meant (with the diaper box on top for reference.)

This picture doesn't do it justice. (How 'bout that awesome linoleum though??) There's got to be like a gazillion things in there. Ballpark. So that, plus the stuff from the diaper box, plus the stuff Kari gave me last time I was in Denver, plus the stuff she never borrowed to begin with. Pretty sure my maternity wardrobe is now bigger than my actual wardrobe.

And now some things you didn't really care about. (Because I KNOW you all cared about everything up till now.) I can't actually share non-maternity clothes with my sisters. They're both taller and skinnier than I am. Luckily maternity stuff is much more forgiving! (Still, there's already a pair of Kari's maternity pants that are too small for me. Sad.) Also, we accumulated so many maternity clothes because our other pregnancies have overlapped so much that we each had to have our own stash. Now that I'm the only pregnant one I have ALL the clothes.

A little more Halloween

2011-11-02T14:30:00.000-06:00

So I was handing out candy at my parent's house on Halloween when, once again, the doorbell rang. (Little side note here- my parent's neighborhood is SO popular for trick-or-treating that people drive their kids in, park at the neighborhood entrance and trick-or-treat there.) Anyway, I was about to give some candy to the little ghost at the door when I looked up and realized that guy with the ghost? Was my brother! (And the ghost was my nephew so don't think this is totally bizarre. Obviously I didn't recognize my nephew since he was under a sheet and all.) Why did this startle me? Well, here's what he normally looks like:

But on Halloween he looked like this:

Anyway. Fun times.

It's November!

2011-11-01T14:31:00.000-06:00

And around this blog that means NaBloPoMo! This is the 4th year I've done this, and I've managed to post every day the other 3 years, so hopefully I can keep up my streak.

I was planning to write about something (other than Hey! More blogging!) but I am currently trying (and failing) to get rid of an awful headache and I'm pretty sure not looking at my computer screen anymore will help some. Anyway. Anybody going to join me in all this November blogging?

Halloween pictures!

2011-10-31T21:10:00.000-06:00

Kalena was THRILLED to get dressed up as "a booytiful princess" and go out trick or treating. Also thrilled about her "crown" which is a crown shaped barrette. (Stayed on way better than an actual tiara would have.)

She was not so thrilled when grandpa put on his Frankenstein mask. She is trying to make sure he keeps his distance. Even though she's seen that it's her grandpa under there. Will ran away every time he saw the mask.

Will is unsure why I'm taking pictures when I should be helping him open his only piece of candy.

Most excited to eat? An apple.

Brian asked which piece of candy he wanted to eat and he asked for the apple. Obviously he enjoyed it.

How was your Halloween?

Miscellany

2011-10-30T20:43:00.000-06:00

I re-did my blog layout! I've been meaning to do it, but I finally got bored enough last night that I actually did.

Here's me at 19 weeks. Looks about the same as the one I posted yesterday. But you know, the pictures are for POSTERITY.

I promise that tomorrow I'll quit posting pictures of myself and post darling Halloween pictures of the kids. I have been too lazy to attend any Halloween anything thus far, but I WILL do something tomorrow. (And by "will do something" I mean the kids will be in costume at some point.)

Brian had this conversation with Kalena the other night when she got out of bed for about the millionth time.

Brian: What do you need?

Kalena: I just have a little owie.

Brian: How did you get it?

Kalena: I got bit by a dinosaur.

Of course you did.

I have eaten no Halloween candy thus far. Because there's none in the house!

So. How are things in your neck of the woods?

This pregnancy so far

2011-10-28T21:03:00.000-06:00

Somehow, I've managed to make it almost halfway through this pregnancy. I'm about 19 weeks now (don't even get me started on the "dating this pregnancy" shenanigans.) So far, it's been...harder than the others. With both Kalena and Will, I woke up at 14 weeks and thought, "Oh good, my energy is back!" This round, I'm still waiting for that. I'm exhausted a lot of the time but, ironically, I'm also dealing with insomnia.

I had morning sickness much worse this time. No vomiting (I'm not a puker) but for a while there all I could do was lay on the couch wanting to die while the kids destroyed the house around me. I ended up taking Unisom daily to keep that under control. That kept me from wanting to die, but did make me super-extra-crazy tired all the time. (Seriously, I have NO IDEA how people take this on any sort of regular basis.) Also, I have the world's greatest husband. He took over ALL the dish washing and most of the grocery shopping for the first trimester because I couldn't stand to do it. (And remember, NO DISHWASHER.)

I feel like I'm huge, but looking at my 18 week picture with Will, I think maybe I'm about the same size. I did show sooner though. I really stopped being able to hid it at like 13 weeks. On an upside, I have, in the last few days, started to feel the baby moving every day which I love. Also, with this one I've already started having braxton hicks contractions (not regularly) which is really throwing me off since I didn't have them with Kalena or Will until VERY late in the pregnancy.

Here's what I looked like at 18 weeks (last Friday) because I haven't taken this week's picture yet.

On a completely unrelated non-pregnancy note, I decided to join Twitter. Because apparently I don't spend enough time online as it is. I'm @vandeblogger if you're over there too.

Christmas cards! Yes, I'm aware of the date

2011-10-27T23:21:00.000-06:00

Just so you know, I'm writing this post for free Christmas cards. Tiny Prints is giving me 50 free cards to write about their cards.

You guys, I love Christmas photo cards. I'm embarrassed to admit that last year is the only year I've been together enough to get photo cards made up and sent out. But this year I'm on top of it again!

I also love Tiny Prints. I used them for Kalena's birth announcements and I was VERY pleased with the results, so I used them again for Will's. (Did I send you a birth announcement? My adorable children are only part of the reason those cards are so cute.) Also, talked Kirsta into using them for Eli's birth announcements and those were adorable as well.

Anyway, enough about birth announcements. Tiny Prints also has a huge selection of holiday cards! So huge, in fact, that I had some issues picking favorites. They have handy little filters on the side of the page but even after I'd input my preferences (which are admittedly few- I don't want to limit myself!) I came up with approximately one million cards that I loved. (No seriously, I had like 30 "favorite cards.") BUT. I love you guys and I won't bore you with my 30 favorite cards (unless you want to come over and look at them with me) so I narrowed it down to 6. However, we don't actually have our picture(s) yet so my favorites may change. ANYWAY.

Patterned Christmas I think this would be great if we just do a playful picture with both kiddos.

Merry Stamp In my head I'd like one family pic and one of the kids, and this card would be perfect for that. We'll see about the reality of the pictures.

Scrolling Frame I love this one, but it might be too fancy. Also, not sure how it would look with color pictures- Brian doesn't like to do black and white for cards. Kalena's dress is red and white so I'm hoping it would look GREAT with this one.

Holiday in Nature If we end up with only one good family picture, this card is definitely top of my list.

Scalloped Trim Maybe I like this card because I'm really hoping we can manage the "happy family everyone smiling and looking at the camera" picture AND the happy smiling baby picture. Okay, also the colors. The whole card looks very happy to me.

Triple Gift The other "in my head" version of our card includes one family pic, one of the kids together, and one of my belly. Because I want it to be clear on the card that I'm pregnant and not just fat. And I see those pictures on this card.

Now I just have to talk one of my talented friends into taking pictures for us... Oh, and a question for you guys: do you prefer photo cards with pictures of the whole family or just the kids? Last year I did just the kids (because let's face it, they're cuter than Brian and I) but I'm thinking I'll change it up this year.

Want to pick your own favorite cards? You can check out the whole holiday line here.

Want to participate in this promotion? Fill out this form.

Blathering: the recap

2011-10-25T20:04:00.001-06:00

As I was discussing my weekend in Austin with my husband I realized I did basically two things: ate and talked. Originally there were plans for many entertaining places and things, but you know the great conversation that you just don't ever want to end? That was this whole weekend.

I was seriously nervous to meet so many people at once, but you know what? It didn't really feel like meeting new people. It felt more like catching up with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. Yes, it was nerve wracking to walk into a room full of people I didn't know (even if I recognized some of them from pictures) but it was nice to see people recognize my name when I introduced myself, and when I got out to the back patio and Jen said, "Hey, I know you!" I relaxed and thought, "Okay. This is going to be good."

You guys, good doesn't even begin to describe it. I could have talked with everyone forever. And I would link to everyone I met that I got along with, but that would be EVERYONE. Seriously. I was especially glad I had a later flight out Sunday because that gave me more time to hang out with more people! And I got lucky enough that Christina and I were on the same flight out of Austin and both had long layovers in Dallas, so we continued the Blathering for a little while longer with more chatting over dinner before we each left for our home states.

Anyway, it was an amazing weekend and I miss everyone already. So next time you're in Western Colorado (HA HA HA. Like that will ever happen.) let me know so we can get together.

13 Things

2011-10-19T15:41:00.000-06:00

So. I'm going to Austin this weekend. I'm going for the Blathering and I'm super excited to get to meet the editors of Food Lush and Style Lush as well as all the other lovely ladies who will be there.

Anyway, many of the attendees (doesn't that make this whole thing sound formal?) are putting up these lists: 13 things to know about me before you meet me in person. So I'm copying.

1) I am sarcastic much of the time. If you're not sure if I'm joking or not, I probably am. Don't let that throw you off.

2) I rarely watch TV other than re-watching old series on Netflix or DVD, so if you start talking about current television I will most likely be totally lost.

3) I am a nerd or geek or whatever you want to call it. I mean, I have an engineering degree from an engineering school. And I've watched every episode of Stargate SG1. And the X-Files. If that doesn't all scream "NERDY GIRL" I don't know what does.

4) I would be more concerned about what to pack/wear except that I only have about 3 shirts that will be weather appropriate. I will have a much larger wardrobe at the end of next week, but right now my sister (who just had her baby 5 days ago!) has most of my maternity clothes. All I have are the ones I talked her out of when I was in Denver a few weeks ago. So, fewer decisions for me to make!

5) I have a pretty good memory for names and faces, and I'm really hoping that helps me out in meeting everyone this weekend. However, I know that my name is unusual (and therefore sometimes hard to remember) and I won't be offended if you ask me repeatedly what my name is or how to say it. I'm used to it.

6) I tend to be shy, especially in large groups. This makes me a little nervous about this weekend. Okay, a lot nervous. I'll try to remember all my rush training from back in my Alpha Phi days to help me get through. And before you think-- shouldn't being in a sorority have made you more comfortable in big groups? The answer is no. The school I went to is small, and only 25% of the student population is female, so while I was there sorority ceiling was like 45 members.

7) Although I lived in Texas for 3 1/2 years I never made it to Austin. I'm looking forward to rectifying that this weekend.

8) I intend to blame this pregnancy for all the eating I do. Don't get me wrong, I would do all the eating either way, I'm just using being pregnant as an excuse.

9) My sisters used to complain all the time that I mumble. I'm not sure if I still do or not, but feel free to call me on it if I am.

10) I love karaoke, so if you need a buddy I'll totally sing with you. Provided I know the song. Which leads to...

11) I have a knack for memorizing song lyrics and movie quotes. Actually, it's not just me, it's genetic. All 4 of my siblings have the same skill

12) If the weather is as nice as it's supposed to be, I'll probably wear flip flops all weekend. As much as my sister has tried to educate me in the ways of fashion I choose comfort over style almost every time.

13) I'm really excited about this whole thing.

There you have it. And readers who already know me in real life, are there any big things I missed?

I'm really not a fan of the headaches

2011-10-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in a while and here's why: headaches. Every. Single. Afternoon. And since I'm pregnant, you know what I'm allowed to take for them? Nothing! Okay, not nothing, I can have tylenol which does zero good. I think they may be allergy related, because benadryl seems to help, but you know what else benadryl does? Makes me SUPER tired! Interesting side note here, did you know that, based on the active ingredients, taking a tylenol PM is exactly the same as taking a tylenol and a benadryl at the same time? It's true. So, not surprising that it makes me tired.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I had a point here, so I'll try to get back to it. I can't take benadryl during the day because then I'm not awake enough to take care of the kids. So every night as soon as they go to bed I take one. It helps with the headache, but then I'm also tired enough to go to bed at like 8:15. It doesn't so much make for good blogging. I guess that's my point. I haven't been blogging because I have been spending every evening in a benadryl induced coma. Hopefully I'll be back to my regularly scheduled rambling soon.

Everyone knows boxes are the best toys

2011-10-11T13:20:00.000-06:00

Two empty diaper boxes means the kids found plenty of entertainment while I washed dishes this morning.

Also, yes, in this house putting on a sweatshirt or a princess dress over your pajamas TOTALLY counts as getting dressed.

Kalena kept insisting that I refer to her as a beautiful princess. Who am I to argue?

Look, I found some pictures!

2011-10-10T22:17:00.000-06:00

So, a couple weeks ago I sent Brian to the store before work because we were out of milk. (I am realizing that I do this WAY too often. I really need to pay attention to how much milk we have before we have none.) Anyway, about the time I heard him open the door when I he got home I thought, "I should have had him pick up some donuts too. Well, too late now." But apparently he's a mind reader because he had donuts! (This is why we're married.)

The kids, of course, were SO! EXCITED! that I had to take some pictures. I mean, come on. There was chocolate! And sprinkles! For breakfast!!

Will was incapable of saying cheese and opening his eyes at the same time.

Kalena insisted that I take her picture, but then wouldn't put down her donut and smile long enough for me to actually do that.

It's probably a good thing the Krispy Kreme here closed, because otherwise I would find excuses to have donuts WAY more often.

Pancake Sunday

2011-10-09T20:07:00.000-06:00

In our house, we have a little bit of a Sunday morning ritual. Brian gets up with the kids, turns on some cartoons, and then makes pancakes for breakfast. The kids LOVE pancakes and eat a ton of them. And today, Will was eating so fast that Brian was having a hard time keeping him supplied. Finally he brought in a whole one, thinking he'd just cut it up at the table, but Will was having none of that. Oh no. He wanted that pancake whole. With NO butter. And NO syrup. (Weird since he all but demands syrup if you bring him an already cut up pancake.) So then we got to watch and enjoy as Will tried to figure out how to eat this giant pancake with nothing but his spoon.

Strategy 1: pick off tiny pieces with fingers

Doesn't work fast enough.

Strategy 2: attempt to cut up pancake with tiny spoon

No go.

Strategy 3: wad up entire pancake and shove in mouth.

Excellent.

I should have lied

2011-10-07T20:57:00.000-06:00

Tonight, just after we put the kids to bed I ran over to Dairy Queen to pick up some dessert for Brian and I. (What, you don't sometimes have the good dessert without the kids?) I brought it home and we laughed about the incompetence of the girl taking my order who thought I was asking for a waffle bowl filled with hot fudge rather than a waffle bowl SUNDAE with hot fudge. (Also, she made me the wrong blizzard. And then forgot to give me the sundae until I reminded her.)

Anyway, I was just walking into the living room to enjoy my ice cream and some netflix when Kalena walked out of her room. (Presumably to go to the bathroom, although some nights I really just think she's trying to see how many times she can come out and bother us before she gets in trouble.) And before I could say anything she asked, "Why do you get some ice cream?" in this sad little voice. This is where I should have lied. I should have convinced her it wasn't ice cream. Probably anything was better than what I said, which was, "Sometimes only mommy and daddy get to have ice cream." You guys, she just looked betrayed. Also heartbroken. I reassured her that she would get ice cream too, some other time. Possibly tomorrow. You know, because of the guilt.

In the future I think I'll wait until they're ACTUALLY sleeping before getting dessert. Don't worry though, I still enjoyed every bite. Apparently I didn't feel that guilty about the whole thing.

For Kari

2011-10-06T22:33:00.000-06:00

To give her something to look at while she's super bored waiting to go into labor.

Cute things from the three year old

2011-10-04T20:27:00.000-06:00

When my mom left early last week to go out to California and be with her sisters, Kalena made sure to tell us often, "My grandma misses me SO MUCH."

After seeing a spider on a show Kalena told Brian, "I've never seen a spider before. I love spiders." This from the girl who makes me pick up any speck of dirt she believes is a bug.

If you ask her a question she will sometimes say, "Let's stop and think."

The other day she heard Will wake up from his nap so I told her she could go in say hi. I could hear him calling out, "mama" and when she went in he got excited and said, "Mama!" And Kalena responded, "No, it's just me. Missy van de Boogaard." Like he needed clarification on which Missy.

I am loving this age.

Top 10 signs my kids are obsessed with dinosaurs

2011-09-28T13:35:00.001-06:00

10) I keep thinking I see small wads of paper, but when I get up close it's just another tiny dinosaur. All over the house.

9) Will scours the bookshelf to bring me one of the few dinosaur books we have.

8) I can get the kids into the backyard in seconds if I ask them to go check out there for dinosaurs.

7) When asked what movie he wants to watch, Will's only response is "Dinosaurs!" Anything from the Land Before Time series will do.

6) Kalena's dreams often include being eaten by a dinosaur. (This doesn't seem to bother her any.)

5) Will's first two word sentences were: "My dinosaurs!" and "Love dinosaurs!"

4) Kalena's refusal to jump into the pool because of the "big T-Rex" at the bottom.

3) Will can identify a pterodactyl (and say the word).

2) They both insist on wearing their dinosaur shirts every time they're clean.

1) I've heard Will roar in his sleep.

Definitely obsessed.

29

2011-09-27T13:25:00.000-06:00

Well guys, today is my birthday. I'm now 29. I feel like 29 snuck up on me. Last time I checked I was turning like 27, right? Really, everything since about 25 has been a blur of pregnancies and babies. It doesn't seem like I should be aging if every birthday is marked by being pregnant or having a baby.

At 25 I was pregnant. At 26 I had a baby younger than a year. At 27 I was pregnant. At 28 I had a baby younger than a year. And now at 29 I'm pregnant. So if I'm at the same place I was when I was 25, how did I get 4 years older in the meantime?! Obviously I see the time passing with my kids, but it doesn't seem like it should apply to me.

Anyway. We did all the celebrating already. On Saturday Brian took the kids and I sat at the house all day watching Netflix and then he picked me up and we went out for a sushi dinner. (Who knew that someday for my birthday all I would really want is a whole day to myself to watch TV?) Then on Sunday we had a steak dinner and cake at my parents house. Brian did bring us breakfast this morning, because he's a sweetheart, but other than that it's just a normal day.

So. Here's hoping that 29 is a good year.

2011-09-26T09:42:00.000-06:00

On Christmas day when I was 10, my mom's dad died. And then a few days before Christmas the year I was 20 my dad's dad died. So I used to joke that my grandmas had better be ready on Christmas the year I turn 30.

Instead, my paternal grandma died in April. And my maternal grandma died Sunday night.

I was fortunate enough to get to spend a week out there with my mom and my kids at the beginning of August, and I'm glad we got that time. She will definitely be missed.

Thoughts on a third

2011-09-23T09:17:00.000-06:00

I've always known I wanted a big family. As the middle of five kids I loved the atmosphere I grew up in. I was painfully shy as a child and having sisters so close to my own age meant built in playmates which was great for me. And now that my siblings are also having kids I love that my kids get to have so many cousins. I was lucky enough to marry someone who also grew up in a big family and wants that as well. (Brian has 6 siblings, for those of you who don't know.)

When Kalena was a baby, every new stage she went through made me think, "Who would only want to do this once?" And then Will came along and I got to watch her ignore him, then adjust to him, then play with him, and now be friends with him. They really are friends. She loves for him to play with her, and he follows her around constantly. She is always concerned for his needs and often ends her sentences with "And Buster too!" If she wants a snack she makes she he gets some. If she gets to go somewhere she makes sure we know that he wants to go too. If he gets stuck, or hurt, or needs help she alerts me right away. Watching them together makes me incredibly happy, and confirms to me over and over that this is what I want. And that's why I'm thrilled that we'll be adding a third in March.

A preview of what Will would look like with facial hair

2011-09-20T13:38:00.000-06:00

One consequence of the finger sucking is that Will often has dirt around his mouth. He goes outside, plays in the dirt, then sticks his finger in his mouth. I should probably be more grossed out by this than I am. Mostly I think it's funny. Especially today when it looked just like a little mustache.

A delicious dirt mustache.

Nap schedule revised

2011-09-19T14:33:00.001-06:00

Man, sometimes I just gloss right over the big stuff don't I? I totally forgot to mentioned that Will is down to one nap a day. It all started two weeks ago Thursday when my friend invited us to story time at the library. I've always thought my kids would enjoy story time but it happens at 10 am which was right in the middle of Will's nap. But he's been napping for less time in the mornings and taking longer to fall asleep so I figured, "Why not? We'll skip the nap today and see how it goes."

And it went fine. So we did it again the next day. And the next. And he hasn't taken a morning nap since. It has screwed with my afternoon schedule a little since I moved up afternoon nap to accommodate for the getting tired earlier. Now they nap at 1 instead of 2, which means they're up at 3 instead of 4, and that extra hour between nap and Brian getting home seems VERY LONG. But all in all it's been good. So now I can go places in the morning! Not that I do mind you. But I could.

I want you to know that I take no credit whatsoever for Will taking two naps a day until almost 21 months old. Some kids need more sleep than others.

So. We're officially at one nap a day.

Visiting

2011-09-18T20:30:00.000-06:00

I went to Denver last week. It was sort of a spur of the moment trip. I mean, I'd intended to go in September and I'd actually been planning to go this week, but then it turned out that my friend (who was the big reason I was going) was actually in town LAST week and not this week. Good thing I found that out right?

Anyway, the kids and I drove up on Wednesday and arrived at my sister's empty house. Empty because her daughter had taken a tumble down the stairs just about 30 minutes before we got there and she bit a giant gash in her tongue and that necessitated a trip to the emergency room. WHOOPS. Also, I'm a little concerned that my visits to her house may be jinxed since Patrick did something similar to his tongue when my mom and I were visiting back when Eli was a baby. Or maybe her kids just have razor sharp teeth.

SO. Thursday I got to see my good friend (and college roommate) Laura! She lives in California now, but usually does recruiting at Mines during the career fair, and since Denver is WAY closer than California I try to come visit her when she's there. I tried to talk Kari into coming down to visit too, since she actually lived with us my senior year of college so she's friends with Laura too. But she decided Kirsta's house would be too packed for her to stay there (it would have been 4 adults and 6 kids in a 3 bedroom house) so she opted out. But Laura thought it would be fun to see her too, so in the end we met up with her in Colorado Springs on Friday (halfway between where Kari lives and where Kirsta lives) and had lunch together and caught up. And I'm pretty sure this story is boring you all to tears at this point. I'm just writing it all to say-- I wish we all lived closer together and see each other more often because once a year is just not enough.

Now if you've stuck it out this long, I'll give you some highlights of the trip.

Patrick and Kalena play together SO WELL. They may be some mutant strain of three year old because they are well behaved, even when together.

Kalena went to Joy School (Kirsta was hosting) with Patrick and another little boy and cried real actual tears when Kirsta told her she couldn't come next time. Because it'll be on Tuesday and we're already home, not because Kirsta wanted to kick her out or anything. Maybe time to think about some form of preschool hmm?

It was the general consensus that Will is possibly the cutest kid on the face of the earth.

Kirsta and Joe recently got a bunny and Will? Is terrified of it. Kalena wanted it out all the time, you know, to chase and generally harass, but we had to limit that since Will just freaked out when the rabbit was around. I guess no pets around here for awhile.

That's about it. And I don't even have any pictures to reward you for all your reading because I DIDN'T TAKE ANY. No pictures of the kids with their cousins. I probably need my mom license revoked.

It'll probably be a parking lot by next week

2011-09-08T20:14:00.000-06:00

So, the house next door to us was torn down today. Don't worry, this was not unexpected. As I've mentioned, we live like a block from the college here. And the college is currently in the process of procuring the surrounding land in order to do expansions. Starting with our street.

Anyway, we knew that these particular neighbors had sold their house to the college a while back so we were just waiting for it to be torn down. This is the third house on our block to be torn down in the last six months. The other two lots are now parking.

The kids were fascinated. Construction equipment! Right outside the window! It's better than TV! And then when Brian came home and took the kids outside to get a better look, the guy was nice enough to let them play driver. They were thrilled.

Don't let Will's indifferent expression fool you. He was heartbroken when Brian got him out. HEARTBROKEN.

So yeah. This morning we had a house next door and this evening it looks like this:

It all started innocently enough

2011-09-02T20:53:00.000-06:00

I had some plans to take the kids to the park with a friend today. But then it rained, so I figured we'd take them to McDonalds or something and let them play at the play area. And then she cancelled because her husband took the car, but at that point I had it in my head that we were going somewhere. I knew if we didn't that it would make my afternoon be like a hundred million hours long. (Did you know it is possible for the 3 hours between 11 am and 2 pm to last for one hundred million hours? I assure you, it is.)

Anyway, I knew my kids would enjoy it, friends or no, so we packed up and went. I was surprised to see how busy the play area was when we got there, considering a) it wasn't even noon yet, and b) it's a school day. As I looked around it was apparent that it was all kids kindergarten age and under, which made sense, since they wouldn't need to be in school. I actually thought that was nice, because older kids can sometimes be careless around the little ones and this way Will wouldn't be getting trampled. So the kids ate and then got down to play. Kalena was enjoying the craziness and Will seemed surprisingly unfazed by how many kids were there. In fact he was brave enough that he started following Kalena up the tunnels, something he's never done before. I THINK WE ALL KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING NOW.

Oh yes, he got stuck at the VERY top, too scared to go anywhere. I sent Kalena up after him a couple times, but you know, she's 3. She didn't find him, or if she did he wouldn't follow her. And it's not like she's big enough to physically move him. In fact, I looked around to see if there was an older kid I could send up there after him to bring him down. But ha ha! NOPE. The very thing I was glad for when we first got there now back to bite me.

In the end I had to go up there myself and get him. And I made some observations while I was doing this. 1) It is HOT in those tunnels. No wonder the kids are always running back to their table for something to drink. 2) The tunnels are really not made for people my size. I'm not tall, but I hit my knees, and elbows, and head. Not so much fun. 3) The slide they have at our McDonalds? Does SO MANY TURNS. I thought I was going to throw up by the end. That said, I am SO glad they have a slide to the very top so that I didn't actually have to carry Will all the way back down. That would have just been extra awful.

Apparently there is a reason for the minimum age of 3 on these things.

I need some book suggestions

2011-08-31T20:32:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you noticed, but in my "typical day" post I mentioned reading to my kids. A lot. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 kids books, and while Kalena is interested in most of them (there are still a few that are a little long for her) Will mostly wants me to read dinosaur books. Unfortunately, we only have 5 of those.

SO. Lovely readers. I need you to tell me your favorite kids books that feature dinosaurs. We have 3 from the "How Do Dinosaurs" series, and two other random ones. I'm really hoping some of you have kids who love dinosaurs as much as mine do.

Also, head over to my Food Lush post and give me your advice on bread makers.

Man, I sure am needy today aren't I?

I'll be directing you to my sister's blog

2011-08-27T23:46:00.000-06:00

In case you're feeling deprived by not seeing pictures of my kids, my sister wrote a cute post about what they're up to at her house. Go check it out!

Feels a little weird actually

2011-08-26T19:50:00.000-06:00

So yesterday Brian calls me and says, "What do you think about going to Denver this weekend?" His company needs a piece of equipment picked up in Denver and brought back here, meaning they would send him in a company truck with a company card for gas. He figured we could take the kids, see my sister's family, maybe see his sisters, hang out for a day or so and then drive home. And I told him that that sounded nice, but what I'd REALLY like is if he took the kids and went to Kirsta's while I stayed here.

AND HE DID.

They left this afternoon around 1, so until they get back on Sunday I have the house to myself. I have big plans to, you know, clean (and watch things actually STAY clean) and watch netflix by myself. Also big plans to sleep in tomorrow, but since I typically wake up on my own around 6:30 we'll see how that goes. It's a little bit strange knowing that I don't have to tend to anyone's needs but my own until they get back. Especially since this is the first time I've been away from the kids overnight since before Will was born. Although, I guess technically they are away from me. Anyway. I plan on enjoying my free time.

A typical day

2011-08-24T21:12:00.001-06:00

So I'm stealing this from Jennie, and you should too because it's fun and I want to read about your day!

6:20-6:30 am: Sun shines in the window and I wake up. Check the clock. Realize I need to get up now if I'd like to brush my teeth in peace. Lay there for a few more minutes anyway

6:30-6:45: Get up, dressed, teeth brushed, hair brushed. Brian gets up. I start breakfast for me and the kiddos, usually oatmeal.

6:45: Kalena's sun comes up, releasing her from the prison of her room. She's generally been awake for 30 minutes to an hour. She finds me, then Brian to say good morning. She is always cheerful.

6:50: Breakfast is ready, get Will out of his crib. I wake him up if he's not awake to make sure the morning nap will happen.

6:55-7:20: Brian leaves for work (he eats breakfast there.) I eat breakfast with the kids.

7:20- 9: Playtime. I generally try to wash the breakfast dishes now and start a load of laundry if I need to. Make our bed if I'm on top of things. Read to the kids for an hour or so. Say, "Be NICE to Will" one hundred thousand times.

9: Will's morning nap. Kalena gets to watch a movie most days. Or, if I've scheduled a playdate for her it usually happens around now (at our house obviously.) While both kids are occupied I try to do productive things, like clean. But some days I work on my scrapbooks instead. If I'm really tired (aka someone was up during the night) this is prime nap time. Kalena will generally leave me alone if I tell her I'm "taking a rest."

10:00: Kalena and I snack during her movie.

10:30 ish: After her movie she plays, sometimes colors, sometimes more reading, sometimes outside. She tells me multiple times that she "think Buster awake." He is not.

Sometime before noon Will gets up and the kids play together until lunch.

12:00 Unless the kids are very engaged in something else, lunchtime. Usually something quick and easy since they'll take two bites and be done.

12:20-2:00: Playtime. Prime mess making time! I say, "Be NICE to Will" one hundred thousand times more. Another 30 minutes to an hour of reading again before nap time.

2:00 pm: Will and Kalena both nap. I do any dinner prep that I can. All that needs to happen later is the actual cooking. After that I read, or scrapbook, or play on my computer. If it's Friday I watch last night's Project Runway on mylifetime.com.

3-4:00: The kids get up. Usually closer to 4. Most days they play outside until dinner. If I'm especially worn out or it's rainy they sometimes get an episode of Dora or something else. I finish making dinner. If it's Wednesday we head over to my parents house for dinner.

5:15-5:25: Brian gets home. The kids throw themselves at him. We eat dinner.

6:00: I wash dishes while Brian washes kids. On non-bath days he plays with them while I do dishes.

6:30-7:00: Get the kids ready for bed. Have them help clean up toys, get in pajamas, brush teeth, a story if there's time, Kalena always requests a song.

7:05: Fall on the couch. Watch a movie or some netflix with Brian while we both do various thing on our laptops. Chat about the day. Shower if I need one so my hair can dry before bed. If one of us has evening commitments, they usually run from 7-9 or so.

10-11: Bedtime. Depending on how tired I am. Prepare to do it all again tomorrow.

Your turn!

S'mores

2011-08-22T20:34:00.000-06:00

Because I know your life would be incomplete if I didn't post some pictures of my kids today.

Not sure about the whole "roasting marshmallows" bit.

Okay, tastes pretty good.

But you know, who needs s'mores when you can eat the sand in the sandbox?

Delish.

I think I need to have a karaoke party

2011-08-15T20:20:00.000-06:00

So. One of the benefits to family reunions in the state I live in is that we get to drive to them. Maybe you're wondering why driving would be so great, I mean, 6 hours in the car with two toddlers doesn't seem like a fabulous time does it? No. BUT. When you drive you can jam your car full of stuff to make life convenient and also more fun. For instance? I hauled 4 pack-n-plays up to the reunion so that we would have enough baby sleeping space for babies arriving by plane. Convenient, yes? Yes.

Know what else I brought? A karaoke machine. Obviously you would never take one of these on a flight, but we had room in the car so WHY NOT? And you guys, it was so fun! (Side note: yes it IS possible to have fun with karaoke, even if NOBODY is drinking.) Because come on. How often do you get to see your parents sing a duet of Summer Nights?

(Is that the cutest picture of my mom ever?)

And how often do you get to see my cousin belting out Backstreet Boys? Okay, maybe a little more often.

So here's the real question. If I have a karaoke party when I turn 29 (next month!!) will you all come over and karaoke? I promise not to make you sing. But I will like you a little more if you do.

Family photo

2011-08-12T19:44:00.000-06:00

Family picture courtesy of my Aunt Ann, taken at our family reunion in Estes Park.

It surprises me sometimes that with my red hair and Brian's dark hair we keep having these little blonde kiddos. It shouldn't, probably. Brian's mom and three of his siblings are blonde.

I used to show people pictures of me with my sisters (people who didn't know my sisters, obviously) and have them ask, "Who are the girls in the picture with you?" It is not easy to tell just by looking that we are related.

I'm pretty sure Will and Kalena will never get that. There is no mistaking that they are siblings.

I guess she thought that was a good reason?

2011-08-08T22:09:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago at church Kalena was following Will around. With her finger in his ear. He was quite obviously trying to get away from her so I told her (in my best "I'm serious" church whisper) to knock it off. And she looked at me, totally sincere, and said, "But I WUV him."

Apparently love makes tormenting him okay.

More of the Estes Park trip

2011-08-07T07:55:00.000-06:00

While we were in Estes Park we toured the famous Stanley Hotel. This is the hotel that was the inspiration for Stephen King's The Shining. And while none of the movie was filmed there, apparently the mini-series was? I've never seen it. Actually, I've never seen all of the movie either. I get too freaked out to watch horror movies. I have read the book though.

Anyway, no kids under 5 allowed on the tour which means none of our kids could go. (Not that we'd want to take them anyway. Who wants a toddler on a haunted hotel tour?) But all the adults still got to go. Know how we managed that? We hired babysitters for the vacation! That's right, we ~~suckered~~ hired two lovely teenagers that Kirsta knows from church to go with us. And it was SO NICE to know that you didn't have to be chained to the house if kids were napping/sleeping/you didn't want to take the babies. The Stanley tour was the only time we left ALL the kids. For which the babysitters probably thanked their lucky stars. 17 kids total, the oldest two are 6, there's one 5 year old, one 4 year old, and the other 13 are ages 3 and under. Anyway, they totally earned their money during that couple hours.

So. Interesting tour, although we didn't see anything supernatural. You can actually stay in the hotel, (room 217 is the most requested) but it seems like it'd be awfully noisy what with all the tour groups and, you know, ghosts running around.

Oh, another interesting tidbit (if you haven't already stopped reading): even though none of the movie The Shining was filmed here, some of the scenes from Dumb and Dumber were. Bet you'd never group those two movies together. So, the tour was fun. Probably more fun since it was a private tour-- there were enough people in our family to make up a whole tour group. Things like that are always more fun when it's all people you know.

Vacation time

2011-08-06T07:39:00.001-06:00

Vacationing with kids is not really vacationing. I find that it's often harder than just being at home. My kids sleep less, the places aren't childproofed, there is travel involved, the list goes on. However, I have discovered that it IS possible to have a relaxing vacation with you kids. Here's what to do:

1) Take your mom with you. Husbands are helpful, yes (at least, mine is) but extra time with grandma is special for the kids. This means they're asking HER for stuff instead of always asking me.

2) Go to a house where there are kids often. My kids where in awe of the number of toys they had to choose from. Also, things were pretty much kid-proofed.

3) Stay with family members who think your kids are adorable. We stayed with my grandma and both my mom's sisters who all share a big house together in southern California. I'm not sure how many times someone told me my kids were darling but you know what? It never got old :) Also, every time I turned around someone was feeding my kids whatever they wanted-- less responsibility for me!

4) Have older kids there for them to play with. Alright, this is probably not within your control, but it still made my vacation better. My kids got to play with some of their second cousins, all of whom are several years older (two 8 year olds, two 6 year olds) and it was great. Not only did we not have to worry what was going on with the older kids watching out for them, Kalena was thrilled every time she got to play with her "best friends" as she called them.

5) Don't plan anything. We went there with the sole purpose of visiting family and that is exactly what we did. Visited with family. It was great. No long drives to outings, no worrying about where or when my kids would nap, no expensive day trips that the kids won't remember. I highly recommend this method of vacationing.

Vacations like this leave plenty of time for the good stuff: lounging around.

That's the way vacations should be.

I'm not even sure that kind of thing is genetic

2011-08-05T18:22:00.000-06:00

It looks like Kalena may have inherited my love of the written word. She wanted to read today, so I told her to pick a book and bring it over. This is the stack she brought me:

Her insistence on taking books to bed every night might have been another clue...

In the interest of full disclosure

2011-08-04T21:43:00.000-06:00

We had to get up in the middle of the night to make our morning flight today. See, the flight was at 7, which meant we needed to be at the airport at 5. And my grandma and aunts live in Beaumont which is about an hour and a half drive (no traffic) from LAX. So we had to get up at 3, load the car and leave by 3:30 am. Fortunately, even in LA you can count on very little traffic at 3:30 in the morning.

Anyway, we got to the airport at 5, and when we went to check in I opted to check the car seat since I had no worries about getting it back at the Grand Junction airport. For those of you unfamiliar with the Grand Junction airport, it's small. Like, our mall is bigger (and our mall isn't big.) Even if you're the last one off the plane you can make it to the baggage claim before the baggage does. And you guys? The lady checking us in offered to check both our bags for free! She took pity on us hauling around two small kids. We definitely took her up on that offer and it made going through security and getting to our gate and on our flight SO MUCH EASIER.

So now you know. Not everyone at Allegiant sucks.

Allegiant customer service

2011-08-02T20:07:00.000-06:00

I just want to throw this out there since I didn't add it in my Allegiant Ordeal post. The Allegiant customer service number is:

702-505-8888

The baggage service number/lost and found number is:

866-719-3910

These are the only phone numbers listed anywhere on their website and I only found them after some digging. Under the FAQ "Who can I contact about a problem I had on a flight?" they offer an address. So I suppose according to Allegiant procedures I should have driven home illegally, without Will in a car seat, and then MAILED THEM A LETTER. Why didn't I think of that?

Anyway, I can't vouch for the baggage service number since I didn't have that one in my phone and it wasn't listed ANYWHERE at the airport. But I definitely recommend that you write down both these numbers if you're flying Allegiant. Even if you think you don't have any checked bags. Because, you know, *we* were going to avoid baggage claim. HA HA HA. Oh.

What's a cabin in the woods without some time on the lake?

2011-08-01T22:04:00.000-06:00

No mountain vacation is complete without spending a little time on a mountain lake, right? So while in Estes we headed down to the marina and rented a pontoon boat. Kirsta got behind the wheel and we headed out for a lovely time on the water.

Then like 7 minutes in Amelia got sea sick and we had to turn around. But we dropped Kari and Amelia off and went back out for a wonderful, you know, 12 minutes. After that the kids were tired of it.

Even before we left the dock Amelia looked a little suspicious of the whole thing.

The kids took turns helping Kirsta pilot the boat. That was the best part, obvs.

See how thrilled the are to be enjoying such a wonderful ride?

Seriously, who gets sick on a pontoon boat? Oh well. It was fun anyway.

Because once a year is often enough for haircuts, right?

2011-07-30T21:36:00.000-06:00

So, I have a cousin who knows how to cut hair (remember when she chopped my hair off for me in Hawaii?) and I'm lazy, so family reunions are pretty much when I get my hair cut. And I did get my hair cut in Estes Park, but I have no before and after pictures. I DO however, have pictures of Kalena getting her hair cut.

This? Is her Very First Haircut. And I refused to give her bangs because that's too much maintenance for me.

Before: Getting long. Also? Getting to the point that every time I had to brush or do anything to it she would complain, "Mommy, you hurting my hair!" And that gets old in a hurry.

Action shot.

Loving the finished product. Mostly it looks the same, just with nice even ends instead of the scraggly ones that existed before.

Big thanks to my cousin Jule, who puts up with my and my never-cutting-my-hair ways!

My issues with Allegiant

2011-07-29T21:54:00.000-06:00

So. Let me just tell you a little story about getting to LA. The flight was fine. The kids were a little whiney from being tired, and both refused to nap, but overall they were pretty good. Will was quite sad when he realized he didn't get his own seat but he settled down once he realized he could look out the windows. No, our trouble didn't start until we got to LAX.

We got off the plane and Will's car seat wasn't there. We had gate checked it SPECIFICALLY so we could avoid dealing with baggage claim. (You can check a car seat for free.) I asked an employee about it and she went and double checked and informed us that it must have been put with the checked baggage and we would have to go to baggage claim and there would be someone there to help me. Annoying. So we hauled our stuff and both kids down to baggage claim. There, we were informed that Allegiant's baggage claim was actually one terminal over. So we walked some more, got to the Allegiant baggage area and checked the luggage that was circling. No car seats. Then I get to the far end and see the car seat. In a locked case.

I figured we were set. I mean, I could see the seat! It was Right! There! There was a lady standing near the case so I asked her to open it. She tells me I need an Allegiant employee and she'll go check for one. She walks around the area, but no one from Allegiant is there. She tells me I can go up to the ticket counter and get someone to come down and open it. Alright, obnoxious, since the girl who checked for the car seat at the plane told me there would be someone AT baggage claim. But whatever. We are SO ready to leave. Up at ticketing there is no one at the Allegiant counter. Awesome. The guys at the counter next to it inform me (when I ask whether someone is in the back) that there are rarely employees at the Allegiant counter. Extra awesome.

I go back downstairs and do a lap hoping someone is there no. No luck. I ask the lounging security guard if he can open it. He directs me to an office. The employees there inform me that A) they work for another airline B) only an Allegiant agent can open the case C) there is no paging system in place at LAX D) they have no way to contact Allegiant employees and E) there are almost never Allegiant employees in the baggage area. SUPER DUPER. I'm pretty pissed at this point. They suggest the ticket counter may list a customer service number. I go back up. No employees (no surprise) and no number.

I'm wishing I had a hammer so I could just break into the damn case. No employees in the baggage area. No employees at the ticket counter. No listed numbers anywhere. And a car seat LOCKED IN A CASE. Also? We were at baggage claim within like 30 minutes of landing. How in the world did they get all the baggage down there, on the baggage carousel, picked up by other people on the flight, leftovers off the carousel, locked up, and all employees gone by the time we got down there?!

We're considering leaving (since we apparently have no way to contact anyone) when I realized I had the reservation customer service number still in my phone from the other day. (I had to call to confirm we had a lap child.) I figure it's worth a shot to call.

After 10 or so minutes on hold an agent asks how she can help. Our conversation goes like this:
Me: I need a phone number to get ahold of someone who works for Allegiant baggage claim at LAX
Her: Those numbers aren't public
Me: Well, I gate checked a car seat which then ended up with the checked baggage and now it's locked up. There are no agents in baggage or at the ticket counter and no other airline knows how to get ahold of Allegiant employees.
Her: Let me put you on hold.
Me: Sure.
*holding*
Her: It looks like no one will be back in until Monday
Me in my head: Are you %&$*#&@ kidding me right now?
Me out loud: It's a CAR SEAT. How am I supposed to get home?
Her: Let me put you on hold.
Me: Sure
*holding*
Her: We're trying to get ahold of the person in charge there to see if they can reach someone at the airport.
Me: Thanks
*holding*
Her: They're sending someone down.

So finally. FINALLY. A girl comes in and opens the case. And you know what? It's one of the girls who was STANDING RIGHT THERE when they told me there would be someone AT BAGGAGE to help me. The whole ordeal took an hour and a half. Including a half hour on the phone with the customer service girl.

Right now the only person at Allegiant I don't hate is the girl on the phone who (eventually) got someone to help.