I'm so excited!

And I just can't hide it.  I'm about to lose control and I think I like it, I like it. 

Because...

In less than 2 weeks we will be welcoming baby number 3. 

And I can honestly say this is the most excited I've ever been about welcoming a child into this world. 

With Samuel I was just terrified of labor and delivery and realizing that I had NO idea what to do with a baby.

With Lillian I was terrified of having two kids 19 months apart, another c-section, and having a girl.

With this one - I'm just done being pregnant.  I know it's going to be hard adjusting to three kids, having a newborn wake-up multiple times a night, my two older kids waking up freakishly early in the morning, recovering from a c-section and all the mayhem that comes with a major life change. 

But I've never been more ready - at least mentally and emotionally.  All the baby stuff is still in boxes and rooms need to be cleaned and beds need to be upgraded, but that will happen when it happens. 

My arms ache for the tininess of the sweet little baby, to look into its big eyes, hold its little hands and count its little toes.  I also can't wait to find out what gender this baby is! What do you think?

Most people in the family are thinking it's going to be a boy.  I don't have any opinion either way.  This pregnancy was seriously unlike any other pregnancy I've experienced and I can honestly say I have no clue what I'm having.  

That's all for now people, Samuel is home from school and begging for a snack because he "is still hungry." 

My Juvenile Delinquent

Lillian likes to TP the house.

She's quite fast at it.  Running around the house with rolls of toilet paper while Samuel follows behind trying to keep it all in a neat pile.

She was on her 10th roll when I found her. 

I wouldn't have known how many rolls she was on (she tries to hide the evidence) if I hadn't taken the trash out yesterday.  I started counting the tubes of toilet paper that were trying to lie there discreetly. 

If this is foreshadowing of her teenage years I'm in BIG trouble. 

 

28 to Win It

Last week was my birthday and my husband decided to be all cute and planned a game for me.  I had to complete all the tasks in 28 seconds or 1 minute 28 seconds (depending on the difficulty) to win the "prize" or my present.  :)

My brother took the kids that evening so we could enjoy a little date together and the festivities began.

My first challenge was to balance three cardboard bricks on my head in 28 seconds.  I didn't really accomplish this challenge.  Apparently, my head comes to a point.  Literally.   I did eventually get all three of them to balance for a tenth of a second and Carlin counted it, it was my birthday after all.  (And yes, Laura, that is the sign you made for my birthday several years ago.  I still have it. :))

The next challenge was to flick 8 pens into a bin placed 28 inches away in 28 seconds.  If you look closely you can see a silver pen in midair by my arm.  I finished this with time to spare.

Round three was a "hint" round where I had to pull mini-M&Ms our of mini-stockings but couldn't use my hands to pull the stocking off.  I ended up using my hip and the table.  Carlin said that was cheating but I argued that he only said I couldn't use my hands. 

 

 Round four was tearing 8 sheets of newspaper in half using only my feet.  Luckily I have finger toes.  Unfortunately, my hips have been uber-sore with this pregnancy and I could barely walk afterwards. 

Round five was the last round and another hint round.  I had to stack 4 apples on top of each other and get them to balance for a few seconds.  This was another one that took longer than one minute and 28 seconds and I had to use an unexpected lifeline and got help from my husband.  :P 

Finally, I had to choose a prize found under one of three boxes.  I chose correctly and won...

A mini-iPad!  Sometimes, my husband really does spoil me.  It's great and I've spending far too much time on it playing games.  The kids are also enjoying it.

For dinner Carlin took me to the baby's favorite place - Ray's Barbeque.  Seriously the best barbeque in town, maybe even in the state.  And I love, love their okra.  We split a homemade strawberry cake for dessert. 

Overall, it was a great birthday spent with the people I love the best. 

The One and Only...

A couple of weeks ago my SIL, Heather, invited me to a dinner and lecture at the University.  I was excited, not only was it a night out and one of my first formal events since having kids... but the lecturer was...

Wait for it...

The one and only, David McCullough.  That's right people, the David McCullough who wrote such books as 1776 and John Adams.  And I saw him, living and breathing, in person. 

I only geeked out a bit. 

The specific book he talked about was Truman.  But it wasn't all "look at how awesome my book is" it was more about how important it is to educate our children on American History.

I have a limited knowledge of American History, but I'll brush up on it (probably by reading more of his books) and fortunately, Miss Heather (my SIL, in case you forgot) happens to be graduating this Spring with a degree in History and then going on for her Masters in the Fall.  And now that I've mentioned it I would like to give her a shout-out for not only being impressively smart and motivated, but for taking that leap to Grad School (I'm just a little bit jealous...). 


And here's a picture of me at 33 weeks - with my fabulous haircut and my amazing grandparents.

Pat on the Back

Took Lillian to the museum today!

Score 1 for the Momma.

When we got home I asked her if she wanted a snack.  She said, "yes, I want apples."

Score number 2!  The kid loves apples.

This inspired me to eat a healthy snack too.  Baby pickles, cheese and a mandarin orange.  Yumm.

Lillian wanted an orange too.

Score 3 and 4 for me.  I was giving myself high fives and pats on the back.  Oh yah!  My kids are healthy.

Samuel got home from school.  "What do you want for a snack?"  I asked.  He's not much of a fruit kid but he loves fruit snacks or carrots or broccoli. 

Samuel: "Chocolate chips and marshmallows."

Back to reality.  This is their usual snack with either crackers or popcorn to make myself feel better.

Who was I kidding?  I was eye-ing those powdered sugar donuts I had bought myself on impulse the other day anyway.

It's all about balance right?

My Life Without Garlic

Have I mentioned how this baby does not like garlic?  Really this baby doesn't like much, except bar-b-que, fried okra, and cookies.  But ninja-baby really does not like garlic.

Pretty much it comes right back up, but if I'm lucky it just makes me sick for several days and Carlin gets to listen to me moan and groan about how wretched my life is and how I'm never getting pregnant again.  Ever.

You would be surprised how many foods garlic shows up in - it's like people put garlic in everything.  At first I was just miserable.  I wasn't up for much cooking and all my favorite soups and store-bought, pre-made foods had garlic in them.

But now I cook more and an interesting thing has happened.  I've realized how other herbs and spices taste WITHOUT garlic.  Suddenly basil is sweet and charming, thyme has a kick to it I didn't know that little spice could have, cumin has a wonderful smoky flavor that can save my lame attempts at taco seasoning.

I also have a new view on restaurants.  Are they really good or are they just hiding behind a hideous amount of butter, cheese and garlic?  For example, Carlin took me out to Zio's the other day and I ordered a shrimp in lemon butter sauce except I had to omit the sauce and ask for no seasoning on the shrimp.

The dish came out with angel hair pasta, shrimp, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, and mushrooms in a plain butter sauce.  And guess what?  I could taste the dish.  The juicy shrimp, the bitter artichoke, the out-of-season-lackluster tomatoes, and the always wonderful sauteed mushrooms.

Now instead of adding an extra dash of garlic to my dishes I'm discovering new spices and use of old spices and loving it.

Oh - and ninja-baby is the official name of this baby because it is seriously trying to karate chop its way out of my stomach.  It even startles Carlin it kicks so hard and has almost made me pee my pants on several occasions when using my bladder as a punching bag.

Sleepless in America*

My kids have been a bit crazy lately.

They've been impossible to put to bed.  Many nights ending up in our bed.

They wake up multiple times during the night and crawl into bed with us.

Last night I got up with Lillian.  As soon as I got her settled down Samuel woke up.  As soon as Samuel settled down, Lillian would get agitated again.  This went on for a while.

I guess I gave up at one point because I woke up this morning with Samuel's feet propped on my stomach while he took over my pillow and Lillian poking me in the eye.   

Didn't help that I couldn't get to sleep till 1am anyway.  Which has happened several times this week.

During the day they are like these little balls of frantic energy that just get into everything.

They made "dinner" the other night with mud and all of the fruit from the fridge plus carrots.

I have a trail of mud from the back door to the bathroom.

Even though I've put away/hidden every single soap, shampoo, toothpaste type item they still manage to find the one I missed.

Lillian insists she's old enough for red high heels and make-up.

 

I can't even begin to put into words how exhausted I am - Carlin has come home many times this week to find me curled up in bed with chocolate and a book.  By 5 o'clock there is no point in trying to manage the mess anymore.

*Sleepless in America is a book I'm reading - check out my GoodReads button thingy on the side for more details.