One Week Out

If all goes as planned (ha!), this time next week I will be kissing my sweet baby girl's face.

So one week out, here is a picture of me in all my pregnantness.

Who needs make-up?

• My wedding rings don't fit.
• My hospital bag is packed.
• Thank God it's flip flop season!
• Curse all that is good because it is also bathing suit season.
• Humidity is my enemy and the AC is never cool enough.
• Food sounds good, but more than a few bites makes me unbelievably uncomfortable.
• And pressure...oh the intense, constant pressure.  My younger sister, who does not have children of her own yet, asked my mom if by "pressure" did I mean it feels like I always have to drop the kids off in the pool.

Uh- no.

To her, and anyone else who is wondering, for me pressure is more like kegel exercises (look it up, I'm not getting into anatomy on this blog) mixed with a urinary tract infection.

**HAPPY THOUGHTS**

On Parker's birthday we took him to the movies to see the Cars 2.  This is the first time he has been to a movie theatre. 

Between the two of us, honestly, mostly him, we visited the bathroom 5 times through the course of the film.  I can not give you may details of the movie, but I can describe every stall in the ladies bathroom to a T.  Also, I cannot pick Pman up for him to wash his hands at the adult height sinks, so I went through nearly an entire pack of antibacterial hand wipes in lieu of hand washing.

Desperate times...

We were in the theatre long enough for P to spill all of his popcorn on the ground though- bonus!

After the movie, he wanted to ride the "rides" (read: those cheapo quarter rides you generally find outside of Kmart stores that just bob up and down or shift herky jerky style from left to right.)  Then he got mint ice cream with gummi bears mixed in- ick. 

Between the movie and the quarter rides and gummi mint ice cream, which do you think he liked best?

If you guess movie, you obviously do not have a three year old.

P is 3

Happy Birthday Parker!

In three short years you have taught me the following things (and much more).  Ok, so that first year did not feel so short at times, but seriously, I can't believe it's been three years.  How did I live nearly 28 years without your smiling face in my life?

Things I Learned (or was reminded of) From Parker:

1. Celebrate small accomplishments

2. Listen to the same song over and over if you feel like it

3. Forgive those you love easily and quickly

4. Virtually anything can be turned into a toy- anything

5. Starting your day with chocolate milk is almost as good as starting it with coffee

6. Sometimes hot dogs make for a great breakfast

7. Explore the unusual

8. Books are comforting

9. Where you start out does not necessarily dictate where you end up

10. Love transcends morning sickness

I Love You This Much

Cookie Monster- A Photo Journal

I fancy myself a somewhat crafty person.  That is until I tackle projects like the one below.  I have creative ideas, I just struggle on the execution portion of these projects.  I am working on a kick ass video for P's upcoming birthday, so stay tuned.

I saw a picture of a Cookie Monster cupcake and got inspired to make them for P to take to school on his upcoming third (how is it possible) birthday. 

I asked his teacher how many students would be at school on cupcake day.

What would you guess- 15?

24?

Hows about 29! 

That is nearly a box and half of cake mix.  Yes I said box, what did you think I was going to these cupcakes from scratch?

Stage 1

Stage 2

Blue fingers, blue icing, blue food coloring splatters on the WHITE kitchen table.  Who needs a drop cloth?  

Question: What happens when a very pregnant lady is home alone with about 2 (very full) tablespoons of blue icing left over after icing an insane amount of cupcakes around lunch time?

Answer: Lunch is served?

Stage- whatever.  Three is it? Maybe four.  Either way the eye's have it!

Here is what I was aiming for-

Here is what P ended up with-

Happy (early) Birthday Pman!  Check back on Friday for the bday video.

Sweet, Inside and Out

Parker has some hobbies or traits that are so typical boy.  For example, he loves to pick up bugs.  He did not learn this from me, the person he is with more than any other.  Instead, it just seems to come natural- if there is a bug on the ground, it will end up in his hand. This is how he got stung by a bee for the first time.  He tried to pick it up from a flower.

He seeks out worms, which he still calls jolly happy souls.  We are not really sure where that came from, the best we can figure is he got the lphrase from the "Frosty the Snowman" song, but how and why he has connected that to worms is beyond us.  He even has a net he carries around the front yard to trap and contain any JHS he finds.

We recently, and accidentally, found a bevy of baby fart video's on youtube.com and I tell you few things thrill him more than watching babies fart.

Parker's latest favored pastime seems to be sticking things in holes.  Mainly the holes in his face.  Impressively he can get about a third of a granola bar in his nose.  Thankfully, he is also an efficient nose blower, although I'm sure a few rice grains and such slipped down the back of his throat.

Yesterday, when I picked him up from school, I was helping him put on his shoes when I noticed dark...stuff that looked like dried blood...pouring out of his ears.  I have terrible ears and have had burst ear drums in the past.  My mind(and heart)  immediately went into panic mode.  His ear drums burst!

But wait, he is still smiling and asking if we can get a slurpee on the way home.  Not what I would expect from someone in pain, even P.  The teachers and I tried to do some quick troubleshooting, which concluded with me picking up P and telling them I was going to call the doc and that I would be in touch.

We got to the car, I buckled him in and stuck my pinky in his ear, swiped some of the stuff and then smelled my finger- you mom's understand, otherwise I know that is totally gross. 

Chocolate.

Chocolate?

Oh right, I made him some trail mix and put it in his lunch.  The trailmix contained about a tablespoon of chocolate chips.

I dashed back into the school told the teachers about my findings.  We chuckled. 

Back in the car I started wondering how far and how many chips he shoved in his ear canal.  He was mum about the whole thing, so I called his doctor, who was about the close for the day, but told me to swing by just in case.

We concluded after 10 Q-Tips that he likely stuck 2 chips in his right ear and 1 in his left.  Nothing went in far enought to do any damage.  We also concluded this is just the beginning. 

Peyton, I will do my best to keep your nose and ears out of your brother's reach.  You are on your own in the jolly happy soul department.

Countdown Time

Today is June 5, 2011.  In exactly one month, unless a certain someone has a plan of her own- Peyton, I'm looking at you, my little girl will be here.  On Saturday, we had a little family party for her pending arrival.  We have a few final weekend plans before she comes, but we are pretty much ready to roll, well as much as a person can be because any second (+) time mom knows you are never really ready.

Here I am, exactly 1 month before go time.  Arms are beefy.  Skin is questionable.  This stretchy black dress IS my best friend.

Here is proof of how pulled together we are.  I have sanded, stained and re-knobbed a dresser, washed and folded each tiny onsies and cried over the curtains.  Cried. I do still have one more small load of laundry to do and I need to pack the hospital bag.  Josh has to assemble the crib mobile and figure out the sit stand stroller, but Peyton, we are ready for ya!

Holy Vial Batman

For those of you who are also my facebook friends, this post is not anything new.  I just do not want to forget this story and this is where I keep track of my stories.  Since the other day I went to Home Depot and forgot my wallet, only to find it sitting on the front passenger seat of my car in plain sight in a not so great part of town, I am afraid I will also forget this gem of a story.
When Parker was in the NICU, he was baptised by the Priest On Call (POC).  He was a nice man, but I had never met him before and have not seen him since.  The day Parker was baptised was the first time I got to hold him- 5 days after he was born and 2 days before his surgery.
After the baptism, the POC gave me the washcloth he used to wipe P's head, a vial of the Holy Water he used and a certificate of the Baptism.
Josh and I are not overly religious people.  We believe in God and we believe in raising our children (loosely) according to our religious backgrounds. 
Babies born with Parker's condition are usually in surgery for about 2 to 3 hours and have an average hospital stay of 40+ days. 
Parker was in surgery for about an hour and was out of the hospital within 15 days.  I'm not sure about the direct link between the baptism and the quick recovery.  He had a lot of people from different walks of life praying for him and thinking about him at that time.
This past weekend we finally got our acts together (read: my parents came down and offered their services because my frequent freak out calls were getting old) and finished up P1's room and put together essential elements of P2's room.  Included in this endeavor was switching the dressers.
In the process, I took all of P1's clothes out of his "baby" dresser and put them on the floor.  Pman took it upon himself to sort them.  He informed me that a shirt he got for his birthday last year was no longer wearable because it's a "baby shirt".  The shirt fits, mind you.
He also found the vial of Holy Water.  I took it from him and tilted it gently this way and that watching the water bubble move up and down the tiny pinkish, plastic vial.
I held it in my hand and thought a bit about that day.  Then I put the vial back down. 
When I picked it back up, moments later, to place it back in the sock drawer, where all Holy Water should be kept, there was no more water in it.  I looked on the carpet where he was to see if there was a water spot.  Nope.
"Parker, did you spill the water out of this?"
"No.-- I drinked it."
"You drank the water that was in here?"
"Yes.  I's fursty."
Perhaps the ingestion of HW will improve his grammar.

Cultlike

Confession: Josh and I joined a cult last weekend.

When I was in college I took a class in my final Fall semester called Broadcast Journalism, BJ class for short.  When those of us in BJ class would casually mention something to the affect of, "I have to go edit this piece for BJ class."  or  "I would love to join you for a drink, but I have an interview for BJ class."

The eyes of the people not enrolled in this class would bug out of their respective skulls.  "The college has a class for that?"

When we would reference the need to work on our package for BJ class, those not in the know would just fall right over in a state of shock- stunned that they had some how missed out on enrolling in this class.

Last Sunday, Josh and I took advantage of a BJ's,coupon for a free membership, we received in the mail.  Once again, BJ's is not what it seems to those of you gutter minded readers.  BJ's is a wholesale store similar to Costco and Sam's Club.  Generally speaking these are larger than life buildings full of everything legally sold in the United States. And I'm sure there are some illegal things available as well.

When I was growing up, my parents belonged to a similar store called Price Club.  They also had 4 active children in the house and a pool.  This means we had many (many) impromptu pool parties all summer, requiring our pantry to be fully stocked and ready to entertain always.

Josh and I do not have a pool and as of right now we only have 1 P who is fine consuming 2 bites of waffle, a quarter of a PB&J and 1 pepperoni from a slice of pizza for the day.  Josh is also intensely against all things memberships and warranties. 

I know whenever these things are presented to me, to just say, "No." 

So, armed with our free membership coupon we headed off into the depths of the mega super store to purchase items for a family party we are having in the next few weeks.  We arrived an hour before lunch time, thinking that was reasonable.  We no intentions of committing to the store past this trip to stock up for the party.That is not how it turned out.We were there for nearly two hours.  Between Parker and I, we took 5 bathroom breaks and opened at least 4 items in our cart to nosh on in the store.  Josh, who did not partake in our cart buffet, was STARVING about half way through the trip.  He would not allow me to purchase anything perishable because he NEEDED to go out to lunch before we got home and did not want anything to spoil in the car. 

We did come away with a bag of veggie straws the size of Parker, a life time supply of Goldfish crackers that will likely become heirlooms in our family line and a scary amount of baked beans- scary amount.After all that we still need to make another trip back to the overwhelming hellhole to purchase the party perishables.Thankfully, we left the store with full-fledged membership cards in our hands- yep Josh caved.  We are now officially members of the BJ club.