STILL no Baby, Part II

Today is April 30th. My due date. And am I in the Hospital? Do I even remotely FEEL like I need to go the Hospital?

NO.

BLEAH.

We even took another looooong walk yesterday, and by the end I thought I was going to DIE. But did anything happen? Nope.

Starting to get a tad disheartened, here. I swear I'm going to give birth to a 13-pound baby. This baby is HUGE! Or rather, I'M HUGE!! (So the baby should be pretty huge, right?)

I googled "What to do to get yourself in labor" and I found some very interesting things. Some of them I won't repeat here, and some of them were what I like to call "Voodoo Remedies" that I'd be scared to try.

The safest one is probably Castor Oil-- one woman I know swears by it. She says it's the grossest stuff ever and the last time she took it she shat her insides out a few hours later, but hey, she went into labor!

Tempting, but I'd be lying if I said the "shat my insides out" part isn't a bit of a deterrent...

Of course it is NOT helping that my mom said my sister was TWO weeks overdue, just because she decided she "liked it in there." That is NOT what you say to someone who is so totally over the pregnancy thing.

Okay, I just crossed Castor Oil off my grocery list. WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING???

Maybe the baby will come tomorrow.

Still No Baby...

But hey, the Lawn Service came and mowed for the first time yesterday! Our backyard looks like a backyard again!

Of course it's a rather plain backyard right now...no playset or sport court or anything, but it's a new house, so I prefer to think of the backyard as a "blank canvas." I just can't wait until the trees get leaves--then it will look TONS better! We have guys coming next week to remove the mulch from all our flower beds and put edging and stone in them instead--that's our splurge for this year. NEXT year will be all the fun stuff! They told us they would need 16 TONS of rock--I just hope they don't drive on my new driveway with that truck! I'm assuming they'll park on the road and wheelbarrow it up or something...they're not stupid.

OKAY--I took a mile walk with the family yesterday, and by the end I was having such hard contractions I felt like I had a belly of cement. But that was it. Nothing when I got home. (Of course it didn't help having every family we pass make SOME sort of comment on the size of my belly. Yes, I realize I look like two houses stuck together, but I can't help it.) It was GORGEOUS yesterday, sunny, mid-70's and we had all the windows open, rode bikes (well, the kids did, I observed) and then went to the store and came back and played Baseball. We were going to grill, but a new Mexican restaurant opened up down the road, so we went there instead, and ate way too much, and I had the BEST Flan, ever. I really miss Hacienda Colorado, though. Their tortillas are to DIE FOR. There is no equal, anywhere.

It was a great Saturday, and today should be even prettier. 80 DEGREES! I love it when Wisconsin finally decides to warm up! I hope everyone else is enjoying great weather!

Felix Felicis...

...feels like I drank some yesterday! (Only HP fans would understand!) In other words, yesterday was a pretty lucky day.

It sure didn't seem that way. It started out wet and rainy, and continued to be wet and rainy, and the rain literally didn't let up. So I hung around the house. I knew I needed to go to Walmart, because we were out of a few things, but I didn't want to go out in the pouring rain.

THEN, at about 1:30 the rain stopped. Just like that. So I grabbed the opportunity and ran to the store.

Well, I got what I needed, and got a feeling I should swing by the Electronics department (which I casually do every time I go anyway, in the hope that they might have a Nintendo Wii in stock, but they never do, because you can't get them anywhere, apparently, even online, unless you spend insane amounts of money) and so I did, and lo and behold, guess what I found???

A small pile of Nintendo Wiis!!! They had just gotten six in THAT morning, and I immediately called Hubby up and told him what I'd found. (Just so you know, he's been wanting one for a long time for "the kids" but I have a feeling he'd play it too, if given the chance...) So I snatched up a Wii and a couple of games to go with it (pricey little suckers!) and while I was in line, another mom (I'm assuming) gasped and asked me "Where did you find that???" and soon she was behind me in line, clutching her own Wii.

Thing Two's birthday is May 10th, so we figured we'd "unveil" the Wii then.
Oh, and as soon as I got into the car with my purchases, the rain started PELTING down again. But not on me. How Lucky is that? :-)

I figure Nintendo finally made enough Wiis to keep up with supply and demand, and really I didn't get that lucky. But I'd like to think I did!

Now if I could get even luckier and have this baby this weekend...

If Ye are Prepared...

...you won't freeze your ARSE off at your kids' Soccer games!!!

It was super cold last night. 45 degrees and overcast, but the WIND, people, the windchill put it down to the low 30's, I'm sure of it. I bundled up the kids in their down coats (which I had formerly relegated to the closet in the hopes that we wouldn't need to dig them out for a long while) and made Thing Three put on lots of clothing under his soccer gear.

Then I suffered a momentary lapse of sanity as we were running out the door, and grabbed my THIN coat, and put it on over my even thinner maternity shirt. (One of the three that still fit the Belly).

When we got to the playing field, it was damp and chill, and the wind was relentless. And I had no gloves, a pathetically thin coat (that I couldn't button because I have a HOUSE growing out from underneath it) and what's worse...no blankets whatsoever. In the hurry to get soccer balls, water and folding chairs in the car, I forgot blankets.
We set up our chairs, and luckily the kids were in their winter coats and had brought an extra soccer ball to kick around on the other field while Thing Three played--but I was MISERABLE. I sat there, with the icy wind whipping around (and through!) me, for an entire hour.

So, I learned my lesson. We are keeping a heavy blanket in the car from now on, for emergencies.

But of course the forecast for the next soccer game is 70 degrees. Go figure.

Right now it's pouring fishhooks and hammer handles. We do need the rain, but the cold I can do without. Next week should be perfect! Of course next week I'll be hopefully having this baby (I'm starting to get the "tell me again when you're due?" questions--am I that alarmingly big?) and Hubby can play with the kids outside, because he is dropping everything and taking a week off with me. He even promised no Blackberry, no cell phone, NADA. Just us and the kids, and the newest little one. That will be so nice. :-)

We're ready for Baby!

WHOOPS...

So Monday night I walked into the office and Hubby was on the computer.
"Whatcha doing?" I asked.
"Ordering flowers for Melinda for Wednesday," he replied.
"Oh, is it Secretary's Day?" I asked.
Hubby turned and looked at me.

"No, but Wednesday is "Administrative Professionals' Day."

"Oh. Whoops. It used to be Secretary's Day, right?"

"Yes."

I found this very interesting. Nothing is what it used to be. Our society is so worried about offending people, I believe we have officially "PC'd" ourselves to death.

I guess I just remember the days (not so long ago!) when Waste Management People were simply "Garbage Men" and "short" people weren't "vertically challenged" yet. And "Handicapped" wasn't an offensive word. It really meant "disabled."

I read a very upsetting story a while back about a Mormon high school student who was getting teased by several students about Polygamy. Her response was "Our church hasn't done that for over a hundred years, that's so gay!" and SHE got suspended (yes, suspended) for using the word"Gay" --yet the kids who were ignorantly and wrongfully taunting her about her religion suffered NO CONSEQUENCES WHATSOEVER. Where is the justice in that?

And yes, I feel bad now and am loathe to admit I used to say "That's so Gay!" in High school, without worrying about being suspended or having GLAAD all over my ass for it. It was the early 80's. "Gay" didn't mean what it means today. It meant "silly" or "overly happy."

I believe in respecting people. I would never intentionally insult someone. Yet, I am almost afraid of saying "the wrong thing" these days. I think our society needs to relax, a little. Yes, there are some ignorant people out there, who will always be bigoted and unwilling to change and use the current "acceptable" Terminology, but for those of us who WANT to be Politically Correct, will you guys stop changing everything every minute already? There should be some sort of Statute of Limitations (but in reverse effect) where if we change a term to something more "PC" we should KEEP that term for at least ten years or so, so people like me don't get funny looks when we call "Administrative Professionals" "SECRETARIES."

Wait, first they were Secretaries, THEN they were "Administrative Assistants," and NOW they are "Administrative Professionals." I can't keep up.

Okay, rant over, but I think you get my drift. Am I being a completely oversensitive woman...er...person? I guess I am, because it makes my blood boil when someone calls me a "Housewife."

I am a Homemaker, thank you very much. Or wait, that was last year. Now isn't it "Stay-home-Mom?"

I can't keep up.

Harry Potter and a Soccer Rant...

You know how when you're sooooo tired, and so exhausted, that you sleep like the dead and nothing can wake you up, sometimes? That was me, last night. Months of Pregnancy sleeplessness have finally caught up to me. I only got up once, at 4am to go to the bathroom, but from 10:30 pm until then, I was COMPLETELY OUT COLD. I didn't even dream. And what was weird, I wasn't uncomfortable. It was the best night's sleep, EVER.

But after I got up, I went back to bed, and had strange dreams. One of them involved Harry Potter, or rather, Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort. I had to somehow dispose of him, and the only way I could think of to do it was to chop him up and distribute his parts everywhere: in my daughter's room behind her stuffed animals, in my son's room inside his toybox, and inside my jewelry box in my room.
Talk about a strange dream. Can you tell I'm anxious for Book Seven to come out?

It's cold and cloudy today--mid forties, but it will get warmer towards the weekend and be 70 again. As long as it doesn't dip into the 30's! NO NO NO NO! We are NOT going backwards anymore, hopefully. The chilly front moved in last night, just as we were all at Thing Three's Soccer game--and of course all I had was a thin jacket.

Okay, it is ALWAYS so disheartening when your kid is playing his heart out in Soccer, and there's always ONE KID on the opposing team who is the Superstar--the kid no one can catch: the kid who scores about six goals in the first half. You know how frustrating that is? And it's always lame because this kid won't even pass the ball to others, he just gets it and it's a One Kid Show all of a sudden, and he runs like the wind towards the goal, (and of course his parents are standing smugly on the sidelines, not bothering to tell him that it's a TEAM sport, because they are just so proud that he's making everyone else look like bumbling amateurs.)

And for some reason his coach kept him in the game almost the entire time. Our team never had a chance. So we lost, like, 9 to 2 (every single goal was scored by Superstar Kid) but thankfully Thing Three was just glad to play (albeit a TAD frustrated) and he had a great attitude about it. I think the parents on our team were more annoyed than the kids.

Then we got home, and on the news, there was a story about a crazy parent at a soccer game in Milwaukee who went ballistic and the Police were called and had to Taser him. I mean, PEOPLE, its a GAME!!!

Not much to do today. We are just waiting for this baby. So I might treat myself to a trip to Target. Just to see what fun stuff they have. Happy Tuesday!

How I Feel Today...

OY, I feel ginormous. One more week and this baby comes OUT! (Or, at least he better!) We did a lot this weekend--lots of running around, but I was too tired to go on the "Family Sunday Walk."

I have to sleep sitting up now, it's just too uncomfortable unless I hit the "just right" spot on the bed where its indented in the shape of me. And since that spot seems elusive 89% of the time, I have taken to sleeping in the overstuffed chair across the room. Or rather, I get REALLY mad around 2am, and end up in the chair.

Okay, last night was funny. It was 80 degrees yesterday, and VERY windy. So, we had a small problem. We have crank-out windows, and the wind was threatening to blow them off the hinges more than once, so we had to crank them all closed. But then the house got stuffy. I decided to hit the air, and got a "lecture" from Hubby about how it wasn't hot enough outside to be turning it on yet, and we could get a good breeze going to cool the house down, if we opened the windows back up.

I then pointed outside where we saw the neighbors chasing their very expensive wicker patio furniture all over the place and collecting it from various places in the yard where it had blown over. I calmly explained to him that normally I would agree, but the winds were so strong we were going to have broken windows if we opened them. I also explained to him that since he had been hanging out in his Basement Haven all afternoon, where it was quite cool, he didn't realize how hot and stuffy the rest of the house was. Ergo, the air conditioning needed to be turned on.

He said we should try and "hang in there" until it cooled down at night. I said "sure, fine, whatever." Then I went and turned the air on anyway. :-)

I couldn't help but grinning in triumph when he crawled out of bed, hot and disgusted, in the wee hours of the morning and turned the Air down even LOWER. I knew he'd get hot eventually--I knew he'd cave. Men are so predictable! Ha!

Today is a busy day. Grocery shopping, cleaners, bank, post office, Brownies, Parent/teacher meeting after school, and then a hurried dinner and Soccer practice. Maybe if I keep myself REALLY busy the baby will come sooner rather than later?

One can only hope...

Will Spring...SPRING Already???

This is my new Desktop. It was Hubby's idea of a "card" for our anniversary yesterday. I love pale pink! So Spring-y. Speaking of which--it was mid sixties yesterday, and gorgeous. Will it stick around? Is there still hope for the Tulips? (Which happily, survived the Frost, by the way!)

We're supposed to get back into the 70's for Sunday, and then back into the chilly 50's for the rest of the week. Just as long as we don't get snow. Or Frost. Spring had better SPRING already!!!

I actually wore short sleeves yesterday. A Pale Pink Maternity shirt. Big Mistake. Let's just say... if anyone wanted to go deep-sea diving at NIGHT, they'd just have to lower me in and I'd glow the whole damn ocean up. I am WHITER than white! My poor arms havn't seen the sun in...well, I can't even remember, it's been that long.

I think my stark-white bedsheets might have more of a tan than me at this point...

I am currently reading Philippa Gregory's "The Virgin's Lover"--about the relationship of Elizabeth I and Lord Dudley. You know--I'm not "loving it" like I did "The Other Boleyn Girl" and "The Queen's Fool." It hasn't "drawn me in" yet, in fact, it reads more like historical non-fiction that Alison Weir might write. (She is amazing, but she's factual, you don't "get inside" the character's heads). So I'm slightly disappointed in this book. It's not Philippa's best writing--because Amy Dudley, in my opinion, isn't a very likeable or sympathetic character. Unless you've had your husband leave you alone for months on end at a time to be at the side of the Queen of England. :-)

Maybe it's early on in the book. I am going to tromp through it, and see if maybe it's just a slow starter.

--Went to the Dr. yesterday. No change from last time. I think I might be having this baby in MAY, if things don't hurry up. Hubby say's it's all the Bed Rest I was on. Well, DUH. So what do I have to do now? Go for a five-mile walk to get things going? Hmmmmm....

The maid service is coming in an hour--I need to go make sure the kids' rooms are ready to vacuum. I'm not going to lie--it has been a LOAD off, having someone else clean this house. And they are FAST. It only takes two people three hours, and voila--the house is sparkling. I've probably gushed over this before, so you'll have to forgive me. It's just so NICE!!!

I am going to venture out to Half Price Books today, and then Hobby Lobby. I need to find some wall art for the Baby's room. Unfortunately the wall art set that came with his crib bedding has been discontinued, and NO, you CAN'T get it on Ebay. Not even Ebay.UK or Ebay.Canada! So I get to improvise. But that's the fun part.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Happy Anniversary!

Going on 12 years now--Hubby and I are celebrating our anniversary today! (Well, not really actively celebrating, because frankly, I feel like a beached whale and I don't want to move very much.) We're having a niiice dinner tonight and we're exchanging cards. We've already spent so much money on this imminent baby arrival, I made him promise not to get me anything. He usually goes all out, and lately, we've been going "all out" for the baby.
I mean, we had to start from SCRATCH this time: new crib, changing table, bedding, bassinette, stroller, carseat, pack-n-play, toys, play gyms, clothes, everything, because we had given or thrown away all our stuff. A six-and-a-half year gap between babies is pretty steep, you know?

So, hopefully the baby will be our present. Of course I told Hubby that I was eyeballing some 1200-thread-count sheets that if he wants to get me, he sure can...

ANYWAY, yes, I'm a hopeless case, I got dragged into American Idol once again this year (I usually only get interested when they narrow it down to under two digits) and can I say THANK HEAVEN they got rid of Sanjaya?? Hubby and I actually cheered when he got booted last night. That poor kid. He was all sweetness, but hairstyle can only get you so far when you suck as a singer. Especially when you butcher a Bonnie Raitt song like he did. OY. Buh-bye, Sanjaya. Rest in Peace. Now we can focus on the REAL talent!

Speaking of talent, I've developed a smashing new talent called PROCRASTINATION. I need to get going on some things! Have a good day, all!

Okay, then...

That was the weirdest flu I've ever had. It came on fast, and left just as quickly after a day and a half. I woke up feeling just peachy, at around 5am this morning. So I guess it was the Writhe-In-Agony-For-36-Hours-and-Want-to-Die Flu, and then FLOOP! Nothing. I am a little weak, but no aches and pains, and no, well...nothing.

Weird. But greatly welcomed! And I'm still going to make Hubby take the kids to Soccer tonight!

Okay, so I have a small rant about pregnant models in catalogs. I was thumbing through a couple of them and EVERY SINGLE pregnant woman in the maternity section looked absolutely FABULOUS. Can anyone shed some light on this? Either these women are really NOT pregnant (and have a "fake" belly on) or they are genetically blessed as to still resemble STICK INSECTS even while they have a big old baby in there.

Where are the swollen ankles? Where are the spider veins? Where is the "I only have a few weeks to go" Double Chin? Why do their arms still look like I should be playing my violin with them? WHAT IS THE DEAL???

Yes, I am one of those people who swell up not-so-prettily in my last weeks of pregnancy. So I guess I am a tad sensitive when I see women who are VERY pregnant and are basically what I like to call "Sticks With Bumps." And you just KNOW they walk out of the hospital in the same jeans they wore pre-pregnancy, minus the bump, and a week later they're back to normal.

Lucky be-otches. I'll be back to normal...hmmm...sometime around...Christmas, I think. (or rather hope!) But at least I get the Personal Trainer this time around--she's got all sorts of things planned for "Baby Boot Camp" (which frankly sounds terrifying but I know will be good for me) and so hopefully little Thing Four will be able to distinguish between "Mommy" and a Cruise Ship...in time.

Time to do some massive laundry! Oh, and Hubby informed me yesterday that they have a pool at work going, betting on when I'm going to go into labor.

Nice, huh?

I Have the Flu

So, no, no labor. In fact, it's pretty tough to even get on the computer, I need to go back to bed and curl up in a fetal position. But Hubby didn't go to NYC. He's taking care of me.

Sorry, Folks.

Another Sad News Day...

Not because I put my pants on backwards and walked around in public for two hours, completely unawares again (I actually took great care to get everything on right side out/forwards today) but Prince William and Kate Middleton have split up.

He's a dork. Ok, maybe they're young, but he isn't going to find a more dignified, classy girlfriend. You really effed up this time, Wills!

In happier news, the snow is all melted, and it's supposed to be warmer than freezing this week.

Hey, I take the good news when I can!

What a Crappy Day.

Well, so far, anyway.

I feel awful for Hubby. His fever finally broke yesterday afternoon, and he was able to eat normal food, etc. etc. so we figured one more night of good sleep (still in the guest room) and he'd be right as rain to go to work today.

WELL--he had a really bad headache last night, so we tried Tylenol, and when that didn't work, we tried Advil. When THAT didn't work, I remembered that when I used to have my bad headaches, Excedrin Migraine took care of them very nicely. So, right before Hubby went to bed, I gave him two Excedrin, and told him good night.

Unfortunately, I forgot one eensy weensy detail: Excedrin Migraine contains a lot of CAFFEINE.

Cut to this morning at 6am, a VERY pissed-off Hubby came into our room, and announced that thank you very much, he had gotten not even ONE minute of sleep the entire night, and he was a complete zombie and still had to go to work because missing THREE days would kill him, since he's in New York all next week and out of the office, and he had about 50 people needing meetings with him.

Of course it's my fault, I forgot about the caffeine part (we're not coffee or coke drinkers, so we both have a really low tolerance for caffeine) and apparently my little goof kept him up the entire night, watching old Tennis reruns. Not to mention that his back was completely screwed up now, sleeping in the guest bed for three days straight.

I feel bad. THEN, to make matters worse, I decided to start the dishwasher (because the maid service is coming this morning) and when I bent down to put the dishwashing crystals in, I completely threw my lower back out. (I sort of forgot that I've got a seven-ish pound baby in the front). And now I am in agony, I can't move, and Hubby just left for work with one eye open and completely dead, and the kids have decided that they're deaf and I'm invisible. AND I officially can't put my shoes and socks on, because of the belly. I get to wear clogs in 30-degree weather.

This day better get better.

--------------UPDATE:----------------------

It HASN'T gotten better. The Maid service broke one of my display cups, I took the kids to Walmart and got one of those carts that veers to the right (I only discovered this AFTER I had loaded it up with heavy Propel Water packs) and I also dropped a milk, causing a need for an aisle cleanup.

And I just got home and realized I put on my maternity jeans backwards. I was walking around with BUTT POCKETS on my front for two hours. My kids think it is highly amusing.

Just shoot me now...

Almost Out of the Woods...

I am beginning to suspect this laptop emits a high-pitched sound only my baby can hear--because he kicks like mad when I put it on my knees and surf. The other day Thing One said the laptop was "squealing" and I really couldn't hear anything coming out of it. But I also know that younger children can hear different sounds that adults can't hear, because their ears aren't "jaded" like ours.

So maybe THAT'S why the baby is so active whenever I get out the laptop? Maybe I need to use the one down in the office for a while...

Hubby doesn't have the fever anymore, but he's still achy and has...well...some other fun things going on. I won't elaborate, but he's not quite out of the Woods yet. He's staying home one more day, and hopefully tomorrow he'll be feeling better. He's already made 3920 phone calls on his Crackberry (he slept with it in the bed yesterday, I kid you not!) this morning, so he's up to speed on things. Now I've given him more medicine and he's sleeping. Best thing for him, really. He was kind of burning the candle at both ends for a while. The kids and I are feeling fine, so hopefully the quarrantining thing has worked.

I just realized that I'm very jealous of all my friends who live "across the pond." I am a hopeless Anglophile, and fascinated with England's history, especially the Tudor period. And all these people LIVE where it all happened! They could get in a car and drive to all the places my stories are set in--as easily as I drive from Milwaukee to Chicago! Major jealousy there.
I was reading an article where they have Rochford Hall (former home to the Boleyns--and the place where Henry VIII first cast his roving eye on Anne Boleyn) for sale--and what an amazing piece of history! In the oldest part of the house, a date carved into one old joist is 1216--I mean Holy Cow! And there used to be secret tunnels underneath the house--It's a collector's dream! (Yeah, the asking price is about 2 Million in U.S. Dollars--but if I had money to burn I'd buy it!) Just think of the people who lived in it! Click here for the article--(courtesy of Tudorhistory.org) it's very fascinating!

I love living in the U.S.--it's a great place, but it's a "fairly" young country, if you compare it to Europe. We don't have Rochford Halls, here, if you know what I mean. Not to get anyone's feelings in a knot, because we DO have lots of rich history, but our country itself is only a few hundred years old...officially.

Okay, time to get off the laptop. The baby is going crazy! I am glad the snow had finally stopped this morning--now, I'm ready for it all to MELT!!

FABULOUS Timing...

...absolutely FABULOUS, can I just say? And yes, that's sarcasm, folks.

Hubby came home last night from work, did his usual hour-long workout, and promptly curled into a ball in front of the TV and said he didn't feel so well. An hour later he was "achy." By the time we went to bed, he was rooting around in the medicine cupboard for the Theraflu.

Neither of us slept well last night, him, because he was achy and feverish, and me, well, I had to pee about 398767 times and I couldn't get comfortable, now that this baby has dropped.

He woke up this morning burning up, and I've given him medicine and banished him to the Guest room, on the other end of the house. Thank heaven it's got it's own bathroom and TV and comfy bed--he can sleep and watch sports and get better, without any of us getting near him unless we absolutely want to.

I can't tell if he has the Flu, or if it's a nasty cold--but I'm not taking chances, especially since I am about to have this baby, and I DIDN'T get a flu shot this year. Only our kids did. So, cross your fingers for me!

I am going to be the Lysol Queen this morning. The bed is stripped, I've got the sheets on "sanitary" on the wash setting (it's a killer cycle--it goes for an hour and a half!) and I'm spraying down every surface he's touched.

He's got his cell phone and his Blackberry and the regular phone right next to the bed, so if work needs him (they usually call twelve times per hour) they can reach him. I told him to just turn the phones off and sleep and sleep. That's the best cure for illness.

I hope no one else gets it! Especially ME!!!

*gulp*

Oh, and it's snowing, too.

Killing Spree...

I could kick myself. Granted, I'm no green thumb, but I know enough to know about some things.
When Hubby's alarm went off at 6am, the sun wasn't up yet. He jumped in the shower, and I, frankly, didn't move. I didn't have to. The kids are on Spring Break, so they've been sleeping in until about 7 lately. So I went back to sleep. Little did I know...

I woke up again, just before seven, and Hubby was getting himself some cereal in the kitchen. The sun was streaming into my eyes. Then Hubby came in and told me that there was a thick layer of frost on the ground.

FROST??? I jumped out of bed. (Well, being nine months pregnant, I sorta "rolled" out) and shrieked. I looked out the window and he was right--EVERYTHING was covered in frost.

And the sun was already out. Here's where I wanted to kick myself. Isn't it true that when frost covers your new baby plants and the sun hits them, it kills them? I've heard that before. I've also heard something about running and pouring water on your plants to save them, before the sun hits. Am I crazy? All of our tulips that are up, all of our little bushes that are flowering now, they're all dead, aren't they? Like I said, I'm not a Green Thumb type (I suspect when I'm older I might become one) but I know enough to know that Frost Kills.

So, I feel bad. Granted, I wouldn't have wanted to subject my neighbors to the sight of me, in my jammies and a coat and clogs, running around with a pitcher of water and pouring it on my tulips, but I WOULD have done it. We've had this happen before. Some of our newer trees never recovered. And it was on the news last night. Farmers talking about potentially losing 20-30% of their crops to Frost.

Hubby says I need to calm down, if they die, they die. So, I'm hoping that all my little plants we planted in the Fall survived this morning's onslaught. We're supposed to have a Winter Storm hit us tonight too--anywhere from 1-8 inches. I vote for ONE! I guess we'll see what happens!

Am I being ridiculous???

WELL Then...

My doctor just took me off "modified" bed rest!
As of today, I don't have to be under house arrest. I only have three weeks to go, so if I start having the baby, they aren't going to stop me at this point.
So that means when Hubby is in NYC all next week, I can actually take the kids to Soccer practice! WOO! Of course I've already decided that as SOON as he sets a toe in New York I'm going into labor--this should be interesting...

The only hitch is this: I'm still having MAJOR contractions. Not the little ones--but the big-force-the-baby-down-into-places-I-don't-want-it-to-go kind. So it's not very comfortable to stand up for more than a few minutes. And they're strong enough to take my breath away. SO, I won't be going to the mall or anything. But I can run a few errands as long as I can stay in my car, or have somewhere to sit. HOORAY!

So we had a good weekend---quiet, but what can you do. Hubby's birthday was on Easter, so it wasn't like we could go out and celebrate. We tend to stay home on Sundays. So he kind of just crashed in front of the TV and watched Golf, which is great and all, but it has to be the MOST boring sport to watch on TV, imo.
We had a homemade cake and I didn't go crazy on presents this year--I got him all the Seasons of "24" on DVD--he watches them in the workout room while he does his cardio. He's only on Season Three, so these will last him a while.

I finally watched "Eragon" this weekend, I haven't read the books and I was in the throes of major morning sickness when Hubby took the kids when it was in the theaters, so I hadn't had a chance to see it before now. It was really good. Although I had a lot of questions and felt the editing in some places was choppy and a lot of things went unexplained. Then again, look at what happened to the Harry Potter books in the translation to the Big Screen! Thing One is currently reading "Goblet" and she was very surprised by all the stuff they left out in the movie.

"They didn't have Dobby, or Winky in the movie, Mom," she commented. "Why didn't they put those things in?"
It just reinforced my belief that movies are RARELY, if ever, as good as the books themselves. A book doesn't have a "running time" or have to worry about it's readers getting numb butts or needing to pee in the middle of a pivotal scene because they've consumed a Coke the size of Lake Michigan.
A book lets you put the pictures in your own head, which usually are better than any special effects team could produce anyway.
So, I guess I will be reading the Eragon books, just to see what I missed!

Okay, here's for depressing: We are supposed to get SIX INCHES of snow tomorrow night. WTF??? (That stands for "What The Freak" for me--I try not to say the really naughty words!) and HOLY CRAP!!!
That is just wrong. And we are in Spring Break, too! The kids wanted to play outside and not have to put enough layers on to resemble shapeless blobs. They wanted to wear shorts and blow bubbles and play baseball and have a fire in the fire pit every night--but it's too damn cold for any of that. It's not going to climb out of the 30's anytime soon. BRRRRR!!!

But I suppose I already complained ad nauseum about this in one of my former posts, so I'll just shut up now. I'm just glad to finally be MOBILE!

Thank Heaven.

Easter Eggs...and a Rant...

My kids got invited to an Easter egg hunt this morning. Unfortunately, I can't drive them anywhere, and the hunt is practically across town, so they won't be going. There isn't even anyone close to us who could take them to the hunt. That's the thing that stinks about here, our church ward boundaries are HUGE. I mean, I have to drive 30 minutes just to get my visiting teaching done every month, and it's a 35-mile drive to church. Oh well. Not a lot of members here, unfortunately.

So I decided to have an Easter egg hunt in our house, tomorrow morning. Hubby is helping me. We are going to hide our own eggs (I bought them a month ago, in preparation) and let the kids have at it. Why not? It's something fun to do. And I feel bad they didn't get to go. I just can't go anywhere. Which drives me absolutely nuts.

In fact, I just realized that the maid service comes in about two hours. It's only 12 degrees with windchill outside, so I can't exactly scoot the kids out there, so hmmm. They'll just have to go wherever they're not working.

AND Soccer officially starts up on the 16th, and Hubby will be out of town, and I don't know anyone on the team yet (we came late and could only register for Spring) so the kids have to miss their first practice, because I CAN'T FREAKING DRIVE THEM.

I'd better hurry up and have this baby, so I can be a normal MOM again. SHEESH! House arrest SUCKS!!! I know I'm going to look back on this time of opposition and realize that it made me stronger, but going through it is NO picnic! I've never felt so helpless and useless in my entire life, and it galls me to the core. Everything that I am, I can't be. It's like being in prison.

Okay...calming down. I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend, whether you celebrate or not. Hubby's birthday is Sunday, too, and luckily all the stuff I ordered for him online got here yesterday. So he'll have presents, at least.

And he gets his embarrassing balloons today at work...heyah ha ha ha hahah!!!!!

Spring Break, Schming Schrake

General Note to the Public: DO NOT buy the new Fruity Cheerios. They're absolutely gross.

Okay, this should get interesting. Hubby and I had wanted to actually take the kids somewhere for Spring Break next week, like a cruise or to Hawaii, someplace fun and warm. But NO, I knew I would be EXTREMELY pregnant, so we opted to do nothing. Which was good foresight because I truly can't go anywhere or do anything, because of the modified Bed Rest.
But this is what makes me nervous. Starting tomorrow, and for the next nine days, my kids won't be in school, and it will be too cold to play outside, and I can't take them anywhere.

So what the heck are we going to do? I'm a little nervous. I mean, board games and books can only go so far. Hubby took last week off, so he can't take next week. Sure, there's movies and gamecube, but other than that I can't really "organize" anything. My kids will just have to bundle up and run outside in the freezing weather. I am really not looking forward to this.

I went to the Dr. yesterday, and things are happening, so this baby could come soon. I have all the baby's clothes washed in Dreft and put in Ziploc bags, his bassinette is ready to go, I have his diaper bag packed AND my hospital bag, and his room is all set up, and we are SET.

Hubby admitted to being a little "freaked out" because getting the baby's room together made it all "very real." I had to remind him that it was a "tad late" to change our minds, and so it seems daily that we are going through the whole being excited/saying "what were we THINKING?" gamut. I mean, six and a half years is a BIG gap between kids. It's almost like starting over from scratch, to be honest. I've forgotten a lot. And we had JUST gotten rid of all the old baby stuff, so we had to buy all new stuff.

So, ready or not, here we go, once again!

Home Sweet Home

B-I-L texted us last night at 12:49 am: "Home Sweet Home." They were here for seven days, and stuck for two. Nine days total. Poor things. But they're home now. No matter how nice it is to see family, or go on vacation, there's nothing like returning to your own home. It's just...nice, you know?

We have our house to ourselves again, and I must admit it's quiet and I'm liking it. It's so funny, all the cousins did was tattle and bicker and fight over toys THE ENTIRE TIME, and when it finally came time for them to leave, they bawled and hugged and said they were going to "miss each other so much!" I had to laugh. That's family for you.

It's bitter cold here--30 but with wind chill its in the teens. I had put all the kids' scarves and hats and gloves in a big plastic tub and put them in the closet. We had to break them all out again this morning. And if it snows like they're saying, we'll have to bring the snow pants out of retirement too. Which is WEIRD, because just two days ago the kids were playing Whiffle ball outside and blowing bubbles with bubble wands and wearing SHORTS, for Cripe's sake.

I am in a baking mood. Too bad I can't stand up long enough to do it. I have a Dr. appt this morning so we'll see how things are. I personally don't think anything is happening soon. You can usually kind of "tell" if you know what I mean. I am still nervous about Hubby's trip to NYC the week of the 15th. I have another Dr. appt. right before then, and he said if things look like they're going to happen he just won't go. I haven't really thought about what it would be like to have the baby by myself, if for some reason he couldn't get home in time. Since it's our fourth, I honestly don't think I'd be that upset. Does that sound weird? I've done it three times before, and I'm not too worried, so I'd be OK if I had to go through it by myself. How's that for independence? ;-)

Hubby was pleasantly surprised yesterday. He got a call that his team wanted to "meet and go over projections again" or something, and when he went into the room they were all there with two cakes and a pie, and gifts for his birthday, and shower gifts too. It was super nice of them. And we got a huge gift certificate to our favorite Sushi place (can't WAIT to go after the baby!) and another big one to a baby boutique. It was very generous. Hubby couldn't believe it. I'm a little overwhelmed myself. His birthday isn't until Sunday, but the kids have a surprise for him at work too. He will be SO embarrassed! (I won't tell in case he reads this blog before then) but I think being embarrassed on your birthday (just a little) is healthy, you know?

*Lara rubs her hands together and cackles with fiendish glee*

Sad.

It's going to be 19 degrees here, on Friday. All my tulips are going to be murdered. So sad.

But I shouldn't be surprised, given this is Wisconsin. You can't depend on consistency in the weather until about June. Seriously. I'm not being glib. It's the absolute truth.

April and May are going to be busy months. Hubby's birthday is the 8th (Easter falls on his birthday this year!) and I am annoyed that I can't take him out to dinner, at least. (You KNOW I had to slip a bedrest complaint in there!)
Then the baby comes at the end of the month, then I have Thing Two's (and my) birthday in May, and we promised Thing Two a party this year, so that will be interesting. June looks to be pretty busy too, with Soccer, Swimming, Tennis and all the camps I've signed them up for.

One thing this new baby will become quickly used to: LOTS of activity! I'm going to just have to cart him with me everywhere. He'll feel more at home in his carseat than his crib, but that's the way it will have to be.

My brother, the Marathon Runner Man, called me up yesterday. Apparently he's suffering the effects of Plantar Fasciitis, just like I was, in Denver. Not a good thing for a runner. But I had an excellent doctor and he made me these great inserts, and gave me stretches to do (not that I'm running much right now, heh) and I was able to give him some advice, at least.
Hubby's personal trainer is telling him he should run marathons too. I think he's seriously considering it. But he's been working out hard for a few months, I have been laying down hard for a month, and becoming more and more like a Human Bratwurst every day. A Human Bratwurst with a BIG LUMP, that is. Ugh. And I won't be able to work out for six weeks after the baby, so it will be a while before I can go running with Hubby. Christmas, probably, is when I'll be up to speed. Nice.

Okay, this is turning into a negative post, so I need to wrap it up. I just have so many plans for things I want to do after the baby...and I'm stagnating right now. But there is hope! And this little guy will be a great Mother's Day present, to be sure!

:-)

It's April!

April First has come and gone...I did have a bit of fun where I told my sister online that I was in labor and we were rushing to the hospital (she didn't think it was so funny when I let her off the hook) but that's about it.

BIL and his family were supposed to fly back home last night, but their flight got cancelled due to weather, and since it's Spring Break, there were literally NO flights until Wednesday. So they're staying here until then. Of course it doesn't help that it's been cold and rainy here the whole time, so the kids can't go out and play, really. And they're home today because there's no school. So, another day of bickering and tattling and whining, and I'm getting a tad tired of it. Otherwise it's been nice to have them here. A lot got accomplished, and I now have a maid service coming every Friday, to clean the house. So I just need to take it easy and let this baby cook some more. Although I do feel like a prisoner of sorts. It's frustrating.

Hubby is taking the kids to see Meet the Robinsons today, it sounds cute. I really want to see Blades of Glory, because I need a good laugh, but I can't go to the movies! Grrrrr.

I haven't been able to work on the EMMA edits because of the family. But after Tuesday I'll have LOTS of time to devote to it. I've been itching to write! My world as of late has been refereeing between the cousins and alternately marveling at how hard this baby seems to be trying to escape out my belly button. (It's his favorite place to kick out). We got the baby's room all situated, and we are ready for him. Four more weeks...

Surprisingly, it's been going by fast!