Ah- CHOO

So I seem to have caught a cold virus. Fun times, right? Nope. I also decided today that my bedroom was covered in a much too thick layer of dust and had to be cleaned (its been about 5 months since it was dusted.)

I am allergic to dust, really who isn't? It makes you sneeze and cough a bit. Well add that on top of my already oozy, drippy nose. What was I thinking? Maybe that if I cleaned a little the cold would be better, that sleeping in a room of filth like I was, was not helping. Next up to vacuum the carpet, but Will was on the phone and that would be rude, right?

Cross your fingers that this cold stays with me, and maybe the girls. Will can't catch it because he has drill, in California, for a week. He wants to be well when he meets his new unit for the first time.

Carve 'Em Up

Today was the annual pumpkin carving festival at Rhayn's school.

Both girls did a great and simple job. (Gwennie drew her's but I cut the eyes out. You can't tell but it has a tail on the backside, because it is a cat.)

I love this guy

He's just amazing and I am so lucky.

Gratitude Monday/Corners of my home

These week I am grateful for

• the ability to buy a new freezer. I broke ours yesterday. I was attempting to chip some of the ice out of it to increase space for the many frozen meals we made at the cook-a-thon. Well I managed to break the freon line, and effectively kill the freezer. Money is really tight right now, but we are lucky enough to have a little bit that was used to replace the freezer, and actually upgrade it to a frost-free version (it was about the same price as buying a manual defrost freezer!) You all wanted to see a picture of a litter box, its awesome, I know. But the above is our new freezer, sitting next to our washer and dryer. The dryer was a hand-me-down, so please ignore the duct-taped handle on it. I use the clothes line more than the dryer anyway.
• Lowe's. They delivered and installed our new freezer and hauled the broken one away, free of charge. (They also give a Military discount at our local Lowe's.)
  
• being 19 weeks along. I was going to post another lovely belly shot, but the freezer drama has taken up all of my time. Next week marks the 1/2 way mark. I can not believe it!
  
• family. A few days ago a cousin of mine posted on Facebook about having extra tickets to the Saturday matinee of Beauty and the Beast. The girls and I were able to tag along and enjoy the show. It was also really nice to see those cousins that we rarely see. (Hi Tiff and Penny!)
• Will. Once again he showed just how amazing he is. I killed our freezer, and was a total wench all day. (Stupid hormones.) He stayed calm through it all, even though I was flipping out the whole time and on the verge of tears. He was able to fix the situation, and keep me from crying. (Of course, writing this is bringing a few tears to my eyes.)
  

Seething

Ugh... I keep thinking that "I will feel better if..." but none of the things I have tried have worked. I slept awfully last night, Rhayn doesn't feel well. She woke up at 2 am and climbed in bed with me because her head and stomach hurt. It took me a long time to fall back to sleep after that. Then I awoke every few hours because I needed to pee.

Today I feel like I am going to lose it. By it, I mean my sanity. I want to go to bed, just to be alone. I had things I wanted to accomplish this afternoon, and I didn't do any of it. I did however make a pumpkin pie and some salsa. I meant to get the deep freezer cleaned out a little in anticipation of tomorrow's cook-a-thon. I want it to be defrosted, too, but that is so NOT happening.

Also, today was handwork and I love hanging out with most of those ladies, but there is one that was just on my very last nerve today. I had to stop myself from saying anything snarky/rude to her. (See Amanda, I have turned into a grumpy pregnant woman! I hate it.) She kept saying things that normally roll off my back but today it was like little jabs at me, over and over. At least she didn't once talk about how I "don't even look pregnant at all." Because I was not going to take that sitting down. (Ha ha, I would I am not big on confrontation, but I would have seethed in my chair while sewing the doll head I was working on.) I get that by 18 weeks her belly was huge, but like my awesome cousin, Hairball, she is shorter and there is nowhere for her uterus to go but out. I am tall, and I have a long torso, it takes longer for me to show. OK?!

I hope that I feel better after I sleep tonight. I don't want to be mean to the wonderful ladies at the cook-a-thon. I am so grateful that they have included me in their little group.

Ugh, Rhayn just asked me "What's for dinner?" and I have to hold my tongue to avoid biting her head off about the simple question. I do not like myself very much at this moment. So excuse me whilst I slap myself into a better mood.

Want a 5 year old?

Yesterday Gwennie was practically up my butt all day. Also? I have turned into a really grumpy person lately. Possibly it all boils down to food. I still don't want to eat. I struggle to feed myself and my family all of the time. It sucks.

Back to Gwennie... I need a break from her. Only money is tight (read as- there is none) so going to the movies alone isn't an option. As long as I am at home, she. is. right. there. Yes, I love her with all of my heart, but a mama needs a break once in a while. (Preferably more than one hour, k?) Does anyone want her for a few days, maybe? (Mom? Brie?)

Back to food... we are doing a cook-a-thon on Friday and I am so happy. We'll have a month's worth of meals that I won't have to think much about. I am just hopeful that I can eat most of it.

Too many dogs at my house (Halloween preview)

Gwennie wants to be a "Super Hero Dog" for Halloween. Simple, eh? She needed a dog costume and a cape, of course. Last week we went to a local thrift store and purchased a brown sweat suit for her. Then we headed over to JoAnn's for ear and tail fabric. It only took about 20 minutes to sew the ears and tail onto the sweat suit. Gwennie helped me by letting me know how long she wanted the ears and tail.

I will make the cape at a later time, but we bought Ice blue crushed panne (to match the stripes on her jacket) for it. Rhayn has chosen to be a ninja, and luckily at the thrift store we found a full costume and I do not have to "make" anything for it. She does want blue fabric instead of red for the belt, but that involves cutting and no sewing.

Gratitude Monday

I am thankful for

• being 18 weeks along (nearly half way!) with a wiggling baby. Although I thought the nausea was gone it seems to be back at the moment. Maybe its not soooo bad, but still. I am tired of it.
• meeting family at the zoo. Sure I felt like crap, and hopefully I didn't pass something yucky along to that beautiful fat baby I was holding and kissing. (Its possible that the nausea is flu or something, and not actually baby related.)
  

I apologize for not having more that I feel grateful for at the moment. I feel like I should have so much but right now? I am tired and want to sleep.

Sillent Sunday (more soccer)

Me = Lame

So I had big plans for Tuesday, it marked my 6th bogging anniversary. But instead I took the kids to the zoo (Rhayn had a 4 day weekend). We only saw one animal, but the kids had a great time playing at the play area and getting soaking wet at the splash pad. Then Wednesday I thought I would write something but I didn't. So here it is Thursday evening and I am still slacking.

Shall I write more about my pregnancy? Everything seems to be going well. "Ab" (what I am referring to the baby as) is a wiggle worm and a few nights ago I actually felt a kick or punch or flip from the outside. Its not going to be long before the rest of the family can feel "Ab" moving. I am excited for that.

Additionally my pelvis hurts. I am pretty sure it is pregnancy related, but it hurts nonetheless. I am trying not to sit cross-legged in the chair, but that is how I usually sit, so it feels weird to sit "normally".

Gratitude Monday

I am grateful for

• being 17 weeks along. The daily thumps and kicks and pokes are amazing. Sometimes I like to lay still just to feel baby move. I also look forward to the girls and Will being able to feel Baby move, but for now, its all for me and the selfish part of me loves that.
  
• four day weekends. I still have another day home with Rhayn, and that is great. We have plans to go to the zoo tomorrow.
  
• busy Saturdays. Gwennie had a game, then a friend's birthday party and finally a trip to my parents' house for Madder and MellyBelly's luau birthday party. Which involved-
• holding babies. I got to hold my sweet new niece Savannah while she slept and fussed. Then I got to hold my BFB* nephew, Dougie. He has to be about the cutest little boy I know. I could seriously hold him all day. (My muscles would hurt, he's a true BFB.)
• getting hand-me-down clothes. Notice the picture above? That is a super cute cowgirl outfit that Elise gave to Gwennie. The shirt was too big for her but the skirt fit, Rhayn wanted to match her and put on the shirt.
  
• phone calls from friends I haven't heard from in a while. I don't always answer our phone, simply because I am not always in the mood to talk. Emails and text messages are better and will probably get a quicker response. I am not a phone person, haven't really enjoyed phone conversations in a long time. But just hearing her voice made my day.
  

*BFB- big fat baby, we lovingly called Gwennie "the BFB" for quite a while, but Dougie has totally taken over that title.

Semi-Silent Sunday

It was such a lovely morning that we headed to the Desert Botanical Garden to check out the Monarch Butterfly exhibit.
Gwennie and I spent a lot of time bent down looking at plants and animals up close.

I forgot how weird it feels to have a baby wiggling around inside of me. It is a marvelous feeling, don't get me wrong. It is a wondrous feeling, a reassuring feeling.
But its freaking weird to feel tiny limbs prodding me from the inside.

Holy HAIL Batman!

Today has been one of those awesome Arizona rain storm type days, when everything glimmers with the dew from a rain storm, and the air feels and looks clear and clean. Gwennie and I had a lovely morning and even made it to the library. At pick-up we decided on an impromptu playdate at our friends' house. Gwennie and I stopped at the house to grab her gear for soccer practice so that we wouldn't have to rush after the playdate.

Just after we left the house, the rain started- hard and heavy. By the time we got to our A's house and I needed to open the gate to get into her yard, it began to hail. We got inside and the rain abated a little. We sat on her porch and chatted while the kids played. We watched the storm roll closer and felt the temperature change.

Then came the deluge with more hail. We rushed into the house, trying to stay dry. We decided that Gwennie's soccer practice would be canceled (it was) and that Rhayn and her pal could work on their homework until the rain stopped.

It was 5:15 and the rain slowed and finally stopped. Gwennie wanted to see their chicks so we all went out to the barn to check them out before leaving. Aslan, the rooster, pecked Rhayn on her right ankle and drew blood. A carried her into the house and cleaned her wound. It wasn't too bad but bled quite a bit. Her ankle hurts, but will be fine.

After the drama, we finally got into the Mazda and headed out. They live on a dirt road that runs along a canal. I was worried about that part of the road, but it proved to be fine other than one really big puddle. We got onto the paved part of the road and our trouble began.

We headed home the normal way, but were stopped by a kind gentleman who mentioned that the road ahead was flooded and one couldn't drive that way. So we turned around and headed the other way. It takes longer but it also would get us home. We drove through many huge puddles. The water was gushing on the side of the road. The washes ran vigorously over the road in a few places. One of these washes looked pretty deep. Deep enough that I attempted to find a new way around it. I only found more flooded streets with even deeper washes running over them.

There were no barriers by this wash, thankfully, so I didn't need to fear the Stupid Motorist Law, but my heart beat very fast while I drove through the wash. (I watched about 5 cars and trucks go through it before deciding I could do it.) We made it through and the road looked quite a bit better after that.

Just before we turned on to the main road we drove through another huge puddle/wash/river. It was scary, but we made it. The rest of the drive home was fairly uneventful, the road was flooded and down from 2 lanes in both directions to only one lane going east. At home all of our plants and trees are fine. The backyard is a lake and will be a mud pit by tomorrow. Our house will be muddy from the dogs and kids, but its all fine. We are home and safe. What else matters?

Gratitude Monday

This week I am loving these things,

• 16 weeks along in this pregnancy. Baby moves a lot and I feel bubbles popping and the occasional flip flop. Baby is the size of an avocado according to Babycenter.
  
• a pregnant belly that is starting to swell, including a navel that is on its way out. (Above picture, of course.) Sure I don't look "pregnant" to most people, but when I look in the mirror I can see it, and that makes me happy.
  
• Gwennie's birthday party being OVER. Yes we went for a low stress party and it all came together nicely, but I am still happy its over. I loved having the ladies over to chat, that was really nice. All of the kids seemed to have a nice time.
  
• holding really fat, cuddly babies while they sleep. Oh man it makes my arms ache for this little one to be born.
• cooler weather. So its still going to be in the mid to upper 90s today, this morning there is a coolish breeze and a feeling of fall on the horizon. Sure, its Arizona and I know its a tease, we'll most likely stay in the 90s until November. But for a moment (or maybe because we've been around 107 for the past few weeks?) I can imagine wearing long pant and maybe getting the winter clothes out of storage to see what the girls have outgrown.

Semi-Silent Sunday

Gwennie's birthday tea party was great. The girls all seemed to have a good time. Gwennie was excited to see all of the girls she likes best in one place, including her cousin Madder. Madder is one tall cookie! Remember she is 6 days younger than Gwennie. Gwennie isn't short, either.They are both quite silly and refused to pose prettily for a picture in their matching pink dresses.