Our Annual Zoo Visit

Every year around this time, we take a fun trip to the zoo. There was a brief period in my life where I wondered if zoos were an acceptable form of entertainment due to the fact that wild animals are caged. But as soon as I had kids, the possibility of that notion disappeared instantly. It's fun and educational and a downright good time to spend with the kids. My kids love, love, love to go every year and right around March or April, I get to hear them begging me constantly to go. They have their favorite animals each year that they simply can't miss out on seeing. Of course, every year they seem to change for Alex, but Abby is consistent thus far in her desire to see the big animals like the giraffes and elephants. This year was even more fun because the load of stuff I had to drag along was significantly decreased. No wagon or giant bag of items I might possibly need. I've learned to just wing it when it comes to certain things. Like second sets of clothes 'just in case'. I figure we'll survive one way or the other. Granted, next year it will be back to stroller and baby with me, but I think I've got a method now so I'll be great. I'm really happy that I have two kids who are excited about things like this. My poor friend Mandy has two kids who are not exactly at their happiest when it comes to the annual zoo trip. I feel bad for her as I know that we both are excited to go ourselves and used to go together annually pre-kid phase. Nevertheless, it was super fun and I was glad that Alex and Abby had a great time. They already want to go again. Maybe in the fall when it's not starting to reach the high 90's.

 

Abby Milking the fake cow...with a strangely devious look on her face.

I shall call this picture: Ironic (ya know...because he's allergic to milk. Get it?)

Make a silly face! wait a second...I'm the only one with the silly face.

The rainforest at the zoo. Fun stuff!

Family photo op time.

1 Mile

I decided that I wanted to add to my hope for a healthier pregnancy this time around by staying more fit. Now, seeing as how I can't really just jump into a new heavy duty routine, I said I'd start by making myself walk 1 mile every night after the kids go to bed. This, added with the already many walks I take each day/week with the kids and the running around I do with them in the backyard, should be enough to keep me in check. So I tucked the kids in last night and off I went for my 1 mile walk. Now, in case you didn't know, a mile is 10 blocks. This makes it quite easy to measure distance when one lives in town. So yeah, 10 whopping blocks. I mean, heck. I was speed walking twice that distance while the kids biked pre-pregnancy without a single problem. Easy right? Apparently I was poorly mistaken. This is the run down of what went through my head during my walk:

Block 1: Easy cheesy! This is gonna be great! Maybe I'll go two miles.
Block 2: I feel my muscles waking up! It's a good hurt. Yay!
Block 2: Wait. What is that weird pain in my hip? Oh well. Stretch it out Jess! Doin' great!
Block 3: Huh. That pain isn't going away. Strange. And...it's kinda...spreading to my back.
Block 4: Holy buckets of cow dung! Why is my hip throbbing like that??
Block 5: Great. My hip gave up. It must have abandoned ship around mid block. You only need one fully functioning hip, right? I can still do this...I think.
Block 6: My other hip has now assumed all responsibility for walking but it's bearable. Ow! Was that my knee?? Why did it buckle?? New pain! Hello Mr. lower back. I know you're on fire, but it's only 4 more blocks.
Block 7: Mother of !@#$! Why are my ribs hurting?? I'm only 3 1/2 months pregnant, for the love of all things holy! GRRRR...
Block 8: Is that my house? I can see my house. Oh thank the good Lord...I'm coming Mr. House.
Block 9: Hello house. I left my right hip on block 5 somewhere and my back is trying to pop out through my stomach. No one will ever know it wasn't officially 1 mile. You won't tell anyone Mr. House, k? *dragging body up the steps into the house* Ugh...I feel 30 weeks pregnant! *sigh* I'll try again tomorrow...maybe I'll even find my hip waiting for me.

Pregnancy. Isn't it magical? But I can feel the baby moving as I write this so it's all good.

The Jig Is Up

I'm officially out of the first trimester. Yay! Wait a second. Why am I rejoicing about this? Supposedly, you're supposed to feel super awesome during the second trimester. No more nausea. No more vomiting. No more cases of super sleepiness. If that is true, then I got hosed. I've actually felt worse during this last week than I've felt during the last month. I've spent more time getting familiar with my toilet than I'd like to admit to. If you can count and memorize the rings of hard water stains on your toilet, then you know you've spent too much time hugging it. But nevertheless, I am truly moving on to stage two of the pregnancy. So I suppose that is worth rejoicing about even if I writhe in agony with heartburn at night that may or may not be dissolving the inner layer of my esophagus.

So why did I title this 'The jig is up'? Well, I've been under the apparently false assumption that I've been hiding my morning chucking trip to the bathroom very well from the kids. It's strangely a well laid routine, quite honestly. I can sense the urgency in my stomach and go slap some foods in front of the kids then make a hasty retreat to the toilet. I shut the door, and try to be as quiet as you can in such a situation. As the kids eat and laugh away the time at the table, I'm saying good morning to the toilet. I think I've even subconsciously named our toilet because for some reason, every time I hoist myself off the floor, I mutter, "Ugh. Never again". :) Anyhow, as this has been my "routine" every single morning for going on three months, and the kids have never asked about what I'm doing in the bathroom, I assumed that they were otherwise clueless on the facts. Wrongo!

Friday evening, I'd been feeling particularly queasy after a long day at the zoo. I stayed very hydrated so no worries there, but the day before that I'd felt a bit off as well so no big surprise. Well, try as I might to keep it all down, it just wasn't in the cards that evening. I had a bath ready for Abby and she was about to get in when the following conversation occurred:
Me: "Abby honey, can you go out for a minute?" 
Abby: "Why?"
Me: "I need to do something really fast." I shoo her out and told Josh with urgency in my voice,  "Josh, keep the kids out of the bathroom for a few minutes."
Josh (confused): "Why? What's wrong?"
Abby (as I'm shutting the door): "Mommy needs to throw up."

Fail. Yep. That about covers it. So yeah. The jig is up. Guess I didn't hide it at all. I asked Abby later if she knew why mommy was throwing up. I felt I needed to explain so she didn't think something was wrong with me. She said, "Because the baby makes your tummy not feel good sometimes." I shall never accuse her of being unobservant. But at least I know they understand the situation for the most part. Now if I could only explain to them that the baby won't be popping out through a tiny window that my belly button opens. Get it? The belly 'button' opens the window. That was thought up by Alex and Abby. Not me. Ahh...through the eyes of a child.

I also have a little treat for my Aunts that are reading this blog. They've asked for belly pictures. I gave it some thought and have decided that I'd do it this time. I've officially 'popped'. So I will give you the 12 week and the 16 week shots this go around.

12 weeks. Just a little bulge, but I already miss this waist size. *sniff*

16 weeks. And at this point I've only gained 1 whopping pound. Amazing what four weeks can do, isn't it? That means it's all baby and I'm not a total cow...right?

Updates

Preggo #3

Well, things are calming down slightly on this round of pregnancy. Once again, I've suffered nonstop from the joy-joy side effects of pregnancy. My stomach isn't back to being 100% agreeable, but I can eat more often without completely hating all food. I still have to hover the toilet every morning waiting for the inevitable throwing up, but luckily that is reserved mostly to the morning instead of all day. I still don't feel good throughout the day, but I can feel the storm in my stomach starting to calm. Thank goodness, because feeling like you have a stomach flu 24 hours a day for months on end gets pretty annoying. Of course, now I'm dealing with the happy little heartburn issues. But beggars can't be choosers, as my mom always used to say. Other than that, I'm not sure there is much to report. I can't exactly remember what week I'm on, but I believe I'm 15 weeks along now. I'm in that awkward stage where you don't look pregnant, but rather you just look chubby. No maternity clothes and no baby movement yet so all seems a bit surreal for the most part.

Home for Sale...right?

So day 43 on the market and nada! Not a call, visit, or so much as a peep from someone who might be mildly interested in seeing our house, let alone buy it. All in all, I'd say that selling our home is a rather disappointing failed experience thus far. I'd love to say that I'm still highly optimistic, but as the summer grows on, I'm becoming quite the opposite. And without a sale, there shall be no future purchase. So I'm trying to grow used to the idea of raising a third child in our wee little house. It's quite sad really, as our open window to move is closing a little more every day. I suppose that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Summer Vacation

When Alex got out of school for his first official summer break, I told him that he was done with preschool and that it was now summer vacation. The word vacation was chosen poorly on my part. Now, every day I have to explain why we aren't driving somewhere on a vacation. Oddly enough, we've never really taken vacations during the summer so I'm not entirely certain where Alex came up with the conclusion that a vacation involves traveling. "Where are we going on vacation today?" is a very common question I have to answer. So for now, I've explained that we have plans for the summer including swimming lessons, movies, drive-in theater, going to the park a lot, the zoo, and play-dates. So far, it suffices him.

Remember me, the author?

Yeah. That's right. I wrote that book once upon a time. I haven't ever officially updated my Denied-O-Meter on the sidebar of the blog, but let's just say that every letter of inquiry I sent out is officially a denial. I went on a long hiatus from my 'author' life due to massive disappointment from the constant strain of 'nos'. But, aha! I have a new wind! I'm now in the process of revamping, so to speak. I've decided to try a new avenue and need the book to be as polished as humanly possible. So I'm putting a new spin on the current story, will get a few opinions on the difference, and then go down a new very popular route - self publishing. So pending I actually have time to get the story redone, I'll let you all know when it's up for sale via e-readers online. I'm not sure what it takes, but I've decided it's my best bet to get my name out there. In the meantime, I did get another review on it from a family friend and it was a hit with him! So I've got zero hates and all likes from those who have read it. Wish me luck! The first few chapters will be a free preview on e-readers so here's hoping!

And in a sad note, our homemade Big Red Car took it's last ride...with both passengers of the house. Made of cardboard and construction paper, it just wasn't meant to last more than two years apparently. It officially parked it's last park in our recycle bin in the garage. Farewell Big Red Car. You were fun.

Otherwise, it's been rather uneventful around here in the news and updates department. I have been asked to do belly pictures this go around with preggo number three, but I'm still debating whether or not I want to subject the public to the horror that is my belly...clothed or not. Either way is quite scarring to the common eye. There are no words to express the horrificness (no, that's not a real word) of my stretch marks thanks to Alex and Abby. Trust me. I'm not exaggerating. So naturally, pics of my actual belly with no shirt coverage are not an option. But I'll let you know around week 16 what I decide. :) For now I'm off to entertain the kiddos on another lazy spring/summer day. Enjoy your week, all!

Mama's Little Graduate

 

Yep. That's my little graduate...eating three Little Debbie knock-off creme-filled cupcakes. (I made them from scratch. they even had creme filling.) He was wound for sound that night.

 This past Monday was Alex's pre-school graduation. I know what you're thinking. Pre-school has a graduation now? Yeah. That's about what I thought as well. But despite the fact that it seems silly and somewhat over the top, I was a sucker for the emotional event that it was. His teacher is a very nice lady who loves all the children she teaches and puts on a nice little show for all of us to watch twice a school year. The last one was during Christmas and was just adorable. This one was no different. The program had some great singing and dancing from the kids and at the end was a graduation for all of the little ones moving on into kindergarten. When my little boy marched across stage, proud as can be, to get his 'diploma' and his gift, I must admit, I got a little choked up. Not necessarily at the idea of him moving on into kindergarten, but at the thought of watching this same thing 13 years from now from high school. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. I'll be that bawling mom who totally over reacts when he graduates high school so many years from now.

If The Wiggles have taught my kids anything, it's how to dance.

That's my boy! And that's his teacher, Miss Cindy, handing him is diploma.

Family graduation photo.

I must say that my little socialite son will miss preschool dearly. He will also miss his friends. So a couple of the moms and I exchanged numbers for summer play-dates. Alex is already bugging me to call them. Sadly, as of now, we don't live in the same school district that his friends will be attending kindergarten. We live one town over so he won't get the pleasure of seeing his buddies in school. Now, there is a miniscule chance we will move someday. So pending that day and the possibility that we move to that specific town, he still has a chance to see his buddies again. Here's hoping, right?

On a more personal note, there is one thing I've gained from Alex's year in school. Confidence. Albeit, the amount of confidence is nowhere near what the average mom would be experiencing sending their kid off to kindergarten. But I have more today than I did a year ago. With Alex's ever increasing self-awareness of his food allergies, I've learned that I really can do this next year. Oh, I'll still be horrifically terrified most days, I imagine. That's a given. But he's a great kid and a smart one at that. He knows his issues and is getting more confident daily on what he needs to watch out for. One year down...13 to go.

I know it's a long video and it will probably take me half of an hour to upload, but as I haven't had video on the blog in ages, I'll wait patiently so you can enjoy part of what we got to enjoy this past week. I'm a proud mama today. *sniff* Yep...a real proud mama.

Mother's Day 2012

This year's mother's day weekend was wonderful. Did I get breakfast in bed and catered too like a queen? Ha! Not even in the slightest bit. But I'm not really the kind of self-obsessed person that feels that this is necessary. I still got up with the kids, cleaned the house, and *gasp!* even did all the cooking for the day. But it was truly a wonderful weekend. My folks wanted to go fishing on Saturday so that was definitely something I wanted to do. And as for the kids? They love, love, love to do things like this. Not only does it keep them busy, but it knocks them out at bedtime like nothing else. Bonus! I caught a few fish, had some burgers and hot dogs, and was outside the entire day. That's my idea of fun, in case you were wondering. The kids had a blast. Granted, they spent most of their time throwing rocks into the water and finding dead fish along the shoreline, but nevertheless, it was fun.

At the spillway at the lake enjoying the beautiful day. Look at those smiles!

Family picture time. This is at the end of the day so we all look a bit frazzled.

And this is what Josh did pretty much the whole time. "I hate fishing." His own words. I shall get him to actually try it one day though so he has a reason to hate it.

 I decided that, due to all the birthdays in the year, I was not having a normal cake for Mother's Day. One thing that we don't get the pleasure of in our house is Dairy Queen. It's not exactly the best place to go if you're avoiding milk and peanuts, so we simply avoid it. But growing up, it was a true and rare treat to get one of their famous ice cream cakes for a celebration. You savored every bite of that small slice of heaven on your plate when you were lucky enough to have it. So by golly, I wanted my kids to have ice cream cake! Seems impossible, right? Not if you're me! Ice cream cakes at DQ run upwards of $20. So for the same price, I went out and stocked up on Soy ice cream at the store and a package of fake Oreos. One messy evening later, I had my very own, Alex friendly, safe and sound ice cream cake. It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it was super tasty. Oddly enough, the consistency of soy ice cream is uncanny to that of DQ soft serve. So, short of the gel and whipped cream icing, it was shockingly similar and we all loved it. My folks were pretty happy to have a giant slice as well to celebrate the day.

One chocolaty grin...

and two chocolaty grins for the win!

See? it looks pretty tasty, don't you think? Not pretty...but tasty!

The kids woke me up with their presents to me (thanks to preschool for Alex's adorable flower pot I'll treasure forever). But best of all was just having them there to smile and give me love for the day just like every day before. I love being a mom. It's rewarding in countless ways and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I guess that's why two kids just isn't enough. *sheepish grin* What better post to announce via blog than a Mother's Day one. That's right, my blog followers. Our family of four will be a family of five in November. Next Mother's day, I'll have three little happy grins welcoming me on Mother's Day morning and I couldn't be more happy. I'm just thirteen weeks along today and due November 20th. And even more fun? We aren't finding out what it is via sonogram this time. We decided that with having one boy and one girl already, it would be more fun to be surprised. So don't ask what it is, because you're guess is as good as mine.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! I hope it was as wonderful as mine was.

Critters Ain't Just for Country Folks

Today, I got home from about a million errands. I went to set my purse down on the kitchen table when I hear two rather loud gasps from my kids and a chorus of, "Mommy! Look!" I look out to see both Alex and Abby staring, jaws agape, at something in the dining room on the carpet. I figured it was probably cat puke or something of the normal sort. But, as I have had black widow problems, I always go look just to be sure it's not something bearing that creepy red hour-glass shape with eight legs attached. As I look down I see, plain as day, a little snake slithering along towards Josh's computer desk. I said, "Holy buckets of cream chowder!" (It's better than cussing, right?) I did a two-second pan of the room searching for something to trap it with and opted for the crayon bucket. Out dumped the crayons and plop it went over the snake! So there I stood, one foot atop the bucket with my odd critter trapped beneath, two children dancing around excitedly about a snake in the house, and one husband taking a shower. As I didn't want to leave the trapped snake in the care of my kids, who would surely free it just to take a peek, I had to wait for Josh to grace us with his appearance.

Now let me explain something to you. Josh is terrified of snakes. One time, we were on a stroll around the block and he walked past a pulverized, quite dead snake. He jumped about three feet in the air and screamed like a terrified school girl. I, being the ever considerate, never joking wife (yeah, right), laughed and teased him all the way home. This is when I discovered his unparallelled fear for the slithery beasts. So when Josh got out of the shower and the kids told him about the snake, I see Josh walk out on the very opposite side of the house with the look of utter fear and shock on his face. I needed something like cardboard to slide under the bucket to pick up the snake so I required some slight assistance. I told Josh that I needed his help and to come here. He shook his head wildly and said, "I am NOT holding that bucket down!" I laughed a lot at his fear of the tiny baby garter snake trapped helplessly beneath the crayon bucket. But a fear, is a fear. So one plastic place-mat, a crayon bucket and Josh's big, brave wife later, our critter problem was outside and freed into the wild of the back alley behind our house.

 

Ain't he just terrifying?

This house has had some strange critters for being non-country living. A hawk that lived here all winter on our fence, bats that fly around our front yard at night, barn owls that enjoy our constant critter water supply, a fearless squirrel I've named Psycho-Crazy-Squirrel who you can walk right up to, a mama bunny and her babies that you can get one foot away from that live in our garage from time to time, a black widow infestation and now an indoor garter snake. Oddly enough, two of our five cats were watching the little snake slither across our our floor unfazed by it's presence. Consequently, Josh has officially fired all five of them. Josh is also watching every step he takes now in the house. Would it be cruel to use this experience as future fuel for a fun prank on him? Hee, hee, hee...I think not.