Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I've always wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love. It's such a good cause to give to kids who have no hair because of cancer or other things. Well, I'm 33 years old so I figured that it's about time I follow through with this constant life 'goal'. I've been growing my hair out for 1 1/2 years now in hopes of getting the required 10 inches to donate. The last time I went to get my hair cut, they said I needed about two more inches so I've been waiting patiently for it to grow, grow, grow! My pony tail was finally measuring up (according to Josh's measurements) and so I was ready for my big trip the hair salon.

Just so you know, I've been growing it so that it would still be shoulder-length when it was cut off. I live off pony-tails so it's a must for my sanity. I'm not exactly the 'let your locks flow in the wind' kind of gal, ya know? So Mandy and I went off to get our hair cut to a place that participates in the Locks of Love program. It was exciting! Chopping all my hair off and sending it away to make wigs for those that need them most. How cool is that? I took in a few pictures of what I wanted my hair to look like when it was all finished and the lady was more than willing to oblige. Turns out that she was a bit...flighty? Is that the word? She measured me up and told me that it's free to donate. Turns out that this means you get your hair washed, conditioned, cut and styled for free if you donate. Who knew? Can't sneer at the price, that's for sure. She had it ready to cut in the braid, I asked her over and over if she was absolutely sure that it would be down to my shoulders and pony-tail worthy. She guaranteed me this was true. I said I wanted to donate 10". She chopped it off with the clippers. She held out my giant braid to me and said, "There you go. A 14" donation!" As my hair (or what was left of it) fell around my face, I said to myself with jaw agape, "That is not shoulder length!" I went out looking like a drowned rat (as most people do right after a wash and cut). My wavy hair started to dry and get even shorter and I started to think about strange it was to see myself in the mirror. But it's just hair and it will grow back. I'm still excited that I got to donate. I think I'll do this a few more times in my life. It leaves you feeling like you actually contributed to something worthy. It's a good feeling. Click on the picture so you can see a better view of it.

Holy crusted hairballs, Batman! That's some short hair!

So, the shock has officially worn off and I'm growing accustomed to my new do, but I still can't believe how little hair I have or how little shampoo I have to use now. I've never had hair this short before, but it's all good. I actually kind of like it. I feel like I lost 2 pounds off of my head and I'm a lot cooler outside now. I miss the pony-tail but who knows. Maybe I'll stick with short for awhile. We'll see how it 'grows' on me. (Pun intended.)

Pickles the Tailless Wonder

Every evening around 7:00, we take the kiddos outside to expel one last burst of their never ending energy. On Monday evening we did the same thing. I told Josh to shoo the kids outside and that I'd meet him out there after I run to the bathroom (pregnancy bladder ya know). I had just got into the bathroom when I hear Josh screaming madly at something outside. I ran out there to find Josh yelling at a big white shepard-mix dog running wildly and quite scarily in our backyard. He yelled to get the kids inside. The dog was pretty scared, but scared dogs, when backed into a corner, can become angry biting dogs very quickly. I was naturally just worried initially about the kids, but the moment they were safely in the house, I ran back out with one major concern in my panicked mind. Our rabbits.

It's pretty warm out these days and Pickles and Nacho have burrows they've made underground in their outside ground pen. Two years now, without a single event worth worrying about and it all went to pot in a few moments of dog terror. The dog was going nuts trying to escape our fenced yard and I hollered at Josh if it got to our rabbits. He said he couldn't find one of them but the other one was out in the back of the yard scared out of its mind. The fence was torn up and there was evidence of their burrows being dug out by the dog. Though, I was sure Nacho would bolt the second I walked up to her, she was nothing but grateful for me picking her up and rescuing her. I put her in her cage and went back to search for Pickles (a.k.a the nice one). No sign of her...except her tail. I was certain she was dead. I mean, you see an entire tail on the ground with fur all around and you know it's gonna be bad, right? Pickles, that lucky bunny, had somehow escaped certain death and made it back to her burrow. Thank the good Lord those bunnies are great diggers because if that burrow wasn't so deep, she'd be dog fodder.

While I'm trying to get poor frightened Pickles out of her hole, the stupid neighbor dog went through the fence and ran back across the street. Through the fence...as in not the gate, but through the actual fencing. I have no idea how it did it, but Josh said it was gone so I concentrated on Pickles. I got her out and she was making some pretty awful noises from the pain she was in. That blasted dog had ripped her tail clean off of her leaving naught but a gaping 2" circular hole where it used to be. No bone. No fur. Just a hole. I was pretty mad because this dog is notorious for getting out and it's not the friendly type. So, I called the non-emergency police line to report the attack and damage. The police got there at the same time that the owner walked up and found her dog out. It was a huge mess and I felt bad for calling the cops on her, but seriously...control your dogs people! You lose a rabbit in the country and you expect it. It's a violation to have dogs running free in the city so the owner was cited for that. After we wrote our police reports and the officer took pictures of the 'crime scene', I rushed Pickles to the emergency vet so she wouldn't die of infection or shock.

I'm happy to say that Pickles is safely back at home and sewed back up properly. She has no tail now, but at least she didn't bite the big one. One extremely large vet bill later, I'm still trying to contact the chick with the stupid dog so she can pay me back for the bill. If I don't reach her by tonight then it's off to court I go. *sigh* The court date is on July 10th unless I drop charges, but $300 for a rabbit vet bill is insane and it was definitely not our fault. The charges are already against her for reimbursement, but here's hoping for an easy fix and for her cooperation. For the next 10 days Pickles is an indoor bunny until her stitches are out and her meds are gone. I hope that 10 days goes fast because her sister, Nacho, misses the company. Here's to our newly remodeled bunny: Pickles the Tailless Wonder. (Poor Pickles.)

That's Pickles new tailless look. about 8 large stitches and zero fluffy bunny tail.

Indoor Pickles is getting lots of attention right now.

I'm happy to say that Pickles is safely back at home and sewed back up properly. She has no tail now, but at least she didn't bite the big one. One extremely large vet bill later, I'm still trying to contact the chick with the stupid dog so she can pay me back for the bill. If I don't reach her by tonight then it's off to court I go. *sigh* The court date is on July 10th unless I drop charges, but $300 for a rabbit vet bill is insane and it was definitely not our fault. The charges are already against her for reimbursement, but here's hoping for an easy fix and for her cooperation. For the next 10 days Pickles is an indoor bunny until her stitches are out and her meds are gone. I hope that 10 days goes fast because her sister, Nacho, misses the company. Here's to our newly remodeled bunny: Pickles the Tailless Wonder. (Poor Pickles.)

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.