Michigan Pictures

I'm sure there will be more soon! Here are some precious ones!

They told Loren to look under the hood because Elmo was in there

Do you see what she will eat for Grandma?? Now why the screaming fit for me?

No words!


Kelly told Loren (in an attempt to be the "favorite" aunt) that her hair was red like Elmo. Of course that led Loren to start calling her Aunt Elmo. Well. . .now we just encourage it!

Where did she learn that?

Oh yes, from her mommy!

I decided after my last post that got everyone THINKING, I would write a short little funny from tonight. After Mike gave Loren her bath, I waddled upstairs to say goodnight. Well Loren heard me coming upstairs and came bolting from her room jabbering away. I caught words here and there, "mommy, night-night, Georgie, monkey tail, stinky diaper. . ." No clue what she was really trying to get across to me. The whole time I am being very rude to her and talking over her to Mike. I scooped her up and with two hands she grabs my face and turns my head and says, "Mommy, look at my eyes and listen. I love you. I ready night-night, we snuggle. Me go to night-night with Georgie. OKAY."

I almost died laughing! CHILD YOU ARE 21 MONTHS OLD, NOT 21 YEARS OLD! Oh boy, I've got a handful don't I guys!

BTW - I have pictures from MI so I will post those tomorrow or sat! It's a promise :)

1 Peter 3: 1-7 * Calling the Girls *

Okay this one is a toughie girls! I am asking for your interpretation of 2 words. 1) Submissive and 2) Weaker (sex)

I had my Women's Bible Study tonight and to make a long story short I walked away feeling like there was a huge misunderstanding of the verse on the part of the leader. I was very concerned seeing as there are brand new Christians in our group. So, I wanted to ask you guys what you though. I know it's a touchy subject and a touchy verse but I am trying to "hear the teaching, weigh it for truth, and decide upon it." So, take as much time, effort and room to do it! If you don't feel comfortable posting here, please e-mail me your personal thoughts. I truly appreciate this!

P.s. I know I titled this "calling the Girls" but if any guys are brave enough to add their two cents, I am really really appreciative!

HEEE-UUUGE BABY

I just got home from my Non Stress Test. I got to see my sweet baby sucking his/her thumb. He/she was being quite wiggly for the tech so once again he/she was called "Uncooperative" :)! That's Mike's little boy/girl.

I'm still thinking boy because his/her accelerations and decelerations ranged from 130 bpm - 150 bpm. Loren's were 150 - 180! I'll be super-shocked if this turns out to be a girl.

So for the news you all really want to laugh about (Kathryn). . .The baby at 35 weeks is. . .

6 lbs 12 oz. . .Which Sheri was quick to point out was bigger than Cooper at birth (36 weeks). The baby is swimming in a TON of amniotic fluid (19 cm) and is doing just fine. . ."Just on a bigger scale (thank you Dr. Ott very much ;) ) . They said that baby will gain .5lbs per week from here out. So, do the math, baby is going to be 9 - 10 lbs at birth. . .PLEASE LORD, LET THIS BABY COME EARLY!

That is your prayer for me for the next 2 weeks. Pray that baby comes at 37 weeks. DO IT!

Okay, hope everyone had a good laugh at my poor body's expense ;) and hope everyone has a good day!

Ms. Independence

What a dork! I love it when they start insisting on picking out their outfits. Today she has on a Finding Nemo PJ top, purple socks, 1 black Mary Jane, 1 brown Mary Jane. She also has no pants on. No matter how much I beg :)!

Then she wanted "Cereal Soup" for breakfast. She insisted on feeding herself. She is soaked with milk but she did fairly well! I'm impressed!

So it begins eh?

For Kathryn and Sheri

Oh be jealous girls. . .I ate lunch at Cafe Manhattan today!!! We were out at Forest Park for the Balloon Race and I just HAD to have a Cafe Manhattan salad since we were out there! Talk about YUM-O.

The other day I ran into MCR! She looks fantastic! She has been bumped up to 4th grade! That's amazing to me! I guess Patty Fellows is teaching 2nd. Not too many other people are still there.

So here's the newest gossip. . .the enrollment is finally up! MCR said that the problem is that enrollment goes up, but the building cannot accommodate the growing numbers so parents start pulling their children and then enrollment falls. So I guess Central Pres is thinking about helping to buy a new building. I just got a newsletter from WCA saying that they are buying Centreat from Central. . .all 30 acres for sports fields for the new middle-school. MY question is: Why didn't Central Pres give the land to Central School and build a new site out there? I mean . . .no it's not in Clayton but don't you think something drastic needs to happen before the building falls down around them! I just couldn't fathom the reason behind selling Centreat and not giving them a new school building.

Thoughts?

HELP KIMBER OUT!

Okay, so in light of the fact that I ended up in the ER and could theoretically have a kid any time in the next 6 weeks (watch him/her be late :) ), I have decided to go ahead and pack the Hospital bag.

Help me remember what to put in it. What was one thing you couldn't live without in the hospital? Is there anything you forgot or wish you had taken? What are some "Don't forget. . ." for the baby?

There, that is my task to my friends out there!

ER

I finally called the doctor last night at 10:30 pm. I told him I was having contractions all day and that they were lower abdominal and really hurt like the dickens. I was just calling to see if I should get an appointment for tomorrow and he was like, "YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED EARLIER!" He had me go into the ER right away to find out what the contractions looked like and if they were progressing me.

I was so frustrated. I KNEW I didn't need to go into the ER. Everyone kept saying, "Better to be safe than sorry," but I have in the back of my head, "There are real emergencies here, I'm not one of them!" Anyway, I got in and they were like, "Here sit in the wheelchair," and I was being stubborn and obstinate (knowing I didn't need to be there) and refused to ride the in the stupid thing.

I got up to Maternal Monitoring and they started the whole deal. We find out that I am severely dehydrated. I didn't get it! I had been chugging water all day fighting this cold and trying to get the contractions to stop. They said that they need numbers to be 2.5 and mine were 0.3. I have no idea what "the numbers" are but it didn't sound good to me. So they put me on two bags of fluid with junk in it (one of the "ingredients" was sugar and baby LOVED that!) and had me drink 68 oz of water. Needless to say I had to PEEEEEE! But the contractions stopped and I was able to come home at 3:30 am. The contractions hadn't progressed me at all. They said that it was nothing short of a miracle looking at the type and duration of the contractions I was having.

Anyway, I guess it was good that we went in. I am thankful my parents are back in town and someone could watch Loren for us. DAD I OWE YOU HUGE!

CONTRACTIONS!

OUCH OUCH OUCHITY OUCH OUCH!

For some stupid reason I'm getting painful contractions! I'm having them about 4 times per hour lasting only 30 seconds. So I'm not worried but it hurts like the dickens!

Needless to say, Elmo has been played 2 times already so I can just sit for an hour and see if this will go away. . .

On top of that, I think I have the flu. I have horrible aches, headache, and am very nauseous. I'm being whiny but I deserve it every once in a while!

An Evening of Adult Interaction!

Last night Mike and I had over 8 ADULTS! It was so much fun! We had a game night. These were friends from work and Sheri and Travis. Sher and Trav came over about 7:00 and let the boys run around with Loren upstairs. The kids just had a blast. Coop walked in the door, grabbed Loren's hand and drug her upstairs, "Loren, it's time to play." They ran from our bedroom, down the hall, and back again. The highlight of their evening was jumping on our bed all night! Yes, Loren did fall off and get a black eye. . .are we surprised? No! Maddox just crawled after them, unraveled both bathroom's toilet paper and generally had a good time!

Us adults ate Manicotti, Cesar salad, and garlic bread. We yacked it up on the FINE CHINA (corell) in the living room! We really had a great time and laughed the whole night long. At about 8:30 Mike cleaned up the food and I went upstairs and put Loren to bed. It was so cute! She was crying "NO NO NO NO" the whole way to her room. . .however, she was dragging me and just sobbing to get into bed! She played so hard! Cooper came in her room while I was putting her down and said, "I just wanted to tell Loren good-night." Ohhhhhh!!!!

Now the kids are down and the games begin! The boys went in the breakfast room and played Tigris and Euphrates while us girls played Settlers of Catan in the living room. Let's just say that our first game of Settlers was the worst Settlers game I have ever played. We counted and in that game I collected cards 14 times. LITERALLY. I built 4 roads and 2 settlements. How with only 14 cards you ask? The girls were giving me CHARITY cards! :) It was comical! The second game I was 1 point away from winning when Sneaky Sharron laid a Victory Point Development card. We really had such a great time! We pulled out the Chocolate cupcakes with cherries and gooey butter cake with drunken berries. HOLY MOLY! We were full, laughing our heads off, and truly enjoying each other! I could tell the boys were having a great time. They broke out into spontaneous fits of laughter as well! It was great! We are planning another night in Oct. before baby is born.

Anyway, I was asked for my Manicotti Recipe. It truly rocks everyone's socks!

Manicotti

1 pound ground turkey
¼ cup diced onion
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup cottage cheese
2 garlic cloves pressed
½ cup Parmesan cheese
10 leaves fresh Basil
12 Manicotti noodles
1 can Hunt’s Garlic and Herb Spaghetti Sauce
1 can petite diced tomatoes drained
1 can sliced mushrooms drained
10 more Basil leaves
1-3 pinches Red pepper flakes – if you can stand the heat!
Mozzarella
Aziago Cheese
Parmesan cheese



Mix turkey, onion, eggs, cottage cheese, basil, ½ cup Parmesan and garlic. Stuff into uncooked noodles. Place in a 9 X 13 baking dish. Cover with spaghetti sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, basil and Red Pepper flakes (optional). Cover pan with foil. Bake 50 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with cheeses. Return and bake uncovered 10 minutes longer.

Melt my heart!

Not only is my husband Vacuuming but my daughter is "helping!" Melt my heart!

For the Moms. . .

I was reading Stacy-poo's comment about the multitasking we do. I began to wonder, where does the time go when we are watching our children. I am looking at my "list" of things to do today and I realized that I got 2 things done 1) Went to library 2) scrubbed downstairs bathroom. I didn't get the front room picked up, the entryway swept and mopped, kitchen swept and mopped, laundry folded, bed made, or tub scrubbed. How was my house and life not in perfect order when I didn't have kids?

Here's my question. If you were given a day to yourself, what would you do. Keep in mind these parameters:
1) The house is already clean, laundry is folded, and put away.
2) You are as skinny as you were the day you were married so dieting is not in the cards
3) You are not breast-feeding (or TTC). You can drink anything you want.
4) Finally, you are promised that Aunt Flo will be NO WHERE NEAR your house on that day!

What would you do? What would your dream day look like?

May be Too Much Information - Read at own risk!

I'm in Shop and Save today and I have to pee like CRAZY! I run to the bathroom with little L in tote. As I sit down on the pot Sheri calls me. Loren in the meantime has found cheerios on the bathroom floor and is trying to eat them! She is getting very agitated that I am denying her this delicious snack of pee-pee cheerios. So here I am, trying to balance peeing as well as trying to grab my child's hand away from the floor and trying to talk on the phone. I hung up with Sheri and tried to distract Loren with the toilet paper. Before I can stop the child, she has a huge wad and stuffs it between my legs going, "Wipe your privates mommy." Now I am embarrassed yet laughing hysterically. I simultaneously grab my child's hands so she won't touch anything, drag her to the sink to wash her hands all the while I have Elmo in my mouth, milk cup under my arm, am kicking my purse across the bathroom floor and trying to pull my pants up one-handed. Adventures in Toddlerdom never end!

32 Week Belly

Just 56 days to go. . .but who is counting?

Just remember people that this HUGE belly is the result of having a 5lb kid in there!!! EEEEeeeks!

Chicken Pox?????

What else can it be? Loren broke out in bumps everywhere on Friday! She has spots all over her diaper region that spread down her legs and on the soles of her feet, up her back, on her cheeks and arms. These are random bumps, no concentration of them. It looks just like someone took a red marker and dotted her body with them. Some are getting what looks like white heads. Poor girl spiked a fever at 8:00. It was 100 degrees.

Now before you ask, YES, she has had the vaccine. What the heck-a-doodle. . .

If she still has the bumps on Monday we are going to the Pediatrician. My mom has peeked at the bumps and Bon said that it sure looks and sounds JUST like Chicken Pox. Well, sun of a gun!

So we have taken "soda baths," and are doing Tylenol. She seems happy and not in any pain. She just is kind of cranky. Like if something isn't going her way it is the END OF THE WORLD. The odd thing is that the bumps look worse some times than others.

If anyone has any enlightenment I would sure appreciate it!! Also, I could use some encouragement because I feel like it's all my fault. . . :(