Bits and Pieces...

I've been put on notice that I owe an update. Or two.  Because I know some things that you don't know!  I'll get to that, but first, here's a little bit of life.

Baseball...
Baseball is in full swing. I do love this time of year.

Wildlife...
We currently have five 3 tadpoles and one grasshopper making a home in our kitchen. We had a frog and a spider, but certain boys were convinced to let them go. Although I may not love wildlife on my countertop, I do love this time of year when the boys are all about being outside as much as possible catching as many of God's creatures as they can (except for snakes). Mostly because I know that come June, the only place they will want to go outside is the pool.

Projects...
Call it nesting or whatever, but I have the undeniable urge to make our house completely uncluttered, organized and beautiful all at the same time. My head knows this won't really happen all at once, but I'm giving my best effort (which has admittedly been a very slow effort. :)  I have one major project completed, more to come, and several more in the works. Now, actually getting the projects off paper and done? Another story, here's why...

Energy level...

Almost back to normal. I self-diagnosed myself around 13 weeks with anemia (had iron-deficient anemia when pregnant with both boys), and oddly enough, had to talk my doctor into testing me for it? He thought I was so fatigued and weak because of my, ahem, "advanced maternal age."  That probably had a little something to do with it, but there is really only one thing that can make you feel like anemia does. He finally agreed to test me "earlier than is normal" and seemed surprised that my levels were so low; I felt vindicated, and happy to start taking iron supplements. It took about a month before I could sit down in a comfy chair without falling asleep, and a few more weeks before I could climb the stairs without getting out of breath! But now, finally, almost back to normal! Yea!  (I would say that's why I haven't posted in awhile, but we know that's not the real reason. ha!) Other than abnormal fatigue, this has been a fairly easy pregnancy.

On whether it's a boy or a girl...
Had a Level II ultrasound a couple of weeks ago where they go over every little centimeter of baby. The great news is that everything looks really great health wise, and that baby measures spot on to the day of estimated gestational age. The not so great news is that as of right now, I have a complete placenta previa. Fingers crossed that this will resolve itself as the uterus grows. Bedrest would be difficult over summer with two active boys and no family nearby.  Makes me cringe to think about it, so we just won't do that.

Oh, by the way, it's a...

"Move the Ranch dressing!" because we're fancy like that. Also, cringing at my accent.

Here's another of Brent's parents discovering with a 'cupcake/icing' reveal:

And Nana may have sounded a little disappointed at first, but only because between her and my sis-in-law (who has four girls!), they have a lot of clothes that they need to part with and they were hoping to dump them on me!

As for me, yes, a girl would have been fun, and I really think Brent could have been a great Daddy to a little girl, but I'm actually pretty happy that our house will be filled with noise, rowdiness, and yes, things like tadpoles and grasshoppers.

Facts during week #17

#1 - I have lost my appetite. Nothing sounds good, especially anything that I would have to make. I only ate about half of my healthy turkey/cheese/spinach wrap and soup for lunch, because I just couldn't stomach it.

#2 - The only two things that sound good are iced coffee and candy.

#3 - Candy is not exactly on my 'approved' foods list.

#4 - Eating candy would make me feel pretty crummy about 30 minutes to an hour after I ate it.

#5 - While picking up a few things at Target just now, I walked past the candy aisle, then somehow my buggy doubled back and a "movie-sized" box of Whoppers fell into it. Man, I love those evil things.

#6 - That box doesn't have very many whoppers left in it now.

#7 - I'll probably want to take a nap here in a few minutes.

#8 - I don't have very much self- control.

#9 - I'm blaming it all on the baby.

:)

Spring break

We headed to Arkansas for some Spring Break fun at Grammy and Gramps' farm. The boys always have so much fun, mainly because there is so much little boy fun to be had there. Not only does Grammy make cookies every single day while the boys are there, there is a creek to explore, a blue hole, and a river bordering the farm. Also, there are several ponds, cattle, and tractors. As a bonus, my brother and sister-in-law, who have a house just adjacent, have chickens and labradors. (Every morning starts with a trip to see if there are fresh eggs.) There are John Deere Gators to drive, fish to catch, trees to climb, mud to tromp through, and diamonds to mine.

Ok, there's not really a diamond mine, that's just what my Dad told them. There are some patches of dirt where you can find small bits of quartz. Brent and I have also found a few arrow heads, but the boys haven't gotten past the diamonds (quartz) yet.

Ben following Uncle Bear (my bro, Ted) into the creek to see the beaver dam. Yes, he has tennis shoes on, but jumped right in anyway.

E started climbing a tree, and of course little bro had to follow...

If this picture doesn't scream Redneck, I'm not sure what does. Yes, both of my boys are shooting leaves with guns. At least B is using a BB gun. E is using Uncle Clark's 22. Sigh. And there is my cute niece Addison hanging right with the boys....

That's one filthy boy...

B and my Dad... B with his trusty slingshot that my Dad gave him. It has barely left his side. :)

My brother and his new toy, of which I'm really, really jealous...

E with his catch...

and learning how to clean that catch. I'm glad, because that's something that I just won't do...

We were blessed with beautiful weather while there. There really isn't much that is as pretty as Arkansas in the Spring.

On our second day, we washed all the mud off of the boys and headed into Little Rock to take them to the Arkansas Museum of Discovery, and had lunch at the River Market.

He was actually saying "ohmmmm" when he was trying to focus his attention on the brain wave pattern experiment.  ha!

It took a while, but B finally wanted to try out the bed of nails. He had to watch about 4 other kids do it before he was convinced it wouldn't hurt.

Then big brother got up the nerve to try!

After another dirt-filled day at the farm, we ended our visit with a bonfire, hot dogs and 'smores, which B refers to as "fire night." This is a tradition when the boys visit. My parents tend to spoil them a little. But that's what grandparents do, right? :)

around here....

Lots  going on around here, some interesting, some not. Some even surprising, to say the least.

Derby car races...
...the sole reason that the 8 year old joined and continues to participate in Cub Scouts. Honestly, he could care less about earning belt loops for new skills, and as much as we're trying to help him develop compassion for service projects, he could take or leave them. But let him build a car that he gets to race against a bunch of other boys... and possibly win a trophy? Count him in.

This year, even Ben got to race in the "Outlaw Race" (the one where the Dads, siblings and even Moms get to build and race cars). I might totally build one next year!  Race day is fun, mostly because the kids are so into it. Ok, the Dads and Moms are really into it, too. :)

Ben came in 2nd of all the cars (about 40!) in the Outlaw race, unfortunately, they only gave out a trophy for the 1st place winner of that race.  His trick? He superglued money on the bottom.
(Our boys' cars are by no means the slickest looking out there - which is probably why they do well!)

Ethan was proud to carry home the 2nd place trophy in his division of Wolf Scouts. Proud of our boys!

Pandora....
I used to be all tech-y and such when I worked. Had to be with the career I was in. Eight years later of working sporadically but mostly being at stay at home mom, and I'm so not techie anymore. My non-techie husband often informs me of 'the latest' (which is usually at least 6 months old by the time he hears about it) thing. :) Yes, we've become those parents.  Anyway, sure I had heard of Pandora, but I had plenty of music so didn't really see the need. Once we had Brent's old iPhone set up on a speaker in our kitchen, I found the need for Pandora. Music (especially set to the Children's Indie station) promotes conversation and peace in our home. And more of this:

Which is way better than the pleading I usually hear from them to just let them watch "one more Bey Blade, ppppplllllleeeeeaaaasssseeeee?"


Baseball...
Baseball season has started. Just practice right now, but I do have to say I love this time of year. I practically grew up at the baseball fields since my brother was always playing, and I played softball from age 5 to 17. B was gung-ho to sign up and really, as long as the boy has a ball in his hand he's happy. It doesn't really matter what type of ball - baseball, basketball, soccer ball, football. He just wants to play.

E was on the fence about playing baseball this year, and we honestly didn't push him since he's only slightly interested in it. (Yes, he was the boy out in center field last year having a pretend light saber fight with his glove while the other team was at bat!)  But he signed up at the last minute. Let's hope he has fun. And let's hope he doesn't get hit in the head with the ball whilst thinking of other things. :)


The really fun part about getting filthy down at the creek...
Is that mom let's us take a bath in her tub. And bubble bath plus jets = massive bubbles.

And then there were three....
Ok, so this was the surprise. And is still the surprise. One I'm still having a hard time believing and accepting. Which leads to guilt. And such. In early January began to suspect something and took a test to confirm.  I actually took three tests, because I was positive that the results were wrong and surely if I took enough tests, one of them would get it right. Right?   I even hoped that it meant that I was going into early menopause! Have you ever heard of anyone wishing for early menopause? I'm just crazy.

And pregnant. And 40. Whew. Now, I always wanted three children. And had this happened even two years ago I think I have been thrilled. But 40 changes things, and when you are quite settled in your life and happy where you are and you have plans, well, God's surprises can take you by storm. I was not happy - in fact, I cried for two weeks. So maternal, right? I have so much guilt for feeling the way I did, and yes, I know that I will get to the point where I am happy, even thrilled, for this little miracle, but I'm just not quite there yet. In fact, at 14 weeks, I'm just now at the acceptance level. The, "ok, I guess we're actually going to do this" level.

It will be all be good. Right?

:)

I Heart Faces - Photography Challenge, Black & White

A photo of my son (age 4)

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com







On the day the little one was born...

Five years ago today, I was in a hospital room in a very cold Jackson, Michigan, on a cloudy, dreary day.  And then, a little bit of sunshine came with the birth of our little B-man.  :)

I was induced into labor on a Monday morning, and after a long day and night, he was born on Tuesday morning with an unplanned and very quick C-section. He got stuck on his way into the world, with his head wedged in what must have been a very uncomfortable and, I'm sure, painful position. With a big goose egg, a scratched up nose and a bit jaundiced, he entered the world looking like he had been in a fight somewhere along the way.  But he was feisty even at the very beginning, and was a healthy 8lbs, 5 oz.  He ate like a pro, but sleep was elusive until he was 2, and even now the boy is restless.

B lived in three States and four homes by the time he was 20 months old. Pair all that moving with the lack of sleep and no wonder I have trouble remembering details from that time period. (Also, no wonder I still can't find a few things - wonder which State I left them in? ha!)

So here's to Grinner 2, some of his quirks, favorites, and things I adore about him:
Favorites:
Food: mac and cheese
Color: dark blue
Thing to do: ride his bicycle  (the boy asked for his training wheels to be removed at the age of 3 1/2!  And then proceeded to ride off down the street!)

Irritations:
Baths, friends who don't share, big brothers (sometimes), and any vegetable that isn't a cooked carrot. He also does not like to be helped. At all. By anyone. With anything. Very independent is this boy.

Lovely quirks:
The way he sticks his tongue out when embarrassed, unsure, excessively happy, very sad, or very tired. The position of his tongue is like a mood ring.

The way he cocks his head, narrows one eye and looks at you kind of sideways when thinking about something. (And yes, we've had his eyes checked to make sure this is a cute quirk rather than an eyesight issue!)

The huge grin and dimples that earned him his nickname - Grinner 2.  (His Dad was nicknamed Grinner when he was little. Such a mini-me!)

The fact that he will still occasionally ask me if he can take a nap after lunch when he's feeling really tired.

The way he 'asks' if he can have something. For example: "I can't have this lollipop, Mom" *Looking at me with semi-hopeful eyes* or "I can't buy a toy, Mom." or "I can't have candy before dinner."  It sounds like a statement, but he will make that statement until I say, "No, you can't" or "Sure, you can!"  :)

We have a low key birthday planned - including a meal of baked chicken strips, mac and cheese (of course), broccoli (for me), and salad (for everyone except B). Also chocolate cake with icing and sprinkles per orders from B.  A birthday party with friends is planned for Saturday.

Watching children grow is such a bittersweet experience - it's so exciting to watch them learn and grow, but it happens so quickly that sometimes I just want them to stay little a bit longer. Luckily my B-man loves to snuggle, hug and kiss this sentimental mommy, so it's all still good. :)

Christmas shows and other talents...

The week after our second party (whew!) both boys had Christmas programs. They happened to fall on the same day, but thankfully not the same time, and it worked out that my sweet MIL was able to travel up to see them.

First up was B's Christmas concert at his preschool. I had a very cute plaid shirt/Santa sweater vest combo ready for to go except that he refused to wear it so he ended up in a cheery, holiday brown. The 4 year old is just too cool, I guess. He did a great job singing, and said that his favorite song was Away in a Manger.

I absolutely adore preschool Christmas programs. I always cry happy tears at some point during the show, and I leave with my heart open and feeling completely ready for Christmas. I guess next year I'll just have to go to some random preschool event just so I get can my Christmas fix. That wouldn't be considered stalking, would it?

Next we posed for some pictures. Ben felt so special to have Nana make a special trip just for him...

We had a little time in the afternoon to go by the local town library and see an art show. E entered a PTA sponsored art competition in his elementary school with a picture that he took with our little camera at the local Arboretum. He tied for first place at his school!  All local school winners were then displayed in the local library and judged at the district level. Guess what? His photo is going on to the State level!  He was so excited when he heard the announcement, but then asked, "What does that mean?"  

His picture is on the top - he titled it, "The Leaning Tower of Pumpkins."  The theme of the competition was "Diversity" so not quite sure how that all fits in, but whatever!

I helped him upload his pictures onto the computer, showed him a few of the edits he could make on it with iPhoto, and then let him loose to do the editing. I then showed him how to send it to Walgreens online to order a print.  He sent two to be enlarged and then chose which one he wanted to enter. I tried to be as minimally helpful as possible :) 

After a quick dinner, next up was E's show. Doesn't he look excited to be there? ha!  (he really was)

By the way, he was supposed to be dressed as a kid from the 1800's but the best we could do was turn of the century. And I wish he would wear that hat all the time!

 And then after the show...  doesn't B look excited to be there? ha!