RazNoggle

So sue me if the image I had in my had about this Saturday was me sipping a tall glass of iced lemonade while basking in a cool sea-flavored breeze as I gently swayed back and forth in an oversized hammock. Not like I really expected that to happen, right? We don’t live by the sea, and we don’t own a hammock…. though I should look into that! Ha ha ha! No, my more realistic expectations for today were to get a little extra rest and then to get some stuff done that is in desperate need of doing!

For a little while there, I felt like I had all this time to get “stuff” ready for the baby and suddenly I feel like we’re running out of time!! Ack! I’m so thankful that my bro came and painted the room for me though! I can’t tell ya what a HUGE help and boost to the process that was! The wall quote and the polka dots I ordered have come in, so one of my goals for today is to get those up on the walls. I think once that is done it will make a big difference in that room!! I am taking pictures of the process! Progress for me! I usually think of it half way through, so I’m not nearly as good at documenting my projects and things as many of my friends are.

The biggest project for today is the little lady’s dresser. My MIL found one for us on craigslist! Gotta love that! But I wasn’t wild about the kind of yellowy-light-piney look to the wood. SO I’m gonna “fix” it. Originally I was just looking for a cheap dresser that I wouldn’t feel bad about painting, because in my mind that was the easiest fix. However, this one seems to be “real” wood, so I’m thinking that a nice cherry or walnut stain on it will actually look awesome! So my hubby fixed me up with the compressor sander and I am busily working on it right now, can’t you tell? No really, I am! I have to let the compressor motor “rest” between goes so that’s why I’m sitting in the cool house writing blog posts. Hee hee!! It’s going well, and I think we’ll be able to get it done quickly. If I can check this and the wall decor off my list this weekend, I think I’ll be feeling more “ready” and less hurried, ya know what I mean??

I did sleep in today and that felt wonderful!! Pray with me that our little gal loves to sleep as much as her brothers have! Ha ha!! That would be a huge blessing! Even though I may not be technically “ready” for her to be here, I’m still ready for her to be here! And if you’ve had babies you know exactly how that feels! Yesterday I read through the manuel of my baby K’tan sling to learn how to use it. I need to practice though, so I’m thinking about making Myles my guinea pig this afternoon if I can catch him! I’m totally “into” slings right now. I didn’t use them at all with Qade. We had a baby bjorn that we used with him, and I like it a lot, but it’s not the same cozy feeling as a sling gives. With Myles I was just starting to get into using them when he was around 8 or 9 months old, so his slinging career was a short one, but long enough for me to know that I really like using them. So this time, poor little girl will just have to be “slung” everywhere. Hope she likes it!

The lads are having a great time playing outside while I project away today. They learned last evening that they can climb up the slide if they take off their shoes. So of course, that is the newest and greatest thing to do! It’s been nice this morning with having just them here to entertain and play with each other. There has been so much less drama, and much more getting along on their parts. I’m not even remotely saying that when the girls are here all the drama comes from them, not so, but having 2 more selfish beings in the mix can bring out the drama in everyone. It just is nice to have a little family time on the weekends. I’m lovin’ it!

Hope you are all having a swell weekend!! Toodles!

Yeah, this week has been a wash as far as successful nap time goes. Today was by far the worst!! But since it’s Friday anything can be endured right?? Today’s was a mixed blessing actually. Qade got up, less than an hour after going “down” to tell me he needed to “go pee” and then did! I was very proud of him for “taking care of business” but rather pessimistic about him going back to sleep. I was right on that last part too. He managed to wake up Myles, who has been getting up WAY early from his naps all week anyway, and even though I sat in their room for half an hour reminding them to keep their eyes closed and go to sleep, it didn’t happen. Not to be daunted out of getting a little peace and quiet for my own sanity, I just closed the room to their door. They’ll get up at 3 just as if they’d been sleeping the whole time. I insist on having some “mommy time” during the day even if they are just having room time and spreading their toys all over creation instead of sleeping.

Well, I came back out to the living room after closing the door on the boys JUST IN TIME to hear the girls getting up. *SIGH SIGH SIGH!!!!* Oh well, my mantra for today is “IT’S FRIDAY!!!!” I’m really hoping that the girls ma will show up early(er) today than she has been. It’s been closer to 4:30 or yesterday it was 5 before she came. I know it’s the first couple weeks of school so things are still trying to get settled in, but that’s going to have to change once the little one arrives for sure. I already told you it’s that space in time in the late afternoons that the boys are at their worst, and as I recall both of them as infants struggled in that dinner-bed time block as well. So if little sis follows suit that means that between 4 and 7 will be some tough times in our house for awhile. Therefore the ladies need to be gone by then. That’s my reasoning anyway. I’m sure it won’t be a problem though. Everything has been working out very well despite the daily disputes, which hopefully they are learning to managed better amongst themselves. Seems so anyway.

But back to the topic at hand. The boys will be going to bed early tonight so I can get a jump-start on my weekend resolution of relaxation! I think since they robbed me of my quiet time this afternoon, it’s only fair! Ha ha ha!!

Hope you all have a swell weekend, and get a good nap in if you can! Toodle-oo!!

I’m super-duper excited that tomorrow is Friday!!! Today didn’t go that well with all the munchkins. Seemed everyone was having a hard time listening and following directions as well as playing nicely together! Whew! I may be a fat pregnant lady, but I can still hustle if I have to correct some saucy or out right defiant behavior. If they think they’re going to pull that one over, hopefully today gave them a glimps into reality.

Anyway, I was glad to see the ladies go home, and glad to get my own two in bed! It’s been a long day, and a long week!! I’m seriously looking forward to this weekend, and will be as completely lazy as I possibly can be! Lazy days of parenthood are not nearly the same as lazy days of singlehood or even newlymarriedhood, but they are still good. Stuart comes from a long line of “non-relaxers” so he will most likely be as busy as ever this weekend. I guess it’s relaxing in it’s way, some people like to relax with more work, but I’m hoping that I can get some ACTUAL rest in there somewhere. Perhaps the lads can help their dad with the serious relaxation while I do the easy stuff!

Although, I’m pretty motivated to get baby girl’s room done now, so that might come into play with my weekend plans. My brother, James, came over for the express purpose of painting the room for me!!! Woo-Hoo!!! It was desperately in need of some new paint, and while I figured it would get done someday, I wasn’t terribly motivated to do it myself. Now it’s all shiny and new looking with a creamy color on the walls. The paint I chose has just a teeeeeeeny touch of a pink.. more like a far away suggestion. So that worked out well. It doesn’t look pink when you see it, but if you really look closely it has a touch of that Southwestern deserty pink in it. Now if the chocolate colored polka dots I ordered would just arrive then we’d really make something out of it!! I forgot to take a true before picture, but I’ll take one tomorrow before I put up her little wall quote. At least that has arrived. I’m really excited about this tiny room and the sweet little bundle it’s being prepared for! Yay!!!

Speaking of bundles, a gal in our church is having a shower for myself and another lady who just had a baby girl. It’s going to be on Sunday after church, and I’m sure will be a ton of fun! It’s hard to tell people what you “need” when you’ve already had a kid (or two) because most of the ‘gear’ and such is still usable. My wonderful sis-in-law is getting a car seat cover for our infant seat. I know it wasn’t a necessary thing, but I thought it would be nice to have something a little more girlie for her than the blue seat that Qade and Myles used. The cover I found is a giraffe print with chocolate and lime green accents. I love it!! Think I’ll make a hat or something out of it when it’s done being used! Ha! But anyway, back to the shower, I did mention that we can always use diapes and wipes! So I imagine that’s what we’ll be bringing home! It’ll be a fun day, though probably pretty tiring. I wear out very quickly on Sundays I’ve discovered. I enjoy the preaching and the kind people in the church, but it is a difficulty to live 45 min away and then have to take care of shopping on church days too. Still, I’m thankful for the church and the wonderful ladies who run the sunday school program for our lads!

I’m rambling rather randomly now, so I think that’s a sign that it’s time for bed! Hope that you all have a fantastic Friday!!! I certainly plan to. It might involve a lot of rope and duct tape, but I’m gonna have a good Friday! Just kidding, of course!!!!!!

Here is the other self portrait I took that I posted on FB. I thought perhaps I’ll stick it up here too in case any of you missed it there. It seems to be the favorite based on feedback. Ta ta!

It feels like the entire 3rd trimester landed on me full force today…. well starting last night. Whew! I have been surprisingly energetic during this last trimester when normally I move like a slug through it with no discernible energy whatsoever! I’m still moving like a slug, but it’s been a slightly more energetic type this time around. Not today though, wow! I had a hard time sleeping last night. Good ol’ braxton-hicks woke me up or kept me up and I just couldn’t find a comfy position to sleep in. So I was starting out the day bleary eyed and sleepy, but even coffee didn’t really help. I had planned to sneak in a nap while the kids were down, but they had another idea. *sigh* I kind of stagger putting them down, so by the time the older ones were sleeping and I had a bite of lunch and was ready to attempt my nap, the littlest girl was up and griping very loudly about an extreeeeeeeemly gross diaper. *double sigh* Oh well. But I seriously was suffering this afternoon from lack of sleep.

Not feeling so swell… nope!

So now that the ladies have gone home I’m ready to relax, but my lads have other plans. Apparently they too are suffering from SOMETHING if not lack of sleep as well, and now have commenced to make the rest of this afternoon as unpleasant as possible. I call the time between 4pm and dinner the “witching hour” because that’s how my children behave! I try to combat it in one way or another but the thing that seems to work best is just to put on a movie. I don’t like to do that every day. Kids are “babysat” too much by the tube. Still what’s a desperate mom to do??? Stuart is stuck at school with some delinquent student who already has to make up work due to being suspended on the FIRST WEEK of school. So here I am all alone with my two “happy” lads, ha ha ha!! Funny how you can make anything a drama.

Well, I decided that the behavior did not deserve to be rewarded with a movie today. So Qade is “enjoying” some solitary room time, and Myles, amazingly, seems fairly content to chew on Potato Head parts for the time being. Now I can go get started on that dinner. I think we’ll get food in tummies, bath time and an early bed tonight for all parties.

Happy Tuesday!

Yesterday morning on our “day of rest” HA! I went into the lad’s room to get them ready for church when I was greeted by a fully dressed Qade and a newly changed Myles (in diaper only) and Qade’s cute little voice piping up, “I’m already dressed!” Which I could clearly see. What I couldn’t figure out was how in the world Myles had been changed!! As I was feeding them breakfast and hurrying through the morning to make it to church on time I asked Qade if he had changed Myles, and he said, “Myles changed his diaper.” Well, I didn’t believe that for an instant. Turns out Myles had INDEED taken his old diaper off, but had a little help with his new diaper. While I was getting ready the boys were wailing in their room and Daddy went to check it out. He found Qade dressed just like I had, but Myles was running around in the nude in their room, so he slapped a diaper on him and told them to clean up their room. Ha ha ha!!

I admit that I was impressed with Qade getting himself completely dressed. He even chose clothes that “go” together, and while he wasn’t wearing a collared shirt like I usually put him in for church, I let him wear his own outfit to church. He has been resistant to doing those things “by himself” like getting dressed and putting his shoes on. It’s not for lack of ability because I know he can do it, but he’d rather mom just do it for him. Slowly I’m starting to refuse to do things for him so he is learning though usually kicking and screaming along the way. So it made me happy to see him take the initiative to get dressed all on his own. Myles succeeded in getting his feety jammies off and diaper removed, but we still have a ways to go on the putting things ON part.

Qade is getting more “into” being a big boy. I’ve tried that tactic on him time and again with the whole potty training thing, and for the longest time he didn’t seem to care a bit about being a big boy. Although when I would ask him to do something he didn’t like he’d like to answer, “I’m bigger” as if that excused him from anything he didn’t feel like doing. Hmmmmm… not cool.

But I have to say that while this potty training battle has lasted far longer than I EVER EVER wanted it to, I believe we are making progress. Knock on wood!! I was going to write an exulting post on Saturday about how wonderful of a week we had had and the strides that our “big boy” was making only to have a “double whammy” accident first thing on Saturday. *sigh* He seemed pretty upset about it though, so maybe that’ll help. Last week he really did do great! Last Sunday didn’t bode well for the week being good as he completely wet through his outfit by the time we got to church. This was with us even repeatedly asking him if he needed to go. A huge mommy uh-oh then came to light because while I had put fresh unders in our diaper bag, I completely forgot an extra pair of pants. Oh dear! So we packed him back up in his seat after changing his pants, and pulled out of the parking lot without having even darkened the church door.

(A little aside here, it kind of humored me that because we were seen leaving by another couple pulling in late we got a call from that couple as well as the pastor this week just “checking” to make sure everything was okay. It humored me and also made me think. Why is it that people only feel compelled to “check up” on you if they think that something is wrong? Shouldn’t we be more involved in people’s lives especially other believers to the point where we would know if there was something wrong? Also if something was “wrong” in that sense do we really expect people to tell us about it if the only time we’re willing to put any effort into their lives is if we are curious about “what’s going on” with them??? Just some thoughts. Personally I don’t think there is enough fellowship or unity among believers but that we often try to salve our conscience by putting ourselves forward when something seems ‘wrong.’ I don’t go for that myself. Not that I was in any way offended by the calls this week, just chuckled to myself, but if something really was wrong, I wouldn’t want to talk about it to people who don’t really show real interest in my life or concerns on a “normal” day. Not sure if all of that came out understandable, but maybe someone can relate) Back to the real subject…

Monday I was expecting more issues with the potty training since we’d had SUCH a bad Sunday with it, but surprisingly it didn’t happen! Qade told me several times each day this week that he was “keeping my unders dry!” and he did!!! The week started as usual with me telling him to go potty every so often. By Thursday though, he was taking the initiative to go on his own! THRILL!!! And he’d even tell me when he needed to go “poey” and ask for a story! Ahhhhh!!! I can’t even describe what a relief this week has been on that front! I’ve been so tired of the whole process for quite some time, but this past week I saw at least a glimmer of light at the end of this rather revolting tunnel!!!

Yesterday I was certain to pack an extra pair of pants “in case” of an accident. On our way to church, which is a 45 min drive, Qade piped up from the back that he was “keeping his unders dry” which kind of tipped me off. I asked if he needed to go and he said yes, so we pulled over, (it’s so easy for boys!!) and while he had “leaked” a little bit, he stopped himself in order to ‘keep dry.’ I was still proud of him for telling us. He told us several times through our shopping and driving too. So while it wasn’t a completely dry success, I still chalk it up to a victory in our little adventure. Hopefully this week will be at least as good as last! I’d love to have him confident with the whole process before the baby comes, because I am anticipating some regressions when we add another family member, but perhaps I’ll be surprised!

Have a swell Monday!