It's scheduled! and It's a Baby Shower!

So, my c-section has been scheduled! Harry will be born on Friday, September 10th! Yay!

I feel as if things are falling into place. I love knowing when my son will be born - no waiting to go into labor like with my first child. I am a planner, so this is good for me. The nursery is almost finished, as well. It is the smallest room in the house (besides the bathrooms), so it seems crowded and cluttered to me, but I am going to work on de-cluttering this week. Harry has so many hand-me-down baby toys from his brother (I love saying "his brother"!) and his cousin that they are taking over the room! It is kinda driving me crazy.

Now for some baby shower pictures! Not my baby shower - I'm not having one this time around - but my sister's baby shower. My younger sis, Jill, lives in Illinois and she is also pregnant (with her first, a girl), due in November. She came home last week for her hometown baby shower.

This is my beautiful sis! The teddy bear belonged to my grandmother who passed away in 2007. Our aunt gave it to Jill for her future daughter.

Here is the food table! Yum yum! We had sandwiches shaped like baby bottles (I used a baby bottle cookie cutter), petit fours with butterflies, and strawberries dipped in pink chocolate!

I love this picture! She is opening a present from her sister-in-law that had pickles and chocolate in it!


Here is a belly picture of my sister and me.

She is younger than me (by a little less than two years) but somehow she is taller. We are both wearing flat shoes! What's up with that?

Who put THAT there???

So, this past Sunday was rough and tumble.

Sundays are always a little hectic for my family because it is the only day my husband and I are home at the same time, therefore, one of us is always trying to catch up on household or yard duties or errands while the other one watches our son.

Sometimes, we will run errands together with our son, which is always an adventure. This past Sunday, Max got a sucker stuck in his hair at Harbor Freight and then spent the entire trip to Lowe's yelling for more M&Ms and trying to convince us to let him play with a box cutter. Why is it that little boys always pick out the most dangerous thing in their surrounding area to want to play with?

After my son's nap that afternoon, my husband went outside to install a water pump under our house while I tried to feed Max a snack and do general mommy duties. For one reason or another, my son was incredibly difficult to deal with that day. He was into everything, making messes, never still, pinching the dogs, he wouldn't eat, he was just being a pill.

So, I decided to give him one of the toys he got for Christmas last year from a relative. We didn't let him have it at the time because we thought he was too young for it. It is a tractor with very, VERY small pieces that can be put together and taken apart and I thought we could work on it together to keep my son engaged in a new project.

The toys were in our closet, stacked on top of my jewelry box and then on top of some of Max's birthday presents for this year. We have no storage in this old house, so things are tucked in every nook and cranny and stacked up wherever possible.

What I didn't realize was that my husband had braced the box with my wedding dress in it, which was partly hanging off of the top shelf, on top of these presents and then placed his two camera bags and his antique rifle on top of the dress box. Would have been good to know.

As I reached up on my tippy toes and pulled down the tractor toy box, suddenly a wave of brutality fell down from the top shelf onto my head. First the camera bags. Then the wedding dress box. And then, the monster of them all, the heaviest freaking rifle in the world.

I thought for sure my skull was cracked. I haven't felt that much pain since childbirth. In a span of about five seconds, the time it took for me to run from my closet to the back door to get my husband, a huge bump had already formed on the back of my head.

I was bawling and I was terrified. I started having visions of being 8 months pregnant and dropping dead from a brain bleed. I have never been hit in the head that hard.

We started taking inventory of my symptoms: Did I have a headache? No. Was my vision blurry? No. Was I vomiting? No. Were my pupils dilated? No. Was I nauseated? No. Was I sleepy? No. Was I in more pain than Pat Robertson at a Gay Pride Parade? Yes. Was I sweating more than Sarah Palin on a quiz show about government policy? Yes. Did I have more anxiety than my grandmother the first time I wore ripped jeans in 1989? Yes.

Excruciating pain, sweating and anxiety aside, we decided that I was going to be okay. But first, I cried for a loooooong time, took two Tylenol, and put an ice pack on my head. And then tried to keep my son from throwing his Darth Vader at my skull.

Naturally, I didn't sleep well that night because it hurt to put pressure on my head, but the swelling was gone by the next morning and only a little tenderness remained.

And I don't think I am any dumber than I was before...might have crushed a few brain cells...won't be sure until after the baby is born and the hormones stop affecting my brain function...and that could be a very, very, very long time.

At least I got a tan...

So, this past week was a crazy one. Whew. Swim lessons, my sister's baby shower, temper tantrums, a big bonk on the head (I'll explain this one in another post!). And I survived.

I think I survived through refusing to worry about things I couldn't control, like my almost 2-yr old son's temper tantrums at swim lessons or whether or not I peed when my unborn baby did the Riverdance on my bladder. Not to say that I didn't have moments of anxiety and wet panties, but I tried to quickly push them aside with my new favorite reminder:

What is the point of worrying about things you can't control if you can't control them, and what is the point of worrying about things you can control if you can control them? There is no point, therefore, it makes no sense to worry. Bladder leakage - can't control it.

So, here are some pictures from our week of swim lessons. My sister (who was visiting from St. Louis) and my Aunt Brenda came on the last day of lessons and took pictures for me. Max took these swim lessons with his friend, McCoy, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them together because McCoy couldn't come on Friday.

Here we are...the last day of mass swim lessons and unstable toddler tantrums...

Here is Max trying to wiggle away from me while we swim to the ropes in the middle of the pool. He wanted to play with his Aunt Jill, who was sitting on the sidelines.

This is Max with the teacher, practicing one of the things that gave me the biggest headache: getting in and out of the pool. Once Max was out, he didn't want to get back in.

Here we are practicing leg kicking and dog paddling. Max didn't really catch on to either one. He was too distracted by his desire to get out of the pool and throw rocks.

Max and his arch nemesis, the swim buoy.

Here I am trying to convince Max to get back in the pool at the count of "3." My 8-mo. pregnant belly kept bumping against the pool wall, making this whole scene quite humorous.

Max practicing with his kick board, which he would let go of and push out in front of him instead of holding on. And instead of saying, "Let's all give Max a hand for doing such a good job with his kickboard", the teacher said, "Let's all give Max a hand for doing whatever he wants!"

Aye yi yi.

This is Max actually being very still during back floating practice. He really liked this part.

Waving to Aunt Jill, Brenda, and Daddy on the sidelines.

One summer of swim lessons down, many more to go.

Week Four: Money Monday!

So, I've got a lot to talk about and share this week in photos and stories (so stay tuned - I am going to post everyday this week!), but first...my Money Monday post!

Page 15: "You have to begin telling a different story if you want the Law of Attraction to bring you different things."

So true. Isn't there a saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results?

How many of us talk about how bad our lives suck or how bad we want something to happen in our lives with fearful, longing and desperate emotions backing up our words? I know I have done it, especially with money.

In order for the Law of Attraction to work, we must stop talking about what is happening or has happened in our lives and start talking about how we now want it to be. And not just talking about it, but putting the good feeling emotions behind it. Instead of speaking about something you desire from a place of lack and sadness, speak about your delicious desire from a place of good feelings, excitement and faith.

For example, yesterday my husband and I drove past a Jimmy John's sub shop. And speaking from a place of lack (and feeling let down), I said, "I miss the days when we were able to afford to spontaneously stop somewhere for lunch. I wish we could afford to eat out more." I was speaking of my desire from a place of disappointment and lack.

A better statement would have been: "Wouldn't a Jimmy John's lettuce wrap be delicious right now? I love their lettuce wraps. I could eat one everyday and I'm looking forward to getting one someday soon!" This statement, with only positive emotions behind it, would have been speaking about my desire from a place of feeling good and an expectation that I could have a Jimmy John's lettuce wrap whenever I want with nothing holding me back.

In order to gain control of our lives and our destiny, we must tell a different story about our situations. A story that tells of gratefulness, excitement, faith in ourselves and those around us, faith that we will be taken care of, and neverending hope.

I want to start telling a different story. Do you?

Swim lessons...

So, I had to skip Money Monday again this week. My son started swim lessons yesterday, plus I am busy getting ready for my sister's baby shower this weekend, and getting my own nursery ready for Harry!

Swim lessons...hmmm...what do I say about swim lessons? It is an hour EVERYDAY for a week, which to me is overkill. I wish it was every OTHER day for two weeks. Yesterday, my son did awesome. He loved every minute of it, he didn't cry, he smiled, he laughed, he practiced. He had a great time and was in the best mood the rest of the day.

Today? Not so much. He cried almost the entire hour. Not because he was afraid, but because he wanted to get out of the pool in the middle of his lesson and run around. There are about 10 -15 other kids in his class and almost all of them break into tears at some point, but Max's tears just wouldn't let up today.

At the beginning of the lesson, the instructor had the little ones practice getting in and out of the pool. Well, once Max was out, he just wanted to stay out and that is where the trouble began. He cried the rest of the time. He cried through kick board practice. He cried through dog paddle practice, through back floating practice. I was exhausted by the end from trying to distract him and keep the tears at bay. And I am waaay too pregnant to be able to climb out of the pool and chase after him. I'd never make it out of the water!

If the instructor has the kids practice getting in and out of the pool everyday, this is going to be one. long. week.

I will have pictures up by the end of the week of his swim lessons - they may be of one very upset little boy, but I'll have pictures!

It was a birthday party!

So, I've been meaning to write this post for a week! My mother's birthday was last week and we had a small get together at her house!

She got out the baby pool for my son - she and my husband played with Max in the water while my aunt grilled chicken and ears of corn and I sat my pregnant bootie on the porch swing and watched everyone else work and entertain my son!

This is my mom with her grandson, Max!

This is my aunt Brenda, my mom's sister, posing Max for the camera

This is my favorite picture of my mom. She is having so much fun with Max and I think she looks beautiful! She plays with him for hours at a time - Max is so blessed to have a grandma who will play with him and she is just ten minutes away!

Max loves his baby pool! But, he loves the water hose even more!

Thank you, Mom, for being such a wonderful grandma! We love you and again, Happy Birthday!

If you want to find out more about my mom, Janie B., she has her own blog. Click here to check it out!

Conjunctivitis and Rice Krispies

So, my son woke up this morning with his left eye red, puffy, and crusted shut. The little darling didn't even act like he noticed. He was in such a good mood when he woke up that he didn't seem to care that his eye was glued shut. He just ran around the house laughing like a maniac while I chased him with a warm washcloth and desperately tried to clean out his eye.

I called the doctor and got an appointment for 11:40 am.

We still had a few hours to kill before his appointment, so I put him in his highchair for breakfast. He ate a piece of toast, a banana, but still wanted more to eat. So, I gave him a chocolate gluten-free version of Rice Krispies called Koala Crisps. They taste just like Cocoa Krispies, but are made by EnviroKidz Organic and are gluten-free. I love them!

I left him eating his Koala Crisps and went into the kitchen to make my breakfast. When I returned to the table to eat with him, I found him stuffing his ears with Krispies! I had to dig one out of his left ear. Thank goodness they are brown - if it was rice instead of cocoa, I may not have been able to see it!

Of course, after that, he thought it was hilarious! He later tried to stuff some french fries in his ears at lunchtime.

At his doctor's appointment later this morning, after waiting in the waiting room for an hour and 10 minutes!!, the doctor said he has conjunctivitis. He went to my nephew's birthday party this weekend, so that is probably where he picked it up. We have to give him drops in his eyes THREE times a day! It is a daily battle to even brush my son's teeth - I have no idea how we are going to give him eye drops!

I was so proud of him, though. An hour and 10 minutes is a loooooong time for a toddler to wait at a doctor's office. He didn't cry, he didn't act up, he didn't throw any fits...he just played with toys, ate his snacks, drank his milk, and watched videos of The Fresh Beat Band and The Upside Down Show on YouTube on my cell phone.

He started to get goofy toward the end because it was already past his nap time, so he banged on some windows and did some sumersaults in the middle of the waiting room, but come on...really...how long can a toddler be expected to wait?? I thought he was amazing! On the way home, I stopped and bought him some chocolate milk for a treat. He doesn't get it very often and he loooooves it (naturally)!

I am a very proud mommy today, even if he did try to store food in his ears! He was just being resourceful, right? Wish me luck with the eye drops!

He is on the go! Photos in motion!

Pregnancy Pic

So, I didn't have enough time to write my Money Monday post today. I didn't have time to finish ANYTHING I started all day long. I spent the day trying to keep my toddler off the dining room table, trying to keep him from throwing toys in the toilet, trying to keep him entertained long enough to do a load of laundry or start the dishwasher, but none of it happened. Ah, well. Just another day in mommytown.

So, instead, here is the pregnancy picture I promised. I am now 30 1/2 weeks. This is the first picture I have taken in this pregnancy. Oops! I took many more with my first, but now I am so busy that I haven't even thought about chronicling this pregnancy in pictures.



Write more soon! Peace!

Another storm...but it's all worth it.

So, it was another rough parenting day yesterday. If you read my post yesterday, you know it has been two straight days of tears and tantrums. I hate seeing my son so upset. He has been very restless and difficult to please. All he wants to do is everything he isn't supposed to...like play with the computer ink after being told not to until he has it all over his hands...or play in the water from the sink faucet for thirty minutes, four times a day...or pound on the computer screen...or hit the dogs...or dump his crackers out on the couch...or shove as much toilet paper as he can into the toilet...or...

My son is my world and if he is upset, then I'm upset. I don't know how to separate our two emotional states. I try to remain calm and not take on his tears, but I find it almost impossible. When he smiles, I am grinning from ear to ear. When he cries, I am hurting on the inside like someone is twisting a knife in my chest.

Last night, after another rough day, he went to bed at his normal bedtime. But this time, he cried so hard. This is very unusual for him. He doesn't normally cry at bedtime. He has always been easy to put down for naps and nighttime. He cried for 45 minutes!

My husband and I don't agree with the just-let-them-cry-until-they-pass-out method, so I went in every few minutes to check on him and comfort him. It was killing me to hear him so upset. I rocked him, I kissed him, I hugged him. The third time I went in, the floor in front of his crib was soaking wet from his tears!! Talk about a knife in the chest!

After the fourth time I checked on him, he finally fell asleep. And as soon as I realized that he was sleeping, I broke down into the tears I had been wanting to cry all day. I cried from relief for him and myself, from exhaustion, and of course, like every mother, from guilt. Guilt that I hadn't been a good enough mother to keep him from having his meltdowns the past two days, guilt that I hadn't been creative enough to keep him entertained, guilt from wishing I could have an afternoon to myself, guilt for being aggravated, guilt for not being one of those mothers who can remain soft spoken and calm, guilt for every little damn thing.

I've learned that being a mother isn't always a breeze and it isn't always a storm. But it is always worth the tears, the frustration, the stormy days. I wouldn't trade being a mother for the world. My son's existence in this world has shown me a love that is bigger and more unconditional than I ever knew was possible with human beings. My love for him has left me raw and vulnerable. I can't kiss him enough. I can't hug him enough. And even on days like yesterday when I couldn't wait for him to go to bed, I missed him like crazy the minute he fell asleep.

Ah, motherhood. I love you, buddy.

Is it wrong to want to tie your child to the bed? or, Mommy had a bad day!

So, yesterday was one of those parenting days that are not to be enjoyed, just suffered through and survived.

Max threw so many temper tantrums I thought I must be on Punked or Pranked or some other practical joke TV show.

I think all I did was yell aaaalllll daaaaayyy looooong. If I wasn't yelling at Max to stop pulling my hair or banging his head against the wall when he didn't get his way, then I was yelling at our bull terrier, Meeko, to get out of my way and stop tormenting the rest of us. I don't like yelling. It takes too much energy.

Max threw one tantrum after another, starting with the biggest one when I made him get out of the bathtub yesterday morning because he refused to sit down. He was only taking a bath in the first place because he jumped in the tub and poured out his shampoo all over his legs and shorts before I knew what he was doing. So, I gave him a bath and no matter how much I talked sweetly, then threatened, then yelled, he would not sit down. He has a scar on his chin from falling in the tub a few weeks ago when he refused to sit down. Did he learn from that? Ummm, no.

I told him that if he didn't sit down, he would have to get out (he looooves baths, so that would be a punishment). When he didn't, I made him get out. And boy, that was a tantrum that lasted 10 to 15 to 20 minutes. I lost track of time because my brain was vibrating from all the screaming.

After that, he was just generally unpleasant and mad at me. We had spirited battles of the wills all morning until nap time. And after nap time, it started again.

He climbed on the baby's crib because he was trying to swing from the top of it (it has a canopy), he purposely knocked over stacks of paperwork, the remote basket, a box of colored pencils, he emptied the drawers in the den, he threw his food, he drew on the dining room table with a crayon, he drew on the coffee table with a pencil, he unraveled the toilet paper, he threw things in the dogs' water dish, he threw a tantrum in Toys R Us when it was time to leave. And the child won't even be two until next month!!

We've had four rainy days in a row and I think he has cabin fever, as do I. We are both Leos and the ruling planet of Leos is the sun. And we haven't had any sunshine for four days!! It is getting to both of us. So far, today has been touch-and-go. I've let him win a few battles in order to keep the peace this morning. My husband works both of his jobs today, so I will be alone with our little monkey until bedtime. Please pray for us both. One of us might be getting tied to the bed. And I wouldn't be surprised if it was me.

Fireworks? What fireworks?

So, this is the first year our son has understood about fireworks. And not that he really understood this year either, or was that interested in the big fireworks displays, but he had a great time throwing the snaps! Then again, being given permission to throw anything is fun for our little man.

Saturday the 3rd, we spent the evening at the house of some friends who also have a one-yr old named Gibson. Max and Gibson are just 4 months apart and play pretty well together. Of course, our son is more aggressive and sometimes pushes Gibson down or dumps a box of toys on Gibson's head, but we are trying to curb those behaviors. Gibson did get a good bite in on Max, so the licks were almost even!

Here they are begging for snaps from my husband!

Oooooooo, snaps, snaps, snaps! All I want is snaps!

More snaps, please!

This is the wagon the boys sat in while watching their daddies shoot fireworks off in the front yard!

I think they were more interested in watching their daddies light something on fire and run away instead of the actual fireworks!

On the 4th, after we threw some more snaps in our driveway and lit some smoke bombs and tanks, my husband and Max's great Aunt Brenda took Max to the big fireworks display at the baseball stadium. I was having pregnancy pains in my lower abdomen from this giant baby hanging out in there, so I stayed home and watched fireworks on TV. Plus, I didn't want to get stuck somewhere without a bathroom since I have to go every 30 minutes. So, I had my husband take some video so I could see how Max responded to the fireworks show!

Apparently, Max had better things to do than watch fireworks...the video is a little over five minutes, but you get the idea pretty early on of what he spent the entire five minutes doing instead of watching the fireworks. There is no accounting for taste - literally! I can't say I've ever found my feet quite so tantalizing...

Week Three: Money Monday

So, I'm back with Money Monday after having to skip last week. Again, these posts are based on the book, Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

This week I want to talk about the section in the book called "Money is Not the Root of Evil or of Happiness."

We have all heard the phrases "money is the root of all evil" and "money can't buy you happiness." I have always said that whoever came up with the latter phrase, must have had money all their lives and never knew what it was like to not have it because having money would certainly up my happiness factor a bit! To be free from worry about how to pay bills? Oh yeah, I'd be happier.

But really, money can't be good or evil. It has no personality, no conscience, no thoughts of greed or jealousy, no charitable side, no selfish side. Money just is. It just exists. It is material. Besides, "good" or "evil" are just labels. What really counts is how we perceive the role of money in our lives.

We've also all heard about the laws of the Universe, particularly the Law of Attraction. I've heard about it so much that it almost seems hokey and overused. But, I do believe in its power. We all send out a vibration to the Universe with the emotion behind the thoughts we think and the beliefs we have about something. Our vibration is the basis for everything that comes to us in our lives. Our vibration attracts things of like vibration to us while "holding those not of like vibrations apart." (p. 9)

Money is a large part of our vibrational make-up because it is such a focus of our lives - it is how we pay our bills, attend college, buy gas for our cars, buy homes and cars and clothes, pay for braces for our kids, go on vacation. If we concentrate on the lack of money, then according to the Law of Attraction, we will attract other vibrations of lack.

For instance, (p. 10) when we feel overwhelmed, mistreated, disappointed, fearful, or poor, we will only attract more overwhelming circumstances or people, more unfairness, more disappointment, more fear, more poverty.

Page 10: "When you feel prosperous - only things that feel like prosperity can come to you. This Law is consistent; and if you will pay attention, it will teach you, through life experience, how it works. When you remember that you get the essence of what you think about - and then you notice what you are getting - you have the keys for Deliberate Creation."

It doesn't happen overnight - it is a cumulative effect of emotions. What is happening today is an accumulation of emotions and beliefs from the past. So, let's start a new ball rolling and start to change our futures today by thinking about what we want (abundance) instead of what we don't want (lack) and feel the positive emotions behind getting whatever it is we desire!