Post-Partum things that SUCK!!!

I love being pregnant, I love having babies - even birth is okay, but there are several things about the post-partum period that SUCK:

1) hair loss - I have very thick, waist-length hair, so when it starts falling out after all the lovely preggo hormones leave I loose alot of hair. I swear it looks like I am sacrificing little auburn guinea pigs in my trash can.

2) sleep deprivation I can handle with aplomb, but this stinking insomnia is a different story.

3) weight gain - yes, I am one of those rare weird people who loose weight when pregnant and put tons on when I nurse.

4) deciding when to blame said weight gain on the baby and own up to the fact that maybe I am just a little more chubby than usual lately.

That's all for now.

Sea World and the fright of my life

Today we decided to venture to Sea World to play in the kiddy water park and see the Dolphin/Beluga Whale/Acrobat show. It was freakin' crowded...not unexpected as it is Memorial Day weekend, but we went early so expected it to be only moderately crowded - Wrong!

We first headed the the water area as the dolphin petting section was beyond crowded. P-Daddy and the kids entered the play area while L and I stayed outside (she was sleeping). They were having a ton of fun until I noticed C was wandering around by herself and looked confused so I motioned to P-Daddy who was simultaneously motioning to me. I thought he had lost sight of C so I pointed her out to him. Then he looked around, gathered up S and C and came over to me, when I casually asked him "where's X?" His response "with you?". OH SHIT...turns out he was motioning to me to tell me X was coming over to me because he needed to pee. When he turned back after motioning to me, X was gone and he assumed he had come to me. P-Daddy raced off to look for X in the water area with no luck. He came back to see if he was with me at which point I took off yelling his name which was bloody pointless...not a single person stopped to ask what was wrong, or indicate whether they had seen him or not. No one even paid attention to me. I made a circle around the play area and then the panic set in; awful images of the police coming to my door in a few days to tell me they had found his body. As I was about to race back to P-Daddy and the kids to grab a phone and call 911 through an opening in the crowd I spotted a pale-as-can-be shirtless blond kid wandering around looking terrified. I raced to him and swept him up in my arms and went racing to P-Daddy who was so nervous that I don't think he noticed X in my arms because he kept saying "I don't see him, I don't see him" until I actually had to point him out in my arms. Turns out he needed to go to the bathroom. Needless to say he got an extremely stern talking too fueled by utter horror on our part.

We then sat down for a snack (stress eating) and went to the Viva! show which was really cool and involved dolphins, beluga whales and high diving acrobats. Then we headed over to the sharks for a quick peek, then back to the car and out for pizza (I will not rant about the false advertising about coupons and kids eat for free at a certain establishment near my house other than to say we will never frequent this establishment again).

Home for the most glorious activity of all - a 2hr nap with R-dog and R-cat while P-Daddy made noodles and sauce with veggie meatballs. Yummy!

Hopefully I can sleep without nightmares tonight.

The Playroom

We brought some things back from Kansas which we didn't originally have room for in the move. One of the things the kids were really excited about were the play tents that G-Ma and Auntie-M had each purchased for them. Yesterday, I tried to set them up in the big open room (which is supposed to be a dining room living room combo thingy, but with no furniture it is now just a wide open space). Well the poles were all bent, so I was only able to set up one teepee and one firestation along with two tunnels, much to the kids', cats' and dogs' excitement.

My other project this weekend is consolidating the boys into one room and turning S's room into a playroom. Back in KS, the boys shared a room and we had C's things in another room which we also used as a playroom. When we moved to TX, the boys wanted their own rooms with their own decor and themes and opted out of having a playroom. Fast forward almost six months and the boys are begging to be back in one room and to have a playroom - this suits my purpose because having toys scattered around the house is driving me insane. The boys also independently decided that half the room would be decorated in cowboys and the other in dinos so they both could be happy. This also works because eventually C and L will have to share a room and the boys can model cooperation for the girls. Now I just have to decide whether I am going to capitulate on the request for bunkbeds. It doesn't really matter because everyone ends up in bed with us every night anyway, so it would be more for P-Daddy's or my comfort as we usually end up in one of the kid's beds when it just gets too crowded in ours (or R-Dog stealthily tries to sneak a spot on the bed).

Our Vacation - the Pictorial Version

A view of our vacation. For details see P-Daddy's post as linked in the message below.

R-dog took umbrage to being relegated to the back with Lady Barfsalot (aka B-dog), so he crawled forward and snuggled up to C. I took this shot while barreling down I-35 at 80 mph so excuse the crappy composition.

P-Daddy checking out the damage to the XL-7

Russel to the Rescue!!


The kids hanging out in the gas/service station in Waco.

C, L, R-dog, B-dog and I had to sleep in our seats because the van was packed full. P-Daddy and the boys were able to lay the front seats backs and huddle up together. I am not sure how S and X ended up as a human pretzel, but hey, at least they slept for a few hours.

W-dog was so excited to see us and B-dog....still wants to kill R-dog so we had to keep them separated.


KY's baby shower

The kids hanging out at G-Ma's

Dr. C, P-Daddy, BZ and SZ (MZ's parents) at lunch

AZ and MZ at lunch

P-Daddy outside the Lied Center on the way to the hooding

We got to the hooding 15mins after the doors opened and the main seating was already full, so we had to sit in the balcony. I had the camera on full zoom, so please excuse the quality. P-Daddy being hooded my Dr. C

P-Daddy and MZ outside of Lippincott Hall waiting to Walk Down the Hill

L chilling on G-Ma's bed, which we had just moved into the master bedroom for her. She turned 3 months old on the day this picture was taken.

Not really what I had in mind when I brought the cage back with us from Kansas, but at least O isn't showing his displeasure at being left behind like R-cat is....cats can be very vindictive sometimes.

Back from "vacation"

I promise I will write more and post pictures later, but S is running a fever and L is uber fussy. If you want to read P-Daddy's take on the whole thing, check out his post.

Let the vacation recovery continue.....

Random pics of a precious baby

Mother's Day

I was raised to view Mother's Day (and Father's Day and Valentine's Day) as fake, Hallmark holidays and we never did anything for them, and barely even acknowledged their existence.

Well, now that I have kids, I see that the Day is actually more for them (at their age) so we have a little ritual: P-Daddy and the kiddos make me breakfast and serve it to me in bed. At this point in time it is just cereal with yogurt and coffee. I am fully expecting pancakes or waffles swimming in syrup, fresh squeezed citrus juice and gourmet lattes by time the kids are older.

C took the whole "serving Mommy thing a little too literally and started spoon feeding me my treat. The we all loaded up and went to the grocery store, and the library. I picked up the 2004 version of A Well-Trained Mind so I can make sure I have all my bases covered while planning the kids' homeschool curriculum...I have previously read the 1999 edition and the 2009 edition has not hit my local library yet (I might just end up buying it). I also got a book called The Expected. I think it will be similar to The Da Vinci Code, but dealing much more in depth with Mary Magdalene. Well, at least the review I read in the Chinaberry catalog sounded good. I also have The Commoner (another Chinaberry recommendation but not on their site anymore) waiting to be read.

Then home for some rest, dinner and a phone call with MFF back in Lawrence planning a post doctoral hooding party for P-Daddy, MZ and her this Saturday. Now it is off to bed to watch Chronicles of Riddick with P-Daddy.....who posted the most beautiful Mother's Day post on his blog. I caught a real winner when I snagged him.

Saturday Fun Day

Today we attended the going away party for a fellow AP family - they are moving to Kansas City as chance would have it. Everyone had a great time playing in the pool and in the coolest Star Wars bedroom ever (as I am assured by P-Daddy and the boys). It was nice to catch up with some of our new friends. I do have pictures but I want to get permission from the host of the party before I put them up because they have other children in them, so stay tuned.

P-Daddy and I were going to watch a movie, but everyone was so riled up that it took forever to get them to sleep and we just crashed after.

Okay, here are a few pics we took (I didn't realize P-Daddy had taken these when I first posted).

The Famed Star Wars room and S's reaction to it. By the blurriness you can tell P-Daddy was quivering with excitement too.

C enjoying the sandbox

....and the tire swing

X in the pool

Shazam it's hot!!

Okay, so I am not supposed to swear, hence the Shazam, but serious it is the beginning of May and it has already hit 102 degrees. What the heehaw have we gotten ourselves into? I'm Canadian of European decent, for Crisco's sake...I am not, I repeat not, meant to be in this heat. I am pale, have auburn hair and freckles, I hate the sun...not a good combo for living in Texas.

Garden update

Well, the dizziness subsided enough for me to transplant some aloe plants we had been given. The kids and dogs helped me out, and even offered up one of their Lego boxes when I ran out of containers - of course, they then took ownership of the little aloe plants in it.

This is the whole group, along with S's stick garden

We have (as the kids have christened them) 1 "Adult", 2 "Teenagers", 4 "Kids" and 1 "Baby" who is inside in water being watched over by S.

Here is a close-up of the Teens

Close-up of the Adult with X adding visual perspective

This is what the garden looks like now

Our hugelkulture pile with cantaloupes growing out of it. I am going to throw some acron squash seeds into it and see what happens....adventures in gardening.

Blossom enjoying the sun

Ranger guarding the garden

Gardening is Fun!!!

Dear Followers and other people who accidentally get to my blog - my vertigo is acting up really badly and being on the computer is painful, so no blogging until I get this under control.

Sunday's list - a little late

Today was capoeira day so that was the main event. Not much else went down so I am going to do my neglected Sunday List today.

Household Items I Want Because They Would Make My Life Easier:

1) Chest Freezer - any would do. Buying in bulk would be more efficient and I could do bulk cooking. I used to do a week's worth of cooking on Sunday's but I don't have the fridge/freezer space here.
2) Haan Floor Cleaner - I have white floors and white tiles and I can never get them clean enough for my taste.
3) Bissel Little Green - 4 kids, 4 pets - no other explanation needed.
4) Wine Cooler - at least 20 bottle capacity. Okay, my life wouldn't be easier, but P-Daddy would be hugely excited and I would get to drink more wine.
5) Furniture for each of the kids' rooms. I would particularly love bookshelves and toy chest. Right now their mattresses are on the floor and the only bureau to survive the moving van crash is in S's room with everyone's stuff in it.
6) Furniture for the rest of the house. Sure the kids would hate not having the big open room to run around in, but dining room/living room furniture would be nice.
7) one of those converter boxes that lets you watch movies from your computer/Netflix Direct on the television. We could probably get rid of cable then.
8) a much bigger Crock Pot. I have mine running almost every day making meals, yogurt, cottage cheese, paneer, etc.
9) individual school desks for the kids - they just think doing school at desks would be cool. But, I think a dining room table would be more practical.
10) a new dishwasher - how DO my dishes end up dirtier than when they went in. It is a mystery.

Editing - I totally forgot my ultimate wish - a fully equipped Kitchen-Aid mixer with lots of attachments. Ah, the dream.....in blue or yellow.

Weekend in Review

We had a busy weekend...hence the late post, and the short write-up.

P-Daddy went to work on Friday, so the kids and I spent a quiet-ish day going about our business. Saturday was our Big Event Day - AC, RR and SRC held a playdate for some of the co-workers from P-Daddy's work. I headed out early in the morning to get fruit, cheese, and eggs as our contribution to the yummies. We headed over and spent the afternoon and evening have fun and food. The kids crashed hard when we got home, but we will have all their new friends over (and many other people) when we host a "Welcome Babies" party on June 13th for the 4 babies who recently or are about to be born to people at the SFBR (including L).

Sunday we headed to Costco for a small stock up. Of course, the stupid van dies in the parking lot, leaving us all stranded in the heat and humidity. We trekked to the Wal-Mart (which was thankfully close) to buy a new battery, then trekked back. Unfortunately, the bolt that holds the battery in was so rusted we couldn't move it, and had no idea what we were going to do. Luckily, and nice man and his wife stopped with a fully stocked tool cabinet in the back of their truck and took the bolt out for us. Van runs like a charm now. P-Daddy and Spencer went out for their special day (early dinner at McD's) and we rented House Bunny - it was perfect for the end of a busy, sometimes trying, weekend.

Monday P-Daddy headed to work and we headed to the South east side of town to pick up Aloe plants from a fellow AP mom. S was so excited because one of them was a "baby" that he has named Plantie and once it is transplanted into a pot, will take up residence in his room. Seeing as we spent so much time in the parking lot of Costco on Sunday, I wasn't able to go grocery shopping so that is what I did.

Oh, the excitement.