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.