I'm Still Here and Pregnant

I just thought I would give you all an update on the baby. I am still alive and kicking, though I would much rather have a baby and not be pregnant anymore!!!! I am so sick of being pregnant!!!!! The baby is due in 4 days, but since my babies never come on time, and I refuse to be induced, I'm not sure when it will come. I'm hoping for next Thursday or Friday so I can make it through another week of preschool so the kids get the routine down better. Everything looks good with the baby and it is very active and loves to push and stretch all day (lovely!). Claire is still so excited for the baby, and she prays every night that it will "come out." We got out the baby car seat and she gets so excited telling me where the baby is going to sit in the van. Last night she told me that her pink baby doll wanted to meet our new baby and that Owen needed a purple baby doll too. She is ready, although I hope she isn't upset if it ends up being a boy. I guess she has a 50/50 chance. I promise to keep you all updated.

My Little Castle Builders

I'm not sure if it is just Claire and Owen, but my kids love to build castles. We build castles for the ponies to sleep in, sand castles, blanket castles, and anything else that Claire can come up with. On this particular night, Chad and I were working on our cabinets, so Claire and Owen made a castle out of their toys on our kitchen table. Now of course the castles cannot be taken down for at least 24 hours, so we got to eat breakfast the next day with the castle, but they were so proud of it. There was a place for all the cars to line up for their turn to be washed, and a place for the ponies to line up so they could get into the ball. Claire insisted on taking pictures of the castle, and she actually did a pretty good job. At least now they will work together and create something that they both think is great fun!

School Days

I'm sure I am talking from a past teacher's perspective, but this time of year makes me miss being a teacher (in a real school). I miss going back to work and seeing all my colleagues and talking about our summer. I miss setting up my classroom, and putting up new names of all the students I will have. I even miss lesson plans because I knew what I will accomplish each week. Even on a rare occasion I miss those district wide meetings where the superintendent babbles on forever, but you have a great time because you get to see all the people from the district that you know (and of course eat the fabulous food provided by the district lunch ladies). Yes, it might sound crazy to all of you, but I miss all of these things, even with preschool starting, it isn't the same. I only have myself to discuss ideas with (Chad isn't very helpful), and I get to be the teacher, principal and administrator all in one (not always so bad!). So, to all you parents sending your kids off to school (I can't wait!), just know that most teachers are happy to be there, at least for the first few weeks until the personalities in their classroom shine through!

Things I Will Miss

With only two weeks to go until the baby is due, I can honestly say that I am uncomfortable, so I am going to be positive and give you my list of things I will miss once the baby comes.

1. Food - yes I have had my fair share and soon after this one comes I am right back on my diet. Not a fun prospect, but very necessary

2. Extra concern - I guess I mean I am constantly being asked by people how I am doing, and how everything is going - even people I don't know that well. It's kinda nice even though I know they are doing it just because I am pregnant.

3. Getting anything I want (not really, but I like to think so). I'm not kidding, but people tend to be a little more generous when you are pregnant.

4. The excitement from my kids - they just love to talk about the baby coming and Claire is always ready to mention how big my tummy is getting.

5. Excuses - I can use lots of excuses right now, and not have to do as much when Chad is home, but I fear that too will go away soon.

6. Did I mention food??

Fevers, Fevers, Fevers.

I have been really behind on my blogging, but I have a good excuse. My kids have been sick!!!! Lets just say that I finally had a breakdown because they had been so sick for so long. Last Tuesday I took them swimming with a friend of ours. Claire had a lot of fun, but Owen just sat in the water by me with his head in my lap. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. The next morning he work with a 100+ fever, and then Claire woke up with the same thing. We wrestled with the fevers for 5 days!!!!!!!!!!! They wouldn't eat anything, and Claire couldn't keep anything down, so we had a lot of fun. It was a battle after the first few days just to get them to take medicine because I had been shoving it down their throats every 2 hours.

Today Claire woke up and told me her ear hurt, so I finally took them to the doctor. Claire had a double ear infection, and then I asked him to just check Owen's ears, and sure enough an ear infection was starting. Thankfully he just gave me medicine for both of them so I wouldn't have to come back when Owen's ear infection got worse. So hopefully we can get everything back to normal. It will be hard to wean them off the T.V. since that is all they have been doing for the last few days.

Kid moments to Remember

The other day Chad put the crib up for me, and I put all the bedding on. Claire came in the room and saw all of this done, looks at my stomach, rubs it and says "you can come out now baby!" So sweet!!

At dinner one night we were having sour cream with something and Owen asked for some. I put a little on his plate, he tried it, and then said, "I don't like that cow." Referring to the picture of the cow on the carton.

Cabinets Phase One and Two

I know that it can't just be me, but when I am pregnant I get these urgent feelings that I need to get things done. With Owen it wasn't to bad because we were remodeling the bedrooms and working on the kitchen at the time. I remember the day I went into labor with him I picked up our new kitchen floor, and fully expected Chad to get it in before the baby came (lets just say that didn't happen!). This time I have decided that we need to get our cabinets repainted. Let me explain: The people who owned the house before us tried their best to fix a few things but well, they didn't do a good job. They actually painted the cabinets white without taking them down therefore they painted over contact paper, hinges (you get the picture). Well, I have never really been able to clean them because the paint was cheap and the job was less than steller. It has really bothered me lately, so I went to the store, bought some paint stripper and started my job. I'm sure Chad just loves that because he gets dragged into them somehow.

So, now we have to get these cabinets done because I have no cabinet doors, 2 drawers left, and some very ugly wood showing underneath the paint (I know why they attempted to paint them). Our goal is to paint them this weekend, and hopefully get the new hardware on them so I can get the kitchen all cleaned and organized before the baby comes. Yes, I am crazy, but at least in my craziness I get something productive done!!
Phase one - stripping off all the nasty paint.
Phase two requires a lot of sanding which has become Chad's job.