Rant and Rave

So. I know you're probably sick of hearing about me whine about my pregnancy. So I'm not going to right now. Let's just say I'm really, really, really ready to have this child, and if she's not out in three weeks like her brothers were, I'm cutting my belly open myself to retrieve her. Okay, I'm not, but I'll want to.

Instead of a rant, you'll get to read a rave. Here is currently what is fabulous about my pregnancy, or what's fabulous right now in my life. And it's for real; I'm not being sarcastic.

1. First of all, a shout-out to Isaac and Heidi for having their baby earlier this week. Congratulations! And super props to Heidi-I've not had to squeeze that much human out of me before. 9 lbs. 12 oz.? Yeah, that's about 3 pounds more than mine have been thus far, which makes a huge difference. If you don't know from experience, just trust me on that one. She's a doll, so go check out her pictures on their blog! It makes me excited to see my own girl soon.

2. Today I've conquered as many weeks as I have days left. 35 weeks down, 35 days left. How awesome is that?

3. My kids have been awesomely self-entertaining today. They even fed themselves lunch! We had pizza last night, and Brock the raccoon got it out of the fridge and his brothers joined in. They still claimed hunger when the actual lunch time rolled around, but didn't really eat, as eating most of a whole large pizza between the three of them filled them sufficiently. Yeah, if I collapsed somewhere in the house I wouldn't have to worry at all about them starving to death.

4. And because I was weeping in agony last night, I needed a laugh today. Hollywood posted this on her blog a while back, and I laughed my head off! It's from a book called Safe Baby Handling Tips. And apparently there's a Safe Baby Pregnancy Tips as well-I'll have to peruse my local bookstore and get it! I don't know if this is it in its entirety, but it's what has been posted. I hope you laugh as much as I did! (Please excuse the spacing on it-blogspot was having picture posting issues, and I'm sick of trying to make it look pretty.)

Birthday Babe

Yesterday was Kar's birthday. YAHOO! We went over to her house and played games, then ate really yummy cake made by Chef Ben.

A couple from their ward also came over, Patty (I think!) and Ken. They don't have kids. And I think after watching my kids and Kar's freak out about wanting to blow out the candles, and having to sit in specific chairs, and running in and out of the house, and yelling and screaming about who-knows-what (you know, the normal kid stuff), I don't think their child status will change any time soon. Bless their hearts for hanging out with us anyway!

Pete squeezing Troy:


Brock with a Blue Power Ranger:


Dad, Troy, Sadie, and Kar with Kar's camera:

Those "Chili" Days

Here's my sweet Jakob on top of our floor vent. When we stayed at my Grandpa's cabin growing up, it was always cold in the mornings. The cabin had little heaters along the wall, and we'd sit in front of them and get warm. For some reason, Jakob gets cold in the morning, usually while or after he's just had breakfast. I taught him the trick of sitting by the vent in the floor to get warmed up again. He loves it!

So, it snowed again yesterday. In mid-April. Maybe Mother Nature is mixed up and thinks we're in the Southern Hemisphere. Though I'm sure it's too early in the year for snow down there, too. Basically, there should be no snow falling on the earth right now, except for maybe on either pole, but nowhere else. Where's the warmth, dangit? But it gave me a good excuse to make a yummy and fast dinner. Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Clea's Chili

1 lb. browned hamburger
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can creamed corn
1 can kidney beans
1 can chili con carne
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 Tbl. chili powder

Combine the above ingredients and simmer for one hour.

A tip: I put the onion and green pepper in the pan first, and kind of cook them. Then you don't have to have it simmer an hour, unless you want to.

Dirt Devils

They must have heard, "GO play in the dirt",

instead of "DON'T play in the dirt."

Of Mice and Men

A week or so ago I hit a wall with my pregnancy. Marathon runners talk about "the wall" during their race, where they feel they can go no further. I'm no marathon runner-I only know about this because I watched "Run, Fatboy, Run", which was a funny movie, by the way.

But I have overcome the wall this week. Not that I'm feeling amazing or anything, because walking around is just as hard (if not harder), I'm getting puffier, and crankier, and is my pregnancy over YET? But I realize I have 5 1/2 weeks at the most to go, which isn't all that long. And if she comes as early as her brothers (about two weeks) it means I have only 3 1/2 weeks until the end. I know I'll make it.

So, on Saturday we went in the back yard and cleaned up all the mouse nests that had been built up during the winter. Luckily, we've had no signs of mice in our house, but we scooped up about 15 nests. We (meaning Pete) didn't mow for about 2 months before winter hit, so our grass was super long, like up to the boys' thighs. So the mice had plenty to work with. But maybe because we had all that grass it kept them away from the inside. Not that I want to test that theory out this coming fall, though.

And I've begun the nesting phase. I've been filling the nail holes in our trim and bought some more primer and paint to finish our rooms up. I've been scrapbooking (as long as my puffy legs will let me) and I'm caught up to the end of August 2007 for now. My storage room is driving me nuts, but will be way better once we finish the rooms. On Saturday I swept out the garage, made Pete take down the Christmas lights, mopped my kitchen floor, etc. And we need to move the boys around and get clothes and car seats and all that ready for when our baby comes. Needless to say, I have plenty to do in the next month or so. Wish me luck! Oh, and if you want to come help me paint, come on over-I'll have a roll brush ready for you!

Hairy Issues

I’ve had long-ish hair since 8th or 9th grade. I went in to a hair place about a year and a half ago, and said, “Do whatever, I’m tired of my hair. But don’t give me bangs.” Yeah, the guy cut it to my shoulders, a straight cut. Wow, really branching out there, buddy.

So last July before my 10-year reunion (that I was in charge of, and I dare say I rocked at getting it all together pretty much by myself) I decided to cut my own hair. I was sick of it, and I knew if I messed it up I could always go to a place to have them fix it. But I loved it! I’ve been cutting my own hair ever since. Sometimes it’s fine, sometimes not as much, but always generally okay.

It’s a little Carol Brady, but I still loved it.

Then…my hair had been getting a little shaggy, so Wednesday morning I decided to cut the front a little bit. I did one side, then the other, and the latter ended up about an inch shorter than the first. Hmmm. I evened it out, but didn’t do anything to the back. So then it looked kind of like a mullet.

For more hair style inspiration, visit mulletsgalore. A forewarning: it's a high PG-13 site. Not picture-wise, but word-wise.

Thursday I tried to fix the back, and I got a little scissor happy. It was all sorts of uneven. I kept trying to even it up, and knew that if I kept going I wouldn’t have any hair left. So Friday I went into a place called Euphoria Hair and Nails. Christal helped me, and she did so great! I love my new hair cut! I don’t know if I’ll keep it this short, but it’s awesome for now-I don’t really have to “do” my ‘do, and it doesn’t bug me like my long hair can when it’s down. Though after my massage my hair was all greasy from their oils, and there was no way to hide that fact unless I wanted to whip out a hat. That was a new sensation for me.

Last night, because it was a little greasy, Pete said I looked like I had Emo hair. So I was trying to look like Peter Parker on “Spiderman 3”, when he has the Black Spiderman suit. If you’re not as familiar with that movie as I am, not to worry-it means you don’t have fanatics in your house.

Pete also said that one of these days he’ll come home and I’ll have a “mom” ‘do, which to me is more of the old lady ‘do. Let’s pray that day never comes. Right now, though, Pete’s beast neck hair is longer than the hair near the nape of my neck. Kind of weird (and gross).

Heaven on Earth

Yesterday was kind of a “me” day. I don’t get those very often; the longest I’ve been away from my kids is when I’m in the hospital having another kid. For our anniversary last year, Pete and I went to a day spa called The Essence of You, where we each got a 50 minute facial and 50 minute full-body massage. It totally rocked. If you’ve never gotten a massage or facial, DO IT-you will not regret a single minute!

Anyway, for Christmas Pete and I make lists for each other, and my list is always boring and practical, like “socks” or “jeans”. This last Christmas I put “spa day”, and Pete got me a Mother-To-Be massage. I decided to save it until I knew I’d be good and miserable in my pregnancy, meaning sometime in the last trimester.

So yesterday was the day. WOO-HOO! It was incredible, to say the least. The poor girl massaging me is due about two weeks after me, though-I felt bad for her. She worked a ton of knots out of my back. I slept so great last night! When I finally get that million dollars, I’ll get a massage every week! Until then, maybe I’ll ask for another massage present for my birthday.