"Growth Is The Only Evidence Of Life."

-John Henry Newman

Well, if that is the case, then my belly AND Peyton are for sure alive and well :). They seem so much bigger than last week, although my tape measure seems to think they are the EXACT same as last week at this time...strange! Today was a HARD and busy day! It seemed like one thing after another and as a nanny and soon-to-be mother, I know I should expect MANY days like this in my future! The first thing I had to deal with this morning was getting laundry started before heading off to work. On my way out the door, I planned to switch the clothes into the dryer...which was full with the in-laws' clothes. I quickly folded their load and threw our clothes in.

After about an hour at work, challenge number two arrived in the form of J's explosive poo. This thing bubbled and gurgled up the back of his pajamas while he was sitting in his high chair, which alerted me to the explosion at which point I noticed the pool of poo that had run down his leg, onto the chair and sat in a pile on the ground. Luckily, J was not sick, he just literally was full of poo this morning. Quite quickly I came to realize that no amount of careful planning could help the fact that his poo-filled jammies would have to be taken off, to which point the poo would be further displaced into his neck, hair, and feet...lovely. I am so blessed that J was cooperative during the cleanup process!

We spent the morning at the regional park feeding ducks, playing in the sand, and walking around with one of the other families from the Mom's group. J had a good time, although wasn't quite able to throw the duck feed far enough, so he was surprised when they started feeding at his feet. And then the geese swarmed in and really became aggressive, when I stepped in and played the protective mother lion. Poor M would barely eat (drink his bottle) all day and as a result didn't sleep/nap until 3:15. Turns out he also got a few shots at his doctor's appointment yesterday, which may have also resulted in today's lack of appetite or alertness. He was fussy (as to be expected-I would be too if I hadn't eaten or slept like normal).

Because J had such an amazing breakfast and such stellar behavior, patience, and manners all morning, he was treated to a McDonald's nuggets and french fries lunch, washed down with a chocolate shake. This boy really can eat if he is motivated, let me tell you! This is the point when M became beyond just fussy and was plain upset and frustrated with himself. As a later thought, I realized the nipple on his bottle may not be working correctly and he did eat better once that switch was made. J is getting better with using words and signs instead of pointing or whining for what he wants. He is such a joy to be with. And although it was a rough day for little Mr. M, that boy has me wrapped around his finger and I still want to cuddle and be around him all the time.

The hour that the boys slept overlapping was when I did laundry, dishes, watered plants, and did some cleaning...Oh, and did I mention that is where challenge number 4 lies (number 3 was M's long day of no eating/no sleeping): while trying to pass a water bottle to J after lunch today, I didn't pay close enough attention that he actually had it in his hands and so it crashed to the floor, splintering into oblivion and spilling the water all over the kitchen/dining room floor. On the plus side, the kitchen got mopped and sanitized from this morning's poo escapade. It was another hot day here in Northern California!

On the way home, I dropped off the HOA dues at the club house and was happy to find out that the pool will be open this weekend. Which means that after our trip to Apple Hill on Saturday, Tony and I will be taking my car to get the brakes fixed, grocery shopping, taking a bike ride, and splashing in the pool!

When I got home, the LAST thing I wanted to do was make a meal, so I headed off to Safeway and bought some fresh deli fixings of caesar salad, potato wedges, chicken tenders, and biscuits. I also picked up a few other things that looked good: grapes, funfetti cookie mix, chips, dip, and this apple cider that Tony really likes that I have been unable to find for awhile.

When I got home, we ate the yummy dinner and I watched Ocean's 13 while making the funfetti cookies (the mix was on sale tonight=three boxes for the price of one...what a steal!). I also filled out my belly book, took an updated weekly picture of the belly, measured Peyton's effect on my girth (still the same as last week, although I know from the picture at the left it doesn't appear that way!), took out the garbage and green waste, and put away the laundry.

It feels like today started 40 hours ago. I am beyond ready to hit the hay. Peyton has been kicking all day (though more noticeably when I am sitting or attempting to rest) and so I think she could use some "down time." My back is hurting quite a bit so I think it's time for a little medicine and heating pad. Good night and may tomorrow be a fantastic end to the work week! Hope you all have a terrific Friday! Payday is always a good thing!

Side note...I now understand and fully appreciate the story about Santa's belly shaking like a bowl full of jelly...I was laying down laughing last night and would describe the sensation I felt in the EXACT same way...I was laughing at something on one of my "FRIENDS" DVDs and my belly shook JUST like a bowl full of jelly...ewww...gross feeling.

"The Older I Get, The Smarter My Parents Seem To Get."

~Tim Russert

Slept better last night...YAY #1. Temperature "only" got to 98 degrees...YAY #2! Both boys had long naps that overlapped today (2 hours!)...YAY #3! How can you top THAT? Had leftovers for dinner, for the second time this week. Scheduled someone to look at our wiring/lighting in the kitchen for next week, scheduled to disconnect our TV through AT&T when Tony's mom moves out next weekend (the only reason we had TV hook up these last few months) AND scheduled our LAST lawn treatment...so excited to have a lawn that we only need to maintain instead of needing to throw money at it any longer! This company did a great job restoring our lawn...would recommend TRUE GREEN lawn care to anyone in the area! Also took the boys to one of their doctor's appointments with K...M when in with her while J and I hung out in the lobby area. Had toddler story time at the library this morning and both boys did well, again. Sadly it was the story teller's last day and there will be a new lady taking her place starting next week...we got to meet her and she seems nice. Excited for Apple Hill this weekend and hopefully some cooler weather in the next few weeks! Today is the last day of week 26 of pregnancy and tomorrow officially starts week 27. That means we're only about THREE weeks away from getting our 3D/4D ultrasound...cannot wait! Sent out Dad's birthday package today and they assured me that it will arrive on Friday...but he will have left for the weekend already. Oh well, at least it will be there for his birthday, even if he's not. Also, it turns out that Logan's fiance, Megan, liked the apartment she looked at yesterday which means that she (and Logan) may have some big news/plans in the near future. Still awaiting confirmation from the brother on that one. Happy to talk with Mom AND Dad AND Logan today...I love talking to family! Well, I'm off to bed...with the fans turned on (I'm still too hot even if it IS starting to cool off outside). Good night and thanks Peyton for another wonderful day of kicking! Mom loves feeling you move!

"Every Leaf Speaks Bliss To Me, Fluttering From The Autumn Tree."

~Emily Bronte

Last night was so NOT relaxing! I had one "natural disaster" nightmare after another. I woke up in between a series of 5 different dreams, each time with my heart pounding like it would escape from my chest. I woke up more tired than I felt before going to bed last night. 103 degrees was this morning's prediction for the day-can I tell you how NOT excited about that I was! At least K had given me an old pair of her maternity shorts that I could wear today! That made it a little better! Took both boys to a play date at the "water park" near their house today (at different intervals, water squirts out of the ground in the form of 3 fountains and two frogs in a certain area of the park). Gosh was it hot, but at least we could cool off by splashing in the water! The kids had such a good time! Unfortunately the boys didn't have a long overlapping nap this afternoon, but I DID manage to get stuff done and my "relaxing" time was when I spent 15 minutes grading some of K's school papers. Boy do I really love doing that kind of stuff! When I got home I threw some pizza, hot wings, and garlic bread into the oven and got caught up on stalking, email, and news. I am fully ready for GLEE to come on tonight! Even eating some vanilla ice cream to indulge. What a long, hot day...I am definitely ready to calm down and snuggle. Peyton (it feels so awesome to call her by name!!!) was a kicking fanatic today-I think it's her way of telling us she approves of our name choice. Gotta go, GLEE is just around the corner! Good night and hopefully tomorrow is cooler and starts to feel like fall!

"Don’t Ask What The World Needs. Ask What Makes You Come Alive, And Go Do It. Because What The World Needs Is People Who Have Come Alive."

~Howard Thurman

I am so lucky to be a nanny! I love what I do, and therefor it does not seem like work! Today was a nice day at work (inside, out of the 101 degree weather) with both boys. J and I made "guilt free" brownies from a mix his mom found at Trader Joes where you mix in fat free vanilla yogurt to the mix. J had so much fun helping. J had an awesome day with wonderful manners, no whining, and very good eating. Poor M had a gassy day, and because of such, was not the happiest guy, but he was so cuddly cute! Both boys had overlapping naps-VICTORY! That means another day in the books of being able to do the household tasks quickly without having to carry M along for the ride. K also told me that she will lend us their cradle for when Monkey is born-we're so lucky to have such amazing bosses and friends!!!

Dinner was reheated leftovers. Sorry, nothing impressive. Not a huge day, announcement-wise, but still a great day! Tomorrow is another HOT day (supposedly 100 degrees) and so the plan is to take the boys to take the boys to the park to play with the mom's group before it gets too hot. Wish us luck with that. Also, I need to call our home builder's help line tomorrow to see what kind of coverage/warranty we have on our kitchen wiring/lighting as we have been unable to fix problems in that area.

Short blog, I know. Off to lay in bed with the heating pad on my back and take some medicine to help. I think I'm just getting used to lifting all that my new job entails and hope that this back pain fades quickly enough.

Love bug, Peyton...sleep tight! Mom would also appreciate it if you found another place to push your feet OTHER THAN in her ribs, but she'll take it if that's all you can offer her at the moment. Hugs, big girl!

"A Candle Loses Nothing By Lighting Another Candle."

~Unknown

You will never believe it, but I woke up this morning, had my morning fix of facebook stalking and when Tony left for work, I GOT TO WORK on cleaning. That's right...I cleaned the bathroom (counter, shower, floor, mirror, and toilet) and our bedroom/closet (dusting and vacuuming) and vacuumed the main living areas of the rest of the house. It feels so good to have a clean house! You cannot believe how much hair one house can collect from two long haired women, one short haired woman, a man who shaves every other day, three cats and one dog...okay, so maybe you CAN guess! Anyway, I feel so much better now that everything looks as clean as it appears by being organized and picked up.

Sadly, my friend didn't meet me at church today, as I failed to confirm details with her...but it was still a good message full of empowering parents to be the primary influence of faith and God in their children's lives. Everyone at church was super nice, again. After church I came home to take a nap before babysitting because my back was not feeling so good and a nap always make you feel better. Then, I got a text saying that one of the families I babysit for on Sundays returned late from camping and were going to having a family nap/movie evening instead of the scheduled babysitting outing. Minutes later I got a call from the OTHER family saying that three of the four of them had gotten the flu and so they were cancelling tonight as well. As much as I'd have loved to see the families and earn some babysitting money, I was excited to have the night off. So, I went back to trying to nap. Unfortunately, my back did not ease up and allow me to sleep, but the rest felt good, nonetheless.

Ant came home from work and made some really good ground turkey and corn dish with sourdough garlic bread. Mmm, that hit the spot! I just finished watching the season premier of Extreme Makeover Home Edition and am fighting back the tears. I don't know what it is about this show, but even before I was pregnant, I could never make it to the first commercial without tears in my eyes. I am so happy that these deserving people/families are getting help and hope!

Now it is time to head under the covers and clothes my eyes.

Oh, ...and by the way...our little girl's name is going to be... (Drum roll, please...)

PEYTON

MACKENZIE

We can't wait for our little girl! We love you, Peyton! So happy to feel you moving around! 

"Wherever You Are It Is Your Friends Who Make Your World."

~William James

After a long night I thought I'd "sleep in"...well, that was kind of the case, as I DID sleep in until 6:15am. I had a nice breakfast and caught up with Nicole at her house this morning at 8am. Gosh, I miss her! She's such an amazing lady and although we're kind of neighbors, it feels like we've both been so busy that we haven't seen each other in forever. While there we discussed details of her throwing us/me a baby shower in November and the fact that we finally decided on Monkey's name. We actually decided on Tuesday night, but I was holding off telling people on the off-chance that Tony changed his mind. Should I tell you all what it is?...Hmmm...I don't know...maybe I should keep you hanging awhile later...Just know that we are both very excited and happy with this name!

After visiting with Nicole, I was off to the grocery store. It is at BelAir that I spent ALL of the babysitting money I had made last night on buying "stock" groceries and necessities for a fondue night with the husband. We had a delicious cheese fondue made of gruyere, emmentaler, and monterey jack cheeses mixed with a little beer, wine, and garlic. To dip, we enjoyed sourdough bread (baguettes cut up), garlic olives, mushrooms, chicken, and broccoli. I even got the "kid's" wine so we could have a semi-grownup date night at home even though I can't drink alcohol. Everything was so great and it was nice cooking with Tony, again. At the grocery store I also picked up some gifts and cards for some upcoming birthdays. And, there went all of the babysitting money... While in the check out aisle, I found potentially a new obsession and spent the last of the money I had on...

...it's like it was a magazine made specifically for me...
It may just be my new bible of organization...it was calling to me from the rack!
Ahhh, a girl can dream...if ONLY I had a house and enough money to live like this!

When I got home, I took a wonderful shower. I absolutely LOVE taking a shower with the shower window open on a nice, sunny, warm mid afternoon. Nothing is so relaxing! Logan called later this afternoon (inquiring if I knew where our Mom was) and shared some potentially exciting news that he is figuring out right now. Details to follow when he decides one way or the other, officially.

For dessert, I made some rice krispie treats. What a nice and relaxing Saturday! Couldn't have asked for anything more! Monkey enjoyed the dinner, as I could feel her trying to stretch out at the end...trying to make room for all of the new yummies in her belly. That's our girl! Your Grandma Mikee started packing for her move tonight...only two more weeks and then she's moving to make room for you big girl! You will soon be living in the room she was in! I think you'll love the idea of sharing that space with her!

Tomorrow's agenda includes church and babysitting. Although I mentioned cleaning the other day, I was just enjoying doing nothing too much to include that today...possibly I will be more motivated tomorrow...maybe.

Good night and sleep tight, pumpkin!

"There Is No Pleasure In Having Nothing To Do; The Fun Is Having Lots To Do And Not Doing It."

~Mary Wilson Little

Such was NOT the case today. I am so over tired right now! I woke up at 5am, worked 7:30am-4:15 and then drove straight from work to babysitting from 5:15 until 11pm (in El Dorado Hills...about 45 minutes away from work). As a matter of fact, I am JUST now having dinner...chicken tenders dipped in ranch dressing and realizing the sad event that has just happened. It is officially after midnight, meaning that for the FIRST time since I started writing this blog, I TECHNICALLY did not write on Friday...hopefully you'll all count this as you know how anal I am about these things.

I had a great day with the little men today. We had a "cheerio necklace" day with the Mom's Group at a park nearby and both boys had an overlapping nap again. Tonight I babysat for some of their friends...a 7 year old girl "C", a 5 year old boy "L", and a 3 month old "G". There is more I could embellish on today, however, I am exhausted and need to just head to bed. I am looking forward to a Saturday with no official plans!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend and I hope the prediction for 100 degree weather this weekend estimated on the high side. At least we have a functioning air conditioner...

Big girl, you were a good kicker today! Especially when "M" was being held, I think you felt like you needed to fight for my attention, which is and never will be the case. I love you, Monkey!

"Open Your Eyes To The Beauty Around You, Open Your Eyes To The Wonders Of Life, Open Your Heart To Those Who Love You, And Always Be True To Yourself."

~Davis

Hooray! I woke up at 6:15am this morning...I love when my bladder holds out! I set my alarm for 6:30 (the latest I could get up to make it to work on time, and I was being incredibly hopeful that I could even sleep that late!) and was pleasantly surprised to make it as late as I did!

Today was a good day with the boys as I was able to get a lot done and both boys had an overlapping nap, again! Plus, today was our day downtown in Old Towne Sacramento at the Train Museum. What a beautiful and quaint part of town; I've never been there before. Walking around the boardwalk down by the river made me want to come back here as a day trip with our little girl. Every thing was so cute! The train museum was AWESOME and J really loved our visit. There were so many big engines, tracks, toys, collectibles, and hands-on things for children. What a great idea-thanks Erin for the suggestion and for the free entrance on your membership! All of the "conductor" volunteers were super cute, too! The only thing I would change (okay, well, two things) would be to have it be cooler (it was close to 90 degrees and it's getting hotter as the weekend comes) and to not have two large school groups of middle schoolers at the museum at the same time we were.

For the FIRST TIME in about FIFTEEN years, I ironed today. The nanny boys have a few cute button down shirts that they wear to look nice that have been needed to be ironed for about a week, and I finally broke down and ironed them and they look so much nicer, even though I'm not craving ironing again for another fifteen years, but at least it wasn't terrible!

My belly feels and looks larger than ever, but according to mister bear tape measure, it is an inch and a quarter SMALLER than this time last week. I continue to be baffled by this whole concept! Monkey has been busy kicking up a storm today...staying active, that'a'girl!

When I got home from work today, I got busy collecting recycling, garbage, doing the dishes, running two loads of laundry, making dinner (chicken, rice, sautéed peppers and mushrooms), and having "poor man's s'mores" ready for dessert. Dinner turned out well and Ant had a larger portion than normal...which if you know him at all, is saying a lot! My back is hurting but that is probably due to hefting a big "chunka-munka" 4 month old 20 pound boy around in a baby Bjorn at the museum all morning, lifting, vacuuming, laundry, etc. Hmmm...if only I could get on top of my back problems, I'd be one happy girl! When Tony came home, the UPS guy was also just arriving to deliver my first set of ordered maternity clothes...3 pants and 3 tops. The tops seem humongous to me, but I'm sure in another month's time I'll have realized I made the right decision when ordering the sizes that I did. I was surprised to have gotten the delivery around supper time, as the UPS guy usually delivers around 8ish in the evening.

Tomorrow I will most likely be babysitting for a family in El Dorado Hills after work...although they haven't passed along the details to me yet. It was good talking to Dad today and I hope he and Mary have good sales at this weekend's upcoming Octoberfest! I had a dream last night that the three of us (Dad, Mary, and I) had gone rummage sale-ing and Mary and I had found a whole stash of flip-flop items for free. I was SO disappointed to find out that I didn't get to keep the items when I woke up this morning! I also got to chat with Logan this afternoon...I wish I could see him some time. He is in the process of trying to help his fiance with new housing accommodations...good luck, guys!

Excited for a weekend of rest and probably gonna buckle down and finally clean our house...the thorough kind of cleaning, I mean. Wrote in the belly book tonight and finished all of my correspondence letters that I had been meaning to send out. Good night my little kicker! I love feeling your presence and being reminded of your feisty attitude that is emerging. Hugs and cuddles, always! I'd love to take you and Dad to Old Sacramento when you're here "on the outside!" What a great day!

"A Hundred Years From Now It Will Not Matter What My Bank Account Was, The Sort Of House I Lived In, Or The Kind Of Car I Drove…But The World May Be Different Because I Was Important In The Life Of A Child."

~Unknown

Today started out with a beautiful rainbow on the way to work. I am pleased to report that my ALARM, NOT my need to pee has woken me up at 5:30am these last three days...which makes me really happy. Who knew that I would celebrate something like THAT? I guess pregnancy really DOES change you! In my reflection in the rear view mirror on the way to work this morning, I noticed that I look rather tan-a result of Saturday's car wash and Monday's park play date, no doubt. Yay for being tan! It MUST be the pregnancy, because I've never been known for my ability to retain ANY color!!!

Another great milestone, if you can call it that, is that I felt Monkey having hiccups two separate times today. This morning she had hiccups every half second or so for about five minutes-what a strange and unique sensation...although I must admit it does NOT feel like hiccups to me. It feels kind of like the "pre-toot" feeling, if I'm going to be grossly descriptive. Either way...it kept me entertained. She also had another three minute burst of hiccups when I got home from work today.

At work we had a relatively good eating/sleeping day with the boys. After our routine of Wednesday morning story time at the local library, M fell asleep for a two hour stint. About an hour later than that time, I gave J a snack and he fell asleep in his chair and he was able to take a two hour nap (yes, for those of you wondering, I DID take him out of his high chair for his nap). So, there was about an hour window within there where BOTH boys were sleeping at the same time-victory! Today felt rather warm to me...I'm glad today is the last day of summer, as I am ready for the fall (read: cooler) weather to come! Pregnancy has had me melting since April so I really appreciated yesterday's cool weather and could stand an entire season or two of those kind of days!!! Boy am I really excited for all things fall!

Tony and I made a dinner of roasted sausages, bell peppers, and mushrooms in a spaghetti sauce served over noodles tonight-yum (plus, it had the added bonus of being with Tony in the kitchen for awhile). It was actually really tasty! Tomorrow is our play date at the Sacramento Train Museum downtown...I know J is excited, and I'm not quite sure what to expect because I've never been there. Tonight there was some last minute editing I needed to do for our ten year high school reunion coming up next weekend. Sad that Nicole and I will not be able to get together tomorrow night (forgot it was her mom's birthday), but we did connect via texting and arranged a tentative date for our "west coast baby shower" in the middle of November. I'm excited to host it at our house-so more people will be able to see our place. What a great friend I have, huh? I love Nicole and she always make me (and Monkey) feel so important! Every day I am reminded how lucky and blessed we are to be surrounded by the people we are fortunate enough to call friends and family! Speaking of which, I even got a nice letter from a friend in Berkeley today...I love snail mail!!!

I was a little on the tired side today...sluggish probably because I stayed up "late" (hey, I'm PREGNANT, give me a break!) watching GLEE and got up early to pee and watch PARENTHOOD before going to work. Both were very good episodes! I have officially learned my lesson about lack of sleep and the effect it has on one prego nanny at work, but of course, here I am writing my blog so late...perhaps that means I can sleep until 6am tomorrow? We shall see!

Goodnight, my little hiccuping peanut! Sleep well! *Muah!*

"Life Is All About Timing…The Unreachable Becomes Reachable, The Unavailable Become Available, The Unattainable…Attainable. Have The Patience, Wait It Out."

~Stacey Charter

Both boys greeted me with smiles when I got to work this morning. Before even finishing fresh-made grits by Anthony, I finished two more of my correspondence letters before heading to work...only two more left (I thought of another one that I wanted to write, so trust my adding capabilities).

Although this morning M was all cuddles and boat loads of happiness, he did not enjoy his time in the car seat at my doctor's appointment. He lasted all of ten minutes before crying...and BOY does it echo in that building! Poor guy...he loves being held and having lots of love and attention, and it was sad to see him get so upset. Luckily I only had a 10 minute appointment followed by a flu shot, otherwise it would've been really rough. On the positive side, J did awesome. He was a good listener, entertained himself, and was friendly with everyone. I think he was even pleasantly surprised that the needle sitting on the counter was for me, and not for him. His eyes got really big and his bottom lip stuck out when the doctor sat me down for my flu shot. As quickly as it began, he threw up his arms and said, "ahh duhN" (translation: all done) and smiled. I think it was a sigh of relief that it wasn't a shot meant for him! I was so proud of him because I can only imagine how hard it is for a 23 month old to stay happy and to focus for that amount of time when there aren't his usual surroundings to comfort him.

At the appointment the doctor took my blood pressure (all is good), measured my weight (up from my last visit-as expected-but still under my pre-pregnancy weight by six pounds), measured the size of my belly (exactly as big as it should be for the week I am in), and the baby's heartbeat (healthy and right where it should be). When the doctor put the cold jelly on my belly (to take the heartbeat with the machine), Monkey started kicking in response. She must have thought it was a scoatch too cold (as I tend to agree with her) and was trying to kick it off of my belly--good girl. Just the thought of that makes me laugh.

After we escaped from the doctor's office, we came home where Mr. J fell asleep eating his lunch, again. And...wait for it...both boys had a long (overlapping, mind you) nap this afternoon. It was so nice to get the other household chores done for them without any interruption or without having to carry Mr. M around because he was fussy. Plus, I know how much it helps them turn back into themselves to get back into their normal sleeping routines. What a great day! All I had to do was wait a little bit, and I knew Mr. M would get back into his normal nap schedule. Let's hope tomorrow is the same.

Glee's season premier is tonight, as that is what I am watching any minute now. Which means, it is time for me to sign off. What a nice day! Had some grilled cheese for dinner, yum. Even though the doctor said that my belly is measuring exactly as it should for this stage of the pregnancy, I find it hard to believe that her tape measure didn't have the picture of a 18-wheeler or a house by the little line she marked to. Is it really possible to get BIGGER than I already am? Scary thought! The only thing that makes me feel better is the knowledge that Ms. Baby Girl King is getting bigger, stronger, and healthier every day...and for that, I'd trade all the pounds in the world!

"As You Get Older, Three Things Happen. The First Is Your Memory Goes, And I Can’t Remember The Other Two…"

~Sir Norman Wisdom

If I don't write down things lately, it seems like I have lost the ability to remember them. PLEASE tell me that is a symptom of the pregnancy and NOT an indication that I should have my head examined! So this morning started off with a play date with the boys and the other families in the Elk Grove Mom's group at a local park. It was really fun and J had a fantastic time running through the water shoots and climbing all over the structures while M and I hung out. He was so tuckered out that he fell asleep on the way home and had an early nap and had to eat lunch AFTER nap time. Today at work I got to correct some of K's children's school work (K is a teacher, in case I haven't mentioned that before) and I loved every minute of it. Boy do I miss school or helping out in Mom's classroom! I was done by 3:30pm. I came home, did dishes, got the mail, collected garbages, emptied recycling, put away some random items, and started making dinner. We had a stock pile of random unused noodles so I decided to try and make my own version of alfredo sauce for the noodles, sauteed some chicken and veggies, and mixed it all together. Not too bad, seeing as though it was all just a hodge podge of items. Tony helped Mike move after work, so he didn't come home until around 8pm, but even HE said it "hit the spot." K gave me some of her maternity clothes she is done with-THANK YOU! I watched a few episodes of Two and a Half Men on TV while I caught up on emails and wrote out five of the eight correspondence letters I was intending to write sometime this week.

My back is still bothering me, THIRD night in a row, so I just took some acetaminophen and have the hot pad warming up. So, it's off to bed for me. Luckily my back is always feeling better in the morning and until about 6 o'clock-ish. Tomorrow is my monthly appointment with the gynecologist for another prenatal appointment. I am taking the nanny boys as the appointment is during the day. Wish me luck that we all travel well and I can keep them happy during the visit/check up. Thanks for all of your good thoughts you are always sending my way! I am so blessed!

Sending out prayers to all who are dealing with cancer in their lives! September is Cancer Month: In memory of every cancer patient, family member, and friend who has lost their battle with cancer and in honor of those who continue to conquer it!

-Love you sweetie pie! Mama feels you (HER) getting bigger every day! xoxoxo-

"It Is More Important To Live A Life of Significance Than A Life Of Recognized Achievement."

~David Novak

The above quote was something that really struck a chord with me from church this morning. I'm sure I paraphrased it, but I thought it was a very insightful message from Pastor Dave. He was talking for week number two in his 5 week series about Parental Guidance Required. The general message is how we as parents need to assume the primary role of bringing faith and God into the lives of our children, and not assume that anyone else will do that for them. I very much have enjoyed what he's had to say so far! I was early, again, for worship, but luckily so was Meghan as she was in charge of checking the kiddos in for Children's Service, again. This time I was only half an hour early...I'm getting better, but I'm just not used to driving over to the Pocket area and judging how much time I need for that commute. I was also able to call my friend Nicole on the phone this morning and arrange a girl's night with her this week--on Thursday! Can't wait! Hmm...what should we do?

After church, I came home and had a turkey and cheese sandwich, pickle, grapes, brownie, and fiber drink for lunch and was out the door again. This time I was off to gas up the car, as I was almost on empty, AND to head to Borders Book Store for the afternoon before heading to babysit. While at Borders, I researched the secret name that Tony and I are considering for Monkey and flipped through some baby sign language books for some specific things I needed reminders on. It is helpful because ASL and baby sign language don't always coincide and so I needed to figure out what an age-appropriate sign for somethings were, as the ASL versions of the words seemed too complicated or difficult for toddlers. I also skimmed through some parents magazines, craft magazines, and popular magazines while I was there. There were some really cute ideas for arts and crafts, a few neat suggestions of kids activities to try at some point, and a lot of awesome ideas for child-friendly Halloween foods/decorations.

The forecasted rain never came today...hey, I'm surely not complaining, just surprised! DID remember to take pics of the pepper plants, as promised.

Look at those adorable, little peppers on that plant! Awe!

I was also able to finish reading my REAL SIMPLE magazine before leaving to babysit tonight. Tonight I had only two girls to look after (a six and four year old) as the other family was sick with the flu, so were not there tonight. We drew "get well soon" cards for the missing children, and watched a girlie movie called "Mermaidia"...it's exactly what you'd think it would be about. Now I'm off to bed with a full week ahead of me. I have some birthday and general correspondence letters to write at some point early this week. 

Love everything about you and all that you will be, little munchkin! xoxox

"Do What You Can With What You Have, Where You Are."

~Theodore Roosevelt

It was so nice to wake up to a Saturday morning with the freedom to sleep in and snuggle with my husband.  That being said, I was wide awake at 5am, but I liked the choice to go back to sleep (even though the pregnancy and morning bathroom routine has ruined me of that particular luxury). So, instead, I promptly woke up Tony (hey, if I'm awake, I'm sure not gonna be that way myself...), snuggled with my man, and enjoyed some leisure morning time in bed.

At about 6am, we were on our computers doing our normal morning traditions. To which we also adjusted our spreadsheet of expenses and bills now that my new paycheck schedule has commenced. We had to tweak a few items now that we have a new paycheck routine, and we also talked about the impact of Tony's mom moving out in three weeks and the effect that will have on our expense accounting. By 7am, we were ready for a breakfast of fluffy pancakes.

After breakfast, we "tested out" the ability of our Saturn to fit THREE car seats in the back seat. This will be the case when Monkey arrives and I am off of maternity leave in March and have her PLUS the two nanny boys in my care every day. I was SURE that three seats (with corresponding bases) would NOT fit in my backseat...to which Tony didn't completely believe my assumption. So, we crabbed the seat and the base from the "baby section" of our garage and headed to the car to see who was right...of course...there wasn't a chance that the 3rd seat would fit in the back...no finagling would even make it fit...but I'm glad Tony saw that for himself. The reason for this whole experiment, was to prove my point that we should start looking at a car to trade into because by March 3rd, we will need a different car and it doesn't hurt to start looking.

Some of our happy volunteers...look at all of those smiles! It feels so good to make others feel good!

After the "car seat" situation was confirmed (1 point for Lindsay, for those keeping track), Tony got to work on his motorcycle and cleaning the chains...can't quite elaborate on that, as it was a total "boy job" and I had no desire to hang around and pretend to be interested. While he did that, I opened all of the windows in the house and let the beautiful day in. Then, I was off to a community outreach car wash through a local church with Meghan. We were a little worried at the beginning as us two pregnant ladies appeared to be the ONLY participants for the first 15 minutes. Then we went inside the church to get a few more volunteers and headed out to the adopted neighborhood. We split off into three groups and got to work. It was really fun and a perfect day for a car wash! After some sun, smile, and suds, we were done with our community service by 12:30 with some very squeaky clean cars left in our wake. Tony and I may not be swimming in money right now, but I feel good that we can still offer up our services, our hearts, and our time to people who need to know that they are not alone. It felt good to help others and I really respect and appreciate Meghan for setting this up! What a great way to give back and to show that no matter how much or how little you have, you can always give to others!

I stopped for a mini-blizzard (cookie dough, of course) at Dairy Queen on the way home. Oh boy, did THAT hit the spot! When I got home, Tony helped me wash MY car (believe it or not, I wasn't "washed out" but I was experiencing a small bit of clean car envy after all of the cars we helped out earlier). Then, I watched the Heartbreak Kid on TV and had a total grooming afternoon with myself. I did my cuticles, buffed and cut my nails, exfoliated my feet, and took a long hot shower and deep cleaned my hair. It felt so good. I even shaved my legs while in there, realizing that in the next few weeks/months, I am probably going to lose the ability to bend over enough to shave as my belly keeps impeding on my flexibility. I came out of the shower so completely relaxed and feel like I really pampered myself this afternoon.

The last few days, I've been experiencing a strange sense of light-headed-ness (pregnancy related?) at random points ...at first I thought it may be from standing up too fast, but it has happened three or four times when I've been sitting, so now I have no idea as to why. Perhaps I'm just having strange drops in blood pressure, I don't know. Either way, I'm glad that I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, so I can ask my OBGYN about the faint feeling. According to all of my pregnancy books, it is to be expected that I would experience the light-headed feeling, so I'm not overly worried about it.

While I was having an afternoon of indulging myself, Tony made a delicious ground turkey concoction that he served with sauteed black olives and rice...oh, it was sooo good! My husband is the best marinator/flavorer west of the Mississippi, in my opinion! I wish I had his natural talent!

Now, I'm probably getting in trouble again, because I've been sucked into an evening of watching "Amazing Wedding Cakes" and "The Cupcake Girls" on WE-TV. So far, I have NOT been tempted into buying anything more, BUT...Tony was googling local cupcake stores when I looked over, so I think I may have created a monster...oops. There are worse things, I suppose.

Okay, I'm ready for bed. Tomorrow it MAY rain, but I am planning on going to church with Meghan again and then I am babysitting tomorrow evening, again.

I was surprised to see that ALL summer our pepper plants seemed to be just "existing" but now that the weather has been relatively cooler and shadier, they have just grown leaps and bounds in the last week. I forgot to get a picture before it got dark outside, but I will try to remember to take a picture to include in tomorrow's blog. Who knew...now that we have stopped watering it for the last 3 weeks and that the weather has changed-by California standards, anyway, it seems to just be taking off. I figure it won't hurt to leave them in and see what happens, and if nothing else, no veggies ripen and we pull the plants in a few weeks. Best case scenario, we have a few fresh producers of peppers/jalapenos and can make some fresh salad and salsa very soon. Time will tell.

"There Is No More Lovely, Friendly And Charming Relationship, Communion Or Company Than A Good Marriage."

~Martin Luther

This morning started out as any other morning this week. Took the nanny boys to the local park and enjoyed some time in the water section (water squirts up from the ground to mimic a frog's habitat when you push the button), snacked, and walked back. Although M didn't sleep any more than he has been this week, J had a really great day of eating today! Got my first paycheck from the new job today-hooray! To celebrate, Tony and I made a date night, tonight. After getting some motorcycle supplies for Ant to work on his bike tomorrow, we went to Olive Garden-YUMM-O! What a delicious and nice night with my man! We got home about an hour or so ago and now I have to crash into bed. I'm gonna watch the Heartbreak Kid on TV and fall fast asleep. Tonight is volunteer day-washing cars in the community for free. Excited to spend the day outside and helping people. Sorry for the short blog, but that's really my day in a nutshell. Looking forward to a beautiful weekend!

"Money Will Buy You A Fine Dog, But Only Love Can Make It Wag Its Tail."

~Richard Friedman

Yay! Welcome THIRD TRIMESTER!!! Today means a lot...we are that much closer to meeting our little girl AND it means we're two thirds there! I am so excited to have reached this milestone. Little one, according to all of the pregnancy books I have, you are probably about one foot long and about one and a half pounds in weight-exciting! I got a little ambitious and decided I was going to speed up my normal routine of writing in the belly book every Thursday before bed and did it when I woke up this morning at 5am. I got dressed and took my belly picture for the end of week 24 (see the column to the left) and filled out this week's entry. Part of the entry ritual I have, is I measure my belly...I was shocked to see that I had LOST THREE INCHES this past week. I was astonished and thought it must be wrong, so I measured it again. Nope, still 3 inches thinner than last week according to the same tape measure I use for every weekly belly measurement. How could this be? I don't FEEL like I've lost weight. My pants most certainly don't feel looser than last week! I think that the belly's circumference shifts throughout the day, so I did a little experiment...As it turns out, you know how you are taller in the morning than you are in the evening, you know the saying that "morning butt" is better than "nighttime butt?" Well, I have something to add to that...early day belly is most definitely different than afternoon belly! When I got home from work today, I re-measured my belly and it had gone up TWO INCHES from this morning and right now it is ANOTHER inch up...so we're all even now. At least up until this point I had measured my belly at relatively the same time every week. Now I know that for a fair comparison I should continue to measure in the evening. This week I will safely say that I have not gone up in the waist department (size-wise) but I feel like I am getting bigger. I really need to order/buy some pregnancy pants in the near, near future!

At the M's house today, I got to take the children for a meeting with the mom's group at a local kid's gym. It was so fun and I met a nice lady named Jenna. She has three children (one was in school) and her two were comparable ages to the children I nanny for. She seemed really nice and it was nice chatting with her. Mr. J had a fantastic time at FUNTASTIC and enjoyed climbing all over the structures, playing with the other children, and people watching! We stayed for two hours and the only reason we left at that point was to return home for lunch and nap time (trying to maintain some semblance of a normal schedule during these first few transition weeks when the boys are getting used to me being there all day). I was so proud of J and his attempts at talking and interacting today...and he even had a decent snack while we were there. Also happy to report that M's fussiness has turned into baby babble today...still only 45 minutes of napping while I was there all day, but at least he was happy the majority of the time. Excited to see what next week has in store for us!

Another BIG milestone today...I most definitely felt a flutter by our little darling. At about 3:30pm this afternoon, TWO tidal waves/ripples moved their way across my belly while I was playing with Mr. M (trying to tire him out so he would sleep). I had to stop for a moment and marvel at the new feeling inside me and being able to watch it's effects on the outside of my belly. Pretty darn cool, is all I gotta say! I can't for sure say what she was doing as I haven't had that much/any experience. But I am a proud Mom that our little girl is making her presence known! Yeah! I have been waiting for this experience! So happy for you, baby girl! Keep it up! I'll keep paying attention and try to narrow down the sensation and what I think you're doing to Mom! I think you knew that today was the first day of your third trimester and as a true diva, you wanted to make a grand entrance ;). Couldn't have picked a better date for you to make your first noticeable move on Mom! Well done! Well done!

I'd like to say that tonight was "leftover" night for dinner...but really that is only true for your father. I, on the other hand, had a bowl of Fiber Fruit Loops...not necessarily considered a leftover...and a fiber drink and a brownie to wash it all down. I know, not the most balanced meal, all things considered, but that's what I was in the mood for. I did two loads of laundry and caught up on some mail (email AND snail).

Now, I am ready for bed. I must say that with a few exceptions in the last week or so, I've gotten better at blogging earlier-as promised at the beginning of this journey. It DOES feel nice to lay in bed, watch a movie, and fall asleep at a reasonable time! So happy to feel you enjoying your belly time, Ms. Monkey! Keep it up! Love you, baby!

"Walking Gets The Feet Moving, The Blood Moving, The Mind Moving. And Movement Is Life."

~Carrie Latet

While taking my shower this morning (hey, no dirty comments, please...) I am a embarrassed to report, but...I can officially no longer see my feet anymore...but, if I have to miss my feet for a few months to have our happy little girl in our arms around the turn of the year, I'll take it without a look back! Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, tonight is the LAST FEW HOURS of my 2nd TRIMESTER!!! So happy for tomorrow to come...3rd trimester, I am SO ready for you and the coming of our little girl!

Day three of working full time again. I thought that by taking my iron vitamins later in the day (lunch time) it may help with feeling tired...I don't know if four days of doing that is enough of a test trial, but so far, it is not helping1 At work, I had another enjoyable day with my little men...we even had our first outing for storytime at the local library. J did a phenomenal job paying attention and participating with the other children and little Mr. M is still working through this new schedule of ours and adjusting to a weekly schedule with me (vs. Mom). We had a "number 2 eruption/fountain" today...and it's too yucky to detail (I know you never thought I would say such a thing), but luckily I was planning on doing their laundry today, anyway. Let's just say that Mr. M is a master at target shooting of poo, and leave it at that. Hey, in my book, any kind of talent is talent.

Sad to announce that our local scrapbook store has thus officially closed it's doors in the last week or so. I drove by today on the way home from the library and it is completely stripped of all cuteness and is no longer the scrapbook fairyland I liked to escape to. The only reminder it was ever there was the business light still hanging on the building saying "Heart to Heart: Scrapbooking Memories"...so sad to see another private business fall due to this economy! Hopefully things will turn around and they'd open their doors once again down the road. This was the only local scrapbook store I enjoyed patronizing, so I'm sad to see it go! You will be missed!

On another less-than-happy note, a friend's dad just had an emergency triple bypass heart surgery back in Wisconsin. After feeling chest pains the other day, they scheduled immediate "preventative" surgery due to the blockages they found. I am happy to report that he has made it out of surgery and is communicating with his family through hand signals. He is making the best recovery one can expect, and I'm sure he'll be back out on the golf course in no time. We're all thinking of you, Mr. P! Hugs to you and your family!

When I came home today, I threw together a quick dinner of noodles, pasta sauce, breaded chicken patties, and corn bread muffins. Mmm...hit the spot! Plus, I was happy to have ANOTHER surprise package greet me in the mail today (oh, and while I'm thinking of it, Tony's UPS package DID arrive last night...at EIGHT THIRTY PM, no less! Who knew the UPS delivery truck drivers even worked that late...I was already in bed!). Sorry, I'll get back to my story...I got a compilation package from one Mrs. McBaldwin, herself. Long story short, my longtime friend who lives in London has collected things for me and has told me she would send one thing or another the next time she visited the states...well...she's finally just sent all of the items. Included in the package were items from my Christmas present from 2009, our house warming gift from last year, this year's birthday present from March, and our "Congratulations, you're pregnant/having a girl" gift. I've included pictures of the enclosed gifts...all of which I totally love and am excited to use! Thank you, Mrs. McB! You always find the funnest (yes, I know, MSHJ, Mom, Nicole and KM, but I like using that word so I don't care that you're going to comment on my wordage...) gifts!!!

SOFT bunny cloth

"Ehlo, Mate"...British Stationary

Mmm...yummy bath goodies

...perfect to host a little picnic out on the patio...

"Linz-colored" bracelets and case

Thank you, Mrs. Mac! I LOVE the gifts! Yay for celebrating these life events YEAR ROUND! I couldn't have planned it better myself! :)

Brownies were made tonight (even though I was craving chocolate chip cookies from a fellow friend's blog...a recipe for New York's best cookie)...but we don't have the right groceries to make that happen tonight. Hopefully, I will get my first paycheck on Friday and I can stock up on grocery essentials this weekend.

My back is hurting tonight (probably from lifting 2 boys and an unborn girl today) so I am planning on taking some acetaminophen and attempting to talk my husband into switching his "Tank Overhaul" show he has recorded for my "Parenthood" series that had it's premier last night (I had it recorded because I was too tired to stay up and watch it). We'll see how that switch goes, although, truth be told, I probably won't stay awake long enough to watch the ending of either (or perhaps even the middle of either). Good night, and I hope my back feels better in the morning. Monkey, Mom's waiting to feel you...very eagerly! Please take your time, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it's sooner rather than later!!! Hint, hint...

"Be Pretty If You Can, Be Witty If You Must, But Be Gracious If It KILLS You."

~Elsie de Wolfe

I think "The Thank You Letter" is a dying art form...however I believe it is only just that you not use, spend, or eat a gift until you have written and sent a thank you to the giver. That being said, I sent out my thank you letter to Ms. Morris today for her cute package she sent us for baby King.

Today with the boys was a little cooler than yesterday. Both boys showed me a good day. Jack was still eating timidly, but better than recently, and he was using some of the new sign language I had taught him last week. M was still a little out of his element and slept for only about two hours today (WAY under his average). K and I agreed that we'll give him to the end of the week to see if it is just his adjusting to having me around all day, and if he still has sleeping issues next week, then we'll develop a new strategy to get him back into his eat/sleep/poop schedule. Today was an eight hour day at work, which always makes me happy.

When I came home, there was a bunch of junk mail but nothing noteworthy. I popped in some frozen pizzas and the night was off to a start. I got to relax with my man while trimming his cuticles and clipping his nails (after he steamed them in the shower). Now I'm going old school watching "American Sweethearts" while Tony waits for his UPS package that says it's "out for delivery"...poor guy...I think he's checked the front porch about five times. Apparently he had ordered the latest version of the game HALO and paid for one hour delivery. We shall see if it actually arrives, but...the UPS guy has been known to deliver after 8pm to us, so it's not a lost cause at this point...

I'm rather tired, so I'm going to finish watching the movie while snuggled into bed. I either need to take a shower tonight or in the morning...I haven't quite made up my mind about what I want to do with that. Either way, I am glad that I didn't wear nice clothes to work today, as I believe that a fraction of everything consumed or dispensed by either boy ended up on me...ahhh, the joys of childcare. Monkey, do you think you're going to be any cleaner, seeing as you're a girl? Well, if not, Mama's getting practice being dirty before you come :). All my love!

"The Mediocre Teacher Tells. The Good Teacher Explains. The Superior Teacher Demonstrates. The Great Teacher Inspires."

~William Arthur Ward

I just LOVE that one day every month when my FAVORITE magazine arrives!!!

My new boss is back to school for her first day of teaching 1st grade today...so that means I am ALSO back to work, officially, for my first day with the boys. The day started at 7am when I got to their house a little earlier than normal so that their car seats could be installed in my car by the dad before he left for work (K had already left for work by 6:30am).

It was so nice spending the entire day with the boys. They must have sensed that today was different than the other days I had been there babysitting as both acted a little different than I was used to. Where J is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that today was his best "eating day" to date. M, on the other hand, had short bouts of sleeping in between some fussiness (as opposed to his normal long naps between feedings). I feel that these changes were in part because of normal differences in day-to-day lives of children, but ALSO because they are used to having their family with them 99% of the time and today that changed. I know that kids react differently to schedule changes, so I knew that this was a possibility. Luckily, M was consoled by his nuk and by being held...it just limited my ability to do a lot of things around the house during the nap time I was counting on. Either way, I was able to check off some things on the "to do" list for K, and no matter what, I really enjoyed my day with the boys. The boys and I had some nice time to hang out and ultimately they were healthy and happy...which is the most I can ask for. The day went well and the only thing I would change was I wish it were cooler...it was 90 degrees and humid so I was happy to be in the air conditioned house with the boys!

Upon returning home, I was happy to find a package for "BABY KING" from one Ms. Kristin M...she's so super sweet of thinking of our baby girl! Inside the package was a set of monkey house slippers for our little girl, some pink pacifier hooks, two pink pacifiers (one that says "Girls Rule" on the nob and one that says "Born 2 Shop") and a cute red and pink polka dot sleeper with a princess monkey on it. Thank you, Ms. Kristin-you are too sweet! I love it! I think it is soooo fitting that our little girl, who already has an entire wardrobe stuffed to the brim, will have a nuk claiming she is born to shop...of course: like mother, like daughter! :)

I did the dishes, made the bed (because I just enjoy going to bed in a "organized, clean bed"), got the mail, let Sugar out to go to the bathroom, and started dinner when I got home. We had marinated chicken, rice, and veggies with soy sauce. I watched the season finale of Bachelor Pad (I know, I shouldn't admit that on the internet, as it's kind of embarrassing, but it's the truth, take it or leave it). I caught up on email and the news online, and had some yummy watermelon while sitting in front of the screen and instant messaging my mom (who is the inspiration for today's blog title/quote: my greatest teacher). I love you, Mom! Thanks for all you've inspired in me!

I'm now ready for bed, as Tony has long since gone to bed and now I want to cuddle with him. Good night, dear girl! I'm thinking about you constantly!

"In School, You’re Taught A Lesson Then Given A Test. In Life, You’re Given A Test That Teaches You A Lesson."

This one is called "Chocolate Fix."

~Tom Bodett

Ah, what a gorgeous Sunday, again! It was so nice to sleep in until 6:30am today...I got to wake up with the sun. Who knew there was such joy in simple pleasures?!? After some warm and gooey oatmeal for breakfast (made the best way: by your dad), I got ready for church. While checking directions online, I was also scanning Craigslist to see if there were any free items that looked good. Turns out that someone in our neighborhood had a garage sale this weekend and was giving everything else away for free today. I printed off their address and left a little early for church, hoping to find a few useful items. As it so happens, either the items hadn't been put out quite yet, or I had to email to look at the items. So, I was quite a bit earlier to church than I had planned...so I called my long lost former roommate, Mrs. Morris, who I continue to play phone tag with, most of the time. Blessing of all blessings, she answered her phone and her and I were able to catch up for a good hour before I had to go into church.

Meghan and I got to chat while checking children into the children's church portion before the adult service began. It was nice to meet a bunch of the congregation and their families before church started! They were all very friendly and happy! There was a lively service today, complete with a touching dramatization by the youth, a first time visitor's guest bag, and a moving testimonial/set of songs by a local community service center called Teen Challenge (which is run nationally, as well). The stories and messages of the lyrics were very inspiring of a life that has been spiritually lifted. I promise to not get preachy, but it was a really neat message and I was so glad that today was the day I chose to visit Meghan's church! While their, I also decided to participate in the church's community outreach/volunteer day next weekend where we will go wash cars of people in the neighborhood for free.  Something else I'm kind of excited about was Pastor Dave's message in the next few weeks about Parenting! I may just want to stick around for those sermons. To be completely honest, church was a nice experience today and I definitely feel as if I've been missing church and fellowship lately, but it was a long drive (as I didn't get home until about 1:30 and I left at 9am) and it was more verbally affirmative than what I am used to/comfortable with. Like I said, I enjoyed the company of Meghan and all of her friends she introduced me to and I AM looking forward to the messages in the upcoming weeks, so I think I will be back a few more times in the upcoming months, but I don't feel like this is the church I am meant to be with ultimately. The search continues...but...I will enjoy Streamline's fellowship in the meantime!

I was so inspired and motivated by Teen Challenge's presentation this morning, that I signed up for volunteering with them somehow. I feel really good about this decision and feel like it is a great cause that I have been looking for as of late.

On the way home, I had promised myself that I would treat Tony and I to my much craved after cupcakes from yesterday. Before I left for church, I had googled a yummy looking bakery downtown to stop at. Cupcake Craving had so many wonderful and mouth-watering choices to choose from, but the reason I had chosen to see them as opposed to the other cupcake options that google found for me, was that Sunday they had a S'mores Galore cupcake on their menu (yesterday, it was the S'mores cupcake on DC Cakes that made me interested in cupcakes) so that was the decision maker. They also had a good looking Chocolate Fix cupcake that I figured I would also appreciate. I bought both cupcakes and brought them home...trying to ignore the temptation the whole time to eat them in the car. Luckily, I made it all the way home and was able to snap a few pictures before cutting the cupcakes in half to share with Tony and biting into my portions. All I can say was that it was totally worth the trip downtown and the money! So super perfect and what I have been craving!!!

Thank you for fulfilling my craving! Absolutely delicious!

This one hit the spot: "S'mores Galore"...Complete yummi-ness in one little cupcake!

After digging into the cupcakes, I thought it was only fair that I eat something healthy for an actual lunch. I made a sandwich, pickle, OJ, chips, and grapes to round out my backwards meal (is it just me, or do meals that start with dessert taste better?!?). I was so happy to come home from church and see a mowed lawn and have the weeds all pulled-what a sweet husband I have! Because he had done the yard work without me, I got to enjoy a few hours of resting before going to babysit tonight.

Tonight I babysat for four beautiful children who know my new nanny family (that's how my name was referred). There was a 7 year old girl-"C", a 6 year old girl-"E", a 5 year old boy "L", and a 4 year old girl "L". We had a good time playing outside on their play structure, eating popsicles, playing dinosaur chases girls (I bet you can figure out how THIS ONE is played!), and watching "Finding Nemo" when it got too dark to play outside. I will be helping out with these four wonderful children while their parents are at Bible Study for the next 6 weeks. On the way home, I had to stop and fill up on gas. When I got home, I gave Tony a hair cut, and here I am...ready for bed and ready for my first official day of full time with the new nanny family tomorrow. I am looking forward to an entire day with the boys and starting to get a regular paycheck again. 

Good night and wish me a good first day tomorrow, please. Monkey, you made Mom have to pee while at church today, and I do believe that your foot was firmly lodged in her sternum, but I am so happy to start to feel you making yourself comfy inside of there, that I am welcoming any feeling you send my way at this point. Hope you enjoy your day with the boys tomorrow, as you will come to learn their voices and soon they will be your play buddies!

"All The Great Things Are Simple, And Many Can Be Expressed In A Single Word: Freedom; Justice; Honor; Duty; Mercy; Hope."

~Winston Churchill

Wow...I was thinking I wouldn't be able to enter my blog tonight. But thanks to my wonderful, talented husband, here I am. After my computer has been wiped clean and completely re-installed, I am back up and running, but it was touch and go there for awhile. Luckily, I live with in-home tech support...thanks, my love!

This morning started out pretty normal. First I ran a few errands with Nikki and Mikee. Today was the first of two days of the Mather Air Show and I was leery of the traffic we would have around here. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the traffic was relatively normal, as the traffic didn't pour in until the afternoon. We set off to the Davis Ranch for a little Farmer's Market shopping to begin our errand running for the day. While there, we got some delicious and cheap goodies like: fresh green beans, purple bell peppers (who knew, right?!?), juicy white peaches, yummy blueberries, and a few other items. We were off to the post office to mail a package for Nikki when we were reminded by the flag flying at half mast that today was September 11th, the anniversary of the attack in New York nine years ago, and we celebrate it now as Patriot Day. We are so blessed to live in this country, where men and women fight every day to defend our freedom and way of life. Thank you to everyone who served, continues to do their part for our country, and who has lost loved ones in the name of freedom. Thank you!

Our next stop was Kohl's where we exchanged an old for a new Belgian Waffle Maker (the old one didn't work like it was supposed to) and I am proud to report that not only did I not buy ANY clothes for Monkey while I was there, I did not put ANY items into my hand AND this is the first time since being pregnant that I've been able to resist buying something when passing by a children's department. Mandy Sue, you'd be so proud of me! :) Trust me, they had cute stuff...especially some adorable dresses, but I resisted the urge and kept repeating to myself that Monkey has ENOUGH clothes. On our way out of the store, there was another moment had by the King women that just makes me continue to laugh just thinking back on it. As we were exiting, a cute little boy and his mom were entering the store. We hopped in the car and Mikee asked, "Is that boy black?"...to which Nikki instantly replied, "Psh...NO! He's not black...he's....ahhh...TAN...like them (referring to the family he was with)." and ended with a flick of her hand. We laughed and laughed...and it was just so funny that she dismissed it as "tan" instead of calling the color by ethnicity. Afterward, she added to her comment by saying, "I'm TAN, so I can say that kind of thing..."...oh, Nikki, you make us laugh!

We quickly stopped at Safeway for a few groceries to round out our day, stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and were back before noon. Once home, I sanded the first layer paint droplets off of the toy chest and got to spray painting my second coat of the white paint. I feel that it covered well and that it will be perfect as soon as it dries. Yes, don't worry, I wore gloves, glasses, and a handkerchief while I spray painted and made sure I did it outside on the lawn where I could get the most ventilation.  Later, I fell asleep for a wonderful 3 hour nap and then Mikee and I met Tony at the Folsom Best Buy to pick up a new laptop for her (her operating system was done so instead of paying to get a new one, it was just as expensive to invest in a new laptop). Tony was excited to have a new computer for his mom, so he was happy to lend his advice and meet at one of his favorite stores after work. When we got home we took a shower, and Tony got ready to install his mom's new laptop. I sat down at my computer to check emails and work on some stuff, to find out I couldn't open anything and a little window informing me that I had a virus. Lovely! I am so lucky for Tony and all of his computer-savvy, tech-wise knowledge, otherwise, I would've been so sad! He was quite the expert in computer bases this evening as he set Mikee up with her new computer and basically re-setup mine. Ahhh...I always new I appreciated my link to the world via my computer, but I always forget how MUCH I enjoy it until the option accessing it at any time was taken away from me!

Mikee made delicious homemade (from scratch) cornbread muffins, steamed green beans (fresh from the farmer's market this morning) and smoked turkey for dinner. Nothing is as delicious as a meal made by someone else! Plus, it was just yummy in general! While Tony was doing the "computer thing" tonight, I watched a bunch of baking shows on TV...which I must advise is NOT the thing a pregnant woman should do! (As I am NOW craving cakes, cupcakes, rice krispie treats, and many other fresh baked items.) I watched a series of DC Cakes, Cake Boss, and Amazing Cakes for about three hours straight. I am NOT a cake person. I just don't enjoy cakes and I think that frosting is the worst part of the whole experience...we even opted to NOT have a wedding cake and had cheesecake instead for our wedding last year. That being said, I am craving a cupcake right now, like nobody's business! Thank you, TLC! More specifically, one of the shows was about two sisters who owned a shop and were having a bake off with some fireman. One of the sisters made a s'mores cupcake, complete with graham cracker crust, chocolate gnache filling, and marshmallow frosting...mmm, I seriously would pay top dollar for something like that right now! It looked so delicious and the whole time I watched it I was imagining how it smelled and how good it would taste to just have a sample of it! Of course the FIRST thing I did when Tony announced that my computer was up and running at 10:30pm was NOT to write my blog, but to research on google where the closest cupcake store is and it's operating hours for tomorrow. I am so looking forward to a special treat of a local cupcake...I am thinking that it MUST be the pregnancy that is making me crave any form of cake...ooh, I wonder if I'll have sweet dreams of cupcakes and other assorted bakery items tonight...wouldn't THAT be nice!?!

Tomorrow morning I made plans with Ms. Meghan (another pregnant chica) to visit her church in the morning. As of an email I just recently got, I believe I also may be babysitting tomorrow evening. Sometime in there I hope to get our yard work done (as that was put aside for all of our computer issues we had today). Day two of the Mather Air Show is tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes...

Alright, I better call 'er a night as it is already 11:30 and I do have quite the plans tomorrow. Good night and thank you for all of your love. Sending thoughts out to all of the armed forces, people in uniform, and loved ones of the September 11th, 2001 attack!

"Any Kid Will Run Any Errand For You If You Ask At Bedtime."

~Red Skelton

Cuddling in the morning with my honey bunny is one of the best ways to wake up! After he left for work, I chatted with Mikee (she has off today as Monday is the first day of her new job and yesterday was the last day of her former job). I also made a grocery shopping list for this afternoon.

So excited to report that we are now scheduled for a 3D/4D ultrasound at my 30 week mark. I found a reasonably priced place in Folsom that has a variety of package deals offered to people who want a virtual look at their babies before they're born. We can't wait to see our little girl at the end of October!

At work today, I got to spend a few hours with some amazing young men. J was "talking" more than usual today and I can tell he's remembering some of the sign language I taught him on Wednesday. While both boys were napping I helped make a taco salad for their dinner party tonight. I am really excited to be with the boys full time next week!!! These kids are some of the most fantastically well behaved kids in general, but I am so appreciative that they don't fight the nap/bedtime routine one single bit. No matter how many distractions a kid can typically find at the time they hear N-A-P, J grabs his blankie and makes the quiet pilgrimage to his bedroom as if I was offering a kid a chocolate ice cream cone in their crib. He's happy, doesn't pout, and just accepts it as part of his schedule. What a blessing! We should be so lucky with our kid(s)...although I know the saying that you have the children you were when you were that age and if that's the case...we'll have someone who'll offer to do anything and everything under the sun to postpone the nap/bedtime process. I am just so appreciative that at least two children I know enjoy bedtime!

I picked up Mikee after babysitting and we were off to Costco for our monthly grocery run. While we were there, we bumped into Nicole and Kimi who looked like they were finding good deals. We loaded up on a bunch of goodies (as our supply at home has been dwindling and it has been sparse for meals lately) and headed home. Mikee and I unloaded everything and I had to get a little creative to get it all to fit into the refrigerator/freezer/pantry.

With all of the new stuff we bought, I am sad to say that I ate up the last of our leftovers for dinner. As Nikki likes to call it, I made my "poor man's lasagna" where I mix noodles, butter, shredded cheese, parmesan cheese, and tomato soup. I also washed that all down with a big glass of fiber kiwi strawberry powder drink. The Mather Air Force Show is today and so I am glad to have all of my errands done, as I am not looking to compete with the traffic this weekend. I may even enjoy sitting on the wall to Sunrise tomorrow or Sunday to watch the show from the comfort of our own yard...we shall see how hot it gets before I commit to watching outside or not.

We had a little excitement tonight. Mikee, Tony and I were all talking in our room when we hear screaming and a lot of clattering going on in the front room. Next, Nikki yells for help and it sounds like something crashes. We all come running to find Nikki shaken up and her cat Mushu running around in a Kohl's bag. It appears as though they each had frightened each other...Mushu to the point of peeing on himself. He had gotten in the big bag to "investigate" as is his normal routine because he loves the sound and is quite the typical curious cat. When Nikki had come out of the room quite unexpectedly (and rather quickly for Mushu's liking), she surprised Mushu so much that Mushu began running (bag and all) and could not get out of the bag. He continued to run into the walls and the fact that Nikki was yelling because of a scary bag moving across a dark floor (seemingly by itself) probably really shook Mushu up. I'm not sure who was MORE scared! Aside from peeing on herself, Mushu must have also tried to run so hard that his claws got stuck in the floor...after we dug him out from under the couch, we discovered bloody paws. It appears as though he completely pulled out a nail from his left front AND left rear paws...poor guy! No wonder he was cowering in the corner under the couch in the living room. We got him all cleaned up but he was uncharacteristically acting like a big baby: cuddled up and shaking in Nikki's lap. As soon as we were done, he hid again. I think this might have just possibly shocked him a little and he may think twice about playing in a plastic bag for awhile. We shall see how he's doing tomorrow...

Twinkle, Twinkle, little star...Love you, Monkey!

"Perhaps Our Eyes Need To Be Washed By Our Tears Once In A While, So That We Can See Life With A Clearer View Again."

~Alex Tan

Bright and early began this day! I was off to an early start this morning. First there were some pancakes for breakfast, then I started collecting all of the household garbage and recycling to put out for pickup tomorrow. Then, I decided to start the laundry and wash all of the towels in the house, as well. Next it was the inevitable dishes time...my least favorite part of the day, aside from the fact that at least it has one redeeming quality: I get to organize the clean dishes when I put them away. By then I could switch the laundry into the dryer. After that, I sanded down the toy chest and put on the first coat of white spray paint. Unfortunately, the sanding didn't take off as much of the paint as I had hoped, but it did rough up the surface at least enough to hold the spray paint. I pulled the toy chest out to the grass in the back yard for the spraying portion, as to cut the inhalation as much as possible by having it outside in a windy area. I think it was a good first coat, however it will need at least one more coat, if not two. Plus, I realized after it dried that because it was on a slight incline in the grass, one of the sides has droplet marks, which I will need to sand before spraying on the second layer.

I came inside, after that project and wrote in the belly book that Mom gave me. We are officially done with 23 weeks of pregnancy, meaning I am starting week 24...which, for those of you who don't know a lot about pregnancy, means that on Thursday of next week, I will have finished the 2nd trimester. As part of filling out the belly book, I measured my belly (as I do every week) to find out that within the last week, I have grown TWO INCHES in my belly. Perhaps that is why I am unusually tired...I think Monkey had an unusually large growth spurt and that is why I've been so exhausted after taking it easy. I really need to get more variety of maternity pants as I fear that my ability to "stretch" my non-pregnant wardrobe is swiftly coming to an end.

Next on my list of things to do this morning was to send out a thank you to Mom and Dan for the cute baby gifts and to head to Kinkos to print off the eldest boy's (of the new nanny family) birthday invitations. He is having his 2 year birthday next month at a local pumpkin patch. It was so nice last year, I can't wait for this big day for the little man! Thirty nine copies of Halloween-inspired invitations later, I was on my way to the Dan's mass, funeral, burial, and celebration of life.

Although it was a Catholic mass, and I am not familiar with most of the rituals, it was a very nice and honoring service. After the service, everyone drove out to the cemetery for the burial. What a beautiful day to signify a serene and peaceful transition for Mr. A into his heavenly life. We all gathered afterward at the Citrus Heights Community Center for his celebration of life/memorial. It was a touching tribute to an amazing man, complete with a heartfelt speech by his daughter Darc, friends of the family, and sweet slideshow. Of course, it was meaningful to be able to lend emotional support to dear friends during this difficult time, but it was apparent that Dan surrounded himself and his family with the highest quality of individuals. He truly was a remarkable man who fought so hard for his three girls and who will continue to live on in the hearts of all who knew him and in Team Big Papa.

After returning home from the day's events, the laundry had to be put away and dinner had to be made. We're getting low on groceries, so one of our few choices was a dinner of macaroni and cheese and sausages. Mikee chatted about her last day on the job at CB&T and knew that after today's events, she made the right decision to leave. She is excited to start her new job on Monday and to have a fresh start in general. She was pleasantly surprised when she came home from work to find that the last of the divorce settlement monies owed her by her ex have finally made their way into a fidelity account in her name as of this afternoon. She can now move on from the past in more ways than one: she no longer needs to deal with her ex, she is done with a frustrating job and onto a new one, and she will be moving out and living for herself all within the same month. Seems like we need to celebrate. It is so great to know how happy all of these changes are making her!

Tomorrow is Aunt Nettie and friend DeAnna's birthdays as well as another day spent with two very special boys. I realized today how important it is to surround yourself with people who make you feel good, who cherish your company, who respect your individuality, who make you want to be better, and who love you unconditionally. Today is truly a blessing and I just wanted to thank you all for the roles you play in our lives. Thank you to all of you out there who have extended us a kind word, a smile, a shoulder to lean on, memories, laughs, who have challenged us, and who continue to be there and laugh with us when we have our "moments"...we really can't thank you enough for how you continue to touch our lives. Know that we are saying a prayer of appreciation and love for you all, and that we hope your lives continue to be blessed!

Hope you all had a terrific Thursday!

"Sooner Or Later, We All Quote Our Mothers."

~Bern Williams

I just LOVE the combo of brown and blue (and lime green)! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa W!!!

Story time at the Elk Grove Library today at 10am was very nice! I was able to meet some other moms in the Mother's Group that the new nanny family belongs to. K introduced me to two other moms and their children. Next we headed back to the nanny family's house to learn the basics on a few more things I will need to know for when I start full time on Monday, and then I was on my own from 11:30 to 4:30. M had a very cute monkey outfit today and J looked adorable in his jeans, converse shoes, and button-down shirt! It was a great afternoon with both boys-and I'm proud to report that J had a great day of eating (a current battle we are having). Yippity Skippity!

Arriving home, Tony announced he would treat us all to Taco Bell for dinner if I would go pick it up. Let me say, it did NOT take a lot of convincing. Plus, we used tip money that he got from a customer to pay for dinner, so it tasted even better knowing we weren't spending any of "our" money. While I picked up the tacos, Tony filled out an application for a health care IT support certification program through the Consumnes River College in Elk Grove. We will see if he is accepted, as classes begin at the end of September. It'd be nice to have this certification...as I envision it opening more career door opportunities in the near future! At least, that is our hope!

When coming in from picking up dinner, I discovered a package at the front door from Mom! It was so cute because it was addressed to me and "BB King." Inside were two fabulously sweet outfits, complete with sweaters, and a book Mom had picked up from Calaveras State Park when she came to visit over the summer. Inside the book was a cute message from Grandma and Grandpa Wipp. It is so exciting to get the first mail sent to Monkey and also because I had already been eying the blue/brown outfit from Carters for Monkey's first official/professional pictures...It's getting harder and harder to wait for our little pink bundle of joy to come, as I want to start cuddling and playing with her already. It's too funny that Mom picked out the same outfit that I have been thinking about buying. It's scary how much we think alike some times!

How sweet will she look in this. I know she'll look so innocent, but as my child, I'll know better... ;)

For some reason, it doesn't feel as though my extra iron supplements are making the difference that I had hoped. I did choke down an Omega-3 vitamin this morning, despite the smell, thanks to my dear 'ol husband reminding me how benificial to Monkey the vitamins would be. I am off to bed because I feel completely drained...for a reason that still escapes me.

My favorite part of today was the surprise package for monkey and enjoying breakfast of fresh made pancakes with my husband before he left for work this morning. I LOVE it when we sit at the table and talk at mealtime! I can't wait until Monkey gets to do that with us, too!

On a side note, I have a special note for one of my regular readers: MSHJ...I kept up my end of the bargain today...how is YOUR homework going?

Also, I think I may have discovered a name for Monkey while absent-mindedly listening to the radio on the way home from babysitting today. Tony says he likes it and I think it's rather brilliant, but we decided it'd be a secret if we choose to use it or not. Sorry to dangle this in front of you all without going into detail, but if we DO choose to use this name, I want to remember that TODAY was the day we thought of it, that's why I'm commenting on it here. 

Okay, I think that is all for now! "Now I lay me down to sleep..."

"Live to the point of tears."

~Unknown

Sometimes, you just need to laugh at yourself. I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Mr. M taught me that today...I'll explain in a moment.

Slept in until 6:30 this morning, most likely because of the late night/long day yesterday. It felt so nice to wake up to sunlight. After a brief breakfast, it was time to catch up. I found "Bachelor Pad" and "If You Can Dream" from yesterday on Hulu.com so I could watch what I missed last night. While watching that on the computer, I finished putting all of the info into my new day planner, completed the calendar portion with birthdays, anniversaries, plans, and filled in the address book in the back.

...from inside the gifts from last night. Thank you Parks family!...

Next, I organized all of the gifts from the Parks from yesterday, put them away in the appropriate shelf in the laundry room for when Monkey arrives. Then it was time to fill out a grandparent's day card, birthday card, and thank you card and send it off. Mikee's lime green fiesta ware that she ordered last weekend arrived today when the postman came around lunch time. I also stopped off at Walgreens to pick up a fly swatter because there seems to be one buzzing around the house lately. And then when I swat it and put it in the garbage, another one appears out of nowhere. I don't know where they are coming from or HOW they are getting in the house, but they really know how to get on my nerves. Luckily, Mikee's dog, Sugar, is really great at catching them, otherwise we'd probably have even more!

I had planned on sanding the toy chest this morning so that I could spray paint it tomorrow but I ran out of time this morning. I guess that will have to wait. I replied to a few emails, updated the information online for our high school reunion, and chatted via Facebook with my cousin, MSHJ before heading to work.

While at the new nanny family's house tonight, our poor little Mr. M had an upset stomach...which resulted in liquid farts/poop bubbling up the back of his diaper and up along his back under the shirt. In an attempt to clean off his back after wiping down his front, I sat him up...at which point "Teo" threw up all over himself. Then I laid him back down to clean up his vomit, and he began to pee. Now I know one of the first things they teach you about changing a boy's diaper is to always cover the "front end zone" but I was so busy cleaning up the mess in front AND back, that I had no time for that step. While cleaning up the mess he had made all over himself, he managed to squeak out a few more gas bubbles that resulted in a few more liquid hershey kisses. Poor guy...he was coming out of every orifice. Somehow, through the whole thing, he was smiley and giggly, seemingly without a care in the world. I can only imagine how uncomfortable he must have been to be squirting out liquids in three directions, but he was such a trooper! What an amazing young man! Finally, when I thought there was a brief reprieve of items coming out of this young fellow, I brought him to the kitchen sink for a warm bath. What a soldier! All I could do was laugh...he wasn't annoyed or upset with the fact that I had obviously forgotten to shield him during the throw up or the peeing and I knew he must have had an upset stomach...so I took a lesson from the little guy and just went with the flow. He is such a great guy! I was lucky on two accounts. First, I managed to get none of the liquids excreted by Mr. M on me...a feat I am not quite sure how I accomplished. And, second, Mr. J was napping and so I could focus solely on cleaning up the mess at hand.

While both boys were napping, I picked up the house a bit and organized the cabinet with all of the changing station equipment (as well as pre-treated Mr. M's dirty clothes). I also made plans to come early tomorrow so that I can go with "K" to the Mom's group/story time to meet all of the other mom's in the play group. I have heard nothing but good things about them and I am excited to meet women who will also get to know our little girl in a few month's time!

After getting home from babysitting today, I enjoyed some spaghetti made by Tony, himself. Yum! I went on the hunt for flies with my new swatter, but they most have gotten a warning, as I could not find any so far. I put away some dishes, washed the ones that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher, and took out all of the garbage and recycling. I put a few cookies in the oven for Tony's lunch for the rest of the week and now I'm sitting under our ceiling fan in the bedroom, enjoying a quiet evening. Had a chat with Mom now that she's fully back into the swing of school, once again. Mikee finished putting all of baby's gifts together in her toy chest that she finished varnishing...overflowing with trinkets and goodies, of course. Mikee is celebrating the fact that she's only got TWO more days of work left at the current job.

I was able to work out getting Thursday off with my new boss (thank you so much!) so that I can support my friend at her father's funeral, mass, burial, and memorial. As much as I wish it was under better circumstances, I really am so appreciative of a sensitive boss, a great friend, and all of the amazing people that surround us in our lives!

On a side note, my belly seems especially big today (although it measures the same). Gosh, sometimes I feel like I need a "wide load" sign. I guess some days will feel skinnier than others...

Wishing you a peaceful night, pumpkin! Love, Mom and Dad