Irony

After I screamed at the kids to STOP SCREAMING AT EACH OTHER, I realized that the windows were all open AND the new neighbors were in their new driveway unloading a few things. Nice.

So we went to the gym where I enjoyed 45 minutes on the elliptical reading Redbook and the kids played with some friends on the playground. When I picked them up they were red and sweaty, and they ate lunch really well with only minimal bickering (Jack even ate a VEGETABLE-- sugar snap peas-- color me shocked).

As soon as I clean up the kitchen for the third time today (FML), we are going to the park. At this rate, maybe they'll be in bed BEFORE dinner...

You DON'T dress up like a Power Ranger to eat brownies at 9 am? Weird.

Long day's jounrey into I hope somebody comes home soon but he's not due home until dinner SAVE ME!

Today is the first day I have been home by myself with the kids in a long time. Holy crap. Kids can be really annoying. And it's raining. Of course it is. And as soon as the rain dries, our sprinklers will come on. So what I am saying is, outside is out for now.

Luckily, except for one kind of shitty day (no offense, kids) where I am on the hook for J and the baby all day and Harry from after school until bedtime (bedtime for 3 kids by myself? Sounds fucking terrible. I have a sitter coming between 1 and 3 days a week to help with bedtime depending on Ben's class schedule, which is kind of erratic), I am really not going to be doing a ton of solo parenting this semester at all. One half day with the baby, the aforementioned long day that's mostly just 2 kids, and a perfectly normal work-hour day with J and the baby and then all 3 for about an hour. BUT there are a few nights throughout the semester (about 16) that Ben has night classes, meaning I will be alone from crabby time until bedtime (hence the sitter).

Can you tell I am dreading it? I think it's because I have NO PATIENCE lately, and I cannot imagine that I will have more when I am totally sleep deprived. Also, we dropped J from 3 full days of preschool to 3 half days because all he does is take a nap in the afternoon, and one of us is home everyday anyway because of the baby. So, less childcare. And AGAIN, Ben's days home have more childcare than mine.

We are going to try to swing this precarious schedule for 4 semesters, until the baby is 2 and can start preschool, although we may be in the market for a 2-part-day-a-week nanny when the baby is 1, which would allow Ben to work more day classes and not teach at night anymore. Also, next year, J can go to 4K through the school district, which is 5 half days. We are committed, though, to being home with the baby sitter-free for a year, even if we have to figure out weird times to get all of our work done.

But really, the point of this post is that I have been dreading today for like a week because I haven't had to deal with the kids by myself for most of the summer thanks to year-round preschool, which is such a good idea! Because let's face it, at home they eat bowls of snacks and hang out with this a lot: (LIKE RIGHT NOW)

They really wanted to bake (from boxes because I am lazy), even though they look kind of crabby in the pictures), but we had finished that by 7:30 am.



Then they played some super heroes

Then as evidenced by the trail of bat costumes, they DRESSED like super heroes (I don't know because all I heard was dulled screaming while I mopped up the baking mess less than half an hour after I mopped up the breakfast mess)

Now they have abandoned super play in favor of other costumes and-- you guessed it-- a bowl of snack because eating at mealtimes is apparently for SUCKERS.



I'll keep you posted-- not because my day is thrilling but because I need virtual support.

Home improvements

We are getting some new neighbors in a couple of days, so we decided to get a fence and plant a tree and some tall bushes. Neighborly, huh?

No, really, we have just been in the mood for some home improvement projects (nesting, perhaps?).

This weekend Ben's parents came to town to bring the kids gifts (even the unborn one) and install a couple of kid room ceiling fans.

Here's the baby's-- pretty basic, but it matches the rest of our fixtures perfectly

Here's H and J's, which matches nothing in the house except their room:


Ben really did plant some tall bushes today-- or they will be tall someday

Mainly to stop the kids from killing themselves on the rock walls and to stop himself from having to mow the grass there

Also to block all of our windows because we are, as I mentioned, neighborly

Which is why we planted this tree that will hopefully block our yard someday

Seriously, how cute is this little fence

with its cute little gate? (it has 2 cute little gates, but I only took a picture of 1 because, I mean, a gate is a gate)


Home improvements aside, I feel like shit today. So big. SO unwieldy. So needing to pee all the time because there is a giant person on my bladder (he's actually probably less than 7 pounds, but still). My back hurts like you would not believe. And still. No contractions. No other labor signs. I think I might set a new length-of-gestation record. Harry was already like 4 days old by now.

I just want to see him and kiss him and never sleep again because of him.

I ordered some really cute stickers to put on his onesies every month so I don't have to make my monthly signs. Ben's mom bought him an awesome bouncy chair. I used our anniversary gift card from Bomma and Jack to buy a new Vera Bradley diaper bag (Happy anniversary, Ben. Also, mine is in Symphony in Hue, but I cannot get that color to link for some reason ). We are so, so ready for our little guy. (All I need is a ready-made Hallmark scrapbook baby book like I had for H and J and that's it, I swear. Then we'll really, really be ready. I am going to Hallmark first thing tomorrow morning.)

Pie

To continue talking about food, we were out for lunch today (I KNOW!), and I realized that if I gave birth tomorrow,I would regret not eating another piece of peanut butter silk pie in this world where calories don't mater and despite my best efforts, I did not gain any weight between doctors appointments. So I made a detour into my favorite pie shop and I am eating it right now after pretty much refusing to split it with Ben (I asked him if he wanted anything when I went into the bakery, and he said he didn't! So what the hell did he think he was doing with that extra fork?).

I have been doing some digital nesting, too, so I finally have pictures of, oh, EVERYTHING we've been doing.

Hanging around at the zoo

We have had fun eating lots of lunch


And cupcakes.

Oh, cupcakes


I took Harry for a super special big boy pre-kindergarten hair cut at my salon. When we walked in, he was impressed with the zen fountain and wanted to throw "tokens" in it. When the receptionist offered him a beverage (he chose a tiny bottle of water with the salon's name on it), he said, "This is awesome," then he sauntered over to the lounge area and grabbed an Entertainment Weekly with Harry Potter on the cover

He had never experienced a salon shampoo before because he usually goes to Sports Clips where they just mist him with a squirt bottle, and he was a little apprehensive about the whole thing once he was seated on a booster and a roll of towels. Once the warm water hit his head, though, he loved it.


He was really into the head and neck massage portion of his shampoo, and he liked the way his conditioner smelled like the beach.

He loved watching himself in the mirror

The end result-- the shortest, spikiest hair cut he has ever had- it is so darn cute!

Harry has been riding his bike so much his shins are covered with bruises from about a million falls.

Ben and the kids made some windmill peanut butter and seed bird feeders-- it was pretty cute.


Jack is kind of an aggressive reader

We are working on our playroom art installation. We only have 4 so far, but Ben bought a TON of frames, and we are hoping kindergarten means lots of materpieces.


Remember how at the beginning of this post I was talking about my doctor appointment? Well, yeah. I had one. Ben went with me because he hasn't heard the baby's heart beat yet, but we forgot I had to be swabbed for Group B Strep (NEGATIVE! Woo-hoo!), so that was awkward. Then the doctor freaked us out-- he said that since my labor with Jack was so short, when I am in labor with this guy, I should not waste any time getting to the hospital. The problem? I am AT LEAST an hour away. By the time I call my brother and his awesome girlfriend and they leave work to come get my fat ass and then we go to the hospital, that's an hour. And I have to call them if Ben is at work because he is an hour from our house, so that makes me like 90 minutes from the hospital. I hope the baby decides to come when my brother is off or Ben is not teaching. Yikes. Because the kids would think an ambulance ride was cool, but I would be freaking the freak out.

But still, I would wlecome labor at even the most inopportune moment. Back to my pie.

9-month buffet

I have had the best time eating my way through this pregnancy. In my real life, I tend to keep a pretty careful eye on what I eat, and I work out 5 days a week without fail (most of the time). These past 32 weeks (because I didn't find out I was pregnant, of course, until I was 4 weeks along), though, have been an endless buffet. I have gained the same 30 pounds I gained with the other 2 kids, but these 30 were absolutely guilt- free.

While lately the sight of organic grapes at the grocery store has made me drool, most of my pregnancy cravings have been shockingly unhealthy. Grape soda. Orange soda. Cherry limeades from Sonic. Hot dogs. Sausage pizza. Chocolate dipped cones from DQ.

Yesterday, I ate at 5 different restaurants (1.blueberry pancakes and sausage patties for breakfast, 2. 1/2 a grilled cheese and pesto sandwich and cole slaw for lunch 3. with a cupcake from a cupcakery for dessert, 4. shrimp pasta diablo, a mixed green salad, and an embarrassing amount of bread with butter for dinner, and 5. a huge piece of chocolate cake for dessert). Lunch also featured not one but 2 Cherry Pepsis, ensuring that I stayed up way past my bedtime-- and seriously? I don't drink soda at all in real life, but I was strolling around the zoo yesterday and I HAD to have a cherry soda. I could barely wait to get to the restaurant.

Almost every night, Ben and I gorge on crackers, fruit, and a variety of sliced cheese. I have eaten more mini Twix ice cream bars than I can count. The other day at Whole Foods, I could barely wait until I got to the parking lot to open my Caribbean mix Popsicle. My breakfast has doubled in size-- I eat a whole bagel with peanut butter and a half a melon almost every morning. I can demolish a phalanx of Oreos or Joe-Joes all by myself with a heaping glass of milk.

I have been to all of my favorite restaurants, including the greasy diner with the world's best grilled cheese, fries, and milkshake, many times. I have eaten several kringles (google them and if you haven't tried one, try it), chowed on Kosher donuts, sucked down so much pie at our favorite pie place (I have a favorite pie place for goodness sake!) that my dad bought me a t-shirt from their gift shop.

If I diet for the rest of my life, I think I will still be satisfied from this fantastic food orgy of a pregnancy.

36.75 weeks pregnant. This is getting old.

Poor Sophie the bourgeois teether.

She got really dirty during a 3 year long sojourn in a cabinet in my office, and I gave her a bath last week in preparation for #3s teething and squeaking needs, and now she only makes a wet sucking noise when we squeeze her.

Harry to the rescue:


Do you like Ben's room improvement in the nursery?

Actually, it is an improvement because Ben's dad is going to put up ceiling fans for us this weekend, and Ben needed to paint the ceiling first. Ben also hung up the baby's name in cute white letters, but I can;t show you because WHERE WILL THE MYSTERY BE?

Harry and I assembled the Pack n Play

When we stocked it with blankets, I realized I have no idea how to use a Miracle Blanket, and the directions look complex:

So we practiced with Harry's Build a Bear Easter rabbit


The boys practiced holding it gently


And then Jack tried to kill it


We had a lovely day today-- went out for breakfast, ceiling fan shopping, to the zoo, out for lunch, and now the kids are riding bikes and Power Wheels, and I am sitting on the porch on my fat butt.

Did I tell you we had to buy a new travel system? We did. Third baby. Third car seat stroller combo. Not cool. Our Combi doesn't fit in ANY STROLLER ON THE MARKET, which sucks. And we broke the double stroller it used to fit in. And we need a travel system in the winter because there are times when the baby needs to be plunked directly in a stroller, covered in his car seat bunting because it is really freaking cold. So. Chicco Cortina it is.

What's new with you?