Are We Ready???

Nope.... not at all.


There was a 2 day stretch where the little miss wanted to sit on the potty every couple of hours. It was cute. Unfortunately, there were no successes, and many, many failures.

Oh well.

Don't get me wrong, I am not in a hurry at all. Much to my mother in law's dismay, I have made no serious attempt to potty train this one. To me, changing a diaper every couple hours is SOOOO much easier than chasing after a 2 year old with a wet rag, a steam cleaner, and carpet deodorizer. I just don't have the mental or physical energy to do this right now.

It will happen...later.

Doing some Grooming...

...on the metal yard statue...which has no hair...huh?

1/2 way Done....Hopefully

Yep! Its official! I have reached the halfway mark in this pregnancy.

Its a relief knowing that I am halfway done, and also terrifying at the same time. No matter how many times I go through this, it never gets any easier knowing what will happen when this baby chooses to makes its entry into the world.....sigh.

I was told with my 3rd pregnancy that it would definitely be "different" than the other ones. I didn't find this to be true. It pretty much was EXACTLY like the other ones! I had nausea for the first 16 weeks or so, and then settled into the 2nd trimester with ease. I could sleep through the night without having to get up and pee, I got my energy back, felt great, etc. Then the 3rd trimester comes along, and I just, for lack of better terms, survive. I feel fine, tired, hot, achy, pee a lot, etc...just survive.
Well, this one is my "different" pregnancy. It has been soooooo different than the rest, and after 21 weeks, I figure its not worth dwelling on anymore.

I have reached a compromise with my body during this pregnancy. I will no longer be mad that I have to get up each night (twice) to pee. I will no longer be upset that I don't get a full nights sleep, and deep sleep at that. I will no longer mope about the fact that I STILL have days that I feel nauseous....all. day. long.
I will not worry about the fact that my dreams are CRAZY, and make me wake up with a racing heart, or crying, or both.
I will not dread the fact that I have never been pregnant in August, September, or October before. I will not think about the fact that we have no air conditioning, and I will be M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. I will not be mad that Brynn hates our name choices and says that she refuses to call the baby by its name unless we name it Jewel or Rose.

I WILL enjoy feeling this little one kick, and stretch, and move about all the time in my growing belly. I WILL enjoy the elastic waistbands of my maternity pants. I WILL enjoy the fact that I am hungry, but able to fill the belly with yummy fresh fruits and veggies, courtesy of this awesome summer weather. I will be grateful that my hubby smiles when he catches a glimpse of my pregnant body.

So, I am halfway done. (If you catch my numbers, I am actually 21 weeks today, which would make my full term length 42 weeks....I have yet to deliver one of these kids on time, so why bother with the whole "40 week pregnancy" myth....)

Maybe someone will take a picture of me one of these days, so that I can post another belly shot.

halfway done, halfway done, halfway done......

Fathers Day

Ok, this is so, so, so late, but I have been too busy to do it!

As usual, I have no pictures of our fathers day. Saturday we spent the day at Rich's uncles beautiful home, and had an amazing, relaxing, fun filled day! Their home was beautiful and comfortable (something that is hard to do sometimes) and they had a backyard that I can only dream about. Outdoor living room, fireplace, hammock, heated pool with a waterfall from the hot tub to the pool.....sigh. It was a-maz-ing!
The kids spent all day in the pool, and Rich and I were in too, but we couldn't hang in the cool weather like the kids did. We ate a yummy BBQ dinner, and had a wonderful pre-fathers day celebration. We had a lot of time together in the car, due to a slight detour that we accidentally took on the drive home.....
On Sunday, I made a special breakfast for Rich, which all the kids promptly asked for on other special occasions. We headed to church, and then back home for a BBQ. The day was mellow and perfect, a time to enjoy family, and give Rich the day off that he really wanted.

So, babe, a belated post to wish you a Happy Fathers Day!
To the man who manages to play hot wheels and barbies at the same time,
To the man who makes his wife, and maybe even more importantly, his daughters feel beautiful,
To the man who takes out the trash, cleans the drain in the shower (gag) and plunges the toilet,
To the man who is not scared to have his children "help" with making breakfast,
To the man who gives me the ability to be a mom, and who encourages me to enjoy every second,
To the man who leads our family with steadfast faith, an abundance of grace, and the ability to point us to God in all that you do,

Thanks!!!!

I love you! Happy Fathers Day!

Morning Breath

A few days ago, Rich left early and the kids crawled into bed with me.

Cannon on one side, Maeve on the other, dog at the foot of the bed...it was full.

Maeve snuggled in, and then says to me (and I quote), "Mommy. Stinky. Stinky like poop."

Uhm, apparently my breath was pretty bad that morning.

My Life in a Book (or Books, should I say?)

So, one of our ongoing summer projects is to re-do our garage into a more livable space. When we bought our home (8 years ago) we were given the advice to finish sheet rocking it, insulating it, and putting in whatever shelving that we wanted to do, before it was packed full of our stuff...

Long story short, we didn't listen to that advice.

So, now a mere 8 years later, we are going for it. It required that we empty the garage of as much as possible, and start from there. I had a garage sale, sold off whatever I could, and we returned to the rightful owners, some of the things that had accumulated in our "storage" area.
Rich has completed all the electrical work, and some of the major demo work, and we are sort of at a hold with sheet rocking. Apparently it's a 2 person job, and I am out of the runnings for help in this area.

In the meantime, I have been going through some of the bins that are going to be put away once our shelves are up and functional. I have been dreading opening the "Memory" bin, because I didn't want to go through all the stuff that I have been keeping for "memory's" sake. I have told myself over and over to burn journals from my younger years, and this was the first thing on my to-do list when I popped open that bin. Well, I couldn't just throw them away without reading them right???

So, I am now reading my old journals, reliving my senior year of high school, and my college years. Its actually kind of fun! Although my face is flaming on some of the entries (I mean, seriously, how hormonal was I as a teen?) it's actually enjoyable to read some of the things and experiences that I went through to make me who I am today! (OK, but seriously, did I have to write POETRY????? COME ON!!!!)

The journals start in 1995, and end in 2001. I am now in 1996. My first year of college....whew.
Anyways, I can't wait until I get to the ones of Rich and my relationship! I am soooo looking forward to digging into that one, and maybe even torturing my poor hubby with excerpts from our dating years.....I can't wait!

The set of journals... Don't judge me on the covers...I think they were all free, so I just wrote in them. They are definitely not representative of my likes or style...

My journal from my time in Africa... this was a bittersweet find. Our experience was amazing, eye-opening, and definitely life changing!

The stuffed full journal of the majority of our dating years! I kept pictures of every bouquet of flowers he gave me, all the notes that he wrote me, and even some mementos from trips we took. The dog also got a hold of this one and ripped out and chewed up a few pages....nice!

So, don't mind me if I disappear for awhile. I am just taking a nice long walk down memory lane...

PS - "Rad" is a word that frequently appears in my writing..... Really Ang? Really?

Camping Trip #2

We had another weekend camping trip recently, and it was great to get away again. This was a "different" type of camping then I had done before, but it was still fun none-the-less, to get away.

We went to R Ranch, a local co-op type campground. They had an amazing pool, and tons of horses surrounding the huge property. Everyone up there has a golf cart to zip around the grounds with, which added a new element to the "camping" experience. We weren't allowed to bring our tent trailer, because we were guests of someone else, so we tent camped for the first time in 2 years. I actually really, really enjoy tent camping. It's the way I grew up, so it was familiar, and comfortable in a camp-ish sort of way.
We made a few discoveries while we were there:
1. Our family does not fit in a 5 man tent. This posed a problem.
2. Our air mattress does not hold air. This posed another problem.
3. Food for the family for only one weekend does not fit in our cute little cooler anymore. Once more, this posed a HUGE problem!
4. I have to pee a lot in the night, and stepping over children in the dark is scary...for me and them.
5. My "natural" mosquito repellent didn't do a thing against the mosquitoes up there. Bad repellent or mutant mosquitoes is the question here...


The good news is that I packed TOTALLY appropriately for this trip. Unlike my past failures, this trip's clothing was perfect for the weather. I did however forget my camera. Bummer.

The kids had a blast, despite the mosquito bites that they are covered in. Rich and I had fun with the other couple that we went with, and except for one run-away golf cart experience with Maeve, we all returned safe and sound to our home.

**Note to self: When a golf cart is parked on a slope, it is best not to let a 2 year old play in it, just in case she accidentally releases the brake and it rolls downhill....just saying.

3 in 1

Call it crazy, but we have officially moved Maeve to the kids room. There are now 3 little hot bodies sleeping in one bedroom, and an empty crib awaiting #4 in the other.
Here are the tallies so far:

~Nights in the room: 15
~ Successful naps in the room: 2
~ Bedtimes without tears: 4
~ Midnight wanderings: 1
~ Falling out of bed: 2
~ Complaints from the other two: numerous
~ Quiet time for all 3: 0 <---This is the hardest part for me!!!
~ 6am wake up call for mommy and daddy: 14

I don't know if you can call it a successful experience or not yet.

It took some maneuvering and finagling to get all three of their belongings into the small space, but I did manage it!

Most morning we wake up to the room completely destroyed because Maeve is really enjoying the freedom in the middle of the night. All the books are pulled off the bookshelf, and her clothing and Brynn's are usually scattered around the floor as well. We usually find her in some interesting ensemble of an outfit as well. This morning it was her Jammie top, and two pairs of Brynn's undies...pulled up over her diaper of course, and one sock. Oh well. This soon shall pass, right?

Here is a glimpse of success. There have got to be more of these in our future, cause I am not doing well without MY quiet time.

Muscles Galore

The kids were posing the other night to show off their muscles.
This is direct influence from their dad...not me.
(Don't know if that needs to be clarified or not...)







Brynn just looks like she is in pain...Maeve is clueless about what is actually going on, and Cannon has got the grunt to go with the flexing down pat!

My kids make me laugh!!!

It must be summer....

...because I have Popsicles in my freezer.
...because my laundry load is slightly lightened - due to naked children running around.
...because I have 3 kids at home. All. Day. Long.
...because we are sleeping with windows open.
...because I have flip flop tan lines on my feet.
...because my hubby's neck is super red...and its not sunburned.
...because the smell of the neighbors flowers fill our bedroom at night and make it HEAVENLY!
...because those flowers also send every member of my family (except me) into sneezing fits.
...because we have been camping two times already, and my kids are covered in mosquito bites.
...because we don't eat inside anymore, and if it can't be cooked on the BBQ, I don't cook it.
..and finally...

...because swim lessons have started!

Pregnancy Update

Ok, this is a long time coming. I know that I haven't written much about this pregnancy, and I know that I will look back and regret it in the future. Here are some of the things that I am going through:
1st Trimester:
~6 day stomach flu (not fun. at all. Effective weight loss program though....)
~The few lbs that I lost were rapidly gained back as all I wanted to eat was red meat, mayo and egg whites in the first few weeks...there are only so many of combinations of those three.
~My appetite was small, and I dreaded cooking for my poor family. As a result we ate McDonalds more often than I would like to admit.
~Had aversions to anything sweet. My doc loves this, but its disappointing to not even enjoy my favorite frozen yogurt.

2nd Trimester:
~ All day nausea subsided around 14 weeks, with a few days here and there still lingering.
~ Appetite has returned full force, and I am now the perfect date to take to an all you can eat restaurant.
~ Can eat anything, but am especially drawn to the salty and savory dishes. Still have no desire to eat sweets, and doc still loves this.
~ Have started my abnormal weight loss that occurs for me during pregnancy. No explanation for it, just happens. Too bad that it all comes back plus more while nursing. Again, no explanation....
~ Felt the baby move for the first time around 15 weeks. Was sitting crunched up (with amazingly poor posture) at the computer and felt some familiar twinges.
~Felt the baby move from the outside for the first time at 17 weeks. Good strong kick, or arm flail...who knows.
~ Have noticed that my leg hair isn't growing that fast. I know that I have experienced this before, but don't remember which pregnancy. (Again, kicking myself for not writing down more of my previous pregnancy experiences.)


I am now at 18 weeks. Our formal ultrasound is next week, and no, we are not finding out what we are having. Logistically, it would be great to have a boy. 2 boys, 2 girls, easy room sharing plan....you know, all the practical things that are great. I think that I secretly, deep down in my heart, wouldn't mind another girl...but another boy would be great too....

I seem to be struggling with more anxiety about this pregnancy than I knew possible. I am a little freaked out about having a winter baby. I am freaked out about having a 1st grader and a newborn. I am freaked out about going crazy caring for 4 children. I am basically praying a lot, and having to trust God that He is going to carry me through all this.

As much as I am happy to add another child to our family, I am not enjoying this pregnancy much. I want to be done, and I am not even halfway there........
*Sigh*

I had Brynn snap a picture of me this morning so I could record what the "bump" looks like at this point...

18 weeks, 1 day