*I'm officially done working! Huge sigh of relief.
*My employees surprised me with cake, coffee, and a gift of
some baby clothes. *Then I had contractions every ten minutes
for 2 hours…until I realized that I had not had any water today.
*All is well now; I am looking forward to the next few
weeks.
• I think that my blog is officially like “What the hell??” after receiving 40 comments yesterday and double that in hits. This contest thing is kind of weird. All of these bloggers that I’ve “seen around” but never visited were at my blog yesterday, and I was at theirs. It was like a mixer of sorts, huh?
• Though I usually do their shoe shopping on my own, I took Bud and Lucy with me last night so that they could try things on. Things were ok while I was taking care of Lucy, who ended up with some light-up princess sandals and a cute pair of pink Mary Jane style sneakers. Bud ran up and down the aisles a bit, but overall, he was manageable. While trying to find him a new pair of sneakers though, Lucy was a tyrant. Running, screaming, pulling things off of shelves—you name it. She was completely out of my control. Finally, she knocked a garbage can over causing a huge crash and then started screaming and crying “I’m sorry Mama!!” over and over again while flailing her arms in an all out freak-fest. The way she behaved you would think that she received regular beatings or something. She finally calmed down and then she and Bud locked the doors and put down the door stops while I was paying at which point the store manager yelled at them and gave me a dirty look. I can never go back there again. Lesson learned—we went right from school. I totally should have fed them first.
• Bud got a pair of Spiderman sandals, by the way, but no sneakers. I don’t know what it is about size 11.5, which is what he has worn for nearly a year. I can never find anything. (unless it’s really ugly) So I guess I’ll be checking out Target or something for new sneakers because he needs them for school.
• Things I have said in the last 2 days that I never thought I would: “Please take your mouth off of the garbage can!!” and “Why are your sneakers in the cupboard next to my clean plates?” (The answer was “So Lucy can’t find them and put them on……”) OMG.
• For Bud, today was the best day ever because they started work on our street. The equipment has been there since Friday, but this morning they actually started working……at 6AM. I was up already, but Bud came out of his room screaming “Mommy!! The back hoe!! The digger!!! A FORKLIFT!!!” They also put their outhouse on my neighbor’s lawn right across the street. She must be loving that. The good about this? We are getting a brand new street with proper drainage, new water lines to support sump pumps, brand new 4-foot wide cement sidewalks, and a tree out front. The bad? We can not park on the street (or in our driveways if we’d like to leave during the day) from like 7AM to 7PM. We live one house from the corner and Hub is going to ask our neighbor whose driveway is just around the corner if I could maybe park there during the day so that I don’t have to park at Walgreens or around the block or something.
• Did I mention that today is my actual last full day of work??? OMG!! There is so much to do!! We are having a baby!!!
Last week, Swistle began talk of this massive pay it forward effort (and no, this doesn’t meant that one of us has to get stabbed a la Haley Joel Osment in the end) and despite my extra large, miserable and sciatic pregnant state, I’ve decided to jump on the band wagon.
In case you haven’t heard, here is how it works: I post this contest today, telling you that it is a pay it forward kind of deal. You leave me a comment (see details at the bottom) and in the end, I will use a random number generator to pick a winner. The catch is that if you win, you have to pay it forward in a contest of your own. Theoretically, we will have contests up the wazoo for the foreseeable future.
I’m not sure what the prize will be, however as my last day of work (UNTIL OCTOBER!!!!) is Wednesday, and the kiddos will still be going to summer camp a few days a week, I envision a lengthy trip to Chez Target upon which I will spend way too much money on myself and the baby, but will also have you in mind. Now of course, if something happens, and I find myself on bed rest, your prize may be a mixed CD of some of my favorite songs (think obscure 70’s rock and folk, combined with 80’s and 90’s 1-hit wonders—yes, I am an enigma) or some random crapstuff from home that after living without for 3 months of a kitchen remodel, I’ve decided that I don’t really need. But let’s not think like that; let’s remain positive in our thoughts that the prize will be ridiculously awesome no matter what.
Anyway……
In order to be entered, I’d really like it if you answered the following questions:
1. What is your favorite musical? (And don’t say you hate musicals; everybody likes at least one, even if it’s Moulin Rouge or some crap like that)
2. What is your favorite movie theatre candy?
3. If you had to name 2 babies today, yours or otherwise, one boy and one girl, no questions asked, what would their names be?
If you’re against being questioned, that’s ok too—not fun, but ok—just leave me a “please enter me” comment.
Be sure that if you don’t leave a link back to your own site, you leave me your email address so that I may contact you when you win. So, GO!! Enter!! Let’s get this going!!!
**Contest is open until 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on July 4, 2008**
(For a complete list of contests, you can visit Swistle.)
• I didn’t post yesterday, maybe because I was working, maybe because I didn’t have anything good to say or maybe (just maybe) I was too busy obsessing about how my torso in this photo is about the size of one of my thighs today. I don’t know……
• I’m making a conscious effort to not consume so much crap over these next few weeks as the baby puts on weight. Maybe, JUST MAYBE, my diet has contributed to the hypoglycemia of the other 2 children at birth. This doesn’t mean that I’m not roasting 10 marshmallows in the oven and eating them with a spoon (oh, because I TOTALLY am), but it means that I’m not doing it twice or 3 times in the same day. I’m also eating breakfast and making coffee at home rather than buying donuts and pastries, which has to be helping.
• At this point though, I’ve kind of lost interest in food. But I’m looking forward to eating hospital food. Because I’m a f-r-e-a-k. I love hospital food.
• I made 24 banana muffins on Wednesday night and as of this morning they are gone. Bud consumed 10 of them. 10 muffins. They are on the side of small cupcakes in size, but 10 muffins!! OMG.
• I have a few small objectives at work that are not work related. They are: sneaking in wearing my flip-flops which is a huge no-no, getting up as few times as possible while maintaining a constant supply of water, and walking without appearing to have something lodged in between my legs. So far I have done well with the first 2, not so much with the last. I’m also wearing jeans every day because all of my other clothes are stupid and uncomfortable. I’m having a love affair with Hub’s sweat shorts right now; they are a constant part of my at-home wardrobe.
• My desk thermometer reads 77 degrees, which solidifies my belief that I am being tortured.
• Despite having slept really well for the last 3 nights, I can not shake the feeling of exhaustion. Something tells me it won’t be going away any time soon.
• There will be contests-a-plenty next week. HOW FUN!!
Universal Studios Home Entertainment and 5 Minutes For Mom are hosting a contest in honor of the June 24th release of Definitely, Maybe. Post your proposal story and you could win a set of 3 DVDs to include “Definitely, Maybe”, “Love Actually” and Notting Hill. You can find the rules here . And for a $5 off coupon to purchase “Definitely, Maybe” visit their site here.
So, without further ado, here is our story, sans pseudonyms, because it seems silly.
Ed and I began dating during the summer of 1994. Although we saw each other nearly every day, our relationship wasn’t “official”, as things had to be back then, until August 14th. It was Woodstock Weekend and our mutual friend Melissa (along with her father) was hosting a weekend long party complete with pay per view to celebrate. I was 15 years old and was sure that I knew everything; was sure that despite my age, I was more of an adult than a child. I can still hear my mother’s endless chant “You are 15 and he is 18. You don’t know what love is. You are a child.”
I knew better though. Ed was the one for me. We entered in to our respective Junior and Senior years that fall and were quickly seen as being inseparable, you know, that couple. We were somewhat of an unlikely pair as my past boyfriends had leaned more toward dangerous and unstable. Ed was responsible and a genuine nice guy. To be honest, I’m not sure where I would be today if it wasn’t for him.
My Senior Prom 1996
Years passed, and we each graduated high school. Ed waited a year after graduation, and we both started college together in 1996. We had many serious talks over the years and we both knew we would be married and eventually have children. We knew where our lives were headed and agreed that once we were done with school, we would do the whole engagement thing.
After a year of college, on my 19th birthday, we took the next step in our relationship and moved in together. We both still hold fond memories of our basement apartment with the blankets over the windows and mish mosh of hand-me-down furniture. We were both working 2 jobs and going to school full time, and for me, soon school fell by the wayside.
We moved in to our house, then owned by Ed’s father, in 1999. As we approached 5 years of togetherness, I started getting the itch. It was time to be married. It didn’t help things that my best girlfriend, who had been with her boyfriend for about half as long as we had been together, was planning her own wedding. I was her maid of honor and while I was thrilled for her, I was devastated for myself. “It should be me……”, I thought over and over again. The breaking point was after attending a bridal fair with her and being happy all day. I came home and collapsed in our bed and just sobbed. I was honest with Ed about why I was upset and he reassured me with “someday……”
I still don’t know if it was that day that got him in to gear, or if it was already in the works by then. On our annual trip to Cedar Point, on our 6 year anniversary, Ed finally proposed. We were sitting on a bench in Frontier Town, just outside of our favorite cookie shop, taking a rest. He was behaving oddly, but I chalked it up to the heat. Before I could even process what was going on, there he was, on one knee in front of me. His words were simple, “Sara, will you marry me?” Of course, I said yes. The ring was perfect, simple, a heart shaped diamond that he had picked and arranged the setting for himself.
Horrible posture, I know
The rest is history. I married my best friend and soul mate on September 14, 2002, after 8 years of being together. We had a gorgeous, simple church ceremony, and threw what our family and friends still refer to as the best reception ever.
Possibly dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld…
This coming August, just after we welcome our third child, we will have been a couple; a unit, for 14 years—nearly one half of my life. I did know what love was, even at the age of 15, when I was really more of a child than adult. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My 10-Year High School Reunion, August 2006
• In what circumstance is it warranted for a man to go for a drive with no shirt on? I mean where is he going? Also, gross! These aren’t attractive men to begin with. And isn’t their skin sticking to the fake leather seats in their 1983 Chevy Caprice Classic?
• Can we just cut out all of the drive-thru banter at Starbucks? It is so old. When the chick tells me to pull around and see Brandon for my total, in sets the dread. In the course of 3 minutes while he swipes my card, we talk about how cute I am, my sunglasses, my sparkly credit card, girls who are pregnant at the salon where he also works, MY due date, what I do for a living, and the weather. I am in the drive-thru because I have not yet consumed caffeine and I’ve just had more conversation than I’d like to have in an entire day. Step off, Brandon!
• Things I may have said at work yesterday: “She is, like stealth! I’m sitting here and all of the sudden she is behind me talking! I mean what if I was looking at porn??” (don’t worry, pornography is blocked at my workplace……) Also, “The shit is VOID. That’s all there is to it.” Also, “Do you know how crazy you are making me? I need one of those ‘bang head here’ signs!!” And because, clearly, I am boss of the year, after being asked how to solve a problem “I don’t have the answer and I don’t know what to tell you here. I would just suggest that you find a way to get it done without involving me!”
• My children spent the better part of an hour fake burping at bedtime last night, and found it hysterically funny. They also can’t wait to go to the library, which is one of several (community pool, park, bounce house, nature trails) places I promised to take them while I am off and before Olivia comes. (weighing my hands, on one, fake burping intellectuals on the other, fake burping dorks)
• I hadn’t heard about this until this morning, but Celebrity Family Feud starts tonight. I am so watching that. I also want Joey Fattone and Mel B. to show up in my office. Preferably after I come back to work. Do you guys remember Circus of the Stars? I loved that show back in the day. They need a revival.
4 weeks from now. 4 weeks from now. 4 weeks from now.
Four weeks from now is my tentative induction week. My practice induces Monday through Wednesday. Hub wants Wednesday. Whatever, dude. 4 weeks from now. Of course, we will know more on the 11th which is when I have my internal scheduled for 9:15 AM and my sonogram scheduled for 12:30 PM. But I am banking on 4 weeks from now, July 21-23, having this baby.
4 weeks from now. If I keep saying it, it might just be true.
Hub went with me to my OB visit today, not for any particular reason, but more for “why not?”. It was uneventful per usual. The ball is completely in my court as far as when I would like to stop working, so I will show up to work for a few hours on next Tuesday and be done with it. Then I will happily collect my bonus at the end of the month.
I had to have Hub take Lucy to gymnastics on Saturday on account of being unable to walk. When he came home, he immediately took Bud to Tae Kwon Do for photos, and after that FIL took both kids to a cousin’s T-ball game so I worked on laundry while Hub did kitchen stuff. We ended up having a killer fight while they were out, that I don’t really want to talk about, but that partially because of my hormones and partially because of his temper left me completely out of control. Things are fine, but I’m still not over it. I can’t even think about it without having to fight back tears.
So let’s move on…
We cooked and ate in the yard Saturday night and just as we were gearing up to make s’mores, we had a thunderstorm and pouring rain. The fire lasted long enough to toast 2 marshmallows and make 2 s’mores. It was a fun filled family activity, short of my neighbor being perched on her deck throwing comments at us. “Hey Sara, that’s a lot of baby in there, huh?” “Sara, are you sure that’s a girl? Looks like a boy to me!!”
The kids were up late, but they didn’t sleep in on Sunday. Hub got right up and started working and I am pleased to say that short of paint and molding on the walls and ceiling, a bit of edgework, and the floor being laid, the kitchen is done!! The breakfast nook is done!! It is beautiful!!! I am more than pleased. Meanwhile, I sat around on the couch, took a luxurious 30-minute shower, put the bouncy seat together, and chopped meat and veggies for dinner. Much less productive, I know.
Soon it will be over though. 4 weeks from now.
I really should have just stayed home today, but my obligation to my job is too strong. Actually, those 18 reviews are still hanging over my head and 9 of them were scheduled for yesterday, so here I am. Cold, clammy and still sick but sipping on tea and nibbling a bagel and trying not to die. I do thank you all for your comments yesterday, and I concur, that the barfing flu while 8-months pregnant is not something that I would wish on my worst enemy. The worst part? Peeing my pants while vomiting. Oh yes, it was glamorous.
Let’s keep this short, shall we, and get to those photos? Then I’ll get back to dying and hopefully not infecting my staff.
After her bath on haircut day. I love the nightgown!
Posing for me
A Better shot of the whole cut
Our toes–please ignore my fat feet and the flip-flop indentations. It’s gross.
Bud wearing the hat I purchased for Olivia to come home in. (I am returning it because it is full of holes—and now very stretched out)
Did I mention that Bud had a dance recital at school?
He is very handsome. 🙂
Finally, here is Lucy resting her chin, not on a red rubber ball, but on my bulbous belly @ 33 weeks.
The experience is totally enhanced by being eight months pregnant.
Really. You should try it! Throwing up with a belly full of baby is
awesome! (I am in HELL)
Hub had been bugging me for a while to have Lucy’s hair cut. It was constantly in her mouth and eyes and full of food. I was being stubborn though, basically forcing her to have long hair because, well, isn’t that the best part of having a little girl? Lucy began to be more insistent of a haircut after Bud’s most recent venture, insisting that it should be short just like his. I gave in and took her this weekend but only after telling Hub that as her mother I was in charge of her hair, at least while she can’t tell me what she wants, and that we were just trimming the ends.
My daughter though, well you know, she’s tenacious.
She wanted a “real” hair cut. She didn’t want any more barrettes or pony tails. She likes short hair!
We compromised on a chin length bob that is angled on the sides to keep the hair from her mouth. She did not want her bangs cut which was a relief to me because I’ve been working on growing them out since Christmas.
Ok, so it’s the perfect haircut for her.
Her bangs are in her eyes, but can easily be pushed aside. She refused a barrette this morning and tucked her hair behind her ears.
Just like me.
She is my daughter. I have no idea how to do anything with my hair, and quite honestly, I have no desire to do anything other than “wash and go”.
I hate it when Hub is right.
We rounded out our Saturday with a trip to the nail salon, where she picked out a royal purple polish with subtle sparkles for my toes, declaring “This is my FAVORITE color Mommy!!! PURPLE!!!”. She sat patiently on my lap while I had my pedi, and then had her toenails painted the same color afterward.
All of us went to the Drive-In to see Kung Fu Panda on Saturday night. Bud loved the movie while Lucy was enamored with having pillows and blankets spilled out all over the back of our van. I rather enjoyed the onion rings… We didn’t get home until after 11:30, but the kids slept until 9:00 Sunday morning, so it worked out ok for me.
I took the kids to the grocery store yesterday morning where we picked out Father’s Day cards and the ingredients to make waffles for breakfast. While in the self-checkout, a coupon for tampons printed out, and it had a dancer on the front of it. Bud pointed out that I had a coupon and I said that I didn’t need that one. He asked “Why? Because you’re not a ballerina??” Yes, exactly.
I think that Hub had a good day, even though he was the one to cook dinner. We had steak, potatoes and corn on the cob, all on the grill, and it was delicious. I had made a chocolate pie for dessert which we enjoyed after the kids were bathed, and we went to bed early.
Finally, I tested my mobile posting skillz last night to find out if I could give you up to the minute detail from the hospital. That sounds a bit extreme, right? But at least I know I can tell you all that she is here and not worry about not logging on to my computer for a week or 2. YAY!
Incubation Nation 
