Glowing bathtime

So I don't remember exactly where I saw this idea, but it was a kiddo hit.

The suggestion was to buy glow sticks from the dollar store and use them for fun in the bathtub.  It turns a dark bathroom into a neon-laden bubble-fest.

Seems to make the water glow also.

Earlier that morning, my sleepy heads showed off their mad jabama-wearing, messy-head, cartooning-loving selves.

This one here has a new theme song, just for his hair:

My hair had a party last night, 

It musta got into a terrible fight, 

Cause when my head hit the pillow it was lookin' all right, 

My hair had a party last night. 

My hair had a party last night, 

When I lay down everything was all right, 

It started out friendly but there must have been a fight, 

My hair had a party last night.

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Have I mentioned before how much I love this kid's fuzzy hair?

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be nice to my children because they will eventually choose my nursing home, but come on!!!!!  If this hair were edible, I'd be 20 pounds heavier.

I even tell the barber to not take that much off the top because I love it so much.

When I put the 3 kids in the space ship shopping cart at Publix today, Brandon's hair was constantly tickling his flanking siblings.  One enjoyed it and the other complained a lot.  You figure it out.

Sweet Rotundness

I remember being pregnant the first time. I subscribed to numerous websites that kept me updated daily on how big the baby was and what my body was going through and soon to go through. I sat in front of a computer quite a bit, so I got to fully experience and be aware of multiple bathroom breaks, hours of conversations revolving around being a mom soon, a sedentary life coupled with eating anything and everything I wanted, which, no surprise, led to weight gain, swelling and stinky feet.

Every little movement was noticed, every new physical and emotional feeling was discussed and every bulge was noted and embraced with pride.

Fast forward 5 years, two healthy and active kids running around, and a third pregnancy. I'll admit, it's been harder just finding the time to remember that I am pregnant.

My diet, on an average day, consists of left over peanut butter and jelly sandwich crust. My sleep usually plays second fiddle to whoever or whatever is pressing for that night. My activity level is so frequent that when the Dr. asks me to recall if there have been 10 baby movements within any 2-hr. stretch of time per day, I look at him and ask, "I know this baby is moving, but you're asking me to count it now?"

I couldn't tell you what baby parts developed at what week, how big the baby is now or even what his name will be.

Awful. Just awful.

There is no way around it though, really. This would be the reason why so many people have bought into the idea of birth order's significance. I certainly have.

There is good news in all of this...

It took 3 pregnancies to finally figure out the difference between a kick and a contraction. :)
It took 3 pregnancies to not obsess on the health of our baby. God is in control.
It took 3 pregnancies to realize my sweet rotundness and the benefits of...

thicker hair (coming from a fine, thin-haired person, this is a big deal)...

My belly over-powering my 'junk in the trunk'...

And the belly popper to signify this baby has cooked long enough, that's been popped for months now.

Each pregnancy has had it's ups and downs, and it makes me sad I haven't had the opportunity to really relish in this last one. The last time my body will ever go through the miraculous transformation of growing another life. The last time I'll feel the stretches, kicks, twists and turns of another precious gift I have yet to meet. The last time I'll wonder what his little face will look like or what his personality will be.

So my plan is to embrace these last few weeks, as much as I can. Sure, it is much more uncomfortable this time around and harder because of the level of activity that is demanded of me now. I plan to embrace the strong thick fingernails, the wedding band not fitting without hand lotion applied first, the mandatory pedicures because I can't reach my feet, people rubbing my tummy and me reminding my little ones about what it will be like when this baby comes and that they'll always be important and loved, no matter what.

Only 3 1/2 weeks to go until due date. Let the final stages of embracing begin.

Tough guy

Daddy wasn't very fond of the spiked hair. I loved it, along with our neighbor, my mother and some random dude in Moe's.It sure beat trying to wash the banana slime out of his hair.

The turkey-day-thru-new-year mania begins

It's been a while since a post. "We've just been busy", is my excuse.

I'm sure I've been hit by the crazy bus. Hit harder than normal at least. I have practiced for, registered and paid for a 5K run I plan to participate in tomorrow. Although my practicing has been more like a boa constrictor eats; a LOT in a short amount of time. I don't enjoy running. It's one of those exercise things. I'm much better at restricting my diet than actually making time to exert extraneous amounts of energy. Cleaning the house from top to bottom is way more interesting and exciting to me than running. I think this little "crazy moment" of mine is stemming from the pinnacle of being frustrated with having no life when Jim was at the tail end of finishing up grad school. I think something to the effect of this was said, "You just wait. When you graduate, I'm going to do something where I can get out of this house and release lots of energy, like go run a 5K or something." My intentions were to get on a schedule of regular running, even if just a mile or so, and hopefully build up to a 5K. Well the best-laid plans sometimes don't go as idealistically as we hope. I am officially the slowest "runner" of our church group (we're running together). The pastor's wife deemed herself the slowest but our 5am practice on Tuesday showed her that there was one other who had more turtle genetics pulsing through her veins. Good news is that I haven't fallen while running, passed out or had severe aches afterwards. Oh well, it's all in good fun, right?

Poor Katherine, she has to endure the painful journey of growing out her bangs with her mother, just because it's something I feel I must do about every 5 years or so (trying to stay hip you know?). I think an all-one-length cut will be cute on her petite face. Here, her and Nathan are enjoying snack time together.
Her and I got to do something extra special tonight. I am a self-proclaimed non-girly-girl when it comes to fashion, hair, make-up (overall appearance I guess). My daughter is all girl. Some comments she's made lately, "Mommy, I do not want to wear pants because they do not make me look beautiful" or "Will you make sure my hair looks like a princess" and one that prompted a conversation regarding her inner beauty this morning was "I need make-up to make me look prettier." (It's hard to have a conversation about inner beauty as I'm slathering the foundation on myself) So tonight the treat was that I painted her fingernails. I am a horrible mother for not painting her fingernails more often; it happens about 3 times a year. She LOVED it. The lighter mauve was there for color and the pink glitter on top was added for pizazz. I enjoyed holding her tiny hands in mine, watching her be careful not to touch anything until they dried and remembering how less than a year ago it would have been smeared within minutes. We topped it off with watching a full hour of "Say Yes to the Dress," one of her favorite big-people shows in addition to "Toddlers and Tiaras." She's declared she wants a long, white, flowing dress that twirls. A little princess, she is.
Jim is growing a beard in preparation for our church's annual Nativity Pageant. Katherine's question to him earlier this week was, "Is Nathan going to grow a mustache and beard?" It is just fascinating to me to watch their minds expand and figure things out.
Speaking of the Nativity Pageant, here's the flier. Come if you can, it's a top-notch production, very kid-friendly and an opportunity to create great memories for your family.Nathan's first attempt at eating an ear of corn. The child has another 3 teeth coming in: 2 molars and a third on the bottom. His teeth come in waves: all or nothing.

Daddy is so much better at finding time to play the fun stuff than mommy is.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I think the fascination with the diaper rash creme has more to do with me not wanting them to play with it. She wants to put it on her hands like lotion and he wants to carry it around, open it and occasionally suck the open end.

I made the mistake of leaving Destructo in the same room as the shredded paper container I was seconds away from emptying...I tried to make the best of it and turn it into a fun tactile experience but he was disturbed that some of the papers were down his shirt scratching him.

And lastly, yesterday was the perfect example of how busy my mind has been all this week. I was in charge of giving my testimony to our MOPS group of about 60 ladies; a little nervous was I? So nervous, I locked my keys in the car, had my wonderful friend Miss A. drive us home to pick up another set of car keys after our wonderful neighbors opened the house door using a spare key and kept Nathan for about 45 minutes, then Miss A. drove me to pick up Katherine from her school before the severe late penalty started accruing, then to pick up the car and back home for lunch. I have AWESOME friends! There's no telling how much money and grief could have happened if those three weren't there for me. God Bless you!

Misc. +

A picture of Mr. rotten in action. See the smile?

I never had to worry about getting wet while giving Katherine a bath at this age. He is a non-stop splashing machine. Here are some action shots.


Katherine and I having a little fun with brother the night before we left for vacation. (That is her Hello Kitty bathing suit)
Katherine testing the twirl factor on another dress. The girl loves to twirl. I think we might need to consider dance lessons.
About 20 seconds of 4 close-in-age children, 2 brother-&-sister sets, playing nicely together, in a 25 sq. ft. area, with no bickering or physical altercations. Pure mommy bliss.


I'm working on the vacation post.