August?

Whoa, where did the summer go?!

August is a busy month for us.

1 - Say a Prayer for Gran that all goes well for her surgery today!
4 - Ryan starts his "new" job.
7 - Baby doc appt
8 - Kids get measured. I noticed in ONE year, Derrick grew about 4-5 inches on our wall.
10 - Unkie Matt's Bday! And the Applebee's Baby Shower - for all 5 of us. I'm kind of looking forward to having a shower for this baby :o) Even tho I really don't need anything.
11 - Our 7th Anniversary :o) Luv you Ryan!
20 - College kids begin returning and we get busy at work :o) And my babysitters start returning!!!
22 - My 30th Bday. And Unkie Britt and Almost-Auntie Christine's Wedding! Oh yes, Ryan, I didn't forget your 1/2 Bday - Ryan's 32 1/2 Bday :o)

I'm sure there's more happening, lots of other bdays especially. Mom and Dad are coming down sometime when it works for the both of us to bring Eve her pink cake. Speaking of that cake. Eve's been talking about G making her a pink cake with "brinkles" on it for a LONG time. I sat down with Eve at bedtime the other day and asked her why she gets a cake. She said bcuz it's her turn. Dirkie got a white cake, and now it was her turn. She remembers D's bday cake Mom made him way back in like March! She didn't have a cake for her 2nd bday, Mom knew she loved chocolate zucchini cake, so she made her a few loaves of that. Eve LOVED it. But I guess she knows she missed out, and wants her cake! :o) What a little stinker.

2 1/2

I turned 2 1/2 yesterday! Can you believe I'm so old?

I LOVE to talk anyone's ear off that will listen.

I'm convinced G is making me a pink cake with "brinkles" on it, just because I want one.

I adore Clifford the Big Red Dog and have to sleep with him every single night.

My favorite food is Chocolate. My second favorite food is cereal.

I don't like to take naps. Nor do I like to go to bed at night.

I like to tell Mommy or Daddy that I love them, especially when I think I'm about to get spanked :o)

My favorite exercise is JuMpInG. Especially off furniture. Like doing belly flops off the couch.

And my best bud is my puppy dog, Zale.

Well, I guess Dirk is my friend, too. He lets me play toys with him.

17 Weeks

Baby is now 17 weeks old :o) It's skeleton is turning from cartilage to bone, which is probably why I've been noticing I need more calcium in the last few days (I get restless leg syndrome when I'm lacking calcium). So I'll get the bottle of calcium out and make sure I have more of that at nighttime. Baby's ears are also developing the ability to hear.

Pretty sure I felt the baby move on Friday, so it's becoming more and more "real" to me. I had to buy maternity pants for work on Friday also, which are too big and don't want to stay up, but I'm sure in a few weeks they'll fit :o)

We've been putting the kids to bed at different times at night, and for the last week, it's worked very well. No more fights at bedtime or talking or getting out of bed, etc. Eve goes down around 630, Derrick's down around 8. Eve doesn't like to take naps like she's always been, so we do quiet time in the afternoon so Mom can take a nap :o) And Eve gets her down time. Today she was in her room for almost 2 hours! Just reading books and playing quietly with a stuffed animal :o)

We have to paint the apartment this week and finish the floor. Some light cleaning, too. Not a big deal, just a bit time consuming. It will be so nice once the guys are all moved in!

Tomorrow is Ryan's last day of training to keep his job. What a dumb situation. Can't wait to be out of Bethany! So the kids are off to Mrs. Kovaciny's house again - they really like it there!

Fun with Friends

Today Evie and I went to Mrs. Kovaciny's house to play with Vianna, Simon and Tavia. We had soooo much fun! I was excited when Mom said we get to go to their house. AND we get to go there tomorrow again! Here's some pics of us playing at their house. Mrs. Kovaciny likes Ron Paul, so she put some shirts on us and took a pic so we could show Mommy and Daddy, and they thought it was funny. I didn't like wearing the shirt.

Tonight at bedtime, Mommy showed me how to use my fingers to make a #2, and that it also makes bunny rabbit ears, and then Mommy said I should make my fingers into a #2 and say "Peace". So I made my fingers say #2, and then I said, "Piece...of CHOCOLATE!" Mommy thought that was funny. I guess that was the wrong "Peace/Piece". :o)

Magnets and Baby

The magnet board is working! Derrick realized that there was one day when he didn't get paid bcuz all the magnets weren't there. So I cheated and gave them each 2 quarters for each full day of magnets, so we could go uptown to buy a treat so they understand the doing chores and getting paid. They each had $1.50 to spend at the Dollar Store. Derrick of course picked out a sword, luckily it was a foam one, and he is as I type jumping around and swining the sword like the guys on Lord of the Rings. Eve picked out a neon green pony (just like the My Little Ponies). Hopefully this will keep up!

Baby is about 4 1/2 inches and 3 1/2 ounces. Over the next few weeks the baby will double in size, so I will definitely have to put an order in for new maternity shirts for work. (I don't have any all black ones). Baby's eyes are getting into the "normal position" instead of being way out on the face. Toenails are also growing. All of this of course is from my weekly update, I wouldn't have a clue what was going on without it :o)

Evie, Evie, Evie

Where should I even start. This little girl has a mind of her own and she will make sure she gets her way come hell or highwater.

On a cute note before I get into the gory details: Yesterday, or actually on Thursday since it's like 130am on Saturday now, Ryan bought me two roses, one red one, one yellow one. Eve claimed the red one immediately. But it's been cute watching her smell the roses :o)

Now, she's definitely into the "Twos" now. The magnet board (see previous post) has been AWESOME with Derrick. He will do whatever it takes to get that magnet so he can buy his turtles, even eat food he doesn't like. Eve on the otherhand, could care less and pretends she doesn't hear me telling her to pick up the books she just threw all over the floor. I guess while I was at work, Ryan rented a movie for the kids, and bought some Starbursts (kids favorite) and grape pop. They couldn't have any treats until their spaghetti was finished. Eve was bound and determined to get her treats without eating her dinner. Ryan stood his ground, for an hour, and listened to her just scream. Derrick thought he could get away with it also, but when the threat of a magnet being taken away was given, the food was gone in a flash. Eve didn't care. She went to bed screaming still for her candy. She has will power. I give her that. Which is good for later in life, with peer pressure and stuff, but right now I'm hoping this next kid doesn't inherit any of my genes! Ok, no personality genes of mine, he/she can have the good looks tho :o)

Also, Eve has gotten into remember that G and Gran both make cakes. So she told me the other day that G was going to make her a purple cake with "brinkles" on it. They LOVE sprinkles on EVERYTHING at G's house. I asked her once, "Where should we go today?" She replied - "To G's house! G makes me a cake. A purple cake. With brinkles on it." I asked her why she should get a cake. Her response, in a cute little stinker voice, " 'cuz I do."

She also does the same thing when I ask her if she wants to go to Gran's house. But I think Gran's cake for Eve is supposed to be pink if I remember correctly. She so does love her sweets!

Well, I'm quite tired, so I'm going to head off to bed. More stories to come...

The Reinstating of the Magnet Board

Derrick keeps asking for new Turtles. I said I didn't have money for them, that he should use his own money. He responded - "I don't have any moneys." So I gave each kid 8 "chores" to do during the day, and if they did them all by bedtime, they get a quarter. I figured after 4 days they'd have a dollar and we could go to the dollar store for them to see that only after a few days they can get something. So far so good (with one exception). Here's a list of their "chores" for the day:

1 - Make their bed. All I care is that the blanket is on the BED, not on the FLOOR.
2 - Get dressed. They'd rather run around in their underwear than get dressed. So now the "have to".
3 - D has to give Zale water, E has to give Zale food. This is the one exception. Eve likes to overflow Zale's dish, then try to scoop it all out and dump in on the floor. Today I got out of the shower with the kitchen and dining room floors COVERED in dog food.
4 - Pick up toys. We've started in the living room. We'll work our way to the downstairs next week :o) But one room at a time to keep clean!
5 - Set the table. All we require is that they pick out their own fork or spoon. I don't have that many dishes left since they drop them. So until they learn not to drop plates and bowls, we'll stick with the utensils.
6 - Clean their rooms. HOLY CRAP I could never get them to put the books back ON the shelf, they would just throw them at the shelf. And dirty clothes go down the laundry shoot. So far, we got half the room pretty good. Now we just need to finish up and put the toys and stuffed animals downstairs.
7 - Get ready for bed. They like to sleep in their clothes for some reason. So now they sleep in their underwears. Whatever, it's hot. As long as it wasn't their full outfit for the the day, I'm ok! Go potty, and get a glass of water for by their beds, and then they are all set.
8 - Brush their teeth. For some reason, they don't like to do this (who does really). But if that's the last step in getting a quarter - they'll do it!

So not too difficult right? Think we can do it? They each earned a quarter yesterday! Derrick is really good at it, Eve could care less. So I have to remind her what she is going to buy with her money - keep the dream alive! :o)

Little Red Riding Hood

A few weeks ago we watched Hoodwinked. I taught the kids how to sing the Little Red Riding Hood song from years ago - it's kind of cute!

I'm also 15 weeks now. Baby Z #3 is about 4 inches tall, and weighs in at a whopping 2 1/2 ounces :o)

I took the kids to the parade yesterday. We had a great time, except I got sunburned pretty good! :o( I'm not used to getting sunburned, but I haven't been out in direct sunlight with a tank top on all summer. I was blocking the sun from the kids, and they have a little tan, so I guess that's good. So I've been lathering on the aloe, which feels good on some spots, but actually hurts to apply at the top of my shoulder.

We had a lease signed on Friday, which is so nice! They move in for sure on August 1st, but may want to move in earlier bcuz of their current leases ending. Which is also great!

Funniest Video I've Ever Watched!

July 4th

Here's some pics of the kids enjoying their "firemens" as they called them :o) They didn't care too much for the big fireworks, but LOVED the sparklers and smoke bombs, etc.






The kids are also kind of catching onto the whole baby thing. So we'll see how many more cute things they do in regards to it! Yesterday, Eve jumped on my gut or something again, and I reminded her to stop doing that bcuz the baby is in there. Then I asked her if she wanted to say "Hi" to the baby. I figured she'd be like - NO WAY! But she came up to my tummy, and whispered in a really stinking cute voice, "Hi, Baby" and then started giggling. It was really cute. She's the one I'm not real sure will handle the baby coming in on her territory. She's always been a territorial girl when it comes to Mom, so when baby needs me more often than she'd like, it may not fly so well. I'll have to make sure to set aside plenty of Eve and Mom time so she doesn't feel like the baby is taking her place. Derrick will probably care less, just like he didn't care when Eve arrived. He'll be more interested in showing the baby his new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and doing their sword fights.

Ryan also had to "reapply" for his job the other day. Bethany decided to hire out a security firm to do their security needs. The interview went really well and he was sort of offered a job in the cities in administration, which would be pretty cool. But after he read thru their packet of information, he believes he was misled. He tried getting a hold of the company today to clarify, but no one would answer their phone, and no one would return his phone call. We'll have no insurance for a few months as the switch happens (not good when I'm preggo!), but not an issue for the kids or him as we'd just get catastrophe insurance. I won't bore you with the rest of the insurance details! He did some research online at the Better Business Bureau and Dunn and Broadstreet, and lets just say this company didn't do so well. So he's not so sure he wants to work there. We are looking into other "options" I guess you could say. I think Ryan has so many talents that are not being put to full use up at Bethany, and maybe a new job would allow him to use all his strengths God has given him. We'll move forward and trust that God will lead us down the right path for us. And I'll hope for a day job :o)

Doc Appt

I had my first doc appt yesterday. I was nervous that she'd change my due date AGAIN like with the other two (Derrick was pushed back 7 days, and Eve was a few days). She did change the due date, from the 5th to the 4th of January :o) So it was in my favor! Like the other two, they can't hear the baby's heart beat during the first trimester, so I had an ultrasound done. I brought the kids with thinking it was a short visit, but forgot the initial visit takes well over an hour to do. Oh well. Dr. Goerish showed the kids on the screen where the baby's head was, the back and the butt. Derrick and Eve were glued to the screen. Derrick got this puzzled look on his face - and asked if the baby was in my tummy. Dr. G said "Yes" and both of them came over, pushed my shirt out of the way and started looking for the baby :o)

The rules at the hospital have now changed, and I'm not allowed to try for a VBAC, so it will be a scheduled c-section :o( However, she said they are usually scheduled around 39 weeks, so if it's ok with me, I'd go early. I'm like - I went 7 days over with Derrick, 5 days over with Eve, if I have to have a c-section, you're taking this one as early as possible! :o) She kind of chuckled. I'm still not ok with a c-section, but now that I know that's pretty much my only option, I'll just have to pray for strength.

Derrick is such a smart little boy. He's catchign on to stuff so much quicker than I think he should! He can count to thirty, well, sort of. Fifteen is still "fiveteen", and he can connect the dots up to 20 so far, which he LOVES to do. He's super into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles right now, and loves to grab sticks or anything else that he can twirl around and pretend to be fighting. I think he'd get a kick out of Tai Kwan Do.

Eve is still Eve. She HATES bugs and spider webs/cob webs. A bouncy ball she was playing with ended up in a cob web and you thought someone died. Once it was out, she grabbed it and said, "Tanks!" all nice and sweet and was back to playing. She loves to sing, and it's cute listening to her sing her ABCs, or at least her version of it. It's hilarious listening to her sing "Little Red Riding Hood" - the song from the radio way back when. It goes something like this - "Lil Wed Widing Hood. You sure looking good. A big bad wolf wants. OOOOOUUUUU!!!!" I think the OOUU part is her absolute favorite :o) She gets into it and howels just like a wolf, neck outstretched and everything. I've tried getting it on video, but she stops. She's still into jumping, especially off the arm of the couch. However, I haven't seen any belly flops from there recently, which I'm thankful for. I don't see how that was so fun for her to do!