Bouncy Chair!

I have AMAZING friends and family. I went over to my mom's house tonight and this was wrapped and waiting for us! "To: Annie, Love: Aunt Krissa (my sister in law), Uncle Matt (brother), Cousins Rylee and Nolan (their kids), and "Aunt" Caity (a good friend of mine). A bouncy chair was pretty much the only thing left on my list to get. This particular bouncy chair was THE bouncy chair I really wanted, and I've been watching 3 of them this week on E-bay. Thank you so much, you guys! The picture doesn't do it justice. It is SO cute and SO soft! I know Annie will LOVE it! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

FREEEEEEEEEEEE-DOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I were physically capable of doing back flips, I would SOOOO be doing them right now!!! Today has been absolutely awesome. I got my last shot. I only have 4 more days left of taking Procardia. And, the blessings of all blessings: He relaxed my bed rest rules!! WAH-FREAKING-HOOO!!! He would still rather me stay down the majority of the time, but he said that I CAN "nest" a bit and go shopping as long as I ride in one of those little motor cart things. He that he would still prefer me to make it another week and a half, but that he would not stop her if she came at this point. He said to "take it slow and easy" with my new-found freedom and to have fun. I shot out of there like a bat out of hell. I have an almost 2 page list of chores I need to get done before this baby is born and, bless his heart, Dan hasn't been able to REALLY get started on it. My bathroom is sparkling for the first time in 2 months. I picked up my own kid from school for the first time in 2 months. My fridge is stocked with REAL food to make REAL meals instead of the random foodstuffs my husband comes up with for the first time in 2 months (again, bless his heart). I may or may not have not used the little motor cart thingy... (The motor cart baskets at Kroger are TINY!!) And I am now understanding WHY my doc told me to "take it slow and easy" and to try to stay down as much as possible. I was hurting BEFORE I broke out of bed, and I am DEFINITELY hurting now. I regret having rolled my eyes when Doc told me he wanted me to still stay down as much as possible. I'm starting to think he MIGHT be worth listening to... I AM excited about being able to do "light" housekeeping and "light" shopping in preparation for Annie. Oh, SO excited!! But I need to be responsible with my glorious new freedom so that I can still be conscious and capable when "Baby Time" officially comes!

Things My Kids Have Said

Ok, I know I've posted a lot of these things to Facebook already, but I'm going to go ahead and blog about them here, too. These are conversations/silly things my kids have said during my time on bed rest:

Karah: "Mommy, the other day I pretended I was pregnant and laid in my bed while I told Jayden to clean my room. I would help sometimes and throw toys from my bed to the basket. It is fun being pregnant!"

Jayden: "Dad, Mommy's having another...contraption?" (After we tried to correct the "attraction")

Karah: (After seeing a BowFlex commercial) "Mom! We HAVE to get one of those so your tummy won't be so HUGE!!!"

Karah: (Immediately after I rolled out of bed) "Mommy, go back to bed. You look like you need it!"

This morning I heard a knock on the door. I wasn't dressed, yet, and Karah beat me to the door. This is what I heard as I frantically searched for my clothes:

FedEx Man: "Is your mommy home?"
Karah: "Yeah, but she's pregnant and laying down on bed rest in her bed because she's pregnant with a baby and having contraptions because she's pregnant and on bed rest. My mom is PREGNANT!"
FedEx Man: (Obviously trying not to laugh) "Will you let her know I have a package for her?"
Me: "I'll be right out! I'm sorry!"
Karah: "Get back in bed, I'll handle it!"
FedEx Man: (Can't hold it in anymore) "I can just set it down-"
Karah: "I'll take it, thank you!"
Me: (Finally...covered...enough to run out there) "Thanks!"
Karah: "I'm telling Daddy!! Where's your phone!"
I could hear him laughing all the way back to his truck...

Waiting Game

No, I am not going to have a little breakdown on how emotionally drained I am. I am PHYSICALLY spent, lol. I have been having painful contractions since Sunday, and Annie has officially "dropped", making a LOT of pressure and pain when I try to get up. Two things I am doing my best to avoid. I will admit that over the weekend I may have over-done it. I think I've hit my "nesting" stage. I thought I was restless a few weeks ago, but it was nothing compared to THIS. Dan has gotten mad at me several times because he'll catch me wiping down the counters and mirrors while I'm "washing my hands" or putting toys/clothes away "on my way back to the bathroom/couch". He keeps reminding me that I've always been a terrible liar and to sit my butt back down. Grouch.

Anyway, all of that led up to Sunday, when the REAL pain started. These are hard-core-where-is-my-epidural contractions. I was afraid we'd have to go back to the hospital. I didn't want to. We were in the middle of watching Hook as a family. All of us were quiet, comfortable (with the exception of my contractions) and just plain enjoying each others' company (which is saying something, because I thought my kids were going to kill each other earlier that day). I didn't want to disrupt that with ANOTHER trip to the hospital. So, I when I noticed the contractions getting closer together, I decided to stop announcing them. I know, I know!! The point of contractions getting closer is to signal that it is getting closer to the baby coming! I get it! But the movie was almost over and I wanted to have that time with my family before all heck broke loose. I forgot that my children are little Tattle-Tales. Jay was snuggled up to me and could feel me tense up when a contraction hit. "Dad! Mommy's having another attraction!!" Thanks, Son. Dan suggested I call my mom to see if she'd be able to watch the kids if the "attractions" got any closer. I called her during a snack break, and she was already planning on coming over. Apparently the Superbowl was also on Sunday. Dan and I figured that would be perfect. We would finish the movie, let Mom watch the rest of the game, and we would go to the hospital if it got to that point. Thankfully, after Mom got here the contractions started slowing down. She decided to stay the night just in case they picked back up. They've been off and on since then. My stomach and back muscles are killing me. My contractions aren't consistently close enough to warrant a trip to the hospital yet, but they are DEFINITELY painful enough to be a pain in the butt. Har har. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Part of me wants to wait until tomorrow. But the little kid in me wants this pain. to. stop. NOW. I'm practically immobile right now. Even if I wanted to, I can't straighten up "on my way back to the couch" without bursting into tears. I've talked to the nurse, and she's advised me to just wait until the contractions are 5-6 minutes apart for an hour straight. They are about 10-15 minutes apart consistently for the last 2 days. UGH!! This type of waiting SUCKS!!! I just keep chanting "tomorrow morning, tomorrow morning" in my head. I get my last injection, I get taken off my meds on Sunday, and after tomorrow he won't stop me. I just have to make it to tomorrow morning....

Baby Stuff!!

My online shopping spree is arriving!! I am SOOO excited!! Dan and I have been talking about how this baby might just be our last, seeing as each of my pregnancies have gotten progressively worse. So, I have decided to throw "gender neutral" stuff out the door. Dan is just going to have to deal with pushing around a Pink Cinderella stroller:
I LOVE this stroller. I know that it is white with light pink, but I plan to Scotch Guard the ever-living-crap out of it. For those of you who have known me for at least 5 seconds, you know that I am a Disney fanatic. People have stopped playing Disney Trivia with me because there is no point. They can't win. Karah is no different. She shares my Disney enthusiasm and at times exceeds it. So, imagine my excitement when I found the "Disney Princess Royal Ride" travel system. I knew that Karah and I would LOVE going places with Annie and her "Royal Ride". It came TODAY. Karah saw the huge box and couldn't wait for Dan to get home to open it. I'll admit, neither could I. I sat down on the floor and pried the box open. Karah dragged out the pieces. I was thinking in my head, "Oh, she is going to be ecstatic when she sees Cinderella on it!!" and I was so proud of her for wanting to help assemble it. Until she left the pieces on the floor and dove into her new "fort", that is. Oh well. She occasionally emerged from her castle and "Ooohed" and "Aaaahed" appropriately. Once it started resembling a stroller she ran and got a baby-doll to "test it out" to make sure that Annie would be safe and cute in it. It passed. It is much cuter than I thought it would be, to he honest. I can't wait to put Annie in it!!


I took pity on Dan when I was looking for a diaper bag. Well, not really. It is just that the diaper bag that surpasses all diaper bags (in my own personal opinion, of course) didn't come in any girlie colors. I had the choice of plain black or black and this weird looking green. Other than the lack of pink in it's color pallet, this diaper bag is AWESOME. We found it (brand new) with all but one of the accessories on Ebay for pretty cheap. This thing ROCKS. I watched the video for this diaper bag, and I kid you not, a pillar of light from Heaven above was shining down on my computer and I heard angels singing. I'm one of those women who uses her diaper bag as her purse. (Let's be honest, is there any SANE woman out there who doesn't??) I have always hated carrying diaper bags because they give you this huge pocket for everything and that is it. I am constantly losing my keys, wallet, make-up, and such in the chaos of lotion, wipes, toys, diapers, snacks, pacifiers, burp cloths, bottles, etc. I have to dig and dig and dig to find anything (which is not always possible without finally screaming in rage and dumping the entire thing out at the check out counter to find my flipping wallet...). This diaper bag not only has lots of pockets connected to it, but it has separate accessories that you can keep bottles, cell phones, wallet, snacks, and such in that clip onto the bag (outside AND inside!!). We are talking Ultimate Organization here. It is called the Clic-It. Mine came yesterday. I've already packed my make-up bag, wallet pouch, and put their little key chain thingy on my keys. I have to send the big bag part back, though, because there was a huge tear in it. Sad day, but they said I should have my new-not-torn one by the end of next week, so I'm not going to fret (yet). Here is what it looks like:



Kinda manly, I know, but then I imagine slipping my hand in the bag and immediately finding my keys clipped to the side and I'm over it. I AM currently open to suggestions, however, on how to girl-ify it. :)

Bribery

If you have never used bribery to some extent with your kids, then your "kids" are not of the human variety. Lately I have grown tired of asking the kids to clean their rooms or help with other household chores only to be ignored. I am not the only one who has grown frustrated with me being on bed rest. I love them to pieces. I really do. It is just stressful on everyone when our house looks like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina instead of the comforting environment it is supposed to be. They come home from school or play, kick off their shoes, drop their bags, and drag their toys to the living room, our room, bathrooms, or kitchen because they can't see the floors of their rooms anymore. Their bathroom was a NIGHTMARE. Strawberry toothpaste all over the counters, hair crap all over the floor and mirrors, bath toys everywhere, and the oh-so-lovely-evidence of a 6 year old boy all over the toilet. Dan can only do so much. He gets home from work around 6 pm, takes Jay to Karate almost immediately, eats dinner around 7:30 pm, gets the kids ready for bed at 8, fights with them for at least 1/2 an hour (sometimes more) then he is finally able to assess the mess around him close to 9:00 pm. If he doesn't have any clients contact him with problems with their websites, that is. I have tried to give him time to relax and wind down, but it just isn't practical or possible until I can start pitching in again. We have had help, don't get me wrong, but I would literally need to have a live-in maid to keep up with my little mess-makers. It has gotten to the point where they don't care if I revoke their tv/video game privileges because (and this is REALLY sad) they know it is more of a punishment for me. So, again, desperate times call for desperate measures. Jayden's new-found fascination with Star Wars has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me to bribe him. Yes. Bribe. He has expressed over and over again how he WISHES he had REAL light saber. Well, I got online and found this:




















Oh yeah. And it is only $8.99. (SCORE!!) I told him that for every day he kept his room clean and helped with other household chores, I would put a sticker on a calendar. When he filled his calendar, he would get his light saber. Karah was not about to be left out of this super-sweet deal. She isn't sure if she wants a light saber or a new outfit for her doll, but I told her we could decide when her calendar was filled up. Ladies and gents, I asked them to clean their bathroom yesterday. Those kiddos SCRUBBED that bathroom. They not only picked up their toys, clothes, and garbage, but they SCRUBBED it. Mirrors, counters, TOILET, tub, floors, you name it. I thought that they would put up a fight today when I mentioned cleaning their rooms. Nope. They also picked up the living room. I might just get used to this. I'm going to hang their calendars up in the main room of the house and put a picture of their prize above it. That way they will be able to mark their progress and remember why they are working so hard. I am SO proud of my kids. I know we are only on day 2, but they've made it farther than I thought they would. I just hope that if they keep this up Dan and I can come up with some good rewards in the future that are free, lol.

Earth Angels

I have always believed in God and angels. I am also a firm believer that God sends angels to help Him out down here on earth. Sometimes they are guardian angels that we can't see, and sometimes they are in the forms of friends and family members. I have had SEVERAL help me throughout this time. I've had them take kids, bring in meals, clean my house, and just sit and visit with me. When I had my little "Oh-my-gosh-I-could-be-having-this-baby-in-2-weeks-and-I-have-NOTHING" freak out session a few days ago, those angels kicked it into overdrive! I was having fun (probably a little too much fun) shopping online. Some things were so outrageously overpriced brand new that I almost had to take another little trip to the hospital. I then thought "I have several friends that have kids. Maybe they still have some of their baby stuff and would let me buy or borrow it..." I made a post on Facebook and BAM!! I have BOXES of baby girl clothes, toys, shoes, blankets, burp cloths, nursing pillows, and a Bumbo chair! I am pretty sure I'm not going to have to shop for clothes for this child for quite some time. This has helped us out SO much!! I am so grateful for the many, MANY angels out there who listened to the still, soft promptings from our Father in Heaven. I don't think anyone will truly understand how deep my gratitude and appreciation goes. I hope one day I will get the opportunity to "Pay It Forward." Thank you, my Angels here on Earth, for all you've done for my family and me!!