25 Christmas Questions

Susan over at Life in the Psych Ward asked for us all to join in the fun!! So here I go....



1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Ok that is hard because this time of year it's Egg Nog, but the rest of the year I LOVE me some Hot Chocolate!



2.Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa puts our gifts by the fireplace where our stockings hang.



3. Colored lights on house/tree or white? White.



4. Do you hang mistletoe? If I knew where to find some, I'd hang some up and stand underneath it!



5.When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year I couldn't get motivated!!! (I have no idea why either)



6.What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? My mother in law's mashed potatoes and my mom's jello. Love that stuff!


7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? That is a tough one. I was just reminded of one by my dearest friend Kerri, but when I was a kid we had a tree stand that rotated around and played music. It was actually very cool. It finally broke after my dad died.

8. When did you learn the truth about Santa? truth??? In our house it is always if you don't believe you don't receive!!!!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a child we were always able to open one gift from a family member. I have allowed my kids to do the same thing. So any out of town packages one present is fair game!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? !With the boys. I un-package all the ornaments and they put them on the tree. I put the higher up ones on and Matt always puts the topper on the tree!

11. Snow. Love it or dread it? Love the look...loved as a child playing in it, but I live in Arizona now and can't even remember the last time I was in the snow!

12. Can you ice skate?Yes, and I love it!!! Grew up right down the street from an ice skating rink.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I received a "real" cabbage patch kid one year. In Georgia they have a hospital (Babyland General) where the babies are born from a cabbage and I received Gabriella. My mom still has her today.

14. What is the most important thing about the holidays to you? Being with my family and friends. It's a great time to slow down and appreciate.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? We always had a cake for Baby Jesus every year. Now that I am married we have birthday cake because it's actually my mother-in-law's birthday on Christmas day!!!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Taking the kids to see Santa. I don't care how old they ever get. It just makes me happy.

17. What tops your Christmas tree? A snowman star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?I love the feeling of giving, especially to those who are in need. The best part is the look on the face of someone you bought the PERFECT gift for. However, I love to be surprised with a really great gift!!!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Any song on Amy Grant's Christmas albums. I love every single one of them!!

20. Candy Canes. Yum or Yuck?YUMMY!!!!! Oddly enough I just bought some today to eat!

21. What do you want for Christmas? A video camera. I have actually wanted one for years, but I am thinking probably not this year either...:(

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? Not an annual one, but we do attend Christmas parties. It's fun to get together this time of year!

23. Do you dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's? We wear jeans or anything festive. We have our big party on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is more for pj's.

24. Do you own a Santa hat? Yes!!!

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Family. Any and all that are around on that day!!!!

Trying to find the holiday spirit

So since my last post I have been trying VERY hard to take it one day at a time. The stress was getting to be quite crazy. I just REALLY needed to finish everything on my list so I could just sit back and enjoy. Yesterday, I passed on attending Brad's end of the year football party. I just couldn't see how that was good use of time. I mean it's always great attending those parties, but I had so many things to do!!!

We took the time yesterday to hang the outside lights (thanks Mom and Dad for your help) and I took the time to clean the inside and then decorate!!! It sure felt good to get that all done. I ordered the Christmas cards (sadly they won't be here til next week sometime) and even got the Lacrosse "mom" stuff done. I woke up today feeling energized and wonderful.

Here are some pictures of the tree. We decorated the tree tonight. Obviously JT was WAY more excited about it than the older boys. They just wanted to hang the ornaments and JT was just happy posing for pictures!!! ;)

So in light of everything I think I have it under control as of now so please please please don't let anything stand in my way til the 25th!!!! :) I know what will happen will happen!! A girl can dream though can't she??

Just a bit overwhelmed!!!

So lately I have been feeling VERY overwhelmed. I am not really sure why either. I don't feel my life has gotten any crazier or any busier, I think it's mostly because in my head I realize that in 9 weeks I will have to take care of one more person. I think it is truly messing with my head! Now don't get me wrong....baby #4 was totally planned and I couldn't be more excited about a new baby in our family, but somewhere in my head all I can think is WOW how am I going to do this??

You see because a typical day in my house includes the following:

Up first to shower. If I let hubby take a shower first he uses all the hot water.
Off to drink some coffee and read the paper. Start the muffins or cinnamon rolls if that is what we are having
Wake up boys to get ready for school
Feed them breakfast
Then we are off to do hair, brush teeth, make beds, etc.
Take kids to school
Come home and work
Straighten up house while making lunch for JT and me
Pick up child from school
Later pick up another child from school after some sport thing he does (i.e. track, football)
Rush dinner on the table
Either help with homework or take oldest to some other sport thing (i.e. football or lacrosse)
Give little one bath
Bedtime
Work some more to get ready for the next day
Watch TIVO stuff if I can stay awake

That's it. Everyday. Of course weekends there is laundry and cleaning. Every weekend I dust the whole house, clean bathrooms, vacuum, clean floors, etc. I can't stop from doing it. Tried to go every other week and couldn't handle it. Tried to hire someone to clean, but just kept cleaning anyone so figured that was silly.

This weekend I wanted to get my Christmas decorations up. Yah, that didn't happen. Every day we had something else going on and I just couldn't find the energy.

I am not trying for this post to come across like I am whining (ok maybe a little) but I just needed to vent. Thinking if I could get it out of my head and onto paper (or the Internet) then maybe I can just go back to getting motivated and moving forward!!

I already feel a little better. :) I just realize that things won't always be able to be perfect and in my head I think that's ok. Just wish I wasn't so OCD!!! I am working on it though. Or am I???

Happy 4th Birthday Jt!!!

Happy 4th birthday buddy! I truly can't believe that 4 years have past. To think that 4 years ago you came into our lives....wow has it gone fast. I remember when I was younger and life seemed to move so slow (when was Christmas vacation, spring break, and last day of school) and now I just try and understand how time can move so fast....

Here is a picture of your brothers meeting you for the first time. Ooh they were so proud and still are. You are such a great little brother. For the most part you make us laugh.. A LOT! You are such a big boy. No one believes you just turned 4. You wear size 6 clothes!!! You already have a great sense of humor and you for sure roll with the punches. You have finally decided to start trying to learn your letters. For the longest time you have fought with me and then suddenly you wanted to know which letter was what. :) You have now decided after 4 years of calling my name in the morning that you are big enough to come out of your room, head to your playroom and watch TV until I join you. You give tons of kisses and hugs. Your favorite thing to do it play outside with your friends. You could do that for hours. You just started to notice babies which is a good thing since we are having one. We haven't told you yet though. You are smart enough to know something is going on, but we haven't sat you down yet. You might not stop asking me when your new brother will arrive. ;) I figure we still have some time (like 10 weeks). You are such a helper. If I am making a bed you want to do teamwork. If I am taking the dishes out of the dishwasher you want to hand them to me. We are still working on cleaning up your playroom, but that is mostly mommy's fault because EVERYTHING has a place and I need it to go there! :) You love to take baths and swim....you want to know why you can't swim now in the pool. I am so incredibly lucky to have you. I love you so very much!!!!

Here are some random pictures from the party. We had it at Pump It Up since all you EVER want to do is bounce!!!

The girl at the store made the wrong cake. It's a good thing I have gotten older and stress less because I picked up your cake 1 hour before the party. The girl who made it was mortified but I told her no worries and could I please have the Power Ranger items we had requested. :) So you not only had a Madagascar cake, but we added the Rangers to it as well!!!!! You loved it!

This was taken before you started opening all of your wonderful gifts. You received so many wonderful things and the day was a huge success!!! I am so happy that you had fun. I love you and Happy Birthday!

Sometimes life throws you a curveball

Do you ever feel that life sometimes throws you a curveball?

Like you had something planned and then BAM it doesn't work out that way or ends up so much better. One of my favorite songs is by Garth Brooks. "Unanswered prayers". So many times we want for something to happen and it either never does or what happens is so much better!!!

The lyrics go like this:

Just the other night a hometown football game My wife and I ran into my old high school flame And as I introduced them the past came back to me And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be She was the one that I'd wanted for all times And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then I'd never ask for anything again CHORUS: Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams And I could tell that time had changed me In her eyes too it seemed We tried to talk about the old days There wasn't much we could recall I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all And as she walked away and I looked at my wife And then and there I thanked the good Lord For the gifts in my life CHORUS Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered... Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

I have felt that way so many times in my life. I try to live by the idea that EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Some of the times I still don't know why it happened, but then I remember something about it and think that's why. If I hadn't met my ex-husband I wouldn't have my two older boys. If I had not moved back to Arizona I wouldn't have the great friends I have today. If I had not met JT's dad I wouldn't have JT. And of course if I had not gone to the lake that one day I wouldn't have met my husband. The most important things in my life. My family!!!

As I am expecting #4 it makes me think back. To how I got here today. I feel very blessed. I have my family, a roof over my head, a car to drive, a job, and my health. There are so many people who aren't that lucky right now. I am also fully aware how fast any or all of that could change.

You see my former brother-in-law is in a hospital fighting for his life. A senseless car accident. A wonderful God living man. A young man who is only 38 years old. Who has a wife, two small children, a very large family who loves him. And it happened in a blink of an eye.

This is where it gets hard to believe everything happens for a reason. Because truly I couldn't think of one good reason for this to have happened. Please pray for him and for the family. I am AWARE of the power of prayer. I have watched it happen here and I know it works!!!!

So I am guessing if life throws you a curveball you should probably just try and swing the bat.


*****UPDATE******My brother-in-law is still in very critical condition however he is making progress and has been alert at times even writing small notes. Everyone is very encouraged, but he still has a long road ahead of him. Prayers are still needed. Thank you!!

What a week!!!

My week started off last Saturday night....I was late getting to Bradley's football game because well it was his 2nd round playoff game and I get too nervous for him. He is the quarterback and I just hate watching him if I think the game will be at all tough for him. Sorry I am a sucker and want him to win every time!! So back to the story...I am late and my friend texts me and says, "you are gonna be so mad at your ex". I text back, "ok why". She texts back "you have to see to believe". So Matt and I show up at half time and there on the field is MY son with a Mohawk. I must admit I came slightly unglued. Ok REALLY unglued. His dad knew I would say no so they decided to not ask me. Then when I became angry he sorta laughed...UGH! (he kept it all week and started to hate it (haha) so his dad took him today and got it shaved off)

JT this week could only go to school on Thursday because he was having "bathroom issues" the other days. Have no idea, but for one week we had a relapse of what it was like to wear diapers. I even took him to the Dr. to find out he had a sinus infection and to be honest I was pretty shocked. I knew his cough was bad, but thought that was all and just a repeat of last year where he was sick from October-March. So now he is on antibiotics and hopefully on the road to recovery.

My mom had surgery on Friday. Thankfully she is one tough cookie and is now recovering at home after spending last night at the hospital. Greggory is staying with her so he can take care of her. Maybe he will be a doctor one day? Or maybe help save the world??? Oh heck I don't know!!!

I went to the dermatologist this week to have the moles checked out. There was one spot on my throat that had to be removed. Haven't heard back yet on the spot though. It was a patchy dry spot on my throat. Been there maybe a year or so. I really thought moles were the only problem. Guess I learned that you just need to make sure you get yourself checked regularly. Too many people are finding out they have melonoma and it scares me to death!!! Especially since I spent the majority of my youth in the sun baking!!!

The highlight of my week (thankfully there was one) was getting together with two of my highschool friends from Georgia. Well heck we knew each other long before highschool, but because of facebook I have found so many of my "old" friends and the best was finding out that one of my most favorite people actually lives 10 minutes from me here in Arizona!!! :) Another one of our friends was in town for a work convention so the three of us headed to dinner and oh what fun we had!!! Sometimes you just need to laugh and oh did we laugh!!! I will post a picture as soon as one of them sends it to me! :) I forgot my camera. Probably was the horrible bandaid I had on my throat that made me forget....

This coming week is going to be crazy. Kids crazy, work crazy, and if you can believe it...JT's 4th birthday crazy. Yikes where has the time gone?? Just boggles my mind how fast these kids grow up.

I still am working on a Halloween post and the big I am 4 post. Hope to get those completed soon!!

I did finally get the guest room "new baby's room" cleaned out so my father-in-law can paint it. It took all day today, but it's almost ready. Of course I didn't order the furniture until this week and it takes 10-12 weeks to get it!!! Oh well. At least when the baby comes home it has somewhere to sleep until the furniture arrives...

That's all for now!!!

What? He thinks this is ME

The other day I picked up JT from pre-school. He was so excited to show me what he had made that day. He pulls out a Dixie cup with blue ribbon and exclaims, "Mommy, I made you!!!!" Ok WHAT?

As you can see though he is VERY proud of his work!!!!

So what did you do last night?

So last night the hubby and I met some friends with the older two boys at the Arizona State Fair. Now mind you, I went the first year that I lived here in 2000 and it kind of scared me. I had vowed to NEVER go back! However, last year my hubby and his friends couldn't stop talking about these figure 8 races. It did sound intriguing so the older two boys and I decided we would take him up on the invite.

We had no idea how much fun we were gonna have! Oh but we did. Something about cheesy fair rides, more food on a stick than you know what to do with and figure 8 races. Wow! And the boys LOVED it. And I LOVED that the boys LOVED it. So last night we did it again. Here are some of the pictures we took....


GOOD TIMES AT THE FAIR!!

We paid extra so we could see the largest PIG....And yes those are his BALLS! :)

Then on to the smallest horse. I had to just stare at him because I swear I thought he was fake. He did move. I was shocked and so were the boys!

When you go the fair you have you eat fair food. (for the record I ate some french fries as I am just not that courageous yet)

The boys trying to NOT look at me while I take their picture!! Here we are riding some fun rides!

He was on his own on this one. Literally....

And when you go the fair you HAVE to see the animals they have. This is the chicken I wanted to take home. Come on admit it he has GREAT hair!!!!!

Last thing we saw were a whole ton of sheep. For some reason this one became the brunt of so many jokes...like hey can you see that??? :)

So another wonderful time at the fair. I just need someone to tell the thousands of people there that we are in a rescission. No seriously there were SO many people there it was hard to all stay and walk as a group. Then I see in the paper that this year their numbers are down. Really?? LIARS!!! Last year when we went we didn't pay $20 to park and there were not that many people. It's all crazy talk!!!

One sick boy...

I am not going to lie to you when I tell you that I don't enjoy sick kids. Let's be honest though...how many of us do? I am grateful it's the oldest one who is sick because he is less work, but now I have to worry will everyone else get this strange bizarre unidentified illness? This is how it all started.

Saturday night started with his friend spending the night. This is not something I usually allow because it promotes staying up late and I am not a fan. The staying up late part is ok it's the next morning and the I'm so tired comments that make me crazy. So, Sunday comes and we are a little tired, but we have lacrosse practice so we somehow muster up the energy to go. Come home sleep rest of the day on the couch. Again I get it. He is almost 13 and didn't get much sleep so I don't bother him. Move ahead to dinner time. Suddenly remembers homework while moaning how cold and tired he is. Now I am losing my patience.

Monday morning we get up no problem. Get ready for school, I feel his head and he is cool as a cucumber. Perfect. That is until my cell phone rang at 1pm. "Hi, mom. I have a 101.5 fever and I have to come home. Can you come get me?" he says. Ugh! Sure I would love to come get your sick self and infest the others in this house...:)

So last night besides the time he tried to sneak out to run across the street to his friend's he pretty much laid around and did nothing. At about 8pm I took his temp and now it's 103!!! So I give him some Motrin and off to bed he goes. I was hoping he would wake up today and feel terrific so he could go back to school tomorrow, but well let's just say that dream was killed when he woke up and his temp was 102.5!! You know they say 24 hour fever free before they can come back to school!!!!

So at 1:30pm today think of me as I head to the doctor's with him. Why you ask? Well, every time this child has EVER had a fever....strep throat is ALWAYS the culprit. I figure if it's strep I should know about it now so I can get him on drugs and send him back to school on Thursday.

Did I mention the kids had off last Thursday/Friday for fall break!!! Ugh! Please pray for our family that none of the other children get sick OR the pregnant mommy!!!!!

Crazy day with friends

The boys had off school the other day so my best friend and I decided we would take the boys to the new Children's Museum.

Playing with play dough. Which is always funny to me because I will not allow play dough in my house. I don't like the smell of it, it always gets hard because they never put it away properly and if any gets stuck in your carpet...forget about it! They sure do LOVE the play dough though. Hey, my kid does go to preschool and he can play with it there!!! :)

The little one resting from all the fun eating his goldfish. I asked if he was ready to go and he said no thanks!

He was pretending it was nap time. Right, like he takes naps anymore! HA!

The older ones goofing off!

He was making pizza. Ok, so it was pretend pizza, but pizza none the less! :)

What a wonderful day we had. All of the boys were behaved so great and it was just nice to relax and chat. I just don't get to do enough of that!!! The boys of course had a blast just being together. Just an all around GREAT day!

Sensitivity issues

Ok, so this whole pregnancy thing has been going ok...I guess. Something has happened to me though this time around that is making me kind of scared and maybe slightly crazy??

You see no one has ever called me sensitive. I don't cry much if ever, I am usually pretty tough and one of my closest friends even called me the Grinch before. (She was only kidding...I think??) Something about my heart being two sizes too small?

It's not that I wouldn't give you the shirt off my back and I wouldn't bring you soup if you were sick. It's just I am a straight shooter. I call a spade a spade. Well, that was before this pregnancy....

Now I feel like a bumbling idiot on most days. I cried the other night watching Grey's Anatomy. Why you ask?? Because Christina was getting kissed by McMilitary and it came so out of the blue that I was happy for her?? What?? It's a TV show. Do you understand what I am talking about? I was happy for a character in a TV show. Ugh!

Another thing lately making me cry is my children. They are growing up way too fast. Pretty sure that is why I keep having them. Logically I understand they will ALL grow up, but something about having a baby around makes everyone just a bit younger. My husband wants to know when it will be "our" time and I keep thinking I don't think I ever want that time? I keep asking him to do what? To travel...neither one of us love that...so watch more TV...we own two TIVOS? What could we possibly do that we aren't doing now? I love the loudness, the craziness, the busyness of our lives. Yes, sometimes I love calm too, but that is usually because my job is making me crazy and I have run out of patience for the little ones!!

I can't decide if I like the new me or not. You know the senstive one who seems to FEEL everything. Part of me does. It's kind of freeing just letting it all out. Who knows what will happen in 4 1/2 months. Something tells me after sleepless nights I will STILL be crying. Only it will be different...

Hi, my name is Beth

And I have a few addictions! They are the following: Blogging, twitter, and facebook. Now I will tell you why!!

I started reading other people's blogs when a friend of mine started hers about her journey with her preemie son. Jill over at Our Miracle Boy. Her son was born at 24 weeks and that is how I keep up with her and John's wonderful life! She soon had a very large blog role and I started to read many of the families.

Somehow I then found other people that I really fell in love with like Cheryl at
The Daily Blond and McMommy at
The McMommy Chronicles and of course there is Happy Hour Sue at Happy Meals & Happy Hours and well so many more I can't even mention them all. I started to comment on their blogs and then something happened. Yes, that's right....

Twitter happened.Suddenly at any given time I had real people to talk to about real things like...what people were wearing at the Emmy's or the VMA's or even silly things like this This guy even tells me you are no one if you don't twitter!

Suddenly, my husband was asking, "who keeps texting you"? I swear I think he thinks I have a boyfriend. He just doesn't understand the twitter. I even learned about sweet tea and vodka a.k.a. firefly vodka and as soon as I have this baby I am getting me some. My friend William at Back to Barnwell told me all about it!!!


Lastly, I have grown quite addicted to www.facebook.com because I have had the chance to connect with people from when I was a kid growing up back in Marietta, Georgia. People I went to elementary school, middle school and even high school with. And you know what....they all have children, they all look amazing and everyone just seems to be so happy!! How can you not become addicted to that??? Who doesn't love seeing their friends (old and new) happy.


I feel so much better now that I have admitted that I have a problem. Any thoughts on a cure?

I am going to write a book....

I have decided that I am going to write a book. I am going to title it, It's not that hard. Because really people lately everything I seem to try and do is just THAT hard. Let me give you a few examples.

I am the maid in the house if you will. No one lifts a finger around here. My husband takes care of the outside of the house so we will give him that, but the inside it's my domain. It's not that my husband or kids don't want to help I just won't let them. Call it OCD call it whatever you want HOWEVER....

It's not that hard if you take something out of the fridge, empty it into a glass and throw it away. Please DO NOT leave just a little bit in there so you don't have to throw it away. It's not that hard.

It's not that hard to take something out of the medicine cabinet like toothpaste, use it and put it right back. It's just not that hard!

It's not that hard to look in your backpack afterschool, see you have homework, and do it. Not wait until the last minute and then stress me out. It's not that hard.

It's not that hard to get in your car and drive the speed limit at least. (I prefer 10 miles over, but whatever I'll take speed limit) It's not that hard.

It's not that hard to run into Target for a few things and NOT buy a stinkin toy. It' not that hard.

As you can see I can go on and on about this subject. I have been very overwhelmed lately with work and kids and trying to find a balance with my hubby. I feel like I am working every night until 10pm just as we are going to bed. The kids have me running everywhere with sports and school. My job..don't even get me started about my job. I know I should be thankful I am busy because there are plenty of people who are NOT busy who do what I do...but why all at once?? Where was everyone two months ago when I needed more work!!! And did I mention baby #4???? What am I going to do with him?? Oh well.

I have found in life most things find a way of just working themselves out and I know this too shall pass. Just say an extra prayer for me would ya...cause I'm going crazy over here!!! :)


On a side note I had my BIG ultrasound if you will and baby is still a boy. The tech just kept saying I am sure glad we did this two weeks ago becuase the entire time she was trying to do the ultrasound today I was having contractions. Yah, I am 19 weeks. Doctor said they were fine. OK!

To be or not to be......Traditional???

So I am having a bit of a dilema. Let's call it baby naming. You see I already have three boys. Bradley, Greggory and JT (short for Johnathon Thomas). Nice traditional names. Bradley and Greggory have never been on the top 100 favorite name list, but still nice names. Of course Johnathon is, but since we don't call him that I never worried about that. I like the names that are traditional, but not on the top 100 list. Now for the problem...

We are having a fourth boy. What to name him has been a topic everywhere! Everyone wants to give me suggestions and I always feel bad when I say, "oh no, I don't like that one." Or "we are just planning to wait until birth to name our son." Because truthfully I have NO idea what I want to name him. I have been reading books, magazines, websites anything with names in it. I just keep thinking maybe the name will hit me like a ton of bricks! My husband wants him to have an edgy name. Something different. Then again my husband's name is Matthew. Great name, but also very popular! ;)

So now is the time I am going to open the floor to all of you. Any suggestions will do. Boy names. His middle name is Ethan. So keep that in mind when handing out names. My husband has always LOVED the name Ethan. That can't be his first name though because it's on the top 10 list!

Sorry, I am weird like that...

IT'S A ........

BOY!!!!!!!

Can you believe it?? It's a BOY! That's right 4 boys!! Wow! I am so very excited!! Everything looked great today in the ultrasound. I have another one in two weeks because my doctor likes to do the "big" one around 19-20 weeks and since I will only be 17 weeks tomorrow the ultrasound tech couldn't get all the measurements she needed.

Don't even start asking about names though....when you have already used your favorite names on the first three this will be a bit harder. We had the girls name picked out if it were to be a girl, but the boys name...not so much. My doctor told me today that he thinks I kill all girl sperm. It gets near me and I kill it! :) I figured better before conception than after...kidding I'm only kidding! :)

I don't think the boys know what to think. My oldest wanted a girl. Something different he said. When I texted him earlier and told him it was a boy he replied back......NOOOOOOO! :) He said he is over it now. Middle son just said thats cool. I hope he's good. And of course the youngest one hasn't even been told yet. I am thinking maybe the day before I give birth. :) He does say I am getting fat from eating too much dinner, but I can live with that!! It's better than hearing him say...baby?? When baby? Can't handle it. Still too far to go!

Thanks for all the good wishes that everyone was sending my way!!

The Sweetest Thing

As a mother of three boys there is plenty of fighting and whining around here. At any given time #1 son and #2 son like each other so that means that #3 son is out in the cold. It could be any combination of the three, but as the saying goes....three is a crowd! :) Well, the other night that all changed and even if it was for just one night it was worth it to see it!

Bradley had a football scrimmage on Friday night. He was trying to recover a bad snap (Quarterback talk) and instead of just falling on the ball he recovered it and tried to run. In the meantime three players from the other team tackled him and HARD! He couldn't get up. So there I am sitting in the stands thinking boy I sure prefer him playing goalie for lacrosse! :) So after all the coaches run over, kids take a knee, he is STILL not up. Finally, (I am sure it was only a few minutes, but felt so much longer than that) he gets up, but has his arms around two coaches and he is having a hard time walking. Oh great I think...sprained ankle, broken foot, or maybe even a broken leg....

His dad runs down to the field to check things out. All I see is Bradley wincing in pain and how uncomfortable he looks. After about 10 minutes and when things don't look any better, I grab a cold water and head down myself. He got hit in an area where of course there are no pads on his lower back. He was in a lot of pain and thankfully the game was almost over.

Now on for the sweetest thing part....we get Bradley in the car with the help of his dad and head home. We get home and realize Bradley can't get out of the car so it takes a while and all Greggory keeps saying, "is don't worry Bradley I will take care of you." Bradley decides he needs a shower, but can't get up the stairs so we decide he will take a shower downstairs. Greggory runs upstairs and gets all his stuff from the bathroom; towel, shampoo, and soap for his brother. Helps him get undressed and in the shower. Helps him get dressed after. Helps him to the couch where they will sleep just in case Bradley needs something Greggory can get it. When he wants food Greggory comes and gets me to fix them something. All night. Anything Bradley needed Greggory was there.

It melted my heart. What a GREAT little brother. What love to witness between the two of them. It's just not something I see everyday. Not even weekly. What a joy that I did.

I sure love those boys....all three of them!! On a side note JT was also very worried about his brother, but since he is only three and we HAD to get him in bed he couldn't be as helpful! :)

On another side note...Tuesday is the big day. The day where hopefully the ultrasound tech will be able to tell us what this wonderful baby #4 is....make sure you put your votes in.

Wanted to say thank you to the Blogger GODS

I just wanted to say a quick thanks to the Blogger Gods. Yes, that's right I am pretty sure they exist. Let me tell you why.

Yesterday I wrote a post about how I couldn't take the heat anymore. I was done. I needed to feel 90. So after I wrote that post....

it rained and rained, it thundered and lightening, it rained some more, it flooded my backyard and thundered some more...all night!!!!

So that meant that today it was super cloudy and no sun and wouldn't you know it...only 91 when I picked up the kids from school!! That was pure HEAVEN!!

I did notice later in the day around 5pm it was about 97, but I was cooking dinner then and seriously didn't care!

So thank you Blogger Gods for hearing me and giving this insanely crazy pregnant woman just one day to remember what 90 felt like!

Ugh! I am so HOT!

Just a quick rant because I am driving my awesome hubby CRAZY with my complaining!! Thought maybe if I said it all here I could just stop! The reason for my complaints is that I am SOOOOO done being hot. Let me explain what I mean:

Tuesday: 98/81
Wednesday: 99/82
Thursday: 103/82
Friday: 103/82
Saturday: 99/81
Sunday: 97/79

Everyday with a 20-30% chance of rain...so did I mention those may be the temps, but now you have to add in humidity! That's right my friends even though I live in the desert I get humidity this time of year. It's like an added bonus. :)

I understand that I live in the desert; however when the kids go back to school I expect FALL!! I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and this time of year it would be starting to cool off. I just looked at what their temps are and right now it's 70 degrees!!!! Now granted they get more rain and different weather, but people PLEASE enough of the 100!!!!!

Did I also mention that I work from home and I am cheap. My friends love that about me. :) My husband and children not so much. So because I am cheap my downstairs air is set to 82 and the upstairs 80. So not only is it HOT outside it's pretty toasty inside too!!! After 9pm I drop the upstairs to 74. I can't sleep when it's hot in the house!

To be perfectly honest I don't even know where I am going with this except to say PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE someone send me some cooler temps. I will take 90. Yup, there I said it. 90 please!

I can't believe I am already here!

I have a 12 year old son. Sometimes I feel too young for a 12 year old, but I guess when you have a baby at 21 you might feel that way sometimes! We have a pretty close relationship. He cracks me up daily with his witty comments. :) This year he started middle school in the 7th grade and oh boy does he love it! Get to hear about his friends and all the "HOT" girls that attend! He is playing football now and is worried about his weight because he only made the recent weigh-in by 5 ounces!! I keep telling him worrying about your weight is not a good place to be and he should just chill....yah easier said than done.

The biggest thing is that I don't have many super close friends who have 12 year olds. See all my friends waited until their late 20's to start the parenting thing so they have kids a bit younger than Greg at 8. So I am the first one to go thru many of these things. Such as do I allow him a myspace page? After a lot of thought I decided sure, but I have to have one too and be on his buddy list. Do I allow him to go to the movies himself? I fought it every step of the way because I know what I did at the movies when I his age, but finally gave in and said fine, but I am picking you up right after the movie is over. Just call me MY dad!!! :)

The recent happening that made me so very sad happened last night. His dad dropped him off from football and as I was talking to his dad in the doorway I see my neighbor walking around her house with a flashlight. I asked her what she was doing (mind you it was 9:30pm) and she said looking for scorpions. She had found a few in her garage and was freaking out. So as I looked down at my front door there was a giant scorpion right next to my ex's foot. I screamed and told him to kill it!!! And then it happened. My 12 year old looked at me with disgust and said, "STOP FREAKING OUT MOM. IT'S NOT LIKE IT WAS COMING IN HERE TO GET US". And there it was. I had embarrassed him. WOW!

It was like in a blink of an eye I just wasn't cool anymore. He was over it this morning, but truly I don't think I am yet!

What in the world is "THAT"????

Let me tell you what "THAT" is. When the dog wasn't feeling well I was doing extra laundry since she made a few messes along the way. Well the laundry room just hasn't been the same since. I couldn't figure out why? Ran bleach thru the washer, ran it with nothing in it, and even kept the door open. It is a front loader....I was trying everything. My husband happened to look at it the other day and said it looked a little dirty and maybe I could just CLEAN it out. So today I was on the phone and since I can't EVER sit still I decided NOW was the time to do this.

I cleaned the door (dirty very dirty) and I started to pull back the rubber part of the washing machine and I noticed some brown so I pulled back even further and in the picture what you are seeing is a sock that had gotten lodged there (WHO IN THE WORLD KNOWS WHEN) and it was well brown too. That is how the washing machine works. The water filters thru the front and it had something blocking it. A SOCK!

I had to stop talking for a minute and tell my friend to hold on. I was sure I was going to be sick. The moment thankfully passed and then I had to get on a bigger mission because I had to remove the sock and REALLY clean the washing machine. Oh joy!!! The good news is now I have found the source of the smell. The bad news was I EVER had to see that!!

For the record I am an ultra clean freak as well. That washing machine is only a year old. I scrub the outside all the time because I don't like dust on it, but who EVER cleans the inside of their washing machine. Well, apparently me.

Wanted to give a SHOUT OUT!!!!

Julie and Me!
Meet my friend Julie. Julie and I "met" when I was 9 years old. She was barely 2. We were next door neighbors and I started to baby-sit for her and for her little brother, Marc. Over the years we became more like family. I used to travel with her family and help out with the kids, if they were ever out of town I took care of their dog, and I was even in her wedding when she got married. When Julie was in college she took a job working for a hotel at the front desk. After she graduated she moved up to an event planner type position.

From time to time I would ask her to hook us up with a room where she lives. It is always nice to get away and it's only about 1 1/2 hours from our house. Well, my husband and I decided we needed a night away. It had been awhile since we did just the two of us. Now with baby #4 on the way we decided it was much needed!

So we drive down yesterday to check into the hotel. We get there at 2pm and check-in is at 3pm. They tell us the room isn't ready, but they are in there cleaning now. The hotel is sold out mind you and the lines to check in are VERY long. We walked around, but it was raining and I had a horrible headache so at about 2:45pm I get back into line. I ask the nice front desk guy if the room is ready yet. He calls to housekeeping and says no, not yet about 20 more minutes? I say, "well at 2pm they were in the room and you are telling me they still need 20 minutes"? The nice front desk smiles and says, "ma'am (oooh how I hate that) it is a very large room and takes some time to clean." I say, "ok, no problem just call us and we will find something else to do."

At 3pm they call us and say your room is ready. We look at the map and realize we have never stayed in the area that they have for us so we needed a bellman to take us to our room. We were afraid we would get lost! :) We tell the guy our room number and he says, "what a great room. Stars like Phil Mickelson and the lead singer from Scorpion have stayed in this room." Now Matt and I really like what's going on?? We get to our room and....

It had a foyer with a 1/2 bath, you walk into the living room/dining room with fireplace and a patio. Around the corner is a wet bar with full fridge, the bedroom has it's own door and patio; the bathroom oh my the bathroom. I am pretty sure we could have moved in there and honestly NEVER left. The bathroom had a walk-in closet, jacuzzi tub, huge walk in shower, raised sinks. It was like heaven.

After about 1 1/2 half of being in the room a very nice man came with ice cream, cookies and milk! It was from Julie! I had told her that this baby craved ice cream and she was so thoughtful and had them bring it to me!! We only left the room to grab dinner in the hotel. We even ordered room service this morning just so we didn't have to leave.

So, I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Julie. A GIANT thank you!! We had a wonderful time just the two of us. Wish we could have seen you while we were there. I hope you had fun on your trip with your hubby!! I love you Julie!!!

Just one of my pet peeves!

OK for those of you who know me, I mean really really know me, you know that when GOD made me he forgot to add the wonderful ingredient of patience. Just flat out missed me on that one. With that being said there is something that is REALLY bothering me lately. That my friend is the waiting room wait time...

I have been going to the doctor more now that I am pregnant. My wonderful ob/gyn likes to see me every 3 weeks instead of the typical 4 because of the issues I had after delivering the last one. I am not opposed to my doctor taking such good care of me, BUT I want to know why EVERYTIME I go to his office I am stuck waiting one hour just to see him. Today, I had an appointment at 8:40am and I didn't get called back until 9:35am. What? Let me get this straight. At 8:40am you are already THAT behind? How is that possible? Were you late getting to work wonderful doctor? :)

I would like to say that this just happens at my ob/gyn and therefore I really have no basis for this rant. However, I find this happening EVERYWHERE I have a scheduled appointment time. Be at the dentist at 10am. See the dentist at 10:20am. Take my kids to the peditrician for a 2pm appt. and we get called back at 2:30pm. I want to know why their time is SO much more important than MY time. If I didn't show up until 15, 30, 45 minutes later they would send me away and tell me I lost my appointment. I recently fired my son's orthodontist because EVERYTIME I went there for a 1 minute check it took over an hour and I finally said I'm done. No thanks....

Does this happen to anyone else or am I just being sooo unreasonable?

HELP:Sick doggie

Meet Roxie....aka Roxiemo. She is our 1 1/2 year old Chihuahua. I gave her to my husband as a present. A birthday/Valentine's Day present over a year ago. At the time I thought I was making a REALLY wise choice. He used to have one, but well that is a LONG story, and really wanted another one. I already had a Maltese, Jag, and didn't see why we needed another dog, but to make my husband happy there she is....

The problem right now with Roxie is well she has loose stools. EVERYWHERE!!! She hasn't gotten into anything, hasn't eaten anything weird, just has an upset tummy. I have been sleeping in the guest room at night so as not be awakened by the whining puppy who needs to go out every 2 or so hours. My husband who has the patience of a saint is even running out of patience. I could take her to the vet, but she is acting just fine otherwise...any thoughts?? Comments?? Suggestions??? Anything would help!!! Thanks!!!

***UPDATE: After 5 days of being sick she woke up yesterday morning feeling all better. No more waking us up at night and no more loose stools!! This WILL be a wonderful weekend!!

One of my few addictions

I just have to say that this show is one of my few addictions...I LOVE Tori Spelling!!! Ever since the days of 90210 I have loved this girl!! Next week is the season finale and I am so bummed to think it is all over!!! Sure hopes she hurry's up and feels better after giving birth so she can join the new cast of 90210!!!

Sad, huh?

Updates on Baby #4

I went yesterday to have an ultrasound on baby #4. Everything looked great! It was so great seeing the baby for the first time! Somehow that is when it becomes real...when you can actually see the baby moving around. The tech gave me a ton of pictures since Matt couldn't be there. It is only his second week on the job and I figured the 18 week ultrasound would be more important for him to be there!! We are just so excited. Just trying to decide on names now for either boy/girl. I'm still hoping for another boy, but EVERYONE I know is praying the other way!! Figure I just can't keep having boys forever...need a girl to liven things up a bit! Oddly enough the older boys are requesting a sister as well!! It's only a matter of time and we will know!

More pictures from San Diego

This picture was taken the first night we got to San Diego. Doesn't everyone look excited?

Having so much fun at Legoland!!!

Look I can drive...

Wonderful place where Matt and I got married!

Spiderman! Spiderman!

Scary faces...

The sealions and the boys! Cheese!

Love that face! That is his attempt at smiling!

Off to play in the ocean!

Maybe I will just watch...

Brothers UNITE! The boys had so much fun and were so well behaved! Yah!

Fun in the Sun

We decided to take a quick impromtu trip to San Diego. Get out of the heat for a few days, see Legoland and head to the beach! It was the little one's first "real" trip! I had NO idea how truly excited he was going to be!!!

As you can see I am pretty sure he thought he died and went to heaven! While we were at Legoland the funniest thing happened. We were having lunch and he was done eating his so he was running around. He fell on his bottom. He comes running over to me as LOUD as he could and said, "mamma please kiss my butt"!! Everyone around us couldn't stop laughing!

I will post more pictures soon!! Just wanted to get this out there! :)

We have a heartbeat!!!

OK so I have to admit...I was VERY nervous about hearing the baby's heartbeat. It's not that I am a first time Mom, but something about this pregnancy just seems so different. So calm. So quiet. Anytime things are EVER calm and quiet in my life something goes horribly wrong. So imagine my surprise today when the doctor, who at first couldn't find the heartbeat, found it and said whew your chances of miscarrying are now less than 3%! What a relief it was to hear!

I guess it's time for me to let people in our little secret...I have told a few people, but haven't even told my kids. Well, my oldest son knows now. After his dad, my ex-husband, walks into my house yesterday and says, "so how far along are you?" I asked, "why would you say that?" He said, "because of the baggy clothes and you are glowing!" Right in front of my 12 year old. I laughed and said thank you for telling him...I was waiting until tomorrow to tell him after we heard the heartbeat! MEN! All my son was worried about was where was the baby going to sleep! BOYS!

So we are off to the San Diego Beach in the morning. I have to get out of this heat in Phoenix. We are just going for a few days, but some are better than none! I will have tons of pictures to post when I get back!

Another lacrosse trip down...1 more to go!

We have just returned from LA where I had the privilege of watching my oldest play lacrosse all weekend. I have to admit I watched a lot, but I also spent much of the time enjoying the high temps of 70 degrees and the other wonderful parents we got to hang with!! Remember my last trip where the boys were making me crazy?? I met one of their parents and wouldn't you know it...I LOVED them! Ha! Even got to tell them about our crazy adventures.

I have also been enjoying keeping "the secret". Some more people have been told or found out, but for the most part it is still on the down low. I kind of like knowing that I know something you may or may not know! :) Plus since I am still not 100% sure how excited the other three are going to be I figure the longer I keep it under wraps the closer it will be to time!

I still haven't figured out how I want to use this blog. Thinking mostly to update family/friends, but I also feel like I need a place to go to share my feelings. Some place to just vent or talk about what's going on. Right now since no one is really reading I am still trying to get it how I want it. Hopefully that will come to me soon!

When did I become this person??

OK, so we went to Park City for Bradley's lacrosse tournament. It was beautiful and a great time had by all. However, there were some kids traveling without parents. For whatever reason some kids just came to play and some parents just couldn't be there. Right next door to us in our hotel room was a group of 4 boys with NO parents. Normally I would be fine with this...I mean come on I am a young hip mom. Sadly though it went something like this... Thursday night I was up half the night because my neighbors just couldn't sleep. I let this go. Boys just being boys. I am truly OK with this. That is until morning when I am so exhausted I can hardly stand up! Guess I am more used to the 8 hours of sleep I get every night. I decide I can take this and say nothing. Even after one of the boys pulled his pants down and mooned my son, while I was standing there!!!! He somehow didn't see the adult standing there??? Now we are gearing up for night number 2. We all went to a picnic for dinner and I was hoping these boys would be a little more tired. I mean come on they played lacrosse all day after not sleeping...surely they will be tired because GOD knows I was exhausted! Fast forward to 11:30pm when I look at my husband and say that's it...I am going in!!! So here I am in my pj's none the less and I come out of my room and yell at these boys....PLEASE SHUT UP! It is late and some people need REST! Ugh...I come back in the room and I would like to say that I felt better, but truly all I kept thinking was when did I become MY parents???? I am happy to say within 10 minutes those boys didn't make another peep! Of course the next day at the airport the boys were caught by me misbehaving once again and thankfully the "evil" eye worked that time!!!!!!

Why is it?

Why is it when I was in my twenties I LOVED to travel, LOVED to fly, LOVED to see far away places and now that I am in my thirties I stress about EVERYTHING!?! I never had fear of flying before and suddenly I am set to fly to Park City, Utah on Thursday and all I can think about is ALL the things that can go wrong!!! I haven't flown since January 2006!! I know they say a plane is the safest way to travel, but why can't I get the images of 9/11 out of my head? I know I will be ok, but I think sometimes when you travel and you leave behind some of your children it makes you stress even more. You see we are heading to Park City for a lacrosse tournament for my oldest son. That means #2 and #3 son's are staying behind. So you let your imagination run away with you...all the things that could go wrong...did I tell the boys how much I love them? Do they know? I am pretty sure I am not the only person that feels this way...I just hope my feelings change in the next 72 hours!

Surprise!!

I haven't known where to start on this blog. I have had it for quite some time now, but never knew how to actually START it. Never knew what I really wanted to say. I read so many other people's blog's and it has become a real outlet for me as a mom. I love my bloggy friends and am so thankful they are there. Most of the time even if it's just to reinforce some of the crazy mom feelings I get! I work full time from home and somehow manage three boys ages 12, 8, and 3 and all of their activities. Sometimes I want to throw the towel in and say enough, but the look of joy on their faces keeps me trucking along! Now it appears there will be baby number 4!!! :) I figure no one reads this blog so I am safe for now!!! At least until I confirm what I see! So there you have it. My first post to my blog and it's to annouce pregnancy! Yah!