Just thought I'd be nice and give everybody a heads up. If you're coming to my house to visit, even if it's to help me out or do me a favor, LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME. Find a dog sitter, put them in a kennel for a bit, trust me when I say that you'll be much more likely to be adored and invited back later if you come without him/her. We love you and expect any REAL children that you may bring with you but, as far as I'm concerned, your dog isn't welcome here.
Let me list a few reasons for you:
1. I'm allergic to your dog. I know, I'm allergic to my cats too and I stay highly medicated because of it, so it's likely that your dog won't effect me that badly. Still, I'm more allergic to your dog than I am to my cats so it does effect me, even if it's just a little.
2. I have cats. My cats are almost 12 and 17 1/2 years old. They don't like dogs and putting their food up on the counter so your dog doesn't eat it isn't an option because the older one can't jump up there anymore. I'm sick and tired of having to put their food back down every time I go into the bathroom so that they don't starve to death. I love my cats more than your dog. Trust me on this one.
3. I detest cleaning up after your dog when you leave, and I'm not talking about the back yard cause that's Josh's job (and should be done by you as you follow your dog around doing it's business anyway-my kids play there, don't leave it sit). I'm talking about the dog hair and dog food and any other messes your dog makes in my house while you visit. Yes, my cats make messes too, but cleaning up after them is a responsibility I accepted 17 1/2 years ago when I got the first one. I never agreed to clean up after your dog.
4. I don't like dogs, especially in my house. Enough said
Can you tell I just finished cleaning up after somebody's dog? Not only that, but I was cleaning up after that one, knowing that somebody else is arriving with their unwelcome dog tomorrow. Yes, I'm pregnant and I'm probably a bit hormonal (ok, really hormonal) and I just spent the last 2 days in the hospital with gall bladder attacks (which is another blog post for another day) and trying to get out and come home, but I'm also tired of people showing up to my house with their dogs, assuming that we don't mind. While the rest of my family doesn't mind and will probably love your dog, I do care and would prefer if you left the mangy thing home.
Thank you.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Recently I keep finding myself feeling a little bit lost in our new ward and wondering why it is that we've been led here rather than someplace else. It's not that the people in our ward aren't nice or that we don't like them, but more rather that we really haven't been able to get to know anybody well enough to feel like we belong here. It's hard to explain really. We've been in our house now for almost 7 months and we started coming to this ward almost a month before we moved in and still we don't have any close friends or people we feel comfortable enough to just call and talk to or seek out in the halls. It probably doesn't help much that we were in our house less than a month when Josh and I were called to teach the Sunbeam class in primary so pretty much the only people we see and talk to regularly are a bunch of 4 year olds and a few of their parents as they pick them up after church-that's about it.
Over the last week some of those feelings have changed for me. On Saturday night our doorbell rang and when we went to the door there were two giant trash bags full of wrapped presents. They are all for the kids but there are more than a few and a couple of them had tears in the paper I had to fix as I put them under the tree so I got to see what they were-not cheap gifts to say the least. And, to top that all off, there are at least 5 gifts for each of the kids. We have 5 kids so that means that somebody really spent some money on us and were actually thinking of us as they prepared this gift. I was in awe.
Then Sunday night as we sat in the other room our doorbell rang again. We all went to answer it and this time found only a gift box on the doorstep-like a t-shirt size box. I picked it up and shook it, it sounded like it was food so we opted to open it up. It had a bunch of boxed candy-the type you'd buy at the movies-and several gift cards. I passed Josh the cards and he looked at me as he examined them and asked "did you see these"? I hadn't looked at them, just handed them to him. There were gift cards for the movie theater, Chiles restaurant and Payless Shoes. The gift cards totalled $200-who has a random $200 to spend on another family at Christmas?
Then on Monday we were called by somebody from the church and offered 2 weeks worth of groceries if we needed/wanted it. Not that we really need it right now, but it makes me wonder if they know something that we don't?
Finally, on Tuesday morning Josh was leaving for work and discovered 2 more trash bags full of gifts-3 more gifts per child. These were definitely from somebody different than the first as names are actually spelled right on all gifts.
So, we know that the gifts came from somebody at the church-we don't know anybody else here really and the people that we do know from the school or whatever, don't know where we live. It's made me stop and think the last few days. The people in our ward really are paying attention and we aren't as invisible as we thought we were. The gifts we received were thought out and actually individualized (I think somebody saw Raven's church shoe with it's sole hanging off the last few weeks and that's why we got the gift card to Payless shoes. Not that we can't afford her new ones-those are new, just a few months old, and she just destroyed them so we were making her deal with it for a bit before we replaced them). I'm actually feeling really grateful for what we've been given and that somebody else (a few families at least) was actually thinking of us. Our Christmas has been expanded by leaps and bounds thanks to somebody else's generosity and sacrifices and I am in awe for that.
Thank you to whomever you are for those gifts and thank you so much for letting us know that somebody here really does care about our family. And especially, thank you for sacrificing so much of your time and money during this holiday season-we really do appreciate it all. Maybe I'll start looking at our ward a bit differently and with a lot more love in my heart now.
Over the last week some of those feelings have changed for me. On Saturday night our doorbell rang and when we went to the door there were two giant trash bags full of wrapped presents. They are all for the kids but there are more than a few and a couple of them had tears in the paper I had to fix as I put them under the tree so I got to see what they were-not cheap gifts to say the least. And, to top that all off, there are at least 5 gifts for each of the kids. We have 5 kids so that means that somebody really spent some money on us and were actually thinking of us as they prepared this gift. I was in awe.
Then Sunday night as we sat in the other room our doorbell rang again. We all went to answer it and this time found only a gift box on the doorstep-like a t-shirt size box. I picked it up and shook it, it sounded like it was food so we opted to open it up. It had a bunch of boxed candy-the type you'd buy at the movies-and several gift cards. I passed Josh the cards and he looked at me as he examined them and asked "did you see these"? I hadn't looked at them, just handed them to him. There were gift cards for the movie theater, Chiles restaurant and Payless Shoes. The gift cards totalled $200-who has a random $200 to spend on another family at Christmas?
Then on Monday we were called by somebody from the church and offered 2 weeks worth of groceries if we needed/wanted it. Not that we really need it right now, but it makes me wonder if they know something that we don't?
Finally, on Tuesday morning Josh was leaving for work and discovered 2 more trash bags full of gifts-3 more gifts per child. These were definitely from somebody different than the first as names are actually spelled right on all gifts.
So, we know that the gifts came from somebody at the church-we don't know anybody else here really and the people that we do know from the school or whatever, don't know where we live. It's made me stop and think the last few days. The people in our ward really are paying attention and we aren't as invisible as we thought we were. The gifts we received were thought out and actually individualized (I think somebody saw Raven's church shoe with it's sole hanging off the last few weeks and that's why we got the gift card to Payless shoes. Not that we can't afford her new ones-those are new, just a few months old, and she just destroyed them so we were making her deal with it for a bit before we replaced them). I'm actually feeling really grateful for what we've been given and that somebody else (a few families at least) was actually thinking of us. Our Christmas has been expanded by leaps and bounds thanks to somebody else's generosity and sacrifices and I am in awe for that.
Thank you to whomever you are for those gifts and thank you so much for letting us know that somebody here really does care about our family. And especially, thank you for sacrificing so much of your time and money during this holiday season-we really do appreciate it all. Maybe I'll start looking at our ward a bit differently and with a lot more love in my heart now.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Working from home dilema
Did you ever have a friend who you hung out with all the time? Who you enjoyed talking to and being with? Your kids liked playing together and got along really well? I had one of these friends and then one day she discovered a business where she could work from home (kind of) and then suddenly that's all that she talked about. Any time she called it was only to talk about her business. If I tried to talk about our kids or a play date the subject was quickly changed and we went back to her next meeting or a new product or something of the like. (if you're thinking this may be you then you're probably wrong as this person quit talking to me ages ago and doesn't want to have anything to do with me anymore).
I too, work from home and have for many years now. However, one of the first things they taught me when I got started was that you don't go chasing down your friends and family and, instead, talk to those people who are actually interested in hearing about what I have to offer. There is no friendship that is worth losing simply because they aren't interested in what I have to offer. This friend wasn't taught this concept in her business. Now, I did look into her business and even checked out some of the products and the company. They are a good company and have a lot to offer to some people, however, I don't need or use most of what they have so I didn't make a very good customer for her and, therefore, I didn't meet her qualifications to be her friend anymore.
It's sad to have to lose a good friendship over something like this. Ok, so I've probably been dwelling on this a little too much lately, but the fact is that I sometimes miss this friend and talking to and hanging out with her. I miss getting emails from her that are about her kids or her family and not about her business. I miss reading her Facebook updates about how her kids are growing or what they're doing and I'm kind of tired of reading only about her business or how to be a better business person.
A lot of home-based businesses are really pretty decent if you look into them but I think this is why they get such a bad reputation and people despise them so much. It isn't the home businesses that people dislike, it's what they do to the people who work them. It's the way that people change when they start "working from home". And it's the way that people start treating their friends when they say that they aren't interested.
I don't think that I've done this to any of my friends, but if I have then I'm really sorry (and please let me know cause I don't want something like this hanging in the air). I love Melaleuca and all that they offer to me and my family and the way that their products have changed our home, and I do talk to my friends and family about their products. However, I also understand that not everybody is ready for or interested in their products the way that I am (and if you are interested, feel free to bring it up cause I do like to talk about it-just not to the point where you don't want to talk to me anymore. I care about you and your family and what they're doing more than I care about having you purchase from my company). It is OK to say no.
So, has anybody else had this sort of experience before? How did you handle it? Did you talk to the person and have a positive outcome? Or did it bomb the way it did for me when I nicely told her I wasn't interested in hearing about her business but still wanted to be her friend?
I too, work from home and have for many years now. However, one of the first things they taught me when I got started was that you don't go chasing down your friends and family and, instead, talk to those people who are actually interested in hearing about what I have to offer. There is no friendship that is worth losing simply because they aren't interested in what I have to offer. This friend wasn't taught this concept in her business. Now, I did look into her business and even checked out some of the products and the company. They are a good company and have a lot to offer to some people, however, I don't need or use most of what they have so I didn't make a very good customer for her and, therefore, I didn't meet her qualifications to be her friend anymore.
It's sad to have to lose a good friendship over something like this. Ok, so I've probably been dwelling on this a little too much lately, but the fact is that I sometimes miss this friend and talking to and hanging out with her. I miss getting emails from her that are about her kids or her family and not about her business. I miss reading her Facebook updates about how her kids are growing or what they're doing and I'm kind of tired of reading only about her business or how to be a better business person.
A lot of home-based businesses are really pretty decent if you look into them but I think this is why they get such a bad reputation and people despise them so much. It isn't the home businesses that people dislike, it's what they do to the people who work them. It's the way that people change when they start "working from home". And it's the way that people start treating their friends when they say that they aren't interested.
I don't think that I've done this to any of my friends, but if I have then I'm really sorry (and please let me know cause I don't want something like this hanging in the air). I love Melaleuca and all that they offer to me and my family and the way that their products have changed our home, and I do talk to my friends and family about their products. However, I also understand that not everybody is ready for or interested in their products the way that I am (and if you are interested, feel free to bring it up cause I do like to talk about it-just not to the point where you don't want to talk to me anymore. I care about you and your family and what they're doing more than I care about having you purchase from my company). It is OK to say no.
So, has anybody else had this sort of experience before? How did you handle it? Did you talk to the person and have a positive outcome? Or did it bomb the way it did for me when I nicely told her I wasn't interested in hearing about her business but still wanted to be her friend?
Thankfull
As we approach the Thanksgiving season people everywhere are starting to think of what they're thankful for. I have been thinking of what I'm thankful for all this year, and there is so much, the list goes on. Let me see if I can start with a decent list.
-First, I am thankful that we were able to leave Australia this year. I totally loved living in Alice Springs and I loved all of the friends we made there and it was really hard for me to leave. However, I also know that it was the right move for us and that it has led us to where we are now.
-I am also thankful that we were able to stay with my parents at their house for a bit. It's been so long since I lived at home and it reinforced all the reasons why we don't go back once we move out. I love my parents but am so thankful for the distance between us and it makes me even more thankful for all the things I have, especially my own place.
-I'm very thankful to be out of and away from the Army. They were really good to us for 10 1/2 years but the time came for us to depart and I'm glad the transition was as smooth as it was and that it's done and over with. I'm so grateful to never have to deal with Army training, duty and politics ever again.
-I'm extremely grateful that the job in Ohio fell through and that they never called us back after we signed their contract. This may sound funny but it led to us being able to, instead, get this job with SNC and move to Colorado instead of Ohio. I know the job in Ohio would have been OK and that we would have survived, but I'm really glad to be so central to family and be able to see them all more often and not have it be impossible to make the trips.
-I'm thankful that we were able to find this house and be able to buy it and get into it so quickly. This house is home and everything about it is right for us. We had a really great realtor (which we randomly picked out of a realty magazine) and she became a good friend too.
-I am ever so grateful for my husband, my kids and, especially, for this baby who is growing within me. I'm thankful that this baby moves and wiggles all the time and that she's growing and developing the way she should. I can hardly wait to hold her. I love my other 5 kids and the smile they bring to me every day. I love watching them grow and mature and I really enjoy watching them learn new things and the light in their eyes. I especially love my husband. He is so good to me and our childrena and he works so hard to make sure that we don't have to struggle. I love him so much.
-I am thankful for friends and family all over the world and the support we can give each other, even from across the country or half-way around the world. Every one of you means so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without you.
-I'm really thankful for Facebook. It makes it possible for me to keep up with old friends and family and feel more like they still live nearby and not the miles apart that we actually are. Sometimes life can get lonely in a new state, city and neighborhood where you know nobody but this has made it so that those miles don't seem so far.
I know that there are so many more things that I'm thankful for but this is the beginning of my list. I hope you all get to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that this season will help us look more to what we have rather than what we don't. I also hope that looking at what we're grateful for will help us to be more giving during the Christmas holidays that lay just around the corner.
-First, I am thankful that we were able to leave Australia this year. I totally loved living in Alice Springs and I loved all of the friends we made there and it was really hard for me to leave. However, I also know that it was the right move for us and that it has led us to where we are now.
-I am also thankful that we were able to stay with my parents at their house for a bit. It's been so long since I lived at home and it reinforced all the reasons why we don't go back once we move out. I love my parents but am so thankful for the distance between us and it makes me even more thankful for all the things I have, especially my own place.
-I'm very thankful to be out of and away from the Army. They were really good to us for 10 1/2 years but the time came for us to depart and I'm glad the transition was as smooth as it was and that it's done and over with. I'm so grateful to never have to deal with Army training, duty and politics ever again.
-I'm extremely grateful that the job in Ohio fell through and that they never called us back after we signed their contract. This may sound funny but it led to us being able to, instead, get this job with SNC and move to Colorado instead of Ohio. I know the job in Ohio would have been OK and that we would have survived, but I'm really glad to be so central to family and be able to see them all more often and not have it be impossible to make the trips.
-I'm thankful that we were able to find this house and be able to buy it and get into it so quickly. This house is home and everything about it is right for us. We had a really great realtor (which we randomly picked out of a realty magazine) and she became a good friend too.
-I am ever so grateful for my husband, my kids and, especially, for this baby who is growing within me. I'm thankful that this baby moves and wiggles all the time and that she's growing and developing the way she should. I can hardly wait to hold her. I love my other 5 kids and the smile they bring to me every day. I love watching them grow and mature and I really enjoy watching them learn new things and the light in their eyes. I especially love my husband. He is so good to me and our childrena and he works so hard to make sure that we don't have to struggle. I love him so much.
-I am thankful for friends and family all over the world and the support we can give each other, even from across the country or half-way around the world. Every one of you means so much to me and I don't know what I'd do without you.
-I'm really thankful for Facebook. It makes it possible for me to keep up with old friends and family and feel more like they still live nearby and not the miles apart that we actually are. Sometimes life can get lonely in a new state, city and neighborhood where you know nobody but this has made it so that those miles don't seem so far.
I know that there are so many more things that I'm thankful for but this is the beginning of my list. I hope you all get to have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and that this season will help us look more to what we have rather than what we don't. I also hope that looking at what we're grateful for will help us to be more giving during the Christmas holidays that lay just around the corner.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Heartburn is going to be the death of me
For several weeks at the beginning of my 2nd trimester I was plagued with heartburn. We're not talking any sort of normal heartburn either. This heartburn starts in my sternum and then emanates to my back and then up into my shoulders and even down my arms. It hurts and that's putting it lightly. There's no finding relief from it once it starts. Tums didn't work, a glass of milk was a no-go, all of my normal remedies, which generally take care of it, failed. This is my 8th pregnancy and never have I had heartburn like this before, ever.
Then we went searching for info online and went to the store armed with information. We picked up a different flavor of Tums (our bottle was several years old and definitely expired) and we found some Gaviscon. Between the two they covered all 3 types of heartburn relief and seemed to do the job. Then I went to the Dr and they informed me that the one product which was actually helping me (the Gaviscon) was on the unknown list for pregnancy. This was explained to me to mean that it had been tested on animals with results that weren't favorable and either there is nothing known for human consumption during pregnancy or women who have used it during pregnancy have reported abnormal or unwanted results. The basics were that they didn't recommend that I take it and they said if I continued to have issues to let them know and they'd see what they could do to help. Well, the heartburn let up so there was no need for it or anything else.
Then this last weekend it started back up with a vengeance. Saturday morning I had a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit and we headed off to rehearsal for the primary program. At 11:30 it hit me and it hit hard. We had to leave early and head home. I took some Tums, had a glass of milk, layed down, stood up, sat down, and tried every position before I finally gave up and took some Gaviscon. When it still didn't let up I decided to try a bath and as the bathwater was pouring I finally had some relief. I sat in the tub anyway and then took a nap. I got up and felt fine for awhile, had something to eat and then started to make dinner for the family. The heartburn started up again and this time it was worse than the AM. I tried everything all over again with no relief at all. I suffered through it, I cried, I changed positions, I sat in the tub 3 different times-nothing. Finally about 3:30am (yes, it really did last that long) I felt the need to vomit and it came up. The food I had eaten before 5pm was all there leading me to think that maybe this is more of a digestion problem which is causing the heartburn? Just an idea. Anyway, within about 20 minutes the pain subsided and I was able to go to sleep.
Sunday I was fine pretty much all day but I was careful what I ate and how often I ate it. Then about 10PM it started up again-I was not looking forward to another night of pain. I tried to fight it-I moved around, got up and twisted things around and even tried going for a walk around the block. By the time I got back I could feel the need to vomit again and actually looked forward to it so I could get some relief. Now, I'm not one of those people who can willingly stick my finger down my throat in order to get that result so I was trying to figure out what to do. I was leaning on the kitchen counter feeling helpless and crying while trying to think of what I could do when I had this thought. I had posted about my heartburn on Facebook and many friends responded with ideas to help and one of them was to take a spoonful of vinegar. I did try it once and the result was that everything immediately came back up-this is what I wanted tonight. I needed the relief from the pressure and it was already nearly in my throat anyway so I cleaned out the sink (the one with the garbage disposal) and got out the vinegar. I took the spoonful and waited. Nothing. I walked around the kitchen, started to pack the kids' school lunches and started to think "maybe I should drink a glass of milk-then the vinegar will make it curdle and have my result". But as I thought this I realised that the pain was gone. I waited a few more minutes and started to feel good. No more nausea, no more pain, nothing. Not exactly the result I wanted but hey, it actually worked! It was midnight by then so I went upstairs and gladly went to bed.
Cue Monday. Monday was good, I was on my regular schedule-ate food, walked Rebekah to kindergarten, ran errands, had a late lunch and then picked up kids from school. Josh came home and let me take a much needed nap and I got up in time for dinner, which I had prepped right before I layed down. As I went to the table it started up again-I'm really starting to hate heartburn. Josh suggested a giant pickle (which is essentially bathed in vinegar, right?), which sounded much better than a spoonful of vinegar, so I got one out. I ate it and waited. This time it took about 20 or 30 minutes and just as I was about to give up, the pain subsided. It actually works, I don't know how or why or what the science is behind it, but it actually works. It doesn't taste good and I don't recommend it with milk, but it works and I'm so not complaining.
So, the moral of my really long story is that heartburn is going to plague me and I'm not sure that having a baby with a head full of hair is worth the pain, but I'm so glad to have found something to work (for now anyway) to make it go away. Thank you to Regina for suggesting it (even though I doubted you at first) and I'm so glad to have had the courage to try it twice to figure it out. So next time you're having killer heartburn and you think you're going to die, give it a try and let me know if it works for you too.
Then we went searching for info online and went to the store armed with information. We picked up a different flavor of Tums (our bottle was several years old and definitely expired) and we found some Gaviscon. Between the two they covered all 3 types of heartburn relief and seemed to do the job. Then I went to the Dr and they informed me that the one product which was actually helping me (the Gaviscon) was on the unknown list for pregnancy. This was explained to me to mean that it had been tested on animals with results that weren't favorable and either there is nothing known for human consumption during pregnancy or women who have used it during pregnancy have reported abnormal or unwanted results. The basics were that they didn't recommend that I take it and they said if I continued to have issues to let them know and they'd see what they could do to help. Well, the heartburn let up so there was no need for it or anything else.
Then this last weekend it started back up with a vengeance. Saturday morning I had a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit and we headed off to rehearsal for the primary program. At 11:30 it hit me and it hit hard. We had to leave early and head home. I took some Tums, had a glass of milk, layed down, stood up, sat down, and tried every position before I finally gave up and took some Gaviscon. When it still didn't let up I decided to try a bath and as the bathwater was pouring I finally had some relief. I sat in the tub anyway and then took a nap. I got up and felt fine for awhile, had something to eat and then started to make dinner for the family. The heartburn started up again and this time it was worse than the AM. I tried everything all over again with no relief at all. I suffered through it, I cried, I changed positions, I sat in the tub 3 different times-nothing. Finally about 3:30am (yes, it really did last that long) I felt the need to vomit and it came up. The food I had eaten before 5pm was all there leading me to think that maybe this is more of a digestion problem which is causing the heartburn? Just an idea. Anyway, within about 20 minutes the pain subsided and I was able to go to sleep.
Sunday I was fine pretty much all day but I was careful what I ate and how often I ate it. Then about 10PM it started up again-I was not looking forward to another night of pain. I tried to fight it-I moved around, got up and twisted things around and even tried going for a walk around the block. By the time I got back I could feel the need to vomit again and actually looked forward to it so I could get some relief. Now, I'm not one of those people who can willingly stick my finger down my throat in order to get that result so I was trying to figure out what to do. I was leaning on the kitchen counter feeling helpless and crying while trying to think of what I could do when I had this thought. I had posted about my heartburn on Facebook and many friends responded with ideas to help and one of them was to take a spoonful of vinegar. I did try it once and the result was that everything immediately came back up-this is what I wanted tonight. I needed the relief from the pressure and it was already nearly in my throat anyway so I cleaned out the sink (the one with the garbage disposal) and got out the vinegar. I took the spoonful and waited. Nothing. I walked around the kitchen, started to pack the kids' school lunches and started to think "maybe I should drink a glass of milk-then the vinegar will make it curdle and have my result". But as I thought this I realised that the pain was gone. I waited a few more minutes and started to feel good. No more nausea, no more pain, nothing. Not exactly the result I wanted but hey, it actually worked! It was midnight by then so I went upstairs and gladly went to bed.
Cue Monday. Monday was good, I was on my regular schedule-ate food, walked Rebekah to kindergarten, ran errands, had a late lunch and then picked up kids from school. Josh came home and let me take a much needed nap and I got up in time for dinner, which I had prepped right before I layed down. As I went to the table it started up again-I'm really starting to hate heartburn. Josh suggested a giant pickle (which is essentially bathed in vinegar, right?), which sounded much better than a spoonful of vinegar, so I got one out. I ate it and waited. This time it took about 20 or 30 minutes and just as I was about to give up, the pain subsided. It actually works, I don't know how or why or what the science is behind it, but it actually works. It doesn't taste good and I don't recommend it with milk, but it works and I'm so not complaining.
So, the moral of my really long story is that heartburn is going to plague me and I'm not sure that having a baby with a head full of hair is worth the pain, but I'm so glad to have found something to work (for now anyway) to make it go away. Thank you to Regina for suggesting it (even though I doubted you at first) and I'm so glad to have had the courage to try it twice to figure it out. So next time you're having killer heartburn and you think you're going to die, give it a try and let me know if it works for you too.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Winning is Fun
Especially when you didn't know you were entered to win.
I got a phone call this morning from the vice principal at the kids' school. The only times I've ever talked to her is when there are concerns or problems about one or more of my kids so with her calling I expected the worst. So she starts out thanking us for attending the school's literacy night a couple weeks ago. This was a night where they explained to us how they grade our kids on their reading and how their program works. We wanted to go because the school and teachers have expressed concerns about all of our kids and their reading, we thought they were doing pretty good. Their program is so much different (and a little messed up if you ask me) than any other school or program we've ever dealt with and we wanted to know how it works.
Then she says "the other reason that I'm calling today.." this is where I expected to hear all about problems with one of my kids. Instead she goes on to tell me that the PTO put together a gift basket of learning games, treats and gift cards and then chose from all the parents who attended that night and our family was chosen. And those were the only reasons she was calling today. Talk about a pleasant surprise. Not only was she not calling to reprimand me as a parent (again) but she was also calling to tell us we won something nice and see when we could pick it up. This is what we got when we gotpicked it up after school:
It has a brain Quest game, Boggle, a dictionary, a Thesaurus, pretzels, gold fish, popcorn and a gift card to Barnes and Noble (there are probably some other snacks but they're buried in the basket and I don't feel like getting up to go look right now).
So we won a gift basket of nice things in a raffle we didn't know we were entered in for attending a parent information night where we learned about how our kids are expected to read at this school. For once it pays to have an unfair advantage of 4 kids, meaning 4 entries, in a raffle. For all the crap the school has given us this year, it's nice to finally have something nice for once.
I got a phone call this morning from the vice principal at the kids' school. The only times I've ever talked to her is when there are concerns or problems about one or more of my kids so with her calling I expected the worst. So she starts out thanking us for attending the school's literacy night a couple weeks ago. This was a night where they explained to us how they grade our kids on their reading and how their program works. We wanted to go because the school and teachers have expressed concerns about all of our kids and their reading, we thought they were doing pretty good. Their program is so much different (and a little messed up if you ask me) than any other school or program we've ever dealt with and we wanted to know how it works.
Then she says "the other reason that I'm calling today.." this is where I expected to hear all about problems with one of my kids. Instead she goes on to tell me that the PTO put together a gift basket of learning games, treats and gift cards and then chose from all the parents who attended that night and our family was chosen. And those were the only reasons she was calling today. Talk about a pleasant surprise. Not only was she not calling to reprimand me as a parent (again) but she was also calling to tell us we won something nice and see when we could pick it up. This is what we got when we gotpicked it up after school:
It has a brain Quest game, Boggle, a dictionary, a Thesaurus, pretzels, gold fish, popcorn and a gift card to Barnes and Noble (there are probably some other snacks but they're buried in the basket and I don't feel like getting up to go look right now). So we won a gift basket of nice things in a raffle we didn't know we were entered in for attending a parent information night where we learned about how our kids are expected to read at this school. For once it pays to have an unfair advantage of 4 kids, meaning 4 entries, in a raffle. For all the crap the school has given us this year, it's nice to finally have something nice for once.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
23 weeks already
So we went to the Dr yesterday, twice. I had an ultrasound done in the morning and then went back to see the Dr in the afternoon. The last time I was in for an ultrasound the tech couldn't get one view of the heart that she needed and a view of the uterus so she had to reschedule to get them again. I'm not complaining because every time they need me to come back we get to see the baby once again and get more pictures to add to her album. She's always so cute with her little hands around and above her head (see above).
This time they were able to get the views they needed of everything and we got a few more shots of cuteness in the process. I love this shot of her little legs crossed. It makes me picture her just kicking back in there relaxing and floating around. We were also able to confirm that she is, in fact, still a girl, no question about it (see money shot below). As of yesterday, she weighs approximately 1 pound and 2 ounces-she's getting there. 
Is it considered porn to post a picture of your babies genitals as pictured in an ultrasound? I don't think so but wondered what everybody else thought. So, now that things are confirmed and we know exactly who is hanging out in there, I fully plan to start going through and sorting out baby clothes and getting rid of everything boy. If, for some reason, she happens to grow some extra extremities between her legs in the next few months and comes out a boy, I guess we'll have to go shopping.
So now I'm scheduled for a fetal echo (a high tech ultrasound of the babies heart), I'm having my glucose test done next appointment and then they want me to have more blood drawn in order to test, again, for genetic disorders. All of this because I'm now 35, I declined having an amnio and have lost the last couple babies. I honestly think it's a bit much but as long as the insurance is paying for it and it isn't invasive, they can run all the tests they want and I don't care.
I am trying my best to fully enjoy this, my last, pregnancy and so far I'm doing pretty good. I love every little kick and wiggle and hiccups are the best thing ever. I don't mind some of the rough stuff like heartburn and aches and pains now because I know that this is the little girl we've been waiting for and that this is the last time I will likely be going through any of these things. I love being pregnant, aches and all, and am quite willing to wait it out and deal with it in order to meet this precious little spirit when she's ready to come out and officially join our family.
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