Totally nauseous today.Happens with every pregnancy for me. My saintly husband stops by just as the 2 year old is filling his diaper. Thankfully, Daddy changes him.
"Wow, buddy," Dan says. "That is a BAD poop.Yuck."
With pride in his voice, JP says, "I MADE that." Then he laughs. " I made you a TOY, Daddy."
"Nooooo Johnpaul, that's definitely not a toy."
"Yes it IS a toy.I made a toy for you."
Monday, March 30, 2009
On My Feeder This Morning
Black Capped Chickadees
Goldfinches
House Finches
Tufted Titmouse
Nearby, a Cardinal lingered....
Goldfinches
House Finches
Tufted Titmouse
Nearby, a Cardinal lingered....
Friday, March 27, 2009
Laundry and Birth Control
This morning I got up the gumption to go down to the basement and switch the laundry. I love our new house, but why no first floor laundry? Who invented the "basement laundry room", anyway? I am certain that it was one of these people who purposely parks at the back of the supermarket parking lot so they can get their lousy 10,000 steps in (yes I am aware that I should be one of these people). Putting your laundry room in the basement is just setting yourself up for failure. You know what belongs in your basement? The boogey man. That's it.
The other thing that stinks about having a basement laundry room is that I have to practically sneak down there to do the stupid laundry. If my toddlers see me disappear down the stairs they will scream and cry as if I've left them to join the circus(you know what my response is to that notion? Don't worry, kids. We ARE the circus. No need to go out and find what I've already got).In order to get any laundry done at all, I have to distract them with cartoons, snacks, and empty promises. That usually works. But still. It's such a process.
Today when I came back up from switching laundry, I opened the door and saw my two year old and my one year old underneath the kitchen table.EACH of them armed with their own box of Cheezits.It would have been bad enough if they just had one box. Two boxes was pure ridicule.They were cramming cheezits down with reckless abandon, and when they saw me, they laughed wildly. For some reason, their laughter scared the living you know what out of me. I think it's because it was so irreverent. And also maybe because it seemed to be directed at me. You know, kind of a mocking "we have defeated you!" kind of laugh. I did indeed feel defeated.Because I knew that my dear husband, who has something akin to an ongoing love affair with cheezits, would be quizzing me later on how I could possibly let this happen.
Whatever.
All of this is proof to me that I am in dire need of a first floor laundry.You know what? I kind of like doing laundry. I like the smell of clean laundry. I like folding warm clothes. I have even learned to fold like Martha Stewart (shut up. you have no idea how thrilling this can be) I envy her large, bright laundry room with three ginormous soaking sinks and endless shelves for storage(don't ask me why Martha needs an industrial sized laundry room. I'm sure she has her reasons). I also have many days where the laundry piles up and forms an unnamed mountain.
On International Women's Day, the Vatican newspaper remarked that the washing machine has done more to liberate women than the birth control pill. I have to agree with this wholeheartedly. What a shocker that must be for those of you who know I am pregnant with our fourth child.It never ceases to amaze me when our society praises the wonders of certified organic food and birth control, simultaneously. Birth control pills have got to be some of the most unnatural, unhealthy chemicals you could ever pump into your body.Recently a young doctor told me that he had seen three cases in ONE month of women with blood clots in their lungs due to birth control. One of them was a seventeen year old girl.There has been plenty of evidence showing links between oral contraceptives and different types of cancers (including breast cancer),heart disease, strokes, etc.
Honey, my washing machine might sometimes be a serious pain in the backside, but it won't ever give me blood clots or cancer! It helps me to get the job done, and carry out my responsiblities.
Personally, I don't find breast cancer or living as an adult child and avoiding adult responsibility to be very freeing.
But you know what would be freeing?!
A first floor laundry, baby!!!!!!!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Old School Water Fitness
Yesterday I went to this Aquafit class at the YMCA. I am starting out this pregnancy by being pretty overweight. Let's put it this way: I am no longer a buck-fifty. Ladies, that's pretty bad, for me. And my right knee has started bugging me, like it's got water on it (surely one of THE worst feelings ever). When I do the treadmill, it aggravates my knee. So finally I surrendered to the idea of water fitness.
The thing is, I was kind of putting this off for awhile. It's not that I can't swim. No, I took yearly swim lessons as a child, and of course there was the summer when my own mother literally threw me into the deep end (okay, four feet of water, but it was frightening nonetheless). In front of all of my peers. While I cried, and screamed that I was drowning.
The reason I was avoiding this class is because I HATE getting in a bathing suit in front of the general public. But, I found a cute bathing suit (which also happens to be a maternity bathing suit), and I felt much better. Besides, I thought, this class will be filled with elderly folks. No biggie.
When I approached the pool, my suspicions were confirmed. A class for senior citizens. And they were all women! Not even a creepy old pervy guy (one of my other fears). I thought, "Awesome! This won't be intimidating at all!"
Pretty much the exact moment that I had that thought, a Mario Lopez look a like walks over to us with a bunch of water weights. "Oh here he is!!!" The old ladies started hissing. "Hell-ooo, Phil!" they call, and I swear some of them were, like, winking at him.
"He's a dancer!" one of the ladies told me.
I'm not gonna lie. Relief swept over me almost instantly.
By this time, I had already started making friends and wound up with these ladies who were obviously the troublemakers of the group (this is a group that I perpetually find myself in throughout my life).They were the loudest ladies of the group, cracking jokes, cackling loudly and trying not to inhale the water. They introduced themselves this way "We're Mary. We're both named Mary."
Of course you are. It's the Feast of the Annunciation. What else would your names be???
The class was great. It was fun. It was the best workout I've gotten in a seriously long time. It didn't bug my knee in the least, and the ladies in the class were wonderful. Mario Lopez wasn't too bad either. He took the teasing from the old ladies with a huge grin and teased them right back. I didn't care that the parents who were watching their children's swim lessons on the other side of the pool were also watching us and laughing.Besides, I'm fairly certain that those old ladies could give those young parents a pretty serious beatdown (pool noodles notwithstanding).
I will definitely go back to this class again.
The thing is, I was kind of putting this off for awhile. It's not that I can't swim. No, I took yearly swim lessons as a child, and of course there was the summer when my own mother literally threw me into the deep end (okay, four feet of water, but it was frightening nonetheless). In front of all of my peers. While I cried, and screamed that I was drowning.
The reason I was avoiding this class is because I HATE getting in a bathing suit in front of the general public. But, I found a cute bathing suit (which also happens to be a maternity bathing suit), and I felt much better. Besides, I thought, this class will be filled with elderly folks. No biggie.
When I approached the pool, my suspicions were confirmed. A class for senior citizens. And they were all women! Not even a creepy old pervy guy (one of my other fears). I thought, "Awesome! This won't be intimidating at all!"
Pretty much the exact moment that I had that thought, a Mario Lopez look a like walks over to us with a bunch of water weights. "Oh here he is!!!" The old ladies started hissing. "Hell-ooo, Phil!" they call, and I swear some of them were, like, winking at him.
"He's a dancer!" one of the ladies told me.
I'm not gonna lie. Relief swept over me almost instantly.
By this time, I had already started making friends and wound up with these ladies who were obviously the troublemakers of the group (this is a group that I perpetually find myself in throughout my life).They were the loudest ladies of the group, cracking jokes, cackling loudly and trying not to inhale the water. They introduced themselves this way "We're Mary. We're both named Mary."
Of course you are. It's the Feast of the Annunciation. What else would your names be???
The class was great. It was fun. It was the best workout I've gotten in a seriously long time. It didn't bug my knee in the least, and the ladies in the class were wonderful. Mario Lopez wasn't too bad either. He took the teasing from the old ladies with a huge grin and teased them right back. I didn't care that the parents who were watching their children's swim lessons on the other side of the pool were also watching us and laughing.Besides, I'm fairly certain that those old ladies could give those young parents a pretty serious beatdown (pool noodles notwithstanding).
I will definitely go back to this class again.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
A St Joseph's Table
Do you just LOVE St. Joseph?
I do, and whenever St Joseph's feast day comes around, it is made even more special by the fact that we have a Joseph. Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when some friends of ours called and told us that their big Italian family was having a St Joseph's table, and we were welcome to attend. Have you ever been to one? A St. Joseph's table is a meatless feast in honor of St Joseph, usually at someone's home (although many restaurants have them, too). The table includes an altar with an image of St Joseph, candles, flowers, fruit and bread. It usually begins with a Priest blessing the food and saying a prayer. The feast is an open house at the hosts home, and generally anyone is welcome, even people right off the street!
I only had a few hours notice, but I got my babies ready, picked up my Joseph from school, and high-tailed it over there! Poor Dan, he had to miss it because he was at work and it started in the early afternoon.
Anyhow, our friends have a very large family. They have 42 cousins! Not everybody was there, but they still had a nice crowd. The food was amazing. There was baked cod (delicious!), omelettes, baked artichokes, pasta, sauce, squid (I ate it quite by accident..it tasted better before I knew what it was), bread, cheese, etc. There were also tons of great desserts!
There were so many people. We were actually seated in the basement. There were tables set up down there, and it was so cool to see every square inch of the house being used. The dessert station was in the laundry room! These days people have such huge houses, but this house was actually very very tiny, and it just goes to show that you can still entertain a crowd in a small residence. It actually made it nicer, I think.
I do, and whenever St Joseph's feast day comes around, it is made even more special by the fact that we have a Joseph. Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when some friends of ours called and told us that their big Italian family was having a St Joseph's table, and we were welcome to attend. Have you ever been to one? A St. Joseph's table is a meatless feast in honor of St Joseph, usually at someone's home (although many restaurants have them, too). The table includes an altar with an image of St Joseph, candles, flowers, fruit and bread. It usually begins with a Priest blessing the food and saying a prayer. The feast is an open house at the hosts home, and generally anyone is welcome, even people right off the street!
I only had a few hours notice, but I got my babies ready, picked up my Joseph from school, and high-tailed it over there! Poor Dan, he had to miss it because he was at work and it started in the early afternoon.
Anyhow, our friends have a very large family. They have 42 cousins! Not everybody was there, but they still had a nice crowd. The food was amazing. There was baked cod (delicious!), omelettes, baked artichokes, pasta, sauce, squid (I ate it quite by accident..it tasted better before I knew what it was), bread, cheese, etc. There were also tons of great desserts!
There were so many people. We were actually seated in the basement. There were tables set up down there, and it was so cool to see every square inch of the house being used. The dessert station was in the laundry room! These days people have such huge houses, but this house was actually very very tiny, and it just goes to show that you can still entertain a crowd in a small residence. It actually made it nicer, I think.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Another YES!!!!
Photo: The Teether, during happier times.For the past few weeks we have had a serious flu running through our home. I am starting to think we should name it...why not? We name hurricanes, don't we?
If I could name this flu, I would name it Flu Pukahontas, because I think that sums it up quite nicely (there are other aspects of this wicked bug that I will not name, but I'm SURE you can imagine).
Not only are we dealing with the flu, but Lucie is teething...she is getting molars on both sides of her mouth, top AND bottom. She is not a happy girl lately at all. Wouldn't it be cool if babies were like gerbils and you could just toss them a piece of bark and let them gnaw on it for hours??
But here, in the middle of all the craziness, is some great news.... WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!!
I was kind of hoping to lose some weight before I got pregnant again, but Richard Simmons never showed up at my house to help me. Darn it! I had my sweatband and my shorty shorts all ready, too.
Anyway, at first I felt slightly overwhelmed (not that I wasn't happy, I just kept thinking about the extra weight, the need for a minivan, etc), but I talked to some awesomely supportive friends, and my dear, sweet husband, and I don't feel so overwhelmed anymore. What's that saying, "Where God guides, He provides"? Yup. So I'm just trusting Him. I feel so grateful! Babies are always blessings, and I feel like we're building a little team here, lol.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
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