What's in a name?

When I was pregnant with Jack, Tom and I could not agree upon a name.  Really, no name struck our fancy.  One day Ellie started calling him Jack and continued to do so until Tom and I were won over.  Ellie absolutely loves the story of how she named her baby brother.  And now she has taken it upon herself to name our third child and she has enlisted Jack's help.  The two of them will only refer to the baby as "Sam."  I think it is cute, but Tom is still on the fence.  I have a feeling, though, that my strong-willed 6 year old will get her way.

In other pregnancy news, I have a doctor's appointment today that I am afraid to go to because I know I will get a lecture about the amount of weight I have gained.  I blame Tom.  Whenever I get a craving, he caves and gets it for me.  The other night I was craving fudge at 8:30.  Of course, I wasn't about to actually make it myself, but I did send Tom to the store to buy me some.  Not only did he bring me fudge, but he also brought back a whole pan of brownies.  The next night I was craving fries.  I got fries and a milkshake.  Last night it was chips and queso, but we also decided to balance out all that sodium with some chocolate chip cookies.  And that is why everyone thinks I am 9 months pregnant instead of 6.

The Naughty List

Ellie and Jack have not been on their best behavior lately so I decided that it was time they received a warning letter from Santa.

Jack was completely unfazed, but Ellie read it and was practically in tears.  I am pretty sure she has been scared straight.

'Tis the Season

For the past three years, we have been taking the kids to a neighboring community's Christmas festivities.  The novelty of seeing a REAL reindeer still hasn't worn off for me, but Jack was less than impressed.

 I think he was just apprehensive about sitting on Santa's lap.

 Last year, Ellie ventured up there alone because no amount of cajoling could convince Jack to approach the big man.  This year, Jack actually sat on his lap, but as you can see from his expression, he was conflicted about it.  He still managed to mumble his Christmas wish list (Batman and Spider-man and cars) before making his escape.

We quickly made the rounds of decorating cookies, having balloon animals made, riding the train, and playing in the snow.

 Then, once again we attempted pictures by the lake.  We had our real camera with us, but all these pictures are from my phone because I am still too lazy to pull the pictures off my Nikon.

In the evening we went to the church Christmas Service Social.  I had to arrive early to set up and stay late to clean up, so it was a long night.  I was a little apprehensive about the night because it was so different than the Christmas parties my kids have come to expect.  We set up different service projects in each room and the families spent the first hour going to the different stations making things like cards for the Ronald McDonald house, knotting fleece blankets for the hospital, and putting together baking baskets for CAM (just to name a few).  Then, everyone got back together for a little program.  I was stationed in the card-making room, but it seemed like everyone had such a great time!  And I loved being able to balance out the commercial side of Christmas (that we enjoyed earlier in the day) with the true spirit of the season.  At the end of the night, the kids acted out the 12 Days of Christmas.  Ellie was one of the two turtle doves and this is the clearest picture I was able to get because she was bouncing up and down the entire time.

 Jack was one of the 11 pipers piping, but he got stage-fright halfway through and the 11 pipers were reduced to 10.

We were thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and the kids set a new record for sleeping-in the following morning.  It was awesome.

A little Christmas and Thanksgiving

The night before Thanksgiving, I sweet-talked Tom into dragging down the Christmas stuff from the attic so we could decorate the tree.  The kids had fun and Jack only broke two decorations.  He also seems to think that stockings are for your feet, not for hanging from the fireplace.

For Thanksgiving, we drove out to my parents' house in Beaumont.  Luckily, Dianna called to warn us that I-10 was shut down due to a 140 car pile-up so we were able to take an alternate route.  I didn't take a single picture of all the yummy food or good company.  I just have this one attempt at a family picture where my kids are making weird grimaces.

 Oh well.  It was still a delightful day and everyone came home happy, full, and exhausted.

The Big Reveal

I am officially past the halfway mark for this pregnancy.  While the morning all day sickness has mostly subsided, I am getting more and more uncomfortable due to my ever increasing girth. I can count on one hand the number of shirts I can fit into.  And my trips to the bathroom have quadrupled.  Good times.

Yesterday, Tom and I kept Ellie home from school and we went in for the anatomy ultrasound.  Ellie has been insisting for some time that this baby is a boy even though she wanted a girl.  Tom and I both felt like the baby was a girl.  In fact, I was so confident that I bet one of my students $5 it was a girl.

I guess I owe him 5 bucks.

Vomit and Vampires

A new HEB grocery store just opened up in my subdivision. Everyone is so excited about not having to drive 15 minutes away to go grocery shopping.  I went to go check it out today and do some much needed shopping.  I only had a short window of time where I could go by myself so I rushed out of the house with hair still damp from the shower and absolutely no makeup.  You see where this is headed, right?  Every time I go somewhere looking my worst, something bad happens.  This time the something bad was the worst coughing fit I have ever had.  Horrible, hacking, gagging cough.  I couldn't breath, my face turned red, and tears streamed down my face.  I reached under my cart to try to break into the case of water and started vomiting.  Yep, I vomited in the brand new HEB.  It was awful.  Then, I was trying to quickly get out of there and I cut through the wine aisles and managed to knock some bottles of wine off the shelf.  Three employees working that section came running and I am sure were horrified by the red faced, tear-streaked woman with vomit all down her shirt.  Not my finest moment.  I called Tom to tell him about it and his response was, "How do these things always happen to you?"  I don't know, but embarrassing myself just comes naturally to me.

On to more fun news...I went to see the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn II on Thursday night with some fun girls!  Actually, it was the 10:01 show, but still later than I have stayed up since getting pregnant.  It was totally worth it.  But there was a moment in the film when it seemed like they weren't following the book and I became very indignant.  VERY indignant.  And then I realized that I was a 33 year old mother of 2 (and a half) kids getting all riled up over a movie about vampires and werewolves.

Bragging on my husband

This past weekend, Ellie and I drove to Austin to watch Tom's team compete in the state cross country meet.  Sabrina was kind enough to keep Jack for us so Ellie was able to be an only child for a bit.  On Friday, we went to dinner with the team where the girls fawned all over Ellie.  Then on Saturday she joined them under their tent and received even more attention.  Needless to say, she was in her element.

I just have to brag on Tom for a bit.  He has been coaching at his current school for 5 years.  His team has won Districts, placed in the top 3 at Regionals, and gone to State every year for the past 4 years.  His team is the only team in the district for any sport that has competed in a state meet 4 years in a row.  He is that good.  Sometimes I get annoyed because he spends so much time on coaching and obsessing about his team, but I am also very proud of him!  Plus, I think he looks really hot in his coaching gear, wearing two stopwatches around his neck, and running all over the course shouting encouragement at his runners.

The obligatory Halloween post

We dragged Halloween out this year.  Last Friday, the kids got all dressed up in their Power Rangers gear and went to Trunk or Treat at the church.  Ellie has been a huge Power Rangers fan for a little over a year now and she has somehow gotten Jack hooked on the show as well. I am still on the fence, but I will admit they looked pretty darn cute in their costumes!

The kids had fun playing all the different games and then getting loads of candy at the end.  Is it wrong that I always steal all the chocolate out of their candy and hide it for my own personal stash?  They never seem to notice it missing.

Last night we went to a Halloween party at a friend's house before trick-or-treating on their street. Their block is famous.  It has even been featured on the news. Everyone goes all out on decorations and several people even do haunted houses. It is insane.  One of the dads at the party had made a big Batman Lego costume. Jack took one look at him and burst into tears. He was TERRIFIED! 

So, I was a little worried how he would handle trick or treating when all the houses were decked out with scary monsters, not to mention the haunted houses. However, he LOVED it!  Nothing scared him at all.  And by the end of the night, he was more than happy to pose with Lego Batman. 

Tom and I had a conversation about how Halloween is one of those things you just do for your kids to make sure they have happy childhood memories.  Because trekking through crowds, going door-to-door, is not really our idea of a good time.  At least I have lots of chocolate to make it all worthwhile.

Big boy beds and fun runs

I have a confession to make.  My just-turned-3 son has been sleeping in a crib. With a pacifier.  Remember how adamant I was that Ellie be weaned from her pacifier at 1 1/2?  And how she was out of her crib before she even turned 2?  Well, I wasn't in such a rush with Jack.  He could only use his pacifier at night and he never even attempted to climb out of the crib. I figured, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I mean, the kid LOVED going to bed!  But, with a new baby on the way, I knew I would be needing that crib, so we bought Jack a toddler bed and hyped it up.  Last night, he went to bed without a pacifier or a crib to contain him.  He did pretty well. I don't think he realizes he can get out of his bed!  3 years of being trapped in a crib was good conditioning.  He just sat on his bed yelling for me.  It took a few times of me going back into his room before he settled down and went to sleep, but he was so proud of himself this morning!

But enough about Jack, let's talk about Ellie.  She ran her first Fun Run this weekend.  3 of her cousins ran as well and they were all in different races according to grade and gender.  Olivia, Kolby, and Kinleigh all placed in the top 8 and received a medal.  My girl casually jogged around the track, smiling and waving at people as she passed.  At the end, I asked her why she didn't try to pass more people and she said, "It isn't about winning, Mom, it is about having fun."  I am afraid she has my non-competitive spirit, much to her Coach-Dad's dismay.

Sunday Best: Fancy edition

 I haven't done a Sunday Best post in awhile.  I have been so lazy about getting out my camera the past several months.  It is always just blurry, camera-phone shots.  But this morning Jack was so proud of his tie that I just HAD to take a picture.  Isn't he handsome?

Milestones

About a week ago, Jack insisted he couldn't wear a diaper to bed.  He has been diaper-free during the day for quite some time, but always wore one at night.  I let him go to bed without one, fully expecting to have to change the sheets in the morning, but lo and behold, he woke up dry and he continued to do so every day this week.  I want to do a victory dance about no more diapers, but I know that in five months I will be up to my ears in diapers.

In other Jack milestone news, his language has exploded in the past month.  He is talking up a storm and using vocabulary I didn't know he possessed.  Even more exciting is that you can understand him when he talks!  Jack has a significant underbite which has always made his speech a little garbled.  According to our dentist (aka Uncle Mark), he will have to have surgery to correct it in a few years.

Yesterday, I was literally in tears because I was feeling so nauseous and I was sure that I would be sick this entire pregnancy and that my life was over.  But then I looked back on this blog to when I was 16 weeks pregnant with Jack and discovered I felt the exact same way!  It's funny what your mind forgets when you have a sweet baby to erase all the bad stuff.  Anyway, it was very comforting to know that the end is in sight and I will be able to enjoy food and life again soon!  I woke up this morning with renewed energy, cooked a healthy breakfast of cinnamon rolls and bacon, and am enjoying have a rare Saturday with Tom at home.  It is going to be a good day.

Jack's sports-themed birthday party

A bouncy house,

pizza with cousins,

a little soccer,

and some more bouncing,

topped off with messy chocolate cupcakes,

and some pretty cool presents =

one very happy birthday boy!

Dear Jack

Dear Jack,

Today you are three years old! You are so excited about your birthday. We had to sing Happy Birthday to you several times this morning while you were enjoying your birthday breakfast of cinnamon rolls.

You are such a funny kid, Jack. When you were a baby, I predicted you would be a quiet, sober child. I couldn't have been more wrong. You love to wrestle and chase your sister, tease and make jokes, and just be a total boy. You used to be so shy around new people, scowling at them whenever they approached you, but now you go up to total strangers and start telling them all sorts of random information. You are outgoing and loud and high energy and I couldn't love you more!

You and your sister have such a great relationship. You refer to her as "my Ellie-sister" and want to do everything she does. Your favorite game to play together is "Baby Kitten" where Ellie is the kitten and you take care of her. Not a day goes by that I don't hear you calling, "baby kitten!" and Ellie mewing her replies.

You have recently become potty-trained and you are oh so proud of yourself and your big boy superhero underwear. I try to tell you that you are still my baby, but you get mad and say you are not a baby, you are Jackie Kenny. You also say you are 5, not 3. Did I mention that you are very stubborn? But, Jack, you are still my cuddly boy. You love to snuggle under the blanket with me on the couch and you are never selfish with the hugs and kisses.

I recently reread your birth story and was reminded of the overwhelming joy I felt when you were born. You continue to bring so much joy to our lives every day and I cannot imagine our family without you. I love you, little man. Happy birthday.

Mommy

Hello, baby.

Tom and I both took a half day today to get an ultrasound.  We made a nice afternoon of it and went to eat at P.F. Chang's first.  So, it was with a full stomach that I went in for the ultrasound.  The baby apparently wasn't moving to the technician's satisfaction so she kept punching my stomach to get it to move. Seriously.  It was the most violent, painful ultrasound I have ever experienced.  And all I have to show for it is this grainy picture.

The Joys of Motherhood

I arrived home about 8:30 last night from a meeting to discover Ellie’s pink bowl-chair on the front lawn covered in vomit.  Tom, who was on kid-duty, was having a rough night.  It started with Jack going diarrhea in his pants and all up his shirt.  Tom bathed him and placed the freshly-washed Jack in the play room to watch a movie.  A short time later, Jack started vomiting. So, Tom did the man-thing and dumped the chair outside and the child in the bath. (He also threw the bathmat and clothes in the garage, something I didn’t discover until this morning.)  So, when I arrived home, Jack was in bed, but I had a chair to clean.  After a considerable amount of scraping and scrubbing, I final got the chair clean and decided I needed a shower.  While I was showering, Jack commenced throwing up all over his crib, pillow, stuffed animals, and books.  Tom brought Jack in for his 3^rd bath of the night while I tackled the mess in the bedroom.  I stripped the bed and threw all washables in the washer.  Then, like a dummy, I put fresh sheets and pillow on Jack’s bed and placed him back in there.  After taking care of some things, I finally went to bed myself, thinking that 5:00am was going to come much too quickly.  No sooner had my head hit the pillow when Jack started crying.  I went in to discover another mess.  So, Tom dropped Jack in the tub for the 4^th time and I finally wised up and made Jack a bed of towels on my bedroom floor.  I went to sleep making all sorts of promises to God if He would just make Jack stop throwing up.   I guess it worked because Jack didn’t wake up again until this morning and he promptly demanded I feed him a chocolate cupcake.  He settled for cereal.

Struggling

Tom likes to say that it does no good to complain because 80% of people don't care and 20% are glad you feel that way.  While I don't agree with his negative assessment of the human race, I do agree that it doesn't do any good to complain.  But I am going to go ahead and do it anyway!

When the school year started, I was so nauseous and tired all day.  I thought there couldn't be a more stressful way to start out a new year...until the second week of school when I came down with the worst cold of all time that then turned into bronchitis.  Then, every coughing fit triggered my gag reflex.  So, I was a snot-nosed, hacking, vomiting mess.  I am sure all of my students were completely repulsed.

My house is a disaster.  I can't let anyone in the door because it is THAT BAD.  I feel like I am neglecting my kids and my husband.  And I am disgusting.  Oh yeah, and even though I have been losing weight due to the illness, my belly is sticking out further than ever and I can't button any of my pants.  Instead of three months pregnant, I look six.

Whew!  Glad I got all of that off my chest!  On the bright side, the kids are really excited about this pregnancy.  Jack keeps trying to peer into my belly button to see the baby.  He is adamant that he wants a baby brother.  Ellie wants a baby sister.  So, at least one of them will get their way.

Even though I am a mess, the kids are doing awesome.   Jack has surprised me with how well he is doing at preschool.  He even asks to go on the weekends!  Ms. Yamileth (aka Miss Yummy) is magic when it comes to potty training.  She was the one who trained Ellie practically overnight several years ago.  Now, she is Jack's teacher and she has Jack almost fully trained.  Next week they are taking away his diaper at nap-time so he will be diaper free all day!  Confession...I still put a diaper on him over the weekends if we even step one foot out of the house.  That's completely understandable, right? 

What happens in Vegas does NOT stay in Vegas

Remember a couple of months ago when I took that trip to Vegas?  And I had such an awesome time (aside from the airline losing my luggage)?  Well, I guess I had a little too much fun because two weeks after we got back I discovered that I was pregnant.   I was busy packing for the move to our new house and was already stressed to the max.  So, finding out I was pregnant was not met with a whole lot of excitement.  More like sheer panic.

A few days later, I was talking to my mom on the phone and she mentioned that I seemed a little down and asked if I was stressed about the move.   "No," I replied, "I am just a little bummed because I think I might be pregnant."   She asked what made me think that and I told her "because the pregnancy test came back positive."

Now I am about 11 weeks along and am finally adjusting to the idea of having another baby.  I know this baby was meant to be and I will love him or her like crazy, but sometimes that is hard to remember when you are hunched over the toilet bowl vomiting up dinner.

DIY fireplace

OK, so remember my ugly fireplace?

Well, I painted it.  I ended up having to repaint the mantle, too, because the whites ended up being too different.  It was super easy.  Since I am lazy, I didn't sand it or use a primer first.  I just slapped on some white Rustoleum paint and finished it with a coat of polyurethane to add a little gloss and to protect from scratching.  I am not in love with the outcome, but it is way better than what it was before! 
Luckily, I did it before school started because now I am basically worthless and my list of projects remains untouched.  I haven't even hung up a single picture.  I just come home and collapse on the couch while the kids play in the back yard with the dog.  I even had Ellie make dinner the other night (toaster waffles).  She was super proud of herself.  I wasn't so proud of the fact that my kitchen had syrup on the floor and I didn't notice until Jack tracked it all over the house.  I couldn't even complain because, hello, I just had my 6 year old cook dinner.

Ellie's Firsts

This past Saturday, Ellie had her first official soccer game.  I actually ended up taking her and 5 of her cousins to their games that day while my siblings and their spouses participated in yet another insane athletic competition.  I think Ellie had more fun running around with her cousins before the game than actually playing.  She is a fairly good goalie, but once she is on the field she is too easily distracted.

  At least she looks cute in her uniform, right?  Go, Ireland!

In other firsts, Ellie started first grade on Monday!  I dropped her off at school when it was still dark (she attends the before-school program) so I didn't actually get to walk her to her classroom.  However, her Aunt Sabrina and Uncle Daniel were there later dropping off Kolby and Olivia and were able to snap a picture of her when school was actually starting. 

Jack and I met Ellie at the bus stop after school and she was overflowing with excitement about her first day of school.  But her very favorite part of her day?  Being able to play with her cousin, Kolby, all recess!

Abandoning my children with strangers

I returned to work yesterday.  Because school does not officially start for another week, I enrolled Ellie in the End-of-Summer! Camp provided through our school district.  I would be dropping her off at a building she had never been with people she didn't know, but I wasn't really worried since Ellie is my outspoken, fearless child.  I was more concerned about Jack who does not handle changes well.  However, when it came time to drop Ellie off, she suddenly refused to get out of the car.  She kept saying the building was "old and creepy."  I thought she was joking around so I semi-dragged her out of the car and walked her into the building.  At that point, my old Ellie disappeared and this clingy, shaky child took her place.  She wouldn't talk, just held tight to my arm with a quivering chin.  They pried her off me eventually and I made my escape.  I am not a crier, but I totally broke down in the car from the weight of all that mother-guilt.  Of course, when I went to pick her up, she was upset that I picked her up early because she wanted to stay til the end.  And Jack never had any issues at all.

For the past couple of years, right before school starts, Tom and I have taken the kids to the Galleria to eat at the Cheesecake Factory and then to Build-a-Bear where we let them pick out a stuffed animal.  We went last night to assuage my guilt about leaving the kids all day.  Ellie picked out a horse that she name "Lulu" and Jack picked out a bear that he named "Build-a-Bear Bear."  No, really. I asked him several times and he insisted that was his bear's name.  Last year he named his bear Beepaw.  I am pretty sure that it would be much cheaper to just take the kids to Target and tell them to pick out a stuffed animal, but my kids are really attached to their Build-a-Bear ones.  Maybe because they get to put the heart in?  Step on the peddle to fill it with stuffing?  Seriously, what is the appeal of that place?  Either way, a good time was had by all and I felt a little better when I tucked my children into bed last night with their new stuffed companions.

Potty-training, ugly fireplace, and farewell to summer (those go together, right?)

That's it.  I am officially giving up on potty training Jack.  Also, you may want to avoid sitting on my couch if you come visit me.

On a completely unrelated note, I am planning on painting the tiles around my fireplace tomorrow.  While there are many things I love about my new house (updated kitchen with granite countertops!), I absolutely HATE my fireplace. And since I am on a strict budget these days, I can't replace it with new tile so I am just going to paint over it.  It can't look any worse than it already does, right?

I return to work on Monday and I am having my usual end-of-summer blues.  This summer was eventful, though.  We took the kids to San Antonio/SeaWorld, spent a week in Vegas, sold our home, bought a new home, and I went on a fun girls' trip to Gulf Shores.  Not too shabby.  



Girls' Trip!

As soon as we returned from Vegas, I went into packing mode for three weeks.  Then we had two stressful days of loading/unloading our moving truck, followed by a week of frantic unpacking and organizing.  Needless to say, I was ready for the long-planned girls' trip with my mom, sisters, and sister-in-laws (my sister Jen couldn't make it...so sad).

We drove the 9 hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama where we checked into our condo overlooking the ocean.

 

We spent our days at the beach, exploring Gulf Shores, and enjoying the local cuisine.  Our evenings were spent playing games, watching movies, and laughing til our stomachs hurt.

Every time I turned around, I was being forced into a photo op. Seriously, my sisters are way too photo-happy...I guess because they are all so cute.  One such photo op caused us to get stuck in the sand.  We all piled out to try to push Rosie's giant Armada out of the sand while a balcony full of people at the Hooters across the street cheered us on.  We had almost made it when a few boys ran over to help.  Too little, too late.

Now it is back to the real world.  I have one week before I return to work.  Where did my summer go?