Terms of Endearment

Let me tell you a little story. For our honeymoon, Tom and I went on a Caribbean cruise. When we stopped in Cozumel, we bypassed the excursions and merely went to the beach to play in the clear blue ocean. Once in the water, Tom cradled me in his arms. Buoyed by the water and his strong arms, I felt so light and pretty. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “I am so in love. What a romantic moment.” Then Tom looked down at me and said with a tender smile, “Who is my little water buffalo?” That’s right, Tom called me a water buffalo. On our honeymoon.
Last night, after tucking Ellie into bed, Tom and I sat down to watch a movie. I sat in the big, cushiony recliner, as I always do. At one point during the show, I had to pause the movie for a bathroom break. Because the chair is so deep and my belly so big, I rolled to the side and attempted to rock my way out of the recliner. Tom asked me what I was doing and I explained I had to use the restroom. He replied with a smile, “You look like a beached whale.” Oh yes he did.

Because sometimes one chair just isn't enough

Not My Sunday Best

Last night I was kept awake until 2am by the obnoxiously loud pool party being held by my next door neighbors. I tossed and turned as the sounds of Tejano music and loud, drunken laughter filtered into my bedroom. The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became and Tom and I spent a ridiculous amount of time talking about the horribly inappropriate things we would like to scream over the back fence at the party-goers.

Needless to say, it was very difficult getting up for church this morning and I found myself running late. I quickly grabbed what I deemed to be a cute outfit from Ellie's closet, pulled her limp hair back into a small, sloppy ponytail, tried to slick down the bump in her bangs with spit, and shoved her feet into too small shoes. I had just enough time to throw some "crunchies" (Cinnamon Toast Crunch) and crayons into my purse and we were out the door.

We arrived just in time and slid into the pew with Mark and Rosie's family whose children always look like they just stepped out of a catalogue...or an advertisement for what children of good mothers should look like. I glanced down at Ellie and realized that her white shirt looked rather dingy. In fact, there appeared to be brown stains down the front. At this point Ellie had transformed from an intelligent child with an extensive vocabulary to a squawking baby who kept trying to curl up on my lap, but my protruding belly prevented her from getting comfortable and kept causing her to slide off again. I finally got her situated, but during the sacrament prayer when it was dead silent, Ellie found her words again and cried out loud and clear, "I want to go hoooooome." At this point, I was more than happy to let her wander a few pews up to sit with Daniel and Sabrina where she turned around and saw Sister Smith wearing a straw hat. "Look! It's a cowboy!" Apparently, Sister Smith loved being thought of as a cowboy. Soon, Ellie made her way back to me, where I promptly pawned her off to Rosie who was then forced to draw over 500 pictures. When Rosie decided to call it quits, Ellie threw a fit and came sobbing back to me about how abused she was and how she wanted to "go hooooome!" Luckily sacrament meeting was over and we were able to make our escape, but I couldn't help but marvel that my mom would do this every Sunday with SEVEN children. Seven. And I don't remember any of us wearing shirts with brown stains down the front.

Pregnancy update and ramblings

I went in for my 27 week appointment this morning. You know how last time I was all proud that I had only gained 1 pound? Well, I spoke too soon because I managed to put on 5 pounds between the last visit and this one. And because I had a sneaking suspicion that I was going to break the scale, I didn't eat breakfast before going! Dumb, I know, but I didn't want to add any more pounds! Regardless, I still had to listen to my OB talk about restricting carbs and eating a high protein diet. Blah, blah, blah.

When I got home, I decided to start pulling some of the baby stuff out of the garage. Out came the swing, the car seat, and the bouncer. Even though they were in plastic bags, they still were filthy thanks to Hurricane Ike and the roof falling in on them. So, I pulled off all the covers and threw them in the washer and now I am in the process of scrubbing down the plastic bits. Good times. Not sure why I am spending all my time doing that when my house desperately needs some cleaning! I wish my nesting urges were more well-rounded.

A day of play

This morning I woke up
and looked around my house
at all the things I needed to do
and then I looked at Tom and said,
"Let's go to the Children's Museum instead."

How to entertain a 3 year old

I have finally found something that will consistently keep Ellie occupied without me having to be right next to her...puzzles! I picked a 24 piece one up a couple of weeks ago on a whim and she loved it. So, I bought her another one, and another, and another. I kept expecting her to grow tired of them, but she assembles all 4 of them at least once a day. They are super cheap at Target and Wal-Mart and keep her busy long enough for me to do things like finish her bedroom!

Ellie has been unusually clingy this summer. She gets hysterical when I try to leave her, even with people she loves like Rosie or Tom! Usually, I just take her with me on my errands, but this morning, for example, I was going to get a pedicure and couldn't bring her. She was simply staying home with Tom, but she clung to my leg and wailed like I was abandoning her forever. However, she has no problem with Tom leaving her at home with me. I don't know what the deal is...perhaps something to do with my pregnancy? Does she somehow realize that soon she won't have my entire focus? I love that she always wants to be with me, but sometimes I just want a little space...thus the reason I am so grateful for those $4 puzzles!

Dentist and Circus

Yesterday, I took Ellie in for her first dental appointment. I had been preparing her for this for over a week by reading books about it and discussing it. Every time I brought it up, she would whine, "I don't want to go to the dentist! My teeth are clean! I don't have any cavities!" I tried bribing, cajoling, even threatening, but her response was always the same. However, I should not have underestimated Mark's amazing staff. His receptionist won Ellie over by letting her pick out two toys from the bin. While in the waiting room, Ellie accosted a poor businessman who was trying to read a magazine. She was all, "Hi! What's your name? Are you getting your teeth cleaned? Can I come sit by you?" and then she went and sat right next to him. Poor man. When it was our turn, Mark's hygienist, Lisa, totally put Ellie at ease by showing her the different tools and letting her play with them. Then, she counted Ellie's teeth and rubbed "bubble gum" on them. When Uncle Mark came in to check things over, Ellie looked at him in complete surprise and exclaimed, "What are YOU doing here?" Overall, the appointment was a complete success. When we got home, Ellie insisted on playing dentist. She put on her mask and glove and made me sit still while she counted and cleaned my teeth.

In the evening, we met up with everyone (Daniel, Mark, their families, and my parents) at the circus. Last year, Ellie got bored early, but I think that was because we had terrible seats. This year, we were like 3 rows back. It was awesome. Ellie loved it...especially the snow cones that my dad bought all the grandchildren, per tradition. Although, I am not sure she loved this clown:

An adorable sleeping moment

I am in the processing of redoing Ellie's room. Her toddler bed has been sold and her daybed is currently in the garage being painted white. Ellie always insisted on sleeping on the floor anyway (I'm hoping that changes with the new bed), so I haven't felt too rushed. I did buy her a new chair for her room and last night when I went to check on her, I found her sleeping in it! It was so adorable that I had to snap a picture before moving her back on safe ground.
I love how she tucked the pillow behind her, covered herself with a blanket, and then clasped her hands together and fell asleep.

Going a little crazy

Although I am still a few weeks shy of my third trimester, the sleep issues have already begun. I usually wake up anywhere from 3-4 in the morning and cannot go back to sleep for the life of me. Lately, I have been discovering unpleasant things when I wake up. Like Thursday morning when I woke up to discover that we had NO water pressure. And I was really thirsty, but someone (cough, Tom, cough) had put the Brita pitcher in the fridge with only 1/2 inch of water left. Apparently, we had a geyser at the end of our block that took ALL day to fix. I realized how I take the little things for granted, like showers, and flushing toilets, and glasses of ice cold water. Then, Friday morning I woke up at the crazy hour to discover our air conditioning had gone out. This is bad, folks, when you live in Houston and deal with 108 degree weather. I admit it, I broke down. I was a big, sobbing mess. Tom at first tried to talk me down logically, but that does not work with a hot, crazy pregnant woman who has been surviving on 4 hours a sleep per night. I had to get out. I took Ellie to the library as soon as it opened. Oh how I love the cool, air conditioned library with all of its free activities. Then, we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Did not know it was cow appreciation day. I didn't really like the crowds, but Ellie loved all the people dressed up as cows. After enjoying a yummy sandwich and fresh squeezed lemonade, we went to Target so I could spend a little money before I lost in all in the great air conditioning repair of '09. After a few embarrassing episodes, we left Target to escape to Rosie's for the night. I was so relieved to find out today that our air conditioning was fixable and we didn't even have to sell Ellie to pay for it.

Speaking of Ellie, let's talk about all the ways she managed to embarrass me on Friday.
1. She does this thing now where she tells adults they are so big. No really, she says, "You are so big!" I think it is just a way for her to strike up a conversation with strangers and draw attention to how small and cute she is. So, when we were at Target yesterday and a VERY obese woman in a scooter was motoring past us, I was not quick enough to stop Ellie from loudly telling the poor lady how very big she was.
2. While waiting in the line at Chick-fil-A, Ellie lifted my sundress all the way up so she could talk to her baby brother. These public exposings are getting really old.
3. I have a few moles on my face and arms. Ellie once asked about my spots and I explained they were moles. When we were checking out at Target, the cashier was one of those fair people who have freckles all over their body. Ellie loudly pointed out multiple times that the lady has "lots and lot of moles! Even more than you, Mommy!"

I don't really mind Ellie embarrassing me. Before long, I am sure I will be the one embarrassing her. I am just really enjoying this age. I love how she comes up to me, takes my face in her two little hands, and emphatically proclaims me to be the "best Mommy ever!" I just think she is so freaking adorable, even with her occasional bursts of attitude and her habit of exposing me in public.

Why I am exhausted on a daily basis

Could also be titled, "My Effective Parenting Skills"

Summer daze

Yesterday, we got up early to drop my car off at the shop and then Tom, Ellie and I went to IHOP for breakfast. There we ran into Rosie and the girls so we kidnapped Aidyn to come play with Ellie for a couple of hours. Then Rosie picked us up for a quick trip to the library. I have been requesting all the children's books about going to the dentist in order to prepare Ellie for her appointment with Uncle Dr. Mark. I worry it will be like her haircuts where she keeps hitting the person with the scissors. In the evening, Ellie and I decided to accompany Tom to cross country practice because the park had new playground equipment that was supposed to be pretty impressive. Pretty impressive is right....it was like several stories high! I told Ellie she could not go on the tallest slide because it was too big. She busted out the attitude and informed me, "No! It's not too big for me. I big!" And then she raced to the top and threw herself down the slide in a series of bumps. It scraped up her ankle, but that didn't stop her from going down 3 more times.

I believe congratulations are in order

Two of my old college roommates recently had babies! Congrats to Elise on her (not so little) Luke (whom she delivered drug-free, crazy girl) and to Emily on baby Madison (who managed to look cute even after a rough night)! And two of my other roommates are expecting (that's right, talking about you, Madeleine and Stacie). What can I say? We BYU girls know how to breed.

Random pregnancy stuff

I got the results of my glucose screening today. It was 138 so I passed! I didn't have gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Ellie, but I also started out that pregnancy about 20 pounds lighter so I was a little worried I would have it this time.

Nameless Baby Boy has been pretty active lately. In the evenings, Tom will watch my stomach jump around, but whenever he puts his hand on it, suddenly all is calm. But today he actually was able to feel a really solid kick so that was pretty exciting. I have to say, Tom has been a saint through this pregnancy. With Ellie, I was pretty happy and everything was smooth sailing until the last couple of weeks. This time around, I have been the world's biggest whiner since the first bout of nausea. Tom takes it like a champ and is great about getting me glasses of water, snacks, or whatever else I ask for.

The other day Ellie told me, "I don't feel well." She was totally fine, just imitating me. She also is sticking to her "dragons in my tummy" thing. I have a baby in my tummy and she has dragons in hers. And they will fly out when they are ready to hatch. She is also still insisting on calling the baby Jack so I have a feeling that, regardless of what we name him, he will be "Jack" to Ellie. She loves to talk to my belly, pulling up my shirt whenever the urge strikes her. Unfortunately, she sometimes has that urge in public. At church a few Sundays back she pulled up my dress and tried to stick a baby doll up there, saying that the baby needs to go in mommy's tummy. Why does it feel like I am always flashing people at church?

4th of July finery

Tom's Aunt Patty sent this adorable outfit for Ellie. I have been excitedly waiting til the 4th of July so I could put it on her! But we really had no plans for today. Many of the firework shows have been canceled due to the drought and crazy heat. Still, I dressed Ellie up this morning and when Tom and I decided last minute that we would grill tonight, we braved the grocery store crowds to pick up some meat and veggies for kabobs. Ellie made sure to say "Hi!" to every. single. person. in the store. And if they didn't respond, she just kept saying it louder and louder. I secretly wondered if she was doing it so that they would comment on her outfit.

Since we have been married, Tom and I have never purchased fireworks for the 4th of July. Just wasn't our thing, I guess. But now that Ellie is older, Tom went and bought some fun ones for tonight and we invited Mark and his family (whom Ellie refers to collectively as "the Rosies" ) over to join in on the debauchery. Happy Indecency Day, y'all!

So long, Elmo

Remember Ellie's Elmo room? It was her 2nd birthday present from us and she happened to be in the midst of a huge Elmo craze. Unfortunately, she soon grew tired of Elmo and moved on to Dora and Diego. From that I learned my lesson...no more themed bedrooms.

Today, I sold the whole set on Craigslist. I prepared Ellie in advance, letting her know someone was coming to take it all away so we could put in a big girl bed for her. I was a little worried how she would react when a strange man started hauling away her bed, table, toy bin, etc. But as soon as he came to the door she was all, "Hi! Are you coming to take my Elmo bed? I am getting a big girl bed! Will you take good care of my Elmo stuff?" And she continued to talk nonstop the whole entire time, even following him out to his car still going on about her new big girl bed and taking away her Elmo stuff. She was really excited about the whole thing.

We have a new daybed for her (new to us, since it was purchased from a resale shop) and I have new bedding on order. And not to worry, the bedding does not have Dora or Diego or any princesses on it. Just stripes and dots, folks.

Pregnancy Update: 24 weeks

I had to do my glucose screening this morning. Ugh, I really hate drinking that sugary drink. It just makes my stomach roll. On the positive side, I only gained 1 pound this month (perhaps the result of that nasty stomach bug?) putting me at a total weight gain of 13 pounds. The doc seemed pleased and I was able to give the figurative middle finger to the bikini clad cardboard cutout in the waiting room. I am measuring a week ahead so Dr. K. seems pretty certain that this will be another 10 pounder. That's how I like my babies...roly poly.

The name dilemma continues. On our road trip, Tom and I played the alphabet game where we had to come up with a boys name for each letter. Then we did it with the first letter on all the license plates we passed. That got old real fast. To be honest, no name really strikes my fancy. They are all just "eh." So, I told Tom I was going to let him pick and be done with it. I have a pretty good idea of what the little guy will be called, but I don't really want to say because I don't want to be talked out of it. That's what happened with Ellie...she was *this close* to being a Lola. Actually, I am pretty glad we were talked out of that one!