Happy Birthday Rachel!

So, today is my sister-in-law's birthday. I don't think she would mind me announcing that she is turning the big 3-0! So, to rephrase what she told me on my 25th birthday (you're now closer to 30 than you'll ever be to 20)- You are now closer to 40 than you'll ever be to twenty!!

But really--Happy Birthday! Your birthday made me start thinking about the five years I have left until 30. I remember, when we were in elementary school, making the lists of what we wanted to accomplish by the time we were a certain age. I don't remember what I wrote on any of these (although I may have one buried in the top of my closet somewhere...), but I remember them always being soooo ambitious. You know, the third grader who thought they were going to be the President by the time they were 20--because 20 was really old! Or the kid who was going to have cured all the world's diseases by the time they were 30. I do know that I was the kid that wanted to be married and have my family completed by the time I was whatever age we were dealing with. So, I decided to make my list of things I want to have completed by the time I am 30.

So, here goes!

By the time I am 30 I want to:
1. Be finishing up with my third and last pregnancy.

2. Either be starting to build a house, or have moved back into town and bought a house.

3. Have all of my student loans paid off! (I am halfway there)

4. Have a new car! (hopefully this happens well before 30!)

5. Have found a way to be a stay at home Mom.

--Wow-- I really thougth I would have a lot more. So, does this speak to my life being pretty much fulfilled or a lack of ambitions? I really think it's simply that my life is pretty great! I have a GREAT husband, have already started our family, am through with my education, have a pretty good job, and great friendships.

I am definitely going with the fulfilled life!!

Glad I'm Emotionally Stable...

I know that some people are not born with the gift of thinking before they speak. Others are not born with the knowledge of the different ways people may interpret what they say. I have met a lot of those people during this pregnancy. Unfortunately, they are mostly my family members! Granted, some of them are not mean, but just silly thoughts from my darling husband!

Enjoy!

Me-Me: So, has your doctor been on you about how much weight you've gained? (to me at 6 1/2 months)

Guy at McDonald's drive through: Wow! (eyes wide and somewhat fearful) how far along are you?
Me: about 8 months
Guy: oh! good you're almost through!

Daddy: (after a long inspection of my side profile) Hey sister, your stomach has finally outgrown your butt. It actually sticks out farther!! (that one's for you Bret)

Kevin: (from the floor while I am laying on the couch) Ooh...what are those? I think they're stretch marks...

Darren: So, how's the belly button?
(I pull up my shirt and roll down my maternity pant top)
Darren: Ooh-it's almost gone... but what are these?
Kevin: (from behind me) oh yeah her stretch marks?
Darren: Oh-no I meant the weird pants she's wearing.

Kevin to nurse #1 on the hospital tour (registration desk): So, when she goes into labor, where do I take her?
Nurse #1: the emergency room--no matter what time of day.

Kevin to nurse #2 on the hospital tour (overnight suites): So, when she goes into labor, do I bring her here?
Nurse #2: No to the emergency room--no matter what time of day.

Kevin to nurse #3 on the hospital tour (labor & delivery): So, when she goes into labor, do I bring her here?
Nurse #3: No to the emergency room--no matter what time of day.

Nurse #3: Did you guys have any other questions?
Kevin: No, I just needed to know where to take her--I'm good now.

While driving in the car with the radio on, Kevin started giggling. I asked him what was so funny, he said nothing but continued giggling. I asked him again what was so funny? He then explained that he was just picturing the baby in my belly head banging to the music!

Daddy: So, what do you guys want for lunch?
Me, mom and Kevin: oh it doesn't matter.
Daddy: Well, you know the options--Sonic, Texas Burger, Subway, Taco Bell...but oh sister...they tore down McDonalds.
Me: Really? When? Why?
Daddy: I don't know--but it's not there, so no double cheeseburgers for you!
(McDonalds is still fully in tact)

(At dinner with Kevin's family)
Grandma: So, has the doctor told you whether or not you are good "down there" to have the baby naturally?
Me (bright red): Umm...well...she hasn't said that I'm not. But we really haven't talked about it.
Grandma: Oh, well, you'll want to make sure that you are big enough and that everything is good down there.

And the best one...

(still at dinner with Kevin's family)
Grandma: So, have you still been able to use your vibrator thing?
--Dead silence, bright red faces, and quick glances around the table--
Me: Uh...what...Oh, my massage chair! Yes, it's great...
--The rest of the room dies in silent laughter--

Bed Rest and No Room at The Inn

I went to the Dr. today and am happy to announce that the baby is well, and I am doing well enough to not be put on bed rest...bummer. Not that I want to be sick or hurting or putting any extra stress on the baby, but I would LOVE to get some doctor demanded "bed rest". You know, the kind where you can't go to work, but are still able to go shopping. I guess I'll have to keep working on it! I'll gladly take any suggestions on how to accomplish this!!

But, my blood count was up A LOT, so the iron supplements are working and I am not becoming more severly anemic. So, that's good!

Kaleb is growing right on schedule (although, I think he's curled into a much tighter ball and is twice the size that he should be right now). I have decided that there is definitely no more room at the inn. I am all full and am not quite sure where else he is going to go. (well, I do still have a little bit of a belly button left to unwind)

I know that there are only 6 weeks left, and a lot of mothers at this point are cherishing the last bit of time they have with the baby all to themselves. However, I am not that greedy! I don't mind sharing him with everyone else if it means that I am not pregnant anymore! I am sooooo ready to be done! I want to hold him on the outside! God really blessed me with 7 1/2 wonderful months that, although I was not all sunshine pregnant girl, I was not uncomfortable or miserable. Now I am pretty much both at all points of the day!

Luckily, I am still not all emotional! So, I guess I still have that...

Wedding Quilt

If you attended mine and Kevin's wedding, then you should have signed a quilt square instead of the usual guest book. This was an idea Kevin had early on in the wedding planning and I LOVED it! After Mom layed the squares out hundreds of times, in many different patterns, we finally agreed on this one and (in one day!) she got it finished! I LOVE IT!!! It turned out so great! I can't wait until we have our own house so I can put it out. (These people are too dirty and I don't want to ruin it in its first weeks of life!)

Anyway, thanks Mom! It looks great and will be a great keepsake for many many years!

-now, have you started one for Kaleb?!?

Girlie...

Ok, so I am a princess girlie girl. Even though I was raised with two brothers, no sisters, in the country, by a mother who is a fairly proud tomboy-who until recently never liked to be girlie- I am a matchy, perfectionist who loves everything girlie! This isn't a new revelation, but I needed to say it to remind myself that despite living with boys and working hard at having a gender neutral home, it is ok for me to be girlie. Even though I am about to add yet another boy into my family, I can still be girlie! Right? Because of this, and some inspiration from Rachel, I have decided that my blog is going to stay as girlie as possible until Kaleb arrives!

I had been planning on doing this since Rachel changed her blog to a more girlie background, despite her many posts about boys, dirt, vommit and boys! However, a trip to Wal-Mart today sealed the deal for me!

Kevin and I want to be able to keep Riley and Abby (our two dogs) as inside pets when the baby arrives. In order to do this, we know that some training has to happen. They are our babies and are VERY spoiled. So, today I went to Wal-Mart to buy a doll that was somewhat lifelike. I needed one that made noises and moved to really get their attention. While on the doll isle I felt that pang of jealousy that I was not getting a little girl, but a boy. There of course were no boy dolls. Only pretty little pink or purple ones. -I know that I am not buying the doll for Kaleb, but it would have been nice to have found a doll that was a boy. As I put the doll into the basket I saw an older woman, who with a "knowing" smile nodded at my largely pregnant self passing her with my little dolly in the basket. It hit me that she was probably thinking, 'how cute, that pregnant girl buying her new baby girl a doll'. Nope--buying it for my dogs--I'm having a boy.

Then, as I was walking to the other end of the store I passed the baby clothes. I wasn't planning on getting anything, but thought I'd look--I am still trying to find that perfect come home from the hospital outfit. Nothing. Just boring old boy clothes. There were definitely some adorable things, but nothing quite like the things they had for the girls. I found several 'perfect' outfits for if Kaleb were going to be a girl. I sadly left the clothing section and continued on to the food!

I got home, played with the dogs and the new baby--they did really well--and realized, I don't care that Kaleb is a boy, I can still be girlie! Why do I need him to be a girl to make me feel girlie. This really just adds to my princess status. I get to continue being the only girl and Daddy and Kevin's princess. I don't want to share that!! So, despite the fact that I have a house full of boys and another one on the way, I am going to continue being my girlie self and that starts with this blog!!

Man, we sure are Lucky...?

As someone with a degree in English, I know that words and phrases can have different meanings dependent upon the tone of someone's voice. (I also know this as someone who has gotten into a lot of trouble over the years for her "tone".)

Take the phrase-man we sure are lucky.
For most this phrase is said in a very positive and upbeat tone. It could be talking about how fortunate someone is to have won the lottery, or how lucky they are to have found something brand new at a great discount, or maybe even that they were just given a new car as a gift!

However, when my family says, man we sure are lucky, it can almost certainly be taken in a slightly more negative, typically sarcastic, tone. Meaning, how lucky we are to have a flat tire at 5:00 in the morning, or how lucky we are to have picked out 2 discontinued baby beds. And of course, man we sure are lucky to have the transmission go out in Kevin's truck for the 4th time!!

It is this last one that has prompted the writing of this post.

I have been sick this entire week. Those of you who have been pregnant and sick know how crappy this really is. All of the GOOD medicine will hurt the baby, coughing hurts your stomache even more now that there is more of it to effect, and just because you can breathe through your nose while laying on your right side, does not mean that the baby is going to agree with that decision. He is most certain, actually, to disagree! Anyhow, Wednesday was the worst day of my sickness, and Kevin stayed home to take care of me. I decided early that we should make the trip to Madisonville to get Dad to work on me. So, of course, half way between Bryan and Madisonville, with me coughing and sniffling and altogether uncomfortable, the transmission goes out in Kevin's truck. This means that we make the rest of the 20 minute ride at 40 miles an hour, on the bumpy shoulder!! YAY!! Man, we sure are lucky. As I said, this has happened 3 other times. So, we begin to try and determine if the transmission is still under warranty. We quickly determine that it is not! Man, we sure are lucky. How much is this going to cost? We begin to figure that it will cost at least $1500. Man we sure are lucky. I guess we are not going to pay off our credit card bill (getting one step closer to debt free) with our tax refund. Man we sure are lucky. We then spent the next 4 hours in Madisonville waiting for Dad to finish with patients so we could figure out how to get the truck home, or wherever it should be taken to get fixed. (Remember that I am sick) Man we sure are lucky. Now, I am usually positive and Kevin is always negative, so he immediately begins the, 'I am such a bad husband. We are never going to have any money...blah...blah...blah! This is when I have to kick in the postive thinking and cheer him up. -but this really does kinda suck! We had been planning to get this credit card paid off with our refund for the last six months.

Then it hit me. Man we sure are lucky...

What are the odds that Kevin's truck would break down on a day that he was already off of work? He actually had the time to call around and get pricing and suggestions as to what he should do. Man, we sure are lucky! What are the odds that this happened on Wednesday, and we received our tax return on Tuesday? Man, we sure are lucky! What are the odds that even though we had been planning for six months to pay the credit card bill, that I wouldn't have paid it as soon as we got the money? Man, we sure are lucky! Then, Dad's last patient, (which I was complaining about becuase they were 30 minutes late) happened to have owned an auto shop for years before retiring, and knew the name and cell phone number of their "best builder" guy. Not only that, but he was able to take the truck that day and should have it fixed by Monday, for half of the price everyone else quoted us! Man, we sure are lucky.

Throughout this I definitely learned that there is always a good side to every situation. It would have been very easy for Kevin and I both to have conceded defeat and had this ruin our day, week, and maybe more. But, Man, WE SURE ARE LUCKY!