Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Aunt Sue! It's not a recent picture, but you can definitely tell who I look like in it! And for those of you who don't know, I'm the little one in the front of the picture.

Week 26

If I look tired in the picture, there might be a reason for that. It is a rainy morning, perfect for sleeping or at least just listening to the rain while relaxing. But work calls, so I must go. But first I must take out the trash.




This is Kendall's weekend photo. Glad to see that travelling doesnt stress the puppy to the point where she can't sleep. :)

A Fun Weekend

It was hot this weekend but that was to be expected at the end of July. We went to the lake with Emily and Jason while Bootskitty stayed home. Kendall had a blast...Jason is one of her favorite people. He played with her, held her on his lap while they both slept, in Kendall's mind, a perfect arrangement. We were able to spend some quality time, just hanging out. It won't be long before we will have a baby to tend to while we are doing stuff. We went out for a late breakfast, which was suprisingly, very good. It was a Shoney's breakfast buffet. I used to love to eat at Shoney's but it seems like lately breakfast buffets all taste the same and that isnt exactly complimentary. But this was different it was good. And then we walked around the outlet mall to a few stores before going back to the condo for the hottest part of the day. The guys napped, Emily and I talked. Then we went to dinner and played miniature golf. My husband and I tied, which means we both aren't very good. But luckily for us, Emily and Jason aren't much better. We had fun anyway. Then after golfing we stopped at Andy's for a straw-ana. I had been craving one. Since I'm pregnant can we call it a pregnancy craving and I can have another one soon? And then, after the baby is born, maybe she'll want one...hmmm....for now we can say pregnancy craving although I must admit, if there is opportunity to stop at Andy's, I want a straw-ana, pregnant or not! Ok, so back to our weekend. We finished off the weekend by lounging around in our PJs and visiting Sunday morning before we all headed home. All of these "lounging" times, included games of fetch and wrestling with the dog. She thought it was great.

Now the weekend is over, it is supposed to be a rainy week, and I have a ton of "froggy" projects to do for work, so I guess I should consider shoes......

Boots Kitty

Boots kitty got to stay home alone this weekend. I was concerned leaving him missing three of his insulin shots, so my in-laws said they would come by Saturday morning and give him a shot. I knew he had missed two before and been ok, so I wasn't nearly as concerned, and he was probably much happier here than travelling to a strange place. He was locked in the gun room, for two reasons. One, it isn't carpeted and so if he threw up it would be easy to clean up. Second, sometimes he is a little stubborn and won't come out of hiding and since they had said they would come by to give him his shot we wanted to make sure he was able to be located. Turns out that he jumped up and rubbed against my mother-in-law and purred and was very happy to see someone. He was fine and hadn't gotten sick anywhere when we got home....until we let him out and then he puked on the carpet. Go figure. Anyway, he seems to be doing quite well, although he was thirsty. I had put one of those automatic water jug things in there for him, knowing that if his blood sugar gets high he drinks alot. I also knew that he might be bored and play with it, knocking it over. That is exactly what happened, he got bored, knocked it over, we got home, he has no water. But the bowl part was still upright so he couldnt have been without water very long. Tomorrow, if I get up early enough, I'll tell you about all the fun we had this weekend.

Unexpected Rain

If it would kindly continue to rain for at least two more hours, I would be able to accomplish a lot more at work today. I am supposed to have a program at 9 for two hours, which will be fun, but I have a bunch of stuff I really need to spend some time in the office working on. We had a naturalist move, and therefore I picked up on some of her stuff for our big Frog event next week and have that to get done. But in actuality, if I could just get a couple more hours to work on it this morning, I could leave work a little early and start my weekend sooner. WE are going to the lake with Emily and Jason and it should be a lot of fun. Kendall is going too, and I'm having trouble deciding what to do with Boots. I think my husband may see if his parents will stop by sometime on Saturday and give him a shot, which isnt as many as he normally gets, but would be enough to keep him from getting too sick.

Now, its off to work...

Relatiionships

Have you ever stopped and thought about relationships from your past? For some reason, about halfway to work yesterday, that is what I started thinking about...friends that I no longer stay in touch with. I wonder sometimes what their lives are like, what they are doing, and if they ever wonder what I'm doing. Almost all of my friends that have been really good friends adn there for me regardless of the circumstance, I still at least occassionally talk to (or email!) But then there is that one, that you know you should forgive, you try to forgive and yet you can't really get past what they did to you. Add that to the fact that they seem to want nothing to do with you either and you realize it has been a full two years since you talked to them. And that it was only 2 1/2 years since they were a very close friend. But life has gone on, we all change. And I do have friends that would do anything for me, one from as far back as first grade, one that lives way too far away to have seen in two years but we still frequently talk, and then I have been blessed enough to have a friend that would stop at nothing short of moving mountains for me if needed, and I thank God everyday for our friendship. Of course there is also my husband, my very best friend in the world, that stops at nothing to do things for me just because it makes me happy. No, I can't say I dwell of lost friendships too often, because all I have to do is look around me and realize that I have much better friendships than most people will ever know.

Bootskitty

Have you ever discovered that sometimes when you sit down to type, you have a lot of help. I must apologize for any typos, because this morning is just one of those mornings. It is somewhat difficult to see through a 21 1/2 pound black cat that really sees no reason that he should move from in front of the monitor (ok, so if I fed him, that would give him incentive to get up but I only want to go downstairs once before work). So Bootskitty has decided he wants to blog today. He said I talk about Kendall too much he wants his fair share of the attention. I don't know what he wants to say today, except that he was really cuddly last night. We are trying to decide whether to ask my mother in law to keep him for the weekend or whether we should take him with us. We are meeting our friends at their condo at the lake this weekend adn they invited our pets, but have you ever had to travel with a fat cat? He actually is very good, he just doesnt like to get in his carrier very much, I think mostly because he is fat and heavy and it is a little crowded. Don't worry though, I dont squish him inot a small cat5 carrier. The carrier I have was designed for a medium sized dog. So I guess that is what Boots has to say today. More later....

It turns into a bigger bargain...

Ok, so I've been called impatient before and yes, I was just being impatient again. The lady with the diapers called me yesterday and I was able to go and get them. I counted but don't remember exactly what I counted. I think there were 46 plain, various sizes covers (although some of those might have been all in ones, I'm not really sure, even though it makes me feel goofy not knowing). There were 14 pretty colored/designed covers. There were about 20 of the fitted, plain diapers in various sizes, there were about 30 of the all-in-ones. There were 15 of the prefolds and about 15 of the flat diapers. All in all a lot of diapers, in fact it was a huge trashbag full of them. Then she threw in other stuff such as 6 crib mattress pads, a couple outfits, nursing pads, a box of diaper liners, and some parts to a breast pump. All in all, lots of stuff for my $50. Seemed kinda high for diapers until I started looking around. Now I just want to get everything washed and I seriously need to start organizing the baby's room. Otherwise our little girl is gonna have to sleep in my sock drawer! I did attempt to fill out the preadmit stuff for the hospital this morning and got terribly confused so if my husband doesnt understand it any better than I do I will be calling the number at the bottom for assistance.

One more day working out in the hot sun with a bunch of inner city kids. Its been fun but exhausting. Is it wrong to hope for rain??? at about 10 til 2? a little thunder in there would help. Not that I dont think what we are doing is important, I'm just tired!

Just when you think there is a bargain

I thought I had found a great bargain on some cloth diapers. A lady had them listed in her garage sale for last weekend, however due to work I couldnt go to the garage sale. So I had emailed her and she responded on Monday night that she still had the diapers (about 100) and would sell all she had to me for $50. Seemed like a really good deal considering some were all in ones and such (look on ebay, those things are expensive!) So I replied and told her I would take them, asked her when would be a good time to come by and so I waited to hear from her so that I could go pick these up. Three days later....I still haven't heard from her. I really wanted to get those....hmmm....wonder what happened. She may have figured out she could sell them on ebay and get more for them, who knows? I just think it would be nice if she would respond and let me know that I should plan on getting diapers elsewhere or that she just wasnt going to be home in the evenings this week for me to come by, whatever the case, I hate it when I think I've found a good bargain and it disappears!

Job Hazards

Every job has its hazards, some being more risky than others. For instance, firemen are expected to run into burning buildings, cops capture criminals, and vets may get bitten my large unhappy dogs. Then there's my job. The hazards aren't usually anything more than a large unobedient group of fifth graders. But yesterday, I found another. One I knew existed but hadn't ever come across quite like I did yesterday. In fact, I stepped right smack in the middle of the hazard. What hazard am I speaking of? I nest of angry (at least when you step on them) yellowjackets. Five stings later and an interesting little jig, and I abandoned that area, asking that it be roped off to avoid any of the inner city kids we are working with this week, from having the same experience. After all, we are trying to teach them how great being out in nature is, and I'm thinking angry yellowjackets wouldnt help my cause a bit. And with the way my luck goes sometimes it would be a kid that was allergic and we would have a whole new set of problems!

Nothing to do with yellowjackets, unless of course you notice the nice red, slightly swollen area on my ankle, here is my picture from week 24. (taken just this morning....I really need to have my husband take a picture sometime, I'm sure it would be better!)

picture doesnt appear to be working. will try again later, but i've got to go now.

Even my toes...

As I've grown up, there are some things about pregnancy you know. For instance, you know that your belly will grow out of proportion to the rest of your body. You even expect there to be a little pain as it grows, that just seems logical, but somewhere along the way, I missed the notice that every single part of your body will change when you get pregnant. I remember a game we had when I was little, Funny Bones I think it was called. I don't know that we ever played it correctly, but the cards would say something like the ankle bone is connected to the shoulder bone and you and a partner would hold the card between those body parts. I thought of that game the other day. Playing that game you think it is silly that two seemingly unrelated body parts would be connected, but did you know that absolutely every square inch of your body changes during pregnancy? (ok so all you mothers out there, go ahead and laugh, you didnt share that info with me!) It isn't all bad changes, my fingernails are growing quickly, of course that means so are my toenails and I can never find toenail clippers when I need them. I actually could buy a bra that fits at Walmart instead of having to get one that is too big:) This is just merely an observation for the week, that yes, EVERY part of your body will change with pregnancy. And I've still got almost half of it to go....I wonder what I'll discover next!

Kendall and the TV

I've seen dogs watch TV before, but Kendall has never done that. That is until Friday night. There was really nothing on TV so I turned on the Garfield movie. The movie itself wasn't all that bad, but the funniest part was watching Kendall. She laid there with her eyes on the TV for most of the movie and you could tell she was watching because whereever Garfield went, her head turned. She was probably getting ideas "hey, I could do that" or something. If only we really knew what went on in that head of hers.....

Kayaking

I never did report, but last week we did get to go kayaking. The river was absolutely wonderful as the water splashed over the top of my head when I hit some of the rapids. A fun time was had by all. There were more people than I like on the river, but a holiday weekend with perfect water it was expected.

Final reports from the weekend...we went with Emily and Jason and watched fireworks from the....cemetary. was a good view although a little weird and I think they had chiggers.

So last weekend was a great weekend. Now to get all my laundry done that I've been too tired to do all week.....

Independence Day Fun

Spending the fourth of July with my parents allowed us to have a busy, fun-filled day. The boys (nephews, husbands, father) all did some fireworks during the day. Mom and I helped them some but then the guys took over. Boys with explosives, a scary thought, but I've never seen them having so much fun. Our best friends also joined us for the holiday, and although we don't have pictures of it, we had fun with stuff other than fireworks. We played croquet (not real sure how you actually spell that), badmitten, made s'mores and visited a while. Once my oldest nephew figured out how to light things, he was more than willing to help his brother. The youngest only lit smokebombs, with assistance. Suprisingly the only burn from the weekend is on my pinky and looks nasty, but it had nothing to do with fireworks. Bacon grease splashed on me while cooking breakfast. Our evening activities went unphotographed. The family went to a friends house for an incredibly cool display, while my husband and me and our friends went to watch a small town display. Jokingly we said we could watch from the cemetary. When we got there, that seemed to be the thing to do, so we sat next to Daisy D Davis, who had lived to be 102 years old, but had laid in that spot since the 70s. We sat at the edge, trying to be respectful. There were people there that were using tombstones as places to hold roman candles and other fireworks they were setting off. We found that a little odd. It was a great day, I only wish we'd had more time. And I had to add teh bottom picture because it was just so darn cute. If only we could all have the look of wonder of a child!

The Reason I'm Tired

There are two main reasons I'm tired right now. .

Meet my nephews.

One is 6 1/2 years old, the other celebrated his 4th birthday yesterday. We went down to visit, arriving Thursday night and leaving yesterday afternoon. During that time we celebrated Independence Day (more on that complete with pictures later), had a birthday party, and played. ALOT.

He got a bicycle for his birthday. I think Kendall was a little jeaolous that he was paying attention to it instead of to her. We were suprised she didn't get dizzy spinning around in a circle as he rode his new big boy bike around her.

This was day 2 without naps, and I think we were all tired. Even the dog and cat. They didn't move much all the way home (another story there), and Kendall went back to bed after going outside this morning. I only wish I could have joined her!

Before I wrap up, and I am a day late posting, I just wanted to say Happy 4th birthday kiddo!

Holiday Weekend

It was very busy, now I'm very tired, so I will post pictures and an account of all of our fun later, when I'm not so tired and needing to be leaving for work.

Visitors

Ok, so I didn't really have visitors, I just dreamed I had visitors. But it was very vivid and seemed real. Neal had gone to work and about 730 I heard a car outside (remember this is a dream). Kendall was barking and so I got up and peeked out the shutters to see if there was someone here. There was a convertible in my driveway with a couple named Pierre and Eva (I have never met these people, but they had names) in the front seat. Then I looked in the backseat. Pa and Granny were in the backseat. I rushed to the closet and threw on clothes, trying to find something that would fit and I could get on quickly before they decided I wasn't awake and left. Then Kendall and I rushed outside while Boots rushed into hiding. I was very excited to see my grandparents, to show them my house and to talk about the baby. Granny was so excited. And Pa was able to get up the stairs quickly, moving more like I remember him when I was 5 instead of closer to when he died. Ok, so for those of you that don't know, Granny and Pa are my dad's parents, Granny passed away 8 years ago, Pa passed away 7 years ago, so a very strange dream. And who exactly are Pierre and Eva??

I also dreamed about going to Yellowstone but the people I was with wouldnt get ready until about 5 pm when we had a 3 hour drive to get into the park. It was making me mad cause I wanted to see things in daylight not in the dark. I ended up abandoning everyone else and just going myself.

And I wonder why I'm tired sometimes when I wake up....I'm a very busy sleeping person!

Week 22

I am attempting to keep photos of me growing...and I'm even willing to share them with you. So here is week 22 of my pregnancy. Boots and Kendall didn't want to be left out of the pictures, so they posed and played for the camera too.

Don't worry, they don't hurt each other they actually seem to think it is fun to stick each other's head in their mouths...although it does make them smell like stinky dog and cat breath!

Don't Tell The Weatherman!

This weekend, I am REALLY wanting to go kayaking, my husband agrees it would be fun, but there's that little issue of rain. Most of the time by the fourth of July, I'm hoping that there will simply be enough water that I'm not taking a boat hiking, but that is not the case this year. I'm hoping that it won't rain between now and then so that the river will drop below flood stage and be safe for sane people to float. That's just one reason I'm worried the weatherman will change all forecasts for Friday to torrential rain. The other reason is that my father and I are both off work, planning to be in the same location, and hoping to do outdoor activities. Camping in Yellowstone, hiding from the hail, when the drought conditions are so bad that you can't even have an itty bitty fire. Same scenario different year in Rocky Mountain National Park. Tornadoes sweeping through central Arkansas during a backpacking excursion, starting out an hour and a half later with 6 extra miles added on to a backpacking trip because Hurricane Creek was living up to its name and roaring like a Hurricane where we couldn't cross it...and that time we started out in a downpour. One of the prettiest hikes I've ever gone on, just too bad it was raining to hard to get out the camera for most of it:) And then there was the attempted hiking trip that we barely made it to the highway due to all the ice falling that we decided we would be best to cancel our plans and go for a walk in the field behind the house. So you see, whenever my father and I plan to do anything outdoors, together, we can create weather of seemingly Biblical proportions. And he has a three day weekend. I have a three day weekend. Plans are for outside. Hmm....wonder what this weekend will bring?

On a side note, the Great American Backyard Campout for work on Friday night went as scheduled. Although my prediction was right, it came a whopper of a storm, with LOTS of lightning and rain but not too bad on the wind. Good news...I got to test out a new tent and it didn't leak:) So maybe it isn't just my father, maybe it is me...........