Upset

I am so upset right now. I just feel so depressed about the state of the world, our world, the whole world in general. S has had poop in his blood so now he'll need to be scoped and see a gastro, the economy is in the tanks, money could be more plentiful...and the list goes on and on. How do we cope during these times? I was outside playing with my family, trying to enjoy the simple times we have together but I just can't enjoy it today - could be hormones too I suppose.

Saw the dr this morning and no change. We are still on for a 10/15 delivery date. We did discuss, at length (since he was on time!!), birth control options. I am not sure about the tubal ligation so we talked of some other options. After the dr, we had breakfast out, which was very nice. Then off to Sears so Daddy Piper could get a needed tool. We did check out getting a new mattress but I don't think either of us wants to spend that kind of money right now - we'll make do. I think of that as a catch phrase from the 20's "make do" and really what is wrong with making do? Nothing is wrong with it - just not used to it. I guess I better get used to it....

"Are they all yours?"

Okay I forgot to write about this little comment yesterday. I ran to the local grocery store to rent the cleaner thing and get a coffee and donuts for us. While waiting on my Decaf, Stirred, Iced Caramel Machiatto (with 6 pump vanilla & extra caramel!!), my 2 favorite Starbucks ladies were talking about my upcoming delivery when the lady behind us looked at my 2 children and asked if they were all mine, you know that comment. Snooty chick looking down her nose "Are they all yours??". Why yes these 2 children are all mine, you freakazoid. But no I answered nicely (and very proudly since they were behaving well) that yes they are. She had no further comment. Is 2 kids too many these days? What comments will I get when I have all 3 with soon????

Family Day (one in which I worked my ARSE off!!)

I rented a carpet shampooer thing today and cleaned the carpets in the house. I had hoped after moving furniture and working that carpet cleaner thing for 4 hours, this baby would be happy to pop out and join our world - not so much but boy do my hips hurt!! The kids climbed in the recliner (sitting in its temporary spot in the kitchen) and looked at the photo album from our fun trip to MN last September.After naps, we loaded the kids and their preferred riding toy and headed out for a family walk, with dogs and all. The kids both had a blast riding around. And S is doing so good riding his trike. He has gotten so much better in the last couple of weeks. L is anxious to get those training wheels off but she needs some practice on balancing first. The dogs listen much better to Daddy Piper so I drove the van home while he walked the dogs (and the kids!!).The kids enjoy hopping around on the rocks Daddy Piper has laying by the front gate. Here's a shot of L in mid-jump. She is quite the outdoor girl (didn't get that from me!) and loves to play and run around on the hills and rocks around our property. With the weather turning nice finally, they both have really enjoyed playing outside.We tried to have a campfire and dinner outside last night but it got too windy and stormy so we had to move inside (L kept referring to it as a terrible night). We tried again tonight to have our dinner outside and enjoy smores by the campfire - it worked out wonderfully tonight!!! We enjoyed an impromptu dinner of grilled cheese, fresh apples and smores while enjoying the nice weather and fire.

Shower and bedtime snuck up on us so we rounded up the chitlens and headed indoors (to our freshly cleaned carpet!!). After shower time, the kids were making funny faces. S has started pulling his cheeks down and saying "Chinese eyes" . I have NO idea where he could have gotten this from. The kids aren't out of watchful eye for more than a few minutes at a time - could he have gotten it from MOPS? It's the only place they are left, ever!!

It was a wonderful day filled with quality family time. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Daddy Piper doesn't have work so he'll go with to my dr appt (actually he'll run errands with the kids while I see the dr but still....) Hopefully we'll have time to grab lunch together tomorrow. That's always fun!

Homeschool Co-op

I joined a homeschool back in August to get some social/educational type interaction for my kids, mainly L. Well as with most groups, the drama has begun! It always has to happen, doesn't it?!? One mom with older kids is ticked because the activities planned so far (only 2!!) are not suitable for her to bring along her older children or at least she thinks so. There are only 2 activities planned. One is the tye-dye one (which she needed the link to make sure it was going to be "done the right way" and then posts her way that is much better, according to her) and the other is Toy-Town. Anyone can plan activities so why she doesn't plan some of her own, I have no idea. I am so annoyed - can't you tell!!!!!! Then the leader of the entire co-op responds that some people (that would include me) have taken over and made this group something it's not supposed to be. It was designed for those with older homeschooled children to have a place and group for their younger not quite homeschool age children, not really for those of us with the younger age children who are just starting out homeschooling, if that makes any sense. What a mess! I have no idea why groups cannot be created and have fun without all the drama that seems to be a prerequisite for these groups!!!

But on another homeschool note, L is doing great reading!!! We have been doing workbook pages everyday this week from a kindergarten book and she is way beyond that. Even the math part is coming easy for her (thank goodness!). I spent part of the morning researching curriculum for her. I think I like this one the best so far. It is not a faith-based curriculum (a requirement per Daddy Piper) and it has the things I like best about it, a laid out lesson plan with exactly what to do and when! I think I will get it or at least research it a little more to find out if it's the best fit for our family.

Baby #3 Update

My c-section is officially scheduled for 10/15 @ 5:00 PM. The time kinda stinks because I have to fast all day and that means I'll be anxiously watching a clock all darn day. But on the other hand, it's kinda good because then the kids won't have to wake up early and be taken anywhere and no one needs to stay the night the night before. I was looking forward to that last night alone as a family of 4, before we embark on the path as a family of 5.

Now if the baby would stay put for the scheduled c-section.....

Sad Day

We attended our first funeral together today. In the 11+ years we have been together, Daddy Piper and I have never attended a funeral together (isn't that great!). We broke that lucky streak today. Our neighbor and friend lost their son a week or so ago. He had Cerebral Palsy. He lived 16, almost 17 years. That is a long time for someone with CP. He was such a happy spirit. We attended the funeral today. We brought along our children, much to the dismay of some people. The funeral lasted about 2 hours. The kids sat quietly through the entire service, which was beautiful. They really celebrated his life and didn't focus on the death but on the idea that he is going on to a better place. It was an uplifting service, for a funeral anyway. The casket was closed for the entire service until the last few minutes where everyone could go up for a final viewing. We chose not to. This was the hardest part of the service for me and for Daddy Piper. The mother of the deceased lost it during this part. It was so hard for me because I can't imagine, as a mother, to have to bury your child. This must be the hardest, most difficult thing for a parent to endure.

Thank you God for my children, my wonderful healthy children.

Big Maternity Pic

Our 16 x 20 picture came from Shutterfly today. It looks so good. I really, really like it. It is very different than the other 2 pictures (which are very different from each other). I can't wait to get it framed and up on the "Maternity Wall"!!

Dr Appt Update

Went to the dr today. Things are still "no change". We are on for 10/15 to have this new little one. I surely thought it was coming earlier today though. I had some WICKED contractions, similar to when I was in the hospital having L and they inserted a balloon catheter while I was on Pitocin - MISERABLE!! The contractions medicine wasn't controlling them. It took an hour to get the contractions to slow down and then another hour or so to get them stopped. But they did stop, so no hospital visit. The dr had said he would stop the contractions before 36 weeks but after 36, he'll let me go and just take the baby. Well - that's next Wednesday so if these contractions come on again anytime after next Wednesday, we'll be having this baby.

The bright spot of the day were my wonderful children. They were so good. They entertained themselves during my few hours of contraction hell. L even rubbed my back for me for awhile - what a sweetie she is!! They are such good kids :- )

MOPS day again....

We had a fun time at MOPS today - all 3 of us. I put S back in the 3 & 4 year old room with his big sis and all went well for them. They had a blast with a bit more structured playtime - including playing outside on the playpark, highlight of the morning for them :-) They are learning more about God. This has brought up some interesting questions from the resident genius around here. I enjoyed conversing with other moms and even volunteered to be our table leader!

Tomorrow is another dr appt. Hopefully I haven't dilated any. We should talk more about the specifics of this upcoming c-section (3 1/2 weeks away). I wonder if he'll just take it early????

Fortunate

I look around at our family with an involved father, 2 healthy kids and another on the way, our home, our fridge and pantry full of food, our new(er) van, all the "stuff" we have and feel so fortunate that we have all the essentials and more in our life. I know Daddy Piper works hard to provide for our family, I work hard to put his resources to best use but still - we are so blessed to have all of this. I hope to always remember that we have all the needs and some wants in our life while others don't.

Thank you God for your blessings on our family. Please help me to remember those less fortunate and help me to help them.

Maternity Photos

So I was so upset yesterday about our maternity pictures. Daddy Piper was great - saying we'll just try to do some at home. This was a major disappointment to me. I thought "We are never going to get good ones at home - just something that will be okay... not great". I was wrong. Yep I admit here - I was WRONG. We got a few good ones today. Like a few wonderful ones that I am so pleased with.

We set up the camera on the tripod. Daddy Piper got a few good ones of me and the kids and then he got in the picture himself (the main goal of the shoot - a family picture proudly displaying my belly, like the other 2). The kids had fun, pics look great and I spent less than $40 getting a ton of pics from Shutterfly!

Maternity Pics Gone Awry!

I am so upset right now. I'll start at the beginning. We have done maternity pics with both of our kids and of course I wanted (needed?) to do them with this baby too. I had looked at our photography who did them last time but her prices have skyrocketed so I picked another one, more reasonably priced. Unfortunately she is located on the other side of the world (I thought about an hour) from us. Well after talking with Daddy Piper yesterday afternoon, he said she was closer to an hour and 1/2 from us. The way I feel these days, I didn't want to make that drive and I KNEW he didn't want to for sure (when you drive for a living all week, the last thing you want to do is drive somewhere on the weekend). So I rescheduled her for our newborn pics (I already had a deposit with her) and I scheduled an appt at a place closer to us. I didn't think they would be all that great but they would suffice, it was closer and cheaper. I explained to them on the phone exactly what I was looking for and they were happy to oblige. Cut to today. We get there (after waking S from his nap to make it on time), they are running late, whatever let's just do these. We get with the photographer in the room with the black background and I show him what I want. He informs me they don't do bare belly shots - against company policy. Well why in the hell didn't the person who scheduled the appt yesterday tell me that?!?! We left with me crying. I was and am still so upset. It was a worthless trip and I still have no maternity pictures :- (

U/S, Baby Chain and other Misc. Stuff

We had another u/s today. Baby was measuring small last week, according to a physical measurement. Baby measured just fine on the u/s today. Of course, she did mention that the femur bone was on the small side of average but went on to ask what did the doc expect when I am obviously small :- ) The head and other measurements all came back fine. Baby weighs about 4.5 pounds - right on schedule. The kids enjoy the u/s appointments. They mostly love hearing the heartbeat, which was 139 today. Great to see the little munchkin!!!

We made a baby chain a few weeks back (about 5 weeks ago) to countdown the birth of the baby. It helps the kids be able to see how many weeks are left until the c-section. Also eliminates the million questions I was getting on how much longer till baby gets here.

L needed a haircut today since her hair has been super tangly lately and since we are getting our maternity pics done on Saturday. We are growing S's hair out a bit and it looks super cute - like a surfer dude since he has this awesome tan going. He was upset he didn't get a haircut and proceeded to tell me he needed one and I said no and he responded with "But my hair looks scraggly" Now I ask - where did my 2 1/2 year old learn the word scraggly?????

Sunday Update

I have been having way more contractions than I should at this point. I am on the medicine almost constantly trying to control them. This is the main story of the day.

I got up with the kiddos @ 6:30 this morning and started the day not feeling so hot. I woke Daddy Piper up and he came out while I took a bath to calm the contractions before taking more medicine - it didn't help. He had work outside so the kids were mine for a few hours. They were not in the best of moods today. I think L isn't getting enough rest with S waking her up in the morning.

I totally YELLED at the kids and lost my cool this morning. I felt so bad and hated that I acted like my mother. I hate that raging feeling. I was in the middle of the terbutline kicking in, while having contractions and their whining was on my last nerve. All just excuses for my bad behavior. I apologized and they forgave me. I hope it doesn't happen again like that for awhile, if ever. At least I knew to apologize and hope they don't remember episodes like this.

Daddy Piper finished up truck work and came in. I rested for about 3 hours while Daddy Piper handled the chitlens. More contractions are the reason for this downtime for Mama.

Daddy took the kids for a bike ride this evening. We loaded up L's bike and took her to the asphalt to ride. She did great on that. I walked by them for a bit and took pictures. Then he put both of them in the bike trailer and went on a longer ride. The weather is getting nice enough to be able to do this now!!

All in all - a wonderful day minus a couple bumps in the road. I was happy that Daddy Piper spend some quality time with the kids today. They have been needing that time with him since things haven't been so hot around here for the last few weeks.

New Dance Outfit

L got a new dance outfit for her birthday from our friends in MN. It is so cute. She got a ton of compliments on it. Here are a couple of pics of her modeling it before class on Tuesday.

More Swim Lessons

L began another round of swim lessons today, at a different facility. She had fun. I hope she learns something though from this session since it is a 5-1 ratio - quite different than the 1-1 and 2-1 ratio she had previously. It was fun for us to watch her though. Us being me and S. I had to bring S along with since he was crying hysterically when it was time for me to go. Neither of my kids like to be left behind when the van starts to leave the driveway. I remember being like that as a kid too! Parents had to sit a ways from the lessons and when she got done, she was looking all over for me. I felt so bad not being right there when she hopped out of the pool. She looked so lost and a bit scared. She was happy to see her mama though!!

Waterpark

We went to the waterpark again yesterday (working on my tan for my upcoming maternity photo shoot, which I hope to make it to!). L made a friend - which was nice for her. S hung out near his Mama like he enjoys :- ) Here are some pics from the fun time we had again! I promise it was fun - despite the grumpy looks in the last shot.

MOPS

The kids and I went to our first MOPS meeting today. I was really looking forward to joining a group like this - for myself and the children. It didn't go exactly as I had hoped but I am optimistic that the next meeting and those thereafter will be better. To start off the morning - S didn't want to stay in the 2 year old room. He was fine when I dropped him off and then within a few minutes was crying hysterically. Knowing I wouldn't be able to have a good time during the MOPS meeting thing, I made the decision to take him over to the 3 & 4 year old room where his sister was and he did fine there. No more tears! L had a great time playing with all the fun toys and other little ones her age. She really liked the playhouse!!

The MOPS thing itself was kinda uncomfortable to start with since I didn't know anybody but I quickly got over than when I realized that no one else at the table knew anyone else either. It seems like a fun group of women. Today was mainly administrative/business type stuff about the upcoming year. I hope it gets better from here. The kids had fun in their room and are looking forward to going back so we'll see how the next meeting goes in 2 weeks.

Dr Appt

I had my 32 week OB check today. I was put on Trebutiline for the contractions. I also have another u/s appt for next week to check baby's size. I haven't gained much weight or really grown in 2 weeks so they want to check on the baby's growth. The kids and I went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch afterwards. It was fun! They usually eat a pretty healthy lunch because they know the sundae bar is open and waiting for them :- )

Scratch Back

Daddy Piper has started this (horrible) routine with the kids. He has scratched their backs while they are falling asleep. So now they get bedtime or naptime kisses and they roll over and insist on back scratching. It is just a quirky little thing I wanted to remember :-)