crazy.days

So, Tuesday, I had an OB appointment.  I gained 8 lbs. in November which is, by far, the most I've gained all pregnancy.  My favorite part of the visit?  When my doc walked in, the first things she said was, "I see Thanksgiving was good to you!"  Love it. :)

The baby was hilarious.  We were trying to find the heartbeat, and he/she was not having any of it.  The whole time the baby was kicking and bouncing around trying to get away from the doppler.  I couldn't stop laughing!  I love my baby.

After my appointment, we headed to Steak 'n Shake to have lunch with my mom and my aunt.  Claire had been complaining of stomach pains all morning, and she wasn't sure if was going to #2 or puke. 

At the restaurant, they thankfully sat us in a booth, and Claire pretty much laid down most of the time we were there.  We had plastic bags just in case something came up!! 

While eating lunch, my mom looks down, and Amelia was pottying in her high chair.  Lovely.  Thankfully, I had packed extra clothes in my purse the day before.  Yay for being prepared!  I got that all cleaned up, and it was time to leave. 

On our way home, I made sure Claire was set up with her bags since she still wasn't feeling well.  We're about 3 minutes into our trip when Meredith starts complaining that her stomach hurts as well.  About 2 minutes later, she shouts, "I need a bag!  I need a bag!"  Totally pukes...thankfully in the bag.

Great.  I thought Claire was sick, and it turns out to be Meredith!  Have no fear.  Claire did not disappoint.  About 8 minutes later, Claire puked as well.  About 30 seconds after that, Meredith puked again.  Mind you, this was all in the van! :)

I was extremely impressed with everyone's ability to effectively hit their bags!  We had more rounds of vomit throughout the day and evening, but we all survived with minimal clean up. 

Thankfully, it was short-lived, and everyone is now back to normal.  The moral of the story is this:  Puke happens.  Potty happens.  And there is definitely a place in this world for plastic bags.  (I'm pretty sure I used about 6 of them in that one hour.)

kickin'.Jesus

Yesterday, Claire was running through the kitchen near the Christmas tree, which has a nativity scene set up nearby.  Thankfully, the nativity scene is kid-friendly...here's what happened:

I hear Claire cry out in pain from the kitchen as she ran through.
Me:  What happened?
Claire:  I just kicked baby Jesus!!

I laughed out loud for a good 8 seconds. 

playroom.makeover

Can I tell you how excited I am about our playroom makeover?!  I have been wanting to seriously organize everything for a long time, but I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to do it.  

I started to doing some research, and I decided to browse the Container Store for some ideas.  Have you seen their prices?  Yikes!  So, I sent Josh this picture:

You know, it WAS on sale for $350 (and it was just the shelving and that container on wheels...no containers)...now back to the regular price of $450.  What?  You think that's too much?  I do.  I figured my handy-dandy hubby could figure out how to do it for much less. 

And what do you know...totally happened.  Thankfully, we had 4 of those shelves in our barn already that weren't being utilized.  That saved us a pretty penny in itself.  We had to purchase one extra shelf (which hasn't arrived yet...it will this week and will be the highest shelf), the brackets, and the containers.  There will also be 3 larger brown bins under the shelving that will house toddler toys, dolls, and stuffed animals.  The store where we're buying them has them on order, but they haven't arrived yet.  SO EXCITED!

On our girls' weekend a couple of weeks ago, we hit an IKEA, and I purchased all of the other containers!  Love them.  Love them.  Love them.

We'll see if our organization lasts.  I'm hoping so because I love it!

Now, I just have to talk my sister into working her publisher magic and making me some labels for my bins! 

a.zillion.things.made.in.china

Loved this conversation with my girls this morning....

Claire:  Mom, this says made in C-h-i-n-a. What does that spell?
Me:  China.  That toy was made in China. 
Claire:  Meredith!  We have a toy that came from China!!!
(Me thinking:  Wow.  My children are soooo not in the know about things made in China.)

The conversation goes on as we pick up lots of their toys to see where they're all made:  Mexico, Switzerland, lots of Chinas.  I inform them that lots and lots of stuff is made in China. 

A bit later...while picking up the pieces to 8 puzzles that Amelia dumped (of course)...

Meredith:  There must be a zillion pieces here!
Me:  Probably not quite a zillion.
Claire:  Is a "zillion" a real number?
Me:  No.
Claire:  Did we make it up?
Me:  No, someone else made it up, but lots of people use it.
Claire:  Who made it up?
Me:  I don't know.
Meredith:  I bet they made it in China. 

Classic.

amelia-isms

This girl cracks me up.  Period.

Don't get me wrong.  She completely wears me out and makes my days crazy.  However, she's in that stage where she's talking about everything.  I can understand about 90% of what she's saying.  The general public understands about 30% of what she's saying.  

Being that she's so "Amelia" right now, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Ameliaisms of the time-being.  

1.  She's in the midst of potty training, and when she goes potty, she gets a skittle (ONE skittle).  Each time she goes to the bathroom, she always looks at me and says, "Three, four, five?"  Like maybe this once, I'll give her a few more! :)  The best part?  It sounds like this..."Free, fo', fi?"

2.  Whomever was in the bathroom prior to Amelia, usually has left it "stinky" (even if they really haven't).  Amelia, however, doesn't always say her "s" sounds so well...they come out more like "k" sounds.  So, people "kink" instead of "stink".  

3.  Being that she's fully 2, she insists on doing everything herself.  "I do."  "I do."  "I do."  Often times, you'll hear me (in my grown up voice) say, "Mommy do." :)

4.  This girl LOVES to hide under blankets.  If you leave her in her bed to go get something for her before she goes to sleep, you will most definitely come back to her sitting straight up in bed under her blanket.  It's completely predictable, and I find it rather adorable (most of the time).  

5.  She copy-cats anything and everything her big sisters do.  E.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

6.  I'm pretty sure she would be happy to brush her teeth all day.

7.  She can't be left alone for longer than about 2 minutes or she'll have something completely undone.  Whenever she's missing for any length of time, I can pretty much bank on having to clean something up! 

Oh, how we love our Little Miss.

really.OLD!

The girls were playing in Amelia's room today.  Meredith came running out...

Meredith:  Mom!  We found some statues back in Amelia's room.

Me:  Statues?  What kind of statues?

Claire:  They're in a box.  I think they're old. 

Me:  Bring them out, and show them to me.

I was trying to figure out what statues were back in Amelia's room.  I don't put many things back there. 

A minute later, the girls come running back out with a familiar box.  I recognized it as one of Josh's trophy boxes from when he was in high school.  His mom gave it to him not too long ago, and I didn't know what to do with it.  It ended up on the floor of Amelia's closet.

Meredith:  This is the box! 

Claire:  Do you know what statues these are?

Me:  Yes, those are from when Daddy was in high school. 

Meredith:  (gasps...and uses a tone in which you would think they found buried treasure) These must be REALLY old!!!

Based on their reactions, I think I might have to check to see if Josh is still alive and well when he gets home from work. :)

pregnancy.brain.round.4

I was out shopping with a bunch of my friends the other day.  Prior to checkout, I was showing them some things that I had picked up. 

One of my findings were some picture frames that I wanted to purchase for the kids' pictures.  I had 3 in my bag. 

And all of a sudden it hit me..."Jackie!  4 kids!  You are getting ready to have your 4th child...you will need 4 picture frames!!"

If I hadn't been playing show-and-tell, I would have walked out of that store with only 3 frames.  Not typically a big deal, but we were in a store that is 3 hours away from my house!  That could have been a problem. 

I promise that I'm not in denial about this baby! :)