Money and More Batteries

     During this last week of pregnancy I've been trying to find the balance between wanting to sleep all the time and trying to do as much as possible with Lily and TJ before the baby comes and I can't anymore.  (And to be honest, I'm hoping that if I push myself to do things that are physically hard for me, I might go into labor a little early.)  So we've been doing things like going for walks, swimming outside, and going grocery shopping.  Yes, these things sound quite simple, but I'm amazed at how not simple they can be when you're 9 months pregnant with both a 2 and 3-year-old. 
     So we went grocery shopping this morning because we were almost out of milk and cheese (this equals a disaster in our house).  It went okay, and would have gone great if we hadn't needed to go to the post office afterwards, which just pushed it too far. 
     When we got home, it was very much time for an afternoon nap.  After a lot of tears, I finally got TJ to go to sleep, and moved on to help Lily.  She asked me, like she always does, "But what are we going to do after our naps?"
I said, "I don't know, what do you want to do?" 
She said, "Go shoppin'". 
"But we just went shopping."
"I just want to go shoppin' to a different kind of store."
"Um, I don't think we have enough money to go shoppinig for things for no reason."
"OHHHHH okay, we ran out of money?"
"Um, yah, kind of."
"Then I guess we just better buy some money.  And more batteries."
"Buy some money and more batteries?"
"Yah."
"Good idea."

     Was this a possible teaching moment?  Probably.  I could have gone into how we earn money by working hard and...um...something else very wise.  But I didn't.  Because I was tired.  And she was cute.  Maybe next time.  I hope having one more little sweetheart to pay attention to doesn't make me miss out on too many conversations like that, because they really make my day.  Plus how else would I realize that we're out of batteries?

Ready

     For the last couple of weeks I've been wishing this baby would just get here.  I suddenly realized though last week that I wasn't technically ready for him to come.  So when I woke up not hurting as much as usually and with slightly more energy, I decided it was the day.  I cleaned, scrubbed, organized/ re-organized, hand-mopped, disinfected, and did ALL of our laundry.  It took about two days to do the bulk of it.  My kids mostly watched movies all day for two days, with the exception of when I had them help clean their room.  Which, by the way, Lily was actually very helpful with, which was awesome.  Tony finished painting and putting together and building a rail for the new loft we got for the kids at the thrift store (it started out as my project, but he loved me enough to notice that the more pregnant I became, the less likely it was going to happen, and took care of it himself).  The kids seem to finally be getting over their crazy virus they've had for a week, which is a good thing to be done with before a baby should be here.  And Tony's staying late today to figure out sub plans for when he has to miss work.
    
     So it's been a week since we started "getting ready", and now I finally actually feel like if this baby were to come tomorrow, we would be ready for him.  Our kids have also been training us for a newborn this last month or so by waking up about every two hours and needing us for one reason or another...nightmares, sick, fell out of bed, wet the bed, etc.  So between that and already feeling exhausted from being pregnant, we really feel like the baby might as well be here too.  Can somebody please pass that on to the baby?  Because I really haven't figured out how to.  And I'd really appreciate him knowing.  Because it's not up to me when it happens.  Oh, but if it were...

  WE'RE READY!!!!!!

Our Easter Fun

     I hope everybody had an awesome Easter last weekend!  We had a very fun, busy celebration weekend this year.
     Lily and TJ ended up doing 3 separate Easter egg hunts, all on Saturday.  The first was in our living room, where the Easter Bunny left them all sorts of awesome stuff.  They had a fun time finding them, especially Lily.  TJ was a little distracted though...every time he found one he just said, "I kwongwy" (translation: I'm hungry) and just wanted to eat the few he found. 

     Then after all of that excitement was over Tony went to Squire Creek to work at their Easter Party there.  He called about an hour later to see if we wanted to come to it, and I thought it would be fun for them to see the Easter Bunny.  So we all got ready and headed out there for Easter bash #2.  It was a gorgeous hot day (which Tony informed me was actually just warm, apparently I'm just pregnant) and they were really excited to meet the Easter bunny.  TJ especially was on his tippy toes in line and could hardly contain his excitement trying to see this bunny.  Lily hung back a little, he scared her a lot.  I debated whether or not I should tell them that this Easter Bunny was actually their Daddy in dress-ups.  I decided not to at first, but when it was our turn to take a picture TJ got a little nervous and Lily was terrified.  We couldn't even make her get close to him.  So I decided to tell her it was Tony.  She even peaked inside his mask, but still she would not take a picture with him unless I was holding her, and even then she was not happy about it.  She warmed up eventually during the Easter egg hunt and gave him a high five, but that was it.
     When TJ found out it was Tony he was pretty excited.  It was hard to tell if he was thinking that his daddy was dressed up like the Easter bunny, or if his daddy was the Easter bunny.  Either way, he kept track of that bunny for the rest of the morning, giving him a high five or a hug every chance he got.  He kept saying, "Where Bunny Daddy?" whenever he couldn't see him.

Lily really got into this Easter egg hunt.  She just rab right out there with the other kids and got a big bag full.

 

Later that evening the kids went over to Grandma and Grandpa Dunlop's house.  They had one more Easter Egg hunt and had a fun time playing there.  Tony and I were attempting a date night before the baby gets here  but it was cut a little short.  We had almost made it to West Monroe before our van made a crazy sound and gray smoke started coming from the hood.  It turns out it was just he A/C and we could have just turned it off and moved on, but we didn't know that at the time, so we went home.  

Then on Sunday after church we went back to Grandma and Grandpa Dunlop's for dinner and some fun times with family.

Lily's in her Easter Outfit

TJ in his new studly Easter suit.

Trying to pose for a cousin picture at the Dunlop's.  Does anybody know how to make 3 kids look and smile all at once?

 Happy (Late) Easter!!!

My Day

     I kind of feel like the majority of my day is spent between feeding kids and trying to get them to sleep.  Both Lily and TJ don't do well without naps, but lately their imaginations have been really taking off and trying to get them to go to sleep in the same room seems to be getting more difficult.

     So for the last 2 hours my little sweethearts have been "taking a nap".  Every ten minutes or so I yell towards their room "Go to sleep, please!".  They wait a few minutes and then I hear Lily say something like "A SPACE STORM!!!"  And TJ responds with "LOOK OUT, A STAR!!"  So I go into their room to put them back in their beds, and TJ says, "but a space storm".  So I tell them to hide from the space storm under their blankets.  They're super excited about that, and I go back to folding laundry.  For 10 minutes or so anyway.  And then I hear a bunch of giggling and screaming.  Both of them are on Lily's bed with about a thousand toys.  Lily looks up and says, "Sorry I made my bed a mess.  It's just that...I wanted to mess it all up."  Oh...that explains it then I guess.  I put them back in bed, come back out to try and do something (anything).  Have to go back in at least 4 more times.  Around the 5th time, I go back to find TJ on Lily's bed.  But it's not a bed, he informs me in his sweetest most innocent "I'm cute" voice, it's a boat.  I tuck them both back in and ask them in my most convincing fake stern voice to go back to sleep.  But I'm not good at being stern when I think something is cute.  So a few minutes later TJ walks in with his shirt off to tell me something in his 2-year-old language that even I could not understand.  So I followed him back to his room to find Lily hiding in a toy box (toys dumped out of course) also with her shirt off.  I ask Lily why they took their shirts off.  Something about their shirts getting too close to their heads.  Right.  Anyway one more time, back in bed.  Then I hear a crash followed by some crying.  TJ runs out to tell me Lily's crying.  (So helpful).  According to Lily, TJ pushed her into the closet.
     So now I'm starting to get a little frustrated.  I really have nowhere to be today, if naps take all day long it's not the end of the world.  But I can tell they're really tired, and I don't want to give up yet, besides this time that they spend not actually napping is some of their best imaginary play time.  And since they think they're supposed to be sleeping, they don't come out of their room too much to ask to watch a movie...  Oh good, the crying has stopped and now I hear that we're back to a space storm.  At this rate, maybe they'll be fast asleep when Tony gets home and he and I can take a nap too.  After all, we were awake at 4:00am...then again at 5:00, then  6:00...my kids can't figure out that they should wait for the sun to come up before it's time to get out of bed.  Sigh...all I know is it's going to be interesting when there's three of them.

     Ok they're both in bed now.  Or more specifically, they're both in Lily's bed (which is a boat again), and I put theLeapfrog Letter Factory movie on for them on our portable DVD player.  Or in other words I give up.  Two and a half hours is officially long enough to try for naps.  Maybe if they sit still for more than 5 minutes they'll fall asleep anyway...or not.  TJ just came to tell me something about Jacey's dress.  Those are two of his favorite things to talk about lately, his friend Jacey and for some reason, dresses.  Also, he wants cheese.  Oh well.  I guess we're back to food, and then (maybe) back to the laundry I guess.  Um...did I mention I freaking love my life?  Because I do.

Chocolate Seduction

     Tony and I need your help.  There is an ice cream flavor that exists, that no other ice cream flavor can ever compare to.  But it was temporary.  They stopped making it in 2006.  It was called Chocolate Seduction Ice Cream, and we miss it.  Dearly.  I seriously think about it a lot.  We used to drive 40 minutes when the stores were out of it in Ruston just so that we could enjoy its delicious goodness.  It was perfect.  So today we decided to write a letter to the makers of this ice cream, Blue Bunny to implore them to bring it back.  Tony and I both wrote a letter.  Will you please follow the link below and help us in this task?   

They MUST BRING IT BACK! 

Okay here's the link:
http://www.bluebunny.com/About/ContactUs.aspx

I'm seriously not joking.   Please.  Do it.  If you want to get me a present for my new baby that will be born into this world in 6 weeks, this is it.  Don't let him be born into a world without Chocolate Seduction ice cream!!!

Update:

     So they actually responded!!  It was the best mail I got all week.  They said that Chocolate Seduction is scheduled for production sometime this year, but can't tell us exactly when, and will forward our comments to the Marketing Department for their review and consideration in adding it to their regular line-up.  YAY!!  That would really make my day.  They also sent 4 coupons for ice cream!

Awesome Mom Moment

      The last few nights have been relatively sleep-free for one reason or another.  Last night the kids woke up crying a couple of times, and since Tony heard them first he got up with them.  So when TJ woke up at 4:00 in the morning crying about his phone (what the heck?) it was officially my turn.  Unfortunately he also woke up Lily, and they were definitely wide awake and up for the morning.  So we got up and had breakfast and started our day and everything.  By 7:00 they were already ready for their naps (I was beyond ready for a nap).  TJ fell asleep pretty quickly, but Lily took longer and kept getting up, so I didn't get to take a nap.  TJ woke up around the time she finally fell asleep, so I put a movie on for him in the living room and went back to my bed.  I thought I locked the doors, but I either didn't, or he's learned to open locks. 
     
    Either way, I woke up about a half an hour later to TJ screaming MOM, MOM!!!  I went to the living room to see what the problem was, only to find my 2-year-old not there, but behind the closed and locked front door.  I opened it to a totally naked TJ, next to a puddle of water he had created with my watering can.  Apparently, he had gotten tired of his diaper (I found it on the floor in the living room, wet) had decided to go outside, and had been out there naked long enough to wander around to the front of the house and play in some water, until he tried to come in through a different locked door and got freaked out that he couldn't get back in. 

Awesome.  

Next step: chain locks too high to reach with a chair?  Or I guess I could not nap anymore.  We'll revisit that option when I'm no longer pregnant.  At this point I'm just glad that our across the street neighbors recently moved and nobody lives there right now to look out their window and see my naked boy.

...4 Months Later

So there have been 4 or 5 posts I meant to do in the last few months: Christmas, new house, and pregnancy Pictures to name a few.  But what can I say, I was busy with Christmas, moving, and being pregnant.:)  Just kidding, I'm just not very good at blogging yet, but I'm new at it, so maybe I'll get better.  I keep thinking I need to take some better pictures first, but then I don't, so I'm just going to go with what I have.  Here's a bit of a catch-up post.
We don't have very many pictures from Christmas, because our camera is broken and all of the pictures we took were with my mom's camera.  But we got a few on Tony's new Ipod on the way home.  It was a long drive, and we got snowed in a few places that we weren't expecting.  It was a fun little adventure, and totally worth it to be with my family for Christmas!

 It was FREEZING- we learned that our van's heater was not meant for -20 degree weather.  We could see our breath in the car the whole time. 

 We got to stay in a few extra hotels though, and the kids had a blast swimming and playing and watching movies for their extra surprise vacation time.

Then as soon as we got home we started moving to our new house!!  It took about a month and was a big headache because I really couldn't lift anything heavy and I was exhausted, but by the end of February we were both moved out of our old apartment, moved in to our new house, and unpacked.  And I'm SOOOOO happy we did it.  Just a few of the things that are awesome that we didn't have before: a yard, an extra bedroom, a deck in the backyard, a washing machine and dryer, food storage shelves, a dining room that's separate from our living room (without carpet!), a carport, windows so I don't feel like I live in a cave anymore, and a kitchen in which I can both open the fridge and open the oven at the same time should I choose to do so!!!  I'm in heaven.  I haven't really taken any pictures specifically of our house, but here are a few of the kids playing in the yard and on our back deck.

TJ and Lily got bikes at a consignment sale.  They can't quite ride them yet.  But they sure like to sit on them!

Swimming in February.  There's got to be some advantage to living in Louisiana, right?

Lily loves to climb our little tree in the front yard.  Lily and TJ are both having such a fun time with all of the dirt, leaves, and now flowers from the bushes in our yard.  We love having a yard!!

Trying to reach the potty treats.  I added this one because it's the only one I could find that showed a little bit of our new house.  But that brings me to other great news...

Lily is Potty Trained!!!! (mostly)

We also got rid of the soothers (or pacifiers for those who don't speak my native tongue) which is fantastic.

      Okay, one more group of pictures.  We all got to go to the Baton Rouge temple for our ward temple trip.  It was great to get to go to the temple, but a very long day.  We had to leave at 4 in the morning to get to the 9:00 session so that Tony could help the youth with baptisms afterward, so then I took the kids over to the Stake Center across the street and try to keep them happy for a couple of hours. 

Lily picked some flowers from the temple grounds (oops).  She's forever picking flowers, she says "for your wedding dress."  I don't know why they're for my wedding dress, but I get lots of flowers every day!

The sleepy ride home in no air conditioning (it was hot).

And last but not least...the preggo picture.  

This is the only one I have, and it's after waking up at four in the morning and traveling for 4 hours, so don't judge it too harshly.

Yay for swollen ankles.