To Know or Not to Know????

That is the question!!!!

My friend Jaime asked me a very important question. So important that I thought I would blog about it.

A week from today is the ultrasound. The big 20 week ultrasound that can tell you the all important answer - girl or boy!!

This time around is a little different. We have a girl. We have a boy. Life is complete. This is a bonus round. Soooooo, in my mind, I think it would be very fun to wait until the end to find out the all important answer.

But then there is my heart or is it my total lack of patience that has been eating at me lately. The closer the day comes, the more the decision to find out is consuming my thoughts. My impatience is peaking and I think I won't be able to control myself. I mean the ultrasound tech will have the power to direct the wand and find out the important answer. All I have to do is tell her to do it. Oh my word, it is torturous to think about it!!!!

This whole situation is driving my mother bananas. I never knew the answer was so important to her. But when I first told her that we were going to wait to find out, she went nuts!!! It was so funny!! I have never had this power of annoyance over my mom!! It is pretty funny!!!

So to know or not to know???? I can't make up my mind!!!! I still have 6 more days to decide.

The Return of High School Football

We have waited a whole year for the return of high school football (and a whole lifetime for Brandon's senior year). Jillian has been so excited and impatiently waiting for the time to go to Brandon's game. We actually went a couple of weeks ago and Rocco was HORRIBLE. I did not get a single picture and we left very, very early because it just wasn't working.

But Friday night, the kids were ready and we tried again. This time, they were perfect!!!!

Here is Jillian's favorite part.....the snake.



Here she is with her second favorite part.....popcorn. (Jillian refused to listen about her color choices before the game. The other team was red. We are green. But she insisted on wearing her beautiful red dress and not the green dress I had set out for her. She knows her stuff. She does look cute!)


I love this picture!! Rocco is ready for football!!! Do they make teams for 20 month olds?? He would be a middle linebacker for sure!!!!



Here's Brandon!! He pretended that he didn't hear his crazy Aunt Ashley screaming at him to turn around and smile for the camera!! Isn't he huge??? He is the original linebacker for Rocco to look up to!

Here is Rocco getting some football tips from Uncle Matt! He was listening very closely!!

Hopefully the kids' great behavior will continue and we can enjoy the rest of Brandon's season!!

The Responsible Decision

Grrrr! I hate even writing the title!!! I used to be a fun girl!!! I used to be that girl with big dreams, exciting adventures, hilarious tales, etc. Then.......I had kids. Now my exciting lifestyle of traveling round the world has morphed into a crazy life with exciting tales from my kids. Don't get me wrong! I love my life. I wouldn't change it for anything but I am not in the position anymore to drop everything on a whim and fly to St. Lucia!!!

BUT I have been dreaming a particular dream........one that is exciting........one that involves traveling.......one that will be so much fun......it even involves a castle!!!!!!

I have realllllllllllly, reallllllllllllly, reallllllllly been wanting to take the kids to Disney World!!!! Especially since Miss J is obsessed with these ladies. well, actually princesses.

I know the kids are young, but some of the vacay is for me too! Darn it, I love the princesses too! Especially Belle. Hello, a princess who loves to read??? That is right up my alley!!! But then there are also these two.....

I just love them!!! I really want Jillian and Rocco to be Min & Mick for Halloween but I can't find a toddler Mickey for Roc. Soooooooo, me and my Mom have been planning like crazy. We have been reading books like this....

But it is very hard to plan a vacation when your husband has every 6th weekend off and the school year has started. I did not let the details stop me. I kept on planning!!!! We wanted December when Bryan has off and I have off. We could see Disney at Christmas!! How awesome!! How perfect!!!! Even though crowded, even though expensive, I kept telling myself....I think I can, I think I can.

But then this happened.......

WHAT?????????!!!

Do you hear the tires screeching to a halt???????

After some serious princess soul-searching, even though Jillian, my mom and I really WANT to go to that famous castle

I really NEED this. Three words sum it up: WANTS VS. NEEDS.

ohhhhh not that!!!!!!!! Yes, folks I am in serious need to one of these!!!!!

With three kids in car seats and the oldest nowhere near ready for a booster, my dream of Disney World has been paused. Ohhhhh, the pain of saying that sentence!!!!! Knocks me to my knees!!!!

Sooooooo, the Disney dream has been put on hold until next year. (Even though I can't quite put that dream together since it now includes 3 children 4 and under.) We have downsized our December vacation plans to Ruidoso. Exciting, right?? Fun, right?? Skiing, right? NO darn it - pregnant.........drat!!! Jillian will get to ski for the first time so she and Bryan can live the exciting life!!!

Bryan and I have now started looking for a minivan that will fit our new growing family.

And I will keep dreaming how to keep things fun and exciting in my new hoop-tee!!!!

100 years

Yesterday, our church turned 100 years old!!!!! The Church was decorated beautifully. The service and the music were awesome.

The tables for lunch were decorated with the most gorgeous flowers.

My kids were looking cute!!!! (Jillian loves to hold her dresses the way Princess Aurora holds her dress when she dances with Prince Philip. Can you see the princesses that are smocked on her dress?? Can you say obsessed much???? Gotta love her!!!!)

We had bounce houses!!!!

Summer and Gavin showed up to celebrate with us!!!

We made super cool necklaces and glasses!!!!

HEB let Bryan off just long enough to celebrate with us!!!!

It was a great day!!!!

The Hits Keep Coming

Rocco is on the mend.

Jillian has fever. (Dr. said this morning that it was viral and to give Motrin.)

Bryan has got what they've got. He is snotty, achy and cranky!!!

AND

I broke my toe. That's right broke.

When Rocco threw for the 100th time b/c of the snotty drainage, I got his sheets off, loaded up the laundry high in my arms and walked down the stairs (with no injuries) and misjudged the door to the laundry room. Ran right into the door!!!!!

Sh@#%$^!!@@ That's what I wanted to say but I had the kids right by me. Sorry for the ugly feet picture but around here most everything is ug right now.

Bound to get better!! Bryan has his first weekend off in 6 weeks!!!!

Back in the Saddle Again

We just had our first rainstorm in months and the kids are back at school so you know what that means.......

sickness!!!!

Both are snotty! Rocco has ear infections!! Both are getting breathing treatments!! It is a regular infirmary around here!

Jillian has been taking hers like a champ. I reward her with cartoons on the TV and she sits and watches quietly and breathes in the medicine.

Rocco is another story. He is not yet quite old enough to understand a bribe. He basically screams and fights you the entire time. Fun!!!!

I am really scared to what "winter" (cuz I live in south TX) will bring.

Shoeless Rocco Harrison

On Friday, I took both kids to school fully-clothed and ready to go. Both wear their Easter crocs almost every day and Friday was no exception. 'Cept.....when I picked Rocco up from school Friday afternoon, the teachers told me they could not find one of Rocco's shoes. What???? They said they looked and looked but no shoe.

I doubted the sincerity of their "look" story so I took it upon myself to search the entire room, every shelf, every students' cubbies but I could not find the missing green croc. Grrrrrrr!!!!!! This is Rocco's only pair of shoes. Seriously! The only pair of shoes that fits his gigantic 90th percentile feet. He wears them everyday including school, church, errands, etc. I was sooooo irritated. I let the teachers and the administration know of my irritation. I think I am entitled to a discount on this week's tuition. But I left on Friday with one shoe missing and no refund.

On Saturday, my mom and I took the kids to a shoe store because she had a coupon. Let's just say it did not go well. The kids were running through the store knocking every display shoe off the shelf. Each pair of shoes that we thought was decent did not have his size available. We tried to get Jillian a pair of tennis shoes and she threw a royal fit which included ripping the tag off. I was so disgusted with my pair, we left almost immediately with Rocco destined to live the rest of his life in socks.

On Sunday, he wore socks to church.

Now to Monday morning.......I had my mind set on speaking again to the powers at be at the kids' school. I just do not think it is acceptable to lose a kids' shoe. Call me crazy!!!!! Well, I spoke to Rocco's morning teacher and told her the ridiculous story from the afternoon teacher and she promised she would search high and low for the missing green croc.

Lo and behold, when I picked up Rocco from school on Monday afternoon, the kid was wearing two green crocs. I don't care how. I don't care to know the lame story (excuse) they would give me. They probably went out and bought new crocs just to get me off their back!!!! I am happy that my kid has his shoes back!!!!

The end.

p.s. I do think it would be wise to have a back up pair of shoes. I am going to work on this idea in the next couple of weeks.

p.p.s. I do think it is a little ghetto of me to send my kid to church every week in green crocs but really I don't think God cares as long as we are there! Jillian wears cute sandals so I think that makes up for it in God's eyes!

p.p.s.s. I also think it is a little ridiculous that I bought a 1 year old a $25 pair of shoes. BUT he does wear them everyday so I think he has worn them about 200 days so that is like 5 cents a day. That's a bargain!!!

What Makes Me Happy

Ya'll know I have a slight problem with my love of clothes. I take that back - my obsession with adorable kids clothes. This is my second favorite time of year when the fall catalogs come in the mail!!! My favorite, favorite is when the spring catalogs come out b/c let's be real - spring clothes are always cuter than fall/winter stuff.

So here is my current loot. Each catalog that comes in, Bryan tries to hide it from me. But I have a sixth sense and catalog radar so I always know when a new one has arrived. My favorites are of course, Kellys Kids and Orient Expressed. The brother/sister stuff cannot be beat!!!

My daughter has caught on to the fun!!!! This is her favorite catalog. Before bed, we cuddle in my bed and get out our catalogs and talk about cute clothes that Santa should bring and American dolls that Jillian thinks would be the perfect gift that she "deserves." Jillian thinks Santa should bring all of the dolls. But at $100 + a doll, I don't think so!!! So we just have fun looking!!

This is the kids getting ready for school this morning. They insist on being on top of the counters and snacking on grapes.

Jillian made a phone call to Fancy Nancy to help decide what she was going to where to school. This is her everyday routine. Fancy Nancy has very good taste in clothes.

Finally, Rocco decided it would be great fun to dump his milk on his face.

It does look fun, doesn't it???

Get ready for a laugh!!

Sorry for the dramatic pause but this week has been CRAZY!!!! I have not had a moment to catch my breath!

I have to say thank you for the 4 comments I got to my announcement. I really had more but they contacted me through email.

I follow this girl's blog (she is linked to Jaime's blog)

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2010/08/message-from-harper.html

and she just made an "announcement" and got 1012 comments. Really!!!! Isn't that crazy??? It got my competitive juices flowing but I was happy with my four and really it was more!!!!!

Anyways, the details.......here is the story.

This summer has been anything but relaxing. With the end of school, the move, the kids, I have been going, going, going and tired all of the time. Nothing unusual.

I visited my OB/GYN at the beginning of June. I was concerned b/c I have not had any monthly visitors since having Rocco. She thought my hormones must be low and suggested I was in "possible early stages of menopause." Her exact words. Oh great, now I can spend the rest of the summer depressed b/c my body is OLD!!!!!! I peed in a cup and they told me it was negative although I never saw it.

During the last week of July, the kids were playing with the dress-up dolls on the floor and I was watching Oprah who had on the crazy Octomom. It started my wheels spinning at 100 mph. I am tired just like the Octomom. Maybe that stomach bug I felt was not a stomach bug but some nausea?? What?????

As crazy as this sounds, I knew I had an old pregnancy test in a box somewhere. I just had to find it. It took me a couple of days of hunting through the boxes in the garage but I found it. Ta-da!!! I saved $12.00. Victory!!!

Since you know the outcome of this story, you know that I saw this.




OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I freaked out!!!!! I didn't have the courage to tell Bryan until two days later. Of course he didn't freak out b/c he takes everything in stride. He said "Cool, we always wanted another." Me, "Yeah, but not right NOW!!!!!" (in a shrill, panicked voice)

But b/c I was just at the Dr.'s office in June, I thought I had caught the pregnancy very early. I thought I was 4-5 weeks. I called the doc, set up an appt. and on my way. Of course, at the appt. we could not date the pregnancy so she ordered an early sonogram. I was annoyed b/c I have had an early sonogram with Jillian and you can't see anything. It looks like a lima bean or just a little blob.

The next week, Bryan and I go to the sonogram and the tech asks how far along I am and I tell her I think 5-7 weeks. She gets out her "magic dildo wand" and I swear to you I screamed. On the screen is not a lima bean or a blob. On the screen is a full-blown baby with arms and legs and fingers and toes, waving at me and mocking me. How did this happen? I was 13 weeks, 1 day. The tech seriously thought I was crazy b/c I was acting like a lunatic. I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. How could I be this far along?????

I told her if this baby was due in January I was going to go postal on her. She very nervously laughed and consulted her wheel and declared with joyful glee: "Oh no, Mrs. P, you are not due in January, you are due in February!!!!!!" Me: Ohhhhhhhhh, b/c that is so different than January?????? Are you insane????? My children will be almost exactly two years apart!!!! She quickly ushered us out and called security.

Before you pass judment on my stupidity of missing my whole first trimester, let me remind you my doc said MENOPAUSE in June. I thought I was washed up. I was tired all summer, but I moved with two small children (and Bryan - that counts). I was tired from the moving, right? I have never had morning sickness with any of my pregnancies so that didn't help give me a clue. Bottom line: I was not looking for any clues.

So now I am almost 16 weeks and truly I am still in some shock and disbelief. How am I going to have 3 children 4 and under???? Who survives that? With a full-time job??


I am hoping and praying that in the next 24 weeks I will figure it out!!!!