Numbers

4 - the number of pounds I have gained in 18 weeks of being pregnant

4.15.09 - the date of my next sonogram/ultrasound, hopefully gender will be revealed

12 - cost (in dollars) of the fondue thing I had last night that was amazing and totally worth the belly ache today.

31 - Littleman's weight in pounds

2 - houses I have bought

57 - number of days until I see my dad and his family again

15 - years I have loved my husband

1650 - miles between me and the hills, mountains, and trees of upstate NY

20 - average number of times I hear the word "boobies" in a day

6 - average loads of laundry I do in a week

55 - average minutes I last in a high impact aerobics class

3 - minimun number of times I empty my bladder before waking up for the day

50 - ounces of water I drink in a day

1 - oranges I consume in a day

365 - days since we lost Papabear's dad

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Highlights of the week

Howdy.  My mom left this morning.  We had a very nice week.  Here are pictures of the highlights.

More fire-fighting.

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Practicing grandma time...

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This little darling loves to sleep on me....heavenly when she does. :)

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The boys.

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The girls

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A sleepy Littleman at the circus.

 

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Apparently, riding this elephant scared the pants off of my mom.  She put on her brave face for Littleman, though.

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Papabear hooked me up with a new bike.  My old one I've had since my 16th birthday - it was time for something a little nicer and so it is!

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Some gardening time with Mormor.

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Checking out downtown.

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And one of me and my boy.

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My mom made those planters as house warming presents.  They are beautiful and give the back yard some color.  I bought a blueberry bush (not pictured).  We'll see how that goes.

Throughout the week Papabear's mother suffered immeasurably.  Because the nurses did not follow the orders in the chart to tape down her eye, she ended up with an infection.  A week after her brain surgery she had to have another invasive procedure (literally surgically implanting a piece of gold in her eyelid so it would blink).  She was discharged on Friday only to be rushed to the ER yesterday (Saturday) due to some complications that could have been life threatening.  Luckily the ER doc was on the ball and got her all sorted out.  She is finally at home, resting comfortably.  Although all of this sounds awful (and it has been), she is doing great.  The brain surgery was a success and it seems the complications are all going to heal and such.  Papabear has written a strongly worded letter to the hospital that discharged his mother citing the numerous mistakes they made post-op that could have seriously jeopardized Mrs. B's quality of life.

Okay, I just paused to see what Littleman is up to.  He and Papabear are nearly passed out on the couch.  Littleman has been up past his bedtime nearly every night his Mormor was here (understandably).  So he is just spent.  Papabear reorganized the garage and did some gardening...is it bad that he's letting Littleman watch Casino Royale??? Um...I think yes.  Need to change the channel now.  Adios.

*edited moments after posting to include this pic:

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Guess I don't need to worry about him seeing a rated-R film just yet....

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Mormor has arrived!

My mom has been here for less than an hour.  After a tour of the new house, she and Liam promptly retreated to her room and shut the door.  She had promised him a special surprise and he was busting at the seams by the time we got home from the airport.  When they decended the stairs, they nearly took my breath away. 

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God, I love my mom. :)

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Mrs. B's surgery

I have found that the primary way in which I deal with highly stressful situations is to NOT think about them until they are upon me.  Hence, I hadn't been very stressed about Mrs. B's (Papabear's mom's) surgery until the night before when we went to give her hugs and such.  Since then, I have kind have been a wreck. 

She went in at 7 am yesterday and is in the ICU recovering at the moment.  The surgery took over five hours but the doctors reported they were able to get what they believe is "all" of the tumor/mass/growth (it will be biopsied, but they say it is benign).  Papabear went to see her after work and said she looks pretty good.  She has some facial paralysis, and the doctors are not sure yet if it will be permanent.  He also said they only had to shave a very small bit of her head - which in the big scheme of things does not seem important, but you women know that it does make a difference.  I haven't been to see her - Littleman is not allowed in the ICU and the hospital is an hour away.  I want to give her a hug so bad it hurts.  :(  I'm sure I'll see her this weekend, either when she's moved into a recovery room or if Papabear and I take turns.

For dinner last night I took Littleman to a chuckie cheese type place called "Peter Piper Pizza."  He loves running around wasting tokens, climbing on the indoor play structure, eating pizza, and claiming worthless plastic toys with the meager tickets he wins (oddly, I won the jackpot, again, so he actually made out okay) - Anyway, I thought it would be a good way to distract us since Papabear would not be home for dinner, it seemed like a good idea.  While we were there I couldn't smile or laugh.  All I wanted to do was cry.  I understood this - I was worried and filled with anxiety for Mrs. B.  But something much more profound dawned on me.  The feeling I was feeling - was VERY familiar to how I felt from about October to December...

Looking back,  I am pretty certain that, yes, I was suffering from some mild form of depression because I felt like that every single day for weeks and weeks.  Joyless, sad, and anxious - all very NOT-shinesalot type feelings.  Last night it felt okay, though,  in the sense that I knew it would pass and that it was related to a very specific event.  It was a very weird moment, though.  I am not used to feeling like that...and I don't want it to come back soon.  I feel better today.  The knot at the base of my neck is a little less tight than it was yesterday...and my shoulders don't feel like they will snap...hmmm...I sure could use a massage....anyway, now it's time to focus on recovery.

In other news, last night I had the the freakiest dream ever - Papabear's dad came to visit me...and at this moment I am still not sure whether or not ghosts or angels exist.  I know it was just a dream...but guys, it was something else...

Littleman has been wonderful.  Saying really cute things  (in addition to his boobie talk "Mom, your boobies are tickling the baby" - to which he has added lots of "poopie" talk, such as,  "Mom, I pooped in your eye.")  Cute things include, "I just love fresh grass!"  or "Mom, look at those cherry flossoms." (He can't quite say blossoms...he also still says "BOL-cano" instead of volcano...and yeah, he says it with all capital letters.)  

Many are convinced I am prego with a girl, due to all the strange cravings/aversions and the fact that I had none with Littleman.  I wish I could be so sure.  My next ultrasound is in about a month...you all know I'll be happy with whatever I get...it would be nice to mix it up a bit with a girl, though....as much as Littleman wants a brother...I'll just take healthy and be happy with that. 

Texas weather is CRAZY in March.  We'll have three or four days of 75 to 80 degrees and then three or four days of 37 to 45 degree!  That really is crazy.  I hope it's nice next week when my mom comes to visit.  Thanks to the warm days all the trees are turning green and there are cherry blossoms all over.  Very pretty...and lovely when it's not 40 degrees and raining!

Well, I am starving.  I'll keep you posted on the Papabear's mom.  

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Oranges

Oranges oranges oranges oranges oranges...mmmmmmmmm....yummy oranges oranges oranges oranges.......

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Boobs and a thumb

So, whilst preparing dinner I chopped off a small piece of my thumb.  Papabear is currently finishing the Pork and Apple Pan Fry I was working on.  Ug.  It throbs...and I am sure trying to shampoo my hair tomorrow will suck.  Ug.

So, Littleman is OBSESSED with boobs.  The other day we went to pick up daddy's dry cleaning.  Usually the person who comes out to the car is an older Asian man, but THAT day it was a beautiful 19-something hottie.  I gave her my name and the credit card, she walked into the store and Littleman says, "She's nice."

Me: Do you like her?

L: She has boobies.

Me: WHAT?

L: I like boobies.  Mommy, I like your boobies.

Me: (trying like hell not to fall out of the car laughing...) OH.

Later, at the pharmacy drive thru, Littleman chirps to the pharmacist, "Hey man!  I like boobies!"  Thankfully, the guy did not understand him and just thought he was being cute and offered him a lollipop.  Perfect - a reward for shouting, "I like boobies!"  Of course, at dinner I had to tell Papabear all about it and we were all laughing our heads off...and you guys know me, I naturally told any one within listening distance over the course of the next couple of days this funny tale.  So now, I have completely solidified in Littleman that talking about boobies will get you loads of laughs and attention.  Yep, classic good parenting right there. 

The latest pregnancy news: the first trimester is actually over and I really do feel a billion times better!  I have energy and I am not feeling sick all night long.  As a matter of fact, I'm ravenous.  All I want to do is eat oranges and apples and strawberries.  I'm on some kind of vitamin C kick - I can't get enough of oranges and strawberries.  Speaking of ravenous, I need some dinner and my dumb thumb is killing me.

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Bowling

We took Littleman bowling for the first time today.  He really needed some kind of reward for being such a trouper throughout this whole moving fiasco.  His whole little world has been turned upside down and instead of playdates with friends and quiet nap times, he endured a week of entertaining himself amid a sea of boxes and busy parents.  Not to mention, some serious daddy-time was needed.

So, the bowling.  We took him to a place called Strikz.  It's probably a national chain, but in case you are not familiar with this kind of place, it's NOTHING like the bowling joints our parents took us to when we were kids.  It's one of those places on heroin.  Yes, there are highly polished lanes with pins at the end and racks of bowling balls of various colors and weight to choose from.  There's a snack bar and smelly bowling shoes to rent.  BUT, there is also a full on arcade complete with skee-ball and "ticket redemption" area where 9000 tickets will earn you a plastic mug with "Strikz" handsomely printed on the side.  The place is fully equipped with "cosmic" bowling, even on Sunday morning.  So, we were bowling in "black light" with Jonas Brothers and High School Musical tunes attempting to really mess up our scores.

The really cool thing about the new-fangled bowling alley is the "computerized" lanes.  When you pay for your game, they type in all the players names and which ones will require bumpers.  So, every time it was Littleman's turn, the bumpers automatically come down and retract when his turn is over.  Pretty cool.  We had such a good time.  We showed him how to swing the ball between his legs and after two or three tries he didn't even want us to walk up with him.  He'd stand at the top of the lane, hands on hips, waiting to see if his ball would knock over any pins.  It might be the cutest we've seen him yet.  He squealed on the top of his lungs every time his turn was over and EVERY time Papabear and I had a turn.  He gave good luck kisses and high fives.  He LOVED that his shoe laces and spiderman t-shirt glowed.  After each turn he'd run back to me and shout, "MY shoelaces are GLOWING!"  That was apparently more exciting that knocking down some pins.  It was a very fun time.

We were given $9 in complimentary arcade tokens.  When we had $0.75 left, and 12 tickets to redeem Papabear was ready to head out for lunch.  I told him to wait one second while I play our last bit on one of those token-jackpot type games.  It's a bunch of lights in a big circle.  You hit start and the light goes round and round and try to hit stop when the light lands on "jackpot."  You can't lose.  The least amount of tickets you can win is 5.  But guess who hit the jackpot on her first try?  Yup.  340 tickets!!!  And what did Littleman want at the redemption counter?  A dum-dum lollipop! (10 tickets)  NO, we did not get him 34 of them.   He got a tiny flashlight, some farting slime, and a squishy blue ball.  What fun.

Bowling is a past time that fills me with all sorts of good feelings.  After my parents divorce, my dad would take Chuckie and I bowling on many of the weekends we were with him.  He taught us proper form (none of us are bowling league material, but we can hit the pins pretty consistently - I had 3 strikes and a spare today and I haven't bowled in over a year!).  My dad also taught us bowling alley etiquette and that it doesn't matter how many pins you knock down as long as you're having fun. I'm sure my brother and I would get pissed if the other had a higher score, but really, I don't remember any of that.  I just remember having fun as a family, together.  And today I gave that to Littleman...and his future sibling, who I am sure loved the sound of the balls thundering down the lanes and crashing at the end....speaking of which, I hear an orange in the fridge calling our names.

Oh wait, you might also like to know that I beat Papabear 101 to 100 on the second game!  I think Littleman scored 41 - whoo-hoo!

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