Middle of the Night Observations

OK, so if anyone has a real reason I should NEVER sleep again, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm seriously irritated. I went to bed at 8:30, finally fell asleep around 10:30, woke up to go to the bathroom and thought it had to be like 3 or 4. Nope. It was 11:02. WHAT?! I went to the bathroom and cursed Christopher as he slept soundly, snoring and drooling, as I grabbed my pillows and made my way out to the couch. I went to sleep and woke up again to go to the bathroom, convinced it would be like 5 this time. Um, wrong. 2:02. Great. I just watched a show on HGTV about Ed Bagley, Jr. installing some satellite irrigation system and $400 plugs in his house to shut everything in his house off by flipping one switch when he leaves. Swell. Interesting to know, but I'd rather be sleeping.

Who believes this crap on television in the middle of the night? Does anyone REALLY think that Penny on this infomercial bought this information about how to be a power seller on EBay, quit her job, and made $3700 her first week working from home? If you do, you need the "Auctions for Income" system for only $39.95. You can probably buy it on EBay. Patrick is making up to $12,000 a week in sales. He clearly is up in the middle of the night too. And uses Meth so he can be on his computer 24 hours a day to make that money. And DAGMAR averages $5,000-$8,000 a month, which is more than she makes at her full-time job. I think that's a damn lie, because if she really made that much money she'd get her teeth fixed and a new hairstyle before she went on television. Even if it is on in the middle of the night. And what the hell kind of a name is Dagmar?

And I just read an article on Yahoo news about a gang in L.A. The first paragraph made me laugh out loud. Not funny laughing, but laughing because it's so ridiculous. The headline is LA gang F13 accused of targeting blacks. "In a murderous quest aimed at "cleansing" their turf of snitches and rival gangsters, members of one of Los Angeles County's most vicious Latino gangs sometimes killed people just because of their race, an investigation found." HELLO! It's a damn GANG!! Not typically known for their nice behaviors, helpful ways, and tolerance for other people, is it a freaking surprise to anyone that they'll kill someone "just because they're black?" This is the headline article on Yahoo news! Stupid.

I'm sure I'll have more observations, but quite frankly I would rather try to go to sleep than expound about their virtues. . .

Christmas Recap

Well Santa did indeed come. . . the boys were SO excited Christmas morning. Chris and I were actually up before them, and I pointed out that this would probably be the last year we were sitting around on the couch waiting for them to get up. It's so difficult for me to believe that next year at this time David will be almost five (?!), Henry will be almost 4, and Jack will already be almost a year old!!! Seriously, how is that possible?

The boys got LOTS of very nice gifts. Their approach to opening was as different as their personalities are! David went directly to the stocking, dumped it, and opened everything. He really didn't stop to play with anything, with the exception of some cars from the movie "Cars". (Yes, he's still obsessed with that movie.) Henry, on the other hand, went straight for the big guns -- the goodies under the tree. He kept grabbing boxes saying, "It has an H for Henry! I'm opening it." He still had stocking presents to open three days later! Henry is more of the I'll-open-this-and-play-for-a-while-before-moving-on opener. The favorite gift by far has been the Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket. (For those a bit removed from the Playhouse Disney scene, you can see it here! http://www.target.com/Little-Einstein-Pat-Rocket/dp/B000NVW07M/sr=1-1/qid=1198928562/ref=sr_1_1/601-5821251-0932114?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Apat%20pat%20rocket&page=1) The boys are SO into this show and the characters, and they've been playing with the thing non-stop since it was opened. It has created a bit of a dilemma however, since we only have one. David was saying every day for probably 6 weeks before Christmas, "I want Santa to bring me a big Mack." (This enormous Mack truck - again from Cars - play set.) Of course Santa came through and got it for him. Early. Then about 3 weeks before Christmas he started saying he wanted a Pat Pat Rocket. Well, the Pat Pat Rocket is a Target exclusive toy and had been very difficult to find. And had been purchased already for Henry. . . Are you feeling Santa's issue here? We ended up sticking with the original plan and giving David the Mack and Henry the Rocket. With minimal fighting, it's been a success. The Mack, at $40, has sat virtually untouched. It's really sort of a piece of crap, but how could Santa know?! Also a huge hit has been Thomas the Train felt colorforms (which I also love!), a Little Einsteins book, tracing workbooks, and their new clothes. OK, the clothes have been a hit with me.

Chris and I got some very nice gifts too. The one that nobody can put down was this puzzle from finditgames.com. If you have about 3 days to kill, get one. It's addictive. I got some money for Christmas which I used to buy a new sewing machine. My old one met an untimely death when I dropped it on the floor, and I was very, very excited to get a new one. I also got the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" which is basically to trick your children (and husband?!) into eating more vegetables by adding veggie purees to recipes. I can't wait to start.

Christopher has been on vacation this week, which has been so nice and very helpful. We've not done anything very exciting -- lots of playing with Christmas stuff, the boys got their hair cut (finally!), we've done some after-Christmas shopping, and just hanging out. David and Henry are spending the night with my parents tonight, and Chris and I are planning to go to dinner and the movies. It will be the last time, I'm sure, we get to do anything alone before Jack's born. I hope I can stay awake the whole time!

I didn't take many pictures on Christmas -- I was so caught up in everything going on I forgot all about it! I'm hoping my dad got some others. Here are a couple I did take, and a shot of the boys with their new haircuts having a "horsey ride" on Chris. (Notice Henry's wearing underpants! He's doing really well with my half-assed potty training!)

Merry Christmas!

Let me start by saying it IS possible to stay up all night waiting for Santa. . . that's what I've spent the last night doing. I literally did not sleep a minute. I'm not sure what that's about, but rest assured Santa came and dropped his stuff of at our house!

Here is a photo of the gingerbread house we made. The Simpsons will never be seen on a Food Network gingerbread challenge! I assembled the house while David and Henry were sleeping, and the next morning it promptly got yanked onto the floor. David asked, "Do you have anymore of the white glue to put it back together?" So cute. I did, so I put it back together. . . we waited a while and decorated it. Chris, Henry and I did most of the decorating, while David spent most of his time eating the candy!

Last night my mom and I took David and Henry to church for the Christmas Eve service. They were so well behaved and sweet. At one (very quiet point) David said, "How do we get out of here anyway?" That got a little chuckle from everyone around us. I was so proud of them. David said, "Daddy, we go to church and I saw baby Jesus on an island!" They had a display with baby Jesus in a manger with palm trees, and David equated that with him being on an island. After church we went to my parents house, and Chris' parents met us there. We had a nice, relaxing evening. David and Henry were ALL about opening some gifts and kept asking where the rest were. There had been baskets full when we were there earlier in the day, and they didn't forget that! Today should be completely overwhelming for them with all of the gifts they'll get to open.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Questionnaire

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you... 'Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? 90% wrapping paper, 10% gift bags. I try to only use gift bags for things that are odd shapes or when I get really lazy! I like to open stuff.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I'm not into cleaning up needles.

3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually pretty quickly. Definitely by the 1st of the year.

5. Do you like eggnog? No

6. Favorite gift received as a child? This Barbie type doll that had slits in her arms, legs, etc. and came with fabric so you could design clothes for her. I remember she had huge purple shoes that I loved!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, two of them. Neither of which were put up this year because of Henry's destructive ways. David keeps asking when we're putting up "Jesus' barn".

8. Hardest person to buy for? Chris

9. Easiest person to buy for? David and Henry

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really remember a bad gift. . . I'm pretty good at getting the point across regarding what I'd like. As in, a Christmas list with websites, stores, prices, etc. I did get some ugly brown shoes like 15 years ago.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Christmas cards are perhaps my favorite part about Christmas

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th St. or A Christmas Story

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I see something. Usually around October.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hi, I'm pregnant. I think everything's my favorite right now.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear on our big tree, colored on the boys' tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Ave Maria (although not really just for Christmas) and Silent Night. Or We Wish You a Merry Christmas, as sung by Henry.

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen, rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star on both of them.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one (typically Christmas pjs) on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People are crazy and rude in the stores.

23. What I love most about Christmas? The excitement David and Henry have now that they "get" Christmas.

24. Gift you most want this year? A healthy baby in January. I'll take a delayed gift this year!

Not much to report

Like the title says, not much going on these days around the Simpson house. Well, nothing exciting anyway! We went to Playhouse Disney Live on Friday, and the boys loved it. They were mesmerized, and I was shocked they sat still for the entire time. After the show we went to Chuck E. Cheese, where Henry was THRILLED that he was able to ride the rides "because we brought money".

Saturday we just hung out at home. We were all pooped! We watched Polar Express (now David's favorite movie?!) three times. Henry never got out of his pajamas and then fell asleep on the couch at 5:15. Our friends Joe and Nicole had a Christmas open house that night, so David and I had a date and went together. It was a nice time with lots of yummy food.

Sunday was a recovery day for David and Henry. They were both exhausted. They took a nice long nap, then we went to see Gigi and Grampy for a while. I wrapped presents last night, and am more than half done. Thank God, considering Christmas is NEXT FREAKING WEEK. How the heck did that happen?

David made a "Christmas mouse" at school today. They do the best crafts. When I picked him up he said, "I want to hang this on the tree. HIGH on the tree, so Henry can't get it." Good idea, since Henry likes to destroy anything he can!!!

D. has his Christmas party at school on Wednesday, which is his last day until after Christmas. Chris will be off starting Friday until after the new year, and it will be nice for the four of us to be able to spend some time together before Jack comes. It's getting so close now!

T-I-R-E-D

OK, for real, when did I get hit by a truck? I realize and understand in my mind that I'm having a baby in 41 days. However, that doesn't really matter in my real world. I still have two busy children, a husband, a house, laundry, dinners, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, bills to pay, Christmas gifts to wrap, playing with D&H, blah, blah to take care of. Damn, I'm tired! I've been letting David and Henry stay up a bit later than normal lately to watch the Christmas movies that have been on television. Tonight they WOKE ME UP at 7:15 to tell me that they wanted to go to bed. I fell asleep snuggled up on the couch with them! I can't wait to go to bed tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to see Playhouse Disney Live. Don't be jealous. If you weren't yet, when that's over we're going to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. I know -- you're insane with jealousy. I wish I could drink beer, because I think they serve that at CEC and I might need some. Chris will be working, so he doesn't get to join in the fun. I think he's probably never been so happy to work on a Friday night! It's for D&H's best friend JT's birthday party, so I know they'll have a great time. I hope I can stay awake for the whole thing.

January 23

Unless he has other plans, Jack will make his arrival Wednesday January 23, 2008 at 8 in the morning. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and other than that news there's nothing to report! That's 44 days. . . it certainly doesn't seem long when I put it that way. Here's a picture of his room so far. We still have quite a bit to do, but we're making progress!

What the heck?

Why are the lights on the bottom portion of my pre-lit Christmas tree not working?? This is the second area of the tree that has gone out on the "if one light goes out the tree stays lit" Christmas tree since Sunday! WTF? We've only had this tree for five Christmases, and we paid MUCH more than we should have for it. I didn't expect to have to re-light a freaking pre-lit Christmas tree!!! Man that's irritating.

Good Thoughts Please!

Most people reading this either know personally or have heard a million stories about my good friend Michele. We've been friends for over 10 years, and she is most definitely considered and loved as part of my family. She and her husband Mark are expecting their first baby, which is due in early March. She's waited a long time for this baby, and has had several complications during her pregnancy. She's been on bed rest for nearly the entire pregnancy and has been hospitalized for the last three weeks. She will stay in the hospital until the baby is delivered. Yesterday she came very close to a very early delivery, and nearly delivered the baby 14 weeks early. Michele and the baby are both doing well, but this is obviously a very, very scary emotional time for Mark and Michele. Please keep Mark, Michele, and their unborn baby in your thoughts -- she can use all the positive thinking she can get!

Christmas Parade

My parents and I took D&H to the Smyrna Christmas parade today. It's times like today that I really wish Chris didn't work nights, because he misses out on things like this with the boys. They had never been to a parade before, and kept calling it a circus. I'm not sure what that was about! They were very good boys and enjoyed it a lot. Henry loooooved that people were throwing candy, and he ate every piece he picked up, as soon as he got it. Well, after asking, "Dis chocolate?" About 90% of what people threw was Tootsie Rolls, so he was out of luck for a long while, but he got plenty of other goodies. That was the first time I've felt like he was missing out on something because of his allergy. He didn't care, but I thought it was a little sad for him. He was so excited though to just pick it up and give it to David or my parents. He's such a sweet boy. Their absolute favorite part of "the parade" was when a train went by on the train tracks. I think I could just take them downtown to sit near the tracks and they'd be thrilled.

Baby Update

Ok, so I'm a bit late in this post. I had a doctor's appointment last Wednesday. I've only gained one pound this month (at a time when people are typically gaining around a pound a week), due to my incredible indigestion. I'm on a prescription for it now, and it's made a HUGE difference. I have no doubt I'll be packing the pounds on this month! Jack's measuring almost a week ahead of where he should be. Because of that, combined with Henry being a large baby, she changed my c-section date. As of now, I'm scheduled for January 22. She thinks Jack will be bigger than Henry was, and she was nervous to keep my delivery later than the 22nd in case I went into labor on my own. I would have preferred my original date of the 25th, only because it worked better for scheduling Chris' days off, child care for D&H while I'm in the hospital, etc. but things don't always work out the way I want them to. And I'm pretty sure by then I'll be ready to get him out! I'm still feeling really good, no complications, etc. I start going to the doctor every 2 weeks now for a month, then every week until I deliver. I think it's going to go by FAST, especially since there are only 58 days until January 22nd! I have all of his clothes washed, Chris will finish painting his room tomorrow, and all of the baby furniture is down from the attic. We're making progress!

GROSS!

Seriously, what is wrong with my children? Do normal children act like them? Their favorite game to play is "naked boy", stripping down to nothing and running around the house like animals. They were doing this on Wednesday night and eventually ended up on the living room floor pretty much wrestling. David was laying on his stomach laughing and -- how can I say this nicely? -- passed gas like a 50 year old fat man. Henry, for some unknown reason, stuck his nose in David's bum and took a big sniff. WHAT THE HELL?! Chris and I were cracking up (and I am now as I type this!). Henry immediately got up, and I said, "What did you just do?" He said, literally retching as he was telling us, "I *GAG* smelled David's *GAG* booty and toot! *GAG*" I said, "That's yucky! How did it smell?" Henry replied, "*GAG* Well, not like candy." Um, you think?!

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

This is David and Henry's Christmas tree. . . it's beautiful! They had a good time decorating it. And since have had a good time taking the decorations off and repositioning them. Perfectionists.

Elf Yourself

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9594848369

Ugh

I'm sure there's some fine line between what my children say that can be shared, and what should not be shared. Lucky for you (?), I've not discovered that line yet. With the expanding girth going on in my stomach area, there's been lots of discussion lately about babies, boys vs. girls, how babies get in bellies, etc. As well as just their normal crazy talk. Here are some excerpts and things overheard in our house lately.

David: Daddy, how to babies eat? How will baby Jack eat with no teeth?

Chris: Mommy will feed him special baby milk. (Right, like that was enough of an answer!)

David: From she's boobies?

Chris: Yes.

David: Will you feed the baby from you boobies?

Chris: No, only girls can do that.

David: Will Gigi feed Jack from she's boobies?

Chris: NO! ONLY MOMMY WILL FEED HIM! NO OTHER BOOBIES! EVER! Let's go get some apple juice.

I was in D&H's bedroom yesterday morning getting night diapers off, underpants on, etc. I said, "Are you guys hungry this morning?" Henry replied, yanking his shirt up to his neck, "Yeah Mama. Are you? You want to eat from my boobies like a baby?" Um, no thanks.

David and Henry were yakking in the backseat yesterday and I hear David say, "Oh Damn! Oh brothers! Oh Damn! Oh Brothers!" I said, "What did you just say?" David said, "Oh Damn! Oh Brothers!" I said, "David, we don't say that. It doesn't sound nice." David said, "What? Brothers? I think brothers are nice." I said, "No David, Oh Damn doesn't sound nice." He said, "MAMA! I meant BEAVER DAMN!" Ok, seriously, how does a three year old think that quickly? You know DAMN well he didn't mean beaver damn!!!!

Pilgrim David

Gobble Gobble!

Pilgrim Mama, as photographed by David

Whoa Belly, part 2

OK, I had to go back and review. The first picture in this post is me THREE DAYS before I had David. The second is me today, TEN WEEKS (!) before having Jack. Be very, very scared. I think we'll be pushing the skin stretching limits with this one!

Whoa Belly

Big belly. New hair.

Look no Further

So I read in the newspaper yesterday morning that the producers of the Bravo TV show "The Real Housewives of Orange County" (one of my favorite shows) are looking for Nashville area "Real Housewives" for a show. UM, HELLO! Did you not read the title of this blog?! Please, the Simpson house would make for great TV. Some of the highlights could be:

• Our daily trips to Target. The viewers would love to see me wandering the aisles aimlessly, not buying anything, but just going to get out of the house. Me stuffing my two 40 pound a piece toddlers and my 7 months pregnant self into the available bathroom stall (never the "big one"), flushing the toilet an average of 9 times per visit, two of us peeing and one touching every surface in the stall, and Henry acting as a peeping Tom to every stall around us, then me frantically trying to slather D&H in antibacterial gel before they touch each other or their mouths.
• David and Henry's new favorite game -- naked boy. They both strip and chase each other around the house screaming NAKED BOY! Then some naked wrestling ensues when they finally catch each other. I thought I had like 18 years until that behavior would go on. And hopefully I wouldn't know about it.
• D&H and their obsessions with baginas. Or angina, as David calls it. They talk about them all day long, ask if every freaking person we know has one, and look for their own. Right. Keep looking.
• Dinner at our house. I'm pretty certain that the Real Housewives of OC wouldn't allow their children to eat ranch dressing with a spoon for dinner. Keep in mind that my dinner rule is I pick what's for dinner, you eat what you want off of your plate. If that's ranch dressing, fine. H. opted to ignore the lovely homemade chicken fingers, steamed broccoli, and corn on his plate in favor of the ranch. Yum.
• The laundry. Seriously, do the RHOOC send their laundry out to be cleaned? They never show them doing any.
• I'm sure the main focus of the show would be me going to the bathroom, since that's the main focus of our house. Gone are any days of privacy. I always have an audience. And I mean a CLOSE audience. As in, pretty much touching the bowl while I'm peeing. As in, "Mama, I DON'T WANT IT TO BE SMELLY IN HERE!" When do children learn about privacy and closing the door??
• I'm sure one highlight shown on the commercials would be from last night when we were leaving McDonald's. David and Henry decided they hadn't had quite enough fast food and opted to bolt across the small strip of grass to Sonic instead of getting in the car. As I darted after them and grabbed them I said, "Good Lord boys! Get in the damn car!" and David happily replied, "Yeah Henry, get in the damn car!" Hi, call child protective services now.

I'm positive we'd have high ratings. . . or maybe I should just stick to writing about our daily lives!

Countdowns

I love a countdown. Countdowns to get David and Henry to stop playing and come inside (as in, counting down from screaming out the back door, "YOU HAVE FIVE MORE MINUTES!"), countdowns until we're done brushing teeth, countdowns until it's time to swap toys, etc. Right now we have two big countdowns going on: the countdown until Christmas and the Jack countdown. This is the first year that David really "gets" Christmas. Not as in the Christian meaning of getting it. As in the SANTA meaning. He knows exactly what he wants to ask Santa for. And it's this Disney Cars Mega Mack playset. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2718764 It's all he talks about. He carries the Toys R Us big toy book around the house to gaze longingly at the picture. He brings the book to the bathroom and to bed with him. We have a copy in the car for emergencies when he NEEDS TO SEE MACK RIGHT NOW. He asks when we can go see Santa to tell him about Mack. He wants to know how to get to the North Pole. I think he gets it. Henry, not so much. I asked him what he wanted Santa to bring and, after thinking for a minute said, "Well I know not ice cream!" Um, OK. Today, however, he did talk about how he wishes he had a Disney Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket. Right, like the one he thinks we bought for JT, but is really for him. He even said, "JT going to get one!" This is a picture of them "reading" the TRU toy book tonight. They chose to look at that rather than have stories before bed!

The Jack countdown is another story. Just over ten weeks left, and so much to do! In those ten weeks we'll have Thanksgiving, visiting Santa, David's Christmas program at school, four birthday parties, two Christmas parties, and Christmas itself. That would make me tired, even if I wasn't pregnant! We also need to get everything out of Jack's room (computer has been taken care of!), paint it, put the furniture back together and get it organized, move the toys to David and Henry's room, and paint their room, reorganize our master closet to get the dresser for Jack out, and put up more shelving to better utilize our space in that closet. YIKES! We better get going!

We don't have much planned this week. David has school tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll be using my time while he's at school tomorrow to shred a bunch of files, papers, etc. that I cleaned out of our desk while I was moving the stuff to the new computer armoire. Then I plan to start sewing some stuff for Jack, now that I have a nice clean desk to work on! I'm going to take advantage of that space before Chris takes it down later this week. We're going to get the paint for Jack's room and hopefully get that painted next weekend. Once it's painted, I'll feel like we're well on our way.

My mom got D&H some new winter headbands this weekend, and these are some funny pictures of them trying them on. David loves his, and Henry apparently thinks his is a sweatband.

The Many Faces of Henry

Captions provided by Henry. Ignore the snack still on his face. . .

"My silliest face. Dat's my tongue."

"This is how I kiss. I weally love kissing."

"I'm getting strong as Daddy. See my muscles?"

"I WEALLY handsome!"

Long time no post

I have several things to update, but they'll be done in multiple posts. I feel like my computer time these days is in 5 minute bursts, because David and Henry are acting especially wicked. Example number one:

I ran to the grocery store last week for a very quick trip. I was probably gone less than 20 minutes. When I got back, I brought a load of stuff in then ran back out to get the second trip, leaving the door from our kitchen to garage open as I went. I came back in, unloaded the stuff I bought, dropped a gallon of milk and started cleaning it up. Chris came into the kitchen from our computer room and said, "Where's Henry?" I told him I didn't know, and he said, "Wasn't he in here when you got home?" UM, NO! So he goes to the end of the house with the boys room and calls him, and I called him from the kitchen. I hear a tiny voice say, "I in here!" from our master bathroom. Immediately my stomach dropped. I walked quickly through our room, and Henry met me in our room. As he was coming out of the bathroom he said, "I washing with this soap." Right. It wasn't soap covering his belly, arms, and hair. It was an entire bottle of Oil of Olay face moisturizer, and a full tube of VAGISIL. Seriously child, what the hell? Chris came in and said, "What's on him? Diaper cream?" Well, sort of! I said no and Henry said, "What it is?!" I told Chris what it was and Henry said, "Soap for baginas?" So I cleaned him up and thought the incident would be a funny story. It got funnier. . . the next day Henry and I went to Home Depot to look for paint colors. He's sitting in the shopping cart and waving to the man who works at the paint counter. I was looking at paint and I heard Henry say, "I wash my hands bagina cream." To the freaking Home Depot guy. Are you kidding me? The man said, "What did he say?" and I quickly turned to leave while smiling and thanking him. And Henry was screaming, "I WASH MY HANDS BAGINA CREAM!"

We bought our paint at Lowe's.

Happy Halloween!

We had a nice, really uneventful Halloween trick-or-treating experience. We had JT, Lily June, and Matthew come over with their parents and all hit our neighborhood. The weather was great, the children were well behaved (as well as a bunch of 3 year old boys can be!) and we were back by 7 o'clock. I think that was my favorite part. David and Henry were very cooperative and when they got tired said they wanted to go home. I was very proud of them. I'm going to start pushing the Three Musketeers for a costume for the Simpson boys next year!

Here's a link to more Halloween pictures and photos from the Halloween parties the boys went to. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=184865032/a=22991490_22991490/fromupload=true/t_=22991490

WOO HOO!

Red Sox Nation is alive in well here in the South. I am not joking when I say I was crying when the Sox won -- I think if you're not from New England you cannot understand the feeling the fans havewhen the Sox win the World Series. And to do it for the second time in 4 years is incomprehensible.

CONGRATULATIONS RED SOX!!!!

Jack-in-the-Belly

Here are Jack's latest ultrasound pictures. She was able to see everything that she couldn't last time. I chuckled when I saw in the notes from my last appointment, "Baby uncooperative during U/S". Is that a sign of things to come? I wanted to say, "Uncooperative?! Lady, you should meet his older brothers!" I have no clue what the top picture is. Part of his face, I assume, since that was the main focus of the ultrasound. He kept bringing his hand to his face (waving at me?!), and you can see it in sort of the top right corner of the bottom picture. (If you click on the strip of photos, it will get larger.) He was moving a lot, but not moving around. Kicking, batting his hands, etc. but not rolling around. His development is exactly where it should be and everything looks great. I have all of my appointments scheduled until my delivery. How is that possible?! We're shooting for delivery on January 25th, but my doctor didn't seem really optimistic that I would make it that long. She pointed out that babies don't generally get smaller as you continue to have them, so we're potentially looking at over 9 pounds. Henry was born 4 days earlier than Jack would be if born on the 25th, because I started to go into labor. Obviously knowing I'll be having a c-section delivery she doesn't want me to go into labor naturally. We're going to play it by ear obviously, but we're shooting for January 25th. And with my WAY type-A personality planning issues, I'll be mildly (or not so mildly?!) annoyed if he comes early and all of my planning for child care, etc. doesn't work out!

Four Years

Happy Anniversary Christopher! We were married 4 years ago yesterday. Here are some pictures from our wedding/trip to Hawaii.

Our Weekend

I can't believe another weekend's gone by! Friday I had a cake to deliver in Germantown, one of my favorite neighborhoods in Nashville. Chris worked Friday night, and the boys pretty much spent the entire day playing outside in the tree that fell down. Who knew that would be so much fun?

Saturday I had another cake to finish and deliver in the morning. After that, my mom and I took David and Henry to the circus and they had so much fun! They ate lots of cotton candy and ice cream, got to get ridiculously over priced light up swords and spinner things, and ride an elephant. I was SHOCKED that they wanted to ride the elephant instead of the little mini-horses, but they were adamant that they wanted to ride the elephant. I was very nervous that I would pay the $7 per person and they'd get up there and be scared, but they weren't. They loved it! They crashed hard in the car on the way home and slept from 4:30 last night until this morning. They didn't even wake up in their beds when I changed them out of their clothes. The tree guys were here when we got back from the circus to evaluate the damage, clean up, etc. The tree that fell is one of a clump of three trees, and they all need to come down. Obviously the one that split, but the other two are full of TERMITES! YUCK! It seems like a huge job to me, but they didn't seem like it was. They'll bring a crane in to do it, which D&H will love. I almost be sad when the mess is gone, because they've had so much fun playing in it!

We had a pretty lazy morning today. The boys played outside (surprise!) and Chris and I read the paper and picked up a little. Then I went grocery shopping. I abhor grocery shopping, so it's always a HUGE chore (and expense!) when I finally get around to doing it. Today was no exception. When I got back the boys were really excited to check everything out and pick what they wanted for lunch. It doesn't take much to please them! After lunch Henry took a nap and David and I went outside to put some Halloween decorations out. It's so nice out, and he wanted to ride his tricycle, so I decided to clean up the highchair we got for Jack. I busted out the Murphy's Oil Soap and cleaned that up. Then I felt like I should keep going, so I brought all of our kitchen chairs out and the boys' small table and chairs and did those. Bringing them all back in, I decided I wanted to scrub down the walls, baseboard, and chair rail in the kitchen. Then I cleaned the table with the Murphy's and took the leaf out. It looks and smells so much better in the kitchen! There are some spots on the wall that we need to touch up because of stains or marks that I couldn't get off. The paint on those walls frustrates me! I think tomorrow I'd like to do all of the doors, baseboard, and trim in the house while Henry sleeps. I have some cleaning bug apparently.

Tomorrow morning I have another appointment with my OB to check on Jack. I'll have an ultrasound again because he wasn't very cooperative last time, and we were unable to see his face. I hope we can get some better photos this time. And I'm also going to double check to make sure he's really a boy!!! David has school, and Henry will hang out with Chris. On my way home from the doctor's I'm also going to pick up the bedding for Jack's room. It's a cute animal pattern from Pottery Barn. I'm excited to get going on his room. We need to move the office stuff out first, which will probably happen next weekend. Our anniversary is on Tuesday, and our gift to each other will be a new computer armoire. David and Henry are spending Friday night at my in-law's house, and I think we'll take advantage of that time to get the armoire all set up. MUCH easier to do that without little helping hands! And once that is all moved out of Jack's room, we can decide on paint colors and get going on that. He'll be here before we know it, and we have lots that I want to get done before then!

TIMBER!!

We had some crazy weather here last night, and this is what we woke up to in our back yard this morning. David loves it and says it's like a jungle. He's been playing in the yard for over an hour in his pajamas!

Dirt

David and Henry have been playing outside by themselves a lot lately. Don't panic - our yard is totally fenced in, and it's safe for them to be out by themselves. I don't want any blog comments about how they're not old enough to be out by alone. They're not playing in the street.

We have a plethora of things to do in our backyard. A swingset, slide, teeter totter, playhouse, sandbox, water table, mini trampoline with a safety enclosure, basketball net, and tricycles. What do they spend the whole time out there doing? Trucking sand from the sandbox over to their picnic table to drive their trains through. Or digging up the dirt around our tree to "look for bugs". Here are the results of Henry's time outside. That would be dirt all over his face, mixing with the red crayon he ate. I guess that explains why he didn't want dinner.

Happy Birthday Gigi!

OK, so this is way late. My mom's birthday was last week. Her birthday lore from the Old Farmer's Almanac is:

Your mind is not an analytical one, but you are seldom misled by following your keep intuition. You are prudent, thorough and accurate, and positive and assertive, and like to have a prominent part in whatever you do. You are happiest in pleasant surroundings.

Who isn't happiest in pleasant surroundings?! We celebrated her birthday Monday night with her, however, so here are some pictures from that. We had a delicious dinner and a yummy cake. Big surprise that my children have no shirts on. It wouldn't be a party unless a Simpson child disrobed! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!

Privatization

I started this blog as a way for our family and friends to keep up with the daily antics here at our house. I can't imagine why people who don't know our family would want to read about Henry peeing on the floor, David eating paper, or my parents' anniversary. It's not like I'm writing about anything thought provoking or exciting. I'm a freaking housewife! I've decided to make the blog private. If you want to keep reading it, I'll have to add you to the list of people who are invited to do so. Please email me or put your email address in the comments section so I'll know to add you. I don't even mind adding The Girl Who Doesn't Know me but Stalks my Blog. . . I just want to know who she is! Seriously, I don't care if I don't know you and you're reading it. However, if you want to continue to do so -- and I know you don't want to miss a minute of Henry's potty training, David's naughty antics, or an inch of my growing girth -- tell me who you are. We'll be goin' private Friday October 19.

To: Stranger Girl Who Loves Her Husband's Job

Normally I would shy away from calling out someone I don't know in a public forum, but since you essentially took me to task in the comment section of my last post for "making everyone think that our husbands have sucky jobs," I don't have an issue with it. Let me re post here what I said about Nissan:

"Chris has been working overtime like a madman every week for the last month. I hate that he's been working so much, but how can we complain when just six months ago there was the fear of layoff?? We're very fortunate that he's got a job that allows me to stay home with the monkey boys, so I am really trying not to be a whiner about him not being home!"

You posted in the comments, "Nissan has never had a layoff and never will." OK, as you can see, I didn't SAY there was a layoff. I said there was FEAR of a layoff. Clearly two different things. The company asked for people to voluntarily buy out -- known in some circles as a voluntary layoff. Was there fear? You bet there was! In this house anyway, and I'm sure in others. I think it's great if you had no fear of your husband losing his job. With two small children, one of whom was incurring several thousand dollars of medical bills for therapy at Vanderbilt and knowing we were trying to have a baby, hell yes I was nervous that he would get laid off. I wasn't necessarily nervous about him losing his salary. Would that have sucked? Big time! I haven't worked in almost four years because my husband's salary at Nissan allows us to have me stay home with our children. Another point I made in my last post. However, if I had to because my husband lost his job, I am more than capable of going back to work and earning just as much money. I was nervous about losing the health benefits. I don't know anyone else who pays $100 a month for their family contribution to health insurance, and that doesn't even speak to the amazing coverage we've got. And seriously, how do you KNOW they will never have a layoff? You don't. Nobody does.

You said, "Nissan is the absolute best company to work for in Middle Tennessee, and anyone who begs to differ can f-off..." I certainly hope you weren't implying that I should "f-off". If that's the case, hop on over to another stranger's blog and stalk them. I don't disagree that Nissan is the best company to work for in Middle Tennessee. They value their employees, compensate them well, provide excellent benefits, go beyond anything they "need" to do by providing things like Family Day, the vehicle purchase program, extending a discount to friends and families of employees. . . obviously I am a fan. As anyone who KNOWS our family has heard us say time and time again, my husband and I are thrilled that he works for Nissan. I never implied that "our husbands have sucky jobs" in that post, and I don't really know how that was interpreted that way. I even used phrases like, "how can we complain," and "we're very fortunate," as well as pointing out that Nissan provides the FREE family day every year and "it's a great day".

If you thought I was complaining about Nissan, you were mistaken. If you want to read about me complaining about something, keep stalking the blog. I can certainly assure that it will happen soon enough!

From: Girl You Don't Know But Love to Stalk

Some Things I Forgot

• Henry is seriously the sweetest child I know. Since Jenna's (or Jetta as he calls her) birthday party yesterday, he's been wanting to sing Happy Birthday. Any chance he gets. Except we change the words. I have to sing "Happy Birthday to you. . . . . Happy Birthday my baby Henry. . . . " and he sings "Happy Birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthday my snuggle mama, happy birthdaaaaaaaaaay my snuggle maaaaaaamaaaaaaa! Because I love you!" And we try to blow out imaginary candles, then hug and he says, "I love you so so much snuggle mama." I WANT TO EAT HIM!
• David taught Henry how to ride his tricycle. "Because brothers learn each other stuff." Seriously, two parents in their thirties couldn't explain to him how to do it, but David taught him in about 20 minutes by saying, "Run on you pedals Henry! Run fast on them!" David was so proud of Henry when he did it for the first time. It was so cute to see.
• David and Henry are thinking they don't need naps anymore. I think they do. David went to bed at 5:15 yesterday and slept all night, and tonight they were both asleep in bed by 5. By their own choice! I know it will bite me tomorrow morning, but I've gotten so much done tonight! I ate my dinner in such nice quiet, all in one sitting, without having to get up sixteen times for something. I was even able to read the entire Sunday newspaper without interruption. I mopped the kitchen floor (my least favorite chore, but I love the results) and have started to fold the six loads of laundry I did today. I baked a cake and organized some baby clothes. After I finish the laundry I'm going to start cutting some material out to start some burp cloths for the baby. They're my favorite baby thing to make! Pray for David and Henry to sleep AT LEAST until 5:30 tomorrow!!! I'm going to be preemptive about it and go to bed early myself, just in case!

The Weekend

We had such a fun weekend! Friday morning we took the boys to get haircuts. Henry is so good about it and just sits there not moving. David is another story. He's never been great about getting it done, and Friday was no exception. Henry got his done, and Chris was getting his done at the same time. David kept coming back from the waiting area to say, "You OK Daddy? You OK Henry? Mama, they're FINE!" I told him it was his turn and he kept saying, "No, I'll wait until later." I didn't feel like fighting with him about it, so you'll notice from the pictures below that Henry looks like a nice clean boy, and David looks like a shaggy dog! I'm going to take him on Tuesday to the kids hair salon. At least if he has a fit there I don't feel as bad -- it's only for children, so they must be used to it! After haircuts, our two favorite girls Julie and Lily June came over and came with David, Henry, and I to deliver a cake in Nashville. I think it's my favorite cake I've made so far.

After we delivered the cake, we had lunch and hit Target for some shopping. David and Henry literally had two pairs of pants that fit. That's one each for those of you playing along at home. Cooler weather crept up on me! So we got some pants and other assorted necessities, then came home and hung out for a while. D&H were VERY good, especially considering we ate out (not generally fun to do with a 2 year old and 3 year old) AND went to Target during nap time.

Chris has been working overtime like a madman every week for the last month. I hate that he's been working so much, but how can we complain when just six months ago there was the fear of layoff?? We're very fortunate that he's got a job that allows me to stay home with the monkey boys, so I am really trying not to be a whiner about him not being home! Because of the overtime and working nights, he sticks to his crazy up all night schedule on his one day off, leaving only Saturday morning for playtime. And play we did! Nissan's family day was Saturday morning. They do it every year, and it's a great day. They set up a HUGE carnival with kids rides, adult rides, bounce houses, a rock climbing wall, midway games, a live band, and lots of free carnival food. The whole thing is free and just for Nissan employees and immediate family. The boys LOVED it. Last year David liked it, but Henry was really too little. This year they both were so excited to go to the "carnibal" and didn't want to leave. They loved riding the rides, especially the slightly rickety Chinese Dragon roller coaster. This was their favorite, mostly because there's a Thomas the Tank Engine story that has a Chinese Dragon in it. . . obsessed?

After the carnival we went to Jenna's third birthday party. David started asking where the cake was as soon as we got there. Clearly he takes after his mama! We had a great time but had to leave early to go deliver a cake. When we left Jenna's mom loaded us up with a HUGE tote full of clothes for the baby. If I said that Henry was going to be nicknamed Hand-me-down Henry, for sure this child will be Second-hand Jack! And yes, that means he actually has a name! Can you believe it? Three whole months before he's going to arrive. That's a record at the Simpson house. His name will be Jack Ryan Simpson. I love it!

Things David and Henry Have Taught Me

1. An average sized 3 year old and above average sized 2 year old DO have enough strength together to remove a twin mattress from the bottom bunk. In about 3 minutes flat. And they have the creativity to think of "making a slide" with it by propping it up against the bed and trying to slide down.
2. Eight assorted wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trains and two Matchbox cars fit inside my grandmother's silver tea pot. But you can't close the lid all the way.
3. Approximately 75 diaper wipes will NOT go down the toilet. Well, they'll go down, but nothing else will. And it will all come back up.
4. The entire bottle of cinnamon sugar will cover the top of my coffee table. And, as a bonus, make a "great track" for Emily the train and her tender. Cinnamon sugar, when driven through on said coffee table by said train leaves scratches in the wood.
5. Chapstick (cherry flavor) is not toxic when you eat the entire tube while hiding behind the bedroom door. But "it makes my tongue feel real funny".
6. The toilet paper at David's preschool is magic. It allows you to "follow the road to the fabulous bathroom of fun!" when you unroll it into the classroom while simultaneously pooping your pants instead of using the toilet!

I'm sure they'll teach me much more in the future. Thankfully, what I've learned the fastest is that I am able to have a great sense of humor!

Pumpkin Heads

We took another trip to the pumpkin patch today, this time with Gigi. It was about 93 degrees, but surprisingly enough not totally uncomfortable. The boys loved the "Be a Farmer" area where they could dig for potatoes, gather eggs, "milk" a cow, plant some pumpkin seeds, pick apples, and touch pigs. All pretend, of course, but they loved it. And of course the hay maze, which is their favorite thing. David and Henry were so well behaved and fun to be with. I love days like this. Here's a link to more photos. http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=175571754/a=22991490_22991490/fromupload=true/t_=22991490