holy swine flu!

what would be on your list of worst possible scenarios when you're due to have a baby? how about a swine flu outbreak in your first grader's class? yep, you read that right. seven kids out today, four so confirmed so far as H1N1. thankfully, my weekly OB appt was today. in order to be proactive, they have decided to take a multi- step approach to protect myself and the baby from getting it. me and the kids will all begin tamiflu today as a precaution and i have been advised to pull my son out of school for a few days. not only is it extremely dangerous for me to be exposed but for someone in the house to have it when the baby is born. sheesh... cause what i really want to worry about this week is the freakin swine flu. are you kidding me?

bye bye summer!

pictures, pictures...

fall comes early to the midwest...


the first day of school... the princess starts kindergarten!



an afternoon in the hammock


bowling with the little guy!

how to have a baby

yes, we're still waiting... you know how these babies are, they come whenever they darn well please. do they care that mommy has four other children to make arrangements for? is she concerned about what would be most convenient for the rest of her rather large family? no, she does not. although, she had the grace to not make her appearance this week while her daddy had the stomach flu. that was appreciated. so how do you go about waiting on a baby? well, i've had lots of experience in that area! i've found the best way is to make lots of plans as if you're not waiting on a baby. surely once your schedule is packed full and there doesn't seem to be a minute to spare... along comes baby! another great way is to plan a special outing, something you really hope you won't miss, and sure enough- you'll go into labor the night before! the last is to have a house full of sick kids, a field trip to chaperon or a house that is a complete and total disaster. we're trying to avoid those scenarios. oh yes, i forgot the last one! in laws who are leaving on your due date for vacation and hoping to not miss the birth. sure way to have that baby right on time :)

is this the longest pregnancy in history?? i believe so.

Shhh...

my youngest child (well, at least for the next few weeks!) has a mild speech delay. i've never had it officially diagnosed, but after a few kids you pick these things up. the princess was very late in her speech also and still has a speech impediment. so for the last year, we've been waiting for this child to speak, assuring ourselves he will when he's ready. about three months ago, he was ready. and now he never shuts up. ever. now i know that to some of you more sensitive mamas this may sound harsh, but believe me when i tell you that after a few days with this kid you would second my feelings. don't get me wrong, i love this guy. it could be said that i'm his biggest fan. there is no one in this world as enamored with him as i am. but for the love of all that is good, i need him to shut it for just a little while. every sentence out of his mouth starts with "MOMMY!". if i don't immediately say "what", he will continue to to yell it in increasing volume until i do. even if we are the only people in the car. i still must respond with "what" every time he says my name. today we had to return videos to the movie store, which is probably 1 mile from our house. between there and home he said mommy 28 times. TWENTY EIGHT TIMES! i can only take so much. not to mention it is the same four sentences he needs to tell me over and over again.

"mommy! i watch mickey mouse"

"mommy! i like fries"

"mommy! i see a doggie"

"mommy! i said bye to papaw!"

we come home and i cave and put on cartoons (mickey mouse, of course) just to quiet him for a few short minutes. and i mean few. because as soon as mickey says "cheers" we have to say it to each other. and we have to talk about the clues. and we have to talk about minnie's red shirt. and we have to sing along with all the songs....

birth plans and due dates...

i am a terrible blogger lately. too much to get done, too little to say? preparations for babyG are completed so she can come any time now. i'm technically about 37 weeks but due to the discrepancies in due date they are saying she could really come any time. part of me is soooo ready to not be pregnant, another part is not quite ready for the chaos that is a newborn! i told theMr that i'm going to blog during my labor, he thinks i'm crazy :) we'll see how it goes. but i will at least post when we're heading there. i'm undecided what my birth plan is at this point. i've had two natural births and two with an epidural. i see benefits to both. i'm thinking we'll play it by ear. i'd like to say we'll go au natural again, simply because i think it's an easier recovery. but... who knows what i'll say once hard labor kicks in. my last baby came so fast there was no time for a discussion so if that's the case then my decision is made. all the arrangements are made for the other four kids, as much as you can plan something like that. luckily, my dad is on leave from his job due to a surgery so i know i have at least one person who is always available. we'll have a full house there this time. my mother and mother in law have been in the room for all of our births and will be there again. my sister in law will be in the waiting room with my oldest daughter (which is a first for us!) we wanted her to be able to come in and see the baby as soon as she's born. it should be quite a zoo but we're used to that :) part of me hoped that she would come today, as it is my grandmother's birthday, the one who recently passed away. but theMr and i have one last date planned for tonight so if she does decide to come today i'd rather she wait till tonight! i could use a nice dinner and a movie! it's theMr's turn to pick the movie so it would be just his luck that i'd go into labor in the middle. i guess we'll see!!

lazy, lazy, lazy

do you ever have those days where you just don't want to be productive? the kitchen is a certifiable disaster, the laundry has now piled up to the ceiling, we're not even gonna talk about the fact that i have not washed one single article of baby clothing yet.... and here i sit in my bathrobe on the laptop. and i can't bring myself to care, other than blogging about it! i'm tired of cleaning, it's always a mess anyway! theMr won't be home till three so i have another three hours till i have to make this place presentable. so why not cruise blogs and download music on itunes?

if one more person hears my due date, looks at my stomach and then exclaims "oh there's no way you'll make it that far" i will physically hurt them. consider this fair warning.

19 KIDS????

holy moly... the duggars have announced that they are pregnant with baby #19! and they're smiling! i'd be sobbing hysterically. seriously, we're talking institutionalized. i want to be all "judgy" but have you seen this family? the woman is a freakin saint. she loves those kids, she loves being with them and home schooling them and giving birth to them. she's calm and sweet and i've yet to ever see her lose it. i can tell you that it wouldn't take tlc's cameras long in this house to catch me losing my you-know-what. that's with only four kids. i can't figure out how she manages pregnancy with all those kids. i'm not worried about bringing baby #5 into this house, it's the pregnancy that's about put me over the edge. fatigue, nausea, back pain and hormones + four kids= chaos. maybe mrs. duggar is on some kind of xanax drip? i'd have to be!