I haven’t seen anything this beautiful in 3 years…

I had all kinds of grandiose ideas of how I was going to post all about our wonderful NCB, and how great she is, but now here we are 2 weeks later and I am only getting about 30 minutes of sleep at a time so I will just post pictures for now and save the gory details for later. Here is my sweet baby girl, known on this blog from here on out as Mae (not her entire name). She was born September 10th and was an itty bitty 6 pounds and 1 ounce.

She is so pretty and sweet, and she has the most perfect fuzzy little head. Both big brothers are doing well. They like to take turns feeding her, which is a big bonus when the dishwasher needs to be emptied. I promise an long and drawn out birth-story is in the works, it’s a pretty good one. I am just so tired right now I am about to start hallucinating Dali-style. I just may take up surrealism if this rest thing doesn’t work out soon.

For being as busy are I have I am still trying to keep up with this blog, sorry if I’m not my sparklingly witty self but at least I’m stil updating.

Last Saturday At-man lost his first tooth! I have been hearing about it since his best friend in pre-school lost his last year so I am relived. Since his friend was a foot taller than him the comparisons are endless, and at least the tooth issue can be put to bed. He still can’t understand why his friend had Heely’s and he can’t. “It’s because he is nearly as big as mommy. They don’t even make Heely’s small enough for your very normal 5 year old feet, but if you were almost 5 feet tall already I’m sure we could find you some.” I have been following him around with my camera all week trying to get the perfect picture, I’m sure he is begining to know what it feels like to be Britney Spears. Anyway, this is the best I can get while we are in the middle of our “not possible to both look at the camera and give a plesant smile” phase.

I also just got around to dragging my but to the computer and uploading our official “first day of school photo”. I took this to post with my last entry butt it’s too cute to skip…

On The Em front, he and I went on our first solo dinner date last night to Chick A” Lay! I never get to spend much alone time with him other than when I am trying to do laundry or grocery shop so it was really nice. He is really starting to make the change from baby to boy all of the sudden. He is talking more and seems much less frustrated because of it. The two’s seemed really hard for him because he couldn’t ujnderstand why At-man could do so many things that he just couldn’t. While he is growing up, he is still so squishy I just want to eat him up!

While Em and I were out painting the town D took At-man to see Transformers. We went back and forth about this for the past 2 weeks and after getting the scoop on exactly what time to leave the theater to avoid the “self pleasure” scene we finally gave in. I know D wanted to take him as bad as he wanted to go so I am glad we finally worked it out. From At-man’s re-cap I don’t think he noticed a single thing other that how cool Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee were. I think he will always remember going with dad to see Transformers so it’s pretty cool he went.

So that’s about it besides getting ready for the baby. I have never been so totally unprepared for the arrival of a child, but I figure it’s jsut because she is the third and I know now that these things work themselves out no matter how much you stress out over them. She will be here and we will love her and she won’t notice if her room is not yet perfect because she will probably be sleeping in our room just like everybody else ends up doing. Here is the monthy belly check…

And while I am adding so many photos, I just had to throw this one up too…

First day of elementary school ever - big deal right?

“So what did you think?”

“huh?”

“Was it fun?”

“yea.”

“Did you meet any new friends?”

“yup.”

“Well, what were their names?”

“I forget.”

It has only taken him one day of school to ace the nonchalance of a ten year old.

This is the count down to my first official nervous breakdown. At-man’s first day of kindergarten is Thursday. We went to meet the teacher day this past Friday and it looks like the entire situation is unavoidable. He has his cubby assignment so there is no backing out now. If you ever have a choice, I would recommend not having to send your oldest child off to his first day of “big kid school” while being a very pregnant, hormonal disaster. Actually, I would recommend the basic avoidance of anything other than the selection of television channels while 7 months pregnant.

At-man and I entered the school on meet the teacher day and grabbed our map to his class. That was all it took. I actually had to keep my sunglasses on the ENTIRE time so as to avoid him seeing my eyes well up. He’s still so little. How can he be going to the same school as 10 YEAR OLDS? There are 10 Year olds bigger than me now. Have you seen this? Is this even possible? Where have I been for the past 5 years? Just yesterday he was calling ducks “goosters” and wearing Pull Ups and now he is going to school with children big enough to take down his mom.

I don’t know why this is still so emotional to me, he has been in preschool since he was 2. Elementary school, however, is completely different. Not sure why, but it is. We spent the past weekend shopping for supplies. I was very proud that he passed over the more commercially branded backpacks for an understated camouflage number with matching lunch kit. I’m still not a big fan of the camouflage deal but have been told to “get over it”. With 2 sons I guess I have little choice. We have also obtained a frog shaped eraser, crayons, color changing pencils and our very own pair of scissors. At-man has poured over each item, packing and repacking them into his new book bag. He is very excited.

And now for something completely different…

I was out for my morning huff and puff and it occurred to me. This baby has the exact same due date as Em, and Em came 2 1/2 weeks early. That means that I may well only have 2 months to go. 2 MONTHS TO GO. The nursery is still blue, and my infant car seat is expired. We got some work to do people! The only item currently on my to do list is to create a to do list. I can’t get beyond that. Sad. I have about a thousand things that should actually appear on said list, and absolutely no time whatsoever to do them. Not to mention that before the baby’s actual due date we have to get through my birthday, D’s birthday, Em’s birthday, my FIL’s birthday, my nieces birthday, our family vacation, an Elvis Costello concert, At-man’s first day of school, Em’s first day of school, and our 8th anniversary. WHEW!

And again, to stress that this is totally random, we went and saw Ratatiouille yesterday. On the good side, Em actually sat through the entire thing, which was pretty impressive. On the down side, it was no “Finding Nemo”. The animation was great, the story cute, but 2 and 5 year olds just don’t seem to appreciate fancy cheese jokes.

So I got on a roll, and as usual things get all crazy. Allow me to explain…Our base school is less than desirable, yet our home, location, and proximity to family are all great. I applied for a school transfer for At-man and we were lucky enough to get it. The only downside is that since it is a year round school, he will start in a couple of weeks, much sooner than I had thought. And hows this for a slap in the face with reality…The bell rings at 7:45. SEVEN FORTY-FIVE!!!! The child doesn’t even wake up until 8:00 and even then it’s all about how tired he is, as if a day of transforming Optimus Prime from a robot to a truck and back again is really THAT taxing.

Having completed the period of having all life sucked out of me, I mean, my first trimester… and knowing that I will have to be getting up at the crack of dawn soon anyway, I have started to get up at 6:00 to workout. So far this is going great, however, by the time the kids go to bed I start to feel like my feet weigh 20lbs each and damn it’s hard to get up from their bed to hit the computer when you are the meat in a snuggle sandwich.

I was sure I would spend a bit of time online the last couple of nights only to have At-man come down with one of those special fever,vomiting AND a sore throat combos. I am now up to my armpits in laundry. Not to mention my favorite side note to any sickness where a child can only drink sprite. When you put Sprite in a sippy, it blows up and spills out everywhere. Those take and toss cups do it too. Either the kids spill it on their own, or it comes shooting out of their cups. I should have paid more attention in physics. I think all the moms who aced that class probably know just what type of spill proof cup to buy their kids for minimum soda spillage.

So between waking up at the crack of ass, washing sheets and cleaning up Sprite spillage, I am beat. I put Em to bed last night at 9:30 (I know it’s too late for a 2 year old but it is summer time) and I woke back up lying beside him at 11:30. There went another night. I crawled into my bed, had a bowl of Cookie Crisp and passed out. At 3 I was woken by Em who had crawled into bed and started coughing and kicking the H-E-double hockey sticks out of my back. I would be mad but he does have a cold, AND look how cute he is…

In addition to the guys being sick, I have been celebrating national appointments week by attempting to get my latest ultrasound, haircut, glucose test, doctor visit, and At-man’s teeth cleaned all within 4 days of each other. Here is the latest picture of my little girl…

I like this shot because she looks very dramatic. Just look at the way she has her little hand tossed up over her eye, almost as if to say…”OH MOTHER, I am so very weary of life on the inside…sigh…” then she looks away. If she has the drama down this good in utero, just imagine what she will be like come time for Jr. High.

Oh well, what started as a very well organized post in my mind has taken a turn once again underscoring the fact that I am currently incapable of clear thought. Please bare with me on that. Only 3 months to go…

I confess, I was not always a fitness nut. There was a time when I was more regimented about my after dinner drink schedule than my workouts, but after having a couple of kids it was obvious that my priorities had to change. Wanting to find both a release from the pressures of motherhood and a way to lose the post baby pounds, I thought I’d give running a try.

Like most women, I found that as soon as I committed myself I was “off and running” so to speak. I was feeling good, moving down dress sizes, sleeping great and then it happened. One day I just found that I didn’t feel like lacing up the old running shoes. In retrospect, it was all Paris Hilton’s fault. Alright, I know, it was my own fault. I had let myself fall into an exercise rut. Like so many of us fast out of the gate, I was heading straight for a wall. One day off became two and before you know it, I wasn’t far from where I started, not a happy place to be. What I needed was a way to fool myself into commitment. It was around this time I found it, the 5K.

Race For The Cure was coming up and I was ready. Why not? It’s only a little over 3 miles, it’s for a great cause, AND you get a free shirt. Not too shabby I thought. I signed up with a couple of friends and penciled the date on my calendar. “I am a racer”, cool…wow… WAIT! “I am a racer?” “What was I thinking?” Racers are all skinny and muscle -y. They eat tons of pasta and wear really little shorts. How could I EVER run in a real race? But there was no way out. My friends wouldn’t let me live it down if I canceled out on them now. I decided to do the only thing I could. Train.

I ran the next day and then the day after. There was no way I would be last. I will become a runner. Every day that I felt like rolling over under the covers and turning on the Today Show, I thought of myself, all red-faced, huffing and puffing my way toward the finish line dead last, and you know what? I would jump right out of bed and out the door I’d run. When we got to the race, I ran the whole time. I was a lot closer to the back than the front, but it didn’t matter. I had accomplished something besides wiping a 6 month olds bottom, and it felt GREAT! What in the world was I worried about? Why had no one told me about this before?

I signed right up for another, and then another, I just couldn’t stop. I bought a baby jogger so I could take my sons with me and now my husband joins us from time to time. What started as a way to trick myself into staying motivated has become a way to stay in shape, spend time with my family, and relieve stress. Not only have 5K’s changed me for the better, they also set a great example for my children. They are growing up to see that taking care of your health is an important commitment. As an added bonus, many races are held as fund raiser for non-profit organizations so they are also being exposed to different charities and learning about why it is important for people to help one another.

If you are trying to get into shape, or maybe lose some post baby pounds, think of road races as a great way to stay motivated. The average person who has never run a day in their life could still tackle a little over 3 miles in about an hour, not too bad. Many races also offer a one mile “fun run” if you want to test the water. Just think of it, daily inspiration to exercise, time with your husband and kids, helping others AND you will never be at a shortage for white t-shirts again! What other family activity can promise that?

I am trying to be better about taking an “Official” monthly belly picture. Since this is my last pregnancy I don’t want to go back and think I missed anything. With At-man, I didn’t even think to do this. With Em everything just flew by so fast we never had a chance. This time I have the mom thing down enough I can actually have an idea and follow through while pregnant.

I am also trying to get my head around the idea that I will actually have a daughter. Pray for me that I don’t screw this up. I don’t think I know a single woman who doesn’t blame her mother for one thing or another and the idea of being the target of such blame is terrifying. I already love her, I just don’t want to subconsciously fill her with body image issues, a fear of intimacy, low self esteem…you name it.

Boys are easy, they love mom. Sure all parents and children have their ups and downs, but I never hear mommy issues creeping into a conversation amongst men. I’d like to see it though. “It’s mommas fault I never made it to the NFL.” “Oh yeah, my mom told me Coors Light tastes like pee, how am I supposed to enjoy it now?!” I guess only time will tell.

It’s fun to enjoy them now though, just look at these guys.

A family of bellys. When they saw D taking my 6 month picture, they had to get in on it. There is nothing I can do to get a nice picture of them together and smiling AND looking into the camera, but when they saw the chance to pull up their shirts, both of their faces lit up. Don’t even dare me to suggest a little tummy flashing to get a decent smile in this years Christmas card picture. I’m so on it!

Pregnant brain and a bad case of Friday Afternoon Syndrome are not exactly conducive to writing a post but I just wanted to get this out before it melts into the hundred or so other lost items floating around in my head.

At-man came with me to the doctor today because he wanted to hear the baby’s heartbeat. I guess this post is just to remind myself when I am old and gray, of the look of total joy on his face when the doctor placed the dopler on my belly and he heard the first sounds of the baby swishing around in there. It was almost like he had formed an instant bond with his new sister. He had brought his real doctors stethoscope from home and my O.B. showed him where to put it so that he could check the baby himself. I have no idea if he really heard anything or not but he was so excited he was jumping all around the room. He has got to be one of the sweetest kids I have ever know, and I want to make sure I get that out so I can look back fondly upon this time 10 years from now when he is a sullen teenager who no longer wishes to be in the same room with me.

I think I have said that every age At-man has been so far has been my favorite. I love babies for being so soft and needy, toddlers cause they’re so damn cute but the thing about parenthood I most enjoy is watching the person they are becoming and so every year becomes my new fave. Em is so very 2 right now in every manner, shape and form of the word, and although he is so squishy and adorable and sweet (when he choses) and he is such a marshmallow, I hate to admit I am sort of looking forward to a time when he is capable of reason. At 5, At-man is able to understand the concept of “No dinner, then no dessert” and “If you want to watch a movie, all the toys must be put away”. He still has chubby cheeks and likes to snuggle, and isn’t afraid to call me Mommy in front of his friends yet. 5 kicks ass!

As you can see, pregnant brain, I have totally gone from a quick note to remind myself how sweet At-man was this morning and ended up in an ode’ to 5. Believe it or not, I actually aced the essay portion of my S.A.T.’s

Me and Em compare tummys. He has now taken to showing his “baby in the tummy” to family and friends.