Growing a Baby - The Bump(s)

Even before I was ever pregnant (with this baby) I told myself I was NOT going to do it. I was NOT going to torture my children like this...

...then week 14 hit and I panicked and this happened....

I did it.

I made my children line up and take a picture with me and my ever growing belly.  (Isaiah was apparently practicing his mug shot look that afternoon.)  See the thing is, I have done this with all of my previous pregnancies. I liked having a visual documentation of not only how big my belly got, but also how much my kids grew UP during that pregnancy. How little they were when we told them "you are getting a new brother or sister" compared to how big they were once that baby arrived.

But this time I figured I didn't need to do it. I could just take a picture by myself and that would be good enough.

Apparently good enough wasn't good enough. Deep down I really wanted this picture series (one last time). So I set up the camera on self-timer, offered the kids candy for their cooperation and snapped away.

And again at 18 weeks...

Again with the horrible shadows. Erg. I really need to stop taking these pictures in dark basements.



And now because I can not resist a good comparison. Here I am at 17 weeks with baby #3 (aka Hannah) - circa March 2012.

18 weeks with baby #2 (aka Charlotte) - circa December 2009.

And last, but certainly not least 18 weeks with baby #1 (aka Isaiah) - circa December 2006.



























Oh wait...there is no picture of me at 18 weeks because there was NO BELLY to document. Oh how I miss intact abdominal muscles. They hid that growing baby so well for so long that first time around.

More of these bump/mug shots to come in the next few months...consider yourself warned:)

Sparkle Shoes

Over the weekend I switched over all of my kids' wardrobes to fall attire. During this major undertaking, I unearthed these hand-me-down shoes for Charlotte...

Wearable? Yes. Pretty? Well they have seen better days:) 

This morning while at Walmart (again!) I remembered this tutorial I had read awhile back. A tutorial on snazzing up old worn out ballet slipper type shoes. I quickly buzzed through the craft section and asked Charlotte what she would like to use to "pretty up" her white shoes. She immediately selected PINK GLITTER. I thought gold might be better. A little more neutral:) So we bought both.

And one hour (and a slight mess) later we were done with our transformation!

Pretty? Yes absolutely for a little girl! And still wearable:)

Obviously I didn't use spray paint like the original tutorial. In case anyone is interested here is what I did...

Purchased two tubes of 88¢ glitter. One gold. One pink. Allowed each girl to hold a tube of glitter on the drive home. The gold glitter was uncapped and scattered ALL over the two year old and her car seat. Pink quickly became the forerunner for the project. (I advise keeping the glitter in the bag and well supervised at all times if you decide to try this project! Because apparently the tubes are NOT taped shut. Who knew?!)

Next I gave the shoes a quick scrubbing. Taped off the toes with painters tape and let my girls go wild with the Modge Podge on the untaped toe section of the shoes. 

Then came a generous dose of glitter sprinkled/dumped on by my little helpers.

The last step I completed by myself, therefore no pictures were taken. After allowing the modge podge to dry, I carefully removed the tape and applied a top (protective) coat of modge podge to the glittery areas. 

I LOVE how they turned out. More importantly so does Charlotte. She calls them her "fun shoes". I am not sure how well they will hold up. BUT we hardly used any of the glitter so we have a lot leftover for any reapplications that are needed. 

Seriously a fun and super easy "fix" for worn out shoes. Now if only there were a way to make worn out boy sneakers look better! 

On having help.

Supposedly I am in the "honeymoon" phase of this pregnancy. No longer continually-on-the-verge-of-puking and not yet impeded by my large and in charge belly full o' baby. The second trimester. And while I am glad the nausea has passed and I am enjoying my still limber days, I am EXHAUSTED and not feeling so honeymoonish!  Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have three children to care for while growing this baby. Or maybe it's because I am old(er) this time around. Maybe it's because my husband is 600 miles away and we just moved and we are NOT settled and organized yet...whatever the reason...I am TIRED. Which means when I put the kids to bed I fall asleep and stay asleep all night every night. Which in turn means this here blog has gone a bit silent. Post-kids' bedtime is typically my blogging time. Now it's just my sleep time. Oops. 

But tonight I managed to stay awake past the kids' bedtime. (V for victory!!) So I am BACK! And I am happy to report that we are settling into life here in Minnesota. We are slowly finding our new routine. Our groove. I personally am loving having my parents around to help (they are both retired!). It's the simple things like not having to drag all three kids out the door in the morning to bring Isaiah to school that make the biggest difference. Or leaving Hannah napping at pick-up time. It's the big things too. Like having dinner on the table every night at 5pm...without having to cook it!!!  Seriously that one is AMAZING. Oh and the other day I went to my one hour new OB patient appointment by myself. It was so quiet and peaceful. (Historically I have brought my whole crew with me for the majority of my OB appointments so this was like a dream come true!) I am loving this arrangement. I just hope the feeling is mutual...

This week has gone so well in fact (...besides having to peel a crying Charlotte off my torso for preschool drop-off on Friday...) that I have been feeling good and strong and whatever the opposite of a hot mess is until soccer practice on Friday afternoon. See I had promised the kids a trip to Walmart for a new toy on Friday after school (to celebrate the end of the first week at a new school). When I made this promise I didn't realize Isaiah had soccer practice that same afternoon. So I pushed back the shopping trip until after practice. Seemed like a logical solution to me. Isaiah and Charlotte didn't agree. I dragged them (against their will) to practice and forced Isaiah onto the field. Just as I was being lulled into believing I had everything under control disaster struck. In the form of a toot gone wrong. So wrong in fact that new underwear and pants were necessary. Unfortunately I did not have either of those items on my person or stowed away in the van. We improvised with little sister's spare dress (two sizes too small!) because the show had to go on! As I was walking into Walmart with my three children, one of whom was going commando I accepted the fact that even with all the extra help, I am still a hot mess. A hot mess that needed to make a purchase ASAP...

*Edited to add. I did not stay awake long enough to type up this post last night. I fell asleep after the first paragraph. Thankfully nap time today is proving to be a very productive time for me. 

new school.

Monday (Labor Day) we rolled into town right around (the kids') bedtime...we were a dirty, stinky, tired mess. A mess that had to get cleaned up and ready to start school...the very next morning! Aack.

I think we did alright. I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

Not documented is the pathetic scraps of food I put together as Isaiah's first day of school lunch:) Win some. Lose some. (For the record, Isaiah considered the lunch a win as it was mostly junk/convenience food. Definite mom lose!) 

Dropping Isaiah off at his brand new school, in a new state when he was clearly nervous was SO very VERY hard. I think it was worse than dropping him off for his first day of kindergarten two years ago! And that was hard. Knowing we chose to uproot him this year and cause him this turmoil...well it was almost too much for me to handle. And irrationally I was mad at Joe for being 600 miles away on this big day. Because rationally I know that even if he were in the same state as us the odds of him being present for school drop off would be somewhere between keep dreaming and never in this lifetime! (Sometimes being the solo parent just plain sucks. And this was one of those moments.)  I did the best I knew how given the circumstances - I prayed for him, forced him to put his shoes back on, delivered him to the appropriate line-up of 2nd grade kids, said goodbye and walked away. And then I cried. Big fat tears. Tears of sadness and anxiety for my boy. Tears I knew he wanted to cry but never would. Already at seven he is to cool to cry (especially in front of peers). All day I was sad and nervous and thinking about him. Wondering how he was doing. 

I could hardly wait to see him get off his bus that afternoon. But WAIT I did! The school didn't give us a drop off time. And never would I have guessed it to be a little over an hour AFTER the school day ended. (The school is only a mile away!) Hopefully this isn't the norm. 

I wish I could report that Isaiah loved school and has already made new friends. But that would be a lie...

He is tolerating it at this point. And quite frankly so am I. 

Before this becomes too much of a downer, I am happy to report that Isaiah's first day of soccer (also on the first day of school) was a HUGE success! Seriously this kid LOVED his first soccer practice and is excited for more. And game day (Saturday) can't come soon enough! 

Charlotte's first day of preschool was today and far less dramatic. However her "first day" was just an orientation day so I stayed with her the entire time:) 

Friday when she returns for her real first day (by herself!) very may well be drama filled! This girl has been VERY attached to me since we left Michigan. A little too attached (in my opinion). If I am ever out of her sight she desperately calls for me as though she is abandoned. The other day at the gas station she wanted to come out of the van to be with me while I pumped the gas. (Her seat is closest to the gas tank). I denied her request. And she panicked until I agreed to leave a door open for easy communication during this "separation". So yeah, her first day might be very interesting!

Tears will likely be shed by both of us. 

On a lighter note, I was quite perplexed over what I should pack in her backpack. I mean she is only there a couple hours three afternoons a week. What could she really need (besides a spare set of clothes...just in case of an accident:)?!? Charlotte was not so perplexed. She had no problem filling it up. She packed her jar of pennies, Chapstick, one pencil, extra socks, a magazine, and a foam visor. She was ready to conquer preschool with all her stuff!

And now I really must stop babbling and get to work. What work?! Oh just the stack of papers half an inch thick that I have received from the kids' school with all the pertinent information and forms to be filled out. It's craziness I tell you! 

P.S. Hannah is in the first day of school picture line-up because Grandma has her convinced she is going to "undie school".  I am not so convinced. I feel like the big kids and I are just keeping our heads above water these days. Potty training would/will sink me. But if Grandma wants to potty train her...I have no qualms with that! 

(even more) travel adventures

We are in Montana. Actually we have been here for a couple days now. But I am just now feeling rested and recuperated (enough to write) from all that traveling. 

Getting from Michigan to Minnesota was relatively uneventful (read: non-stop movies and snacks for the kids). We were able to see many friends including a couple brand new baby girls! Two extremely generous friends allowed me and my three ring circus to spend the night in their homes. They didn't even bat an eye at all our bizarre traveling antics (read: van loaded to the brim that spilled out on their driveway + vomit soaked car seat). That reminds me. Hannah chose this moment...

to gag herself to the point of vomiting. She really has a knack for choosing THE worst moments to throw up! Those ominous gray clouds released buckets of rain moments after I snapped this picture in stopped Chicago traffic. So there we sat in our very odiferous van. Not going anywhere. It was less than pleasant.

But we survived. And really the rest of the trip was fairly pleasant. I mean how can you stay crabby when you get to hold such a sweet little bundle?!?

My best friend had her baby the same day we arrived in Wisconsin! And she still let us come visit. Now THAT is a good friend. 

Because we definitely brought chaos with us! This picture may look serene...do not be fooled. 

The kids and I arrived in Minnesota with a little over 24 hours to get unloaded, unpacked, re-packed and loaded and on the road again. I was on a tight schedule. A schedule that did NOT have room to deal with incorrectly filed state taxes from 2011. Unfortunately the letter from the state waiting for me at my parents' house begged to differ! Talk about stress. Had we received this letter 3 months ago it would have been no big deal. However currently all of the pertinent paperwork is very safely filed away in an (unmarked!) box somewhere in the garage stall filled to the brim with all of our belongings. Essentially a needle in a hay stack. Long story short: Joe saved the day by hunting down all the necessary paperwork and re-filing my state taxes from 2011. He's the best!

So back on the road we went. 

All of me and my kidlets tucked safe and snug in the back of my parents' van! (I don't ever want to road trip solo again. So many grown up hands and minds make a trip a whole lot sane-er.) First stop was my sister's house. Kids played. Grown ups chatted (and cooked). Oh and I forced my sister to take this picture with me...for prosperity!

It's our only pregnancy picture together. As this is our first time being pregnant at the same time:) I was/am a bit reluctant to share this picture as I look HUGE for 16 weeks considering my sister is carrying TWO babies and is nearly twice as far along as me (30 weeks) but prosperity wins! It always does. 

After dinner we loaded back into the van and drove the remaining five hours to my brother's place in Montana. We UNWISELY arrived in middle of the night. 12:30am. Waking sleeping children and settling them into new surroundings is not a wise parenting move. Add in a creek that was flooding my brother's driveway and well...it was a middle of the night adventure! 

This is the driveway:

Handy for fishing. Not so convenient for getting to the house. The solution? A suspended foot bridge. With a ladder on each end. 

Oh and a couple of pickup trucks on either side of the bridge to haul us and our luggage to our final destination. 

These pictures were taken the day after our arrival. Our first trek across was not documented. It was pitch black. And our footwear was less than ideal...silly city people:) The kids loved it. And admittedly, my adventure-loving self thought it was pretty fun too. And totally worth it!

My brother's new place is fabulous. So peaceful and beautiful. The kids and I are loving all the wide-open space and quality time with family on their home turf. 

Oh and the mud and dirt and bugs! My kids love those too. Me. Not so much. 

Friday we head out to family camp for the weekend (here in Montana). This time we will simply drive out as the creek has dried up. And then finally back to Minnesota (in time for the first day of school). Once I am settled into our new norm in Minnesota I will have many, many more pictures of cousins and travels to share. (Consider yourself warned.)

Charlotte keeps asking where we are going next (as well as which states we have visited/lived in). She's a tad confused. Rightfully so. Today her and I wrote out/drew this "map" of our travels. 

Clear as mud, eh? The red is the road & stop signs. The brown are all houses we have stayed at. Still confused? Me too.