P90X and Single Motherhood

I have been SO very busy with everything since school started that I have barely had time to take a shower, but I'm slowly figuring out a routine that gets everything mostly done and leaves a few minutes for a glass of wine at the end of the day. Last week, however, was the week of all weeks and I lived to tell about it!

Paul had to go out of town last week for the first time since we've had Zoe, and he couldn't have picked a more challenging week! First of all, I decided to join several of my co-workers in doing P90X, which is a very intense 90 day workout program. The workouts are about an hour long 6 days a week, and change every day. The very first day was shoulder and back (think push-ups and pull-ups), the second day was plyometrics (different varieties of jumping squats) the third days was arms, fourth was yoga, fifth was more pull-ups and arms, and the sixth was kenpo (kickboxing) with abs on days 1, 3 and 5. Oh yeah, did I mention it's super intense?

So, since I have not really worked out in awhile, I was INCREDIBLY sore Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, which was a problem because I have a 6-month old baby who weighs probably 22 or 23 lbs. My noodly arms could barely pick her up out of her crib, and my abs were so sore that I could barely roll (literally roll - I could not sit up like a normal person) my poor achy body out of bed at 2am to feed my poor 22lb hungry baby who seems to cry very, very extra loud at that hour. I was actually afraid that my biceps might just decide that they were uninterested in working and poor little Zoe would drop to the floor. Thankfully they held out enough so I could feed, bathe and dress my 'little' Zo-Zo without incident.

During that week two assistant superintendents from our district were visiting my school, and both came to my classroom. I could barely walk properly and had to ask one of them if our principal had explained the new fitness group the faculty had started so she wouldn't think something was seriously wrong with me.

Last was also the week that soccer started. Sophia is already in dance on Tuesdays, and normally Paul picks up Zoe on those days so I don't have to bring her into the small boring waiting area at the dance academy. But, last week I had to bring Zoe, and of course it was 'Bring your Friend to Dance' week, so there were extra parents, not enough seats and the 'air-conditioning' was blowing a cool 85 degrees or so. I was sweating just sitting there, and poor Zoe had to sit on my lab and was sweating and had little red hot-cheeks.

Then, on to the very first Soccer practice for T and S. They are on the same team, which is good, but having never been a 'soccer Mom' up to this point, I was very unprepared. My friend was going to watch Zoe so she wouldn't have to sit out in the 90 degrees and 80% humidity, but she hurt her shoulder pretty bad in P90X that day, so I brought Z with me. She was sweating up a storm in her very hot stroller that had a near-flat tire (so I looked pretty lame pushing it across the grass), but she seemed to have lots of fun watching everything. I almost forgot to bring water and then I left it in the car, and I didn't have any fancy soccer-Mom chairs like everyone else, so I got to sit next to the fireants in the grass. You only have to learn that lesson once. Thankfully there was one other Soccer-Mom-Virgin there, so we sat on the grass together like big dorks. I barely had enough time to get there on time, and the kids were so excited, and soccer socks/shoes/shinpads take alot of time to put on so they wore their shinpads on the outside of their socks and looked a little like nerds, but we'll plan better next time. I also forgot bug spray, but thankfully one of the other very experienced Moms let me borrow some of hers. In the end, the kids had so much fun that they can't wait to go this week, but it was mildly stressful for me. At least now I know what to expect.

Once we got home from soccer, I had to put the baby to bed, give everyone snacks, baths and put them to bed, and it was all much later than normal, so everyone was just a bit crabby. Then they were a bit crabby again in the morning because we all had to get up so early the whole week so I could get everyone to school so I could get to work on time (I have to be there at 7:30, so we had to leave by 6:55 or 7am at the latest). It was exhausting and we were all totally worn out and tired by Friday night, but thankfully Paul made it home around 9:30pm on Friday just in time for me to collapse with some earplugs in so I could get many hours of sleep in a row!

What a week! I also managed to feed everyone, do laundry, make bottles, clean bottles, make bottles, clean bottles, take out the garbage, find a new lawn service, get to the grocery store and keep everyone safe and relatively happy - nothing short of a small miracle in my opinion! Yep - motherofthreehood slapped me in the face this week, but I like to think I slapped back!

The Great Niles Roadtrip: Year 2010

Let me preface this story of our vacation with 2 things.

First, I love roadtrips. There is so much to see along the way that you totally miss when flying places. Roadtrips are, however, significantly more difficult with children. Most especially with a 4 month old.

Second, I actually thought to myself before I left "I wonder what is going to happen this year" because something always happens to or at our house on our vacations. Three years ago our house flooded while we were in CA, two years ago God had a little mercy on me because Paul was out of town working the Phoenix mission from May to August, last year we had a smoke detector/house alarm problem (it wasn't that bad, just annoying for our house-sitter and us once we got home and couldn't turn it off).

I had no idea that this year's problem would join us on our trip. So, here's the story of this year's vacation . . .

CHAPTER 1
We left our house on June 29 in the most wonderful car for families ever invented: the Honda Odyssey. We packed stuff and more stuff and then some stuff that we really didn't need and STILL had room! It was awesome. We headed for our first stop: Mesa, AZ. We drove 2 half days and one full day to get there, but it was a much needed leisurely drive since the addition of little Zoe. We arrived in Mesa and stayed for a couple days with my brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces. The kids had tons of fun together and we visited an olive oil mill and the museum I used to work at. It's easy to forget how dry it is there. Sophia's head was itching a bit, and I assumed it was from the dryness. Then we headed for California.

We got to Paul's parents house just in time for July 4. We went to the Pacific Palisades parade and then off to Paul's Aunt's house in Malibu to enjoy some yummy BBQ and fireworks with friends and family. The kids were EXHAUSTED!!!! Then my brother and his family came for a couple of days and we went and showed them all the wonderful LA/Hollywood sights. We even saw Pharrel Williams (a rapper, apparently none of our friends know who he is . . . ) pull out in front of us while driving along Sunset Blvd. Well, at least Lindsay (my sis-in-law) and I are 98% sure it was him . . . It it always fun to enjoy LaLa Land. Sophia is still itching at this point and we all thought it was dry scalp. I even commented that I wanted to get some head and shoulders for her.

No time for shampoo shopping, though, we were off to Anaheim for my cousin's vow renewal ceremony. We got there just in time to get ready and head on to the party bus to the ceremony and dinner. We had a great time with family we hadn't seen in a long time, and they even ended the evening with marshmallow roasting and s'mores on the beach! We went back on the party bus, and Thomas talked to one of his cousins for the ENTIRE one hour drive!! I mean he did not stop talking the whole time! He was a total hit!

The next day was Disneyland!!! We got all the kids (my kids and my nieces) ready (Zoe was staying with Paul's Mom during this time) and headed over on the shuttlebus! It was also my birthday so I got a little button that said it was my birthday so people could wish me well all day long. But, as it turns out, Disneyland is NOT the happiest place on Earth for toddlers. I think they had fun, but it was a bit overwhelming. There were SOOO many people, long lines and many of the rides were pretty scary for 3 and 4 year olds. But, they found a few they liked and we did the best we could.

CHAPTER 2: LICE

Sophia had really been itching her head pretty bad all day, and as we stood in line for the Autopia ride it just came to me that she might have lice. I've never had any kind of experience at all with lice, so I didn't know anything about it. But, I did see a bug in her hair earlier, but just thought it was a little gnat or something. We rode the ride, hooked back up with my brother, bought a couple things and headed back around 5:30pm. Paul immediately went to the store to get some lice shampoo, and the rest of us sat at the hotel's free happy hour and researched lice on the ipad. Ugh.

Paul got back and I treated Sophia's hair and tons of little dead bugs came out of her hair. It was sooooo gross, and I had to have housekeeping come and change the bedding and clean the bathroom because they were everywhere. I then spent the rest of my birthday sitting with my brother and sis-in-law eating Bucca take-out, drinking wine and being frustrated. Paul put the kids to bed and then had to drive to San Diego for work. He left at 11pm instead of the planned 6 or 7pm.

The next day I went to pick up Zoe from my mother-in-law's house and then headed to my Grandmother's in Stockton. I kept checking Sophia's hair and I didn't think I washed it good enough, so I did another treatment the following day after we got to my Grandmother's. The next day after that I was checking my own hair and found a bug. I almost had a nervous breakdown!!! We had already been washing everything like crazy, and now I was worried about the baby and my 95 year old Grandmother. I treated my hair and combed it out for 2 hours, and thankfully it was no where near as bad as Sophia's. Everyone knew Sophia had it, but I had to let Lindsay know that I now had them too and she should check the girls.

I should note that I don't know where she got the lice. Both kids had been at the YMCA kid area almost daily for 2 weeks and a drop off daycare for 1 day a few days before we left. I'm thinking it was the drop off daycare place, but I have no way of knowing. They've been there before lots of times. Apparently lice is VERY common because everyone has been telling me their lice stories, and the pharmacist told my sister-in-law that the lice shampoo just flies off the shelves. That made me feel a little better. But only a little. It still sucks.

She checked the girls the next day and they BOTH had them!! What a nightmare! She was already home in AZ, so treated the girls and washed everything too. We continued to wash, wash and wash some more. I thought the washing machine was going to die.

The same day I discovered my lice (Thursday), my cousin fell at Costco and broke her foot really bad. She was about to have a wedding reception for 110 people on Saturday and now she had to visit the orthopedic doctor, who put her in a non-walking cast for 4 weeks!!! So, she wheeled around her party like a champion and we all had tons of fun!

On Friday, Thomas got stung by a wasp. Super awesome.

Monday after the party (Paul joined us Saturday for the party), the Niles clan packed up the swagger wagon for the more than 2000 mile drive home. We stopped in LA for a day and a half, AZ for a night, and then headed home. We took a slight detour to White Sands Nat'l Monument in NM where Paul got pulled over for speeding and thankfully did not get a ticket(!!!), and Carlsbad Caverns. Both were awesome, although the kids were a bit scared of the cave. I've always wanted to go there, so I'm really glad we made the trip. We made it home on July 24 just in time. Zoe cried for the last 2 hours of the trip or so - she was totally done with sitting in her carseat!

Overall, we had alot of fun spending time with family and taking some scenic drives. I am now a scholar on lice and certainly have added a many more stress-caused gray hairs. But, I hear that lice don't like color treated hair . . .

View my photos here: http://ani.smugmug.com/

Amazingly we did not get a picture of the 5 of us together, so I"m still waiting to replace the blog photo with a a pic of all of us. Soon I hope!!!

Ears Pierced!!

Sophia got her ears pierced today! She had been asking to get earrings, and so we decided to do it since Dad gave her to OK. So, we headed to the mall after swimming lessons, met my good friend Molly there, had a quick lunch and then headed to Claire's. She picked out some little pink 'diamond' studs, and was ready to go. She did such a great job! The 2 girls did her ears at the same time just in case she decided to cry or something, but she didn't even cry. She did look a little shocked afterwards and looked like she might cry since we were all standing around her waiting for her reaction, but once she got a mirror and saw them she was excited. She kept looking in every mirror she could find for the rest of our time at the mall.

Waiting . . .

Getting them pierced!

Afterwards!

Adventures in THREE kids: Month 3, week 12 or 90-something days . . .

It's day 4 of summer vacation and also Zoe's 3 month birthday! Time has really flown by, and quite frankly I don't really remember much of the first 2 months. I was far too tired and in too much pain to even have the energy or brain power to save anything in brain. Zoe is slowly becoming a much better sleeper. We've been able to go 8 hours at night recently, and last night she slept almost 10 straight hours!! I think she's been battling a little stomach bug, so I think it pooped her out (literally and figuratively!)! She's really smiley and happy for the most part and is starting to really respond to toys, her brother and sister, noises and is slowly figuring out how to use her hands. And, her eyes continue to stay a dark blue, but I know they can change at any time in the next 9 months or so.

Thomas and Sophia have been going to Vacation Bible School at St. George in Houston, and have been having a great time! They really put on a nice production, and it's been all week in the mornings. So, Zoe and I have been shopping, running errands and visiting with my 80 year old Great-Aunt LaSeema.

It has also been ridiculously hot here. It's been in the 90's here, which is not bad at all, but when you combine that with 85%-90% humidity, it's absolutely disgusting. I have been straightening my bangs only to have beautiful wings sticking out of the side of my head 30 seconds after walking outside. It's hopeless. Another fun side effect of the heat/humidity is that it's way too miserable to go outside and play, and so the kids seem to only know how to get in to trouble inside. They've been fighting, arguing, not listening and have been generally crabby in the afternoons. There is something about the late afternoon hours that brings out the crankiness in kids, but it's worse when the weather sucks. So, Thomas got all his toys taken away the other day, and Sophia had some of hers taken away, but in the end it's all a much worse punishment for me than for them. Again, it's hopeless!

The last thing is that Paul has been working late recently to finish up some grants he needs to write before we go out of town. So, I've been home with 2 cranky toddlers and a poor baby girl who's got a stomach bug and a very sore butt. This leads to absolute SCREAMING every time I have to change her diaper and then one or both of the others decide to cry about something totally insignificant in order to get some attention. Needless to say, I've been a bit frazzled. Paul came home last night around 9pm all jazzed up about Nebraska's decision to move to the Big 10, and all I could do was muster a little grunt before collapsing from exhaustion. On a normal day, I would have wanted to stay up to watch Sports Center and read/discuss everything I could about how this will affect the future of NU football. But, week 12 of having three kids has left me very, very tired!

One thing I did, that I'd like to share is I signed up with www.e-mealz.com. They create a week long menu for dinner, provide instructions and a shopping list for everything you need broken up by section in the grocery store. This has saved me unbelievable amounts of time so far, we haven't gone out or gotten take-out (so it's saving us money), and I don't have to think about anything! I've been loving it and would highly recommend it for anyone low on time!

Herding Cats . . .

This is our last week of school (MOST THANKFULLY!!!), and it has been so hectic around here! I've been trying to pick up the pieces in my classes of having a sub who played the nice guy with the kids, didn't follow instructions and basically gave all the kids 'A's in my classes. That's all fine and dandy except when I have to come back and the students actually have to work. I gave them a project to work on IN CLASS for a week where they had to design a space mission and then make a poster of it. Can you get any easier than having to draw something you invented as a project??? Apparently the answer is yes because they complained and then I actually had 2 students not finish. It was A DRAWING for heaven's sake. Oh well. Then they just had to take the final to which I gave a VERY thorough review, but did anyone study? Not that I know of. Nor did they come in for help.

I am just happy that the year is over. Having a long term sub really messed up the atmosphere and momentum in my classes, one of which is physics and should be fairly rigorous. Oh well. Apparently sub guy thought I was too hard on the kids or something. Oh well.

On top of that, Paul watched the Zoe in the mornings when I returned to work, so that meant I had to rush home right after school at noon to relieve him so he could go to work. That also meant that he worked quite late (10 or 11pm) many nights leaving me to do bathtime, dinnertime and bedtime with all 3 kids. It's not impossible, but it's also not particularly easy. As a result of that, I didn't get much done at school, and then by the evenings I was extremely exhausted.

So, during this past week Zoe went to daycare. I've had to stay for tutorials in the afternoons, I have graduation practice this afternoon, and it was just too much if Paul was interested in working at all. Thankfully, Zoe has done GREAT, and everyone there loves her. I like the school, and the kids like it, so that made it easier for me to bring her. She will go there in the fall, so it's been fine. I've also been able to get alot done this week like cleaning and preparing my classroom for the summer and next year.

At any rate, the past few weeks have, for me, been a little like herding cats. Chaotic, busy, and I feel like I"m running in all directions all the time. Grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking (or trying to anyway), bathing the kids, doing laundry - it has been a challenge to figure out how to balance it all with the baby around the house. Thankfully she likes the sling, so I can carry her in it and still have 2 hands to do stuff, although she's growing out of it, so I'll have to figure out what to do when that happens. I"m looking forward to the summer, and being a little less stressed. We have to work tomorrow (YES, A SATURDAY, UGH), so my 'relaxing' summer will start on Sunday!

Post-baby Goal!

I need to lose a few pounds after having 2 kids, and I need to do it soon!! The urgency stems from the fact that I really don't want to have to buy all new clothes, so I'm hoping I can be strong and have some success. I have a particular number in mind, which is right around my pre-Sophia weight, and will be a total of about 20 lbs. I have a hard time being strong enough to stick with weight loss, especially with 3 kids! It's nearly impossible to cook healthy meals because there is so much chopping and preparation involved, and it's pure chaos around here in the afternoons. So, Paul has offered me a special weight loss gift if I can do it, so I am trying to use that as my incentive.

I know I need to plan better and get more organized in my meal planning and grocery shopping, so I hope I can force myself into a good routine. Lately that has been difficult since Paul works late after watching Zoe in the mornings, so I just eat whatever and do my best to get all the kids fed, bathed and put to bed. The last thing I want to do after all that is clean up a messy kitchen!! My goal is to try to figure it all out once school is over and our schedules aren't so ridiculous. Any suggestions on making this work well would be awesome!!

Anyway, I started my endeavour last week and today I was down 1.8 lbs, but we just went away for the weekend to a wedding filled with yummy food and drinks, so I don't know how long it will take before that catches up with me. Oh well. Today is a new day and I'm starting fresh!! I'll keep you all posted on how things are going, and I hope by writing about this here, it will keep me even more motivated and accountable! And so the journey begins . . .

Back to Work

I started back to work last week :-( I've had mixed emotions about this for several reasons. First, it's nice to get out of the house, and it's really nice to know that I've been missed! However, there's only a few weeks of school left, and it's really not enough time to fix what the sub did (or didn't as it may be) do such as teaching a variety of topics to be covered on the final exam. So, that is stressful in itself, but I"m figuring out how to do a quick and dirty review so the students have a decent chance at passing the final. It's hard to have motivation to do anything when TAKS is over and there's so little time left.

And, what makes it really bad is that I am physically EXHAUSTED!!! I am so, so tired from feeding the baby in the middle of the night, getting up early, working and then figuring out how to fit in laundry, dinner, cleaning, grocery shopping, yard work, and the list goes on and on! Paul has been working late because he's watching Zoe in the mornings so she doesn't have to go to daycare. So, that means I've been doing dinnertime, bathtime and bedtime all myself (not every single day, but often), which I think most parents would agree that those are the most exhausting and least fun parts of a toddler day. And, to top it off, Zoe is not as easy as Sophia was. She likes to be held most of the time, although I'm trying to get her used to lying in her crib for naps. So, that means I get to do all of the above while carrying a baby in a sling! I'm actually getting pretty saavy with the sling, and I was able to actually bathe Thomas and Sophia while holding Zoe in a sling and giving her a bottle. Thankfully, this current situation is just temporary until the end of school , but in the meantime I am so tired that I can barely keep straight what day it is and what I am supposed to be doing.

I know that it will be better in the fall, and I am really, really lucky that I love my job! I"m really lucky that it's part time, and that next year I get to teach Earth and Space Science. I'm hoping Zoe will be in a more regular routine by August, and I"ll be less tired. However, for now, I'm just barely making it, but I"m glad I can see the light at the end of the school year tunnel!

The iPad!!

I think the first words out of my mouth when I first heard about the iPad were 'That is so stupid. Who would ever want a giant iphone???'. Well, I am eating my words now because we got one and I love it!

After reading and listening to many people talk about the iPad, Paul thought it might be pretty cool. I was slowly coming around, but we really didn't have a need. That is until the wireless card on my laptop overheated to its death and we discovered it would cost around $400 to fix. We also learned that Compaqs often have this problem and shorty after the wireless card dies, the motherboard dies. It's almost 4 years old, so I guess it's time. Anyway, we decided this was the perfect excuse to buy the iPad, and Paul even went to the mall at 8pm last Thursday only to discover they were sold out. He called the next morning and the store had recieved a shipment, so he headed over to pick it up and we were proud owners of a 16 gig iPad by noon.

I must admit it's pretty cool - much cooler than I thought. Here's WHAT I LIKE:
1. Quick on/off - it's turns on in a second and off in a second. The laptop took several minutes to boot up, so if I wanted to look something up quickly, it wasn't going to happen in less than 5 minutes.
2. Long battery life - enough said. I've never had a laptop with a battery that actually worked.
3. APPS!!! - The apps are really cool, although I really haven't fully explored them. Paul has been finding all kinds of cool things. So far, I have a calendar and calorie counting app. Paul has found much more interesting things like a magazine reader (download issues of mags you like), Pandora (which I really like), weatherbug, ABC (to watch shows), Chipotle ordering, and several others.
4. Portability - it's so easy to carry around. If I want to look up a recipe, an actor on imdb, check my e-mail, facebook, etc. I can do it quickly (see #1) and anywhere I want (bathroom, kitchen, outside, baby's room, etc.). And, it's so light and small, I can easily check things anywhere while doing other things like feeding a baby, walking around, cooking, talking on the phone etc. YOu just can't do that with a laptop.
5. Screen quality - it's very sharp and clear. Great for TV shows and pictures.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE AS MUCH:
1. Internet is limited - there are some features on the internet that don't work as well. For example, I can't chat with online friends on facebook. We have a desktop, so it doesn't really matter that much.
2. You can't print - there is no print feature, so I can't print anything from the web. Hopefully they will fix that in the future.
3. You can't do 2 things at once - Windows is really great for that. For example, I can't listen to Pandora and do anything else online like facebook or searching for things.
4. The Keyboard - it's pretty good, but I'm old fashioned, I guess, and I like my keyboard for fast typing. I can type pretty well with the touch screen keyboard, but it wouldn't (in my opinion) be so great for doing something like writing a blog. To its credit, it is big and pretty accurate when touching it.
5. USB - there is no USB port, so I can't do things like upload photos from a camera or install any other kind of software. But, I don't really think it's supposed to fully replace regular computers.

The iPad serves a particular purpose, for us at least. We used the laptop mostly for using the internet and checking/writing e-mails. So, for that, it is great. If we are watching a movie and want to know who that familiar actor is, we can turn it on and look up imdb.com in a matter of seconds. I can quickly check e-mails, facebook, weather, airplane status, recipes, etc. from anywhere in the house very, very easily. We still have our desktop for word processing, photo storing and editing, document storing, etc. We can take it on the road and use it easily anywhere there is wireless. So, overall we love it so far! I give it a 'B' because I think there are some things that can be improved, but hopefully that will come with time.

We are OUTNUMBERED!!!

Our parents are gone, and now it's just Paul and me vs. three kids. We were extremely lucky to have near constant help for an entire month after Zoe was born, but the honeymoon is over. And, reality smacked us hard in the face the first morning after my parents left. A newborn spends a fair amount of time awake at night needing to eat. As a result, this leaves Mom and Dad extremely tired, exhausted and zombie-like come morning. When the baby last eats at 5am and parents finally fall back asleep around 6am, it's near impossible to open one's eyes when 2 energetic toddlers come racing into the bedroom at 7am wanting pop-tarts and Dora the Explorer. So, morning 1 without Grandparents to feed and entertain energetic toddlers was ugly. Paul gave them food, turned on the TV and returned to bed for hopefully a little more sleep. But, NO. The pop-tarts were scarfed, the kids now wanted cereal, Dora ended, and they decided it would be the perfect time to antagonize each other by taking the other's monster truck or doll and running around the house. Ugh. Time to get up and face the day.

Well, we made it through that day and the five days since, and each day is a little easier. The kids returned to daycare, and were a little upset about it the first day back, but have since returned to their normal selves. They do much better on a their normal school schedule - they enjoy their friends and activities at school, especially when the alternative is a tired Mommy and crying baby at home.

Zoe is doing great so far. She is very different from Sophia already. She sleeps 3-4 hours at a time at night, and loves to be held and carried around in the bjorn. I am still breastfeeding, but have been supplementing with formula, especially when we are out and about and I can't easily feed her. She was having a hard time with the initial formula I tried, so I tried another kind for fussiness, and finally we hit the jackpot with soy formula. She never vomited (thankfully!!), but would just cry for an hour or 2 after feeding her and seemed constipated. It's extremely difficult to have a baby who just cries and can't be comforted. I feel for every mother with a colicky baby. She's happy and Thomas & Sophia are sweet and gentle with her. They push her on the swing, give her kisses and yell at me to feed her when she cries (You've got to feed her, Mommy!!!).

I am slowly recovering and feel better each day. I"m still sore and am not supposed to lift anything or do anything strenuous for another week, which is difficult, but I can definitely tell when I've done too much. My 6 week appointment is next week, so hopefully I"ll get the OK to start working out again. I'd really like to fit back into some of my clothes so I don't have to buy new stuff for when I go back to work in May.

We are surviving, and are really glad to know that this will be our last go-around with a newborn. Our eyes are heavy, our house is messy, but we know it won't be forever. We are outnumbered - someone always wants something, needs something, is having a crisis or needs a diaper change and between the 2 of us we are just barely keeping everyone satisfied. I"m sure we will eventually find a good balance, especially as the kids get more independent, but until then we are taking it a day at a time. And, above all, we are ecstatic to have the three most beautiful children anyone can ask for, even if it's leaving us a little googly eyed and delirious!

Baby Zoe Arrives!

Baby Zoe has arrived!! Paul and I headed to the hospital at 5am on March 10 for my c-section. We got there and immediately began prepping for surgery. One of the first things the nurses did was give me an IV, and it was probably the worst part of the whole experience!! The first nurse saw a big vein and tried to get the IV in, but it didn't work and was EXTREMELY painful. So she tried the other arm, and it still didn't work. It hurt SO SO bad, and I became nauseous and light headed, and Paul said I turned a funny greenish color. So, they went to get the nurse who puts IVs in newborns, and she did it just fine. I didn't have a problem last time, but I guess the big veins sometimes are deceiving. Ugh. I was so happy when that was over!

After they finished checking my vitals and doing everything they rolled me down to the operating room. It was FREEZING and I was totally nervous so I was shivering pretty bad. They administered the spinal epidural, brought Paul in and began. It was really strange being completely numb from the ribs down, but luckily it wore off after a couple hours. It was probably about 20 minutes later and she was on her way out!! Zoe was crying before she was all the way out, and once she was all the way out she really showed off her lungs. The doctor and nurses all commented how big she was and when they finally weighed her she was NINE pounds! And, a week early, so I'm really glad we elected to do the c-section. My doc also said she did not look like she was going to be making an entrance into the world any time soon, so it was definitely the right choice.

The whole thing was over pretty quickly and I went back to my room to rest. I was pretty out of it for the whole day and could barely keep my eyes open due to the anesthesia. My parents were there and eventually went to get Thomas and Sophia from school in the afternoon to visit. Sophia's teacher made her an awesome 'Big Sister' crown and they were happy to see Mommy and the new baby.

I slept most of the day, and then the morphine started wearing off, making my face extremely itchy. It was really wierd and I could not stop rubbing my nose and face so they gave me benadryl to alleviate some of the itching. It went away by Friday (Zoe was born on Wed.), but it was definitely a very strange sensation.

I stayed in the hospital until Saturday, which was awesome because I was able to really rest knowing that Zoe was well taken care of in the nursery and brought to me whenever she was hungry. They would have released me on Friday, but my insurance paid for up to 5 days in the hospital, so I stayed an extra day. I think I would have been too tempted to do too much if I came home on Friday. As it was, I was in a good amount of pain when I got home, was pretty weak and it was made a bit worse by having to move around more to tend to the baby than I had to in the hospital.

I'm getting better slowly but surely. The doc said there were 7 layers of stitches, so it's no wonder that moving around and doing things have been pretty taxing. But, Zoe is doing very well. She's eating like a champ, and looked great at her first doctor appointment. She seems to have her days and nights mixed up because she sleeps awesome during the day and then doesn't really want to go to sleep in the evenings until 1 or 2am. So, we'll work on that, but in the meantime it is awesome to have my parents here to help because I don't know how I would survive otherwise. Thomas and Sophia are adjusting, and they haven't been going to daycare, which I think it causing some stress. Between the new baby, Mommy not being able to do much, having a totally different schedule than before, they are a little extra whiney, but that is to be expected.

Anyway, all is as well as can be expected at this point! We're tired, but absolutely loving our newest addition!

Baby Zoe Set to Arrive March 10!

I had my doctor appointment today, and it was decided it would be best to have a c-section next week. The medical reason for this is because I had a 4th degree tear with Sophia because she was so big and came out a little sideways (if you want more info on what that means, see this: http://www.babycenter.com/0_perineal-tears_1451354.bc - this was the most toned down version I could find). My doctor said that if tearing like that happens a second time (and if you read about it, it occurs often when there are big babies - Sophia was big at 9 lbs and Zoe will probably be big as well), it often doesn't heal correctly and can lead to bowel problems later on. And, if there is one thing I am uninterested in, it is bowel problems later on.

It also works nicely so that I can have a couple more weeks off, and as a result I won't have to return to work until the 1st or 2nd week of May making our childcare problems much more manageable. So, I'm pretty excited about that. I was also going to have my tubes tied at the same time, but since I'll be at a Catholic hospital, they don't allow that! I was pretty taken aback by that rule, but my Doc said that is one rule the Nuns were sticklers about. So, that means the ball is Paul's court as far as that department is concerned . . .

So, we are excited, and I'm feeling happy and relieved that the end is in sight as far as this pregnancy is concerned! I have one week left to enjoy and finish last minute preparations. I hope I don't get too relaxed and relieved, though, and go in to labor early. I will still have a c-section if that is the case, but I have a bunch of friends coming to stay at my house this Friday and I will be mad if I go in to labor before that! I only get to see these people once a year, if that, so we just need to hold out until Saturday afternoon or later!

I'll keep you all posted, but that's the scoop for now!

Yay! I"m Full Term and Done With Work!

I was officially full term last Monday! I had a doc appt on Wed., and there hasn't been any more progress as far as dilating, which I expected. I was 1 cm dilated with Sophia for about a month. So, we wait . . .

Friday was my last day of work. I am glad to be done for now as I just don't have the energy to do a good job, and I simply can't stand on my feet for even a half day. The kids were sweet and several gave me hugs and wished me luck. They all wanted to make sure I was going to send pictures of the baby once she arrives, so it was very sweet. I hope she doesn't decide to come this week - I need some time to just relax and finish up getting everything ready before baby arrives.

Paul has a science conference this week in the Woodlands (about an hour away), and many of our good friends will be in town for it. So, it will be a very busy week for him, but I don't think he's going to stay the night up there. He does have a poster to present on Thursday night, so I REALLY, REALLY hope nothing happens before then! Then, on Friday night we have about 5 people coming to stay with us and hang out. I'm excited to see everyone, so Zoe can arrive any time after Saturday, but not before!

I must say I"m getting rather irritated with people. On Friday a lady asked when I was due, and so I told her March 17. She looked at me and said 'Are you sure it wasn't Feb. 17??'. I was a bit taken aback, since I am aware of how stinkin' HUGE I am right now, but it's not like you have to rub it in!! I said, well, look at my husband, he's a big guy. But, I don't think she was listening. It also seems like people are looking/talking at my belly, which is understandable, but annoying. Oh well. It's almost over! And, many people have been very nice, so I guess it balances all out. One lady told me my skin looked nice, and lots of people open doors for me or offer to help me out. But, it's never the nice people who stick out in your mind! Anyway, there's not much else to report. I'll keep you posted!

Opossums and Pains

This week we caught a opossum in our garage. He apparently got in somehow, got into a bunch of water bottles and old easter candy and somehow got stuck under a ladder that fell over and dented Paul's car a little. :-( I discovered him, but had to get to work, so Paul took him to animal control. They said they'll take him far away and release him somewhere, but not sure how true that is. I just hope he won't find his way back to us! The night before that, Thunderball got into a fight with a stray cat that comes around and eats all the cat food and got a nice bloody food. Paul was able to wash him up and he seems fine. I LOVE living where we do - with the creek and wooded areas behind us, but we are wildlife central! I can handle the furry mammals - I just don't want to come in to contact with any of the poisonous snakes that come around here. Our neighbor had one in her pool (water moccosin? not sure) as well as a snapping turtle, so I would say those little guys are especially not welcome!

So, our renter wants out of his lease early. I know he's going through a divorce and someone spray painted 'sex offender lives here' on our garage door (he fixed it and repainted), but something else must be going on because he wants to get an apartment. So, either he's having extra legal troubles or he's getting not feeling welcome in the neighborhood anymore. There are lots of kids and when the sex offender thing happened they were all very concerned that we rented to a sex offender. He's not one according to the registry and all we know, but there must be an ugly situation to provoke that. I don't think random people just run around spray painting that on random garage doors. Anyway, so our house is now back on the market for sale or lease, and we've had several showings, so that is good. We won't let the renter out early unless we sell or lease the property. Apparently we had an offer for a 6 month lease to a person with bad credit and 2 dogs. Jeff, our realtor, quickly said NO. So, I hope something happens, and with the tax credit going through April maybe we'll get some kind of offer.

**37 Week Update!!**
So, I'll officially be 37 weeks tomorrow. I am 1 cm dilated, but I was that way for about a month with Sophia, so it doesn't really mean anything. The baby continues to move alot, and I continue to be uncomfortable. I have pulled a muscle in my right rib area, and it HURTS pretty bad. I think it was from coughing alot when I was sick and then picking up the kids at some point probably didn't help it. My doc said it pretty much won't go away until I have the baby. Yay. It makes getting comfortable for bed very difficult and I'm pretty sore in the morning, but there's nothing I can do. I've also been having lots of Braxton-Hicks (fake) contractions. I thought maybe I was going into labor last night, but they went away. I didn't have those with Sophia at all, but I guess they can go on and on and pretty much mean nothing as far as when I'll go in to labor. This week is my last week at work (!!!!) and the following week Paul has a conference in the Woodlands (1 hr north of here) that he needs to go to. He may stay the night 1 night, but we have 5 friends coming to stay the night at our house on that Friday, so it would be very inconvenient of the baby to come before that! So, I guess she's in the clear to arrive any time after March 6! Anyway, that's about it. Sophia will only be referred to as Sophia or 'Big Sister', and Thomas told the babysitter last night all the things he was going to do to help Baby Zoe. So, they are ready, or at least as ready as they are going to be!!

My shower!

My friends at school threw me a shower last Wednesday after school. It was simple, but really nice, and Paul and the kids were able to join us. We had cake, punch & fruit and everyone was very generous. We recieved several super cute little outfits, an awesome diaper cake and a bunch of gift cards! I am so lucky to work at a great school with great people. That is definitely one of the advantages of being at a small school - the entire staff knows each other which creates a more family like atmosphere. Since we don't know tons of people here and our closest relatives live an hour away in Houston and Katy, it's nice to have someone to celebrate with.

The kids had lots of fun and a fellow teacher's wife brought their 2 kids (who are the same age as Thomas and Sophia) and they ran around playing with balloons and eating cake. There are a few pictures below of the cake and gift table, but I don't have any others.

**ALMOST 36 WEEKS UPDATE**
I'll be 36 weeks on Monday. The baby noticeably dropped from last Sunday to Monday. That can happen anywhere between a few days to weeks before labor. I can breathe a bit better, but now my lower back hurts more and she seems to push down & stretch out which hurts. As a result, I've significantly slowed down. I have 2 weeks left of school and then we have some friends visiting in town for a meeting, so I hope she doesn't come early!

Pregnancy Week 35 Update

Tomorrow I will officially be 35 weeks along, so only 5 more weeks to go!!! I am officially very uncomfortable, especially at night. My back hurts in the morning and the baby is starting to like to stretch out, which hurts. But, I'm thankful because last time my back starting hurting somewhere along month 5 and never stopped. The baby seems to be fine and moving around ALOT! My doctor says she's probably right along target, size-wise, but then again last time she thought Sophia was maybe 7 pounds the day before had her (she was 9 lbs). I have 3 weeks of teaching left, and I"m very excited about that. I really hope that I go to my due date just so I can have some relaxation time before the baby comes.

I've also had a cold for about a month now. It started going away, but then Sophia got sick last week and at the same time my cold started resurging. So now I"m coughing again and am pretty stuffed up. I imagine it doesn't help that I can't get a decent night's sleep. Oh well. We put Zoe's crib together and put her bedding on it, and we just about having everything we need for when she arrives! I LOVE her bedding - it's so much cuter than it looked online:

Sesame Street Live!

We took the kids to Sesame Street Live yesterday, and they had TONS of fun! They sat so well throughout the whole show, and were both clapping, singing and waving to all the characters. Elmo was the definite favorite as it seemed to be for most of the kids there - it seemed that everyone had an Elmo shirt on! The show was very well done, the singing and dancing was great, and it was alot of fun!

They sold all kinds of souvenirs, but it seemed like the cotton candy was at the top of the list for most of the kids. I am not so sure that an arena full of toddlers all hopped up on cotton candy is a good idea, but we had to succumb as well. During intermission a guy came out with about 200 Elmo balloons, so Paul took the kids down to get one thinking they wouldn't be too expensive. Well, after standing in a long line he discovered that they were TEN DOLLARS!!! For a stupid balloon!!! It really is a good strategy on their part - get the kids excited, get the parents to stand in a long line and don't tell the price, so that parents are forced to buy the severely overpriced balloon (which better be filled with Gold confetti) just to avoid a major tantrum. So, Paul made a deal with Thomas to get the $4 cotton candy instead of a balloon. Sophia still got a balloon. Luckily, we went to the 10:30am show, so Thomas had all day to burn off all that sugar! At least the balloon is mylar and we should be able to enjoy Elmo's head in our living room for awhile.

Sophia was so great throughout the show considering she'd had a fever for the past 2 days. Thankfully, it was gone the morning of the show. But, she threw a very impressive tantrum the ENTIRE way home - all 35 minutes. She was totally pooped and took a good nap. Thomas and Paul later went to the Monster truck show with some friends leaving me and Sophia to have much enjoyed girl time together!

Happier Things . . .

On a happier note, I have been getting ready for baby Zoe's arrival! I just ordered her bedding because I saw it was on sale, so I can't wait to get it!! Here's a picture:

I ordered it from The Gap, and I just LOVED the colors and the pattern. We have also cleaned out the downstairs office, which will be her temporary bedroom until I don't have to feed her in the middle of the night anymore and we are getting ready to set up the crib so everything will be ready. She will sleep in the pack-n-play bassinet in our room for awhile, but I like having things ready.

I've also washed and sorted through all of Sophia's old baby clothes and there's definitely not as much as I thought. I think I gave some away and threw away clothes that were ruined. But, that just means I get to go shopping!! I also got the little outfit and matching blanket I want to bring her home from the hospital in. It's soo cute! Here's a picture:

We've also started seriously potty training Sophia - we started on Wednesday and yesterday (Friday) she didn't have any accidents at school!!!! She had 2 when she came home, but still, she's doing awesome! And, she of course loves her new Dora and Minnie Mouse 'underpanties' (that's what she calls them - Thomas calls his 'underwears'). So, she's doing well. We are getting ready for Thomas to turn 4 next week (on the same day my 'little' brother turns the BIG 3-0!!! Both kids have been telling everyone who will listen about their new sister and all the things they will do to help. Thomas said he will bring her one of his blankets and Sophia is very excited about helping to feed a bottle to her (she may be disappointed that she won't have a bottle for awhile, but hopefully she'll be equally excited about holding her and covering her with blankets!). So, things are going well around the house. I'm slowing down significantly, but that's just what happens!!