Woops!

So, I caused my own little fender bender today while parking (or attempting to park ;-) at Pump It Up.

The only fortunate thing about this accident was that the only humans involved were myself and two surprised kids (Lucy: "Mommy! What was THAT?")...

I barreled backwards into a cement pole that was standing by its lonesome in the middle of an empty parking lot. G.E.N.I.U.S.

And as you can tell, it was quite a bump.



Perhaps Dr. Conrad will write me an excuse that it wasn't really my fault since I was suffering from extreme pregnancy nausea...

Think the insurance company will buy it? ;-)

"No, Lucy!"

Again, long delay in between posts...reason being my nausea I'm experiencing with this pregnancy is absolutely wretched. There were lots of tears yesterday and a phone call to Jason begging him to leave work early; I was just a wreck.

Lovely husband he is, he came straight home - armed with research no less, on what stay-at-home-moms can do to make it through the day when they're sick...so sweet! He had lots of good suggestions like relying on a support system of friends (which I'm so blessed to have, but I hesitate even asking my SAHM friends because just about every mom who lives near me is either pregnant and dealing with the same crap, or already has a bunch of kids - how can I throw two more on their load, you know?!? And of course, all my great friends who don't have kids...well, they're at work all day, of course.

I've hired sitters plenty of times to come over, but that's getting expensive, and making me feel like a wretched mother simultaneously. Too darn bad Mom's Morning Out hasn't started back up yet - that'd be a HUGE help.

I've now begun to wonder if I'm just a cry-baby, wuss, who can't deal with this very well, but I've been assured by other moms who endured even worse that's I'm not - it just really is THAT bad! ;-(

Oh well, of course this won't kill me, so I'm going to take some of my own advice and just keep repeating to myself, "No mother ever died of: first-trimester (please God let it only be FIRST trimester!!!) nausea" and take it a day at a time.

And I know it won't last forever, but telling a mother who's in the throes of this blasted nausea that it's a brief period of time in her life - exactly what my OB told me at my last appt. - simply does NOT help. I don't want to hear something logical right now, I just want your pity ;-) LOL

Anyways, but here I am posting, feeling well enough to do something other than lie on the couch and wish for death.

Last night, Lucy had her first "incident" with coloring on the walls - and yes, I mean plural wall(s). Pictures are of her room, but she took a brown marker the length of our hallway wall, up and down, up and down the halls, several times! ;-( Jason went through an entire Magic Eraser getting that mess off the walls!

See the purple markings above her light switch in this picture (they extended far higher than what's showing):



Gulity faces!


Lucy also enjoyed throwing her bin of crayons EVERYWHERE in her room. It looks like Jack was in on it, but actually he wasn't. He was just there for the aftermath... ;-) Sweet, tender guy he is, he was probably even trying to clean up...


neat angle Jason snapped...



And here's the little angel this morning, just looking sweet an innocent while watching cartoons.

You never would know the havoc she wreaked the night before ;-)

Thank you Jason for once again handling everything while I lied in bed. You're a trooper, and I'm sorry you're basically a single parent right now ;-( Thanks for everything you're doing! Love you!

some more pics

jack discovered the joy of just relaxing on a float in the pool today!


"Hi Dad!"
"Whoa, don't roll off!"


lucy caught a fish!!! she was so thrilled with herself ;-)


Jack enjoyed the mechanics of the fishing rod - they are truly "two volumes of one book"!



outside the salty dog cafe, enjoying his first cherry (from my non-alcoholic frozen drink)

some pics

I have a confession to make - I have been awful about getting pics this trip. I love taking pictures, but sometimes it's the easiest thing to forget to do when you're so busy having fun. That, and we've been at the beach most of the time, and I'm wary of getting out the expensive camera, because no matter how clean you feel, sand just gets everywhere.

Of course, the flip side to that is I have hardly any pictures to post. ;-( But, we're going fishing this morning, so I'll be sure to snap some photos there; hopefully photos of us holding fish.

But for now:

Hilton Head, part 1

Hey Everyone!

I've been absent for a while - my apologies, although I can't say I'm genuinely sorry ;-) The first several days' absence was due to such extreme nausea, that I didn't care much about anything except just making it through the day, and then we were busy getting ready and getting to our beach trip here in Hilton Head, SC.

It's going awesome!... for many reasons; the main reason probably being that we brought a great sitter with us. It is SO fantastic. Jason and I spent at least three hours today, alone at the beach, while Katie stayed back at the house while Jack and Lucy slept. We went out to an amazing meal last night, just us two. And just having an extra pair of hands and eyes to watch the kids takes such a load of stress out of the equation - it's fantastic! I never want to vacation again without a sitter!

This beach house is working out great, and the two different kitchens and living areas on different floors is really helping to make sure that the two families that are here (we're here with my college roomate, Laura, and her husband and sweet kids - who are 4 and 1.5 years old) don't feel cramped. And the sitters have their own room; there's plenty of space and it's great!

Will post pictures soon! I did take the camera with us to the beach today, but the mirror fogged up so badly because I took it straight from the air-conditioned house to the muggy beach, so I haven't gotten any shots yet. We'll head out to the beach again after naps, so I'll do my best to post their little sun-kissed faces soon.

Oh, this is funny...for those of you who interact with Jack often, you know of his sweet, friendly, "Hi" plus wave he greets everyone with, even strangers...

Well, he was walking up to strangers on the beach today, usually large, overweight old men, waving and saying "Hi! Hi!"

Future politician perhaps? ;-)

More St. Louis pictures

A few more St. Louis pics for your viewing pleasure:


Lucy loves, loves, LOVES, holding babies - especially when they're real! ;-) Here is Lucy with her new cousin, baby Sophie.



Sophie's adorable big brother, Joshua, who was Jack's "tackling buddy" ;-)



more fun with Sophie!

I can officially say this pinched-up face of Lucy's is her "yea-i'm-holding-a-baby" face...


because here's the same face back in April when she was holding baby Drew (our friends' April and Brad's sweet baby)

Pool Party at the Hunt's; clearly demonstrating that we are completely throwing our money away when we spend it on "pool toys," for measuring cups and mixing spoons provided the most consistent entertainment, hands down! ;-) It was at least a full half-hour before either of the kids moved from this spot ;-)



I hope you and yours had a wonderful 4th of July! Forgive me for diving into a bit of "politics," for I usually stray far away from the topic, but I do want to point out, this most recent 4th of July will be the last before our country is affected (beginning January 1, 2011) by the LARGEST TAX HIKE IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY!

If you're not already, get educated about the changes that ARE coming, and will be affecting you and your family, in significant ways, in a mere six months. And don't forget, if the end of your life is sadly near, do yourself and your family a favor, and die before January 1. (You think I'm kidding, but sadly, I'm not. If you're not sure why not, see here).

Shame, shame, shame...

Monday Meals

These Turkey Burgers are wonderful - and although the thought of them right now makes me want to hurl (because quite frankly, everything right now makes me want to hurl - normal people (not suffering from high levels of progesterone coursing through their body) will LOVE 'em!

And you know I wouldn't post it if it were not EASY as well!

Enjoy!

St. Louis Zoo visit

The kids enjoyed a trip to the St. Louis Zoo while we were visiting for the 4th. Here are some fun pictures from their trip:



trying to see the bugs...so adorable ;-)






jack's head "'pre-scrape" (had JUST healed from an incident at home)...


now a new head injury...geez...this kid will have perpetual head scrapes until winter, i'm convinced ;-)




brushing the goat's hair at the Kids' Zoo...


while i'm at it, let me tame my do...
:-)


a head hug for the goat; love from jack ;-)
(Jack is a VERY affectionate kid - freely gives hugs to anyone - human or animal ;-)

Hodge Podge of recent pics

Whew, we're wearly travelers, home from a great trip to St. Louis to visit Jason's family and extended family. That 8 hour drive, however, is not a fun part of the trip - and my nausea, which has hit full force and does not let up EVER, made it feel like we'd never get home!

I'll post St. Louis pics soon, but I haven't gotten to those just quite yet. What I have organized is the rest of June's photos, so here are some fun pics that show a little of what we've been up to.




having friends over for the USA world cup game. I LOVE that face!

this one is just funny to me...(It's like I have no idea what Jack is doing...)



We spend lots of time outside (when the heat isn't totally unbearable, that is ;-(

The kids found a beetle (Jack was FASCINATED!), and then Lucy promptly squashed it!



Lucy's still very into her baby dolls. Here she was saying, "Mommy, take a picture of me with my baby!" followed by, "Let me see the screen!" (She requests to see herself on the camera screen after every single picture taken - LOL!)

"Jack, no TACKLING!"

I never thought I'd be uttering those words to my 19 month old, but over the past few days - while we're here visiting Jason's family and extended family in St. Louis - I've had to discipline Jack with those words, no fewer than five times a day!

We've been fondly regarding Jack lately as our "little linebacker," but now it refers to more than just his wide girth and body style. Jack's cousin, Joshua, is seven months older, but quite smaller in stature, and very gentle in demeanor. Well, Jack picked up on those qualities immediately, and has taken to tackling Joshua as a lion would destroy a gazelle. Jack thinks it's funny, of course, but he advances on Josh from behind, locks his arms around Josh's waist, leans forward, burrows his head on Josh's shoulder, and barrels forward until they both fall down - which usually isn't very long. Josh lies on the floor, crying, looking upwards for help, while Jack stands up triumphant...until he is scolded, that is. It's a brief victory for him - LOL!

6th wedding anniversary!

Jason and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this past weekend! When we were out to dinner MOnday night to celebrate, Jason said, "The years before kids feels like a year each time, but since having kids, it feels like it's only been one year..."

Funny story: the anniversary presents...

Jason likes to give gifts in the theme of the "year's traditional gift." For 6 years, I was told it's "iron" or "candy"

I got a new ironing board...

I gave him a stainless steel wallet...

Who got the cooler gift? I think it's quite obvious. But, no seriously, I've been HATING my ironing board lately, and Jason got me a really cool ironing board "station" with a sturdy, large board, a storage place for the iron off to the end of the board, and even a neat little shelf underneath to put clothes. It's not just an average ironing board ;-)

But still... ;-)

Let's have some fun, and look at some pictures - one from each year - of our life together!



Our Wedding Day: June 26, 2004



Christmas, 2004




In the Fall of 2005, we took a weekend trip to a wonderful B&B in Chattanooga:



2006



Fall of 2007, at Jason's cousin, Lisa's wedding: our wonderful new addition, Lucy



Daytona Beach 2008



Cape San Blas, Summer 2009
another addition: little Jack


Easter 2010


Who knows what kind of addition we'll have next year when we celebrate 7 years!