Cankles, floods and another tooth comes out

Upon ending the previous blog I mentioned that I would probably get the 'bug'. I did and it sucked. A lot. Now that is all behind me. The kids are good and not puking anymore. At least not because they are sick, but there has been an occasional vomit at the dinner table from one kid shoving too much food into his mouth. Oh the joy!


I am ballooning up! I have discovered my cankles. Can you say water retention?

I am amazed that I can even see my feet with this big belly sticking out. We have just 18 days left to go. Let's hope Sam decides to make her appearance on time and not early. I tell her to wait. Yes, that means I talk to my belly.

These days I am keeping my gas tank at least half full. You never know! I wouldn't want to run out of gas on the way to the hospital. Some days I imagine driving myself to the hospital while in labor, with the kids bouncing around in the backseat. That would be something to write about.

We are having our kitchen redone. Thursday we had our new laminate floor installed in the kitchen. Friday morning I flooded the downstairs because the contractor who said it was okay to run the washer failed to put the hose back into the wall and my rinse cycle leaked out onto the floor, the new laminate floor, which is not supposed to get that wet. It had to be replaced. The water soaked a large area. The levee broke!

Momma was a freaking out! I didn't have enough towels to dry the floor.

The best part about Friday is that the floor was replaced by the end of the day. Way to go contractors.

Today I took a long warm bath. It was nice, quiet for about 3 minutes. Then of course I had company, and then more company as the boys crowded around the tub to ask me a million questions. Couldn't this wait? I told them "out"! Moments later Spencer returned very excited to tell me that another one of his teeth had fallen out. He jumped up and down and then ran down the hall to tell Elijah and to show him his bloody tooth. It's now safely tucked under his pillow. I must remember to switch it out with a dollar. Since (according to him) he never sleeps this might pose a problem. I must be sly.

Michael and I are almost to the halfway point. It seems like it should be more than half way. If only. He will be home before we know it and then I am taking a leave of absence. Ha ha ha!

Dodging, phone calls and puke

Am I the only parent who has to run for a closet or bathroom when the phone rings? Seriously, these kids have lost their mind! They have it in for me.

Yesterday morning, the boys and I are gathered on my bed looking through a photo book. We are reminiscing, having one of those moments. The phone rings and immediately all hell breaks loose. Gabriel wants the photo book, but brother won't give it to him, let alone allow him to view it. Gabriel starts carrying on as if someone bit him, which has happened so I know that sound.

I run into the bathroom to escape the madness and to hear who is on the phone. It's a good thing it was the bathroom I ran to as now I have to pee from running. sigh. The person on the phone is someone about cabinets and flooring. Another possible lead. I must take the call.

The race is on. Gabriel manages to get into the bathroom so I walk down the hall with him in loud pursuit.

I momentarily stop, tell the man on the phone "excuse me" and try to calm Gabriel. I rush into the bedroom with him and tell big brother to let Gabe see the book. "Sharing is caring!" I want to scream but remain calm. I think everything is good and walk away, down the hall because there is residual crying.

I attempt the converstion again, but the crying persists and Gabriel has found me again. The man tells me 'it's okay" and that he has kids and loves kids. Great. That doesn't make me feel any less stressed. I try to talk, to listen, to dodge the crying kid. Just one more minute. Come on! Come on! We are almost done with our converstion.

Crap! Now the other line is ringing. No one ever calls and now two calls in 3 minutes? What the hell is going on in the universe?

I am trying to end the call so that I can get the other one. I contemplate not answering the other line. There is too much happening, but what if it is the volunteer doula that I am anxious to talk to.

As I answer the other line Gabriel reaches up to me and lets out a very loud scream. Right into the phone. I apologize and hope that it is grandma on the line, who would understand and not mind the noise, might even laugh about it.

It is not grandma. I apologize and again try to dodge the crying by walking around. It is the cabinet people I recently met with telling me they are going to be sending out the quote. I quickly tell the woman "okay, okay. That sounds fine. Thank you. I appreciate it". She must sense my desparation as she ends the call.

I wonder why I answer the phone. Oh, yeah, I need the outside contact of other human adults. The children want me all to themselves. I just want to scream:

"SHARING IS CARING!!"

And this was just 3 minutes of my day. :)

Another 3 minutes took place today. Let me digress. The boys have been sick. It began with Spencer vomiting on Saturday night. He laid on the couch all of Sunday with a nasty stomach bug that had him vomiting and without an appetite. Monday he woke feeling better and no sign of sickness.

Same day, after breakfast as I am clearing things away, Elijah comes to me with a sour look and points to his mouth then proceeds to vomit all over the floor. I get him stripped down and send him to the bathtub and manage to keep the other kids away from the mess. I clean it up and take care of Elijah who takes Spencers previous position on the couch, all day. Elijah seems worse though and cannot keep down even the water he drinks.

He wakes this morning and says he feels all better. I am waiting for Gabriel to vomit. It's bound to happen.

After lunch Elijah tells me his mouth hurts. I don't think much about it as I am sure he just bit his tongue until I hear a splash on the floor behind me. Yeah, there goes another round of vomit. Poor kid. A few seconds later Gabriel comes to me with vomit down the front of his shirt. He points to the living room and tells me "I puke". Yes two puke piles in less than a minute. Maybe we should just have crackers for dinner.

Now the boys have had a bath and are playing upstairs. I don't know what is going on, but they didn't want a nap and seem fine other than the fact that when they eat, they puke.

I will just have to watch them carefully and hope that they feel better.

I am sure that I am next, although I think that I have already gotten it, but have not reacted the same. I do have an upset stomach alot lately, although that could be from cleaning up vomit as that does tend to make me sick.

Hey! It's Tuesday! I know. That doesn't mean anything.

:)

Catching up

Christmas was fabulous. What more can I say?

New Years was quiet. I was sleeping by midnight, although awake minutes after due to the fireworks and noise of the New Year revelers.

Lately, I am anxious to have this baby girl. It is getting increasingly difficult to bend over without grunting. I guess I should be thankful, I can still see my feet and I haven't gotten cankles. Yet. The problem is in reaching my feet. Those Crocs are looking more appealing every day. Can we say slip on shoes?

Spencer lost his first tooth. He literally lost it. It came out while he was at school. The teacher told him to put it in his pocket. He probably took it out to look at it and imagine how many toys he could buy with the loot he was going to get from the tooth fairy. Earlier that day while discussing the tooth fairy with him he said that he is going to be rich now. The tooth fairy left him a dollar under his pillow. He bounded into my room this morning to show the dollar to me.

I mentioned to him that he might have gotten more than a dollar if the tooth fairy actually had a tooth to retrieve. He thought that he probably would have gotten a thousand dollars if he had the tooth. If only.

Tonight Gabriel slept in his big boy bed with the boys. At first I thought it was going to be a challenge. I trudged up the stairs 3 times in 10 minutes. Do you know what that does to a big ol pregnant woman who hasn't exercised in months? A lot of huffing and puffing.

He wanted to tell me he was on the bottom bunk and Elijah was on the top bunk. Soon his excitement wore off and the sleepy dust started to settle and he went to sleep. Of course his refusing to take a nap today made things easier.

If only I could sleep like that.