Most everyone I spent the last 3 years getting to know have moved.  We're still here for who knows how long (not that I'm complaining). New neighbors are like a box of chocolates. I want to introduce you to my new neighbor, Scrawny*. Scrawny moved in with his active duty wife and his two daughters.  His oldest daughter is maybe 9 or so and she is Amy Poehler's "Kaitlyn" character personified.  Rick!! Rick!! Rick!!!! Can I go to the pool, Rick? Rick!! Rick!! Rick!! The ...

Apparently this would be the safest choice for pregnant women. I'm a big fan of safety and minimizing risks.  Particularly when the risks involve children or potential children. But COME ON, PEOPLE! No caffeine. No deli meat or hot dogs. No alcohol. No artificial sweeteners. No sushi. No soft cheeses. No smoked meats. No sprouts. No unripe papaya. No Caesar salad. No tuna or other high mercury fish. No peanuts. No Chinese food (MSG). No shrimp...

Well, I'm home from the hospital.  That SUCKED. Thank you all for the care and concern and an especially big thank you to everyone who called to check on me.  It was so sweet and made me feel very cared about.  Thanks so much. I'm kinda sleepy so I won't waste time with a long drawn about article describing how the ambulance ride felt like being in a blender or how I had an adorable nurse who looked like Jennifer Garner or the fact that I had to measure and record my pee...

I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant or what, but I've noticed that people now seem compelled to lie to me to spare my feelings. I don't particularly mind this, but it would be nice if EVERYONE would lie to me ALWAYS just to keep things consistent, or at the very least, tell convincing lies. Lie #1: "You're not fat, you're pregnant." This is very sweet. And for many women this is true. However, if I was fat before I became pregnant, how did I suddenly become not fat and ins...

I've emailed with many JoeUsers. I've IM'ed with quite a few. I've even spoken over the phone with many of my JU friends. There are some JUs that to me feel like dear friends that I've known for years and years. It's always so special to getting to know a JU friend a little better. Email is fun. IMing is great. I LOVE to hear the voices of friends I've bantered with on JU for more than a year now. None of those can top meeting a JoeUser pal in real life, though. That's an entirel...

I got the neatest package in the mail the other day, and I just have to send a great big thank you to Jill and her family. What a thoughtful group of gifts, Jill. My boys *love* bears, and have quite a few from different places. My oldest has now decided, since he has a Michigan bear, that he's going to collect bears from around the world. Hehe. What a perfect surprise! The Mosquito Eggs gumballs were the perfect answer to the Gecko Eggs. How fun! We also collect postcards and r...

The alarm woke me up at 6:40 this morning. I was having an angry dream. I was cooking breakfast for some jerk I didn't even know. He wanted French Fries covered in gravy with some sort of Sherry glaze on top (ugh!). I was slinging things around. I even broke a dish making that unknown bastard his breakfast. And then I was awake, listening to the bantering of the radio personalities. I heard the garage door open, and I walked downstairs in a groggy haze. I curled up on the couch an...

This pregnancy has been so different from the other two, and I feel like I'm spending a lot more time worrying than I did with the first two pregnancies. The other day Adrian and I were talking and we actually remembered the date of my last period. It was Feb. 11th, not Feb. 15th as we had guessed at. This means I am 6 and a half weeks pregnant (gestational age), or currently in my 7th week. It's still so early. I haven't had the "typical" symptoms of pregnancy. I was initially very ...

Our couch was delivered today, and I'm so happy with it. It's big and comfy, although I think there will be a lot of fights over the chaise lounge/ottoman. The living room looks more like an actual living room and less like a room that we just threw random stuff into. We'll never be featured in Homes & Gardens, but our living room seems cozier and more put together now. And NO migrating couch covers!! We hired a local guy to deliver the couch instead of the company that the furniture s...

Perhaps I'm the only one who learned this, but... Waaaay back when I learned a memorization song for the books of the Bible. I can't find it online, but the tune is still fermenting in my brain. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, Dueteronomy, ??? (Joshua and Judges come next), and the story of Ruth, first and second Samuel and first and second Kings, first and second Chronicles which give us the records, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Ester the queen, (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,...

Yep, I ruined it. I've managed to cast a shadow over many different holidays and special occasions throughout the years. It's never intentional, but somehow it snowballs into something ugly and leaves me wishing for a "do over". It started over a week ago. I noticed a charge on our statement from the engraving place on post for about $13. This place also sells watches, but not for $13. I ASSUMED (ah, big mistake there, huh?) that Adrian was having something engraved for me for Valen...

I am a list-maker. I enjoy making lists, and I accomplish more when I have concrete direction. Lately, though, since my oldest child takes all the pens and loses them and takes all the notebooks and fills them up with comic book ideas and toy inventions, I have started keeping my lists internal. My husband tells me that I have the memory of a goldfish. Hehe. So I usually forget a lot of what I set out to do. Here's my To Do List for the rest of today (we'll see how much of it I actual...

I can get really wrapped up in my own world. My brain never shuts up. It's always talking about something...debating, discussing, encouraging, chastising me. Never more so than when I am completing routine tasks. I walk my boys to school everyday. On the way there, we chatter together, and my brain focuses on what my babies have to say. On the way back, my mind shifts gears from conversation mode to internal chatter. Making a chore checklist. Thinking about things people have said t...

In the quiet of the morning, after the kids had been shuffled off to school and I had dropped my husband off at work, I was treated to the acoustics of an argument of monumental proportions. It was so quiet in my house. No TV, no radio, no dryer running, no kids chattering, or video games blaring. I could hear them as if I were in the room with them. I didn't just hear muffled shouting. I heard recognizable voices and specific phrases. This couple fights a lot. The wife has joked t...

Well, he did it again. My youngest cut his hair. He had scissors for a homework project and still managed to cut his hair without my seeing him do it. He is the sneakiest little guy. I wonder how much he's gotten away with that I haven't found out about yet. He snipped a tiny bit from the back of his hair. It's barely noticeable, but being mom I noticed it. He tried to deny it, but when I made him look me in the eyes he cracked and the truth spilled out. Of course he doesn't know wh...