Little Man Updates

John at 13 months-
*Thinks he can scale down the side of the stairs by holding on to the banister rails. This is pretty ambitious since he still refuses to walk- even though the doctor told me he would be walking "at any moment" when he was 9 months old
*Has finally started eating the fruits and veggies I keep pushing at him. I almost cried with joy as he gustily downed a large serving of green beans
*Thinks he is really funny when you tell him "no" and he keeps doing whatever he was doing
*Likes to spend most of the day exploring the house, climbing into cabinets and emptying bookcases and drawers
*I know exactly when a new tooth is coming in because Lil J will immediately start biting any unprotected flesh to be found. Grace and I are his most frequent victims. And he finds biting hilarious as well
*Rarely cries unless you are trying to wipe his nose. That will NOT be tolerated
*Likes to dance, sing, pound on the piano, and shake a marocka (sp?)
*Carried a five pound hand weight up two flights of stairs at Christmas at my parent's house
*Likes to give Mommy slobber kisses but will only cuddle when super tired
*Really really likes to pull Grace's hair...this is also hilarious to his one year old brain
*He likes to hide from Mommy and pop out suddenly with a triumphant scream
*He loves to be chased
*He likes to get into growling competitions with others
*Words he says- yeah, momma, dada, Tinker Bell, Cinderella, Thank you (can you tell who is in charge of the entertainment around here) He has gotten really into babbling lately so he and Grace have jabber fests.
-The other day he and Grace (mostly Grace) stole a carton of blueberries from the kitchen and I found them upstairs hiding and quickly gobbling them up. They are just too funny sometimes.

A Return to the Land of the Living

So all last week I was sick. Too sick to get out of bed for more then ten minutes at a time. I would feel my body start shutting down and then I would pass out into a crazy coma sleep. This posed a problem since A. Neil lives in Dallas all week and B. I have a one and a two year old dependent on me and C. I am seven months pregnant and the ability to breathe is somewhat necessary. Neil came home Saturday and we went to the er since I couldn't breathe and had a slew of all kinds of nasty symptoms. Turns out I have bronchitis which was on its way to becoming pneumonia. Just being on a bunch of meds has already made me feel a lot better. AKA I currently do not want to die. And thank goodness for insurance or else one of my meds would have cost $200! There must be gold dust in the inhaler. The kids are still watching a bunch of TV but things are looking up and my mom gets here tomorrow to help.
In other news Neil rocked the GMAT last week. He got a 770 which is in 99th percentile! Yes, I am married to a crazy mad genius and bragging about it. I just worry about being surrounded by a bunch of evil baby geniuses once they are old enough to organize against me. Now the looking at different programs begins.

Miss America 2011

Tonight I had a viewing party for this year's Miss America pageant and yes, it was awesome. Guests were invited to dress in costume and one lovely lady showed up with a faux hawk, another in a remade and re-ruffled evening dress. We even had someone come in a swimsuit for the swim suit competition. Here is a slightly blurry picture of us in all our glory. On a side note I think I have reverse body dis morphia. I never realize how giantly pregnant I am until I see myself on film. Then it is self esteem game over.
My only disappointment with the evening was that Miss Hawaii didn't win.

the ill fated weekend of me

I had a secret plan for this weekend... I was going to do nothing but enjoy and spoil myself. I was going to slip off to the mall during nap time to pick out a new book, maybe get a pedicure, eat delicious food, catch some chick flicks, go on a date, have friends over to watch Miss America, and get my hair done. Sadly fate intervened (fate apparently hates me and likes to kick me in the teeth) and the corolla went kaput and Neil is stuck a few hours away. Poor guy is taking the greyhound home. To kick off my selfish weekend I watched Salt while the kids napped. I thought my sister had recommended it but apparently she said the Tourist. Then I made lasagna secretly thinking I would not have to clean up all the pots and pans since Neil usually does the dinner dishes for me when he is home- fate got me again. So to sum it up it is probably not a good idea to plan a completely self centered weekend. You could end up a single mother with a sink full of dishes.

whoa, someone needs a tranquilizer

Yesterday was a turbulent day. I woke up late and we had to scramble to get to church on time. We were ten minutes late anyway. My back is still all messed up which makes picking up the kids a serious matter. And I thought the lesson I had planned was going to go over so well with the girls and really touch them but they seemed to have all eaten giddy pills and I had to keep bringing them back to the lesson. And then, of course after church Neil had to get ready to go back to Dallas for the week and I just lost it. Sobbing and sobbing and more sobbing ensued. Another week alone with the kids was just too much for my broken body. When I finally stopped crying I started shaking all over the place and couldn't stop for a good long while. And the entire time I just kept thinking, "at least I'm not a permanent single mother" or "at least I'm not a pioneer whose husband has been called on a seven year mission or something." Because, yes I know so many people have things way worse then I do but my mind didn't care I couldn't seem to calm down. Finally after an ocean of sobs had wracked my body I was able to relax. Then Neil gave me a blessing which talked about our children and this baby that is on the way and tears came again but this time they were happy tears. Then I fell asleep and woke up this morning and I have had such a good day so far. Grace slept in. We had a happy breakfast. My hair went into this cute braid 'do like Jessica Alba. I cleaned up and then we headed out on errands. John is in serious need of new Sunday clothes and I found a great deal on a cute little sweater and found a matching dress for Grace. We came home and had lunch and at this moment both kiddos are sleeping away. I have been able to do a few loads of laundry, get some reading done, and the house is ready if anyone comes to take a look at it. And I called Neil to reassure him that I am not a complete basket case and that I am capable of taking care of the children while he is away. So all is well.
In an unrelated note I made a kissing face at John the other day and he tried to recreated it back and ended up making the most adorable tiny fishy face ever at me! Which is evidence,of course, of how much he loves his mommy :p

ramblings

Today the kids and I had a picnic. I set out a blanket upstairs in the TV room and we munched on McDonald's chicken nuggets and fries while watching Max and Ruby. It was fun and they loved it. I hurt my back earlier this week so we have been trapped at home the past few days and it has been a bit of a challenge to keep them entertained. I have given in to TV watching a few too many times. I have been trying not to lift the kids, but all moms know how that goes. We are down to hot dogs, pinto beans and mandarin oranges so it is a good thing Neil comes home from Dallas tonight. He is getting sent off to the grocery store first thing :) In other news the baby is rocking and shaking all over the place. I am getting more and more excited to meet this little lady. What will she look like? Will she be a perfect happy baby or a difficult screamer? I'm a little worried about the latter someone told me I was "due" a difficult baby. So far I have had happy little sleepers so I'll just keep my fingers crossed. When we were in Chicago I bought the little lady the cutest little flowery dress. It could work for a blond or brunette. When I was pregnant with John I thought for sure he would have dark hair so I bought things to go with that coloring- boy was I wrong. The tan and cream shirts and sweaters did nothing for him. Now he gets mostly blues and greens. The other day we were playing hide and seek and I asked John where Grace was and he actually pointed to her feet sticking out form under the bed. Kids pick up things so fast it always catches me by surprise. I placed Grace's dinner before her the other day and she asked for something else and I responded, "This is not a restaurant." She looked down at her plate then up at me and replied, "can we please go to the restaurant?" My two year old food critic.

Too young? or hat like?

And don't my eyes look blue? Freaky- they are really green.
PS I am not wearing a bumpit