Yes, I am alive

So with the arrival of baby number three it has been a bit crazy! Long story short I have been on the sick side of things (on the up side being sick made me loose 32 pounds in two and 1/2 weeks) but I still have 2 1/2 more weeks of physical restriction. No mopping, no sweeping, no vacuuming, no lifting anything heavier then the baby (John particularly hates that one) and I can only go up stairs once a day. But the end is in sight- waahooo! Here are some pictures I took before Lily was born.

In this beauty Neil and I told Grace she had to stay in her room for nap time. Notice how her feet are still in the room to avoid being disobedient.

Here is Grace in action practicing her jumping.

I have been playing beauty parlor with G and here she is in her granny curlers.
And here is the little man of the house. I have more to put up later of his first professional hair cut :)

This is pretty much the most flattering picture of my children ever so I thought it should be published. Note that grace stole the lettuce off my plate to eat instead of her fries and chicken nuggets.

Introducing Lily!

Lily Jeanine Larson
March 28, 2011
10:54 AM
8 lbs 4oz
19 1/2 inches long

Note to self-

Must stop reading Southern set literature the food descriptions are too much for me. They trigger massive food cravings! While reading Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt (which I loved btw) I could not get cinnamon rolls out of my mind and then I had to have a full roast dinner complete with homemade rolls after finishing Finding Salvation at the Dairy Queen (just a so so story) and I went on a biscuit binge while reading The Help. So for now I am cutting you off Southern writers, with your delectable descriptions and vivid images. I'll see you again after I drop some baby weight.

Beauty Find

I tried dry shampoo today and I love it! I had been reading about it in magazines for a while and then my hair dresser said my highlights would last way longer if I only shampooed every other day. However being blond that looks gross super quick! The dry shampoo completely solved the problem and it smells great and it cut down my getting ready time significantly. So to sum things up hurray for dry shampoo.

Thankful Thursday- Drugs Edition

Tuesday night I got a head ache. I mean a really bad, I can't even sleep, Grace if you don't stop making noise I will die breed. I slept on and off thinking one of these times I would wake up and it would be gone. Well morning came and the head ache was still going strong but now it felt like I had been punched in the right eye and my brow bone was broken. Weird, right? So I called my ob just to be sure I wasn't having a seizure- I just saw a House episode where someone's pupil blows from a seizure and I did not want that happening. I left a message with the nurse and they called me back really fast. I told them I was going to try just laying down. The nurse said ok but told me to head to labor and delivery if the headache didn't go away. Well about fifteen minutes after I got off the phone the sight in my right eye went all blurry and pain started shooting down the back of my head and into my neck. This seemed bad so I dropped the kids off at a friend's and headed to the hospital. Thinking back maybe I shouldn't have been driving around half blind but Neil was still out of town. The doctor was worried the headache could be from high blood pressure which can be a sign of pre-eclamsia (sp?). I was pretty sure I didn't have that since my pregnant blood pressure is better then most people's normal bp according to my doctor and I didn't have any swelling but better safe then dead. So after three hours of tests and fetal monitoring and waiting for the results I was free to go but my head was still exploding and yes I was waiting in a room, with the lights off, wearing my sunglasses. It turns out I had a full blown migraine of death. The doctor said to take one dose of super strength Excedrin and drink something with caffeine in it. I painfully made my way to the drug store and took the medicine right away. Let me tell you what that Excedrin is AMAZING. Before I took it I couldn't even move my head without getting dizzy and suddenly I started feeling like a sane person again. I was worried at the hospital they would think I was crazy because they had to ask me a bunch of questions twice, lets just say my mental clarity was not good. The pills lasted all the way until this afternoon and now I am sipping a cherry coke to counter off any monkey business. My family is strictly anti caffeine but my mom gave me her "ok" since it is medicinal :) The only draw back was my usually caffeine free system wasn't quite ready for such a powerful jolt and sleep has been evading me and I have been a bit nauseous. But yes, I am extremely thankful for Excedrin and the fact that I do not get chronic migraines. Those things are death and I now have a new found empathy for all migraine sufferers. BTW the doctor and the nurse said the baby looks great/perfect and I am also very very very grateful for that. Monday at 10 o'clock I will finally get to meet this brand new little baby and I just can't wait!

about being a mom

Today on NieNie's blog she has a post entitled, "I love being a mother today." Do you know what my first thought after reading that was? I thought "false." (Yes, not only was I being a sassy pessimist but I am turning into Dwight Schrut) Grace was up all night and then John awoke bright and early and had exploded from his diaper and my back went out... again. Don't these children realize I am in my ninth month of pregnancy and those antics are just not appreciated? Yes whine whine whine. So anyway I threw the soiled baby into the bath and he was just too cute with his singing and splashing, melting my Grinch like heart. Then both my kids really liked their scrambled eggs today and ate with gusto, a rarity for Grace. And John went into such a giggle fit that he slowly toppled over. So I decided I was in a good enough mood to read the "I love being a mother" post. In it she mentions how she likes doing housework and it reminded me of an article I read not too long ago comparing the physical work mothers do to Christ's ministry. Mothers prepare food for their children, Jesus fed the hungry the loaves and fishes. Mothers clean their children and the Savior washed his disciples feet, ect. This concept has really helped me have a more positive and grateful attitude about the seemingly mundane and repetitive chores of motherhood. I read this poem online at a room somewhere and really liked its message. I try to remind myself to slow down and relish my babies. Enjoy!

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.


Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo,
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).


The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep
Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

On Saturday we got a call that someone was coming over for a viewing so Neil and I started to hustle and straighten up and pack the diaper bag so we could va-moosh. I came into the kitchen to tell Grace to go hop in the car only to find milk from John's bottle sprinkled ALL OVER my clean ready to be seen kitchen floor! I tried to stay clam, grabbed a sponge and asked Grace what she was doing. She happily responded, "I'm planting flowers Mom." Oh, well then.

This morning I went to go get John out of his crib only to find him sitting on the floor of his room playing. I checked his little body for injuries or broken bones in case he had fallen out but he was totally untraumatized and I hadn't heard a loud thud so I think he must have managed to climbed out. Who knew I gave birth to a little monkey.

Neil took the day off yesterday so we had a fun Valentines Day. We went to lunch at the restaurant in Hubble and Hudson. I love love love their crab risotto appetizer. Then Neil had made an appointment for a prenatal massage for me which really helped. My back muscles have started to lock up like crazy this pregnancy. It is really only horrible in the morning. I have to put the heating pad on my back for a good 20 minutes before I can sit up and get out of bed. Does anyone have any good ideas how to counter this? My doctor suggested sleeping in one of those support belt things so I'll have to look into that. I have tried sleeping reclined, on the side with a body pillow, and sitting up. oh the innumerable joys of child birth :) At least it is safe to take tylenol pm.

But lots of good things are coming my way this week. I am so excited. My new diaper bag is suppose to get here today. Neil bought me some books I wanted to read from amazon and they should get here too and I am going to the Aveda spa tomorrow for a massage and facial and some sort of eye treatment! I've never had an aveda facial but my sister loves them and hopefully the reflexology will get the rest of the soreness/knots/debilitating pain in my back worked out. Then I got a coupon for a free hair shampoo and blow out to try some new line of hair care products at Ulta. I love having my hair styled so I am just looking forward to all these treats. It seems like I haven't done anything fun in forever and then it is all happening right at once so I plan on savoring it. I hope everyone else has something to look forward to this week.