you know you hang around law enforcement when

Conversation on the way home I had with Kacy today:

Kacy: "Mom, see that white truck up there?"
Me: "Yes."
Kacy: "They are bad. Bad drivers."
Me: "Why?"
Kacy: Because they crossed over that line. They must be drinking."

Confessions of a tired, crazy pregnant lady

I SHOULD be posting a picture of the wonderful work Ryan did with digging the footings, but I have yet to take a picture. Maybe I'll do THAT tomorrow morning.

Yesterday was Will's birthday. He turned three! To see pictures, I'm sure my MIL has some on her blog, or will shortly- see my list of buddies and click on cherie and david. If she doesn't have anything, she's very busy right now!

Today a few things happened that I want to document for posterity. Nothing really important.

I went to my favorite restaurant with my friend and visiting teacher (and the kids). This little Mexican restaurant is very good in my opinion, and I get one of two dishes. Today I got my favorite carne asada tacos with onion and lime juice. I enjoy this monthly lunch date. Jenny is a good friend with a lot of common sense. I enjoy her family, too- her brother and sisters and parents are in the ward. I sat by the women at our Relief Society luncheon on Saturday and had a lot of fun. The hi-lite of the luncheon was tasting the chicken salad, which was a perfect combination of ingredients. Some chicken salads are heavy on one thing or another, but this one was just right to me. Look forward to the recipe.

Today I exercised. I have a great set of DVD's that got me in great shape after I had Kacy. You don't have to shake your bootie or be talented in anyway- it's a no nonsense kind of workout. I was having this odd mental conversation with myself while doing it, and thought it was worth recording. I could always use a good laugh, especially when it's at myself.
1- should I even workout? Expanding waistline and butt scream yes! My brain says no. My throat says no (I think I might be sick- I feel fine, except for my throat which kills me every time I swallow. Wondering if I should go to the Dr. Probably wait.) I do end up exercising.
2- get thru stretches- no problems. I'm a little stiff.
3- Power Yoga- Don't do upward dog, need to see if plank and downward dog are preggo safe. I know just enough about yoga to know that some poses are not recommended for preggo ladies. Can't remember which ones though...
4- marchy leg lifty type things for lower impact, warm up. Used to hop thru it, today did low impact version. Still got tired.
5- high impact section- jumping jacks. I do ONE. Opt to do a jig instead. Do running in pace okay (does shuffling count?) and the run/lunge exercise. (like pretending you are on a climber. Kinda fun)
6-Take break with DVD- love those built in water breaks. Notice foul smell from kitchen and decide to locate asap. Pause DVD and recover a decomposing mouse in forgotten mouse trap. Remove trap to outside and resume DVD.
7-Kickboxing section- love kicking and punching, again choosing low impact versions. Contemplate future career as boxer. Remember I don't like pain or scars on my face, and my IQ has already dropped from having kids. Reconsider future career.
8-Finish DVD still standing. Managed to narrowly avoid kicking both Kacy and Ed in the head. Finish thinking I am really out of shape.

There is a thought that you start showing earlier in subsequent pregnancies because your body "remembers" what to do, including your belly muscles. IF this is a true phenomenon, WHY can't my muscles remember being 17 years old?

more news and thoughts

My more news is this: Ryan in out right now, as I type this, buying wood (and I think rebar) so that he can dig the footings and put the cement forms in! The sprinkler is going again on the dirt so that when he digs, our very sandy soil stays firm enough to get the forms in. Yesterday we put up more string and marked the dirt with paint where he needs to dig. Go footings!

My thoughts are these: I think I'm rich! Ha ha, not really, but I came to terms today with the fact that my kids cannot attend any of the preschools up here because Ryan makes too much money. I know he makes a lot, but where does it all go? We never seem to have any at the end of the month. But that is a personal problem we've have whether we made 50,000 a year or 110,000 a year (our record when we both worked and had no kids...) Anyways, my gripe is this: the ladies at the state run preschool led me to believe that my kids could go there. Every time I talked to them I told them I didn't qualify for income, and every time they replied "don't worry about it". So the week before school starts I run around Bakersfield getting paperwork, spend two horrific hours at the clinic doing TB stuff, and was told they would call me on Tuesday when they worked something out. Today is Wednesday, I called them, and was told "We have to take all the low income kids first. We haven't forgotten you". So I email the big boss at county superintendent (who taught a class I took at CSUB) and told her and she called me and we worked everything out. By that I mean she told me that there was no way my kids can go because of their state funding and our income. I said "Thank you for the straight answer" and that I was led along and wasted a bunch of time. She is going to talk to them tomorrow and set them right, I guess. I hate complaining, but I don't like wasting my time either. Raise your hands if you have ever sat with a crying one year old in a clinic for an hour while your 4 and almost 3 year old tried not to think about the shot that was coming to them. The county lady suggested I do a parent co-op (have a degree in Child Dev)... but I hate the licensing requirement of a director having to take this icky 3 unit class on how to be a manager of a preschool. I've attempted it twice, and the class is soooo lame. I have jumped through many hoops, but this is a hoop I'm not willing to go through. Looks like I'll try to find that playgroup again we tried last year. Maybe I'll put an ad in the paper to see if anyone up here is interested in a play group. I would love to do a playgroup twice a week AT a place. A building. I loved the field trips we took, but the parks could be windy and with little ones it's hard to watch everyone. At any rate, I need to go find my figurative "preschool teacher/child developmentalist" hat and brush off the dust. And wear it. But then again, I never went to preschool, and I took naps in Kindergarten and played and played and I think I'm fine... maybe a little mental, but otherwise fine...

Is it a...

Um, surprise! I guess I have to come out of the pregnancy closet and say that I am pregnant. My mom, who doesn't know yet, as she is in LA checking out the next three Yankee games and can't check her Internet (sorry mom!), told my sister Kendra to ask me because SHE thought I was getting chubby and the only time I get chubby is when I'm pregnant. I think she wanted me to be pregnant and was just LOOKING and WAITING for ANY possible clue. Okay, so I've gained five pounds already! And, it seems to be in my belly, which is a little odd for me, it usually goes to my bootie first. And for all you out there (that would be everyone...) who feel like I lied to you, technically no one asked me exactly if I was pregnant, so technically, I never lied. I think the "when are you going to have another one?" and me saying "I don't know" ISN'T a lie because my due date is March 4, and I have my babies a little early, so it could be March 1 or Feb. 27... and for the record, if this kid is born on Feb 29, I think that would be so cool because then we have a bona fide reason for saying "no birthday party this year honey, wait until your birthday..." not that we are party poopers or anything. Anyway, those who read the blogs get to know it first... and maybe I should call my mom tomorrow and let her know... although I hate it when she says "I KNEW IT" because she did.

shopping in hand me downs

Yesterday Jocelyn provided me the opportunity to go through a bunch of hand me downs for boys. I love hand me downs- I happen to have the "bestest" shopping friend ever who gives me all her old jeans- and they are NICE! Back to the kids- Will was the only one of my kids the clothes would fit. Kacy might be able to wear some of the jeans. I let Will pick out the shirts he liked. It was classic Will. (As I posted earlier this year, Will hates graphics on his shirts and cries when I put them on him.) We went through all the shirts, and it went like this:
Me holding red/blue stripe: "No mom, already have one" (he does, similar)
Me holding yellow/blue stripe: "no mom, it's yellow" (hates yellow)
Me and Jocelyn holding various Mickey Mouse shirts: "no mom, those are Ed's"
Me holding plain red tee and plain blue tee: "that's cool"

We were cracking up. He was true to form, and his favorite outfit is jeans and a plain red tee shirt. He still makes an exception for his Thomas shirt though. He'll be three this Sunday!

Two interesting (to me) bits of conversation I had yesterday: Jocelyn and I were talking about the parking situations at the IKEA stores, and Will says to his dinner plate : "Parking lots? What parking lots?" You had to be there. Then when we left I called my mom and asked if we could have a family party for Will next Tuesday at her house. When I hung up, Kacy asked who I was talking to, and I said "Your grandma Sorensen." Kacy: "You mean your mom?" Me:"yes, your grandma" and she said "But you are too big for a mom" I told her everyone has a mom and that when she gets older she'll move out of our house and be married and I'll still be her mom. She got teary eyed (she was very tired...) and said, "But mom, I don't want to move out! I'll miss you!" It's cute and heartwarming when a four year old says that. We may have to have a chat when she's 30 though.

What I did today...

I am taking a cue from Jocelyn and writing about my normal day. She reminded me that she uses her blog as a journal, and she's going to print all the posts as a book. That is why I started a blog, too; I wanted an easier way to journal. But then I got caught up in the fact that other people read what I write and I started not to write because I was boring. Am boring. Whatever. So, I am going to post more often, probably without pictures sometimes, so that I get back to the journaling part. So if I bore you, TOO BAD!!! My kids might find this interesting one day.

Today I took all three kids to the clinic up here to get Kacy and Will tested for TB. An hour after we got there we finally got in. Ed was the worst behaved. Poor guy, he is 14 months old and wants to RUN around and explore. He can't do that in a medical clinic. He was also very tired, and let everyone know about it by being very fussy. When we got to our room the kids got their tests right away. The nurse asked who was going to go first, and Kacy said "Will!" He went first, cried, and had to be held down by myself and a nurse. Then Kacy went, held her pink bear, and bravely laid there while being poked in the arm. She didn't cry. When we got to the car I asked Will why he cried and he said "I no cry mom."
"Yes you did. Did it hurt?" I asked him.
"No, it no hurt. I no cry."
"Yes you did Will, I saw you" chimed in Kacy.
"Nope." insisted Will.

That's his story and he won't change his mind.
After the awful clinic mess we went to the Pizza Barn for the all you can eat buffet. My kids are restaurant trained and the last two times we have gone somewhere they have been extremely well behaved and even helpful! I have walked out of both places thinking "what happened to my kids?" Oh yes- the whole reason for the TB tests is because the two are going to start preschool. Three hours a day, five days a week. WHAT am I going to do with the time? Kacy wants to start school so badly, and Will needs it because he is a little immature and could use someone else giving him instructions. He is the boy who in his nursery class at church had a lesson on being obedient, and when they played "stop and go" he stopped when he was supposed to go and went when he was supposed to stop. This from the boy who tells me to go when the lights turn green. He thinks it's funny. I heard him counting to 30 today (from 20, he doesn't know his teens, I think) and I thought "Is that Will?" He is my silently smart kid. Kacy likes praise, Will doesn't really care what you think.

our house is growing?

Here we are, watering our house. The water will (hopefully) help compact the soil, along with the compacting machine.
An attempt at a group shot... I have thought and thought about taking my kids to Walmart to get their pictures taken, as a group, but I'M SCARED! I know that Will is going to start crying and say "No mom, I no want to!" and then Ed will get all upset and I'll have nice pictures of Kacy with frizzy hair because she'll have "fixed" it. I think I will work on getting my nerve up soon, pack a bag full of wipes, clean cloths, and hair gel (poor kids need product already...) and just go. Maybe I'll tip the photographer if she/he can get them all looking at the camera at once.

a shot of spring

Thought we could all use a picture of cooler weather... ours was so nice last week and now it's hot again. I miss it already! It makes me look forward to the fall. The nights here get really cool, and I love it. I haven't posted in awhile, but it seems that many of us in my little circle have taken July off from blogging. It'll pick up again in awhile, I'm sure. Ryan is busy with work and church callings, I'm busy with kids and church callings, and I still haven't 100% unpacked from girls camp. I have so much to do I'm not sure where to start. I think I'll start with the dishes and then move on to laundry as the day gets cooler. I love taking warm clothes out of the dryer in the winter, but I hate it in the summer. Our laundry situation isn't the best yet either- between the five of us we have 2.5 feet of closet, which Ryan uses for uniforms and jackets. We have cupboard space, and it's not terrible, but how I look forward to hanging everything up on a hanger (easier than folding). I learned that at my old house, put hot clothes on hangers, hang them up and viola- time saved in both folding and ironing. Yea! Anyway, that's my post for the next week or so, unless something amazing happens. Right now Will keeps hitting everyone on the head with a flashlight (he's not making many friends today) and Kacy is asking for a drink and Ed is fighting with a toy he can't figure out. Awesome.