The Big P

Well just when I thought I might actually get caught up life happened. AGAIN. Only this time it wasn't a move or overbooking of the kids' classes. It was the big P. 'Pregnancy' is a nasty word in our house. It means misery for many, many months. Yup, I am knocked up again. Then again, since this blog has all of 5 followers, the wonderful Mr. Berry included, anyone reading- already knows this because we have already told most people we know in person and announced it on Facebook. But still. For record keeping purposes I feel I must blog about it for one day down the road when my babies are grown up, board, and avoiding their homework/ chores.

It may go without saying but I will say it anyway: I am ready to push fast forward and have this baby. October 3rd can't come soon enough. As I expected I have been quite sick (even a little before I got a positive reading, actually) and it is taking it's toll on us all. I hate not being able to do anything but lay on the couch and try not to throw up. It is beyond depressing. Thank God my mom has been able to come over and help clean and grocery shop and my "employers" are my sister and friends so they have all been very supportive. I am starting on the road to recovery, but it's a slow process. The fact that I have been able to look at a computer screen for more than 5 minutes at a time for 2 days in a row is awesome! I miss reading my favorite blogs, scouring my Pinterest boards for ideas on how to entertain my kids and what to make for dinner. I even miss making dinner. I knew as soon as we found out what was coming. Obviously. But I was hoping this time it would at lest be a little bit better. I have been taking better care of myself and am in better shape than I was when I got pregnant with both Katie and Ethan. Sadly, my weak stomach doesn't recognize that. Just to lay it on thick, and to ensure my kids know just what we went through to bring them into this world, here is a short list of all the misery:

-painfully constipated
-dehydrated to the point of itchy, dry skin, constantly chapped lips, and a dry mouth
-loosing weight (okay this one isn't normally a bad thing, but I don't loose weight easily and pregnancy is not really the time to slim down)
-oh let's not forget dizzy, too
-constantly thirsty
-too weak to stand for longer than a couple of minutes
-unable to eat anything but starches and, if it is a "good day" a few types of fruit and a specific type of cheese
-living on disintegrating Zofran tablets every 8 hours and STILL throwing up
-gagging every time I open the fridge- during the worst weeks, vomiting immediately after in the kitchen sink
-being unable to do the laundry, dishes, child bathing, cooking, cleaning, and pet care because I can't bend over
-poor husband being exhausted because he has to try and cram all of these things in after being at work all day
-wearing a mask because EVERY THING smells so bad it makes me puke (it has earned me the nickname 'Bane' from the hubs, get it? This might actually be funny if I had a sense of humor right now.)
-being unable to do participate in any hobbies, exercise, or read
-not being able to drive because I get so carsick
-wearing nothing but workout wear and pj"s because anything firm on my stomach makes me sicker
-getting sick in public... oh yeah...super awesome

There are plenty more, but I'm sick of complaining and starting to feel weak again so we will leave it at that. For now I will just remind myself that the worst is over (if this pregnancy is like my first two) and it is still not as awful as it was with Katie. (Once again, let's take a moment to recognize the contribution of Zofran to the pharmaceutical world. One of the few "traditional" meds I am a supporter of. Without I would have been hospitalized. Scratch that, I would have been hospitalized with Katie and promptly made Trav get fixed so we never had to endure The Big P again. We would have adopted. Seriously.) Soon I will be back to taking care of my family and sewing and teaching preschool and cleaning and nesting and being able to drink a small glass of water at a time. Even cooking is in the foreseeable future. Just not eating real food. That will have to wait til October when we meet the newest wumpkin.

P.S. Please excuse any mistakes. Too fatigued to edit/ proof read anymore.

Catching Up : Halloween 2012

Here we are getting into the Halloween Spirit.

A little pumpkin carving. Guess who enjoyed getting messy?

We made sure to get those seeds out so we could roast them later. MMMMmmmm.

This guy is always happy to show me whatever it is playing with. In this case, a carving saw.



And this wumpkin is becoming quite the kitchen assistant. Dare I say 'Sous Chef?'



On the night of our Halloween party this is the type of mood the kids were in. Oh yeah. Tons of fun. Good thing we had plenty of well stocked (*ahem) coolers. It couldn't have been all that bad, though, because they are STILL talking about their Halloween costumes 2.5 months later!

Here we are as King Kandy and Princess Lolly from Candyland. Aaaaand now I remember why I grew out the bangs I had in grade school. Geez. Nobody copy and repost this, okay? But how great of a King does Trav make? It really bugs me when his half of the couple costume turns out so much better than mine, even though I made them. Remember Fred and Wilma Flinstone?

Halloween 2008

How heavy were we?! Guess that's what 30 and 55 extra pounds looks like. Please, nobody copy and repost this picture either, okay?

Anyway. Back to present day.

Here's all the Sectors that could make it. Totally awesome group costume, once again.

And the Jeziorskis! I promise Belle had a good time. She's just not a fan of posing for pics when there are toys to be played with.

(*Insert sad music here.) No picture of my other favorite princesses, Valerie and Wraylyn. How did I let that happen? Sorry, Gen.)

Look! Uncle David is wearing make up! Good job Auntie Laura! You were a very convincing Mad Hatter and Alice.

And here's the cutest niece ever! Cousin Kiera, you made a darling Minnie Mouse.

 And anyone else who came to the party but didn't get their picture posted either, a) Never had their picture taken to begin with because I got busy hosting or wrangling children, or b) I took your picture but for whatever reason, it didn't turn out well/ flattering. Either way, sorry about that.

On the actual night of Halloween Auntie and Uncle brought Cousin Kiera over to trick-or-treat with us. I was pretty excited to be able to see her first "real" trick-or-treating experience.

I just had a random memory I need to insert here because I want to remember it. When everyone was milling around waiting for everyone who was on their way, I walked out to the garage fridge to put something away and when I came back inside almost everyone was else was walking in the front door. I couldn't see anyone because I was still walking through the laundry room, but I could hear everything. (No one in this family has every been accused of being quiet.) Anyway. I heard so much ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the kids and so many laughs and squeals from everyone it instantly made made me smile and laugh out loud. It was one of those everything-is as-it should-be and life-is-good moments. Love it!


 This little "skeweton" did not want to wear his hood, hands, or feet. But he was happy about the mask so I guess that's a win?



This little witch was all smiles and could not wait to go trick-or-treating!



Grandma and GG and Grandma and Grandpa joined us as well.




Oh, and Uncle Jeff and Kaeleb met up with us about half way through the trek. Kaeleb was a skeleton, too!



 It was a lot of fun, caravanning around the block together.



The end of the ghouling came soon after Ethan collapsed and screamed on the sidewalk, "I just want to see Haw-o-ween!" He really didn't care too much about getting candy. He just wanted to look at scary decorations. (No photo of that little moment in time. This picture was a little before the meltdown.)

 

But Katie? Well, she was a professional by the second house. A great teacher for little cuz. So cute!

Catching Up: Potty Training Ethan (Oct '12)

This is how Ethan spent the entire month of October and part of the month of November. Naked and on the little potty. Although he loved the naked part, he was not too excited about the potty part. Why is potty training such a huge hassle?!

Catching Up: Best Big Sister Ever (Sept. 2012)

Katie is so good at teaching Ethan how to use the potty. Lots of book reading and conversation was had in September. (About a month after we took this we REALLY started the potty training. Still working on it. He is proving to be just as stubborn as she was about it.)

Catching Up: Preschool (Aug. 2012)

Since January 2012 this little wumpkin has attended the preschool I teach out of our home once a week, but Daddy and I wanted her to have some classroom experience without me in case we decide to test her for early entrance into Kindergarten next year. So we decided on a parks and rec class (of course) on Mondays. 3 hours long! The best part: Mommy uses this time to go grocery shopping with JUST Kiera and Ethan instead of all three of them. Hooray! This was the first day. If I am honest, we are not all that impressed with her teacher. She is not a very enthusiastic or smiley person and is not very helpful as far as giving me specific info on Katie's progress. But the program is pretty much what we need it too be otherwise. It's a long enough block of time that I can leave and get other things done instead of waiting with two other kids in the hallway, there are transitions and routines similar to those in kindergarten, Katie is around new children, and her teacher is someone besides Mommy, you get the idea. Plus she enjoys going. 

This little guy also started a little parks and rec class once a week. We are quite happy with it and so is he. His teacher was Katie's dance teacher, so we already knew her. Very helpful because the first few weeks he struggled in class. Crying when I dropped him off, staying on task, etc.  Normal 2-year-old stuff. But tough for me to hear/ see. Thankfully he's an old pro now. Not with the staying on task part, but the saying goodbye at drop off.

Catching Up: Naked Napping (August 2012)

 Back at the end of the summer, when  Mr. E.was still napping (*Sigh.* How I miss nap time.), he used to cause all sorts of trouble up there in his room. This is by no means the worst damage I ever saw, but I just had to document the hilariousness of it. He would tears things apart, read some books, climb on the side of his bed and jump off, sometimes he would even strip off his clothes as seen here, then pass out on the floor. Always on the floor.

Catching Up: Summertime Fun (June 2012)

This is how Katie and Ethan spent the summer. Naked. Every time we played outside we either had the kiddie pool out or the water table full. When Katie gets we, she strips. And Ethan does whatever his cool big sister does. So naked kids were a regular thing. Which meant extra laundry for Mommy. Oh joy. I wish I could say that we have seen a reduction in load frequency, but we have been potty training Ethan since October. Not sure we are ever going to get back to a normal amount of laundry...

Catching Up: Almost Forgot... April 2012

Here's Ethan enjoying a few of his birthday presents in April.

Drilling away...

 ...without any pants. (Thanks, Sectors! This drill is still getting a lot of play time!)

 Ready for bed in our cool new Spidey pj's. (Thanks, Great Aunt Linda.)

And then there's this:

What? The dog kennel is not for kids?

Psha. It's fun in here.

Catching Up: Mother's Day Pool Party 2012

We have been learning how to jump off the side of the pool.

 

With a little help from our Puddle Jumpers, of course. These monkeys LOVE 'em!

 So much fun.

Catching Up: Dancing Girl (May 2012)

One of my goals for the new year is to catch up on this 'ole blog! And then to keep up with it the way I used to. (That darned move just screwed up my whole blogging schedule for the year.) There are quite a few little things I am afraid I will forget by the time I get around to scrapbooking them. (Also on that 2013 Goals List.) So here we go... The second half of 2012 in a nutshell. Starting with May.

 This was a fun dance class for Katie. It was also the last one she's taken because she started showing more of an interest in sports, so we enrolled her in sports class with Coach D. That's alright, though. The teacher, Miss Jennifer, is now Ethan's Tot Time Preschool teacher. (Pictures to come in August catch up.)

I do miss these cutie pie leotards. And watching her dance around the house after class. Maybe I will be able to convince her to take a class this summer?

Flying a Kite

 A couple of times in May, when the weather was still comfortable, we took advantage of this greenbelt in our neighborhood to fly the dinosaur kite Daddy picked out for us.

 Katie learned how to be a "kite pilot."

Ethan was a "kite co-pilot." But he didn't seem to mind.

Some Awesome Bedhead

This is often the look Ethan sports after nap time.The fact that he is wrapped in his "banket" and carrying his special "Ni-Night Beaw" makes this picture even better for me. I don't want my baby to grow up...

(May 17)

Catching Up: Playing In the Rain

 In May we had a bit of "nice" weather  and we took advantage of it.

We love the rain! Wish we could see more of it.

Catching Up: Warrior Dash 2012

On April somethingth ( I think the 28th) we handed the kids off to Grandma and GG and drove out to Florence for "The Largest Running Series" event we had been waiting for since our last event! Warrior Dash is another 5k obstacle, but thankfully on mostly flat ground, as opposed to the ridiculously hilly motocross tack that Rugged Maniac was held on. But really, there were some things about it that were slightly annoying and detracted from the experience. 

1. Way more people means waiting in line for obstacles. Which pads your time. Boo.

2. More money than Rugged Maniac. I think we all know how cheap I can be, so this was a biggie for me. Which also contributed to the frustration over....

3. No. Real. Showers. What?! It was just a bunch of guys on a truck holding power hoses for all the runners to shove their way under. Rugged Maniac had multiple overhead showers constructed. And I would imagine that wasted a lot less water than huge hoses being on all day long.

It wasn't all bad, though. we still received a free beer post race, a warrior hat, a medal, and a very comfy t-shirt.

 

 Me and Laura getting excited to start.

 David pretending to grope Travis.

Post race and shower. I can't even imagine how we looked before the shower. The last obstacle was an army crawl under barbed wire in mud that was actually more like a shallow mud pool. And then at the finish line Trav thought it would be funny to smear my face with mud. I was so thrilled. I don't know why I was surprised, though. This is the same man that mercilessly smeared our wedding cake in my face after we agreed not to.

I think we may be over obstacle courses, at least for the time being. It was fun, but not being able to get clean was a bummer and it will be fun to try something different. Plus, it would be nice to run an event while listening to my tunes. That is one of the biggest contributing factors of enjoyment for me on a run. That and not having to worry about anyone but myself. 

Travis is training for a half marathon and I am training for a 10k. Everyone (Travis, my brother in law, David, and his dad, Mike) keep trying to convince me to do the PF Changs marathon next January. Well, the farthest I have run is 4 miles and 4 miles to 13.1 miles is a BIG jump for someone with asthma. Especially if that someone has only been running less than a year. I do plan on a half marathon after I get a 10k under my belt, though.

Sorry no times or ranks. We were still pretty bogged down with catching up after the move and I forgot to record our times. I do remember that it was 45 minutes and some odd seconds...

Catching Up: Easter 2012

 We woke up to find the Easter Bunny had hidden our colored eggs in the backyard!

 After we found them all we relaxed and ate a few of them. Mmmm.

 Later that day the family came over for playtime and dinner.

 AND another egg hunt. (But this time they were chocolate eggs!)

We had to check out each others baskets. And there was absolutely no thieving amongst us. (Ha!)

 Get a load of this little cutie!

 Kiera had so much fun playing with her mommy and the tunnel.

 I can't remember who it was, but one of the grown-ups drew a wobot for Ethan.

 This guys loves a good wobot. (This handsome shirt was courtesy of Great Aunt Linda.)

 Someone also drew a silly guy for Katie and she added the finishing touches.

 It was a great day!

And we will treasure it always because it was the last holiday with this great guy, Uncle John. We miss you, Uncle John.