Keep Trying!

Ok. My life has not been especially eventful lately, and I'm trying to make it even less eventful until that one BIG EVENT happens. Somehow, it seems like I'm still getting roped into various obligations, but I have successfully dodged a few.

We haven't signed up for any more of the upcoming dance performances - not even the one in May (I'm really hedging my bets there, huh?).
I did say that no, I didn't think I could watch my friend's children when she goes into labor. We share a due date. Is that hypocritical (since I'm sure to be asking someone to watch my own children) or just realistic of me?
Every time Annika mentions the birthday party she's planning, I remind her that we only do that every other year...and NOT this year. No, not even a "family party" at the skating ring. I'm sure we can scrounge up something fun to do, but I'm not obligating myself to anything beyond cake and presents. Did I mention that her birthday is 3 whopping days after my due date?

I'm just planning my life one day at a time...tomorrow I'm going to oversee the cleaning of the house. (I love making my kids clean! It's so much work, but then you get to see them have some cute realizations. Today, Sofia looked at the very full kitchen sink and said, "What!? I just loaded the dishwasher this morning!" Yes, well, we've had two meals since then. So, expect at least 12 cups, 12 plates, plus misc. cutlery to be in the sink.) I'm going to write thank you notes for all of the lovely baby gifts people have given me. And, assuming that I'm not totally wiped out after that (I have got some VERY low stamina going on right now!), I really want to sew some pillowcase dresses! They look so easy and fun, and I bought 3 adorable pillowcases at Goodwill the other day for that express purpose.

Stay tuned...if it happens, I'll post some adorable pictures and a link to a pillowcase dress tutorial!

Baby Prep

I am definitely nesting.

I cleaned several closets this weekend (including my own). They might not look especially clean to other people, but I know what they looked like beforehand. Now the door can be opened with ease, and I don't have to play hopscotch to get to my clothes. Tony didn't comment on the change, but I know that deep down he appreciates it (or is at least relieved that I finally did it. :)

Maybe he was too distracted by the fact that I emptied his "moving box-o-stuff" that has been living next to our bed since we moved in? There were some good reasons why that box had never been unpacked. While we can't quite bring ourselves to get rid of every heavy wooden plaque Tony had accumulated in his Navy career, neither of us wants them hung up. Maybe I should have just moved the box to the garage? Of course, it did also contain various useful? uniform odds and ends and some vital household tools...a level...a stud finder.

Tony couldn't have been too irritated about it, because he very willingly went and bought the crib and put it together for me. Yes, I bought a brand new crib for what is likely my very last baby. It's never to late to finally have a nice crib, and it just seemed a lot more fun, safe, and sanitary. And doesn't it look lovely and inviting with the pretty quilt Sarah made me! I think the girls and I are going to make some cute little matching soft toys this week...something to keep busy wilst we wait for the baby.

Things that I love about THIS Pregnancy

Being pregnant can make you a little (or sometimes a lot) whiny, if you let it. So, to try and stem the tide of whininess for a while, I'm going to stop and tally up the things I appreciate about this particular time around.

1. As my lovely sister (you know who you are!) pointed out, my belly isn't sticking straight out this time. Personally, I think this makes for way fewer stretch marks.
2. When I was incapacitated with back pain (never sew on the floor when you're pregnant!), I had some wonderfully helpful children making lunch, bringing me heating pads, and otherwise catering to my needs. Thanks kids!
3. I had a great baby shower - totally low-stress (I hope for everyone else, as well as myself.), with some of my very best friends (also all relatives). Accepting gifts usually feels kind of awkward for me, but it helps when you know everyone loves you and actually wants to be there. Now I just need to buy the crib to put my beautiful new baby quilt in!
4. Some people may want to blame my occasional rants on my pregnancy, but this one has actually had pretty little impact on my emotional state. (I guess I just admitted that I'm always this crazy?) Very good. No one enjoys being a bawling basketcase.
5. We haven't just moved into a new house, AND we have no impending moves for at least a year! For my last four children, we either moved right before or right after they were born. One week after Sofia, 3 weeks before Annika, 3 months after Jonny and 2 weeks before James. Packing or unpacking while you're nine months pregnant or with a small infant...not good. Not productive. You just spend a lot of time feeling overwhelmed by boxes and babies.
We may have a few boxes still lingering around from last year's move, but they just blend into the scenery for me now. :)
6. The scale is currently out of order (so I may have to update this after my next Dr. visit), but, to the best of my knowledge, I haven't hit 160 lbs. yet. And if I do, I'm going to totally blame it on my swollen ankles! (I'm sure they're retaining a couple of pounds each!) It isn't really a weight to be excited about (when you are 5'1"), but I have super low expectations.
7. It has been really fun to share this pregnancy with my kids and see their excitement to welcome a new baby into our home...especially the older kids, who may actually remember this some day. I hope a couple of them are able to be there for the birth - but not Anthony, who (much to my relief) said he would rather wait at home with the little kids. Whew!
8. Tony WILL get to be there! (That is, assuming that this will be a nice, lazy labor, so that he can get home from work in time...because that is almost definitely where he will be when I go into labor.) It's a minor miracle to be present for the births of six children during a Navy career, and he was especially likely to miss this particular one, considering the type of submarine he's on now (fast attack!) We knew the risk when we decided to get pregnant, and we're grateful that it has worked out in our favor.
9. Comic relief for the family. Every time I cough, my belly button pokes out like a turkey timer. They all think it's hilarious.
10. This sweet little girl hasn't done any too painful gymnastic moves while in utero. (The painful coughing was totally not her fault.) I hope I haven't spoken too soon (at least 3 weeks left), but it's nice to feel and watch the first movements of your child without having to wince.

So, now all that's left is the actual childbirth experience. I'm hoping for a Sofia experience, where, as they placed her in my arms for the first time, I said, "That wasn't so bad. I could totally do that again some day!" instead of an Anthony experience, when I told Tony that I was never, ever going to go through that again. He seconded the motion, so it's amazing that we have more than one child. I told my midwife that the next time I wanted to have a baby, I was going to get another cat. I'm sure she thought I was horrible. Thank you, Sarah, for showing me how it was supposed to be done, so that I could muster the courage to try again!

Too Tired for Twilight

Our party girl Rachel hosted a lovely Twilight event, in honor of the DVD release. Their gigantic TV made for the perfect "movie theater" setting, especially once we figured out how to use the remote! Lilly had toddled over and pressed fast forward, and none of us were PS3 savy enough to get it to stop. Rachel called her hubby for tech support, Sarah nursed Lilly to sleep, and we were back on track!
Sadly, I think we were all too tired to really enjoy the movie (shouldn't have taken that Tylenol with codine beforehand!) Becky and Rachel slept through more than half of the show; while I was having "extra long blinks" and thinking "why won't this movie end, so I can go to sleep". In retrospect, I know what was missing...caffeine. Next time, I'll bring the cherry coke! :)

Motivation

I'm never sure what will motivate my children. One of the main problems being that there are five different little children, who respond to different incentives. You just can't please everyone! (It would be WAY too much work.) Grandma's house appears to be pretty high on the motivational scale for everyone.

The kids were all a little bummed that we were only going to spend Friday and Saturday visiting Grandma and Grandpa (plus, the Kangs are there too - big bonus!) Even worse, we weren't going to leave on Friday until school was finished. Aren't they lucky to be home schooled? I pointed out that they could finish their school work as quickly or as slowly as they wanted, and it was like I had fired off the starting gun. Jonny read me Friday's reading lesson, Sofia brought up the history book for a "bed time story", and Anthony fell asleep with his math books in bed next to him.

When I woke up this morning, everyone had finished their lessons, dressed, and packed for the weekend (sometimes unsupervised packing can lead to weird outfits, but I decided to just roll the dice). We were out the door by 9:30am, which has to be some kind of record for us. Too bad we can't go to Grandma's every day! Think of all the free time we'd have on our hands!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is a big holiday for Irish dancers.


They're suddenly in demand. It was a wonderful opportunity for the girls to perform. They've only been learning Irish dance since September, so they only got to participate in two of the dances. Still, it's fun to see how much they've learned, and what they'll be learning in the future.

We began St. Patrick's day with a performance at a local elementary school. (That school went all out - they had a bag piper at the entrance and everything!) By the time that was over, we were rushing to a Senior Center in Bremerton, where the dancers were part of the entertainment for a St. Patrick's Day luncheon. It turns out, we could have taken our time a bit, because they must have had us double booked. It was nearly an hour later that they got their turn to perform.

We got home around 2:30 (while the non-beginners did a performance at a Bremerton High School), and I elevated my huge ankles (they aren't used to being out all day!) The kids were happy to chill out for a bit. At 5pm, it was time to leave for the last performance at a retirement home in Silverdale. James slept throught the whole thing! Hoorah! We were home by 8pm, so we still beat Tony back to the house! :)

The funniest thing of the day, was watching Anthony work so hard to prove that he didn't want to watch Irish dancing. He was very determined to read or hide his face in his jacket, rather than have to look at pretty High School girls jigging. It was almost as funny as the Nutcracker, but he didn't blush as much!

Ok. Here are some things I like about Irish Dancing:
1. The music is very fun and catchy.
2. The costumes are extremely modest for dance clothing. A short skirt with tights isn't too bad compared to some jazz costumes I've seen.
3. It's super good exercise!
4. Funky shoes. Their hard shoes (that we haven't got to yet) look like something Mary Poppins would wear, but with fiberglass tips for extra noise.
5. Most of the dances have been being done since the 1800s.
6. None of the moves make the girls look like strippers-in-training. (That was Tony's comment at a mixed recital they did in December. We felt like super-good parents that our kids weren't involved with some of the other dance groups!)

So, I hope everyone had a lovely St. Patrick's Day, wore green, ate some corned beef and cabbage, and whatever other fun things you do to celebrate!

Warning: this is a very complainy, possibly offensive post (if you do what I'm complaining about)

Ok. I have to do a little bit of complaining. This is one of the most annoying things I can think of. No. It isn't people sticking out their tongues with unswallowed food in their mouths. (That's actually a photo of the face I feel like making when people bug me. Jonny just provided a convenient photo of it.) First...a little background.
Today, I let the Kirby Salesmen into my home. They were forewarned that I already have a somewhat older kirby and that the violin teacher was coming (to stay for our 2 hours of lessons). In other words, I definitely did not promise them my undivided attention. It's a good thing too, because any more interaction with them would have led me to say something pretty rude.
I have a very low tolerance for people asking me questions like, "You wouldn't want to sleep in a bed full of dust mites, would you?" if they actually expect an answer. That's what we college grads like to call a rhetorical question...one used for emphasis, without the expectation of a response. Then the salesman just stares at me, waiting for an answer. Irritating.
Sometimes, if you've asked someone a super easy, obvious question and they just stare at you...waiting, it isn't because they're an idiot. It's because they think you're one.
This annoys me as much in Relief Society as it does from ignorant salesmen. If you ask a question like, "Who wants to have an eternal family?" please don't wait for a show of hands. The answer is pretty obvious...we all do. That is what makes this a rhetorical question! Don't stand there, staring and waiting. We know the answer. It's just so obvious, that is seems stupid to even say it. If you want to ask a question (to someone over the age of five), make it a thought-provoking one OR one whose answer might not be readily apparent to everyone in the room.
Don't be annoying.