Happenings

I've taken up baking with 2 "helpers". I try to have A watch N to see what to do, and sometimes it works. A loves to eat flour. He will stand on his chair and eat pinch after pinch of it. N doesn't like to share all of the "helping", but she's getting used to it. And we still have a good time. I just have to plan on a lot longer prep to get things done on time. These cookies that we made yesterday were delicious. And the dough was great!

We recently had a BBQ Championship in town. Turns out, they're not all that exciting. Maybe I just missed the point. It was fun to see how far people came to be part of it, though. And this group (from FLORIDA) had a serious number of awards. We didn't try their BBQ, so I don't know if I agree with all of the awards, but it was impressive. It kind of makes you wonder, though, if they do anything else with their lives?

And we got new chalk. Which might seem like a silly thing to blog about. But it's really cool! They're called Chalk Crayons, or something and they're way brighter than normal sidewalk chalk. The kiddos were both colored themselves by the time we were done.

County Fair

This week has been our county fair. I LOVE SMALL TOWN COUNTY FAIRS!!! I entered 5 photographs, 1 bread, 1 jam, and 1 hair-clip. My goal was to get a GRAND CHAMPION ribbon. N received one last year and I didn't want to be out-done by a 3-year old. So, bread my fall back. The bread last year looked pretty sad, so I was confident that I would do well in that category. Besides which my bread tastes good (not that I want to sound conceited. But it really does!). Of course, I hoped that one of my photos would do well, but with the advent of digital, EVERYONE is a photographer (including me. Without digital, I'm pretty sure I would still be dreaming. Film and developing are not cheap). So it was a dream. I mainly wanted to be compared with other photographers to see how I'm doing. As you can see by the photo posted here, I won a GRAND CHAMPION with one of my photos. You can see the whole picture by clicking here. I received another GRAND CHAMPION on my bread. 2 of my other photos got blue ribbons, and one got white. 1 got nothing. My hair-clip received a"Congratulations" (you know, one of those 'You didn't get a ribbon but we don't want you to feel bad' things). I think I must have been having fun marking the preschool age group for N's entries and marked mine preschool. Oops! My jam was disqualified because I didn't properly label it. Ummm... yeah.

N had 5 entries, received 2 blue ribbons and 3 "Congratulations!". She's most excited about the "Congratulations". Oh, the bliss of being 3. A didn't enter anything this year. Maybe I'll give him my "Congratulations!".

So we've been hanging out at the fairgrounds off and on all week. We saw some of the animal competitions - goat, sheep and pig. The pig show is my personal favorite. There is no way to really control a pig. I think it's fun to watch their owners try to get them to behave and showoff, when all they really want to be doing is taking a nap, or digging in the sawdust. The older showmen are pretty good and their pigs mostly behave. The younger showmen are great for entertainment. We saw one boy get knocked down by a pig, another run away when his pig started fighting with another pig. The kiddos were done being patient before we could watch the Peewee show. Sad.

This goat was great! Very willing to let the kiddos pet him (N came up with a strange fear of animals this week. She would only pet the rabbits, which oddly enough, is the only animal that A wouldn't pet. Strange!), he climbed up so that I could get a good picture of him, instead of one through the bars of his cage, and then he posed, as if he knew that I was going to take his picture and wanted to show his good side. He was classic billy goat. I could see him being the third billy goat to cross the bridge, throwing the mean troll into the river. The other billies just couldn't hold a candle to him. But now they know what they have the potential to become.

A Busy Week

On Tuesday I had my routine appointment with my OB. The previous week I had a taken a 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Which I had to fast 12 hours in preparation. A total of 15 fasting hours. Luckily water isn't counted in the fasting. 15 hours is a long time for a pregnant lady to not eat. Let me tell you. No, don't. That isn't the story here. Just trust me. At my appointment, I learned that 3 of my 4 blood draws were abnormal. Which means that I have gestational diabetes. It's something you hear about, but don't really know anything about. Well I've been learning. Learning about how to poke yourself 4 times a day and what the numbers on the machine mean and learning about good nutrition. On Thursday I met with a nutritionist, who told me that I needed to limit myself to 200 grams of carbohydrates a day. Sound like a lot? IT ISN'T. 1 slice of bread- 15 grams. 1 cup of milk - 18 grams. They add up pretty quick. And when you start keeping track, it gets rather sad. Especially if you're favorite foods are bread and milk. LIKE ME. The nutritionist gave me a book that has a lot of foods and how many carbs are in a serving. And serving sizes. She told me that I need to have regular snacks. So, since Thursday, I've been more careful about what I eat. And I feel better. For the past month or so I've been super tired and not very patient. Since Thursday, I've had an amazing energy boost. So I'm not drinking as much milk or enjoying toast every morning. But life is good. I feel good. And I know that it all doesn't just affect me. J could have serious problems if I don't take care of myself. And really, she'll be here in less than 8 weeks. 8 weeks isn't that long (at least that's what I keep telling myself).

What I keep wondering, though, is why didn't they test earlier? As I've been reading, gestational diabetes is best diagnosed between 24 and 28 weeks. But common practice (at least with my 3 pregnancies) is to test at 28 weeks. Why not test at 24 weeks? J would have been better off, I would have felt better, N and A wouldn't have needed to wonder what happened to their mother (constantly tired and out of patience). Seriously, one night, we put the kiddos to bed at 7pm, and I followed them, asking DH to wake me in 30 minutes. He tried, but I just couldn't get up. I slept until 7 the next morning.

It's nice to know that I'm not crazy. That there really is a reason for how I've felt for the last month. It's also really nice to feel good and to know that I can control it, even if I don't get to eat everything that I like all the time. It's funny, but having 2 rolls at dinner can be as much of a treat as a bowl of ice cream. Trust me.

Where to look?

For library books. The ones that go missing on a weekly basis. That stay missing for months on end until the renewals are all used and you have to actually pay or replace the missing book. Today, before we left to visit the library, we searched the house for 4 missing books. We found 1. Under the piano. Ummm... okay. That's normal, right? So where are the other 3? We looked under couches, couch cushions, pianos, and beds. We looked in toy boxes and book boxes. We went through all the bookshelves. 1 out of 4.

I Don't Understand...

Can anyone explain? I don't get it...

Cloud

We bought a mini-van yesterday. From this tiny little dealership in Lehi, UT. They're called Car Town. We traded in my first car, CJ, with many fond memories. And now we have Cloud (that's what we named our silver Kia Sedona. N vetoed many of the more clever ideas that I had). Now we have room for J to make her appearance in September - 3 car seats is a tight fit in a VW passat, though I have done it.

Car Town was great. DH and I were both a little nervous. We found them on Auto Trader, advertising 4 used Dodge Caravans, with less that 48,000 miles, for $8000. It sounded to good to be true. And when we got to Lehi, and couldn't find the lot (they said it was right next to the roller mills. Not exactly true. More like 10 blocks from there), we were seriously thinking it was a scam. But after calling, getting the address, putting it into the GPS and getting there, it was a great experience. They had a pretty good selection of mini-vans (dodge, kia, toyota, and chevrolet). We tried most of them (not the toyota. Bad press right now, ya know?). The stroller wouldn't fit in the chevrolet, so then we were down to 2. Test drove them, and really liked the Kia. Sealed the deal (the "office" is in an adorable little house. I would have loved to take the house and make it a house again. Old, quaint, hardwood floors, wood detail everywhere. Too cute!), and went to dinner at Arby's while the kia was detailed. A short 30 minutes later, we transferred our stuff, traded keys, and drove away. They entire process was painless. Even walking away from CJ. He was really a great car.

Today we drove back to Colorado. And we still really like Cloud. And the kiddos seemed happy. A liked being able to see out the window.

A Winner and A Story

Well, with only one entrant, it's a gimme. But I have to say that she did get 100%. I'm so impressed!

Now for a quick story from our recent trip to CA.

We stopped at the airport McDonald's to pick up some breakfast, then went to sit at our gate. We were early for our early morning flight, so it pretty empty. When the desk lady got there, we talked to her about switching seats. We were still eating breakfast. We were right next to the desk. She said sure, and asked for our boarding passes. When I had to put down my breakfast burrito and get into the diaper bag for them, she said to me, "You should really have those in your hand so that you'll be ready to board". Umm, yeah. 2 kiddos eating breakfast, let alone my pregnant self, and 45 minutes before the flight leaves? Boarding is not happening any time soon and there are a lot of other things that will be occupying my hands in that time. But we did end up with bulkhead seats, which gave A tons of space to play.

A Game with a PRIZE!!!

#1 Here's the game. Our garden seeds are coming up!

We're very excited! So, I took pictures of all the little

starts. And numbered them. I'll give you a list of what

they could be. And you leave your guess in the

comments. The person with the most correct guesses

will receive a prize in the mail. Who doesn't like mail?

Oh, and 2 of the plants aren't from seed. They were

plants when we put them in our garden. But they

#2 haven't grown much since then, because the temperature has been rather cool-ish. The game will

run until Sunday, June 20th at 11:59 pm.

Plant Possibilities:

-carrot

-pea

-beet

-cucumber

#3

-zucchini

-lettuce

-green pepper

-radish

-tomato

GOOD LUCK!

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

Less than 100

Some of you have commented about my little floating picture on my sidebar. It's true! I am expecting! We'll be welcoming a little girl in mid-September (unless the ultrasound showed a poor picture. I know that we could have a boy. But we're planning on the girl. Both the tech and the OB were certain. And that's good enough for me). N is very excited about having a little sister. According to her, everyone she knows is having a baby girl (her aunts are also expecting :). A doesn't really get it (obviously, he's only 15 months), though he doesn't like that I'm trying to make him walk more instead of being carried. Poor boy! I'm feeling good, really trying to enjoy the last of my second trimester. I love the second trimester! I'm planning a summer spent in the backyard, sitting in the kiddie pool. (Luckily we're in Colorado, so I don't have to live in the heat of Las Vegas during a summer pregnancy.) And now we have less that 100 days to go! Hurray!

Lesson of the Day

I've been trying to take daily walks. And I've been trying to take more pictures - especially ones that aren't of my kiddos. So Monday I took my camera on my walk. And got some lovely pictures.

Today I went on my walk. Before leaving, I thought to myself, "I should take my camera. No, there won't be anything new to see. I'll leave it home."

After all, I do live a subdivision that doesn't change much. And in 3 days there aren't new flowers. So we start off.

And as soon as I round the first corner, I start kicking myself for not taking my camera.

Because there is a purr-fect

picture opportunity. A mangy-dlooking cat is standing on his back legs, front legs resting on a bird bath, getting a drink. The background was purr-fect also. No bright colors. No vehicles. And the cat didn't even mind that we were there. As I walked by (I contemplated going back for the camera but decided that 1-the cat would probably

be gone by the time I got back and 2-the walk up the steepest hill in the subdivision {not an exaggeration}

wasn't worth the picture that would probably not happen because of #1)

the cat didn't even glance our way. I could have snapped a hundred pictures and he wouldn't have cared. I learned my lesson. I will now take my camera, even if I think that nothing will change.