Do I have children or tazmanian devils?

When we start at the beginning, I'm already not the most fabulous house keeper. Throw a pregnancy and the 2 most destructive children I can imagine in the mix and you have my house. My house constantly looks like a tornado hit it no matter what kinds of efforts I make to keep it clean. My mom watched the girls and Ben at her house on Saturday and it made me feel a little better to see that within a few hours, her nice clean house looked about like mine does. These are just a couple of pictures from the mayhem around here this week.



Please don't ask where all the laundry that filled this basket has ended up.



I don't know what her deal is with diapers. She emptied the entire bag and then went through the large tupperware with my Lou Lou inventory in it and emptied that too. I'm still trying to work up the energy to pick it all up. I'd better do it while she's sleeping. Good thing she's so cute.

Happy Easter

Nothing fancy going on here. After a weekend full of birthday celebrations and a baby shower, we didn't do much to celebrate Easter. Jane got a book about Jesus and a chocolate bunny from us and that's where it stopped. We went to Leslie and Cameron's house for a dinner of lasagne and it was nice to not make dinner and mess up our house. I didn't get any pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses, so here are a few that Brooke took of the girls earlier this week. Thanks again Brooke!

Ok, I went overboard with the photos, but aren't they so cute! Mom will appreciate them.

Cutest kids on the block

Brooke, my sister's sister in law, took photos of the kids (Jane, Lizzy & Ben) yesterday at gardner village. She did a really great job, especially considering that Jane cried or stuck her tongue out most of the time and Lizzy's skin was still a royal mess. You can check out the previews HERE. Also, check out her website to see other darling photos at http://oliverminiej.blogspot.com/. Thanks Brooke!

Happy Birthday Ben

Yes, Ben was born the day after John's birthday. We were remembering that last year on the 19th, we were at Sampan enjoying a lovely dinner of americanized chinese food in honor of Johnny B and the forthcoming Ben. Happy birthday little roo. I can't believe it's already been a year. We love our little nephew/cousin in this house, however destructive he may be.

This is my favorite set of photos that I have of Ben. He's such an ornery little man and this just goes to show it. It was his first time trying solids. He never has liked baby food. Happy birthday Bubby!

Jane lives in a musical

You know how in musicals people just randomly break into song and it could be any song about anything and the words are just kind of made up to fit whatever situation they find themselves in? Well, this is how Jane lives her life. She just makes up songs all day long. Sometimes it's hilarious and sometimes it's just annoying.
I was typing an email this morning and she was harassing me to put a dress on her dumb Polly Pocket princess thing. (Side note- I can't stand those things! Only little girls like them and they aren't skilled enough to get the clothes on them, so they sit around and beg you to do it. Then they take the clothes off because off course, it's night time and they require a change, and bug you to put the night time clothes on. GRRRRR) She brings the dumb Ariel doll to me and I start going off on how much I disdain those dolls and the dresses and I'm only putting on one dress and then I'm done and on and on. Jane says: "I know mom, it's just ok and you need to just relax and not be angry at me." How guilty did I feel? Then she broke into song. I wish I had the recording for you. "I know, I know, and it's ok mom. You don't need be sad because she just needs her purple dress. and it's ok...." Sing the words to yourself in any random notes that come to mind, that's pretty much how her songs sound.
She busts me up.

Happy Birthday Johnny B

Today is my "little" brother, John's birthday. Hooray for John! You've been alive 24 years (it is 24, right?)

This is Johnny holding Jane. They were both sufficiently weirded out, I think.



Obviously, this was Leslie's wedding.



Jane will NOT be ignored. Especially by her uncle Johnny. She ADORES him.
We love you!

So what's the deal with trimesters?

If I were a female Jerry Seinfeld (Geri Seinfeld?) I would totally do a stand up routine about trimesters. Of course, then I would have to be a lot funnier and have some skills with stand up comedy. Not going to happen, so instead, I will rant on my blog.

So what's the deal with trimesters? Seriously, they make no sense. I mean, your pregnancy is 40 weeks, which amounts to about 9 calendar months, right? Then why do they insist upon counting your pregnancy in weeks and then divide it into thirds? No sense people!

I am now officially 12 weeks pregnant, which means that I've moved into my 2nd trimester. Don't get me wrong, I like the feeling of having accomplished something, but I'm really not 3 months pregnant yet. At least, not if you check on the calendar and see that my due date is more than 6 months away. This is SO deceiving! Especially when you are pregnant for the first time. You think you're so close, then you realize that the system makes no sense and you've really got another month before this whole thing is finally over. I was so mad because they make you count the months in 4 week intervals, and then you end up being pregnant for 10 months! What a gyp!

I propose that as women, we refuse to allow this to go on. From what I've read, there really isn't any meaning in the trimester system anyway, they are just rough estimates. Like, "once you are into your second trimester, the likelihood of miscarriage significantly decreases." Can't we just say, "once you are around 12 weeks along..." we all know exactly what week we are at any given moment anyway. If we are forced to refer to our pregnancies by the weeks, we should at least have the convenience of making it more sensible and having quarters. It would be much more satisfying because that way we could at least accomplish something every 10 weeks. You have your ultrasound half way through, and your baby is due at the end of them. Done.

I may be a little hormonal right now.

T.G.I.S?

I haven't been much of a blogger this week, other than to complain. I spent all week being sick with my kids and trying to get ready for this boutique, which is now over. It all seems very anti-climactic since the boutique was very poorly attended, but what can you do? I'm just happy that it's over and I can just sit and do nothing. Brent (after some not so gentle nudging) was very supportive this weekend and came home early yesterday (mostly because he was sick too) and watched the girls all night and today. I really appreciated him.

Tomorrow I get to go to church. I love going to church. I don't really know what it is, but I get really upset when I can't go. Maybe I just finally get to associate with other grown-ups and talk about grown-up things and I can use my brain a little more, but when I don't get to go, it really bothers me. Last week I stayed home with the sick girls and this week, Brent is planning to stay home with the sick girls. They really are much better, but whatever this bug is that everyone in Utah has apparently has a tendency to settle in your chest and results in bronchitis most of the time, so we'll have to go to the doctor and fix that next week. Anyway, I'm happy that it's my turn to go and I won't even have to take care of kids, so I can just enjoy.

There is little else to report in our house. I took a couple pictures of Lizzy tonight after she had her bath and was ready for bed. Her skin is looking so blotchy right now that I tried to change the photo so that you can't tell. I had a couple of tries at it, so I posted them both for good times. You can also see how trashed our bathroom generally is, especially right after bath time.

She's supposed to have some Easter photos taken next week by Leslie's SIL, Brooke, who is starting up her photography business. I hope that her skin either clears up quick or that Brooke is really good at photo shop.

It's been a hard day's night

Brace yourself because I am going to complain. This week sucks. Last week was miserable too.
Lizzy was sick all last week and I couldn't really figure out what was wrong with her, but I didn't want to be all paranoid and run to the doctor, so I held out until the very end of the week. Of course, by that time the doctor said that she was on the mend and probably just had a bug and she's fine. Well whatever Lizzy had has, of course, been passed to Jane. Lizzy isn't completely better, but she's very much improved.
Now Jane just coughs and coughs all day and cries because it hurts her so much. She has had diarrhea makes her cry and she threw up last night in bed. I think she may have the flu. I stayed up with her until well past midnight because she was so miserable and couldn't stop coughing. I couldn't think of what to do until I finally remembered that my mom used to stick us and a humidifier under a blanket, so that's what I did. We made a little tent for her to sleep under with a chair and that seemed to do the trick. Unfortunately, she woke up bright and early this morning crying because she was still tired. She collapsed on the floor by my bed and said "Mommy, I'm to sick to eat breakfast." It just completely breaks my heart! Little kids shouldn't get sick, especially when there's so little that you can do for them.
The most frustrating thing is that I'm sick too, not like the girls, but I'm definitely only working at about 50% right now. I have a big craft fair that I'm trying to get ready for and between me and the girls, I can't get anything done! And to make matters worse... I stupidly burnt my hand last night with my glue gun and now it's all blistery. Great. Anyway, I am so frustrated that I needed to vent and since I have a forum...this is where it ended up.

Jane, who usually only watches TV when she's really tired, did nothing but watch movies yesterday and today will likely be the same.

Brown paper packages tied up with strings...

I've been tagged by my friend, Emily.

If I were Oprah and could give everyone a few of my favorite things, this is what it would be a why. I'm not very fancy and I'm always on a budget, so mine is like the poor man's version of 'my favorite things.'

1- Oil of Olay Regenerist Serum (or anything else from this line). I LOVE this stuff. I've used the cleanser and the thermal skin polisher and the night treatment and more and I can't get enough of it. I'd give it to everyone I know.

2- Ok, this is for pregnant people, but I'd still give it to you just in case you needed it later. The Bella Band is the best thing that's happened to maternity clothes in the history of maternity clothes. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these things! The uses are endless, so look into it.

3- Intelligel Beds. I know that a lot of people have a lot of strong feelings about beds, but I really think that this one is awesome. Brent and I got one for Christmas and we are in sleeping heaven. They don't come cheap (we got a sreamin' deal on ours) so they'd be good for a giveaway, if Oprah were paying.

4- I'm not much a jewelry person, but I have to admit that I fell in love with the Sparkle & Chic boutique at a recent boutique that I participated in. Ashley (who I apparently knew in college) is the designer and everything she makes is amazing. I'm not sure what I'd pick for everyone, but something.

5- A Kitchen Aid Mixer. Every woman needs a Kitchen Aid mixer, not just any mixer, it's got to be a Kitchen Aid. They are so useful and reliable. Brent was all mad that I got one when we got married because he said I'd never use it. I keep in on the counter and I use it ALL THE TIME. We all should have one.

6- A gift card to Paradise Bakery. Oh Paradise Bakery... my mouth starts to water just thinking about your delicious tomato soup, salads, blueberry muffins and basically anything you have to offer me. Seriously, you can't go wrong at this place. It's all delicious, it just depends on what you're in the mood for. They have now moved into the south end of the valley, so I have one conveniently located near me. Thank goodness!

Ok, I think that's all I've got. So now I have to tag people. Um, I really don't know who to tag since, if you notice my links on my sidebar, I have surprisingly few blogging friends. If it sounds fun to you, have at it, consider yourself tagged.

The Issue is Tissue

My mom (and possibly my Aunt B) will remember my 6th grade science project wherein I decided that I wanted to test different kinds of toilet paper to see if there was a certain brand that broke down better than others. I don't know where it came from, but it turned out to be quite the project. It even involved my very devoted mother picking me up from school and taking me to the waste treatment center to find out all the information I could on the breaking down of toilet paper. It smelled great. Later, when I was getting ready to build my board and I needed a title, I was stumped. My mom spent a great deal of time on the phone with her family trying to come up with something (I told you she was devoted). I'm not sure if it was my Aunt Kathy or my Aunt B that finally came up with the title "The Issue is Tissue" but I do remember that it was an exclamation in response to the idea of "To Wipe or not to Wipe" which, as the ultimate title clearly stated, was NOT the issue.

It seems as though I have passed my (very temporary) fixation with tissue to my small child who thinks it's about the best thing that has ever happened to the world as she knows it. I can't leave this child anywhere near anything that resembles tissue or quick as you can say 'bob's your uncle' it's all over my house. Case in point: I foolishly left the child alone in the bathroom for a few minutes only to find upon my return...

She was so pleased, it's hard to be upset.
And it isn't just the rolls that she likes. The boxes are just as much of a good time

How long does the 'toilet paper stage' last?

Accomplishments

I complain so much when I have bad days that I feel like I have to share when I have good ones too. Today was one of those good ones. Even though I haven't really been sick during this first trimester (which is over in a week), I have felt debilitated in other ways. I've just been SOOOO tired and often queezy and just plain sick with something or another for a while now. Basically, I don't get a whole lot done that can legitimately be referred to as an 'accomplishment,' unless you call taking a nap and asking your husband to pick up dinner on the way home and accomplishment. The last couple of days, I've been feeling a lot better and I actually have started doing things to make my house look as though a family (as opposed to a bunch of hobos) lives in it. Today I got my kitchen sparkly clean, which felt really good. Jane and I started making jello (I say started because we are making rainbow jello and it takes a really long time for like 5 different layers of jello to set up), I got a lot of work done in preparation for another boutique that is coming up and I just had a fun day with my cute girls. We had a delicious lunch of Mac & Cheese, which is Jane and Lizzy's absolute favorite. Lizzy gets so excited about it she can hardly stand her little baby self. I took some cute post-lunch photos of Jane, but Lizzy wasn't cooperating today. Anyway, I thought I'd share.

I was laughing because when Leslie and I were growing up, we always got the same things, only in different colors. I always got pink and she got blue. I'm not sure how it happened, but for YEARS it was that way. I bought the girls quasi-matching shirts the other day and didn't notice that Lizzy had pink and Jane had blue. Ah, memories.

I tried to get a photo of the girls together, but as mentioned before... Lizzy was MOST uncooperative.

I tried.

Meet the newest member of the Stringham family

So, I had my first OB appointment today. It was fairly uneventful, as far as these kinds of things go. I met my new Dr. and I really like him a lot. He used to live in my neighborhood and all my friends here see him. He also delivered Ben, so I know he's capable, and that feels good. He didn't seem to think that it was a big deal that I was having 2 babies within a year and a half, but it is to me. I'm very apprehensive about having another baby. It has all seemed very surreal until today and I knew that this was the beginning of having to really deal with it. He did an ultrasound and for a minute, I couldn't tell if there was anything there. I was kind of relieved and horrified at the same time with the thought of not ACTUALLY being pregnant, but alas, he found the sweet little one, all 3 cm of baby.

I don't have a scanner (We keep trying to buy one, but other things come up) so I had to take a picture of an ultrasound print with my crappy camera. Take my word for it, there's a baby in there, up at the top. My due date is going to remain 9/29/08 and it should be a nice, long, uncomfortable summer, but it will all be worth it in the end.

P.S. For those that don't really get why I'm freaked out at the thought of having another baby, I got a HUGE bag of goodies from the doctor's office basically consisting of 27 free baby magazines that tell me the same thing in 20 different ways, several changing pads (which always come in handy), prenatal vitamins galore and formula samples. Here's the sad thing. I was all excited about the formula because Lizzy STILL drinks it! Yes, she does, because I already have a baby. I thought, "Oh good, I can keep this in the car for when I forget" then I about started to cry.