Should I send Chad to Walmart?

Here is one way of trying to induce labor that I haven't tried yet. Whaddaya think?

Perfect summer supper

I love this couscous that I find at SuperTarget.
Last night I made some salmon, topped with a tomato, onion, cilantro and olive garnish, and paired it with the couscous. Yummy, fresh, filling, yet still light.

Colin C.

Well, I did it. I gave my firstborn a trendy name. We got to his open house today to discover that there are two Colins in his class! Just as I was Katie J. in kindergarten, he is Colin C. The really sad thing about it is there are only two Chinese classes in his grade level so if they both continue at this school, their chances of being in the same class are always 50/50.

Now for the really weird part - we didn't meet the other Colin, but according to the teacher, it is a girl! Same spelling and everything. Have you ever? I sure hope it is just a mix-up with the wrong box getting checked somewhere.

Happy Birthday to Christie!

Hope it's a good one!

Argentine Love

Is there are faster way to a pregnant woman's heart than hearty and delicious homemade gnocchi with meat sauce and cream on top? I highly doubt it.

Sabina knows that we have mainly been eating frozen meals for the last couple of weeks so she came and cooked for me last night. I lounged on the couch, and Chad actually took a little (well-deserved) nap while she slaved in the kitchen. It was the best night I have had all week. Thanks Sabina!

Notes

Dear Kind Lady at Discovery Place,

It was 9:15, only a quarter of an hour after Discovery Place opened, and I was the crazy lady asking you if you had a spare diaper, and um, maybe some wipes too. Yes, I remembered to pack sack lunches, yet brought nothing to change my son. He must have sensed this because he went number 2 for the first time in public in probably a year and a half. Thank you kind lady, for giving me two diapers with shining eyes that told me you genuinely understood and were happy to do it for me. Because I really didn't want to have to go all the way home and I really didn't want to wander around Uptown Charlotte trying to find a place to buy diapers.

Sincerely,
Spacey Mom

Dear Hotdog-in-tortilla-with-cheese,

You rock. Guess what? I have only gained a pound in the last month, so I don't give a darn if you are loaded with calories, fat, and tons of fake stuff. I deserve you. You are the perfect snack at 10 pm, accompanied by ketchup and mustard. I even got Chad to try you today - even though he went overboard and had two hotdogs in a tortilla, which I think is just overkill (especially when you have high cholesterol!) Thanks for not giving me gas, even though I had it coming to me.

With love,
Self-Pitying Katie

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you thank you thank you for the morning showers yesterday and thank you for the autumnal afternoon. I actually went out in my garden and took a little walk with the boys. Thank you for providing a brief respite from the typical August weather. It was noticed and appreciated.

Humbly,
Briefly Revigorized Nature Lover

Dear Friends and Family,

I haven't been commenting on blogs and I keep missing phone calls (I swear that part hasn't been on purpose- I've been keeping my phone in it's charger "just in case"). I am in total witch-mode right now (ask my kids), so you should probably be grateful that I have been removing myself from society. I promise if you leave a message I will call you back. And I am still reading and enjoying your blogs.

~Katie

Dear Full-Moon this Saturday,

I have heard rumors about you and I am counting on them being true. You are my last chance before having to go to church again when no one is expecting me to be there. I don't want to answer the due date questions again. Just please don't make the delivery rooms so full that I don't get one of those rooms with the outside patios, because I really want one of those. Oh, and if you could somehow take control of my amniotic sac a day earlier (meaning tomorrow - Friday), I would really love it, because my midwives don't work on the weekend. Okay, that's a lot to ask, but I will take any of it.

Pleadingly,
A pathetic woman

Operation:Keep Busy, Day 6

We took our butterfly nets to the garden this morning and spent a good 2 1/2 hrs there. It was a lovely morning.

After that, we had Panda Express and a trip to Target for groceries. Then Evan and Santi came over for the rest of the afternoon. We made super sleuth masks and they kept my boys entertained.

Operation:Keep Busy Days 3,4, and 5

Day 3 started off with a trip to the library.

We then stopped by Target to see if Olivia's pear wreath was on clearance. It was, but not low enough. It was okay though, because I got another wreath that I love just as much. I will have to post a picture soon. By the way, Target raised the price of their popcorn combo (medium drink and popcorn) from $1 to $1.50! I am outraged! Of course, that didn't stop me from getting it.

After Target we went over to Levi's so that I could watch the two youngest girls while he went to tend to Audra in the hospital (she had surgery last week and the five oldest kids were in the mountains). It was SUCH a treat to hang out with the two of them.

Ask Chad, I have been raving about my sweet nieces since then and have even mentioned possibly requesting a female when we adopt (even though I have always said we would just take whatever referral came first). They really melted my heart.

Jovie and Callie are less than four months apart and each is so adorable in her own way.

I ended up spending the night there so that Levi could go be with Audra in the morning. Then Sabina came in the middle of the day on Saturday to take over the babysitting. I went home and lazed around the rest of the day. We went out to dinner as a family to Olive Garden, mainly because I ate Olive Garden the night before I went into labor with Gabe and was hoping for similar results :o) Obviously didn't work, but it was yummy anyway.

Also lazed around yesterday after church (I deserved it - we had 22 kids in nursery!), and started to drive myself crazy again, but it wasn't too bad because I got to spend the WHOLE DAY with my adorable husband, which was quite a treat. He has been quite busy lately "flipping" a house, so time together is precious. Oh, and I got to take a nap. :o)

Operation:Keep Busy, Day 2

We used the free kid's meal certificates that the boys earned by completing our library's summer reading program and went to Bob Evan's. The boys really enjoyed it and totally pigged out. Click on Gabe's picture and check out his coloring. He is amazing!















Then we went to Hobby Lobby and wasted a lot of time walking around. I let Colin choose a craft, so we got some Suncatchers. Did you ever do those when you were a kid? I did, and I loved them.






And of course Sabina and I watched the Finale last night! I was a little surprised that Katee got kicked off before the two boys, but I didn't have strong opinions about who should win. Honestly, besides the money, I don't think winning makes much of a difference in anyone's life. They have all gotten the same amount of exposure and does anyone remember Nick or Sabra better for winning? I was happy for Joshua and his sweet little story.

Oh, and the show itself was GREAT! Loved seeing all the previous season participants coming back.

Operation:Keep Busy

Day 1:

Watched TMNT with the boys at the summer movies. Two movie theaters near us have had not-so-new kid movies playing all summer - one for free and one for a dollar each. We have taken advantage of it whenever we have had the time. Movies seen this summer: Happy Feet, Prince of Egypt, The Water Horse, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Madagascar. I bring lots of snacks to keep the boys satisfied and busy. Today it was Wheat Thins, string cheese, and grapes. By the way, TMNT was really really really lame and way too violent (and not even in a cool way). I really should have checked it out beforehand, but I probably would have gone anyway because it kills an hour and a half and it is air-conditioned.

After the movie we stopped by Old Navy for some new flip flops for me and Chad.

The rest of the day was dedicated to cleaning things that have been driving me crazy - the downstairs shoe closet, under the couches, inside the bench in my front room - and a ton of normal cleaning that I have been bad about. My feet are killing me, but I can no longer see scraps of food under the couch, so I am a happy girl.

Now Sabina is coming over to watch the top 4 on So You Think You Can Dance. Woohoo! I think I will make some mango smoothies and relax. Wish you could be here Audra!!!!!!!

One more day down, and I didn't waste it....

I really want some Orange Chicken right now

Maybe this is old news to a lot of you, but next time you go to Panda Express, save your receipt and look at the back. It will tell you how to go online to take a survey and get a free entree next time you buy a 2-Entree Plate. A 3-Entree Plate is just the right amount of food to feed me and the boys at lunch time. My tummy is growling.

Just finished reading....

Breaking Dawn.....does anyone else smell a spin-off book involving a specific character that was introduced in this book?

*linking to it made me aware of the reviews on Amazon, which are interestingly varied. I think I am way more okay with this book than a lot of other people. Maybe because some of friends told me beforehand that it totally spun off in a different direction than they expected, so I was prepared for that. I have to say that a lot of what happened was stuff that I had found myself wishing would happen. Interesting indeed.

Choices

Yesterday was the beginning of tax-free weekend in North Carolina. I got the boys up early and headed straight to Target with Colin's list of required school supplies:

Kindergarten

2 – plastic pocket folders with 3 prongs
4 – 125 count boxes of tissues (plain tissues – no antiviral or lotion added!)
5 – 80 count baby wipes boxes
10 – BIG Elmer's glue stix or 20 small glue stix
1 – Kinder mat (for resting), or towel or small blanket
1 – Playdoh (please get this brand!)
1– wirebound notebook
1 – hand sanitizers
3 – 500 sheet pkg. of copier paper
2 - packs of white erasers
1 – pack of construction paper

A regular size backpack - no wheels!

And of course uniforms.

A little different than when we all went to kindergarten, right?

The one thing Colin was really excited about was the backpack. He knew that he was going to get to choose it and keep repeating - "no wheels, right Mom?"

I shouldn't have been surprised by the one he was immediately drawn to. It was camouflage - a pattern I have never purchased for him, despite it's popularity. It was on sale, held everything that he needed nicely without being too big, and he loved it, so camouflage it is. He insisted on getting a lunch pack that "matched", so it is black camouflage.

We went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast after the shopping and I called Chad to let him know how it went. Colin excitedly interjected, "Tell Dad about the soldier backpack that I got."

Yes, in case you didn't know, my sweet sweet 5 year son is obsessed with guns and has been since he was about 2 1/2. And now he is off to conquer kindergarten with a soldier backpack. Sigh.

One more way to go batty.

At about noon today, I laid down with Gabe to get him to take a nap. All of the sudden I started sweating. A lot. Then I got nauseous. I called Chad and talked to him for a couple of minutes, mainly to try and get perspective, and then made a trip to the toilet to violently throw up. The whole time Gabe was pretty mad at me for getting up and was yelling at me. As I finished vomiting, I heard him calling to me "I go poo-poo!" Is there a worse thing to hear when you have just hurled? I paced back and forth for a few minutes, trying to figure out what I could handle and wondering if I could let him sit in his poo until someone else could take care of it. I finally decided to just do it, and I did. A few minutes later I threw up again and called Chad again. I wasn't sure how bad it all was and if he should come home for me. Coming home earlier than planned is a big pain in the neck for him, not just because of work meetings and such, but because his bus doesn't make any runs in the middle of the day. After talking to him I decided to call my doctor's office, to see what they would say. When I got a chance to talk to a nurse, this is basically the conversation that took place:

Hi, I'm 37 weeks pregnant and I just started throwing up about an hour ago.

Are you having any contractions?

No, I'm really not.

Do you have any pain in your stomach?

Yeah, a little....

Have you been able to time the pain?

No, it doesn't really come and go in intervals like that. Just a little achy.

Well, vomiting can be a sign of labor, so we definitely want you to come in.

Proceeds to set up an appointment for me while I say that I feel silly coming in because I am actually starting to feel better.

So I called Chad to tell him I needed to go in and didn'tt know if I can drive myself. He said he would leave work and come take me, but of course it will take an hour or so to do so, because he has to now take LINX to connect to a bus that will take him to the Walmart park-and-ride where his car is. In the meantime, I was feeling better and better by the minute. I called Bobby and Sabina to ask if we can drop off the boys, and I called Levi, who had been planning on coming over with the whole family late that afternoon, to let him know that that wasn't going to work out. Since I was feeling better I started to feel like I am being a drama queen. Googling let me know that sometimes vomiting can proceed labor by a day or so. Sometimes, not necessarily very often. I packed my hospital bag and overnight bags for the boys just in case.

All of this, and a 45 minute wait to be seen at the doctor's, and when my midwife walked in, the first thing she said is "So, you think you are in labor."

I quickly informed her that, no, I didn't think I was in labor. I was throwing up and the nurse told me it could be labor and had me come in. My midwife just kept apologizing and saying that they shouldn't have said that, especially since my next appointment is on Monday, and asked who it was I talked to. Of course I couldn't remember. She said it was probably a virus, or the heat, or something else. I apologized and said I didn't want to seem like one of "those women" and just tried to get across as much as possible that I knew I wasn't in labor.

The one upswing of the whole thing is that she examined me and found out I am almost 2 cm's and 50% effaced. Which actually, I would probably rather not know (I opted out of the internal exam at my appointment on Tuesday) because really, how much can that tell you? I was that dilated for almost three weeks before I had Gabe. Just one thing to drive me nutty.

SYTYCD Tour 2008

We (Audra and I) got our tickets today! Did you? Presale passwords are CANDANCE, NIGEL, and SOYOU.

We learned last year that in an arena, the best seats are NOT on the floor, so we chose our seats this year (on the side in the first raised level) instead of selecting "best available." November 12th, here we come!