august!

i can't believe how time flies when you have three kids. Bug is now 6 weeks and has gained half his body weight. HA has been working out like crazy so he's getting big too.
Drama and Monkey are in their own beds now. they share a room right now but i think that's helping them transition easier. basically we just tell them its bed time. we kiss them good night, tuck them in, and turn the light off. sometimes they talk for a little bit. but most nights they stay in their own beds and fall asleep. this has been going on for 2 weeks now since Monkey turned 2.
Potty training is still going. Monkey actually tells me when he has to go so i take him and Drama. they get a sticker and we sing a song when they go potty.
i started rewarding them for good behavior with a sticker too and have seen them be more cooperative and even helpful since starting the sticker reward system. Drama even emptied the dishwasher for me. the items that were in the higher cabinets i helped her with. i was impressed that she knew where everything went! Monkey loves to get the little dishwasher cubes and put them in, close the dishwasher and push the start button for me. they also help me with laundry! if they help, the task usually takes longer but if i have the time then i enjoy their help. i wish they could vacuum!

HA was away at drill for the weekend. so a long time friend of mine came from Cali to stay with me. we had so much fun catching up. i miss having her in town!
nothing too exciting has been happening lately. all the days seem to blend in together. we are stuck inside most of the time since its getting up to 114 degrees here. I'm having to focus harder (this heat makes me tired) and be creative to keep the toddlers busy indoors. God bless the MOMS Club! we all have been coming up with ideas to keep our little ones busy together.
i will be leading an un-official La Leche League meeting this Thursday for the first time. its un-official because i have not completed the course yet. been trying to do some homework here and there. its great that this is self paced.
this Saturday the Monkey turns 2. I'm still shocked. but excited as well. i see the little guy he's turning into and i love it.

Boppy babies!!!

Bug

Monkey

Drama

BOPPY BABIES!!

Monkey as a newborn

Bug in his wrap

Drama at her first ballet class

Drama had her first ballet classes. it was a summer program for 3 & 4 year old that were just starting off. it was only 3 weeks. each class had a fairytale theme. they read a book, did a craft and then did basic ballet stuff. a little too basic for Drama who lost interest in the class after the book. she had no interest in waiting in a light just to jump over a scarf that was on the ground. or wait for her turn skip across the room. i was getting frustrated with her not listening and waiting her turn. the teacher would barely get out what they would be doing next and then Drama was running off to do it. i thought i had failed in some way. some of the other moms told me i should put her in pre-school so she can learn to take turns. after thinking about this i realized they are full of it. why would i stick my kid in a class for several hours a day so she could learn to take turns? she's 3! everything that a pre-school would be teaching a 3 year old she already knows. shes sounding out words already. she saw the word "latitude" on the side of a bus and was sounding it out. so if not understanding how to wait her turn is the only thing she still needs to learn at 3 years old, I'm really OK with that. plus i think it would have been better if i just put her in a regular class where she learns more than how to jump. i think she just really wanted to dance. nothing wrong with that.

Monkey will be 2 in 2 weeks! how did that happen? he's officially started the terrible twos. between Drama's "drama" and Monkey's fits expect to put on ear plugs if you come to my house. I'm so excited to throw Monkey's birthday party. guess what the theme is... monkeys! i will be making the cake too.

Bug is getting big. weighing in at 9lb 4oz at his 2 week Dr appointment today. for those of you that are rusty at baby averages, after 2 weeks they should be back to their birth weight. his birth weight was 8lb 3 oz. so he's a POUND more. yay!! he loves to eat. and the funny thing is that he's not eating around the clock either. my other 2 seemed to nurse every hour or 2 hours for the first 6 weeks. he'll sleep for 4-6 hours straight and then eat and sleep several more hours. and he's still huge. what a good baby. and i gotta say, thank God for my wrap! how do mother's get anything done without them i wonder?

new baby

i can't believe that June Bug is 2 weeks old now! he's been such a great baby. he eats like a cow and that has given him some tummy problems. he spits up as much as Drama did. so I'm going to have to watch what i eat and see if that helps him. and amazingly he's a great sleeper. he wakes up once or twice a night to eat and then goes back to sleep. i don't feel very sleep deprived like i did with Drama and Monkey. it helps to have Heavily Armed here. he has to go back to work on Monday. that will be interesting. i will be taking all 3 kids to June Bug's (okay, I'm going to shorten it to BUG now cuz its easier) Dr's appointment on Monday. yay me! I'll be spending more time on the computer next week. promise!

walking to no end

for the past 3 days i have been walking my booty off trying to either keep labor going when it seems to start or get it going when it seems to stop. I've never experienced false labor with my other two pregnancies. i can't believe how frustrating it is. it is painful like real labor, so i think "OK, this is it" and start timing them and start moving around to get progress going. it will last a few hours and then just stop. and i will feel fine, exhausted, but fine.
after 3 days of this walking miles and telling people that this could be it (my mil even came over to help with the kids on Monday so i could focus on keeping things going but labor stopped by 9pm) I've given up. he'll come when he's ready and there is nothing i can do about it. yes, I'm in pain, yes I'm frustrated, but why i think i can decide when my son is born is very strange. i will be waiting for that moment when i can tell Heavily Armed "hunny, its time!" and we'll gather everything together and rush to the hospital. until then i will do what i do every other day. clean, cook, and care for the little ones. who by the way are doing really well. getting over colds now and ready for some outdoor fun!
currently Monkey is obsessed with me reading him books. mostly books about cars and trucks. and Drama is playing with Lego's like they are rabbits who she names strange names and cares for them while carrying them around in a bucket.

one more weekend down

before on left, after on right

i recovered my dining room chairs this past week. HA was gone on civilian business all week so i had the time. Friday night we went to see the new Terminator movie while the children spent time with grandma and grandpa. we figured it might be our last time on a date for a while before June Bug comes. he still hasn't come, so maybe we'll get another chance.

my car hasn't been working well this past week and HA checked it out on Sunday. it has to go to a mechanics this week so I'm using the in-law's car until it can get fixed. THANKS IN-LAWS! your car is a very smooth ride!

Monkey is getting a cold AGAIN. that kid seems to get sick every time the weather changes! its been only in the 90's and windy this past weekend and the Monkey's system does not like the change. soon it will be just hot all the time and he'll at least have some relief.

so basically we are all on high alert as to when June Bug will make his grand entrance. hoping it will be soon. i keep dreaming that he's a Blondie with his daddy's lips, so that would be entertaining. we will have to wait and see. and no, i will not get induced, no i will not be delivering at home (as much as i want to) and i will go as long as i can stand it without pain meds. but it wasn't so long ago that i had Monkey that i had time to forget THAT kind of miserable pain, so we will see. yes, we are done having kids and we are making plans to make that permanent. of course i will be breastfeeding June Bug. and i realized that after i reach my goal of a year breastfeeding June Bug, i will have been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for 5 years STRAIGHT! its been so long that i don't know what it feels like to not use my body as nourishment for a baby! can you believe it?!

june already!

i can't believe that its June already. this year is flying by. the Arizona heat is really changing our schedules. i try to do any errands in the morning and be done and back in our a/c before lunch time. the nice thing about this heat is the kids have been napping longer. we have a little kiddie pool that is getting lots of use. their favorite game is dumping the water out of the pool. but since that's a big no-no in the bathtub, i guess they get it out of their systems in the pool.
we recently had an ordeal with Monkey getting his hair cut. HA said he'd do it over memorial weekend, but it didn't get done. so i took matters into my own hands. unfortunately he was freaking out and wiggling a ton so i ended up clipping his ear pretty bad. poor thing bled like a stuck pig. at that moment my pregnant hormones got the best of me and i freaked out. i was thinking that I'd have to take him to the ER. HA was out of town helping family move. so i was alone. Monkey was covered in hair and blood so i thought sticking him in the shower would fix that. however, that only made him wig out more and bleed more. so i wigged out more. i finally called HA crying like crazy that i just ripped Monkey's ear open and he will have to get stitches and i didn't know how i was going to manage that. of course HA calmed me down. reminded me that there are things as washcloths and neosporine and band aids to help moms like me. after the bleeding stopped i could see that it was a bad cut but didn't require stitches. i was so shook up over the ordeal that i needed ice cream and a bath. but since i was by myself i grabbed the tub of ice cream and got myself and the kids in the tub with me. we had a nice relaxing bath together that calmed all our nerves. although i think Monkey and i will be traumatized by that buzzing clipper noise for quite some time. now he keeps asking me "where's my hair?".
my mil threw me a baby "sprinkle". i really didn't need anything for the June Bug. so i got a ton of diapers and wipes (thank you everyone!). it was just so much fun to have my family and friends celebrate the life that is coming. it was an excuse to eat good food, have cake, and play VERY fun baby shower games. i was super impressed with everyone's crafty gifts. i think those are the best ones. the prize went to my mil who made a Winnie-the-pooh blanket for June Bug. she's made special blankets for each of the kids and they are amazing! runner up would be my friend who put iron-on pictures of our family onto onesies. they are so adorable!!
I'm keeping busy with crafts and MOMS Club, as well as working on getting my La Leche League Leadership Accreditation. with that i will host my own monthly meetings, give speeches (at places like the hospital, WIC, and the area's high schools) and give one-on-one assistants to mothers who are struggling with breastfeeding. its an extremely long process and will probably take me till the end of this year to obtain it. lucky for me, I'm having another baby which will help me brush up on my "skills". haha.
will post more when i know more. or if baby comes.

sickness

sorry its been a while since I've blogged. my kids picked up a terrible cold from God only knows where. Drama ended up with double ear infections and Monkey had eye infections. then they so kindly passed it on to me. and i lost my voice. i realize how much i need my voice to parent. you can't call a child to come to you when you have no voice. you can't say the repeated commands (cuz you know you have to say it at least 3 times in a row before they finally catch what you are saying to them) and therefore you get even more frustrated. luckily i had my voice back in 2 days. in that time though i changed OB Dr's. i truly disliked the old fart that was my previous Dr. i was told he had bad bedside manners. which i didn't think i would care about since this is my third baby and didn't feel i needed to have my hand held. but as time went on and i realized that this Dr would deliver my baby soon, i just couldn't bare the thought of listening to his crude comments while i am in labor and afterwards. this will be a joyous time and so i fired the jerk. I'm happy with my new Dr. i get to have another ultra sound this next Tuesday. of course the June Bug is measuring a couple weeks ahead of the EDD so he is actually doing his job and checking things out. I'm pretty sure its either that i am carrying extra amniotic fluid like i have with my previous pregnancies or June Bug has his dads head. ouch! when i think of that i can almost smell the epidural!so we are getting over colds (i have since passed mine onto Heavily Armed). and planning for this coming kid. i feel prepared. I'd like our house to be rid of sickness before he comes of course. but i can't wait to see his little face. Drama will tell my belly that "come out now". i tell her i don't think he's ready yet. in her words when a baby is being born they "open the belly button door and pop right out and say "surprise"" as she explains this she does a little jump and twirl. yesterday she asked me "mama, will June Bug come out all by himself?". not sure what she meant by this i just told her yes. she didn't ask me anything further. but HA and i have decided that she does not get to go to the Dr's with me anymore after she pretended she was the Dr and tried to put a Lego-made "wand" between my legs. and she can't watch "a baby story" either because she sees the blood on the babies and asks "how did that baby get hurt?". Monkey is of course oblivious and content with running around the house pretending to be a dinosaur, or lion, or monster. what a boy! next week we will be having a baby-sprinkle that my mil is throwing for us. invites in the mail. that's all for now. i must go attend the rambunctious crew.

additional sewing project

feminine hygiene holders!

they hold 8 tampons or about 4 pads or a combination of. can also hold nursing pads.

$6 each. or buy the diaper/wipes holder and fem. hyg. together for $12. this price is for family and friends only.

order now!

latest project

for those of you that know me well you've heard me rave about the diaper/wipes holders that i have for DRAMA and MONKEY. being an organizing junky i find that they just save me stress in my diaper bag. i have a boy one and a girl one and they hold the appropriate sized diapers. i can just grab their particular holder and head to the bathroom or wherever i need to change that child. and if HA wants to take one of the kids out he can just grab that one case instead of lugging the diaper bag that doubles as my purse. of course since JUNE BUG is coming i can't for the life of me find any locally. and everywhere online is priced ridiculously as well has having to pay shipping on top of that.
so my sewing-savvy MIL listened to my complaint and said "i could probably figure out how to make them". and she did, in like less than 2 seconds. she wrote down the directions and made a pattern for me to follow and some scrap fabric to try it out on. and then i made one. it turned out awesome. and i really enjoyed making it. so i got more fabric and made some more. and now I'm going to sell them! for only $10 each. which is about half the price you'd find them anywhere else. so if you need one for your little one (or little ones) let me know. I'll find fabric to match a theme or color scheme you prefer. of course i have camouflage ones too! and that's what JUNE BUG will use. i think i will make them for some preggo friends of mine. i was thinking to pair it with a bag of diapers and a thing of disposable changing pads.
so if I'm not returning your call, its cuz i can't hear you over the sewing machine.
**i am on the look out for USMC fabric as its all out around my town currently. some moms have asked if they could get some because their fashion conscious husbands would rather carry that than the Elmo diaper bags. hehe.

lovin' my new stroller

thank you to my family (i will get thank you cards out soon) for all pitching in and getting me this new double umbrella stroller. it has been awesome! as you can see in the picture, i was able to go to wally world with 2 sleeping babies and get the items i seriously was in need of.

the stroller is made by JEEP. it folds up like an umbrella stroller. the umbrella shade just clips right on. you can recline these seats separately if one kid is asleep but the other is not. the handles are tall enough that I'm not hunched over and it has a cup holder for parents. the down fall to this stroller is that it tips over just like any umbrella stroller when you have something hanging on the back and the kids get off. and its wider than my other stroller which makes some aisles in the store harder to get through than others. i will mostly use this stroller for quick trips around town. this coming weekend is the relay for life which i will be going to with my mother-in-law and my nieces. so the 2 littlest kids will be in the umbrella stroller and the 2 eldest will be walking around the track with us. should be fun!

contraction scare and one on one time

Tuesday i felt the JUNE BUG drop. so I've been in pretty consistent pain from that point on. but wed i over did myself with errands and household work in the 101 degree weather. because of dehydration and over doing it i sent myself into labor. my contractions were every 10 min for about 5 hours. my nurse told me to drink a gallon of water and stay off my feet for the rest of the night. my contractions did stop and never got too intense. the next morning i went to my Dr. JUNE BUG's head is against my cervix and I'm already 1.5 centimeters dilated. i was given medication to take if and when i go into labor again. as long as we can get the contractions to stop all should go well up until my due date. i am instructed to stay off my feet and take it easy as much as possible. to which i have to laugh. i have a 3 yo and a 21 mo. that's not easy to do!
so today HA had off work. he took the MONKEY to chuck e. cheeses for some father/son time. and DRAMA and i went to lunch together. it was so awesome. she ordered her food by herself and was so grown up. its so amazing to think that 3 years ago i was holding this tiny baby just imagining doing things like going out to lunch with her together. and now we can do that. she carried a purse too! she's just way too cute. I'm so glad we got to do one on one time with our kids today. soon we will be switching and i can have some time with the MONKEY.

hand holding 4-21-09

i went to our neighborhood shopette (tiny store that sells mostly food) today. i had DRAMA and MONKEY hold hands as they walked and followed me around the store to pick up things for dinner tonight. we are having chicken enchiladas. besides the fact that my children are gorgeous, i also got comments today about how cute they were holding hands and walking around the store with me. because they did so well i rewarded them with some chocolate chip cookies (which they picked out). i just love those little moments when i realize that they are capable of more than i give them credit for. i mean, do you know any other 3 yo and 1.5 yo siblings that can walk around a store following mommy and not touching anything while holding each others hands? my kids are wonderful! ...today.
yesterday was another story. even though we made a "cave" out of blankets and the dining room table and i even let the kids eat their lunch under the table, they still managed to drive me to the edge of my sanity. somehow MONKEY found a crayon (no idea how, i don't keep any coloring items in their playroom) and colored on the wall. luckily i knew the trick of using toothpaste to remove it from walls (thanks HGTV). and DRAMA was exactly that. she spent half the day in time-outs for the things she would say or the looks she would give.
which brings me to my next point: the mothers curse.
it works. i will be more specific however when i pass on the curse to my kids. i will say "i hope you have a child that is just like you, but another different child that is also like your spouse". because its just plain MEAN that i have 1 child that has both of HEAVILY ARMED's mother's curse and my mother's curse! she is dramatic and stubborn. so its not just "its to hard to finish my dinner mother" followed by a dramatic whine. its "i absolutely can not finish my dinner mother and you will totally not be able to make me either" while whining and staring at me evilly. i ask you, is that fair? let me answer that for you.... uh, no! hopefully she'll make me millions and become an award winning actress or something. whats that saying "tomorrow is another day". good, cuz tomorrow i'm attempting to take both of them to the theater with the MOMS Club to watch the new movie "earth" by disney. they've never been to a theater before so we'll see how that goes. i'll be sure to share.

first post

OK, I'm not sure how long i said I'd do this. but hey, I'm finally doing it. this blog is to keep our family up to date on the kiddos that i keep popping out yearly. any time you need a fix of my gorgeous kids, or are waiting for a few weeks for my to return your emails, just look here and hopefully i can keep this up to date at least.

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OK, lets go through some of the basics. since we need some security here (it is the Internet after all and Obama is watching) i will set up some ground rules. i will go by aliases when it comes to the kids and the hubby.

-hubby will be called HEAVILY ARMED (cuz that's what he is) or HA for short

-the first born will be known as DRAMA (cuz she is)

-the second born is MONKEY (cuz its so cute when you ask him to tell you what a monkey says, plus he's always climbing on something)

-the third yet-to-be-born is JUNE BUG. until he makes his presence and we get to know him better, that's all i could come up with.

-i will be narrating all, so don't need a name. and if you come up with one for me... keep it to yourself. :)

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this past Friday HA and i celebrated our 4th year married. in 4 years we have 2.5 kids, survived 2 deployments, a miscarriage, and buying our first home together. how you ask? when so many others seem to fall apart. punching bags, faith, and family. if i didn't have my mil (mother-in-law) i can guarantee you we would not have lasted. that woman is a saint and should have her picture on a candle with glowing light around her.

for our anniversary we decided to take the kids to sea world. i think HA and i had more fun. just watching DRAMA and MONKEY's faces was worth walking around for 5 hours and dealing with the general public and tourists. if you don't already know HA and i do not like the general public. and we both avoid them when we can. anyhow, it was a great time and we can't say enough how wonderful a memory it is. let me just mention here that anyone who is 32 weeks pregnant with their 3rd MUST only drink water through out a 5 hour long walking spree around any amusement park. 'nuff said. here are some pix.

the family as we entered sea world.

HEAVILY ARMED and i on our anniv.!

DRAMA, the map follower

and the MONKEY looking at a manatee

we saw flamingos, eels, dolphins, sharks, all kinds of fish, penguins, otters, and even horses. MONKEY touched a sting ray! and DRAMA talked like a dolphin for half the day. there was seasame street rides that the kids got to ride on with their daddy too. also, sea world allows military to have 1 free day per year with 3 dependants. so we all got in for free. this will end up being a yearly event for us now. and we can't wait for next year.

Love to you all,