Kitchen View

This is the view from my kitchen sink. It's a good thing that I my sill is wide since I seem to pile up all kinds of stuff on it! Most of the garden pickin's end up there for a little bit of ripening or drying out. My Mother's Day pansies from Ella are in the yogurt cup and that's good ol' coon keeping a watchful eye out.

Like the privacy hedge made by the corn?!

I looked at this cup for days before I realized it was SOY YOGURT. Ick!

Faithful watcher outer.

Garden Color

Ah, summer is here! What a gorgeous variety of color coming from the garden.

Monday Funny

Half way!

Yesterday I officially reached 20 weeks along. Yippee! In trying to keep up with the Joneses (Andria, ha!) I will do a Half Way Through My Pregnancy Post. Andria and Pen both did them and in that spirit, here I go!

At 20 weeks, the State of the Blessed Union:

Belly pooch: Yes ma'am. Last week was the first time a stranger asked me if I was 'with child'


Hormonal rollercoaster: The wildest ride in town

Effort to stay off the rollercoaster: large. huge. enormous. massive.


Cravings: None really. The closest thing to one would be bacon. Yum! With Ella it was sausage. (Which somebody so politely pointed out was how I got into the situation to begin with!)

Pounds gained: -1. Seriously. Don't worry, the baby is large for her age so she's not suffering any by my lack of poundage. Also, as soon as I publicly announce no weight gain I will pack it on quickly.

Movement: Lots, and they are getting stronger by the day!

Gender: Sweet little baby girl

Stretch marks: None, thank goodness. I didn't have any with E so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping hoping that I won't get any now. I have put aside my usual cheapness and went for Curel lotion (the best! as introduced to me by Nikkers) to combat the immense amount of stretching that my skin is about to undertake.

Ability to bend over without groaning: fading quickly

Depth of belly button cave: shortening at an alarming rate

Shooting sciatic pain: I have adopted a new hobble/walk/limp

Pro to having a C-section: baby girl's head measured at the 97th percentile for her age

Name: Currently in negotiations

Daddy David's take on my pregnancy: He now has 10 different wives who all share one short fuse. (Is that supposed to be funny? I DO NOT have split personalities. Jerk. But maybe he's right, I mean I am a little weepy at times...*sob*. Poor guy! But it's OK because I have a wonderful little baby kicking around and making my belly grow and showcasing that I am a woman, doing what comes most natural :). Making me FAT, that's what this pregnancy is doing. I saw the cutest pants the other day that I won't be able to fit into for how long?)

E Fix

E has been a little absent from the blog lately so here is a quick fix. She wanted pig tails sooo bad this morning and I just had to oblige!

Pegged

Poor Miss Maggie got her foot smashed yesterday and had to be professionally stitched and bandaged. They did such a fine job wrapping her up that we thought she looked a bit like a peg leg! With a little help from Google images, I made up this picture of Cap'n Mags.

Look it up, dear

David and I always do our best to use the 'right' word for things with Ella. As a result, we are often asked the definition of certain words that we use. This past weekend we found ourselves acting as an open dictionary with Miss E and having to define the following words:

membrane
co-operate
trail
appropriate
acceptable
negligent

Whew! Surely she's destined to score perfect on the verbal SAT if we keep this business up!

Let's Talk About Sex

Updated!

Sometimes a girl just knows. She feels it deep down in her bones that she is 100% accurate and only hard evidence could change her mind.

Weeeell, that's what happened. The hard evidence proves that I was, in fact, wrong and we are having a baby girl!! Yippee!

Here are two of the best pictures from the visit. I know that even though these are the best ones of the lot, some people may not be able to 'see' but I will try my best to describe them!

Profile with a little hand up by the face

Baby girl has her hand on the back of her head (can't see the head), taken from the back. What you see is the left part of her back, left arm bent and hand.

Cast Your Vote

Alright, kids! Tomorrow is the big ultrasound day!

Cast your vote for the sex of the baby in the comments section. (I am officially guessing that it's a boy!)

What say you?!

Chap Stick Fiends

I have found my peeps.

Lip Balm Anonymous

This guy is killing me! I think I need to sign up, though... There would be no going cold turkey for me!

Garden Update #2

The weeds have been taking over the garden plot as of late and I have been letting them. Like turn a blind eye and hope that they go away, ignoring. It has been a bad combination of lots of rain and sheer laziness on our part and now we are dearly paying the price!

I have postponed any previous updates because of the shame that I would feel if you knew what the garden had come to! But, I have mustered up my courage and am prepared to share the highlights and lowlights of our current garden scene. (This is after several hours of weeding, hoping that I could get it cleaned up before the picture session but I only made a slight dent!)

Row of carrot tops and the beginning of celery.

Cucumbers and squash.

One of the tomato plants (with fruit!) hiding amongst the weeds and a pepper plant.

Baby squash and an onion blossoming!

A row that is partially weeded. Yikes!

E working in the yet to be weeded part.

It's a family affair!

Pick Your Battles

It just wasn't worth the fight this morning!

Who thinks she's adorable no matter what shoes?

Hokey Pokey

Yesterday Ella came home singing the Hokey Pokey. I was surprised at myself since I had not even thought about teaching it to her! Then I was immediately taken back to Skate-A-Round USA in Athens where we used to do the dance on skates. Ah, the good ol' days....

I got all into doing the Hokey Pokey with her and was having a good time 'shaking it all about'! But, I'm afraid I may have gone a little too far when I said "Hey Ella! Put your backside in!" and we started shaking that all about. It became very clear that they hadn't done the backside bit at preschool because she was super excited about it. Didn't want to stop shaking her backside, really. Oops! Maybe Mommy will get put in time out when Ella goes to preschool and shows them what she learned!

E shakin' it ALL about

(This picture reminds me of Mom, Marisa and me dancing in the living room to 'Doin' Da Butt... sex-ay, sex-ay'!)

Inventory: Purse

I heard a bit on the radio about the crazy things that girls carry in their purse and it was pretty damn funny. I'll show you mine if you show me yours! (No selective lists! Give me the goods!)

Wallet

Pen

random business card

travel size Curel lotion

hot pink shimmer nail polish

2 lipsticks

1 lip gloss

1 chap stick

1 lip sheen

travel thing of floss (from the dentist)

2 opened packs of gum

peppermints

So nothing too strange, I don't think... maybe the nail polish (all of the lip products shouldn't be a surprise)? I don't normally carry polish but brought it to work with me the other day to touch up my toes and haven't taken it out yet!

Wild Ride

This story is nuts. A man in a wheelchair gets stuck in the grille of a semi and then gets taken for a 4 mile, 50 mph drive. I am amazed that the wheels of his wheelchair held up! Geez louise. Can you imagine if you were the driver?! I bet he does a walk around before he takes off from now on!

Little Miss Show Off

I thought that Ella looked super cute in her skirt this morning so I told her to stand still for a picture. This is what I got.

I have no idea why she pulled up her shirt!

"Sweetie! Put your shirt down!"

It's All About Me!

Andria sent me this email and instead of forwarding it to everyone, I thought I would just post it here. Feel free to fill in your own answers in the comments!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I know of

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? That would be yesterday, due to pregnancy hormones, and then I promptly started laughing. Psychosis is fun!

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes!

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Heavenly Ham

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, Ella Grace, and wee little Baby Mc!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Who wouldn't?!

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, although when I had mono they were HUGE and was ready to rip them out

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Hell yeah!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Gonna have to go with Cracklin' Oat Bran

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Generally, no

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, save for pregnancy induced instability!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Vanilla with peanut butter or cornflakes on top

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their teeth

15. RED OR PINK? Red!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? When I am not patient with Ella

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Grandmama

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Yes, but I understand if they don't because it takes a while!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? white capris, sandals

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Cheesy tots from BK

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Kidd Kraddick in the Morning via the internet

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Magnolias, babies after a bath

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? David, about 30 seconds ago!

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Fo' sho!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? UGA football, SEC football

27. HAIR COLOR? Natural brown with blond highlights (getting new highlights tonight!)

28. EYE COLOR? Green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Oh yeah!

30. FAVORITE FOOD? Mashed potatoes with lots of salt and butter

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Oh boy, Happy Endings. I don't even attempt scary movies

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Spider Man 3

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Dark pink with little light pink, white and coral stripes

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer!

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs, generally, although E's kisses are pretty great

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? I have no idea

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Marisa! I'm calling you out!

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Most people

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Fixin' to start over with the Harry Potter series in preparation for the new one!

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? plain black pad

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? After the Catch (Deadliest Catch) Discovery, part of Mythbusters, part of Leno

42. FAVORITE SOUND? E's peels of laughter, kind words

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Um, Rolling Stones, I guess

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Cancun, Mexico

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Yes, a whole slew of them! :)

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Athens, GA

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Mom

Crazy 8's

I was tagged by Ashley forever ago to list 8 crazy things about me. The last time that I did this I think I was a little too honest and caused everyone to give me funny looks. And then laugh, laugh, laugh at me. Not so this time!

I have come up with a list, albeit a rather surface one, that has a domestic tone to it. It could come from the fact that I created the list while making a peach cobbler!

1) I am silly about my shampoo and conditioner. The smell of it is seemingly more important than how it actually makes my hair feel. If I don't like the smell, I won't use it anymore. And I don't like to use the same brand/smell over and over.

2) I will forever buy and use Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden cake mix. It is the absolute best tasting batter for licking off the beaters and for cooked cake. My Grandmama used it and I have warm, delicious memories of Marisa and I standing in her kitchen, each getting a beater to lick. YUM.

3) When I first try a recipe I have to follow it to the letter, no matter how wrong I think it sounds. I will not stray on the first attempt. Ever. Unfortunately, this once lead to a severe over peppering of homemade lasagna due to an error in the cookbook. My brain told me it was WAY too much but I had to follow the recipe, and then we all promptly choked on the first bite.

4) When I fall into product love, I fall hard. I will remain true to a brand or type of item once I 'discover' it. I posted a long time ago about Reynold's plastic wrap with the slider and Pam with flour. I still buy use them, to a fault!

5) Just like Ashley notices people's left handedness, I notice people's Southerness. It's like I'm always looking out for some of 'my people' out here. If I hear someone drag out words or use phrases like 'y'all' or 'fixin' to' I make a mental note of it, if not ask them outright where they are from!

6) Just in time for the last Harry Potter book to come out, I recognize another oddity of mine. If I am going to read a book or see a movie in a series, I need to re-read or re-watch the previous ones. This can become quite a feat when there are oh, say six, previous installments that need to be revisited! I feel like I will have forgotten something in the earlier ones that will be critical in the next! Either that or I will sit by David during the movie and ask questions like 'Now who's that?' or 'Didn't they find that in the last one?' which NEVER goes over very well.

7) I have a personal mission to make sure that busty gals are wearing the right size bra. Very weird, I know, but I have learned from the sad mistake of accepting what Victoria's Secret says I should be. (Victoria is a lyin' B and I don't give a damn what her secret is. Hell hath no fury, right?!) I have found that more often than not, us girls are not giving our girls the proper support or coverage and I'm out to fix it! Now where's my Big Boobied Bra Girl cape?

8) David and I have a ceramic raccoon that sits guard over our house. We found him in the bushes at the first house we lived in when we moved here. He must have been on the previous owner's front stoop and fell in the shrubs to be forgotten. We named him Coon (clever, aren't we?) and put him inside to peer out the sliding glass door. We moved him into the next two houses and he always sits looking outside. Right now he's in the sill at my kitchen window. While we have never had any break ins or trouble, thanks to his vigilant watch no doubt, he has let a few spiders and ants in. But we'll overlook it. And the next time we move he will come with.

Donuts

E meets a powdered donut.

Alphabet song

I FINALLY have a new video to share of Miss E! She has an alphabet learning toy that sticks to the refrigerator and pronounces the sound of different letters and sings the alphabet song. The other night she got into singing along with the song and dancing in the living room so I grabbed up the camera.

Once again, I apologize for the poor quality and shaky screen. I take these videos on my digital camera so it's not as good as a real video camera.

Click for the Alphabet Song

Painfully true

Overheard at boxing class after 45 push ups and 45 tricep dips:

Guy: "Man! I really need to start taking steriods!"

Ha! I might or might not have agreed with that statement after the way my triceps felt!

Ain't It the Truth?

Mom sent this to me and I thought it was pretty funny. I have certainly found myself saying each of these things as I watch our gas go up to $3.39! Eeek!

Arg!

Ella Grace the pirate!

Garden Update #1

Drumroll, please! Here we are with the first garden update of the year! Woo hoo!

Everything is just getting started so there isn't anything terribly exciting to report but I will not be deterred!

Our two chili pepper plants are already producing!

E posing with the row of onions

Pea plants springing up

My strawberry plants getting primed for lots of fruit!

Row of peppers of the left and tomatoes on the right (and my footprints where I sank in deep from all that rain we got!)

I hope that this quells all of the cries for the garden update for now! hee hee!

Sneek peek

Last week David and I abused our priviledges and used the horse ultrasound again! Tee hee hee! We don't have a way of getting the photos off of the machine so I took a picture of the screen. The quality isn't that great initially because it's not the right kind of ultrasound thingy but add that with my picture of a picture and this is what you get! I labeled the pictures to give you some idea of what they are of. Good luck interpreting!

Both legs together, knees at right, feet at left

Profile shot with baby on its back, head at right, chest at bottom with a hand just above it

'How do I look?!'

I finally got my rear in gear and got Ella a much needed new pair of sandals. Now she can finally wear the cute skirt and shirt that my mom gave her at Christmas!

She was so excited to wear all her new stuff to preschool today and show everybody. So excited, in fact, that while I was trying to take her picture she kept 'hop, hop, hopping like a bunny'. The bunny eventually slowed down her hopping and decided that she looked so cute that a picture was definitely in order. (She kept asking me 'How do I look?!' once she got dressed!)

Hopping and being silly

Berry Sweet

Yesterday I was given the neatest Mother's Day gift! Eight little strawberry plants!

David remembered that when we were at the garden center getting everything we needed for the garden I really wanted some strawberry plants but we decided against them. So now I have 'June Bearing' strawberries that promise one large crop of berries in June. That is just a month or so away so some of them already have little fruits on them!

I can't wait to walk out to the garden, pick a strawberry and eat it fresh from the vine. Yum!

Flowers for you

Until I get out to the garden with my camera to show you the goings on out there, I will supplement with photos of our irises. They are blooming like mad and attracting all kinds of bees. They are a bit tricky to photograph at this point but I tried to work a little magic for you!

Happy Mother's Day!

This email makes the rounds every year near Mother's Day and I really like it. I always end up teary eyed while reading it but it's worth it. If you have seen it before, re-read it and nod your head at all of the parts that you definitely understand. If you haven't seen it, enjoy, and

Happy Mother's Day!!

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's alright honey, Mommy's here." Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse. For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes. And for the mothers who lost their baby in that precious 9 months that they will never get to watch grow on earth but one day will be reunited with in Heaven!

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors. And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home -- or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

This is for all the step-mothers who raised another woman's child or children, and gave their time, attention, and love... sometimes totally unappreciated!

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting. For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home? Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us. Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can. Tell them every day that we love them. And pray.

Yes, he owns shorts

Ahem.

Did I say that I would be better about posting and then not do it? Me?!

Last night was the first softball game for the Animals of Science (that still makes me laugh!). Ella and I went and cheered them on through not one, but two losses. I lived up to everyone's expectations and broke out the camera to prove that a) David does have legs and b) that he can, in fact, run. I know that both points were disputable at times but here is the proof!

Base hit.

That darn fence...

Q & A

Ashley from Kudzu Jungle has enticed me into being interviewed, blogger style. She posted her answers to interview questions and then made the offer that I couldn't refuse. She sent me 5 questions that I will post here with my answers. You, in turn, can ask me to interview you and then you post them to your blog. If you don't have a blog, I will be happy to post them here on mine!

The Rules

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions of my choice.

3. Then, you should update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You have to include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you get to ask them five questions.

Ashley's very customized, very thought inducing interview:

1) What do you miss (other than family and friends) the most about Georgia?

Southern accents (and mine, to a degree, sniff sniff), lots of foods,
drinks and food products (pork bbq, country ham, sweet tea, Duke's
mayo), and the Georgia Bulldogs

2) If you had $500 to spend today on whatever you wanted, what would you buy?

Practical me says a new couch, which we need desperately. Not so
practical me says lots of new shoes and clothes and definitely a pair of
Lucky jeans in a size that I aim to be once this whole pregnancy bit is
over!

3) If you could reenact one scene from Gone With the Wind, what would it be and why?

Oh boy, this is a great question for me! I would definitely reenact the
BBQ scene at the beginning. Scarlett was being her most excellent
bosom showing, charming, jealous, coquettish self and it looks like
fun! Although, the scene in the library where she chews out Rhett and
throws stuff at him would also be pretty fun!

4) What about Kansas was brand new to you or surprising?

I was surprised how much people looooved my accent, that there were
very few black people, the fair amount of racisim, the use of cardinal
direction for everything (ex: 'the classroom is in the northeast corner
of the building' or 'go south 3 blocks and then turn east'... I never got
anywhere for the first few months!) and the fact that women don't use
their maiden names as their middle name when they marry.

5) Tell us one thing that you think most of us don't know about you.

I haven't decided what I want to do when I grow up. Sounds funny,
but I don't have a clear idea as of yet!

Alright, kids, take your mouse on over to the comment link and tell me to interview you!

Spring Showers

The other night Ella took her first big girl shower. She did such a good job with the water getting in her face! She called me in to the bathroom so I could see her being a big girl and of course I felt that the moment was pictureworthy!