Miss Sophie got to wear the onsie that was passed from Christopher to Matthew to her. This was the very first baby gift I received and [start geekyness] it was given to me by the Sysop of the BBS I had been a member of for 3? 4? maybe even 5? years of my life at that time. [/end geekyness]

Sophie was called a boy at Best Buy today… I told myself after 3 boys, if I ever had a daughter she would never leave doubt in anyone’s mind as to her gender. Oops!

This morning, Sabin was a furry door mat, this is how I found him when I opened my bedroom door:

When I got up, my house was 78 degrees! Why? Because Matthew decided to turn the thermostat up and then move the button over to heat! HOLY HECK it was hot! I think he was trying to prepare my friend Julia for 100 degree heat for her trip back home to Vegas. We were very sad to see her go.

Between 3 days of appointments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday thanks to the school Chris is on the waiting list for, weekly midwife visits, and then my mom flying in on Saturday I have been plenty busy. I almost feel like nature is trying to keep me going to keep my mind off being overdue.

Well, I guess they were all slacking because I apparently was not busy enough. Austin and Christopher were bored today, so I told them to go outside and play. Austin took his bike, Chris took his scooter. About 20 minutes later, Christopher comes in crying and holding his left arm. He fell off his scooter and caught himself with his wrist. I sent him to run cold water on it and took a shower, thinking he was just sore. Bobby comes in (more on why he was home in a little bit) and tells me it is pretty swollen so he thinks he should be seen. Ok, so I tell him to call urgent care and make an appointment and my mom and I will take him in.

So we get him to urgent care and he in bouncing off the walls, acting totally fine, putting pressure on his arms, making it look like a wasted trip. We actually tell him to settle down because we are worried they will send us home with ice and Motrin and not x-ray his arm. The PA comes in, she is super sweet, takes his history, notes the small amount of swelling and then sends us downstairs to radiology. Chris seems smitten by the cute x-ray tech, she is a pretty little thing though. A short while later, my mom hears someone say “buckle break, room 5″ in the hallway and my mom asks “are we room 5?” Crap. Sure enough, it was us. Christopher broke his arm. The PA tells us the buckle fracture is one of the most common childhood fractures and that he will need to see an orthopedic doctor, however he may or may not need a cast. He has a splint and a sling right now and it seems to be doing fine. Here is a picture of what a buckle break looks like (this is not Christopher’s x-ray, just one I found on the web).

I am keeping plenty busy, between urgent care today, and ortho tomorrow afternoon. I also see my midwife tomorrow for my 40w4d visit, and HOPEFULLY our last prenatal. Last night I was thinking I was going to be seeing her sooner as I had around 9 hours of strong contractions every 8 minutes lasting 3 minutes in length. Around 4am my body surrendered to exhaustion and that was the end of those. Since then I have been having irregular contractions. Sometimes minutes apart, sometimes hours, mostly in my back. I put the doula and midwife on alert, so I am sure I will get a long restful night of sleep tonight. *sigh* I did get a good nap in this evening hoping to keep well rested in case it started again at dinner time, but nothing significant. My mom leaves in 5 days, please cross your fingers we can get something going before she leaves!

My children have entitlement issues. They made a list of summer activities and on the list was visiting expensive arcades and Six Flags this summer. Ha! I told them summer is for riding bikes and playing outside.

Christopher has had three days worth of enrollment and testing for the charter school he is on the waiting list for. I was hoping that would prompt Sophie to make an appearance since babies are so anti-schedule, but she decided to be a good little sister and let him finish, darn it!

I just got home from a 90 minute prenatal massage. O.M.G. Was heavenly!! For good measure I made sure to hit every bump and pothole on the way home. I am contracting a bit, but what else is new. LOL I finally feel at peace with the world though, I hope this does not wear off anytime soon, I am loving this pregnancy zen.

My husband came home this morning to take care of some stuff he needed to do for work. He ended up making me a nice brunch of eggs and sausage. YUM!

My cats have lost their minds, I think they have all decided to put their differences aside so they can keep me under 24/7 surveillance. I cannot leave a room without at least 2 of the 3 furry beasties following me.

YAY! The kids are out for the summer, no more worries about getting them to and from school or not being able to give Matthew a nap at 1:30 because I have to leave in 90 minutes to get Austin.

Both boys made honor roll, way to go guys!!

Speaking of school…. BOBBY will have his associates degree next week!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU HONEY!!

Tomorrow I will be 38 weeks pregnant. Wow. I have 15 more days until my due date, which means I *should* have my baby in my arms within the next 29 days. Hopefully sooner than later, come on out little lady, mama wants to meet you! I am so crampy.

Sabin is still missing, we are now on day 5. I have filed a report with the humane society (and looked at all the kitties to see if he was there), contacted the company he is microchipped through. Talked to neighbors, call for him daily, Bobby walks the block with a flashlight each night after sunset. I set out some smelly food, but a neighbor kitty ate it all up. Now we just wait, and hope, that he finds his way home soon.

I had my home visit with my midwife on Tuesday, all is well and she seemed to get along well with Bobby. She told me that they way I was coughing, she could tell I did not read the manual that states I am not allowed to get sick at the end of pregnancy. LOL I am feeling a little better today, so hopefully I am not coughing when I am pushing.

The older boys only have a week left of school before summer vacation, I am really looking forward to having them home to help. Usually I dread it because they get *so bored*, but they are older and more mature and are SO helpful around the house.

My mom is coming to visit in 2 1/2 weeks, I am so excited to see her, it has been 3 years since her last visit at my house. Normally we all drive up to visit her since all my family is up north and I can visit everyone.

Bobby’s boss is coming next week to visit him from Texas. I told him I will try to wait until after his boss leaves and after the kids are out of school to have this little one, which is May 23rd, but realistically, this will probably be a June baby. I am just hoping she decides to come sooner than later so Grandma can meet her.

After picking up Austin from school, I took the boys to the post office so they can mail off their hair to Locks of Love and while we are there we got several cute comments from strangers.

Lady #1

Matthew was whining because he was tired and not knowing he wanted a nap. She commented “Isn’t it funny how when we are little we cry because we don’t want a nap, but then when we grow up be cry because all we want is a nap??”

Lady #2

We will call her “The Mystic” (TM)

TM: (Looking at Austin and Chris) Are they twins?
Chris: Nope, we are 16 months apart.
TM: You must hear that a lot, are you older?
Chris: Nope, he is older, and he’s adopted.
Me: Christopher, you are oversharing! (Feeling mortified for poor Austin)
TM: Amazing how much alike they look!
Me: They are biologically half brothers, but legally full brothers, they look like their daddy. (Still reeling from Christopher’s oversharing, poor Austin looks like he is stuck between bored to tears and annoyed at the conversation).
TM: And when is the little girl due?
Me: (Realizing I never mentioned I am having a girl) Next month
TM: That is wonderful! Little girls….. (I start tuning it out, I have heard it all before)
Me: Yup, we are excited, we were not trying for a specific gender because we knew we would love either one equally.
TM: What hospital are you delivering at?
Me: Oh, I am having her at home (waiting for the look of mortification I hear everyone gets in my family when they tell people I am having a home birth)
TM: Oh! That is wonderful! I had my son at home, we lived in Japan where my husband was stationed at it was the most wonderful experience!
Me: That is great, I read that 70% of women in Japan have their babies at home and they have better outcomes than here in the US.
TM: So you found a good midwife?
Me: Yes, she’s very experienced.
TM: That is wonderful, I wish all women would have their babies at home.
Lady #1 (L1): I had three of mine at home, I agree, all women should have their babies at home. In fact my friend has 6 kids and she had all hers at home too, but the last three she delivered without an attendant!
TM: Hospitals are for the sick and high risk. I hope you have a wonderful delivery.
L1: I agree, blessed birth to you!

As I leave about 3 other ladies and a man in line are all smiling some tell me congratulations, some tell me I have a beautiful family, some tell me good luck.

It’s amazing how one little old lady who just assumed I was having a little girl was able to start a conversation that transfixed an entire line for the post office.

Austin and Christopher decided back in 2005 that they would like to start growing out their hair, like their dad had his when he was a teen. The glamor of long hair wore out last year when they started getting teased at school, but Austin said he would like to let it grow out long enough to be donated to the charity “Locks of Love”

Here is a before picture of my little boys:

Christopher with his hair all up in pig-tails before the big snip:

Austin, minus the long pigtails, but before the real hair cut:

The three boys after their hair cuts:

Monday after school we will hit the post office to mail their hair, the boys are loving their short new cuts and look forward to seeing the reaction they receive on Monday at school. I am so proud of my sons, they have put so much into this and taken a lot of crap because of it, but they feel it is worth it and have no regrets.

PS. To see the full photostream, make sure to visit the entire set on Flickr.

First Christopher came down with a mysterious cough, we tease him that he needs to quit smoking before it kills him.

Then Bobby gets this coughing/feel like walking death/puking thing that he is still recovering from.

Now Matthew has been coughing/sneezing/running a fever since last night. When I took his temp he told me he had a tiger in his ear (always the right ear) so off to the ped we go this morning. Good news is, he is tiger free, even better news is that he also does not have an ear infection, he has a cold. Bad news is, last night after he puckered up to kiss me last night, he coughed directly into my mouth, so I may be getting it soon.

Completely off topic… please pray for my Great Dane. Poor 100 lb dog is being rubbed on by a 10 lb cat and looking as if she has just been violated in the worst possible way. I hope she does not need therapy after this because she is acting very traumatized. There is a line from a movie I was trying to quote, but I just cannot seem to find it, however this scene from Ghost Busters works too.

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes…
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

Poor Isis, she is involved in a disaster of biblical proportions…. she was touched by a cat. Poor dog.

Last night I was talking to a friend in IMs about my lack of energy to clean my house, and took some pictures of my horrible messy house to share with her, since she was saying she has not been cleaning due to a newborn, toddler, and preschooler… sheesh, what excuse is THAT! (Joking of course, she has more reason than I do).

So last night I got inspired to put a shelf in Matthew’s closet, but the shelf I had was about 6 inches too tall, so I found the perfect one at Home Depot’s website and decided tomorrow we would go get it… thinking I could get his closet looking better and then sit my ass on the couch and relax the rest of the day feeling accomplished enough with cleaning an ENTIRE closet.

So here is the before, you may not be able to tell but I *did* have a four compartment cart in there that I put his blankets in and on. Of course you probably CANNOT tell because he tore it down and all that is left is the frame and of course the blankets.

Here is the after, I actually was able to put everything in the before shot on one shelf! I used the others to empty two drawers of Sophie’s dresser, boxes from the other side of the closet, and a ton of stuff from my room!

Ok, so since we are on the subject of the corner o’ baby stuff in my room I will show you the before and afters of it:

This is all the crap I had in there before. Swing, bed, clothes, fabric, diaper bag, baby book, etc.

And this is all that is left, but only because they are two boxes of cloth diapers (clean of course) that I need to wash before I can put them away, and then also my Hypnobabies home learning package box that I need to find another home for, and some bags of baby magazines I need to go through and my sarong I need to wash for birthing day.

Here is the after of where those big boxes ended up, this side used to be crammed full with more clothes, blankets, and the crib (which now nicely fits in the closet behind the new shelf and a couple rails in this side).

Ok, so I could not start on the closet and leave his room looking like the disaster it was, so I started picking up and organizing his toys, here is what I did with his “cubby” shelf:

The before of course, yikes!

And the after, much better!

Moving onto his shelf:

Need I even tell you this is the before?

And the after.

His bed, before.

And after.

This is the changing table & Sophia’s dresser, before.

And the changing table afterwards.

And some misc after pics, because a clean room is so much more fun to take pics of:

His dresser & his diaper stash.

And his shoes on the back of his door.

Another project I have been putting off is my freaking NASTY toilet seat. I took a belly pic with my toilet seat up and could not use them because the underside of my seat had been scrubbed so much the paint was coming off, so it was stained REALLY bad from anytime anyone was sick (think splatter, EWWWWWW!) Here is a tiny before, since it is so so bad.

Gross, gross, gross, GROSS! Can you believe a new seat was only $10? Had I known this, I would have replaced it when we moved in! I seriously think the old owners cleaned the seats with turpentine, the other bathroom needs a new seat as well (of course I notice this AFTER we get home with the first seat).

Another before. And no, we did not paint, it was the only room in the house that was not white when we moved in.

And here is the toilet after, amazing how much $10 can make over a bathroom!

Much like the new shelf in Matthew’s room inspired me to clean the room, the toilet seat accomplished the same thing.

This is the right side of my bathroom vanity before.

And after.

Center part of my vanity before.

…after.

Sink before.

The sink after, not TOO much of a change there.

I also vacuumed my entire upstairs, even my bathroom because the jackass designer of this house thinks bathrooms should be carpeted, gag. I also cleaned the upper shelves in my walk in closet where I keep the curtains for my family room I need to put back up, and also the shelf where I am keeping all my pre-pregnancy jeans. All in all, this ‘makeover’ cost a total of $70, $50 for the shelf, $10 for the toilet seat and the final $10 was for zip-ties and tax. The zip ties are for redneck baby-proofing, to make sure she crib and shelf is secured to the wall. I also had a ton of help from Austin and Christopher (and a little from Bobby, who claimed he wanted no part of my “wicked shenanigans”) and between 4-6 hours of time. We got one box together of items to donate to Goodwill when I hit the drive through on Thursday after my prenatal appointment, and one large garbage bag of garbage. I also got about three arm fulls of toys to add to his cubby from his toy box in the family room, which was getting too full to clothes. So two rooms down, nine rooms to go!!

Austin and Christopher got grades this week, not only were we impressed with the actual grades, but more impressive was the improvement between 1st semester and 2nd semester.

Austin made the Dean’s List!! YAY AUSTIN!!!

He had 6 A’s and 3 B’s, up from 3 A’s, 2 B’s and 2 C’s.

Not sure if Christopher made honor roll yet, but he had 7 A’s, 1 B and 1 C, up from 5 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s and a D.

Looks like we get to take BOTH kids out for a celebration this time, I am so proud of them! I am not sure I can pass the pride they are feeling for themselves though, good job boys!!