Getting Closer....

or so I am told. It does not feel like I will ever have this baby. I know I am just being a whiner and the few people reading this are probably sick of reading about it - but I am miserable. My hips, knees and ankles hurt. I have days that my left ankle feels like it is actually broken. Yesterday I had another appointment and my doctor said I was finally dilated to 1. I can almost guarantee he was making it up for the safety of others. Anyhow, last night I was having some contractions. They were bad enough that I could not get to sleep. It was 11:30pm and I needed to get up and move, but I was too afraid to go on a walk by myself at that hour. (I live in a good neighborhood but I am getting paranoid as I get older). So I did the only sensible thing there was to do - I went out back and raked the pine needles that have been bugging me. I grew up in the mountains of California - I hate pine needles. They can start a fire and they block the ground beneath them from receiving nutrients, which kills the grass. And yes this is what they teach you in the hills of California.

The last few days I have been literally sitting in bed. This is probably not helping the way my body feels but it is just a huge effort to do anything. Sitting around has done two things; 1) I have caught up on all the blogs I have been missing out on, 2) has not encouraged any type of academic performance. I am a little ashamed that I have not used this time to be a better student. I can't remember anything or think right now and I also have major senioritis. No not the type from getting older as mentioned above but the kind from knowing I have 2 classes and I am done! So one of my favorite ideas from many of the blogs I have been catching up on is to keep a notebook for blogging ideas. What a great idea! All day as I am out I think ooh I am going to blog about this later - but never remember. I love it! So maybe tomorrow I will spend my time cleaning out the receipts in my purse so I can fit another little notebook in there. That is another theme I have noticed amongst bloggers - ladies why are we carrying around so many notebooks? This does not sound good for our backs. Just a thought. I love notebooks - so just a thought.

I promise I will soon stop being so cranky!

Fancy Pants

I am playing along with COlorado Desert, whom received the Fancy Pants Award and passed it on. So if you would like to play along please do! Just paste the picture from my blog to yours and than list the reason's you like to blog.



Okay here it goes. I originally started blogging because my husband told me I should write articles, and with the encouragment of my sister and my mom I started my blog. Now I love to blog because there is so much to share! So many things I think about everyday and wonder who has been thinking the same thing. It almost answers the questions "Am I crazy?" "Am I the only one thinking about these things?". Okay so sometimes the answer to both questions is yes, but I am very pleased at how many times the answer is no. On top of that I love all of the new friends I have made!

Thanks Colorado Desert!

Breastfeeding and Adult Beverages

Okay so I am sure I have expressed my discomfort and impatience for my baby to come. I am frankly exhausted and running out of things I can actually do around the house. Sure I have boxes from the flood to unpack but I can't actually move them around. I may look like the epitome of fitness right now, but really I am not, haha! Anyhow all of my discomfort and impatient has lead me to really want an adult beverage once the baby comes. Strangely enough I was at Target the other day and found these breast milk test strips.



Just to clarify I tried breastfeeding with my 3 year old and I just did not produce enough for her. So my plan is already to bottle and breast feed. So for me the drinking option is a little safer because I can always use formula. However, I think these test strips are a great idea. Most woman have friends that can't wait to go out and have a few drinks after the baby comes and this is a great option to make sure the alcohol has cleared your system, especially because everyone metabolizes at a different rate so there is no for sure guideline for everyone. At Target the strips are $19.99 I found a place where they are cheaper but there are only 3 strips in the pack.

Cards

Okay I have been promising pictures and here they are. First I have to say I finally finished making my thank you cards. It feels like it took forever!

Okay here are the projects we made.

These are magnets that we made on travertine tiles.


This card has a vellum butterfly with white script wording stamped across the butterfly.


This card is a gift card holder.
Outside of card.


Inside: The middle part is a little sleeve for the gift card.


The center piece of this card with the flower is actually a magnetic book mark.



Hope you all enjoy the photo's the projects were really fun!

Pan-handlers - Part 2

The post on pan-handlers that I just posted was actually something I wrote on Monday. For whatever reason I couldn't bring myself to post it. It seemed so unfinished and than I let it sit for so long it would not save. Anyhow, I went back to the same store and in the same spot was another person with a sign. Again I am huge for helping people out of their situations but with the right tools not a hand out. Yet again today I cried after seeing this person. Granted I am almost 38 weeks pregnant and emotional because I am so uncomfortable and tired. So why such a strong emotional reaction. the girl today looked similar to my younger sister and her sign read that she was a single mom and had lost her job, anything would help. Again I had my groceries but no cash. Do I give her a box of cereal anda jug of milk. I just didn't know once again what to do. I also can't help but wonder about the similiarities in the two different peoples signs. Again I said a prayer for her, so did my husband and my 13 year old. Realistically where they are standing it is not that easy to stop at but all I could think about were here children. I am sorry this has now taken on a 2 post rant, it just was very overwhelming for me. Like this is a sign I need to be doing something else or the lord is speaking to me about my shopping habits. I am not sure what to think.

Tomorrow I will post some card photos, including the Thank You's I made for my sisters wedding and my Christmas cards from this year. Have a great evening! Wish me luck on my paper.

How To Handle Pan-handlers?

Sunday we had a great day at Stamp Camp. We made a lot of great projects (which I swear I will post) and we had lots of great food - lots. We had so much food that they ended sending me home with a bunch of food. After Camp I went by the store to grab a big sub and some soup for dinner. When I was leaving I saw a guy, who did not look very old, standing with a sign that said he had lost his home and his job. Now I have seen a lot of these people and I usually feel bad but part of me wonders what is going on, do they really need the help because they have exhausted resources. Now please do not judge me, I know as a Christian I should help everyone I can, but I worked downtown when I was younger and many of the people I saw in these situations wanted to just hang out with their friends and drink and do other things. I also am aware that people do these things because they are caught in a vicious cycle and in many cases it is difficult to break out of it and get a job. That being said I still have a hard time giving people money or anything else. This guy on the other hand really upset me. I thought of all of the food I had in my car and how much I am always shopping. I never carry cash so giving him money was not an option. So the entire way home I was thinking should I have given him something? What would I have given him? I said I was sent home with a lot of food, but I was sent home with large veggie trays, cup cakes and banana bread. So I was thinking he probably did not need the banana bread or the cup cakes because they had so much sugar and would not be satisfying long term also I am sure he had nothing to drink and you can't eat either of those things without something to drink. I thought the veggie tray was a weird option because it was huge and if you don't have basic things like a home and money do you really want to sit somewhere and eat an entire veggie tray? Should I have given him the sub sandwich that I planned to feed my family with? To make matters worse I was full from all the days snacking and nobody ate much of the sub. So here I am on Tuesday still thinking about this guy. I don't know what the right answer is but I did pray for him. I don't mean to sound like a mean heartless person but I am a big believer in teaching a man to fish not giving a man a fish.

There are so many things to write about everyday that it makes it hard to decide. Here are the top two things on my mind right now.

I signed up a few months ago to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and low and behold I have not begun my fund raising. As many of you know I am 37 weeks pregnant and so I obviously not started my training either. I have gone over and over in my mind why this is how I run my life, always putting things off. Yes I have the excuse of being very busy but when I am spending time writing and reading blogs and checking my facebook how busy am I really? I have a huge picture of how carefree and less stressful life would be if I would just do things when I originally set out to do them. As I get time away from the kids I just don't want to be productive. By Monday I will be all set up for my fundraising - that is my goal.

The second thing on my mind, again a topic of procratinating, is my assignment that was due Thursday. Have I written it - no. Do I plan to - yes. Have I done enough research - no. Uh!! I am convinced my problem with school right now is that I am super burnt out. I am so close but I just want it to be over. I am so sick of writing papers. The one I am putting off right now is on Immigrant Assimilation. Ugh so uninteresting. Actually I love history I think it might be the teacher, although I think he is teaching first hand accounts, he is a lawyer and he has the answer to everything. No matter how we respond "it is interesting but not correct". Than he proceeds to dictate what the author of our book is presenting to us. Which I am sure I must not have the right book because it is not my interpretation at all and sometimes I didn't even see what he is saying. I know I do have the right book, I think this guy has lost his mind.

Alright well I will stop using the blogging world to procrstinate. I use everyone for this so please do not feel bad.

Spelling and a Degree

As I have mentioned in past posts I am about to receive my degree. I have to say after 4.5 years of hard work I am nervous about this. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I started my degree program when I was a single mom shortly after my divorce. I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do in life. Now I am married with #3 on the way and frankly I am so involved in being a mom, I have no idea what I want to do on the career side of my life. Another disappointing aspect of all of my hard work is that I still can not spell. I can't spell "unfortunately". Along with many other words. So what did my degree actually buy me except a dependency of spell check. I will say I am much better about run on sentences. Thank goodness!

On another random note, can somebody please get my husband a memo on pregnant woman and desert? When I say (at 9 months pregnant) that I want some desert, it doesn't mean I would like to get up and get us desert. It actually means please get me something sweet. Now I do not usually play the whole beat around the bush girl thing. I am very direct. This instance is just me thinking I could use some pampering or at least a little sympathy and want you to know what I want without me begging. Okay that is that.

Today we had so much fun on a play date. A neighbor I just met has a little girl the same age as LD. They had such a great time together! They held hands walking around the mall - adorable! I look forward to future play dates with our neighbors.

Tonight I am sitting up again waiting to be able to sleep. I am in the final stretches of my pregnancy and I have to admit I am uncomfortable to say the least. It is interesting to me how nature works. You always hear how animals can sense things but children of all ages can too. I know that there are obvious signs that the baby is coming, like the shear size of me and the crib going back up but my girls are also putting out signs that they know change is coming. My 13 year old is back to her bad study habits and my 3 year old is well 3 on high voltage. I am trying to be delicate and understanding of their feelings but I am a very direct person and usually react better if told a direct problem. As parents we all know that is not how things work so I am trying to maneuver my way around their signals but frankly I am exhausted and don't think I am doing a very good job. Than there is school. I am in 1 of my last 2 classes and have an impossible teacher. he automatically does not give 100's on any assignment. I think this is a ridiculous policy and is really just setting us all up for failure. Not to mention the ambiguity of the assignments. Please give me a clear outline of what you are looking for so I am able to reach your expectations.

Honestly today and this weekend were good I am just feeling a little overwhelmed. We had a nice weekend. Friday night was stamp club. We made an adorable little purse and two great cards. I will post pictures tomorrow. My husband got the crib put up and the bedding on. With the new color of the walls it is absolutely gorgeous, I love it. I just need to find a few accent pieces for the walls. AM is an amazing artist so I may just get canvas' and paints and ask her to do something. We had a very casual Easter Sunday, not hectic and busy as holidays tend to be in my family. Next Saturday we have stamp camp from 10am - 3pm, I am a helper for a few of the projects. With 35 registered guests I am hoping my body can handle it. I will post those projects this Sunday.

Well I am going to attempt to sleep, good night everyone.

Easter Mania

Just a quick note from my shopping trip. If ever you wonder if you are a good person, do not test the theory on a shopping trip days before a holiday. I sometimes wonder whether or not I am being a good person. On a shopping day like today it takes a lot out of me because I try not to engage in the craziness. It always amazes me how oblivious people can be to others. My biggest pet peeve is people who double up their carts in an isle so they can walk over to there spouse and discuss the buying options. I understand comparison shopping but don't assume you are the only person in the store. And when I say excuse me don't make rude comments after I am walking away because you had to move your cart so somebody else could get by. Okay so I generally try to be very patient and I was able to fake it again today....but one day I am certain I am going to just scream. THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE THAT EXIST, PLEASE BE MORE AWARE.

Blog Success

I have not predetermined the success of my blog. Meaning how many followers I wouldl like to achieve, I am just really enjoying the experience. But in all honesty I want some followers and I would love to write about what is most on peoples minds. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Getting Closer

Today I primed and painted the babies room. The colors came out perfectly. I did a light yellow on three walls and a "berry" color on the other wall. I wanted to do block letters on the wall over the beds but I think I have decided to paint a canvas with their names. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get everything put together. I need to get the carpet cleaned. So I may go buy a carpet cleaner tomorrow. I have no idea which type I will buy but as long as it gets the floor looking better.

I also had a disappointing day with my 13 year old AM. We have struggled with grades in the past. She just does not get things turned in. She is in a homework class at school which has helped tremendously in the past. Well I just checked her grades and she basically has not turned in any homework. I am so aggravated and disappointed. Usually this class helps us not go through this. I also hate how angry it makes me and how much I yell. I love my daughter but 13 is a tough age.

Another tough topic for the week is finding my bridesmaid dress for my BFFs wedding. So many choices. I want to get it ordered so I know I have time to change my mind if I need too. There are several JCrew dresses that would be awesome, but I can find others that are similar for cheaper. Well I will let you know what I decide. have a great night!

Paint Swatch Love

I have had set in my mind for months what colors I want to do in the babies room, Magenta and light yellow. Today I went to Lowes to get new paint swatches. I could stand there and stare at the colors ALL DAY LONG!! While I was picking out different shades of pink and yellow I found another color that was beautiful, but it was a lavendar shade, which is not the color I need. The babies bedding is a magenta damask and LD's bedding is a light pink damask. Anyways, I never realized how happy picking paint colors makes me! A small and free outting! Love it!

Today was my baby shower. What a day! I am exhausted. It always amazes me at how many great friends I have! My family is also amazing! My sister threw a great party, with mimosas and tea and some snacks. I have heard a lot lately that nobody likes shower games, so my sister decided not to do games. It was a great party and everyone had a great time with socializing and mimosas! Yay!

I number of ladies from my stamp club came today. I was in the hospital the day before stamp club last month so I did not make it to club. They made an adorable lamb card at cub(see below)and they decided to each give me the one they made as my shower card. They are so funny, a lady that is best friends with my grandma who I have known forever could hardly contain herself, she was so pleased with the plan. The card is adorable! Here it is.



I received so many nice gifts. One great personal was my dear friend AW she and her daughter made me a baby book that is a scrap book it is awesome. It has so many great pages in it. I am totally inspired to start a scrapbook for each of my other daughters. Here is a picture of one page.



Now onto the major task of getting the bedroom done, making my thank you cards, announcements, and graduation announcements made. No big deal, the biggest obstacle is getting the room primed. I like to do things my self but being around the primer is not a good thing right now. I want to get it done! I have begun to nest and not just getting things done myself is driving me crazy. There are several other projects I have to work on but this is the big one. One day at a time right?

Well I am heading to bed after a whirlwind of a day, filled with so many wonderful elements.

What a productive day! It feels so good to have accomplished things and throw stuff out! Before I talk about that I must say that after several months of waiting for a refund for my Vera Bradley Christmas purse it finally came. I was finally able to go and replace the purse. I did so with two new ones. I got the new color Bali Gold, I LOVE IT!! Here are the pictures.

Bali Gold, Bucket Tote




Daisy Daisy, Maggie



I am so excited! Today the husband and I went shopping and I loved having my new purse. We finally bought some curtains and new pillows. When we got home we got pretty lazy and took a nap. But this evening we rocked it! We got so much done around the house. I even cleaned out some kitchen cabinets and oiled the outsides. The house looks great. Tomorrow is my baby shower and I am all set!

I have never been a morning person but I have to say my 3 year old LD coming in and saying mommy wake up its morning, is awesome. It is like everyday is Christmas morning for her. My oldest daughter AM was a big help cleaning today and watching LD so the husband and I could run our errands. Nice! I don't ask her often but she is 13 so she is a perfect babysitting age.

All and all it was a great day and a lot was accomplished! Now it is time for bed.

Pregnancy - Ding...I am done!

As I sit in bed with ice packs on my feet I realize the time has come - well this baby needs to come. I still have 4 weeks but my body and mind are physically done. Unfortunately everything else is not done. I still need to paint the room and set the crib back up. Clean out our guest room, because after the flood it became a storage unit and my in-laws will be staying in there once the baby is born. I have recently stopped working all but one day a week. Of course I had dreams of grandeur, getting things organized and perfect. In reality what I am able to do is huff and puff my way around the house picking up after everyone, do the dishes, and some laundry. I am huge and my body feels like I have an extra hundred pounds and an extra hundred years on it. Wait when does the pregnancy glamour start?

Another realization I had tonight is I have some serious issues with holding on to things. I keep and buy lots. I have dreams of a simplified house with just necessities and a few fun things. What I have is a ton of used to be fun things and fun things. Nothing seems fun though because I can't figure out where to put it, so it just becomes a chore. I am a stamper so I have boxes and boxes of stamp supplies that I am trying to put back in my stamp closet. I got five boxes put away tonight. In doing so I realized I need to purge because the cabinet is out of room and I still have a good five boxes to put away. This year I came to the conclusion I don't actually have a stamping hobby, I have a shopping habit. So everything I have is barely used. I also have every card I have made at a party, club or camp since 1996. I am sure if you are doing the math right now you can figure how many that might be. The other two items that I collect a lot of are purses and and candles. I get invited to so many candle parties and I say I won't buy - but I'm gonna buy. What is the best strategy to conquering this problem? I think if I were able to purge I would feel a lot less frantic. Have a spot to put everything, nothing looks too cluttered, I could actually use my counter for cooking and my table for eating. I do cook and we do eat at the table every night but again it is a huge chore!

Well I am off to bed - nope I just remembered an unfinished project. Goodnight!

The Plumbers and the Potty Trainer

In December we came home from Christmas vacation to a flood. What a headache. The one bonus was that we got all new carpeting in the lower two floors. Yay! However dealing with all of the contractors involved was such a hassle, it seemed like nobody wanted to work. I kept thinking "this is some recession that nobody needs to work". With all of the contractor craziness I put off getting a plumber. Well I called one plumber recently and before seeing anything he tells me "you have real problems". Instantly I thought I was going to get ripped off. He said a few other shady things to include trying to get me to pay a 50% deposit to schedule the work. So yesterday another plumber came. We had a 10:am appointment, he showed up at 9:15 am. I was not home I was taking my youngest LD to daycare. So 20 minutes after 10:am I called the company to make sure someone was still coming. They let me know that the plumber had already been by the house but she would call him and he would be on his way back. Because of my negative experience with all the other contractors I was instantly annoyed. If we have a 10:am appointment please don't think I will sitting around waiting for you until 10, I have stuff to do, that said don't show up 40 minutes after my appointment. The appointment went well, except I was worried they were going to ruin my new carpet the whole time. The guys that showed up were really nice and the price was less than half of what the other guy wanted to charge, and we got our furnace serviced. I was really happy and relieved after they left.

Later on that night LD wet her pants in the basement on the new carpet. AHHH This is our first "spill" on our new carpet, and I had a feeling this is what it would be. I went into the bathroom the plumbers had "Augured" in - it was a disaster! They had pulled out all of my towels from under the sink and set them on the toilet some had fallen to the floor. The floor had little pieces of black stuff - gross. And under the sink was a dirty wet towel that they had left. I was super excited to get to clean this mess up.

This new discovery made me pretty mad and I kept thinking that had she been able to get to the toilet the accident would not happen. Reality is that LD has just gotten lazy. If she is interested in what she is doing she won't take the time to get up from what she was doing. I am so sick of washing clothes and with a new baby on the way I know things are just going to get worse. Oh well in the scope of problems this really is pretty small.

Here I am - First Post

My name is Adie. I live in Colorado Springs with my husband and two girls and another girl on the way. I am new to blogging and have decided at the suggestion of some family and friends that blogging would be a great forum to vent....well I guess rant. I love my family, but like most parents I often wonder if I am doing it right and other days I wonder "what the hell"? I care about many issues but I do not like to have political debates. My biggest concern outside of my family is how people treat one another in everyday situations. And my internal conflict is with the balance in my life. Making enough time for each child as an individual, not yelling so much, loving my husband, taking care of the house, and than using the time I have to make sure I am happy as well. It is a busy life, no busier than anyone else. I am just trying to make it out alive, with self sufficient kids and some lifetime happiness.