While surfing around the net I find myself thinking...
I'm OLD and my family is HUGE! I know, big news huh? Thing is I just don't normally feel like that. Yes, sometimes when everyone wants me at once it hits me but normally...nope, I'm just a mom to some kids. Maybe it's the places I visit online. Maybe it's cause it's the truth. Skimming through one of my old large family haunts found me rolling my eyes about how LARGE their families were...most were having #3, 4 or 5! I did see a few 8 kidders and of course the resident MEGA family who's already thinking about the next baby (you know who you are you nut! I love you!!!) Venturing on the expecting boards is even WORSE! The ladies above would be thought to have HUGE families. LOL
How does it make me feel old? Well, noticing the ages of everyone's kids and how many years married everyone was. I've been married almost as long as some of those moms have been alive!!! Let alone see anyone dealing with 20+yo kids.
Something I saw rubbed me the wrong way though. Women were describing themselves as a pregaholics. Pregaholic? Someone's who's addicted to pregnancy or compulsively needs to be pregnant? I guess it rubbed me the wrong way because we're (large family parents) already seen as thoughtless breeders. To give that excuse as the reason for your large family? Since when was enjoying 9mos of pregnancy compulsion enough to endure a lifeftime of blood sweat and tears? Over and over and over again.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE being pregnant, even with its complications. With Danielle's pg I was the healthiest I've been in decades. I love having a little secret all to myself. To be able to sit there and enjoy the baby's flutters and kicks. (but not yet this time...I'm so ready for it) To know that this baby is ALL mine for the time being and I don't have to share. Seeing some of my online friends near the end of their pregnancy it hit me. I rarely WANT my pregnancies to end. Yes, there have been a few where I couldn't walk (sciatica) or was micromanaged so bad that I just wanted to be done. But for the most part...I'll stay pregnant (these words will probably come back to haunt me). I know I'll probably feel better after the birth but in truth it's a lot easier to take care of the baby while I can carry it inside then in my arms. I'll admit it's not as fun though. :o)
K, musings done...onto life
Pregnancywise I'm doing ok. My blood pressure has been GREAT (120s/70 or 80s). BUT it always has to be something. Now my sugar has decided it wants some attention. My fasting numbers have been creeping up so I upped my insulin another 4units (had permission to do it on my own) 2 days ago. Today I woke up to see it hit 122. :o( I haven't seen that in a while. I think it's time to go to a 2x dose instead of upping my one dose a day. At least a small dose at night to cover my morning numbers. Tomorrow is my appt. For the first time I'm actually having an amnio done. I don't know why this time I decided differently. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's that things haven't been as smooth as I'd like. I'm not really worried about it but do find the procedure creeping into my thoughts more and more as it gets closer. I know tomorrow I'll probably be a nervous wreck.
Familywise everyone is doing well. A few are finishing up on a gross cold but that's par for the course. Island week has ended and the kids are back to school. Sunday night it started snowing a decent amount. Everyone was wondering if the joked about snowday on Monday would be a reality. It didn't last long enough and everything was running on time.
We've jumped from Island week to the start of Birthday week. Friday is Luke's 14th birthday then Olivia turns 7 on Tuesday and Val turns 17 on the following Friday. It looks like we'll have a houseful of boys on Friday. Drew (and maybe Pat) will be helping Luke have an X-box party. I'd thought about taking them bowling or to laser tag but they're both pretty expensive. This way I can spend the money on some yummy food (there again with the food) and let the boys mellow out infront of their games all night. It's how they'd prefer to spend the time anyways. I haven't even started thinking about Olivia's or Val's birthday. Most of the time I don't have to think about Val's...she comes up with the plans.
Danielle has turned into a motormouth. Only problem is...her vocabulary hasn't caught up with her desire to communicate. It's mostly gibberish to us right now (I'm sure she KNOWS what she's saying lol) It's adorable and luckily it isn't frustrating to her to not be understood. Her siblings are doing their part...teaching her irritating and snotty things. Yesterday while walking through the frozen section of Walmart I noticed a man chuckling at Danielle. I look down and see her with her tongue sticking out, nose in the air, head wagging back and forth and her saying...nyaaaah nyah nyaaah in perfect queen brat fashion. *heavy sigh* I can't wait until they have kids of their own and I can repay the favor.
Had a funny moment while shopping at BJs yesterday. Drew was with me and had taken Danielle out of our original cart (groceries were in a new cart). While taking her away from the register he laid her on the register's rollers and pushed her a tiny bit. She was laughing and I was scolding...she could get something pinched ya know! The clerks were giggling and said...she liked that DAD! Drew stiffened up and got a funny look on his face. I corrected them that he was her brother. Their jaws dropped to the ground and they went on and on about how he was the BIG brother and the difference in their age. I didn't bother shocking them even more and saying there were 9 more kids in between them. lol As we walked away I shot over my shoulder to Drew...Come on Honey, we've got to get home before the kids from school get there. For some reason he didn't think I was very funny.
My brain has been driving me crazy. I keep looking around and seeing everything I want to start. Not to mention all the projects that need finishing first. At least the house isn't as bad as it's been. I'm hoping this week to put a big dent into my todo list. I really want to get into my room, clean and paint it so Tom and I can have a place to relax away from the kids (well as much as Danielle will allow it lol). Still have to figure out what to do with Danielle when the baby gets here too. She's in our bed as of now and I don't really have anywhere else to put her. Maybe a few older kids will move out by then, freeing up a room (there's been talk). I'm not counting on it though.
Time to put my body to work and let it try to catch up with my brain. All this thinking of doing things is making me exhausted before I even start!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Trying to get this out without destroying my keyboard or killing blogger. I've been having a hard time getting my posts to format right for some reason. I'm blaming the "new" blogger since I hardly ever had problems with blogger before. I'm looking to see if I want to move my blog but I'm not sure where to go. Not to mention I don't have tons of time to redo everything. :o(
We've been getting hit with tons of snow in the last 2 wks. The schools schedule 5 extra days to be used for snow days. I can't remember if we've used 5 or 6 of them. If we're up to 6 that means we'll either have a staff development day taken away later in the year. Or the kids will have to go an extra day at the end of the year.
Liz took pictures after the Nor'eastern came through on Wed. I took the second pic of the same tree and picnic table on Fri morning after the lake effect had hit us with another 18+ inches.
The kids were a bit bummed to see snow days this week since they canceled their V-day parties Wed. I didn't mind, especially since the last 3 snowdays comes on the heel of mid-winter break. Helloooo extended vacation! With Mid-winter break comes out annual Island week celebration. We've been getting the house ready slowly but surely. It's looking the best it's looked in quite a while. :o) Friday the kids started decorating. Michelle made an really cool banner for the wall. It's about 18ft long with HAPPY ISLAND WEEK written in block letters across it. Each letter is decorated differently (rainbow, flowers, I looks like a dock, S looks like a water slide) In between each letter she's drawn one of us doing something (Tom in a boat, me waving to him, Drew and Pat playing frisbee with on either side of a palm tree "P", Jake fishing from a hammock strung across the top of the "W"...etc) I tried to take a pic of it and they didn't come out well. Maybe once it's down and I can control the lighting a bit more it'll be ok.
We've had lots of good food as always. I sometimes wonder if we have an unhealthy relationship with food. If I'm creating problems in my kids after they become adults...especially with Type 2 diabetes risks so great in their lives. Thing is, having a large family....you don't go very many places as a group. You can't always be doling out money to do things as a group. Even a simple thing like a daytrip to the zoo can cost a pretty penny. But it's ok to spend a little extra money on food to enjoy as a group. You have to eat, why not make it fun too! I guess I just have to trust that I taught them good everyday choices skills.
So far we've had....
Sat...Roasted Sticky Chicken
Sun...Peach BBQ Porkloin Roast (ended up being bottled bbq sauce with peaches thrown in lol)
Mon...Chicken nuggets (things got away from me that day lol)
Tues...Easy Island Chicken
Wed...Fried Flounder and clam strips
Planned for the rest of the week....
Thurs... Sweet and Sour Meatballs(Yoshida's Hawaiian Sweet and Sour sauce over a crockpot full of frozen meatballs)
Fri.... Pork Chops (think I'm going with teryaki but not sure)
Sat....Hawaiian Pizza and wings
Sun...Chicken Skewers (seasoning unknown as of yet)
Things might get bogged up a bit on Thursday since we're heading out the door bright and early with no idea of when we'll return. We may end up getting dinner on the road. If that's the case then we'll move the meatballs to Fri and forget the chops. Where are we going you ask? We're going to use our family membership to the MOST (museum of science and technology) that my mom got us for Christmas. Everyone is excited! Especially Tom. He's never been there. I was there when it was just the discovery center (almost 20yrs ago! ....no comparision to what it is now). The kids have all gone on school field trips there over the years. I hope everyone else on break doesn't have the same idea.
Pregnancy wise things have been up and down. The beginning of the month saw my blood pressure go through the roof. I called and asked to be seen a day early when I woke up with a reading of 200/110. It went down before I got there but it wasn't at a great level. I was feeling like garbage and dr decided I had a stomach bug. I probably did but wasn't the one to throw up, that was reserved for 3 of the kids that night. lol I took it easy until my next appt and things seem to have calmed down a bit. It's still a tiny bit elevated but we can live with where they are right now.
I'm feeling a bit out of sorts already. For some reason my legs and feet have decided they need to stay on the brink of a full blown cramp. So one wrong move makes them cramp up. When that's not happening they feel achey and tight. I'm trying to make sure I'm drinking MORE water (then my 64oz a day), taking my cal/mag/zinc supplement, and my potassium prescription. It doesn't seem to be helping. I really need to be more active!!! Once the kids get back into school I'm hoping to break out my WATP dvd I haven't used yet. *blush*
I postedmy first belly pic on the LOK pg/ttc board (link to the board in my sidebar). The story is that I threw on my bathingsuit in honor of Island week. Since this is as naked as I'll get in public...it was a good thing to take a belly pic in. My excuse for the harried look is...I was in the middle of doing the dishes and hadn't brushed my hair that day (only threw it up in a semi bun). Maybe next time we'll do a glamour shot. lol
16w2d with #12
Well, I've wrestled with this stupid text box long enough. Off to get some breakfast! Have a great day...HAPPY ISLAND WEEK!
We've been getting hit with tons of snow in the last 2 wks. The schools schedule 5 extra days to be used for snow days. I can't remember if we've used 5 or 6 of them. If we're up to 6 that means we'll either have a staff development day taken away later in the year. Or the kids will have to go an extra day at the end of the year.
Liz took pictures after the Nor'eastern came through on Wed. I took the second pic of the same tree and picnic table on Fri morning after the lake effect had hit us with another 18+ inches.
The kids were a bit bummed to see snow days this week since they canceled their V-day parties Wed. I didn't mind, especially since the last 3 snowdays comes on the heel of mid-winter break. Helloooo extended vacation! With Mid-winter break comes out annual Island week celebration. We've been getting the house ready slowly but surely. It's looking the best it's looked in quite a while. :o) Friday the kids started decorating. Michelle made an really cool banner for the wall. It's about 18ft long with HAPPY ISLAND WEEK written in block letters across it. Each letter is decorated differently (rainbow, flowers, I looks like a dock, S looks like a water slide) In between each letter she's drawn one of us doing something (Tom in a boat, me waving to him, Drew and Pat playing frisbee with on either side of a palm tree "P", Jake fishing from a hammock strung across the top of the "W"...etc) I tried to take a pic of it and they didn't come out well. Maybe once it's down and I can control the lighting a bit more it'll be ok.
We've had lots of good food as always. I sometimes wonder if we have an unhealthy relationship with food. If I'm creating problems in my kids after they become adults...especially with Type 2 diabetes risks so great in their lives. Thing is, having a large family....you don't go very many places as a group. You can't always be doling out money to do things as a group. Even a simple thing like a daytrip to the zoo can cost a pretty penny. But it's ok to spend a little extra money on food to enjoy as a group. You have to eat, why not make it fun too! I guess I just have to trust that I taught them good everyday choices skills.
So far we've had....
Sat...Roasted Sticky Chicken
Sun...Peach BBQ Porkloin Roast (ended up being bottled bbq sauce with peaches thrown in lol)
Mon...Chicken nuggets (things got away from me that day lol)
Tues...Easy Island Chicken
Wed...Fried Flounder and clam strips
Planned for the rest of the week....
Thurs... Sweet and Sour Meatballs(Yoshida's Hawaiian Sweet and Sour sauce over a crockpot full of frozen meatballs)
Fri.... Pork Chops (think I'm going with teryaki but not sure)
Sat....Hawaiian Pizza and wings
Sun...Chicken Skewers (seasoning unknown as of yet)
Things might get bogged up a bit on Thursday since we're heading out the door bright and early with no idea of when we'll return. We may end up getting dinner on the road. If that's the case then we'll move the meatballs to Fri and forget the chops. Where are we going you ask? We're going to use our family membership to the MOST (museum of science and technology) that my mom got us for Christmas. Everyone is excited! Especially Tom. He's never been there. I was there when it was just the discovery center (almost 20yrs ago! ....no comparision to what it is now). The kids have all gone on school field trips there over the years. I hope everyone else on break doesn't have the same idea.
Pregnancy wise things have been up and down. The beginning of the month saw my blood pressure go through the roof. I called and asked to be seen a day early when I woke up with a reading of 200/110. It went down before I got there but it wasn't at a great level. I was feeling like garbage and dr decided I had a stomach bug. I probably did but wasn't the one to throw up, that was reserved for 3 of the kids that night. lol I took it easy until my next appt and things seem to have calmed down a bit. It's still a tiny bit elevated but we can live with where they are right now.
I'm feeling a bit out of sorts already. For some reason my legs and feet have decided they need to stay on the brink of a full blown cramp. So one wrong move makes them cramp up. When that's not happening they feel achey and tight. I'm trying to make sure I'm drinking MORE water (then my 64oz a day), taking my cal/mag/zinc supplement, and my potassium prescription. It doesn't seem to be helping. I really need to be more active!!! Once the kids get back into school I'm hoping to break out my WATP dvd I haven't used yet. *blush*
I postedmy first belly pic on the LOK pg/ttc board (link to the board in my sidebar). The story is that I threw on my bathingsuit in honor of Island week. Since this is as naked as I'll get in public...it was a good thing to take a belly pic in. My excuse for the harried look is...I was in the middle of doing the dishes and hadn't brushed my hair that day (only threw it up in a semi bun). Maybe next time we'll do a glamour shot. lol
16w2d with #12
Well, I've wrestled with this stupid text box long enough. Off to get some breakfast! Have a great day...HAPPY ISLAND WEEK!
Friday, February 02, 2007
Trying something new....
I'm finding myself a bit overwhelmed here. My house is a mess and I have no idea where to start...so I don't. The lack of motivation is depressing (you'd think having little 4 footed visitors would be motivation enough!) I KNOW things have to be done around here and have to be done now. To get me started I've decided to try something different.
Instead of writing out a list of all the things I need/want to get done. I'm writing ONE thing at a time. Getting that done, then giving myself a certain amount of time for a break with the next goal written down (along with the starting time). I'm onto the 3rd goal already which starts at 11:45.
I'd like to keep thing going all weekend and get caught up here...even hitting my room (oh there's a pipedream if ever I did hear it). I'm thinking of trying to keep track of my progress throughout the day here (editing this post at each break maybe). So far it looks like this...
General cleaning up of the livingroom floor (thorough one to be done later) - finished at 10:45
11:00 - sort laundry and throw a load in - finished at 11:25
11:45 - load the dishwasher - finished at 12:17 (removed the counters...it's a goal in itself)
12:30 - another load of laundry, clean bathrooms (laundry, bathrooms started but put on hold....have a toddler who very badly needs lunch and a nap) - finished 2:13....Danielle down, grabbed a snack (sugar was going low), finished the bathrooms and switched laundry, time for me to eat a real lunch now.
3:30 - back into the kitchen for 30mins of work on odd jobs. (lunch greatly delayed...added an extra 30mins on until start time)
added at 12:17 - Why I think I need to do this today....
* I'm not discouraged by a long list I know won't get done.
* I know exactly what I'm doing next. Prevents me from planning and doing the jobs in my head, making me "exhausted" from doing all that work already. ;o)
* It stops me from taking a break, going online and allowing internet time to suck away hours in a blink of an eye. (getting the best of both worlds without the guilt lol)
* I'm not flitting from one thing to another yet not getting any one thing accomplished.
* I'm not going like gangbusters in one area and then getting burnt out for the rest of the work that needs to be done.
* I'm pacing myself. I've been getting achey and crampy at night, hoping to eliminate this a bit.
added at 3:43 - OK....kids are home from school so I'm NOT going to do the scheduled kitchen work now. I haven't gotten this much done in one day in quite a while. So it worked while I was doing it. As usual I was hoping to get more then the basics done. BUT I guess I should be happy I at least got that done. My body is saying...TAKE A NAP! My schedule says....pick up Val at volleyball instead. Guess who wins. Stupid schedule!
Instead of writing out a list of all the things I need/want to get done. I'm writing ONE thing at a time. Getting that done, then giving myself a certain amount of time for a break with the next goal written down (along with the starting time). I'm onto the 3rd goal already which starts at 11:45.
I'd like to keep thing going all weekend and get caught up here...even hitting my room (oh there's a pipedream if ever I did hear it). I'm thinking of trying to keep track of my progress throughout the day here (editing this post at each break maybe). So far it looks like this...
General cleaning up of the livingroom floor (thorough one to be done later) - finished at 10:45
11:00 - sort laundry and throw a load in - finished at 11:25
11:45 - load the dishwasher - finished at 12:17 (removed the counters...it's a goal in itself)
12:30 - another load of laundry, clean bathrooms (laundry, bathrooms started but put on hold....have a toddler who very badly needs lunch and a nap) - finished 2:13....Danielle down, grabbed a snack (sugar was going low), finished the bathrooms and switched laundry, time for me to eat a real lunch now.
3:30 - back into the kitchen for 30mins of work on odd jobs. (lunch greatly delayed...added an extra 30mins on until start time)
added at 12:17 - Why I think I need to do this today....
* I'm not discouraged by a long list I know won't get done.
* I know exactly what I'm doing next. Prevents me from planning and doing the jobs in my head, making me "exhausted" from doing all that work already. ;o)
* It stops me from taking a break, going online and allowing internet time to suck away hours in a blink of an eye. (getting the best of both worlds without the guilt lol)
* I'm not flitting from one thing to another yet not getting any one thing accomplished.
* I'm not going like gangbusters in one area and then getting burnt out for the rest of the work that needs to be done.
* I'm pacing myself. I've been getting achey and crampy at night, hoping to eliminate this a bit.
added at 3:43 - OK....kids are home from school so I'm NOT going to do the scheduled kitchen work now. I haven't gotten this much done in one day in quite a while. So it worked while I was doing it. As usual I was hoping to get more then the basics done. BUT I guess I should be happy I at least got that done. My body is saying...TAKE A NAP! My schedule says....pick up Val at volleyball instead. Guess who wins. Stupid schedule!
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