ok, ok. I, too, am getting a little bit tired of seeing myself expand like the dickens, but I figured I’d add at least one more belly shot to my “growing” collection. Boy, this kid is well documented. I can hear him now, “You mean you showed your bare belly to EVERYONE on the internet on your BLOG? Oh God, Mom, how embarrassing.” Guess I have to start somewhere with the eye rolling, right? I might as well start in utero.

38 weeks (and two days) if we are being technical here….

12 days to go!

I don’t know if it’s all the running around, throwing Rt a birthday party, or what, but I definitely feel a little slower today. My pelvic bone is aching like no tomorrow, my lower back feels kinked, (like back before I was pg and having back issues) and this child is low enough to take his non-manicured fingernails and type morris code on my cervix.

We shall see, we shall see.

e

Stumped.

Seems Wordpress won’t allow anyone to comment on my last amazing post, so I thought I would add another one just in case you had something fabulous to say. Go ahead, say it, you know you want to. Or, I want you to for that matter. Let’s be real here, ok?

Btw, Rt’s smashing birthday party is this weekend (a week before his actual birthday). Please pray dude #2/Hola the Alligator comes sometime AFTER the festivities. That would be nice. Really nice.

Stay tuned for some birthday photos with a rather large mama bear hiding behind any pole she can find at the park. Did I forget to think about whether there is a bathroom located nearby? I might have to bring a port-a-potty for myself and leave it in the car.

Now if I can just get “We’ve got a letter, we’ve got a letter, we’ve got a letter, WONDER WHO IT’S FROM?” out of my head, I will make it out of this party planning ok.

e

Current stats:

Your baby has really plumped up. He weighs about 6.8 pounds and he’s over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). He has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test when you hold his hand for the first time! His organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

woah.

issues with comments being closed. trying to fix. wtf??

I was ready.

I was prepared.

I was willing to do whatever it took to get this kid enrolled into preschool.

Nah, I wasn’t THAT psycho-mom, but I was concerned whether or not it would be a battle to get Rt signed up for preschool this morning.

The alarm/hubs woke me up at 6:30am. I had been having trouble falling back asleep since 3:30am when Rt woke up calling out “I want to see Gran Gran. I want to see Gran Gran.” Luckily, I did fall back asleep at some point, but what time was it? How much more sleep did I really get? Who the hell knows. Let’s just say I went to the bathroom TWICE before I fell back asleep. Sheesh.

I put on my everyday jeans, ball cap and sweatshirt and made my way to the kitchen. I had heard Rt singing in his room, at 6:45am, so opening the gate in the hallway would give me away. So, I did what any 9 and almost a half month pregnant woman wound do, I scaled the gate. It was a sight to see, for sure. BUT, no noise was made! I gathered my application, birth certificate, immunization records and deposit and made my way to the front door.

But, then I realized I just might need to make one last pit stop to the bathroom before standing outside for hours on end without a potty in sight. So, I made my way BACK OVER the gate and used the facilities, then headed BACK OVER again to get to the front door. Phew!

Once in the car, my girlfriend called and asked if I wanted a Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. PERFECT! And away I went……..All 1/3 of a mile up the road. If it weren’t completely all uphill, I would have walked to the preschool. RIGHT.

I pull into the parking lot…

and saw….

NOT MUCH OF ANYTHING.

A FEW CARS. and that is about it.

I parked.

Walked down the corridor.

And saw a total of

THREE PEOPLE.

Yes, I was 4th in line. If you can even call it a line.

My gal pal was 5th.

Um, ok. Where was the GIGANTIC line that was supposed to be here? Why had other people gotten here at 6am the year before? What was the DADGUM deal? No camping out from the night before?

To make matters BETTER, they opened the doors at 7. NOT EIGHT!

We were in. We were out. And sitting back in our cars at 730am.

Hmmm…..

What to do? What to do?

Rt was with hubs at home watching 498 cartoons……

What would be open at 7:30am?

Hmmmm…….

Ah ha!

WALMART.

Perfect. A little shopping alone for last minute necessities.

All in all? I am a little disappointed, a little miffed that my caper, my adventure did not meet my expectations. I was really ready to rough it up with the rest of the uber moms out there.

Oh well. Rt is enrolled. My first born is ready for school. Well, starting September 2nd, that is. sniff.

e

At 37 weeks with bambino, the constipation train made a pit stop at my house today.

It came literally out of nowhere.

I asked hubs to watch Rt, since he was playing outside, while I made my way back to our bathroom for a routine visit. Not long after, I realized what was normally regular scheduled programming was far from REGULAR. I was in trouble.

To make matters worse, my almost three year old son was trying to open my door not long after my discovery. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PEOPLE, can’t I just have ONE FREAKIN MOMENT TO MYSELF here? Yes, it’s no fun to go the bathroom normally with an audience, but I was in full panic mode!

Where was I going to go from here? I don’t think I can move forward, but how do I go backward? How do I just move about my day when I’ve come this far? I was perplexed, beginning to sweat and wished there was someone out there that would COME GET MY KID.

Finally, hubs realized that he was not currently watching said kid and came to claim him. One issue removed, but one was still lingering. I gathered myself and proceeded to leave the premises and made my way back to the kitchen.

This is where I bitched poor hubs out for not giving me MY MOMENT alone and bit his head off cause my ASS was hurting. He didn’t offer much compassion due to my attitude. I opened the cabinet and began to have a tugging match with the plastic tub holding all the medicine. After a long struggle, hubs realized I might need help and came to my assistance. While “helping”, he added that “someone” put the tub in the cabinet wrong which made for difficult removal. I told him if his helping came with commentary, I would not be needing his services. Bottom line, MY ASS HURT.

So, I took two colace and prayed for immediate serenity. Hubs told me to go sit down and put my feet up. I told him I was afraid to sit down. So, I just walked around for an hour prepping food for our Easter dinner with family.

An hour later, the two colace kicked in (quite well, mind you) and I was once reacquainted with the land of the “normal” people.

Note to self: Take at least one colace, for the next three weeks to refrain from ever, EVER experiencing that type of sheer misery again.

e

I feel like a broken record. blah blah blah.

All I’ve got to talk about are the side-effects of being prego or the up-and-coming alligator in our family. Clearly, I have pg/mommy brain and can think of nothing else. OR, I have a one-tracked mind and am so efficient at nesting, that nothing else seems to stick long enough to remember to talk about.

Ooooo, actually, I do have one thing.

Rt got tubes in his ears a year ago February. A day after the Superbowl, if fact. (Nice scheduling, huh? not!) We have gone back to the ENT every 3 months since then to check to see if the tubes were still in place, etc. Most tubes last 12-18 months, which if you think about it, is NOT LONG AT ALL. Come on, SURGERY and all you get is a measly 1 year, maybe 2 tops?

Well, I can say, this past year has been Dee-lightful when it comes to Rt’s ears. The last time we went to see his doctor, for ANYTHING, was for his 2 year check up, ALMOST ONE YEAR AGO. What a difference the tubes made, I tell ya. Anywho, the last time we went in to check his ears, one tube was still in, one tube had fallen out, still IN his ear canal, but dislodged from his eardrum. I knew something might be amiss with this ear because when we flew home to OK for Christmas, Rt burst into tears on take-off (at 6am in the morning mind you. eeek!) and screamed in sheer pain and covered his right ear. Come to find out, all the pressure in his ear sent him through the roof and back. Poor little guy.

So, now that we have one hole closed, the other still working fine, we just continue on with life as normal. They won’t do anything futher unless the other tube falls out and he gets 2-3 more ear infections. Then, and only then, would they suggest doing tube surgery AGAIN.

So, this past weekend, Rt woke in the night complaining his right ear was hurting. I gave him some ear ache medicine and some motrin and finally got him back to sleep. The next day, his ear looked a little gooey. I just thought it could be from the drops I gave him the night before. But, after cleaning his ear up, several hours later, we had more discharge. BLECH! So, to get a better look at the “goop”, I opened his ear a bit and what did I see? THE GREEN TUBE SITTING RIGHT THERE AT THE EDGE OF HIS EAR! What was horribly creepy looking was also SOOOOO interesting. I wanted to grab some tweezers right then and there and go to town. However, I did wait till Rt was ready for bed, so I could really clean out his ear, get the tube out and send some prescription medicine down in there to help whatever was going on.

Retrieving the tube was shocking cause it was only the size of a small piece of NERD candy. It was the shape of a spool, but tiny as can be. How we actually saw this come out was a big surprise. It could have easily made it’s way out in the middle of the night and to be never heard from again….

The next day came and went and all that I saw in his ear were little dried, crusties leftover from the trauma the day before.

And that was it. No more discharge. No more ear ache. Nothing.

Two thoughts here. One, His ear reacted to something foreign and created enough “stuff” to push it out of the canal on its own. OR, Two, he did have some drainage from a small cold from a week or two before, but the shape of his ear tube has indeed matured and any goop that use to remain IN his ear and infect, is now making its way out and leaving no infection behind.

Either way, I am pleased as punch with the final results. He has his 3 yr check up in 2 weeks, so I’ll have the doc check his ear then for further review. Until then, I am not sure what to do with the tube. Put it in a baggie and tape it to a page in his baby book? Or would that be a tad too creepy?

e

Heading back to the portrait studio this weekend. I didn’t think we’d get around to it, but all three of us are getting our picture taken. I am thrilled I made the phone call. (and why was that really so hard?) Just hoping everyone stays put until after the shoot. Well, actually, I’d like April to get here. And then, I’d like Rt to have his birthday…ok, then it’d be ok….ok?

One pic will be of Rt to mark his 3rd birthday. The next one will be a group shot to mark the time before we added another babe, and the last one will be of hubs and me. And no, our photo will not have hubs standing behind me with his hands on my bare belly. I refuse to lift the shirt for the professional pics. Somehow, it’s ok if I do it in the bathroom mirror, but not when it could potentially be hung on our wall for all guests to see. And no, I won’t make a heart with my hands and surround my naval. My naval just doesn’t look that cute right now. So, no.

In the past, we haven’t really done well with the professional photo thing. We only documented Rt’s first birthday in the studio. Then, last summer, we got a wild hair up our ass and had a family portrait done. And I am so pleased we took the time to do so.

Even though I was pregnant in the photo above, I believe I will look quite different come Saturday. Just a wee hunch.

e

9 months.
36 weeks.
4 weeks to go.
duuuuude. this is some serious bidness.

e

So, here we are, the 12th of March. One exact month left of this crazy ass prego ride.

I am currently digesting almost $18 worth of Thai Food while my husband is flying the friendly skies and my son is spending THREE WHOLE DAYS with the in-laws. I have just finished watching the Project Runway Finale (yes, I am a week late, so what?) and am now on to the season premiere of Top Chef Chicago. I will be finishing out the night with ANTM, Supernanny and Men in Trees.

I am trying to figure out what to have for dessert. Should I bust open the Gummy Bears bag (Haribo, of course), or a Cutie from Trader Joe’s, or my 4th Rice Krispie Treat for the day. Hmm…. decisions, decisions.

Rt and my mother-in-law headed back home around 3pm today. After they left, I couldn’t stay in the house. It was too quiet and depressing. So, I got in the car and headed to get gas ($3.53 a gallon), take back very late movies to Blockbuster, Jamba Juice (the Orange Dream Machine is the ultimate), and Target.

My plan of attack with Target was to buy what I needed, but 2 months worth. I figure that will get us through one month of new baby, and not have to worry about toilet paper, paper towels, overnight diapers and maxi pads (God help me), to name a few.

The last time Rt spent some time away from home, I went nuts and pampered myself left and right. This go? I am getting some shit done, people. I have the time, the mind and the will to finalize alot of things that might be hanging like a chad in my mind. I’m excited. Man, my priorities have changed. Sigh.

One fun thing I am doing is going to see a screening of “The Business of Being Born” at the local IMAX theater with a few girlfriends. My ticket purchase goes towards an organization called Chicks in Crisis. Should be an interesting look at the business side of the Maternity Ward. As my girlfriend said, “Is seeing this film going to piss me off?” In all honesty, I have no idea. We’ll soon see if I’ll have some attitude as they wheel me into the delivery room.

e

It’s becoming more and more obvious something is about to happen in our house. So, on that note, we decided to do something about it.

The three of us, Rt, hubs and I, went to the local zoo. It’s the first time we’ve gone. After living here for 2 1/2 years. I guess taking Rt to the San Diego Zoo almost two years ago has kept us from “downgrading” zoos, but it was time to change that.

It was a lovely day, and we all had the best time.

I asked hubs to actual get me IN the photos this go around and we ended up with this close up.

And a “check out my goods” frontal shot. I am so working it. Agh!

In all honesty, I was happy as a clam the zoo was 800 times smaller than the San Diego Zoo. By the time we got to the car, my feet were barking LOUDLY. Plus, between Rt and my trips to the bathroom, it was time to hit the road and head home for a familiar potty and an afternoon nap.

Too bad we had to wake the kid an hour later to hit a bounce house birthday party. The fun never ends. Thank God.

e