Ah the many perks of being a mom!

Vomit.

I can't stand vomit. I think it has to be the worst part of being a mom. I would rather clean a thousand toilets than clean up one pile of puke. It's warm and squishy and stinky....ok, now I am gonna hurl.

Today when I walked in to get Sunshine out of bed, I realized she had thrown up all over. Some was dry, like it happened much earlier in the night. Some was fresh.....UGH. But it was all over. At least she had the sense to not sleep IN the mess. Her hair was clean.

All I could think while cleaning up the mess and trying not to create even more of a mess was poor girl. WHy didn't she cry? She needed mommy. She hardly made a peep last night. This was the first time she has ever thrown up besides the normal hurling of newborns. Surely she was scared by the whole process. Right?

She seems ok now, aside from little to no appetite today.

Yep. I hate barf. It's pretty darn disgusting. And it leaves dodgy stains on your laundry. Ewwww.

My Many Names

I have to admit that I stole this from MB over at Terrapin Station:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Muffin Tahoe
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Peppermint Stiletto
3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Pink Horse
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Elizabeth Bakersfield
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name): Bensa
6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Red Diet Soda
7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): Wilton Frank
8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):
Angel Bordeaux
9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your fifth grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Kavern Kingston
10. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Rose
11. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Peach Panties
12. HIPPIE NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Luna Maple

Happy Bday to me...

Ugh! Today I am 32. I am 32 today. Sheesh. Where has the time gone?

It seems like yesterday I was a bouncing 20-something with boobs and butt up to here.
Now I'm not. And no they are not either.

So I woke up today to get Drama off on a field trip for school. Being as that we live in Suburban Cowtown, they went to the Annual Stock show and Rodeo. D asked why I wasn't tagging along like I normally do for school trips. How do you explain that you don't want to spend the better part of your birthday smelling cow poop to an 8 year old? So I made some lousy excuse about the babies being out in the cold. How was I supposed to know it was going to be 70 degrees today? It sleeted on us just a few days ago.

After feeding the girls breakfast, and myself a MASSIVE cup of coffee I was off to the hair salon to get beautiful. Well that was the plan. Unfortunately, it was so windy that something blew over and knocked the power out at the salon somewhere in the middle of my "processing" time. So I left with sopping wet hair. I HATE that feeling. And, I don't have that "I just left the salon" look. Grrrrr.

At least the Duke helped out with the self esteem issue. He bought me an awesome outfit! It was very well put together and something I would totally wear: a khaki jacket, red blouse with lace detail and chocolate brown slacks in (are you ready for this???) a size 6!!! Very optimistic my dear Duke. Maybe next year at this time I will be back there.

Now if I could just get those kids in bed so I could soak in a warm tub of bath time bliss. Ahhhh...that would be a nice way to end my day.

My friends rock!!!

Speaking of Bdays...

Last night we went out for my 30t, 31st and 32nd Bdays. I couldn't celebrate the last few in style since I was preggo and quite ill the last couple of years. My real B-day isn't until Tuesday, but hey...who is gonna go out on a Tuesday??

So, for my Bday I told my husband that I wanted all of my friends in one place all at the same time to have a good time. Not possible since many are out of town, but the ones who were in town (for the most part) showed up and gave me the best Bday I have ever had!!!!

It was amazing! Everyone looked so beautiful and radiant. There were 20 people sitting around the table with me....and they were all there to celebrate with me. What more could you ask for?

I didn't want gifts or cards or anything (note to the Duke: please write that on future Evites)....but people still amazed me with their generosity and kind hearts. I received some amazing gifts cards for food, music, clothes, make-up....the list goes on. I also got a beautiful frame arrangement, the perfect place for cherished photos of my babes, and some bath stuff that smells really yummy . Hmmmmm, either I stink, or the person who gave me that reads my blog and knows I get to take baths now.... ;) ].

At one point I just sat at the table and watched everyone talking to each other and thought...how lucky am I??? I have the three most beautiful children in the world, the sexiest and sweetest Duke, and wonderful family and friends. Life could not be any better!

I will admit I was a little embarrassed when I saw the flame of fire coming out of the back with what looked like a cake under it. Am I THAT old? The last time I had candles my mom went easy on me and did the numbers. I'm surprised Smokey didn't show up saying "Only Dutch can prevent forest fires".

Germ warfare

Sorry no post in awhile folks. My house is under siege!

Tinkerbel has been sick with some green nose thing since December 1st. I don't know why she isn't getting better. She is on an antibiotic and yet nothing has changed. I am starting to wonder if maybe she has allergies.

Sunshine has a gross nose too, but it hasn't been as long. Too bad she still has to sleep with her paci. Kind of hard with the green goo. She has started night waking again because of it. Lord I hope this one gets better faster than TB!!!

Drama gave us quite a scare this weekend. We took him to the Dr last Thursday for an "asthma re-evaluation". He was coughing and wheezing, but nothing too serious. Friday his temp went up to 103. We thought, oh he has the flu and treated the fever and body aches with Tylenol.
Being that Drama is....well...drama, we chalked up the "chest pains" to his normal over the top remarks.

On Sunday I could tell that he was getting sicker. He just didn't seem to be feeling better. We started having to do several breathing treatments every hour just to keep him from coughing. So Monday morning I called the Dr. and we went in again. She said his lungs sounded ok, but since he looked so sick she ordered a few tests. They took a chest X-ray and tested for the flu. Flu test was negative. Chest Xray showed pneumonia in his left lobe.

Need I say this week has been busy? D couldn't sleep without barking all night until just last night. The baby for some reason was waking every hour to nurse (growth spurt???), and SS was also night waking.

I feel like a freaking zombie. Plus the post partum hormone shift has happened an my hair has been falling out in gobs, and is getting oily everyday. I used to be able to go 3 days without washing and just using a freshening hair powder at the roots. Now I have enough oil to make McD's french fries after 12 hours. Come on! I need the 3 days right now more than ever.

To make matters worse, my B-day is looming in the very near future. I am not happy about it. To me I look old...and tired. Tired and old. Smile lines and age spots are peaking through what used to be radiant pore-perfect skin during pregnancy. Bags under my eyes show the months with no sleep and my body just isn't responding to workouts the way I had hoped. The Duke has been awfully sweet and either pretending he doesn't notice, or really not noticing and even calling me "beautiful" at times. It really helps a poor Dutch who is exhausted beyond belief.
God gave me a good man. He can drive me absolutely crazy at times, but he always makes me feel like a million bucks!

Taking back our room

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post from this year, we have been doing some reorganizing and moving around of things. One of the things we did was to move Tinkerbell's crib into the office. We made it really pretty with these soft curtains that filtered the window light, but Sunshine has since pulled them down, ruining the curtain rod. TB will stay here in the office until she can get down to one night time feeding, then we will move her into the room with her sister. (Then no one will ever sleep...right???)

There are things I couldn't do when TB was sleeping there. We don't have a door on our master bath. So, after she went to sleep, taking a hot bath was out of the question. Ah... soaking in our giant tub (now that I am FINALLY not pregnant and can sit in steamy waters) is amazing therapy for an over-tired, stressed mom. It melts my cares away and I drift off into a happy slumber...for 3 hours anyway.

I also love watching Lifetime TV before bed (Mon-Thurs anyway). I hadn't been able to in ages since it would keep TB awake. Usually I will watch "Will and Grace" at 10, then the Duke would come up and watch "Frasier" with me at 11. This puts me asleep around 12:30 which is WAY too late now. But since I have missed it for so long I have made myself stay awake the last week or so just for old times sake (something that will be remedied this week).

After having the babe in our room for 6 months, we forgot what it was like to be a married couple. We would have to sneak around and be very very quiet, so as not to disturb anyone, for any chance at intimacy. It's not like you can run downstairs and have a romp on the couch when there's an 8 year old wandering to and from the bathroom in the middle of the night. That lock on the door is there for a reason.

Ok, we still have a long road to getting back what we had pre-baby. Those carefree newlywed days where you could do whatever you wanted...whenever and wherever. But last week the Duke did take them time to light the candelabras that flank the sides of our bed (I think it may have been the 2nd time they were ever lit). It was probably more to keep me from watching the lights on the two separate (but equal) monitors that reside on each nightstand and not him trying to be romantic. I swear if we so much as kiss, one of those monitors is bound to start lighting up within 30 seconds.

At least it's a step in the right direction. Privacy and space are things I never knew I wanted or needed. How wonderful to be rediscovering MY (well our) room!!!

Step 2 (of out with the old)

Well, I DID IT!

Yesterday I sold all but 5 pieces of my maternity clothes. They are gone, forever. It feels wierd. I am happy to be done, but sometimes I see newborn babies and wonder if I will change my mind 5 years from now.

The rest of the baby stuff is also being worked on. I have a few items to give back to a friend who let us borrow them, and a few more things that we'll either pass on down to new families, or garage sale them.

*sigh*

Such bittersweet days....

Out with the old...

In with the new???


Actually I would prefer to not have anymore "new" thank you. We are at max capacity here at the Casa de Insanity. I have been going from room to room the past week cleaning out clothes and toys that have been outgrown in an attempt to find space for our children's fantastic Christmas booty. No, not the kind of booty you get from eating too many Xmas cookies, the loot, treasure, gifts, etc etc.

It really was insane this year. My family asked well in advance of Christmas what everyone needs. I said that ALL they needed was clothes and socks and TB needs jammies. Besides my SIL who bought the girls clothes, a friend who gave both girls pjs, TBs god mommy who bought her a gorgeous dress, and my mom who bought several pairs of socks....they all got TOYS. Heaps and heaps of toys and other junk from the obvious, to the random, obscure, and just ridiculous. While we are very thankful for these gifts bestowed on our precious offspring, we find ourselves cursing every time we trip over a toy in the middle of the night and it lights up and starts singing. EVERY SINGLE TOY FROM MIL MAKES NOISE. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mom was a little kinder offering silent gifts.....well, unless you count Drama's MP3 player. Oh yeah....did I tell you about that? The Duke and don't even have one and our son is jamming around the city bopping to his favorite downloads. Does an 8 year old even need an MP3 player?

She bought the girls dolls, and matching rocking chairs. They are actually quite adorable. And the dolls are the blonde Bitty twins from the American Girl line (more on this subject later.)

Drama also got a casio keyboard from the Duke's grandma. Cool I thought....until I realized it was a circa 1979 mini synth with a missing battery compartment door. "Mom, why do the batteries keep falling out?" he keeps asking me. I just tell him b/c he is "rockin'" He's really into that sort of stuff right now. She also gave Sunshine our (1 year old) a make-up bag with a breakable mirror and about 10 fun size Nestle Crunch bars. Um....did I mention she is 1???

The Duke and I did our celebrating after the holidays. There was to much going on and we ran out of time on Christmas Eve. So, we ad Christmas the Thursday after. It was nice. I finally got that Amazing Grace perfume I have wanted FOREVER (thank you Sephora for opening in JCP). It is the only place I know you can get it. He also bought me a cashmere sweater and 2 medieval CDs that are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All luxuries that I didn't need, but happily received.

The biggest present of them all was the HDTV my folks gave us. Talk about indulgence. I don't know how we could ever watch regular TV again. We didn't even really want one, but dad decided we needed one, and it had to be now.

All in all, we are grateful that we were given anything this year. I honestly don't care about getting suff during Christmas, but more about the season's meaning and being with friends and family. That is what makes me happy. And as far as that goes, this CM kind of stunk for me. With my parents leaving my church, and hubby having his own church service to do music for, it was either go with my folks, or go alone. I missed CM Eve at my dear church. It was hard. I love my church's CME, and being without it made me feel sad and lonely. As the Duke squeezed in just before Communion at my parent's new worship place he mentioned how happy they looked to have their grand babies there. That made me evening worth it. Even though I didn't get my candlelight "Silent Night"...I was giving something even better than the gifts under our tree.

We are so thankful for the "gifts" we were given in 2007 and look forward to a new year of God's blessings.