Hi. I am Michelle The Grouch.

15 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here lately I am on edge. I call it hormones. It makes no sense and it’s not like I am doing it on purpose. You have to understand. 1- I am 2 weeks away from having another baby in the house. 2- I weigh more now than I ever have in my life. 3-I am allergic to latex and I was at the doctors last Friday and guess what glove was used!!!!

~That alone would make any sane person run around pulling their hair out screaming!~

On another note, when I called my doctor yesterday to tell him my problem. I know I told him something he has never heard before. And being a OB-GYN I am sure he HEARS plenty. “My girly parts want to fall off!” To which he repeated over the phone and I am sure was giggling on his side. LATEX SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plus, I feel better when I move around. Once I sit down, the aches and pains are noticeable and that isn’t a good feeling. I get tired of people telling me to rest and take it easy. Trust me, if I sat around, I’d be even grouchier. You want me to move around. You want me to keep busy. So just let me do what I have to do. ~My left hip wants to fall off!!! I hurt my back couple years ago and had bursitis in that hip. Here lately it hurts so bad to move. During the night when I get up to potty, I have to make sure I can use that hip.~ I don’t think it would be fun if I fell and had to get up from the floor. Yanno?

~Boy I have all sorts of body parts that want to fall off~

I am tired of getting up 3-4 times a night to Pee. I have been doing this routine I guess a few weeks after I got pregnant. It is ANNOYING. Don’t forget the hip problem stated above and add having to use that hip a couple times during the night. I will say, the medicine my doctor gave me Friday has been a blessing. Vistaril is the name. It’s not a sleeping aide. It is a beta-blocker and used for anxiety. I didn’t request an anxiety medicine. But what pregnant woman weeks away from having her 4th child, wouldn’t require an anxiety medication? At least when I wake up those 3-4 times during the night, I can crawl back in bed and go right back to sleep. And not watch the time go by with things on my mind.

I am tired of feeling hungry after a THREE course meal as well. I am tired of strange cravings! The other day I bought Banana Moon Pies and Oatmeal Pies from Little Debbie. My husband was like, “You aren’t serious?”. Things like that annoy me. I cannot help what I am craving. Don’t ask questions just smile. Got IT? The next time YOU get pregnant, I won’t ask you about your cravings.

Hmmm, I had thought up a LONG list in bed this morning of things I wanted to blog about. They have slipped my mind. Which is probably a good thing. lol

Today, I am going to clean house and fold laundry. I get my hairs cut in the morning and need to get a few things while I am out. Then hopefully I can have a baby on Wednesday. ~wishful thinking inno~

Have a great Monday everyone!!!!

On another note. My HB took some great pictures of me with H & B2 when I was pregnant with Lil O. ~March 2005~

Yesterday we took more pictures. Me and my Babies. ~March 2008~

No your brother doesn't have a baby in his belly...

…only girls can have a baby in their belly.

~About a month ago Lil O started telling everyone she had a baby in her belly. We haven’t prompted her or asked her if she had a baby in her belly. It is just something she started on her own.~ So, she will walk around asking us to feel her baby move. It is cute.

I heard her ask her brother this past week, “Do you have a baby in your belly?”.

Yesterday, I went for my appointment and ultrasound. I have lost a couple pounds so I weigh 177. Which means I lost 2 pounds from last week. Or I just hadn’t emptied my bladder before I was weighed last time. ha ha We had our ultrasound and everything look great. There were no Downs Syndrome markers and she is bigger than she should be at this point in my pregnancy. My actual due date is April 21 and the scan showed one of April 10. Just by her measurements. Her guesstimate weight is 7 pounds 11 ounces already. What can I say? I grow them big. I have 2 1/2 weeks to go, so no telling what her weight will end up being. He did say if my labor were to start, they wouldn’t try to stop it.

During the ultrasound we saw her just sucking with her mouth then we saw her thumb in her mouth!!!! I guess that is what you do in the womb, its not like you have many more options. Then we saw her yawn….awwwwwww.

A profile picture with her thumb in her mouth:

After our scare the other night, I do have my suitcase ready though.

Today is going to be a L A Z Y day here. IT BETTER BE ANYWAY! I got up and made sausage, biscuits and gravy. I have been craving them, and have been to TWO different places to be disappointed, so I made them myself! They were YUMMY!!! Even my gravy was perfect. I am a ROCKSTAR I suppose.

B2 is going skating today and H is plugged to the IPOD and ignoring the rest of the world. Lil O is being 3 of course.

I am just trying to stop from being frustrated. There is so much I want to do but unable to do it. I cannot stand that. UGH! Anyway….

I am off to enjoy my cold cup of coffee and see what I can get into.

I told her I just wasn't ready yet...

What a afternoon/ night I had. Contractions started about 7 pm-ish. Coming on a regular pattern. I got in the bed and thought I’d sleep them off. ha ha Well, they woke me up at 1 am. Strong, painful and coming every 6 minutes. I got up walked around, had a snack and something to drink. They still weren’t letting up. I called my doc at 3 am. He had me get in the tub and told me if they still were coming like that I had to go to L & D at the hospital. I stayed in the tub for 1/2 an hour thinking NOT TONIGHT, I AM NOT READY!! NOT TONIGHT! ha ha I crawled back in the bed and they were still coming. I told my husband, “I refuse to go to the hospital NOW, I am going to stay home until I cannot walk, or I see water or blood!” It’s odd how a pregnant woman thinks. In my mind I was thinking, “I don’t want to wake 3 kids up now. I don’t want to take them to the hospital and I don’t want to wake anyone up to come here. I haven’t had my hair cut or my pedicure. I didn’t get to vacuum the house yesterday! The doc told me I couldn’t eat anymore now but I am starving.” Sooo, I refused to go to the hospital. I said a prayer and told the baby, “You cannot be born now, I am just not ready.”. So, we laid in bed and I made myself go back to sleep. I guess this is about 4 am-ish. I am surprised I was able to block them out and sleep. But I did. I woke up after 7 am and guess what? I had a contraction. lol They aren’t regular now but I am TOTALLY sore all over. I have an appointment today and my ultrasound. Soooo, maybe I will get to see her beautiful face before my cesarean.

This morning I got up and had all the kids make beds, I finished packing my suitcase and I painted my own toe nails. Which was MORE trouble than worth. So, I know she won’t come now since I did all that myself. I even vacuumed. Hmmmmmm…. I have a headache and I just want to get this over. I am eating leftover lasagna thinking TAKE-OUT tonight if we are home. lol

Well, I am going to get off here and go back to the couch. If I go MIA–you know where to find me.

It’s snowing. Sadly not enough to make a snowman.

~I just looked out the window and it has already stopped snowing. So much for that!~

I have been busy busy this morning. No school this week and the kids are just hanging out at home with their mom. H has spent most of the day on the couch until I made lunch. Now she is in her bedroom with Lil O watching a movie. B2 is on the couch playing XBox. Which is a different view from playing the game-boy in his bedroom earlier. ha ha

I talked to an old friend of mine this morning. Briefly. I guess it had been over 14 years since we last spoke. It’s nice to catch up to people that knew you from long ago. :) That one person you always wondered about.

Wow, I am at a loss of words. The kids are letting me sit here long enough to type this blog. I had hoped to nap but I am afraid I’ll feel icky afterwards. My mamaw and aunt are coming over for dinner so I have to FEEL GOOD!!! ~giving the unborn baby her pep talk so I feel GOOD!~

Tomorrow will be THREE WEEKS until she is here. I am sooo ready. I am scared as well. Having surgery and then having to recover from it. Another person that is going to be totally dependant on me to care for them. I think I don’t have time to myself now, just wait until she is here. I go to the doctor on Friday for my ultrasound. That is making me nervous too. I hope that they see only good things. I don’t know if we will have any answer to whether or not she has downs syndrome. I pretty much have faced facts that we will not know until she is born. Sometimes I catch myself saying, “Maybe I should have had more testing?”. But I think I made the right choice, for us, to wait until she is born. They will be looking at her nuchal fold again and there are other things to look at as well. ~shrug~ There’s myself opening up to DS again. I feel better sometimes talking about it and other times I don’t want anyone to talk to me about it at all.

Okay, I am going to go check and see what the kids are doing. Then I might try to rest on the couch for a few.

I hope that everyone has a nice day. Tomorrow they are making me go to the “evil place”. IE: The Mall. Maybe I can get them there at 10:00 when they open and I won’t have to stay too terribly long. I doubt it though….

Apparently It Would Kill Her

~Does anyone else have this issue?~

My 13 year old daughter, who will be 14 in June, wants me to take her shopping tomorrow. I am taking B2 anyway for new shoes. Sooo, after dinner she said something about going to “Hot Topic” to look for a jacket. I being a typical mom said, “Would it kill you to buy something nice once in awhile? All I see you wear are tight jeans and Vans.”.

So this of course caused a mini breakdown of sorts about how we always want her to change. Hmmmm, I don’t have anything else to add. lol

~sobbing~ Being a MOM is too hard!!! lol

There's Something About Mary.

I was feeling pretty ICKY the other day and started text-ing my friend Mary from bed one night.

I sort of told her I was tired of being pregnant and how I had gained 8 pounds in two weeks…..

Then her last text said something like this.

“You have less than a month to go and you will weigh less then.”

I wish I had the text so I could quote her exactly.

I giggled and thought “leave it to my Mary Jane to say the right thing just when I needed it the most”.

Thank you MJ! I look forward to you two coming down and having your company. xoxoxox

Yes, pinching does hurt.

~Actual event that happened a few minutes ago on the couch~

Lil O~ Pinched Mommy.
Mommy~ Pinched Lil O. I DIDN’T PINCH HER HARD!
Lil O~ Cried, “Mommy pinched me.” ~ Then pinched Mommy again.
Mommy~ Pinched Lil O. I DIDN’T PINCH HER HARD!
Lil O~ Cried, “Mommy pinched me.” ~ Then pinched Mommy again.
Mommy~ Pinched Lil O. I still DIDN’T PINCH HER HARD!
Lil O~ Crying. “Okay, I not do that again.”

We have kissed and made up now.

I am off to bed. I made a quick visit to the ER so they could do a reading on the baby not yet here. Everything A OK. I just feel icky today. Maybe some sleep will do me good. Notice I didn’t say a good nights sleep, I forget what that means.

Sometimes I feel as if I have no time and other times I have too much time on my hands.

Just hanging out at home. Mostly.

Went to the doctor on Tuesday to find out I had gained 8 pounds in 2 weeks. ~Time to lay off the hidden Easter candy.~

I am hungry all the time and yet don’t have the desire to spend much time in the kitchen. Right now I am working on a list and menu for next week.

Lil O is entertaining me at the moment jumping around.

Have a nice Thursday.

I am glad I have this huge belly. It gives my new milk jugs something to rest on.

As of tomorrow, I will have 4 weeks to go until a baby! What started out slowly has sped up a bit.

We have had a busy weekend. After my mad rant about H, I’d like to think the weekend got better. ~it is still debateable if it did~

Saturday we were at CEC for O’s birthday party. That was fun. I liked the fact that someone waited on us and cleaned up the mess. LOL Works for me!

Then of course my HB has been watching Carolina Basketball. He pointed out again last night that when I was pregnant with O, his Sox won the World Series and then Carolina won in basketball. Now that we are pregnant again, the Sox won the series and now Carolina might win in basketball. No pressure. LOL So you devoted fans please do not look at me to have more babies so your teams can win.

Sunday we let H go to the movies. She seemed to have a nice time. I on the other hand made some YUMMY homemade veggie burgers for lunch. In fact, that is what I am going to fix for lunch today. They will keep in the fridge for a week and you can cook them when you want one.

However, I did hurt my back yesterday. I am guessing in the same place I hurt it years ago. Doing the same thing I might add. Trying to pick O up. So now I haven’t been able to walk around very well. UGH! I go to the doctor in the morning for my routine pregnant check-up and hopefully he can give me something to take the edge off so I may walk again. I kind of have to walk yanno?

Well, I am off to limp/wobble to plug my heating pad up. Have a fun St. Patrick’s Day!

Should I Not Have Said That?

I have a few things on my mind this morning. Having a 13 year old is hard business. Her turning 14 in June will not make it easier I am sure. The question I want to throw out is, “When can a parent just jump in there?”. I know they have to make their own decisions and all. I can offer advice but I know in her mind I don’t have a clue. Even though I was her age once. Here is the “situation”.

She has been liking/going out with this kid from school. I mean how much can they really go out being their age. Not able to drive. Only seeing each other at school. Etc… ~I find it humorous when I hear, “We are going out”. Where are you going to and how are you getting there? lol Anyway…

H and this boy have broken up a few times. When he wants to see ANOTHER girl. Which makes my baby upset and she cries. Who as a parent wants to see their baby cry?? WE DON’T and WE DON’T like it and WE WON’T put up with it. In the beginning I just played a bystander in the back. Hoping she would see for herself. Then when I spoke up, I wasn’t heard. I even went so far as to ask her about her self esteem. Wanting him back after all these other girls he has went out with. Following me? So, one day earlier in the week I knew something was up. She was quiet and she had a weird message on her MySpace page. I asked her about it and she refused to talk to me about it. I said, “I will not let some prick push you around”. So she cried some but still wouldn’t tell me what was up. Yesterday she told me that she broke up with him earlier in the week. I asked her why she didn’t tell me. She said something like she wanted to make sure it lasted this time. I said, “Well, hopefully you are smarter now and will not go back to that situation”. I am glad they are broken up. I am not happy about having a sad daughter but time will heal that.

My point, I have one. I just had to give some back story. Last night, he calls. I answer the phone. I ask who it is, even though I knew the voice. Should I hang up on him? Should I tell him she is busy? Instead, out of anger, I put the phone to my body so he wouldn’t hear me and I said, “The prick I don’t like is on the phone”. UGH! After that my husband said I shouldn’t have said that. That I need to set an example to my children and not call names. BUT WHEN CAN I SAY “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”?????? My response, “They are broken up, he has NO need to call here”. Right???

I later told her I was sorry that I said that. I am not really that sorry. I do not want him calling here. EVER. I just don’t know what to do. When can a parent step in? Will it make things worse? They see what they want to see and believe their own view. I cannot force my opinions on her. Being a child is hard but being a parent is harder.

So, today I have lots to think about I suppose. I can barely move from the raking yesterday. I asked my sister to come babysit me. lol H is going to a birthday party after school and B2 has chess. I can hang out at home and try to pick up. I am sure that as soon as the house is totally upside down, the baby will decide to come. Weird logic I know.

Tomorrow is O’s birthday party. I am looking forward to seeing my family and spending time with them. Even if it is at Chuck E. Cheese.

Okay, I must go. Things to do. Relationships to ruin yanno. Bye Bye.

The Toilet Paper Queen is Killing Us!

IE: It’s another girl in the house BESIDES me I add. I won’t mention any names. And it’s not Lil O. ~smirk~

We have had Roto-Rooter here twice since we have lived here. ~Not even 4 years.~ This time is cost us 180.00. UGH! This makes up for yesterday I am sure in some sick twisted way.

Yesterday I found that B2 had broken his BRAND NEW retainer. Took him to the ortho and Dr. Black is replacing it at NO charge!!! So, I wasn’t charged the 150.00 THIS TIME. lol I still had B2 work in the yard today though to hopefully teach him a valuable lesson.

We all were outside raking and getting up all these annoying sticks from the trees. The yard is looking better though and will be almost perfect tomorrow when we finish. Anyway…

Back to the TPQ. Why does she feel the need to use a WHOLE roll in a day? Okay 2 days. If I am lucky. I have even bought the cheap TP for their bathroom. DOESN’T WORK. lol I hope that none of you have a TPQ at your house. It can be expensive. Maybe we should keep RR on a reserve or something.

My minutes of fame are growing. They keep airing the Doula story on the telly. People are calling and stopping my husband to tell him they saw me. I’ll be signing autographs next week at the coffee shop. ~wink~ Come by and we can chat and enjoy caffeine!

If you are looking for a Doula, I am not taking clients at the moment though. But the website has lots of great women that are taking them.

Okay, I am going to jet and reheat leftovers for dinner. I can barely move from working outside this afternoon. I hope my husband doesn’t try to talk me into watching Lost tonight. He is a Lost addict. He needs to join a group or something for it. JOKING HONEY!!! LOL

Have a great night!

My Husband Has The Nicest Hands

What do you do when you find your 9 year olds BROKEN RETAINER?!?!

In the bathroom after he has left for school?!?!?!!?!?

First you call and tell your husband so you can vent about it. And complain that you were just at the orthodontists yesterday for your daughter H. The office happens to be ACROSS town I might add.

Second you call the orthodontist to see what you have to do. ~Which is come in for another mold and pay 150.00 UP FRONT EACH TIME A NEW ONE IS NEEDED. Did I mention he hasn’t even had the retainer for a month yet?

Third you call your husband, B2’s dad, your sister and your mamaw to vent your frustration over paying 150.00 for a new retainer. ~insert your own support people here~

Fourth you think of ways he will be working off 150.00. I can see a rake in his future. Weed pulling. And other OUTSIDE chores not yet thought about.

Fifth you call his school and ask the receptionist to pass along a message to B2’s teacher to make him SWEAT. Like this: Tell B2 his mom will be there at 1:30 to take him to the ortho to get a NEW retainer. ~insert evil laugh here~

Sixth you enjoy your second cup of coffee and try to keep a straight face about the whole situation. I understand that accidents happens. If he had only been HONEST to begin with I wouldn’t have been upset. We tell the kids over and over and over and over again that HONESTY IS BEST IN THIS HOUSE. When we find out you told a lie–things get much worse. And “forgetting” to tell us is not accepted here either. DO we look like we were born yesterday?? I think not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was a nice day for O’s birthday. She came home with balloons from the ortho’s office because they heard it was her birthday from her sister. They then were attached to her tricycle which made seeing her come through the house much easier. As if all the noise it made didn’t tell me where she was anyway. We didn’t have a cake since her party is on Saturday anyway. We just hung out as a family. Before bed she did tell me, “Thank you for my birthday. It was my favorite.”. She is such a JOY! If you don’t already have a 3 year old, get one. lol

Well, I am at a loss for words. Which doesn’t happen very often. I hope that everyone enjoys their day. BTW, I am on the news today. If a link shows up on our news website, I’ll post the link for my 1 minute of fame. :) Bye Bye.

My 10 seconds of fame–maybe 15 at most!

Doula Story On WLOS

I am the pregnant woman, of course. ~The camera added about 15 extra pounds to my face, wink wink.~

I am not hiring a birth Doula to set the record straight. I am training for my DONA certification and a member of DAMA. Judy is an awesome woman and Doula and I was playing her “client”. I did hire a postpartum Doula for after the birth though. She will come to my home days or weeks after my cesarean to keep check on things and help me. Having major surgery and 3 other kids at home, I welcome her being here.

Happy 3rd Birthday to you O!

Happy Birthday to You.
Happy Birthday to You.
Happy Birthday Dear O.
Happy Birthday to Yoooooou!

Here's the birthday girl on her birthday. Riding the gift she wanted the most.



We woke her up this morning about 6:30 am so she could open her things before the kids went to school and daddy went to work. We all gathered around the bed and sang Happy Birthday. Which didn't even wake her from her deep sleep. lol We made it to the living room and she opened her gifts. Now she is riding all over the house on the gift she wanted the most.

Happy Birthday O! May it be a special day for you and for us!!! We love you!

Stretch marks are like the undiscovered terrain on a map. I think.

I was in bed the other night. My bedtime usually rolls around at 7:30 pm. I don’t actually go to sleep that early but I am exhausted and want to be in my comfy bed. ~and sometimes I am asleep that early~ Anyway, the lamp on my nightstand was hitting my ever growing belly at the right OR WRONG angle and I saw all these NEW stretch marks?!?!?!?! What!?!?! Are the previous stretch marks from 3 kids not good enough?!!!!??!? I let out a squeal for my husband who was in the living room. lol I think I screamed something like “I HAVE STRETCH MARKS ON MY BELLY!!!”. Him being ever so polite said, “Yeah, you have had those”. Sooooo, I called my friend Tammy to tell her the news. We got a good giggle.

We really should get a medal for being pregnant. All the changes our bodies go through. Here I sit, not able to cross my legs, my back is killing me, my boobs feel like they don’t belong to me and I weigh more than I ever have in my life. I have passed all my other pregnancy weights! Let’s not forget the constant need to pee, heartburn, nausea, sweating all the time, headaches, leg cramps, unable to breath, NO ENERGY, hard to stand up for over 3 minutes in one place and it is sooooo hard to get around.

I totally dread leaving the house. I thank God that Earth Fare, Green Life and Ingles have parking just for ME! All places should have a pregnant woman parking place. With the constant need to pee and walking from the parking lot to a store is VERY COMPLICATED. You are praying to God, DO. NOT. LET. ME. WET. MY. PANTS. Add toting a soon to be 3 year old with you can see how aggravating it can get.

The one thing I cannot complain about are the maternity clothes you can wear NOW. Things have really changed since I was pregnant 14 years ago and even 10 years ago. Back then you had these awful knit pants, BIG flowered dresses and these big shirts. I always used to say, “Why do they think pregnant women always want to wear FREAKING flower prints”? I admit I love/loved shopping and wearing maternity clothes when I was pregnant with O and now the new baby. There are so many options of these cute clothes. I personally have loved shopping at Gap Maternity and Motherhood. They make looking pregnant amazing withOUT the FLOWER prints! ~unless of course you want flower prints.~ I love showing off my baby belly. Stretch marks included. I have earned them.

Well, this pregnant woman is hungry. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Saturday.

Four More Days

until Lil O turns 3. Now the big debate is to give her presents to her on Tuesday or wait until her party on Saturday??? She is so excited about her party and I know if we have this big deal on Tuesday she is going to want her party NOW. Telling her Chuck E. is still sleeping wouldn’t cut it this time I am sure. ~See, I have to pass CEC when I go to Target. To which I do about once a week. Soooo, I tell her Chuck E. is sleeping and we cannot stop in for a visit.~ Perhaps we could give her the big gift Tuesday and give her the others on Saturday??? What would make my 3 year old the happiest?? That is all I want to do.

I see the rain has set in for the day. I’ll venture to the grocery later on with hubby. I have to work on my list first. Maybe I won’t even leave the house.

What’s on your menu for next week?

As I sit here and plan a menu and grocery list I want to gobble it all up NOW!

It looks like something like this:

~Tex Mex Lasagna
~ Homemade Veggie Burgers
~Baked Fish in Garlic Butter with Homemade Mango Salsa
~Ham with Pineapple Casserole
~I am craving an Apple Salad as well.

If you have a quick and easy family recipe you’d like to share. I’d love to add a few things to the rotation. lol

There is a TV monster in the house. What have we done?

In the early hours of the morning Lil O was tossing round whining “I want to watch something”. I laughed when I heard her. We have a TV monster in the house. Partially it is my fault. Since I have been so sick with this pregnancy the TV has been on more in the house. But a mom who is sick 24 hours of the day for the WHOLE pregnancy has to do what she has to do.

We are firm believers of ABSOLUTELY NO TV’S in a bedroom. Any bedroom. A bedroom is for sleeping. Reading. Talking. And you know, that thing that has us having a baby in 6 weeks. Nothing more! Not to sit and watch TV. So we are all forced to take turns on the “man TV”. I say that because my hubby picked out the TV last year and now this huge black box sits in the living room. Yes, it is HD and you just want to lick the ice cream cone in a commercial or run and grab a band-aid when you are watching a program and someone gets hurts. One of those “man TV’S”.

Back to Lil O. A TV should never be a baby sitter by any means. Yes, I do enjoy those 15 minutes of QUIET when Dora and Boots are on a grand adventure! I have been bad to leave the TV on for background noise. My fault. I know this. I will repeat again, a woman going through morning sickness 24 hours a day for the WHOLE pregnancy has to do what she has to do. So, we are going to work on our TV monster and wean her from background noise and useless kid shows that will suck the brain cells from her body. :)

I’ll add a little note here~~my sister watched O yesterday while I did the interview for the news bit that will air next Wednesday on the 5pm news about Doulas. My sister told me, “She is so smart”. That’s our girl. She is very smart for a soon to be 3 year old. I knew it wasn’t just me being a proud mom. She really is advanced for her age. lol

I am back to nesting. My new vacuum came yesterday. lol I have even tried it out of course. Today I am dusting everything in the living room and the office. Dust BEWARE! A pregnant hormonal woman has a new vacuum to play with. ~insert evil laugh here~

I am off to vacuum and eat a bagel with melted swiss cheese.