Rave: D(elivery) Day

The day finally came. Finally. Fi-na-lly. We arrived at the hospital this morning in the dark, wee hours of the morning for our 8:30 c-section. And at 8:46, the doctor pulled out a squirmy 7 lb. 10 oz., 20 inch long little dude with reddish brown, slightly wavy hair. I will say that it felt more like I had been carrying around a 17 pounder, but even under the spinal anesthesia, it felt like a giant weight was wrangled right out of me.

After some minor harassment, they got him crying so he'd cough up some amniotic fluid that he'd accidentally swallowed. And that's about the last time we've heard him cry all day. He's a content, calm little man. He just wakes up and looks around. This was taken shortly after he was born--he already knew how to find his thumb and lodge it in his mouth. He's been doing it all day--I love it because it looks so cute even though I'll probably regret it when the orthodontic bills come rolling in one day.

So he'll sleep, suck his thumb a little, eat like a champ for as long as I'll let him and then quietly go back to sleep. We're hoping this is a pattern that continues....we shall see.  I, however, am not a content LITTLE anything. I'm swollen to 18 times anything that could be considered normal size and my carpal tunneled-arms and my exploding polska kielbasa feet are about to pop and feel like they're stuck in a red hot flaming fire. Six i.v. bags of fluid in a six hour period will do that, I guess.  I hope this is a pattern that DOESN'T continue for long.

And now I'm off to try to sleep in between being poked, prodded, and having the amount of my pee measured. Sheesh. Child bearing forces you to lose any sense of dignity. Sure janitor, come on in and empty my trash while all my business is exposed. No big whoop. Invite your friends, we'll have a party.

Here are some bad cell phone pics of the new guy  a few minutes old. We forgot our memory card reader for our camera so those pics will be coming later...

Trace Bowen Fielding

(No--it's not Tres or Traze or Tre$--he's not a rapper. At least not yet...)

Ramblings: A real page turner

While in the waiting area picking my mom up from a medical "procedure" on her back, I had some time to flip through a few magazines. The first to catch my eye was of course:

(How could I not be drawn to that beauty, right?)

Is this a Texas thing? Although I've lived here a long time, I think this is the first time I've encountered this particular periodical in any doctor's office. I have seen plenty of livestock-related materials, but never a monthly magazine dedicated solely to rifles. Or the men that love their rifles. I'm thinking about writing a letter to the editor, posing as a female rifle-enthusiast that is put off by their sexist magazine title. But that would make me a feminist rifle-enthusiast and I'm pretty sure they'd know I was lying then. I'm guessing there aren't too many of those chicas running around. Well, they're probably not running. I pretty sure you shouldn't run around while you're busy being enthusiastic about and/or with your rifle.

But then I found an article in some whacky health food magazine that was music to my ears...er, eyes I guess, since I was reading. 

Umm, what kind of crazy person would choose a deep-fried twinkie over that fine, fluffy ball of freshly-spun pinkalicious tastiness?And NO FAT. Lovely.

But then the receptionist interrupted my cotton-candy daydream with, "Oh! You must be due anyday now!"

And then I had to pick up the magazine with the giant picture of a weapon and hurl it at her as a weapon. So maybe I am the first Pregnant feminist American Riflewoman; subtitled: "With Anger Issues--You Got a Problem With That?"

And yes, if you live down here in the South--where we love both our rifles AND more importantly, our cotton candy--check out what you can find now.

Yeah, that's right. Blue Bell--the undeniable RULER of all ice cream makers--has created a cotton candy flavor. And those others don't look so bad either.

Rant: Because I needed another reason...

A factual fairy tale for your amusement...


Once upon a time there was a large whale-like princess that waddled around her castle while trying to keep her unruly subjects in order. Or at least attempted to keep them off of tall and/or dangerous furniture. Her body was constantly sore and her belly was LARGE. And throughout the night, because the whale-like physique encroached so much on her bladder's territory, she waddled off to the bathroom at least three times in the darkness. Seriously. Dark. Helen Keller style--no lights necessary. The routine occurred in complete darkness because as anyone else that's been whale-like knows, completely waking up in the middle of the night is a dangerous proposition. The whale-like princess may NEVER get back to sleep, no matter how exhausted or tired she may be.

But last night was different. At her midnight  potty-break, she stepped into the bathroom and immediately felt a stabbing pain in her foot. Half-awake, in shock, and fumbling for the light switch, she contemplated what might have caused such pain. Perhaps one of the loose tiles finally shattered and a jagged shard was protruding from the arch of her foot. Perhaps one of the unruly subjects set a booby trap, attempting to ensnare their wicked task-master.  But what it really felt like was a hypodermic needle being shoved about two inches into her foot. Though the princess was fairly certain no sloppy diabetics or i.v. drug users were hanging out by her toilet at midnight.

So the whale princess finally flipped on the lights and after her eyes cleared, she looked down and saw a very dazed and flittering wasp on the floor. (Can you blame him? He just got stepped on by a whale.) And indeed, her foot was already turning red and swelling around the needlepoint sized dot in the arch of her foot. And then it began to sting. Alot. And then it throbbed. Alot. And the princess still had to pee. Alot. But for fear that the wasp might still decide to attack again, she couldn't risk using that bathroom and so she hobbled out into the hall. And maybe she was cursing that wasp under her breath. Just a little.

But remembering the hall bathroom was out of toilet paper because the rebellious subjects hadn't obeyed and replaced the roll, all the princess could do was stand and holler. Luckily, the prince had just rolled into the castle.

(Did the princess mention the prince is in trial this week? Meaning he's been absent around the castle since sometime last week. Including the entire weekend which REALLY ticked the princess off. And he sneaks in at weird hours and then leaves a very cranky princess in the wee morning hours.) Little does the prince know, he may find that his key and garage opener don't work by the end of this week.

But luckily the whale-princess's hollers brought the prince running because he thought the princess was in labor. Apparently she had PAIN in her voice--whether from the incredibly growing mass of a foot or from having to go the bathroom so badly--we will never know. And so the prince squashed the evil villain and the princess finally got to pee. (A new spin on the Princess and the Pea.) And yes, as if the princess didn't have enough trouble sleeping through the night due to the impossibility of finding any comfortable position with her whale belly, now she had to endure a foot that felt as if it was on fire.

And so today, the tired princess is hobbling and waddling around with one very inflamed and painful foot. Because she needed another reason to have a bad attitude and to walk funny. (I just googled "swollen feet" to try to find a funny picture. TRUST ME. I am doing you a favor by not showing any--most of them were really nasty.)

And so the princess and the 2 little subjects that have yet to start preschool (2 more weeks), are headed off (full of SPITE with REVENGE on the mind) to buy lots of this:

The whale princess has decreed: DEATH TO ALL WASPS.

Ramblings: Dreamers

On the 40 minute drive to my doctor's appointment yesterday:

Alex: (LOUDLY voicing his unhappiness about my deejaying skills for the 50th time) MOM! Turn in to channel 6. I hate your songs. They're so weird.
Me: Alex, when you have your own car you can listen to whatever songs you want.  And if I ride with you, I'll probably hate all of your songs.
Aidan: Mom, when I get big, can I get a car?
Me: Yes. Probably.
Aidan: Will it be this car? (the minivan)
Me: I'm pretty sure you won't want to drive this minivan in 12 years.
Aidan: Avery, did you hear that? We get cars. What kind of car are you going to get? I'm going to get a fighting car. With knives (or knights--I couldn't understand him) and fire (painted flames) all over it for fighting.

Think this:

Or this.

Avery: Yeah, I will get a fast car and I will drive SO fast. But not too crazy or the policeman will get me. But as fast as a big truck with a big engine. (the kid is obsessed with engines and why some cars go faster than others.)

Avery almost suffered an excitement-induced hernia when he saw this GIANT engine.

Aidan: Avery, probably you will want to ride with me because I have "Beat It" (Michael Jackson) in my car. And Michael Buble. And we will listen to those songs. And we can drive to Mexico. (what?)
Me: Actually, you guys will probably have to share a car.
--Stunned silence for a few seconds while they digest that they will have to make the impossible choice between a SO fast car and a fighting car for their Mexican vacation--
Aidan: Avery, can I drive when we are sharing a car? I'm a good driver. I know all the pedals.
Avery: Yeah, ok. I will drive sometimes.
Aidan: Ok.

Whew! I'm glad we got those plans all worked out. Then it started raining HARD and the conversation evolved into how windshield wipers work and how tires can drive with water on the ground.  My brain was hurting when we finally got there. Answering questions and explaining things so that 4 year olds will understand is fairly exhausting.

Jeremy met me there to take the kids to lunch during my appointment. I told him where the nearest Chickfila and McDonald's were. And they were off.

My  appointment was depressing. I gained even more weight. No surprise. And I'm measuring a week bigger than I supposedly am. Great--I'm carrying a sumo wrestler. He'll need to be to survive around here, I guess.  And I'm carrying lower now--dr said that's about right, especially because my uterus got so stretched out with the twins. It's just expanding to how big it was with them. Which means I have enough room to carry this kid til he's 13. No thanks.

I texted Jeremy when I was almost done.

-I'm almost done. Where are you guys.
-At a Chinese Buffet.

Not what I expected. And the whole ride home the kids just screamed about how hungry they were. Even though they said they had ice cream with sprinkles and those cookies with paper in them. I called to ask Jeremy why they were so hungry after they had just eaten. Well, it turns out that the buffet was a great deal--only $14 for all of them. That would explain it--he said the food was pretty nasty. But the ice cream had sprinkles!
I need a Mexican vacation. Don't worry--I know all the pedals. 

Ramblings: August ain't for sissies

Let me break it down for you. I go through this vicious cycle where I'm doing good at keeping this dang thing updated but then for one reason or another, I fall behind. Far, far behind. So far behind that the blog is a tiny speck in my rear view mirror. And then it's frighteningly overwhelming to attempt a catch up post that might possibly qualify for Guinness Book's "World's Longest and Most Boring Blog Post."

So...because I'm lazy and sitting in this "ergonomic" office chair makes my back hurt more than before I sat down, leaving me even crankier,  I'll do my best at hitting the high points and random thoughts during my heat-induced blog disappearance.

*Maddie turned 7 in July. She got an orange mustache for her birthday. She's apparently a little embarrassed about her colored facial hair.

* Jeremy was made partner in July and got a new spiffy office. Sounds fun, right? Partially. It just so happens that we had to furnish and decorate the whole thing during a couple of the busiest weeks ever. We were about to leave on a 10 day trip, Jeremy was in Hong Kong for a week, all the kids were home all day (have I mentioned that very few kids enjoy shopping for desks, bookcases, couches, whiteboards, etc.?), and I was continuing to have back issues that made walking feel like someone was stabbing me repeatedly in the lower back with some sort of crudely fashioned prison weapon.

Luckily, we finally found what we needed and in the past few weeks it's been slowly pieced together. I told him he should just drag in a whole bunch of huge boxes from IKEA and then be like "What? This isn't the kind of stuff you had in mind for a partner's office?" I do have actual pictures on Jeremy's phone but I'll wait until I finally get the family pictures up on the final wall until I show you.
I know. You're just on the edge of your uncomfortable ergonomic chair in anticipation. I will say--there's a shag carpet involved. Oh, ok. I'll show you. The star thingies are shaggy and I love em.
*Here are two pictures I'm considering enlarging for his office wall:

That about sums them up.
*We took a trip to Washington in July. We put about 1800 miles on the minivan we rented in Seattle. We got to visit with most of Jeremy's family--siblings included, which is a rare event (sorry to miss you Dave and Ciana).  Activities included: swimming, the peanut game, movies in the theater, birthday parties, basketball, and enjoying the COOL summer weather and fire-ant-free grass. The cousins got to run around and play and carry on in general silliness all night and day. How many cousins can we cram in one hot tub..? And luckily I think the Grandma and Grandpa's bed and breakfast survived our night there--and no toilets had to be removed like last time.

 

We spent the next few days at Grandpa Fielding's in the mountains of Oregon. Grandpa's got himself alot of land and horses--he's a cowboy at heart.

We all got crackin' to help the cowboy get his yardwork done. How could you not enjoy being outside in a place like this though...? And you see, Grandpa likes his BIG lawn looking dazzling. Meaning that we can't leave the cut grass on the lawn--so we raked, and raked, and raked (well, the boys raked. I drove the four wheeler with the grass wagon filled with some crazies behind me). And we hauled all the cut grass into a pasture far, far away. And Grandpa's several acres of lawn was dazzling at last. I'm not embarrassed to say that I was glad we weren't there two weeks earlier when they were stacking hay. I'll take the grass wagon over the hay baler any day.

Nothing hotter than a guy wielding a pitchfork in knee socks...

Do a good job, guys. Grandpa's watching!

There was still plenty of time for some monkey business...

 I'm not sure which set of brothers was more excited to get out on the basketball court. This little set of brothers...

or this much bigger set of MUCH more competitive brothers. That scream and yell at themselves when they miss shots. And play until they're covered in sweat and blood from diving on concrete. And make 'Your Mom' jokes throughout the game.

Here are Jeremy and his sibs (minus Ciana) with Grandpa and Grandma--and the slightly creepy cowboy that lives on Grandpa's porch. When we first pulled up into the driveway and the kids saw the creepy stuffed cowboy, they were sure it was Grandpa. "He's out there waiting for us!" In case you're confused, the real Grandpa is the one in the overalls.

*After a week, we drove back down towards Seattle for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary/reunion at a campsite up in the mountains near White Pass. Yeah, that's right. I said CAMPING. (Although, is it really camping if they have heated showers?) Not only did we pack for a 10 day trip, we packed stuff to camp in the COLD mountain air. We had a great turnout and a great time.  60 years--now that's a long time to put up with each other! Each of my grandparents' kids and their families are color coded--navy, black, green, orange, blue, and red.

One of the best parts: I wasn't hot. Except in the sweltering kitchen. But outside--fabulous. And at night, it was COLD. Cold like your nose froze and you slept with as much of your body inside of your sleeping bag as you could cram. (For me that was fairly difficult. Did you know sleeping bags aren't really designed for pregnant people?) And so fabulously chilly in the mornings that I wore jeans for a few hours.  Also at night--chipmunks raided our tents and tried to crawl on our faces. Not as cute scurrying around in the pitch black as they are up on the tv screen singing "Me, I want a hula hoop." My little brother is still seeking therapy for his midnight chipmunk encounter. 
And y'all--I canoed. Stop that. Bite your tongue. No jokes about my largeness tipping the canoe--we remained afloat. And it's a good thing cuz that water was freezing cold.

The kids were glad we didn't give into their demands for cheap, flimsy sleeping bags with fun characters on them.  They figured out pretty fast how to disappear to stay warm. Although by morning they had wiggled out and looked like little caterpillars coming out of their cocoons. Alex apparently hadn't emerged yet.

We had a talent show one night in the amphitheater. I won't make you watch the relatively long videos we took, but Alex recited the Gettysburg Address that we bribed him to memorize and Maddie sang Love Story by Taylor Swift from memory. Acapella. Because Jeremy's ipod was dead and we didn't have the music on a cd. I was surprised she was so bold to do it in front of so many people. Jeremy was BEAMING. He grew up singing in front of crowds and he saw a future performer in the making.

We had an afternoon in Seattle before we flew back home to the heat. We took the kids to the aquarium, did some general sightseeing, ate some seafood, and shopped a little. It was actually freezing and since the kids stuff was packed and at the hotel, they each scored a very touristy SEATTLE sweatshirt jacket.

I discovered what kind of fish I would choose to be...this little guy had me laughing. It looks like he's wearing a full set of dentures and grinning from ear to ear. How could you not love this fish?

And that night I got deathly sick with fever, chills, and a headache that made me wish I could detach my head for a few hours. The sickness followed me home and lasted for another two weeks after it morphed into a sinus infection, ear infections, and then bronchitis. Ah, being sick and pregnant is a magnificent combination. All of the misery--none of the good drugs.

*Sunday Avery came up behind me and patted each side of my hips and said, "Wow, Mom. Your bum is sure getting big!" Thanks, dude. Just what I needed. 
*This August has been hotter than hot.  This is what I have to look forward to this weekend. Add that to the 50% humidity, and my deodorant doesn't stand a chance. 

*Our air conditioning stopped working last Friday at about 5:40 pm. I thought I might die. Within 20 minutes the temperature in the house rose 5 degrees and I started getting nervous. Luckily we were able to find someone to come out even though it was a Friday night. He got there at about 8 and had the thing going shortly thereafter--a blown fuse or something. But I fled at about 6:30 to roam Target while Jeremy waited it out in the inferno of a house. Once I got word that the temperature was below 80 in the living room, I came home.  I'm no hero, ok? And I'm fine with that.
*We still haven't thought of a name for the baby. And no, Baby Wiener will not make it onto the birth certificate. Any suggestions? Jeremy's starting to get anxious, but I figure sometime in the next few weeks we'll decide on something non-hideous.
* My back is aching from this dang office chair. I'll have to catch up more at another time. I'm off to go sit in front of one of my high-powered oscillating fans (in a very NON-ergonomic chair).

*Oh wait, my phone is ringing. Guinness Book's on the line. Hmm...I must be up for that award.

Ramblings: Hotel Cali and Mustachios

Saturday night we got ourselves all spiffed up (meaning we showered and actually put on unstained, matching clothes) and headed downtown to the Eagles concert. We spent the whole night being amazed that they were the ones behind all these songs we always knew and loved. They kind of ruined the buildup though when they sang "Hotel California" and "Witchy Woman" in the first half of the concert. The crazy part of the night was that the concert was "blacked out," meaning that none of the monitors, jumbo screens, or even the lights in the box where we were at were allowed to be on. We practically had to feel around on each others' faces Helen Keller style to figure out who were were talking to.

They had a bunch of food and a giant carrot cake out but I couldn't sample much since I had stuffed my incredibly squashed stomach beforehand with what the restaurant at the Ritz Carlton called "Chicken Fried Lobster and a BBQ Filet." Uh, YUM, in case you were wondering.  Although I had an upset stomach all night because--shocker!--I don't normally consume that rich of a dinner menu at 8 o'clock at night on a routine basis. Unless you consider grilled cheese on 7 grain bread to be gourmet. This is the room we were in--I didn't take the picture, but obviously someone else was impressed by that chandelier, too.

Then yesterday morning Jeremy took off on the week long trip to Hong Kong that I've been dreading for months. (How come these trips never fall during the kids' school year?) Luckily, the week long trip to LA that was supposed to happen the days immediately before was postponed until later in the summer. And another two day trip to Houston was canceled. So the three weeks of travel got widdled down to one for him, and my remote possibility of staying mentally stable without any nighttime backup at least slightly increased.

He's been a bit nervous about the 15 hour flight he had to take from San Francisco to Hong Kong. But considering he can sleep ANYWHERE (and has--including the mortifying time he fell asleep in the HUGE physical science lecture class we took together in college and then--how should we say--passed gas for the entire class to hear) I didn't think the flight would be a big deal. Plus, he gets his own little cubicle with personal recliner, tv, etc. So cry me a river. I'd LOVE to go sleep for 15 hours straight without someone asking me to turn on cartoons or the daily morning wakeup call for chocolate milk. BECAUSE DON'T YOU KNOW??! FOUR YEAR OLDS SHRIVEL UP AND DIE IF NOT FED CHOCOLATE MILK WITHIN 7 MINUTES OF WAKING UP. They are their own unique kind of gremlin. I did get a little worried when he called me yesterday afternoon when they arrived in San Francisco after less than a four hour flight that he said "felt like lasted forever." Ok. Now do that times five and you'll be there!

Everyone he talked to told him to bring some Ambien so he could sleep most of the time, making the huge time change easier. So he got some and I was really, really hoping that when he finally crashed on the airplane in a drug induced slumber, that Jason (the other attorney from work he was traveling with) would take advantage of the opportunity.  I would have been happy if he would have sharpie-d any of the following facial hairdos on him. I really would have loved seeing him packing up his briefcase and getting ready to get off the plane with a brown sharpie, bull-fighter style mustache drawn on his face. All the while just assuming people were staring at him for being in the minority as a super tall white guy (with an awesome 'stache). 

But I'm guessing Jason didn't do it-- I should've slipped him these ideas at the concert the night before--because Jeremy called an hour ago and they just got to the hotel. No mention of permanent marker drawings on his face during his Ambien coma. It's weird that I'm here fixing the gremlins chocolate milk and he's about to go to dinner.

The first thing the cab driver told them they could do while they were there is visit a hot part of town where there were good bars and lots of "easy" Thai women, but rest assured, "they're not prostitutes, they're free--but you do have to buy them a nice meal." How pleasant.

And a friend from church hooked him up with the name of a tailor near the hotel that will make him some custom suits and shirts for cheap. He'll be measured for his Christmas present early. 

Nice to know he'll have plenty of things to do in his free time. And if anyone happens to be on a flight from Hong Kong to Dallas in a week sees this guy asleep...

please whip out your sharpie and do me proud.

Rant: I'm hot (and not the cute kind of hot, unless pit stains are attractive)

Let me break it down for you: Being 6 months pregnant in a Texas summer stinks. Quite literally and figuratively.  I can't cool off.  I sweat non-stop. I can't afford to air condition the house to a temperature I would enjoy. The only place I can find relief is when I'm hauling the crazies around in the minivan. That lovely mom-mobile can pump out some seriously cold air in a hurry. And all the vents in the front half are pointed in my direction. But get this--my kids have started bringing blankets in the car because they whine and cry the whole time that they're freezing. I'm sorry--but freeze. I'm in the process of GROWING a person and it's 110* outside. I'm an inferno--so drag your little blankets with you because the air's coming on full blast.

I've looked into getting one of these for the house so I can drag it around behind me no matter where I go. (Don't you think I could have some little wheels installed there along the bottom? Or prop it in a Little Tikes wagon?) Plus, I'm pretty sure it'd be really loud and I can't help but think I would appreciate all the tattling and whining I wouldn't hear with it on.

Ramblings: Crazy catch-up

I have finally downloaded the all the pictures that have been sitting in my camera. This past few weeks has been a blur of activities, awards ceremonies, baseball games, sweating in the 100* heat, end of year parties, birthday parties, and a visit from a fun aunt, uncle, and cousin.

The aforementioned visit by her adorable 1 year old cousin Laura only confirmed to Maddie that she is going to be utterly disappointed when she will have yet another stinky brother to play with, instead of a fantastically girly little creature to follow around that actually enjoys learning how to accessorize and dress up.  We'll have to borrow female cousins from time to time so she'll survive.

(Maddie left them a funny note one day in which she wrote "To Peter: You're the craziest guy I know." Peter's pretty mellow, so it was a rather hilarious description--especially considering the crowd she currently resides with.)

If I work backwards, maybe I can remember most of the stuff I planned on writing about at the time.

*Last night, almost exactly a month before her 7th birthday, Maddie lost her first tooth. Not to be outdone by her greasy tool-wielding Uncle Brent, Jeremy pulled it out with a pair of needlenose plyers. Why he couldn't have just used a paper towel, I will never know. But the thing is finally out, and she was SO excited.


*Alex and Jeremy went to the BYU father and son's basketball camp in Utah for four days over Memorial Day. They had a blast, hung out with all the BYU basketball players, ate like kings in the dorm cafeteria, and played more basketball than their legs appreciated. When they finally got in from the airport on their first night there, it was about 1:30 in the morning and there were still tons of college students outside playing football, riding around on bikes, and hanging out around town.  Alex was amazed--"Why are all these people still awake at 1:30 in the morning?"  "Cuz that's what you get to do when you're in college." And then after he saw the huge cold cereal selection in the cafeteria the next morning, he was sold. He's already started filling out his applications.

Jeremy's had Alex watching all the BYU games for years, so he was amazed when one of his favorite players, Jimmer, sat down next to them to eat on the first day. (Don't get me started on the name Jimmer. Yikes.)

Alex hiked up the mountain with the famous Y on the side, despite his overwhelming fear of heights (apparently a cute 20 something student heard his despair before they started and stopped to assure him he would indeed survive and that it wasn't that bad once you got up there. All it takes is a cute college girl and guys will pretty much climb whatever mountain you tell them to...even though he still looks like he's about to throw up.) I was about to throw up after spending the 4 1/2 days by myself trying to entertain the other three.  There's not much to do when everything makes you hotter than you already are and achy all over. Good thing Grandma's pool was nice and cool. And the little boys finally decided that naps at Grandma's house are cool.

* The twins turned four last Sunday. FOUR. IV.  Can you believe it? I assumed by 4 they'd be over all their wild shenanigans.  Hmmm--not so much. We had a small party at Grandma's after some swimming and we'll be doing another since Dad and Alex are back. They asked for a pirate party so Auntie Brooke was nice enough to whip up this hilarious Pirate cake for them.
Here's the video of the cake festivities. Maddie insisted on singing with this electronic candle that played Happy Birthday at doubletime.
Grandma and Grandpa gave them all sorts of fun stuff--including Spiderman sunglasses--which will go great with the new swim stuff that their Grandma Apples sent them. Aidan struck this pose for me when I asked to see them.

* Maddie and Alex both received school awards for being on the A honor role all year. Maddie got the "Friendship" award in her class for being such a good friend to everyone. We're so excited because her teacher is moving up a grade and she gets to have her again next year.

Alex received the "Outstanding Character" award. Don't know if it was for having it, or for being one. Maybe both. He missed his ceremony because he was gone being amazed by 7 foot tall guys jumping around.

*Alex played at his piano recital a few weeks ago. Sorry no video, but here's the audio. He played one of the pieces he memorized earlier a couple months ago for a competition. His teacher really had him focus on dynamics--making things louder and softer, playing the staccato notes quickly, etc. He's played it so many times that he usually plays it at 900 miles an hour at home, which luckily he didn't do in the recital.

He must have made Dad proud (or else Dad was just craving peanut butter cups) because he came home with an ice cream stained suit. I was home on crazy 3 year old duty because the napless fools were in no shape to make any public appearances (although the audio may have been far more entertaining). Since I got to attend his nail-biting competition last month (he was a nervous wreck), it was Dad's turn to accompany the maestro.

*I'm getting more and more ginormous by the day. People look shocked when I tell them I still have to make it thru the end of September. Yeah, I get it. I'm huge. Thanks. Maddie got to go with me to my latest sonogram a few weeks ago, where it was reconfirmed that it's a boy and Maddie made barf noises in the background. She had pulled a muscle in her leg and had trouble walking and straightening it, so she got to skip school. We made a day of it with shopping and then lunch at her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden.  The kid loves soup and salad.  I tried to convince her that in the future, we'll get to do girl days all the time and we'll leave all the stinky boys at home with dad. She's starting to accept the only girl thing.

That's all for now. The boys have found glue and are doing a "project." Must go investigate.