*DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!*

We have a gender for monster #2!

 (Yes, I nearly forgot to make this post in all the excitement. oops.)

This baby has been so very different for a very good reason. Monster #2 is going to make BIG changes to our little world as we know it. 

Monster #2 is a.....

BOY!!!

This is monster #2's face. Ain't he a gorgeous lil thang?!?! Handsome already. No, I will not post a pic of his naughty bits, you just have to take my word for it that this is a boy. 

I am clueless when it comes to boy babies. I have only ever even babysat one boy in my whole life much less raise one. All I have ever know is glitter & hair bows & sparkly girly things. We live in a house run by girls that is covered in pink & shiny bits n' bobs. I am not sure how a boy is going to cope in our house, heck hubby barely makes it around here unscathed. I am pretty sure at least once before he turns 1 year old he will be attacked by the 2 girl monsters & have bows put in his hair and possibly have some make up applied. 

The balance of glitter & girly is now going to be thrown askew with trucks & bugs. How will the universe cope with this shift? Who knows what will happen & how we will all be changed. 

ONE more day!!!

I have to wait one more torturous day to find out the gender of this baby. We find out Thursday October 3rd. if monster #2 will be a giggly girl monster OR a snotty boy monster. OR as my mother keeps telling me we will be finding out what all 5 of them are. Do you know what would happen if the ultrasound tech told me there were 5 babies in there?!?!?! If you said stroke out on the spot you might be right! Someone would have to catch my poor hubby before he hit the floor although same goes if they say there is any amount more than just the one. I am about to go nutty not knowing yet. In a perfect world you would know if it was a girl or boy the minute you peed on the stick...sadly not a perfect world.

You are probably wondering how far along I actually am at this point since we are going in for a gender scan. I am due February 23rd at this point I am almost 20 weeks. Hopefully baby will cooperate and my next post will be letting everyone know the gender of our precious monster #2.

This pregnancy has been crazy for me. I have been sick since way before we even found out I was pregnant and all I feel like doing is napping. 

This is all hard to fit into a schedule around a homeschooled 6 year old.

 The monster is fine with the fact she will no longer be an only but is torn by what we will eventually name monster #2. My monster votes we name the new one Pinky Pie or Ella of Frell. Hubby & I are actually very torn on what we like and do not have a single full name picked for a girl or a boy as of yet. I am hoping we can come to some sort of agreement before the baby gets here so we can have a real name on the poor thing's birth certificate & important stuff before we leave the hospital. With the monster I knew for a while even before the ultrasound she would be a girl. It didn't take us this long to pick her name, we had it ready & waiting the minute we were told for sure she was a girl. Monster #2 has me thrown for a loop I have no clue what it is going to be, aside form the obviously being a human baby. I suspect that much to the hubby's dismay #2 may very well be another girl but I would not take any bets on it. I am confident that whatever name we choose it will still be less embarrassing than being named North West, Sage Moonblood or Bear Blue.

*Mommy confession...let me air some dirty laundry here for a minute.*

I am also hoping not gain a million pounds with this monster. I worked so hard to lose weight before I found out I pregnant & plan to get right back on track as soon as baby gets here. A loss of 45 pounds is nothing to sneeze at & I really don't want to sound selfish here but I will be a bit depressed if I gain much of that back.

Wishes won't wash dishes...

BUT 6 year olds will!!

I told the monster now that mommy was pregnant she was going to have to help out by doing chores. She decided she wanted to help by doing dishes. 

I know it may sound cruel to have the little one doing dishes but like I said she ASKED.

She loves washing dishes. It is crazy to hear a child so small beg to wash dishes. She does a good job too. I was amazed by her skills i thought i would have to re wash or throw them in the dishwasher but nope. And yes i put most of the dishes in the dishwasher before she ever gets in the kitchen. She washed forks, spoons, cups and plastic dishes mostly. 

I am glad she is so eager to help out especially since I know how soon it will wear off. The first sign of teenageness and I know my eager dishwasher will barely want to load the actual dishwasher much less use her hands and soap to was them. I cherish the water covered floor and her use of entirely too much soap. She is so happy doing her tiny load of dishes while she stands on  her little step.

Time is fleeting and will be over all too soon.

Grab the little moments and hold them tight.

Love and be loved it will be over all too soon.

Enjoy the small things and make them last.

Share the things that make you happiest and the things that make you cry for time is fleeting and will be over all too soon.

morning GLORY

So....now that I am preggers I feel wonderful. Yeah that was sarcasm cause I feel like I have been dragged behind a truck for several miles. With the monster I had some sickness but not usually in the morning this time it is sorta all over the place. I have yet to have a day where I don't feel a constant nap is a necessity.

I am thinking this monster may be another girl. Hubby is hoping for a boy since we have two girls already. I am gonna hate to have to beak the news to him in a couple of months when we find out I am right. So far the Chinese calendar thingys say girl, I am craving sweets and the heart rater is over 160. Hopefully I am right cause I have no clue what to do with a boy, I can NOT operate those things! Not to mention we have tons of girls things laying around already so a girl is just cheaper. 

 

 

 

I have not felt like eating at all since I get sick every time I do. I have stocked my pantry with loads of ginger snaps, smarties (they help with the queasy) and cinnamon roasted almonds (not for anything just yummy) so maybe I will make it thru this alive.  Nobody around me seems to give a flying two cents that I feel bad they just seem to think I make this up like it is fun, I will have my revenge (muhahahahahahaaaa)

This is the very first photo of the monster to be. I don't think I am feeding it enough cause she said it didn't quiet measure up to 9 weeks. hmmm. Gotta get this monster up to snuff.

Party ANIMALS

The hubby had a birthday yesterday! We had cake over the weekend and some silliness ensued. Here is the photographic evidence of the events.

This was the cake. Small but very yummy! And YES we lit all of the candles.

 Everybody in their fancy party hats.

 The birthday boy.

 Isn't he handsome with that big smile??

The big monster flashing her best smile!

The monster. As always thinking she is princess.

My Dad (the original monster) dressed to the nines. Man he knows how to party :)

The hubby's birthday present!! Another monster on the way!! I am roughly 7 weeks and due in February.

ADVENTURES in MAKEUP land

The monster had friends over.

Here is a look into what happens goes on when someone else wanders into the monster's little world.

 Getting everything ready to start the application process.

They had enough makeup to start a beauty supply store.

Fancy shoes are always a must.

Yes, this is a "pair" of shoes on one child. 

The creativity of small children is boundless.

 Time to start fixing hair! Hair styling is not the monster's strong suit so by the time all was said and done someone else had done hair rather than her.

Anyone up for a mani/pedi?? 

This crew sure was!

Polish was flying everywhere. The monster loves painting nails and isn't half bad at it.

 

This is the monster's bossy face. 

I took this one for blackmail.

She was having an attitude and it was an ugly one. 

I don't call her the monster for nothing.

Overall the girls had a blast. They always have tons of fun hanging out together and playing. The monster can't wait for their next playdate.

WACKY wednesday

What did you wake up to this morning?
I Woke up to our neighbor's donkeys in our front yard!
Yup. you read right. DONKEYS. 
Levi and his lady Patches spent most of their day perusing the vegetable section in our garden. They also decided to eat out of the bird feeder and were fighting over it at one point. I knew you had to worry about squirrels getting the birdseed but donkeys were a new one for me, well, until today anyway.

After much indomitability on Levi's part we finally managed to get them back home. We learned two stubborn mules are stronger than one ATV. We also learned that Tank is good at herding things and rather enjoys it. The monsters liked that we had visitors first thing this morning since it shook up what could have been a very boring day otherwise. Levi is a very friendly beast of burden and actually walked right up to my monster to be petted, nothing just walks up to the monster. I am glad our new friends made it home safe and sound and maybe just maybe they won't decide to visit again for a while :)


 In the midst of all the donkey drama it rained a bit off and on. Two monsters saw an opportunity to as Ms. Frizzle would say "Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!" and played in the mud for a bit. This was the very first time for little cousin monster and my monster made sure she was well initiated.

That is one way to get a dirty diaper! By the time they were done they were filthy and look like a couple of little piglets. These two were so dirty the water in the tub turned brown.

monster in the garden!

 

She really likes to grow things.

 The most important thing is dressing for the job.

 She tells everyone she grew all this, really her Pop did and not her but she does not mind taking the credit for the hard work. I'll admit she does have a green thumb and has grown her own sunflowers.

 Admiring the fruits of all her hard work.

 

It can be tough being 6 and working this hard all day long in the sticky southern heat.

island time?? yes, please!

WE WENT ON VACATION!!! And I didn't want to come back home!
I LOVE Gulf Shores!! can you say AHHHMAAAZZING!?!?!?
OMG!!
SAND!!! I can smell the beach now!

We played in the sand and collected shells and just generally had a grand old time.
I wish i could say I had tons of pictures of my family to show off but sadly my family HATES to have their pictures taken.

On the way down. We left the house at around 5am so they were still a little on the sleepy side.


This mommy is thankful for iphones and kindles and amazing apps that keep children of all ages busy and quiet.

This is what most of her ride down looked like.

teenagers don't do mornings.

 We went to Fort Morgan.

The monster had more fun than anyone...well besides me.

The monster loves the civil war so this tickled her fancy to no end.


She loved all the cannons and dark & creepy spaces.

There were TONS of stairs.

We also went to the zoo.

This is my favorite zoo ever!

you can feed so many of the animals.

I always find something neat in the gift shop when we go. This trip the monster got  a sand filled giraffe which was super awesome since she collects giraffes.





My monster likes to feed things,
which is ironic since she doesn't actually like to eat food herself.

This guy was cute. He even seemed to like the monster right back.

we didn't stick around one animal very long since there were so many for her to look at.

We even managed to find the time to feed ourselves while were visiting. I had a lovely salad at this not so amazing little hole in the wall. We found a favorite place to eat but i am not telling because then it wouldn't be our secret place anymore and we would never be able to get a table there again if everyone knew how awesome it was. We only found two places that were less than spectacular in the whole week we spent vegging at the beach.


                                                 I WANNA GO BACK NOW!!!

smoke signals

life is always changing. things start & stop. sometimes you need to take a step back & just breathe. today was one of those days at my house.
my neighbor's house caught on fire today. they lost everything they own. the fire was apparently started by the heating system. the smoke was not that noticeable at first but has left a lasting impression on all that were here today.
the kids were devastated by the fact their stuff is now gone. the little boy is mortified that they no longer have a television & keeps asking when they will get a new one. the little girl is just lost by the fact they have nothing & no bed to sleep in of their own.
i have never had to experience anything like this so i do not know how they are feeling or what thoughts are going though their minds tonight. i do know how it feels to lose a person & thankfully no loved ones were in the house at the time of the fire.
i spent much of the afternoon talking to people trying to get clothes & diapers for the family. i posted on my facebook asking friends & family for anything they could spare. i was a little shocked by the amount or well lack of comments in response to my post about the days events. people i expected to comment that are always volunteering & helping those in need were nowhere to be found & in their place were people i rarely speak to or never thought would respond. i amazed daily by the people that surround me. people i call friends & people i do not associate with alike are always surprising me.
now let me clear some things up. i am not exactly what you would call friends with my neighbor but i am doing everything i would do if the same thing had happened to my best friend or a family member. i can only hope that the same generosity and kindness would be shown to me if it had been my house smoldering tonight.
the lack of generosity & love for one another in this world astounds me. love thy neighbor as thy self? i may not exactly love my neighbor but in their time of need i can most definetly overlook that fact & treat them with all the compassion i would expect if it were me or my family. now don't get the wrong message from all of this i am not asking you to pat me on the back for being a do gooder or anything like that, i just wish we could all treat each other with the respect & compassion we want to be shown ourselves.

things happen for a reason. i believe this happened because we all needed to remember what it is in life that is truly important. things do not matter they can always be replaced. the people that enrich our lives & give or lives meaning can never be repalced. it is the things that can not be held, the things that can not be burned that, the things that can not be changed the elements that make life truly worth while.

oh hello there!

ok so yeah i totally just noticed i have not posted in ages! yeah. things have happened that i have not blogged! OH NOOOOO!!!!

so here is a quick look at that went on(in no particular order) while i was so busy i couldn't take time to blog.

more major holidays. christmas. halloween. thanksgiving. nothing super awesome went on at our house around any of those holidays.

we have been to the doctor several times in the last few months. the monster seems to have an issue with UTIs so e have been on antibiotics & things like that. aparently it has been hurting when she pees to the pont of screaming. we are going to a urologist & have tests scheduled to see what exactly it is that is going on with her.

at christmas the mosnter racked up as uaual. nothing new there. she got toys & clothes & all things JUSTIN BIEBER. she is obsessed with the biebs.  she now has posters of justin all over her room. & yes they are on a 1st name basis now he is just justin. she is in LOVE with him like i was in love with NKOTB. my kid is a belieber.

halloween lead us to the search of a new costume. this year she was a pirate. she was a cute slightly girly pirate. she had boots a hat & even a pint size sword.

oh & we also got a dog. his name is boss. he is an american bulldog. boss is the laziest dog on the planet but also one of the cutest!

 we love our puppy. he is such a silly boy.

monsters in hula skirts

birthdays are always fun & around our house they seem to last a few days instead of just one. the monster's birthday was on thursday. the sister-in-law & i took her to old mexico for lunch.

they tried to put the sombrero on her & sing to her & she FREAKED out! she climed up me & got cool whip & cholocate all over me (they rub the spoon in your face for the pic). she screamed & cried. i don't think they even got to finish singing to her because of how she reacted.
the monster's birthday party was not until saturday. the party had a luau theme. she picked the theme on her own. i bought nearly all of the decorations & supplies from the dollar tree & my mom made the cake.

the inside of the cake was layers of rainbow colors.(not sure why i have no picture of the inside of the cake)

we had cookies, chips, ice cream and popsicles.

the kids played ring toss, blew bubbles, jumped on the trampoline and played in the monster's play house.

i almost didn't have candles to put on the cake. they were lost in the junk drawer in the kitchen.

the monster had to have some help blowing out the very last candle.  thanks to some eager volunteers all her wishes will come true.

the kids ended up playing in the water hose with the bucket that had bubbles in it. not sure how that happened but at least they were clean.

we gave them margaritas  in spite of their ages. ok so not really. they drank kool aid from the fancy glasses and felt like grown ups for the day.

    even the dog got in on the fun! she just wouldn't wear the sunglasses they wanted to put on her. 

and in the end my little monster was officially 4 years old. she had a great time with all of our family & friends. i could not have asked for a better party for her. now i have  to figure out how to top it for next year :)

the after party

after the party the girls decided they needed to keep rockin & had a tea party in the monster's room.

land of the lost easter eggs (better late than never)

growing up we had huge family get togethers for all the holidays. mostly because my mom has a zillion brothers & sisters & they all had two or more kids of their own. we had egg hunts(of which i always took the prize) & big dinners with loads of food.

easter morning i gathered the eggs from my fridge & got everything ready to color eggs. real eggs for her first time coloring easter eggs...it was going to be a magical morning.  i boiled the eggs, a full dozen, just for the monster to color. after they cooled i grabbed the cheesy lil box that contained my egg coloring kit. i opened the box & it was EMPTY! i had paid a whole dollar  for this box containing six tiny tabs of color an there was nothing but air inside...easter morning & i am left holding an empty box. on top of this disaster i was out of food coloring so we could not go that route to dye her eggs.
frantically i called my mom to cry to her about my empty box & what a disaster this day was turning out to be(the hubby had also had to work that day).  several minutes after our conversation the hubby pulls in the yard &  my phone rings...it is my mom...she is coming & bringing dye so the monster can hunt eggs!  the day is coming together after all!!
mom gets here we open the new box & pop the tabs into some cups & drop in some eggs. the eggs are turning colors & the monster is excited. i am however a bit dismayed. the eggs are barely colored at all they are beyond paste, barely visible. the hubby's granny stops by to say hello in the middle of all the chaos. she says she has some food color we can use to dye the eggs.
finally we have some visible color on the eggs &  we also have a very happy monster! my little sis & i go out & hide the eggs. the monster is unleashed to hunt down the hidden eggs. there is no prize egg or golden egg since it is just her hunting eggs...she wins no matter what.
the monster hunts them all & captures all but one egg. it takes us all almost thirty minutes to find the very last egg. it turned out the lil sis had forgotten where she hid it. we recovered the missing member of our egg clan & let the monster have at them. i think she enjoyed eating them more than hunting them.
 next year i  will make sure i have the stuff to dye the eggs a day or two before hand :)

monsters make messes!

when i was a kid i was always getting in trouble for my room being a mess. my room was never just a little messy if it was a mess it was a MESS. my room looked like you needed to call FEMA.

BUT...i always knew where everything was. not sure how i knew where it all was but that's the story i told my mom.

now that the monster is almost four she has learned the fine art of making excuses for not cleaning her room. so far her favorite excuse for not getting things done is "i am tired." or the occasional "i don't feel good.". she is getting more & more fond of using these excuses to TRY to get out of cleaning her room. the other day i tried to get her to clean her disaster area, oh wait i mean her room, & she looks at me & says "i don't feel like it." REALLY?!??!?! you gotta be kidding me!! DON'T FEEL LIKE IT?!?! YOU ARE 3&1/2 NOT 13!!! GIMME A BREAK!!

not only is her room a mess she has started bringing toy & junk into MY LIVINGROOM. yeah, the living room. we have a rule, NO TOYS IN THE LIVING ROOM, but it seems she may have forgotten this lil gem. she has her room & the classroom for her things. the living room is supposed to be off limits to the nonliving.

in addition to her messes she is now also the queen of dirty laundry(actual laundry). she has more dirty clothes laying around than a laundromat. i am not even sure when she wears all of these clothes i find hiding under toys & between mattresses.i have even found socks in the trash can! i guess she thinks clothes just magically appear out of thin air & there is some laundry fairy that flits around washing & folding her clothes(I WISH!!). my lil monster keeps me so busy with her laundry i barely have time to do anything else. i spend most of the day picking up loose socks,  folding tiny tee shirts, little jeans & don't get me started on the towels she messes just to dry her itty bitty munchkin hands with. 

maybe someday she will learn to do her own laundry & clean her own room but until i will gladly accept the responsibility as it is the duty of a mommy :)

happy new huh?!?!?

apparently we have stepped into a new year. i nearly missed this. i woke up friday morning thinking it was a regular ordinary day...WRONG...it was new year's eve!! i thought i still had weeks to prepare for this!!  guess i should check the calendar every now & then.

happy new year to everyone! i hope 2011 is filled with fun, family & friends & lots of money.