Completing the Checklist

I am not sure what gave me the idea to take my girls to get their immunizations updated the day before Thanksgiving but it is done and I blame it on placenta brain. I miss the old days where they had no idea what was going to happen and then they would cry for a few minutes. Then we would get home and they would take the best naps. Now they are too smart and they are upset before anyone even steps into the room.

I tried to explain why they needed these shots but it was like I was the teacher on Charlie Brown—wah, wah, wah, wah. Even as I was putting them to bed they felt the need to complain to me and ask the question why? Why did I single them out for this torture? I did have a lot of sympathy for my soon to be six year old who had to get four shots! She also had a slight fever even after being well medicated. The good news—they are done until adolescents. However, next time I think I would rather bathe cats!

Bad news—baby comes in the spring. I get to start the process all over again! Lucky me!

Just when I thought I might have to kill them

I find them in my bed all jammied up and having a moment. The two of them were not fighting for what seems to be the first time in an eternity. Here they were, little sister was reading while big sister was helping with the hard words. It was precious and helps me go to bed thinking…sure I have to do it all again tomorrow but darn it—it is sooooooooo worth it!!

Preggo after 35

My blog has been suffering from my lack of energy due to me being preggers. However, now I am coming to the end of the first trimester and I am starting to come out of the fog. Not sure if it the fatigue was related to the pregnancy or the lack of caffeine. I sure have missed my coffee and what I wouldn’t do for a Starbucks run. Oh well, it’s for a good cause.

Today was actually my second OB appointment and I had decided to take the girls. I had left them with a friend the first appointment because I didn’t feel like explaining a pelvic exam. Good move. However, I forgot that I have a retroverted uterus and therefore I always warrant a pelvic ultrasound until I am 16 weeks since they never find my babies’ heartbeats with a Doppler. So yep, there I am with my girls and immediately I see the bazillion questions that are going to follow over the next several days. (They had already been snickering at all the posters on the walls.) So anyway, it was homeschooling at its best. Me, undressed from the waist down and then the Midwife pulls out the stirrups. You should have seen my girls’ eyes!!! The soon to be six year old kept asking, “Mommy is this torture?” What can I say? I fake my best nothing wrong here and just point to the monitor with the bouncing fetus. As I get ready to get dressed #1 asks, “Mommy can I put my feet in those thingies?” Um no. This has now become my worse nightmare.

Further proof of this is what happened yesterday. I was sampling my 7 year old’s milkshake and she was mortified. She stares at me with disgust and says, “Great! Now I’m going to be pregnant!”

A lot of explaining……

Priority girls

So on Saturday night I was multitasking as usual. While watching college football I decided to update my bank accounts on my computer software. Well I guess in effort to make sure that I’m not playing some fun game or trying to read top secret email, AM1 peers over my shoulder and asks what I was doing. I reply that I was entering all the purchases we have made to see how much money we have in our bank account. She states how terribly boring that sounds and that when she grows up she will NEVER do that.

Fast forward five minutes. She pulls out a sheet of paper and wants me to tell her all the positions that football players play. I thought it would deter her when I told her there were twenty-two but no. Somehow that is not more boring than balancing a checking account. Go figure.

Religious training…not so much

So there was a conversation around the table this afternoon about Adam and Eve. We got into what they did wrong and AM2 chimes in “they ate the Fruits of the Spirit.” Ummmmm. I explain how that is half right but it was actually the forbidden fruit. But that was a nice segway and so I go there, “Do you know what the Fruits of the Spirits are?” (This is a trick question b/c her preschool had talked about it and so I know it was buried there somewhere) Her face becomes elated and she screams, “Oh yes…grapes.” Not exactly. But then she trumps me. She pulls out the scrapbook her teacher made at preschool last year and flips through. Then she finds this sheet of paper that she had stamped all types of fruit onto, apparently when they were talking about the Fruits of Spirit. Dang it if there weren't grapes on that art project! Where do I go from here? Score: 5 year old--1; mom---0

Lunch and a movie

Today seemed like the perfect opportunity to snag a flick since it was cool, windy and rainy. Apparently I wasn’t the only one that thought that. I guess us Southern California parents panic when we can’t ship the kids outside and look for some sort of rescue. Of course my true motive was that the thought of another day with all the neighborhood children in my house could possibly kill me—needed a plan of not being home.

So I broke down. The girls have been asking to see High School Musical 3 and so today was the day. I found it strange that when the movie premiered the girls weren’t interested in being the first to see it. All summer as the stupid thing was being promoted I had visions of us standing in line with a million squealing high school girls. But thank goodness my girls showed patience!

While talking about visions, I had also pictured my girls dancing around the theater singing at the top of their lungs. However, this was not the case. They were completely awestruck and glued to their seats. (Of course there was occasional singing but it was very subdued.) I have to admit that I was very impressed with the show. Maybe it was the fact that my expectations were so low but I was completely amazed at the production numbers and I forgot this is Disney people. They do everything BIG. Right?

Why I need a chauffeur

It has been a long while since I have had such a crazy day as a momager. It started when we left our house by 7am to head to an audition for a commercial. When we get to the casting metropolis someone had the audacity to put on the very first studio room just inside the door these words….MILEY CYRUS. It was some type of casting having to do with her but that isn’t the point. The point is my children lost all focus and getting them to cooperate with anything coming out of my mouth was nearly impossible. Anyway, we somehow survived and made it out of the audition. (minus one peak around for the mega star)

Once outside, the little one is so excited and uncontrollable she decides to start kicking at the kudzu lining the sidewalk. She is running and kicking. She stops and kicks furiously. Then takes off running and then tries to kick again but instead lands face down in the kudzu. I laugh so hard that I almost snort. The guy that passes us on the sidewalk is laughing really hard too. As background info, my daughter does not like to be laughed at. She becomes greatly offended so I’m thinking that she is going to get up in a rage and start chasing me until she can pound her fists into my delicate flesh. However she gets up laughing herself and states casually, “I meant to do that.” Finally maybe she is learning the art of laughing at yourself.

This was not the end of our day. We drove home or to Costco and then home for lunch. I furiously run around packing homeschool work and then pile us back in the car. We have a photo shoot to go to. In an act of mercy, the shoot was only ten miles from my house! This was perhaps the most enjoyable shoot either of my kiddos has ever had. Why? Well first there was fake snow and then there were the free clothes. More specifically the boots were a big hit. The little one got two pairs and she wore a pair on her feet and a pair on her hands all the way home. The big one who didn’t even work somehow scammed some free boots for herself. (She talked the bigger girl model out of one her free pairs. Not sure how she did it.) So right now as the little angels are sleeping in their beds the boots are lying right beside the bed but within arm’s reach. At least I talked them out of sleeping with them on. Score one for mom!