Murphy, you may go away.

So on a normal week, I'd have all the time in the world on Thursday to work. I try not to take advantage of my wonderful mother, but she's always so happy to watch the girls for hours if necessary so I can get my work done. She's also often off on Fridays, and I know if I got really behind she'd help me out then too. Normally, I don't need her to work for hours; I have a few things to do, they run smoothy, and I go home!

Today is not normal.

Today I have extra work to do in the form of another bulletin. I'm happy to do this (and getting paid a little, as well!) for my preggo friend who is due YESTERDAY and of course for the ministry of the church. However, I hit a little snag resulting in needing to use a new program (which is actually very cool) and it's taking me a little longer than I thought to get things just right.
AND
We didn't meet until Wednesday to plan worship this week so I'm already behind.
AND
The copy machine is down.
AND
I still have 400 Sanctuary bulletins to print and then 130 Impact bulletins to print.
AND
I haven't even started my Media Shouts for the week.
AND
My mom has to leave at NOON today.

So Murphy, you may GO AWAY!

Disclaimer: I'm whining a little here. It's totally going to all get done (assuming that the copy machine is fixed, of course); it's just going to require a little more creativity from me. If the copy machine isn't fixed, then you are all going to have to just pay attention in church to what comes next. :)

What happens when you leave the front door open

This morning at about 1:30am, Matt wakes me up and says, "Do you hear that? It sounds like a cat?"
"mew, mew, mew" we hear. In our bedroom.
I was too scared to look because I had been dreaming and I thought maybe it was something scarier than a cat, so Matt had to fumble for his glasses.
Yup. Cat.
It just wanted out, so Matt opened the front door and let it out.
I'm pretty sure it had wandered in last evening when Matt left the front door open to run some things out to the garage.
I bet it won't come back now that it knows we don't have food, water, or a cat box.
Weird, weird way to wake up in the middle of the night.
And definitely a first.

Fun with things that aren’t toys

Natalie really does love putting Matt’s (clean) underwear on her arm like a purse.  Last night she kept saying “bye bye” walking around with them.  She likes real purses, too, but I guess these were more handy.

Finally Some Bluebonnets!

We just barely caught the bluebonnets.  They were seeding and pretty crunchy and there were only about 14 of them.  But we did it!

Enjoy!

I got some cute ones of each of the girls, but not really any acceptable ones of them both.  Oh well!

I had to take about eight to get this one.  I kept asking her silly questions to get her to smile… or at least look pleasant.

Like I said – no good ones of both the girls!

We definitely should have gone earlier in the season, but, well, we just didn’t!  Next year I’ll have three kiddos to follow around on the bluebonnet hill.  I wonder if they’ll all be wearing pink?

More on the decluttering/organizing front

Yesterday I worked a little on the laundry room part of our laundry/pantry/storage room.  There was a ton of clutter and junk in this area, along with some TV trays, a step stool, and a plastic shelf unit.  I moved all of it except the junk and clutter to the other end of the room so I could put my new recycling spot here.  I’ve been using crates/diaper boxes/whatever for my recycling just on the floor on the other side of the room, but I’ve been really wanting some tall trash cans for this space to organize it and better use the vertical space.  Two are for plastic because that fills up fast, one for metal, one for paper, and the Pampers box is for glass, which I almost never recycle.

 

I love the lids on these things!

The theory is that I’ll put these in the car every weekend and dump them at the park in ride, starting fresh every week.  We’ll see.  :)

I also worked Saturday evening on tagging things for Baby Daze!  Can you believe it?!  I figured I wouldn’t want to be wading through the garage seven months pregnant in the dead of summer doing it.  There’s some pinning left to do, but mostly it’s ready to deliver to the church – whoo hoo!  I don’t have a ton of stuff, mostly toys my girls just never played with much and a few clothes that never fit them well.

15 Weeks

 

14 weeks, 1 day.  Not my best shot, but I hate that I’ve been so lazy in taking weekly pictures lately!  Matt wasn’t home, so I had to use my tiny tripod – oh well.

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

How far along: 15 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: swelling feet (I know it’s early; I’m out of shape.), little belly pouch, headaches (probably not related, but who knows!)

Food Cravings: fried okra, Dr. Pepper (always!), gummy bears, meat,

Sleep: good!

Measurement: 34.5 inches around

Movement: tiny little nudges

Labor signs: none

What I miss: not much… well maybe some of my clothes

What I’m looking forward to: next week’s appointment – love hearing that tiny heartbeat!  I’ll also be able to schedule the 20 week ultrasound.  It’s getting close!!

Milestone: second trimester – phew! I LOVE having energy lately.  I’m still normal-tired from life, but it’s not that debilitating, all consuming, total exhaustion.  Man, that wasn’t fun.

Thoughts from the Girls: I’m trying to think about involving Natalie a little more.  When I was pregnant with her, I was involving Joanna, even though she was so young.  I was remembering today as I attempted to tell Natalie there was a baby in my belly, that Joanna LOVED lifting up my shirt and pointing to my belly button, which I’m pretty sure she thought was the baby.  Joanna’s big enough that she talks with me about the baby.

Doctor’s visit: none

My Happy Children the Day Before the Day of Much Sickness

On Saturday the girls spent a little while outside with Matt while he worked on yard work, and they loved it! After naps I decided to head to Sonic for a Dr. Pepper (I’m a little addicted lately) and I took the girls with me so Matt could finish up edging the front. Natalie did not want to come. She wanted to rake.

I think it’s pretty funny how Natalie will put on hats and wear them around for a while.

She’s just so cute!

That afternoon Joanna and I went to a birthday party for her friend Savannah from school. It was at Kids in Action! We’ve never been there before, but you couldn’t tell by looking at Joanna! This place was definitely fun for her!

I didn’t take a ton of pictures, and the ones I did take weren’t great because I was so busy sitting on my behind.

Thankfully, Savannah’s big sister Sutton enjoyed pushing Joanna in this swing. And somebody nice got her in and out (I wasn’t paying super close attention at those times, I guess.)

She only went down the roller coaster once. I’m not sure if that’s because she had to stand in line or because it just wasn’t her thing. Her legs went pretty high up in the air when they started down the slide!

Bubbles!

Joanna definitely enjoyed the “open gym” part of the afternoon more than the structured games/activities. You can see all the kids still playing with bubbles in the background. My little girl got bored pretty fast with that but noticed the equipment was pretty empty of people!

She did try all of the games (I think), including this one where she had to stomp on a board to make her frog fly. Probably not something that would entertain her for hours…

One parent-involved activity was swinging the kids around on scooters using jump ropes! It took us quite a few tries to find a position where she didn’t immediately fall off, but once we did, she really enjoyed cruising! I got a little exercise, myself. (FYI, the camera makes my arm hair look really long and shaggy. It isn’t.)

Sitting on the green line. I’m not exactly sure what she’s doing to this kid.

Joanna was very good at shaking the parachute!

And she really enjoyed being in the middle!

Here is Joanna with the birthday girl! Savannah is opening the present Joanna brought her. I think Joanna’s telling her all about it.

Pizza and Capri Sun – whoo hoo!!

It’s funny – she asked for one of those juices this morning when her ear was hurting so much. :( I’d have given her one if I had it!

It was nice to have a fun Saturday before our pitiful Sunday. To update you, though, the girls really perked up this afternoon. Natalie started acting pretty normal around 1:00 – after her Tylenol kicked in – but even after it would have/did wear off, she continued to play and eat and have a good day. Yay!! Joanna slept from like 1:30-4:30… after asking to go to bed, and she woke up a new woman. I got both girls to eat some soup and drink some ice water. They also probably each ate 25 crackers (hyperbole!). I don’t think Natalie had a fever at bedtime, but I didn’t check. Joanna did, so she got another dose of Tylenol. Her temp was only about 101.4, and considering it was the end of the day, that’s not too bad at all. My kids don’t tend to run high fevers though. Thankfully. So maybe they’re on the mend or maybe they’re just waiting to both feel really awful after Matt goes to work tomorrow. :) He deserves some time away with hopefully healthy people. The poor, sweet man got thrown up on three times today! Ew.

The best laid plans...

Let's start with MY plan for the day:
-Wake up early, get just myself ready for church, take care of Didi, work in the nursery at 8:00
-sing for the 9:40/11:00 services with Sola Gratia
-Have Matt get himself and the girls ready for church and meet me there at 9:40
-Everybody goes home after I sing at 11:00 for a yummy lunch then naps
-I work in the nursery again at 6pm for a couple of hours
-People eat leftovers or something

Instead...
Joanna climbed into our bed at 1:30am, complaining that her right ear hurt... again. She just finished a round of antibiotics on Thursday for her infected ears. Clearly that didn't do the trick. She was miserable all night long, in and out of our bed, tossing and turning, but sleeping a little bit. I gave her some Tylenol at some point to make her feel better. I think it helped with the sleeping. I got up and got ready, then decided I would wake Natalie up and take her to church with me, leaving Matt with just sick Joanna. So we woke Natalie up and discovered she had a fever and grody cough. So I left poor Matt at home with two sick children. :(
When I got to the church I called the pediatrician's office, which is open on Sunday mornings, by the way, and made an appointment for Joanna. I didn't think Natalie was sick enough to warrant a copay of her very own. :) Matt got to take both girls to the Kingwood office for Joanna's appointment with Dr. Butler... which turned into Natalie's appointment too after she threw up all over Matt... twice. Poor poor man. All the while I was taking care of happy, healthy kids and singing in the service. After I sang at 9:40 I called Matt and actually got to talk to Dr. Butler on the phone. Matt really doesn't know about all the girls' allergies and recent history and stuff. I mean, he basically does, but it's kind of mostly my job to remember. We decided to go ahead and give Joanna Augmentin, even though the time she had Amoxicillin she got a rash. Talking to Dr. Harper last week and Dr. Butler today, we think maybe that wasn't an allergic reaction, that maybe it was just a rash. The Omnicef she got last week just didn't do the trick -- hopefully the Augmentin (which I'm allergic to!) will, and she won't get hives (which I would). Natalie also got a prescription for some anti-nausea meds. She hopefully won't need them though, since she hasn't thrown up since before the appointment! I think the main reason she got them was so that she would keep her antibiotic down. Cause remember she has an ear infection, among other things. The doctor also though her cough sounded pretty croupy, and she may need steroids if it gets worse tonight. Oye. What I want to know is whose going to come help us when all three kids are sick? :) Anyway, back to my long boring story which is more for me than anyone else. I picked up the meds on my way home. The girls had fallen asleep in the car and Matt just opened the doors of the van and let them sleep! Remember now that he's still in his vomit clothes. (Oh, a side-note -- I JUST switched diaper bags to one that I can just throw into the wash, which is handy since Natalie threw up all over it. I'm so thankful.) I came home with meds, chocolate, and Sonic drinks. I managed to get Joanna to drink a little grape slush, but she really really just wanted to snuggle. Okay! Natalie perked up after some Tylenol and drank a couple spoonfuls of chicken broth from the soup Mamma and Pop brought over. Love them! I also gave Joanna some Tylenol since I think she has a fever and was just acting so miserable. I almost couldn't get her to drink it, though. Then she asked to go to bed, but threw up on the way there. Uh oh. I think she's sleeping now. I hope some of the Tylenol made it down. She's got a bucket in there with her. What a whammy of a sick day for the Pence girls! Hopefully it will remain the little Pence girls and nobody else!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star as performed by Natalie Pence

My Jo-Sweetness

On our way out to the car, Joanna was showing me her “angel wings.”  I guess that’s what her teachers call it when they walk around with their hands behind their back.

 

She’s so pretty.

This afternoon Matt came home from work a little early, so we finally took the van full of books to Half Price Books.  I had 5 file crates and one Pampers box full of books to sell.  They took them and gave me $66!!  It was almost no work, too.  I may have been able to get more money by selling them individually online… who knows?  But this was sooooo easy!  And I cleared out a bunch of clutter and came home with $66 for savings.

I guess Joanna had had a pretty tough day.  She crashed on the way home.

I love the purse over her shoulder.  She cracks me up.

15 month check-up

Joanna and I took Natalie for her 15 month doctor visit today.

In the waiting room, Joanna didn’t want to wear her bow, so I gave Natalie an up-do. Ha!

Isn’t she just so big?!!

Joanna had to try out the table first.

In case you can’t read the purple crayon, here are Natalie’s stats:

Weight: 21.6 (does anybody know if this is 21.6lbs or 21lbs 6oz?) My brain doesn’t know.

Height: 29 inches

Head circumference: 18 5/8 inches

That puts her at about the 15th percentile for height and weight. Compared to Joanna… quite a chunk!

Dr. Harper took a look in her ears and found an infection in the right one. :( Now we’ll see if she’s allergic to amoxicillin like the rest of us. She’s also got some eczema, but is otherwise absolutely perfect!

She really didn’t care for her three shots, though, and she had trouble sucking her thumb with all her congestion. :(

Mamma’s Birthday

Yesterday was Mamma’s birthday!!  We went over to her house for a birthday party in the evening.  Here are my girls playing so sweetly outside.

Back inside, Joanna snuck some licks of icing.  I think Matt made her go outside and tell Mamma what she’d done.

Joanna: Mamma, I did this (motion of swiping icing with her finger) to your cake.

Mamma: Oh, you can do that to my cake anytime!

So, she did.

Sadly I had to leave just after we sang Happy Birthday to go practice with Sola Gratia (Women’s Ensemble).  I would have missed it if we weren’t singing on Sunday.  There was still a lot of work to do!

Matt told me Mamma got lots of great loot :) including her very own steam engine!  And she sent home some birthday cake for me. :)  Yay!!

Happy Birthday Mamma!  We love you!

To Do:

-blog about Natalie's 15 month check up
-fold, hang up, and put away a lot (like 4 loads or so?) of laundry
-clear off my horrible desk
-pick up everywhere, but specifically the playroom, living room, kitchen, and dining room
-vacuum above rooms
-really clean the kitchen and bathroom
-make a dermatologist appointment
-take recycling
-wrap birthday present
-find a white blouse and black pants to wear on Sunday... oye

Things I'll probably actually do this afternoon:
-run the dishwasher
-lay down during rest time
-get a Dr. Pepper
-pick up Natalie's prescription
-fix dinner
-go to bed early

The rest will have to get done this weekend under some kind of energy burst. We're hosting Home Group Monday night, and I'm so not ready.

Brain Mush

It happened sort of gradually, culminating in total mush today. Or at least my realization of the total mushyness.
Last week I had to buy a calendar. I didn't really realize it, but I had become unable to keep dates/times in my head. I was losing them. I volunteered to work in the nursery on Sunday, forgetting Sola Gratia was singing. I said I was able to teach Sunday School at 11:00 on a Sunday that Sola Gratia was singing.
Yesterday I discovered that Natalie was supposed to have a 15 month checkup. I was thinking she didn't need to go back until 18 months. She's only 15 months, 11 days, though, so not too bad! She has a well-baby check tomorrow. :)
Today I kept forgetting all kinds of things for the bulletin. It'll be a miracle if there are no mistakes in Sunday's bulletin.
Mush brain is here. Watch out. If you work with me, you may want to double check my stuff. Fortunately my children tell me when they're hungry. :)

Sorry Joanna

But you’ve lost your title as the youngest enchilada eater of the family. 

Your 15 month sister beat you out.

 

She loved ‘em!

Every other Tuesday my wonderful Grandma feeds us enchiladas.  Joanna usually eats two with an egg on top.  Natalie usually eats whatever I bring her from home.  :)  But tonight I was feeling lazy and I decided to wing her dinner.  She snacked on some peanut butter toast, but then demanded some enchiladas!  She’s had bites before but didn’t much care for it.  Not tonight!

14 Weeks

 14 weeks, 1 day.  Not my best shot, but I hate that I’ve been so lazy in taking weekly pictures lately!  Matt wasn’t home, so I had to use my tiny tripod – oh well.

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.
In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

How far along: 14 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: occasional nausea, still a little tired but so much better!, back pain, growth in some places :)

Food Cravings: (this is just recently; they change) French fries, steak, juice, Philadelphia rolls

Sleep: quite good at night, but I’ve been having trouble napping (terrible life, right?!)  I’ve been relying too much lately on my friend Dr. Pepper, though.

Measurement: ? inches

Movement: nearly positive I’m feeling the baby, but not regularly and only when I’m pretty still

Labor signs: none

What I miss: not much!

What I’m looking forward to: ultrasound at 20 weeks; fitting into maternity clothes better; really feeling the baby move regularly

Milestone: second trimester!!  I’m feeling pretty “second-trimestery” these days, too, with much less nausea and much more energy.  So glad!

Thoughts from the Girls: Joanna’s is really in to the pregnancy.  She knows the baby is in my belly but really wants to see it.  I’m planning to take her with me to the next doctor’s visit, and I’m looking forward to both girls being able to feel the baby.

Doctor’s visit: none

The Post of Many Topics

The other day, Natalie picked up a pair of Matt’s (clean!) underpants from the couch and put them on her arm like a purse.  Then when I turned around, she’d put them on her head like a hat.  Oh, she’s so fashion forward!

 

My poor neglected roses aren’t acting very poor and neglected – they’ve been amazing lately!  I’m kind of in shock and amazement at all of these roses.  Most of them are from the plant that blooms frequently…

but the plant next to it, which has never bloomed, has quite a few buds!!  They’re a darker color and not as pretty, but they smell delightful!

Joanna wanted to smell the roses.

My dad and step-mom drove in on Wednesday to spend a few days.  One night I cooked for them; one night dad cooked for us; the last night they sent Matt and me out on a date while they watched the girls!  Whoo hoo.

So of course I took pictures of the food. :)  I’ve been craving steak lately, so I got a filet at Saltgrass.  It had some crab meat sauce on top, which was an amazing flavor combo.  There was also a salad and a lot of bread with delightful honeyish butter, so I was very pleasantly full.

Matt ordered the chicken fried steak.  It was huge and delicious!  I even traded a few bites of my steak for a few bites of his.  The flavor was amazing.  The garlic mashed potatoes weren’t too shabby either.  Yummo!

We went to Target after dinner to complete our date.  One thing I was looking for was a small weekly planner for my purse.  My last planner ran out in like August of last year and I’ve been kind of winging it since then.  Sadly all of the planners at Target, while very cute, were academic planners that don’t start until July.  July doesn’t exactly help me with the next three months.  So today I made it to Office Depot and found a calendar year planner – yay!  I used to take a calendar everywhere; I couldn’t function without one.  Lately though (as in the last few years), I guess I’ve been taking it a little bit less at a time and just keeping it all in my head.  Having kids changes your brain a little.  I have a few dates that are for the future (birthday parties, times to sub in Sunday School or nursery) and I’m worrying about them falling out.  Maybe that’s a preggo thing.  :)

Speaking of preggo things, I am feeling amazingly better these days.  Last weekend after I was so sick, I found I have more energy than I’ve been used to.  So even though I still don’t really feel like cleaning the kitchen or vacuuming the floor… I can.  And that is a very cool thing.  I’m hardly even feeling pregnant right now.  I’m showing a little, which mostly just results in trouble getting dressed.  :)  I’m not really feeling the baby move, although when I’m very still, I’m pretty sure I feel the occasional little nudge.  I think I’ve moved into that weird middle stage, where I don’t really look/feel like there’s a person growing inside me, but I feel tons better without the constant nausea, tiredness, and lethargy.  I’ll take it.

Friday Playday

We headed to Lisa’s last Friday for a playday/celebration of Emma’s 2nd birthday!  I had pretty much recovered from my horrible being sickness, but I was still pretty pooped.  I mostly sat and watched people play.  :)

I did hop up and catch pictures of everyone at lunch time.

From left: April feeding Luke, Anna, Emma

Keian and his mommy Tiffany.  I think her little one was snoozing in the carseat somewhere. Theresa and Logan Kendra and Kaitlyn Leah didn’t want to pose for me, but I caught her face.  Kind of a vogue look?

Sweet friends on the picnic bench: Joanna, Emma, and Aidan

Joanna was playing dress up, and I wanted to get a picture of the cute pink flip flops with her painted toes.  I have no idea what the tongue is all about.

I’ve started putting these clippies in her hair to keep the long bangs back.  I think they look pretty cute, but we do lose them.  I need to find a bucket of them somewhere.  :)

The kiddos enjoyed the bubble machine!

I’m not sure that sports our in our future, but Joanna did pretty good bashing into the tee with her bat and causing the ball to fall down.  :)

The Vandenberge’s got a new slide and stairs for their play structure.  It was a big hit!

When it was time to go, Joanna refused to give Anna kisses and hugs.  Here you can see the anguish on Anna’s face as she chases Joanna around the backyard.

Natalie was there, too, but she took a nap during lunch time, and then I never got a picture of her.