Overall Update.

Today is Monday. Its going to be a busy week. First off the kids slept until 9am which has NEVER happened before. (It has still NEVER happened when Mike is home). So that was a nice surprise. We also got our cracked in half windshield replaced, also nice. On the other hand, our water in the tub hasn't been working so well. If the hot is turned too much it won't turn off...slight problem since that is where the kids are bathed. So we attempted to get it fixed...by a plumber...well not a plumber our neighbor actually took a look at it since we are scared of plumbers. Anyways, its almost impossible to get to the pipes, like we might have to cut a hole in the side of the bathroom cabinet to get to them, and they did a bad pipe job before we moved in so in order to turn the water off in the tub all the water in the entire house must be turned off...slight problem...hopefully the hot side won't get totally stuck on or the house water will be turned off until it is fixed.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. I'm preparing for the worst. I feel pregnant. Not unhealthy or dying or anything just pregnant. Tuesday is my doctor's appointment. I was sticking to my pound a week thing until a few days ago...yes...I am gifted...at gaining weight that is...I managed to gain 2 pounds over night by eating salad...and not too much extra junk. I'm preparing myself for total of 20 pounds gained total...not so hot when I technically have 14 weeks left. I also have been feeling like the sides of my legs are sore...trust me...I'm not exercising except for the normal every day walking and taking care of kids...I shouldn't be sore. The hip pain has moved down which I find to be weird. I have also begun to swell if I get to warm. My hands and my feet don't like warmth at all right now, I also have a problem falling a sleep and staying a sleep. I feel like I am constantly flipping from side to side all night long and tossing my hated body pillow (hated by Mike, loved by me while pregnant) from side to side. Things aren't that bad actually...looking on the bright side it was quite cool today. Like low 70s. Very nice.

Wednesday-Cleaning day. I won't be going to work since the babysitter will be attending a funeral. Instead I'll be cleaning. because. . .

Thursday- the Hopsons are coming. . .which leads to. . .

Friday- where at 4:30 am Mike and David will be driven to the airport and sent off by a smiling face. . .then that smiling face will return home and get some sleep. . .then it will begin. Chaos. Sara, and their two kids, and I and our two kids will be here for a week while Mike and David go to the Lohnes/Mosesly wedding in France. Sara and I will be left to control the chaos the best we know how from Friday to the following Saturday. A whole entire week. Just us. and four kids. 3 1/2, 3, 21 month old and a 17 month old...Dun Dun Dun...what were we thinking to allow this?!?!? Actually, I'm sure we will be exhausted but I think it will be a lot of fun. Sara and I tend to have a great time together and I'm sure the kids will entertain each other somewhat. My goal is to have fun. Sara and I, a bunch of kids and a mini van. . .just think of all the trouble we can get into. I'll keep you posted on the upcoming week. . .hopefully. . .as long as I'm still in one piece and not being help hostage...you never know.

What a difference. . .

a new windshield makes. Two years ago we drove to New Jersey for Thanksgiving. On our way back a small rock hit the windshield on the passenger side and made a chip. Well, since we have gone through two winters and freezing temps it has managed to crack across the whole windshield, right at eye level. . .lovely. Why would I want to spend several hundred dollars on a piece of glass. . .so I didn't. We kept putting it off. and off. and off. Today finally we paid the $202.00 to have it replaced. My family would be so proud. My mom had been telling me to just get it fixed for the past two years, and today it happened. I'm $202 poorer but I have a new crack free peice of glass to look through. . .and its kind of nice.

Painting-Done

We finished painting the "office/guest room/future kids room." We kind of tore up the base boards when we redid the floors. . .since we didn't know what we were doing. . .so due to that we touched up the base boards and it looks so much better. So the room is clean and painted. It will stay pretty empty until after Christmas when we move the kids in. The only thing we have left to do is the closet. That needs to be painted white and have some shelves and bars put in.

All I wanted

was some tomato soup. . .and we are out. :(

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Here is my Love Bug. . .

who says "Mama your so sweet I want to eat you all up."

who gives me a kiss every morning before I take a shower.

who explains exactly why she can do what she wants to do.

who sits and puts make up on by my feet, while I stand at the sink.

who gets a diaper from the other room when I'm stuck without one and Obie is laying on the floor with a poopy stinky diaper.

who will only clean up if I sing the clean up song.

who always tells us she needs a family hug.

who loves to jump on beds.

who stuggles to wear the same thing for more then an hour.

who loves pink and shoes.

who wants to go get a hair cut with me.

who tells everyone that baby Pinky is in Mama's belly and will come out at Christmas time.

who tells me she is so brave.

This is my Love Bug who I love.

This is my sweetest boy. . .

who shares his blankey with our dogs.

who gives me repeated kisses after naptime (when I ask).

who reached over and held my hand during breakfast time, and held it as he continued to eat.

who said "couch" when I told him to sit on my lap on the floor to read a book.

who gave his sister a hug after she hit her in the head.

who begged for some soda and got it.

who helped picked up his toys after he threw them everywhere.

who wanted to take a nap with my pillow.

who fell asleep on my lap while watching a DVD.

He's my sweetie.

25 weeks

Notice Obie showing off on the step stool and rocking chair.

25 weeks. . .25 weeks 5 days if you go by the changed due date my doctor set. . .that means I'm getting awfully close to the third trimester. I'm starting to feel it. My lower stomach gets achy, I feel like my hip are going to disconnect from my thigh bones, bending over is also a slight issue...there are also 5 different kinds of ice cream in the freezer. This is a problem. The problem was the ice cream sale. I'm feeling a little more energized. Definitely better then last week. Tuesday is my next appointment. Its my glucose test so that is always fun. I think that is about it on the pregnancy front. Until next week. . .

Oh WOW. . .

Grace and Obie are lucky they made it to lunch time today. Really, I don't know what the deal was but the whining was going to be the end for those two. All morning they whined and cried and complained about everything. . .We attempted to have fun in the pool and keep busy but that sure didn't help. Finally I declared it was Game Over. Everyone inside, get dressed and just be quiet. Then they had to beg for a DVD. Are you kidding me?!?!? a DVD?!?!? YOU GET NOTHING. I was so done with them. I told them they could share a small bag of Sun Chips while I made lunch, and if I heard anymore yelling or crying someone was going to be in trouble. . .and YOU BETTER SHARE THOSE CHIPS! So I retreated to the kitchen, huffing and puffing, as they sat quietly in the living room. Lunch was the turn around. . .things started looking up. Grace, halfway though, looked at me and said "Mama I'm sorry I didn't listen, are you still made at us?" Ahhhh, how could I be mad at that? After a little hug and me confirming I wasn't mad and that I still loved her things got better. They ate everything they were told, got some Jello and we were even able to play with some blocks before nap time. Now they are both asleep. . .nothing better then a good ending.

The Plan. . .thus far.

So here is what we were thinking for the new from. I'm going to make a duvet cover with the chickens (Obie loves birds) and the pink flowers (Grace is obsessed with pink as many of you know) for each kid. Then the circle will be what is on the bottoms of their beds. We are still undecided on curtains. We need something with the black out stuff on the back since the room gets so bright. I'm thinking we will get plain white curtains and then I'll add a little of one of the fabrics in middle to make them a bit more fun. The walls are a dark chocolate brown. . .and are almost done being painted.

24 weeks

I'm pretty sure these pictures are awful. . .I haven't looked at them at full size yet. I'm pretty sure they reflect how I feel at this point. . .Tired. . .and is it really only 24 weeks. Man. . .glad I'm not an elephant and this last for 2 years. Anyways, here are the pictures. Hopefully next week will be better.

Today.

Obie tired of the drawing board and wanting down. Grace told me this was her family. . .Gracie, Obie, Daddy, Pinky, Mama, Juma and Lily. . .this wasn't the finished project. . .she had to add just a few more.

New drawing boards from Target. . .This is what Grace picked to wear today.

Want some excitment. . .add rain to your sandbox for neverending fun. . .and mess.

Biker chick. . .in panties.

Obie thought the sandy rainwater would taste good, so he gave it a try before I could catch him.

Relaxing, before nap time, watching the Wiggles.
Grace that it was a better idea to put the panties on her head, instead of her bum.

I'm not sure how productive we were but here are some pictures of our day so far. Obie skipped his nap again. He skipped it yesterday and slept from 1:45 and we finally we him up at about 5:15. We'll see what happens today. Both are down for naps so hopefully it will stay like that for awhile. I'm going to attempt to not waste too much time on here and then maybe try to accomplish something. . .I'm not sure what. . .but something.

Hibernation.

That is whats on my mind. I would be so happy if someone would just feed me and let me sleep. I've been exhausted this week. . .I've been sleeping at normal times, like not really lacking sleep but I've just been so tired. The past few weeks I had been so productive and then this week I feel like I crashed. Obie has been halfway attempting to give up his morning nap, which I would be OK with if he wasn't tired. The problem is he is tired but just doesn't want to take it, then if he does sleep for a bit he doesn't want to sleep in the afternoon when Grace does, which means I get no break and I really don't get anything done. Ahhh. . .If I could just sleep all day. . .yesterday I got a two hour nap. It was heaven when I was taking it, the only thing was I had to wake up and I was bummed. I could have slept all afternoon. . .but I didn't. . .then I had to go to work. I was very unmotivated. I told Mike I wasn't going to stay too long. . .which usually means getting there about 4:30-5 and coming home around 7:30-8:00. Well I was home by 6:00, convinced Mike and the kids cheeseburgers (Culver's) would be a good dinner and we were off. See, so unmotivated. All I want is food and sleep. I'm hoping this will pass. . .I was enjoying my productivity. I'm approaching my third trimester so I really hope this exhaustion is not coming yet. . .I guess we'll see. If the kiddos cooperate I'll try to post some pictures during nap time. Tonight is the big art festival down on main street so we'll be walking down tonight for that, tomorrow is some one's 30th birthday from church. They are attempting to do a pig roast and have a party tomorrow night. Its an 80-100 pound pig. Mike is going to go help the guy sew it to a stick at 5am tomorrow. I guess it has too start cooking at 7:00am. Then Sunday is church and Mike's soccer game. He joined a league that plays on Sundays during part of the summer so this weekend is busy. Hopefully we can get a few naps in there. Until later. . .hopefully.

My new favorite blog

The Style Crusader
http://www.thestylecrusader.blogspot.com/

And I Quote:

"He's a good man. He's not done washing." by Grace

This was said about her Daddy. He had just fed them dinner. Grace had finished her piece of chocolate for desert and Daddy had told her to come into the kitchen so he could wash off her face and hands. When he asked her to come this was her response. I laughed so hard.

Finally. . .

Kids in their "Life Vests" according to Grace.

Raspberries from Costco. . .They love them!

Obie especially loves them. . .can you tell.

Just so you know. . .you may have already heard but we have been a one car family since September 2006. Sometimes are worse then others but we have made it work. Well, when we only have one car and I work in the evenings we have very little time to get random "around town" trips done such as grocery shopping, oil changes, clothes shopping or whatever. This weekend was our weekend to make up for all those missed trips. We had a huge list of stuff to get done. . .which seems to take twice as long having to get kids in and out of the car and the places we needed to go were totally spread out. So Saturday morning we jumped in the car and began conquering our list. We got off to a ruff start. . .I wasn't being so patient. . .but I got over it and we ended up being really productive.

-We tried on and ordered a flower girl dress for Grace. . .Have you ever tried to take two little kids into David's Bridal first thing in the morning (along with all the other millions of ladies trying to find the perfect dress for their big day)???? There were mirrors everywhere, blocks to stand on OR JUMP OFF OF, high heels everywhere for the ladies to try on with the dresses, couches to jump on, and huge dresses to run your hands over. . .It was amazing we got out of their alive.

-The mall. Most of our glasses have been getting broken. . .thanks to everyone in this family. . .I had gotten them for a shower gift. We had registered for them but I was getting a little sick of them. I was secretly hoping they would all break. Well most of them did so I decided Pottery Barn had some I liked for cheap. . .like $3.00 a glass. So that was our first stop. I had a gift card which I thought had $8 left. Well when she rang up my $32 purchase and swiped my card she said I had $8 dollars left. I asked if I owed any more and she said no. . .I had some left over. . .I was surprised but wasn't going to complain too much. She gave me the receipt and everything looked fine. . .I was very proud of my gift card purchase.

-Next we at lunch. This was success in itself. I ordered two kids meals. They usually share but I figured Grace didn't eat much breakfast so I had better order two. . .this usually back fires when I order two neither kid want to eat but Saturday was different. Grace ate her whole sandwich and yogurt (no bribing or anything) and Obie made a pretty good dent in his.

-Since we were right next to Gap Kids I figured I better look and make sure there weren't any good sales I was missing. . .Good thing I looked. . .I don't really buy stuff from there unless its on sale. . .especially for the kids. I'm not paying $30 for a pair of jeans for them or $39.00 for a dress but Saturday all the sale stuff was and additional 40% off. Yahoo! It was pretty picked over but I managed to find a few things for the kids. Grace picked up and orange vest and thought it was a life jacket. In front of everyone she tells me how we need to buy it so she can jump in the pool. Well they were boy vests but they had her and Obie's size. With the sale they were only $8.50 each. I'm a sucker for a good deal so I bought 2. There is a picture above. Grace can't wait to wear hers. . .I think they are going to be a hit. . .

-After riding the merry go round we decided nap time was calling, our "to do" list was still pretty long but the kids were dying fast. We decided to make a quick stop into Trader Joes because it was really close and then zoomed home. (we discovered some really good ice cream sandwiches while we were there and they made for a perfect driving snack)

-Once the kids were down I headed off to get Mike some gym shorts that weren't too short and I also needed to return some bike stuff. I made sure I grabbed my coupon (I always forget them) Anyways, I returned $55 worth of stuff and with my coupon Mike's shorts were only$5! Can you believe that! $5!!!! Nothing is ever $5. I was excited. They fit and he seemed to even like them.

-Next Costco. I got everything on my list. Nothing more, nothing less. . .which was really good.

-I stopped at the McDonald's Redbox to pick up a movie. I got Yes Man. . .it was kind of funny but kind of boring to me. I'm not sure if I'd recommend it or not. . .Jim Carey is in it so you know how that goes. . .Oh we also managed to return it on time. . .which is a miracle.

-When I got home Mike had mowed the backyard. Yea for Mike. It was getting pretty bad so I was very glad he had done it. . .I didn't even ask him too.

-Grace greeted me in her pink elephant towel. . .actually she ran out the back door, across the backyard with her towel flowing in the breeze be hind her. . .she had just gotten out of the tub. It was hilarious.

-So that was our Saturday. Productive. Finally. We were proud of ourselves and got everything on the list done. . .with two kids in tow and all.

What's really amazing. . .

A friend of mine wrote a book so Friday night I went to her book signing to well be there and also

to take pictures of her. I didn't get home until about 10:30pm. When I walked in Mike was standing at the sink and it was empty. (this was the next morning) Empty! He had done all the dishes and put them away. He asked me if I liked seeing the bottom of my sink. . .I then realized her had read my last post. . .It was very nice and I was so thankful that he had finished up the dishes. I've been trying my best to keep it as empty as possible. . .now I just need to clean the sink and I'll be in business. Thank you Mike!

Its amazing. . .

some things are never ending. No matter how many times I attempt to tackle it, it is always there. . .staring at me. . .almost mocking me. One of those things are the dishes in my sink. It would be so nice to see the bottom of my sink but it never happens. . .there is always one more somewhere, or another one that was just used or a pot sitting on the stove waiting for its turn in the sink. Its never ending really. . .oh, I can't wait for the day that a dishwasher can at least hide them away and let me see the bottom of the sink. . .one day, one day. I'm off to be mocked.

Videos

Ok. Well I attempted to upload some videos onto YouTube.com I didn't watch them before I uploaded them. . .basically they aren't that great. The best on is in the car before we got there. Video 555 I think. Search the3bannons and our videos will come up. Enjoy.

Wiggle Concert. . .A HIT!

Leaving Chick-Fil-A. After visiting with the Firefighters.

Grace enjoying her ice cream and acting silly.

Obie in heaven with his cone. . .he's not the neatest cone eater.

Hanging out at the fire truck.

Friends. . .Best Friends. . .according to Grace. Obie just doesn't like being mussy.
Attempted family shot.

Obie watching the show.

Finally a hug from Obie. . .this was after the show.

Trying to wait patiently for the show to begin.

Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car. . .Obie's favorite.

Still waiting for the show.

Excited to be at the show and waiting for it to start.

The concert was a hit! We had so much fun. Grace was getting a little tired since the concert was at 3pm and she didn't get a nap. Obie was mesmerized by the concert, the lights, and the singing. We had perfect seats and Mike and I were rather impressed by Anthony, the blue Wiggle. We only have old Wiggle DVD's but apparently these guys have been doing this for 18 year. . .these guys aren't that young. They have to be at in their 50s. We could never really tell if they were playing their instruments on the DVDs but they really were. They were doing the playing and the singing and Anthony was doing all kinds of gymnastics. We seemed to be in pretty good shape, so we were impressed. After the concert we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner. It happened to be family night so the kids got free kids meals and the fight truck was there. Grace loves fire fighters. Obie was also pretty impressed. They got to sit in the truck and go into an ambulance. Grace asked the guys all kinds of questions. . .Obie just wanted to sit in the truck and eat his ice cream cone. They had a blast and this evening was a blast. just so you know the pictures are backwards and I'm going to attempt to add some videos.

I think I have a disease. . .

I have a problem. It all starts in my head and then it is all over. So here is the problem. . .I get an idea. . .no just any idea but a really good one and then I can't stop thinking and obsessing over it until I carry it out. You see i got this really good decorating idea. It all started with the discovery of the toddler beds we are going to make and the material we found when my parents were here in June. I just couldn't stop thinking about the material and the room we are going to move the kids too after Christmas. Well I got a paint idea. . .I then made the drive to Lowes and picked a color. Then the next problem was that I really didn't know what the color would look like until we got it on the wall. . .so I new it was crazy and I shouldn't start any big projects. Mike was suppose to be the voice of reason but when I asked him if we could go ahead and paint the office downstairs he said yes. I said "WHAT?" You were suppose to talk me out of it, but he didn't. Anyways, he almost has all the edges and one coat of paint on it. It will definitely need another coat but I think I'm really going to like it. I'm a little scared to reveal the color. . .its not exactly normal for a kids room but I think we might just be able to pull it off. The color; brown. Deep dark chocolate brown. Graces bedding will be in pinks (brighter pinks. . .surprise surprise) and Obies is going to be green. . .like a real true green. I'll post a picture when the walls are done. It will remain the office until after Christmas. The only thing is we are probably going to be crazy busy around that time with 3 kids and Mike taking his two last, not to mention hardest classes on his masters degree. Perfect time for some painting huh? No class for Mike until the end of September and he won't be done with classes until March. So what else is he going to do for the next 1 1/2 months. Yea, he's great and now my mind can rest a minute.

Wiggles! HERE WE COME!

Tomorrow is the big day. We are going to see the Wiggle, the real Wiggles in person. Can you believe that. Grace and Obie are very excited. It starts at 3pm so Mike is coming home early and we are all going. I'm not sure what to expect but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

22 weeks

So here it is, the 22 week belly. . .maybe 22 week 5 day belly. I figured I'd say with the original flat 22 weeks so when it gets closer to the end I won't drive myself crazy. Not much is new just growing growing. I'm too the point where bending down is getting a little uncomfortable and sleeping on my side is a must.