Weekend Getaway

In honor of our first three-day weekend in what has felt like a very long time, we decided to sneak off to Ft. Worth and visit the family. As usual, I managed to take out my camera only one time during our visit (translation: FAIL.), but rest assured, the pics I did get pretty much sum up our activities for the entirety of the weekend. We came, we saw, Taylor spent a ridiculous amount of time in the wading pool in only her swim diaper. It was awesome.

Lovie is the best lifeguard ever. As long as the water's no deeper than 2 feet, that is.

Daddy trying to show our little deviant how to use a water pistol. Thankfully her little fingers don't have enough oomph to pull the trigger all the way.

Yeah, did I mention these were taken at 8:00 a.m.? Probably about 75% of her weekend was spent in this pool.

32 Week Checkup and Sono

Last Friday I had my 32 week checkup, which also included another sonogram to check on Ava's weight. Now, if the doctor had just asked me, I could have easily told her that this kid weighs at least 20 lbs and has about 12 elbows. Could have saved us all a little time. But, because I never turn down a chance to see my baby, we went ahead and did our scan.

First and foremost, Jody was optimistic that Ava would have grown a penis in the last 3 months seeing as how he wasn't going to be there to see it first hand. That brings us to disappointment number one:

That pretty much sums it up, honey.

Now, I can't tease Jody for his unrealistic hope without admitting my own. I was praying that she would be so ginormous that they would just HAVE to move up my due date. This brings us to let-down number two - they never ever change your due date at this point. No matter what. Crap. So, it's still July 19th (barring any unforeseen early labor).

But those things aside, Ava is coming along great. She weights 5 1/2 lbs. and I am measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule, so we can pray. My doctor is still maintaining that she will induce me at 39 weeks, so technically as of today I only have 6 weeks to go! Anyhoo, here are our sono pics, including a few 3-D shots. Enjoy!

Ava's profile. Note the little hand right beside her face, this is why we weren't able to get a pic of her face straight on.

Little hands covering her face.

Her foot! No, she isn't sasquatch, this is enlarged like, 4x.

Supposedly she has hair. I'll believe it when I see it, because Taylor had it en-utero also, and came out rather bald.

Here she is surrounded by a hot & sweaty fat lady!

New Tubes!

After yet another trip to our local urgent care center last weekend (complete with yet another case of strep along with an ear infection), we were finally able to convince our ENT doctor to install a new set of ear tubes in our little Munkie. I was hoping they would take her tonsils too (I even threw it out there that if they wanted to go ahead and take her appendix for safety I'd totally be ok with it), but our doctor doesn't like to do them until closer to the age of three due to the increased risk of dehydration with the little ones.

All in all the surgery went well, we discovered that it was indeed her old tube lodged in her right ear along with a plethora of wax and gunk. The doctor did also say that her adenoids were very big, and that most likely is one of our main problems with the ear infections. So here's to keeping our fingers crossed that this will actually work and give Taylor some reprieve from the constant doses of amoxicillin.

Were there some bloopers today? Of course, look at who you're talking to! We discovered the hilarity of a stoned toddler on versed, and also discovered the heinous aftermath once it wears off (loopy but pissed toddler is no fun).

Happy girl before she had a clue what was about to happen

Oh, the joys of a drugged child. She was making these weird growly sounds and laughing.

Some Updates

First and foremost, I went to the doctor this past Wednesday for my 30 week checkup. Everything is still going well with little Ava, and we'll do another sonogram (including a 3-D shot of her face) in 2 weeks. After much whining and attempted bribery I did get my doctor to concede to inducing me at 39 weeks if I don't go into labor on my own before then. So, that said, we will be having this baby in less than 9 weeks! Holy single digits Batman! And yeah, guess who still hasn't even started rearranging furniture for the nursery or sorting through Taylor's old clothes. Seriously though, I find it hard to even find the motivation to brush my teeth every night before bed because I'm just so damn tired and achy.

Me & Ava at 30 weeks. Yes, we have reached the stage where its more comfortable to wear a muumuu than pants.

In Taylor-land we woke up sick at 3:00 this morning, yippee. After yet another visit to urgent care we were diagnosed with "the usual," which is strep with an ear infection for us. The doctor said that there is some foreign object in her right ear, he was unsure if it was her tube working its way out or if she has jammed something in there, but because her ear is so gunky he couldn't really tell what he was looking at. Plus, since this is our 3rd bout with strep since starting daycare in March, he suggested we talk to her ENT about having her tonsils out. I won't lie, I'm all for it. We are due for a new set of tubes anyway (the best invention EVER), and we may as well get them out while she's in for their installation. And as a bonus, she even barfed in our van on the way home. Needless to say, I'm now off of chocolate donuts and milk for a little while.

As for Jody, he is loving his work. I find it funny that when I ask him how his day was, his response is "a lot of fun!" Lucky bastard. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job, but rarely do I come home from a day of boobie mashing and feel that I had a blast doing it.

Hot in Herrrre

Yeah, if you've been anywhere within the state of Texas this past weekend you know that its been hotter than the deepest pits of hell here. Sometimes I wonder if that's coincidence. Anyhoo, due to the fact that its hot as a mo-fo, combined with the fact that my pregnancy has reached the state of constant heartburn, achy hips, and general sloth-dom, I have found little motivation to do much of anything around here - including posting anything new on the blog. Hopefully that whole nesting thing I keep hearing about will take hold soon. But alas, fear not. I did feel a brief streak of inspiration and decided to share some pictures I took yesterday of Taylor playing in the yard. Fear not, sunscreen was used by all, and no one was burned to a crisp in the taking of these photos.

Sprinkler time! Um, Taylor, what is that in your right hand?

OH! It's Thumper. Guess he decided to cool off today too. Oh, and ignore the super giant weeds behind my child. I can barely bend over long enough to tie my shoes much less pull weeds.

Yeah, after the uncontrollable crying started I gave in and decided Thumper could play in the water too. What the hell, we have two more anyway.

Donning her Yoda inspired towel cape.

I'm pretty sure she had more fun running around in the towel than in the water.

Just had to include yet another pic of the most awesome hat in the world. Oh, the guy it's on isn't too bad either ;)

Hoppy Easter!

I am very excited to report that for Taylor's second Easter we were actually able to successfully hunt Easter eggs! And no, we did not dye our own eggs. Call me a fuddy-dud if you want, but I have no interest whatsoever in seeing how many colors my child can stain me, herself, and our flooring all in the name of dyeing boiled eggs that I adamantly refuse to eat. So instead, we opted for the El Cheapo plastic eggs that came pre-filled with candy (for those of us who choose to be "energy efficient" in our endeavors).

At first, I could tell that Taylor had no real grasp of the concept of running around like a maniac and picking up eggs (And yes, I know that too will come in time). Until, that is, she squeezed one of them hard enough to pop it open and realize there was candy inside. After that, it was on like Donkey Kong. The only snag was that she wanted to stop and eat the candy out of every single egg before moving on to pick up the next one. Thankfully, Jody volunteered for bucket duty (Maybe volunteered isn't quite accurate. I opted to take the pictures so that my large ass wouldn't be in any of them, therefore he was stuck with the bucket by default.) so that I wouldn't have to run after her huffing and puffing from all the bending over.

Ok, I'm holding the damn bucket like you asked. Now, could someone please explain to me why?

Taylor with her Poppy and Lovie. She's almost as tall as they are ;)

Wait, there's candy in here?????

Checking out her loot.

On one sad note, I failed in my one Easter tradition this year - The Hoarding of the Cadbury's. Usually the day after Easter I make a mad dash for the local Walgreen's with the least amount of traffic and buy up all the Cadbury eggs after they're on sale. But alas, this year I forgot. Therefore, I will have to wait a full year with no reprieve from a secret stash.

Oh Yeah, About That Other Kid

So yeah, maybe I'm feeling a little guilty as of late. I've fallen victim to a common crime amongst parents of more than one child. We do all sorts of documentation for the first one, and with each subsequent child our ability to document their journey leaves more and more to be desired. I remember feeling so bad for Jody when his mother said that he never had a baby book (he's kiddo #4 in their lineup). Now I realize that with three other kids to manage, it's a miracle he got named before his second birthday.

But, back to the matter at hand, other than announcing my pregnancy, I really haven't done a whole lot in the way of updating information on baby #2 on the blog. I'm now officially 26 weeks along, and so far everything is still sailing along rather smoothly. I am noticing that my body is not cooperating with me as much this go-round. I've had more aches and pains than I care to dwell on, and by the time I get home most afternoons, I just wanna lay on the couch and be lazy. So, for those of you who usually hear from me on a regular basis, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I just find it too physically taxing to pick up my fat little fingers and use them to dial out any number that's not on a one-digit speed dial. Plus, by the time I get my little heathen to bed, its all too appealing to just crawl my big ass into bed as well.

We have come up with a name - Ava Marie. Like most creatively-challenged parents, this name came from a name book (as did Taylor, don't give us any undue credit there either), there are no sentimental or thought provoking reasons behind our choice. It was simply a name that we could both agree on, and didn't sound like something you'd find on the natural food aisle at the grocery store. The crib bedding is also safely in our possession, but we are waiting until the absolute last minute to rearrange our house to accommodate said crib amongst our already crowded house. I am so thankful to be creeping up on the final trimester, and after my next doctor's appointment, I get to start going every two weeks (insert unenthusiastic, "Yay..." here.). At least we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel!


Two-ton Tessie strikes again! Large and in charge at 26 weeks.