THREE!

Where did this little guy go?  I cannot believe Trent is 3 today.  I wouldn't go back for anything, but I still can't believe it.  My baby is a little boy who is about to be a big brother.  It's just not possible.

Kiddo, you are beyond loved.

Randoms - Party Prep Style

• Where to begin...  Oh how about with the fact that I've done almost nothing to get ready for Trent's party.  Last week I worked until 11:00 more nights than I didn't, so a lot of the original plan had to change.
• I have practiced his cake.  I didn't love it, but I think I figured out the tweaks I need to make.
• My hand hurt for almost 2 days after mixing icing forever on Sunday.  Glad I made double!
• Our house is clean and the carpets are getting cleaned today.
• There will be no decorations except existing stuff we already have.  Lame-o Mommy.  (But my genius mother does say 'The more you put up, the more you have to take down'.  And given some of the stuff I put up for his 2nd birthday stayed up for oh you know 9 months maybe this isn't such a bad thing!)
• My sis is coming over today to help plan the menu.  With.no.children.  It has been months since we have spent time together just the 2 of us.  I am actually excited to go to the grocery store with her.  On a Friday night.  Just because it'll only be us!
• I'm hoping to squeeze in a pedicure.  Because who doesn't need pretty toes when their baby boy turns 3?
• It's only supposed to be 91 tomorrow.  I am ecstatic since it was 109 earlier in the week.  I keep checking the weather forecast like a crazy person praying it doesn't go back up!
• Brent has been my hero this week.  He made the yard look amazing (including planing new flowers), he picked up the house, cleaned the garage (where I made the mess), and lived with my pregnancy insanity which intensified this week with feeling like a mommy/wife loser.  Thanks honey!
• We are so excited (including Trent) to party tomorrow!

Movie Review: Bernie

Allison and I went to see 'Bernie' on Sunday.  I remember seeing Jack Black on Ellen a few months back and not really understanding what the movie was about but think Jack's character seemed really odd.

Plot: In small-town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she's alive.


Review:  This movie was so funny for such a dark subject matter.  It's based on a true story, and Allison and I loved that they included real people from the town (Carthage) who knew both Bernie and the widow (Marjorie).  They were hysterical.  Matthew McConaughey's character was over-the-top too and great.  We both really enjoyed it!  I think everyone would like it but especially native Texans!

Back to Reality

You guys are spoiling me with all the Baby Dos love.  But it's really funny how different this pregnancy is in the scheme of our world and daily lives.  Of course we're SO excited and over the moon to expand our family.  But it isn't a new experience to us, so we don't talk about names or a nursery {we actually talk about Trent's big boy room!!} or how in the hell we're going to pay for 2 kids in daycare...  It's just that we already have someone in our lives who is here to focus on.  And boy oh boy has he been a handful and our constant entertainment the last few weeks.  And I have some proof.

We found him sleeping this way one night.  How in the world can you stay asleep like this?

Nana and Papa bought him a fire hose.  H.E.A.V.E.N.

We don't let him watch Spider Man but somehow he knows who he is.  And loves him.  So new Spidey kicks for my little man.  Too cute.

Baby Dos Details

Thanks for all the excitement!  Brent and I are definitely excited to welcome a new baby into our family.  We've had a few questions, so I wanted to share.

How far along are we?  When are we due? 13 weeks on Wednesday, due 12/26.  I still can't believe we're having a Christmas baby!  I used to think that would be so terrible, but I know we can make it fun.  Plus we wanted kids 3 - 3 1/2 years apart and this will make T and this baby exactly 3 1/2 years apart.  Plus, as an auditor, I get to miss busy season!!!

13 week bump

How do I feel? Pretty good.  My first trimester has been similar to my pregnancy with Trent but different too.  I feel so much bigger already!  I have had less nausea but more intense throwing up (hello client bathroom AND parking garage).  More 'tenderness'.  About the same tiredness.  I'm starting out a little heavier (so much for losing those last 10 pounds), so I'm trying to watch my food intake a little more (although this has been a challenging work at week, so that's been out the window).  I hardly ever want a chai, so that's weird.  Ha.


Does Trent know? He knows, but we're not sure what he understands.  He can tell you that there is a baby in mommy's tummy, and he named the baby 'Monkey', but he will ask if he can kick/hit/bite me where the baby is.  Um, no.


So that's the scoop.  I am trying to think of a cute blog name for this baby...but am failing right now.  Any suggestions?

Warning...

I feel it is my duty to let all you peeps out there know...

If you read this book...

You might get this!!!! {grin}

Losing My Cool

90% of the time Trent is an amazing kid.  I look at him and still cannot believe he is half of me and half of my favorite person in the world.  It can take my breath away.  But that other 10%?  R.O.U.G.H.  Saturday, when Trent finally fell asleep at naptime after a long battle, I sat on my cousin’s couch just crying.  Trent can be mean.  He gets that from me, and I recognize that.  But it doesn’t make it any easier to parent him when I am trying to teach him to use ‘gentle hands’ (when beating the cr@p out of his cousin or his mommy) or that scratching/hitting/biting/hair pulling/head butting are not acceptable ways to show you are frustrated.  I try so hard to keep calm when talking with him.  I try so hard to parent him with love.  But there are times, like Saturday, where I just lose my cool.  

It started in the morning – I was in the bathroom trying to get ready to leave for the water park, when I heard screaming/crying coming from another room.  I rush out of the bathroom to find Connor pinning Trent to the bed, yet Connor was the one crying with a small wound on his neck.  Based on that, Trent picked on Connor so much (who is so mild-mannered) that he lashed out.  Connor has Trent by probably 2 inches and 10 pounds, which is a lot when you’re 3.  I spanked Trent, but all that turned into was a battle over him hitting me or defying me and me spanking him again.  Mommy fail.  Another battle ensued over Trent not wanting to wear his bathing suit.  In what world is it normal for a parent to have to spank their kid over going to the water park?  We had a great time at the water park, but then another battle broke out over nap time.  I was yelling at him about ‘you better take a nap or else’.  #1 – yelling?  Really?  #2 – ‘or else’…that is really informative to a toddler what you mean.  He finally did take a nap, but I sat there feeling helpless.  When you wonder how your kid likes you at all and isn’t scared of you because it seems like all you did that day was punish him…that’s a low place to be.  I really prayed for wisdom and strength and to rededicate myself to focusing on teaching him with love in my voice and heart.  He’s still a baby in so many ways!  Luckily Saturday evening and yesterday were much better days.  I don’t think he’s turned into a different kid overnight, and I’m thinking my attitude makes a big difference in how our day goes.  I know, I know, it’s taken me 3 years to figure that one out?  At the end of the day, I know we both love each other more than is even fathomable…but seriously…this mommy business?  It’s hard!

Randoms

• We're going to Dallas for the weekend - Brent's company is playing golf, and since my cousin's hubby owns the company we thought we'd go up. {grin}
• Hagan and I are taking the boys to a water park.  Should be fun!
• And we're going to dinner sans children (yum)...meaning we'll be using Hagan's babysitter...Trent's never had a baby sitter.  GULP.
• We had HBO free last weekend.  Even after only having it again for 3 days, I miss it!
• I'm a lame-o blogger lately, but I've seen several other ladies make comments about it.  Summer-itis I guess!
• I took Blair's 1 year pictures last weekend.  I got several cute shots.  I don't know how to edit (yet), but I want to share a few I got.  She was not really happy, but we still managed to make her laugh a few times.
• I need a new book or series to read.  Any suggestions?

THE Invitation

I blogged last week about working on Trent's party invitation.  I emailed the lady I found last year to make T's (through etsy) and never heard back from her.  So I kept perusing etsy and just couldn't find anything I liked.  Through a recommendation, I met Monica.  Let me tell you.  Easiest process ever.  After I emailed her, I had a response within 30 minutes.  I sent her my thoughts on what I was looking for and within 24 hours I had 3 invitations.  Adorable.  Reasonably priced.  GREAT to work with.  PLEASE if you need invitations, go check out her webpage!  Now...  the perfect invitation for my little guy who has been requesting for months (without prompting) a garbage truck cake...I present a garbage truck party invitation.  Be jealous!

Confessions of a Working* Mama

I drove to Dallas this morning for a 3-day training.  I always leave the house with mixed feelings on days like today.  


On one hand, my heart is heavy at leaving my little guy.  And he was so adorable this morning in his mismatched pajamas (which was really what he wore to nap yesterday because he refused to change at bedtime...mustard stains and all) watching Dora and sipping his juice.  


I also feel guilty at leaving Brent to do single parent duties.  Luckily, Trent will spend the night with the in-laws tomorrow night, so it's really just today and tomorrow morning.  Still...it's hard to do any part of this alone with a toddler, and it makes me feel guilty.  I know it's part of my job, but I still feel bad.  


But, there's also a part of me that relishes a little bit of alone time.  Not being woken up at 6:15 by the slamming of a door when a toddler wakes up?  Yes please.  No tantrums?  Yes please.  Doing what I want for 2 evenings (although it will probably encompass some work)?  Yes please.  


And I guess it's okay to feel this way.  I would probably be a weirdo if I didn't.  I know I will enjoy my time away, but I know on Wednesday afternoon I won't be able to get home fast enough.  And then probably wish I had another night off when we have bedtime tantrums.  {grin}


*I use this term as a 'working outside the house' mama.  All mamas are working mamas.  But this was too long for a title.  So hopefully I don't offend my sister!

Book Club Review: The Historian

Our latest book club selection was The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  We had a daunting task ahead of us with this book because it was almost 700 pages and we had only about 3 weeks to read it.  I got it about 2 weeks before the meeting and had to read constantly to finish!  As usual we talked about the book for 15-20 minutes and spent the rest of the 4 hours eating, drinking and gossiping.  Great night!

Plot: Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters. The letters are all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor", and they plunge her into a world she never dreamed of--a labyrinth where the secrets of her father's past and her mother's mysterious fate connect to an inconceivable evil hidden in the depths of history.

The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known--and to a centuries-long quest to find the source of that darkness and wipe it out. It is a quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Generations of historians have risked their reputations, their sanity, and even their lives to learn the truth about Vlad the Impaler and Dracula. Now one young woman must decide whether to take up this quest herself--to follow her father in a hunt that nearly brought him to ruin years ago, when he was a vibrant young scholar and her mother was still alive. 

What does the legend of Vlad the Impaler have to do with the modern world? Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed--and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends? The answers to these questions cross time and borders, as first the father and then the daughter search for clues, from dusty Ivy League libraries to Istanbul, Budapest, and the depths of Eastern Europe.

In city after city, in monasteries and archives, in letters and in secret conversations, the horrible truth emerges about Vlad the Impaler's dark reign--and about a time-defying pact that may have kept his awful work alive down through the ages.

Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions--and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers--one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil. {via}

Review: I won't say this has been my favorite, but I definitely enjoyed!  There were times the story spent pages describing a meal or the scenery.  Zzzzzz...  But when the action was happening, it was happening!  So I would say this is worth reading, but you have to keep at it.  

Anyone else read it?

iPhone Photo Dump

I think it's fun to do a phone dump every once in awhile.  It shows our 'little moments' which I don't want to forget!

Taking rides in Pops' hat

First trip (of many, I'm sure) to the splash park

Stealing Daddy's breakfast

Randoms

• Today, at my parents' house, Trent 'found' a night-night.  My dad caved and let him have it for a little while.  I haven't been that angry at my parents since I was a teenager (sorry again, Mom, for yelling at you!).
• Speaking of being a teenager, my face didn't get the memo that I'm in my 30s.  Pepperonis on the face is not cool.
• I realized I left out an ingredient from the salsa chicken recipe (can of cream of chicken soup).  I updated that post but wanted to point it out just in case anyone was going to make it (and you totally should).
• I've been working on Trent's birthday party invitation.  
• How is my child almost 3?!?!
• I have a work deadline on 6/29, and T's party will be 6/30.  Um, that timing stinks for party prep.  I might have to beg the FMIL to help!
• My mom gave me a sequel to Pride and Prejudice.  I started it yesterday, so far, so good!
• We had book club last week (book review to come soon), and out of the 4 hours we were together, we talked about the book for, oh, 15 minutes.  {grin}
• I plan to do a Project 52 update at the end of the month.  Probably should be more accurately called a 'lack of update'.  Oh well, at least it's for a good cause.  Right now I'm thinking 25 look realistic at this point...
• I still need to pay my 2011 Project 52 bill.  Eek!

Broadway Across America: Les Miserables

Last night was our last play of the season.  Amazingly, no one in our group has seen Les Miserables before, which I found surprising given its popularity.

Plot: Les Miserables is about the lives and interactions of French characters over a 20 year period in the early 19th century.  {I know that's kind of vague, but it's that or a 10 paragraph synopsis!}


Review: I would say overall I enjoyed Les Mis, and it's probably my favorite of the season.  The music and singing were just amazing and the plot was enjoyable.  With that said, though, my mother-in-law summarized it perfectly when she said, "I like a little more play and a little less musical."  They.sang.the.entire.time.  It got a little weary because it's impossible to understand everything when it is being sung 100% of the time.


We won't be getting season tickets next year, but there's probably 1 or 2 we'll go to.  So with that...the end!