Happy Birthday, Lexie!

My daughter, Lexie, turns 19 today.

She was born in Minnestota 11 days over due and she was my easiest delivery. I wasn't in labor but I had an appointment for a stress test and a possible induction.  We first stopped at the radio station where my husband was moonlighting as a DJ and they let him get on the air. He announced to the world (as far as the radio waves would go anyway) that we were on our way to the hospital to have our baby and his wife was outside in the truck.  He said he'd better go and get her to the hospital, but he neglected to mention that I was not in labor! I'm sure people thought I was out in the truck moaning and groaning with labor pain! What a goof.  We got to the hospital and they so kindly offered to let me go home and wait it out and I said "I am not leaving her without a baby in my arms!"  My good friend pitocin convinced her to be born that afternoon. After she was born, Keith called the radio station and they put him on the air. He announced all the details: Girl, 7 lbs 2oz, jet black hair, cries like a champ.  It was June 6th when we finally named her.  She was just "Baby Girl" for a while.


Her first year was rough, she had colic and food allergies. She was really cute! She had a whole bunch of hair. A mouthful of teeth at 5 months, they all came in at once, fast and furious. She walked at 10 months and talked early too.

When she was three, she saw her first movie at the theater. Lion King. She wanted to know why the mommy lion couldn't be the king. I knew I had a budding feminist on my hands. She rode her tricycle into the ground that year too when she rode in a trike-a-thon and wore out the axel. She got a prize for that. At six, she started kindergarten and got her first ice cream cone. When she was eleven, a kid in her class took his scissors and cut off a lock of her hair in class. From then on out it seemed like her life revolved around her hair. Teen years were spent dying it, straightening it, spending all kinds of time on it.

Lexie's baby is due Aug 5th. She decided to name her baby Charlie Matthew. I'm really excited for her and hope her delivery is easy like she was. I sure hope Charlie sleeps better than she ever did. She didn't figure out the sleeping thing until she was a teenager and then she overcompensated.

She was a great kid. Although this last year, the 18th year, by far my hardest one as her mom. So freaking happy that the 18th year is over! Welcome, 19!!! So happy that Lexie's birthday is here and a new year of her life begins! Hope its a good one! 

Just to get this 19th year off to a great start, I spent the day with her and it was so nice! We took the little girls to the park, went out for lunch and had Pazookies!  (warm cookie with a scoop of ice cream on top). After that we took Lexie to get a pedicure which she just loved and then we went shopping for a birthday outfit for her. She got a skirt and two tank tops. Gracie and Libby love their big sis so much, it was a nice day for all of us. I'm so happy that we celebrated her birthday together.

Happy Birthday, Lexie!

Destination: Wyotana

Just took the little girls on an 8 day outing. We drove 2746 miles (approximately) through 7 states. I picked up a pretty good travel buddy when I hit Las Vegas, my brother who shall be referred to as "Wubby" forever more. Libby renamed him and it just might stick! Together, the four of us covered a lot of ground.

The trip was for Mother's Day and my Grandma's 102nd birthday was the same day. There was a nice little lunch party for her. My husband woke me up in the middle of the night a few days before the trip with this crazy idea: "You should go! Take the girls and go. You can do it! It'll be fun." Really? Go on this super long roadtrip without the husband? Ugh, the thought of going it alone was not appealing in any way. My husband says, "pick up your brother on the way". Hmmm....

After a sleepless night of thinking and scheming and planning and mapping out the trip in my head, I decided it was a good idea and I would go. I called my brother and he said he was game. I called my mom and she stammered around a bit before giving me the unfortunate news that my crazy idea to just pop on over and crash the exclusive birthday party was not a good idea. She suggested I stay home and come another time. As usual, I did not listen to my mother. After 44 years of that, you'd think she would know that I never listen. Wonder where my kids get that?

The trip was a good one. The birthday party was great! Being home was a lot of fun and very refreshing. The girls had a wonderful time, and they loved seeing their Grandmas! They also got to play in the snow - so much fun! The road was good to us, the weather was just fine. All in all, the whole trip was nice and we got lucky in many ways making it one of the best vacations home we've ever had.

Now I'm road weary and having fun trying to catch up on sleep with two little girls who don't need roadtrip recovery time. Oh, how I wish I had their energy level!

Once we got home, I quickly discovered the reason why my husband sent me off on a long trip by myself. He hired a crew to demolish my ugly kitchen counter, and replace it with granite! I hated that counter. It was 4" white tiles and hundreds of grout lines. Blech, cleaning that counter was awful and it never looked clean. I hated it every day we've lived in this house. Also, the beat-up-scratched-stained sink has been replaced with a wonderful deep new sink! Love it! It's topped off with a new beautiful tall functional faucet! I'm so excited to have a squirty thing that works! And the faucet doesn't leak! These little things don't seem important but they really are. He also replaced the stove cook top. New stove! It's one of those kind that just goes on the counter, the oven is separate. This new stove is nice! The burners work! All of them! I love that - it's handy and pretty!

This is why my husband convinced me to get out of the house for a week. He wanted me out of the way. Didn't want my input or my stressing out over what was being done. Honestly, this is the best way to remodel - just come home to it all being done. Love it! He knows me well.

365 Birthdays per year!

"It's my birfday aday. I'm turning 4." This is what I hear Gracie telling everyone, everyday. Anyone and everyone. Nobody escapes the announcement. Just one little problem... aside from talking to strangers... it's not quite true. A wee bit misleading. Yes, she had a birthday. Yes, she turned four. But, not today.

Most of the time, I just let her tell people that it's her birthday. They usually respond with "Happy Birthday!" and that's that. No harm done.

Today I took my three daughters out to lunch at Red Robin. Oh, so good! And Gracie announced to the waiter that it's her birfday with her usual flair. He just said that was nice, no big deal. When we finished eating, I asked for a to-go box and next thing you know our table is surrounded by clapping waiters singing Happy Birthday to Gracie! She got a free birthday sundae too!

Apparently, every birthday needs a celebration. Even today's unofficial birfday.

Happy 4th Birthday!

My little girl turned 4! (A few days ago) This year, she figured out that kids have birthday parties when their turn a year older. A birthday party involves friends, family, cake, and presents. And she wants all of that! She was never too thrilled by the pinata; she didn't make that a requirement. Since she discovered birthday parties, she had to have one too.
Four years sure went by fast. But, I made sure to lay down the rules for being four. Even though it snuck up on me, I had to make sure she understood her more mature status.

When you are four, you don't use the potty chair anymore; toilet only. And you will learn how to wipe your own butt.

When you are four, you don't cry over silly things every day. Cry if you are bleeding, not if we run out of apple juice.

When you are four, you sleep in your own bed. All night long.

When you are four, you brush your teeth. No, I mean you brush them, not suck the toothpaste off and tell me you are all done. Brush. Scrub. Get 'em clean!

Any questions?

No, you cannot get married when you are four. You have to be older. Sixteen? No. Yeah, well, Ariel was too young. Mermaids do things differently. You can have a boyfriend when you are 16, but you can't kiss him or marry him till you are 20. Well, maybe 30. We'll see.

It's Free or $17, your choice

With Gracie's first ever birthday party coming up for the big number 4, I went to the grocery store bakery to order a cake. Seemed like the thing to do.

I ordered one small doll cake like she had last year for her to blow candles on. I don't want her to spit all over the cake we will then cut and serve to everyone at the party. For some reason, I've never thought of that before but one day I did and got creeped out. I think I was watching America's Funniest Home Videos and it occurred to me that the blowing of the candles is kinda gross. Anyway... I ordered her one little doll cake. That'll be $7.99. Kind of pricey for an oversized cupcake with a plastic doll head jabbed into the top, but whatever.

Next I needed to order the sheet cake. I decided to go with the larger 1/2 sheet size (so I can have cake for breakfast the next day). The cakes in the display bin are $19.99. Well... fine. Sheesh. I'm either a tightwad or cakes have gotten more expensive recently.

I talked to the cake decorator lady and we decided on the flavor, what kind of frosting, colors, what it should say, how to spell Gracie... all that good stuff. I repeated that I want the $19.99 size cake and she said "Ok, that'll be $37.00" Um... What? No, the $19.99 size. "Yes, the $19.99 cake is $37.00 when you pre-order it but it's 19.99 if you just come pick one up". Really?

Anyone else confused yet?

So, I said to the lady... "Will you have cakes on Saturday?" Yes, yes they will. And she says "You can pick out a cake and we'll write on it for you free".

Wait, now a minute ago, that cost an extra $17... "So I can come and pick up a decorated cake and get her name on it for $19.99 and piping 'Happy Birthday Gracie' on it is free or an extra $17?"

Free. Free writing with frosting. Whatever I want it to say. Even in pink. But the cake will cost $19.99. It's only $37 when you pre-order it.

Ok, well that must make sense to someone. See you Saturday when I pick up the little doll cake and a random cake from the bin.

Happy First Birthday, Baby-Cakes!

A few days late on the birthday blog post, but that's my style. Hard to believe my brand new baby is a year old already! What an incredible year!

Rather than throw a birthday party and invite people over for cake and beer, make them bring presents, ruin their plans for a lazy evening of unwinding from their own stress... I have been saying No to throwing birthday parties. We can hold off on those until the kids want them rather than pretending the kids want them now. In lieu of the birthday party, we have been going on Birthday Outings. For Libby's first birthday we went to Disneyland! (Daddy couldn't go, he had to work)

This is Libby's 3rd trip to Disneyland, she went on Gracie's birthday in March and my birthday in August. She just loved Disneyland! We all did! And we still haven't seen it all, three trips and we have only just begun! Libby's favorite things at Disneyland are the Tiki Room and It's a Small World. This trip she slept through the Small World ride, but she fought that nap so hard that even the Small World puppets didn't wake her. We also rode the submarine, the train and the Monorail. Fun stuff! Since the girls were doing great and it gets dark earlier, we stayed for the fireworks show. It was amazing and the girls watched with big wide eyes and ear to ear smiles. Libby had a great day and was asleep before we got out of the Mickey Mouse parking structure.







Our day at Disneyland was on Wednesday and on Saturday we had her little party at home. We had a moment when everyone was here, although it was late, we stuck a candle in her cake and had our little celebration. I know it took a few days to get to doing the party but I had to buy a cake!

I looked at SuperTarget and their cakes were ugly. They must not have a skilled decorator, the cakes were frosted and then plastic things just stuck on them. Went to Albertson's where I normally buy our decorated cakes. The cakes were ugly there too! All the piping was crooked and not well done. Flowers or blobs? Hard to decide. They had one nice looking cake but it said, "Happy Bithday". I just refuse to swipe my credit card on a misspelled birthday cake.

Found a cake at Stater Bros. The handwriting wasn't great, but it was good enough and the cake was pretty. They also had mini-cakes so I got a white one for the little birthday girl. I still have my suspicions about chocolate and her hives being somewhat related.




I was glad that we finally had her party because I wanted to give her the pile of clothes that I got at Children's Place. I did sneak a few outfits out of her birthday stash and she wore them early; I couldn't wait! I just love all the bright colors.



She didn't get much for toys, but she doesn't need any! This house is filled to the brim with toys. She did get a few little things to play with which is fine. Her big sisters gave her a pig that has the look and feel of a sock monkey. Very cute!



Happy Birthday, Baby Elizabeth! It's been a great year!

Happy Birthday, Sis!

Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birrrrrrrrrrrrth Day Dear Patty,
Happy Birthday to You!

Sorry, that's the best singing I can muster. Even reading my singing, you know it's pretty bad. Don'cha?

I do hope you have a nice day today! And if I were there, I'd buy you a drink!

For the rest of you blog readers, this is what my birthday sister sent me a few days ago, she knows things are kinda crazy for my family lately and the mom is who holds it all together! This totally cracked me up!


Thanks for being so in tune with my yearning for a great cup of caffeinated coffee, yet, it needs to soothe and calm my nerves. There sure is a lot of growing up going on around here, and in a hurry, ahhhh.... my sister knows how to give me a great laugh in the middle of the chaos! Thanks. Lets get together for coffee soon!

Happy Birthday, Pat!

18 years ago...

Way back in the olden days, before every home had 3 PCs and a laptop, before cell phones, before the ipod, before dvd, before dvr, before flat screen tv, before Hannah Montana, before we moved to California.... yes, on this day way back in 1991... Lexie was born!

We didn't know if she would be a boy or a girl, but we assumed that a boy was coming along since the pregnancy was very different. This kid gave me morning sickness for months, and didn't even limit it to mornings. She had the hiccups all the time! And the doc promised me that she was going to break my tailbone during delivery. A rebel before she was even born!

She was due to arrive May 23rd. Her big sister asked ten times a day for weeks and weeks "Is it May 23rd yet?" Even after that day came and went, I still told her, no, not yet.

On June 3rd, I woke up still hopelessly pregnant with no signs that this would ever end. Luckily, this was induction day! Yippeee! We all piled in the truck, Katie sat in the jump seat in the king cab part, and we headed out of town a couple of miles to the radio station. I forgot the call letters, hmmm... KPHR? They called it Pow-Pow-Power 104FM. Keith ran in and they put him on the air. He said "I just stopped in to say that we are on our way to the hospital to have our baby. My wife is out in the truck. Well, I suppose I should get going". He neglected to mention that I wasn't out there screaming in agonizing labor pains! Hahahaha!

After dropping Katie off at daycare, we crossed the border got to the hospital on the other side. We had our first daughter in South Dakota, this one was going to be a Minnesotan. First thing they did was a stress test; baby was fine. I could either go home or start the pitocin. Go home? Are you nuts? I'm sick of being pregnant! The doc said it would be anytime ever since I was 8 mths along back in April and now I'm 10 mths along with no end in sight - I wasn't leaving!


Lexie was born at 4pm. Well, she wasn't actually "Lexie" yet. She was "Girl". We were so excited that our daughter got a baby sister! Two girls! Now, we had the task of trying to name this cutie little girl. Honestly, that was the hard part! She got her name on June 5th.

And that is how it happened a long long time ago, back in the olden days before satellite radio and GPS in your car, 18 long years ago.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Lexie!

Happy 101st Birthday, Grandma!

Happy 101st Birthday, Grandma! (Yes, she reads my blog, she'll see this!)

My sister wrote a great blog post about our Grandma on her blog. Nice job, sis! Many birthday wishes, Grandma!

The Week Long Weekend

Oh my goodness, we had FUN! What a great weekend! I'm so glad my mom came out here to goof off with me. She didn't object too much to her escape from the remnants of Wyoming Winter. They still have snow and cold temps, so the weekend was extra fun since we had beautiful weather here. In fact, she took home a souvenir sunburn!

It all started on Friday afternoon when Gracie, Libby and I went to the airport to pick up Grandma. Just as we were approaching the airport, we were sitting at a red light and a plane flew very low right over us as it came in for a landing. Gracie said "Grandpa is here!" Grandma was "Grandpa" all weekend. We just couldn't shake that and get it right, but it was close enough and Grandma didn't seem to mind. As soon as Gracie announced Grandma's landing, she also declared that it was time for French Fries.

We picked up Grandma and decided to toodle around the corner and go to Seaport Village. I had never been there, but I'd heard that it was cute and I ought to go sometime. So, we went! It is a cute little place, full of little gift shops and eateries, a couple of fountains, live music, and.... seagulls. Those darn sky rats! One of those big flying pests swooped down and stole Gracie's hamburger! Right in front of her nose! In fact, he hit her head with his wing. Mom and I were so shocked we couldn't react fast enough. Gracie was so mad at that bird; she really gave him a cussing in her own words, but I'm sure he knew she meant business. After we ate, we wandered to stretch and enjoy the scenery, then we rode the carousel and came on home.

Saturday was a full day. More than full, it was overflowing! We got up and had a leisurely start to the day; drank coffee and waited for the fog to lift. It didn't. Mom and I piled in the baby gear and the little girls and off we went. This time we went in a Northwesterly direction over the mountain to San Juan Capistrano. I've wanted to visit the old mission for years and thought it was a lot further away. It only took us a little over an hour to get there, and we drove up and over the fog into a beautiful sunny day. The mission was just as I expected, old and beautiful and full of more history than I could absorb in one visit. Gracie had a great time! Libby soaked it all in with wide eyes. She really seemed to enjoy the day too. We took our time, but still managed to get in a full tour within a few hours.



We had a nice little break at home, caught our breath and regrouped. Then on to the next activity! The Great Family Scatter! Gracie went next door to hang out with the neighbors, Keith and Katie went to San Dimas to the FAWM show where they both performed, Lexie went to work, and Mom, Libby and I dressed up fancy and went to San Diego. Mom and I dropped Libby off with my cousin-in-laws. Then we went to a wedding reception at a nice hotel. Dinner was amazing and then we danced it off! I think Mom and I taught everyone how to do the Chicken Dance, the dance floor was full of wanna-be Chicken Dancers, but we were the rockstars of that one! We didn't know how to do anything else, but hey, it's the Chicken Dance that matters most!

We picked up Libby and left San Diego shortly after 11pm. We started home at a pretty good clip, and then.... the freeway turned into a parking lot. All lanes were stopped. Yes, in the middle of the night, billions of cars were at a stand still. Who are all these people and where are they going? After talking to my husband, we found out that all the lanes were closed about 10 miles ahead for road construction. Keith had us exit, turn around and go around. It may or may not have saved us any time, but driving 70 is much more fun than inching forward. We got home at 2am. We were all dressed up and exhausted!

Sunday was Princess Gracie's 3rd Birthday (one day late, but we didn't tell her that). Gracie was edgy all day long and she cried a lot. Little things set her off. She enjoyed her birthday, but her trigger was easily tripped. She did enjoy her cake and her presents. She didn't want pie. We wanted pie for her birthday, so we got one anyway, but she wanted cake. What kind of cake? Pwincess Birf-day cake. Of course! We like to have pie on her birthday because she was born on Pi day. You know, Pi. 3.14.... March 14th.... get it? We had a nice day with Grandma celebrating Gracie's birthday and just hanging out at home.

Rested up and ready to rock and roll again, we got up Monday morning and headed for the Happiest Place on Earth. Keith was more than happy to call in sick to work and join us. Shhh! Don't tell! The three of us took the little princesses to Disneyland! It was so much fun! I don't think I stopped grinning all day long! We had a great time, but Gracie had the best day of her whole life! That little girl was in awe. Her eyes were as big as the moon, trying to absorb it all. I thought she'd be overwhelmed and we might have some meltdowns, but she only had one because she didn't want to wait in line. She's just like her father. Her favorite part of the day was her visit with the Disney Princesses. Libby loved the Tiki Room and It's a Small World. She was a wide-eyed baby all day long. She was so happy to be there and loved all the sights! She even rode a few of the rides! Both of the girls were sacked out on the way home. Libby fell asleep on the tram to the parking structure and Gracie konked out as soon as we hit the freeway. We got home in record time, the 91 was free and clear and we rocketed home in the mini-van!



No rest for the weary, Tuesday we were out the door by 7:30am. Normally Gracie and Libby go to their sitters on Tuesdays, but today we were changing things up a bit. Gracie stayed home with her big sisters and they took her to the beach as soon as Lexie got done with school at noon. And Libby came with me. First we drove down to San Diego to drop Grandma off at the airport. Libby gave her a special goodbye and made her a stinky squishy present, Grandma didn't want it so I had to change the poop explosion right there in the airport. She needed an entire clothing change. Ewww! Once she was clean again, Grandma got some very nice hugs from Libby! Once Grandma was through the security gate, I hit the road again and went to school. Libby came to college with me and enjoyed another day in the life of academia. She had enough of class and exploded again, so we just snuck out and didn't return to class. Another baby wipe bath was necessary and another entire outfit. We decided to just head to the beach to meet up with the rest of the girls. The beach was nice! Libby was enjoying digging her feet into the sand. Gracie loved the beach! She had so much fun with all of her sisters in the sand and water. She was driving Lexie crazy because she was kicking sand up everywhere, but, it's the beach! I had to cut the afternoon short in order to get the little ones home and turn around and get back to school for my evening class.

Got home at 4:30 which is exactly when I should be hitting the road to get to my evening class. Ugh. Gonna be late. And I still had to change and feed the baby. I sat down to do that and wow, sitting down felt so good! That's when it hit me, the wall of fatigue. I suddenly had no energy, none. So I skipped my evening class and stayed home with everyone. Katie and I discussed wedding venues. Gracie asked me "Where Grandpa go?" about 50 times. Libby napped.

My mom wore me out! We had so much fun! Three trips to San Diego including visits with family, a wedding dinner, Seaport Village, an encounter with a thieving seagull and a ride on the carousel. Two trips northward to San Juan Capistrano and Disneyland. Miles and miles of walking and all of it lots of fun! Our weekend was just shy of a week long, and it was great! Loved having you here, Mom! Come back soon!

Time for Lots of Fun!

Fun! Fun! Fun!!!

For starters, Baby Libby is having lots of fun! Thanks to Jessica at Duck Duck Cow, I won a gift card on her blog's birthday give away and I combined it with another gift card I had and bought this uber-pink exersaucer for her babysitter's baby, and of course for Libby to play in while she's there.

Here are the babies and the saucer:




Remind me to blog about Libby's babysitter someday. She's a great kid and she's turning out to be a great mommy. Libby is doing well in her care, although she is still on hunger strike when I'm away.

More fun! My mom is coming! Tomorrow!!! I'm so glad! I always have such a great time with my mom. And last summer, we barely saw her because she was super busy as the coordinator of the biggest best birthday party ever. She did come out for a week after Libby was born but I was too tired to do much. But this visit, we are going to have a blast!

We are going to a wedding reception in San Diego. It promises to be a fancy party. So we will dress up, have cocktails and dinner and mingle with some awesome people.

We also plan a trip to the old mission at San Juan Capistrano. I've been wanting to go there for a long time and haven't made the time to just go there and see it. My mom has been there before and she said its beautiful. I'm looking forward to it!

We are also planning a trip to Disneyland. The happiest place on Earth! That will be FUN! We want to see the Princesses, Tinkerbell and her sisters in Fairyland, ride the teacups, and sing along in the Tiki Room. We'll also do whatever we can, depending on the crowd and the lines. Hopefully, we'll squeeze in quite a bit because we only have one day.

The one day of her visit that we don't have planned, we'll celebrate Princess Gracie's 3rd Birthday, which is actually on the 14th but we have to bump it around a bit. We're going to have Pie of course, since her birthday is on Pi Day. She can open presents and we'll just have fun playing with her.

Sometime between our fun activities, we will do a little bit of wedding planning. I'm not sure what we'll have time for, but we'd like to see the dress Katie is dreaming of and go visit the venue that she wants.

It's going to be a jam packed fun weekend!

Happy 20th Birthday to Princess Katie!

She's TWENTY years old!!! I can barely believe she's been my little daughter for so long! Ha ha, she's not so little, she's five inches taller than me.

Here is my first born in pictures:

A few hours old:


Her first birthday after she puked on her birthday cake and was put in the hospital for an IV because she dehydrated from a stomach flu:


Her second birthday, and no, she wasn't drinking beer... that's Daddy's and he put it down for a second while he took the picture! Looks funny!



Age 3, winning first runner up in the Miss Walmart Pagent at the local mall



Age 6, she cut her own hair and had very few teeth



Age 13 and on the 8th grade volleyball team



Age 14 with her first Driver's License!


Graduating from high school at age 18



And here she is now, age 20! (well, this picture is *almost* age 20 since it was taken a month or so ago) This is her best friend on her 20th birthday.

Punxatawny Mom

Happy Birthday to my Mom! Our family "Groundhog"!

I called my mom this morning and asked her if she saw her shadow. She did! Six more weeks of winter.

Eviction Notice!

Little Miss Elizabeth August Schumacher aka Baby Libby, Tenant, is hereby notified that she has 5 DAYS in which she can either gather her belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day, FRIDAY OCTOBER 3RD, at which time she will be physically removed from the property. Miss Schumacher is being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the front of the house, within reasonable limits, were previously discussed by tenant and management. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but unapproved additions to the back of the house were also made. Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. Due to property damage, there and now leaks in both the upper and lower levels of the home. Any further problems will result in immediate and forceful removal.

~THE MANAGEMENT AKA MOM!

Disclaimer: This eviction notice was discovered online and modified to fit - the original author is unknown, but suspected to be a file clerk at the county courthouse.

Another Very Merry UnBirthday!

Baby Schu is Due! Today! But... she is just hanging out in the womb, chillin'. Kicking back and relaxing. Riding the amniotic fluid waves. Thinking she can vacation in my awesome womb for another week or so. Hey, when the getting is good....

Had my 40 week doctor appointment this morning. All is well. No cause for alarm. Had an ultrasound again to confirm this baby's position. She's got arms and legs all over the place! Wiggling and squirming and moving her butt from side to side. She's head down, but not perfectly lined up. Last night she was sideways, no question about it. She's not even dropped the slightest bit. Weird because she was at one point! But, she didn't like that, so she got up higher again. This baby does not like being in a headlock. She likes to rock and roll!

An eviction date has been set. My uterus is like a timeshare, and her time is up! I will check into the hospital the night before the eviction; on the morning of October 3rd they will do an external version if she is not in position, followed by an induction. If this induction fails, she will make her entrance into the world just as Julius Caesar did. Although I will have better drugs than his mommy did!

That's only another 8 days from now. Just enough time for her daddy to get better. He's the guy with a sinus infection. We don't want her first impression of her daddy to be "Eww, my dad is this guy with an endless supply green slimy snot, and he sounds horrible, and he's so pale!" Really, I'd rather be 40 weeks pregnant than have his sinuses right now. Poor guy. Lucky for the rest of us, he's working two jobs and sharing his icky germs with his co-workers instead of spreading his yuckness around the house. I feel sorry for him, but then again.... go, get out of the house, please!

All the princesses are doing well. The dog went to the vet, she's a bigger princess than she should be. Poor girl is getting fat. Just like mommy! (well, not "just" like mommy) Gracie had a drippy nose for a couple of days. She said her nose was crying. Nose tears, what a sweet way to describe a child's dripping snot. Potty training is not happening. She's had a little bit of success on the potty chair, but it also makes a nice hat. The teen princesses are anxiously waiting for their new little sis. They aren't excited about all the helping they have to do now, but they do it anyway. It's nice when I turn around and see that they did something without my nagging. Lexie has been busy teaching guitar lessons and tutoring some little boys whose parents pay her very well. Katie has been working long hours and singing in coffee shops every chance she gets. She has a big gig coming up in November, going to open for Tracks Like Trains! She's very excited cuz they are (almost) locally famous!

Baby's UnBirthday

A very merry unbirthday to you, little baby Schu!


After 12 hours in the hospital, a bag of pitocin, contraction, laboring, and monitoring.... our baby decided today was NOT her birthday after all! We were sent home still pregnant.

Guess today is her UnBirthday! Lets have cake!

Friday is Birth Day!

Everyone, you get to eat cake and ice cream on Friday Sept 19th!! That's the big Birth Day!!!

Beach Ball Belly

I've been very busy following my beach ball belly around.

First day of College was good. I actually got a decent parking space. Didn't have to walk too terribly far. I stopped in a the parking services office and asked for a temporary disabled permit so I can get a close spot while I'm pg. They gave me a form to have the doctor sign, which I forgot to take to the doc and the permit is only good for 2 weeks. But, 2 weeks just might be enough, you never can tell.

I walked halfway across campus, cuz my classroom is in the building right in the middle not near any parking, ugh. And I saw people I know and got hugs as I walked. Nobody groped my belly, just hugs. (I hate belly gropers!) It was nice! A couple of people I saw didn't know I was pg. Yup! I am! I didn't see my buddy, Jenn, we usually have class together. My instructor scared a couple people out of the class when she explained the syllabus. 10 books, 2 huge-ass tests, and a 25 pg research paper. She said she was glad I was there, and I made an appt to go talk to her to set up when I take the midterm and get my paper topic approved and stuff. She is modifying the syllabus and due dates for me. Nice!

I took Gracie to her sitter. She hasn't been there for 3 weeks! She was thrilled to be there! And I mean thrilled! We got in the door and all three little girls were hugging each other - so cute!!! The sitter has 2 daughters: age 5 and age 18 mths. I took the sitter a carseat and a double stroller. Gave her the side by side Peg Perego stroller which she fell in love with immediately. The three girls played hard till I picked Gracie up at 5:00. The little ones rode in the stroller when they walked kindergarten (2.5 blocks away) and when they went to pick up too. The littles didn't want to get out of the stroller and they held hands while they rode along. Gracie was disappointed when I came to get her and ended her fun.

The sitter said that when she had to use the bathroom, The Littles wanted to follow her in, no big deal. That's fine. But Gracie said "spank!" So the sitter was worried that I spank Gracie for not going potty or something. I reassured her that I would never spank for potty training! I'm sure that would hinder more than help. And then I realized what Gracie said! Gracie must have said "Stink!" She says that if you toot. So I told her that Gracie says Stink, that's what we say at our house. And she said, ohhh, we say Caca. Ok, figured that out. We are becoming bi-lingual: Toddler Talk as a second language!

When I got home Keith took me out to dinner. We went to Claim Jumper. Yum! I haven't used my oven all summer cuz the heat leaks out and it's fricking hot enough! So I ordered the Roasted Turkey Dinner and Keith had the Meatloaf Dinner. Yummy!!! I was so stuffed I wasn't sure if I could walk outa there! While I'm wondering if I'm too full to waddle, they bring me a birthday Mocha cheesecake. Super yummy! And huge! It was freaking amazing!!! It even had candles!

So I guess I'm another year older. Oh well, that won't happen again for 364 more days! Ha!

Then the best surprise - I read my sister's blog. She left a birthday message for me on her blog - wow, it is so nice! We're not mushy people, but we know what is in our hearts. Loved the post though and being all pregnant and sentimental, I was moved to tears. My normal ice cold heart of stone has totally turned to steamy mush!

Just to aliviate confusion, I wasn't all giddy and happy over her latest blog post about her memorable weekend, oh my goodness no! Scroll down to Aug 26.

In baby news... I had a doc appt yesterday and another ultrasound tomorrow. I know, I put in way too much time at the doc's office. I did put up a mini-protest about being monitored for an hour at a time, twice a week, for 12 weeks.... so I'm not at the doc as often as they'd like. But, honestly, I don't want to live there if it isn't necessary.

Anyway, Number Four is growing nicely. She's still head down, which is fabulous news! (she just flipped in the right direction not too long ago). I've gained a lot of weight between appointments this time, whooops, too much Claim Jumper maybe? Ah, it was worth it! And.. my doc will be on vacation the entire week I am due. So, some strange dude in scrubs will just waltz in the delivery room and announce "I am the Doctor" and catch the baby. I'm not thrilled at all about that. I'm leary of strange docs, you never know which one is the goober! I might as well give birth at Walmart, or in my college class, or at Claim Jumper.... I am really hoping to go overdue by a few days.

We are still house hunting. My husband didn't get that new job he applied for, which he decided was a blessing in disguise since we have plenty of other things going on. My girls started school and we are getting back into a routine.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yay, it's my birthday! Someone tell my mother because she thinks my birthday is tomorrow. All my life, it's been the 26th, then one year she changed her mind and decided it was the 27th. So, now I have two birthdays I guess.

Actually, this year, I had an early birthday. My husband took me to see Wicked as my gift for turning another year older. It was great! Then I had another early birthday on Sunday because we were at the grocery store and it is not likely that we'd go today. So, we picked up a cake and my daughters found two books in the store that I've had on my wish list. Awesome! Tossed them in the cart with the cake! Score! We finished off the cake but I haven't cracked open my new books yet. Soon!

Today, I am blogging while watching Sesame Street. Then taking my toddler to the babysitter. Then it's off to my first day of college for this semester.

I have three classes left to graduate. Three! I'm taking one class this semester, and two next semester. I also have to finish an incomplete and petition for another class to transfer in. I hope I can jump through those hoops or I'll be taking 4 classes next semester. Yikes! I've been taking 4 classes per semester these past few semesters, but I have also been struggling to keep up with a full load. Now that I'll have four princesses, it'll be that much more of a race to the finish. If I can keep my attendance down to part time and still graduate, that would rock!

Luckily, I have a scholarship so I can afford to go part time. CSU offers two ways to pay: Part time or Full Time. Six credits and under is part time, seven or more is full time. So, if I take a one credit PE class or two 3 credit literature classes, the tuition is the same. Or if I take 7 credits it costs the same as taking 20 credits. This makes my one class pretty expensive! Thankfully my scholarship offsets the cost which really helps. I got the scholarship from the Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children in Spokane. Nice, huh!

The class I'm taking is called Lit 450 Multicultural American Literature. There are ten books for this one class! Plus a 25 page research paper due at the end. No problem! I'll have plenty of time to study 10 books and spend time in the research library in between giving birth and potty training and getting my daughter ready to graduate from high school and my other ordinary mom things that I do. The books look pretty good though, and I've actually read six of them already. Hopefully, I can still squeeze in my birthday books!

My biggest worry about starting college today is parking. Parking is less than ideal at CSUSM. In fact, it just sucks. The college is built on the side of a steep hill. People jokingly refer to it as Stair-Master University, its a long long walk from the parking lot to the classroom, uphill. They did dig out a flat spot and made a parking lot at the top of the hill, I'll try my best to get a spot there. The walking distance to the classroom will be the same. I hope all that walking doesn't make the baby fall out.

My baby ticker croaked and I forgot how to reload it. Preggo Brain! I can't for the life of me figure it out. But, there are 30 days now till baby's due date. I'm huge and uncomfortable, but doing well. I have been having a very healthy pregnancy and the end is near! Or, the beginning... I'm really looking forward to baby's birthday!

If A Photo Is Worth 1,000 Words.....

I uploaded 1,097 photos of our weekend at my Gramma's 100th Birthday Party! It took me a while, but I finally got it done. They are up and online. Yippee!

The photos are from 5 cameras. I had to sort and discard quit a few. Lots of duplicates and some fuzzy pictures. Probably from all the laughing. I didn't spend the whole weekend with a camera fused to my face. My mother did though.

I didn't add a link to the photos to our family website yet. We had an update from our host server which required a new password, darned if I know what it is. And I use a combination of Front Page and Picassa to update our site, which is just too complicated for my preggo brain right now. So, I used Picassa Web Albums and made 15 folders of photos sorted by event - Ta Da!!! It's done!

Now, I just need to catch up on scanning the baby's last photo shoot pictures - yay, more 3D ultrasound images!!!

I'm so behind on all this picture stuff. Having too much fun to spend sitting at the scanner.

In other news..... I went swimming yesterday. Ahhhhh, felt so wonderful!!! But when I got out, ugh, 20 pound belly felt so heavy!