I spent yesterday morning making a great slide show of my first born and I cannot for the life of me get it to embed here. Hopefully I will be able to just make it on our computer and share it by tomorrow.

Aly is now officially a teenager!!!!!!

Her dad and I are now officially trying to figure out how to hold back the sands of time.

I only cried once. Not too bad for a hormonal pregnant mommy.

She is almost as tall as me. She is a beautiful young woman and we are so proud of her.

I think she had a great day yesterday. She created her blog here at xanga and also started her facebook page.

We gave her her gifts last night and then took her out to eat at Applebees. She is wearing makeup now and her daddy is learning how to adjust to that. So far she is doing a nice job. She decided last night that she won't be wearing eyeliner. Her dad will be glad because he likes the natural look the best. However he is being totally cool and not saying a word to her about it.

We gave her a digital camera. She loves photography. I think she has posted some of her pics on her blog already. I think she has a great eye and am hoping to find a photgrapher for her to apprentice with.

Next weekend will be her birthday party. Swimming at the public pool and then cake at the park afterwards. No pressure to have the house in order!! Woot! Prayers and positive thoughts for good weather appreciated.

Last day of being 12

Hello 13!!!

What do all three of those things have in common? Why me, of course. I bet you were thinking the 3yo found a possum and it was sitting on our toilet seat. Close but no cigar.

The toilet seat in the main bathroom of the house has been broken for oh about a week or more now. I have reconciled myself to the fact that while my husband is handy he is a man.  90% of the time when a man walks into the bathroom he doesn't lift the seat much less sit down on it. So a broken seat only comes to his mind 10% of his bathroom use, where as it comes to mind 100% of the time as a woman and is definitely more apparent when she is pregnant and spends what feels like 90% of her day in the bathroom. So the replacement of the toilet seat had fallen into my lap. While picking up some stain removal product from the Family Dollar last night I happened down the aisle where low and behold that stock toilet seats. Who would have thought I could find a toilet seat at Family Dollar?? Not I. So elated, almost too elated, I grabbed one and headed out to pay for my items. I wasn't sure it would be a good fit so I made sure I could return it even if I had opened it. I was told I could. So smiling what I am sure is the cheesiest smile I headed out with my toilet seat.

It wasn't until after Ace fell asleep that I got the chance to begin my replacement project. I think it was close to 11pm. Sisi was asleep, Aly and Emi were up in the living room. I found the wrench in a basket over the washing machine and set to work on what I thought would be an easy job.

Removing the actual seat was easy it was no longer securely attached to the hinges so it just slips off. Made for some fun bathroom breaks these last couple of weeks. Nothing like have a toilet seat slip out from underneath your behind while you are 8months pregnant! The next step was to undo the plastic lug nut from the long screws that held the seat in place. I tried doing this just by feeling for the lug nut and turning. Didn't work. So in my glorious largeness I proceeded to sit on the bathroom floor and wedge (no joke) myself between the tub and the toilet. I am sure it was one for America's funniest home videos but I have no tape to prove it. While I am down there I am thinking to myself that it was a good thing I cleaned the bathroom today. All the while the 3yo is asking me 20 questions. This wasn't a problem until I began trying to turn the lug nut and it WOULD NOT BUDGE! So there I lay trying to figure out what I was going to do because come hell or high water I was going to finish the job. After I don't know 15min down there I had to come up for air. All this time Emi has been asking the same questions over and over and I have just not been the cool unschooling mom that I usually am. HA! I finally ask her to stop touching everything and just watch.

I rewedge myself down on the floor again and try again. I got it to move some but not much. I figured since the lug nut and the screw are plastic maybe I can just break them. No luck. So I get up to search for my husbands tool box. It used to me in our walk in closet but it wasn't there. So I head out to our garage to look for it. Now the light is out in the garage, has been for months now. We have bulbs but once again because I am the only one that needs to go into the garage at night it isn't high on the husbands to do list. I mean do you really think about lights being out during the day when sunlight is streaming in and you really don't need artificial light? So I turn on the laundry room light and just opt to use the light streaming from that room into the garage. That is until I open the door and a possum runs across our garage right toward the tool box!!!! Ack! I am not about to battle a possum for the tool box those things are highly protective read  MEAN and I don't need the pliers that much. By the way this isn't the first time this possum and I have crossed paths. I was bagging up recyclables one day about a month or so ago and I noticed that one of the cracker boxes was unusually heavy. It had plastic bags stuffed down in it so I was pulling those out to see what the kids might have stuffed in the box when I saw fur and something move. I put the box down and proceeded to get out of dodge. Called my husband and he came home later to discover that it was a possum. We set the box outside in the yard so she could run away and be free. Jorry assured me that night when he brought the box back in that she was gone. Well, guess what? NOT!

So back to the toilet seat. I opted for a pair of scissors hoping they would at least grip the top of the screw enough to keep it from spinning so I could get the lug nut loose. No such luck. So I tried cutting the top of the screw. Nada. Wedging myself down between the toilet and the tub again I somehow got the screw and the lug nut going in the opposite direction and they finally separated! I was soo excited until I realized that I had to figure out how to wedge myself between the vanity and the toilet on the other side. A much smaller space. I had visions of my children having to call 911 so the fire department could come and get me out. So I decided to try and reach the lug nut from underneath and turn the screw from the top knowing it probably wouldn't work like it didn't on the first side. Two turns and the screw broke away from the lug nut!! Now why on God's green earth would it not do that on the other side??

Installing the seat was uneventful. It fits and Emi my constant annoying curious companion through this whole thing asks to try the seat out first. I am happy to say that it works nicely. Now I am off to look up critter removers because I want that possum evicted. Our garage is not the place for wayward marsupials.....at least not ones with sharp teeth that closely resemble rats.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!! She is so much better and started showing improvement yesterday around 5:30pm.

She has been fever free for 24hrs. No rash. No vomiting. She has also consumed mass quantities of popsicles and I keep pushing water. We are hanging out here today and letting her play as she feels like it and making sure she takes in plenty of fluids.

So after 4days of sickness the house is now sick!

Luckily have a great amount of energy and a huge desire to get some things done. Not sure it's nesting since I still have 7weeks to go but I'll take it, whatever it is.

1. Wash all bed sheets in our room
2. Remake the beds                      
3. Clear off the top of the diaper changer.
4. Sweep and mop kitchen floor
5. Clean our bathroom
6. Clean main bathroom
7. Fold laundry that is on the couch--thanks Aly for the help
8. Clean up walk in closet
9. Pull books from shelves that I want to post on paperback swap
10. Get clothing donations into the van
11. Clean our bedroom and vacuum.---partially done, just need to put a few things away

Ok that is all I can think of off the top of my head. There might be more. Will cross them off as I get them done.

Ace was fine all day. Emi not at all. Her fever went up and down all day long. She did have one time during the day where she was playing and feeling better and then the next thing I know she is on the couch again.

Her fever did the same thing last night. It is down this morning but she has no energy. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I had a weird dream about my dad last night. Second one in two nights. I keep trying to hear his voice in my dreams but I don't seem to be able to.

Jorry was talking about the card he got for his dad for father's day and it hit me that I won't be buying one this year. I teared up but kept it in mostly because I didn't want Jorry to feel bad.

Thanks Old Hat...your timing is always perfect.

UPDATE:

We took Emi to the ER because she was vomiting blood. Not good for a mama to see, all kinds of ridiculous thoughts start running through my head. The ER doctor is great! Very non-invasive. He didn't even want to use a tongue depressor to look in her mouth but Emi wouldn't open up at all.

Her tonsils were red and swollen. He left it up to us if we wanted a strep culture. We chose to. She did pretty well and the nurses were very nice and quick. They also ran tests on her urine and it showed that she is dehydrated and there were microscopic amounts of blood in her urine.

The strep was negative. They sent us home with zofran and orders to return if she vomits blood again or if a rash appears. The later could mean some kind of blood issue. He didn't elaborate because he's pretty sure she will be fine. He felt that the blood was from her esophogus being irritated.

Prayers and positive thoughts please for a complete healing.

I'm not sure what is going on with the littles. Ace started running a low grade fever yesterday around 11am. It never got very high during the day but I knew she didn't feel good because she didn't want to be outside playing. Usually you can't get her inside if we are playing outside.

She went down for an early nap and when I came out Emi told me that she had fever. Sure enough I checked her and she did. Again not very high.

Then last night both of their fevers shot through the roof! Ace's wasn't as high as Emi's but it was high. The difference between the two was that Ace's dropped on it's own and Emi's just climbed. At 3am it was 104 under her arm. After I checked her temp she threw up. We let her rest some more and when the temp had gone up more by 3:45am we dosed her with motrin even though she protested.

I checked her over the next couple of hours and it was coming down. When she woke this morning she was talking and asked me to check her temp again. It was down to 99.

There are no other symptoms. Ace has an appetitie but Emi doesn't. No rash, no complaints of sore throats. Emi has a small sore on her tongue. I think she might have bitten her tongue at some point last night. I'm baffled. Ace did this last week but a rash showed up so I at least had a diagnosis.

Weird.

Sisi spent the night with friends. Aly has a sleepover tonight. We were going to go to the free time at the pool last night but with the littles we couldn't. I have to email the farm to let them know that I may try to come tonight since I am dealing with sick littles.

Ok, just had to give Emi more motrin because her fever is rising again. I know fever isn't bad and that it indicates that the body is fighting an infection but I don't want her to reach the same level she reached last night.

We had thunderstorms from 4pm yesterday and all through the night. More are on their way today.

Two lives lost in the counties below us.

Rough day yesterday with all the kiddos except Ace.

Hopefully we will have a better day today.

Things are so much more challenging since I can't move as quickly with this belly.

I sit down for a rest and the 3yo starts to aggrevate a big. Getting up to redirect her and help her change focus feels like I use up all of my energy...physically and mentally.

Trying to get the oldest to focus so she can be helpful is next to impossible. After reading and talking to another mom we are sure we are dealing with ADD. We are working on that homeopathically right now. Pray for us as we journey down this road.

Sisi had a small episode last night. The first one in a long time. She has really had a great year though. I will have to share her story one day. It has been quite the journey.

Ok, both littles are up so I will end here.

Have a great day!!

I would have gone for a walk to let off steam last night except the lightening was a bit on the intense side. No sense in adding to the drama that already exists.

Edited to add that I just got a hold of my midwife and she and her assistant are fine. Their homes are not in the flooded areas. She did attend a birth the night that the flooding started and it was a good thing the family was having a homebirth because their hospital was closed because of the flooding!

I couldn't get a hold of my midwife yesterday. I will try again today.

Heading out in a little bit to the farm to garden. Our garden is a no go this year. We were already going to be getting a late start and now with all of the rain we have had it will be even later and so we decided to plan for next year.

Aly had a friend spend the night Sat. and they went to see the Narnia movie yesterday morning. I sat in the van in the 88 degree weather for 2hrs and 20min. My left thigh is slightly burned from the sun but I did get to read a book. I tried to knit but it was just too hot. 

After the movie they decided they wanted to go out to the friend's house to swim. We had planned to meet with a new friend of mine to help her plan out her garden and have Jorry answer landscaping questions so we loaded everyone up in the van. Took Sisi to visit with my brother because she was not going to be successful on the trip, dropped Aly and friend off and then headed into the city. We had a nice visit at our friend's home and then headed back to our place.

On the way home Aly called and wanted us to come pick her up. She had planned to spend the night but she changed her mind. I figured that would happen. So we went to pick up Sisi but she wound up just riding with my brother to our house. He needed to use the computer. I dropped Jorry off so he could go to the store and get supper and the littles and I went to get Aly.

The night ended with a meltdown from the 3yo. She was tired but kept saying she wasn't. When she finally laid down she was out in about 3minutes.

Ok, gotta find farm clothes! Not easy to do when you are 32weeks pregnant!

The flooding south of us is horrible. Please keep those that are in the midst of it in your prayers and positive thoughts. I haven't seen numbers to how many are displaced but it's a lot. Also pray for the farmers that have lost their crops. Field after field is just covered with water. Rivers have left their banks and dams are weak.

One area got 11in yesterday.

My midwife lives in that area and I am going to call her today to see how she and her family are.

Nothing going on with the family. We are all fine. Just wanted to post about those in great need today.

Thanks for everyone for the encouragement from my last post.

We have had rain, rain and more rain in the form of really nasty thunderstorms. Lightening struck right outside the kitchen window and then was followed by the loudest clap of thunder. Emi jumped out of her chair at the table an into my arms. It scared her to death. I am grateful that she and Ace slept through the worst ones that came through in the early am.

Farmers are loosing corners of their newly planted corn fields to massive pools of water. The ground is so saturated and it can't hold any more. Yesterday while driving home we passed a field that is for sale and it has a few low spots full of water. There were ducks swimming out in those spots!

Aly is working at the nursery with her dad today. She and Sisi alternate Sat. Jorry was trying to get her to go to bed last night at about 10:30pm because they had to leave before 7am this morning. After a couple of times of him saying "Shouldn't you go to bed? I'm only going to try to wake you once." and her replying "I'm not tired. I'll get up." I had to quietly tell him that he told her what to expect and that it was now up to her to decide if she should go to sleep sooner or deal with being tired in the morning. He was just going to get frustrated if they kept going back and forth. She went to bed late and she did get up. Money is a good motivator. She earns a little bit for the work she does at the nursery.

I am off to pick up a little bit because I have been very relaxed today with the gloomy weather and all.

And to be quite honest it really sucked yesterday. I have wonderful children, I know this. However that does not mean that things are always great. If you are a parent and reading this then I am preaching to the choir.

The first part of the day was just fine. The bigs were invited to swim at a friends house so they were gone until 5pm. The littles and I had some good mommy and little time. We played with a big floor puzzle, I folded some diapers while I watched and noticed that Emi has really started to use her imagination which is really cool.

Then in the span of 15min, after the arrival of the almost 13yo the bottom fell out. I won't detail things, just suffice it to say that she was on an emotional roller coaster ride that was devoid of caring about how her actions effected others and unfortunately against the advice of Old Hat I joined her on the roller coaster ride thinking...wait scratch that because if I was thinking I would have NEVER gotten on the emotional roller coaster ride with her. I would have just gotten some cotton candy and walked away.

You know that emoticon with the red smilie head banging its head against a brick wall? I honestly think I need a wall like that that will just inflate Inspector Gadget style anytime I need it. I would have used it yesterday.

I chose to stay mad a long time last night which didn't help. Yes I know, I am the adult but sometimes I don't wanna be!! Of course staying mad was not helpful and then I spiraled into missing my dad, feeling helpless to parent and being bummed that even though I have done everything so differently from how I was raised I still feel like I am treading water. I wonder what my dad was thinking while he was watching my emotional(but quiet) melt down?

So today has to be better because I am choosing for it to be better. I did go to the library with her last night and she apologized and I accepted but I still pouted. I see you shaking your head...I'm just being honest here. I have to learn not to get on the roller coaster with her but I really have no clue how to do that. It requires being able to disconnect from the moment and not let my big emotions get caught up in hers. I have to learn to not take her personally but I have no clue how to do that. I have to fight with every fiber of my being to walk away and say nothing when I just want to scream because her words and actions have hurt me so.

<SIGH>

Ok back to today has to be better....It will be, it's a choice and even though this is hard I will survive. We will make it through to the other side and we will both be alive.

LIVE LAUGH LOVE

(saying it over and over and over)