Thursday's Random Thoughts

Happy Thursday! I don't know about you, but I sure am glad it's Thursday. For our family, Thursdays are like Fridays because there is no work on Fridays. Sooooo, I always look forward to Thursdays.
Also, since it's Thursday, it's time for my random thoughts. For those who may be new around here, on Thursdays, I share my random thoughts from the week. Be warned, I am a mom who is currently taking care of a newborn, a two year old and five year old on little sleep. My thoughts are not those of a normal human being.
Here goes:I saw an advertisement on t.v. yesterday for a website where you can register your teenage drivers. Here's basically how it works (from what I could tell). You get a bumper sticker for your teenager's car, and it has an 800 number and a website listed on it. It says something like, "How's my driving?" Or "I'm a teenage driver" or something like that. Other drivers can monitor your teen's driving and go to tellonme.com (though the website doesn't even work. What's up with that?!) to tell on your teen if they're driving crazy. In theory, it's a good idea. But realistically, how long will it be before some enemy of your teen tries to get him or her in trouble? Or some prankster? I mean, come on. Your teen could be super reliable and careful yet get in trouble on a bad tip. I don't dig it.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've kind of become addicted to Family Feud. I love that show! It comes on four times a day...two times in the morning and two times in the afternoon. Since I do LOTS of nursing, I often am able to catch it. Do you ever watch it? Don't you love how some family member will give some terrible, horrible answer, and the rest of the family kind of looks at them, John Hurley makes fun of them, but then the family cheers really loud, "Top five favorite kid foods?...Liver...YEAH! Good answer! Good answer!!!" Whatever. I feel certain that if it was my family, we'd be like, "Liver?! What in the world?!!! What are you thinking??? I CANNOT believe that's your answer!" I would love to be on that show.

It's a good thing I'm not married to Tom Cruise. They say that in scientology they prefer natural childbirth, AND most disturbingly difficult, they require the birthing mother to remain silent. Ok, what?! I can tell you that when I was giving birth to my baby girl in the car, there was no silence about it. There was no silence leading up to it when I was laboring at home. I was pretty vocal, to say the least. So if I were a scientologist or married to one, what would have happened to me? Would they have to have special prayer for me or for my baby? I wonder...

So yesterday on the show "Birth Day" or whatever it's called, the birthing mother on the show had herpes. Watching her, I wondered why in the world anyone would want to go on national television and let everyone know they have herpes. I just can't fathom.

Speaking of herpes, how about the actors in the Valtrex (that is herpes medication, right? All the constant commercials kind of run together for me) commercials? I mean, who needs an acting gig so bad they are willing to go on a national ad campaign to pretend that they have herpes??? They must really need a job. I mean, can you imagine getting excited and telling your friends you got the part...the part in the herpes commercial? AND to look so happy about "having" it. Totally baffles me.

Speaking of gross commercials, have you seen the constant commercial for Rephresh? It is so gross. And the woman at the end who looks like she stepped right out of a 70s disco movie...totally weird.

One more thing about commercials, is there a single commercial these days that doesn't have Brooke Shields pitching their product? She is endorsing everything right now...from cars... to eyelash growing meds... to toothpaste...and everything in between. She is everywhere! Will the woman say no to any product???

So I was out walking this week and noticed a tremendous amount of dried up dead worms on the sidewalks in our neighborhood. I mean, THOUSANDS! What is up with that? Do you think they're a bunch of suicidal worms or what? It's the strangest thing. Maybe all the families in our neighborhood tricked them. They all turned on their sprinklers long enough for the worms to come out of the grown seeking rain or water, and then everyone turned off the water. The worms were confused and ended up drying up. I don't know. How else can we explain all those worms?

Have any of you ever had a projectile pooper? My little girl is one. At least twice a day when I'm changing her diaper, she shoots poop across the room. It's awful and always surprises. What's a mom to do?

Each day, I get more and more sleepy and more and more affected by the nighttime feedings. Whoo! I'm sleepy!

Ok, folks. That's all I've got for this week. Like I said earlier, I don't get much sleep, so I'm doing good to be thinking at all. :) How about you? Any random thoughts to share??? Please do! They make my week!

Daddy's Girl

LOVE this shot! I can't stop staring at it. It totally makes my heart melt.

I got this from Grethel's photography blog. Who is Grethel? She is an amazing photographer in the Birmingham, AL area. If you are looking for a great photographer who is creative, affordable, patient, and super talented, you should give Grethel a call. She's got me hooked! She recently did a newborn session with my sweet Rhiannon and totally blew me away. LOVE her talent and all the amazing moments she captured. Here is one of my favorites:If you want more information about Grethel or want to see more of her work, you can visit her website or blog. Even if you live too far away, you should visit anyway. She's awesome!

Thursday's Random Thoughts

Good day! I can't believe it, but it's already Thursday. The last week and a half has kind of been a whirlwind, but now I'm back and ready to share my crazy random thoughts. So, here goes:
Last week at church, since I was so big and pregnant, I did a lot of sitting on a bench outside the auditorium, waiting for Channing. While I was sitting there, I did a lot of people watching. One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of girls and women who wear really really tall pencil heels, yet have no idea how to walk in them. I saw several girls and women who could barely walk and looked like their feet were killing them. It was pretty funny. I mean, isn't the point of those type of shoes to look 'hot'? It's hard to look hot when you're about to fall down. Just sayin'...

Over the past couple of days, I've seen some commercials for RentaCenter. Guess who their big celebrity endorser is? Magic Johnson. I wonder how it feels to go from getting big bucks for endorsing products like Nike, Reebok, Wheaties, to going to RentaCenter. It's gotta sting a little, right?

My sweet Rhiannon has the most perfectly shaped head. My boys definitely sported their cones for a good week, at least. Not Rhiannon, she came into the world with a perfect head. Lesson? Have your baby super quick, and he/she will totally avoid cone head. Why didn't I know that years ago?

Everyone is wondering, but few have been brave enough to ask. I bet you're wondering too...what was the condition of the car after Rhiannon's birth? You may be surprised to read that it wasn't bad at all. Fortunately, my doctor was able to deliver the placenta at the hospital, so there was very little mess in the car. It WAS detailed before we went home. Hope you can rest knowing that now. :)

Since Rhiannon was born in the car, we've heard our fair share of jokes about it. A couple that have stood out: She was really red after she was born. A couple of people remarked that it was "rug burn". Nice, right? One of my mom's co-workers thought we should have named her "Flora" since she was born in the floorboard of the car. Everyone's a comedian...

A lot of people wonder if we'll get some kind of break on our hospital bill because our baby was born in the car. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we won't. They'll charge us just as they would have had she been born there. Bummer, right? One of the nurses remarked that the insurance company should pay me the delivery fee. That would be AWESOME! Wishful thinking...

A couple of days after the birth, I went Belk to get a shirt for pictures. I made some remark about my belly, and the Belk worker who was ringing me up told me, "Oh, don't worry. It will be gone in a couple of months." I said, "I hope so." A few minutes later, she asked me if I was having a boy or a girl. I told her, "Well, I actually had a baby girl two days ago." TOTAL SILENCE. The woman didn't say another word to me through the rest of the transaction. NOTHING. I don't know if she was embarrassed or what, but she didn't make another peep.

Ok, that's all I've got this week. My brain is kind of mush due to lack of sleep. How about you? Can you entertain my couple of readers? Sure you can. Share some of your random thoughts...pretty please??? :)

To My Sweet Rhiannon...Your Birth Story

I am writing this to Rhiannon because it will be transferred to her Blurb book. Here's THE story...

A little more than five years ago, I gave birth to your big brother, Tristan. Your daddy and I prepared throughout the whole pregnancy for a natural childbirth. We practiced relaxation, we exercised, we studied the benefits and risks of the different types of childbirth. Natural childbirth was something that was very important to us, and on March 23, 2004, Tristan was born without any medications. We were so proud that we were able to accomplish our goal and to give the gift of natural childbirth to your big brother. The process wasn't easy, and I was in labor for 40 long hours. We were even sent home from the hospital at one point (after going in when contractions were three minutes apart) because I wasn't progressing fast enough. Tristan~ 8 lb 10 oz, 20 1/2 inches long

Next came Asher. He didn't want to come out. Unlike your brother who was eight days early, at eight days past my due date, Asher was showing no signs of coming. My belly was huge, and Dr. Sharp feared that our baby would be a 10 pounder. Because of the size of my frame, he recommended an induction. Reluctantly, your daddy and I agreed, and on Thursday, April 19, 2007, I went into the hospital for my induction. I tried for hours to forgo the epidural, but after eight hours, the pain was too much to bear, and I gave in. Your brother was born less than an hour later. Asher~ 9 lb, 21 inches long

So, if you'll notice from the births of your brothers, my labors were very long. My babies were in no major hurry to leave the cozy spot of my belly. Naturally, I assumed you would be the same way. Boy was I wrong! Everyone was...your daddy and Dr. Sharp, anyway. Here is your story...

Beginning Saturday, June 6, I started having contractions and major low back pain. The contractions were kind of strong and regular that night, but by the next day, they became significantly reduced and only happened once every couple of hours or so. The low back pain stuck around, though. Monday and Tuesday of that week were the same way. Contractions here and there, some back pain, but nothing major. Tuesday, June 9, things changed. I had had a great day. I felt great, no low back pain, I had lots of energy...like I said, it was a great day. Then at the end of the day, I had something happen at work that really upset me. I left work really upset and crying, and the contractions started again, much stronger and more regular this time. I prayed that it wouldn't be time yet because your doctor (the doctor who delivered both your brothers) was out of town. Fortunately, my prayers worked, and several hours later, the contractions went back to being spread out.

Wednesday, June 10 was different. All day, I was experiencing lots of pressure. I found it hard to walk and started having more regular contractions. Though they were more regular, they weren't close enough together to start timing. That night, though, as I was putting your brothers to bed and reading them a story, the contractions got really strong. At one point, I had to stop reading, put the book down, and get on the side of the bed until the pain subsided. Your sweet brothers prayed for me, and once the contraction was over, I was able to finish the story and put the boys to bed (your daddy was on a conference call at this point).

Once the boys were in bed, and I sat around experiencing these contractions for an hour or two, I decided it would be best if I started timing the separation. So, at 9:58 p.m., I started charting my contractions. For the first two hours, they were pretty much like clockwork, almost always seven minutes apart. Every now and then, I would only have two or four minutes. Though they were seven minutes apart, they were extremely painful, much moreso than with Tristan.

At around 12:30 Thursday morning, they quickly moved up, the contractions started coming every four minutes, like clockwork. The pain had intensified and I was letting your daddy know it. I just was not prepared for this type of pain, and I was thinking about that epidural that erased all the pain with Asher (though natural childbirth was a gift I really wanted to give you and had planned on for nine months). I got in the tub to help alleviate the pain, and your daddy ran upstairs to check the Bradley website (the most successful method of natural childbirth and the method we used with your brother, Tristan. Unfortunately, we did not freshening up with your pregnancy and were extremely rusty) on when we should head to the hospital. We didn't want to leave too early and risk getting sent home like we did with Tristan.

While your daddy was gone, my contractions quickly jumped to two minutes apart, and sometimes one. I was in major pain, and it was all I could do to get out of the tub and crawl to the side of the bed and hold on. I was pretty vocal because of the massive pain, which was really different for me during childbirth. Your daddy came back downstairs, found me in more pain, and finally called Dr. Sharp. He told Dr. Sharp what was going on and asked him if we should head to the hospital. Dr. Sharp said, "Well, you can go ahead in and get checked, but you know it's probably going to be a while." Then, he heard me screaming in the background and asked daddy if that was me. Daddy told him it was, and Dr. Sharp said that was very unusual because I normally don't complain (let me correct him here...I normally don't scream, never have during childbirth. Normally, I just whine). He said for us to go on in, and he would let the nurses know we were coming. He went back to bed.

So at this point, I'm holding onto the side of the bed, screaming, and your daddy is finishing his packing and getting ready to call Mrs. Ashley to come stay with your brothers. He calls her and gets no answer. When we weren't able to get Mrs. Ashley, we started getting really worried. Our neighbors were out of town, and we couldn't get in touch with our plan A. All of a sudden, I felt the need to go to the bathroom. I ran in there, and my water broke. I knew we were in trouble! I was feeling so much pressure, on top of the pain I was already experiencing. My pain was unbearable and contractions were right on top of each other. I told Daddy to call Mr. Jon. He called him, and thankfully, Mr. Jon quickly came over. By the time Mr. Jon got there (which was really fast), I was able to get myself to the car and position myself in the floorboard (I was in too much pain to get in the seat, though your daddy did get the seat laid back for me).

Your daddy peeled out of the driveway (he had already called MiMi, and she was on her way from Atlanta to keep your brothers), and began speeding through the neighborhoods trying to get to the hospital as fast as possible. I began shouting at him that we weren't going to make it, that you were going to be born in the car. This stressed your poor patient daddy out, and he told me, "Stop saying that. Yes we are. You just need to calm down." I was in so much pain and was very loud during the whole trip. By the time we got to the interstate, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of the need to push. I told your daddy I had to push and couldn't help it. He told me not to and that I could help it. Unfortunately, he was wrong. I had to push. I just had to. My body had taken over, and there was nothing I could do. So whenever the contractions would start back, my body would push, though I tried as hard as I could not to (at first, anyway). Your daddy was driving like a madman. He was going 90 mph.

At some point during the drive, I had him call the hospital to prepare the nurses for our arrival. I knew there was no way I would be able to walk out of the car and to the delivery floor and was in desperate need of a wheelchair. I wanted to make sure they were there waiting for us when we pulled in.

Again, I told your daddy we weren't going to make it, and I got the same response from him. Then I felt it...your head. I remembered from our Bradley Childbirth classes with Tristan a little thing called (and if you're a man reading this, you may want to skip a paragraph or two...it's not pleasant) "the ring of fire". That's when the baby's head first crowns, and the mother feels a painful, burning sensation. I felt that and KNEW you were coming. I told your daddy what was going on and that I HAD TO push. He kept pleading with me to wait and drove even faster. It was too late, though. I told him I had to. The next contraction, I pushed and your head came halfway out. OK, let me stop here and say that I had a mild freak out, but it was nothing compared to your daddy. I think he was probably as pale as a ghost, though it was too dark to see his face.

Let me go off on a side note here. I had a friend who almost delivered her baby in the car two years ago. She barely made it to the hospital in time and ended up having her son in the emergency room. I had another friend who was scheduled for a c-section, but had progressed so quickly, she had a natural vaginal delivery...no time for an epidural. I spent a lot of time telling these girls how jealous I was of them and how I wished that would happen to me. I mean, I wanted and planned for a natural childbirth, these girls didn't, they wanted epidurals, yet my labors lasted FOREVER, and theirs flew by. My first friend would look at me like I was crazy and tell me that I DID NOT wish that. Yeah, can I tell you, those girls did not leave my mind during this whole situation. In the car, on the ride to the hospital, I even said out loud to God, "This is NOT what I want. I THOUGHT this is what I wanted, but this is NOT what I want!" Lesson: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR...

So here I am, in the floorboard, on all fours, forearms on the edge of the seat, shorts on, and your head halfway out of my body. I immediately began tugging on my shorts and yelling for your daddy to help me get my shorts off because your head was coming out. It seemed like it took forever, but we got my shorts off, and your head popped out. I told your daddy he was going to have to pull over and pull the rest of your body out (he was really freaked out at this point. I mean, who plans on having a baby in the car?!). I'm not sure what he did because I was so lost in the moment, but I had a break between contractions, your tiny head was out, then all of a sudden, another contraction came, I pushed, and out you came.

You fell into the floorboard, but you didn't fall far. I was already in the floorboard. At this point, your daddy and I were both in shock, scared, and didn't really know what to do or to think. I was still backwards, could see and feel your body but was having a hard time picking you up because of my positioning. I asked your daddy, "What do I do?! Why isn't she making any noise?! Something must be wrong!!!" Ok, let me just say that I have seen on t.v. what to do if this type of thing were to happen (having your baby outside of hospital); however, when it actually happens to you, you just draw a blank. Your daddy told me to pick you up, and I was finally able to get myself turned around and pick you up. You were so beautiful and started crying once I picked you up.

We were still faced with what to do, though. We were about four minutes from the hospital, your cord was still attached, and I was lost as to how to handle it. I asked your daddy, and he didn't know. He just didn't want to pull the cord too much because he didn't know if it would hurt you. At first, I pinched your cord (seriously, I had NO IDEA what to do), then I just let go. I could see the hospital and knew you would be ok.
Your daddy was still driving like Jeff Treadway, and I asked him to slow down. You were here now, and I knew we could stand to drive a little slower.

As we wheeled into the hospital, we could see the nurses hanging out in front of the doors, chilling in the wheelchair. Your daddy hopped out and told them, "The baby's in the car." They said, "What?" He repeated it, "The baby's in the car." They immediately came running over. One of the nurses ran for a kit (I forget what the kit is called) and quickly came running back with sterilized scissors (and some other stuff) to cut your umbilical cord. During this, I'm sitting in the front seat, pants off, watching. They asked your daddy to take off one of his t-shirts (he has saved it for you) so they could wrap you in it. He did, and they wrapped you all up. They got me to the wheelchair and covered me up (thank goodness. Though it was 3:35 in the morning, and no one was around, I still didn't want to ride up the elevator with my privacy exposed).

They called Dr. Sharp to deliver the placenta, and when he got there, he was shocked. He apologized and said that it always takes me so long in labor. He told me he knew I didn't usually complain, and when he heard me yelling, he didn't think you were coming, he thought something was wrong, though. I'm guessing he thought you were breach. Your daddy admitted to me that he thought I was yelling and complaining so much because I just wanted to get an epidural. Boy was he wrong, and boy did he feel bad. He spent some time asking for my forgiveness in the hospital (you should have seen his face. Bless his heart, he was in total shock that entire day).

Once things slowed down, your daddy called Nana to tell her you were here. She didn't believe him. She thought 4:00 in the morning was a bad time for a joke. After some convincing, she finally believed him. As with everyone else, she was shocked.

The nurses were stunned, and we spent two days in the hospital recounting the story to every different nurse who came in and to lots of curious calling friends. I posted online that you were born in the car, and realized that many people didn't believe me and thought I was joking. It was all just very surreal, and it took a good couple of days for the shock to die down, for us and everyone else.

Because you were born in the car, and we didn't have any laboring or delivering to do in the hospital, we spent two whole days just hanging out. I must say, though, I have never felt better after a delivery. I was pretty tired because I got no sleep, but I felt fantastic. Dr. Sharp and our family all commented on how great I was doing. It was awesome!

After all was said and done, it was a pretty traumatic experience, one that I wouldn't want to relive any time soon, but all turned out well. God looked after the three of us, kept us safe, and gave us you...our beautiful, healthy baby girl. Given the choice of you having been born at home (unexpectedly) or in the car, I'm glad it happened the way it did. Had you been born at home, I feel certain an ambulance would have been in the picture at some point. The pediatrician also informed us that if your umbilical cord had been cut by unsterilized scissors, you would have had to have a tetanus shot. YUCK! God worked it all out for the best, like He always does. Rhiannon~ 8lb 4 oz, 20 inches long...our peanut

We have you and are so in love. I would go through it all again, if I had to. Your worth every bit of shock, pain,and re-telling. You are my baby girl, and I don't know how we ever survived without you. I thank God that He knows what's best and always had us in His sights:

"For I know the plans I have for you, " declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

This verse has never meant more to me. It covers so many areas of our lives right now. From the birth, and His protection and provision, to you being a girl. I was so nervous about having a girl and really had almost hoped for a boy. Am I thankful that God knows more than I?! I am SO IN LOVE with you and SO THANKFUL that I have a girl. How could I not have realized how wonderful it would be to be the mother of a little girl?! Thank you, God!

So, sweet Rhiannon, that's your story. It will probably be a story you will get tired of telling one day. However, just know that God has something very special for you. He has special plans for you, and I can't wait to see what they are. You made a special entrance, and I know your time spent here will be full of blessing and big things! I love you, my sweet baby girl!!! Your brothers and daddy do too.

Pictures By An Amazing Photographer

On Sunday, Grethel Van Epps (a super amazing photographer) came to our house and took newborn shots of our sweet baby Rhiannon. As always, Grethel captured the greatest moments. I am SO in love with her work and now am faced with the difficult task of narrowing my choices down. How will I ever do it?! How do you choose when you see amazing pictures of the kids you love so much??? I have no idea.

Would you like to check them out? If so, visit Grethel's site, "Enter Site", click on "clients", and the password is "girl" (case sensitive). Let me know what you think.

AND if you're in this area and are looking for a photographer, I've just led you to a great one! We LOVE Grethel!!!

Oh, you can also visit her blog: Grethel's blog

Rhiannon

2 great big brothers

My sweet baby girl

Do We Have a Story to Tell...

Take a look at our new family. This morning, at 3:30, our family added sweet Rhiannon Marie. She came into the world with a bang. She was born (NO JOKE) in the car, on the way to the hospital (stay tuned for the full story). She weighed in at 8 lb, 4 0z and 20 in long...our little peanut. She is smaller than her brothers were, and she has stolen our hearts.
Thank you, God, for a healthy baby girl, and thank You for your provision and protection. We are so blessed!
Thanks to all my sweet friends for your prayers, calls, concern, and well wishes. I love you all!!!

Decisions, Decisions

This baby is due Saturday, and I feel sure she'll be here by then. I've been having contractions this week, but this morning (at 3:30 a.m, no less) they got stronger. I'm definitely feeling it. Hopefully this means that baby Rhiannon will make her appearance very soon and without an induction.

This fact brings me to my blog title, "Me and My Three Boys". I must change it but have no idea what I'll change it to. Any ideas? I'll leave my address (indecisivemomoftwo.blogspot.com) because I don't feel like re-routing my two big readers. ;) I need to change the title of my blog, though. So, if you have a creative idea, please share!

Oh, and I just have to share because it was too cute:
Last night, Asher was praying before bedtime, and this is what he said:

Dear God, thank you for this day...you're welcome...

Then he continued. I just thought it was so super cute that he answered on God's behalf. Oh the mind of a two year old!

Just Surprised it Didn't Happen Sooner

Yeah, so it finally happened. To be honest, I thought I might make it through the whole pregnancy without it happening. You can probably see why. You see, I'm due next Saturday, and to date, it hasn't happened. With the boys, it happened much sooner and much more often. Well, tonight it happened. You may be wondering what I'm talking about...let me fill you in.

So tonight I made the dreaded trip to Wal-Mart. That, my friends, was my first mistake. I absolutely abhor shopping at Wal-Mart. I really go maybe once every two months or so. I prefer to shop at CVS (which I have totally slacked off of the past few months), Publix, or Target. Anyway, I'm at Wal-Mart and walking in, and this guy (who is with his wife, mind you) says to me (with BIG eyes and an exaggerated voice), "How many are in there?!?!" Clearly, he was talking about the large size of my baby bump (so it's not so much a bump as it is a mound). Ok, so his total lack of couth, the fact that I'm a week away from my due date, and I'm tired from hours of cleaning makes his comment rub me completely the wrong way. So I looked at him and, with a sarcastic smile and tone and a bit of an eye roll, said, "There's just one." Does he stop there? Noooo... Does his wife stop him, correct him, try to apologize for his rudeness...NOPE! He says, "WOW!!!" His wife made some comment that went along with his, and I kept walking and said, "THANKS!" Of course, I said this very sarcastically and was thinking that that guy better be glad I was walking. I almost turned around and told him just how rude his comment was (when I called Channing on the ride home to tell him about it, he told me he was so glad I was so life-giving in my response to this man. Obviously, he was being sarcastic. Lots of sarcasm tonight, people).

I told Channing that if he ever said something like that to a pregnant woman, I would be MORTIFIED. I would be so embarrassed and would immediately begin apologizing for his unkind words. Clearly, this woman thought her hubby's comments were ok. What is wrong with people, I ask you? Seriously, are some people raised in a barn?! I guess I shouldn't complain. It took my whole pregnancy before I ran into one of these geniuses of etiquette.

Well, that's it, folks. I just had to share. Hope you got a good laugh at my expense. That guy sure did! Ha! I still have a week until my due date, and who knows if she'll even come by then. So I guess I should prepare myself for much more of this. Maybe I should hide out at home until she arrives? That's sounding better and better! :)

Have a great weekend, people!

Facebook Fridays

Welcome to this week's Facebook Friday. Here are this week's notable Facebook updates:

My fav:

__________________ just chased the garbage truck down the street with my big green (full!) can. And caught him. Oh, yeah, baby. Gonna be a good day!

and one more...

I wish I could harness the power of Bandaids.

How about you? Any of your facebook friends have a status this week that made you laugh, smile, or roll your eyes? If so, by all means...SHARE!

Thursday's Random Thoughts

Happy Thursday! To those of you who are new around here, on Thursday's I share my random thoughts from the week. These are just a collection of my strangest and most pressing thoughts. Most are totally out of left field, but I guess that's how I think. So, here goes:
Does it annoy (or totally drive nuts, like in my case) any of you when/if you call a store (say, Wal-Mart) and ask for a particular department (let's say "car seats", just as an example) and ask the worker if they have a particular item, and they say, "Ummmmmmm, I don't think so"? Ok, I am calling because I NEED to know if they have an item. I don't want to know what they "think". I want the worker to kindly go over to the section where they work and check for me. Seriously, is it that hard? I have been told before that they didn't "think" they had a particular item, and when I went and looked myself, there it was...right on the shelf. DRIVES ME CRAZY! I don't call much, and now I remember why. These days, no one wants to take the time to check on anything. Sounds like some stores and their workers need some Publix or Chick-fil-A training.

So all during this pregnancy, I've told everyone my due date is June 10. I told everyone that because that is what I was told by my ultrasound tech. However, when I saw her a second time, she acted like I had lost my mind and that my due date was actually June 13. I had become so accustomed to the 10th, I just stuck with it. Now that the dates are approaching, though, I have moved it to the 13. I am trying to keep myself from being disappointed should this baby arrive late (like Ash). I am reminding myself every day that the date is nothing but a date. It really doesn't mean much.

Speaking of my due date, I have an idea for a t-shirt. I think those of you pregnant women at the end of your pregnancies could appreciate this shirt. It would be a shirt that would say, "I am due in __ days." In the spot where the blank is, there would be velcro. This shirt would come with numbers, and each day, you could change the numbers. That way, you won't be asked 100 times how much longer you have, how many more days, if you're about to pop, etc. I think it would significantly cut down on having to repeat yourself, and for those who still ask (and you know they will), you can simply point to the numbers on your shirt. Yeah, so wearing the same shirt every day wouldn't be super cool, but at least you wouldn't have to repeat yourself all day. By the end of my pregnancies, I'm just putting on whatever is mildly comfortable anyway.

I will say, though, it is kind of nice being pregnant because most people are so accommodating (well, except for the shoppers at Publix on a Monday night. NEVER shop at Publix on a Monday night around 6:30 p.m. Everyone is there, and they're ruthless). People offer their seats to me, give me compliments, and shower me with well wishes. It's so nice. It's hard to believe that in a few short weeks (HOPEFULLY SOONER), all of that will be over. People will go back to racing me to the checkout line and to the last seat on the bus (I couldn't think of anything else. I don't really ride the bus).

I am still wondering about the whole permanent pregnancy thing. NO PROGRESS at this past Tuesday's appointment. Oh joy! Oh well. It's probably for the best. I still have much to do at home, and my doc is at the beach for the rest of the week. He delivered my boys, and I'm really hoping he'll be able to deliver our little girl.

Ok, the new movie "Drag Me to Hell"...what in the world?! I saw the previews for the first time when I was working out a few weeks back. I was working out on a treadclimber (my FAV) that had a t.v. on it. It came on during a commercial break from the movie I was watching, and I nearly passed out. The previews are HORRIBLE. Who wants to see that, much less hear it through head phones? UGH! I mean, the title itself is bad enough..."Drag Me to Hell"??? Who would want to see that?! Apparently a lot of people because I saw that it performed well at the box office. I just don't get it.

Did anyone out there watch Conan O'Brien's first Late Show Monday night? I admit it, I gave in to the hype and checked it out. In my opinion, it was really funny. He cracked me up. And Will Ferrell...HILARIOUS! I'll admit, I haven't been a big Conan fan and rarely watched his Late Late Show (it kind of got on my nerves), but I've watched two episodes of his late show and have enjoyed them. I'm sorry to say goodbye to Jay (even though I didn't really watch him. Again, I am a Letterman fan), but I think Conan fits in quite nicely. Way to go, Conan!

Speaking of Conan's show, if you watched it, you caught Pearl Jam, right? Ok, back in the day, I was a HUGE, and I mean HUGE Pearl Jam fan. I though Eddie Vedder hung the moon. I thought he was gorgeous and loved the whole grunge experience. When I heard Pear Jam was going to perform on the show, I got a little nostalgic and a little excited. Um, yeah, so that excitement wore off once they hit the stage and even more when they started playing. Bless him, Eddie Vedder has really aged. He's no longer the hot young guy he once was. Also, what was that music? When the music started, I wondered if it was some kind of modern pop music or something, a far cry from the grunge of the 90s. And Eddie's singing, could you understand any of the words??? His singing did not go with the music at all. Overall, I was greatly disappointed. I prefer to remember, with fondness, the Pearl Jam of the past. I'm going to try to pretend I did not see them Monday night. Nope, I did NOT see them, haven't seen them in a few years.

Spencer and Heidi, seriously?! Do they drive you crazy too? If you know who they are (and who doesn't these days), they drive you crazy. Thing is, they know this and continue to act...well, crazy and annoying. They make their money off of people hating them. I was thinking about that a couple of nights ago as I was watching a quick five minutes of "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" (five minutes was all I could take). Heidi was crying hysterically (and has been re-played on every celebrity news show out there) and Spencer was going ballistic because someone tore off the labels from their dry shampoo bottles (what is dry shampoo anyway?). I just don't know how they do it. Money just doesn't seem like enough motivation for me not to care that the nation is always making fun of me, and that everyone seems to hate me. Would it be worth it to you?

A few nights ago, Tristan told me that when he goes to college, I can come with him. Isn't that the sweetest? Now if I can get him to put it in writing and sign it in blood, we may have ourselves a contract. ;)

One of Asher's "fun" new tricks is to tell Channing and me, "I won't!" whenever we try to get him to do something. "Asher, let's take a bath." "I WON'T TAKE A BATH! I WON'T!" "Asher, eat your dinner." "I won't eat my dinner!" Oh yeah, fun times for sure.

I will say about Asher, though, he has phenomenal manners. I am totally serious. He just turned two in April, but anytime we give him a compliment (and most other people too, depending on how shy he's being at the moment), he says "thank you". "Asher, you can run fast." "Thank you." "Asher, I like your outfit". "Thank you." Not only that, he is quick to say "please", ''yes ma'am'', ''yes sir", "no thank you" (though, we sometimes get a "no thank you" when he's not really been given a choice. For example, "Asher, let me change your dirty diaper." "No thank you."), etc. I am amazed. It took a long time with Tristan. I guess it just goes to show, having an older sibling is super great. They learn so much from them.

Have you tried the Philadelphia Spinach & Artichoke Cream Cheese? If not, stop what you're doing, get in the car, and go buy some. It is DELISH! I bought it because I had a coupon that made it free or nearly free at Publix a couple of weeks ago. I tried it for the first time a couple of days ago. I had it on Wheat Thins. Now, I am hooked. YUMMO!

That's all I can think of for now. How about you? Any random thoughts that you're dying to share? Please do. It would make the day of a big, heavy pregnant woman...me!