Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun! On Saturday morning the girls and I went to Grannymoo's (my grandma) with Grammy (my mom) as usual. I layed on the couch for as long as I could half sleeping, half dazing off. I'm always super tired on Saturdays for some reason. Seriously, I don't lay around like that on normal days. Grammy took the girls outside to play and gather eggs from the chickens, which by the way made excellent omelettes this morning. Libby took a nap for once later that day to prepare her for staying up late to go trick-or-treating. After their naps we piled in the van and headed to Sherman to some event on 1417. I got so lost because I had no idea where this place was. I figured I'd see a sign somewhere but I didn't. After driving for 40 minutes, and stopping for gas, Libby's BFF's mom and dad comes to save the day because they know how to get there. Thank God for IPHONES, I wish I had one. A classmate from high school has this photography studio and she had this whole set up to take free pictures, which she emailed me tonight. I'm glad she was there because my camera ran out of batteries the moment I picked it up to snap a photo :(. Naomi was a peacock and Libby chose to wear her dress up Cinderella (which was a GoodWill find for $3) and her 'princess shoes', which are a pair of clearance flip flops from Rack Room Shoes. We went to my mom's house for dinner. Then we went door-to-door trick or treating in a rich neighborhood in Denison with some of Libby's friends. We had a lot of fun doing this. Naomi loved going up to the houses, but she kept trying to go inside! She refused to be carried in between houses, so she was always last one to the door after the older kids got their candy. She was so cute in her peacock outfit dragging her Halloween bag on the ground behind her. She would get mad sometimes at the people giving out candy because she was afraid they would take her candy away. We also made it to the church party and Joel had fun jamming with some kids and the youth director since they had the instruments set up. It was time to go when Naomi climbed into the kiddie pool which was there to play grab the ducks. All in all it was a fun, yet exhausting night! We have been trying to adjust to the time change ever since. I do admit that the fall time change is easier than the one in the spring. Isn't this supposed to stop at some point? I was reading that Day Light Saving Time was established by Ben Franklin who was trying to save money on candles or something by keeping it lighter longer. Something like that.

Ok I'm tired. I'm starting to ramble again. Must go to sleep. After diapers are done in washer, or Naomi won't have anything to poo in, in the morning.

More Halloween Parties!

Naomi cheesing like usual
BFF's!

Playing with the baby piano

They all played so nicely with one another.

Libby, Naomi, Jessika, JJ, Hollis, and Jessie. This has to be my fav one just because it is so chaotic! Kind of like us :P

We had a fun play date this morning! Jessica hosted a Halloween play date for members of the Texoma Moms Playgroup. Libby did not want to be Dorothy this morning, so she wore her Cinderella dress up dress instead. Naomi wore her red riding hood dress, although she still hates the hood for it. I brought a feathersword and pirate hat for her to accessorize with since the red riding hood dress looks kind of piratey. We had fun playing over at Jessie's house. Naomi was kissing all of the little baby boys like usual, and Libby and B were having a blast playing as usual. We went to eat at Chick-Fil-A afterwards with Jessika and JJ. We came home and I gave Naomi to Joel since it was her nap time and Libby and I went to Wal-Mart to buy snacks for her pre-k class.

Everyone is at dance class now, and I really should be worrying about dinner instead of sitting here on the computer! I am going to post some pictures from today first though.

Oh and btw, Dr A's office called today and said that they needed to talk to me ASAP. I assume that I failed my gestational diabetes test (for the third pregnancy in a row) and that I need to come back in for the 5 hour reading (for the third pregnancy in a row). I hate those tests! I wish they would make them more accurate because I don't have GD but, for some reason I always fail the first test. I called back the doctor office and I never heard back from them, and they aren't picking up the phones. What doctor office closes on Tuesday afternoons? Or just doesn't answer the phones all day? Weird.

What we did today.

After Naomi's nap today, we went to the pumpkin patch. I am so tired and need to do some laundry and catch up on some emails so instead of writing a long blog, I'll just post some pictures.

Sisters!

Family Pic. Yay, none of us are screaming or crying!

Love this one of Miss Ma'mm.

She thinks her uncle is silly.

Aunt Shirlee being funny as usual (and Casey trying not to laugh).

Mother's Night Out

I had so much fun last night. I am a member of Texoma Area Moms Playgroup. We get together at least a few times a month for playdates. This group is so wonderful, I'm telling you. Libby met her BFF through going to playdates with these other moms and children. I think it eased her transition into pre-k greatly since she has a friend in her class. About once a month or so, the group has a mother's night out. I am trying to take advantage of these before the new baby gets here, because it takes sooo much effort to get out of the house for even a few hours without baby in the early months. Last night we had a Halloween themed MNO (I guess that is obvious with these posted pictures!) We met at the La Quinta Inn banquet room to play Bunco and eat all kinds of snacks (of course). Bunco is soooo much fun! It's a dice game based on luck, and it is easy to learn. Everyone brought $5 and at the end, the winners won some of that money. I say winner(s) because the best and worst players "win". It is so much fun! I do not

know what I would do without this group. Being a SAHM this is just kind of essential for socialization for both the girls and I. Some of my best friends, I met through this group. You

ladies know who you are. Hey ya!

After Bunco, a couple of us went to Taco Cabana in Sherman to sing karaoke. Yes. Taco Cabana has karaoke on Thursday nights from 6-10pm. Isn't that just kind of odd? It is great though because it is restaurant and not a bar, plus it is non-smoking. So that means I can go have fun without being a pregnant woman in a smokey bar (which is just so disgusting). The karaoke was inside so the acoustics were pretty much horrible. It is not like we are some Mariah Carey's anyways, so I really should not be complaining. We were the only ones singing besides the Taco Cabana employees. They were telling us that they fight over who gets to work the Thursday night 2nd shift. We even got hooked up with some free tacos (yum) and quesadillas. I guess word has not gotten out about karaoke there because usually this town has some major karaoke nerds that would want to be all over that. I am not a karaoke nerd. Okay maybe I am. If you have not heard my singing voice, please do not feel like you are missing out on something. It is really quite disturbing. Even my speaking voice gets on my own nerves, so my singing one is like ten thousand times worse. What I have going for me, is that I don't care what the audience thinks of me, I am just there to have fun. My song list last night included: "Roxanne" by The Police, "Peaches" by the "Presidents of the United States of America", and "Hey Ya" by Outkast. The karaoke guy was supposed to close up at 10, but we

were having a blast past 10:30 when we decided it was time to go home. My absolute favorite performance of the night was Jessika and Tara singing "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice Girls. Seriously, Jessika gets way into it. I laughed so much I thought I was going to pee. I could just blame that on being pregnant though, right? Tiffani had never sang before and she sang Peaches with me, and then a country song that I'd never heard of (but she did do really well), followed by "Air Force Ones" by Nelly. Fabulous. Tara sang "Hand in My Pocket" by Alanis Morisette and I just love that song!

In other news, I had my appointment with Dr. A. yesterday. He said that he could not allow VBACs anymore but that I could schedule a repeat c-section for 42 weeks if that is what I want to do. For those that don't know I grow babies for a long time and I would rather have the baby closer to my "real" due date than the standard 39 weeks for repeat sections. In my experience, the longer they cook, the more likely they won't have jaundice and feeding issues. 42 weeks is still within normal range so I think I am going to go with that. I might cut it down to 41 weeks if I just get incredibly antsy. OR I might go into labor on my own accord and show up at the hospital too late to give me a section. It is not in my hands. Are you there God? It's me Rachel. If you are listening please let me have a safe VBAC! We want more children and I do not want to keep on having these surgeries.

More Halloween Pictures Have Surfaced!

"Love You Forever"

Sometimes when we are bored and need to kill time, I'll take the girls to Hastings to look at books. We go to the library on a pretty regular basis, but sometimes we like to actually go shopping! Anyways, one of the days on my quest to find good books at a decent price I came across a book I had never heard of before. What caught my eye at first was the price, I must admit ($2.50). It was a used book, which is just as good in my opinion. I opened it up and read the inscription:

Mom-

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
My Mommy you'll be.

Love Shirley
"1991"

Well goodness gracious. I HAD to get it. This book was given as a gift to someone's mother and love oozed from that inscription. I started to think about why this book was in the used section. Why a mother would sell this book to a store, why it was not in her special place of mom stuff, or at least on the family bookshelf. I did not have time to read the book there, Libby and Naomi were being crazy. Libby was taking down all of the Disney Princess books that she could find, and Naomi was playing with the big display of personalized name cups. That night when I was reading books to Libby before bedtime, I remembered to find this book from my shopping bag and include it in our nighttime ritual. The book is called Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.

And capital OMG it is a tearjerker. It is one of those children's books that is as much for the parent as it is for the child. It is a 'circle of life' kind of book, that begins with a young boy. It ends with that young boy becoming a man, losing his mother and becoming a father to a daughter of his own. It is very heartwarming, and I know it might sound depressing but it is very good. Libby likes it a lot, and will "read" it when she sees it scattered on the floor amongst her other books.

If you know me, you know that I rarely watch television. It is hardly ever on at our home, unless it's Barney at snack time, or Libby watching a princess movie during Naomi's nap. The other day I was bored so I turned on the converter box and Friends was on. I love that show. Phoebe is my favorite character just in case any of you were wondering :P. The episode was of Rachel and Ross's daughter Emma's first birthday party. Joey being his usual absent minded self, did not bring a gift for Emma. He decided that he would perform a dramatic reading of one of Emma's books. He picks up a book not knowing what it is and reads it. Watch what happens, seriously it is too funny and cute.





Needless to say, I highly recommend this book. It is wonderful, and will always hold a special place in my heart. It reminds me to tell my girls every day that "I love them forever, and like them for always". <3.

I can only imagine why the book winded up on the bookshelves at Hastings. I have my own idea, but I'll never know for sure.

The Baby Police

We should be getting ready for storytime at the library but I can't resist...must blog. Last night was our monthly LLL meeting. I have so much fun talking with the other mothers. We had a great meeting last night. I think the best meetings are when I don't have to talk much. I throw an idea out there, and the mothers go back and forth talking about their experiences, what worked for them, etc. As a Leader I'm not there to offer personal experience. I lead the discussion and refer to LLL's philosophy when needed. We talked about adjusting to motherhood, processing the birth and how breastfeeding helps a mom recover (emotionally, physically, and sometimes spiritually). Many more things were discussed but, I guess you should have been there to know the details. lol.

Afterwards, a few of us went to the new Braum's to eat. Libby and Naomi were at home with Joel and I am seizing every opportunity to have fun out before the new baby gets here. While we were eating, one of my friend's 8 month old started to be pretty loud. You know, not crying upset screaming...but the loud playful scream that they have when they want to hear their voice in a large echoing room. Of course we as mothers did not care. Unless one of our children are upset and crying, we tend to just talk louder over the joyful baby sounds :). This was at 9pm at night so the place was not crowded at all. Just as we were in discussion about how disgusting Splenda is, and how some of us have stopped giving our children fruit juice (and how our pediatrician's actually recommend this), an older couple with their preteen granddaughter began to stare. Not in a nice, "Oh how cute, your baby is singing a song" type of way. The old man was staring the way my grandpa used to when we'd run in the house, or when we were being incredibly bad...just waiting for grandma to come in to intervene. Baby J is still being 'loud' this whole time, blabbing away. After about 3 minutes of stares, the grandmother gets our attention and says "Excuse me, but can you please distract him. We can't hear ourselves think over here". Well of course ALL of our mouths dropped open. Some of us mumbled, "He's just a baby", and I said loudly, "Well THAT's a first". We of course didn't distract him right away but eventually his mama did give him some ice and a straw to play with. It really would not have been that bad but the girl that was sitting with her grandparents kept looking back and egging baby J along whenever her grandparents were not looking. All of us moms were extremely ticked over the situation and we continued to carry on discussing how rude it is to ask to shut up a perfectly happy baby, etc. I mean seriously...it wasn't that distracting. He's just a baby. And we were at Braum's for goodness sake...not the movies.

Okay well better go get us ready for storytime! I hope the baby police don't show up there b/c my girls are in a feisty mood this morning.