The stuff nightmares are made of...

Oh, well, the nice old man tried his best to draw a smiley face upon request...

Tomorrow's the Day...

Well, tomorrow we have an ultrasound which should - hopefully - determine the gender of our third baby! I thought it might be fun to look at all the "old wives' tales" about how to determine the gender of a baby. None of these have any basis in actual reality, of course! So, for the fun of it...

1. Some people say that you have first trimester morning sickness more often with a girl. Well, no morning sickness here, but then, I didn't have any with either of my girls. According to this old wives' tale: Boy.

2. Another one is that how you carry the baby determines the gender (how could that even be true??). Supposedly, you are more likely to have a girl if you carry the baby high and get wider, whereas a boy is more likely to be carried all in front, down low. So, for me I don't know how high I am carrying the baby - it is still down below my belly button, based on the flutters and thumps I feel! - but I have the "baby bump" look up high (which I assume is just because everything has been pushed up higher in there!). I haven't gotten wider - you can't tell I am pregnant at all from the back. But that was how I was with the girls too, although I am sure one could tell I was pregnant from the back when watching me "waddle" during the last trimesters! So according to this old wives' tale... hmm, by appearances only: Boy. By facts (that the baby is not being carried "up high" at this stage), and the fact that I am not gaining weight all over (which apparently it is assumed all pregnant women do, since all my maternity pants fall off my rear end all day long!), then it is hard to tell.

3. Another old wives' tale states that if the hair on your legs begins to grow faster than it used to pre-pregnancy, then you are having a boy. My leg hair is growing at the same rate as usual, I think... in fact, it may have even slowed down lately. So according to this one: Girl.

4. There is a myth that "girls steal all your beauty." Sounds like some kind of fairy tale, like Cinderella being beautiful and the stepmother being ugly, huh? Apparently this can mean several things: your face will break out more, your nose will appear to be getting wider, and your face will become rounder. My skin has been breaking out a little more than usual, but my face is not rounder that I can tell, nor is my nose wider. My face is rounder than it is thinner just naturally, I think... so this old wives' tale predicts: Girl? Or Boy?

5. Many people claim that their husband gained "sympathy weight" during their pregnancies. Some people attributed it to his eating bigger portions or eating whenever his hungry, pregnant wife was eating! Others say their husbands gained more weight than they did! There is actually a name for it when an expectant father develops pregnancy symptoms: Couvade Syndrome. Apparently, this can affect all men regardless of the baby's gender, but the old wives' tale claims that men gain weight while their wives are pregnant with girls. My husband has actually gained some - not much, but he says he's noticed it. So according to this one: Girl.

6. The Chinese Gender Predictor Chart. This one was supposedly an ancient predictor chart used in China millions of years ago, discovered by some archeologist or something (yeah, can you tell that I am skeptical? ;). Anyway, it claims to be 90% accurate, and many people swear by it. In fact, it is correct in saying that my first two babies were girls. However, I looked back at it for my mom's pregnancies, and it was only right one out of four times... I was predicted to be a boy, and two of my three brothers were predicted to be girls. You find out your prediction based on your age at conception and the month in which you conceived. But you have to do it based on your lunar age, or something like that, so you have to find a chart that will convert it for you, supposedly. I have tried some charts online that have different results, so who knows which ones are the accurate ones? Supposedly, it is the one that converts your age for you (which I linked to, but it appears that the converter links aren't working for some reason), and according to that one, this baby is a: Girl.

7. Food cravings: this one says that if you are pregnant with a girl, you will crave sweets, and if you are having a boy, you are more likely to crave salty, sour, spicy, or protein-packed foods (there's a lot of variance on that one - girls are always sweet, and boys are always everything that is not sweet!). Well, my first major craving was Mongolian Beef. Then I have craved Sonic chili cheese dogs (I know, nasty, right?) and Chick-fil-A, particularly the Spicy Chicken Sandwich and their chicken salad. And burgers... oh, we had some great cheeseburgers made on the grill the other night - so yummy!! I was craving Steak n Shake milkshakes a little bit, but once I was eating them, they'd make me feel almost sick, like they were too rich. I was craving Pop Tarts like crazy, and instant apple cinnamon oatmeal (both with milk), and I would pass up the ice cream in the freezer to have those. In the first trimester, the idea of drinking hot tea or coffee was nauseating to me because of the sweetness and warmth. So overall, I would say I am craving non-sweet foods with a higher frequency. This old wives' tale predicts: Boy.

8. This one has to do with the baby's heart rate, and many people swear it is accurate, to the point that some nurses and doctors even say it to their patients! But it has supposedly been medically shown to be a myth. It says that if a baby's heart rate in utero is at 150 beats per minute or higher, then the baby is a girl. If the heart rate is around 140 or lower, it is a boy. Actually, it would seem that a baby's heart rate would vary based on whether it was sleeping or active, right? Anyway, so far the baby's heart rate was 150something the one time they measured it and told me, so according to this old wives' tale: Girl.

9. This one is nuts. It actually sounds like it could be dangerous because it produces a chemical reaction! So, I haven't done it! It says that you can mix your urine with Drano and the prediction is based on what color it turns. Gross.

10. Supposedly the Mayans would predict gender based on even and odd numbers. If the mother's age at conception and the year of conception are both odd or both even numbers, then it is a girl, and if one number is even and the other is odd, then it is a girl. I have also heard a version that states you have to add the two numbers together, and even means girl while odd means boy. Either way, 2010 and 31 years old predicts for us: Boy.

11. Another one says if you are moodier during pregnancy, you are having a girl. I think have been least moody with this pregnancy than with any of them, so according to this old wives' tale: Boy.

12. If your feet are colder during pregnancy, then it is a boy. Well, my feet are always cold, and they continued to be cold during winter to the point that I was always wearing slippers around the house. But that is normal for me. Now that it is spring, my feet are definitely not colder than normal. So this myth predicts a: Girl.

So, based on this, the results are: Boy 5, Girl 5, and one questionable result, and one I refuse to try!

Does anyone else have strange myths they have heard to predict the baby's gender? How about any predictions - do you have a guess about this baby for me?

What's in my Purse?

So, maybe some of you have seen this thing floating around on blogs here and there... you take photos of your purse and then the contents of your purse and then list/describe them in a blog post. I desperately need to clean out my purse... I haven't done that in months! I figured I'd do the "What's in your purse" thing while I'm at it! ;) The fun of it is getting to see a random glimpse of somebody's life that you wouldn't normally see (unless you are an 11 year old girl - at least, I remember it being common at that age for girls to ask each other, "Can I go through your purse?" Was that normal for other girls at age 11, or was my school just full of nosey people? ;).

Now, some of these that I have seen have this nice organized photo of the contents of the purse all lined up in rows. You're just getting to see a pile from me, though:

So, what is in this pile? First, the stuff that is getting thrown away or relocated to a new home:

Garbage:

1. Receipts from Kroger, Family Dollar, Chick-fil-A, Firehouse Subs, and Micheal's (the ones from Michael's have coupons on them, all of which have expired). Also a couple library receipts which list the books I checked out and their due date.

2. Lifetime Warranty from an umbrella. I think I'll just spend $8 on a new one rather than spending $5 in shipping to get a replacement one day...

3. Coupons for Horizon milk, which I don't buy. They were attached to some other purposeful coupons. Also some expired Kroger coupons.

4. Last week's grocery list.

5. Empty snack-size ziplock bag.

6. Empty packages of Sun Crystals sweetener (uh, empty because the little bits of the stuff are all over my phone and the floor now... I think they were opened packages from the beach and/or Nashville trips) and a straw wrapper, looking to be from Starbucks.

7. Savings keyring card from a junky local grocery store.

Relocated:

8. Four Energizer AA batteries... they were getting a little low, so I swapped them out of my camera before going to the concert in Nashville last week.

9. Recipe card from the local health food store for a hummus sandwich.

10. Flier for a local consignment sale.

11. Empty plastic container that had sunflower seeds in it.

12. The checkbook - I used it at the consignment sale.

13. Six little girl hair bands.

14. Nashville street map... just in case I got lost, I guess!

15. Pouch of feminine products... it goes in and out of the purse when needed.

16. A little metal crucifix... it belongs on a necklace, but I am not sure where it came from or where it belongs!

17. Bottle caps: 2 Miller Lite, 2 Guinness, 1 Blue Moon, and 1 from a water bottle. I think these are from when we went to the beach; I save them for crafts.

18. A pen. I don't need to have three of them in my purse.

19. Bottle of teething tablets. Nobody is teething at the moment...

To put back in purse:

20. My phone.

21. Useful coupons from Kroger and for Stonyfield yogurt, Annie's and Cascadian Farms cereal, and Sorrento string cheese.

22. My wallet.

23. Small broken comb - good for doing the girls' hair on the go.

24. Tiny bottle of hand sanitizer.

25. Two tubes of lip gloss (a third is being thrown away because it is empty).

26. Wet Ones antibacterial hand wipes.

27. "Owie Cream" - an ointment for cuts and rashes that I use on the girls.

28. Band-aids. Along the same lines as number 27.

29. Calms Forte for Kids, or "travel tablets." Used on crabby children during long car trips.

30. Two pens - one black, one blue.

31. A Larabar - coconut cream pie flavor.

32. Snack container with O cereal, bunny crackers, and raisins in it.

33. One diaper and a tiny tube of diaper rash ointment - just in case.

34. Empty Wal-Mart bag - also just in case. The spare 2 year old undies are kept in the van. :)

35. A plastic rosary - occasionally Cecilia has held it during Mass. I think we got it at church one day.

36. Retractable tape measure - used to measure pants when shopping for clothes for my tall 5 year old!

37. A coin from Kuwait. My brother is there now (well, Afghanistan at this moment, but supposed to be in Kuwait!), and I think he brought this coin with him when he came back at Christmas time. It can just stay in the bottom of my purse until he's back for good!

38. Two Tonic CDs... the self-titled newest album and their greatest hits album. These go back and forth between my car and my stereo in my house. Also found inside one of the CD cases: my ticket from the Nashville Public Square underground parking deck.

39. My little planner book.

40. Business cards: one for our La Leche League group telling the meeting times and Leader phone numbers, and two for my friend's home business (the one who made my purse, so I can hand one to anyone who says, "Hey, I like your purse!").

41. A bib for Cecilia, in case we eat at a restaurant.

Ahh, this is much better!

If anyone else wants to do this on your own blog, come back here and leave a link to it in the comments!

Never Gonna Give You Up... Except for Lent

Hee hee. H/t to Thomas Peters. Oh, and his "papist thumb war" photo from today is pretty funny too!

They're Playing "Our Song"

So, I thought this would be fun... anybody who wants to, leave a comment if you and your spouse have a song... whatever that means. You know, when couples say, "Oh, this is our song!" upon hearing it playing on the radio. Or write about it on your own blog and leave me a link.

My husband and I don't really have a song... although last night, I remembered that I had decided that we had a song, only I hadn't told him! Weird, yes, I know.

I decided it was "our song" because I heard it a couple times when we were dating, and I think Chris had it on his computer... and then, I decided it was definitely our song when we heard it on the radio at least one night while returning from our childbirth classes while pregnant with Caroline (I think we heard it on two different nights after our classes... I have a terrible memory about some things, though!).

So here's the song:

Gosh, as a side note, why were so many musicians just icky-looking in the 70s and 80s? Why is that?? Were there any attractive musicians in the 70s and 80s whose music I like? Any at all?

Last night, I finally thought about it and told Chris, "You know this is 'our song,' right? Then he informed me, "You know they (the members of Badfinger) all hated each other and killed themselves, right?" We looked it up on Wikipedia, and sure enough, two of them committed suicide, many years apart from each other, but both because of issues with their music. That's cheerful, no? And after they'd had much success and number one hits, some of them ended up laying carpet and insulating pipes just so they could support themselves and pay the bills. I would have thought that any musicians who'd had a few top hits would be set for life financially, but apparently many of them made bad decisions or got taken advantage of by their managers or... killed themselves. Maybe because of their financial failings despite having made it big. Depressing.

So, I'll just be pretending I don't know all that and just enjoy the song when I hear it!

Anybody else want to share what "your song" is? Hopefully yours makes more sense than mine! ;)

Driveways

More random shots from my phone...

Oooh, pretty! Too bad it means that the Camry is leaking two quarts of oil per week!

Painting the driveway with mud: we took a walk and stopped to play outside with some friends in their driveway, and this was the big hit of the afternoon. Caroline's pants had more mud on them than our driveway had oil on it, ha ha!

Hilarious!

So, just for fun... some videos that I think are hilarious. Hmm, wonder if anyone else shares my odd sense of humour??

If you thought that was funny, you might like the David after Dentist metal version.

There are a bunch of these... I die laughing each time I watch it, even though if you think about it, it is extremely lame. But I am just glad I'm not the only one who thought he pronounced "diabetes" weird!

No picture here because it is from a radio show... and oh, how I wish the rap version was available somewhere. We used to have it on our computer, I think...

UPDATE - Oooh, I just found the rap stored on my computer!!!! If you want to hear it, you'll have to email me and ask for it since I don't know how I'd post it here...

Okay, so you have seen this one before on my blog, but I had to put it in this compilation post!

And I also think the response video is quite entertaining as well!

And this comes from The State, an old comedy show. Unfortunately, Viacom has blocked most of these on Youtube... but the exciting news is that they have put out a DVD with all the episodes on it!!! This is just about the only series ever that I would want to own on DVD... and I can't believe they released it. It is now on my wishlist!! My favorite sketches from this show were The Inbred Brothers, The Sideways House, Lowell Maximum Security Prison, and The Taco Mailman.

I think I may have mentioned this one before, too... and I still want to know what the heck she is wearing, and surely she had a more normal piece of Gators merchandise she could have worn?? The funniest part is how she mispronounces the names... like somebody's last name would really be Tivo? Hee hee.

Okay, so that is probably enough for now!!

What we've been up to this week

It has been a dreary week, threatening to rain a lot but then not really raining much, yet horribly muggy even though temps have been in the 80s. Some of indoor fun this week:

This was a train and then became a tent.

Yes, it looks like a train, but Caroline insists it is an airplane, complete with two "sick beds" (yes Tim, you read that right!) in which Cecilia spent a lot of time being cared for by Caroline. No, she wasn't really sick - she just enjoys sitting in laundry baskets with blankets and pillows and stuffed animals and books piled in there with her...

We celebrated the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross

Caroline glues bark onto a shoebox house I set up for her

adding sticks to the house...

The completed project (I helped to color it!)

This is hilarious (and made me reflect and ponder, too)

Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who finds this absolutely hilarious. Although it looks like a million and a half Youtube viewers agree... Maybe it is only funny if you used to like Nirvana and/or 80's music... which makes this video neat to me since I remember both songs so clearly in their heydays.



I just couldn't stop laughing... and thinking how perfectly the lyrics fit into this other song!

I am quite embarrassed to admit that I cried the day Kurt Cobain (lead singer of Nirvana) died... what, more than 15 years ago? How could I have liked listening to Nirvana's music on a daily basis?? It's just so... grating. So, if you're totally unfamiliar with Nirvana, the above video didn't show you how they really sounded without their vocals. Grating, depressing, morose, harsh, whiny, angry, like Cobain had a perpetually sore throat... you get the idea (and if not, you can go over to Youtube easily enough and listen to a sample of the actual Nirvana version of this song).

How did I go from an eight year old listening to Rick Astley in the car on Florida vacations with my family to a 14 year old sitting alone in my room listening to Nirvana? Hmm, maybe it was MTV? In that case, we are never going to get cable or satellite TV if I can help our girls avoid the teen angst stuff! ;)

Which brings me to another pondering... how did the relatively happy, non-depressing music of the 80's go to the angst-filled "grunge" music of the early and mid-90's? I mean, the only depressing 80's music was songs like Phil Collins's "Throwing it All Away," which was sad but in a sentimental kind of way, not in an angry, I-hate-my-life-and-want-to-die, listen-to-me-wail-and-scream-and-groan-instead-of-sing kind of way. We went from a few tender sad songs to this raging angst stuff. What brought about this change??

And as I look back, how much lovelier the 80's were than the 90's. Not that I didn't enjoy my teen years - I did in many ways - but it was nothing compared to the beautiful innocence of childhood that was my 80's life. The 80's music was relatively innocent and happy, not overly promiscuous or immoral for the most part, and relatively upbeat. How odd that my stage of life fit with the popular music of the time... and as I entered the teen years, the music became more like how teens are often viewed: sullen and depressed and bitter. And I was a pretty negative teenager. I wonder if my "MTV years" actually helped shape me into who I am today in a positive way, or if I would have been better off without listening to Nirvana, etc. Something I guess I won't ever really know...

Also oddly, I continued to love the sentimental 80's music throughout my teen years. Not enough to buy the albums, but enough to keep my cassette tapes that I had recorded off the radio as a pre-teen and pull them out for long car trips to Florida! As I got closer to adulthood, the 80's songs became more meaningful as I realized that my childhood was gone and that these were a reminder of those years.

So now, watching this video on Youtube not only had me laughing and thinking how amazing it is that the Rick Astley lyrics fit the Nirvana tune, but it had me taking a pensive look at my childhood and teen years. And it makes me happy to now think of this depressing Nirvana song in a new light. Now, if "Smells Like Teen Spirit" comes on the radio, I can just sing along with the Rick Astley lyrics and picture his happy-go-lucky singing and dancing (albeit lame, in an 80's kind of way) rather than the grating and angst-filled vocals of Kurt Cobain. It kind of smooths over those teen years for me, a reminder that I was really still the same little kid who loved the 80's songs on the radio as I was when I was a confused teenager... and that I have come full-circle in that I would much rather listen to those 80's songs now instead of Nirvana! And how important I thought Nirvana et al were in my early teens! How to relay this to my own daughters as they enter their teens??? Maybe it just has to be lived through. Maybe I can help shape it so that this kind of music doesn't play such a powerful role in their lives as teens... how, I am not quite sure yet other than not having MTV! I'd love to hear what other parents of teens think about it all...

Okay, rambling over now. :)

The Joy of Free Stuff

I used to collect travel brochures... and menus from restaurants, and printed napkins, and matchbooks, and comment cards, and table tents, and maps, and anything else that was free and made of paper that I found while traveling. I have recently finished going through all the 12 or so shoeboxes full of this stuff - just finished tonight, in fact! I wonder if anyone will want it if I post it on Freecycle?

Whaddaya have, whaddaya have?
(okay, so maybe only Atlantans will get this...)

Collecting this free junk brought me so much simple joy. I don't know why... maybe because I was a teenager then, and teens do weird and random things? But as I am now thirty years old, I figured I should part with most of it and only keep what was potentially useful (like for future homeschooling projects) or what was of sentimental value (like brochures from places I have visited). I put the extra Varsity hat in the girls' dress-up clothes, and I tossed the duplicate cups (yes, I had duplicates! A matched set of four Days Inn cups, each individually wrapped!) and the ones with no sentimental value on the floor. The girls picked them up and began an imaginative game.

Yeah, there were straws and plastic spoons in there, too... you may have noticed the trademark Baskin-Robins pink on the spoon sticking out from behind Cecilia. Caroline has some random slushie cup, and Cecilia is holding a Flying J cup (my favorite truck stop... for some reason I can't quite remember). I think they were pretending to eat ice cream... at least, Caroline was, and so Cecilia was imitating her.

Ahh, all my free travel junk - which I am sure my mother rolled her eyes about 15 years ago, but I thank her for not stifling my innocent, cheap "hobby" - and for a brief time, it brought joy to my girls as well.

I am keeping some of the cups, menus, and hotel stuff... it could be fun down the road for some imaginative games of restaurant and hotel!

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

The following photos show some of the signs that were displayed in the condo where we stayed while at the beach. I am not going to comment any further except to say that this is why I could never rent out a home in which I also lived on occasion - I'd probably have five times the signs displayed!

(you can click on this photo to read the signs - they label where to put the sheets in the closet)

(oddly, there was even a sign for full size bed sheets - even though there was no full size bed in the entire condo...)

My Awesome New Bag!!!

Anyone who is wanting a really nice, good quality, WAHM-made bag, purse, or child's backpack... go visit my friend Jessi! She is quite talented and her work is beautiful! Caroline has one of her toddler backpacks (she is actually pictured with it on the website), and I just got this gorgeous bag that she made - an early birthday gift from my husband. :) I am using it as a replacement for my diaper bag... it is so much smaller and more compact, and it doubles as a purse. I can carry it either over one shoulder or across my body (helpful when walking around places while carrying a baby or toddler!). And its colors go really well with most of my clothes, as an extra benefit!

I first saw Jessi using a bag she had made that is basically identical to this one. We were at the aquarium in Chattanooga, and she must have noticed me admiring the bag as she kept pulling things out of it that I was surprised could all fit inside it! She referred to it as her "bottomless bag," and I asked her if she was making more to sell. She said that she had just made this one and hadn't had much positive feedback, so she didn't know if they were really marketable. I decided that I wanted one, and then once my birthday was coming up, I asked her if she'd make one for me. And here it is!

Jessi also refers to this style of bag as "Mommy's Tool Belt" - and that it is! She currently has a beautiful one up for sale... probably the third one made in this style!

So here's a tour of this incredible bag... I hope you will want one too and go support Jessi's business after reading this!

I will start with one of the coolest features: the elastic side pockets. They are spacious enough to hold a sippy cup each, and there is still room to slip some smaller items in there if need be. My kids can get their cups in and out easily. The pockets cover the area of the entire side of the bag.

The opposite side also has a pocket that covers the whole side of the bag. This side is a flat pocket that is perfect for holding a disposable diaper or three. That is typically all I need when going out, even for half the day (and I always try to have backup diapers in the van for re-stocking!), and they fit so perfectly in this space. There are three plastic snap closures on this pocket to keep it flat - I usually put this side against my body and the side containing the cups facing out.

Here's a shot looking down into the main part of the bag. Inside, you can see more pockets - yay!! Each one is smaller that the exterior pockets, but they are still vry spacious for what I keep in them. In one, I keep my wallet and sometimes lip gloss. In the other, I keep my cell phone, relevant coupons, a little thingie of diaper rash cream, and a little tape measurer.

In the main part of the bag, I have a snack container for my girls, a pack of tissues, my keys, a bib for my one year old, my calendar/planner, and a thin pack of wipes. I also throw other random things in there as needed: I think there are some fruit leathers in there as well as a bottle of Calmes Forte for Kids (aka "travel-tabs"). And truly, more could fit in here if necessary. I also like that this section is open with no snaps or zippers... easier access. And everything stays put deep inside.

This photo is just to show you how much stuff I have in this bag! Okay, so i don't have the large pillow at the right in there, but everything else fits nicely and in an efficient and easily accessible way. The thing I have the worst time with is diaper bags where everything falls to the bottom, or there are no pockets, or the pockets are not located in helpful places on the bag (or they are too small). This bag keeps me well-organized and able to have things I need in my hand almost immediately! Even my keys don't take too long to find when I just drop them into the center section.

Just look at all the things you can carry in such a relatively small and convenient way!! Did I mention how much I love this bag??? ;)

Go check out Jessi's website - she does custom orders, too!

Pay it Forward

Okay, I am bumping this post back up to the top to see if I can get any more takers... so far, I have one winner and need two more. I got my own special package from Jessica in the mail this week and it reminded me that I should re-post this and see if I can "pay it forward" to three people as well.

Here's what was waiting for me in my mailbox this week - aren't they great?? Caroline loves them and has been playing with them frequently!

Wooden Saints - St. Cecilia, St. Catherine of Sienna, and St. Nicholas

I am not sure what gift I will be making (and I can't guarantee it will be as cute as the above figures, although I have made one before myself), but I have a few ideas, especially for items that can be used by children! If you don't have little kids, you can still join in, although I have no idea yet what I will make for you... but I will come up with something, probably edible. :)

:: The Rules ::

I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this Pay it Forward Exchange. There is already one comment, so two more commenters will get something!

All the gifts will be made and mailed out sometime within the next year. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!

What you need to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs.

Have fun!!