Nesting?

I've never quite bought into the whole "nesting" thing at the end of pregnancy. Yesterday I decided it was probably time to search the shed for our car seat, bassinet, baby bath tub, and bouncer seat. I thought maybe I'd leave it up to Spencer to find while I was in the hospital. But I figured I was the one who put them in the shed, so I probably had a better idea where these things were. I'm glad I did it. Everything needed a serious cleaning before our infant uses them and I doubt that would have occurred to Spencer. So as I'm cleaning our baby things yesterday afternoon--out of necessity--Spencer accused me of nesting.

Nesting to me seems like it's supposed to be this sudden burst of energy and out of control desire to extreme clean or get something done in order to prepare for the baby. While I have cleaned within in days of delivery with my first two, I never felt a strong desire to clean in preparation for a baby. I certainly had no maternal desire or energy to clean baby things yesterday. I did it very begrudgingly. And with my other two pregnancies, I cleaned because my mom was coming to visit and I would have cleaned whether or not I was pregnant. I haven't done any extra cleaning this time around because mom's not coming for another week. if this is what nesting is...I'm sure I'll be nesting next Wednesday before she comes. I am doing laundry today, as well. I suppose it's in preparation for a trip to the hospital tomorrow. It's been a whole week since I last did laundry and I always do laundry on Wednesday. And if I didn't do laundry today, I'm a little nervous about what Spencer may find to dress the boys (and himself) in for the next few days. If this is considered nesting, I guess that's what I'm going through.

The only thing I felt an uncontrollable desire to do this morning was shave my legs. It's been at least a month since they were last shaved. And I realize that in a couple of days, shaving will be a significantly easier task. And when I've already waited a month, what's a couple more days? But as I was showering this morning, there was nothing I could do to resist the urge. I think this is the closest thing to "nesting" that I've experienced in preparation for having a baby tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

Relief

As of yesterday, I am officially released as the young women president in my ward. I've been feeling pretty burned out with the calling lately. I've been serving in young women for nearly 4 1/2 years now. I've run out of ideas for activities, used all my object lessons, and shared every personal experience I've had on every gospel subject. But after so long, I gained such a deep love for the young women in my ward. Every one of my laurels was a beehive when I was called. I've watched them grow so much and seen then make so many good choices. I really do love the young women and am so grateful to have served with them for so long. That's why I'm surprised by how happy I am to be released. I thought it might be a little more bitter sweet for me. I really will miss these girls, and there is no calling I'd rather have than one with the young women. But the relief I feel far outweighs that. Maybe it's just the timing. I've been really concerned about the upcoming month. Besides my 2nd counselor, my presidency was very unavailable and not functioning well at all. I felt I was carrying the majority of the load myself. I was nervous about taking time off. Now I no longer have to worry. I am a free woman and it feels great. What a load off! And the new presidency is fantastic. I am sure they will take great care of these girls I love so much. The saddest part of the whole thing is that I don't get to serve with these awesome women.

On to other things...I promised to post an embarrassing 9 month pregnant picture. I just looked up pictures from my last pregnancy and I'm like half the size. I am dreading the weight loss. Luckily, this is the first of my three pregnancies that we haven't planned a trip within the first 7 weeks of our child's life. So I won't have to face anyone for a while. As big as I am, I unfortunately don't look like I'm about to have the baby anytime soon. Thank goodness for scheduled inductions. Once again, I chose the picture that makes me look the best. I look way, way bigger from the front than I do from the side. I'm not publishing that on the internet for the world to see for fear that it could get into the wrong hands. So as you say to yourself, "She looks awful, poor thing." just remember, this is me at my very best.

Animal Control

I remember mom telling me about finding a cat in her front yard shortly after she moved to Arizona. If I remember correctly, Mom made several attempts to shew the cat away and even sprayed it down with a hose. The cat, although perhaps irritated, didn't move. When animal control came to take care of the cat, it turned out the cat was very pregnant.

I currently feel like that cat. Not only would I be willing to make any effort to get off my feet and even result to lying down in a strangers front yard out of sheer exhaustion, but I don't think any effort on the home owners part to shew me away would get me up off that lawn. Not even being hosed down.

I may, however, get up if animal control came to take me away. I don't care to deliver this baby in the same place the cat delivered her litter.

Can I be a squirrel?

After reading over my last several posts, I really I have been distracted by my current state of misery. I can hardly concentrate on anything else when I feel so awful and am so close to delivery. So I apologize to all my readers. Although I can't promise to improve for a little while now, at least not until my life is back in balance.

My efforts to remain at home seem to be impossible. I don't leave the house on my own volition, but something always seems to get me out of the house. Last night was one such occasion. The boys and chief and I all piled into the car to pick up Spencer from work and we ended up eating a picnic dinner on the lawns were he works. During dinner, Parker asked if he could be a squirrel. Not quite sure what that meant, we said sure. Parker, with no previous tree climbing experience proceeded to shimmy and climb right up a nearby tree. He climbed so high that Spencer could barely reach the tips of his toes, which was only a problem when it was time to get down. Parker would have continued higher had we given him the OK. Getting down was not the exciting process that getting up was. It took quite a bit of coaxing on Spencer's part. But he made it down safely and Parker can now add tree climbing to his resume and list of favorite things to do.

I did manage to leave the house with the camera this time. And when I headed to the car for the camera and Spencer was busy keeping an eye on our squirrel, Reid climbed onto the table to finish off everyone's meals...drinks included. He was left soaking wet and we were all left thirsty. I caught him in the act. And the last picture is of Chief. I've mentioned my dog several times, but don't think I've ever posted a picture. He's big and slightly irritating, but packed with personality himself. He'd have to be to live in our house.

Dan Zanes

This is our all time favorite kids band. If you haven't experienced the tunes of Dan Zanes and Friends for yourself, I suggest you do...whether or not you have kids.

That's what it's all about

In response to comments made after my last blog...

While I appreciate the compliments, my house unfortunately isn't chaotic all the time. It's just what I write about because sitting in front of the TV doesn't make for a good story. (Television wasn't something I let my kids watch much of until the past month or so, but I've never been as grateful for PBS kids as I am at 8 months pregnant.) But the chaos is my favorite part of any day.

What are kids for if not to entertain me? I used to think people had kids to mow the lawn, clean the bathroom, and empty the dishwasher. Boy was I wrong (at least for now). I never considered that they didn't come out with the skills necessary to fulfill those duties. So I had to come up with some other purpose for children. And entertainment seemed to fit perfectly. My boys really are well behaved and usually obedient. But that's probably because they don't get in trouble for doing awesome jumps off the book shelf onto the bed, dancing on the couch, making up songs to sing at the top of their lungs, pulling all the blankets out of the closet, making costumes out of whatever they can find, or having screaming wars.

A couple months ago, some mothers with young children in the ward were talking about a particular relief society lesson that had everyone offended. The teacher mentioned that the way kids behaved in sacrament was a reflection of how they behaved at home. And I was offended when I first heard about it, too. My kids are definitely more obedient at home than in sacrament meeting. But after more reflection on the matter, I thought it's probably true. My kids don't get in trouble for putting on a performance standing on the couch at home, but they do at church. But my kids crack me up. I would hate to take that away from my day and theirs.

After all:
You put your right foot in. You take your right foot out.
You put your right foot in and you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around.

Isn't that what it's really all about?

I'm writing about this in case any of you ever did spend a day at my house. I don't want you to be disappointed when it's not chaos 100% of the time. And Parker, who is definitely the instigator, has a little stage fright when some one new is around. For a kid who can be such a ham, he's awfully shy. I never thought the two personality traits could co-exist within one person. You can also expect me to be clean and well organized as my mom mentioned. It's nice to know I have her fooled. I only live like that when company is around.

I seriously do have so much fun with my kids. I love, love, love being a mom and the joy kids bring into my home. That's why I just can't stop having kids. I'm always ready to add a new entertainer to the bunch.

I thought I'd throw in a plug for Dan Zanes and Friends. This is the kids music of choice at the Smith home. So if you're looking for a little inspiration for your own chaos, I highly recommend this music. The video clip on the previous posting is from this DVD.

a note from dan zanes here we are, tuned up, dressed up, and ready to roll. lights, camera, voices ready! i hope that when the last note of the last tune fades away that you feel like making some music of your own. fill your head with songs and start a family band! gather together with neighbors and sing until long after dark! make your world a musical one! music brings us together so we can all laugh, cry, dance with wild abandon and when it’s over have a good night’s sleep.

For a change of pace...I made the decision yesterday after sitting through Ward Council and church, that aside from my weekly OB appointment, I wasn't leaving the house again until I am in labor. That commitment lasted until about 9:30 this morning. Reid broke about 3 toes off his prosthetic foot and I had to take it in. I suppose I can add that to my list of "One Foot Advantages." (see August 7th post) When Reid's toes fall off, it doesn't hurt. I imagine most kids would be in a lot of pain after losing a toe, not to mention 3. Any way, it's now fixed and I'll try, once again, to stay home.

We Know That Deliverence is Nigh

I just got back from my latest OB appointment and ruined any chances I had of the boys taking a nap today. I try not to schedule the appointments during their nap, but sometimes it's all I can get. Luckily, Spencer works about two minutes from my OB office so they got to have a lunch date with dad while I got to have 30 minutes of child-free discomfort at the dr. And since the boys slept a combined total of 10 minutes on the drive home, they are refusing to take naps and the tantrums are so loud I can hardly hear myself think enough to type. I'm choosing to ignore the tantrums. Responding only makes them worse. So what better way to spend tantrum ignoring time than blogging. The only benefit of a nap-less afternoon is how early I can get them down tonight. And since Spencer will be away at meetings tonight, I'll be happy for the extra time.

So my pregnancy is progressing nicely. All these contractions are at least doing me a little good. I'm about 3 1/2 centimeters dilated, 50% effaced and the babies head is in the birth canal and ready to go. Not bad for being 37 weeks I suppose. The dr. feels that there's no reason why I shouldn't reasonably expect to go into labor on my own in the next couple weeks, especially because this is my third real close together. While that's a nice thought, she apparently has no idea that I don't go into labor on my own. Even though that may mean something for most women, for me, it just means extreme discomfort for the next couple weeks. If she's wrong, I am scheduled to be induced at 8:30am on the 27th. It's nice to have date set so I know I don't have to wait more than two weeks and a day. I can handle that...maybe.

Besides today's tantrums of extreme tiredness, the boys have been getting along rather well lately. That should bode well for them considering a new brother will soon be in the mix. It's amazing to me that when we have an entire driveway and sidewalk to use as a canvas, they insist on sharing the same three inches to color on with sidewalk chalk. And while that usually initiates fights, yesterday they were more than happy to share that same three inches. And when they had filled those three inches and one of them moved on, the other was soon to follow. Watching your children willingly get along is one of the greatest joys of motherhood. They even behaved well during sacrament meeting on Sunday. We didn't have a single outbreak from either boy at church. No fights over sippie cups, fruit snacks, colored pencils, Hymn books, toy cars, or anything. If it weren't for the pretzel Spencer so lovingly threw at me, I would have been able to enjoy all of sacrament meeting. It's like he couldn't handle finally having to pay attention after three years of not. Not to worry Spencer, I'm sure that was a one time deal. I can't be so lucky to have well behaved boys two weeks in a row. Plus, a new brother I'm sure will shake things up around our house.

While Parker and Reid may be getting along with one another, I'm sure they will be teaming up against the new baby, and me for that matter real soon here. Parker still insists that he wants an ugly brother, but he's come to grips with the fact that babies don't have pointy, sharp teeth (or any teeth at all). He's decided that no matter what we name the baby, he's going to call him Sam. I don't know where he comes up with these things.

The tantrums have now died down thanks to 15 solid minutes of ignoring the boys. Now they have teamed up to destroy my unusually clean house. Like I mentioned before...I'm so glad they're finally getting along.

let's hear it for the boys

I've never quite understood the fascination that the male species has with throwing rocks into water. It seems to happen every time guys are around a body of water surrounded by rocks. They can spend hours throwing rocks in. My experience with this comes mainly from my teenage and young adult years. But today I realized it is instinctive...something inherently part of being a male. Parker and Reid, who is barely old enough to throw, spent nearly an hour throwing rocks into the water, laughing and congratulating each other on their awesome splashes.

We took an unplanned trip to the dog park this afternoon. I mention that it was unplanned only because I had no camera and no towels. We had to be out of the house for a little while this afternoon and Chief, my dog, had to come with us. There's not a lot of things to do when you have a dog in tote...especially a dog as big as Chief. He's about 140lbs, slightly too big to carry Paris Hilton style in my over sized and over priced (I added that for Traci's sake) Louis Vitton bag. Chief thoroughly enjoyed the freedom to run leash-free and the boys were ecstatic about all the dogs that came to greet them.

After a little time enjoying his romp, Chief discovered a murky Ohio pond (and Ohio has some of the murkiest ponds/ lakes/ rivers in existence) and went bounding in. Parker and Reid would have followed suit had I let them. The pond discovery was what led to the afternoon of rock throwing. Reid is fearless and made several attempts to jump in after his rocks. I made several attempts to stop him. He did end up falling into the questionable water and wet from the waist down. He tried to make it look like an accident, but I'm not convinced that it was. Parker came out with muddy hands, feet and knees. And Reid was muddy from his nose to his waist, and wet and muddy from his waist to his feet. After a full blown lie-down-in-the-mud-and-cry tantrum on Reid's part, I got the boys, Chief included, out of the dog park and loaded back into our now slightly more rugged SUV. And although I came unprepared with a camera and towels, I did have hand sanitizer and bathed the kids in Purell before handing over pretzels and sippie cups to my mud monsters.

In all seriousness, days like this make me glad to be having another boy.

Ice Cream Adventure

The fam and I decided to spend labor day doing something new and exciting. Normally when we decide to do something "fun," we inevitably end up at the mall for a little window shopping and indoor playground fun. We found a family run dairy farm that supposedly had some of the best ice cream in Ohio and we hopped in the car for an ice cream adventure. Needless to say, it was the best ice cream I've ever had in Ohio. The trip was a success! But for so many more reasons than the ice cream. I think it had some of the best hamburgers in Ohio as well. Not to mention tractor rides, animals to feed, inexpensive miniature golf, and just good old fashioned family fun. Not that a visit to a dairy farm is MY idea of a good time, but these days, if it's a good time for my kids, it's a good time for me. Reid referred to every animal as "Chief" (which is our dog's name) and Parker thoroughly enjoyed golfing and tractor rides. The only disappointment of the day was that I didn't spend Labor day in labor.

Young's Dairy