Weekend lost...

Friday I decided to take it easy around the house. Sweet Betsy went to bed early (6:30ish) and I worked on laundry and laid in bed. Ben came home late and I talked to him for a few minutes. His team won their football game and it was a close game so he had lots of adrenaline to work off!

Saturday morning I woke up and got dressed to head to Round Rock to meet with some friends of mine, all of whom have young babies or are expecting themselves! I stopped at the outlet but only shopped at Carters as I was trying to limit my walking. After Carters I met the girls at Chilis, and after a long lunch I headed home. The end.

No, not really. That gets us to about 2:30 on Saturday after which Ben and I were sick ALL WEEKEND. Ben is still home sick today and I'm a little under the weather but I hate missing work this close to my maternity leave so I sucked it up and headed to the office.

If you have a spare prayer or two, please include Ben and I in your thoughts as he still has a fever and upset stomach, and I can't breathe well, and I have some sort of random rash (mostly on my hands and wrists) that makes me generally miserable.

I am so grateful however that my sister in law Mary picked up Betsy yesterday morning, and Bets spent all day with the Bralleys. She must have had plenty of fun because when she made it home at 5:30 she ate a light snack and went strait to bed.

It's Monday again, but considering we slept through 85% of the weekend I don't remember getting here.

Pregnancy Countdown...

I'm so excited to meet our Ella. I'm also excited to not be pregnant anymore. It's bittersweet; this is more than likely the last time I'll be pregnant. I don't enjoy the symptoms of pregnancy, but I do enjoy the anticipation, the bond that develops over 40 weeks of being attached to another being. And I love having children more than I ever realized I would. I think I'll be a little sad when it's over, but at the same time thankful and relieved if Ella and I can just make it through this healthy and whole. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that my sister one day will have a baby or two so I can play the role of 'doting Aunt'.

Pregnancy by the numbers:

• 0 days of work missed due to morning sickness
• 24.2 pounds gained
• 4.5 pounds, Ella's approximate weight currently
• 116/78 my blood pressure last night
• 14 vitamins, supplements, and antacid pills I take per day
• 6 more scheduled doctors appointments (though I could deliver early and miss half of them!)
• 16 average times per day that Betsy says 'Ella!'
• 48 days until my due date
• 31 work days until my due date
• 27 days until Ella is full term (the point at which I delivered Betsy)
• 20 days until I'm 36 weeks pregnant. This is the point I was put on bed rest with Betsy and has been my goal this pregnancy, to work at least up to this point.

I love looking at the numbers. Last pregnancy I didn't realize how unpredictable the end of pregnancy could be, so knowing that in a couple more weeks things can change rapidly from one week to the next fills me with excitement!

It's Friday!

It is Friday! Betsy told me so on the way to school this morning.

www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/football_2010/

Before I forget, vote TODAY for Sean for the Lowe's Senior CLASS award. You can vote DAILY and he's in third place at the moment. Here's the link and it just takes about 10 seconds to vote.

I'm happy the weekend is right around the corner, and even happier to realize Ben will be home all weekend!! I thought he had a cross country meet Saturday morning but it was yesterday afternoon, so he has a local football game tonight, and he should be home at a decent hour (that means before midnight).

I have plans to meet some friends in Round Rock for lunch and shopping tomorrow. We're all either mothers, or expecting a baby, or BOTH! The outlet mall has a Carters store and I'm thrilled to go by, it's my favorite place to find baby clothes.

Anyways I thought I would bring Betsy with me, but knowing that Ben will be home I think I'll leave her with Daddy. It's much easier on me at this point in the pregnancy to not take care of Bets on my own. She really is a good girl, but needing to pick her up, bed over to put her in the stroller and change her diapers is more taxing than usual. So she and Ben will likely spend a low-key few hours at home tomorrow while I meet up with my friends.

We'll watch some sports (Rangers play tonight) plus we're smack dab in the middle of football season, and we get to celebrate Jane and Jim's birthdays this weekend!

Have a great weekend!

Lowes Senior CLASS Award

Little Lauren's boyfriend Super Sean is a finalist for the Lowes Senior CLASS award. I think he is a fantastic guy, and a deserving candidate. If you have a moment, please vote for Sean, and you can vote DAILY between now and December 6th. Thanks for your time!



http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/football_2010/

Bralley's law of pukability

With regard to having a sick child: No matter how creative and thorough you are covering the bed with towels and having a bucket handy, said child will always find a method of kicking the towels off the bed to throw up on the sheets, and her mother.

a(v)S+T+(CBM)=L

Where

B is baby
M is for mother
A rate of sickness
V is vomit
S is sheets
V is towels
C is for articles of clothing
L is loads of laundry




I should have majored in math.

Abby (and her parents) visit Betsy (and her parents)

This weekend was lots of fun. Friday night Ben's school beat their rival in their homecoming game (yeah!). Saturday morning his Cross Country teams placed first (girls) and third (boys) in their meet.

Saturday morning Ben's cousin Jonathan, his wife Christi and their 11 month daughter Abigail visited to attend our church's fall carnival, and to attend a birthday party for another family member (Jonathan's second cousin on the other side of his family).

Anyways, we had lots of fun. At the carnival the girls played the duck catching game, Betsy tried the moon bounce (huge hit, now her Daddy wants one for our playroom), Abby sat still for a couple of pictures with pumpkins, Betsy did not, and both the girls liked the petting zoo. Ben and Jonathan had a funnel cake and Betsy learned about funnel cake which Ben (surprisingly) shared.

Here are the better pictures from Saturday!












After the petting zoo, a bath was in order!





Betsy and Abby are now friends. Betsy woke up Sunday morning talking about Abby and ran into the guest room to find her. I think they enjoyed playing together this weekend, and I can't wait to get them together again!

A must read!

This blog post really touched my heart and reminded me so much of Ben. I can't say enough about what a wonderful dad he is. I thought Ben would be a good dad, but I couldn't imagine how good he would be. He's paitent and giving with his time and energy, the best part of his day is running in the house to sweep Betsy off her feet. He will teach his girls to act like ladies, he will indulge them in what they enjoy, and he will guide them to become independent thinkers. There is no one in the world I would rather share the journey of parenthood with more than Ben.

Pass along this blog post if it touches you as much as it touched me.

http://www.danoah.com/2010/09/you-just-broke-your-child.html

Behaviour modification of Betsy Bully-Bralley

Last night Ben and I had a great discussion of the topic most likely to cause baldness because I want to pull my hair out...Betsy's bully behaviour. It bothers me so much because I'm the one who drops her off at school, and picks her up sometimes and when I see her teacher I get an ear full about Betsy being mean to other kids (as I should, I'm glad to be kept in the loop). And I kind of feel like a parenting failure hearing that my kid is the bully.

I don't think Ben understood the extent of my frustration until yesterday because he would just hear 'Betsy was bad at school today' from me rather than "Betsy and William were very mean to each other and their friends. Betsy kicked William in the back and the two of them tag teamed Susie and pulled her hair." Ben and I talked about being consistent with the daycare discipline policies, namely how we plan to discipline (time out) and what constitutes bad behaviour.

Then we did some role playing with stuffed animals to touch on 'gentle behaviour'. Betsy watched with interest as stuffed Minnie Mouse kicked stuffed Elmo and made Elmo cry. Betsy gave Elmo a hug. Then we made Minnie and Elmo talk and hug. She seemed to follow what was happening.

A short time later Betsy hit one of her stuffed animals and Ben made her face a corner for two minutes in timeout. (Really we're not trying to overreact, who cares if Betsy hits a stuffed animal? but we need consistency). I was surprised she didn't cry in timeout, and she came away from it seeming to understand that she was disciplined (redirected from that behaviour). At that point Betsy picked up her blocks, put away her little people and school bus, and played toss and catch with Ben and myself. After bath time she drank some milk and went to bed a happy girl.

I'm not naive enough to think our behaviour problem is SOLVED but I'm happy to be on the same page with Ben and to see him taking the initiative when it comes to modifying her behaviour. I always worry he thinks I'm overreacting, but as soon as I said 'No really. We have the bad kid in class.' he was ready to do what we needed to fix the problem. Great husband, great Daddy :)

I can't wait

One of my favorite things about our house is the fireplace. And Ben indulges me as soon as it gets cool enough to not need air conditioning.

Our first winter in our house was when Betsy joined our family. I fed her many a milkshake (bottle) sitting in front of the fire, rocking in the glider my Mom drove down from Georgia. It's just about the most relaxing thing in the world, feeding a sweet, clean, sleepy baby a bottle in front of a roaring fire.

Winter in Texas usually arrives in December. We have the nice 'in between hot and cold' weather from about mid October through mid December.

I have lots to look forward to between now and then... but in the back of my mind I just can't wait for the weather to turn cold when I get to cuddle up with my girls in the glider in front of the fire. And the best time of year is the two month time period my Christmas tree is up and I can sit Betsy on my lap and point to all the different Santa ornaments while we rock in front of the fire right next to the 'Cwitmas Twee'.

Broke, but in good repair :)

It's 6:25 on a Friday night...

Betsy went to bed a half hour ago...

After work today I came home to meet the windshield repairman and the plumber! I got a chip in my windshield when we visited my parents this summer and it grew and grew, until it became distracting. I finally called our insurance company and made a claim to get my windshield replaced. Luckily our insurance company has a contract with a nationwide company and with one phone call I both made the claim and scheduled the repair for the next day! The company came to our house and replaced the windshield while I relaxed on the couch. Piece of cake!

After the windshield repair, the plumber arrived, who happens to be the husband of my work friend Carrie! John replaced our broken toilet, and unclogged a slow draining sink that has been getting worse little by little for about a year. It was a quick fix.

After buying the toilet, paying the windshield deductible, paying the labor to have the toilet installed I feel a little broke financially...but I'm enjoying that our home and my car are in good repair!

After John left I stopped by Betsy's pediatrician's office to get an updated copy of her medical records and drop off a wellness statement for her school. Then I headed to school and picked up the sweet girl, then headed to Pawpaw's house to get the sweet schnauzer!

Overall it was a nice afternoon and it was a relief to get these repairs taken care of. Tomorrow Betsy and I will relax around the house while Ben's at a cross country meet. Today is the first day I would classify my pregnancy swelling as BAD, rather than moderate. Unfortunately the swelling did not go away overnight last night as it has every other night. I'm a woman on a mission, to try REALLY hard to lie down as much as possible this weekend and get rid of this swelling.

I'm starting my 32nd week of pregnancy and in the back of my mind I've been hoping to make it to 36 weeks pregnant before I get put on bed rest. That's how far I made it last time and I'm going to do my best to make it to that point this time. I might not get to make pumpkin rolls this year. I might have to get some help in decorating my Christmas tree.... but those things aren't very important compared to taking care of myself and the baby.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, I'm going to enjoy spending some quiet time with my sweet girl, one of a very few weekends that she and I will spend alone before her sister arrives!

Bored Bully Betsy

*sigh* I'm really not OK with this.

Yesterday I had a long talk with Ms. Kenya, Betsy's teacher. While she raves about Betsy being 'so smart' and picking up new words all the time she tells me we have a couple behaviour issues to address.

1. Betsy isn't listening to her teacher. Ms. K thinks it's because Bully-Betsy is bored. She thinks Bets is ready to move up to the older class, but until the kiddos move to the new location for the Child Development Center in December they aren't moving many kids around. Betsy has time out with Ms. K every now and then but it's really an issue of selective hearing. She tunes out what she hears if she doesn't want to do what she's told. (I thought I had 11 more years until she became a teenager to face this issue).

2. Betsy is a bully. Not so much BETSY but Betsy + William = Bully-Bralleys. Apart the kiddos behave better, but when they are both at school the play rougher than the other kids and tend to 'tag team' the others. Ben wants to know how someone so little (because Bets is pretty petite) can be the bully...but I kind of think she's like Madison...who doesn't KNOW she's a little dog. When she's alone, or with other kids Betsy is really gentle. I saw her sit down and hold Ryder's hand when he cried last night. And she tried to bring him a little people school bus to cheer him up.

I told my mom... "I don't want to have the bad kid!!" and she assures me I won't. I think we just need to reinforce playing gently together. No pushing, no pulling hair, no tackling. The thing is...when they are together and Betsy and Will do these things they don't get upset or react unless something REALLY hurts. So it's hard to tell Betsy not to push William when he thinks it's a game and he likes it!

Oh well, we'll figure it out. Suggestions are requested. Ben tells me he and Bully-Betsy are going to talk tonight about babies behaving badly.

Toilet Talk

Last night I took my small pile of pregnancy related medications, two of which make me drowsy. At 8:30 pm I lay down to go to sleep and Benjamin enlightens me with the news that he's headed to the store to pick up a valve that needs to be replaced in the guest bathroom toilet.

"Are you sure?" I ask "Could this wait until the weekend, it's so late?"

He says "No, it's a simple fix, it'll just take me a few minutes to take care of it."

I doze off, and a half hour later I hear the garage door close, he has returned from Wal-mart with the piece he needs to repair the toilet. I hear clanging and clattering and at one point he comes in to ask me where all the screw drivers are. I drag myself out of bed, find the one I know how to locate, hand it off, and get back in the bed. It's 9:30 at this point. I hear more clanging and clattering, and I drag my drowsy self back out of the bed and head to the guest bathroom.

"Do you need any help?" I ask. His response "No, I've got it covered."

Keep in mind, for the 18 years I lived in my father's home there was one person responsible for assisting Buddy with home repairs. I'm not saying I'm knowledgeable with home repairs but between googling 'How to replace...." and watching my Dad for all those years I feel comfortable getting my hands dirty. As I was dismissed from this home repair I took myself back to bed, and snuggled in with Madison, and I remember being grateful that the racket hadn't woken Betsy up.

Then 30 minutes later Ben comes into out bedroom and turns the light on. "You need to see this," he says. The only time I tell HIM he needs to see something is when I've been successful with a project, or Betsy is doing something cute. I think I'm going to walk into the guest bathroom and he's going to flush the toilet and it's going to work and I'm going to say "Great job, babe. Get some sleep now."

INSTEAD I walk into the guest bathroom and turn the corner and see a DISASTER. It kind of looked like someone had spilled cat litter around the toilet. I'm not sure if that was part of the internal guts of the water tank, or if it was the ceramic that had come apart from the toilet when it exploded. I use 'exploded', and it's a little more dramatic word than needs to be used, but REALLY, the toilet tank cracked in the middle, and it's past the point of repair.

I just blinked, and looked and blinked and he gave me a half shrug, nervous smile and told me that something went wrong when he installed the (Really simple, no problem) part and the water pressure backed up and the toiled cracked.

I don't think I said anything. I think I shook my head and went back to bed. I remember being glad I heard the sounds of shop vac cleaning that bathroom and a washing machine taking care of the bathmat.

I've been talking to the hippie (my Dad) today and I'm going to check it out when I get home to determine if the whole toilet needs to be replaced, or just the water tank. If it's just the water tank he assures me we can do this ourselves. The whole toilet...we'll be hiring a plumber (and luckily I know a guy...)

The moral of the story is this...'The Great Toilet Explosion of 2010' has replaced 'The Great House Fire of 2007'. While both stories will live in infamy, it's Ben's turn to be the brunt of the jokes. I'm working on some appropriate nicknames, feel free to share if you have any ideas.

Sprinkle for baby Ella

Yesterday was my baby 'Sprinkle' (it was a shower on a smaller scale!). It was so fun, and more so than Ella getting lavished with gifts it was nice to celebrate the new addition to our family, just as we did for Betsy!

Ben's Aunt Gail, Cousin Erin, and Cousin Christi hosted the shower at a tea house in Salado and I LOVED it. I cannot wait for my mom to visit so I can drag her for a girly lunch at this place! The food was wonderful, the ambiance was homey, and the company was the best.

The menu was spicy spinach and artichoke dip for an appetizer, an option of quiche with salad, soup and salad, and a finger sandwich sampler for the meal, and both warm chocolate chip cookies and cake with strawberry butter creme frosting. I doubt anyone left hungry! The hostesses also prepared bags of pink and green M&Ms for all the guests to take home which was a nice touch.

Here are a few pictures of the party (I was too busy enjoying to take more pictures!) and some pictures of the great goodies from our wonderful family and friends. Probably the biggest surprise was that my college roommates Megan and Jessica came in from Dallas and Houston for the party! They came to the house and saw Betsy afterwards, and we got to visit for a few hours. I miss them so much!

Party guests






I love this bow holder made by our friend Amy, it matches the room perfectly!

Clothes from Aunt Mary

Lots of diapers and wipes!

Are these not the cutest socks you've ever seen? Ella Coy will have the cutest baby feet in the history of the world.

Homemade blankets and a burp cloth from Ben's Aunt Tish, they are beautiful and I am SO glad Ella will have a special keepsake that was made just for her. Not to mention the pink and ruffles...we love girly around here :)

More necessities, powders, baby washes and diaper cremes.

Burp cloths sent from GeeGee (my Mom). I especially love the 'Made in Texas' one, I suspect Ben will chose that one over all other burp cloths when he's feeding the baby.

Bottles, toys, homemade burp cloths from Amy, and a picture of our pack and play that Jess and Megan ordered for us!


Ella's arrival is so much more real now! Just 47 days until she's full term (NEXT MONTH!) and 68 days until her due date.

Oh Happy Day!

I'm in a happy mood :) It's Friday!

Wednesday night I went to a going away dinner with friends from work (and I took Betsy along). It was fun, and I haven't taken her to a restaurant in ages, she was very well behaved! I was a wee bit jealous of the frozen margaritas consumed at the table around me, but oh well, I only have a couple more months to hang in there!

Last night I went to dinner with Tiffany, and can you believe it, we've been so busy that she hasn't seen me since before I was showing my pregnancy. So she saw me and said "Oh my gosh, you're REALLY pregnant!". We sat and visited for hours, and I consumed my fair share of carbs (though I limited myself to a kids pasta dish and I'm so glad I didn't over-eat).

I came home from dinner with Tiff and sweet Betsy was already asleep, but I snuck in to look at her and make sure she had a back up ninnie within reach. Ben doesn't have her alone on weeknights often, but he did a great job with her. Dinner, play time, bath time, and her favorite nightgown... and Betsy LOVES time with Daddy, so I'm sure she had a great night.

I watched the last of the TAMU vs OSU football game and MAN it was a great fourth quarter. It was a close call at the end, OSU winning with a field goal in the last seconds of the game.

Today is a four hour work day for me, and I have a doctor appointment this afternoon. I plan to take a rest, then get the house in good shape tonight! Tomorrow is my baby 'sprinkle' and I'm really excited for some girl time, dainty foods, and seeing family I haven't seen in a while.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!