How Smart are You?

Picture This...

This past Saturday went like this...
Started w/ dull backache (you know the usual pregnant stuff) so I ask/beg husband to rub back--i end up getting a whah,whah,whah rub (you know--short and sweet--still wanting more kind) so, i start my day (a lil grumpy, but i'll get over it)
Then i start peeing straight blood! (ok.something is wrong),Call the doctor--they say some women pee blood through their entire pregnancy! (what?i'm a nurse and never knew this?and i still don't think i buy it) so, they say if it gets worse or comes w/ pain while flooding yourself w/ fluids then call back...so i flood my small preggo bladder all morning. Then my husband decides since today is the only day we can both go see Honda Odyssey's that we better go (such a man,right?)(p.s.we have been looking at these mini-vans for the past 6 months i swear--this is my husband)
So, i figure i have pain meds if i need them (history of kidney stones)so I go. Half-hour into our car trip, the pain starts up and up, so i take my percocet and look at cars while a little high--that's fun right? Then, the pain starts getting worse, so i take another pain pill and tell my husband to get me home. (he still stopped at one more dealership where the guy who had been helping us was busy, so his colleague says he can't open two cars for me to see b/c they will have to split the commission!) I almost punched him (remember pregnant,kidneystone,on 2 pain meds, dragging two kids around car shopping,peeing non-stop---get the picture). I had to deliberately control myself, so we left w/o seeing the car interiors!
We get home and i was feeling alright, then all of a sudden doubled-over pain that had me curled up crying on the floor kind-of pain hit me! It lasted 20minutes, and my husband who just doesn't understand pain, just shuts the door on me to our bedroom while i'm dying?!@#%
When this episode passed i knew we had to go straight to the hospital which we did after Granny showed up to watch the kids (p.s. w/ two kids, this is considered a date-night)...we get to the hospital and they stick me 4 times digging for my veins to start the IV drip (i'm about to throw-up at this point) and Ed has his head buried in my pillow i brought saying HE thinks HE might pass-out!!! From watching! Can you believe this? Him who has never even had an IV stick!!! Whatever! Once i get to my room (jail-cell) they give me phenergan for the nausea (like a 10-beer buzz--whoa--pregnant remember) then hook me up to fetal monitors and flood me w/ IV fluids (p.s.no catheter),Ed says his little bed is actually pretty comfortable so he crashes for the night---me,i spend the rest of my night (drunk remember) unplugging my IV pole (conveniently behind a huge monitor) and unhooking all my fetal bands to go pee through a strainer while aiming for a measuring hat in the toilet (remember my big belly in the way)---Picture IT!!! I swear every 30 minutes all night! It's exhausting me just remembering it---and the worst part,i didn't even get to enjoy my buzz!---i have never been so happy to get home!! Where is my medal? Don't i get something? (he-hum,ED?)

Help Baby Names?

I still haven't completely decided on my baby boy name so I thought I would ask you all what you think? Our top 3 running names now are: Carter,Charles,and Brooks...as in:

Carter Vann
Charles Vann (after both our grandfathers that passed away in this pregnancy)
Brooks Edward
Brooks Vann (or possibly Brooks Edward Vann)--this would make a 4-name moniker? How do we feel about that?hmmm

Vann is not our last name. My whole family has different votes in every direction...i think Brooks appeals to me b/c his brother is Benjamin ("the MinMan") and i just think two little boys named Brooks and Benjamin sounds cute? (but husband doesn't care for this)(but i still think i could sway him :0>)
I don't know why naming boys seems so much more difficult to me?@# but it does!
My little girl (Kayden) was set in stone and i never waivered on it once or even looked in a name book. Even when Ben(named after my dad)was born it was down to the final minutes w/ the Name Natzi at our door in the hospital before we finally picked off our narrowed list of 17 names! I swear it took me a while to recognize him as his name--isn't that sad?
Please Help or make other suggestions (if you wish) I know everyone tries to keep their names sacredly tucked away (but some of you readers I may never know)(or if you have some local great names that you can't use to offer?)
Thanks!

Funny for the Day!

DISCONTINUED (low of my week)...

Two of my favorite things have been discontinued--ugh! :| Why does it always seem like if i LOVE s/thing they do away w/ it? My very favorite baby scent is the Burt's BEES BABY BEE SOLID PERFUME that now i have searched store after store and all over online only to find it is just gone! This really bugs me--have you ever smelled this stuff? You just put it on the top of their heads and behind their ears--I love it! Unless you like the "fresh from the womb" smell (as my husbands boss referred to my last baby) to which i responded "GROSS!"
He seriously, leaned in on my one week old's head, took a deep inhale and says "i love that fresh from the womb smell" (he was sincere) I didn't even know what to say? I was totally stumped--Isn't that a weird comment!? I felt oddly violated and kept smelling my baby's head to see what he was referring to??#@$* anyway...

**IF SOMEONE FINDS THIS I WILL PAY YOU TO SEND ME IT AND GIVE YOU BIG BLOG KISSES!**

My next favorite item is STILA LIP Contour Pencil no.4!!! I have two of these pencils left at one inch long--i am desperate! why would they even think of d/c this color? I can't even muster up the energy to find a substitute color. Whyyyyyyyyyy?
I have been (w/2kids mind you) to Sephora in our mall 3x in the past two months waiting for it to turn up only to find out today that they apparently have d/c it!!! Now i am possibly gonna buy it on a back alley ebay site.
Am i the only person that has this happen?

p.s. i will post later about my trip to the Easter Bunny w/ my two sick kids today! so fun!

Grape Salad--mmmm!

In response to BEth's (see go to girls sidebar "mommy first..") Monday recipe post...

You will love this, i promise, and the best part is,you know me,it's EZ!

EZ Grape Salad:

2# red/green grapes (more red than green)
8 oz.cream cheese (softened)
8 oz.sour cream
1/2 c.white sugar
1 tsp.vanilla
Chopped Pecans toasted

~Mix all the above together and sprinkle w/ brown sugar!

The Min Man Strikes again...

True Confessions of a Real Mom....i woke up at 930am (yes,that would be sleeping in if I hadn't been awake til 340am) this morning and husband had left at 730am...the Min Man was a free for all for 2 hours! Thankfully my friend called or I would have kept sleeping. I can't even begin to tell you all how tired i am. He has a fresh cold, and he must get hyped up on the new cold med i gave him b/c he was running around my house til 340am this morning--he NEVER went to bed--i was about to cry.
...(here is where i vaguely remember falling to sleep and trying to remember my last GOOD sleep and what it felt like--i jogged my memory back to my 20's passing out after the SteepleChase in Charlotte---oh, what i wouldn't give to sleep like that again--you truly don't know what you got til it's gone)...So at 340am i handed my duty off to Ed who had to get up w/the minman.
So this morning Ed left at 730am and didn't wake me, sooooooooo when i did wake up and frantically run my house looking for my little house arrest guest...i found him in his sister's room (of course) w/ all her makeup all over her carpet and blue nail polish all over his toes and sparkles on his whole self and a room that reaked of nail polish/poop b/c of course he also had a soaking wet poop diaper on from the night! (oh yeah, and a line of snot from his nose to mouth--you know the continual drain w/ the face smear--lovely!)
Sooooo, i call Ed and ask why he didn't wake me up from my sleep-deprived coma i was in, and he says "i did" (well if i don't remember then you didn't) and why didn't you put a safety knob on sister's door so at least the minman was contained as to what damage he could do---another example of how they always miss the chaos (see LO of the WEEK).
Moral of my story: Angels watching over us (2 hours of serious time w/ the minman)

I'm a Real Mom...(tagged)

REAL MOMS. MAKING 60 LBS OF WT GAIN OK AND ACTUALLY LOSING IT!

This is my tag assignment from the Trench Master (er Mother)...In The Trenches of Mommyhood--(see "go to girl" sidebar)

~Real Moms gain 60#+ w/ each pregnancy (sorry--just trying to make myself feel better)(did you see Kate Hudson?)
~Real Moms can pop blood vessels in their eyes (and see blurry for days) after pushing out a 9#4oz baby (i didn't know this til it happened to me)(they are apparently supposed to come out your whoo-ha not your face!!LOL!!)

~Real Moms can change a nasty diaper w/ only one wipe (they didn't know they were out)
~Real Moms can nurse a baby while sitting on the toilet and throwing up in a trash can w/ a stomach bug (I know b/c I have done this)
~Real Moms will let the whole house be destroyed and picked up by 430p every day
~Real Moms will defend their child even if it is embarrassing for mom (did you see Little Miss Sunshine?) (my example:when a child-not mine-poops in some rude,rich persons pool--not that it ever happened to me :|)
~Real Moms will wear pajamas til 430p if they choose (not that I would--LOL!)
~Real Moms can deep clean her car on the side of the road if needed (see my Lo for wk)
~Real Moms wonder why they would do all this again but secretly know that it is their greatest accomplishment and the end result far outweighs all the inbetween stuff
~Real Moms can't imagine the thought of life w/o their children
~Real Moms know that looking back and merely laughing at all these memories was somehow worth living it! :)

why do i have a pic of Kate Hudson pregnant you may ask? b/c she is my role model...

Kate Hudson: I gained sixty pounds and I'm proud of it (eating ice cream sundaes and banana splits). I would eat a pint of ice cream a day literally and I think it's because I don't drink milk and it was this calcium thing. I loved them so much. It was fun. Why do I need to watch my weight when I'm pregnant? I could eat whatever I want to eat. He (Ryder) weighed 8 pounds 11 ounces and he was two weeks early. The whole family has big babies and it runs in the family. I'm OK being big. Everybody else was more worried about it than I was when I was losing the weight. All the magazines I did I weighed about 145 pounds and I'm proud of it. I had a baby. There's nothing to be ashamed of when you blow up.

p.s.have you seen her NOW? i love her! :0) signed by~a REAL mom

Are You Coming?

I wish you could all come to my shower :0)
I wish you didn't live soooo far away
I wish my life could capture all my special people at the same time for once (since you were little)...wouldn't that be great...i think that's called a funeral :(
How sad that most people wait that long to see old friends.
Alrighty then, just wanted you to see how cute these were....this is actually just the favor tag (obviously can't post the invite here)...so come on down to the sunny
South!!!

Carseat closeup

This pic is a closeup of my new carseat--it's blue w/ little yellow whales on it (Britax Marathon Jonah print--see sidebar)--i love it!

I WON!!!!!!!!!!

OK, so I am up at 1030pm writing this (really 930p d/t spring forward time change--which i soooo love--not) anyway, I am waiting for my favorite shopping spree to come to a close at exactly 30min50sec--EBAY!--i go through little obsessions w/ EBAY--i love the thrill of jabbing my bid in last minute--i know it's so the Stay-at-home mom power-kick, and i love it! (except when i lose b/c you really feel like s/o sucker-punched you)...oh, i am bidding on a brand NWT (new w/tag,for those of you non-ebayers ;) Fleurville sling-tote diaper bag (i will post a pic and let you all know if/when I win--fingers crossed)

lalalalalalaadooododoodleEEEEdooooo!
that's me singing b/c i took ms "minibuns" down in the last bidding minute--
she didn't even see it coming--sorry , i know that's mean, but i did win!!!
isn't it a great boy diaper bag, now i gotta get a cute "bag tag" or name
him first (i guess that would help, huh)

LOW of the WEEK!

Here's my story....my LOW of the WEEK was so not fun....we just went today to my nephew Parker's 2nd birthday party at the park all day and my kids played,ate,and drank too much...then when we got in the car to leave,5 minutes down the road(why not at the park w/ all the grass!?grrr),the MinMan (my 2yr old) no warning suddenly(always how it happens) starts projectile vomiting BLUE frosted Thomas the Tank Engine cupcakes (apparently he ate lots of BLUE frosting)...I quickly emptied a full wipes box and tried to "catch" what i could (remember i'm pregnant w/heightened sense of smell and leaning over the front seat w/ my big belly--got the visual pic) yelling for Ed to "PULL OVER!!!" (poor ED had just detailed my car yesterday--yah)...we peel the screaming MinMan out of the car and I must say I was as prepared as one could be...thanks to my older sister's best piece of advice ever--you ready-- "always keep a gallon of water in the back of your car and a towel when you have little kids and Baby soap"-- (i would add a trash bag to that-living and learning)Now I truly know why...i do use all of this whenever we hit the beach to give a quick shower so the little people can crash on the way home, but anyway, I have never been so happy to have those 3 items in my car--believe me--i don't know what we would have done--it was soooo gross! Meanwhile as I am scrubbing carseat down on the roadside, my sweet little girl keeps asking me "Mama,how do you spell Benjamin?"--5seconds b/tween each letter--"how do you spell sick" as she journals in her notebook---then holds up a "Benjamin is sick" note through the window at me--"thanks,sweetpea!"--i was about to laugh/cry--aaahhhh! We had to take the whole carseat apart and lucky we had a clean liner underneath to put MinMan (all clean and happy now!)in a fresh diaper wrapped in a towel in his carseat and finish the trip home. After Ed and I scrubbed what we could down w/ wipes (100+ to be exact), we both crawled into the car and I had to laugh--why--you ask? well, b/c husbands conveniently always seem to miss these such "occasions" and wonder why we call them yelling while they sit at work and say "babe,what do you want me to do?"....by the way,Ed said he couldn't wait to get back to work tomorrow (i knew my job was harder--LOL! so glad he got to see for himself). I'll catch you all up on my HI later--it's been one of those weeks...the HI just isn't here yet?!
EBAY update--7min40seconds--what a rush--this can't be good for my pregnancy!...waiting for my last minute ebay bid dig!

******Happy Birthday,Beth******

This is my favorite quote in respect to friendship...

"Oh the comfort the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person.Having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words but pouring all right out just as they are chaff and grain together certain that a faithful friendly hand will take and sift them keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of understanding blow the rest away."~George Eliot

I wrote this to my friend Beth (mommy first-designer born) last year in a card on her birthday! It is rare to find someone who understands you and truly accepts you through all your ups and downs just where you are and lets you just be you...a friend who doesn't let a bad day define you, or keep score w/you, or always compete w/ you (we all know those people) But,Beth is this quoted person to me...a kindred spirit...a true blessing in my life. We have now been friends for almost 15 years and have seen each other through when to now and who would have thought since we now laugh about not even liking one another at first--isn't life funny like that!
Last year today her husband surprised her w/me coming to Idaho from Florida (thanks again,Jake!:)some of my best times are with her and I always miss her(it was like a present for me) What fun memories--we could do absolutely nothing and have fun! love, Kim
Wishing you all the best today,Beth!

my TRUE COMPANION--our first dance

Thanks to Stephanie I found www.bestaudiocodes.com to pimp out my page w/ music and found my wedding song (hear it? turn up your volume)
Here's the story behind this song....7 yrs. ago on a Wednesday night, while I was in nursing school and Edward was getting his master's--he drove 2hours and rang my doorbell...when I answered (very surprised to see him on a "school nite") he had this song playing (on a boom-box,of course then) and simply asked me to dance w/him...right there on the front porch w/a bunch of candles he had lit...so we did and then he got down on one knee and popped the question...and that was the beginning of the rest of my life...what a great story,huh? I can take myself right back to that moment and it always makes me smile. Now,this story gets better and better as my little girl is grinning sitting here on my lap making me play this song again and again as she listens to how her daddy made me his bride and she dreams of being a bride one day herself...you gotta have a love story.
p.s.and the best part is i still love him to death (even more than i did that day)

We had his wedding band engraved w/ "Grow old along w/me..." and
mine is engraved "...the best is yet to be" (which Beth sang at our wedding)
We always said that we would be at our best when we were 90yrs.old sitting on our front porch sipping sweet tea and looking back on all our lives had become together.
So this is the song we did our wedding first dance to pictured above.
Everyone's got a story,so what's your story,please share and spread the love. =0)
Here's to us,Edward,I love you!

Summer Wear

.....OR.....
Since it might as well be summer already here in S.FLA.,(i swear we never even had a week of jeans weather--seriously)I am already doing summer shopping for my kids. Kayden will be 6 and she has hit that stage where there isn't much cute stuff for little girls anymore? (can't do all the trashy slutty girl stuff that seems to be everywhere now).Anyway, I got my Garnet Hill catalog and they have so much (too much to list)I want to get for her,including the Hadley Pollet little girl's headband that i pictured in my sidebar--these headbands have saved me soooooo much time getting her ready and she loves them b/c she can do her hair herself (less work for me)! The hard bands tend to hurt her head, but these kind she looks so cute in. Since i am having a new baby in May,we are going the EZ clothes route (i.e.any item that needs no help from me and matches) which will include tank dresses (pictured) and our uniform summer REEF flip flops.
I am debating b/t the tennishoes--I love the pink converse but just came across the classic Tretorns (that i wore as a kid)? What do you think? (plus to the converse is i wouldn't even have to help tie them--big plus) :)
You gotta go see for yourself at www.garnethill.com --tons of cute stuff (for boys too)! Their slippers are so cute but we just don't have much use for them here in the heat.

Sara Evans--You'll Always Be My Baby

I was listening to this in my car sitting in parent pick-up (again)
What a great song! I hope I can be this kind of parent.
I don't know if any of you watch Friday Night Lights on Wednesday
but, I think they have some great dialogue as the parent of their
15yr. old daughter on the show. I never know what life will bring, but
I hope no matter what my little girl always feels loved by me.

In the sunlight or the rain
Brightest nights or darkest days
I'll always feel the same way
Whatever road you may be on
Know you're never too far-gone
My love is there wherever you may be
Just remember that you'll always be my baby

What's w/me and Tiny Balls?

OK,"tiny ball candy,that is" (not my Edward, girls-LOL!)--here i go again--just got back from another dangerous trip to the grocery store and apparently I am craving tiny, circle candies. I just got Skittles Bubble Gum (like 5 boxes--plus my kids love these too), then Sweet Tart chewy tiny balls (had to have 'em) and my new favorite is the York Mints in a tin (OMG--they are so yummy xcept they are gone really fast--but they look cute too--you gotta try em).
Allright, that's me for today--i had so much fun b/c Ed stayed home sick (aka--babysitter for the day, poor Ed, i know)