I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant

I'm sorry, but I don't believe for one moment that a woman can't tell she's pregnant.  I can see how they could hide it from others, but how the hell can you not know you're pregnant, especially if it's your third pregnancy?  I will give you the "I didn't have morning sickness" excuse because I didn't have morning sickness with either of my children.  The weight gain excuse is debatable, but not a strong one that I give much credit to.  The one thing that completely baffles me is how the HELL do you explain the movement in your stomach?  You can freaking see it from the outside when the baby gets a certain size!  Tyler constantly got hiccups in utero and Kaitlyn loved to tap dance on my bladder.  What the hell else could move your entire stomach like the movement of a baby?  Unless you are severely an idiot unaware of your body, there is no way in hell that you could make it through an entire pregnancy without knowing that you are pregnant.  Also, labor feels NOTHING like appendicitis or an ovarian cyst or any other health issue that I've heard women use to try and convince people she didn't know she was pregnant until a baby came out of her.  I think that women who say that are just attention seekers, although I don't know why you would want to be known as one of the dumbest people on the planet.  I know there are some really dumb people, but I just can't fathom someone being that dumb.  As sad and unfortunate as it is, even my high schoolers know when they're pregnant.

Thanksgiving Hostess

For the second year in a row, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner.  I definitely felt a little more pressure to cook the perfect dinner this year than I did last and I'm  not sure why.  We really only added one more person...I don't count the little people that tag along :)  I know I was way more stressed out about it because I got a migraine on Saturday of all was said and done.  (I'm still suffering from the after affects.) 
We had a great dinner and the food was delicious.  I didn't get much in the leftover department because my mom stole most of the leftovers.  I didn't fight too hard because my family does not do leftovers and hers does.  The kids had a blast playing with their cousins even though poor Tyler was once again surrounded by girls.
I didn't do any Black Friday shopping, mostly because I'm not crazy and not willing to be out there with some real psychos just to save a few bucks.  I did look to see if Toys R Us was having a deal on Power Wheels because that is what "Santa" is bringing for the kids, but I didn't find any worth the trouble.  I'm not against saving money, but trust me, deals stick around through New Years so why fight traffic and seriously crazy people the day after I've experience the worst food coma in the history of the world.
I've mad a commitment to myself that next year I'll be running in our local Turkey Trot so I have to start training now.  I'm on week 4 of the couch to 5K program so it shouldn't be too hard.  I have suddenly developed a strong like to running.  I wouldn't say I love it yet, but I do really like it and try to get out everyday and I never look for excuses to miss a day of running, so that's in my favor.
All-in-all it was great to feast with family and get rave reviews about my cooking.

Half Moon Bay

Oh sweet baby Jesus!  In just a few short days, I will be hopping on a plane and flying across the US to Half Moon Bay!  I am so excited.  Did I mention it's a sponsored trip by my hubby's company and we didn't have to pay a dime?  We also get to expense all our meals and any other activities we decide to do.  This is probably my favorite perk of my husband's job.

My parents are going to watch Kaitlyn and Tyler for the weekend because they're nice like that.  (It also helps that my hubby took my dad on his trip to Aruba since I couldn't go.  He owes us for that one.)  Peanut is going to stay at the spa vet so we have no worries while we'll be gone.

We are staying at the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay.  If it's even half as good as the Ritz at North Star, which my hubs says it's even better, then I will be one happy girl.  The first night we get there we'll have a cocktail hour and dinner to attend, but the rest of the night is ours to spend as we want.  The second day we'll take a trip to Napa and get tour wine country!  Last time we went to San Fransisco, we were supposed to stop in Napa, but I found out I was pregnant with Kaitlyn so that trip was pointless.  We'll spend half the day in Napa and the rest of the day is on our own so we'll probably go to the Wharf and grub on some dungeness crab.  Yum!  The third day Jerry signed us up for massages and let me tell you I can't wait.  I got one at North Star and it was the bomb.  Their spa is magnificent with saunas, hot tubs, cold showers, hot showers, lotion rooms and lounging areas.  There is an evening dinner planned and I know those girls know what I like to eat and the food at the Ritz is ALWAYS so delicious.  We have the early flight back home on Monday so we can get back with enough time to pick the kiddos up from daycare.  Three days away is really enough for me.  Any longer and then I start to get homesick and start to miss my babies.

I'm so glad I get to go on this trip because I missed out on Aruba.  I also really need this break from work because these last two weeks have been hell because of this computer based testing we've been trying to get through.  I'm going to be getting my (free) drink on, but I'll be good enough so that I don't embarrass my hubby in front of some of his best clients.

Now I need to figure out how I get on that Beaver Creek trip so I can get my snowboarding on again.

Mouse Tales

Last night, after I came home from my run, Kaitlyn informed me during dinner that she saw a mouse in the living room.  I looked at my husband and he shook his head and rolled his eyes.  She said she saw his tail under the big chair.  Jerry said he lifted the recliner and there was nothing there.  I though it was strange because Kaitlyn usually doesn't just make stuff up and I questioned Jerry, but he just blew it off.  I questioned her again about the mouse and she said she saw his tail but not his face.  I was worried, but only mildly so because sometimes she gets confused with time...like maybe she was remembering the time we trapped one in the garage and showed it to her before we let it go in the field.

I always put Tyler to bed first and then I came out to get Kaitlyn.  They were talking to Jerry's mom on speaker phone and she told grandma about the mouse tail.  She said she saw a tail under the big chair when she was cleaning up the room.  Again, Jerry just blew her off and said his good nights.  I talked to her again about the mouse tail and she told me once again that she saw his tail and not his face.

After I came out of Kaitlyn's room, I went into the playroom to get on my touchpad because Jerry was in the living room still on the phone with his mom.  I heard him get aggravated with Peanut because he kept trying to get at something under the couch.  Probably a piece of food the kids dropped under there.  He kept shooing him away and then decided to pull out the couch to see what he was trying to get at.  He quickly hung up the phone with his mom and ran to the garage to get the poison and put it behind the couch because he found a mouse!  I was freaking out.  I kept saying "are you sure?"  He then went and got the humane trap so we could get it outside.  The damn thing would not go into that trap and kept trying to come out from under the couch or from under the chair.  Jerry kept scaring it away by banging his shoe trying to redirect him to the trap.  He wanted to go out and get some glue traps, but I told him I was too scared to be left alone with the thing.  I went instead and got a few glue traps and brought them home.  The stupid mouse kept bypassing all the traps so Jerry kept having to scare him back under the couch.  He finally went into the humane trap, but wasn't quite in far enough to set the thing off.  Jerry asked for a broom so I brought him one.  He tried to set the trap off, but it didn't go and the mouse ran out of the trap, but it got caught on one of the glue traps.  I felt bad at first because I really wanted to set the thing free.  Then I remembered two little words that scare the bejesus out of me: HANTA VIRUS. 

After Jerry got the trap, and the mouse, out of the house, I kept thinking about how it looked.  It was big, bigger than I though mice got, so I did what any normal person who had a question would do...I googled it.  Turns out, it wasn't a mouse after all, it was a RAT!

Beach Babies

I have a couple of beach babies on my hands.  It makes sense since we do live in Florida and we are surrounded by beaches on all sides.  We live on a peninsula, on a peninsula...if that makes any sense at all.  Jerry and I have only taken Kaitlyn to the beach once when she was like 17 months old and although we had fun, it was more trouble than it was worth.  My mom wanted to take the kids to the beach last night after dinner and I agreed.  I thought we were just going to let the kids play on the playground and get some ice cream after, but she wanted to take them down to the water.  I didn't bring their bathing suits, but I did bring a change of clothes.  Good thing too because Kaitlyn was standing in the waves and  Tyler ran at her full force and knocked her down.  Of course he didn't get wet, but she was soaked.  Nothing I could do so we took Tyler's diaper off so he wouldn't have a ten pound diaper on him.  They had a blast and kept running towards the waves as they went out and ran away from them as they came in.  It wore their little butts out too because they both crashed as soon as I put them in bed and Kaitlyn even slept in till 8!

After shopping all day at the outlet mall in Ellenton today, I wanted to treat my mom to dinner since it is her birthday.  I also wanted to get the kids to the beach again, so we ate at a local seafood restaurant on the beach.  This time I brought the kids' bathing suits and towels and my mom brought her little beach chairs.  The kids loved it again and threw the biggest fits as we left.  It made me realize that we need to do it more often so they know that they'll get to come back whenever we want to.  It's nicer to go during the evening because it's cooler and not as crowded, even for a holiday weekend.  I can't wait till next weekend when I force Jerry to go to the beach with me and the kids!

I Heart Daycare

And my kids do too!  They so needed to be back into a solid routine.  They both love being back with their friends and they are learning so much every day.  Kaitlyn is even napping at daycare and is still able to fall asleep at a reasonable time without her summer routine of getting out of bed a hundred times.  If I remember to get her to go potty before AND after bath time, then she doesn't come out of her room at all. 

The only thing that I am not thrilled about is that Tyler is with the same teacher he had when he left.  He should be in the older toddler class because he is 19 months, but they have so many toddlers right now he's still with his old teacher.  Not that I don't like his current teacher, but I really love the older toddler teacher.  She did so well with Kaitlyn and she really likes that age group.  I know it's really weird to say because their toddlers, but I feel she really gives them a good foundation for learning.  She really gets in to teaching them shapes and colors and the basics they need.  Tyler needs so much more help in this department and I really wanted him to be with a teacher who was good at teaching such a young age group.  (For the record at this age Kaitlyn was speaking over 100 words, using simple sentences, knew all her colors, shapes and ABC's.) 

I'm also happy that Kaitlyn now has homework and of course she's excited to do it.  We work on it together and hopefully this will carry through when she starts school.  I love that she asks to do her homework when she's still at daycare and she calls everything she works on homework.  So cute.

I know we save a lot of money when we take the kids out of daycare for the summer, but I think this summer I'm going to try to talk daddy into keeping at least Kaitlyn in or I need to find some type of summer program for her.  She really needs the mental stimulation and I can only do so much on my own.

Ruffled Lamp

I came across this lamp here.  I thought it would be perfect for Katilyn's room so I decided to tackle it.  I LOVE how it turned out.  I bought the lamp with the shade from the family dollar store for $6 and I ordered the fabric online for about $4.  It was pretty easy to make, but I'll admit that cutting the circles out was super tedious.  It was totally worth it and it's going to look perfect in Kaitlyn's newly painted room.  I can't wait to put it all back together and add her new furniture.  I'll post pics when it's all done!