HoT #58

This weeks Theme/Prompt is:

HEADS - Shake

Here is how we do most of our "Shaking" around here.

"We gotta Jump. Shake. Shimmy them out. We gotta jump, shake shimmy them out.

Get the sillies out. Get the sillies out....":)

Sunday Drives and Forest Creatures

Yesterday was so dreary and just plain...yucky. We were supposed to go to my dad's house but he had plans. So we ended up with no plans. And what do you do on a yucky Sunday when you have no plans? You go for a "Sunday Drive". Yes, I know. Gas is $4+ per gallon. And no, we are not loaded. And no, we don't have our own personal gas reserve. So, we didn't drive far on our Sunday Drive.

What we did do is drive to a national forest/park nearby. Zayden loves the great outdoors so we decided to go on a nature trail-hike.



He thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the new creatures and plants.

Like his snow boots? Nice, yes? He loves those boots! We call them his astronaut boots. hehe

Me? Not so much. I hate bugs. And dirt. But it was cool to watch him explore a new place. And the girls found a swinging vine about a mile and half into the hike and that was awesome. We spent a significant amount of time letting them swing like Tarzan. :)

And Marc found a buddy about a quarter of a mile into the hike.



He carried that damn thing the whole hike. Just to torment us with it. Well, me with it. The kids became fond of it and named 'her' Nim. They were sad to leave her behind at the end of the trip. But there was NO way that thing was going into my car! So, I convinced them that, if they took her home, Marc would use her for fishing bait. Heh :/ What? It worked!

During our hike we also saw this rare forest creature...



and when we came back out onto the road look who was waiting for us!

So, although it started out to be a yucky day, we made the best of it and actually had an awesome day. I have a few more really cool pictures but I think they may debut on Weekly Winners next sunday :)

Have a Happy Monday!

Weekly Winners~Sept. 21-27

September 21 ~ September 27

I have lots of winners this week...sorry! I can't help myself =)

My boy turned two this week. He celebrated with his favorite little red monster.

Forever curious...

Wilting Away

Enjoying the Last of Summer







Whatchu lookin' at?







Floating Flower







Pathway to Heaven
(Yeah, I used this for PhotoHunt too! But it's still one of my favs)

My View of Pure Serenity

This week's PhotoHunt Theme is: View

View of sunset from boat.

Atlantic Ocean; Atlantic City, NJ

View of a little path that seemed to lead to the sky.

I thought it was beautiful.

Slade, Ky

Funny Photo Friday 9.26.08

It's Funny Photo Friday again!

This photo is confirmation that my husband is an idiot. Hah!





Jacob doesn't seem to be enjoying the Carousel, but at least Daddy is!

What year is this?

Zayden is two years old today! It's unbelievable. I look at the calender and it says September 25, 2008 but somehow I think it must be lying. Maybe it says September 25, 2006. That's probably right. I keep looking at it, though, and it still says 2008.

But wasn't it this morning that I woke up with that big Zayden belly? And I got Alycea and Lexie off to school - Alycea;8 years old;3rd grade. -Lexie;5 years old;kindergarten. I am so tired this morning. I can feel something brewing inside me. Anxiety that today is going to be different. But I can't think about that. I'm too tired. And I still don't want another baby. It's so quiet with the girls gone to school. And I can watch Good Morning America every morning now instead of Sesame Street. And I went through potty training twice, already. And terrible twos..and threes. And they can both ride their bikes with no training wheels. And they can both dress themselves and tie their own shoes. But this little baby is in my belly. And I'm sure he is so sweet and cute. But no matter how much I think about that, I still don't want another baby. Today is the due date. Can't think about that. I'm too tired. I need to sleep.

1:00 pm. I'm still asleep. I feel a weird pressure in my belly. Probably the baby kicking me. Or another contraction. I've been feeling those since Wednesday. Today is Monday...the due date. I cough. OMG! What was that? Something popped and now something is wet. Am I bleeding? OMG! I run to the bathroom, drips of blood behind me. You are not supposed to bleed when you are pregnant! I sit on the toilet and realize that its just "the plug" and my water has broken. Today is the day...the due date...the birth date!

4:00 pm. The girls are home from school. I'm having some pretty bad contractions, pretty close together. But it doesn't hurt as bad as I remember. But I had Alycea in 4 hours and Lexie in 3 hours, so I better get to the hospital.

6:00 pm. The contractions are worse. Still not unbearable. But my back is killing me! I want to get up out of this hospital bed. I need to walk, stretch, bend. I hate being strapped to these machines and stuck in this damn bed! No, I don't want an epidural. I just want to get up!

8:00 pm. No. The pain isn't really that bad. But I really REALLY want to get up! I'm dilated 7. I have scar tissue from a bout with cervical dysplasia/cancer when Lexie was born. They had to remove part of my cervix and now I can't dilate through that damn scar tissue. (Thanks again, Tom!) The nurse is stretching my cervix manually. Oh. My. God. that hurts!!

9:00. NO!! THE CONTRACTIONS DON'T REALLY HURT THAT BAD!! But my damn back is KILLING ME! I NEED TO GET UP!!! Wait. If I have the epidural will I have to sit up? On the side of the bed? And I will have to arch my back like a cat? Yeah. That will feel so good. Bring on the epi !!

Is this doctor really even an anesthesiologist? Does he know what he's doing? My God. That hurts so bad. What was that sound? AGH! Pain shooting down my leg and into my neck! I feel like I'm going to pass out. Someone is wiping the tears from my face. Am I crying? Yes. Something is wrong. The pain. He's hitting a nerve with that needle. I'm going to faint...
It's over. Sweat pours down my back like someone poured a glass of water on me...but only on my back. Nothing else is sweating. I'm freezing. The pain is gone.

11:00 pm. I'm still dilated 7. My nurse (whom, I don't like AT ALL) tells me that another nurse is going to try to stretch my cervix. She has long, skinny fingers, she tells me. lol. I think that's funny. Hilarious, actually. I can't stop laughing LOL.

11:30 pm. Long, skinny fingers worked. It's time to push. MIL tells me that she was right. Baby's birthday will be September 26. I say "Nah. He will be born by midnight." She laughs. Says that's impossible. They ask her and the children to leave the room. They prep me and ask me to push on contractions. I can't feel the contractions now, because of that stupid epidural. So I fake it. I just push and push. I figure if they don't want me to push they will tell me.

"Whoa! Hold on! Don't push! The baby's head is crowning! Wait for the doctor!"

Wait for the doctor!? For how long?? Where is he?? You mean I have to hold this? Like you hold a turd when a shit pain hits you and there's no bathroom? Are you fuckin' crazy??

"Just relax. The doctor is on his way."

What is wrong with you people?? If I relax, he will come out! There is a baby half protruding from my vagina!! It unbearable!!

The doctor arrives. "Are you ready to have a baby?"

LMAO!

11:47 pm. One push. Baby starts crying. My mom and husband start crying. Both are by the incubator with cameras in tow. I'm thinking 11:47! Ha! Told ya so! The doctor is whistling while he sews up the remains of my poor, tattered, stretched out of place vagina. The nurse is cleaning the baby. I hear him crying. I hear my husband saying something to me. But it all seems so foggy. Like a dream. Then it occurs to me that I haven't even looked at him. That little baby that has been in my tummy for nine months...that little guy that I still didn't want this morning.

I turn my head to face him.





Ohhh!! My baby boy! My son!! He is so beautiful!!! Bring him to me! I love him, I love him so much!


"Mama. Luub yoo, moowa"



Who said that? Zayden?

Wow. I guess that was 2 years ago. Look at my boy! He's growing up so fast! He has changed me so much in the past two years. He's made me a better mom. A happier person. He's made me slow down and appreciate the years I have with my babies (because they do pass by so quickly). And I'm so sorry that I ever thought that I didn't want him. He is proving me wrong in so many ways. I'm so grateful that God forgave me for my selfishness and blessed me with this child. (and all of my children. But today is Zayden's birthday ;))

Happy Birthday, Zayden. I love you!

HoT #57

This week's theme/prompt is:

TAILS: How would you change where you live?

Well, first I would have to get some of this...





And then I would definately need one of these. I have to take all my junk with me, don't I?

What??? That's not what it meant?

OK, OK. Don't get your panties in a wad.

If I were changing my home/house I would make it bigger. (not a lot bigger because then I would have to clean way more and we all know that wouldn't be pretty) And it would have a closet in every room, because I need closets to hide all my junk and make people believe the house is really clean. And it would have a huge, fenced in, level yard where the kids could play. And it would have a secret tunnel that led to a tropical paradise that only I knew about :)

If I were changing the neighborhood/city, etc. I wouldn't change much. I would make it closer to a bigger city. And I would have more area sponsored activities to occupy the kids.

...ok this is starting to sound like a Miss America answer :)
"and everywhere, like, such as..."

What if it all washed away?

This weeks Manic Monday topic...

What would you take from your house if you knew it would be flooded tomorrow?

Well. I know that I would definately take all of my pictures, my camera and my computer. Everything else could wash away. It can all be replaced.


Actually, although it would make me really really sad, the computer could go too. But I would have to save MyBook. Thats where all the good stuff is.


And then, after those things are saftely tucked away in a warm, cozy place, I guess I would have to take the kids and maybe even the hubby. Cause, if I didn't, what would people think? ;)

Funny Photo Friday

Ok...I'm officially a bad blogger. I have blogs saved from all week that I couldn't find time to publish. But I will eventually get in the swing of it. Probably. Maybe I can have the kids remind me to post a blog when they remind me to take my prozac :-P

Anyway, today is Funny Photo Friday over at Blissfully Domestic's Photo Bliss. I just learned this great news, however. So, I'm digging up a funny photo from my archives.

During an amatuer photo shoot (hosted by amatuer photographer, me) for Zayden's first St. Patty's Day...





...I think Zayden had a little too much Guinness to drink. lol

HoT #56

This week's theme/prompt is:
HEADS - Recipe

Recipe for...Blackmail

(on your little brother)

Poor, poor Zayden. I can't wait to see how he pays his sister's back! :)

Thinkin' is NOT the same as cheatin'...

This week's Manic Monday topic...

What's worse, physical or mental cheating? Why?

I would have to say...physical. Definitely, physical.

Because mental cheating is no different than dreaming, right? I mean, you can think about something and not actually do it. You can even think about something and not even actually want to do it. Can't you?

But when you actually do it there is no going back. You have deceived the person you are with. You didn't just think about it, or dream it, or imagine what it would be like....you did it! And that's way, way worse! Unforgivable, even.

Do you agree?