Purple Ones and Playdough

 Mya loves purple.  And anything purple she calls "purple ones".

These are her second favorite jammies to her princess jammies {of course}.

But they are my favorites, because whenever she wears these jammies, she will run in to my office in the morning after she gets out of bed and yell "PURPLE ONES!" and throw her hands in the air.

Best part of my morning.

{she has the best/worst bed head ever}

This is Mya's new favorite thing to do.  Playdough.

But this is how she wants to play with it:

1.  Take all of it out of the containers

2.  Make sure she can reach it all

3.  Don't touch it.  Don't smash it, don't squish it, don't play with it.

4.  Just admire it {and occasionally smell it}

5.  Then, when she's done, put it all back

This kid is so weird, and I love it!

And in case you were wondering, I am fully aware that she has a mullet.  She is, too - just ask her where her mullet is.

The problem I have, is that the top refuses to grow.  At all.  And the back just keeps growing and growing, and I usually cut it, but if I cut it too short then I can't do ponies, which is the ONLY thing to do with her hair.

*sigh*

January Hates Us

That's what Bryan & I have decided.  This first month of the year - the month that should be filled with new goals and aspirations - is destined to be filled with sickness and yuck.
We are working through the crappiest cold I can EVER remember having.  It turned into pneumonia for my poor husband, and had him out of commission for a solid 4 days.
Mya got it last Wednesday and is finally acting like herself today.
I started to feel it late Saturday and barely feel like I can almost function today.
How Lo has dodged it for this long is beyond me - I think a TV in the play room where she has gone to watch movies by herself has saved her to this point.
I just want to ask January of 2012 if it can be a little nicer.  I know it's a year from now, but maybe if I start wishing now things have a chance of being better by then :)

For Those of You Who Care

Warning: this will be a post about my pregnancy thus far.  For those of you who are completely uninterested in reading about this, please feel free to check out now - I'll never know :)
So, I'm 21 weeks today.  Twenty.  One.  Weeks.
I can hardly believe I'm already past the half way mark. 
Maybe it's because I still throw up a couple times a week, which is just weird to me because it only lasted until about week 14 with both my other girls.
Anyhoo - the little gem inside my tummy is quite the kicker.  Bryan felt her kick for the first time a couple of days ago, which is nutso to me because I remember with Lauren I went in for my 20 week ultrasound and watched her turn somersaults and didn't feel a thing.
We have decided on a name, which some of you know, but I don't feel right about telling the entire blog universe.  I'll just say it was quite surprising that we loved this name, but we do.  I've never really felt like people are necessarily supposed to be named any one particular name until this baby.  This is her name, and the moment I said it to Bryan it was over.  And I love it.  It's very simple, very sweet, and for some reason makes me picture her as being a very calm, serene baby.  Honestly, I'm sure that's just wishful thinking, but you never know.  Lauren was that way {until she was about 1} and that means calm babies are in our genetics somewhere, right?
Here are few little fun facts about this pregnancy at this point.
*As I said, I still puke a couple times a week.  I stopped telling people I was starting to feel better and I was over the morning sickness because I would inevitably throw up that night.  So I'm "getting there".  I finally asked my doctor today to give me some meds, which I just took for the first time aout 30 minutes ago, so we'll see if they work.   
*For the first time, I actually think I have a semi-cute pregnant belly, instead of just looking like I swallowed a keg and had a few too many Cafe Rio burritos.  Maybe I'll post a pic soon, who knows.
*My saliva production is insane.  I mean, really, disgustingly insane.  I saw this episode of 16 & Pregnant where the girl walked around with an empty Pringles can and spit into it constantly because she produced so much saliva it made her sick.  I understand why.  In researching it, I think this is part of the reason I'm still feeling sick.  On days where I feel yuckier than normal, I've noticed I'm "spittier" than normal.  Totally gross, but you won't be seeing me walking around with a spit cup any time soon.
*I don't have any strange aversions to food - or any specific cravings, either.  Just certain things at certain times.  Right now I would possibly sell a kidney for a jelly donut, but after I have the coveted donut it will go away and I'll move onto something else.  And water from our fridge dispenser tastes strange to me, which I know is just my weird taste buds.  I went through a bacon & eggs phase, which, lucky for my thighs, passed relatively quickly.
*My girls {especially Lo} are so excited for the baby to come.  She asks me almost daily how big the baby is & if it's ready to come out yet.  I'm getting super excited to pick new bedding & decorate the nursery for this little one.
We went to "the" ultrasound today, and thankfully everything looks wonderful.  She's measuring smaller than my original due date by about a week, but I have instructed my doctor that the due date will not be changed.  And he agreed :)
But we were hoping to get that last and final confirmation that this is a girl.  Well, this stubborn little thing REFUSED to uncross her legs during the ultrasound.  We tried everything - she was even kicking with her legs crossed as tight as possible.  The ultrasound tech thought it was pretty hilarious.  So my doc said we would give it another look on my next visit to make sure.  Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor?  Well I do.  He's the best.  He delivers babies with the biggest smile on his face you've ever seen.  It's pretty adorable.

And here she is - don't you just love in utero baby profiles?  I sure do :)

11 Step Program

11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Children

**I got this from a cousin, and it totally made my day! Thanks Mindy!!

Enjoy!!

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

**Hope this put a smile on your face today!