Hows it hangin'?

Betcha can't guess which one is actually 'with child'.

I'll make it extra hard and not even give you a hint....

somethin's fishy...

So I've done a lot of thinking lately.

Dangerous, I know, but it happens from time to time.

I've come to the conclusion that I am in DIRE need of one of these:


Lately, getting me up and off the couch takes an ACT OF GOD. Between my hips and pelvis feeling like they will snap from my body if I so much move and the fact that I can hardly bend to push myself up because of this bulbous extension hanging off my body, well, I just decided what better contraption than a whale transport net to get the job done?

I tell ya, it would sure make my life easier.

Horizontal folk-dancing

So, guess who was up having regular contractions every 2 minutes like clockwork from approximately 10:30pm to 4am?

I'll give you a hint: It's a two letter name that starts with 'M' and ends with 'E'.

Yes, SOMEONE had the genius idea of showing her hubby just how much he is loved and got awesome contractions out of the deal.

HASN'T THIS MAN DONE ENOUGH TO ME?! Couldn't he have stopped at getting me knocked up only to enjoy the DEAD HEAT of summer in all my glorious largeness??

Evidently according to my Dr. at 2:30am last night, sperm very often starts contractions.
Hmm. Who knew??

After consulting said Doctor, I chugged two full water bottles in a matter of minutes as she told me to and a half hour later the old Uterus seemed to calm down some. Finally, I was able to get some sleep.

That precious man of mine had the gall to place a shy little smirk on his face as he was leaving for work this morning and say 'well, I guess we know how to get labor started when it's time, huh?'

In your dreams buddy.

I'm alive....I think?!

A few of you have been checking in with me on the side to be sure I haven't fallen into the pregnancy hole of doom, and I'm happy to report that while my piggy toe may be stuck in the pit, I haven't fallen completely through.

Oh dear. What whirlwind of a time we've had here in the John/Abbie/Liv household.

Whoever thought up the idea of the 'terrible-twos' was an idiot, and chocked full of lies.

The 'twos' were a breeze for us. Couldn't figure out what everyone was talking about when speaking of those 'dreaded tantrums'. Liv has always been very compliant. Always been very polite-always saying 'Please' and 'Thank you' without having to be reminded. While she's a child full of personality and ideas, she's always just kinda gone with the flow on things.

Until she turned three.

It's like a little switch was turned on and she's turned into this incredibly stubborn little cuss. Hmm, can't imagine where she got that from. *cough* her dad and I.

I'm talking full blown tantrums out of nowhere in public-hitting and kicking and screaming so hard that she starts gagging. Fortunately it hasn't happened but maybe 2 times, but it actually brings me to tears as I write about it. I'm so pushed to the limit. It makes me sad. I KNOW we are doing all the right things with her. We've tried everything: time-outs, spanking, taking away cartoons, ignoring the behavior. EVERYTHING. We have always been so good about after spankings sitting her down and telling her how much we love her and that we punish her because we just want her to act like a big girl, and that just because we spank her doesn't mean we don't love her. We tell her how much her screaming and hitting makes us sad. I don't know what else to do.
At one point the other day, here at home, she actually brought me to full blown tears. And I'm not a crier in any sense of the word. I just reached a breaking point with her, and just crumbled.
I feel like it's a good thing for her to see me cry though. Immediately when she did she ran over and layed her head on my shoulder, like it really hit home with her. I was glad for that moment.
The thing is, after the tantrum is over, she is SO remorseful. She KNOWS what she did is naughty and she feels terrible and apologizes profusely. Bless her heart. It's like she gets so angry and just doesn't know what to do with it.

I love this little turkey more than words can say. I'm just dealing with the repercussions of thinking that I was exempt from toddler-dom. My bad.

On the plus side, Potty training has been frickin' AWESOME. And no, I'm not foolin' ya! Turns out all it took was to take her to her preschool to pick up her registration papers, and explain to her that they won't let her come in the doors in the fall if she is still going potty in her diapers. BAM! She's been potty-trained every since! hahaha Saweet.

My other reason for being scarce in the blogospere is this dang pregnancy. I'm sure you are tired of hearing how much I don't love being pregnant, but bare with me, just two more months of my babbling, ok?
The last few weeks have been REALLY bad in the pregnancy area. I've been so sick. The heat certainly doesn't do good things for me either. ugh.
When I was pregnant with Liv, starting at about 6 months along, I started dealing with dizziness and blackouts. Not fun.
Guess what has come back to play?
I can't go anywhere for a good first half of the day, because it is inevitable I will start getting dizzy at some point. It starts with me getting kinda dizzy and my body feeling heavy, then my vision goes black, then when it's done, I'm DRENCHED in sweat. LOVE IT.
I've also been feeling incredible pressure in my pelvis. Like her little head is just lodged there waiting to come out. FABULOUS.
Oh and lets not forget the awesome restless legs and sore hips and tailbone.

Shoot me now please.

SO, as you can see, I've had a bit on my plate the last couple of weeks, and bloggity blogging just hasn't been on the agenda for me.
I'm here though, I'm alive-even if only hanging by a thread-and I appreciate those of you who have been checking in with me. :)

If you REALLY care about me though, you'll just let me send Miss Olivia to wherever you are for a week.

Any takers?

ANYONE?!

*snap*crackle*pop*

Yeah, I know: this 4th of July post is a bit delayed, but better late than never, right?

Boy how our 4th of July has changed with children. What used to be an evening spent blowing things up has now turned into and evening convincing our three-year-old that no, the pretty little sparkler will not burn her hand off. *sigh*

She did eventually warm up to idea that, hey, if wussy mom can do it then maybe she could too, and she was all over the idea of holding one. Or three. Ooh, and the pop-its? She was all over those bad boys. Maybe the fact that watching mom squeal while she threw them at my feet made her giggle beyond control had something to do with it. Hey, whatever works.

This is what 3/4 of the evening looked like:

She then decided that maybe it would be ok to help Daddy just a bit:

I thought this was a good one, simply for the fact that I think it's hilarious that I can completely cover Johns body by standing in front of him now. Yeah, freaking hilarious...

We had a good time. No, really we did.

Once she realized that the fireworks weren't 'going to get her', Liv really started enjoying herself:

But by the end of the night she decided the safest place to be was on Papa's shoulders:

Happy 4th of July! :)

She loves me, she really loves me!!

Quite some time ago my dear bloggy friend, Jenny, passed this award on to me because, well, she likes to look at the inside of my nose. Can you say BFF's?! Anyone who enjoys a good nose shot is ok in my book. ;)

So, here is my awesome award, which is also special because it is supposed to help raise awareness for organ donation, which I am and always have been an encourager of 110%:


I'll pass this award onto:

Steph: she's just fabulous, and thats that.

Melissa: Because anyone who has a yellow couch is QUEEN in my book. :) And the fact that she drinks Diet Cokes on that couch on a daily basis? Well, I'm just sure we were separated at birth.

And, Krista: Because she understands what I say when 'the threes are the new terrible twos' :)

Pass on the love girlfriends, PASSITON.

Wise Words from the Toddler

Liv has been saying the most hilarious and yet touching (some of them) things lately.

Thought I'd share just a few of them to give you a chuckle for the day:

*As you know, we have been potty-training. Which, by the way, I'm pleased to report is going AWESOME. She's got the potty thing down pat. So, a few weeks ago, she was sitting, attempting #2, and she sighs and says "Mom, my poop isn't coming out. I think it's sleeping in my butt."
Hmm....

*We've mentioned to Liv that Jesus is in her heart. That he is always with her, loving her and protecting her. She is also aware of the fact that the baby is constantly kicking mommy in her tummy, and that sometimes it just doesn't feel so pleasant. The other day she was sitting on the couch and suddenly she grabbed her heart and said "OUCH!! My heart hurts! I think Jesus is kicking my heart!"

*Just this morning she discovered her pulse in her neck, and she ran over to me and said "MOM!! Feel! Feel this right here! Jesus is moving in my neck!!"

Oh how she keeps me on my toes....

We be jammin'!

You totally just read that with a Jamaican accent running through your mind, didn't you? Good, mission complete.

Summer time is fun for all kinds of reasons.

Probably one reason that sits pretty high on my list is the fact that it's the time that my momma makes her fabulous Strawberry Jam.

No joke, she makes a MEAN Jam people. Mean.

This summer, Liv and I got in on the action. Kinda. There really wasn't all that much for us to do, other than sneak bites and get in the way of Nana and Papa. But it was the thought, right mom? RIGHT?!

After Nana and Papa's hard work, stirring and mixing and mixing and stirring, the work was finally done. And now it's peanut butter and Strawberry Jam sandwiches for every meal for the next year.

This is pure manna from heaven my friends. I would not lie.

Not so itsy bitsy

I just discovered a spider in my kitchen sink.

So I sprayed him down the drain and ground his disgusting little body up in the garbage disposal.

And it was glorious.