The Beal Family

This is the post that never ends

2012-01-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

Well its time to play catch up! Its SO HARD to come back after Christmas and do anything except lay around 10 pounds heavier wishing you hadnt eaten your weight in butter tarts for 4 solid weeks. Even my fingers feel fatter as I type this. All we did for Christmas was EAT EAT EAT! When we had the energy in between meals and card games we slept...

We had faux Christmas on December 24th up at the Cabin. And it was extra fun because my Grandma Cele and Harold were there too. My grandma is the authority on all things sewing and craft related so I love exchanging project stories with her. And Harold is my favorite person on earth to cook for (second only maybe to Gabe!) because he LOVES food as much as I do! And they both are excellent baby tenders so it was extra great for me.

Christmas was awesome and my parents way spoiled us again. Our kids get way too many toys every year despite our pleas.
Here are the girls ready to see what Santa brought - all in their matching jammie pants my mom sewed for them. They all got adorable handmade bathrobes as well - Brigitte sucks her thumb on hers around our house now whenever she doesnt have a different "warmie" handy to do the trick!

Brigitte got a little nursery station and a new baby and car seat. She calls the baby ADORA and she loves her. The other favorite present this year were her princess dress ups. Shes all about being a royal mommy these days. It makes me feel so pleased that she is FINALLY into girly things! She ran around all weekend wearing her see through skirt and no pants. Ahh to be young and uninhibited!

Spencer got a farm house, tractor, and farm animals - and he runs around the house singing at the TOP of his lungs E I E I E I E I E.....and never gets to the OOOOOOOO. Its amazing to me that he is obsessed with farming - it must be in his genes! (Not my genes, mind you!) My mom got a huge dollhouse and Spencer just LOVED it. I think because it was practically life size for him and it was opened up for easy access. He spent a lot of quality time with barbies over the holiday!

It took him no time at all to geth the hang of opening presents...now THAT gene he got from me!

Pants apparently are optional in our family.... what can I say? My kids are half Beal so nudity is a pretty high priority in their lives.

Spencer also got a scooter so he could keep up with Brigitte in the driveway. Or at least be able to get away from her when she comes after him for toucher HER scooter, which he was obsessed with!

My poor dad is Spencer's best friend - whether he likes it or not! From the second Spencer was awake and until he fell asleep at night he was completely glued to my dad's side. He kept tabs on Pop everywhere he went. In fact the only words I even heard Spencer say all weekend long were Papa, ball, and No.

Spoiled kids! We love them too much!

Benett got a lot of clothes for church and a super cute Giraffe noisemaker that now lulls him to sleep with whales singing. I dont know why Ive never bought one of these before - they are great! It was lots of fun to have a little baby to pass around and snuggle on the couch this Christmas. It took my laziness to a whole new level.

Aunt Kallie is Benetts preferred snuggler. She has the magic touch for sure. Its the "Aunt gene".

Go ahead and crack up at this one. Here is a cute little snapshot of my husband and new baby. Can you tell which is which? Me neither.

Poor Gabe. All he got for Christmas was a money clip. For reals. It was like the croquet set all over again. I bought him a bunch of clothes that didnt fit so he got majorly gipped this year. The worst part of this story is that he bought ME an Ipad!!!!! I got SOOOO spoiled this year. I am addicted and in love with my new gadget and I dont know how I ever lived without googling things like "what are scallops and do they have a face"? at 2 am from the comfort of my own bed. Not to mention watching grays anatomy on demand every time I sit down to nurse the baby. In fact we busted it out for FHE tonight so we had music to our songs that we sang from the children's hymn book app. How did I ever live without it??? I also got a sewing machine that I cant WAIT to put to use! Ive been dying since my old one broke this summer. Look out martha stewart Im back in business!

One of the cutest memories Ill keep from this years Christmas was watching Benett while Gabe sang him the song "I hope they call me on a mission". Benett was doing HUGE smiles and cooing and just loved being sang too. I think this was one of the first times he REALLY smiled and talked. It was so precious.

Benett when they do call you on a mission I am going to want to go with you. *His cute little Christmas onesie was from aunt kallie of course, and it said "Dear Santa, I can explain" on it!

On New Years we had a FEAST and invited over my family to eat and play games. We had a great time devouring homemade boston cream pie, jalepeno popper dip, buffalo chicken balls, club sandwiches, moroccan dip, bbq chicken legs, cheeses, spanish tortilla, shrimp cocktail, and sherbet punch. See paragraph one.

The best part of the whole entire night was when my Dad got the word "Platypus" to draw in pictionary....but he forgot his glasses and drew a "Playground" instead. Close enough dad! We had lots of fun and called it a night around 9pm. In fact we were alseep by 1030 and didnt even watch the ball drop on TV! We are old and we have too many kids. That is our excuse.

In other non-food/holiday related news...Mr. Benett had his 3 month checkup today and is sadly suffering with a violent case of eczema. I thought it might be eczema but lots of people told me it was just bad cradle cap. THEY WERE WRONG! Poor Benett. His head drives him crazy and he itches it until it bleeds all the time. Ive spent 12 weeks slathering him with every cream on the market and nothing was getting rid of it. My pediatrician prescribed a steroid cream, took me off dairy, and now we get to soak the baby for 15 minutes 3x a week, wash his hair with dandruff shampoo once a week, and keep him shined up with a thick layer of cetaphil 24/7. Poor little babe. But the good news is his eye doesnt seem to have a blocked tear duct anymore, so at least hes got that going for him!

He weighs 13# 12oz (66%)

23 1/3 inches long (38%)

Head circ. 40 (25%)

So, yeah. Right on trend to short and chubby with a tiny head. Just like my other babies! He is starting to really be a talker, which I love. And he pretty much sleeps through the night going to bed around 10 and waking up around 6. He is calm and studies his environment constantly. But he is also extremely quick to smile, and if you even look his way his little chin disappears as his huge cheeks go up and up! We love him to bits and he hasnt been nearly as stressful as I was anticipating. In fact all of my kids have done really really well with the transition of adding another baby to the family. We have our moments of course - when everybody is melting down all at once. But thankfully Im married to MR mom so we survive ok. Gabe is great to jump in and take a few kids off my hands when it gets rough in the evenings.

Overall, life is going pretty awesome. And I am SO GLAD to have this post finished! A gold medal for you if you actually made it to the end! And a special thanks to my mom who provided every single picture in this post!

Merry Christmas Love Gabe

2011-12-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

We have had a great week getting ready for Christmas. We have decided that we're going to have our own little family Christmas Friday morning and have Christy's grandma over that morning. That will be fun, we want our kids to have memories of Christmas in our home as well as at the Grandparent's homes, so we'll end up having Christmas twice. Friday afternoon we'll head up to Garden Valley and have our 2nd Christmas up there. I can't wait. There is a hot springs up there that I'm dying to be in- it feels like heaven.

Not a whole lot is going on other than just enjoying each day and waiting for a few days off. I've been at the airport Tower for about 2 months fixing the elevator shaft, so that it will hold air pressure. I'm at the top of the tower near a man-bridge that spans across the elevator shaft and I'm in charge of the all the repairs, but I'm also responsible to rescue someone if they were to fall out of the swing stages that they are using to get up and down our 225 foot verticle shaft. We have a pulley installed to rescue someone. Anyway, what that means is very long days- start at 6:00 and work until 4:00, and I've passed the time reading Dead Poet's Society in Spanish and watching several Christmas movies. I've been watching them in spanish if it's available, and it's pretty funny to hear the spanish voice-over. It was almost unwatchable to have a spanish voice-over for Dana Carvey in "Trapped in Paradise".

Christy has started making me a lunch and I'm not sure if I've ever felt so special. It's funny, to win a fat man's heart, you don't need to give him presents or affection, you feed that man! She wins a gold start for surviving each day with 2 crazy kids and 1 high maintenance baby.

Brigitte has started to show her defiance toward our parenting. It's quite funny, and we're trying hard not to ever let her know that were dying when she does this, but every time we ask her to do something, it is usually answered with this quick sharp "Huuuugh!" or "Huuugh, fine!" It's like she has just had enough lecturing and finally has given in to our request, but the funny thing is that she says it after the very first time that we ask her to do something. This is funny now, but sure to turn to frustration soon I'm sure.

Brigitte has been saying some pretty funny things lately. We were at Cabelas last week and Brigitte had to go potty, so we went into the the men's room and she went potty. Well, I had to go as well, so I placed her behind me and as I started, she yelled with a room full of other men "Daddy, are you going potty with your teeny weeny!?" I died.

Yesterday we were at church and Brigitte was being absolutely crazy- so we were in the foyer and I pointed to a painting of Jesus and I told her that the church was Jesus' house and that he lived there. She replied "oh...it's just so beautiful". Brigitte also has this new stall tatic where she'll crawl onto your lap and get right in your face and give you a big ol' kiss on the lips. It's so funny! Then she'll examine your face and look for any blemishes and try to "fix it" by picking and scratching at it. She says "oh no, does it hurt? It's okay, I'll fix it". She also knows she can delay bedtime if she all of a sudden becomes interested in football. She'll come out of her room and say "Daddy are you watching football? I want the red team to win" and she knows she can come sit on my lap and watch the game and be up for at least another 30 minutes. She's too funny. The best though is her midnight Christmas Caroling. Every night this past week, we've put her to bed and after about 30 minutes, we get a special Christmas concert. We get to hear "Jingle Bells", "I Am a Child of God" and our favorite, "Ru-ha the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

Spencer's latest behavior is he wants to run and hide from you every time he sees you. Well, this is funny and a good time when it's in our home- he sees you coming and peels out in his socks and tries to hide behind a curtain or a corner, but when you go to Cabela's on a Saturday afternoon, the weekend before Christmas, it's not as cute. I think Christy already blogged about this, but let me tell you, it was crazy! I had just gotten a cart and put Benett inside when I turned around and saw Spencer sprinting away rounding the corner towards the fish. I quickly followed, literally swimming through a crowd of people, just to get around the corner and he was gone- and I mean GONE! Anyway, he ended up half way across the store in a 4-wheeler that had a stuffed puppy inside it.

Spencer is still obsessed with basketball and loves to say "ball" 500 times a day, but he's pretty darn good at his 2 foot jumper, so I'm quite pleased. He thinks the tree ornaments are balls and wants to touch them or pull them off the tree, so we have been putting him in time out. It's too funny, he walks over to the corner and leans his head against the wall and then gives us 2 or 3 fake pouts/cries and turns around with a big smile. It's too funny!

Benett is a great partner to watch football with. He just lies in you arm and doesn't complain about what we're watching or that I'm choosing to watch the Redskins and not the other teams that are still relevant this season. He has been giving us more and more smiles and I can't resist his chubby, chubby cheeks! He's still a GRUNTasaurus in the night and a PUKEasaurus at all times of the day, but he's the best!

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

The worst 15 minutes of my life

2011-12-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

So Gabe and I apparently suffered from a severe bout of insanity - and decided to go to the MALL on saturday. We shopped alongside every other family in Boise for a few hours, and after being forced to nurse my baby in a JC Penney dressing room because every bench chair nook and craany was occupied by annoyed husbands holding purses....we called it quits and headed to cafe rio.

After gorging ourselves on chicken salads we again had a terrible lapse in judgement and decided to take the kids over to cabellas. Its pretty much their favorite place on earth thanks to the fish, stuffed animals, and of course fudge. So we head inside and because we are a freak show with a million kids, both gabe and I grabbed a cart.

As we made our way inside and before we had situated all the kids in the carts - we ironically bumped into my dad, who just so happened to be walking in at the same time. Right then Spencer decided he wanted to get down and he did that thing where he goes dead weight and flings his arms straight up so he is impossible to hold. So I set him down and turned to grab the other cart ...and two seconds later (literally) Spencer was GONE.

We had only been inside Cabellas for maybe 60 seconds total at this point, we hadnt even left the area in front of the doors - but there were so many dang people everywhere I looked that I couldnt tell which wway he had run. As far as i could see in every direction there were people people and more people. I started to panic. Gabe went one way, my dad went the other way. I was standing at the front of the store watching the doors making sure someone wasnt walking out with him. And when the guys returned with no spencer I really started to panic.

We ran up to customer service and told them our 2 year old was gone and started describing his outfit. I was seriously about to lose it at this point and a few moms were coming up to me asking me questions about him so they could help look for him. After another few minutes went by and nobody had found him or seen him my anxiety level was pretty out of control. I went back up to customer service and asked her to announce it over the PA and stop people from going in or coming out of the store. She just looked at me and said everyone was looking for him.

All I could think was that somebody had taken him and walked right out of the store. Hes so little and cute, of course someone would want to steal him. And I felt sick because I had set him down. I had put him down. what was I thinking????

Finally after what felt like an eternity, a lady came up to me and said your dad has your son, hes coming back to the front of the store now. I was SO RELIEVED. My eyes welled up and I literally was seconds away from bawling my eyes out. i have never felt like that before. Sheer panic and terror. Seriously. My dad came walking up with him and told me he was found sitting on a 4 wheeler by the fishing poles, holding a stuffed dog. TYPICAL. I was a little surprised that Spencer hadnt panicked when he didnt see us anymore. He literally took off running and didnt care that he wasnt with anyone familiar. Hes such a mamas boy, but apparently not when sporting goods and camping supplies are involved. All I know is I will never again set him down in a store.

Merry Christmas Kids. You are all getting LEASHES.

More Benett

2011-12-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh I just want to KISSSSSS these chubby cheeks!!

Jayna came over today in an attempt to get some pictures of Benett in his blessing outfit. Despite her superb photography skills, the lighting (or lack thereof) seriously interfered with our plan! Hes still pretty adorable....if I do say so myself! Thanks jayna!

Blessing Day

2011-12-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

We blessed Benett on sunday and had the most fantastic day! My parents came down from Garden Valley and my In-laws were able to make it from Arco, and everyone except a few of Gabes siblings were there. We had about 40 people total all smashed into my living and dining rooms. Crazy, but I just love getting together and eating with everyone!

The food was particularly delicious since I picked the menu and only made foods I was craving! We had breakfast muffin melts, apricot glazed meatballs, toffee dip with apples, butter tarts, bagels with bacon onion spread, cheese pesto torte, and fizzy breakfast juice. I gained 5 pounds but it was worth every single calorie!

Gabe as usual gave a very articulate and sincere blessing. I may be a little biased, but it was one of the best Ive heard! My brother in law Tyler summed it up well when he commented that "Gabe is getting pretty good at these blessings...because he does one every year!".

Poor Spencer was so sick and we had to drag him to church. He bawled through the entire sacrament meeting which was a real treat. I had lofty dreams of getting an acceptable christmas photo taken while we were still in our church clothes, but sadly this was the best we could do:

I didnt even take any pictures of just Benett in his blessing outfit! What kind of mother am I??! He did look awful cute in his little sweater and pants.

We are so very glad to have Benett in our family! He is so much fun and we are enjoying having a new little baby around to love on. Plus, it is rather convenient to have a real baby Jesus for our Christmas nativity this year!

I've Been Threatened with Socks!

2011-12-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry Ladies- It's just me, Gabe. I've been reproached for not providing a letter to Santa, so here it goes....

Dear Santa (Dan, Sherry, and Christy),

I have missed you this year. Why don't you drop things off more often? I've been rather good, nearly perfect, so it's gonna cost ya. I'll start off small and then really let you know what I'm worth.
1.Ironically I wouldn't mind a few new socks or nosocks.
2. The Redskins are once again awful, but I remain committed. I'd proudly sport this beauty any Sunday afternoon with the curtains drawn.
3. We can all laugh at the idea that someday I may get serious about working out, so any of these might be nice.
4. Fishing gear is always welcomed. I've had my eye on this for awhile.
5. Although I'm quite sure that back in '82 I could out run a cougar or wrestle a bear, it wouldn't hurt to have a back-up plan.
6. But seriously who needs to ever run if you've got one of these babies.

Thanks Santa. I'll try not to eat all the cookies that the kids leave out for you.

Poor Hobble...

2011-11-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

She just doesn't get paid enough! We love our little 3 1/2 legged kitty. And as you can see from this video, one of us loves her a little too much sometimes! I cant believe what she puts up with - Isnt she adorable???

Brigitte's Big Christmas Wish List

2011-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

I guess I should just be thankful that the grand total to fulfill her Christmas dream will be roughly 98 cents...

And just in case you couldnt hear her - yes, she is indeed asking for some GLUE STICK. Because of course she would like to make a HUGE MESS with it.Brigitte, couldnt you put all that energy to good use by being helpful instead of destructive? How about a magic eraser for Christmas???

One month old!

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Houston: WE HAVE DOUBLE CHINS!

Is there anything more lovely than a baby getting fatter and fatter before your very eyes? I say nay.

There isnt enough caffeine in the WORLD....

2011-11-22T13:48:00.000-08:00

To keep up with my wild daughter!!!!

As I sat downstairs with a friend for 45 minutes the other day Brigitte quietly entertained herself upstairs. Imagine my horror as I made my way up there to discover how she had passed the time:

Spencer's room trashed? CHECK!

Brigittes room trashed? Bed stripped? CHECK CHECK!

Every toy we own off the shelf, out of the basket, and thrown on the floor? TRIPLE CHECK!

Garbages emptied onto the floor in the hall? CHECK!

And finally, every article of clothing she could reach in the baby room closet was pulled off the hanger and lovingly laid in a giant pile in the laundry basket. All the hours of painstakingly washing, sorting, and hanging up each little dress or sweater - GONE! I said with giant eyes - Brigitte!!!! WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE???" To which she replied: its a birthday cake for Pingu. Do you like it?

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

3 Weeks Old

2011-11-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

We are starting to catch more little smiles....

Still lots of sleeping (during the day of course)

LOTS of snuggles

And in general, here is what the other kids have been up to:

Wild Shenanegans! Spencer sitting up on the changing table with my stolen toothbrush:

This was actually Halloween, but riding the scooter in dress-ups is a daily occurrence around here!

I swear I feed my kids, but they wont stay out of the pantry!

Crazy Kids!

Dear Santa,

2011-11-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Lodis London Primadonna Wallet in Winter White

Hot Pink Royal Stretch Kaftan

Or - this Hot Pink Royal Ribbon Robe

Or - these Abbey Road Pjs

Mastering the art of french cooking by Julia Child

Steve Madden Foreway Boot in Black 7

Michael Kors Taylor Watch

This little Ipad case....and I think Ill probably need an Ipad to go in it.

Trans Globe Lighting Pendant in Chrome

Chesterfield Bed from Charles P Rogers

A vintage Mint green Vespa. Dad, forget the 4 wheeler idea! These are MUCH cuter.

An apartment in Paris (hey, its my irrational Christmas wishlist ok?)

And finally, Ill take one of these, please.

Sincerely,
Christy

2 weeks in...

2011-11-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

I am relieved to report that we are all alive and well! after two long weeks of being a family of 5! Little Benett is PRECIOUS and so so sweet. We all love him to bits and I am especially grateful for a quiet content little baby. He sleeps all day, and after a few rough days at first - he is now sleeping great at night too. He gets up every 3-5 hours to eat and then goes right back to bed! I can't believe my luck really! I was braced for the worst, but have been pleasantly surprised at how well this transition has gone. 3 kids is definitely tough, dont get me wrong... But its not nearly as bad as I was expecting. My recovery has been a breeze, thanks im sure, to only pushing for 15 minutes. Im back in my jeans and feeling completely normal (although slightly sleep deprived!). I dont know if this is the calm before the storm - or a tender mercy from the Lord. But I hope it continues!

My kids have gone a little insane being cooped up indoors all day long. The dark days and freezing weather make it pretty tough to get outside with a newborn. I havent yet tried to go anywhere (besides Jaynas house) with all 3 kids. I hope I never see the day when I have to venture out on my own...they just dont make big enough carts.

Benett is SO mellow, SO fair, SO Lanky, I have no idea where he came from! He is slowly starting to beef up and he changes every day. I love the little newborn stage but I cant wait to see more of his personality! Lets hope he stays nice and quiet :)

And he shall be called:

2011-11-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Benett Seth Beal

The Birth Story

So here I am on Friday morning, October 28th at 5:30 am....ready to hop in the car and head down to labor and delivery. The plan was to try to flip the baby and then take it from there. Either go ahead with the c-section if the version failed, or start an induction if it was successful and I was dilated enough.

We got to the hospital and my crazy nurse could NOT get an IV started. I always think the grandma types will do a good job, but come to find out its the new grads you should always grab because they get the most practice! (A tip I will for sure remember for next time!).

Dr. West came in and did an ultrasound to see how baby was lying. We were still breech, but the head had moved from being wedged under my left ribcage on over to my right side. Bum was still down, and we couldnt see if there was a cord issue or not that was keeping baby lodged up high. So they gave me a shot of Terbutalene which immediately made me feel like I had snorted a line of cocaine (I imagine) plus it made me want to throw up violently in waves. Then came the fun part of trying to turn the baby. Ive never seen an exorcism, but I imagine it looks similar to what was happening in my room. Dr. West literally plunged his hands into my stomach, got a hold of the baby and pulled/pushed. The first try, baby wouldnt budge. It wasnt as bad as I was anticipating, but I laid there with my eyes shut tight thinking the pain was going to skyrocket at any moment!

The second attempt was when I felt like my liver and stomach had switched places against their will. He got the head all the way down, but when we checked with the ultrasound we saw feet down by babys ears! So on the third attempt he moved the feet up to where they should be. I was SO GIDDY over the fact that he had just gotten the baby to flip! My C-section was officially cancelled and then I braced myself for bad news. If I was not dilating or thinning out at all, they were going to send me home, instead of risking a failed induction (which I DID NOT want!). But by some miracle when he checked me I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 3! So we officially got excited and after an hour of being monitored, I got moved over into a delivery room.

My L&D nurse was AWESOME. I swear your nurse makes or breaks your delivery experience. She had a student nurse with her too, and I was their only patient so it was pretty much like I was queen for day. Except I was starving and in excruciating pain... but, minor details. We got the pitocin started along with the penicillin they MAKE me take for being GBS+. That dang antibiotic is THE WORST. It burns like the devil holding a hot poker and jabbing it up my arm. They always slow it way down and give me a hot pack to wrap around my IV site, but it still is way uncomfortable and annoying. Plus it keeps me all tangled up in cords, making it IMPOSSIBLE to be comfortable. This time around I had the added bonus of my blood pressure cuff on my left arm squeezing the vein repeatedly that the nurse had blown earlier that morning. So now I have two awesome bruises on both arms.

Anyway, once I was monitored, hooked up, poked, and fluids were actively dripping through my system, they made me sit up on the birthing ball for 3 hours. We were all terrified the babys head wouldnt engage where it is supposed to, so for good measure they had me sit upright instead of lay down. And let me tell you how FUN that was. I didnt want the epidural yet because I wasnt even in pain at all, and I like to really feel relieved when the pain goes away! So I sat there and sat there until my legs were pretty much numb and my tail bone was bruised. Occasionally I would stand up or go to the bathroom or whatever, but pretty much I sat there all day.

Sometime around 10 Dr. West came in and broke my water. I have never had the joy of feeling that experience before, I have always had the epidural. IT HURT BAD! Anyway, finally when that was done back to the birthing ball I went. My contractions started to pick up, but they felt SO DIFFERENT from the ones I had felt with Spencer. We realized that it was probably because the baby was posterior (looking up instead of down) and seriously - they were NOT fun. At the peak of the contraction just when you thought it would start to come down it always got just a little bit worse!I decided now was a GREAT time for the epidural.

The she-man anesthesiologist that came in was named V. Just letter V. My nurse had warned me that she was a little rough around the edges...but she should have told me she was a little rough with her needles! I got some crazy new kind of epidural that gives 2 different doses of meds. The first stick is to numb you, then they give you a second stick, which is a bolus shot of fast acting poison that blows open a space that is stuck together like saran wrap. She warned me before she did it not to jump - but i SCREAMED and FLUNG myself towards the nurse who was trying desperately to restrain me! HoLy CrAP! That hurt SO BAD! And dont worry, I still didnt have in the epidural. Next was the fun part of trying to place the catheter in the right spot. Every time she tried to thread it my left side was zapped. It was like getting stung by a billion tiny ants - in your spine. IT TOOK HER 3 TRIES! I ALMOST DIED! I was sweating and shaking and clutching my eyes shut so tight!!! Literally some of the worst pain I have ever felt in my life! Finally it was done and all I felt was sheer relief that it was over. I was SO tired I barely could keep my eyes open.

Around 12:30 they checked me to see how how far I was dilated and I was a 10. My epidural was SO heavy that I felt absolutely NOTHING. No rge to push, no pressure - NOTHING. And I was so exhausted that I wasnt even excited that I was ready to push. Which, turns out was a good thing, because Dr west was bouncing between me, another delivery, and a surgery! So I had this great plan to just hang out until Dr. West was ready for me. I figured if I dilated all the way to a 13 it could only help my cause!!! So two hours later at 3:15 Dr. west came in to deliver me!

The most hysterical part was trying to get my legs to cooperate with the stirrup things. I literally could have had them amputated and not even known it! The nurse hefted my left leg into one sling and Dr. West tried to put my other leg in the other one. He finally got my foot and calf in, but my leg had gone almost straight, so I was sitting completely crooked and totally unable to correct it! The nurse looked at Dr. West and said, "maybe you should just stick to deliveries!" we died laughing.

So once the drama with my legs was done I pushed 3 times and out flew Baby at 3:30. I saw his tiny man parts and said NO. WAY. and just laid my head down. I could NOT believe he was a boy! I still cant! I packed 3 girl outfits, an adorable pink blanket, 2 headbands and a bracelet. And one measly boy outfit - just in case. And now we know my motherly intuition is WRONG EVERY TIME!

No stitches, no drama, hands down the EASIEST delivery ever. But the entire day leading up to that had been pretty intense, so I was extremely thankful!

We soon discovered that this baby like both our other two was extremely tongue tied. Nursing was NOT going great and I was having Brigitte flashbacks. Tongue tied babies dont latch well, so they grab just enough and start sucking away...and it was about 2 hours after he was born that I was bleeding and crying out for someone else to nurse this little animal! When the pediatrician came in and looked him over he offered to clip his tongue tie for me to see if it would help his feeding. It was a super thin wispy connection so I agreed. They did a double wammy and clipped it when they did his circumcision. Poor boy came back to me maimed on both ends.

And then he proceeded to SCREAM ALL NIGHT LONG the first night in the hospital. It was so bad that the nurse came in and offered to just hold him for 20 minutes for me to give me a break. But I really think my neighbors had complained and told her to go help out the poor first time mother next door who could not clam down her baby! I came home the next morning at noon and then the real fun began. Ive never wanted to check myself BACK into the hospital before - but man did I wish I had stayed this time around. There was ZERO sleep the second night, as well as the third. We had to send our other kids back to Aunt Jorys and my mom had to hold the baby in between feedings all day so I could just sleep and recover. I was pretty on the ledge and there was LOTS of crying. Spencer has a head cold and croupy cough, so he isnt sleeping great, and Brigitte is awake from 4-6 am pretty consistently, so yeah, I was pretty much ready to tie my own tubes.

I think between the circumcision, tongue clipping, and rotten gassy tummy from the antibiotics I was on all day - he was pretty grumpy for a good reason. And then like magic he slept like a champ last night! I only got up with him twice and we all slept in till 9. It was BLISS. Today was my first day handling all three kids totally on my own and it went awesome. We ate bunny cookies and watched tv all day, but well, thats the new normal for us now!!!!

And lets briefly discuss how THANKFUL I am to finally have a NAME for this poor boy!!! 5 whole days of calling him boy and little sir. I cant wait until he is older and he finds out his father nearly caused me to have an aneurism because he wanted to name my darling sweet boy GARIK. or GUNNAR. So if any of you hate the name Benett - just know that it was a HARD fought battle and the best we could agree on! plus It totally suits him and I love it.

Benett is a SERIOUS little baby. He will probably get his MBA and PhD simultaneously through some fast track program at a foreign school for gifted students. He is a complete hybrid physically between Brigitte and Spencer. He looks a little like they both did, but completely different and all his own. And as usual, he looks just like his father, so I guess Gabe can put all those mailman rumors to rest now! Theres NO DEBATING who the daddy is!

My camera totally stinks, so here are just a few pictures from the last two days. Brigitte is totally in love with Baby Gemma and prefers him to be wrapped in pink. Its going to take a little convincing to get her to come around to the fact that Benett is a boy! She constantly checks up on where he is, what hes doing, wearing, or looking at. And she wanted to hold him "ALL HERSELF" all day long. Its adorable. * Spencer couldnt care less about the baby! He seriously doesnt even acknowledge him! But I need to get a picture of him with his new little brother soon. They will be best buds someday im sure - but for now I think its in my best interest that Spencer doesnt really know hes here to stay!

His hair is not this red in real life - just my awesome camera again plus bad lighting.

We sure do love our new little Benett!

*more pictures here at my moms blog

Shocked to announce:

2011-10-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

Its a Boy!

7lbs 4 oz, 19 3/4" long

Looks like a BEAL!

Our little bundle of nameless joy was born at 3:30 Friday afternoon. I avoided a c-section and am feeling great! Baby is having a little trouble adjusting to life outside the womb, but I have high hopes that the all-night-long-crying will die down soon :)

Brigitte has done great with the new baby (although she cant understand how he isnt a SHE!) and Spencer has ignored him completely!

Thanks everyone for all your meals, babysitting offers, and well wishes!

Ill type up the birth story with all the details as soon as I can stay awake for longer than 30 minute increments!

And in the mean time, if you have a great name suggestion send it here! We ARE DYING over a name we can agree on. We have until Friday at 3 to decide!!!

Heres the plan

2011-10-26T07:23:00.000-07:00

Im having a baby on Friday! Woo hoo!

I went in to the Dr. yesterday and he laughed because the baby is actually MORE breech than it was a few days ago. How is it possible that it traveled NORTH instead of SOUTH? It is SO high up that there is ZERO dilation or effacement, and its head is completely lodged up under my ribcage.

So, the plan is 6 am friday morning they will try to rotate the baby. If it doesnt work, I am scheduled for a 7:30 am C-Section. If by some miracle it DOES work, then I might try to be induced. Which again, was not my original plan, but hey - all bets are off now. Dr west warned me an induction might not even work because we are starting at ZERO progress, but we decided the risk of the baby turning back to breech was enough to just opt to get the ball rolling and see what happens.

In the mean time I am spending some quality time with my chiropractor to see if we can get the baby to turn on its own. I still have hope that maybe on friday the baby will be head down and we can skip that whole turn your insides around procedure that is less than pleasant!

We'll see. Im really over any sort of "birth plan" . We've moved straight passed that and on to the 'whatever plan'. As long as I get a baby out of it Im in good shape!

See ya next time when we unveil mystery baby #3!

Say it aint so....

2011-10-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

So do you want the bad news first or the terrible news?

The bad news is that I am STILL a zero. As in not dilated even ONE. Tiny. Centimeter.

And the terrible news - is that it's because the baby is BREECH!!!! Yes its true. Its head is nestled right up in my ribcage. It makes sense since I have been having SUCH bad contractions with NO results!

They did an ultrasound to confirm (and no I didnt peek at the gender!) and sure enough it was bum down just like my Dr. suspected. So now we have three options. 1. Wait it out to see if it turns on its own (very extremely unlikely) 2. Do an external rotation to try to flip the baby 3. Schedule the c-section asap.

We opted to try to turn the baby externally since I know a few people who have had successful rotations. My hope is that it will flip on monday and that the trauma will jump start my labor and I can have it naturally like I had planned! But....if it fails then Im off to have the surgery sometime next week.

Im willing to try anything to get the baby to turn. Accupuncture, chiropractic, what have you. But I think if it doesnt flip with the Dr. trying to turn it that I will just opt to book the c-section. Its going to be hard with my other two kids to recover from, so Im really sad that it might be the outcome. However, it is what it is, and thats fine. Whatever. I guess my kids can run wild and quit taking naps or being held for 6 weeks while I recover!

So yes, Im a bit depressed. We came home and rented a terrible chick flick (something borrowed) and I ate a pint of ben and jerrys in one sitting and chased it with 3 deep fried buffalo chicken cheese bites and 2 liter of ginger ale. Now im going to pass out in a calorie induced coma and hope that this baby will do a circque du solei in my sleep!!!

Little stinker! Now I KNOW its a girl for sure! Already causing DRAMA and being difficult!!!

2011-10-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

Spencer and Hobble having a little quality snuggle on the couch today. He was having a rough time and followed me around crying all morning, so in a moment of desperation I went out and got Hobble hoping she could hold him for me. And she did! It melts my heart to see how sweet he is with her - and how mellow she is with him. Not once did she squirm or try to scratch and run away from him. He just held her like this for seriously 15 minutes. The whole time he kept saying ohhhh. ohhhhh.

I am desperately trying to find the other 5 kittens a good home before I have my baby. Its tough to feel like they are going to decent people. In fact a girl from craigslist came and picked out 2 kittens a few weeks ago and I had to text her and tell her she couldn't have them after all. She had requested two kittens because she was pretty sure her kids would kill one, and she didnt want them to be sad....and I just couldn't let her have them after that! Why are people so honest and weird??? Anyway...if you know of anyone who needs an adorable kitten....just let me know!

I am officially 38 3/4 weeks pregnant and NO. BABY. On monday I had the WORST night of contractions that I couldnt sleep through, and they were 3-5 minutes apart from midnight to 5 am. As soon as I got up to pack my bag, call Aunt Jory, and Gabe cancelled his trip to Pocatello for the day -- you guessed it. The contractions got farther and farther apart - THEN STOPPED!!! By 9 am I was completely pregnant. So depressing!!!! I dont mind staying pregnant but PLEASE! STOP the teasing! Anyway, my appt is tomorrow and I am eager to see if I am dilated at all. I swear to you, if I spent 48 hours sleep free for NO REASON...there will be anger! I better at least be a 1 and get those membranes stripped!!!!

In other exciting news, I hit rock bottom (again) with Brigitte and her lack of sleep and ended up taking her to a Vu-Du Doctor who works by "the laying on of hands." It was bizarre to say the least, but after 3 weeks of seriously NO SLEEP, our lives were at risk. So anyway, after about 30 minutes of muscle testing and asking Brigittes body what exactly the problem was....he concluded that her brain has an insulin intolerance, she was protein deprived, carbohydrate overloaded, and wheat intolerant. All of these issues in effect mean that her parasympathetic nervous system - or- her "rest and digest" system, was not working properly. So he "reset her" and gave me instructions to wean her off wheat and amp up her protien intake big time. And Im not joking you, she went to bed at 8pm and slept until 8:30 the next morning. That has NEVER ever happened before. Not when shes sick, not when shes drugged, not when its pitch black and silent. I was amazed. She is doing SO much better with sleep. She voluntarily laid down and took a nap today. That hasnt happened in months! And teh other great news is that her tantrums and hyper activity have way mellowed out, probably because she is getting more rest at night.

So All in all we were pleased with the good doctors work. Next week I will take her in again for another "reset" and we will see if she continues to improve.

Other than that there was nothing major going on in our lives these past few days. Gabe continues to work diligently on our new playroom and its coming along nicely! I cant wait for it to be finished!!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me that tomorrows appointment is productive! We might get a baby this weekend - Woo hoo!

Baby Flowers and the Wig

2011-10-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

So...a while ago I decided to reborn a doll. Not because Im crazy...but because I thought it would be a fun creative project and that Brigitte might like to have a 'real baby' to play with.

So after much online research, I selected a raw vinyl kit (it comes completely unpainted) and ordered up all the supplies. It looked like this:

And once completed...was supposed to look similar to this: (emphasis on the words supposed to...)

The process is terrifying and included hand painting on super thin layers of veins, skin tones, blotches, etc - then BAKING the dismembered limbs in the oven about 30 times in between each coat.....

Once the painting and baking is done, you assemble the body parts to the body and stuff it so it weighs like 8 pounds. Our little baby flowers is SO HEAVY that Brigitte only barely started playing with her because she can finally lift her now. We stuffed her with BB pellets and poly fill. She's ridiculously floppy and beefy....I may have overdone it. Brigitte named her Baby Flowers I think because the outfit we put her in has tiny flowers on it. She may take after her dad creatively...as in not. very.

Try not to die laughing...but THIS is baby flowers...

We had some troubles when it came to getting her hair installed. You have to seriously tak ea needle and poke each little strand in. Needless to say, after 3 days of trying and trying to give her even a few stray hairs - I gave up and she officially became the Susan G Komen doll.

Well after months of her hideousness I finally couldnt stand the looks of her anymore....or the looks from strangers as they tried to figure out exactly WHAT kind of doll my daughter was lugging around with such a sad state of affairs going on on its head.

So tonight, after the kids went to bed, I busted out a crusty bag of synthetic doll hair from Joanns that cost me a whopping $1.99 and my glue gun and I had a little bonding time. Now I am proud to present baby Flowers in all her glory: The first white baby born with an afro.

Not to shabby! If I do say so myself! Im glad she is presentable now - albeit one of the ugliest dolls you will ever lay eyes on. But what can I do? And dont you worry - for anyone out there who is concerned I may try to Reborn another doll....I gave it up and sold all my supplies on Ebay. But it was definitely a challenging and crafty little project to take on and Im glad Brigitte plays with her and that it wasnt all for nothing!

Heres to acquiring babies the old fashioned way! No glue required! I think Ill stick to what i know from now on. 38 weeks and counting....

And just for fun, here is a little something to brighten your day. I had bought two hair options for the doll from Joanns, A bag of loose hair (which I ended up using) and a black bobbed wig that I thought maybe I could cut down to fit. And though it failed to help out our ugly little friend....it did serve as a hysterical way to spend the evening.

Clearly I moonlight as a Russian Spy.... or Dora the explorer

We had to bribe Brigitte with candy to snap this picture. I do not understand how she as my unusually extroverted child got shy around something as fabulous as a wig!!! But she did not want to wear it at all! How is this my child???

And Spencer was even worse than Brigitte! We had to flat out force him to wear it for just one picture! And he kept spitting like the texture of it made his skin crawl! So funny. He definitely DOES NOT have a future as a rock star.

And finally - the crowning glory. Meet Gabby, the ugliest Lesbian you will ever meet.

Dont be jealous.

37 weeks....

2011-10-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

And no end in sight!

I went to the Dr this morning hoping to have the ol membranes stripped. No such luck, seeing as I am not dilated even a teensy tiny bit. I have mixed feelings about this of course. First of all - I am SHOCKED that I wasnt at least a 1...since I have CRAZY contractions ALL the time. And not just the painless tightening ones. Sometimes after a long day of chasing kids and cleaning I have the annoying crampy ones that start in my back. Nice. Well its good to know they arent doing a dang thing to help me out!

On the other hand of course - I am completely not ready to have another baby. At least not this week! Brigitte and Spencer are both sick with colds and coughs (big surprise there!), my house in basically in shambles, and I havent even unpacked the baby blankets and clothes in order to sort and wash them. I still need to find the infanct car seat in the garage and rearrange all the carseats in the car. Plus, since Spencer is still in his crib we sort of need to figure out a new sleeping arrangement for the new babe. So I guess its a good thing im not showing signs of labor! Talk about in denial and unprepared!

The truth is, I have had a GREAT pregnancy...but I am starting to really feel awful these days! Emotionally Im super grouchy and little things make me feel totally out of control. Im glad I havent felt like this all along, so I really can't complain. But when my kids are having tantrums and the laundry is piled up, I sort of have to take a few minutes to get a grip or else I would lose it!

My weight gain has miraculously been in the 'normal' range instead of the 'holy cow you gained how much' range this time around. But another 2-3 weeks of pregnancy will definitely bump me from one bracket to the next! I have managed to avoid maternity clothes altogether up to this point, but its pretty slim pickins in my closet. For instance, I tried to wear a pair of leggings today and I could hear the fabric crying as I tried to s t r e t c h into them. Not good. Time to bust out the fat pants!

Brigitte is going to be really cute with this baby. She obsessively tells me that her toys (babies, kitties, what have you) have just come out of her tummy and they are soooo cute and little!!! And where she completely ignored Spencer when he came home, I think she is going to be a good little mommy this time around. Ill have to be sure to keep an eye on her though or else I have a feeling Id find the new baby in Brigittes doll stroller being wildly strolled throughout the house!

Spencer - is going to have a tough time. I had hoped he would be oblivious to the baby and just stay his sweet little even tempered self. Alas, he has become quite attached to me and cries whenever I leave him with a sitter, or try to hold someone elses baby. Hopefully Brigitte will be able to keep him distracted and entertained so he doesnt feel totally abandoned! Im not worried overall, because I know the more kids you have the better they all play together and the easier life is. But the first few months are rough during the adjustment phase!

Anyway, here's to probably 2 more sleepless, uncomfortable, heartburning, contracting weeks of pregnancy. My next appt isnt until next friday because Dr West is going out of town, so maybe at the earliest I will get things moving next weekend. Its almost like your last days on earth - what do I do with my few precious days???? I think a trip the hair dresser is in order, and possibly a pedicure....

Nesting Nesting...123

2011-10-05T13:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my HECK! You guys I am OBSESSED with my new toy!!!!! After conversing with my Mother In law about her steam mop, it deepened my already groing desire to own one. But I have the MOST high maintence house ever where each room requires a vacuum, broom, AND mop. Thats right. Hard wood and tile all on the main level and each bedroom has hardwood around the perimeter with a square of carpet in the middle. Its a full on workout to clean upstairs and BOY was I sick of my man arms that were starting to develop. (Dont worry, I combatted this problem by living on cheese and mayonnaise 99% of the time...)

Anyway, a chance outing to Tuesday morning solved all my problems! I found this little beauty:

The Haan Steam Vac! (Which I have just now, lovingly named HANS. I know, Im so brilliant.)

It vacuums WHILST steaming....on not just hard wood and tile - BUT ON CARPET TOO!!!!! I just sanitized my entire downstairs in about 15 minutes. MIRACLE. Plus, it is going to be my go to trick for inducing my own labor. Win win you might say.

Even better than finding this blessed machine, was the fact that it had excellent reviews and WAS ON CLEARANCE!!!! Retail price tag: $250
What did I pay? $99! This was seriously a STEAL. I had previously flirted with the SHARK mop (which does NOT vacuum) and it was going to cost me around $80 on sale. I feel so good about myself - I cant even tell you.

The fact of the matter is, when you have a bunch of small germy sticky children running wild throughout your home, you NEED a chemical free way to sterilize the floors they crawl around on. When you are nesting, this is the main concern. How do I disinfect every inch of every surface in my home? Well, my friends, Hans. Thats how!

There are two more on the shelf....just say the word and Ill snag you one :)

In other rather essential nesting news, I bought new pillows and lamps for my drab man cave of a living room. Whatever possessed me to paint my entire downstairs in various shades of poo browns I will never know. But a little pop of yellow and silver has worked wonders to girly it up. Plus, with the addition of two lamps it means that I no longer have to have bat vision to sit there and read at night.

Lets take a moment to admire the handiwork of my amazing woodcutter husband, shall we? He salvaged this wood from a wreckage pile on a jobsite. Then he meticulously and painstakingly de-nailed, sanded, distressed and stained every inch of its mammoth girth. This process of sanding and staining took literally MONTHS. There was one minor setback with a polyurethane fiasco that nearly broke my carpenters spirit....but he powered on and this was our lovely result:

The little church pew benches are our answer to our ever growing brood of small squirmy children. I cant just line the table perimeter with a million high chairs, now can I? So now the kids just sit on their little bench scooted up nice and snug. It works like a charm and my kids LOVE sitting at the table like a big person. My mom and Grandma were major saints and came over and covered the padded seats with white vinyl for me. It required the purchase and usage of a nice little staple gun (which Gabe inherited for his birthday and couldnt be more pleased with!). I had tried unsuccessfully I might add, to sew a cover for the padded seats....which ended up in one broken sewing machine and a few colorful swear words. How great is it that I have crafty heritage to call upon in my hour of need!??? Thanks again ladies!

I figured for how important meal times and eating are in our house, a nice big gathering table can take us a LONG way in life. So far, it has proved to be MOST popular. We will someday buy a few grown up chairs to sit where the benches are now, and move the benches to the ends. Lets just say if we end up having 12 kids that are the size of GIANTS - we are all set. And to think - it only cost us 6 long months of marriage, and my sanity. I AM SO THANKFUL ITS DONE!!!!

But guess what...the fun hasnt ended. NO WAY. Here at the Beal house, it is not just the expectant mother who is a nesting fool. OH NO. The expectant father has his own obsessions to complete before baby's arrival. Hence....the addition of a new playroom in the garage! How might you ask, are we doing this? Well, when you are married to Bob Villa like I am, its just no big deal. All you do is frame up a few walls in the garage bay, add a little electrical, heating, lighting, and sheetrock... and VOILA! A room to contain the drama that is feral children cooped up indoors all winter long! He cut a doorway through the hall closet, so you can get in through the house. Its really quite Brilliant. My Father in law Seth was kind enough to come and do free manual slave labor over the weekend and somehow progress was made! Although, we werent sure when there was some argument over two- ba-twos and four-ba-fours. But somehow its coming along. Thanks again Seth for going an extra 2 days without sleep. I dont know how you do it, but boy do we appreciate it!

And just because they are so darn cute, here are a few pictures of my kids. Brigitte rolling around on the floorboard out of her mind while spencer was napping earlier today, and an old one of Spencer when he was a super chubby little 6 month old! I wish I could shrink him back down - he is getting SO BIG these days!

My great guy

2011-10-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my hunk o burnin love who turned the big 35 on Sunday! I can't believe it either. This means I have known and loved my Gabe for officially 5 years. Thats nuts considering we have 3 (almost) kids now. Apparently we live life in fast forward....but like my dad always said - when I make a decision Im not one to doddle! So here is to my partner in crime, who loves his family (old and new) more than anything. I would be a disaster without him and Im SO HAPPY he picked me to be in this crazy world with!!!!

A list of 35 of my favorite things about Gabe:
1. His laugh - its big, addicting, and ALWAYS easy to come by.
2. His crafty side - if he were a woman our house would be quilted, embellished, hot glued, and bedazzled to the nines. This guy LOVES to create beautiful things for our home. The fence. Our kitchen table. And now a playroom addition. I have a whole post on this coming up.....
3. Hes a shopper. Call it worldy, vain, what you will. But I appreciate that when we go to nordstroms he doesnt pick a chair and sit down to hold my purse. I head to the jeans, he goes straight for the shoes. In this way we are best friends and he is my FAVORITE shopping partner by far.
4. Hes a traveller. If we had more money, time, and less kids....im pretty sure we would be globetrotting. I cant wait for our BIG trip next fall!!!! Destination still to be determined....
5. The way he dances. It defies explanation. Have you ever seen Elaine from seinfeild? Kinda similar, but with more hips :)
6. Hes a mad scientist in the kitchen. If hes in a mood to make chili (which he is in, every fall....) he will spend 4 hours dicing, chopping, and creating a masterpiece....and then he will slowly live on it for the next 6 months (while I pay the price and have to tolerate the neverending gas problem that ensues....)
7. Hes a tradition maker. He likes to do things the same way every time with his family to make it memorable and special. This is a beal family trait - his prents were excellent tradition makers!
8. Hes an eater. Which goes great with me, because im a cooker.
9. Hes a BABY LOVER! If it were Gabe's uterus doing all the work im pretty sure we would have about 15 kids. There would be no stopping him. He just loves family and playikng with the kids. I think because hes an eternal kid himself :)
10. Hes a sensitive soul. Gabe has enough feelings for our whole family. Hes not above an occasional oprah moment, and I can always talk him into a service project. He is truly christlike in this way. If he sees a need - he just goes and takes care of it. I love that.
11. Hes a PARTY ANIMAL! I dont like to be alone, andneither does gabe. We always opt to invite someone over, cook a bunch of food, and enjoy the friday nights of our lives.
12. He has excellent taste in music and movies. When we get in the car I can always count on him enjoying a little emotional breakup music and a nice couple of hours with harry and sally.
13. He washes his hands like a little raccoon every time he eats fast food because he doesnt like his fingers to smell. I can appreciate that!
14. He likes to spend quality time playing with the kids. I love that he always wants to take the kids with him when he runs to home depot or lowes, and I always get a picture text of them holding tools, wearing baseball caps, and sitting in the cart that looks like a truck.
15. He is fearless. Hand him a microphone and stand back.....
16. He can laugh at himself, and doesnt mind if I laugh too. Never one to take things too seriously, and generally is always the one to apologize first in a fight.
17. He is a capable jeopardy player...if the topic is sports
18. He likes our project runway and grays anatomy date nights , even though its only because we sit next to each other.
19. He loves to eat out. I can always call him up and say lets go to gandolfos! And he will say YES!
20. Hes outdoorsey - but not granola. I love that he will go fishing, but then come home and put on a pair of diesels.
21. He appreciates great artwork. Once I came home an found that he had hung up a framed picture and adjusted the lighting above it so it looked great! hilarious! We have also taken many a stroll through various art galleries. He never whined once on our honeymoon when we spent hours daily looking at Van goghs, Monets, and Degas'.
22. He has just the right amount of vanity about him. I might have waxed his eyebrows last week....
23. He likes to cook his own thanksgiving dinner
24. He likes what he likes, and knows what he doesnt. I ave given up trying to talk him into wearing True Religion jeans. he just WONT do it!
25. Before a vacation he tries on outfits before he packs them. Just to make sure they look great.
26. He takes spiritual things seriously when its necessary. He might not be super holy ghosty but he is always worthy and ready to step up.
27. His favortie pastime is flexing his arm muscles. Seriously.
28. Even though he cant spell....he is somehow a math wizard! In fact once he bought a book of story problems to do on an airplane. which baffled me.
29. He is always up on celebrity gossip. He was actually the one to text me when Anna Nicole died. then again, this might be a red flag, Im not sure!
30. He thinks im super hot, even when im 9 months pregnant, sleep deprived, grouchy, and in the same stretch pants from yesterday. I guess thats why our marriage works!
31. He is a GREAT teacher and public speaker. Very entertaining, full of hilarious stories, and completely captivating. Just ask the kids from his sunday school class.
32. I think people really love Gabe because he is a very come as you are person to hang with. Very easy going and chill.
33. Hes consistent. When we go on a road trip he wants cinnamon bears, a big hunk, and a Mountain Dew. And on Sundays, he wants a roast.
34. He has some of the best Uncle Rico moves youve ever seen. State track video circa 1992 anyone?
35. And last but not least....Gabe is a GREAT kisser. Just ask any of your college roommates.

Love ya babe!

Starting the adventure in style!

Snuggling our two babies. Brigitte on the left Spencer on the right. Sometimes...I think they thought HE was their mother.

The kids LOVE their Daddy. Brigitte calls him "My dad," as in mom, wheres my dad? Is my dad home? And as soon as he walks in the door from work, Spencer is ready to go outside and play ball. He cries if Gabe leaves the room without him!

I cry if Gabe leaves the room without me too. I only knew I really loved him when I realized I didnt want to go anywhere social or be out with other people unless he was going to be there. I figured you want to spend your life with the person who makes it the best for you, and Gabe does just that for me!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

How much leg....

2011-09-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Can this kitten LIVE WITHOUT????

I went out to give her the morning dose of antibiotics and realized that

OH MY HECK

Yet ANOTHER little nugget of it's leg had FALLEN OFF!!!

Im telling you, if too much more of this kitten ends up detached from its body Im going to end up with a Leutenant Dan on my hands! Or is it a Heather Mills?

Ill spare you the photographs this time. But just know that I am seriously a little tired of being in charge of limb disposal...before my first diet coke of the day has kicked in.

In other completely normal Beal family news this week, I am horrified to inform you that someone committed a little drive by shooting at our house two nights ago. This poor little zebra has been hanging out on the porch ever since Brigitte's circus party in July, and apparently someone decided it was time to put it out of its misery. It sustained one gunshot straight to its head (most likely of the BB gun variety...) But luckily its made of industrial wire and unbreakable ceramic plaster....because even under fire it managed to cling to life only losing a stripe or two behind the ear.

Take that hoodlums! the Zebra shall LIVE ON!

Lets recap shall we??? So within just a few days time, the kittens leg fell off (again) and somebody shot the zebra in the head. Lets just say nobody is going to accuse me of being a very good "Animal Rescuer"....

Tell me

2011-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

So edging into my glorious 9th month of pregnancy....I am starting to wonder exactly how this birth is going to go down. For the first time ever I am opting out of an induction. I didnt have a choice with Brigitte ( I had high blood pressure so they took her 3 days early) and with Spencer I elected to have him a week early. Which in retrospect was most likely the reason his birth was slightly traumatic for me. Hence, the decision to just let nature take its course this time.

Plus...
I have never gone into labor. EVER! Ive never had a fun "my water just broke" moment. I have never felt a natural contraction that wasnt the result of a hideous pitocin drip sending me into the depths of hell repeatedly - without a break for air. So Im wondering...how's this gonna be?

So tell me. All you seasoned veterans out there that have had 3 deliveries.....Was your third baby early, on time, or late? And how fast was your labor with your third in comparison to your first 2 deliveries? And last, did your water break or did contractions send you to the hospital?

I know I know, there is no way for me to know exactly how my experience is going to play out, but Im just curious. Im basically a ticking time bomb now and its so hard to feel unprepared! So dish out your best advice for me....3 kids is going to be slightly hilarious!

The Kitten of Many Miracles

2011-09-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

So a few posts back I mentioned that our Mama Cat gave birth to 8 kittens while we were away in Utah last week. I can't BELIEVE she had THAT MANY flippin cats! Whats even more shocking, they are all getting fed enough to survive, although Mama sure is lookin skinny these days!

So when I pulled the kittens out of the Raspberry bushes to move them into the garage....I noticed the littlest one had a messed up back leg. The paw was completely unrecognizably swollen, and it had crusty moldy looking patches all the way up past the knee joint. At first I thought it had mud all over one leg, but then to my horrow I realized that No...that WAS its leg! So gross. But what to do? I put it in the garage with the others and thought that the Mama cat would probably not feed it and it would most likely die. Pretty sad, but well, thats the way it is.

So every day I peeked in the box expecting it to be neglected or dead....but it was always there nursing right along with the others and the Mama was totally taking care of it! Baffling! And when I inspected the gimpy leg and of course - it was starting to look infected. It was SO GROSS. Oozing and swollen. And I started to worry that the kitten was in pain and maybe needed put down.

I called around ALL over town and much to my horror found out that it was going to cost me right around $65 to get it seen by a vet to even determine if it needed put to sleep - and then on top of that another whopping $90 to put the sweet thing out of its misery! I was horrified. Gabe was as usual quite unsympathetic and more than happy to shoot it for free in the backyard. But me being in the hormonal state I am in just couldnt bear the thought of him shooting it to smithereens! Plus there it was TRYING TO LIVE! Every day I would go out and check on it, and it was so little and definitley starting to weasel its way into my heart.... ( I know I know, I need therapy!). But I couldnt sleep at night thinking that maybe it was in pain and needed put down.

So Im not gonna lie. I said some quality prayers that somehow this kitten would be spared the miserable death of being shot by my husband! And lo and behold, almost instantly as I was researching rescue organizations a coupon for a FREE exam popped up from Pet Smart! Glory Be Halleluljah! So I wrapped my wee kitten in a towel and tucked it into a box and drove it to the clinic! The whole way there I was praying that the Vet would just have mercy on it and put it down for free. OR, even better that somehow the kitten might just live!

So I go there and much to my delight the Dr. was a BRAND new graduate. A girl my age. I was so worried it was going to be a crusty old man that would just send us away with a huge bill! She was awesome. She looked at the sad little thing and said that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around the leg, and that the kitten couldnt even feel it because the tissue was completely dead. MUSIC to my ears! It wasnt suffering! But then the bad news....the leg was infected. And it would need to be amputated when the kitten was 8-12 weeks old.....and brace yourself....

IT COSTS $1000.00 for the surgery!!!!!!!!!!!

I literally started coughing and had to sit down. She then told me she would pull some strings and left the room for about 15 minutes. When she came back in she said that they could spay the kitten and while it was out, they would amputate its leg but call it a "toe amputation"....and it would only cost me....are you ready?

$375!!!!!!!!!

I was starting to get all sad again because in WHAT universe could I hide a nearly $400 Vet bill from my husband? AND somehow explain to him that we were inheriting a 3 legged cat??? I just shook my head. And (judge me) got a little teary eyed because I knew we were going to have to just put it down....and not in a $90 lethal injection kind of way.

This Dr. was clearly feeling moved by the spirit because she looked at me and said, "I really want this kitten to live. I would hate to see you have to put it down and I will help you find a way to fix its leg so that it wont cost you so much money." She then told me that she would give me some antibiotics for it, and if I would bring it in every monday she would check its leg for FREE to make sure it was doing ok. And in the meantime she was going to ask around some rescue/charity programs and try to find some way to get its leg amputated when it was old enough to go under anesthesia. I seriously couldnt believe my ears. This girl SAVED my life that day! I dont think I could have walked out of there knowing I had to kill this poor kitten because it was too expensive to hack its leg off.

So I brought it home, gave it its medicine, and went to bed feeling super relieved. Hey, if it died it died. But at least it wasnt hurting, and I would worry about cutting its leg off when I had to down the road.

So......yesterday morning I went out to give my little kitten its medicine.

and BRACE YOURSLEVES

ITS LEG - HAD FALLEN OFF!!!!!!!!! *super intense screaming* yes, this is the actual dismembered LEG:

I could NOT believe my eyes. There was its mangled paw/leg just CHILLIN in the box. My first thought of course was that the Mother cat had chewed it off, and that the kitten was probably dead. But upon closer inspection there was the little kitty eating and crawling its way over its billion siblings in a fight for breakfast.

Gimp leg straight up FELL THE HECK OFF!

I worked up the nerve to pick up the kitten and inspect the leg. I couldnt believe it. It wasnt that bad! And all of a sudden I loved this little kitten.

Because it had just saved me $1000.

MIRACLE!!!

SO in short, the kitten who nearly got shot now has 3 legs, gets bottle fed twice a day, is on antibiotics twice a day, and will now be living permanently at the Beal board and rescue.

My poor husband. For better or worse, right honey???

My near death experience.

2011-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

I am hesitant to post this ufortnuate story. If you ever want to have any sort of respect for me as a person: Stop reading this NOW!!!! And if you are fine with never being able to look me in the eyes again...

then read on my friends.

2 days ago I decided to make dinner for my SIL Mitzi who had just had a baby. I had, incidentally that morning found this delicious looking Italian Chicken Soup recip on my Bff Pioneer Womans blog - and it seemed like a win win situation. I love me some heavy cream, and here was the perfect occasion to indulge.

So I ran to Freds and picked up all the ingredients. Fresh oregano - check. Chicken, green peppers, heavy cream....check check check. 2 jalepeno peppers - CHECK.

I came home and around noon I began this rather involved process of dicing up about a billion things and sauteeing them all in various pots. Ree wasnt joking when she warned that this recipe was "pot heavy". I used every pan, pot, dish, bowl, and trinket in the house. (It is a minor tragedy that I didnt grab a picture of the messy kitchen before Gabe cleaned it up. but it took him about an hour!)

Anyway, making this soup sort of goes like this: dice onion, set aside. Cook and shred chicken, set aside. Chop tomatoes , set aside. Seed and dice jalepenos...and of course - Set aside.

Everything was progressing well and going according to plan. I had chopped and set aside everything and was beginning the saute process of the vegies....when all of a sudden, I felt it. A tingle. An itch. A slow...BUILDING....BURNING SENSATION.

Oh my HECK! My Hands were on FIRE!!!!

Under my finger nails, under my rings, in between each finger, and scorching my palms - there was a hideous burning feeling! Like I was grabbing a smoldering hot curling iron but couldnt let go! What was this? what had I done? I was utterly confused! And then I remembered - THE swear word JALEPENOS!

I had been so careful not to touch the seeds! Ive diced them a hundred times before and I have NEVER, I mean EVER - gotten burned by them! Insanity was setting in. The burning was moving up my arms. My nose was dripping like a seive and I stupidly swiped the back of my hand across my face. BIG HUGE GIGANTIC mistake!

Now my nose and lips were on fire. This in turn made my eyes start watering uncontrollably. I had to get a grip! I had to find a remedy! I HAD to finish making dinner!

So I did what any practical person would do. I left the comfort of the cold running water in the sink, and ran over to the computer where I consulted my wise friend google on how to CURE 3rd Degree Jalepeno burns!

All the sites explained that there is a devil oil called Capsaicin that hides in the peppers causing the potency and burn. The worst part is...it is NOT water Soluble. Well, that makes sense. I had been dousing in cold running water scrubbing with dish soap for 10 minutes with ZERO relief!

So fine, if water isnt going to help - what will???? I was getting desperate. The Burning was SO BAD! So I read on.

First line of defense? Dairy products. Perfect! This I had! I got out a big bowl and poured in whole milk and quickly plunged my hands in. It. Felt. AWESOME. I was thinking to myself: Hallelujah! Crisis averted! Boy, this could have been really bad! I love Google! Google just saved my life!

And then.... 10 minutes had gone by and the milk was no longer cold...and the burning immediately came back! CRAP!

From there, I tried yogurt mittens. Fail! Sour cream - USELESS! Hand sanitizer, Olive oil, baking soda paste, apple cider vinegar soak, honey rub, a sugar water concoction, fresh lime pulp, canned tomato juice, hot hot water to release the oils, aloe vera with lidocaine, salt, and finally in despair.....straight up acetone and then....bleach.

I am NOT joking you. The burning was a 9 out of 10 on the pain scale. Had someone offered me an extremity epidural I would have GLADLY SAID YES! And here was the worst part: My kids were running around like feral animals all through the house, and I was unable to touch them. I couldnt change Spencers diaper ( all the sites ADAMANTLY warned against skin contact whilst you had the buring hands...which I had already learned the hard way when I touched my face, which was now melting off!) So my entire house was in shambles. My kitchen was a GIGANTIC mess. And I was sticky, stinky, EN FUEGO, and sadly....about to cry real tears!

I hit rock bottom. With my useless raw singed fingers I dialed the Husband at work. It had been 2 complete hours of chaos and not a single recommended remedy had even lessened the pain. I needed him to come home. I needed him to change Spencer, put him down for a nap, scrape Brigitte off the ceiling and take away her weapons and plunk her in front of a movie with a cup of milk.

I said to him, Honey, what I am about to tell you is NO JOKE. I NEED you to COME HOME NOW! And then I cried. For real! I was seriously about to have to take myself to the hospital for some type of coma induction until this burning had passed. And there was NO WAY I could drive anywhere.

PLUS I NEEDED HIM TO FINISH MAKING THIS DANG SOUP!!!!!! When the burning had initially started I had tried to carry on. But as I stood stirring the celery and onions over the steaming frying pan it intensified the pain about a TRILLION FOLD! So my half cooked dinner was just there waiting. getting cold. Not getting made! THIS WAS UNNACCEPTABLE!

He agreed to come home. But not for 30 MINUTES! MAJOR SWEARING! He was after all....working. I was in despair. I sat back down at the computer. Was there a cure I had missed? Something else to try? A magic chant? A rare flower with magical healing properties? Rapunzel, where are you when I need you?????

And then, There it was. In black and white. A little paragraph at the bottom of the thread on the "Jalepeno Burns" page on ChowHound:

"I finally in desperation tried the thing I had been avoiding all night. I peed on my hand. That's right folks, I PEED on my hand. The relief was instant. I let the urine sit on my hand for about a minute and then I washed my hands really, really well. I was afraid after I washed them that the pain would come back but it never did. I slept fine all night and woke up this morning with no pain at all."

I sat staring in horror. Could this be my salvation? AM I REALLY THIS DESPERATE????? And then I remembered that episode of Friends. The one with the jellyfish...where Monica gets stung and she remembers seeing on the Discovery channel that Urine contains ammonia and you can pee on yourself to alleviate the stinging pain.....she was so desperate! But was I? WAS I?

And I am sad, ashamed, and sorry to report that YES. YES MY FRIENDS. I WAS THAT kind of DESPERATE.

So I did it. GO ahead - JUDGE ME. I Judge myself!
Being pregnant finally paid off, as I was able to Pee on demand with no difficulty - ALL over myself.
And guess what?

SWEET RELIEF OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY - IT WORKED!!!!! Instant, immediate, soothing, prayer answering relief!

I sat there in shock, laughing hysterically out of sheer happiness. I HAD BEAT THE PEPPERS! Now if only I could figure out how to make a bullet proof toilet paper mitten....and pull up my pants!

Well, to make a long humiliating story even longer and more humiliating - i will just say that the next 10 minutes involved waddling to the kitchen half naked and partaking in some seriously INTENSE hand washing. Once I was sure the burning had stopped I did a test touch on my ear - and you guessed it - no burning. I was able to put on some much appreciated underwear and pants - FINALLY change Spencer and put him down for a nap, get Brigitte situated, and commence cooking the soup.

Gabe ended up being held up at work and didnt get home any earlier than usual...so its a good thing I took matters "into my own hands" so to speak. He was able to deliver dinner ON TIME to his sister (another miracle!) and I carried on as if nothing happened.

Pioneer woman, your soup almost killed me. It was good - but SO NOT WORTH IT!
Lets just say I invested in a box of these for next time.

And I suggest if this ever happens to you - skip the food product fiasco and go straight for the GOLD! Worked like a charm!

Now let us never, Ever, EVER speak of this again.

Our week in No pictures

2011-09-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

Pregnancy update: Every time I sit down, stand up, roll over, answer the phone, or walk around I get kicked in the ribs AND I feel like I am about to pee my pants. In fact I pretty much pee my pants any chance I get these days. Unfortunate? Yes. But preferable over the incessant heartburn, intermittent nausea, and HIDEOUS varicose veins!

I must be 8 months pregnant. Here is a really terrible photo:

Apparently I did my best to make it look just like an adult ultrasound. The problem is its dark in my dining room and so this was the best I could do ok! Plus my Sister got all the photography genes in the family - I just got the insane love of expensive pants and the desire to overshare. Totally unfair.

On a positive note, I am getting WAY excited for this little person to make their arrival. I have dreamed that the baby is a girl and that she does have some dark hair! So fingers crossed....maybe Ill get my Audrey! My sister in Law Mitzi had her little baby girl Piper last week and it got me feeling like I might actually survive this experience. I need that. Ive been a little bit nervous/scared/crazy/depressed/in denial this pregnancy so anything that gets me jazzed up is good.

Gabe and I do not discuss baby names. As you know from the infamous "Rockwell" incident of 2010, his naming rights have been revoked indefinitely. Plus I believe strongly in waiting to see WHO comes out before we give it a name. But I am panicking. If this baby is a boy, there is literally NOTHING on the list. As usual I am open to stealing yours - so please share them!

Also, move over Michelle Duggar - our stray Mama cat we adopted is trying to give you a run for your money! We went to Utah last week and when we got home I saw that she had definitely had her kittens while we were away. Wait, you might be thinking: didnt she JUST have kittens 4 months ago? And youd be correct. Shes a busy little thing, and when I went to take her in to fix her - she was already preggers again. Anyway, I finally found the kittens hidden in the raspberry bushes in the front yard. I had Gabe hold back the branches and I started putting them in a basket to move them into the garage. 1....3...5...6...7....8 FLIPPING KITTENS LATER - I had me a whole bushel of cats. I could not believe my eyes. I have no idea how this tiny mama cat birthed out 8 kittens without dying in the process, but she managed. Awesome. I now have 8 kittens to find homes for - RIGHT when Im due with my own baby. Should be fun times.

As I mentioned above we took a little family vacation to Utah last week. Gabe and I loaded up the kids, and tried to mentally prepare for 6 straight hours of listening to Dora's Halloween adventure. We got a killer rate in Park City and enjoyed some fresh air for 2 nights. And by fresh air, I mean the sweet sweet air conditioned stores of the Outlet malls. We ate at our favorite place RedRock (parmesan polenta with wild mushrooms - you complete me.) and just had fun staying in a hotel and taking the kids swimming. After Park City we spent one night in SLC, because that is where there are not one, but TWO Nordstrom racks. AND an Ikea. Memories were made, our bank accounts were emptied, and best of all, we survived sleeping in the same room as our kids for 3 whole nights.

And can I just pose a hypothetical question to you all? What would you do... if your 3 year old peed the hotel hide a bed? Not just a tiny bit - but REALLY peed it - all the way through all the sheets, into the mattress, and through to the springs? Just a hypothetical....I am in no way implying that this happened to us. Or that we did nothing about it and checked out without a word to the front desk....

Tell me they have steam cleaners!

Since coming home, Spencer has contracted a flu bug (big shock there) and I am on Antibiotics for a nasty cough cold sickness that I have literally had for over a month. I was starting to get scared that I was going to cough the baby out, so I buckled and took the z pack. I despise antibiotics but sometimes they are just necessary. Back to school season always spreads diseases around - I am dreading the winter just for that alone!

My big project for September is going to be to develop some type of home school curriculum or organized projects for the kids that we can do through the winter. We are building out a play room so I will have some space for a little desk and some art supplies and things, so im totally excited! Brigitte loves to learn and she is so dang smart, that I think it will be lots of fun. If you have any resources you love for this type of thing let me know! Id love some websites with good activities, art projects, recipes, and print outs!

A Letter of Recommendation....

2011-08-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

Its an exciting day. My good friend Erin and her Husband Romney have recently gone "live" with their profile on the Lds adoption website! (Click the image above or on my sidebar). This means they are READY and WAITING for their little miracle to arrive! I could go on and on about how amazing and deserving this couple is (not to mention how horrifically overqualified - making the rest of us look like total loser parents!) But ill just leave it at this: If I were unmarried, and with child, SHE is the type of mother I would hope would want to adopt MY child! Heck, Im happily married and STILL tempted to give her the baby im carrying. Thats how much I want this for them, and how much they will LOVE LOVE LOVE this baby.

So read up on them and tuck their faces into the back of your mind....just in case you hear of someone's ex-girlfriend's, boyfriend's sister's next door neighbor, who just so happens to be considering placing a baby up for adoption.

I HIGHLY recommend them :)

Dont cry for me Argentina - A Rant

2011-08-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

My sister's recent Vent post made me want to do a little complaining of my own! She has been accosted numerous times by people wishing her condolences over the fact that she *only* has 3 daughters and NO sons. As if having three gorgeous little girls was getting beaten by the gender stick! I find this hilarious - because WHY do people always feel the need to SAY STUFF?

At Fred Meyer the other week I was pushing around my two wild toddlers dangerously close to naptime. They were slightly whiney but not more than usual - and definitely not to the embarrassing "abandon your cart and leave" stage yet. When out of the blue over in the produce section a fifty-ish woman grabbed my arm, and with her eyes motioning to my pregnant belly said, "Im SO sorry". She did a little laugh as if to say, yeah WOOPS! I know you didnt mean for THAT to happen so soon right?!!! It was so awkward and humiliating. Had I just been called a HUSSY? Yes. Yes I had.

Ironically, I get this ALL the time. Having to awkwardly JUSTIFY the number of children I have, and how close together they are. It started with getting pregnant on our honeymoon, and everyone giving us the "didnt anyone explain birth control to you" lecture. It made me furious. For the record Yes people. I know how it works.

I just...get tired of explaining that I WANT a big family. I WANT all these kids! Guess what? I LIKE them! The best thing we ever did for Brigitte was to give her a little brother to play with. But It flat out offends me when people ask me how MANY MORE we are planning on having. As if we have somehow produced demon offspring and they are desperate to make us put an end to it!

Even more awkward than the "How many are you having" speech, is the "Was that planned??" speech. Oh. My. Heck. I hate feeling like i have to justify that Brigitte and Spencer are only 21 months apart, and Spencer and this baby will only be 18 months apart. I hate explaining that I do not in fact suffer from a mental impairment resulting in my having 3 kids, aged 3 and under. I might get stressed out when I think about the reality of what it will require to raise these children in a swearing free manner - but would I rather be doing something else? No. This is what I have always wanted to do. I spent years nannying and being a nurse for OTHER peoples kids, and now for petes sake I just want to ENJOY my own kids!

So let me just put this out there. We arent done. They are planned. And so help me, I am not going to plan my pregnancies around what is comfortable for others around me to tolerate!!!! Maybe if I were on some type of assistance or if there was some crazy ethical concern (Nadya Suleman anyone?) THEN you might be allowed to judge me. But to just walk right up and look at my two kids and CRITICISE me for having them??? Just who do you think you are?

Whew! It feels good to let that out!

Oh that I were a Celebrity....

2011-08-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

Push Presents Revealed (Gabe are you reading along?)

Rachel Zoe got a 10 carat Neil Lane diamond ring for pushing out her son Skylar Morrison
Tori Spelling got a $1500 Balenciaga Giant Arena Bag for having son LiaM
Sarah jessica Parker got a $6,000 charm bracelet after the birth of their son James Wilke.
Mariah Carey got a $12,000 necklace studded with diamonds and pink sapphires and engraved with her twins’ names, Moroccan and Monroe.
Jenniffer Garner got a diamond ring after the birth of her first daughter Violet. (which she consequently dropped down the blender...explain that to me please?)
Liev Schrieber gave Naomi a platinum and diamond locket when their son Alexander was born.
Tom gave Katie an 18k Cartier gold bracelet after Suri was born
Jlo apparently got a $300,000 canary diamond ring AND a $2.5 million dollar pair of earrings after her twins Max and Emme were born. I hope she gets to keep them in the divorce! (the jewelry not the kids - I assume she will keep the children!)
Even though she paid another woman to PUSH out her second daughter, Nicole Kidman still got a 120k emerald and diamond cross from hubby Keith.
Helena Bonham Carter - never one to stir up jealousy.... got 4 pairs of biker boots from her hubby after the birth of her daughter Nell. I really don't get it. The name Nell OR the boots. But then again I really dont get HER. See photo

So you see, asking for a teensy tiny measley little present like an Ipad really isnt THAT big of a deal! I asked Gabe what he thought an acceptable sum of money would be to spend on a push present. And after 20 seconds of confused silence I defined what "Push Present" meant....and he calmly replied with a shrug:

$75.00

So there you have it. Apparently my pelvic floor is worth less than a hundred bucks.

TYPICAL.

(* I was actually pleasantly surprised at this amount. Its enough for a new pair of postpartum jeans! Ill take it!)

What the Grains?

2011-08-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

In an effort to beef up the immunity in our house we are going to phase in some better nutrition. This might be hilarious. I spent the evening last night at 2 different stores looking over the endless variety of grains, milk/dairy alternatives, and all the millions of supplements available nowadays. I'll admit I am WAY out of my element. Nothing even even remotely resembled bacon....And since my cooking style is of the add more cheese variety ... lets be honest, you cant expect to eat like that and feel very good. When Im pregnant I especially live off random foods fueled by hormonal cravings and my family definitely suffers. I dont need to remind you of my pepperoni mustard shots do I?

Spencer and his chronic sicknesses and constant fevers has inspired me. Every time he gets sick I have to stop all dairy and sugar. I didnt realize how hard this was going to be until I realized that it is pretty much all he eats. How sad! In fact If I wrote down a typical menu for the day it would appall you to learn that he lives almost exclusively on bananas, goldfish, easy mac, yogurt (not the healthy kind - the pink dora kind.), and whole milk. Because he is still so little and picky he isnt very open to trying new things. And until now I havent been very motivated to branch out of the usual routine. But I am going to try! I have stocked the pantry - theres no going back! (well technically there is, but not until next month when the grocery budget gets restocked and I can buy different foods! So for now, we have to eat what I bought!)

So a website I found a while ago that I really like is called Weelicious. Its a great little resource for kid friendly plant based meals. A few of my faves that I cant wait to try: Banana Dog bites, Mushroom Barley, Veggie burgers, Pumpkin Pear Bread, Israeli Couscous Salad, Quinoa Mexican Salad, Risotto Milanese, Protein Bars, and Millet Cakes.

What I want to know is, what are your FAVORITE HEALTHY RECIPES? Is there a website I must know about? Im a teensy tiny bit Vegan deep down inside, so bring on the eggless, cheeseless, meatless delights! Have you ever made a polenta that made your husband cry tears of joy? Or found a way to sneak something uber healthy into your kids dinner that they actually LIKED? Or are you a pro at using lentils, bulgar, wheat berries, coconut flour, and amaranth? Send me your wisdom!

My favorite Healthy Sites and a "to try" recipe from each one!
Little House of Veggies - Pumpkin Butter
Eden Kitchen - Roasted Chickpea stew
We like it Raw - Donut Holes

Its nearly time....

2011-08-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

FALL FASHION IS NEARLY UPON US!

Can I hear a HALLELUJAH?

I have waited patiently the past two weeks whilst every store in Boise has earnestly tried to entice me with Summer clearance sales. I am proud to report that I did not buckle to the pressure. I have not bought a single hot pink or yellow shirt.

NO.

I have, however, been doing nightly online research planning out my fall wardrobe must haves, along with wishful thinking lists for my kids. It helps my cause greatly that I am married to a slightly fashion whorish spouse who understands the forces of nature that pull me mercilessly towards display window after display window. He knows I am weak.

Maybe its Project Runway's fault. I get all fashion glazed when I sit and watch all that sewing. It makes me crazy, and gives me wild ideas. I try and try to make my preexisting wardrobe seem wearable and up to date...but I just can't help it. It seems so....last fall.

What's really funny is, I just cant stand to spend more than $5 on anything related to summer. So everybody out there who is rolling their eyes at my shallowness - just realize that I am a major cheap-o when it comes to MOST fashion things. I practically keep Forever 21 in business around here with how often I go through their metal jewelry and $8 shirts. Im not up to trend with any of my spring/summer/winter stuff.

But every September I get the fever, and I am pulled to the stores like a moth to the flame. I can hear the merchandise in the night calling me: Christy - our knee high leather boots are iiiiiiinnnnnnn. Come try them ooooonnnnnn. They make your thighs feel so thiiiiiinnnnn. Pair them with our new hand died modern flare distressed jeeeaaannnssss, you will feel young and alllliiivvve!!!

And so without further ado, here are the items I have narrowed it down to. The things I will donate plasma to afford if I must.

My Fall fashion GOTTA HAVE IT LIST OF 2011:

1. A new pair of Brown leather boots. My old trusry set of kicks have met a tragic demise and are sitting with a broken heel in the laundry room - thus forcing me to purchase a new pair. I have my eye on this chunky heel from Nine West (left), and I love the color of this pair from Born (right).

2. Loop scarves. I bought a purple one from Old Navy and I love it so much that I am expanding my horizons. They just look SO CUTE with everything. Loose over long sleeved T shirts, tucked into the neck of a barely open trench coat or dress, Slung over a sweater. you just CANT go wrong.

3. My lifelong search for the perfect leather bag continues. I love bags. If I could afford one from Diesel it would be top choice, but seeing as these two cost $260 and $450....Ill probably have to be happy with my trusty pleather hobo from Nordstrom.

4. Right hand chunky rings. Thank you Rachel Zoe for my new addiction.

4. The leather wrap watch from Urban Outfitters. I have been waiting for this to come back in stock...FINALLY! Now I just have to convince The husband how much I need it!

5. OK - now on the The main ingredient. The secret weapon. The grand finale. The icing on the cake. JEANS!!!!
Fly Away Boot from Miss Me Carrie Flare from True Religion

Paige Premium Bell Canyon

I could go on.(And On) But I am curious. Do you have your eye on anything particular this Fall?

If you ate this for dinner....

2011-08-17T21:27:00.000-07:00

You should probably go take a pregnancy test.

I. Am. Officially. Disgusting.

3d Ultrasound Pics - 29 weeks

2011-08-15T16:19:00.000-07:00

Let me just get this out of the way. Spencer went through another major fever/vomiting spell last week for 4 solid days. This kid is killing us. It was combined with Gabe being out of town for a day, and Brigitte going through another sleepless stretch - so my days and nights were LONG and full of misery and laundry. I am SO THANKFUL its over now!!!

My awesome nesting phase has ended. In its place I have random nausea and lethargy combined with nothing sounds good-itis. Its weird since I have generally always felt pretty good (albeit uncomfortable) in my 3rd trimester. But Im definitely rundown. Maybe its the 2 kids COMBINED with no sleep and being pregnant. Either way, Im getting a glimpse into the sleepless nights to come this winter and I AM TERRIFIED! I may lose my mind.

On the upside, I have had 2 close friends give birth within the past 2 weeks and holding their little babes TOTALLY keeps me going! Its all worth it in the end isnt it? The varicose veins, the 50 pound weight gain, the uncontrollable rage (oh wait, is this just ME?)! Anyway, Im excited to see who this next little person will be. As you all know Brigitte and Spencer are total mysteries when it comes to their personalities and looks. Where did they come from? Sometimes its hard for me to believe they are MY children! Its obvious they belong to Gabe....but my genes need to learn to put up a fight!

One of my oldest and best BFFs has been in town and we got together for lunch and ultrasounds today! She is 20 weeks pregnant with TWINS! It was so fun to see two babies all squished together - so sweet! Her Dad is one of the Drs at the Womens Clinic and he was generous enough to do a 3d scan for me too. Here are the pics :

Mouth open

Puckered Lips

I can already see that Beal hairline....

Looking Obese

Looking EXACTLY like Brigitte!

Im hedging my bets its another girl. these pics reminded me SO much of Brigittes 3d scan. Which means I can expect another little hairless Gabe wrapped in a blanket! I think its the nose that looks the same... here was Brigitte at 35 1/2 weeks

All I know is I am SO excited to see for sure if its a boy or girl! It took all my willpower to not peek at the gender today!!! So cast your votes my friends.....Pink or Blue???

29 week belly shot (forgive my outfit, im sleep deprived!)

Delicious!

2011-08-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

Its the one thing Paula Deen and I have in common: Our Love O' Butter!

I have been trying desperately to get Spencer's pictures taken ever since his first birthday! My sister quickly snapped a few of him the other night and he would only barely cooperate! I cant believe how big my little boy is already! (Isnt he the cutest?!) I may be slightly biased....but seriously! Although what makes him EXTRA cute besides all his golden hair - is the fact that he is ALWAYS happy, EASY going, and full of LAUGHS! If I could bottle him up and sell him, I would be a millionaire.

(Would it be called "Butter Spray"?)

Home Alone

2011-08-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Gabe and Brigitte headed off to the annual Beal Family Campout at Redfish Lake last night....leaving me and the Mister home to fend for ourselves this week. I must admit at first I was feeling slightly gipped not being able to muster the sanity to go along with them...but the thought of our family tent camping for 4 nights was too much to endure. Just the thought of washing milk bottles from a spicket pump thingy, or traipsing off to the gross toilet situation 3 times a night with a head lamp guiding the way....not to mention the wild animals (my kids) going without naps, balanced meals, or any sort of schedule - it was making me have a seizure just CONSIDERING it.

And so. Here we are. Butters is a fine home companion and I quite enjoy our quality time together. But he misses Brigitte telling him what to do all day and I miss Gabe getting home from work and grilling me up dinner! I guess I will have to abandon all the rules and treat myself to some luxuries. For example my menu this week. It will entail the following meals: pumpkin soup with sage gruyere croutons, baked brie en croute with chutney, squash and goat cheese quesadillas, chicken tikka masala with naan bread, and finally Wild mushroom and spinach lasagna with goat cheese sauce. You may notice a running theme: cheese. I have a problem, non? Its practically why I'm obsessed with french culture. Nothing is more delicious to me than room temperature or melted cheese. Gabe on the other hand does not enjoy eating meals based on foreign cheeses 7 nights a week. Not to mention squashes, pumpkins, things called chutney (I can hear him now, "What in the heck is a CHUTNEY?") or weird Indian spices. Its going to work out nicely me and my cheeses.

As for keeping ourselves entertained, Im open to ideas. I have been quite bored since Brigittes party ended and I have no reason to stay up late gluing anything. There will of course be pedicures, highlights, grays anatomy, and countless trips to Target. Im even considering making some pillows for the living room and our bedroom. But as for taking Spencer out and about for his enjoyment, im pretty limited. He hates to swim, cries at Monkey bizness, and takes 2 naps a day. What else can one do with a 15 month old?? I hope he enjoys walking through Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters ....

What do you do when you have a week all to yourself? And dont even think of saying "clean and organize the house". Ill save that for when Gabes around to do the heavy lifting!

Le Cirque De Brigitte

2011-07-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Our lovely little lady had quite a celebration at her Circus party! She had all her best cousins there and a few friends/neighbors from church. We ate hot dogs and cotton candy, played games, and generally ran amuck in the backyard. I think it was an OK time!

The Invitations:

Here was the poster I made for the front door:

We had 3 games for the kids to play: Fishing for Ariels treasure (hot pink fishing poles with a line attached for fishing out candy and treasure from behind a hung up sheet!)

Walk the tightrope: Gabe built this genius balance beam structure and the kids held an umbrella and walked to the end for a prize.

An of course Mr poppins had to show us how its done:

And lastly we made a huge wooden tiger stand up that my adorable/talented niece and nephew painted. None of the pictures of it turned out! I was so sad! But here was the poster. The kids threw bean bags through its mouth for prizes.

Pink Pink Pink. And lots of Crystals.

Brigitte ran around the yard all day shouting "Oh WOOOOW! MY PAAAARRRRTTTYYY! Its So pretty."

Our darling Brigitte is the light of our lives! She is so full of energy and hilarious conversations that she always keeps us on our toes. She is a wonderful big sister and loves her little Panser so much! She is always calling after him and telling him to CMON! RUN!. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them play so cute together. She is creative and OH SO SMART (if not just a tiny bit stubborn)...and as long as the events in life are HER idea she is happy to go along with them. She doesnt sleep much because who needs sleep when there are clean spaces that need ransacked? Ill never accuse her of being bored thats for sure! Even though she is so full of spice - I tell her at least a hundred times a day that she is SO PRECIOUS! To which she replies, NO. IM BRIGITTE JANE!

Yes, yes you are.

Happy Birthday Brigitte!

One week later...

2011-07-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my what a week!

I have barely recovered from the exhaustive combo that was girls camp slash Spencer's sickness. Oh you read right....Spencer was sick AGAIN! My poor boy. As I sat blurry eyed, covered in vomit, holding my screaming delirious fevering toddler...I couldnt help but look at my growing belly and wonder: what in THE HELLS BELLS am I doing in this condition?????

Lets back up. Girls camp. It was great. A little exhausting due to the fact that I was commuting 30 minutes every morning and evening so that I could sleep at my moms and keep an eye on my kids when I could. My parents live just a short drive away from Camp Glenwood so they were watching my kids during the day while I was making crafts, doing skits, and singing songs entitled "I need a Man" with a bunch of teenagers. Overall the system was working. And then around day 2 we noticed Spencer was acting a little sickly. But he's cutting like a million teeth right now so we chalked it up to teething.

Well later that night he took a turn for the worse and ended up shaking, moaning, barfing, 103+ temp ON TYLENOL, and I was starting to wonder if Life flight would be involved. We were an hour away from civilization it was in the middle of the night, and I held him just HOPING he wouldnt have a febrile seizure. My dad gave him a blessing and then I just sat in teh rocking chair ALL NIGHT LONG! All the while knowing that in a few wee hours I would have to drive back to girls camp to drop off the groceries they needed for the day and also to tell them that I was leaving. Nobody had cell phone service (come to find out a few did, but I didn't have their cell numbers!) so I was feeling a little crazy.

When 8 am rolled around I handed Spencer off to my mom, ran to town and got the camp goods, drove 30 minutes to camp, dropped off stuff, had a little nervous breakdown in the camper including laughing in hysterics over some oil lamps which then turned into legitimate tears of self pity mingled with sleep deprivation....and then I drove the 30 minutes back to my parents house, called the pediatrician and got Spencer an appointment, loaded up the kids and drove another 1 1/2 hours back to Boise.

I went into the Drs office with my two crazy looking kids. My hair was up in a bun due to the vomit that had caught on more than a few strands. I had on ZERO makeup, and even more fun - Spencer had thrown up on my last clean outfit and I was forced to put BACK on my dirty camp clothes from two days earlier. And for my final accessory: I had been awake for 24+ hours. Dark circles anyone?

Turns out spencer had a raging case of Coxsackie virus. Which is a fancy name for " I ATE POOP" apparently. Oh yes. thank you public swimming pools. Its a type of hand foot mouth disease that is generally really mild, but Spencer had the nasty throat infection with open blisters. Great. So a little zofran later coupled with a few tylenol suppositories...and he had finally calmed down enough to be forced fed syringes full of pedialyte. He was pretty dehydrated so we were trying to avoid the ER IV situation.

The day of madness continued when upon arriving home Gabe took off for his company summer party at the Hawks game, and left me home still covered in barf, still holding a sick baby, and still DELIRIOUS with lack of sleep!!! Finally he got home around 10 and I gave him Spencer, took a bath, and passed out for a solid 10 hours. It was bliss.

DONT ASK ME WHY. But it is just the way the universe works: When you have a big event that you have been working on for MONTHS in advance...inevitably you will end up covered in puke. Somehow....some way. I have survived to tell the tale. But only just barely.

And now, laugh hysterically with me will you? I have Brigittes HUGE ridiculous Circus Birthday party TOMORROW!!!! Lets just say if Brigitte wakes up with mad cow disease in the morning I wont be surprised....

The end.

Parties parties parties

2011-07-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

Ive been partying a ton lately. Planning them, decorating them, searching for cute ideas for them. Its SO much fun.

First, Ive been preparing for girls camp for two solid months and am THRILLED that tomorrow is the day we finally begin the adventure. We are tent camping in Garden Valley and I am looking forward to all the silliness that is sure to be running rampant with 25 hormonal teenage girls and a handful of sleep deprived stressed out leaders. I cant wait! I came up with our theme this year: Mission ImPossible. What is more fun that being sneaky and playing spy games? We are all going as members of the CIA: Celestial Intelligence Agency. All the girls got to pick spy names and I made them these photo ID badges that they are wearing with their camp schedule on a lanyard around their necks:

Here are our camp shirts I designed, I cant wait to see them in person tomorrow. (The front of ours doesnt have dog tags on it though, and its on a gray shirt with blue writing)

Here is the Emblem from the front up close:

For the craft I was in charge of I made each of the girls a poster of their favorite temple and color, along with our theme this year (the 13th artical of faith). We are mod podging them to spray painted wooden blocks and attaching a ribbon to hang them. I think they are going to turn out super cool. Here was my poster of the Manhattan Temple:

After girls camp I am focusing on Brigittes 3rd birthday. She is WAY into "her party" this year and talks about it everyday. We have been slapping party hats on just about everything around here - even the kittens. We even had to make a party hat for her minnie mouse baby to wear. She is having a Vintage Circus party (remember the baby shower I helped design a few weeks ago?) well, Im recycling tons of the props to make it easy. I mean, what else does one do with a giant giraffe, lion, and zebra??? But of course there will be heaps of girly pink involved. But we are keeping it fairly simple with hot dogs and cotton candy. I'll do a whole post on that after its over - Oh the joys of having a little girl!!! Here is a small preview of bad photos from my phone camera:

In between baby shower excitement, girls camp planning, and Brigitte's birthday stuff, I helped Jory with a super cute Bridal shower she is throwing for a girl in her ward. Her backyard is currently bedazzled with turquoise, diamonds, and yellow for the party tonight. SO CUTE!!! Here are the invites I whipped up. After they were printed, The chandelier had little diamonds glued where the lights would have been. GENIUS. They are so adorable in person.

Whew. My house currently looks like a Zurchers warehouse. I have piles of tissue paper, boxes of crystals, ribbons, puffs, posters, glue, random stuff EVERYWHERE! All I can say is boy did I marry one supportive guy! I called him this morning requesting a 2 by 4 painted hot pink and a huge wooden sheet of plywood cut into the shape of a tiger. We'll see if he can deliver by monday!

Also, is anyone else horribly alarmed at the floating baby on my sidebar that is getting bigger and bigger....? Or is it JUST ME? Here I am in all my glory: 25 1/2 weeks.... with the awkward camera phone/mirror trick!

Rustic Bread - A miracle!

2011-07-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

So my random bread baking continues.....

Last week I started craving a nice easy rustic loaf of artisan bread that didnt cost me $8 at the co-op or require me to drive out into the world with my two wild children.

And then I saw an episode of House hunters international where a nice looking Gay couple moved to Estonia and the he-wife spent his days cooking rustic breads in their old brick oven. And I thought to myself: Im not gay, I dont live in Estonia, Ive never even SEEN a brick oven...but there has to be a way!

And so this straight white american girl with ZERO cooking skills stumbled upon the worlds easiest recipe...and youll never believe what happened:

Woah. Major loaf of delicious rustic bread!

And can I just say....I have made more. And EVERY time they turn out perfectly magazine worthy. I think the ingredients cost about $.50 and it tastes exactly like a loaf of zeppole bread from the farmers market.

In fact I was so impressed with it, that it inspired me to make a batch of blue-raspberry freezer jam to bathe it in. How delightful. I even picked the raspberries myself from the bushes growing in my front yard! (Thanks Shelley!)

I realize that I am like, one hand sewn bonnet away from turning totally Amish these days. But it was SO satisfying to just scratch this up out of my yard and pantry.

So without further ado, let me share this rather impressive loaf with you. So that you too can hear these words from your husband: "Wow honey, did YOU make that?"
Yes darling, its true.

So here is the easy EASY easy tutorial. Youre welcome. This method takes about 15 lazy hours. It only requires 4 ingredients. And you never knead it, not once! Your actual hands on time is roughly 5-10 minutes. By the way, this tells you to bake the bread in some crazy glass bowl or le crueset baking dish....but I busted out a trusty little stock pot and lid courtesy of ikea and it worked like a charm.

*and can I highly suggest a basil cream cheese sandwich with thick slices of garden tomatoes grilled on this bread with about 8 slices of cheese? thank you.

Laughing fits and serenades

2011-07-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

Spencer had a major case of the WILDS the other day and he laughed at absolutely everything. This was filmed after about 20 minutes of incessant laughter, so forgive the rosy cherub cheeks, his shirt covered in drool, and his un hawked faux.

And as promised here are Brigittes famous serenades. Up for your listening pleasure are two very special songs, "Part of your world" from The little mermaid, and "I am a child of God". Its worth watching all 3 minutes of this video just to watch her animated body movements and to hear her shout OH MY GOSH at the end after she falls off the stool. What can I say? Perhaps I better invest in some gymnastics lessons and soon!

T shirt Baby Gowns! Stop the madness!

2011-06-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so maybe I need medicated. I have no idea whats up - but my kids were awake at 6 am this morning and so I busted out a little sewing craft. Yesterday I came across this tutorial showing how to recycle a mens t shirt into a baby gown. And so I kindly convinced my husband to donate at least 50 shirts so I could get started right away...

The first attempt did not turn out so great. Mitzi, dont even look at this ! I have a serious problem with lack of precision. I dont want to take the time to carefully cut out a pattern or measure things or make sure my seams are all lined up before I start sewing. But this little item taught me my lesson! I sewed the gown and THEN i attached the sleeves! WHAT was I even thinking? Have you ever seen the part in sleeping beauty where the fairy who cant sew decides to make the dress? Yeah, it went a little like that. Needless to say, this will go in Brigittes doll dress-ups box! Even Gabe (who may not be the very best person to judge fashion greatness...) LAUGHED at this:

But hey, if anyone out there has a baby with teeny tiny skinny but also reeeeeally long arms...let me know. Ill send this your way asap!

So this morning due to my unfortunate wake up call I got right back on the horse and tried again. And this time I cut out fabric pieces using a pattern and even plugged in an iron when it told me to! And I will admit this, it was MUCH easier. And guess what? You dont attach the arms at all. You SEW THEM into the gown before its pieced together! WHO KNEW?!!! I laughed so hard when I read the directions and was like, yeah - that makes way more sense! Seriously, who tried to sew CLOTHING without reading the pattern/directions?!

But alas, I repented. And Here is what turned up:

This little pink number was the second attempt after the sad 7eleven incident of tuesday. It turned out MUCH better than the first one, but still not completely perfect. And dont worry, the hat is super small and obviously for a newborn - whereas the gown is size 3 months. Please dont imagine that I intended a very small headed baby with a huge body to be the new owner of this little getup. ....

And last but not least: The star of this project! The perfect specimen! And the hat CAN be worn WITH the gown! How did I manage it?! I originally intended this to go to my friend Amy, but after seeing it in all its glory I may be reconsidering....

The little hats were sewn from t shirt sleeves! How brilliant is that? I may need to learn to screen print so I can put a few embellishments on them. But seriously, thats a dang cute easy project!

If the voices in your head are screaming: Enough with the crafts already! Ok ok, I hear you. And as soon as I have completed the following projects I will STOP. I promise!

Homemade Taffy - doing this tonight for the laurel activity. Should be fun! Or disastrous....only time will tell
The slim slack trouser tutorial - this may be above my skill level and probably will never happen....but I think they are so cute!
Pj pants - I kept trying to find a cute pair of fat maternity pjs and then it dawned on me...duh, make some!
Mr Ginger bean bags! I just think these are kinda funny and cute!

But tell me...what have you been making lately? Give me some good ideas! And for petes sake, if you do nothing else today MAKE THIS PASTA SALAD! Adobo sauce where have you been all my life?

Im on a roll!

2011-06-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

Wow. Something amazing has happened to me this week. Not only did I pack on 6 lbs since my last post - but I have all this crazy awesome energy! I think that its a complete myth that you feel normal again around 12 weeks of pregnancy. I had night sickness all last month - and still do if I dont eat something before bed. And I was tired all day every day -- until recently. And WOWZA. Do I feel great! Im waking up daily ready to go have fantastic outdoor adventures with my wild Jungle Book children! This is doubly odd, since usually Im begging the children to read books, be quiet, and entertain themselves - while I tick by the seconds counting down to naptime - AND me, who will usually create ANY excuse to avoid nature and or the outdoors. Partly I want to get a tan, which motivates me to shave my legs and step in to the light... But mostly Im just LOVING rolling out of bed and throwing the kids in the car and going to a park or beach or anywhere really. They are easier and happier outside. So I run them ragged and when they pass out from exhaustion in the afternoon....I do a craft or bake something. This MUST be nesting. Ive never had it before. ITS MARVELOUS!

Last week we went to Lucky Peak (Sandy Point), Settlers park, and the Zoo. Today we had a lunch and playdate with two friends, and then we made dress up tutus. So far this week we have a trip to Ivy Wild pool planned, and I have a baby shower dinner downtown that I am way looking forward to. Mostly because we are eating here and they have cheese plates :) We are also doing a fireworks/appetizer party on Saturday night with a bunch of friends and family. It should be way fun.

Here are the random things I have made in the past week...dont be alarmed at the number of food items. Im a hungry hungry hippo these days.

Check out my changing table makeover! This used to be white with a super ugly tan changing pad cover. I painted it "meadow grass" and sewed 3 new covers. I think its a drastic improvement over the original!

Hair clips...not amazing and still a work in progress. But look at me with my glue gun skills! And boy oh boy will they look incredible on my son if the child I am carrying is turns out to be a "He" instead of a "She!"

Crescent Rolls! The very first batch that I have ever made - THAT TURNED OUT EDIBLE!!!!! Huge success. Whats really funny and random, is that I think I used to be this website author's visiting teacher in San Diego. How random is that?!

This amazing frosting. What can I say...I ate it for breakfast today. Do you think its easy gaining 6lbs in one week? NO! It takes effort people!

And tonight - brace yourselves. I am making these. Thats right. Cookie dough cupcakes. After all, I had to have something baked to slather all that frosting on. (This is my test run before that baby shower I mentioned above. I have to bring a dessert and thought Id give these a try!)

On another food related note - albeit a cuter one....here is what Spencer has been up to these days. FEEDING HIMSELF yogurts. I think he only gets about 1/3 of whatever he is spooning into his actual mouth. But, he gets an A for effort.

I had a video of Brigitte singing Ariels song from little mermaid but it wont load. Ill keep working on it, since I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting to witness first hand her incredible talent.... stay tuned.

In full swing

2011-06-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better as a kid than spending the afternoon in various states of nudity in the backyard? Good times!

Brigitte is growing up before my eyes.

Please take note of Spencer's haircut....I couldnt part with all the curls, but I did my best to let his inner David Beckham shine...

Get your kleenex ready...

2011-06-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Just watch this. It makes your heart smile.

Mia's Homecoming from WillowayMedia on Vimeo.

ITS A...

2011-06-15T17:11:00.000-07:00

BABY!

This picture cracks me up because the angle is weird and it makes it look like it has a severe underbite! Baby was lying in an off position with its head tilted to one side and its chin tucked...so it took forever to even get this shot!

Apparently I have very modest offspring in utero, because just like Brigitte did for all her ultrasounds, this babe sat with its little legs crossed as tight as can be. We asked the u/s tech after the scan was complete if she knew what the gender was and she replied "No, I didnt even try to look!" So not even she took a peek at the fine china. Thats fine with us, as I am certain its a girl. And Gabe is convinced its another boy. Either way its healthy and that is a miraculous relief. I got about 3 hours of sleep off and on last night waking up with anxiety and tingling fingers worrying about it. I kept having these imaginary conversations in my head about how I would react to bad news. It was extremely irrational - and very exhausting!

I came home, put both my kids down for a nap, shoved 2 sugar cookies down with a huge glass of water, crawled into bed, and crashed for 3 straight hours. Tender mercies I tell you. I cant remember the last time both my kids went straight to bed, and stayed there long enough for me to sleep! I really needed that!

Ill admit I have not been as mindful of this pregnancy as my last two.I havent had an appetite which is typical for me when I feel stressed out, but VERY atypical for me when pregnant. We all know I pack on 50 lbs each time, so this has been quite a change! Im running around like a crazy person most of the time chasing my kids, keeping them off the stairs out of the toilet, away from the litter box and cat food. I swear I actually FORGET if I have eaten anything at all.

Spencer is the silent killer - which means he is so quiet and adorable that he will very sneakily get into all of the above and not make a sound while he is doing it! Brigitte on the other hand bull dozes her way through life and just keeping the band-aids on her knees is a full time job. That girl bleeds every single day. She doesnt mind it since her magic cure is to rub her wounds with her little pink baby blanket she always has attached to her person. That thing is so gross, Im pretty sure its causing diseases instead of curing them!

Anyway I digress... I mention these things only because I was shocked to learn that I have not gained even a single pound. I definitely LOOK weird and out of proportion, my middle is thicker - and yet the weight has apparently just moved around. I feel bigger. But I think all the anxiety this past month has burned off every single calorie I have eaten.

My Dr assured me that it was totally fine that I still weighed the same, since the baby looked nice and right on target weight wise. And then he followed that up with a smile, saying " Dont worry, the weight will come!" To which Gabe and I burst into laughter because yes...we remember the infamous cankles of 2008. Let me remind you :

Anyway, as I mentioned before, as soon as I got home I ate two frosted sugar cookies, feeling completely justified. I will be showing off my love handles in no time!

20 weeks 2 days

Its very weird to be exactly at the point in my pregnancy that Kallie was in hers when she got her devastating diagnosis. I cant imagine walking into the clinic for the very first time you get to really see the baby...and walk out knowing it wasnt going to live. Could I make it through that like she did? No way. I barely made it through as a sideline person watching it all happen to people I love. Both she and curtis texted me all day wishing me luck and wanting to hear how the ultrasound went. I dont know how they are so strong and able to offer support for me when just a few weeks ago their lives crumbled. I told her I might feel better if she just once told me she wanted to push me down the stairs!

Im glad today is over and I feel like a weight has been lifted. Im sad we didnt get better pictures but here are a few:

Left foot

Left arm, flexing up by its head

Im ready to have a relaxing weekend in Arco with Gabes family. Keaton is leaving on his mission so we are all heading down for a last hurrah . The food alone is worth the trip, but its especially fun for the kids to all get together on the farm and turn into feral animals. I have 4 new books to take along so it should be a grand ol time.

OH MY - I cant believe I almost forgot to update you all....BRIGITTE IS POTTY TRAINED! Hallelujah it nearly killed me, but she woke up yesterday and decided finally to cooperate with the undies. She is in pull ups, but hasnt had an accident in 2 days. She still doesnt like the feel of panties and refuses to wear them, but I dont care! Im so excited to not ever change her diaper again! Way to go Brigitte!

To Know, Or Not To Know...

2011-06-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

That IS the question.

Our big 20 week Ultrasound is just around the river bend. In 3 day measly days I will finally get to see what I can barely believe to be our 3rd child. I have been in such huge denial that most days I forget about the pregnancy completely. Plus there is never a dull moment around here, so who has time to sit and contemplate the miracle of life when Brigitte and Spencer make me question my sanity on a minute by minute basis? I swear there are days that if a peddler came to my doorstep with magic beans, I would give him my children in exchange. Just kidding.

But can I just say that after many (and I do mean MANY) exhaustive attempts to potty train my soon to be 3 year old - she is still in diapers. Disgusting, expensive - and its all ending tomorrow. I bought all the necessary supplies and I am DONE with diapers for her. In fact she ran out this weekend and I didnt go buy more. She is currently squeezing into Spencers little size 4s. And although I will miss her little diaper wedgies and the innocence of seeing her as a baby still - she is just too HUGE to be changed one more day. Ill admit, maybe if I had been a bit more diligent in trying I could have pushed her into success, but morning sickness combined with Spencer constantly being sick, not to mention all the peeing on the floor was just too much these past 3 months. So the day has come, the time is now. Tomorrow will be the last day I will find this smiling face hiding behind furniture with a big stinky bomb in her pants: beware the innocence in her eyes....

Brigitte has deemed herself "Kitten Master" and keeps all 4 of her captives under strict observation. One minute she has them all in the tent in the backyard, and the next they are all tucked into her little microwave in her kitchen. We keep having to have these talks about appropriate kitten rules,Like "dont pick them up by the neck" and "The kittens dont like to go high in the swing". But like always when you try to make her listen or understand the rules she ignores you completely and stares at you like she doesnt speak english. Her favorite thing to do with them is to arrange them amongst her stuffed animals. She gets so frustrated that they wont stay put and I hear her scolding them with, "no no kitten! That is a VERY bad choice!" as they try to scramble away to save themselves....poor kitties.

Spencer has been his cute little self lately, although turning into a real boy right before my eyes. Thank goodness he has remained my mild mannered child. He does throw little fits, but only when he is so tired he is about to die. He has yet to show any signs of aggression over toys or Brigiitte stealing things from him - for which I am truly thankful because she does that a lot. He is so easy going that we jokingly tell people that he suffers from depression. The one thing he loves more than anything is being outside. Preferably with Gabe. If Dad is around (or any guy for that matter) he wont leave them alone. I think its because Gabe always takes him into the garage where he gets into all kinds of huge messes. Sometimes he just sits in his bike and watches Gabe use power tools, and he couldnt be happier. He is obsessed with dogs and there is nothing cuter than seeing him with Jaynas puppy Rosie. She sort of chews on his hands and he just squeals with glee. Dont worry though, there will be no puppies in our future - we bought him a stuffed animal dog and Im hoping that can keep him at bay until he's 12. Until then he has enjoyed squeezing our kittens to death...

This past week I have been a cooking fool! Sometimes I get in these wild moods where I just want to fill up foil pans with freezable treasures! I had the perfect excuse with my sisters Tonsillectomy / sinus surgery coming up next week - plus I have been cooking for Curt and Kallie in an effort to keep distracted from the sadness. So yesterday I busted out 4 recipes and tripled them for the 3 families. My freezer looks like Im preparing for some huge mormon get together. I figure it can only help my situation since come this fall I will permanently be out of cooking commission. Its always a challenge to find decent meals that are gluten free (my neice has Celiac) but I found a few that turned out great! Just in case anyone out there is looking for something that "freezes Beautifully" here is what I made:
1. Swedish Meatballs (which I serve with Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes!)
2. Enchilada Casserole
3. Amish Breakfast Casserole
4. Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas - my own recipe
5. Chicken Rococo (Making this one tomorrow if the potty training allows!)

There is just something therapeutic about cooking for me. Or maybe its eating.... but I just really love devouring or giving away a good meal. I get it from both sides of my family - food is just synonymous with being together and having a good time. I come from a long line of over- feeders. For some reason its in my genes!

I have also been reading up a storm in an effort to keep my mind busy. I often go through phases where I just want to read and read and do nothing else. My friend Melinda made a 911 stop over at my house with an armful of books last week and I just returned them and got a new stack. Its so exciting. Here is the list just in case you are looking for a good read too...

Just finished:
Pioneer woman's from Black Heels to tractor wheels
The black velvet gown
Still Alice
Glass Castle (ive read this before, but its just so good I read it again!)

Currently reading:
Maddie Spensers Diary

Starting soon:
Gap Creek
Captain Blood

In whatever "spare" time I have had this past week I have been helping my friend Amy plan her sisters baby shower. We decided on a vintage circus theme, and I am SO excited at how its coming along. We are doing puffs in orange, turquoise, green, yellow, and red. There will be animal figurines crawling around the tables, vintage popcorn bags, posters I created that say B is for Boy and Balanace, and C is for Circus. I think its going to be super cute. Ill have to post more pics of the final reveal in a few weeks.

And the last final bit of updating comes to you courtesy of Gabe who has been over the past 3 months, slaving away to build us a new dining room table. Our old one was bar height and way too tall for the kids to sit on the chairs, so we sold it on craigslist exactly for $1 more than I had paid for it in San Diego 4 years ago! Score! So here is the progress so far: Thats right. Table legs.

To his credit there was an ENORMOUS amount of work that had to be done prior to the actual staining and assembly. First he had to get the wood in shape to be used since it was salvaged from another project. The nails had to be removed, it had to be plained by mill so it was all even and smooth. And then there were countless hours spent sanding. And then finally the "Distressing" of the wood - which I have to say caused me a little anxiety to watch. Gabe built these crazy weapons like a paddle with a cluster of 10 tiny nails sticking out of the end and he would smack the wood with it here and there. Not to mention a legit hatchet that put on a few artsy gashes. Oh my, i took the children in doors during that part because the last thing we need is for Brigitte to get in her head that it is fun to "distress" stuff. After the roughing up of the wood there was lots and lots of sanding. And finally the varnish and glossing began. I cant wait for it to be done so we can actually sit and eat somewhere other than the couch! Here is the inspiration table from pottery barn...but I have to say ours is going to be so much cooler! We are pairing it with 2 benches and 2 big captains chairs at the ends.

So thats pretty much it around here!!!!

The happenings

2011-06-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

Ok. So there is much to catch up on - and yet...I have lost that loving feeling towards my blog. So forgive me if this is less than exciting. But I fell I must POWER THROUGH my writing slump :)

It may interest you all to know, (not shock you - but interest you...) that my strapping stallion of a husband just came downstairs into the kitchen, requesting my undivided attention while he performed a "catwalk" show modeling his new puma outfits. Apparently he took it upon himself to splurge on a running jacket, button down shirt and new pair of fashion shoes. The last of which he needed like a hole in his head because he has more shoes than Imelda Marcos. And when I told him that, he looked at me and said, "What we have here (hand motion over his outfit) is a SUCCESS story." It was hard to argue with his confidence.

So rewinding back to May...I had a birthday. again. I cant really believe I am 29. The last year of my youth - somehow I must hold on. I have patches of gray hair sprouting through the brown and if it gets much worse I may abandon all efforts at disguising it and throw in the towel like my mother in law did and just go blonde. Can you picture me as a blonde? Its pretty awful. Like everyone in college I jumped on the bandwagon and tried it once. But whereas my sister looked fresh and cute and adopted the nickname "Malibu" it just made me look a little "spanglish" if you get my drift. Nobody with eye brows as dark as mine can pull of cute golden locks of sunshine. It just aint natural.

So for my birthday we took an eensy weensy yet highly necessary trip over to our good friend Seattle's house. And oh yes, we also pretended that we needed to go on account of our Anniversary back in April. 4 years is a very long time for me to be committed to anything, let alone a man. Let alone a man who shaves his legs more often than I do because he loves the way his calves look. Its ok, I love the way his calves look too (mostly when they are running into a Nordstroms to purchase me a pair of jeans..) So it works out well me and him.

Seattle is just one of my favorite cities EVER. Sort of because of Grays Anatomy. And sort of because of the shopping. But MOSTLY because its big and exciting with fresh air and lots to do and see. Snoqualmie falls, Pikes place market, Alki beach. And best of all we came home driving this beauty:

The new baby wagon. This was the only feasible solution to our upcoming 3 car-seat dilemma. I tried and tried to find a used minivan that didnt make me cry...but my vanity (or hormones maybe?) won out and thanks to the fact that it is a 2003 and has about a million miles on it...we could afford it. I said adieu to my little Passat and am now the proud owner of this Infinity. And I must admit, I AM IN LOVE! If only I wasnt hazardous and dangerous driving it around town. ITS HUGE compared to what Im used to! So if you see me walking about a mile away from a store, just know its because Im scared to park it very close to other cars....

Ok, so after the Seattle trip we came home and what was supposed to be the happiest day of the summer turned into the start of a month long depression. (See previous post). Im still slightly in the Twilight zone like the rest of my family, but the sunshine helps and also these little cuddly rascals that I get to squeeze daily:

I am in constant danger of turning into a crazy cat lady. But being able to recognize it is the first step in healing.... and dont worry, we arent keeping them. All these kittens have homes picked out and in a few weeks I will have to send them on their way. Their mother was one of the strays that took up residence in the playhouse last December. I love her and bought her a pink collar with a bell, so she will be our cat from now on. Right after I get the little hussy spayed that is. As much as I love kittens I dont want her popping out 4 batches a year and then dying from exhaustion like my old cat Scout. Plus, if you take a look at the little black and white kitten on the left you may agree with me that she has somewhat questionable taste in men.

So...our summer of cold ticks on. I am 5 months along on monday. That is CRAZY. Our big ultrasound is on wednesday and I am full of anxiety about it. We arent finding out the gender, but I am just sick with worry that something is wrong. I know paranoia is best friends with my constant companion hormonal imbalance, so i try to just stay calm and tell myself im being crazy. But in light of recent events the blinders have been completely ripped off and for the first time, Im just scared about all the what ifs. I feel prepared to handle just about anything that might come along, but still. And also I will have to admit that in a few short months my life will be over until I learn how to juggle 3 babies at once. Talk about a circus. Please start sending self help books my way. And until then I will continue doing what I have been doing in order to cope: deny, deny, deny.

And speaking of little miracles, my friend Kecia is in Ukraine finalizing her adoption right now. With all the bad in the world, there is still so MUCH good. So many amazing people doing incredible things. Many times this month I had to hop over to their adoption blog for a little pick me up. I highly recommend it. Have you EVER seen a cuter little girl in your life??? They named her Mia.

And another moment of divine intervention came when I found out that this little guy had a family committed to adopting him. He stole my heart and I even went so far as to beg Gabe to just consider adopting him. He had to calmly remind me that I was 12 weeks pregnant at the time. But I looked at his picture a lot, and now I will get to blogger stalk his happy life with his family here in the USA. Im so thankful and so relieved that he is going to get the chance to be somebody.

Go here to see all the kids who need families. You never know...maybe YOUR child is waiting there! It sure shocked Kecia to see Mias picture and instantly say "Oh my gosh, MY CHILD is living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe!! Maybe one belongs to you :)

Hmmm. Well that wraps up this evening's addition of random updates. Im off to Mutual to play games with teenagers in the church gym. Sometimes its nice to be 16 again.

Ill try to be more attentive little blog. Ill try.

Breaking the silence...

2011-05-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

My blog has basically been chirping crickets for over a month now. Sorry about that. Not that anyone's sun rises or sets on my posts! But I felt the need to check in for my own mental health reasons...because Im doing my best right now to resume normalcy. Despite the urges to draw the curtains, turn off lights, and watch endless hours of Grays Anatomy....I still have a lot of life moving on around me. However, Im lacking any sort of eloquence right along with the ability to string the right sentences together....so you can read my sister's post about what's been going on HERE.

Im just overwhelmed and so so sad.
Thats it.

It should have been me...

2011-04-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Or not. But it was still an exciting day - have you been glued to the TV? I LOVE Kate's dress. I swoon over her Cartier tiara. And I may have just ordered myself one of these:

Dont judge me, you know you kind of want one too. And I cant wait to wear it to church so that I can do this:

It may be shameful to admit this, but Prince William was very much the man I was supposed to marry. When I was 14. Only because Paul McCartney was in his 50s back then...and I was clearly meant to be British.

Funny how I turned out to be just myself. With a knock off ring :)

Happy Wedding Day Will & Kate! I cant believe I wasnt invited!

The Terrible News...

2011-04-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

My Baby has turned into a little boy!

Oh my heart breaks - every time I see his little scurvy legs toddling down the hallway. The excellent news is that he is only 20th percentile for height and weight, which means of course that we have the worlds hugest 3 year old and mystically our boy turns out to be a hobbit. TYPICAL. Unfortuntely even though he is small, he now has little toddler sized tantrums and says the words ball, Juice, mama, dada, night night, and my personal favorite: no no no.

His favorite activity of choice is splashing in toilets, along with crawling inside the dishwasher and pulling knives and spoons out of the silverware basket. I am constantly de-germing him. But he always lets out a little squeal of delight when you catch him doing naughty things and scoop him up. And he lays his head on your shoulder every time you hold him. Hes hard not to love, this guy.

For his birthday he had not one, but two fantastic parties. We celebrated on his actual birthday with the Beal side of the family and had a hot dog roast and cupcakes. It all went great right up until he reached up and grabbed the giant candle on top of his cake and burned his figer on the hot wax. After 10 minutes of crying he finally started to enjoy the frosting a little bit. Gabe and I gave him a water table to splash in in the backyard, hoping of course it would keep him out of the toilets!

And then on Saturday, since cousin Lila is his birthday twin, we had a combo Easter/Birthday party for the kids on my familys side. Jayna cooked the most fantastic meal I have ever seen: scalloped potatoes, ham, salads, yoghurt jello, sourdough rolls, fruits, cheeses. Oh my, I showed up looking 6 months pregnant and left looking 9. And feast your eyes upon the adorable decor. These pictures just dont do it justice!

Brigitte wanted to wear her "fancy sleeping duty dress", so we curled her hair and she even sported a "head band-aid". She was SO adorable and kept wanting us to take her picture. Now that she is finally a girl I am relishing the moments when she wants me to put "lip slicks" on her, or help her wedge her block feet into those hideous plastic Peg Bundy princess shoes. Its so fun to have a little lady around.

Sadly we had to wake spencer from his nap to open his presents so he was grumpy. Luckily, even at his worst, he will still smile on demand, so he looks happy at least in a few pictures! Finally after being super whiney, he opened up a big green football from my parents he got very excited and said BALL! He got pretty spoiled with gifts, which both he and Brigitte have thoroughly enjoyed.

I really cant believe it was just a year ago that we vacuumed little Spencer into the world. He is pure JOY and we love him to bits! As soon as the sun comes out we will take his one year photos. Until then I will admire these little beauties and cry myself to sleep:

The morning he was born

The test has spoken

2011-04-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

It appears that I have tested positive for crazy.

Baby #3 due on HALLOWEEN.

A little story to terrify you

2011-03-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

So today a rare thing occurred: Brigitte took a nap. AND Spencer took a nap. AT THE SAME TIME.
Be careful friends - this could mean the world is about to end.

Spencer woke up first so I quickly brought him downstairs so he wouldnt wake up Brigitte. I popped him in the high chair, turned on baby einstein, and handed him a bottle. He was only half awake so he was pretty zoned out.

I went into the laundry room to throw the clothes in the dryer. While I was sorting laundry I heard Brigitte call out for me: MO-MMY! So I yelled back: JUST A MINUTE BRIGITTE!!! Because the baby gate was up and I knew she couldnt get over it.

Just 30 seconds later I heard her again - only frantic: MOMMY! HURRY!!! COME HERE! So I left the laundry room, turned the corner - and saw Spencer STANDING UP in his high chair, turned around backwards, leaning forward over the back of the chair. I seriously grabbed him seconds before he would have fallen out and cracked his head open on the hard wood floor.

I was so shocked - and thankful that I hadnt ignored Brigitte's screams to hurry out! I turned around to let the baby gate down.....and then the horror set in.

BRIGITTE WASN'T THERE!!!!! I stood there for a second, baffled. Then listened to see if she had just gone back upstairs to her room to play - but nothing. Just silence. So holding spencer, I crept up the stairs and sure enough - she was still. sound. asleep.

I am NOT making this up! A small child had YELLED for me. TWICE. And they had to have been down the stairs because I was in the laundry room with the dryer going and there is no way I would have heard it if they had yelled for me from upstairs.

For once I can honestly say that I am grateful that the ghost was watching.....Even if im not going to be able to sleep tonight! But I will say this - hearing it is one thing - if I ever SEE it Ill probably be checked into the looney bin. Here's to hoping THAT day never comes!

Back by popular demand....

2011-03-03T18:18:00.000-08:00

My 3rd annual Oscar Fashion Rundown!

Wow. This year the Oscars were so....boring. predictable. unfortunate. And dare I say it? Trashy. (I still love it. I will always love it.) But boy oh boy - did we miss the days of swan dresses and alien sheaths (thanks Bjork and Tilda for your endless fashion choices for which we are all truly thankful), chair jumping (who could ever forget the joyous Roberto Benigni?), and emotional heartfelt acceptance speeches (Gerda Weissman Klein). All we got this year was Anne Hathaway making awkward whooping and hollering noises, James the corpse Franco standing dully beside her, reading from the tele-prompter in a manner that even his James dean hair couldn't make bearable. And although it horrifies me to say this about one of my BFFs - Gwyneth Paltrow clutching the mic, rattling in fear as she plunked through her cat-dying rendition of what sounded to me like a Myley Cyrus song gone horribly terrible wrong. (forgive me Gwyn.)

So without further ado...let the visual seizures begin:

1. Natalie Portman. Did you hear me or were you still fast asleep from her acceptance speech? "Id like to thank my family, the film, and my love. blah blah blah, yada yada yada, and in closing Id like to thank my family, the film, and my love. " ZZZZZZ. And then there was a FLASH of white - and I was jolted awake....by her ginormous upper arms glowing in the night. I felt sad that her stylist had misled her into such an unflattering cut of dress. My vote is to COVER the arm with a little sleeve, and please for petes sake dont drape another 10 yards of fabric over your baby bump! She just could have done SO much better. although I do really love the train on this dress, and the color is FAB.

2. Michelle Williams (Who, by the way, is rumored to be dating Ryan Gosling! Boy did he win the lottery!). So. Go ahead and judge me - I am prepared for the backlash. But I REALLY think she looked quite dazzling. I appreciate that she doesnt skank it up to show off her body, and she always exudes a quiet, self-assured confidence that I feel pretty much ALL the hollywood ladies are lacking. Not to mention that it is sort of amazing that a former Dawsons Creek actress has made it to the Oscars all on her own acting chops. Shes not showy and I love that about her. Im also a HUGE fan of her cropped pixie hair and minimalist approach. Sort of a modern Audrey Hepburn. And well, lets be honest - I may just be so overjoyed that she didnt come to the Oscars dressed in a daisy frock (rememebr the golden globes? *shudder) that I am putting her on my best dressed list.

3. The Tangerine Dream - Jennifer Hudson. The thing about this dress - is that well, I hated it. With her amazing new body and everything I can understand her desire to flaunt what her mama dietician/personal trainer/plastic surgeon gave her....but this dress was ALL WRONG. First off - its orange. Which is just WAY too summery and trashy for the red carpet. Secondly - it was SHINY. Which made it look cheap. And lastly - I just couldn't bear the sight of her droopy good girls (ie, boobs) smashed into that Marilyn halter top. I could almost hear them crying. I think this dress would have been ok for the Grammys, or maybe even an episode of What Not To Wear. But thats IT! (Also, to add serious insult to injury, beneath that fiery frock is a pair of stripper-licious PURPLE open toed shoes) I rest my case.

5. Halle Berry. She was truly one of the high lights for me. No, not because she looks amazing. Because watching her awkwardly waddle and try to walk down the runway in this thing she had on - made me laugh out loud. This looks like a flowy dress with a train - but do not be deceived. It is in fact a parachute, sewn into a tube sheath, with a mass of tulle stapled to the bottom by none other than Helen Keller. And Im pretty sure she had to rub down with crisco and enlist the help of her trusty friend saran wrap in order to get it zipped up.

5. Cate Blanchett. Love is all I have for her. Even after I saw Robin Hood which made me want to thrust an arrow through my own eye. For me, she is possibly Hollywoods shiniest gem. And although this lavendar/yellow grecian gown was a little left field - I sort of loved it. Again, she falls into the refined, authentic category for me and so its difficult not to worship her embodiment of what "HOLLYWOOD" has meant through the years. This dress was different, interesting, fashion forward, modern, and yet classicly refined all rolled into one.

6. Mila...Mila...Mila... heavy sigh. All I can say is: Your pasties are showing. And your grandma called - she wants her doily shawl back.

7. Next up: My good friend Amy Adams. So cute. So talented. So sad in capped sleeves. I just kept thinking - if you rolled her up into a ball and dangled her from a silver chain - she would look exactly like the heart of the ocean necklace in Titanic. That wasnt a compliment unfortunately. This dress had so much potential. And then she draped that silly necklace over it - only to draw the eye up - up - and over to her arms. With all the business going on up top, she should have opted for an updo. Also, can you see it - her jewelry is GREEN. Jungle green. It probably cost about a billion dollars in real life, but Im pretty sure you could have picked it up for $39.95 from an airport gift shop. * On a side note - had I seen this bejeweled bangle at LAX, I would have bought it for sure.

8. Hailee Steinfied. Utterly adorable and age appropriate and I wish I could set her up with my cousin, and then call and have her babysit for me so I could borrow those shoes. LOVE IT.

9. Lets kill two birds with one stone here, shall we? First up - Valentino. Hes the very tall oompa loompa on the left. Apparently either his liver has completely shut down and stopped cleansing bilirubin from his blood, or he was a little heavy handed with his spray tanner. Either way - I was thankful this man was born with a talent for design. Because if he had had to survive off his looks alone - he wouldnt have made it.

Next up: Anne Hathaway. I didnt mind this dress too much. The one thing I wanted was just 2-3 more inches of fabric over the chest. It felt just a tad bit too low. And I really wish she would have given Valentio a lingering hug and peeled away some of his color. She is so ghostly white in this sleeping bag dress that it was frightening. AND, can I just say, WORST NIGHT EVER to bust out some experimental highlights in your hair. Save it for spring break sista! And only as a drunken mishap - not a conscious style decision on the most important night of your carreer!!!!!

11. And while we're talking about Anne...lets discuss these FaNtAStiC SpARklE ShoEs! Yes, Kelly - I want them. I NEED them. But I could do without the awkward suit getup. Thankfully Anne's Dazzling voice accompanied those shoes just right, and this was one of her less awkward moments of the night. (Like when she flubbed a line and proudly shouted into the Mic for everyone at home to take a shot! classy, Anne!) Thank you Brian Atwood for inventing these delicious shoes encrusted with billions of tiny Swarovski crystals. They made my heart pitter patter.

12. Since anne had no less than 8 dresses throughout the night - lets just lump them all together and see what we can make of it. Top row, from left to right we have: 1. Sleeping bag dress. 2. Kind of strange Givenchy dress with roman inspired bedazzlements. But I lOVE her hair down and think this was her best look of the night! 3. She-Man tuxedo with those delightful shoes. 4. Black Swan dress.

Bottom row, from left to right: 1. The very unshapely golden swing dress that inspired Annes MOST awkward joke: taking a "personal moment" to shimmy and shake it. My eyes burned and I shouted NOOOO. 2. The surprisingly elegant plum concoction. 3. Random off the shoulder latex dress that dare I say it? Looked more stiff and awkward than even James Franco. And finally 4. The nearly nude dress with mock turtle neck and unsightly seams that ran from nipple to hip. Raise your hand if you couldnt stop looking at her boobs....just trying to figure it out. I rest my case.

12. It would be a ghastly oversight to forget to mention this little beauty:

Melissa Leo. Her dress was actually hand crafted bya local preschool class who was practicing using scissors. What started out as an outreach program to improve hand coordination skills eventually turned into this snowflake. dress. Also Melissa, your trailor park called - they want their F-bomb back. Way to blow your one shining moment on looking EXACTLY like the character you got nominated for.

13. Oh my heavens to betsey. I nearly forgot to mention Reese BarbieSpoon. Who gets an honorable mention in the worst dressed category for heinous hair extensions + french maid inspired gown.

And it would be against my personal belief system to NOT mention this man. He makes me laugh. He makes me cry. (Why her Rob, WHY??). . The ever talented and always charming Robert Downy Jr. The only man alive who can make Jude Law look unnattractive just by standing beside him....And I just so happen to LOVE the Navy blue suit and white tie. Usually the men are so boring. And bow tied. But I loved him just as much as the sparkle shoes, dare i say it...maybe even more.

And for this years MAJOR FASHION FAUX PAS....the award goes TO........

MISS SCARLETT JOHANSONN!!!!

Who bravely chose her dress "by braille" - instead of the traditional western method of opening one's eyes and seeing the gown on the body. This just did her a terrible injustice. Scar-Jo has long been celebrated as curvy and voluptuous....but this dress was a tragedy. Of course she tried to distract from the ill fitting 1990s inspired lace nightgown - by showing up with self styled bed hiar - using what I can only assume was an entire gallon of Aussie brand scrunch and style spray. In a nutshell: She blew her one red carpet moment to show up post-divorce and wow us all. (Think along the lines of Sandra and Reese the year their hubbys ruined their lives). But no. Instead I silently thanked her for helping me to feel beautiful for one brief moment in time. Keep it up Scar-Jo. The worse you look...the better for us ALL.

And - Because she was flawless (but only if you are deaf...) and her dress made me weep salty tears of envy...I have voted GWYNETH PALTROW my 2011 Belle of the ball! I love how she is styled. I love the bottom hem of this dress, the way she wore her hair effortlessly down but perfectly frizz free....I like her! I REALLY like her!

And that my friends, concludes this years Oscar Fashion wrap up. I hope you have been enlightened and enriched. See you next year ;)

Photoless UPdates

2011-02-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

So remember my last post that was all victorious and like, "no puke for 24 hours - yay!"

Well I spoke too soon.

Later that night I was stricken with the loveliness that had been plaguing my kids all week. Poor Gabe! He had to take 2 days off work because I was so sick - and the kids continued on their explosive rampage! So we are on day 9 today and both kids are still actively throwing up and having diarrhea. SPLENDID!

This flu bug has been a doozy to say the least. In the last 2 weeks I have left my house three times -twice for church related activities, and once to the grocery store. My sweet parents gave us a hefty gift card to Albertsons for christmas so we finally went and spent it! We now have enough popsicles, jello, and, chicken soup to feed an army. Thanks Mom!

In addition to the tummy troubles, both kids have runny noses (again) and low grade fevers. I am going to call their Dr. tomorrow and see if I should take them in. (again). That would be the 3rd visit in the last 6 weeks. It seems like everyone I know is having the same viral takeover in their houses. I cant wait for some sunshine to come and nuke these pesky bugs. Also, I find the sunshine out to be a tad misleading. I think - Oh wonderful! The sun is out - lets go for a walk! Only to open the garage door and immediately get stricken with frostbite. Curse you lying sun!

But there was one small insignificant blessing that came from this. I did manage to shake 4 pounds of that extra lingering baby weight! Ive had an annoying extra 10 pounds that keep me just so uncomfortable in my clothes, so I was glad to have no appetite for a week so my food choices improved greatly. Plus Im off caffeine. Wait, did you catch that. THIS IS KIND OF A BIG DEAL. And no im not pregnant. But I feel SO much better off it that its ridiculous. I thought it had been taking the edge off my day, but in fact I think it was making me meaner. If thats possible :) Anyway, no caffeine for me right now. And dare I say it - I think I have MORE energy. Dont ask me, Im not a scientist - I dont get it either.

So.....On saturday our Stake Young Women's program had this huge service project called "Hearts and Hands". We had a big Personal Progress awards ceremony followed by a big marathon service project where we sewed humanitarian quilts, receiving blankets, and comfort hearts for kids undergoing surgery at the hospital. I LOVED doing these projects. I meant to only stay for 2 hours because I had left the sickies home with Gabe (and the explosions are a 2 man job!) but once i was there I couldnt leave!!! Anyone that knows me knows I live for a service project. If you have any doubt please look in my backyard and see the 4 stray cats that have accidentally become ours. Which brings me to my next story....

The cat lady. I have become her. Now, dont mock me - despite the cruel jokes from my husband and sister - I have not become an episode of "Hoarders". Here is what happened. Around Christmas time on a dark blustery evening I heard a small pitiful meow at the door. I pulled back the curtain only to see a mama kitty and a little fat kitten. They had such sad little cries. BUT - I did not buckle then and there. I calmly told myself that obviously they were someones pets that had wandered into our yard. So I closed the curtain and that was that.

Well two weeks later I happened to discover much to my horror that these little homeless cats had taken up residence in the playhouse in my backyard. So then I gave in. I started to put a bowl of food out. For the starving cat family. And they were so cute, and thankful, and full of purring. Not at all your usual scrawny run of the mill homeless cast. These were obviously pets that had been dumped in our neighborhood. And my kids LOVE them. They love to feed them and watch them through the window. Honestly, it worked out great because we wanted an outside cat anyway.

But then...one morning I looked out and there was ANOTHER CAT! "baby daddy". Now HE was a street rat. I think he is the skinniest saddest looking ugliest cat ever. But he was so desperate for love and you could just tell he wanted to live. So I fed him too. And here is where it gets really tricky - he brought along his buddy "black friend" who was nice, and quiet, and a little shy. But how can you shoo away just one cat and feed the rest? So he moved in. Every time I looked in the backyard the four cats were there all snuggled together in their little homelessness.

So yes. 4 cats. However I recently had to take black friend to the pound because his eye exploded. But thats a whole different story entirely. Just know that I draw the line when the cats have medical issues. Im no half way house. And I couldn't cope with the suffering. So he had to go.

Brigitte has been FULL of her usual hilarity. She is now completely obsessed with Snow white, Sleeping beauty, and Cinderella. Although it baffles me why Snow White with her annoying voice, twilight skin, and poor choice making ability is her favorite. But she sings all the songs and I MUST tape it soon before she grows up and wont sounds so cute shouting ONE SONG, I HAVE BUT ONE SONG.....

I LOVE love love having two children. I want about a billion more. But only because there is nothing in this world cuter than seeing my two babes hiding under the kitchen table hitting the metal chair legs with stolen spoons. Brigitte is Spencer's supplier for all things mischievous and so she sneaks silverware from the drawer and gives him one and they sit and drum on things under the table. He is her little accomplice and follows her everywhere. If hes not paying attention to her she shouts PENSE CMON! CMON LITTLE DARLING! And then he turbo crawls right after her.

Spencer is our little grizzly man. He sits up on his haunches just like a wild bear. He refuses to walk even though he stands up independently in the middle of the floor all the time. He is also obsessed with the stairs. Gabe went to blow his nose and came back only to find out that Spencer had crawled up the ENTIRE flight of stairs and was sitting at the top. I found him there and carried him down and officially up the baby gate up - where it will stay until he is 2 1/2. Also my most favorite thing about butters right now is that he will give kisses on demand. I say "Wheres my Kisses?!" And he leans in and holds his face right up on mine. I LOVE it. I know someday he will grow up and not want to rub my hair across his face - but until then I am SOAKING him in.

And now, in closing I would just like to say THAT ITS OSCAR NIGHT!!!! WOOT WOOT! Im about to go stake out in front of the tv with my fondue spread and check out of life for 6 solid hours while I recap all the fabulous fashions and annual awkwardness that is Tilda Swinton. ...

Murphys Laws

2011-02-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

Of the Stomach Flu.....

Your child will always get the flu about an hour after you go to bed. Never in the morning. ALWAYS when you are sleepy and therefore compromised in your reaction time.
The throwing up will be violent and far spread. Always.
It will occur in their newly laundered bedding. And soak clear through to the mattress that was somehow left without a mattress protector on it.
As soon as you get your child cleaned up and out of the tub - they WILL throw up again. And wipe their mouth with their hair.
The sick child will cry until you cave in out of sleep deprivation and utter insanity - and let them sleep in your bed. Where they WILL...throw up.
If you drape your child with big huge bath towels, layered with waterproof pads in an effort to save your down comforter from the said throw-up...they WILL manage to find some unprotected area with their next sea of vomit.
Eventually you will attempt to train your child to throw up in a bowl of some kind. Which they cannot (or will not) ever accomplish.
As soon as morning appears and you have convinced yourself that "they look fine", along with, "it must have been just a 24 hour bug", and you cave in and give them breakfast.....They WILL throw up again.
Why have one kid with the flu...when you can have TWO?!

2 kids. 30 gallons of vomit. 25 loads of laundry. about 3 hours of sleep. And Monday finally came. I am proud to report that absolutely no throwing up has taken place in the last 24 hours. Is there anything worse than barfing kids? I think not.

I may never serve them chocolate milk again in their lives.

How NOT to cook.

2011-02-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

Oh my HECK! Have you ever had one of those days tooling around the house - getting things done and organized - and then all of a sudden you look at the clock and its 2:30 in the afternoon and YOU HAVENT EVEN BRUSHED YOUR TEETH????

I am disgusting.

I am still in pajamas
no shower
sick pony tail

And brigitte is in her high chair eating this for a snack:

yes it is Nutella on ritz crackers. Or as I call them around here: desperate oreos.

I am taking all our toys from downstairs and going through them. I am so TIRED of my house being completely overrun with noisy toys and tiny little clutter! Im giving away some, and the rest is going in the kid's bedrooms!

I put Brigittes little kitchen in her closet and organized all the food and dishes in buckets. Not 2 minutes later I came up with another load of junk to put away and there she was - cooking away! Every dish, spoon, and plastic piece of food she owned was scattered about. Bless her little helping heart! So I then got smart and banished her to Spencer's room (where they both sat playing in his crib like caged animals!) and went back to clean up.

I had to laugh when I saw what she had been cooking. On the stove top in a sauce pan was a newborn beanie hat from the dress up box - with a mystery object wrapped up inside it. I took a closer look - and in horror realized she had very carefully wrapped up her little pink zhu zhu pet hamster!

I went to spencers room, held it out to her and said Brigitte what are you cooking? And she goes, Heeeeyyyy - thats MY Burrito!

I think we need to work on our cooking skills....... and I dont think Brigitte will be getting any pets any time soon!

Good News Everyone!

2011-02-15T09:19:00.000-08:00

There is an online auction HERE to raise money for Kareen! It opened yesterday for bids, and will close at the end of the month on Feb. 28th. An anonymous donor has offered to match whatever sum is raised (up to $5,000) so every penny counts! If you have a minute, please go and see the items for sale and bid on one (or two!) if you can!

If you would rather, you can make a tax deductible donation directly to her adoption fund through the amazing organization called REECE'S RAINBOW. ( Warning, you can see all the waiting children who desperately need families - it may make you want to adopt :)

If you are amazing and have a service or product that you would be willing to donate to this auction, please leave a comment for this post and I will get your item listed asap! (Its a great way to advertise your business too!)

Read all about the Cox family and their journey to adopt Kareen HERE.

If you have a website or blog and you would be willing to advertise this auction - please copy and paste this html :

<a href="http://bringkareenhome.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/5033/194050784217446840.gif"/> </a>

THANK YOU!!!! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW THAT CAN HELP. EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS AND IS PRECIOUS!

xoxox

Christy

Meet Kareen

2011-02-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Grab This!

Where to start? I want to post this for a few reasons. Number one, I love the Cox family and they are special to me. And two...there is soo much I know can be done for these beautiful kids and I am hoping it will inspire someone else out there to help in any way they can.

Kecia and I met in 2002, living in the Clocktower apartments in downtown Boise. It was a ...confusing, dark, depressing time in my life. She was a smile and a bright light that lifted me up. Every sunday at church I would go and squeeze their little daughter Kyra, who was just a fat little baby back then. I have so many fun memories. Of course time marched on, and they moved away to Utah. I moved away to California. And we sort of lost touch.

Its been 9 years. Imagine my joy when I found their blog. And saw their beautiful daughter Adrie had been added to the family. And then about 4 years ago, a very special little daughter named Bree joined the fun. Bree was born with Downs Syndrome. She's just about the cutest little thing you've ever seen. And her big sisters adore her. When I read through all the posts from the past catching up on their family events it just seemed meant to be that these people would have been chosen to raise nurture, teach, and love Bree. If I were in Heaven picking out parents for the extra special babies - yes, Kris and Kecia would have been the natural choice.

So one thing I know (and love) about Kecia, is her mothering tendencies. This girl was born to raise children! I remember speaking with her about her struggles to conceive their firstborn Kyra, and how heartbreaking that was for her. She had just yearned for a baby. LOTS of babies! We shared that trait in common. So last fall when I read on her blog that she had miscarried I was so devastated for her. Bree her youngest, was almost 4 years old. She had commented many times that she did not understand WHY another baby had not come to their home.

So this is why:

Their daughter Kareen had been living in an orphanage in Eastern Europe waiting to be found! Isnt she BEAUTIFUL? My heart just melted when I saw her. Yes, she belongs with the Cox family. She belongs with Bree. Kareen also has Down Syndrome. And thanks to the amazing organization called Reece's Rainbow, the word about these darling children is getting out. Kecia happened upon the website after following another adoption blog, and when she saw Kareen she just knew. THERE was their baby! And she was almost 4 years old!

Through Reece's Rainbow, you can sponsor an orphan with Down Syndrome by donating to a fund that is in place to help whomever decides to adopt that child. Some children have thousands of dollars to go towards their costs, some dont even have a penny. It breaks my heart to see these kids, just waiting and hoping for a family to find them. If these kids do not get adopted by the age of 5, they face imminent institutionalization. Here in the US we cant even comprehend such a thing. And yet across the world it is common practice to abandon and throw away these choice little people. I cant really express to you how much I wish I could do something about it. If it were up to me, I woul dbe sending in my adoption forms and taking as many as Gabe would let me!

And of course, there are some families who want to adopt, but the cost is SO HIGH. So that is why I think this is so Brilliant. If we could get everyone we knew to donate $1, $5, $10! Imagine the weight this could lift off the shoulders of a family who was eagerly waiting to bring their child home.

Like the Cox family.

So if you have a minute, go here to read their adoption journey and get to know them. Look at Beautiful Kareen and picture her twirling in a little tutu with her sisters at dance class. Her world is about to change in a miraculous way - if you can, help them bring her home!

I just have to say....

2011-02-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

By the time the half time electronic fergie-liciousness came to an end last night I felt so relieved. Are you kidding me? My buffalo wings couldnt even take the sting out of what I was seeing. Fergie was like tinkerbell from hell. Who's sole purpose was to gyrate (ew) on stage in her tiny stripper outfit. NEXT TO THE SLASH, I might add. GROSS!!!!! I dont recall any singing. I do however have a slight headache from the astro-glow suits that attempted to jive in sync with the computer-tronic voices.

needless to say,
it was NOT the time of my life.

Our Chiropractor today said it best: " I would rather have spent 30 minutes watching stupid human tricks."

I dont mean to offend anyone who thought the half time show was the best ever. Its just for me, who personally doesnt believe in football - well, I rely on the musical number for some much needed relief in an otherwise looong boring night. And I was so very disappointed. Its like, we got flashed by Janet Jackson, and now this. I may have to ban the superbowl forever.

But hey, at Least Christina Aguilera sang the wrong words to the National Anthem.

The black hole of Winter

2011-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

Dear January, February, March, and possibly April:

I beg you. Please please, go away. Take your chilly frigid wind, and constant drab grayness - and just disappear. Dont come back. And take this dreaded flu and virus season with you.

Dear California:
Please move to Idaho.

Love,
The Beals

What a month we have had over here. Sick sick sick. Thats what we have been. Ever since Christmas, we have been fighting off this terrible sickness. They say its viral. I say its terminal. Every single one of us has been sick off and on for weeks. And im so....so.....tired.

Poor Spencer. On sunday night he was so sick he was delirious. He was burning up so we gave him some tylenol and put him to bed. He got up around 4 am and I fed him, gave him more tylenol and put him back to bed. Around 6 am we were jolted awake when we heard this weird high pitched scream coming from Spencer's room. Gabe ran in and picked him up and he was on fire. Then I noticed he was doing something weird with his arms and legs - and all of a sudden I realized Spencer was having a seizure. He was looking at us - but he just had this terrified expression and wasnt really seeing us. His arms and legs were tremoring and his body was completely rigid.

Then all of a sudden he stopped seizing, started crying like normal - and projectile vomited everywhere. I laid him down to change his clothes and he seized again. He had maybe 4 little episodes in about 3 minutes. Gabe quickly gave him a blessing, and we called Hart to come over and stay with Brigitte while we ran to the ER. By the time we got to the hospital the fever was gone, and Spencer was looking and acting like nothing had happened. They told us he had had a febrile seizure, that he would be sleepy all day and that it most likely would never happen again.

We followed up at his pediatricians who reiterated what the ER docs had told us. She said he had a crazy virus that causes severely high fevers for 5-7 days - and it was going around. She told us to keep him on Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours around the clock, even in the night. It was an exhausting few days!

All day Monday after the seizure Spencer was delirious. He wouldnt even lift up his head or interact at all. He wanted to be held at all times and his hot little cheeks were so sad. He just moaned in his sleep and whimpered all day long. Finally on Tuesday my sister took Brigitte for a few hours and my mom came in to stay the night so we could get some sleep after 48 constant hours of tending to Spencer. By wednesday his fevers were still getting up to 104 and I thought it was never going to end!!!

But alas, I am happy to say that last night we had NO FEVERS! I think we are over the worst of it at least. Sick babies are the saddest things in the world! And I have never seen a child so sick in my life. Now we live in fear that Brigitte will get it - but so far so good.

Boy am I ready for some sunshine and normalcy! I hadn't left the house in a week straight so last night when Gabe got home I busted out for a bit. It was great to wander around Ross without the kids for an hour. To ward off the stir crazy, I think I am going to start jogging right when Gabe gets home from work at 5. I havent been able to lose these last 10 pounds of baby weight (thanks a lot jalepeno poppers!) and it has GOT to go! Plus I just need to get outside! Even if its 40 degrees on a warm day.

Other mood boosting projects on the horizon? I want to repaint the red wall in my dining room to bright green. My kitchen needs a curtain sewn, and Im going to spray paint a maroon wingback chair into a pink wingback chair. Thats right, spray paint. The lazy way to reupholster.

What have you been doing to fight the winter blues?

Update

2011-01-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, thanks you guys for all your wisdom! Especially Maren (you reaffirmed my gut feeling about his case) and those of you who personally underwent similar situations. The research is so controversial, and honestly each case is unique. Some children do fine without the surgery and others are very limited without it. Its a tough decision! But as of now, here is what we have decided to do.

I have canceled his surgery for wednesday for two reasons. 1.We are all sick, and 2. I was feeling a little uneasy and unsure about it.

But I have rescheduled the surgery for March 3rd just to have a date on the calendar in case we decide to go ahead with it.

I am making Spencer an appointment with an Occupational Therapist at the recommendation of his pediatrician. They will evaluate him and see if his case is a probable speech hinderance, and go from there. He may have appropriate range of motion for speech, or he may be impaired. We just dont know.

So after he is evaluated at least I will be slightly more informed about what to do! The reasons I am apprehensive about surgery NOW, are that he has never had feeding troubles, and so far he has reached all his speech milestones, and is very verbal (says mama, dada, and babbles incessantly!). I just feel that if there is no evidence of this affecting him negatively - why do something so drastic to correct it?

Of course me may end up going through with the surgery. I am not opposed and completely trust modern medicine having been a surgical recipient myself twice in my teenage years. It has a place and is essential in some cases. Im just not sure if we should jump the gun in this case.

Soooo, we are going to go for the evaluation and then decide from there. Thanks again everyone. Ill let you know what we decide to do!