The State of Things

We've been doing all we can to get ready for Tabitha's arrival on Tuesday. I've washed her car seat, boiled her binkies, cleaned both bathrooms, and done the laundry. Thomas has joined me in nesting; he scrubbed the stovetop, cleaned out the car and tidyed the yards. Thomas and I both feel more at ease and like we can relax when things are clean, so by having most the chores caught up on, we can feel relaxed after the baby's arrival. Monday is our last day as a family of four. I'll go to work, grab a few more groceries and do any last minute cleaning. Then I'll pack the girls up for Grandma and Grandpa's and I'll finish packing my hospital bag. At 5am on Tuesday I have to call Labor & Delivery to make sure everything is ready to go and then I'm to arrive by 6am. So the girls will get dropped off, PJ's and all, at my parents on our way to the hospital. The C-section is scheduled for 9am. I'm so thankful it's all first thing in the morning!! As crazy as everything sounds like it's been, it really hasn't been! I feel extremely relaxed and so far our weekend has involved a lot of sitting in the sun. Unfortunately I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I've been drinking tea, taking Vitamin C, and praying it not turn into anything bad. On the upside, I'll be on so many meds after the C-section, I probably won't notice the discomfort of a cold!

***************************

Today Caelen was playing with her Cinderella doll and as she put Cinderella in the carriage, Cinderella said, "Bye Mom! I'm going to the ball, but first I have to go to Target to get some new shoes for the ball and some paper towels!" This afternoon Addison patted Woodrow on the back and asked, "Ride this one?" Compared to Addie, Woodrow really is the size of a horse!

Research Shows Horses Have a Vocabulary of over 200 Words

Driving in the car usually involves Caelen yakking away, me replying, "Uh-huh" and Addie quietly staring out the window, but things are beginning to change. Addison joins in the conversations a bit more and I try to encourage that. Of course that means a whole new balancing act for me of making sure I'm answering their "Mom?"s with equal attention. Anyway, to the point I've wandered away from. Driving up the freeway yesterday Addison says, "Bunny Rabbit Mommy!" so we started talking about what a bunny rabbit says.... which is basically nothing but wiggle their nose, in case you were wondering. Then Caelen says, "Hey Addie, what's a horse say?" and Addison replies, "Rocking Chair!" Right........

It's a girl!... and a Salad.

What do you do for fun a couple of weekends before your life changes forever and a new baby interrupts the "peace" and routine of your family? Why, go to a goat farm of course! Thomas has been working any jobs and projects he can get his hands on and happily, he had work. Unhappily, it was on Saturday, but what are you gonna do? How about take the kids to a goat farm!! Ok, I'm done. It was a fun little field trip though!

Lots of friends were there.... actually I'm beginning to wonder if my kids could do anything independently of the company of their friends.... or if I could....

Addie would pet a goat, or pull it's tail, and sweetly coo, "Aww baby."

It was a beautiful day, perfect for wandering around and tasting cheese, caramel, yogurt, spreads, basically anything with goat's milk in it. That's what lured me and kept me there. The kids just loved running around.

****************

Today Caelen plops herself down next to me, both of us enjoying a mid-afternoon salad and asks, "So.... how'd it go at the doctor's?" So we began discussing how Mommy isn't supposed to eat breakfast the morning Tabitha comes out.

Caelen was a bit confused, "But Mom. We're SUPPOSED to eat breakfast."

"I know baby, but when you're having surgery and they're gonna cut your tummy open to take a baby out, they don't want you to have eaten any food." I explained.

"Yeah," I could see she understood, "Cause then the baby would be all dirty and they don't want that."

Tabitha's Arrival: T-1 week!!

A Leprechaun at Disneyland

I am having so much trouble with this blogging site uploading, or not uploading I should say, my pictures. But before it completely failed and shut down my whole internet I was able to upload and save a few! Caelen has been hard at work in her playhouse painting murals. It started when her friends were over Wednesday, all happily playing in the playhouse. We didn't suspect a thing until the first child emerged covered in the acrylic paint I thought was high enough out of sight to remain out of mind. I don't know what I'm thinking most of the time. Then one by one the rest of them showed their grinning faces around the side of the door and revealed various combinations of color and design all over their little bodies. Since then I have given up and allowed free reign of the playhouse to go to Caelen, she is my little artist after all and she does good work.

Does the face get any sweeter than that? I think not.

That's adorable concentration!

Here's the final product. It's (from left to right, if I can remember) Snow White, Ariel, Belle, Sleeping Beauty?, Caelen (the one that looks like a little green leprechaun), and Cinderella at Disneyland together. The little person underneath is me taking pictures of them.

While helping my wonderful man put away the dishes he had washed (yeah, that 3rd dishwasher in 8 years died) I hear a little voice call me, "Mommy! Look it me, I'm pretty!"

Oh Princess!! That would be chocolate chip cookie all over her face, and this is after her 2nd bath for today (which was of course followed by a third). I should just call her Little Orphan Addie. And come to think of it, I should quit letting the water out of the tub and just keep sending them back in periodically to scrub off.

Symptoms: Cough, Runny Nose, Hallucinations.

Today Addison ran into the hallway, wrapped herself around her sister in a big bear hug and said, "I wuv you, I wuv Sissy." Caelen hugged her back smiling and said, "Aww." As they walked away together to head outside to play I heard Addison continue, "Wuv me? Wuv me sissy?" Addison has had a rough day today. It started with a cough that eventually went away, then the snot came on. Then she was super cranky so she slept for 3 1/2 hours in the middle of the day. But the weirdest part of her entire day has been the spider hallucinations. Yeah.... She seems to think there are spiders on her, or near her, I'm not quite sure, but it renders her frozen in place. Wherever she is when an attack of the "spiders" comes on, she's stuck there for good, crying and begging someone to pick her up. This has occured in the bathtub, on the slide, in the sand box, on the lawn and in her room! The last time it happened she insisted, "The spiders are coming!!!" No amount of reassurance fixes the situation, only picking her up. Interesting....