Bugged

I am seriously bugged.

I just spent over an hour making a veggie lasagna. I thought everyone would love it. My girls love italian food such as pizza and spaghetti. I even went as far as to blend all of the veggies together (not one single veggie could be seen) so no one would say, "what is this?" as they scrape bits of pepper or onion or zucchini out of the mixture. I truly thought the kids would eat it and would enjoy it while getting some nutrients along the way.

Guess who ate it?

Me.

Oh, and Kevin, too.

The girls wouldn't even touch it.

Our policy has always been: You don't have to eat it, but you're not getting anything else. I don't cook 2 meals, just one. We just sent the girls straight to bed (I didn't feel like eating my lasagna while they stared at theirs like it might jump out and bite them.).

Tonight I was so mad...I told Kevin that I felt like forcing them to eat it. All of it...even if they barfed on the table. Then he gently reminded me what a pain it is to clean up vomit.

Good point.

All 3 of our big girls started out eating everything...all types of babyfood fruits and veggies. Then somewhere around age 2, they decided to revolt. Quinnie is right in the middle of this. She very rarely eats dinner. She isn't rude about it, but it always seems like she is pushing her untouched plate of food towards me saying, "All done, Mommy" with a smile on her face. We've decided that she is like a camel. She pretty much only eats one big meal a day. The child loves berries, though (like her sister, Chloe---who loves all types of fruit)...so, I just try to load her up on berries throughout the day. Mia on the other hand is super picky. She won't eat fruit unless it is applesauce in a cup or a smoothie. So, we have started making fruit smoothies every morning...that way all the kiddos get some fruit to start out the day.

I just wish they would eat dinner without me having to make the same old pizza, spaghetti, hotdogs, chicken nuggets, etc.

Dinner is a thorn in my side. If it were just me, alone (which I'd never wish for), I would eat cereal every night.

So, I am on a mission to figure out that daily question, "What's for dinner?"

Feeling Behind and NESTING!

I am SO behind in so many areas of my life (the fun stuff, mainly). I have been pretty good with staying up on laundry and house-stuff, but when it comes to the inevitable "things-to-do-before baby-arrives" list (which we all know are things that we don't really think too much about except when we are pregnant), I just haven't been doing any of it.

A big issue keeping me from it is that I just want to lie down when Quinnlan naps and at the end of the day, I just want to sit in our big red chair with my feet up and do NOTHING until I get tired of doing that and go to bed.

I know, I know, what a thrilling life I lead.

I have this giant goal of getting caught up on our family scrapbook(s) before Baby arrives...it doesn't sound too ambitious except for the fact that the last page in the scrapbook before I fell off the scrapping wagon is the summer before Quinnlan was born (that would be Summer 2008). The poor child is not even represented.

Typical 3rd child, right?

I don't see how I kept up with it having twins at home...but I guess it was still just 2 kids. Adding one more kid to the mix just threw off my Mojo, I guess.

But, I am determined to do as much as I can before Baby #4 comes so I can feel a little on top of things---starting with actually uploading pictures to Snapfish so I can make the giant order...I forgot how long it takes to do this (I am actually uploading in another screen as I type---I'm up to October 2009, so I have a ways to go).

I also have a goal of cleaning out our closet and making a trip to Goodwill and possibly try and consign some stuff. I have gone through the shoes, but haven't touched the clothes yet.

Our dining room table is covered with things I need to "get to" as well: stacks of Mia and Chloe's artwork from the past couple of years that I want to go through and decide what to keep and what to toss. This may be one of the hardest things I want to tackle. I am a hoarder when it comes to anything like this. I have a hard time deleting pictures when they are blurry, much less anything my kids have done. I have bought the big long bins, so I am one step closer to this project.

I could go on and on, but it is stressing me out. And I've read somewhere that it's not good to be preggo and stressed :)

Other than all of the complaining about being behind, the pregnancy is going well. I am 33 weeks along and I am counting the days till August 14th, at the latest, when my c-section is scheduled. This Atlanta heat is unreal, not even with my internal thermostat being bonkers. The baby is all over the place at all times of the day and night. If I was more "together" I could post some pictures of me and my big ol' belly. But, I have not taken any. Shocker. I will take some soon and then you can think what Mia said to me today (in the IKEA bathroom---a very private place): "Mommy, your belly is as big as a pig's!" Thanks, honey...even with a baby in there, that doesn't sound good.

One thing I do feel good about is that I have actually made a post on my blog...yay ME!

The bat saga continues....

Well, we thought the bat had eventually flown out the window on Friday night. Kevin came downstairs Saturday morning after checking our entire room/closet/bathroom and said he couldn't find any sign of our little houseguest.

So...we went about our day as usual.

That night as we all slept, I heard something in the hallway and saw that somebody had turned on the hall light. I quietly called out, "Mia? Chloe?"

No answer.

So, I called louder, "GIRLS?"

That's when I heard Mia crying. So, I jump up and go to her in her room and she is sitting on her bed crying saying that something is in her bathroom. I lean my head into the hallway and I hear a rustling sound coming from the hall bath. I call to Kevin to come and investigate (I am a C-H-I-C-K-E-N, by the way).

I crawled into bed with Mia as Kevin went to check it all out. Then Kevin says words I didn't want to hear:

"Greer, nobody move...the bat is in the trash can."

Don't worry, I am not moving an inch.

He goes and gets a big book of scrapbook paper to put over the top of the trash can to "trap" it. Then we go downstairs and I open the front door as he tosses the can into the front yard.

At first, nothing comes out, but after Kevin gives the can a little nudge, the bat flies out and into the nighttime sky.

Who knows how long it had been in the girls' bathroom or in that trash can. Or, if it had just been watching us unsuspecting humans go about our typical Saturday from somewhere in the house. I had even given all 3 girls a bath earlier before bed and as I went to sleep, I just kept thinking: what if I had thrown something into the trash can and it had flown out at me...I would have gone into labor right then and there.

Good riddance...

"Don't freak out, Honey, but..."

OK, how come that phrase never ends like:

"...I just won the lottery!"

or

"...pack your bags, we're going to Hawaii!"

No, it is usually the precursor phrase to some words that make you want to...freak out.

These are the very words Kevin said to me in the middle of the night last night. But, for me, they ended with:

"...there is a bat in our bedroom."

WHAT!?!?!?!

OK, now, I'm wide awake.

This is all I can picture:

freaked out yet?!?

Action #1: pull the covers over my head (I did not want a bat in my hair or landing on my face!) while I keep asking Kevin what he is going to do to get it to fly back out the window.

Action #2: Kevin turns on the light (meanwhile, I am still under the covers...yes I am a scaredy-cat)---Don't get me wrong, I am all about wildlife...as long as it stays in the wild!

Action #3: Kevin goes to the window and opens the blinds (we had the window wide open, but the blinds were closed) and climbs back in bed and turns out the light and says, "one more reason we need screens"...why yes, babe, I couldn't agree more.

Action #4: Claustrophobic pregnant lady has to poke her head out from the covers to breathe.

Action #5: We wait...and wait...and wait.

Action #6: I am wide-eyed and trying to watch to see if my night vision might kick in to see our little friend fly across the room and out the window. Finally I ask Kevin if he can see anything and...he has fallen asleep!

Action #7: I wake him up and he is no longer worried but is probably irritated that I've woken him up. He even says if I'm quiet, I can maybe hear the clicking of the bat as it is echo-locating...huh??? I can't hear anything. Maybe this is a ploy to get me to be quiet and possibly fall asleep.

Action #8: I guess it works because next thing I know it is morning and I hear my big girls playing Littlest Pet Shop in their bedroom and Quinnie "talking" in her room.

I was all about being first one up and out of our room this morning...just in case Mr. Bat was still in there!