I was finally taking my shower for the day a few minutes ago, and I was doing my thinking for the day (since I'm not able to do much of it while the yungin's are awake), and I had a very disturbing one come out of the blue. I imagined that I fell in the shower and hit my head and was knocked out (in my thought, I didn't specify whether or not I was still alive, just unconscious for sure). During this mind play, it hit me that, really, no one would know for a while. When my children are asleep, little to nothing can wake them, so if I yelled, it would do me no good. Trey doesn't come home at night anymore, and I seldom have plans in the morning where I would be missed if I didn't show. So what would happen if something happened to me?

Then I started to imagine TJ waking up and coming in my room in the morning. In this scenario, I died in my sleep for some strange reason (I couldn't imagine him finding me in a pool of "bleed" in the tub), and he came in like he usually does. "Mommy, get up. My tummy hurts and it's starving. Get me some food." Yes, he's always this gentle in the mornings! So anyway, he comes in to get his food that he won't touch for over an hour, and I won't respond. I figure after a few minutes he'll start to realize something's up, but then what? Would he cry? Would he go outside eventually and try to find a neighbor, which is just as scary? What would TJ do? I realize that Taryn would be stuck in her crib, and as soon as she heard TJ talking to me, as usual, would start crying for me to come and get her out. If I didn't show, how long would she cry until she realized I wasn't coming? Would she try to get out of the crib, possibly hurting herself as well? Would she starve, or get poop all over herself? Would TJ try to bring her food? The questions wouldn't stop coming now.

So, finally the shower ended, with me, of course, in a frantic state, having decided that tonight I will die in my sleep and be totally unprepared. Honestly, I'm not the least bit worried about myself dying. It just terrifies me to think of what my little ones would do. I mean, here we are, me pregnant, which just opens a HUGE can of worms for what could possibly happen, and my two little children who are not equipped to deal with having no parent around for them, even for a little while. I HATE that Trey is not here during the week! When people call me, if I don't answer, they think nothing of it. There is no one that I see everyday, and if I do, it's usually not till later, b/c we are NOT morning people. So, sure, someone would find me eventually, but how long would it be?

So, I've decided that tomorrow I will figure out a way to teach TJ how to call 911. I'm going to check out my phone and see if I can program it in to a certain button, which I will put a pic of TJ's face on to let him know what to push. Then we will practice what to do if something bad does happen. I have no expectation that he will understand or learn it all tomorrow, but I think it's time he start to learn, and that we pray he NEVER has to use the knowledge! I've also thought about asking my mom to try to kinda check-up on me in the later mornings when she can, and trying to make more plans earlier so people are expecting me. Lastly, I told Trey to hurry up and get the hell home! I hate not having him here, and this newfound paranoia is just making it worse!

So, tell me what you think about this? Have you ever had these thoughts before, or had a situation where you may have needed some back up plan? Did you teach your kids how to call 911 in an emergency, and have some good tips for me? How old were they, and how did it work? Any other ideas on how I can be prepared for an emergency situation?

Alright, enough for now. I'm going to make an attempt at going to bed now, although I don't see sleep coming for a while. I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

Oh, joy of all joys! I have INTERNET again! I thought I might die waiting, and was sure I'd have to wait till sometime next week. No, no, though, I am set to go!

Just for a quick update, the house is coming togther somewhat. I was going to organize more today, but then the UPS man came w/my bellsouth stuff, so I found it much more important to play with my computer than to work around the house. Surprised? I think not.

Yesterday we ran errands and got a lot done. I took Taryn for her one year checkup. She's slowed down on growing a bit. She's only in the 75% for height, and 50% for weight. Oh well. She passed her freaky vision test, and is good to go overall. The fun part, though, was when I asked the dr. about TJ and his walking on his tippy-toes, which he's done since day one. I've never cared how he walks, but people have started asking about it, and telling me they knew so-and-so who had physical therapy for that same thing once. So, I asked, and sure enough, she is now calling in a referral for me to start taking him to physical therapy, so as to curb the problem early and quickly. I honestly never thought it was a problem...great. I always just assumed that would make him a better ballet dancer! What sucks is that I was going to see about getting him into a gymnastics class, but I guess I'll pass since his feet may not appreciate all the work.

Trey's gone again. I never realized how much we'd miss him till he left for days at a time. Taryn would not let him leave her sight the whole time he was here, and while he's gone, the only word she'll say is "Da da". I was hoping she would be a Daddy's girl, but never in my life did I imagine that she would be so very attached to him! It was like I didn't even exist while he was here. It was cute! TJ, of course, is all still mine...well, at least when we're not in the pool!

Well, I've been on here long enough now. It took forever to try to figure out how to export my address book to my new email account! I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you again soon!

We moved. Thank goodness it's over...well, sorta...We have tons of stuff to unpack, and Trey's back at work already. So, it's just me now, and I have not only NO motivation to unpack, I have less than no motivation, if that's possible!

I am, however, in love with my new Dish Network, as I can watch stuff I DVR'd on all the tv's in the house. Too cool! Plus, it's tons cheaper than cable for the same thing. Happy, happy!

The house is already looking good, though. The living room is just coming together perfectly! There are these pics of cacti (is that plural right?) that I've had forever, and they never really went with the decor...and now they fit the living room perfectly! It's so great! The whole house just seems like it was built to hold my stuff! The playroom is awesome, and they love being in it, even w/o me!

Anyway, we're off to eat now. Haven't stopped doing since Monday. I'll be back soon when I get the internet back on at home, hopefully Monday coming. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you soon!

There are two men I love more than anything in this world. They are my true American Idols. It seems fitting to mention this today, being that it is Father's Day, and they are both fathers in my life.

The first is Trey. He is such a great guy in every way. He puts up with me and all of my strangeness, as well as my moods, and still keeps coming back for more everyday! He is a super dad to our children, and my only regret is that he can't spend more time with them. They adore him to death. He's obviously good in the bedroom, too, or chances are, I wouldn't keep spitting out these kids! I really love and appreciate his work ethic, and think that once the kids are old enough, they will learn a lot from it. I hate that he has to work so much, but he goes back, day in and day out, and does his best every single day, even w/o the much deserved recognition. Unlike me, who would call in if I was just feeling out of it, or if Trey said let's hang out, he won't even go in five minutes late...not even if I promise candy! He is a really hard worker, and it shows in the respect he garners from everyone around him. I even love him b/c we compliment each other so well. He's quiet, I'm not, it works. We're both sarcastic and have similar senses of humor, so we just get each other. I feel blessed to have met him, since he really is NOTHING like any guy I ever dated or even thought about dating before! What a catch! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, TREY!!!

The next is someone I doubt I've spoken much about on here, if at all. He's someone I've known my whole life, and whom I get a little choked up to even think about anymore. I found a picture of him today while packing that just made me want to cry. In the picture, which was taken about 8+ years ago, he was lucid and healthly looking, and had a great big smile on his face. I miss that in him. He was the funniest and smartest man I knew growing up, and I loved every minute I got to spend with him.

The "he" I speak of is my grandaddy. As some of you who know me already know, he is in the most extreme stage of Alzheimer's now, and it is not even possible to communicate with him anymore. I hate that I don't want to go to see him, but it just upsets me so much to see such a great man brought down by such a terrible disease.

In my life, I have never respected anyone as much as I respect Grandaddy. He was no high and mighty famous person, but to me, he did great things in his life, and had the wisdom to prove it. I mean, really, what else can I say about a man who raised my wonderful mommy, who then raised wonderful me? Ummm, look at me! Exactly. No really, though, he spent his life working in law enforcement. He was noble there, and in many other ways. He came from nothing, and managed to build a life where he had extras like a beach house, a time share, land in other states, nice cars, etc. He was extravagant by any means, but I'm sure if he'd wanted to be, he could have been (although at one point he did drive a Cadillac, back when that meant something!). He was a football star in high school, back when shoulder pads were about the equivalent of today's maxi pads, and when helmets were about the size of a Jewish yarmulke, so I know he was tough. He was even in newspapers, which was probably a much bigger deal then than it is now. Oh, and did I mention that my grandaddy was HOT?! I see why Grandma picked him, b/c she has good taste. I saw some pics of him when he was young, and man, did I come from good genes!

My favorite memories of Grandaddy are from when I was little. He would always grab my nose b/t his two first fingers, then stick his thumb through there and say he had my nose. Not sure why I loved it so much, but I did. He would also drive us around downtown Charleston and tell us all kinds of history from his firsthand knowledge. It was better than any tour you could ever pay for, and we got to go on these trips all the time! Another favorite, although scary, memory is riding in a car with him. He was a cop from the start, and even after he'd retired, he was still a cop at heart. He drove like a cop on a chase....ALL THE TIME! It was a tad bit terrifying, but at the same time, it was lots of fun...especially when he'd drive on the wrong side of the road! Great stuff!

I could go on for days about Grandaddy, but I'll stop here. It just pains me SO much to see such a wonderful man reduced to an Alzheimer's sufferer. I'm so very glad that Grandma loves him so much, and he's so lucky to have her, as she continues to keep him at home with her. I know Grandaddy doesn't understand it anymore, but HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, GRANDADDY!!!


Oh, and in case I didn't mention this before, either, our son will be named after Grandaddy. His name is Harry Braxton, so my baby will be named Braxton. After my mom and my brother and I, the only people left to carry on his name will be my children, as the rest of his family is gone. I only wish I could do more, and that baby Braxton would be able to get to know the great Grandaddy I grew up with.

I hope you have a great day, and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! We move tomorrow, so I might be out for a few days.

Two days before the big move. Today was reserved to be a day of packing, as I have put it off as long as humanly possible. So here's how my day went:

I met my friend Shawna, whose child I used to watch, at Finlay Park at 10 am. We took Jacob, whom I also used to watch, with us, and stayed there until 12 pm. When we got home at 12:30, I woke Trey up to play with TJ, and put Taryn down for a nap while I went down for a "rest".

Somewhere around 2:30 I woke up just in time to see Trey off to work. Undoubtedly, TJ had fallen asleep right after me, so Trey got to spend his awake time with, well, himself. Ummm, oops! TJ woke up at about 3, and Taryn followed at 3:15. So, my plans for getting lots of packing done while they slept were out, since I kinda slept while they were sleeping! Oops again!

We were all hungry, so I ordered pizza. I didn't want to get started on anything and have to stop to eat, so I waited to start till after the pizza came and we ate. Sometime around 4 I started packing. Taryn was so kind as to "help" me, so things went less than quickly. I did, however, manage to get all of the clean dishes packed. Now I just have to wash dishes and pack the rest of them. I also managed to get the stuff we aren't using in the bathroom packed, for the most part. So all was not lost.

Soon it was about 5:15, and I decided we needed a break. I've been promising Jacob's mom since it got hot out that we'd come over and swim in their pool. So, swim we did. We got home at 9:15. Needless to say, I didn't get much packing done (NONE) then, either.

Now, I'm trying to put TJ to bed, and I'm going to attempt to start packing the playroom. It shouldn't be too hard, since most everything in their has it's own holder already. Wish me luck. I'll need it. I'm plum tuckered out! So much for my idea of wearing out the kids so I could get more done, eh!

Have a great day, I'll see you soon! Can you believe I'll be moving in TWO DAYS???!!!

Like, I know it's true, but the sheer thought that my baby girl has been hangin' out in our world for a whole year now. Okay, so just get this, I was in a hospital bed just trying to fathom that that little tiny person I was holding was mine exactly a year ago today. Freaky, eh? HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY GIRL, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD!!!

She's done SOOOO much in such a short period of time, I swear it seems like she needs a few extra months before we can really call her a year old. She couldn't have done that much in just a year. Think about it:

She smiled at a month.
She rolled over somewhere in the month to two month area.
She sat up at four months.
She crawled at six months.
She WALKED at 8 1/2 months!
Somewhere in there she started saying Da-da, Ma-ma, Bub-bub, TJ, Na-na, Bo-bo, Bye-bye, Hi, Uh-oh, Dis (this), and just in the past week she started saying Go.
She waves Bye-bye, and shakes her head to say no.
She points when she wants something (matched, of course, with the most annoying whining sound you could ever imagine, but...).
She has managed to beat the crap out of her Bub-bub and MJ on more than one occasion for both, and totally beat Trey in a wrestling match.
She can throw things now, and very well I might add.
She ditched baby food at six or seven months in favor of real food, and has never looked back.
She ditched formula at 10 1/2 months, and chose milk (chocolate) instead, and also has never looked back.
She also ditched the bottle at 10 1/2 months, and doesn't even act like she wants it when she sees one.
She has popped out six teeth now, admittedly in a strange order, but they're there, and two more are on the way.
She has figured out how to take off her shoes and diapers, something her brother is still struggling with (shoes, that is).
She is equally as tall as her best friend Elise (whom I'm gonna miss so much!), who's almost a year older than her.
She climbs steps like they're nothing.
She jumps in pools like it's nothing.

Okay, I could go on for days, but I'm sure you get the point. The girl has grown, and in my opinion, wayyyy too much for just one year. My guess is that she will do the same next year, and I will be equally as freaked out. I'm sure I did the same for TJ, but really, that's not the point. I'm sure I'll do the same for Braxton, too. I just can't, and never will, get over it. Freaky, I tell ya!

So anyway, today we celebrated her birthday a little bit. We all told her happy birthday all day long, each time being greeted with a look of total confusion from Taryn. She got an adorable outfit from Shawna and Elise, which she will be wearing tomorrow. That totally made my day! She also picked out a My Little Pony the other day when we were at Wal-Mart, and Trey lovingly brushed its hair for her this morning. He also got her a tiny little cake, which we took up to his restaurant this evening. We had them all come and sing 'Happy Birthday' to her and TJ (Trey) blew out the candle for her. She then proceeded to eat the candle. When I took it away, she scream-cried as loudly as she possibly could, b/c she could see that the restaurant had just gotten busy, and wanted to make sure to embarrass her mommy as much as humanly possible. Once she finally got to eating the cake, she was very clean about it overall, which surprised the hell out of me, but did save me the trouble of changing her clothes! We then topped off our celebrations by going to the playground for a while, where I let her run free (with me a couple steps behind, of course). I'm sure she's sleeping peacefully now, dreaming happy dreams of all of her adventures from today and just being excited to be a whole year old...right?

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you soon.

It's over, I quit. This is the end for me. I won't be doing this again...




And really, you can't blame me. I can not have another baby, and I won't even be trying (that means, not even "accidentally" getting pregnant). This will surely be the last kid I have. By have, I mean give birth to. Honestly, I hope it's not the last kid I have. In my future, I really hope to be able to either adopt kids in need, or become foster parents for kids in need. That, however, will have to remain on the back burner until my own kids have grown up a bit, and we are able both financially and mentally.

Anyway, back to this baby. The last one. This news, I'm sure, will come as a happy thrill to at least some people in my life who are still wondering why I'm even having a third. I will admit that a while back I watched a clip of a news show about a family that had 16 or 17 kids. While I was watching it, I was trying to figure out how I could make something like that work, and if I thought I was up to the challenge. I really didn't, and still don't, want 16 kids, but I see families with five kids work fine all the time. Five isn't that bad. So the thought has crossed my mind...

However, it won't be happening. Now, I'll admit, this baby is a little sooner than he should have been. I don't think my body had time to quite get over Taryn. I was just noticing my hair going back to normal when I found out I was prego. So I know that that fact is not helping matters anyway. I had a hard pregnancy with Taryn, though, and she came two years after TJ was born, which I think is a pretty good amount of recoup time. This pregnancy is even harder already. Not only have I felt completely blah and out of it, but I am in pain any and everywhere in my body that I can have pain. I waddle around during the days in pain, and I'm just barely showing! I'm not sleeping well, my inner thighs hurt like I was in an 18 hour orgy, and I was the main event, my head hurts constantly, and now even my wrists hurt from using them to pick my heavy self up! I like to sit on the floor and play with the little people, but lately, I sit with them only when necessary, and I have no want to pay them the least bit of attention. It sucks. TJ has started having "accidents" and peeing everywhere but in the toilet, and I think it's b/c he's not getting anything but attention for the bad stuff he does lately. Thank God for Trey and his helping out when he's home, but what on earth am I going to do starting next week when he's gone five days a week?

I'm hoping that once we move, things will calm down a little. I won't have to watch people's kids anymore, and I won't have to worry about the move anymore, either. I figure once we settle in, and get some sort of routine down, my mind might come back again. I hope! Anyway, what I was getting at is that having these kids has killed my body. Before I had TJ, I never had any troubles (well, except headaches), and ever since I had him, I've now had a bad hip that's gotten progressively worse with each child. There's more, but I won't bore you with the details. So, I've decided that my time after Nov. will be spent taking care of the three little people that I have already, and not making anymore.

Well, I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

Okay, so Gina was raving about The Family Stone the other day, and I decided that I'd have to see it, especially since I wanted to see it anyway. She said it was a tearjerker. I also heard it had its share of laughs. Well, those are the most vague comments on a movie, EVER!

Ummm, my assumption was that someone would die at the end, and I would cry, having gotten to know and love said person throughout the movie. I had no intention of crying less than halfway through the movie, and feeling so defensive for such a mistreated character. You would have thought I was in her place I was so upset! I will say that, although it wasn't nearly as bad as this movie, the whole family treatment did remind me of when I first met Trey's family and they hadn't yet warmed up to me. As far as laughs go, there is NO way you could call this a comedy at all. Like, there were a few little laughs here and there, but overall, this was a total drama and a half.

Oh, but I really, really liked it! I would highly recommend this movie for anyone. Trey fell asleep during the first time we watched it b/c he was so tired, and it wasn't the fast, loud movie he's used to (he saw Cars this afternoon w/TJ). However, when he woke back up and saw me bawling my eyes out, he wanted to watch it again. So, here we sit at 12:46 am, and the second showing has just now finished. Such a great movie. Really.

Oh, and speaking of Cars, Trey, and TJ of course, really liked it, too. I won't go into details, since I really don't know any that well having not seen it. However, I will say that I asked Trey why he had said earlier that the ending was not what he'd expected, and he told me basically the whole movie plot (it took about half an hour). He was very animated during this telling, and remembered it very well. He made sure to tell me every joke that he found hilarious, as did the other parents in the theater. Mind you now, if you know anything about Trey, he is very to the point (not at ALL like me), and rarely tells details on anything. When I asked about the ending, I totally expected an answer such as, "Cause it was different. The car won." Something to that effect. So I'm still pretty much in shock that he went into so much detail. Says a lot about the movie. TJ also told me about it, and was able to stay awake and entertained for almost a two hour movie. So I definitely say go check it out if you feel the inkling. I think Trey highly recommends the tractor-tipping and the Piston Cup joke.

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm kinda tired, and I still have to wind down and fall asleep. I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

Oh, we were, weren't we?

Anyway, I think I'll be very surprised if this baby doesn't come out with brain damage. Yeah, so I probably said that about Taryn, too, but TJ was over a year younger when I was prego w/her, and not nearly as strong. Plus, he didn't have a sudden love of ramming his head into my stomach. Or did he?....My mom didn't have a pool then, and thus, he didn't have the opportunity to push himself off of my stomach as hard as he could everytime he came near me, which is a LOT. Wish this poor kid luck!

Oh, hey, speaking of Tj in the pool...we were, weren't we? Did I tell you about last week yet? My mom and I went out to the pool with the cheerin', and while we were getting Taryn in her float (which takes a small army), TJ decided he'd go ahead and hop on in on his own. He's barely tall enough now that he can hop up and down and stay above water in the shallow end, but it had rained, and the water level was a lot higher that day. Somehow my mom and I failed to notice him getting in, and for a few seconds it was pretty quiet (so something MUST be wrong, b/c TJ is NEVER quiet for seconds on end!). I looked over beside my mom to see what he was up to, and, lo and behold, he was below the water, trying desperately to pull himself up above it. I, in my panicked mom way, screamed, "GET 'IM! GET 'IM!" Thank goodness my mom was about a foot away from him in the water (I was out of the pool), and grabbed him right up. I died yet again that day. I must be a cat. Anyway, I'm very proud of him, b/c once he had calmed down and stopped crying, he put his swimmy arm floats on and hopped right back in. I had to hold him for a bit, but after about five or ten minutes, we started playing shark. We went to grab Mimi, and as he was reaching for her, I turned and swam away. Before he realized I was gone, he was swimming fine again, and it was like nothing had ever happened. Of course, now he tells the story to everyone, and it's cute. My son, the tough little survivor. Even now, a week later, he was jumping about four feet into the water w/o a care. That kid scares me!

Oh, and on the baby front again...b/c that's what we were talking about, right? Gina got dibs on the bouncer, and I won't argue there...:) I called my sis-in-law, and she said sure thing I could have the swing. Like, cool, huh! I figured out the only thing other than some clothes and food and diapers kinda stuff I'll need now is a carseat. That's not a big deal, though. He'll be in the carrier for a few months. We actually have an extra carseat right now, but it sucks. It was the first one I got for TJ, and he and I hated it. The straps would always get twisted, no matter how hard you tried to keep them straight, and you could just tell it wasn't comfy for him. Soooo, if push comes to shove, the little guy can use that one for a while. However, what I want to get is a new one for Taryn, and he can have her old one. The one she has now is a Britax Roundabout, and I absolutely LOVE it. Britax makes the best, most comfy, not twisty-strapped, safest, coolest looking carseats ever. Of course, if you know anything about them, they also make them a bit more costly than other carseats...but they are well worth the extra expense, and will outlast any other carseat you buy, thus in the end making them cheaper somehow. Anyway, the one I want for Taryn's replacement is a Britax Marathon, Ashley Floral print, which holds a bit more weight and height, thus lasting that much longer, and looks awesome. You should go and check it out. I figure we'll have a little time to save up for it, especially since we won't really have to buy anything else major. Cool, huh? I'm so excited!

Okay, I think I ran on enough now. I hope you have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

Now that I'm almost to the moving time, and I've found out what I'm having, I have to warn you that this blog may just have a little more focus on coming babies than before. It's kinda like until you see that ultrasound and the little guy in your tummy, you really just can't believe he's there. Now that I've seen him, I'm so into this.

So, anyway, I'm a little excited b/c I dragged Trey to the baby store w/me on Tuesday, and I showed him the bouncer and swing I want for this baby. Those are the only two things I can think of that I got rid of, and that will need to be replaced. I was surprised and thrilled to find that he likes the same ones! Hooray! Would you like to see them? Well, okay then...Here they are:

The Fisher Price Sensory Selections Bouncer

It's got all kinds of bells and whistles, which is great, I suppose. I really just liked how it was tilted back a little, not the case with my last one, so the baby couldn't fall forward. Once I saw it in the store, I loved the way it bounced. Trey put Taryn in it, and although she was way too big for it, she loved it, too. She saw one when we went to Target yesterday and went nuts trying to get me to put her in it again! Speaking of Target, they have both the swing and bouncer I want there, and they are about $5-10 less than at Babies R Us, so perhaps I will have to get them there.

The Fisher Price Aquarium Take-Along Swing™

It is imperative that I have something portable, and why not have it be a swing? This is the swing I wanted for Taryn, but found a good deal on one that was okay at TotTrade. However, I didn't much care for that one. It burned out the batteries really quickly, and the swing would get away from whatever it was making it swing, and it would just click like it was swinging w/o actually doing anything. Plus, I like how the handle on this one is across the top, as opposed to on the sides like the one I had. Trey's brother had this one for his kids (and I totally plan on asking them if they still have it and if so, if we can have it), and they loved it. Plus, I really like the little fishies on the sides. So cute!

Anyway, I guess that's about it. Not much else going on here. We move in a little over a week, and I don't know if I'm going to make it or not I'm so excited! I hope you all have a great day, and I'll see you soon!

And God said, "IT IS A BOY. (you know, His voice is always booming and forceful)"

Okay, so it wasn't quite like that. Actually, the visit went more like this:

"Mommy, what is she putting on your belly?"
"Whhhaaaaaaa!!!!!"
"Taryn, be quiet. TJ, that's goo. It's warm."
"Whhhhaaaaaa!!!!!"
time passes, where it is spent trying to overhear the ultrasound lady, trying to understand what in the world is in the picture, wondering if she's gonna do the color thing again (she didn't, mean ol' woman!), telling Taryn to hush, and telling TJ to sit down...
TJ gets up and tries to climb on the bed I'm on to see the baby closer. He's very, very interested in the new baby, and very interested in the pictures...well, at least until he gets bored with not knowing what we're looking at. I don't blame him, I was a bit bored, too.
"Whhhhaaaaaaa!!!!!"
"She wants to get up there with you, Christi."
"Well, she can't, she'll get all in the goo."
"This is the head."
"Oh, really? That's cool. Taryn, get down!"
"I can't get her to stay still!"
"Mommy, what's that on the tv?"
"That's his spine, TJ. No, Taryn, you can't get up here."
"Well, his measurements are good. He will be due November 4th still. We usually don't do ultrasounds until 20 weeks, and you're only at 18, so it's making this a little harder."
"Oh, sorry. Trey, can't you just put her on the floor or something? TJ, sit down. We can't walk around right now."
etc., etc....you get the picture...

Anyway, it's a boy! His first name will be Braxton, not Brock (Trey). The middle name is still up in the air, and we're pretty sure we'll stick with Pitchford for the last name. To celebrate the news, as I have done with all of my babies now, I went out tonight and bought him some clothes. It was so much fun! Of course, I made the mistake of taking Trey, who was in a grumpy ol' mood, so it wasn't as fun as it could have been. Oh well...

Anyway, that's the news for now. Hope you're all having a great day, and I'll see you soon!

Do you know who's hot? Jeffrey Dean Morgan...oh yeah! I'm so sad that he's dead (Denny, on Grey's Anatomy), but now I know he'll be in movies and shows, so I can at least look forward to that. Oh, but just look at those eyes....Ahhhhhhh.....I could stare forever.......



I don't know if I pointed this out yet or not, but our move date has changed. We are now moving a week earlier, on June 19th, and I am SOOOOO excited! I suppose I should start packing or something, eh? Just think, that's two weeks from now. Oh, don't you want to just jump up and down and do a little dance just thinking about it? Go ahead. That's right...feel free. I'm cool with it...

No real news on the homefront. Just here at my mom's working on files. We might go swimming later. Fun stuff...

Okay, talk at you later. Have a great day!

I have come to the conclusion that children are just blatant examples of what they will become when they grow up. Okay, like, think about it:

Kids are notorious for suddenly wanting whatever another kid is playing with. It doesn't matter that the toy or whatever hasn't been touched in years, the very second another kid picks it up and enjoys it, that toy suddenly becomes coveted property and must be had by the other kid. It's no different with adults. Someone, somewhere, someday, says that long, pointy-toed dress shoes are the in thing. Up to the point that they became the in thing, they were thought of as witches shoes or whatever. Now, suddenly, they must be had by everyone so that their feet will look longer and more slender, and it supposedly lengthens the leg (I watched What Not to Wear tonight, can you tell?). It's no different, really. Some of the fads that come around, I really have to wonder about who made them popular. It all comes down to some kid seeing that another kid is enjoying what he's got, and wanting the same thing. Shit, if you think about it, I know some people who have coveted entire lives of others and strive to have other people's entire life make-ups. Man, they must have been the kids on the playground that were really snatching up some toys!

Speaking of taking other kids' toys, children show their personalities in that way, too. Take, for instance, the kids I watch. Admittedly, they all pretty much see what they want and do everything in their power to take it away from the other kid, but they do it in such different ways, it's interesting to watch. There's MJ, who will come and shove you out of the way while snatching the toy away from you. My favorite, although believe me, it does not amuse me at all, is when she will come and sit on the toy the kid (usually Taryn, since she's smaller than her) is playing with, and scoot back until the kid is completely pushed away from it, then take off with it. Then there's Taryn. She comes and grabs it, and slowly pulls as hard as she can on the toy. If she's not successful in a matter of seconds in attaining said toy, she screams and cries until either the other kid gives it up, or someone comes and pries (literally) her little fingers off of it. No sitting on things for her, though. TJ will come and snatch the toy and turn his back so the other kid can't see it anymore. Yeah, like they suddenly think it just completely disappeared right out of their hands! J, MJ's' brother, will just snatch it and play with it in your face. Then, when forced to return said toy, will throw it with all the strength he has as far away from the kid as possible. So, sure, they all pretty much just grab the toys, but really, they all do it a little differently. I'm sure I could go on for days analyzing what each way means, but really, I think I've lost you already! I have noticed, though, that some ways are much more bullying than others (w/o naming names, of course), and I'm very sure that that translates into how the kids will be when they get bigger. What always makes me at least a little bit happy is that when TJ sets his mind out to get your toy, he thinks ahead and makes sure to bring another one to switch it out with so you'll still be happy. I just know that will bode well for him one day, right!

So, really, I'm sure it was complete common sense that kids are what they will be. Uh, DUH! I dunno, I just think it's fun to watch them and how differently they do things, and try to figure out what that translates to in their personalities. Like, w/TJ, I think back to some of the ways he was when he was little, and see, already, how those little things are showing his later big personality. I remember he used to run to his Nana whenever KK would do something wrong (mind you, the same stuff he did wrong before), and even before he could talk, would get her to come and discipline her. Now, he makes sure that I ALWAYS know when someone else is doing something wrong, and that they are properly disciplined for their wrongdoing. I kinda see him being a bit of a goody-goody teacher's pet kinda kid. Not Taryn, though. I mean, she's not old enough yet to really understand wrong from right, but man, when she finds something she thinks is fun, she will drag someone else to it and show them so they can have fun, too. I think she'll be the kind that sees someone doing something wrong, and will join in instead of telling on them! Boy, won't TJ have a ball with that! Of course, that also means I'll probably have a TON of fun on my hands when she gets older, eh! It's just so much fun to make these hypotheses, and later on I get to see how right I was.

Okay, really, I'm gonna go ahead and cut it now. Look, just go to the comment button and write something like, "Oh, I like that show, What not to wear." That way, I'll know you at least read the first couple of paragraphs (or maybe just looked for the italicized words!). I'll see you soon, and I hope you have a great day...

Well, we all make mistakes...

I wasn't really thinking when I cut his hair yesterday, and I didn't think the bare clippers would make it that short (um hem, bald), and once I'd made that first line, that was the end of that! Oh well. It grows back very quickly. Everyone says they like it, and that it's the perfect summer haircut. TJ has no idea what it looks like, and could care less. My mom says he's her little Marine grandson, high and tight! As he was barking out orders to us yesterday, he looked just like a drill sergeant! So it's not that bad, but I don't much care for it. I can't wait for his pretty hair to grow back!

Oh, and let me tell you, it's hard as hell to cut hair straight when your little three year old moves his head everytime you get near his ear!

Hey, read this email a friend sent me. It's perplexing and neat:

Do you like to read a good murder mystery? Not even Law and Order would
attempt to capture this mess. This is an unbelievable twist of fate!!!!
At the 1994 annual awards dinner given for Forensic Science, AAFS
President Dr. Don Harper Mills astounded his audience with the legal
complications of a bizarre death. Here is the story:

On March 23, 1994....... the medical examiner viewed the body of
Ronald Opus, and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the
head. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending
to commit suicide.

He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency. As he fell
past the ninth floor, his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast
passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the
shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed
just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and
that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the
way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "Someone who sets out to commit
suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be
what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr. Opus
was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been
successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to
feel that he had a homicide on his hands.

The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was
occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously,
and he was threatening her with a shotgun! The man was so upset that
when he pulled the trigger, he completely missed his wife, and the
pellets went through the window, striking Mr. Opus. When one intends to
kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of
the murder of subject "B."

When confronted with the murder charge, the old man and his wife were
both adamant, and both said that they thought the shotgun was not
loaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his
wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her.
Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is,
assuming the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old
couples son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal
accident..

It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support
and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun
threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would
shoot his mother.

Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the
murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger. The case now
becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald
Opus.

Now comes the exquisite twist... Further investigation revealed that
the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent
over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This
led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be
killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.

The son, Ronald Opus, had actually murdered himself. So the medical
examiner closed the case as a suicide.

A true story from Associated Press.

I'd love to see that on CSI!