Today - Our Little Valentine

Can't type much w/ 1 hand so I will reply to everyone later.

From February Blog

He's HEEEEEEEEERRE!

Captain was born yesterday afternoon, February 13, at 4:27pm. Contractions woke me up at 5:00 AM but were kinda off and on all day. In fact, at 2:30 PM, Henry and I were out walking the dog for a little while trying to get things REALLY going. I think I had 3 contractions on the walk but felt a little defeated wishing things would hurry up. At 3:15ish, I had a MEGA-contraction. And from that point on, they didn't stop. I'm SOOOO glad he's here (and labor is done! WHEW! Those fast ones are doozies!)

Ain't he darling?

He weighed 7lbs, 14oz, our smallest by far! (Ray was 9lbs 1oz, Indie was 8lbs 10oz, Rocky was 9lbs 8oz, He-Man was 9lbs 7oz!) He was 20 1/4 inches long. He's nursing great and hardly makes a peep! I'm doing great, too and am just so thankful for the blessings God bestows on our family.

Y'all will have more pictures than you care to see in the near future but here's a few from yesterday.

From February Blog

From February Blog

From February Blog

Nothing To See Here

No. No baby. No labor. No signs of labor. Just waiting.

Sigh.

It is amazing how illogical I can be when I am on the receiving end of the waiting game. It always made perfect sense for me to encourage Moms who were still a week away from their due date when I was a doula but there's something about the readiness to see your OWN child that makes all the waiting seem excrutiating.

We went to the mall today to take a walk. It was decided to be a stupid idea and didn't last an entire corridor. WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE! It was unbelievable. No more Saturday mall trips for me. I'll stick to my morning/early afternoon weekday trips from now on. Where do these people come from??

And not that anyone cares or has even noticed, but I'm enjoying my thick, luxurious hair. You might have heard the old wives' tale that your hair grows thicker during pregnancy but that's not exactly what happens. In actuality, a shift in hormones just stops you from SHEDDING. This hair-retention is an illusion of growing thicker hair. And it only started happening for me about a month or so ago. Normally, I shed BIG time. Wads of hair in the shower after a wash, wads of hair in the brush after a groom, wads of hair on the counter after a blow-dry, wads of hair on my clothes from the course of the day... And all of that has STOPPED! I love it! And in the last couple of days I've enjoyed the feeling of the thick hair. It reminds me of my youth :) Ah....the days when a ponytail holder struggled to hold up my mane...I can almost feel those big marbles snapping their rubberbands and injuring my fingernails... Even though my hair isn't THAT thick, I do like the way it feels on my shoulders and back.

I dread the idea of the mega-shed that will occur in a few months. It will be miserable.

Pray for labor after 3:00 Sunday afternoon. That's when Henry will be singing at my great-uncle's funeral and THEN we will be ready for this baby to make his appearance.

I've never been past my due date before so the probability of us having a baby this week is pretty good! Isn't that exciting? :)

If You Are Pregnant And Don't Have A Chiro...

Shame on you!

Today's chiro visit focused on getting baby in good position, instead of focusing on my own spine, although the two go hand-in-hand. After a few little adjustments I feel amazingly better! My right cheek (sciatic nerve) is no longer a pain issue and my belly button is poking out again! I think little Captain is in a much better position now than even after my earlier morning exercises. I feel goooooood!

We'll continue working on positioning until birth but I have to tell you pregos... Get yourself a chiro to take care of you! You'll thank me later!

Lord, No More Please...

No, I'm not complaining about the number of children I have or even the number of days I have left in this pregnancy. Instead, I'm begging God to let me done with Walmart for a long while. I'm hoping that I have everything I need to get us through meals from now until Captain's arrival. Anything else (toilet paper, toothpaste etc.) can be picked up by Henry or someone else. And hopefully, I can wiggle my way out of doing the first post-Captain shopping trip with Henry being off work for a little while.

We're still in waiting mode. Less than two weeks left, though! It's so hard to believe! But I am ready. I have pretty much done everything that just HAD to be done. There are a couple of issues still on the horizon (a dinner date with friends and "shopping night" for workers of the consignment sale -- we shop early without the crowds and before things get picked over...) but I'm mostly where I can have the baby without worrying too much about other responsibilities.

A fear of a posterior-positioned baby was put to ease a little bit today. After a position check by my lovely caregiver, it was confirmed that he's not truly posterior (facing my belly button instead of my back.) His backbone is slightly farther to the left (from my vantage point) of my belly button than "perfect" but it's certainly nothing to be fretting over. We were still able to hear his heartbeat through his back without a problem. True posterior babes are hard to find a heartbeat because their backs are so far away from Mom's belly.

So we worked on a couple of exercises to influence an even better position and it seemed to have already helped. I also scheduled an extra chiropractor appointment for this afternoon to continue with what we're working on. We want him to be JUST RIGHT for that time when he decides he's not moving any more -- except to come out. (Indie was a posterior labor and birth and they are NOT fun!)

I'm working on quarterly reports (due soon) for homeschooling stuff and I'm getting some gifts documented so I can get started on Thank You notes. Y'all, I have some of THE BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WORLD! Cloth diapers and PLUS...goodness...who could ask for more?? LOL! OH, and my sister gave us a Captain Jack Sparrow keychain and my best friend S gave him an incredible blue baseball t-shirt that says "Carribbean Pirates" on the front and "Sparrow" with the number "1" on the back!! I couldn't believe she found it! We also got a diaper bag and a baby book, two things I needed that I only remembered recently! And then I have the dear friends and family who believe so sweetly that Captain should have at least SOME clothes that aren't hand-me-downs nd they totally set him up for being a sharp-dressed-man!

Did y'all know this past weekend was a full moon? I'm SO glad I didn't! I'd have been thinking about it entirely too much and probably wouldn't have gotten anything accomplished :)

Belly Shot - Almost 38 Weeks

From February Blog

Post-AI Post

Well, I must say that I am pleased with the way Alabama was presented. And I love that the first gal was from Auburn :)

I think those judges had more fun here than anywhere else they've been. Good ol' Southern Hospitality paid off! And I think the "thank you" bit was awesome!

Yes, I know that there were probably more golden tickets given for non-Bama folks than Bama folks but it's cool to know that if any of them actually succeed in this competition that there will always be a connection to our great state.

I REALLY liked the Jack Black Osborne dude by the way. He was great!

One More Thing...

Before I forget...

For anyone interested in watching the "Bama Loves Bob" crew sit in the audience during The Price Is Right, set your DVRs, Tivos, VCRs, whatever, for THIS THURSDAY morning, February 1st. Check your local listings for times :)

Dedicated

I sure felt like a Mom dedicated to her unborn child today while I was out hoofing it around the block in way-too-cold weather. I'm such a whimp in these freezing temps! My ears were killing me and my lips were numbed to a point of not speaking clearly. But since walking is SO important for optimal fetal positioning, I toughed it out. (But not without complaining a little!)

My out-of-the-womb children didn't seem to mind it at all, though. They stayed outside on the trampoline, even if only for a short while, after our walk. Crazy youth! The dog was no dummy, however. She followed at my heels, all the way into the coziness of the house.

********

Speaking of "dedicated," I know many of y'all out there are just as into American Idol as we are. I haven't said anything about it here yet but with them airing the Birmingham version tonight, I thought I should give at least a little shout-out about it. I'm very confused, though...all ads for tonight's episode lead us to believe that Birmingham was an audition stop just like all others around the U.S. whereas I was lead to believe by local media that B'ham was a last-minute add-on stop and that Ryan Seacrest was the only one of the celebrities in attendance the day of the auditions. But commercials certainly imply that Randy, Paula, and Simon are watching auditions in Idolville, AL. I'm wondering if maybe the BIG auditions (where footage is shot on the massive crowds outside the civic center) are used to whittle down the contestants to only those that are worthy of airing. Maybe the Big 3 Judges are then called in later?? Or maybe they were here in Bama all along and our local media coverage goofed or was lied to?

Anyone understand the process?? JD, do you know more about how this works? I'd really like to know from someone because I'm confused.

Here's to hoping that Alabama isn't too embarrassed after tonight's episode.

(Wondering, too if I'll see anyone I know...)

Can't Have A Baby Yet

Too much going on. I wish you could see the email my Mom sent me tonight. LOADED with too much stuff that's happening right now. Whew.

Thankfully, I don't think birth is happening any time too soon. But I'm not stupid. I know it can happen any ol' time. Not up to me.

My friend Suzanne had a baby this morning, by the way! CONGRATULATIONS! So happy for her and the family!

*****

Walking is such a good thing. These past few PRETTY days called me out for a nice, much-needed, walk. I really don't have a lot of get-up-and-go on dreary (and definitely not COLD) days so it has been really easy to let my big belly make excuses for me. But the nice days (especially Friday & Saturday) beckoned me out for a stroll. And those walks did a world of good. I know they helped little Captain get positioned in a much more comfortable way because I have been feeling really good today.

I'm interested in watching my shape, though because my belly button isn't poking out any more and the previously tight spot in the low-mid-section of my tum has gotten flabby, implying that there isn't a baby part there any more. I wonder if his little head is working his way into my pelvis?? I don't feel a discomfort with that idea yet but I definitely look a little different.

I need to take at least one more belly shot soon.....writing that down.

The girls laughed and laughed tonight while feeling their brother kick around in my tummy. He was showing off pretty good for them and they would just squeal with delight over being able to feel his little feet push against their hands.

Can't wait to see you, Captain!

Couldn't Find The Right Onomatopoeia

(It was very difficult for me to find the correct spelling for this word because if you google misspelled versions, other people out there in the world wide web have misspelled it the same way. Thankfully I remembered correctly enough to finally find the right way.)

I was trying to title this entry with a great little word to describe the way I have been feeling the last couple of days. "Ugh" and "oy" came to mind but they just didn't quite encompass the emotion of my poor bod.

It seems to have happened overnight. I believe I have gained 100 pounds, all in my belly, and have swallowed some sort of giant stone that thrusts my belly button out into a whacky misshapen hump that pulls so tightly at my sides that I feel as if I might burst. God's plan to prepare a woman for labor works quite well when He allows a completely lovely pregnancy to be attacked in such a way in the end. Last week I would have said, "Hmm, I'm in no hurry to have this baby. I feel good and still have some things to get done around the house before he gets here so there's definitely no need to rush." NOW I am fiercely trying to obey my nesting instinct and get this home ready for a new baby because I am READY for labor to commence. And JUST LIKE THAT ("snap") God's plan falls into place. How else could we be willing to deal with the work that labor entails if we weren't driven to a point of "ugh" and "oy" during the preceding weeks?

This is all familiar, though. I just can't believe it's here already.

I missed church last night because of this lump & pain. Captain is getting a little peeved at the tight quarters or something and is choosing to stretch out his complaints in a very attention-grabbing way. His largeness is causing moments of pain along the lower back pelvis region. If I was a first time Mom, I might fear these to be contractions but I am quite certain they are not. They don't feel like contractions and don't last for sufficient periods of time. They are just doses of reality that the time is nearing.

In addition to the low back stuff, I also get this really uncomfortable sensation on the front side where fists and elbows make their mark. It's no fun. And the every-30-minute-middle-of-the-night-bathroom-calls? DOUBLE-UGH!

Thankfully, the pains subside when I lie down to rest. And they don't last forever when I'm upright...just in phases. It's very positional and when Boy Baby is in the right position, I am fine. He even gets in a few naps and allows me a normal day. But when he gets restless in the afternoon and evenings..."ugh" and "oy..."

A trip to the chiropractor this afternoon held off the discomfort until a little later in the day.

And because I need to get to bed, I won't be making many efforts to smooth out the transitions in subject-changes.

The reason we ended up going to the chiro today instead of my regular Wednesday is because He-Man put his fingers in the automatic sliding door of the van. Three fingers were smashed. He seemed fine after the initial yowl but I wanted an x-ray anyway. THANK YOU LORD for an x-ray machine at the chiro. MUCH faster service and with less germs than your conventional pediatrician or doc-in-a-box office.

No breaks! YAY! I was pretty confident that would be the result but I feel better knowing for sure.

Warning - another change of subject, but at least I'm following somewhat of a segue...

Fingers :)

The girls have started back to piano lessons. OK, Indie has started BACK (took lessons last year) and Ray has just STARTED (took guitar lessons last year instead of piano.) We have found an AWESOME teacher in our neck of the woods and they have been going to her house the past few weeks. I'm VERY proud of their progression. Talented little boogers, I tell ya!

Eyes burning, back aching. Must sleep.

More later!

A Movie Quote I Can Relate To

"My back hurts, my leg hurts...I'm only 4" (weeks away!)

Anyone care to name that movie??

One Of The Most Bizarre Versions Of "Sweet Home Alabama" I've Ever Seen

This makes me smile :)
By the Leningrad Cowboys

There's Nothing To Disclose But...

I just wanted to warn y'all who are super-curious about impending labor/birth, that this forum will NOT be a full-disclosure blog about all physical occurrences I am experiencing. It's tempting at times but I have learned that it is MUCH better to keep such changes to oneself so as not to have a phone ringing off the hook with everyone or ANYone thinking that "experience A + B = labor."

So, before I get to that point, I just wanted to make it clear that even though I am almost officially into "nesting mode" and that even though it's almost impossible for me to even think about anything EXCEPT this growing belly and its passenger, I will be working very hard to protect myself from too many questions from others.

Can I get an "amen, sistuh" from others that understand!?

With all of that said, however, I probably won't be able to keep myself from talking at least a little bit about how these last weeks are going. For example, I am at that stage of experiencing, at least once a day, the "my belt is too tight" feeling. You know the one where you wish you could unbutton your pants or let your belt out a notch or two.....but there are no clothing articles or accessories causing the discomfort. It's just that little boy of ours squirming and pressing and making me feel mighty tight in the midsection.

I will also say that the frequency of trips to the bathroom are getting annoying. I've always prided myself (rightly or wrongly) in having a steel bladder and it's very frustrating to need to visit la toilette as often as is necessary these days.

And when I say I'm nesting, that basically means that I'm ready to do nothing but stay home and get it straightened up. It is a huge mess and I'm ready to just BE HERE. I still have a small number of to-dos that will prevent me from becoming a hermit but whenever possible, I WILL be at home. And sometimes when I am home, my feet will be up. And always when my feet are up, I will be thankful!

Psalm 139:1-6 (NLT)
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

A Funny From He-Man

Sorry. I know this probably falls in the "too much info" category but I just had to share.

Minutes ago while He-Man was doing his business on the potty...

"Mom! When you get 3 and I get 32, then I can wipe YOUR hiney!"

Late Night / Late Morning / Late Night Cycle

Last night, Henry & I stayed up to watch the last episode (2-hour finale) of LOST-Season 2. We now have to find a good way to watch the first 6 episodes of Season 3 on the Internet before the remainder of Season 3 airs, starting in February. WE LOVE THIS SHOW!

So we started last night's DVD pretty late after coming home from a friend's birthday party and getting He-Man back from my Mom and Dad's. (quick side story - I think He-Man is smarter than we give him credit -- and we give him lots of credit -- but I think he might have figured out that if he didn't spend the night with my parents last night that he would have me and Henry all to himself. He got to sleep with us and everything. And he giggled like his planned worked! That little stinker....OH -- and he patiently waited for and recognized a kick from Captain for the first time. He had felt kicks before but wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Last night he just laughed and laughed and wanted to do it again and again. It was so sweet!)

Allright -- back to the rundown:

After starting the DVD pretty late, we didn't turn off the lights until after 1:00. That's not a non-pregnant late hour but these days, that nearly kills me. So after staying up so late, I had to sleep in. I was able to snooze until nearly 10! It was awesome!

The rest of the morning was spent coordinating pick-up times of the two homes that housed my other 3 children. Henry took He-man to get them all picked up while I stayed home to get ready for a wedding. Our original intent was to have all 6 of us go to the wedding together but we decided against it since all the kids were post-sleepover.

At the wedding, I BURNED UP. It was doggone hot today! But I am not complaining. I just don't have the biggest variety of maternity clothes to wear for crazy weather swings. So I actually loved today's weather and would love to duplicate it for most of the year, I just wasn't properly dressed for it.

So, as sad and embarrassing as it is to admit this, my sweaty pits actually lead me to skip the reception and get back home. The heat drained me and I didn't really want to stay in my black tights and long-sleeve shirt any longer.

Thankfully the wedding was beautiful and very, very sweet. I'm glad I went. AND I got to see Michelle! (Sorry I didn't see you afterwards to say bye!)

After getting back home and in some lazy clothes, I took the ol' Dixter for a walk. Bless her heart, she had already been played to a worn-out state while I was gone. The kids were with her outside all afternoon and Henry cut the grass, which makes her run around like a wild-child. So when I put her on the leash, she happily went with me but kept her pace nice and slow...which is exactly what I needed today, too!

Oh how I waddle these days. And babe really isn't that low yet (meaning he hasn't dropped. He's low cuz he's #5 but his (thankfully) head-down position is actually making the biggest discomfort near my ribs). But I feel like I'm carrying a bowling ball in my torso 24/7 and that gets a little tiring, ya know? The walk was good, though and I'm really going to be dilligent about it in these next few weeks. He-Man wasn't in prime position when I went into labor with him and I just don't want to repeat that scenario this go 'round. Therefore I will be taking frequent visits to the chiro and will be walk, walk, walking.

Today's 70ish temp was WAY better than the bitter cold of a few days ago, though. I only took a 1/2 walk earlier this week when my ears became numb from the wind. Dixie didn't like it either.

Now I'm sitting here KNOWING I need to hit the sack but am blogging instead. Part of that cycle I guess. Not good considering that we have to be at church early tomorrow so that Donnie can be prepared to sing.

I will close after saying that the situation that prompted my Ugh post has improved greatly. I know a great deal of the improvement is because of the prayers of my child and her repentant heart. I've been so thankful for it.

Romans 5:3-5 (New Living Translation)
"3We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Ugh.

Reality: My children are getting older.
Reality Check: Not everything they say and do is adorable.

Reality: Childhood mistakes sometimes become bigger as the child gets bigger.
Reality Check: More people are affected by bigger mistakes.

Reality: Talking about the mistakes of older children starts to creep in on privacy and respect issues of the child.
Reality Check: This issue being dealt with in the house right now makes me WANT to blog about it but I feel it would be wrong to do so because of the child's feelings.

Reality: Pre-teen life isn't going to be easy.
Reality Check: Gray hairs will be abundant.

Reality: PLUS helps Mom and Daughters with emotional balance and ability to handle stress.
Reality Check: PRAYER & GOD'S WORD are the only helps available for the trial-and-errors of growing up.

Happy 2007 - It's Really Here!

Since I haven't mentioned Christmas yet, I'll go ahead and give a quick rundown here.
It was nice with no big travels. We got to see less family than usual however, so that was a bummer, but sticking around town was a blessing (especially since the size of my belly requires frequent moments of stretching.)

Even though I prefer Vacation-Christmases (like last year to Disney World) over the Buy-And-Wrap-For-The-Tree-Christmases, I will admit that things stayed pretty under control and ended up being quite enjoyable. We were able to buy appropriate amounts of goodies for the kids without being wasteful. AND the gifts were enjoyed by all! Our only couple of "duds" were able to be exchanged (a broken bracelet & a crummy toy that didn't live up to commercial expectations.)

We ended up with LOTS of games. Fun for the whole family!! In fact, we looked at nearly every gift from the eye of each family member. We want to be a sharing family as much as possible.

Here are a few pics:

From Blog2007Jan01

From Blog2007Jan01

From Blog2007Jan01

From Blog2007Jan01

RE: New Year's Eve
Henry & I are playing some massive catch-up by watching Season 2 of LOST. We're hoping a Season 3 marathon will occur at some point before Season 4 starts in the fall. This show is totally crazy but we love it. I think we watched at least 4 episodes yesterday.

The kids watched some movies and were struggling to stay up until Midnight. He-Man barely made it to 11:45! Then he sent himself to bed. We told him he could go to bed earlier but he wanted to be with everyone else. The big kids were soooooo tired but were happy they made it.

I can't believe it's the year our 5th child will be born! Not only that, we're actually only a few weeks away. Crazy.

No predictions here but I do have a few "resolutions" I am goaling after. They'll stay between me and God, though.

In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.
If you find it, you will have a bright future,
and your hopes will not be cut short.

Proverbs 24:14 (New Living Translation)

Lastly, I've been working on a "Year-In-Review" website for sharing with those whom I don't fear will stalk our family. If I know you to be a safe person, you will probably be notified of the URL by email or possibly even snail mail in the coming days.

Last of LA

Thanks for all the "sorrys" about The Price Is Right outcome for us. I'll get to responding to the comments soon. I'm sure you all can understand the difficulties of getting much done over the holiday weekend. Today is still a school holiday for us (but we start back tomorrow) so I'm gonna try to catch up while the kids play with all their cool stuff!

Allright, where were we?

After the game, you can see that I had my picture made with Daniel, the winner of the Showcase Showdown. Since I couldn't get the picture to show on the last post, I decided to just try it here.

By the way, I don't think I've posted yet that our air date is scheduled for February 1. Mark your calendar! I am quite certain you will at least SEE us on that day :)

After we walked off set, we wound our way through The Grove shopping center which is very similar to a shopping center down in Destin -- not sure the name of it but the one where the Bass Pro Shop and Restaurant can be found. Anyway, it's a ritzy kind of establishment but is an all outdoor area. I guess sunny CA is a safer bet for this kind of arrangement but I think FL is crazy to have one.

So we walk through here because my friend (former cousin by marriage) had parked her car here. She had offered to take us for a driving tour through some parts of Hollywood that we were interested in seeing. So she worked that Magellan thingy (which is TOTALLY cool by the way - my first experience with a GPS guide) and we found our way to the Chinese theater and shopping area. It was such a neat, neat place and really put a cherry on top of our visit. I have to say that my spirits were a little down after the show but thankfully, this cap to the day revived me!

We found a neat spot to have our picture made in front of the Hollywood sign. I was surprised at where this sign was in relation to the city. Even though you can see it from several spots in town, it wasn't as big and focused as I thought it would be. There's also not really a good place to just drive past it and gawk at it. If you are gawking, you are definitely going to get into an auto accident. The only really good places to see it are while jutting through some CRAZY traffic.

So we liked getting our pictures at this spot. It was after the sun was setting so we're thankful pictures turned out at all.

From 2006 December

The handprints/footprints/stars thing was pretty neat. We didn't see every one but we saw a few goodies. We snapped pics of the following for various reasons - Stallone, because of the upcoming Rocky movie; Ron Howard - because he's just cool; Jim Carrey - the kids know who he is and appreciate him, especially in The Grinch movie; Tom Hanks - because he's Woody and Forrest Gump!; Adam Sandler - because Bob Barker beat the snot out of him; and then Johnny Depp - because he has a special connection to the name of this child that I'm carrying. I'll share more about that in a future post.

From 2006 December

While we were looking around at all these neat things in the concrete, we realized we were background for something being taped on the sidewalk. Upon closer inspection we realized it was a Jimmy Kimmel skit making fun of Mel Gibson's "Apocolypto" film. We tried watching the JK show to see us, or at least the skit but we might have missed it. Or it could have ended up on the cutting room floor.

From 2006 December

When the sun was down, our appetite was up and we started looking for a place to eat. We tried finding something that was strictly LA but we didn't find anything within the shopping center except super-nice places where our "Bama Loves Bob" shirts would have been inappopriate. So we settled for the next best thing. California Pizza Kitchen. We knew it was a chain and that there are even a few in AL but we had never eaten there and the style and speed fit our needs.

So as we settled into our booth, we heard a "Roll Tide" coming from right behind us. It was a waiter who noticed our shirts. We thought that was extremely cool in and of itself because the guy wasn't necessarily a Tide fan, he was just being friendly.

But a few minutes later, the manager of the restaurant came to us and said, "Roll Tide! I am a U of A graduate!" We thought that was REALLY REALLY cool. We chatted with him for a few minutes to find out he was born in Georgia and spent some of his growing-up years in the Huntsville area. And at the end of our conversation, this manager told us to put our tab on HIM! YES! FREE DINNER! He encouraged us to try whatever we wanted, to get dessert, cocktails, etc. WHOO HOO!

So we ordered everything we wanted to try. It was stuff I never would have attempted if it wasn't free :) And we had more to eat than we needed to stuff in our gullet but because it was there, we somehow managed to get all of it down. Oh, it was SO good.

After at least 2 hours in the restaurant just hanging out and catching up with my cousin, we went for a fun drive through some fancy neighborhoods. It was AMAZING to see that million-dollar houses were about 1/3 the size of ours. When riding through "the hills" we saw these massive houses with zero yard, but with views that must have been worth a million dollars all by themselves. I really wish we had some addresses to know where some celebs lived...but just watching for someone famous to be out walking their dog was fun enough.

The next morning brought us to the end of our journey. We had an early flight back home. And would you believe that I actually felt a little tremor while at the airport? I wouldn't have known that's what it was except that a worker at the terminal looked up and asked, "what was that?" I said, "um, wasn't that a bus driving by??" He laughed and said, "No." So I asked if it was an earthquake and he said, "Probably."

But NO ONE else in my group noticed it. Good grief. So yeah, it was small.....but I felt it nonetheless! Glad it wasn't any bigger, though.

Coming home was such a relief. We were pooped and I was DESPERATELY missing my children. I hope that our next trip out to CA will be with everyone in tow. There's so much more I'd like to experience and I want to share every bit of it with those I love the most.

I think we'll pursue Family Feud or Wheel Of Fortune next :)

I'm Going To Quit Blogging If...

I can't figure out why pictures won't upload on this stupid space.

PLEASE someone at least tell me they are having troubles too OR tell me what the heck I am doing wrong.

Even now I am working from the girls' laptop that they use for school. THIS IS A GOOD COMPUTER and tells me that it is NOT my dinosaur computer's problem.

I cannot find any of the "troubleshooting" explanations that fit my situation.

I swear this makes me want to quit. I hate working on posts only to have pictures not upload. It puts me DAYS behind because I can't get a complete work.

Yes, I'm ticked. Sorry for being such a grump.

Seriously, someone has GOT to help me. Why don't any of YOU other blogspot people seem to have this problem?? You have pictures posted every day. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

In The Price Is Right Studio

Unfortunately, no photographs were allowed to be taken on CBS property. They would have preferred we didn't even have our cameras with us but we couldn't get around that. So I have no way of showing you how truly crazy the PIR set really looked.

While we were sitting and waiting for the show to start, they played some pumped up music -- the first one being "Dancing On The Ceiling" by Lionel Richie. This was particularly funny to me because Nicole Richie kinda became an inside joke between me and Henry. You see, we were sorta near where Nicole was arrested for drunk/drugged driving. THAT, of course, is not the funny part. The funny came because some people in our group said they SAW her pulled over getting arrested. That was impossible, however, because she was arrested before we even got to LA. So, as silly as it was, Henry and I started talking about seeing Nicole Richie everywhere we went. And of course, the fact that Lionel has Bama roots made it all the more enjoyable to hear him in the Bob Barker Dome.

It was super-fast time elapsing from when we entered the studio to when we were finished taping. The most interesting Hollywood magic was actually that there was very little magic at all to the taping and inserting of commercials to the game show program. Everything was done in real time meaning that our taping lasted exactly one hour, just like it would on air. When it was time for a commercial break, the filming took a break that lasted exactly the length of the commercial. Bob would use that time to take questions (and gifts) from the audience. It was during one of these breaks that I raised my hand. Bob called on me and I stood to say, "My daughter Ray asked me to say 'hello' to your Beauty "Ray." (One of Barker's Beauties is a blonde named "Ray" and my Ray thought it was really cool that they had this commonality.)

Bob responded something like, "Well, why don't we see if we can get "Ray" to send an autograph home to your daughter. Would she like that?" He then turned to tell someone off-stage, "Tell 'Ray' to get this young Mom an autographed photo for her daughter." Several of the stage folks then took note of who I was and started shuffling around. The announcer, Rich (can't ever remember his last name -- I'm a pitiful fan) who wasn't but a few feet from us, motioned and said to me, "Write down your name and address so we can mail it to you."

So I did but one of the ladies on stage ended up bringing the TWO autographed photos to me right when the show ended. It was really cool.

Anyway, back to the show itself.

When the stage lights came on, the set took on a look that catapulted itself away from my pep rally description but didn't quite make it look as though it was the same set we watched on TV every day. Also, the aisleway in which audience members took their run to Contestant's Row was INCREDIBLY short. It seems like they're running a 1/2 mile track when you watch it on TV but in real life, it's only a few steps long.

And when those names started to be called out, the noise was deafening. They had cue cards on the stage with the names written on them because it could be very easy for someone to NOT hear their name called. So I watched those cards. And when the 1st four names were completed, and none of them were us, I have to admit that I was a little sapped of air. I knew it would be one of THOSE four people who would have a chance at The Golden Road.

But the excitement in the air wouldn't let me get truly down about it. I mean, HECK, I was getting ready to watch someone play The Golden Road right before my very eyes! (I can't wait to see this from TV perspective when it airs....it was going so fast and I had such an emotional swish happening that some of it is a blur...I can only imagine what it would have been like to be the contestant playing it.)

When I'm home watching this game on TV, I get weepy with excitement for the person who is playing. I think, "Oh how cool! They might just win that thing!"

Well, guess what THING was being offered this day...

A daggum 83+ thousand dollar CADILLAC CONVERTIBLE! Ohmygoodness.

But I can't remember if I got weepy. Henry was asking me questions because he was starting to really feel the excitement of the moment, too. He said things like, "What kind of car did he say? What does he have to do to win?"

Spoiler alert -- I'm gonna tell you the outcome of the game so don't read this if you don't want to know (for whatever reason.) The dude only made it a few steps down the Golden Road. He won the first item (I can't even remember what it was) but he didn't win the sofa that he had to win next that would THEN give him the chance to win the car. The only "redeeming" (even though that's not exacly the right word) thing about watching this game was that I think I probably would have lost when he did. It would have been very disappointing to be sitting in the audience knowing EXACTLY the right answers to say in this game. I felt a little relief knowing that I didn't miss winning that car myself. I probably would have made the same mistake he did.

After every commercial break, a new name was told to "Come On Down!" but one by one, it wasn't us. It sucked, quite honestly, to not hear our names. And not only did we not hear OUR names, we didn't hear the names of anyone in our group! (I have a theory about why we didn't have anyone from our group called but it is only a theory and to write it out on this blog would make me seem like a spoil-sport so I'm not gonna do it.) I really can't over-emphasize how quickly this "most exciting hour in television" slipped through the hourglass. I remember looking at Henry and saying, "Well....that's it. We didn't get called."

But I do NOT regret the chance we took. It was such a real DREAM COME TRUE just being there. The Price Is Right might be around another 100 years but Bob Barker won't be. And I am one of the lucky ones who had a chance to see him in action LIVE. Heck, I even talked to the legend! A couple of times in fact (the other was to answer his question about which large groups were in the audience.) And I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has blessed me in so many other areas of life that I certainly don't deserve anything else -- especially not winning cars or trips or even recliners! In fact, many of you know that I (or Henry) have actually been on the receiving end of winning a car, a trip, and a recliner already (not all at one time.) So who am I to think I deserve another? I believe it is completely possible that I am fresh out of prizes for the rest of my life.

Walking out of the studio was sad. I knew I had to call the kids and let them know that we didn't win anything. They REALLY believed we would. No matter how much I warned them that they needed to be prepared for the truth we ended up receiving, they still held on to a great deal of hope that we would call them with an exciting report. I think others had non-intentionally, built-up their hopes. Because of our history of winning things in the past, we are kinda "known" for being lucky and the kids have picked up on that through the years. They heard things like, "If anyone is gonna win big at The Price Is Right, it will be Stacy." So I didn't look forward to letting them know we were coming home without anything other than an autograph.

The saddest thing was that I think they kinda held onto hope that we were just kidding on the phone and that we would surprise them with a big announcement when we got home.

But I must say again...there is no regret. Our trip was AWESOME, and I experienced an opportunity of a lifetime. I know God has big things in store for our family and I will praise Him for it, even when it's NOT because of material blessings. I know we will never be in need because God has always provided for us. Even in our scariest moments, we have always received the perfect provisions.

After leaving the parking lot, I got the opportunity to speak more with the winner of the Showcase Showdown (eventually you will see Daniel in a picture below but right now blogger is being a pain AGAIN! What is the deal? If someone can help me PLEASE DO!) He's soon to be married and was able to win some cool stuff for his bride. I thought that was pretty cool! He was also the group leader for his large group (employees of Clinique or some other cosmetic company) so I was happy that at least ONE group leader got a chance to experience the thrill of PIR victory!

I hope you're not too bored with all I've shared so far. I'd like to share more in the next day or so. Our adventures continued into the evening so I have more I'd like to write. Hopefully I will have it all posted soon.

Finally In LA

This was our first view of the Hollywood sign. This was taken 1 block away from our hotel. This intersection was the central hub of our travels. There was a subway and bus terminal here. Day 1 had us all splitting into small groups for touring. Henry, Mom, Uncle J, and I all mapped out and rehearsed our path to CBS Studios so we wouldn't be lost the next morning. After finding our way, we started to sight-see a little. My body just couldn't handle it, though so 3/4 of us returned to the hotel room. Uncle J perservered and met up with some others from our group.

Back in the hotel room, I recruited a few others to help me finish our "Good Luck" cards. We put Lifesaver Wintermints on them with tape (because staplers probably wouldn't have been allowed in our carry-on luggage, and carry-on is all we had.) Anyway, I had to tape them to the cards once we arrived because they took up entirely too much space with the mints attached.

With the Good Luck cards out of the way, and delivery pizza in my belly, I hit the sack. It was only 7pm Pacific time so I was able to get in a good 10 hours sleep before the BIG day.

Here's us waiting for our bus Tuesday morning. We were giddy with excitement!

We arrived at the studios about an hour before we needed to and began chatting with the red-coat pages. We hoped this would be in our favor. As others started arriving, we mixed and mingled. Our Good Luck cards were a big hit....especially with the college girls from Oregon State University. They were definitely sorority type girls (you can see Lyndsey on the show -- she was the one from their group to get called) and thought we were just the "cutest things." It was sweet and insulting all at the same time. I kinda felt like we were their "favorites" (their words, not mine) because we had some sort of pity attached - like, "aw, those cute people from Alabama." I played with it, though....anything to be a favorite! We hoped this enthusiasm for our group would be contagious and picked up by the producers. Oh, and this group was particularly sweet about my pregnancy. They would rub my belly and say, "hey Bama Mama!" whenever I walked by.

Even though we were there early, we didn't get our final approval to enter the sacred grounds of contestant seating until the very last minute. One of our group actually lived a few miles away....about a 30 minute drive if it had been in AL but because it was in the LA area, it took her 2 hours!!!!!! She was so apologetic and I had to be too because I pestered the mess out of her on her cell phone. I called for traffic updates every few minutes because our group was getting nervous and restless waiting on her. But she got there in time (barely) and we were allowed to enter.

The waiting process was lonnnnnnnnnng. VERY long. We were admitted at 10:00 and didn't get to enter the theater until a few minutes after 2:00. So there was lots of mingling and snacking. While in this waiting area the pages came around and checked our ID's and social security numbers on a 2nd form of ID. We also received our AWESOME price tag nametags outside. Knowing other people's names really helped with the bonding experience. I spoke with people who were vets at being in the audience and even got to meet and hug the girl who had won the showcase the day before. You can be in TPIR audience as many times as you are admitted (first come/first served) but once you are called down, even once, to Contestant's Row, you can no longer be considered for the show. But they often allow these previous winners back into the audience for fun and maybe to encourage us and pep us up.

Can you believe I met another prego while I was there? AND she was expecting her 5th child AND was due in February! I told my group I was gonna have to take her out since she was trying to squeeze in on my "gimmick." Thankfully, I think I looked much more capable of running down the aisleway than she did. She was a little more waddly and slow. I think she was probably a few years older than me, too. But she answered a lot of my questions about what to expect over the next few hours so for that, I am thankful to have met her :)

Around 1:00 the "interview" process began. It was NOTHING like I expected it to be (at least until Prego told me about it.) We were called around the corner (still outside in the noisy environment) and stood at a roped off area. Two producers were there, one sitting and taking notes, and the other standing and being very crowd-pleasing. This is how the interview went:
"Hi, my name is Mr. Producer and I know you're all so excited to be here. We're glad you're with us! Now I'd like to ask you your name, where you're from, and what you do."

He then proceeded to walk down the line to listen to each person's answers. He would make a few little comments like, "Oh? You're an accountant? Well you're in the right place for playing with money and numbers!"

And that was it! No opportunity to tell my story. No chance to say that my Granny would be so happy for me if she knew I was there. Only, "I'm a homeschooling Mom to 4 great kids, with another on the way." There was a smile and one of those clap-and-point-to-belly gestures that acknowledge my bump, and we were soon on our way around to the 3rd side of the building. This is where we went through metal detectors (although the female security guards told me I didn't have to walk through -- how thoughtful!) and checked in our cameras and cell phones. This was also our last chance for bathrooms and water fountains.

And at 2:00-ish, we were finally admitted to the studio.

Oh my goodness.

We had to walk upstairs and on that little hike, I got all tingly and even a little teary. I couldn't believe what I was about to do.

And what is the first thing I see when I enter the studio? A sign for "THE GOLDEN ROAD!" I had to cover my mouth. The first game was going to be THE GOLDEN ROAD! And for any real Price Is Right fan, they know that TGR is where BIG BIG prizes can be won. Usually prizes were more valuable than a double-showcase win! I couldn't believe it.

And as we continued walking to our seats, and as I absorbed the idea of possibly being able to play THE GOLDEN ROAD, I started to freak a little bit about what I was seeing. It was INCREDIBLY surreal. The stage was NOTHING like you would expect. Nothing.

Now, I had been fairly warned that "it is so small" and even knew the concept from having been to the local news station. Hollywood magic DOES make what you see on TV look much larger than it is in real life. But THIS was even more shocking than I had imagined. It was teeny and cheesy! The props looked like high-school pep rally props. It was all plywood and glitter! I couldn't believe it! I kept telling Henry, "This is unbelieveable."

Sorry, but this looks like a good place to stop. I need a little break. I gotta stretch my legs. Will continue again soon.

Dragging This Out

Since Blogger is STILL not letting me upload pictures, here's a non-photo related tidbit of the travel story. I promise to write more when I can share the pictures.

*****

First, I definitely need to tell you about Henry putting the in-flight US Airways magazine in my lap with his hand covering part of an article. In the left margin of one of the articles there was a caricature of a handsome black man in glasses. Henry said, "You will not believe who this is."

I go back and forth with him thinking it must be a celebrity but he soon halts that train of thought and says, "No, this is someone you know and this picture makes him look older than he really is."

So I start thinking it must be a doctor who has had something to do with Mannatech. Maybe Dr. Ben Carson?? Dr. John Rollins? I mean, what other black man would I know that would be in an in-flight magazine?

Henry doesn't say, "No" but moves his hand instead so that I can read the name. It said, "Twas The Gift Before Christmas" by Dr. Eric L. Motley! (for those of you who don't know -- Eric is a guy I went to school with.)

My next tidbit occurred during our Charlotte layover. While ordering breakfast at one of the concourse snackbars, the gal behind the counter asked, in a somewhat shocked manner, "How many months are you?" When I answered "seven" she gasped and said, "It must be twins, right?"

Grrrr.

Draft In Waiting

I am nearly finished with another blog-segment of my trip post but this doofy blogger won't let me upload pictures. Since that is important to the story-telling, I will keep it in draft until this thing decides to be nice to me.

While I'm writing, let me just say that I love December weather in the 70s!

The Travel of Day 1

I've got to break down the post about the trip in a few easier-to-chew bites. I hate that this will cause the rundown to be a little backwards for people who don't check the blog daily but hopefully it won't ruin your day :)

Monday, December 11, 2006 (click pictures to see them bigger)

The sun found us above the clouds Monday morning. We flew out of Montgomery to Charlotte, NC and then to LAX. The layover was perfectly scheduled -- just enough time for potty breaks and food but not so much time that we ever waited to board the plane. In fact, we were almost considered late boarding the planes both times we were in NC.

The flight to CA made me realize there are lots of places in the United States that I definitely need to visit. I wish I had a window seat for this particular flight but my need for leg room kept me at the aisle. Thankfully the dude sitting at the window was friendly and talkative and was willing to photograph the beautiful landscape for us. He was also from LA and was able to point out a few areas of interest as we flew a path that was very familiar to him.

I wish I could see how this farmland looked from the ground. How do the farmers make such perfect designs?? And what is the reason? Anyone??

Colorado was BEAUTIFUL! I must admit that I was glad we weren't going anywhere snowy, though. I very much enjoyed the moderate temperatures of Hollywood. It was a lot like being home. The temperature, however, was about the ONLY thing like being home.


This (right) was our first real view of California. It was real easy to see how geography played a big part in categorizing different areas where people live (the Hills, the Valley, etc.)

A Rundown Of The "Come On Down"

Actually, of the non-"Come On Down."

That's right, we weren't called.

I have soooooooooo much I want to share about our awesome TPIR experience and I know it will take me a big chunk of time to write it all. Since I can tell by the site-meter that lots of you are checking in a little more frequently than usual, however, I thought I'd give you the basic answer that most of you seek and will save all of the details for a bigger post.

My time right now is super-short and has been all day. I promise to cover the whole story soon and will share pictures.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes and prayers. Your encouragement has meant a lot to us!

Check Your Local Paper

Of course, those of you NOT local to me won't get to see this in person but those of you in my neck of the woods can check out the front page of the Life section on Sunday morning and see a picture SIMILAR to this one (but much more professional) and a story about all of us going to Hollywood for The Price Is Right! Five of the ones going from here were unable to meet for the picture and interview. Two others from New Mexico are meeting us in CA and the last one of our twenty actually lives in the LA area. The three from out-of-state are all former residents of our area.

Non-locals who know which paper is my local paper can find said article online.

Tee hee!!!!

The Artist

He-Man made his mark on the wall today. He has twice marked the floor and once, the fireplace hearth. The previous tools were markers or crayons so today's pencil was actually not too bad.

Henry noticed it first.

H - "Who wrote on the wall?"

Me - "I don't know. Are you sure it's writing? It could be where I had the wreaths leaning against the wall. Maybe it was scratched?"

H - "No, it's not from the wreath."

Me - "He-Man, did you write on the wall?"

Nods head.

Me - "Come here."

We then go through the, "Are you supposed to do this? What is the only thing it is OK to write on? Is this paper? Are you in trouble?" conversation. It's truly amazing how he has zero desire whatsoever to lie about any of this. He's just as honest and matter-of-fact as he can be.

The perfect consequence to this situation is to give him the job of cleaning the mess. Henry finds the box of baby wipes and He=Man then has to stand there scrubbing the wall to remove the marks. It comes off fairly easy (easy for us) but is the perfect difficulty for him. He can get it but it's work.

Later Rocky asks, "He-Man, why did you write on the wall?"

H - "It's not paper."

R - "Did you do it because.......(waits for answer)...you're a bad boy?"

(I almost intervene.)

H - (cooly replies) "Yeah."

R - "Are you gonna do it again?"

H - "No, I can only write on paper."

Allright, we'll see.

Why is it that some children feel the need to do this kind of thing? I think all of the children had ONE incident of writing on something inappropriate but He-Man has been the only repeat offender. I guess I should be thankful because some children have the desire to shove stuff up their noses or to eat poisonous substances. When I hear of THOSE kinds of stories, I realize how grateful I should be that artwork (including only 1 bad "Let's play haircut" incident) has been our only real "I can't beieve you did that!" trauma.

If I was superstitious, I wouldn't be posting this entry, ya know. It kinda seems like I'm asking for it, doesn't it?

Yee-Haw! Another Nod!

Aussie golfer gives "sugars" the nod for recovery.

"Glyconutrients" Will Be Household Word Before Long

Here's another exciting article recently published about glyconutrients. This time it's in the Explore: Journal of Science and Healing. It is an introductory type article but that's the phase glycos are still in on a global scale. One day, everyone will know EXACTLY what it means when they see that my email address and car say "GlycoFamily" but until then, I'll keep doing what I can to spread the hope we have in this scientific advancement.

See (and hopefully read) article here.

***note: I have the hard-copy version of this journal at home if anyone would like to see it.***

First Quarter

We're turning in our First Quarter homeschool records tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly time has flown! It's been neat writing out all of the things we've done since starting in August. I am so thankful for how well the year has gone.

The first quarter (ending November 30) was 75 out of our required 170 days within a calendar year. I'm sure the 2nd quarter won't consist of as many school days because of Christmas/New Year and Baby-birthin'. We'll probably take our "Spring Break" the week after the baby is born.

I'm a teeny bit concerned that Rocky is going to finish school way ahead of the girls. He tends to just fly through his workbooks when the day's assignment is too easy. Sometimes I have to stop him and say things like, "Please don't do that today so that you'll have something to do tomorrow." I've had to get him a few little "extras" to keep him busy. His favorite right now is the math dot-to-dot. It's got a lot of "count by 2s" and "count by 3s" some of them starting in the hundreds. He thinks it's great.

What a change from the first week of school, huh?

Henry and I still can't get over how much we all love homeschooling and how wonderful it has been for us. We still ask the kids to reassure us that they love it. We ask them all the time if they miss their friends or wish they were going to ECS or if they want to be around other kids. We ask if they wish they had to wear uniforms or stay in school until 12:30 (we only ask this on the days they finish early. We avoid this on those tough days that last until nearly sunset!) Our favorite discussions come around 4:30 when we see kids getting off the bus. I'll ask them, "Don't you wish YOU rode the bus to school?" They always laugh (and have started to sigh because of the repetitive nature of the questions) and say, "Noooooooo way!"

In all fairness, I know they DO miss their friends. That has been one thing that is definitely an issue BUT it is not a big issue. Even though they're not big phone-callers, they do call their friends a teeny bit more often than they used to. They also have gotten into emailing. Mostly they are writing grandparents and even some of my friends but that social interaction is something they really want every day. (By the way, if any of you want to write the girls an email, ask me for their addys off-blog. I'm SURE you'll get a very chatty reply. This invitation isn't open to everyone by the way. I'm sure y'all realize that!)

TPIR Countdown

The Price Is Right trip is NEXT WEEK! We've finally gotten babysitters & house-sitters & dog-sitters arranged so all that's left is the packing and studying.

That's right. We're studying. I've tivo'ed all the episodes since we started planning for the trip. At lunch I watch it with the kids and jot down EVERY PRIZE and EVERY PRICE. I have a 12-page study guide that I've emailed (or had Mom email) to the 19 other people going on our adventure. I'm hoping that if ALL of us study, we'll be able to help whichever one of us gets on stage....and hopefully one of us will!

Here are a few examples:
(all below are only from the last few weeks)
*Least expensive - box of paper clips - $0.51
*"Worse Case Scenario" board game (shows up a couple of times a week) - $30
*Dinette range - $717 (casual glasstop by Ashley) to $4893 (glasstop by Carsons of Highpoint)
*Luggage range - $565 (3-pc. by Tutto) to $1070 (4-pc. by Pathfinder)
*Hot Tub range - (they give away LOTS of hot tubs on TPIR) $3495 (by Beachcomber - seats 7) to $8290 (7ft. by Sonoma)
*Trip range - $2405 (6 nights in Nashville - Sheraton Music City) to $7901 (6 nights in Venice)
*Vehicles range - $14,049 (Chevy Cobalt LS2) to $86,743 (Dodge Viper SRT-10 Convertible!!)

* Noteworthy - Winnebago - more than $73,000. We never found out the final price because the girl didn't win.

Both the Dodge Viper & Winnebago were grand prizes during the game "Golden Road." The Viper is the biggest prize won (or offered) to date on a DAYTIME Price Is Right. There have been more expensive prizes during the rare prime-time versions but nothing that much has been offered as a single prize during the daytime show.

*Showcases have ranged from $14,817 (casual Living Room set, carpeting, year-supply chocolates, trip to Switzerland) to $60,989 (trip to St. Lucia, $1000 cash, Chevy Corvette XE!!)

Don't y'all wish you were going with me!? There's still time! I can call to add up to 5 more people! Just let me know!

A 10-Year Old Who Has Never Believed

Wanna know what a 10-year-old does when she's raised without believing in the Tooth Fairy?

When she loses a tooth, she flushes it down the toilet!!

Funny, huh?

The Way The Day Went Down

(Edited: Picture finally added below.)

It was not a good start to the day. The church was having it's annual Christmas festival and the 4th-6th grade musical-expression group I lead was scheduled to present a routine. Ray is in this group.

We needed to be at the church by 9:30...because that's what time I, the leader, said we needed to be there. Did we get there on time? Noooo. Why not? Because MY daughter couldn't find her uniform shirt. Didn't she promise me a couple of weeks ago that she had seen the shirt in her room and that she knew for sure for sure exactly where it was for when we needed it today? YES she did. Could I have ordered her ANOTHER shirt a couple of weeks ago if she could NOT find her shirt from last year? YES I could. But did she tell me there was no need to order another because she had definitely seen hers and it was fine? Yes, she did. But could she find that shirt this morning???? No she could not!

Aargh!

I don't know if Ray cried this morning but before we were even halfway to church, I cried enough for both of us. Mostly hormones? Probably, but there was definitely a lot of anger in those tears. I was angry at myself for trusting Ray to know that her shirt is OK. I was angry that I put so much responsibility on my children when I could put more on myself. I was angry that Ray takes after me and is a procrastinator and didn't set out her clothes the night before (we could have borrowed a shirt if we had realized this problem last night.) I was angry at Ray for lying to me saying she had 'for sure for sure' seen her shirt and all was a-ok. I was angry that we were going to be late for a time that I scheduled and expected others to fulfill. I was angry angry angry and couldn't catch my breath. Thankfully, Henry was driving so I could attend to composing myself and correcting my makeup. It was rough.

And the performances didn't go so well. I'm usually pretty firm with the kids about being disciplined for this great ministry but who was I to discipline and lead today? I was late, I was a wreck, and my daughter wasn't in uniform. So the sugar-high kids who had too many minutes to goof off before my arrival, didn't get the tongue-lashing I was so tempted to throw out at them. They were in a silly mood and I didn't get it out of them. They were care-free about the program and I wasn't capable of bringing the necessary sincerity to the group.

And in my opinion, it definitely showed in the performances.

Yes, others said it was beautiful and wonderful but I knew it could have been better. I knew I could do better.

And the day continued...

My sour mood sweetened a little bit when we finally got away from the festival. We ate lunch at the Trippes and had a little down time. But the slow time wasn't very long because we had another big job still ahead.

The job? Getting Henry another vehicle. His poor white van is still in our driveway but it's no longer very functional. We're hoping to get a few bucks for it (for parts if nothing else) but she's definitely seen better days. That old Caravan was purchased by us 6 years ago and was 6 years old already when we got her. She's been a good vehicle most of that time and a good-enough vehicle until just recently. We've known for the past several months that her time was drawing to a close. Now the curtain has fallen.

So our next adventure required all 6 of us to go through the wonderfully fun process of purchasing another vehicle. It's a "GOOD DEAL" vehicle but older and nothing fancy -- at all. It took about 2 hours to do all that lovely paperwork that is necessary, and for those 2 hours, the children were ANGELS! Seriously! I was very proud and felt so much better about my parenting skills by the end of that trip. (Yes, I sadly equate my ability to parent with the behavior of my kids. Bad behavior = Bad Mommy. Good behavior = Good Mommy.)

The kids felt rewarded by being able to ride home with Daddy in the "new" car. I'm so glad that made them happy because that's all we had to offer at the time.

And then we pressed our luck.

When we pulled into the driveway, Henry and I decided that we should go ahead and return the truck that his sister had loaned to us for this past week. Even though she said she didn't need it back for a few more days, we knew we'd be better to go ahead and get it back to her today while our schedule was open.

So we packed the kids into the van again for a 35-mile trip (one-way) to return their Aunt & Uncle's truck. Poor kids. And they were hoping we'd be putting up our Christmas tree today when we got home.

And would you believe that they were ANGELS AGAIN!?

So we took them to Chick-Fil-A for supper. The visit to CFA has become a much bigger treat than it used to be. Back in the day, we used to go to CFA once a week or more. Since homeschooling however, we've cut that back to about once a month. So tonight's dinner was a nice surprise. And the kids deserved it.

They're finally all asleep now (since about 9:30) and I'm realizing my desperate need for some shut-eye, too.

Here's Henry's new ride.


God's blessing is amazing and oh-so-undeserved. How Sweet It Is.

The Pictures - Finally

Left - our side yard
Below - Mom & Dad's backyard

Last Week Of November, Already!?

Grr. I was able to load ONE picture but it's stopping me from loading the others. I'll try in another post and see how that works.

I know I must be getting pretty large in size because I am hearing a lot more, "how much longer??" questions. In my mind, it seems like the answer "February" is forever away but...DID Y'ALL KNOW IT'S THE LAST WEEK OF NOVEMBER????

So the answer of "February" and even "the end of February" seems suitable for most people. So far (SO FAR) no one has said, "OH! I thought you were due any day now!"

But I am definitely getting MUCH bigger.

Baby doesn't punch me much any more. Now it's more of an awkward somersault that I feel. Kind of like a kid learning how to turn a flip underwater in a swimming pool. There's lots of flailing but eventually the move is made. Little boy was breech this morning during the first part of Sunday School but after a trip to the restroom and a few minutes of extra, non-bladder-filled space, he had accomplished to return himself to the correct head-down position. Of course, breech doesn't mean ANYTHING at this stage but I will say that I prefer being kicked near the ribs more than the reverse.

Thanksgiving was a good time. The turkey and dressing was YUM YUM YUM! Arthur was set to deep-fry the turkey but his eye situation prevented that from happening. Instead he gave excellent step-by-step directions on how to make the bird dee-lish right out of the conventional oven. Mom's dressing was, once again, my seasonal favorite and her sweet potatoe casserole was much too yummy to be a side dish...it was definitely my dessert!!

Even though we kinda had a crappy football season with the Tide, one good thing came from this fall: all 4 kids learned how and LOVED to play backyard football. It has been a fun recreation for them but has also given them a greater appreciation of seeing games in person and on TV. Hopefully they'll enjoy the Bama games more NEXT year (hopefully we ALL will!)

Mom wanted us to pose for her Christmas card pictures while at her house this weekend so we dressed in the appropriate color coordinations. Mom was pleased with the way her BIG group pic turned out but I wasn't at all satisfied with our half-hearted effort at a family pic. The t-shirts were fine for Mom & Dad's but we'll have to do better for ours. I won't ruin Mom's send-out by posting her picture here but you can see one of the non-approved shots of my small crew.

Please Don't Think I'm Tacky

I didn't set up a "Wishlist" for regular reader-types to feel like I'm trying to squeeze a gift out of them. I actually just set this up for those small handful of people who read the blog AND are asking what kind of things I'd like to have for the baby.

This is a pretty cool little device.

Stacy's Baby Wishlist can be found in the sidebar, too (with pictures & everything!)

Black Friday

I should have posted before now but in case any of y'all are online tonight and are contemplating early morning shopping, here's a great resource:
www.BlackFriday.info
Be sure to look at ONLINE SPECIALS! It might save you from getting out in the mess tomorrow.

I personally don't see anything worth fighting the crowds for this year. How about you?

A Surprise

I have been preparing myself for this possibility but I must say that I have actually surprised myself.

Today was 4-D ultrasound day. I was VERY unsure about whether or not I even wanted to have it. You know me....I'm so weird about interventions and there's just a little bit of a privacy issue, too. My baby's privacy that is. Are we REALLY supposed to see our babies before they are born...just for fun, I mean? I'm not arguing the blessing of diagnostic baby-viewing but I've questioned whether or not we should look at our bundle before birth.

And today was the day. I agreed to it. And without my family knowing, I pre-agreed to myself that when they begged me to know the sex of the baby, I would concede.

Until today, I have been telling everyone that I did not want to find out if our baby was a boy or girl.

But today we found out. And I'm really all giggly about it! The baby is SO cute and I actually feel a really cool new bond. I will admit that I am not completely worry-free...I don't want those freaky ultrasound waves to have warped anything in the brain or wherever!

But...now we know. And I'm glad we know.

It's a...


Can you tell yet?


OK....look closely (but not TOO closely -- that would be creepy!)



And no, we don't have a name :)

Prayers For The Popcorn Man

For those many praying folks out there, please lift my brother-in-law, Arthur (he's the Popcorn Man in this video.)

He (my sister's husband) had emergency surgery on his eye today. The holidays are not going to be fun and recovery will probably be slow.

But he and Uma are a faithful couple who trust in the LORD and I know they will be blessed. Prayers are appreciated!

TPIR Trip

I've been tivo-ing TPIR every day since we decided to make the trek to LA. The kids gather around the tube with me, watching and playing every afternoon after school. I take notes of EVERY prize and its price. I plan on making a master sheet to share with all of the people who will be going with me.

And would you believe that we have a confirmed 18 out of the 20 tickets and that the other two are VERY PROBABLY going to be confirmed tomorrow!? I'm stunned, actually. I mean I KNEW there were other people out there who would love this opportunity as much as me but I didn't know it would be so easy to find them! I must give Kudos to my Mom and her friends, though because it is MOSTLY her gang that is rallying together to make this trip possible. I will admit that it has been difficult to find folks my age to go. I know there are many more responsibilities and lack of moula in the 30-something generation but I had hoped there would be more young folks going.

BUT IT'S OK! The people who ARE confirmed at this point are really cool, fun-loving, spontaneous kind of folks. We are definitely going to have a blast! I'm confident SOMEBODY from our group will be called to "Come On Down!" And if I can get the study sheets out to the group, HOPEFULLY we can come together to make sure that that SOMEBODY will win.....and win BIG!

We'll soon be getting our t-shirts printed. Right now we're going with the very simple (but I think effective) "Bama (heart) Bob" but if anyone has another idea, I'm definitely open to hearing it. I will also be putting "Happy Birthday Bob!" on the back.

I wish I could think of something clever from the (excuse the "b" word) Happy Gilmore scene -- like "I don't want to win a PIECE of TPIR, I want the WHOLE THING!"

(if anyone else is wanting to go on this trip with us, please email me because I am able to get up to 25 tickets but unless I hear from others, I'm only pursuing 20.)

New Report Sheds Sobering Light on Hospital Infections

Attention America - PLEASE put more focus on boosting your immune system than on treating every symptom with doctors' visits and medications! Running to the medical model every time you have a problem is only contributing to the problem. FIND THE ALTERNATIVES! They are out there but you will NOT find them at your doctor's office (99.9% of the time anyway.) People were healthier in the generations that did NOT have a drug for every symptom. RESERVE THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TO ACCIDENTS, INJURIES AND TRUE HEALTH CRISES and implement what your Great-Great-Grandmother did for most everything else. Take advantage of what science and integrative medicine is teaching and use nutritional technology to fill in the areas where our diets fail us.

Infections Acquired During Hospital Stays Kill More People Than Breast Cancer, Auto Accidents and Aids Combined
By DAN CHILDS

ABC News Medical Unit Nov. 14, 2006— A hospital visit may be more dangerous to your health than you realize. Just ask Ingrid Kwiatek, who came home from the hospital with a serious staph infection.

Kwiatek's husband said what started as a routine hospital visit turned into an 110-day nightmare of pain and suffering in three different Pennsylvania hospitals.

"I would never wish this experience on anyone," he said. "Especially distressing was the closed-ranks attitude at all three hospitals in discussing the infection."

Following the incident, Kwiatek's family doctor had this to say: "Hospitals are dirty places."

The High Cost of Infections A new report released by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council pointed to the high cost of these infections in both dollars and lives.

The report — the first of its kind in the nation — identified the actual number of infections reported by Pennsylvania's 168 hospitals, as well as other related quality-of-care measures, in 2005.

The hospitals studied reported 19,154 cases in which patients contracted hospital-acquired infections. The hospitalizations resulting from these infections amounted to 394,129 hospital days and $3.5 billion in hospital charges.

The average hospital charge for patients with a hospital-acquired infection was $185,260, while the average charge for patients without hospital-acquired infections was $31,389. The average length of stay for patients with hospital-acquired infections was also longer at 20.6 days, compared with 4.5 days, for those who didn't contract hospital infections.

Most telling, though, were the figures on patient deaths. The report said that while 2.3 percent of patients who didn't acquire infections died, the mortality rate for those who did contract infections was 12.9 percent — more than 5½ times as high.

"This report is a first. We are no longer looking at statistics based on estimates or extrapolated data," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign. "These are real people who suffered from real infections. The personal and financial costs of hospital infections are staggering."

The Pennsylvania study did offer a few solutions. It said that doctors and other hospital workers should wash their hands more regularly, use gloves and properly sterilized equipment, and routinely follow established "best practices." The report also suggested that patients should follow the same guidelines and insist that not only health care providers but visitors wash their hands too.

Shedding Light on Hospital Safety What adds to the problem, though, according to health officials, is that most states are not required to report infections or provide such information to the public.

"It's time to shine the light on this important and costly issue," said Marc Volavka, executive director of Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. "This will save thousands of Americans from the devastating effects of hospital-acquired infections."

Volavka said the report is a first step toward greater transparency.

"It's time that hospitals, patients and those who pay the bill know how many patients develop hospital-acquired infections, the type of infections they develop and the quality and cost implications," Volavka said. "The more information that becomes available, the better the focus will be on preventing these infections."

"Until now, consumers have been completely in the dark about their hospital's record on infecting patients," said Beth McConnell, director of the Pennsylvania Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. "This report sheds light on a very serious problem and will help the public hold hospitals accountable for patient safety."

This Morning

The expected occurred.

We found that our little brown gerbil, Carmen, had died sometime during the night. It was one week ago last night that I first noticed her decline. Sweet ol' girl.

Her 'sister' Junie keeps lying in the spot where Carmen was. She never seemed to look for Carmen during the past week when we'd take her out of the cage to check on her. I guess it was kinda like normal that we'd usually take them out to play. But today when we took Carmen out, she sniffed the cage looking for her. It was really sad. She then went to the wheel and took a nap. Sad, huh?

The kids are sad but OK. Rocky is really sensitive and I know this is affecting him. He's a dude of little words but Ray found something he had written on our kitchen whiteboard when he went to bed. Here's a picture.

In My Pregnant, Hormone-Ravaged, Too-Busy Brain

"Get those bags from Target out of your trunk."

"Think of something deeply spiritual to blog about so people don't think you're thinking about The Price Is Right too much."

"How long is that gerbil going to live?"

"Maybe this baby is a girl after all. He/She is kicking my ribs now so maybe he/she isn't as low as I had originally thought."

"Don't forget to shower earlier than usual tomorrow (i.e. in the moring) because you have a busy day."

"What year did my parents get married????"

"Do we have enough chicken for Friday's supper or will I have to get some more?"

"Why doesn't everyone do email?"

"I am blessed beyond imagination and certainly more than my selfish-self deserves."

10 To Go!

I'm still looking for 10 more people to use the Price Is Right tickets I have reserved for December 12. I hope to send out some emails about it tonight.

I'm so excited that I was able to find the first 10 in just a couple of days' time! And everyone is SOOOOOOO excited! YAY!

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

off-topic note:
Watching a gerbil in her last few days of life is very sad. We've been expecting Carmen's death since Friday night but she's still (barely) hanging on. Every night I say that I will be stunned if she survives the night. I've been stunned 3 mornings in a row now.

The breaths are getting much smaller now. She hasn't eaten anything or had anything to drink in days.

The kids are sad but doing so good about it all. They're so sympathetic and realistic about it. Everyone is glad she doesn't appear to be suffering...just dying of old age.

The normal life expectancy of a gerbil is usually 3-4 years and we think Carmen is at least 4 years old.

Unmoderated Comments

When Jen posted that she found a ton of unmoderated comments waiting for publishing, I thought I'd check to see if I had any. I had a TON!

So if you were wondering where your comments were, they are FINALLY showing up.

Sorry!

I Will Be So Embarrassed But...

December 12 (Bob Barker's 83rd birthday, by the way!) is the day I have a booking with The Price Is Right for 20-25 people!

I'm looking at hotels & flights and hope to fly into LAX on the 11th and out on the 13th. The rates are surprisingly do-able.

Now I'm also looking for people to fill those 20-25 seats with me! If I show up with less than 20 people, I am not guaranteed a spot in the studio.

If I can't pull this off, I will be so embarrassed... but I'm trying!

OK, who's going with me, besides Henry & my Mom?

Again, I'm accepting any donations for the "Fulfill Stacy's Dream" campaign! :)

Fun With Flashcards

I didn't necessarily buy these flashcards for He-Man but he has loved them more than any of the other children.

When Do I Quit? ** update at end of post

To update you all on my TPIR pursuits:

I've called TPIR ticket offices two days in a row and have yet to have "Karen" of group sales return my call. "Irie" the girl I have spoken with each time, seems very sympathetic to my situation and says she will have Karen call me.

She also says that since the announcement of Bob's retirement that the phone has been ringing off the hook.

But I was the first one to call their office regarding the hurry to get to the show before he retired/my baby was born. How do I know? Because the ticket office itself had only just heard about the retirement announcement, too and she was bewildered about the fact that I already knew (the internet is a crazy thing!)

I have a few leads/interests on filling my group of 20 and REALLY think I could do it. But I don't have a date or ticket confirmation so I can't move forward with that.

My good buddy Ryan mentioned this might be a good news segment. I had already thought this might be a good enough story for the CBS affiliate to follow and POSSIBLY pull strings for a good human interest story. So I've emailed the correct people about THAT and have heard nothing back.

And I've prayed about this. I've prayed for God to just tell me "no" if I'm not supposed to pursue it. I mean I've got lots of more practical and more needy issues that could be dealt with if I gave up on this silly dream. For example, we're really needing Henry to get a new vehicle, we need a new mattress, and I'd like a new kitchen table/chairs set.

But couldn't I WIN these on The Price Is Right? :)

So I really don't know what to do. I don't think God has answered me with a clear yes or no yet. I've experienced God's "yes" and "no" in other situations and I haven't had a similar response so far.

And I keep having the movie "My Date With Drew" pop into my head. It's all about pursuing that dream...even if it's silly and unrealistic. Sigh.

So I really don't know what is going to happen right now. Henry is wanting the dream for me but knows the hurdles are big. My friends are cheering me on because it's such a cool pursuit. But the wheels aren't moving.

I'll keep you updated.

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

12:12 PM
My third day of calling the ticket office finally got me through to Karen in group bookings. While I was telling her that I had left messages she said, "I'm sorry to interrupt but if you left a message, I will be returning your call next week. I can't book any groups right now while we confirm tape dates with Bob."

Soooooo, maybe there's still a chance??

How crazy am I?