Little Sleepy One

Monday we revisted potty training again with A.J. after we bought her a potty all of her very own.  This is what she told us she needed, mind you, but of course we got nowhere again.  She knows how to go in a potty and has done it before.  She also flat out refuses to do it again.  Possibly forevever.  After about 10 hours of naked time, which included a bottle of water, a sippy cup of milk and 2 sippy cups full of juice going into her and ABSOLUTELY nothing coming out of her I put her back in a diaper and tabled the discussion yet again.  

How on Earth she holds it all in like that I will never know.

Matt tried to convince her.

I tried to convince her.

And neither of us got anywhere.

I suppose this is God's way of getting back at me for the absolute ease it was to potty train her brother.

Anyway, eventually I had to put her back in a diaper and let her take a nap because the poor thing was just exhausted. Being completely stubborn, willful and difficult is hard work I guess.  Also, it can't be easy holding ones bowels so tightly all day either.

I only let her sleep for about an hour and half because it was already late afternoon and way past her regular rest time, but when I got her "up" she was having her own way again and refusing to wake.

Eventually I carried her out to the living room with me and we plopped down on the couch together.  I turned on the TV and waited for her to come back around to the land of the living.  Instead she slumped over sideways, making a nice pillow for herself out of my baby bump and went back to sleep for real.

And I do mean FOR REAL.  I could see her little dreaming eyes moving around under those heavy eye lids.

The poor dear.

The next day she woke up with a fever and some serious sinus drainage, so I realize now she must already have been starting to feel sick.

Saturday at the Beach

The one big indulgence that I made last week when Matt was home from work was to spend Thursday up at Glen Ivy Day Spa.  I'd been once before, years ago with some friends I used to teach with back when I didn't yet have any children and perhaps, didn't quite fully understand the full magic of the place.  

I mean, it's this big property with separate little buildings for facials and massages and mani/pedi treatments.  There's a lap pool and several small pools for just sort of jumping in and cooling off.  There is a big huge, basically baby style pool that's just over a foot deep that's full of rafts so everyone can float around and relax.  There are hot tubs aplenty.  There are sulfur springs (although I've never been in them.)  There is a mud pit to coat yourself in this weird, slippery clay and then you lay out and let the mud dry on you before rinsing it off.  There's also an underground grotto where they coat you in lotion and then you bake it into your skin in a sauna.  There's a lovely little restaurant that's sadly full of healthy food and there's even a bar or two.  It's amazing.  

But honest to goodness, forget all of that, because really, the best thing ever about the place is that there are NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.

And I mean, I love my kids.  I absolutely do.  

But spending a whole day without them.  Laying quietly by a pool.  Having grown up conversations without interruptions or screeches or demands from small adorable (but often rude) little people.  Just... WOW.  

I met up with my friend who lives in LA.  I've mentioned her here before but basically I've known her since Elementary school, and it still seems really weirdly wonderful that she lives out here "near" me and every so often we can get together and I can hang out with somebody who knew me "when."  Somebody who understands where I came from and why I miss it a lot of the time, even though I have a pretty great life when and where I am now too.  Somebody who understands what it means to be a "Buckeye."  She might just possibly be the nicest person I know.  In fact, I spend a lot of time after every visit with her trying to figure out whether or not I actually just annoy the crap out of her and if she's just too nice to tell me.  

Either way, I really hope that my kids grow up some day to be people as nice as her.

Anyway, she is pregnant too, with her first.  She's about a month and a half ahead of me (but looking FABULOUS) and the two of us wandered around the spa all day in our bikinis bravely baring our bulging baby bellies (seriously, what is it with me and the alliteration today?) for all the see.  Because honestly, have you ever looked at maternity swim wear?  Most of it is ill fitting, expensive and really unflattering.  What is even the point?  

So we spent the day together catching up, chatting about our babies, relaxing and soaking up the sun and it was just amazing.

But then of course that evening I returned to my reality.  And as much as the day had left me rejuvenated and feeling great, I spent most of Friday wishing very, very badly that I could go back.  

By Saturday morning, I decided I'd had enough of it.  I didn't want to sit around all day feeling blah so I suggested a family trip down to the beach.  The weather wasn't exactly perfect, but, it was good enough for a couple good hours at least.

When we arrived the clouds and marine layer were sitting just to the
north of us over Point Loma, looking ominous. 

But to the south, it was clearing up already so we decided to wait it out and sure enough
after a little while, the sun won the battle and pushed the bulk of the May-Gray away.

Now if only there was something to be done about all that "dead" sea weed that had washed up on the shore.  Ew.  It was all smelly and buggy.  The kids were semi-terrified of it. And it was all sitting in the prime sand castle building area just up the beach from the wave zone so we had to sit pretty far back from the water and tote buckets of water back and forth when we wanted to play in the sand.

Matt is going to kill me for this picture.  Nice tan lines babe.  Anyway, A.J. was taking issue
with the wind.  I guess she was cold and kept trying to hide under this towel .  Haha.  

Eventually, I put her t-shirt back on over her swimsuit and she calmed down again.

Then it was time to play in the sand.  And by that I mean, Matt and the kids played.  I lay on the blanket like a big beached whale and mostly took pictures of them.

A.J. is so cute right now.

Just look at that ridiculous little happy grin on Peter's face.  So sweet.

I found it particularly entertaining when the random dinosaur figurines that had
been in the car got added onto the little structure they built.

At one point I decided to get kind of silly or artistic with my pictures.

See?  This is the new baby at the beach.  First time ever.  With the family too.  :)

Matt took a belly shot for me too.  We haven't really been doing these this time.  And actually, I seem to be carrying smaller this time around.  So far at least.  Not that I feel any smaller.  But whatever.  My weight gain is better, so far, I think, but the actual belly still seems a bit smaller.  (Perhaps I shouldn't mention it but think the majority of the weight has gone to my backside actually by the look of this picture.  Super.)

As usual Matt put me way to the left in the frame to leave room for my
big enormous belly.  

Then they went back to their sand castle.

We also tried to bury Peter.  Only up to his knees
though because he wouldn't sit right or be still
enough to bury him further.  

All in all the trip to the beach was just what we needed.  I got over my desire to run away back to the spa and we all had some fun together as a family.  I might get homesick sometimes (a lot actually,) but there certainly are advantages to living in the So Cal sun too.

Chuck E's

My kids are addicted to Chuck E. Cheese's.  They ask to go there, probably 2 or 3 times a week at least.  

I find this sort of odd since, up until this point, we've been there all of about 4 times (and that includes the trip we took there last week, which I am currently posting about.)

I blame PBS Kids and Nick Jr. as both channels feature programs they love that are sponsored by Chuck E. Cheese.  The commercials play in my living room at some point, almost every day.  

(Ugh.)

I don't really mind taking them there all that much, because I happen to think the pizza is pretty good and they have a decent salad bar and some other decent items on the menu, BUT, the cost of tokens can really add up AND let's face it, those little rides and games can get old kind of fast.  An hour or two of fun there every 6 months or so is plenty, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, so, a few weeks ago, in response to all the requests from the kids, Matt's willpower sort of broke and he promised the kids that we'd find time to go during his week off.

We ended up going Friday for lunch.

And it was fun.

Like, all the fun of that sort I'll be needing for a good long while.

Peter wanted to do EVERYTHING, if possible, at least twice.  Maybe more.

A.J. just wanted to wander around and name the random animals she found.  Also, she liked to put the tokens (which she calls moneys) in the slots.  She could have cared less about most of the game but she likes inserting the moneys.  Oh and the tickets.  She liked the tickets.  She's pretty good at those games where you randomly hit a button or something and it gives you anywhere from like 1 to 50 tickets.  When she wins she would tear her tickets off and then run wild with them throughout the place happily waving her string of tickets over her head as she went.  

But, whatever, here are a few pictures.

Also, there is this new app where you can put Chuck E. in the pictures you take.

When in Rome, I figured....

I particularly enjoy Peter in the background stuffing his face in that last one....

Random Time Off

As I've mentioned a couple of times in my recent posts, Matt took last week off.  

And it was, honestly, just the best mixture of free time and quality time and (for me) extra afternoon nap times.  Also, the timing worked out well with it joining up with the 3 day holiday weekend, so it really felt like he was home with us for a good long while.  And he was... he didn't go to work for 10 whole days in a row.  

Bliss.

I'm not really anyone to offer advice on, well, anything, um- pretty much ever, but I would highly recommend having your man take some random time off to help out around the house and squeeze in some extra quality time as a family if the opportunity is there.    

Anyway, so today he went back to work and the day has actually gone much better than I was expecting, except that A.J. now seems to be sick with something.  I find the timing of that to be both a blessing and a curse.  Anyway, I was looking at all the random pictures I accumulated on my phone over the last week and a obviously, I just need to share some.  

First, from a random trip to the playground:

Also, and probably completely random, but this is what happens when you give my children each a couple of Oreo type cookies and a glass of milk.  Ha.

Nice milk mustache dude.

Cookie Monster much?

Photo Shoot

So, since this is most likely our last pregnancy and will be probably our last baby, and since Matt is off from work this week, I somehow convinced him to let me get a 3D ultrasound this afternoon to take another good look at the baby.

In the past I've always wanted to do one, but didn't really want to spend the money.  Additionally, in the past, when the technology was a bit newer especially, I know several people who did them and found them to be sort of freaky.  The distortion as the baby moved around created some pretty scary images.  

But I kept thinking about it this time and then I found a place close by that had decent prices.  A couple of days after that I mentioned it to some friends and one other mom who happens to have about an 8 week old recommended the very same place I was considering going to.  That pretty much made up my mind, and this afternoon I made us an appointment.

And you guys... OH MY GOODNESS!  It was just amazing.

We started out with just the traditional 2 dimensional traditional u/s pictures and then she switched it over to 3D and there was my baby all beautiful and amazing and already (at just a couple days shy of 25 weeks gestation) looking shockingly like it's older siblings.  

I got weepy.

Matt sort of sat off to the side and watched with limited man-type interest.  I mean, I suppose he reckons that if he's seen one ultrasound image of our kids he's seen them all.  Peter and A.J. sort of wandered around the room.  It was, actually a big huge room, larger than my living room with the images being projected on a big screen on the wall so that (for once) the Mommy-hen could get some really good views of the baby as well.  :)  Sometimes the kids were interested and asked questions, sometimes they were a bit scared and sometimes they went and played with their toys for awhile.  Either way, I didn't really notice because Matt was looking after them and I was having this whole moving, emotional experience.

Not to brag here, but this baby is totally going to be beautiful ad abso-freaking-lutely adorable.

Because oh, the yawning and the smiles and the sucking of thumbs!!

At one point the baby put an arm over it's eyes dramatically as if to say "Please!  No pictures now!  I'm tired!"

I mean, I died.  Right then and there.  The absolute overwhelmingness of the experience killed me.  

:)

And, if you find that to be obnoxious that I say all that, well, apparently my Parent Goggles are already on and functioning in full force, so you're just going to have to deal alright?

We left with 5 printed images of the kid.  In addition we got a CD with ALL 96 pictures she took.  The package only guarantees you about 40 but I guess this kid was just being too photogenic and the tech couldn't help herself.

We also left with a little teddy bear that plays a recording of the baby's heartbeat.  This was actually, one of my motivating factors for going at all.  I wanted something tangible of the baby to hold onto when I feel nervous or anxious about it.  The teddy bear (along with these pictures) is my new calming-down focal point until the kid arrives.

Anyway, here are my favorite pictures.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do/did.

Being thoughtful.

Opening and closing my mouth

A smile 

Looking snuggily
(The beady looking stuff in front of the chest is the umbilical cord.)

An opened mouth smile.
(This one is my absolute favorite btw.)

Another big yawn.
(Although it looks very much like yelling to me)

Scratching my face with my big (and kind of scary bony looking) hand

Praying?

Sucking my thumb!
(Also, when there's more of a body shot like this you can really see
how skinny and little the baby still is, with nearly 15 more weeks left to "cook,"
 it still measured to be only just under 2 pounds.)  

SD Museum of Natural History

Matt took this week off from work.  Call it a little mental health break for me, or maybe family time.  Or even, perhaps don't call it anything and consider the fact that he had over 50 days of leave on the books and he may as well use some of them from time to time.

Anyway, awhile ago he noticed some signs down in Balboa Park for a dinosaur exhibit at the Natural History museum. He asked the kids about it, as they seem to be pretty interested in dinos these days, and we decided to check it out yesterday.  

We arrived a little bit before opening so we decided first to spend a few minutes checking out the big fountain out front..  It's made so you can step right in and wade if you want I guess.  I'm not really sure if you're supposed to, but I know lots of people do, including my dog Brutus, once upon a time, long ago when he was a puppy.  He got down close to sniff the water and then went ahead and fell most of the way in.  He's never really wanted anything to do with water ever since.  Ha.

So anyway, we got down there and A.J. had randomly brought along a little rubber duckie made up to look like a vampire from the bath tub toys.  Matt took it and put in in the water to "swim" for awhile and it was all well and good.

Then he fished it out and gave it back to A.J. in her stroller and we were about to be on our way.  Except A.J. took her duck and threw it out into the fountain again.  She got it out past where we could reach with our arms and then we all just stood there for a moment and watched it float away.  The fountain sprays in the middle and therefore all the water flows in towards the center.  Our little duck was being sucked away from us pretty quickly.

A.J. just kept looking at it.  

Daddy told her to wave bye bye to it.

Peter looked at me all like, "Gee Mom, isn't there a better solution than just letting it go?"

Then I realized I had on capri pants and sandals and I could easily go get it.

So I did.

I waded in after it and retrieved the little vampire duck for my daughter.  

Daddy cheered.  Peter smiled.  A.J. kept right on just watching everything without much interest.  

Then while I sat down to put my sandals back on a couple of real ducks came over to say hello to us.  

I really thought they might bite Peter.  He got way down into their faces to say hello to them.
It was weird.

 In another minute I wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't be jumping in the fountain himself (shoes and clothes and all) to join his new duck friends, so it was at that point that we decided we'd had enough of the fountain and it was time to be moving on.

My goodness.

So then we headed over to the museum.

We arrived right behind a couple of humongous elementary school field trip groups (and I couldn't help but wonder how on Earth their districts still had money for field trips) so we had to wait awhile to pay our entrance fee and go on in.

While we waited, A.J. got over the stroller and began to throw a fit and Peter and checked out this dinosaur skeleton in the lobby.

It's some sort of relative of the tyrannosaurus.  Peter didn't believe me, even though I explained that T-Rexes are
much larger and the sign said something about the claws being different.  I guess "much" larger is a relative term when you're only still just over  3 feet tall.  

Everybody touching a piece from a meteor.  Space rocks are just cool.
This one was secured down, but later on there was a lady with one about the
same size we could hold and that little blob of stone must have weighed over 5 pounds.

One of the main exhibits right now is a skull thing.  They have skulls from all sorts of different animals big and small so you can compare and contrast them all.  I'm not entirely sure the kids understood, but it was kind of cool

These ones were mostly from birds.

This one had an alligator (in the front) and a beaver (towards the back of the pic in front of A.J.) as
well as an anteater (that got cropped out of the photo) and a couple of others I can't
remember.

 At the end of the skull display there was a big chalkboard painted on the wall where the kids could draw the  skulls onto the skeletons of some random animals they had pictured there.  Again, my kids didn't really get the point and just enjoyed drawing with the chalk.

(Note, when drawing he chose his right hand)

A.J. loves to draw/color.  Not sure what she was making here though.

(But when I asked him to write a P for Peter he used his left hand.)

 Oh how I wish he'd just make up his mind already!!

It took a long time to get her to move on, but a mob of much larger, mostly Spanish speaking school
children finally crowded in and scared her off and we were on our way.

While the kids drew I snapped this one of Mat and I to prove I was there.
Nobody needs to see pictures of me anyway.  Especially not in my current humongous
shape and size.  :P

The next area we visited had all sorts of stuff about San Diego's natural history and animals.
Peter liked this lady and her table of stuff he could touch.  Here she is showing him a fossilized Trilobite
(She was impressed with me that I knew what it was.  Truth be told, so was I.  More random knowledge seeping out from
dark recesses of my brain I guess.  My mother took a zoology class or 2 when I was in elementary school and I remember her talking about those things.)

A.J. liked all the statues of little prehistoric animals.  She tired to pet most of them.  

The Mastodon skeleton was cool.  I tried to show its size but framing the kids (and Matt)
underneath it.  :)

 Also, what the heck is the difference between a Wooly Mammoth and a Mastodon anyway?

Oh.

The other big, special exhibit was the dinosaur jaws thing.  It was, as I already mentioned, the entire reason we decided to go to the museum.

When you first went in it had a couple of big (huge) animatronic dino heads "eating" and "roaring" and "looking" around at you.  On one side they had skin and looked like regular dino heads, but on the opposite half the skin was missing so you could see how their skulls and jaws looked as they moved around.

It was cool.

Or, at least, I thought so.  I think Matt did too.  A.J. didn't seem to notice the missing halves of their faces.

But Peter?  He found them to be TERRIFYING.

I mean, it was dark in the room.  The dinos were kind of loud.  And their bones hanging out didn't help either.

Also, it was nearing lunch time and he was getting cranky.

UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH.

A.J. went with Matt and studied the dino heads.  Peter sat with me on a bench and whined and complained. Then finally he noticed that the dino heads were just the first part of the exhibit.  Further on there were a whole lot of other full bodied, fully skinned little animatronic dino creatures for him to study.

Safe with Daddy and little sister, he finally went to check them out.

He still found them scary, just not unbearably so apparently.

Eh.  The best laid plans....

Downstairs from there, they had a little dino themed play area set up.  The kids enjoyed that most of all I think.

And that was pretty much it.  I mean, there were a few other exhibits that we walked through but the kids were over it.  

I was actually just surprised there wasn't more to see and do (keep in mind please that everything we did isn't pictured and there was also a movie theater with shows that we skipped) for the price of admission.  

We hit up the gift shop and let the kids pick a few small souvenirs, but as it was almost 12:15 by then hunger was overtaking them (even with all the snacks we kept giving them) so that was a bit of a nightmare.  

I'm sorry children but I am not spending $30 on a big humongous rubber dinosaur for each of you, I don't care how "cool" it is.

As we left I asked Peter if he'd like the museum and he told me no.

However, a couple of hours later, after a nice BIG, FILLING lunch of Spaghetti at Olive Garden, he asked us if we could go back. 

So I guess the sum total is the day went down as a success.