Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Is Your Life Like A Sitcom?

Life is filled with people fighting to get to the top or struggling not to hit rock bottom.  There is a third group of people, though--the people stuck in the middle.  I have referred to ABC's The Middle before but it always comes to mind.  The Middle is a show about a middle class family (the Hecks) with parents hitting middle age living in the middle of the country. There are many days in my world that I think my little family would fit right in living next door to the Hecks.

This week I have been home with two sick boys.  They have fevers at night and then during the day they feel fine so its a constant struggle trying to convince them that they need to rest. Then the evening hits and back come the fevers.  I'm 8 months pregnant waddling around on swollen ankles and feet, trying to keep the house clean and keep up with the laundry and life is pretty interesting right now.  We had people come into our home yesterday and clean the fire place, chimney, and the dryer vent.  The dryer was running fine when they arrived.  I had to turn it off so they could clean the vent.  After they left I put a load in to dry and after drying for two hours they were still wet--not damp, but WET.  I noticed a hissing sound coming from behind the dryer and we realized that while cleaning the vent and moving things around they had busted a hole in the tube that connects the dryer to the wall.

I go to the store and people stare.  Why?  Have they never seen a pregnant woman before?  I realize I don't have the tiny figure I once had but I'm certain I'm not the first pregnant woman who had a huge pregnant belly.  Let's face it, I'm not that tall and the baby has no where to go but out. I have about 6 weeks left in the pregnancy and I'm more than ready to get the show on the road.  If  Kaitlyn decided to come early I would be very proud of my daughter.  LOL

Retirement is being taken out of Jacob's checks right now so money is tight, if there at all and Jacob's job is more than stressful.  Alex is struggling with spelling words and therapies, appointments, school and other activities keep us busier than we'd like most days.  There are days when I could see our family being in a sitcom like The Middle.  Yesterday I made the boys scrambled eggs for breakfast and they didn't want them because they wanted the eggs cooked differently.  I pointed my spatula at them and said, "I bet there are kids at your school who would be happy to get burnt eggs to eat, much less nice scrambled eggs like these."  I could actually hear Frankie Heck loudly saying the same thing to her children.  Alex rolled his eyes and walked away and Logan just stood there and looked at me.  Ha.
I thought about The Truman Show the other day as I looked around for the cameras.

Each week seems to give us new challenges--it keeps us on our toes, keeps us from getting bored, and helps us appreciate the things we have.
Now, please, excuse me while I go try to convince my boys to lay down and rest instead of wrestling with each other.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Countdown Begins

In case you are wondering I HAVE been counting down the weeks until I have this baby.  I have a little over 9 weeks left.  I have had several people tell me that being pregnant in your 30s is different from being pregnant in your 20s.  Boy, were they ever right.  Being pregnant with my boys seemed easy. This baby is a WHOLE different story, though. My body hurts, its hurts to walk, my feet, ankles, and fingers keep swelling, I have little energy and feel like I have to lie down most afternoons, I just feel huge and uncomfortable--yup, I'll be glad when I get her here and I can hold her in my arms and not have to be pregnant any more.  Jacob has been doing more things around the house to help me and he has been very understanding and supportive through all of this.

When I felt up to it over the long holiday weekend we tried to make some fun food and also hit some sales at Hobby Lobby.  Jacob did a lot of hanging and we just enjoyed being together as a family.  It was nice.

One night we splurged and made Juicy Lucys with cheddar bacon fries.  Not the healthiest of meals, but its fun to splurge from time to time.

The "All Star" hat rack we purchased for half price at Hobby Lobby.  We have been looking for a hat rack for the boys' room for a while now and this one was perfect.  It was even more exciting that it was 50% off!

The boys' backpacks are always on the floor and in the way.  I found this double hook for half price and bought it to hang the boys' back packs on.  We hung it in the hallway at the boys' height so they could hang their back packs and get them for school.

Another day we made taco salad and made mini tortilla bowls by using an upside down muffin pan.

Finished products.  Alex loved these!

Taco salad

Here's to more fun discoveries and new recipes!!