ok, it’s been a week. but c’mon, i see most of y’all haven’t posted through this holiday either, suckas!

i’m really tired tonight so it’s probably gonna be random. bear with me.

our 3 year old can now say his k’s. he just has to turn it into a habit. i’m thrilled and more than a little sad that kitty cat will no longer be… well… you can figure it out!

my 5 year old’s big boy tooth is already showing through. and he has another loose tooth next to the one that he lost.

my girl keeps talking more and more and more! with “i prinshesh” (i’m a princess), “i wanna shee” (i wanna see), and “pashi?” (paci?) topping her most frequently said list.

the baby brewing is keeping me very tired. although, i guess i shouldn’t blame it all on him – the other 3 just may be adding some to it. however, he ain’t helpin’ anything. in addition, have i mentioned he’s making me a little crazy? also, this cannot be solely blamed on him, but once again, he ain’t helpin’. my honey tried to force-feed me anti-depressants yesterday morning (since the doctor said i can’t have any until the baby  makes his official debut) and my oldest chimes in with “mama’s crazy” in a rather endearing sing-song voice that the others (yes, including my girl) joined in with. suckas. all of ‘em. we all know that i did absolutely NOTHING to deserve such vile behavior directed at me.

pearl and i got $100.00 each from his parents for christmas and, since that’s a tremendous amount of money around our house we must spend it immediately on something other than our bills, like the hooligans we are. what can i say? it’s burnin’ a hole in our pockets. pearl opts for the great decision of a digital camera that we SO need (i’m not sure we have more than 2 pictures total – digital or otherwise – of our girl, you know, she’s a third – she’ll adapt – or get therapy later) anyway, pearl asks if i want to go in with him on his money to get the mega-cool camera. are you kidding me?! i want some clothes and a pair of tennis shoes. i’m not in this for the greater good, unless you consider the fact that new clothes will make me a little saner and therefore will be better for the good of the entire household. ok, i rambled a little, but the point of this was: we’re getting a camera and hopefully soon i will get pics on my blog! thank you!! and i’ll have new clothes to wear in the pictures he takes of me!

have i mentioned i’m a little crazy this pregnancy? ;) physically, this is the second hardest pregnacy of the 4, so far. and it’s not terrible, i’m still completely blessed – all is well with me and him, it’s just been harder on my body. and, no, it’s not that it’s gotten harder each time or with age, or because i have more to take care of each time. my girl blew that theory. ranking in order from hardest to easiest: oldest, this one, my second, my girl. but, like i said, healthwise – which is what really matters – all is great. i’m just tired. and crazy. my “baby fever” is non-existent. i’m trying to not stress on this, because i know, by now, that when i hold him he’ll be my world, but as for desiring more and drooling over all babies – it ain’t there. add my normal 6-7 month freak out, the nesting – in a 2 bedroom duplex, and i’m a little overboard. and i know, i know, at least this home works, and is clean – but explain that to my non-logical brain!! logic?

i can’t remember what i’ve posted and what i haven’t, so i’m sorry if i’m repeating things!

we’ve begun the serious search for minivan. and serious for us, includes looking on ebay at “short buses”. really. i can’t tell you how excited i got about them. you can get a diesel engine with 30,000 miles for around $9,000 with $500 down. seats 16 passengers, has the stop sign that comes out, and for $180 more you can add custom lettering (of course it would say “Parker Elementary”). can you think of anything that fits us more than that?!

ok, i’m tired and distracted by eddie murphy on “inside the actors studio”. so, i’ll end on the high note of the short bus. mull that around awhile, picture our circus seated in there – with me sitting behind daddy, because, of course, buses don’t have two front seats, and us rollin’ up to your house with “Parker Elementary” parked in your driveway. well, if that don’t bring a smile….

i decided to bring back the wednesday updates i was doing before we moved, but since our appointments fall on wednesdays i’ll move the updates to thursdays. once again, the disclaimer, there will be info in here not pertaining to the pregnancy, but probably most will, so if you don’t want the (sometimes) gory details, skip these updates!

first off, we’ll start with the children that are already here.

-MY OLDEST LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH! it loosened right as we were leaving them with nana and papa last night, was ridiculously loose when we got back, and at about 2:45am last night he came in to our room and said, “it’s really loose now, OH, it just came out!” very cool. such a big milestone. for all of us. there aren’t many things new to us parents by now, but this one is!

-about 2 weeks ago, at bedtime, i told my hubby i thought it would be within the month that our girl starts climbing out of her crib and we begin a new (but not so new to us) battle with her. 2 nights ago, i walked in to check on them a few minutes after bedtime and our girl was perched precariously on the edge. but with her personality, a stern, “no”, hurt her feelings and she hasn’t worked up her will of steel yet. but hang in there, it’s coming! :)

-noah’s is not new, but so worth noting. so loving. he tells me frequently now, “i want a hug, mama.” and “i love you, mama.” just out of the blue. SO sweet. and he’s figured out that when i tell him to do something he doesn’t want to do, this tactic will hold off the obedience for at least the length of hug. :)

-we saved for 2 months and went christmas shopping for the kiddos last night in little rock! it was absolutely awesome!! it rained, and there’s little i enjoy more than the city at night in the rain. i love it! and we got way better stuff for the kiddos than i expected! ooh! AND it’s not a minor thing when my husband and i go somewhere without at least one of our children in tow. really. we saw narnia, but i left the movie in the middle to go nurse my girl in the car! our awesome babysitters brought her to me, so i didn’t miss too much! and we took her with us at, like 6 weeks, to see batman begins! other than that, i think the last time we were in the car without them was when we were in labor with her and on the way to the hospital!! last night, my honey treated me to a cherry limeade, harry and david dark chocolate covered cherries (not a small amount of money!), and some cheesecake bites from sonic! so sweet! (and why am i packing on the pregnancy pounds?!) an absolutely incredible night!

- i went to the doctor yesterday. i’m 27 weeks. we had the ultrasound, glucose drink, and blood test. the drink was red this time and as terrible as all the other flavors i’ve had. the ultrasound was great. daddy brought all the littl’uns to see the newest baby growing in my belly. and it MOST DEFINITELY is a boy. ;) he is still breech, but that’s nothing new to us. every one of ours has turned pretty late in pregnancy. our oldest at 37 wks! and he said having had 3 formers there’s not much to worry even if he doesn’t turn before we go into labor – it won’t necessarily be a c-section. so he said very low on the worry list.
-i gained ANOTHER 5 pounds in 3 weeks. good grief, and i tried to do better this time. and no, it’s not swelling, it’s just weight! oh well.
-we started the 3 week appointments and next week will mark the beginning of the third trimester and the 7th month.
-i feel less whiny now. i’ve told pearl this pregnancy has felt the 2nd hardest for me physically and that this sweetie feels huge to me. yep. he’s measuring 2 weeks ahead of where we are. since we KNOW our conception date ;) this means he’s just gonna be big. the technician and the doctor both asked what the largest baby i’ve had is and then scoffed. and said this one will be bigger. oh well, at least i’m hoping we’re not in the teater league of baby sizes!
-and, here’s the gory details i warned you about, a couple of weeks ago i woke up in the middle of the night with more pain than i’ve ever had. really. almost throwing up from the pain alone, but i didn’t go to the er because, being that this is the 4th baby and i fall back on experience and much knowledge, i knew that i wasn’t cramping, contracting, bleeding, and i could feel the baby moving. it was something different. but excruciating. it passed after about an hour, i called the office the next morning, and i decided to just ride it out since everything seemed alright. when i described what i had to my dr.  yesterday he said, “actually, it sounds like you had a kidney stone and that it passed.” WHAT?! he agreed with me that it is one of the most terrible pains, but that they wouldn’t do much for it anyway, try to float it out with fluids. but that if it happened again to go ahead and come in. good grief! and you newtimers thought labor was the worst kinda pain! ugh. give me a baby anyday!
-but other than that he looks great! we could barely see his face because his head is so far towards my back, but matt said he could see that unmistakable parker wide nose! and he looks perfectly healthy.
-and a new friend from church called last night with the name and number of a homeschooler that i might could connect with – i’m really missing stay-at-home moms and company and encouragement – so this is great! i’m so excited about calling her after the holidays!
-and yesterday was pearl’s first day off out of, like, 12 days!

WHAT AN AMAZING DAY!!!!