26 weeks

Today I hit the 26-week mark! It's hard to believe I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant, and even harder to believe that I only have 3 1/2 more months until I'm due. Fortunately, my "need to do" list isn't too long ... I need to get a new carseat (our old infant seat is almost 4 years old, and there are better safety features on the newer models). I need to wash the newborn clothes and blankets, and put the baby bassinet in our room (but that can all wait until just a few weeks before my due date). We need to buy a larger car, which we plan to do at the end of April (I can't wait!!). My "want to do" list is a bit longer -- I'd like to do some good spring cleaning on the house, continue getting rid of extra clutter, finish clearing out the brush in the backyard, make up a bunch of meals for the freezer, and buy 1 new coming home outfit for baby Peter. It's enough to keep me busy, but not too much to stress me out :).

Today I had my 1-hour glucose tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes. It went well! I should find out the results on Monday, but hopefully my blood sugar wasn't too high. I had to drink a super sugary fruit punch drink and have my blood drawn an hour later to see how well my body processed the extra glucose. Thankfully, my doctor said I could eat a normal breakfast beforehand, so I didn't have to worry about feeling crummy from having all that sugar on an empty stomach. The boys came with me and they did great! Fortunately the lab let me leave the lab after I drank the fruit punch and just come back an hour later, so I let the boys run around in the courtyard instead of making them wait in the little lab waiting room. Jack watched closely as they drew my blood, and he thought it was really cool! Then I took them to a lake where we had a picnic lunch and fed the ducks. It's SO funny to watch Jack throw bread at the ducks -- he winds up and hurls the bread like he's a major league pitcher! Thomas kept trying to hand feed the ducks, so he would take a few steps forward, and the ducks would take a few steps back, and he would take a few more steps forward, until he was standing *in* the water at the edge of the lake :). He didn't mind until we went to walk around some more, and he didn't want to walk in soggy shoes and socks, so he asked me to carry him (which is becoming more taxing the larger my tummy gets!). Then, as a special treat, I drove through Starbucks on the way home and got them each a little strawberry cream frappachino (coffee-free!), which they loved.

Anyway, I'm enjoying my pregnancy these days. Honestly, after making it through the tired, yucky months at the beginning, things have been pretty easy. Chasing after Jack and Thomas is making the time seem to past much faster, so I feel like I'm taking a shortcut to the end somehow :). I'm so happy to be able to have my appetite back, to enjoy cooking, eating, and smelling food, to be able to walk into a grocery store without gagging. Peter is moving a lot, but it's not uncomfortable yet, so I'm enjoying that. I'm really looking forward to meeting our third little boy!

Haircuts

Yesterday I gave the boys haircuts, so they're looking sharp again. Jack was a trooper -- no complaints when I was buzzing his hair, but Thomas cried the entire time. Thankfully, the clippers are fast and fool-proof, so the trauma didn't last too long. When I took these pictures today, the boys were coloring and playing with play-dough. Both Jack and Thomas thought it was hilarious to have pencils behind their ears (it was Jack's idea first -- I think he saw a picture in one of his books where a guy had a pencil tucked behind an ear).

In other news, we've pretty much settled on the name Peter for this new baby boy. His middle names will probably be Fulton and Bailey. Peter and Fulton are after Fulton Sheen (whose birthname was actually Peter, but Fulton was a family name that he picked up and it became his known name). We like to name our kids after saints, and Fulton Sheen isn't there quite yet, but we believe it won't be too, too long :). And of course the middle name Bailey is a tradition for our other boys, and it's also David's middle name and his dad's middle name (and was I believe a great-grandfather's first name). So that's the story behind the name we chose. I really like Peter, though -- it really feels right for this kid, and it kind of fits in well with Jack and Thomas, I think, which nice.

Other than that, we're doing pretty well. I have a serious case of the slows this week -- I've been fighting off a sore throat and cough that only seem to bother me at night and first thing in the morning, so that combined with being almost in my 3rd trimester (!!!) is really sapping my energy. I had a bunch of energy a couple of weeks ago, so I hope that returns because I have a lot of things I'd like to do before early June comes!

Recipes

I love looking at other people's menu plans and borrowing their ideas, but it drives me crazy when I see a great looking meal but have no idea what they use for their recipe. I look at the meal plan I posted here and realized that I could probably be more helpful for anyone who is looking to borrow ideas :). So, I'm starting a Campbell's Kitchen blog, and am in the process of linking a bunch more of my meals in the meal plan post to actual recipes. So, if you're interested, check back in that post over the next week and you'll see lots more links to recipes. If you're looking for meal ideas, I hope to save you a little time and I hope you enjoy our recipes as much as we do!

Snow in Ramona!

It was pretty wet and icy, but we actually got a little bit of snow last Thursday, Valentine's Day! Jack was pretty impressed with the ice coming out of the sky, although he was less impressed with the loud thunderstorm that passed through just before it started slushing and snowing. We watched from inside our nice warm house since the boys don't really have clothes for snowy or icy weather -- and even though we don't have school or anything, it still felt like an exciting "snow day".

Food Stuff

I feel like I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about, preparing, cooking, and cleaning up meals and snacks for these two crazy boys, David, and myself (although I'm about as picky as a scrapyard dog). I actually enjoy the cooking part, and don't really even mind the cleaning part so much, it's the planning part that always drives me crazy. I need to plan ahead, because flying by the seat of my pants has not worked well in the past, and it actually ends up causing me more stress, but I really procrastinate when it comes to writing out a meal plan. So, I decided a couple of days ago to just sit down and make myself plan out dinners (my biggest challenge) for the rest of February and all of March. It actually went pretty well! We may change things here and there, depending on what's on sale at the grocery store or whether we prefer to eat something else one night, but I'm finding that it gives me a huge peace of mind just to have something planned for each day. Here's what dinners look like for the next month and a half at the Campbell house:

2/12 - Main dish salad with rosemary lemon pepper chicken, parmesan bread
2/13 - Salisbury steak and potatoes
2/14 - Leftover salisbury steak
2/15 - Broccoli, potato, and cheese quiche, foccacia
2/16 - Beef enchiladas, pinto beans
2/17 - Roast chicken, popovers
2/18 - Chicken pot pie wellington
2/19 - Pasta primavera, garlic bread
2/20 - Italian sausage sandwiches, fruit salad
2/21 - Beef and broccoli, rice
2/22 - Red beans and rice
2/23 - Homemade pizza
2/24 - BBQ pork loin, sweet potatoes
2/25 - Leftover pork loin
2/26 - Vegetarian tortilla soup, quesadillas
2/27 - Shepherd's Pie
2/28 - BBQ pork sandwiches
2/29 - Fish tacos
3/1 - Tortellini, garlic bread
3/2 - Hamburgers, oven fries, deviled eggs
3/3 - Skillet dinner (kielbasa, potatoes, bell peppers, & onions), molasses cheese bread
3/4 - Taco boats, cilantro rice
3/5 - Stroganoff
3/6 - Breakfast for dinner
3/7 - Mac n cheese
3/8 - Ropa vieja tacos
3/9 - Fried chicken strips with gravy, biscuits
3/10 - Leftover chicken
3/11 - Quiche
3/12 - Chicken cherry pasta
3/13 - Sloppy joes
3/14 - Black beans and rice
3/15 - Homemade pizza
3/16 - Beef stew
3/17 - Leftovers
3/18 - Kung Pao chicken, rice
3/19 - Breakfast for dinner
3/20 - Spaghetti and meatballs
3/21- Potato soup and bread
3/22 - Leftovers
3/23 - Ham, rolls, fruit salad
3/24 - Leftover ham
3/25 - Chicken fajitas
3/26 - Portabello burgers
3/27 - Meatball sandwiches
3/28 - Broiled salmon (or try salmon wellington?)
3/29 - Leftover salmon
3/30 - Roast beef, potatoes
3/31 - Leftover roast beef

The Hi-Bye Trap

It's usually the unsuspecting, sweet older ladies at grocery stores, department stores, and church that Thomas selects as his victims. He baits them with a playful and/or bashful look, and they always bite with "Hi, little guy! You're so cute!", etc. That's when he reels them in. He says "Hiiii" back in his clearest voice, and tosses in a cute baby giggle for good measure.

It never fails. Who wouldn't want to try and repeat the exchange to see if the baby will say Hi and laugh again? So they always say "Hi" again, and then it's all over. Thomas knows how to play the game, and he puts up a "Hi" and a giggle for every "Hi" that the nice lady can offer. At some point, the lady tries to wrap things up and go about her business, but Thomas tosses out a few more "Hi's", and they just can't walk away and leave him hanging.

Usually at some point I'll try to redirect his attention a little so the lady can make her getaway, but then the lady *always* makes the mistake of throwing in a "Bye" to neatly tie up the conversation. And then, of course, Thomas comes back with his own "Bye" and ... there we go again!

Trees Trimmed!

Here are some before and after shots of our trees in the front yard. The trimmers cut them way back to eliminate some wood rot and damage that they found, but now that the trees have all healthy wood they should grow back nicely and quickly.

Before:


After:

Sometimes Ya Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em

Well, we tried. :).

I didn't especially "feel" like taking Jack and Thomas to Ash Wed. Mass by myself today, but I got over myself and decided that I really should go -- especially because Jack has been asking questions about Lent and Easter. Also, today is a day of penance, so I figured taking the kids by myself would probably be good for that.

And ... it was. I am sure we received some graces for having lasted 27 minutes worth of Mass, but we certainly didn't receive any ashes or Eucharist :). I don't think the boys have EVER been this wild at Mass. We started out in the main church, but just as the processional song was cueing up, Thomas started bawling loudly for no reason. I do think he was a little upset that David wasn't with us (he kept asking "Daddy go?" (as in "Where did Daddy go")), so maybe that set him off.

Anyway, I whisked both boys off to the Mother's Room and set up camp there. One little boy and his mom were in there, but otherwise it was empty. Jack and Thomas were good for about 5 minutes, and then they started squealing, running cirles around the room (literally!), shrieking, etc. I did not have enough hands to contain them! I tried speaking very calmly and sternly to get Jack to stop running and screaming, but he wouldn't calm down. I tried holding him on my lap (I targeted Jack primarily because Thomas was feeding off of Jack's craziness), but he bucked and squirmed and started making a really loud and annoying humming noise. I could not make him stop! So, I packed up and left Mass early. :(. I felt terrible, but I didn't know what else to do! I couldn't handle them in there anymore, and we had 45 minutes of mass left to go.

When we got home, I had Jack do Mass Practice. He had to sit quietly, bottom down, in a chair for 5 minutes. If he talked or wasn't sitting nicely, I added 1 more minute. He was in the chair for probably 15 minutes total. I like the idea of Mass Practice (if you can't sit still and be quiet at Mass, then we'll take time at home to practice until you can), but I don't know how much it really sunk in.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I'll do if/when I have to take 2 (or 3!) boys to mass by myself again!

One More for Team Blue!

Our ultrasound was this morning, and we found out that we're having our third boy!! We're very excited and are tossing around name possibilities. It's a little hard for me to believe (even though I thought it would be another boy) -- it just seems like the odds are that we would have at least one girl by now! Maybe if we have another baby in a few years it will be a girl, and then she can have 3 older brothers to toughen her up a little and protect her :). I couldn't be happier that this baby is a boy, though!! I consider it a privilege that we are raising boys up to be good, Christian, Godly men. Plus -- we are very much in the "boy" groove, and adding one more to the pack will be an easy transition, I think. We can even stack them up all up in the same room until they leave for college :). Seriously, though, I'm very relieved that the baby is perfectly healthy, has a healthy heart, brain, etc. and is measuring just the right size.

Otherwise, everything in this pregnancy has been textbook. I "feel" big, but my tummy is growing just fine and I'm gaining a healthy amount of weight. I miss my normal body shape and size a little, but I only have 4 more months (!!!) of feeling huge before we get to meet this baby and I get to have my body back :). It's probably also good for me to remember that part of motherhood is being asked to give up what's very near and dear to me (i.e. my body and body image/physical comforts, etc.) for the good of another (in this case very tiny) person.

We were so blessed to have Kim watch the boys while David and I went to the ultrasound today. Jack and Thomas had such a blast with her!! Kim has a great description of their day together over on her blog http://sdbarbers.blogspot.com/.

It's not often that I look at my kids outside of my role as their Mom, but watching Kim play with them and hearing about the fun adventures that they cook up when they're together makes me treasure my kids more. I'm very thankful for that reminder! Many days I feel like I'm on survival mode - just trying to keep them and myself decently fed and clothed during the day while I juggle household chores and errands and spending time with David when he gets home. It's so easy for me to get wrapped up in my "to-do's" that I overlook the joys of kids just being kids, and playing, and laughter, and silliness. :). And as many older and wider people keep reminding me, little kids grow up way too fast and this time that I have with them now is precious. God bless aunts (and uncles and grandparents!) for giving me perspective when I need it.

A Good Day

Yesterday had the potential to be really crazy and stressful day, but by the grace of God it turned out to be very good. We had tree trimmers scheduled to come and trim a bunch of our trees yesterday, and I was excited about that because I knew the boys would enjoy watching them trim the front trees (from inside). I found out this past Tuesday that I needed to have a TB test done for this pregnancy, and that meant I had to go back to the dr's office yesterday (basically a 2 hour round trip) just to have the nurse tell me that my arm looked fine. So, I was worrying about how the timing would all work out, since I didn't want to skip the boys' nap and quiet time (and they don't fall asleep in the car anymore).

Well, the tree trimmers arrived late, so I figured there was no way I would get an early start down to the dr's office. But, thankfully, they worked here for about an hour and then they asked if they could come back next week and finish the work, since they had just done a bunch of major tree trimmings in the last several days, and they were exhausted. I was actually glad it worked out this way! And they offered to take a little money off of my total since I had to wait to have the job finished.

So, I took off with the boys to the dr's office to have my TB test read, and that all went smoothly. After I was done there, it was nearly lunch time (and fortunately I had thought to bring a picnic lunch), and I remembered that there was a lake on the way back home, near an apartment we used to live at. So, I took the boys to the lake and we ate our lunch and watched the ducks and coots frolick around. A nice lady came over to our table and offered to share her loaf of bread that she brought especially for feeding the ducks! So the boys really loved that. Jack was really pelting the ducks with the bread (and laughing hysterically), and Thomas was basicaly throwing whole pieces of bread as far as he could (which of course resulted in coot brawls, which only made Jack and Thomas laugh harder!).

After we had lunch we walked around a little and then headed home. The drive home was a little stressful -- the boys were picking fights with each other in the back seat and I wasn't feeling very well, but we made it! David called a couple of hours before he usually gets off and said that he was coming home early (hooray!), and I asked him if we could possibly order food for dinner, since I was tired and really didn't feel up to cooking.

David saved the day and whisked us all away to Sizzler when he got home. The boys were VERY well behaved, and they enjoyed all the fruit that the salad bar had to offer, and of course the soft serve ice cream. Thomas (who is our dipper, and loves to dip bread/pancakes/etc. into all kinds of dips), really enjoyed dipping some of Sizzler's tasty cheese toast into a cup of broccoli cheese soup!

Anyway, it was a very good day in all!