The Baker's Menagerie: November 2011

I guess I should get at least one post in this month. I have not been doing very well at this blogging thing, but at least I try right? Life is slowly moving along. Kayla is still loving school, Maddie is still loving being rambunctious, I am still prego, and Jared is still doing the Hooah thing. Its a pretty dang good life if I say so myself! We had a very quiet Thanksgiving dinner with just our little family. I prepped everything I could the day before, and Jared and I finished everything else up on Turkey morning. Jared kept commenting that it was the easiest going Turkey day we have ever had. It was probably because we cooked in our PJ's and didnt have to worry about pleasing anyone but us. The kids ate everything we put in front of them and Kayla kept commenting on how delicious everything was. She refused to try the sweet potatoes but she ate the green fluff jello without a complaint. They had two helpings of pumpkin pie as well. It made me think of our first Turkey day together, spending it in Colorado Springs with the Doty's. they are living in the Philippines now, its crazy how much life has changed in those short 6 years.

Jared recently played in a turkey day football tournament with his company. He scored a couple touchdowns, and then couldnt walk for three days. It was quite entertaining. I saw some pics but I cant figure out how to steal them from the brigade so I will have to wait until Jared gets copies to post a couple. He had fun though, and that is all that matters. Jared is going to a bunch of different classes right now. Most of it is here locally, but he is spending a week in Fort Knox, which is highly inconvenient. I cannot say its tough, but its annoying. Luckily he wont have another trip until March, which he had better get out of or I am going on strike. No way will I be 37 weeks prego and here alone with the two monsters. UH UH, NO WAY. Mama bear will get up in Sir's face and lay some smack down. Yeah. So um...anyways.

As for me, I am 22 weeks along now. and the best news of all, we are having a BOY! Miracle of miracles, we can produce males. I knew it was a boy all along, but as I told everyone else, I was too scared to hope. He is healthy and was happily showing off for the sonogram. We spent the afternoon goofing off and celebrating in our own way. Basically, that meant going out for lunch and spending money on the kid's winter wardrobes. I learned that Texas Red Lobster's just cannot serve decent seafood. So we will add another restaurant to the list of 'Dont Eat At's' here. So other than that, I am hanging in there, praying for my friends and family members who have recently announced their pregnancies. My energy level is doing well, but there just arent enough hours in the day to get everything done, especially when I feel like I am ignoring my kids. Oh, and as of today, I have noticed myself WADDLING. If it looks like a duck, and waddles like a duck...

Kayla is loving her preschool. It may cost us a fortune, but it is producing results that we had never expected. She walked in the house counting by tens the other day. She is learning addition and she is learning how to read and spell. The way they teach is so different from the way I learned and she is thriving there. We got to go to the Thanksgiving Feast for her class. We all brought food and watched the kids tear around the classroom while we ate and gabbed. Jared got to come which was a huge treat for Kayla, we usually have to switch off on school stuff. It was fun to get to know some other moms. One actually was surprised when she found out I was prego. I wear fairly tight fitting shirts so I laughed and told her that I was not normally carrying a basketball in front of me. I think I embarrassed her, but I sadly dont really feel too bad. So, Kayla, right. Ummmm, Other than school, Kayla has been a big help for me here at home. The only complaint is that she is trying to grow up too quickly.

Madison is definitely a two year old. She is not intentionally difficult, but she is so destructive that it amazes me. I am having a hard time being around her as she is very aggressive and more often than not she hurts me as I am trying to keep her away from my tummy. She isnt trying to be aggressive, she is just having a really hard time learning that she has to be gentle around mommy. I will play games with them to keep her physcially busy and then when she is tired we will cuddle and watch a movie. She is slowly getting it, but will probably not fully understand until her brother is here. She is very independant, learning new words every day, and when she cant get her point across she just makes up her own words and babbles away. Kayla and Maddie have their own language that makes no sense to me. But, I am not going to fight it.

We set up our Christmas decorations over the weekend. It was a stressful experience as most of my ornaments are glass. I guess it is time to change that for the next few years. Jared and I both noticed that the tree just didnt seem as full and pretty this year, so maybe it is time for a change. I honestly cannot wait to have my kids old enough to leave the decorations alone. Last year we had to throw out our crystal nativity set, because of Maddie, and several other decorations. This year I put most of them back in their boxes and only put out non-breakable stuff. It makes me sad but someday I will have my own home to decorate how I want, without kids trying to eat them. I was able to get all of the Christmas shopping done over the weekend, and all of it online, and one trip to Costco. Now I just have to wait for the stuff to get here and keep the kids out of it. One quick trip for stocking stuffers and ornaments at the end of the season and we will be done. Now on to cooking Christmas dinner! We are celebrating with our good friends the Reynoso's and will be doing a mashup for foods that day. Two foodie families combined is going to be good eats.

Have a lovely Christmas season everyone!

Maddie with a haircut.

Well, October has come and gone. And with it, a little more of my waistline and my sanity. My housework just does not seem to get done no matter how hard I try. It seems as soon as I catch up, that I spend a day sick or super tired and it all goes downhill again. Oh well, life will go on. My kids are alive, healthy, and happy. None of us is going without and that is the greatest blessing of all.

We recently attended a church function for a trunk or treat for the kids. It was a chili cook off and costume parade as well. I dressed the kids up and managed to get myself clean. Jared made some chili and I made some cornbread. I have learned that when you double a cornbread recipe and put it in a larger pan, it will NOT cook in a gas oven. After cooking for nearly 2 hours, it was still almost raw in the middle. We just cut around the edges and then cut the pieces in half and put them in another serving tray. Jared did not place in the cookoff but that is because they never tasted his chili. (His words, not mine!) The kids participated in some games. Kayla had her face painted by the youth and then went 'fishing' and caught some vampire teeth and a couple bracelets, which she quickly lost. The teeth are still sitting on my nightstand covered in drool. Why there? Because my room is the dumping ground of EVERYTHING. It goes there to die as I throw it out when people dont come collect their belongings. Oh, yeah, the party. Madison was watching the bean bag toss and when it was her turn, she grabbed the beanbag, walked over to the hole, placed it in, then yelled, "I DID IT! GIVE ME A TOY!" we all laughed and she was handed a little bat ring. After that we went out to trunk or treat. We found some LED batlights at the PX and plugged them into the back of the van, (yes I have a two prong plug back there, you dont?) And I strung up spider webbing all over the back entrance. Thats as fancy as I get. I handed out a Costco size bag of treats to the kids while Jared took the monsters around. They got good treats there including fresh made cotton candy by a lady dressed as cotton candy! I love the characters of these people! It was a fun evening though and the kids were worn out and so were we.

On Sunday, Kayla participated in the Primary Program at church. She had a two line speaking part that I had been shoving down her throat for about 3 weeks. I was so proud when she stood up at the pulpit, re-positioned the microphone, and spouted off her two lines perfectly! She was the only one her age that actually knew her lines without having help! I know that mainly had to do with Kayla's lack of fear in social situations. It was fun for us to see her perform a little anyways. She spent the rest of the hour goofing off and not listening, but at least she wasnt screaming I guess.

Jared is still doing the same old, same old. He has had a few more jobs added to his current list of responsibilities, but such is life in a scaling back Army. He still gets up and goes every day and usually comes home with a smile on his face so I guess things are ok. He has recently switched to evening PT and even though that means he gets home a little later, it also means that he is home in the morning and is able to take Kayla to school! That means at least $100 more in our pockets in gas money! And, I can take an extra hour in the morning to get some stuff done around here. Oh sweet winter PT!

As for me, I am slowly swelling to the size of a cantaloupe. This pregnancy has been so different in almost every way from my last two. I am rarely hungry which is super weird for me because I am usually always hungry and when I am prego, I am ravenous. I am also not gaining as much weight. At this point I have put on a little over 15 lbs so I am content. As long as the doc is happy, I am happy. That puts me right on track for hopefully having a healthy baby weight this time! We are hoping to have our ultrasound in the next few weeks. I go in for my 20 week appt next week so keep your fingers crossed that our ultrasound wont take a month to schedule! We are very anxious for the sex of this baby as at this point I have about 10 bags of girl clothes that no longer fit Madison. I would love to give them to people in need! And, well, get them the heck outta my house!

Kayla is learning at an astonishing rate. The things she knows from going to school make my head spin. Every day when I pick her up I ask her what she has learned that day and the answer is usually, "I dont renember mom!" (remember is not spelled wrong, thats just how she says it!) I was completely floored and had tears in my eyes when out of the blue last night she quoted the pledge of allegiance all by herself! I have never once said this in front of her. Jared has never looked so proud of her. I will include a video of her saying the pledge in her Halloween costume later on below. We have been trying to move her into the public school system but have hit a major snag. Our school district has TWO preschools. And they are both about 45 minutes from here. Not exactly worth our time. So until we can get a waiver approved to attend a different school district, we will continue shelling out our life savings to pay for her schooling. At least she is happy and I feel better as a mom knowing that she is learning something day to day, even if she wont tell me about it.

Madison has changed into a kid. No more baby, no more cutesy little chubby legs. Its so sad but exciting at the same time. she has gotten super tall and skinny. Her words are in full sentences now, and she is stringing them together on her own. She is constantly asking what things are called so that she can say the names on her own. I may be the only one to understand her, but thats ok. At least I get it and she is trying. She still does not understand that I have a baby in my tummy and I have had to forcefully keep her away from me as she thinks I am still a trampoline and she is very rough. It breaks my heart because she loves cuddling with me, but it only lasts a few minutes before she goes wild again and tries to use my new baby belly as a stepping stone as she climbs on top of my head.

Well, thats about it for updates. We dont have too much going on, just trying to get through the day to day right now. As an update for Halloween, the girls dressed as Cinderella and a Pirate. Can you guess who was who? If you know us at all it's no problem to figure out. Kayla's crown did not fit her massive noggin though so I put twist in jewels in her hair that I had worn for my wedding day. Just rhinestones but she felt special. We Trick or Treated through our neighborhood and that was about all I could handle even though I would have gone one more neighborhood. It worked out though because the kids didnt get any candy I would eat so I guess thats one less food I can deal with not eating.

Have a fabulous November everyone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g26rReeSWiI&feature=share (Kayla saying the pledge)