Overused and/or driving me mad

There are some phrases that drive me crazy:

• "We're/I'm preggo!" Please stop. Get pregnant by all means, but call it something else.
• "The reason for ___ is because..." So grammatically incorrect it gives me shivers.
• Anything involving the phrase tender mercies. A little (well, a lot) overused in the last 3 years. Not to mention how it's often wrongly used.
• And since so much communicating is done through emails and blogging these days, here's another one that bugs me: Periods and commas go INSIDE the ending quotation marks (Ex: "Happily Ever After.") (Can you tell I'm an editor?)
• And while I'm on a roll...the difference between their and there is SO EASY, and yes there is a difference. Another pet peeve...
  

I hope there are other easy-to-irritate people out there... I can blame my annoyances on hormones. Any others I'm forgetting?

Nearing the End

Times seem to be changing around here. We're go go go kind of people - the kids and I like to be busy and be out and about. Today my body finally started to rebel. I had my Dr. appointment (never a lovely experience for me as the weigh-ins make me nervous and I wear light clothing and eat hardly anything the morning of). Then we walked around the city lake - 2 miles. When did briskly walking 2 miles become painful? I think I had one big contraction the whole time. Thankfully, Tyler rode his bike and I didn't have to push anything. Well, anything other than my big belly. Then one of the kids' friends jumped in our car and we headed off to get Emma and her classmate from pre-school. Brought them home, fed them all, tried to clean up (but THAT is even a big chore these days).


Last night I sat on the couch, lower back BURNING, at 8:42 p.m., watching the bumps (elbows? knees? toes?) move across my stomach...wondering where that motivation to go go go has gone. This seems to be getting more typical. Did I feel this way with my previous two pregnancies? Was it always a chore to paint my toenails? Was it always hard to tie my shoes? (Let's be honest, how often do I actually wear shoes?) If I have to sit around and be a lump for however many weeks until I get my body back (and this baby OUT), I might lose my mind. Maybe I'll just walk a brisk one mile instead of two. After all, my weigh-ins are a lot more frequent now. And food is just looking better and better...

Ahh...September

Anyone who knows a corporate tax accountant understands why I LOVE the arrival of September 15th. "Tax season" (March, April) is NOTHING compared to what we go through from July-September. By "we," I do mean all of us, in addition to Spencer. I think the kids see him on Sundays and a total of 2 hours during the week. It's common for me to wake up around 2 a.m. as he's getting home and climbing into bed. Luckily, he's been able to sneak a kid in to work with him a couple times this busy season, on a Saturday here and there. Anyway, last night he got home from work in time to see the kids (!!) and help me put them to bed. It was a comfort I'd totally forgotten.

I also love September because here, summer ends sometime in mid-October, or sometimes even later. This weather can't be beat. We put up our Halloween decorations today - the few we have - and I am going to try to pull out my craftiness and make some things in Photoshop for the holiday. I also LOVE caramel apples. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory makes my heart skip a beat (yeah, probably literally) so I tried to be Martha Stewart last night and make my own. Well, I had forgotten that electric stoves don't work great for making caramel (I guess it can't ever get hot enough) and I had a bit of a sugary/non-caramely mess. So today, still determined to accomplish the feat of the caramel apple, I succumbed to the laziness of Brach's caramels and, while they may look a little messy -- YUMMM. Who would love to have me as a visiting teacher right now? ;) That's what mine are getting tomorrow.


I also love the hype of college football. Spencer has been hinting around getting a plasma TV for a year and after seeing BYU last week, I am even starting to think their wins might look better in HD, yes? There's nothing like being at one of their games in person, but watching it on TV is pretty darn exciting too. Well, just when they win. :)

Last, I found this thing on babycenter today that estimates the costs of your baby's first year. It sets everything to the default so after I unchecked things like crib, stroller, changing table, clothes, etc., I found out this baby will cost us about $3400 in her first year. Quite interesting if you ask me. We have less than 8 weeks to go! Freaking out!

I'd love to hear what everyone else loves about September (or Fall in general)...

The beginning of private education

I guess it is just one year of private education (until college!)...

I can't think of anything more cliche to blog about than a child's first day of pre-school. With that disclaimer, here I go. :) Actually, it was a great day for us all because Emma FINALLY got accepted into the school just on Friday afternoon (!!) and after I had to write a huge check to the school (and almost said thanks but no thanks), I realized how good this will be for her. Today proved that.

Each child is assigned a cubby and a hook (for a coat, etc.). Never mind that it's 85 degrees...Emma just had to take a coat for her hook. At the end of the day she wanted to bring her entire cubby home...never mind that it's connected to the others and to the wall. She ATE it all up and loved every second. Tyler doesn't love having ME as his new playmate, but I think he'll get used to the one-on-one time (something he's never had), and I'm sure we'll be just fine without Emma for 6 hours a week.

Now for the sad part. And I don't know if it was more disappointing for me or Emma when we found this out, but there are no flip-flops/sandals allowed! It's a sad day when you have to (sorta) give up your foot freedom, let me tell you. But she has lots of adventures ahead this year - I just know it - and I'm confident it will be worth every dollar (or hundred). Welcome to life.

Here she is this morning, posing like a little diva...

Something new

I have blogged before about the funny situations we find Emma in at nighttime (remember the winter clothes/ski hat picture from the middle of June??). Tonight, this one just made me smile, and made me proud too. A bookworm in the making. (None of those books was there when I put her to bed an hour earlier - quiet little stinker.)
And I found a new way to make my kids think I'm the best: new pajamas. Aren't new PJ's fun?? Disney had these pajamas for $3.99/$4.99 so I bought sizes a little big (next summer) and made their day. They came in the mail this afternoon - oh the excitement level in our house... Check out the website (outlet section) - maybe they still have some!

Just another year

I think the best thing about my birthday this year was watching the two little ones enjoy it as much (maybe more?) than I did. Tyler couldn't stop fidgeting as he waited for me to open my couple of presents, and Emma made sure I had a crown on my head to do so. I got beautiful roses from Spencer, flowers from some friends, gift cards, candy (Smarties!), and skin care/nail stuff! Also that day, I went to a Thai restaurant with two friends and ate food so good I didn't know if I'd be able to stop (I know I'm not the only one who gets this way). Thai coconut soup is the best! It's just another year but it's so much more fun with cute little people who make it extra special!