Sunburn. Facebook. = Grouchy

Did I mention I got a massive sunburn this weekend?  well I did, and I like to complain about it. Today I had blisters on my shoulders. I burned the end of a pin and popped some of them. Then some of my skin started peeling.  There is something you should know: if you never tan EVER your skin burns and then peels off- there is no pleasant "tan" look. Also, I am allergic to spray on painkiller. and I'm grateful for Benadryl. REALLY GRATEFUL.
Which really made me think of possible names for mystery child. At this point mystery child is large enough that some of the people at the gym look at me funny but not large enough for anyone to ask if I have a child in my belly.  I like the slightly quizzical looks.
Also like: mosquitoes no longer love me. Usually I get a million bug bites if I even think about stepping outside and just the other day I went to New Hampshire and got only one bug bite after being outside for over an hour.  It was also pitiful- like it landed on me and then changed it's mind. I don't know if you know this but pretty much the entire state of New Hampshire is a mosquito breeding ground- and they love poor little Danielle.
Also- the other day to me could mean any time from yesterday to a few months ago- in this case it was in may.

I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but for me pregnancy is closely associated with being quite grouchy. I went to church on Sunday and the talks were really good and I got things done- which are normally positive things- but I was just really grouchy the whole time. I've been really sick so far being pregnant so I don't like to go anywhere or talk to people but I like to feel sorry for myself that no one is showing up at my house with cookies- even though I might be mad at them if they did. Or something- just so many feelings. I am ill equipped to manage so many conflicting emotions. I'm considering taking my maternity leave early from church, since I feel like sometimes all I have in common with the moms there is that we all had babies- which really isn't that much to go on sometimes.
oh and I guess we all go to the same church.
whatever the point is I know I have crazy pregnant lady feelings so I try to avoid contact with people whenever possible. Also to avoid: the crazy facebook updates about politics.  You want to know what type of people have constant Facebook political updates? 
1.  People who don't have a real forum to declare their political feelings.
2. Right wing nut jobs.
3. Article posters.  OK I actually like some of these people- like Melissa who seems pretty interesting.
4.  My cousins.  Really cousins- stop sharing your crazy with the world.  Maybe you aren't actually crazy- because when I've talked to you in the past you haven't seemed one step away from uni-bomber.  But you do on Facebook. When that's all people hear from you it seems a little intense- like all you do all day is stew about political stuff. Although I almost clicked through to Ron Paul's website I have to admit.
5. People who feel sorry for themselves and think maybe someday the government will send them a letter admitting there really was a conspiracy to ruin their lives.
6. Politicians.  No wait- they try to post about other stuff.

My friend just had triplets.  One of them is named Regan- I like that name. John is opposed to the presidential names. I like to ask people about what they would name a child because it's usually not what I would think of.  So here are my top 5 names for boys or girls.  I find out August 5 what I am having. I know there is something in there- unless my intestines have decided to start leaping on my bladder.
Boy Names: Michael (OK it's common but I like it) Thomas, Calhan (the least common name I like so we'll never use it), Roman (the strangest name i like) and Jackson (the trendiest name that I like but I'm not sure if I really like it). Also I like the name Vincent.

Girl Names: Morgan (this will never work since it's a unisex name and I can't handle that- plus John hates it) Emmaline (John also hates), Lillian (I haven't even asked John because I know he will hate it), Sarah (but we can't use this name since it is like the male version of John in terms of being common- plus I know Sarahs and Saras and how would I decide which one to use. I've liked Enna and Violet before. Both might not work though. Naming a child is a lot of pressure- no matter what you chose they will wish you had named them Maria and other people will hate the name. Especially if it has a stupid spelling, which is not a bright parenting move.  My name is "my parent's can't read or spell so they just guessed at the hospital."

I secretly hate all girl names.  It seems so tricky to pick a name for a girl.  Why is it so hard to find girl names?  Eva and Sophie were our top two for Danielle- but she just didn't look like either of those names so we became one of the weird couples who looks through the baby name book at the hospital.
Do you think Bruce is a strange baby name? Will my baby talk like Batman if I give him that name?

Overall based on my inability to pick a name I will have a girl.
and I can start posting every hour on Facebook about how she won't get social security when she's old and it will be Obama's fault.
Because everyone was wondering if I thought that.

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Dog Sitting

Tess is visiting us right now. She is a yellow lab and my aunt owns her. The first day, Tess seemed to miss her family.  Judging by her barking about 70 percent of the day.  I texted Sara since I'm a grouchy pregnant lady.  So when John got home he was like- what is wrong with Tess Mark asked if he should come get her...
John told them we were fine, which was true even though Tess didn't like being in a kennel during bed time or nap time and barked the whole time and any time we weren't playing with her or looking at her.  I suspect it was partly because the Kennel wasn't with the humans- it was in the garage. 
Where I wish I had left my dog. Yesterday we moved Tess inside and the children were thrilled- Tess was out until Mark put her back in the kennel-
Then he would let her out.
Then he would put her back in.
Then he would climb on top of the kennel and yell at Tess.
Then he would let her out and give her a hug.

The cycle continued for a few hours. I guess Tess is a lot more interesting and desirable than our dog.
The kids played outside with her in the sprinkler for a few hours.
Austin (my dog) sat by the door crying until I let him back in.

I don't know if Tess knows how to fetch but with the assistance of two squeaky toys we played it last night. She likes to play keep away the best but I wonder if she fetches like a champ at home.
Tess was terrible on her walk last night.  I'm still trying to convince John to take her running because I don't want to. She kept going in circles around me and if I would yell at her she would hit the deck like I was going to hit her. She panicked when I brought the leash in close for a heel walk.
I guess she fears me a little- so I'll have to get my bike out and get her good and tired before we do that again. I used to go on bike rides with Austin all the time- but not the other dog because she was unreliable so she would pull me over.

Since we let Tess be inside I thought we should let Austin be out inside the house.  He usually sleeps in the garage because I don't like waking up to a house full of dog fart and shedding dog hair. Austin loses SO MUCH HAIR! I think the food in to dog hair out ratio is mathematically impossible.
anyway I forgot about the ant poison traps we just put out.
Until this morning when I found a pile of poo on the black and white rug in the dining room. As I was cleaning it up I realized a few things.

1. I need to train my dog to have accidents in the kitchen so they are easier to clean up.
2. Tide Stain Release also helps clean up unsightly carpet stains.
3. The fudgesicle  spots from Mark two days ago look a lot like dog accident, but they aren't. Austin helped clean those up actually. Except the ones I found all over the drapes today while I was opening the windows after dog Armageddon.
4. I am lucky that my dog is so big because if he wasn't he would totally kill himself from eating these stupid ant traps. If that is even why he is sick. I know that happened last time because we found the chewed up trap. we are missing one trap from between the doors to the outside but I don't find any remnants so maybe he is just sick. It's a lot easier to mad at a dog that didn't eat poison.
5. Anyone who lets their almost two year old eat Popsicles while they go to the bathroom deserves what they get. You might think they always eat them at the table, but given the opportunity they will walk all over the house with it and look out the windows and leave the remnants in a pile at the top of the stairs.

So my dog had his second ant trap poo accident in his life- also known as his second accident in the house.  Tess was happily sleeping in the kennel- she isn't stupid enough to eat poison. Too bad John didn't find it before he left for school.  Austin is back in the garage, and I don't feel guilty about it anymore...

Mark is currently feeding his favorite dog a popsicle outside.

No matter how much they like being outside with her I am still not going outside to weed the yard- end of story.
Maybe Tess will dig up all my weeds.

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I love teeth: Sunday Thoughts about the last few months when I have been missing from life

Have I mentioned yet that I love teeth? I love taking my kids to the dentist. They like us, because Danielle has pretty good teeth. I worry that she will end up with the busted grills that run in my family and then her grandpa will have retired and we will have to pay a boat load to get her teeth fixed.
so far so good. With our new million billion dollar insurance we have dental coverage and we didn't even have to pay for her checkup (although if she had cavities this might have been different because it's not a huge yearly allowance- I don't even thing it would cover one of my average visits.)
I hate having cavities. Also on my bad list- pregnancy gingivitis, which I totally have. My gums bleed every time I think about brushing my teeth. It just makes me want to floss more, honestly. So when I took Danielle to the dentist (OK honestly I think it was in MAY) she loved her bag of stickers and her pink balloon. She also liked brushing the teeth of the stuffed animals. I was so proud of her for sitting still and being polite for the dentist- and I was happy she wanted to wear her heart shirt that I made for her. She showed me her clean teeth just like she showed the dentist.
If I raise her right maybe she will be a dentist someday.

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Take a Picture

Danielle is usually photo averse, but lately she's changed her mind. Maybe because I told used to tell her when she was making horrible faces. I've since decided the horrible sneer is a beautiful part of growing up.
The best photo place- in the washer.
2nd best photo location- in the toy bin.

best time for a photo: when mom is in the middle of getting a meal ready.

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Sunday Thoughts: Grandpa Berg

We spent last weekend in New Hampshire with my family. My grandfather passed away and we were able to drive up to the funeral. I was glad that I went up to visit when my mom was still here. Grandpa seemed like he was in so much pain every day. I still wake up in the night feeling sick so I would hear grandpa. He sounded like he was choking in the night. He had Parkinson's disease and I guess the difficulty swallowing is part of the disease. I didn't know about the pain, or if that was from something else. But I felt glad that Mark got to meet him and that my mom got to see him before he passed away. I also felt glad that he was in a better place, and wouldn't be in so much pain anymore. It's heartbreaking to see someone slowly suffer from a disease that will never get better. I remember my grandpa being so smart and amazing and kind. He always had the best candy stashes and loved presents. I'm honored and lucky that I got to know him.

Baby Mark was very interested in Grandpa. He probably spent the most time hanging out with grandpa. He would go and sit in the chair next to grandpa's bed and watch shows with him. Once he stole grandpa's flashlight and grandpa was concerned he wouldn't give it back. It was interesting to see how much Mark wanted to go hang out and watch shows with grandpa. Mark would tell grandpa about the shows and in his little style it wouldn't make any sense but I don't think Mark noticed and grandpa didn't say anything.

We saw my grandparents on their 54th wedding anniversary. Grandpa reminded him the date and grandpa remembered it was their anniversary. Grandpa or Mr. Ed as we used to call him was bedridden when we visited and he would come out and eat the table with us but he has a hard time eating and after a few minutes he would looked like he was in horrible pain so he would want to go back. I was glad that he got to come sit with us when he wanted and the kids seemed very interested in him. On their anniversary he was out and sitting at the table and grandma made strawberry shortcake. Grandpa reached across the table and held her hand, which looked really painful. I almost started crying because at first Grandma didn't realize what he was trying to do.

It broke my heart a little when Danielle wanted to to with grandpa. I didn't realize how upsetting it was to a child when they loaded the coffin in the car. I wondered if I should have told her about grandpa dying. She wanted to see him and say goodbye but then when he was leaving she was very upset that people were stealing her grandpa.

I didn't cry at the funeral because I was worried I would have a hard time since I'm pregnant and I didn't want to get started. Danielle was very sad. She loved grandpa. I tried to prepare the kids before we drove up there and I've heard that small children don't really understand what death means. I don't remember anyone in my family dying until my grandpa Sharp died, and I was a teenager.

Danielle loves grandpa a lot. She wanted to draw him pictures so he could see them from heaven. She drew him some beautiful mermaids and princesses in New Hampshire and when we came home she drew a happy family.

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Grocery Shopping

Since my newest hobby is thinking about food and spending less money on groceries I decided I should share that today I went grocery shopping with wild abandon. the evidence:
I bought cherries. hello 5 dollars a pound.
I bought apple apple at the grocery store even though i know it is 30 cents cheaper at target. I got two boxes.
I let my kids pick their own cereal. and then their own box of fruit snacks. Of course I made Danielle swear on her life that she would brush her teeth after she ate them, which she did not do a few hours later.
I got butter with boxtops for education on it.
And Margarine. I love box tops brands- I cut them out and then give them to someone else because my kids aren't even in school yet.
I bought dannonino- also known as the most expensive kids yogurt on earth- you get like one spoonful of yogurt for the same price as other yogurts.
I bought lunchables- even though they are 50 cents cheaper at target. My child asked for them and I just put them in the cart.
I bought a half gallon of milk instead of a bigger one.
I bought gallons of water. someone asked us if we had a boil order on our water the other day. I guess it didn't taste good. So I got some water. and water bottles- with the sports tops that are awesome. Mark has already dumped one on the family room floor. It was a kids bottle with added fluoride.
I bought the most expensive kind of apples- just because I like the way they taste.

reckless abandon.
I almost bought some rainbow chip chips ahoy.
so at least you know I haven't completely lost all control.

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