GO - FIGHT - WIN!

Does he mean business or what? He was JACKED that I put a paw print on his face - or bulldog paint as he called it. I put a paw on each cheek. You'd thought I put a gold bar in each pocket. He was STOKED! He and Justin are still at the game, so I'm not sure if the Bulldogs won yet or not. More on that tomorrow.

It was FREEZING cold here in SD today. The wind blew like crazy. They were predicting sustained winds at 30 mph with gusts up to 40+ mph. It was wicked out there. Thank goodness today wasn't Halloween. Tomorrow isn't supposed to be very warm, but we'll be ok as long as that wind doesn't rear its ugly head.

This morning I got to bed at about 8:45 and to sleep at about 8:47. I was beat. I only slept until 11 again. I got up and spent some time with the kids then went to my appointment in Sioux Falls. I put pig tails in Claire's hair before she went to Pam's. She let me get them in, but it wasn't long before she was trying to get them out. They were in when she went to Pam's, but out by the time I went to pick her up.

My appointment went fine today. I've gained 25 pounds and measure at 36 cm still. I told the doctor I was surprised by this and she said that she's not going to worry until we're 3 off. I wasn't worried about it at all, actually. I'm just surprised that I've been at 36 for this many weeks. Another surprise for me was that I tested positive for Step B. She checked for me and I tested negative with Nathan and she couldn't find that I was even tested with Claire. She said they might have tested at the hospital which wouldn't have been in my clinic file. It's not a huge deal. I was surprised though. I got back next Monday. I'll have an ultrasound and a check up. Then that Friday we'll have the baby!!!

UPDATE: Justin and Natey just got home and it sounds like the Bulldogs lost. Shoot! Natey had a good time anyway.

I got something today that's going to save my marriage. Wanna see it? Ok. Justin and I still don't agree on a name for this baby. He wants me to just give him a name and be done with it. I refuse. Just because he's a 3rd child and unplanned doesn't mean that he's not going to have a name that I like. We still have time (yes, I realize it's running out quickly).

Standard time stinks!!!

Here we go again. We moved our clocks back an hour before we went to bed Sunday morning in order to go back to standard time. Why do we have to do this? I know MANY people who get the 'winter blues' and a lot of it is because of the lack of sunshine when we like it - in the evening. Right now it's 6:45am and already light outside. Who needs this? I would much rather have it stay light later than get light earlier. I'm sure there are many people that would want it the other way around, but this isn't their blog. :)

I'm very tired today - which might explain my little rant. Natey and I made cookies last night before I went to bed. I wanted to have them done so he could take them to school and daycare today. I frosted them and he put the sprinkles on. We had a good time. When I went to bed, Justin was getting ready to take Claire to bed. He and Nathan were going to hang out and watch the Cowboys play. I went to bed and just got to sleep when I heard yelling and commotion. I sprang out of bed to find out what the heck was going on. When I got to the living room, I saw Justin looking like the cat that ate the canary on the couch and Natey trying to tell me about....something - I wasn't sure what. Justin apologized and I realized that I was just woke up due to a play that the Cowboys either DID make or SHOULD HAVE made. I obviously wasn't a happy camper.

I went back to bed and started having muscle spasms. I laid there for 30 minutes and had enough. I got up and Nathan turned into the biggest suck up you ever did see. He asked why I was up and I told him it was because I couldn't get back to sleep. He said "Was it because we were yelling?" I told him it was. He said "Did you hear me yelling?" I hadn't, actually, so I told him no. He said "That's because it wasn't me - it was my dad." Nothing like throwing your football buddy under the bus. LOL!

SO, I decided to do some jigsaw puzzles on the Internet in hopes that I'd get tired. Natey decided he wanted to sit by me (suck up). lol He told me how great I was doing at the puzzle about a dozen times. He and I both had one of those freezer pop things for a snack. He said "This is BEAUTIFUL!" I'm not sure why the freezer pop was beautiful, but to Natey it was. I'm pretty sure it's a case of screwed up word association. Finally after doing a few puzzles I was finally tired again and thought I'd try it again. I got about an hour and a half of sleep which just isn't enough.

I have another doctors appointment at 1:15 again today. I'll make sure to update on that later today or tomorrow. Justin is taking Nathan to the high school play off football game tonight. Natey is SO excited and I'm excited FOR him. He had so much fun at the last game he went to I know he'll enjoy himself. However, the weather isn't going to be great, but I think he'll still find a way to have fun.

Pictures Galore!

I thought I'd post some pictures that I've taken over the past couple of days. I'm not sure why Nathan let me take such a nice picture of him, but I sure appreciated it. It doesn't happen often. Stay tuned and you'll see for yourself.

Nathan took this one of me. He LOVES to take pictures. I wonder where he gets it? :)See what I mean? I don't recall why he thought this was a good face to make, but some days it's just easier to let him be 'silly' for the camera.Claire loves to wear shoes. As you can tell, it doesn't matter who they belong to - she'll try them.

"I wonder if I can get these in a 4W?"Yesterday we got to play outside for a bit. Natey's been DYING to ride Lightning again. He finally got to. He REFUSED to look at the camera........

.....until I told him that it would be time to go inside if he couldn't at least give me one good picture of him for the day. Voila! Here's Claire playing outside yesterday. She loved crunching in the leaves.As you can tell, she LOVES to be outside as much as Nathan does.
She wanted to see our dog, Drake - or Dake as she calls him. She started out very excited about it all...... ......and then Drake started barking REALLY loud at her which triggered this.......... This is the first time that I've left Claire's shirt on her head like this. She thought it was VERY fun and kept swinging her head back and forth. Nathan LOVES to wear his shirt on his head. I'm sure we'll see them like this often.

And finally - Natey!

Nathan enjoyed seeing 'Officer Rob' at his school yesterday. Rob said that Natey was the best listener. He said it was obvious that he didn't want to miss a single thing that Rob said. The only question that Natey asked was "I think you work with my dad, right?" knowing full well what the answer was. He told us all about the visit at supper last night. Rob had already told Justin and I what was said and such....it was cute hearing Rob tell the story as well.

I'll leave you with a video that I took of the kids last night. Natey wanted to sing his ABC's for the camera. We didn't know that Peach was going to try to steal the show. It's a good thing that Natey didn't seem to mind too much. :)

I smell throw up

Last night Nathan, as usual, was finding every excuse not to go to bed. We told him to brush his teeth and he did his usual. He went to get his toothbrushes and came back for us to choose the one that he should use. It should be known that no matter which one we choose, he already has one in mind that he's going to use and will tell us no until we get it right. Anyway, he wanted me to come move some wash cloth for him so he could brush his teeth. By then Justin's patients had run out and told him to move it himself - after all, it was a wash cloth. So Natey got mad and shut the door to brush his teeth. After spending more time in there than any one person should need to brush their teeth, he came out and Justin lead the way up the stairs. The second Natey opened the door to the bathroom he said "I smell throw up". Well the only thing that you could smell in the house was the pheasant that Justin had in the crock pot. I assumed it was the onion soup and told Natey it was daddy's soup. Natey asked if I could tell that he washed his face. I could tell that his hair line was a bit wet, but had no idea he'd washed his face. He said it again - "I smell throw up". I went to Nathan who was now standing on the stairs to give him a kiss good-night. I got close to him and now I could smell throw up. I realized that the wash cloth that he was supposed to move was the one that he used and was obviously not clean. It smelled exactly like vomit. How gross is that? You know the smell I'm talking about, don't you? It happens to dish rags all the time. I took him back in the bathroom and got a CLEAN wash cloth and REALLY cleaned his face. No more throw up smell. Yuck!

In my 3rd trimester of each pregnancy I've had a HUGE craving for ice. This time seems worse than the other two. I ate a 10 pound bag of ice in 9 days - at work. SERIOUSLY! I mean, there are worse cravings, but this one has been especially hard on my teeth. I noticed that things started to feel a little different when I chewed with the right side of my mouth. I looked last night and I cracked a filling in two places. Wonderful! Do you think that's stopped me? If you said yes, get to know Kerrie Meyer! No, it hasn't stopped me. I just hope it doesn't fall out in 15 days or less.

Last night my friend Char came to do my hair. Natey told me "If it starts to hurt, just let me know and I'll come give you a hug, ok?" Well, it obviously didn't, but he kept reminding me that the invitation was open. Char has a CUTE car and when she came over with it for the first time, Natey and I went out and looked inside it. Well, ever since that night he's wanted to look inside Char's car again. I asked him last night why it was such a big deal and he said because he didn't remember what it looked like in there. The last couple of times that Char was here, he got in trouble and then didn't get to see the inside. Anyway, last night he was VERY good and Char said it was ok for us to look in it. She has a sun-roof and her panel lights are blue, which is very cool. He wanted to take a quick spin in it so she drove us around the block. Natey thought that was AWESOME! He said "Char sure drives fast!" :)

Today one of the officers is going to Nathan's class and talking to them about safety. Natey can not wait! He obviously knows the officer that's coming and already planned some questions to ask him. He said he's going to ask Rob which car he was driving (they all have numbers and Justin usually brings home the 3 car for supper, so I'm not sure what Natey is looking for).

Well, have a good weekend. I don't have any plans other than the usual - work. Ta Ta!

Happy 39th Birthday KEITH URBAN!

Today my boyfriend turns 39.....too bad it's in rehab. Last night I asked Natey what he thought our new baby would look like. I said "Do you think he'll look like you?" He said "Yeah - or maybe Keith Urban." Well YEA!

I had a dream about Keith Urban this morning. Natey crawled in bed with me about 5 this morning and I turned the radio on for us to listen to. A Keith Urban song came on which I believe spawned this dream.

Ok, I don't know why, but I was with a friend from high school. She called and asked if I was going to church because Keith Urban was going to play at church. In high school this girl didn't even go to my church, but whatever. So I went to church and saw Keith Urban play. After playing, the girl and I got on our bikes (yes our bikes - lol) and were on our way home. As we passed by the back of the church, we noticed a lady escorting Keith out the back of the church. He had on pajama pants and a t-shirt. (Goofy, I know.) We went to see if we could get a picture and it was QUITE obvious that he was drunk - so drunk that he couldn't figure out my camera phone. Before I knew it we were back in the church (or some building) and he was singing his new song - but not singing it well (it was just the two of us now). About two hours passed and a lady came and told him that they'd been looking for him. We hugged and he left. OH - I told him that there was a ticker with a count down on his official website as to when his CD is going to be released and he didn't know what a ticker was. The whole thing was just strange. I wished him luck in his rehab and the lady took him away.

The other night I had Claire in the tub with Nathan. They were having a good time when I heard Nathan start to count. It went something like this:
Nathan: One
Claire: Two
Nathan: Three
Claire: Four
Nathan: That's right Claire!
Claire: Five
Nathan: Six
Nathan: Seven
Claire: EIGHT! (very excited about eight)
I about had a heart attack. I couldn't believe it. They did it a couple of times. So last night at supper I was telling Justin that Claire could count to 5. He looked at me like I had 4 heads. I said "Claire, lets count. One." and Claire said "Two". I said two and she said "Three". I'm not sure if she got much higher because Nathan thought he'd count too.

Then when Justin got home from work last night he tried it again. She went to 5 and Justin tried it again. It went more like this:
Justin: One
Claire: Two
Justin: Three
Claire: FIVE!
Justin: No, four.
Claire: FIVE!
It was pretty cute. She also tries to sing the alphabet song with her leap frog. It's just crazy! I don't know if she'll get better or if she'll just decided that counting isn't much fun anymore, but for now it's mind blowing to me. I'm going to try to record it, but once she sees my camera or the camcorder, she wants to be the photographer. I'll try though.

My brother

Did you know that I have a brother? Technically he's my step-brother, but I haven't referred to him as a step in a long, long time. He's just been Matt, my brother. He is married to Shanna and they have 4 boys - yes, all boys. They live in Texas. Today Matt sent me an e-mail saying that their oldest son got the lone touchdown at one of their games. He's in the 8th grade. I'd like to know how on earth that happened? EIGHTH grade? Come on people!

Time is allowed to pass for me, but not for others. I mean, somehow I turned 32 in August and really I'm not sure how even that happened. I swear it was just the other day when I turned 30. Time flies, but there is no measure of time when you have children. It just goes so quickly.

Today I bought tickets for Nathan and I to see Disney on Ice. We'll go to the December 9th show at 3pm. That's my cousin's (Holly) birthday. I noticed last night that the pre-sale started today - which I didn't know they were having. I searched the net last night to try to find the passcode so that I could get good tickets, but didn't come up with anything.

I got on the computer at about 9:30 this morning to once again see if I could find it. I saw that some of the other Disney shows used a word in their title for the passcode - which is pretty normal actually. I couldn't find a passcode so I thought I'd just try Magic. That didn't work. I tried almost every character I could think of. Then I went to one of the sites I went to last night and there it was (enter sounds of angles singing here). The passcode was ZXA. Are you kidding me? What kind of a passcode is that? A secure one - that WORKED!!! I was so jacked. I could hardly stand myself I was so excited. They don't have a listed seating schedule out as of now, so I called the Arena box office to see if they could be of any help. She said that Sec-T row 3 would be great seats. She said that row 3 is actually the first row in the section because in front of that is the handicapped accessible......something. I asked what was in front of that and she said "The ice". That can't possibly be right. I didn't buy the most expensive tickets which would lead me to believe there are better seats out there, but that we got some pretty darn good seats. I haven't told Nathan that we're going, so don't mention it to him. That's a LONG way to wait and it will be a special surprise when the time comes.

I'll close with a funny Nathan story. Yesterday he wanted to play with some bubbles in the house. I'm not a HUGE fan of that, but they play with them on the wood floor which is simple enough to clean up. So I gave him the go ahead and he and Claire were well on their way to a good time. He came in the kitchen and told me that he needed a rag to wipe up the bubbles that had popped so that Claire wouldn't slip and fall. I gave him the towel and after wiping the mess he said "Mom! After I wiped the floor - it was DRY! That towel is a GENIUS!"

Probably not mother of the year

Today Claire had a well baby check. After getting 10 hours of sleep last night, I was well rested and ready for anything. Her appointment was at 9:15. She and I were in the waiting room waiting to get called back when the nurse came out and said "Claire Meyer". Claire Meyer promptly said "WHAT?". L*O*L!!!! It was so funny to me. Nobody was around us and the nurse was too far away to hear her, but I sure enjoyed it.

Turns out Claire didn't like the nurse. She did, however, like Dr. Henry. She weighs 24.5 pounds and is 31 inches tall. She's in the 50th percentile for weight and just under for height. We've allowed her to still have a bottle in the morning and one at night, but Dr. Henry said it was time to give that up. I told him that I really didn't think it mattered to her one way or another and would take it away tonight. He also said to make sure to brush her teeth, which we also started tonight. She didn't seem to mind either thing.

He poked and prodded, looked in her throat, looked in her left ear, looked in her right ear, looked in her right ear, looked in her nose, looked in her right ear (you read that right). Finally I said "What's up?" He looked at me and I said "Don't tell me she has an ear infection." He said "Yes, she does." DANG IT! There goes my mother of the year award! He asked me how long she'd been snotty like that. I should have told him it was none of his business :), but instead I told the truth - 2 weeks. I told him that she'd gotten better and he said that it's for sure an ear infection. Darn it!!!

I don't know if you remember me talking about the liquid gold back in August when Claire had double ear infection, but he prescribed it for her again. It didn't dawn on me until I was almost all the way out of Sioux Falls that that's the medication that was so expensive. So I called Justin to see if he remembered. He also thought it was. GREAT! I called the pharmacy to see if they could tell me what would be cheaper and he said there was no generic for that drug and to call the doctor back and just let them know what the deal was. I did and they got her something else. Justin went and picked it up and it was almost $50. COME ON! I mean, it was better than $100, but even less would have been great. Hopefully she'll be on the mend soon and I can forgive myself for not knowing that she was still sick - two weeks later. OH - I almost forgot to add that Claire got 4 shots from the nurse that she didn't like - she didn't like the shots either.

Natey was VERY sad that he didn't get to go to the doctor with us. He would be the president of the Dr. Henry fan club if it existed. I promised him that he and I would spend some special time together later in the afternoon since he didn't get to go. I told him that we'd make Halloween cookies. He wanted to make it out of the color dough that we had which was fine. I had to take a picture so you all would understand this next story.

Ok, so Natey made this cat along with some other cut-outs. As you can see there is still a piece in the middle that would be extra. I pulled the cat up and put it on the baking sheet. Natey goes "I'll get his weenie." (Gasp!) I tried to explain that it wasn't the cats weenie, but he wouldn't have it. He KNEW it was - it was between it's legs, afterall. Holy smokes. I wanted to laugh at him but at the same time didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so I just assured him that it wasn't a weenie and left it at that. Lordy!

So that was our day in a nutshell. I told Natey that he could sleep with me tonight and he's determined to stay up as late as I do so I better get to bed. It's not like I'm not tired anyway. :)

I'm NOT Wonder Woman?

Today hasn't been the best day I've had. I only got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep before I had to get up and go to my doctors appointment in Sioux Falls. I haven't felt well all day and I know it's because I'm so tired. Justin gets home at 8 and I'm probably going to go to bed. I have to take Claire to Sioux Falls tomorrow for some shots, so I need to get rested up for that.

Justin made my day today. He was supposed to go to Pierre on Wednesday and come back Friday, but he decided that he didn't want to do that after all. I couldn't have been happier. If I were off all of those days then it wouldn't be such a huge deal, but getting the kids up, getting them ready, getting them to Pam's AND getting to work on time was a very hard thing for me to achieve. By the time I got to work I was dead and I'd just started my day. Plus, we just got him back - we're not really ready to let him go so quickly.

I need your help - yes you. If you are reading this then I want you to tell me what your favorite boys name is (unless you already have). We've GOT to name this child! I don't care how you do it whether it's in an e-mail (ker911@hotmail.com) or to reply on my blog, but I need some input.

Oh, I almost forgot to update you on my appointment. It wasn't anything major, but I'll include it because I said I would. My belly measured 36cm which is odd because I'm 36 weeks. My 'norm' is that I usually measure 2cm larger than what I am in weeks. However, this time I don't seem to have the swelling problem I had with the other kids. When I see pictures of myself, I don't notice that my nose is bigger than my face - which is nice. (If it is, let me know because I'm not seeing it this time.) The babys heartbeat was 130 bpm - which is what it's been the last few months. I go back next monday at 1:15. I had my step B test today which I'm sure will be fine.

I hope to have had more rest when I babble tomorrow. For now - Good Night!

Recipe

Here is the 3rd recipe I thought you all should have. This one also came from Taste of Home.

Carrot Potato Casserole

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3 cups grated peeled uncooked potatoes
1 cup grated carrots
2 tablespoons grated onion

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat; add 1/2 cup cheese, stirring until melted. Add the potatoes, carrots and onion.
Transfer to a greased 8 in. square baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Uncover; sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender. YIELD: 6 servings.
(We had ham with this which Justin cut up and mixed together. It would taste great if you added ham in there.)
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I'm so very tried right now. It's almost 5am and I'm doing all I can to stay awake at work. I only got 2 hours of sleep before coming to work. I was having such muscle spasms that I couldn't sleep. I also have a huge dry patch on my legs that was hurting and keeping me awake.

I got some pictures from Natey's school website of his program and of him visiting the fire station. Here they are.
Here is one of his program. He's doing the chicken dance. :) Here he's singing "It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring......" This last one is a picture of him and his class at the grocery store. I'm not sure why they went there, but they did and he enjoyed it.

18 months old!!!

Claire is 18 months old today!! She'll welcome, well, she might not welcome her new baby brother, but in 19 days she'll HAVE a new baby brother. The first week will be fine because her Grandma Sharelle will be here to give her all the attention she can handle. However, the week after that - watch out.

Here is a video of our sweet little 18 month old. I was trying to get her to say WHAT on her own, but she wouldn't. When prompted she does say it.

Last night we went to our friends house. We LOVE to hang out with the Klosterman's. They have two girls who Nathan loves to play with. Claire wasn't sure of the girls until I got there, but after that she enjoyed playing too. Justin and Russ went hunting and had a good time as well. Linda made a WONDERFUL supper that I couldn't eat enough of. I was having a hard time breathing, so it took me an extra long time to eat (I'm a slow eater anyway). It was so good though! It's awesome to have such wonderful friends.

Speaking of friends, my friend Tracy has a blood disease called ITP. She's been dealing with this for 4 months now. She's been on steroids which have made her puffy and that's probably the least troublesome of the side effects. She has a hard time sleeping, feels as though she could (or wants to) crawl out of her skin, she has pain in her joints, and severe headaches. She's endured not only the steroid, but an intravenous medication that takes 4 hours to receive. We've watched her blood platelet number climb and fall over and over. Her friends and family convinced her to make an appointment at the Mayo Clinic for October 13th. After having a couple weeks of a good blood count and finding out that her insurance wouldn't cover much of the cost, she decided to cancel the appointment. I would have done the same thing. She gets her blood drawn once a week to see what her levels are, and on Friday she was back down to 34,000 (normal is 150,000-240,000). It's beyond frustrating. Not only does she have this disease, but due to her medication she gets an infection in her mouth which causes her to have holes in her tongue. She seems to get the run around from her doctor week after week. I wish they'd just make her better!

Some of you might have heard that my boyfriend, Keith Urban, checked himself into rehab this week. I read a report saying that it was alcohol abuse, but I know he's also had an addiction cocaine in the past as well. I told Justin that I thought the real reason was because I couldn't love him enough. HA! :) (I think it's nice that Justin tolerates me AND my obsession.)

I wanted to share some recipes with you guys. This first one is from a cook book that Justin's sister gave me.

EGG ROLLS
1 pound hamburger
1 pound cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed w/ 1 tablespoon water
package of egg rolls
(I use a bag of coleslaw mix instead of the cabbage and carrot. I also use onion flakes instead of an actual onion.)

Brown hamburger and onion; drain. Add cabbage and grated carrot. Cook until tender. (I do this in my part in my wok.) Add soy sauce, salt, and cornstarch; simmer 5 minutes. Fill egg roll wrappers with 2 to 3 tablespoons filling. Make a paste of flour and water and spread on edge of egg roll rapper to seal. Fry in 350 degree oil.
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The next two are from www.tasteofhome.com. I'm going to just link you to the page. If you can't pull it up, let me know because you HAVE to at least check these over.

Chicken Broccoli Shells
http://recipes.tasteofhome.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=18490

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I can't find the other one I was going to post on the Internet, so I'll have to post it later.
Anywho, have a good week. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow that I'll obviously post soon.

21 days, but who's counting?

I'm in awe that we'll be having our baby in 21 days. The time is going so fast. Still no name - so don't ask. :) Nathan can't wait for my belly to back to normal so I can tackle him. I thought that was cute. I've noticed that I'm getting bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER. I mean, I feel like all of a sudden this belly is out of control. I've gained 20 pounds so far, however, I'm shocked that THIS is what 20 pounds looks like. WOWZA!

Natey has been telling us lately that he likes one of us better than the other. He's not trying to be mean - just letting us know. He liked Justin better the other day because he was finally home from school. He liked Justin 20 and me a 3. Funny! Then he wanted to know how old I was and I was stumped. I looked at Justin for help and he looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. I couldn't remember - how retarded is that? Being pregnant isn't kind to your brain.

Speaking of that, I had a friend at the first salon that I worked at named Cinnamon. Yes, her real birth given name was Cinnamon. Anyway, she was told by doctors that she couldn't get pregnant and sure as heck it happened. She didn't tell anyone for quite some time, but we all wondered and knew that something wasn't right because all of a sudden she was a space case. At this time she was the manager of our salon. I'd be doing a hair cut (or some service) and ask her a question. I wouldn't get a response and go "Cim....Cim" - still nothing. The thought would leave me and all of a sudden I'd get a "What Ker?" from her. It was very funny actually. She was SO what I call 'Pregnant Stupid' it wasn't even funny. I'm HUGE pregnant stupid these days. I think Justin's favorite (total lie) is when I'm telling him a story or something and get stumped on a word and can't continue until I get the word figured out. The horrible part is that the word is something as easy as 'little' or 'store' or something like that. It's just nuts. The bad part is that it doesn't go away very fast once I've had the baby. I get the post pregnant stupids which is exactly the same thing.

I think Natey has pink eye. He says that his eye is very rubby. I love when he says things like that. For instance, he loved all the 'shubling' (shovel) he got to do the other day. There are so many more, but of coarse I'm drawing a blank right now.

Claire is saying more and more words each day. The one that's cracking us up right now is 'what'. I know, not such a funny word, but listen to this story. She went with me to take Natey to school on Wednesday and after we dropped him off we went to the grocery store. She REALLY wants to walk now instead of being held or being in the cart. I only need some potatoes and a 9 volt battery, so she was walking. We got what we needed and I started going into the check lane, but Claire kept walking. I said "Claire" and she kept walking. So of coarse I raised my voice and said "CLAIRE!". She turned around and said "WHAT???". All the girls at the check stand started laughing. It was funny! She does that at the house too. WHAT!?! It makes all of us laugh.

Natey's winter wonderland!

We woke up to snow on the ground today. It was actually still snowing off and on until Nathan went to school. Natey told me that his wish came true. He said he'd been wishing for snow. He couldn't wait to go shovel the sidewalk. Well, the snow didn't stay on the sidewalk, but it did stick to the grass - which is just as fun to shovel if you're 4 years old. Here are some pictures of one of the happiest 4 year old on the planet! Ok, so he doesn't look happy. It's the camera's fault. You know - sometimes the camera adds 5 pounds to you, well, OUR camera adds a frown to Nathan until you bring out, say, CLAIRE! :) Justin says that Claire reminds him of Evie in her new little hat. Any guesses as to where that snowball might have ended up? Yeah, right in my face. That was the last of the snowballs thrown. Of coarse Claire had to fall down in the mud and not the snow. That coat puts her off kilter for some reason. She's fallen smack-dab on her face before too - so I guess I should be glad that didn't happen.

When Natey got home from school, almost all the snow was melted. He wasn't very happy about it. At least he got to play in it for a while!

Baby update

After getting 2 hours of sleep, I got up, got ready and went to my doctors appointment. I wasn't as tired as I was expecting to be. I did, however, wake up with another headache. I've really had a hard time with them the past few weeks. I had headaches with each pregnancy, but never this bad in my 3rd trimester. I'm having headaches every single day.

I got to my appointment and checked in. Sioux Valley now has valet parking, but I've never used it. I've gotten scolded by Dr. Hassebroek many times for not using it, but for some stupid reason I always think I'll be ok to walk though the parking ramp, to the hospital and then up to my appointment. I really should use the valet.

Anyway, they called me right back and took my blood pressure which was high for me - still a text book normal, but high for me. My pulse was racing too. Natalia, the nurse whom I've become very familiar with, said "Kerrie - what's going on? Your pulse is racing!" I told her about my headache, but I didn't tell her about not using the valet. I figured it would be fine all in due time. :)

They put me in the room to wait for the doctor, but it wasn't much of a wait. Dr. Hassebroek was in before I knew it. I told her about the headaches and (oh yeah - forgot to put this up above) showed her how swollen I was. I told her that I'd worked quite a bit in the past few days and she gave me the 'you're 8 months pregnant - SLOW DOWN' look. I told her I was off until Thursday now, but that I'd be doing the same thing for the next 2 weeks. My swelling is much better today, which I knew it would be. Anyway, I told her I needed help with my headaches because I wake up with them and have them almost all day long. I told her that I'd been under stress at work tying to get someone trained and I thought that might have something to do with it, plus we're about to have our 3rd baby which is quite stressful as well. She told me that she thought I needed a massage and a heat pack. However, she didn't want to be missing anything, so she sent me down to the lab to have blood work done.

She measured my belly (36 cm), listened to the babys heart and I was good to go. I went and had my blood drawn and I was out of there. I ran to Wal-Mart to get a few things and the nurse called. She said my blood work came back normal, so that was good.

I woke up this morning in HORRIBLE pain. I could hardly move because my head hurt so bad. I called the chiropractor and will be seeing him at 3. It's better now, but I must be out of whack. I could push on the back of my neck and feel the throb on my forehead. OUCH! So hopefully that will be taken care of later today.

Natey had school yesterday so he went there while Claire went to Tracy's. Natey then road the bus over after school. He was so excited to play with his buddy Dawson. When I got there to pick them up, Tracy had put pig-tails in Claire's hair. She looked ADORABLE!
Natey wanted to take a picture of Claire and I and here is the result of that. I love that everyone gets to see how cluttered our house is. It's not like it's not true, but nothing I love to show everyone. Oh well. I attempted to take a picture of Natey, but, well, look for yourself............ It looks like he's trying to ward off the papperazi! How do you like his dirty face? He's just got done eating his hamburger from Sonic. YUM!

Anywho, that's how yesterday went. I'm a bit tired today, but I've got things to do - so I better run. Ta Ta For Now!

Have I lost it?

It's a rhetorical question - no need to respond.

Tonight was my first intentional turn around shift. I worked Sunday from 8am to 4pm and then came back to work at midnight and will work until 8am. That part, however, isn't the part which proves that I've lost it. For the next 3 weeks, I scheduled my doctor appointments at 1:15 on Monday afternoon. That means I get off work at 8am and have to be on the road to Sioux Falls by 12:15. THAT'S the part that proves that I've lost it. It's only for 3 weeks though, right?

I'm also an obvious candidate for Mother of the year. I've introduced my child to the candy Pop Rocks at the ripe old age of 18 months. That's right! She loves them. She cracks me up. I put them in her mouth and she just stood there with her mouth open listening to them crackle. Then last night (Saturday night) I was sleeping and remember hearing something and tried to figure out what it was, but I couldn't wake up enough. I realized when I was in the shower Sunday morning that it was Claire coughing. NICE! I remember thinking that I didn't know what it was, but that I wanted it to stop. Great mothering skills!

Can you believe this baby is being born in 25 days? Today I was sure he was going to tear his way out of my stomach. He moves so differently than the other two did. When Nathan moved (at least this late in my pregnancy) my whole stomach would shift. Claire wasn't much of a mover. This baby doesn't move much either, but when he does BEWARE! I swear he's going to poke a foot, hand, or something out of my skin. It hurts! I realize there isn't much room in there for him - but sheesh!

Yesterday Nathan asked me if we could name the baby Thomas Lincoln. I asked where he heard that name. He said it's one of the babies names at Pam's house. I told him that I didn't want to name the baby that and he was very disappointed. Poor little guy. I'm afraid this baby is going to be 'boy Meyer', but Justin and I just don't agree on names. EEEKKK!!!

He's home! He's home!

Justin made it home last night. It was so great to see him. Poor guy was just beat though. He drove 10 hours to get home to us. Natey and I cleaned up the living room so that Justin wouldn't have to do it today. I wanted to clean the kitchen, but after baths for the kids and taking them to their bedrooms one at a time, I started to have contractions. I was done - wiped out.

I didn't work yesterday. Pam took the day off, so I switched my schedule so that I could stay home with the kids. We met Tracy, her kids, and her mother at McDonald's for lunch. After eating and playing, Nathan went to their house to play for a while longer. Claire and I went home and took a nap. I didn't think I was tired, but I slept for 2 hours. I must have needed it. Tracy called later to see if Nathan could stay and have pizza with them. He instructed her to say please. :) I finally went to get him at 7. He still wasn't ready to come home, but finally did without much complaining.

Tracy always does nice things like that for me - keep my kids (or at least one). She told me yesterday that I looked tired and obviously knew that I'd had the kids by myself this week and thought I needed a break. Peach woke up from her nap in a horrible mood. I don't know what on earth was wrong with her. She was mad at the world though. When I called Tracy to see what time I should pick up Natey, I asked her if this was by chance an exchange program. :) I'm sure it would have been had I been serious - she's good like that.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a friend. It was one of those survey kind of things. This one was a bit different. One of the questions was "Who is your loudest friend". I was shocked to see my name as her answer. Loudest? How on earth did I manage that title? Opinionated - yes indeed, but loud? I guess I better take a better look at myself. I don't want to be ANYONE'S loudest friend. Really - loud???

I was so excited to make Justin breakfast this morning for a welcome home type thing. I found this recipe in a 'Taste of Home' magazine that my sister gave me. I called home to see how it was and Natey told me "Well, it wasn't good". You never know with Natey, so I talked to Justin and, well, it wasn't good. CRAP! At least I tried I guess, but I really thought it was going to be good. Oh well - better luck next time I guess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!

Today is my mom's birthday. She's.....another year older (scared ya didn't I, Mom?). Yesterday was my nephew's birthday. I told Natey that it was Spencer's birthday and asked if he'd like to call him. He was excited about it at first, but when I got my phone he decided it wasn't a good idea after all. Have I mentioned lately that he's 4? He's very much 4. Spencer, on the other hand, turned 6. He looks like he's about 8+. I can only imagine how tall he's going to be when he's in high school.

My mom actually made Natey teary eyed yesterday. Nathan had his shots on Friday so that he would be ready to go to kindergarten next fall. Mom sent him a card telling him how proud she and Roger were that he was such a big boy while getting his shots. He thought that was so nice that he teared up and needed to sit on my lap for a little bit. It was so sweet! He's SUCH a softie.

Yesterday I got off at 2:30 to go to Natey's program. Watching 4 year olds sing is hilarious. Don't forget that Nathan had been up since 5:28am and by program time he was beyond exhausted. He was doing his thing - yawning here and there. Here is a picture of the kids before it started. I don't have any pictures of him singing because I recorded it with the camcorder. He wouldn't look at me for a picture as shocking as that must be for everyone by now. When the program was over, the kids were free to leave. We got out to the van and I asked Natey if he was tired. When he said he was, I told him it was because he got up too early. He told me that I woke up him up too early. I assure you it wasn't ME that woke him up.

I looked out just before I went to bed last night and this is what I saw.That's right people - that's snow. It was really windy out and just all and all crappy. It didn't amount to much, but there is still some on the ground right now (noon). When I told Natey to look out the window, he said "We should put our snow tree up today!". Hmm - a snow tree? I asked him what a snow tree was and he said "You know, it's that thing you put presents around". I told him that we don't put the Christmas tree up until after Thanksgiving. He wasn't all too happy about that.

"Who won the race?"

Last night, I tried to get everything ready for this morning so that I'd be organized if nothing else. Claire was tired so I put her down about 8:30. She hasn't been sleeping well and has been fighting a cold that she got from Nathan. I Tivo'd the race on Sunday since I knew I wouldn't get to see it. I turned it on just before the kids bath and watched it here and there. After Claire went to bed, Natey wanted me to hang out with him on the couch while he had his snack. I went to the kitchen, got his snack and got myself a glass of tea. The tea wasn't cold so I got the ice out. I banged the bag on the counter to break it up - bang, bang. I heard Nathan say something, but I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or if he was commenting on the race. There were still some pretty big pieces of ice in the bag so I banged it again - bang, bang. This time I heard him from the living room saying "N-G-O!" It took me a couple of seconds to get it, but once I did, it CRACKED me up! I said "Natey, did you just say N-G-O?" He smiled and said "Yes". It was so dang funny.

Finally it was bed time for Nathan. I was so tired I just couldn't wait to go to bed. I was turning things off when Claire got up. She didn't go back to sleep until 1am. I thought I might poke my eyes out with spoons! UGH! I'm not sure what her problem was, but she hasn't slept well for quite some time. As of now, I blame her cold. Anyway, she finally went back to sleep and off to bed I went.

Suddenly at 5:28 I was awakened by Nathan yelling "Mom! Mom!". I answered him and he said "Who won the race?" ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It's 5:28 in the morning. I told him that I saved it for him to watch for himself. He said, "Oh, ok. Thanks! What are you watching now?" I told him that it was very late and that I was sleeping. He told me that he and his bed were wet. I told him to come down, get a different pull-up, and to get in bed with me.

He crawled in bed with me and asked for me to turn some music on for him. Then he said "I have to ask you something, then I won't talk anymore." I told him to go ahead. I'm not sure what he said, but I must have answered it to his liking. I dozed off and on until my alarm went off at 6:15. Natey couldn't have been happier. He got up with me and watched TV while I got ready. He wanted to know where Mr. Sun was. It was MUCH to early for Mr. Sun and Mrs. Meyer - but whatever!

Anywho, I got to work at 8 on the dot. Natey has a program at school today so I'm getting off work early to go see that. I only wish that I could take a nap after, but no such luck.

ONE month from today

One month from today we'll bring our 3rd baby into the world. This pregnancy has gone very fast. I'm not sure that my brain knows that this baby isn't going to always live inside of me. We still don't have a name picked out - which is odd. We've known he's a boy for quite some time yet no name to speak of.

I saw the doctor today and it was pretty uneventful. We rescheduled my surgery to 7am which I like much better. I can't image fasting for a 2pm surgery. I had an ultrasound today before I saw the doctor, but she wasn't able to get very good pictures of the baby. His head was on my right side and his boy went across me instead of up and down. Tonight Nathan got to feel the baby's head. He thought that was pretty cool. He can't wait until Halloween because he knows that the baby comes right after Halloween.

Justin is gone this week. He left last Saturday night for Montana. He has a week long class out there and won't be home until Saturday sometime. Taking care of the kids and being this pregnant hasn't been easy. Tomorrow and Thursday will be my hardest days though. I'll have to get the kids up and to Pam's by 7:45 so that I can get to work on time. That's going to take an act of God I'm afraid. I'll make it I'm sure - probably not on time, but I'll make it. :)

Anyway, I better move on to something else. I wish it were bed time, but not quite yet. The kids are playing in the bath and I've got a load of laundry going. Onward and upward, right?

Pictures, pictures, everywhere!

Here is a quick look at our trip to Aberdeen. I have a doctors appointment today, so I'll either post again tonight or tomorrow about that. I just wanted everyone to see how cute my nieces are.

Here's Evie!

Princess Izzie :)

Claire and Izzie

Natey, Evie and Claire

This has to be one of the cutest pictures of Izzie that I've taken. LOVE IT!

I was trying to get the big kids to smile - which they didn't want to do. However, I told them whoever smiled first won. Shock - Natey was ALL over that!

Now both winners. (See how easy that is?)

Have you seen a cuter Peach? I didn't think so.

Shannon made a cake in honor of Evie's birthday. She let the kids decorate it. They thought this was AWESOME and had a fun time doing it.

Here's Evie getting some help with decorating.

They couldn't have been happier with the finished product.

A real beauty!

They both got candles - always a hit.

Do I smell cake?

Dead on a stick indeed

Yesterday was rough. I worked midnight to 8 after getting about 3 hours of sleep. I kept waking up during those 3 hours, so it wasn't the best 3 hours I'd ever had.

I was doing well until about 6:00am - and then I hit the wall. I was very tried then. I came home and was greeted by Nathan and Justin. Natey wanted me, as usual, to hang out with him for a bit before I went to bed. I didn't last long. I ate a bowl of cereal and I was done. I woke up around noon to go to the bathroom and then got back up at about 2.

Last night I had a date with my friends; Linda, Barb and Julie. Linda will be celebrating her 40th birthday on Monday (well, she'll be having it at least) :), so we all went out for supper. We had a very nice time. Supper was really good. I had broiled shrimp on a bed of wild rice. It was very good. I didn't get home until 10:30! HOLY CAT SMOKES! I was VERY tired, but it was obviously worth it.

When I got home Natey was still up. I went and laid with him for a bit in his bed. He told me about a movie he watched with the sitter and also that his name was on the sidewalk outside. I told him that I'd seen his name in which he replied "Yeah, but you probably didn't know it was my name." Uh, I was pretty sure it was his name, but what do I know, right? :) Why argue? It's just not worth it.

Today Natey is going to the fire department with his preschool. He's pretty excited about it. He wants to slide down the pole. Justin and I have told him that there isn't a pole, but he's sure there is. I'm sure he'll be disappointed when he gets there only to learn that his parents were right.

He also got his shots for kindergarten today. Justin said he did very well. He had to get 3 of them and didn't even cry. I was beyond happy that Justin took him. I wouldn't be very good at that. I knew I couldn't hold him due to my HUGE belly, so I was grateful that Justin did that. He told Natey that he would take him to coffee with him if he did well with his shots - which he did - so Nathan was happy.

Well, I'm going to go veg out on the couch. I have no ambition to do a single thing today. It's not the best attitude, but it's the only one that suits me today. Have a good weekend.

Happy 4th Birthday EVIE!!!!

Today is my niece's 4th birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVIE!!

I enjoy calling her Eddie, actually. That's what Nathan used to call her when he was learning to talk. I don't say it to her because I'm sure it would confuse her, but I do refer to her as Eddie when I'm talking to Shannon.

I told Nathan last night that it was going to be Evie's birthday today. He was SO excited that there might be a "celebration". I think his exact words were "Are we going to have a celebration?" Some people call them birthday parties - but whatever. ;)

Natey was also very glad that she was finally as old as he was. I think this is the first time that he realized that she's a bit younger than him and he never seemed to know that. Yesterday he said "She's finally as old as I am!!!" It was a big deal to him - or it seemed to be.

Today is my 8th day working in a row. It doesn't seem like it for some reason. I thought I'd be dead on a stick, but I'm not. I work until 4 today and then have to come back at midnight which might not be that fun. I might be dead on a stick tomorrow. :)

My friend Jennie has a nephew who's also having his 4th birthday today. She and I enjoy having each other around if for nothing else to keep up with Evie and Bailey's birthday. So Happy Birthday to you too Bailey!

Yesterday the kids enjoyed a beautiful afternoon outside. It was so nice they were in shorts. Natey rode Lightening until the battery died and Claire chased him. Then he got out his big wheel and she chased him in that too. He rides up the sidewalk and turns around which makes her squeal with joy. He comes roaring down the sidewalk and at the last minute goes in the grass to avoid hitting her. It gives me a heart attack, but Claire can't get enough of it. I hope they enjoyed it. We all know those warm days are numbered.

Are you a monster?

Last night I made hot-dish for supper. Nathan LOVES hot-dish. When he asked me what we were having for supper, I told him and he said "Pam makes the BEST....hot dish." It was SO funny. He realized mid sentence that he might hurt my feelings by saying this. He kept looking at me to see if this was going to be ok or not. It obviously was. Very funny though!

After eating, Nathan looked at Claire who was a mess. He said "Mom, can you clean her up - she looks like a monster." I said "Claire, are you a monster?" and then I roared at her. She thought that was some kind of fun. I took a video of it, but you can't hear her roar very loud. She does it more as a whisper.

Last night I went to bed at 9:30. I couldn't stay up any longer. I slept ok, but woke up tired. I'm better now though.

Well, that's about it for now. Enjoy my monsters!

Jealous?

I thought I'd show you how swollen my legs and feet are today. Pretty huh? I didn't have much polish on my toes, so I touched them up. :) HA! (I thought I'd try to match the text to my newly 'painted' toe nails.) I knew you'd all appreciate that. Check out those bad boys. They feel gross!

I'm so tired today I can hardly stand myself. I didn't get to bed until after 2:30 this morning due to that nap I took yesterday. It was a good idea yesterday at noon when I couldn't keep my eyes open, but last night I realized it wasn't the best move I'd made all day. Getting up at 6:40 was sure fun though.....er - or not! I'll be ready for bed tonight. There's no doubt about it.

A friend of a friend of mine was supposed to have her baby the same day we are. However, she's having some complications and will have to have her baby early. I called the nurse today to see if I could get the 7am surgery time instead. It's much easier for me to not eat when I'm sleeping then to not eat while I'm awake. :) The nurse said that I should call her when the other baby is born and she'll put me in that 7am spot. I told her that I felt as though I was being rude, but she said that I wasn't and that it would actually work better for Dr. Hassebroek. Hopefully that works out.

Well, that's about all I have to report for now.

Finally - time to catch up!

I can't believe I haven't updated since Wednesday. I'm still trying to train someone at work which takes quite a bit of time when I'm there. Then when I get home at night I don't have the time to do it. As usual I have quite a bit to say - so get ready. :)

On Wednesday evening, Natey saw the picture that I posed of my first date with Justin. He's a HUGE fan of the video I made that starts with that picture and wanted to see it. You too can see it here. Natey said he wanted to see the video and promised he wouldn't cry while watching it. I don't remember how long ago it was, but he wanted to watch it one day and cried when it was done because he likes it so much. So I agreed to load it for him (which takes a while). He wanted me to watch it with him and wanted to sit in my lap. I agreed and we got all set. I pushed play and before it was all said and done he was crying. He put his head in my chest and just bawled. I asked him why he was crying and he said "Because I know you love me so much!". Yeah, think I didn't bawl like a baby? Right! We hugged and he watched it over and over. I went to fix supper (or something) and could hear him singing as he watched the video. It was sweet. He and Peach were laughing at the pictures - very cute.

I can't remember what day this happened, the same day of the story above, just earlier in the day I think. We took a short drive and went by the airport. Nathan decided that he wanted to drive through the cemetery which is across the street from the airport. I hesitated because I figured this was going to cause quite the question and answer session, but I did it anyway. He wanted to know where the pets were and if Tango was there. I told him that Tango wasn't there and that there are special cemeteries for pets. He wanted to know where Uncle Al (Justin's uncle) was in the cemetery. I told him that Uncle Al was in a different cemetery. Then he wondered how the people were put in the ground. I asked if he remembered Uncle Al's bed that he was laying in and he did. I told him that Uncle Al was already in heaven with Tango when we saw him in the special bed. I told him that they close it up and that special workers dig a hole and put the special bed in there. I was worried that I was going to freak him out with all this, but there was only one way to find out. He was totally ok with what I'd told him. He wanted to know how all the people died that were there. I told him that some were sick and some were in car accidents and that type of thing. (That morning his daycare lady's daughter was in a small accident.) He said "Did Cassie die in her accident this morning?" I assured him that Cassie was fine and that it wasn't a bad accident. Then he wanted me to read him the names on the headstones. I read a few and then asked if he was done being there. He was and we moved on. DEEP for a 4 year old though - very deep.

Natey was SOOOOO excited that his Grandma and Papa were coming to stay at his house. They got there about 5ish on Friday afternoon. I seriously thought Claire was going to hyperventilate when she saw Sharelle. It was so darn cute! She couldn't have been happier to see her.

Saturday Sharelle and I took the kids to the parade where we met Dawson and Tracy. Justin and Gary went hunting. We had a fun time at the parade. Tracy took these pictures with her phone.

That's Dawson and Natey dancing to the band.

Look at how adorable they are!!!!

Here is a picture of Claire and Sharelle. It wasn't long and Claire was up and enjoying the parade as well.

We all had a good time. After the parade we made a quick trip to Sioux Falls. I had to work at 4, so we didn't have much time. We rushed around and got our things done and made it home in time for me to take a shower and go to work.

Today I got up at 9 and I just couldn't pull it together. I was so tired. I went back to bed at 12:30 and woke up at 3. While I was gone, Gary and Sharelle left. I felt horrible! I didn't even get to say good-bye to them.

So here I sit - at work. My schedule for the next two weeks is beyond crazy. I won't bore you with it, but believe me when I say it's nuts.

Before I close for the night, I want to post a picture of my cousin's baby.

Isn't he adorable!!! He's the baby I wrote about a few weeks ago that had a rough go of it when he was born. He gave us all quite the scare. Look at his adorable little face. I just can't get over him. For those of you who don't know, his mother is Holly. They live in Florida. Alec is one of those babies that never really looked much like a baby. He looks older to me than he really is. He's 4 months old, but his face looks older. Nathan was like that too.

Ok, I'm finally done. Have a good week!