Big News!

Happy New Year! 
And I'm pregnant.  Surprised?  We are too.
This "Little Miracle" as we call it somewhat sarcastically because constant nausea doesn't feel very miraculous, will be arriving in July around Randy's 40th birthday.  Yes, we are that old.  Well, he is but not me.  I'll be 38 when I give birth which makes me feel a tiny bit better but not much.  But it's a miracle nonetheless.  Without going into embarrassing details, lets just say that our kids have never come easy and Landon and Parker involved a lot of fertility treatments.  I always thought it would be fun to be surprised to find out I was pregnant and my wish finally came true.  And I have to say it was pretty awesome!  I couldn't believe it but was nervous to tell Randy.  Thankfully he was just as excited as I was, which was a relief.  I can honestly say I've never been happier to be pregnant.  With my past pregnancies there was always as much relief that I was finally pregnant as there was joy.  This time it was just joy.  Then the nausea kicked in so I'm having a hard time remembering what all the excitement was about.  Seriously.  Pregnancy is kicking my butt.

This chalkboard pretty much sums up how things have been around here so I had to take a picture of it.  That little thankful art has been up since the beginning of November and all through December because it just wasn't worth the effort to erase it.  And so it sat until I finally changed it in time for our New Years Eve party.  I've been too sick to do anything but the bare minimum which is why Randy nearly killed himself pulling off Christmas all on his own this year.  I did next to nothing.  The house is a mess.  Randy has been picking up lots of take-out lately and the boys eat frozen corn dogs and burritos on a regular basis for their dinners.  {They aren't complaining about it.}  I'm not sure I feel sicker this time around than the other times but I'm definitely less able to push through the nausea unless I absolutely have to.  Oh, and that post about throwing my back out...well now I can tell you that the pain was even worse because I was pregnant and couldn't take anything for it.  It.Was.Torture. 
But back to the positive stuff.  We are thrilled.  The boys couldn't believe the news when we told them.  There was screaming and yelling and jumping up and down.  When things quieted down the first thing Marcus said was, "Wait!  Does this mean I don't get my own room anymore?"  Yes it does, son.  Yes it does. 

This little guy is going to be a big brother.  But I think I'll always treat him like my baby because he's seriously so cute!  The ultrasound is in a couple weeks which will confirm we're having another boy because seriously, it's not a girl so stop getting all excited, people!

Our New Purchase

I bought an extra refrigerator!
Do you have any idea what this means?  This means I have spare time because I don't have to go to the grocery store every three days for more milk.  This means I can stock up on freezer items and sale items because now I finally have room to store them.  This means I can make food in advance and freeze it for later (although that will probably never happen because that would require planning ahead).
I don't know why we waited so long for this modern convenience.  We go through a gallon of milk per day.  Per day!  Currently there are 8 gallons of milk in the fridge as we speak, which makes me feel so happy I can practically hear a choir of angels singing Hallelujah Chorus.
We will not talk about why it's taken me so long to purchase this wonderful necessity (apparently I'm not a good problems solver?) so just let me enjoy that some of my first world problems have been solved.  Life is good and I am grateful.

and now I can buy Costco pizza and actually close the fridge door.  It's so wonderful!

They're Gone!

The boys left for school and my sanity returned.  Funny how that works.  The house was so quiet when James {handyman/contractor/newest member of family} arrived he didn't think anyone was home.  I think he was as happy to have the noisy, rambunctious boys and all their friends out of the house so he could work in peace as I was.  He didn't say that of course but I could tell.
So life is good.  Parker is my quiet little shadow who quietly plays, quietly asks for my attention, and quietly takes afternoon naps.  I'm enjoying the quiet, catching up on a good book and only feeling a tiny bit guilty for enjoying it so much.
And so you don't read this post thinking everything is suddenly rainbows and butterflies around here, I should mention the boys nearly missed the bus on the second day of school.  So pathetic.  So typical of me.  Picture Landon, the new little first grader who counts down the hours until he gets to go back to school, sprinting down the street, nearly in tears as he's yelling at the bus to wait, Parker and I running behind him while I yell over my shoulder at Ethan to hurry up as he's got one arm in his jacket, one shoe half on and the other shoe in his hand.  Yep, that's how we arrived at the bus stop.  Well, that's how they arrived.  Once Ethan got his shoe on he sprinted past me and got on the bus and I didn't see the point in walking the rest of the way to the stop so I could chat with the other moms who all had their act together.  Instead I turned around and walked home, waving sheepishly at the bus driver who now knows exactly which kids will be the ones to ruin his schedule.  Yep, that's us!  I'm not sure that whole experience qualifies as a win but since the bus driver was kind enough to wait for Ethan and Landon so I didn't have to drive our sorry selves to school, it's a win to me.

7th Grade and too cool to be excited for school

5th Grade and sooo happy to have a nice teacher this year

1st grade and thrilled to be gone all day

5th graders rule the school and the back of the bus

The traditional special after-school snack (Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, of course)

I put Parker to work after the boys left.  A clean house is a wonderful thing!