The end is near.

I sit, in the quiet, while 3 little cuties are napping, and several things come to mind as my pregnancy comes to an end.

~Baby is still moving all over...very thankful for that. Slightly frightened at times when it feels like he/she is trying it's darndest to kick open my side and come out. Wrong way, sweetie. Please figure this out...promptly.

~Pretty much eating everything in site lately. Not sure why, because I can I suppose.

~Weight watchers is looming overhead like an ever-nearing enemy. (See above)

~Since WW is not here QUITE yet, I am pretty irritated that the only snack I could just find to eat was a tootsie roll and mini-hershey bar from Halloween. So irritated as to let it stay in the drawer? No. The empty wrappers lay next to me.

~Bought excessive amounts of post-pregnancy clothes while still pregnant. Good after-Christmas sales I suppose. Hoping they fit, and hoping they give me some motivation for WW. Also hoping the sales ladies weren't too irritated when they saw me with my big belly and their smaller clothes head into their dressing room.

~Will this baby be a boy or girl? Loving that we didn't find out, but still trying to convince Johnny that he is happy as well. He may have bitterness issues.

~When will this child come? Actually not feeling as anxious as I thought I would, but at 39 weeks and 3 days, labor would be "welcome" at any point now, and is pretty much required in the next 14 days. Makes me happy to meet my baby, makes me want to hurl to think of labor.

~Feeling pretty prepared...everything is cleaned and washed and ready for baby.

~"Baby" Norbeck has to receive a bit more specific of a name at some point. Shoot. Maybe we are not as prepared as we thought. Any last minute suggestions for either sex welcome.

~Ready for a nap, and just realized maybe my baby has not yet felt ready to come because it's mother has not taken ONE pregnancy photo and it already is scarred that the other 3 siblings will have pictures of themselves in utero. Shoot again.

~OK, situation remedied. Now, sweet baby, let's get moving.

The letter that needs to be sent.

Dear Obstetrician Office,

You are a Doctor's Office. In addition, many of your patients are Great with Child, like yours truly. In many cases, such as mine, being great with child coincides with weight gain, large abdominal girth, and just overall increased fatness.

The pre-natal experience is wonderful...
the joy of carrying new life,
the anticipation of a sweet baby,
the hopes and dreams all wrapped up in another child.

The pre-natal experience has it's downside too...
the aforementioned bodily growth,
the anticipation of gut-wrenching, stabbing pain,
the frequent appointments, exams, pokes and prods,
and again, the anticipation of being taken over by pain that I never knew could exist.

But, beyond all of this, I return yet again to this topic of "increased abdominal girth" and to what I deem to be the worst possible part of coming to your office at this point in my pregnancy. Your sweet medical assistant leads me to a cold, uninviting room, politely asks me to remove everything from the waist down, and says "Here is your drape. The Doctor will be in 'soon'."

The word "soon" apparently has different meanings for those of us waiting INSIDE the room from those of you who wait "OUTSIDE" the room. From inside, I hear those of you outside talking about pop-culture, weekend plans, etc. Maybe you need a hint of what goes on inside. We sit, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more for you to come in. That would be bad in and of itself, but the drape, or small white napkin, as I lovingly refer to it, is what really gets me going.

Really??? I mean, really? This is what you ask me to wrap myself in? In case no one has ever complained to you before, let me make it clear. That "napkin" does not fit around even an average sized 36 week pregnant women. As if getting it to wrap around me isn't challenging enough, figuring out how to not let it rip when I heave myself up onto your cold table is even harder. And, since it is not large enough, we emotionally-charged and over-sensitive large pregnant women also have to decide where to leave the gap. The back...front....side???? So then, as anxiety rises, as sometimes even tears begin to well, as embarrassment sets in, some of us bolder patients go digging around all of the drawers and cabinets in your office to find more napkins. And let me tell you, when I do, relief overcomes me as I wrap myself in as many darn napkins as I please. This may explain why you were unable to find any napkins for the next unsuspecting, sweet woman you brought to Exam Room 1.

But, for the sake of my sanity and some other not-so-bold patients, can you please re-think your draping situation? Maybe you could offer 4 to every woman, maybe you could find a new manufacturer. If money is the issue, maybe you could just ask each and every woman to bring their own sheet.

But please, do something.

Sincerely,
Your biggest and most loyal drape-hater.

Sanding on a Simple Saturday

Today was a good day. Beautiful weather, all 5 of us home together, and accomplishing much around the house. Poor little Brynnie had a fever all day, so she wouldn't let me put her down. After starting to get irritated, I decided to just sit down and enjoy snuggling with my baby! Cooper "helped" daddy wash the car in his diaper as he quickly got soaked from the hose. A 3-hour nap followed, so if it is up to me, he can help wash the car every weekend! I cleaned out the refrigerator, made some freezer meals, and just got a lot done. It was just one of those simple days that makes you thankful for the family you have.

Where does the "Sanding" part of my title come from you ask? I am happy to share. Basically, I am just wondering what my lovely neighbors were thinking when I screamed, er, calmly appealed to Isabella to STOP sanding her brother's chest and back!!! Because I am such a fun, cool, and awesome mom and let my kids get grubby and dirty, and since I am always focused on their development, allowing them to have as many "hands-on" experiences as possible, this situation may or may not have been my fault. I had just finished sanding down a chair and was starting to paint it...this could possibly mean I was not keeping as close an eye on my dear kiddies as I should. Anyhow, when I put the sand paper down, apparently each of them found a chunk for themselves. After hearing Isabella bossing Cooper around something to the tune of "Stay still, Cooper!" and hearing Cooper whining and yelling, I finally decided to see what was going on. Sure enough, Cooper was sitting on the ground in his little diaper having his chest and back sanded by his loving big sister! Thankfully, he was not too damaged, just a few red scratches to show for his abuse!

Maybe my baby boy will feel super smooth and exfoliated in the morning!!!

Happy Weekend to you!

3 going on 23

Happy Birthday Isabella!

For weeks now, you have been saying you are turning 23 instead of 3! And, sometimes, you act like it! You had a great birthday with a fun family dinner at the Pop Shop yesterday and a birthday party today. Since you were born, Daddy and I were always excited to see you grow and change, but we always feel a little sad that you are growing up so much! But, every day is more exciting than the last with you, and you have turned into quite the grown-up little girl! You love helping mommy with cooking, baking, and cleaning...you love you brother and sister to death, and are very sweet to them, but you also love to help mom with disciplining them! You ask dad almost every day, "How'd work go?" and you call out-of-town family with very matter-of-fact questions! You are sweet, obedient, and ask ALOT of questions! We love you so much!

Here is a look back at the last 3 years!

Toddler Theology

One of my favorite things about having an almost 3 year old in the house is the constant amusement I receive from her. Isabella is cracking me up every day with things she says and does. Often times, I look at Brynn and Cooper and just laugh as I think about a year from now when all 3 of them are full of surprises!

Isabella loves church and gets very excited for MOPS, Honeybees, Sunday School, etc. She gets a little confused since her daddy works at church. She sometimes calls church "daddy's house." Oh well, it is her Father's house, right? Just not the one she is thinking of. Anyhow, she went to Youth group with Johnny Sunday night and learned the Matt Redman song, "You Never Let Go." Some of the students were raising their hands during praise and worship. I find it absolutely hysterical that she copied them and was raising her hands! In addition, we have been singing the song at home alot, but she has revised it. She belts out, "Oh Lord, you HAVE to let go/through the stone and through the calm/Oh Lord, you have to let go/You have to let go of me." I love listening to her mess up the words, but I am glad her theology is not correct because I don't really want to be let go.

So, whether it is singing so adorably, telling me I need to drive faster (EVERYDAY!), insisting she will be 23 at her next birthday (she will be 3 in May), instructing me to call my husband "Babe" instead of "Johnnie", or stripping her jammies off because she is "cold", she melts my heart and keeps me on my toes!!!

I don't know about you, but I didn't realize how excited I was for Spring to get here until this incredible weather came this week. We were at the park yesterday and today, and seeing my kids all running around so happily does my heart good! I think my goal is to not ever eat lunch inside for the whole summer! One of my most dreaded motherly duties is cleaning up meals for 3 terribly messy kids 3 times each day. I don't mind cooking or feeding them, but it just feels like all I do is have to clean up my floor! So, if I eat lunch out on the deck in the backyard, at a park, or just about anywhere else besides my kitchen, it is a great feeling to me!

Well, I am off to bed after I go wake up and kiss my kiddies! Am I nuts? I just can't help it!

Grilled Cheese

When Isabella prays at night, I have had a hard time discerning who exactly she prays to. I am fairly certain she is meaning to say "Dear Jesus", but it is just not coming out that clear. Now, she is definitely able to say the word "Jesus"-she talks about him often. And EVERY time we ask her what she learned after Sunday School, Church, MOPS, or Honeybees, she says, "Ummm, Jesus...'n God." And we say something to the effect of "What about them?" or "What else?"-to which she usually replies, "I dunno what else." Anyhow, it finally clicked tonight, before her litany of thanks poured forth for fruit snacks, lollipops, and the like (yes, those always come before her family), she most certainly addressed her prayer to Grilled Cheese. I had her pray two or three times just so i could her the greeting again. Pretty funny if you ask me.

On a different note, Johnny and I are taking the Financial Peace class at our church, and I LOVE IT!!! Between being a part of that class on Wednesdays and attending Weight Watchers on the weekend, I feel like I am getting rich and thin all at once! They are the types of things that inspire you and make you feel like you're succeeding just by being there. Obviously, I don't really think that is true, both are taking alot of hard work, but both have been a blessing. Dave Ramsey is awesome...I love listening to him and watching him. I really want to go see him live, but I think the closest one is in Kansas City, MO, and unfortunately, I don't think we have a vacation planned there anytime soon, I'll have to double-check. Well, the biggest change we have decided to make at this point is happening this week when we are closing ALL of our credit cards. I say "all" as if we use many. We basically just have 2, one for gas, and one for everything else, but I won't lie and say that I don't have a few more retail cards in my wallet because I am a sucker for the free underwear offers and the extra 20% off at Macy's! But, we are closing them all, and I am so excited to go to a completely cash system! Even though we paid them all off every month, we learned tonight that credit card users spend an extra 12-18% than cash users. It will be a big change for us, but I am looking forward to it...I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a good night...I am off to enjoy a heaping frozen Tbsp. of Cool Whip squeezed between 2 Chocolate Grahams, and they are going to be good!!!

Random

It feels nice to be sitting here for a few minutes with some peace and quiet while all 3 children are sleeping! As much as I love my kids, I really enjoy this part of my day too! I honestly do not know how people make it through the day with non-nappers...i only have so much patience.

Anyhow, here are a few of the random thought going on in my head this afternoon.

1. I hate cancer. I worked last night on the cancer unit. I took care of the sweetest man, in his fifties, in the middle of a 3 year fight against it. He looked so old after being through so much. Finding out only last week he will be a grandfather made him light-up, but there was definiltely fear and uncertainty in his eyes as well. My grandma died of cancer when I was in 6th grade, and my husband lost his mom to cancer 6 years ago, but this is the closest I have come to it. Cancer really scares me, and i feel like I am waiting for the day that it strikes me so much more closely than it has. I am thankful that I serve an Almighty God, but I know my faith will truly be tested if that day comes.

2. If you are thinking about coming to the seminar on dealing with difficult people at our church tomorrow, then COME! There will be a great speaker and great food and a great opportunity to share with the community what we have going on at Grace.

3. I am consistently being reprimanded by my daughter about my manners. I find it quite aggravating, but also hilarious and sweet. "What do you say, Mom?" and "That's not nice, Mom!" are the phrases I heard today. When I hear her singing her Bible Verse songs to herself as she plays, it truly makes me want to cry and burst with laughter all at once.."Do to ossers, do to ossers, as you would has them do to you..."

4. I am feeling so behind in every area of life right now (i.e. cleaning, organizing, taxes, organizing, thank-you notes, phone calls, organizing, taxes, etc.) that I really should go make some good use of my time!

Happy Friday!