I thought I had posted this on Tuesday, but I guess it never made it out of the drafts. Enjoy the belated post! I'm going to try to post again today.

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Happy Earth Day! It's a beautiful day here in Yankton to be outside, so we'll be able to get out and actually do some things that help the earth. When the weather is nice, we usually go for at least one walk a day, and Accalia and Cole suggested bringing along bags to pick up garbage we find along the way. We are by no means the most earth friendly family out there, but we do try in a lot of small ways to make a difference. We've always recycled, and we'll bring our glass to Mankato when we visit because there is no glass recycling here. We also have cloth diapered since Accalia was around 9 months old, although we have used disposables when we travel. We've also switched over all lightbulbs to compact fluorescents, and since we did that we've only had a couple CFLs burn out. There isn't a local place where we can recycle them, though, so we're hanging on to them until we do find one. Don't want to add any extra mercury to the water and ground! I guess we also try to make sure that we buy phosphate free cleaning products (laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, etc.) And, while none are us are vegetarian, we usually eat at least one meatless meal a week. A book I love that has great ideas for greener living around your home is Better Basics For The Home.

One thing I'm absolutely horrible about is making sure I have reusable bags along when shopping. I need to just keep them in the van, and I need to get more so I'd have enough for our big grocery shopping trips. While we don't throw away the plastic bags (we bring them back to the recycling bins at stores), that still means we're continuing to encourage the production of those bags. I've also read that the bags in those recycling bins are just thrown out, so that doesn't do much good.

What sorts of things do you do to help reduce your carbon footprint?

Cory is up in Sioux Falls today for a conference, and I'm not sure if we'll even see him before he returns home and has to go to work delivering pizzas. This is his last Tuesday doing that, though. He decreased his availability there because he needs to make sure he has more availability for private counseling. They've finally gotten in with several places as network providers and have already been getting more calls as a result.

Yesterday we our appointments at the dentist. We go twice a year since our insurance covers most of it. Accalia loves going to the dentist, which Cole is a little unsure yet. He hates toothpaste and doesn't want them to use it on him, which they were fine with once I explained his hesitancy. We all had good visits. No cavities except for Cory having one small one between his teeth. Cole's six year molars are coming in, and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts to get some loose teeth in the upcoming months.

Cory took off yesterday since the dentist took up most of the morning, but he spent nearly all afternoon working on brochures to hand out to these new network providers. Then he had a couple appointments. Accalia had her last regular ballet class last night. Now they'll just have rehearsals for the recital.

The summer rec schedule came out today, which I have to tell Accalia about since she was so excited about seeing the offerings for this summer. Now I think we're going to head out on that walk. I have to check with Ella to see if she wants to keep on the Spiderman costume or change back into her regular clothes.

We survived the picture taking marathon yesterday! Hooray! It all went very smoothly even though we only had about two minutes to change Accalia's dance costumes and hair. The older girls that help out with class do such a great job, too, and that makes a huge difference. I was so glad to have Cory at home with Cole and Ella, though, because there's no way I would have been able to move as quickly as I did.

One of the moms with a girl in Accalia's ballet class was there with her three-year-old son, and she was in an awful mood. She was constantly scolding/yelling at her son to be still, which is really helpful in a crowded dance studio with kids and parents all over but also understandable that the son wanted to run all over with the big, open spaces in parts of the studio. Cole and Ella would have wanted to do the same thing if they were along. Then, when we were all crowded in the small changing room and I was helping Accalia into her soccer uniform, this mom was there yelling at her son to be quiet, yelling at her daughter that she was nearly nine and old enough to put a sock on by herself and yelling at both of the kids that she couldn't talk to Daddy on the phone when they were both talking to her. Then she asked them what they wanted to eat for lunch. I'm thinking it would have helped out a lot if they had been able to eat before getting pictures taken since it was past 1 p.m. at that point.

I've known this mom since Accalia started dance and her oldest was in the same class as Accalia. At that point she had two girls and was such a different person in public. Now, whether it's the addition of a third child, that the third child is a boy who seems to have quite a different temperament than his sisters, or whether it's something completely unrelated to the children, she's definitely changed. That's what happened a little after our sister-in-law Shannon had her third. It honestly sent her over the edge a bit, and I think that - at the time - they would have liked to reverse their decision to add on to their family. There have been times this pregnancy where I've wondered how well I'll be able to parent four children, especially when there are days where I feel as if I'm definitely not up to par. Of course, I also had those thoughts when I had just one child and then two children.

Anyway, back to pictures...

Accalia was so relieved to make it to her soccer pictures on time, and I think that's what she was most worried about missing. Of course we ended up parking on the wrong side of the huge park since they hadn't told us where the pictures would be taken. How hard it is to say the east side near the middle school? We ran about half way, but I had to slow down to a walk, me being pregnant and out of shape.

Cory did have to work yesterday afternoon and evening. The kids and I went on a walk, went to two parks and hung out in the backyard during much of that time. It was such a nice day yesterday. Today is supposed to be even warmer, but I wonder what will happen since it's been cloudy and overcast since I woke up. The first warm days of spring are always a great time for the kids because everything outside is new to them again. The swingset, sandbox, all of the outdoor toys - it's as if they're going to a different park each day.

Right now Cory is doing a bit of grocery shopping. It's so nice to have a week where the kids and I aren't going out and doing that. He'll probably be home soon. I think I'll see if the kids want to get dressed and have something to eat.

Ella was walking around here just a couple minutes ago with a soaking wet washcloth on her head. I have no idea what prompted that, but it's made her very happy. That's a good thing since it's nearly 7 p.m. on a day without a nap.

I'm trying to psych myself up for tomorrow when Accalia and I attempt to have three different pictures of her taken in the course of an hour - three different costumes and not all pictures taken in the same location. The good news is that she'll get her ballet costume on at home so I don't have to struggle to try to put a decent bun in her hair in two minutes. Unfortunately I will have to change her hair between pictures, but it won't be that complicated.

I've also packed up everything she'll need for the second dance picture and am in the process of drying her soccer uniform so that will be ready to go. What's going on tomorrow makes me so glad that our lives aren't constantly at this frantic, rushed speed of going from one thing to the next. We all love our days of not having much scheduled. These next few weeks just won't allow for that, but I'm sure it'll make us very happy to go back to it.

So, that's really the most important thing going on this weekend. It's supposed to be really nice, so hopefully we'll be able to spend plenty of time outside, too.

Our scanner is working just fine now, so below is your first glimpse of the newest Nelson sucking what looks to be a thumb.


All still seems to be going well at 22 weeks along. Over the past week I have noticed more aching and pain as my ligaments are stretching and making room for this expanding person and space. I've also noticed that I really feel it if I'm on my feet too much. I hate to think that at 22 weeks I already need to make sure I'm taking the time to stay off my feet for a while each day, but I'll just listen to my body whether I think it's too soon or not.

Ella's probably toward the end of a long afternoon nap. She went to bed earlier yesterday and was up before 7. Cole really, really needs to take a nap even though he hasn't done that in years. We had to be up and out of the house earlier today to take the van to the repair shop. We need the door handle replaced on the passenger side sliding door because it broke off and we can't even open that door from the inside. We also have an exhaust leak, but I'm not sure if we'll get both of those repaired at the same time. Depends on how long it would take. We walked home from the repair shop - probably under a mile - and Ella insisted on being carried basically the entire way. I was planning to take the stroller, but of course it rained overnight and of course I left the stroller outside.

Today we made banana bread, and all three kids painted once we discovered we had big jars of power tempera paint still sitting around from when Accalia was much younger. Ella, of course, painted much of herself, but she does like to wait for me to help her to the sink to wash off so she doesn't leave paint prints everywhere.

It's a cool, cloudy day, and Accalia has soccer practice tonight. I have a hair cut after that. Cory was supposed to have a counseling session after work but rearranged his schedule when he realized it conflicted with the hair cut. Nice guy.

I think Accalia wants on the computer, so I'm going to sign off.

So, this week has been warmer. It's also been extremely windy, which makes it rather difficult to have an enjoyable time playing outside. Yesterday, after lunch, we went to a park. It was around 50 degrees, but with the wind it felt a lot cooler. The kids still had fun. The first thing Ella went for was the tallest, swirliest slide which, of course, she insisted I go down with her. My thought was that this is going to get a lot harder the more pregnant I am. But, for the rest of the time we were at the park Ella was going down slides and climbing all over rarely asking for me to join her. Go figure. There were a few other little kids there for a short while, and their dad just happened to be one of those parents who keep a constant chatter of instructions going: "Be careful of the little girl! No! Wait your turn! Okay, sit down now. No, don't go yet. Okay, you can go. Let's go to the other slide. You can go down twice. Okay, let's go to the swings. Okay, we have to go now." And on and on. After the park, I got each of the kids huge ice cream cones. Ella dumped hers all over the car seat by the time we made it home, but amazingly enough it stayed in one unmelted lump for me to do easy clean up.

Cory had a couple appointments after work, so I took Accalia to and from ballet. I think this was probably the first time since I started showing that I've taken Accalia in and haven't been wearing a jacket or a big sweatshirt. All of the moms started exclaiming about me being pregnant.

Last night Ella fell asleep a little after 7 and actually was in bed until 7 this morning. She fell asleep for a nap around 12:30 and is still sleeping two hours later. She's wearing Cole's footsie pajamas and no diaper, so hopefully she doesn't wet the bed.

Not much for tonight. Cory doesn't work, so we're going to grill and just hang out. Gotta watch American Idol, of course.

Ella drew on the tip of her nose just a little bit ago -- with permanent marker. We usually don't have permanent markers within her reach since she doesn't know the difference between those and the washable ones that she can draw with all over herself. Cole has been using the permanent marker lately, though, and no one saw that they hadn't been put up. Ah well. It's not as if we have anything going on that requires no permanent marker on the face.

I wanted to expand on what I had written about Cory's aunt Pat earlier since I talked with Cory and he seemed to know a few more details. While we have no idea how successful the treatment could be, a lot of it depends on the organs affected by the protein since this protein basically harden whatever it attaches to. Unfortunately, Cory told me he believes it's affecting Pat's heart. Depending on which organs are affected, the life expectancy is usually 1-3 years. Pat has always seemed larger than life - so active, so social, the one planning events and keeping everyone in touch. She and Mary were probably fairly opposite since Mary was always quieter and didn't want to cause waves. I don't want to sound as if I'm writing her obituary already because she might have years and years left. We just don't know.

I'll end this brief entry on a slightly less serious note. How about something I'm grateful for tonight? I'm grateful for my pregnancy-induced stuffy nose that keeps me from smelling nasty diapers. Apparently Ella had one tonight that spread throughout the house. Diaper are washing right now so that will be taken care of, but it's nice to not have to smell it in the meantime.

Lately I've been waking up early but not getting to sleep very early. Today it's starting to take its toll. I don't mind getting up early at all because I've missed having some quiet mornings before all of the kids are awake. Perhaps my body is already trying to get me prepared for the odd hours of sleep I'll get once we have a newborn in the house again.

Yesterday no one showed up for the LLL meeting. All three kids stayed home with Cory this time (usually Ella goes with me), so I sat for a while waiting to see if anyone would come and was able to read a magazine article that I've wanted to for a month or two. After lunch, Accalia and Cole wanted to spend their money, and Accalia picked out a Littlest Pet Shop VIP stuffed animal which allows her to access a virtual world for her pet. She's been loving that all weekend. Cole wanted to get a couple Ben 10 action figures, and he's kept them close to him all weekend, too.

Yesterday was a cold, windy day, but today we can see that the spring warm up is finally here. While it struggled to get to 50 degrees, it was sunny and a nice day to walk around the neighborhood and poke around the yard to see what is growing. We can see the buds on George, our willow tree. We can see the tulips and lilies popping up in front and along the side. Accalia and Cole keep asking when we can plant the garden, but we probably won't do that for at least a few more weeks so we're past the danger of any more freezing/frosty nights.

This past week has been rather rough for Cory's side of the family. His brother, Mark, is a highway patrol officer in Mitchell, and on Friday he was working during snowy, icy conditions. He was about 30 miles west of Mitchell responding to two semis in the ditch. While he was talking to the other truckers, another semi went into the ditch. Then, as he was headed back to his vehicle, he could see another semi coming and losing control. He saw that the semi was headed right for him, so he jumped in his vehicle, stood on the gas, and managed to get moving. The semi hit him, though, and spun him 180 degrees into the ditch and blew out a couple windows. It's amazing that there was so little damage that he was able to drive back to Mitchell. Also, thankfully, he wasn't seriously injured. He's pretty sore, but as far as we know wasn't more seriously hurt. That semi driver did get a ticket for overdriving the conditions, though.

The other bit of bad news is that Cory's aunt Pat (Mary's sister) has been diagnosed with primary amyloidosis, which is something I'd never even heard of before. It's a disorder where protein is deposited on tissues and organs. It's extremely rare - 8 in a million, I've read - and there is no cure. It is life threatening. Pat is being treated at the Mayo Clinic, and it sounds like the treatment consists of chemo in pill form. There are some forms of amyloidosis that are heriditary, but this kind isn't, so Pat is very thankful that her children won't have to be tested and worry that this is something they may develop and pass on to their children, etc.

So that's what's happening in some of our extended family. We'll see how this coming week goes. The weather should be nice enough that nothing should have to be cancelled because of the weather. I think Accalia's a bit bummed that she'll miss her first soccer game on Saturday because dance pictures are at the exact same time, but the pictures have been planned for much longer than the soccer game. Accalia also has soccer pictures that day, and it may be a challenge to get there from the dance pictures. It rarely happens that so many things end up coming together at the same time like this, but that is just one of those days.

Tomorrow I'm sure we'll enjoy the outdoors more. Other than Accalia having ballet, that's about it for planned activities.

The lack of spring weather is taking its toll on the start to Accalia's soccer season. Her game for tomorrow has been cancelled mostly due to the extremely wet fields. We had close to an inch of rain and then an inch of snow yesterday. We're getting a little bit of snow today, but it's nothing much at all. Just lots of wind and cold temps. I think Cory is glad the game is cancelled since that means he and Cole won't have to sit out in thirtysome degree weather to watch it. My LLL meeting for tomorrow should still go on as planned, though. I just have to get ready for it today.

This morning was my ultrasound, and the baby was very cooperative and photogenic and active. The ultrasound tech even got excited at one point because we could watch the baby sucking his/her fingers and thumb and could even see the sucking motions of the jaw. So sweet. Yes, we did ask about the gender, and the tech told us that's she's about 80 percent sure of the gender. We don't have plans to share that news before the birth, although if one of the kids lets it slip it won't be a horrible thing. This is the first time we've found out beforehand, and I'm so hesitant to think of the baby in terms of a specific gender. That's probably because of all of the people we know who were told they were expecting one and were surprised with the other. So we'll definitely have boy and girl names decided on.

Soon Accalia will head to the art studio and later to tap, but that's about it for our Friday. Cory works tonight. Last night our one remaining fish died. Accalia asked if we could just flush it right away, but Cole wants to have a proper burial outside, so we'll do that tomorrow or Sunday when the weather's a bit nicer.

Ella wants to watch a movie on the computer, so I'll end for now.

I can't believe tomorrow is already Wednesday! The days have just flown by since I blogged last Friday.

I'm trying to remember what happened on Saturday. Cory worked most of the day, Cole helped me haul some junk to the front curb for this week's junk days pick up, and Cole and Accalia picked out new sandals. After Cory got home in the evening, we just hung out and watched Saturday Night Live.

Sunday was Cory and Accalia's big trip to Pipestone to watch Grandpa sing in a group called the Al Opland Singers. Accalia was so excited - new outfit, movies picked out to watch in the car, backpack filled with things to do. Grandpa took them to McDonald's after the concert. She seemed to enjoy the day even though the concert was probably not the most exciting part for her. While they were gone, Cole, Ella and I went grocery shopping, watched a movie, hung out, and ate Taco John's for supper (probably the most exciting part for Cole since Accalia never seems to want to eat there if we go out). While it certainly wasn't quiet with Accalia gone, you could definitely tell the difference in the noise level once she returned. Accalia and Cole were so happy to see each other. They hugged and sat in a chair together to talk about everything that had gone on that day.

On Sunday I really felt like another cold was hitting me, and it has. I'm so sick of feeling this way! I've spent most of this pregnancy with a stuffy nose, which isn't an unusual pregnancy thing, and I know for some people being sick seems to happen more easily during pregnancy. Hopefully no one else follows suit with a second cold. I woke up around 4 a.m. this morning with my left ear throbbing. I had been up just a couple hours earlier to use the bathroom, and everything felt fine. It's strange that the ear ache came on so quickly like that. I was up for an hour or so because the pain was too unbearable to lie down and sleep. So I took some homeopathic belladonna, kept a heated rice compress up to my ear and massaged along the back of my ear. It seemed to work because I was able to fall back asleep within two hours without a painful ear. My ear's been a little tender today, but it hasn't been anything major. Guess this is just a nasty part of this particular cold.

Monday wasn't too exciting of a day. We all went to the chiropractor in the afternoon, and then I took Accalia to ballet. I had her informational recital meeting for that class and was finally able to see her costume and watch her practice this dance. It's a very classic ballet look - bun, long skirt, etc. It's really beautiful to watch.

Accalia was supposed to have soccer practice yesteday since they had to cancel last week's, but she missed it since it was at the same time as dance. She had another practice tonight, though, and had a great time. She was very excited to be back. While she was at practice, Cole, Ella and I had fun vacuuming out the van. That was way overdue.

I guess Ella has decided that she isn't going to be down for the night. She fell asleep around 7:30 but is back up and not in the best mood. Better get to her.

Here's my 20 week belly. Accalia took the picture. I hadn't asked her to keep my head out of the picture, so I apologize to those who wanted to see my face, too.


I had all three kids with me for this appointment, and it ended up being a much longer affair than it needed to be - not because of the kids, though. We had to wait a half hour in the waiting room, and then once we were back in a room, we waited another 20 minutes before Dr. M came in for a grand total of 10 minutes. It wasn't that she was trying to rush me through once she got there, but I just didn't have any questions or concerns at this point to eat up her time. Everything is just fine. I've gained a total of 20 pounds so far, but I've decided to just ignore my weight at this point. For whatever reason I gain more than average during pregnancy, but I also lose the majority of it without any effort on my part, so I'm not going to get too concerned. I'm also measuring where I should be at 20 weeks. Next Friday I have my ultrasound. Beyond that, though, it will hopefully be an uneventful month until my next appointment.

Since the appointment ran longer than expected, we had to hurry home, grab lunch and take Accalia to art. We found out that Accalia didn't win a prize in the bird art show that has its reception tomorrow. When I asked Accalia if she wanted to go to the reception, she didn't seem too interested, so I think we'll skip it. Accalia had tap later in the afternoon, and that basically brings us to this evening. Cory is working tonight, so it's just the kids and me.

Unfortunately, Cory works most of the day tomorrow, so it'll be just the kids and me once again. We'll haul out a few things for next week's citywide junk days, and Accalia wants to go out and buy sandals or flip flops since we haven't gotten around to it yet.

I should wrap this up. The dishwasher needs to be loaded, the laundry needs to be taken care of, and approximately a whole crapload of stuff needs to be picked up off the floor. What I'd really like to be doing is to sit down and read the book I'm in the middle of, but every time I've tried to do that Ella has jumped into my lap and started hopping up and down.

Accalia and Cole managed to pull one more April Fools trick on Cory when he came home from work yesterday. Accalia had gotten together all of her soccer uniform (shirt, shorts, cleats, socks, shin guards) and was using pillows and long foam sticks to assemble a dummy of herself. She hadn't even thought to use it as a trick when I said it might be funny to set it up on the couch and cover up most of the body with a blanket so Cory would only see the shoes sticking out. We did that, and Cory had no clue it wasn't actually Accalia under there.

Today we took advantage of the free printer cartridge refill that Walgreens had today and had one of our color cartridges filled. Went to story time, too, where one of the librarians told me I've really "blossomed" and asked when I was due. When I told her, she commented on how huge I'll probably be by then. Gee, thanks. Accalia took a picture of my belly today, which I'll have to post so that you can judge for yourself just how big I am.

I thought there were other things I wanted to write about, but now my mind is blank. Oh well. I think Ella is falling asleep. Tomorrow our excitement will be taking the van for an overdue oil change. Hopefully it will be nice enough so that we can walk around downtown rather than sitting in the waiting area. That place just isn't designed for three energetic kids.

Happy April Fools Day! Accalia and Cole have been trying to think of tricky things to do since the weekend. Last night they put a stuffed snake in bed so Cory would discover that, and I ended up warning Cory ahead of time (so he could let out a big scream for the benefit of the kids) since I had no idea which snake they used. Turns out the warning wasn't necessary since it was a huge snake. Yesterday Accalia and Cole were also trying to trick me with tales of giant bees and owls upstairs, so I played along with that. Today I printed out these mazes I found online that can't actually be solved and gave those to Accalia and Cole. I hesitated before doing that because I wasn't sure if they'd get too frustrated or actually enjoy the trick. They took it well, and that has been the extent of our April Fools Day so far.

Yesterday we had a spring snow storm that derailed our plans for the day. We received about five inches of snow and another inch of rain. When I woke up in the morning and saw what was happening outside, I called to reschedule my prenatal appointment for this Friday (third time in a row I've had to reschedule due to weather). I had no idea if the snow/rain mix also included freezing rain, and I had no intention of driving a half hour on country roads just to find out. Thankfully Cory didn't have to drive anywhere for work. He spent the afternoon watching the Cubs season opener, which included two rain delays. Unfortunately the Cubs lost in the 10th inning.

Accalia and I headed off to her ballet class only to discover the studio closed. I hadn't even thought to check on closings due to the weather mostly because we've had worse winter weather where things have remained open. It turns out schools closed yesterday along with a few other things.

Accalia's soccer practice for tonight has been cancelled since there's snow on the ground and it's only in the mid 30s. I still have to go to pick up her practice and game schedule. We did go out today and pick up new soccer cleats for her, though. I was really hoping her shoes from last fall would still fit after only two months of use, but they were too narrow for her. Apparently her feet have widened over the winter. So we consulted with the sales person who told us brands that have more room than others. Adidas and Puma are roomier whereas Nike is quite narrow.

Cory doesn't work tonight, so I'll go off by myself to get the schedule and stop at the store to pick up a few groceries. One trip to the store with all three kids seemed to be enough for all of us today.

Cory has been working since 11 a.m. delivering pizzas and is scheduled to get off at 4 p.m. When I talked with him earlier, it sounded as if it was a pretty slow day. He also worked Friday and Saturday nights, and Friday was nuts because of a basketball tournament in Yankton on those days.

It'll be so nice to have him at home for the evening. He's craving spaghetti, so that's what we'll have for supper. Since Cory likes his spaghetti sauce best, that means he'll be the one making the meal instead of me. Nice. Having Cory around also means I'll get to take a shower with the door closed since I won't have to listen for the kids. Well, I don't have to listen for Accalia or Cole, but I need to keep the door open so Ella can come in and out. Ah, the simple pleasures in life that you don't even think about when you have no children or at least have another adult around more often to help out.

I really wish I could report on exciting happenings this weekend, but there hasn't been much. Today the kids and I went to the dance studio to buy recital tickets and then we went grocery shopping. We're stuck in a bit of a rut lately since grocery shopping seems to be the big outing and one that no one seems to particularly enjoy.

This week will hopefully be a little more interesting. Keep your fingers crossed that the Cubs start off the season with a win tomorrow. I might have to find something to take the kids and myself out of the house during the game. Cory doesn't exactly relax when the Cubs are playing. I'll have my prenatal appointment in the morning. Accalia will have ballet and I'll have her recital meeting for that class at the same time - this time sans the other two children. Accalia is supposed to have her first soccer practice on Tuesday, but the forecast is calling for freezing rain tomorrow and Tuesday with snow possible on Tuesday. We'll see if the weather allows. Wednesday will be storytime for Cole. Thursday we have nothing scheduled. Friday will be art and tap for Accalia. On Saturday, there's an art reception in a nearby town for the show that Accalia contributed a picture to a while ago, so we'll try to go to that in the morning. Then, on Sunday, Cory and Accalia are driving over to Pipestone, MN, to watch Myron perform with the Al Opland Singers. Accalia is really excited about this daddy-daughter trip. It'll be interesting have just the two younger kids for most of the day since that rarely happens.

So that's what on the schedule for this week. That, along with the rest of life.

Apparently I just need to blog about the baby not moving enough and the baby gets the hint and starts kicking and/or punching up a storm. Cool.

We're still mostly hanging around home and running errands when necessary. For a few days this week, Accalia and Cole actually played with the two neighbor girls. The younger one (5) came over on Monday and asked if they could play. I was shocked since we haven't seen them since last November. After supper, both girls were over for a while. Same thing Tuesday. We didn't see them Wednesday, Thursday or today, though. Accalia and Cole were thrilled to see them again.

Accalia had tap tonight and I had the informational meeting to go to to pick up her costume, find out all of the details about hair, make up, etc. Cory had to go to work, so I wasn't able to leave Cole and Ella with him. I was a bit concerned that they'd be too big of a distraction, but it worked out just fine. I brought along new coloring books and crayons for both, and Cole spent the entire time sitting on the floor and coloring. I had to wake Ella up to go to dance, so she just sat on my lap the entire time. I'll have to repeat the entire thing again on Monday for Accalia's ballet class, but this time Cory will be home and can keep Cole and Ella with him. I'm already exhausted thinking of everything leading up to the May recital and I'm not even dancing in it. Lots of rehearsals and so on, especially with Accalia taking two classes this year. She's loving it all, though. If she ever gave any indication she didn't want to do this, she'd be out of there as soon as she wanted to be.

Speaking of Cory and Monday, he's taking the day off. Why? The Cubs open their season, of course! It works out really nicely since I have a prenatal appointment in the morning. I think it'll just be me going alone this time. I'll have to leave the house around 9 a.m. and it'll just be much easier for everyone. Happier kids, too, not having to get up and go at that time.

We've spent a lot of time this week cleaning. It hasn't been any major deep cleaning, but it's nice just to get things picked up and organized. I've also been washing all of my maternity clothes and getting that hung up or put in drawers. It's sad, but I have more maternity clothes than regular clothes.

Ella is starting to say more and more full sentences. That's a lot of fun. We still don't understand a lot of what she says, but she's becoming more and more verbally clear to us each day. Ella and Cole are spending more and more time playing alone together. They'll disappear upstairs and I'll hear them laughing and running and making up all sorts of games.

That gives Accalia and myself the opportunity to read without interruption - at least for a short while. We've started reading the Little House on the Prairie series. Cory had read the first in the series, Little House in the Big Woods, a year or more ago to Accalia. She really enjoyed it and wants to read it again. All of this was inspired by me showing Accalia and Cole a pamphlet about the Laura Ingalls Wilder pageant in Walnut Grove that Cory had picked up for me on our trip to Mankato. That definitely peaked their interest. They don't care about the pageant itself, but they were excited about the different things at the museum and in and around Walnut Grove. So the kids and I may try to do that this summer. I'm not sure if Cory would be able to come or not.

I feel like there's more I wanted to write about, and I'm sure there is. I need to take care of some laundry, though, and start cleaning up the living room.

There are times where I can see so clearly how Cory comes through in the kids. Take the following dialogue between Accalia and Cole as they were performing a finger puppet show for me that involved small animals in the forest.

Accalia: Hi, we're a couple of married animals!
Cole: Yeah, we live in the ground so don't dig down there. That's our duty!
Accalia: You said duty. Heh.

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These last few days have been filled with doing things around home. Everyone is trying to survive this cold, although I'm pretty much finished with it thanks to being the first to have it. Ella hasn't really seemed sick - no stuffy, runny nose, etc. However, she's sleeping a lot more. Ella's taken a super long nap in the afternoon every day this week, which is highly unusual for her. Last night, after a monster nap, she decided she was ready for bed pretty early for her. Every time she heard someone say the word "bed", she'd run for the stairs. Then she'd get distracted by something and stay awake. At one point, she brought me the sweatshirt and pants I usually wear to bed and said, "Mama! Bed, bed!" Poor thing.

Today we all agreed it would be a good idea to stay home from storytime with all of the sniffling and coughing and Ella's extreme crankiness. Accalia and Cole asked me to make up our own storytime at home, so I did that and they've been busy much of the afternoon with all of that fun.

Yesterday was my grandmother's 82nd birthday. She's still going strong and told me this weekend how blessed she feels to be this age and still have my grandfather with her to share it. Today my dad and a couple of his brothers (I think) are in Sioux Falls for the funeral of one of his cousins. We were talking this weekend about how, as you get older, funerals start to take on the quality of family reunions many times.

I'm 19 weeks along now and everything appears to be going well. I have an appointment next week. I do wish I felt more movement, though. Every once in a while I'll feel a little bump or shift. I really can't remember how much movement I've usually felt at this stage, but for some reason I was expecting more. Maybe that's because I'm apparently looking so big that I must be carrying twins (according to someone at church). I should go upstairs and change the bedsheets in the guest room (aka Cory's bed when all of the kids want to sleep with me). Then I have to get an early supper in the oven since Cory is heading off to deliver pizzas by 5 p.m.

Oh, please keep Cory's coworker's father in your thoughts/prayers if you're so inclined. There was a bad bus/car crash near Madison (SD) this morning that killed the driver of the car and for sure injured most of the 56 passengers on the tour bus. The coworker's father was apparently one of the passengers with minor injuries, but I'm waiting to hear from when Cory gets home.

We made it back safely from our Easter weekend trip to Mankato. The kids were all so excited to be back at Grandpa and Grandma's and to see all of the cousins. We got to my parent's house while everyone was at Maunday Thursday church services, but after that everyone came over for a while. On Friday, we ran a few errands and came back shortly before Anthony, Kathy and the kids showed up. They were here until after supper. My grandparents and uncle came over on Saturday morning to visit for a while. On Saturday afternoon, we all met at the Lake Crystal Area Recreation Center to swim and then stopped back at Anthony and Kathy's place for a short time. The kids were so exhausted by then. Cole was definitely not in the mood to go back to Grandpa and Grandma's and trip on the stairs and walk away with a fat, bloody lip. Poor guy. It took him quite a while to recover from that.

We woke the kids up fairly early on Sunday for church, but they didn't mind too much once they saw their Easter baskets. Ella threw up twice before church, though, and this was without the benefit of eating anything. I'm not sure what was going on, but she was fine for the rest of the day. Just exhausted like the other kids. After lunch at my parents', we headed off to Lake Wilson. Myron had planned a big turkey meal for 3 p.m., so none of us were terribly hungry after recently having lunch. Cory's brother and family were there, so the kids were able to see their cousins that they rarely see. We also met Joanie, Myron's new friend. She seems nice enough. Mark and Shannon had huge Easter baskets waiting for the kids (put ours to shame) and had an Easter egg hunt. The kids loved that. They would have loved it even more if it hadn't been hovering around 30 degrees, I'm sure. We just stayed a few hours in Lake Wilson and make it home between 8 and 8:30. We were all so tired last night and all came home with colds. We also came home with a tv (that will go in Accalia and Cole's room once that's ready) and a printer/copier/scanner courtesy of my grandpa. He was getting rid of them and gave them to my parents to either find a new home or just set them out for the citywide junk days coming up.

Returning home ended up being fairly traumatic for Accalia because we discovered that her fish, Little Cinnamon, died while we were away. She hadn't been looking very good in the week before we left, so I'm not sure if she was sick or just old. Accalia didn't mourn nearly as long as I thought she would, and I think that's partly because Cole asked her if she wanted to share his fish, Little Blue Sunset. We're going to put LBS in a smaller tank today, and Accalia and Cole are excited about the change.

The next time we'll see the grandparents is when they come the first weekend in May for Accalia's dance recital. Then I think the kids and I will come back to Mankato the third weekend in May to celebrate Anthony's graduation. He'll have his RN degree and already has a job lined up at the Mankato hospital.

Today we need to pick up a few supplies at the store. Both Accalia and Cole have money they want to spend, so I'm sure we'll spend a good deal of time looking at toys, too.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Anthony and Kathy gave us part of the baby's present. They passed along the cloth diapers they had been using with Lizzie - a few Mother-ease diapers and a few covers. What's great is that these will actually fit Ella right now, and she really needs to move up a size in covers.

Better go. It sounds as if one of the kids is waking up.

Now that I got my current events rant out of the way...

I am so, so jealous of Ella right now. She's been napping for the past three hours. Three hours! I guess that's a good thing to do when you're ready to hop out of bed at 3:30 a.m.

It's been a pretty quiet day around here, especially with the two-year-old asleep. Accalia spent some time playing around on the San Francisco Symphony Kids website. Cole has alternated between experimenting with watercolors, salt and pepper as well as filling water balloons in the kitchen sink. I had a friend drop something off and we chatted for a few minutes. Right now Accalia and Cole are putting together an old Imaginext castle that we gave Cole one Christmas.

Tomorrow shall involve packing and story time. The kids are so excited to go to Mankato.

Dear Relative Who Is Not a Barack Obama Supporter,

I've been up since 3:30 a.m. with a two-year-old who decided she was not meant to sleep any longer. That means that your email about Barack and his hidden Muslim agenda really didn't put me in a better mood. I get it. You don't like Obama or, most likely, any Democratic presidential candidate. You know what, though? Is it really helping your cause to tell me that Obama, who does indeed attend a Christian church, is actually trying to spread the Muslim agenda? I was shocked to discover that all Muslim are intent on killing anyone who does not believe in Allah, including babies. That must have been very time consuming to interview all estimated 1.2 billion Muslims in the world.

I would certainly never tell you not to feel free to express your own opinion because it is a free country and I enjoy expressing my opinion. Perhaps, though, if you really want to spread credible information about presidential candidates, could you reference non-partisan sources? Please?

Thank you.

Your Relative Who Will Not Be Voting For John McCain In November

On a related note...

Dear Barack and Hilary,

I'm not saying that either of you is perfect or will be able to successfully bring us out of the hell hole that W has dug us into over this last eight years, but I'm really not enjoying watching the two of you self-implode as you and some of your supporters continue to focus on race and gender rather than the issues. Could you please knock that shit off?

Thank you.

A rare non-Republican in South Dakota

Cole is turning into a miniature version of my dad in regard to this blast of cold weather over the weekend. Those of you who know my dad may either find that hilarious or damn frightening. Poor boy. He has all of his destruction (as he refers to it) vehicles in our front flower bed and has been busy digging and building. Ella has been thrilled to put on Accalia or Cole's bike helmets and be pushed around on the various wheeled contraptions we've taken out of the shed. All three kids have been loving the new sidewalk chalk purchased over the weekend. Unfortunately, all of these things have had to be done in short bursts over the weekend because it's in the 30s and hands get a little cold without mittens still. Tonight and tomorrow we could end up with more than 10 inches of snow. Nothing like late winter in South Dakota!

Cory has been working a lot this weekend. I think we're all looking forward to our break in Mankato. We're leaving at some point on Thursday and coming back on Sunday. It'll be really nice to get away and see everyone for a few days.

I felt a mild cold coming on a couple days ago, and that's all it seems to be at this point. No one else seems to be sick. Hopefully it stays that way. I have noticed that even being just a little sick has also brought back a bit of nausea. Isn't that lovely?

My fingers are dyed green because I was busy rolling tiny marshmallows in green food dye so the kids can discover leprechaun "poop" tomorrow morning. I know, aren't there better ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? If I could partake in alcohol, I'd definitely be downing some Guinness. Hopefully we'll be able to get out tomorrow so I can at least get some for Cory.

Today is a really, really nice day - sunny and probably close to 60 degrees. Yesterday was a bust for most of the day. It was cloudy and cooler and started raining while I was pulling Ella around in the wagon. We still have some snow in our yard - in the back by the pop up camper and along the side of the house where it's less sunny. Still, there's less mud to maneuver around. That could change over the weekend, though. I think Sunday or Monday (or both!) we're supposed to get a storm. I hope most of it comes in the form of rain so we don't have to wait for a bunch of snow to melt once again.

I have been craving egg salad lately. So, how pleasant for me that the kids dyed Easter eggs yesterday!

Cory just has one client to see tonight and then he'll be home for supper and an evening of watching Survivor and Lost. Yay!

I'm really, really falling behind on responding to emails, most of which are LLL related. I know, maybe I should work on that instead of blogging, right? LLL work seems to go in cycles. I went for a few weeks without much in the way of work (at least immediate, have to do work), but now it's picking up again. Hey, at least all of us involved with LLL are mothers and know sometimes other things take priority. Like blogging!

Accalia is still on her cleaning kick. She's been emptying the dishwasher and loading it back up and has also reorganized several kitchen cabinets. No complaints from me! It's a pretty cool feeling to have to ask your eight-year-old where she put such and such a dish.

For the past few days I hadn't been feeling much if any baby movement. At 17 weeks, of course, that's not really a big deal, but it still worried me just a little. Today, though, I've been feeling a lot more movement - a few flutters and lots of shifting - so that's a relief.

Since it's been nice these past two days, we've been spending more and more time outside. We took a walk around the neighborhood, too. The downside is that it's so muddy since there's still plenty of snow to melt away.

Guess I should go back to working on some things that need to be done!

This weekend has flown by. It's too bad it wasn't actually warm like the forecast first predicted. It's been cold (20s), cloudy and windy.

Yesterday Cory worked from noon until 8:30. I had La Leche League in the morning, so he dropped the older two off on his way to work. The meeting went well. There were three moms there and we had a nice discussion about nutrition. In the afternoon, Accalia and Cole decided they wanted to go out that night and look for owls. I said I wasn't exactly sure where the best places would be for that and I really didn't want to take the kids out to isolated country roads in the dark with just me, so I suggested we go out right them and do some bird watching. That was just as good to them, so we headed out around the Gavins Point Dam area along the Missouri River, Lake Yankton and Lewis & Clark Lake. On our way to the dam, we saw a bald eagle. Down by the lakes, there are tons of geese and ducks heading north and stopping here for a bit. We got out at one place and watched the geese for a while. We were there when they all took off, and it's always such a neat sound to hear the whoosh of the geese taking off. I think I even got video of it, but the camera battery is low and I need a new one before being able to transfer anything. After the bird watching, we stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things. Ella had fallen asleep in the van and didn't really wake up when we got there. My back and arms still ache from carrying my 40 or so lb girl through the store. I tried to lay her down in the cart, but she would have none of that.

Today Cory is working from 4-8, so we've had a little more time together. After lunch, I ended up taking Ella grocery shopping and Cory took Accalia and Cole to the dollar store because they wanted to spend some of their money. This afternoon I made fruit salsa and cinnamon chips, something I've been craving for a while. Yummy.

We have a quiet night planned around here. There's nothing crazy planned for the week either, so we'll see what happens.

I don't know why, but lately I've been waking up earlier and earlier. Today I popped out of bed at 7 a.m. It's probably not pregnancy related since I'm far from the stage of being unable to stay comfortable in bed. I'd say it has more to do with the approaching spring and the mornings getting lighter earlier. This week all of the kids have been getting up earlier, too, but not necessarily going to sleep any earlier at night. I can tell it's starting to wear on them a bit. I'm sure we'll all get our body rhythms straightened out before long.

Last night, after Ella fell asleep, I took a shower. When I got out, Accalia was taking clothes out of the dryer and folding it while Cole was washing dishes. They had both decided it would be fun to "do my chores" and let me have a break. Isn't that sweet? After they finished there, they decided to empty the dishwasher and load it again.

This morning I have La Leche League, so I need to get moving and get ready. Cory delivers pizza today (noon-8:30 UGH), so he'll need to drop off Accalia and Cole at the meeting on his way to work since I probably won't be back yet. I'm not sure what the kids and I will do today. We may go to the store to pick up a few things, but I'm not in the mood to do a big grocery shopping trip today. We'll have to do that tomorrow, though.

After yesterday's cold temps, I think we're all going to enjoy the warm up that begins today. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour!

Isn't it fun to see how your kids pick and choose patterns of speech and certain words as they grow older? One thing that kind of surprises me with Accalia and Cole is how they don't use a lot of brand name terms despite plenty of exposure to and access to all sorts of media - commercial or otherwise. Accalia and Cole never say Kleenex when they ask for something to wipe their nose. It's always tissue. The other day at the store we bought grape Jello to make Jigglers, yet they never use either of those terms. They always ask for gelatin.

Cole especially picks up the oddest phrases or words, things that aren't usually said in our house. Yesterday we made brownies and Cole said he didn't want to eat one until they were cold because "when they're warm they burn your mouth like the fires of hell." I could barely tell Cory that one because I started laughing so hard. Then the other night Cole challenged me to fisticuffs, which he told me later he picked up from the cartoon Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.

Yesterday was supposed to be warmer than it turned out to be - only in the mid 30s and light snow in the evening. Today it's colder and windier with a little bit of snow once again.

I have to remember to be very careful about using the word nap around Ella. For some reason, she always hears "bath" and runs for the tub as soon as I say it. Yesterday Ella was nursing down for a nap and I happened to say the word when Cole came into the room. Ella was close enough to sleep at that point that she didn't insist about taking the bath. When that word mixup occurs, it reminds me of our dog Lucy and how excited she would get at the word "walk." If Cory or I would say something that sounded almost the same (talk, etc.), Lucy would cock her head and her body would start to tremble with excitement. We only did this intentionally right before we were going to walk her anyway. It would have just been too mean otherwise.

Cory has to work for a bit tonight but will hopefully have an earlier evening than last night. Poor guy is really tired this week.

I made two quick trips into the basement today without seeing a bat. I'd be a lot more worried finding a bat awake during the day and worry about it being rabid, so that was a relief. It's possible the bat is sleeping down there somewhere, but I'm really hoping it went back to wherever it came from last night. This spring Cory and I will have to go around the foundation of the house on the outside and down in the basement to patch up any entrances we find.

I was so distracted by the bat situation last night that I didn't feel like blogging about anything else, even though yesterday happened to be Dr. Seuss' birthday and the kids collected all of our Dr. Seuss books and movies so we could read/watch them. Here's what we have in our house:

Movies
- Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat (the Mike Myers version)
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas (includes Horton Hears A Who)

Books
- A Hatful of Seuss (includes If I Ran The Zoo, Sneetches, Horton Hears A Who, Sleep Book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck)
- Gerald McBoing Boing
- Green Eggs and Ham
- Happy Birthday To You!
- How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
- Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
- My Many Colored Days
- Oh, the Places You'll Go!
- One fish two fish red fish blue fish
- There's a Wocket in my Pocket
- The Cat in the Hat
- The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
- The Foot Book
- Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose (Cory's favorite)

Mary and Myron gave Accalia that Seuss treasury when she was really young. Mary told us she wanted to give Accalia the entire collection of Seuss books. I always try to remember to tell the kids things like that about Mary so I can try to keep her memory alive. It's hard because Cole doesn't remember her and Accalia says she doesn't remember her. She was five when Mary died, so I suppose that's possible.

Cory went in to work early and has left early so he can get a couple tires replaced on his car. He found out that one of the tires is wearing really horribly and he wants to take care of that before tomorrow when he drives up to Sioux Falls for a meeting.

Accalia has ballet tonight, but that's the only thing we have going on today.

Yesterday Ella fell asleep close to 6:30 and was down for the night. She woke up extremely early, though. I got out of bed with her at 2:42 a.m. I'm not sure how long we were downstairs, but it wasn't too hard to get her back upstairs to sleep after a while.

Just a few minutes ago I opened the basement door and turned on the light as I was getting ready to bring a few things down, and I saw a bat fly by the bottom of the stairs. We've had problems with bats on and off since we bought this house, and a couple years ago we paid a company to "bat proof" our house, which should have consisted of them finding the main entrance for the bats and fixing it so the bats could get out but not in again. Oh, and plugging up any holes that bats could get through - anything as small as the size of a dime is a possibility. Obviously they didn't do a very thorough job. Yuck, yuck, yuck! I hate bats! Thankfully the bats don't seem able to get into the rest of the house, but there is some way they must be getting into the basement from the walls or wherever they happen to be calling home.

So much for a peaceful end to the day.

Did everyone have a fun Leap Day yesterday? When I told the kids that they would have to leap around like frogs all day, they seemed unconvinced. I had a prenatal appointment in the morning, and everyone came along. All of the kids thought it was neat to hear the baby's heartbeat and loved that Dr. M. said the baby was moving around because you could hear the heartbeat fade and grow loud again through the doppler. Ella even had Dr. M. check out her belly and wasn't too upset that there were no babies. Everything was fine - blood pressure good and all of that. I gained four pounds since my last appointment and have gained 11 pounds total. I'm not looking forward to the weight gain, especially since I always seem to gain so much. With Ella, I think I gained around 50 pounds. I do lose almost all of the weight, but I think this last time I still had about five pounds hanging on. I suppose it would have helped to actually exercise, but that's never been a huge priority.

After we got home, Dr. M. called and said after looking at my urinalysis said it appears that I have a UTI. Did I have any symptoms? Uhm, I guess I have to pee often, but I am pregnant. So this weekend I'm drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and will call on Monday. I have a feeling that I'll probably end up on antibiotics anyway, but I suppose that's preferable to getting a kidney infection. I don't even remember the last time I was on antibiotics.

The rest of the day was busy. Accalia had art and then tap. We received the tentative dance recital schedule and were not happy to see that Accalia's performing in both of the recitals (2 and 5 p.m.). We were hoping she'd have both dances in one recital. So we'll have to figure out what we're going to do and what the grandparents will do. Cory worked last night and didn't make it home until 12:30 a.m. The kids and I were all in bed at that point.

Today has turned out much differently than we had planned. Cory had today off, but around 10 a.m. he got a call that one of the driver's called in sick and could he come in just for a couple hours? He did and was there for maybe two hours. It was super slow and he came away with maybe $5 in tips. After he came home, Accalia, Cole and I went out to do our planned shoe shopping while Ella hung out with Cory. We first stopped at the children's clothing consignment store where I found a new spring jacket for Cole for $5. Then we moved on to look for shoes and found exactly what both kids wanted. Accalia said she wanted a break from tying shoelaces and found a pair that requires no tying or velcro use. Then Cole found what he was looking for: shoes that have velcro and that light up. I also found a pair of dress shoes for Accalia on clearance for $5. Then I just happened to find winter jackets on clearance for $5 and picked one up that should fit Accalia next winter. She's fit into the same jacket for the last two years, so I doubt she'll be able to do that three years in a row.

Once we got home, Accalia and Cole put on their new sneakers and went outside to play, and Ella went down for a late afternoon nap. Then I went out and picked up pizza from Little Caesar's for supper. Just as we were finishing, Cory got another call from Pizza Hut. One of the driver's on tonight had thrown up four times since getting to work but apparently didn't feel bad. Could Cory come in and work until 10? Apparently three driver's who had all recently worked together were all sick. I just hope that Cory doesn't bring it home. Our plan for tonight had been to watch 30 Days of Night, but that probably won't happen. Maybe if I can stay up late enough tonight it will. The good news about Cory working unexpectedly is that, when he called me after being at work for almost an hour, said he's already made nearly $30 in tips. Not too shabby.

On a completely unrelated note, does anyone keep up with celebrity baby news? J. Lo and Marc Anthony recently had twins - a boy and a girl - that they named Max and Emme. Did it pop out at anyone else that their twins have the same names as the characters on the PBS Kids show Dragon Tales? I doubt that was intentional.

Okay, there are about a million things to do around the house, and now I don't have the promise of a movie to use as an excuse from not doing any of it.

This is an interesting article about a lawsuit regarding the vaccine-autism link that the government conceded.

My morning excitement has been getting nail polish out of the carpet runner on the stairs. Hairspray works wonders.

Here's a picture of Ella in one of Accalia's old recital costumes:


Here's a picture of Accalia that Cole took:

Doing a lot of thinking lately and not so much writing. I've been thinking about
Hannah Jenner and the second anniversary of her death on the 24th, wishing Diana and family still lived in state so I could give them some real life hugs.

Apparently I've also been thinking a lot about trying to get our house clean and organized and how I always seem to fail miserably. Last night I even dreamed that Anne and family came to visit and her husband was appalled by the state of our house. Hee, hee, hee!

That's probably my way of doing a little early pregnancy freaking out about the baby, wondering how I can manage to keep up with the house when I can't even do it with three children. Four? No problem.

Yesterday I was supposed to have a prenatal appointment, but I rescheduled it for Friday because the weather was not so great. We had rain, turning to slush, turning to snow. Cory had the joy of driving home on ice-covered roads yesterday.

Speaking of my husband, he's not especially happy with his dad. Myron called today to let me know he had shoulder surgery this morning and that he was out of the hospital and doing okay. He had neglected to call us beforehand and tell us that he was going to even have the surgery because he didn't want Cory to take off work and come up for it. Ooh, that made Cory mad. He's quite capable of heeding his dad's wishes and not coming up, but he certainly would have liked to know that Myron was having surgery today.

Lately Ella has been doing more and more role playing in her play - by herself, with her siblings, with me. I still can't understand most of what she says, but she is adding more and more words to her vocabulary. Today she had me sit beside her on little chairs in the kitchen and stare at the cabinets. I'm guessing it must have been some sort of show. Every once in a while she'd get up to open or close the cabinets and having us switch seats.

Cole's energy seems to increase each day. He continues to spend a lot of time building with legos or other construction materials, playing out elaborate scenarios with his assortment of animals or action figures, and drawing/coloring. He's also showing more and more of an interest in words - how they're spelled, what they look like, etc.

Accalia likes to have alone time upstairs several times a day, and thankfully Cole and Ella are usually able to respect this. She and Cole spend a lot of time playing together, too, but this is the first year where Accalia wants to be alone a good deal, too. She's also so proud of the things she's able to do and seems to be increasingly happy that she's "homeschooled and can do this or that because I'm not in school!"

Cory's delivering pizzas tonight. Ella has napped (turning into a habit this week), so she might go to sleep and stay asleep tonight.

Today was a very nice late February day here in South Dakota. It was sunny and in the mid 30s. The kids and I went outside to play while Cory worked on taxes, and when we went out front Ella kept heading to the van. It took her a while before I convinced her that we were actually outside to play and not just rush to the van to go somewhere. Shows how little she's played outside this winter with the cold weather!

Later on, Accalia and I went to Goodwill while Cole and Ella stayed at home with Cory. We had an excellent shopping trip and came away with quite a few things for less than $17. Cory had requested that I look for dress pants for work, and I found a gray pair that wouldn't have been his first choice but should work in the interim. Then we found some great deals for Accalia. We found a pink pair of athletic pants, a pair of jeans that actually fits her (most jeans just fall down around her skinny waist), a super cute Old Navy denim dress, and a pair of jean shorts. Then there were a few other items that Accalia picked up for herself and her siblings. We ran a few other places, too.

Now Cory is delivering pizzas. I think the kids want to watch a movie tonight, so I'll dig around for one they haven't seem yet. Tomorrow Cory works during the day, and I have a feeling the kids and I will try to do a little grocery shopping.

So far I haven't really enjoyed this pregnancy. There's so much excitement at first when you find out you're pregnant, but then - if you're like me - you have two to three months of nausea and fatigue ahead of you before the enjoyable part of pregnancy arrives. This week, during my 14th week, I've felt those first little flutters of movement. It was thrilling - such a great reminder of the excitement that lies ahead. I remember being around 14 weeks along with Cole and feeling his first movements. When I mentioned that to my midwife, she was a little doubtful that I'd actually felt the baby move. It definitely was, though, and it definitely is this time. I guess that's the benefit of having been pregnant already and knowing what's the baby and what's just gas. Now I can look forward to the kicks getting stronger and eventually the kids and Cory being able to feel them. I'll definitely enjoy this because the part of the pregnancy where feet are wedged up in ribs will seem to last much too long. I just hope I can completely move past the morning sickness.

Today has consisted of a lot of running around and activities, and tonight we're just hanging out at home. Cory's delivering pizzas and has called to say it's really slow. Accalia and Cole are playing with the platypus they made out of a box, construction paper and popsicle sticks. Ella's running around and taking breaks to watch bits of The Simpsons Movie.

I might be able to take a solo trip to Goodwill tomorrow. I tried to go there today with Cole and Ella while Accalia was at art, but I've come to the conclusion that Ella and Goodwill just don't mix. Ella will immediately go into the racks of clothes to hide and play around, and that's something they really frown on there. So, we lasted about two minutes today before we left. Maybe once Ella moves past this particular stage we'll be able to attempt a less stressful trip there. Anyway, I'll probably go tomorrow because I wanted to see if there were any pants for Accalia. She doesn't have many to begin with, and one pair she has suddenly has little holes in the bottom. Of course the stores are either completely out of pants because all of the spring/summer clothes is out, or they have horrible selections of their winter stock. Who knew size 8/10 would be so hard to find? For the past two years, Accalia has pretty much fit into the 7/8 size range, but now she's definitely needing to move up a size. Cole is moving out of the 5T and needs the size 4/5 in boys. That leaves just Ella in toddler sizes, and we'll have to see how much of Accalia's old clothes matches up with her for the spring and summer. This is the time of year when I wish we had a bunch of extra money to go out and get the new clothes the kids need, new jackets, new shoes/sandals, etc. So I'm starting to scavenge. I wish we had found more stuff on clearance at the end of summer last year, but we did manage to pick up a few shirts and shorts for Cole.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

So, this afternoon was story time at our community library. As any longtime reader of this blog knows, I seem to perpetually complain about the children's librarian. Today is no exception. I might have mentioned a week or two ago that the librarian has suddenly decided that Ella needs to talk and answer questions asked of her. Ella isn't signed up for story time, but she likes to do just what the other kids do, so she lines up for the sticker each child gets at the start, occasionally sits for a while during the reading time, usually watches the short movie, and participates in the craft time. Today, when the librarian handed Ella her sticker, she asked Ella what color it was and Cole, as the helpful older brother who knows what Ella can or will say, replied, "yellow!" "Cole," the librarian replied. "You'll need to stop speaking for Ella. She's old enough to speak for herself."

Later, when they sat down to read stories and the librarian asked each child what his or her favorite animal was, Ella didn't say anything. So Cole jumped in to say something, and the librarian held up her hand to him and said, "Cole! Don't speak for Ella!" Cole went on to try to explain that Ella was just a toddler and didn't say many things yet. "Ella's older than a toddler," was the librarian's reply. Umm, last time I checked, a two-year-old is still considered a toddler. Cole kept trying to explain why Ella wouldn't answer the question and the librarian kept interrupting him so he wouldn't speak for Ella. I interjected, "Cole, Ella does say some things, doesn't she? She'll speak when she wants to, won't she?" That, I thought, was a much more diplomatic answer than "Ella is not a trained dog and doesn't speak just because she's told to speak." After I said that, the librarian said, "Yes, that's right" in a way that made it seem as if my statement was backing hers up.

So why do I continue to take the kids to story time when things like this happen? Well, I suppose it's because they ask me to and genuinely seem to enjoy it. Cole is the only one signed up for story time since he's the only one in the right age range, so he's the one asking to go. And, living in the metropolis that we do, there aren't any other options. We can't go to the Barnes & Noble for their story time or to other community centers or programs. I suppose I could see what area library programs are like, although that may not turn out to be any better.

While I really dislike a lot of the attitude that this children's librarian brings to the program (definitely a preparing for school sort of thing), I don't think it's harming Cole to go to it. When I talked to him today about the incident (Yeah, we know Ella is a toddler and that she's not going to say something just because she's told to and I don't know why Mrs. H. thinks she's supposed to do that), Cole always has attitude that Mrs. H. is pretty much a strange adult who doesn't get how we do things.

I think there are maybe two more weeks for this session, so maybe we just finish up the session and then I don't bring up story time or registering for the last session of the school year? Or I make sure to plan something fun and cool for next Thursday so Cole would rather do that than story time? I don't know. Any thoughts?

Yikes! Accalia is in a majorly bad mood because Cole won the game of Scrabble Jr. that they were playing earlier in the evening. She had been lying upstairs in bed completely covered by blankets but came downstairs to see how the lunar eclipse is progressing. Now she's going back upstairs after sitting down hear and screaming no to everything Cole is asking her. Accalia doesn't necessarily get mad like this very often, but when she does she drags it out quite a while. I don't know if it helps her when I talk to her or try to help her come up with ideas. Oh, now I heard her come back downstairs and talk with Cole about something, so it sounds as if all is good between them once again. I just don't know what triggers it for her. I'm sure that sometimes it's low blood sugar or tiredness, but other time I think it's something else completely that I can't grasp and that Accalia doesn't wish to share with me.

Now that the kids are all getting along peacefully once again, hopefully we'll be able to continue with our pleasant evening. Cory, unfortunately, isn't home to take part as he's delivering pizzas in the frigid weather. Tomorrow the warm up begins, though! Oh, Cory just called and said he's on his last delivery and will be coming home with pizzas for the family. Now that is making the kids very happy.

Because it's been so cold, we haven't gone out today. I went out in the afternoon to start the van and let it run for a few minutes, and Ella was so excited when she thought we were going some place. Tomorrow we'll go to story time for sure.

Hmm. I thought there was something else I was going to post about, but I've lost my train of thought. I woke up this morning with the same headache I went to bed with last night and could not get rid of it. By the middle of the afternoon I threw up because it was so bad and finally decided to take something for it. It worked like a charm, but I really wanted to avoid taking any medicine. I'm trying to limit it as much as possible.

Cory had yesterday off of work, so the long weekend meant a long weekend without me blogging. Cory worked both Friday and Saturday night, but then he hasn't delivered pizzas since. He does work tomorrow, though, and will be working every day except Thursday and next Monday.

There's just not much to report. We've all been hanging out. I've been doing some cleaning. I'm at 14 weeks now, and I was really hoping I'd be feeling completely better. Still having too many green days for my liking, so we'll just have to wait and see.

We'll be lucky to hit single digits tomorrow, so the kids and I have no plans except to stay inside and stay warm.

Sorry I don't have more to say! Just thought I'd better check in and write something.

What a difference a day makes! Thursday was such a miserably cold day, and today was near 30 degrees with sunshine. Both days we've done a lot of running around, but today was definitely more pleasant.

The first thing the kids did on Valentine's Day was open the little gifts Cory and I had for them. One of the items was a coupon book, which Accalia was most excited about. She immediately chose the coupon for a trip to the dollar store, so we headed there in the morning and everyone picked something out. I hadn't realized that there had been rain the night before when the temperatures were still mild, so I had the fun join and scraping a layer of ice off the windshield of the van.

Cory was supposed to see a client at 5 p.m., but the client cancelled because of the weather and we went ahead and had our traditional fettucine alfredo Valentine's meal before my haircut that evening. This meant the kids and I had to make another trip in the afternoon to pick up supplies for supper. The kids were very happy to have that meal, though, and Accalia and Cole insisted on making sure we had a romantic setting. They dimmed the lights in the dining room, and Accalia turned on her little radio so we'd have music. Personally, I don't find Garth Brooks to be too romantical, but that's the station she left it on.

Today was an exciting day for Accalia because she switched the art class she had been going to on Wednesday to this other class on Friday afternoon. The studio owner actually suggested it because she thought Accalia would enjoy a class just for homeschoolers (I hadn't known they even had one right now). There's only one other girl in the class (the other two simply stopped coming), and Accalia loves it. I think she especially likes the fact that it's for homeschoolers. I forget that Accalia really enjoys the idea of doing something specifically for kids who aren't attending public or private school, so this was definitely the highlight of the day for her. Later this afternoon she had tap class and was able to try on her recital costume. That was also very exciting for her.

Cory's working just a few hours tonight. Ella's asleep. Accalia and Cole are wreaking havoc in the living room. I'm ready to sleep. I woke up earlier than normal today and am starting to feel the effects.

Plans for the weekends aren't too extraordinary. Cory works tomorrow night for a while but has the rest of the long weekend off. I have no idea what we'll be doing.

I was really hoping that if I came in here and sat at the computer that all of the dirty dishes in the kitchen would disappear. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be happening.

I spoke too soon yesterday when I said I was feeling better and hadn't thrown up in a while. I was getting ready to make supper and had just gotten off the phone with Cory when I had to make a run to the bathroom. Darn.

Today was a sunny, warm day with lots of melting snow. Tomorrow's supposed to be extremely cold, but I think we'll probably make it without getting more snow - or at least not more than a dusting. The kids are very excited about Valentine's Day and have been busy making last minute valentines. Usually on Valentine's Day Cory will make fettucine alfredo, and the kids were very disappointed that we won't be able to do that tomorrow. Cory doesn't get home until after seeing a client and I go for a haircut right after that, so there's not really going to be time to sit down and eat together. Cory's going to make it on Sunday, though.

So yes, Valentine's Day will consist of a haircut for me and storytime for Cole. We have a few little things for the kids, and if I'm really ambitious I'll make heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. After my haircut, we'll all snuggle up together and watch Survivor. How's that for a romantic holiday?

Yesterday we had about four inches of snow which, for all you weather geeks, set a record for that particular day. The record had been set back in 1902 with two inches of snow. There's supposed to be another system headed our way Wednesday and Thursday, which Cory isn't too happy about because it will mess up work related things if it does snow. All this winter we haven't had huge snowfalls - 8 inches was probably the most at one time - but we've had more small snowfalls than we've had in the past couple years. I'd much, much rather have this snow to go along with the cold rather than just having it cold and brown for the remaining weeks of winter.

Now that I've hit 13 weeks, I'm starting to feel much better. My stomach isn't feeling completely 100%, but I haven't thrown up in a week or two. I'm waiting for that big burst of energy that comes with the second trimester, although I can tell that I don't feel quite as tired so early in the evening anymore. It will be so nice to feel the baby move. Then I'll actually feel pregnant rather than just plump. I think my belly looks too big for the point that I'm at, but I can still disguise it well with sweatshirts and my trusty yoga pants. When I start wearing maternity clothes, I'm sure everyone will wonder where that belly came from. So, as far as I know, things are quite normal in the pregnancy department. There are times that I can't believe I'm only 13 weeks along. It feels as if I've been pregnant for much, much longer.

This morning we went out and picked up some food. We didn't really do a big grocery shopping expedition over the weekend. This was another small one. That's about all that we have to do today. Cory's taking off this afternoon because he has a doctor's appointment and then scheduled an early appointment with a client. He also delivers pizza tonight, which he just loooves doing after a snowfall because lots of people just don't bother to shovel.

The kids are quite happy right now because they just opened a package from Grandma and Grandpa with some Valentine's goodies in them.

I guess I should check Ella's diaper now and try to rescue my cell phone from the girl.

Diana's comment on my last post was a great reminder of how clean and empty spaces can fuel such creativity in our children. Where a space once was filled with legos and plastic animals, now there's room to roll out the yoga mats to make a trail through the downstairs. That's what happened yesterday at our house.

I didn't want to give the impression with yesterday's post that I think my children are slobs because they're not. They're completely normal children who have a home filled with items that spark imagination and creativity and lead them from one thing to the next. Granted, we do have a lot of stuff and maintaining a cleaner home would be easier with less stuff. I always struggle with this, though, since there are three children (and one on the way) of different ages. That means it's not as simple as giving away or selling items that the kids out grow or lose interest in because there's another child there who will grow into it and be interested in it some day. After this baby is born, though, we will be getting rid of too small clothes and maternity clothes as we plan to be finished with the baby making stage of our lives. So, when I look at ways to lessen the clutter in our house, I usually look at my things or household things that don't really interest or affect the kids.

Truthfully, what we need is better storage in this house. At almost 100 years old, this house was not built with much closet space, and there isn't a lot of shelf space other than the book shelves we've brought with us (and those are basically all full). There's a grand old brick house probably about four blocks from us that I've told them kids is the house I'd like to move into when that day comes that we can move. I'm probably more curious than anything about what the inside looks like since the house is monstrous and a single family lives in it now, but I know Cory and the kids would enjoy the outdoor swimming pool. Not sure why anyone would think an outdoor swimming pool in South Dakota would get a lot of use over the year (maybe four months if lucky), but there it is.

It's cold and snowy today. Accalia and Cole are experimenting with Cory's old trumpet, and Ella is playing our Let's Go Fishin' game while wearing one of Accalia's old dance recital costumes. I sat down at the computer with a purpose other than blogging, so I should get back to that.

The kids and I were up way, way too late last night, and it hasn't been a pretty day around here. Cory stayed up even later than we did, but he seems to be able to sleep in when he does that. I suppose it doesn't help that we've barely left the house these past two days because it's been so frickin' cold. I even canceled the LLL meeting we were supposed to have yesterday because I didn't want all of those moms feeling they had to travel with their little ones, especially since most of the regular moms come from about a half hour away.

So, I've been attempting to clean. The problem with doing that while three children are also in the house is that while you're cleaning one area, they're playing in another and strewing toys and misc. items all around. It's really disheartening to come from a nice, clean space to enter a mess where there hadn't previously been one.

It isn't all bad. The other day Accalia and Cole cleaned up the living room, made a snack for me, and even set a magazine and homemade card right next to my spot so I could relax. Very sweet.

Now on to another week. The kids are excited about Valentine's Day even though we don't have anything major planned. I'm excited about that day because I'm finally getting my hair cut after probably close to four months since my last one. Geez. It seems as if I can barely get it together with three kids. How's that gonna work with four? Yikes!

Poor Cory. Last night at work he called to say what a horrible headache he had. I offered to bring something and wait for him when he came out to do a delivery, but he declined. Then he came home with a bad burn on his hand. He was in a lot of pain last night. He's doing better today, but it's a bit awkward for him since it's his right hand. Hopefully tonight he can come home unscathed.

Today the kids and I made three separate trips to different places. We had to run to the store in the morning to pick up more bandages for Cory, then after lunch we went to the library when Accalia asked, and finally we took Accalia to art later in the afternoon. It was definitely starting to feel like too much for us. Coordinating three children to go places - to want to go places - at the same time is not always an easy task. Then you throw in getting all of the winter gear on, and it feels like a lot of work. Being able to slip on sandals or shoes and head out the door in the summer will definitely be a pleasant change.

Cory's dad is in Arizona this week visiting a woman he dated a year or so ago before he started seeing Bev. Now, as far as we know, Myron and Bev are still together, although a while ago Myron made a comment about Bev really pressuring him to get married and that he just doesn't want to get married again. So now he goes to visit this ex that he's kept in touch with all along. Myron seems to be living quite the soap opera right now. Wonder how it will all turn out.

I should just take a shower tonight since Ella is asleep, but I'll probably end up putting it off until the morning. My laziness knows no bounds.

I've officially completed the first trimester. Unfortunately, this milestone didn't bring an automatic change in my general feeling of yuckiness. Darn.

This afternoon we went to the chiropractor. I wasn't sure if we'd need to reschedule our appointment because our chiropractor's sister-in-law died just a few days ago, and the funeral is tomorrow. He was still open today but won't be tomorrow. His sister-in-law was 37 and left three or four young children. She died due to complications of stomach stapling. The procedure affected her kidneys, and ultimately she died of kidney failure. How sad.

Cory is working both tonight and tomorrow night delivering pizzas. The next night he'll be doing that is Sunday, which means he has Friday and Saturday off! Hooray! The kids are very excited about that. So am I.

Tomorrow Accalia has art, and maybe we'll make it to the library. We were planning to go today, but Ella just wouldn't get dressed when everyone else wanted to go. I wasn't too sad because it's cold and windy and snowy.

Now I'll see about getting Ella in the tub. She just got done painting and probably has more paint on her body than on the paper.

I'm finally getting some pictures uploaded...

Today has been an ugh sort of day mainly because I've felt rather crappy. It probably didn't help that the kids and I were all up somewhat early (8 a.m. is early for the four of us to be up on a Sunday). Then Ella had a huge meltdown and wouldn't come out from under the table because she wants to paint the paint-by-number picture that Accalia has been working on since yesterday and wants to use those paints and that brush. Once Accalia is finished with her picture, Ella can go crazy with the paints and the brush, but since Ella is still quite the color mixer when she uses a variety of paints, we need to keep them pure for Accalia's sake. No other brush or set of paints would make Ella happy, so I walked out of the room for a minute. When I came back, I knelt by the table with my arms out, and Ella crawled out to me and ran into my arms for a big hug.

As I've mentioned, parenting Ella has been quite challenging of late. Two was never that bad with either Accalia or Cole - three is where it seemed to get a little bumpy - so I'm hoping we can get past this and on to a smoother run before the baby arrives. I'm hoping that it's the winter doldrums that's turning my normally cheerful children into snarly, cranky children. Oh, they're not like that all of the time, but it's definitely more prominent.

Yesterday the kids yelled "groundhog!" as soon as they got up because they had read that if you say that word first thing on Groundhog Day, you'll have good luck all year. They were really hoping that the groundhog would not see his shadow and that winter would be ending sooner. I suppose it's actually more like seven weeks until the official start of spring, but I can totally handle that.

Cory's delivering pizza tonight. No one could take off because of the Super Bowl. We'll see how crazy it gets. I think we had been invited to a friend's house for a party, but obviously that's not happening. So, Cory's taping the game (and, of course, the commercials) and we're going to watch it after he gets home. I don't particularly care about either team, but if I had to choose I'd go with the Giants. Tom Brady really annoys me. I don't understand his appeal at all.

What I'd really like to do right now is curl up in the recliner and watch An American in Paris. That's not going to happen, though, so I guess I should pick up some stuff.

I'm determined to make it until my second trimester (I only have to wait until Tuesday) until I wear maternity clothes. I have absolutely no idea why. I don't even remember when I started wearing maternity clothes in my previous pregnancies. I just wish I had a million pairs of yoga pants 'cause those are super comfortable. It's always daunting to start wearing maternity clothes because they look so darn huge when you have no more than a little baby bump. I love my Old Navy maternity shirts because they're designed to not look like huge tents, especially in this transitional time. Unfortunately, most of my early pregnancy wear is more suited to spring or summer. I'll just have to dive into my maternity clothes and see what I actually have in there.

Today we went over to a friend's house for a little bit. While we were there, the 10-year-old was telling me that she and all of her friends at school call their younger siblings "devils." Not too long ago, a mom at dance was talking about how this age (meaning Accalia's age of 8 or so) is very interesting (in a not so good way). She started talking about all of the eye rolling, etc. her daughter was doing. It really makes me feel sad that attitudes and behaviors like this are cropping up at this age already. It blows me away a little. I'd never claim that all is sunshine and roses at our house and that the kids never fight with each other or that we don't get upset with each other, but it's not at a level where it's the norm or it's the first thing that comes to mind to bring up in conversation with another parent.

It would be wrong to blame it all on school for the attitudes toward younger siblings and parents, but as Accalia and Cole get older and spend more time not being exposed to the social structure of school, I do notice differences when they get together with other kids. Accalia and Cole get along very well and spend a lot of time playing together. I've noticed that, especially with the neighbor girls last summer, that one of the biggest things they wanted to do was find ways to tease Cole (as the only boy) or find ways to bug the older girls (younger vs. older). It just really makes me happy that Accalia and Cole (and Ella and the new baby) are able to grow up not surrounded by this need to do or not do certain things because they're in a certain grade or because they're a certain gender. Sure, there's probably a little of that that spills over into general life mostly because school is such a huge basis for our society. I'm glad that Accalia and Cole can live the majority of their lives without that coloring their interactions with each other.

I write all of this in light of the fact that this past week or so has felt like way too much crankiness and shortness toward each other. Ella, too. It seems as if we can't go into a store lately without Ella having a meltdown for some reason. You know, it's one of those phases where you start to wonder where you screwed up as a parent. It makes me wonder how celebrity parents like Jennifer Garner, who is photographed numerous times throughout the day and week without prior knowledge, can always be shown with her adorable (and apparently always happy) two-year-old daughter. Seriously, doesn't little Violet ever get ticked off because the gumball machine won't give her the right color gumball? That happened to Ella last week - or maybe this week. Someone tell me her secret if they know.

Okay, time to clean up the living room and maybe relax a little.