That Aint No Etch-A-Sketch

Why do I dress my kids better than I dress myself?

While we're on the topic of clothes...I am going to burn the clothes I wore the last 3 weeks to church. Why do people keep asking me if I am pregnant? Are my clothes THAT unflattering? Do I appear bloated and uncomfortable? Fatter? Truth be known, on Friday, I actually wore a pair of jeans that I bought in high school, to work on the bathroom in, so there. Maybe it's because almost everyone in my ward is pregnant, people are just trying to match names and faces and get their stories strait. I should give people the benefit of the doubt... but it is just happening so often that I'm getting a complex about my wardrobe...and my life in general, because Things tend to get pretty ugly around here when the meg-o gets preggo.
Are these nosy people asking everyone, or just me? If just me, why? Have you seem me throwing up lately? Is my house really, really dirty? Do I say really really mean things? (well meaner than usual, anyway). Am I having anxiety attacks when people stand too close to me? Do I think you smell bad? Can I name where you ate most recently? (actually, I can usually do that last one when I'm not pregnant, too. The gift of a super-human sense of smell...not the greatest blessing). I don't recall doing any of these things lately, sooo....this (see below) seems appropriate.
And necessary for the sake of my self esteem, and my church clothes.

Dear four people at church who asked me if I am pregnant today (yes. Four. Just this Sunday),

ANSWER: No. I am not pregnant. I was too busy wrestling my girls to the ground to get them dressed that I ran out of time and didn't put make-up on today.
I'm just tired.
And apparently fat.
And maybe I don't like you very much.
Thanks for the confidence boost.

Cordially, Meg

Seriously. (For me anyway), this falls under the same category as telling someone they "Look tired"...why don't you just tell them they look like crap?
It's the same thing.

L is for Letter. D is for Doh!

A group of ladies from my ward invited me to join their rotating preschool group. It's like Joy School, but a little more relaxed, and only once a week for 3 hrs. Since Reese is in preschool only 2 days a week, this works out perfectly for us and I am excited to have any opportunity to teach again.
This week, at Jackson's house, Reese learned about the letter L. She came home with the CUTEST artwork (made from leaves), and a letter she'd made for grandma. When I picked her up, I was on my way to the library and the post office. We talked about how L is also for Library, picked out some books, ran to the car through the rain...and headed to the post office. It was POURING outside, so rather than get soaked getting everyone out of the car again, we drove up to the little blue mailboxes. She eagerly pulled a letter out of her Barbie backpack that said, "To Grandma" on the front, climbed up into the front seat of the van, and up into my lap. We fished a stamp out of my wallet, unrolled the window, and dropped the letter into the blue mailbox, and rolled the window back up as fast as we could. We still got soaked. Later, we called grandma to tell her a letter would be coming in the mail...and that was when I realized that we were so distracted by the rain that we didn't put an address on the letter! Some postal worker just fished a stamped letter out of the mailbox that just says "To Grandma" on the front! Of course, I didn't put a return address either, so we won't be getting it back. This raises so many questions...

What does the post office do with letters like this? Do they throw them away? I can not be the first frazzled mother to have done this. Where do they all go? Are they sitting in a bin labeled "Letters From People Who Are Too Stupid To Properly Address Their Mail" that sits in the back corner of the post office next to the "Letters For Santa" and "Letters To God" bins?

Do they stuff them in the empty mailboxes of the little old ladies, that come to the post office everyday, to ease their lonliness? (Do any of you remember being forced to watch that seminary video "The Mailbox" every year at Christmastime? It's the one about the really, really, old lady who's family never calls or writes to her? What's with those movies anyway? "Cipher in the Snow" about the little kid that gets bullied on the bus..."The Gift" about the little girl that donated blood to her brother then sits around thinking she is going to die?! So depressing! If i ever get called to be a seminary teacher, I'm bringing my video camera and having my students make their own, non-depressing videos.)

This IS a geriatric community, maybe there is a "grandma" that works at the post office and she assumes all those Letters To Grandma are for her. In fact, some of you might remember this post:
http://aaronandmeg.blogspot.com/2007/11/santa-shops-at-walmart.html

Well then, perhaps "Santa" works at the Post Office too.
I'll check that out and report back with a follow up post in December. My guess is that Reese's Letter To Grandma is lost somewhere behind that great big bin where the "Express Delivery" packages (you know, the ones that you're anxiously waiting for?) are held hostage for 2 weeks.

Someone who likes to do research (Kristen -you can even put it on the Research Blog. This is a very important issue for mothers, as all children write letters to Santa and Grandma....WHERE The HECK DO THEY ALL GO?!) please find out the post office policy and help me put this mystery to rest.

Look at Me, I'm Rambo!

Sometimes my family and friends ask me when I find the time to do home improvement projects, and still find time to take care of my two little ones. When I answer, "I don't sleep", they usually laugh uncomfortably and assume I am kidding.
I finished tiling the shower at 2am. Yay!

I woke Reese up at 2:10am and took her potty. A first, but after the previous day/night's experience, (see post below) I wasn't leaving room for another accident.

At 6am Reese came into our room SOAKING WET AGAIN.

How did this happen? She'd peed like a racehorse when I took her in the middle of the night. I understand that she just might not ready, or physically able to stay dry all night, but before the last 2 nights, she's been dry for about a week. Do I go back to pull-ups? Is she doing this on purpose?

Anyone have any advice?

Fortunately, Aaron was running later than usual, and was still home. He showered her and got her dressed while I cleaned up yet another soaked bed.

or maybe Reese dressed herself...

At least the shower is done! One more thing to check of my never-ending list. Kasey, come back! It is sooo much more fun working on projects with a friend to keep me company and laugh with.

Some evidence that we're not all work and no play...we decorated the walls before tiling over them.

I think I might leave this one up.

This was right after he gave me my present...which I was terrible at using.

This can hardly be considered an "action shot" because it doesn't capture me closing my eyes, turning my head to brace myself, and wincing before firing a 3 1/2 inch nail. It also doesn't show that it weighs like 30lbs.

I do promise to someday post pictures where I've actually showered, done something with my hair, gotten enough sleep to not have bags under my eyes, and put on clothes that are not covered in sweat or construction dust.

I'm Too Sexy For This Diaper

My day began at 4:00am when Reese came in, (leaving a trail of urine behind her) crying because she had wet the bed.Aaron was quick to remind me that he took care of her the two other times she has wet the bed, so I figured it was my turn. Being the genius that I am, I have a plastic mattress cover on her bed. So instead of ruining her mattress with pee, she got to swim in it. She even had it in her hair! Unfortunately, our tub is out of commission (see below posts) so consequently we've had to give the girls showers for the last few weeks. Reese doesn't mind until you rinse her hair out, but Q screams like we are dropping her in hot oil, and clings her soaking wet little limbs to you so you either have to shower with her, or get very very wet. It's getting old, and I'm starting to think I'd rather have dirty kids.
So at 4am I gave Reese a shower, changed her sheets, started a load of laundry (with all the pee-soaked bedding, stuffed animals, pajamas and pillow) and calmly put her back to bed.

Two and a half hours later I awoke to Quincy's tiny little voice, and went in to greet her.

Ummm...notice anything missing here?

Sadly, what I'd thought she was saying with her sweet little voice was "doggie, doggie". Turns out it was "yucky, yucky" and she'd helped herself out of a diaper full of her morning poop.

Lucky me, she left a little brown butt print on her sheets. Looks like I'll be doing TWO loads of potty-stained laundry today!

Are We There Yet?

I'm approaching the point in a project where I start losing my mind. Why?

As much as I LOVE stepping on a drywall square in the middle of the night, or tripping over the air compressor in the hallway, or having to park in the driveway (when it is POURING outside) because my garage is full of tables with saws set up on them... I'm thinking it's time to wrap this project up.

(how brave am I for posting a picture of my totally messy floor for y'all?) Feel free to judge. I'm just keeping it real, man. My parents are coming in 3 weeks and I'd really like to have the shower up and running before then. Not sure if it's gonna happen at this point (she says as she wastes time blogging instead of outside cutting tile in the rain). since I'm going to be gone all next weekend.

Anyone wanna come keep me company?
I need more motivation. I need less distractions...

Hey did anyone else here have a chance to check out the new Pottery Barn? I really want the Hanna Quilt in dusty violet for my bed. Or the orange velvet duvet...

Some Women Want Flowers

Aaron bought me a present on Saturday....


Her name is Gloria. 5.2 AMP, 120 V, key-less chuck, and a cute little storage clip on top for a screwdriver bit. She is way too powerful for me. I love her.
Thanks, Hubby!

Runner Number 1178

Today was the big day.

I ran the Arkansas Run For A Child 5K this morning with Kasey. It was hot. It was humid. I was sweaty...really really sweaty. But I did it! And I ran the whole thing...no walking over here!

The turn out this year was great! There had about 1200 runners show up to show their support, which means mucho dinero for the Children's Shelter. I've decided that I pretty much hate running, but a 5K was one of my New Year's Resolutions, so I had to stick with it. I'm glad that it was for a good cause, and that I wasn't just sweating for nothing.

I was thrilled to see Aaron, Reese, and Quincy cheering me on at the finish line. They were thrilled to see the princess castle bounce house and free ice cream.

My time? 41:06...not great. I think I came in like 338th place or something. But I did it...and that was most important to me. Maybe next year I'll actually train and run the 10K with the really really REALLY sweaty people. I'll add more pictures to this post when we get them from Kasey's camera. My camera is officially out of commission until I figure out why my laptop refuses to accept pictures from it. Until then, just imagine me with really frizzy (did I mention the heat and humidity?) hair that doesn't quite fit into a ponytail, ratty tennis shoes, a number pinned to my shirt, and a BIG smile on my face!