Even though this pregnancy was a HUGE surprise and we had given all our baby stuff away, we are not hurting for baby stuff. As it happened, the family we gave our crib and dresser to, were moving and dropped the furniture off on their way to their new home. (Thank you Tim and Rachel!!!) Along with the big stuff, they unloaded totes of blankets, clothes, a boppy, bottles, toys, etc. Also, all the clothes I had from Ally I gave to my sister who is now handing them back to me. It will be so cute to see some of these little outfits that I've seen Ally, Hattie, Tessa and now Vivian wear. So, when Eric asked if I was having a baby shower, I said no. First, we don't need much. Second, it's kind of hard to sit around being all excited and happy when I'm still somewhat reeling from what all this means to my life. (I know that sounds bad, but it is what it is) Anyway, our friend, Dawn thought we needed to at least acknowledge Vivian, so she and the girls planned a sprinkle.

These are some of the gifts we received for Viv. This basket of onesies, washcloths, socks, etc. is so cute, I didn't want to open it!

If the bib says I love daddy, does that mean he's the one to feed her? Love the spinning toy (and notice the monkey, Crissy?)

This was the one bigger-type item we needed for the baby. Mark and Dawn came through with this for us. Um....wow. If there was a bigger and more intense word for generosity, I could so use it with the Wrights. For right now, let's go with....friggin awesome. I'm thinking this stroller will get us through baseball and football fields, horse pastures and whatever else we come across......maybe like rollerblading?!? :)

These are orange Carhartts that look just like mine!! OMG!! They are the cutest things in the world!!!!! Megan and Abby got these for Vivian. Now she can help me in the barn - you know, mucking stalls and cleaning hooves......just kidding.

It was fun to finally start getting excited for a baby. How can you not, when you are putting away teeny, tiny outfits and washing up baby blankets?

What has 11 heads, 22 arms and eats everything in front of it?

Give up?

It's our freak show of a group going to the movie yesterday. For those moms out there with older kids, you feel my pain. You can no longer host birthday parties like you did when they were 5. Could I fit 15 10yr. old boys in my house? Nope. So, I told Max this year would be different. Low key. A small group of boys could spend the night or something. Maybe we could take them to a movie. The movie idea was a hit, but no good flicks were coming out in February, so we postponed the birthday thing until this weekend, so we could see Monsters Vs Aliens. How we ended up with 6 extra kids, as opposed to 2 or 3, I don't know. However, after much planning and phone calls, we coordinated the outing. Including my family, there was 11 of us and we caused quite a stir. Still, I would rather repeat that chaotic scene than another girl slumber party. Honest. Man, I am such a bad girl mom!!!!!!!!

Did you know the movie version of "Where The Wild Things Are" is coming out????? How did I miss that?! LOVE that book!

So, this is what's been going on.........


I have had paint swatches up on the walls for..oh...about 6 months, now. When shall we paint? How about a couple weeks before the baby's due??????

Having a hard time deciding, I had to buy 1/2 pint samples and put them on the wall. I'm glad I did, because I learned just how hideous the paint looked on the wall.

So, finally, I picked colors and said to Eric, "This is it. Final answer. Paint it." He did and told me he wasn't sold on the gray I picked. *huge sigh* Ok, honey, I'll go back to Lowe's and get more swatches!

I (think) we might have found the colors we will paint the living room and the front entry. I will purchase a gallon of our chosen color this weekend and if dear husband doesn't like it? Well, that's too effing bad!!!!!!!!!


In addition to painting, we are also making other changes.....

Because we are trying to reduce expenses, Eric gave me the option of either giving up TiVo for a DVR...OR...giving up some of my favorite channels-including abcfamily where my Gilmore Girls resides, Lifetime (Army Wives), TLC (Jon & Kate Plus Eight) and cartoon network where Jay loses Star Wars:Clone Wars. Although it was really hard, I chose TiVo over the channels. Those of you with TiVo understand my loyalty. Well, I just miss those channels so much!! I have decided to go ahead and give...(sob)....up...(sob)......my......Ti (sob)Vo........(sob, sob, sob). I'm heartbroken and can't believe I'm doing it, but the pain of having nothing to actually record ON my Tivo has become too much. I have to change the subject, now. (sniff, sniff)



Max has been practicing baseball since November - one night a week for an hour at the indoor batting cage. Since the weather has been getting increasingly nicer, we've moved outdoors and are starting the 2 - 3 nights a week, plus Saturdays.

Yes, it's that time of year. I mistakenly thought with Max being in travel ball this year, the schedule would remain somewhat the same as rec. ball. I was wrong. The Mid-Ohio Bullets have their first game April 11!!!! What?! They have a really, really busy May and June and may be done by July 9th. Wow. That doesn't exactly gel real well with having a baby in mid April, so I'm a little stressed.

So, this is the plan. I can go into labor anytime between the 6 through the 10th. I can't go into labor on the 11 or the 14. I should also hold out until after about 4:00 pm on the 15th, because that's when Mom gets into town. The 16th should be ok, but if I haven't gone by the morning of the 17th, I might as well wait until the night of the 17th, because the movie, "17Again" with Zac Efron comes out that day and Al and I really want to go to that one! That would make it ok to go into labor after about 8 or 9pm on the 17th (as long as I'm done by the next morning for Max's tournament). The tourney is the 18th and 19th, so then I'm open until the 25th. Should be easy enough, right?

My doctors keep bringing up being induced. I find that really odd. I don't want to be induced, because there's something really special about spontaneous labor. However, with the schedule we have, I may consider it! We'll see.

Unfortunately, we are without camera right now, so I couldn't document what those naughty leprechauns did last night. You'll have to use your imagination......

They hid the kitchen chairs, turned the milk and toilet water green and stacked all the green dishes/cups, etc on the kitchen island. The leprechauns also colored the kids hair with green streaks and put glitter in their hair. (We'll be finding green glitter in every nook and cranny until July 4th!!!!)

And for all you who can, drink a green beer for me!!!!!!!!


Happy St Patty's Day!!!!!!!!!

Twice a year the school holds a book fair. Usually, we come home with various Star Wars, horse or sports books. Our favorites are the Ripley's Believe It or Not series. However, this year the kids found this one.....................


.................yay..?



The first experiment attempt was the Backyard Mt. Vesuvius. It looks like the insides of some poor creature, but is in fact; baking soda, dish soap, food coloring and vinegar.

Jay had a friend over and they had a lot of fun with this one. It was pretty benign as far as science experiments go, but not all of them are this clean and reserved. Can't wait to see what they try next. (You can't pick up the fear and sarcasm in my words if I don't actually say them out loud, right?)

The poor horses!!! You know how animals have instincts and can predict weather, danger, etc.? Our horses are freaked out! Is it a storm? They are startling and running and refuse to go in the barn! Maybe it's some horse.... disaster.... fore-telling?? Something is scaring the BEJESUS out of them. Could the barn be haunted? Possibly. However, we think we know what it is......................................





Are you ready?





It might just scare you too - are you sure you're ready for this???












AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! It's a scary, 2 foot high, 30 pound.....pygme goat!!!!!

A guy who does the cowboy mounted shooting told Eric that he cured his horse of cribbing (sucking in air while chewing on wood) by getting him a little "buddy goat". Some friends of ours have goats and let us borrow this adorable little goat, Holly, to see if it worked with Cody. Eric brought her home last weekend and the horses are terrified of her. She is the size of Boo, but for some reason Dixie and George, especially, will not go near her. Cody has been pretty indifferent, but not interested enough to stop cribbing. Eric had to actually physically bring the horses into the barn and tie them up to keep them from bolting out. Each time the goat moved, George acted like he was sensing an attack from a mountain lion! She's a tiny, little goat and completely sweet on top of it all. It's hysterical! Why do WE get all the psychotic animals?!