Princess Perky's Page

Yesterday GMC was so cute in the car! He was talking about money..his sister asked to go out to eat and we asked if she was paying, so they discussed how much money they had.

GMC mentioned he has a lot in his long term savings (well a lot to a 6 year old) and we asked him if he remembered what it was for. "big stuff". which is kinda right.

We mentioned we have a long term savings for big stuff too, and that some of it would be going toward paying for this baby's birth. He chimed in with "I want to use some of my long term savings to help pay for the baby too". We both thought it was sooo adorable, but we told him we could prolly manage on our own. Though we really appreciated it!

Yesterday GMC was so cute in the car! He was talking about money..his sister asked to go out to eat and we asked if she was paying, so they discussed how much money they had.

GMC mentioned he has a lot in his long term savings (well a lot to a 6 year old) and we asked him if he remembered what it was for. "big stuff". which is kinda right.

We mentioned we have a long term savings for big stuff too, and that some of it would be going toward paying for this baby's birth. He chimed in with "I want to use some of my long term savings to help pay for the baby too". We both thought it was sooo adorable, but we told him we could prolly manage on our own. Though we really appreciated it!

Apparently those wisdom teeth he wanted out 3 years ago are getting worse. But out of pocket cleanings and routine care is one thing, out of pocket extraction in Charlotte is another.

The main problem is that no one wants to do a simple numb and pull. You have to have 'painless' dental care here. some sort of spa treatment to go with the extraction which of course isn't cheap.

Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy pain, but I really see no reason why pulling a tooth can't be a simple numb and yank. sure it hurts, but so does delivering a baby. Once done a short recovery and problem solved. (and at this point I am MORE than ready to go into labor..except I am busy. Relatives coming from out of town and all)

I woke up at 3 am wondered out and discovered not only did my husband do laundry, he also folded it. And there was a strange feel to the towel in the basket, it sat too high and felt too soft.

Turns out my husband bought and washed up new towels, because the 8th anniversary is 'linens'. I think it is soo cute he looks these things up!

I also find the towels a much more practical gift than typical anniversary presents!

Now I can't wait to take a shower tonight (though I still am not sure the towel will cover this huge belly!)

I was watching a show at 4am this morning about pregnancy (unfortunatly I just couldn't sleep) and they mentioned they typical 'medical leave' time for pregnant women. between 36 and 39 weeks many women get medical leave to take off work.

So when do I get to take off work? mostly kidding, I get to put myself on 'light duty' anytime I want.

But it did bring up a question..don't those women get bored waiting for their first kid? Not that there is nothing to do, just that the weeks before birth the last thing I want is time to wish the kid would hurry up..it wont in all likely hood, and mom is left answering all sorts of 'yes I ams till pregnant' questions. Amazingly enough family who hasn't called in months suddenly has to call at week 40, just in case you forgot to tell them you had the kid.

If you have an older kid at least they distract you from the wonder. And now that I have three, plus more commitments, I really don't have time to wish the kid would hurry up..except at 4am when I can't sleep .

Looking at my upcoming delivery, I realized a few things will be different. More than just the relaxed atmosphere and not having to wake my older kids up.

This is not a medical discussion, just all the non medical points. Medically I live very close to a hospital, and I will be attended by a midwife with medical experience.

1. No 'free' diapers. All three kids came with several packs of the newborn diapers, plus wipes and diaper rash cream. (also no free feminine supplies.)

2. No 'free' diaper bag. Formula companies around here always give diaper bags (with of course ice packs for storing breast milk) and lots of advertisement for formula (beside the scientific info on breast milk)

3. No 'free' clothing or blankets or hats. We will have to supply even the first blanket.

4. No packing..I don't have to pack a bag with toys for older kids, clothes for me, clothes for baby (with a backup in case it is a different gender than expected) No packing a car seat blankets, food for Dad (or mom) and kids...

5. No hospital food (and consequently no cost of running to a nearby restaurant to find decent food)

6. No noisy beds! My last two births I had a room with a noisy bed..honestly I thought it was possessed, soon as you start to drift off the bed would 'puff'. Supposed to be some sort of automatic adjustment to make it more comfortable, I would have preferred less comfort more silence!

7. Instant computer access! I can send my own announcement email! Not to mention I can have a computer to occupy myself should I get bored..which I doubt since I will not have to send my family away.

All in all I am looking forward to this home birth..mainly for the decent food and internet I will have availible

I read the headline 10 year old in college

and wondered if that would be the future of my oldest. This morning he finished his math in record time and I passed the sheet to daddy to check...because I didn't know the answers right off the bat, and would rather work with my youngest (I know all his answers!)

First off the fact that daddy was still home meant record time of completion. Second..the question ran something like this:

"There are 36 pupils in a class. 2/3 are girls. Of the girls 1/4 wear glasses. How many girls wear glasses?"

The total writing on the page? One lousy number. (the correct answer)

Course he did have trouble because he confused area with perimeter for the next problem. but we got that straightened out. By saying "perimeter...dude, what is perimeter again?" to which he said "oh..the side is 16M"..not needing to redo any math, just knew it.

The problem was along the lines of telling you the sides of a rectangle, and saying the square had the same perimeter. wanting you to figure out the length of a side. I don't recall the numbers though.

He regularly gives the answer while I am still working out the process. In some ways this is good, in others it means if he doesn't "crunch the numbers" automatically he can't find the answer. Most of the time it means mommy has to sit there and work out the problem myself where he can't see just in case he is wrong, which he rarely is). And I am considered good at math!

But after reading the full article I would say my kid prolly wont be in college anytime soon. He is a math brain, but the rest of him is pretty normal. (well normal for a homeschooler)

What a switch, I just signed my daughter up for girl scouting, she doesn't start till fall but they wanted her to preregister.

And the training is free! I signed up to be her leader (that is the deal, DH does the boy scouts, I do the girl scouts....so how come I am doing both boy and girl?)

Anyway. Free training is a refreshing change!

Oddly enough, even though I was still too sick to go to church (partly because I just didn't want to share the germs) I had a wonderful mothers day.

My husband took all three kids to church. And recieved several compliments from folk who didn't know us on how wonderful a father he was. I take certain pride in knowing I have such an amazing husband .

They made me cards to bring home, and the day before at the store my husband bought me ice cream.

Plus he offered to go pick up dinner, a huge bonus while I am still recovering.

And I was healthy enough to sleep! I sleep while they were at church, I slept after they got home, I slept in the evening and every time I woke up I was able to go back to sleep!

I actually woke up this morning for no other reason than the sun was shining and I wasn't tired enough to sleep...Though I do plan on a nap now .

For the scouts GMC has to make a poster to earn his communications belt loop. and one to earn the 'leave no trace' award. and one to earn the citizen belt loop...

I don't like making posters, or didn't. I helped GMC and JC make one each the other day, and it wasn't so bad..mostly because they are cute, and they don't have to put quite so much information down, so long as something is learned, I am happy.

GMC did one on Dinosaurs, but really it turned into T-Rex. He drew a T-rex, and traced an actual size T-rex tooth. Plus he wrote what era they are from (cretaceous). I was thinking he needed more, but then I hit on the idea of cutting the poster board in half. That way he could fill the space with his pictures and all.

I did the same thing for JC..she did hers on princesses. She drew an adorable princess, plus wrote out what makes a legal princess. and made a 'princess fan'. Not bad for a little girl.

So I felt a bit frugal about the whole poster experience..now I might try to do the next poster on the back of the first. is that cheap or frugal?

While I don't agree the package was a good idea, I am certainly not one to turn away money.

So I received it, and sent some off to the midwife, used some to replenish depleted stores from the Dr visit and all..and the rest? Just sitting there. Might even be a full 2 months EF now!

I have some, I apparently have a URI, so now I have antibiotics. I really want them to work fast, this whole waiting for them to take effect is not cool. You know normally...non pregnant, you go to the dr and get a script for some 'feel good medicine' in addition to the antibiotics, or at least a recommendation for OTC feel good stuff. But apparently pregnant folk don't get that .

Oh well at least I know in a few days I aught to be better from the meds.

PS: BP is 110 over 70, fairly normal for me, and the infection is NOT in the lungs, it is higher than that.

If I had to deal with homework on top of the sickness I don't think I could manage..plus if I were counting on an income right now we would be financially screwed!

As it is, we are doing less 'learning work' than normal, but considering all three are well advanced, less is not behind. We are also doing more silly games and quite frankly kids need more time to be 'bored' so they can use their imaginations to fill it. I don't think I leave them enough of that normally.

Course on the other hand if I were a paid to work mom with kids in day care/school, I would be getting rid of three kids and alone all day...might mean for more rest!

Though really I am lucky in spite of all my complaints I generally can take a nap every day that I want. The youngest sleeps still and the older two know that nap time is Mommy's alone time sortof.

When my husband got home last night he found nothing done, and me coughing up a storm and complaining that I had a headache..and the only meds in the house were not approved for pregnant folk.

So he practically spun on his heels and headed for the door. brought back two different kinds of medicine (one pill one liquid, I don't swallow pills well) plus some cough drops, plus dinner.

Yeah the months wasted spending due to this sickness is up to 100, well over planned, but...only one more month (ish) to go. 36 weeks on Sunday. I have got to get rid of this coughing before the baby comes, there is no way I can go thru labor like this.

Every night at 3am-ish I wake up wheezing..most irritating.

Generally I can make it go away by drinking a glass of lemon water (strong on the lemon) I have no idea why it works, maybe just the sitting up and drinking, I dunno.

Anyway yesterday I decided to try and get more sleep I would turn on the air, it isn't that hot, I just thought filtering the air would be good for me. No such luck, still woke up at 3 am, though my nose is less congested. Not sure if that is related or not.

I will give it a couple days, and if it doesn't get better we will go back to open windows.

So one more thing we are wasting money on during this pregnancy .

I am old school when it comes to food, I follow the old 4 food groups (in my defense it is what I was taught first before the fancy pyramids)

So every meal has to have a fruit or a veggie, a grain and a protien (with some milk somewhere, but you really don't need that much milk, you need calcium)

This means dinner generally has a bag of veggies each. (5 servings in the bag, though there is nearly always some left for husbands lunch).

I tend to load the plates with equal parts whole grain and veggie and a lesser portion of protien.

I have heard that a kids meal is an adult portion of food, but a kids meal would only keep my girl happy. (My 6 yo son eats more) size wise a kids meal is about what the kids eat husband and I eat more. both boys generally want seconds. (of course if I put more on the plate in the first place they wouldn't finish!)

All three kids are very healthy, we have had 4 sick visits in the 6 years, two ear infections, one kid with allergies, and one recent case of strep throat (which EVERYONE we knew had). They grow right, learn right, and look great. Slightly pron to 'the snots' but then they all seem to have allergies, snots are seasonal, and related to my level of breathing (if I can't breath they have 'the snots'-the little one no longer has trouble breathing, he just has 'the snots')

Broken down by kid:
GMC - 1 ear infection, one strep
JC - 2 ear infections one strep
UE - allergies reaction two years ago.
DH = bronchitis twice

If they are so healthy, why am I so sick? In reality I enjoyed a long time of similar level of health, a yearly cold and the allergy issue along with my son two years ago.

Until this year. This year I seem to be run down or sick 90% of the time. True I am pregnant, but it's not like I haven't been pregnant before. I wasn't sick a day during my oldest pregnancy (I had some pregnancy symptoms, but nothing major) The worst I had during my younger two pregnancies was a cold.

This time around, I had 'real morning sickness' not just all the nausea, but plenty of puking. I have all the old symptoms (excema on the hands, general fatigue, pain, etc, normal simple issues), and I am having real burning cravings (sent my husband out at 11pm for cashews, never did that before). Plus my current allergy induced issue, plus I am anemic for the first time ever. Plus adding iron like crazy to fix it seems to have messed up my intestines. Plus the 'slight congestion' of earlier pregnancies is MAJOR congestion. (and has been even before allergy season) Plus the 'slight shortness of breath' from previous pregnancies is more like 'can't walk across room without being out of breath'. (I seriously have answered the phone multiple times and had people ask 'whats wrong?' All because I had to cross the room to get the phone)

So what am I doing wrong? Why am I so sick? How come they are the picture of health, while I am a tired, sore cranky, moody, breathless, swollen, coughing, tired, non-sleeping, sicko?

First you have to understand I do not vote in primaries, I am not a democrat nor a republican. However I do see ads, and I have formed some useless opinions from them.

I have not researched either Obama nor Hilary. So these opinions are purely based on the TV ads with a small amount of Digg headlines thrown in. This is not meant as an endorsement for either of them..only for their ad team .

Obama is apparently going to change things, all his ads (on my local stations) are ... "Change, we can change things"..which is a lovely thought since of course things suck. (grass is greener somewhere else)

Hilary on the other hand is telling jokes..not that I ever hear one, just that her ads are all her face and a bunch of laughing folk behind her.....

More recently they have branched out, Obama telling us a gas tax cut is a band-aid fix (I agree) and Hilary telling us how terrible it is Obama wont cut the tax.

Hilary of course ends with a joke (don't know what it was, but them folk are laughing again) Obama ends with 'change' (for Washington)

So based purely on the ads, I would vote Obama, if I were planning on voting in the primaries (but remember I am a libertarian, so wouldn't vote for either) Just thought I would let the Ad agencies know what there hard work was achieving here....

But then according to Boston Legal..primary votes don't matter..the delegates can vote any old way they choose....) I have got to get rid of this cold and find a better way to kill time while not sleeping....(wanna hear my thoughts on midnight chat line ads?)

You have got to be kidding me!

I really wanted to see I am Legend. So my husband decided to treat me and went to blockbuster..he wouldn't pay the 24 (which is fine, it is rather slow, good concept, slow movie) so he rented it. $5 for a treat once in a blue moon (first time in at least a year) I don't mind.

I was shocked to discover the current price of movies, we have generally relied on my brother in laws collection for any movie we want to see (in fact he prolly will own I am Legend eventually) and considering the number of movies he owns multiplied by 20 each is a mind boggling amount of money sunk in movies!

I just got two emails asking me to review products I received as free samples.

I can't for the life of me figure out what on earth the products went.

One is something we use frequently (and preferable from free samples) so I imagine I used it...but when, and how am I supposed to accurately review something I used up eons ago?

Why on earth wouldn't they send the email around the same time as the sample? or make it a note in with the sample? I would be happy to review the product, if I knew anything about it..which with my normal memory is unlikely this far past receiving it, and with my pregnant brain, nothing stays in this leaky sieve of a head.

I know much of what you take in a multi vitamin or other pills is found in your pee. But, some of it has to be working, because millions of pregnant women swear life is easier if they take the multi (hair better, more energy, etc). And tons of folk who are anemic benefit from iron supplementation.

So why do all kinds of reports say not to bother? I can see that basing your diet on actually absorbing the full amount listed on the bottle would be silly.

And I certainly don't think anemic folk should skip the steak (ok fine spinach) But I don't understand avoiding all vitamins pills entirely....

That was the best compliment we received last night. One little boy thought the party was so cool he wants invited next time!

We also had a very surprised father say "I had a lot of fun" he seemed to think fun wasn't supposed to happen for the adults or something!

Fortunatly my husband and I (and this fellow) are just plain big kids, so we always have fun!

Though it wouldn't have been nearly as wonderful if it were not for our wonderful friends. One made the icing and managed a wonderful free form dragon on the cake -plus managed to figure out how to make the dragon, One prepped all the fruit and veggies and Snacky stuff -plus kept the kitchen running the whole party and helped everyone figure out the way to difficult craft), while I lazed on the floor making a lego dragon (with help from another friend) and the third took over the grill so my husband could aid in the story telling for the Dragon lair hunt. The lego helper then switched to being the 'minotaur' who wouldn't let anyone into the 'mountains' (JCs room) until it was time - and all the magic words had been found. (They were hidden in GMCs room)

There were a few incidents, boys getting rather rambunctious with balloons and our poor minotaur finally had enough and popped all the balloons. (Can't say as I blame him. he did ask the boys to stop and they were not listening..not sure how to avoid that next year)

My husband not only ate some cake, he had a second slice..he likes my cake, but not my icing so since we had a pro make wonderful icing this year he ate it!

One thing we did different this year, we didn't buy anything we can't eat, so no white buns, just whole wheat (only one kid wouldn't eat em, and he wouldn't eat anything). No yellow mustard (only one kid asked for mustard and he ate spice brown)

So the total cost can be reduced, since we get to eat all the leftovers

No I have to figure out how to make 'Flowers and Fireworks' as much fun (UE and JCs current pick for their party..close together they share - I have time, party in late October/early Novemebr)

Food came to about 45$, burgers dogs, plates and cups, cheese, grapes, carrots, and juice. (yes first time ever we bought paper plates)

"Treasure' came to about $10, coins, necklaces, balloons, and metallic eggs we had with stickers in them.

Craft came to zero, construction paper we already had, a pattern and directions from here and paper rolls from a friend, plus fasteners that we already had.

Decorations were $2, crepe paper streamers per Gmc's request and signs we made ourselves.

And no dragon eggs , we went to three stores yesterday looking for them, not a single dragon to be found, not stickers, pencils, plastic toys, nothing. (or rather nothing cheap enough to buy a dozen or so of)

cake of course cost supplies to make, but I like baking . Plus some odd condiments that we already have for the burgers and dogs.

so total cost

We have been trying the old underwear method for potty training my youngest at night. (he is fine in the day, fairly good at nap, just can't seem to get nighttime)

So after two weeks of washing the sheets every single night, I gave up, I hunted up an old diaper and put it on him, and added diapers to the list for the store today. At 8 months pregnant, I can barely get the regular laundry done much less one extra load each day. (also he tends to sleep thru peeing, not waking till morning, so he is getting a rash and being wet doesn't seem to be helping)

And wouldn't you know it, he was dry this morning!

Now I don't know, if I should buy diapers or not?

Birthdays are sorta a big deal here, and sorta not.

On the one hand you always get dinner of your choice, and a cake on the day of your birthday, plus a present from mom and dad. (and the family sings)

Generally the next event (Sunday school, music class, scouts, whatever) there are homemade cupcakes, though this year with me feeling so bad we made brownies instead..

Then their usually is a party, with a birthday kid picked theme (we guess for the younger years) cake is decorated to fit, and there are always balloons. The balloons are because my son is certain there aught to be balloons at a birthday. We had them for his and his sisters and so next year..it was a tradition, be careful traditions can start over anything done once!

So for GMC this year, he picked dragons. we have an "Inn of the flaming dragon" sign for the kitchen, we will be making dragons out of tubes and construction paper and fasteners at the party. Hopefully dragon eggs will be 'hatched' from an 'incubator' and then a 'dragon lair' will be found with a mysterious map..one that we made yesterday.

The map is really cool, I am quite proud of it. We used the back of an old roll of wallpaper, happened to be a nice old looking off white. The kids drew different landmarks and I labeled it. Then we took it to a candle and burned it all up. Not enough to ruin the words, but enough to make it look old. I also dumped some of the ash back on it and dripped a bit of candle wax over it. looks very dirty now and dusty, like it has been around for ages rather than freshly made yesterday.

And yesterday making the map I was again reminded of why I like homeschooling..so much more efficient. After a morning covering adding and subtracting mixed numbers, pluralizing Spanish nouns, reviewing capitalization and comma rules, among other things, we still had all the time in the world to make a map.

Every birthday that we actually do crafts we tend to buy double the supplies..just in case, because I have no response negative or affirmative from so many folk!

Now extra food we can use but extra crafts are usually kinda specialized (aprons for the chef, crowns for the princess, dragon eggs for the umm dragon friend?)

I really think a RSVP email is a simple thing that takes just a few minutes and can really make a difference in ones planning (not to mention the budget of the party.

Oh and the extra aprons wen to the scouts to try and keep the paint off the uniforms. (what is so hard about removing a class A shirt..there should be a t-shirt under it!)

But I really don't know what the extra dragon eggs would be for...unless we add them to next years Egg hunt...

So here I am with only 4 days till the party and I have to find, locally, treasure for a dragon lair, fabric to make said lair (brown or gray aught to make a nifty cave draped over some stuff right?)

And we would like to make dragon eggs, so I need dragons that fit into eggs (and eggs for them to be in) I found a recipie that recommends some 'goo' to put in the egg with the dragon so it is more fun than just opening an egg.

Plus some sort of dragon making supplies...I am hoping construction paper and tubes will work. guess I need to pick up some glue.

I have a biking delema. My son decided to grow dramatically from last fall to now. His bike that was just the right size then is way to small, his knees are bent when he is sitting on the seat and his feet are flat on the ground.

I read a couple different places that the proper fit is toes on the ground when sitting, which is almost what we bought him. Maybe half a foot not just toes.

So now less than a year later we are looking at him thinking he is too tall. BUT we tried him on an 18 inch bike...(we think, it was a friends, no measuring tape) and he can't control it, tough his toes do touch.

So is it just that my kid can't handle the transition quickly and he will get it eventually or that he is too young to handle a big bike?

To complicate matters he will be part of a 'Bike Rodeo' with the cub scouts in July..do I let him get the big bike and practice for a month, or do I leave him on the small one so we know he can ride? I would hate to ruin his confidence by being around other boys and barely being able to control his own bike..especially since he worked so hard to learn to ride 'like a big boy' with no training wheels.

First, just so you all know, I mentally pronounced 'Wii' as Why I' because I read about it long before I ever met anyone who had one, and still to this day have never seen or heard a commercial for one. So given the phonetic options of how to pronounce the name I cannot possibly call it a 'wee' because I do not want to play with any ones 'wee' I potty trained my kids rather early to avoid having any extra 'wee' in the house, I most certainly would never pay to play with 'wee'!

So why do I want a Why-I? because it has a yoga board thingie (for me) ...and hockey (for my husband and son) And this cool guitar! (for all of us)...not to mention 'dancing with the stars' if they figured out how to really interpret the dancing of a person and put it on screen I would LOVE to learn to dance at home.

And how did I find out about these cool games? I read an ad..I was sitting at the table at my in laws, my kids were occupied, I was eating, Husband was downstairs playing a basketball game, and the BIL was watching racing..now I am a television addict, I can become engrossed in nearly any TV, just because it is on..but racing? sorry, watching a car drive in circles brings up nightmares of being lost, not entertainment.

So I searched for something to read (no I couldn't possible eat without distraction, though I know it would be good for my weight)..options were: an old report card, (she had all A's but for one B-nothing else to read really) or there in the candy bowl was a magazine advertising different games (don't ask me why mags are stored in the candy bowl, it is husbands family). I figured at least it would have some words.

Well it had mostly pictures and prices, apparently games get sold by price and graphics mostly...one game literally didn't bother to tell you what on earth you did it was just a fancy title and a price. The title was nonspecific as to the game, just another generic fantasy name. So was it fps? or adventure? or the weird non car racing type? I suppose I will never know.

And BTW who cares if there are cool bosses if you have no idea how to defeat said bosses? Are all console games basically the same so that console players already know the type of battles they will be in? considering I have never seen a strategy game or building game for them I guess it may be true (even the various Sim incarnations are imports, and I don't think WOW type games ever make it to consoles? though I could be wrong)

Anyway, having read the entire magazine I still do not know what most of the games can do...but at least it drowned out the racing.

And I still have absolutely no intentions of buying a gaming system for a bazillion dollars. Sorry no ad is that good.

Fire fox told me it had an update to run today, and now I can get to gmail from it!

Yeah!

Ok so small things make my day

I cought a small portion of a PBS health care special. Some guy went traveling to many countries and checked out how they did heath care. Taiwan apparently decided to research first then build 'the perfect plan' but I missed how they did it.

Sweden had some interesting changes to what was very much like America's...they made health care non profit, and insisted all health care companies take everyone. And insisted everyone get health care (govt of course pays for the poor) the premiums are 700 a month for a family..on the one hand not to cheap, but on the other cheaper than I was quoted for a family plan here.

Health care companies are allowed to make a profit on 'riders' or extras like fancier rooms at hospitals and stuff. Not sure how abuse of that works (does the hospital have empty rooms with a waiting list because most do not have the proper rider for the fancy room?)

I missed the other countries, but most of what I heard was a bit different than what our country was proposing last I checked (which wasn't recently so feel free to correct me)

The gist of what was said seemed to be that basic health care cannot be free market. just extras. I am not to sure I disagree..which is surprising for a libertarian to admit.