HOA Annual Meeting

Clearly I have time on my hands. Tonight I attended our HOA's Annual Meeting...and walked the neighborhood knocking on doors to collect enough ballots to establish a quorum and allow Striker's replacement to be elected. I joined forces with another pregnant neighbor who is due a week before me and managed to collect enough ballots. Apparently it's hard to ignore the pregnant lady knocking on your door...or when she's stalked you in your garage before you had a chance to close the door after driving in upon your return home from work. Not that I did that or anything...especially not multiple times...nor did I stand on the corner that is the entrance to our community and flag down/follow cars on their way home. Luckily it's a small community and we divided and conquered...either way, I'm exhausted...and I doubt I walked even a half mile. House arrest has ruined my endurance. BTW, lying to your fellow neighbor about whether or not you turned in your ballot, whether or not you're the homeowner, etc does not go unnoticed, nor will it be forgotten. I hope the pigeons poop on your house!

Checks from Chase

I ordered checks from Chase since I wasn't sure how to order pretty ones since we're still transitioning from WaMu and well, free is always a good price. I didn't realize I'd have to assemble my own box.

Even the Mouse is Doing It!

Today marks the first day of Disney's blog. Love the concept...interested to see how it evolves. According to the "chief blogger" and "social media director" Thomas Smith, they'll be sharing the latest official information about all things Disney from various departments and cast members. You can post comments (which of course will be moderated). There have already been 5 posts today.

The only thing better will be if they have various characters "guest blog". Goofy can represent the horticulture department, Mickey can cover Disneyland, Minnie can cover Walt Disney World, etc. For some reason, I think I might find that more interesting, but the social media people probably don't want to give up their glory. They can hire me to moderate the comments...I promise, I'll behave :)

Sigh

Must Read

I stole this link from Toe Jam's Facebook...and couldn't help but sigh loudly. Obama wants to lengthen school hours, have schools stay open later during the week and also be open on weekends (by the way, who's paying for this?). Because disadvantaged kids "suffer" during the summer, he wants to shorten or eliminate summer vacation. Um...it's called parenting people!

Warning: Sharp Objects

(I'm mobiley posting, so I'll need to attach the appropriate links later.)

Just like the Queen needs to stay away from knives, I need to stay away from pill cutters. For the second time this year, I have sliced a finger on the pill cutter.

Since Oskar weighs all of 12.2 lbs, he needs to take half of the pills the vet gave us on Wednesday night. Thursday morning I pulled out the pill cutter and washed it off since I'd last used it for my adult meds and in the process sliced my thumb.

The best part? The pills were already cut by the vet. No pill cutter required. Sigh.

26 Weeks

So yeah, I feel pregnant. And I love it! :) Given that the boys are each weighing about 2 lbs each now, I am starting to have an even harder time rolling over or getting out of bed. Clumsiness has set in. Bending over to pick stuff up usually involves much internal debate as to whether or not it's absolutely necessary. I'm getting tired again, back to napping several hours a day.

A kicks me all night and B kicks me all day. B sticks his feet up in my ribs and stretches several times a day. Luckily I can still push him back down, but I don't think that's going to last much longer. The belly button no longer goes back in....at best, it's flat, but at least part is always sticking out.

My sister finally felt B move on Sunday and pulled her hand away like my stomach was on fire. ;) None of the grandparents have felt either move yet. They boys don't like to cooperate, but at least they let Daddy feel them every once in awhile.

I got 3 freaking bug bites sitting on the patio with Oskar today for less than 10 minutes. (He's doing much better today and is back to moving faster than me. YAY!) Why do mosquitoes like me so much?!

Poor Oskar!

Oskar has been known to hurt himself jumping off of the couch to chase one of the cats, but usually gets better in a day or two if we just prevent him from too much jumping.

On Sunday or Monday he hurt himself chasing the cat after he swatted at him while Oskar was sleeping on the couch. Why they repeatedly do this is beyond me, but I swear it happens almost daily. It seemed to be different that the usual injury because he could walk on it, but avoided all bouncing or jumping/hopping. I gave it an extra day to see if he'd get any better today and planned to take him to the vet tomorrow morning if there wasn't any improvement.

When I got home from the dentist around 6:30 tonight, Oskar wasn't on the couch, on the rug, in the kitchen, or in the garage (all of his usual places). I panicked, because there weren't many other places he could be. I found him on the fireplace shaking and once I picked him up, he yelped and started whining. Not good. I wrapped him in "his" snuggie and cuddled him to see if he'd calm down. When that didn't work, I decided that we needed to go to the animal hospital immediately.

Since Oskar requires that I hold him in the car, and there was NO WAY I was going to be able to hold him and drive with the belly, I enlisted the chauffeur services of Mr. KFuj since Striker was off bowling strikes about 30-45 minutes away. The irony in this is that Mr. KFuj is the one person that Oskar cannot stand. For some unknown reason, the second that Mr. KFuj is in sight, Oskar barks his head off and refuses to let him near him. We made some progress after Mr. KFuj fed him a few treats last time, but still not enough to consider them buddies.

Tonight, we got into Mr. KFuj's car and Oskar didn't bark once...also not a good sign. We arrived at the animal hospital and found it to be empty...YAY! We were taken back right away, Oskar weighed in at a whopping 12.2 lbs and then I started signing papers approving the rapidly growing total.

Emergency Exam $65
2 x-rays $200
2 Injections $101
2 medications to take home $47.50
Hazardous Waste Disposal $4

Total Bill: $417.50

Thankfully all bones and discs were intact. The vet said it appeared to be muscle spasms (perhaps Oskar wants to be like Daddy?) and shot him up with a muscle relaxer and anti-inflammatory. By the time we got home he was able to walk normally with a little spring in his step. He's now passed out on the couch. I have to continue the muscle relaxer and anti-inflammatory pills 3 times a day and keep him on "bed rest" (maybe he wants to be like Mommy?)for the next 7-10 days. The hardest part will be preventing him from jumping off the couch and the bed...especially for me since he's sorta low to the ground and it's getting hard to bend over and pick him up/put him down. If he doesn't cooperate, he'll be banned to the floor in the bedroom, which I'm certain will NOT go well...you saw his preferred sleeping position!

This picture was taken as proof of how drugged Oskar was....he allowed Scott to hold him (twice! This was a reenactment of the first time at the animal hospital.)

Whoa Belly!

On Sunday my sister and I attended the baby shower of one of her friends. If you've been enjoying my FFSUs, then you've seen us regularly discussing our food cravings of the day...nothing strange, we just love food ;) She's having a girl and it was rather strange for me to see so much pink after seeing nothing but blue for several months now. She's also torturing her family and friends by not telling anyone Baby Girl Brown's name until she's born. See, I'm not the only mean one.

We're about 8 weeks apart and when I saw this picture of the two of us, I immediately thought about this one...I'm 25 1/2 weeks. Clothes and boobs greatly affect the appearance of belly size...though I think I'm pretty close to triplet belly. I would like to point out that both boys are measuring about a week ahead of schedule...I bet the triplets were small ;)

BlackBerry Beats Kindle

While reading Better Homes & Gardens today, I saw that Barnes & Noble has a free downloadable ebook reader for smartphones that operates like the Kindle. I've liked the idea of the Kindle since I've heard of it, but wasn't about to fork over $300 for one. Since I've got lots of time on my hands, I thought I'd give it a try. :)

Go to www.bn.com on your BlackBerry and click the ebook link. It's very self expanatory and took me only a few minutes to figure out once I downloaded the application to my Pearl. The download came with 4 free ebooks: Dracula, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice and Merriam-Websters Pocket Dictionary. Once you download the application and set up your profile on your BlackBerry, I'd recommend browsing the available ebooks on your computer since it's just easier. There are many free titles available (mostly some older classics and some random stuff), over 3,000 in the under $5 category, and then bestsellers and new releases.

I'm sold since my Pearl is the one source of entertainment that doesn't disturb the hubby in the middle of the night when I'm wide awake and goes with me everywhere! The only downside is that the screen on the Pearl is a little small, but you can adjust the font size. However, if I were to spend $200, I could get the Tour which would provide me with a bigger screen AND a better camera (eliminating the need for me to get a separate small mom type camera). If I can just convince myself to part with Mr. Pearl and switch from AT&T to Verizon, there will be a Tour in my future...

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Unfortunately, I am having the same problem I had last year...no recent photos of the 2 of us together. At least this year, my excuse is that I haven't been at work in almost 3 months and have only seen Rach twice during that time. So I'm stealing this picture from her Facebook page...it's an oldie but a goodie.

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!! Have a great day at the house of the mouse and enjoy your dinner that you're not cooking!

Oh, and happy half world water day! ;)

Soon to be Super Star - Alex Shegetz

Having been an American Idol fan since the beginning, I feel that I could at least be as good of a judge as Ellen ;) Regardless, you must check out the stuff on You Tube of Alex Shegetz...there's a slight chance that I'm biased since she's practically a relative of Striker's***, but I think she's really good. Did I mention that she's 15?!

You can listen to all of her original songs and covers on You Tube, just search for xxxMCRiloveGERARDxx or click here. There happen to be 22 videos posted right now :)

Find her music page on Facebook here and become a fan!

And does it help to know that she has been known to wear a dirndl and polka in her free time? How could you not love her? ;) She's pictured with her cousin in this picture who is a fan of lederhosen...Striker is not :)



***So the "relation" to Striker is sort of complicated, but in a nutshell, Striker's grandmother was BFF with Alex's great-grandmother back in Europe before they immigrated over. Both ended up living in Lake Elsinore and Striker's mom called Alex's great grandmother, Aunt Lisi.

For Jane (2)

Oskar's preferred sleeping position between mommy and daddy. He's not spoiled. ;)

Male Bonding

So at the bright and early hour of 7ish o'clock this morning, Striker and his buddies headed off on an overnight camping trip to Lake Mead. Given the amount of stuff they took, you'd swear they were going for a week...they were also picking up the boat on the way, so that necessitated the wakeboard.

Contents of the Pilot upon departure:

• 4 men (please note that 2 are above average size)
• 1 huge tent that probably sleeps 12 regular sized people (they wanted to be sure that they'd all be able to comfortably sleep together for proper bonding-yes, they actually gave me this reason when I suggested they take our 2 smaller and much lighter tents)
• 4 sleeping bags
• 2 queen size air mattresses
• 4 chairs
• 2 ice chests
• 4 backpacks
• 2 boxes of food and supplies
• 4 pillows
• 1 wakeboard
• 1 grocery bag full of adult beverage supplies
• 1 bag of beach towels
• 1 case of water
• 1 camping stove
• 1 First Aid kit (yes, the wife snuck that into the car) :)
• 1 large and 1 small container for hookah supplies

I love my Pilot!!!

For Jane

After this post, I told Jane that when I had nothing else to post, I'd post pictures of the furries since they're pretty much the only thing around to entertain me during the day. It's not like I get out much. Sigh. So here you go...

These are all various sleeping positions that C chose for today:

Yes, he was sleeping in 3 of the 4...and actually snoring when he was holding his legs up in the first one...they kept twitching...it was quite entertaining.

Aren't you jealous of my exciting life now? ;)

25 Weeks

What a difference a sweater makes! The belly had a massive change in shape today. B decided to take a dive and go head down, so instead of a 7, the belly holds an 11. This loosened up the super stretched skin at the top and made both hips hurt equally when sitting.

Thanks to the double heads on the bladder, it now holds less. Can't wait to see what this does to the number of trips I make to the bathroom each night.

I'm adding another pillow to the fort tonight to see if I sleep any better. Wish me luck!

Maternity Open House

Tonight was Maternity Open House at the hospital...woo hoo an hour (plus drive time) out of the house!

First off, it was way nicer than I thought it'd be...there were snacks, beverages, AND raffle prizes! The grand prize was a breast pump (which of course EVERYONE wanted) but I did not win it. I did however win a red Moby wrap...YAY!!! When they called your number (everyone got something) they asked if you were having a boy or girl...I of course answered "boys" which earned me instant celebrity status - and the envy of all the girl dads ;) - and the upgraded prize since I definitely need a Moby wrap! Those whose numbers were drawn after mine may have been a bit bitter with their picture frames and onesies, but HEY, it's not like they gave me the breast pump! And in my defense there was another Moby wrap given out.




















When leaving the parking garage, I was told by the security guard that I needed to pay at the parking pay station located back at the front of the hospital...um, NOT convenient and they really should prevent you from leaving the hospital without notifying you that once you waddle over to the parking lot or structure that you'll be trapped unless you've paid first. I waddle back over to the pay station with several of the dads following me like ducklings (Striker was bowling strikes tonight and really didn't miss anything that won't be covered in the MANY other classes we are going to...this was basically orientation), and find a sign indicating that the machine was only taking cash (in denominations of $1, $5, or $10). Good thing I had cash on me! I stood there feeding all of my ones, fives, and tens into the machine, but it wouldn't accept any. I gave up and the dad behind me tried...no luck. He was about to take off towards the gift shop and main lobby when I said "Wait up! Follow me! I'm going back to the structure and pulling the pregnant card and handing the security guard my ticket and $2 and begging him to let me leave." Seeing the wisdom in my approach, we headed back to the structure together. He headed for his car (and his pregnant wife) and I immediately went to the guard booth. I stuck out the belly (though it does that on its own these days) and pleaded my case. The result? Free parking for us all :) As I headed back to my car I told all of the dads I passed to just say they were with me so they'd get free parking too :) Oh yes, I'm officially known as Twin Mom and have acheived celebrity status among the 15 other couples or so...or they hate me...either way, I love being pregnant with twins! :)

Farmer Jenn

A few weeks ago, I was part of the crowd that ruthlessly mocked a certain someone when she had to go harvest her Super Berries before leaving to catch her flight.

Fast forward 3 1/2 weeks and I am now a Farmville Farmer (It's on Facebook, and you know you want to play too!). It is addicting and allows me to continue managing something besides the furries and the house. The Queen has graciously given me a pass since I'm on house arrest and really am the perfect candidate for spending excessive amounts of time building and managing my virtual farm.

Of course I am OBSESSED with growing, harvesting, and collecting as many status items (coins, cash, experience points) as possible. I even confessed to being selective in choosing my neighbors, because I wanted only the best farms surrounding mine.

I'm still holding firm in my refusal to consider a minivan despite my insurance agent telling me that he'd be waiting for my call to add a minivan to our policy upon my announcement that the twins were on the way. (Just change my miles driven to Maternity Leave and remove that rather large number next to Work Commute to save us some money please!) I have a Pilot which I still insist is just as functional as a minivan, but NOT a minivan. This reminds me that KT and I still need to have our Odyssey vs. Pilot challenge. Perhaps we'll wait until we have 4 children between us and plan a trip to Disneyland together?

Seriously?!

The sign said... "Car Wash with happy ending. (free monster)" This is why Striker is very happy we're having boys.

"Did That Come With the House?"

This morning I made french toast, and shortly after I started, Striker came stumbling into the kitchen. He stared at the griddle that fits into the middle of the stove top and asked if it came with the house and where it was before its new location. Answer: yes, for more than 2 years it's lived in the drawer underneath the oven with the other items that came with the stove/oven. I think this is the second time that I've used it. I made him reenact the moment for this picture :)

Craig's List

So in an effort to (finally) get rid of our guest bedroom set (you know, since the room has been converted to the boys' room for weeks now), I posted it on Craig's List. In doing so, I was rather amused by the "partial list" of items that cannot be sold on the site...things like perscription drugs, firearms, fireworks, and other things that are generally illegal...um, duh? The complete list of items can be found here. Please share your favorites!

Anyone from Michigan?

What does the state of Michigan have against seat covers? The only places I found them were at the airport and the car rental place. The hotel had the holder in the downstairs bathroom, but no actual covers. Every restaurant and public venue was lacking them. Why Michigan, why?!

24 Week Belly

I busted out the big maternity shirt yesterday for the 24 week picture...it sort of gives me a faux butt...YAY! Rest assured that it's all belly in the front though. Sorry the belly picture is a day late...I had a lot of sleeping to do :)

24 Week Ultrasound

Baby A is weighing in at a little over a pound and a half and is measuring about 8 days ahead of his gestational age. It appears that the poor little guy is inheriting his parents' big heads. The good news is that he's head down now...could be because it weighs so much...though this means that he's been head butting my bladder...sigh.

Baby B weighs just under a pound and a half (That's 3 total pounds of baby in the belly!!!) and is measuring about 3 days ahead of his gestational age. He was much more cooperative today. However, unlike A, he is laying across the top of the belly like he's in a hammock or something.

They are positioned so that their legs and feet are closest together (picture the number 7 - B is the top, A is the side), so there really is kickboxing going on in the belly!

The Arsenal

Having planned to spend most of Labor Day weekend sitting outside, and not wanting to bathe in chemicals that eat away at fairly sturdy materials (seriously, my sandals may never be the same!), I stocked up on Avon's Skin So Soft lotion and the Off fan.

The final count: July 4th - 19 bug bites; Labor Day weekend - 1 bug bite! I'm declaring that a success! And yes there were mosquitoes present, just not in the protective cloud of the Off fan. Highly recommend it, though it works best if you're just sitting in one spot.

BTW, why did everyone feel compelled to tell me that the top 3 things to attract mosquitoes are: sweat, pregnant women, and perfume? I was already paranoid after the 4th of July!

Witty?

Are you really witty if your license plate says you are?

POS

Rental car for the weekend: Ford Fusion...with only 11k miles.

Let's just say that it has serious transmission issues where it'd slip from 1st to Neutral instead of 1st to 2nd while accelerating. Sort of a problem when taking off from a red light.

Striker was quite pleased to get back into my Pilot. :)

Matching Shirts

Some events just call for matching shirts...this weekend was no exception!

Reasons I LOVE Steak n Shake

1) Mint Cookies n Cream milkshakes
2) Tasty burgers
3) Cheese fries that involve nacho cheese
4) Hi C Fruit Punch
5) Grilled Chicken Salad with awesome ranch dressing and super small diced tomatoes
6) Open until 3 AM
7) Friendly staff and speedy service
8) Many mid-west locations, which mean it's a Labor Day Weekend tradition
9) Dine in or drive thru
10) Good portion sizes....not too much, not too little

In otherwords, it's PG Jenn HEAVEN!!!

Where Did the Pay Phones Go?

LAX has a pay phone ghost town right before security. Poor pay phones.

Got Pillows?

My sister is housesitting for us this weekend (we're going on a doctor approved getaway, where I will continue sitting on my rear end in a different venue....woo hoo!), and she's going to sleep in our bed, so this morning I changed the sheets and piled all of the decorative and extra pillows in the corner. There is still one King size pillow on the bed!

23 Weeks

Compared to last week's picture all I can say is - growth spurt!

Have I mentioned that I love being pregnant? Aside from all it's taken to get me to this point, I'm actually enjoying having the boys on board and being trapped at home. I reserve the right to retract this statement in 12-14 weeks though ;)

Fake Thanksgiving

Several weeks ago, one of my sister's friends (who is also pregnant) had fake Thanksgiving dinner. This sounded like a super good idea, so I added the appropriate items to my Vons.com order. (By the way, how much do I LOVE grocery delivery?!)

I declared today Fake Thanksgiving Tuesday in September. I invited my mom and sister over to partake in the tastiness. It was super easy to make (Stove Top stuffing, instant mashed potatoes, canned corn and cranberry, and just a turkey breast with instant gravy).
















My Plate Before:
















My Plate After:
















Yes, I really did eat all of that! After I'd stuck Henry 4.5 into the oven, I realized that I hadn't planned anything for dessert. (I should mention that since this Henry was only a turkey breast, I didn't feel he should be Henry V.)

For my impromptu dessert, I channeled my inner Andrea Braun and made chocolate chip cookies with ingredients that I actually had in my kitchen...who am I?!