Friday Five From Memphis

Everyone else is out at the park so I'm here "resting" Kim ordered me to do the Friday Five so here's my Spring Break/Vacation special in honor of all our Memphis fun.

FIVE BEST ZOO ANIMALS
1. Panda bears~the really are more of a black and dirty white than you'd think.
2. Bald Eagles~they really give the eagle eye.
3. Monkeys~the girls loved watching them swing.
4. Black bears~we got to see them super close!
5. All the first graders who were on their zoo field trip.

FIVE BEST THINGS ABOUT ASIAN NAIL SALONS
1. You don't feel the need to make small talk because they really don't speak English.
2. They use those razors on your feet to get rid of the winter skin.
3. They have a zillion colors.
4. The shrine to Buddha in the corner.
5. The way they chat back and forth and make you paranoid that they are talking about you~like Elaine on SEINFELD.

FIVE BEST SISTERS
1. Kim
2. Kim
3. Kim
4. Kim
5. Caroline

FIVE BEST THINGS ABOUT THE SOUTH
1. All children are either dressed straight from a "COPS" episode or are wearing smocked dresses with matching Mary Janes and hairbows.
2. Everyone is really polite.
3. Chik-Fil-A
4. Humidity.
5. Backyard Burgers

Friday Five

FIVE BEST TV SHOWS
1. Little House on the Prairie
2. 24
3. St Elsewhere
4. Cheers
5. Roseanne (the early ones)

FIVE BEST WHITE SOX PLAYERS (NOW AND WAY BACK)
1. Ron Kittle
2. Paul Konerko
3. Carleton Fisk
4. Ozzie Guillen
5. Aaron Rowand (that's Caroline's vote)

FIVE BEST CHICAGO SPORTS MOMENTS
1. 2005 Sox World Series Win
2. Da Bulls~6 times
3. All of Devin Hester's TD punt returns
4. AJ Pierzynski taking 1st base on a ball 4 in the dirt during Game #2 ALCS
5. 85 Bears Superbowl Win

Who's On Bedrest?

Um. . .I thought I was the one who was supposed to be taking it easy? Evidently, Tim had a rough day of . . .? You fill in the blank.

Please Don't Call DCFS

So today was one the most interesting doctors appointments we've ever had. Last night Tim was playing with the girls in the backyard and was swinging them around. Not so much smart. By 10pm Amelia was hysterical about her arm. It didn't appear swollen or out-of-whack in any way so we just gave her Motrin and got her to sleep. By morning it was pretty obvious something was wrong. She was cradling her arm and not using it at all. Called good ole Dr Stroman who told us to come in. From there, the fun began.

We were sitting in the room and he walks in, looks at her chart, and asks us what the problem is. Told him "Daddy airplane rides." OK. What happened next we EXACTLY like the scene from "The Karate Kid" where Mr Myagi "fixes" Daniel-san's busted knee. Dr Stroman claps his hands, takes Amelia's arm, twists it around til she is screaming and on her knees. And then she's fine. He looks at us and chuckles, "Never seen an elbow AND wrist dislocated. That's pretty cool. No more airplane rides."

Friday Five

FIVE BEST BREAKFAST FOODS
1. Biscuits and gravy
2. Veggie omelet
3. English muffin
4. Corned beef hash (Though I feel as if I need a triple bypass afterward!)
5. Jeff's "Nasty eggs with toast"

FIVE MOST ANNOYING THINGS PEOPLE SAY TO PREGNANT WOMEN
(Disclaimer~~These bug me now b/c I'm pregnant. I have probably said all of them.)
1. WOW! You're huge!
2. Do you know what you're having?
3. Are you trying for a boy?
4. I was in labor for 8 days and tore all the way thru. My heart stopped and I had to be revived.
5. I did it without an edipural. If you just focus, you don't need one.

FIVE BEST SMELLS
1. Pink grapefruit.
2. Anything lemon.
3. Spaghetti sauce simmering.
4. Spring.
5. Burning leaves in the fall.

FIVE FAVORITE HYMNS
1. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
2. Blessed Assurance
3. It Is Well
4. Amazing Grace
5. By The Sea of Crystal

Take It Easy?

I had my 20 week ultrasound and check up yesterday. Good news, bad news, and in-between news.

Good News~Baby looks great. All organ systems present and working. No spina bifida, no water on the brain. No obvious signs of chromosomal errors.

In-between news~very modest baby. He/she has legs crossed at the knees and tucked under. He/she also was breech and facing inward so the tech could not tell the sex. I really didn't want to know but Tim and about 80% of everyone else does so I was kinda glad! :-) So for a while at least we are all still in suspense.

Bad news~I have had some bleeding off and on since the beginning of this pregnancy. Now I know why. I have a complete placenta previa. This is when the placenta forms at the bottom of the uterus instead of at the top and blocks the cervix. This results in 2 things for me.

1. For now, "partial bedrest". I am supposed to "take it easy" OK, how on earth is that possible?! I am trying, really. But it is so hard. There is so much to do. Tim is finally working again after the cold and snow of February. Everyone has been great about offering help but I suck at accepting it. I need to work on being gracious and saying "thanks" instead of "No, really. I'm OK." As Kim said, I am not resting so that my baby will have blond hair instead of brown. I'm resting to ensure the safety of the baby. Because the placenta is over the cervix it is easily irritated and could cause early labor. I have to have another U/S in a few weeks to see how things look.

2. IF the placenta does not migrate northward, I will need a C-section. That scares the heck out of me. As much as I hate pregnancy, I really don't mind the birth. All 3 girls had really good deliveries. As long as I get my epidural, I'm all good! :-) I watch enough Discovery Health Channel to know I do not want a seciton.

So for now, I ask you to pray for northward migration. My doctor said the chances of that are "remote" due to the placement of the placenta, but that's what we're hoping for. No complete bedrest and no c-section.

Thanks so much! :-)

Friday Five

Often my thoughts freeze between my brain and my finger for blog posts. I think of fantasic ideas at 3am but they never actually turn into posts. So here's an idea I saw on another blog. Simply for fun and because I really adore lists of any kind. Not necessarily in any order, just my opinion.

FRIDAY FIVES

Five Best Songs Ever~Excluding Hymns, P&W, and Country

1. Midnight Train to Georgia~Gladys Knight

2. Material Girl~Madonna

3. Sweet Caroline~Neil Diamond

4. Come Sail Away~Styx

5. Every Rose Has It's Thorn~Poison

Five Best Country Songs Ever

1. Anything But Mine~Kenny Chesney

2. Whoever's In New England~Reba McEntire

3. She and I~Alabama (Though it's hard to narrow that down!)

4. Whiskey Lullaby~Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss

5. I Don't Call Him Daddy~Doug Supernaw

Five Best Movies Ever (Ok, maybe this is more a Best 80's movies!)

1. Dead Poet's Society

2. Mr Mom

3. Boyz in the Hood

4. When Harry Met Sally

5. Say Anything

Five Best Restaurants

1. Wildfire

2. Chik-Fil-A

3. Quiznos

4. Ro-Sals

5. Gus's Fried Chicken

Meal Plan Monday. . .well Tuesday

I'm slow. I so meant to do this yesterday but I was busy. . .Celebrating Mr and Mrs Mommy Brain's Anniversary. . .working on Ebay. . .watching "24". . .um. . .

Monday . . . . . . . . .Grilled Cheese and Soup (GEMS at church)

Tuesday . . . . . . . .Chicken Stuffed Red Peppers (From Dinner's Done)

Wednesday . . . . . Egg and Sausage Casserole with Biscuits
(I have to make this for MOPS so I'm just going to do a duplicate.)

Thursday. . . . . . . Linguine with Clam Sauce and Garlic Bread (Also from Dinner's Done)

Friday. . . . . . . . . . Auction at Caroline's school
~babysitter for little girls~frozen pizza and broccoli
~Dad, Mom, and Caroline eat at school

Sat Out. . . . . . . . . Where or what I'm not sure but probably Quiznos as that I want Mama is craving!

Sunday. . . . . . . . . Cabernet Crock Pot Beef with noodles and beans (also from Dinner's Done)

I went to Dinner's Done on December 1 and made 13 meals. Soon after that morning sickness hit pretty hard and I haven't really cooked or felt like smelling up the kitchen since. This past week I am finally feeling able to get my "kitchen legs" under me again. These meals are the last of my pre-made stash. Money is always much tighter at this time of year for us so I will be cooking myself yet again! I have even started pulling recipes out of magazines again.

Baby Needs A New Pair of Shoes

This is what is happening in my kitchen right now. Yep, it's boys poker night. They are playing "no copper, no paper" so no one is betting away the mortgage money or anything so it's just guys having fun. I am listening in and they are FUNNY. They even wrote up a cheat sheet to figure out what hand is high. They think I'm in here working. . .hee hee. Nope. I just hope Tim wins b/c he's got 3 little girls who are clothes horses. :-)

Happy Birthday to Me

I am officially old. 35 today. I had a really nice day though! Last year, almost everyone forgot. Even Tim. So I have been milking this all week. :-) "Please clean the bathroom, dear. It'sm my birthday." ect, ect.

Things didn't start out great as at 4am Caroline climbed in bed with me because she heard thunder. GGRRR. . .But I had a half bag of Kettle Cooked Lays Potato Chips and Sweet Tea for breakfast and that made it all better! Christine came out and we went to get massages which for me was really more of a butt-rub as this sweet little baby of mine is sitting right on my tailbone and that HURTS! Then a lunch at the Olive Garden with Clark the Handsome Waiter. After Christine left to tend to her brood I chatted with Leslie the Wonder Sitter and watched this week's American Idol with her since she missed it and I have it Tivo'd. Tim and I went out for dinner with just Caroline which was fun since we usually are occupied with Smash and Crash. Caroline sometime has the curse of being ignored because she doesn't scream and throw things in public!

Got home just in time to tuck in the little ones and watch AI. Now, I gotta say, WHAT THE HECK?!?!?! We still have to listen to Sanjaya and Antonella?!? So not good. At least my 2 stayed put for another week. We love Phil and Gina over here. I want to start picking songs for them. Gina needs to do some Joan Jett~~I'm thinking "Bad Reputation" would be awesome. Tim loves Phil. Voted 57 times for the dude. If I didn't know better, I'd worry.