Hotel California

Planner...it really should be my middle name. Andrea Planner McDonald...doesn't exactly roll off the tongue though. I like knowing what to expect. I'm the nerd who has lesson plans done weeks before I actually teach the lesson. When I see an organized closet or office with labels it makes me down right giddy. Not because that's what my closest or office looks like but because it's what I aspire to be.

My life lately though has not gone according to plan...not even close. A pregnancy during the triple digit heat of Texas was definitely not part of my plan. Being a year behind in scrapbooking was not part of my plan. My sister's recent news of her recurrence of breast cancer was certainly not in my plan.

But for the most part, I'm working through this so called "plan" and trying to bring some sort of order to chaos.

At Justin's company Christmas party, he was lucky enough to win a trip for two anywhere in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Carribbean. Because if you don't know, my husband was pretty much born in a bed of clovers with the amount of luck that oozes from his skin. Margaritas were singing my name and crystal clear beaches were in my dreams.

Cue the record scratching.

Then a positive pregnancy test surfaced a few weeks later. There goes that "plan" out the window again.

New plan...stay in the US. We decided to go to Santa Barbara, California. Justin's never been to Cali and I haven't been since I was in the 5th grade so pretty much it was fresh to me too. But in a miscommunication our trip was scheduled to the wrong place and we ended up getting tickets to Santa Ana instead of Santa Barbara! Oops. So fortunately, all was fixed and we somehow were lucky enough to get TWO free trips out of this! See, told ya....bed of clovers, people!

I've got to admit, I didn't even know where Santa Ana was on a map nor did I have any clue what we were doing. Everyone kept asking, "So what are you doing on your trip?" And I would just say, "I have no idea. We're just winging it." But in a place like this, it's not hard to wing it.

And we did.

And I loved it.

Every

single



unplanned

moment of it.

The words "so what do you want to do next" haven't come out of our mouths in probably 6 years and I gotta tell ya...we should really say them more. As prepared and planning might make me feel, the feeling of being unstructured was equally as exhilarating especially in a life of schedules, sports practice, games, and meetings.

We fell in love with Laguna Beach. Parts of it reminded me of Europe. Not sure if it was feeling the cool breeze or seeing dogs with their owners eating at cafes outside but it just had that feeling. We have some friends, Emily and Reid, that lived there shortly after being married and we just kept wondering what they were thinking moving back to Texas. She gave us all the hot spots to eat and we pretty much did a Wakefield tour of Laguna.



We found this adorable cupcake bakery and in my make-believe life... I'd open one up just like this one. Pink, adorable and I would feel like I was playing "store" every day I opened it. It was something little girls would dream of.



And I swear had there not been all kinds of airport restrictions, I would have brought 2 dozen home with me (if they would have made it home before I ate them).

 

 Newport Beach just miles down the road reminded me of something completely different. It had more of a Nantucket, Massachussets feel. Not that I've actually been to Nantucket, but I've got really good visions in my head and in my little world, it looks just like this.



And they grow bouganvilla there like it's a weed.

There was this universal feeling of being laid back. I mean even the dogs were on surf boards...



I lost count how many times Justin or I said, "What in the world do these people do for a living?" I know the real estate there is absolutely outrageous but it really made me want to bold enough to just knock on their door and ask.


We got to enjoy our first ever ferry boat by car ride and have the freshest seafood we've ever had.

One of our "what should we do while we're here" conversations with the locals landed us whale watching. While we didn't see any whales, we saw sea lions and tens of dolphins just swimming along with us showing off. I mean we're talking we- could-see-their-blow-hole close.

  And look at all that sea lion snugglin' going on.

On our last day, we even squeezed in a short trip to Disneyland. Now before you go thinking how mean we are going to Disneyland without the kids, we only went to Downtown Disney.

 

The trip was absolutely positively exactly what we needed. We needed sunny skies, feet in the sand, time alone and throwing our schedules out the window. We needed to recharge.

Cryfest 2011

I'm not too proud to admit that my emotions have rivaled that of the biggest roller coaster at Six Flags. One minute I'm slap-a-grin-on-my-face happy and other times I feel like the Incredible Hulk. I really really hope that I can blame it all on my pregnant hormones being so out of whack, or at least that's what I tell myself so that I can sleep better at night wondering if I'm scarring my children for life.

Nolan's Pre-K end of year program was a couple of weeks ago and the timing was not optimal. School that day had absolutely worn me out.

End of the school year = behavior problems all.day.long.

Then moments after school got out I found out that Tonya's, my sister, cancer is back. Yep, every emotion that we went through last year gets to start all over again. And to top it off, I came home to find that my completely neurotic dog went ballistic and decided to go completely psycho in our bedroom. It pretty much looked like we got robbed. 

But bad day or not, I was NOT going to miss my baby's end of the year program/graduation. I gotta say I was so crazy proud of Nolan. I'm impressed that he has a little handbell blood running through his little veins. I played handbells in high school. Not because I'm musically gifted but pretty much because one of my best friend's mom's made her play and so she made me play. But I did get to tour in some amazing cathedrals in Europe so I'd say it was worth it.

I especially love that he plays with his tongue sticking out.

There are moments in motherhood where you see your children and you just think, Oh my goodness, this is going by so quickly. This is what everyone warned me about. And at that very moment, you want to just soak in every second and you promise yourself that you will never forget this moment/age/stage. That you'd do it all over again, every hair pulling moment, to have the moment that you're experiencing that very second.

 

Next year, my baby starts kindergarten! The only thing easing the blow is that he'll be at school with me. So for the first time as a working mom, I'll actually get to see him more. That definitely helps to know that I'll see his sweet face in the hall and get to sneak in quick little hugs throughout the day to help me get through my day.

Each kid made an "All about me" poster and it was so fun getting to read what he thinks when asked certain questions. If he had one wish what would it be? World peace, you ask? Nope, a new red ball. And I do love that he wants to be a chef when he grows up. I'm definitely okay with that as long as he cooks for me. But probably the best part of his poster was the award he was given by his teachers..."Our little Picasso". I saw the poster first and then pointed it out to my graphic artist husband. He had some serious pride beaming going on.



And they're right. My kid has some crazy good art skills which he definitely got from his daddy. For example I was doing puzzles with Campbell in one room and came into the kitchen to see this little masterpiece he created all by himself with no reference material around. Yeah, that would be the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse complete with the slide and the telescope coming off Mickey's ear. Not bad at all for a kid not even in kindergarten.

I'm not a huge Josh Groban fan. It's just not my style but when your baby is singing "You Raise Me Up," you cry like you're the biggest Josh Groban groupie there ever was. I'm sure the emotions from the whole day only amplified my ugly cry I had going. Justin was laughing at me and I told him it was completely legitimate for moms to cry at graduation and why was he laughing at me. He said it was only to mask his feelings of him about to cry with me at any moment.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Overflow

You should see my calendar. It's pretty much ridiculous. Summer is filled and it's just starting. And weekends are just a joke to accomplish everything. I might get a couple of loads of laundry done but the past two weekends, I haven't even been able to even fit in grocery shopping.

I want to do it all. I want my kids to play sports, get some excercise, clean the house, tackle weekend projects, see friends, go to church but there really just isn't enough time. It's like I have to choose, do we want to do nothing but projects that desperately need attention or do we just want to throw it all out the window and have fun.

And pretty much, we're choosing the latter right now. Fun. Yes, I know that I'm a year behind on scrapbooking, the nursery has just barely started and that I have expired food in my fridge. To heck with it, when a friend calls you up and says, "Hey I haven't seen y'all in a while. Let's meet up." You realize that one more day of your science project you have growing in your fridge will only make things more interesting.

So we met up with our friends, the Deales, and they're the type of friends that if you haven't seen them in a couple of weeks, months or even a year that you just pick up right where you left off. And when weather is as amazing as it was on this particular weekend in Texas, it's a sin to stay inside.



Andrea (yes we have the same first and middle names) and I used to work together at Pier 1 for years and actually became really good friends once we both became moms within the same year.

Andrea's kids are something out of a Gap commercial. And these girls know how to work a camera like they're pros.

The boys couldn't stop talking about how much they wanted to have another playdate with them.

There's this lingo in the photography world called the "golden hour" when outside photography is its best. Yeah, sister found some rockin' golden hour if I do say so myself.

 

It was like the sun was just kissing every photo. 

*Smooch*

And it wouldn't be a full weekend without trying to squeeze in another event and friends. This time it was a birthday party at a TCU baseball game.



Superfrog was there and let's say that we've come a loooong way from Nolan's first encounter with Superfrog two years ago...thank goodness! This is what we call a good excited in our house...

 

Nolan absolutely loved getting to run the bases.

 

Not much of the game was watched. We were having too much fun talking with friends and tearing down pizza boxes to go grass sledding down the hill.





Campbell didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he was completely out and I followed shortly after him. But that's when you're know that you've fit in as much as you possibly can and made the most out of your weekend.

Baby bump update

I feel like such a slacker when it comes to journaling about this pregnancy. I wasn't into scrapbooking until after I had Nolan so that pregnancy doesn't have much that I documented either. But then again, it's probably a good thing that I didn't journal because it would have just basically been...it's a million degrees outside, I'm huge, and my feet look like something out of the Nutty Professor.

With Campbell, I somehow squeezed it in to document every doctor's appointment along with photos in a perfectly coordinated scrapbook. How I found the time? I have no idea.

With this pregnancy, I have at least taken the time to journal my appts and that's about it. Pictures have been more hit or miss this pregnancy too.

But let me fill you in on what the last 24 weeks have been like. I'm still on daily blood thinner injections. Boo! They are 100% absolutely no fun whatsoever. There was hope that I would be taken off them but then I found out that I'm lucky enough to take them my entire pregnancy and a month after. The bruising comes and goes. Right now, for some reason, I'm bruising again, and my stomach could rival being caught in the middle of a boxing match.

As much as every shot stinks and stings, I'm grateful that there's something for me to take to help me sustain this pregnancy. At 32 weeks I'll be going in for a twice a week sonograms. While I'm actually looking forward to that, I'm not looking forward to switching to a different type of blood thinner that's not as long lasting in case I were to go into labor. You guessed it, that means TWO shots a day.

Our sonograms have all looked great and Landry is as cute as ever. Well, as much as you can tell in a blurry black and white kind of way.

My energy level was completely shot my first trimester. A trip to the grocery store made me feel like I had just run a marathon. During my second trimester, I noticed a big difference in my energy level although it's seems to be declining in the recent weeks. I'm not sure if that's being pregnant or just being a teacher dying to have summer here.

My due date is Sept. 20th but with my condition, I will definitely not be making it to that day. We have to plan my delivery very carefully and it's all dependent on a variety of factors. So I could be having her as early as August 30th...yep, the second week of school. I'm trying to completely ignore the fact that I'm due right when school starts, that my oldest is starting kindergarten, and I have a new principal starting. Oh well, it is what it is!

Probably the scariest of all news is that we're trying to prevent me from going into labor on my own. If I do go into labor on my own that means NO epidural. YIKES! The thought of knowing that it may not even be an option makes it the scariest I think.

Total weight gain: 18 lbs already! Seems like I'm right on track to gain 40 lbs like I did with both boys except now I'm in my 30s and have to get the weight off with a slower metabolism. I guess that's why you're so busy working with the kids and never sit down...more cardio, right?

Sports mania

Today I got a taste. The taste of what it will feel like having two boys in sports. No, we're not crazy enough to put Campbell in sports just yet but Nolan's soccer and t-ball season overlapped this year and so in one Saturday we had two games.

The first game was at 7:30...really? Seriously, I'm setting my alarm to go play t-ball? What is wrong with this picture? I decided games that early should be outlawed especially when they're so cold your little MVP is shivering in the dugout.





This year I've noticed a big difference...we're doing some coach pitch. They give them three shots to hit a coach pitch and then let them hit off the tee if they haven't made a hit yet. I was a nervous wreck because we have so not practiced that with Nolan recently in the backyard. We're lucky to fit in a 10-15 minute practice in the backyard after dinner is said and done before bath and bed time.



Well, one night at practice Nolan smacked the stuffing out of one of his coach pitches and actually got a triple. He was so excited that he was actually hopping as he ran the bases. It looked something like this...

When we got home, I told him to go tell Daddy the great news that he got a triple. Well, Campbell beats him out of the car, runs inside and says, "DADDY!!! Nolan got a SPARE!" He wanted so badly to tell the good news but didn't get the information exactly right.

My favorite part of this picture is that this little boy is chasing Nolan but he has not clue where the ball is. He was really more into playing tag than caring about getting him out.

We notice the kids whose parents are out in the backyard practicing like crazy. Yeah, we're so not one of those. I wish I could say that we were but then that would mean we're giving up something else like coloring or reading or having dinner as a family or getting them to bed at a decent time. So I guess more than anything, I just want him to have fun and get some excercise. So if that's my goal, we're doing just fine.

Notice my kid first in line for after game snacks. Yep, he's my kid for sure.

After his t-ball game, we loaded up, did a quick uniform change and headed to our last soccer game of the season. The reason this is so important is that Nolan really wanted to make 10 goals and we were only at 9. You should have seen his "Eye of the Tiger" face he had going on at that last game. And guess who made not one, but two goals? I love that he's so determined and has his mind set to achieve something. As a teacher, I know that motivation is the hardest characteristic to instill in a kid.

So this made my mind wonder. How am I going to handle two in sports with a baby on my hip? Somehow I'll manage I'm sure.