Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Trailer park Tuesday #2

Trail's End is the trailer park that Sissy and Danny moved to (it is her dad's) when they got married.
It was soooo hot, and it was June.
Before they got married we spent nights over there fixing up the trailer.
People are hard on these trailers.
There was kitchen grease to be removed, wall holes to be repaired, exterminating --the likes of which I had never imagined.
When we finished they had the cutest little trailer.
Before C. was born, though they moved into another trailer.
A story: One night we were painting cabinets with oil based paint--the kitchen cabinets.
We had the doors--wet with paint--lying on the floor.
Up pulls Earl the Squirrel on his liqour cycle (rhymes with popsicle)and walks into the trailer.
Earl the Squirrel lived in the park, and he came to visit Sissy (he does work for her Daddy)--He does not drive the liquour cycle for nothing--if you catch my drift.
Earl the Squirrel also goes barefooted from at least March until about November--so his feet are FILTHY!
Anyway he came stumbling into the trailer and stepped right onto the cabinet doors--one big ole foot on each door onto the oil paint and left big ole nasty feet marks on the doors!
YIkES!
I think that first trailer is on here--the one that is brown and white, but I cannot remember if that is the one or not.

Enjoy!



This is one of my favorites from this park. These people are taking up a permanent status. They have built on an addition--the size of the actual trailer. They have added fencing, and they have the two satelite dishes in the yard.--I wonder what is behind that fence... :)




fun pictures

Josh and Andrea here on Andy's mama's back porch. Josh is E's godfather--which is funny b/c his entire family is of Italian descent. Mama--daddy--all of em. Iorio.

hiccup's (the baby's) corner: I got this mobile of of eT$y. :) I painted the bunny.
She has the cutest little corner of the room--which andy and i got ready LAST NIGHT! All of a sudden I decided that it was absolutely necessary to wash the crib, get all of the bedding ready and put the corner all the way together. I was also having many contractions and we also sent the children to andy's mama's house.
We think that hiccup might arrive any day! Her nickname as of right now is hiccup b/c she has them all the time. She particularly gets them when I lay down to take a nap.

E and V with a carrot out of the garden. They love to pull up a carrot and then go right inside and eat it--with ranch dressing of course.

Elena at the swimming pool --one of the days of her swimming lessons:

Friday, June 26, 2009

media commentary

I have two bits of media commentary to blog this morning. My children are at their Nana's house as of 8:00 AM. :)
1. I was reading redb00k, and there was a snippet about "mama's boys". It said that really there is a good reason to raise a semi-mama's boy. They turn out to be sweeter men. So there. Justification for why I am such a SUCKER for Victor and his temper/very stubborn lettle sweetheart/gorgeous self. Now if you know me much, you know that at one time I might have really criticized someone for typing this. Isn't it funny how life teaches us the error of our ways. Now there is one version of the mama's boy that just is not cool--I will be teaching Elena all about this kind. The kind that --let's see--still has to have all their food plain when they are grown up and they will not even be gracious for minute and try something that might have a "sauce". That is a warning sign, to me, to look for the exit!

2. N3wsw33k had an entire article about cave people! It was about --well it's too early right now, but it talked about exactly what my blog said. The only thing was things that are written about evolution tend to take the stance that men run around thinking about having babies and how to make some...uhhhh..I think they are running around thinking about doing some oil checking and hoping NOT to make the bebes! interesting. So I guess my thinking about cave people all the time actually came from some media that i read in the past--not just an original genius idea! :)

Okay I am off to talk to my Daddy in the yard.
The playhouse is now covered in siding.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for family and friends.
This morning Nana, my mother in law, came over at 8:00 AM when my children were still in their pajamas. She took them home with her.
This allowed me to have a peaceful breakfast and to take a shower and get ready to go to the Dr. in solitude....NICE!
She kept my children while I went to the Dr. and she kept V while E and I went to her last swimming lesson.
Then after swimming lessons--around 3 or so Sissy and C. and Collin and my children and I went to the pool together and played.
We ate supper together at my house, and they left just after bedtime.
Since Andy is gone I need to be around people.
It is so nice to be so close to family, and friends and have people who love us taking care of us. :)
While I was doing all the runnin around--my sweet Daddy and Mr. C were in the yard putting the siding on the play house all day long!!--until after supper time!!

Baby update: I am at 36 weeks. The Nurse checked me today. 1cm down 9 to go..my cervix is 50% effaced (thinned)...yay!!
They also gave me the on-calll schedule so that i will know who to expect when I go in to deliver.
If this anatomy talk is too much--when you get to the baby update part from now on, just stop reading. :)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

trailer park tuesday--#1




This is a trailer park that is near the pool where E. takes swimming. I noticed it last summer. It is quite large, and quite established.
The people have all kinds of porches, and flowers, and carports.
There is one main road and about five smaller ones that go off from that one.
The name of it is Highland Park.
It is shady and cute. These pics. are of the trailers at the front.
There were some really cute ones toward the back, but I had already put the camera away.

I guess this is going to be sort of a photography project b/c my mission is to convey the cuteness/romance/appeal of any given trailer park that I choose.
:)

A ver si puedo.

fotos






Here are pictures of my birthday flag and the portrait of Luna.
The other one is of the Play house. :) It is nearing completion. It needs paint, a ceiling fan, and siding.

Today I am going to start a new series on the blog for Tuesdays called, "Trailer park Tuesday"
I am going to feature a new trailer park each Tuesday for the rest of the summer.
Shannon, I will need your help, b/c two of my favorites are in Alamance County, Rocky top, and that other one on hwy 70 near Haw River.
The other ones I will pick on a spur-of-the-moment basis.
I love trailer parks.
They just look so cozy to me. Of course whenever I ride through them i am picturing living in a cute little village surrounded by cool neighbors and cool music playing throughout and everyone's grubby children are running around and riding on bikes or tricycles. People are grilling out and having some beers.
I am not picturing --tornados, poverty, wife beating etc.
So, this feature is just going to be for fun--b/c if you look at it a certain/romantic way, a trailer park could be a fun place.
If you read this blog and you have a favorite trailer park--Morgan? Melissa? Bethany? y'all should do a trailer park tuesday every now and then. :)
Morgan, Andy is going out of town tom. and he is going to be in Catawba county! We have no cell phone--but I will give him your number to take with him. :)

:)
I have to get today's picture when I take E. to the pool in Greenville.
Next week's will be the trailer park where Sissy and Danny lived when C. was born--Trail's end.

Have a great day!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

31

Welp, that does it. I am 31! :)
Today was a great birthday!
This morning I got some sleep in time.
Andy bought me a beautiful flag that we hung on the tree that I look at outside all the time. --will post picture later.
My mama and daddy got me a portrait of Luna painted by a local artist based on a foto.--of course that made me cry
It is absolutely gorgeous, and it captured the look she had in her eyes perfectly. :(
I got a happy birthday serenade on my voicemail from Shannon, a card from Morgan, some cash from the in-laws, several other sweet cards from family...it was just a good day.
This afternoon I got down the av3nt carrying case to check out which breast pump parts i would need, and it turns out--i need the whole thing! yikes.
well I thought they cost around 29 dollars--that is how much the one was that I had, anyway.
We went to babies rU$ and they now cost 50.00. So, i will not have a manual pump. No worries. The other one should suffice.
They also do not have nursing bras--or gowns, nor does wal-mart....uhhghhh..
I feel sorry for Eastern NC first-time moms who want to really give nursing their baby a go--there are no supplies.
The lady in Wal-mart the other day apologized for hollering out, "do we have nursing bras?" to the other sales lady...ughhh...
I said, "oh no, that's not embarrassing to me at all, I am a mammal, and I am feeding my baby my milk--that is not gross--"
People trip me out.
I mean I was standing in a section full of cheap thong panties..ugh...

okay--off the soapbox. that is a seriously bad place to be right now. The baby bump is now just --really so big.
I have been having contractions and dilating for two or three days now. Thursday is my next Dr. appt, and I bet he will say that my cervix has dilated right much. My body is working.

Bueno, I had other things to blog about and now I cannot think of what they were.

I am off to internet shop and get me nursing bras. I have some, that are old-faithfuls, but I am after this one that is for sleeping in (i know that sounds crazy) but i bet it will be nice to not have milk leaking out all over my sheets.

Oh!the blog topic was going to be about mama's boys--I was reading about this topic in r#db00k, and I had a cute blog entry all planned out..oh well, I will do it tomorrow, with the pictures.

Friday, June 19, 2009

TMI?

Andy had a "procedure" done today.
His insurance was about to change so we had to go ahead and get the "procedure" done.
It starts with a V.
It ends with ectomy.
I got to go in too!
First he took a valium and then we went to the office.
It took 15 minutes. It was really fun to watch. Very straightforward.
Then, I spent the rest of the day taking the best care of him.
He is so cute sitting in the recliner getting waited on. :)
I was asked, "why don't you just get your tubes tied?"
But I say, women have to do everything...take hormones to fcu&& up our ovaries and bodies, have the babies, nurse the babies...why not let the man get a little 15 minute snip-a-roo? Andy agreed. And this evening, after it all, he said..."This is nothing, baby, compared to the pain you have to go through having a baby"
Tomorrow all of his family is going to be over at his mom and dad's house to play in the river.
He will not be going in the river.
I guess that means I will be sporting the non-maternity swimsuit that I wear even though my belly sticks out (it is a tankini) and going in swimming.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Happy Birthday Andy! :)



Andy's birthday was today. :)
He played some birthday golf.
We had a fun party with family.
He cooked birthday steaks for everyone.

I have been giving Andy birthday presents since the birthday he turned seventeen! :)
I still remember what I gave him for that birthday.

Monday, June 15, 2009

First day "off"



This picture is of E. with my Daddy.
:)
She is so cute around him.
She loves for him to pick her up and hold her. :)
those pelegrino genes are strong ones, no?

Today was my first day "off"
I woke up and went to work for one hour--the one I still owed after furlough time and "above and beyond" time were taken into acct.
Then it was off to the doctor--30 minutes
Then I ran to the library to sign E up for summer reading time, and to renew my inter library loan book--which i am halfway finished with.--for 5.00--that book will be finished before it goes back! :)
Then it was off to get an orangeade and back to work to finish my one more thing that needed to be done.
When I got home Sissy pulled up, we fed the bebes lunch, hatched out a plan to induce my labor (I had to know her working schedule), and we left to go to swimming lessons--Sissy, C., E. and me.
When I pulled into the driveway after swimming lessons Andy had V. waiting to go to the doctor...whew...
I WAS about to go to sleep in the dr.'s office reading books to V....
He was good, and brave (we had to get a knot on his neck checked out) Ihave been told it is his lymph node, but it still worries me.
Then we came home warmed up supper, and read books and they were off to bed.

This evening my internet adventures took me to breast pump land, where I searched for tubing and all sorts of stuff, so that my newest bebe can have her mommy's milk when I am gone to work.
It was a bit hard to track down. ..but I found it.

Now I need nursing gowns, and a couple of accesories for the manual pump I use.
:)

wheew....what a day off!

Friday, June 12, 2009

all partied out...


So, we went to the party.
Andy is playing in a golf tournament with his dad this weekend.
The party had to do with the golf tournament.
I was sober the whole time, of course (this is actually beginning to be fun to me).
Andy and I are discovering that we are both actually shy. Andy always knew this about himself. I just constantly get reminded about myself.
I do not work the room.
Most of the time I really don't care to talk to but about four people.
I enjoy people.
It is fine to talk to people it is just not something that I thrive off of, or that I seek out.
So, when we go to parties...it can be...just pointless.
Tonight there was good food. Andy ate it.
I had a nice cup of water.
We talked a bit, and came home.
My favorite part was wearing my oompa loompa dress.
(getting dressed up is almost always my favorite part)

Now we are home and I am off to read my book.
Our kiddies are with Andy's mama and daddy.
We are just going to get a good night's sleep.

Oh, one more thought, Andy and I cracked up when we got home at thinking about one of my friends--we will call her horseradish (the one who can clear your sinuses b/c you never know what she might do)--and the kind of fun she would have at a party like that one...ohhh weee.

Almost famous

This morning when I got to school my principal asked me could I go to the TV station to do something for them.
hmmm...
turns out they wanted a spanish interpretation of an announcement for all the folks who were still not ready for the digital conversion.
I got nervous!
I thought they were going to put me on TV!
But no. I just translated it, and then they recorded me and they put it over the footage of the man saying it in English.
When I got home I got to see it (Andy and I are semi-prepared for the digital switch) and I felt famous! :)
It was exciting.
They cut out a part of it. They made typos on my translation, and they compressed my reading--so it would fit their timeline..but who cares!
They put me on TV!

"I'm a chain, I'm a chain" (what movie is that from? anyone know?)

Now probably fewer people will see that announcement than read my blog--but
whatever.

Bueno, pues I am off to take a nap. It has been a long day, what with the Television appearance and all...
Then andy and I are off to a party.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

So, Yet again, violence wins

I am not sure how many of y'all get to watch or listen to news. I know that we skip days and days of watching news, and some mornings I hear it on the radio.
Wasn't it so sad to hear of the doctor that got killed this week?
He was a doctor who performed ab0rt!ons. Yes. Was he doing anything illegal? No. Was he doing something unethical? Depends on how you think about ab0rt!on.
One of my favorite bumper stickers ever said:
Against ab0rt!on? Don't have one.
Simple enough.
Working with the public and seeing:
1. how poorly some people treat their children &
2. how little expectation or society has that men take care of the offspring
I just cannot judge a decision that a woman makes regarding her life.
It is not my business.

So, then the other day --a couple of days after this man/father/brother/husband was murdered, they announced that his clinic would be permanently closed.

Violence won folks!

Now, I wonder how many abused and neglected children the gunman is going to go out and support/help/take interest in?
I wonder how much money taxpayers will have to pay to feed this a$$hole baloney sandwiches until he is pushing up daisies?

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

amazing


these pictures are never attractive to me....but they are irresistible when you are the person growing another person who is hanging off of the front of your body.
"andy, can you believe this?, you have to take a picture, now try to make it look good"
"okay, stand over there I am watching my show."
That explains the perspective from which this picture was taken. :)

He is amazed by it. His favorite is to let the baby kick him in the back in the bed at night. :)
She is getting sooo big!

:)

Monday, June 8, 2009

tidbits

**There was a bear on the loose right near our school today. So, the children had to stay inside and the gates were all closed. The mama bear and her cub were just running through town. I felt sorry for them, and hoped they were not too scared.

**This afternoon E. went to the b.room for potty time, and she always lets victor in even though that's private--I peeped in and Victor had taken off his diaper and was sitting on his potty beside her! YIPPIE! I think he just wants to be low key about the whole learning to potty thing (everything else too?).

**The baby is mainly getting nourishment from snacks. I bet I have eaten 25 bags of doritos during this pregnancy, and tonight supper was ice cream. Supper cannot be eaten past 5:30 lest I sit up with heartburn all night. ACCKKK!!!

**I got a book from the inter library loan (which costs $5 here btw) and it is in Spanish, and due back the 19th of June. ...How many times will I renew this book??? hmmm..it is going to take a while to read it, b/c i have to not zone out when I read in Spanish...hmmmm...

**The last time I went to the dr. the nurse practioner informed me that at this office they will not strip membranes for women who are 40 weeks pregnant and have favorable cervix conditions...do whah huh??? She said it in a serious tone too, "we don't do that." uhhh... "For anyone?"--"WE don't do that.." So I said, "Well, I reckon if y'all won't, I will have to find someone who will." {Get ready nurse friend, sissy!} Then i thought how hard to be a nurse friend and be faced with the prospect of doing this for a friend..hmm hmm..
So THEN I thought, "well she can just wear some sunglasses" (dumb, but I thought it, I mean she would need blinders..eye patches..duh)So I called her in a panic and she said, "no problem, that's not even a big deal, susan, i'll do that for you." YES! What a good nurse friend!


**Pues, that's all I got.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

journal

This is the journal entry I just read of a first grader:

The thing I will miss most about first grade is (this is the part he copied from the teacher) going to see ms. hill. She is nise and she is prtty.

That is a big deal for several reasons.
1. speech teachers are almost always forgotten --in the appreciation dept.
2. This child is the cutest thing in the world--he is one of three boys, two of whom have significant learning disabilities, and they all look alike, so i gues i am just glad that our appreciation of one another is igual. :)

In our county the second and third grades are housed in a different building, so I will not see this child next year.
I bet I will have his little brother, though. ;). (Although I hope not, b/c I hope he did not get the speech/LD genes--for his sake)

This year is coming to a close FAST! :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Sweet!






Today was a sweet day! It started off bad. :( Then I went to work. I started working and work took my mind off of sad pregnancy hormone induced moodiness (Bethany read all about this via email). Then I had a shower at work--yay showers, they make huge, pregnant women feel loved. Then I got home and the playhouse in the yard is coming right along. Monday my carseat cover was finished at the embroidery shop! YAY!
Things are going to be ready for baby E after all-I hope. :)

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Cave people

I have always wondered what cave people did in certain situations. The situation is usually one that goes with something that is going on in my life.
At one time I wondered what cave people did without chapstick. I mean when your lips are chapped--it is just absolutely necessary--I think having chapped lips and no chap stick could drive me insane. Then I decided -probably with help from someone (Andy?) --that they probably had fats and oils that they rubbed on themselves. Problem solved.
Then, when I was pregnant with Elena I wondered what did cave women do when they were pregnant!!!???
I mostly wondered this in the middle of the night when I had to get up and use the bathroom five times. Have you ever walked in a slippery cave? I have and I busted my A**. :) So, imagine being big and pregnant and having to walk to the cave bathroom or the hole or outside to use the bathroom five times a night...Also how did these cave women get snacks? Goldfish crackers?
I have thought and thought about this and I decided that the baby daddy helped them. One of my friends here at work disagrees. But, who would have a the biggest interest in helping the pregnant mama? The person whose offspring resides in her womb. I have a feeling that people were mostly monogamous in cave times (keep in mind I am talking about homo sapiens--they were the same people as we are not--not dummies) I also think that they had similar emotions to ours at least the hormonal ones that one cannot control. I bet that men did help out. My friend at work, Christy, thinks that women helped eachother--but I say not--b/c the other women were nursing babies or sleeping with toddlers.
I am glad Andy is my caveman! :)
When I was pregnant with Elena he got up at five in the morning one time to go to the store and get me some milk and cereal all b/c when I asked him to do it I sounded cute.
I bet the cave women said, "oh please get me some more of that wooly mammoth jerky" in a really sweet voice and their cave men got them some. And, I bet that if they fell down in the cave the man was there to pick them up and to hope that they did not start to bleed to death.

I have thought and thought about this, and I think that cave daddys were probably very supportive during pregnancies.

Okay, now for a good song reference:
There is a country song that is called "then" or something and it is a man singing about loving his wife and he says to himself, "and I thought I loved you then" Like every thing that happens along the way just makes me love you more.

This is a very pregnant post, no?
Yes. I am at work, and my first graders are outside for "first grade day" Whatever that is. :)

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...