Introducing: The Gleeman's Baby

The Gleeman's Baby

Today, I'm going to introduce my new etsy store, a business I've been working on since I received a serger from my mother in law and my husband for Christmas, and it has become my most priceless and prized posession!!!

(Visit me at http://www.thegleemansbaby.etsy.com/ and "like" me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Gleemans-Baby/177783705607118 - when I reach 100 "likes", I will have a drawing for a free pair of gauntlets!!!)

Tender mercies: Blessings in (gross) disguises.

So, I've always admired my mother and her ability to consistently remain organized and on top of things, including her squeaky clean house and yard and car. Everything ALWAYS smells good. Never once do I remember a rank smell emitting from the fridge or under a car seat. I don't remember my car seat days, but I'm sure that there was never a crumb to be found.

Now, I wouldn't call myself the opposite. My house is pretty clean. I do laundry, I vacuum often, I do dishes every day, and my SAHM duties are well taken care of.

But, over the years, through much stressing and trying to measure up and make things perfect, and look like i have it all together, I have come to a few conclusions:

1. It's either my house or the car. I can't do both.

Yeah- I know it should be simple to bring everything in as we go, and if we come inside, if there are cups or bags or whatever else on the floor, bring it in too. I mean, it's a simple concept...if you're not also in charge of taking several trips in and out just to be able to carry in 3 sleeping kids, one that just won't walk because she's cranky, and a diaper bag that contains the last of the wipes and formula that has to last until you can make it to the store. Pile that all in the middle, and it kind of makes you want to just leave stuff there. So I do.

2. NO ONE has it all together.

For REAL. Have you seen any comic strips lately? Have you heard any jokes? Talked to other moms? If it weren't true, there wouldn't be jokes about it, and people wouldn't talk. As for other moms, if they talk about how they have it all under control, you know already that they don't- or they wouldn't feel the need to tell people that they do. If they aren't bragging about it, then they're talking about how hard it is, and everyone else agrees with them. I guess I idolized my mom- and truth be told, I still do- but I don't remember things being out of control. Maybe she WAS the only REAL super mom.

3. Laundry is never ending.

Back in the day- you know, the one where i had one or maybe two children- I thought I was extremely clever in committing myself to wash, dry and fold one load of laundry per day. I told myself- if you can keep on top of that, it is THE secret to having a clean house and clothed children. Well...that's all very well and good, and for a time it worked. However, now that I have a plethora of children, my family wears more than one load worth of laundry per day. In order to keep up on that, and make sure that they all have clean things to wear, I have to wash around 3 loads of laundry per day. And then, the question of folding it comes in. Back in the day, when I folded one load, it took me a whole of 15- 20 minutes to fold and hang and put it away. Now, after I spend all morning washing and drying it, when I have time to sit down and fold it (During Teague's nap) my given time is just not enough to cover it. At least not to fold it AND put it away. And then, if I am lucky enough to find a day where it somehow works out and I get most or all of it done, my kids take off their clothes, I put the day's burp rags and wash cloths and towels from baths and showers into the basket....and it starts all over. There is nothing I can do about this. It's the price I pay for having a biological clock that just won't stop ticking.

3. It's going to be a long while before my house is spotless and smells good in every room. As in, when my kids are in college....or more likely, when my GRAND kids are grown up and in college. I try. And I fail. It's a vicious cycle.

Now, many of you know from my previous posts that my middle two children attend preschool around the mountain, 45 minutes away from my house.

Having been on several much longer road trips in the recent past, our minivan is a huge mess. (See conclusion #1.) Last Sunday, after spending the evening with my family, while I loaded children, diaper bags, coats and now empty casserole dishes into my van, my siblings (as amazingly organized and clean as my mother) jokingly commented on my messy van- I remember looking into the depths of it and noting crayons in seat creases, paper and crackers and toys all over the floor, a pile of left sweaters and jackets and blankets between the front seats. Plastic water bottles littered the floor- souvenirs from gas stations all over Utah. And several empty and half full cups from various fast food restaurants in the cup holders at the front.

Yes. I thought. I'm going to clean it.

Well, I didn't. I meant to. But I didn't. You see, in that week, Brandon's car broke down, his work schedule got changed, Mahone had a minor head injury, and that was only Monday. From there, all hell broke loose and it was a week full of stupid.

Today, on the way home from preschool, my Scarlet shrieked from the back seat "MOM!!! I have to go to the bathroom!!!"

"Hold it, hold it!!" I shrieked back, gaging the distance. We were only half way home, passing the refinery. We had a good 20-25 minutes. I told her "We'll be home soon- hold it!" and waited for only a few moments before she cried out in a panic "Mommy! I have to GOOoooo!"

From there, she continued to cry, sounding fairly painful, and I wracked my brain for an idea.

We had already passed the last gas station until we would enter our own town, and stopping by the side of the road where we were could get us arrested as it is private property owned by Kennecott.

Finally, my decision made, I pulled off the side of the road as we rounded the exit and approached a tourist area looking out over the Salt Lake. With an uneasy glance around, I noticed several cars parked along the parking strip, and a few men and women huddling in their coats as a "spring flurry" of fluffy snowflakes flew through the air (yes, I realize it's nearly May...but it's also Utah, so we are always on our toes.) There wasn't any way I could let my 3 year old potty out there without exposing her little bottom to who knows who. Frantically, as she wiggled out of her car seat straining to "hold it", I rummaged frantically through the garbage in my van.

And then, as Scarlet stripped of her pant, I dumped left over watery root beer onto the pavement and held up the soggy, empty cup. And promptly, I laughed inwardly with the idea "I have GOT to blog about this."

So here I am. Near 4 months after having abandoned my blog for the purpose of settling into my new life with a new baby and trusting in the words of a blogger I much respect that it's okay, if you need a break, to abandon your blog indefinitely, and it'll be okay. Your followers will be happy to see you return and you may even gain a few in your absence.

I cannot promise you much, my friends. But I'll promise that I'll TRY. I'll try to post more often. Because it's easier for me to laugh at my life and it's discrepancies, it's daily trials, it's regular frustrations and occasional triumphs when i have somewhere to put it all down, and people who appreciate it's intricacy and truth.

My title picture is no loger accurate.

Teague's birth story:

On Sunday (January 2nd) night, my water broke. It was soooo strange. It was 7:15 or so, and there was a pretty wet secretion that I ignored at first, and shoved to the back of my mind as a minor suspicion because jeez, I'm always wet and gooey when I'm pregnant.But it didn't stop, and the spurts kept getting bigger. So, we called my friend to come watch my kids, and my doc said go straight to L&D.

I also called my dad to come and pick the kids up- they stayed with my parents during this whole thing, and my dad's an hour away, so my friend came over for awhile.

I have to admit, having my water break was kind of nice. I wasn't having contractions, so other than just kind of feeling like a 2 year old with a 5 day old wet soggy diaper on, I felt fine and was able to pack extra things for my kids, organize and make sure everyone was taken care of and comfortable with the situation.

I was wearing a pad, so I thought things were okay- until at about 8:30, which is when we got to the hospital, I got out of the car and when I stood up, my water gushed and my pants were wet all the way down to the knees. It was SOOOOOO GROSS! LOL. (remember, I've never had my water break- I was always in immediate pain and hard fast labor- I've never understood the whole idea of "did I pee or did my water break?" I thought, how could you NOT know? But it's an experience worth the question. LOL.)

I got into a room with a gown on, all the while leaving puddles as I went. Ewww.At 8:30, they checked me and I was 4 1/2 cm 70% effaced. My doc said they would give me 2 hours to see if contractions started or if I progressed at all, if not, they'd give me pitocin. In the mean time, they filled me up with saline drip and I signed stuff for my epidural.

At 11:00, I was given pitocin because labor hadn't started and I hadn't progressed, so I also got my epidural. (There is a completely different vent I could write about the dumb epi guy...but that's another story.)

YES! It was SUPREMELY AWESOME to go through my ENTIRE birth experience without an ounce of pain at all because I DIDN'T FEEL A SINGLE CONTRACTION!!! LOL.The monitor didn't actually show any contractions until about midnight.

I told my nurses that once it started, I would go fast. They were really awesome- two cute things named Mindy (both of them) and were just sweet as anything.

They came in at 1:00 though, because my baby was having what they called "lasts". His heart rate would dip with a contraction, but then not elevate all the way back up once the contraction was over. They had me change sides I was laying on and gave me oxygen. They didn't check me because "they had an hour ago, and I was still at a 4 1/2"....It really freaked me out because I've never had anything liek that happen. And honestly, I was getting impatient. Having already been at the hospital for more hours than any of my other babies took to be born, I was worried that something was wrong.

Well, at 2:15, they checked me and I was complete. The nurses laughed and were like "You weren't kidding when you said you'd go fast!" LOL. They said the "lasts" were, instead of the baby laying on the cord as it usually is, caused by the baby descending. It's really normal

SO they prepped me for pushing. My doc showed up and they said "We're going to do a few practice pushes just to see how you'll do." - I sat up and they both screamed "STOPPPP!!!" One of the nurses couldn't stop giggling. She was like "Wow!!! If you feel anything, DON'T PUSH!!"

When Doc got there, I pushed 2 times, but only because Teague had the cord around his neck and it had to be slipped off.

Apparently, my doctor was very impressed by his cord- which was HUGE and blue and spirally and awesome looking, and the first words out of my mouth were "He is so FAT!!!!" LOL.

I have no tears or cuts!!! YAY!!!I got to hold him for nearly a half hour before they took him to weigh him. He scored 10 on the apgar test, has amazing lungs (cries "maaa-maa" instead of "waaa-waaa" though...but I don't know if that means anything.) and he weights 8 POUNDS 3 OUNCES!!!!! That is HUGE for me- my others were 7.7 (lilly) 6.0 (Mahone) and 6.14 (Scarlet) LOL. He's 21 1/2 inches long, and he has looooots of blond hair. We can't quite tell what color his eyes are yet. They have adjusted several times. They might be brown, or they might be very dark blue.

My doctor, after delivering didn't even give me a chance to gloat about knowing all along. He said to the nurses: "She told me so! I should have listened! You said you wouldn't make it to your next appointment, let alone your induction date."

Maybe I will give him another chance the next time around now that he knows I mean business. LOL.

Teague is a champion nurser- LOVES to nurse...but the contractions I'm getting from nursing are furious and extremely painful. I have had to put him down a few times because I can't hold him with the pain. OOOOOOH I hope it stops soon!!!


Oh- and FTR, I ate a butt load of those ginger "break your water/jump start your labor" cookies on Saturday afternoon....in case anyone wants to try it. They're YUMMMMMMMY and can't hurt. I don't know if they are the culprit for my labor or not. But it was fun to try. I will be making the cookies anyway- even when i'm not pregnant. Recipe:

2 1/2 c. flour1 1/2 t. baking soda3/4 t. cinnamon1 t. ground ginger 1/2 t. ground cloves1/2 t. salt1/2 t. cayenne pepper 8 T. butter1/2 c. sugar1 c. brown sugar1/3 c. molasses1/4 c. egg whitesPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and spices and set aside. Cream the butter and sugars together. Add the molasses to the creamed butter, then add the egg whites until combined. Addd the dry ingredients slowly. Once incorporated, roll dough into 1 inch balls and place onto baking tray. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Touchy Topic Tuesday- Gift Cards For Christmas?

Touchy Topic Tuesday:

Gift Cards For Christmas?

Gift giving is the name of the season.

Many people love to scale the malls and the sales, searching for that perfect gift. A lot of people have something specific in mind when they think of a person.

In my family, we draw names each year. If I choose my mom, my sister, or my oldest brother, then I know exactly what to get them. If you asked me to make a list of things they might like, it'd take me just a second to jot down a page full of ideas for each of them. The HARD part is picking ONE.

If I pick out my dad's or my youngest brother's name...well, I'm at a loss. I know my dad is very practical. He'd prefer shoes. Or tools (if you can find one he doesn't already own) or a bill paid. It's very hard to be creative there. And it's also difficult to get him to tell you what, exactly, he needs. My brother is a great big dork- in the most entertaining and wonderful way possible. But he already has every single movie known to man downloaded to his computer. He already has just about every xbox game there is. Heaven knows what to get him.

Recently, I read a list of the 10 worst Christmas gifts you can get someone. On the very top of that list was a little piece of plastic, it can be as valuable as the buyer prefers, but only to precise stores, and, it's called a gift card.

Gift cards, according to MSN Today, were named as the absolute worst gift one can give. And cold hard cash actually came in further down the line. Apparently, a gift only is actually a gift if it took a lot of thought and knowledge of the person receiving the gift and their inner most desires.

So....basically, if you don't know a person well enough to buy them something specific, and be sure that it's exactly what was the main characters in their very own personal visions of sugar plums, then you'd probably better not get them anything at all.

All or nothin'.

Honestly, I just have to say that I disagree with this. Now, it's not something that I am very seriously passionate about, as I have been about some of my Touchy Topic Tuesdays, but I do still have an opinion, and as it seems to be something that people have viciously varying opinions about, it's up for debate.

I am not a hard person to buy gifts for. I'm sure that if any of the people I mentioned were easy for me buy for drew my name, they'd have a very simple time picking something out for me that would just make my heart flutter. Particularly my mom. And my oldest brother has a knack for getting me into fits of giggles.

But there are people who just don't know me that well. And when it comes down to it, if someone were to ask me what I wanted or needed this Christmas, i would tell them that I really need some clothes for after the baby is born. You know, like things I can wear that aren't maternity clothes? I need new jeans as I wore my old ones to threads. I need nursing shirts. I need things that are going to help me feel pretty and cute and stylish instead of frumpy mommyish. But if i were to tell someone that, I would probably be pretty terrified of what I might receive and have to wear in order to NOT make them feel bad. Not to mention, I have absolutely NO clue what size I'll be right after i have this baby. I'm HOPING that I'll do what I did with my last 3, and go back to being my old size 4 pretty quick. But there's no guarantee. And I want things in MY SIZE.

How to get around that?

A gift card sounds lovely.

Not only that, but I am a very very crafty person. I am always creating. If I am not making something, my life feels a bit empty. It's just a habit and obsession of mine. Would it be acceptable and even appreciated for someone to go out to a craft or fabric store and buy me supplies? Probably, because I'm really good at taking stuff that I had no previous affiliation for and throwing it into something awesome. (Yes. I have a big head about this.) BUT, it would, admittedly, be much more satisfying for me to be able to buy the things that I already had in mind for my ongoing projects.

Once again, a gift card would be delightful.

So, really, if you're one of those people who is just an amazing gift giver, and you seem to just always be able to foresee what someone would be thrilled to get, then DO THAT! Because it really IS always awesome to get something and think "WOW!!!! You really know me so well!" - and it's also such an excellent feeling to GIVE that kind of gift. When you can see on a person's face that you did so incredibly well that it left them speechless. BUT, if you don't have any clue, then don't shrink away from the gift card. It has much more meaning than just "I don't know you very well."

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Okay, everyone!!!! Let us all know how you feel about gift cards for Christmas, both giving and getting!!!

Mommier-Than-Thou-Monday

Welcome to Mommier-Than-Thou Mondays!!!!

Please, if you are an exceptional mom (and you know you are!!!) Link up below, grab the button, and join us in telling the world why YOU are a better mom than anyone else!!!!

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I have exceptionally smart kids.

I really do. That's really 100% not just me being a mom who wears rose colored glasses while looking at my children. I mean, they're no Einsteins, but they ARE very smart.

And while I am well aware that most of that is their own merit- their own little brains are what is exceptional, I DO have to take a bit of credit here.

I have spent countless hours reading to my children. I have spent countless hours with them going through flashcards of the alphabet to help them remember so that they could learn to read. I have spent much time doing homework with them and answering impossible questions with actual pictures and definitions found off of the internet- no half baked or mediocre answers here!!!

Also, I never ever talked to them with baby talk. Brandon and I both have pretty decent sized vocabularies. And we actually know how to form a complete sentence. We don't use double negatives, and as a result, our children have picked up on much of our vocabulary as well.

It was a proud moment when my then three year old Mahone shouted from the back seat of my minivan "Mommy! Lilly's antagonizing me again!!!!" And yes, by the way, he DOES know what that word means.

As of this very Mommier-Than-Thou Monday, I am here to brag about the fact that my 2 year old Scarlet knows all her letters- uppercase and lowercase- by sight. She also knows their sounds, including both the long and short sounds of the vowels. She has known them for a few months now. I believe it was just before Halloween that she finally remembered the last letter she had been struggling with. And now, we are working on blending two letter words, such as at, in, up, and so on.

YAY for Scarlet, her big fat brain, and YAY for ME! Because I don't care HOW smart your kid is, they probably aren't going to learn very much without support from amazing parents!!!!