inappropriate strangers

Well I hate to post yet another blog filled with complaints but I try to keep it real and Tuesday morning was THE craziest awful morning. I mean wow, unbelievable. This is kind of a long story, only because there are so many details that were part of this horrible and now a few days later, slightly comical morning. And it had nothing to do with my children for once. It actually made me appreciate the fact that I get to hang out with them and do not have to deal with annoying coworkers or the crazy public on a regular basis.

So a couple of weeks ago, we were rear ended on the way to school. No biggie. Accidents happen. It wasn't bad. I actually felt sorry for the high-schooler who had obviously never been in an accident and was crying and frazzled, especially when she saw that I was pregnant and had kids in the car with me. I used my mommy voice and calmed her down and walked her through the process of exchanging info and told her that accidents happen and that was what insurance was for and everything would be fine. No biggie.

WELL. Tuesday I took my van to the body shop to be repaired. I expected maybe 15 minutes at the body shop and another 15 minutes with the rental car place and back home within the hour. I was told by my insurance and confirmed with Hertz (best rental car company ever, NOOOOTTTT!!!) that I had a minivan reserved for me. So I took my banged up Odyssey down to the shop and patiently waited for my ride. (I guess that's how it works. The rental company picks you up from the body shop and brings you back to get your new ride) I waited. And waited. And waited. 45 minutes and several calls from the body shop to Hertz to verify that my ride was coming, I was still waiting. 

And as I waited, I met my first inappropriate stranger that day. A lady in her 50s entered the body shop and sat down. After a few minutes, she said, "Excuse me, hi, have you heard about the new study involving pregnant women using cell phones?" "No." I said, "Does it give your baby cancer?" I asked sarcastically while continuing to use my cellphone. "No! Actually, they have found that women who use cell phones while they are pregnant tend to have hyperactive children!" "Hmmm, interesting." I replied trying not to be too rude but already in a bad mood. She then proceeded to tell me her thoughts on cell phones in general, which led to how little we know about stuff that is hidden from us by the companies trying to sell the products like cell phones, which led to the decline of our country, our joke of a president and how we should be reading the internet and listening to talk radio, not watching the news and so on. She talked and talked and talked until I excused myself to use the restroom, cursing Hertz the whole time.

After what was supposed to be 10 minutes max turned into an hour of waiting, my ride finally pulled up. It was a nicely dressed Jamaican man with a very old car. He called it his Limo. He was the 2nd inappropriate stranger I met that day. As soon as I got in his SUPER smelly car, I was overwhelmed by the awful smell coming from the man AND his car. I quickly rolled my window down all the way and kept it down on the freeway. My hair was flying around from the wind but I didn't care because it smelled SOOO bad. SO bad. A minute after getting in the car, smelly man asked me how far away I was. He kind of had an accent so I didn't really understand what he was asking. "You mean where do I live? Azusa." "No how far?" he repeated pointing to my belly. "Oh" I said, "I have a month left." "Oh!" he said. "You're not very big at all! You got a good body." He said in his accent. "Most women are so bloated at the end." Wow, I didn't even know what to say. I think I said thank you and immediately got on my hyperactivity causing cell phone, praying he was just trying to be nice and not going to take me somewhere and chop me up into tiny little pieces. What a weirdo. Who says that?

After 15 very awkward silent minutes, we made it to Hertz safely and started the rental process. As soon as I walked in the "office" the place wreaked of the smelly man's smell. I felt bad for the others who had to work with him. The place was super rundown and dirty. There was no AC on even though it was 85 degrees outside and there were flies attacking me as I waited. Why not? 

Smelly creepy man then took me outside to show me my "minivan" which did not look like a minivan at all. "What is that?" I asked. "Oh he said, well it's the equivalent to a minivan. It's an SUV but it seats seven." He proceeded to try to sell me on the car that wouldn't work for me and my family at all seeing as though the children would have to climb through the trunk in order to get to the very back seats. And I need sliding doors. Once you have sliding doors, you can't go back to regular ones. I know I sound high-maintenance but I guess you just have to have a minivan and 3 small children and a 4th on the way to understand. No SUV would do, not for a whole week, not even for a day.

"Yeah, this isn't going to work for me." I said. "I need a minivan. I was told I would be getting a minivan. Do you not have any available?" Then he nervously asked, "Is this not big enough?" Ugh idiot! So irritated at that point. I called super pissed off sick Dan who was watching cranky Addie way longer than he planned and getting more irritated by the second. He told me to get a ride back to our van because there was no way we were taking the SUV they were trying to give us when we were promised a minivan. I explained to him that the driver was super smelly but he insisted I go back to the body shop anyway. I don't think he would have asked that if he had the pleasure of smelling him but whatever, I just wanted to go home. So I called the body shop to verify that they hadn't started work on my Odyssey and they apologized for everything and told me to come back and they would take care of me.

So back to the body shop I went with the smelly creepy man who decided to take a newer car this time. Maybe he heard me complaining about the smell? Maybe hanging my head out of the open window the whole way there clued him in. I didn't care. But in the new car, he decided we needed to listen to loud satellite radio uncensored rap music with F bombs every 2 seconds. Yes, back in the day I would not have minded the profanity but come on, do I look like a gal who bumps raunchy rap music? I wanted a minivan for crying out loud! And how unprofessional! I'm not making this up! I'm not even exaggerating. This was my actual morning.

Well, the body shop totally stepped up and handled the situation and got me a minivan with Enterprise, AND a very professional non-smelly man was waiting to take me to my new minivan as the smelly man and I pulled up to the shop. Hallelujah, thanks guys. I was driving my new stand-in Town and Country home 15 minutes later. 

yum

When I went to visit my bro and his fam in Texas, I was introduced to the best snack in the whole wide world. So simple but man, so addicting! Trader Joe's nacho cheese tortilla chips (kinda like a healthier Dorito) dipped in sour cream.

Try it, unless you are lactose intolerant. Sorry mom. 

I purchased a bag the other day and finished it all by myself. I may have hidden it behind the other snacks all week so no one would see it =) 

saturday

Growing up 7th Day Adventist, Saturdays were peaceful family days. We would go to church then potluck then maybe a hike or something with families from church. I still have that mindset even though we go to church on Sunday now.

Last Saturday Dan worked overtime and the girls were pretty tired from just go-go-going all week and getting over being sick AGAIN. So I thought we would just spend some time together as a family. I'm also trying to spend more quality time with the girls since there will be a new little man in my life in about a month consuming my every waking minute for the next year or so.

So we all slept in and for breakfast I decided to make the girls strawberry pancakes with pink and purple sprinkles and Mya's favorite, Mango smoothies. After I put the baby down for her morning nap, we made play dough! I never make stuff so this was kind of a big deal. The girls played with their new home made play dough and cookie cutters outside for about an hour.

I thought to myself, what a nice Saturday this is turning out to be.

Then everything kind of went south. Mya came in to inform me that Winter had dumped most of the play dough into the dogs' water bowl. Ugh. She was trying to make the dogs some soup I guess. I then found my bathroom mat soaked in the front of the house. Something about a doggie bubble bath... 

The baby woke up shortly after that so I decided that maybe it would be a good idea to go out for a treat to keep the girls happy so I could run some errands. I had to make a couple of quick stops so I got them Chick-Fil-A kids meals and some criss cut fries for the baby. And of course I got a wonderful strawberry milkshake, a must have if you are every near a Chick-Fil-A. The girls took turns complaining about their meals while Addie happily ate her salty snack. After finishing the food, they starting fighting and fought all the way through the errands and to Target. We had to stop to get a present for our neighbor's birthday party that afternoon and some snacks for a few friends coming over that night. It couldn't be avoided. So, already irritated, I barked out a few rules I was sure would be ignored and I walked in with a determined attitude.

Why do I keep bringing kids with me to go grocery shopping? Or any shopping for that matter? 

Worst. Target. Trip. EVER. And nothing even that horrible happened. I guess I just haven't had them all with me in a while... and I'm just so pregnant... and MAN they were not listening AT ALL. Winter constantly wondered off. Mya asked for everything in the store and Addie was not happy doing anything but standing up in the front of the cart hanging onto my neck as I pushed. I'm way to pregnant to hold her. I can barely make it through a target run without a 20 pound baby on my hip. After filling my cart with everything we needed plus a birthday present plus snacks for my friends plus a few things Winter snuck into the cart that I had to ditch, we made our way to the check out. Of course we had to make a potty stop because once the potty is spotted, everyone has to go.

I got to the checkout and tried to rummage through my wallet for coupons I'd saved and fill out the cartwheel ap but quickly decided it was not worth it. I actually said it out loud, "Not worth it!" Too much for one mommy to bear. Too much! With Addie in my arms and Mya and Winter exploring everything on the shelves in the check out aisle while loading everything onto the counter, we managed to pay and make it out of Target without me killing anyone.

I yelled at the girls to buckle up as I buckled fussy Addie into her car seat and began unloading the groceries. Then I noticed a $20 toy I didn't purchase. Well at least I didn't mean to. I yelled, "WHO put this in my cart?! Winter fessed up and I decided there was no way I was going back in there to return it so I spanked Winter, told her once again that we NEVER put things in the cart without asking and drove home super annoyed and defeated. 

The rest of the afternoon was okay. I sent the girls upstairs to play, with strict instructions not to say a word to mommy for one whole hour while I cooled down. It actually worked and I managed to gain a tiny bit of composure and go to the afternoon birthday party. It's really not fair that pregnant women can't have a giant margarita to take the edge off of a really bad day. I swear I would be a way better mom in the afternoon if I could.

But all is well that ends well. I had a nice evening and even though Mya opened the lego set that I unknowingly purchased, Target was very understanding and let me return it for full credit. Whew. 

Four kids? What was I thinking?

Amy's Farm

We took our annual GUM trip to Amy's Farm today. It's not something I was looking forward to because it's a lot of work being pregnant with a toddler on a farm and it's usually really hot. But this year was surprisingly enjoyable. The weather was actually perfect and the girls were in heaven. I couldn't help but be happy for them. And it made me feel like a good mom letting them experience such a fun educational day.

Addie was SO excited about this cow. She screamed when she saw her. 

Here she is trying to tell Grace to check out this glorious animal! She has her hand on her shoulder. So cute.

So enthralled. 

Checkin' out the chickens. 

There's a goat up there. 

Winter loves animals more than your average 4-year-old.  

I always say she'll probably be a chef when she grows up but now I'm thinking farmhand is in her future. 

Hangin' with the goats. 

Feeding the little pig. 

Here's Mari milking a cow. Love the expression on her face. 

Winter milked the cow then got in line to milk it again. She was the only one that went back for more =) 

Grace is such a ham. She always smiles big for photos. So cute. Love the cowgirl boots.

Addie was so happy watching this guy eat. 

And these girls loved brushing the horse. Winter could have sat there for an hour just brushing him.  

And when I told her it was time to go she cried, then untied him and yelled "Go horsie GO! She wanted him to be free. I couldn't blame her.  

more adventures in groceryland

I took Winter and Adelyn to Vons to pick up a couple of things and kill time before we picked up Mya from school yesterday. We stopped at the Starbucks inside for our regular order of 3 tall ice waters. Addie loves anything with a straw right now so it distracts her for about three minutes while I get whatever I need to get. 

As I was placing my order a lady walked up and put her shopping cart beside me to talk to the baby, completely blocking me from Vons entirely so I had to go around her and the whole Starbucks area after offering to pay for my waters. 

She was one of those very chatty strangers. In two minutes she had shared with the barista and me a complete saga of how she almost lost her $100 sunglasses given to her from her daughter in the Air Force and found them in her laundry hamper. I faked a smile while yelling over to winter to come back and stand with me as she often wanders off. 

As we waited for our ice waters, I lost winter as I often do and called out her name but she didn't answer as she often does not. The chatty stranger informed me that she was sitting on the floor blocking people from getting through the main entrance to the produce.  I firmly asked her to get up and she ignored me as usual. 

Then an elderly lady just entering the store began pushing her shopping cart toward my 4 year old who was still camped out on the floor. There was no way to get to her in time with all the obstacles and a chatty lady in my way. So I told her to get up again which she ignored again and I rolled my eyes figuring she would probably move if the lady got close enough to her. Or she would be hit by a shopping cart and learn to listen to mom. 

The chatty stranger saw what was happening and frantically yelled to the older lady to stop because there was a small child on the floor and going her super fast elderly speed, she would surely kill her. The white-haired lady said something along the lines of "Oh my goodness! I didn't even see her!" Winter moved and walked over to me kind of confused as to why they were making such a huge commotion. The chatty lady walked over to me and grabbed my arm and said
"Thank goodness I said something!" To that I replied, "Yeah imagine what could have happened." I politely thanked her, grabbed our ice waters and we were on our way to the produce section.

I read something on Facebook a few days ago that listed the things you worry about the more kids you have. By the time the 3rd and 4th come along, your long list of things like starilized pacis, matching socks, cute outfits and elderly women pushing empty shopping carts becomes a very short list of things like sharp knives, highways and contagious diarrhea. So true. 

hold on

Addie is just starting to get the hang of this walking thing. Sometimes she goes a little too fast and has to stop for a second to regain her balance. We've started walking outside more and that's a bit more challenging. There are slopes to tip her balance and objects to trip on and curbs to fall off of. I often hold her hand. She's not very cautious so she'll just walk over or down wherever. But as long as I have her hand she's good.

I was reading Psalm this morning and came across this awesome verse. Psalm 37:24 says, "Though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." I love this verse because it reminds me that a lot of the time I have no idea what I'm doing walking through this life but God does and as long as I've got His hand, He'll guide and protect me because he doesn't want to see me get hurt just like I wouldn't want to see my baby fall and get hurt. I may mess up... a lot... and I may face slopes and obstacles but I won't fall on my face as long as I keep my hand in 
His. 

more sleep shots

I just love how kids sleep. I cannot stop taking pictures of them. Sorry if it's getting annoying! 

She didn't even complain about her neck when she woke up. How is that possible?

Wonder what she was doing...

Man that baby is scrumptious :) Yeah, she's wearing Christmas jammies. Whatever.

texas

Mya and I went to Texas last week. Just got home Sunday. We went to visit my brother Christopher's family since I figured we wouldn't be going out there after the baby is born and Mya mentions her favorite cousin Angela pretty much every day. She actually told me Angela was her favorite person in the world while we were there. She said I was second. That's cool. At least I'm at the top! I think that's only because I went with her to Texas :)

So this was Mya's first time on a plane so she was pretty pumped. She loved it when the plane took off. She didn't enjoy the landing so much because her ears were hurting. And the boys behind us were kicking the back of the seat for three hours. But now I can use that as a reference when she's kicking the back of anyone's seat.

My sis-in-law Regina is kind of a supermom. She homeschool's and makes EVERYTHING from scratch. While we were there we had yogurt smoothies made with homemade yogurt, homemade pancakes, homemade pizza made with homemade sauce, homemade tea and of course we made homemade playdough. My brother even informed me that he makes his own bullets for his gun. (It's Texas) I was almost inspired to start making my own playdough. I have the stuff. We'll see if I actually follow through...

Chris wanted to take Mya shooting. I laughed and thought he was joking. Dan actually agreed to it too! Crazy men. Thankfully it was too cold (35) and rainy to shoot that day.

We didn't go outside much so we played pretty much every board game known to man and Mya had Angela all to herself. She even got to sleep in her bed with her. So cute.

It was actually very restful even though they have four kids and the house was rarely quiet. But I didn't have a toddler to chase after and there was no fighting between Winter and Mya so it was really easy :)

Anthony is taking the picture... just realize I didn't get any pics of him :( 

He's 13 and adorable and tall and super helpful.