Christmas Wish Come True.

My dad called me right before Christmas and let me know that he bought his present that was from "all of us kids". He said he didn't wrap it, he just put it under the tree.

A few days after Christmas, my mom sent us kids this picture.


I think he was surprised (and a little excited too!).

You're welcome Dad.... anytime.

Do you see what I see?

I was in Target the other day and I about peed my pants with excitement when I turned around and on the next to the bottom shelf were these lovely Rainbow Brite dolls! Talk about memory lane!
I used to LOVE Rainbow Brite (I even had the shoes...... )

Is it wrong to wish that Rainbow Brite would return to TV and replace shows that drive me crazy... like ... say... Barney?

In case you wanted to know, I owned Patty O' Green (one of Rainbow Brite's friends....) Maybe someday I can be cool enough to get another one.


What TV Shows were you obsessed with?
Popples? Gummy Bears? Punky Brewster? Alf? Smurfs? Rose Petal Place?
(can you tell I'm a child of the 80's?)

Birthday Girl!

What is more exciting than Christmas to a little kid? Her Birthday!
All day on Saturday, everything that Alli did she would say "This is the last 6 year old hug and kiss you get from me", or " This is the last time I tie my shoes as a 6 year old...."
She was so excited about turning 7, and was so ready to get rid of her 6 year old age.

Alli asked me this year to make a purple star cake. I really didn't have the energy to get out my star shaped cake pan, all the cake decorations, and make any more frosting...... So I decided I'd cheat this year making her cake. I just did a sheet cake, and used a star shaped cookie cutter to make individual cakes for everyone. Top it off with some Betty Crocker frosting (that I tinted purple) sprinkle with some star shaped sprinkles... and poof.... you have a star cake. She was excited, so I think it worked. :)

Everyone had lovely purple mouths! We were so excited about that, for sure!
Alli got some wonderful gifts- all fit for a 7 year old princess! She was ohhh-ing and awww-ing over everything!
(Thanks Family for your wonderful gifts! You sure know what this girl likes!)

Hopefully Alli will have plenty of chances to get used to doing 7 year old things before she turns the big 8 in a year (of which she is also excited about)......

Alli is such a wonderful part of our family, and we are sure lucky to have her!

Kohrman Christmas

Christmas Eve we started a new tradition: Fondue! The girls loved the chocolate fondue and Chip and I were addicted to the cheese one. Ohh my yum!

Nunnums sent us a cute little rice crispy snowman to decorate and eat. What a fun treat! Little Pony fruit snacks, mini shortbread cookies, and a carrot were the toppers for this little guy!

The Hoogland family tradition that we carried over to our home is having freshly baked cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning for breakfast. Gooey cream cheese frosting adds a little special touch.
(Do you notice that I like to blog about yummy food??)

Maggie was so excited that Santa brought her a shopping cart filled with presents! She has yet to stop pushing that cart around the house.

Alli was equally excited that Santa brought her some extra fun loot! Make-up, art stuff, and jewelry galore!

Chip has never been a fan of sports.... but he has learned that the Hoogland side of the family is. We've been trying to convert him ever since he joined our family. One bunch of the family are huge Eagle's fans, and the other side are Packer's fans. Each year for the past 6 Christmas' Chip has gotten sports paraphernalia from one of these two teams.
My brother gifted him with a beautiful Packer's shirt this year.
When we finally break him down, and Chip decides to become a sports fan... he's going to be all set with the fan gear!


For our Christmas dinner we were invited over to our friends the Higginson's to eat. I totally forgot to take any pictures! Oops! We had a lovely time! Great conversation, great food, and some great game playing. It was a perfect ending to a great Christmas Day.

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas Day - full of great memories, stories of our Savior's birth, and plenty of joy.

Gingerbread House - Kohrman Style

This was the first year that the we decided to build a Gingerbread house for Christmas. We made a cute little Halloween house this year, and it turned out quite successfully, so we thought it would be fun to repeat the merriment during our Family Home Evening.

So here are step by step instructions on how to make the perfect Kohrman Gingerbread house.

Step 1: Assemble house and get a variety of candies ready for use.

Step 2: Start piping on some icing to put the candies on.

Step 3: Use some decorative skills to make your house look very impressive.

Step 4: When done with the candy application, be sure to hang some realistic looking icicles.

Step 5: Take a cute picture with your sister.

Step 6: Make sure to take a silly picture with your sister too.

Step 7: Admire the finished product of your beautiful Gingerbread house.

Step 8: While admiring, notice that a wall is caving in.

Step 9: Fix the wall, but cave in the roof.

Step 10: Watch in horror (then a giggle or two) as the whole house collapses.

Step 11: Smile. There is still plenty of candy leftover to eat.

Winter

The past few months the weather has generally been mild. I didn't even start wearing a coat until two weeks ago. But there are a few things that have alerted me to the fact that winter is indeed upon us.

#1-

When purchasing my foundation the other day, I realized that instead of getting a color that was 'a kiss of sun', I needed to buy 'ghost white'. Ohio has the grayest winters around. No sun peaking through those skies for sure!


#2-

I woke up last Saturday morning to this: Our first dusting of snow. I cringed.
I'm normally not one to be a scardy cat because of driving in the snow... but Ohio has made me this way.
You see, a lot of the people that live in Columbus aren't native to this country. Most people haven't seen snow.... ever. Therefore, they have never driven in it either. If I were the only one on the road, I wouldn't have a problem. But people who don't know how to drive on ice or snow..... I have a problem being next to them on the road.
Ohio doesn't allow any studs on your tires. I don't necessarily like driving in the winter without studs on.


#3-

Even though there is frost on the ground, my crocuses and tulips don't seem to think it's winter either. I have no idea how to help them out. I guess I just won't have pretty spring flowers this year. Bummer.



As soon as I get a minute to catch up on editing photos, I'll be posting pictures of some fun Christmas festivities we've been up to.
Until then:

Hope you guys have a Merry Christmas

Insurance update

Well, the good news is that we were able to switch our insurance plans to something a lot more family friendly....
The bad news is we are now paying double what we were at Chip's last job for insurance.

This leads me into a tirade. Why is it that married, healthy people, with good jobs, and family pay out the nose for insurance?

Chip and I were talking about this and thought of an option that would be a lot cheaper for our family, AND it is very widely accepted among this nation: I could just divorce Chip, apply for welfare... get food stamps and medicaid and be set up for life! Don't get me wrong... Chip would still be living with us, we would just dust him under the rug whenever a home inspection came around. Then Chip would only have to pay his $35 premium for the same coverage that we are paying around 900% more for as a family, and the girls and I would be covered under medicaid. We'd probably get around $500+ a month in food stamps (which is more than I pay for groceries to begin with.... so we'd probably eat a little fancier..... like get cuts of meat that don't have that orange 'manager's special' label on it...) and it would just be wonderful! If I played my cards right I could probably even get day care assistance... so I wouldn't even have to be a mom to my kids! Bon Bons and Soap Opera's... here I come! AND I might even get a rent check (up to $600) and a utility allowance (around $250 a month). Humm... this option is seeming to be more and more like a good idea. THEN instead of using Chip's salary to pay our bills like normal American's do, (because the government would already be paying most of the bills), we'd instead get a pimped out new car, a big screen plasma TV, AND I'd finally be able to afford a Coach purse.

I know that this may seem a little outrageous of a scenario, but I have two co-workers who are currently doing the same thing. They are livin' good... only working a few more hours a week than I am....

My problems are solved. We can live the American dream. Just a few divorce papers away and I'm set :)


P.S.
I'm not condemning anyone who is using government assistance when they NEED it. We were on Medicaid/Healthy Start/WIC when we were in school and dirt poor. As soon as we were able to move past it, we did. Heck... we even got a free child out of it :)
I am condemning the people who use government assistance in the wrong ways: such as staying unmarried (but still living together) to get benefits, not working in order to keep benefits, and people who are lifers' on welfare because they don't know any different.... they just think it's the way to be.
I think when used in the proper ways government assistance is a wonderful thing. It's when it's abused that it ticks me off.

Inspirational?

Tonight Chip and I settled in to watch one of our weekly Netflix date night movies. This weeks selection was a choice between 17 Again, and Julie and Julia. Chip's excitement was probably overflowing as I was reading him the title choices. He finally said that he didn't care which movie was put in (probably because he was so overwhelmed by the emotion of wanting to watch both movies so badly), so I put in Julie and Julia.

That was an adorable movie.

It inspired me.

I'm not quite sure as to what it inspired me to do. I am not a chef. I think if I took up the Julia challenge I couldn't make half of the dishes in the book. I don't like eggs, meat with bones (ribs, t-bones, wings...etc....) I don't enjoy seafood of any kind (I was cringing during the entire lobster scene), and half of the fruits and veggies out there just have weird textures- I don't even want to go there. PLUS the foods I do enjoy eating, nobody else in my family likes- broccoli, cream cheese, sour cream, etc... What's a girl to do? 365 ways to make spaghetti? Yeah... I didn't think so either.

I don't know if it inspired me to be a better blogger/writer. I've never had a joy of writing, until this blog. In fact, in school the subject I dreaded the most was English. I know that half of my sentences probably aren't grammatically correct, and I know my punctuation stinks a big one... but for some reason the thought of people reading my random thoughts is quite enjoyable. Most likely because I've always felt a tad bit invisible, and blogging gives me a voice. I don't think that anyone would ever want to publish my randomness- and there really is no theme involved with my blog except for my chaotic life. (And half of the time, I think that I'm the one making most of the chaos for myself....)

Maybe watching the movie really just inspired me to wear a string of pearls.

A Step in the Right Direction

Most of you know that Chip and I (Well, mainly Chip.... my contribution is making cookies and keeping the house {mostly} clean) have been working on our start up company. Telesaur is a job board website focusing in legitimate telecommuting (work from home) jobs. We the idea for the company two years ago,and Chip has been faithfully plugging away on making our dreams come true.

This past week, Chip has gotten the Telesaur blog up and running. We are hoping it will be a great resource for people in telecommuting positions, as well as anyone who is interested in little tips and tricks to make their own working environment run a little smoother. Blog posts will be put up continually, so be sure to check back often for new information and posts.

We are really excited to have one more step accomplished in our long term goal.

As our kids now say: " Rawr, Rawr, Telesaur!"
(feel free to add that into your own personal lives... it is a fun chant, after all.)

... if you have any questions about Telesaur, please feel free to contact Chip or I. We'd love to answer any questions :)

UGGG....

This is the picture of the way I'm feeling right now. I want to rip out my hair (not really) and scream! I HATE not understanding the language of insurance providers. It drives me nuts.

I'll give some background. I'll tell some 'gasp!' not so good things. I'll dish.

While we were extremely grateful to Heavenly Father for providing our family with employment for the past 3 years (and all the experience and knowledge that went with it), we were not however grateful for some of the situations that Chip's job put him/us/our mental states in. There was just some bad things happening. Promises broken. Lies told. Cover ups. etc... Poor Chip would just come home in a bad state of mind every. single. night. It wasn't good for Chip. It wasn't good for our marriage. It wasn't good for our family to have such negative feelings. Basically... things weren't going well.

Prayers were said. Pleadings were cried out. Heavenly Father heard. He answered.

Out of the blue at the end of September/early October someone saw Chip's 'Linked-In' profile and thought he was the bomb! (I can't argue with that!) They offered him a job. We had never heard of this company before. Not only did they offer a generous raise BUT it's a telecommuting job, which means that Chip now works from home. Which also means that he has less commuting (Bed, Bathroom, Desk. It's all pretty close knit.....) Which means that he has more time to work on Telesaur... which, let's face it... that's what our family is working towards.

Because (this is the 'gasp!' part) I knew that:
#1- my OBGyn doesn't take patients until they are at least 10 weeks pregnant (unless complications arise)
#2- my insurance would be changing soon
I have yet to see my OBGyn. (yes.. yes... I know I'm 16 1/2 weeks {i think} along). I know.. you can stop booing me now. I'm reasonably confidant that everything with the little squirt is okay... I'm feeling sick.. so I know it's in there.... and I've felt {twice!} the beginning of butterfly movements! yay!.... and well, there would seriously have to be something wrong with me if I wasn't prego. Let's just hope that's not the case. The digital pee stick never lies...

With this being #3 I'm pretty sure I know how things go as far as the pregnancy appointments. You pee in a cup, you make excuses on the weight you've gained, and you go home excited that you heard the heartbeat... along with the advice of keep taking your pre-natals and get plenty of rest and drink lots of water.

Anyway... back to why I'm pulling out my hair. (I get off track so easily now.... that's another reason I know I'm pregnant! I'm constantly feeling like the scarecrow on the Wizard of Oz.... I go around singing 'If I Only Had A Brain' all day long..... as if being a little ditzy without the pregnancy isn't enough!)

When Chip got his new job we were given a bunch of insurance plans to go over and pick one. We called the company (Anthem) and asked them to (in simpleton terms) to go over the plans.... they said they couldn't discuss any plans because we weren't yet on one. (try to find the logic in that... I dare you). (AND as another side note: Chip's old company ALSO used Anthem... ug)
So Chip and I were left to our own devices in picking a plan.

We thought we read them all thoroughly. We thought we had a logical discussion with each other about the plans. We were wrong.

Today we finally got our insurance cards and booklets. I was going over them (which I normally don't... so I'm thinking that was some Divine inspiration) and I realized that (another 'gasp!') THE PLAN WE PICKED DOESN'T COVER A LICK OF MATERNITY.
IT DOESN'T COVER WELL CHECK APPOINTMENTS FOR THE GIRLS.
basically
we picked the wrong one.

I'm hoping that because our coverage started two weeks ago, we can change it to something that would be um... a little more beneficial for our family.

If not... We need to look for a Plan B....
Which might mean that I work more at the bank so I'm eligible for benefits. I don't want to do it... .but it might be a plan B.
I don't want to get my panties in a bunch quite yet. We haven't yet contacted Chip's HR department. (It's past 8pm... they aren't working anymore). Hopefully prayers again will be answered.

And that is the story of why I'm pulling out my hair.

The Great Santa Debate

I have always assumed that most little children believe in Santa.

I assumed wrong.

When asking a little girl who was at my teller window yesterday what Santa is going to bring her she said "Mommy and Daddy buy me presents. Santa is the Devil." She was only 3.

Talk about being blown away!

Her comments started a debate among my co-workers and (known) customers alike. I am surprised at the amount of parents who tell their children straight up that Santa isn't real, Mommy and Daddy buy the presents. Santa is just made up because Retail stores want to sell things. Through the discussions most of the parents' reasons of not letting their children believe are selfish -they want their children to know that they bought the presents, and they want to get all of that credit, or unfounded -They think that if they let their kids believe in Santa that the kids won't know about the real reason for the season, which of course is Jesus, or these parents just flat up think that you shouldn't let your kids believe in a lie.

I want my children to have the opportunity to believe in the magic of Christmas. To believe in the magic and wonderment of Santa. Christmas is a time of giving and good cheer. It's not a time of selfish recognition. Doing for others doesn't mean taking all the credit.

I brought it up to my co-worker that if she chooses to let her kid know the truth about Santa, that she also needs to teach her young child some discretion. Her child is going to be the one that makes all the other kindergartners cry by telling them Santa isn't real. My co-worker said that she's not going to tell her child to do that, that she should be able to tell the other kids what she believes in. I feel sorry for all of her kids' future classmates.

I personally don't think there is anything wrong with letting kids believe in Santa as long as you teach your children about Jesus and the reason behind Christmas. I think Chip and I have done a pretty good job about telling our kids about Jesus- all about His birth and the miracles behind it, and also about His ministries. My children love playing with the different Nativities we have and reenacting the story. My children also believe in the magic of Santa. At our home he only fills our stockings. My kids can't wait to see what he'll bring. I don't think my children will need therapy because we let them believe in a 'lie'. I think they'd need more therapy if we told them where babies really come from and how they are made.


What are your feelings with letting your kids believe or not believe in Santa?

Alli the Artist

Alli has always been interested in Art. It probably stems from going to the Studio with Chip when he was in grad school. She is always drawing something.
These two pictures are my favorites from the last week. They are just awesome.

A Dog riding a Duck.
How flippin' cool is that?

I think this picture speaks for itself.
My kid is seriously the coolest ever.

Driving

The other day while I was looking for my drivers license, Alli was really curious what the purpose of one was. I told her that everyone who drives has to have a license otherwise the police will arrest you. She asked me how she could get a license and I told her you had to take a class and pass a test to get one. She said that she was never going to drive. I was curious about this, so I decided to ask her some questions about that decision.

Mom: So Alli, If you don't have a car how are you going to get to church?
Alli: I will just buy a house right by church.

M: If you don't have a car how are you going to get groceries?
A: My husband will get them.
M: So your husband will drive a car?
A: No, He'll drive a motorcycle.

M: How are you going to get different places?
A: I'll just walk or ride a bike. It's better for your body to get exercise anyway.
M: What about when you have babies, are you going to hold them on the bicycle?
A: No! There is a little thing you can put behind the bike that you can put kids in. It's true! I saw it!

M: So why exactly do you not want to get a license?
A: So I don't have to take a test.


I just thought I should write down that conversation to show Alli in 9 years what she really thought of driving. I should probably hold her to this.....

I chose the picture of a red 1974 VW bug because that was my first car. Ohhhh the memories. No Heat, No Air, No FM radio or Tape deck, and after some lovely stunts that I pulled.... no muffler. :)

Whining Moment

Today I feel like whining.

That's right folks.. I . Am. A. Whiner.
(And to think I've wondered in the past where my kids got it from....)

I feel like poo. Heart burn, Nausea, Headache, Backache, Knee ache and to top it off, a zit on my forehead. (I almost sound like a Pepto commercial.)

I feel sick when I don't eat, I feel sicker after I do eat.

I feel sick after I drink anything but plain water. I detest water.
.
I feel it's counter productive to brush my teeth, when I spend 5 minutes afterward hurling.

My prego-nose is making work almost intolerable. Every single Tuesday night in Columbus is apparently Italian night. With extra Garlic. Also, do you know how many people reek of booze at 9am... on a Wednesday? Lots.

I wish I could take Motrin. I really don't like Tylenol... the pills are too big, it makes me gag.

I wish that there was a promise that eventually I'll feel human again. If you've ever seen the remastered Beauty and the Beast with the song 'Human Again'.... know that I've had that song in my head for the past few weeks.

I want to be far enough along to feel the baby move. For some reason I am clinging to the hope that it will make me feel like all of this yucky-ness is worth it.

I also wish I can stuff my face with sweets. I miss treats.

As of this morning, I've lost 22lbs. I know I could stand to loose it (and more) but still... 22 lbs in 9 weeks because of lack of eating? Not my favorite diet plan.

I do apologize for my whining moment. I just had to type it, get it out... a sort of therapy. I am just not a strong woman. I am a weepy woman. A weepy, whiny woman. I signed up for a pregnancy like my first two. Easy Peasy. No illness.

(I am kind of hoping that since I was not sick with my first two and my labors were 13 1/2 hours and 12 1/2 hours long... that this time around since I am sick... it will counter balance the labor time... and I can get this kid out in like... 3 hours of less. Think it will work?)

For those of you who got this lovely morning sickness in your pregnancies... was there anything that pulled you through it? What was your 'happy thought' that got you through the day?
Do you promise that you feel better again after the baby is born?

Little Spitfire.

For those of you who really know Maggie, you know that she is a little pistol. She is constantly spouting off some sort of randomness or another that usually makes some sort of logic in her head. The past few days she's said some doozies that made Chip and I laugh pretty hard.

Situation #1:
Chip and I were chilling out talking on the bed (Rated G) and Maggie came in and started climbing all over the both of us. Not knowing what she was wanting from us Chip asked "What are you doing Maggie?" she replied with her newest catch phrase and her answer to most everything asked of her "I donno!" (giggle, giggle). "Maggie, " I said "What do you want to do?"
With a glisten in her mischievous eye she giggled out "Let's get neked!"


Situation #2:
A little background to the story: Chip has recently been taking the girls on lots of Daddy/Daughter dates. He has really enjoyed spending alone time with each of the girls. We often use it as a bribery tool "If you guys do ________ you'll get to go on a daddy/daughter date!". It usually works.

While Chip's sister Molly was here I set her up on a blind date with one of my co-workers. I'm usually a pretty good match maker (Just ask my brother and sister-in-law.... yep... it was me who got my brother to ask Leah out.... we are sure thankful that he did!) but this date just didn't quite go well.... and that would be a gross understatement. After my co-worker and Molly left on their date my girls were a little upset. Alli thought he was taking her back to the airport. Maggie was certain that he was taking her away forever.
In a huff, Maggie stormed over to Chip with her hands on her hips and this was the following conversation:

M: Where did THAT BOY take my Molly!
C: He took her out on a date, they will be back after you go to bed.

--- pause while Maggie thought about this for a minute---

M: HE'S NOT HER DADDY!

I guess she thought that only daddies can take girls out on dates.... This one actually might work in our favor. :)


Situation #3:
For the past few weeks Maggie has been very interested in presents and gifts. Mostly things for her. She is three years old and already has a very specific list of things that she wants Santa to bring her (This is new for us, as Alli really had no idea what Santa really did until a few years ago.... Maggie is a little ahead of her time in that). Every time I go shopping and bring Maggie with me she has been pulling things off the shelf and saying "I want THIS!" to which I always reply "Maybe Santa will bring that to you". She always nods her head, accepts this answer, puts back the wanted item and continues on her journey.

(Public enemy #1)

Today while we were shopping at Walmart Maggie started in on her usual asking for things. After about the 10Th item that I said "Maybe Santa will bring that to you", Maggie shouted back "I DON'T LIKE SANTA!" This stopped me in my tracks, as she has been talking nothing but good of Santa for the past few months. I got down to her level and asked "So you don't like Santa anymore?" to which she answered "Yeah. I don't like him. He makes me wait for things."

What a funny kid.

Courtesies are so Mayberry

This morning as I was heading to work I remembered that Chip's tire was a little low on air. I stopped at the nearest gas station to use the air there and noticed a quarter slot and a sign saying 75 cents on the pump. Forget that! I drove to another gas station.... where another sign for 75 cents was posted at the air pump. Then TWO more gas stations after that where I was greeted again by two more 75 cent signs on the pumps. When did free air become a thing of the past? Isn't it a courtesy for the customers to do free air?!
I finally decided I had to get air in the tire, I bit the bullet at the Shell station. I put in my three quarters, started filling up the tire, only to notice that the gas station's air gauge was broken. 75 cents just doesn't buy what it used to.

Lots To Be Thankful For

Blue Turkey by Maggie
"Realistic" Rainbow Turkey by Alli

This year for Thanksgiving we had an awesome surprise! Chip's sweet sister Molly flew in to be with us for 3 days. It started off a little rough as both of the girls had that lovely 24 hour bug, but after Molly got initiated into the 'I got puked on by a little kid' club, things got better. She was a trooper.

We started off Thanksgiving day with a little non traditional game of Blockus. The girls have found a love for putting the little pieces on the board. It keeps them out of trouble, so I'm thinking it's a good thing. :)

Chip and I made the centerpiece for our table. I guess one of the good things about being so sick at Halloween was we never got around to carve one of the pumpkins. We thought it would look great as a vase. It did indeed!

We had lots of silly pictures together.
After all, isn't that what a family gathering is all about?

Chip was so proud to have carved our turkey this year. First of all the turkey was awesome- It was $5. You can't beat that. Second- It was so tender that it literally fell off the bones. When we took it out of the oven the ribcage was sticking out. All Chip had to do to 'carve' the turkey was lift up the ribcage and the meat fell off. It made for a super yummy dinner, for sure!

I'm sure like all of you, we made enough food for an army, and only ended up feeding a platoon. When we got done eating, it looked like nothing had been touched... the table was over flowing!

What Thanksgiving would be complete without pie? Great Aunt Gloria's famous cheesecake was a no-brainer, My friend Lora's sweet chocolate cream pie, and Chip requested a Walmart brand pumpkin pie (he says it tastes awesome.... go figure. I secretly think he just doesn't like my home made pumpkin pie. )

This lovely Friday morning Michelle and I took off to Toys R' Us for some Black Friday shopping at 1am. Once we finished up there, we came back and got Molly to stand in line at Kohl's with us. We had a blast this morning :) Good news: All of my Christmas shopping was done at 5 am!

After a little nap, we had to bring Molly back to the airport so she could go home. We've had some sad faces here today because of that. I guess that just means we'll have to visit again soon!

We are really thankful this year for all of our many blessings that the Lord has seen fit to have given us. We are thankful for healthy children, a new baby on the way, changes in employment, the best family and friends on this planet, and of course the true gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. I can't wait to see this next year unfold, I know there is going to be many wonderful changes and exciting things happening in our lives. It's going to be good. :)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Baby

I normally don't like surprises. I am the one who opens all of my Christmas gifts with a razor blade and carefully tapes the box back together. I have the hardest time waiting to find out what I'm going to get.

Chip on the other hand, could care less about finding out what his surprises are, and waits patiently for the day to come that he can just open the gift and enjoy it. He knows that it bothers me when I want to give him a gift early and he says "I'll just wait". What person waits? Seriously.

As far as finding out the sex of our babies, we have always chosen to wait until the baby is born. In some regards it's the funnest surprise ever! There is no way I can 'open the present' early and find out what I'm having without cheating and getting some sort of doctor's help. We always go into the hospital with at least 2 girl names and 2 boy names, so nobody ever knows what we are going to really name the child until we announce it. (Our poor parents really believed us when we said that we were going to name our first child Giesela if it was a girl, and Godfrey Jesus if it was a boy.... I still think they might needed some therapy)

There are a few downfalls to not finding out what the baby is going to be. I always get yellow/green outfits from people (I'm really sick of them), I get generic styles of baby blankets, and I'm never as ready for the baby as I want to be.

As far as our pregnancies have been Chip has never desired for a certain gender over the other. I wanted our first born to be a boy, I was convinced it was to be so. I was so surprise when after I delivered Alli the doctor shouted "It's a Girl!". Our second pregnancy I really wanted another girl... and my wish came true. This time around I'm not sure what I want. For the first 12 weeks I thought it was a boy. I don't know if that is just because I feel like a boy should come to our family (Chip is a little lonely being the only one with testosterone.... and when the girls go through puberty, he's going to need someone to hang out with....), or if I want to try out buying blue clothes and trucks instead of pink everything and Polly Pockets. The past few days however I've been starting to feel like it's another little girl. I don't know whether to chalk it up to inspiration or insanity. Either way, I'll be perfectly happy. At least I know what to do with a girl... (throw them in a room that is covered in fluff/pink/Barbies and they are perfectly fine.)

I put up a poll on the side bar of my blog to see what you, my loyal readers think I'm having this time around. We won't see who's right for another 26 1/2 weeks.... but I'm still curious to see what all of my friends and family are thinking.

Polls are open until next Saturday night.

Have fun voting.

If you have any sort of magical mind reading powers to see what this baby is... feel free to use it liberally.

Questionable Behavior

As Thursday night approached, I was at my wits end. The girls had been at each other all day (week) long. I was in desperate need of some alone time. My fervent prayer was that my children would magically go to sleep instantly so that I could get that rest that I needed. Instead I was granted with the chance to earn more patience. Not my favorite, for sure.

I put the kids to bed at a quarter to 8, we had read a few stories, I sang songs, I had heart to hearts with each of the girls... thinking that they would calm down and go to sleep. Wrong.
By 10:30 I had already broken the wooden spoon on the banister, thinking that the instillation of fear itself would help the kids know I was boss and I was going to win. The only thing it actually accomplished was screams of fear coming from the girls.

At 10:45 I peaked up the stairwell to see if Maggie was still turning all the lights on, and there she was... sitting on the landing, happy as pie. She had gone into the bathroom, filled up the squirt gun we use in the bath tub, and was sitting at the top of the stairs with the barrel of the gun in her mouth, pulling the trigger and enjoying the cool squirt of water that was entering her mouth.

I didn't know whether or not to scream (as she still wasn't in bed), laugh at her attempt of suicide by water gun, or correct the behavior and give her a lecture about not sticking barrels of guns into our mouths (squirt guns or not).

I think at that point my nerves had a mini-breakdown. I just laughed.



What would you have done?



____________________________________
Edit: She ONLY acts like that when I'm alone putting her to sleep. If Chip is home 95% of the time we have absolutely no issues with bedtime. It's that whole "I need mommy 24/7" attitude that she has....

Single

The entire time I was growing up my father kept making me promise to never marry a truck driver. Not because he thought truck drivers were bad people, because after all, he was one. He simply thought that a husband should be able to be home with his family all week long and not just come home on weekends. I think he felt bad that he couldn't be there during the week, but we know that he was just doing the best that he could and I am very proud of him for that. He is a great dad.
When he met Chip and realized that Chip was going to be my partner in crime.... I mean, life.... he even made Chip swear that he'd never become a truck driver, no matter how desperate the situation got. So far, Chip has upheld his part of that promise.

-----------------------------------------

I have been so blessed that Chip has always been at home every night. I love that he's here. He gives me the break that I need after dealing with the beautiful and lovely drama princesses all day. He puts the girls to bed every night. He tells them a story. That's right, I said tells them a story, as he rarely reads them books. It's one of my favorite things to listen to the adventures that he takes the girls on nightly. If ever he's gone or has an appointment and I end up having to put the girls to bed, they always want me to tell them a story. I'll let you folks in on a little secret, I may be very creative in a lot of different areas, but story telling and writing are not my strong suits... the only story that comes to my mind to tell the girls is one that my mother always tried telling us... it goes like this:

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Alli and a little girl named Maggie, and they went to bed. The End.

It didn't work out well for her either.

Last week, Chip was in Atlanta for a telework summit, where Telesaur was a sponsor. Although it was a fabulous trip for him, he made lots of great connections and we are excited about the progress he made, but it was a miserable couple of days for me.

I am not a single mom.

I DO NOT function well in a roll as a single mom.

I like taking my own showers all by myself. When Chip is gone, Maggie thinks she owns me 24/7. This includes my shower time.

I like relaxing after the girls are put away. (aka, bed). When Chip is gone the girls don't do so well at bedtime, they tend to stay up and giggle and tattle. Only when I come upstairs and bring Mags in my bed with me do things quiet down... the catch is, I have to stay there for the rest of the night. No So You Think You Can Dance or Big Bang Theory for me while he's gone.

I like sleeping without a cat between my legs. Finn loves Chip. Chip is his human. Finn usually sleeps under Chip's armpit, crotch, or between his ankles. He also likes to wake up with Chip at 5:30. They have 'bonding time' in the morning before the girls wake up. When Chip was gone, Finn also thought that I should wake up at 5:30.... and when I 'played dead', he thought Maggie should wake up at 5:30 too. Maggie thought it was great..... she is now convinced that Finn loves her. I was not thrilled. Not only did I have to deal with the cat that early... but Maggie as well.
Finn also thought he should sleep between my legs while Chip was gone. Usually by 2am he moved, as he was sick of getting kicked.

I like to get a sound night's sleep. I am a very paranoid person when I'm the only adult in the house at night. I hear Every. Single. Noise. I am awake every 15 minutes thinking.... knowing... that someone is breaking into the house at that very moment. I'm very glad that I don't have any firearms in the house... I'd probably have some bad things happen. Instead, I sleep with my cell phone, home phone, hammer, and a pair of scissors. I don't yet own a baseball bat. I'm sure that will come too.

Basically, I like that Chip is here every night.

This next week... the whole week, Chip will be in Chicago.

I really hope that this next week flies by quickly. This prego girl needs her sleep.

The day the music died.

This past few months have been a little rough for me on the music front. Chip brought in my CD case from the van.... thanks to little fingers, some of my rockin' tunes have bit the dust. 4 Cd's to be exact.

Let's take a moment of silence to remember my music that has now passed on to a better place:

This was a good one for my ANGRY TEENAGE years.... and yes, I had them.
I remember crusin' around L-Town blasting this CD.
Good Times. Good Times.

I got this CD the first time I was "IN LOVE" (gush, gush... gag....)
sigh.... I was such a romantic.

This was just a great CD. In fact, it's still 'in', so I might go and buy it again... or just have Chip download my favorite songs off of it.

As one of my friends call it, this is "angry lesbian music"... haha.. I kind of think she's got a point. This is good music for anyone who's feelin' like they need to kick bum. Angry bum.
On our road trip this summer from my Mom's Only weekend, Tracie and I blasted this CD for a good few hours. It was so funny to see that even though we're from different backgrounds, different states, and different lives we totally connected the same way with these songs, and had fun sharing our memories attached to them.

Sorry you guys had to suffer through that. :)
I was really sad about some of it.

I might be over it now.

On Brushing Teeth

For as long as I can remember I have always brushed my teeth in the shower. I know that my parents practice this ritual also, so it must be the Hoogland in me. (I'm not sure if Scott does it or not.... ) For non-shower brushers (like Chip), it seems absurd to brush in there, but to me... it just seems like a perfect balance to brush your teeth while rinsing shampoo out of our hair. Plus, it saves time.

For the past five or so weeks I have suffered from morning sickness. It's not my finest hours... trust me. Included with the morning sickness, this little baby has an absolute disdain for me brushing my teeth. Each session usually ends with me praising the porcelain gods. The only thing I could deduce what was making this baby so upset was the foam that builds up while brushing. I decided to use the next best thing and start brushing with mouthwash. Sure... it's not as good as a good gritty toothpaste... and it definitely doesn't leave your mouth minty for long, but at least the fuzz on my teeth was cut back to a minimum. (Sorry for anyone who's had to chat with me face to face these past few weeks! I feel your pain)

When you brush with mouthwash, you can't do it in the shower. It just doesn't feel right. So for the past five weeks, I've been completely out of balance with my ritual of shower brushing, it just knocks my whole day back. I don't know how... but it does. Promise.

Last week I decided that I was going to try toothpaste again. It had been a few days since my last visit to the porcelain gods, so I thought what was the harm in it? I loaded my tooth brush with a pearl size dollop of sweet minty paste, inserted in mouth, and it was a miracle! I didn't throw up! I decided before jumping back into my usual pace and brushing in the shower, I'd give my fetus a little time to get used to toothpaste again.

Today was my big launching date to try brushing in the shower again. I was so excited. No longer would my days be messed up. No longer would my teeth feel like second class citizens. I started rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, inserted tooth brush, and instantly opened up the shower curtain, leaned over to the toilet and started shouting out to Ralph.
Success was not mine.

I vow to keep trying to build up this kid's tolerance to toothpaste and shower brushing alike. It will catch on that it's just the natural order of things.... at least I hope it will.

-----------------------------------------

Alli has now started taking up the ritual of shower brushing. I didn't teach/tell her to do it. I just observed that ever since she's been showering by herself I notice her little tooth brush left on the ledge when she's done. Good girl, Alli. She's got a little bit of her mother in her after all.

Three Trees

Ever since I moved to Ohio my absolute favorite season has been fall.

Idaho has pretty falls, but Idaho has mostly forests. Forests = pine trees. Pine trees = not much color change.
Ohio has woods. Woods = beautiful, fabulous, most wonderful vast areas of the most vibrant colors known to man.

For the past 7 years of living here I've been able to enjoy these three trees. They are my absolute favorite trees of autumn. They are trees that I pass every time I go to work and church. They turn the brightest shade of red. Every year I tell myself that I need to take a picture of them, and every year time passes and a big storm finally knocks the last of the red leaves to the ground, and I regret not taking a picture.

Last week on my way to work I purposely took my camera with me so I could take a picture of the trees during my lunch hour. On my way into work (7:45am) I decided what the heck, why not snap a quick picture from the car as I was driving. I'm glad I did. I fell asleep during my lunch hour. I forgot about taking the picture on the way home. Today as I was driving to church to my great sadness, most of the leaves are now on the ground.

It's not a perfect picture of these trees, but at least now I have them documented.

I think Heavenly Father really does make the most beautiful artwork in nature.

I'm thankful for the years I've had in Ohio to enjoy these beautiful trees.

This Kid

This is the dirty little face of a three year old who is officially potty trained! We've gone a week without a single pull-up! Woo-Hoo!
(It's about time kid.... )