A Good Excuse

I haven't posted in a over a month...

Bad, bad, Blogging Momma.

I know that my reasons for long hiatus' in the past have been what some might consider trivial matters (but can we really consider re-runs of Desperate Housewives trivial??).

However, THIS TIME I have good reason. If you've read my Facebook status updates (which you really should read because on most days its my connection with the outside world), you know that we are going to have another baby in late July! And either this baby doesn't like me, or I am getting too old or I have repeatedly been eating bad fish over the past 3 months...whatever the reason may be...I HAVE BEEN SICK!

Ugh...sick.

I was sick with Nicholas too...but back in those days I would lay down when I was sick. Even if I were busy at work...I would just take a few minutes to lay my head down on my desk and breathe. I don't have time to breathe like that anymore. The only opportunities I really get for deep breathing would be after I discover that Natalie has used crayon to write on the oak kitchen table, or after Naomi has dumped cat food into my dryer, or after Nicholas tells me he doesn't like what we are having for dinner (before I even tell him what that might be). Yes, those seem to be the moments I find myself practicing deep breathing (usually accompanied by counting in my head).

However, the further I get into this pregnancy and all it entails with three little ones running circles around me...the more I realize that at some point in my day I have to concentrate on deep breathing, quiet reading, trashy TV watching, and of course blogging. Even if it means I leave laundry for another day or dishes in the sink. Because I find on the days I make an effort to focus on "me as Sammie" and not just "me as Momma"...I usually feel better, enjoy being pregnant more AND (drumroll please...) find I have more patience to deal with the moments that cause me to count and breathe deeply with the other three. So let it be known to my blogging circle that I hereby commit to taking more time for Sammie in 2010.

*And I hear you chuckling about how that is going to work being that I will have four kids in July...*

Skeptic.

And because I have been a bad blogger, I decided to redeem myself a bit by creating a little movie montage covering the past month's activities. Enjoy!

The importance of good nutrition...

I am embarrassed to even be writing this blog entry. However, I have to remind myself that part of the reason I maintain this blog is to keep a record of the crazy "days in the trenches" that come with raising three small children. And I have to admit that the past two days have been deep into those muddy trenches...with nothing but junk food to sustain life. Let me explain...

Let's start on a positive note. Josh, Nicholas and I spent the end of last week and the weekend in Cape Coral, FL (near Ft. Myers) where Josh attended a medical conference on female genitalia and disease (yes, you read that right...3 days of material...ewww). Nicholas and I had a more enjoyable time visiting with Josh's Aunt Jan and Uncle John. They were (as always) wonderful hosts and we always love our time with them. Here is a picture of Nicholas enjoying time out on their boat.

Jan and John are very healthy and eat wonderful foods on a mainly vegan diet. I felt rejuvinated when I left and committed myself to making more healthy food choices for the family. Not that we are known for eating horrible food...but my kids have gotten into some bad food habits.

To name just a few...
1. They refuse to eat yogurt with real fruit in it...no they just want colored yogurt that tastes like cotton candy. Where is the health benefit there?
2. They think bread that has any grain at all in it is "yucky". I have been buying the Iron Kids bread because they have a great marketing gimic going on that suckers parents into thinking its healthy. However, once you look at the label you see that it is still made with bleached white flour and has sugar added to it...not healthy. But who the heck has time to read the label when you are in the grocery store with three kids?
3. Anytime I manage to get something whole grain on their plate they beg for jelly or syrup to mask that horrible healthy taste.

So as you can see we have a ways to go before we can claim any real nutritional prize. But I knew I felt great after five days of eating healthy and I wanted this to continue at home. Yes, I would find an organic food store and I would buy only whole grain and I would make my own yogurt with fruit and granola for breakfast and we would stop eating red meat and I would use more beans and lean proteins like salmon and turkey...YES...AND to top it off we would start running in marathons!! GREAT IDEA...this is going to be GREAT!

And then we got off the plane in Kansas City. And then I realized we still had a 3 hour drive home. And then I realized how hungry I was. And then we passed...


Ah, but we would do better tomorrow once I had time to go to the grocery store and buy my stash of healthy food. Yes...tomorrow. We would start our new, healthy lifestyle tomorrow.

And then I woke up to a 5 year old with post-vacation mood swings. And then I had to take three kids to the eye doctor for their exams (imagine that will you? God bless Keith Mallatt). And then I had to deal with a 2 year old who wanted to go back to Gaweeena to see Nannie and Grandad and Nana and Papa. And then I got a headache...and then before I knew it...it was time for dinner. We had waffles. TOMORROW...yes TOMORROW would be the start of our new life.

So now its tomorrow and my kids begged me for eggs and biscuits and gravy for dinner. I agreed but only if they ate pears with it (wouldn't Aunt Jan be proud?)
I ate a few pears too...and then as I was making dinner, opened a can of Pringles. Never a good idea. I felt too guilty to eat anything else after I had about three times the serving amount on the can resulting in a stomach ache and a guilty conscience.

I should have known this healthy lifestyle was futile when Natalie rattled off her shopping list today as we were on our way to Wal-Mart.

Natalie: "Momma, I need get some syrup, jelly and marshmallows."
Momma: "Good grief...all you want is sugar."
Natalie: "Oh you're right, we need get sugar too."

Because we are in the Christmas spirit, that reminds me of...

Maple Syrup sound bite  Elf sound bites

I think we need to get Aunt Jan and Uncle John down here for a healthy diet bootcamp...

My confession

The fact that I haven't posted anything lately (namely no posts recapping our Halloween) does not accurately reflect my enthusiasm for the holiday. If you know me, you know I love the spookiness of Halloween and go all out on decorations and parties. So if I love the blessed holiday so much why haven't I posted about it you ask? Well...I have an addiction. I am standing up now and introducing myself to all of you. Hello, I am Sammie Brueggemann and I am a Desperate Housewivesaholic. Yes, I said it. I DVR three old episodes that run on Lifetime daily during the week. So when the dishes are done, laundry is folded, curtains are ironed...ahem...ok so maybe those aren't all complete when I sit down to lose myself on Wisteria Lane but I digress. When my main tasks are complete I don't want to get on my computer and write on this blog because all I can think about is what in the world is going on with Mike's drug addiction, when will Lynette's hair start to grow-back now that the chemo is over and will Gabby and Carlos' marriage last this time around? So that is why you haven't heard from me but tonight I am intentionally blogging instead of watching TV...I can do this.









What?? Oh sorry...I was just checking to make sure all three of my episodes recorded successfully. Yes, looks like they did...that will be good when I am ready to watch them, whenever that might be...who knows if I will watch them or not.


yeah, right.

Ok so on to Halloween. I wanted the kids to be the Three Blind Mice...wouldn't that have been cute with sunglasses and Mickey Mouse ears? Natalie and Naomi were on board.

Nicholas wanted to be a Ninja Turtle not a blind mouse. In no way was he going to be a blind mouse.

Ok fine, the 5 year old wins this battle. So he was a muscle-bound Ninja Turtle, Natalie was Fancy Nancy (her favorite book) and Naomi was a pink bunny (recycled from Natalie's first Halloween). Here are some pictures.









We hosted the neighborhood Halloween party (and Josh's birthday party) the night before Halloween and had a really good time. There were 12 adults and 15 kids at the party...yeah, that's a lot especially when you add punch and candy to that mix. We had to get the house all spooky so here are some fun pictures of the house decorated.









On Saturday night we went down to Galena to trick-or-treat. The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating with Nannie with us (she was dressed up as a 50's girl). They received an obscene amount of candy. Because we don't want all our teeth to rot out, we divide our candy the day after Halloween and give half to the "Candy Witch" who is a first cousin to the "Tooth Fairy" and who takes the candy and leaves some fun toy in exchange. This year Nicholas received a Super Hero toy and Natalie received a plastic heart necklace. Naomi has no idea what's going on...but she does know that she likes chocolate and she thinks she might be getting a rotten deal with her candy going to the Candy Witch.







The kids are already talking about what they will dress-up like next year. There was talk of a skeleton and a clown. But shhhh...Momma has already purchased K-State cheerleader outfits and football jersey...next year Momma wins.

What we're up to...

So I don't have anything super-exciting to post today. The kids are up to their usual antics...

Naomi is staggering all over the house intrigued that things previously up high are now at eye-level which of course means more things to get into.



Natalie continues to collect various items from around the house and store them in her crib for the winter. I have taken to calling her Miss Squirrel. She has filled her purse and now just stashes things in her crib. This morning I found a few new items including a paintbrush, athletic tape, a plastic cow, and my K-State Alumni card.



Nicholas is on his first-ever field trip today! He was SUPER excited to be heading to Greenbush for the day on a...




Because I like to dabble in new things, I decided I would try making a fresh fruit arrangement. I made this for Grandma Dorothy's birthday celebration...what do ya think? It was fun and not too labor-intensive. Josh helped me make the platform the fruit was placed on...what a nice guy.




Well...I think I will wrap this show up and get the girls ready to head downtown to look for old sheets and cheesecloth (Halloween decorations...a future post!)

Naomi is walking!

That's right our baby girl is upright and on the move! Check out her new moves in the video below.



She walks like a drunk cowboy...

The Tooth Fairy's First Appearance

Nicholas now has the cutest grin...with one missing tooth on the bottom! Last night he bravely agreed to let Momma pull the tooth that had been barely hanging on for the past week. If you don't count the drama that took place as he was rolling around on the floor asking how much blood there would be and how bad it would hurt...the whole ordeal only took about 3 minutes. And after the tooth was out and Nicholas had chowed down on two popsicles and called various fanclub members such as Nannie and Grandad, Nana and Papa and Grandma Linda...he was feeling pretty good about himself and his decision to have the tooth pulled. Because we told him that the Tooth Fairy brings a surprise toy in addition to the $2-$3 for the first tooth, he began to dream about all the wonderful things the Tooth Fairy would bring to reward him for his impeccable bravery. This list included a bike and a pony...

We told him that the Tooth Fairy is on a much smaller budget but he should mention the bike to Santa Clause. He settled (after some persuasion fom Momma) on hoping the Tooth Fairy would bring some kind of superhero toy (perhaps the Incredible Hulk). He was thrilled to see that the Tooth Fairy knew just what he wanted when he woke up to find $3 in quarters and an Incredible Hulk toy figurine.



He's already starting to wiggle the tooth next to his new gap and Natalie is insisting that all her teeth are loose and need to be pulled.

What's in her purse?

For those of you who have spent any time at all around Natalie over the past month, you understand and have witnessed her recent purse obsession. She carries her "purse" with her EVERYWHERE. And because she carries it all over the place and at all times, she adds to the contents regularly with various little tidbits she finds around the house.

When talking to Auntsies and Uncle Pat last night, they mentioned that their local newspaper will sometimes publish fun articles about what's in certain society ladies purses. I also remembered finding this video on Youtube a long time ago where this gal reveals the contents of her purse. I believe this might give me a glimpse into what I can expect Natalie to carry around when she is older. Take a look...



So here are the current contents of Natalie's purse...

pink play phone
old remote control
Barbie notepad
comb
unsharpened pencil
bouncy ball
bubble wand
VW key from her Barbie car
Wiggles cell phone
paintbrush
teething ring
wetwipe
old insurance card
another comb
another bouncy ball
Mardi Gra beads
another pink cell phone
medicine dropper
another comb
our old home phone
plastic diamond ring
another medicine dropper
hair clippy
Holy Rosary (we aren't Catholic but found this in the seat of the van, guessing it belonged to the previous owner)

I think all she's really missing are her hooker shoes...