A friendly guy. These days Andrew amazes me with how outgoing and friendly he can be. Whenever we go places it seems he finds an opportunity to introduce himself....his sisters....and then of course his parents...Erin and Daniel. :) When I was his age if I saw a stranger whether young or old I'm pretty sure I hid behind my parents or a tree or whatever was close by, but not Andrew....he's so eager to meet new people and he seems proud to introduce his family. I love this about him. Most of the time he is received warmly by others and brings smiles to their faces, but not always. Yesterday we were at the park and a group of 4 kids ranging in age from 5 to 9 showed up and immediately Andrew was excited to go and play with them. He walked up to them and said "Hi, I'm Andrew what's your name?"....."This is my sister, Ashley, and there's Holly....etc. They gave their names and then Drew asked if he could play with them. They said sure and then ran up the stairs to the slides. Andrew quickly followed...and they appeared to be playing together until it became apparent that they were trying to ditch him. Another quality I love about Andrew is his innocence. While they were busy running away from him he was unaware and thought they were playing tag or just having him chase them. Daniel and I however were aware and I said to a few of the kids that "He only wants to play...you don't have run...or at least be nice" They continued however to try to run from him and after a while he seemed to be losing interest in playing with them. So, what do the kids do?.....they say "Hey Andrew we're over here on the slide...and we're waiting for you!" With an excited look on his face he runs up to the slide only to find them quickly sliding down and then running away. At this point I was livid....so I told Daniel I'd be right back and that I had a few things to say to these rotten heartless children. Usually I'm the one to speak out and say things that I might regret later in these situations but as I approached them Daniel passed me up and I heard him say "You're MEAN kids! That was horrible what you did and you know better! You don't have to play with him, but at least be nice and leave him alone! You owe my son an apology!" ....and he made them apologize. The galling thing was their mom was like 6 ft away the whole time and said nothing. I would have been so embarrassed if my kids treated another kid that way. The only thing scarier than a world with rotten kids....is a world with apathetic parents. Anyway, I know my kids aren't perfect, but I have an obligation to help teach them how to treat others and not just say "kids will be rotten kids"

Earlier tonight Daniel, I, and kids were playing on the driveway when I noticed a clump of hair on Ashley's back.....then another and....then another. Then we found clumps of hair in the kitchen and front porch. At this point I started to panic thinking Ashley's hair was falling from some rare disease or malnutrition. Then Daniel casually mentioned he had seen Ash outside earlier with the scissors cutting Dandelions....and apparently her hair...we then concluded. I was so relieved that it wasn't due to an illness that I couldn't be very upset. After a while though I began to wonder just how you deal with a big patch of 2 inch long hair in the back of your 3 year-old's foot long hair. I know this is typical...seems like it's rare that little girls get through childhood without giving themselves a stylish haircut or 2.....and I'm glad it wasn't in the front...but still....do I have to give her a bowl cut now and wait for it to grow out? I escaped giving myself a haircut as a little girl....but that was made up for by my dad who let me get a "spike" when I was 5.....not necessarily the best look for me.

In other news Daniel nearly ran over Holly while driving the gator. And....what does it mean when someone says...yes they suspected you might be pregnant.....perhaps that you look really fat?....or that you've been particularly jerky/moody?

Party of Seven. I had my first doctor's appointment on Thursday which started out with an ultrasound to make sure there was a viable pregnancy and to determine the actual due date. After the lady took some measurements and recorded the heartbeat she turned on a tv screen so I could see what was going on. "Notice anything different?" she asked. "Ummm....no"...I can never tell what's going on in those ultrasound pics until they point things out. "There's two", she said. "WHAT?!.....Are you SERIOUS?!"....I was in shock. That's right we're having twins as some of you already know. Daniel and I have briefly talked about having twins....in like a wouldn't that be cool...but never going to happen to us sort of way. Well here we are....expecting twins. With this new news comes a wave of feelings. First, Daniel and I feel like we've won the lottery or something....we're really excited and know that the odds of this although better than I thought were still against us. Daniel has often said that with twins you're getting 2 for maybe the price of 1 1/2...we'll see how right he was. Second, I'm worried that there will be problems or complications, but am hoping since so far my pregnancies have gone smooothly that this will be no exception. Third, we'll be having FIVE kids in FIVE and half years!!!....that's just a little terrifying....so yes although we're excited ...we're aware that we've got our work cut out for us. Thankfully, I happen to be moving to my home town where all of my family lives... 4 months before these babies are due. So from now on we'll be a Party of Seven............we're going to fill a minivan the second we buy one. Should we buy bigger?....not for future children...but I mean for more room? Anyway, that's our crazy news for the week....I'm still in shock and think about this constantly. At least I have a reason for eating so much....I thought I just had no self control. :)

Ashley: I have 2 Grandmas and they live in Illinois
Me: Actually you have 3.....what about Grammy?
Ashley: Grammy is not my grandma....she's my uncle's mom.

She got me there.

So the word is out to most of you.....I'm expecting....due in November around Thanksgiving. It's a little early to tell but it's hard to keep it quiet when it pretty much consumes my life these days. I mean that I feel like I'm losing my mind and my stomach most days. That's not to get sympathy...it's mostly to vent. So I have the usual nausea....but that could be worse....my sister-in-law Jessica has it much worse in terms of being physically sick....so I'm grateful for how relatively well I'm doing there. However, my mind plays tricks on me when I'm pregnant that it seems no one can relate to....so maybe I'd like to hear who can relate to this or to hear more.."hmm you really are one of a kind". Anyway so when I was pregnant with Holly there were certain shirts I bought during the first trimester that I could hardly even look at then without throwing up and now still shudder a little when I think about them.....the smell of the Abercrombie/Hollister store made me sick. In addition, songs that came out during those 3 months made my stomach turn and still bring back sickly memories. Now that I'm pregnant with PTBNL(Player to be named later....named by my dad....and what I will call this baby until it is born).....it seems that all of my old addictive habits make me nauseous. To name a few....being on the computer, watching tv, and even sleeping seem to make me think of puking. It's the weirdest thing....not necessarily a bad thing since those habits aren't the most fulfilling ways to spend my time. But, I find that when I don't feel well...I tend toward doing any one of those 3 things and that just makes it worse. You see my dilemna. The worst part of it all.....I was so excited about building our new house when I was first pregnant...nausea just taking effect....and now I can barely stand to think of our new house! So, I try to think about it as little as possible so that when I move into my new house I don't associate it with feeling sick. I tell Daniel this and he's baffled....and so are most people...even those who've been pregnant before. I have an addictive personality...I can get obsessed with things....and it seems as though....the things I'm "obsessed with" around the first trimester.....will be the things thats keep me carrying a bowl around with me. Weird huh? Sorry, I think I mentioned throwing up way too many times in this post. I promise the next one will be less disgusting.

Andrew: "Mommy, how much do I weigh?"
Me: "You weigh 44 pounds."
Andrew: "44 pounds for fighting?!"
Me: "hmmm."

Ashley: "Mommy, you're not a loser."
Me: "Thanks Ashley".....I think
Ashley: "Andrew called you a loser but you're not."
Me: "Hmm....so Andrew called me a loser?"
Ashley: "Nope.....he did last night"
Me: "Andrew did you call me a loser?"
Andrew "No....well I did last night"
Me: "Do you think I'm a loser?"
Andrew "Umm well not right now"
Very reassuring. Ahhh kids.....I'll tell myself that Andrew still doesn't understand what a loser is.....and that'll work for now. :)