And the Grand Finale of the 2008 Camping Season

As I continue my quest to receive a "Mother of the Year" award, I have again failed for 2008.

Thursday night was Josh's Christmas Program at daycare. Of course, Dustin had to work so he was unable to get to see the actual program and, more importantly, I had no help getting them both ready.

So, I got the kids fed and dressed and over to the church. Josh was all excited and finally, after all these years, I am no longer filled with worry that he'll clam up and burst into tears in the middle of the program. The kids began to file in and as soon as Joshie turned the corner and saw me sitting there he just beamed. God...I love that. As a mom, heck as a human being, there is no better feeling than having someone smile at the sight of you. Warms the heart, most definitely.

So imagine it...there I am sitting in the pew anxiously awaiting my son's performance, my daughter standing and screaming "Joshie" through all the other performances and me wishing my husband was there to see it. Then the time comes. It's Josh's turn. He files up onto stage and finds his spot. I grab a quick picture...



Then they start to sing. I switch my camera to grab a video...



THEN BAM!!!! Camera dies.

WTH?!?!?!?

I was devastated. Not only for my blog (of course)...but for my husband. Between my hormones, watching my son sing his little heart out and disappointment for my husband it took every ounce of me to keep smiling at Josh and not fall into a puddle of tears. Guess I need to pay more attention to my battery charge and less about how my kids look.

Friday I took off of work at noon and did a little last minute shopping! I rocked it...BIG TIME! You know when a really good sale, meets finding EXACTLY what you're looking for, meets shopping without your kids?!?!? It's like the Bermuda Triangle of shopping trips. Well...I had it on Friday! It was glorious. All 1 hour and 49 minutes of it!

But by Friday night...I was wiped. So instead of waiting for the kids to go to sleep to start my wrapping, I put the kids in Josh's room and told them they could watch a video together. They didn't have a clue what was going on downstairs and they had a blast!



Lucky for me because I only had to stay up till 11:00 before I finished my wrapping!

Saturday morning we went and saw Santa. And while this was not nearly as severe as our Christmas card, Lauren continued her streak of crappy pictures.


Whatever. The girl is a diva. What can I say?

And just like our experience at the merry-go-round immediately following their Christmas picture session, before I had even finished paying she was dancing around the water fountain at the mall performing for all the old people on the benches.

I swear she hates me.

Immediately after that we headed off to pick mom up at church and take her down to the Amana's for her birthday. All I can say is, "Bring on the cottage cheese, bring on the Chicken Schnitzel and bring on the Banana Cream Pie...cuz Mama's hungry!" Honestly, I have not eaten like that in months! Thank God I had on maternity jeans! Holy fatness!

Of course, my daughter did her fair share of eating, too. But does that really surprise anyone?



And as if that wasn't enough, I walked my wobbly butt down to the Chocolate House and bought myself a pound of Carmel. I know what you're thinking..."Oh Beth, I'm sure you shared some of it." Uh...no, I did not. Do you not know me at all? And not only did I not share any of it...but as of last night there wasn't any of it left. So there! **blows a raspberry**

By God, I will finally have gained some weight for my next OB appointment! I will also be diabetic...but whatever. :-)

Then Sunday. Dear God...what a day.

It started off normal. We got up, went to church (as a side note...how much do I love Advent hymns? SO MUCH!) and went out for breakfast. It was unseasonably warm and Dustin thought it would be a good day to take the camper down to the timber for the winter. So I started laundry and got the kids ready while Dustin hooked up to the camper.

We got down there and realized almost immediately that turning the camper around in the limited space of the clearing was not going to be an easy task. So me, being the designated traffic controller, hopped out and did my best at guiding Dustin through the mess of obstacles. Seriously, we had to turn that thing around without hitting two trailers, several trees, a well, a large stump, a shed filled with cut wood and a Morton building. I mean, come on!

There I was standing in the middle of a clearing, yelling directions at my husband and what happened? Well, what happens EVERY time we set up? IT STARTS TO RAIN!!! Honestly, I started laughing. It's freakin' December 14th and it's raining!!! Dustin slammed it into park and got out of the truck just to join me in laughter. What are the odds?

Back to our task.

He hopped back in the truck and realized that our plan wasn't going to work. It was about that time we realized we were stuck. Couldn't go forward, couldn't go backward, couldn't move...and the camper was blocking our only exit.

I headed towards one of the trees and all of a sudden I heard a SCCREEEACCHH!! Not good. Dustin darted out of the truck and yelled a not so nice word. I went running and immediately began crying. We were in a serious pickle, the kids were screaming to get out of the truck and now the camper was damaged. What else could happen, right?

So I started walking towards the Morton building to get a different view of our situation and sssllliippp!

BAM! Me down on the ice...right on my belly. Dustin ran over to help me up and I immediately started to cry again only this time with contractions.

So there I stood....crying, having contractions, covered in mud, in the rain with no way of getting to a hospital and no cell phone reception. I had had enough.

It just went down hill from there...the four wheelers wouldn't start, the temp dropped, the rain turned to sleet, the kids got sick and tired of sitting in the truck, my contractions continued and if I had had a can of lighter fluid I would have just set the stupid camper aflame.

We finally got it turned around and parked in the Morton building but by the time we got back on the road to head home the roads were ice covered and the ride home was very stressful.

If the roads were better I would have made Dustin take me straight to the hospital but honestly, I just wanted to get home. I didn't sleep much last night because I was pretty sore from the fall and paranoid about Baby's lack of movement. But today seems to be a bit more normal so I'll continue to take it easy and call the doctor if I get concerned.

Needless to say...I could do without another day like that.

Baby Update: 27 weeks

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

A sweet story:

A few weeks back we were down in the family room watching TV and Josh asked if he could color a picture. I got him a piece of paper and he ran and got his crayons. He worked for a good 20 minutes and ran to show me his finished project.



Our entire family: Dustin, me, Lauren, Josh, Mattie (with green leash and all) and baby...."coming down from heaven". Like that wouldn't make any mother cry. I have a saying on Lauren's wall that says, "Heaven's Gift" and I always tell Josh that God gave him to me. It was just so sweet how he interpreted what I've told him all these years...and I had to share.