So for those of you who fear we may have dropped off the face of the earth, we are still here. We haven't had home Internet access in months. We've been very busy! We managed to search for and buy a house this summer. Moving was quite....an undertaking considering we only had 2 weeks to paint, pack, and move while we both worked and cared for a baby and a toddler. Buying a house is a rather time-consuming, drawn-out process. I didn't really care for it. I do, however, love our house. I'm very happy with it.

Sarah is now 9 months old and getting into everything. She's almost walking and majorly teething. We've all been going through Fussy Hell thanks to her poor swollen gums. Her favorite word is "bababa". Megan will be turning 4 in about a month. She is so great with Sarah. Not jealous of her, likes to play with her and make her laugh, watches out for things lying on the floor that can be dangerous for her, and helps me out a lot. She has been going through the Terrible Threes. She goes through some incredibly bratty phases. It's that whole figuring out how the world works and where she stands in it thing.

My little sister got married a couple weeks ago. I really like my new brother-in-law. The wedding went well, my dress was fabulous, and Megan did a great job as flower girl. Now all of us Schimmoller sisters are married off. We managed to marry into easier names: Dyksen, Jones, and Crowe.

Let's see, work stuff. My workplace survived a flood when all that rain and flooding hit the Midwest this summer. That happened to be the week I was left in charge because my bosses were on vacation. Sheer insanity. Doug's work is same old, same old suckiness.

I've been tearing through some games recently. Megan's favorite thing to do is watch us play video games. She's very good at remembering maps and where we've been in dungeons. I've played Eternal Sonata, FF Tactics Advance 2, and Infinite Undiscovery. There are definitely flaws in each of those games, but I've still enjoyed them. Megan has now taken to trying to fight battles in real life. She likes to use my little kitchen broom as a sword, or as a bow to emulate Aya from Infinite Undiscovery, to fight monsters. It's hilarious. She still loves to play Bomberman on the arcade cabinet. Sarah is starting to show interest in the arcade machine. It's so cute to see them standing side-by-side, mashing buttons and yanking on the joysticks. They are so our girls. Of course, Doug just eats that up.

Example 1 of Megan Says the Greatest Things--
Me: Don't you dare get an attitude with me, little girl!
Megan: Yeah! If you get an attitude like that one more time, I will end your life!

That was her interpretation of me telling her: "If you talk to mommy with an attitude like that one more time, you will get a time out." Damn, I have to be careful. That child picks up on everything I say. I'm not quite sure where she came up with the "end your life" thing, but I started cracking up. I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. She was dead serious, too.

All of our friends have moved away, far away. Carin moved to Oregon, the Dosters moved to Texas, and Erin and Jim are moving to Louisiana. It feels like we're being left behind. It's too sad. Doesn't it seem like as you get older, you move more toward being in a different place in life from the rest of your friends? It's like you no longer are in control of the direction your life takes, but rather your kids kind of dictate it. I was wondering the other day what our lives would be like if we were still childless. We probably would have done much more traveling (our last vacation was our honeymoon over 5 years ago), we would most likely have lots of money saved up, we would probably be in different jobs in a different city, and we would have a shitload of stuff. But then again, we wouldn't have our little girls' adorable smiles, we wouldn't be called Mommy and Daddy, we couldn't indulge ourselves in cartoons and silly dances, and we wouldn't truly understand what it is to love another person more than your own life. Ever since Megan started talking and called me Mommy, I have loved to hear her say it. I'm excited to hear Sarah say that to me too.

Would you believe multiple people have asked me if we're going to try to have a boy? Two things about that, people: 1. My God, my baby is only 9 months old! Why would I want to get pregnant this soon? 2. Why would it be so important to Doug to have a son? He doesn't care any more than I do. 3. NO MORE CHILDREN! The End. We had a pregnancy scare this month with me being really late. I felt panicky. I'm so tired all the time with just two that the thought of another one freaked me out. I swear, one of us needs to get neutered. We're too damn fertile.

I'm feeling rather vertigo-ish for no reason, so I'm going to lie down and wait for Doug to get home. Good night, cyber friends!

My birthday was this last Friday. My gift from my parents was a weekend without children. I was so giddy from lack of responsibility. I'm thinking 28 is getting awfully close to 30. Then I'll have to be a REAL adult. You would think after being married 5 years and having 2 kids that I would feel like an adult by now. I still think of myself as a college kid, though I have to say that college students seem rather young to me these days.

I am back at work for real now. It's not my first choice for a job (housewife/stay at home mommy being the top), but it is nice to feel like I'm contributing.

My 3.5 year old daughter is a Wii Sports bowling whiz. Doug taught her how to seriously play the other day and she got a strike AND a spare in her first game. She remembers us playing Mario Galaxy during the holidays and pesters us all the time to buy the "Luigi game". You see, that was one of the games we traded in toward the 360, so we don't have it anymore. She loved it when we would use Mario to jump on Luigi and he would say, "Sorry". Of course, she interpreted it as "Naughty", but that made it even better.

My 5 month old daughter is majorly attached to me. She's humongous, as in wearing 9-12 month size clothes. She's currently working on teething, crawling, and eating baby food.

My older sister and brother-in-law are in Berlin/Freiburg right now, so if any of you happen to be in the area, you should look them up.

The night of my birthday there were some wicked storms that blew through Indianapolis. The wind and rain were ridiculous. Apparently, a tornado touched down on the east side of Indy, which is pretty close to us. On the outskirts of our town, trees and power lines have been leveled, and roofs have been torn off of houses. It's funny because I remember my 24th birthday when I was pregnant with Megan, and there were tornadoes on the south side of Indy. I suppose my birthday is unlucky when it comes to weather.

Not much else going on here. How are your lives? Good, I hope....

As a Christian, I feel I have a right to say this. Why are so many Christians up in arms about gay marriage? Whether you feel a homosexual lifestyle is wrong or right, it is a person's choice how to lead their life. God gives us free will to make our own choices. Yet Christian groups are protesting the legalization of gay marriage in California. Why don't we try being upset about more important things? How about using that energy to petition our country to send aid to the more than 4 million people in China who lost their homes to the earthquake, on top of the 40,000 death toll? How about being mad about the Myanmar government stifling relief efforts for a country that had almost 80,000 people die from a storm? People, for real. Get your damn priorities straight.

I received a message on Facebook about my 10 year high school reunion this summer. It's the day before our 5 year wedding anniversary, so I'm not sure if I'll go or not. That led me to check out our high school's alumni website. A few interesting and varying personalities went to my high school. First is Marc Summers. Yes, the host of Nickelodeon's Double Dare and who is now on Food Network, though technically his real last name is Berkowitz. Next was Babyface, or Kenneth Edmonds as he was originally named. Maicel Malone, an Olympic track and field gold medalist in 1996 also graduated from there. David Wolf is an astronaut who has been on the International Space Station. Lastly, there is Jared Fogle, the Subway guy. How in the world did that guy get rich and famous anyway? I tell you what, looking at all these accomplished people makes me feel like quite the loser. I've really done nothing with my life.

A funny story about our wedding anniversary. When we had only been married for a few weeks, I started a new job. When people would find out I was a newlywed, they would invariably ask me when I got married. I kept telling everyone I was married on August 11. I mentioned the date to Doug at some point and he looked at me, horrified. He said, "Julie, we got married on the 10th." I don't know why I was so confused by that. Isn't it usually the guy who forgets the anniversary date? Not to mention we hadn't even been married a month at that point. He has never let me forget that.

Enough of this, I'm off to play some FFXI with Doug. Word to your moms.

Going from youngest to oldest:
Sarah is fussing and crying ALL THE TIME.
Megan is acting ultra bratty, as in timeouts left and right, which is unusual for her.
Doug has to work 3:00pm-3:00am all week which equates to no help with the kids.
I started my period this week.

Anybody want to mess with me this week? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Sidenote: Am I the only person who, when watching the trailers for the Speed Racer movie, feels like they're watching a live-action F-Zero GX?

It's strange that Indiana's primary is so pivotal to the Democratic side of the presidential race. I mean, this is such a heavily Republican state that it's weird to have all this talk about the Democratic candidates. My sister-in-law and her husband are staunch Barack Obama supporters, so we've been hearing quite a bit about it.

I just saw your reply to my comment. Don't worry, this country tends to ignore the humongous middle part of itself too. No, we're still in Indiana, Indianapolis to be exact. Indy is close to Chicago. Wait, you're from Europe, so I figure a 3-4 hour drive isn't so close for you guys, huh? We consider that close here. You pretty much covered everything that happens in the Midwest. Natural disasters, mainly tornadoes, ice storms, and floods, farming, and unemployment are about all that occur. There's a reason Indy's nickname is Naptown. It's really not that bad of a place, but I'm tired of it. So, 9 days later, I finally answered your question. If you could stop my baby's fussing and crying, you're more than welcome to come try. She's such a fussybutt.

Speaking of that munchkin, she is huge. Where do these Amazon girls come from? Doug and I were both skinny little kids, so I'm not sure why our children are so big and look older than they are. For example, my mom works at an elementary school and sometimes Meg and I visit her. Megan loves hanging out with the kids and playing in the library. My 3.5 year old is the same size as the first graders! She also behaves better than them, but that's beside the point....

A couple weeks ago I finished Final Fantasy X, putting my defeated Final Fantasy games at a total of 6--IV, VI, VII, IX, X, XII. I've tried playing FFVIII twice before, but I get so bored I can't finish it. Whoever came up with the Draw system was smart, but the number of times you have to do it is ridiculous. What tedious battles.

Ah, FFDog. Good times. I can tell you from those times that I will never play or beat FFII. What an evil game. I remember freaking out around 4 a.m. because I was stuck in a dungeon and was getting my ass beat down. I couldn't escape any battles to save my life. "Why do they even give you the option to run if they never let you run?!" Honestly. "Yosef's attacks sound like an electric knife cutting through a frozen ham." It's been a long time since we've seen Tim. I believe it's been 3 years now.

Tim: "Can you hand me that brick?"
Julie: "You mean this glass?"
Tim: "What did I say? Brick?"

Yeah, I think we were a little crazy with sugar and sleep deprivation. In case you all didn't know, Tim and I went to high school together. He was a year ahead of me, but we did have a Spanish class together. I vaguely knew he was. Five years later after I had graduated college and met Doug, Doug met Tim randomly online. They became friends and when Doug told me about him, I realized who he was talking about. Life can be quite random, but that's the fun of it.

My big girl says the funniest things sometimes. I had to struggle not to laugh at something she said last night because it was naughty. We were sitting on the couch coloring together when she suddenly demanded, "Stinkin' mommy! Give me my snack!" I just gave her my Mommy Look and said, "Excuse me?" She immediately replied, "Can I please have my snack, mommy?" I love having the parental power when a look can force a child to submit. Not like I terrorize my children or anything, but that look sure comes in handy sometimes.

My thoughts are actually flowing pretty well today. Usually I'm too tired and distracted to post anything coherent. I need to be a good woman and do some housework now. Peace out.

Well, we just got Internet back at our house this week. I missed it so. I was dying having to go weeks without illegally downloading something. Hey, when you're poor you have to take your chances with the law.

The last few months have been busy with work and kids. Well, the kids technically ARE my work. Sarah and Megan are pretty different. It's interesting to see how two kids who came from the same parents can look so different and have such different personalities. The only thing they have in common is that they have the same nose. Sarah is a bit of a troublesome baby. She's very sweet and laidback, and even sleeps 10-12 hours at night. However, when it comes to eating it's enough to make me crazy. She's a big girl just like Megan, but she certainly doesn't eat as well as Megan did. She doesn't really sleep during the day and fights against the bottle at every meal. She is constantly too hungry to sleep and too tired to eat. When you are dealing with that on top of an attention-starved 3-year-old day after day, it can wear on you mentally. I wouldn't want any other job, but being a stay at home parent is one of the hardest things to do because you care so much about how well you do your job. I mean, you're affecting this little person's whole life and future, you know? Megan really likes Sarah and is always wanting to help and to play with her. She likes to call her "little fella" and pat her head, like she's talking to a puppy or something.

All in all, we have two beautiful little girls. And there's no way in hell we want any more children. It's a whole different thing raising two kids as opposed to raising just one. The workload doesn't just double, it increases exponentially. How do people with 4+ kids do it?

Let's see, what has been going on these last couple months. My grandmother is rapidly losing her mental capabilities thanks to Alzheimer's. My older sister is on fertility drugs (Believe me, sis, if I could, I would lend you some of my fertility skills. Doug and I only need to look at each other to get pregnant.). My cousin's live-in boyfriend recently died in a car accident. My dear friend Erin just had her first child, a little boy named Elijah. My little sister might be getting married in the near future. Lots of fun stuff going on.

Man, I'm ready for bed. But instead, I'll likely play more Phantom Hourglass or maybe I'll watch some more Infinite Ryvius. Gotta do something fun while the girls are asleep, right?

So we finally finished Blue Dragon. Here are my thoughts on it:

The gameplay was the weakest facet of the game. The story was interesting, the graphics were gorgeous, and the characters were all very likable. Overall, the game felt pretty generic. It was a good game, but nothing great. Being the wife of Doug, I have to mention the music. It was definitely Uematsu. Some really good songs, some not as good songs, most of them rather repetitive. My favorite music of the game was in the final boss battles. Speaking of which, this game had the easiest final bosses EVER. Granted, I was pretty high level by the time I got to that point, but geez. Each phase of the final boss only got one hit in on me. Not only that, but the hit did about 43 damage, when my all of my characters had over 900 HP. After all the buildup and the climax of the story, this cakewalk of a fight was very disappointing.

I'm loving our 360. Even though I don't need awesomely realistic graphics to enjoy a game, I certainly can appreciate the way these next-gen games look. I like how the system sounds like a jet engine when it's running. I think it's funny.

When you have kids, you have to become an octopus. Doug is often impressed by my multi-tasking skills. I've been known to hold and feed the baby, eat a meal, and help Megan blow her nose, all at the same time. I have a special way of holding Sarah that allows me to feed her with just my left hand, leaving my right hand free. Sometimes this gets rather overwhelming. My head almost exploded last Friday. Both girls woke up from their naps at the same time. The baby was fussing and crying from hunger and the big girl was going into crying fits for reasons I still don't understand. I was trying to get a bottle ready for Sarah and get Megan's bag packed because she was spending the night with her grandparents. On top of all this, I had an awful headache that day. Megan has trouble dealing with Sarah's crying, so with Sarah fussing, Megan's fits got worse. It was like they were feeding off each other. This is the fun of having multiple children. Boy, does it take patience.

It's been so long since he's posted anything that I felt Kyo needed to show himself. We also have KOF XI, so I suppose it's in celebration of that. Sidenote: I'm kind of pissed that KOF XI doesn't have Leona in it. She's my favorite. They do have my other favorite, Kula, but I still wish they would have taken Clark out and put Leona in. A team with Whip and Leona would rock.

I feel like I'm finally getting used to being a mom of multiple children. It's quite an adjustment. Taking care of the baby is much easier this time. We just fell right back into it. The hard part is dealing with Megan. She's great with Sarah and likes her a lot. The problem is giving her adequate attention. She acts out a bit because she feels ignored. We don't think these girls look much alike at all. It's funny because Megan looks more like me and is a daddy's girl, and Sarah looks more like Doug and is a mommy's girl. Sarah is a very laidback baby. She pretty much just eats and sleeps, and doesn't even fuss or cry during diaper changes or baths. When she had her first appointment with the pediatrician, the doctor noted she is a mellow baby because she didn't cry at all. If you know anything about babies, you know it's rare for a one week old to not cry when they check their ears and throat.

I have a running list in my mind of chicks that I think are hot. Don't worry, it's purely objective :) It includes Elizabeth Hurley, Heather Locklear, Jessica Alba, and Heather Graham. Women can make statements like this because they constantly evaluate and compare themselves to other women. I don't think I've ever heard a guy who isn't gay say another guy is good-looking.

The other day Megan made up a song that went like this, "I love Daddy. I love Mommy. I love video games..." And she really does. She's playing Animal Crossing on my DS right now. She also likes to play Bomberman on the arcade machine with Doug. We haven't "indoctrinated" her or anything and she still loves to play. She is totally our daughter. I love it.

Unfortunately, I had better get to some chores now. Yuck. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone!

I have problems putting pictures on Livejournal, so if you want to see our new bundle of joy, you can check out https://www.myspace.com/j00ly. I'll update at another time when I don't have a thirsty toddler bugging me.

So here are the stats:

Sarah Elizabeth Jones
December 31
3:22 pm
8 lb 10 oz
21 inches long

She's a little sweetie. We love her tons. It's great to have her home. She is definitely a mommy's girl. She'll let everyone else lay her down to sleep, but I have to hold her. I'm pretty attached to her too, so it's okay for now. The girl sure has a set of cheeks on her. We don't think she looks that much like Megan. She has a lot of dark hair. It's strange having a little one in the house again, but we're enjoying it.

So. I have an appointment set up to be induced at 7:00 am Monday morning. I could give you all the stats regarding the station of the baby, cervical dilation, etc., but that probably wouldn't mean anything to you guys. Any time in the next 5 days I could go into labor, but I think I'll make it to my appointment. It seems like I've been pregnant forever, and also like it has flown by. I'm awfully ready to get her the HELL OUT OF ME! Oh, and hold her and see her, of course.

We had a good Christmas, though I'm beyond worn out by it. I just really don't sleep anymore and we had family gatherings every day. I won't go into all the details about why exactly this was such a good Christmas, but I will say that I loved having my little family together. Megan made out like a bandit, Doug got an Xbox 360 (we've been playing Blue Dragon), and Sarah will be our belated gift. God has really been blessing us lately and I'm very thankful.

I'm not sure what all of you will be doing for New Year's Eve this year, but I will most likely be celebrating it in the hospital. Good times.

So, the current state of my life is this:

I am monstrously pregnant and uncomfortable. Can't sleep, can't get around well due to some major pains, and just plain not feeling well.

I am caring for an active 3 year old who is thankfully a very good girl, but exhausting nonetheless.

I am becoming anxious about giving birth and caring for a newborn. I must say I didn't handle Megan's newborn time very well, so I'm a little nervous about doing it again. We've determined that I most likely had postpartum depression after I had Megan, which made sleep deprivation, baby crying, and breastfeeding troubles almost unbearable.

I am having a couple super major issues in my life right now that I can't go into details about.

My poor grandmother who babysat me and my older sister all the time when we were little has Alzheimer's and it is progressing faster than anyone thought. It's really hard to see her change and be depressed because she knows she's becoming less capable. This is an incredibly independent, stubborn woman who is struggling with her disease.

I have a very close family member who is suffering through infertility issues. She most likely has endometriosis and will be undergoing some fertility treatments to help her get pregnant.

Our money situation is dire. I'm at a point where I just don't know what to do about it.

And on top of all this junk going on, I decided to fall down the stairs this morning. Luckily, I fell backwards onto my butt, but I did slide about halfway down the stairs with my left leg bent to the side and back. I didn't know my leg could still bend that way! Sweet Megan was ahead of me going down the stairs and I was afraid I would take her down, but she got down fast enough. She told me, "Don't worry! I'll help you stand up." It scared her a bit. My left foot is killing me. I had several bruises immediately appear on my foot, but the problem is my big toe. It's swollen and really hurts. I didn't break it, but I sure did something to it. I can't stand on it, nor can I stand to wear a shoe on it. I can't help but think, "Man, that's the last thing I need--to be LESS mobile than I already am."

Sometimes you just have to laugh at life. I did have some wonderful times with both Erin and Carin yesterday. I haven't been able to see them in a long time, so it was great to hang out with my 2 oldest friends. They've always been there for me and we've always been able to just pick up our friendship like usual even when we haven't seen each other for several months. I'm grateful for them.

Change of subject: We traded in some games to get Super Mario Galaxy. What a freaking blast! We've had so much fun with it. We also got Phantom Hourglass, but I haven't started it yet. I plan on doing that soon.

Okay, enough complaining. I'm going to lie down for a bit and put some ice on my foot. I hope everyone has a better Sunday than I've had so far.

The first snowfall of the season is always fun. Megan and I will have to get outside and enjoy it. As she puts it, we'll "go snowing".

35 weeks today! 3 weeks at the most until this child can get out of me. I can't wait.

Happy birthday to my mama today!

So I am at 34 weeks now. I generally feel like crap these days. So worn out that a full night's sleep and a nap doesn't help. Then again, I wake up all the time at night because I'm so uncomfortable. I was only 35 weeks along when Megan was born, so I'll be relieved to get past that marker. I don't want another preemie or a stay in the NICU. If the baby hasn't already come by this point, we're planning on an induction during Christmas week. It may sound silly, but we really can't afford to have her in 2008. It's an insurance thing with deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. My doctor is very receptive to that, for which I'm grateful. My doctor probably won't be able to deliver her in the end because her 11-year-old son has leukemia and she's going to take a leave of absence to help out with rounds of chemotherapy. I feel awful for her. I hope that's something I never have to deal with. Poor kid.

We have everything ready for Sarah's arrival, which is opposite of how it was with Megan. I still really need to get the hospital suitcase together. Megan took me so much by surprise that I didn't even have any clean underwear to take to the hospital. This time will be different! I won't be caught unprepared again. I'm just so excited to not be pregnant anymore and to be able to see my second daughter.

Megan and I both had doctor's appointments yesterday. She clocked in at 38 pounds and 40.5 inches. That's the 95th percentile for both height and weight. She's a big girl. She is fascinated by doctors since she comes to my OB appointments with me. She can imitate the sound the Doppler makes when they check the baby's heartbeat. She's excited about her little sister. On the way to my appointment I was telling her about how the doctor was going to check to make sure mommy and Sarah were healthy. She replied, "Awww, Sarah Elizabeth doesn't feel well!" That's my compassionate little girl. She's learned about people feeling sick from being around me and helping me out through this pregnancy. What would I ever do without this kid in my life?

I should probably go to bed. I'm sitting here like a zombie. Peace out, all.

On Yahoo's home page that popped up after I signed out of my email account, the story I saw in big letters across the top of the page made me scoff. "Former American Idol contestant Katherine McPhee is reported to be engaged!" Well, hell, I almost give a shit. I then searched the page for some real news. Underneath that in much smaller print is the headline about the cyclone that hit Bangladesh and has killed 1100 people so far. The worst storm in 20 years, they're calling it.

I really think America's celebrity obsession is getting way out of hand. When the headline screams about the details of a celebrity's personal life and you have to look to find news that people should actually care about, you are one sick nation. I do appreciate the freedom and the standard of living that America provides, but at what cost? Complete numbness to the world outside our borders? A proud, arrogant attitude that earns us the enmity of other nations? America walks a strange line between trying to be involved in the political matters of every other country the world over, and keeping the general populace aware of only American events and ideas. That's where our "Americans are better than everyone else" attitude comes from. We are very self-absorbed and yet trying to fix the rest of the world to be like us. What a naive, short-sighted point of view.

Granted, I do believe that there are absolute rights and wrongs in this world, BUT I think we also need to deal with some of our own damn issues before we try to fix everyone else. It's biblical that your house will crumble if you have a weak foundation. It's a friggin' parable Jesus told, for Pete's sake. If we continue the way we are with regards to the national debt, out of control spending, the crappy healthcare system, rising poverty, inflation, etc., we will just end up burning ourselves out and who will be the losers? Not the wealthy politicians and leaders who spend their time trying to advance their own personal agendas. It's people like us who are struggling just to get by and have NO VOICE in these matters. Voting rights or not, the poor are voiceless. When I see political debates, all I see are rich people arguing with rich people. People who are out of touch with what the true majority of people deal with on a daily basis, and what they care about. When you don't have to worry about mundane things like how to make enough to cover monthly bills or how to pay for costly health insurance, you can afford to live by your ideals.

Now ends my political diatribe. I need to go munch on some Tums. (Pregnancy-related indigestion, not anger-induced)

My tired little girl has had a good birthday. She got to come with me to my OB appointment, which is always exciting because she gets to ride the elevators and play with the blood pressure cuff. We then took her to Toys 'R Us to pick out a toy with her birthday money. She almost started crying when we had to leave. My in-laws came over this evening with pizza, cake, and presents. She had a blast. I, however, am exhausted and coming down with some sort of cold. Thankfully, the munchkin will be going to bed soon.

I have nothing more to say.

Yesterday was Doug's 27th birthday. He got to do a lot of sleeping and sitting around, which is rare for him. We also watched the Colts game. We've never done that before, but it was fun.

Megan went trick or treating with her grandma. She dressed as a fairy princess. She used her flower girl's dress and had a tiara, wings, and a wand with little lights on it. She had a blast. I gotta say, my little girl is so pretty. She looked adorable. Now the problem is strictly rationing out her candy.

We found out at my doctor's appointment last week that I had actually lost a few pounds. Not bad, eh? When I have this kid, I'm not going to want to leave the hospital. They've completely redone the maternity area since I had Megan and it kicks ass. The rooms look and feel more like hotel rooms than hospital rooms. With room service and nurses to take care of the baby when I want them to, why would I want to leave? It's too bad I'll be so exhausted and in pain that I won't be able to fully enjoy being taken care of. Oh well.

This is what the last week and a half has consisted of for us. Nothing terribly exciting, but that's our life.

Are any of you on Facebook? I am now and I would gladly add you as a friend if you are.

Shaper - I'm sorry about Doug's lack of communication. His phone completely crapped out on him and we had to wait for our "New Every Two" thingie to kick in to get a new one. Now that he has his sexy little Chocolate phone, though, he is reachable again. Luckily, we still have your number because I had it in my phone. Moving to Chicago would rock. Chicago is so not far from us. We have not forgotten you!

We still don't technically have Internet, but we do like to mooch off one of our neighbor's wireless networks. It's working very well tonight.

I am majorly preggo - 29 weeks now. Ready to be done with it. I've already gained about 40 pounds and I'm retaining water like crazy. I have shortness of breath so bad that I run out of breath while speaking. Sometimes I have to just huff and puff, and I still don't feel like I'm getting enough oxygen. I expect this child to be born in about 2 months. With how fast time has been going, that seems like nothing. Even though I've done it before, I'm still rather apprehensive about labor and delivery. I suppose it's a pain you never get used to, you know?

Let me tell you this: you've never really lived until you've had to potty train a child. It's probably the most difficult thing we've done so far. How do you explain to someone what it's like to do #1 and #2 in the toilet? How do you get them to understand and control those urges? It's easy to do yourself, but hard to make a complete novice do. Megan is the kind of kid who will learn these major life skills only when she decides she's ready. You really can't force things upon her, no matter how thoroughly you teach her. Oh my smart, stubborn sweetie.

Not much else going on. I'm going to bed. Peace out.

For those of you who don't know I'm on Myspace, we have no Internet at our house for the time being. I am getting close to my third trimester of pregnancy (thank God!). We're having another little girl, which we're happy about. Doug is averaging 60 hour work weeks and I'm a stay at home mom now.

Things are going well. I need to get this munchkin to take a nap. How is everything with all of you?