Thursday, February 21, 2008

Baby Update - Half Way There !

Yes, lest you all forget that I am expecting another son...

(quick update on yesterday's post...the washing machine is a Whirlpool not a Maytag and it is SO COOL!)

So, this little guy (just one this time 'round) has made himself known. Recently I have been feeling the jabs, pokes and flips of the newest Adzentoivich-to-be. Of course these were few and far between for the past couple of weeks, but now I can say they are pretty regular. There he goes right now!

And yesterday morning, when I lay in bed awake at 5am (no not to feed my goats, you have to read Anne's blog for those stories) because one of the boys in the next room decided 5am was a great time to play with his talking, singing, migraine-inducing doggie....I noticed a hard little lump protruding from my belly. Baby Butt!!!! Now this is exciting. If you have never experiences a tush, foot or fist pushing up through your abdominal wall you are really missing something big. All of a sudden it became a reality that there is, in fact, another living Adzentoivich boy in there - and he will be joining us sooner than we can imagine!

Way cool.

So, I compared my current one baby-belly to pictures of my two-baby belly from 2006. Guess what? Same size. So, I can't say that I became so HUMONGOUS because I was carrying twins. It looks like this time around I am on track to be just as rotund. And the funny thing is, I have gained about the same amount of weight as I did at the same time in the last pregnancy. Which, really, is almost nothing. Like 6 or 7 pounds. Needless to say I was no twig when we began this adventure. But still. It just all goes to the belly. Unbelievable.

I won't gross you all out again with belly pictures like I did the last time. I promise. But I do, however, have a pretty cool 3D ultrasound pic of Baby X (that's what we're calling him as that is the next letter in the alphabet after his brother's names). He looks just like his older siblings.......when I get to my home computer I will post it (you see, I am on my work laptop at the moment. Shhhh).

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

All the Latest

So. On Sunday, race day, I turned to my son Waylon and asked..."Are you going to be good and let mommy watch the race today? At least the end?" and he looked me square in the eye and shook his head an emphatic "No".

And he wasn't kidding. I didn't see one lick of the race. I did get to see some of the stuff leading up to it. All of the old race cars going around the track and footage from the beach days and past champions. It brought a tear to my eye thinking of Grandpa down there all those years ago. And about how, in 1973, I was there with my parents and Grandparents because my dad was going to get to drive his cousin's car (which didn't actually happen, long story). It was really a walk down memory lane for me. Very emotional.

Well, I have to admit it wasn't all Waylon's fault that I didn't get to see the race. Vladimir had a hand in it too.

No, really. I am kidding.

It goes something like this.

We generate a lot of dirty clothing at our house. Especially since the boys now play outside and their diapers have the huge challenge of containing liter upon liter of fluid overnight without bursting...

So, with my work schedule I don't typically get to the laundry until the weekend. This weekend was no exception.

On Saturday we found a new playground and took the boys to play for an hour or so. Then we went to Target or the Grocery Store or somewhere. We weren't home long enough for me to make a dent in the dirty pile before it was time for dinner, bath and bed (the kids' routine, not my own).

I figured it would be OK since, with President's Day, I had a three day weekend to deal with the clothes. I managed to get two loads into the wash before bed. One made it into the dryer and the other was doomed to mustiness as I galantly went to bed without drying it. I knew the boys had one more clean pair of PJs if I needed them in a pinch.

Sunday - late morning. I go down to the basement to put the wet clothes into the dryer and add another load to the wash - in an attempt to get the laundry settled before race time.

The laundry in the washing machine was sitting in a full basket of water. It didn't drain.

I turned the little knobby thing trying to get the basket to spin but nothing happened. Finally I finagled something in such a way so as to make the basket move around a little.

Task accomplished.

An hour or so later husband goes into the basement for something unrelated to dirty clothes. I ask him to please put the wash into the dryer. He reports to me that the wash is still sitting in water.

Huh?

30 minutes later he comes upstairs to tell me the washing machine is broken.

Great.

No washing machine and two 18 month olds do not a happy or clean smelling household make.

After several calls to Father In Law to confirm that the machine was in fact broken, Husband decides that it may be the timer that needs replacing. He then shuffles through the multiple phone books in our house and calls all three of the appliance repair stores within 30 miles. None are open on Sunday. It is the suburbs so I don't know what he was expecting.

So, race is starting....

We all pile into the minivan and head to Home Depot to look at wahsing machines. Not to BUY one mind you. But rather to LOOK at them and decide which one, if the timer cannot be replaced, would I like to have? They all seem the same to me. And since when is the washing maching "Mine"?

Water in.

Suds.

Spin.

Water out.

Clothes clean.

What do I know about front loaders, HE detergent and steam cleaning?

We pick out one that seems to be not too expensive. That is the deciding criteria.

Get home. Race in progress. Dinner time. Followed by bath time. Followed by tantrum (not mine, my child's. I swear). Followed by lengthy going to bed process.....

FINALLY I make my way downstairs and say out loud, pouting, "Might as well turn on the TV and watch the last few laps" to which husband replies...

"Oh. It's over"

"How do you know?!" incredulous,

"I watched the end while you were in the bathroom doing bathtime. Want to know who won?"

"No."

But I do know who won. I didn't watch one minute. And I have the entire thing on my DVR (twice, for some reason. How does it record the same thing, at the same time, twice????) - and I will never watch it. Who has time?

So, my new plan is to organize a family trip to Florida for Speed Week in 2018 when all of my boys will be old enough to enjoy and remember. Their Grandpa is going to come along too, and hopefully Uncle Bryan. I want my sons to someday watch the 100th running of the Daytona 500 with a tear in their eyes as they think back to the year we all went together...that's the Wood family legacy.

And in the end we ended up with a new front loading Maytag washing machine that was neither one of the ones we saw at Home Depot nor the least expensive we could find....and it was just delivered this afternoon.

I just got a phone call from husband...

"Your new washing machine is here"

"great."

"You have to read the manual. It is the size of a phone book"

"Awesome"

But how bad can it be? At least I hope to get through enough of it to run a load of wash before morning. The boys may have to sleep one more night in sweat pants and hoodies....but they'll survive.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Daytona 500


Yes. It is that time of year again. The Daytona 500 is this Sunday. I am so excited. It is the 50th Anniversary. 50 years. It makes me think of my Grandpa down at the beach in Daytona at the very beginning. And my dad and his buddies building race cars in our garage at all hours of the night for the race on Saturday. It is sooo in my blood. I get emotional at this time every year. This is my heritage.

It makes me a little bit melancholoy to see all of the big corporate changes happening to the sport. Now the name is the Sprint Cup. Changed from the Nextel Cup the past two years. Before that it had been the Winston Cup for decades. It seems the tradition keeps slippin further and further away. And then there are the cars themselves. Now they are all the same. Boring. And the corporate sponsopship has moved from the likes of Skoal Bandit to Bank of America. Sad.

And the guys themselves? The drivers? All pretty boys groomed for the cameras. Corporate spokespeople first and red neck race drivers second. It seems to take away some of the raw spirit of the sport. The authenticity.

Heck - NASCAR made the front page of the NY Times today. Unheard of!

All of that being said - I am still a supporter and am all fired up for the big race. I hope someday all of my brood of boys will be able to enjoy with me.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Promotion News!

Here is some non-baby, non-twin-related news. Amidst the craziness of my at-home life of a harried new mom to twins (who happens to be pregnant), I managed to get myself a shiny new job title! Horray for me. I am going to take a second to pat myself on the back for a moment.

Ah...that felt good. Thank you.

My brand spanking new title is (drum roll, please)Account Director.

Finally moving up the ranks of middle management. Yay for me.

Husband is, of course, very happy though still pushing for VP status....