Just me and my boy :)

Well, a long and tiring week of hot sun, swimming and exhaustion has just about come to a close and here I sit in a very quiet house just me and my boy (the little one). The man of the house is gone for the next 4 days on business (in Boston, MA where his job is based out of) and I guess that puts me in the ranks of "single-momdom"....not a place I have ever wanted to be, but if anything it teaches me to appreciate my wonderful hubby more and, of course, there's that whole thing "absence makes the heart grow fonder" so by Monday I'll be counting down the hours 'til I can hold him in my arms again :) I miss that great guy of mine already. But, tonight I'm hanging with my little man. After a crazy day of being in the sun for 5 hours (swimming, diving and then an outside play/water date with friends)...well, we are both just plum tuckered out and almost off to bed. The girls are having a boat-sleepover on the lake with Nina and Poppy Stegs so it'll just be some mommy-son time for the next day or so...and for that I'm grateful cuz truly I love this little guy of mine (aside from the fact that tonight our only bonding has been through some massive dirty diapers...thanks, lil' bud...we need to work on some better bonding techniques :))...but in spite of his Friday stinkiness he and I are buddies for life and I'm glad we can have some one-on-one time. And I'm glad the week has come to a close...although it'll be a lonely weekend without my hubby around I'm hoping it'll be a lazy one where I can sit and put my feet up a bit. Hope you all have a great one as well....if the spirit moves me I might go through our NC pics and post those later this weekend....we'll see....but for now I'm off to sleepyland :)

I have lost...

the ability to multi task....

I'm blaming it on hormones and the confusion brought on by pregnancy, but maybe I'm fooling myself that things will return to "normal" post-partum....

I used to be able to do laundry, wash dishes, play with the kids, stay caught up on email, return all phonecalls promptly, cook dinner, be smiley and happy all while balancing a ball on my head! Ok, so that last part might be a slight exaggeration, but in all honesty I was a very good multi-tasker and I am now realizing that this good ol' quality of the past has gone down the drains :(

These days I'm lucky if I can just get a shower in each day and keep the kids and myself fed (poor Kev has to fend for himself most days!)...my laundry is higher than the mountains, I am pathetically behind on emails and phonecalls, the dishes are piled a mile high and the kids have been watching way too many movies. Dinner is usually something on the grill made my Kev or something from the gourmet restaurant of Papa Johns or the local Chinese restaurant, my smiles aren't as many as they used to be and my crankiness is at an all-time high...and that ball on my head...well, it fell off long ago :) I am pathetically unable to concentrate and simply doing one thing out of the ordinary in a day takes all my undying energy. Case in point...this week of swim lessons....I am a worn out big ol' blob by about 1pm every day. Add onto that that I feel bad about my exhaustion and my lack-of-being-a-fun-mom and I'm just simply wallowing in self-pity for myself and my kids. Today is "read inside" day....sound fun to you?! Of course not...sounds like a day in Sept. when school's back in session...ewww! But I was just too tired after swimming to venture back to the hot outdoors so it was off the library and now we're home and Hailey is reading on the couch and Shelby fell asleep in her doorway after the thought of reading in her room! :) I definitely don't win "the fun mom award" this week. In fact I think I might even win "the bad/boring mom" award. It's a proud week for me :(

Where-oh-where did my multitasking days go and will they return. I hope so...for my kids', hubby and house's sake. I miss the days of feeling like a "super-mom" (even if I wasn't :)). I love pregnancy and all and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but when you have a big family to care for at the same time it's just hard somedays and you have to admit defeat.....and today I had to be honest about that fact! But, I do hope multi-tasking finds it way back into my life eventually, cuz our family of 6 is gonna need it! For now I probably should give myself some grace in this season of life :)

2 More Months! Wow!

Ok, so it hit me today at my OB appt that two months from today I could possibly be a mama of 4. I know that should have been a realization that I had many months ago, but until you have your big belly hanging out in front of you and you are having a hard time seeing your feet...well, I guess it has just taken time to really hit me that indeed we are going to be a family of SIX! It's really crazy to even say that number....so I'm gonna say it again...SIX! Kevin and I and our FOUR kids! I'm not the least bit nervous about the craziness that this is all going to entail and truly I am just excited....even the kids are getting excited. Dylan, bless his sweet 2 year old heart, kisses my baby belly daily and says "I love you". I think the "love you" is to me, but I like to think it's for the baby too. He's also gotta into the habit of counting my "bellies". Yes, apparently I have three and two of them are above my "real belly". We have tried and tried to explain to the boy that I only have one belly and the two other "large bumps" are NOT bellies :) But, I guess he just doesn't get it. So daily he counts and points at my 3 bellies, "One baby, two baby, three baby!" Lovely, I know. Kev thought it was so funny a few weeks ago he taped Dylan pointing at my "three bumps" at the mall. It was quite amusing and if I knew how to post video I'd show you. But, trust me...it's good comic relief to know I have three babies growing on my front side :) Thank goodness I will only be birthing one baby soon....and from my guesstimates I have to say I think this baby girl's gonna be right up there in weight with her brother. If I had to guess I'd day she'd be at least 9lbs by due date time. And, yes, due date is 2 mos from TODAY! Can you believe it?! I can't!

I had yet another routine OB appt today and all is going splendidly. I'm measuring right at 31 weeks (which is a relief considering my past issues with measuring small/IUGR at this point) and that little heart was just thumping away. From what I read baby should be about 3-4lbs now and about 15 inches...that's pretty big, so no wonder I feel larger than life! I think I'm up to 25 lbs in the weight gain dept. which is right on par for me, since I usually gain about 40lbs. So, while I feel like a big ol' beached whale lately I suppose I'm not bigger than the whales I've previously become :) And many friends are kind enough to tell me I look "so cute pregnant" or that I "hardly look pregnant" (though my dear mom and dad seemed to imply that I was looking quite big in NC...so maybe that's the real truth! I think my dad's actual comment (that he repeated several times) was "How many months do you have left???" (as he shook his head in disbelief :)) Love you, mom and dad! :)) But, thank you, dear friends who say I look beautiful and tiny. You are so good for my hormonal ego that tells me daily how LARGE I am getting (not just in the belly, but ALL over!)....and whether your comments are true or not I'll take them and feel better about eating my daily bowl (or two!) of ice cream with chocolate sauce all over it! :)

So, things continue to go smoothly and for that I am grateful. The doc didn't seem at all worried about my right-sided pain and she seemed to agree that it was just the baby and uterus pushing up against my rib cage especially when I sit for long periods of time. So, I guess that will just get more uncomfortable with time (lucky me!) :) But, all in all I'm doing well. The heat and humidity have hit me hard this week after enjoying the nice cooler/less humid mountain air last week. I am nausea a lot again and at night I just fall into bed. I think it has to do with 2 hours of swim/diving lessons every morning where I'm sitting or swimming with the kids in the hot sun. So, I am admittedly exhausted by this point every day. But, the end is in sight and I know soon enough I'll never has this sweet baby belly to lug around anymore and I'm sure I'll miss that on occasion. I have mixed feelings about that...well, mostly I think/know I'm going to miss it. I'm at that point in my pregnancy where things are good (and also where I feel like I've been pg FOREVER!). I love to be visibly pregnant and to feel this sweet girl move all day long (and that she does...she is a wiggler and the queen of hiccups!)...all that is so miraculous to feel inside your own uterus. And to see how my body has gone from normal shape to prego shape...well, it really goes to show what a miracle the whole baby growing thing is...how the body stretches and transforms to fit a tiny life...well, it's definitely a God-thing! I have never taken it for granted and I especially don't this time around since it'll be my last. I do love it and I get sad to think I won't get to do it again. But, I know God wants me to put pregnancies behind me and focus on raising my babies...and I am ready to do that...or I hope I will be in 2 mos! :)

For now, I am just basking in the glow of pregnancy....of the blessing of it all. Nothing could be better really and even in my hormonal outbursts I am thankful. God has been so good to our family and I just pray for a non eventful 2 more months and a very fast and "easy" delivery!

B-day Shout-out to Lein!

Well, today is a day to honor my DDB (Double Dinger Bud!), Lein, down in sunny FL!

If you don't know good ol' Leina Beana she's a friend from my good ol' southern days who has stuck with me through the years and is a true blue friend. I might only see her once a year, but she has to be one of the most thoughtful friends I have back home cuz she always gives me and my family undying support no matter how crazy her own life is. And she spoils my kids to death and is like family to them. They love their "Auntie Leina"! My good ol' bud, Lein' is one of the sweetest people I know and today she becomes an even older lady (like her wiser older friend--ME!) :) We've sure been through a lot over the years and goodness...it's been almost 2 decades that we've know each other hasn't it, Lein?? Time flies when you're having fun...and we always did...chasing boys on the beach (where oh where is Girbaud?) and having lots of crazy fun (like didn't I wear a dog collar once...did I really think that was funny??)...and joking about my double dinger bell drawings (I still swear bells look/sound better with two dingers!) But, you've been there through it all with me, Lein...a tried and true friend. You deserve the best life has to offer and I hope Marc treats you like a queen today (as I'm sure he always does!)...and maybe you're both livin' it up in Vegas??? Here's to my fellow old lady and double dinger pal....maybe this 31st year of life be your best ever! Happy Birthday, My Fond FL Friend! :)

Post-Vacation Blues :(

Well, I'm in that post-vacation slump....that hard-to-get-back-to-the-normal-routine kinda attitude. It's never easy and it's especially hard when you can't really wallow in your sadness, but instead you are thrust back into the real world and the craziness of life in general.....

All that to say that our Maggie Valley (NC) vacation was superbly wonderful and relaxing as all get out! :) I don't want to write a novel about all the fun times we had, cuz honestly it's hard to put it all into words and I am utterly exhausted at the moment (and moderately nauseous again this week...yuck!)...but trust me...our vacation was great! Great to see family, great to just veg out and great to enjoy some nice (less humid) weather! I'd love to post a bunch of pics (and I plan to do that sometime this week), but they are all my Kev's laptop so I'll just leave you with a few bullet points about the NC fun. Kev is going on a business trip to Boston for 4 days this week so when he's gone maybe I can take the time and post the pics....but for now, here's the lowdown...

• Drives up and back were pretty good (I never say this so I had to make a point of bulleting it). Shockingly enough we made very few stops and have very little crying which resulted in the trip only taking us about 7 1/2 hours both there and back....amazing! Hats off to the kids who were pretty agreeable and to Kev who did all the driving as usual! I must comment that car rides are not good on my belly. The area where my liver tumor is caused me a lot of pain and I wasn't able to get comfortable at all....I might be taking this up at my OB appt tomorrow...not that I'm worried about a tumor that's only a few mm's in size...but still....it's on my mind....
• If you read my most recent blog you know my brother's gonna be a daddy! :) This was our first "fun thing" to find out upon our arrival to NC (on the 4th of July, no less :)). I'm still oh-so-impressed with Candy and her secret-keeping powers...how she kept all that morning sickness and baby stuff to herself for so long I will never know. And I know my mom was shocked off her rocker to hear that she was gonna have a new January grandson :) They told my parents by giving them a framed u/s pic of the baby and my mom was so confused as to why they'd give a picture of our baby...she had no idea the baby was a Gritz not a Steg :) Nina is so funny in her pregnancy reactions...gotta love her! :) But, the news of a nephew is grand news and I know my family already had fun in NC shopping for the newest boy in the family! :) Praying Candy is feeling better these days...she had a few rough days there in NC not to mention some crappy night sleeps due to some annoying mountain dogs :(
• The simple things....that's what I love most about our annual NC trip. The kids get to enjoy the fun of nature and companionship of family. I love that. That was the best part of this trip (as it always is). There were days where we just sat and watched the kids play. My parents bought us a very fun new slide/pool and the first full day there we set it up and let them play to their heart's content. It was a highlight for them all, but especially for Shelby. She is our pool lover and she asked every day after that to swim in the pool. Such a simple thing, but so fun for her. Hailey especially enjoyed learning the fine art of badmitten and Dylan took a swing at learning the art of t-ball with the wise instruction of Pops. Both played this almost every day. It's wonderful that our cabin has this awesome front yard and the kids had all this room to do all these things at once. It was perfect! Even my grandma came down one day and sat on the sidelines and just watched all the fun. It was nice to sit and relax like that. And we all know how amusing kids can be so it was like watching a movie somedays :)
• Dylan's fav. trip moment (and this IS his actual response if you ask him!)..."the water and the rocks!" :) By this he means the creek and throwing rocks into it! :) This was the highlight of his every day and I have tons of pics to prove this point. It was truly the sweetest thing. Our boy has always loved rocks AND water...these are two things that he makes a point to blurt out daily even as we are driving, "Look, mama, rocks"..."Look, mama, water!". Very fascinating things...rocks and water. So he was in his element in the mountains amidst the streams. He spent many hours simply sitting in the water throwing rocks or standing at the water's edge throwing them in. No joke...the boy probably threw a few hundred over the course of a week and he never tired of it! It was very cute to watch his excitement over such a simple thing.
  
• Big Creek....this is an annual vacation day-trip for our family and this year was no exception. This is a very fun (big--hence the name) trip we take over the border to TN and back over the border to NC (confusing, yes)....anyway...it's a beautiful setting...a large creek in a park and we spent a whole day there just enjoying the perfect weather, hanging out with family and eating good food. Again, Dylan threw rocks for hours and Shelby caught butterflies for about that long (there are tons of them on the ground here...very neat, aside from the fact that they are slow moving a few got crushed by Dylan's powerful rock-throwing body :((. But, it was a grand day and the men and my cousins and Hailey even took a long trek to a beautiful waterfall/cove area (I have yet to even see those pics, but I hear it was a fun time and Hailey was daring in her diving endeavors :)).
  
• Girl's Day Out--also a big highlight every year for our girls. My Aunt Terri takes her daughter (my cousin, Celyn) and our two girls and they go do fun, girly things all day in the valley :) This year it fun as usual as yet again the girls all went shopping and came home dressed in matching outfits along with a few new, fun toys and girly make-up things. Good ol' Aunt Terri...she loves to spoil the girls. I spent that day shopping with my Aunt Mary and mom...also fun for us to have a "bigger girls" day out :)
  
• Whitewater rafting--it was the girls' first time doing this and they had a ball! It rained that day, but I guess it didn't matter...the girls loved it. Daddy Kev, Uncle Jeff and Pops took them down the Tuskeegee (sp?) River and I guess it was a "wild ride" :) All I know is that Pops disobeyed all the rafting rules, which is so surprising seeing that Pops ALWAYS obeys rules! :) Nina, Candy, Dylan and I shopped that day too (poor Dylan...he was a trooper and Nina even got him a fun Thomas the Train that he LOVES!) :)
  
• Mingo Falls--our annual waterfall trip to Cherokee. Very beautiful as usual and Hailey and daddy enjoyed hiking up under the waterfall. Dylan enjoyed throwing more rocks in the creek. Shelby enjoyed her "rock car"...she pretended that a big rock was a car and she zoomed it all over the creek bed of the waterfall :) It was very cute and very creative :) My issue at the waterfall was peeing...as was Candy's :) We both had baby/bladder issues and a raging waterfall did not help that. Not to mention the thousand steps you have to climb to get to the waterfall! But, we survived and found refuge in nearby toilets before and after. Nina, even with her healing back, was a trooper and made the long climb to the waterfall :) Good times.
• Something new--Nina had the awesome idea of having a picnic (KFC) lunch and going tubing down the river/creek in Cherokee....something we've never done, but always wanted too. The kids loved it. Dylan, of course, just sat and threw rocks in the water, but the girls tubed til their heart's content. The rest of us adults just sat and watched :) It was fun and we hope to make a day of it next year and cook-out there.
  
• Relaxing times--Kev got almost an entire novel finished off there. He was up early somedays just reading on the porch and listening to the peaceful mountain stream by the cabin...good for him. I admire that cuz I am NOT a reader. I'd rather sleep in than read anything and goodness knows I slept in almost every day of our trip! Thank goodness Dylan is a sound and awesome sleeper and there were some days where it was past 9am and he was still snoozin'! That's my kind of kid! The girls enjoyed their loft bed (in another room) and I was thankful not to hear Shelby's "lifting the roof off the house" snoring. Good thing Hailey is a sound sleeper and didn't mind her loud sister in her bed! My relaxing thing was taking a couple naps and just sitting on the porch swing watching the kids. Dylan and I had lots of bonding time too, which was good for both of us. We sat and read books a lot and he became even more of a mommy's boy than he already was...I figure he's entitled to a little spoiling these days seeing as mommy will be a little busier in 2 more mos :)
• Date night--well that sorta didn't happen for Kev and I. We had planned on a big night out...dinner at our fav. restaurant near town (the Jarrett House) and a sunset train ride, but the train ride was canceled for the season and dinner ended up being lunch and included rowdy Dylan. It wasn't romantic by any means, but it was still good food and less kids than normal so I can't complain. Next year we'll try harder to have a night out alone (though it might include a 10 month old girl...so we'll see :)). But, thanks to Nina and Pops for all the kid-watching they did. It was definitely nice to have extra hands to help.
  
• Only complaints--well, I don't like to focus on the negatives (and believe me there were few this trip)...but I will put them in writing....the bugs and the bad beds! Really...those were the only bad things. I never remember ever having bug bites, but this year we all came home with many dozens. I think I even ate a few knats and I know I had a few stuck in my eyes. Don't know why the bad case of bugs this year, but it was annoying sometimes! And bad beds...well, this has been an issue in the past with this cabin, but being big and pg and very uncomfortable this year...well, I noticed it more. I felt like I was sleeping in a hole most nights...we tried switching our mattresses, but all the mattresses we tried were just as bad. Finally I just made Kev sleep on his edge of the bed and I slept on mine. Problem solved except I missed my husband :) And on a side note, does anyone know if altitude has an effect on the bladder? (or at least the pg bladder :))....I have to say that I have never peed so much during the night...I was seriously up every hour (or more)...so that mixed with a bad bed made for some pretty restless nights :( I'm blaming the excess urination on the mountains cuz since we've been back I've back to a normal pg peeing pattern...yay! :)
  
• Many, Many Thanks!!! Well, I have to end this bulleted post by saying kudos upon kudos of thanks to my parents. They made this vacation possible and we owe them our eternal gratitude for all the fun, relaxing times. Truly...their generosity is above and beyond and we can't thank them enough. For the wonderful cabin housing, for the yummy food, for all the cooking they did, for everything. We felt like big ol' mooches last week cuz we just sat on our duffs. We can't thank them enough! We love you, Nina and Pops!
  

So, that's the jest of it. If you're like me you'd much rather rely on pics to tell the story and I promise I'll try to post those soon. But, for now just trust me that our mountain vacation was as awesome as always. Somehow it always goes by too quickly and even with an extra day this year Kev and I still marveled at how fast it all went by :( But, we have next year to look forward to and two new babies in the family to share it with. Good times...and I was reminded on this trip how great family is and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. So, here's to the good ol' town of Maggie Valley and to all the down-home fun it offers! Now it's back to the humdrum life of summer and today it was back to reality with swim lessons for us all. A busy day, but fun for the kids...and tonight Kev is actually starting to move stuff out of our basement into storage! Can we say "progress!" We'll see and I'll keep you posted! Have a happy week everyone!

Oh, and on an important side note I wanted to give a belated b-day shout-out to my wonderful Bloomy friend, Vonna :) She celebrated her 38th while we were gone on vacation. But, I didn't want another week to go by w/o wishing her the best and sending her a blog-hug. She is a dear, dear person...a friend that came along at the best time for me and I love her to death. She not only wise beyond her young years, but she's funny and kind and so very talented :) She's just superb in my eyes a rare gem in this world. So, here's to you, Vonna...you're a blessing in my life and I'm so glad our path's crossed years ago and that we have become such great friends! Happy Belated!

I'm gonna be an Aunt!!! :)

Yes sirree bob, my little bro and his wonderful wife are having a baby!

That was our big vacation news!!!! We're so excited for them and for us too (we're finally gonna be an aunt and uncle and our kids will actually have "real" cousins!) Awesome!! The big news didn't come as that much of a shock to me as I know my sister-in-law has been itchin' to have a bigger family ever since she and my bro tied the knot in March (and if I do my calculations correctly this baby was in the works shortly after their GA wedding :))....but I'm so excited to watch their little family grow! The big news is that Candy is already 14 weeks along (already out of first trimester or close!) and she kept this baby a secret from us all for all these months (even from her own family who sees her all the time). The reason being is that she wanted to tell Jeff in person and when he's a million miles away in Qatar on official air force business...well, you can see her dilemma (she had to wait and endure all that morning sickness on her own...poor girl, but maybe that was lucky on Jeff's part...he missed most of the sickness of the 1st trimester). She must have some undying patience to wait that long to spread the news. She secretly went about her business of dr's appts and ultrasounds and maternity clothes'/baby shopping...and she did most of it by herself. Hats off to her!

So, I'll be an aunt shortly after 2009 rings in! Yep, the first Gritz baby of my generation is due January 7! Not only that, but it looks like I'm gonna have a NEPHEW! :) Yep, an early u/s showed that there is a 75% chance this sweet Jeff/Candy creation is a BOY! :) So, we're excited to meet little Jeffie Jr. (that's just my name for him, I don't think a Jr. is in the name cards for the newest JC baby). So, WOW, isn't that awesome news??!! I tell ya' there sure are a lot of people on the "baby train" lately, and I'm excited a family member has joined the ride! I'm especially happy that our newest Steg baby girl will have a cousin so close in age (4 mos apart!) I always hoped my kids would be blessed with cousins as they've been the sole kids in the fam. for 8 1/2 years.

We can't wait to meet this new baby next year and to have both our babies together on our next NC vacation (while this vacation was awesome both Candy and I had our baby issues...she was nauseous a lot and I was just uncomfortable!) So, we're looking forward to meeting our newest additions in the coming months and I know Nina and Pops in FL are beaming with the joy of a new granddaughter and grandson-to-be (I know they will be in their element surrounded by 5 grandkids this time next year!)

So, YAY and CONGRATS to Jeff and Candy! My little (and only) bro is gonna be a daddy! I know he'll shine at his new "job" as he's been an awesome uncle since the day Hailey was born......and I know Candy will be the best mom around...she's just got that natural motherly instinct! We're so excited for our expanding extended family! We wish them all the blessings in the world as they enjoy their first pregnancy/baby!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July from our family of 5 1/2 to yours! :) We're off to NC soon and so very excited! Can't wait to enjoy that fresh mountain air and see all my fam.! Farewell!