My brilliant 22 month old just said her first complete sentence!!! Okay, so she's said things like, "love you," and "want that," and "pick up please," but today, she said something to Drake in the car. He thought she was asking him to hand her this little light thing she wanted. He handed it to her and she said...are you ready for this? She said, "No, turn on, I say!" Yes, that's right, my child's a genius. ;) Drake turned it on, handed it back to her and she said, "Thank you, Daddy." (that's not a new one) I love having kids.

I watched Wheel of Fortune on Saturday and totally forgot to blahg about it! I know, you're probably thinking, "Ummmm, you don't need to blahg about every television show you watch...least of all Wheel of Fortune," but I actually went and watched Wheel of Fortune...as in, I was an audience member! Way cool, if I do say so myself. lol

It was my friend, Tara, her son, Caitlin, and myself. (That seems like a very awkward sentence, as though her son's name is Caitlin, or as though five people went 1. My friend 2. Tara 3. Her Son 4. Caitlin 5. Myself Oh well, you get the point) They filmed three shows while we were there. (They just change clothes between shows to make it look like it's the next day. If you watch Wheel of Fortune on May 7, 8, and 9, you'll see the same audience three "days" in a row. lol) It was SO much fun. My hands were killing me from clapping so much by the end of the third show. lol At one point, one of the camera guys came and pointed their camera directly at us and stayed there for like two minutes. All I could think was, "Oh my goodness, get that camera OFF of me!!!!" Caitlin and Jared thought it was SO cool that they were spotlighted and might get on TV. Caitlin was throwing up peace signs and squealing. lol

So anyways, if you watch Wheel of Fortune on May 7, 8 and 9 and see a fat pregnant chick in a blue shirt next to two crazy kids, that's me. lol

Today the three eldest children had a tae kwon do tournament. First, they compete in the kata (forms) competition. After that comes the sparring competition. Emma competed in the purple/green/blue belt ages 5-7 competition for both kata and sparring. She took first place in the kata competition and fourth place in the sparring competition. She competed against about thirty other kids for the kata competition and five other kids for sparring. Caitlin did really well in the purple/green/blue belt ages 8-10 kata and sparring competitions, but didn't place in either of them. She was also in a group of about thirty kids for both competitions. Cole placed third in the yellow belt, age 5 kata competition against about thirty other kids, and didn't place in the yellow/orange belt ages 5-7 sparring competition.

I'm so incredibly "well pleased" with my children. They all tried their hardest and gave it their all. You should have seen Caitlin jump and squeal when she heard Emma's name announced as the first place winner in her division. You would have thought Caitlin was the one up on the platform. lol I was so happy to see Caitlin being so supportive. You could just see the pride in Caitlin's eyes as she watched her little sister hold that first place trophy over her head. It was priceless and it made me feel, that although I feel completely inadequate as a mother at times, at least I'm doing something right. If I teach my children nothing else in life, the one lesson that I hope to impress upon them is that family sticks together. It is, in my opinion, the most important and most valuable lesson I can teach my children, and as I saw that look in Caitlin's eyes as she watched Emma, I knew that lesson was getting through to her and at that moment, the happiness I felt for Emma's accomplishment was nothing compared to the happiness I felt for Caitlin's.

I'm so sick and tired of Drake's work schedule. I'm tired of 14-18 hour days. I'm tired of him coming home so tired that all he can do is go straight to bed. I'm tired of the kids going to bed crying because yet another day has gone by that they got to see him for less than ten minutes. I'm tired of Sera screaming at the top of her lungs, refusing to go to bed because Daddy isn't there to put her to bed. I'm tired of hearing her silent sobs as she sits in her bed, asking for Daddy to come home. I'm tired of his constant working keeping him from doing the things that he needs to be doing. I'm tired of him being so tired that he can't do the things that will allow him to not have this horrid schedule anymore. I'm tired of trying to pick up the slack that him not being home causes. I'm tired of trying to get the kids to understand that it's important for Daddy to be working so much when I don't understand it myself. I'm tired of telling them that Daddy would be home if he could be because of course he'd rather be with them than at work, when I don't feel like that's even the truth anymore. I'm tired of feeling like a single mom. I'm tired of feeling like expressing my frustration over his long hours just makes him want to come home even less. I'm just tired,

GIRL!!! I had an ultrasound today. Everything looks great with my precious baby girl! I got a few pictures, but don't have my scanner hooked up at the moment, so I will post them when I get that done and get them scanned in.

She's actually measuring 2 weeks ahead of what I thought and SIX weeks ahead of what the doctor thought! So, my new due date is June 23rd. She's already weighing in at a whopping two pounds!

I'm so thrilled to be having a new little girl. Now Sera will have a little sister to play with!

for Sprout TV. When Sprout TV was first introduced, my first reaction was to shake my head. Had parenting gone so far downhill that we were now in need of children's programming 24 hours a day? How sad, I thought, that we were now promoting sitting your small child in front of the television at all hours of the day. Now, don't get me wrong...I'm far from a perfect mom. I have used the TV to "babysit" my kids. I probably do it more than I should. The television is the only thing that I know will keep my younger kids distracted and entertained in the morning as I try to get the older ones off to school. It also keeps them occupied when I'm doing dishes and can't be right there with them, watching them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, get on my case for not having a tupperware drawer in the kitchen to tear apart while I cook and clean or something. lol I'm not against children watching television. Do I think it's good for them? No. Do I think it's bad for them? Probably. Am I going to throw my TV out and never let them watch it? No...I'm far too lazy to do that. lol

Anyways...even though I am one of those parents that will plop their kid down in front of a video so I can get some things done, I was still appalled at the thought of 24 hour a day preschool programming...until last night. I went to bed at my usual time...1:45 am. At 2:15 am, Sera decided that it was time to wake up. Usually, if she wakes up in the middle of the night, she fusses for a few minutes, finds her sippy cup and falls back asleep without me having to go in her room. She wasn't going for it last night. 2:15 brought out the full on wailing, throwing things around her bedroom, tearing off her diaper, etc. So, I went into her room to calm her down. I sat with her. I cuddled with her. I sang to her, I laid down with her. I bargained with her. I bribed her. I begged her. I pleaded with her. She wasn't going back to sleep. So, I figured if she came into my bed with me, she'd just fall right back to sleep. On a side note...she coslept with us until just a few months ago. She's welcome into our bed at anytime, but has preferred to sleep in her own room lately. There are times though, when she decides she just wants to cuddle with mommy and daddy. I thought that perhaps last night was one of those times. I was wrong. She was having nothing to do with going back to sleep. She'd sit there, staring at me, and if I closed my eyes, she'd start to scream. I'd open my eyes, and she'd try to get me to play with her. I'd close my eyes, she'd scream. I wanted her to calm down and go to sleep. I NEEDED sleep. lol As a last resort, I turned on the television. She seemed interested. I turned on "PBS Sprout on Demand" and we watched Sesame Street. For the next five hours, we watched Sesame Street. She was mesmerized. She sat on my bed and watched Sesame street and I got periods of about 20 minutes of sleep between her waking me up to start the next show and her waking me up to discuss what she was watching.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I'm a terrible mom and let my child watch TV for five hours straight. I figured she'd eventually lay down and go to sleep. She even made herself a little bed of pillows and blankets in a laundry basket at the foot of our bed. lol No such luck though...she just laid there and watched Sesame Street. I honestly don't think my sanity could have handled a screaming child for five hours in the middle of the night though, so now I'm extremely grateful for Sprout TV. lol

Oh, I might mention that she finally fell asleep again around noon...only to wake up at one. She didn't fall asleep again until almost 11 at night. Apparently she had gotten to the point that she was so tired that she couldn't get to sleep. I can't say that I don't know that feeling considering I probably got less than two hours of sleep last night and here it is, almost three in the morning and I can't sleep.