Berry Pickin Time!

Seriously, no picture this month could make me more happier than this one! No, you can't see her face but looking at this picture reminds me of a fun filled day that made my baby happier than anything!! At the beginning of the month we went berry picking at this farm that is out in the middle of nowhere...a good 20miles past Milton. Its a small farm but they are good to their few animals (mainly rescues they are nursing back to the good life) and have a nice little crop to keep this going. And to top it off they do not use any pesticides or growth hormones so its safe to pick and eat as you go :)  Freyja didn't much care for the blueberries themselves but the act of picking was great to her! After about 30ish minutes of raiding the bushes she had had enough and started just running between us (mom vh was out there picking with us) and checking out our bushels of blueberry treasure. I've never seen her get soooooo hot and sweaty and still be so happy about it! We're going back in October when the grapes are ready, I can't wait to show her how to eat a scuppernong (a type of grape)!!

The rest of this month has passed rather uneventfully. We have spent SEVERAL evenings in the pool at mom and dad vh's, we've watched a ton of movies (in house), cleaned and put together all the baby stuff and Freyja has learned to play a few new computer games. Its been too hot to go out unless its EARLY in the morning or LATE in the evening (and you are doused in bug repellant), not to mention one of the cars is without a/c so thats really a "no go" for Freyja and I!! Not to mention this little guy that is trying to find the escape hatch or have an "Aliens" moment and pop out my belly at any time...he's a GREAT reason to be staying indoors resting!

Potty training STILL is not happening...I tried to set a 15min timer and take her to the potty everytime it went off but all that resulted in was a few loads of  wet or nasty panties, a frustrated child, an ill tempered daddy and a mama that just wants to run for the hills! Sooo...we'll try this again in another month...and then again...and again...and maybe one day it'll click! As a fellow mom once said, they don't go to Kindergarten in diapers so eventually SOMETHING will give! I was hoping to just have one in diapers starting in August but it won't kill me...just the budget!

Other news...Pensacola finally got hit by the oil spill as of this morning. All over the news is pictures of mass quantities of oil washing over our once sparkling white beaches. Everywhere I look on FaceBook someone has reposted pix of this disaster and its heartbreaking...I'm to the point where I just wish I could block anything that had to do with the spill and just not think about it. Telethons are nice...but until they put something more than just a bandaid on the spill nothing is going to help. All we can do is sit here helpless until its done, grieve our losses, clean up and try to start over. My children and probably my grandchildren will never see the beach for the beauty that its been the last 17yrs I've had the privilidge of seeing it as and it sucks! BP sucks! End of story dammit :(

Here's your laugh for the month! On Fathers Day I gave David possibly one of the worst gifts ever...a hair cut!! The right side looked GREAT!! The left side....well, thank God for mom vh and her talent of clearing up messes! Good news is even though I cut a ton of his hair off he still loves me and just chalked it up to a learning experience :) And then last night I took Freyja to mom and dad vh's for our nightly swim/exercise and as usual when we finish I wrap her swim diaper up in the daily newspaper sleeve and toss it in the trash as we leave. Well, somehow I got distracted and not only threw away the diaper but my keys as well!! Dad vh had to come out with his "grabber" and fish them out for me...luckily nothing was in there besides the sealed diaper bag! OH! and my VERY polite child actually THANKED me for changing her poopy diaper this morning! She said "thank you mama, that was poopy, thank you for cleaning me"....she can tell me she's dirty, she can get me a diaper/wipe but can she use the potty?? *sigh*...

News on the belly bulge! I went to Wal-Mart today and as Freyja and I were standing in line Jax started to kick so I was rubbing and kinda smoothing my shirt down when the lady in front of me said "oh, so you're expecting?" I said yes, due with a boy August 5th...to which she looked at my small "mole hill" and said, "really?? where are you hiding that little guy???" *sigh*...just because I'm not mammoth sized with this one, does not mean I do not have one baking in there! But its better than the twins comments I got when I was at this point with Freyja.

My midwife says the pregnancy is coming along perfectly. As of last week I had gained 9lb total! I now have a Doula that will be assisting in my birth :) For those of you unfamiliar with this term, this is woman trained in birthing procedures that is a "middle ground" person in the room with you at the time of your labor/delivery that gives support to the mother, keeps the room calm and helps ensure that the way you want this baby to come into the world is followed out as closely to your birth plan as it can be. Susan, my doula, went to my appt with me last week and met my midwife for the first time and they got along perfectly! I could see the relief in my midwifes eyes that there would be someone with me to help take some of this stress off of me for having the "perfect" birth. (when my midwife asked if there was any possibility I would be wanting an epidural I said yes please...but for the hubby, not me! Maybe that will keep David sitting still and quiet for a change!!) I want to do this as naturally as I can but I also know from Freyja's delivery that things can go to hell in a hand basket very quickly...I just want whats best for my son and for my body! We toured the hospital he'll be born at last Tuesday as well. We are very pleased with the facilities and with the staff that we met! I don't look forward to the labor but I look forward to my birthing experience there with their excellent care!

In other news...I have family coming in July 5th to see us for thier last day of vacationing on the Gulf Coast (my cousin Gerianne and her family) so we will be holding Freyja's birthday party and our annual cookout on the same day so that all of our family and friends can be together. I look forward to having everyone here!! Also coming up is Jaxon's babyshower! Mom is hosting it at my house on the 18th of July. Its more of a "baby sprinkle" since we have everything we need for him except diapers, new connector stuff for the breast pump and other "boyish" novelty things. Luckily we were smart with Freyja and stuck with a more neutral color (green/yellow) so that her infant stuff could carry forward for Jaxon :) If you have not received an invitation to one/both of these events and would like to attend please let me know and I can forward you the details! The more the merrier :)

I think thats it for this month...its 1230am, my "high" of strawberry & chocolate chip icecream and a waffle cone is finally starting to wear off so maybe now I can catch a little shut-eye. Our love to you all and I will blog again after my Buggs birthday bash next month!!