Freak Show

I only work on an as needed basis and didn't have any shifts this week so Ben took the week off too. It's been great having him home. He worked 2 48 hour shifts last week so having him home has been very needed, appreciated & definitely wanted. He usually works 24 hour shifts which is very long...48 is too long.

We went to Out of Africa last Wednesday. Fun experience...We probably should have done it a little sooner in the pregnancy or after baby comes. It's definitely better than a zoo experience, but I'm not sure that it's so much better that they should charge what they are charging, even if we did use their $7 off per ticket promo. Still worth going to and experiencing atleast once. Here are some pics from our day.




We decided to go home through Flagstaff since I miss luxuries such as Target here in Show Low. After the shopping, we went to dinner at Oregano's. This was some good eats!! I highly recommend it and they do a good job entertaining the kiddos. They pass out little balls of uncooked pizza dough to the kids while you wait for your food. My kids loved it.

So why am I titling this blog "Freak Show?" Whilst eating, a young couple came in the restaurant and was seated right next to our table of 6 + 1 on the way. They didn't say anything to us directly, but they may as well have. We could feel the judgements. I am so used to the comments...

"Wow, you have your hands full!"

"Are they all yours?"

"Are any of them twins?"

"You don't look old enough to have this many kids." (I'm sure that my size has something to do with this. I always assure people that I am plenty old and that I was almost 25 when I had my first.)

"You know what causes that?"...(one of my personal faves!)

There are others, but these are the ones I/we get most frequently. Most of the time the comments and looks are made in good taste or out of genuine curiosity. Occasionally, I would get a look and/or comment that seems a little disgusted. Those kinds of people usually make me laugh. So this young couple sitting next to us was so cute. The boyfriend had a clear view of our table, while the girlfriends back was to our table. I saw the boyfriend notice our family. He continued talking to his date. Of course it was an assumption, but it appeared and felt like the conversation was about our clan...still not sure. So I casually mentioned to Ben that our family had been "noticed" when the girl casually looked to the side and then out of the corner of her eye at our table and did the visual count of the kids. It was too obvious now. Ben and I were laughing. Looks and comments obviously continued and Ben and I just laughed at these amateur people watchers. See, Ben and I are pro people watchers. This was a regular date for us when we were newlyweds. We would go to the mall, get a pretzel and an Orange Julius and sit and people watch...good times. When there was a particularly good people watching night, we would call it the "Freak Show."

Our family finished our lovely dinner and yummy dessert and we figured we better all go potty before the 2 1/2 hour trip home. We had a couple of the kids go potty and Ben told me that I could go and then take the two that had gone to the car and he would get the other two and follow shortly behind me. As I started to gather our things and started scooting towards the edge of our booth to get up, the "discreet" glances from the young couples table started again! What in the world?! Then it dawned on me!...I told Ben, "They are realizing that I'm pregnant too!" In the past I always thought that these looks were funny, but for some reason I was not wanting to get up! I was feeling self conscious. I sat there wondering, "Why am I feeling like this now? I haven't ever cared in the past." I looked at Ben and said, "I'm part of the Freak Show!" We couldn't help but laugh and when I got up the couple would not look at me. I think that they had realized that we caught on to their conversation or maybe their conversation had moved on to a much more worthwhile topic. When we all got settled in the car I talked to Ben about the possibility that it was all in my head, but we both agreed that it was all much too obvious. Ben and I came up with a lot of things that would have been so much fun to say to the couple that would have made them laugh too, but we refrained! I thought about sharing some of them with this post, but would not want anyone to take something the wrong way. (Remember my last post? I'm working on not saying something the wrong way or saying too much.) So go ahead and give Ben and I some more chuckles and tell us...What would you have said or wanted to say? Just to get you started, Ben wants me to add his favorite that he came up with: "If you had me, you wouldn't be able to control yourself either!"

Foot in Mouth

Sometimes, I think that I need to practice this art of putting my foot in my mouth and stop while I am ahead. Nothing has happened recently, but I sometimes think back on certain conversations with people I have come in contact with and think, "I shouldn't have said that," or "That came out wrong." I hope I haven't hindered friendships or offended someone. If I have, I did not intend to. Anywho, I know that sometimes I say too much or say the wrong thing. I am working on it!

On another note, Sadie told me last night as I was putting her to bed and giving my sweet baby loves, she looked at me and rather sweetly said, "Mom, I don't think that you're the right mom for us." I wanted to crumble! I wanted to cry! I wanted to overreact!...I didn't. I want her to be able to talk open to me this way, right? I'm not so sure that I wanted to hear that, but atleast she's comfortable enough to tell me...right? So, I just looked at her and said, "Well, why would I not be the right mom for you?" I wasn't sure that I wanted to hear the response. Was she going to tell me that she would rather have one of her friends moms or one of her aunts as a mom? She responded, "Because you're mean and you put us on time out." Okay, I can handle that. I explained to her the reasons that she had been given time outs recently and explained to her that she knows that these choices were not good choices and that it's up to her if she wants to make inappropriate choices than she will have time outs. I went on to explain that I would not be a good mom if I allowed her to continue hitting, calling names, etc. without a time out. I asked her if she would expect Jacob to have a timeout if he hit her and, of course, she said yes. Who knows if she understands in her 4 year old mind what I was trying to explain, but she did still tell me that she loves me and graced me with a bed time hug and kiss. Much needed after that statement!

I can't believe that I am posting this for others to see, but this is a journal for our family and it needs to be documented!

With Much Emotion...

Well, we finally did it! We cut Noelle's hair. This isn't the first major cut she has had, however this is the shortest she has ever gone and it was hard...for me anyways. She wanted it this way and it is her hair. I love having the option to braid and curl and do all of the fun girly things with it. This girl has got some great hair, but her short do has turned out quite cute if I don't say so myself! She has so much hair, it was best to divide it into 2 pony tails for the cut. So Ellie ended up getting 14 inches cut off and she donated it to Locks of Love. Here are some pics from the event...




























Of course, Sadie wanted to get her hair cut like big sister, Ellie's, after she saw hers getting done. I still need the option of being able to pull Sadie's hair out of her face and don't want to do bangs so we went shorter, but not as short as Ellie's. Sadie is still very happy with the end result. I was playing with Noelle's new do so I missed getting some before photos when Sadie got up in the chair. But, if you want to see what Sadie's hair was like before, you can look at my previous post which has a picture of Sadie on her birthday in May. Sadie ended up getting 5 inches cut off...not enough to donate to Locks of Love, but she had a great time at the salon. Check her out chillin' in the salon chair! For all of you who don't remember, Sadie is obsessed with Rapunzel right now. The moment we walked out of the salon Sadie asked me if her hair turned brown?! Here are Sadie's pics...















Thanks Anne Marie for super cute hair cuts on both of my girls! You never fail us!!

Here's the pregnancy update. I am 31 weeks today...officially in the single digit week count down! Woo hoo!! Even though I am bigger than what I have been in past pregnancies at this time, I'm measuring right on now. The baby has been measuring right on, but my belly has been measuring small. My belly usually measures small and doesn't usually catch up until after 36 weeks. So I am definitely bigger this time around and feeling it. I don't know where I have put the baby in the past, but I am feeling it this time around. Things that haven't usually been difficult for me during pregnancy have been more difficult this time around...harder to work, harder to sleep, harder to bend over, harder to breathe. I know that these are all normal pregnancy things...it's just too early for me and I wasn't expecting it yet. I am still just trying to enjoy every moment of the pregnancy though. I know that these are not things I should complain about. We're getting excited to meet this little one. I am feeling anxious but I don't want to get too anxious because I don't want to miss out on this summer vacation with my kids. This baby is due just one month after my kids go back to school. So I feel like if I get too anxious about the baby coming that I'm also getting anxious about my kids going back to school and I'm not. I feel that I've already missed out on this summer vacation with my kids as I have not done so many of the things that I usually do with them during summer break because I'm tired. Nonetheless, I am still enjoying having them all home and letting them relax from the routine and just letting them run and play. I can't believe there is only one more month of summer vacation!! So this picture is of me a week ago. I meant to get this right on my 30 week mark, but forgot and got it at 30 weeks and 1 day.

Other things that we've been doing lately...

*We got to go camping with Ben's parents, Grandma & Grandpa Altop. It was a very strange camping trip because we couldn't have a camp fire due to the many large wildland fires all over the state and dry conditions! This is the first time that I have ever been camping without a camp fire and I have decided that it is like Christmas without a Christmas tree. Oh, and my pregnant state of mind forgot the camera to document the event, so no pics. I think that Grandma got some though. While Grandma & Grandpa were here we got to go to the Family Fun Park and ride the go-carts...well, everyone except for me. I was asked not to ride because of my condition. I thought about lying to the young lad who asked me if I was pregnant. Could you imagine his horror if I had told him that I didn't know what he was talking about and denied it?! I was both honest and cooperative and it gave Grandpa Altop another opportunity to ride since the kiddos weren't tall enough to drive these particular go-carts by themselves. We let the kids drive the kiddie go-carts later.

*This years annual 4th of July tradition with our family was interrupted by an injury. It has been tradition since our second year living up here that Ben's sister and family all come up for the 4th of July festivities. We go to the rodeo, we play games, we bbq, we go to the parade and fireworks and party it up all weekend. This year Ben's sister, Kathleen had a back injury and some other events that prevented her from coming. On the 3rd her husband and kids decided to still come up and we had a blast, but it wasn't the same without her. We weren't able to cram all of the festivities into the short time that they were here, but were so glad that they came. Here are some pics of us while waiting for the parade to start. By the way Kathleen, even though your husband and children made it up here for one night, we still think that the Burley family owes us a weekend!

*While I was at work yesterday, Ben took the kids to the Petrified Forest. They had a great time! Ben really is a rockstar Dad!! He is ALWAYS willing to give the kids a good time with or without my help!...And they are a handful since we had the 4 of them all in 4 1/2 years...a handful of JOY!