The Lost Month of March

Seriously it has been since Austin's birthday that I have posted.... SEEEEEERIOUSLY!?!?! That is just sadness! But, in fact, it is true- my month of March got lost. Mostly due to sickness, my miserable March actually flew by. I missed meetings, bible study, playdates and all sorts of good stuff. At the very end I blessedly was well enough to go on my planned trip to Fresno to see Beth Moore and go to a Women's Ministry Leadership conference... phew! It was an awesome trip. Now we're in full-fledged "spring" (it's still raining) mode- with 5 weeks until Wyatt is due, I am feeling the "Spring Cleaning"/ nesting fever. My dearest friend Brooke is having her C-section tomorrow, and then we will no longer be pregnant together! **SIGH** It's been so nice, Brooke, to have someone to whine with!!! :) But I am soooo happy for her, she has put in her time and deservedly gets to hold her little girl tomorrow. I can't WAIT to meet her!!!

So, ONE of the reasons my miserable March was so miserable was because I was sent to the hospital with pnuemonia. I had to stay three nights! Mercy in heaven it was soooo awful. I'm just not one of those people who likes to be in the hospital, even when there are nurses waiting on you. It felt really dramatic, but I guess I wouldn't have been there if it wasn't necessary. One of the things that was really concerning my doc was my low oxygen levels. I couldn't talk and hold my oxygen level above 90 on my own (they wanted me to be a minimum of 94). As soon as I would start to carry on a conversation (it probably disn't help that I am naturally a fast talker), my oxygen levels would plummet. UGH! Anyways, other than needing a special inhaler and my lungs taking forever to heal, I am much MUCH better. :) I actually can remember the last time I felt that sick... I was 9.

Now, onward! Trying to get "normal life" things done before Wyatt arrives, as well as organize the condo and plan our church's Spring Tea. That's the update for now! I will post some cute pics of Tyler's preschool Spring Show soon!

Austin Be Three!

Today is our Austin Bear's third birthday! It certainly has flown by, especially this last year. He seems so big now, and always wants to do everything that Tyler does. Aw.

Then. Hours old. So sweet!

2 months: Famous for his "starving artist" hair. Sorry, Austin. Mommy couldn't cut it!

Now! So big! Talks all the time, tells us what he loves. :)

We went to McDonald's today with some awesome friends, just to do something special on his "day". Last night he got spoiled by Mimi, Papa, Uncle Ian, Gramma, Grampa, Aunt Linae, Uncle Rudi and cousin Lucy here at the house for a little family party. Lots of fun, lots of ice cream!

We love you sooooo much, our brown-eyed Bear! :)

"Guess What???"

So, yesterday Doug and I returned from our weekend away in South Lake Tahoe.... it was much needed and very relaxing! I was very happy to see my two Troublemakers once we got back (though today, Monday, feels like...well, a Monday :-/ ).

At bedtime they tumbled downstairs, clean from their bath from Daddy to say goodnight to me. Austin jumped up on me for a snuggle and hug. I kissed him all over his face and gave him a tickle and said:

"Guess what???"
"What??"
"I love you, Austin Bear!"
"Mommy, guess what???"
"What???" I said.


"I love TYLER!!!!"


Punk. :)

Who's The Crib For?

Yesterday we had our dear friends Brandon and Andrea and their little pumpkin Annabelle over for the Super Bowl. It was fun to visit and eat yummy snacks! Anyways, when people have been over the last few days, the boys immediately want to show off their new bunk beds (or, "bonk beds", as it sounds when they say it). So, B & A graciously went upstairs to humor them. (I will post pics soon of the crowded room. ;-) )

Austin, who has had a bit of trouble transitioning out of the crib (not TOO bad, it's more whining and complaining than anything) to his bottom bunk, jumped up on it to show off to Andrea as soon as we got in the room. (I was really happy to see this, just for the sake of knowing that he is proud of it helps!).
Andrea said, "Is that your new bed!?!?"
Austin: "Yeah! I sleep on da bonk bed!"
Andrea: "Wow!"
Me: "Such a big boy bed, huh?"
Austin: "Yeah... (pointing at the crib) That's for Quiet."

(As in, his baby brother on the way's name is Quiet.) LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going Lactose Free to See

... if I am intolerant. Well, I know I am intolerant of half and half, my utmost fave thing to add to my coffee! SADNESS!!!! BUT, lately I have notice a sensitivity to other dairy products (well, cow milk products). So, I officially began at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. I bought goat milk, goat milk yogurt and coconut milk ice cream to try it all out and see how my body feels.

The goat milk I put on my oatmeal this morning, which was fine in the patmeal, but plain was, welll... kinda "goat-y" as my friend Brigitte said. It tasted like liquid goat cheese. And I loooooove goat cheese! But liquid will take some getting used to. I think I will get some vanilla almond milk or coconut milk to try for that.

Brigitte's sister Heidi has been dairy free for 4 years and helped me out a lot on what to try. It will be interesting to see what the difference is! Anywho, Heidi's best suggestion was indulge in some ice cream!!!! So I did- actually a COMPLETELY dairy free one... not even goat milk!

And it is SUPER GOOD!!!!!! Mmmmm. I am eating right now! :)

Just though I would share... I'll let you know how it goes. I would love any suggestions!

Trying Out Tahoe

Okay, that's a bad title for this post because for Doug and I, we don't need to try out Tahoe. We just love it. I think Doug says "YES. I LOVE it here!" like 8 times during the weekend. But for the Troublemakers, it was a mostly new experience. Tyler remembers when we went two years ago, but Austin was just over 1 year old! So, he just toddled around and napped really. And Tyler wasn't old enough to SNOWBOARD (woot!) which we had him try this time!

So, really, the Troublemakers were trying out Tahoe. :) We had a great time! Tyler did great on the board, though wanted to go back to sledding after awhile (not shocking). We were at a park near our hotel that had embankments along one side of a soccer field that people use for sledding. So we did, too... along with the snowboarding and a bit of playing at the actual playground.

We stayed at Mont Bleu, which is, admittedly, a hotel and casino (it is Nevada after all ;-)). But, we never even saw the casino floor, which was nice. We DID, though, take many trips to the indoor pool!

It was a good two days, with a difficult second night but it was worth it. (Sharing a room with them is just NOT sleep-friendly for me!). They are already saying "Next time we go to Tahoe...."

Yay!

Friday Freakout

Okay, confession time:

1. Today, I ate half of Troublemaker #2's doughnut. It had sprinkles.

2. I usually freak out a little on Fridays.

"But, WHY!?!?" You might ask. "Friday is almost everyone's favorite day of the week. The end of the work week, maybe with some fun plans in the midst."

Right. Well, from a stay-at-home mom's point of view... well, at least THIS stay-at-home mom's point of view, I know that Friday is the end of my ability to do the homemaker part of my job. The cleaning, meal planning, shopping, laundry and the like. Because the hubby and me both don't really like doing chores on the weekend. SO, on Friday I desperately try to get a ton of stuff done before my handsome man gets home from work, so that we can enjoy the weekend. I am not saying this to be like all "holier than supermom" or anything, because I really don't do a very good job at it AND, I don't think it's healthy.

Most of my freak outs aren't healthy. Yours aren't either.

So, instead of cleaning my floor... I blogged.

Any tips??? (Other than, get over it? I have a chore chart, btw.)

New Year and No New Blog Name

Like I said to almost everyone: "I hate to say I told you so... but...

"IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!"

A Wyatt to be exact. I am finally giving in to Doug's favorite boy name (he's made three now, so I think he's earned it). So, the blog name does not have to change (I know all 3 of you were on the edge of your seats)... I am still "Happy With My Bishop Boys"!!!

This new year has had me feeling refreshed and ready for a new start, and I am ready to get the house up to snuff and prepared for baby-on-the-way and George.

Who George, you ask? I have not inroduced him to the online world yet, have I??? Well, here is George:

 He is our bearded dragon. We gave him to The Troublemaker's as a Christmas present. Our first official family pet! George is great. BUT, he is a little high maintenance in one way: SPACE. Right now, George lives on tope of the Throublemakers' dresser in his cage. But George is going to grow (not by a ton, but enough) and need a NEW enclosure cage thing, that Doug is going to build. Anyways, this new cage still needs to be off the ground. So, Doug thinks the best idea is to buy a new dining room table and chairs and move the old dining room table UP TO THE BEDROOM (Say WHAAAAT?!?!?) to put George on in his new mansion. This will happen in the next 3-4 months.

Wait: DID I MENTION WYATT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE IN ABOUT 4 AND A HALF MONTHS???? Yeeeeeeah....... about that. So, in this room that seems to have endless space (it doesn't), we now need room for our dining room table. And a baby. And this baby needs a crib. Which we have, but Troublemaker #2 is in it. So HE needs a bed. And baby needs a dresser. So now we need a dining room table, chairs, a bunk bed, two twin mattresses, new bedding for those twin mattresses and a new dresser. **PHEW!!!**

So, preparing for Wyatt and tending to George feels a little overwhelming right now. But something about it being a new year just feels energizing!!! And I have two friends due before me (a third has just given birth!), so I do feel like I have SOME time. And it's 2nd trimester happy time, with more energy and no sickness. YAY!

So, a happy 2011 to all 4 of you who read this. :) I am going to try this year to post more! I hope I have bunk beds to show soon. :)