Home Sweet Home...but not for long...

So we're back in San Antonio and we've finally settled in, but it's going to be short-lived because we're driving down to Corpus Christi, TX in a couple days to stay with Jason while he does a 4-week pediatric anesthesia rotation at a children's hospital down there.  It's just one of the many things I love about home schooling - the mobility and flexibility!!  Not that it isn't exhausting and completely draining at times - but there are so many benefits to schooling at home!!  There may be a time (not too far from now) when Jason will have to deploy to Iraq and we won't be able to come with him, so for now - we're going to tag along as much as possible!! That and I'm so close to delivering this next baby - I don't want Jason to be out of town if I go into labor!!  I'd much rather risk being uncomfortable living in a billeting room (a base hotel room for those of you non-military folk) for 4 weeks and have Jason with me if I go into labor than for him to miss the birth of his baby!!  Eek!  I couldn't imagine having a baby without your husband there!  I don't know how preggo wives of deployed guys do it!!  Eek!  Moms, Dads and siblings are a big help I'm sure, but they can't replace the person who helped make your little baby!!  The wife of someone Jason went to medical school with just went through that a couple months ago (her husband was deployed to Iraq and couldn't make it back in time)!  I feel so bad that she had to go through that without her husband and that he had to miss it!  How sad!  It was their fourth baby, but still!  Each baby is just as important as the first!!

Anyways - the night we got back from Dallas, we let the girls open their presents from us...and Jason opened his present from me.  :)  Of course, the girls' baby dolls ended up being defective, so I've since returned them.  I still need to find them some replacements, but I'm too busy right now!!

Katie admiring her Cinderella baby doll

Kristin loves her new puppy...I love it too - because it doesn't require dog food or any clean up!  :)

Katie loves her puppy too!  She loves everything that Kristin loves...  :)

Kristin is very excited about trying out her new baby doll (which is supposed to kick, make noises and wet her diaper)

Jason is always happy to get a present...  :)  He doesn't really ask for much the rest of the year. He's such a sweet little boy - always happier to give presents than receive.  
 

The girls were very excited about getting these Sleeping Beauty plush dolls which also double as either pillows or blankets.

Katie happily testing out her Sleeping Beauty blanket

Kristin is such a good little mommy

We got most of the Christmas decorations down and put away the day after we got back.

After we had been home for a couple of days, Kristin decided to throw up in her sleep (in my bed of all places) in the middle of the night while Jason was at the hospital on call.  Ugh!!  It got everywhere!!!  Why does this kind of stuff always seem to happen when Jason isn't home?!  It's a conspiracy I tell you!!  ;)  Not only did she throw up in my bed, but after ripping everything off the bed and putting it into the washing machine, she decided to throw up again - not even an hour later - on the spare blankets and pillows that I had put on the bed for us to sleep on while the other stuff was being washed!!  After getting those things into the washer and the other stuff into the dryer, I was left with only 1 sleeping bag and a couple of couch pillows for us to sleep on.  With each episode I also had to give Kristin a bath because she had vomit chunks in her hair! It was horrible!!  We were able to sleep a couple more hours, but man! What a wretched morning!!  

All of this vomit-washing got me motivated to wash everything in the house - the girls bed-sets, couch pillow covers, pillows, throw rugs, bathroom rugs, all the decorator towels etc. If there was anything washable - I washed it!  Then I went on to clean all of the bathroom showers, tubs, toilets, sinks, floors and I organized the closets.  I was on a roll!  I kept going and decided to clean the kitchen sink, microwave, counters, floors and then onto dusting everything in sight! I even undertook the arduous task of going through all of the papers in our safe as well as the two rubbermaid bins of credit card statements and receipts (that I've been keeping since Jason and I first got married)!!  I finally figured out how ridiculous it was that I had been keeping all of this useless paper!  I always thought I had to keep everything as proof of the things in our house (for insurance purposes).  But after finding out that most of our family and friends discard much of that paperwork after the bills have been paid (keeping only big purchase receipts) - I realized my need to rid our house of all this un-needed bulk!  I shredded and shredded...for days and days!!!  I was amazed that I had kept all of this crap!!!  It was interesting to see what all we had spent our money on these past 12 years though (with the receipts that I could still read that hadn't faded), so I was slightly sad to see it all go because it helped spark some memories on a few occasions.  Oh well.  Now that I've gotten all our paperwork thrown out and organized - I feel somewhat cleansed of my paperwork nightmare (now all our important papers fit into one small safe.  ;)  Ah...  I think I'm doing some "nesting" a wee bit early since I know we'll be out of town for 4 weeks and I might not have a chance to do it when we get back (since I'll only have two weeks to go)!!  

Anyways - I'm excited about getting back home because it'll be all clean and organized! Hooray! Hopefully it'll last...for a little bit anyways...

I guess I'll go for now because I have a lot I should be doing right now!!  I'll close with a couple of pictures of my gi-hugic belly!  Enjoy!!  ;)

Almost 34 weeks pregnant

This is starting to get uncomfortable...  I can't wait to pop this baby out!  I just hope he waits until we get back home and Joanna (Jason's 13 yr old sister) is there to watch the girls while we're at the hospital!!  Thanks Mom and Dad for letting her come stay with us to help out!!!! Kristin is going to be overjoyed to have her Mama Shamu with her for so long!!  :)