FOBLO

I have had a rough morning. Woke up great, slept well (which is so rare) and was ready to start the day with my Fit4Mom group followed by a play date at the splash park. Last night everything was packed, boy's swimsuits, towels, and a dish for our play date potluck; I was ready to roll. 

Next is where my morning went south. Sitting down to breakfast I scroll through my Facebook feed to see a picture of friends enjoying a girl's night out that I was not included in. My heart sinks. 

FOBLO hits. If you're not an acronym fan it's "Fear of Being Left Out". 

I have suffered from this since, well forever, I'm a woman, duh. Men, you can stop reading- you are rolling your eyes because you don't, and never will understand. Women, you get me. For years I have been trying to stop this, "I guess I'm not fun enough", feeling when I am not included, but social media makes it so hard to avoid especially since it slaps you in the face without warning. "Well, you shouldn't get on Facebook so much"... voices from the older generation and my husband whisper in my head. WELL, I like Facebook. 

Really, I understand there are going to be plenty of things I am not included in and I need to be okay with it. It doesn't make it hurt any less. This does not mean I think others should avoid expressing their good time with friends (excluding me) on social media just so feelings don't get hurt. I just need a thicker skin and maybe nicer friends, because I am super fun, kidding. 

So moving on. I half-heartedly head out to my Fit4Mom workout. I'm adorning my Walmart purchased star spangled running shorts looking all patriotic and stuff, where I sweat, do pregnant burpees (which I'm very proud of), and chat with my girlfriends helping lighten my mood. Then it's time to head to the splash park I've been telling the boys about all morning. They are pumped and already in their swimsuits ready to go! 

I cannot find the *blanking* splash park. Copelan is in the back, "Mommy where are you GOING, I want to go to the splash park!" "Well honey, I'm lost." I start to tear up. I am so bad with directions. My nana once told me it's a disorder, I believe her. My phone ironically is not picking up enough signal for my map and all I see is the dang swirly circle that it's "thinking". I'm typing in the street to my truck navigation and that's not coming up either, which I later found the search location set in North Carolina, lovely, I blame that on my children. 

After 40 minutes of aimlessly wasting gas we came home. I was crying and asked Copelan for a hug, good thing he's a sweetie, it made me feel better. I felt terrible. Not only did I let the boys down but now FOBLO is setting in. My kids aren't going to get to play with all the other kids at this fun place I promised. Whyyyy do you suck today! Whyyyy!

We ate some lunch then I had the wonderful idea to go to Krispy Kreme. Sometimes you just have to eat a strawberry glazed donut and sip an iced coffee to get your head back in the positive. 

Post workout, sweaty donut eating looks good on me, I know.

If you suffer from FOBLO you are not alone. Please seek help from a friend, preferably a friend who was also left out. We can get though this together.

Boy Mom x3

There are plenty of blogs that boy moms have posted, how their sons put race cars in the toilet, poop in the bath when it's not bath time, eat bugs and boogers (hey, I've seen plenty of girls eat boogers), etc. This post is my version, and warning. 

They are so loud. 
They can destroy my house in under 2 minutes. The whole house.
They demand choo-choos and dump trucks.
They don't smell bad like most would assume, yet anyway. 
They stain every stinkin shirt. 
They will find dirt even if you're at a sterile doctor's office. 
They are rough.
They don't sit still.
They run me ragged, literally they run very fast. 

They show me love that is out of this world. 

When pregnant you dream that your child will be one way, or another. Never did I realize, #1 that I would have 3 boys, #2 the magnitude of love my boys would show me in these three short years they have been in my life. 

Moments like when my three year old, Copelan, pulls my cheek over and give me a kiss for no reason then tells me I'm his bess fran. He does also tell that to Colby the dog, new people at the park and his daddy too, but I still think it's special. How Crew, my 20 month old climbs up on my desk chair and hugs me around the neck like he hasn't seen me in weeks then giggles when I look at him. How baby Cage in my tummy kicks with force just like his brothers did letting me know he is going to fit in just fine with this rowdy bunch.

They, along with my husband, fulfill me. 

When people find out we are having a third boy a surprising amount of times they forget the "congratulations," and lead with, "Oh, y'all going to try for a 4th?" "Are you going to try for a girl?" In which I reply, "No way, I'm no idiot, tying those tubes after this one because I could have another boy and then be admitted into a psychiatric home!" ... So kidding. In all seriousness, I just smile and reply I don't know; because we don't. Having a third boy is in no way making us feel empty or incomplete, having a big family though, is making my heart grow softer by the day. 

Here they are, all three of them. This pic turned out creepier than envisioned.

I did not sit in the doctors office the morning of my gender sonogram praying for a baby girl, or leave with tears in my eyes. I feel that is no way to treat a blessing. I prayed for a healthy baby, the baby God wanted me to have join this family. 

When I left my appointment that day my nurse told me, "Another boy, huh? Well listen, I was once told that any mom who raises three boys gets a ticket straight to heaven!" Thank you nurse Judy, I'll take it.

I love my boys, and I would love them all the same if we had three more. So here comes the warning, to those of you who may read this please take note. Any family with children of the same gender you decide to approach and comment to, do not go with the phrases, "are you going to try for another?!" or "yikes, looks like you have your hands full". Approach them with, "How wonderful and lucky you and your children are, they are going to be best friends." Mmk, thanks.

At Home Gender Tests- Anxious Much?

Since discovering we were pregnant with baby #3 back in February, I have been on a (solo) mission to find out this baby's gender since Mark thinks I'm nutty for trying so hard. I have done this with each pregnancy, the waiting game is NOT my thing.

With every test I try and reveal our baby's gender I would either get excited or confused and Mark just laughs at me and says, "it's 50/50". Luckily, I have plenty of friends that humor me and and add to my excitement, thanks ladies I know you understand. 

Since finding out we are indeed having our third BOY here are the tests I did and results. (Hope you're not squeamish about urine!)

1. Baking Soda test: 

Put enough baking soda into a cup to cover the bottom, pee into the cup (or a different cup then pour it in). If the baking soda fizzes (not just air bubbles) you're having a boy if it doesn't react, you're having a girl. 

Mine had no reaction, GIRL.

Baking Soda Consensus: Wrong

2. IntelliGender Test: 

The most expensive potential waste of money. $39.99 at my local CVS this lovely test proved correct for my first two boys so I put all my stock in it this go-round of course! Once again, use your urine to mix with these lovely magical crystals, (read the directions) swirl it around and the results read in 5 minutes. My result was Boy, no question. 

IntelliGender Consensus: Correct (for a 3rd time)

 3. Chinese Calendar: 

This is always the first thing I check when I get a positive pregnancy test. This test was correct with my boys.

Age: 30 (I know, I don't look a day over 29)

Conceived: January 

Prediction: BOY

Chinese Calendar Consensus: Correct (for a 3rd time)

4. Cabbage Test: 

This one was probably the most involved. Oh hey, and it uses your urine too! Cut up a red cabbage (it's purple). Boil some water, enough to cover the cabbage. Don't add the cabbage to the boiling water. 

Pour the water over the bowl of cabbage. Let sit for 10 minutes then strain the blueish-purple juice. 

Pour blue cabbage water into a glass. Not too much.

Pee in a separate cup. (not shown)

Mix equal parts urine and cabbage water.

Results Pink or Red indicate BOY.

Purple indicates GIRL.

I was kind of unclear. So I did searches on YouTube and Instagram and although it definitely does not look red to me, it is definitely not the purple I saw in other's girl indicators. So I'd say this result was also boy. 

Consensus: Correct

5. The Palm Test: 

Have a friend ask you to show your hands. 

If you immediately show your palm, it’s a girl. Palm down, a boy. 

I was playing mind games because I thought I had done this one before and was trying to do what girl was and ended up being wrong by showing my palm down. BOY. 

Consensus: Correct

6. Wedding Ring on a String:

Hold the wedding ring on a string still over your stomach or wrist. If it begins moving in a line it's a boy, if it's a circle, girl. I tried this for a while, Mark tried too. It went in a circle then line and I just said forget it. 

Undetermined, fail!

4/5 predicted boy for us, which were great odds! Disclaimer: Of course everyone's results are different and only the doctors know for certain what you are having. Blah, blah, blah.

All of these were fun to do. After the few dollars I spent on each test I probably could have just spent the same amount going to an early imaging center to know for certain, but what's the fun in that, LOL. Baby #3 is a boy, that is for certain. Let the C naming begin! (You knowwww I already have a name chosen, come on.)

The (Rainy) Days of our Lives

Lately we have spent a lot of time inside because it has been raining like stinkin' Seattle. I can almost not handle it anymore. Our fields are marshes and our ponds are mucky rivers. The lakes are up, awesome! My patience though, is low, very low. 

Here are a few activities we've had to pass the time. 

Playing with royal blue play-doh, not the brightest of ideas but the brown was getting so boring. Every time I say, you lick that play-doh one more time it goes in the trash... I lie.

Letting the kids play in my closest, fun, yet not fond of the outfit choices. 

 Crew continues to explore Cobly's anatomy. "Weewee", "Ew wee".

I'm backkk

I've decided to start blogging again! I previously used this page for photography but since that has it's own site now I can use this to complain, I mean talk about how amazingly fun my kids are! 

Typical situation in the office, one kid on my lap, the other just squeezed a leg on my chair and they are now screaming at each other, "he touched me!" and "NOOOOO!". 

With the snap of a finger Copelan is hungry and only wants pancakes.

So there's that. We are a mess, but we are all still happy.

It's almost Mother's Day, we don't make a big to-do of it so I'm expecting a card.

 I left out a $20 off card to SunGlass Hut in hopes Mark would buy me the pink mirrored Ray-Bans I've been hinting about. I checked the code today to see if it had been used. 

I'm getting a card, and I will love it. 

These are the things I wanted for Mother's Day incase Mark reads this:

Photography: The Lill Family

I grew up in the Austin, central Texas area, and that is where my family still resides. Mark and I ventured up to Fort Worth almost 5 years ago and have no family up here with us unfortunately. So I travel back to Austin quite frequently to see family and visit friends. This time while in town I planned some photo shoots. 

This particular photo shoot with the Lill family was done at Commons Ford Ranch in west Austin. I had never been there before so I was crossing my fingers it would deliver, and it did! Thank you Lill family for your time and trust in me to capture these moments. 

Little Liam would capture any photographer's heart! 

Well, if you walk right up to the camera I'm going to keep snappin' cutie!

Photography: Friedeck Family Mini

Oh, the sweet Friedeck family! They were kindly able to meet me during lunch break on a Friday for a quick mini session. Amber, Karl and Hudson are always a pleasure.