Things Are Going to the Dogs Around Here

This morning the boys and I were discussing the names of all their stuffed dogs. They get quite exasperated with me when I confuse them or forget a name. But really, can you blame me? Here is a picture of the whole pound:



You can see, there are more than just dogs; that is because #1, Troyer doesn't like dogs, so he collects frogs and bunnies, and #2 not all the boys recognized non-dogs when they were very young, and so some "odd-breeds" were adopted in.

The names? As best as I can determine: Doby, Caleb Puppy, Skunky, Bully, ?(not named yet), Troyer Puppy, Tuffy, Licorice, Ticklish, Voof, Baby Voof, Radia, Dash, Tom, Lavender, Kessie, Crunch, Boing, Charge, Baby Flex, Arrow, Zed, Dotty, Goldie. Troyer's animals include Froggie, several Kermits, Hopper, Bunny, Carrot, Zaboomafoo, and Lester the Bat. And yes, they do refer to their animals by name. I suppose if I'd had girls, we'd have as many barbies in the house, and they'd each have different names, too, right?

I've got Troyer's birthday pictures uploaded, so I'll share those:


Troyer with his "created" Cars cake


Present Vultures


Levi is always prepared to grab and run


A successful grab!


We had pizza for dinner, can you tell?


Mom, watch my karate move!


So, sorry it's been so long since I've posted. It's not that nothing has been going on, and not that anything bad has happened. I just haven't felt like posting. Not sure why, though I've been feeling tired and depressed lately. Somewhat because the weather has been getting grey and cool, and mostly because Chris is STILL working so much overtime. I miss him, the boys miss him, and even when he is home he is so tired there's not much to him. He says he has enough vacation time to take all of December off; I almost wish he would.

Last week I went on a tour of the hospital where I'll be giving birth. I was supposed to find a babysitter for the boys so Chris and I could go together, but oddly, there was no one available for a Wednesday night, not even MIL. So instead, Chris stayed home with the boys and I took Troyer with me. I figured he needed to come along too, because he wants to be there for the birth of the baby again. He really liked being there when Levi was born. I told him to take notes so he could help his dad around when we go in February.

The hospital is very nice. The "old" wing is only 10 years old, and the "new wing" is brand new. Labor and Delivery are in the old wing, along with the neonatal unit, and Recovery is in the new wing. All the labor and delivery rooms are private birthing rooms, very nice. There is one central room for Cesareans. I'm not sure how many LD rooms there are but it seemed like 20 or 24. In the new wing there are 42 private rooms. We were told that some of the rooms are reserved for pre-term moms on bedrest, and others are recovery rooms for women with other "women's concerns." Still, that's a lot of rooms! The hospital where all my other boys were born had one LDR room, and 4 recovery rooms. They were never all full either.

I felt a little silly on the tour, because out of 8 couples there, all but me were due between the end of this month and the end of December. I didn't even look pregnant next to these women! My doctor had told me I should take the tour "soon" and when I called to set up a time, the hospital seemed to think 20 weeks was right. All the other women were also taking childbirth classes, and the tour guide kept saying "you'll learn more about that in your classes;" of course, I won't! LOL I'm considering trying again to get Chris on a tour mabye in Dec or Jan.

In other news, the boys had a dentist appointment on Thursday. Noah had a small cavity, but he says it was the same tooth he had filled last time, which makes me think it was more the dentist's fault than his, and the dentist was able to fix it right then, so we didn't have to come back. But Troyer had to be scolded for not brushing well enough. The dentist said he had as much tartar as a typical adult! I've noticed he's had this problem since his first adult teeth came in, but he also admitted that he does not brush every day, even though I send him to brush. So I guess he's been lying to me! He's 12 years old, but I have to have him come and show me his teeth every night now. sigh.