So...maybe I should get a fish.

This post is dedicated to my friend Carrie, who has inspired the title. Thanks Care :)

A fish you might ask? Yes, a fish. Let me tell you why...

I am a maternal person. It is just a part of who I am. Even as a child I knew this about myself. I started babysitting my cousins young and always had little ones on my lap at Christmas even though I was a little one myself.

I did not get along great with my sisters growing up. I had a couple of problems...first, I always had the thought that I was just as old as Sarah, who was two and a half years older than me. Maybe it was because she was the same size as me and maybe it was just a complex, but it is what I believed. Then, when Beth came 14 months after I was born, I was determined to be her mother. She latched on to Sarah, wanting nothing to do with me...rightfully so. So, even though I didn't get along with either of them, I was extremely protective of both. Again, mothering instincts kicking in.

As a fourth grader, I knew teaching was what I was meant to do with my life. It just fit with every part of who I am. I have never imagined doing anything else.

So now, I am an adult. I am a teacher. I am a wife. I am a mother. I love who I am and what I do.

Now comes the problem. As a mother, for me, I tend to forget the hard or painful times when it comes to my children. The uncomfortable parts of pregnancy, labor, when the kids get sick, etc. God gave me this incredible absentmindedness when it comes to these things. I remember Natalie being 3 months old and looking at Brian saying, "So, when do you want to do this again?" Yep...just a little bit crazy.

* Sidenote - Please keep in mind that I am also the type of mom who has to be away from her children every once in a while. And they need to be away from me. I am a firm believer in focusing on my relationship with Brian so that the rest of the family can be healthy. Everyone in my family has a place. Brian and I are first and the girls come next. This is not to say that I ignore my children. But if Brian and I fall apart, then there is no family and that is the last thing I ever want to happen. Ok, back to the reason I wrote the post*

Evie is going to be two soon and my belly is ITCHING to be pregnant. I see pregnant ladies everywhere. Not only are they stalking me, but families with 4 children follow me around! I think about it and wonder...what's the big deal? But, I have to stop and think. I have to stop and truly think about how full my plate is.

This weekend was one of those weekends. Evie has been running a fever for 2 days. Macie woke up with a fever last night. We were madly dashing back and forth to the doctor to see what was going on. Well, Mace had strep. Great, well theirs meds for that. But Evie, nothing. Teeth are coming in and she has a cold. Overall, she just isn't feeling well. After getting home and trying to make it though the rest of the night, Evie is truly uncomfortable. She spent about 4 hours crying. I had no clue what her problem was. She wouldn't go to sleep even though she was exhausted. I hadn't eaten all day because of the worry and was at my wits end. I was in her bed with her crying too. I made a call to a dear friend who told me, "Gina, go bring her to Children's. This is not like her. Go find out what is wrong." Let me tell you...you need people like this in your life. They save you in moments like this.

So, Macie is already asleep at 7pm because she is exhausted. Natalie was such a trooper all day, we let her stay up with our neighbor who came over while we went to the hospital. As we get there, Evie burps once and "beepers" (as we call it) twice, and I am thinking "Oh, no. We did NOT just come to the ER for gas!" She gets checked in, checked out by the nurse practitioner and we run some tests. Another strep test, because she has a weird rash on her neck and forehead, nope. Not strep. They took some urine to see if she had a bladder infection. Nope, not that either. Finally they did an x-ray of her belly, which was not my idea but that is the exact reason why I feel Children's is the BEST place to go. And that looked fine. In the process of all of this my third child continues to beeper all over the place.

So, we go home. Was she screaming for 4 hours due to gas? Maybe. Were their other things going on with her to cause her to cry and scream and take in more air which causes her to have more gas and pain? Yea, probably. But YIKES! WHAT AM I...NEW? Frustrating.

It is weekends like this that I HAVE to remember. I have to remember what weekends like this do to me. These weekends are not going to go away. I know that. In fact, having three girls, the problems are going to turn from little things like gas to lord knows what. Let the emotional roller coaster begin.

I am a very blessed woman. I am surrounded with love and support. Not everyone has that. I needed to write this to remind myself that I have a lot. Adding another child to our lives would be great, but I need to live in the world now and stop thinking about what I wish I had. Plus, I don't know that having another baby would stop my wanting for babies! As Molly and Carrie have both told me, "Gina, if you have another child, does that mean you WON'T want another one?" Um...I'm not sure.

So, there it is. Focus on the now. Love what you have. Deal with what is in front of your face.

Ok. I will try.

Chickens doing the Hula

We had this at Brian's cousins house one night and loved it. Again, it was a really easy thing for us to make so it's in the rotation of dinners in our house!

Hawaiian Chicken
Marinade:
(You can buy a teriyaki marinade, but because we do the GF thing, this was just as easy and we had all of the ingredients in the house.)
1/2 cup GF soy sauce (We use LaChoy)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 glove garlic (I put it though a press, but you could chop it up or smash it to release the flavor)

We have marinaded the chicken breasts for as little as 2 hours and as long as 6. It just depends on when you remember to put it together. I am not very good at that part.

1 can pineapple rings
Provolone cheese slices

Grill chicken and pineapple rings. (The pineapple doesn't take as long, so put that on as the chicken is finishing up.) Place a pineapple ring on top on the chicken once it is done and top with provolone cheese. Once the cheese is melted over the pineapple and chicken serve on a bun or over rice.

Super yummy!!!

Mary Jo and her Fantastical Bars

This recipe is my Aunt Mary Jo's. It is awesome and very easy. Not to mention DELICIOUS!

Yellow Cake Mix Bars

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Mix together

2 eggs

Mix with above ingredients.

Add 1 box yellow cake mix (Betty Crocker makes a GF cake mix that we have used and liked) and combine.

Then add 1 cup chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 min.

That's it! I almost always have the ingredients in the house, so it makes for a really quick dessert when we need something last minute.