"I'm forever blowing bubbles...pretty bubbles in the air..."

Green Streen Hooligans - Good movie. Sometimes I say a movie is good but that I wouldn't watch it again. I would watch this one again - in fact, I did. It's full of cussing and street fights, but I liked it anyway.

Well, I guess if you read Steve's blog, then you'd know that I'm married to an MMA guy - so I'm kinda attracted to movies with good fights. Like I've said, I didn't care for Brad Pitt before I saw Fight Club.
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I didn't go to the Flame Tree Festival this year because there would be some major smack talked about me if "they" saw me take my almost-two-week-old son out to any place other than the doctor's. Well, I took him out. We had to go grocery shopping so Jacob came along for the ride and stayed in the car with James while Katelyn and I went shopping.

But the point of this is not that I took Jacob out of the house or that I went shopping, the point is that I didn't go to the Flame Tree Festival. And I think if I didn't have a newborn, I still wouldn't have gone. OK, that's not true, I would have gone yesterday at 1pm to watch the best Polynesian dancers on island, Alana'ia, perform a Hawaiian tribute to my former instructor and my brother-in-law's mother, the late Lorraine Johnson; and I would go again tonight at 9 to watch them perform a full Polynesian show. But if my sister's group weren't performing, I wouldn't go.

We went shopping at Carmen Safeway so we passed by the civic center twice....and twice I was not impressed. There appeared to be a lot of empty tents, it was dusty, it looked dry and hot, there were almost no spectators, it appeared to be about 1/3 the size it was last year...it was a sad sight. I know that A LOT of hard work goes into the annual festival and I'm not trying to criticize anyone's efforts. And as I said, I didn't stop in at the festival, so perhaps it was quite different from the view on the road, but nothing about this year's venue invited me to check out the festivities.

I don't know why it was moved back to Civic Center, was it the cost? It really doesn't matter to me. Just please move the Flame Tree Festival back to American Memorial Park.

I've got the hippy hippy shake

Last night I had the chills. I had them bad. Our aircon was set at 74 degrees but I felt like it was set at 20. I was wearing a beanie, a t-shirt, a long sleeve t-shirt, two pairs of pants and two pairs of socks. And I was still shivering! I don't know what happened. This morning I woke up at 5 and was sweating and now my muscles and joints are aching.

It reminded me of what happened when I was in the OR preparing to have my son delivered. The anesthesiologist administered the epidural. It was more painful than the last time; the last time I felt nothing (well, maybe a little nausea) and then I went numb, this time I felt a shock run down to the toes in my right foot. And the epidural didn't work - sorta. It numbed me so that I couldn't feel the contractions, but I could feel every pinch and touch on my skin...I could still wiggle my toes. And then it happened. Uncontrollable chills. My legs were shaking, my arms were shaking, my jaw was chattering. It was horrible. They tilted the table so my head was lower than my legs hoping to move the medicine, but it didn't work. I just kept shaking. So they gave me oxygen and they put me to sleep. Yep, my son was born and I had no idea what was happening. I woke up an hour or so later in the recovery room with my mom and sister siting nearby. I could barely see straight and I couldn't really talk. My husband came in for a minute to check on me and show me pictures of our son. But my eyes wouldn't focus so I just asked him to stay with Jacob in the nursery.

My doctor told me that I was very brave for attempting the vbac. She told me that if I have another kid, I should just schedule the c-section. I've been through it all - labor, c-section while awake, going into labor on my own, inducing labor, augmenting labor, repeat c-section under general anesthesia. I've had enough.

A question for my daughter.

Can we be friends? We get along so well and it’s clear that there is so much love between us – but can we continue to be friends as you go through life? I was never “friends” with my mom. We didn’t have conversations about anything important or life changing, we didn’t go to movies together (but we did watch Sally, Geraldo, Oprah, and other talk show nonsense during the summers), we didn’t work on my college applications together – we were just mother and daughter; she’d ask how my day was and I’d say “fine”.

I promise to pay attention to the milestones in your life and also to the seemingly unimportant details of your daily routine. I promise to push you, but I also promise to back off if I push too far. I will always make time for you and I hope you will always make time for me.

So tell me, Katelyn, can we be friends?

The newest Revilla!

Jacob Seth arrived on April 17 at 6:54 pm after several painful hours of labor, augmented by pitocin, Jacob was born by repeat cesarean section. He was 8 pounds 8.4 ounces.(Yes, those are pink mittens. Oh, be quiet! My first child is a girl)

Jacob was handling the contractions really well, but I just wasn't progressing...so another c-section. We've (I've) decided that having two children is just perfect. Maybe I'm a bit of a wussy, but I tell you, two c-sections are plenty. I can't believe that my aunt had 4!

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Let me tell you about my two kids. Katelyn was born nearly two years ago, she weighed .5 ounces more than baby Jacob. Katelyn was very colicky, Jacob is not. He's so easy to watch. He'll hang out while I walk around or eat, he'll let me hold him without crying. He's very easy going.(No, that's just a towel hanging from the doorknob.)

Katelyn was born brown. Jacob was born white. My daughter looks like her father, but acts a lot like me. Jacob looks like me, but acts a lot like his father. Check it out - he was born a boxer!

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Katelyn is doing really well with Jacob. My only concern is that I don't want her to feel pushed aside because there's a new baby at home and I'm still recovering so I can't carry her and care for her the way I used to. But James is an amazing Dad and despite his lack of sleep, he has been spending lots of time with her before he has to go back to work.

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I had all these thoughts that I wanted to post about...but now that I'm finally online - I've blanked. So...peace out, yo!

April 17 sounds like a good birthday.

So I've been up since 4 a.m. I can't go back to sleep because the contractions are too strong and too close together. I called my midwife and she told me to meet her at Labor and Delivery at 8 a.m.

Please keep us in your prayers.

I'm still here!

Well, boys and girls, I'm still here. Friday night was rough...I had to carry Katelyn up the stairs in the early evening and I think I over exerted myself. I had contractions every 10 or so minutes for the rest of the night. All through Saturday and most of Sunday my contractions were 20 minutes apart. Until the evening, that is. I think I over exerted myself again, because by 7:30 they were more intense and were coming on every 5 to 10 minutes. Despite the increases, I didn't go into labor, but I decided to start my maternity leave today. I don't think it would have been pleasant to work while feeling like this.

This is what a 10 month-pregnant belly looks like:It's big enough for two toddlers to take refuge underneath it. If I stand up straight when the babies are hugging my legs, they completely dissapear.

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Back in 2003 when I was job hunting on Saipan, I attempted to apply for a position that I found on cnmijobs.com. I prepared my resume and portfolio, I donned my interview garb, and set out to apply for a position at Triple J Motors. The PD was vague enough for me to assume that it was a first line supervisory position - possibly for the front office. I walked in, asked for Mr. Soandso...shook his hand, introduced myself, explained what position I was interested in, and... And he laughed at me.

Yes, you read that right. He straight up laughed at me. He said that the job was supervising the guys in the shop. OK. Fine. I thanked him and walked out.

I've always laughed at that story. But it would have been nice if the PD was clear on what the job actually was for. But who's to say that a young woman couldn't have been an awesome shop supervisor?

Oh, well. Maybe I'm easy to judge. He was right for laughing - I don't even know how to pump gas.
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Maybe you've noticed that there are pictures on my blog and flickr page once again. That's because I have a new-to-me camera!!! That's right! My sister was given a new camera for recently participating in a filming at World Resort, so she gave me her old one! Thanks, Sis! (But it'd still be cool to get a new one.

Hers:

Mine:

Mona, that's your scarf up there. Well, sorta...I didn't like the pattern, so I started over...but that's the same yarn. I'm hoping to get most of it done while I'm in labor. I'd work on it tonight, but I'm doing our taxes.

Seriously, I'm not a stalker!

Um, Bev. I think we are supposed to meet. I saw you at the Street Market on Thursday. It felt like I was in Over the Hedge - I was the racoon and you were the squirrel that ran past me so quickly that I was left spinning in circles. It was so fast that I didn't really know what was happening...but I know it was you. :)

See, here's proof that I was there:OK, maybe it's not proof, but it was fairly yummy ceviche.
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I was sitting at the computer the other night and James was watching UFC. All of a sudden I heard him call out, " nice dump!"

I promise, I'll never let go, Jack. I'll never let go.

I enjoy being pregnant. Yep, you heard read me right, I am one of those women who enjoy pregnancy. I enjoyed being pregnant with my daughter and I am enjoying being pregnant with my son....even with all nausea, aches, pains, and moodiness. I think my body enjoys it so much so that it doesn't like to give the babies up. I saw the doctor on Monday and he doesn't think I'll go into labor on my own this week (I'm due on Sunday). So once again, we are going to induce after my EDD (that's Expected Date of Delivery). I have to call my midwife today and see when we can schedule it.

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Have you ever been the person on whom a medical student gets to practice? On Monday I found out what it's like..how do I put this...it's weird. I was called in to the doctor's office and took a seat adjacent to him. We talked for a minute or so, he flipped through my chart, and he asked me to lay down on the table. All the while this younger woman was behind him with a little notepad and a pen, watching everything he did, listening to every word that was spoken.

The doctor felt around on my belly in the usual manner. Then he turned to the young woman and asked if she was familiar with Leopold's maneuvers. She wasn't. So he felt around on my belly again and described to her what he was doing and what he was feeling for. Then she came over and felt around on my belly. OK, fine.

I got off the table and sat down next to the doctor. No sooner that I did that did he ask me to get back on the table because he wanted to check my cervix. Um, OK. It's usually just me and the doc/midwife...but OK, I'll open my legs in front of her if it means he's going to figure out if I'm ready for a VBAC any time soon. So he asks her if she's done any pelvic exams before...yes, she spent a week doing them. Um, excuse me, does this mean that he's going to feel around in me and then she's going to too?? So he does the exam, checks my cervix and checks the pelvic bones. The whole time he's doing this he's explaining to her what he's doing. Then he looked at her and I think I recall him saying, "put on a glove". Then he looked at me and said, "I'm sure she won't mind, it's all in the name of education".

So this woman, whose name I don't know, who is training for some medical profession for which I was not told, performs another pelvic exam on me!

OK, it's for education...I know how it goes...I watch scrubs. But the woman is so ginger with the exam, it's not really like a pelvic exam. It's like I'm laying on a table and I woman whom I don't know has her hand in me!

It was weird.

But what would have been weirder - having a whole gang of med students observe (and possibly participate in) my pelvic exam. This is what happened to a friend of mine. Yikes!

What's wrong with me?

Let this be a testament to my social inept-ness.

I went to lunch today at Truongs with my friend Velma. As I sat down at our table I noticed two women in purple scrubs sitting at the booth on the right. I recognized one of these women as Bev. I wanted to walk over and say hello. But I didn't.

Velma excused herself to the restroom and I thought that would be a great time to go say hello since I wouldn't be leaving Velma at the table alone. But I didn't - I didn't want to interrupt their conversation. Instead I sat there and texted James. I told him not to forget to eat the lunch I packed for him, I told him that there was a woman in the restaurant that I know from online, I told him my phone was out of juice and was about to go dead.

I went on with lunch, engaged in conversation with Velma and enjoying my Sweet and Sour Shrinp. Yet all the while I was aware that Bev was a few tables over and I wondered if she knew who I was. I still wanted to go say hello. But I didn't.

When Bev and her friend got up to leave the restaurant I thought, maybe I should just stop her and say hello. But I didn't.

Gosh, I'm such a weirdo.

So, Bev, if you're reading this...that was me at Truongs today. The extremely pregnant woman in a black blouse with glasses sitting on your left...not saying hello to you. I'm sorry I didn't say hello. I'm not mean, I'm just shy. If I see you out again - which isn't likely to happen anytime soon since I'm about to give birth - I'll try my best to say hello. Or better yet, if you see me, feel free to say hi.

:)

Happy Easter Saipan!

From me and the Keester Bunny!

...I must admit I stole it from a card that Mikey sent me while I was in college.

Katelyn and Maui had fun digging under the swing yesterday.
Then Katelyn got to color eggs with Dad!

To finish off the evening she had some yummy ravioli. Then she said goodnight to her baby brother, Jacob Seth.
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Mona's son can sing Elton John songs and he's not even a year old! Oh yeah? Well, Katelyn's not even two and she can write Happy Easter on the computer! :-)
It's actually just my way of hiding the messy couch in the background.

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The kids had a great time this morning coloring eggs!

I had fun too...

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Hmm, whose bright idea was it to give an almost-two-year old a donut?? Oh right, it was mine. Katelyn was bouncing off the walls after this.

So dad took Katelyn and Maui outside to run it off.

Cravings

Sometimes you just need some senbe and m&m's....don't you wish they came that way?

Man your battle stations!

James and I took Katelyn to the museum at the American Memorial Park yesterday. It was the first time for all of us. I liked it. Katelyn did pretty well....once the movie was over - at least we were the only ones in the theater.
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There's at least one place on Saipan where I've never been dissapointed. Big Dipper. The service is always great and the ice cream is always cold. Every pregnant woman deserves a mint chocolate chip milk shake. Yum!!
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Most of us on Saipan, including myself, tend to say that we only have two seasons...rainy season and dry season. I'm sure I've said this before, but we all know there are more than two seasons here....

There is a season for almost everything...mangoes, allergies, typhoons, coconut crabs, binadu, lemmai, papayas, avocadoes (for which I am waiting with baited breath), tangerines (ours were particularly abundant this year), and much more.

Want to know my least favorite season? Termite season! If you haven't experienced terminte season - good for you! If you happen to live in a place where the termites come out - it sucks doesn't it?

Termite season is when for one or two nights the termites come out in full force. They swarm outdoor lights and scurry with all their might to get to the source of the lights that beam from your windows and doors. The termites fly around until it's time to shed their wings in and around your house and then die! I don't get it...we live in a freaking concrete house.

It was termite season in May 2005 when my daughter was just a wee little thing - that was not fun! And it's looking to me that termite season this year might be starting pretty soon, just in time for my second little one to be born - great! It's time to get ready to plug up the little typhoon pressure reliever hole thingies in our windows and block the bottom of our glass doors with towels. It's time to get used to dimmed lights and closed curtains. It's time to get ready for the termites.

Blog This!

Here's a lovely little text I received last night: "Hey ann...Dz ritchell...R u gOin 2 da street market...Da basketball team is at da garapan cOrt..." 7:20 pm, April 5

I'm thinking one more text and I'll have to purchase that sign...
Or maybe I'll just keep sharing the texts until someone who knows Ann Margaret finally reads this blog and tells her to stop giving out my cell phone number!
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I know how to keep my daughter safely occupied while I cook, or eat, or clean, or anything - turn on Veggie Tales.

Lately I've been signing America the Beautiful to put Katelyn to sleep. Tonight she wanted to hear the Veggie Tales theme song...which I don't know. So I sang, "If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a something can make you smile...celery, brocolli, gotta be Veggie Tales! Collard greens, peachy keen, sooommeething Veggie Tales!" Hey whatever, she liked it.
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So...my camera doesn't work. I'm planning to borrow my sister's camera for when Jacob Seth is born. I've had her camera at my house for nearly a week now, but I haven't been able to use it because the batteries are dead...and it doesn't use the regular AA ones mine used - allegedly.

So I decided to throw caution to the wind...without first checking the camera, I asked James to pick up some batteries on his way home from the gym tonight. I told him that it took those stubby little digital camera batteries. He bought me four batteries that cost $5.59 each. He bought the EXACT ones I asked him to.

When he got home I decided to open the camera and check what type of batteries it used...I sent him out for the wrong ones! He spent over 20 bucks on batteries we can't use! Tuns out, her camera uses the same AA rechargable batteries as my camera!!

Please, please help me get a new camera. Don't forget, signing up at the website as my referral is not enough. You need to sign up for a free or low cost offer and then return to the cameras4free site and click on the "I completed this offer" button.

I truly appreciate the effort many have made in signing up as my referral. I only need 10 people to sign up and complete offers and then I'll get a camera. So far 10 people have signed up...but only one has completed the necessary steps. If you've already signed up, please go back and complete the process, pretty please...with a cherry on top? If you haven't signed up, oh, won't you please consider it?

I win!

The typhoon didn't send me to the hospital. What a wuss! It couldn't even induce labor for a woman who's due in 12 days! With her second child!!
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I can't find my Splenda baking book. :-(

Eh, why hsould it bother me, I don't do any baking anymore with our ridiculous power rates. Renewable energy firms help us!!

For your viewing pleasure....or...whatever!

Gridiron Gang. I liked it. I finally came to accept that The Rock just can't help but over act.

Crash. Stupid. Before I understood why it was needed, I was totally turned off by all of the racism. We almost stopped watching the movie because of it. We decided to finish out the movie to see if there was a point. I understand, the racism is needed. It is an integral part of the how the movie so artfully expresses its theme of CRAP!! I don't like stupid movies that are stupid!

Samoan Wedding. Cute. But I don't think I'll ever watch it again.

Get ready, cause here I come!

So I guess we're going to be hit with a typhoon tomorrow...or Tuesday.

NOAA says: "A TYPHOON WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GUAM...ROTA..TINIAN AND SAIPAN. A TYPHOON WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TONIGHT OR EARLY MONDAY."

I suppose I better pack my bags tonight. With only two weeks to my due date and a typhoon on the move...who knows, it might be tomorrow.