briefly:

i am seriously ill, pulled a muscle in my belly from coughing and seem to be expelling snot from my right eye. it feels great. the only mitigating factor is that it is sort of interesting in a "huh, would you look at that" kind of a way.

i have taken the day off, only cooking and claning up the dishes. i am leaving the kid's messes and toys right where they are, partly to document the phenomenon that the less tv they watch, the messier the house. this, i think is the real reason parents let kids watch tv (at least it is mine at 5 pm when i have just finished picking up)--to prevent the production of yet another mess.

the ultrasound went well, baby is measuring between 32 and 33 weeks, right where she should be. her estimated weight is almost 5 lb, so she should land right where her siblings were. i am just small because i am running after 2 kids, coughing my belly into some serious muscle tone, and dealing with persistent nausea -- only able to really enjoy fruit, carrots, cucumber, cheerios, roast beef (?), crackers and water.

ava's school came up with a solution--they are going to have a girl from the after school program come in and stay in the classroom with the teacher. this is superb--ava knows her, and she is a super kind, super kid-focused, fun, cheerful and loving person. ava likes her a lot. carter absolutely adores her (she has substituted in his classroom sometimes). when i told ava, the cloud over her lifted measurably.