The Happiest Baby on the Block...

is MINE :)

I don't think there is a happier baby anywhere! This little girl even smiles when she cries (and
it is not often that she is upset enough to make a fuss)! She wakes up happy, goes to bed without a peep, and smiles constantly (ok--she is a terribly unpredictable napper but we just roll with it). I just had to type that I am so blessed to have this sweetest of babies for my fourth daughter.

New Curriculum!

After much thought and prayer we decided to make some changes to our home school. We had been doing "Five in a Row" and initially it was a hit. The girls liked it and it was easy for me to plan lessons. That worked very well while I was pregnant and then while we were adapting to baby number 4. I still love "Five in a Row" but school was becoming a battle--the girls were not interested in hearing the same story five days in a row! I secretly agreed--I found myself almost dreading reading the book for the third or fourth day in a row. So we knew it was time for a change:)

We are now using Tapestry of Grace . Today was our first day :) A good friend uses this curriculum with her family and I fell in love with it a few years ago when she shared it with me. I had planned on beginning it with my children in 2010 when (hopefully) both of the older girls were reading (Hailey reads very well, Reese is progressing well but NOT reading yet). No big deal though--apparently it works just fine with me reading the material to both girls. Anyway, I am extremely excited to be starting this new study and I hope the girls continue to share my enthusiasm!

This week we are learning about ancient Egyptians. The girls enjoyed the first book we read today about life in ancient Egypt. Pretty fascinating stuff! When Hailey found out that they didn't have dishwashers back then she decided that she wouldn't have wanted to live back then :) We have a few activities planned for this week and next--we will begin making a salt map to illustrate different geographical terms; next week we will make a paddle doll (Egyptian version of a baby doll). My girls love hands on learning so my goal is to do one craft/hands on activity a week. I am not a crafty person and honestly, I HATE the mess that goes with these projects but its something I am just going to have to get over :) Plus I have helpers to aid in craft aftermath clean up!

Again, I am very excited about this new addition to our school. I look forward to relearning history alongside my girls!

Goodbye Crooked Finger...

A week ago today Paige had surgery to remove a bony tumor in her finger (technical name: osteochondroma). The surgery went well. She went to sleep happy (she told me this) and woke up happy (I was witness to this). It was a little nerve racking for her parents because the surgery was supposed to take 30 minutes and ended up taking 1 hour and 45 minutes because she's a tiny kid with a tiny crooked finger :) Jason and I know that God is in control and we know that anesthesia is generally safe (this is our fifth experience with a kid being put under). But its still a little tense while you are waiting to hear that everything went ok!

The biggest deal was going to be keeping Paige from removing her bandage. Harhar. Well, we didn't have to worry about that for too long because Paige removed it that very afternoon! I made a frantic call to the surgeon while Paige's incision dripped blood and she remarked at how it didn't hurt (poor kid--the nerve block was still in effect. The pain would come later.). Doctor's orders were to re-bandage it and use the fingers on either side of the affected finger as splints. Oh and to try to keep her from whacking her hand for the next couple of weeks. Hmmm. Real fun considering this is how Paige spends her days:



So we've been trying to stick to quiet games, like dress up.


And playing with rusty clippers.



Oh, this is the finger the evening after surgery. Yuck! It looked much more bruised the following day but I didn't manage to snap a picture.

Storm in the Night

Last we did "Storm in the Night" by Mary Stolz. Nice story and appropriate for our week because we actually had a few storms (and one was at night too!). We did a little lesson on weather, mainly focusing on thunderstorms. We read the thunderstorm book by Magic School Bus and that was a hit. We touched a bit on the five senses--the girls' favorite activity was when we all piled into my closet and turned off the lights and noticed how much better we hear and smell without our sense of sight.

We also talked about fear and our verse for the week was Isaiah 43:5 "Do not be afraid, for I am with you;". Once again, GREAT story for this past week as on a occasion we deal with a little thunderstorm anxiety around here!

A nice side note: the heavy rains we were blessed with gave us the largest amount of rainfall our area has received since July of 2007! Amazing! This drought has been so bad--our lawn was really suffering (not that this is the most important thing but its where the effects of the drought were most felt by our family). Now its all green and overgrown--gorgeous! A lawn in central Texas is really something worth preserving--locals know what I mean! Huge mushrooms sprouted up all over the yard. I have never seen fungi like this in Texas!

Photo session

So we decided to do a little photo shoot in our backyard since we have precious few pictures of all four girls together. Oh man. It was like...well...exactly like trying to get four little kids to all look at the camera at the same time (everyone's eyes open and no goofy faces or panties showing). I think we took over fifty photos. These are some of the best:






Looks like I'm about to flip Jason the bird.

Oh I almost forgot...

Last Friday we went to homeschool day at Pioneer Farms--a local historical site where you can see how the pioneers lived in Texas before the time of air conditioning, running water, electricity, etc. I can say with absolute certainty that I would have turned my wagon back east after spending a summer in Texas under those primitive conditions. I didn't get a lot of pictures because my camera battery died and then I used my iphone and only got a few pictures with that. It was really fun though--the girls loved and we can't wait to go back. Oh--we had rented "Old Yellar" the weekend before and so the girls recognized several things from the movie. They were wondering where the rabid animals were though.

Little girl dressed up in authentic "pioneer garb". The girls thought she lived here :)


Paige next to the "potty". Right after I told the girls this was the outhouse Paige decided to start stripping to try it out!



Big evil longhorn cow. This thing acted nice--was letting the kids pet it and then it started trying to gore people.


Hailey trying out the stilts.





Penny, good little baby that she is, slept a good deal of the tour.

Our first two weeks of school.

I'm so happy to say that our school year got off to a pretty good start! The first book of the year was "How to Make an Apple Pie and see the World" by Marjorie Priceman. What a fun book! We got to "visit" many countries so the first thing we did was to make passports. We got to borrow Jason's and the girls enjoyed examining it.

We ended the week by making an apple pie (of course). The two big girls helped measure the ingredients and assemble the pie. I don't really do a lot of baking and had never made an apple pie before either (if we are going to eat dessert then the girls and I prefer chocolate and Jason is not a huge fan of pies). It turned out to be so good I think we'll make one from time to time!




























The second week we did "Clown of God" by Tomie dePaola. Good story but kind of heavy--it dealt with a lot of social issues (orphans, mean people, homelessness, etc). We spent time talking about why some people feel like they have to be mean and how much it hurts others when they aren't treated with respect. We also made a list of things we are thankful for. We learned how to say "thank you" and "good bye" in Italian. And we watched a few videos of jugglers on youtube (we found a video of a teenager who could juggle knives while riding on a unicycle!!). The girls tried to juggle--each tried it exactly once before they decided that juggling was a lot more difficult than it looked :)

Our routine seems to be working pretty well. I decided that doing school five days a week is a little much at this time--especially for the new kindergartner. She loves her special portion of school ( phonics) but I noticed she was getting a little burnt out when we did three days in a row. In the future I plan on doing different lessons (besides Sing, Spell, Read, and Write and possibly Five in a Row) on Wednesdays and possibly Fridays. Hopefully this will keep things from getting monotonous. That is the last thing I want--for anyone to dread school. We've got several projects that I'd like to do this fall--raising butterflies/moths for example.

Oh this week we are OFF. Monday was lost to a holiday and Wednesday Paige had an afternoon of pre op stuff for her finger surgery next week. This morning we had to be down at Childrens Hospital for for Reese's check up with her gastro doctor. Plus the baby has had a bit of a cold and has been a bit cranky and needing more Mom time :) But next week we'll be ready to get back into the swing of things!

New Year

This summer is coming to a close. We are back into our school routine next Monday, August 24th. The girls and I are very excited! This third year of homeschooling will be unlike any other that we've had before. For starters, Ms. Reese is ready to begin kindergarten so I will be teaching two! I'm going to use "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write" with her like I did with Hailey. I am hoping it will work for her as well as it did for Hailey. Another new thing, well, is our new family member! Paige was 14 months old when Hailey officially began kindergarten. Penny will be almost three months old so this is the first time we've homeschooled with a little baby in the household. I probably shouldn't be as worried about Penny as I am about Paige. Our resident three year old is "challenging"--you know, the nice way to describe a child that absolutely drives you crazy and wears you out!

Anyway, I'm still mentally tweaking our routine--and will most likely continue to do so until things "work"--but so far I've come up with a daily schedule which looks like this:

7:30: Mom up, everyone eating breakfast, Mom checking e-mail, starting on her chores while the girls watch a bit of morning PBS
8:30: TV off, girls begin their morning chores, Mom spends time with Paige helping her do her chores and reading a story or two to her.
9:30: we gather together for our morning devotional
9:45ish: we have a snack as we read our "Five in a Row" book and then do the associated activities until lunchtime
12:00 Lunch
12:30ish clean up from lunch
12:45: reading time--Hailey reads to us (later Reese will join in), Mom reads from a chapter book
After reading we will take a break and clean up if needed (or just have some "playtime) until...
2:30: get the little girls down for their naps
3:00: work with Hailey and Reese individually
4:30-5: start dinner prep (I'm planning on having each of the older 3 girls taking turns helping me with dinner each night)
6-6:30 (whenever Jason gets home): dinner time
Kids play until 7:30 when we clean up for the evening and do baths
8:30-9: hopefully all the little people are in bed by this time!

Now I am not the most experienced homeschooler but I know that these times are not exact at all--when you are working with little ones things do come up (4 kids+1 mom= plenty of opportunity for character training haha)! Plus I never want to be so tied to a schedule that we don't have time to watch a baby bird hopping on the lawn or read an extra chapter of a book that we are all enjoying. And we certainly want to enjoy our own little baby and all the of growing she's going to be doing :)

Wanderlust

I am suffering from a seriously strong urge to travel. Not sure if its the hot weather keeping us indoors for most of the day, that I'm feeling incredible now that I'm not pregnant, or that I have not left the Austin area in over eight months (that I can think of...) but I have the urge to get the heck out of town! (Oh and everyone I know keeps going on vacation!) I've taken to perusing websites for cruises, vacation rentals, America's best beaches, and Expedia.com (great deals on last minute trips!!). But so far the furthest I've been able to go has been downtown to the Children's Museum.

Jason says I am this way after I have a baby. I wouldn't be surprised. Even at best, I feel only half way decent while pregnant. It doesn't hit me how difficult it has been until after I give birth and suddenly feel terrific!! I just want to go, go, go right now! Cram Penny in a sling and hit the trails or the beach!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our "trip" downtown. It was fun--the staff from a local vet clinic were there with some creepy crawlies (tarantulas, bearded dragon, turtle, and a python) so that made our visit even more fun! The girls had a blast even though the place was PACKED OUT!!




Future veterinarian?



Experimenting with pulleys, parachutes, and cows.


Penny slept the entire time!


Paige sawing cardboard.


Hailey "milking" a cow.

Shame...

on this BAD DOG!! Isn't this the face of someone ashamed of their actions? Ha! Don't believe it for a minute! She may look like she regrets the latest mess she caused but she would jump at the chance to do it again anytime, any place!

Trash-eating/counter-surfing/litter box digging dog that she is, I love her to pieces. And she's getting older by the day--well we all are of course but Summer is well into her golden years. We think she's about twelve (I got her from the animal shelter where her previous owners had listed her as four years old). She's in pretty good health for an old gal. Doesn't jump our eight foot privacy fence anymore and no longer drags you while on a walk (the girls can even walk her now), but she's still capable of reaching any food you leave on the counter or table (in the blink of an eye your sandwich is gone and a certain yellow dog is no where to be seen...).

This week we are going to be "babysitting" my sister's yellow lab, Punch. I say "babysitting" b/c this dog is my sister's baby. He is the youngest of her brood that includes 4 teenage/young adult children. He is about the same age as Summer but for whatever reason he is far more decrepit than she is. I don't know why it happens that way--why two people or animals of the same age can differ so drastically in their health. Punch has lived a considerably easier life than Summer. For one thing he's been an only dog for years--Summer walked among four yappy little dachshunds for years (and is still daily nipped by the sole surviving dachshund). Punch also has been an indoor dog for years while we kicked Summer outdoors for most of her days when we started getting overwhelmed by babies combined with an opportunistic Lab with a taste for kitty krunchies.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to having Punch here. He's a great dog (and not unlike a hairy loveseat--he seldom moves these days). He has, and always has had to my knowledge, the energy level of Eyeore the donkey and that helps make him a wonderful pet. I don't know if he's ever done anything really bad--though he does prefer my sister's uptight neighbor's lawn to do his business but he's probably just being considerate and thinks he is saving one of his family members the trouble of getting out the scooper. I hope he has a good time here despite the frequently rowdy atmosphere of our house. One thing he won't have to worry about is Summer stealing his food--she learned long ago that the only sure way to get Punch to drag himself to his feet and turn into an 130lb grizzly bear is to threaten his food supply. :)

The Simple Woman's Notebook

The view from where I sit ... a box of toys at my feet, double stroller parked, ceiling fan in a box waiting to be installed.

Outside My Window...pitch black but still 95 degrees at midnight.

I am thinking...of school plans, what we are going to do tomorrow, what's for dinner tomorrow, saw "My Sister's Keeper" tonight and reflecting on it

I am thankful for...my four healthy children and husband (also healthy), God's provision and faithfulness

We are learning...to watch our tongue, be kind to each other.

From the kitchen... need to go grocery shopping--this time just with the baby. Its a little overwhelming to take everyone on major shopping right now. Need to get a list going.

I am wearing... jeans (maternity b/c I love them so much!), brown shirt

I am creating... dust? I don't know what I am creating right now.

I am going... to regret staying up this late.

I am reading... A Walk to Remember (again), different blogs by homeschoolers.

I am hoping... that tomorrow my girls will be kind to each other. Way too much fighting and bickering going on. It hasn't been very peaceful in our house this week. Not sure why--bored kids from being cooped up for so long? The heat?

I am hearing... the a/c which runs continuously.

Around the house... we are going to be cleaning up for the lady who cleans on Friday.

One of my favorite things... the beach is heavy on my mind. Wish that we lived close to one.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: hang letters in Paige's room, order some school stuff, mail a few things, wash the dog.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Humiliating Moments in Parenthood Part One

• The latest entry: Recently Paige has begun proclaiming random strangers "Bad Guys" when we are shopping. Today in HEB she loudly said "Bad Guy! That's a bad guy Mom!" and franctically pointed to a woman who happened to be black.
  
• Possibly worse (?): Hailey had a front row seat when Paige (baby #3) was born at home three years ago. The experience must have made quite an impression on her because Paige's birth became her version of an ice breaker. If a stranger admired our new baby Hailey would pipe up and start talking about how she saw her little sister being born. The most horrifying incident involving Hailey's version of Paige's birth story occurred when we were in a long line at HEB (apparently the grocery store is the mother's stage for humiliation). A man in his 60's complimented a very smiley baby Paige and Hailey said (loudly of course) "That's Paige. She came out of Mommy's private. She was all bloody and was crying. And Mommy was saying "Ohhhhhh owwwwwww OWWWWWW!" The man was like "Oh. Well."
  
• Worst (?): on an airplane I was nursing nine month old Reese. The Irish version of Hugh Grant who had chatted me up for the two hours while our plane had been delayed was coming down the aisle. I was sitting on the aisle seat. He smiled at me and I returned the smile and lifted my hand to wave. At the exact moment Reese flung back the blanket that was covering her and my exposed breast. There is absolutely NO WAY that Irish Hugh Grant did not see my working breast. On the way back from the toilet he stopped to talk to me and I was so horrified I could barely make eye contact with him. Talk about a grounding experience :)
  
• Absolute worst (?): When Hailey (age 4) and Reese (age 2) escaped from our house in the predawn hours of a weekday morning and were returned by the Leander police. Jason had to retrieve them from the back of the police car (ew). I had to convince the police that I was not an abused wife or drug addict (the girls had said I needed "help" and I was groggy b/c I had taken Nyquil for the first and last time in my life the night before b/c I had a really bad cold).
  

Three weeks old today...

Look--someone had their first bath (last week). Paige kindly removed Penny's umbilical stump while she was helping me change a diaper. Thankfully the thing was hanging by a thread. :)


Time is flying by a little too quickly. I guess that's to be expected but I still don't like it. I wish Penny (and the other girls for that matter) would stay as they are for a little bit longer. It is nice to be easing into our new "normal" but those early days of having a newborn are so precious.

Penny is doing great. We've had some nursing issues but after a visit to the lactation consultant I feel confident that things will become more comfortable for me soon. Apparently Penny has a tight jaw (who knows why) and as she gets bigger she will open her mouth more. Things have certainly improved and I can feed her for 10-15 mins straight before it gets uncomfortable. She's gaining plenty of weight and taking in more than enough milk during each feeding so that makes this momma feel loads better.

My Mom is here this week so yay for all of us! I think we are going to send her home worn out though. Watching her run around after the three older girls makes me very glad I had my kids young, haha!

Introducing Penelope Jane :)

Penelope made her grand entrance on Saturday, May 30th at 9:28 p.m. 7lbs, 8 oz, 19 inches long--our biggest baby by half a pound!

Birth Story:

My water broke 1:30 a.m. Thursday. For whatever reason labor would start up, then stop. I'm Group B Strep positive so the fact that my water was broken before the onset of labor was a concern. Our midwife was comfortable with us staying at home waiting on labor as long as we were comfortable and I didn't run a fever and Baby seemed ok (I monitored the baby with a Doppler every hour and kept track of her movements and made sure my amniotic fluid stayed clear).

Saturday morning my contractions picked up and were very strong. We were all sure this was it! From 3:30 a.m. until 9:15 a.m. I had a pretty decent labor pattern going and then it just...stopped. I called our midwife and she headed over to our house (she had already been over multiple times to check on us, gave me herbs to help labor get rolling, administered an antibiotic injection to protect Baby, offer moral support and make sure we were comfortable with our decision to stay at home).

Our midwife and her assistant arrived and we decided to do our first internal exam to see what was happening--a last ditch effort to stimulate labor and to see if perhaps I was dilated to a 7 or 8 and could be stretched). I was dilated to 3-4 cm--kind of disappointing since I had been laboring on/off for what seemed like forever. We did discover that my cervix was posterior so she pulled it forward and did a "rough" internal exam (no big deal) to try to stimulate contractions. I spent 4o mins on the breast pump and got one kind of lame contraction (the day before I had spent about an hour on the pump and had gotten several good contractions). Our midwife listened to Baby during the contraction and heard a small heart deceleration and recommended that we transfer. Of course we had no argument and we packed our stuff, made arrangements for the girls and then headed off to the hospital.

On the way there labor started up in a big way. By the time I was checked at the hospital I was 6-7 cm dilated and having SUPER strong contractions. After a lot of consideration I decided to get an epidural for several reasons: I had this horrible pain on one side of my butt that would not go away in between contractions, I could not stand all these strangers coming in and out of my room, I had none of the comfort measures that I had counted on using--I had figured I would be having a c-section since I had already had one with Reese, and I learned that my doctor would only allow pushing while lying on my back--and I have never been able to handle contractions while lying down! Plus there was this underlying feeling of hostility from the doctor and some of the staff and that was making concentrating on my labor nearly impossible.

I got the epidural at 8 cm and then relaxed and joked with the people I had asked to attend our birth. My two oldest girls were there and they were very loving towards their old mom :) There were a few run ins with what I call "dumb hospital protocol"--nurse didn't want our kids there, doctor only wanted two people in the room, doctor wasn't too keen when I requested no episiotomy, etc--but overall the staff (somewhat reluctantly) respected our wishes. I protested and our group was "allowed" to stay and I got a nasty tear instead of an episiotomy (no help from the doc there). The birth itself was extremely easy--I pushed Baby out within two contractions and we were all shrieking "IT'S A GIRL!" in no time :)

While certainly not the birth that we planned I can say it was a good experience. I managed to avoid a c-section. The absolute only intervention I received was an epidural--I was very happy to have avoided pitocin (not that I'm sure I could have had any considering I had had a previous c-section). I feel like my baby had a gentle labor and while I don't think the doctor handled her very gently she was in my arms quickly and stayed there. As well as everything went, this experience reaffirmed our love and support of home birth. Once you've had a baby at home, it is very difficult to "go back" to a hospital environment. Not that the hospital is bad--we thank God that it's there! But the two experiences are almost night and day. If we ever are blessed to be pregnant again (overwhelming thought that it is at this moment), we would definitely aim for welcoming our baby at home again!

Some of my favorite pictures from labor:

Checking Baby's heartbeat.


Contracting after pumping (all that colostrum wasted...such a shame).


I like Jason's pose here. I would have stayed on the potty forever if the seat were softer. I was being extremely whiny and felt very sorry for myself in this picture. Huuuuuurt!



It wasn't exactly planned but two of my teenage nieces ended being there for Penny's birth. My sister swears they weren't traumatized by the experience (Grace looks a little pale though...). As you can see, my two older girls thought it was a pretty rockin' event :)


Ahhh-the fruit of my labor. There aren't many moments in life better than this one!!!

Ping Week in pictures...

Buoyancy The girls collected different household items and we made guesses on what would float and what would sink. They LOVED this!





Field trip to the duck pond.
We've been there plenty of times before but we had just learned a few more facts about ducks that morning so it made for even more interesting observation of our floating feathered friends. I was really happy that I was able to catch a duck (I kind of pounced on it...extremely ungraceful like). The girls got to inspect the duck's webbed feet, special duck teeth, and see the waterproofed feathers. We got to talk about how God perfectly designed the duck for it's habitat. Pretty fun little lesson!

Paige was NOT cool with the duck snatching the entire piece of bread out of her hand.


She really did not expect the ducks to be so grabby!


She got the hang of it though and learned to use her foot to keep the ducks back. Smart girl!




They all enjoyed petting these extremely tame ducks!! We did not see any ducklings and that was a little disappointing (and surprising given this time of year) but maybe we'll have the chance to check out the other duckpond I know of.

Quack

This week we are going to be doing "The Story about Ping". The girls and I are so excited! We read "Ping" sometime over this past year and the girls loved it. It was one of my childhood favorites as well. My girls (and I) are always especially interested in studying about animals so this should be a fun week.

Some of the things we will be doing are going to the duck pond (where I will try to catch a duck so we can study it (I'm really good at catching ducks--one of my talents-- but I'm also EXTREMELY pregnant!), learning about ducks in general, a bouyancy experiment, "traveling" to China (with a few stories on missionaries in China, some geography, and we'll have egg drop soup with lunch one day), and a lesson or two on discernment. Hopefully I can get myself to get pictures on here from our week!

We are all ready for baby so it will be nice to be able to have a "normal" week--possibly our last week as a family of five. I'll be planning our lessons for the following week too because the last thing I want to do is spend time waiting on baby and obsessively thinking about his/her impending arrival. :)

Tick, tock.

The countdown is definitely on! According to my snappy little Lilypie baby ticker we have fifteen days until Baby G #4 is due. Obviously the baby is unmoved by something so silly as a date on the calendar but it's nice to know that at this point the end (or beginning) is definitely in sight!

Today was our home visit with our midwife. I'm feeling really productive b/c we did big grocery shopping this morning, came home, ate lunch, and then had our visit. Two big things in one day--at this point that's pretty good! :) The visit went great. Baby is doing well and is in a good position. I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. Having some nausea issues as well as NASTY heartburn but I'm far from miserable. I am thinking this little peanut is going to hang on for at least another two weeks and that's fine with me. I've got plenty to do to keep busy :)

A Pair of Red Clogs

Last week we used the book "A Pair of Red Clogs" for our schooling. It was a really fun book to read. We enjoyed studying a little bit of Japanese culture. One day we made origami animals. Another day we found Japan on the map and learned a little bit about islands. Hailey was impressed by the Japanese alphabet and said she was very happy that she didn't live in Japan.

All week long I meant to get a hold of some chopsticks for us to practice eating with but due to getting sick (twice), I didn't get around to that until Sunday evening. It was kind of cool though--we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and the sushi bar was selling sushi packs "buy one get one free" Normally I would take that as a warning to steer clear but I trust the sushi at HEB so this worked out great for us! We got a California Roll sampler and a pack of Summer Rolls. And they had wooden chopsticks! The girls were so excited and the LOVED dinner! They've had California Rolls before but not in awhile (that's one food I don't like to share). The younger two often need urging to eat raw green veggies but they didn't seem to mind that the summer rolls were packed with a good deal of lettuce.

We used the chopsticks the next day at lunch. We watched an instructional video (thanks youtube) and then the girls practiced with the sticks. Reese and Paige were more frustrated than anything but Hailey was very funny--she ate her veggie crisps with her chopsticks! And I cooked a bowl of rice and let them work on that with their chopsticks. It was a pretty fun way to end our study of "A Pair of Red Clogs"

Comparison

Reese picked up my bra, which was hanging to dry on the towel rack in our room, and asked "Is this for your boobs?" I snorted and said "Yes. Put it back." She then exclaimed "It looks like Wall-e's eyes!!"

On another note about Reese: I'm reasonably sure that her acid reflux has returned. Over the past month she has spontaneously thrown up several times--usually after running around. Sigh. I guess it's back to the Previcid for her. Not a huge deal but I absolutely HATE my kids being on any medication for long periods of time. She did eat a brownie tonight and chocolate can be a trigger for reflux so maybe we can try to avoid potential problem foods? Sigh again. Her reflux was severe when she was a toddler that it worries me not to aggressively treat it though. Don't want her to stop eating again and start wasting away...

Why is it that...

the times that my children need the most correction consistently coincides with the times that I feel the LEAST like being on their cases???? Or when I sit down to just enjoy them for the people they are, that is the time when I can count on someone to throw a tantrum? WHY???

Today was my 30 week check up. I can't believe that we are doing prenatals every two weeks now! This pregnancy has already flown by--I'm sure the next ten weeks or so will be no exception--especially since we have done just about ZERO to prep for his/her arrival!

My visit was good. Baby is measuring 29 weeks (my babies always measure a little small) with a nice healthy sounding heartbeat (147 bpm). All my vitals are fine. I've gained two pounds in the last two weeks which is great because I've had a hard time putting weight on. This brings my total weight gain to either 10 or 11 pounds. Hopefully I can keep gaining a pound a week until the baby is born. I really expected to go in and have gained more weight because I've been trying to eat more lately! But I don't have much room so I'm not eating as much--thanks to my good old short torso!

The only down part of the visit was that my midwife is sick! Not contagious-sick but she's got something going on that is making her feel terrible all the time. Gallbladder sypmtoms but all the tests have come back showing a healthy gallbladder--she does not look well though. She's lost weight and is surviving on soup and a few other thigns. Not good. My heart really goes out to her. She is a busy mom and midwife and does NOT have time to be sick! Being a midwife can be such a physically demanding job and I imagine that it's been quite awful for her to keep carrying on with her duties. Selfishly of course, I hope that she is better in time for our birth. You certainly want the person attending your birth to be in as tip-top condition as possible!

I'm cooking up a ham for dinner which excites me way more than it should. Not exactly a healthy food but it should make for easy dinners for the next few nights!

Rain!

FINALLY we got some rain! Yay! We ended up with almost 3 inches in the past two days--the most we have had since July 2007! Everything looks greener today and most of the trees are getting their foliage back. It certainly is looking more like spring around here. Jason's not exactly excited about this as it means that the lawn will awaken for the year and he'll be out there mowing it before too long :)

Our lessons have been a bit relaxed since a lovely kidney infection landed me in the hospital for a 48 stay three weeks ago. We've read "Mr. Popper's Penguins" and Hailey has worked on her penmanship. Hailey's reading has really taken off this year and I would venture to say the kid reads about an hour and a half a day. Her favorite time to curl up with a book is at bedtime-just like her momma! I'm so happy that she loves to read (I can not understand why anyone would NOT like to read! I read for an hour or more most evenings after everyone else is asleep and it has been a lifelong discipline problem of mine to put down a book and go to bed at a decent time).

Jason's got a good deal of band shows coming up for the remainder of March and most of April. I believe that he has a few lined up for the first part of May as well. Of course we all miss him when he is gone but we stay busy around here. I keep the girls on their regular routine but also enjoy getting to spend a little extra "girl time" with them on the evenings that Jason is gone. And after everyone is tucked into bed I tidy the place up and sink into an evening spent doing whatever I want to do :)

Speaking of...it's bedtime (GLORIOUS BEDTIME!!) for the little people. And then some delicious quiet time for this momma!

If it weren't for the fact that every single person in this family wants a piece of me (for their own various reasons) I would probably be ostracized for life at this point.

Tomorrow marks the great push of the campaign to save our clothes, linens, shoe laces, and remaining blinds. The notice is printed. It's sitting on top of my car keys lest I forget it in the mad rush to leave tomorrow morning. It's carefully worded and the pictures were calculated selections.

"MR. BILL NEEDS A NEW HOME!" is the title of the notice. It's going up on the announcement board at the vet clinic I've worked at for years.

Yes, after hundreds (a thousand?) of dollars worth of damage I have finally convinced Jason that the cat needs to go. True, Mr. Bill might be the coolest cat that we have ever (or will ever) own. But his dirty little habit is not compatible with rearing a houseful of children (what two year old can remember to close a bedroom door EVERY single time she goes thru it?). That cat has driven me to tears on more than one occasion because he has beaten me in the battle to protect my family's cotton possessions. Well, he may have won many battles but he will NOT win the war, my friends!

I have a dream that one day I will be able to hang a bra to dry in my laundry room and not have it rendered strapless.

I have a dream that one day I will be able to do buy curtains and be confident that they will not be chewed up and regurgitated onto the carpet or couch.

I have a dream that my four little children will be able to have shoelaces that are longer than the gnawed length of about 5 inches.

I have a dream.

(much apologies to Dr. King)

Shining Moments of Parenthood

Today, Hailey had a bit of trouble with "The Attitude" as she refers to it. She got a couple of spankings and was deprived of computer time because of her little blaze of rebellion.

While I was putting the girls to bed she asked me something and I told her "we will talk about it tomorrow " and she put this frowning, pouty face on (which I privately refer to as "The Brat Look") and put her hands on her hips. Very unacceptable behavior of course.

The inner Brat rose up in me. I copied her expression and her stance. Her eyes widened in horror and she started to cry. "Why are you copying me?!"

I swear I couldn't help my answer: "Just to show you how dumb you look!"

My Precious Hailey...

turns seven years old today and I can hardly believe it! My wonderful big girl who filled me up with love during her first year, challenged me beyond belief during her toddler years, and has amazed me with her creativity and kindness during her kid years is growing up way TOO FAST! She has been the child that has taught me to refrain from judging other parents too harshly ("MY child would never do that!"). The one who made me caused me to fall in love with nature all over again (bugs are FASCINATING!). She is the person who most dramatically motivated me to mature and slowly shed my selfishness. I am a much better person today than I was seven years ago because of her.

I see so much of both her Dad and I in her. She looks just like him, loves to test boundaries, doesn't need to follow the crowd, and is particular about her belongings (where they go, who touches them, etc). She is a bookworm, a night owl, and hates to be wrong--traits she most certainly gets from me. She can be the sweetest of children--her compassion occasionally amazes me--and then then she can display some of the most rigid, anal retentive behavior imaginable (just knock over her carefully arranged display of My Little Pony and see the total collapse of her self-control). Her independence is sometimes difficult for me to understand and to respect because I was the total opposite as a child (I was shy and so far none of my children have a shy bone in their bodies!).

Hailey has big plans for this year. Today we are taking her to get her ears pierced. She's been wanting this since last summer (we said she had to wait until she was seven) and no matter how many times I have asked her if she still wants to do it, her resolve has never changed. She has informed us that now that she is turning seven, "The Attitude" (as she refers to her ongoing struggle with being disrespectful--she's improving constantly though) is going to go away. She is very excited about her role as big sister to three younger siblings. She talks about the new baby almost every day and loves to feel my belly. She can't wait for the birth and I am excited for her to be able to watch yet another sibling be born. This will be a good year for her--for all of us.

I'm wrapping this up so I can sneak upstairs and take a look at my brand new seven year old--that is if I can even see her because she often sleeps completely underneath the covers!

Happy Birthday My Hailey! :)

Today...

• I have doled out no less than 9 spankings between all three kids (someone got 5).
• Paige has fallen off 2 chairs and one dresser.
• After administering a spanking I was told that I was being unfair because I had not specifically said that disobeying would result in a visit with the spanking spoon.
• I was described as "unfair" on four different occasions. And a "You are too busy to play with me" was thrown in there to make sure I got the point that I'm "World's Lamest Mom"
  
• Two cups of orange juice were spilled on the formerly clean kitchen floor (one spill was an accident, one was an experiment).
• I've made one tearful call to my busy husband (shameful).
• It took the girls an hour and a half to put up their laundry.
• The oldest child spent an hour and a half sitting on a stool until she could speak without whining.
• The cat barfed on the floor. Of course I stepped in it.
• I discovered several spots of blue play-doh ground into the carpet.
  
• Paige took off her diaper and I still can't find it.
• The dog, who was crated in the garage and had been let out already, barked continuously for two hours this morning for no apparent reason other than to join in the quest to drive me insane.
• Someone got a hold my car keys and the car alarm went off for twenty minutes before I realized that I was the inconsiderate person whose car was disturbing the neighborhood.
  

It's been a trying day no doubt. I was talking to my younger sister who is also in on the good fight with her own kids and she was having a low day too (this is not allowed--usually one person gets to be overwhelmed per phone call). She said "It just hit me: I will still be doing this next week. And the week after that! And the week after THAT!"
And then it was my turn for revelation. My attitude changed on a dime and I replied to her "God willing!" :)