Journal #21

Out My Window:

Cloudy and overcast with 50% chance of rain.  Hopefully we actually get some moisture as we could sure use it!

Clothing Myself In:

Navy shorts, Camp Hansen T-shirt (magenta colored, with a raccoon on it - definitely got some "style" today), support hose, and tennis shoes.

Around the House:

Thank God for nesting.  I am cleaning out closets, rearranging rooms, getting rid of JUNK.  And it feels great.  Unfortunately I probably need to be pregnant for about three years straight to finally get the whole house in order.  Our house is not that large, but we sure do have a lot of places for stuff to just accumulate.

The Baby:

Miriam has taken to trying to dress herself in the morning with "the big kids" (which often happens before Mom gets up - pregnant Momma needs her rest).  This morning I found her naked in the hallway, trying to figure out how to put on a skirt with attached shorts.  She was having issues with both legs in one hole.  Of all my children, so far only Miriam has been the most amicable when it comes to changing her diaper and putting on her clothes.  It is almost as if she says, "please help me do this," with her actions.  And while considering words, Miriam is getting more all the time and will repeat almost anything, as best she is able.  Unfortunately her temper is growing as she gets frustrated not being able to do things as she wants, but once we figure out the problem she generally calms down pretty quickly.

The Big Kids

Samuel is definitely the "favored older brother" that EVERYONE wants to be exactly like.  For example, at breakfast we usually have a choice of two cereals and milk or no milk.  Both Paul and Jacob will ask for EXACTLY what Samuel picks - cereal and milk choice.  And this is a recent thing, as up until a month or two ago, they would each make "their own choices" which rarely matched Samuel.  Fortunately Samuel does not seem to mind being "so important" and he is not really "getting a big head" over it, either.  The only problem really comes when Samuel wants to play with Jacob and they don't want to play with Paul.  Poor Paul feels all left-out and alone.  Now, Miriam LOVES Paul and will shadow him at almost anything.  (Much to their mother's demise, as those two can cause A LOT of mischief!!)  But this is often not good enough when Paul wants to play with "the big kids."  Ahh, the drama of these kids.  Generally, though, they play fairly well together and often are extra careful to include Miriam, too, so I have few complaints.

I must add that Paul's latest catch-all phrase is, "oh well, life is just not fair," which he says quite frequently.  Now, if he only understood and actually believed it. . . 

Crafting:

I'm about 3/4 done with my "baby sack" (my knitted bag-thing that will supposedly work as a swaddle for baby, assuming I made it the "right size" - of which I really have no idea and have no real way to judge until the baby comes out and I try to put her in it).  I should easily be able to finish it and that makes me happy.  It has been a joy to knit.

Reading:

I'm still working through Hypnobirthing and while I am finding it helpful and affirming, I do not have an delusions about labor and birth being any easier this time around.  However, having survived it five times I imagine I can do it again.

I'm also thinking of picking up Father Elijah again because I need something that will hold my interest but "has a good ending" (especially for reading at night - my prego hormonal self just cannot handle the high-drama of the action-packed novels and such).  I have read this before, but it has been a couple years so I have forgotten most of it and I do recall enjoying it immensely, so I am hopeful it is what I need right now.

Bringing Me Joy:

*Naps. . . am I allowed to say that?  Well, they do bring me much joy!!  And I am so thankful for children who understand that Mom will be much happier (and friendly) if they play quietly (and don't make huge messes) while Mom naps.

*Chocolate cake. . . seriously, I made my first chocolate cake from scratch the other day and it is VERY VERY good.  (Of course, it was very very not-healthy and included lots of processed "junk" but I was going for yummy, not healthy :)

*Music.  My mp3 player bit the dust.  After about 8 years of service I'm not exactly crying in my soup over it.  Fortunately I was able to pick up a used ipod quite cheaply and it has been treating me well (once I learned how to play nicely with itunes).  Some of my favorite things to listen to lately are Overcomer by Mandisa because it is just so peppy - great for running or cleaning.  Her song Joy Unspeakable is probably my favorite right now.  I am also getting into having some classical music in the background and am enjoying The 99 Most Essential Haydn Masterpieces.

Bible Verse:

This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.  (John 15:12)

Pictures to Share:

Here are "the best pictures" I could get of Rebekah in her "dance mode."  I am a fairly pathetic photographer, but I still think she made a beautiful dancer.

Belly face-off.  I'm about half way through week 36 here.

Happy Birth Month Paul and Miriam!!

Paul and Miriam share a birth day, exactly two years apart.  And let me tell you that for some reason this makes me very happy.  It was not exactly planned, although I could have prevented it by maybe a day if I really tried.  Paul was induced right on his due date, I believe.  Miriam was induced a few days after hers and although I got to choose the day, it really came down to this day or the next.  At the time I was unsure, but ready for Miriam to be OUT!  Now I enjoy having them share a birthday.  As of now they do not seem to mind, but I wonder if that sentiment will be altered as they grow. . . oh well, it cannot be changed now!  So, on to the fun facts!


Paul

*LOVES TO TALK - His latest habit is to ask anyone whom he comes into contact with their name.  (Even if he "should" know their name - for example my cousin was over and he has seen her MANY times, but he still asked her name.  But he often asks "strangers" - like the mailman or the neighbor he does not know so well, their names, too.)  He will then proceed to call that person by name and tell them anything and everything that comes to mind.

*Paul's favorite color is red. . . no blue. . . no orange.  (Ok, so apparently he does not really have a favorite color, I honestly got this answer when I asked the other day.)

*His favorite food is pizza . . . well, assuming you are not counting things like ice cream, cookies, and cake.

*Paul still enjoys talking about himself in third person.  (Which is common and totally normal for his age, in case you were curious.)

I made this up to brag about him on facebook and figured I would share it here, too.

Miriam

*LOVES kitties. . . and also enjoys dogs, bunnies, and other soft friendly mammals.

*Enjoys her books.  She loves to point at pictures in them or even listen to short stories.  She is a big literature fan.

*Gives the best kisses of any of our children thus far.  I think maybe this is because I have probably kissed her more than any of our kids so far.  (That is what happens when you finally have another girl after three boys :)

*Gives better hugs - and hugs more people than any of the other kids thus far.  She is just a very affectionate child.

*Her favorite meal is a toss up between meatballs and lasagna.

*Random cute story:  A few days ago, Miriam noticed she had some bruises on her legs and she pointed at them to show me and I told her "owie" for each one and then I pointed at her knee and said "and here is your knee."  The same thing for her arms, she had some little bruises and I told her "owie, owie," and then we got to her "elbow."  So the other day, she fell down and hurt her face.  She comes running to me pointing at her chin, saying in a most distraught voice, "knee, KNEE!!"  When she meant to say "owie."  Another time she said "elbow" instead.  Fail parenting here I guess.

Happy Birthday to two of my greatest blessings.  With your endless energy and creative spirits, you two make my life so full of excitement and adventure.  May God blow on the flames of your enthusiasm to set your hearts on fire for Him, more each day.

I love you, Paul and Miriam!!  

7 Quick Takes. . . almost summer

1) We finally got our garden planted.  I would not say I am a great gardener, but some of my little plants are starting to come up, so I am a little hopeful.  Gordie planted the bulk of the "big garden" and it looks really good.  He got it finished right before our rain yesterday - awesome timing :)

2) I made up the kids' summer school schedule.  Now, before you go all "wow, what a mean mom" on me, I should add that they ASKED for it.  They are super pumped to do Chemistry so I told them they could start as soon as they got all their current school work done and their end-of-the-year-tests. (I have them take a standardized test that is sent in - just so I have some tangible proof that they are not falling way behind.)

We are doing Science, Latin (because we never seem to have time for foreign language during our "regular year"), Spelling (because I skipped it for most of the year), and a few other things to "keep sharp" or "finish up" (such as the "Catholicism" on Samuel's list - that was totally my fault to fall behind as I lost the book for about a month - LOL).

On the same note, I planned out our next few weeks of what we need to get done.  This week we are preparing for our end-of-the-year homeschool presentation.  Next week we have Rebekah's dance recital and all that goes with that.  Then test-week and hello summer school :)

3) Miriam is going on day three of sleeping in a toddler bed in the room with the boys.  It takes her a bit to settle at bedtime, but she does well once she finally falls asleep.  Unfortunately it often takes a trip to her old crib (still set up in Rebekah's room for naps and then eventually for new baby) as "punishment" for a few minutes to get her to realize that sleeping in this new bed is a PRIVILEGE and she needs to follow the "rules" (aka stay in bed and no talking).

4) I am reading Hypnobirthing right now and am finding it EXCEEDINGLY helpful.  Why it has taken me five births to find this book is beyond me, but I am overjoyed to have it now.  There are no classes or anything offered specifically on this method here and the products are pretty pricey, so just reading the book may be as far as I get "officially."  However, I am feeling quite affirmed just reading it as it makes a lot of sense.  And as I reflected back over my past labors, it was interesting to see how I responded to everything - what my "natural instincts" appear to be.  But overall, I would say in the past I have carried A LOT of fear into labor and that is really counterproductive (as is one of the main points of this book) and really not fun, either.  In any case, I'm getting a great sense of peace about this upcoming labor and have some great new "tools and ideas" to try and employ this time.  It also helps to know basically how things happen and what I want to happen and what will probably happen.  In short I'm really feeling like "I got this."

5) Nesting has finally urged me to get our carseats figured out for the new baby.  And it helps that our neighbor kindly donated an extra seat to our cause.  A couple of our seats are expiring soon, so I took those out of the mix and threw in a another booster.  Then I washed all our covers and stuck them all back together.  I am waiting to install the new baby's seat until we get the replacement buckle from Graco (as it was recalled), but I JUST ordered it, so we shall see if it arrives soon enough.

6) I started ANOTHER knitting project.  I really enjoy knitting (even though it frustrates me when I mess up and am unable to fix it) and feel compelled to do so, especially in the last few weeks of pregnancy.  It is very soothing for me.  Anyhow, I found some nice chunky yarn (good for me as I am a real tight-knitter) tucked away in the basement (while looking for something else, of course) and I'm going to try and make a "baby swaddle sock" (basically like a stocking cap - but you stick the baby in it -very handy).

I should add, that I'm only about three rows in and already dropped a stitch, BUT I looked up how to fix it on youtube and managed to pick it back up!  Go me! :)

7) The kids threw a "surprise party" for me today.  It was real sweet.

Here is the table, all set with food.

Samuel and Jacob both hid under the bed and popped out.  Miriam laid down here by them after for a picture.

Rebekah and Paul were hiding in the corner.

Rebekah even came up with a craft - snowflakes!