Baby Bee's Birthday

We had everyone over for brunch and served breakfast tacos.

 

The farm theme came about because she LOVES LOVES LOVES Baby Einstein's Baby Mac Donald movie.

We built her a barn to play in. It's not like it needed to be big since all her cousins are way too big to care about playing in it with her. Poor baby. Her growing up years are going to be very different from her sisters'.

She had a great time though.

Playing peek-a-boo with my Sister.

Cousin Gnat with Sweetheart and Little Bit...

Opening her presents.

My sisters...

Happy Birthday Baby Bee!!!!

In Which Testing Makes Us Tired

It wasn't just the standardized test the girls just finished. It was the getting up early every morning. It was the leaving the house at a certain time. It was the packing our snacks and backpacks and diaper bag the night before. It was bathing every night and having to lay our (presentable) clothes out the night before.

I don't know HOW I could get all these kids to public school/daycare every day. Thank you Lord that I don't have to!

I truly had forgotten what a blessing it was. Whew.

We need a few nights of good sleep and a few days at home to recover.

We'll get the test results in about 6 weeks. Right now, I'm just glad its over!

NOW...it's time to wrap up our Keepers at Home club for the year (tomorrow) and get ready for Baby Bee's first birthday on Saturday!

I KNOW!

Really, this was me last year:

Can not believe its been a year.

frog legs :)

I'll be back next week with party pictures!

In Which Life Gets Easier

I feel like we're digging out of the last 2 years lately. The house is getting back in order. We're throwing stuff away right and left. We're keeping on top of chores somewhat.

Compare this to the year of all the sleeping (otherwise known as when I was pregnant) and then the year of the newborn...

Now? Bee is sleeping through the night 95% of the time, which makes a HUGE difference in how I feel physically every day. She's a walking, going maniac, which means she's happier and more content and I can get more done every day. We're wrapping up the school year--which makes everyone happy!

HUGE EXHALE......

This week our good friends the Holidays are coming for a visit. We haven't seen them since January and its time! Mr. Holiday will be working out of town, so Mrs. Holiday and the 4 little Holiday girls will be coming. Can't wait!! We're taking a few days off of school to spend time with them so that means a short week at school.

It also means a lot of cleaning went on over here this weekend. Having house guests is GOOD for your home! It makes you take care of areas you otherwise happily ignore.

We were able to get the girls new bikes this weekend. Sweetheart's was stolen earlier this year right out of our backyard and Little Bit had outgrown hers. We added a bike for me too, with a seat for Baby Bee so now we can add "bike riding" to our routine instead of just walking all the time. I still want to walk sometimes--it's good for you, but boy peddling a bike with a 20 pound baby on it is good for you too!

Baby Bee last May...

I just can't believe Baby Bee is about to be 1 and I also can't believe what a difference a year makes. Yes, we've seen an amazing difference in her of course. But what a difference in our whole life! I'm so thankful to God for the blessings of this family and for the health to enjoy and take care of them.

Baby Bee now...with a little friend at field day. She LOVED his hair.

Oh and by the way, it's Teacher Appreciation Week this week.

For a homeschool mom, this plays out much like Mother's Day, don't you think?

So if you have a minute, go ahead and send me some appreciation for all my great teaching. Ha!

The House of Fever and Hack

We're a barrel of fun around here. I started running fever Christmas Eve and continued on until the day after Christmas, where I spent 3 1/2 hours sitting in a clinic waiting room to be asked by the doctor, "Could you have been exposed to anyone with the flu lately?"

Um, you mean besides the last 3 1/2 hours?

It wasn't flu, by the way.

I feel better, but not 100%. It's rough running 101 or 102 and still having to feed baby. Baby Bee was VERY good Christmas afternoon and entertained herself for a really long time for Daddy while Mommy laid in bed. And she stayed with my parents while I was at that clinic the next day. She did not die from lack of nursing but I was one anxious Mama and she was really glad to see me when I got home.

Now Sweetheart has a cough and so do I. I have big plans for us to all just stay home as much as possible!

But we had a good Christmas and I was thankful to feel good enough to be up and there. I'll share pics later. Don't have that kind of time right now.

Right now I'm on Project Baby Proof. I was so proud I got the pantry rearranged yesterday and today had plans to go around the living room floor checking for safety hazards.

And then Baby Bee pulled herself up to her knees on the coffee table last night. I wish you could have seen how delighted she was with herself. Started pounding on the keyboard of the laptop!

So needless to say, Project Baby Proof needs to speed up its efforts a few notches!

Hope you all had a blessed holiday with your families!

P.S. Wanted to share this picture. We snuck down to the beach before Christmas and bought some shells to surprise S with a beach tree in his home office. Took this pic of Little Bit outside one of the stores. It cracks us up.

Patting Myself on the Back

I am so proud of myself! I made baby food!!

OK. So, as it turns out, "baby food" is just grown up food mashed or pureed up. I know that now.

Let me start over. I've had a baby in my 20s, a baby in my 30s, and now...a baby in my 40s. (That pattern stops here, by the way!) I am a MUCH wiser mommy in my 40s than I was in my 20s. Much.

Sweetheart ate baby food. The kind that comes in a jar. WAY longer than was necessary. I liked it because I knew she was getting a fruit, a vegetable, and a meat at supper. (That statement makes no sense to me now.) I didn't know or care what was in those little jars. It was baby food. It was made by Gerber. What could be wrong with that?

Plus, I worked back then. I barely cooked for US, much less the baby!

Flash forward 13 years. I have been a homemaker for 5 or 6 years now. I have learned a few things. And it seemed to me that making Bee's baby food would be no big deal.

First I had to make sure I was getting the right thing. Text: Dad, is the one on the bottom the acorn squash?

OK--so 40 doesn't equal wise ALL the time.

So this morning S cut an acorn squash in half for me and I baked it. I filled 2 ice cube trays with it.

Then this afternoon, my dad baked a sweet potato for her. I got another almost full ice cube tray from that. Along with bananas and apples from our countertop, she should be good to go for quite a while! (Especially since I'm not feeding her at every meal, or even every day---just whenever the time seems right.)

I know I could have (should have?) waited until she was 6 months old, but she's ready. I watched for all the cues. I tested her tongue thrust reflex. I let her chew on an apple slice in the feeder thingy. She's an eater now. Its all going well except for that unfortunate idea to give her some cold carrot to chew on for those sore gums....

Thankfully, she forgave me later. After she threw it across the room.

While I Have Time to Type

No one is in my arms right now so I'm going to jump on here and spew out an update in random fashion. You with me?

Baby Bee is what...11 or 12 days old? She is adorable and I am so in love. Things are already getting easier. She sleeps for longer stretches at night (if she hadn't done that "every 2 hours" thing for so many days, I probably wouldn't be appreciating things right now!), she's content in between, and she is just really easy. She doesn't cry that much or that hard.

Saturday we go for her 2 week appointment and I'm curious to see how much she weighs. Certainly seems she is eating enough to me! And she does seem to be plumping up. :)

*We made our big decision and S quit his second job. Oh dear. Kind of scary to lose that extra income, but we decided that having him home more was more important. As things were, for the last few years, he would walk in the door around 5:30, change clothes, and walk out the door to go mow. He would get home around 8:30 at night, eat supper, and the girls would go to bed. We didn't see much of him. Also, he mowed on Saturdays. We took lunch to him so we got to see him then, but still. I cannot even conceive of having him home every evening and getting to spend the weekends as family. I am so grateful. Now we just have to figure out how to live on less. Again. We've done it before and the Lord has always provided.

Reasons why it will be good:

1. Sweetheart will be 13 this summer. (!) We don't have that many more years with her. She's growing up fast.
2. Daddy needs to be home to instruct the girls in God's Word. Now he'll have more time for that.
3. Mama is grateful to be able to hand the baby to someone else for a bit in the evenings. You know you've been holding the baby a lot when you are excited to get up and go sweep or wash the dishes!
4. We don't want him to miss their childhoods. Poor or not--THIS is important.

I was making a pro/con list before we made the decision and S walked by and said, "The ONLY con is "less money." Hmm. He was right.

*I've taken meals to families over the years but I had truly forgotten how WONDERFUL it is to know someone is bringing you a meal. Wow. Next week there are no meals planned but S is able to go grocery shopping with me now, and the girls are VERY helpful both with cooking and with baby, so I know we can do it. Oh, and I wasn't a blubbery, crying mess the day S went back to work! THAT is a first for me. The day actually went quite well.

*We're taking a few more weeks off before we start back to school to wrap up last year, but we already started our summer reading. I know I already told you our plan on that, but may I just say that I am really enjoying the books I'm pre-reading for Sweetheart? Man. Maybe I just haven't read for pleasure in so many years, but I'm loving these books!

*I don't know how much weight I've lost, but I feel really skinny. Until I pull out "regular" clothes to try on. I think we'll just avoid those for a while longer and thus revel in my perceived skinniness. Sound like a plan?

*Still need to tell you about my summer plan for fun....maybe later today? Who knows?

You may now return to your regularly scheduled, orderly day---there's enough random here to last a lifetime.

In Other Train Wrecks...My Birth Story

I had several reasons why I thought this birth would be good. Little Bit's birth was really good, and the 2 seemingly had many things in common.

1. I was dilated to 2 with both of them going in.
2. I was induced with Pitocin both times.
3. I went in early in the morning and each were born within 10 minutes of noon.
4. I knew Baby Bee was sunny side up and was expecting back labor--again. I'm 3 for 3.

I had such a good experience being induced last time. Although it certainly was NOT my first choice to be induced, I still felt positive about the experience as things had gone so well last time.

Me at 5am. Ignorance is bliss. 

Well.

In spite of having several major things in common, this birth went NOTHING like the last one!!! We started the morning off blowing out two veins trying to get an IV started. That hurt VERY much. Ouch. The nurse was very nice and swore she hadn't had that happen in 10 years. Lucky me. After the second blow out she went and got the head nurse who successfully started my IV in the other hand.

So there. As they said in Apollo 13...we just hit our snag for the mission. Right?

They started the Pitocin and were SO fussy about those dang monitors strapped around my stomach. It's no big news that Baby Bee moved in the womb more than any baby in history (breech, not breech, over here, over there) so they kept having to chase her around. I bet they adjusted those stupid monitor belts 35 times in the next few hours. They kept saying, "Because of the medicine you are on (Pitocin) we HAVE to keep the baby well monitored." Well, it turns out they were upping the Pitocin dose every 15 minutes!  I mean, looking back at when I realized that...I should have known something was amiss. That is way too much pushing of the Pitocin. I do not remember that happening with Little Bit. They just got my contractions going and let labor progress last time. I seem to remember them upping it at least once during Little Bit's labor, but every 15 minutes? So, this time my labor progressed because it was forced to. Big difference.

The doctor also came in and broke my water very early in the game. I had hesitations about him doing it so early because I knew it would really speed things up but I thought...well, I DO want to get this show on the road. Didn't really put the whole "breaking the water" and "Pitocin every 15 minutes" together in my mind. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess.

I started having to actually pay attention to the contractions. Then I started needing to breathe through them. Then I was really uncomfortable and then I was in pain. So I wanted the nurse to check me. Shoot--still a 2. Can't have the epidural yet. Back labor started. I got on my hands and knees to help. They wouldn't let me out of bed for anything. THAT was what I did not want. At one point I told S, "THIS is why I wanted to go into labor at home" indicating all the tubes and wires and monitors all over my person. I know I keep saying it, but with Little Bit, I was up and down, on the birthing ball, in a chair..all sorts of things. I was allowed to labor with her.

Different hospital. Different day. Right?

I wasn't doing very well staying "on top of the pain." I've been in labor twice now. Both times I carefully considered before getting my epidural. Can I still handle this? Yes, I can. I'll wait. This time, there wasn't even time to consider anything. Before I could think, I was in over my head. I was NOT dealing with the contractions well at all and they were nothing like any contraction I've ever felt. These artificially forced contractions were above and beyond the pain of normal labor. The next time they checked me I was a 5. Out loud I thanked God. S said the nurse RAN out of the door to get the anesthesiologist. Here is where things really sped up. I don't think a single person came in or out of that room the rest of my labor that they weren't running. Everything was a blur. And I have no time frame to give you. All I know is my Pitocin started at around 7am and Baby Bee was born at 11:50am.

So my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes at least. The anesthesiologist made a remark about "this is not like trying to hit a moving target, this is like trying to hit a running target!" She kept asking me to sit still. I kept thinking, "Lady--when my contraction is over, you've got 2 minutes--get on it!!!" It seemed to take forever to get the epidural in. I think I had at least 10 contractions while she was working on it. The worst part is, they had asked S to leave the room for this part. He did not want to and asked me several times if that was what I wanted before he left. Honestly, I heard him but I was not able to communicate at all at this point because of the pain. I could not answer or advocate or anything. So my poor little 5' 3" tall nurse got the brunt of my contractions. Pretty sure I bruised her arm. I was in desperate pain, people. Desperate.

When the epidural got into place, I was already an 8. A few minutes later I felt the need to push. Oh, S came back in the room to find me drenched in sweat, shaking uncontrollably, and with an oxygen mask strapped on my face. Quite loudly, he asked what had happened? It really was like he had walked on to the scene of some horrible accident. I was really glad he was back.

Of course they told me not to push while they rushed around calling the doctor. I pushed a few minutes and she was here. And it was like everything just slowed down to a crawl all at once. And there was peace.

She was born not crying. I asked if she was breathing as they laid her on me. Yes, I was assured. She was fine. She just looked around so calmly. They put her on the table to clean her up and check her out. Just looking around. Interested in her surroundings. All the horrible pain and panic and rushing around was over. Just. Like. That.

S with Baby Bee. 

S told me the next day that our little mover and shaker was not without consequence: the cord had been wrapped around her neck four times. Oh dear me.

So at the end of the day I have this to say: My labor was not what I wanted or expected. BUT, I am thankful to God for the blessing at the end of it all. And I have felt great since. So mostly, I am just thankful. It's amazing what you can forget.

And how much none of it matters when they get here.

She's Here!

I'll share my birth story with you on Monday. I believe my exact words to S during the whole thing were, "This birth sucks." Sorry. It's what I said. And it did.

But it had a beautiful result:

Baby Bee and me right after birth.

We come home tomorrow and the big sisters will be so glad. They are absolutely in love with her. And so are Mom and Dad. Thank you all so much for the prayers--they were NEEDED! You'll find out more why on Monday. Anyway, thank you!

The Last Day?

Am sitting here on the couch listening to the sound of birds as the sun finishes rising in the sky and the cool breeze from the backyard blows gently in from the open patio door.

 Full disclosure: I BADLY burned the toast this morning and the door is open to get the smoke out of here.

Idyllic, no?

So...I have a doc appointment this afternoon. I had a contraction every hour all day long yesterday until the evening. They never picked up, but hopefully (?) they did something in the way of progress? I'll find out today.

Best case scenario (in my opinion): I go into labor myself before 5am tomorrow.

Next best case: I go to doctor today and find out I am totally favorable for induction and we proceed Friday morning at 5am.

Next, next best case: We decide to induce anyway and it works.

I think you can see the options go downhill from there. Failed induction...waiting until Monday...these things do not appeal to me.

Well, we find out later. Until then, I have my totally fabricated-just-to-make-myself-feel-better list of things to do today. It mostly involves being really OCD about the house. The girls love me right now. Of course, after the doctor's appointment there may be other things to do like last minute packing of bags and stuff like that.

I'm going to eat lunch with S today. It could be one of my last times out and about in public for a while. Not sure where we are going to go, but I predict it will be good because it will be somewhere that does NOT smell like burnt toast or that makes me feel like cleaning. That should be relaxing.

I'll update you after the doctor's appointment!

Thankfulness and Hope

You know, I think I am actually thankful for these last few days. I'm glad I didn't go into labor right about my due date. It's causing me to really lean on the Lord and trust Him. That's always a good thing. I have to admit--it is all in His hands. Not mine.

So I have felt very thankful for the last few days instead of desperate like I was feeling last week. I feel thankful to be home with my girls. Thankful to be able to tie up every loose end in the world. Thankful that I am not on bed rest. Thankful that I am still able to take care of my family and cook supper. Thankful that I feel as good as I do at my age! :) Thankful that baby Bee is healthy and doing well.

I'm also full of hope. Hopeful that this could be the day! Hopeful that our prayers will be answered. Hopeful that everything will work out for good.

I have a list of things to do today. Remember, I have to make one every night so I'll have something to do! I'm going to prioritize today like I might not have all day. Make sure I get the really important things done first in case I am in labor later and can't finish. I've prayed to go into labor on my own before Friday morning and well...I'm going to prepare my fields for rain!!

Tuesday is as Good a Day as Any, Don't You Think?

So...at the doctor yesterday everything looked good. And doc and I decided there was no medical reason to induce at this point. (I was 40 weeks, 1 day yesterday) But, we "penciled in" an induction for Friday morning. He will re-check me on Thursday (whew! I didn't want to go a whole week more without being checked) and if things look favorable, we'll go ahead with Friday's plan.

I would really, really, really rather go into labor myself before then. That's the request I've been giving the Lord. But He knows when baby will come and has it all worked out ahead of me, I know. Still, Tuesday seems good, don't you think?

39 weeks...

I was so tired last night I was dizzy. I suppose that comes from being awake from 2-6am the night before and no nap AND that being the 3rd of 4th night of insomnia in a row. So last night--(angels singing) I SLEPT. It certainly felt good.

Every day on my Teux Deux app, I have nothing scheduled. Then the night before I think of all kinds of random things to put on the to do list. Just trying to keep busy I suppose. Today's list?

*find a notepad for recording feedings/diapers (necessary for me in those first few sleep-deprived weeks)
*boil pacifiers
*get a "baby's first year" calendar
*empty bottom rack of dishwasher
*buy ant poison

Doesn't that list just thrill? Of course, I'll do some laundry too. And randomly walk around wiping things down. Oh! And take the trash out!!! Boy--this day is really looking up!

Oh. I forgot one other thing:

*have contractions

There.

A Letter to My Third Daughter

Dear Bee,

I was really, really hoping you'd be here by now. In fact, I spent the end of the week and a lot of this weekend feeling upset and sad and discouraged. What a waste of time. This morning when I woke up and realized I had slept again through another night (well, besides all the getting up) with no labor...I prayed. I prayed for strength. I prayed for the strength I would need to get through this day--either strength for labor, or strength to wait.

Turns out I needed the latter.

But tonight as everyone is sleeping, I feel very, very grateful. We have had a good weekend. Friday night Mama needed to get out of the house really badly. So Daddy took us all bowling. Only there were no lanes so we played glow in the dark putt putt instead and ate ice cream. It was fun.

Today Daddy didn't have to work so we spent the whole day together, just our little family of 4. I know things are about to change (and I'm excited about that!) but it was nice just spending the day together. We went out to eat. We washed the truck together.

And I'm very thankful that I'm probably going to get to spend Mother's Day with my girls. Well, 2 of them anyway! I'm thankful I get to go to church tomorrow. (Although I'm not looking forward to all the comments!) Monday I go back to see the doctor and I expect we'll be seeing you next week. Which is really soon. I can't wait. I'm ready to hold you and feed you and see what you look like. I'm ready to bring you home and love on you.

I've been going crazy around here getting everything ready that I can think of Bee. We are all ready for you to join us. I know God has picked the perfect time for you to arrive and I trust Him.

Love,
Mama

Everything Is In Pencil

Every Monday I have my weekly doctor visit and every Monday I come home and realize that I can, indeed, go ahead and plan my week.

Dear Cervix, 


Please go ahead and feel free to change. Really. It's time.


Love, 
Me

I keep writing everything in pencil (figuratively). Well, I'll see you on Tuesday if I don't have the baby before then. Yes, we'll be there on Friday if I'm not in labor. Let's just say I haven't missed an appointment or scheduled event yet.

I have many, many things on my to do list. In fact, I'm not really sure how much school I'll squeeze in this week. This is our last week of school no matter what as that's what I promised the girls. We'll finish up the rest of the year after Mama has a maternity leave. Not sure how long I'll take off and I'm not going to put a date on it--but there will be time this summer to wrap up the year, I know. So...I feel good knowing that no matter what we get done this week, these ARE the last 5 days of school for now. Happy sigh.

I have created a laundry system that is going to work rather nicely, I think. It involves 5 laundry baskets. Yes, five. S and I have one, Little Bit has her own, and Sweetheart has her own. I need to go buy one for towels, rags, napkins, etc. and one small one for baby. Each girl does her own laundry from start to finish when her basket is full. That's a load. I do our laundry and we'll all help get the towels done. I'll cut baby a break this summer and do hers too. Sweetheart's basket is always the first one full because of a method I like to call "cleaning-my-room-by-throwing-everything-in-the-dirty-clothes." She'll soon figure out she's doing twice the work of the rest of us, right?

I've also got to find a place for the girls to hang up their towels. Now that it's getting hot and they are bathing every day, they are going through too many towels. Towels need to be used more than once but I kid you not, there is no place in their bathroom to hang a hook. I think we'll make it the back of their bedroom doors. They both have a 3M hook there that will probably work. I may need to sew loops on the towels to help. Then, we will significantly cut back on laundry.

Bigger family really does = more organization. It's needed!

I mentioned that our dishwasher broke. Well, our awesome home warranty (that I'm so glad we got) is going to replace it. Should be sometime this week. In the meantime, I have to hand-wash the dishes in the sink and all the ones that were loaded in the dishwasher when it decided to die. I think I will have to do that in stages as standing sideways at the sink is not top of the list of my favorite activities right now.

So...I'm just going to plan to go on about my business and do all these things that need doing. Hopefully in the midst of all this, my cervix will decide to cooperate, right?

What Would I Do and Shots

The ultrasound on Monday showed that baby is head down now, as she should be. Good baby! There were no other signs that labor would be anytime soon, so I have resigned myself to at least 2 more weeks of pregnancy. I mean, I'm not due until the 13th. Hoping this one would decide to come early is silly. My children like the inside. They are comfortable and never want to leave.

So I figured we could get 2 more weeks of school in. That's what I was planning all along anyway. But mercy I don't want to! I said something about it on Facebook today and got lots of encouragement to take the next 2 weeks off. Hmm. I really thought about it, trust me.

But what would I do?

I cannot imagine how I would keep myself busy for 2 weeks. The nursery is ready. I'm keeping up with dishes and laundry. I've paid the bills. There's daily pick up and weekly errands, of course. I could freeze some meals if I was really motivated.

I thought that keeping the girls on a semi-normal schedule would really help Little Bit. Her tics have increased a bit lately. Routine is her friend. And school doesn't really take all that long. When I whine about it, it's really the same as whining about doing the dishes, or cooking, or picking something up that I dropped, or drying off after a shower. EVERYTHING is hard right now and I'm tired. The End. It really isn't about school so much.

I feel like a turtle as I wander around looking at things that I could do or need to be done. I don't actually act on those things, mind you. I just notice them.
***************************
And totally off-topic, I took Sweetheart today to get a 12 year old immunization. They had told me there were three she needed. I researched them (in my new book) and decided to get one today. Then, while we were there, they mentioned another shot she needed that I had never heard of. It was Hepatitis A.

OK. Thank you. I took the information sheet. Would you like to know who this shot is recommended for? Of course you do.

*children 1 year of age
*persons older than 1 year who will be traveling or working in Central or South America, Mexico Asia, Africa, and eastern Europe.
*men who have sex with men
*persons who use street drugs
*persons with chronic liver disease
*persons who are treated with clotting factor concentrates
*persons who work with primates

and the ONLY one that could possibly qualify my daughter for needing this shot

*children through 18 years of age who live in states or communities where routine vaccination has been implemented because of high disease incidence. (Although I don't know that that is true of where we live)

Are you kidding me??? So, my current plan for being allowed to use Dr. Sears' alternate vaccination schedule with this new baby is to switch from seeing a pediatrician back to a "family practitioner." My reasoning there is the pediatrician's office is sort of a specialty and they are really all in your business. They stay right on top of things. Our particular pediatrician's office has been described by friends as "vaccine Nazis." ha!

I'm just thinking a family practice deals with such a larger range of things that they wouldn't have time to worry if my 4 month old is completely "up to date" on her shots. And I liked it when we all saw the same doctor back when we used a family practice years ago. So, that is my plan for now. We'll see how it goes.

The New Low and Standing on My Head

I called my mom and asked her if she was itching to do some laundry today.

Yes, I did.

And laundry is her THING. It's what she does. So, even though I really wanted someone to come clean my kitchen, laundry was the best thing I could ask of my mom.

Now S can have clothes to wear tomorrow to work!

AND the girls and I went grocery shopping this morning, so he can have lunch as well!

Of course, when we got home I had to take a nap. In the morning. There may have been drooling involved.

So...I found out yesterday at my appointment (the one where I was waiting to hear, "Wow! Baby has dropped! You are totally making progress! It's going to be any day now! Way to sit on that birthing ball all weekend!") that baby was breech. A double footling breech, no less. She HAD been head down for quite some time.

That was not really what I wanted to hear. I came home and asked for prayers from friends who starting praying up a storm. I also researched and spent a great deal of the day laying and sitting and kneeling in all kinds of crazy positions. We went for a walk. I rubbed my stomach in a downwards direction.

And then, just as I was falling asleep around 11pm, she turned. Somehow. I don't know if she's head-down now, but I do know she flipped and flopped and moved around some way or other. I felt like I needed to hold on to something! Mercy! I really hope she's turned the right way now. I honestly can't tell. I go back to the doctor on Monday--if there is no labor before then.

So, in summary: My daughter was breech, but now she may not be. We have food and soon we will have clean clothes.

I call it "Nesting Through Others."

In Which I Ignore the Things I HAVEN'T Done and Only Share the Good Stuff

There isn't enough lap for the laptop anymore. Just thought I'd share.

Y'all know I like to share pictures when there has been progress. I don't always feel compelled to share when the dishes are stacked all over the kitchen and we have to dig spoons out of the sink and wash them on an as-needed basis.

Not that we have ever done that, mind you. It's just that I HEAR sometimes people's houses get that bad.

With 3 1/2 weeks left, I know it's time to get with it around here. So, I finished the wall art in the "nursery." The big owl picture will later have baby's name, weight, and birth date stitched on it.

I was very proud of myself for hanging these. I don't "do" not symmetrical well. "Random" and I are not friends.

Except in conversation, of course.

Ready to go! See the quilt folded in the co-sleeper? My aunt sent that to me this week. She made it AND hand-quilted it! Her machine wasn't working, so my cousin (who teaches home ec. in the same town) brought a machine from her school. It kept puckering everything so finally she just hand-quilted it. I love it. Every new baby should have a special blanket or quilt.

I also got the checkbook updated, but that's not really exciting or picture-worthy, you know?

And I DID get those dishes washed. All of them.

Now we're working on the laundry.

And packing our bags.

We're having some fun too. Friday we met some friends for lunch at the park. Mama needed some adult conversation. That is one thing I miss about working. My students used to beg me to eat lunch with them and I always refused. "I'm a better teacher when I eat with my friends," I would tell them. "Trust me." The same can be said for moms.

Picture courtesy H-Mama.  See that 18" doll Little Bit is holding? SIX DOLLARS at a consignment sale. SCORE!

And tomorrow we will go on our last field trip before baby. Wasn't sure I would make this one as it's so close to my due date, but Carrie said she would drive and I really, really wanted Little Bit to get to go on this one. See, 3 years ago or so, we had a "one room school house" field trip to go on. The girls were so excited. My sister took the day off work and pulled her girls out of school to come along. My mom was coming too. We were all looking forward to it and then Little Bit's birthday that same weekend.

And then she woke up with 103 fever and the flu. She STILL talks about missing that field trip. (Everyone else went.) So when I heard about this one, which also features a little "one room school house" action, I knew I wanted to try to go. So we don't have to spend so much on therapy for the poor little dear one day.

I predict I will be VERY tired after that tomorrow, so I better get some more stuff done around here today!

Desperate and Tired = Desperately Tired!

Twenty-seven days left and I'm feeling that desperate "I've got to get this over with" feeling already! Well, I was last night anyway. I think I was just really, really tired.

I'm still tired today, by the way. Thank you, thunderstorm at 4 am.

Sweetheart went with me to the grocery store yesterday. I was really glad to have her there too as she pushed the basket for me. (buggy, cart) Ug. I can't imagine I have to go weekly grocery shopping three or four more times!! It's so tiring. (Are you sensing a theme here? Brenda is tired!)

I hope to have the "nursery" complete this week and post pictures. I have several other things I would like to have "complete" this week too. Heck, I would like to complete anything! I feel like I have 400 loose ends all the time. Which makes me feel....never mind.

We did have fun this weekend! We had so much trouble finding a parking space at the beach last weekend, that we decided to get up early and go on Saturday. So at 7:00am we rolled out of the driveway. It was incredibly windy and rough at the beach, but we had the WHOLE place to ourselves minus some surfers and people walking their dogs.

Yeah...the lens was incredibly dirty. Salt water + wind.

Then, on Sunday morning, S went out to put the potluck casserole in the car and smelled gasoline really badly. He opened the garage door and wow! The smell about knocked you down. It took about 20 minutes to find the source (because there wasn't really a puddle on the ground). Turns out one of his lawn mowers was leaking. The dangerous part was our hot water heater is located in the garage. I had a friend whose house blew up when painters left the door open to the utility room where their hot water heater was. Blew the roof up and set it back down. And, since we like the current location of our roof, needless to say, we were very late to church.

So. A little fun. A little excitement. It's all good.

Did I mention 27 more days?

What's the Opposite of Minimalist?

We live in a smaller home than we used to. We brought Sweetheart and Little Bit home from the hospital to our old home. The bigger one. I was happy when we down-sized. Really, I was.

But....now that we are adding a new, teeny-tiny person to our family, well.....

WE'RE BEING OVERRUN WITH STUFF!

I was very determined to keep it simple. My registry was short and sweet (I thought). There were only 30 something items on my registry and a lot of those were little things like baby shampoo and powder and diaper ointment and bibs. Little stuff. Really...I wasn't extravagant.

But then I had a baby shower. Cool! Things we needed! And then the ladies at church also threw me a baby shower. OK. We go to a really small church. Like, 30-40 people! I wasn't expecting many gifts from the church shower. Well.

My living room is FULL of baby items today. I feel so blessed! Seriously, all our big items were given to us and we won't be having to spend money on those things. VERY blessed!!

Now.

What do I DO with all of it???

See, at our old house, I had a little kitchen cabinet by the back door that was separate from all the other kitchen cabinets. That was the "baby cabinet." Now I have sippy cups and baby bowls sitting on my counter and no idea where to put them. I had places for all the baby items at our old house. Here? I have no plan.

Our dining room table fits 4 little chairs around it just perfectly. now we have to add a chair for the high chair to sit in.

Gotta clean out the trunk of the car to fit the stroller.

Gotta squeeze the kidlets in the car in order for a car sear to fit in there.

Gotta find a place to hang or set a diaper bag.

Where will I put the boppy? The bouncy chair? Our living room is tight.

OK. I know not all of that is NECESSARY. I read the minimalist parent lists and I know from experience that I am not going to operate on THAT sparse of a list. But really, I know space is tight and I was trying to keep it simple.

Looking at my living room right now, you'd never know it.

So...now it becomes even MORE IMPORTANT to declutter and keep mess out of this house. Keeping things picked up and put away is vital now. I need to be thinking: Little House on the Prairie simple. (But with A/C)

I know some of you are laughing at me. ONLY 3 kids and she's freaking out about fitting everyone? Puhleeze. What an amateur.

It's true. But hopefully by the end of today I will have found a new home for all this stuff.

And then I'll go spend those gift cards we got. Hee hee.

My Day Alone

I mentioned that yesterday some friends took the girls for the day. They were picked up at 9:15 to go on their adventure and I found myself all by myself for the first time in....I have no clue. A long time. Well, sometimes I run to the store when S is home or the girls are at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few minutes. But all day? Unheard of!

So what does one DO all day by themselves?

1. Out the door for my 35 week appointment. It was strange walking into the doctor's office without them as they have been at every single appointment with me so far. The nurses and staff kept asking where the girls were. Well, now that there is undressing involved at the remaining appointments, they are finished coming thankyouverymuch. Mama has some limits.

Blurry 35 week picture in my still-messy room. 

2. On the way home, despite the news that I had successfully gained 3 pounds in one week, I felt the need to stop at Sonic for a little drink. Then on to home to be productive.

3. Wander around a little bit. There is so much to be done! And no one is going to need anything from me! What should I do????

4. Read Bible. (good choice!) Loving the You Version app on my phone!

5. Strip all beds and start washing sheets.

6.  Clean our bedroom. Those three little words took several hours, mind you. I vacuumed, wiped, dusted, threw out, straightened, etc. The whole smash.

7.  Sort through sheets. We have SO many sets of sheets. Most of them we didn't even buy. I'm not sure we bought any of them, actually. But after a Facebook conversation about storing sheets, I decided it was time to seriously pare down. Now everyone has 2 sets (one winter, one summer) stored in their room and one set on their bed. Huge pile to donate in floor. Whew!

8. Eat lunch. Here is where I felt a little lonely. Who would've thought? I thought I'd watch a little something on Netflix while I ate but I found that nothing looked good. I think I have almost totally forgotten how to watch TV.

9. Oh, and through all this work I panted a lot. And had a lot of Braxton Hicks. But seeing as how the news at the doctor clearly indicated that baby is not coming ANY time soon, I didn't worry about doing too much and just kept going.

10.  Bake cookies. (Translation: break cookie dough apart and put on cookie sheet. Insert in oven.) You didn't picture me doing that from scratch, did you?

11.  2:00 Our bathroom and bedroom are totally clean! Clean sheets on bed. Everything. :)

I even organized inside the cabinets!

The nursery is still a little junky. I've got shower gifts stored here for now. And the hospital bag all ready to be packed. And a little craft project laying in the bed. 

12. Sit on couch for an hour with laptop and rest. (And eat several cookies!)

13. 3:15 Go pick up girls.

It was a good day. Thank you, B & A for taking the girls swimming. They had a blast! And this mama feels better to have a little order restored to the house. And OK, having the day off of school was nice too!

Oh but there is more to do!! And now that my minions are back, they will be helping. Mwhahaha!

I Want to Be an Encouragement...

...but I'm not feeling it.

The end of this pregnancy (and I suppose the end of any pregnancy) is hard. Oh I am not complaining--I feel very, very blessed to be pregnant and am excited about our new addition. But the third trimester, no matter how much you have longed for it, is not a day at the circus, you know?

I wish people could click over here and be all inspired in their walk with the Lord, to be better homemakers and mothers, to be excellent at homeschooling...

I'd like to be that person that encourages other women in their roles. But right now? I feel like the worst example in history. I need to read my Bible more. I feel kind of discouraged. My emotions are...well, hormonal, which makes me crabby and short-tempered and not feeling like a super Christian AT ALL. I don't always act on how I feel, but oh boy, inside I'm feeling it.

I'm tired. Insomnia has come back to visit and I'm sick sick sick of waking up in the middle of the night. Our house is too small for me to get up and do anything productive either without waking everyone up. Even the sound of this keyboard at 5:30am sounds like a thousand cattle stampeding through the house.

I feel behind on everything. I cannot tell you the last time my kitchen was all the way clean. I hate even walking in there because dirty dishes are always there to greet me. No matter how many paper plates I buy. There is always laundry, of course, and there are always messes. This is normal, real life but it feels overwhelming to this mama who just wants everything in order.

School is actually not going too badly. I mean, besides the subjects that we have just dropped for the remainder of the year, we are keeping up. That ambitious plan I made a few weeks ago is working out. We are all ready to be finished, of course. Don't know exactly when that will be and that's a bummer to not know.

I don't feel very encouraged that baby will come early. Goodness knows my other ones have not been early. But then, my other ones did not cause me to get up in the night during my 3rd trimester to puke. (I didn't. Whew! I HATE puking.) So maybe this one will be different and come a tad bit early? It would be fine with this mama. The sweet little baby movements that I have longed to feel again for so many years HURT now. Goodness. Someone remind me of that in a few years.

(Baby has hiccups. :) That part I like.)

Some good news: We have a name! And no, I'm not sharing it yet. Husband and I have our own little secret. We have not even shared this one with the girls. (It's not one of the 3 we were considering.)  Now if she's just a girl like we are planning on, we'll be OK. Also, I have a baby shower at church this week. Baby showers are fun and help you get ready for baby. Then later this week, I'll be going to the Just Between Friends sale. This is a really big consignment sale nearby with tons of baby stuff. Whatever I still need after the shower, hopefully I can pick up there.

We had a really fun and busy weekend, which I'll share pics of later. And today some sweet friends are taking the girls for a fun day so this mama can rest and get things done. Which are the opposite of each other but I'll figure out how that works later.

Anyway, here's hoping that in a few weeks or months or sometime in the future, you can come here again for encouragement. Wouldn't that be something?