Seeing An Answer to Prayer!

Here are my aunt and uncle, along with their son "Pilot" and his girlfriend Sarah. Caleb and Jonathan had a huge crush on her, as she indulged them by playing all sorts of games with them. Plus, she's a pretty girl with a beautiful smile--what's not to like?! We celebrated Pilot's birthday, as well as Sarah's graduation for grad school (with a masters in statistics) while they were here.

Three Claires

Here we are--Aunt Claire, Anna Claire, and me! We're just missing Emily Claire . . .

Anna in Her Easter Dress

This is the dress that Aunt Claire bought Anna for Easter. Unfortunately, Easter here was about 50 degrees, so Anna didn't get to wear it, and we saved it for when AUnt Claire and Uncle Jim could visit and see it in person! It was so pretty! Her cousin Emily has the same dress, so we were hoping to take pictures of the 2 girls together--that would have been too cute!

Anna was at such a cute stage during their visit. When Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim got here, she was still crawling a lot, but taking some tentative steps. Each day, she got more confidant in her walking, and by the time they left, she was not crawling at all! She still has that cute wide-legged waddle, but she is starting to bend her knees a little and not be quite so Frankenstein-ish, LOL.

Crazy For Sudoku

Here is Uncle Jim and the boys working on Sudoku puzzles. He got the boys hooked again on them. One clever thing he did was make a big grid that we copied, and then he wrote the puzzles on them, so they were easier to see and work.

Ending the week on a much higher note . . .

Thanks for all your encouragement--my week definitely ended on a better note! The biggest praise is that my cousin "Pilot" and his girlfriend were able to come. He landed back at his base at 1:00 on Friday, and Sarah met him there, and they left about 3:30. We were so glad to see them Friday night! What a huge answer to lots of prayer! We have really enjoyed meeting Sarah. The boys all think she's just super, since she played pinochle with Nathan and Luke and "pirates" with Caleb and Jonathan. Tonight we had a barbeque over at the L's house. They recently got a chiminea (spelling? one of those little fireplaces that can sit on the deck, LOL), and the kids had a wonderful time after dinner roasting marshmallows and making s'mores outside. There was also a serious ping pong and air hockey tournament going on downstairs. It was a nice time of visiting, although we probably stayed much too late and will pay the price tomorrow in the form of very grumpy kids. Ah well!

Another positive note is that we did purchase a set of bunk beds on Thursday night. This set was located in Maryland, so we had an hour drive to get there. Bob and I went after dinner, since the lady worked. We took both minivans, which ended up to be a very good thing. What we should have done was also taken my dad, LOL. It was a set with a twin on top/full on bottom, just like I wanted, and there is a desk on one end. The set included 2 dressers as well, which we sorely needed, so it was a very good deal for us. The only slight hitch was that all this furniture barely fit into the minivans. We were seriously sweating and working to get everything in, and we almost gave it all up figuring we'd have to make a second trip. But we persevered, and miracuously it all did fit. Bob had to wedge himself in his van, though, since we had to move his seat all the way up. Good thing it was a short trip . . . LOL. The lady also lived in an apartment, so we had to traipse up and down stairs and across a courtyard. Whew--I am glad I am not a professional mover! We are waiting until some of the company leaves before attempting to reassemble all of this. If we are successful, I will post pictures. So if you never see any pictures, feel free to ask me about what happened . . . . . . .

The other wonderful thing that happened is that I received a package from my friend Johanna, and it contained 6 tubes of the now-discontinued "Dr. Burt's lavender and mint toothpaste" that does not have sodium laurel sulfate! When she was up in Maryland visiting, she was in a store and saw these tubes. She thought they were what I had lamented about, so she called me to confirm and then bought them all! What a friend! I was so excited! Thank you, Johanna!

So although we are still so sad that Dan, Melinda, and Emily couldn't be here, things did improve. And speaking of improving, I talked to Melinda this afternoon, and it sounds like she is doing a lot better too. She still can't lift anything over 5 pounds, which rules out lifting Emily, their 5 month old, so her mom is still there to help out. She is also still having some problems with food, so hopefully those will resolve themselves soon, and she'll be better than new!

Not My Week . . .

Well, I don't mean to be a downer, but this week apparently is not my week. We've been looking faithfully on craigslist for a bunk bed for Caleb and Jonathan's room. I really want one with a twin on top and double on bottom, and they have been very hard to come by. I've called or emailed about a few, but I've never been the first one. Last night I saw one and I called right away--and I was the first! Yay for me! I asked when I could come see it, and she said tomorrow (meaning today, Wednesday) after 2:00. They live on the south side of NoVA, probably about 45 minutes away.

This morning, Bob took Aunt Claire, my dad, and Caleb and Jonathan down to the World War II Memorial, and they were back by 1:00. While they were gone, the lady called to tell me that she would actually be home a little earlier, around 1:00, and so it would be good if we were there closer to 1:00. I said fine, and as soon as Bob got home, I got in the van, and we left. We stopped for gas, and I called the lady to tell her that we were on our way, but we'd be a little later than 1:00, and she said that she was glad I had called--her husband had shown the beds to some people while she was out, and they bought them. Okay. Ummm . . . Did we do something wrong in craigslist etiquette? She told me when it would work out for us to come (and this morning was not an option for her, she said), and we were going to be there. So how come someone else could show up and buy it first?! That never happened to me any of the other times I called about beds! The people always said they had someone else coming to look, and if they were available after that, they would let me know. And they never were. So I'm pretty frustrated with the whole thing. I feel like Nathan and Luke--"That's not FAIR!" Oh well. That's life for this week, anyhow.

I think sometimes you can look forward to something TOO much. This weekend was to be the big sort of family reunion. My brother and his family were going to fly here Thursday, but Sunday his wife was admitted into the hospital with pancreatitis due to a gall stone in the pancreatic duct, and yesterday she had emergency gall bladder surgery. They had to cancel their tickets, and we're praying for her quick recovery. We're still waiting to see if my cousin and his girlfriend will be able to make it up. He is an Air Force pilot who had to go fly somewhere, and we're not sure if he will get back in time to come.

So we're disappointed, but we will soldier on. Even though we are not a close family geographically, we all keep up with each other by phone calls, emails, and blogs, and we look forward to those rare times when we can all be together. Evidently this time wasn't meant to be one of them. I guess that is what heaven will be for.

Company!!

I apologize for my lack of blogging of late, but frankly, it is going to get worse before it gets better! We are having too good of a time with my Aunt Claire and Uncle Jim here. Uncle Jim has singlehandedly revived the Sudoku craze here at our house. He has a methodology for narrowing down what numbers go where, and Nathan and Luke have both caught on. They have been busily working on puzzles--that counts as math, right? Problem-solving?

Alright, I'm off to visit more . . .

Lunch with the Womenfolk

Today a girl from church, Christine, came over for lunch. She is pregnant with her first baby and due the end of June. Her parents live in Germany and are music professors (Americans, though), and that is hwere she grew up and even went to college. She and Jeremy have been married for a year and are such a nice couple. She has scoliosis, and so an epidural is not an option for her, so when she found out that I had all mine naturally, she was very interested in talking to me about what I do during labor!

I had planned to send the boys down in the basement after lunch, figuring they really don't need to be in on a conversation about the nitty-gritty of labor and delivery, LOL, but then I realized that Bob was taking leave today. As much experience as he has had in the labor room, I didn't think he needed to be a part of the discussion either, so he ended up taking Nathan and Luke on a long bike ride. Caleb and Jonathan wanted to eat lunch outside on the little picnic table under the trees, so it ended up just being Christine, my mom, Anna, and me!

We had a really great discussion. Her mother also had all natural births, as did her grandmother, and so she has had good role models who have been very encouraging about their stories. I gave her a copy of the article I found many years ago when I was pregnant with Nathan about raspberry leaf tea. A lot of places like on the web recommend drinking it during pregnancy, but I've never seen it spelled out exactly like in this article, where when you go into labor, it recommends drinking a very strong pint of it. That has always really helped me deal with my contractions. Also, the article recommends taking calcium pills to help with cramping, which I did with Nathan and I think Luke. I think as we move into a more technical society, those sorts of natural things are cast off in favor of drugs, and so you just don't hear as much about those kinds of helpful remedies--only what I would call "mechanical" ones, like breathing techniques and different labor positions (also very important though!).

We also talked a lot about what to expect the first few days, especially with nursing, which can be so frustrating. No one is coming to help her, so they will be on their own. I told her not to hesitate to call me with any questions! All this experience should not go to waste! I had my mom and Elizabeth around when I brought Nathan home, and I was so glad for all their calm advice. Sometimes you just need someone to tell you, "That's perfectly normal--you are doing fine!"

We had a really good time, and I think it was helpful for her. I have thought a lot about becoming a doula when the kids are older, and I certainly enjoy talking about things like this and encouraging new moms. We'll see where the Lord leads, but He has given me the experience in this area!

Two Weeks Old!

Grace had her 2 week well-baby appointment yesterday. She is now 9 pounds, so she regained her birth weight, plus a few ounces. She's 21 1/2 inches long, and everything looks good! Here she is in the arms of her loving big brother Caleb. He is the one who has shown the most interest in her, and he always wants to hold her. You might not believe it, based on the lack of pictures, but she has her eyes open quite a bit now, always with such a serious look on her face, and a furrowed brow. Who knows what deep thoughts she is entertaining. She looks a lot like Jonathan did as a baby, and he was also very serious. I'll have to root up a picture of him back then to post for comparison!

Grace has been doing really well at night, continuing to stretch out her long sleep period. Last night I fed her at 10:00, and then she woke up at 4:30, and again at 8:30. Ahhh.

Happy Mother's Day!

Here are my 6 reasons for celebrating today. I always wanted to be a mom, and by high school I even wanted a "big" family--of course, that then to me meant 4 kids, LOL. I am so blessed to be the mom for Nathan, Luke, Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace.

After church, Bob grilled steaks for us, and we also had baked potatoes, sourdough bread (my favorite!), salad, and fruit. Yum!!! And best of all, Anna and Grace napped--you can't have that at a restaurant!

Happy Mother's Day to all my Mommy friends!!!

Weekend Wrap-up

So let's look back and see what we accomplished this week:

Nathan and Luke took their standardized tests this week. According to them they were "easy". Now all we have to do is wait until the end of June when we get results. I always get nervous . . . I picked them up Wednesday afternoon along with Grace, to show her off. As I parked a lady came up who was in the co-op for the first 2 years we were, but didn't participate last year (they were just testing with us). She had a baby last January, a few months before I had Anna. I got out the carseat, and she said, "Oh, let me see the baby--I haven't seen her . . . since. . . " and then she sort of stumbled to a halt as she really looked in the car seat and saw a newborn. You could see that it just wasn't computing, since the last time she saw Anna, she had been about the size of Grace, so . . . who was this newborn? Why had my baby not grown at all over the course of a year? It was funny. I took pity on her and told her that this was a NEW baby that I had just had last Tuesday, and that threw her for a loop too! LOL!

This is a week or 2 old, but Caleb is now riding his bike without training wheels! But knee pads are recommended, LOL, and in fact, he is inside fussing right now after a fall. Really he is doing quite well though. He's been so funny about watching me nurse. He said, "So, is one of those for milk, and the other for her food?" I said that both of them were milk, since that's all Grace needs. "Well, why do you need 2 of them then?!" LOL, all I could think of was one great big hose thing coming out of a chest!

Jonathan . . . hmmm . . . can't think of anything really new. He's just tagging along with everyone else.

Anna is gaining confidence daily with her walking, but she still prefers crawling on the whole. She also turned herself around and went backwards down the stairs for the first time yesterday! Since we have 3 flights of stairs in this house, this is a very welcome advance in skills.

Grace lost her umbilical stump on Wednesday and had her first baby tub bath on Thursday. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she mainly just scowled, instead of crying. She has been doing really well at night, usually going from about 9:15 to 2:30 or so for her long stretch. Now if I would just go to bed at 10:00 when she was done nursing . . .

This week I nursed, pumped, and nursed some more. And changed a lot of poopy diapers. Grace can't keep up with my milk supply, so I've been pumping a tidy little supply for the freezer. I am finally feeling a lot better, in that my pelvis is no longer aching. I've had a big headache the past few days, but so have my dad and Nathan, so we've decided it's allergies, since Caleb is coughing and a bit wheezy too. I made a trip to Sams today, and as I was leaving, the nice older Korean gentleman who checks the receipts says to me, "Oh! No kids today!" LOL! Hey, I am recognized at Sams! I feel so special!

Bob and my dad put up our other new garage door. So now we have 2 new garage doors with windows, and wow, what a difference that makes for the garage! No more dark hole! I need to take a picture and post it. They look really nice. Bob's other big accomplishment for the week was getting Grace registered for DEERS and Tricare. You might think that should be an easy chore, but you would be wrong. In fact, due to the incompetant beauracracy of those organizations here in the National Capital Region, it actually took a good deal of time and phone calls with rude customer service agents to get it all sorted out. Yesterday I was finally able to make Grace's 2 week well-baby appointment for Tuesday. As I was getting ready to leave the hospital with Grace, the house pediatrician stopped by to tell me that Grace was a little jaundiced, so I should see her doctor that next day (last Friday). I nodded seriously, while laughing inside. Yes, I'll get right on that! I couldn't have gotten an appointment for her then if I had tried! Good thing all my babies are a little jaundiced, and I knew what to expect. She was fine by a few days later, like they always are. Good thing nothing was really seriously wrong. But now, we are all set, thanks to Bob's persistence.

Well, that's about it. Nothing too exciting!

Pink Princess

Here is Grace at 1 week. I gave up on a good shot with her eyes open, LOL. This is dark because I took the flash off, but maybe you can see a little bit that all her baby zits and abrasions have cleared up . . . or maybe not. Well, you'll just have to trust me, LOL. This picture still makes her look really blotchy, but she's really not.

Pregnancy Hindsight

Since it was one week ago today that I stopped being pregnant, I thought it would be good to take a look back at this pregnancy and see what lessons I learned.

1. The doctor does matter. I am a pretty hands-off pregnant person and birther--I just want to be left alone, and I don't need or want a lot of hand-holding. So I didn't think it really mattered much when at my first appointment, the doctor made a big deal about my risk of hemorrhage, and how their office had all that birth control stuff everywhere, and they kept talking about permanent measures of birth control, etc. I never really felt like they were on the same page as me, and I really wasn't that confident in them, that they had MY best interests in mind, but I didn't think it mattered too much. I would just do my thing, and that would be that. After all, I have given birth several times in military hospitals with perfect strangers delivering, and that was just fine. Looking back, however, now I wonder if she could have done something different . . . if the baby got stuck because she didn't turn it right or something. I don't even know. And the whole induction thing. I agreed to it because I thought the baby would be smaller and I was ready to not be pregnant anymore, LOL, but that wasn't her reason at all. She didn't really HAVE a good reason, and so I just didn't have any confidence in her. I think it DID make a difference in the whole experience.

But what else could I have done about the doctor? I have thought about what if I chose Bethesda instead. I know they would not have induced me unless I was having actual problems or was 2 weeks late. But you know--driving over 45 minutes one way to appointments would have just not worked, with Anna still being so young. Who could I have obligated to watch all my other kids for such long periods of time, especially when one of them was still a baby herself and needed a lot of attention?! And there were no other doctors in this area that took Tricare Standard and were accepting new patients, so I really don't think I had any other option. I will have to chalk this up to being God's plan that I don't understand.

2. Constipation is bad. This pregnancy, I was Miss Super-Fiber. I ate bran muffins made with extra fiber All-Bran. I exercised pretty much every day. Towards the end I took Colase. I can honestly say I have never felt better during a pregnancy! But the last 2 weeks or so I STILL struggled with contipation, no matter how many prunes, muffins, or Colase I ate. I think this was one reason why the baby did not descend very quickly--there wasn't as much room as needed! As I was starting to push, I told the doctor and nurse that next time I would ask for an enema. "What! We don't do those anymore!" they quickly exclaimed. But I think it would have helped.

With Anna, I took castor oil the weekend before I had her (on a Tuesday as well). It did work, although Anna passed meconium before birth. Before I took the castor oil, I did a lot of research and was convinced that it did not pass over the placenta and so could not make the baby's bowels move. But after Anna's did, I was not so sure, and although Anna had no problems with the meconium, I didn't want to try that this time. Now I'm thinking maybe I should have taken that chance. I don't know what I would do if I got pregnant again and it came time for my due date and I was constipated. Hmmmm.

3. The whole weird labor and delivery was a fitting end to this pregnancy, which was not what I would call "smooth" from the beginning. Getting pregnant while nursing a 4-month old exclusively, finding out about the pregnancy when all of a sudden your milk starts drying up and being rejected by your baby, having the waiver for off-base OB care be denied this time, having such a hard time finding a doctor, having a weird first ultrasound with secretive techs who made us think something was wrong when it wasn't, failing the 1 hour glucose test--everything was different about this pregnancy, so I suppose it is fitting that the labor and delivery was as well.

Who knows, this might be my last pregnancy--but I sort of hope it isn't, since it didn't leave me with good, happy pregnancy feelings. I would love to have another pregnancy with a supportive, competent midwife that feels the same way I do about kids and such. And while we're at it, I'd like to move into our dream home on 5 acres or so in Ohio between my parents and Amy, LOL. So I will stop wishing and just be grateful for a healthy, happy baby. Truly Grace is a gift from God, in His perfect timing and plan.

Grace Settles In

Grace will be one week old tomorrow! She is finally opening her eyes more, much to the delight of the boys. Unfortunately, she is not a very cooperative photography subject in that eyes-open state, and the pictures I've taken consist of her glaring balefully into the camera or off to the side. I'll keep working on it though. Maybe she will just be a more serious baby, like Luke and Jonathan. Her skin has really cleared up nicely, so it would be a shame not to document that!

She also seems to have gotten her days and nights more into order. She is having more awake times during the day, and a longer stretch at night, much to the delight of her mother. There is however still lots of room for improvement, LOL.

Nursing is still going well, and I've started pumping too. It looks like once again I will have enough milk to feed a small third world country.

We all ventured out to church on Sunday, where Grace was a big hit. She almost made it through the whole service before needing to be nursed.

I actually am not feeling as well today, so I've gone back to taking Motrin in the morning and evening. I think it is bothering me to have this much milk. Also, I think my pelvis is finally realizing that it experienced a traumatic event, LOL, and it is achier this week than last. I have been resting though--it has been so nice having my parents here to help. I think I've napped or slept in every day! I have a friend who just had her 4th baby, and her husband is on a 6 month TDY. I don't know how she does it, but my hat is off to her!

Grace at Home

So now we're back home, trying to get settled into routine. The boys and Anna were glad to see us back again! Anna is not really sure what to think of this new arrival. She is very curious and is learning to be gentle. Anna was busy while we were gone--she has really gained confidence in walking! Before we had the baby, she had taken just a few steps. Now she is taking several steps in a row, and she is being more deliberate about it (as opposed to before, when I think it sort of surprised her to find out she was walking, and she would immediately drop back to the floor and start crawling!). She is even just pushing to standing in the middle of the floor and then taking a few steps! What a big girl! What a big sister!

Grace is doing well and nursing like a champ. My milk is already coming in, so I am not feeling all that comfortable right now, LOL. Grace has the lovely blotchy, pimply newborn skin that my babies all have, as well as some nice abrasion marks to set it all off. Hopefully those will all go away in a few more days! I'll try to keep up with posting pictures, although I can't make any big promises . . .

Grace's Birth Story

I waited patiently for the Lord;
He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
Out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
A hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

We got to the hospital right at 7:30. I had eaten breakfast and drunk my really strong pint of raspberry tea, which always helps my labors not be too painful. I was anticipating a routine labor, since I had already had an induction with Jonathan which wasn't much different from any of my other labors. Instead, this labor was like none of my other ones whatsoever, but praise the Lord, He was faithful.

The pitocin was started at about 8:30, and at 10:00 the doctor came and broke my water. I figured at that point (I was about 4 cm dilated) that I would probably deliver around 12:30 or 1:00 at the latest. Grace had other ideas. For some reason she just never really moved down, and so I dilated very, very slowly. The nurse kept upping the pitocin, time kept dragging on, and I could tell I still wasn't even in transition! My nurse went off-duty at 3:00, and I was really getting so discouraged. I never ever dreamed it would take so long! By 4:00 I was thinking that I was just going to be in labor forever, and for the first time the thought of an epidural tempted me, although I did realize at that point that I was finally in transition. But even transition didn't play out as it had for the others. I sort of hung out at 8 cm for awhile, instead of dilating the last few cms in a few contractions and being ready to push.

Finally a little before 5:00 I was fully dilated and ready to push. I pushed a contraction or 2, and the doctor said that the head was about here--one more sustained push should do it. So I gave a mighty big long push, and out came the head. One more push and that should be it, right? Well, all of a sudden I went from sitting up and pushing to being practically flat on my back, with the nurse on one side, lifting my leg back to my ear and Bob on the other, trying to do the same thing. "WHAT IS GOING ON?!! THAT REALLY HURTS!! IS SHE OUT?!" I said, trying to figure out why I was being a pretzel and it felt like the doctor was pulling me up in the air. "NO--KEEP PUSHING!" yelled Bob, and the nurse called for help. At that minute, however, Grace popped out. Her shoulder had gotten a bit stuck, hence all the commotion. Although it was only a few seconds long, it was plenty of excitement, and it guarantees that I will never get Grace's birth story mixed up with any of the other 5! I was just so thankful that she was out and that my long day was over. I was so ready to eat something!

One reason the doctor wanted to induce was because she was afraid of my risk for hemorrhaging, and she wanted the birth to happen during the day, so all sorts of people would be around if needed. Ironically, since this induction ended up taking so long, the lower quadrant of my uterus did not clamp up right away, so it was a little harder to stop the bleeding, although nothing too drastic. To be honest, I did not expect that the induction would take so long either, so that is why I didn't argue too much about scheduling it. I was more concerned about having a big baby. And Grace was fairly large, at 8# 13, but she was not my biggest baby at all. Caleb was 9# 5, and Jonathan was 9# 6, and I had no problems whatsoever pushing either of them out. It seems obvious in hindsight that Grace was simply not ready to come out, and I will definitely make a big stink about scheduling any future inductions.

Fortunately this was my 6th baby, and not my first, and so even with all the contortions and whatnot, I felt pretty good the next day. Grace is a sweet little girl, and we are so enjoying snuggling with her and rubbing her fuzzy little head! Bob spent both nights with us in the hospital, while my parents kept the home fires burning back home with the others. It was like a little retreat for us! We laid around and caught up on our magazine reading. We enjoyed visiting with Elizabeth and Amy P. We watched lots of HGTV. Very relaxing! But we were missed at home, and so we came home this morning before lunch. Here is one last hospital picture of Grace.

Welcome, Grace Elizabeth!!

Grace Elizabeth was born at 5:04 PM on May 1. She was 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and 21 inches long. She looks like her brothers and sisters did, except she does have a bit more hair than anyone else ever did--and maybe more on top than Anna has now! More pictures and the birth story to come . . .

Tomorrow: The Big Day

Tomorrow I'll go in at 7:30 to be induced, baring some unforeseen occurance such as me going into labor tonight. Since I never went into labor with Jonathan (who was 2 weeks overdue and induced) or even Anna (where I was 5 cm dilated but not in labor), the chance of that happening is pretty small, and I am resigned to another induction. I don't want a huge baby (Jonathan was my biggest at 9 pounds, 6 ounces), and I am certainly ready to not be pregnant anymore. I just hate having to come in early and then being tied to a bed on a monitor. Blech. Here are some specific ways you can pray for me tomorrow:

1. That the induction would go quickly. I think it will, since it's not like my body doesn't know what to do with contractions at this point, and the other induction wasn't too long. But I would appreciate prayers.

2. That the baby wouldn't pass meconium before birth. I've had 2 babies do this--Luke and Anna. With Luke, they didn't break my water until I was ready to push, and so there was no time to do anything about it. He aspirated some during the delivery and had to spend a few extra days in the hospital and go home on oxygen for 6 weeks. It was a stressful time. With Anna, they broke my water much earlier, and they did an amnio wash, which must have helped because she had no problems. I told my doctor that I wanted my water broken sooner rather than later this time too, just in case there were issues, but I am praying there won't be any.

3. That I wouldn't hemorrhage after the birth. Now this is something I would never have even thought about, except for my doctor's odd obssession with it, but it certainly is not something I want to have happen. My hope is that she will see the Lord protect those to whom he has given a lot of children, and that it will be a testimony to her and maybe she won't be such a worrywart the next time someone who is pregnant with more than her third child comes to her practice.

And while you are praying, please also lift up my Uncle Jim. He is going to have neck surgery on May 2 because there was a cancerous tumor found in a lymph node in his neck. The surgeon is going to take out pretty much everything in the neck except the functioning components of the mouth and neck, and the nerve that runs down to the shoulder. Please pray that the surgeon will get ALL the cancer (the original source is unidentified), and also that Uncle Jim will heal quickly. He and Aunt Claire are supposed to fly here on May 17, and we really, really, really want them to be able to make the trip. On Memorial Day Weekend, we are supposed to have a little family reunion here with them as well as my brother and his wife and baby from Texas and possibly (we're praying it works) my cousin and his girlfriend from North Carolina. Here is my aunt's blog, where I know she will keep everyone updated.

Thank you for praying! We'll let you know how it all goes!

Getting Ready

We're getting ready for the baby, doing all those last-minute little things. I spent Wednesday "nesting" in our closet. The baby will sleep in there for the first few weeks, until she goes mostly through the night. The closet is a pretty big walk-in one, but up until Wednesday, it was not at all ready to fit a pack-n-play, as my maternity clothes were strewn about in various piles--"too small", "winter", etc. So I bought a few big plastic tubs and spent a happy hour organizing. I love putting things in tubs! Especially things like maternity clothes, that will hopefully stay organized for a while, LOL. It's a good feeling.

Mom and Dad got here safely Wednesday night, and everyone is enjoying having an extra set of people around to read books and play with. Anna is walking around more with her little push thing, but still not taking any big steps on her own. She is definitely enjoying all the extra attention!

I had another doctor appointment today, and there is no real change in my cervix from last appointment. And since she doesn't really WANT me to go into labor, she didn't even try stripping my membranes or anything. Oh well. So I really doubt anything will happen on its own before Tuesday. A girl can hope though!

In a sad bit of irony, because of the shootings at Virginia Tech, Bob's classes (which are through VT) are pretty much done, and his finals are optional. Although that worked out nicely for us, what a sad, sad reason. It has freed up time this weekend, however, so possibly we'll get the second crib set up and some furniture moved around. We still haven't found a nice set of used bunk beds with a twin on top/full on bottom, though, so there's not that much that needs to be moved. Please pray that we'll be able to find one on craigslist! They go really quickly whenever they are posted, and so far we haven't been the lucky fast ones. It would be so nice to have for Caleb and Jonathan's room.

So Proud!

Today was the last day of our homeschool co-op for this year. Last Tuesday and today the kids have been doing the Presidential Physical Fitness test. They could do all the stations last week except the big run, and then we had a picnic at a park today where they could try any stations again to better their score as well as run the run. Nathan came home last week saying that he was short only in the shuttle run for qualifying as a Presidential winner in the stations they had done, and he ran it several times today to shave off that last hundredth of a second to qualify! Luke wasn't really interested in bettering his scores, which I think are good enough for the National level, so he didn't do anything except the run today. Isn't that funny? Just when you think you have your kids' personalities pegged, they change things up on you!

Both boys chose to run the mile instead of the half mile, which was surprising to me. Nathan ran his mile in 8:20, and Luke ran his in 8:56. That's pretty awesome, isn't it?! Better than my (non-pregnant) time, I'm sure, LOL. And Nathan's time was indeed good enough to qualify him for Presidential. Yay!

What a Blessing!!!

Today I got an exciting package in the mail--a box full of nursing dresses! A few weeks ago, one of the moms on the Well Trained Mind board posted that she was getting rid of some nursing dresses, and could anyone use them? I had just been glum at church, thinking about how I have nothing to nurse in, especially nice clothes, and how my next many months would consist of me wearing khaki pants and a shirt just so I could nurse. So I answered her post saying that I could use them, and she sent them to me! A box of them! All nice Motherhood dresses! Four for summer, 2 for winter, a dressier shirt, and a pants/shirt outfit. Wow. I am so overwhelmed and thankful for this! I'm still smiling . . . What an answer to prayer, even a glum, self-centered one!

Busy, Busy, Dreadfully Busy . . .

Not much time for blogging lately--did I mention we've been busy? Thanks to all your wonderful comments and email responses, Bob was able to pretty much finish his project last night (yay!). He just has to make some slides for his class presentation. And in a few years, when bathrooms in gas stations and restaurants are automatically locked down and steam cleaned, like in a dishwasher, then you'll remember that you had a part in it. LOL!

Bob also took a few hours yesterday afternoon to connect our new garage door to the actual opener bar. There wasn't an obvious way to do it, since the door is not solid, but he figured something out. So now he still has the other door to change out, but that will have to wait until after the finals and the baby!

Saturday evening we were social butterflies. Our new German neighbors had an open house for all the neighbors at 5:00, so we briefly stopped over there to visit, and then we went on a "quintuple date" (is that a word?) with the L's and 3 other couples. The 5 of us wives are all in a Bible study together 2 Tuesday evenings a month, and so this was to get all the menfolk together too. We had such a blast. It reminded us of really how rarely we are just with other adults in a purely social context! We just went out to eat, but the conversation was good, as was the food. Meanwhile, back at the ranch here, Zachary and Jessica were holding things together. Anna was a bit of a pill (she didn't want to go down for Jessica, which doesn't bode well for the immediate future for Anna, when her routine is going to be quite a bit changed, LOL), but the boys and Amanda had a grand time. So nice to know your kids are having as great a time as you are!

In this ladies' study, we are going through Larry Crabb's book Finding God. This is such an excellent book. I went through it at a ladies' study in Ohio, but I was the one who recommened it here because I wanted to go through it again, and also because I thought it would be very applicable to us in the study. All of us are dealing with times of big transition and change (moving potentials, retirement, job changes, etc.), and one woman in particular has had a Job-like few years where her husband's business was embezzled and consequently failed, their house took a year to sell, they moved up here for a job, her husband got prostate cancer which wasn't gotten completely with surgery, and now just a few weeks ago, her husband was laid off his job. Larry Crabb honestly deals with the painful stuff of life, and in particular his own struggles, which makes this book a lot more . . . meaningful, I guess. No empty platitudes, and definitely not a book to read if you are looking for easy solutions to make you feel better. A very challenging book, and our discussions have been lasting several hours, until our poor husbands wonder what has become of us and call our cell phones to check up on us!

This week we are finishing up the boys' test review books, in preparation for thier Stanford test May 7-9. We're also finishing a last few errands, and I'm doing things like switching winter and summer stuff around, moving out-grown stuff from last year down to the next boy, etc. Remind me not to be having a baby right when the weather changes again, okay? It's too much to need to be doing all this switching around! So I'm thinking that rules out April and October. I'm too big and uncomfortable to be down on the floor rooting through dresser drawers and rubbermaid tubs!

The big event to look forward to for this week is Wednesday evening, when Grandma and Grandpa get here!! We are all quite excited about this! It will give Anna a few days to get used to them again before I disappear off to have the baby, which I foresee as being a little hard for her to take. She's been pretty clingly lately, so I'm hoping that will transfer to Grandma and Grandpa with no problems! In other Anna news, she did take one teensy, tiny step by herself (to me, LOL) today. "One small step for a man . . ." We cheered like it was the first step on the moon, of course, and we are hopeful for many more steps in the near future. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa will be able to facilitate that too--they did such a great job with Jonathan's potty-training last year, so surely teaching walking is MUCH easier than that!

That's all that is new around here!

"100--make that 20?--Points of Data" -- Last & Quick Survey

For school, here is another, even easier to complete survey. Thanks to those of you who are helping as the vacuum cleaner research hit the Dyson "wall":

1) When you go to a place that prepares food for sale (restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores w/ deli--which would include many gas stations Ed), how much does it bother you that the bathrooms are dirty?

A) A great deal
B) Somewhat
C) Not at all

2) Have you ever thought less of a restaurant, etc, with dirty bathrooms?

A) Yes
B) No

3) To what extent would you not return as often to a restaurant (etc) with dirty bathrooms?

A) Return Less Often
B) Return More Often
C) No Effect--Return about the same

4) Does it bother you that in most restaurants, smaller supermarkets, etc that someone who will be touching your food is also scrubbing the bathroom every hour or so?

A) Yes
B) No

5) Would you consider it an improvement if bathrooms could be automatically cleaned (with like a dishwasher or carwash system--I'll worry about the details.)?

A) A great deal
B) Somewhat
C) Not at all

P.S. Thanks again. If you have our e-mail, you can just e-mail your answers, your husband or wife's answers, and your fastedious kid's answers, etc. By the way, there's still time to complete the earlier survey, included below.

Need YOUR Help!

For a school project, I am hoping you (and your spouse?) since I need as much data as I can (quickly) get, will answer the following couple questions. I know I'm usually the "Silent Partner" on this Blog, so please know I appreciate your thoughts.

1) Name some places (businesses, etc) where it bothers you that the floors aren't clean.

2) Briefly, why is it important that each should be cleaner?

Thanks, Bob

Keeping it Real-- A Belly Shot

Side View

Nathan's View: "That is the biggest belly I have ever seen! It looks like you ate a . . . a . . . a WHOLE TURKEY!"

Yes, I am here in the loving and supportive bosom of my family! Now for the disclaimer: I really don't look as huge from the front, since I carry straight out on front. No, really. I'm not kidding! Just believe me! Also, I want you to know that I have gained the exact same amount of weight (35 pounds) that I gained with all the rest of my pregnancies, including my first one, where my belly looked nowhere near as big as this! Oh well. Two more weeks . . . that's what I keep telling myself.

Only a Week Behind . . .

This afternoon, the boys colored Easter eggs. What's that you say? Easter was last week? I'll have you know that hard-boiled eggs are an excellent source of protein year-around, and colored eggs add a lovely touch of whimsy to the inside of the fridge, no matter what week it is! Besides, as of just a few weeks ago, we were listening to Veggie Tales' Incredible Singing Christmas Tree CD in the car (Caleb and Jonathan's choice, NOT mine, LOL), so obviously we aren't the best at celebrating holidays right where they fall on the calendar!

Now we have 18 beuatifully decorated eggs awaiting us for breakfast for the next few days. You can eat colored eggs, as long as they have been in the fridge, right? I must confess that coloring eggs was not a meaningful part of my childhood hood memories--do you remember ever doing it, Dan? So I am not up on all the ins and outs of it. Fortunately Bob's family did color eggs each year, so obviously we were meant to be together, so that our kids can have this experience, and I don't have to get messy! LOL!

36 1/2 Weeks

I had an OB appointment yesterday, and everything looks fine. The head is down, and I am 1 and 1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Of course, I have probably been that dilated and effaced for weeks now, LOL.

You may remember that with Anna, the OB I had then was totally obsessed with how big she might be. This doctor has said nary a word about size--her big obsession is my "risk of maternal hemorrhage". She even mentioned it at my second appointment! Now I know a lot of women who have had many more children than me, so I am really not that concerned. Also, I did some web research, and it seems like a bigger risk factor is the speed of your labors, and I have never had lightening-fast 4-10-cm-in-45-minutes type labors. Mine usually are a respectable few hours. Another big risk is a long, drawn-out pitocin-induced labor but, you guessed it, she really wants to induce. Now at this point, to be perfectly honest, I am big and uncomfortable. I doubt that even with pitocin I would have a long-drawn out labor. But still--she just wants to induce because . . . well, she hasn't dealt with many mothers of big families. That is what it boils down to! She even said that both doctors wanted to be there for the birth, and that they want to induce so that anyone else who is needed would for sure be there, since it would be during the day! Am I a circus side-show, LOL? Maybe the whole hospital would like to watch!

The first date she threw out was April 26, which would be a week and a half early. I was not at all comfortable with that and suggested May 4, which is 2 days before my due date. She kept saying that she just didn't think I would go that long, and apparently she really just doesn't want me to go into labor on my own! I told her that I might be concerned about that (well, probably not, LOL) except that I haven't gone into labor on my own with my last 2, and with Anna, I was 5 cm dilated and was not in labor yet when the pitocin was started. So, I really am not confidant that I will go into labor on my own before my due date. She went out and had a conference with the other doctor in the practice, and she came back suggesting May 1. That is somewhat better, so I agreed to that, but of course I am hoping and praying to go into labor myself. I hate getting to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning and waiting around for everything to get started. Bleh. Too early. Too much waiting around. What a hassle. On the plus side, this should be my last baby while on Tricare, so hopefully if we have any more, I'll be able to find a good midwife that more shares my views on pregnancy and birth, i.e. one who does not LOOK for things that might potentially be wrong.

Now I did ask the wise ladies on the Well-Trained Mind board about maternal hemorrhage, and several of them suggested drinking alfalfa tea, which is supposed to help cut down on bleeding. So I have been drinking that, as well as my raspberry leaf tea, which helps tone the uterus, so I think I'm doing all I can do. I am really not a fan of hot beverages at all, so this is a real sacrifice for me to be drinking all this tea!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of Christ! We did, although the weather sure was cold! Our church did not have a sunrise service, so we just went at the regular time (like we could have made a sunrise service even if they did have one, LOL). It was a wonderful service--we are so enjoying this new church and the pastor. He didn't do a specific "Easter" sermon, but he is preaching through Ephesians, and this week he covered Eph. 1: 15-23, which talks about the mighty power of God, which was used when raising Christ from the dead, so it fit the Easter theme.

I am glad that clothes are not the focus of my Easter, as I had all sorts of troubles yesterday! Even though it was cold, I wore a short-sleeved dress, since, well, I am always hot, LOL. This dress is one I have had since I was pregnant with Luke and had to pin "major' on Bob, but it's a really pretty maroon one. As is typical, I got dressed right before we walked out the door (lessens the chance that any food particles will make their way onto my clothes, you know), and as I walked downstairs, I realized that possibly the pregnancy with Luke was when I bought the pair of maternity hose I was wearing as well. No time to change, but I shortly realized that . . . the hose were too small, to put it frankly, for my burgeoning belly. I could not keep them from rolling down under my belly, and I was afraid to see just how far down they would roll! When we got to church, I told Bob I needed to use the restroom, where I just took the darn things off. Then the problem became my shoes. They fit alright with hose on, but once I took the hose off, it became obvious that, well, they were a little too small too for my evidently swollen feet. (I'm going with "swollen" because my feet got a size bigger when I was pregnant with Nathan, but never grew anymore, so SURELY they aren't going to start growing again in pregnancy #6, right?!) So I hobbled back into the service and took my shoes off for the remainder. As we stood for the last song, I struggled with getting them back on. Finally I succeeded, but at a great cost! I could hardly walk! As soon as I got into the car, I took them off and didn't even wear them into the house! Grr! I greatly dislike these last few weeks, where nothing feels comfortable!

As soon as I got changed and got some things together, we headed over to the L's house for Easter dinner. The other 3 families in our Bible study were there too, as well as 2 other families with whom we have been stationed before, and the parents of one of them. There were 34 of us, and we had a delicious potluck feast. I love, absolutely LOVE, being able to enjoy lots of delicious food while only making a few things! I brought a fruit salad, a spinach salad, a potato dish, and ginger snaps. We also had a ham, pork roast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, jello salad, spinach bread, green bean casserole, corn pudding, french toast casserole, and plenty of other desserts. I was so stuffed I could hardly move! Anna was very cooperative--I fed her as soon as we got there, and she went down for a nap not long after we started eating. She slept until close to 5:00, even going back to sleep after being rudely awakened by little boys light-saber-fighting and running into her door! So I had a whole afternoon of visiting with grownups. Ahhh. It was so very, very nice.

I think it was the perfect celebration of Easter. Because of Christ triumphing over sin and the grave, we will be spending eternity together, since we are all believers. What better way to celebrate that than starting the party down here on Earth?! We were celebrating with family! Praise the Lord--He is risen!

Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ . . . Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens wih God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are becoming built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2: 12-13, 19-22

Custom Crest For Claire

Sometimes Caleb goes through a spell of liking to design crests for shields--a throwback to our medieval year in history. He's going through one now, and he decided to design a crest for me. After asking me what colors I liked, he went off to do his thing. When he was done, he proudly showed it to me. The main heraldic elements were: a stick figure washing dishes at a sink and . . . a double decker ice cream cone. Kids and their imaginations! Where do they come up with these things?! LOL!! There was actually more room on the shield, so I guess I should be thankful he didn't include the "doing laundry/ Oreos" theme, or the "wiping bottoms/Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares" one. Also, the stick figure was not noticeably pregnant, so I am really counting my blessings!

Homeschool Ambassador

A German family has rented the house at the end of our cul-de-sac, three houses away from us. She is a civilian, working for the German government here, and he is former German military but a stay-at-home dad here. They have two children, Julia who is 13, and Timon, who is 9. Timon has been having a great time playing with my boys, and Julia loves playing with Anna.

You may not be aware of this, but homeschooling is absolutely outlawed in Germany. There are several active cases right now where German authorities have removed children from their homes simply because the parents were educating them at home. The Supreme Court of Europe ruled that the right of the parents to raise their children as they pleased was triumphed by the right of the state to control what the child is learning. Children can't be "indoctrinated" by only what their parents believe. This actually is a law that Hitler put into practice, since he wanted all children to go to state schools and learn the party line. Here is a link from HSLDA about Germany that has links to several articles on the court cases.

So this afternoon Julia was playing with Anna outside, and it was time for her nap. I walked down to her house, because I thought that's where they were (they were actually in our backyard), and I ended up having a very long coversation with her dad, Oliver. We started out talking about everyday things, like how their second shipment, which includes their second car, is not going to be here for 6-8 more weeks. Then he asked if I stayed at home all day, saying that he knew that would be busier than a full-time job! I said that I did indeed stay home and (dropping the bomb into the conversation) that our children were homeschooled, so my other job was teaching them all. He was flabbergasted! "This is legal in America?!" he exclaimed! We talked for about 35 minutes on how homeschooling worked, what the requirements were (no, our government does not tell us what we have to cover and how), and how I thought it was a benefit to our family. He was very interested and had quite a few questions! He was curious about how our kids don't have another big authority figure in their lives, like a teacher. I told him that really wasn't true, since they were involved in sports, co-op, etc., with many other authority figures, but that we were the ones who set the boundaries for how they acted and what was the right thing to do, and we could be very consistent, since they were mainly with me. I also said that the Bible was our standard for those behavoral guidelines, so it wasn't like we were just making things up on the fly. We talked about how having all the kids at home all the time helped them be a real team, with everyone serving each other, and how you couldn't just sweep sibling problems under the rug, since they were right there together all the time.

I hope this will be an opportunity for us to be a good homeschool witness to this family! Maybe more conversations will come from this one. He was definitely chewing on what I said when I left! We can work to change attitudes about homeschooling in Germany one family at a time!

Treading Water

So you have probably been wondering, in the midst of kleenex, pregnancy, and sickness, if we have been getting any schooling done. The answer is yes, but I will say that this year has not quite measured up to my expectations of all we would accomplish. I thought we were taking it easy LAST year, while I was pregnant, never ever dreaming that, well, this year I would not only have an infant but be pregnant AGAIN. I think I've mentioned in other posts how little we have gotten done in the afternoons because I have just been too tired! So I have felt like this year was another year of just treading water--nothing extra getting done.

And yet, things have been accomplished. We finished Latina Christiana 1. We even went through Minimus a second time. We have only one chapter left in Story of the World 3 (of course, I haven't even ordered SOTW 4 yet, so that will give me a convenient excuse to drop history while we settle in with the new baby, LOL). Luke has about 10 more lessons in Saxon 3, and Nathan is over halfway done with Saxon 6/5. We're halfway done with Easy Grammar 4/5. We're halfway done with Classical Writing Aesop. We have focused more strongly on memory work this year, so we've memorized things like 1 Corinthians 13, Revelation 5:6-14, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Presidents, etc.--AND we review them all regularly, so I know they are really in there!

BUT--we should be more than halfway done with those things like grammar and writing! And we never did get to any formal science! Spelling is still Nathan's big bugaboo! (Next year I am definitely using different spelling programs for Nathan and Luke--probably Spelling Power for Luke, and I'm still not sure for Nathan.) I want to teach them how to play the recorder! Caleb is still not reading fluently, mainly because some days his lessons get skipped! Ah well. Next year I WON'T be pregnant, right Lord? LOL.

A few weeks ago, Christa wrote a list on her blog called "When it comes to school, there's no place like home" with some reasons such as these:

. . . Where helping one's little brother get a glass of milk teaches service.

. . . Where children learn to look out for each other, helping toddlers. Reading to little sister or brother hones skills, grows a caring heart, and brings special joy all around.

I think I can summarize these past 2 years as "learning to serve" for the boys. There have been lots of good lessons in that crucial subject! I guess there will be time for science later on. In the meantime, we'll keep plugging away with math, grammar, etc. We'll start Latina Christiana 2 next week. We'll keep on going through the Spectrum test practice books to prepare for the Stanford Achievement tests the boys will be taking the first week of May. And we'll have another baby, which will yield even more opportunities to serve!

How a One-Year-Old Amuses Herself

First, she ensures that Mommy is sufficiently distracted. Then she climbs onto the coffee table by way of a conveniently placed chair. Next she proceeds to empty an almost new box of Kleenex--one of the big boxes is ideal. After all the kleenex are out of the box, she goes ahead and shreds several for good measure, eating whatever pieces strike her little fancy. Then she tosses several largish shreds around and on the floor to complete the effect--hey, it's like snow! Voila! Fun in a box! See how proud and happy she is! What a stinker!

Anna is One!

It's hard to believe, but Anna turned 1 today! Wow, a year goes by so fast! Here is what I posted last year about her birth, in case you feel the urge to reminisce. We just had a small party here at home for her, with our neighbors down the street joining us for cake and ice cream. I was thrilled to make a PINK butterfly cake--no weapons at all, LOL! Anna was not a big fan of the cake at first, but after I sort of smooshed up her piece for her, she did eat it all, along with some strawberry sorbet. She is definitely feeling better today, thank the Lord!

Reading Aloud

I am a huge proponent of reading aloud to your children. I've read all the books about why it's such a great idea. I was faithfully read to as a child. In fact, my dad went TDY quite a bit, and often he would read aloud a (long) book onto a tape for my brother and I to listen to each night before we went to bed. So obviously reading aloud was an important part of my childhood, and it's been an important part of childhood for my kids too . . . until this past year.

The honest truth is that after we finished Farmer Boy, I had the best of intentions of starting another book. I even picked out Swiss Family Robinson. And then we just never started. Usually we would read over lunch, but with Anna needing more lunchtime attention, that was hard. And after lunch, well, reading aloud made me verrrrrryyyyy ssslllleeeeeeppppyyyy (yawn). It just wasn't happening.

Then there were a few threads on reading aloud on the Well-Trained Mind board. Several ladies suggested books on tape. Well! I had never even considered using them for anything other than car trips! But I could see that this might be a good temporary solution to my troubles! I immediately went to the library and got out Alice In Wonderland, and we've been listening to a lady with a delightful British accent read as we eat lunch. This means that I can eat my lunch while feeding Anna and still have the benefit of hearing a good story. It's been working out great. I really do enjoy reading aloud, so this isn't going to be the permanent way we do read-alouds, but it is getting us through this physically tiring time for me. And this way I can feel good about reading little books to Caleb and Jonathan in the evening, which has been all the reading aloud I've been getting around to!

" . . .the cute one"

Nathan had his last Upward basketball game today. His team remained undefeated, and I must say that Nathan's ball handling skills dramatically improved over the course of the season. I was sitting next to another team mom this morning, and she asked which one was my son. I pointed out "the short blonde one", and she said, "Oh! The cute one! My daughter--she's 9--she always says to me, 'Mom, he's sooo cute!' " LOL! And so it starts already. Where's my big stick?! : )

Bob stayed home with Anna this morning. Her fever is not coming up as often, and she is eating a little more, but she is still pretty sick. She also is having diarrhea, so that doesn't help anything. She is still up for an hour, then napping for 2 or 3. It's like having a newborn! I guess it will just be a slow road to get over this thing.

A Sick Baby

We spent the day at the doctor today, literally. We left the house at 9:15 and got back home at 2:45. What a day. Anna is really sick. She started coughing a bit and being somewhat snuffly on Tuesday, and then she started running a fever yesterday. She didn't eat much yesterday, but she did drink bottles last night and this morning. Her fever was up pretty high when she woke up at 3:15 AM, so I went ahead and made an appointment this morning. Her ears were fine, but her chest is congested and she is wheezy. They did a chest x-ray, which was fine, and a complete blood count, which was elevated but not extremely so. Getting the blood was not easy, especially since she really isn't THAT well-hydrated right now, but due to my fervent prayers I am sure, they finally were able to strike a vein. Anna did not really appreciate the intrusion and the poking around, but really she did pretty well and didn't protest too terribly much--a sign of how sick she is, unfortunately. Right now the doctor thinks it is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and so we really have to watch her over the next few days to see if her cough and congestion get worse, and of course, that she doesn't get dehyrated. She's just not herself , and she definitely looks sick--very pale. Not her usual happy, perky self!

I would just like to say that the boys did really well, even though we had to wait around so very long, and we didn't have lunch until 3:00. Nathan and Luke read books to the little boys so I could focus on Anna, and there was hardly an complaining--at least until about 2:00, LOL, and by then I was beginning to think we were never going to be able to leave, so I was right there with them. Bob even had to make a special guest appearance at the clinic because I wasn't allowed to go back with Anna for her x-ray, due to the pregnancy, and she obviously couldn't go back by herself, LOL. So it was a real day of family bonding.

Now we're back home, we've eaten lunch, the boys are playing outside, and Anna is napping. Whew. Please be praying for her to get over this quickly!

Nesting in a Black Hole

I'm starting to feel the nesting thing kick in--I want to be organized. Saturday Bob took the boys to Nathan's basketball game, Anna napped, and I cleaned all the detritus from the play room. I also worked on the paper morass in the kitchen, making some headway there too. It was a good feeling. That good feeling was all but overwhelmed by the realization that things keep going . . . missing. Little things. Not terribly important things. But things that niggle at the edge of my brain all the time, taking an inordinate amount of brainpower as I try to imagine where they could be. Things like . . . the atlas that used to live on the bookshelves in the study. This was one of your standard huge road atlases that you might keep in your car. In fact this one used to live in our car until we got a newer one, and this one moved inside. I use it actually quite a lot when on the phone or looking stuff up. I love maps. And it has disappeared! Where could a huge book like that disappear to? Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

Another missing item is a ring and nipple for Anna's bottle. I have exactly 9 rings and 10 nipples, and now I have 8 rings and 9 nipples. Again, this might not seem like a crisis, but . . . where in the world could it have gone to?! It's driving me nuts! It's a red ring, by the way, in case it shows up at your house, LOL.

Another inconsequential thing is a folder Nathan made during the Greek unit at our co-op. This is really unimportant, except to an irrational pregnant woman who was filing papers away in notebooks and realized Nathan didn't have anything representing all the great Greek stuff I taught him during that unit. I won't tell you how much time I spent looking for that Saturday night. It wasn't pretty.

So you can clearly see from these examples that there is some sort of plot going on here, something subtle enough as to not raise a big alarm, but just annoying enough to make me really go crazy. It's just hard to nest when you can't find all the little twigs you need. Sigh.

So here I sit, eating ice cream and blogging. Christine called a few hours ago to see if I could teach tomorrow at co-op for her. She's teaching the character part to the K-4 and K-5, and I am supposed to teach that next week, so we just switched. That all sounds fine except that I am having a very difficult time coming up with anything to do on the spur of the moment. The unit is on architecture, and so I thought something about how our words can build up or tear down would be appropriate. And maybe if I had a little more notice, I would be able to come up with something great! As it is, I hunted around for one of my character story books so I could find a good story on kindness or something and . . . you guessed it . . I can't find the book. Now I'm at a standstill. Maybe more ice cream will help.

*Update* Now I am NOT teaching tomorrow--whew! Christine called back to say that Joel really isn't sick--he is having an allergic reaction. While that's not a good thing per se, it does mean that he can go in the nursery tomorrow, and she can teach. So I dodged that bullet. Of course, by this time I did find an appropriate Maxi and Mini Muffin story, and even a coloring page, so I am set for next week. Unless, of course, I lose my folder . . .

Pregnancy Hormones Run Amok

I had a doctor's appointment today, which went fine. The kids all went over to the McC's house, which made them very happy, so on the way to pick them up, I stopped by the healthfood store to pick up more of my toothpaste. I have to use toothpaste without sodium laurel sufate (the foaming agent) in it, because otherwise I get terrible cankersores. I love Dr. Burt's lavender mint toothpaste--no SLS, and it tastes good. There are no major brands without this substance in them. Anyhow, there was none on the shelf, so I asked when they would be getting more in. The lady said Burt's Bees has discontinued it. Discontinued it?!! Oh No!!!!!!! What am I going to do? I was so upset; my stomach dropped, and I got a little teary-eyed there in the store. I did start crying when I called Bob to tell him the bad news. Maybe I'll have to buy the recipe from Burt himself and start making my own, LOL. That sounds like something I have time for. Sigh. The third trimester is not a good time for unexpected changes. Now, after a tragedy like this, I am supposed to cook dinner?! LOL

Anna's New Skill

Anna has mastered climbing the stools in the kitchen, so now she can be at counter level. Obviously she is pretty proud of this feat! A whole new world of things to get into has opened up for her! So now I have to make sure no cups with water are near the edge of the counter. Or knives . . . or glass bowls . . . Yes, I really could have waited for this particular milestone! Anna is such a nosy Nellie who always wants to see what is going on, however, so I'm not surprised that mastering the stool was a bigger priority than walking. She can tell that a lot goes on up there on that counter, and she has very vocally wanted to be in on it! Now she can. It would be helpful if she would also master getting OFF the stool, but that has not happened yet either. Ah well.

I am seriously worried that she will not be walking by the time the new baby is born, a mere 7 weeks away. She has really shown absolutely no interest in walking, or even really in standing alone. She can stand alone, but she doesn't stay there long before she's down on her knees, crawling away. I think she feels she's quite a good crawler, and she can keep up with the boys that way, so why learn a new skill that will slow her down for awhile until it is mastered?! At least she's not my first baby, with a second coming so close. I do have plenty of helpers to hold her if need be while I deal with the new baby. But it would be so much nicer if she was walking, or at least standing confidently . . .

Praying for your husband

Several posts ago, Bob commented on how incredibly busy he is right now. Here's a refresher: he's taking 2 master's courses (with all the inherent projects, tests, and assignments), he needs to replace the garage doors (whenever we get approval from our HOA, grr), taxes need to be filed, he just finished his 2 year relicensing process for real estate, he just got a listing and so needs to do all that paperwork, we'll be having another baby in less than 8 weeks or so . . . it just goes on and on. As a praise, he did pass his physical today (yay!), and he has also decided to stop doing Bible Study Fellowship and instead be a part of a new men's group at our church. This only meets every 3rd Saturday, and frankly I think anything our pastor leads is going to be a very good thing. They're going through a systematic theology book.

All that to say, I've been really trying to pray consistently for Bob. We also have a lot of big decisions regarding retirement and our options there, and so far God has not emblazoned any answers on the lawn or anything, so that is another area for prayer. Two years ago at the Ladies' Retreat for our old church, we got a list if things to pray for our husbands each day of the week. This is what I've been doing for Bob, so I thought I would share them again, in case you might not have been reading my blog way back in February 05 (gosh, that seems like such a long time ago!).


Sunday: That he might become a holy man, a man of prayer, mature in the Lord, growing in his knowledge of the God. (1 Thes. 5:23, Col. 4:12, Eph. 1:18-19, 3:16-19, 6:18) That he might daily seek God with all his heart, walking in the Spirit moment by moment, growing in his dependence on Him. (Ps. 119:1-2, 27:4. Prov. 3:5-6, John 15:5)

Monday: That he would learn to take every thought captive, to not be confused into the world's thinking, but to think spiritually. (2 Cor. 10:5) That he would learn not to depend on his circumstances for happiness, but on God alone. (Hab. 3:17-19)

Tuesday: That he might have new strength in the midst of his busy schedule, and that the Lord might infuse him with His strength. (Eph. 3:14-19) That his self-image might be a reflection of the Lord's thoughts toward him. (Eph. 1:17-19, Rom. 12:3, Ps. 139)

Wednesday: That he might become a called man, not driven, with well-thought-through and prayed-through goals in life. (1Cor. 9:24-27) That the Lord might give him wisdom to lead his family physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. (Eph. 1:17-19, James 1:5-7)

Thursday: That he might stand firm against the schemes of the devil, and resist Satan in all circumstances. (Eph. 6:10-18, James 4:7) That he might not be deceived into unbelief and sin. (Gal. 6:7)

Friday: that the fruit of the Spirit might be exhibited more and more in his life. (Gal. 5:22-23) That he might learn to love as God commanded. (1 Cor. 13:4, Rom. 12:8-10)

Saturday: That the Lord might protect him, guarding his course. (Prov. 2:8) That he might learn to manage his time well. (Eph. 5:15)

The A-Wing Fighter Cake

Well, here it is, although you can't really see much detail in the picture! I chose this picture so you could see the Lego model and its box, in case you (like me) have no idea what an "A-Wing Fighter" is supposed to look like in the first place. The gray things on the sides are actually prezel rods frosted gray, and they are the "laser cannons". I used Oreos on the back as the engines. While the boys were quite pleased with the darker red color, since I used "burgundy" gel instead of just plain red, what we did not count on was the fact that it was not "no-taste red", which is what we usually use for red. And let me tell you, it tasted! Blech! Good thing there wasn't really much of it, LOL. Luke was quite happy with my efforts, and now, after Bible study, there remains only the part around the cockpit, so everyone else liked it too!

Month of Luke

We've been celebrating Luke's 8th birthday for a few weeks now. His actual birthday is Feb. 27, which was the day we drove back from Ohio. Unless you count listening to Henry Huggins and snacking all day to be a celebration, that particular day wasn't filled with birthday cheer. But a few days before, we all went to Young's where we had ice cream, and Luke received some great presents, like a kit on making balloon animals (we've tried a few, and believe me, this is not as easy as those clowns make it look, LOL) and a gift card for Barnes and Noble. He also got a set of Star Wars figures, which made the ride home go a lot faster for him and Nathan! We went to Barnes and Noble the next day so he could pick out his books. The gift card was for $25, and he and Nathan had a great time selecting which books, including tax, would maximize the value of the card. Finally they picked 4 books (Star Wars of course, since I would never buy those for them, LOL), and the total price came to $24.45, due to their careful calculations. Hey, there are adults who can't figure out things like that! Luke was especially thrilled because he got the remaining $.55 in change.

Last night we finally had his special birthday dinner, since we made a huge commissary trip on Wednesday. This is the first time since the beginning of December that we have gone, and let me tell you, the ol' pantry was getting pretty bare! He requested Aunt Amy's lasagna, which we all enjoyed, except for the fact that I forgot to get tomato paste at the commissary and had to make a special trip to the little store down the road. Grrr. We spent over 2 hours and $800 on groceries (I told you it was a huge trip), and I forgot something for a meal the NEXT day! But I digress . . .

Due to my glucose test preparations last week, I didn't feel like making a cake, so we're bringing his cake to Bible study tonight. Luke wanted a Star Wars ship, so we decided on the A-Wing fighter because it looked to be the easiest. We still have the box from the Lego model they got for a present one year, so that is what I will go by. We'll see how that turns out. And I think that tonight will be the final celebration of this 8th birthday!

* Big Sigh of Relief *

The doctor's office called this afternoon to tell me the results of the glucose test. When I realized it was the receptionist, and not the doctor herself, I was pretty hopeful, and she said that my results were normal! Yay! I will certainly keep exercising like a madwoman, however, and keep late night ice cream parties to a bare minimum, LOL. But I don't have to take a nutrition class and learn how to prick my finger and test my blood several times a day. Wahoo!

I'm Alive!

Well, I'm sure all of you loyal readers will be relieved to know that I did indeed make it through the glucose test with no problems, and in fact it was not tramatic at all, proving once again that your mind can really psyche you out by only concentrating on the worst case scenario. There were a man and a woman working at the lab today. The woman was quite skillful; the man not so much. Of course it would happen that he drew my blood 3 out of the 4 times, but while he inflicted more pain, he still got the samples with no problems. They both were able to even got a sample out of my bad right arm, so it turns out that even scarred veins heal themselves! Who knew?! I guess it has been over 5 years since that disasterous time while pregnant with Caleb when the techs could not get any blood out of that arm, and I have not let anyone try since then, so I haven't had any new data to go by. What a relief to have that over and done with! I felt fine throughout the test. Now we just wait for the results.

Worries . . .

Tomorrow is my 3 hour test (have I mentioned that lately? LOL!). I'm dreading it, quite frankly. When I was pregnant with Caleb (#3), I passed my 1 hour test just fine, but then several weeks later I spilled some sugar into my urine at a routine appointment. Since this was at Wright-Pat, big teaching hospital that it is, their immediate response was to send me in for a 3 hour one. (In a historical footnote, I was scheduled for it right after 9/11, but the base was closed so I had to come in a few days later. The base was still on super-tight security, and it took almost 3 hours to get to the lab--I left the house at 6:00 and started the test at 9:00. Nightmare right there.)

Anyhow, back to my current fears . . . you may know that I had some blood clots in my right arm right after we got married, and because of the catheters, etc. to deal with them, I have substantial scarring in the veins of my right arm, and so it is practically impossible to draw blood from there. When I had the last 3 hour test (where they draw your blood once before you start, then 3 more times after you drink the stuff), the techs had a progressively harder time finding a place to draw blood on my left arm. By the time they were trying to draw the last vial, 3 hours later, they could not get anything. Believe me, there is nothing so aggravating as having people poke around your veins when you have had NOTHING TO EAT for 12 hours except a huge load of nasty glucose drink! I was very jitterly and nauseaus, which I never am during blood draws. Finally they had to resort to calling an "expert" from the big inpatient lab upstairs, and he got the sample with no problems, probably due only to my fervent prayers. My poor arm was bruised for weeks.

Tomorrow however, there will be no expert on hand to be called if there are problems! So I am praying that the person will be able to get the blood samples needed with a minimum of poking and fussing. I'll let you know how it goes!

Big Day for Nathan!

Nathan is playing Upwards basketball for the first time this season, and today he scored 2 baskets! He was so very excited--they are his first baskets! His team has one really tall guy, and a few boys who have obviously played several seasons and are pretty good, so I don't think the team has lost yet (unlike his soccer team, which lost every game, LOL). By the time Nathan scored his first basket, the score was 14-4, and so his teammates kept passing Nathan the ball until he finally scored. It was very sweet, and a reminder of why I like Upwards--they really do emphasize everyone participating, as opposed to winning. The tall guy kept rebounding all through the game and passing the ball to whatever other shorter, less basketball-favored kid was around him so he could take a shot. I think the end score was 30-12 or something like that. But Nathan felt like he contributed!

In other news, we now have one working garage door again! A few days after we left for Ohio, Bob called to say that the door where I usually park the van was not going up--the motor was spinning, but nothing was moving. He looked inside the opener, and some white pastic gear thing was broken, so he ordered the new part. The directions were pretty complicated, but then he ran into someone at work who happened to have changed out that exact same part on his opener earlier, so he talked Bob through it all! Bob started on it last night and pretty much finished it, but then as we were admiring the door going up and down again, we noticed that something wasn't right with one of the pulleys--it kept going off track. So Bob realized we needed new pulleys as well, and he went off early this morning to Home Depot to get those as well as 2 new doors. He got the doors, and the pulleys, and he replaced the pulleys, so our one garage door now goes up and down smooth like butter! We are waiting to put the doors themselves up because we aren't sure about them--they have little windows along the top, and we realized that no one else in our whole neighborhood has windows on their garage doors. So we called the HOA people, and they said they needed to approve the doors, since they are different. We should hear back in a few days. If they deny it, no big deal--we'll just get the doors without windows. Neither Bob nor I have my heart set on these, but Bob got them for the same price as the door without windows, and you know we can't pass up a bargain! In the meantime, we have one garage door working!

My morning was spent at a big consignment sale for children's stuff. We don't have any good consignment stores around here, but twice a year there are several huge consignment sales at local churches that I like to go to. Last Fall I even consigned some stuff myself, and almost everything sold! I was looking for a new infant carseat, which I did find. Ours is 8 years old and showing its age, so we thought it was time to upgrade. I bought a Graco that is not quite 3 years old and in great shape. I'm looking for a Graco double stroller too, which I think this car seat would fit into. I have to really find a bargain though, because we actually have a double stroller--the problem is that it is also 8 years old, no infant carseat fits in it, and the back seat is not higher than the front, so no one wants to ride back there because you can't see. Plus, it is incredibly heavy. They have made big strides in stroller development in 8 years! I didn't find a double stroller at this sale, but there is another one at the end of March, plus I'm keeping my eyes on craigs list. I have also realized that we need more crib bedding, since we got rid of Nathan's old set several years ago, after Caleb didn't need it anymore. It was also showing its age! I didn't find any today though. I did buy a few maternity shirts and a few things for Anna.

The ice storm that keeps on giving . . .

So we had a big snow/ice storm right before the kids and I left for Ohio. Our driveway and front walk simply do not get ANY sun at all during the winter, so the ice just hangs on, melting when warm and then refreezing. This has caused some major problems this time around. For one, we now need a new garage door because the Pathfinder slid on the ice in the driveway and ran into the door, breaking it. And then today we got a registered letter from the Post Office saying that our mail man slipped on the ice by our front door while delivering a package on Feb. 16 and will probably be suing us. How lovely! This is really stressing me out, with the glucose test on Monday and now this lawsuit threat. The mail man "sustained bruised ribs and was also given prescriptions", and any claim will include "special damages (medical bills, etc.) and general damages (pain and suffering, inconvenience)". Sigh.

This answers all my questions . . .

Here is part of an interesting article in today's Washington Times called Ice Cream Induces the Arrival of Stork.

Want a bun in the oven? Then go have a big bowl of ice cream. Add a little whipped cream, too. Harvard University announced yesterday that drinking whole milk and eating high-fat ice cream appears to benefit women who want to get pregnant. Skim milk may not be baby-friendly: The study found that women who dutifully ate two or more daily servings of low-fat dairy products each day increased their risk of ovulation-related infertility by a whopping 85 percent. An extra serving per day increased their risk by another 11 percent. Women who scarfed down a single serving of high-fat dairy food every day actually reduced their risk of infertility by 27 percent. The study lauded ice cream in particular: Women who ate the genuine creamy variety two or three times a week reduced their risk of infertility by 38 percent.

So I think we can all draw some conclusions about this unexpected pregnancy, LOL. I am sure I was faithfully eating ice cream last August--I had to keep up my milk supply, you know. Here is the shocker at the end of the article, however:

Dairy products may play another role in pregnancy. According to research published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine in May by Dr. Gary Steinman, an attending physician at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, women who consume animal products -- specifically dairy -- are five times more likely to have twins.

Whew--I guess I've been lucky these past 6 times!