Cloning

Our babies all come out looking the same, with the same chubby cheeks and shape of head.  Evidence:

 Verity

 Faith (Look--same outfit!)

 Grace

 Anna

And even the boys:

 Micah

Drew

Anna is as far back as pictures on the computer go, and I am too lazy to hunt up baby pictures of the older 4 boys from the basement and scan them in, so you'll just have to take my word for it--they looked the same too!  Bob and I have a strong stamp for our babies!

A Few Last Pregnancy Thoughts

• Usually I drink raspberry tea, or as in the past few pregnancies, took red raspberry leaf capsules, to promote uterine toning and effective contractions.  This time, however, I tried something new after someone left a comment on my blog recommending it.  I tried a tincture of herbs called "Gentle Birth Formula" by Mountain Meadow Herbs, although I bought mine from amazon.  I started drinking 1/4 tsp. in a little bit of water at 35 weeks. For the first week, I only drank it before breakfast, but for the other weeks, I drank it before all 3 meals.  I would say it was at least as effective as the raspberry leaf (which is one of the herbs it does contain), and I did go into labor myself, so that was huge, although I know that was also a direct answer to lots of prayer!  I kind of think the end contractions were easier to deal with after I drank the really, really strong raspberry tea that I used to brew when I went into labor, though.  I wished I could have done that before driving to the hospital this time, but alas, I never got any raspberry tea bags for this pregnancy.  Still, I would recommend trying the tincture.  It was somewhat expensive--4 ounces for $30.00 plus $6.40 shipping--but it did last the whole 5 weeks.  
• The past few pregnancies I have had a terrible time with my arms falling sleep at night, no matter how I slept.  It was so annoying!  But sometime earlier this year (I can't even remember exactly when!), Bob and I were out, and I bought a new pillow at Bed, Bath, and Beyond--one of those fancy "side-sleeping with special gussets" pillows.  It has been WONDERFUL!  And my arms did not fall asleep once this pregnancy.  I should totally have spent actual money on an actual nice pillow years ago!  I was honestly surprised at how big a difference it made, although I shouldn't have been.
• Back in June, when I reviewed all the various pregnancy workout DVDs I used, the last one I reviewed, "Fit Mommy-to-Be Prenatal Yoga with Hilaria Baldwin" was definitely the dvd I used least often, except when I was having back or hip problems.  I liked it, but it just didn't feel like it was a very good workout.  Well, fast forward to the last few weeks of pregnancy--I started doing it a lot more often because I was uncomfortable, and the stretching felt soooo good.  Also, I knew from all my previous pregnancy research on places like spinningbabies.com how important it is to move your hips asymmetrically to get your baby into a good position, and the hip-opening segment is FULL of asymmetric stretches, which felt absolutely wonderful.  I did that workout last Wednesday--and lost my mucous plug Wednesday night.  I did it again on Saturday--and had made progress by the time I had my appointment Monday. So I definitely recommend this workout dvd, even if just for the last few weeks of pregnancy, to get the baby into a good position and help your hips/pelvis open up!  Also, I really kept up with chiropractor appointments towards the end of this pregnancy, and I think that did help as well.  
• I still think it is funny what doctors for each pregnancy have really emphasized.  With Drew, there was such focus on my blood clots, which happened 20 years ago, and I had to wear those horrid self-inflating ted hose during labor.  I hated those things with a fiery passion!  This time?  No one mentioned blood clots at all.  Ever.  The whole pregnancy.  No ted hose during labor, either!  
• I am so thrilled to not be pregnant now!  I feel so much better now, 2 days after delivery, than I did the whole month before.  My hips and pelvis feel great!  The place I am sorest is my left lower forearm, where my IV port was--it's so swollen and painful, and I have to guard it from Micah and Drew hitting my forearm and jumping on it.  Otherwise, I'm good!  The last few weeks of pregnancy were rough, and I'd be glad to not do it again.  In fact, I think I am just running out of gas for all things pregnancy related.  Towards the end of labor, I kept thinking about how done I am.  I thought, I could do this for someone else, like as a doula--I know what to suggest!  But for me--I'm done doing it!  Like Elizabeth L. said, this is a younger woman's game, LOL!  One of the hardest parts, I think, was the mental stretching the whole time of dealing with high school/college stuff at the same time as dealing with pregnancy stuff.  And how things just keep going, now that we've had the baby--there's not a real time of rest, where we all just stay home or anything.   I am really enjoying being able to sleep on my back though! 
• Funny story--Nathan had his interview with his USNA blue/gold officer Wednesday night.  It was rainy, and he had a bit of trouble finding the guy's house, so he was about 15 minutes late and felt under the gun a bit when he went in.  The guy asked how many siblings he had, so Nathan told him he was the oldest of 10.  The guy then asked how old his youngest sibling was, so Nathan said she had just been born that morning . . . the guy had definitely never had that answer before!  LOL!  The interview went really well after that.  Nathan said it was more like a conversation than an interview, and the guy even had played rugby at USNA!  Too funny though.  

Verity is Here!

Verity Christine was born at 6:33 AM on Sept. 24!  She was 9 pounds, 6 ounces, and 22 inches long.  "Verity" comes from the Latin word for "truth", so it's another virtue name, but we thought it was a good one, especially in a year where I'm teaching a Latin course!  May she stand up for truth in this world.  We always name middle names after family and friends, and in this case, Christine is both for my good friend Christine, who has been such a blessing on this homeschooling journey, but also for my sister-in-law Melinda, whose middle name is Christine, as is her daughter, Elia's.  Elia has a September birthday as well, so we told her this summer that this baby would be her special "birthday buddy".  How special that they can share a middle name too!

So, now for the birth story . . . Tuesday was a pretty normal day.  I dropped the kids off at their elementary co-op, then taught life science, anatomy, and then memory work at Rivendell.  I had contemplated not having my classes that day, but the life science kids were studying cellular respiration and photosynthesis, and I really thought they would benefit by having me go through the chapter with them, as opposed to just reading it, so I was glad I could do that.  The anatomy chapter was a short one on the integumentary system, and they probably could have done that on their own, but oh well.  Nathan asked if I went in to labor during class, could they all go along to the hospital for a field trip, LOL.

Through the day I had some bloody show, and contractions every so often, but nothing worth taking note of.  As the evening wore on, I felt more and more uncomfortable.  Bob and I took our usual walk, and I was just so achy, especially in my pelvis, definitely feeling "done" with the whole pregnancy thing.  Before I went to bed, I went in and talked to Nathan and Luke about the next day's plans, in case I wasn't there in the morning, since I was just feeling so weird.

Of course, the basement shower picked that night for a part to stop working so the thing wouldn't really turn off, so Bob had to fix that before we could go to bed!  So we got to bed late, around 11:30.  At 1:00 I woke up, went to the bathroom, and realized I was having contractions every 5 minutes, although they didn't seem especially strong.  But I was just feeling weird, and after my experience with Faith, where I didn't realize I was in labor until I was in transition, I was not really sure about my ability to always tell when things were actually happening.  So I woke Bob up from a sound sleep and told him I thought we should go in.  We got all our stuff together and drove to Bethesda, getting there a little after 2:00.  It was a good thing I wasn't showing up 9 1/2 cm dilated, like I did with Faith, because they were really full!  Bob and I sat in the hallway for awhile, waiting for a bed in labor triage to open up.  Eventually they got me in there, where they examined me and found that I was 5 cm dilated, 75% effaced, and confirmed with a monitor strip that I was having contractions every 5 minutes, so they admitted me.

When we got to the room, I read for a little while, but I was pretty tired.  It didn't really seem like the contractions were doing too much to move her down any further, so I was expecting they would have to start pitocin at some point.  Eventually the doctor came at 4:30 to examine me, and I was still all of 5 cm, so that was discouraging, albeit not shocking.  So they broke my water (which had some meconium), and I started laying on my left side, trying to get some rest.  The contractions got more painful, but at 6:00 I texted my mom to tell her that I still wasn't feeling much pressure or feeling that I was in transition.  The nice thing about not being on pitocin was being a lot more free to move around.  I realized that lying on my side wasn't helping her move down, so I got up and rocked on the birthing ball for a little while.  Sometimes I stood up and leaned over the bed, rocking my pelvis, trying to get my pelvis to open up, and her to move down.  The contractions got a lot more painful, and I did start feeling shaky and in transition.

At 6:25 I texted my mom to say that the doctor had just checked me again, and that I was now 7 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and the baby was at +1 station, so clearly being upright was helping.  I had a short conversation with the doctor and nurse about how they were going off-duty, so I would be delivering with the day staff.  I told them I didn't think it wouldn't be too long--"only a few more contractions" until I was ready to push.  I was standing by the bed, and I had another contraction and sure enough, felt like pushing.  The nurse took me at my word and called everyone in, including a pediatrician because of the meconium.  I awkwardly lay down on the bed, pushing while they checked me again (complete) and tried to break down the bed.  I pushed twice, and the head was out, and once more to deliver her.  She was born at 6:33, just 8 minutes after I had texted my mom!

After Verity was born, it looked like my uterus was firming up nicely, but after while, there were more clots that the nurse and doctor were comfortable with, so I did have to have an internal uterine sweep, as well as many very painful fundal massages.  They did give me a precautionary bag of IV antibiotics, though, so hopefully no infections this time!  They also gave me the lovely cytotec suppositories, and the methergine shot in the thigh, followed by the methergine series of pills for 24 hours.  I guess they should have just gone ahead and started all that right after I gave birth, assuming that my poor, tired uterus was not going to do its job and stop bleeding well, even without pitocin during labor (they did start a bag of pit right after delivery to help stop bleeding)!  Speaking of pit, it was so much nicer to have a pitocin-free labor.  The contractions were much easier to deal with--no huge, double-peaked contractions that last forever.  I am so thankful that the Lord answered that prayer.  I really just didn't feel like I had it in me to deal with a long pitocin labor, especially after a long, busy day at Rivendell.

After all the bleeding settled down, I ordered breakfast and scarfed that down while we waited to get into a post-partum room.  Once we moved over, we all rested for awhile.  My parents brought out everyone at lunchtime to visit, except poor Nathan, who had an orthodontist appointment at 11:00, followed by his calculus class at 12:30.  It was so sad and weird to not have him be there!  As I said in one of my last posts, none of our kids had been born on the same day of the month--but now Verity was born on the 24th--which is the same as Nathan, who was born on June 24th!  So things have come full circle . . .

Verity was super alert in the morning, and she nursed okay, but by the afternoon, all she wanted to do was sleep (hey, me too!).  I kept trying to get her to nurse, but she had no interest.  Because she was big (and because of my gestational diabetes), she had to have 4 heel sticks to measure her glucose levels, and I was so concerned that she was going to be low, which had happened with Faith and was a total pain to deal with.  But praise the Lord, she was able to keep her levels stable, even without much nursing!

Elizabeth L. stopped by in the afternoon, and we had a fun visit.  I told her I thought Verity would be wide awake all night long, since that was what she did while in the womb.  Sure, enough, starting about 9:00 PM, Verity was so awake and alert.  She nursed much better, but she definitely was not interested in sleeping!  Finally around 5:00 in the morning, she went back off to sleep, so I could really get some sleep too.  I hope it doesn't take too long to get her days and nights switched back around!

This morning, Verity was down to 8 pounds, 12 ounces.  They let us go home this afternoon, but we do have to bring her back in Saturday for a weight check.  Hopefully she'll continue to do better at nursing, so my milk will come in soon, and she'll start gaining again.  It is so nice to be home again--and not pregnant anymore!  Yay!!  Not surprisingly, everyone here adores Verity, and clamors to hold her whenever possible. She does not lack for attention!  Drew is no sure exactly what to think about her, but he is glad to have me back home, LOL.  I am enjoying snuggling with one last newborn, rubbing that soft, fuzzy head (which actually has a surprising amount of hair for one of our babies, especially in the back)!  She is a sweetie! 

Last OB Appointment

Hey, I made it into the "twenties" part of the month, so I should be able to have this baby any day now!  I had my last OB appointment AND last non-stress test this morning.  Yay!  I'm 4 cm dilated, and the baby is definitely lower than she was last week, so that is good.  Maybe the exam will start something, but I doubt it.  Nothing so far, as far as contractions go!  But hopefully the induction Thursday evening will go better than the one with Drew, where he was so high and wouldn't move down.  The doctor said maybe they wouldn't even give me pitocin, but just break my water.  That would be nice, but I doubt that too!  I was 5 cm when I went in with Micah, and I still was put on pitocin before they broke my water.  And I was 6 cm dilated with Anna, and still, pitocin!

So we're just waiting around in the meantime.  I'll go ahead and teach my Rivendell classes tomorrow, but I did decide not to have the Latin class meet on Wednesday.  Nathan has an interview with his blue and gold officer (that's what UNSA calls their admissions liaison officers) Wednesday evening, but he should be able to drive himself to that.  Everything else just pretty much goes on as always!

Poor Grace

Sometimes I think I blog because I no longer have time to scrapbook, but I really need to remember things.  This is the only way!  Grace has been feeling fine, continuing to take her antibiotics.  Tuesday when she came in from the morning co-op, she showed me some "bug bites" on her arms.  I glanced at them and clucked sympathetically, but didn't pay too much attention because she ran right out the door to play on the trampoline with her Rivendell friends, and I was getting ready for memory work.  But when we actually we doing memory work about an hour later, she was really scratching her arms.  I looked more closely, and there were really a lot of bumps.  On both arms.  And then I pulled up her shirt, and there were bumps all over her torso!  And legs!  Ack!  She definitely looked like she had the chicken pox or something (although I knew that wasn't it, since she's been vaccinated).

One of the other Rivendell moms, Michele, and I quizzed Grace about anything new she might have eaten, and so on, but there didn't seem to be any red flags.  I went upstairs to get a bottle of liquid children's benedryl, and as I was coming back down, it hit me--this looked very much like Drew's dreadful rash last summer . . . after he had been on amoxicillin for almost 10 days, while we were at White Sulphur Springs.  Hmmm . . .  So of course I stopped giving Grace her last 3 doses on medicine, and by tonight, the rash is going away.  I guess she is also allergic to amoxicillin, and I really need to remember to mention these reactions to a doctor whenever it looks like someone else might need antibiotics.

Nathan and Luke are better too--no more fevers--although they are still coughing a lot.  Everyone else seems to be just fine.

And just to see who actually reads these things, I lost my mucous plug tonight, so hopefully that means things will start on their own this time, and sooner rather than later!

The Last Days

 . . . of pregnancy, that is.  None of my clothes fit, I've eaten my weight in protein bars, hard-boiled eggs, cheese sticks, almonds, peanut butter, and other protein snacks, I'm uncomfortable no matter what position I'm in, I have used every public restroom within 10 miles multiple times, and I'm irritable!  We're in the home stretch though--my due date (and induction date) is 10 days away.

I had another OB appointment this morning.  As soon as the doctor walked in, I realized I was seeing the one who beats the "shoulder dystocia" drum.  He's really nice--I've seen him before in a few different pregnancies--but that is his big issue, and he didn't disappoint!  He asked if I'd had an ultrasound to see how big the baby was, and then he recommended I get one.  If it showed the baby was running 10 or 11 pounds, then I could get a c-section, since as he likes to say, the only way to guarantee you won't have shoulder dystoia is to have a section.  I said I really didn't feel like this was a 10 pound baby--probably another 9 pounder, but that will make my 4th 9 pounder, and I haven't ever had any problems delivering them.  I didn't really even have any problems delivering Micah at 10 pounds, 8 ounces, other than really having to push hard, which you don't really expect with #8!  Anyhow, I had an ultrasound like that with Anna, and it was off by like 2 pounds, so I am in no hurry to speculate this time!  I told him I was going to just try to go ahead and deliver vaginally.  I mean, I've got all this other homeschooling/college stuff going on, and I am hoping to bounce back quickly, so I don't think signing up for elective major abdominal surgery really fits with that plan, LOL.  I mean, if it happens, it happens, but I'm not planning on signing myself up for it!

I asked the doctor if he would try to strip my membranes, in hopes that maybe I would dilate a little more and avoid a super-long induction, even though I could tell the baby was still up fairly high.  I was right in that she is still high, but he was able to get a finger in and do a very thorough job of stripping the membranes, not that it seems to have done a single thing, as far as any meaningful contractions go.  Ah well.  I have another appointment next Monday, so that will be one more chance to try membrane stripping.  I definitely prefer to be induced when I'm already 5-6 cm, so I'm hoping that will happen, unlike with Drew, where I never really dilated more than 2-3 cm before starting the pitocin.

After the appointment, I headed upstairs for another non-stress test.  The baby surprised me by having moved over to lie on my left side, instead of my right, like most of my last babies have been.  She was again cooperative, so it didn't take too long.  Yay!

So now we wait.  While waiting, I ponder number patterns.  This baby is already being different by being born in September, when we haven't had anyone born from July-October before.  Also, all 9 of my babies have been born on different days of the month--but only in the beginning and the end of the month.  No baby has been born in the teens!  I have kids born on the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, and 9th, and then also on the 24th, 27th, 28th, and 30th, but no one in the middle.  Isn't it funny how they are clustered at the beginning and the end?!  So if I get induced on Sept. 25, I would most realistically deliver on Sept. 26--but regardless, both of those days are open and fit in my birthing day scheme at the end of the month!  But maybe this baby will break with tradition a second way, and be born early--on a day in the teens!  That would be really different!  I can hope anyway, LOL.

Weird Week of Sickness

Last Saturday Grace started running a fever of about 101.7.  It kept coming right back up as soon as the Motrin wore off, and Sunday she started complaining about her throat hurting, so I started thinking strep.  She basically just laid around Saturday and Sunday, taking a bunch of naps and generally looking dull and sick.  I made an appointment for her Monday for right after my non-stress test, so we hung out at Bethesda together for the morning.  The tech did a rapid throat culture, although I'm not really sure how thorough of a job she did on the swab itself.  The doctor saw how red her throat was, with little white spots on it which even I had been able to see on Sunday, and she agreed it definitely looked like strep.  But the rapid test came back negative.  So the doctor did her own swab (much more thorough), and we waited for the rapid test for that one too--also negative.  They were going to culture the first swab for 24 hours, but the doctor did something practically unheard of in military medicine--she started Grace on antibiotics anyway!  She looked back at her records and saw that the last time Grace had actually been on antibiotics was when she was 20 months old and had an ear infection, where her eardrum ruptured, while we were at my parents' house for Christmas.  So yeah, she's not really in danger of having too much unnecessary antibiotics or anything.  Still, I was so surprised!  So we got the meds and started her on them right away, and by Tuesday morning, she was feeling tons better, and her throat wasn't hurting anymore.  She still had to miss co-op, but hey, she was at least feeling better!  Oh, the 24 hour culture was negative too--so who knows if it was actually strep?  She certainly responded to the medicine though, so I'm not sorry about giving it to her.

I was definitely concerned when Faith, Micah, and Drew all started running fevers Tuesday afternoon as Rivendell was winding down.  Ummm . . . how was I going to get all of them in for appointments??  My week was pretty packed!  But then I realized that they were all just sick in a different way than Grace was.  Drew definitely had some kind of head cold thing, with a runny nose.  I wasn't concerned about that, although it did make him exceptionally crabby.  Faith and Micah didn't really have that, but their fevers weren't as high, and they just didn't act as sick as Grace did.  So I decided to just wait it out, and I was glad.  They were both fine by Thursday, which was good, since Faith had her first little art/science co-op that afternoon.  She definitely didn't want to miss that, and I didn't want to either, since I was teaching the science part that day.  We walked around the church, identifying the different trees and talking about leaves and so on.  It was fun, although very hot and humid.  I was melting!

Nathan started running a fever Wednesday night, which really worried me, since he took the ACT for the last time this morning.  But he went to bed early that night, slept for 12 hours, and was much better Thursday.  He was able to go to calculus as well as cross-country practice.  Bob, Luke, Caleb, and Anna have also been dealing with the head cold thing/allergy thing, with lots of sniffles and sneezing.  No fever though, and Caleb and Anna were well enough to come with me to the commissary on Friday, and Luke ran in a cross-country meet this morning.  I guess Jonathan is the one completely healthy kid!

So far the Lord has protected me--may He continue to do so!  I've actually been knocking things off my to-do-before-baby-comes list, and I hope I can stay healthy!  Today was a surprisingly productive day.  I (and Anna, my helper who loves to organize) put away all the groceries from the commissary (no small feat--$800 worth!), cut up several cuts of meat to freeze to use in various recipes, made a much wider and cleaner path through the garage (did not "clean the garage", however, lol--that was a bridge too far), cleaned out the big van (which hadn't been cleaned since before out big trip to Boston the end of July, and I was worried people were going to start sticking to the floor or something since it was so dirty and crumbly), washed all the newborn girl laundry including carseat covers, cleaned Bruno's cage, and got the guest bedroom and bathroom in the basement in order, in preparation for my parents, who are coming on Thursday!  Yay!  Of course the main floor looks like a tornado ran through it . . . I can't get all 3 floors looking nice at the same time, due to the concentrated efforts of the girls, Micah, and Drew.  That can be tomorrow's list, along with all my Rivendell prep for Tuesday!

No Rest For the Pregnant!

I remember when I was pregnant with Nathan, back in Colorado.  He was due on July 2.  I had been tutoring my neighbor in chemistry and college algebra, but I was done with that.  I had also been volunteering with "Right to Read", an adult literacy program, but I had stopped tutoring there as well.  My weeks during my last trimester centered around my wonderful moms walking group, which met Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  That left Tuesday and Thursday mornings for doctor appointments and trips to the library and commissary.  I also had to cook (measly amounts of) food for Bob and me, and do our (measly amount of) laundry.  Afternoons I spent down in our basement, eating Dole Fruit N Juice bars, since it was warm in Colorado in June (although not humid!), and we of course didn't have air conditioning.  I played with our big dogs, read books, and did the crossword puzzles my mother-in-law would send me.  What a life!

My last few weeks of pregnancy no longer look like that ideal, especially this pregnancy, LOL.  Right now I have a to-do list a mile long, and I am desperately trying to get everything done before this baby comes!  Thursday, after some school with the girls, my morning exercise, and a quick, early (low-carb, of course) lunch, I took the girls to get haircuts at Great Clips.  Anna started mentioning wanting a haircut after Lily C. got 27 inches (!!) cut a few weeks ago, and now she looks adorable with a little bob.  After we received our elementary yearbooks from last year on Tuesday, Anna fixated on a little girl in Jonathan's class, who also had a cute little bob, and from then on she mentioned haircuts approximately once an hour.  The girls all did need at least trims, but hadn't wanted any for awhile, so I figured I needed to strike while the iron was hot.

After haircuts all around, we had to stop at both Target and Office Depot, since I failed to get enough dividers and 1 1/2" binders for the 4 boys when I was getting school supplies at Walmart a few weeks ago.  And now Walmart looks like a plague of school-supply-eating locusts went through that section, so all you can get is spiral notebooks with weird covers and folders.  Target was the same, but fortunately Office Depot came through.  I bought 7 packages of dividers, so hopefully that will do, LOL.

We went rushing home because Luke and I needed to sign on to a virtual class orientation for a writing class we signed him up for back in March, when it sounded like a good idea.  Now he is just auditing it, since he has so much on his plate, but we needed to know how to access the recorded lectures, since the live class meeting is during his Spanish class.  While coming home, Luke called to ask if we were in fact going to be home to log on, and also to let me know that the USAFA admissions department had called with a "question about Nathan's transcript".  This led to much slightly panicked wondering on my part, as I tried to figure out what they could possibly be questioning, and if I would even be able to answer their question, whatever it might be.  I hope and pray they won't blame Nathan if I totally screwed something up!  Yeah--that was stressful.

After getting onto the orientation, I called the admissions department.  The question was where we took the classes we had listed as "AP" on our syllabus--at a school?  I was able to tell them that the classes were taken at Rivendell, and that all the teachers had approved syllabi with the College Board, and that I had listed each teacher in my course descriptions, so they could search the teacher's names to make sure they were listed as approved AP teachers (because you can't call a class "AP" unless you have the official College Board approval for your syllabus).  So that was actually an easy question to answer, but I was SOOO glad that I had gone back and listed every teacher and where the course was taken on the course description document for Nathan.  I need to go back and do that on the official Rivendell document too.  USAFA admissions is apparently on the ball with this stuff.  Whew!

Then Anna and I had to leap off again, this time to an eye doctor appointment for her.  I thought she had last been seen a year ago in April, but (whoops!) it turns out it was 2 years ago!  Her farsightedness is all gone, but she does have some astigmatism, so she is getting a different pair of glasses.  She has been complaining of some letters blurring together when she reads, especially small print, so hopefully the new glasses will be just the ticket to help her be able to spent more time reading.  The eye doctor did say something interesting.  She said that kids who play outside a lot tend to have less decline in their vision, maybe because they are focusing far away more, or maybe because of the effect of the sun's rays on their optic nerve.  So she recommended lots of outside play time for Anna.  Sounds good to me!

After we were done picking out new glasses at Walmart, we rushed home again.  I grabbed a quick bite of left-overs, and then Nathan and I drove off to first drop Luke off at cross-country practice, and then to continue on to Ft. Myer, where there was a West Point admissions briefing at the Officers Club.  That turned out to be interesting.  The briefer was an Army major assigned to West Point, but in charge of admissions for the southeast region.  He was a really good speaker--funny, self-deprecating, had good stories, etc.--so he was very easy to listen to.  Plus, he looked a lot like my cousin Pilot!  We knew a lot of what he had to say, but he did bring out some interesting differences.  West Point mainly bases their decisions on essays and ACT/SAT scores, even for public school students.   We went up and talked with him afterward to ask him a question about letters of recommendation, and I told him about how USAFA wanted the course descriptions, called me this afternoon, etc.  He laughed and said that USAFA had 6 people doing his job, and he didn't really look at any of that extra stuff.  We were also able to talk to someone who works with our Congressional representative on his nomination committee, and he had some good info about that process.  Nathan also got to meet his military admissions liaison officer, and it was good to put a face to that name/voice.  He was very nice and helpful.  So just meeting and talking with these men was very useful, so we were glad we went.  I will say that I stuck out (ha!  I'm so punny!) like a sore thumb as I waddled around, getting up to pee several times.  Definitely no other pregnant moms were there!  Nathan and I didn't get back home until around 10:15, and then we worked on some stuff for his nomination packages.  He's getting ready to send all that in on Monday, so we are coming down to the wire!

Friday morning I had to drive to Bethesda for both an OB appointment and a non-stress test.  On Wednesday it took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to get there at 10:00, so this time I left a little before 8:00 for a 9:20 appointment--and of course there was very little unusual traffic, so I was there in plenty of time.  You just can't predict!  The appointment went fine.  The doctor scheduled me for an induction starting Thursday night, Sept. 25, although she did say that if my glucose numbers weren't "tightly controlled", then they would still induce me a week early.  She checked my cervix, but I'm just 1 cm and still high, which is probably how I've been the whole time, LOL.  I couldn't get another appointment next week, so I won't see someone until next Monday, Sept. 15.  Hopefully my numbers will stay fine.  They've been good ever since we got back from White Sulphur Springs.

Then I headed up to the prenatal assessment clinic for the non-stress test.  Baby was not quite as cooperative as she was on Wednesday, but it didn't take too terribly long.  She is hard to keep on the monitor , though, as it seems all of mine are.  That alone makes me dread an induction, where there has to be continuous monitoring.  I have hold the sensor thing at a certain angle to keep her on, and whenever she moves around, it's all lost.  So the tests are not all that relaxing for me!

I had to go up to the pharmacy then and pick up more glucose test strips.  I ended up waiting over an hour before I went up and asked a tech who had a minute before he called the next person to his window.  It turned out they had totally skipped over my number, so I waited way longer than I should have had to!  I did finish my book though.  I didn't get home until after 1:00 (and I was STARVING), so it was a long morning.   And I still had a chiropractor appointment at 2:45, so I wasn't even home very long, just long enough to eat lunch and do memory work with Jonathan and the girls!  After my chiro appointment, I stopped by the library to pick up some more books for me to read during the non-stress tests.  I got some murder mysteries, which hopefully won't take up too much of my ever-diminishing brain power.  Then it was home for a quick dinner, then off to Bible study, where Nathan picked up the last of his letters of recommendation (thanks, Tim!).  Afterwards, we came home and worked on the last of his essays and got him ready for this morning, where CAP had set up a time to practice interviewing and to give feedback on essays for cadets applying to academies or ROTC.

So finally I fell into bed around 11:30.  This is definitely not the relaxing time of my first pregnancy!  No fruit n juice bars either, which is a bummer.  Those are really good!

New School Year

So most things have started up now, so I thought it would be good to document what we're doing for school this year.

• Nathan is taking calculus at the community college.  It seems that he has a good teacher, so hopefully that will continue going well.  His class is the same time and days, and is right next door, to Isaac's math class, so that has been really nice.  They can even carpool and only get one parking pass!  Nathan is taking AP literature, AP world history, and AP macroeconomics at Rivendell, as well as anatomy & physiology.  He's doing an Intro to Java course through homeschoolprogramming.com, and he is really enjoying that so far.  He is also going to take physics from derekowens.com, so we'll see how that goes.  All he has to do now is actually start the course!  Right now he is pushing to get everything all together to mail in all the nomination packages next Monday.  He also is hoping to take the CFA (fitness test for the academies) next Sunday, which is the last big thing for his academy application.  Then it will be on to ROTC applications . . .  Hopefully he will be less busy after Christmas!
• Luke has an incredibly busy year for a sophomore.  He'll be taking the 3 AP courses at Rivendell like Nathan, and he's also taking AP Spanish through pottersschool.org.  That was not something we were really planning on at all, but then Christine found out about the "AP International Diploma program", where you have to take AP classes from all these different areas and score a 3 or higher on all of them.  By taking AP Spanish this year, he'll only lack AP biology, which he should be taking next year.  So that is going to be crazy, because the AP language tests are really weird.  Luke is also taking A & P from me, as well as an Intro to Computing class at Potters, and Algebra 2 at home (although Christine is going to help keep accountable by giving him dates to turn in tests!).  He's not looking forward to this year!
• Caleb has hit the big time--he is now at Rivendell on Tuesdays as well!  He has life science with me, as well as logic, literature, and history.  He'll also take Latin with me on Wednesdays, and he's doing Algebra 1 with Christine and Daniel McC.  This year will be a lot busier for Caleb than ever before, but I know he can do it!  
• Jonathan has one more year left at TNT, but he is also taking lit and history at Rivendell on Tuesday afternoons. Since we're restarting the 4 year cycle with the ancients this year, it made sense to go ahead and include him and Lily C., both of whom are 6th graders.  He'll also be in the Latin class on Wednesdays.  He's doing CLE math, language arts, and science this year, so we'll see how that goes.  So far I like it, and it's nice to have the smaller "light units" to work through, instead of a bunch of big texts.  He and Caleb are both going to take an art class over at Christine's house this semester once a week, and they both are really looking forward to that starting up.  I'm so glad we live close together!
• Anna and Grace are also using CLE this year, but just for math and language arts.  I started them back in July, which turned out to be good, since we're not getting much formal stuff done together during the week, with all my appointments.  They can both work independently, though, and they are zipping right along through the light units.  We haven't done much memory work, character stuff, or even Story of the World, like we usually do during our school days so far though.  That should get better after the baby comes. Three more weeks . . . They are starting up gymnastics again on Monday, which makes them both very happy!
• Faith is definitely getting the short end of the stick, as far as dedicated school time, right now before the baby comes.  She needs the most hand-holding, since she isn't reading incredibly fluently or anything, and I just haven't had the time.  She's got a good head for math and phonics, so I am sure she will leap ahead once I have the baby and don't have to spend so much time exercising and driving to and from Bethesda.  In the meantime, she helps keep Micah and Drew occupied, as they fuss over duplos or whatever the other person is playing with, LOL.  She is going to do a special little co-op Thursday afternoons with some other 4 and 5 year olds, focusing on science and art.  I'm leading the first science lesson next Thursday afternoon, on trees.  I think she is really going to enjoy the time socializing--she is such a little social butterfly! 

So that's an overview of school for us this year.  It definitely gets busier and busier as the kids get older!  We'll see how the juggling goes, especially once I add a nursing newborn to the mix.  That's the thing about having a baby in September--you have the baby, and you still have practically the whole school year starting down at you!  What terrible timing!  Thankfully I don't have to do it on my own--the Lord is my strength, and he has also provided wonderful friends to walk this path alongside us!

Weekend Retreat

We spent the weekend at White Sulphur Springs.  My parents' OCF/chapel group had their annual retreat, so we joined them.  It was a lovely weekend, as usual.

Saturday was a beautiful day, weather-wise, and the kids ran around all over the place.  The girls and little boys did some bowling, and then Anna, Micah, and I had to use the bathroom, so we headed over to the old hotel.  Afterward, Anna and Micah were playing on the wagon in front, and I got to thinking how we always used to get a family picture taken on the wagon.  I think the last one we have is when Grace was a baby.  At that point, I was determined to get a family wagon picture this year.

Of course, the weather was not so cooperative on Sunday.  It rained right after lunch, and then Drew was really crabby, so I put him down for a nap.  Then I walked the girls and Micah down to the rock-climbing wall in the barn.  Eventually all the other boys showed up at the climbing wall, so after the rock-climbing was over, I hiked back up to the new hotel to wake up Drew and track down Bob.  We drove back down because I was dripping with sweat, lol.  It was still humid up in the mountains!  I was very happy to get my family wagon picture.

After the picture, we poked around the old hotel some.  The boys remember staying there, but the girls don't really remember it much.  I of course have fantastic memories from my summers working up there, so it has a very special place in my heart!

One of the other couples from the retreat was looking around too, and the husband was flipping through an old scrapbook out on the coffee table.  On the very first page, he was surprised to recognize Bob!  And then we were both surprised to see that a picture of me was right below it, from a different year!  So fun!  My friend Emily (the one on the left in the picture) said she put the scrapbook together, so we'll just say she was inspired to include our pictures like that!

When we got done, Nathan and Luke were involved in a game of horseshoes, but during a break, I was able to take a picture of all the boys (not that I could get them all to look at the same time).  I have to treasure times when everyone is all together, because I know those times are going to be rarer and rarer!

So we had a wonderful weekend, which made it all the harder to come back today and jump right back into our 2 co-ops, which kicked off today.  I'm sure heaven will be like White Sulphur Springs, just with no looming threat of school!

Week of Appointments and a Ceremony

I had the best of intentions of taking some pictures to put in this post . . . but it didn't happen.

• Monday Micah and Drew had well-baby appointments.  Technically Micah turned 3 on April 9, and Drew turned 18 months on May 30, so let's just say I wasn't early with these, LOL.  They were another thing I had all summer to do, just like the tea party!  Fortunately I was able to get 2 appointments together before September.  It was very good to get that out of the way!  Both boys are healthy.  Micah is really big for someone in our family--84th percentile for height and weight.  We NEVER see those numbers!  Micah is also still remarkably uncooperative.  He started fussing as soon as we went back to get weighed and whatnot.  The tech said, "I haven't even done anything yet!"  Yes, well . . . that's our charming Micah.  He did NOT get a lollipop at the end, LOL.  Drew was in contrast very cooperative, so that was good.  He's also bigger than average for us--the 44th percentile.  Fortunately, Drew was the only one who needed shots.  He wasn't happy about getting them, but it was a lot less stressful than if it had been Micah, I'm sure.  Grace tagged along as the designated big person helper, and she did a great job.
• Wednesday I had another OB appointment, followed by my first non-stress test.  The appointment went well.  I saw yet a different doctor, and this one was quite unconcerned about how my fasting numbers are once again hovering right over the cut-off of 95.  It just underscores how different each doctor's assessment of "reasonable risk" is, because I think the doctor I saw last week would have already put me on pills at night.  I'm expecting that at next week's appointment, though.  The non-stress test was fine, although it took longer than it could have, since the baby always sleeps in the morning (after being wide awake all night long, dancing on my bladder).  Finally it was time for my mid-morning snack, and she eventually woke up enough for her to move and have her heartrate go up and do what it needed to do.  The only bad thing is that I have to go back not once, but TWICE a week for these crazy things.  I do not envision having a very productive month of schooling with the girls, with all these trips to Bethesda looming each week.  Less than 4 weeks to go . . .
• Yesterday I had another chiropractor appointment, and then Nathan and I drove out to a centrally-located high school for our county for his driver's licensing ceremony.  Virginia is apparently the only state which does not just give the teens their actual driver's licence once they finish all the requirements.  Instead, they get a piece of paper saying they can drive, which is valid along with their learner's permit, until they go to this ceremony and get their actual license.  Nathan got the letter back in the end of May, but he was scheduled for a ceremony in June, while he was at PJOC.  So I had to call to get him a different date.  We had sort of assumed there would maybe be 50 people there or something, but when we drove up to the high school, the parking lot was full like there was a home football game or something, and there was a solid mass of people lined up starting at the door and wrapping around the building.  We joined the throng of teens and parents, and waited outside for 15 minutes to file inside.  I was melting, but really it could have been hotter.  Thankfully I didn't have to desperately pee or anything!  Inside the auditorium, a judge talked for a bit, and then the county prosecutor, and then the judge came back up for awhile.  What they said was actually quite good and sobering, about the privilege of driving, and how devastating it is if you are the one who harms or kills someone else because of bad decisions.  It was more than just the standard "you're going to die because you are a risky teenage driver" spiel.  Also the judge really stressed how the parent is the one who determines who can drive, and if they ever feel like the teen is not living up to whatever standards they have decided on, even attitude-wise or chore-wise, then it is the responsibility of the parents to take away the license.  After about 45 minutes of talking, the deputies started dismissing the auditorium 2 rows at a time to go to the back, where there were 4 tables set up, divided alphabetically.  There you waited in line, and eventually the clerk handed the parent the license after the teen turned in their learner's permit and piece of paper.  It all took approximately forever, and then we had to wait for awhile to be able to get out of the parking lot!  It was good and all, but the thought of having to do that 9 more times is rather unsettling.  We saw several families we knew, and we sat behind one lady.  Her youngest (out of 8, I believe)  is the same age as Nathan, and he and Jake were in TNT together.  So now she is all done, whereas I am just starting . . .
• And speaking of starting, this morning, Bob took Luke to the DMV at the Pentagon to take his learner's permit test, which he passed with flying colors, not missing any questions.  So it all begins again--first the parking lot, then the neighborhood, then the rest of D.C.! 

Tea Party!

Anna, Grace, and Faith hosted a tea party this afternoon for 9 of their friends!  They have been wanting to do this for approximately forever.  Two summers ago during Grandma/Grandpa camp, Anna, Grace, and their cousin Emily had a tea party at a little tea room in Ohio with Grandma and Aunt Claire.  They had an absolutely wonderful time, but I think the place closed, since they haven't been back.

Well, sometime this winter, Anna and Grace started talking about having a tea party here.  I told them we'd have plenty of time to do it during the summer.  The girls made the guest list and planned various food delicacies to make, while I kept waiting for all the time we'd have in the summer.

About 2 weeks ago I realized that the summer was almost over, I'd be having the baby soon, and if we didn't get this tea party going, it would be hanging over my head for another year!  So I sent out invitations right then to make sure it actually happened, LOL.

The girls were over-the-moon excited!  We made a trip to Party City to buy plates, napkins, cups, and decorations!  I glanced at a few pinterest-inspired blogs, but I was simply not up to trawling thrift stores to buy real tea cups and saucers for each girl, making my own decorations, figuring out elaborate crafts and creative games, etc.

We did, however, make all of our own food!  Anna really wanted strawberry tarts, so I found a recipe on Taste of Home that sounded good.  It was for one big tart, but I knew we wanted individual ones.  It also used a pie crust, but I found these little phyllo cups in the frozen section at Wegmans, and hey, that was just a lot easier than me making a ton of little pie crust tarts.  I made a test batch of 12 on Sunday, and they were a big hit, so I made 36 for the party (and for the boys to have some down in the basement, where they were banished).  There is a thin layer of chocolate on the crust, then a custard-y layer, then the strawberries, which are brushed with current jelly.  Delicious!

I also made little turkey/cheese sandwiches, in an attempt to have a tiny bit of protein in the middle of all these carbs.  You can't see very well, but they are in the shapes of crowns and castles.  I had these cookie cutters in those shapes that I had bought several years ago because I was going to do something with them for one of the girl's birthdays.  I never used them then, but they were perfect for the sandwiches today!

We also made chocolate-covered strawberries, and chocolate-covered pretzels (to use up the remaining chocolate after we finished with the strawberries).  Those were very popular!  I dipped 2 pounds of strawberries, and we only had a few left.  And therein lies the difference between boy parties and girl parties--a boy party would have most certainly had no chocolate-covered strawberries left!  Probably nothing else either, LOL.

I also made some little loaves of banana bread, and lemon bars.  I overcooked the lemon bars a bit--I totally didn't trust the recipe when it said they would firm up after cooling!

We bought little tiara combs for all the girls, as well as rings and lip gloss.  When the girls came, they decorated these door hangers with stickers and foam markers because, well, it was a non-messy craft that didn't require any help or prep from me.  What can I say?  I am not crafty on a good day, much less at 35 weeks pregnant!

The girls also decorated their plastic "tea" cups with stickers and sharpies.  Then they ate.  We had a choice of raspberry iced tea or lemonade--I just couldn't stomach the thought of a hot beverage the end of August!  Everyone was so polite and quiet--another difference between a boy and girl party.  Then they went off and played.  I got Bruno the Bunny out so everyone could see and pet him (consensus:  softest bunny ever!).  Some girls played in the playroom with the dollhouse.  Others dressed up.  Some went outside. Eventually everyone ended up outside bouncing on the trampoline.  I had told the boys beforehand, "Oh, no one will go on the trampoline because they'll all be in their pretty party dresses", but that didn't stop anyone!

And all-too-soon, the parents were coming back.  The girls had a good time, and it was not too hard of a party, so I'm sure we'll have another one sometime!  We don't do individual birthday parties because we would just have too many.  A few years ago, we used to have one big non-birthday party a year in the summer for all our friends.  We had a medieval feast, a Revolutionary War party, and an Olympic party.  But then . . . we just had too many little kids, and I couldn't do it anymore.  Now we still have a ton of littles, but maybe we'll start up the yearly tradition again for the girls.  We'll see how I feel next summer . . . LOL.

Pregnancy Update

Tomorrow I'll be 35 weeks along.  I had another OB appointment on Monday, and things are going fine.  This was with a different doctor than I had seen the past 2 times, although she looked familiar, so I'm sure I have seen her, probably during Drew's pregnancy.  She was pleased that I have only gained 26 pounds, which made me laugh, since that is what I had gained back on July 3, when I had that appointment with the weird doctor who was so concerned about my weight!

The only possibly concerning thing is that my fasting glucose readings have once again started being over 95.  Not much higher, but definitely over, like 96 or 97.  So frustrating!  This only started happening 2 mornings before my appointment, so I'm coming back in one week from today so they can check them again.  If the readings are still high, then I'll be put on a pill in the evenings only to keep those fasting numbers under control.  So in the meantime, I have once again upped my protein at my evening snack, and I have added a second fiber pill.  My reading was fine this morning--we'll see if that holds.

I am not really hopeful that I will be able to make it through this pregnancy without going on some medication, though.  It seems that my numbers will be fine for a few weeks, and then they will just all of a sudden start being higher.  I have noticed that my numbers are getting higher even after meals like breakfast, where I have never ever had any high readings at all, and even after I exercise.  For dinner tonight I had salmon, steamed broccoli, and a few strawberries, and then I walked for 45 minutes afterwards.  My reading?  115, which is just 5 points below too high.  Even just a week ago, that would have been below 109, for sure.

The only problem with being on medicine, the doctor explained to me, is that instead of being induced at 40 weeks, like I was with Drew, I'll be induced at 39 weeks.  That is definitely not something to look forward to, as I have no doubt it would be a fairly long induction.  Not because my cervix isn't ready or anything, but because the baby will be way up high, with a lot of amniotic fluid, and she won't move down and engage, so they won't break my water for fear of cord prolapse, so they'll just keep upping the pitocin . . .  and when the baby is eventually born, my uterus will be really tired, and not clamp up, leading to excessive bleeding, which leads to manual uterine sweeps, which with Drew led to a uterine infection . . .  So yeah, not looking forward to an earlier induction.  Interestingly, my friend Siri (the real person, not the voice that lives in my phone!) told me she learned that having a lot of amniotic fluid was a side-effect of gestational diabetes.  That makes sense with my experiences!  At least I know now that if they have to do those horrible manual sweeps, to insist on me being put on antibiotics proactively.  My sister-in-law Melinda, who has been a labor and delivery nurse for many years, couldn't believe they didn't do that as routine protocol last time!

Other than worrying about my glucose readings, I'm feeling okay.  Big, bulky, not sleeping well, but not too bad overall.  I've been seeing the chiropractor more regularly this pregnancy, so that has helped my hips (although I think I'm at the point where nothing really helps them for too long anymore, lol).  I have been faithfully doing my pregnancy workout DVDs in the morning after breakfast, and walking every night after dinner, which I am sure is why I have stopped gaining weight.  That regimen does take up a ton of time and really cuts into school in the morning, so we shall see how things go once co-ops start up after Labor Day.  At least Anna and Grace can work fairly independently now too.  Faith is the one who is not getting much school done right now.

I'm not sleeping well in part because I always wake up absolutely roasting, although the ceiling fan is on, and the AC is pretty low.  I think I'm getting a foretaste of menopause, LOL.  I still have round ligament pain, although I would say not as badly with this pregnancy, and the pains are only on the right side.  But this means I have to sleep a lot more on my right side, since I get the round ligament pain when I'm lying on my left side.  I used to only rarely sleep on my right side, so that feels weird too.  Of course, not sleeping well also means higher numbers in the morning, so I'm sure that is part of my problem.  Just a few more weeks . . .  

Pregnancy Dreams

The morning got off on a bad foot.  Bob rushed out the door at 6:30 to catch the 6:40 bus.  The free parking lot has been getting more and more crowded since the powers-that-be built the new parking garage, and it's been harder and harder to find parking places.  I heard him leave, and then I went back to sleep.  But then a little while later he came back!  He sat on the edge of the bed and told me he couldn't find a parking place, even at 6:30, so he was going to have to drive in.  Contractors can't get parking permits at the Pentagon, so he can only drive in 5 times a month, and he had already driven in once this month.  I worried about the rest of the month, and also next month, as we will have the "perfect storm" of Nathan needing a minivan to drive to the community college 3 days a week, I'll be driving a minivan to Bethesda once or twice for appointments and non-stress tests, due to my geriatric age, lol, and so Bob will have to drive the big van.  But if he can't even find a parking place on a Friday in August, what's going to happen??

So when I actually woke back up and got out of bed (which was 8:30, since Micah and Drew both cooperated beautifully and slept in as a nice little present for me), I was just feeling down.  We went about our day, and eventually Bob called to check in.  I told him I was glad he had made it in, but I just couldn't believe there were no parking places at 6:30, and what was he going to do?  He was confused.

Bob:  "Ummm, there were parking places at 6:30.  I parked there."

Me:  "You rode the bus in?!?  But you came back home, and we talked about your not getting a parking place!"

Bob:  "Noooo . . . "

It was SO vivid and real, though!  And what a totally bizarre thing to dream about--a mundane conversation, where I used the words "perfect storm", relating to parking issues!  Ha!  I still can't believe it didn't actually happen.

The first 3 nights after we got back home from Boston, I had dreams about losing one of the kids or the diaper bag,or wrecking the van, and they were quite vivid and realistic as well.  I didn't have any of those sorts of dream while we were actually in Boston (I was probably too tired to remember my dreams, lol), but once we got back somewhere safe, my mind went crazy while I was sleeping.  But still, I woke up realizing they were just dreams!  This whole thing this morning was so . . .  normal . . . It definitely didn't seem like a dream!  So Bob can drive in 4 more times this month if he has to.  Whew!

ALO Interview

Nathan got home from White Sulphur Springs Friday night, bringing with him a terrible cold that actually some of the rest of us already had as well.  So we're just one happy hacking, sniffling family right now!  He had Saturday to recover, and then bright and early this morning he and I left to drive up to Ft. Meade, MD, where he met his admission liaison officer to have an interview, as part of his Air Force Academy application.

The ALO is usually an officer who lives locally and assists candidates in their pursuit of an Academy appointment.  Navy and Army have them too (BGOs and MALOs).  If Nathan was at our local high school, then there is an ALO for that school, and he would even be able to talk to teachers, coaches, etc. to try to get a feel for Nathan as a candidate.  Every candidate has to have an interview with the ALO to advance in the process, and the ALO fills out a form with their impressions from the interview to send to the Academy.  The saying goes, "An ALO can't get you an appointment, but they could keep you from an appointment", if they thought you weren't serious or whatever.  But the interview is supposed to be more low-key than the ones with the congressional representatives, who are making decisions for nominations!  Somehow, since Nathan is homeschooled, he got an ALO that is regional, not local, which was weird, because other VA candidates we have known had local ones.

Nathan (and I!) were both nervous.  I had stayed up late trying to update Nathan's transcript with his classes for next year.  The transcript is in Excel, which I have a hard time working with.  A lady on the Well-Trained Mind boards sent me her daughter's transcript as a template, and it is the only one I've seen that really works, since I need to include all Nathan's test scores for APs and SAT IIs to validate his grades, as well as a box explaining the different fonts used to denote classes taken at home, at Rivendell, online, and at the community college. But the borders were getting all messed up, and I had run out of room in the area for science classes--it was frustrating!  Bob had been up in PA all day with the girls, visiting an amusement park with his family, and he didn't get home until a little after 11:00.  He was able to help get it all straightened out, however.  *Whew*  We printed that off to bring with him, as well as the resume Nathan had prepared for his nomination packets, listing sports, extra-curricular activities, leadership positions, employment, and community service.

They were to meet at the Ft. Meade PX, which is over an hour away, so Nathan and I had plenty of time to talk in the car.  I had typed up a list of potential questions I had found from various threads on the service academy forums as well as college confidential, just to get him thinking about things.  We had good discussions and were able to come up with examples and stories for the questions I had, so that was good.

The interview was really long--one hour, 10 minutes.  Nathan came out of it thinking it went okay, but it could have gone better.  He felt like for the first 30 minutes he had good answers for all the questions.  The first ones were the no-brainer ones, like "What made you interested in the Academy?", and ones about leadership and the advantages/disadvantages of homeschooling.  We totally predicted those!  The last part was harder though, and Nathan felt like he said, "Ummm . . ." too much and moved his hands nervously.  Also, the questions were more situational (like "When was a time you disagreed with your leadership, and how did you handle it?").  We had (obviously, lol) not been able to predict all these questions, and it is hard to think of relative examples for weird situations on the fly, so Nathan felt like he wasn't as confidant/prepared here.  Also, for some questions we had discussed a situation that would fit . . . but then the ALO wanted a second example as well!  Ack!  Nathan felt like he had used up all his good stories in the first 30 minutes, lol.  But from what Nathan told me, I thought he did as well as could be expected, and that the ALO got a good sense of his character/experiences/personality.  It was definitely good to have the practice before nomination interviews!

For anyone who might be curious, here is the list of questions I had typed up, along with the ones Nathan had trouble with that weren't on my original list.  Hopefully it will be helpful to someone else!  I grouped the situational questions at the end.

• What sparked your interest in the Academy?
• What is motivating you to go, other than being a pilot?
• What do your parents think of you pursuing an Academy appointment/military career?
• What do you think the advantages.disadvantages of homeschooling have been for you?
• What are your strengths/weaknesses?
• Should we provide military support for the current situation in Iraq (or insert some other current news event)?
• What do you do in your spare time?
• What is a book you have read lately/one that has impacted your life?
• Do you think the honor code is reasonable?
• How have you demonstrated leadership?
• How have you confronted adversity?
• Share an ethical dilemma you have dealt with--how did you handle it?
• Have you ever had a time when you failed at something?  How did you respond?
• Have you had a time when you were really stressed out, had many things to get done, and couldn't possibly complete them all?  What did you do?
• Share a time when you have watched a peer succumb to peer pressure.  How do you feel like you respond to peer pressure?
• What is something you have regretted in the past, or that you would do over, if you could?
• What is example of a situation where you disagreed with your leadership, and how did you handle it?

Boston

We drove up to Boston last Friday, which was a really long day.  We left at 9:15 and got into the hotel at 9:45, after traffic, construction, and many, many potty breaks after lunch due to Micah, Drew, and Faith.  It was stressful!  I had stayed up until 1:00 the previous night finishing the packing, and my glucose numbers were high both the travel day, as well as the next day.  I think it was due to stress, since I had all sorts of healthy snacks, like a ziploc bag of rotisserie chicken I had shredded, cheese sticks, almonds, etc.  I've never eaten so healthily on a trip!

Saturday we stayed closer to the hotel, and we visited the Minuteman National Historic Park, Concord, and Lexington.  MNHP has a really nice video presentation about the events leading up to "the shot heard 'round the world", and it even kept the attention of the younger kids!  Above you can see Anna on the Old North Bridge in Concord, with a beautiful field of wildflowers in the background.

Past the bridge, on the way to the visitors' center, there were some really great climbing trees that my friend Allison had alerted me to.  The kids could have stayed there all day--Bob too!

Sunday we headed downtown to the USS Constitution area.  Instead of actually touring the ship, however, we spontaneously decided to spring for a tour of the harbor on a duck boat.  The tickets also included 2 days on their hop on/hop off trolleys, and well as one other "free" excursion.  The kids really enjoyed the duck tour, even though Micah looks less than enthused in the picture.  There was a lot of rain that day, so it was nice to be doing something other than walking.  The trolley ride was really great, I thought.  Our driver was really funny, and we got to see all the sites in downtown Boston I had wanted to see, without Bob having to drive, and me having to navigate!  With all the little kids, it wasn't like we were going to be able to stop and tour every thing anyway (plus, it is almost impossible to find parking for the big van), so this was a really low-stress way to see the city.  Micah and Drew both fell asleep, so it was a win all around!

After our super-successful day on Sunday, we were all ready to actually tour the Constitution, as well as do a few other things.  We headed for a parking lot in the North End, by a trolley stop, that we had seen the day before--but they didn't want our van to park there.  After wandering around a bit, we headed back over to the USS Constitution area, where again we couldn't find a place to park for more than 2 hours.  Hmmm.  We parked there, and then we discovered that the Constitution is closed on Mondays.  Of course it is!  We just hadn't paid enough attention to the signs on Sunday, and our hotel didn't have free wifi, so I couldn't look it up the night before (grrrr--that was a huge source of frustration during the week).  We ate our lunch on the sidewalk by the van while we tried to figure out what to do.  We decided we would try to take a short cruise down the Charles River for our "free" excursion, but that meant navigating downtown and trying to find parking.  Amazingly, we found what must be the only parking garage in Boston with a 7'6" height (our van is 7'2"), so we parked there.  We walked through a mall to the back, where the tickets were sold, and we managed to get seats on the last cruise of the day, at 4:15. Of course, it was only 2:45, so we had to burn some time.  The younger kids went up and down the escalators a few times with Bob, and everyone who didn't have gestational diabetes ate dollar freezees from the Burger King in the food court.  Eventually we got on the boat, and that was a really nice time too!  Most of the time, Bob and the kids hung out at the front of the boat.  It was relaxing, and we again saw a lot of Boston.  I feel pretty familiar with the landmarks now!

We ate dinner at the mall, since we knew we would be stuck in traffic otherwise, and when we got back closer to our hotel, we had to make a grocery stop.  Since Bob would be working the next several days, the reservation for those days was at the government rate--which did not include breakfast.  (This hotel definitely was all about nickel-and-diming you!)  So we had to stock up on breakfast things like instant oatmeal that you could make using the coffee pot.  At least we had little fridges in the 2 rooms!

Tuesday morning, Bob got up to meet his new boss in the lobby and ride over to the meetings with him. On the way out the door, he realized that we had never actually parked our van the night before.  We had left it out front after dropping everyone and all our groceries off!  So he called me to come down and move it.  As soon as I got outside, I realized it was dead, since I knew we had left the hazard lights on, and they were no longer flashing.  Oh no!  Bob and the new boss were kind enough to turn around, the hotel had a jumper thing, and they were able to get it started.  Still--a very stressful start to the day!

We did not plan any sightseeing that day.  Instead, we arranged to meet Allison and her 4 boys at a playground on base.  It was another beautiful day, not too hot, and the kids had such a great time running around.  Then we went over to their house for lunch, and the kids really enjoyed having actual toys to play with again!  It was fun to catch up with her, and it was a really relaxing morning, which we all really needed.

As we were leaving, we were all feeling pretty good, so we decided we would again attempt to tour the USS Constitution (it's going into dry dock for repairs after the summer).  We couldn't find parking right by it, but we did find a space by the Bunker Hill Monument (which looks just like a smaller Washington Monument).  Even though Anna does not look happy in the picture above, it actually was interesting to tour the ship, and I was glad we made the effort.  Drew is also not happy in the picture, but he was just done with sightseeing all around, by that point, LOL.  

After we walked back over to Bunker Hill, Luke, Caleb, Jonathan, and Anna decided to climb all 294 steps to the top. While they were doing that, the rest of us went to the van and got some cookies so we could all have a snack when they were finished.  It didn't take them too long.  Luke took my phone so we could see the view with no effort, LOL.  Above is a view of the Naval Yard, with the Constitution there on the right.

Here are the intrepid stair-climbers!  Faith and Micah were very disappointed that I didn't let them go too, but . . .yeah.  They're not our stoic ones.  When Faith started complaining almost immediately after the others left about pushing the stroller up a small hill, I knew I had made the right decision!

One thing that was hard for me was realizing that we were making family memories--without Nathan.  And after this year, that will be the new normal!  It was sobering to think about.  I was again so glad we could take the space-a trip to Hawaii in February, where we could all be together for 2 weeks!  That was a really special time, and I'm really grateful for it.  Of course, even with just the 8 kids, we got plenty of long looks and whispers, especially from the foreign tourists!

Wednesday we met up with the McC's, who had just gotten in to town the day before.  They were visiting Christine's mom, who lives in a lovely old house south of town.  We met up there, then caravaned over to Plymouth.  There we went on a  walking tour guided by Leo from the Jenney Museum.  It was fantastic!  Leo was really informative and a wonderful story-teller.  Also, he really focuses on how the Pilgrims built their society on the structure of the family, and how the way they practiced their faith was the foundation for our government and our freedoms.  It was so interesting, especially from a Christian perspective, which I really wasn't expecting!  

After the tour we walked back down to the harbor so the kids could see the replica of the Mayflower.  It's so small!  Crossing the ocean in that thing would not be my choice.  I really admire the courage of those who did!

After wards, we drove down to White Horse beach. The water was cold, but that didn't stop anyone!  Everyone happily played for several hours, then we went back to Christine's mom's house to eat pizza before driving back to the hotel.  It was a long day, but really fun!

Our last day of sightseeing was Thursday, and we met the McC's in Quincy at the visitors center for the Adams National Historic Park.  There are 3 houses on the tour, and a trolley takes you around to them.  There is the one John Adams grew up in, the one right next door where he and Abigail lived (and John Quincy Adams was born in), both of which are fairly small, and then there is Peacefield, which is a large house, more along the lines of Mount Vernon or something, where John Adams and Abigail moved into after they came back from several years in England.  They had become accustomed to a higher standard of living and wanted to move up a notch back here in the States!  That was really a lovely house, and several more generations of Adams had lived in it, so it had electricity and even some plumbing.  The nicest thing about the house was the library, which was built as a separate room from the rest of the house, as you can see in the picture above.  Christine and I were both coveting such a nice building for our libraries/homeschooling!

Friday we left to drive back home.  It was another long day, although only 11 1/2 hours this time.  We went a different way, so we didn't really get stuck in any traffic, which was nice.  My poor hips and back will never be the same after all the driving in the big van though.  We had a lovely time, and all the older kids said they felt like we really "did" Boston, and they learned a lot, but it was so exhausting.  I don't think I could have done one more day, and I was so glad this trip for Bob wasn't scheduled one week later in my pregnancy, or I don't think I could have done it at all!  It about did me in!  Now we're trying to get ourselves unpacked and organized again, and the younger kids caught up on sleep.  They have been very, very crabby!  I think it will take me a good week to recover as well, LOL.  And I still have a ton of planning stuff to finish before Rivendell starts back up again, and I have this baby.  Just one step at a time . . .