30 weeks

I’ve reached the thirty week mark in my pregnancy. Sleep at night is starting to get patchy: an hour here and an hour there, a full night of sleep is long gone. I know it is expected and also preparing me for those night time feedings which are right around the corner. We are narrowing down a name and I am finding it a lot harder to pick a name for a girl than it was for a boy. We have, give or take, ten more weeks so we still have a little time.

I am getting apprehensive about several things:
~ My last three deliveries were pretty easy and uneventful. What if this one isn’t?
~ Will I have everything I need?
~ How will I juggle home schooling with a baby and sleep deprivation?
~ How will my middle son adjust to the extra “noise and activity” that comes with a baby?
~ I know from experience that it takes a long time after having a baby to start to feel like your self again. How long will it take me this time?
~ Am I ready to mother a daughter? I only know boys.

I know this is normal to be apprehensive as the delivery draws closer so I am trying to keep things in perspective by focusing on the following…

~ Every delivery is different and special. The things that are out of my control are just that, so I have to let go and let God!
~ Realistically, babies just need diapers, a blanket and their mama’s milk.
~ I did start home school early and have gone strong so far. I plan on not teaching for a month after the baby comes, ease patiently and slowly back into a routine and if I have to…I will teach into the summer.
~ All in all, the noise and activity will stretch my middle son in a good way.
~ Experience tells me that day will come, though I don’t know when the magic day will be when I feel like my old self again, it will come.
~ As far as raising a daughter, I will take it one day at a time.

I find it extremely helpful to combat worrisome thoughts with strong, realistic statements. It eases the mind, and hence the body relaxes, and hence the rest of the household is relaxed.

I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and I hope you can find the good even if life gets tough. If I look hard enough I can always find something to be thankful about.

I love this story here! There are people who find ways to give back to others, even strangers!

I am off to make my delicious dessert, I mean, side dish…………Carrot Soufflé!!!!!!!

Enjoy the family or friends that God has given you,

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

my three boys and our little girl on the way

summer lists

Every June I have the boys make a list of things they would like to do over the summer. The list usually includes having cousins sleep over, play dates with friends, family activities, camping, day trips and things to make. We hang it in the fridge and check off as many items as we can. It is fun to look back and see the fun things we accomplished just by writing them down.

One thing new this year, was picking a design for a t-shirt. We bought shirts in their size for three dollars each at a craft store and after they finalized their design we bought some fabric paint. I prewashed and then ironed the shirts before painting them. And I also put cardboard inside the shirt so the paint wouldn’t get on the back side. My middle guy wanted Clyde, the orange ghost from Pac-Man. And my youngest wanted the Indiana Jones hat and whip on his shirt. I hand painted the shirts and the boys were thrilled with how they turned out! Here are the results.

Oh, and I started my first quilt! I am so excited! I’ll post pictures soon!

twenty-three weeks and counting

I can’t believe I am already twenty-three weeks pregnant, starting the sixth month, passed the halfway mark! I told a friend the other day that it’s seems too short of a time period to make a human being; nine quick months, that’s it! Not that I want to be pregnant any longer than I need to be but, wow, time is flying by.

Thankfully, things are going smoothly! I am getting bigger each day, feeling the baby kick and I am officially wearing maternity clothes now. All three of the boys are very excited. This pregnancy has produced a lot of questions from my two younger ones. “Can the baby taste what you are eating?” “How does the baby breath?” “Wear does the baby’s pee go?” It’s quite entertaining!

So my husband and I went for the sonogram at eighteen weeks and found out what we are having!!!!

Yes, we can’t believe it!

After three boys it will be quite a shock to have pink in our house!!! We are thrilled and all three boys wanted a sister so we are all so, so excited!!!

All three of my previous pregnancies I craved something and this time is no different. Cranberries!! I can’t seem to get enough of them. Cranberry juice, cranberry cereal, dried cranberries in my salads, etc. There is something crazy about cranberries this time…at least it is healthy.

So the last time I was pregnant was seven years ago and I realized I had forgotten a lot. Here are some of the things I forgot:

~ Taking three naps a day in the first trimester is needed most days
~ Nothing, and I mean nothing, looks good to eat when you are nauseous
~ Drinking lots of water makes you get up in the middle of the night to use the little girls room
~ Not drinking lots of water makes you get up in the middle of the night to get something to drink because you’re parched
~ When you are pregnant you start to notice pregnant woman everywhere
~ I am hungry means = I need to eat something in the next five seconds
~ In the second trimester, food never tasted soooo good
~ There comes a time when you can’t cross your legs like a lady while sitting upright…there simply isn’t any room
~ That awesome feeling when you start to feel your baby moving inside you
~ Maternity clothes are so expensive
~ How generous people are in giving away their baby items…Yay!!!!
~ Sleeping positions get limited and less and less comfortable
~ My sense of smell is out of this world, I feel like I have a super power or something
~ Oh, those crazy, whacky, pregnancy dreams

Some nesting has kicked in and I am thinking about making a quilt for the baby. I have never made one before but I think it will be a fun and creative challenge. Here are a couple quilts that are inspiring me at the moment!

this darling, happy, sunshine quilt

cute, tiny, detailed quilt

vintage sheet quilt

Well see, I’ll keep you posted!