Four Prayers On Your 4th!

It's hard to believe that it's been four years since Jeremiah David came into our lives.  He is precious, cuddly, and compassionate, and we sure do love him!

I pray these four things for you little Jer Bear!

#1.  I pray that you would find satisfaction and joy in Jesus and not look to the things of the world for comfort and peace.

#2.  I pray that you would learn and grow and continue to find delight in God's creation and the animals, reptiles, and bugs that so fascinate you!

#3.  I pray that you would learn to work hard, and to be a servant to others.

#4.  I pray that you would be healthy and strong and laugh hard and often!

Katrielle's Birth Story

 On Monday, the 25th, I attended a barn dance with my kids that someone from church was throwing for anyone that wanted to come.  It was tons of fun and I tried to "dance the baby out."  I was bummed that no contractions came that night but I did feel a heaviness in my pelvis the day after, so perhaps it did help! On Tuesday I had some contractions, but nothing too promising, so I just went about tackling items on my to-do list.  My hubby and I had a massive card-signing session once the kids were in bed since he has 7 birthdays between his family members and best friend in a 2 week span.  I got bills done and ready to mail and was feeling great about how much on my list was getting checked off.  In addition to the baby prep list on my blog I posted about a while back, I had made a couple more lists on paper for myself of last minute things to tackle to help me stay busy in the long wait!

On Wednesday, the 27th, which was our nephew David's first birthday, I was bummed there weren't many contractions but was glad that I had plans to attend my weekly Mom's Coffee Group so I could at least hang out with my friends.  I was also hoping for an even-numbered day since all of our other kids have even birthdays, and since they all have an 8 in their birthday my greatest desire was for a baby on October 18th, or 28th but I wasn't sure if it would happen or not and just wanted to not be pregnant any more no matter what day it was.  My friends and I had a nice time chatting and helping our kids do a craft and I told them that I wouldn't be surprised if I started labor that night as I felt a lot of pressure in my pelvis and was having trouble walking normally without waddling. 

Later that day I pulled out all of my scrapbooking stuff and Ali and I sat down at the school table to make baby thank-you cards.  We were having a great time, but all of a sudden I started feeling hard contractions.  Not the hard contractions that I'd had several times in the last few weeks, but really painful contractions that made me stop what I was doing and do a little "Hoo, hoo, hee, hee" puffing thing.  Ali stared at me and asked what was wrong with me.  I told her it was just a contraction and that it meant that my body was getting ready to have a baby soon.  I definitely didn't want to get my hopes up so I continued to work hard and finished over 20 cards.  But the strength of the contractions and the fact that they were coming regularly (about 15 minutes apart) made me think that there was a chance this was the real thing!  It's so hard to know when you have a couple weeks worth of contractions at the end and lots of false starts that end in loss of sleep and disappointment.  But I could tell that these were the strongest contractions I'd had yet in this pregnancy.

When I was making supper (nothing fancy at all, box mac n' cheese!) my friend Lora dropped by with lots of baby gifts.  She amazes me!  She had a baby 17 days before I did and yet she still shared a freezer meal with me, homemade soup, rolls, and cookies and coconut bars, and had made Katrielle a beautiful hooded towel with her name on it and had gotten us a few darling outfits.  She was going to be out of town and wanted to give us the gifts ahead of time, assuming baby would be coming when she was gone.  I told her "it might be tonight, I'm having some hard contractions" and she said I looked like I was in pain.  After she left we sat down to dinner and another friend, also named Laura, dropped by with pacifiers for us, something I had asked her to pick up for us when she went to a nearby town with a Walmart that day.  She refused to let me pay for them and we chatted for a while and then she left.  My hubby prepared to go to Youth Group; he is one of the main leaders and had a game night planned.  My contractions continued to come but only about 15 minutes apart, and we have had so many "false hopes" with contractions and such long labors in the last 2 pregnancies that we knew we'd have plenty of time if it was the real thing.

I bathed and put the kids to bed while Josiah was at Youth Group and was increasingly irritable with them.  Their continual demands felt overwhelming to me and I couldn't wait to sit down and start charting my contractions in silence and peace. I called my Mom and gave her a heads up that it could be the night and she was grateful for that call as she had to go to her school and get some things ready in case she would need her sub to step in for the next day.  I sat down with some coconut bars (which were soooo yummy Lora!) and some milk and watched a detective show on Hulu and began writing down contractions.  They were between 10-20 minutes with most coming 14 minutes apart.  In past experiences, my contractions do not get really close together so even though they were at long intervals I knew this could be the real thing.

Josiah returned from Youth Group at around 9 pm and I was in the bathroom at that moment.  When I had gone to go potty, I saw bright red blood and immediately started panicking.  It wasn't a huge amount, but enough to cause me concern with the placenta previa issues I had throughout the pregnancy.  I had asked my doctor and midwife about whether or not I would bleed with a low-lying placenta and they said that I shouldn't, but if I did to go into the hospital immediately.  All of the sudden, my plans of laboring all night at home and getting some last minute things done flew out the window.  Josiah came to ask me if I was still having contractions and found me very shaken up and telling him we needed to go right in.  He called my mom to come stay with the kids and we tried to call the hospital twice but couldn't get through on the extensions we called so we finally gave up and just threw our bags in the van and drove up there. 

We checked in and got put into a regular room and got hooked up to the monitors.  The scary thing was, it was a while before the doctor came in and checked on the bleeding and also the hospital monitors kept shorting out and showing no heartbeat for the baby.  The nurse changed monitors a few times and Josiah kept trying to wiggle the cord and get them to work but it was frightening for me, because of the bleeding and the fact that the nurse was concerned about our baby's heart beat at first being too fast for normal and then being too constant, without the regular fluctuation, and then she was concerned that it was dipping at the wrong time, leading us all to wonder if the cord was around the baby's neck.  I prayed constantly that God would keep our baby safe and help me through.  It was such a comfort knowing people were praying for me as I had requested prayer on facebook shortly before leaving for the hospital.

So there I lay, waiting for each contraction, trying to watch a comedy show on TV in between checks by the nurse, and not knowing if I'd be whisked off to an Emergency C-section at any moment.  It was horribly discouraging when the nurse first checked my cervix, after 6 hours of hard contractions, and pronounced me barely at a 1 and not effaced at all.  I was wondering if the baby was ever going to come and dreading the thought of being sent home, especially with the bleeding.  And have I mentioned how much I hate cervical checks?  I've finally figured out why, as my cervix is way high up and not easy for nurses to reach.  Each one was soooo painful for me.  Getting an IV and getting an epidural hurts about 10 times LESS than a cervical check for me.  They started an IV in me, to have it ready in case of the need for a c-section, and told me I could not have any food or drink, even water, at all because of my situation.  This was hard because every commercial on TV was advertising Olive Garden or some similar restaurant and I hadn't eaten in a while. 

After a while the doctor who was working that night came in and I was relieved to discover that it is the only woman OB/GYN in town.  You don't get to choose who delivers in our town as there are only 3-4 working and they take turns.  She did an ultrasound to check my placenta and though it wasn't easy with the baby's face pushing against the placenta, she determined it was not detaching and was okay.  She didn't know what was causing the bleeding.  She checked me then and it had been a few hours since I was pronounced a 1.  I was now at a 3 and starting to efface.  So, they were confident I was in "real" labor, however slow, and moved me to a delivery room.  I still couldn't have any liquids or foods, and the contractions were getting very painful.  I know you would think that they wouldn't be really painful because they were spaced far apart and my progress wasn't great but having been through two natural childbirths previously, these were 9 on a pain scale of 1-10.  Later, after the birth, it was determined that the bleeding was caused by my cervix tearing so that explains the horrible contractions.  They were ripping my cervix open.  I eventually got myself out of bed and into the rocking chair so I could rock through the contractions.  I begged my nurse for the epidural but she wanted me to be at a 4 or 5 so it wouldn't slow the labor down more.  I couldn't wait to get the epidural.  I think it was about 5 hours total of waiting (yes, my super-strength contractions were still only dilating my stubborn cervix about 1 cm every 5 hours!  I was at the point of praying my "Help-me-God-please" prayer that in previous labors I have repeated over and over during transition.

Finally, at 6 in the morning, 15 hours into my labor, my nurse called the anesthesiologist in.  What a relief it was to see her come in!  I told her that women who fear the needle in their spine have no idea what they are missing!  It truly only feels like a pin prick or a bee sting and much, much better than anything else you have to go through in childbirth.  It gradually numbed me and so I was mostly numb by 7am.  I called my mom right before the epidural and told her to come in at 8am.  She had time to get the kids up, get them dressed and fed, and take them to the homes they were supposed to go to.  My Aunt Joanie, mom's older sister, was coming from a nearby town to watch Justus.  Since all 3 together can be an overwhelming job, I split up where they would go.  Ali went to a fellow homeschooling family's house where their two youngest girls are her good friends.  Jeremiah went to the home of his "hero" a 8 year old boy from church whom he adores and mimics, who is also homeschooled.

Mom got to the hospital around 8:30am and thankfully didn't have to see me in any pain.  We chatted as Josiah watched the contraction papers like crazy, telling me when I was having a doozy and which ones were off the charts and I couldn't feel anything thankfully.  The nurse checked me and I was at about a 6.  She then asked me if I was opposed to doing something to get labor going a bit faster.  I wanted to say, "Are you kidding?  I feel like I'm in labor eternally!  Why didn't someone ask me last night before I lost a full night of sleep?"  I strongly encouraged her to do what it took.  She put a small amount of pitocin in my IV and immediately the contractions picked up and were harder, longer, and closer together.  They were coming at about 5-8 minutes apart.  She checked me an hour later and I had gained a centimeter and a half, which was awesome, considering I had been progressing at 1 centimeter per 5 hours before.  She put another round of pitocin on my drip after that bag wore out and at 11 am I was at 8cm.  It was strange because even though my nerves couldn't feel the intense pain of hardcore contractions, my body must have known I was going through a marathon.  I was sooooo tired, and not just from lack of sleep.  When the long contractions would hit, just a couple of minutes apart at that point, I would lay my head back and feel like I couldn't talk.  My pain nerves were dulled but my body was really getting a work-out without me knowing it!  And of course a couple of days later I would feel what my back had been through when the rolled-over-by-a-truck feeling hit.

Some gals deliver while still looking like they just walked out of a salon.  That's not me!  If I look like I've been through barbaric torture it's because I feel like I've been through barbaric torture!

 So exhausted after no sleep for 35 hours and my body was "running a marathon."

My mom ran to get some food from McDonald's at 11:30am for her and Josiah.  We told her to hurry back as the nurse was expecting me to hit 10 cm at noon.  Josiah said, "I bet our baby's birth time will start with a 12!"  I hoped so, but at that point, I didn't know if labor would ever end so I wasn't about to get my hopes up.  I pictured myself having to push for 3 hours or something.

Mom got back at noon and Josiah wolfed down his meal.  I sarcastically remarked that my birth coaches sure were nice to eat in front of me when I was denied food for a day. 

The nurse checked me and declared me at a 10.  I knew the end was in sight and told my mom I could finally see a "light at the end of the tunnel.".  I got really emotional thinking it would all be over soon and wondering how long it would take.  They went to get the doctor and set up the delivery utensils and get me ready.  They said a woman having her 3rd or 4th kid usually doesn't have to push much so they wanted everything ready.  I pushed 20 minutes with Ali, 0 minutes with Jer (who flew out and surprised everyone and barely got caught--I don't recommend this, it's brutal!), and about 30-40 minutes with Justus (I was sooooo numb from a massive dose in my epidural that I really couldn't do anything and my mom and Josiah pushed my legs for me to get him out.)  When everything was set up, they put my legs in high stirrups in what I think would be the most uncomfortable position imaginable if I could have felt anything.  My legs were way above my head and spread as far apart as possible.  I was so thankful I was numb!  The nurse looked down and said I was having a contraction so I could push.  Pushing with an epidural is a joke.  Both times I have done it I have merely "acted" out a push by crunching my chest up towards my legs.  When your legs are totally numb and you feel like you weigh 500 pounds, this is the best you can do.  But in both cases, my acting must have worked!  I pushed and they said, "Here's the head!"  Then a minute later they said to push and said, "Here comes the body!"  I looked down to see a grayish purple little body covered in vernix being placed in my arms.  It was miraculous, surreal, and amazing!  (Please don't hate me my friends who have to push for 3 hours!)

Weeping with relief that my 21 hour labor is over and my baby is in my arms!

Examining new life

Grammy, my mom, loved being able to watch Katrielle's birth

Daddy Josiah was immediately smitten and could scarcely put her down for the next few days!

She was worth it all!  There is no moment like meeting your child for the first time!

As I held Katrielle, the doctor worked on getting the placenta out.  This has always been hard for me as my placentas tend to be stubborn and stick.  She massaged my belly very hard for about 30 minutes in a circular motion and though I was numb, I could feel pressure that was slightly uncomfortable.  Josiah later told me that he was so thankful I had the epidural and that it hadn't been turned off yet at that point because he said it was absolutely sick to see the doctor pulling handfuls of blood clots out of my uterus and scraping it out with her hands as she pummeled my stomach.  I had no idea it was going on and never saw a bunch of blood or my placenta or anything.  I did have a midwife doing something similar with one of my natural births and it was pure torture and I kicked her in a defense reflex because I couldn't stand it. 

I had no tears or need for stitches, which was wonderful, and they soon got me cleaned up and said I could eat!  They brought me lunch and my mom made all kinds of phone calls and soon after we got to introduce her to Grandpa, siblings, my brother Grant, and Aunt Joanie.  My epidural didn't have the massive dose it had last time with Justus so I was able to walk to the bathroom with a nurse and go potty and take a shower around 5pm and then after eating supper (hubby got a mushroom pizza from Dominos to supplement the hospital food) I moved to a recovery room and we settled in to adore and cuddle our baby through the night, and attempt to sleep after being awake for a day and a half.

When you are pregnant, time seems to move in slow motion and you feel as though the big day will never come.  After baby shows up, you fall in love and time flies so fast that you can scarcely remember what day it is.  It is so wonderful to be on the other side!  I feel so great!  Of course I'm exhausted and not getting much sleep and have had back soreness from contractions, soreness and pain from nursing, and lots of cramping/afterpains but life is good and I love my new daughter!  Praise the Lord for His sustenance and strength throughout this pregnancy and delivery!  I am amazed that I have the second little girl I've always longed for and that I had a regular birth instead of a C-section as we had thought I would have for so long! 

Baby is Here!

The newest member of our family:

Katrielle Hope

"God is my crown and my hope"

Pronounced KAY-TREE-EL

Born October 28th, 2010

12:42pm

7# 7oz.

20 inches long

Birth story and more pics to come.....

While I'm Waiting....

Fun New Blog!

For a while now I've wished I could link to my friend Kristin's personal blog because she is such a good photographer and witty writer.  It's been fun to keep up with her over the last few years and see her kids grow through her blog even though we've lived a thousand miles apart.  In fact, Kristin is the genius who won the "Name my Blog" contest at the beginning of this year when I changed it from The King's Missus to Faithful Homemaking.  Well now you too can be blessed by her inspiration....she's started an open-to-the-public homeschooling blog!  Two to three times a week she chronicles the fun stuff she does with her kiddoes with lots of fun pics and ideas for crafts, snacks, books, etc.  If you want fun ideas to do with littles, even if you don't technically homeschool them, this is a great blog for you to check out!

Add it to your Favorites today!

Lifelong Lessons

Homeschooling is FUN!

The kids love to do puppet shows in the pop-up tent

We made some clay pots and scrolls of Scripture to go in them.

Painting snake squash and pumpkins from Grammy's garden.

Our "Space Age" ant farm.  Someone had given us the brand-new kit in a box of hand-me-downs and we gave it a try, collecting our own ants.  However, it didn't seem to work so well, so I may order a batch of ants and try again.

Ants on a log

Sometimes the Dollar Store has the cutest crafts for homeschooling.  This bug kit, which contained all the materials to make 3 large bugs, was only $1.



Fall Food

 When I had a mountain of zucchinni in my kitchen thanks to friends and family, I wasn't sure how to use it all.  I asked my facebook friends for tips.  In addition to serving some sauteed and making a quadruple batch of chocolate zuke bread, I processed about 20 C. in the food processor and froze it for future baking.  One friend suggested I freeze some in ice cube trays to be added to smoothies and sauces for an extra boost of nutrition.  What a great idea!

 Apple Ladder Loaf is one of the tastiest things I've ever made!  Mmmmmm!

Ali and I made 4 loaves in the week following our trip to the orchard for various social functions and everyone agreed that it was amazing stuff!

 I wanted to try making pumpkin-shaped rolls but I had never done it before.  I discovered that adding food coloring to the dough is very difficult, especially when you have a huge double batch of dough to work with.  I used my favorite, tried-and-true roll recipe.  My cousin suggested that next time instead of using food coloring I should try adding juiced carrots to the liquid part of the dough in place of some of the water or milk.  I took a small part of dough and dyed it green to make stems with and since I had extra I made a few "zucchinni rolls."  Next time I think I'll try making actual pumpkin roll dough for pumpkin-shaped rolls! 



Fall Fun

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

                                                                       
                                                                         Raking Leaves

Field Trip to the Apple Orchard



The Zucchinni Fest at my Mom's church was fun!  We dressed up a zucchinni like a baby.  My mom won the biggest zucchinni award (10#, 11oz.) and also tied for first place in the dessert category with her delicious zucchinni brownies.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

Using this recipe (though I used some whole wheat flour and some cane sugar instead of all white flour and white sugar) I decided to try making hamburger buns one night for our BLT's.  They turned out so tasty that I will have to start making them in bulk and freezing!

Progress on Prep for Baby List

I've had some people tell me my list looks like their list on steroids, or that it's intimidating or amazing to them that I can get all of this done pre-baby.  But this was just a goal sheet and you'll see by reading over my progress that I have not fulfilled some of my goals or have re-worked them based on real life happenings.  I have had over 10 weeks to accomplish all of it so by taking it in little tiny chunks, anyone could do this and more!  My daily life as a homeschooling mom and taking care of sick children is much more busy than checking off the tasks on this list!

TO DO:


*Throw a "Preggo Party" for all of my pregnant friends to come over one night and work on a craft for their baby-on-the-way.
Update:  Didn't happen due to the chickenpox hitting in September since no one wanted to come to my house for a month.  Also, my preggo friends were so busy and had family trips and things going on that most of them delivered before I was able to schedule something in mid-October.  But, 3 of us due in October did have a wonderful time eating desserts and chatting about all things pregnancy one evening at one of their homes so we still got our Pregnancy Ladies' Night!


*Throw Justus a "semi-truck birthday" party in 2 weeks for his second birthday.


*Throw Jeremiah a "snake birthday" in mid-September, 2 months before his real, 4th birthday.
Update:  Purchased some party favors and have the snake cake idea in mind but decided with all the busy-ness of October that Mama will feel more like having the party in mid-November.  Having a newborn is easier than being preggo for me, something I tend to forget when I make these lists!


*Have at least 30 meals in the freezer. My plan was:

Lasagna-4

Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole-2

Chicken Brocolli Rice Casserole-4

Homemade Frozen Pizza Kits-3

Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes-2

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup in the Crockpot-3

Green Chili Burritos-4

Tuna Casserole-3

Stir-fry-2

Plowman's Share-2

Update:  The freezer we had in storage for 5 years apparently no longer works.  So, my grand ideas of filling a deep freeze completely up are not to be.  We are looking to buy a used deep freeze soon, but for now, my fridge freezer is going to have to do, and after squeezing in 18 meals, 7 desserts, some bags of rolls, some smoothie ingredients, my husbands' "essential food" aka ice-cream, there is no more room for frozen meals.  But 18 dinners should get me pretty far since I may receive meals from the church as well and even 2.5 weeks off from cooking will be great!
Here's what's in my freezer based on what I could squeak out of my budget and what I could make with what was on sale:
Chili x2
Tuna Casserole x2
Chicken Enchiladas x1
Potato Soup x1
Wild Rice Soup x3
Lasagna x2
Green Chili Chicken on Brown Rice x2
Bean Burrito Enchiladas x2
Spaghetti Bake x3


*Have 5-10# of cooked hamburger frozen in .75# bags for tacos, pizza, nachos, etc.
So far done:  3# of cooked turkey frozen in small portions for tacos, nachos, casseroles, etc.


*Make up lots of homemade dry mixes (pancake, waffle, pizza dough, cookie, wheat bread, taco seasoning, cream soup mix, etc.)
So far done:  11 whole wheat pancake mixes made up thanks to this incredible recipe I recently discovered!


*Stock the cupboards with crackers, granola bars, nuts, etc.   I wish I could have stocked more, but I only had so much to spend on my last Walmart run before the baby comes so it will have to do.  We are definitely stocked on all-fruit jam, honey, peanut butter, apple butter (I made from apples we picked for free), and baking ingredients.


*Freeze some cookie dough or cookies, muffins, zucchini bread, and butterhorn rolls.


*Buy a few months' supply of toilet paper, Clorox wipes, kleenex, and baby wipes and have plenty of laundry soap made up. Have a month's worth of paper plates ready.


*Buy the kids a little gift to help them feel special with the event of a new baby.  Found some plastic bowie knives for the boys and a ribbon twirler for Ali at the Dollar Tree and stuck them in my hospital bag.  Cheap, but I know the kids will like them a lot and it will be something fun to play with while they adjust to the new sibling.


*Sew Katrielle a minky blanky set. Got the purple minky fleece new at a yard sale (3 yards for $3) and plan to make her a "ducky" blankie just like her brothers have, with an extra, just like they have, for keeping in the closet for when the current one is dirty, lost, etc.
So far:  Should be able to finish those this week.  They only take 30 minutes each (if that) to make!


*Choose a middle name for our daughter.   And it's a secret until she comes!


*Have a homeschooling routine in place and the fall semester planned out for Ali regarding goals, school lessons, field trip plans, homeschool swimming schedule, etc.


*Borrow lots of childrens' movies from friends so we won't be borrowing them the library and having to remember to return them on time in the tiring post-birth days.
So far:  Found a friend with tons of DVDs and already asked her if I could borrow some.  Now all I need to do is go get them some evening.


*Rotate my kids' clothing from summer clothing to fall/winter and unpack the hats/mittens/gloves and store in the storage downstairs for when the snow flies. Store summer clothing in boxes in the garage or shed.


*Make or purchase cute thank-you cards to have on hand in case we get baby presents or meals from folks, etc. Dollar Tree has some really cute and inexpensive stationary!
So far:  Have collected some, but would like to make some cute, hand-made ones if I get the chance.

*Birthday cards ready to mail for friends and relatives with fall birthdays and gifts done, wrapped, and sent out to MN in advance with my in-laws for my nephews', sis-in-law's, and father-in-law's birthdays.


*If 30 week ultrasound reveals that a C-section is still probable, borrow 3 books through inter-library loan on C-section advice and recovery and read prior to my surgery.
Update:  We're now planning on a regular delivery thanks to my placenta coming upward as my belly grew.  I had a complete previa, with only a 10% of it moving, so everyone was amazed that it did, including me!  So, my mentality had to shift quite a bit from C-section mode to regular delivery and all that entails (many nights of sleeplessness, hard contractions, not knowing when I'll deliver, not getting to go early, not knowing exactly when to line up childcare, a super-long labor, etc.) but we are thankful for this turn of events.


*While I still have plenty of time after baby comes for Christmas shopping and Christmas newsletter/baby announcement, I may plan out a list of Christmas gift ideas for family members and start my Christmas newsletter.
So far done:  Have a list in my calendar/planner of gift ideas for the kids and some relatives.  Have the Christmas letter half-written in my head.


*Bug Josiah to make me a stool that Justus can use to climb into his crib by himself in the event that I have a C-sec.
Not applicable anymore.  But I am bugging him to help me get the yard cleaned up and fixed up and raked up before baby since he's finished painting the house.


*Tentatively plan childcare for our older 3 when we are in the hospital for baby's birth. Discuss with my mom whether or not she will take off of work to watch the kids or attend the birth. Discuss with my husband how many days off he will have and what we will do for post-birth help if our moms aren't available and I'm recovering from surgery.    Since it's no longer a C-section, my mom will be watching the birth just as she did with Justus.  Then she will take care of the kids here at our home for the first night when we are with baby in the hospital.  Lining up childcare has been one of the hardest things for me to do!  I found places for the two older kids to go right away but it is always so hard for me to leave my "baby" with someone.  (I miss my buddy Shiloh!)  I also don't want to burden friends of mine who all either work or have lots of kids of their own to care for whom they drive to school and activities, etc.  So, I'm still working out the details for where Justus will go but have a couple trustworthy folks we are hoping to call.

*Read through our Miracle of Life book often with the kids so they will understand better how a baby lives in utero and discuss the changes that will come to our family with a newborn's arrival.     Really hoping Ali doesn't go tell everyone she knows what she's learned in recent days ever since she asked the question, "How will the baby get out?" and got a fairly accurate, but still very vague, explanation from her Mama!


*Have the guest beds all made up and rooms ready just in case we have unexpected company.
Need to get this done as my mom, and possibly my aunt too, will need a bed if they come help with the kids while we are in the hospital.


*Start the pages for Katrielle's scrapbook and finish Justus' last two pages on his baby book.
So far:  Working on organizing digital photo files so I can order the pics for Justus' album and finish it.  I'm about 6 months behind on organizing my photos, which for someone who takes pics constantly, like me, means thousands of photos to sort!

*Set up our second monitor so I can speak to the kids downstairs when I am upstairs as well as hearing them downstairs. (Can you tell I'm trying to avoid the stairs more?)  Did it, but found out it doesn't work as well as I'd hoped so I tend to just run up and down the stairs to get the kids.  But since previa is no longer an issue, the exercise is good for me and might produce contractions! =)

*Put kid bowls and cups in a lower cabinet and train Ali and Jer to be able to set the table for every meal and snacks too.

A few weeks before Katrielle comes:

*Wash the carseat carrier and swing out and get carseat loaded into the back of the van.

*Pack diaper bag and hospital bag.

*Wash bassinet linens and blankets one more time.

*One last decluttering of the toys downstairs and kids' clothing so we have less clutter to manage when baby comes.

*Buy lots of batteries for the camera.

Already Done as of Making this List:

*Diaper stash for the first few months Thanks to my friend Tracy who gave me lots of diapers her daughter outgrew too quickly and a great Amazon sale on diapers.

*Baby clothes newborn-5T are sorted, and all the 0-6 month stuff is ready and washed and folded!  Can we say SPOILED!  We have gotten soooo many hand-me-downs that are like-new and brand new and I had lots of cute dresses saved from Ali so she will be one well-dressed baby!

*Bassinet, changing table, and clothes set up in our bedroom

*Asked every friend I know who had a C-section to give me tips and share their experiences

*Taught Ali how to get Justus out of his crib in the mornings and bring him up to breakfast.  Update:  He climbs out of his crib himself so he and Jer come up when they wake up, usually while we're having breakfast.

*Kids can get themselves drinks of water, thanks to a fancy fridge with water/ice option

*Organized all Christmas decorations and things in the garage so it will be a snap to decorate for the holidays, even with a new baby.
 
 
One thing I tend to forget is that life will go on after a baby, and will even be MUCH BETTER when I no longer feel the pain of pubic bone displacia, my umbilical hernias, my night-time nausea, extreme exhaustion, etc.  I appreciated what Julie wrote to me in the comments after I first posted this goal list:
 
"Just remember that 4th kid doesn't mean that the world (or your part in it) stops...it really isn't that much harder than three!"
 
Spoken by a mom who works some night shifts as a nurse, homeschools, runs triatholons, and just had her fourth baby in January!
 
 



Little Table

This little round table was $10 at a yard sale.  In the past, we've lived in homes that were so tiny I couldn't possibly have squeezed in an extra like this.  It is perfect in the corner of our dining room where I can display candles, seasonal decorations (like a Nativity set or Jesse Tree) or plants and herbs.  A week ago, it was the perfect place to put my quadruple batch of whole wheat bread dough in a warm, sunny place to rise.

Chicken Pox Tips

Last week, exactly two weeks from the time Jeremiah got the pox, Alathia and Justus finally broke out with them.  Thankfully a couple of nurses had told us the week before that there would be a 14 day incubation period so in the week we were waiting for the pox to come, we were able to attend Homeschool Swimming every morning and do some playdates without being contagious to other children.  Then we isolated our children again and waited a few days for them to break out and then had another week of isolation as they got over them.

Instead of buying oatmeal bath solutions, just take 2 C. of oatmeal, mix with a couple of cups of water and microwave for 2 minutes.  Then spoon the oatmeal into an old nylon sock or section of pantyhose and throw in the bathwater.  This amount will make 3 or 4 and I kept them in a ziploc in the fridge until we needed them.  I let my kids play with the oatmeal ball because the more they squeezed it in the tub, the more soothing oatmeal mush came out of it into the water!  We also did a lot of baking soda baths too.  I would dump half of a box of Arm and Hammer into the tub of warm water.  A month ago a guy who sells Baking Soda and Laundry Detergent gave my dad a case of the stuff for free and Josiah got to bring home a bunch of those freebies from work so we have tons of baking soda on hand.

Justus got the worst case, and was pretty uncomfortable and needy for a few days, poor guy!  Ali was the itchiest of the three but I found that allowing her to play lots of computer games and to skip school and watch a few movies a day was the way to keep her distracted from the itch.  I used Children's Tylenol for the fevers and Children's Benadryl to help control the worst of the itch so they could sleep.  Justus got 4 baths a day for his worst couple of days.  It wasn't fun to see my little people miserable, but in retrospect, it went by in the blink of an eye and they were feeling great and energetic again in just a few days. 

Other survival tips:

Have your hubby bring home Pizza Hut on your worst day--a blessing for the tired Mama and a blessing for the kids who rarely, if ever, get to eat out and love pizza!

Popsicles, ice cream bars, ice-cream, and icy drinks were a hit with my kiddoes

I bought some snacks we don't usually have on hand, like Jell-O cups, pudding cups, juice boxes and fruit snacks.

Fruits and applesauce were good snacks throughout the day too.


I tried tea tree oil and Calamine Lotion on the spots, and though lots of people say tea tree oil is amazing, it didn't seem to work for us.  Calamine really soothed the itch for them so we applied it a few times a day after baths.  My little girl would writhe and complain that the lotion was too cold so I would heat a little water in a small glass bowl in the microwave, then dump the water out and pour a little Calamine in.  The hot bowl would warm the Calamine and I'd apply their pink "paint" with a cotton ball.


My mom was a sweetheart and brought little things by almost every day for the kids.  Balloons one day, bubbles the next, and supper for us one night.  It was very thoughtful and helpful and the kids enjoyed being spoiled, to the point that whenever she pops by the house now they say, "What did you bring us?"

Dressing Up

 Because we had this going on almost daily....we have been trying to find and collect boy dress-ups this summer for our little guys.

 After we collected some cowboy/prince/dragon/dinosaur/spiderman costumes, then we had this going on!

And one day the boy and girl dress-ups collided into this!



Great Yard Sale Find

In late July, I happened to find a "yard sale" in a former health food/novelty shop that was going out of business.  Not only did I get some great Wyoming posters for my guest room and some Wyoming t-shirts for $1 each but they had cases of Wyoming-made chokecherry jelly marked down from $5 a jar to 24 for $20.  Needless to say, I bought a case thinking they would make nice Christmas gifts for neighbors and friends.

But these didn't make it to Christmas because I decided they would make excellent "thank you" gifts for all the families that helped us move and clean our new home.  I had planned to do cookie plates or baked good thank-yous for our volunteers, but these were much easier for a tired, pregnant mama and everyone loved them!

Favorites

We have these a few times a week with supper:

Green spinach smoothies made with homemade yogurt and fruit.

Mmmmm!

On a less healthy note, my tastebuds always start longing for a caramel apple when the air turns cooler and the leaves start changing colors!