7 Quick Takes: I need your help!

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1.  I don't think we are going to close on our new house before Christmas afterall...it will likely be just after.  This is disappointing, but I am just so thankful that there is a goal in sight, and I have already started organizing the few things we have here at my MIL's so that they can be easily packed and moved when it is time.  We are so excited about getting into our new place that we will definitely be moving things in the day of closing ;)

2.  Speaking of packing things up, there's no other way to say it other than my 6 year old is a hoarder.  She did not get this trait from me, as I seem to be some sort of organizational freak, so it is pretty difficult for me to walk into the room she and Ian are sharing and see her "piles" of "very important stuff".  Well, they must be very important to her because she does not want to seperate with any of her papers, drawings, magazines (think tattered American Girl Doll catalogs and National Wildlife Federation's Ranger Rick mag)... I wish I had taken a picture to show you, but this morning we worked on organizing, trashing and storing her "stash".  She did seem to take pride in the fact that afterwards, an actual full size desk was revealed from under her clutter treasures.  But seriously, I need some help with this.   Any suggestions for kids who just want to hang onto EVERYTHING?


3.  Ian had his 18 month well visit this past Monday at 20 months.  And *drum roll, please* he is in the 6th percentile!  Woohoo!  No, it's not a typo....6th, not 16th or 60th!  And yes, we are cheering!  If you remember any of my struggles with wee little Isabel (in the -3%) then this is a really big number for our tiny little kids :)  And he is holding his growth curve very well, so the doctor was absolutely fine with the way he is growing!  Praise God!  And after a one-night battle with what I believe was croup, 4 weeks of an on and off again cold, and pneumonia in our house, he got a clean bill of health- no ear infections and his lungs sounded great!  What a relief.  On top of that great news, I did not have to pay our usual $40 copay....somehow we had a credit on our account.  Great day!

                                             (Isabel when she was teeny-tiny -3%)

4.  I made jalapeno corn pudding the other day from this allrecipes recipe, and it was really, really good!  BUT, I adapted that recipe by adding jalapenos (from a jar), a small can of diced green chilies, 1/2 an onion, sharp cheddar cheese and diced ham, and I think it needed all of the above unless you really were looking for only the corn taste.  It turned out quite sweet tasting, probably from the can of creamed corn and that balanced out nicely with the spice of the jalapenos!

5.  Ian is obsessed with unloading the dishwasher.  Unfortunately, in Grandma's house, he can open and close her dishwasher all by himself, so you never know when you might walk into the kitchen to find him unloading the dirty dishes... :(  Gotta keep your eye on this kid!  But he is so cute when the dishes are clean and you ask if he would like to help!  He responds with an enthusiastic "YES!!!" and big eyes and a smile, you'd think he just won a trip to visit Thomas the Train or something.  He loves to hand over the silverware and will name each one as he picks it up, so hey, we are homeschooling him already ;)

 

 

6.  I am praying the Christmas Rose novena along with so many others and Joy Beyond The Cross.  My intentions during this novena are specifically for mothers who are trying to conceive and for a peace from God while they struggle with the rollercoaster of emotions while trying to have a child.  I remember that pain and the emotional journey of trying to add to our family all too well, so my heart is especially tender for these women.

 

 

7.  Finally, I need some suggestions as to what on earth I do with this space in our new house:

 



I am standing in the bonus room above the garage.  This will be our school room/playroom and one day include a guest bedroom...but I am really trying to figure out how to babyproof the deathtrap that is the stairwell.  So those are the stairs that go down a half flight and then turn left and go down another half flight.  There is the handrail that you see just on the right side...but the two little "catwalk?" areas on either side of the stairs are the issue.  I think I can run a baby gate from the wall closest to the banister all the way across the stairs and to the other wall.  So if you are upstairs and the gate is closed it will not be a problem.  But if a baby/toddler/kid whoever....is coming up the stairs, I need something that will stop them from wanting to climb the left hand side (as viewed from this picture...it would be right hand side if you are coming up the stairs).  Any suggestions?  So far, a bookshelf or floating shelves secured to that wall would be the only idea that we've got.  Need creative help!!

A Flurry of Activity.

...times three.  To begin, Advent is literally days away and I'm totally unprepared.  Between all of my Christmas gear and Advent activities for homeschooling and decorating being tucked away in an unreachable spot in one of our three storage units, and not being in a house that I can really decorate I'm feeling a little scattered. 

I am in desperate need of the Magnificat Advent Companion....hoping that I can make it over to the Catholic bookstore before they are all snatched up!  That little booklet is always such a blessing to me in this busy season.

I guess a big part of my preparation for Advent in years past has been focused on decorating and doing activities with the kids.  During Advent our homeschool lesson plans change from the Catholic Heritage Curriculum to a mix of educational and just plain fun activities and lessons which lead up to the birth of Jesus.  I change out activities on our school shelves and this year I just feel kind of lost without my own space to be able to do that.  I am trying to incorporate some Advent prep crafts and such the best that I can.  Today we did this activity that I found on Catholic Icing.  Making our frugal dollar store candles into Advent pink and purple ones...along with our dollar store wreath and fake flowers. 

(I have to say the first two candles were "smoother" than the last two purples, but overall painting with melted crayons worked quite well, and Isabel enjoyed the instant transformation as much as I did!)

Now while I'm a little disappointed that we are not in the new house to be able to do all of this right now, I am excited and thankful that we are just getting a new home for Christmas!  And that is the second part of my flurry of activity....I am spending wayyyy too much time on Pinterest and Craigslist searching for new finds/ideas/creations for the new home.  I'm torn because it's fun to think about decorating and preparing a new house, and yet I don't want to be totally occupied by this excitement during this special season when I'm supposed to be focusing on preparing my heart. 

And finally, there has been a flurry of activity in my belly lately!  This baby who has seemed fairly inactive to me, has suddenly increased his or her movement quite a bit, and I've been enjoying it!  Very thankful to be able to feel this little one move around more and more!

Anatomy Scan was.... *Updated with PIC*

a success!!  And by that I mean that first and foremost, the baby is growing right on track and looks completely healthy from all that they saw!  What a relief!  I have plenty of amniotic fluid, baby has all organs, a four chamber heart, a 3 vessel cord, my cervix has not begun to shorten, etc...everything just looks great! 

And the second success was that we stuck to our guns and did not find out the baby's gender!  I think our ultrasound tech was surprised.  I guess these days the majority of people do find out the gender; she seemed kind of amused by the suspense we were creating for ourselves ;)  I did press her a little bit and asked if she could tell for sure one way or the other what the gender was (really if the baby was giving her a clear shot) and she said that she definitely knew.  So that part was hard, knowing that she knew and the four of us (Rob, Isabel and Ian all joined me!) did not.  She made sure to write "patient did not wish to know the gender" in my chart so that the doctors and nurses would not slip up and say, "Oh, so it says here you are having a...."  I thought that was smart! ;)  I had dreamt a few days prior that somehow I was able to see the "parts" at the ultrasound and ruined the surprise for myself.

At this point I really think it's going to be a boy.  Of course we will just be happy with a healthy, live baby; part of me is hoping for a girl for Isabel, although a boy close in age to Ian would be great too...so really whoever comes out will be just who God intended for us :)

We're Under Contract!

FINALLY!  After selling our home back in July and living with relatives for the last 4+ months, we are under contract on THE home!  I don't know how many houses we have seen over the last year in this search for a home on unrestricted land, but God has finally opened up this house and we think it is just perfect. 

A well-built home that is big enough to grow our family, on nearly 4 acres of land out in the country....yet not so far away that it will feel like we are isolated from civilization! ;)  All well within our budget....God is so good!  And did I mention that we will have a tractor??  Oh, my husband and son (yes, Ian's latest thing is tractors!) are going to be in heaven!

I have to say that there were many moments when I wondered if God didn't just want us to live with our family, well.....forever.  And while it has been a blessing to save money while living with family, we are all ready to get into our own place.  Not to mention I was starting to get a bit antsy about not having a home in which to "nest"!  

Our closing will put us very near Christmas....so it will be a busy time of the year, not to mention a joyous reason to count our blessings! 

In the beginning of 2012, in this post, I wrote about having a hopefulness about the year.  I could never have guessed the plans God had in store for us......selling our home, getting pregnant with another little blessing, and finding a home that will allow us to be a little more self-sufficient and which is really a place we feel is going to be a great fit for our family! 

All's well at 16 weeks and a day.

We had another OB appointment yesterday for a regular check-up and baby seems to be doing just fine in there!  Isabel came with me to this appointment since it was the first appointment that they used a doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat (rather than having an u/s), which was a strong 140bpm!  I was really relieved to hear it, Iz was excited to hear it, and the doctor who was new to the practice, certainly knew nothing of the slight trepidation I have at each appointment as I wait to hear if the baby is in fact still doing okay. 

I have started to feel some stronger bumps lately, but I certainly don't feel them everyday...at this point it's like every 3 days, so the days in between feeling the baby move are sometimes a little nerve-wracking.  Luckily between Isabel and Ian I am staying pretty busy ;) which may also be a reason that I am less-focused on what the baby is doing and perhaps even missing some of those movements.  The other thing that concerns me is that my belly is just not really growing very big yet...I know, it's only 16 weeks, but I was not very big with Mary Grace at 19 weeks and that is just three weeks away.  I remember thinking "I should be bigger!" with Mary Grace, so I have that little worry in the back of my mind.

Our anatomy scan is scheduled for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and in case I have not mentioned this yet,.....we are NOT finding out the gender.  I had some initial anxiety about giving up this "control", ie., knowing the baby's sex, being able to wash gender appropriate clothes, setting up the right colors for the nursery.  But LOL at this point we may not even be in a house by the time this baby is born.....so I am giving up that control to join my husband in the JOY of the SURPRISE! :)  He is really excited about waiting to find out, and I am slowly gaining excitement about not finding out. 

11 Weeks and 4 Days

I had the longest OB appointment ever.....and had the opportunity to pray for two different ladies while I was there!  Got to the office at 8:25am.  Saw the insurance lady at 8:30am, then the OB nurse who went over all the things not to eat, do or think about when you are pregnant...then had blood drawn, and then it was about 9:45am.  At that point I waited over an hour just to see the doctor, but while I was waiting, I overheard another patient greet a nurse and ask how the "babies" were doing (she was apparently pregnant with twins).  She responded that her water had broken at 22 weeks and she had lost one of the babies.  Oh how my heart broke for her.  I just prayed for her silently in my heart, because the nurse said she was so sorry, but "at least she still had one baby left".... yeah, that doesn't take away the pain of losing the first baby.  The patient handled it graciously, and I never saw her again....she was taken back for her appointment. 

So finally I get in to see the doctor and he explains that he had an ectopic pregnancy first thing in the morning, and that set him back at least 30 minutes, so everything was running late.  My second person to pray for!  I instantly remembered when they told me about my ectopic pregnancy; my very first pregnancy loss...and how numbing it was to think that I had a perfectly fine baby, growing in the wrong spot, that they would have to remove.  I felt so bad for the mother-to-be who lost her baby this morning. :( 

After my checkup I had opted to do all the diagnostic testing which includes blood work and ultrasound- nothing invasive.  Prior to Mary Grace I had never performed any of these tests with the mindset that "I wouldn't abort if something was wrong with my baby".....of course that statement is still true today, but now the difference is...that I want to know if something is wrong with my baby, if I need to start preparing for life with or without a baby that may have special needs.

So by the time that everything was done, it was 12:15pm!  I wish I had brought a snack!  I was starving.  The great news is that baby is measuring a day ahead (11wks 5days)!  The ultrasound looking at the nuchal fold was within normal range, and baby was alive and moving all around!  Heartbeat of 161!  Thank you God for a squirming, live baby on the screen!!!  I had of course prepared myself for the fact that things may not go well at this appointment.....just due to past experience.  So it's such a big relief (and almost a shock!) when things go right!

Thank you Jesus!

I'm back....with news!

To begin, I have to apologize for my unexplained absence over the last month and a half...wait, 2 months???  Is that right?  Ugh....I'm sorry.  Life has been....to say the least....in transition.  The kids and I are back with Rob, but we are not yet in our own house.  My mother-in-law has been gracious enough to let us rent from her until we get the right house.  We have started the homeschooling year and gotten back into the routine of co-ops and field trips....

And on top of all that....the news!!!

I'm 10 1/2 weeks pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow...yeah, we were trying but I was not expecting God to bless us so soon, with my past history!  So we were kind of blown away and are VERY excited and grateful. 

Nausea set in at 5 weeks and I was pretty miserable until my first appointment at 9 weeks when my OB gave me zofran by day and something else for night.  We were both surprised that I had lost 7lbs in those first 9 weeks.  I had only thrown up a handful of times but it was really the nausea that kept me from wanting to eat or drink- anything!  Now that I'm on meds, things are much more manageable and I can eat again!  Not alot at one time, but it's a big improvement over not wanting to eat a thing.

Baby was moving during my ultrasound and we saw the heart beating away.  It is only one little bean in there (I was pretty convinced that I must be having two with the kind of nausea I was having), and baby was in the right place, measured right on track, and there were no cysts or anything unusual around my ovaries this time!  Unbelieveable!  Maybe this will really be a problem-free pregnancy!  I can hope and pray!

So 10 1/2 weeks gives me a due date of April 11th.  This must be God's sense of humor, because Isabel's birthday is April 27th and Ian's is April 5th.  Maybe we just make April babies?  Anyway, I'm getting too far ahead of myself....I am trying to take it day by day and be thankful for each day I have with this growing little babe...because I know how quickly things can change.  My heart has really been torn for the blogger friends who have recently lost babies, and my prayers are with you for God's healing.  Also heavy on my heart have been some special bloggers and friends still struggling with infertility.  My prayers are for you as well! 

I will try to be better about updating!  Sadly, I haven't been reading blogs very much either these last two months.  Trying to get things balanced while we are trying to find a home ;)