Lots of Pictures!

I'll post them in groups so they'll load a little easier (hopefully!)

Here is Micah's birthday:

Cake


Presents


and here's what Jacob did during the party, LOL



Here's a few more random pics

Chris caught Levi chillin' on the recliner like this


I found Troyer fixing lunch in the kitchen with his headphones on

When I asked him about it, I said, Is that the new cool way to wear them? He answered, "No, this is just my own personal sense of style!" LOL

I'm going to try to post a few pics every few days, so I have something new to post and it won't take so long for the page to load.

A Quick Pic

I have more pictures, but this one is one of my favorites from the last few weeks. I'll post more later!

A Miracle Happened

This week, Micah was good enough that we were able to celebrate his birthday! It actually only took 2 more days, thank goodness. His brothers were getting more anxious than he was to have cake and open presents, LOL. I took the 4 youngest out to WM and we chose a cake, and picked up some soda to have with pizza for dinner. Aside from Caleb trying to coach Micah through the cake-choosing process, all went well. Instead of ordering a cake and having to wait a few days for it, Micah chose to buy a cake from the case and put his own toys on it. Then we went over to the toy section and picked out some Hot Wheels cars for that purpose.

After lunch we opened presents and then had cake. Micah loved everything he got, and so did his brothers. Unfortunately that means they have been pestering him all week to share them and then arguing about who has had more time with them. I'm about ready to take them back again, LOL. We had pizza for dinner, but I forgot to open the soda, so we saved it for this weekend, for movie night.

I got some good pictures, but they are still in the camera, of course. I knew if I kept waiting to edit the pictures and get them uploaded, it would be another week at least before you knew if poor Micah had had his birthday. I'll get to it!

Yesterday after church, SIL called and invited us to meet her at the park so she and Chris could practice hitting and catching softballs. Chris' office team has started up again this year, and he says he is the oldest one on the team, and also the worst player. He really wants to get some extra practice in so they will give him more playing time, LOL. I have good pictures of us at the park, too. Noah took a few swings, and he's pretty good, considering he's never played a real game or had any coaching at all. He could be very good, but isn't really interested in joining a team. He isn't a very good loser, and tries to quit as soon as things get bad, and he also isn't willing to make the commitment to go to regular practices.

After playing at the park, SIL invited us to her house for burgers and chips. We were happy to accept, because we don't see her very much. BIL is a truck driver, and since they don't have any kids, she rides with him when he goes on long trips. That means it can be weeks at a time that they are away, and it makes it very hard for us to coordinate our free weekends with their home ones. We didn't want to pass up this chance! It turns out she had some friends over, too, as well as Chris' other sister and his parents. I didn't realize it was going to be such a big crowd. It worked out well, though, because her other friends brought kids along, so the boys had a fun time running around with them. We got home about 9:30 last night, which meant we missed movie night, so the soda is still waiting, LOL. The movie is, too. We are going to try to watch it tonight.

This morning Chris left at 6 am with Troyer and Noah for the Pathfinder Fair, which is in Reading. It is a required event for them, and they have to be in uniform. I spent the whole week pestering them to make sure they had everything they needed, but of course we were up past 11 last night trying to find parts to Troyer's uniform. Luckily we found it, but UGH why don't they listen? Oh yeah, because they're kids, lol. They should get back around dinner time tonight. I hope they have a good time. Chris is planning to be pretty bored, LOL.

Oh, I can update again on my books and movies list. I read another Catherine Palmer book, this one was Leaves of Hope, and it was another semi-romance that also followed a woman's spiritual searching. It had a few twists to it, and I enjoyed it. Now I'm in the middle of a romance (non-Christian, straight off the rack at WM) by Victoria Alexander called The Marriage Lesson. It's ok, but not very compelling. Some books I can't put down until I'm done (to the detriment of my poor children and my poor house, LOL) but this one isn't drawing me in that much. Still, it isn't really bad so that I make gagging noises as I read and then finally give up and put it in the Donate pile ( I have actually done that with books that were THAT bad).

Chris was in the mood last week to rent Invincible, the movie about the Philadelphia Eagles player who won a walk-on spot on the team. While I was at the store to rent it, the salesgirl talked me into applying for the online rental subscription because they were having a 2 week free trial, and it came with a coupon for a free in-store rental. So I came out with 4 movies: the football movie, Yours, Mine and Ours (the remake), Barnyard, and You Me and Dupree.

We really enjoyed Invincible, it was a good story. Chris remembers waaaaay back to the 70s when the real story happened, and he says they changed it a bit for the movie, but mostly it was right on.

I enjoyed the remake of Yours Mine and Ours, though I thought they exaggerated the mom's flakiness. I also didn't really feel the chemistry between Frank Beardsley, the dad (which I think Dennis Quaid played very well) and Helen North (played by Rene Russo). I think Chris gets nervous at the idea of admitting to liking these stories of large families (he doesn't want to encourage me, you know, lol) so I don't know if he liked it, but I do know we both agreed that the original was better.

We watched Barnyard with the kids a few times, and they laughed a lot, but I have to tell you, seeing cows that were supposed to be male but that had udders was too disconcerting for me. In one scene, one of the "cows" sprays milk from his udder on another farm animal. Ok, I didn't grow up on a farm, but even I know a cow can't "pee" milk from her udder. Ugh. Chris and I felt that Barnyard was very similar to The Wild, especially because the main character had only a father and no mother. The father was also far out of touch with his son, but at least in this movie the father was clearly more responsible and wiser than his son, which was not the case in The Wild. Overall we were disappointed in this one.

It took me almost 2 weeks to watch You Me and Dupree. I knew there was going to be stuff in it that I didn't want the boys to see, so I had to wait until after they were all in bed to watch it. Unfortunately I guess I was very tired all week, because I couldn't stay up for it. I finally watched it a few days ago. It's not the story I expected, but it was not bad. Matt Dillon is not my favorite actor, but he did ok in this one. I do like Owen Wilson, and he was pretty good, though I got tired of his character's immaturity probably faster than I was supposed to. I also like Kate Hudson, but I think maybe her character wasn't written well enough, she seemed to make jumps in attitude and mood that were abrupt. It had a good ending.

Since I had signed up for the 2 week trial of the online rentals, we got 3 movies in the mail too. I chose Click, Night at the Museum, and Ice Age the Meltdown. The boys loved Ice Age as much as the first one, but again, I didn't sit down and watch it all the way through with them, I kind of overheard it from the other room, lol. Click was cute, Chris and I thought they did a good job with the story and the "moral" though we didn't think it needed quite so much bad language. We all loved Night at the Museum, again a surprise for us, since we aren't big Ben Stiller fans. It had a good message, and a happy ending. We also liked the secondary message, that learning about history is a good thing.

A bonus for renting online movies is that when you return them to the store instead of mailing them back, you get a free in store rental, so I got movies with each of the three returns. I chose Alex Rider Operation Stormbreak, The Princess Bride, and Men in Black. Alex Rider was a movie I hadn't heard about before, but learned after watching it that is probably because it was a British film. It is a cross between Spy Kids and James Bond, about a 14 year old boy whose uncle is killed, and he finds out that his uncle was a spy when the agency recruits him to take over the mission. It is based on a series of books, so I hope to get Troyer and Noah into reading them. We thought the movie was pretty good.

Chris and I watched The Princess Bride back when it first came out on video, but we didn't remember the story very well. Still, I knew the boys would probably enjoy it. It was as cute as we remembered, and the boys did like it.

We had tried to watch MiB before, but when we rented it from the store, it had MiBII inside the case, and we returned it without seeing it; so this was our second try. I like Will Smith, and I liked the movie. Chris felt there was too much killing in it, though we only counted 4 people the alien killed, and none of it was shown on screen. They did blow up a few aliens, which they showed for full splatter effect. I didn't think it was that bad. And it was funny.

Finally, I had my Netflix movie sitting on the shelf, neglected, while we went through all the free stuff. It was another chick flick, Elizabethtown, with Orlando Bloom, so again, I had to find a time to watch it by myself. I ended up watching it early in the morning after I had gotten Jacob back to sleep. Unfortunately the boys woke up and made noise through the end of it, but I think I would have liked it, LOL. I may rent it again later and rewatch it.

Phew, that was a lot of movies, and we also watched Along Came Polly on tv last Sunday. I didn't really get that movie at all, but I had heard reviews that basically said the same thing, so I wasn't surprised, LOL. I'm not a huge Jennifer Aniston fan either.

It seems May is a big month for movie releases, Spiderman 3 came out this week, Shrek 3 is opening mid-month, and of course Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is opening at the end of the month. I am hoping that I can get a chance to go see them in the theater (at least Spiderman and Pirates), rather than have to wait for the DVDs next fall!

Phew, that was a lot of tv watching for the last 2 weeks, especially when you include end of season episodes of my favorite tv shows. I'm trying not to miss CSI (the Las Vegas version), NCIS, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and of course LOST. The boys and I have also been watching Dancing With the Stars, but we're getting pretty annoyed with the scoring system that lets the fans keep really bad dancers in while better ones get voted out. I guess it's the same story as American Idol, though LOL. At least the top 3 are still in solidly, and hopefully Billy Ray will go home this week! Man, it sounds like I have no life, LOL.

Hopefully I will have pictures up soon!

Oh yeah, and I got tagged for a "10 weird/interesting/you didn't know things about me" meme, which I will post if I can think of 10 things.

More Pictures

We had a beautiful weekend, and the boys spent a lot of time outside. Levi has been having fun for a few days with the sidewalk chalk. Usually I would prefer a deck to a concrete patio, but a patio is much better for chalk drawing! This weekend, all the boys got into the act:

Caleb


Micah


Noah


Troyer's masterpiece


A message from Samuel:


Levi helped too:


The side of our house is concrete block with a stucco like paint on it, perfect for chalk.
My graffiti artists:


Last week was also finally nice enough to get the lawn mowed, so here is a picture of the first mow of the season!

Two Birthdays

Last week was Jacob's 2 month birthday. He had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, and got the usual check up. He weighed 11 lb 10 oz, which was kind of disappointing, I thought he'd weigh more. I checked on the other boys' stats, and it turns out he is my smallest at 2 mos old, even though he was my second biggest at birth. I wonder if it had something to do with all the colds going around last month. He's still in the 50th percentile, so the doctor wasn't worried. He also got 4 shots, plus an oral immunization. Poor baby! I hate that look they get when the doctor jabs them; kind of "how could you have let something like this happen to me???!!!" Luckily at this age they forget quickly, so by the time we were at the van, he was calm and drowsing off to sleep.

This Sunday was Micah's 5th birthday. He had been looking forward to it all month, and we spent last week reminding him to behave and not get into too much trouble so he wouldn't miss it. Well, guess what? He had about the worst weekend ever, in terms of behavior. He was naughty in church (he kept running out of the sanctuary and running up and down the halls alone), so when we got home, he was sent for a nap. Instead of napping, he yelled and got Levi up from his nap, and made more noise. When sent back to his room, he was caught opening the windows and screens next to his bed. They have child locks on them, but he knows how to release them. For this, he lost movie night priveledges and was sent to bed early. Instead of staying in his room, he snuck out and into the kitchen where he was caught sampling the brownies.

How much trouble do you think this kid can think up before he realizes he's making life worse for himself?? Well, Sunday morning, his birthday, he woke up before everyone else and came out and sat on the couch with me. I kissed him and said "Happy Birthday!" and we snuggled fora while. I got him breakfast, which he ate. He wandered off, but I had reminded him that he needed to be extra good to make up for the day before, so I wasn't worried. The next thing I hear is Levi waking up from a deep sleep screaming his head off. I ran to his room to find Micah standing next to the crib with Levi's sippy cup in his hand, and Levi dripping wet. Micah had taken the lid off and poured the water on Levi while he slept. Ugh, back to his room for another time out, and no birthday presents or cake.

Today I had hoped would be different, but nope. He snuck into his older brothers' room and stole some of their things, then ran away instead of handing them over when he got caught. Maybe we'll eat the cake in front of him without sharing. Do you think he'd get the message??? I don't think I could be so cruel....

Spring is Here! Finally!

Today we had the first day of normal temperatures for the whole month. Yes, it was warm at the beginning of the month, but it was actually warmer than normal. Today it was in the upper 60s, and bright and sunny. It was perfect. Noah and Samuel are spending the weekend at MIL's, but I decided to take the rest of the boys to the park. We haven't been there since that day it was almost 80. Oh yeah, the day Levi fell sick with that awful awful bug that hung around here for 3 weeks. Troyer wanted to go over to a friend's house instead, so I only had 4 boys with me. We were there well over an hour, but the sun was so bright that now I have a headache from squinting! The silly park doesn't have any trees (not that there would be leaves on them yet) and all the benches face south. Not sure what brainiac planned that. Anyway, the boys had a great time. The water fountain was already turned on, so of course Micah and Caleb got soaked messing around in it.

As promised, here are some pictures:

Jacob in his swing:

Still a bit of a rash, but much much better than before.

And here is Spring at our house:

What, you say? Why is there a dead plant right at the corner of the front step? Well, it is a mum that blooms every Fall. Normally I'd have it pulled out by now, but it's been so darn cold and rainy that I haven't been out to weed yet. Yes, notice all the weeds mixed in with the blooms. They weren't there on Wednesday, I swear.


This is Caleb telling me all about how many weeds there are. Those stalks on the left are some kind of evil fern weed. They grew in last year after Chris pulled out the bushes. Even in the dead of winter I could not pull them up. They will have to be chopped, or dug up.


And here is the beautiful garden growing under the tree in our front yard. But, you say, they are just dandilions! So what, I say! They are pretty, and they tend themselves. I hope they fill the whole spot under the tree. We all know, of course, that they will forsake their place of birth and move out into greener pastures, leaving me with no lawn and also nothing to cover up the dirt under my tree. sigh. Oh, and yes, the lawn needs to be mowed too!

So Much to Say, So Too Lazy to Get My Butt Here to Post

You know, I write posts in my head all the time. Several times a day I think about what I would write about what is going on in my life. I have stuff to say, I have pictures of it to post. But can I get around to actually writing it out? Do you think those pictures are not still in my camera? Of course not. Sorry. Every day I get online and spend my time checking out my message boards, and reading everyone else's blogs. I get annoyed at the ones who don't update often enough. And then I log off. Sigh. I'm soooo lazy.

I'm sure you are wondering how we are all doing here after letting you know that we had a cold coming through the house. Well, it got us all, and stuck around for over 2 weeks. It turns out that the rash that Jacob had was indeed viral, because it finally cleared up last week. He is once again a beautiful baby. I think we also coughed our last cough about the same time. Unfortunately, Levi managed to catch a stomach bug just as he recovered from the snot bug. He ate a great Easter supper, then Sunday night puked it all up. Poor Chris, he was holding Levi while the two of them napped on the couch. Ick. Luckily it all ended up, um, not on the couch LOL. He went on to puke for another 2 days, and then moved on to the runs. Meanwhile, Micah woke up Thursday morning (early, 4 am, ugh) puking. His didn't last as long, thank goodness, and it also hasn't moved on to anyone else. I hesitate to say it, but I think we are all finally well now. That was a looooooong 3 weeks.

During all of that illness, life went on, of course. We went to MIL's for Easter supper. It was very good, and the kids all ate pretty well. She hid eggs outside for them to hunt, even though it was only about 40 degrees and WINDY. It was torture for us adults to stand out there while they searched, but they had fun. Thank goodness 24 eggs get found pretty quickly when split between 6 kids!

Sunday morning, Chris went up in the attic and brought down the baby swing. Putting it up is always a hopeful gesture; you never know if a baby is going to like the swing or not. Most of mine have not. Since I was feeding Jacob at the time, Troyer decided to try putting it together by himself. I was very impressed that he did it! He only needed a few hints, but remember how old this swing is and don't even suppose there are any directions left, LOL. It did make us a half hour late for MIL's house, because we were enjoying watching him figure it out, but oh well for her! And even better - Jacob loves it! He likes to swing even when he stays awake, though we certainly can't leave him in there for hours. It's good enough to get me a bathroom run, lol. He will also sleep in it, and that he can do for hours. Woohoo!

On Monday, Aimee came for a visit. She brought the cousins, and the boys were super excited about it. These poor kids just don't see enough of each other. She stayed for a week, though she took a side trip to Michelle's for one night, since it's only a few hours further to her house. Much easier than trying to make a separate trip. It worked out well, because it gave us a chance to tidy up the house a bit mid-week; it was getting ugly with all the kids too excited to clean up after themselves. Hoo Boy, I should have taken a picture of Troyer and Noah's room on Saturday morning, just before Aimee left. It was scary, LOL. We had a great time together, and Chris watched the kids (all of them except for Jacob, so 8 - I'm very proud and grateful!) twice so Aimee and I could go out together. Aimee managed to get out of here and get home just in time to miss the worst of the weekend storms, but she cut it close.

And that brings up one more thing I was going to post about; but then again, you can guess what I'm going to say: Where the Heck is Spring????? It has been in the 40s for over 2 weeks here, when the average temp should be 60. It has rained and been windy, and overnight we've had snow flurries. I can only be thankful that I don't live farther north, where they are getting feet of snow! But I tell you, my poor daffodils and tulips and hyacinths are looking very sad this year, with trying to survive all the freezing weather. I did finally see some light at the end of the tunnel, in the forcast this morning I saw a 65 for Sunday, and a sun! Dare I get my hopes up?

Oh, also while Aimee was here, I had my 6 week post-partum check up. I was disappointed (but not surprised) to see that I had gained back 8 lbs already. At about 3 weeks I had lost all my baby weight and felt great. That darn Sam's Choice Indulgent Trail Mix is Evil! I really want to try to lose more weight. My total short-term goal is 25 lbs. My dream goal is 50, but let's not even go there right now, LOL. I'm not really prepared for the commitment that would take. I had managed to lose 13 lbs before I got pregnant last year, so I'm hoping I can do it again.

The boys also had an appointment last week, for the dentist. This time 4 of them went at once. I am so pleased with my dentist; he was able to schedule them so that they were all done within an hour. They all did really well, too. This was Caleb's first dentist visit, and he was nervous, but he did great. Poor Troyer, though, had to be reprimanded for poor brushing. He has a problem with heavy tartar build up. He was told this last fall at his last appointment, and he had been doing really well with brushing regularly and flossing. But it seems he has been slacking off. He actually admitted to the dentist that he hadn't brushed in two weeks before his appointment! Ack! You don't suppose he was the only one to get in trouble for that do you??? Oh no, the dentist came out into the waiting room and reprimanded me for it too! I could have died right there in the office. Nothing like getting parenting advice from your dentist. He suggested that I ground Troyer from t.v. until he starts brushing again. Well, duh, I thought we had taken care of that! What do you think Troyer's excuse was? He said "well, you stopped telling me to brush, so I stopped brushing." Huh??? Oooh, I was not happy with that one! Unfortunately, 12 year old boys are not known for their ability to empathise with their mother's embarrassment and take it upon themselves to remedy it. I will be having to inspect his teeth every night again. sigh.

On Friday Noah and Samuel had to take their standardized tests for school. In Pennsylvania the law states that homeschooled children be tested in grades 3, 5, 8, and hmm, I don't know how often in high school. So I had 2 due this year. I knew Noah would do fine, as he is a good reader, and he did not disappoint me. He scored grade level for spelling and math, and 6th grade for word recognition (he has to read a list of words aloud and gets credit for each word he pronounces correctly) and 9th grade for reading comprehension! Woo hoo! Samuel, on the other hand, I was worried about. We are still struggling with his reading, though he has really come very far. He likes math, but because we have to concentrate so much on the reading, he has not had the chance to progress beyond grade level in math, though I think he could. He did score right on track with math. I was pleasantly surprised that, while he struggled through it, he managed to score right on grade level for reading comprehension and word recognition! Woo hoo! Spelling, on the other hand, he only scored 1st grade. I think it might be because he tried to spell boy "boi"? What? I have no idea where he got that from! You'd think in *this* house that is one word they all should be able to spell! LOL It was suggested that I take him to a therapist to have him tested for reading/visual disabilities. While I wouldn't submit those results to the school district, it would still help me to know for sure, and also would be helpful to learn if there are any therapies that could help him read a little easier, rather than struggle so hard. But all in all, I was pleased with the results.


I realize that I have not been keeping up to date on my reading list, or my movie list. I still have not gotten around to learning how to add that feature to my side bar (did you read at the beginning of this post, about my being lazy?), so for now I'll just add it in my posts:

We have watched Zoom, with Tim Allen. We really enjoyed most of the movie, though the ending was disappointing. Not so much the story as the fact that it seemed that Tim Allen decided to just stop acting at the end. It made you stop and go Huh? What happened? It bothered the boys much less than it bothered me and Chris.

We also watched Flushed Away, the CG animation about rats. It was really pretty cute, on the level with Wallace and Gromit to a point. There were a lot of jokes snuck in that you might miss the first time around, and went over the boys' heads, but were cute. And despite it being about the sewer and having singing slugs in it, was entertaining.

This week we watched the Ant Bully. Actually, the boys watched it, I never did get around to it. They liked it, Aimee rated it "cute" and Chris thought it was dull. I can't tell you more than that, sorry, LOL

Since we were together, Aimee and I rented a chick flick, Must Love Dogs. It was a good girls' movie. While I don't think there is really much chemistry between John Cusak and Diane Lane, I liked the story enough. I'm also still wondering how Cusak's character supported himself if he never sold any boats. Those materials aren't free.

On my bookshelf, or rather, from the library's, I have been reading some of Catherine Palmer's books. She wrote a series that I read last summer that I enjoyed, so I was looking forward to more of her writing. The first two were The Affectionate Adversary and The Bachelor's Bargain. Both are set in Regency England, and were ok. She is a Christian author, and I sometimes find it difficult to enjoy the plot and characters when they get bogged down with trying to sermonize from the pages. What I did like was that it is a series, so the characters from one book are found in the next, and she continues to develop them and reveal more about their lives. At the end of the second book, she advised rereading the books from the series I read last year, as she was going to include some of those characters in her next few books. I look forward to that.

Right now I'm reading Love's Proof, which centers around fictional members of Isaac Newton's extended family. Again, the sermonizing is distracting, although at least in this book it is actually part of the plot. I have to admit, my preference for novels would fall somewhere solidly in between the snow white purity of the Christian novels and the outright raunchiness of traditional romance novels. I find the heroines either fight their attraction to the point of irritation, or give in to it much too easily. Can't they think it without acting on it? Can't they *think* nasty thoughts even though they manage to control their tongue and not say them out loud? Oh well, someday Aimee and I are going to write our own romance novel, and it will be just the way we like it, LOL. And the heroine is going to be a short, well rounded (as opposed to tall and thin!) red head with blue eyes instead of the inevitable green, who is somewhat outspoken though not given to crusading for causes, and is intelligent but still enjoys a proper courting. It will, of course, take place in Scotland! LOL

Ok, I think I am finally caught up. I'll get those pictures uploaded soon!

Yet Another Blog Post About Being Sick

Isn't that what everyone else is blogging about this week? Well, we got hit too. At least we only got a head/chest cold, and not a stomach bug (knocking on wood!) Levi started it last Tuesday, and it grabbed each of us, one by one, until none were left untouched. Not even Chris, or poor Jacob. Luckily Jacob just has a mucousy cough, but no trouble breathing and no runny nose, so he is still sleeping well, and generally happy. In fact, I got some cute pictures of him smiling this week! So, in spite of being miserable from coughing my head off, here is the spot of sunshine in my life:







Of course we all got sick when the weather was in the 70s and bright and sunny. Now that we are (hopefully!) at the end of it, the weather is turning on us. It will be in the 40s by Friday (and below freezing at night!) I wonder how cold it will be for Easter. Sigh.

5 Weeks

Just got back from Jacob's one month appointment. He now weighs 10 lb 12 oz and is 22 inches long - growing well! The doctor says that the rash must be a viral infection that will have to run its course. That would normally be 7-10 days, and since he's had it 8 days already, we're hoping it's on its way out.

Meanwhile Troyer and Micah seem to have caught Levi's cold, and Caleb might be coming down with it today. Ugh. MIL had invited my pick of 2 boys to spend the weekend, but we may have to delay it. They were supposed to stay over 3 weeks ago, but that week MIL and FIL were sick, the next week we had too much snow to travel on Friday, and last week Troyer and Noah had to spend Sunday making more peanutbutter eggs. I sure would hate to cancel again, but I will if no one is healthy enough to go.

So, What's New?

First, a picture of Jacob I took this week:


This one looks the most like him out of all the pictures I have taken so far. He has a nasty red bumpy rash on his tummy, neck, and face, almost like heat rash, but it won't clear up. I'm going to ask the doctor about it at his appointment.

We had another warm sunny day yesterday, it was over 80 degrees! I took the kids to the park, thinking they'd enjoy getting out of the house. I was wrong, we should have stayed home. Sigh. Noah complained that it was too hot to do anything, so it was boring and he laid on a bench in the shade the whole time. Poor Levi came down with a cold in the morning, and by the time we got to the park he was in bad shape. His nose was running, and he was so sleepy he looked drugged. He tried so hard to play because he just loves the park, but he could barely drag himself over to the slide, look at it, and drag himself back over to me. Poor guy. By the time we left, which was only a half an hour since we weren't having as much fun as I thought we would, he was feverish and glad to go home and have a nap. He's not much better today, though his fever is gone. He has a croupy cough that kept him up last night. It doesn't seem fair that the warm weather is bringing in the sickness that we avoided all winter.

Here are some more pictures of Jacob from the last few weeks. I don't take that many because, well, at his age they all look the same, LOL

One Month Old!

Ok, a few days late, bad me. I guess I was waiting until I had pictures to post, but guess what? They are still in my camera, so we'll be waiting a bit longer yet to see those, LOL. Jacob is growing nicely, though he won't have a dr appt until next Friday, so I don't know how much he has grown. I know he fits better now in the outfit he wore home from the hosptial. He also has already outgrown his newborn sized onsies. He's got more hair on his head, but it is still so fine and downy that it is hard to say what color it definitely is. I still think it is red, but if so it is a strawberry blonde more than bright red like Troyer's. He smiles often now, though not for the camera yet. If I talk to him and tap him on the nose playfully, he smiles, and he smiles back when I smile at him. His brothers just love it when he smiles at them :-)

We had some warm weather again last week, so on Thursday I took everyone out to the park next to the library. It was kind of breezy, but nice and sunny, and the boys loved getting out. I wasn't the only one with the great idea, though, there were soooo many other moms there with their young kids. I've never seen the park so crowded! Of course I didn't think to bring my camera until I was there and saw another mom with hers. So no pics of Jacob's first ever day at the park. Oops. He spent the whole time in the carseat anyway, so not such a big loss, lol.

Troyer and Noah spent the morning with Chris making chocolate covered peanutbutter eggs with their Pathfinder group. I went with them last year, and yum, they are good! It is their annual fundraiser, and they do really well with it. After they finished off helping out on the egg assembly line, Chris took them and Samuel to see the new Ninja Turtle movie. They had a good time being out with their dad and getting to go out to a movie, but they were a bit dissappointed with the movie. They thought the plot was dumb. Oh well, at least they had a nice afternoon with dad.

Ok, I'll try to get to those pictures soon, and I'll have a weight update by Friday. I still haven't gotten far on researching how to add stuff to my sidebar yet. Our latest movie we rented was Over the Hedge, which we really enjoyed. Lots of little silly lines thrown in, and the extras were really cute. I think we'll probably end up owning this one.

A Small Update, and Something New

Jacob is 3 weeks old today, and doing great! He slept almost 5 hours last night, so when I woke up at 4 am, I had a hard time going back to sleep, LOL His cord stump fell off on Monday, so he now has a pretty belly button, and I forgot to mention that at his 2 week weight check he was back to his birthweight. He officially was 8-14, but he had just pooped right before the nurse weighed him, and after nursing him for a half hour before the doctor came in, I figure he was back up over 9 lbs *grin*. He has also smiled a few times this week, and a lot this morning. The boys were thrilled when he smiled at them!

Now on to something new. Aimee and I were talking about our latest novels we're reading, and also what movies we've seen recently, and we thought how cool it would be if I could have a spot on my side bar, or maybe a link to another page, where we could list what we're reading and watching, and write little reviews about it. Keep in mind, we are not into deep thinking stuff here, just fun. We prefer historical romances, specifically Regency and early Victorian era, and also some time travel, and most anything set in Scotland. After 20 years of reading this stuff, we've developed a preference for certain writers, while some really bad stuff makes us gag, LOL. We'd love to write about what's good and what's awful, and have anyone who stops by leave comments with suggestions or additional reviews. I will have to do some research into how to edit my side bar, and whether I want to do a separate page or just list the books and movies on the side.

Just to start, I'll let you know, we've been reading Mary Balogh's Bedwyn series, including the new set of 4 that spun off of those. Also, Lisa Kleypas did a "Wallflowers" series that we liked, and which we are looking for additional books about characters with minor appearances in that series.

I should mention that we just don't do Westerns or Indians, and tend to avoid medieval settings. Every once in a while I do like a contemporary story as a change.

Movies: my family is signed up with Netflix, and we love it! Just this week we've gotten Secondhand Lions, which we found surprisingly enjoyable (Michael Caine is not my favorite), and today the boys and I watched Yours, Mine, and Ours - the classic version with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. It was better than I remembered, and the boys were somewhat amused also. Next on the list should be the recent remake of it.

Ok, so my assignment now is to find out how to get that added to my sidebar.

Oh, and of course get more pictures of Jacob uploaded ;-)

2 1/2 Weeks Old

Sorry I haven't been posting more; so far there's nothing much to say, other than that Jacob is awesome :-) He sleeps pretty well, for a newborn, and he's getting more alert and spending more time awake looking around. He's pretty calm around his brothers, who all love to come and kiss him.

Latest pictures:

9 days old - everyone else went to church and left us alone to relax for a few hours

I let him lay on the floor for a little while, and he seemed to enjoy that.

Here he is this morning, 18 days old, on my lap (where he usually is! LOL)

When the sun is shining on his hair, it has a definite red tint to it, so I'm thinking I've got another redhead! Poor Chris is outnumbered! LOL

1 Week Old

Jacob is 1 week old now. Just last week I was feeling surprised at how quickly and easily he was born. He's been home for 5 days and his brothers are quickly learning how he fits in our family. Chris has been home all week, helping keep them in line so I can recuperate more easily. Jacob is a snuggler, and sleeps best when cuddled up to me. He is still having a bit of trouble when it's time to fill his diaper, he cries quite a bit, but once he is done, he is sweet and happy again. My milk came in Saturday morning and he loves it! He had a doctor's appointment this morning just to make sure everything is going well, and the doctor said he looks perfect! He only weighs 8lb 10 oz, yet, so he hasn't regained his birth weight yet, but that is normal for my kids, they usually take 2 weeks to get there. At the rate he is eating, I think he will be over 9 lbs by next Thursday. I will take him back in to the dr just to check his weight then.

I wish I were better with a camera so you could get a better idea of what he really looks like, as it is I don't really have many pictures of him yet. Mostly because I am the one holding him! LOL


napping with Daddy

Today a friend from church came over to give all the boys haircuts. When she was here on Tuesday I mentioned that I had not been feeling up to it this month and that they were all lookinga little shaggy. She used to be a hairdresser at a salon, and offered to come back and do the cuts. Wow, that was such a great baby gift! They look really great now. They have never had professional cuts, I always cut their hair. I just take clippers and do a 1" cut all the way around, then trim the neck and ears. Noah is especially excited about his cut. He got it cut very short! He looks so blonde now.



The only cut that didn't really turn out great was Levi's, and that's because at 2 years old, he just doesn't sit nicely for haircuts, LOL. We fed him cookies, but he was still a bit wiggly.



Caleb's turned out well, too:



Here is a group shot; you can't really see the cuts well, but you can see that they aren't all shaggy anymore!



Troyer wanted to keep his longer than the others', but that means he will need to get a cut again that much sooner! Probably next month, sigh.

Pictures!

Ok, here are the pictures we have so far:


Troyer holding Jacob, just an hour or so old



Jacob 1 day old

And 2 days old:


Noah and Jacob


Noah, Micah and Jacob


Troyer, Caleb and Jacob


Levi didn't get to hold Jacob, but he wanted to make sure he got his picture taken too!

Notice that there are no pictures of Samuel; he thought the whole baby thing was "boring," but he has since changed his mind and decided that he likes the baby after all :-)

He's Here!

And he has a name!

Announcing... Jacob Matthew!
born on Feb 22 at 3:15 pm, weighing 9 lbs even, measuring 19.5 inches long

Here is the short version of the birth story:

I was absolutely right on Thursday morning; when I went in to my doctor's appointment at 10:30, I reported the contractions and a bit more bloody show, so the doctor checked me. She said I was 4 1/2 - 5 cm dilated, so I could go check in to the hospital! Whew! SIL was home with the boys and Chris and Troyer were with me, so we went right over. I got checked in and put in a room, then waited to meet the doctor who would be delivering. Of course it was a doctor I'd never met, but oh well. He ended up being very nice. He checked me and said he could break my water any time, but I said I wanted my epidural first, so we'd have to wait for that. It took a while for the blood work to get to the lab and the anesthesiologist to get to my room. I guess there were a few other moms in labor at the same time. Finally at about 1:30 the doctor came back and said I was almost a 6, and he'd break my water during the next contraction. I think about 2 or 2:30 they started some pitocin because the contractions were still not closer than 10 min apart, and at 3 the nurse came in and checked me. I was over 9 with just a lip left. She told me to try a push to see what would happen. The epidural was way too strong and I couldn't feel anything, and I had no urge to push, so I tried but couldn't tell what it was doing. She bugged her eyes out and said Stop! LOL She called the doctor back in and they had to tell me when I was getting a contraction so I could push. It only took 3 pushes and out he came. He was born at 3:15. He cried a lot, but as soon as they let me hold him he quieted down again.

I was supposed to have about 2 hours to recover and then get transferred to my regular room, but since the epidural was so strong, it took much longer for me to be able to get on my feet again. I hated that; I wish it wouldn't have been so strong. I think it caused some trouble for me as well, because since I couldn't feel when I pushed, I think I pulled quite a few muscles in my abdomen. They are still really sore. Finally I got in my room about 6:30. They brought the baby to me pretty quickly, which was nice.

We didn't get the name picked until Saturday morning, right before we got checked out. We went in circles back and forth, and finally settled on Jacob Matthew. A nice normal name, no hillbillies, LOL. When we got home the boys were very excited, and all took turns holding him. SIL Shawna stayed a while so she could see him and hold him, then headed back home. I'm so grateful to her for coming over and helping out with the boys so Chris could be with me. The boys had a lot of fun with her too. :-)

I'm really tired, since Jacob seems to like sleeping during the day, and coming more alert at night, plus he was colicky already last night, poor baby. But Wow, he is awesome. I'm so glad he's here!

I have a bunch of pictures on my camera, but no time so far to get them uploaded to post. Hopefully soon!

Happy Due Date to Me

Today is my due date. I am still not having regular timable contractions. I never thought I was going to make it the full 40 weeks. If I go in to my appointment today and the doctor says nothing is happening, I will cry. It is not fair to be so uncomfortable and bothered by contractions that do nothing. If, oh happy day, the doctor does find that I have been dilating and lets me go check in, I will not have time to post again after my appointment. Obviously, if I come home then I will post and let you all know. Otherwise, I won't be posting again until Saturday!

Rats!

I guess I jinxed myself by posting; the contrax have slowed way down and hurt much less. I won't be calling anyone yet. Oh well.

As Close As I've Gotten Yet

Tonight I had over 4 hours of very close, very painful contractions. I may yet call the dr and go in. They are not being consistent, but they are anywhere from 12 to 3 min apart, and they HURT. The baby was super active tonight, more than he's been in a few weeks, and I wonder if his activity is causing the contractions. Though he is mostly quiet now, and I am still getting them.

Honestly, part of me is putting off calling in because it is the middle of the night. I just hate to call the babysitter to come over and then end up coming home in the morning. Another part of me figures it's best to put off going to the boring hospital as long as possible, LOL. I think, though, that if I do end up going in and staying, I won't be able to post again; so this would be my announcement. If I do go in, and then come home, I'll post again that I'm home. And if I end up not going in at all, of course I'll post that too in the morning.

Wish me luck!

More Waiting

Tuesday morning, and still nothing. I sure wish I had more news. Looks like I'll make it to that appointment on Thursday.

Meanwhile, we got the bad news on the car. We had the wiper motor fixed on Friday, but there was a long list of other repairs it needs to pass inspection. Today I called and got the estimate on it: almost $800. UGH! The darn car isn't even worth that! However, we don't have anything else lined up to drive; we were hoping to be able to wait until summer to shop for a new (used) car. And even at that cost, it's still less per year than paying a new car payment. So we are going to have the work done, but now the question is, when? The mechanic says that he can have it done by Thursday afternoon, so that should work out for us. I'll have to take the van to my appointment Thursday morning, but even if the doctor has me check in at the hospital, I still have to drive home to get Chris, so we'll be able to pick up the car at the garage before we go in. What a hassle. Why did this have to happen now??? And heck, at this rate, I won't be having the baby until next week anyway.... *sob*

Up All Night Again

Well, I've had contrax all day, but mostly the ignorable kind. Tonight I had a few that really hurt, but of course, as soon as I tried to time them, they calmed down. So for now, nothing more, but maybe soon? I was looking at the calendar and realized that if I were to go overdue a week, I would actually be having a March baby! Aaaagh! I never never never thought I'd be even considering the possibility! The roads here are slowly getting better, so any time now would be great. Really. Please. Please! LOL

A BAD Day

I called the dr's office and asked if I could just cancel the appointment, rather than contribute to the traffic in that mess of ice and snow. They reassurred me that the main roads were clear and I should have no problem. They implied that they were looking out the window at the street in front of the office.

Well, they lied. The roads were AWFUL. I swear the drive in could have put me in labor. Even the main roads weren't cleared, and it seemed like *everyone* was out. I sure didn't need to be out adding to the mess. THEN to top it off, the doctor didn't even check me. They did the usual weight, bp, hb, and said "see you next week" - UGH! So it was a total waste of a trip! Why the heck did I have to go in??? I was also the last appointment of the day, so of course I sat for 30 min (in spite of the fact that half of their appts DID cancel, they still were behind?) and stewed about how I had to drive back home in the mess. I mostly wanted to be sure to get home before dark, when all the slush would start to freeze over again. It never got above 20 yesterday, so nothing melted away.

THEN (LOL yes, it's not over yet!) on the way home I tried to use the windshield wipers to wash off the slush splatter from my window, since the sun was setting and glaring off the window and I could barely see, and the wipers went up and then quit! The wiper motor died before it even did one swipe, so now I had road splatter AND wipers in my way! I was never so glad as when the sun finally sank below the level of the tops of the buildings, so the glare cut out. Of course, when I got home, dh tried to blame me for breaking them. He actually asked me why I thought I needed to use them, as if turning them on was a dumb thing to do. Uh, hello? I thought the car had wipers because you were supposed to USE them??? UGH

So now instead of wishing this baby out, we have to keep him in, at least long enough to get the car to the garage and get the darn wipers fixed, since there's no way we'll be able to drive it as the snow melts and splatters the windshield. Our street still has about 2 inches of ice on it, so taking the 12 pass van out is out of the question.

My next appointment isn't until next Thursday, which is my due date Waaahhhhh.

Snow!

The boys finally got their wish and we got a decent snowfall. Unfortunately, it ended in a lovely crust of ice on top, which was horrible to shovel. Chris sent the oldest 2 boys out to shovel, but they spent more time falling down in it than shoveling it LOL.



He went back out to clear the driveway so he could go in to work, but the plows came by, and it took him 3 tries to get the driveway open. He was very frustrated and exhausted by the time the plows went home and his work wasn't undone one more time, so he ended up staying home from work for the day.

The temperature has now fallen below 20, so the roads are still awful, even one day after the snow has ended and the plows have been through. I have a dilema now, I have an appointment this afternoon, but I'm considering cancelling it; I haven't had any more signs of labor, and I have enough trouble driving the stick shift while pg when the roads are good. I am dreading the drive over to the doctor's office. But if I cancel, I may not be able to get another appointment until late next week. What to do, what to do...

Just Popping In Quickly to Say Nothing

Nothing more is happening, that is. On Monday the dr checked me again and said I hadn't made any further progress. I was very disappointed, and he was sympathetic, which was nice. I haven another appt on Thursday, but I've been feeling pretty good the last few days, so I'd be surprised if anything more happened.

Still Waiting.....

Thursday night and Friday all day long, I was having contractions about 10 minutes apart. They were the annoying, probably-Braxton-Hicks kind. I wasn't sure if they were worthy of paying attention to or not. In the past I have been known to start dilating without noticable contractions, so I just didn't know. Well, on Friday I ended up calling the doctor's office to see what they wanted me to do. They had me come in to the office and checked me to see if anything was happening. Nope, nothing. All those annoying contractions for nothing. Sigh. But at least it freed me to ignore them rather than wonder if anything was happening and I should be paying better attention. So I've been having irregular contractions all weekend, though fewer than Thursday and Friday, but ignoring them. I have an appointment Monday afternoon; we'll see if I'm getting any closer or not.

Closer Than I Thought

Tonight, for the first time in 7 babies, I actually had a bloody show! I was taking a shower this evening, and there it was. I guess I'm closer than I thought to actually having this baby! I don't know how close, as I've read that it could be anything from 24 hours to several days (a week?) before real labor starts; but it's definitely going to be sooner rather than later! I also got woken up by a real contraction at 2:30 this morning. I've never really had any of those before, either, without being in the hospital hooked up to pitocin. I haven't had any more since then, so I'm not calling the doctor yet or anything, but things are definitely moving along!

Oh, I should mention, the funny part is that I was grabbing the shower before Lost started, so I told Chris when I got out of the shower, but said we wouldn't be going anywhere for at least an hour, LOL. If the baby decided to come really fast, I'd be having it on the floor in front of the t.v. LOLOLOL

A Little Update

I had an appointment this morning, so I thought I'd let you all know how I'm doing. My blood pressure is fine, the baby's heartbeat was 150, so fine, and I only gained 1 lb (phew, after last weeks' 2.5 lbs I was worried!) and the doctor checked me, and I am now a "good 2 - 2.5 cm" dilated, so things are getting started! I've had lots of crampy contractions as well as the usual Braxton-Hicks ones, the baby is moving well but running out of room, so it's starting to get uncomfortable! I think I will probably be having him next week sometime. Thanks for the suggestions on names, Chris is being ultra stubborn, so maybe I should hope the baby comes next Wednesday so I get to name him without argument LOL.

37 Weeks

37 weeks? 37 weeks???! Wow, I am almost there! Less than 3 weeks to go. Some days it feels like any day now. I can say I have finally gotten most things ready. I got the carseat out and into the van; I washed the baby clothes; I found a baby outfit so he won't be coming home naked; I remembered to actually buy newborn diapers, so he won't have a naked butt at home (what? wouldn't Levi's size 5s fit him? LOL) All I have left to do is pack my bag so *I* have something to wear home. Oh yeah, and pick a name. UGH! Chris is just so intent on having a hillbilly in the family. His name list is now up to 4: Jethro, Zeke, Jeb, and Gunther (not a hillbilly but a German wrestler!). I seriously am thinking of just writing Timothy on the birth certificate at the hospital when he's not around.

Ok, so I am ready, and I think my body is getting there too. My hips are killing me, the braxton-hicks contractions are getting closer and closer to the real thing, and my feet are starting to swell. I have now entered that time frame (you know, the one where the last month seems like it actually lasts 3?) where every twinge makes me wonder, "Is this it? Should I start timing them? What if I'm dilating and don't know it? (with #5, I really did dilate all the way to 6 without feeling any real labor pains.) On the other hand, Chris has scheduled to go out of town for the day for work next week. Yes, on the day I'll be 39 weeks pg, he's going to leave town without a cell phone and drive 2.5 hours away. I warned him that #1, if he misses the birth, oh well for him; #2 I may have already had the baby by then and what will he do? ( I suspect he will still try to go up for this meeting, even while on vacation!) and #3, if he is not here to watch the kids and I can't get to the hospital, I may be having the baby in the bathtub . I am telling you, he is in such denial about this whole baby thing. He is not taking the naming thing seriously because he feels like "there is still time;" and he isn't concerned about leaving town so close to my due date. I, in my hormonal pregnant state, am considering him an idiot. But hey, that's just me.

So, if you have any name suggestions that I somehow haven't thought of, I'd appreciate it. Keep in mind that Chris and I were in school in the 70s and 80s, so he's against any of the names that there were gobs of back then: Bob, Tom, Tim, Pete, Dave, Matt, Mark, Dan, Rob, Will, Jeff, Jim, etc. Oh, and Chris, LOL. We like Biblical names, but they are trendy right now, so Isaac, Isaiah, Elijah, Joshua, etc are out, as friends of ours already have used them. Jacob has been in the top 10 list for over 10 years now, no need to go there. Man, this would be easier if we were having a girl!

Winter is Here!

We've had cold weather the past few days, but the skies have been pretty clear. Today while I was out shopping, that changed. It started to snow, and it kept snowing! We didn't actually end up with a big accumulation, but it made the roads very slippery on the way home. I cut my trip short so I could be sure to get home before dark. My nightmare has been that all our snow would finally come in February, just in time for me to need to get to the hospital. Of course it looks like that will happen after all. I start my weekly dr. visits tomorrow; I sure hope it doesn't snow any more until Tuesday.

Last weekend Michelle came up to take me out for a girls' day out. We went out to lunch (at Applebee's, which I hadn't been to before, yummy!) and then went shopping. On my agenda were: curtains for the living room, some maternity pants for me, and a home-from-the-hospital outfit for the baby. I have been searching for all three for a while had having no luck. Michelle was happy to drive me over to the mall that I hate to drive to, and we did good!

First, the curtains: notice how I didn't say "new" curtains? That's because for the nearly 2 years we've lived here, we have only had sheers hanging in our front window. A big picture window. I finally ordered a curtain rod (had to order because I needed 120" long, and that is hard to find in stock in a store) which came just before Christmas. We had just one of those flimsy white aluminum rods which the boys had bent from pulling on the sheers so often. Just the new rod alone looked so good! I also wanted to find sheers or a scarf for my dining room window which is at the opposite end of the room from the living room window. I needed them to coordinate, but I didn't need to block any light, because that window faces north and has a pine tree in front of it, I just needed to dress it up a bit. I found just what I wanted at JCPenney's, but the scarf alone was $80! Ouch! I had to pass that up, but the next store we went in I found a very nice scarf on the sale table for $10. It was different from what I had been planning, but it still was very nice, and I couldn't really feel bad for spending $10, lol. We were able to find tab-top curtain panels to coordinate with it, and they were relatively inexpensive, so I got a set of those too. Chris just hung them today, and it really helps make the room feel more finished just to have the windows dressed a bit.

Here is the front curtains: boring tan, but better than nothing! And now it can block the sun when we watch tv in the afternoons.

And here is the matching scarf across the room: (please ignore the clutter and mess! LOL)

Next we looked for maternity clothes. I ended up in Motherhood, which surprised me because I'd have thought that the clothes there would be more expensive; but it turned out that they were charging less for the same clothes that Kohl's was carrying. I found a pair of black pants that have some stretch to them, and a dress so I can finally go back to church, LOL. Here is a picture of me in the dress, but I'm beginning to regret buying it. Troyer took a bunch of pictures of me in it tonight, and I hate all of them! I feel like I look like a horse. Either it really looks that bad, or Troyer takes bad pictures, LOL



Last on the list was a baby outfit. I was beginning to despair, and I think Michelle deserves an award for putting up with me on this shopping trip, LOL. I just hated everything we saw. Maybe that is because I am just so sick of buying boy things, it all looks the same to me now. I can't tell you how many cute cute cute girl outfits I saw. Waaahhhh. Finally in Kohl's I found a set marked 70% off and it was just what I wanted! Woohoo! It's in a basket waiting to be washed, but you'll be seeing a picture of it soon enough ;-)

After that we came on home, my feet were killing me and Michelle was getting tired too, and she still had to drive home. I really did have a nice day out with her, it is nice to have someone to shop with who doesn't constantly talk about Star Wars or Bionicles LOL.

About mid-week I came down with a cold. It was pretty nasty but I think I've just about kicked it. I did stay home from church (even though I had a new dress to wear!) to get some extra sleep, because my sinuses were keeping me up all night. I really don't need a cold hanging around until the baby comes. Nothing like labor when you can't breathe well. Ugh.

One more note, I've made a bit of progress in getting ready for the baby. No, we don't have a name, and no, the carseat is not in the van yet. BUT it IS out of the attic now LOL. I asked Chris on Tuesday if he was going to be getting the seat and the baby clothes out soon, as I am quickly running out of energy to do all that wash; his answer was no! Grrr! So on Thursday I went up in the attic myself (yes I am 8 months pg and had to climb a ladder as we don't have a walk-up) to find what I wanted and bring it down. I did enlist Troyer's help with the two big heavy plastic bins of clothes (I have all baby clothes from NB to 9 months in one bin) and blankets. When Chris found out I did it myself, he said oh, he was kidding, he was going to go up there this weekend. Yeah right. He still thinks we have plenty of time; I know very well how long it will take me to actually get this stuff washed, LOL. I also brought down a few boxes of maternity clothes. I didn't realize how much winter stuff I actually have, I assumed it was all summer. I have a box of clothes from Aimee, and her kids were born in January and March, so that is nice, I have a few more tops to wear.

Not in the Mood

To blog, that is. I'm not sure why, I have been cruising all my favorite blogs the last few weeks (and getting irked that they are not updated often enough! LOL) but I just feel like I don't have anything interesting to blog myself. Sorry to leave you all hanging.

Christmas was great, but I'm glad it's over. Not so much pressure to get everything done. In fact, I only baked half of the cookies I had planned. The cards did get out, and the presents got bought and wrapped. The boys had a great time, we mostly did a Lego and DVD Christmas this year. I did get my new digital camera, but since I had to play so much with it to learn how to use it, I didn't really get very good pictures of Christmas to post here.

We took a quick last-minute trip back to our old town to see old friends and go to our old church. We all had a great time seeing everyone. It was a long drive though (at least for a pregnant woman!) and my ankles were pretty swollen when I got home. Chris had 2 whole weeks off of work, and it was wonderful having him around. It was good for the boys, but it was really good for me too. I need more adult contact during the week! LOL

We started back to school and Chris back to work last Tuesday, ick, but somehow it's not so bad as it seemed before the holidays. We've got a lot of our Christmas stuff put away already, but the tree is still up (the benefits of a fake tree!). Levi still asks me everyday to turn the lights on. I think he will miss it a lot when it comes down. My plan is to have it down this weekend.

Pregnancy is going well. I just had an appt yesterday, and the doctor was pleased with how I am doing and how the baby is growing. Only 6 weeks left! Holy Cow, where has the time gone? I am sooo not ready yet. All the baby stuff is still in the attic waiting to be retrieved and cleaned, and in the case of the car seat, installed. And of course, we still have no name picked out yet. Last night was one more in a long string of fruitless discussions, nothing new to even consider. Sigh.

The weather is finally turning colder. I can't tell you how often the boys have complained about how warm it's been, and how can we have snow if it doesn't get cold? I, of course, am more than happy that it's been so warm! Snow only means I have to drive in it, or that I'm stuck in the house because there's too much to drive in. But I do get lots of cute pictures of the boys playing in it. ;-) Let's just hope we don't get a big snowfall in the second half of February! I need to be able to get to the hospital and back home again!

Local Headline Reads: Pictures Taken, All 6 Still Alive

Ok, we did the pictures this afternoon, and I will admit, it wasn't as hard as I anticipated. I think it helped tremendously that Chris is home on vacation and was here to help. That and the incentive of candy afterwards if I was happy with the results, LOL. Now I need help choosing which picture to print to put in the cards. Here are my top 5, please let me know which one you like!

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


And here is the payoff:

Several handsful of M&Ms.

Let me know what you think!

The Tree is Up!

Ok, we got the tree out of the attic on Sunday, I put it up on Tuesday, and we only just finished decorating it this morning. So we work slow. But it's up! It comes pre-lit, so no fussing with light strings, but I put the garland and the angel on, then last night let the kids go to town on the ornaments. Trust me, no one will ever pay them for their decorating skill. This morning I came out and spread the ornaments more evenly over the tree. Almost all of them were hung in one spot dead center on the tree, and many were hanging either from the garland or from another ornament, rather than from a branch. As a last touch, I hung the breakable ornaments, hopefully high enough to last the season. We only had one casualty this year, and it was broken when I pulled it from the box. I think it got crushed when Levi tried to walk across the boxes. Oops.



Of course, once the camera came out, Levi had to have his picture taken. And since it's really hard to get a bad picture of him, of course it's good enough to post here. Can you see what he was watching on tv when I got out the camera?

Nothing Much Going On Yet

Christmas is coming, but I'm not ready. I've bought cards to send but haven't written any out (and haven't taken the boys' picture for them) yet, and bought ingredients for cookies, but I haven't made any. The tree is not up yet, though Chris is hoping to drag it down from the attic tonight so I can maybe set it up tomorrow. I might also bake some cookies tomorrow.

One thing I did finally get done was giving everyone hair cuts. Last Sunday I did 7 cuts, since Chris really needed one too. Whew it was a long hairy day LOL. Even Levi got a real cut, not just a trim. Unfortunately he was sitting on Chris' lap so he could have his arms held out of the way, but Chris wasn't all that helpful, so there is a spot over his left ear that is too short. Mostly you can't notice it though. He was really good for his haircut, too, which was a pleasant surprise. Some of the older ones still fuss about it.

I had a bit of a worry over my glucose test a few weeks ago. I took my 1 hour test the day after Thanksgiving, and the level came out high, so I had to go back and take the 3 hour test, which is more accurate. Ick, I hate those things, and this is the first time I've had to take the 3 hour. Luckily I found out this week that I passed the 3 hour test. I was worried because being diagnosed with gestational diabetes would be a big complication in my plans to have a vbac. Since I am seeing a new group this pg and will be delivering at a new hospital, it seems that my 5 preious successful vbacs mean nothing, and they all assume I will have a repeat C-section. Even saying repeat sounds dumb to me, since the one I had was over 12 years ago. But phew, I passed, so hopefully everything will go smoothly in February!

Here is a picture I took of Levi last night:


You can't see the bad side of his haircut from this angle. Poor guy caught a cold yesterday, and last night Noah got it too, so they are both home from church this morning, recovering. I hope they are better by Christmas, and that they don't pass it on to their brothers!