Happy Dance

My precious husband got me a webcam so I can skype with my sister in Korea! We were able to talk to her last night and this morning. All in one day for her! So fun to be able to hear her sweet voice and see her sweet face. The kids all thought it was pretty great. They skyped with my parents also (who live a whopping 10 min away) . I think the phone is a thing of the past for them. So thankful for technology that enables us to stay connected! Thank you dear husband!!! Also, Biscuit is getting his lovely locks cut today. Will post pics if the haircut is handsome. If not, I will dig out a paper bag! :)

Being the Genius That I Am

After my shower this morning I put my glasses on and noticed they were very blurry. Must need to be cleaned. So I took them off and finished getting ready. I went downstairs and cleaned them thoroughly. Put them back on and they were still really blurry! Oh no! Maybe they are scra....oh I put my contacts in this morning. Never mind! Can I blame this on being pregnant?

Two Big Things

Mr. Biscuit is now officially a big boy. He has his own special big boy bed and he is potty trained. Hallelujah! Everyone always says boys are difficult to potty train. Not the case! Last Monday I put him in underwear and told him he needed to pee on the potty. He had three accidents the first day and none since. He will not use the small potty and insists on the big toilet with no little seat insert. This is after we special ordered a pee deflector for the potty chair. Thank heavens it was only $2. He has been dry at night and nap time. I feel this is all too good to be true. I keep waiting for him to decide he doesn't want to do this after all. The past 2-3 days we have even let him wait to tell us when he needs to go with very little prompting from us. So far so good! I am in shock! He looks so cute in his big boy underwear. At least, our diaper budget is gone until February!
His bed is going quite well. He loves it and calls it "boy". He seems to be sleeping a bit better. Averaging once a night getting up. He knocks on his door in the morning to let us know he is up. (We have a thing on his doorknob that he usually can't open by himself.)

Big Boy Bed
A little literature while pottying!

Big Boy

Last week Mr. Biscuit was switched to a big boy bed. I can't believe that time has come already. So far, he seems to be doing well. We sit in his room til he falls asleep. This typically takes less than 10 minutes. Unless of course I fall asleep also. Not that that ever happens. Ha ha! He actually slept through the night last night. Now if only I could sleep through the night! We were so incredibly blessed to have two great sleepers first. I am praying baby bean will be a great sleeper as well. I haven't taken a picture of him in his bed yet. Maybe tonight if I remember.

Baby Bean

Baby bean is growing quite nicely. I am measuring a few weeks ahead. No big deal. The baby has probably had a growth spurt. I seem to do this each pregnancy. If only that meant the baby would come closer to my due date. Ha ha. A girl can dream. The heart rate was still around 140-160. Old wives' tale says it is a girl. How I feel and how I am carrying says boy. I am pretty sure it will be a baby. It is fun to not know the sex. All of you planners our there I heard you sighing heavily and shaking your head! We see the midwife again at 29 weeks. (first week of December)

Awesome!

My husband is awesome! He is priming my front door. I have been waiting on this project to be done for a Long Time. For the past few years it looked like a peely mess. It already looks so much better. I so appreciate the hard work my husband has put into this project. It really means a lot to me that because it is important to me, it is important to him. He detests this project. And then, if that wasn't awesome enough he cleaned the kids' bathroom and our bathroom. And by clean I don't mean a quick swipe. He SCRUBBED every surface! I am so thankful for my husband!

Holy Moley!

So, I haven't posted about this yet. Back at 15 weeks I had a kidney stone. Extremely painful! I would much rather push out another 9 pound baby. (Who knows I might get that in February!) I happened to pass a rather small stone. It looked like a grain of sand. Then back at the beginning of October I had another stone that was painful. This time I didn't find the stone. The doctor thought perhaps I didn't pass it all the way. That seemed very likely as Sunday evening I had more pain but it was lower than the other time in October. I still didn't feel great yesterday and today seemed to still be having some symptoms. I told DH tonight that I thought the stone might come out soon. He nodded and smiled. I was getting ready for bed and decided I better pee one last time. Thankfully, the doctor gave me a 'hat' to put on the potty. I peed out the most ginormous stone! I was always led to believe it would be eeny teeny. No sir! We are talking about a 1/4 inch and jagged. And yes, it hurt!!! Let's hope this is the last of my kidney stone issues. Taking this stone in to be analyzed for sure!

Oh Really?

As I was listening to Pandora this morning an ad popped up. The ad was for a certain birth control that labeled itself as 'pregnancy protection'. Are they protecting a pregnancy? Are they protecting you from a pregnancy? Let's call a spade a spade. This is ridiculous. Why not a pregnancy preventer? Why are ad execs afraid to call their product what it is? They don't need to make up a palatable name for something that is widely accepted. How sad that our culture sees new life as something you need to be protected from.

Oh My

I have two small pet peeves to share today! Number one is people who ride their bicycles on the wrong side of the street. A bicycle is considered a vehicle therefore needs to be ridden with traffic! NOT against!!!! It is dangerous to ride your bicycle the wrong way. I think pet peeve number two will not be voiced today. On a more exciting note...We are replacing our plastic containers with glass. Kmart has a sale on glass storage items. This is something we have been wanting to do for a while now but just never found a great sale. I would like to replace a few other plastic items also but have had a hard time finding a better solution.
We are all doing well. Recovered from our colds. Ready to start a new week of school. I am working on lesson plans today while my dad takes the girls fishing. Biscuit is taking a nap. I had better get busy!

Birthday Boy

Biscuit had a great birthday! He received so many nice new toys. Hopefully, he will actually play with them! :) He had white cake with chocolate fudge frosting. We had my parents and sister and her family over for cake and ice cream. Please forgive some of the pics as my dear husband took them and has his finger in the frame.

He Made It!

Mr. Biscuit has survived to his second birthday. A bit of a miracle if you ask me. The kid has ate lots of dirt, bashed his head innumerable times, drank dog water, ate dog food and a host of other incidents. My sweet boy is finally talking and saying more everyday. He loves to give kisses and must hug every family member before bed. He is busy constantly but loves to read and play trucks. He likes to do puzzles. Biscuit loves everybody and rarely is shy with anyone. Happy Birthday my baby!

It's about time!

Today, just short of 14 weeks, we heard the baby's heartbeat. This kid is wily already. The heart rate is in the 150's so most likely a girl. I would be equally thrilled with either a girl or a boy. The kids are a bit divided. Bella wants a boy and Matilda wants a girl. Biscuit has no clue what is going on. And to be quite honest can't even say baby yet. He has started to say a few more things and they are very clear. I suppose in his own good time he will take off. Hopefully, before the baby comes. He seems close to being ready to potty train. That would be joyous if it occurs before the baby comes.

M is for

Morning sickness. Or more accurately, all day sickness. I am 11 weeks and feeling horrifically nauseated. Nothing seems to be helping. In a way it is a good reminder that most people who feel this awful have a healthy pregnancy. I am trying to cling to that! And that God has inscribed me on the palm of His hand. He sees my illness and cares. He has not forgotten and will lead me to the other side.

The girls have been going to VBS this week. They have such a great time every year. We missed Wednesday night due to Bella having two teeth extracted. She did a good job and didn't complain too much. It seems to be healing nicely. She will go back in to have a space maintainer put on in three weeks. She said, "that sounds like braces!" Both of the girls are both terrified and mesmerized by braces.

I am off to take a rest while I can!

Yup

Biscuit's big announcement is correct. Come February we will have another baby! The girls and DH are completely convinced it is a girl. To which, I say, we'll see! No, we are not finding out the sex this time. I love the surprise of holding a baby in your arms and looking to see whether it is a boy or girl. I know some people say it is a surprise even when you do the ultrasound but it isn't the same! You have all of those endorphins right after the birth and well anyway very exciting. So far my tummy has behaved for the most part. If I get too hungry or thirsty I feel queasy. I am only 6 weeks right now. Yes, we told everyone very early. My husband was a bit excited and didn't want to wait. I will try to do better to keep everyone updated on life this summer. Lots of things rolling around in my head. Now I just need to get it out on my blog, right?

Biscuit's big announcement...

Spring

Spring is finally here! The forsythias are in bloom. Some of the flowering trees are blooming. The daffodils are up. The robins are singing! We have had lovely weather. The kids are soaking up the sun and loving being outside!

Dirt! A kid's best friend.
A tiny tent we found in our shed. No idea where we got it.
The girls love it!

Mr Biscuit has mastered the slide!

33 things

Friday was my darling husband's birthday! Happy Birthday a little late! Here are 33 things I love about my husband. In no particular order.

1. He loves me!
2. He loves our babies!
3. He can fix our cars!
4. He wears 'Le Male' by Jean Paul Gaultier. Delicious
5. He supports me when I have hare brained ideas.
6. He is a good provider for our family.
7. He can quote movie lines.
8. He can recognize voices in animated movies and commercials. (i am awful at #7,8)
9. He can still make me laugh.
10. He eats Chinese with me even though he hates it.
11. He is very supportive of our home school and is even teaching science this year.
12. He loves me enough to tell me 'no' when I have too much going on and I am trying to add one more thing.
13. He likes to take the kids on errands with him.
14. He loves Jesus and is growing everyday in that relationship.
15. He sacrifices his own comfort for our family. IE his awful car! :)
16. He can lift heavy things!
17. He is involved in every part of our lives. He doesn't just sit around and let things happen around him.
18. He is a hard worker and diligent in his tasks.
19. He encouraged me to have our babies at home even when it was difficult to do.
20. He helps clean up the dishes almost every night.
21. He isn't afraid of housework.
22. He will watch girl movies with me.
23. He served our country in the military.
24. He still opens the door for me and holds my hand when we are out.
25. He does the man chores...trash taker outer, dog poop picker-upper, scraping my front door so I can paint etc
26. He takes the lead in discipline with our children.
27. He likes big dogs.
28. He bought me a Nintendo DS when I was pregnant and sick with Biscuit and ordered cable TV when I was sick with Monkey and held my hair back while I puked with Bella.
29. He once watched 'Dunston Checks In' with me. :)
30. He is quick to apologize when he has hurt my feelings.
31. He still rubs my back.
32. He loves me.
33. He loves our babies.

Confession

Ok loyal readers (all three of you) I have a confession to make. No it doesn't involve my ineptitude at keeping this blog updated. Nor my inability to make a pie crust. I love Taylor Swift. There I said it! I like her voice and most of her songs. Even though some can be a bit juvenile it is what I expect from an 18 year old. I love her song "Love Story". Ok, I feel relieved my secret is out.

Gruesome!

So, yesterday I text my husband something along the lines of "I miss you" and get an immediate call back. "Ahh he must miss me too" He says, "it's funny you texted. I hurt my head and was going to call you." Ummm...what? Apparently he was working on a part and moved the wrong way and smacked his head on the part. While we were talking about whether he should go to the clinic one of his coworkers informs him that he left some tissue and hair on the part. "I think you should go that sounds bad." Since my darling husband is a little on the directionally challenged side I mentioned he should call my dad for directions to the clinic. My dad works at the same place. It gets decided that my dad will just come drive him since the location is a bit hard to find and my dear has a head wound. The children are all happy that daddy has a head wound as this means they get to eat dinner early. We usually eat around 6:30 or so. They are always starving by that time. They were very concerned that daddy wasn't home to eat dinner. "he is going to be hungry. Why is it taking so long?" When he finally got home I laughed! Of course I was concerned about his head but with the injury being on the very top of his head it made it difficult to put on a bandage. He had his head wrapped up like something out of a war movie. It was wrapped down under his chin. He did look a bit ridiculous. Adding insult to injury! Unfortunately, for you dear readers, I was unable to get a picture before it had to be removed. But I do have pics of the wound! All stapled together. So don't look if you are a bit squeamish. Personally, I find it fascinating that someone thought "why don't we just staple it? Forget stitching it just use the stapler"

Sorry his head looks orange! I didn't have the flash on and our lamp shade produces an odd color. Five staples!
Looks like a scratch in this pic!

Escapee

My tiny Biscuit has learned a new trick. Two, actually! He can now open his bedroom door and the door to a closet in our living room. He can also open the sliding glass door (has been able to do this for a while) and the screen door. Which is a huge problem. This means if someone has forgotten to lock the sliding glass door he can venture outside. Today, we returned from the store and I was getting ready to start dinner. I had to print a recipe off the internet and was gone for three minutes tops. The girls were supposed to be playing with their brother. Matilda yells, "brother is outside on the swing set!" I run into the living room and sure enough he is swinging on the glider. Mind you it has been raining all day and is muddy and cool out. He jabbers something completely unintelligible but I imagine would be along the lines of "look mom I am so cool I am swinging!" He was told to get his hiney inside immediately! He moseyed up to the house. Had to wash his feet off. Eventually got dinner made. Needless to say he is on lock down! We are going to have to be extremely careful! We do have a fenced backyard with a lock on the gate however if he has figured out all of this already he can't be trusted. Not that he isn't supervised almost constantly anyway! So different than the girls. With them you could walk into the kitchen and pour a drink and come back and find them still playing with the same toy. I love the differences between the children! Precious! God made us each so unique.

Handsome Rob

My sweet Biscuit had a hair cut today. Husband took him to the barber shop. The lady snipped away. Thankfully, his hair is still on the long side. I am not a fan of buzz cuts on little boys. Just my personal preference. He is next to impossible to photograph. I tried to get an 'after' shot. Not much luck.

After!
During

He has such handsome hair! My baby is so big!

The girls and I stayed home and worked on school. We began learning about the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, found nouns in a story, worked on the letter 't' for handwriting, learned the last 3 addition facts, worked on our BSF, reviewed the letter 'k' and number 5. Busy morning.

Update

We have been busy. With what, you ask? I am not really sure! So, here goes another bullet list update!

• Bella got her ears pierced the day after her birthday.
• She also got her hair cut short about a week later.
• Our home school group started up again.
• I will be teaching an art class in March.
• We went to Chicago to visit my brother and sister-in-law. While there we visited the American Girl store. Quite fun and insane at the same time. We also met up with a dear friend of mine from high school.
• Attended more births. March is going to be a busy month.
• Mr. Biscuit is growing like a weed! He still doesn't say much. The strong, silent type. Actually he talks all the time just not in a language I understand.

All I can think of off the top of my head. Our days have been full with much more than that I just can't remember with what!

Mother Dear

Just thought I would throw this out there. My darling Matilda Monkey has taken to calling me 'mother' most of the time. It is pretty precious. She got to spend the day with my mom yesterday. They colored, had lunch, watched a movie, had a tea party, made cookies. When do I get a day out? Sounds fun. Bella will get her turn hopefully next week.

Have had some more births. Some very lovely ones with great families. Looking forward to some more mid-February. We have mainly been plugging away at school the past month. Nothing much to report. I will try to come up with some terribly clever posts soon!

A Whistling Woman and a Crowing Hen Come to No Good End

Bella has learned to whistle. She has been working on it for some time now. It has finally come together. For the past week or so she whistled almost constantly. She has just started to taper off. Thank heavens! I do love how kids practice their new found skills with such gusto!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Sorry I have been absent from the interwebs for so long. A couple babies were born, Christmas activities, family things and fatigue have kept me off of here. We had a very nice Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house. We had a yummy Mexican dinner and opened gifts. I got a cast iron Dutch oven. It is sooo beautiful. I haven't used it yet. Planning a few dinners in it soon though. The kids had so many nice gifts from everyone. The highlights: an Easy Bake oven, remote controlled car, jewelry kit, books, tool bench, Pairs-in-Pears (really fun). Christmas Day we opened gifts as a family and had a yummy breakfast. My parents and tiny sister came over around lunchtime. We played games, watched Annie and snacked on finger foods all day. Very peaceful and low key! Which speaking of Annie...I never realized how much language is in it and how lewd certain scenes were. I remember watching as an older child (10-12). I don't recall the language bit but do remember Miss Hanigan was quite racy. I thought this was supposed to be a kid's movie! We had borrowed a movie from the library my husband watched as a child and within the first 10 minutes there were several 4 letter words. We had to turn it off. Crazy!
We start school back on Monday. I think we are all looking forward to getting back to a schedule. I have my lesson plans all done and ready to go. We are heading to the library to pick up our supplemental reading so I better get moving! We have friends coming to play in a bit also.