Shoot me

My poor baby had his first vaccinations today. Right after he cried for just a few seconds and then I fed him. He was fine until late afternoon and then pretty grumpy! Hopefully, he will sleep well tonight! Since we selectively immunize he has had a bit of a break from the norm.

Poll

I have put up a very serious poll on the right side! Please answer. This is very scientific! Really! Well maybe not but I am curious!

Naughty Dog

I am in love! With who? Hank the Cowdog! It is a great series of books by John Erickson. Hank lives on a ranch as the Head of Ranch Security. Anyone who knows farm/ranch dogs will immediately identify with Hank. Absolutely hilarious. The books are geared toward readers 9-11 but can be read aloud to 4-6 year olds. Bella also LOVES Hank. We borrow mainly the books on CD from the library. Once again, the library rocks! Hank has his own vocabulary that has found it's way into our language. The bonus on the CDs is that the author sings a song or two. Hilarious! (Could I possibly use hilarious one more time?) Quick, check your library, Amazon or whatever you have and listen or read one of these books today! You will thank yourself.

Bella

Sorry this is a little late. I had needy kids all weekend!

Bella's Birth
We found out I was pregnant in May 2002. From that first day I was convinced the baby was a girl. I just knew. I had promised back on my wedding day that as soon as I got pregnant I would tell my medium sister first. She was babysitting for a family so I hurried over to let her know. I handed her the pregnancy test and she asked what it was. I should have known a junior in high school wouldn't have a clue! It finally clicked and she was super excited. We went to tell my mom later. She was very excited also. The news trickled down pretty quickly. From weeks 6-12 I was incredibly sick. The rest of the pregnancy was very uneventful thankfully. I felt great minus those six weeks. On January 15th I had my last prenatal visit. I would be 42 weeks on Saturday and my midwives said it was time to get the show on the road. I decided to try a castor oil induction the following morning. For those of you who don't know you drink 2 oz mixed in with juice take a hot shower and repeat. I started this just before lunch on Thursday. I had to drive to Walgreens just a few minutes away in the middle of a huge snowstorm! The girl who rang me up said her mom did the same thing to go into labor with her. That made me feel a little better. The rest of the day was pretty boring. I was anxious for something to happen. My darling husband painted my toenails for me and we went to bed around 9pm. I woke up at 1am thinking I just peed on myself a little bit. I hurried to the bathroom and peed but it felt weird kind of like a UTI. I thought, oh great I won't go into labor but I will have a UTI. After another one of these sensations about 5 minutes later I realized they were actually contractions. They didn't feel how I expected them to feel. I woke DH about a half hour later. We timed the contractions for about a half hour. They were coming every five to seven minutes and very mild. I couldn't sleep so we started a movie "About A Boy". That movie will always have special significance to me! We finished the movie and by the end I was getting uncomfortable. We called our midwife to let her know what was happening. A friend (nurse/doula) who photographed the birth for us came around 6 am to start my antibiotics for Group B strep. She also checked me. I was at 4 cm. That was easy! We called my mom to come over and a dear friend who was acting as a doula for us. I labored in the tub for quite a while. The contractions were easy at this point just requiring a bit of breathing. Around 10 or 11 our midwives came. Baby was doing great so they went to the other room and just periodically checked the baby's heart rate. I sat on the birth ball for a while and then back into the tub. Around 3:30pm I was tired and really uncomfortable through the contractions. I thought I couldn't possibly do this any longer I was so tired. My support people were amazing! I had to do lunges with my foot up on the tub to help the baby descend. This was extremely difficult. Thank you R for encouraging me and telling me you had to do the same thing! I got back in the tub and after a few minutes told my midwives I needed to push. It is such an incredible feeling for your body to take over! I pushed for about 45 minutes. After not being able to do anything pushing was wonderful! I felt focused and ready to see my baby. I was able to sleep between contractions. Finally, they could see a good portion of the head. I reached down and felt her head. "I can feel hair!" One more push and her head was out. I had another contraction right away and pushed her body out. I caught her and brought her up out of the water. "It's a girl. She looks just like Dad." Everyone (but my mom and DH) mistook this comment to mean she looked like my DH. She looked a lot like my Dad. Definitely my side of the family. She was so beautiful and perfect. Covered in vernix! I don't think she was as late as everyone though. She weighed 8 pounds even and was 21 inches long. She was very content and alert from the beginning. My sweet baby! I love you sweet girl!

Sleep Deprivation

I am so tired I feel sick! Mr. Biscuit has decided to not sleep. He has a bit of a stuffy nose but no other symptoms. I took him to the doctor in case he had an ear infection. Nope! If this is any indication of future illness behaviour we are in for some serious trouble! Later today I shall post Bella's birth story in honor of her sixth birthday!

Help

Hey all of you friends, family and stalkers, I am looking for a pressure canner and any canning jars you may have. We are planning on a bigger garden this year and I am hoping to can and freeze as much as possible. Any gardening tips would be great also. Last year we had zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, and bell peppers. Delish! This year we are planning on all of that plus asparagus and snap peas.

Christmasish

I can't believe how big he is! Almost 4 months!

The girls with my small collection of Snow Village houses!

Sweetie Pie, Honey Bunch

Major pet peeve of mine...salespeople who are the same age or younger calling you sweetie, honey, hon or any other term of endearment!!!! I want to kick them in the shin! Now if it is an elderly person I can handle that.

And I shall name you George...

Bonus points if you can tell me where the title comes from! I have decided to rename my children! Not in real life...only on my blog! These new names are based on things I actually call my children! Eldest - Bella Middle - Matilda Monkey Baby - Mr. Biscuit. I really love nicknames for my children and have about twelvity-three names for each of them.

Oh how I love thee, molasses

The girls and I just finished baking molasses cookies! The house smells heavenly. The cookies are delicious. I am trying to keep my paws away from them but it is proving futile. The cookies are made with cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves. They are nice and spicy. I love each of those ingredients. The original recipe also calls for cardamom but after seeing how much it costs ($12) I decided to skip it. I didn't think I could justify $12 for a spice I would rarely use. Oh well! Still delicious. My brother and sister in law are supposed to be coming into town today but the weather is awful in their neck of the woods. Hopefully, they will get a break. We will miss them terribly if they can't make it but would rather have them in one piece! :) I will try to post some pictures of the tree and cookies later. For now I am going to get a shower before Goosey gets up!

Book List

My mother in law and I were discussing libraries the other day and book selections. I thought I would post a small reading list of books I enjoy. Not at all comprehensive!

• In A Sunburned Country Bill Bryson
• A Walk In the Woods Bill Bryson
• State of Fear Michael Crichton
• Desiring God John Piper
• The Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis
• The Blue Castle L.M. Montgomery
• Anything by Holling Clancy Holling (beautifully illustrated)
• Anything by Bill Peet (technically children's books but I used to get them even before I had kids!)

Enjoy! I will try to update as I think of others.

All dressed up...

...with no place to go. That was the story last Monday. Goosey was up at 7 am. Perfect! I could eat, shower, and pack a lunch so we could head to the museum. The girls ate their breakfast and got dressed. We made it out the door by 9:30 to be at the museum by 10 when it opens. I can't believe how smooth things are going. We get almost to the interstate when I remember something I forgot. We turn around and get it. Husband and I chuckle to ourselves thinking how awesome we are to still be relatively on schedule. As we pull into the parking garage I notice a small sign saying the museum is closed! What?! We ask the garage attendant if this is true. It is! Every Monday during the winter the museum is closed. Ok this will not deter us from family fun. We head over to the art museum. The girls are a bit unhappy but trying to stay upbeat. The surface level parking is mainly empty. That's no big deal the weather is kind of crummy maybe everyone parked in the underground parking. We pull underground. The lot is packed not a place in sight. This looks good. They must surely be open. Back to the surface lot! We park and I notice a security guard eyeing us. I stop and ask if the museum is open today. He struggles back a smile and says no. What?! Closed on Mondays throughout the winter. You have to be kidding me!!!!! So, we head home. It turned out ok though. We ended up having a picnic lunch on the floor and watched a movie with the girls. The only day I am supermom and this is what happens!

Vacation

Sorry I have been out of touch this past week. My dear husband took some time off work so we could have "vacation". We didn't actually go anywhere just stayed around the house. We went to the Children's Museum one day. I will discuss this later. The kids and I have been battling another cold. I took Zicam and feel pretty decent. The girls have stuffy noses but are fine. The baby has a stuffy nose and coughs a few times in the morning. Hopefully this won't be the status quo of the whole winter!!! Off to suck the baby's nose and feed him! More later!

Poison

Well, Thanksgiving went great! We all had a good time. The food was wonderful. The turkey turned out great! Very delish! However, the turkey had a bath before it was able to be cooked! My dad has Celiac-Sprue which means he can't have gluten (wheat). I am always very careful when I cook for him. I double and sometimes triple check what I have made and make sure there is no cross contamination. For some reason I checked my brain at the door. The recipe I was using for the turkey called for chicken boullion. I know this is not safe! I happily go about preparing my sauce and pour it over the turkey. Perfect! I pop it in the oven and then walk away. Within 5 minutes I have a near panic attack over the fact I have just poisoned my dad. I quickly call my mom and ask her what I should do. We decide to wash the turkey very well and try again but with chicken stock this time. I give the turkey a good cleansing and pray that it will be ok. Thankfully, dad is still alive to tell! :)

Blessings

Psalm 100

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations.

Turkey Virgin

Believe it or not this year marks my first Thanksgiving turkey. As far as I can remember I have never roasted a turkey! I have made plenty of other delectable dishes but not a turkey. I love to cook. My parents usually host Thanksgiving at their house. This year I am having everyone over. I am excited and a little nervous about the turkey. Hopefully, all will turn out! I am sure you will hear about it one way or the other! Have a very wonderful Thanksgiving. We truly have much to be thankful for!

Lesson learned

This week has been a long one. Goosey hasn't slept particularly well at night. So, by the time Friday morning rolls around I am tired and Adam is at work for a very long weekend. 12.5 hours is a long day!! And he has three of them. I digress...At 9:30 the doorbell rings. I am in the middle of a huge poopy diaper while also talking to my mom on the phone. I have mad multitasking skills! I yell to Henny Penny to see who it is but don't open the door. She says a lady with stuff. Hmmm...sounds interesting. I run to the door and it turns out to be a very nicely dressed young woman that wants to talk to me about God. I tell her I would dearly love to talk to her but am in the middle of three things (at least) could she please come back. I love talking to Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon's! Call me crazy but it is fun. Did I also mention that I am still in my jammies? Hair undone? Teeth unbrushed? Yup I was looking like the stereotypical housewife. All I needed was screaming, naked, dirty children! I promptly finished up with the baby and got in the shower. Even straightened my bangs. (just got my hair cut and am still at the bang straightening point) I remember thinking she will be back later today and I will look decent! Moving on to Saturday morning. LOOOOONG night again. Looking worse than yesterday at probably 10:30 in the morning. Doorbell rings. Of course I am trying to feed the baby (more on this later). Yell to Henny Penny to see who it is. "Two ladies with stuff." Great! She brought reinforcements and I still look like death! I open the door and they begin their spiel. I share briefly that I am a Christian and would love to talk more but this isn't a good time. The new gal says "you look really familiar" We share where we went to school and when we graduated. Turns out we went to elementary and middle school together. They are twins that look nothing alike. I closed the door and just wanted to sit and laugh! They were probably driving away thinking "wow! I am glad we turned out better than she did!" Did I also mention that I was wearing a white t-shirt with no bra and trying to hold the baby in such a way as to cover this. :)
Ok...so I know you are going to ask some obvious questions
Q- Why did you answer the door in the first place?
A- Our door has glass panels on either side and you can see in quite easily. Kids were standing at the door looking out. Didn't want to look like they were home alone!

Q- Haven't you ever heard of a robe?
A- Yes! I have one but it had been peed on by Goosey.

Hope you enjoyed my discomfort!

I got...

Nothing! I haven't had much to write about this week. The girls still say funny things. Goosey is still a sweet baby. I have been thinking a lot this week about my friend Cari who lost her 7 month old baby 5 days after Goosey was born. My heart aches for her and her husband. I hug my babies a little tighter every day. Worry about whether my baby is breathing when he is asleep. But girding it all is a knowledge that God is in control. He loved their sweet baby and he loves mine. He is ever watchful, sustaining us all. I know that God is good even when it doesn't make sense. His plan and purpose are perfect. I have been struggling with my own grief over something much smaller than losing a baby. I know God cares about my pain as much as He cares about the tremendous pain Cari and Andy are going through. I don't want to talk about my own struggle when it seems so insignificant and silly comparatively. I am thankful that God listens and doesn't tell me I shouldn't be sad. I am thankful to have a God who listens and responds. Blessed be the name of the Lord. HE alone is good!

Big Game Hunt

This morning Henny Penny woke up in a particularly feisty mood. She decided it would be fun to hunt the cats. We have two cats, Petrie and Moses. Petrie is older about 8. Moses is 2. Moses is the all around best cat ever. Completely content as long as he is fed! Even while being squished and held and generally manhandled. Petrie, not so much. Henny picks up Petrie and moves her from room to room. (As only a three year old can carry a cat.) Tries putting her in Goosey's car seat. For some reason she won't stay! I hear complaints of "mom, Petrie scratched me, Petrie tried to bite me." Ummm...gee I wonder why! Does this deter her? No, of course not. If at first you don't succeed try another cat. Moses having seen this from afar decides to run. Henny chases him up the stairs and proceeds to hold him (Moses is very lazy and doesn't put up much of a fight) and talk to him in a baby voice. This is all before 8am! It is going to be a long day!

My babies

Henny Penny, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey