Sleepy, Grumpy Mommy

 
I think when you become a parent you truly begin to realize the value of sleep. Oh, in college you get a taste of the sleepless nights. But you can always make up for it the next night, or that weekend, and it doesn't go on for weeks and months at a time. When I had Maddy (my first), I lost sleep for sure. But it wasn't too bad. The rule is "when they are sleeping, you should be sleeping." But that rule really only applies when you have one child, right? You can't just take a nap on the couch when you have other ones awake and playing. And the more kids you have, the more chances you have of being woken up at night.
Maddy is a pretty good sleeper now. She used to have night terrors until she was about 3 or 4, but now she is old enough that she doesn't get them and she doesn't really wake up at night. She just wakes up super early in the morning. And she has always been an early riser. But ever since she was about 3 or 4, she could come out of her room at 6 or 7 and turn on the tv and color. So that helped me get a little more sleep once I knew I could trust her to come out at a certain time.
Judah has always been a really good sleeper. He takes long naps and for the most part, has slept in. But lately he has been getting up early in the morning, and sometimes getting up at night since he is in a toddler bed and he can. We recently took away his pacifier, so that helps that he isn't waking me up to find it in his bed, which he did frequently.
Ruth is a pretty good sleeper. She has her different streaks, and they depend on teething, sickness, or if she is well and happy, she sleeps pretty good and wakes up one to two times at night to nurse, and takes one to two naps during the day, depending on when she wakes up. She actually sleeps until around 9 most days, so that is a nice time for me to have in the morning before she gets up.

I was having a hard time when Ruth was teething and sick and waking up in the middle of the night and staying up for awhile, sometimes 2 plus hours at a time. During that time, Judah would wake up and need put back to sleep. And then Judah or Ruth would wake up around 6 in the morning. I was so tired, that when Maddy and Judah were up that early, and Ruth was still sleeping, I would get them breakfast and put them in front of the TV with their little table and try to sleep on the couch. I was desperate for sleep. And grumpy. And didn't feel like starting my day that early. I didn't have enough energy to get everything done that I needed to. I felt like a failure as a mom because I have so much on my plate but I did not have the energy to accomplish stuff, especially stuff in the morning before school. I would just lay on the couch until 8 or 830 since Ruth was still sleeping, and it felt disgusting! Depression was starting to set in, and I couldn't handle my emotions or anything around me.
I do feel like I'm starting to come out of it. The kids have been sleeping better at night; I just have to plan on them getting up at or around 6. Which means I need to go to bed earlier. I am not good at this, but I have been so exhausted that it has been more motivating to go to bed earlier. I feel a little bit fresher, a little bit more alive, and a little bit more like I can handle my emotions. This is the start of a new week, and a new plan. I am cutting out sugar, wheat (as much as I can), sugary drinks, eating after 7, and will begin working out 6 days this week. I plan on being up in the morning with the kids and not sleeping on the couch. I don't want to go to bed late, and I need to get more done this week, including drinking more water, taking vitamins, eating healthier and getting out of my pajamas every morning and into normal clothes! I just had a big "binge" weekend of eating at different events, and I'm ready to shed those pounds, and choose things to help me feel better all around. I'm hoping that the extra water, healthy food, exercise, sleep, and good choices will help me feel better.
So, here's to a new week. Being a stay at home mom and a homeschooling mom at that, isn't always easy. There are good days and bad days. Days where you get a lot done and feel like you accomplished much. And then there are days when it seems like you are just trying to survive and make it to the end of the day with kids who are fed, dressed, and happy. It's all part of the process, and God is there with us through both kinds of days. Here's to a better week!

Life Around Here

 Well, life has been pretty crazy around here. We have been extremely busy! I must say, this is the busiest I have been as a mommy! We are doing Classical Conversation once a week (a classical, Christian homeschool education) and I am a tutor (which is the teacher of the class, they like to reserve the title "teacher" for the parent who directs their child's education), Maddy is taking ballet/tap/jazz class once a week, we have church, worship team, and many other things that fill up our schedule! And of course, we are enjoying being close to family who we can share all our adventures with!

Tad, Judah and Ruth hanging out at the park!

 Our weather is like the Ohio summers I am used to, so there are still lots of days we spend our afternoons outside or take evening walks on the path behind our house. We usually do that when Tad is working a double and we need to get out of the house!

 This is Ruth with her Aunt Lydia! She works at a salon and a bakery and goes to school, but in her "free time" she comes over and visits us, and we love it! I think they love Aunt Lydia more than they love me! And sometimes she brings the kids yummy stuff from the bakery! I seriously don't know what we will do without her next year when she goes off to college!

 It is fun being near family, and sometimes we get to go a little bit outside of our town and see extended family. On this particular day, we were invited to Tad's uncle's house to help build onto their house, and for a birthday party! It was so much fun to see family and the kids had a blast!

 Pops (Tad's dad) got a Spyder motorcycle and the kids were playing around on it. He even let Tad and I take it for a spin around the neighborhood; it was pretty fun! I can't wait until Tad can get his motorcycle fixed! We still have plenty of warm days left!

Ruthie is eating solid food 3 times a day now. Hmmmm. She must not like this one. But she is adorable! And she does like a lot of the baby food we feed her! She is probably my least picky baby eater out of the three!

Cute as a button! She looks like a little "who!" Her hair always seems to be in a mo-hawk. I can't figure out if her hair naturally does that, or if someone (AKA Tad) always puts her hair like that. Anyways...
Just a little bit of what we are doing around here! We have Classical Conversations for 2 more weeks and then we are off until around mid-January! So that will be a nice break and hopefully I can get some more things done and not feel as crazy busy as I am right now! I'm looking forward to the holidays, and we are excited to get our Thankful Tree going like we did last year! Hope this finds you all well!

Priorities

Right now seems like such a crazy time. I think I definitely feel the most overwhelmed since having my third baby at the end of February. She is almost 8 months already, and I still feel pretty overwhelmed. It's not so much just her. It's all three of them put together. And this new year of teaching Classical Conversations each week that involves hours of prep work. And the ministries that I have at church. Plus the regular homeschooling, which I want to be one of my top priorities because I don't want that to fall by the wayside. And my home, and all the responsibilities that come along with that that pretty much fall on my shoulders alone. And then there are other things that I wish I had more time for. Like working out and spending time with friends. I feel like my friends are totally on the backburner right now. The only ones I really get together with are the few that pursue me to get together. Bless them!
Whenever anyone asks how I'm doing or what is going on, I feel like the answer is always "Busy." "Overwhelmed." "Crazy." "A lot going on." And if I'm not doing anything, or if I'm taking a nap, or relaxing, I feel like I should be doing something productive. And I wish I could get up early and get more things done before the kids get up, but lately, I have been getting so little sleep that my energy levels have been down and I have been struggling with depression so I can't really give up sleep right now. Ruth is up a lot at night, Maddy and Judah are in the same room now and they fall asleep a lot later than they used to, and get up a lot earlier than they used to. And usually about the time I lay down to go to sleep at night, Ruth wakes up for a feeding. And it seems like she is up way too much at night.
There is just so much going on right now. I miss having time to bake, cook, decorate, clean, exercise, entertain, all the things I used to blog about. My passions. The things that used to give me breaks. But now, I barely blog and probably because I don't have anything fun to blog about, it seems like I just keep griping about how overwhelmed I am. And how important things keep falling by the wayside. I know there are tons of systems and schedules out there to keep you on top of things. But when you homeschool, you are in a totally different game. When am I suppose to do those daily chores? My whole morning is filled with getting breakfast for 4 people, maybe picking up the kitchen, nursing Ruth, and getting school done with Maddy. And we are usually doing school in the afternoon after naps too.
I need the professional homeschooling veteran moms to help! When do you get things done? And how do you find the energy to get all those things done? It seems like my house is suffering, my health is suffering, and I cannot stay on top of things!! Maybe I'm just having a little emotional meltdown. I know the rewards of homeschooling and I know that that is more important than having a perfect house and entertaining weekly.
My mother-in-law was trying to help me by reminding me of my priorities: God, Husband, Family, Others/Church, Me. That breaks it down, showing me that my family is more important than church, Tad is more important than the kids, etc. But it can still be hard to break it all down and figure out how to get everything done in a way that I'm not going crazy. And I desperately miss my husband. My love. I so wish we had the money to have a getaway to focus on each other and relax. We have barely had that in our whole marriage. Maybe once. Or twice.
And it can also feel a little lonely being at home. Especially when the kids get sick. Even your husband doesn't understand what it's like to have all the responsibilities of a SAHM and be home with them all the time. And to never get a day off. Or a night off. It can be exhausting. Like today. Tad went to work, came home on his lunch break and saw the craziness for like 10 minutes and went back to work. Came home and took a nap on the couch. Left for worship practice and church while I stayed home with sick kids. Came back and did dishes for me and helped clean up and now he is gone on a run with his sister. I have been here all day. He did offer for me to go run, or for us to run together, but I just don't have the energy.
So there's my life. Crazy. Busy. And I don't have any answers, persay, I guess I'm still looking for answers.

Vacation with Littles

Recently, we had a week-long family vacation with my mom's side of the family. Every other year, my Grandma and Grandpa pay for a big house for us all to stay in for a week. We are spread out across the country, and don't really get to see each other, especially since my sister moved to Colorado and we moved to Oklahoma. It is a great time of bonding, catching up with each other, seeing each others kids, doing stuff together as a family, and relaxing. Relaxing. That's a relative term when you have 3 small children. In the past, these vacations had been pretty relaxing. We got sleep. So that's what I expected this time. And although there were moments of relaxation and sleep, it was not what I had expected.
Towards the end of the trip, I got on the computer to look at one of my favorite blogs, Passionate Homemaking, and ironically, the post that was up was Summer Vacationing with Kids. I wish I had read this post before we had left. The last trip we went on, we had an enormous house because we were expecting my uncle and aunt and their 10 kids and then they couldn't come. So we had extra rooms and only 2 kids. This time, we had a house that fit the amount of people who came, and that included fold out couches out in the open. Not too ideal for kids who need to go to bed early. We actually got a room with a couch that had a fold out bed in the room, so we thought that would be perfect. But Judah had never slept in a real bed before, and now he was going to sleep with Maddy as well. Mistake #1. We were going to bring the pack and play, but we ended up running out of room. It took Judah about an hour or more to fall asleep each time he needed to nap or go to sleep for the night! It was exhausting. He kept getting up and coming out, talking to Maddy, and taking forever to fall asleep. One night he got to sleep as late as 11! And then the next day, he was exhausted and a mess. He did manage to take some 3 hour naps though, to catch up on lost sleep. One morning he woke up because he fell out of bed, poor guy!
So, we ended up shuffling Maddy around between her cousins fold out beds, put Judah's mattress on the floor and he slept there in our room, and Ruth slept in her bed in our bathroom. Gotta do what you gotta do!
So, all in all, it was a fun trip. I just wasn't expecting the ordeal it was to get the kids to sleep. And the frustration of them getting woken up. And melting the next day. It is exhausting as a parent when your kids or you don't get enough sleep. I guess I just wish I had different expectations going in to the trip. Which is why you need to read the aforementioned blog post before you go on vacation with your small kids!! It makes things so much smoother when we know what we're in for!!
Also, think through the sleeping situation before you leave and make up different scenarios that could work. That way you are not locked into one situation that has to work. Even if you are all in one hotel room, there are different options. We are doing this at the end of the month, and I'm already trying to figure out the best possible solution!!
When you go on vacation as a mom, you don't get away from mom responsibilities. Unless you are in a high class resort and literally have people waiting on you. But we were in a house, so laundry, dishes, cleanup, taking care of kids, and cooking still had to be done. One of my favorite things that was said in that blog post is that it's called a family trip, not a vacation. That is so true.

I hope this didn't sound super negative!! We really did have fun, but I guess it did shine through that the sleeping arrangements were pretty stressful! But you just have to roll with the punches I guess and not let things you can't control get you too down!! Try to enjoy those little sweet moments when you are on vacation and not let lack of sleep get you down! Needless to say, I'm so glad to be home with my kids sleeping in their own beds!!

 

Head on over to Alicia's Homemaking, one of my favorite blogs, to read more about people's fun new adventures!! 

Summertime!!

 We are finally done with school!! It feels so good to have those 180 days of kindergarten under our belt!! The year went so well, and I am so pleased with Madelynn's progress! She is reading well, counting to over 100, knows so much more about our world than when she started the year, and knows a lot of states/capitals!! I am so proud of her!!

Maddy playing doctor at Leonardos!

 
Next year will be quite the journey! I have already mentioned that we will be doing Classical Conversations. Well, I was just offered the position of being the first grade tutor (which is the teacher of the class, though they call it the tutor.) I will have to go to a 3 day practicum in another city and begin preparing how I will present the material to the class! Pray for me!! I have never learned Latin, and this kind of teaching of different subjects will be different than anything I have done in the past. Though I am excited because it is definitely out of my comfort zone, and the training and teaching will help me be a better teacher to my kids!! I am looking forward to this next year!!
But for now, I am excited about summer! Now that we are done with our schoolwork, I have so many summer projects to tackle!! Not to mention the extra time we now have to play, get out in the mornings, hang out with friends more, and relax. I am hoping that by the Fall, Ruth will be on more of a solid schedule, and I will also be doing a little bit of preschool with Judah. He seems ahead of the game, and is already picking up so much from Maddy and from hearing us do school!

Judah was finally big enough to wear bowling shoes!!

We also just got a set of books that I am excited to use! The first set we got is for littles and has bright colors, fun pictures, and teaches them words in English/Spanish so I hope to use that with Maddy and Judah in the Fall and a little bit this summer! I plan to go through Maddy's desk, school papers, books from this year, books/magazines about homeschooling, and books for next year and get going on her lesson plans for next year! Of course, I have the whole summer to do this!! I planned on doing so much of this last summer and then I was pregnant and super sick and barely got Maddy's lesson plans done in time for school to start! So I look forward to doing it this summer!
We will also be reviewing different topics throughout the summer to refresh Maddy's memory, especially her reading/spelling material so she doesn't lose it!! Any tips for a new homeschooling mom of an almost first grader is appreciated!! I am still new on this journey!!

She is three months already!!

A Juggling Act

 Sorry I have been so MIA lately!! A big part of it is that I haven't been able to transfer all my pictures from my phone to the computer, so all the blog posts that I took pictures for aren't able to be put on my blog as easily. Not sure what is going on with that. The other part is that life is just plain hectic around here!! We only have a couple of weeks of school left, and with Ruthie coming during the school year, we had to take a few weeks off. So we are doing 6 days of school in each school week to try to get done by June 8. I'm ready for summer break!!
I pretty much have to make school the main priority in the mornings. I really try to get it all done by lunch time, or at least before nap time. So between feeding Ruthie, making breakfast, rocking Ruthie to sleep for her nap (which is often pretty time-consuming throughout the day), getting the kids dressed, and cleaning up after breakfast, it's a pretty hectic and busy morning. Ruthie's schedule isn't very predictable yet, so if she wakes up from her nap, then school usually gets put on hold for a little bit. I try to keep Maddy on schedule and doing things without me while I nurse, or reading a book to me if Ruth doesn't get too distracted.
But these days are extremely hectic when it's one on three. One mom, three kids who all need mom. Thankfully, Maddy is pretty self-sufficient so she can not only get most things that she needs, but she helps a lot with Judah too. I count down the hours until Tad gets off work, and until his days off!! It's so nice to have his help! I don't feel as insane when he is here and I can usually eat breakfast at a normal time when he is here to hold the baby!
I will say that it is so nice to live near family during this busy time, and have Tad's siblings stop in to visit, help, and to just go over his parent's house and have the kids run and play and have lots of aunts and uncles to love on them!
I'm hoping that if I can get my picture situation figured out, and once we are done with school here in a couple weeks, I will be much more present in the blogging world!! And if anyone has any advice why all of a sudden my phone won't upload any new pictures to my computer, feel free to leave a comment!!

I know I'm behind on my blog when my husband checks it and says I've been slacking!! I miss it!

Back To Normal?

Well, it's probably hilarious to say that things are back to normal since Ruthie has been born, but I do feel like there is a new normal around here that is beginning to feel like normal. In the first 6-8 weeks after the baby is born, things are kind of hectic. Especially after Daddy goes back to work. Mommy has to learn to juggle everything on her own, and learn how to manage to get things done and take care of the kids by herself. Sleep is lacking, patience is lacking, help is lacking!! It always feels kind of crazy! And I always feel overwhelmed during that time like "how can I possibly do this myself!"
But after the craziness wears off a little bit, things fall back into place again. They are never exactly the way they were before, but you learn to cope and figure out how things can get done, what isn't as important and can slide, and how to make time for the most important things to you.
It's amazing to me that we always use the excuse "I don't have time" for the things that, in actuality, aren't that important to us. But the things that are important to us, we manage to find the time even when our time is very limited. I'm really glad that we have found time for the important things. I'm glad that we are getting school done every day for Maddy. I'm glad that I'm finding the time to workout. I'm glad that I can get my house clean when I want to. Sometimes that means staying up through nap time or getting things done late at night, like right now, because it's the only promised uninterrupted time in the day!!!

And I think that God was right on when He had us mommies sit down to relax and hold our babies about every 2-3 hours during the day to feed them. And rock them. And sing to them. Otherwise we might get too busy. It really is nice to sit down all throughout the day and rest and just look at the beautiful baby miracle that has just entered my life. She is precious, and no matter how crazy things might get, I am so blessed to have my 3 beautiful babies!!

In the Trenches

Ruthie is a month old already!! The time has gone by so fast! She is doing really good, and we are settling into more of a routine for our day to day. The sleep deprivation is definitely taking its toll with being up 2-3 times a night for feedings. She is doing better at getting more efficient in eating quicker and not falling asleep for the feeding, but sometimes it is hard to get her back to sleep.
Maddy and I have gotten back to doing school, and it has gone pretty well. We usually get started about an hour later than we used to, but Ruth usually takes a pretty good morning nap, so we can do school during that time. Maddy has been a huge help in holding Ruth (an extra set of hands really helps!), getting stuff I need around the house, helping with Judah, and being flexible with school and other things. She has actually been doing really great with her school, reading and spelling better, and sometimes she even gets to do some schoolwork while holding the baby!
Judah just loves loving on the baby. He is quite rough, and his forms of love are often a little overwhelming to the baby! But he loves holding her, shushing her, kissing her, and hugging her! He is a good big brother!
I think this is the hardest time when you add a new baby. It is also some of the most precious time. You are still getting into a routine, the baby is figuring out how to sleep on their own, take naps, and fall into a feeding schedule, you are exhausted around the clock, and it seems like there is little time to get things done around the house. I feel like most of my day is spent holding/rocking the baby while doing other things one-handed. Which can often be challenging. Thank goodness I have a 5 year old who can really help with Judah and other things around the house. I don't know how people do it with all little babies to take care of! God certainly knew what I could handle!!

So even though I feel overwhelmed at this point, I know it will settle down and into more of a routine. I know that someday I will get more than 4 hours of sleep at a time, and hopefully Ruth will have her set naps and wake/sleep times worked out in the next few weeks!! In the meantime, we are enjoying her!!

Our New Normal

Moments after birth. The first time I saw her.

Well, it was a rough road with a last minute C-section, but it was all worth it to have our precious, perfect, healthy baby girl. I wanted to share some pictures with you all, especially if you haven't seen them on Facebook! We are doing well, especially the recovery. Everyday is better and I feel stronger and less pain. It's pretty crazy how quickly your body can bounce back after surgery!

Our little peanut.

Ruth has had her days/nights a bit mixed up, as they often do, so sleeping has been here and there lately. It's hard to get her to fall asleep for the night until about 12/1 in the morning, which makes for one tired momma! But this too shall pass. Once we can get her more on a schedule, hopefully she will go down for the night a little earlier!! At her 2 week appointment, she was back up to her birth weight, so I don't have to set an alarm to wake her up and feed her anymore at night. She wakes up herself to eat!

Judah with little sister. He loves her and it is so funny to hear him talk baby talk to her, and he's only 2!! He will jump up on the couch and put a pillow in his lap and say "hold her" and pretty much demand it! And he narrates whatever Ruthie is doing. He'll say "eating" or "feed her" when she cries, or "crying." It's pretty cute. He even pulled his shirt up the other day and said "I feed her." We're still working on that! This is all new to him!
Maddy is completely enamored with Ruth. She always wants to sit next to her, hold her, touch her, hold her hand, see her, etc. She just can't stand to not be around her! She has gotten pretty good at holding her and rocking her, though she is getting a little confident and thinking she can move her around or change positions while holding her! She makes me a little nervous sometimes! But she has been a big helper with Ruth and Judah. The other day she even managed to change one of Judah's wet diapers!! I wouldn't have allowed it, but she already threw his diaper out, and managed to get another one on with a little guidance!!
Even Judah has been helping to throw diapers away, turn on the bouncer, and "shush" Ruth when she is crying!

We love Ruth and are adjusting to having a new member of the family! Tad has worked with a friend doing a side job, so I have gotten a taste of having all 3 kids by myself! I even took them out by myself twice yesterday! It's a little crazy! And with such a lack of sleep, it makes it harder to deal with the ordinary, everyday stuff! We started back to school yesterday, and Maddy is doing well adjusting to that again! This is our new normal; we are so blessed with our 3 beautiful children! I know we don't deserve these blessings, but are so thankful that God has entrusted these beautiful children to us!! Thank you, God!

Sweet Baby Ruth

We are so blessed to have Ruth Aleya in our lives!! She was born last Tuesday, February 28, at 3:21 pm. She was 7 lbs, 3 oz, and 20 inches long!! It has been a crazy recovery process as I ended up having an unplanned c-section. But it's been a little over a week and I'm doing a lot better!
I was scheduled to be induced last Tuesday morning, and was hoping to go completely natural, meaning no kind of pain killers, since my last 2 labors ended up having complications because of the epidural. Well, I labored until about 6-7 cm dilated and was getting weary of the pain and wanted something to help. Tad didn't want me to regret getting another epidural, so I ended up having them put a narcotic into my iv, which I never wanted to do because of the effects it could have on the baby, but I think I was a little desperate for some relief and the nurses were telling me that the baby could do the same things without the narcotic, and they monitor the baby the whole time. So right after I got that I felt unconscious until a contraction came. I could feel it pretty strong, but not as bad. But right after that my doctor said that I was losing too much blood, my blood pressure was dropping, and my pulse was too fast, so she highly recommended I get an epidural in case I needed a quick c-section, otherwise I would be completely knocked out. So after all that, and hoping I would go completely natural, I ended up getting a narcotic, quickly followed by an epidural, and right after that she said she needed to do a c-section! Totally unplanned!
My first 2 were regular deliveries, so I didn't really know what I was in for! And it was a good thing they chose to take that precaution and get a c-section because I ended up having a partial placenta abruption where my placenta was starting to prematurely detach from the uterine wall, and if it does it completely before the baby is born, then the baby can't breath at all, and it is very dangerous for the mother/baby. So it could have been a lot more serious and dangerous, but they quickly delivered her via c-section and she was perfectly healthy, and so was I! Praise God! I didn't even realize how serious it was until later when the nurses told me what happened and explained what it was.
I'm not gonna lie, the recovery process from a c-section is pretty painful. It was my first surgery and I had heard about what it was like, but now my hat's off to those who have had c-sections! It hurts!
But besides all that, we are so blessed to have our little bundle of joy! Tad's mom watched Maddy and Judah for the few days we were in the hospital, and the sweet time that Tad and I had with our 3rd baby was precious. I love watching Tad love on Ruth, spoil her, and he never will send our babies to the nursery! He always wants them right with us in the room! It's always a special time with just Tad and our newest baby!
My family (my parents and grandparents) just spent the week with us when we got home from the hospital, and that was special time as well! It was sad to see them go yesterday!!
So now, we are starting our "new normal." Tad still has another week off from work, which has been such a blessing, and we are adjusting to 3 kids! I had them all by myself last night for the first time! I was a little nervous, but it went okay! I just have to keep Maddy and Judah occupied when I have to feed Ruth!
So my blogging might be a little here and there for the next few weeks, or months, but I will try to keep you all updated on how we are doing! And of course share my favorite recipes with you all!

As soon as my computer will cooperate with Blogger I will upload some more pictures!!

Headed to the Hospital...

We are heading to the hospital to be induced this morning!! I'm not exactly thrilled about being induced, but my doctor will be out of town, I'm past my due date, my family comes into town in 2 days, and I had to be induced 2 times before when my water broke but my labor didn't start. So there, whether or not you wanted the reasons, there you go!! I have to finish my breakfast and coffee and get out the door! Hopefully pictures will follow sometime in the next few days!!

11 Days and Counting

I know, I know, could I get any bigger??

Well, we are down to 11 days!! The baby could come any day now!! I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore!! It's weird thinking about going from the woes of pregnancy to the woes of recovering after labor and delivery!! My first 2 labors were quite traumatic, with recoveries involving a broken tailbone with Maddy and spinal headaches for a week with Judah. Not to mention gall stones after each birth and a possible removal of my gallbladder after this baby if the same problem arises.
But I would much rather not be pregnant, be holding my precious baby girl in my arms, and maybe (hopefully not!) dealing with some issues from labor!! It is so weird being in the "waiting game" phase of pregnancy. Tad asks me every day if we are going to have a baby tonight! I didn't really feel ready, but last night I finally did! I had the house all cleaned, chores done, errands ran, things done, and the baby still didn't come! Didn't she know I was ready? And tired? And DONE???
Anyways, we are still plugging away getting school done with Maddy, doing regularly scheduled activities as planned, and just waiting with our bags packed and ready to go! Minus the last minute stuff I need to add! Praying for a smooth labor and delivery and a healthy baby girl! And no, we have not picked that middle name yet!!

Nesting

Well, I think nesting has officially set in!! I am officially obsessed with having a clean house, which if you have young kids you know, never really happens!! I have been breaking my back to try to get every nook and cranny sorted through and organized lately, before baby arrives!! I really should be slowing down now, since it doesn't take much for my back to hurt when I'm cleaning/bending over and picking up toys!! I am almost done going through all the different areas in my house, that I can do anyways, and all of the baby clothes are washed, folded, organized, and put away until about 6 months. It's crazy how at the end you really step it up into high gear to get things done and ready for baby!! And at the time when it's hardest to do so!!
But we are excited!! I can't believe I'm gonna have another baby in about 6 weeks!! I don't think the reality has really set in with Tad yet. A couple times I have been folding baby clothes and he looks at me with big eyes like "we are gonna have another baby soon!" I think the pregnant woman is much more fully aware!!

So, I am just counting down the weeks and hoping for a smooth labor and delivery!! If you know me, you probably know that I have had some rough deliveries/recoveries in the past so I'm hoping this one will be different!! I'm 34 weeks today!!

10 Things I Look Forward to After Baby

I'm not necessarily one of those people who love or hate being pregnant. There are certain things I like about each, and each pregnancy is different as well. I have had such random, weird things happen to me during each of my pregnancies, and it can make it difficult to deal with some of them. But probably without fail, there are things I cannot wait for after the pregnancy is over!!! As I am 33 weeks this week, I am definitely ready to be done being pregnant! So, here is the list, in no particular order!

1. Being able to sleep comfortably in my bed! Though I won't be able to sleep through the night, or for long stretches of time, at least I will be able to breath when I lay down and not have to have a million pillows for support!
2. No heartburn!! I rarely ever have heartburn unless I'm pregnant! Won't be missing it either!
3. Being able to run/workout!! I have missed my usual workout routines, and since the first trimester have barely worked out since I was so sick right away! Then I guess I just got into the habit of not working out.
4. Being able to clean the house or do anything else without back pain! I can't believe how fast the back pain sets in when I'm doing regular chores, standing up for short periods of time, or even just shopping at Walmart! I feel like an old lady!
5. Being able to drink more caffeine!! I drink my one small cup of coffee in the morning, but having to turn down the espresso in Starbucks drinks is depressing! Especially when you're tired!!
   
6. Not having the extra weight! This growing belly is getting pretty heavy, and I won't miss having a hard time getting off the couch or out of bed in the morning!
7. Being able to start dieting! Okay, I'm not really looking forward to that, but at least having the option to start curbing my diet in order to start shedding that baby weight!
8. Being able to get more housework done without the help of my family so much!! I have to leave so much stuff to Tad (heavy lifting) or Maddy (bending and picking stuff up off the floor) and it will be nice to be able to do it myself again!
9. My sanity back! Ok, that is not necessarily a guarantehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife, but maybe I won't cry at the drop of a hat and make my husband think I'm crazy? Ok, not a guarantee.
10. Being able to hold my precious baby, nurse her, sing to her, rock her, and have my blessed, amazing, healthy family of 5!
    

Well, I'm sure there are more things, but for now, those are some of the things I am looking forward to. They are coming soon!!

Check out other fun Top Ten Lists at ohamanda.com!!

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Try New Adventures Thursday...Cake Reveal

We had our mid-pregnancy ultrasound the other day! We decided instead of opting to find out the sex of the baby right there on the spot, we would wait a little bit! We saw a special on "Good Morning America" about a cake reveal party. This is where you have the ultrasound technician write down the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and you bring that piece of paper to a bakery! They make you a cake with white icing or something plain, and then the inside of your cake is either pink of blue, depending on the sex. So when you cut into it, you find out what you are having! It did sound a little dorky at first, but when they showed different couples' home videos of finding out this way, with family and friends, it sounded fun! And since my sister-in-law works at a bakery in town, it was perfect! She actually made our cake! Didn't she do a great job?
In our case, with our 2 other kids, we thought this would be a creative idea. Especially since we live near family now! Judah didn't really get it, but Maddy definitely did! We prepped Maddy about what we were doing, and made sure that she understood what the colors meant. She refused to accept the fact that it might be a boy, but we tried to get her ready!
So, without further ado, It's a....









Girl!!!!!
Needless to say, Maddy is ecstatic about this! And so are we. I did have a hunch this whole time since I was very sick with Maddy and not with Judah, but the ultrasound tech threw me for a loop! She didn't tell us the sex, but she did say that she wrote one thing down, and then changed her mind and crossed it out! So that made me think it was a boy! So I was actually surprised!!
We are thrilled, and on the train to choose the name! We are getting there! Hope you are as excited as we are!!

Fall is Coming!!

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I can't believe that summer is already ending and kids are going back to school! I also can't believe that my oldest is turning 5 in a couple days and is starting kindergarten!! I am so proud and overwhelmed with all the work I need to do to get her school year ready!! It is exciting though!! My mother-in-law gave me a bunch of homeschooling materials for kindergarten so I am piecing them together and getting ready for the year!
I do love summer, but I am always ready for the Fall to start with a more scheduled routine, getting back to extra-curricular activities, and planned days. It is nice to lay back and relax in the summer days, but I get to the point where I'm ready to get going again with a busy year! This year, we will be doing some fun things for school (which I'll include in another post), hopefully have Maddy in swim lessons, and do some other fun groups for school/field trips. It should be a fun year of learning!
I have always loved Fall with the turning of colors and especially Fall baking. Since I am starting to feel a lot better, I hope I'm up to the task of all my usual cooking/baking with Fall flavors! My pumpkin extravaganza should be underway in the next couple of months! Not to mention that with this unbearable Oklahoma heat, I am more than anxious for some cooler weather. They said it would be hot, but I never imagined how hot! It was up over 100 degrees for about 50 days or more and then we only got a few days of a break in the 90's. Being from the north I never thought I would live somewhere where I longed for winter!
I am just about into my second trimester and the new "due date" is February 24 according to ultrasound. We had an early ultrasound so we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl! The other day when I went to the doctor Maddy wondered if the baby was going to come out of my tummy! Not for a long, long time, Maddy! But it will be an exciting thing to look forward to in this upcoming year!
So, with all that said, I should probably sign off and tackle some things on my to-do list. Feel free to comment on your favorite things about Fall, some of your best Fall recipes, or what you look forward to as Fall approaches! I always read and appreciate all your comments!!

An Announcement!!

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Well, I am so sorry that I have been away from the blogging world for so long!! It has been a crazy last few weeks!! The kids and I were out of town for a couple of weeks visiting my family in Ohio, and we had a blast! We did so many things that we haven't done before, especially Maddy! But that will be more in a later post!!
The reason I have been so AWOL lately is because the day before we left for Ohio we found out that we are expecting Baby #3!! We were surprised and excited!! And it was crazy to find out right before our big trip!

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We tried for a year to get pregnant with Judah and then finally had to resort to fertility drugs. So we didn't think we could get pregnant on our own! So when we found out that we did, we were elated!
About a week into our trip to Ohio, I started getting sick. More of just the all-day nausea. I had it pretty bad with Maddy, but really not at all with Judah. Soooo, I have pretty much been a bum since then. I also started getting some severe pains that I had with Judah as well, and am waiting to find out at my first appointment what they think they are (if they are different from last time.) It's been hard, I won't lie. I feel like I'm either nauseous, having pain, or just tired and weak and don't feel like doing anything.
I'm used to being busy, running around the house, and being able to do everything myself. It has been difficult to not be able to cook (which I LOVE and miss), really clean my house, and stay on top of things. Everyone keeps telling me it's OK and I'm allowed to rest and not be on top of things. But that doesn't make it easier to look at my dirty house and know that I can't clean it right then.
So enough of the sob story. I will get through it! Hopefully at the end of the first trimester, things will be better! I am due around February 28! I can't believe that we will have 3 kids in no time! So with that said, please forgive me if I'm not around blogging as much as I used to. I will try when I can, but you might just have to wait for my second trimester!! Hope you all are doing well!

Nocturnal Mom

I wish, as moms, that we didn't have to sleep. Oh, sleep? That's just for the baby. Me, I'm good. Those babies need lots of sleep, but once you are big and all grown up, you just don't need sleep anymore! But on the contrary, I think I could sleep as much as my little baby. As much work as it is to take care of kids, not only through the day, but through the night as well, I am wore out!!
Sometimes I am up so much at night with the kids, I may as well stay awake all night. That way, I don't have to wake up, fall back to sleep. Jump up, put in pacifier, go back to sleep. Go in Maddy's room and wait until her night terror is over, go back to sleep. Here Maddy's door and go see why she is up, go back to sleep. Stay up for a half hour to nurse, go back to sleep. And then kid #1 wakes at 5:30 am. Good Morning!
Sometimes I feel like I was up more than I was asleep. I know this is just a season, but Dear Sleep, I miss you so!
If we didn't have to sleep, we could get so much done during the night, kid-free, whining-free, activity-free. It would be amazing. Our kids would wake up and we could have spent time with God, deep cleaned the house, had guests over, read a book, spent time online, spent time with our husbands, gotten breakfast ready, and felt fresh for the day. As it is, we wake up (hopefully to a clean house), and start the day with a list of things to do, all while trying to entertain little ones.
Maybe someone has mastered this already, but I find it kind of daunting. How am I suppose to keep my house cleaned, get dinner ready, nurse a baby, school a toddler, get out for an activity (or else Maddy goes insane!!), keep up with emails/Facebook/blog, keep up with finances, be in tip top shape, have a time with God daily, have the energy to work on my marriage and not let it just "happen"...you get the picture. I'm just saying if I had eight extra hours at night...
So, in conclusion to my rantings, and I know every mother feels this way, I am tired. I wish I didn't have to waste my time sleeping away naps and sleeping away the night time, but my body needs a rest after these crazy days! Someday, I will have time to deep clean my house and have guests over kid-free, but for now, I want to cherish these days where I do have my little kids to take care of, my little babies who need their mommy in the middle of the night, little mouths to wipe off after I have fed them, and a little one who climbs into my bed during a storm. So sleep tight, little ones. Mommy will be up with you soon.

Making Your Own Baby Food

I never realized how "sold" I would be on making my own baby food until I finally buckled down and did it. With Madelynn, I just bought all her baby food, thinking it would be too much work to make it myself, and that she wouldn't like it as much anyways. I think I made one thing for her, she didn't like it, and I never tried again. This time, I was more motivated to make solids for Judah. I got out my trusty old food processor, which, by the way, is the small version, and has gotten a lot of use lately. It has treated me good, but I think she's getting tired and might need an upgrade soon. Do you hear me, Pioneer Woman?? You need a Food Processor giveaway, with my name on it. Thank you for being prompt.
Anyways, what helped me to get more on the bandwagon is my handy-dandy little book that Tad got me, called, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler" but my sweet husband took a Sharpie and crossed out Idiot's, and wrote Sweetheart's. Don't anyone gag on me. He is sweet!!
This book has step-by-step recipes for a bunch of basic baby foods, and then gives good advice on what things to mix as they get older, what is healthy, what each baby food has in it that makes it good for baby, and whether it is a good idea to "go organic" and what that even means.
One thing I really like as far as making baby food, is that I get to choose what I am making. I made avocados for Judah, and he loved them. They don't sell that for baby food in the store!! I can control the portions, freeze it, make a bunch ahead of time, and I use old baby food jars for storing when we go out.
Maybe this all seems trite to you, or if you already make your own baby food, it all seems very obvious. But it was a little daunting to me at first, so I took the easy road and just bought it. But when you make it yourself you are also saving money, and eliminating the processed stuff they have to add for shelf life. You can choose to buy organic, to add different kinds of produce to your child's diet, and to buy whatever is in season.

This is the easy step-by-step version I will give you, and then I will give some basic recipes to get you started if you are interested!!

1. Make sure your produce is cleaned, peeled, soft (meaning if you need to steam or microwave first), and cut into chunks.
2. Add it to the food processor with either breast milk or formula and puree according to the consistency your child can handle.
3. Pour into a container with an easy pouring spout, and pour into the container of choice. I like to pour some into glass containers with a lid and put it in the fridge (again, practical because you can control the portion for your child), and some into ice cube trays to freeze until whenever I need them. You can pour some right into baby food jars so that when you are ready to go out, it is all ready for you!

Once they are frozen, you can pop them into a Ziploc bag, labeled and dated for freshness, and use them at your leisure. Warm them up 2-3 at a time in a glass bowl or dish for about 30 seconds, give or take the amount, quantity, and type of dish. Sometimes they warm up unevenly, so just make sure you stir them up and test for a lukewarm temperature.

So, that is basically the formula for baby food success!! I will just give you some suggested times for steaming and/or microwaving some of the harder produce. Really, moms, this takes minutes to accomplish. It is so much easier than I ever imagined, and now that I have started, I will continue because I love it!! I think I am even going to bring my food processor with me on vacation!!


(Sweet potato, broccoli, apples, and pears, and later in the day I made bananas, which I mix in with his rice cereal every morning.)

Avocado: 1 ripe Avocado, slice and pit ripe avocado, scoop out insides. Puree/blend with formula or breast milk.
Banana: 1 ripe Banana, break into pieces. Puree/blend with formula or breast milk.
Broccoli/Cauliflower: Cut off stalks and chop top portion into one-inch florets. Wash and drain. To microwave: Place in large microwave-safe dish in one-half inch water, cover with microwave safe cover or plastic wrap, but do not let wrap touch food. Cook on high for 3-5 minutes. They are done when easily pierced with a fork. If not done, cook for 1-2 minutes more. Immediately drain water, let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to cool.
To steam: Empty frozen broccoli or cauliflower into top of saucepan with steamer basket insert. Steam over high heat until tender, about 7-10 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes.
Puree/blend with formula or breast milk. Strain if necessary before serving.
Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes: 1 medium white or sweet potato. To bake: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub outside of potato, prick potato in several places. Place directly on oven rack and bake until tender; 45 minutes to an hour for white potatoes, and 35 to 40 minutes for sweet potatoes. Remove and let cool. Slice lengthwise and remove inside of potato. Discard skins. To steam: Peel one medium white or sweet potato. Chop into one-inch cubes. Place in top portion of double boiler. Steam until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Remove and let cool 10 minutes.
Place cooked potato in food processor or blender and blend with formula or breast milk until it is a smooth, uniform consistency.

So that's pretty much it. The process is pretty much the same. With soft things like banana or avocado, they just go right into the food processor. But with the harder stuff like apples, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, etc. they need to be baked, steamed, or boiled first so that you can blend it smoothly.

Again, this is all very basic, but if reading this gets even one mom to try it and see how easy it is, and how much money you save, and how much healthier it can be, then this post was worth it!! Happy Cooking!!

P.S. Judah loves it!