6 & 3

We now have a 6 year old and a 3 year old again!



Bethie was so excited to turn 6 - it's a year older, it's when she no longer has to ride in the booster seat in our state, it's when she should be able to start looking forward to loosing a tooth, it's a special thing in school, and she's just excited to be "more grown up"!

She loves Fancy Nancy and had told me a couple months ago that she really wanted to have a Fancny Nancy party. I wasn't really sure just how to theme it, but then I realized that Fancy Nancy is always having a Tea Party (that's how she does all her snacks)! And her favorite "tea" is really pink lemonade with cranberry juice mixed in (to make it hot pink) and raspberries floating on the top! How much more perfect... after all, some days Beth could be Fancy Nancy herself.

And since Fancy Nancy (and Bethie too) love butterflies, that's what we did for her cake. The hard part, I made the Texas Sheet cake she loves, but in taking it out of the pan and then cutting off all the edges, the cake is soooooo moist it wanted to crumble. Needless to say, it was not as easy to do as I'd hoped... and though I thought it would be much cuter, the girls all ooohed and aaahed over the whole thing... I guess that's all that matters!

Peter was just happy to know he could have cake! For the last couple of months he would say that he would be 3 in January. So funny. On his birthday, when I asked how old he was, he told me simply that he was 3. I guess he got that all figured out. I think 3 is officially no longer a baby - at least so it seems in my mind. And that's sad. I know we've got a new one coming a few months away, but it's always sad when "the baby" is no longer "the baby" (though I've told all my children they will always be my babies, even when they are too big to hold and snuggle).

Peter had a Thomas the Tank Engine party (again) - still young enough that it was just a play date with cake. But he loved it and was so excited to help make his own cake. Since I've made a 3-D Thomas cake before, and a circle with a picture before, it was time for something different (and easier). We got this idea from coolestcakes.com - take two rounds, cut one round in half and stake both halves on top to make a hillside. Then put in a tunnel, add some frosting tracks and set a toy Thomas on those tracks! So easy and so cute! The original one used chocolate rocks all around the sides of the bottom and to outline the tunnel. I did not want to spend the money on those, or the time to find them, and was going to make them myself. But then, since the center creams are made with crushed oreos, I decided that worked well... and allowed us to have "crumbled" rocks all around the cake! If I do say so myself, his cake turned out the best this year. It's always funny for me to see which of the two (his or Beth's) I prefer since I make them about the same time.



Everyone had fun, and amazingly, I think it was the calmest set of friend parties we've ever had!


The following night, we took the remainder of Peter's cake (it was easiest to "save the face") over to grandma and grandpa's house for a little family celebration. It was cute - six candles on top, three on bottom and both kids blowing at the same time. They had a wonderful time.

Finding Peace

After all the confusion and the mess of emotions that goes with it, I had Bob give me a blessing. Though it did not give me much for specifics, it did confirm that I'm well and my pregnancy is progressing well under the Lord's care. I'm very grateful for this. I'm also grateful for the redirect to focus on my children and spend more time with them.

So, aside from scheduling an ultrasound, I'm trying to be good about focusing on life and kids and not on the "abnormalities" of this pregnancy, especially knowing that all is well even if it seems so out of place and strange. I'm reconnecting with my kids, finding my patience with them, and remembering what it's like to be able to really take part and enjoy the games and activities I do with them. It's refreshing!

Now - back to getting a little rest and a good house routine and we'll be completely back on track!

A Gentle, Loving Reminder

I got this this morning. It could not have come at a better time and I hope it makes you smile and makes you remember why it's important to be the best examples we can be! Why we need to live our lives and not hide from them.



WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

A message every adult should read because children
are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind
to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life..

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a
prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would have to be
responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say,'Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking'
.

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, friend)
influences the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today? Just by
sending this to someone else, you will probably make
them at least think about their influence on others.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

What Do You Think?

Soooooo... I'm sure everyone is just dying to know what's going on around here... okay, so I know better.. but here's the update anyway.

Doctor's appointment was this afternoon. With all the oddities of my body this time, I have to admit that I wanted some explainable, and understandable answers. I think both categories are covered for my husband, but I'm a little skeptical on part of it.

Anyway... so far I'm measuring right where I should be. Doc actually looked around for a heartbeat (though it took awhile and I'll admit that made me nervous). One heartbeat, left side, at 164. So, seems there is one and that baby is healthy. I gained two pounds - seems healthy. So, apparently all is well there.

Then I told him about the big and little and the strong kicks and all that and wanted an explanation. Although he did say a couple of times that he didn't know, this is the information he did give.

1st - the uterus does not grow and contract like that during pregnancy.

2nd - Therefore, it could not have been baby movements at all - even though there was popping so you could see the movement too.

3rd - it must have been gas! (Seriously, that's an awful lot of gas with an awful lot of bloating - never in my life have I ever been so bloated)

4th - the popping (even seen) would be the pulsating of my artery which would be felt and seen due to the pressure of the gas around it (even in different locations).

So, this is the part that I struggle with... I'm not 100% convinced it was just gas and bloating.. although I have no problems with the one baby and uterus not being part of the equation.

Any doctors, nurses or others with professional medical background able to confirm this suggestion?

Oh, and we have paperwork for an ultrasound, though we have to set the appointment up ourselves, so I don't know when that will be yet.

I told Peter we were only having one baby - and he insists that I'm wrong. I told him we don't get to choose, and he asked why not. So I explained that Heavenly Father chooses how many babies we have at a time. He still insists it's twins... I guess I have my work cut out... silly little boy.

Counting

Last night while the kids were playing and the adults were talking at grandma and grandpa's house, Peter was counting the pieces to a beautiful memory faces game (we have the same one here and it's a treasure). Grandma started it by suggesting he count the pieces while he put them away (since it was nearly time to go home). Peter counted right up to 29 without trouble then promptly said "20-100". It was cute.

As he continued, he wanted Grandma to count with him, so Grandma told him she needed him to teach her how. He showed her, and then she'd jump in with some random number. Peter picked up on the game rather quickly and started saying random numbers back it was something like this:

1, 2
15
16
27
3
29

until suddenly Peter (not taking his eyes off the pieces) got this glint in his eye and on his turn announced "Uncle Mike!"

Needless to say, we all busted up laughing!

Hercules

One of Peter's favorite games is to trip over chairs. Either so that the back forms a slide and then he "slides" down, or so that the back lays completely flat on the floor - becoming a train track. The latter is more common if he's doing it himself.

About a week ago he had two chairs laid out to be tracks in the kitchen. As this is not allowed (too many kids have gotten hurt by chairs being in positions other than upright), Bob stopped him and instructed him to put them back up.

Peter promptly (albeit unhappily) walked around, grab one chair with each hand and pushed them back up to their normal positions at the same time without so much as a gunt. (These are the dining room chairs).

Hercules? Maybe not, but man, strong for a little boy not yet 3!

Neptunes

The we the music from "Blue Moo" (a CD Aunt Marie gave the boys for Christmas) on the computer for them in iTunes. Peter loves this more than any game or even going online. Jeremy has decided it's also a "game" to be played. He's funny though, because when he asks if he can do it, he always asks to play "Neptunes".

A Strong Kick And Alot Of Water

It would seem my uterus is well above my naval. I had found it a few weeks earlier and measured myself, because the old school doc hadn't done it as part of his routine the last visit. And I've felt movement, but then for several weeks after, I didn't feel a thing. Just strange for me. (But apparently, fairly normal)

Anyway, about a week ago I started feeling very strong kicks... you know, the kind that are unmistakeably baby kicks. The strange part was that they were just below my rib cage and certainly well above my naval. Being 15 weeks, that's unusual. (On average, the uterus will be at the naval around 20 weeks, so normal, actually, that doctors can measure by finger widths above or below the naval and get an accurate idea of how far along a woman is)

At first it I thought "well, maybe there's something else that can pop like that" - it was the first time and I didn't feel it again for a couple days. But, it's consistent and every day. And it's definately baby!

My mother's explanation is that "at some point it (being the uterus) has to do that because it looses muscle tone" - and well, I suppose on some level that may be true. But with all four of my others, I always measured exactly. Okay... so everything else about this pregnancy is different, why wouldn't this be, right?

Anyway, so there's baby kicking really high, it actually hurts to try to bend, and I've also felt other movement (baby-like as well) very low down - but not as strong. Baby could be traveling around - if the baby moves fast, because the movements are within seconds of each other. I used to feel movement on the left side and on the right and never in the middle. Now it's high and low.

Regardless, my uterus is high - very high - so at the very least, there's an awful lot of water in there! (We see the doctor next week)

Unexpected Free Day

So power went out just before the kids walked out the door... the girls wanted to know if that meant there would be no school. I told them to head down and if there was an issue to just stay with Dad and then they'd know (so good to have him at the same school they are). Off they went.

The boys got settled into games and I went to lay back down (no nap yesterday and stayed up way too late). I didn't really get the luxury of sleeping since the boys always had one question or another. Shortly thereafter, Lynne came in. She was hanging out with the boys when I heard "singing" and thought for sure it was from outside. Then I thought I heard the door to the garage or beside it. Then I know I heard the kitchen door. Sure enough, I pulled myself out of bed and there was Bob standing in the living room talking to his mother.

So I ask "No school?" but don't really get much response and then in waltz the singing duo... the girls! Sure enough, no school. The power was out and there was (apparently) no generator so they got to come home! The best part, they don't have to make it up at all!!!!!!! (Know here as something like Emergency Days)

The kids had fun - we cleaned some, a couple played at grandma's, they did computer stuff when the power came back on, and the girls have been having so much fun making crafts. It's been peaceful...

Gabi's first question to me when she got home was "Can we home school today?" Isn't it great to have little ones who love to learn (and plenty of books and activities and supplies to teach them)!?!

BLAH

Well, it's been one of those days... sort of...

The beginning wasn't too bad, girls even got out the door on time without much trouble. Laundry was started, dishes were washing, boys were playing together nicely... all in all, that's a good thing. I decided to work on backing up more photos...

Remember I said we had something like 12000 photos (maybe that was on Facebook) any way, that was me reading the notes at the bottom which told how many items there were. What I found strange as that I got through two more DVDs (one with around 1600 items, and the other with around 1200 items) and counted up the remaining photos (and movies). Strangely, it was just over 1000... but the item list at the bottom still read over 6000. Baffling.

I discovered that, for some reason, when you delete photos from iPhoto, the event itself doesn't exactly delete and "elements" that are unseen remain and count as items. So, figuring that out and deleting out all those empty events cleared up a ton of space in both iPhoto and the computer!

That's about where the good ends... just before the girls were due to come home, the fire started to give us trouble (we've been struggling to get it to hold it's own ever since.. though the house had been up to 70 before that, so we weren't at all cold).. on top of that, the boys started fighting. One landed in time out for violence and immediately fell asleep. Girls came home and started complaining about having to put away their clothes. Since Beth may well loose her party altogether due to rotten attitude and disobedience, she's not allowed to have a bad attitude and she's got extra chores so that she can have a party.

Needless to say, there was less "noise" from her, but she was still taking her jolly good time... which we didn't have. She had two other chores to complete afterward, and we had dinner and then they had to get off to Grandparents so I be at Achievement Days and Bob be at Young Men. That turned things around.. but in all that, I still fought with attitude and back talking from the others about having to help. Needless to say, the house is not "clean and tidy" and I still have a mountain of clean laundry on my bed waiting for me.

I thought I'd help myself out a little and had the kids get in PJ's before going to grandparents so that when we got home it was just prayers and scriptures and off to bed... nope.. that was circle of loud and unnecessary noises with rather wound up kids. They are in bed now.. and silent (they know Mom has had it) and Dad is not yet back... Achievement Tuesdays are hard... seriously... what is it about Dad missing one night of prayers and scriptures because he's serving the Lord that makes the children think they can just break loose and forget there are rules?

An Interesting Start

Well, it's a holiday... Martin Luther King, Jr day... a holiday here for schools. But, alas, Bob is down at school working. See, he's not actually hired by the school district. His position runs through the county office. Therefore, he's required to work 183 days instead of 175. This means that, if he doesn't want to work in the summer time, he has to put in those days throughout the year. So... today is one of those days. (Although he's planning on finding a summer job that he can enjoy... anyone want to me by back up coach in case he's not around?... He's considering, with my permission - can you believe that - fighting fires for the summer... he loves it)

At first I was dreading the day, but the kids are actually fairly mellow right now. We've done two loads of sheets and blankets already, a load of dishes and even had a "special" breakfast. During the making of breakfast, I was trying to keep laundry going and get the fire going. Let's just say the fire has been less than cooperative today - though I think we may have finally gotten it going.

During all the time on my feet (much later in the morning than normal for me to eat) I felt the blood drain from my face, got weak, felt clammy and immediately found a chair. That didn't seem to help (and yes, I'd been "snacking" along the way so I wasn't totally empty). As things seemed to be getting worse in the chair, instead of better, and I was going to need to roll the balls (we were having Danish Pancake Balls), I had Gabi get a piece of paper and wrote down Bob's cell number. I told her if I passed out and didn't come to right away to call Daddy immediately. I don't know that I would have been quite as concerned (I'd dealt with this kind of thing before) but last night, most of the night, I'd had bad, sharp, stabbing like pains that were not familiar to me in the area of my uterus. Position seemed to help a little, so I went to bed last night. But knowing that had happened and now I was suddenly feeling so off, I figured the oldest child ought to be prepared to deal with the emergency (call Dad and get him home to deal with it).

I mentioned I had not had any protein yet this morning, and Peter immediately hopped up and said "Mommy, you can eat a cheese stick. Cheese has protein. I'll get you one." Ran over to the fridge, grabbed a cheese stick and gave it to me. The best part (aside from my wonderfully sweet and intelligent, not yet 3 year old) was that I only got through half the cheese stick when all my symptoms went away. I finished it, of course, and things have been fine since!

I guess baby's ready for more protein! (And not going to threaten to spit it back up)

Something Cute!

I have another friend starting up an Etsy site... the stuff looks really cute! Everyone should at least check it out...

What amazes me is that she's so busy - she has two little ones (one only about a month old), works part time (sometimes two jobs), does craft fairs, makes wreaths, and renovates her home. This all in her "spare time".

Her creations are beautiful!

AnnRose's Attic

Playing Around

Okay - so I'm messing with the blog again... I know what I want to do.. but well, that takes time and talent so it won't be right away. However, we'll see changes happening here and there and not always what I'd keep but being interrupted by kids and their needs (like right now while I get them put to bed) will cause things to look a little, well, strange for awhile... just bare with me... I'll get it figured out sooner or later.

Preparing For Baptism

This may seem strange to those of you of different faiths than ours, but this will be our first child to be baptized. It's also the first grandchild on both sides. A very exciting time in our lives. Gabi will turn 8 in March.

8 is "magical" around here - it's the birthday all our kids talk about. It's the age when we believe children become accountable before God. Those first 8 years are a gift to us parents as we prepare and teach our children about our Savior and His gospel. When a child reaches the age of 8, he or she has the choice to be baptized, like our savior, by immersion. This choice is not made lightly. The child is taught to understand that by being baptized he or she is agreeing to follow Christ. To do their very best to be a light and example to the world. To always remember Christ and be willing to testify of him. The child is also taught the importance of repentance, without which there is no way to be saved, for we all make mistakes. In order to make such a decision, the child needs to have developed his or her own testimony of our Savior, of his mission and of his gospel.

When a child has come to this decision and gets baptized, he or she is taking the first necessary step to being able to be united with his or her family for all eternity (not just here on earth). There will be other ordinances necessary as the child progresses from a child to an adult to ensure such wonderful blessings. But getting baptized is the first - it marks the path.

In preparation for this, Gabi has already read the Book of Mormon in it's entirety by herself once through. Since that time, she's been reading it again, focusing especially on the passages of scripture that talk about our Savior and faith. Her goal is to complete the Book of Mormon this way before she turns 8. These are goals she set for herself. Our family reads from the Book of Mormon every night. And she learns about the gospel from the Bible, the Pearl of Great Price and the Book of Mormon. All scriptures which confirm the truth of each other - the gospel being the same in all.

Gabi has been thinking a lot about her baptism - who will baptize her, who will confirm her and who will take part in this wonderful program. The first two must be someone who holds the true Priesthood of God here on the earth. The others can be anyone. It's a special thing to know that the true Priesthood of God is here upon the earth and able to be used for such sacred ordinances.

She is very excited - she's planning it all - and she's even making a list of people dear to her that she wants to invite to this special event. We are all so excited and happy for her.

It you want to learn more about this special event or what we believe, please click here.

Spring?

I've been told that this happens, but it's not the norm. Aside from a 3 day crazy cold spell in December (which was still nothing like Maine) we've had really nice weather. Not always "warm" although by Maine standards it would be. Although with the "really nice" temps, we have had a lot of rain. I'm not complaining (though we certainly saw tons of that back in Maine this last summer) - this area really needs it... it's a huge blessing!

I had told the boys that if the weather continued to be "nice" that we'd start walking on those days. I probably can't go far - I've never been able to do much when pregnant as far as walking or hiking or any other "physical activity" without being put down for a three day stint (or more). But this pregnancy is different and I think, as long as I don't push it, I could probably get away with some walking on the level part of the street. It's worth a try!

Anyway... we've not really been able to take advantage of the nice weather because it's been raining... and sorry, but I'm not a rainy walking kind of girl. I like to be wet when I'm swimming, boating (sometimes), showering and the like. Otherwise, I like to be nice a dry. And when the sun has peeked out or the rain as let up for a little while, it's late enough in the day that I'm too tired and then I know it would be unwise.

Today is different... the sun is already out and the boys and I are planning a little walk. They want to take the stroller, but I'm going make them use up some energy (and not over do it for myself). It will be nice.. the fresh air will feel great and do wonders for us... and yes, I'll likely be down for a good long nap this afternoon... that's okay. I need this.

Now... if I could stabilize my iron.....

Where?

While eating breakfast, Peter asked me why I was eating. I told him because the baby likes what I'm eating. Since he was still a little puzzled, I told him the baby could taste what I ate after I'd eaten it.

He went back to eating his cereal and then said "Baby wants to be in my tummy."

Uncle Mike

That would be Bob's brother - crazy guy... or so we've always told the kids. They certainly had fun with him back in September (or was it late August)... oh well. Peter, apparently, has become obsessed with Uncle Mike. He talks about him ALL THE TIME!

A couple of days ago something was said and I mentioned "Uncle Mike" to which I was promptly informed that I "forgot his name"... "I did?" ... "Yeah, it's Crazy Uncle Mike!" Oh, right... forgot that CRAZY was actually part of his name! =)

Tonight was a discussion on birthdays (after all there are at least 8 in January for our family). Today was Crazy Uncle Mike's and cousin Annie's. At this mention, Peter piped up with "When Crazy Uncle Mike turns 3 and then I turn 3, Crazy Uncle Mike will be the same as me!"

Yeah.... no concept of what age means... but that's okay... he's very fond of CRAZY Uncle Mike!

Heading For A Masters

Bob begins his Master's program today... the next year and half (or so) will be a bit hectic... but really, what's a "second job" around here? No, really we're very excited for him to have this opportunity. He's doing it completely on-line, and the Lord has been blessing me to not be completely down this pregnancy. The kids are able to do more - and typically are more willing. We'll see just how demanding of his time this ends up being, but it's important and we're excited to get it started (and finished)! Let the next chapter begin! =)

Blog Changes & Blog Addresses

As you can see, we've had an adjustment to our blog. I have a wonderful friend who did this for us - she's from skittles and scraps. Anyway, although the the nice change, we lost our blog roll - much of which I had listed in Google Reader (but I stopped using that when I started the blog roll). I was able to import many of the old blog addresses.

So - if your blog is no longer listed or if it's got the wrong connection, please let me know what it is so I can add it again. I really love to keep up with everyone and I'd hate to miss you just because we don't know where to look!

Treat

I've been making more treats lately... don't know if that's good or bad, but the family is enjoying them. Today Jeremy and I decided to make muddy buddies... once they were finished and Peter finally decided it was worth trying he said:

"Jeremy I tried it and it's scrumptious! I really like bunny food!"

Chicken On The...

With the clean house - that has, for a few days anyway, remained as such with progress actually happening a little every day.... I've been cooking more dinners (which means Bob can stay at school later in the day and stay caught up on correcting and such)...

Last night I was trying to figure out what to fix (that's the hardest thing for me to do while pregnant...especially since all I've really wanted was pizza and I'm waiting for cheese to be brought home) - I figured we'd do rice and chicken with gravy. The chicken I pulled was legs (or as my niece refers to it: chicken on the bone). Suddenly I thought we'd do Grandma's pan fried chicken with rice on the side. I still thought I'd throw together a nice little gravy for the rice, but got side tracked making cornbread... Courtney's very yummy cornbread....after all, what's pan fried chicken without cornbread? Anyway... all went well, save the gravy which we decided to nix due to time.

As the dinner progressed, we kept telling the kids we were having pan fried chicken on the bone. Beth made a face (to which I reminded her that she likes chicken on the bone), Gabi got the one that was already pulled apart (since she really doesn't like it on the bone) and the boys kept asking how to eat it. Bob told them to hold it like corn on the cob and eat around the sides. Jeremy figured it out, but Peter wasn't too sure.

As the night progressed, Peter still wondered how to eat it - in part because he decided he didn't like the crispy outside (the best part, which he just wouldn't try). So I told him to pull that off and eat the rest.

He was gone a couple minutes and then came back saying "my chicken has a stick! I don't want to eat the stick" I told him he didn't have to, and showed him where more chicken was. When he finished he said "Can I throw away my stick? I don't want to eat my stick."

So - no more chicken on the bone... apparently, in our house, it's chicken on a stick!

Baby

Bob was talking to Peter this morning about how many kids were in our family...

P: "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8"
B: "No... not 8... Gabi is"
P:"1"
B: "Bethie is"
P: "2"
B: "Jeremy is"
P: "4"
B: "no, not 4, 3"
P: "3"
B: "Peter is"
P: "4"
B: "and baby is"
P: "5"

Then the conversation was about when the baby will come - Peter couldn't seem to pull it up himself (we tell him "after Jeremy's birthday", as a reference point)

P: "When baby comes out he'll burst this bed"

Apparently that would be just one too many on the bed =)

Unpacked

It's amazing, but it's true... we've unpacked everything in the house... I think we might have one box of craft stuff in the garage still, but the craft cabinet needs some attention before we bring it in! The biggest accomplishment is that our bedroom is actually clean - as in no boxes stacked hap-hazardly around - things hanging out of them as we've attempted to find something but not unpacked it yet. That's where the "move in mess" landed this time, and it's great to have it done.

Bob's a great motivator - and good at finding homes when I struggle. We were able to get a lot done and the kids got their rooms cleaned as well... and can you believe it, all the dirty laundry was washed and put away! Now the real question... can we maintain such clean... I hope so, but I also know I've not got the energy that I had when we first got here. We'll see if we can keep the kids focused (they like knowing they have clothes, clean and where they can find them).

If nothing else, we'll keep things tip-top until Wednesday morning... I have Achievement Days at my house Tuesday night! And with any luck - and with small and few goals per day (and week) things should be looking good for a long, long time!