Don't hyperventilate...

I know.  I'm posting.  UNBELIEVABLE.

Here's why:  Blogger won't work with Internet Explorer.  And that makes me mad.  Gabe uses Firefox, I use Internet Explorer.  We can't share.  Period.

Blogger?  Do you hear me?  I'd like to be able to use Internet Explorer without downloading Chrome.
Thanks- I'm looking forward to your response.


For Everyone Else:  I ate brussel sprouts.  And liked them.  Life is good.  Kids are awesome.  Chaos and Confusion are themes of our life right now... and God is Good, all the TIME!  Even when I don't know what's going on...

And I'm adding a "Cold Hardy Avocado" Tree to my wishlist.  Just in case anyone wants to spend $70 on my Christmas present :-)

Another Food Tried!!

Chalk another one onto that list I'm working on!  Spaghetti Squash, tried tonight as part of spaghetti.  I tried plain as well, to really get the flavor.  Suprisingly, it is something I would make again for myself... if the rest of the family enjoyed it.  I need to try it in a recipe that doesn't already have an expected texture- I think that's what threw the kids off. 

Beware...

Just wondering if this is supposed to be like hanging the dead rattlesnakes on the fence to "warn the others..."

(found in the girls' room...)

Caleb's Gentle Cesarean Birth Story

Thank you to all who were praying for us!  We received your texts while we were in the hospital, and because we were a few minutes late heading into the OR, we saw most all of them before the surgery.

I'm not sure exactly how to tell this story, so I'll just try to catch everything I remember!  We arrived at the hospital and started in with all the monitors and IV's in preparation for surgery.  Even though everything was going smoothly, I still was struggling with the overpowering urge to get up and walk out.  I don't know why, but the mental and emotional strain of walking into an experience where I give up all control of my body is almost more than I can handle.  The nurses getting us ready were absolutely wonderful- very mothering and sugary sweet!  Sometimes that is sickening, but they pulled it off!  Dr. Pitts arranged for Dr Witham to be our anesthesiologist, and soon after he reviewed the surgery with me she came in to discuss the plan and my problems with morphine.  I requested morphine to be put on my allergies list so no one would be giving it to me with thoroughly discussing it with me first!  (Due to my last experience with Isaac, and being given an extra dose even though I had said no to it.)  I chose to go ahead with the morphine, but to also be extremely proactive in combating the nausea, which included two doses of different anti-nausea drugs and a patch behind my ear.  (I did still get sick, so I did my best to wait out the morphine before eating.  I was able to keep down ice chips, so something worked a little better than last time.)  We also discussed the process of my "special wish," as she put it.  Since I hadn't been able to read more than what is scantly available online about Gentle Cesareans, I didn't know what all I could request.  Basically I just asked that the Apgar scores and cleaning be done as much as possible on my chest instead of on the warming table.  (She asked later, after I was on the table, if I wanted to try to nurse him, but because I wasn't mentally prepared for that feat, I said no.)

We moved on in to the OR and went through the process of getting the spinal block and laying me all out.  Since this is all very much a blur in my mind, I'll just skip most of it.  As far as the surgery goes, I did well- didn't get sick at all that I remember.  When he was born, he gave a couple little cries, so I knew he was headed my way.  The assisting Dr passed him in a blanket to the nursery nurse, who then placed him on me. An amusing note (but hard-at-the-time) was that the blanket also ended up over my face, so I couldn't see, nor move the blanket because I was still strapped down.  She removed it quickly, and I could see an amazing little body laying on me. 

He had quieted right down, and was laying still on me, but breathing.  These are all specific memories, but I have no idea of the passage of time.  I know the nurse was patting his feet; I think she wanted him to cry more, but he wasn't.  His Apgar scores were 9-9, which I overheard the nurses in recovery saying that when it's a 9, that means his color wasn't completely pink unless another explanation is given.  I remember his feet were a little blue.  After a few minutes, she asked if she could remove him to the warming table for a minute because he was getting a little cold.  Of course I said yes- all along I have maintained that I understood the priorities and I promised I wouldn't interfere with any of their medical opinions about necessary care. (This may have not been necessary had I been bared skinned, but for some reason this part of the process didn't happen, so the warming from my body wasn't happening.)

 The moment she removed him from my chest, he burst into the crying newborn.  She weighed him while on the table, and then brought him back to me.  He immediately quieted back down.  I heard at some point a voice behind me commenting, "That's remarkable," in reference to his change in demeanor based on his location. I also remember not saying much~  I'm not sure why, or what I planned on saying to this beautiful little miracle on my chest, but I hummed and murmured most of the time.  Maybe that was an instinctual bonding sound from mother to child.  Whatever it is, he responds to it now as well.  

Part of why I wished for this experience was because with my other C-sections, they take the baby straight to the warming table, clean him (her) up, do all their stuff, then Gabe brings the baby to my side.  At that point, one arm is released, I can kind of pet them and kiss their head, and then pretty soon they go away to the nursery, leaving me with the Dr's who carry on all sorts of conversations while they finish the surgery.  Then they take me to the recovery room where I am left with the nurse.  I have felt so very lonely in these past experiences, without Gabe or the new baby.  They return after a while, but I'm alone for what seems such a long time.

This time, they left Caleb on me for nearly the entire stitching up process. Instead of listening to random conversations that I was not a part of, I was able to love on my child and bond with him in his earliest moments outside of my womb. 

Post C-section:  Now- you can think that all of this is pure coincidence, and it just happens to be his personality.  And that's fine- it may be.  But when we compare our first three children born via C-section to him, we feel that this experience impacted him in ways we probably don't even understand. For the first two weeks, he was amazingly content.  Since then, we think he's developed some kind of gas issue.  Other than that (not that trying to help him feel better is any small task...) he's been very cuddly, which is the big difference we see between him and his siblings. 


We adore our new blessing and thank God for the opportunity He allowed this time around. 

Yes, that's right.. No Booming.

This morning I told Isaac when he got up and asked what we were doing today that today is Kiera's Birthday! 

I said "we need to be nice to Kiera today, ok?" 

He says, "And not boom her?"

Yes Isaac, this means no shooting your sister on her birthday....

10 Days and Counting down...

Today is day 10 on our countdown, and boy, am I ever feeling the time crunch!  Kiera's birthday is this weekend, along with the Kiddie Parade.  We are trying to make a co-birthday happen with Isabel's birthday on Sunday (Izzy's is Tuesday).  I need to schedule a day for my painting helps to come and climb the ladder for me in the boys' room.  I'd really like to fit in a pedicure (a VERY rare treat, my third ever!), plus my massage and ob appt's next week, then Apple Blossom festivities... and the norms- CoOp, karate, Awana, schooling.... OI!  At least I don't have to work next week; that will really help!

And I haven't shared this here yet, but we are attempting to bring a new option to C-section moms here at CWH.  If everything goes smoothly (healthy mom- healthy baby) we will be the first "gentle" cesarean!  This would change the practice of taking the baby away to the warming table for the Apgar tests and cleaning process to placing baby on mom's chest and making available this option for a more "natural" experience (if so desired).  But for this to happen, Dr P had to get the right head nursery nurse and anesthesiologist to be on board... and that means baby boy may NOT come early!  So your prayers for a "planned" birth would be appreciated.  And that planned birth is Monday May 7th, 7:30am.

Whew- one day at a time, right?  One day at a time!

Does this mean...???

Today after CoOp I took the kids shopping at Target.  I was feeling the need to purchase a few baby necessities to have on hand just in case- that way, he surely won't come before his time, since I'm ready... right?

In the car I explained what we were shopping for to avoid the extra "Can we buy this?" questions.

Melia excitedly asked, "Does this mean we're nesting?"

:-)  Yes, I guess she could say that.  19 days and counting down... It's about time to get ready for this baby!

What is THAT!!!

This morning I told Isaac to go get his sandals so I could help him put them on.  He hem-hawed around, then told me to "go get them."

I looked at him and said, "Are you obeying Momma?"

He looked at me and smiled a sweet smile, "You go get them please Mom?"

(And yes, I did make him go get his own sandals...!)

Isaac's Clothing Pickiness

Normally, I let Isaac have some say in what clothes he wears for the day.  He is very opinionated about what he's going to wear, and while I will let him choose some things, Gabe doesn't let him at all :-)

Wednesday however, I was picking things out because we were headed to CoOp, and I like him to at least match.  I had his overalls, and picked out a short-sleeved red shirt to go under.  He starts right in with "Me no like that shirt. Me no want that shirt.  It too small." 

I said, "No it's not.  Here, put it on and see that it fits just fine," and proceeded to put it on him.  He immediately started pulling at the short sleeves, again telling me that it was too small.  Pretty soon, I clued in to the fact that he's saying he wants long sleeves instead of short sleeves.  So I picked out a red long sleeved shirt- it was a win-win!  :-)

Columbia Christian Homeschool Co-op

Our co-op has a new webpage!  I thought if any of you were curious as to what it is we participate in as homeschoolers or what a co-op schedule looks like, I'd share. 

Enjoy :-)

http://www.cchcwenatchee.org/home

An Isaac Lesson

If Isaac goes without a nap, he will sleep for 12 hours straight. 

However, if he crashes on his own at 5:45 pm, guess what time he'll be up in the morning? 

Yep.  Me too.  Ugh....

A Little Update from Our House

I thought I should get on here and do a little family update, if nothing else! 

We are doing great!  I am tired, worn-out, and extremely round, but like I told Gabe last night- if I start to sound unhappy, remind me of how happy I am!  Here's a few things we've got going on around here...

Baby is scheduled to arrive in 4 weeks and 3 days!  And by scheduled, I mean if he doesn't show up by then himself... But I haven't gone into labor yet, and I'm really not expecting to this time :-)  I have been having some pretty impressive contractions if I'm not careful, but it's probably just my body giving me a reminder not to over do it.

About the decluttering:  Annie came over last week and was extremely motivating!  She helped me rotate and clean out the girls' clothes.  Hopefully she'll come help with the boys' room!  I would still like to paint it, but I've got to do something about all the trucks and trains first!  I've failed completely at "cleaning one thing per day" idea, but I am trying to keep working at those problem areas :-) 

Gabe completed the TV area- and it's much more functional now!  We have a place for our new-to-us TV and all those black boxes that needed a better place to sit.  In addition, with the back half of that space, we have floor-to-ceiling shelves in the back room... Which aren't exactly organized *yet!*  But we've moved things around in that room to allow half of it to be for school, and that is helping a ton in the dining room because all our school was taking place out there.  As for school, Melia clued me in to a fascinating little fact about her... She does much better focusing when I leave the radio on (and it has to be Positive Life Radio :-).  Her reading is really picking up as well, which is SO fun to see!  Kiera's perfectionist mindset is slowly making room for her own creativity.  She's drawing a LOT now, and not being quite so frustrated when something doesn't look just right.  With numbers and letters though, she's still irritated that they don't look exactly like mine, which, ironically enough, often means her penmanship is better than Melia's :-)

I still have a ton of stuff to do before baby comes, but hopefully we'll get the main stuff accomplished.  If not, we'll figure it out when we bring him home!  If there's one thing I've learned, it's that I have to let go of my preconceived ideas and be flexible.  It'll all work out :-)

And no, he still doesn't have a name.  We stopped looking a while ago, just hoping he "looks" like something when he's born.  If not, we do have a small list of possible fits :-)

St Patricks Day Recipe Review

I enjoy making some kinds of traditional foods.  If they're easy.  And if I think my family will eat them. 

One of my most appreciated comments about our kids was our pastor last year- he complimented them on being "willing to try all the foods" at our Passover Seder.  When I'm often concerned about the little things they did wrong, people do a great job of reminding me how much they do right! 

Anyway, this year I chose this recipe: "Beer Braised Irish Stew and Colcannon," plus Irish Soda Bread. I was pretty sure that the stew would go over well, and mashed potatoes are normally pretty popular with everyone except me!  I'm sad I didn't take pictures, but like normal, getting dinner ready for when Gabe gets home at 7:30 is much harder than trying to have it done earlier- mostly because the kids are pretty worn out and hungry, so I forgot :-)

But Gabe's comment was that "there is nothing about this meal that is light!"  The stew was very thick and meaty, and the colcannon was REALLY thick (I think made a little too much potato!), plus the bread is a heavy bread.  But the flavors were fantastic- everybody ate all of their helpings, and Melia had extra colcannon.

The things I changed:  In the stew we had part venison, part beef.  For the potatoes, I used Yukon Golds instead of Russets.  And I followed one of the comments on allrecipes and stir-fried the cabbage instead of microwaving it. 

Definitely a successful meal!

Close...on St Patrick's Day

I printed out several fun coloring pages and mazes to keep the kids busy for a while today on St Patrick's Day.  One of them was a "color-by-letter" for Kiera.  She loves to guess what the picture is before she colors it to see if she's right.

I printed out a pot of gold...

She guessed it is a basket full of grapes.  :-)  Love her!

On another note, I am very excited to prepare a more traditional Irish meal for dinner tonight.  (Did you know corned beef isn't very traditional? I read it was more of a nobility dish, only made popular by immigrants to America... but I read that on the internet, so who knows...)  The first time I tried, Gabe distinctly told me not to make corned beef again.  I thought it was *ok*, but not a favorite.  Last time, I made green potato soup and beer bread.  Tonight, we're having Beer braised venison stew, Irish soda bread, and colcannon.  Can't wait to see how it turns out, especially the colcannon!  (To be honest, I'm a little nervous, but hey, it's worth trying once, right?!!)

Lumpy and Bumpy

This baby is SO fun :-)  He moves a ton more than any of the others ever did (enough to make me question if there really is twins in there!)

Last night we were watching a show, and I was laying on the couch on my side, feeling him roll around.  I moved over next to Gabe so he could feel.  Baby slowed down quite a bit, but was still bumping around.  Gabe removed his hand, and my whole tummy leaped!  After a few more tries, it was almost like he could tell when Daddy's hand was there because when the hand left, the big bumps happened.

Definitely something to enjoy these last 8 weeks!  Especially when I can't get inside my dryer, I have to have the kids do it... :-)

March 1st

It's hard to believe I will have another birthday this month, as yesterday was so full of blessings it felt like my birthday!  First, I had a massage with my favorite lady at Hurst Chiropractic, and discovered that she, too, is expecting!  Then I had my 30 wk appt... and became SO thankful for the essential oils I've been using to help with the sometimes-excruciating pain that has been plaguing me this pregnancy!  Dr's only recommendation was a pregnancy belt, which I had read doesn't *really* help, it just assists a little, whereas the oils have given me pain-free days!  Lastly, God paved the way for me to not have to work so that I could attend a new local homeschool encouragement group which blessed me in a variety of ways! 

Happy Not-Quite Birthday to Me!  Thank you Lord, for Your abundant blessings!

Love My Melia

This is a pattern for little knitted horsey blankets that Melia wrote up.  As in, made up, on her own.  And then wrote down so she wouldn't forget, and so that Kiera could use it later.  She also laminated it with packing tape :-) 

Love it... Adore her :-)

Another Melia Tidbit

Last night, as we were discussing the Torah and the law,  Melia asked what we do for the Sabbath....

Looong story short, we shared with Melia that we aren't Jewish, and with a VERY confused look on her face, she says...

"But I thought we were Jesus people?"

*Love...* 

What a handsome fella

Even with a little mascara....

Snow Pics

I am so glad we finally got some snow this year!  Unfortunately, it looks like that might be it...  But Kiera got her "winter wish"- we fit in one evening of sledding :-) 

Wierd Cravings? Yep...

But it's not me.. It's Ziva.  She's always been a funny dog, but lately she's been eating more, and stealing a lot of our food!  Today I caught her sniffing around my produce box- and realized she had already snatched TWO green peppers!  Yes, she eats them!  We found the butter dish out in her run, lid and all.  The other day she ate our leftover roasted carrots as well. 

I think she must be pregnant.....

Whew! Still Got It!

We haven't couponed in a while for a variety of reasons including it takes a decent amount of prep work, our printer's been broken, shopping with kids and a plan doesn't go together well, and I've run out of extra "food" room!  But we're down to 6 boxed of cereal (which we actually don't eat that often!) and Gabe was getting nervous ;-)  So, I saw an "ok" deal on cereal at Albies and thought I'd give it a go.  Then I saw in their ad that they were rounding coupons up to $1, and thought "Let's do this!"  (I hate all those little "$.40 off 4" and such coupons, but make it $1?  YES MA'AM!) 

So we went last night after karate- and did fairly well!  Gabe was happy, even though I only added 6 boxes of cereal to the stash.  I found lots of other good deals (though prices have really gone up since my last trip!  $2.19 for a can of cream of chicken soup?  Yikes! But I got it for .75, so I'm breathing again ;-)

I'll try to get back to blogging- life is just amazing lately, but along with the fun stuff comes a lack of down time... and what down time I have I use for Knitting!  Yay!

Christmas Gifts and Pretty Sure He never saw this coming...

 Melia looked all through her new molding book before she decided to do something else :-)  Without any instructions, I think it turned out all right! 

 Our first completed batch of cake pops!

And I really don't think in all of Gabe's wildest imaginings that his deer would ever become the girls' dress-up "toy."  Ever. 

Please Pray

Please pray for the Clarks, Harrises, and everyone who knew Katie Clark.  I am just reeling this morning with the news that a sweet sweet friend from Costco has died.  It just seems so surreal...  But I'm so glad I know that she knows Jesus.

Big Resolutions, and a funny quote

Our (my, but I can't do it alone) main resolution is to simplify our lives by decluttering.  I know I've said that before... but we are both unorganized and scatterbrained, so I feel like if I could choose one area of our lives that would effect all the others, this would be it.  We would save money and time and energy by not having so much stuff!  And being able to find the important stuff we have!  I'm hoping to fit in a date night soon so we can really make some goals and hard plans... cause baby is only 18 weeks away! 

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Yesterday the toothpaste moved from the kids' bathroom to a kitchen cupboard (thanks to a post by Tammy a while back) because I caught Melia with a mouthful of it... just because she liked it.  (Another reason they really shouldn't make it taste so good...)  Thankfully, she hadn't swallowed any of it, but she really had a lot in there.  After reiterating to Gabe this particular event, he said "She needs a swat every time she forgets to think."  I thought that was awesome... Although if you have any suggestions about lack of "thinking" punishments/consequences, I'd love to hear them.  I was completely lost as to how to respond to this incident, since she knows not to swallow the toothpaste...  and while Gabe's thought was accurate, we totally recognize that sometimes swatting is not the answer.  (Emphasis on sometimes :-)