Take my breath awaaaaaaaaaay

No, not Top Gun or Jessica Simpson.  Although to go back in time to that particular Tom Cruise would be heavenly....

Today at church I was minding my own business, singing along to I'll Stand by Hillsong when alluva sudden I AM OUT OF BREATH.  Home girl decides she would like to do a handstand and sit on my diaphragm.  Bummer!  That song is so awesome! 

It is so weird to be laying down and be out of breath.  Or to be standing in line at Walmart and pushing my stomach around trying to find relief. 

"Breathlessness in the third trimester is caused by the now much bigger uterus taking up more space in your stomach – which pushes your other organs and reduces the amount of space which your lungs have to expand when you breathe in.  From around weeks 31 to 34 of your pregnancy your uterus will start to press on your diaphragm – which is the flat muscle that moves up and down when you breathe. These changes may make it hard for your lungs to fully expand. This may cause more shallow breathing, and you may feel short of breath."
Managing Breathlessness While Pregnant


And to wake up at 2am to not being able to breath is pretty annoying making yomama pretty cranky for the rest of the day.  Usually walking gets her to settle on down.  Down is where I want her to go!  I think I'd be ok going into labor early.  Well, no earlier than 36 weeks since technically she's not done cooking yet.

On a sad :-( side note, I have entered all FOUR of my kids on BabyCenter.com.  Ethan is 4 years 3 months old, "Your Child" is 28 months old :-( boo hoo!, Ernest is 14 months old, and Eleanor To Be is still coming along at 33weeks.  I had totally forgotten that I'd entered my due date immediately after finding out about "Your Child" and never took the info out when we lost "Your Child".  Talk about some close pregnancies, I tell ya we are filling that minivan up.

Ernest meets a cow. 
The cow finds a long lost cookie in the stroller. 
The end result- mom cleans out cow slobber the next day but by golly this picture is cute!

...Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Psalm 65:8

Shucking corn is serious business at the grocery store.

Kendall is usually up late at night posting and working on ebay.  I don't blame him as I wait until there are no children underfoot to sort out my Mary Kay orders and other projects demanding space that little fingers would be interested in. 

Since he is usually up late, he sleeps in later than most do (as in noon, I get fussy anything later than noon) therefore leaving the boys and I to ourselves during the morning.  This is not a bad gig at all.  I enjoy our quiet time, our "no computer until after lunch" rule, breakfast together, and general fun mornings.  I have my energy in the morning so it is not uncommon for us to all be fed, dressed and at the grocery store by or before 8:00am.  Story time is on Wednesday mornings at the library, MOPS will be in the mornings, Bible studies will be in the mornings, so our mornings are usually pretty planned out.  Ernest goes down for his morning nap from 9:30-11:30 which gives Ethan and I ample time to do our bookwork for the day and scrub floors without a little one demanding attention. 

All in all, feel free to call me at 8am, I'll be up and my brain just might be turned on. :-)

Psalms 65:8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

Playing with the puppets after story time at the library.

We're staying!

Kendall has decided that we should stay in the area instead of moving.  This is a "Yay!" and "Darn" all in one. 

Pros:
The hussle and bussle of moving + 33 weeks pregnant + small children = no fun.  I wasn't looking forward to having to implement more time on moving and less time towards my kids and Mary Kay (which has taken a beating due to preparations in a huge garage sale Kendall had and will have once more. yay).  And having to redirect our mail- AGAIN- is a pain.  I think we still have some mail forwarded to Kendall's brother which annoys everyone. 

Decor?  I'd like to decorate our home.  We have been living on the minimum since March because we didn't know what we were doing.  What if he got a job?  2 hours south?  Or in South Dakota?  Then we'd be that much closer to having everything packed up.  Now, I feel like I'd like to hang some pictures.  Maybe bring out some things that I'd like to show.  Make the place feel more like a home than a warehouse basement.

Friendships.  Both Ethan and mine.  I am a social butterfly by nature.  I do not mind telling the Coborn's cashier her earrings are pretty. And they always seem amazed that I notice their new hair cut and color.  The guys at the meat market no longer ask if we need assistance because the only reason we slow down in that area is to check on "Ethan's lobsters".  It is my nature to notice people and to be with them.  (Isn't there some scripture or something about people are the church or bringing the church to the community?  Something like that?  Yo?) 
The first thing I do when put in a new enviroment is to find a church.  Second, what kind of mom/ladies programs do they have?  When we first moved here and tried a church out they had AWANA's for Ethan because we could NOT take him out of Cubbies.  Bless his little heart but the kid just loves Cubbies and has been to three different Cubbie's programs this past year.  That church had a women's indoor walking shindig so we could walk in the sanctuary and not outside on ice (hello we live in a frozen tundra).  We ended up not staying at said church but I developed GREAT friendships with GOOD WOMEN there.  Plus, I'm the youngest in the group so I get to sit and listen on all of their wisdom and smart stuff. 
Then I met another friend at the park.  And another friend at a GARAGE SALE!  Seriously, she was having a huge garage sale and everything was, like, a quarter or something ridiculous.  But I didn't know what I gender the baby was yet so I held off.  The next week I found out Eleanor's a girl, which is good because that'd be weird if she were a boy.  Wait. Anyway... and I went BACK to that garage sale ladies house, left her a note saying "I'm having my first girl after 2 boys.  If you have another garage sale, call me because I need your girl stuff!" and she called the next day and said "I'm taking it all to the used clothing store so come get what you want".  Now, my daughter has at least something to wear until she's two.  Plus, she has 6 kids ages five and under (yes, there are twins in there) so it's so much fun hanging out with her and her crew.  So I don't wanna make new friends!  My other pre-Texas friends are an hour south!  And to start all over, a THIRD time, is just plain poopy.  Plus, Ethan is at the friend making age and asks about other kids and people and when can we go visit.  Awwww. :-)

Cons-
I am petrified of what our electric bill will be.  It was $200 in March.  For a one bedroom basement apartment.  Dude.  So what's it going to be in January when it's twenty below?  And with a newborn you can't just say "Go put on another sweater!" like I can to the 4 year old.  The temperature needs to be manageable! Liveable!  Any suggestions?

Parking.  We park on the lawn because the upstairs people park in the driveway (1 way street type of driveway).  I'm wondering where we are going to park when there are four foot snow drifts.  Will the owner plow the lawn?  And whatever happened to that concrete slab he said he was going to put in for us?  Hmmm, I'd forgotten about that. 

Space. Uno bedroom thats houses a playpen, toddler mattress, king mattress, future bassinet, drawers, and clothes.  Squiiiiiiiiiiiiish.  Long living room that has (from left to right) kids area, ebay area, Mary Kay area, desk, dining room table, 2 bookshelves. Tiny bathroom that nobody fits in.  Large kitchen, though.  Weird.  Our landlord LOVES us because we do pay rent on time, are quiet, and we are have no criminal record.  Plus, we're the family of almost-five living in his rental houses basement.  He fixed up an unused room  for us to use as storage in the back of the house, which is so nice because our storage place was costing us $70 a month.  We have in storage stuff from Texas, different holiday stuff (and I only have the BARE MINIMUMS, nothing crazy), childhood stuff, scrapbooks, and off season clothes.  It'd be different if it were eighty degrees all year round but there is a 120 (140 if you include windchill) difference here so we have a LOT of clothes in a LOT of different sizes.  I finally gave up on my 'mediums' though, gimme some credit!

Getting ready to hunker down for the winter, new baby, and life in the cave!  I think I'm going to look into getting a Happy Lamp.

"It's good to be one."

Not looking forward to school, and loving it.

In some places of the country, school has already begun.  Other's are quickly preparing for it.  Texas usually has a 9% tax on clothes but for one weekend only (this upcoming one) there will be no sales tax on any clothes.  This will mean a monstrous storm of parents at all retail stores much like Black Friday.  SCARY.

I, on the other hand, am not so concerned.  It's so nice to not be so concerned.  I am not counting down days until I send my son to his first day of preschool.  I am not purchasing a Spiderman backpack or 6 Kleenex boxes for a classroom.  I am not looking forward to a bus to come carry him away, or a teacher to meet and adjust to.  I am not looking into downpayments, or any payments, to a school who has decided what will or won't be taught to my son.  And I'm not looking forward to my son being gone 4-6 hours a day, every other day or whatever the new schedules suggest.

I am, however, very muchso looking forward to educating my son.  I am wholeheartedly looking forward to our relaxed mornings at the dinner table reading from a children's Bible and going over the Fruits of the Spirit.  To not have to rush out the door is a blessing in itself!  I want to be the one to correct him when he's wrong or makes a bad choice.  I want him by myself to help shuck corn at the grocery store or pick out the biggest cereal.  I am looking forward to him reading his books by himself for the first time and knowing I played a role in it.  After many hours of pronunciation and asking "And what sound does 'd' make?", you do have a great sense of pride in it.  I am looking forward to making goop and playdoh of different shades and scents.  I am looking forward to using our math manipulatives, especially the marshmallow shapes.  I am looking forward to him being home to play with and help raise his baby brother and new baby sister.  To have him miss out on his siblings would be devestating.   Plus, to have him miss out on listening to his sister's heartbeat while in utero would be a disappointment as he would be missing out on a family event.

"That's my baby sister?"

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6


And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 1st Birthday Ernest George!

Sweet little Ernest came into the world on the morning of June 28, 2010.  Don't ask me how big, how long, or the time.  I do not know these things about my children.  Let's just say "normal", mmkay?

And now he is ONE!  I'd have to say that the first six months were pretty trying.  He nursed exclusively for the first six months and wanted to be fed every.two.hours. for the first five.  For real yo'.  I don't remember much, just that we are all still here by the grace of God.  Then after I introduced baby food he wanted to be fed every three hours.  Not much of a relief but it's a start!  Finally, at 10 months I moved him to formula due to the pregnancy.  I haven't figured out how to do both, be pregnant and nurse,  because my milk wasn't as filling anymore to Ernest and he was cranky more often.  I needed to do better in the vitamin/eatting department.  At least I know if it happens again to eat better than just "good enough". 

Let me tell ya, I'm still pretty stinking proud of myself for nursing for ten whole months.  Considering we packed up and moved across the country, went through 3 seasons, and raised a then three year old, not too shabby.  My original plan was to nurse for a year, the move on to whole milk and start to wean.  We'll see how it goes with this one.

Ok, so now the internet knows all about Ernest's infant eatting habits.  Moving along now...

Happy Birthday Ernest!

We had his little get together with Kendall's sister, brother, future sister in law, one set of grandparents, three cousins, and over tired brother (and mother for that matter).  Just a simple cake and some presents while the kids played.  It was EXACTLY what I wanted!  Being with friends and family is all that mattered.

Ethan had been telling me for a few weeks that he was going to help Ernest blow out the candles.  He is SUCH an amazing big brother.  I'm in the hat (and yellow shirt.  Not the blue shirt thankyouverymuch).  My future sister in law is in the red, and my sister in law/Kendall's sister is in yellow.

Yay!  Ethan's super happy for helping blow out the candle, Ernest is just waking up from a nap, and Sarah's trying to balance Ernest and a cake.  Whew!

Ernest opening presents.  He actually did a good job and got the hang of it. 

Can you tell we read books together?  This card sang, so it was a definite hit.

Heather brought a chocolate cake for him to dig into.  He managed to get it everywhere and on everyone.  He's definitly my child- he loves chocolate :-).

And here's the "I need a nap!" face.  Attitude = melt down = nap.  Amen and amen.

Sweet "Hard Lotion" giveaway!!!

Doing my duty of blogging about a Hard Lotion giveaway.  It's always fun to try new things and if your hubby drives a hard bargain on lotions, maybe this is something he'd be interested in.

Raising Arrows Lotion Giveaway

Plus, this is one of my all time favorite blogs.  She homeschool, has a crew of kiddos, and is sooooo down to earth.  I wish I knew her in real life too :-).

The butter incident

This is one that Ethan is famous for.  The pictures tell the story and yes my kitchen floor was greasy/slippery for about 2 weeks afterwards.

This was before we put velcro on our fridge.  Lesson learned ladies, lesson learned.

The orange Sleepy Wrap

I have a sling that I purchase from Once Upon A Child back in 2005 for Ethan.  That thing is AWESOME for traveling with a newborn.  I went from south Texas up to Minnesota with a 6 week old and we all did just fine and dandy.  However, he outgrew that thing at about 12-15 pounds because it really wears on a gals neck.

photo credit

It's kind of like this one.  But you get the idea.

Then I moved on to the snugli.  It wasn't really comfortable and it hurt my back.

 

Plus it dug into Ernest's face and it'd get all slobbery and icky.  I had bought it for Ethan, never used it, and used it sparingly with Ernest.

BUT I WANT TO WEAR MY BABIES!

On a field trip to the zoo I met a lady with a sleepy wrap and she said it was pretty easy, good on the back, and her baby slept 'like a baby' in it.  Well, amen.  I ebayed and by golly they aren't too bad on ebay.

I know some ladies are way cool and make their own.  Good for you but I'm not educated on types of fabrics, what type is best, setting up a sewing machine, finding time to sew without someone playing with the  foot pedal (for real yo'), and on a n d o n a n d o n.

So I bought an orange sleepy wrap and have fallen in love. 

 

We go on walks in it, use it when I need both hands, all that jazz.  This is Ernest at 9 or 10 months.  I'd wear it when I knew he was tired but wouldn't take a nap.  At 13 months he now sits in it up right and is able to see the world.  I do have him facing me in it after reading up on why it's better.  If you want your baby to face outwards then 'to each his own'.  

And a picture of Ernest asleep in my arms.  Just because it's a cute picture.  You're welcome :-).

Marshmallows and Math, woo hoo!

Marshmallow Math!  We use marshmallow's and toothpicks to learn different shapes.  So cool, Ethan had a blast.  We try to do this several times a month.  As far as I can tell, the octogon is his favorite, probably because it's a stop sign.  "Look mom! Oct-o-goooooon." 

 

Then at the end we eat our masterpieces.  It's a favorite had by all!!

We made our own index cards, they are not store bought.

photo credit

All work and no play (except for ice cream)

We are planning on moving to a new home.  Hopefully by the beginning of October because Eleanor is due October 14.  For the moment we live in a one bedroom apartment.  It houses children, children's stuff, grown up's with grown up stuff, homeschool stuff (which takes up 2 bookshelves for the moment) and my husband's ebay stuff.  Needless to say we have a lot of stuff.

The plan is to have a garage sale to downsize on some stuff, ebay some stuff, and then while living on a prayer find a place to move to that has heat and/or electric included to house the remainder of stuff.  There is no faith in thinking that we can heat a home to a livable temperature to accomadate a newborn, toddler, 4 year old and the parents this winter.  For two whole months the temps are around ZERO with a big fat NEGATIVE when discussing wind chill. 

Although our kids are good "helpers" when it comes to packing, I'd better git'r done while I can still somewhat manage getting up off the floor in under 3 minutes (well, when highly motivated I can do it under 3 minutes).  Plus, I'm a 'futuristic planner' and I'm aware that babies come when THEY are ready, not when mom and dad are ready.  What if she comes at the end of September?  Or makes an unplanned appearance the end of AUGUST?  I know I have contractions due to the heat and the inability to "rest" and man oh man it keeps me focused on my goal.

While we would like to stay close to the area, we are willing to move out a ways if necessary.  We really REALLY like our church.  My husband really REALLY likes our church, which is the biggest reason I want to stay close by.  It has taken YEARS of prayer to get him to attend Sunday mornings with me, I'm not about to give it up.  However, I know where ever we land God will give us a church.  For the mean time, I'm holding on tooth and nail to this place.

We look mainly on craigslist of openings at apartments.  That's where we have found the last two places we've lived.  Why reinvent the wheel?

Air Conditioning and super cool friends

A picture of Ernest after eatting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

 This picture has nothing to do with this post, just sharing the baby love. :)

1 part cornstarch to 1 part cold water
5 to 6 drops of food coloring


I think this would be so much fun!  Maybe tomorrow morning as it's going to be SWELTERING.  I was sweating buckets by 9:00 this morning unloading the minivan from out camping trip this past weekend.  Buck-ets.  Oh and lemme tell ya, God is good.  Why?  My beautiful friend Audra drove by with a honk and wave this morning while watching me unload the minivan.  A few minutes later I recieve a beautiful call from my beautiful friend Audra:

"I'm in your driveway and we are on our way to the park.  Do you want me to take Ethan to the park so he can have something to do while you unpack and stuff?"

*choke slobber snort* "What?!?!?!?  YES!  Huh?  YES!!!!!  I'm about to give him a haircut, let me put clothes on him and send him upstairs!"  I slapped some clothes on the boy, gave him a bottle of water with some stern talking to about "AUDRA IS THE BOSS" and being good, then I sent him off with my beautiful friend Audra.

(Because, yes, I give him haircuts in the nude for easy cleanup.  It's how I roll.)

With my oldest gone and the youngest going down quickly for a nap, what to do?  I CLEANED!  UNPACKED AND CLEANED LIKE THE WORLD WAS ENDING.  My oh my how much you can get done quickly when it's just me myself and I. 

THEN- my friend Regina calls: "It's so hot and humid out today and I know you don't have an air conditioner.  If you and the boys want to come over to sit in the air conditioner then feel free to.  We also have a slip and slide if Ethan wants to play."

*choke slobber snort* "What?!?!?!? YES! Huh? YES!!!!! When Ernest wakes up from his afternoon nap we'll come over!  THANK YOU!"

We have a window unit but we live in a basement so we do not use it.  Plus we are cheap frugal.  And in being so we close up windows and turn on fans during the heat of the day to keep it cool.  It stays pretty nice down here considering it's a cave.  However, if offered air conditioning, you'd better believe this preggo isn't about to hesitate to pack up the crew and head on over.  Especially when there's a slip and slide.  And a cool friend named Regina who is so amazingly wise in all her glorious wisdom.  I just sit and listen and try to understand and keep up.  Like when I asked "Sooo... who exactly is Elijah in the Bible?  I haven't gotten to that part yet..."  Whatever, I'm at least trying to learn about all forty bajillion characters in the Bible.   Rome wasn't built in a day, yo.

Tomorrow is Tuesday and at 1 we are headed to the library for their end of the summer reading program thingamajigie.  Pizza and fun had by all!

Plus, the library has crisp air conditiong.  Just sayin'...