Saturday, January 31, 2009

Scrappin' for Distraction

Well, my hormones are surging, but no labor as of yet. I feel tired and not like doing much of anything. To say that I am ready for labor to start is an understatement. I have been doing quite a bit of scrapbooking today. It is a nice distraction from my current discomfort.


This first page uses a few shots of my daughter playing basketball. Credits for the page can be found here.



These next couple of pages show off my daughters' new play kitchen that they got for Christmas from their Grammy and Gramps. The one shows when the got it and the other shows it sitting our kitchen at home. Credits for the pages can be found here and here.




Tomorrow I will officially be a whole week past due for this baby. I am finding it somewhat depressing which probably has a lot to do wit these crazy hormones. They are wreaking havoc with my emotions right now. I just have to keep telling myself that I WON'T be pregnant forever (it just feels like it right now).

Friday, January 30, 2009

Baby still on board


Yes, it is 5 days past baby's due date, but baby does not seem ready to come out and join us. I visited my doctor today and had another ultrasound and they checked this little one over real good and he or she seems to be fairing well. So, I am waiting.....waiting.....waiting. [sigh]

In other news...I actually took some time this evening to scrapbook a page! I just have to do that now and then so I don't go crazy, you know. This is a page to document this particularly trying time we are having with my 2 year old. Her strong-willed behavior goes beyond anything that I have seen with my other children. Just when you think you may have 2 year olds figured out, God throws you a curve ball!

The journaling on this reads:
Jan. 3, 2009
Rachel,
You are the cutest, sweetest little girl who tests my patience to the very limits. One moment you will be happy and charming and then something won’t go your way and you turn into a screaming banshee. The incessant screaming is enough to make me want to pull my ears off just so I won’t have to listen to another moment. We are working hard to calmly bring you through this phase of your life remembering that a “soft answer turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1). Someday your strong will & determination may serve you well. Until them, I pray we survive it!

Credits for this page can be found here.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Updates

I thought perhaps I had better pop on here and give an update since there has been so much going on lately and we are expecting even more.

First, my mother-in-law had her surgery and seems to be doing very well. She is still recovering in the hospital, but may came home even as soon as today. She still has a long road of recovery, but we are all very thankful for the fact that she has been blanketed in prayer and is doing as well as she is.

Second, I am still pregnant. This baby's due date was yesterday, but this one is following the path of his/her older siblings and taking its own sweet time. As with all of my other babies, I got to watch my due date come AND go right by. I see my doctor tomorrow and will discuss whether or not to induce labor. I am one who would prefer to see things happen naturally, but because I have gestational diabetes and am trying to do a VBAC, I know my doctor is probably going to push to make something happen soon.

Otherwise, life is just progressing on. We go through our daily routines cooking, cleaning, schooling, etc. I have the nesting urge, but am feeling a bit frustrated that every area of the house that I have cleaned has already been messed back up by my little ones. Between that fact and the fact that my hormones are surging and my blood sugars have been roller coastering, I have been fighting quite a bit of grumpiness the past several days. I am thankful that I can see it for what it is and I have trying very hard not to let it loose on my family.

If I go into labor I probably won't have time to update my blog here, but hubby said that he would try to keep Facebook updated for those of you on there.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Pray!

Right now, as I post this, my mother-in-law should be in surgery. It is open-heart surgery to replace a valve and do a single bypass. Please join me in blanketing her and all those involved in prayer. She is in God's hands and we trust Him completely!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Happy MLK Day and Updates

I was talking with my daughter last night and the fact that today is Martin Luther King Day came up. I mentioned that public school kids are off of school. She got all excited figuring that we would get a day off as well. I informed her that she was not so lucky and she would still have schoolwork. My kids had plenty of vacation days over the holidays when hubby was off work. Now its time to hit the books while we can because before we know it, there will be the "Mommy is too sleep deprived from being up with the baby to think" vacation days, and then , of course, when the weather turns warmer there's the "It's too nice to stay home inside so we are going to the park" vacation days. I figure that we will use this day to take the opportunity to talk about its significance. Usually I print off a copy of MLK's "I have a dream" speech for us to read aloud, but this year I think we may watch this version coming right from his mouth that I found.



In other news....
I'm still pregnant. No shock there, for me anyway, since I am still 6 days away from my due date and my earliest baby so far arrived 5 days past my due date. I think the "nesting" has finally kicked in. For me nesting is more of "Oh my, I have nothing ready for baby yet!" I hunted up the wee baby clothes and soaked them and scrubbed them to get the yellow spit up stains that always seem to appear after clean baby clothes have been stored away for a few years. I have a handful of generic/boy clothes and tons of frilly pink things - a consequence of the fact that I have had 4 baby girls and only one boy and the box of itty bitty boy things is MIA. So, this is probably a boy, huh?


Dragging out the baby things and trying to figure out where I am going to put them has caused me to clean out my bedroom closet. We have a big closet that tends to become the stash for every one's out of season and outgrown clothes that need to be packed away. I decided to pull everything out and catch up on my ginormous laundry pile (Mt. Washmore). This has kept me QUITE busy over the past few days. I am close to being caught up. I just have to pack up some outgrown clothes in an organized fashion which for some weird reason is not a strength for me. Anyway, I am rambling...


I am feeling compelled to get this done quickly because I know that if the baby arrives before I get all of these piles sorted and put away, it may be quite some time before it happens and all my sorting work will probably get undone by several energetic children.


Also in other news...
My Christmas tree is finally put away! Last night hubby bundled it up and packed it away in its spot in the basement. I know we sound like such slackers, but I just wasn't motivated to do all the work of taking decorations down and I actually had still been enjoying the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights everyday during my morning quiet time. This morning I really missed them and had to turn on the fireplace so I didn't go completely into withdrawal.


Even more other news...
Now is the time to start keeping an eye out for great deals on clearanced clothing. I am a fan of Old Navy's clearance sales and they have a bunch on sale right now and if you use the coupon code EXTRA50, you can get an additional 50% off clearance items. Note that this only works on "clearance" stuff not anything else including their "bargains." (Found this over at Deal Seeking Mom.) I ended up finding a few things for EVERYONE in my family there including the new wee one for some awesome prices.


I should wrap this up and get prepared to jump into my day before the kids all get up and ambush me. Have a great one!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Quick post with a scrapbook page



Thought I would share this scrapbook page I worked on this weekend. It felt so good to sit and do something creative on the computer. I haven't done that in a while. I am hoping that I can sneak some more scrapping in after the baby arrives. Of course it will have to be done one handed while I am on nursing duty, but I can live with that.

In regards to this page, it has one of *my* baby pictures. Here I am at 10 months old. I still remember that skunk. Her name was Flower (like the skunk from Bambi). I had her for years. Check out that avocado green and yellow flowered chair. Can you tell this was taken in 1970? Credits for the page can be found here.

I just realized that I still do not have any 2009 calendar pages in my planner. That's not so good. Instead of buying some, I am going to try and make my own. I think it will be fun to put a little creative energy into my planner since I refer to it so much. I am going to try and at least get a couple of months printed and clean out my planner book. I try and share when I get done.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Random Thoughts from a Weeble Wobble


Yes, I am at that rolly polly waddling stage of this pregnancy that I just feel like a weeble wobble. Of course, it has been pointed out to me that I am a stinky weeble wobble because I DO actually fall down. Here is a photo from a few weeks ago on my daughter's birthday after my little spill on the ice with my sling on. Thankfully, my arm is much better. It is still not 100%, but for the most part I can use it fairly normally.

The rest of my body, however, has its share of aches and pains. I suppose that is just the way it will be for the rest of this pregnancy. My back, legs and buttocks are hurting all the time. I have to be a squirmy girl and constantly change my sitting and standing positions wherever I am. I constantly feel as though I have to use the bathroom. I suppose the baby is sitting on my bladder. I will race desperately to the bathroom only to be disappointed with the 2 drops available for deposit.

I keep hoping for that "nesting" thing to kick in because there is much to get done before the baby arrives, but I have been sadly short on energy. I don't think I have felt 100% healthy since we got sick during our power outage several weeks ago. I fight the urge to take a nap everyday and wish that I could make 7:00pm my bedtime. Perhaps, there is still time to get that whirlwind of energy so that I can catch up on my laundry and get out and clean up the baby things. But the baby is due in just over 2 weeks and I am feeling like the clock is ticking. I know that I won't have a bunch of energy to put towards household chores after junior arrives, so it sure would be nice to feel at least caught up.

Sorry, I know I am being a complainer. I shouldn't be be there is SO much to be thankful for . The baby seems healthy and vital and and growing right on track. The doctor is watching that the baby doesn't get to big because I am trying to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean ) delivery. I did this successful with my last baby and am hoping to be able to do it again. I much prefer the recovery of a regular birth versus the cesarean. It looks as though this baby may end up being one of my smallest ones unless it has a big growth spurt in the next couple of weeks. That would be just fine with me. I am just praying for a healthy child.
I am off to tackle my Mt. Washmore (read ridiculously large laundry pile) and if I am lucky sneak in a nap before it is time to start dinner.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Art Totes


A little more Christmas show and tell. Here are some gifts that I made for my 3 nephews. They are art totes that are sized for a coloring book on the inside. On the outside, there are pockets on one side for markers and on the other for crayons.

I had this bright, fun fabric in my stash. I used one larger piece of fabric that was twice the width of the finished tote and a shorter piece of coordinating fabric that was the same width. I did a simple hem (folded over the fabric once and top-stitched) along the top of the shorter piece which was to become the pockets for the marker/crayons. Then I placed this piece along the bottom edge of the larger piece and sewed straight vertical lines to form the pockets. I made my lines 7/8" apart, but that could be adjusted if you were using fatter markers. I did a hem at the top of the large piece and then stitched the bag together by folding it right sides together (pockets on the inside) and sewing down the sides and across the bottom. I made straps with 4" wide strips of fabric. I pressed the strips in half and then pressed each half in towards the center fold that I had just pressed (like bias tape). I top-stitched the strap close to the edge and then sewed these onto the bags.

I think these are pretty fun an I hope my nephews enjoy them!

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Ahhhhh...the smell of fresh baked bread



There really is nothing like the smell of bread baking. It is a delightful, homey smell. I have been baking almost all of our bread we eat at home from scratch for over a year. There have been a few times when life has gotten harried and I broke down for a while and bought store-made bread, but the allure of the fresh home-baked stuff is strong and I always come back to making my own.

Bread making can be a very time consuming process. I did all the kneading and rising and punching down. Making a loaf of bread would take at least half of a day. Then I discovered a book that I must say is nothing short of revolutionary. It is called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. In it, the authors spell out a method for bread making that requires little more time than it takes to mix together a handful of ingredients. After mixing (not kneading), you allow the dough to rise an then refrigerate it. When you want fresh bread, all you have to do is pull off a hunk, form a loaf, let it rise and bake. Easy-peasy!

One of the bread recipes in the book is brioche. I got a brioche pan for Christmas so I can now make an official "Brioche a Tete." I feel so French! Brioche bread is full of eggs and butter and is almost cake-like and so yummy. There are lots of things you can do with it. If you want the recipe and some inspiration, check out this article.

Homemade bread doesn't have to be hard and it is definitely worth giving a try.

Friday, January 02, 2009

Needle Felting


We spent the first day of our new year having a lazy day. Half of us spend it in PJs and we just plain relaxed. I managed to steal a little time to try out this new needle felting kit I got for Christmas. I made this little heart pin that I plan to put on my red winter coat. This was really fun to do and I am excited to try some other projects, too, especially some from this fun book I found at the library.
Hope your new year is looking bright and hopeful!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Year's Resolutions




I am not big on making New Year's resolutions. It is not that I don't like resolving to improve myself, but that I do it on almost a daily basis. I am constantly seeking God for wisdom and guidance and trying to be the person He created me to be.

I thought I would share this video. I guess this could be my resolution of sorts. The song is called "How We Live" by Point of Grace.

Here are the lyrics:

Wake up to the sunlight
With your windows open
Don't hold in your anger
or leave things unspoken
Wear your red dress
Use your good dishes
Make a big mess and make lots of wishes
Have what you want
But want what you have
And don't spend your life lookin' back

Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
You won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
Cuz it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live

So go to the ballgames
And go to the ballet
And go see your folks more than just on the holidays
Kiss all your children
Dance with your wife
Tell your husband you love him every night
Don't run from the truth'
Cause you can't get away
Just face it and you'll be okay

Turn up the music
Turn it up loudTake a few chances
Let it all outYou won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live

Oh wherever you are and wherever you've been
Now is the time to begin
So give to the needy
And pray for the grieving
E'en when you don't think that you can'
Cause all that you do is bound to come back to you
So think of your fellow man
Make peace with God and make peace with yourself'
Cause in the end there's nobody else

Turn up the music
Turn it up loud
Take a few chances
Let it all out
'Cause you won't regret it
Lookin' back from where you have been
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live
'Cause it's not who you knew
And it's not what you did
It's how you live