Almost 38 Weeks and READY TO BE DONE!

I had a routine appointment with my midwives on Monday. Everything looks good! I was measuring right at 37 centimeters. On that day, Baby was in ROT position (right occiput transverse, which means head-down and facing my left side). I hope she will stay in a good position for birth so I won't have back labor this time around.

(Gripe warning!) I am so ready for her to come out. I am uncomfortable all the time, it's hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in, and when I finally do get to sleep, I wake up every hour or two to use the bathroom. Plus, my maternity shirts are all too small for me now, so anytime I go anywhere, I have to keep tugging them down to keep my tummy covered. I get fatigued really easily, especially when bending down to do something like pick up toys off the floor or unload the dishwasher. A huge blessing is that people in our church have brought us dinners every night this week, so that has been one less thing to think about.

Hurrah for Midwives

My parents are in town for a couple days, so Mom and Dear Little Fellow and I went shopping today to get a few more things for Baby. I got a call from my midwives saying they are happy to take me back as a client (YAY!). I am so thankful to the Lord, and I'm looking forward to a birth center birth (not so much to the actual pain of labor, but to the restful environment of the birth center and the support and encouragement of my midwives).

Almost Ready for Baby

We got a double stroller, a crib, and a crib mattress off Craigslist tonight. I'm starting to feel like it's really going to happen...that is, that we are going to have a daughter soon!

Wow!

At my ultrasound appointment today, we found out that the placenta is now approximately three centimeters from my cervix! The doctor said he thinks I should be able to deliver vaginally at the birth center with my midwives, and he is going to write them a letter saying so. I am rejoicing! Please pray with me that the midwives will accept me back as a client.

My Appointment, Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

As a preface to Part 2 of my rant against institutionalized maternity care, I would like to say that I do trust that the Lord is in this situation and that He loves me and my family and will take care of us all, no matter what. However, I also believe it is my responsibility to learn all I can about my options so I can make the best choice for my baby and me. I am sorry if my uncharacteristically cynical tone bothers anybody, but it is helpful to me in processing all this to be very honest with myself and others about my struggles and disappointments. Maybe writing things down will help me figure out a workable solution.

After meeting with the doctor, I asked the receptionist if it would be possible to tour the labor and delivery area. We had seen it very briefly the last time we were at the hospital, but as I had been riding in a wheelchair (it’s a big hospital to get around, and I was still on bedrest), I hadn’t really been able to poke around and see everything I wanted to—in particular, the rumored whirlpool tubs in the bathrooms.

The receptionist called over to let the staff know we were on our way, and Hubby and I made the long trek over to the maternity ward. The nurse who showed us around was actually pleasant and kind, but it was obvious she still had to bow to procedures and policies. For example, when I asked her if it was all right to labor and give birth in any position I wanted to, she hesitated and said, “Well…you’ll really have to talk to your doctor about that.” She seemed excited to show off all their new high-tech monitoring equipment. “There’s a computer right here in your room, so your nurse will be able to see how you and baby are doing at all times. Plus, of course, your information will be displayed on the screens in the nurses’ station as well.” Great, so they can monitor and analyze every blip and bleep and tell me that my baby is “in distress” if her heart rate decelerates during a contraction.

The nurse also seemed proud of the “warming unit” for the baby right in the room. Yeah, right, I thought. As if that plastic box could do a better job keeping my baby warm than I could, with her on my chest and covered with blankets.

We peeked in the bathroom and saw that the whirlpool tub looks half decent. It’s not as big as the tubs at the birth center, but it is deeper than a normal tub. I asked if it was permitted to give birth in the water. “Oh, no,” the nurse said. “If everything is going normally, you can labor in the tub, but you have to get out toward the end.” Why? I thought. It was so nice to be in the water when I was on my hands and knees pushing out D.L.F., and I can’t imagine not having the option, at least. If midwives can kneel beside the tub and catch the baby from behind, why can’t a doctor?

The only real bed in the room is an insanely uncomfortable twin bed with rails on both sides and a crack in the middle so the head can be raised or lowered. Oh, yes, and fold-out stirrups at the foot. When Hubby and I got out to the parking lot, I told him, “There is no way I will be on my back for one second during labor, and if they think I’m going to stick my feet in stirrups for the doctor’s convenience, they’d better think again.”

I hate being treated like a high-risk patient when I don’t feel like one. I still trust my body to birth naturally. If I had to give birth in a hospital, I would feel like I constantly have to be on top of things to the point where I wouldn’t be able to relax or get halfway comfortable (No, I don’t want anything for the pain.... Okay, that’s enough monitoring. Baby and I are fine. I’m taking off these straps now…. No, I don’t want you to check my cervix again.... No, I am not going to sit up in bed to push…. DO NOT put my baby in that warmer…. DO NOT give my baby a hepatitis B shot or eye ointment….on and on and on.) In addition, I just don’t feel like doctors are as committed to the well-being of the women in the care as midwives. For example, in my readings about C-sections lately, I came across a statistic showing that teaching hospitals, which have obstetricians and anesthesiologists on duty 24/7, have a lower C-section rate than regular community hospitals with doctors typically on-duty during daylight hours, indicating that if a woman’s labor is progressing too slowly, a doctor in a regular hospital just might be quicker to tell her she needs a C-section, so he can get home.

I’ve already called my midwives to ask how far away my placenta would have to get from my cervix for them to take me back on as a client. The supervising midwife is out of town right now, but she’s supposed to get back to me by the beginning of next week. I have another ultrasound tomorrow, so I’ll find out the status of the placenta then.

My Appointment, Part 1

I don’t think I can give birth in a hospital. After meeting with the OB/GYN again yesterday, touring the labor and delivery area, and asking lots of questions, I was disappointed, discouraged, and even angry. A prenatal appointment at the hospital is so hurried, impersonal, and intimidating compared to a visit with my midwives.

When I went to the desk to check in, the receptionist was on the phone. Finally, she hung up, looked at me without a smile, and waited for me to say something. I told her my name, and she handed me a label. I must have looked puzzled, because she said, “For the bathroom.” I was still confused. “I’ve only been here once before….” I said. Then she explained that every time I come for an appointment, I am supposed to get a label, go to the bathroom, and leave a urine sample with the label affixed to it. So I did, but it bothered me to not know the results. At the birth center, the midwives trust their clients to test their own urine. You’re only supposed to show them the test stick if anything looks abnormal when you hold it up to the chart on the container that the sticks come in.

After waiting several minutes in the waiting room, a nurse came for Hubby and me, and took me to a scale. I stepped on and the scale registered my weight. I made some comment about “numbers that I don’t want to see,” and the nurse just looked at me. With my midwives, if I ever made a joke or comment about my pregnancy weight gain, they were quick to assure me that it’s normal and healthy to gain more than the doctor-recommended 20-30 pounds, that weight gain is necessary for a healthy baby, that I am gaining the right amount for my baby, etc.

Then the nurse led us to the (tiny) appointment room. There were only two places to sit—a wooden chair next to the door for Hubby, and the hospital bed with the roll of white paper on it for me. Compare this with the birth center, where we had our choice of seats—chairs, a cushy loveseat, a queen-sized bed with half-a-dozen pillows on it. Another indication of being a “patient” rather than a “client.” The nurse took my blood pressure. Then she made me lay down on my back on the bed (ouchouchouch! Where are my half-dozen pillows?) and listened to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. She started to hand me a paper drape and told me I could undress from the waist down so the doctor could perform a Group B Strep test (which I had requested last time I was there, simply for the reason that I didn’t want anyone to look at my chart while I was in labor and say, “Oh, you never had a GBS test? We’ll have to pump you with antibiotics just in case”).

“Can I do the test myself?” I asked. When I was pregnant with D.L.F., I had done the test myself, and for the life of me, I couldn’t think of any good reason why the doctor was more qualified than I to stick a cotton swab in my private areas. The nurse looked a little surprised, but she agreed and handed me a tube with the swab in it. She said the doctor would be in shortly.

After a wait of fifteen or twenty minutes, the doctor arrived. I don’t remember him asking me how I was feeling. My midwives took time to find out how I was doing, both physically and emotionally. They would ask how various body parts were feeling and how various systems were functioning. They would ask me things like what I’d been doing lately, what I’d been eating, how I was doing with taking care of D.L.F., if I was dealing with anything stressful in my life. We would just chat for a while. Sometimes they would tell me stories about their own children or funny or interesting things about being a midwife. And they always gave me a back massage or foot rub with lotions or oils. The doctor, on the other hand, just asked if I’ve had any more bleeding (which I have not). Then he said he needed to get his schedule, left the room, and returned with a clipboard. He said something about it being convenient for him if I would go into labor on April 18, because he wouldn’t have much going on that day. I know he was joking, and I chuckled politely, but it rubbed me the wrong way. Then he said, “Well, if you haven’t gone into labor by 39 weeks, we’ll probably have you come in and induce you to get things started. If your placenta has moved any more, I might be okay with letting you go even a week after your due date—but probably none of my colleagues would do that.” It irritated me to hear him talk so casually about inducing, and a week before the baby is even due! Doesn’t he care that using pitocin almost always necessitates other interventions? And what if my baby isn’t ready to come out when it’s convenient for the doctor? He said himself that if my placenta gets two or more centimeters away from my cervix (it was 1.5 centimeters away when we had an ultrasound almost two weeks ago), then the risk of bleeding will be very minimal.

And to hear him say the words “I might let you…” really made me seethe, although outwardly I maintained a pleasant smile. I figured we’d better wait and see what the ultrasound shows this Thursday before I start getting assertive. The thing is, he and everyone in his office have the mentality that HE is in charge of getting this baby out of me, and I feel that it is MY responsibility. I don’t worship doctors. In fact, I don’t even trust them, as a group. I haven’t known this particular OB/GYN to long enough to find out if I trust him or not, but I’m leaning toward “not really.” I guess I would trust him to keep my baby and me alive in a dire emergency, but I don’t trust that he really cares about my long-term emotional and mental health or that how he treats me in this pregnancy (including whether or not he recommends a C-section) will affect any future pregnancies and births I may have.

A Happy Boy

 

 

 

Sunday

We stayed at home all morning and afternoon today until it was time to go to church. Sometimes I still feel weird being home on Sunday mornings because I grew up attending a church that met on Sunday mornings. It was good to go to church this evening and talk and share a meal with everyone. I don't think I had been out of the house for over a week, except maybe to check the mail once or twice.

I have an appointment tomorrow--just a regular prenatal visit. Then I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday to see if the placenta has moved up at all. I am getting excited to meet Baby Girl, but I don't feel like it's time yet. I think she'll still be in there for a few more weeks. I am hoping to avoid inducing labor at all costs unless it becomes an absolute necessity for some reason. I want Baby Girl to come out when she's ready.

The hospital we've chosen to go to is almost half an hour away from our house--longer, if we had to get there during rush hour. We're trying to schedule all our appointments in the middle of the day so as to not have to deal with rush hour traffic, and I'm hoping that when I'm actually in labor, we'll be able to make the drive quickly. Dealing with contractions while sitting in the car is not my idea of a good time. In case of an emergency, there are closer hospitals we could go to, but hopefully, we'll be able to make it to the hospital we like. Blech...not that I really like any hospital, but if I have to be in one, at least this one has several nice features and amenities that other local hospitals don't have.

If it weren't for germs, it would make sense

I was sitting up in bed this afternoon, and Dear Little Fellow walked into the room. I saw that he had a runny nose, so I asked him if he needed a tissue. He said, "Yeah," so I handed one to him. He wiped his nose with it and then proceeded to "dust" my dresser, the door, and the bed with the same tissue.

Creativity at Home

It's kind of nice to know the gender of our soon-to-be-born little one (assuming the ultrasound technician was correct!). Now we always call her by name (when we're by ourselves--we are keeping her name secret until she's born). Today I had some time to start working on a picture for her room. It's been a while since I did anything crafty, and I enjoyed it.

I used some scrapbooking cardstock to make a mat to fit an 8x10 frame. It took a lot of calculating just to cut out one rectangle and two ovals! This is what I ended up with:

 

If you can't tell from the picture, the mat is light pink and the oval frames are light yellow. In the rectangle, I will cross-stitch the letters of Baby Girl's name using a lettering set from 2001 Cross Stitch Designs. Here's a picture out of the book of a couple letters from the set. Sorry it is kind of blurry.

 

In the left oval, I will put a picture of Baby Girl. In the right oval, I will cross-stitch a picture of two pastel butterflies (from the same book) near the top, and under that, I will record her birthday, weight, and length.

For dinner tonight, I made hot pockets. I made one recipe of this pizza dough, divided it into eight pieces, and rolled each into a circle (approximately 8-9 inches in diameter). Then I plopped on some shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, ground beef cooked with onions and garlic, and some of this pizza sauce. I folded each circle in half, pinched the edges together, and topped each with a little more sauce and a couple slices of mozzarella. I baked the hot pockets at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Yum!

Could I get any bigger? Almost 36 weeks!

 

Unfailing Love

But as for me,
I will sing about your power.

I will shout with joy each morning
because of your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge,
a place of safety in the day of distress.

O my Strength,
to you I sing praises,
for you, O God, are my refuge,
the God who shows me unfailing love.

~Psalm 59:16-17

He's a big boy while he's awake, but when he sleeps, he's still my baby

Warm sun on his face, a comfy bed...

 

Soft classical music playing in the background...

 

...How could he resist a little catnap?

How We're Getting Along

Hubby bought a little step stool for Dear Little Fellow to use to get up on things, so I don't need to lift him. It is plastic and lightweight, so I can move it around from place to place easily. He uses it to get up in his high chair, onto the queen-size bed in his room where we change his diaper (he sleeps in a crib, but we don't have anywhere else to put the queen bed, so we're storing it in there), etc. Hubby has rearranged his schedule so that he can work 6 6-1/2 hour days a week and come home for lunch. This way, he can play with D.L.F. a bit mid-day, get him into and out of the high chair, change his diaper, put him down for a nap, and then go back to work.

Today was challenging for me. D.L.F. was up by 6:15. Hubby went to work before 7, and didn't come home until noon, and it was hard for me to come up with things for D.L.F. to do for five hours that didn't involve me lifting anything or bending over (my back and legs are really hurting). We read books, sang songs, and D.L.F. played with toys for a while on his own. Around 10, I took him outside for a walk because we were both getting stir-crazy being cooped up inside. He always wants me to carry him down the stairs, but I made him hold my hand and walk down out of sheer necessity today. He wasn't very happy about it, but then he was glad when we got outside. We just walked a couple blocks and back again, but at least it filled up half an hour. I had very noticeable Braxton-Hicks contractions the whole time we were walking. They stopped right away, though, when we got back inside and I was able to sit down for a minute and drink some water.

I have to admit that I am feeling kind of discouraged. It's hard to think about every day from now until Baby Girl is born being as long and hard and physically challenging as today. I'm super-emotional, too, just with regular pregnancy hormones, plus the craziness of trying to get used to having a baby in a hospital instead of my peaceful, familiar birth center. However, I am extremely grateful for all of Hubby's help and tender care. I just wish I could fast-forward several weeks to when I'm not pregnant anymore and I have a sweet baby girl to snuggle.

On a more positive note, I just ordered a cute and very reasonably-priced ($15.99, with $2.50 shipping) nursing cover off Ebay from the seller mariuszjoanna. Because of the ever-changing nature of Ebay, I don't think I can really link to it, but if you are interested, do a search on Ebay for "Joanna Design nursing cover," and it should come up. I ordered print number 141, which is a sage green fabric with a brown vintage print of children playing. Hopefully, I can get Baby Girl used to nursing under this nursing cover at home, so I will be able to nurse her during church without having to leave the room. I was never really able to discreetly nurse D.L.F. in public, because I didn't practice at home, so he wouldn't stand for a blanket covering his face if I ever did try to nurse away from home. I like the design of this nursing cover. It has boning along the top edge, which holds the cover out a bit so you can peek in and see how baby is doing. It's really similar to other nursing covers, e.g. Bebe au Lait, which cost upwards of $40. It should come pretty soon. I'll try to remember to post about how I like it when I get it in the mail.

What We Found Out

We had another ultrasound today which showed that Baby is head-down (not breech any more), and the placenta is not covering the cervix. It is currently 1.5 centimeters away, which is very close, but it could potentially "move" away a bit more as the uterus continues to grow. If the placenta reaches 2 or more centimeters away from the cervix, I may be able to try a natural birth rather than a C-section, but it would have to be at the hospital, not at the birth center, because there is still a risk of hemorrhage.

While I have been instructed to take things easy and not exert myself, I am not on complete bedrest any more.

Oh, and one more thing--we found out today that we are having a GIRL! We are so excited!

Home...and Bedrest

Hubby and I finally got to come home today around 2 P.M. My mom got into town and picked D.L.F. up from our friends' house, and we all got to our house at almost the same time. Then Hubby, D.L.F., and I took long naps and Mom went grocery shopping for us. We are so grateful for her being here. She will be able to stay and help out until the end of the week.

I am on complete bedrest for the duration of my pregnancy. This means I can get up to use the bathroom, take a shower, and walk to the table for meals, but the rest of the time I need to be sitting or laying in bed. No going for walks, no cooking, no housework, no lifting anything. This all feels so foreign and unnatural to me. I admit, a day or two of resting in bed will be nice, but I have a feeling it will get old really fast. It will be difficult to be on bedrest when I have a sweet but very active toddler who likes to get into things.

We will hopefully be able to get another ultrasound appointment scheduled for later this week. Most likely it will need to be a transvaginal ultrasound so we can really get a good look at the placenta.

There's still a chance that I could give birth naturally, but that chance is pretty slim. Also, because of the risk of hemmoraging, the doctors probably will not let me go to 40 weeks. A C-section will probably be scheduled around 37 weeks. This is all still up in the air until I can get another ultrasound.

Updated to add: I forgot to mention that Baby is also still in a breech position. From what the doctors said, because of my low-lying placenta/potential placenta previa, Baby is a lot less likely to go head-down.

Still Waiting to Find Out More...

Even with the "good" ultrasound machine, the ultrasound technician and the doctor couldn't tell much about the position of the placenta.

A nurse just came in and said that the doctor on staff this morning wants to have a conference at 10 A.M. regarding my care for the rest of this pregnancy. Hubby is taking care of D.L.F. right now and will be dropping him off at a friend's house, so Hubby should be able to be back by 10, and my supervising midwife will also be here.

I had some blood work done this morning, and it showed that I am anemic, so I will be upping my iron intake.

I really want to go home. A hospital is pretty far down on my list of places I'd like to be. I was hoping this pregnancy would be easy and uneventful, so naturally I am disappointed about these complications and especially about the potential for a C-section. Please pray....

Updated to add: The doctors had my blood re-tested because the bloodwork had shown I was severely anemic, but I didn't look anemic or have any symptoms of anemia. It turns out that there was some kind of lab error with the first test--I'm really not anemic. So that is good news, although I have to admit I have a little less faith in the hospital's labs now!

Guess Where I Am?

No, not in my bed at home, even though it is 12:57 A.M. I am sitting in a hospital bed, and Hubby is resting on a couch near me.

I had some spotting yesterday at about 3:30 P.M. I already had an appointment scheduled with my midwives for 5:00, so I went in then. They were concerned and sent me to a nearby hospital to get an ultrasound. One of the midwives came with me and stayed with me as we waited and waited and waited for the good ultrasound machine to come available. Around 9 P.M. a doctor came in with a very basic ultrasound machine for a preliminary scan to look at the position of the placenta. He said he couldn't tell for sure with that machine, but there was a chance of placenta previa. At that point, my wonderful midwife A. had to go home to her own family. She and I had a lot of time together this evening and got to know each other much better and found out that we have a lot in common.

She strongly recommended that I have someone come be with me at the hospital, so Hubby made arrangements with a friend to come over and stay with D.L.F. at our house so Hubby could be with me. The "good" ultrasound machine finally arrived around 10:30, along with the ultrasound technician, who performed what seemed like a very long procedure (it probably felt like that because I had to be on my back the whole time--ouch!). We wanted to find out Baby's gender, but his or her little legs were curled up tightly the whole time the technician was doing the scan, so we couldn't tell.

Anyway, the ultrasound technician wasn't allowed to tell us anything other than that the Baby's heart rate is normal, so we are waiting for someone to come and interpret the test for us. If I have a true placenta previa at the time of labor, I would have to have a C-section, but if the placenta is only partially covering the cervix now, there is a possibility it could move out of the way by the time I actually go into labor. Either way, there is a good chance I might have to be on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy.

I want to do things as naturally as possible. I especially do not want to have a C-section. It is in the Lord's hands, though. I am grateful that Baby appears to be healthy.

Catch-Up

Here's what's been going on around here:

-Hubby stayed home from work a couple days this week with a cold. Dear Little Fellow had a runny nose, too, but they both seem to be doing better now.

-D.L.F. is down to one nap a day now; I think for good this time. I am adjusting to this new schedule. I used to have my quiet time with the Lord during D.L.F.'s first nap time, which is now non-existent, so I haven't been very faithful about spending time in the Word this past week or so. By the time D.L.F. does go down for a nap at 1 P.M., I crash, too. The upside of him taking only one nap a day is that he seems to sleep in a little later in the morning.

-Tonight Hubby and I both participated in an inter-house-church worship gathering. I sang and Hubby helped with sound and played the djembe (JEM-bay, a type of drum).

-Tomorrow we are bringing dinner for our church family. I will be making oven-fried chicken drumsticks, green salad, some kind of bread (I haven't decided yet), and either chocolate chip cookies or triple-chocolate brownies (haven't decided that yet, either).

-I am now 34 weeks pregnant! I'm getting closer to feeling ready. The only thing we need to do before Baby comes is get another car seat. I'd like to buy and set up a crib, too, in the next few weeks, but that's not crucial, as I'm sure the baby will end up mostly sleeping in bed with us for the first while at least, anyway. We have a few dozen newborn cloth diapers that I need to "break in" by washing them in hot water several times, but that can wait, too. We will probably use disposables for the first week or so anyway, because of the handy cut-out for the umbilical cord stump and also because I don't want to deal with scrubbing out meconium from cloth diapers.

Does This Statement Bother You?

However, California courts have held that under provisions in the Education Code, parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children. -from a California court ruling that would make it illegal for parents to homeschool their own children

The Home School Legal Defense Agency is (of course) protesting this ruling. You can sign a petition on their site here (you do not have to be a resident of California).

Pregnancy Update

I had my 32-week appointment with my midwives yesterday. Baby is doing great. He or she is in a breech position right now, but that’s not a big concern at this point. Midwife L. tried to manually rotate Baby, but Baby would not turn easily, so L. just left him or her alone for now. She said if Baby is still breech at my next appointment (34 weeks), she will give me some ideas about getting him or her to turn.

Baby’s heart rate has consistently been around 122-130 beats per minute, which according to the old wives’ tale, could indicate that Baby is a boy (boys’ fetal heart rates often fall between 120 and 140, and girls’ between 140 and 160; however, this is not always the case).

While we would love to have a sweet little girl this time around, it would also be great for Dear Little Fellow to have a brother so close in age to himself. I don’t really know what would be best, but God does, and He’s the one knitting this little one together in my womb. Plus, we hope to have more children in the future, so in all likelihood, we will end up with a mix of boys and girls anyway. We have had both a boy’s name and a girl’s name picked out almost from the time we found out I was pregnant, so we are prepared either way. :-)

Physically, this pregnancy is a lot more uncomfortable for me than my first pregnancy. My back hurts pretty much all the time, and my legs and an area on my belly are also often sore. I just keep telling myself there are only about eight weeks left! Maybe fewer, which would be nice. Who knows, though? I guess the baby will come when he or she is good and ready.

My $38/Week Food Experiment

I am trying an experiment. Can I get all of our food and household items for $38 a week? My “official” food and household budget is $75 a week. This includes Hubby eating out one lunch a week with a friend. They always go to the same cheap Mexican restaurant, and Hubby only spends around $4, so I am left with $71.

I get most of our toiletries and household products for free or for pennies at Walgreens and Rite Aid by using coupons and rebates, but the one expensive household product I am brand-loyal to is Tide with Bleach detergent in a particular scent (clean breeze). I usually buy the 142 oz. box at Target for around $12. I haven’t kept track of exactly how long it lasts, but I know it’s over a month (I only use about ½ the recommended amount). I have decided to set aside $3 a week to save up for detergent and any other larger household products that won’t fit into my regular weekly budget.

I have also decided to set aside another $3 a week to save for Christmas portraits. That way, by the time we get them taken in early November or so, we will have around $100, which should get a decent small package.

Now, for the tricky part. Our family is growing, and it would be handy (almost necessary, especially when hauling luggage and gear for two young children on trips) to have a minivan rather than our compact car. I am going to try to set aside $30 a week out of the food budget to save for a minivan. Yes, it would take a long time on $30 a week, but if we combine that with the small amount we could get for selling our car, plus perhaps the economy-stimulus check that is supposed to be coming in May, there could be a used minivan in our future within the next couple of years (hopefully before we have a third child, because it would be next-to-impossible to squeeze three car seats in the back of our car!).

So, $75 - $4 for Hubby eating out - $3 for portraits - $30 for the minivan fund = $38 a week. Take out $3 for the detergent fund, and I’m left with $35 a week. Now, I am not starting from absolutely nothing. In the pantry, I have quite a few cans of tomato products and tuna, a couple bags of flour, a supply of oats and rice, some brown rice pasta (easier for us to digest than wheat), peanut butter, applesauce, etc. In the freezer, I have several pounds of frozen hamburger. I also stocked up on cheddar cheese and grapefruits last week when I found a sale.

We like meat around here, and I rarely make meatless dinners. I am going to try to buy chicken one week and hamburger the next, and freeze some of each so we can have a combination of both every week.

Yesterday, I went to two stores—a Kroger-chain store and a discount food store. Here’s what I bought for this week:

2 large packages chicken drumsticks $8.49
2 baking potatoes $.53
2 small heads of broccoli $.54
1 bunch grapes $1.43
1 large tomato $.50
1 bunch celery $.37
1 qt. plain yogurt $2.34
1 package raisins $3.98
1 roll plastic cling wrap $1.73
4-pack lightbulbs (to replace the fluorescent bulbs in our floor lamps) $.88
2 dozen omega-3 eggs $4.10
1 gallon organic milk (I used a $1 off coupon) $3.99
1 large bunch organic bananas (we like the taste way better than regular bananas) $2.34

Total for these two stores: $31.22

Today I went to the produce market and bought:

1 huge head romaine lettuce $1.39
2 oranges $.43
1 large bulb garlic $.50
1 large onion $.41
5 red delicious apples $1.20

I spent $3.93 at the produce market—only five cents over my budget, for a total of $38.05.

Here’s what we will be eating this week:

Breakfasts: Hubby likes the same thing every morning—toast with peanut butter and applesauce. Dear Little Fellow and I usually have scrambled or fried eggs along with some fruit, muffins, or oatmeal.

Lunches: Hubby gets lunch for free at his work cafeteria. Dear Little Fellow and I usually have leftovers and fruit.

Dinners:

Friday: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Saturday: Baked Chicken
Sunday (lunch): Chicken Soup; (dinner): eat at church
Monday: Hamburger-Broccoli Quiche
Tuesday: Fried Rice with Chicken
Wednesday: Tuna-Veggie Casserole
Thursday: Mexican Rice Bake

For side dishes with our dinners, I usually make either a green salad or a fruit/yogurt salad, or we just have fruit slices.

I am excited to try this experiment this month and see if I will be able to make it work on a long-term basis!

Fluorescent Lightbulbs

If you use fluorescent lightbulbs, you need to read this article for the safety of the people in your home, especially if you are pregnant or have young children.

Here's an excerpt:

The study recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house.

After reading the article, Hubby and I have decided not to use fluorescent bulbs in freestanding lamps that could tip over or other places where the bulbs might easily be broken.

Pregnancy Brain Strikes Again

Chalk it up to the hormones, the interrupted sleep, the many details whirling around in my head, or what have you, but I have been known to say some pretty silly things while pregnant. Last night, I went into the bedroom to get something. When Hubby asked if I would be coming to bed soon, I said, "I think I was doing something; I have to go see what I was doing." Hubby laughed and laughed.

By the way, here's another quote from last time around when I was pregnant with Dear Little Fellow. Hubby and I were out shopping together; you have to understand that what I was trying to say was that while I would be needing a restroom soon, I wasn't desperate yet. How it came out was, "I could stand to use the bathroom."

"Really?" he asked skeptically, with an amused smile.

Dear Little Fellow's newest words: chips, cocoa, grin

Nice...

I was munching on some trail mix at the kitchen table while making a couple tweaks to the blog. I knew a chocolate chip escaped, but I couldn't tell where it went. I looked all over the table, under the table, on my chair, under the chair, and couldn't find it, so I concluded that it must have fallen back into the bag.

Then I decided I would be more comfortable on the couch, so I took my laptop over and sat down and did a few more things on the computer. As I was setting my laptop aside to stand up, I discovered that the chocolate chip had melted onto my laptop and my lap-top. :-) Khaki pants and chocolate don't go together so well.

Random Ramblings

-When Dear Little Fellow was in the womb, he was very active, and kicked, and kicked, and kicked; this baby seems to be more mellow, making mainly gentle movements. I wonder... is behavior in the womb is at all a predictor of future personality?

-I have had a lot of colds this pregnancy. It seems that as soon as I get over one, I'm getting a new one. I have a feeling I only have myself to blame. Although I generally eat pretty healthy (lots of protein, lots of fruits and veggies, almost no processed foods), I have been craving chocolate and eating a lot of it. At least it's been good-quality semi-sweet chocolate, which has less sugar than milk chocolate, but still, it's chocolate, and I think the sugar it does contain has been weakening my immune system. Also, when I got blood work done a few weeks ago, everything was fine, except I was low in B vitamins. I did a little research and found out that caffeine (which is present in small amounts in chocolate) can deplete B vitamins. I'm not ready to swear off chocolate completely, but I am trying to cut back. By the way, Dear Little Fellow and I both currently have colds. I usually read and sing to him a lot throughout the day, but my throat is scratchy and my voice keeps cracking, so I can't do much of that at present. I'm trying to find things to keep him occupied that don't require much talking on my part!

-I don't read a ton of fiction (not that I don't love it--I do--but I try to use my reading time wisely, and that often means reading "practical" non-fiction books instead), but lately I have been enjoying the works of a Christian author named Jamie Langston Turner. I've finished her books Suncatchers , No Dark Valley, Some Wildflower in My Heart, and I'm almost done with By the Light of a Thousand Stars. I have a couple of her other books on my shelf, waiting to be read (yay for my public library system that lets me renew books indefinitely unless someone places a hold on them!). Her quality of writing is a couple notches above most Christian fiction...it's obvious that Turner is intelligent and well-read. Her characters are quirky, which to me, makes them enjoyable. Quite a few of her protagonists are bitter middle-aged women, which is a change from the typical naive 17-year-old female main characters readily found in the "Christian fiction" genre. All of Turner's books I've read so far have been challenging and thought-provoking. Her most hardened, worldly characters come to know the Lord as a result of the kindness and perseverance of everyday people...usually their neighbors or co-workers. Although the books are all stand-alone novels as far as I know, a lot of the characters live in the same town and end up interacting with each other. Turner does deal (not explicitly) with some mature subject matter, so I'd recommend her books for those over eighteen.

Valentine's Day Banquet

Tonight was our church's 2nd annual Valentine's Day Banquet. This is not your typical "couples"/romantic banquet...it is only for the ladies of the church, and it is put on by the men. We all sat at a beautifully-decorated long table (that was one of Hubby's tasks, along with childcare). There was live music. Mostly we ladies just talked, but we also played a game and ate lots of chocolate! We had our choice of steak or fettuccine alfredo, salad or mixed grilled vegetables, broccoli or pear soup, and apple or chocolate cream pie. I had steak, and it was magnificent, probably the best steak I've ever had. Mmmmm....

The dress was semi-formal. I wore this dress from Motherhood Maternity with a black cardigan.

It was a very special time. I appreciate the way my brothers in Christ take this opportunity each year to serve and bless the ladies of the church.

Dear Little Fellow

I have decided that 1-year-old will henceforth be referred to as "Dear Little Fellow" on this blog. It's one of the nicknames we've called him since he was little, and it's better than calling him 1-year-old all the time (I'm still working on a better moniker for Hubby).

One of the things Hubby and I most love about Dear Little Fellow is watching him learn and grow. He is walking and talking now, and he's not much of a baby anymore! He literally says new words every day, but here is a list of some that I can think of, somewhat in order of when he learned them:

By 14 months: Yum-yum, Papa, Mama, Yeah, Clock, Ham, Nana (banana), Didee (diaper), Cat, Meow, Roooo! (elephant noise), Grrr/roar (bear/lion noise), Brrr (bird), Hat, Hot, Hi, Help/Helper, Mat (that his highchair is on)

15/16 months: Home, Snack, Neigh (horse noise), Baa (sheep noise), No, his own name, Caw (bird noise), Blocks, Box, Hmm… (sometimes he will look in the refrigerator and say that; Hubby says he got it from me!), Din-din (dinner)

16/17 months: Dizzy (when he wants Hubby to spin him around), Out, Squirt (referring to his bath toys), Yap/Wow-wow (dog noises), Wow!, Ring, Bed, Bath, Hoo (owl noise), Book, Milk, Walk, Burp (bupp), Cack (quack, duck noise), Bawk (chicken noise), Peep (chick noise), Baby, Maybe, Good, Box (for mailbox, when he wants to get the mail), Read, Door, Key, Eat

Updated to add: Honk, Beep, Goin' (going), Doin' (doing), Red (the color...it is the only color he knows, but he says "red" pretty consistently for red things), In, Dry (as in, to dry off with a towel), Ride, Tree, Water, Library

Mama Burped :-)

1-year-old is walking now on his own. It's fun to hear the "pitter-patter of little feet" as he toddles around the house. I've been taking him outside for lots of walks lately. He enjoys patting trees and bushes and posts, and with all the exercise, he has been sleeping a ton! He is also talking up a storm. I used to try to write down all his words, but I've given that up, because he literally learns new words every day! He mostly says single words, but there is one consistent phrase he says. He loves to point out if he or anyone else burps. If I burp, he says "Mama bupp" (burped). If he burps, he says it about himself, using his own name. Now if only he will get "Excuse me" down....

The more independent 1-year-old gets, the more I look forward to having a newborn around the house again. I went over last night to visit my friend, who has a darling 2-month-old baby. She nursed him while I was there, and I went ga-ga over the sweetness of it all...the desperate little searching mouth, the cute sucking noises, and then the inevitable contented, milk-induced coma afterward. Nursing will be more challenging this time around, since I have a busy toddler to keep track of, but I am still looking forward to it. I nursed 1-year-old exclusively for 6 1/2 months before introducing solid foods, and I am planning to exclusively nurse this baby even longer. This page explains several good reasons to delay introducing solids.

Big Answer to Prayer

A couple of weeks ago Hubby received a summons for jury duty for a trial that would last at least six weeks. Now, we are all for doing our civic duty and all (read my funny jury duty story here), but we just didn't see any way how it would be possible to go without any income for all that time (where we live, jurors only receive a token amount of pay per day--a few dollars to cover transportation and lunch), plus, Hubby can't just abandon his job duties for that long.

I have been earnestly seeking the Lord about this matter and asking Him to work something out, and I've asked several other people to pray about it, too. Today Hubby got a postcard in the mail that the jury summons has been canceled! He doesn't have to go at all!

Thank you, God, for answering our prayers.

Just a Little Sniffle-y

I have a bit of a sore throat and the sniffles today, so I am taking it easy. I did manage to keep the house tidy and the dishes caught up, so that is a plus. One-year-old was very sweet and well-behaved today, and it wasn't actually very hard to stay on top of things, so I think the Lord was gracious to me in my time of weakness by giving me strength and by helping me have a cheerful attitude.

I also made a 1/2 batch of yummy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies (I know, what business do I have consuming sugar when I'm sick? But I was in a baking mood...when am I not? And, I got rid of most of the cookies--Hubby took some to his accountability group tonight). Then I made quiche for dinner, with hamburger, cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, and green bell pepper, and a big green salad. I always try to eat extra vegetables when I am sick.

We do not have a laundry room, just a laundry closet in the living room, and one of the folding doors keeps coming all the way off. A professional repairman came and fixed it today, so hopefully that will be the end of our closet woes. It is nice now not to have to stare at the dryer whenever I sit down on the couch. :-)

I have been re-reading Created to Be His Helpmeet, by Debi Pearl, and receiving so much motivation and encouragement from it. I think every wife should have it on her bookshelf and flip through its pages once in a while.

$100 Vision Forum Giveaway

Crystal is hosting a $100 Vision Forum giveaway on her blog. Click here for more details!

If I were to win the giveaway, I would like to get these products:

Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God
Home-Making
The Wise Woman’s Guide to Blessing Her Husband’s Vision
Be Fruitful and Multiply
Teach Them to Your Children
The Influence of Older Children on Younger Children
Rebuilding a Culture of Virtuous Boyhood
Why Satan Wants Your Firstborn and What to Do About It

3 Years Ago Today

To Have and to Hold



To Love and to Cherish



As Long as We Both Shall Live

26 Weeks Pregnant!

 

Day Off

Hubby is off from work today for the holiday. He spent a couple hours this morning repairing a jammed mechanism on the passenger-side seatbelt in our car (yes, I rode around in the backseat all weekend on our anniversary trip! Hubby was my chauffeur). He got it working perfectly again. I am so grateful for my Mr. Fix-It husband.

I don't have big plans for today, just unpacking and doing laundry after our trip and spending time with Hubby and 1-year-old. I may head out to Rite Aid...looks like there are some good deals this week. Lots of things are free after rebate.

Our Anniversary Get-Away

Hubby’s and my anniversary get-away was very special. My parents came over mid-afternoon on Friday. Hubby and I left one-year-old in their care and went to see National Treasure (the second one) in a theater. Then we went to a casual restaurant for dinner and checked into our hotel. We were both pretty tired, so we just talked for a while and then went to bed. I couldn’t stop thinking and talking about one-year-old. I hoped he wasn’t missing us too much or worrying that we would never come back.

Saturday morning, Hubby and I both had delicious omelets and pancakes for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. After that, we stopped back home to visit with my parents a little and see how one-year-old was doing. He was doing great with his grandparents! They said he had been very good and content and hadn’t cried at all the whole time we were gone. That set my heart at ease, and I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of our trip even more. We were so full from breakfast that we didn’t want lunch, but we did a couple of errands and then went to a coffee shop and got mochas. We had to an hour to kill until we could check in to the hotel (we stayed at a different hotel each night), so we browsed a Christian discount bookstore. Hubby bought a CD of some Rich Mullins songs. We drove downtown to the hotel and checked in, then hung out in the room and talked and read until dinner time. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was one of those fancy-schmancy restaurants where you order your entrée, but it doesn’t come with anything, so if you want a salad or anything else, you have to order that separately. We wouldn’t have ended up at such a restaurant if my grandmother had not generously given us some money for a nice dinner. And, oh, it was good. Hubby had an amazingly-flavored pork chop, and I had bacon-encrusted salmon. We shared a Caesar salad. The menu boasted of the restaurant’s French cuisine made by a master chef, and we were not disappointed. My only qualm was that the delicious flavors were so unfamiliar I could not place them! I’m sure the meats were cooked in various wines and sauces I know nothing about.

After dinner, we went back to our room for a while, and then it was time to go to the symphony! It was the first time Hubby and I had ever been to a symphony together. We enjoyed it very much. The evening was divided into two parts: the first half was the work of a modern Scottish composer, and the second half was a musical interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s plays.

Sunday morning, we ordered room service and had breakfast in bed while we watched an old Western movie on TV. Then we packed up and came home!

I felt extremely blessed this weekend to be married to my husband. I appreciate the time and thoughtfulness he put into planning everything for us and keeping everything a surprise from me (I like good surprises!). It was marvelous to have time alone with him, but it was also great to get home to one-year-old. I missed him so much! I love the comfort and familiarity of home and the peacefulness of having my whole family together.

Very Busy!

Hubby has planned an anniversary (our 3rd!) get-away for us this weekend. My parents will be taking care of 1-year-old. It will be a very special time for Hubby and me, as we haven't even been on a date since before 1-year-old was born!

There is much to do before we leave tomorrow. I still need to prepare meals for 1-year-old and my parents, do lots of laundry, clean the bathrooms, vacuum the whole house, and pack! Oh, and finish the "instruction" lists I've been making for my parents to tell them what 1-year-old can and can't eat, what he is and is not allowed to do around the house, what his usual daily routine is, etc.

I will write about our weekend when we return.

Problems with Wheat

I am beginning to suspect that wheat is the culprit of various digestive difficulties that my family is experiencing. I have already switched from using whole wheat pastas to brown rice pastas, which seem to be easier to digest, and now I am searching for a good, everyday wheat-free bread recipe. Please leave a comment if you know of one! Thanks!

A Glimpse of Family Life

Yesterday we went to a discount store because Hubby wanted to look for some tools. He didn’t find what he was looking for, but on the way out, we were passing through an aisle and I commented, “Oh, look, they have my very favorite kind of candle…” (which, for the record, happens to be Carolina sensual sandalwood) “…but…it seems kind of expensive.” Hubby asked, “Do you want it?” I hesitated because of the price, but didn’t say no, because I could tell that Hubby wanted to bless me. Still, because of my frugal nature, I couldn’t quite bring myself to flat-out say, “Yes, let’s buy it.” Finally, Hubby just picked it up, brought it to a register, and bought it for me. I felt loved and spoiled. I am very grateful that my husband looks out for little things to do for me to make me happy, and I want to make more of an effort to do the same for him. He also installed some shelves in the kitchen today for my cookbooks. The cookbooks resided previously on the bottom shelf of our very small pantry. They were always inconvenient to get to, plus they took up space that could have been better used for food, so it is wonderful now to have them right at eye-level. I am motivated to re-organize (okay, initially organize, since it’s never really been organized since we moved in!) the pantry, now that I have an extra shelf in there for food.

1-year-old (now 16 months) was extremely cranky today. He is teething, plus he is adjusting to being fully weaned (just in the past week; I think he still misses nursing at times), plus he is transitioning from two naps a day to one, and is having trouble falling and staying asleep during the day. Fortunately, he is still sleeping well at night. He usually goes to bed between 6:30-7:00 P.M. and sleeps until around 6:00 A.M. Anyhow, we didn’t feel up to taking him to our house church tonight, so Hubby stayed home with him, fed him dinner, and put him to bed, while I went to church. It was the first time in a couple of months that I have actually been able to not only fellowship with people uninterrupted and undistracted, but also to pay attention during the teaching time (usually I am chasing after 1-year-old and trying to keep him quiet and entertained). It was very refreshing. Caring for an active toddler in a house church where there is no nursery is quite challenging, and it was nice to have a break from that this week. Then I came home (the house where we met tonight was only a couple-minute drive from our house) and Hubby went over for a leadership meeting, so he is getting to be with the church body tonight, too.

Hubby (I feel weird calling him that, but I don’t want to use his real name online, and I haven’t yet thought of a more creative way to refer to him) and I are learning what it means to be “in ministry.” Not necessarily pastoral ministry, but for now, just reaching out to others in our church body and our neighbors. We have a lot to learn, and we have very little experience, but we are both trying to make more of an effort to be intentionally involved in other people’s lives. It doesn’t come especially naturally for either of us, since we are both introverts, plus, we are finding out that the more you invest in people, the more chance you have of getting hurt, but our example is Jesus. We want to imitate His love and compassion, even if we, like He, end up getting hurt. I think Hubby and I are, individually and as a couple, coming to a point in our lives where we are finding it necessary to evaluate what is truly important. Do we serve God or money? Are we living for our own pleasure or to please God?

In all of this, I am learning more of what it means to be my husband’s helper. Wherever God calls him, whatever God calls him to do, that’s my calling, too. I am learning the joy and peace of surrender.

The Holidays Are Over

As much as I enjoy the holidays, I am glad now that things are settling down. We visited my parents, grandma, and brother on Christmas Eve and ended up staying one more night than we intended because we actually had a white Christmas (pretty rare in these parts) and didn't want to drive back late at night on icy roads. We visited some of Hubby's family yesterday (New Year's Eve day).

The Christmas decorations are all put away, and our living room furniture is back to its old arrangement (it's so much more spacious without a big Christmas tree in there!).

I cleaned the house today and got together with a friend this afternoon at a cafe. We had a good chat, and plan to do it again sometime soon.

Hubby and I are trying to make some big decisions about plans for the future. I have a lot of dreams, but I need to hear from the Lord to know if I should go ahead with pursuing them, or if I need to lay them down. Either way, I want my heart to be completely surrendered to Him. I want to humbly accept whatever He has for me, knowing that He loves me deeply and knows what is best for me.

On the Menu

I volunteered to bring the main dish and sides for church tomorrow. This is what's on the menu:

Spiral-Sliced Ham
Pioneer Woman's Do-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes (with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon)
Peas and Carrots
Whole-Wheat Bread
Fresh Fruit Salad (pineapple, apple, and banana chunks, with bowls of chopped walnuts, sweetened dried coconut, and sweetened dried cranberries on the side for toppings)
Dessert (made by someone else in the church)

There's really not a ton of preparation involved. The most time-consuming thing was peeling ten pounds of potatoes, which my sweet husband did for me. The mashed and sweet potatoes are made, and just need to be heated tomorrow. The ham is pre-cooked, so it just needs to be heated through as well. I will steam the peas and carrots and mix them with butter and salt right before it's time to go. Same for chopping up the fruit for the salad. The bread's easy, too--I'm just going to make it in the bread machine, cut it in chunks, and serve it hot with butter.

My Deals This Week

I received a coupon in the mail for $10 off any in-store purchase at JCPenney. I found an outfit for 1-year-old, originally $12.99, on sale for $5.99, and a set of 3 pairs of sterling silver hoop earrings, originally $10.00, marked down to $4.49, so I only paid $.48.

At Walgreens, L'Oreal Studio Line products (in white bottles) are on sale 4/$3. I had a $1 coupon, so I got some mousse for free with $.25 overage.

Nestle Turtles (formerly DeMet's Turtles) candy are on sale for $.99 a box. I had a $1 coupon (which specified DeMet's Turtles, but there was no problem at the register), so they were also free. I will probably use them as a white elephant gift at a party this weekend.

Cornbread

I did end up being sick with a stomach bug for several days, but I am better as of yesterday. Normally, I love to cook, so you can tell I am sick when I stop doing anything in the kitchen. For several days, we just scrounged around in the fridge for leftovers and easy fixes or got take-out, but yesterday I felt better enough to make Tammy's Mom's Meatloaf, cornbread (recipe to follow), and steamed vegetables. The meatloaf turned out great, nice and moist and easily slice-able, but out of personal preference, I might add some more spices next time I make it. I think I'm used to more flavors in my meatloaf.

This cornbread recipe is not particularly healthy, but it is the yummiest I've ever tasted. It's sweet and almost cake-like. Serve hot with butter and honey!

Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups cornmeal (I use yellow, but any kind works)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Procedure:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 8x8x2" pan.

Combine milk, melted butter, and egg in large bowl. Stir in all other ingredients at once until flour is just moistened (batter will be lumpy). Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes (20 is always long enough, in my experience) until golden brown.

I Don't Want to Get Sick!

Bleh...I woke up this morning with flu, or morning sickness, or food poisoning, or something that made me feel nauseated all day until around 2 P.M., then I suddenly started feeling better. Maybe it's the same thing 1-year-old had last weekend. Anyhow, praise the Lord that I am feeling better now, because I am supposed to sing at our friends' wedding tomorrow. I wouldn't want to miss their wedding for anything, not only because they're counting on me to sing, but also because I think they are wonderful for each other, and I want to be there to celebrate with them.

1-year-old is very definitely teething today. I can feel the tooth breaking through. He was pretty cranky all day, but now that his papa is home, he is more cheerful.

Home

1-year-old and I met Hubby for lunch today. There is a cafeteria where he works, so we ate there. 1-year-old had fun trying to entertain Hubby's co-workers. :-) We went to the post office and finally mailed out our Christmas letters and a package for Hubby's parents, who live too far away for us to get together at Christmas.

When 1-year-old and I pulled into the driveway of our apartment complex, 1-year-old contentedly uttered, "Home!" It warmed my heart to know that he was glad to be home.

Getting Better

1-year-old is getting better. He still doesn't have his usual appetite and is quite cranky, but at least he isn't feverish and throwing up anymore.

A Sick Little Boy

Around noon today, Hubby, 1-year-old, and I went to the store to do a little Christmas shopping. 1-year-old fussed and whined the whole time. I thought that was strange, but I just figured he was tired. I put him to bed right away when we got home and he slept for about an hour and a half. Then he woke up, and we went in and tried to give him some diluted juice in a sippy cup, but he wouldn't even touch it. This was even more odd to me, as we only recently started giving him juice, so he thinks it is a special treat. He just kept crying and crying for no apparent reason. I held and rocked him for a while. He just snuggled up to me, which he never does--he is not really a snuggler. Then, all of a sudden, he threw up all over himself and me. Poor little guy. He felt so miserable. He got sick a couple more times, and then seemed very exhausted and took a little catnap in the chair. He was running a fever around 100 degrees. I put him to bed around his usual bedtime, and he seems to be sleeping soundly. We are praying that he will feel better in the morning. I am grateful that 1-year-old is usually so healthy, and that this is really the first time he's had something worse than a little cold. Still, it is hard to see him feeling so awful. But I have to say having him want to snuggle with me for a change was nice. :-) It feels good to be able to comfort my child in a way that only Mama can. 1-year-old didn't want anything to eat or drink for the rest of the evening, but he did nurse a little before bed. I suppose mama milk and plenty of rest are about the best things for him at this point. It makes me glad I haven't completely weaned him yet, so he still has the option of nursing when he doesn't feel like anything else.

A Neverending Project

So I moseyed on down to the local mega-craft-store, and spent a blissful evening browsing almost every aisle just for the fun of it. I came home with a scrapbook, a page of baby boy stickers, and a book of various colors of cardstock for matting photos.

I basically haven't done anything with pictures of 1-year-old except store them in a mini photo album that is bursting at the seams. And that's not to mention all the pictures sitting around on our digital cameras or hard drives that haven't yet been developed. But the time has come to get organized. I don't want to just end up with boxes and boxes of uncategorized photos. I want to keep track of things now so that I can arrange the photos and jot down my thoughts about them.

For a while, I was thinking of going to digital scrapbooking, but Hubby and I decided against it because we like glossy real photos, not just pictures printed out on a page. So now I have the task of designing pages of the past fifteen months of our lives. We decided to not try to do a separate photo album for each child, but to instead just keep chronological "family" albums. So if there's still room in this album when the new baby is born, we'll put in all of his or her baby pictures, too.

Mama's Little Man

If I ask 1-year-old, "Are you Mama's little man?", he gets a huge grin on his face and says, "Yeah, MAA!" (man).

It stopped raining long enough today for 1-year-old and I to walk to the produce market. We bought a bunch of vegetables, some of which I needed for tonight's dinner--egg rolls. If you ever make egg rolls, be prepared for your kitchen to look like a tornado swept through. Well, I'm off to tackle the dishes.

Edited December 7 to add: Today I said to 1-year-old, "Aw, you're Mama's precious little baby." He looked me in the eye and said, "MAA!" Okay, I get the point. You're not a baby anymore.

Yum-Yum! Chocolate Pudding

 

Made with stevia. I used this recipe, except I used stevia powder to taste instead of the Sweet 'N' Low packets. Oh, and I also just used regular whole milk instead of the half and half. It came out just fine, or at least 1-year-old thought so, as you can tell from the picture. I mixed in some peanut butter and banana slices to make it more nutritious.

First Steps!

1-year-old took his first solo steps yesterday at our appointment with the midwife! It somehow seemed appropriate that he started walking at the place where he was born.

The appointment went well. I appreciate the familiarity of using the same midwife and the same birth center. On the team of birth assistants, there is also an apprentice midwife and a student.

They've added another birth room, so now we have three to choose from (all with those wonderful, big birth tubs) when I am in labor. We heard the baby's heartbeat, they took my blood pressure, felt my abdomen, did a urine test, and drew some blood which they will send to a lab to be check for anemia and a few other things.

My mom agreed to stay with 1-year-old at our house when Hubby and I go to the birth center, so I feel like the details for the birth are finally starting to get firmed up.

Rainy Day Ideas?

I got to feel Baby really moving around a lot for the first time last night as I was lying on my back in bed. If Hubby had been home at the time, I think he would have been able to feel the kicks, too. My first prenatal appointment is tomorrow. One thing I like about midwives is that they don’t do much. I expect at the appointment tomorrow my midwife will answer any questions we have, give me a urine test stick so I can test myself and tell her if there’s anything abnormal, and let us listen to the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. And maybe do a quick internal exam, but I might try to get out of that.

I am desperately trying to think of things to do with 1-year-old indoors today. It is pouring down rain, and Hubby took the car to work, so we really can’t go anywhere. If anyone has any ideas, please comment and let me know. I will be very grateful for any tips.

Laid-Back Sunday

Today was pretty laid-back. Hubby and I took turns reading books to 1-year-old in the morning, then we all took naps. Then I took 1-year-old to the library while Hubby stayed home and did a mountain of dishes (thanks, Honey!). While 1-year-old took his afternoon nap (yay, he still happily takes two naps a day--not sure how much longer that will last!), Hubby and I wrapped a bunch of Christmas presents together. He is a better wrapper than I am, so for the most part, he did the wrapping paper and I just did ribbon and labels. Then we went to church (our house church starts at 4 P.M. We eat dinner together and hang out for a while, then pray, sing, read the Word, etc.). 1-year-old did well until about 6:30 (his usual bedtime), then Hubby took 1-year-old and me home and went back to church. I put 1-year-old to bed, called my mom and chatted with her for a while, and then practiced my harp for the first time in a long time. I got to see my friends' precious 1-week-old-today baby boy at church. He was so tiny and helpless! It brought back memories of how difficult, but wonderful, it is to care for a brand-new baby. I am looking forward to meeting our new little one in about five months!

Snow

Pictures went fairly well yesterday. We actually got 1-year-old to smile for a couple shots. I was planning to go out today to find some photo frames, but it just started snowing. I know snow is not a big deal to a lot of people, but where I live, it snows so rarely that no one (including myself) knows how to drive in it or has chains or other winter-weather accessories for their cars, so it's safer to just stay home. Besides, I have a pot of chicken stock simmering on the stove. It smells so good and makes the house seem cozy. Why leave that to go out in the snow? (If you can't tell, I am not a fan of snow.)

This morning, I walked with 1-year-old to the produce market (before the snow started!) to get some veggies. Then I cleaned out the fridge (blech...found some science experiments!) Other things on my to-do list today include decluttering Hubby's and my bedroom, organizing my bathroom sink area, and finishing and addressing our Christmas cards/letters.

Getting Ready for Pictures

We have an appointment at a portrait studio this afternoon to get family pictures taken , so I have some preparation to do to get us all ready (ironing clothes, figuring out what to do with my stick-straight hair, etc.) 1-year-old is teething and trying to suck and chew on everything he can get his mouth on, so hopefully he won't be too fussy for pictures.

I am reading everything I can about pregnancy and birth. I just got four books from the library yesterday, so I have enough to keep me busy for a while.

Change in Birth Plans

I was leaning more toward a home birth with this next baby, but now we are planning to use the same freestanding (not affiliated with a hospital) birth center where we had 1-year-old. The main reason we were thinking of a home birth (other than how nice it would be to not have to pack up and drive across town in the middle of labor) was that there is a group of midwives that does home births for which my insurance would cover 80% of the cost. My insurance would only cover 50% of the cost of the birth center, since it is out-of-network. But the more we thought about a home birth, the more it just didn't seem right at this time. In the first place, we live in an apartment with lots of neighbors around, and in the second place, we decided that 1-year-old is really too young to see and hear Mama in hard labor. It would be too distressing for him. We will probably ask my mom to come and stay with 1-year-old at our house while we go to the birth center.

So, after lots of thought and prayer and E-mails and phone calls, we (well, the Lord, really!) worked it out so that the birth center will bill my insurance and accept whatever insurance pays as full payment. Wow! That means that the birth center birth will end up costing less than a home birth would have...all we have to pay is a small deductible. And I get to use the nice big birth tub with jets again....ahhhhhh! That really made my labor with 1-year-old more manageable. It was still incredibly, ridiculously hard (he was posterior) and long (about 2 1/2 days total), but God and my sweet Hubby helped me get through it once, and I know they will help me again. I am also hoping that labor won't be as long this time.

Anyway, I am feeling good about the decision to use the birth center again, and I am so pleased and amazed at how God worked out the financial aspect that I just had to share!

I like Walgreens

 

1-year-old and I walked to Walgreens today (it’s about a mile from our house) and got home just before it started raining. Here are my deals for the week so far. I hope to go back to my Walgreens later in the week or maybe to a different Walgreens to see if I can find the Keri Renewal Milk Body Lotion that I like (and will be free after $5 manufacturer's coupon and $10 Easysaver rebate).

Venus Breeze razor and two blades (not pictured)--$9.99, FREE after rebate (this deal was good on Black Friday only)

1 12 oz. Dove Pro-Age shampoo and 1 12 oz. Dove Pro-Age conditioner, $5.99 each (Walgreens BOGO, used 1 BOGO manufacturer’s coupon worth $4.50 and one $1.50 manufacturer’s coupon)—both FREE

13.5 oz. Pert Plus, $3.49 (used $1 manufacturer’s coupon, will do rebate for $2.50)—FREE after rebate

Loreal Feria haircolor, $8.99 (used $2 Easysaver coupon and $2 manufacturer’s coupon)--$4.99

2 9.2 oz. packages Hershey’s Special Dark kisses, $2 each (used Easysaver coupon for $2 off 2, manufacturer’s coupon for $1 off 2)--$.50 each package

2 8-pack 5-stick packages Wrigley’s Extra gum, $1.99 each ($.99 each with 7-day coupon)

Walgreens 8-pack batteries, on sale for $2.99

To see other's Super Savings Saturday deals for the week, go here.

Should I enter him in a toddler spelling contest? :-)

This evening, as we were getting 1-year-old ready for bed, Hubby and I were discussing whether or not it would be worth it for one of us to make a run to the grocery store. I said, "Well, we're all out of m-i-l-k" (spelling it so 1-year-old wouldn't get unnecessarily excited). 1-year-old's eyes lit up, he said, "yeah! yeah!" and began rapidly making the sign for milk. Can someone tell me how my kid learned to spell milk? Maybe Hubby and I will have to come up with a code word for it, just like we have to refer to bananas as "monkey fruit" or "the long yellow things."

Our Thanksgiving

 

Wow, we've done a lot of traveling in the past few days. It was wonderful to visit with family, but I am glad to be home! My parents recently sold their home and moved in with my grandma to help take care of her and her large house, so it was interesting to see how they are unpacking and getting their things settled in to a house that was already full!

We met with a group of midwives last week that does homebirths and is, surprisingly, 80% covered by our insurance. They seem experienced and kind, so we will most likely go with them. Now I just have to fill out all the forms! I am 18 weeks along now; I feel Baby kick and squirm once in a while, but not much yet. We did not have an ultrasound with 1-year-old, but we are considering it with this baby and doing some research. The group of midwives we met with recommend one diagnostic ultrasound to check for birth defects. If we were to find out that anything was wrong with this baby, of course we would keep and love him or her anyway, but it would be good to know if there are any potential problems that would be better handled in a hospital.

When I was pregnant with 1-year-old, I did a lot of research about the safety of ultrasounds, and there was so much conflicting information that we decided to just play it safe and not get one (also, I was determined to not find out the gender ahead of time). But when I voiced my concerns about ultrasounds to the midwives we met with last week, they said that the level of sound waves a baby hears/feels with an ultrasound is much lower than when a Doppler is used to hear the heartbeat (which we did at every appointment with 1-year-old), and that a lot of the "scare" information out there about ultraounds is written by lay people who misinterpret and misapply studies. SO, all that to say, we need to do some more research, and then if we decide to get an ultrasound for diagnostic purposes, we will probably find out the gender while we're at it.

My Walgreens Deals This Week

No picture this week, as I've already demolished the boxes of a couple items I bought in order to cut off their UPCs for rebates, but here's what I bought at Walgreens this week:

12 oz. Clear Care contact solution ($8.99; used $2 EZ Saver coupon, will send in rebate for total purchase price)--FREE, made $2

.05 oz. Orajel Medicated Cold Sore Brush ($8.49; used $1 manufacturer's coupon and $3 EZ Saver coupon, will send in rebate for $7)--FREE, made $2.50

12.5 yard 1/2 in. Scotch tape (I despise off-brand tapes, so this is worth it to me) --$.50 with 7-day coupon

4-pack AA Walgreens batteries --$.99 with 7-day coupon

6 30 oz. Hellman's (a.k.a. Best Foods) Real Mayonnaise (the only kind of mayo I really like; on sale for $2.50 each, used 1 $.50 coupon)--$14.50, got $5 Register Rewards from Unilever promotion

3 100-count One-A-Day Men's Health Vitamins (3/$20, used 3 printable $1 coupons and $5 Register Rewards)--$12, will do EZ Saver rebate for $10 Walgreens gift card and calendar with $50 of coupons

2 8x10 photos (used code for free 8x10; Hubby submitted one and I submitted one)--FREE

Be sure to visit Money Saving Mom to read about others' great deals this week!

I Love My Little Guy

1-year-old, who is now 14 months, loves to "help" around the house. Any time he does something he regards as helpful, he will get a big smile on his face and clap his hands. I think it's sweet that he wants to please his parents, so I usually encourage his efforts by clapping along, telling him thank you, or saying, "What a good helper you are!" Yesterday, Hubby was putting away some dishes and had left the silverware drawer open. 1-year-old noticed it was open, crawled over, pushed it closed, and then said what we think was "helper." Isn't that sweet?

Also, today I was positively smothering his cute cheeks with kisses, as I am known to do. He had a stuffed toy in his hand, and he literally shoved it into my mouth to stop the kisses! Hey!

Menu Planning

Nisha asked, "I am a newlywed and I've notice that you always have great recipes especially desserts. How do you organize your meals and desserts? I would love to make desserts, I just need to know how to organize myself in making new meals and desserts without getting discouraged."

Hi Nisha, I do love to cook and bake and try new recipes, but I have to admit that I am not the most organized person in the world when it comes to menu planning. I like having a little flexibility when it comes to deciding what to make for dinner. What this looks like for me is, when I notice that our food supply is getting low, I make a menu with around six to eight dinner ideas. Then I just look at the recipe for each dish (or just rack my brain for the recipes I’ve made up and/or know by heart) and write down the ingredients I will need to make it. I also make sure to check my calendar to see if I’m scheduled to make anything for church or a special event, or if we are having anyone over for dinner that week. If that is the case, then I add what I will need to my grocery list.

I tend to be a “what shall I make for dinner tonight?” person. Most of the everyday meals I make don’t take that much preparation, and my husband usually gets home from work early enough to entertain our 1-year-old for the twenty minutes or so it takes me to make dinner. I think when we have more children, I will probably try to do most or all of the necessary dinner preparations in the morning, so that I will just be able to pull the completed meal out of the fridge, pop it in the oven to heat, and serve, but I haven’t really found that necessary yet.

As far as desserts go, my husband can’t eat more than one tiny bite of sugar, or he will feel sluggish and awful, and we don’t give 1-year-old sugar except on a very special occasion (like his birthday), so basically, I’m the only one in my house who can eat desserts--and I certainly don’t need a whole pie or batch of cookies to myself! So I really only make desserts when I take them OUT of the house and serve them to a group of people (we attend a small house church and eat dinner together every Sunday, so I often take desserts to church).

I recommend building up a base of four or five dinners that are pretty easy to make and always come out right. Then, once you get those down, you can flip through your recipe books (I love getting new recipe books from the library!) and try some new recipes. If one of your new recipes comes out right and is a hit, you can add it to your “frequently prepared dinners” list. You can do the same thing with desserts. Maybe start with cookies, then try cakes, then move on to pies, cheesecakes, and other more challenging desserts.

Here are a few of my “frequently prepared dinners”:

Spaghetti or Lasagne
Tacos or Nachos
Chicken Casserole
Chicken or Beef Stir-fry
Fried Rice
Omelettes (it’s fun and easy to make breakfast for dinner!)
Tuna Melts
Linguine with Clam Sauce
Asian Chicken Salad
Fried Chicken
Tuna Casserole
Twice-Baked Potatoes
Hamburgers

A couple of easy-to-follow recipe books that I use are Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook and Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook. I also use Allrecipes quite a bit. I like reading through the reviews and tips of other people who have tried the dish I am considering making.

Hope this helps, Nisha. May God bless your marriage and your homemaking efforts.

FREE Stuff from Walgreens

 

These are the items I got absolutely FREE from Walgreens this week. I don't even have to send in a rebate for any of them; I just used lots of coupons to get the price down to zero.

Motrin, 24+6 bonus count, $4.29, used $5 printable coupon
Sudafed, 18 count, $4.99, used $5 printable coupon
4 Wrigley's 17-stick gums, $1.09 each, used Walgreens BOGO plus 2 manufacturer's BOGOs
Aquafresh Advanced, $1.99, used $2 printable coupon
2 Purell Gentle Foam hand sanitizers, $3.49 each, used $2.50 EZSaver coupon plus 2 $1.50 manufacturer's coupons

Total before coupons: $22.61. Total after coupons: FREE, plus I got back over $1.50 in overage.

To see others' Super Savings Saturday deals, go here.

Quick Update

Tomorrow I will be 15 weeks pregnant. Supposedly, Baby is about the size of a softball! I am gaining weight more slowly than I did with 1-year-old. I don’t think someone who didn’t know me would be able to tell I’m pregnant, but I’m sure that will change in the next couple of weeks!

I tried to crochet a wool diaper soaker for Baby, but the pattern was from the 40’s or 50’s, so the specified yarn isn’t available any more. I used a different yarn, and though I thought my tension was right on, the soaker ended up way too big, even after I tried shrink it in the washer and dryer. Besides, all the cutest soaker patterns are knitted. My favorite are the ones by Little Turtle Knits. So I really need to learn how to knit.

1-year-old likes to put things on his own, or other people’s heads, and say his current favorite word, which is “hat.” He also likes to pretend-feed milk in a sippy cup to his stuffed animals and say “yum yum!”

I am glad today is Saturday. Hubby has had to work extra, as well as run errands and attend meetings, so 1-year-old and I have not seen as much of him lately as we would like. He is finishing up making wedding invitations for some of our friends this morning (he is so good at that kind of thing!), but then he will be home.

I made this Asian Chicken Salad for dinner last night. It turned out great. Another current hit is Linguine with Clam Sauce, which I made following Pioneer Woman’s instructions in her story about the first time she cooked for her husband.