Minor Moments ~ Volume 3

Bella Peace was getting undressed for a bath. She's just about to step into the tub, but she stops.

Me: "Come on, get in."

Bella Peace: "Mommy, waaaaait. I gotta do somefin furst." She's already undressed at this point, but she plops down on the bathroom rug.

Me: "What is it, Bella."

Bella Peace: "I gotta get the fuzzies out of my toes. Me and Gracie like dat." Then she proceeds to pick all the sock fuzz from between her toes.

Nice. :)

Pictures

Here's a couple recent pictures. These of me are not so great, but you know I try to keep it real.

This is my 39 week picture from today. My eyes are have shut. That's probably because I can't seem to sleep at night.


I tried for a good picture on Sunday, but between me napping in my clothes and Bella Peace napping on top of me this is what I got. Bella Peace is quite a ham and insisted in being in the picture with me. I look so totally bare foot and pregnant in these. Ahhh, the life of a mommy! Would not trade it for anything!!



Here's some other random cuteness!




Very, very soon I will be posting more cuteness all swaddled up tightly!!

Growing Up

My baby is not such a baby anymore. Bella Peace is sleeping in a big girl bed for the first time ever tonight. Sigh. They grow up too fast!! Maybe I'll put up a picture tomorrow night. She feel instantly asleep without getting up even one time. With the other kiddos, we've been pretty strict about not getting out of bed after we tucked them in. We explained what her consequence would be if she should get up after we left the room and apparently it work. This was her Daddy's idea by the way. If left totally up to me, I would probably leave her in the crib a while longer, but he's been concerned about her climbing or falling out of the crib. He's right, the potential is definitely there. So anyway tonight was the big night. She was very, very excited to be sleeping on the bottom "bump" aka bunk. Now let's just see what the morning holds. I'm hoping she doesn't get up at the crack of dawn just because she can! Another major milestone in the transition from baby to big girl. Sigh, again!

Counting Bears and Cars

Not much to report on the job front. Wesley is still at his same school per his supervisors instructions. He's of course being very much a gentlemen about the whole thing. He's being careful to do the right thing. The principal has not run him off yet. It seems everyone realizes a fight has begun, and everyone seems to be cordial, careful, and calculated. Wesley is very limited as to what he's able to do, because they've already brought in his replacement. It's a unique and awkward situation. In our area, tomorrow is the first day that high school athletes can practice with pads on. So, the football coach has called a practice for 12:01 tonight!! Can you imagine having football practice in the middle of the night like that?!! So, Wesley is getting in a few hours of sleep as I write this so he can be prepared to be at work only to not really work in just a couple hours. Very strange situation, folks!

Today was spent doing school, household chores, playing, and car (again I mean big vehicle) shopping via computer once again. Actually, I car shopped via computer a whole lot yesterday and last night. Today I made contact by phone with a dealer who has something that appears to be what we are looking for. I think I've gone into great detail about what a challenging experience car shopping has been. It kind of took the back burner a little (but not really) this week because of the developments with work and beginning school, but it's never been far from our minds and we've still worked on it as we could. Actually we thought we had something Monday before everything happened at work, but it also didn't pan out. Anyway, I really think this is the one!!! Because of Wesley's middle of the night work schedule, he's available in the day tomorrow to go check it out. I feel really good about this one. Maybe it's the one!!! Hopefully tomorrow I will post a 34 week picture of me and my new wheels!!!

So that's the work and car update. Now for some fun. The picture below is of Bella Peace doing her school. At least that's what she says. She calls it her math, and begs to do her "counting bears"!!



I bought these for I think $8 from Amazon this summer when I was ordering homeschool stuff for the big kids. I thought it would be a good activity to entertain her while we did school. I was right. She will sit and play with them for quite a while. There's so much you can do with them. Learn colors, matching, sorting, counting, etc. There are 50 bears in all in 5 different colors (10 bears per color). There's also 5 cups in matching colors for sorting. Bella Peace loves sorting the bears into their appropriate cups. I think it's a neat and fun activity! I will admit they have given us an opportunity for character training as well. When she gets done playing with them, she typically starts to drop them from her high chair to the ground. She's been none to happy to have to get down and pick them up off the floor thus providing us with an opportunity to deal with many character qualities. Hey, these are practically an entire curriculum!! :) (They do come with a warning about not being suitable for children under 3 because of the size of the bears, but I'm always sitting beside her when she plays with them and she good to not put them in her mouth.)

I titled this post "counting bears and cars" because it feels like we've checked on as many cars has Bella Peace has bears, maybe more!! We also been doing the "math", checking cost, sorting good and bad, comparing mileage and other details, etc. And let's not forget the character lessons we've had! Only "counting cars" hasn't been nearly as fun as "counting bears". :)

On a final note, I want to brag a little on my Mary Ruth. Today our preschool homeschool group had a playgroup. It was the first event of the new school year. With all that's already going on this week, I knew we could all make it today. It's going to be impossible this year to do all the activities available to us. However, I did ask a friend if she would mind picking up Mary Ruth on the way so that she could go. Mary Ruth was so excited to be getting to do something special, just her!! She was also so wore out when she returned home! I'm so glad she got to go. Thank you so much Heather for taking her!! She got a good report from Heather which pleased me, and then another precious friend emailed me to share what a sweet girl she was while at the playgroup. Thank you too, Melody!! Of course nothing makes a Mommy happier than good reports on her children. And it earned Mary Ruth the "special red plate" for dinner! Too bad I didn't get a picture.

Well that's all for tonight folks! Check back tomorrow to see if I've got wheels. I'll update if I'm not too busy burning up the highway!

Under Construction

The blog is once again under construction.

Here's a cute picture just for fun...


This girl is a MESS!!

Catching Up

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've really had an opportunity to blog. My biggest hindrance has been that our computer crashed, and I haven't had an opportunity. But that is resolved now. It's a great story. I've got so many great stories to share. I've been keeping track on paper. It's doubtful that I will get to fully catch up here on the blog, but I will surely try. Life is good. Amazing good lately. But, also challenging and up and down. Oh, how I wish I could really share all the details of how God is at work in our lives, but I'm sure that time will limit me. And truth is, I'm sure I can't even see all the ways he's at work. It's getting late, but here's a super quick little update on everyone.

All is well. We are all healthy and good. Wesley is amazing and wonderful as usual. Luke is all boy, growing like a weed, and now has teeth that look way too big for his head. He's a big eater, and his reading has so taken off. He's doing so great. I'm so proud of my big, big boy. He's such a Daddy's boy, and a great help to his Daddy.




Grace's surgery went really well. She now has an innie belly button. She was Little Miss Personality the day of her surgery, and I think made quite a lasting impression on everyone who met her that day at the hospital. Everyone's so excited about Elizabeth, but I think Grace may be the most excited. She's so maternal. Also her birthday garden is doing so very well. I haven't really posted about that, but plan to.




Mary Ruth is such a great combination of girly girl and tom boy. She's always saying something so cute. I have no idea where she comes up with some of the cute things she does and says. She is a great big sister to Bella Peace who really, really looks up to her "May-Me". That's what Bella Peace calls Mary Ruth.



And speaking of Bella Peace. She's so not a baby anymore. Such a big girl. So independent. Want's to do everything her big brother and sisters do and wants to do it all by her self all the time. She's also obsessed with shoes. She's in to everything and quite a mess but so very cute.



And finally, Elizabeth. She's doing excellent! Still consistently measures great. Moving great. She seems to have made her nest on my right side, and she's always there right under by ribs. She's an active little girl. If the 4-D ultrasound is accurate, she looks just like Mary Ruth. We can't wait to meet her, but I so not ready for her arrival. I've got about 9 weeks, and I need every minute of it. I don't know if it's fear or intuition, but I have a feeling she's going to come early. None of my other children have come early except Bella Peace who was induced a week early because of possible complications, so we shall see.

As for me...well I failed the short sugar test. Took the long one. There was an error so I had to take the long one again. Failed it also. Today I attended a class for women with gestational diabetes and learned so much. I don't necessarily have it, because my numbers were just above the acceptable range, but I'm at least right on the edge and have several risk factors. The class was great and very informative. As of today, I will be testing my blood glucose 4 times a day with a diabetes monitoring kit. It's really not so bad. I'm also on an new diet. I'm feeling OK about it all. The diet is a good diet for anybody and is going to be a healthier new start for us all. My sugar levels were all over the place today, but I'm just getting started on the new diet so I'm expecting to see lots of improvement.

Well there's an update, not so sure it was quick or little, but nevertheless an update. More really soon!

March 31, 2009

I can't believe it's already the last day of March!! Spring is definitely here, hopefully here to stay!! We've LOVED the weather this week. Although I must admit it sure makes it hard for a homeschool mom to get it all done. Yesterday we took a play break before we had finished all of our school work, and well everything didn't get finished. I know plenty of people who say take it outside, but I would say that those people don't have some of the challenges that I have. It's hard enough to keep up with my little sweetie pie, Bella Peace in an 1100 square foot house. If I were to take school outside to the vast outdoors, there's no telling what would happen!! Plus when we've tried it, Luke is totally distracted. It takes him twice as long to get his work done. So while we might get creative sometimes and do a few things here and there outside, we will for the most part keep our phonics, reading, and math indoors. We do however look or educational experiences outdoors, and there is no shortage to be found!!

Today the big kids had big plans so we had to really get after it to finish school early. Wesley didn't have to go into work until around lunch time, so he took Mary Ruth and Bella Peace on a "nature walk". They had so much fun. Mary Ruth took her camera and took pictures of any "nature" she could find. She made some interesting finds too! They walked over the park behind our house and found a large bone. Wesley said it was part of a deer. YUCK!! Luke ask later if he could go get it and bring it home. Double YUCK!!

So what were the big kids plans? Papa and Nana Mathis picked them up after lunch to go to the Treehouse Exhibit and the Spring Flower Festival at the Botanical Gardens. We don't have a membership and have never been to either of these, so I know they will LOVE it!! Hopefully I will get some good pictures from them and can share them later. I'm going to pick them up at church tonight. A friend ask what I would do with myself the rest of the day. Well I will be doing pretty much the same thing I do when they are here. Keeping up with my favorite almost 2 year old!!! Now if the it were reveresed and the big kids were here and the little one wasn't, then I might get seriously caught up on some things. Ha, ha!!

In other news, Grace lost her second tooth today!! I have a picture, but it's on the camera I sent with them to the Botanical Gardens. I will have to come back and add it later on. She was soooooo excited. The tooth was really loose and had been really bothering her, but it was a booger to pull!! Like I said, it was really loose, but it was deep rooted. I had to really tug on it!! She was such a trooper and so brave! Our thoughts about this is that if the tooth is really giving them trouble the best thing to do is to just go ahead and pull it, because then it won't hurt anymore. I know other parents chose to just let nature take it's course. Luke has lost 8 teeth so far, and that has been the case for a couple of his teeth. For the most part, we let them decide when it's time for it to be pulled, but they've learned it really does feel better after it's out. It also puts an end to all the drama. Some kids really suffer with anxiety about the whole thing. We've also sugar coated the deal with a pack of M&M's as a special treat for losing a tooth. So really, they look forward to it a lot!! I'm sure a dentist would say that the M&M's are going to lead to a lot more missing teeth. Ha, ha!! But it's not that often. It really is a special treat, and it's just become a "minor" tradition. Somehow Dr. Pepper is finding it's way in this deal. Not sure how that happened. I think it may have came up when Luke recently lost his 8th tooth and convinced his Daddy that he was suppose to get both. Or was it me that he convinced. Hummmm. Mary Ruth can't wait to lose a tooth!! At least Luke and Grace are always good to share their treats with the other kiddos. Her day will come! It's so funny that kids get so excited over losing teeth!!

Well one of the things I hoping to do today is finish up a couple other post I have started. I think I'm going to get busy on that now, and we shall see how far I get before Bella Peace wakes up! Pictures coming soon, I promise!!