Rockin

Last night was our first evening at Rock The Light. It was a lot of fun. We got to see several different groups and my favorite Casting Crowns. I hadn't ever been to Starlight Theatre before. It was just beautiful and we were extremely blessed by a gorgeous night.

We heard a group I hadn't ever heard of before called "Jael." They had a real awesome sound but it was a little funny to me that they were on right before Casting Crowns. The are considered "Nu Rock" and Casting Crowns is anything but.

We are heading back this afternoon and hanging out the rest of the day. Jared has been awesome and last night text me that the kids were wonderful and he was washing dishes. What a good man.

All Dried Up

Our water is off today. I went walking early this morning and fortunately was able to wash a few layers of stink off before they shut us down.

I'm not sure why they shut it off but I'm hoping it will return soon. It's more than a little difficult to run a family of 6 without water. We have 2 large coolers of water and the boys have been instructed to use the grass verses the facilities.

It's funny how when there isn't water I have a sudden urge to wash laundry and mop the floors. HA too bad I didn't feel that way when I had water. I'm sure the desire will be gone when the water's back.

It's My Blog and I'll Brag if I Want To

I headed off to work tonight with my 4 kiddos in toe. Brennan 7, Tanner 6, Elijah 4, and Graham 2. I was pretty nervous about how it was going to go since this isn't my normal meeting and the whole idea is that they'd be so smitten with me that they'd want to go to my meetings on Mondays.

We arrived a little early and I set the kids up in the nursery with snacks and shut the door. I honestly did not hear from them for a hour. I weighed in all the members, led my meeting and at the very end Graham tried to open the door and couldn't. He began crying out of frustration. I am so amazed and thankful for their behavior. When I mentioned my 4 kids where in the next room the members didn't believe me.

What a blessing! I took them for ice cream to celebrate. What good boys.

Ready To Rock!

This weekend is Rock The Light and I am SO excited. I am struggling from weekend-itus. The boys have school today and tomorrow and I don't wanna and neither do they. Tanner told me this afternoon, "Mom I'm having a hard time keeping on my work. I can't seem to focus." I encouraged him to keep at it or receive punishment but honestly I wanted to holler, "Me Either! Let's go take a nap!"

I have to work tonight (my last Thursday night meeting) and I have to take the boys along. Jared has an elder's as well as an architect meeting at the church. The good thing is my meeting is in a church and there is a nursery across the hall. I'm sure they'll do fine just playing for about 30 minutes.

Next week I have the whole week off and the week after that is booked. I'm working back to back meetings on Monday, a Tuesday night, Thursday morning and Saturday morning. YIKES! It's all for the termites. Ugh.

You Ol' Snake in the Grass

Lookie what I found in the back yard. Our dog Sophie was barking incessantly this afternoon. I decided to find out what the big deal was.. When I went out back I hadn't ever seen her so jumpy before. Well this huge ol' snake may be why...

Itchy and Scratchy

Yesterday we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon at my friend Amy's. I gave her a call in the early AM and asked if we could let the kids play. They pretty much only see each other at church and mine had been begging for some AJ time.

The boys really enjoyed playing outside in the water with their shirts off. It was really cute to see my 4 and her son AJ out there shirtless racing across the yard. They live out of a farm and the kids just love to explore.

The problem is Brennan and Graham apparently explored into some things that were better off left to the wild. Brennan this morning woke up covered in Poison Ivy and he had a tick on his neck. Graham had a tick in his private area. Poor little guys. Brennan is pretty miserable.

We read online all kinds of home remedies. Brennan took a vinegar bath this morning and is pretty drugged up on Benedryl. The rash already looks better but he has some pretty severe medicine head. I'm letting him sleep it off while Tanner works on his school work from Monday when he slept straight through school due to his night out at the Anderson's.

Desire VS Expectation

With this pregnancy we are most commonly asked 2 questions.

1) Was this planned?
2) Are you trying for a girl?

The first one is easy and actually kinda fun to answer. My gut reaction is to say, "Oh no not really. It was a night of hot passion. We just couldn't keep our hands off each other." The idea being, you ask a question that's none of your business and I'll give you an answer that's none of your business. But the truth be told yes we planned this baby and we're thrilled.

The second is complicated. With 4 little boys we would love to experience a daughter but that desire was not what drove our decision to add to our family. I have had a lot of fun researching on the internet all the old myths that predict gender and they all say GIRL but I'm a practical kinda girl. I want statistics. I have a gut feeling that it's a girl and it's different this time. With Brennan I didn't really care either way. With Tanner I assumed he was a girl since I had a boy. It wasn't a feeling or desire just an assumption. With Elijah it was a strong desire and I was devastated when I found out he was a boy. Those feelings lead to severe guilt and more devastation when he was born and was so sick. I knew Graham was a boy. It was a gut feeling and I wasn't disappointed at all to find out he was a boy. This time I just feel like it's a girl. It's not a desire or an assumption just a feeling.

I decided to look up what the odds are of having 5 of the same gender in a family with the original parents (a family with divorce and extra parents is a whole different ball of wax). There are all kinds of old wives tales and myths about how once you've had multiples of one sex your likelihood of having the opposite sex is much lower than with your first pregnancy. This article is super interesting and debunks some of those myths.

"What about the odds of having all boys or all girls?

So if virtually all men possess equal amounts of X and Y sperm, and each birth has nearly even odds of being a boy or a girl, how do we explain large families of all boys or all girls? Let’s take a look at the odds of having an all-boy or all-girl family, compared to the odds of having a family with both genders, under the simple assumption that each birth has a 50/50 chance of being a boy or a girl:

Family Size % Families with
Both Boys/Girls % Families with
All Boys/Girls Number of
Same-Gendered Families
2 Children 50% 50% 1 in 2
3 Children 75% 25% 1 in 4
4 Children 88% 12% 1 in 8
5 Children 94% 6% 1 in 17
6 Children 97% 3% 1 in 33
7 Children 98.4% 1.6% 1 in 63
8 Children 99.2% 0.8% 1 in 125
The more children in the family, the more unlikely it becomes to have all boys or all girls. But while statistics tell us it is less likely to have 5 boys, for example, it also tells us that in a large enough population it is not only possible, but expected that a 5-boy family will occur; in fact, we should see a same-gender family in one out of every 17 families of 5 children."

Even though it seems as if some force must be at work to cause the birth of many boys or girls in a row, the explanation is simply the near equal odds of having a boy or a girl at each birth, which is not influenced by the gender of previous children.

Whatever genders make up your unique and special family, now you know what biological and statistical factors may have played a role in making them boys, girls, or both."

I thought that was super interesting. So here's the deal. If we have a son we have a super cool family that only occurs about 6% of the time! How neat is that?! If we have a daughter then we finally get to see what all this pink stuff is about. It looks like a win win to me!

Reach For the Sky

Our Uncle Craig is a lineman for the electric company. He brought his bucket truck over last weekend to remove some dead weight from a huge tree in the back yard. Before he left he gave each of the older boys a ride. Brennan went all the way up. Tanner went part way up, and Elijah hung on for dear life and only barely made it off the ground.




It was quite an experience for them and they had a wonderful time. It was really special from a really special uncle. Thank you Uncle Craig.

(Inhale) Is That Banana Bread?

Why yes it is. Home made in fact and baking in my new completed oven and cabinet. I know you can't smell it but I thought I'd offer a quick peek.

When I purchased the oven on Craigslist it was missing a knob. When I did the repairs on the fridge I ordered the knob. It came yesterday so now it is truly complete. I would like to share with you the disappointment I had when I opened the package to see the knob I spent $11 plus shipping. Are you ready? Get out your magnifying glass.

Wow! Isn't that worth $11!! I had to giggle just a little.

Graham Sporting His Thomas Breifs

Graham has been doing really well today. He's had 2 accidents but as long as I remember to say something about every 30 minutes he does great. Mommy gets distracted and Graham has an accident. Here's a picture of our big boy:


Jared and I were talking last night and if he is able to potty train this 6 months will be the first time in 8 years we won't have a child in diapers! That's crazy! I also figured that in 6 months we spend $360 in diapers and about $60 in wipes. Wowza. My goal is to keep that money in our budget and start stocking up on diapers for baby #5. YAY Graham! The older boys are enjoying encouraging him as well. They'll call him "big boy" and ask if he needs help going potty. So sweet. What a wonderful surprise.

Could It Be?

Our little Graham Ryker of 2 1/2 years has decided to potty train today. I'm not sure what happened but he just decided he was ready today. He went all day in Elmo underwear without a single accident.

I'm in shock and glee. All 3 of the older boys waited until they were good and 3 before they even considered such a venture. I am so thankful for his eagerness and ability. He woke up this morning naked yet dry. Jared immediately took him to the bathroom since he went to bed at 7:30 the night before. Graham relieved himself and we've been accident free ever since.

This evening Jared needed to run to the church so we all went for ice cream and he did great even on the road. In fact when we got to the church he asked to potty in the grass. The best part is when he's able to start he always giggles. He's just as shocked as we are I think.

YAY GRAHAM!!! Whoo Hoo. We will have around 6 months to stock up on tiny diapers. Thank you Lord!

Survey Says...

It's a girl according to the Chinese predictor chart! Well, that's set in stone. They say it's 90% accurate. I'm off to paint the nursery and anything else I can find pink.

Check This Out

I was doing some research on our name Anneliese and found out that we had very much "Americanized" the pronunciation of the name with Anne-a-lees. Apparently that's not actually how it's pronounced. It's pronounced Ahh-nah-lees or Ah-nah-leez-ah. I actually like that so much better simply because it doesn't sound anything like the word anal.

So here's my idea, how about Anneliese with the accurate pronunciation with the name Karinne (Karen with a short "i" sound vs the "e") for the middle name. I really like Anna Karinne together as well. Give me your two cents and be nice I am seriously considering this for our little peanut if by chance she's a she :)


Anneliese Karinne Altic. A.K.A. Sis :)

UPDATE!!! Jared just nixed it. He said it sounds like we're going for Anna Karenina who in his words, "was a selfish aristocratic adultress who runs out on her family but eventually kills herself by throwing herself under a train." He still strongly favors Hazel Anneliese. I agree!

In Case you Hadn't Heard

Graham has renamed our children oldest to youngest like this:

Bennan

BoBo

Wee ja

Gammy

This morning Graham came to me in all seriousness and said, "Weeja hit BoBo Mommy." So I told him to tell Weeja "no". Graham immediately walked over to Eli and very cautiously touched him on the arm and said, "No hit BoBo, NO!"

I told Graham the other day that I just couldn't hold him because he was too heavy to which he replied, "I no heavy, I Gammy."

Brennan was up at the bar acting out and I told him to quit being crazy. Graham immediately stepped in with,"He no ca-zy Momma he Bennan."

Last night Brennan said to me, "Mom aren't you so proud of how well Graham is talking. He learned so fast."

Why yes I am proud of his precious self. I'm proud of all my boys and their uniqueness.

Our Sweet Baby

My appointment was this morning. I had a full on sonogram and was able to see our little peanut. I saw hands and feet and our little "itsy bitsy" was moving all over the place. The sono tech said that they start moving around about week 9 and this little guy was doing the jig.

I have to admit that I cried when I was able to hear that precious heartbeat. It was a strong 162 beats a minute. I was so moved the tech asked if it was our first. I just chuckled and explained how I could never grow calloused to the sound of a life growing within. It was overwhelming and such a blessing. Here's some pics of our newest:



Our due date was confirmed and we are still looking at March 20. We are thrilled and so thankful for such a healthy little peanut.

Our Fetus Rocks!

"10 Weeks Gestation

* The unborn child is now called a fetus, rather than an embryo.
* The head is half the length of the body.
* The arms and legs are long and thin.
* The hands can make a fist with fingers.
* Red blood cells are produced.
* The length is about 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 inches."

Obviously we believe life begins at conception so our little peanut has been a baby to us from pink line number two. I strongly believe that the connection between mom and baby starts as soon as the mother is aware of the life that resides within.

I have read that pregnancy is like a 9 month marathon. I don't believe I would gain nearly 60 lbs running a 9 month marathon but I understand the intensity and longevity of the strain a mother's body endures while hosting life. I am in awe of the shear fatigue that plagues me. I read that the early fatigue is primarily due to the creation of the placenta. It's such a complex organ and requires a lot of fuel to create and maintain. The placenta is complete late in the 3rd month. Almost there.

I love the show A Baby Story on TLC and yesterday there was a family that had 5 boys and were pregnant with their 6th child who happened to be a girl. I loved the parents and how they talked about their big family. At one point the mom said, "I don't think about how many kids I have, I just do what I do and love it." The dad then said,"If you can do 2 then you can do 3, if you can do 4 then you can do 5. It's just not that difficult to add one to the group and we love our large family." It was so refreshing to see another large family that really just cherishes their kids verses seeing them as a burden like so much of the world does.

While hitting a few garage sales Saturday I came upon a treasure of little girl clothes. I really just wanted one or two pieces and my mom was trying to talk me out of it (she just doesn't want me to get worked up for a girl and get disappointed). A lady also shopping commented that I wouldn't need to worry about purchasing the little onsies and such because that's what showers are for. I smiled and said, "Well this is my 5th and I have all boys. Most people don't have showers for the 5th and if it's a girl we're starting from scratch." She literally looked up at me stunned with disgust on her face. I couldn't help myself I looked right at her and said, "You look pained." She just shuffled off.

We feel so blessed by each little life God has entrusted to us. We love our large family and I don't think about how many I have or the work that's involved, I just do what I do and love it.

Under Lock and Key

Graham is a difficult child. Well, not really but he does have some extremely annoying habits. His most common issue is stripping his bed, stripping himself, and then urinating all over his mattress, bedding, and yes even the carpet. How often? Every time we put him in his crib; naps, bedtime every time.

Out of frustration and a lack of laundry detergent I decided to get creative. We've tried just about everything. He's learned to get out of everything short of a straight jacket. So last night I put him in a zip up P.J. outfit and then took a safety pin and pinned the zipper to the fabric so it can't be unzipped.

SUCCESS!! He woke up this morning fully dressed with diaper intact. YAY! I really just want to potty train him but he's just not ready. Even if I were able to train him during the day he wakes up every morning with either a full diaper or a fully soaked bed. This will have to do in the mean time.

S minus 2 days

Wednesday is our second sonogram. I can't wait to see how the baby has grown. We also will have confirmation on our due date. I am having pretty constant ligament pulls (proof that the uterus is rearranging and expanding) and I'm definitely growing.

I received several comments at church yesterday about how round I look. I don't mind so much I guess. I've come to the realization that whether you gain while pregnant or not it really has no determination on your overall long term health. I have had people a hundred pounds over weight tell me they only gained a few pounds during their pregnancy 30 years ago and women tinier than I'll ever be say they gained 80 during their pregnancies. I'm determined not to beat myself up about the abundant weight I will inevitably gain (4 x's so far why would this one be different?). Obviously my lifestyle while not pregnant is what will determine whether or not I'll be obese late in my life.

For some reason I just always get a little anxious about being weighed.

Jenny and I are still walking. We walk 3-4 x's a week and easily walk 3 miles or more each time. I know that walking will be beneficial to my health as well as the baby's. I'm already having a lot less physical issues than I did with Graham and Eli. My hip is great and my overall emotional health is really positive with an occasional irrational hiccup.

God is good and I will post a black and white blob as soon as I have the pictures. This time we should be able to make out more of a baby shape verses the round object within the black abyss. YAY!

Have Some Time to Waste?

Here is a list of names that I found on a baby name website. I went through the entire alphabet on both the girls and the boys list. Here is the exhaustive list of names that I like. Jared has vetoed a couple of the girls names so I removed them but he hasn't looked through the boys names yet. Let me know what you think. What are your favorites, what do you dislike. Here you go, it could be any of these...

I found these name(s) at BabyNamesWorld.com. The boy names go to Zachary and the girls start at Anneliese. If you have any questions let me know :)

Aidan
Asa
Asher
Carson
Christian
Cooper
Duncan
Harper
Harris
Heath
Issac
Jedidiah
Joel
Judah
Karter
Keagan
Keiran
Kendrick
Kingston
Logan
Lucas
Maddox
Max
Micah
Nathanial
Patrick
Quentin
Quint
Ramsey
Samuel
Sullivan
Zachary
Anneliese
Darby
Felicity
Hadley
Hazel
Heidi
Libby
Liliana
Lilia
Lily
Marilyn
Millie
Nora
Reegan
Rose
Rubi
Ruth
Sabrina
Sadie
Scarlett

Sure Would Appreciate It

As you know we have termites. We are currently researching all our options and are finding out that regardless of what we do it will cost hundreds (at least not thousands!!). I am going to have a garage sale in the next couple weeks to raise funds for the treatments. If you have anything you would be willing to contribute to the sale I would be willing to come get it, sort it etc.

I was looking at the calender and between work and obligations I'm probably looking close to Labor Day weekend. I honestly believe that the Lord provides all things. He will provide and I'm willing to work for it. I have done this before for curriculum and God provided exactly what we needed and even gave a $10 tip :)

We are making this our life long home and feel it necessary to do everything in our power to be good stewards of what God has granted.

This will work great, clean out the house and garage and hopefully kill off the pests eating my floor beams!

3000 Space Odyssy

We hit 3000 hits! Not bad for a young blog. Thanks so much for reading. I hope you like blogger as much as I do. We're doing well here and I really like all the editing extras I have. I love all your comments and appreciate you checking back to see what God is doing in our lives.

New Part $41; Fixing it yourself, Priceless

Our fridge went caput last night and I was concerned it was curtains for our beautiful side by side that we've had just a year (it was used, it's actually about 5 years old). I started shopping for new used one on Craigslist and realized quickly that we'd be living out of ice chests for a while if I couldn't fix it.

Kenny and Mary G. came by today to put the finishing touches on our cabinet (2 ovens, 0 fridges if you're keeping count). While they were here they told me about an appliance parts store down on 10th and Connecticut. I called and they had our part for the same price as the internet with shipping and I could have it this morning vs Tues or later. I decided to run down there and get it so I could know the fate of our fridge sooner.

Once home I pulled the fridge out from the wall and begun studying the directions and within about 15 minutes the fridge was back in working order. The compressor is fine and we have cold air!!! Yipeeeee. The starter relay was apparently fried, add a fresh one and viola.

I fixed it!!!!! HOOO HOOO. I am dancing with joy. I am so thankful and God is so good. There's a part of me that's glad we're broke. I wouldn't have even tried if we had the ability to call someone out or purchase a new one. There's so much satisfaction in figuring it out and doing it myself. Priceless!

Hee Hee, sniff sniff, hee

When there's termites the fridge goes out. Isn't that how the saying goes? Tonight I was headed to bed when I thought I better stick a water bottle in the freezer for my morning walk. When I opened the freezer I noticed water every where and the majority of the contents were soft.

Apparently our compressor is either dead or the starter relay connected to it is fried (or both). We bought the fridge used a year ago and have really loved it. I took the fridge apart and read a lot online and I have a part on order. We'll see what I can do and if this starter relay doesn't do the trick the internet experts say it's time to start shopping for a new one.

Ugh, if I don't laugh I'll cry. Hee hee, sniff.

Surprise!!! You have termites!

Early this morning I received a phone call from the Orkin man. We currently are under contract with them for pest control and apparently with that comes a free termite inspection. He asked if he could come by today and I foolishly said SURE.

The boys and I have had a pretty laid back morning and he showed up around 11. He seemed nice enough. I gave him the nickle tour and he began his inspection. His demeanor changed significantly the more he inspected. Apparently our garage is a termite buffet. I wouldn't really care too awful much except for the fact he says it's so close to the house the could easily tunnel to the house if they haven't already.

At this point I'm getting a little nervous as he chats freely about the cost of other peoples termite control. "There's a gal over in Basehor that had termites pretty bad in her detached garage and we did her house and the garage and saved her nearly a thousand dollars by doing them both at the same time!!! It was going to be $3500 and we worked her a deal for only $2400. Isn't that GREAT!"

I just keep thinking about how our escrow account jumped our house payment $200 last month and our payments for the new baby have been set up and how it may as well be 2 million 400 thousand because we just don't even kinda have money like that.

He continued on into the house announcing I may want to get Jared on the phone to hear this...

We have termites yes we do we have termites how bout you?!

Apparently they're infesting our basement and crawl space under our laundry room and bedroom. We also have carpenter ants and they can be taken care of with an additional charge of just $350 per level (we have 2)! Ain't that a bargain?

Last night in our new bible study about believing God, Beth Moore taught us something.

1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He'll do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
5. His Word is alive and abides in me.
I BELIEVE IN GOD!!!

So, I cried I'll be honest but my tears came while speaking those 5 truths and announcing my trust that God will take care of even this. Our final tally was $2400 payable in 12 monthly installments of $250 with a one time interest charge of 22% unless we are able to just hand over the full payment in cash.

Jared and I are planning on doing some research and investigating all our options but until then I am going to just Trust that the Lord will provide and assume we have a week or two before the floor collapses (kidding).

Anxious (warning birth stories ahead, not for the weak stomached)

Last night I was introduced to the newest member of our church. Baby Nolan was born on the 9th. He was 10 pounds and Joy had him without any meds. What a woman!

My reaction to meeting that precious baby was odd to me. Seeing him brought me great anxiety. Not so much for the baby itself but for delivery. You would think with my desire for a big family pregnancy and delivery would be a cinch for me. Not the case. Brennan was really the only delivery that went off without a hitch.

Tanner was 9 lbs 3 oz and 23" long. They took him at 37 weeks due to my blood pressure and he had shoulder dystocia. Everything seemed to be going okay but he was bigger than my pelvis. His little (well huge) shoulders couldn't pass and he was stuck. Dr. Sheridan was able to remove him eventually without any lasting injuries to Tanner. The birth was tramatic and I ended up with nerve damage to my bladder, severe injuries in the nether region and nightmares for the next several weeks. That was awful.

Elijah's birth was easy I think. I don't honestly remember any of it. The problem with Eli started in the hospital our first night. He had neon spit up. I mentioned it to the nurse and she was sure it was just colostrum. Last I checked my body didn't produce fluids that glow in the dark. We took him home and my first concern was that he would just stop breathing. His lips would turn purple and I would have to startle him so he would take a breath. Knowing no one would sleep that night I called Dr. Yu with my concerns and while explaining my 4 day old's scary behavior Elijah vomited an extraordinary amount of fluid covering me, the chair, and a lot of the floor. Again it was neon yellow. Apparently it was bile and our little boy was in a lot of trouble. Really long scary story short he had emergency surgery that night and spent the next 10 days in Children's Mercy while we waited to see if he would survive.

Graham's birth was...crazy. I had a bizarre pregnancy with 3 due dates as much as 5 weeks apart. I struggled with post partum depression while I was pregnant. They gave me shots in my hip to try and regulate my hormones and I was still not myself for the duration. At 34 weeks (we think) I started contractions and headed into the office. Sure enough within a hour I was dilating quickly so she sent me to the hospital. I labored for 18 hours with contractions but not much pain. I was dilated to a 7 and labor stopped. Then there was the question, I was 34 weeks do you continue labor or go home and surely deliver at home? With it being my 4th and already a 7 as soon as labor starts back up they knew it would go very quickly. So they broke my water. I started hard contracting within a hour. One contraction, two, Three contraction, HEAD, four contraction GRAHAM!!! Jared and I were alone in the room and we delivered that baby sans doctor. He hit the bed and aspirated all the amniotic fluid in his nose and throat. He was rushed to the NICU and stayed there for 8 days. While there I wasn't allowed to touch him or even talk while sitting next to him. He was a non-stimulus baby and touching him made breathing so much more difficult for him. He ended up with pneumonia due to the aspiration.

So...I'm getting a little anxious. Can you blame me?! Surely we will start with an easy birth and end with one...right?

Nesting...

I have decided to do some work upstairs to get ready for the baby. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs for the kids. Currently we have the "big" room (13X14). That is where both sets of bunkbeds, the hamsters, and 3 out of 4 boys reside. It's a large room and with all that there is still plenty of room to rumble. The other two rooms are similar in size and one serves as the nursery (where Graham sleeps until he takes his place on the bottom bunk in the big room). The other room has a queen sized bed and a tv cabinet for guests.

I did some measuring today and the spare room is somewhat larger than the nursery and it only has one window verses two large windows. The nursery measures in at 7.5 X 12 feet while the spare room is 9.5 X 13.5. Both rooms desperately need new paint after being abused for 5 years by the short people who inhabit them.

With one small window and slightly bigger in size, the spare room would be better for furniture placement (more walls less windows) and the single window facing west would allow the baby to sleep in without the sun shining brightly into the two large windows on the east side of the current nursery.

I measured the guest furniture to make sure it would fit in the smaller room and it does. The furniture is black and the bedding is red so I'm guessing the hazy blue color will have to go. I think a neutral beige would be real nice.

My plan is to decorate in pink and brown for a girl and blue and brown for a boy so painting the nursery before we know shouldn't be difficult. I want to paint the lower half a rich brown, put up a chair rail (white) and paint the top half a khaki. Once we have the cribbing and such adding touches of blue or pink should be a cinch.

I've pretty much made up my mind but convincing my husband that this is not only necessary but urgent may prove difficult. He's not real keen on me painting or moving furniture so he will definitely have to be involved. If anyone has a urge to paint let me know and I'll put you to work :)

Wow Time Flies

Just to give you some idea of how fast 9 months can go...

Yesterday was 1 month from the day we found out we were pregnant. Isn't that unreal? A month already has passed. I am really trying to take it all in and really enjoy this pregnancy since it's likely the last one. When I was pregnant with Graham I mourned each passing stage and really struggled with the idea that this was the last pregnancy, birth experience, new born, 1st birthday etc. This time I have a great peace about it.

I am obviously eager to meet this precious baby but right now I'm really enjoying the miracle that is occupying my middle.

Insomnia

It's 3 am and I can't sleep. I'm not sure what's keeping me up since I've been a walking zombie for the last several weeks. Normally I'm asleep with minutes of laying down and I've been wide a wake for hours.

I'm a little concerned for today. I have to work this afternoon and my nephew is staying with us. I will have 5 bouncing boys in just a few short hours and my kids have to do school today as well.

It's a rare occasion that I outlast Jared. In recent days I've been heading off to bed around 9-930 and Jared is quite the night owl. He's sound asleep and here I am listening to the sound of the hamster wheel.

Hopefully this high will last all day so that I can make it through my day. I get home from work around 6:30 pm. If I can just make it until then!

We're Cookin' Now!

I have been asked by several family members to post pictures of the new cabinet "already!" So here they are. Kenny and Mary G. custom made a cabinet for our kitchen to house another oven. I thought with 5 children and a hankerin' for company we would really benefit from two ovens. I am EXTREMELY pleased with the results. Please keep in mind there are a few finishing touches yet to be done. There will be crown molding across the front blending it with the other cabinets and obviously there will be doors but they had to go home with Kenny for some alterations. Tomorrow it should be complete.

Here's the before (sorry it's the best I could find) There was a small desk that served only to collect clutter. We stored our pop and potatoes underneath and everything else on the desktop:


Here's the after:


The bottom has two drawers that hold 100 lbs each and I am able to fill them with all my baking goods. I LOVE how much it holds. Once all the finishing touches are done I'll add another picture. We baked cookies in it this evening and it worked awesome. I am so excited and plan to have a dinner to thank all of those involved. Plus having the new addition did rev up my cleaning gland. I went into high gear today and was able to get all kinds of things accomplished. So we're clean and cookin! YAY!!

Housekeeper for Hire?

As I was sitting in Jared's recliner this afternoon refusing to move I took a minute and looked around my house. I normally keep house pretty well with the occasional clutter here and there from the boys.

Now I'm lucky if I wash the dishes every other day and the laundry is a wash (hee hee). I currently have piles of laundry on every surface in my bedroom and the laundry room. I can't remember the last time I scrubbed the toilet (because I then have to hurl in it). I bought groceries last night and didn't finish putting them away until this evening. Where did my clean house go? Better yet where did my desire for a clean house go?

I am assuming that as I start into the 2nd trimester I will be able to regain my ability and desire when I start to feel "normal" again. Tomorrow my new kitchen cabinet for our second oven is being installed. Normally when I change even the slightest thing it starts a cleaning frenzy so the new item can be seen in it's best light ( I know it's strange, my mom understands. She's the same way). So hopefully I will feel the urge after it's all done.

Right now I just feel really tired and unmotivated.

Wow, I needed That

Jenny and I have been walking about 4 miles each morning. This morning at about 7:30am I received a text from her asking for the morning off. The funny thing was I was hoping for the same thing since 6:30am. I quickly replied, "yes please!" and then rolled over.

My kids are still recovering from the 4 hour slip and slide marathon Wednesday night and slept in this morning so I didn't get up until 10:00!!! I can't remember the last time I slept until 10 am.

I have been so extremely exhausted for the last couple weeks. I could honestly sleep at any given time. Jared was home yesterday and I took a hour and a half nap. He sent me to bed after I fell asleep on the couch a couple times.

I feel it necessary to walk each morning because I'm insane with my eating. When I can eat (not nauseated) I eat anything I want. I had a double quarter pounder with cheese from McDonald's yesterday and a DQ blizzard last night topped off with two sugar cookies and milk before bed. I haven't eaten like that since my last pregnancy. I really want to behave but I have no will power at all and what sounds good is what I eat.

The walking is good for me but I barely have the energy to do that and stay awake throughout my day. Hopefully the sleepy fog will lift and I'll regain my eating sanity so walking can be more for enjoyment and health benefit vs a guilt trip for my eating habits.

1st Appointment

I went in early this morning for my first OB visit. I was so eager to see our little peanut just for peace of mind.

Every thing looked really good and I saw that precious heart just beating away. Dr. Sheridan said that our chances of miscarriage at this point are less than 5%. In his words, "looks like this chick is gonna hatch, congratulations."

He did say that the baby's measurements make it just a few days younger than we thought but we are going back 2 weeks from today for another sonogram to make sure of the due date. We are still looking at the end of March.

I will share sonogram images but honestly it just looks like a tiny blob. The baby is the obvious oval within the sack. During the sonogram the very middle of the image is where the heartbeat was and it was so perfect. I could even see the valve opening and closing.

World...this is our new baby. New baby...World.

WW Success

My boss called me tonight and it looks like we'll be going to back to back meetings the first of September. When I was hired it was with the notion that we would "see how it goes" and later decide whether or not their was enough interest to warrant two meetings.

I have been leading Monday nights since mid July and I am super pleased with the fact that we are already going to do two meetings. This is a great boost to our income as well as my self-esteem.

I will work Thursday nights leading up to September to get to know members in the other meetings and then the first Monday in September we'll open with 2 meetings, one at 5 and the other at 6:30.

Jared and I are planning a mini vacation with the kids in October. We are going to take them to Omaha to the zoo and children's museum. We went 3 years ago and are eager to introduce Graham (and Eli, he probably doesn't remember much) to the zoo. Working these extra meetings will allow us to go and stay at a hotel for a night and have 2 days for the kids to enjoy themselves. We are really excited and thankful for the extra income.

YAY!

Closing in on 8 weeks

I am currently 7 weeks and a few days pregnant. I thought I would give you a glimpse of our growing baby. This is an 8 week gestation baby.



Can you believe the changes! That's just almost recognizable. My first appointment is Wednesday so I will be able to post actual sonogram images. I've always been an avid reader of pregnancy books but the internet is so much better. You can find so much information (sometimes too much which leads to worry). I love researching images and finding out what's going on in there.

8 Weeks Gestation
All essential organs have begun to form.
Elbows and toes are visible.
The fingers have grown to the first joint.
Facial features — the eyes, nose, lips, and tongue — continue to develop.
The outer ears begin to take shape.
Organs begin to be controlled by the brain.
The length is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch.

Our Date

Here are some pictures from our date day in St. Charles. We headed out late morning and stopped at Chevy's for some delicious TexMex. It was amazing and SO delicious. My favorite part was their parking.


After our lunch we decided to walk off some of the chips we consumed while wandering the old brick streets of St. Charles.






We had a wonderful time. We weren't able to stay too long however because of the heat. It was sweltering. Jared was manning the camera and at one point said, "Hey why don't you stand about....here looks good. Just smile." So I did as I was told and then he showed me why he picked this particular spot notice the sign above my head (and the baby bump, hee hee):

It really was a fun weekend full and we are so thankful to be home. We don't have any plans to be away from the kids in the near future and I think all our babysitters are glad to hear that. We really are so thankful to all of you who made it possible for us to go both financially as well as taking care of the boys and supporting us as a family. Thank you so much.

Home At Last

Jared and I arrived home around 2:30pm and we are both so thankful to see our little boys. It's nice to have a trip but it's nicer to come home to those sweet faces.

We have all kinds of pictures I want to share. Right now laundry is calling so keep checking back!

No, I stayed in a Holiday Inn Select

Jared and I checked in yesterday at 4 and after given our room key we very excitedly headed up the elevator. In order to get to our floor you had to use the key in the elevator. Seemed pretty fancy to us.

Once we arrived on the 6th floor we went to the room, inserted the key, opened and...the room was occupied. There was a suitcase on the floor, the bed was messed and a coffee sat on the counter with a ton of pocket change. Awkward! Apparently they double booked the room. We drug our things back down stairs to the front desk.

That poor little guy was sweating bullets. We were gifted the "suite" from Zach and Maeve because they had booked another hotel for their first night. The suite was comped by the hotel since their entire families had booked rooms and they rented a conference room for the reception. The clerk was searching floor after floor and there were no rooms available. He finally found a room on the top floor in the back corner.

The room is fine and we were finally able to cool it off. The only issue is the bed. It's not rock hard like most hotel beds, it's ancient. No joke. This bed is like visiting your grandparents and using their spare room that has the bed they were given on their wedding day 800 years ago. We both roll to the center and have to reset ourselves by grabbing onto the edge. I guess they figure newlyweds wouldn't mind dog piling in the middle of the bed.

I actually slept fairly well believe it or not. I'd ask Jared how he slept but he's currently snoring behind me while I type. I'd say he's fine :)

We went to a local mall last night after dinner at the church. We just walked around and enjoyed each other. It's really nice to have some time to remember why we picked one another. We've been able to have several conversations uninterrupted. Today's our date day and I'm off to the shower. I bought a tank top yesterday at Motherhood Maternity that says "Craving Chocolate." I'm eager to put it good use today.