Motherhood Is a Calling (And Where Your Children Rank)
If you are a mother, check out this link and even if you're not! I'm finding myself more and more aware of the people (pessimistic type) this article mentions as our time comes to have 2 children under 2. I really look forward to it, and can't wait to see how AnnElise falls into her big sister role! God has blessed us with way more than we ever thought was possible.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Gender Predictions...
So here we are at the beginning of my 9th month! Only one more month left until we meet our sweet peanut. The most popular question is the gender... I've compiled a list of old wives' tales that you can go off of. Along with the gender, you can guess when I'll actually deliver. So here's the wives tales and other details.
The Chinese birth calendar predicts that we are having a FEMALE. The Mayan tale (add age at conception with age at birth. if its odd then boy, even then girl) predicts a MALE. The ring on the string says FEMALE (although I've come across two different predictions so this one is going with the ring swaying back and forth NOT circles is girl). Carrying high or low... I've been told I'm carrying low, so it predicts a MALE. The heartbeat stays around 145 at every checkup which means FEMALE. I mostly crave sweet things, points to a FEMALE. I did take a quiz of sorts, which predicted 60% MALE. There's also a hairline tale that I've never heard of until recently where you look at your last child's hairline if it comes to a point then its the opposite sex of that child and if it goes straight across then its the same sex... AE's comes to a point, so a MALE. I've not had a single bit of morning sickness in this pregnancy, I've had a lot of energy so far (for the most part), my hair and skin haven't changed, and I've gained about 30 lbs so far as opposed to the last pregnancy and only gained 25lbs. This pregnancy doesn't feel any different than with AE. So that's what you have to go off of with the gender. Looks like its either going to be a boy or girl:) Here's my prediction, which is totally opposite of what I felt like in the beginning, FEMALE!
When you guess the gender, you can also guess when the birth date will be. I'm due August 30th. I've measured right on target every time. I did have preeclampsia with AnnElise and ended up being induced at 38 weeks after only 1 week of bedrest. Its pretty good odds that I'll get it again and have to be induced early, but I'm really holding out hope. At my last visit, the doc said my blood pressure is going up again, but not preeclampsia so far. I'm dilated to 1cm and the head was "engaged"!
So lets hear your guesses on gender and birthdate. There will be a prize for the winner! You can either respond in my comments, email or tell me your guess if I see you regularly and I'll write them down. The gender will be announced on here before Facebook. Happy guessing:)
The Chinese birth calendar predicts that we are having a FEMALE. The Mayan tale (add age at conception with age at birth. if its odd then boy, even then girl) predicts a MALE. The ring on the string says FEMALE (although I've come across two different predictions so this one is going with the ring swaying back and forth NOT circles is girl). Carrying high or low... I've been told I'm carrying low, so it predicts a MALE. The heartbeat stays around 145 at every checkup which means FEMALE. I mostly crave sweet things, points to a FEMALE. I did take a quiz of sorts, which predicted 60% MALE. There's also a hairline tale that I've never heard of until recently where you look at your last child's hairline if it comes to a point then its the opposite sex of that child and if it goes straight across then its the same sex... AE's comes to a point, so a MALE. I've not had a single bit of morning sickness in this pregnancy, I've had a lot of energy so far (for the most part), my hair and skin haven't changed, and I've gained about 30 lbs so far as opposed to the last pregnancy and only gained 25lbs. This pregnancy doesn't feel any different than with AE. So that's what you have to go off of with the gender. Looks like its either going to be a boy or girl:) Here's my prediction, which is totally opposite of what I felt like in the beginning, FEMALE!
When you guess the gender, you can also guess when the birth date will be. I'm due August 30th. I've measured right on target every time. I did have preeclampsia with AnnElise and ended up being induced at 38 weeks after only 1 week of bedrest. Its pretty good odds that I'll get it again and have to be induced early, but I'm really holding out hope. At my last visit, the doc said my blood pressure is going up again, but not preeclampsia so far. I'm dilated to 1cm and the head was "engaged"!
So lets hear your guesses on gender and birthdate. There will be a prize for the winner! You can either respond in my comments, email or tell me your guess if I see you regularly and I'll write them down. The gender will be announced on here before Facebook. Happy guessing:)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sickness took over...
I suddenly recall the time that I had the worst cold in history... pregnancy with AnnElise! I can't remember when exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was in my 2nd trimester. Pregnancy magnifies every sickness.
AnnElise started getting sick over a week ago, then BAM!, (her first sickness) I started getting a little tickle in my throat a couple of days after she started showing signs of a cold. At the same time, Daniel said he was feeling a little sick. Daniel had a sniffle or two and a few days of sneezing, then voila! he's better. AE and I are still getting over our colds and its been two weeks with her, almost two for me. I took her to the doc last Saturday since she woke up with a rash, but the doc seemed to think it was a virus that would pass eventually. I went this past Thursday and got some antibiotics to clear up a sinus and ear infection. I'm starting to feel a lot better. My face doesn't feel quite as much like a punching bag as it did at the beginning of the week. I'm really counting my blessings though. We're rarely sick, so I'll take this long lasting cold and sinus infection over being sick several times during the year. AnnElise seems to be handling it really well, definitely better than me so far. She's also getting in four molars, so she's a little more needy.
I'm rounding the corner to 35 weeks pregnant.... and trying to get bags packed and the last little things needed to welcome home a newborn. Speaking of, we're about to start a contest of "guess the gender". I'll give some details soon that go along with wives tales and such. You can be on Daniel's team, routing for a boy, or mine, routing for a girl! I'm really excited about waiting to find out gender! I'm so glad that Daniel talked me into it, even though it makes it harder to prepare. I feel like it makes the whole experience more worth it.
AnnElise started getting sick over a week ago, then BAM!, (her first sickness) I started getting a little tickle in my throat a couple of days after she started showing signs of a cold. At the same time, Daniel said he was feeling a little sick. Daniel had a sniffle or two and a few days of sneezing, then voila! he's better. AE and I are still getting over our colds and its been two weeks with her, almost two for me. I took her to the doc last Saturday since she woke up with a rash, but the doc seemed to think it was a virus that would pass eventually. I went this past Thursday and got some antibiotics to clear up a sinus and ear infection. I'm starting to feel a lot better. My face doesn't feel quite as much like a punching bag as it did at the beginning of the week. I'm really counting my blessings though. We're rarely sick, so I'll take this long lasting cold and sinus infection over being sick several times during the year. AnnElise seems to be handling it really well, definitely better than me so far. She's also getting in four molars, so she's a little more needy.
I'm rounding the corner to 35 weeks pregnant.... and trying to get bags packed and the last little things needed to welcome home a newborn. Speaking of, we're about to start a contest of "guess the gender". I'll give some details soon that go along with wives tales and such. You can be on Daniel's team, routing for a boy, or mine, routing for a girl! I'm really excited about waiting to find out gender! I'm so glad that Daniel talked me into it, even though it makes it harder to prepare. I feel like it makes the whole experience more worth it.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
My Husbands Got Skills
We closed on our house about a year ago. Since then, Daniel has been hard at work. There's rarely a day that goes by when he's off of work that he's not doing some kind of improvement to our house or land. Daniel is easily THE hardest worker that I know. Really, he is. He's like a work horse, he can't just sit and relax for 1 day. Here's a few of our biggest improvements so far with our house. I'm not sure how anyone could live here in the condition that we bought it in. I think our very good friend and realtor, Susie Lowrance, thought we were crazy for buying it. We would be crazy to not buy it considering the deal we got on it.
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| This kitchen was completely gutted, walls and floor. It was a moldy mess under the sink and the sub floor was rotten. |
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| Love this kitchen! The only way it could be better is if we had concrete countertops, which was our original plan, but too hard to DIY and too expensive to hire someone to do it. I'm very proud of Daniel's work. This was a lot of time and trouble. |
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| I didn't have a before picture of the vanity, but it was a double shell style sink. We painted the old vanity cabinet and bought a single sink top for it. Made a huge difference. |
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| Daniel added a wall to tile the shower in, and used the leftover tile from the Lowrances' kitchen to tile the bathroom floor. |
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| For some reason this is the only picture that I got of AE's old room before renovation! All of the paneling was ripped out. Daniel did all new sheetrock on the walls AND ceiling! |
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| With new walls, paint, trim/molding, and carpet! |
As a bonus, here is the same room as the picture above, finished... this is the nursery for the new baby, but first for Baylor when she comes to visit:)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Farming
Our chicken is laying eggs, our kitten is catching mice, the dog is guarding (sort of, his guard duties are to the house now that he's killed a couple of chickens), the gardens are giving us yummy vegetables, the goats are clearing out some brush in the field, and we're producing as well. The chickens are free range, and we're getting 1 a day for the last few days, so I'm guessing there's only 1 laying right now and the gardens just happen to be organic since we haven't had a pest problem yet! Yay for production!
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| Our 1st, very tiny egg! |
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
To follow up on the last post, AnnElise hasn't climbed out of her crib again since last Saturday. I am very thankful that she quit doing that. I also haven't caught her taking her diaper off again so maybe we just very quickly by-passed that stage. She's not defiant by nature at all (unless she's really tired) which makes it really easy to correct her. She's getting to the fun age of pretend play. She rocked her baby doll and sang "Jesus Loves Me"to her, said "night, night", gave her a kiss, and then went down for her nap. One of the greatest things about being a parent at this stage, especially, is watching their personality develop. She's just so much fun right now, and it keeps getting better the more she learns. I've been trying to find a good book (christian) about raising a daughter, or just a child, so if anyone has any suggestions message me.
I had mentioned something about my grandma falling several weeks back. I'm very happy to report that she is doing much better and about to enter into an assisted living home, willingly. She's been in rehab almost ever since the fall. At almost 92, she just can't take care of herself anymore. If she hates it, she can always return home and get round the clock sitters. I just hope its the best decision and that she enjoys having other people her age around with lots of activities to participate in and the best possible care she can get.
I had mentioned something about my grandma falling several weeks back. I'm very happy to report that she is doing much better and about to enter into an assisted living home, willingly. She's been in rehab almost ever since the fall. At almost 92, she just can't take care of herself anymore. If she hates it, she can always return home and get round the clock sitters. I just hope its the best decision and that she enjoys having other people her age around with lots of activities to participate in and the best possible care she can get.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Winning...
This is the stage that I would like to call "Winning!" This morning I walked in to get AE up after been outside letting chickens out and feeding our dog and new barn cat. I hadn't heard her crying just talking a bit, maybe some singing and this is what I found...
... I caught her just in time to see her try to escape for the 1st time (at least that I'm aware of). Really, I'm surprised its taken her this long to try, but the girl does like her sleep and usually reaches for her crib when its time. She's beginning to be a bit defiant lately and testing us out. I've probably let things slip by without much thought about discipline so now I got to get my game face back on and get her back in line.
I put her down for nap time and before I got out of the room I turned around and said "night, night" and she was swinging her leg up on the rail. I didn't realize she was tall enough, but she made it look so easy. It worried me some. I don't want her falling and getting hurt, but I'm not ready for the toddler bed struggle either. I bought a rail and turned her crib into a toddler bed to try it out. She loved the fact that she could crawl in and out. FAIL. We by-passed nap and she was a beast this afternoon and getting her to go down for bed wasn't easy. I started early, and ended up putting her crib back together. I caught her climbing out 2 more times, maybe 3. She cried every time she got to the top so I went in there and played tough love on her bottom so she knew I meant business. Its been a few minutes, but I'm pretty sure she's asleep now and hopefully she'll stay asleep or at least won't try to climb out anymore. I did put some cushions on the floor just in case she made it out. So far, she's gotten to the top and I think has been too afraid or not known what to do next to get all of the way down.
She listens really well to me most of the time, but lack of sleep makes her really defiant. Even when I put her back in the crib, I could say "sit down, please" and she actually would every time.
... I caught her just in time to see her try to escape for the 1st time (at least that I'm aware of). Really, I'm surprised its taken her this long to try, but the girl does like her sleep and usually reaches for her crib when its time. She's beginning to be a bit defiant lately and testing us out. I've probably let things slip by without much thought about discipline so now I got to get my game face back on and get her back in line.
I put her down for nap time and before I got out of the room I turned around and said "night, night" and she was swinging her leg up on the rail. I didn't realize she was tall enough, but she made it look so easy. It worried me some. I don't want her falling and getting hurt, but I'm not ready for the toddler bed struggle either. I bought a rail and turned her crib into a toddler bed to try it out. She loved the fact that she could crawl in and out. FAIL. We by-passed nap and she was a beast this afternoon and getting her to go down for bed wasn't easy. I started early, and ended up putting her crib back together. I caught her climbing out 2 more times, maybe 3. She cried every time she got to the top so I went in there and played tough love on her bottom so she knew I meant business. Its been a few minutes, but I'm pretty sure she's asleep now and hopefully she'll stay asleep or at least won't try to climb out anymore. I did put some cushions on the floor just in case she made it out. So far, she's gotten to the top and I think has been too afraid or not known what to do next to get all of the way down.
She listens really well to me most of the time, but lack of sleep makes her really defiant. Even when I put her back in the crib, I could say "sit down, please" and she actually would every time.
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