Nov. 24, 2009 - Blog Breaks

A lot of my favorite bloggers seem to be taking blog breaks.  I hate it, because after all, they are my favorite bloggers.  I love reading what they have to say.  I realize that I love their blogs because they are the type of women who place their home and families first, so them taking blogging breaks to focus on the most important things is encouraging to me because I want to keep my family my first focus as well. 

During the last month and a half or so, I've been working on keeping my head above water around here as I've gotten slower and more tired.  As usual, my brain has been going faster than my body.  I've started off many days with big plans for a deep cleaning of some room, only to find myself satisfied with a general cleaning-up. No one would know what a neat freak I am if they walked in our house today.  And I'm okay with that.  One of these days I'll get to clean to my heart's content while wondering what all my kids and grandkids are up to that day.  Maybe I'll forego the cleaning and just go find out.  ;-)

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Nov. 2, 2009 - Baby Grace

Jack, our 9 year old, has taken to fake burping.  His favorite thing is the burp INSIDE something so that the sound will be amplified.  He's becoming a real pro, and I really don' t know whether to laugh with him or scold him for being so ungentlemanly.  Henry, our 3 year old, is his other half.  He is also becoming very adept at the classic fake burp.  These two boys share a room which is next to mine and Darin's room.  You can imagine the fun that drifts over into our room in the mornings. 

They do have their differences.  It takes Jack a little longer to let go of a grievance than it does Henry, which is interesting when they've got each other worked up.  Jack will sit with his arms crossed, not daring to look at anyone around him.  And there will be Henry, who has already recovered from the incident, hovering over Jack, saying, "It's okay, buddy.  It's okay."  Then he'll start patting Jack on the head and before we know it, Jack starts laughing uncontrollably and all is well again.  It's fun to watch them together.  Their latest favorite thing is to play "tackle football" in the living room.  Jack is just the right amount of rough with his 3 year old bro.  Every now and then Henry will say, "Jack, let's go kick and punch!" 

Then there's Ben.  14 years old.  This year was the first time he did not want to participate in handing out candy and tracts to trick or treaters.  He hung out with Darin and me in the living room.  We call him "the old man."  He's always cold and can sound like a grouchy old man every now and then.  Tonight, Lydia was talking about Christmas lights when Ben, in his best deadpan, said, "Do we have to do Christmas lights this year?"  (LOL!  I'm just chalking that one up to his being tired from getting up for his 6:30 a.m. football practice.)  He's so sweet with Henry and Sophia, enjoys reading through different books with Lydia, and this fall, has been teaching Jack how to play football.  He's a good big brother.

Lydia - our sweet girl.  If all our daughters could have the same sweet spirit she does, we would be set for life. I call her my "little mama" because she is a natural with our littles.  She could play endlessly with them - to the point where I sometimes have to remind her that she has other work to do!  ;-)  She loves playing the piano.  She reminds me of my sister.  My sister is a great pianist.  Every time she got the chance throughout the day, she would sit down and go through a few songs.  Lydia does the same thing.  Like a true 11 year old, she NEVER runs out of things to talk about.  I love that because I never have to guess what she's thinking about.

Sophia - I remember wondering on this very blog just WHO this little girl would be.  Well.  At 22 months, she seems to have been born with a writing utensil in her hand.  She will spend over half her day filling up spiral notebooks with her scribbling.  She's also partial to the coloring sheets I print out for her with babies on them.  She's always very passionate about what she wants and amazes me with how she can do a belly flop on the floor when she's unhappy about something - must be her small stature that allows her to get away with that.  At almost two years, she is just now growing out of her 12 month pants.  She's gorgeous with her white blonde hair and bright blue eyes.  We all dote on her and it's a really good thing she's not going to be the baby of the family!  ;-)

And so here I am, again, wondering who our new baby will be.  I am so anxious to meet her, I can barely stand it.  Someone that I ran into at the chiropractic office told me that she will be like a twin to Sophia.  Well, that would be okay, but how does he know?  ;-)  I mean, it's always possible, but I can't imagine it.  They are all so unique.  Such gifts from God, our Creator.  I take comfort that He already knows her, and that He knew who she was at the beginning of time, and knew she would be mine and Darin's daughter.  I remember back in high school, chatting with my pals about who we would marry, how many kids we would have, what their names would be, where we would live...MAN.  A verse comes to mind at this point.

1 Corinthians 2:9: But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

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Oct. 19, 2009 - Nesting

Usually when I start nesting during pregnancy, I start gathering in things like toilet paper.  Oh my.  With the first three, that was my obsession.  I had every bathroom cabinet packed tight with TP.  With the fourth, I decided that I was being ridiculous over toilet paper, so switched to dryer sheets.  I didn't have to buy dryer sheets for the first year of Henry's life.  With Sophia, I got a clue and collected cleaning products.  You would think, with all my household product collecting with the first five children, that no one was going to be allowed to leave the house to go to the store - EVER.  But really, who can argue with the logic - we never had to worry about TP, dryer sheets or cleaning products, and that's one less thing to stress over,  ya?  I just know that my special stashes saved me...maybe that'll be one of the questions I ask God when I get to Heaven.  "Tell me!  What sort of trouble did I save myself with all the dryer sheets I had on-hand during the first year of Henry's life?"  Can't wait!

With this current pregnancy, I feel I've finally hit my stride.  I am making tons of food for the freezer.  Usually my Mom is here performing her Tennessee Woman Cooking Magic.  Since she won't be this time around :-/ I'm trying to pick up her slack.  What amazes me is my militant attitude about it.  I mean, I mean business.  Any kid tries to snag a banana pancake that I've set aside for the freezer and I'm on top of them in about two seconds.  No one takes away my freezer food, man.

This past week was my first week preparing food for the freezer.  Here's what I have so far:
Breakfast:
Banana Pancakes
Crustless Quiche

Breads:
Whole Wheat Bread
Spice Bread w/ a side of Maple Butter

Main Meals:
Ravioli Casserole
Farmhouse Chicken

The really great thing about this freezer food is that I only prepared half of what is on the list.  Darin and I have gotten super-duper serious about having the older three be able to run the kitchen.  Again, my Mom won't be here to keep life humming for us, so SOMEONE'S gotta do it!  The only ones we could think of were Ben, Lydia and Jack.  They are 14, 11, and 9, and I tell you, they are really catching on.  It has taken awhile, and they still have moments when they refuse to work together while insisting on deep lines in the sand concerning where their own contributions end and begin, but little by little, they are learning to work together and get things done.  I leave the kitchen after every meal, stay within earshot, and let them have at it.  Just in the past two or three weeks, I've given Ben and Lydia entire meals to cook, and they've done so well.  I can't wait to see them in action after the baby is born.  What a blessing they will be to Darin, me, and really, to the whole family.

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Oct. 17, 2009 - High School Life

I have so little time to blog these days, but things keep piling up on my "mental list of things to blog about" that I almost feel short circuited.  I don't know if I can actually get out a coherent blog entry because of the overflow of thoughts.  We'll see...

As I thought, the football-thing has been a challenge for Ben.  Darin and I wondered how he would take the added stress of the football schedule along with his other responsibilities.  We're grading him on a curve on this one since this is a new situation for him.  He's used to having plenty of time for school and chores, but now we are three weeks away from the end of the season and he seems to still have a ways to go in figuring out how to balance everything.  He keeps thinking he should have the same amount of free time he always had.  Funny.  I find myself still thinking that way sometimes.  It's just one of those lifelong struggles, isn't it?

We began World Views of the Western World I with Ben this fall.  Where we live, most sign their kids up for an outside class for this curriculum.  The author, David Quine, says that when he wrote it, he had in mind the parents and student going through it together and having conversations about it.  So Darin and I decided to go for it and we're really glad we are going through it with Ben.  Not only are we learning things we never even had inklings about, but there have been a few conversations with Ben that have really been enjoyable.  It is such a privilege to homeschool our high school boy.  I can't imagine missing all the fascinating conversations we're going to have with him over the next four years.  And those ah-ha moments don't stop after elementary school.  They're continuing, and it's so fun to see connections being made in his mind - growing up, young adult connections, that will lead to more mature thoughts and beliefs.  I am just in awe of this homeschooling thing.  I wish we were doing it perfectly, but I'm praying that God is taking care of the graded curve on this one for us.  ;-)

I have farmed out one aspect of Ben's schooling.  Writing.  I was an English major in college and got pretty good grades, but I am no writing teacher.  A friend of mine told me about Patrick Henry's Writing Mentors for High School Students.  I thought about it for a bit, then remembered that MY SISTER is a High School English teacher.  Big "duh" moment for me.  ;-)  She has always been very supportive of our homeschooling, so it was a no-brainer to ask for her help.  And so she is working with Ben and helping him to fine tune his writing skills in a way that I would have really struggled to do.  It's worked out so well that she has begun to also work with Lydia, our comma queen. 

It's a great blessing - next time our kids complain to us about their brothers and sisters, we need to remind them that they have the family they have for a reason!  Of course I know that I don't have my sister only to teach my kids writing, but I know it's part of the reason.  God knew I would need my big sis in this way one day.  :-)

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Oct. 2, 2009 - And Our Jaws Dropped

Part 2 and 3 of our insurance drama...

PART 2
A wonderful friend of mine read my last blog entry and recommended CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) for me, since I'm pregnant, and for the kids.  We checked it out and were excited about it, but we do not qualify for the program.  Darin's income is $500 more than the minimum requirement.  But after the baby is born, we will qualify for it since there will be one more member of the household to include in the final count.  So we're getting our paper work ready for December and will get that going as soon as the baby is born.  Darin and I plan to still check out Samaritin Ministries for ourselves.

PART 3
So Darin was working away in his office and two of his bosses entered.  They were wondering why we chose to opt-out of the insurance plan for the year.  Darin explained that we couldn't afford a potential $15,000 in insurance payouts, so we decided to wing it for a few months before looking into the Samaritin Ministries deal.  You know, all I wrote about in the last post. 

But Darin's "boss" boss was not happy with that.  He was concerned that between now and the Samaritin Ministries/CHIP thing that something major would happen and we would be $100,000 in the hole, rather than $15,000 in the hole.  Well, that was our concern as well, but we felt as though we just needed to trust God for our safety.  His boss said, "I'm not a big fan of insurance.  I think it's a scam, and I've gone without it before, but not when I had as many kids as you or was as old as you."  LoL!  i.e. When he was a young man in his 20's.  ;-) 

So he and the other boss stepped out of Darin's office to confer for a minute.  When they came back in, they offered to pay our premiums from now till December, when we can get the kids on CHIP.  Then in January, Darin and I can either stay with the plan or sign-up for Samaritin Ministries.  AND they are giving Darin a $1000 bonus on his next check to help pay for our Midwife! 

It's a done deal and we are blown away.  This was totally unexpected.  We know that God is good, but we just did not expect anything like this.  The kids and I had prayed the day before for God's protection and so after I got off the phone with Darin and told the kids the latest update, we prayed again and thanked Him for that protection.  Sometimes we don't always see God's Hand at work in our lives so obviously and it's moments like this, when we can see Him moving, that just takes our breath away. 

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Sep. 26, 2009 - I Can't Even THINK of What to Title this Post....

On Thursday, Darin brought home some papers he received from one of his bosses on his way out the door.  It was a recap of the new insurance set-up for the coming year.  Darin said he read over it, but didn't get it, so I decided to take a turn and immediately I understood why he didn't understand what was on the paper.  WHO WOULD?  Who could believe what was right there on black and white?  To recap: it seems Darin's company has thrown it's employees under the bus on this one.  I won't go into the details, but it seems that way. 

Here's the deal: Our health insurance premiums went down 25 bucks a month to $400.  Starts out good.  Then comes the Freak Out part. 

Our deductible is $5,000 per person, or $10,000 for the family. 

But after that we're covered at 100%, baby!

Sigh.

Basically, our insurance has gone up from close to $5,000 a year to $9,000-$15,000 per year. 

We're amazed. 

We're also not signing up for this joke of a plan.  Our immediate concern is the birth of our new baby girl in December.  We cannot pay for a hospital birth.  We looked up what we and our insurance company paid for Sophia's birth - about $12,000.  We paid 20% of that after our $1000 deductible was met.  But now we can't imagine being able to pay $10,000!  Oh my.  That just gets my heart beating real fast.

So....we are checking out a local midwife that some of my friends have begged me to go to for the last couple of babies.  ;-)  It should be a fraction of the cost without the presence of those abhorrent spine numbing epidurals.  eeek!  Please, REALLY.  Say a prayer for me about this.  The good news is that my labor has dramatically sped up with every baby.  The other good news is that I have never been one to have to push longer than 5 or 10 minutes.  The OTHER good news is that our chiropractor has been getting my pelvis good and lined up so the baby can just come right out with no hang-ups.  He told me today that I'm perfectly lined up and ready to go and that he can't wait for the delivery.  (me too! ;-) The other good news is that I have already been working at trying to psyche myself up for an epidural-free delivery, but I was keeping it to myself because ya know, if one talks about things out loud, it tends to make it harder to follow through.  At least for me it does.  My resolve weakens and then I give in to whatever it was I was trying to psyche myself up for.  But I don't have to worry about giving in to the epidural this time since there won't be an option for it. 

I know I sound like a total wimp to some of you ladies out there, but I have been induced with every baby.  Those induced contractions are STRONG and painful. 

Anyway...it is what it is.  Definitely no epidural this time around.  I'm almost relieved that the choice has been made for me.  I won't have to feel like a failure for giving in this time around, if you know what I mean. 

ANYWAY...say a prayer for the protection of our family.  We are going to use the money we would normally pay towards our insurance premium to pay for the midwife.  After that, we will probably try to sign-on with Samaritan Ministries (we've heard good things).  Pray that our family will stay healthy and injury-free!

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Sep. 20, 2009 - Mom and Dad

My Mom and Dad have always been here when we have a baby.  After Ben was born, they came and brought along my teenage niece and nephew and stayed a couple weeks.  We were living in a two bedroom apartment at the time, but we all crowded in and had a great time together.

Lydia was a difficult pregnancy.  I was put on bedrest at 31 weeks, and down flew my Mom from TN.  She stayed with us for seven weeks and saw us through the first week of Lydia's little life.  My Mom is a huge homebody and I can't imagine the torture of staying in someone else's home for almost two months, but she did it with a smile on her face the entire time.

When Jack was born, we had another two week visit from my parents as well as my nephew Josh.  It was great to have them there because Jack had been a 10 pound 2 oz. big boy.  I was very sore after that delivery!  Mom served up more of her good ol' Tennessee homecooking while my Dad took the kids to the park and kept himself busy doing any home improvements for us that he could.

I started having false labor pains - intense false labor pains - pretty close to Henry's due date.  Before then, my parents hadn't been sure when they would come - before or after the birth.  But as soon as they got the update on what I was going through, they hit the interstate and were with us within two days.  Mom totally takes over and boy, was I glad to see her then.  :-)

Sophia was born in December.  My parents decided that they were going to come and spend the entire month with us so they could also be here for Christmas.  They got here around the 4th and Sophia was born on the 7th.  The whole month was one big date night for Darin and me.  :-)  Mom and Dad kept reminding us, "We won't always be here!  You go spend some time together while you can!  We'll stay here and hold the baby."  LoL  When we would leave, Mom would be in the rocking chair, holding Sophia.  We always found her in the same position when we got back.  It killed her back, but she was in heaven.  A few times Dad said she even let him hold her.  ;-)

But we noticed a difference in my parents the last time they were here.  I am the 5th of 6...my parents were born during the Depression...my Dad is 79 and my Mom is 74.  They didn't seem as energetic as in the past.  In fact, it was a big difference between Henry and Sophia's birth.  They are 21 months apart.  My parents noticed it, too, and said they probably would not be able to help out if there were another.  And they can't.  They are both struggling with health issues this year.  My Dad just had heart surgery to replace a valve and repair another and my Mom is struggling with her own things. 

It's really hard to think they won't be here when our new little one makes her debut this December!  I think it's hardest on the kids because they have so MANY cherished memories with Mamaw and Papaw and want to continue building on them.  My parents have been such good grandparents and they absolutely have the love and devotion of the Beard children to prove it. 

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Sep. 5, 2009 - Sense? Sensibility???

It was one of our crazy/busy weeks this week and by Friday night I could barely walk.  I spent most of my days this week on my feet going from one thing to the next which is really nothing out of the ordinary for me, but when I'm pregnant, I always move slowly.  I've been trying to move at my regular speed, and became real sore at the bottom of my tummy - I guess where most of the weight of the baby rests.  After dinner, Darin banished me to the couch where I sat and watched Ben, Lydia and Jack cleaning the kitchen.  After we had all the kids in bed, I finally stretched out on the couch and was probably asleep before they were.  ;-)  I laid my head in Darin's lap and he rubbed my head for the two seconds I was awake.  He watched two movies he knew I don't have much interest in.  I never heard a thing.

This morning Darin put me on a sort of bedrest for the day.  So I made a grocery list, printed out tons of groovy coupons, told Darin what to make for lunch and then ate what he made (how kewl was that???), put Henry and Sophia in bed, worked a bit on planning some school for Ben, then Lydia and I got in the car and went to SuperTarget for our weekly shopping trip.  Darin made dinner and is giving Henry and Sophia a bath right now.  Ben, Lydia and Jack are almost done in the kitchen.

I am not used to such inactivity!  And while my body is slow right now, my brain is definitely not.  Feeling the leisure of the day, I have made plans to begin work on my forgotten cross stitch project and maybe pick up a new knitting project.  I bought a really neat knitting book for beginners with some new patterns in it a few months ago.  (FYI - I will never get to that stuff, but it's fun to think about.)  To top it all off, I went to Sense & Sensibility Patterns and bought an ePattern for a Regency Era dress to make for Lydia for Halloween.  Click here to view more details

Really, not a totally insane thing to do unless you realize that I have only the most BASIC sewing skills.  BASIC.  I have no business buying a pattern for a Regency Era dress.  But since my mind has been in overdrive today, I've convinced myself that we have two months to figure it out and it'll all be fine!  If you're my Mother-in-Law and are reading this right now, you're probably quaking in your boots and I would say that you're totally justified.  ;-)  But I'm determined.  Really, I am.  I have downloaded the pattern and tomorrow we will go get some interfacing (I have no idea what that is) which we will use to transfer the pattern onto that we printed out tonight.  Then we'll take it from there.  Lordy.  I'll keep you posted on our progress..... 

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Sep. 3, 2009 - "...with purpose of heart they should continue in the Lord."

The other day I was reading the chapter titled, "The Power of Purpose" from Beautiful Girlhood with Lydia.  Included in the chapter was this story that has been bouncing around in my thoughts since we read it. 

"The power of purpose is the power of love.  No man can cleave to any purpose with all his heart unless he loves the cause for which he strives.  He must so love that cause that to give it up would be like giving up his very life.  I once read of a woman who lived on a lonely ranch in a foreign land.  Her husband had to go away for a week or more, leaving her alone for that time with their little children.  He had not been gone long, when she was bitten by a poisonous snake.  She knew that in a matter of hours she would die.  She remembered her children, and that if they were to be kept safe she must in the time left her draw enough water and bake enough bread to supply them until their father returned, or he might find all his family dead.  So she worked and prayed that day, sick, fainting, almost unconscious; but love set her purose strong, and she struggled on.  Night came, and her time was nearly gone.  She put her babes to bed, and wandered out of sight of the cabin to die, but with a determination to live as long as possible for her children's sake.  In the morning she was miraculously still alive, still walking, and her system beginning to clear of the poison.  She lived to tell the story, a monument to the power of a loving pupose."

I pray that I can start every day with such a purpose and serve my family as though I really mean it! 

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)"

 

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Aug. 24, 2009 - Pregnancy Update

Last month we had THE sonogram and found out we're having a girl!  Now everyone tells us that we're just like the Brady Bunch.  I am always quick to remind them that we don't have an Alice.  I tell you, none of us appreciated Alice as we should have.  We just thought she was comic relief, but can you imagine that Carol would have never had time to sit at the little orange dinette sipping coffee if it weren't for Alice working up the "Pork Chops and Appleshauce" in the kitchen.  Alice was the glue that held it all together.

We are usually pretty quick about coming up with a name for our new babes, but we're struggling this time around.  At first we thought Claudia.  It sounds so pretty, but it means "lame!"  We cannot call our daughter Lame!  It would be very 80's of Darin and me, but no, we just can't bring ourselves to do it. 

Darin's latest thing has been Grace Anne.  Love Grace.  I'm all for it.  But as I told him while we were driving to a "Meet the THESA Riders" (football) event, we did not have a relative with the name Anne.  It's been our custom to choose a middle name from a member of the family.  We've been alternating families, and it's my family's turn.  I was chatting with my Mom on the phone and my sister-in-law Shirley was there and they were asking about a name for this poor baby.  Shirley recommended Shirley Jackie (Jackie is my Mom's name) or Jackie Shirley.  hahaha.  We got a good laugh from that.  

So as we were driving along to meet the THESA Riders, I told Darin about the Shirley Jackie/Jackie Shirley thing.  hahahaha  Another good laugh.  Then we started brainstorming about a middle name again, but Darin could not budge from Anne.  He was refusing.  I tried my sister's name....Patricia.  No.  He didn't like that with Grace....Lynn.  My sister's middle name.  No.  That sounded too much like Graceland when said together. sigh.  We've already used a variation of my Mom's middle name for a middle name and that left only my sister!  We are overrun with boys/men in my family.  But then Darin came up with a great idea.  He said, "I'll bet Shirley's middle name is Anne."

Give me a break.  What were the odds going to be that Shirley's middle name is Anne?  I swore it couldn't be and Darin swore it could be.  So I grabbed my cell phone and called my bro and Shirley right away.  My brother, Jim, answered and I asked him what Shirley's middle name is. 

IT'S ANN!

Speechless!  We couldn't believe it!  What were the odds of that????  LoL!  So we definitely have a middle name for this child, but Darin says he's not going to commit to Grace just yet.  sigh.  I like to make decisions a little quicker than he does.  ;-)   

So...other than all this naming drama, everything seems to be going well!  24 weeks and counting.

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