We are less than eight weeks from delivery and could still use help naming this eighth baby--a girl.  Please post a comment or email me (see right sidebar link) with your suggestions or personal favorites.  We are currently looking at names that start with "M" or "E", and prefer they be biblical and/or very feminine (nothing that could be gender-neutral).

If your entry makes me say "Hmmmmmm" you could win my new favorite little booklet called "Bitterness:  the Root that Pollutes" by Lou Priolo.   This booklet provides great helps to biblically deal with the enemies, offenders, and others in your life who are difficult to love.  It may just change your holidays for the better!  :o)

As of three days ago, I have officially potty-trained SIX children.  Can that go on my resume someday?  :o)

With each child I have used the 1970s book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" with success.  Each child has been different and responded differently, but the longest it ever took was a day and half (and that because I switched with hubby after the first half of the first day and I think not having consistency made it confusing).

My sixth child watched as I taught "Dolly" to use the potty and got hysterical.  "That's funny!" he kept saying.  Then within 45 minutes from the start of training he had independently toileted three times, which the book calls "trained."  Wow.  45 minutes.  That beat his brother's record of 1 hour.  What a blessing, especially as I am 32 weeks pregnant! 

I had determined to NEVER toilet train in my third trimester as the practice trials after each accident totally wear me out (physically and emotionally) but nausea prevented me from training him at the ideal age of 2 1/2 years old, so now at 2 years and 10 months-- DONE.  Just in time for the newest little one to arrive.  We're down to just one in diapers for a few more weeks!  :o)

With the last two children I have given balloons and party-favors after the first success and that has been a great motivator.  The '70s book is very detailed and a lot of work, and it works.  But going forward I would recommend Dr. Phil's Toilet Training in a Day method which is a stripped-down model and works the same way.  You can google and find his official site with an article about it.  Basically, you train a doll to use the potty and then throw a "potty party".  Then throw a "potty party" once the child goes to the potty.  After that, with each accident you do 9 or 10 practice drills of running to the potty and practicing from different parts of the house.  He says it builds "memory muscle" to do the drills.   You never go back to diapers after training day, but we use pull-ups at naps and nighttime until they stay dry.  Two of our children were dry from day one at naps and at night, but a few others needed a pull-up at night until they were four years old.  We don't stress over that part--they'll stay dry when they're ready during sleep.

Training Day and practice drills are definitely NOT FUN, but it totally works -quickly- and that makes it worth it to us!

The 2010 Cow Calendars are in at Chick-fil-A and they are the best calendar deals to date.  NO PURCHASE is necessary for any coupon.  It's 12 months of FREE food for just $6 per calendar.  Right now, several CFAs are offering a free calendar with a $20 gift card purchase.  Tremendous savings!

BTW... According to a book we have that breaks down nutritionally each fast food place, CFA is THE healthiest option out there.  It even beats Subway, if you can believe that.  As I'm watching my blood sugar daily now, I was pleased to see that eating the regular CFA sandwich (even with mayo) did not raise my blood sugar beyond a low-normal range.  Woo-hoo!  (Moo-hoo?!)

We've had a lot going on lately with a diagnosis of gestational diabetes and possibly an outbreak of swine flu, too.

I have never had gestational diabetes before.  The docs are requiring me to finger-stick and test my blood sugar four times per day.  I also have to follow a detailed diet plan (so many carbs per meal) and am required to have three snacks per day.  I hate needles, but aside from that it's been very interesting to record what I eat (content and amount).  And boy, that 1/2 cup of REQUIRED ice cream each night at 8p is tough to swallow.  :o)

On another note, we believe the kids have come down with the 2009 H1N1 (swine flu).   They have the exact same symptoms as several kids from church (one of whom was diagnosed).  It has been an extremely mild case.  They have had sore throats, 103 fever for a day or two (along with the accompanying fatigue and lack of appetite), then the fever goes down and they've been fine.  Six kids have had it thus far, still waiting on the seventh.  Hubby and I have not gotten it yet and hope not to as it can be dangerous in pregnancy!

So we are now playing catch-up on school lessons.  We are also baking and freezing goodies in preparation for the upcoming family Christmas parties.  I won't be eating nearly as many holiday treats as I would have before the diagnosis.  And honestly, that's a good thing, too.

Nancy Wilson has a great new post on infertility, adoption, and discontent here:

Fruitfulness

or just go to:  www.femina.reformedblogs.com and read all the latest posts.  This is one of the few blogs I MAKE time to read regularly as it encourages and challenges me in my Christian walk.

In a biblical preparation for marriage class I took in college, my wise Bible professor told us that "in marriage you get what you deserve."

I've been pondering these words lately and I believe them to be true.  There are a few women who believe they are not worthy of their amazing husbands.  And while this may seem noble, it could be due to an unbiblical self-image.  "You get what you deserve."   If he truly is as amazing as she believes, she may be forgetting that he saw great worth in her to have married her in the first place.  Such women should take care not to boast about their husbands as they could be indirectly praising themselves. They deserve such a man and should be both thankful and humble.

Sadly, I often hear Christian women criticizing their husbands and complaining about the many faults they see in their spouses.   But "you get what you deserve."  This should make women take a step back and carefully examine themselves and their own sins.  For all his gifts and strengths, you have gifts and strengths.  And for all his weaknesses and faults, you have weaknesses and faults.  (Now, lest anyone is being abused in a relationship, please take note:  abuse is biblical grounds to LEAVE a relationship and you should seek godly counsel from your church leadership immediately.  You do not deserve to be abused!)

But as a general rule for most people,  I say "amen" to these words.  Thank you, Professor, for the warning and reminder that in marriage, we get what we deserve.

We attended the second (ever) overnight camp for children with severe food allergies this past weekend at the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, KY.   www.courageouskids.org

The kids had "the most fun they ever had in their whole lives" and we parents got to relax and be encouraged while talking to other parents who understand what life is like with children who have serious medical conditions. 

If you know anyone with a child with a serious medical condition including diabetes, arthritis, spine problems, heart conditions, Down's Syndrome, autism, food allergy, or other (see website schedule for the full list), please tell them about this camp.  It is staffed 24/7 with medical personnel and is 100% FREE for families to attend.  This is a truly amazing place!  www.courageouskids.org

Did you realize that sending just one child to a Christian school (even if it's not a terribly expensive one) costs more than buying homeschool curriculum (which all of the children will be able to use), hiring babysitting help, AND hiring a housecleaning service, too?!  So, keeping all that in mind to give us perspective on the cost, along with realizing how stretched we are for time and energy at this season of life, we have hired help!   

For years I was a serious control freak (compared to being a little bit less serious control freak these days).  I did not WANT anyone coming into my home to clean because I had a certain way of doing things.  I remember the days (years ago) that my towels had to be folded a certain way or I would get upset.  I would rather have done things myself than had help doing them.    After the birth of our fifth baby some family members gave me the baby gift of money to hire a housecleaner.  I was very specific about  how I wanted things cleaned and I would go behind her and do it the "right" way once she left.  (Oh my.  Those days are so far gone!) 

A few months before baby number six arrived I finally realized that I had to let some things go.  My weakness and complete inability to manage everything finally made me pray for help and gladly accept it when it was available.   We found a Christian housecleaning service and now I just say "thank you" and don't worry about the petty details.   We also put word out that we needed teen helpers for babysitting, laundry, and yard work.  It has been such a blessing to have teens from Christian families helping us and I hope we have been a blessing to them as well.

So I didn't always truly need or even want help from anyone, but when I really needed it, God provided for us in the form of hired help.  I had to come to the point where I was willing to accept it and then we had to be willing to rearrange our budget to make it work.  This meant rearranging our priorities to place hiring help in the necessity list!  I do look forward to the days when I can manage it all on my own or maybe 'hire' my own children to help out rather than bring in people from outside our family.  But for now, when our lives are so full and our children so young, having household help is a great blessing and I am very, very thankful for it.