Had a check-up yesterday...........Braylin went with me and we were in and out of the office within 7 minutes!! He loved that! Everything is going great. I've gained 9 pounds now and have about 10 weeks to go....YIPPEE! I see my midwife every other week now until I'm 34 weeks and then once a week until the big day.....so excited!

One of my friends put together a website for a long distance baby shower. What a wonderful idea! It brings all of our friends and family from all over together-- and there's no cleaning up afterwards!  ;-) Check it out and leave a comment! Kaitlyn's baby shower

For the past few years the thought of high school has been trying to push itself forward in my brain. Every time I allow myself to start looking over high school "stuff" my brain immediately freaks out. I start second guessing myself. I start to realize how much it will take to get organized and I just panic. I get myself so overwhelmed that instead of realizing these are going to be some of the best years of homeschooling, I scare myself to death. However, today the Lord provided a source that helped direct me. The Lord always provides, always.

I found this website called: BJ Pinchbeck's College Companion

I started praying that the Lord would direct me to what it is He would want my child to study, how he would want him to study it and when he wants him to do it. I felt an amazing sense of relief and comfort in knowing that I can teach my kids in the high shcool years. It is possible to graduate your children. I starting thinking of all the things I will have to do to help prepare my children and instead of bringing it to God, I tried thinking of it all by my lil' ol' self. I should've known that doing that would make me feel inadequate-- I am inadequate without God!! Duh! Anyhow, I am feeling so great about starting 9th come this next year. I have a long way to go in preparing and getting ready for the high school years but now I have a starting point and I have given it to the Lord FINALLY-- and as always he has provided for me. Thank you God!!

These past several weeks for our family have been very lazy.  I was starting to feel guilty and unproductive but I'm reminded how "this is a season" in our lives.  I'm in the last leg of my pregnancy and have been hit with extreme fatigue again.  The kids are in full football season.  They have practice 3 times a week and a game a week.  Although it is wonderful exercise for them (among other great things)- it's a lot of work and very tiring.  A perk to homeschooling- I can allow them to get the rest their body needs by letting them sleep in.  Adam has had some very serious and demanding deadlines at work that have casued him some great mental exhaustion.  He just recently was able to finish the projects and get back to a normal work load, thankfully.  Surprisingly, the house has been kept clean.  Oh and did I mention, we are moving in a few weeks....I'm almost 100% positive that's the BIG reason the house has been able to stay clean...I've packed up nearly half the house and it's sitting in boxes in the garage....it's amazing how much stuff you collect.  Even more amazing is that these boxes have been in the garage for about 3 weeks now and I couldn't tell you what's in them nor have I needed any of the items.....maybe it's time to have a donation party and get rid of them???

Anyway- this laziness has kept me from blogging.  My mind is just so focused on this baby and moving that I can't think of anything creative to say.  Yes, we have managed to keep up with school.  But besides schoolwork and doing the absolute bare minimum in housework this family is in a season of...let's call it "a relaxation mode". ;-)

Well, I'm just 2 days from 26 weeks. I had a check-up yesterday and everything is great. The baby is extremely low and that is my midwife's only concern. She is afraid that as she grows these last 3 months, the pressure could put me at risk for pre-term labor. Right now the baby is 2 pounds. I will need to wear a pregnancy support belt. Apparently it forces the baby to move upward and takes pressure off of the amniotic sac. That explains why I am already having contactions. :-/ So, I bought a belt and will go back in three weeks to make sure this baby has moved and is not putting herself in the birth canal.

To date I have gained 4 pounds.  100 days left!!!!!!

I was thinking of my next post and relaized I could write about 3 different ones or just put them all in one post, so that's what I'm doing. ;-) We have a lot of different little things going on.

First, school is going well. We're moving along slowly with finishing up some things from last year. We seem to never finish a whole year in one school year. Oh well. The bazillionth reason homeschooling rocks. ;-) Ethan is about half way done with his Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra which is considered 8th grade. Then he's just about done with his grammar which is for 7th grade. And some of our science is 6th-8th grade. I have a goal of being done with all the middle school "grades" with him by next year. I don't really want to start the high school all over the place. I need it to be more organized so I can keep better records. Braylin is in the same boat. He does mostly 5th grade work with the exception of grammar. He's finishing up 4th grade in grammar. I'd like to have both of them at a solid stopping point some time right before Chrismas so that I can take off to have this baby and not feel the guilt of not doing school. Their both about a year ahead anyhow and I plan to take off at least a month after I have the baby. I'd like to have them continue some things on their own. We'll see.

Adam and I are starting a new budget. I think it will flow better than the budget we use now. And if we can stay on it, it will cause me to work less and not more. With a new kid being added to the mix we gotta find new ways to make the dollar stretch. I'm really excited about it b/c I think that it will really work. I also like the feeling of being responsible with all God has given us. Things change and so that means we need to be able to change too. Adam is up for a raise in January and so that is always a good thing in the budget.

We're also about to move. Last night Adam & I got a list of things written down that we have to get done. We also made a list of things we would need to account for in our budget. Moving is hard and expensive! We are moving simply b/c we have WAY out grown this house. And again, with a new addition to the family, it would be so uncomfortable. We already trip over each other. You can't watch TV in the living room when the kids go to bed b/c everything branches off of the living area and its too loud. I know it sounds terrible to complain about such a thing. I'll stop that now. I do need to start throwing things out and getting to my list so that when it is time to move it'll be easier. We have to move by December 1st.

The boys are in full football mode. Ethan decided to play this year. It's his last year to be eligible to play. If he decided to play next year we'll have to find either a homeschool sports group or play for the local middle school. Ethan made the D1 team this year, which surprised us. Being that he's never played before we didn't think he'd make the first team. He also made the starting defense. He's loving it and having a blast. We love football. The spirit and excitment is priceless and there are so many great memories associated with being at the ball park. Adam is coaching Braylin's team again this year. Braylin eats that up. He loves his dad being the coach and looks forward to it every year. Adam coaches Ethan during baseball.  Adn Ethan looks forward to that every year.

I'm lovin' Sarah Palin. I think she has given the McCain campaign a big boost. And for those who were on the fence, I think she has pushed you completely off, either to the democratic or republican side...but either way she has definitely stirred things up. I'm looking forward to the debates.

I think I've rambled on long enough and have summed up everything going on over here. Gotta get back to cleaning and school. :-)

Modern technology is so cool! Hubby had to go out of town for work and wasn't able to be at the "big" sonogram yesterday, so I took the next best thing- the boys. We already knew that she was a she but I was still excited to be able to see ALL of her. To learn her measurements, to see her toes and fingers, her legs and arms and to hopefully see her wiggle. Boy did we get a show!

First, we had a great technician. She went slow and explained every little part that we looked at. She did her face first. The first time we saw her face she was sitting in a profile position. As she was explaining her eye sockets, lips, nose, & mouth the baby turned to face us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Talk about a little creepy! It was as if she knew we were there to see her and she wanted to be seen. The whole room gasped with excitment and laughter. Then she really started to show off. The technician continued to go down to the spine, back, bellybutton, stomach, arms, legs, & feet. As she went to her feet, Kiatlyn closed her legs and put her feet right next to each other so we could literally see all 10 toes!!!!!!!! It was so cool! She re-assured us again that she is a girl. ;-) Then the technician went to her brain and showed us the line that seperated the two hemispheres, what each spot was in her brain and the measurement. We could clearly see the four chambers in her heart. Ethan thought that was especially cool. As the technician went through the sonogram she went especailly slow and was so detailed. Then for a minute or two every now and then she would stop just to let us watch her. Kaitlyn is going to be a ham! I can tell by this sonogram. So as the technician would stop for us to watch her, she started to open and close her mouth as if she was trying to eat. Then she started to swallow. You could see the mouth, throat, and lungs all working together. She just kept chomping away! Then she slowly raised her arms, made a fist and started shaking her whole body. We were all laughing so hard by this time. I was almost in tears. She started to shake, turn and bounce. It was so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The boys were just elated. You could see the pure wonder on their faces.  I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I just wanted to lay there all day. It was such a blessing to see her so active and having fun in there. The night before she wouldn't let me sleep. She was moving and kicking so much! I would drift off to sleep and would awake b/c I could feel her rolling. It was like she was doing flips. (Oh gosh Kaycee! Maybe she IS going to be a cheerleader??? LOL!)

Another exciting thing....I have actually gained an official pound!!!!!! I don't mean gained back what I lost, I mean I am 1 pound heavier then when I first got pregnant!!!!!!!!! YAHOO!  Never thought I'd be excited to gain weight. But I was actually getting nervous about it. I'm almost 6 months, I should have gained about 10 pounds by now. They told me that Kaitlyn weighs right at 1 pound. So, I am ALL baby! It's just amazing to me since I gained so much with the boys.

Everything is going great and I feel wonderful. Beside the back aches and few contractions I feel every now and then I couldn't be better!!! Next appointment is Oct. 1st!! Eeeeee...getting closer!!!

The boys have been getting on each others nerves a lot lately. It has gotten so bad that they continue to get grounded for the same offenses. Just when I think they are learning to turn the other cheek they offend the other person and here we go again with another lecture or another apology. Today I was helping Braylin vacuum his room. Ethan walked in the door from taking the trash out to the curb. I had walked by Ethan and said, "Never mind." He asked why I said that and I had told him it was nothing and that I meant it for Braylin. Well, Ethan still wanted to know why I said it and asked Brae. Long story short as they passed each other Brae pushed Ethan into the wall. Why he would  do anything physical to Ethan is beyond me. Not that there is ever a good reason for physical violence, but this was just dumb. And of course, they had 2 completely different stories. Braylin says Ethan provoked him & grabbed his arm and Ethan claims to be innocently walking by him.

I sat them down to get to the bottom of why this had to happen. I mean seriously, this has to be the dumbest reason to offend one another. There is NO reason this had to happen. After realizing that both were sticking to their own stories I knew that we weren't gonna get to the bottom of it. After a lecture of, "You both know what you did to offend each other.... and even if you don't admit it to me God knows...you'll live with what you did...this shows me your characters are weak...he's the only brother you have...take care of each other...be nice even if he doesn't deserve it....."....I could see it on there faces that what they were hearing was....blah, blah, blah, blah.

One of my biggest fears is that they will not be close when they're older. I want them to be best friends. Go to their homes and have cook-outs, go to each others kids' events, their wives to be close friends, their kids to be inseparable.  Be there for each other and help each other out without even thinking twice about it. To be able to tell their deepest secrets to and help them through hard times. I don't have that with my siblings. Now, don't get me wrong, I love and respect them, but weren't not very close. We don't know personal things about each other. Our kids don't really know each other. And now that I live in Georgia, I rarely talk to them. Not b/c we don't want to but b/c were not close enough to make the time and effort. I don't want that for my kids. I realize how this may sound, but its the truth. I want better for my kids. Adam and I are always focusing on strengthening their relationship. Adam is closer to his bothers than I am to my siblings but he's still not as close as he'd like.

So I decided that instead of me passionately expressing to them how they should act toward each other that I would MAKE them do it. I told them that they each had to go do a deed that was EXTREMELY nice for the other person. They couldn't ask the other person what they wanted them to do for them. Couldn't ask if this was nice enough, as a matter of fact, I told them to not even talk to each other, but to just go think of something that the other person would be VERY APPRECIATIVE about and do it.

Braylin cleaned Ethan's room. Plus he took an extension cord out of his own room and used it for Ethan's radio. Ethan hasn't been able to listen to his radio b/c of the location he wants it at, the cord doesn't reach to an outlet. (I keep forgeting to buy him an extension cord.) Ethan, almost professionaly, made Braylin's bed. Now, this may not sound extremely nice like I wanted, but it is. Braylin has a very awkward bed. It's about 3 feet off the ground and is very hard to make in the morning. It's a daily frustration for him and he's always complaining about making his bed. It's hard to make b/c if he stands on the ground he can't reach the top and if he gets on the bed to make it...well, he's on the sheets. He can't tuck the sheets in b/c the bottom of the mattress is covered by a metal bar. The size of the bed isn't a regualr size. The bedding is larger than the actual mattress so its too big and hangs over and looks sloppy and the fitted sheets and sheet come off the mattress every night. Very frustrating. When we move he'll be getting a "normal bed". So, for Ethan to get in there and make the bed the way he did was so nice. Not hard for him b/c he's taller than the bed so he has the leverage needed to make this bed.

After they showed the other person what nice thing they did for them, I had them do another thing. They each asked what they other person wanted to eat for lunch and had to cook and serve it to them. The mood between them has changed- for now. But this is something I'm going to have them do everyday. They both were beaming when they saw what nice deed was done for them. Their attitude changed and now they're eating peacefully and I'm able to hear my thoughts instead of yelling in the next room. I know siblings argue and fight but too much of that can harm their relationship. I do not want anything to damage their relationship so much so that it harms them as adults. Now, although I'm sure there will be many more arguements and fights, it is our job as their parents to help nurture their realationship so as they mature THEY can be responsible for it- not us.

How many times have you heard that lil' ol' saying? Too many to count or remember, huh? Ever since we found out we are having a baby girl I have been so impatient! I want her here NOW!  It seems like my days just drag on and on and that each day gets slower and slower. I try to keep busy by doing extra cleaning projects, taking naps when needed, and staying busy with "getting ready" for her. However, it isn't helping. I am so anxious to see her and to start our lives with her. Even my youngest son said, "I can't wait to meet Kaitlyn." So, thankfully it isn't just me, it's legitimate that I'm not the only one who can't wait to meet her. And I REALLY can't wait to start the shopping for girl clothes, accessories, &  furniture. I know that if I start buying for her now it'll only make this waiting thing that much harder. A friend of mine sent me some cute onsies and I immediatly wanted to give birth!!! I know it's not possible, or it is but instead not safe, but shoot 4 months seems like forever! Anyone ever gone through this stage this bad? I was super excited about my boys, but I think b/c this is our first girl and the 1st one in 2 generations on my husbands side, that its making it harder to wait it out....I feel crazy at times.

In other news, we're all healthy again, or at least getting back to good health. DH has strep and pneumonia. Apparently his illness was so bad that his doctor told him at his follow-up visit that had he waited 12 more hours to come see him he could have died!!!!!!! Imagine my reaction!! His x-rays and blood work had showed some really bad things about this sickness, wosre than any of us, including his doctor, realized at the time. Adam was so sick, the sickest I had ever seen him. He took an entire week off from work and just laid in bed. He took 9 showers one day b/c that was the only way he could get through the day. :-( His doctor had seen 8 adult men around Adam's age that same week and 2 had already died. It's crazy about all this pneumonia and how bad it is around here. Thankfully, the boys didn't have any of it. Their allergies were the pits! DS2's asthma was really bad that he was on his nebulizer about 6 times a day and his dosages for his asthma medication was doubled for 2 weeks. That's a lot of meds! DS1 is still nasal-y (sp) but feeling better. The blessing in it all, besides Adam making it through & the kids not getting pneumonia or strep, was I never once got sick. I was tired, but that was expected. God is good!

Today we started school. So far so good. 

This is going to be such a different year. We have a new grading system, a new lesson planner, new routines, new curriculum & schedule and we even have a new report card! I was feeling a bit apprehensive starting this year. This is DS1's last year of the middle years and DS2's last year of the early years. I'm due to have DD1 in January so that needed to be planned for. Thank the good Lord above both boys are about a year ahead, so taking time off when she arrives won't be that big of a deal academically. It might be a big deal for ME to get used to, but hey--I will have a new baby to care for so I will probably not even care after she's here.

It's also feel like I'm losing time on getting ready for high school. I know I'm not and do have this whole year to really prep for it but it feels like I could mess up DS1's future college plans if *I'm* not prepared for it, ya know? 

Anyhow, enough worry for the day about it...we're almost done with the first day and it has been very successful and I am pleased.

Home schoolers in California and their supporters are celebrating a legal decision in which the court handing down the ruling actually reversed itself.

Earlier today (Friday) the California Court of Appeal ruled that the state's education code allows parents to home school their children. That decision means parents do not have to obtain state credentials in order to home school. The court acknowledged that a state prohibition on home schooling would intrude on parents' constitutional right to direct their children's education, and that that any limit on that right would be presumed unconstitutional.
 
Gary McCaleb, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, is pleased that the court decided parents have a constitutional right to make educational choices for their children. "Thousands of California families have educated their children through home schooling," he states. "[This decision] protects the rights of families and protects an avenue of education that has proven to benefit children time and time again."

In early March a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeal determined that parents in the Golden State had no legal right to home school -- a ruling that one Christian attorney said would leave thousands of students subject to criminal sanctions unless reversed.

Mike Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), says today's ruling was unexpected. "We're very thrilled, not just a little bit, [and] we're surprised as well," he remarks. "To get a court to do a 180-degree reversal is a remarkable thing and we view it as a blessing from God.  We're really thankful for it, and there's hundreds of thousands of home-school kids in California who are now able to breathe a sigh of relief."

Farris says groups like the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Counsel, HSLDA, and Focus on the Family teamed up and were armed with new information that compelled the court to uphold parents' constitutional right to educate their children at home.