I remember when my daughter was born I thought, "Oh my goodness!  I am going to have to be careful about what I say and do, because she is going to be watching every move I make, and emulating every thing I do and say.  I can tell where my strengths are...she adores her daddy and her two little brothers!  Lately I have been noticing that she is being more lazy in her chores.  It used to be that she was so cheerful to set the table, unload the dishwasher, straighten up her room, etc. but now she dwaddles, wanders, or disappears.  Am I looking into a mirror?  Hmmm....

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My 3yo (who just turned 3!) started into saying, "God says..."  It first happened when I threw a piece of rope away.  He found it and said, "Mom!  God said, "Don't throw ropes away!"  It was SO funny!  Then, yesterday, he told me "God said I'm 'possed to betect you!"  (He was shooting bears!) It was so sweet!!  My little man....

It has really opened the door to teach him more in depth what God really says, and how we know what God says.

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The kids are out in the kitchen making PBJ's for lunch and this is what I heard:

Ivan, age 7: "After lunch, I get to play the computer."

Naomi, almost 6: "Well, guess what?  After lunch, Mom and I are going to make chocolate chip cookies, and that's BETTER than playing computer!"

I love listening to their little conversations!

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Here is a more recent picture of our new little man.  I took him in to the midwives to check his growth yesterday, and he is now at two months old, up to 9 pounds and 11.5 ounces!  He has been on a growing spurt during the last two weeks, increasing my milk supply by wanting to nurse constantly!

He is still a pretty mellow baby when he isn't hungry or dirty, and will just lay there watching everything for an hour.  He has to be sitting up though, so he can see everything!  He holds his head up really well, and has started smiling pretty frequently.  He also sleeps all night for 8 hours once I get him to sleep!

Well, I need to get the kids started on school, but I really needed to get a few new posts done, for my faithful friends who keep checking on me.  Thanks, guys!  I could use the support right now!

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Our new son, Timothy Craig, was baptized on Sunday.  Craig is my dh's name, and it took me 5 sons to get him to let me name one after him!  Our last two boys have their grandfather's names as their middle names, and my daughter has my name as her middle name, so I wanted to keep up with the middle names being after a family member, and I have always loved my dh's name.

Timothy seems to really fit this little guy...speaking of whom, I was going to write more, but he just woke up.  Off to nurse...I will try to get back on here this afternoon.

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Sorry, but you have to wait until after next Sunday.  We have picked a name, but dh wants to reveal it at his baptism, which will be next Sunday.  We have told our parents, but no one else at this point.  The kids are being really good about our "secret"! 

So, hopefully, I will be able to get online on Sunday evening, and post his blessed name!  Maybe even a picture or two of his baptism!

Here is the list we are working on, although his middle name is not on here.

Elias

Gavin

Gabriel

Martin

Seth

Stephen

Thaddeus

Timothy

Tristan

What do you like?

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Well, we are still holding on here...no baby yet.   All weekend I have been having contractions to the point of wondering if we should head in to the birthing center.  We live an hour away, and my labors go pretty quickly, so I anguish over making the drive down, and not really being in labor.  Anyway, I guess I just need to mellow out and stop fretting about it, and I suppose I will really know when it is time.   God has safely delivered two of my babies from here, so I have no doubt He will do it again.

My dad preached a sermon yesterday about trusting God and how we have peace through Him.  He will never fail us if we rely on Him.  Instead of fretting and worrying, we are to turn to Him in prayer, and REJOICE, knowing that He hears us.

I am just going to enjoy sleeping through the night (mostly!) and getting lots done around here.  Now that we are past the 37-week mark, I don't have to worry about doing whatever I want to to get the house ready for a new little one and a move.  I am just praying that he doesn't come the last week of August, as we are supposed to move on September 1st...even if he comes a few days late, after the move!  At least we would be right across the street from the birthing center then!

Still no name....

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I didn't have too many contractions today.
We had a lovely picnic with many fellow Christian homeschoolers today,
and then I had a midwife appt. The baby is definitely very low.
Jessica (one of the midwives) said that she could barely feel his head
he is so low! I had a contraction while I was there, so she felt how
hard it was, and how long they were. They are definitely real. She
also said that the sharp pains in my nether regions were probably
changes in the cervix.

She asked if I wanted to be checked, but we didn't want to stir things
up any, so she will check me next week just so I know how fast we need
to drive when the contractions get regular! LOL! They did offer to let
me come stay there at the birthing center if I feel like I need to.
They just remodeled a little room for that exact purpose at the center.

The baby is laying backward, meaning that it feels like he is way over
on the side, so she has me trying some postions to help encourage him to
turn, so he doesn't come out upside-down, like Naomi did. I have
another appt. next Tuesday.

Yes, only one more day...and dh will be home tomorrow night. ;-) I
really miss him when he is gone, especially after this memorable
weekend!! He has been so sweet, calling me very regularly to check up
on me. Such a dear....

Well, it is late, and I have groceries to put away and I need to get the
kids to bed. They got their new science books in the mail, so they are
sitting in the livingroom at 9pm doing school! Gotta love the beginning
of school....

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The baby is doing really well. We are having our 5th boy, and he still
doesn't have a name. ;-) He seems to be really small too. My hips are
doing pretty well this time! Praise God! They are still achy and sore
at times, but don't pop nearly like they did with the last two babies.
He was breech a few weeks ago, but on Wednesday I went in and he has
turned head down. He is still pretty little, so he could move again,
but I am hoping to encourage him to stay that way.

Both of my last two babies came two weeks early, so he may come in the
middle of August. I am planning for him to do so, but not expecting it,
so I will be ready but not too anxious. He is REALLY low (people have
asked if he has dropped already), so I am also planning for a very fast
labor (they usually are pretty fast anyway!). My contractions have
already started, about 5 a day or so. Mine always start 2-4 weeks
before delivery, so when I show up for delivery I am usually at 5cm or
more.

We won't be moving until after the baby is born now. All of *our* plans
have changed. Our church family laughs at us and says we should write a
story about our changes, but we are just trying to figure out our
all-knowing God's plan, so it isn't really our fault! LOL! We are back
to our first plan of moving our house 50 miles onto our own property.
Aren't you excited Janet!!! Don't worry, we will be posting pictures
and maybe even a video clip when it happens! Oh, and as a side note,
one of the bridges that we *have* to go under is only 3 inches taller
than our house will be on one side, and 7 inches taller on the other
side! We will make sure to get that on video!!

Prayer requests would be that we would make the hour drive in time for
delivery, that everything would go smoothly and baby would be healthy,
that the house plans will be finalized soon (dh is hoping to go to the
bank next week to get the construction loan), that all of the
sub-contractors would get their bids back to us soon, and that dh would
be able to be home more often than he has been. (He was gone for four
days this last week, and for most of the month of June.)

I am also a little anxious about this delivery. For some reason, I keep
thinking I should have this one at the hospital. My last three have
been with the midwives at the birthing center with no complications and
I never gave it a second though, but this time I just feel uneasy. My
midwife thinks it is because dh has been gone so much. I just don't
know. I was really looking forward to living in town with this one, and
that won't be happening now, so that may be part of it too. Just please
pray for peace of mind for me.

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You know, what would we do if life was boring and simple?  Having five children, and another one on the way, we don't get any "boring" days.  Yesterday was definitely not boring.

We were getting ready to go to the library.  My youngest (18mos.) LOVES to be outside, so I got him all ready, and let him out the door.  The other kids were outside too, so I figured he was fine.  One of the kids got something out of the van and left the door open, so the baby, who *loves* to play in the van, climbed in.  His sister got in with him, and played for a little while, then got tired of it, and got out, closing the door.

I'm really not sure how it got locked, but I can only assume that the little imp couldn't keep his hands off of the power lock button.  Of course when I tried to get him to UN-lock it, he would only push the button down, not up.   I did manage to get him to pull on the front door handle, but he can't quite pull it all the way out, so the lock only lifted a little, and I still couldn't open the door.

I called a neighbor friend of ours whose husband owns a plumbing and heating business, thinking just maybe he would have a Slim Jim.  Nope.  And none of his employees had one either.  I called the troopers whose station is right around the corner, and he said they weren't issued Slim Jim's anymore.  Why not?!!?  He did come over anyway, just to see what he could do, but he couldn't really do anything.  He mentioned that they have had to break a window to get a child out when it was 85 degrees, but it wasn't nearly that hot yesterday, and one of the back windows was open so the baby was getting fresh air.

The baby also handed me a water bottle that I was able to open for him, and we could hand him crackers too.  He never got scared or worried; I think he just didn't understand why we were all standing around the car talking to him.  Oh, and he found my cell phone and called my SIL!  I could see through the window who the call had gone to, so as soon as he closed the phone, I called her on my home phone and explained the situation.  She said that if we had to break a window, we should make sure to call a glass repair shop and get an estimate on which window would be cheapest to replace.  She said that most people break one that is more expensive to replace.  She would know; her father is the manager at a Speedy Glass shop, and she used to work for him!  Interesting to know.

Anyway, the trooper suggested we call a tow truck driver, and the closest one was up in Trapper Creek, about 14 miles up the highway.  We live out in the boonies, so there are no taxi drivers available, who I have been told are a lot cheaper.  I called the tow truck driver who said he would be on his way.  In the meantime, the trooper left, since there wasn't anything he could do.  He said it had happened to him before too.  He was really nice about it.

I called my MIL at work, and she said she knew of a couple of guys in town who had Slim Jims so she tried to get ahold of them, but they were 14 miles away from us a different direction.  Finally, the tow truck driver showed up, whipped his Slim Jim together, used some rubber wedges to wedge the door open a crack, put what looked like a blood pressure cuff in the small opening, pumped it up a little to widen the gap, stuck his Slim Jim in the door, pulled the latch up, opened the door, turned to me and said, "That will be $60," and walked to his truck to put his Slim Jim away.  Ouch!  I wonder how much a Slim Jim costs....

So, an hour after we had planned to leave for the library, we were finally on our way.  That was our little adventure for the day yesterday.  The boys thought learning about Slim Jims was pretty neat though!

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