As a pastor's wife, I need a place to say what I think. As a mother of 3 boys and a girl on the way, I need a place to say what I think without being interrupted. As a homeschooler, I need a place for fellowship, so welcome! I love comments. NOTE: I reserve the right to delete any comments that I find inappropriate, so play nice! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0600 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0600 I'm sorry this took so long, but it ain't easy having an Advent baby in a pastor's family.  ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!  Busy, busy, busy! So here are the particulars: Maggie was due to be induced on the 30th at 7am.  She decided she wasn't having any of that and came of her own accord at 4am.  It was a fast and furious delivery.  She was fast and I was furious - ouch!  The first contractions started at 11:30 pm and went from 6.5 minutes apart to 2.5 minutes apart within one contraction, and they stayed that close together for the next 4 hours.  No fun!  But she's here and she is totally worth it!  She was 8 lbs 14 oz, 21 3/4 inches long with a perfectly round 14.5 inch head!  She's my smallest by a smidgen.  She dropped down to 8lbs 7oz by the time we left the hospital and as of Monday was 10 lb 1oz.  Did I mention she nurses like a champ?  Anyway, we're all doing great!  She sleeps well for a newborn and is just an absolute joy!  The boys are over the moon, at least while she can't grab their stuff. I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas.  I probably won't be back until afterwards, but I'll try to stop in on my friends page soon. Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/752399/ Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/752399/ Just wanted to let you all know that Margaret Elizabeth was born at 4:02am, November 30th.  She weighed 8lbs 14oz and was almost 22 inches long!!  Thanks for your prayers and thoughts...pictures will be forthcoming. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/748860/ Wed, 2 Dec 2009 06:10:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/748860/ Had my last doctor's appointment today, complete with a ridiculously unnecessary ultrasound and non-stress test.  Who ever heard of doing those at 3 days post due!  The only reason I agreed was that I knew if something had turned out to be wrong, I'd never forgive myself.  But, of course, since she's only 3 days late according to my best guess and a little plastic wheel (some treat that thing like the Burning Bush), everything is exactly as it should be.  If I'd been 41 or 42 weeks, I wouldn't have quibbled, but this was clearly done to cover the practice's rear end in a highly litigious state.  Phllllllllppppppptttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!  I haven't progressed a bit since Monday, and I've hardly had any more contractions.  So, I'm planning on just taking it easy this weekend (no marathon walks or floor scrubbing to speed things up), so I'll be nice and fresh for my induction on Monday.  If she can wait until then, I'll be sure to get the 2 doses of antibiotics (4 hours apart) I need to protect Maggie from my group B strep, everything will seem very calm and normal for the already nervous kids when I leave for the hospital, and I will get to deliver with my midwife instead of the weekend on-call doctor whom I've only met once.  She seemed very nice, but still, familiar is good in this situation.  Of course when Maggie really shows up is between her and God.  They aren't really keeping me informed.  If I haven't posted anything, prayers on Monday afternoon would be very much appreciated! Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/747487/ Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:59:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/747487/ A quick update for those of you who are curious. As of Monday afternoon:  3cm 50% effaced (from 1cm, not effaced on Thursday) intermittent contractions (more off than on) Induction on Monday if nothing sooner When she moves it feels like she's trying to skip the contractions and just pile drive her way through. Have turned into Ultra PMS Woman. Pray for my poor kids and husband. Enjoy your turkey while I wait for my little turkey!  Jennifer PS I've never had a dog while pregnant, so someone tell me if this means anything.  The alpha of my 2 dogs has been laying at my feet for the majority of the afternoon.  She doesn't usually do that.   She only leaves when someone's at the door or has to go out.  Hmmm. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/747162/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:11:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/747162/ There is no sign that this little girl is anything but extremely comfortable in her little luxury hotel.  I think God's delaying the nursery being done to help me be more patient.  I'm not sure it's working.     Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/745021/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/745021/ I am a veteran.  Now before you accuse me of tooting my own horn, I have real trouble owning the fact that I'm a veteran.  Most of my time in was spent in school.  I spent about 6 months on a ship, and then a medical problem demoted me to driving a desk while I waited for the brass to decide that I was not in fact a big faker and it would be better to let me go.  Because of all this, I am excruciatingly uncomfortable being asked to stand to be recognized along with those I consider to be "real veterans".  Maybe I'll post more about this some other time, but right now, it's not my point. So if I'm so uncomfortable, why do I stand at all?  Good question and much more to my point.  I stand so that those who know I served don't think I am ashamed of having served.  My shame lies in knowing that my friends were away from their families, losing sleep and working hard, while I learned to be a very good secretary.  While they were the "point of the spear", I was the butt end feeling very much like dead weight. As my husband reminds me, that's not what's important.  What's important is that I signed up.  I was willing to go.  I joined not for adventure, not to see the world, but because I wanted to help.  At the heart of it, I wanted to be of service.  The willingness to serve is what we honor today.  What is easy to forget in this time of war and terrorism is that men and women served even when there was nothing "interesting" going on.  They stood late night watches over peaceful seas and bases, losing sleep and time with family mainly for practice, but it was that practice that has made our military ready to do what was needed when it was needed.  Again, I'm reluctant to include myself in this because I did so little of it. I'm not in any way trying to belittle the sacrifice of those serving now.  It takes a special kind of courage to sign up when you know you'll go in harm's way and may never come back.  It takes a special kind of parent/spouse/friend to not beg or manipulate them to change their mind and stay where it's safe.  I just wanted to make sure that those who served during the peaceful years are not forgotten or are not ashamed to stand up when their branch's song plays. Here's to all those Coasties, Whoops, Squids, Jar-heads, and Zoomies out there (and those that love and support them)!  Fair winds and following seas. Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/743909/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:31:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/743909/ My living room smells like Dreft.  My mind immediately equates the smell of Dreft with babies.  Not baby lotion, not baby powder, not any other baby detergent.  Dreft.  Dreft = babies.  I'm going to have a baby in my house very soon.  Even stranger, there are little pink things dancing around my dryer.  Not little blue things.  Little pink things.  With ruffles and bows and flowers.  Not trucks and trains and airplanes.  Not only am I going to have a baby in my house very soon; I'm going to have a girl baby in my house very soon. Now, you may be thinking, "DUH, Jennifer, you've known this for a while," and you'd be right.  However, there's something about doing her laundry that's making it much more real than it has felt up to this point. I'm very happy.  Don't misunderstand me, but I'm also terrified.   1. We're not ready.  Her room is still only primed.  We haven't gotten a lot of the stuff we need.  My bag isn't packed.  Her bag isn't packed, and the house is not baby clean.  (Check the ticker in the side bar to see why I'm freaking out about this.) 2.  I know almost nothing about little girls.  I was not typical by any stretch of the imagination, or at least, I never felt typical.  I had all brothers.  I went to a mostly male university.  I have 3 boys.  In fact, I have never had the opportunity to even observe the raising of a Christian daughter in real life.  This is scarey to me. I've spent the last 10 years focusing on the mixed up, wrong messages that are being sent to our boys and men (ie "The problem with boys is that they aren't girls.") and trying to figure out how to counteract them, and now I'm remembering all the mixed up, wrong messages that are being sent to our girls and women (ie "Girls should grow up to be large breasted, tiny waisted, centerfolds who think and respond just like men and make lots of money," or "Girls should grow up to hate their feminity and treat men like idiots who are to blame for all the world's ills.") AAACCKKK!  Help!  Do those of you who are raising princesses of the King have any advice?  For now, I'm going to get those fuzzy pink things out of the dryer, fold them, and put them away in her temporary dresser.  (Her real one still needs to be painted.  Poor hubby!)  OK, God, let's get that lamp glowing unto my feet, huh? :) I just wish it showed more than one step at a time. Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/742823/ Sat, 7 Nov 2009 05:22:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/742823/ So this was the ultimate crazy weekend, and I'm just now recovering. Thursday:  OB Appointment, Shopping and remedial cleaning for Saturday Friday: (Woke up at 3 am and couldn't get back to sleep - Uggh) More cleaning, baking, and shopping for things we'd forgotten on Thursday. Saturday:  (Woke up at 1:30 and couldn't get back to sleep - Double Uggh)  Spent morning finishing party prep.  George's birthday party (not quite 30 people in the house).  Collapsed for 30 minutes.  Proceeded to Halloween party for very nice family in the church.  Came home and scrubbed face paint off children and belly (more on that later).  Hubby baked cookie cake to take to church for our anniversary there.  (Took Benedryl to ensure more than 3 hours of sleep.) Sunday:   Decorated cookie cake.  Listened to people (aka older men) make jokes about the size of my belly.  Worship service including wonderful baptism.  Church soup luncheon.  Baby shower.  Crashed on couch exhausted.  We were all supposed to go to the ordination/installation of a now former congregant, but the kids and I were just too pooped and stayed home.  (George started crying during worship.)  Hubby went to ordination.  Hubby came home, scarfed dinner and left to lead youth group.  Hubby came home and collapsed on sofa. Monday:  (Woke at 2:30am and couldn't get back to sleep.)  No school.  Mom and kids too tired and table covered with baby shower presents.  Wrote approximately 35 thank you notes. Tuesday:  Rotary pancake breakfast.  No school.  Mom still too tired and table still covered in pink gift bags.  Wrote 15 thank you notes then stopped.  Ran out of cards. Wednesday:  Slept most of the night without help of Benedryl.  Table mostly clear.  Pretended it was Monday and had school.  Finished thank you notes (63 total). So, the thank you notes are done.  What a wonderfully generous group of people they are!  I realize that the stilted style of language may have made me sound ungrateful, but it's more that I'm still reeling from the overall frenetic pace of the weekend.  I'll elaborate more on the particular events as the week unfolds. Now for some of that laundry! Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/742136/ Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/742136/ On Tuesday a box arrived from Grandma.  The kids, of course, were very excited.  I, however, was in the middle of something, so I glanced over the contents and distributed them accordingly:  a book of pictures from the old (and far superior to the more recent) traveling King Tut exhibit, a Halloween t-shirt for each boy (and a "Pastor John" t-shirt for hubby), a dot-to-dot for Ringo, a superhero coloring book for George, and what I thought was a robot-type activity book for Paul. The boys scattered with their goodies, and I hardly gave it another thought.  Then yesterday, the boys were sitting together making their own Pokemon-esque trading cards.  As I listened to what they were saying, I realized that they were making them, not from their imaginations, but from the not-actually-a-robot-activity-book.  The names I started hearing were a little disturbing, like "the Death Lion of Chaos". "Uh, boys, I need to see that book." Well, it turns out that it is a book explaining this particular trading card game that seems to be linked to a tv show that I'd never let them watch.  It looked like an activity book because there were some activities designed to teach them how to play the card game.  Hubby came home in the middle of my investigation, and he agreed that this just wasn't going to fly for 3 very good reasons.  1. It contained very naturalistic spirituality.  2. Bad guys were very bad and were portrayed to be VERY cool while the good guys were whimps.  3.  It was all about the battle.  There was no greater good being served, no real strategy or imagination used, etc.  It was just kill the other guy so you can get his cards. So, we broke the news to the boys.  Although we gave them credit for making their own cards instead of begging us to buy the real ones, the cards and the books were going to have to go because they would not help them become the men God wants them to be and would probably hamper them instead. Their faces crumpled, and there was a bit of sniffling.  They didn't argue though.  I think they were mourning their lost efforts more than the book itself. All was not lost though (and this is the cool part).  I suggested that maybe they could come up with their own card game that honored God.  Well they jumped all over that idea and immediately started working on a forest world where the animals work together to repel bad guys and help eachother.  The first structure they decided on was a church, and the first character was the pastor.  They later decided that each character card would have a favorite verse on it, and one of the hills in the forest is going to be called Mt. Holy. Who knows if they'll finish it before they lose interest?  Who cares?  This is a great opportunity for them to work together and use their imaginations for God's glory.  Hallelujah! For the record:  I don't think Grandma was trying to corrupt my kids.  It's tough to find activity books for 9 year olds, and she doesn't share our convictions or beliefs.  Not only would she probably not have anticipated our objections, but she may not have even noticed what the book really was anyway (as I didn't at first).  Hubby's gonna have to be the one to break it to her though.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/740286/ Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:43:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/740286/ I got my very first blog award!  Thanks Gidget!  According to her, I'm a gorgeous blogger!  It's kind of funny, because I'm definitely not feeling gorgeous right now.  But then again, God has a sense of humor like that.  He didn't wait until I'd lost the baby weight and then some or until I don't have big dark circles under my eyes.  Nope, He thinks I'm gorgeous even when I think I look like the Great Pumpkin's ugly cousin!   I guess He'd know. Well the rules for this award are that I have to list 6 things you all probably don't know about me and pick 6 other people to pass it along to. So here goes: 1.  I've been eating Fruit Loops like there's no tomorrow.  (I don't usually eat junk cereal, but one day I smelled Fruit Loops out of nowhere.  I couldn't resist.  At least now they have fiber added.  ) 2.  When I graduated from high school, everyone thought I was going to end up as some high powered corporate something or other.  MANNNN, would they be surprised!  (BTW, this is MUCH better!) 3.  I've only been a Christian since January 1999.  Before that, I believed in God but wasn't sure about that "whole Jesus thing."  Before that, I was a "secular humanist" because that's what my Dad called himself, and before that, I said I was a Christian because we had presents at Christmas and ate candy on Easter.  Looking back, I see that God had been waiting for me the whole time. 4.  I don't have a favorite food, color, song, movie, etc.  It all depends on the situation.  This is very frustrating to the men in my life who are continually trying to figure me out (insert evil chuckle ). 5.  I get a perverse pleasure from organizing messy spaces, but I'm horrible at maintaining them.  I also tend to procrastinate getting in there to do said organizing, but once I'm in there, I'm like a maniac!  6.  I haven't seen the ocean in over 9 years, and I miss it intensely!  My favorite part is the salty smell.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did live in Western Washington for 2 years within that time frame, but that was the Puget Sound and a faint glimpse of the Pacific in the distance.  It also didn't smell like salt; it smelled like rotting kelp.  In my mind, that just doesn't count.  Sorry. Now it's time to name some other gorgeous bloggers.  This is tricky because many of the people on my friend list have bid goodbye to the blogiverse for now, or forever.  Here's my best shot: 1. OldSchoolMarm 2. Sixfolks 3. ilovemy3angelbabies 4. Kristenph 5. Melissa (because she was the next mom my random button led me to) 6. And the lovely lady over at Growing Pains because I love the list she posted in August, and it sounds like she's probably not feeling very gorgeous. So there it is.  Thanks again!  Gorgeous huh?  Hmm  Jennifer http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/739953/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:34:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mansemamma/739953/