Baby crafting...

Ok, I admit, I've been in a crafting mood lately. Must have something to do with the nesting instinct. Mom and I went to Walmart when I was home last time, and I was able to pick up everything there that I needed to make this fabric covered wipe container. This is for a friend who's having a little girl. I found the instructions here. It really didn't take that long after I got the hang of it. I used Alene's super hold tacky glue to glue on the ribbon so I wouldn't burn my fingers with the hot glue, and that seems to have worked well. I bought some colorful striped material to do boy ones, so that's next on my list!

This is a little white dish that I got at Target. This glass painting project was so easy. I just did the baby girl's initials, and I sponge painted one of these flowers on all the sides. I'm going to bake it to set it tomorrow. Maybe it can be used to hold hair bows or something...

And I will be making one of these banners for a shower this weekend. If you have clear fishing line, scotch tape, and some pastel paper, you can do this. I think I used a lid from a the tupperware cabinet, drew a bunch of circles, and just cut them out. Then I freehanded the initials on there. It wasn't fancy or totally professional looking, but I thought it was cute! I made this one for Sarah's shower long ago. I also did some coordinating smaller circles with the girls' initials on them and scattered them around the refreshment table.

Maybe this will give somebody else some good ideas for the future...

Yard sale dilemma...

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." - Isaiah 55:1-2

For the past couple of Saturdays, I have entered the world of competitive yard saleing. Now, we've always been casual yard salers. We like to get up, eat a leisurely breakfast, and drive around to look sometime around 9:30ish. This is a fun, family activity that David and I have always enjoyed. It's relaxing...

What I call the world of competitive yard saleing is a tad bit different. This is where you get up about 7:00 a.m., throw some clothes on your dirty body, put a pony tail holder in your hair, and run out the door with a Dr. Pepper and a granola bar. You've got directions that you pulled off of Craigs List for the local neighborhood yard sales. You have a plan, and a determined gleam in your eye. You're hunting a bargain...

Competitive yard saleing, I have discovered, is not particularly enjoyable or relaxing for me. I feel stressed to find things that I've been hoping to find for cheap, like sheets or particular house decor or a crib. And even if I don't have something in mind, the idea that somebody has been there before me if I get up too late and has beaten me to the all the "good stuff" makes me want to hurry on my way. There's too much ground to cover, and the early bird gets the worm, after all...

So I come home with some great bargains, but feel mildly dissatisfied. And I think this is because yard saleing in this way brings up feelings of covetousness and greed in my heart. I don't rejoice that another person got the thing I had my hand on a minute ago; I wish him ill for getting there before I did. Even though the thing in question isn't something I thought I had to have until 2 minutes ago.

Getting a bargain can turn into an idol. It just can. You have to work to throw that idol out of your heart just like any other idol. I've been taking myself a little too seriously with my frugality lately. Don't get me wrong. I think that looking for ways to save money is helpful and honoring to my family and to God. I will continue to try to keep costs down around here because I want to be a good steward of the money that God has provided for us. But maybe for me, that means using what I have and not going out of my way to save a buck on something we might have use for a few years from now by buying at the 7:00 a.m. yard sale feeding frenzy. =) It's all such a balancing act...

My baby brother....

Sunny Tuesday morning. Rushing around, trying to get a casserole out of the oven for MOPs. Listen to a message from my mom that I must've gotten while I was in the shower.

Looks like my baby brother isn't coming home after grad school. It's a long story, and it isn't mine to tell, but some deeply held dreams for my whole family have taken a hit today. So on the way to MOPs I vacillated between sadness, anger, confusion, and hurt. And I tried not to let Seth see that I wanted to cry.

We miss them. I miss the little boy that I grew up with who is now an amazing father and husband, and the wife that we all picked out for him =), and the niece and nephew that I don't get to see nearly enough...

So please pray for all of us today. And especially my brother and his family as he's interviewing right now. For a job in... Wisconsin. Don't even get me started about how I feel about that...

A tale of three cribs...

Once upon a time, there was a family with a sweet baby boy. When he was born, they lived in a tiny high rise apartment with no room for a crib. So they didn't get one until they moved into a house later on.

At that point, they were generously given a crib by their sweet sister-in-law. They thought, "Great! Free crib!" And then they discovered that some of the parts for the crib were missing. Replacement parts appeared to cost more than the crib. Sadly, the crib went out on the curb for garbage pickup. This was Crib #1.

The little family was blessed with another baby. Their toddler was comforted by his crib, and they didn't want to move him yet, so they decided to hunt down a crib for the second baby. And some generous friends said, "We have a crib that you can have. It's sitting in our garage." They thought, "Great! Free crib!" (I think you know where this is going...) So they brought it home. Despite the fact that the friends couldn't seem to find any of the hardware. A week passed, the crib sat, and the friends tore their house apart. No hardware. This was Crib #2.

So the very pregnant mama went out to a yard sale. She bought a crib for $20. It had the hardware and instructions. She brought it home. She told her poor, long suffering husband that it had last been used as a toddler bed. He discovered that there were no instructions for putting the crib back once it had been used as a toddler bed. He spent 4 hours figuring it out. The crib was finished. He was also finished. This was Crib #3.

The pregnant mama had learned a valuable lesson. For the love of all that is good and true, do not try and save a buck on anything with small moving parts that has been taken apart. Go to the store, and buy the thing new. Your husband will thank you. The end.

Craziness....

This weekend was totally nutty. Good... but nutty. Mom and Dad came into town to help us out, and we tried to cram WAY too much in. Going yard saling, getting yard work done, attending a baby shower, adults going out to dinner, and trying to put together a crib was too much to try and accomplish in one weekend.

I know this because of my reaction to it. Mom and I came back from the baby shower just in time to meet the boys, throw Seth in the car, and drop him off at the babysitter's before going out to eat at a fancy steak house (Dad's treat for David's b-day). I was so flustered that I left my keys in the ignition of the Camry. I discovered this hours later, and we had a dead battery as a result of my frazzled moment. Dad and David spent quality time with the blue car and some jumper cables late at night, still wearing their suits from dinner. Guilt, guilt, guilt...

I knew I was still stressed on Sunday when I tried to get a cutting board out of the dishwasher, and when it got stuck, I felt rage well up within me and a strong desire to hurl said cutting board through the window. This is usually how I know I'm stressed: when small things make me murderously angry, and I have to count to 100. =)

So today has been much more low key around here. Laundry is spinning, got the weekly shopping done, and got a little straightening up done in Spartacus' room. And there will be no "to-do" list tonight for anyone in this house. We're going to sip lemonade on the back porch and let Seth run...

How to get your yard work done for free...

Ok, I ran across this, and I think its awesome. I'm going to remember this for the future. "Free" is definitely the right word to use. I'm expecting to get rid of the crib with zero hardware that we were given by tomorrow. I've already had two people respond this morning, and I posted the ad late last night...

3 hours and counting...

We have just discovered Seth's favorite toy of all time. He'd been taking his little shovel and shoveling blocks into his dump truck for the past few days, so I thought it was time. Time to take out the big plastic container full of dried pinto beans that I'd excitedly gotten for him over a year ago. (I loved these at the preschool where I worked. I got a little overeager, what can I say.)

This is the same container of beans that my husband has loathed moving around in the shed and from one house to another. The same container that he spilled and had to clean up. If he cursed, he would've cursed at these beans. I'm very glad for his sake that its all been worth it. =)

I put these down on the plastic tablecloth at approximately 4:30 p.m. today. I threw in a couple more spoons, a coffee scoop, and a couple of plastic cups. Seth has been shoveling and scooping and moving beans around ever since. He took a 10 minute break to cram some dinner in his mouth. And I do mean cram. He was yelling "All done" around a big mouthful of bread. And then it was right back to scooping...

The current time is 7:40 p.m. And he's still going strong. "Want more beans...."

The Monster At The End of This Book...

Seth and I ran errands this morning, and one of them was to the local Books a Million. I had a gift card, and I decided to blow it on a sticker book for Seth. =) Hey, I like doing that with him. It's still a gift to me because it makes me feel all preschool teacherish and educational at the end of the day.

Well, I discovered that the bookstore only, like, 2 minutes from my house has a full size.... wait for it... train table!!!! Sweet!!! Another free and close field trip for Mr. Smartypants. He happily played trains while I sat in a chair and browsed through books.

I ran across this one. Oh my. I LOVED this book as a child. It was one of my absolute favorites. If you haven't read it, find yourself a copy. On each page, Grover warns you not to turn the next one, then goes into hysterics when you do. He says he'll stop you by building a wall. You turn the next page, and he's lying in a heap of bricks because you've destroyed his wall. I remember giggling and giggling and giggling some more when I read it. Of course, he is the monster at the end of the book, and so things aren't so dire after all.

Hey, Mom, where is this book? Did we own it? Get it from the library? Is it on the shelf at Mamie's house? I'm looking for my copy now...

Chopping block...

Here at the Suburban homestead, we believe that hard work and responsibility should start early. It's never too young to learn to use a sharp kitchen implement. No sirree bob. And so we give you this short series of photographs that we hope that child protective services will never see...

Seriously, though, Seth does have little jobs around here. He loves to bring us our shoes to put on and take the bedroom slippers and throw them in the shoe pile by the door. It is also his job to throw his dirty diapers in the trash can. These are routines, and he knows and expects them.

The other day, David hit upon the genius idea of having Seth help him cut up carrot sticks. We don't buy baby carrots. I don't like the taste of them, for one, and they go bad a lot faster. That means that about once a week, we cut about 2 lb. of carrots into sticks and put them in water in the fridge. (We eat carrots every day with lunch. We're boring like that.)

Seth LOVES to help with this process. All of our knives are pretty dull, so I'm not too worried if David wants to let him help hold the carrot while he chops it. Seth has figured out how to throw the carrot ends in the trash can and throw the sticks in the plastic container. He likes to talk about how he's a "big helper" while he does it. =) This little chore has already made many a fussy time a little less fussy.

What does your toddler help you do around the house? I'm always looking for ideas...

I'm totally with her...

I checked the Jessica Seinfeld "hide the vegetables" cookbook out from the library a few months ago. I was skeptical of the philosophy and formula, but I couldn't articulate why. Seemed reasonable, right? But, it sure sounded like a ton of work. Why not just put the veggies on the table at every meal like I always do and offer them to him?

So we did, and for several months, he wouldn't eat a single green vegetable. Except my mother's home canned green beans, which she won't give me in large quantities, even for her beloved grandson. But then, all of a sudden, without warning, he became a broccoli eating machine. He loves it! We had been offering the veggies all along. And one day, he decided to eat...

So I've decided I'm with this lady. No hiding the vegetables. We'll just keep eating them the way we've always eaten them. And some days he'll eat them, and some days he won't. Just like me. =)

Pictures for Terri...

And here are some pictures for Terri, who wrote last night complaining that she hasn't "seen" me on my blog in ages. This is because I think I look much like the everlovable Shamu, and I haven't been too excited about my pictures lately. But these black stretch pants (which you will see me wearing every day for the next 7 weeks) are somewhat slimming, and I'd just put on my makeup and hadn't had the chance to wipe my pollen laden runny nose red yet... so I thought, "Ok, Terri, you win." Seth decided to show off his new step stool standing skills...


Proof, Terri, that we are alive and well and eating breakfast every morning. Ignore the runny nose and need for a haircut. I'm keepin' it real here.

The belly in all its full on 34 week glory.

Hmmm...

So I was reading the last post and realized, especially given my whining, that the thought that I wanted to raise a woman of God might seem a tad bit laughable. =) I never expected to reach the level of the Moore and Mahaney women, given that I am not approaching that league of godly self denial and acceptance of God's will... just in case you didn't notice.

Maybe what I should've said instead was, "I hoped to raise a shopping/cooking/sappy movie watching/drama queen buddy. And who would grow up to be more godly than her mama. But not too much, so she wouldn't make me feel bad." That might've been more accurate... =)

Boy angst...

The gender of this baby isn't something I've written about on this blog for a good while. But it isn't something that hasn't caused me angst and bitterness and sadness.

I feel guilty for my feelings because I am all too aware of how blessed I am. I pleaded with God not to allow Seth to be an only child, and He has graciously answered that prayer. As far as we know, this baby is healthy, and we are very grateful for that as well. I have no right to complain about anything.

But I'm still sad, and at times, I'll admit that I'm bitter. At first, when I found out that this baby is another boy, I handled it pretty well. I did dwell on the positives, and it wasn't that hard to handle.

But time moved on, and I woke up one day to realize that I was definitely carrying grief. I spent a good bit of one day crying about the gender of this sweet baby. Being ashamed of it, but crying anyway.

When I find out that another person I know is having a baby girl, I am jealous. When I find out that a friend is having her 4th boy, my heart aches for her. I make comments like, "You're so lucky to be having a girl," and "Ahhh, another boy. I understand."

I have to let this go, but its been much harder than I ever expected. When I read about Beth Moore and her daughters and the Mahaney girls and their mom, I want to rant and yell. All the dreams I had of teaching my girl how to be a woman of God... will they ever come to anything? I wanted to leave that kind of legacy. Maybe it wouldn't have happened anyway, but I wanted a shot at it.

I know that this means that I'm not trusting God for my future. I had my plans and my hopes and my dreams, and they didn't include two boys and no daughters. But if I'm really going to believe God when he says that "He knows the plans He has for me, and that they're to prosper me and not to harm me, to give me a hope and a future," I have to give this up. I have to believe that two boys is the best thing that could ever happen to me and this family. I have to trust that God is not trying to punish me; He's trying to give me something better for me and everyone else than I would've chosen for myself.

And I also have to be ok with the fact that this family is not about me and what I want. =) Maybe the lives of these children are His and not mine. Maybe what He wants for them is radically different than what I'd envisioned. =)

So, in case you were wondering, this issue hasn't gone away for me. Any prayers would be appreciated. And I'm hoping that the healing will be complete sooner rather than later. Since I don't want little Spartacus to ever read this post and think Mommy didn't want him...

No, we're not naming him Spartacus.

Friday night in spring...

Today's forecast: blue sky, bright sunshine, no wind, high of 71.

We had to do something with this. I emailed David at work and proposed a picnic for dinner.

2 corn dogs and an Oreo mint milkshake from Cookout= $4.12

I threw carrot sticks, grapes, a baggie of chips and Cheezits, and water bottles into a plastic bag. Oh yes, and a plastic play shovel. That would become very important later.

My teething toddler had been grumpy all day, but the playground sand, the shovel, and flinging handfuls of Cheerios at ducks seemed to cure all that.

We sat on a bench, eating our dogs, sharing the milkshake, and watched him methodically scoop and dump, scoop and dump... And grin. We were grinning, too, since we got to talk to each other, uninterrupted, for 20 minutes.

David likes to go down to a low fishing pier to feed the ducks. It's true that we can get closer to them because there are no rails. I totally respect the logic of his position. I just like to stay on the high bridge with rails so I don't have to have a "water plan."

The Cheerios in the bag were gone. Seth decided that we needed to do something different. He said, "Want to get in," and then proceeded to put one foot over the edge. David grabbed him. He writhed and continued his determined quest to make his way into the cold, dirty lake. I'm not sure that our laughter gave him the clearest signals about how we felt about his plan.

He was soon pacified by throwing pebbles into the bushes on the side of the trail. Boys and rocks go together like pigs and mud.

And I? I store up these moments in my heart. I sit my heavy self down next to the toddler with the smiling blue eyes and the duck food. I wonder how he got so big and so beautiful so quickly. I put a hand on my hiccuping stomach full of "baby brother," and think, "These are the days..."

Summer Bible study...

And my year of activities is drawing to a close. Today in CBS, we were asked to register for next year. You get a pink card to register yourself, and then you get a blue card for each preschool age child you want to register. The cards were passed around, and I took... 2. It was a sweet moment for me. Those blue cards were a tangible reminder of the grace that gives me not just one, but two blue bundles to write about on them.

I've only got about 7 weeks to go! That's just crazy... We're rearranging furniture this weekend in the kids' rooms...

And its time to start thinking about what to do for a summer Bible study! Last year, I did most of Beth Moore's Daniel study. I say most because I got bogged down and didn't want to finish the last couple of weeks on Revelation. Revelation frustrates me. I've read it, and nobody can agree on what it means, and I figure I don't need to worry about it all that much because hopefully, I won't be here to need to know most of what it was talking about anyway. =)

But I like to do some sort of topical study over the summer because CBS is an inductive study of Biblical books. Anybody have any suggestions for me? Something relatively deep and meaty but not terribly time consuming for the sleep deprived mother of a toddler and a newborn? I'm open to suggestions. Bring 'em on!

How to save money on groceries without coupons...

I ran across a cool post today about saving money without coupons. I don't know about you, but I really get frustrated with the whole couponing system. As a mom of a 2-year-old, the thought of going to several different grocery stores in one week makes me want to tear my hair out. I don't have a ton of space to stockpile deals that I find, so that doesn't work so great. And most coupons are for processed foods that we don't eat. Going to a place that doubles coupons sounds like a good idea initially... but not if I'm spending more on the rest of my grocery bill for the weekly essentials (milk, produce, etc.) than I would by going to SuperWalmart. Couponing just doesn't work for me right now.

But I can do all these things. Check it out...

Best homemade brownies...

Ok, so David and I took a look at the grocery budget for last month. It was totally depressing. Apparently, all those little side trips to the Food Lion across the street really add up. I couldn't attribute it to the recent food inflation; it was that bad. So I put on my game face and decided that I am making ONE big shopping trip to Walmart a week, and no more. If we run out of something, we're going to make do until the next Monday. Unless its 1. toilet paper or 2. milk. Guests will be eating what we eat, even if it ain't fancy. No buying anything extra for them until I get this thing back in the barn.

So tonight we were having small group at our house. And usually, whoever's hosting makes dessert. I didn't have a ton in the pantry to work with. But I did have cocoa powder, flour, eggs, etc. So I went on AllRecipes.com and started hunting for a homemade brownie recipe. My typical pattern with AllRecipes is to look for something highly rated by hundreds of people. Usually, its a big winner. This brownie recipe was no exception. It appeared that lots of the reviewers had made modifications that worked, so I scrolled through those and picked and chose what I wanted to use. I'm not sure that the final product bears much resemblance to the original, but here's the link for that anyway.

Homemade Brownies that Actually Look and Taste a Lot Like the Ghiradelli Box Mix (my gold standard)

1/2 stick butter, softened, plus ¼ c. applesauce
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
a handful of semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 inch square pan. In a large bowl, beat melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Dump all the dry ingredients in with the wet and continue to mix. Add chips last. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Lentil Casserole...

I've tried multiple lentil recipes. I wish I could say that I've liked them. I WANTED to like them very much. =) We've tried lentil tacos, which were ok, but the texture kinda got to me. And then there was the night that I make lentil burgers, which are still referred to around here as "gross burgers." I had concluded that the only way I would eat lentils was if they were mixed with some sort of meat.

So I am thrilled to announce that I've finally found a vegetarian lentil recipe that I like and want to make again! Go here for the recipe. I put everything in all at once instead of in phases, and it turned out just fine. And I left out the celery. And I upped the marjoram, thyme, and sage to 1/4 t. And I put much less cheese on top 'cause I'm cheap, and David doesn't like most cheese. It was moist and had a really nice flavor. And I'm sure the baby makin' like a prize fighter in my tummy got some good nutrition tonight. =)

He is risen!!

view from the back deck this Easter...

Seth's first egg hunt (where he could actually pick up the eggs himself)

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."- Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter! He is risen indeed! This is one of the most joyful days of the year for me. Because of this anniversary that I celebrate, Christ has given me the most priceless gift of all... a secure place with God forever because of the covering of His grace through His blood, shed on the cross. It just doesn't get any better than that...

I love living in a place where spring and Resurrection Sunday coincide. I know they don't in a lot of parts of the country. Around here, there are many, many colorful blooms filling the trees and bushes. The hydrangeas are showing off, and I've discovered that we have a few different shades of pink, red, and white in our back yard. It's been a nice surprise. But anyway, the newness of life that God creates every year is a sweet reminder of the new life He brought through the risen life of His son. I thank Him quietly as we drive by fresh flowers this spring.

Over 2,000 years ago, Christ's disciples thought it was all over on Saturday. They were scared, depressed, and afraid for their lives. They believed that they'd given their lives for a bad cause. It wasn't until Sunday that they knew the truth. So as I contemplate Christ's death on Friday, I can smile with joy, knowing something they didn't know. I'm glad I know that he conquered true death for us all on that day.

We will be having our ham and green bean casserole and homemade rolls with friends this evening. The dough is in the bread maker right now. =) Wherever you are, I hope you're CELEBRATING, too, and not just spring and chocolate bunnies and candy eggs. Let the real meaning of Easter wash over you this year. Revel in what He's done...

A few words from my mother...

And now a few words from my mother, homeschooling survivor Claudia Whitaker. In case you're wondering, she successfully raised two children to adulthood. Neither are living under bridges in cardboard boxes, and both have had some of the "extreme confidence" that they obtained as the result of their "superior education" kicked out of them through living everyday life since homeschool. =) Here's Claudia...

"Having homeschooled my two children for 14 years, I can sympathize with the ever present worry and the nagging question, 'Am I doing enough?' My answer to today's homeschooling moms is: Forget that question. Ask yourself, 'Am I moving toward accomplishing the goal of raising lifelong learners?' Note that I did not say accomplishing, but moving toward accomplishing the goal. This movement toward your goal will encompass all the years you spend educating them. Did you expect this to be quick??? =)

I consider the grandparents of home education in the United States to be Dr. Raymond and Dorothy Moore, both credentialed in various facets of education, from college to special education. Their philosophy is a relaxed approach to treating the child as a whole person, not a little learning factory. Education is realized through living a life of learning, work, and service, all of which build the individual in wonderful and varied ways. You will pick up tidbits of knowledge in many likely and unlikely places that you will file away for use just when you need them. Sounds rather holistic, huh? (Editor's note: I don't think my mother ever used the word 'holistic' the entire time I was growing up. She may be eating too much soy and wheat germ. Continuing on...)

Rather than cramming their specific prescription for formal education down the reader's throat, the Moores wrote books that described how different families homeschool. How refreshing!! They didn't know it all, but gently offered the experiences of others so that you may choose the aspects of others' methods that will work for your children and your family. Some of their books include HOME-SPUN SCHOOLS, SCHOOL CAN WAIT, AND HOMESCHOOLING FOR EXCELLENCE, later renamed THE SUCCESSFUL HOMESCHOOLERS HANDBOOK.

One of the unique facets of the Moores' philosophy was that children are often pushed into formal education before they are developmentally ready, which can cause learning disabilities and eye problems, a result of focusing their young eyes on close work for long periods. You don't hear this today over coffee :) Education is like a banquet. It is served regularly, but the child chooses what he is ready to eat at his present level. He returns again and again as he matures and chooses something different each time. Doesn't that ease the pressure? It did for this mom.

Life is full of learning opportunities, and children are constantly being stretched through the normal activities in your home. One of my favorite quotes for living during my homeschooling years was one from Lubbock: "It is not so much that a child be taught, but that he is given the wish to learn." I believe the date is 1887. This is probably not quoted just right, but you get the gist of it.

If there is one thing I learned from being a homeschooling mom and would like to pass on to others, it's RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR CHILDREN! Don't let your quest for excellence in education become a god. Model your love for learning, and they will catch it. I was a constant embarrassment to my kiddies, but they now love learning :) "

Homeschooling thoughts...

So I'm here at the homeplace, and I'm typing from a computer that looks upon one of a few tall bookcases crammed with books. These books have titles like, "Books Children Love," and "The Gift of Music," and "Teaching Children." This room, now filled with miscellaneous craft materials and magazines that my mom can't bear to throw out, used to be our homeschool room.

David got up early this morning, and he came down here to do his Bible study. After he was done with that, he started looking around for something to read. And as we're here, "A Survivor's Guide to Homeschooling," seemed appropriate. Hey, it looked better than Dobson's "The Strong Willed Child." Guess who she got that book to deal with?

So he started reading it, and we talked about it a little bit as he was taking his shower. He liked some of her thoughts, especially some of the more practical stuff like how being a good neighbor can help keep your neighbors from calling the cops when they see your children outside at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

This led to an interesting conversation with Mom about homeschooling. My mother started homeschooling in 1986, the first year it became legal in North Carolina. There was no internet, and there were few resources available, mostly A Beka and Bob Jones stuff, neither of which I cared for much. One of the first books she ever read was Raymond and Dorothy Moore's "Homeschooling for Excellence," and that shaped her philosophy originally. Mostly what she knew was that she didn't like my teacher for 1st grade and that she could probably do this thing better herself. She also knew that she was only going to sign on for one year at a time. She kept her one year at a time policy until we both graduated from high school. =) We were such little angels to teach every single day, soaking up her knowledge like little sponges and gazing with awe upon her illustrious and exalted personage as our esteemed teacher. Hah!

And now she's down here pontificating in my ear again. =) I think I'm going to let her write a guest post... Coming soon...

At the family homeplace...

David had another work event this week, so Seth and I loaded up the old minivan and came to visit Nana and Papa on Sunday night. Seth has been in heaven, what with "Albert" and getting to "ride big tractor!" and throw balls down the stairs and have them thrown back to him. He thinks the world is his oyster when he's here, which causes other problems, like the screaming of "MINE!" and a marked lack of patience, but we're working on it, and I think things are improving. Time outs have been rigorously enforced against his angry refusals to say "please" and ask nicely for things. He understands exactly what he's doing, yes he does. Sigh.

I thought we would be going back to our house tomorrow afternoon. David's event ended early (a big surprise to us all), and I was thrilled to hear it when he called this afternoon. So here I am, piddling around the house, and the front door opens, and I hear a familiar voice. The man left work early, packed up, and came down here to be with us. He decided to take a couple of well deserved days off! So tomorrow he'll get bacon and eggs and pancakes with strawberries for breakfast, and my parents will pamper him just like they always pamper me. He really needs to rest, so he's going to rest. I don't know when he wants to go back yet, but I know it'll have to be before Sunday. We're scheduled to have Easter lunch with friends who don't have in town family, and I have to cook! =)

Plate rail...

The carpenter came on Saturday morning to do his feat of plate magic. Seth really enjoyed watching him work. The nail gun was especially thrilling... I think he did a great job. He was careful and thorough and cleaned up nicely afterward with a shop vac. =) I'll be on the lookout for more plates at the thrift stores to fill in the gaps over time. It may seem like a little thing, but my mom had a plate rail in our kitchen growing up, and so doing this makes this house feel more like home to me.

C-section or VBAC...

One of the toughest things about this pregnancy has been this dilemma:

To VBAC or not to VBAC?

(For those of you who don't know, VBAC stands for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean...)

At first, I thought that another c-section was a no brainer. I'm still leaning heavily in this direction. The first couple of people I saw at my practice group tended to recommend repeat c-section. They stressed that it was totally my decision, of course, but they didn't see the need to risk a uterine rupture because of laboring on my previous c-section scar.

You see, the risk of uterine rupture during VBAC is anywhere between 1 in 200-500, depending on who you ask. Some uterine ruptures are small, but they do necessitate immediate surgery and c-section. Some are much worse, and the mother or the baby could die or sustain serious damage, like birth defects. There is no way to know if you'll be one of the 1 in 200.

It seems that my practice group is split between the men and the women on this one. All the male doctors think you should play the odds and try for a VBAC, as long as the reason your first baby was c-section was that it was breech. All the female doctors and nurse practitioners think it would be wiser not to risk your health or the baby's health. This includes a female doctor who told me, "I had two VBACs, but that was before I saw a uterine rupture. If I'd seen that before then, I don't think I would've tried it." Encouraging, no? And I do find it interesting that the guys (who have no experience with actually giving birth) are the ones advocating for VBAC...

Even if I do want to attempt a VBAC, I would have to go into labor on my own. They would not induce me because the contractions would be too hard on my scar for too long. So that's another down side...

Add this to the stories of women I've known who've had horrible problems with tearing and healing from vaginal birth and women who are going to have to have surgery to repair their bladders, and you can see why the thought of just tearing up the same area again sounds pretty appealing. And then there was the gal I talked to recently who said that a doctor at the hospital told her that they'd had 3 uterine tears just that day...

There are certain things I care about deeply, and then there are other hills I'm simply not willing to die on. Natural childbirth? Hah! My goal has always been that we both come out alive and healthy, however it happens. Homemade baby food? Nah, the jar is just great. Now breastfeeding... that's a hill I nearly died on, but it was worth it. And I was determined ahead of time that I would do everything in my power to breastfeed. I succeeded, but it was really tough. I may post about that later. But I couldn't put my energy into everything. I had to choose.

So we have a set, scheduled date for my c-section. But its 2 days before my due date. Normal protocol is to set it earlier, like early in the 39th week. David and I talked about it, and we decided to give me a little better chance to go into labor on my own and give him plenty of time to cook fully. And if I do go into labor on my own before the 29th, we'll pray about it again then. God can talk me into a VBAC if its what He really wants for us... =)

Nearly 32 weeks...

Ahhh, a pregnancy update is long overdue. And I know it. I guess I haven't written much about it because its so blissfully uneventful. Even the little issues that I had with Seth haven't appeared this time around. Dizziness if I stand too long? Nope... nada. Feel like a bladder infection is coming on? Nope... not a hint of that. It's really nice.

But having a toddler to chase has made things harder on my increasingly tired body. Even though I worked part time at a preschool up until two days before my due date with Seth, this has been far more exhausting. It doesn't help that my toddler doesn't like to climb our stairs, and it hasn't seemed worth it to push the issue much. My poor back...

I've concluded that Seth must've been breech for a long time. This little boy's movements feel very different than his. With Seth, I mainly felt movement in the middle of my stomach. There was never any painful pushing up under my ribs (which I attribute to kicking), and I get that a lot from Mr. X. And I feel a lot of movement lower down, like flailing arms. I believe these doctors that his head is down, but mostly because I can tell such a difference. =)

And I'm carrying this baby much lower than Seth. I didn't realize why I was having a harder time getting up and down until my mother-in-law mentioned it. And now my pants are becoming low riders because of my belly pushing them down. I may have to get some new ones for the last 8 weeks!

Alas, I'm on track to gaining all the weight I gained with Seth. I'm at about 30 pounds now, and I've got 8 weeks to go, so that means I could hit the 40 pound mark. I did lose it all with him, so I'm optimistic it will go with Mr. X, but I was hoping we wouldn't quite get there. But I am told that you gain what your body thinks it needs to gain, so, oh well.

And I've done far worse at documenting this pregnancy in pictures. I'm going to have a friend take some more maternity shots of me in a couple of weeks. We also really need to get a last family photo done before we go from 1 boy to 2 boys...

And I have a c-section date for Mr. X. D day? May 29...

Happy Birthday, honey!

Happy birthday to the world's best husband and father! I'm soooo glad he was born 32 years ago. And I'm even more glad that his parents did all the hard work (that I now know it was) to raise him with a servant's heart and a love for Christ. I hope I will raise two little boys to be beautiful gifts to two blessed wives one day.

I love ya so much, sweetie. I know you've got a busy week coming up, and there won't be much time to celebrate until that's over, but I want you to know that I wish I celebrated you better every day. You have always been a rock for us, and I'm so thankful that Seth has you for his daddy. He doesn't know how good he has it. One of my goals is to help him figure that out.

And just to give you an idea of how unselfish this guy is... He wants a new suit and some ties for his birthday. (How thoroughly practical can you get. We would've had to get them soon anyway...) And he wants to celebrate by taking Seth to Chuck E Cheese. The only decadent thing he asked for was a 3-layer chocolate mocha cake. You got it, baby!