I don't want to forget...

How the Baby (JSH) mispronounces his sister's name and calls her Banana.  And how after we pray at night as a family he says, "AMEN! Everybody pee!!!"

Not so good at blogging...

Life is happening.  I really have not taken the time to stop and update here.  I put a random picture or happening on Facebook and that's it.  I'm 23 weeks (and 4 days...but who's counting?) pregnant.  That has been going well.  We are still undecided about whether or not we will have our 6th home birth or our first hospital birth.  Obviously, we are hoping for the birth at home since it is what we are familiar with but we are not wanting to be foolish either.  I have not posted weekly pictures even though I said I would because I took one and I looked awful and never tried again...

The thing that keeps me from being writing much is our current life-circumstances.  I could just sit here and fill a page or three on all the stress that is going on in our lives but for now I will leave it that my husband is still very ill and has not been able to work consistently for much of this year.  This makes for tense times and for a very emotional pregnant lady.  We are often down to our last dollar and that is a very scary place to be.   Also, my husband's illness does not seem to be improving much which is also scary and confusing and such.  He's currently on a dairy free, gluten free, sugar free, red meat free, just about everything else free diet with little to no relief from his spastic colon (IBS) symptoms.

However, I promise not to make this blog a gloom and doom blog about all the bad things going on in our life.  I want to return to adding memories of our day-to-day life.  (Speaking of which, I need to finish and post the birthday post of my newly minted 4 year old).  I do want to give some highlights though of some crazy, wonderful ways that God has supplied our needs.

• As the seasons turned and I realized what my 2 biggest kids needed in their respective larger sizes (a lot), 2 separate families sent clothes home from church and supplied their needs almost entirely (oldest boy still needs a coat but it won't get cold enough for that here too soon).
• 4 separate families gave us monetary gifts that have been most needed
• A friend has supplied us with free eggs as she is able.
• My Mom and Dad got us a boat load of diapers from Sam's a couple weeks ago that should last us for a few months.
• Chris wanted a decaf coffee from the local coffee shop last week.  We have been patronizing this shop since it opened more than 7 years ago.  When I went in, having not seen us in a while, he asked about how we were and I was honest because we know him so well.  He sent me home with 2 bags of fruit (he had just discontinued the fruit cup on his menu) and some decaf coffee beans. 
• Just today, I left chapel with 4 bags of canned food from a kind older man who was "cleaning out his pantry".

I'm probably leaving some things out; there have been so many acts of kindness like this to us.  They are such wonderful beams of light that God has given us in this otherwise dark time.

TJH Turns 9!

The day he was baptized.

Always so serious.

He's always loved the new kids.

Everything REH knows, he learned from watching T.

Nine years ago today, my oldest son was about to make his appearance.  We are so thankful for this child that first made us parents.  

9 little things about Thomas:


1. He is a great leader. 

2. He is creative. Since he was little he could spend hours drawing or building.
3. He loves to read.

4. His best friend's name is Noah (he insists I put that). 
5. His favorite subject in school is math, but he won't admit that yet.
6. He enjoys Star Trek, just like his Daddy.
7. From BKH, 3: "He sometimes lets me do Legos with him." (lol)
8. From REH, 7: "My favorite part of him is that he plays with me and he is my brother."
9. From SEH, 5: "I like to eat beside him and play with him." 

Helpful. 

Silly.

Trying to help me get a family picture a week or two before JSH is born.

Can't do a birthday post without the special horsey. 

I was right!

The doctor was able to see and hear a good healthy heart beat from our little one today!  AND for the first time in my "career" of being pregnant the EDD that I had was the same one that the doctor got with ultrasound measurements.  I'm going to have to do some special tests and such  due to my blood pressure history however for now he wants me to stop taking my BP meds.  My blood pressure was actually very low today and he thinks that I do not need the meds until later.  He wants me to stop the drug before I do blood work and such to get a baseline on various things.  I am kind of relieved that my blood pressure was so low as that possibly explains why I have been so very exhausted this time around.  Maybe I will have some energy again soon!  I do plan on taking weekly prego pics to post on this blog primarily for the fun of doing it for the first time.  


Baby's picture:
EDD 2/05/13 (Which is also my little brother's birthday and, I found out today, the doctor's birthday).

(The EDD here is 2/3 but the doctor thought that it was incorrect and put the 5th in my chart FYI)

Baby Doctor

Tomorrow, I go to the OB for the first time for this baby.  I have been pretty quiet on here lately because my pregnancy and Chris' illness are really all that has been going on.  I have been so sick though I am improving.  Chris has been so sick but we think that he is improving too.  I have hesitated to write too much about it as well until I know that the baby is OK.  I really didn't realize how nervous I was about tomorrow's appointment until it has gotten closer.  I have been so excited to find out my actual due date (since I know my estimate of 020513 is going to be way off--I always am).  However, now I am realizing how scared I am to watch the screen during the ultrasound.  I did not expect to be this scared.  


  Anyway, after tomorrow I plan to blog a little about the pregnancy.  I've never taken weekly or regular pictures of myself in a pregnancy.  I figure the 6th time is a good time to start.  

Blackberries

The blackberries in our field produced this year; the boys and I went and picked some.  Yes, even the baby picked but all his went in his mouth.

...

Remember that old America's Funniest Home Videos where Bob Saget does a voice over for a dog pushing a rock?

 "Pushing a rock pushing a rock pushing a rock

 pushing a rock pushing a rock pushing a rock 

pushing a rock pushing a rock, 

turning around,

pushing a rock pushing a rock..."  

Well, I am currently living that but my voice over is:

"Don't puke don't puke don't puke don't puke don't puke don't puke don't puke don't puke..."

I am so thankful that I am pregnant but MAN do I feel yucky.  Morning sickness is kind of like labor.  If you remembered how bad it can be you might not sign up for the whole process multiple times.  Good thing pregnancy takes your memory with it...

Since I am taking the time to blog tonight...

I figure I should take the time to make a blog announcement about our current news.  Especially considering my dear husband made a Facebook announcement almost a week ago which pretty much makes it official to the whole world.  Here I will announce to anyone remaining that was left out of that round.
























I am...

(Yes that is a fuzzy picture of a plus sign.)

Everyone around here is very excited.  We would appreciate your prayer for this little bugger.  This is very early and announcing this soon breaks all the rules of pregnancy announcements but we would rather Christian brothers and sisters know and pray for us than to walk the journey alone.  I calculate that I am due between 1/21 and 2/05/13.

I found out that we were expecting just shortly after I became very blue about the fact that I should be holding a newborn right now.  The baby we lost last September would have been born in March or April.  But God is good and has a perfect plan and his plan for us now is, we pray, to carry this new baby to a healthy full term.

If you are tempted to make family size comments, don't worry I've already heard them all...three children ago!!  http://blogginbridget.blogspot.com/2007/12/large-families-faq-with-come-backs.html  (I didn't laugh at all of these...some are not called for and not funny but I have to say that I have been tempted with all of them.)

Little Bit of Dayton

Our town is a great place to raise kids.  There are great parks and playgrounds; a good local college that has a variety of opportunities for the community; and we are close to larger cities for the things that the little town doesn't offer.  Our town also has lots of history and one of the most famous historical happenings for our little town is the Scopes Trial, AKA Scopes Monkey Trial, AKA profit making scheme thought up by a bunch of local businessmen after the local coal company failed in the 1920s.  The Scopes Trial still makes the town money as they recreate it every year though Dayton really is a sleepy little town when it comes to economics.  This week I had Mommy dates with my oldest son and oldest daughter.  When I went to town with my son, we went to the courthouse and I talked to him a little about Dayton's history and we walked the sidewalk that has a timeline of Rhea County. 






As my son and I read the timeline, some of the tidbits were personally interesting like:

You see there where Andrew Jackson visits Old W.... in 1801.  That said Old Washington; I live in the heart of Old Washington--actually on the property where the jail for Rhea County once stood.  That was cool for me to see and be able to tell my son.  This next picture just made me smile:

See there, 1879, poor Rhea County had nothing noteworthy but they didn't want to leave that year out.  I'm very curious if that is some sort of inside joke that I don't know and something crazy happened that year that Daytonites would still like to forget but still mention it or something.  

(Better pictures of the sidewalk by someone I don't know: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewrobbins/sets/72157624538827529/detail/.)  Also I can't write about this without mentioning that Dayton has been on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Tonight, my oldest daughter and I went on a date.  We went out to eat and then to feed geese.  Here are pictures from our fun:

Hiking

Today I took the kids and 2 friends hiking at our local Pocket Wilderness which is part of the Cumberland Trail.  We had a lot of fun despite the fact that we were in a hurry to hike in and out before nap time meltdowns (didn't make it) and the rain (made that one--still hasn't rained today).  We had lots of fun once the kids got over the disappointment that since I was the loan adult we were not getting off the trail and we were definitely not going in the water.  The following pictures are from today; I forgot my camera of course as I usually do so they are taken with my low-tech camera.  Besides that they would have probably been blurry anyway on the real camera because all these were taken in a big hurry while I chased the 7 kids so that I could keep everyone in sight.

Little Buddy was lagging behind and our little friend went behind to help him. 

Holding his arms up to keep the leaves out of his face.

The group with a head cut off.  This was a steep rock they chose to sit on.

This one is especially blurry because my not-quite 2 year old is suspended on this steep rock.

We made it back to the parking lot!

This most excited little girl threw herself down several times on the way back to the car as she was very tired.  She walked the whole way though (she had to!!).

Talking about Lego's now that the hike is over.

Afternoon Pictures

These two are such good friends.

This little guy is always just along for whatever is going on.

Favorite activity: hanging around. 

You might not be able to tell from the picture: There is a bird's nest with baby birds in that light...the cat is just waiting. :(

This is all the garden I have so far this year but it is doing well.

On Teaching the Older Daughter to Read

SEH, 5, is doing very well learning to read.  And she is an eager student.  However I do have to fight smiles and a little laughter when she is reciting words to me.


"/b/-/e/-/d/ BED!!"


"/r/-/o/-/t/ ROT!!"


"/m/-/a/-/t/ MATTRESS!!!"

Bed in Summer

Last night, the Mister stayed at his brother's house due to a late evening in the city--he works only 5 minutes from my brother-in-law's home.  Since Daddy wasn't coming home, we skipped nap times yesterday and had an early bed time.  This is something I used to always do when Daddy worked a job that had him out of town several times a year but the kids are not familiar with the practice anymore.  I remembered and recited the following poem for the little dears though I don't think they were fooled, not the two oldest ones anyway.

Bed in Summer
~Robert Louis Stevenson
In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day?

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

This post is primarily for my husband.  The children might look like little clones of him but they have acquired many of my habits.  


Some proof in pictures:

My husband has never understood my desire to read before bed and my ability to fall asleep while I read.  (Of course, I have never understood his ability to lay his head on the pillow and be absolutely and completely sound asleep within seconds...)

Dr. Jekyll and little Mr. Hyde

We usually go to two churches every Sunday.  The first is our home church, the one we have been going to since before we were married (we have been married for 10 years so we have been going to Cornerstone OPC since January 2001...I think) that we drive an hour to get to; the other is a church plant in our town that we are hoping will become established into a church. 


Today, the baby was crazy which is why I am bothering to write a note about our otherwise typical Lord's Day.


In morning worship, he couldn't have been any more difficult.  "Gum?" "Mommy, I want gum." "Cheeries? [cheerios]"  "Water. Mommy want water. Water. Mommy get water. Water. Mommy water. Water. Mommy want water."  Etc etc etc.  It was exhausting and I didn't hear a bit of the sermon while I was trying to keep him quiet and appeased.

Then at the afternoon church in town, he was as good as a two year old could be.  He whispered when he talked, the words he said were him repeating words the pastor said.  (I got tickled when the pastor said illumine and JSH said "lemon pie?")  He did ask for water again and I was prepared this time and had some.  But he didn't want to drink it.  "Water?" [Me handing it to him.] "Put it down."  But he said it in a whisper, although he whispered it several times.  


I can not help but feel like I was dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde after the wresting match of the first sermon and the cuddle fest of the second.  Crazy, sweet kid.

Fun Morning

It is that time of year when it is too early to turn on the air conditioner without guilt but not scorch in the house in the middle of the day.  So we went out and read and started a fire (so we could scorch outside too!).  While we were out baby climbed a tree for the first time by himself.  Yikes--what a crazy summer this will be if I have to keep the (almost) 2 year old out of the trees!

Don't ask but I wanted to include this one for my family's sake.

Little Boy

This is the littlest and the worm he carried around for a long time while we worked outside today.

Morning Discovery

I peaked out my kitchen window and saw this huge critter looking back at me.

We looked it up and found that it is a Polyphemus Moth, named after the Greek mythological figure cyclops.  This bugger will mate and die.  That is, if she (I'm pretty sure it's a she) makes it through the observation time with my kids.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antheraea_polyphemus
I also found info on http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 but I couldn't get it to open again so that I could link it here; you'll have to search yourself if you're interested.


Update: We let her go.  We took some more pictures when we did.

Here is another good site about it: http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/polyphemus_moth.htm

I got a deal today...

...and I wanted to share.


Click this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Twinings-Earl-Grey-Tea-Loose/dp/B0005ZXX1S.  


The day I am writing this it is $8.38.  This morning, I went to the local food pantry, where several of my friends get great steals but I have not--until today that is.  

Today I found two of these cans for $1.00 each.  

I excitedly put them in my cart and scoured the shelf for more.  There were no more but I'm gonna enjoy some great tea for a while--this is currently my favorite kind!

Kids say silly things...

So, we had company on Friday night.  Friends that we have never spent time with at our house, college students that my husband used to work with.  A tense moment occurred when the baby starts yelling "Truck! Truck!" in the best way he can.  Except, he can't say the /tr/ blend and it comes out as /f/.  They didn't know if they should laugh, I didn't know if they knew he wasn't saying what he was saying...good times.


Yesterday, BKH, 3, was asked by her oldest brother, "Since you have experience, what DO boogers taste like?"  (You can't make this stuff up.) 

Her answer?      

"Rotten salad."

Speaking of nasty stuff, my 5 year old says that her nose is blobbed up when she is congested.  We think this is cute and I don't think we will teach her any other terminology for that any time soon.  

These are just the kinds of things that you do and talk about when you have 5 children under the age of 10.

Congregated around the computer for a cartoon.

More Birthday Fun

We finally had REH's friend party last weekend (14 days late I was reminded).  Here are some  pictures (just a couple) from the event: