To my 3 year old!

Nearly a month ago my son turned three and I've neglected the big event here on my blog. In real life, we did it up with a big shindig and had a bunch of his friends over to celebrate. The focus was back on him, I'm sure a welcome feeling just days after his baby sis joined the family!

Throwing a party 12 days postpartum is great if your Mom is here! Thanks to Granny everything went smoothly! We made homemade playdough which was each kids parting gift along with a goody bag with a couple of dollar store finds in it. (Seriously I think we may have spent $5 at the dollar store for bags and party favors - sometimes I just love the dollar store!) Some bigger siblings helped put Cars themed tatoos on all the little guys and while it's always really important for me to make my kids cakes I let my hubby purchase this years- boy is that a budget killer! Well worth it in this instance however.

I just can't believe I have a three year old! He just had a little growth spurt too so all his 2T shorts are getting too short - good thing summer's almost over and we've gotten 2 seasons out of some of them!!!

My favorite things you are doing right now my beautiful boy--

• The way you'll burst into song - and start singing one of "Bob and Larry's Sunday Morning songs" or "Doe a Dear" or yesterday in the car with the radio to "I can only Imagine" I love your beautiful little voice.

• Everyday when I walk into your room after "quiet play time" there's a new adventure waiting for me - once you were even asleep on your floor and two days ago you ripped off a good two foot section of the wallpaper! THANKS maybe in a couple weeks you'll have it all off! I wonder if then you'll be able to paint the walls for us!

• Your ability to learn has always fascinated me but now it's amazing. You can recognize most letters - only about 6 slip you up and you count to 30 - you can speak so well. Daddy and I are so very proud of you!

• Ever since your little sister came along it's become apparent to me what a HUGE heart you have. You are always wanting to kiss and hug her (isn't that what baby's are for?) and you have learned to be very gentle and caring. It's a nice side to see of your very boy rough and tumble personality.
• You can 100% get yourself dressed - if there are no buttons involved - which is a huge help for me! Mostly you get things on right side out even.
• You still LOVE to help me in the kitchen, and you have most of just about every book that we own memorized and after two times reading through library books heaven forbid Mommy or Daddy skip one little line to save time before bed!!!!! I think "What do People do all Day" is one of the only ones you don't have totally memorized and that's a really long one. Yet still a favorite for you.
• You know that D-O-G, C-A-T, and C-A-R and your name spell words. You ask me to spell things - did I say you are SO smart!
• You are always willing to share with Mommy and Daddy and you are working on taking turns and sharing very well when playing with your friends. It's fun to see your imagination at work when you play with your "guys", matchbax cars, blocks and others.
• You always make the sunshine a bit brighter each day for me and you'll always be my baby - even if you think you're a "big boy!"

I LOVE YOU MY WONDERFUL SON!

Tonight while giving my kids a bath I found myself wanting three more arms. For one thing I'd be able to wash both kids and floss the annoying corn between my teeth all at the same time. Then when I got the little one out and dressed she wanted to nurse and so I sat on the toilet nursing away knowing that my son needed to get out and ready for bed but also desperately needed his hair washed. Again I needed more arms - I guess God knew that we really can't do everything and that's why he gave us Dad! Conveniently with two more arms!!!

Time

Tiny Toes

Two In Cloth

We are just here treasuring every moment we spend together. Someday I hope to be able to get a better handle on things so I can justify computer time again! But for now we are just enjoying this time with my now 3 year old son and 3 week and six day old daughter because they'll only be this big today, tomorrow they'll be bigger.

My hubby's Mom sent an email and this was at the bottom, I thought it was powerful and fitting!

Birthday Story Part 2

I guess with a new baby when I say I'll write more tomorrow it means next week!!! :) My Mom was here for the last two weeks so today's my first day "on my own." So far God has been very very good to me!!! Both are currently sleeping and I thought I'd try to finish the story of our daughter's birth and share a few cute pictures.

"God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:31 (NIV)

I woke up at 4am having contractions and I laid in bed resting to see if they'd continue even with me relaxing and drinking water. For about 3 or 4 days before I'd been having some pretty strong contractions but if I laid down and relaxed they'd get further apart and then I'd fall asleep or they'd just go away completely. This time I wanted to make sure they were real before calling. After the 5th one about 10 or 11 minutes apart I grabbed my hubby awake thinking "this is the last one you get to sleep through honey!" When the contraction subsided I asked him to bring me the phone and number.

He proceeds to do a couple things and then get out his clothes and begin to get dressed before I say "I'd like to call before my next contraction comes so can you get the phone first." He groggily replies and smiles at me, telling me I'm beautiful. I call at about 5am and since we are all packed I get dressed, put my hair back in braids and we let my Mom know we were leaving.

We arrived at the birthing center at about 5:40am and start to settle into our room. The same room where my son was born, it has a twin bed, a comfy chair, and a large birthing tub - along with it's own bath room. The lights could be dimmed and we just tried to relax and laugh between contractions. Occasionally I'd ask my hubby if he could at least wake up when I was having a contraction and we'd giggle. I was way more aware during this labor than I remember being with my son.

After we were settled in a bit my wonderful nurse (really my best friends Mom - we go to the same church- who so wonderfully said she'd be on call just for us!) checked me and I was 5 cm. She showed me on the little diagram how big that was compared to 10cm and I was convinced we had a long way to go.

After awhile my back began to really hurt so Adam laid behind me on the bed and would push on my lower back during the contractions, I then said I was ready for the tub. I'm not sure what time it was but as soon as they started getting the tub ready for me I had 3 or 4 contractions right on top of each other which was well, eventful. Before I got in the tub I was already at 8cm and it was time to call my Dr. By the time the Dr. got there I was complete and ready to push!

The first contraction I pushed through I was thinking in my head "I'm not sure I can do this, this hurts way more than I remember!" After that contraction I looked at my hubby who was telling me how awesome I was doing and I said out loud "We can do this!" (He asked me later if I remembered saying this and I told him that I felt like I had to say it out loud since my thoughts during the pushing weren't helping me.) After the second contraction that I pushed through I said something to the effect of "Oh my goodness!" and everyone laughed at me that I was so mild manored in the throws of it all!

The third contraction was the last out she came to join us at 8:07am and they plopped her on my belly in all her chubby beauty. Adam and I oogled and googled for maybe a minute or two and then he cut the cord and they wrapped her in a warm towel. I felt like I had to use all my strength with two people helping me get out of the tub but I made it over to the bed. Adam got a chance to snuggle her for awhile and then I did. They never had to take her away from us, a scale was wheeled in and she was weighed (9lbs 4oz). Then we nursed for a good long while and called family and asked my Mom to bring our son out to meet his baby sis.

It wasn't until after lunch that we gave her a bath and got her dressed and measured and foot printed and all that stuff. It was so nice to have all that time to bond and for my son and Mom to be able to hang out until after lunch. We did more cuddling and nursing while my best friend came for a short visit. After which our family Dr. came and checked her out and we were discharged. I think we arrived home at about 5:30 pm and another friend was over just for a quick peek before work. I'm pretty sure we all were in bed by 8pm.

"I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26 (NIV)

Our Daughter's Birthday Story (part one)

So it looks like my Dad ended up being the closest guess - crazy as it might be. But I'll buy him starbucks when he comes to visit in a couple days so there are 3 others that guessed the correct date and I'd love to send you all something - Heaven Sent, Ashlee from Mama's Nest, and Audrey from Pinks and Blues. Send me an email to thebutterflymama at gmail dot com with your snail mail address! And thanks for playing!

I'm feeling great. I'm rested and still resting too but really things couldn't be going better as we are all getting adjusted to our wonderful new family member. I wanted to share the first bit of her birth story with you all while I have a moment to type, it's much more slow going one handed but it's nice to have a cutie pie nursing as I go!!!

"Last Monday seems like a lifetime ago," my hubby casually said to me at some point this week. I smirked at him and we both shrugged since it basically was. My Dr. called me late that morning and said, "Heidi, you're still pregnant!" She had told me the Tuesday before that I was 3-4 cm and wouldn't make it to my next apt. Also she made that tempting offer that we could induce any day. I wanted to wait at least until my due date so that brings us back to Monday. With the next day being my due date she asked if I wanted to be induced that next morning. I was done so I agreed that I'd be at the birthing center the next morning at 8am.

I just have to add that watching my son that day was amazing. He and my Mom were making cookies and even though it took them at least twice as long to do it together sitting in the chair and seeing the look on his face made one thing clear. I know why I love to do those things with him and it was great to sit there and see his smiles and the look of satisfaction on his face while he was helping. It IS worth spending this extra time with our kids while they are little since they are only this big today, tomorrow they'll be bigger. (He now seems gigantic next to his little sis!)

Anyway, it was sort of a hard decision to induce vs. got naturally. I was nervous all evening even after my nurse called and explained everything. My husband has since mentioned that I never gave this decision to God and he was right, I didn't have much faith. Especially since I awoke with contractions at 4:00am my worry and emotion was unnecessary. When I woke up I also had the song "I surrender in my head which was a nice one to be singing going into labor.

Since this much has taken two sittings to type I'll write another segment tomorrow!

Welcome to the family

We welcomed "baby sister" to our family at 8:07am on August 14th weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz and she was 21 inches long. Our big kiddo is officially a big brother and doing great! I'm voiding my no name policy for a day or so and then I'll update this to get rid of it but I thought all my new friends should get a chance to learn her name. She's nursing like a champ and we were home within about 9 hours of giving birth. You'll be hearing more about her birthday soon but I'm going back for another nap now! Thanks for your prayers, she's an amazing blessing!

The update from here is see my last posting! Except maybe with one less finger holding on!

I was totally convinced that this little one would be pretty early so I think God's reminding me who's in charge here!!!

On a totally random note, I totally love my crocs and they've saved my feet and back this entire pregnancy but can I just tell you how much I'd love to wear some really cute shoes again!

Still hanging in there...

I thought this picture from last October was a perfect fit! I'm still hoping that those of you who guessed today end up being right, but not much is going on to indicate that! So I guess there's still time to guess!

There's no hiding my HUGENESS!!!!

Not that I'd even want to try. I'm enjoying this pregnancy as much as I possibly can. I'm enjoying every day of a bouncy, wiggly little girl who even though she's zapping my energy and making me pee at every stop we make, I'm so in awe of the fact that she's in there. About to be born into our family, this tiny person inside me. A whole complete little girl who will soon enough be able to survive outside of my body.

I find that I can't wait for so many things... can't wait to meet her, nurse her, hold her, see my son's face as he meets her for the first time, see Adam hold her and love on her, and see all those tiny fingers and toes. Last week I kept saying, "OK God, give me just 2 more days to get things organized before the little girl comes." This week I find myself hoping that labor starts NOW just because I feel ready. Ready to be an infants Mom again, to parent two kids (sometimes I think I'm nuts too), that I'll still be able to keep up with the house this time, and I'm just ready tomorrow marks one week until I'm due after all.

I can say that I used to be one of those people who thought, "how can there be enough love in my heart to love another child." After all I love my son completely, but after these nine months with my daughter in my womb I feel that I have more capacity to love than I ever thought. Today, I feel more confident in my parenting abilities and full of love for my family and incredibly grateful that God has blessed us dearly and wonderfully in so many ways. Incredibly looking at things from a place of gratitude always helps my perspective and outlook.

Well, the purpose of this post wasn't to be this sappy ;) but share all these pictures of my huge belly that my hubby took this weekend. You can click on the pics to make them bigger if you need to LOL!!! Did you catch Mr. Big Brother's face in the picture where he's hugging me? Silly kid!

Remember to guess my delivery stats if you haven't played already. Hopefully there's less than one week left!!!!

Getting Close

I thought it might be fun to play a little game for the last couple of weeks of this pregnancy. I'm not sure if at the end of it I'll have any energy to give anything away or not but I thought it might be fun anyway to see who's the closest. How about a Starbucks gift card to the winner of the closest guess - that will be easy enough to get and mail!!! UPDATED TO ADD: my Mom will add a couple of hand knitted dish cloths to the prize pot too, they are very pretty and great because they are washable and reusable!!!

I will give you as many details as I have as far as Dr. visits and past history to help you with guessing my delivery date, time, baby's weight etc. Whatever detail(s) you'd like to guess. After our new arrival comes I'll post all of her stats and of course pictures!

Tuesday I was 38 weeks and I'm due on August 14th. Two weeks ago I was about 1 cm dilated and this week 2 cm. With my son I was dilated 4 cm for at least the last two weeks and I delivered him ON my due date at 8:19pm, he weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 21 inches long.

Here's a picture of me at 38 weeks one day along and here's a link to a pic of me pregnant with my son at 37 weeks.

Happy Guessing!!!

Oh, and please don't think you have to have a blog to guess, if you normally lurk around here (that means you read and you don't normally comment) I LOVE comments and the more guesses the merrier!!! :) You can still click on leave a comment fill in your name and comment!

Yup, I've Started Composting With Worms

I've wanted to start doing this for three years and finally got brave enough. I always thought it would be easier with a professionally purchased bin made especially for it. Something like this one but I decided I'm too cheap to buy one. There are many different ways to make one and I chose just to use a big blue plastic bin since we have quite a few of them.

My hubby helped me by drilling two small holes in the bottom and some one inch holes across the top of one side and the bottom of the other. I've read that plastic bins tend to stay very moist so I wanted it to be pretty well ventilated. Then I glued some screening to the outside of the bin to cover the holes, mostly to keep away flies, apparently they worms don't try to escape as long as conditions are not toxic!

With the bin all ready, I shredded a bunch of newspaper by hand until it was in 1-2 inch wide strips then I threw in a couple of handfuls of dirt (worms don't have teeth and need some grit to eat.) I then dampened the newspaper bedding with water using enough so that all the paper was wet but not too much so that it was dripping. After adding the moist bedding to the bin I added the worms which is what yesterday's picture showed. After about 30 minutes they were all underneath the newspaper bedding and now when I open the bin I barely ever see any worms on top. I buried some food scraps in the bedding, put on the lid and let them be.

In just a week that first pile of scraps I put in are almost gone, but I think I did overload the system with too much fruit and veggies a couple days later. Apparently if I just let it sit now the worms will catch up with the scraps and eventually they'll multiply to an ample population to handle our amount of food waste. In a few months we'll have wonderful vermicompost to feed our garden and plants.

Oh, and did I mention that this entire composting system is currently sitting in our downstairs bath tub. It only smells when you overload it with food (even though mine is over loaded at the moment it doesn't really smell unless you go digging in the bedding). You can find more info and order your own red wriggler worms at Mary Applehof's web site and I also purchased her book Worms Eat My Garbage as a reference.

I'll probably be posting periodically with updates on how it's going - but this is how I got it all set up!

I'm updating this post because I forgot to mention yesterday that Jamie who blogs at all things avery just introduced her new business. Her custom photo card site is amazing, it's called Wee Little Designs (cute name huh?!!) and I can't believe the number of designs she has, nor how amazing they all are! Comment and link to her blog by tomorrow and you could win 25 free cards! She's really got talent!

Worms anyone?

More details tomorrow!

Local, farm fresh, natural produce...

...and it's less than a 5 minute drive from our house.

Not having a garden this year meant less work at a time when it would have been impossible to keep with moving, but it also means no fruits to harvest and no fresh picked veggies. Or does it? There is a family farm and garden stand right down the street from our house and they have organic produce. No they aren't a certified organic farm but they use no pesticides or sprays which makes a big difference to me. What they don't grow themselves they get from a community of natural farms in the nearby vicinity. They even offer classes on how to can dill pickles AND they have some pick your own at certain times.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately on why to buy locally instead of foods that have been trucked in from 100's if not 1000's of miles away. Treehugger makes a good argument here andhere about buying locally vs. organically. I like it because it's more fresh if it's picked locally so it tastes better and is more nutritious (if picked tree or vine ripe). I can also feel good about supporting my local economy.

If you are looking for locally grown produce in your area you can visitLocal Harvest where you can find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food even grass fed meats.

The berryaholic is shown above with our bounty! The green beans were in the walk in cooler but were still warm since they were just picked!! YUM!

Summer Snow

Way back in February I mentioned that I put some snow balls in my freezer. When we were kids we'd get them out on the Fourth of July for a summer snow ball fight. This year since we were moving all our stuff was going into storage for a couple weeks we had to celebrate this tradition a bit early! I took out the snowballs and boy did my little guy have a blast with them.

The movers were actually there moving out all the big furniture so we went out and played. It bugs me that I didn't really pay attention to the fact that the fridge shelves and drawers were in the background of the pictures needing to be hosed off and packed but I can't go back and move them now :)!!!

We dumped, threw, stepped on and played with the snowballs until they melted all away!

BTW did you see the latest give away contest from the girls at 5 minutes for mom? They are giving away a Insignia® 37" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV courtesy of Best Buy! Holy cow, what will those girls give away next...if you want a chance to win click on the link to their site and leave a comment and link on your blog!!!!

A belated thank you

Awhile ago I mentioned winning a contest from 5 minutes for mom for a custom alphabet book from Amy at Sweet Arts Design. Well I've neglected to tell you all how wonderful this is. I'm saving it for when the little girl arrives so that my son will have a new book to read that's special for him.

In addition to having my son's name on the cover and used for the letter N, the first letter of his name, we were able to make a dedication to him in the front of the book. The designs and art work are just gorgeous and since we chose the Spanish version each letter spread is in both English and Spanish. This would seriously make a great gift and we're considering getting the French version at some point for the little girl so that we have both.

Thanks again Amy and be sure to go and visit her site if you haven't already by CLICKING RIGHT HERE!!!!

Practicing

It's sort of funny that he feeds this baby with the bottle. He told my Mom when she was here a couple of weeks ago that he'd get to drink Mommy's Milk when baby sister comes out. Then he told me a couple days later when we were talking about how the baby will want to drink Mommy's milk alot he said "But, but it's MY milk" quite a few times until I said that he did get to drink it and this time it will be baby sister's turn.

Glimpses

Today I was spending a quiet moment with my son, well let me rephrase that. I was resting and watching him play while he was going about playing a chattering away.

I like to just sit and watch him be creative and see his brain working, I also used to randomly video tape these moments too just to see and have a record of all of his different stages. Now our video camera battery only lasts a few minutes per charge and it's on our list of things to buy eventually (hopefully soon.)

Back to today, I just love how he's to the stage where he pretend plays holding one guy talking to another saying "You want to go play at the park. You do, OK, let's go!" As I sat there watching and letting my mind wander I felt like I could see glimpses of who he will become. Not specifics but just generalities that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He'd get this look in his eyes and I could just see that look on his face when he's a young man.

He found a baby doll that was given me for our soon to be new addition at her baby shower over the weekend and also a bottle. He has carried the baby around for the entire rest of the day feeding her milk, burping and changing her diaper. Now she's in bed with him all tucked in. Hopefully he'll understand when his "baby sister" does join our family she won't be able to sleep in his little bed!!

Another day to treasure!!!

Some random thoughts that I have been stretching my brain to remember.

A few weeks before we moved Adam read a scripture reading at church, when he was walking up front my son stood up next to me to see him better. Then he looked at me and very loudly said, "That your honey, Mommy that your honey?" I didn't know whether to turn beat red or start laughing!

I also like how lately he'll ask to talk to his Dad on the phone and ask him "Where are you going for?" I'm not sure if he means "where are you going" or "what for" or maybe both - who knows.

Things that worked to keep my 2 year old son entertained on a 10 hour drive. (The way there we split up into two days so it was a bit easier but the way home we did the whole thing in 11 hours total so we were pushing it.)

• Having some little "guys" and matchbox cars for him to play with worked for a little while
• Three disposable super 8 motel cups bought about 30 - 40 minutes of stacking and creating caves for his cars and guys.
• Silly putty was the biggest hit, he'd pass it up to me to make a snake or a ball over and over again in between playing with it himself. I'd say he did this for at least an hour each way.
• A smaller sized magna doodle was also a big hit - it was a new toy for him that he'd only played with friends houses.
• Stickers - tons of stickers - I bought one of those books with 1000 stickers in it. They clean up easily enough and we'd ask him to stick them on body parts or he'd just play sticking them all over the carseat.
• A roll of scotch tape. This may have worked a little better if he were a bit older and could rip the tape himself, but even though he couldn't tear the tape he still had fun unrolling the roll and I would tear it for him when he wanted. He just made tape balls and shapes, I suppose if you were very organized you could actually bring something for them to tear and tape together - might work on an airplane with the sky magazine? Who knows!
• A movie. On the way home he lasted 5 and a half hours before we offered the movie which even though both Adam and I feel that we survived with out them on many long car trips, Curious George was mighty nice about then.
• Each way 20 minutes of fussing was required before the total knockout! He actually did nap both ways - imagine that!

Eating meals in the car on the way home helped to take up time too, and of course snacks. All in all our little guy was a trooper and the little girl didn't decide to move and kick like crazy too far from a rest room!!!!

Ahhh

What a breath of fresh air to have computers hooked up in our own home again!!! It's been a tad harder than we thought to get settled it since the tenants we had renting here NEVER cleaned! I mean toilets were black and my husband scrubbed the stand up shower 5 times (the last two with a deck brush with those hard bristles) for it to get cleaned. I went out and bought all sorts of chemical cleaners/sanitizers that I never use to clean and sterilize stuff - no I didn't actually use them (fumes), that's what my hubby and my Mom were for. Luckily my Mom and Dad were here last week for a visit so they worked like Cinderella and my own personal handy man to clean and fix some of the damage. Thanks again guys!!

Alas, today I feel better, things are getting done and I'm grateful to be living here. My hubby said to me our first night here while he was mopping the kitchen floor at midnight and I sat sobbing that God was humbling us even more. All of a sudden I was done feeling sorry for us and started feeling grateful that we didn't live in a hut where I have walk a half a mile for water and carry it back on my head! Ah, perspective!

I'm still amazed that you guys still read this blog even though I haven't been retuning the favor. I'll get back to it eventually... but for now here are a couple of pictures of the last month.

Right after our house closed and we moved out we went to church camp where sleep was sparse. This morning I got out of bed wondering why I was sore and stiff. Then I looked at the small edge of the air mattress I was sleeping on!!! :)

One of the best things about camp was seeing our little boy confidently playing with kids of all ages and learning how to explore. Of course rocks, sticks and chasing chipmunks were among the favorites.

These are in Vegas I'm just 34 weeks along there. Now I'm 36 already yikes!!!! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I guess it helps to have many major distractions along the way!!! Now I'm almost done!

Hello!

Ah, internet!!!!

After 10 days, 10 different friends helping us pack uncountable boxes, four people helping move all of our stuff into 2 storage units and 3 families kind enough to let us keep some small items at their homes (freezer items, plants, computer stuff) we did make it out of our house by June 20th!

The next 4 days were spent at our church's annual bible camp which was super fun as well as exhausting. My son apparently does not know how to unwind and fall asleep after doing SO much playing with other kids all day so sleep was a bit hard to come by. I wish I were able to upload some pictures because I've got a ton of cute ones.

After spending a couple of nights at some wonderful friends of ours we drove 780 miles to Las Vegas to visit my mother in law. Which is where we've been for the last week. It's been so nice to visit with her, she's been so generous with everything. I have had internet access for a week now but her computer is in the room my son is sleeping in so I haven't had a really good opportunity.

I'm 34 weeks along right now and after a weekend with too many braxton hicks contractions things seem to have slowed down. We are leaving to drive home tomorrow on the 4th and the tenants who've been renting our other house for the last almost two years have said that they will be out by the 5th not the 12th as we previously thought. We'll be able to move back in starting in two days I guess! Yippeee!!!!! Being temporarily without a permanent place hasn't been so bad after all!

I'd imagine that it'll be another week before our internet gets hooked up at the house so I'll be able to post some pictures and get reconnected then. My hubby took one of me yesterday when we were walking around the Bellagio hotel so you'll get to see my hugeness when we get all the computer stuff hooked up! Till then, Happy 4th of July! Oh, and can you believe with all this craziness I totally missed my blogiversary! I can't believe it's been that long.

Here's a link to last years 4th of July picture.

Wonderful News!

No, no baby yet LOL, we have accepted an offer on our house!!! Since we've been waiting 10 months for an offer we've been both stunned and celebrating since Saturday. The reality hit today when we passed inspection and realized that we have to be moved out in less than a week!!!

Even though closing is on the 21st we are going to our church's annual family camp on the 20th so we need to be moved out by the 19th. HELLO that's in 6 days and boy am I thankful for all the nesting that I've been doing. But I'm looking around feeling very overwhelmed at the amount of stuff still needing to be packed!!!!

I'm having a packing party on Friday with some friends - can you believe the dork I feel like calling and inviting people to come over for a free lunch and help me pack!!! I'm lucky and grateful that so far all have said yes to come and help me one day or another! If you have a spare prayer one for my sanity would be much appreciated!!!

I am craving my blogging addiction and it looks like there is no relief in sight since for the next 6 days I'm packing then for the 5 days after that we're camping and playing (what a nice relief that will be.) Then when we return we are temporarily homeless since we have tenants renting the house we'll be moving into who have just been given their notice so they won't be out until July 12th!!!! I know that all will work out and God is so amazing - I'm just in awe at all the blessings we have. I'm not certain how often I'll be able to get online since not having a permanent residence for 3 weeks or so usually means no internet....sigh...

Yipppppeeeeee!!!! It sold before the baby came!!!! Now I'm just praying we get through the next week smoothly!!!!

Random Snippets

Goodness, life has a way of running away. My brain has been working in random ways today so this post is bound to be varied!

I can't believe that I'm 30 weeks along already - seriously where did these months go. It's hard to fathom that in 7 weeks I could have a baby that's considered full term!!! Yikes!

Thanks to Stephanie at Adventures in Babywearing a huge box of stuff arrived at my doorstep from Mason & Matisse. Talk about a ton of fun stuff for our us to have with our new arrival coming soon!

Until earlier today I hadn't turned on the computer in days, I've been both nesting and just letting myself focus on my "real world" a bit more. I do realize it's been forever since I blessed you all with a picture of my prego belly so I'll be doing that this week.

I can't promise to read all 600+ feeds in my bloglines so if I missed something extra special please let me know...please!! It's amazing how I feel that many of you are like close friends even though we've never and probably won't ever meet face to face.

I've been feeling very anxious and excited about meeting our new daughter face to face. I'm nervous about the adjustment time. How will my son and my relationship fare? Will I still be able to give him the attention and love he needs? I thought about this today as I sat rubbing his back singing him to sleep for his nap. For the last almost three years if he's taken a nap (where he didn't fall asleep in the car) I've put him to sleep either by nursing or rocking or now that he's in his own bed rubbing his back. Of course this is just on the occasions that he actually naps, 3-4 times a week or so, but I've been treasuring these afternoon times since it's one thing I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do with a teeny tiny one around. I know that's ok and I'm blessed that I've had so many special times with him until now and I do know that there will be plenty more to come.

I'm also so very excited to have another little body to nurse and cuddle, to sleep in our bed at night and to carry in a sling. I'm thrilled to see how our son grows to love her, care for her and be the big brother he is meant to be. I just can't wait to look into her eyes and prove to myself that this love I feel is real and that she's so real. Just to see her little face knowing that she is our precious gift from God for a time. I've glimpsed how fast it will go in the last three years and I know it's not slowing down.

I'm looking forward to all the small and large milestones alike with both of them together. The joy that I have giving each of them the other for a sibling is off the charts. I know that they will only be better people having each other in our family. I absolutely adore that when my son comes into our bed for his morning cuddles he'll hold on to my husband and I and say, "We all a family. Family in bed cuddles. Mommy Daddy,(his name), and baby sister." Even he knows that she's already a part of our family even though she won't officially be arriving for a couple more months!

LOL!!!!

Thanks Stephanie!!!!! It must be my lucky week!

Go visit Adventurese in Babywearing for her next contest from Cheeky Jewelry!. I don't often wear too much jewelry besides a necklace my hubby gave me and my wedding rings. I know I'm the exception so go get yourself entered to win!!!

Who me????

I won!!!! We all know that the wonderful women at 5 minutes for mom have terrific contests each week. I wanted to say thank you to Susan and Janice for having a great site (which I thought even before I won!) and for making blogging that much more fun for the rest of us!!!

So in about 2-4 weeks I'll be able to show you a wonderful personalized alphabet book from Amy at Sweet Arts Design. These are so sweet, and Amy's customer service has been wonderful. We'll be getting the English and Spanish one. I think it will be a perfect gift for our little guy!!

Plus there's another contest going on at Adventures in Babywearing. Stephanie's giving away a bunch of great stuff from Mason & Matisse. I'm kind of last minute posting about this but you have until 9am tomorrow to go and enter!!!

'Puter Time

It wouldn't be a normal day around here lately without my son asking to use the computer. "Mommy want to click on Clifford." Or Teletubbies or Elmo or whoever from the PBS website.

I'm amazed at how fast he's able to use the mouse and click on things and figure the games out. Not to mention that I think he's too little to be playing games on the computer. Oh, well! I know that he's happy to now be able to have his own time on Mommy's computer!

Teriyaki sauce in a flash

Tonight I made a dinner that my husband referred to as "the most frequently eaten meal in our house." I had never really thought about it that way but I do make it quite often - about 3 times a month or so.

I bake chicken thighs coated with Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce and tonights sides were cous cous and broccoli. Fortunately since my hubby made that comment tonight I already had a different spin on things.

I didn't have any of my favorite teriyaki sauce on hand so I decided to make my own. I found a few recipes online that sounded good and I mixed and matched and just "eyeballed it" as Rachel Ray would say. My hubby raved about it, I thought it was even better than the other and my son said "This awesome!" (After about 5 times we figured out what he was saying!!)

Here are my guesstimates on amounts for a recipe:

Whisk together all of the following:

1. 1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
2. 3 Tblsp Honey
3. 1-2 Tblsp Rice vinegar
4. 1-2 Tblsp Sesame oil
5. 2 large cloves garlic minced
6. a 1 inch piece of ginger minced
7. 1-2 Tblspns sesame seeds lightly toasted over Med/High heat

I have rice vinegar and sesame oil as a staple in my pantry but I'm sure you can substitute other types of vinegar and oil and the final product would turn out just as well. Remember - I didn't measure anything - which is one reason I'm writing this so that I can try to remember for next time!!!!

BTW this took about 5-10 minutes, basically about the time it took my oven to preheat and I was ready to go.

7 things

Linds of Rocking Chair Reflections tagged me for this fun meme about 7 things you don't know about me. I'm not sure if you know them or not but here goes!

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I don't follow the news as much as I should. (Take the rise in the price of stamps this week, I found out from a friend the next day. Yup I mailed stuff on Monday with the old postage. Oh well.)

2. I'm most comfortable being barefoot around the house.

3. I make up random songs throughout the day besides singing "normal" songs. I'm afraid my son might think it's normal for people to just bust out singing amidst every day life! :)

4. I have 2 tattoos. One on my ankle that is a Chinese symbol that means "dancing clouds" the other a butterfly on my left shoulder blade.

5. I never really liked writing in school. In fact if someone told me in H.S. that I'd be writing on the internet where anyone else could read it I'd have been SO embarrassed for my future self!

6. I don't like shopping for myself at all.

7. I am often wishy washy when it comes to making decisions and I can often see both sides of an argument or issue. Basically I do a lot of research and thinking before I obtain an opinion of something.

If you're reading this you are tagged if you want to play, just let me know in the comments!!!

Missing the dirt under my nails

I've updated my keep or tosspost to let you know what I decided! Also, If you missed the Make If From Scratch Carnival like I did today there are some really cool things up this week.

This past Saturday we went to a hike and Mother's Day craft at a local nature learning center. It was totally free and my son loved painting me this gorgeous pot and planting the little yarrow plant. Can ya'll tell I'm loving my first little crafty Mother's Day gift!!!???!!!

I love looking through the paper on Saturday mornings for a family activity for us. Many times things are free like this one was which is an added bonus. We also love to pack a picnic lunch and find somewhere to eat - we've done this almost every nice weekend this spring so far.

Anyway, having a new potted plant around made me really miss my garden. This time last year we had beets, broccoli, spinach and lettuce coming up already and my tomatoes were almost ready to get into the ground along with others. This year the only thing in the garden is lettuce - a ton since I let a couple plants go to seed last year and a few spinach plants. We've been enjoying these at most meals but I'm wishing I had just planted stuff even though we are selling our house.

I don't want to complain because I am lucky to live in a place with many farmers markets to purchase wonderful local produce, I just love tending to the garden. It's my soul food in the summer, a time when I can see God's hand at work in the soil and when I can get some treasured quiet minutes each evening while I weed or harvest a squash for dinner.

After our hike and picnic on Saturday my hubby took our son to the grocery store so he could get a few things for dinner for that night and Sunday. (He grilled me a delicious eggplant at my request and it was the best!) Usually when they both go somewhere I wander, not knowing quite what to do with myself. Wander around putting laundry away, debate taking a nap, blogging, doing the dishes, watching tv, etc. But that day I went out to my little seedlings, I planted them a little late, but I'm sure they'll grow to give me fruit. I potted two tomato plants and two basil plants. The tomatoes will need to be potted up once more since these pots are still to small but they work for now and I'll still be able to taste some fruits of my labor this year even with a new baby due and a move in the future.

Keep or toss...

UPDATE: Thanks for your feedback!!! I've decided to clean and box up my wedding dress and keep my flute since I remembered how to play a scale or two. I kept a few magazines from after 9/11 but decided that the newspapers can be looked up at the library or online in the future if needed.

Wedding bouquet = garbage (pictures do it WAY better justice) Cassette tapes = garage sale except 4 (couldn't part with Billy Joel and a few mixed tapes people made for me) - then trash if they don't sell. Bank statements and old bills gone. Random gifts - most are being sold (I've re gifted everything that could be already) or given away.

So far 5 bins and 3 boxes of stuff have turned into 2 bins of stuff to keep!!!!! 1 overflowing bin and 2 boxes to sell/ give away, and a couple bags of garbage/recycling!!! Hello, that is 6 less boxes to move!! Wahooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Our subdivision is having a huge garage sale the first weekend in June so in the next few days I'm putting everything on ebay or craigslist. Whatever doesn't sell by the garage sale will be sold there and anything left donated and we'll be FREE from more stuff!!!

I'm going through more stuff and I'd love to know what you did (or would do)with some of this stuff! Note: my inclination is to sell/give/toss away most of this.

Your wedding bouquet - assuming you didn't have it professionally preserved and it's just a dried pile of flowers now!

On that note your wedding dress.

Your old cassette tapes that have been in a bin for at least three years and it's probably been much longer than that since you've actually fired them up in the tape player.

How long to you keep bank statements for? For a closed account?For that matter old bills?

My flute - which I gave up playing my freshman year

Some random gifts that you've never used but feel obligated to keep?

ALL of my 1/2 finished or not started craft projects are in the give away or sell pile (one and a half bins full)- I kept a pad of tracing paper and a few other small things for kids craft uses. The only other unfinished crafts are my wedding/honeymoon albums and my son's baby album.

Can you believe that I even had a rubbermaid tub full of newspapers from the couple of months after 9/11. I have NO idea why I saved them all nor do I know why I moved them - twice now...never again!!!

I'm just loving not feeling the tug on my heartstrings about keeping all this stuff - it is after all just stuff!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I'm so grateful to have so many wonderful mothers in my life. My Grandma who is our family matriarch, she leads us by her example in her faith, strength and love - she still keeps us all together!!! My own Mom who has taught me so much and is the most wonderful person - love you Mom! My MIL who I also call Mom since she's just the best. I even have a step MIL and many Aunts who are also wonderful examples of Moms! I'm wonderfully grateful to have friends who are Moms to learn from and cherish wonderful visits with!!! (Even virtual visits!)

Somehow I missed this great post of Sarah's over at Walk Slowly, Live Wildly. It's long but worth the read, I like her inspiring views of the Proverbs 31 Woman.

Have you heard the song by Martina Mcbride called "In My Daughter's Eyes." I recently heard it for the first time and I just love the lyrics. (If I was a super-duper blogger I'd embed it here for you to listen to but I still haven't spent the time to figure that out!!!)

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero, I am strong and wise and I know no fear. But the truth is plain to see, she was sent to rescue me. I see who I wanna be, In my daughter's eyes.

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal, darkness turns to light and the world is at peace. This miracle God gave to me gives me strength when I am weak, I find reason to believe In my daughter's eyes.

And when she wraps her hand around my finger, oh it puts a smile in my heart. Everything becomes a little clearer I realize what life is all about.

It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough, it's giving more when you feel like giving up. I've seen the light, It's in my daughter's eyes.

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future, a reflection of who I am and what will be though she'll grow and someday leave, maybe raise a family, when I'm gone I hope you see how happy she made me. For I'll be there, In my daughter's eyes

The Life

My son's current favorite thing to do is play outside, if we're not out there he's asking to go. Today most of our day was spent in the back yard and I'm loving it...he's even taking naps again!!!!

We have a pond in the back yard that's about 18 inches deep so I feel that he still needs supervision out there but if I'm extra tired, I can lay on a couch and see him playing in the sandbox or on his toys. I'll also open a window so I can hear him - which prevents me from falling asleep!

Ahhh, if only we could do this everyday - when our house sells I suppose we can, at least more often!!!!

Liquid Laundry Soap

Awhile ago I mentioned about making homemade laundry soap. It worked very well but I did notice that it took awhile for the grated soap pieces to dissolve in cold water washes. I decided to try making a liquid version - the same basic ingredients the soap is just melted first.

The recipe (which I found all over the internet):1/3 bar Fels Naptha (or ivory or zote) soap, 1/2 cup washing soda, 1/2 cup borax powder ~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. add 6 cups water and heat on medium until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax, stir until it is dissolved and remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket and then add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use 1/2 cup per load.

I didn't really think ahead and thought we had a bucket - apparently we don't! I'll be finding one before my next batch though because I couldn't add the last 6 cups of water which would probably make it more liquidy. It's a pretty stiff gel this way but it works!

It dissolves much faster on cold setting - and even if it's a little more work this should be enough for 64 loads and cost me about $1 to make one batch. Worth it if you ask me!

Movies

Seen any good movies lately??? Last month we saw 300 in the theater and other than the gruesome violence (it is a war story after all) I thought it was very good.

Other than that the movies we've rented in the last few months have been pretty bad. Currently, however we are halfway through Dream Girls which I'm finding I quite good, we paused it so my hubby could go have a chat with our new neighbors. They have about 6 kids running outside screaming and playing like 14 year olds do at 9:45 PM. Totally fine since it is in their yard after all but my son's room is about 6 feet away from the side yard where most of the loudness seems to be coming from. Hopefully they won't think we are rude for asking them to keep it down just in the side yard - otherwise we're selling this house and moving anyway so they won't have such prissy neighbors for long!

Back to movies, we also rented The Pursuit of Happyness so I'll have to see how that one goes - I'm assuming I'll be crying a bunch.

Oh, we recently rented A Night at the Museum which I thought was great - funny and predictable but very light and entertaining. I used to LOVE a good scary movie or psychological thriller, I don't know if I'm just getting old or what but I just don't like them anymore. I think now I'm happier with movies like A Night at the Museum!!!!

Beating a dead horse?

Yeah, I've been on an environmental kick lately - as well as learning to be more frugal with our money.

I know that Eco bags are all the rage lately and rightfully so, they are wonderful. I have had a couple that have lasted years and years sitting in the closet since my son was born. I recently got them out and dusted them off ;) while trying to justify spending the money right now for a few more.

Things are tight and I just couldn't do it BUT last week when I did my shopping I saw that my local Fred Meyer had these Earthwise Reusable Bags for $0.99 each. I could justify that...and bought a few. Just thought I'd let you know that while I still like the large mesh style of the Eco bags they are sort of pricey, so if you are on a budget the earthwise bags are also an option.

I was shocked when I read on one of the links on their site that...

The U.S. uses 100 billion plastic bags annually, consuming about 12 million barrels of oil. As less than 1% of plastic bags are ever recycled, using a sturdy reusable bag will eliminate hundreds to thousands of plastic bags over its lifetime. That spells huge savings to your state, city or town. Take California for example: it costs taxpayers $20.5 million to collect and landfill plastic bag waste each year. And that's not counting external costs, such as pollution, risk and threat to marine life, etc.

***Also, keeping up with Heather's recovery and the scripture that her hubby shared really spoke to me today. Checking my bloglines it was a nice reminder to say another prayer for her when almost every blog I read had something posted - praying now for her strong recovery....

Prayers and other bloggy stuf

Heather's surgery is tomorrow (Thursday) it overwhelms me to imagine what her and her family are going through. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

The gals at 5 minutes for Mom are having yet another contest. (They are totally the best!) This one is for a Mei Tai baby carrier from All Natural Mommies. They are having many other give aways from now until Mother's Day and you don't even have to be a blogger to sign up to win! (If your not a blogger and you don't want the Mei Tai you could still sign up to win it and give it to someone who's having a baby say mid-August - hint hint!!!)

Steph from Adventures in Babywearing is also having a contest. She's also got fun prizes going on and all you've got to do is post your pic without make up. Since I hardly wear make up I'm just re posting this picture - cropped!

Heather and her family are heavy on my heart.

Pregnancy Dreams

This pregnancy I've been dreaming about random people that I haven't seen in years - like people from high school. I've also had other scary dreams but last night's was just silly

Basically I dreamed that I had this baby a few days before Christmas, about 4 months late!!! Hello! And I delivered at Church. The church was very large (much different from the church we really go to) but all the same people were still there.

Then after delivery they took her away somewhere and I showered, dressed and went out to the service where my Mom promptly told me that she hated the name we chose. Hello, I know she'd never do that! So I went looking for my precious bundle that was no where to be found and ended up outside the church - which was apparently a large boat. I went onto a smaller boat which was attached to it and I found my hubby and baby. We changed her middle name and then I woke up....

Have any weird pregnancy (or not) dreams you'd like to share? I love to hear them!