A Bit of Preggo Talk & Letter to Josie

Because, consequently, I am now 36 weeks, which puts me a mere 2 1/2 weeks from delivery (C-section scheduled for Jan 11). So...at this point, being heavily with child, it pretty much consumes my every action and thought. Actions being those akin to a mama walrus clumsily scooting itself across a beach. If sheer size were not enough, add in hemorrhoids, constipation, and a pulled rear end/leg muscle to the picture. I think miserable is a good description. And, yes, I did just blog about hemorrhoids and constipation.

Josie Amelia, we await your arrival with great anticipation. We can't wait to hold you and kiss you and hear that first red-faced cry. To watch in wonder as you snuggle up for your first feeding. To count your tiny fingers and toes. To sigh with relief that the 9 long months are FINALLY over :). That you're OUT. Because, dearie, you are somehow managing to lay on both my bladder and tailbone all at once.  Your Daddy is so patient to administer wonderful back rubs every night, but I sense that he too is ready for his wife to return to normal. I can tell that you are running out of room, because your movements are not quite so frequent and small, but slow, big and pronounced.

I wonder if you will be a thumb-sucker like your two sisters. Hopefully the paci will be a good deterrent. Speaking of your sisters, they are two very excited little girls. They love to get out all your pretty outfits and bows, bibs, and blankies and oo and aahh over them. So far, there has not been one inkling of jealousy, though that could change once you are here and taking up so much of Mama's attention. Your big brother still acts a little miffed that you are not a boy, but I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees you for the first time. No doubt he will be completely smitten.

You have a slew of cousins, aunts and uncles, and a church family waiting to love you. You have two sets of great-grands and still around as well. Plus 5 grandparents. You are a lucky little girl. 

I hope that you have grown accustomed to the ruckus around our house from inside your cocoon. Don't be startled when yelling, singing, and caterwauling breaks out around you. It's just the normal goings-on around here. Soon you will be adding your own wail to the chaos. Welcome to the family!

Popping In!

Hello, everyone! I thought I'd pop in and do a little blogging this evening. Can you believe Christmas is only mere weeks away? Egad! I'm not sure that I am going to be ready for it.  But Christmas, this year, you are taking a back seat to another most important event--the birth of our third daughter and fourth child, Josie ______. {middle name undecided at this time}. Josie is due to be born via C-section on Jan 11th, 2013, unless of course, she decides to make her appearance sooner. About this event we are even more excited than Christmas.  I have already entered the nesting stage, putting up the bed, buying clothes, and even making her a blanket (thank you, Pinterest). Still, I feel so unprepared for this baby. I haven't even made a single hairbow for her (I know, shameful).  Hopefully, by the time she arrives her drawers and closet will be well-stocked and I can rest easy.

The last few months have been a blur. We finally moved out of the travel trailer and RV park we were staying in and into a small house in the country. It is not our dream house, but we are thankful for the opportunity to enjoy the quietness of country life. The children have 3 acres on which to run and play and explore (and believe me they do) and John gets to watch deer graze in our backyard from our bedroom window. I love being just a 30 minute drive from friends and family, after 10 years of being 7 (and for a little while, even 12) hours away.

Note: For those who were wondering, John and I are still happily married, so put your minds at ease (wink, wink).  No separation here. If he ever tries to leave, he has to take me with him! Although I have no idea what, if anything, would give someone that idea!

My camera has been down for several months now, and it pains me to have missed so many opportunities for preserving moments.

A few such moments:
*Two weeks ago, when Elijah discovered an old metal barrel in the backyard, climbed in, and got himself stuck. I could not manage to get him out, but thankfully, the garbage truck arrived at that moment and 3 garbage men worked together to get him unstuck and out of the barrel. Sheesh. But wouldn't that have made a great scrapbook page? Elijah posing with the garbage men, shaking their hands in gratitude that he would not be wearing a barrel to his high school graduation? Yeah.

*Emma, getting stuck not once, but twice in one day, in a climbing tree. The same tree.

*Gracie, rocking four wee kittens, all nestled on a quilted doll blanket, sound to sleep in her doll cradle. It really was precious. And kinda sad because three of them died within a week. We're down to one kitten :(. That story really is a blog post in itself.


After all that reminiscing, I'm about to anoint and lay hands on my camera and pray for its speedy return to operation. Can I get an Amen?

Please forgive this picture-less blog. Hope to redeem myself soon. Till then, Merry Getting-Ready For Christmas!

Blogsick

Our family, last Easter

 



Hello out there! Remember me? I'm the girl (can I still call myself a girl at 31? I think I shall). I'm that girl who used to blog about her silly kids and wonderful husband and sometimes preach you a sermonette. Life has landed us in a tailspin reality where we traded a 2500 square foot home with a big yard for a 38 foot travel trailer squeezed in the middle of a row of similar abodes. With no internet. Or stove/oven. Or wash/dryer. Which are completely irrelevent to my point, which was explaining the reason for being absent from blogging. But believe me, I have missed you, my bloggy friends. There is SO much to blog about! But I will just say that although we have given up some convenient technologies, we have more time as a family than we have ever had, and learning to live with less has been good for us.

We recently found out that baby #4 is another girl! We were all convinced it was a boy, but I think by now we have accepted that it is a girl, except for Elijah who declares he is going to live with his grandparents to get away from all these girls :). And John is a little rattled by that fact that he will have three weddings to pay for now!  We have settled on a name, but since we have 3 1/2 more months to change our minds, I will hold off on sharing it for a little bit longer.

We are in full swing with homeschool, and each year I realize more and more how homeschooling is a process of trial and error. It is a process of figuring out what makes each individual child tick and tailoring their learning to their style. The kids are doing great this year, and we are learning to love a more Charlotte-Mason style of schooling rather than the traditional style we were previously wading through.

It has been a challenging time for our family. My children have been homesick for Louisiana and often ask to go back to our old house and see neighbors and friends we left behind. This is very hard for a Mommy! I try to reaffirm to them that we are God wants us to be and that things will get better with time. I pray that God will fill their little hearts with peace and understanding. We are here because God called us here, and therefore living in His will, and we stand on that promise while we wait for the next door to open. Please keep our family in our prayers as we look forward with an expectation of great things to come--an abundant harvest for the kingdom of God!