Check!

I tried to go back and figure out how to cross things off of my checklist, but couldn't so I figured I would check things off in another post. Ya know, to make me feel like I'm making progress!

I paid off my student loan! Yippee!!! My college education is paid in full! I "paid back" Teaching Fellows at the end of last school year and now that this little loan is gone I feel so good! I am thankful for my education and what it allows me to do for my family and students, but I'll be glad to not make another payment for it!

Since I was feeling so good about that I decided to go ahead and order Elijah's diapers. I just placed an order for a dozen prefolds so that we can get back in cloth. I am waiting on the fabric shop that I use to reopen so that I can order some waterproof material and get to work on some covers.

I think that's all for now!

Oh bother!

It seems that I have lost my mind with this pregnancy!

With nothing but VBS to focus on last week I was able to sleep and rest and do my thing at church all week.

But this week has been another story. I knew I had an appointment with the OB on Tuesday, but I couldn't remember the time so I called that morning to ask. The lady was too sweet when she said, "It was at 2.20 yesterday." OOPS! I so missed it! So she scheduled me for this coming Friday morning.

That whole little scenario plus a few others from the past few weeks added up to me being frustrated with myself and feeling more than a little upset. I almost cried telling Ronnie about it and he told me to calm down because we all make mistakes sometimes. Ok. I get it.

Then later in the day, the phone rang. I jumped up to grab it, somehow stepped on a book that one of the boys left in the floor, went sailing through the air (great image, right?) and landed on my bottom/back and left wrist. The combination of pain and self frustration was too much and I started bawling like a baby. This scared Elijah who did the same. All of this led Ethan to be the one to go get the phone, call his daddy and scream, "My mama fell down! She's hurt bad!" I really don't know how Ronnie responded, but Ethan was giving him the best information that he could. Finally Ronnie convinced him to let me have the phone. The first thing I hear is him talking on the other phone telling my brother to send his wife over because I had fallen and was hurt. Ahhhh, the joys of being pregnant and having such a protective husband!

I eventually got out of the floor. I also chewed Ronnie out for sending someone over here because I was fine and didn't need anyone. He didn't buy all that. And then my sister-in-law showed up. She ended up staying for a few hours and made sure I was ok. It was nice to have someone over while I chilled in the bed...ok maybe we were all piled up in the bed. But it was nice to have someone help with the boys. And the boys...they weren't traumatized. They were pretending that my closet was their house, Ethan was the daddy and Elijah was his son, and we had to ring the doorbell (bucket of legos) to gain entry. The cutest thing was finding Elijah sitting on the shelf peeking out from behind a few clothes, grinning like he was something.

After all of those events I decided to wait for Ronnie to get home so we could go get groceries together. We stopped at Chik-fil-a, (Ethan's choice) and headed to Wally World. Before we got there my sugar dropped so I decided I would get a combo with a Coke (woohoo!)...my first in 3 weeks. Then afterwards my sugar spiked. So it seems that I can't win for losing.

Here's to hoping things start going a little better, at least a little less eventful, and that I survive this pregnancy!

Sweet Summertime

It's been official for over a week now! I'm on SUMMER VACATION! This post is going to share a few things: VBS, my summer goals, and who knows what else!

I haven't really felt like I wasn't working because we had VBS at our church last week. It was a wonderful, tiring, inspiring week and I would do it all over again! Although our church has now been without a pastor for a year, and we had a rough start to the year after a negative vote for a potential pastor, I was so proud of the way so many members stepped up to do their parts this time. After no one else volunteered to direct, I bit the bullet. I discussed with Ronnie how I felt that I should direct, but all the excuses I had...I have two kids to deal with, I'll be hugely pregnant, I just have too many other things to do...and I ended up directing anyways. And am I glad that I did! My first obstacle was finding a program to use. Our church is strictly KJV and the company we usually use was not presenting me with a very good vibe. So I researched and found Bogard Press. This company is strictly KJV and they provide an excellent VBS that is complete and very useful. Thankfully, after I presented the new curriculum teachers volunteered immediately, then the leaders, then the craft director and puppeteers! I was so pleased with everyone's enthusiasm! The only person I didn't get was a music director, but since I have a loud mouth and don't embarrass too easily, I figured I would do it myself. All in all this VBS turned out wonderfully. The adults and kids were excited and everyone worked together. The Lord was truly lifted up at our church last week and I thank Him for all the blessings he has provided us!

Now that VBS is over for the summer there are so many things on my to do list. I decided that I should probably make an actual list somewhere so I can hold myself accountable. The only problem with my grand plans is that my blood glucose is high and my blood pressure has been jumping up as well so I am concerned that I may be bed rested sooner rather than later. Boo. But there are things I want to do.

School related:
-In July I have been invited to sit on a team to restructure the curriculum for World Languages in our county. I would really like to do this over the 4 days so we'll see how it plays out with appointments and such.
-In August I signed up for a full day workshop on Moodle. And by August I mean it is one week before my due date. I really would enjoy this workshop and would like to use it on my maternity leave, but I'll have to make it there first. We'll see what happens, I guess.

Kid related:
-I really want to continue working with Ethan with things that he has learned at daycare this past year. My goal was to have a schedule similar to Mrs. Martha's, but I'm pretty sure sleeping until 9.30 isn't helping me off to a good start. I'll have to work on this one.
-Ronnie and I know that a huge vacation is out of the picture this year. We're working on our debt free journey so we don't want to throw a huge chunk of money into a hotel or gas, plus we're saving all that we can to use while I am on maternity leave. We also realize that with all the things going on in our lives we don't have much time to vacation and then we don't want to travel too close to my due date. So our goal is to take the boys on some mini day/weekend trips in the area. We would like to take them to the Transportation Museum to check out the trains and to one of a couple of local museums that have cool dinosaur exhibits. We'll see how the trips go and how much walking I can handle.

Craft related:
-I have gotten out of the cloth diaper habit. And it makes me sad and mad. Sad because I love how cloth looks on Elijah's little bum and mad because I HATE paying for paper diapers that stink and go in the trash! So I would like to get the stuff to make him some covers and some for the baby. I also want to get some good prefolds like these.
-I want to get some scrapbooks finished...or started for that matter. I bought a groupon to order photobooks from a website so I'm going to start there.
-I'd like to try making vinyl decals. I've just been too cheap to buy the vinyl.
-I want to take more pictures, but I feel too crappy to do it. I am photographing my cousin's wedding next month and I really hope it goes well.

House related:
-I'd like to get this house situated the way I want it. I still need to paint the kitchen/dining room, laundry room, boys' bathroom and playroom.
-We want to put in an official walkway. But I can't decide how I want it to look. I've priced a couple of things and I'll need to come up with at least $500 extra in order to do this.
-We also want to take the carpet out of the living room and put in hard wood flooring. I found what I want, once again the money is the main issue. But at least I think I know what I want.

Finance related:
-Pay off my student loan! This will hopefully be checked off next week when I get paid! Yay!
-Start a snowball with the money usually used for the loan. I want to be debt free!
-Get better at using coupons and sales so I won't spend so much on groceries. This is especially hard now that I'm on a special diet.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'll update as needed. Hopefully I'll be posting lots more on the blog now that I have "more" time. :)

To my baby

There are so many thoughts racing through my mind. Life is going crazy right now, but I want to take a moment to write a little note to my baby to let him know how loved he is.

Dear sweet boy,
It is true...you were a surprise. A very welcome one, but a surprise nonetheless. There has never been a moment since we found out about you that we didn't want you. Once your impending arrival was made known, you were loved. And you will always be loved.
It is also true that this has not been an easy pregnancy. I thought to take a test because I felt pretty rough, tired and moody. The tiredness has not gone away. I have felt the effects of exhaustion since December...it's June now. But I love you and that's what keeps me going.
Then when we found out you were a boy, we also found out that I have fibroids. The doctor explained that I am at increased risk of preterm labor and that they may grow quickly and get in the way of a normal delivery. My concern was and is you...I want you to have all the room you need. And for your arrival to go smoothly. I was told that there would be another ultrasound at around 30 weeks.
Two weeks ago I had my second glucola test. It was nasty and made me feel pretty bad. My blood pressure went too high, but the doctor said it was probably just the test and didn't get too concerned. Your daddy called the office last week and they told him that I had passed the test. Yay! I was very happy because it meant that you wouldn't have to have your heels pricked so much once you get here. And maybe you wouldn't be too big. Both good things. But I got a message yesterday to call the doctor. I did, but they didn't return the call. So I knew I would get "the talk" at the office when I went in today. Daddy went with me because we were getting to see you in another ultrasound. The technician is such a sweet lady and she told us so much. First, she told me that you are breech. I wasn't concerned, but she told me I need to do all I can to turn you...even get on my hands and knees with my bum in the air as often as I can. I may look silly, but I'll do it for you. This also explains why it feels like you're trying to kick your way out. She also told me that your fluid is low. It's not that bad, but these things make me worry since I really want everything to be ok for you. She showed you to us and we oohed and ahhed. We think you look like your brothers, which isn't a bad thing. You were trying to get comfy and you smacked your little lips together in the cutest way. It made me realize how badly I can't wait for you to get here so I can hold you and get lost in that baby face! Then we went to see the doctor. My blood pressure was high, again. And I got the talk I feared. He told me that I failed the glucose test. Just great. So he wanted to schedule me for a three hour test, but I convinced him to let me monitor my levels for a week and we would go from there. Whew. Then he told me that you are big. How big? You weigh 4 pounds and 5 ounces. A lot more than you should right now. That puts you two weeks ahead of where you should be. So I may get to see your handsome face sooner than August 16th.
Tonight I am frustrated because I don't want to deal with all of this. And your biggest brother has been a challenge. And your big brother was so tired by the time I got home that I didn't get to see him much. I just had to get it all out, to get it off my chest. God and I will talk about it before I go to sleep, but I wanted to write it down so I won't forget it. I want you to know the things that happened before you got here and I know my memory won't hold up that long. But the most important thing is that you know that you are loved. And I can guarantee that will never change. Love you Baby! Love, Mama