Pregnancy #3: To Do List

With each baby there seems to always be a “to do” list, even when you have no reason to need to do anuything. Thankfully I don’t think our list this time will cost too much. We are pretty frugal, and do

n’t spend big money on anything (except that new dog … but she was worth it!). So everything is going to be pretty low key.

to do list

So far this is what I have come up with; I think the list is mostly in order of importance. big stuff first, smaller stuff later. If you have any ideas or things I probably forgot, feel free to share in the comments:

      • Pick out new neutral nursery bedding (I like bumble bee bedding– but it has a lot of brown, and since our walls are brown … I am not sure. But I also like this: polk a dot bumper and then I can keep the pretty red black out curtains that are in there and just paint the walls…)
      • Pick out/make bedding for sibling room
      • Choose wall colors for nursery and sibling room
      • Make curtains for sibling room to match bedding
      • Make bunk beds for sibling room
      • Finish painting kitchen chairs (J.Tom’s project)
      • Make drapes for sliding door in kitchen
      • Make pillow for couch and new chair
      • Get a few summer maternity clothes
      • New summer maternity swim top
      • Re-wash Lexie’s & Max’s old baby clothes (Not all of them will be used for the new baby, though – I recently saw a guide for how to turn them into a baby clothes quilt, which I thought was such a cute idea! So I’ll be saving my favourites for that.)
      • Make a box for each set of clothes to be ready when we get home
      • Re-wash bottles, pump, and find a place for baby items in kitchen cabinets
      • Sew up a few gender neutral burp cloths, bibs, & nice baby blanket to monogram after baby comes
      • Stock up on homemade formula ingredients in case my milk supply is low and won’t increase again
      • Clean out Lexie’s closet
      • Clean out Lexie’s drawers
      • Clean out Max’s closet
      • Clean out Max’s drawers
      • Clean out toys downstairs 1/2 done
      • Re organize linen closet
      • Re organize pantry
      • Clean out sewing room *gasp*
      • Clean out basement storage
      • Plan a birthday party for Max and Lexie (always Labor Day weekend)

And that is all I can think of; a lot of that is just to do lists for the summer anyway. We don’t need furniture this time, or any clothes for baby. We don’t need much of anything (what a blessing).

Most everything is just starting and finishing projects like painting. I cannot WAIT to repaint the bedrooms. The builder painted the walls with flat paint- if I had seem the house more than once before we moved I probably would have noticed that and had them repaint. But now we are stuck with FLAT pain that A) doesn’t come clean when you try to wipe it off, and B) Mr. Clean erasers take the paint off. So … semi gloss/satin paint in the kids’ rooms is a must! There are finger prints and smears everywhere and if you know me you know that drives me nuts. Not to mention the time Lexie found a black crayon in her room and colored a beautiful picture above her bed.

Yay for spring and summer!

Pregnancy #3 Update: Beginning of Second Trimester

Well, with my first two pregnancies I updated pretty regularly. This time, we didn’t announce the pregnancy until almost 12 weeks, so I haven’t really been writing updates thus far.

We are almost 16 weeks along now; I had a doctor appointment last week and everything was great. The heartbeat was 157 (I think…) and the doctor okayed me to stop the progesterone supplements. My next appointment is in April and we will have the anatomy scan. Here, they only do one ultrasound (what’s up with that?!) at 20 weeks. We had an ultrasound at 6 weeks, to date and confirm the pregnancy.

6 week 2 day ultrasound- Quiet in the chaos

We will not, however, be finding out the gender. We have a girl and a boy, all babies are September babies and the nursery can be gender neutral. I am good with that. (ok, so if you know me well, you are probably as surprised as I am that I am okay with not “planning” for a girl or boy…) The urge I have to perform a home baby gender test is a little too strong at the moment!

The surprise of finding out in the delivery room with only my husband far surpasses my innate need to plan, design, and decorate. I can’t wait to spend that moment with him. We are also not talking names. To anyone. Or to each other, for that matter. =)

J.Tom and I haven’t even discussed names, because we can’t seem to agree on anything. So, I figure if we wait until we have him or her in our arms, we can whip out the handy dandy name list and we can go from there. I just don’t feel like arguing over names, or listening to other people’s opinions of names when we don’t even have a name semi narrowed down yet. *and I’m not saying that all snotty* If we happen to come up with names before the baby arrives, I will be happy to discuss. But we said this time we want to wait until we have our baby in our arms, and that’s what I am sticking with.

It will be fun.

Lexie is very excited about “baby #3.” We don’t call the baby “the new baby” because that just seems mean to the siblings. So it is baby #3. Max is pretty clueless, of course. He is too obsessed with eating, throwing things, and chasing the dog.

Oh yes, we got a new dog. She’s furry, and sweet, and smart, and precious.

We will room Lexie and Max together. For now we are planning on J.Tom building bunk beds- the top bunk will be above the crib, and then when Max is ready to move to a big bed we will build a bed frame for a bottom bunk. I really like snuggling in the bed with Lexie, so maybe I will just put the crib in her room and take out a dresser…. It is up in the air for now.

It is hard watching my babies all grow up on me! It is exciting, of course. This pregnancy wasn’t originally planned. After experiencing a loss in early December, we decided at the very last minute (literally) to try for baby #3. The timing worked out to being another September baby, which I had hoped would happen, but hadn’t actually thought would happen. Just before our loss and all we decided to wait another year. Funny how God works.

No nausea since about week 12-13. I have 3-4 days of TONS of energy, and then a day or two where I am exhausted and can’t keep my eyes open. I workout a few times a week with T25, or we go for walks on warmer days. No weight gain so far (well, technically I gained back the weight I lost in the fall, but that happened before this pregnancy, so I don’t count it) but I am pretty sure my hips are bigger! How does that happen? … And I haven’t lost the weight from Max, so it doesn’t seem likely that I need to gain much. The doctor is good with that.

Still praying for a healthy 5 more months. I hope to go full term, as usual. Big healthy babies seem more durable when you have a Max Payne running around the house. Poor Mister, he has no idea what is coming! Then again, neither do I.

Pray for me, friends! =)

 

Preparing for Next Year’s Homeschool: PreK 4/5 Curriculum Choices {2014/2015}

curriculum choice 2014/2015 Sonlight

Well, for years months and months I have gone back and forth over what we will use for our curriculum next fall.  What curriculum, what style suites us best, what will keep Lexie’s fire going, her passion for learning; what will also work for Max so we can reuse some materials, etc.

I have also had to consider what will be easiest to fit into our life, with baby #3 due in September of this year.  =)

As you know I have mostly decided on a classical/Charlotte Mason education style for our family because it just fits us (and our love of the outdoors, learning, and books); but I have also been contemplating joining Classical Conversations.  There is a community not too far from us that a dear friend is also a part of.  I really enjoyed the open house I attended and Lexie did AMAZING sitting in the room with me for the 2 hours we were there.  However, I just don’t know if we are ready for it yet.

love the Charlotte Mason approach to learning.  It encompasses everything I believe about education and family uniting.  It is Biblically based, and literature rich (so is classical education).  It is truly where my passion for learning and educating my children comes full circle.

Charlotte Mason is also what I see in my children.  I see Lexie loving books- asking questions about everything we read; wanting to know more and making connections from her books to her world.  Max is beginning the same process- he didn’t love reading books at first, but at about 13 months old, he became obsessed with them, just like big sister.  When I sit on the floor, he will bring me a book and say, “boo-k,” turn around and plop into my lap.  He then proceeds to open the book and I will read.  He really likes for me to take his finger and point to everything in the picture and say its name.  He loves reading.  And that tells me he will also love learning.

I want to keep their fires burning, but I need to do that in a way that will fit our young family’s lifestyle.  As a busy mom of soon-to-be 3, there won’t be much time for the intense planning that a combined classical/Charlotte Mason style education can require.  So in the fall, (well, really in January probably) I think we will begin with Sonlight’s P4/5 curriculum.

Sonlight P 4/5 includes: read alouds and language arts, science, Bible, rediness skills, beautiful art books and studies, and introduces world cultures.  One thing I love about classical education is it begins history at the beginning.  So children not only learn there is much, much more to their world than just their immediate surroundings, but they also learn where it all began.  Sonlight does an amazing job of choosing wonderful children’s literature and living books to teach every subject, which is where the Charlotte Mason style comes in.  Another point I love is that Sonlight is fairly adaptable.  You can supplement with as many books as you’d like, whatever math you prefer (although they sell a few great curricula), and you can make it work with just about any style of education, if you really want to.  Their book list is what has driven their popularity for years, but as more and more families have used it, the more it has become known for being a wonderful core curriculum.  (no, this is not a review and I am not being paid to say any of this!).

We already have a phonics/reading program we will use, which we haven’t started yet.  I chose All About Reading because it is so child friendly and hands on, which I think will be fine for Lexie (as I am mostly sure she has a photographic memory) but I know will be great for Mister, because he is my 100% tactile learner.  We will use this with our Sonlight, along with Saxon or Horizon’s math, and a few supplemental activities in science.

I have many friends ask me about two things :1) homeschool curricula and options and 2) converting to a healthier, real food lifestyle.  #1 is mostly why I am writing this post.

I tell you, I cannot wait to get started next year.  We might begin in August, to get a head start, then take off in September-Christmas with the baby coming, holidays, etc., then start back in January.  Or we may just begin in january and go through part of the summer…  I know me, and I know Lexie, and chances are we will not want to take that much time off.  We both crave structure and our learning time together, so I imagine we will get back to it pretty quickly.

One thing I am really looking forward to is not having to plan and print every thing we do in this season of life.  Right now, I am using a printable curriculum (that we both love) and we are doing Five in A Row which is Charlotte Mason style, but requires all the planning be done by the parent. So it requires a lot of time on my part.  Sonlight has done most of the work for me, meaning I can enjoy my time teaching, learning, and snuggling, all three of my babies this fall.

So, I have to get busy filling orders in my etsy shop, since that is how I plan to pay for this curriculum!  haha  If you haven’t noticed I haven’t been writing much lately.  There is a two fold reason for this. 1) The first trimester of this pregnancy has kicked my butt!  Between the extreme nausea and exhaustion, I am just now catching up on household duties! and 2) I have been very busy making baby blankets in my etsy shop.  I keep saying I am going to slow down, finish my drapes for the kitchen, and make a few dresses for Lexie, but so far that hasn’t happened.  Hopefully soon!

One month, One week

Well, here we are. The final stretch of this pregnancy. We had one month from yesterday, and I’m not sure what to make of it.

The crib was delivered a few days ago, it’s beautiful! The color is perfect; J is getting the paint matched in the morning at Peter’s Paint. Then he is going to paint the dresser and chest of drawers while I am gone to the baby shower my girlfriends are having for us. And hopefully we can get the crib together tomorrow night. Then I can play in the nursery all week! :). I haven’t been able to do any nesting; none of the child’s clothes or linens have been wash and out away. Heck, I don’t even know what we have in the way of clothes! I know I have some footie pajamas I bought in Branson, but other than that I don’t think I have any newborn or 0-3 clothes for him. I know I don’t have any blankets, all of lexie’s, and I mean ALL, we’re pink. I think I have a few swaddle blankets that were gender neutral, I know I had one blue one for like 3-6 months.

So, needless to say I am playing catch up for the next 2-3 weeks, so I just hope Max likes it in there. We don’t have time for an early baby!
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I wrote the first half of this at the beginning of August. Today is August 25, tomorrow will be one week to our due date. Everything is D O N E! Lexie’s party was a success- she had a blast, the food was wonderful, and the cake was beautiful! I have finished the bedding, JTom painted the furniture, put together the swing set (which Lexie loves), and finished installing the counters. I’ve made the baby a blanket, some burp cloths (but still have more to complete) and washed all his clothes. My girlfriends gave us a wonderful little shower where we got some much needed boy things- diaper bag, washcloths, bibs, blankets, and more! The pack n play is set up w the bassinet attachment ready for baby, and we made room in the storage shed for the double jogger. It’s surprising how much stuff a baby can own!

Now we are waiting on Mister! And boy, am I ready- I am enjoying the last days alone with Lexie; and my last few nights of almost complete sleep… But I am anxious to see him, hold him, and let Lady meet him. I asked her yesterday when Baby Max is coming and she replied, “soon.” I was sure hoping for something a little more specific … maybe Saturday at 10:35PM, would have been nice?

Anyway, after telling me at 36 weeks he would let me go over by 1 week, the doctor is saying he won’t “make” me get an induction, but he doesn’t want the baby getting too big. At my last appointment, he mentioned inducing THIS week, if I am dilated and effaced enough.

Going into a full blow panic attack, I told him we would N O T be inducing this week. So, I’ve been walking, taking my evening primrose oil, bouncing on my ball, etc. No real contractions …. no nothing. Since Monday (after my appointment) I’ve had a non stop messed up tummy, and I thought for SURE that was the beginning of labor. I was wrong.

So here we are, waiting. This afternoon when Lady wakes up we are going for a walk, and then I am coming in to bounce some more.

On a different note, sort of, the chickens are laying more eggs! We are getting 5 eggs a day now- 2 of the red girls started laying 3 weeks early! Pretty soon we will have more eggs than we can eat in a week, so I am going to try and sell them by the dozen. =)

Ok, pray for a safe labor and delivery of baby Max (and preferably one that happens soon!).

So Much Happening-life update

Wow- sorry I have been MIA lately. We’ve had a lot going on around here in the last 2 months, this month being so hectic!

As you read, we were all sick with stomach bugs last week. The weeks before that we were drowning in party preparations, chicken coops, and packing for a mini vacation. But, it looks like things will be a tiny bit more laid back in the weeks to come.

All my free time has been spent sewing! I finally got my sewing machine out after a ( …. 6 year?) hiatus, but didn’t start really enjoying it until the first of this month. I’ve been sewing Lexie some cute dresses and just finished some toddler bibs for a friend’s son’s birthday, which is this weekend! I got a serger for my re-found hobby! It is amazing- it’s this one: Janome Juno 3434D serger I can now have those really great-looking, professional seams on anything I create. And I can do rolled hems! I am very excited about that. I used the rolled hem on a ruffle top I made for Lexie, and it’s so pretty. Anyway, so I am excited about that. I have made her 3 dresses and a top, just in May. It’s rather addictive. I am currently working on dress #4 and plan to have it completed tonight or tomorrow at nap time. =)

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The chickens are doing great! The 5 Rhode Island Reds are such sweet baby girls. One is extremely feisty, and I think she runs the roost for them (Tessa). Also, I think maybe Dolly is a girl after all, but am still waiting for confirmation on that. 😉
Saturday I went to Bismarck and picked up three 12 week old barred rocks. We named the nicest one Elmo, the other two can be a little crabby towards the babies. They’re not far enough in age or so much bigger than the babies that they hurt them, but they do peck and chase them some. They’re still working out the pecking order, but there have been no injuries, so we’re good.

Yesterday, we hung them some cabbages to play with, and they’ve literally destroyed them. haha They’ve been having a big time. Chickens are like kids- when they get bored they start making trouble with they others (pecking, bullying, etc). So you can add things to their run, like cabbages, to keep them interested and busy. It’s funny to watch them boxing the cabbage.

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I am almost 26 weeks pregnant now- 26 weeks on Sunday. The baby has decided he likes my ribs as much as Lady did.

Perfect.

But we’ve been going to kettlebell classes twice a week and yoga on Wednesdays. Now that she will be done with school next week, I will probably go to yoga more often which I’m really excited about. The baby seems to like yoga; he shifts around and kicks a lot during the class.

We go to the doctor on the 6th for a regular appointment and my glucose test *blah* Then it’s appointment every 2 weeks until the last month. I just can’t believe we will be at 30 weeks so soon. Of course it still seems so far far away, but sometimes it is just flying by.

13 Weeks Pregnant, Baby #2

I thought maybe I will try to keep a pregnancy log on this pregnancy, to keep it separate from the rest of my blog. Every few weeks, probably once a month, I will post some questions about my pregnancy and their answers… So, here we go!


How far along? 13 weeks today. We get our first ultrasound TOMORROW MORNING!!
Baby is the size of: a peach, according to www.thebump.com Baby is 2.9″ long or so and forming vocal chords and teeth buds under her gums. Baby also has tiny fingerprints!

How do you cope with no sex? Well… we do, in our own way!
Because I’m often so sore, I couldn’t imagine having sex right now. Whenever my husband is in the mood, I’m not :(. I just reassure him it’ll be over soon and everything will go back to normal. In the meantime, he often takes some time out for himself.
All of a sudden his showering habits went from 5 minutes to 15!


Weight Gain: 3 lbs … =( AT some point I will probably stop answeing this question. Since I have 10lbs left from Lexie, I don’t need to gain very much- I am “overweight” so this only requires a
15-25 lb gain. I think had I been running like I was pre-pregnancy, I would not have gained anything. Shame on me.


Maternity clothes: YES please! I actually put on my maternity yoga pants two weeks ago, and my jeans one week ago. They’re still a bit big in the tummy, but SO comfy. My regular pants are just entirely uncomfortable.


Stretch marks: I have a few left over from Lexie on my hips- but when I stopped nursing her and dropped 20+lbs in 2.5 months, I gained a few more. =(


Sleep: constantly interrupted with the need to pee, an aching back, or sore boobs. Constantly.


Best moment of this week: our ultrasound tomorrow!


Miss anything: yes, good sleep!


Movement: sometimes I think yes, it started last week.


Cravings: randomly. hamburgers, sweet stuff, and things I can’t have like dark beer and sushi. =(


Queasy or sick: sometimes queasy, but I think this has to do with food choices … when I start my day w eggs (yes, I have started eating eggs- yikes!) I feel much better throughout the day. protein=good! But just like w/ Lexie, no morning sickness- YAY!


Gender: Hoping for another girl this time .. but who knows?!


Labor signs: Heavens no.


Symptoms: thankfully most have gone away. Again with the bladder, and some mild cramps from time to time, raw meat food aversions … that’s about all.


Belly button: still in there


Wedding rings: still on. Yay


Happy or Moody: ha. That’s always your best guess w/ me, regardless of pregnant or not. But generally I am a very happy pregnant person.


Looking forward to: the whole “more energy” theory, since we are beginning the second trimester. I’m not so sure I believe in this the second time around, with a toddler to chase.


We have a few things left to do just for baby, well maybe a lot of things. We need to get some new carpet downstairs in the (soon to be) nursery, get a crib (which I have already picked out), pick out some bedding/make some bedding, decide on a double stroller, find a second hand dresser we can refinish to match the chest of drawers we will use, and get a boppy lounger. haha Oddly, I am in no hurry to do any of it. That’s not good… I guess I just have faith we will get it all done. But really with J.Tom’s IN.SANE. work load lately, I may be left recruiting family coming in town to help me complete projects. He is already leaving for a week in Germany and Spain, who knows how many more times things like this will happen in the next 5 months?!


Maybe by the next time I do a pregnancy update, one of these things will be marked off my list. But most likely not. 😉



Toddler and first Trimester

Aaah.. Friday! For me that means coffee, and a few tv shows. Since I’m pregnant I don’t allow myself coffee during the week, only Friday-Sunday (which may or may not actually be better for me … probably not). Once the new baby is delivered, I can get back to my normal habits. A friend’s been speaking about the hand roasted coffee delivered to their home, and I have to say it sounds really good. For now, coffee is just a weekend treat alongside some much needed relaxing time. I would usually go to the Y, but today we are being lazy. =/



J.Tom has been deathly ill with a cold and sinus infection. Last night I slept downstairs so I could actually get some rest from the hacking, coughing, and nose blowing. I slept better than I have in WEEKS! I’ve been getting up anywhere from 2-5 times a night to use the bathroom, dang pregnancy bladder. But, much to my surprise I got up only once last night. Would you like to know why?! I slept on a regular mattress!! Our mattress in our room is a very firm memory foam mattress and we love it. After a week of sleeping on it, I vowed to NEVER own a regular mattress again. Never ever… But I discovered something last night- a memory foam mattress gives way under your body, not putting pressure on your growing uterus, full bladder, or aching kidneys, during pregnancy. For about two weeks when I laid on my tummy in our bed, I could feel that firm basketball feeling in my belly. But when I lay on the regular mattress, it’s not there! I also found out from reading this article that not having the right mattress foundation can also cause your mattress to sag and give way under you, so we might need to change our foundation too. Need a comfortable mattress on a budget? Keep needing to use the bathroom in the night? Use a regular mattress!!
So I’m convinced now that the memory foam is why I have been getting up so much at night, because it’s like it pushes back against my bladder… That probably sounds ridiculous! But I promise if you did the experiment I did, unknowingly, you would agree! What’s even funnier is on the forums on babycenter the other night a lady was complaining about her memory foam during pregnancy- and I just couldn’t imagine why it would be different. As the great Bill Nye the Science Guy would say- “Now you know!”



Anyway, back to coffee … Mmm! That’s all I can say. For a while, on days I didn’t have coffee I would feel sick, achy, nauseous and so worn down. I’m pretty sure that would be the caffeine withdraw people talk about. Another silly thing about Fridays, is I allow myself more tv than I do on other days. Lexie and I play a lot more, but since it is winter and we are stuck inside most days, we keep the tv off. She is obsessed with the television when it’s on. I think it’s like the forbidden fruit for a 17month old. But on Fridays, I watch a little bit of Good Morning America, Regis and (I miss Regis) Kelly if it looks any good, and the hot topics part of The View. Then I turn it off-but Im usually busy folding clothes or vacuuming and don’t actually watch it.. I hate the idiot box, really it just provides a little entertainment sometimes. At that point in the morning, if it has warmed up outside, we go out. She naps so much better when she has been out first. It’s like the fresh air triggers sleep! Amazing ..

This morning, Lexie wanted to play with her foam letters while I made breakfast and coffee.. So we got them out and she picked up the number 2 and said “two! two!” I asked JTom “Did you hear that?! She said two!” Then she started identifying a bunch of letters- A, B, C, D, I, J, M, O, P,R, and T! So now she can identify the number 2, count to 8 and sometimes 10, and identify all those letters along with say her ABCs most of the time. BUT, she doesn’t do colors. I thought that was like the first thing most kids picked up? Not Lexie … she will identify blue, but everything else is blue too. haha I guess in her own time. I haven’t pushed anything, she just picks up on it. She’s so funny. I will say, “you’re Mommy’s baby!” and SHE REPLIES “Daddy baby!” over and over. It’s pretty sweet. I didn’t teach her to say that either! She walks around singing her ABCs and counting. She loves to tell you everything she knows, like what everything in the house is. And her favorite activity is cleaning up! Well, maybe not her most favorite thing, but pretty close. She likes to clean up and sings the clean up song while she does it. SHe really likes playing with her tutu and putting on her “hat” which is her crown. Sorry there are so many repeats on the pictures, that’s all we have taken this week!


Lexie is saying two and three-word phrases like crazy! One favorite is “daddy mama!” haha In case you are wondering that is one word. =) She loves pretending with the play silks I made her. Her is a link to play silks and how to dye them in case you are interested. I think I spent about $30 total, and for as many silks as I made, I would have paid well over that for them. They are one of her favorite things.


OK, so I started this post on Friday, and here it is Monday the 20th and I’m just now finishing it. Sorry!


The pregnancy this time around is going well- I’m tired a lot. But it is a different tired than last time, I guess that has something to do with caring for a toddler. =) I feel pretty good, but get queasy some, and feel run down a lot. But it was really the same with my last pregnancy in that regard … I have the same food aversions and cravings, actually. Red meat and sugar. haha Im trying to eat fruits instead of sugary foods- but everything gives me indigestion. EVERYTHING. I did start this morning with oatmeal and 2 scrambled eggs; I’m hoping the eggs help me to feel better though the day. I don’t usually eat eggs, they just gross me out, but they were pretty good this morning. Lexie shared them with me. =) One week from today we get to finally see the baby- We will actually be 13weeks 1day. It should have been this week, but there was a scheduling issue. We haven’t told Lexie about the baby, I don’t think we will until this summer, when my belly is bigger and she can understand better. I also don’t want her to wait5 months for the baby to get here, that seems too long. So those are our updates for the last few days/weeks!


Have a good Monday-
Meg



The Y, healthy foods, and pregnancy update

Today was my first day back at the Y since I was about 9 months p,regnant with lexie! It was great to be back. I went to Yoga, and oh how I have missed it! I feel so much better afterward. Lexie did great in the kids room, she was a bit anxious at first, but there was no crying when I walked away. They said she played the entire time. She also schooled the ladies on the difference between red and orange bowling pins. I wasn’t aware she knew the difference between red and orange … Evidentally she does. She definitely knows blue!

After yoga we went to walmart, the first thing she did was point out the blue on the glass door, then immediately started asking for “boobies,” so off to the produce we went! She ate blue berries the whole time and I got a few things we needed. We were in and out in 35 minutes- someone give me an Amen! That is record timing! But I spent $120, somehow. Groceries are so dang expensive, healthy ones are anyway. I left with 4 pints of blueberries, 6 4packs of organic Greek blueberry yogurt, strawberries, apples, cutie oranges, milk, cream cheese, canned peas, granola thins, bread, kashi pita crisps and hummus. Mmm I love hummus, my mother in law made this great recipe, and I really need to get it from her- it’s red pepper hummus, two kinds of olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. Mmmm sooo good! And healthy! Speaking of healthy, for dinner last night, my daughter ate half a grilled burger patty, and an entire can of green beans. I cooked them with a bullion cube and some onion flakes- she literally ate the whole can. She just kept signing for more! I can’t complain .. That’s for sure!

What’s your family’s favorite healthy, go to snack?

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I have had a lot of friends and family asking how I feel, etc during my pregnancy. Im only 6wk3d today. I get headaches from time to time, get super sleepy during the day, and want lots of red meat. I’m having a lot of cramping, just mild cramps, which is common but I don’t remember having this much last time. Also, yesterday I woke up with my back killing me. I don’t know if it’s the progesterone making all the soft tissue relax, so my muscles are more tender ? Or whats going on. But it hurts on either side of my spine. I’m learning already poor lexie will have to do more walking than she already does. The cat lays on my tummy though. So she is like a built in heating pad, that’s very nice! (since you’re not supposed to use heating pads during pregnancy). Overall I feel good, not too many symptoms. Which makes me worry a bit. I hate waiting for the first dr visit! It’s so hard .. Just not knowing if everything is going ok in there, that the baby is still growing, etc. It’s so common for women to miscarry and not know it until the first ultrasound, at 12 weeks. But if that’s all you think about you’ll go crazy- so I try not to. Just keep us in your prayers that everything is good! I did go back and read during my last preg the exhaustion kicked in around 7 weeks and the heartburn at 11. So I still have that to look forward to.

16 months old

rSo last week while my mom was here, lexie and i were playing with her peeka blocks on the floor. I stacked one and said “one” then she did the next three and counted “two, three, four!” giving each block it’s own number! I know right?! Mom and I practically squealed we were so excited, that would be the teacher comingout in both of us. Then, when my mom is here, she always pulls up www.starfall.com and let’s lexie play with the abcs game. (here’s the back story- lexie has a little toy barn w letter you push through the top and she loves them! I have always told her what each letter was, and she would repeat after me. So she has had early exposure to literacy in that way. It’s not like we are forcing education down a baby’s throat- it’s all through play and conversation or reading, which she loves.). So anyway, she and mom play on that website, and lexie now says “a, /a/.” the /a/ means she is sounding out the a! So it’s “a, /a/,” and then sometimes she says “apple” afterward! The sequence on the game is the exact same; it amazes me that she knows this. And if you ask her what B SAYS, SHE WILL RESPOND /b/. Just this morning she picked the B from the bag of foam letters, and said “B, /b/.” I swear. It’s amazing what children will do if you just give them the tools. One day she will understand what all of it really means.

And, she has started singing her abcs. It’s pretty funny, because at any time during the day you could record about 15 minutes in our house, and one of us will be singing and/or dancing. Lexie sings all day. She sings “clean up clean up” when she outs her toys away, when I wipe her face, or when she picks her blocks up off the floor and outs them on her table. She sings silly songs with mama, I say the words and she just mumbles along. And she now sings her Abcs. Haha. It goes something like this, “A, um, oo, ah, b, hmm, ooo, da, b, ah, we, nam, num, I.” Lol. Now sing that to the tune of the abcs. It’s precious and I’m going to try to record her doing it, but I’m sure she will stop once I get the camera out. The last week or two she has started saying whole phrases and a few complete sentences. They have included “Bye Daddy,” “silly mommy!” and “Silly daddy!” I can’t remember what her sentences were, it’s been a while. =/


Also, the other day I got her a swing! We’ve been wanting to get one for some time, but just never got around to it. A lady posted one on free cycle, and I got it! It’s a blue dolphin? I dunno what’s up with that, but it’s a fisher price and in good condition. Lexie loves it! She won’t be in it much longer, because she is the size of a two year old … But it will do until we get her a swing set this summer I hope. Oh yes- for her birthday this year jtom is going to build her a swing set! We may buy one like these Colorado swing sets for sale, if things just get too busy, but i know he wants to build it, then we will add all the swings and slide. She loves the playground and slide at the park, so I know she will love having one of her own. I can’t wait!


And a funny story- we were in the devils den walmart Wednesday. You know I’m methodical in everything I do, grocery shopping is one of them. I make my shopping list according to the route I take in the store, depending on the store. I also take my AMEX Blue Cash Preferred card to make sure that I earn rewards on my purchases. If I forget my card, the day is ruined! At walmart, my route looks like this: pharmacy for toothpaste, dog food, etc. To the back for diapers if her school is low. Then to the front for produce, around to the meats, back to the cheese, milk, and eggs. Then I shop the inside aisles and finish in the frozen section if we need veggies for baby. Well, on this day we started in produce because I didn’t need anything from the pharmacy. The minute I put the blue berries in the cart, SOMEONE starts yelling “boobies! Boobies!” while kicking her legs. “boobies” is lexie talk for blue berries (mom, she has that beginning sound down!). So I tear the tape off the container, and start shoving boobies blue berries into her mouth and my pockets. I filled my pockets up so I could just feed them to her while we shopped. She ate all but about 10 blue berries in the pint. But I left there with a happy toddler! Whew. She’s a mess.

“bye, bye”-wanting Payne to go read

My dad came this weekend, and we had such a great time! He got in sat morning; we visited outside while jtom worked on the bench for our table. He brought Guss who played like he was puppy again, not a 10 yr old dog. Payne pulled lexie around the yard in the wagon, and they had a big time! Saturday afternoon, while lexie napped and I rested, the boys went to the woods and shot guns. Ooh, those are days I miss! Next time lexie will stay w someone while I get to go shoot too! Haha. But anyways, so they had a big time in the woods and then Sunday we just played and visited until dad left that afternoon. Lexie was constantly asking her Payne to go “bye” with her. She asked him to “eee” which is read to her, and of course teased him all day wi her silliness. When she woke up from her nap, she asked for “Mayne. Mayne”. (Payne Payne). It was pretty cute. She loves her Payne for sure!



Her outfit of choice-wouldn’t take off the boots or hat!

Payne and Lexie reading “Nose”








I wrote the above about a week ago. Today is Monday the 9th. I wanted to mention, that speaking of “boobies” Lexie’s Papa and SueSue went to the Galapagos Islands last week. They had a fantastic time and said that this Guide to luxury in Galapagos is essential for anyone who wants to visit the beautiful island. It’s definitely on my bucket list! They brought her home a (toy) Blue Footed Boobie. lol It’s a bird only found in the Galapagos, you should Google it. =) Now Lexie knows her elbows, knees and back (sometimes). She also loves to read her Bible-it is currently her favorite book. I am okay with that! haha We have been battling thrush for a few weeks-t comes and goes. Since it replicates itself in a different strand every few days, it makes it hard to kill it off. UH-not fun! But she is doing well with it.


She LOVES the coconut oil I’m using to help treat it. Plus it is good for her, even when she’s not sick. I plan on writing a post about the benefits of coconut oil and its many many uses! I am eating a few tbsp a day of it-it is the best fats you can ingest, and helps with nails, skin, hair. I’m even using it as a moisturizer-me, pregnant Meghan with oily pregnancy skin and it’s AMAZING! Leaves my skin feeling like silk, and not even oily by the end of the day! I won’t go on here, but you should Google it, then go to your local foods store and buy a jar of organic, virgin pressed coconut oil! Best ten dollars I ever spent-and I plan on getting more!

New beginnings … Again

Each year for the last 3-4 years I have written a short list of things I am thankful for. This year that list would be so long if I included everything. So I am only going to mention a few things.

  • First is my amazing husband. We have a chemistry and friendship like no other. He is the most giving, practical, fun, loving husband and daddy in the world. He is Lexie’s hero and my sanity. I am most grateful for him and his selflessness.
  • Of course, Lexie is next. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She teaches me new things about life every single day and helps me push my limits (of course, what else is a toddler to do?). I have more fun being her Mommy and playmate than anything I have ever done in my entire life.
  • I am thankful for my part-time cleaning business and being a stay at home mom. I will start with the cleaning business-if it were not for friends encouraging me, telling me I can do it, lifting me up when it didn’t seem to be going well, and keeping Lexie so I could begin, I would not have the business at all. I don’t make a lot of money, but I make enough to cover Lexie going to school 2xs a week, and to put a little back for savings. My plan is to train newly hired maids to expand my business but I’m taking things slowly at the minute!
  • Staying at home is the most amazing gift I have ever been given. Though there have been phases Lexie made me second guess myself, I would do absolutely anything to be home with her, even clean other people’s toilets twice a week. 😉 I can’t thank my husband enough for his support and encouragement so I can be a full time mama. I will never get these years back, and I am so thankful.
  • Next is my family. They put up with my craziness, OCDness, and don’t mind being quiet when the baby sleeps (because she no longer sleeps through everything like when she was 6 months old). They have supported our family, our decisions (and if not kept their mouths shut), and loved us unconditionally. Most importantly, they have prayed for our family and I believe that is the most powerful blessing. Thank you.
  • Here, I would like to mention how thankful I am to have a home. We bough a lot in the country this year, considered selling our house, looked at buying a house, and overall decided to stay put right where we are! To even have the above options we know is a blessing. Our home is just perfect for us, and it may take some more hard work and time, but we are going to make it even better. We did seriously think about moving home at one point though, we even looked at different estate agents on sites like getagent, and we even found some pretty nice houses as well. But then we sat down one evening and just were like why are we moving? We love the house that we are currently in, so we decided to stay.
  • Last, I am going to mention the “new” baby. Although right now, all we can do it pray there is a healthy baby in there. I don’t go to the doctor until Jan 24, at 8 weeks (that’s just how they do it … And one more reason why we probably should have waited to tell the world … but we are weak!) So keep us in your prayers that everything is growing healthily and happily, and that we get a good report come Jan 24th!


A few updates:

As we save money for the few updates of the house, I am writing out my to do lists. I plan to repaint all the trim (a white, instead of the icky cream we painted when we moved in. ick), redo all (bathrooms included) cabinets, tear out that damn a wall (every time we plan to do this, I wind up pregnant. Go figure!), and put in new carpet for the nursery before baby #2 gets here. This is going to require saving money in the next few months which means an even tighter than usual budget, but I think we can do it. Another option might be refinancing, I hear that Perth Broker could help with that from what a friend told me. I might have to have a conversation with them about it.

I sometimes wonder if people on the outside realize how hard it is for a family of (soon to be four) to live off ONE middle class income-by middle class I mean less than $100,000. I get this feeling sometimes that our hard work to save, NOT use credit cards, and be frugal is overlooked. And buy “our” I mean all the families with a stay at home mom and working husband. Were it not for our budget, organization, and thriftiness I could not stay home with Lexie. I say organization, because if you’re not organized, you don’t know what you have and therefore waste money buying products already stuffed in your cluttered cabinets. Of course a budget is key-knowing what you spend on everything each month, and sticking to it. For example, when the grocery budget runs out, you eat what’s left in the pantry that month until it’s all gone, then return to the grocery when you have to. It means not wasting left overs or letting food go bad. It also means limiting eating out, going on expensive date nights that involve a sitter, and making your own laundry detergent. =) I say none of this begrudgingly. I love this life. I couldn’t ask for anything more. Literally. I love budgeting our family and organizing our home. Most of all, I love being a full time homemaker-and I feel blessed to do so.

OK … on to a more fun topic- BABY!
I changed my mind (duh). I think we will put the new baby down stairs. She will share it with my craft table. When she is old enough, she and Lexie will share a room. That room downstairs needs new carpet, so I am hoping to find some beige on clearance or closeout for the cheap, then have someone like Carpet Now – Austin Carpet Installation install it. That room also needs new blinds. Desperately-I don’t know how old they are, but they are beyond being cleaned. I’d really like to do blackout shades (for naps and bedtime) and plantation shutters (since it’s on the front of the house, and I would like them across the front eventually anyway). Since we’re not finding out the sex, I’m going to pick out my bedding stuff and have it ready to order once baby arrives. I have an antique white crib picked out, and we will refinish JTom’s dresser for the baby. We will move all of JTom’s clothes into my closet (YIKES!), which means it will require a new hanging rod, so we have a top and bottom. A family member is giving us a cover for the 4wheelers, canoes, and camper. (we just have to get it moved to Hot Springs). Once we get it here, that will free up space in the barn, where all of JTom’s hunting stuff will go. That will also become his much needed shop. Yay! He may be losing a “boy room” for his junk, but he is gaining a shop .. sorta. All of this is subject to change with the rise and fall of my hormones. I am most excited about knocking out the wall, and new carpet in the new Baby’s room.

And … on to my most precious baby. Lexie is just going to be the best big sister ever. I know it. I want to take a sibling class, so when the new baby arrives, we can be sure to make her feel just as important as she does today. For instance, letting her come in the hospital room to see us first, spend time with Mommy and Daddy, then bring in the new baby. That way we are hers (lexie’s) and the new baby is ours, as a family. I want her to know that this baby is going to love her just like we love her. I want to foster a good relationship- I don’t find it humerus when children don’t enjoy their new siblings and parents think it’s cute. I understand it is natural, but rather than laugh at this emotional upset, it seems better to foster a love for the new baby. Not a jealous attitude towards it. But hey, that’s JUST me. I also don’t want everyone coming to the house at once to oogle the new baby. I think we need time, like last time, to bond as a family and let Lou get used to our new family arrangement.

Mamas with two or more- what do/did you do to foster a healthy relationship between your young children?

-Meg
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