Does every mother

think her babies are the most beautiful babies in the world?

Cause I do ;)

Passed birth weight!

As of today he is 8 lbs 13 oz, at 5 weeks. He is doing great, looks really healthy, is very alert, very sweet baby. He's done great at Mass for the last two weeks in the Moby wrap. He has some symptoms of a milk protein allergy so I'm going to give up dairy and see if it helps. Heck, after all this, why not? He's worth all the extra trouble. I can't get enough of him.

This picture was taken on Christmas day, and it's the only halfway decent one I have of the three of them. I did get their pictures taken professionally on Monday and got some great ones, so I will post when I get them.
I'm sure you've seen it, but if not, read Leila's post from the other day. If you can get through the comments, Ken left one that I found so funny last night! Maybe I was overtired but he cracked me up.

I was actually able to do a reading lesson and a craft with Madeleine yesterday. I sat at the table and fed Leo, set John Paul up with a coloring book and crayons, and worked with Madeleine. I am just amazed at her reading ability. She is reading words like "know" and "should" and "Jerusalem" and "Hosanna" that I have never taught her. She loves to sit in her little rocking chair and read to John Paul and Leo. It's definitely been a crazy 5 weeks, and I missed doing "school" with her. I am going to make it a priority to do a lesson with her at least 4 days a week. She's doing really well writing her letters too, and she likes trying to spell words. This kid amazes me every day.

John Paul is the funniest kid! He cracks me up every day. Poor Madeleine got a set of blocks for Christmas, and every time he sees her building something, he comes over and knocks it over. I've been putting him in time out for that. Tonight they were playing and Ken and I were sitting at the table. He knocked over her tower she was building. Ken told him to go to the time out chair, so he did. We told him that he was in time out because he knocked over Madeleine's blocks and he couldn't do that anymore. We told him to go say he was sorry. He walked into the room and we heard, "I'm sorry Madeleine!" "That's ok Hancey" *CRASH* He knocked her tower over again! So we told him to go back in time out and said, "Ok!" and happily walked back to the time out chair! Apparently sitting in time out was worth the satisfaction of knocking over his sister's blocks.

Madeleine's prayers

I know a few of you have been reading my blog since the beginning (wow, I'm impressed!) So you may remember how Madeleine got her name. Rich Mullins is my all time favorite Christian singer, and he wrote a song for the daughter of his friend called Madeline's Song. One of the lines is "God gladly bends just to hear Madeline when she prays." That sold me on her name!

Last night as I was pumping I remembered something else - this post I did back in April.

We already knew we were pregnant at the time, we had just found out THAT week. Madeleine asked if she could ask God for another baby in our family and she did. She also talked about that and prayed for that intention many many times after that, until we told her about Leo. However, notice the comments on that post. Both Brenda and Sew asked her to say the same prayer for them. Of course I did ask her to pray for them. And guess what happened?

Hannah Grace - born 12/7/10

Leo Michael - born 12/8/10

Nelson Joseph - born 12/31/10

Wow.

Some people might think this is just a big coincidence.

Me? Not so much.

The Whirlwind is calming down

Leo is 4 weeks old today and things are finally started to get back to "normal." He is fitting right in with our wild and crazy family. Although the past few weeks have been hormonal and stressful in part, it's also been wonderful. What a blessing it was to have a little baby boy at Christmastime. One of my favorite memories was on Christmas Eve night. Madeleine and Ken went to mass, and John Paul was asleep. I just got to hold my sweet newborn Leo in the family room with only the Christmas tree lights, and imagine how Mary must have felt memorizing the face of Jesus, as I was doing the same thing with my baby.

Feeding Leo has been quite the adventure. I have been seeing a great lactation consultant at the hospital every week and she has been SO helpful. Every once in a while I have been ready to give up trying to breastfeed him and just pump and bottle feed, but he keeps improving. I am happy that I have been able to pump for him for 4 weeks and he has never had to have formula. I plan on pumping for him for at least a year, possibly longer if I can. I'm finally getting the hang of it. He's also improved with breastfeeding so we are going to try to start using the Supplemental Nursing System this week. So I still have some hope that he will be able to breastfeed some eventually.

He is getting bigger and stronger. He started out 8 lbs 12 oz, got down to 7 lbs 7 oz, and then Monday he was up to 8 lbs 2 oz and today he was 8 lbs 6 oz!

He is absolutely a wonderful baby, sleeping well with the Miracle Blanket, loves being in the Moby wrap, and just as cute as can be. Madeleine and John Paul are doing fantastic. Madeleine can't get enough of him, always wants to touch him and kiss him, and her favorite thing is to help me give him a bath. John Paul is doing surprisingly well, he also loves touching him and is learning to be gentle. He and Madeleine have been playing together and maybe watching a little too much TV when I am busy pumping and feeding. I was able to take all three of them to Target the other day and get everything on our list with no crying, screaming or yelling - and the kids were good too ;)

I just love Leo so much - It's amazing how love just multiplies with each child.
Please keep praying for us. I know so many people are praying for us and it's helping!!

Story of my life

This is an example of what happens at my house when I'm trying to pump.

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Happy New Year!

This is how I'm celebrating this year :)

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31

I was remembering the other day that when I was 21, I went on a spring break habitat for Humanity trip. A leader asked us what We wanted to be doing in 10 years.

I said I wanted to be married to Ken and be a stay at home mom to a bunch of kids.

I may Have been Crazy but my dream came true! I love my life even though it's more challenging than I ever thought possible! Happy birthday to me :)

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Feeling better

I had a GREAT lactation consultant appointment today. I met with her last week but Leo was really too sleepy from his jaundice for her to really get a good grip on what was going on. Today he was much more alert so she could learn more about the problems he's having.

To answer some questions from the comments on the last post, I am still nursing him several times a day. He gets most of his nutrition from the bottle and pumped milk, but I am still trying. He likes it and gets a little milk from me. I don't want him to forget how to do it if and when we ever get him transferring milk from me more effectively.

Anyway, today she found that he has some problems with his suck - his lips and tongue are not doing what they're supposed to do. She gave me some finger exercises to do with his mouth, cheeks and chin to get him to strengthen those areas. She said this can be the result of all his facial bruising. Also he was laying a certain way in the womb, so he has the tendency to turn his head to the right. The left side of his neck is really tight, so she showed me how to gently turn his head and massage his neck muscles. These muscles lead to his cheeks and can affect his suck as well. She said these exercises can have a really big impact and it's possible that he'll improve. So I am cautiously optimistic at this point, and I'm going to make sure I do everything diligently. I also have another appointment with her next week, and I'm willing to meet with her until either we get it or she says it's not going to happen. She is really knowledgeable and was really sweet when I cried all the way through last week's meeting :-/

The good news is that Leo has gained 3 ounces in 5 days, and my supply is back up to where it should be right now. It dropped dramatically and she suggested taking an herb called fenugreek, and also eating every once in a while ;) It helped tremendously in just a few days.

More good news is Ken is on vacation until the end of the month!

Feeding my baby

It took a while to figure it out. I'm coming to accept that his main source of nourishment will be through the bottle and pumped milk. I'm getting used to the fact that I'll be pumping for a long time. It's just not physically possible for him to nurse very much. I'm really sad about this. I'm happy that he's thriving and doing much better now, but sad that I have to pump and bottle feed him.

I've decided to pray for him and my other kids while I'm pumping. I'll pray for him to love and serve God in his life and follow His plan.

Please pray for us.

Leo pictures

Julie was kind enough to come over and take pictures of Leo today. Wow she is talented! Thank you Julie!

The birth of Leo Michael

I had talked to Ken on Dec 7 and we discussed when we would be going to Mass the next day for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. We decided he would go at 6:30am and I would go at 7:00pm. I woke up on Dec. 8 at 4am having some contractions. I didn't wake Ken up, I just kind of watched the clock and they were about every 5 minutes and very consistent. By the time Ken got up at 6, they were getting stronger. I told Ken I thought maybe today was the day, even though I was 38 weeks 1 day, and I've never gone that early. Also I've had contractions like that before, but I just had a feeling. I told him to go ahead and go to Mass, and I got up and took a shower and packed our bag. By the time he got home, I pretty much knew he was coming that day. The contractions were around 3 minutes apart and getting stronger. I just kept walking around our house to try to get things moving - I didn't really want another 18 hour labor! I called my mom and asked if Ken could bring the kids to her house because I wanted to stay home for a while. I had a doctor's appointment at 10:30 so I figured I'd just go and see where I was then. So Ken dropped the kids off and stopped at Starbucks and got himself a coffee and me some of their oatmeal. I ate that, walked around, texted a few friends, and sent out a notice on facebook that I was looking for intentions to pray for during labor. (I didn't mention I was actually IN labor!) I got some great intentions to pray for and prayed for all of them! So we went to the doctor with our bags packed. She checked me and I was only 2 cm dilated, but she could tell I was uncomfortable and she felt my contractions so she said she thought today was the day. She suggested that we go walk around the mall for awhile and gave us her cell and said to call in a few hours. We went to Borders and walked around for a few hours. We bought both kids a gift for their baby brother to give them when they visited him in the hospital. By the time we left, my contractions were every 2 minutes, and were lasting 1 minute and 3o seconds. They were very uncomfortable and when I stood up I felt a lot of pressure. So we called the doctor and she had us come back to the office for another check. She hooked me up to the monitor and came in and checked me again. After all that I was a big fat 3 cm dilated! She suggested that we go up to Labor and Delivery and she break my water. Even though I told myself I wasn't going to let her do that this time, I was progressing SO slowly I decided to go for it. We got up there, got hooked up, and she broke my water. A few hours later I was at 4. At 8pm I was at 6. Seriously? The third kid?? The doctor said that she would really suggest I try a little pitocin. By this point, 16 hours later, I decided I would go for the pitocin and epidural. So much for a natural birth. However, I gotta say I love that epidural ;) It kicked in about 8:30. She checked me again around 9:30, I was at 8. Around 10:15 I told the nurse I needed to push. She checked me and I was fully dilated and his head was right there. She told me not to push, the doc was on her way. That was the HARDEST part of the whole thing. I was shaking and trying my hardest to breathe through the contractions and not push. It took every ounce of strength I had! She came in just in time, I pushed once and his head came out. He had the most beautiful head of thick dark curly hair. His cord was completely wrapped around his neck. Then one more push and he was out at 10:32pm, after 18 1/2 hours of labor! They put him on my chest. I could not believe his hair or his cheeks. He was just beautiful. He was 8 lbs 12 oz, 20 3/4 inches long.
In addition to his cord being around his neck, he also had a true knot in his cord. The doctor said it was "chilling" whenever she saw that. So scary. I didn't get to hold him for too long when the took him over to examine him, because of the cord issues.
I was looking over there at him while she sewed up my little tear. I heard the nurse say to Ken... "Put your finger in his mouth. You feel that? He has a cleft palate."
I had absolutely no idea what that meant, what it entailed, what would happen. I was kind of in shock because of the cord and the palate. I was really worried. My doctor assured me that he'd be fine and I should be able to nurse him. The nurse said she didn't think he'd need surgery til he was over a year. But I still didn't know what would happen. They cleaned him up and gave him back to me. He was just beautiful and perfect. They said his lip and gum weren't involved, just his palate. I tried to nurse him in the delivery room and he latched on and off just like my other newborns. It turns out 22 babies were born that day and night, so we waited down there for several hours before we were moved up to the room.
We got up to the room about 2am. The nurses came in and checked us. I went to the bathroom by myself (the nurse was surprised, lol) Then a lactation consultant came in and tried to get him to latch on. We used a modified football hold so he was sitting more upright. I was able to feed him a little bit and we got left alone at 4 am. Yes we were up for 24 hours. Then of course someone came to take our vitals at 4:45, and then i got up at 5:45. I took a shower and got ready for Leo's pediatrician to come. I had lots of questions for him. He came around 7:30. He said he was going to refer us to this great surgeon who would come see us that day. He said that a lot of cleft palate babies are able to nurse, most have to have some kind of supplementation. Not knowing whether he'd be able to breastfeed caused me the most anxiety all day. I called the lactation consultant in every time we tried, and they were very helpful. We tried all kinds of positions, nipple shield, etc. I had to pump every 2 hours and feed him the colostrum with a syringe. And I had to try to nurse him every 2 hours as well. We focused so much on feeding for the three days we were in the hospital that we asked our family and friends not to come. It was the first time we didn't have many visitors, but it was really good to be able to focus on feeding him.
We had some success nursing with and without the shield, and I also diligently pumped colostrum and fed him with a syringe every 2 hours. I got anywhere from 1-4 ml each time for the first day, then the next day I got up to 7-10 ml at each pumping session. My milk did not come in fully until the third day. By that time his biliruben levels were up and he had lost a whole pound. The nurses and lactation consultants said he was ok though, and we never did have to supplement formula. I was really happy about that.
The surgeon came the first evening. He was SO nice and put my mind at ease. Before he came, I didn't know if he'd need surgery in a few weeks, few months, or what. He said that he would have one surgery when he is around 18 months, and that should be the only one he needs. He explained what that entails, and said he'd have us come to his office in January to explain it in more detail. He looked at him and said he has a "complete cleft." He said that he would most likely be able to breastfeed with some extra help and patience. He also said I didn't have to do anything differently when starting solid food. After his surgery, they will follow up with him with their team until he's an adolescent, and give him any help he needs, with speech therapy or whatever.
The second day he was so sleepy he hardly ate for about 10 hours, just a few sips and a few syringes here and there. Not even the lactation consultants or nurses could wake him up. But in the afternoon he woke up and nursed for about 40 minutes, which was by far the best he's ever done. I had several different lactation consultants and nurses help us. He started doing better. But the pediatrician wanted us to stay one extra day to make sure we had it down, and to make sure his bili levels weren't too high when we left. Heck I didn't mind too much - it's almost like a vacation at that hospital! The food is fabulous, the nurses are great. I love it there. I did miss Madeleine and John Paul though. They were able to come meet him the first night. Madeleine was THRILLED, and got up on the bed with us, touched him, held him, and was just in awe. It was a beautiful thing to see. John Paul didn't pay much attention at all, but that was to be expected ;) We got to go home last night (Saturday.) But when we left, his bili levels were high so they wanted us to come back the next day for another blood test.
His first night home wasn't bad. It's a lot harder to feed him that the other babies. It takes longer for him to nurse, then I have to supplement with a special bottle, then I have to pump for the next supplement session. It takes quite a long time to feed him. I'm hoping and praying that when he gets a little bigger and stronger, we will just be able to breastfeed with some supplementation. I know nothing about this. He is doing MUCH better but it's taking a lot of work. But it's totally worth it to be able to nurse him. He is just a wonderful, sweet, beautiful baby and I love him SO much.

We took him back to get his levels checked and they were even higher than before. So they sent a home health care worker out today with a bili blanket. He has to lay on it 24/7 until they tell us he's ok. We have to go back tomorrow and check again.

Then Tuesday I am going to meet with his pediatrician and the lactation consultant at his office. And Thursday I am going back to the hospital for a follow up with their lactation consultants. We have got to get this feeding thing down. Please pray for that!

I am convinced that Jesus and His mother were watching out for my sweet baby. I know it's dangerous to have a cord around his neck and a knot in it as well. I don't even want to think about what could have happened. I am so thankful for our little miracle baby born on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Introducing...

Leo Michael!
8 lbs 8 oz 20 3/4 inches

He had a knot in his cord, the cord around his neck, and he has a cleft palate. Its 2:30 am and I'm about to work with a lactation consultant to try to feed him. Please pray for us!

Other than the cleft, he's healthy and beautiful with a full head of curly, dark hair!

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Beth's version of nesting

Cooking? Cleaning? Not so much. I wanted to get Madeleine a Christmas outfit but I looked at several stores and didn't like anything. And plus, since M is in a 4T, the last size in the little girl sizes, I looked at the "big girl" section too. Seriously, the clothes in that section either look like you're dressing your kid like a little teenager or a little hooker! Not so into that. So I decided to try to make her an outfit. I had a little bit of Christmas fabric and some red flannel, so yesterday at nap time I sat down and tried to make her a skirt. I also want to embellish a little white turtleneck with the same fabric, but haven't got to that yet. I was very pleasantly surprised at how the skirt turned out! Here's the back (she still has her name tag from the nursery during Mom's group and her name is spelled wrong!)

The side with her silly smile....
And the front! I love it and it looks adorable on her!
Oh and you can see our new tile in that picture too ;) I forgot to do a post on all that.

And don't forget to go see Sew's blog and congratulate her!!

Thanksgiving Picture

This is as big as I could get the picture, but this is 90% of the whole crazy family ;) I'm the fat one.

Not a big fan

of false labor.

Gets me all excited for nothing.

Quick Takes

1. My mom and I took the kids to the mall to see Santa. He asked Madeleine if she wanted an American Girl doll (wth). Several problems with this. a. She's 3. b. We're not spending that much TOTAL on her. c. What if she KNEW what that was and then expected Santa to bring it? Um.... luckily she's clueless about that. She's actually clueless about all the "popular" toys he asked her about. I'm pretty happy about this.

2. John Paul was fascinated but too scared to sit on his lap. He kept his head on Grandma's shoulder but did reach out to take the candy cane. Then he spent the rest of the day saying, "Santa's Watchin'!"

3. I can barely move anymore. It hurts to bend over, pick up Bud, do laundry, walk, etc. I know I'll feel so much better once this kid comes out. But I will do this as many times as God calls me to do it ;) The babies are TOTALLY worth it.

4. Seriously I can't believe I'll meet my third child in less than 3 weeks.

5. I need help with this one. I'm trying to figure out how to configure the van to get the kids in as easy as possible. Options: Put M and JP in the back, the baby behind the driver and take the other seat (behind the passenger) out. Pros are having both kids together back there, they can hand each other books and toys and stuff. Cons are not being able to reach them to hand them stuff, and having to crawl back there every time to buckle both of them in. (Madeleine can buckle herself in but not with her coat on.) Option 2, put just M in the back, put the baby behind the driver and put JP behind the passenger. Pros - I can still reach JP and get him in and out of the car easily. Cons: M will be by herself back there and I'll have to crawl into the back to get her buckled in. We'll have to make sure the floor is always clear so she can get herself in. There is NO WAY I could get myself around the carseats to get her in, so if she needed help I'd have to crawl in the back and help her. Ugh. How do you do this??

6. I got to meet Fr. Leo Patalinghug this week when he did our Parish Mission. He was great and I bought his cookbook and got his autograph. I've tried 4 recipes out of it and they've all been hits over here.

7. I have almost all my Christmas shopping done. I have to wait to do the rest until Ken gets his bonus, but it is all in my cart at Amazon. All I have to do is click on "order" and it'll be here in two days. Each kid gets three gifts so I've put a lot of thought into what to get them, and I think they'll be happy.

Have a great weekend everyone!

This is Great!!

John Paul and I enjoyed this a few times this morning!

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Cord Blood Donation

It's so easy to do this - and free! Cord blood contains valuable stem cells that can help with research and can save lives! If everyone did this maybe using the stem cells from aborted fetuses wouldn't be an issue.

Here's what you do. Call up or email your local cord blood bank and request that they send a cord blood collection kit to your house. Inform your doctor that you'll be donating it. Then just bring the kit to the hospital when you go into labor and the nurses will do all the work. Call whoever the bank tells you to the next day and they'll come and collect it! So easy, so helpful. Hope our kit gets here before the baby ;)

I had a doctor's appointment today - they usually start checking your cervix at 37 weeks but I requested not to have that done today. They were fine with that. I also talked a little about the actual delivery. With Madeleine I did not have an IV but with John Paul I did. I HATED it. I was so uncomfortable, I had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes, I couldn't walk around very well because I was attached to a big pole. She said they could do a hep lock and I didn't have to have the IV. YAY! I also said that the nurses wouldn't let me eat last time, for about 15 hours. I was SO hungry and every time there was a shift change I would ask for food and they said no. They finally brought me a little bowl of jello, which didn't even take the edge off. She said she didn't mind if I ate and she'd write it in my chart ;) YAY again!

I can't believe this is 2-3 weeks away! I'm so excited. But I'm actually feeling pretty good right now so I can handle it for a little while longer.

This Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my sweet girl, who entertained herself the whole way down to Alabama and back reading books, and had a wonderful time with her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
I'm thankful for my beautiful little boy even though he decided he didn't want to sleep in the pack and play the first night, but who was also wonderful and had a great time with my favorite Uncle Bobby and my goddaughter Cassie!
I'm thankful for swollen feet and ankles and heartburn because it means I get to meet my precious gift from God very soon!
I'm thankful for my wonderful, handsome, helpful husband who is proud to share his beliefs with anyone, and who is happy to welcome any precious little children that God chooses to send us.

I'm thankful for my whole big family who loves my kids and looked out for them while we were in Alabama so I didn't have to chase them around too much - especially Grandma and Papa!

And... I'm thankful for stretchy pants ;)

Like his mama...

He seems to be a little on the chubby side! He measured today at 8 lbs 1 oz at our 36 week ultrasound. I'm hoping they're a little off but look at those cheeks! No wonder I'm huge and feel like I can barely move! How do they get this big already??

It was exciting to see him - the whole family came, Mom, Ken and both kids. Madeleine was VERY excited to see her baby brother. John Paul was really worried about me laying on the table and cried and kept saying "Mama!" in a sad little voice. I had to keep reassuring him that I was fine. They tucked a napkin thing into my pants to keep the goo off of them and he kept saying "Mama change?" like he thought I was getting my diaper changed or something! Haha!

Since he was so big - also measuring into the 38th week, I was wondering if Dr. P would say I shouldn't go to Alabama. But she said I'd be fine! She said he might be early but not this early. She checked me and I'm about 1 cm dilated which she said was normal at this point. I really don't feel too bad so I'm not worried. She had the nurses print off all my records to take down, and did the group b test. I now have to go in every week so I have another appointment next Monday. I can't believe it's getting this close! I better get my Christmas shopping and wrapping done!

Pics by Julie

My friend Julie was kind enough to take pictures of my kids a few weeks ago. They were very uncooperative (as usual!) but she is VERY talented and managed to capture a few great shots! Thanks Julie! Here are a few of my favorites.





And PS. So far NO problems with the van at all!! WOOHOO!!!

The rest of the story (Please God!?)

So yesterday, the van was dead in the driveway, and the guy came over in the afternoon to take a look at it. He determined that the gas gauge was not working and we had run it completely out of gas. He put a gallon in and it started right up and ran great. I took it to the gas station and filled it up - he was right it was COMPLETELY empty. (Although the gauge showed a quarter tank!)

So the speedometer hasn't been working for months ( I was totally guessing driving around town.) The gas gauge AND the speedometer seem to be working now..... hopefully this is the END of our problems.

So we are still planning on driving to Alabama next Wednesday - Saturday. It's approximately a 9 hour drive and I'll be almost 37 weeks when we get back. I get to have an ultrasound and an appointment on Monday and she'll make the final call if she thinks I'm safe to go, although she said she's sure I'll be fine. I am so excited! My Grandma has 8 kids - my mom is the oldest - and ALL of them are going. Most of their kids and their kids are going too. I think the final count is around 75 people. Some of them I haven't seen for several years. I'm also really excited for a 36 week ultrasound - I have never had one this late. His fat little face probably won't even fit in the screen, but it'll be so fun to see him! I think my mom and the kids are gonna come too.

Dang Van

Thursday it died in the middle of the highway. With both kids in the car. With Ken and my dad out of town and my mom working (taking care of Ava.) Luckily I was able to make it to a left turn lane and put my hazard lights on, and mom was able to come get it. I'm sure it was a humorous sight watching a humongous pregnant woman (and I do mean humongous - I measured my waist and it's as long as a 4 year old is tall - and it's the same as Sew's ;) try to maneuver two kids and two carseats on a busy road into mom's car, with Ava's booster seat wedged in between. We were able to do it, paid 60 bucks for the van to be towed, then the guy said he "fixed" it (for $120 more) and we picked it up Friday. I even asked him if it was safe to drive to Alabama in a few weeks, and he said definitely!

Well tonight it died in the driveway. How fun is THAT?

Silence, kinda. And other random thoughts.

There's no silence around my kids, however when we got our van back, the CD player, the tape player, and the radio are no longer working. Also the clock and the power windows. So it's been a tad more quiet in my car the past few days! The guy is going to look at it so hopefully it's just a fuse or some kind of easy fix. It's kind of annoying to drive through a drive through (had to go to Walgreens and the bank yesterday) and have to open the door!

__________________

Yesterday we were driving in the car and Madeleine said, "Mommy, I'm just your little girl and I'm still learning how not to be naughty." I told her that everyone has to work on not being naughty, and living like God wants us to, even Mommy. She said, "Mommy. You're a grown up and you should KNOW better by now!" (I know, I really should!)

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We have less than 6 weeks til baby Ice's due date now, so I've been doing a few things to prepare for him. I have all his clothes washed and hung up in his room and folded in his dresser. I got his crib set together and put it in his crib, and it looks GREAT. My mom is going to make some wall decorations and I've been washing his handknits ;) I'm looking forward to using the newborn wool diaper covers and pants with this little baby. I LOVE cloth diapering newborns! I also tested out our new car seat and it fits in our old stroller, so that is good! Since my older two are incapable of walking somewhere without pulling or running away, touching everything, and generally getting into trouble, little Ice is just going to have to be worn in the wrap while the other two are strapped into the double stroller. Hopefully he likes the wrap - he has no choice!

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Occasionally I'll watch Dr. Oz during naptime, even though I'm not a big fan. After a show a few days ago I will not be watching him anymore. He was talking about ways to improve your sex life, as usual. One of the two ways he suggested was to GET AN IUD. He then went on to say that 40 out of 100 OBs recommend them for an effective way of birth control. (Woo.) Then he had one of his demonstrations - two clear boxes. One was full of fertile looking soil, which was supposed to be a normal healthy uterine lining. The other one had astroturf, which is your lining on an IUD. So GREAT! Improve your sex life; kill off your unborn children. I was SO upset and I'm done watching that show.

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My hips are KILLING me.

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Peppermint mochas.....MMMMMMMM!!!!


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I got a few new workbooks from Catholic Heritage Curriculum, one is a preschool number practice and one is a letter practice. I have been SO impressed with their materials! They incorporate God and the Catholic faith into every lesson, while making it fun. Madeleine loves the lessons. She also loves doing simple dot to dots so I ordered her some off of amazon. I love seeing her learn and have fun doing it! She's like a little sponge - she is learning all the time and soaks up everything. She's now realizing that she can read some little books by herself. She hasn't taken a nap for a few days but she has sat up in her room for up to 3 hours reading her library books. Love this girl, even though she is NAUGHTY!

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I was kind of thinking of getting John Paul's hair cut, because it's a big rat's nest in the back all day long. However today I decided to try to spray it with Madeleine's detangler and comb it out, and he had the cutest little curls everywhere! I won't be getting it cut for a while. ;)

This turned out more like a quick takes post :)

Big FAT opportunity for sanctification

With a little grace thrown in.

Today we were leaving the library, when our van stalled just as we were getting ready to pull into the intersection. Ken told me to get into the driver's seat and steer while he pushed the van into a parking lot across the street (at my old high school.) As soon as we got into the spot, I waddled out of the car and saw a man who was helping Ken push. He was wearing a mechanic jumpsuit type thing. He said he was a mechanic who lived right across the street. He did some diagnosis on the van and came to the conclusion that it was the fuel pump (Please GOD let him be right and let this be the last thing wrong with this van for a while!) Anyway, he called a friend at Auto zone to see if they had the part we needed. He said he could pull the van over to his house with his truck and fix it for us, $150 for the part and $150 for the labor. We figured this was a good deal so that's where our van is right now. We called my mom and dad to come pick us up. The van probably won't be done till Monday. Ugh. I figured we were fine with the van. It seems like there's always something that happens when we start getting back on our feet. Now I'm kind of thinking we won't be able to go to Alabama for Thanksgiving because we were not expecting to have to pay this $300. But thank God that mechanic was right there.

Not a fan of car trouble.

Perspective

A few days ago I received a giant box of diapers from an online friend - she said she was going to send me one wool cover she had for the baby but she ended up sending me 2 dozen prefolds, about 7 fitteds, 7 all in one organic bumgenius and 2 extra wool covers! I was blown away and have been using a lot of them on John Paul - the fitteds and bumgenius are one size - so they should fit baby to potty training age. They are AWESOME diapers!

Anyway, my kids have been playing in the box for days. Madeleine has barely asked to watch TV since we got the box. Today it was on it's side and John Paul leaned on it and ripped a corner of it from top to bottom.

Me: Madeleine should we throw the box away now since it's broken?
M: It's not broken Mommy! It just has a new door!

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The other day we were going to Mom's group at church. I was running really late and so I grabbed us a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. (I know, don't judge!) John Paul was eating most of his and then he took a bite and just let it fall out of his mouth, looking like Randy on A Christmas Story.

Me: John Paul! Don't spit food out of your mouth!!!
M: Mommy? Do you still love Little Hance?

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A few days ago my mom was watching the kids while I went to the doctor. Mom and Madeleine were playing a Dominoes game on the coffee table. John Paul kept coming by and sweeping the entire game onto the floor with his arm (he likes to do these kinds of things.)

Mom: John Paul! Stop doing that!!
M: Now Gram. John Paul is just a baby and he doesn't know any better. Maybe we should give him some pieces he can play with?

Have I mentioned that I love this kid?

How I feel...

Little Ice is gonna look like.

We are pro-life

And we voted :)

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I like to break out the controversy around election time

A Reminder to Catholics on Election Day

As election day approaches, we are reminded that as Catholics we are obligated to know the candidates position on these 5 non-negotiable issues which are considered to be immoral and contrary to the Christian gospel. Candidates who endorse or promote any of these five issues should be considered to have disqualified themselves from holding public office and should not receive our vote.

The 5 non-negotiable issues that a candidate may not support to gain our vote are:

1. Abortion

2. Euthanasia

3. Fetal Stem Cell Research

4. Human Cloning

5. Homosexual ‘Marriage’

To find out where your candidates stand on these issues you may go to:

www.focusvoter.com/IN