Thankful my baby's overdue!

Yeah, that's right... I'm actually thankful that my Little-Lamb-to-be is overdue. My sister tells me I'm probably the only one in the world that postpones an induction because I can wait a few more days. :) Can this be true?!

Well, yes, I made it through Thanksgiving without going into labor and disrupting everyone's life, so I feel like a "good girl". But the real reason I'm glad I'm overdue right now is because Little Man's cold/virus is probably the worst he's had, and now I've got it too. Oh yeah!!

Now, I realize that life is NOT perfect, and that we don't always have control over circumstances like births and holidays and the like, but let's face it, there are some things we CAN exercise control over.... Like being induced--or NOT-- just as your son comes down with the worst illness he's ever had.

Little Man can't even sleep for more than 4 hours at night, poor little guy. So guess who else isn't getting sleep? You got that right!! I am amazed at how God pours out his grace on days and nights like this, and supernaturally provides me with the appropriate coping skills and maternal instincts! I KNOW, in and of myself, I just don't have it. Even so, I feel like I'm already taxing even the unsearchable depths of God's grace, being sleep deprived for over a month now, 9 months pregnant and ill myself....

So,let's see, should I choose to add a newborn's schedule and fragile immune system to this mix? Are you for real?

On the really positive side, Dear Hubby granted my fondest wish today and took Little Man to the family gathering a half hour away, and left me alone so I could rest!! Halleleujah!! One more thing to be thankful for!! :)

Giving thanks for my hubbie!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where life seems to conspire against you? I'm having one. I'm actually having a few... in a row. I'm inclined to rant and whine about it, but whenever I'm tempted, I realize even the most frustrating aspects of what I'm going through are nothing compared to what some people are going through.

Tomorrow is my due date to give birth to my second son. My first son, Little Man, was 19 days early. It was quite a surprise at the time. We were TOTALLY unprepared. I was determined that would NOT happen this time around and so I decided THIS TIME we'd be prepared.... by the end of October. I'm telling you... right down to finishing Christmas shopping and birthday shopping.... EVERYTHING had to be done!

Can you see where this is going? I totally psyched myself out... expected the baby by Nov 3rd.... And now here it is, almost 3 weeks later... and I'm still waiting. Waiting is hard enough, with all the physical limitations of being "great with child", but on top of it, Little Man has been consistently sick for about a month and a half. A cold, a sinus infection, a cough that won't quit, a fever and now a virus.

On Monday, we dropped Little Man off with a friend and drove to the hospital thinking the birth of our son was imminent, but after 2 hours, we were sent home. The contractions, while regular were not strong enough to be productive. We were sure we'd be back in a few hours, but we scheduled an appointment to be induced this morning anyway.

In the meantime, the big-brother-to-be came down with a fever/bad cough, and had a really rough night, as we all did. He had about 3 hours of sleep. I had about 4 and the Hubbie had about 5... Little Man heard me getting ready at 5:30, and so he got up. Then, as we were getting ready to leave for the hospital, I saw Little Man all curled up in a fetal position on our rocker-recliner, asleep in front of the news. This NEVER happens!! Sleep? When the "TD" is on? What?!!! He was obviously really sick and it didn't seem right to just drop him off and go have another child. So we decided to cancel the inducement. (My sister tells me I'm the only one she knows that says she can wait to be induced a few more days! LOL!!)

My hubbie is my hero! He made the final call and the actual calls, because I just felt like if I didn't go through with the induction I was letting everyone down. But the bottom line was that I kept thinking that if I had known yesterday what was going to transpire in the next 20 hours, I wouldn't have scheduled the inducement. But this morning I felt like I was over a barrel and that everyone "needed" me to go ahead with it. So now I'm just hoping that I don't ruin someone's Thanksgiving by going into the hospital on Thursday! So I'm praying that the baby waits till Friday, when--hopefully--Little Man will be on the mend, and Hubbie's work schedule will be a little more flexible, and everyone will have had quality family and turkey time!! :)

Great expectations

So, have I mentioned that we are expecting a new arrival? I confess that this little guy has been keeping me quite busy the last few weeks, and not letting me get much rest in return! He and his big brother are already conspiring against me!! No fair! :)

But I see this sleep deprivation as the good Lord's way of preparing me for the months to come. I already know that sleep will be in short supply, and I am amazed at how well I have been able to function on about 4-6 hours of sleep a night!! Thank you Lord for a husband that works nights and lets me nap in the afternoons. Don't know how I'd do it without the afternoon nap. It's still a far cry from the amount of sleep I got before Ian came into our lives though. I'm hoping that the transition to life with a newborn will be less traumatic this time around, having spent the last 35 months in training and all. Well, we can hope.

At any rate, the little guy is due November 22nd... about 4 weeks away... but since Ian was 2 1/2 weeks early, and caught us quite by surprise, I have been determined NOT to be caught so unprepared this time around. So my goal has been to have everything ready by the end of October, even all the holiday shopping. I'm sure I'm making my poor hubbie crazy. And to be honest, I'm making myself crazy too. Because the fact is, I feel so sure that this kid's arrival is right around the corner that I can't rest. I have over-psyched myself out, friends!!

Even Ian has caught the fever! A few days ago he began saying to me, quite out of the blue, that he was going to have a "bro'r" and that he would be "comin' soon!". Since then, that seems to have become his new mantra. He tells everyone he meets... in church, in stores, you name it... that his "bro'r" is "coming soon!". He seems pretty excited about it. I know it may not last, but it is the first I have seen that he's seeing this baby's arrival as a positive thing, so I find it very encouraging.

On that note, I'm going to head to bed for the second time this evening and hope that this time I can stay there!!

A Parable about reaching

I think I will always be thankful to my friend Christa who, in her motherly wisdom, shared with me the joy of blowing bubbles at bathtime. For some reason, it had never occured to me. The tub is the PERFECT place for bubbles!! Duh!!

We don't use them every time, but a few times a week, I pull out the bubbles and start blowing them at my delighted son. Lately, he has taken to standing up, and reaching for the singular bubbles just beyond his grasp, even though there are usually neverending clusters of new bubbles surrounding him...

As I sit there, marvelling at the way he turns his back to the abundant supply all around him, and reaches for things that he will never be able to touch, I am reminded of how often I have done the same thing in life... ignoring the blessings God supplies everyday, and always wishing for more.

It reminds me of this song, which has never failed to minister to me. It's called "Reaching" by Carolyn Arends...

There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach
And later on in my high school
It seemed to me a little cruel
How the right words to say always seemed to stay
Just out of reach

Well I should not have thought it strange
That growing causes growing pains
‘Cause the more we learn the more we know
We don’t know anything
But still it seems a tragic fate
Living with this quiet ache
The constant strain for what remains
Just out of reach

Chorus:
We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

There are times I can’t forget
Dressed up in my Sunday best
Trying not to squirm and to maybe learn
A bit of what the preacher preached
And later lying in the dark
I felt a stirring in my heart
And though I longed to see what could not be seen
I still believed

I guess I shouldn’t think it odd
Until we see the face of God
The yearning deep within us tells us
There’s more to come
So when we taste of the divine
It leaves us hungry every time
For one more taste of what awaits
When heaven’s gates are reached

Repeat chorus:
We are reaching for the future
We are reaching for the past
And no matter what we have we reach for more
We are desperate to discover
What is just beyond our grasp
But maybe that’s what heaven is for

I believe that’s what heaven is for
There’s a time I can recall
Four years old and three feet tall
Trying to touch the stars and the cookie jar
And both were out of reach

Vacation!

Well, a little over a month ago we went on vacation where we were at the mercy of someone else's wireless network. It was sort of a forced blogfast. That lasted two weeks and turned out to be a wonderful rest on so many levels. Besides, I was down the Jersey shore, man!! There were lots of other ways to spend my evenings. :)

So now I'm back.... from outerspace... Oh, excuse me, that was just my mental jukebox cuing up Gloria Gainor... Disco flashback!!

After two weeks of a blogfast I came to realize just how much of my time I was dedicating to reading blogs, writing blogs (believe me, I draft more often than I post) and finding new blogs. And I realized how little time I was spending on life!! So, a rearrangement of priorities is certainly in order.

The apostle Paul said that we are slaves to those things that we yield ourselves to obey, and I was sensing that the blogosphere was quickly becoming my master. Hopefully there's another way.... a way of balance! I'm going to give it another try in the hopes that there is a better way, a way that ministers to people's souls, honors the Lord, and has lasting significance. Seems like a tall order. A bit ambitious perhaps, but that's my goal.

Potty Training update, part 2

Well, by now you may be tired of the potty training topic. Unless, that is, you're in this stage yourself or are about to "go there". But it's a free world, so if you're not interested come back in a few days!

I wanted to share some of the cool things I've been gleaning from all my reading. Seems wrong to keep it to myself.... :)

I've often heard of parent's using stickers or candy to reward their child when he was successful going to the potty. But we weren't quite there. One of the signs of readiness for toilet training is that your child stays dry for a couple of hours at a time, or wakes up dry after naps. Ian had never EVER had that kind of duration of dryness. UGH!! He always seemed to be constantly wet. So first, I wanted to teach him to stay dry!!

When I read Potty Training in a Day, I was intrigued with their reward system. Instead of rewarding just for using the potty, they set a timer to check the child's diaper for dryness. When the diaper was dry, the child got some kind of reward. So I told Ian that we were going to try to stay dry and I began doing the diaper check every half hour. I gave Ian two M&M mini's whenever he was dry. Pretty soon he started telling me himself when when he was dry or wet. Hallelujah!! And miracle of miracles he would go a couple of hours without wetting now it's almost SCARY how long he can stay dry for. Yeah!!

So the verdict seems to be that this practice seems to have raised Ian's awareness of the bladder control mechanism. He's not too anxious to use the potty, but he is able to stay dry for long periods of time and that's half the battle in my mind.

Sundaes on Friday

Went to my second SAHM Meetup yesterday. It was actually a "Make your own Sundae" social. We had 5 moms and 10 little rugrats under 6 all meeting at our brave hostess' brand new home. :)

Our hostess, Sharon, was pretty smart about it too. She bought the little ice cream cups, all in vanilla, so there were no arguments about how much ice cream and what flavor. Then we each got to add our own toppings... YUMMMY!!

Best of all was that I had been craving ice cream for DAYS! :)

Plunging in to painting

I've been thinking for awhile now about delving into the fingerpainting realm. Seems so mean to not let my crafty boy dabble in this wonderful medium. But it is with great trepidation that I even pause to consider it.

So I was delighted and intrigued recently when I read one mom's suggestion of using plain old water, a paintbrush and a sheet of construction paper to make-believe paint! WELL!! I was all over that idea. And I'm recommending it to you!

Ian loves using a paintbrush, and when the construction paper gets wet, it changes colors. It's quite a thrill for him! Plus, cleanup is a breeze and once the paper's dry it can be used again!

And the benefit of this is that it taught me that I was not wrong regarding the fingerpainting famine! The first time Ian got the paintbrush wet he stood at the table waving it in the air, sprinkling water hither and yon!! Praise the Lord, no paint, or my curtains would've been spattered with his exuberance!

Potty Training update

Well, I kind of felt I should give a brief update on "potty training" for any who are interested. After my last post on the subject, I got a few emails and phone calls on the subject saying "let me know what you find".

Aside: Why are people so reluctant to leave comments? Any opinions? Leave a comment! :)

Back to the adventure at hand... Here's some books I've read that were worthwhile:

• Toilet Training by Vicki Lanski - By far the easiest to read, with interesting tips from REAL MOMS and suggestions on books and websites to check out. Some of this stuff I would NEVER have thought of in a million years. Well, okay, maybe when it was too late! The tips are what stand out in my mind. The actual advice from the author was okay, but very basic.


• Toilet Training in Less Than a Day by Natha Azrin - Interesting book, goes step by step thru their method, and their method is VERY specific. They focus on the importance of independence for the child and the parent. In other words, if my child has to tell ME he has to go to the bathroom, and I have to HELP him, then he's not fully trained. They talk about training the child each step of the way... practicing how to take pants down, practicing walking rapidly to the potty, practicing dumping the "product" in the toilet, flushing, washing, etc. Needless to say, to pull this off in less than a day, you can do nothing else. I won't be using their method, but it really made me think about a lot of things differently, so I have already been incorporating their ideas, and I'm going to mention them below.
  
• Toilet Learning: The picture book technique for Children and Parents by Allison Mack - Interesting concept. The first half of the book is written for parents, the last half is a picture book for kids. I have to confess to not getting very far into the parents' part of the book myself, because Ian discovered the picture book part and LOVES it! The part of it he likes best shows different people on the potty... A fireman, a mailman, a doctor, a babysitter, mommy, daddy, Grandpa and Grandma. Plus it emphasizes that there are bathrooms pretty much anywhere you go, which I imagine is a comforting thought to a child. I know it is to ME!!

Books and Videos Ian has really liked:

• Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi - Going to a baby shower anytime soon? Get this book!! It's hysterical and kind of gross, but kids love it
• Toilet Learning by Alison Mack
• The Potty Book for Boys by Alyssa Satin Capucilli - Just got this from the libray, but Ian seems to like it already. It shows a boy (and his teddy) learning about going potty.
• Winston's Potty - By far the most requested video he had for the week we had it. It was in rough shape though, so I need to get it from a different library. Again, I thought it was lacking, but he LOVED it and it was definitely registering.
• Once Upon a Potty For Him by Alona Frankel - Theres a video and a book. He likes the video, doesn't care for the book too much. Go figure!

I also found an activity book about going potty that we just started using. It's called My Potty Activity Book +45 Potty Training Tips by Tracy Foote. I bought it because the reviews were overwhelmingly positive, but I'm a bit unimpressed by it. It's basically a coloring book for the kids that explains the whole potty training process. I guess the true test is whether it helps Ian get from point A to point B.

What's cooking?!!

I have often thought how cool it would be to have a little item on the right sidebar called, "What's cooking?!" And there I would just post what we had for dinner. I haven't really looked into doing that, time being what it is, so I thought I'd just post for now.

I am not especially gifted in the area of cooking. Oh, I TRY, but even the recipes I have tried seem to rarely succeed! So when I (or more likely, my wonderful hubby) find something that works, I like to make a note of it. I am also constantly wondering what others are making for dinner, because I am constantly looking for new things to try. :)

Tonight Steve made Pierogies, fried with kielbasa and shallots. We accompanied this with a yummy cheddar cheese sauce (I CAN make a nice cheese sauce!) and peas. It was a hit!! YUMMMM! Kudos to my dear hubby for coming up with this combo. I would've been happy to eat the Pierogies plain with sour cream, but that's not exactly a balanced meal.

So, what did YOU have for dinner?! :)

Marking Time

Believe it or not, I'm in the middle of a long, involved blog about our potty training adventure... Heh! But being a perfectionist, I need to kind of fine tune it. So I thought I would just share a great idea I was reading about the other day in our paper. The lady in the story was being deployed to Iraq. Her 6 year old son asked her, "How long is a year?" So she made him a paper chain, with a link for each day, and each week is color coded. Every day her son can rip one of the links off to tick off the days.

I thought it was especially great, because Steve will be taking a trip to Peru next month for about 9 days. (Yeah, nine days alone with a toddler!! Anyone want to grab some coffee with me?! :) The last time Steve went to Peru, I made a little calendar for Ian and he got to put stickers on it every day Daddy was gone. But I like the chain idea, especially because I started thinking about putting prayer requests on each link, so we could pray for something specific to that day. But what a great way to mark the passing of time in general!!

Three hours one Thursday

Today, I departed from my usual "frenzied" morning schedule, which if I was to disclose it would probably not seem very frenzied to you at all, so I'm not going to describe my normal activities. :) But today it was raining and last night I had gotten frustrated with the state of our home, so I decided that this morning would be dedicated to staying at home and trying to create order out of the CHAOS! (Flylady describes this as Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome, which I think is sheer genious!)

And so rather than run errands or take the Little Man to the park, Little Man and I stayed home. For three hours I tidied up the kitchen, the dining area, did laundry and tidied up the living room and when it was over I thought... "Why doesn't it look like I did anything?" In the old days, when I was a professional housecleaner, I could clean a 3 or 4 bedroom house in 3 hours!! Shazam!! Today, I barely made a dent in 2 rooms. Very discouraging. But then I have a 2 1/2 year old boy in the house! And he must be kept well occupied in productive, constructive activities! Plus, ya need to take the occasional tickle or snack break, don't ya?!

So if you walked in to my house this afternoon, 5 minutes after Little Man went down for his nap, you'd be pretty unimpressed with my progress. I'm fairly sure, my new role model's house never looks this way. And yes, I was disheartened, but then I spent another half hour or so picking up toys and putting up a border of plates in my kitchen and things were looking up! :) What a difference a toddler-free 30 minutes can make! And as I reasoned to myself, I still got 3 hours of housework in that I would've had to do at another time, so it was worth it.

My Imaginary Closet

Some privileged few who know me THAT WELL know all about my imaginary closet. I'm not so much a purchaser as I am a browser. Some people purchase on impulse. I am one of those that will argue myself out of the things I really want, writing them off as unpractical, not really ME or just too expensive to justify.

Don't feel sorry for me, though, because I will take that "thing" along with me in my imagination as I leave the store.... technically not really shoplifting! :) I will hang that item up in my imaginary closet and enjoy it there for weeks, months and years to come and never once regret not buying it. It's a gift!! I base this on the law of diminishing marginal returns which states (basically) that at some point, the more you have of something, the less you appreciate that thing.

Well, my imaginary closet works for me!! But my beloved mother-in-law, who was a shopper and purchaser to the core, could never understand this. She loved me in spite of it, but when we went shopping together, I made her crazy... which in reality only increased the pleasure of the item in my imaginary closet. Ahhh! The memories!!

"If you like it, why didn't you buy it?!", she'd say with exasperation.
"I don't need it.", I'd reply with a smile.
"Ah, GUFFF!!", she'd exclaim. (This favorite saying of hers was the combined sounds of frustration and disappointment, and always made me smile.)

Anyway, I say all this only by way of explanation....Can you make this jump?.... I have caught myself recently making mental notes on places that would be fun to visit without a child... you know, on a date!! Yes, yes, it's true. I am starting to take imaginary dates. The most recent place I happened upon through and ad in the paper. It's called "The Whistling Kettle". Just checking out their website sent me on an imaginary date. :) So much fun!! I mean, just look at their menu! Yummy! Makes me feel like I'm back in Scotland. I really do need to get out more.

Why I love being a Mommy....

I recently read a MOPS newsletter, and the author had been encouraged, after a discouraging day, to make a list about why she loved being a mommy. I thought that was a great idea, so here is my list:

• Snuggling
• Toddler smoochies
• Giggles and smiles
• Reading books
• Having an excuse to play at the playground
• Seeing the world through new eyes
• New insights into God's love, patience and grace
• The sounds of my husband and son laughing and playing together
• Newfound discipline and self-sacrifice
• Built in activity during otherwise uncomfortable gatherings! :)
• Pushing myself to be more social and more active
• Seemingly miraculous powers to heal and to comfort
• Cool toys to play with
• The joy of blowing bubbles during bath and play time

Stay At Home Mom Site

I found an interesting ad for a SAHM website at a library I was visiting last week. I took the little tear-off strip, and brought it home to check it out. Now I'm going to share it with you.

The site I saw was for Stay At Home Moms to meet up with others in their area, but there are other groups, based on interest. So if you're looking for scrapbooking or web design groups in your area you might like to check it out too.

• http://sahm.meetup.com/browse/
• http://www.meetup.com/browse/

I found and joined four groups in our area. Even though I haven't met any of the women personally, I've been able to browse the area message boards. So far I have found tips on maternity consignment shops, fun places to bring kids, and the local going rates for babysitters. Pretty cool. Wish I knew about this a year ago!

Scrambling at McDonald's

Yesterday we decided, as a treat, to hit the local McDonald's for dinner. It's got a GREAT play area that is about two stories tall, with shelf-like platforms for climbing, little plastic tunnels, net tunnels and a two-story high corkscrew slide. We had never gone in before and DH thought DS would really enjoy it. DS was very excited, but there were a lot of "big kids" there, scrambling around, playing hide and seek, being loud and just enjoying themselves.

DS started scrambling up the "shelves" and quickly staggered back down in tears. He was totally intimidated!! Poor kid. And this was the start of our "dinner", so what's a parent to do? No amount of cajoling could get DS into the action. Of course, just ignoring the big play area was out of the question. Whose idea were these things? Are eating greasy food and playing in tight spaces really a good idea?

Well, being the compassionate mom that she is, SheWhoIs18WeeksPregnant thought that if she just went up once, that would reassure DS and he would be able to continue on without her. LOL!! Yeah, that's funny! Let me tell ya, those little tunnels are NOT made for blossoming bellies. Surprise, surprise. And yet, knowing this I continued to go up another 5 times over the course of our time there.

On the bright side, you can see that my back is in much better shape! I believe it just passed the ultimate test.

Keeping an eye on eBay

I need to stop going on rants and saving them as drafts. In my head, I've posted a blog, but as I look back at the dates I actually posted something, I realize I haven't posted in a week!! Too sad!

Well, our paper recently put a local lady on the front page because she was selling the right to change her last name on eBay. Must have been a slow news day. You can read the story yourself if you're interested, but the gist of it was that she is auctioning off her last name for a starting bid of $25,000!

Part of me is impressed by her creativity and her desire to supplement her husband's salary, while staying home with the kids. The other part of me is amazed at someone being so willing to hand over control of something so personal as her name!! I'm not sure I could ever do that. (Kind of reminds me of the Friends episode where Phoebe changed her married name to Princess Consuela Banna Hammock!)

Anyway, I guess I have eBay on the brain, because I've been watching quite a few items this week. After all this devouring of all things related to potty training, I started looking online for deals on training pants. Yep!! No Huggies or Pampers Pull-up pants for us. I've tried them. They haven't worked for our little guy. They just keep him too dry. Although, I see that Huggies just came out with a "cool alert" pull-up that I just might try to get the ball rolling or for when we are travelling.

I was just over at MommyLife and Barb Curtis seemed to know I had eBay on the brain and sent me here to hear the eBay song by Weird Al Yankovic. :) I've always loved that man, and I actually saw a bit of myself in this song, so it gave me a good chuckle!

Potty Training

It is with some measure of anxiety and intrepidation that I have been thinking about potty training my dear unsuspecting boy. Actually, I have been thinking about it since we bought his potty seat in December, but I allowed myself to be "convinced" by more experienced moms that it was really too soon to start for one reason or another. When the morning sickness and exhaustion hit in March, I decided to wait till I was in my second trimester and had a little more life in me.

But now, the dear boy is not as compliant as he was about 6 months ago, so I'm wondering... Did I wait too long? I'm anticipating a battle, but I think I can use his loathing of all types of stickiness to my advantage!! (Even while this child is eating french fries, he is fussing about his fingers being "sticky" at every bite.)

I've had it in my head that I would begin this craziness in June, since the weather was warmer and since we didn't have much travel planned for that month. He is about 28 months now, and is talking up a storm and is much more aware of his body processes. So today I picked up three books on potty training from the library. The one I'm reading first is called "Toilet training in less than a day". I mean, if that was possible, why futz around with the other two books? I can't say I hold out much hope for this method, but I give the authors credit for their optimism. According to them, in their studies this method worked within 2 1/2 HOURS for children over 26 months!! Whaaa-aat?!! Anyone out there think this is realistic?

Personally, I had considered switching to cloth diapers for this phase, initially and then move quickly to cloth trainers. We've already tried the Pull-ups that are supposed to help the child learn when he was wet. These things just don't work. So I'm thinking the way to go, until my books tell me otherwise, is the "shock and awe method" of switching to cloth one day and letting the boy get the feel for what we're trying to accomplish. :)

I have also recently read of a product called "PODS discreet strips" which can supposedly be attached like a mini-pad in a child's underpants to absorb and neutralize accidents. They also give a cool wet sensation to the child. The claim is that the child is potty-trained by the time you get to the end of the box... Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Family Traditions

Just got back from a weekend at my sister's. It was a combination of my niece's 3rd birthday, our Dad's birthday and our Annual Family Christmas Exchange. Yes... we are a bit out of season. I won't say whether we're early for this year or late for last year. That will be our little family secret.

Now, you may be wondering just why it is that our celebration is so untimely.... I think that we are often wondering the same thing. It's complicated.... Dad is a snowbird and is often way out of the area at that "Most Wonderful Time of the Year". This year, one of my sisters was "great with child" during the aforementioned wonderful time, and so travel was out of the question, naturally. The rest of us? Well, we do have lives too, ya know!

But May is nice. We don't usually do anything for Memorial Day anyway, so it actually worked out well. :)

The latest news

The back has been slowly improving over the last week or so and I'm sooooo thankful. I barely notice any pain these days, which is nothing sort of miraculous to my mind. I know a lot of people have been praying for me, so if you were one of them, Thanks!! The last time my back was in that kind of shape it took months to recover and only with the constant wearing of a back brace. Let me tell ya, in my current state that would NOT have been pretty!!

The other update, now that I feel safe in letting the cat out of the bag, is that we are expecting a new addition to the family in November. I have taken to calling him (or her) Tater for the time being. So this, in short, helps to explain the back pain and also my dread at what the future held if things did not improve.

As for the pregnancy, I am in the lovely stage where my regular clothes no longer really fit comfortabley and the pregnancy clothes in the closet just remind me how much further I still have to go. Yeah!! I call this the warm-up stage, because that's pretty much all I can wear: warm up pants and t-shirts. Very sexy.

Survivor

Don't know if you've been following the latest round of Survivor Panama.... I have, to an almost embarassing degree. Well, last night I subjected my poor husband to the three hour finale. Keep in mind the man hasn't seen a single episode leading up to the finale. You can imagine how thrilled he was!! :) (Actually, he kind of seemed to get into it.)

It's very hard for me to watch these kinds of shows and not get all emotionally entangled in the political process, the mind-games, the physical challenges. At the beginning of the season, I don't know these people and I don't much care about them, but at some point, I become invested. I want certain people out!! Shane and Courtney for example! I want certain people to win.... Cirie or Terry, even when I realize the deck may be stacked against them.

Last night... what an upset!! Who would've thought Danielle would win the immunity challenge? Who would've thought she'd take Aras with her? Who would have thought Aras would win the whole deal?!! I tell you what.... I was NOT happy. If ever anyone probably deserved to win it was Terry. Like him or not, I've never seen anyone else Outwit, Outplay and Outlast anyone like he did. Too bad when he lost the immunity idol he failed to win the only immunity challenge he needed to win.

A Tender Heart for My Aching Back

About 15 years ago, as I crossed my legs at the table of my college cafeteria, my back suddenly "went out" with out any warning. The pain was so great that all I could do was rest all my weight on my elbows at the table while friends went for help and a car. What the heck happened?!!

It was a pivotal moment in my life when I realized how quickly my health could leave me. The recovery from that episode was long and at times excruciating. If you've ever had REAL back pain, it's something you will never forget. You can't do anything without pain if your back doesn't work right.... Walking, sitting, sleeping, sneezing, even laughing!

Although the initial pain dissipated over a course of 6 months, I became accustomed to living with a nagging sort of pain for several years after that. Thankfully, one day I realized that the pain was gone. Sure now and again there were revisitations of some pain, but those have been nowhere near as intense.

I had lived with the concern though, that pregnancy would cause the pain to reappear. By God's grace, my back actually fared quite well during my last pregnancy, and actually seemed a little better than usual. Go figure.

But today, we had an awful scare, as I had been doing a craft on the floor with Ian and had gotten up and felt the familiar sciatic nerve pinch. No biggie. I've had it before. It comes. It goes. But today, it escalated rapidly, and like 15 years ago, completely without warning. As I tried to find a comfortable (read: less painful) position, I ended up on the floor, lying on my back and in tears. Not so much for the pain, but for the fear that the old enemy had returned, as I had long feared it would.

Steve grabbed an icepack and a blanket and helped me get comfortable on the floor, and tried to encourage Ian to let me rest. Poor Ian! He was very concerned at seeing Mommy in tears. He patted my chest as if to say, "there, there". "I help", he said, and he grabbed a damp washcloth off our crafting table and wiped my face. Then he grabbed his sippy cup with orange kool-aid in it and tried to give me a drink!! :) Too bad he has a cold, and he was jamming it between my lips, pursed in defense of the cold germs!

But it's the thought that counts, and his thoughts were all very kind. Unfortunately, the irony of the situation, and the weirdness of it (to be on the receiving end of a toddler's attempts at compassion) made me giggle a bit, which made my back hurt and made me cry in pain. It was a vicious circle. The more Ian tried to help, the more tickled I became, and the more pain I was ultimately in. But I will always treasure his care and concern, and thank God for his tender heart.

Winnie the Pooh and Jesus

Recently, Ian began attending a "real" sunday school class--one that is not only dedicated to playing for the full hour he is there. He actually makes things and colors pictures about some Bible passage that (I assume) has been read to the class.

It's interesting to me that the coloring sheets they give him also come with stickers or some other "crafty" thing for him to add. When he gets home and we put up the picture, inevitably he tries to remove the stickers, because he likes repositioning stickers all around the house and his body until they are no longer sticky. Post-it note makers take note: Repositionable stickers would be a toddler goldmine!



Well, the last few weeks Ian has also gotten the idea that he can add his own stickers to his Sunday school papers. Why not? One day as a reward he got a couple of Elmo stickers. I put them on his shirt and he removed them and added them to the picture of Jesus healing the lady with an issue of blood!! I gotta say that freaked me out for just a second.

After Easter, he got a couple of Pooh stickers and added them to his picture about Jesus' resurrection! So here's Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore, floating in the air, next to Jesus... It's just wrong!! But I have to admit that it makes me smile...

Where Ya Been?

Well, no quote today, just a little post. The whole family has been under the weather for over a week. Lots of fun!! The previous quote about my being a walking napkin turns out to have been prophetic! :0 I'll need to be more careful about my quotes in the future!! :P

In spite of this, life goes on. A close friend of mine from college and I have been discussing the concept of an online "small group". I haven't found much out there in cyberspace that claims to be a small group, except for those run by churches for their congregants, which I kind of find surprising, actually.

Well, dear friend lives about 13 hours away, so we thought this blog might be the perfect place for the occasional biblical discussion. We're looking into some topics and books now. Don't really know how it's going to work, but we're going to give it a shot. If you happen upon one of these discussions, you are free to join in with questions or comments. :)

A Walking Napkin

When I was in my 30's, I called it the wiping decade, becase I was always wiping something: tears, bottoms, runny noses, countertops. I felt like a walking napkin. - Stasi Eldredge

I can relate to this right now. Last week my two year old came down with a stomach virus. You don't want to know the details, trust me, but there was a lot of wiping going on. Poor thing.

That storm is quickly behind us, but he has discovered a new phrase, "I cyin", which translated means, "I'm crying." At some point last week, Ian became frustrated when he did not get his own way. And so he was crying... or fussing, as I call it at those times. I didn't know exactly what the problem was so I kept saying, "what's wrong?" and he responded with this brand new phrase... "I cyin". "Your car?" "Your crayon?" It took a few minutes for me to figure out that the poor sad boy was saying "I'm crying". And he was saying it in such a way that I could tell he thought I should do something to make it stop. So there were tissues and hugs and kisses and all was right with the world. The magic of a walking napkin! :)

The ideal mother

I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids.
-Unknown

I just read this quote today and it made me laugh...and heave a sigh of relief!! I feel like this most days. I'm sure that I'm not the ideal mother. If I was would I be blogging instead of doing laundry, cleaning up extraneous toys and planning a scrumptious 5 course meal? But I'm happy and content and so is my son, so why worry? :)

The first post!! Ta-Da!