Baby Fever

My baby is almost 8 months old. That means my baby fever is kicking into high gear. It doesn't help any that on one of my boards we're having a ton of new preggies and new babies. Based on history, I have about 7 months until I get pg, 8 months til get my positive hpt. THat seems so far away but I know it will be here before I know it. Although it would probably be helpful to be at least living in the same state as DH, lol. And you never know, God might surprise us with a closer spacing this time.

Speaking of God and more babies. We were visiting an older relative today who claims to be Christian, but this will give you a good idea of her actual thoughts. My 4yo was talking about how he wants 4 more brothers and 4 more sisters so we'll have 11 kids. The relative knows we want a large family and I certainly didn't discourage DS from talking about our hopeful future big bunch (though I do usually say something about we'll take whatever size family God gives us). The relative said somethign along the lines of "I know you want a large family, but I just don't think you can afford them!" To which I responded "God will provide." She looked right at my 4yo and said "That's a myth. God doesn't provide anything." I was so shocked that someone would say that to my 4yo! I managed to just smile and say "that depends on your idea of providing." She is one of those ladies who has to have the best of the everything. With her big expensive car and country club membership. She can't possibly understand why I would stay home when I could be out earning money and thereby have a bigger house and nicer things. She actually told my DH not to move us to live with him unless I was "goign to get a job and help out!" Yes, b/c me not having a job is the source of all our problems (insert eye roll here).

But anyways, I got off on a tangent there. I am really starting ot crave having a baby in my belly again. I just love being pg so very much and all the excitment that goes with it. Don't get me wrong, I love my baby girl and am enjoying her to the fullest (well, as full as you can with a toddler and preschooler to chase around), but I'm ready to begin another new little life again.

So, who's calling the psych ward so they can come pick me up?

Packing

So for some reason I finally start feeling the need to really pack. There's really no reason to think we would move anytime soon, since we've been looking to move for months, but I still feel this need to start packing. Maybe it's God speaking to me. I'll probably only do a box or two a day, and of course not do the essentials. But the kids can live with only a small box of toys and a couple of books. I certainly don't need all the mess in my room. I just did a good two week grocery shopping, but I think for hte next menu I'll make sure to use what's in my freezer and cabinets. I need to go through the closets again too. And somehow, my sewing desk drawers are full again, even though I completely emptied them about 9 months ago. What gives? All else fails, it'll be nice to have less to clean, though it will look pretty bare around here with the book shelves and drawers all half empty!

The Weirdest Thing

I saw a freaky looking cat yesterday. One eye was a perfectly normal cat eye, but the other one was just freaky. It was bright blue, a lot like my oldest's eyes, and it's pupil was round, like a human eye. Everything else about the eye seemed alright, it was focusing fine, wasn't hazy or anything, just looked like a bright blue human eye. It was freaky.

Summer colds

I hate summer colds. We have our second in 3 weeks. Sick kids plus sick mommy is not a nice picture. I just want to go bed and stay there, the kids want somebody to love on them and make them feel better, plus they need to eat, the house needs tending to, laundry needs doing the baby needs holding and rocking and nursing. And I just want to go to bed.

I've been tagged

I was tagged by Lily, so here I go:

4 jobs I've had: seriously? I've only worked at 3 places outside of the home, so...

1. Waitressing at Country Kitchen
2. Waitressing at a local steakhouse
3. a "stuffer" for a newspaper, I helped put all those flyers in the paper
4. SAHM

4 movies I could watch over and over

1. A Knight's Tale
2. Moulin Rouge
3. What a Girl Wants
4. The 5th Element

4 places I've lived: Another toughy, I've lived in many different houses the last 7 years, but only a few different towns

1.Lansing, MI
2. Springfield, MO
3. Republic, MO
4. my current residence ;)

4 TV shows I watch: uuhh....I only have two. I don't watch much tv

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Men in Trees, b/c it's been coming on right after GA and I got sucked in somehow
3.
4.

4 places I've been on vacation We've never taken a vacation, except before we were married we spent a week with DH's family then a week with mine, but that's about it. A camping trip once or twice. Mainly just visit family and friends.

1. Michigan
2. Kentucky
3. Went to Colorado once, but it was hardly a vacation
4. We used to have what I affectionaly call "a vacation trailer park" where we used to go all the time in the summer when I was little. I miss it there.

4 of my favorite foods

1. Ice cream
2. Jello No-bake cheesecake with cherry topping
3. Filet Mignon
4. Cherry pie

4 websites I visit

1. MOMYS.com
2. MySpace.com
3. Facebook.com
4. mfwbooks.com (well, their forums anyways)

I would tag some people, except I don't have 4 people to tag, lol. I think Lily and Natural Mama are the only people who even read this, lol.

DH is going to live with us!!

The plan since March has been that the kids and I would move to be near DH, but NOT live with him. After a while he was talking about us living together in the future. On our anniversary he said "WHEN we live together, not if, WHEN." Then tonight he told me he's going to live with us as soon as we move there. He said "it would be stupid not to." He misses us, he misses sleeping next to me, he misses me taking care of him, he misses waking up to me, he misses waking up to our kids and being there for every part of their lives. So he's going to live with us. No promises yet, but this is still a HUGE step for him.

I'm so excited. And nervous. Now I don't have any time to get used to him, I'm going to have to be on full submissive wife duty 24/7 right from the start. That's a tall order. But it will be soooo worth it.

Keep praying for a house for us to rent. Oh, and I asked my mom tonight if we could "lease" her car when I move. I've been driving her car since DH left, and DH doesn't even have a license, so we'll be in a bit of a pickle if we don't have a vehicle. She said she would have to think about it. We're willing to pay for her insurance and a little bit extra, which is more than I'm paying now for full use. So, please pray for that or other transportation accommodations.

My Husband and His Pack-rat Tendencies

I was recently given an almost brand new, nice set of kitchen knives. It includes 6 steak knives, a parer, Utility, slicer, break, butcher and some name I can't remember and am too lazy to go look up. Anyways, these are nice knives, all in a pretty block and everything. I previously owned *2* incomplete knife sets, that were really a miss match of ones lost and replaced over the years. I was about to just toss the other 2 sets, but vaguely recalled there was a reason we kept one set around, even though I hated them, but thought maybe it was just b/c DH hated the other set. So I mentioned it to DH and he informed me that the one set I hate used to be his dad's (though I think there's probably only one or two left that actually belonged to his dad) so I had to keep those. So I asked if I could get rid of the other set, to which he replied "no, keep them too. You can get rid of them here." Um...so I have to move them just so we can get rid of them there? I dont' think so. This is not the first time we've had this conversation. Whenever he hears I'm donating things just to get them out of the house he tells me to keep them and then we can have a garage sale when I get there. I am NOT moving boxes upon boxes 500 miles just to sell them in a garage sale!

Then last night we were talking about all the outside toys we have and I mentioned that I'm getting rid of a lot of them. They're not taken care of, the kids don't play with them and they make the outside look trashy since I don't have any place to properly store them. Included in my list was the tool bench, which is broken and my 4yo calls it his "other kitchen" b/c it has a sink (where are the roll eyes emots when you need them?), a couple of the trucks that are out there, DH's favorite big chair that is literally falling apart (which he finally said I could get rid of it), and one of the sandboxes. Yes, I said one of the sand boxes, we own two, a turtle one and a ladybug. I was debating on which one to keep, the bigger one or the one in better condition. So DH insisted I keep both. Sigh. He then informed me that I'm lucky he's not here b/c there is no way he'd let me get rid of so much stuff. He probably won't even notice everything I've gotten rid of when we move. Afterall, he never noticed when I went through and put junk in boxes, never to be seen again. (disclaimer: I always ask DH if I think he'll have a real objection to me getting rid of something, which is why I even brought that I was getting rid of outside toys)

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Today is DH's and mine 7th wedding anniversary. I would much rather celebrate it together, but at least we're celebrating it as a still married couple. Lucky #7. I'm hoping this will be the year to turn things around.

The Lake

The kids and I had a really great, relaxing morning. We have access to a private "beach" at a nearby lake. It's actually my sister's in-law's place, they don't live there, but have a trailer (which I do not have a key to), a nice big pavalion with a kitchen attached (which I do have access to) and most importantly, it's lake front, with a nice 20 foot wide sandy beach. On either side of the beach are lots of trees and bushes that go into the water, but that's fine, b/c it limits the area the kids can go and I can more easily watch them by myself. My 4yo has been begging to go since like March or April but it's a little bit of a drive and I haven't had the gas money to feel comfortable going. THen DH also requested that I have at least one other adult with me "just in case." So my brother and SIL were goign to go with us, but they had a change of plans earlier this week, so DH gave his blessing for me to take the kids by myself. I just love it up there. The trailer/pavalion/beach are set in a large clearing in what feels like the middle a huge forest. Really I think there's lots of other clearings around, but they're all separeted by enough woods that you can't really see the next clearing over. It's just so peaceful there. The only sounds were the birds chirping and hte kids playing. The boys actually only spent about half an hour in the water, then they played in the sand for the next hour and a half, we had lunch, they ran around for another hour and then we headed home. I'm thinking next time I'll plan to be there longer, and pack accordingly. I only planned on being htere for a few hours, so I only had snacks and diapers for that long. What I would really like to do is get a tent and stay there for night or two, but I think with just me it would actually be a little exhausting. The trailer and pavalion are quite a ways away from the water, but I would still have to be on watch ALL THE TIME, while there, yk? I hope someday we can have a place like that all our own.

Tattoos

So, continueing on with last night's theme, today I will be discussing tattoos. Right now, I don't have any. Not b/c I think there's anything wrong them perse, more of b/c I'm a big wuss, I hate needles and I was always afraid anythign I picked I would regret later. DH has several tattoos (including I new one I have yet to see that covers a large portion of his upper back). I think most tattoos can easily look trashy though, so whenever DH told me about other tats he wanted I would always say no way. Now I realize how sinful that was, and even how it was just wrong to try and change who he was. He does value my opinion though and when I told him think tats on the neck are really not at all attractive he said he definatly wouldn't get one there then. Several months ago he mentioned wanting us to get matching tattoos. Now first, I had to celebrate b/c you don't get a matching tattoo with somebody you don't want to be with, yk? Then he said he wanted it to be two scorpions, since we're both Scorpios. He had seen one in a movie that he liked, but then I found one that he liked even better. It's two scorpions, side by side, their tales make the top of a heart, with their claws making the bottom of the heart. He really likes that one, so maybe someday we'll get matching tattoos. I told him I defiantly a commitment from him BEFORE I get a tattoo for him. We'll both be getting them on our backs, though his will be larger than mine. I'm thinking, at most, the size of 2 playing cards, but even that's a bit big for my tastes. I haven't decided where on my back I would get it. At first I was thinking the small of my back, but now I think a little higher might be nice, like a few inches below my shoulder blades (and I think that might be where DH was wanting his). He also wants me to get a cross on the top of my thigh and a couple others, though he hasn't decided where or what yet.

I figure it like this, I have no moral objection to tattoos. So it's like any other adornment that doesn't violate my morals, I should try and please him. If he likes a certain style shirt on me (that's not immodest), I should try and make him happy and wear that style. If he likes it when I wear earrings, then I should wear earrings. If he wants me to have a few tats, then I should get a few tats. Now of course, I'm not going to go out and get some tattoo that I hate just to please him, I'm not stupid. But if we can agree on style and placement (which I'm very picky about) then I don't see anything wrong with it. I've actually always kinda wanted a tat but have always been too much of a chicken, so maybe this is just the push I need to actually be more of myself.

Body Piercings

At this time, I only my ears are pierced, although one ear has a second hole. I used to have my eyebrow pierced but took my ring out when my oldest was born by c-section, it got lost while changing rooms and I just never replaced it. Many times over the years I have considered replacing it, but always decided not to b/c "responsible Christian mothers don't have their eyebrows pierced." Through this whole mess with DH I've thought a lot about how I tried to make him fit into the "responsible Christian father" mold I had in my head which lead me to thinking about how I've fitted myself into a similiar mold. I've always been a bit of a rebel, so I sometimes feel like I'm not being myself when I so easily fit into the mold in my head. I WANT my eyebrow pierced again. And I know DH would love it, too. So what's stopping me you ask? Even though I no longer feel like I need to fit the mold in order to be a responsible Christian mother, I still feel like I should conform, for others' sakes. The Bible talks about not being a stumbling block to others and their faith, and I know if I have a mold in my head then so do other people. Sure my eyebrow ring could be used as a witnessing tool, but wouldn't it turn some people away? Are the ones I'd help worth the ones I'd hurt? Me, as myself, doesn't really care what other people think, but me as a Christian knows that what other's think is really a very important thing to think about, as long as it's not in a vain way. I also worry that people will think I"m a hippy. Cloth diapering, baby-wearing, skirt wearing, long-haired Momma could be a conservative Christian or hippy, add an eyebrow ring and I'll probably be thrown into the hippy pile. Can I really be an effective witness to Christ that way? I don't know, I"m still waiting for an answer on this one.

To be continued with thoughts about tattoos, probably sometime tomorrow as Grey's Anatomy is getting ready to start :)

9 things

9 Random Things Going on in My House

1. My 4yo spelled his first word today. He drew a picture of a house and wrote "Hos" on it. Then he wrote "rvof" on the roof. When I seemed confused about the r and v he erased the r and decided it was in fact pronounced "voof"

2. I spent almost 2 hours tonight looking at sites trying to figure out how I'm goign to teach said 4yo how to read. He knows all his letter sounds (consanants and short vowels) but can't figure out how to blend them together. While I'm finding lots of usefull phonics things, HOW to actually teach blending is not so obvious. I think I mainly have to wait for it to click, but will find fun ways to practice in the meantime

3. School supplies are on sale!! I was surprised to see them on sale already, it's only July after all, but still excited. I love this time of year. I need to stock up on notebooks, crayons, glue, markers, pencils, etc., etc., etc.

4. My pumpkin plants are flowering. We'll have actual pumpkins growing soon!! Unfortunatly when I tried to move them outside they wilted in the heat, so I guess I'll be growing pumpkins inside?

5. I've been up since 5am, it's now past 9pm (my normal bedtime) and I'm not really all that tired. Amazing.

6. I only have to come up with 3 more random things, this should be easy, right?

7. Perhaps I should give up and just stop at 7? Nah. I'm not a quitter!

8. Maybe I am getting tired after all. I'll probably head to bed shortly after posting this.

9. I made it to 9 random things. That wasn't so hard ;)

All right kids...

I made a new schedule a few weeks ago based on the kids waking time of 6am. At the time, I was lucky if they slept until 6, many times I made them either go back to bed or sit quietly on the couch until I finished "my time." So here it is, 7am, and for the manyith day in a row, the kids are still sleeping. Not the baby, but she doesn't really count :) I can only go so far in my day while they're sleeping, so I'm kinda stuck. I've got all my chores for the day done, it's a light day b/c we go to story time on Wed, and story time is the same time as my chore time. I would like to take a shower, but I can't until my 4yo wakes up b/c he "watches" the baby (I put her in the crib with some toys, if she starts fussing it's his job to make her happy and if he can't, he's supposed to come tell me so I don't dawdle in the shower. If I just leave her in the crib alone then she's likely to scream the whole time). So, can't shower and get dressed, can't get the kids dressed :) Can't do the kids' chores, can't do ds's school and I've already done my chores for the day. I suppose I could use this time wisely and do something extra but come on, I'm not THAT motivated. So I'm wasting away time on the comp, wondering if I need to change my schedule my around to accommodate a later kid sleeping time, but we all know as soon as I do that they'll start getting up early again :)

My Baby is Growing Up!!

She can get to sitting all on her own, and then continue to sit up unsupported.
She can do a real crawl (at least until she gets caught on her dress or wants to go faster, then she goes down to an army crawl, sigh).
She's starting to pull up, or at least try. On shorter things she can get to her feet. On taller things, like the couch, she can get to her knees, then smashes her nose when she tries to get to her feet, lol.
She has bumps on/under her gums where her teeth are starting to come in.
She can throw a temper tantrum as good as any two year old! (Usually directed towards her brothers who took a toy from her)
She's getting seperation anxiety and will cry if she sees me leave the room.
She gets excited about mealtime, though she usually only gets Cheerios.

Free Return Address Labels

Why do I always seem to get free return address right before a planned move? I spend months and months writing out my address by hand (b/c I'm too cheap to buy labels and too lazy to make my own, though I have the sticky paper to do it), and then right before we plan on moving I start getting free labels in the mail. What is the deal? Maybe it would help though if we actually lived at a place for a decent amount of time? With a max of about 1.5yrs at the same address I suppose it takes that long just to get our new address on all the lists, lol. I got some really cute labels from St. Jude's Children's Hospital last week. I'm thinking I"ll send them a few bucks just to say thanks :)

Messing with the layout

Don't mind me, just messing around with the layout. I kind of like how it is now, but wish the top pic were a bit smaller. Don't feel like taking the time to save it, change it, save it, upload it somewhere, etc etc though, so it'll probably stay the way it is. I actually did a search for free layouts, and found some other good ones, but for some reason when I copy and paste the code it doesn't want to work. With any of hte layouts, from any site. So I had to improvise by taking a header pic from a layout I liked and then just added it to basic blogger template that matched. It works for now until I feel up to messing around with it again.