Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year

I have been trying to explain to Grace what the New Year is, but she has no clue. I guess I haven't done a very good job with her in Kindergarten. I need to work on the calendar more. Hee hee. How do you moms do it? When you have two different grades to teach...something has to give.

I am still in my pj's and it is after 5:00 pm. Can you believe that? I was up a lot last night with Grace. She kept waking up crying. I finally figured out what it was. Her shirt that she was wearing was making her uncomfortable. Once I changed her clothes, she slept the rest of the night. She cannot get over heated at night either or she will wake up crying. She wears shorts and t-shirts year round to bed. (So do I.)

Just think...in 4 more months I will have another baby boy in the house. How fun! Happy New Year everyone.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Spiritual Stuff

If you really don't care about my spiritual journey, you can stop here and not read any further...I promise not to be offended:0)

I alluded in a previous post that God has me on a spiritual journey that is huge. I mean, it's huge for me. So huge in fact that as I emerge from a thought process that I was certain was "truth" I can only imagine that this is what it must feel like to come out of a cult. As much as I do not want to promote discord among anyone who professes to be a Christian, there are some things that must be mentioned. If you have time (these are lengthy articles and should not be skimmed) please read the following articles about Doug Phillips(founder of Vision Forum Ministries), his brother Brad, and the family that was torn apart because of Doug Phillips' church. You can read her very own story here.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

My poor sick house

The children are all going downhill. What used to be a cold two weeks ago has turned into a sore throat, goopy eyes, and low grade fevers. I am thinking it may be sinus infections, but I cannot take all four children to the doctor at the same time. So, I am waiting it out. I am starting antibiotic eye drops on Josiah (he is the one with the goopy eyes) and praying this goes away. Olaf has it too. I still have a cold and am coughing some now. I sound like I have smoked my entire life when I talk. (Essentially I have. My parents each smoked 2 packs a day.) I went to Walmart tonight to stock up on cold medicine and children's motrin. I bought Dayquil, Nightquil, Alka Seltzer Cold Medicine, cold medicine for the children, and children's Motrin.

Our health insurance is changing January 1st and do you think they have sent new insurance cards? Why, no they haven't. We are switching from an HMO to United Healthcare which is an 80/20 plan. Not by choice either. Delta is no longer carrying the HMO because it is too expensive. Anyway, now I have to pay to deliver this baby instead of it being free. I also have to pay for any labs or ultrasounds that may be required. Stinketh. My max out of pocket will be $3,000 which I will certainly meet with the birth of the baby. Still...$3,000 or free....$3,000 or free...I choose free thankyouverymuch.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Happy 4th Birthday Josiah!


Mama loves you more than you'll ever know.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Eve

Tonight is our "Chirstmas" to most Americans. It's the night our family opens our presents (yes, ALL of them) and we read the Christmas Story from the Bible. We eat crusty rolls and cold cuts. The children are WILD with anticipation as you can imagine. We won't open presents until 6:00 pm so they have a long time to wait. They are going crazy behind me trying desperately to pass the time until night falls and they can open their presents.

I am sick with a nasty cold. It has really slowed me down. My head feels like it is going to explode with all the sinus pressure. I hope I get better soon. My nose looks like Rudolph from blowing it so much. That will make for lovely pictures tonight.

Olaf is dusting right now...getting ready for Christmas. How nice of him. He has to have everything "perfect" for Christmas Eve. It never lives up to his expectations, but he tries every year. When the Christmas Story is read he wants the children to sit and listen attentively at his feet. However, in our home, Caleb will be rolling on the floor licking something, and Grace and Josiah will be bickering and Camille will be doing her best to stop everyone from disobeying...then Olaf gets frustrated because noone is listening to him. It happens year after year. So, this year I suggested that Camille read the Chirstmas Story. I think it will be better. I'll let you know.

From our chaotic home to yours, Merry Christmas!

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Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Getting used to the idea

that I am having another son. This little wiggle worm inside of me is a BOY! That is just fabulous. On Tuesday I took the children Christmas shopping for Olaf. Camille wanted to buy a specific present and we couldn't find it anywhere. Finally we went to Kohl's and found it. While we were there I looked in the layette section and bought some BLUE stuff 40% off. It was fun. I also bought this for $23.00. You'd think after five children I would have everything I need, but either I gave it away, or it is worn out. My bouncy seat broke with number three. My layette I gave away to a friend who really needed it. (About a month before I found out I was pregnant...) Chances are her baby will be done with the layette before my little guy comes along. She'll probably give it back.

Trying to think of names. I'm sure it will change a lot before he gets here. His middle name will most likely be Perry. That was my Grandfather's name and all of our children have family middle names. Camille Rose is named after our grandmothers, Caleb Scott is after Olaf's brother, Grace Ingrid is after Olaf's mother, Josiah Olaf is obvious, and this one will be something Perry. I like the name Otto (which is also a family name on my side-my great grandfather) but I haven't convinced Olaf. We'll see...

Thanks for checking in on me...

Monday, December 18, 2006

Well.....

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Who doesn't like his picture taken! Everything was measuring true to my due date, all his organs looked normal, everything looks perfect. Praise the Lord!

Friday, December 15, 2006

Sugar Cookies


Yesterday the children and I made and decorated sugar cookies. They had a blast. I was neurotic. I think this was the first time in my life (don't laugh) that I have actually made sugar cookies and frosting from scratch. The children had fun "painting" the cookies with frosting and pouring Christmas sprinkles all over them. I really admire those of you who make batches and batches of these things to give away to friends and neighbors. It's a lot of hard work.

My husband is home with pizza, so I need to get going. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

To my German visitor

Someone from Germany is visiting my blog a lot. He (or she) is doing searches on Google with my name, my husband's name, my mother in law's name, my sister in law's name, etc. Please e-mail me (the link is in the sidebar) or leave a comment below. I would like to know if you are family in Germany that is looking for your realtives in the United States. Thank you.

Tetanus Shot

I had to get one this morning. It's a long story, but I sliced my finger open with a nail that was buried in the backyard. It has been about seven years since my last tetanus shot so I called the OB to see what I should do. They called back at 4:50 pm and said to definitely get the tetanus shot. So, I went in to my PCP this morning and got the shot. I have a local friend(Hi Patty)who got tetanus. She got poked while gardening and didn't think too much about it. Then the area became swollen and before you know it she has lockjaw and is on deaths door. Praise God they were able to treat her, but she was in the hospital for days and then on IV antibiotics for weeks after.

Olaf was able to feel the baby move last night. The baby either had hiccups or was doing something spastic and kept kicking me in the same spot over and over. Olaf came over and put his hand on my belly and was able to feel the baby. That was fun for us.

I am ready for the weekend. How about you?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Spiritual Journey

You know, I have purposely NOT written here about this new journey the Lord has me on. Mostly because I cannot communicate effectively through the written word (or even face to face!) and I know that a lot of my friends would be "worried" about me or my faith if I were to discuss these issues. However, as the Lord prods me, I may have to come clean and just let y'all know what I'm thinking now and again. For now I just want everyone to know that I am A LOT less judgmental now than I have EVER been since becoming a Christian. There is no more "us" versus "them" anymore in my mind. My view of God is enlarging and I have to say, it is making me a nicer person. I don't consider myself any particular "type" of Christian anymore either. I wouldn't classify myself even as "evangelical" or "fundemental" for that matter. Am I saved by grace? You betcha! And for now, that's all I know.

Monday, December 11, 2006

This and That...

Grace lost her second bottom tooth last night. She looks adorable. You can already see the permanent teeth coming in. She went to the dentist today for a cleaning and they said everything looks fabulous.

I washed my chinese prefolds again today. I think that will be the last time before the baby comes. They are nice and soft now. Not to mention shrunk down to size. Those suckers shrink like crazy. I also bought four used FuzziBunz from my friend, Nancy. They are in terrific shape. No stains at all. I also started a Baby Jorek Blog. I'm not sure why exactly, but I started it anyway. I guess to journal just pregnancy stuff, then maybe the birth story, and a few pregnant photos here and there.

My friend came over this evening to drop something off. She came in with her almost one year old who would have NOTHING to do with me. However, he loved Olaf. Went right to him and snuggled down into his chest. This is the first time this child has ever met Olaf!! When his Mama tried to take him back so they could leave, he cried and reached out to Olaf. It was so cute.

I think I am going to wrap a present now. Maybe.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Have I wrapped presents?

NO! Not yet.

Today we went to a pizza buffet for lunch and then I took the Josiah and Grace to the Dollar Tree to buy gifts for their siblings and Papa. It's hard to take a three and five year old shopping because they are still in that "I want this" stage instead of thinking of the person we are supposed to be buying for. But with a little reminder here and there they picked out some nice presents.

Then we all went to Linens and Things where Olaf bought me this and this for Christmas. I cannot wait to open them! Being fat and pregnant means I will NEED both of those things in my third trimester. I am also going to buy a Bellybra in my third trimester. I heard they were fabulous for back support.

Have a fabulous Sunday everyone!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Traffic

Olaf left the neurologist appointment with Caleb at 4:15 pm. It is now 6:04 and he is still about 45 minutes away from home. He spent OVER an hour and a half on I-285 to travel about 30 miles total. He is not a happy camper and neither is Caleb. He drives a stick shift and he says his leg and foot are killing him from the constant shifting and clutching. He never went above 15 miles per hour the entire time and most of the time it was stop and go. How frustrating! Caleb does not do well in traffic either. He gets very agitated and I am so happy it wasn't me in that vehicle with Caleb.

Tonight is The Office and Survivor. My pick for elimination is Parvati. (What where her parents thinking with that name?) Looks like she'll also win reward, send Jonathan to exile island, slice her finger open hacking a coconut, and get booted anyway. We tape The Office and watch it after Survivor. I am looking forward to Lost coming back in February. I heard that it's time slot is changing to 10:00 pm though which doesn't please me. It doesn't want to compete with American Idol I hear.

We are having a neighbor boy over tomorrow morning while his mama goes to the doctor in Atlanta. I hope the traffic is better for her or else he may have to spend the night! The children are excited about playing with him. He is cute as can be and has a really BAD southern accent. It cracks me up. I love listening to him talk but I always ending up smiling and wanting to repeat something he said. He will be five in May so he is right between my Grace and Josiah.

Still procrastinating about wrapping those presents. I know it won't happen this evening. We don't have a spare room to go into so I cannot do it while the children are up. I use the dining room table to wrap presents.

Thanks to Sandra on wah I have figured out where I want to spend my 25th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary is in the winter (January 23rd) and I would love to go here! What do you think? Look at this photo of it. GORGEOUS!

If I don't post before the weekend, have a great one. Oh, and one more thing. Congratulations to my friends Jeff and Eileen on the birth of their new baby boy, Thor. He weighed 9 pounds at birth. Ouch!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Christmas is coming...fast

We have appointments galore the next two weeks on top of all the other Christmas excitement. Olaf has three dental appointments, the children have dental appointments, I have an ultrasound, Caleb has a neurologist appointment this Thursday.... We are going to be running. We need to wrap presents too. I really dislike that part. I think the children have seven presents this year. But 7X4=28 presents to wrap not including Josiah's birthday presents and any little thing that we may buy for their stockings. I wish I enjoyed it more so I could make the package look pretty. We also need to ship Olaf's brother's package, and a package to a friend. I want to make sugar cookies this year with the children too. We have never done that before and I know they would love it. I did order a friend and our next door neighbor Harry and David Gifts last night though. Those I won't have to wrap or ship. Their pears are the best. Olaf's brother and his wife (Scott and Frances for future reference) got us a basket last year from Harry and David, and the pears were huge and firm and yummy. This coming from a woman who normally doesn't eat pears. So I ordered this for our friends, The Pitts', and this for our next door neighbor.

Gotta run. Children need me.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Christmas Tree Farm


We got our Christmas tree at the same place we have gotten it for the past four years. It is a lot of fun for the children. They always have baby bunnies to hold, a firepit to roast marshmellows, homemade cookies and hot chocolate, a walk around the lake where you can feed ducks...all for free. You can cut down your own tree there, but we always buy a Frasier Fir that is precut. It is private property and the house and land are absolutely gorgeous. The man who owns it is very nice and hires several young men to load and tie down the tree on your vehicle. My children really don't care so much about the tree as they do holding the bunnies.

So today the children have decorated the tree.


And in a an hour or so we are off to watch our local Christmas Parade in downtown Newnan. It's been a fun weekend!

Friday, December 01, 2006

I am so boring

I haven't written anything because...nothing exciting is happening. Life is marching on like it usually does. I am having trouble with Camille again. Several issues are creeping up that I have no idea how to handle. Public school is looking mighty fine right now. My husband will never go for that, yet he won't do anything to help me either. I am stuck between a rock and a hard spot. She is going to be the child who graduates from homeschool and says "I HATED homeschooling. My mom drove me nuts, was mean to me, and I didn't have any friends!" You'll see her on Dr. Phil in 8 more years.

Grace had a well visit yesterday. It was her first one in 5 years. LOL! They pricked her finger and she cried, but she did fabulous at everything else. She was in the 90th percentile for weight (51 pounds) and 75th percentile for height (46 inches). She got her first ever shot. A tetanus shot. The doctor didn't even give me a hard time about not vaccinating her with the other bazillion shots she is supposed to have. That was refreshing.

Josiah has watched a Charlie Brown DVD about 100 times in the last week. Good grief.

I watched The Office last night. It always makes me laugh. I also watched Survivor and am so glad Candice is gone. She was just....gross. I am totally rocking on Fantasy Survivor. I am ranked 11th out of thousands of players.

Have a great weekend! We are getting our Christmas tree tomorrow. It's supposed to be cold. Perfect tree-getting weather.