The girls are doing great.  I am trying to remember to be kinder and gentler.  It is hard when I am so tired and have no patience.  O has really started acting out and I have tried to give her some extra attention lately and love and that seems to be working.  I wonder when I should start thinking about a birth kit? 

So, I am 16 weeks along and measuring wayyyy  big as usual.  The first visit, the midwife was wondering if I might be having twins (as usual, Norla did the same)  she couldn’t find another heartbeat or feel another baby so she ruled it out.  Plus, I had already had a sono at about 6 weeks…But, this was what happened with the girls also.  I am short, and have no torso, there really is no where for the baby to go but out and up.  She suggested my due date is wrong by a couple of weeks but we thought that with Olivia too and I ended up being 15 days late!  Not getting trapped into that thinking again!  I bet this baby will come in September, due date is August 29th according to the ultrasound.

This time, we are actually going to find out.  We didn’t with the other two but this is the last baby so it would be nice to know if we can get rid of the girl stuff or not.  Of course, I have already given it all away because I refuse to have another girl.  I guess if we do have another one, we will just get some new stuff:)

I found this beautiful blue/gray yarn at Hobby Lobby half price and I am going to try to make a soaker out of it.  Making baby soakers has really started to get me excited about this baby…Soon, my mom and I will have to finish the Cuddlebun diapers for the new baby too!

However, 2 friends, my cousin, and my sister-in-law are all pregnant and due between may and august so I am busy trying to make afghans for everyone. My mom has an insane craft closet full of skeins of yarn. I mean, she has so many that they are sorted into BINS by COLOR! It makes me smile. I am always thinking of all the fun projects to use the yarn on. So, that is why I am making baby afghans. This first one is a monster. I chose a stitch that is small (I think the babies get irritated with holy blankets that their toes stick through….or maybe I do and I am projecting…)anyway, so I am doing a small stitch with a small hook and it is taking FOREVER! It is also taking a ton of yarn. It is fun though. I am doing a simple pattern and making stripes however and whenever I like so there is no rhyme or reason to it. I hope it doesn’t drive the mama crazy since it won’t be “ordered”:)

Anyway, I am also throwing 3 diaper showers and I want to make capes for 3 girls and 1 boy(I loved the sibling presents I got at my shower so I want to make some for them). I have this idea of making “Narnia” capes with hoods and my mom has some faux fur in her awesome craft closet I could put around the collars…..It will definitely be fun!

Oh, and I would like to cut down my shelf so it fits over my bed, add rope lighting, build 2 side tables out the the old drawers from my kitchen and paint the doors to finally finish my bedroom….So, what is likely to actually get done?

Anyway, this whole sickness thing is such a shock to me. O has never had so much as an ear infection or antibiotics and poor Eve!@ Luckily, it is over and I am really praying for healthiness the rest of the winter! We have an appt. on the 19th to get her first vacc.’s. We got that book “Vaccinations” by Dr. Sears and we are going to limit the amount of aluminum containing vacc.’s to 1 per visit and spread them out. Luckily, since she is so old, she won’t need some of them like the rotavirus……..

Nothing new to report. I am thinking on cutting up some of the girls’ old clothes that I have been saving. (The ones that have irreparable stains) I have some too. I have several shirts with gooey handprints and stuff all over the fronts…. I think I am going to quilt it together and make a hole in the middle so the girls could use it for puppetteering. I can’t decide if I am going to make it like 8 feet long so it could also double as a stage for the girls or just make it smaller and hang it with a tension rod in a doorway. Well, I am sure that by the time I get to that fun project, I will have had lots of time to think about it!! I do, however, think that if I made a stage, that would be really cool! We could tie back the quilted panels when they aren’t using them. Of course, leaving them closed could lead to all kinds of fun games too…..I am not sure where I would get a rod to hang it quite that long though…Maybe pvc pipe? Would it support the weight? Any suggestions?

I am starting to try to build up my circle of friends here.  I have had a lot of time to reflect on life lately and I have decided that I need to get a "circle" here too.  It makes life so much easier when you aren’t home by yourself with your children for 10 hours a day.  I have started a regular playdate with one friend, Montana.  She has a little girl who is 5 and plays pretty well with O and a little boy who is 1 month younger than Eve.  I am going to start a playgroup on Wed.’s at our church’s activity center I think.  It is a big open space so the kids could run and play in the winter and they could just go over to the playground in the summer.  I think that will be fun too…..

We have also started hanging out more with Danielle.  She does daycare though but I think once a week or so we will go over there and play.  Our kids play well together and we have a lot of the same philosophies on child-rearing.  She is fun.

Of course, it takes time to build friendships but I feel like I am meeting a lot of great women and the days are definitely brightening up!  It is amazing how much better I feel about life when I have a couple of mamas to hang out with during the week!!!

On a side note, some teachers and aides at my moms school would like to have an exercise class in the school gym after school.  My mom asked me if I would lead it.  Of course, I got really excited.  Before kids, I was trying to get certified to teach aerobics.  I never did because the certification workshops were always too far away…..Anyway, it would be an awesome thing to do because, A…I would get to workout uninterrupted, and B….I might make some money.  Then, reality set in.  After paying childcare and gas, for what I would ask the moms to pay($1 a class, I want it to be affordable and I am not certified), I would be in the hole.  That is depressing.  It always is when you want to do something for yourself and realize it may not be feasible.  But, I am looking for other options.  Maybe I can find someone to swap childcare with me and then it would work out better………

I just heard that there are 2 types of the influenza virus….A and B. 75% of A is not covered by the shot and 100% of B. Our ARNP that we go to told me that. it was a report from the CDC. It made me feel better about not getting Eve the flu shot because obviously, this is just one of those things that are random and she had A and B so the B wouldn’t have been covered anyway and she could have still gotten that part……I do think that we are still going to get her vaccinated. I was reading about the aluminum they are putting in the vaccines now and it is frightening. However, Dr. Sears wrote a book about vaccines listing aluminum levels and which brands have which amounts of aluminum in them and a suggestion for how to limit the aluminum (which shots to get and when and how many to get at once) while getting your children vaccinated. It should be here in a couple of days so hopefully, Eve’s dr. will work with us in that way in getting her vaccinated….

I truly believe that LLL nourishes my soul. I had a home visit last week. It is so refreshing to be able to help someone and see the relief on their face. Of course, there is nothing more frustrating than leaving a mom and feeling like I didn’t help her and couldn’t figure out her problem. Then, I worry that I am not qualified to do this, and of course, feel like I have failed them.

I just heard that there are 2 types of the influenza virus….A and B. 75% of A is not covered by the shot and 100% of B. Our ARNP that we go to told me that. it was a report from the CDC. It made me feel better about not getting Eve the flu shot because obviously, this is just one of those things that are random and she had A and B so the B wouldn’t have been covered anyway and she could have still gotten that part……I do think that we are still going to get her vaccinated. I was reading about the aluminum they are putting in the vaccines now and it is frightening. However, Dr. Sears wrote a book about vaccines listing aluminum levels and which brands have which amounts of aluminum in them and a suggestion for how to limit the aluminum (which shots to get and when and how many to get at once) while getting your children vaccinated. It should be here in a couple of days so hopefully, Eve’s dr. will work with us in that way in getting her vaccinated….

I truly believe that LLL nourishes my soul. I had a home visit last week. It is so refreshing to be able to help someone and see the relief on their face. Of course, there is nothing more frustrating than leaving a mom and feeling like I didn’t help her and couldn’t figure out her problem. Then, I worry that I am not qualified to do this, and of course, feel like I have failed them.