Saturday, April 30, 2011

So, I've Been a Little Quiet

Yes, I'm still here. I guess it's time for an update.

I'm still pregnant. 38w 3d to be exact. I guess I'll confess that I had been hoping that our little bundle would have arrived by now, but I'm trying to be patient. Actually I'm more than happy that it looks like he truly will be a May baby; I'm not impatient to hold him. The truth is, I've been having contractions (some easy and some debilitating) every 25-45 minutes since Wednesday at 7am. I am in pain. My muscles are very sore. And on top of that, it's a little frustrating that the contractions aren't exactly speeding up yet either. Let's change the subject.



On a doleful note, Tim's dad passed away early on April 17th. Tim and his brothers had had the opportunity to visit him just last month as he exited the hospital for the last time and we're so thankful that Tim was able to be there to visit that last time. Although his passing wasn't sudden, it was definitely shocking and terribly sad. Tim drove up a few days later with 3 of our kids to be with his mom and brothers for the funeral. (I wanted to write about last week, but I think it would have been terribly unwise to tell the internet that I was home alone and my husband was very far away.) My husband and big kids returned from their long journey on Easter Sunday night. Adam and I were anxiously awaiting them with a good Easter dinner and Easter treats for everyone. I wished I had been able to go, but in my condition, it really was pretty unwise to travel by car so far away. Adam stayed with me and we rested and relaxed for the days the rest of the family was away. It was really quiet around here with just the two of us~ I was so happy to be able to finally squeeze my little joyful noisemakers when they returned.




While my family was away, I had a doctor's appointment and the ladies at church threw a sweet baby shower for me and Aaron and for another friend and her little pink bundle of joy. We had a great time and afterward my friends took me along on an expansive tour of all of the formal dresses throughout the nearest mall. I was super exhausted, but we really did have a great time together.

Oh, I also made new curtains while Tim was gone.



This time that I have on my hands have been filled with little last minute things for baby's arrival. The infant car seat is in the car, the bassinet is set up about 4 feet from my side of the bed, pacifiers have been ordered and delivered. And since Adam has all but adopted his baby brother's blanket, I ran out today to JoAnn's 1 day sale to buy more fabric for another blanket... or two.

Did I mention that we converted Adam's crib to a toddler bed a few weeks ago and he loves it? And I love it because I can tell him that it's time to get in bed and he goes and does it.

(Ok, he's on the couch in this picture, but you get the idea...)


And lest you forget, I actually did get the labels done for Adam's little bookshelf drawers. I didn't make them from fabric like I had planned, but I printed out the tags on paper and then laminated them and attached them to the handles of the drawers with some kitchen twine.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Baby Ducks, Baby Chicks, Baby Cats

Ok, everyone. I've got to keep it real. I'd love everyone to believe that I live an always happy, sinless, organized life with an adoring husband and clean obedient children. But you've read this blog before and you know that's not the whole truth. Life is not always very beautiful or exciting. And I have a confession.

Our cat, Buster, ran away.
Last January.
I didn't want to tell you because that's not very flattering.

Anyway, we have all been sad that Buster left that fateful Monday night, never to return. The kids have cried and cried and asked about him and prayed for him, but we never saw him again.

Tim told the children that if we ever heard of any other free kittens being born to friends from church that we could adopt another kitty. Well, the email came on April 5th (which happened to be our 8th wedding anniversary). Our friends who live in Elizabeth, CO, had a litter of 4 kittens, 1 female and 3 males. (Tim laid the ground rule that we'd have to get another boy cat~ I guess he doesn't want to start our own kitten factory.) Well, this past Sunday we were able to stop by our friends' house and claim a kitty.

It must truly be spring because they also had baby ducks and baby chicks, all ready to explore outside in the beautiful weather.




Once the box with the kittens was brought out, one by one, the baby cats began to emerge...



The first two were practically identical.

Then this guy popped his head out, and we knew there was something special about him.







Adam was more interested in studying the ducks and baby chicks.

We finally decided that kitty #3, with his beautiful blue eyes and tan coat with black stripes, was the one for us.


It was love at first sight.

We'd been tossing some cat names around for a few days and Dabney and Josh had their favorites (Josh was set on re-naming our new cat Buster) but as soon as we looked at that adorable fella, we knew one of them was perfect.


We've named him Shasta.





This midnight kitty was the sister. She was very shy.




This is the mama kitty. We weren't too popular with her and she did not pose for the camera.
Maybe because we keep talking about taking away one of her babies.


Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday's "to do" List

Whew! Monday is here again and the list of work keeps growing! I don't know about you, but my life would be absolute chaos without a daily and weekly to do list. Usually I begin with the daily list and add things that I'd like to have done by the end of the week.

  • LAUNDRY [x]
  • inventory kids summer clothes [x]
  • pack hospital bag [x]
  • clip, sort and file coupons from yesterday's paper [x]
  • gather papers for pre-admission this week [x]
  • dinner plan for the week[x]
  • hospitality menu for Saturday [x]
  • begin to pack away freezer meals for baby week
  • find an out of the way place for 3 extra mattresses (details to come) [x]
  • finish trimming the laminated Latin/English flashcards [x]
  • remove diaper hook and loop tabs from remaining unconverted diapers
  • iron Tim's shirts before they begin to multiply [x]
  • finish new baby wipes
(Um, how long did it take me to figure out that brown wipes are the way to go?)

  • order shorts for David using Gymbucks (poor kid has 1 pair in size 5!) [x]
  • hem Tim's pants [x] (Hooray!)
  • purge and de-clutter linen closet
  • make fabric labels for Adam's new clothes bins
So many books in a room with 3 boys trying to nap was too much temptation. Now Adam has a perfectly accessible place for his clothes. Much better.

Oh, and some of this...

And all the while, I must keep this crazy, dirt attracting child out of trouble.


What does Monday look like at your house?

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Overdue Pictures

We had a fabulous weekend last week when my Dad and his pastor from Hawaii came to visit us.
It was a gift to get to have Dad for the weekend and it was an instant family connection with Pastor Vander Meulen. Dad, Pastor VM, thank you so much for visiting us!

These pictures have been overdue since Monday morning~ sorry Mom~ and they still aren't in order. I might be able to re-arrange them tomorrow.



There's no significant reason for this picture~ I just thought Aunt Cait might like to see that her niece is following in her Marguerite Henry footsteps.




The guys and their "important meeting".



See who's nestled in and snoozing next to Pastor Vander Meulen?

PopPop's girl


Saying goodbye, David style


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