And baby makes 3!

Yep, Baby #3 is in the oven folks!  We are very excited!

I've had 2 appointments so far.  At 10/11 weeks we had the first appointment and officially confirmed that #3 is in there.  Which was a big deal because we were all a bit skeptical.  Maybe because I have had ZERO "symptoms" for pregnancy.  No nausea/sickness, no tenderness, no excessive tiredness (at least that I can notice beyond the average tiredness of raising a 3 yr old and 1 yr old!), not really making any extra trips to the bathroom, and even now (at 16 1/2 weeks) my pants still fit and i'm not really "showing." (And yes, I understand many women are angrily jealous that I haven't spend the last 6 weeks hugging a toilet every morning. A few have told me that to compensate, I should have a dozen kids. Ummm, no, thanks.)  The only indication that there's a baby who has taken up residence inside is that I haven't had a period since early April.  So I insisted that the midwife check for a heartbeat at the first appointment.  She was planning to say no and just have me come back in 2 weeks because it's hard to find the heartbeat at 10 weeks.  I promised to not be disappointed if she couldn't find it; she had warned me it might be too early to hear, but i still insisted.  (Plus, I just didn't feel like making another appointment when the office is 30 minutes away.)

Eventually she gave in; she found the heartbeat very quickly, thump thump thumping away at a happy 153.  It was real!

Last week we had my 2nd prenatal appointment and the heartbeat was harder to find because baby kept kick kick kicking.  We heard plenty of healthy and strong kicks and summersaults going on in there, but eventually we found the heartbeat for a short while and it measured at around 143-144 beats per minute... though the midwife said it may not be accurate with all the disruption from the kicking.  What a feisty little one in there!

At the next appointment we have the anatomy ultrasound!  The big question in our house right now is: boy or girl?  Munchkin insists that it's a sister.  We've asked, "what if the baby is a brother?" and her response has always been, "NO!  It's my sister!" Ruthe doesn't really seem to understand or care yet.  As for Brad and I, we would love a boy or girl.  Another girl would be so much fun, and we seem pretty good at raising daughters so far (our whopping 3 1/2 years experience!).  Brad's the perfect daddy for our girls. A boy would be a whole new adventure, and I know Brad would love to have a mini-Brad to play sports with without having to fight against social gender norms (he does play hockey and throw balls with the girls, but for whatever reason people still expect me to be painting their nails and playing dress up instead of running and playing sports outside).

So yeah... everything is great so far.  At 16/17 weeks I feel like I'm starting to "show" a little if I really have to pee.  It's like a bladder bump instead of a baby bump.  :-S

Due date is Jan 9, 2014 according to my last period.  Though we are all praying that the u/s shows I'm a week further along or so... we really REALLY want this baby to come in December!  We have a high deductible insurance where we pay EVERYTHING for the first $5000, then insurance will cover everything after that.  We've already met the deductible for 2013.  Meaning, if baby comes in December, insurance will cover everything. Plus we can claim baby on our 2013 tax return.  (Merry Christmas to us!) But... if baby comes in January, we have to pay $5000 out of pocket right away (and we're still playing off medical bills from February of this year!), and we can't claim baby on tax returns for 2013. To top it off, our little car just can't handle 3 car seats... which means we need to upgrade to the family vehicle, a mini-van! And our meager savings have all been going to pay for previous medical bills, so we have nothing saved to buy a van. So, that December baby is sounding better every second.  I asked the midwife about the chances of inducing because of these circumstances (I REALLY do NOT want to be induced, but we're facing some serious financial issues that may make it worth it), and she says she will not induce unless I'm past my due date, and that I'd need to talk to her OB partner, but that hospital rules say absolutely no elective inductions before 39 weeks (even if 38 weeks is "full term"), and my 39 week mark is Jan 2.  Drats.  So, as you can guess, We are hoping and praying that this little one will decide to make an arrival between Christmas and New Years Eve.  Prayers from friends and family are greatly appreciated!

Two Ruthes

Papoose with Great-grandma!  

We love living so close to family and that baby Ruthe can spend so much time with her Great-grandma Ruthe.

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sort of...

For my sister, Lisa, who always needs this recipe.

Love ya, sis!

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 sticks butter
~blend together until creamy
add 3 large eggs and mix

3 cups flour
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp baking soda
~sift together, then add to the other stuff

1-2 Tbsp vanilla
1 pkg chocolate chips
~add to the rest of the stuff

eat and enjoy!

oh wait... you should probably bake them.  If you make it this far, bake at 350 degree for 8-10-ish minutes.
Best enjoyed with milk and good company. :-)

New Blog Under Construction

So, I just timidly walked into the world of using essential oils... and as part of this new journey I'm starting a new blog (eoleaning.blogspot.com).  It's under construction, none of the posts are finished, but they're "published" for the sake of being able to see something when I'm fiddling with the format/layout/etc.  It's brand new, established yesterday and I'm still trying to organize my thoughts and the layout, and I've already gotten over 60 pageviews on that page?!  what the heck?

this blog only gets about 1-2 per day.
Whatever... I'm not out to get pageviews or hits on here. I monitor it though because I'm constantly wondering if it's actually being viewed by friends and family or creepers, and if I should make it "private" again.

But seriously... how does a less-than-1-day-old blog get that many hits so fast?  And is there some way i can make it invisible until I'm ready for it to actually be seen by random people?  Or should I let it develop/evolve "publicly"?

Also, feel free to go check it out and offer constructive tips.  Just don't judge me on it.  It's a work in progress, usually when the kids are asleep and I'm not.  Which isn't often.

Mmmm...

It's no question. Poosa loves to chew on stuff.

Mmmmm... Hawaii!

Blocks

Bagels! Courtesy of the big sister who knows how to get into the fridge,
and does so quite often.

Spaghetti sauce! Nummy!

The Papoose!

Our Papoose is growing up so fast!!!

Our silly papoose!

Plank position!  Work those abs, papoose!

Crawling with the tummy off the floor!  (This started November-ish, so about 5-6 months old!)

Look at the crawler!

Now she gets into everything!

seriously... everything.  Sometimes it's not so fun...

Sometimes it's an adventure...

And sometimes it means mom has to put her in here, for her own safety.
Poosa's not a big fan of baby jail....

 Now we have to watch out for this new trick...

(please excuse the sideways-ness... can't get it to turn. bleh)

The Living Room

Welcome to our home!  If you come in our front door, this is the room you'll find! Complete with our new couch and chair that we got an AWESOME deal on at a New Year's blowout sale.

View from standing by the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms
You can see the door knob to our front door to the left.

View from sitting in our fun chair!

View from standing in door frame that leads to dining room.  Our pretty front door and  chair. :-)

Our coat closet and stairs.

Please excuse the Christmas decorations... these pictures were taken Jan 2.  The Christmas decorations are no longer up, but this blog post is just getting published because I'm an easily distracted person that let the blog fall behind in the hectic-ness of life.  Hope some of you are still around to enjoy my attempts at blogging again!

And welcome to our house!

First Day of School

Today was our first day of home preschool for the munchkin!  It was so much fun, too.

For now, I'm kinda just going with the flow and "testing the waters" with munchkin.
The method for now is to just pull out my book What Your Preschooler Needs to Know, and the accompanying activity book and just thumb through some parts and let Naomi pick what she wants to learn.

She chose "I'm a Little Teapot," and George Washington. And then decided she wanted to make an American Flag like Betsy Ross.

So that's exactly what we did.
I taught her how to sing and dance to "I'm a Little Teapot."  Lots of fun!

Then we cuddled and read the story about George Washington and The Cherry Tree. The next story was about Betsy Ross, with a picture of her sewing the first American Flag, and Naomi wanted to make one, too.  So we grabbed some construction paper and went to town.

In the process we learned...
counting (1-13) for the stars and stripes
patterns-- alternating red and white stripes for the flag
shapes-- stars, rectangles, square, circle (you can prolly tell our circle of stars broke down in the pic below... we're working on it)
colors-- she had to pick out what colors the flag were from our big pile of construction paper
how to use scissors and glue (this is a work in progress!)

And them we learned the first part of the "Pledge of Allegiance"
"I pledge my allegiance to the flag of the United States of America..."
I figured the whole thing is pretty long and we'll keep working on it. :-) She isn't even 3 yet, so I think we're ok.

And we did all this in less than 1 hour!  Munchkin had so much fun; I did, too!  I call this a big success for DAY 1. And a lifetime of learning up ahead...

Playroom, part 2

Thanks to my aunt and her incredible eye for design and sending me some "inspiration sketches,"  I love the way the playroom is organized now!  (Though to be honest, I'm thinking I want to remove those closet doors to open it up more, which could mean another re-arranging is in order.)

 Here's Munchkin and Papoose's Playroom!
(photos taken with Brad's phone on "panoramic mode.")

taken from the doorway

taken from standing by the closet

I love that not everything is facing toward the center of the room anymore!  When everything was pushed up against the walls, it felt like all the energy of the room just pointed to the center and then started a tornado of mess in the middle of the room.

This new arrangement breaks the room up into smaller, more manageable areas.  And my goodness does it make a difference in simply how munchkin plays in this room!  Sure, toys still get dumped on the floor-- that's a given with a toddler that LOVES to dump-and-fill.  But now it's not all mixed in the middle so I have to sort and pick-up with her every night.  It feels organized, and Munchkin knows where the toys go, it's not a guessing game anymore.  And the energy in the room "flows" from space to space, instead of just pointing inward and having nowhere to flow to and thus creating the mess tornado in the center.

And it meets my goals!

• socially gendered toys are integrated together;' there's not a "boy space" or "girl space." it's all children's learning and playing space.
• it looks and feels organized, and it's clear where things go.
• it's safe for Papoose-- her toys aren't by heat vents or mixed with small choking hazards
• feels like a creative space where my kids want to play, build, create, and learn

The Playroom

Ok, so i was going to make a post to give you a full tour of the house, but I'm too OCD to manage getting EVERY room in the house looking nice enough to take pictures of the whole thing at once and make just one blog.  so, here's the first room you get to see... i may make this a series for each room when i get to it!

The Playroom.
I think this room may be the most important room in the house.
You may be thinking, "Seriously?  The kids' playroom... most important?"
Yes.  It's where my children spend most of their time. It's where they play.  And by play, I really mean LEARN (since play is really a child learning and enjoying it-- which is how learning should be.  I'll step off that soapbox now before I get too far off subject).

And now maybe you're thinking, "just post the pictures already!" If you haven't just scrolled to them already... you can cheat, and I won't judge.  But I'd love if you left some feedback! :-)


Goals (not in any specific order)

• organize so there are logical places for each type of play (role playing/dress up, games/puzzles, creating crafts, making music, etc) 
• foster healthy social identity by consciously integrating socially gendered types of toys (ie: not segregating the baby doll and toy kitchen from the blocks/legos and cars) (i could make a super long explanation for this, but i'll spare you the soapbox rant)
• safe areas for baby ruthe to play (ie: not by a heating vent, avoid small toys she can put in her mouth)
• maintain an atmosphere that encourages creativity.

I re-arrange this room ALL the time.  Like multiple time per week day.  This room never feels right.  Maybe I'm trying to do too much in one room, or the room is too small to do everything i want in it.  Or he kids have too much stuff. Or I need to learn how to arrange things not up against walls. I'm terribly boring like that. We do have space in other areas of the house that I could take something (their bedroom, basement, etc)... just not sure how those spaces will function yet. So I keep banging my head on this room.

*there's a long heat vent along the floor/wall
beneath the window
*small book shelf has puzzles and games,
larger toys on top

Current Set-Up ( #37, but who's keeping track anymore?) 

Pros

• everything is in here... (is this really a "pro"?)
• doesn't significantly change the room, so someday when we have more kids, it can easily be converted back into a bedroom
• there are clear places for each activity (goal 1)
• socially gendered toys are interspersed (goal 2)

*everything pushed up against the wall = boring
*heat vent on floor by play kitchen
 *baby toys on bottom shelf of toy bucket organizer
*smaller toys on top levels
*i have letters for "Ruthe" to put up on wall, just haven't yet

Cons

• it always looks cluttered or messy. 
• her desk is facing a wall in the corner-- creativity doesn't flow from looking at a blank wall (goal 4)
• stuffed animals are in the closet, which is closed off (really, what's the point of a closed off closet in a playroom? oh yeah, future bedroom space... bah)
• boring (goal 4)
• baby ruthe's toys are spread around the room -> more chances she'll find small naomi toys, or a heating vent (goal 3)
• i really don't like the window treatments, but that's a "luxury repair" that won't happen for awhile, or until i sew some myself :-)

*the closet over there is full of stuffed animals
*should I just take the closet doors off?
*to paint or not to paint the walls?

So, friends and decorators... any advice on how to organize this space?  Meanwhile, I'll  continue to re-arrange the room.  :-)