I seem to be less sensitive to smells with this pregnancy. As usual, though, along with the nausea come many food aversions. So each morning consists of crackers, then cereal, green tea w/ jasmine, grape juice, then ricecake, then toast, a little water, & perhaps a little more dry cereal. I really got crazy for lunch today & had some rigatoni w/ marinara and some brown rice.
I put it on my list, but never blogged about completing my third book-Mitch Albom's For One More Day; an easy read that moves along briskly, and a good story too. Now I've begun Atonement by Ian McEwan, which is laden with very wordy, long sentences that I get lost in sometimes. I saw the movie last year & it was so sad that I almost didn't know whether or not to call it a good movie. Of course, when I found out it was a novel, I decided that I had to read it. Also in my qeue (how do you spell that word anyway?) is the Duggar's book Twenty and Counting. They have one of those Jon-&-Kate-Plus-8 kind of shows, only their thing is that they have 18 kids. My mom loaned me the book because she said it has some homeschooling tips in it.
Guess that's it for now.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Announcement
Well, I guess I can blog about it, since almost everyone knows. I am pregnant again! Yes, this is the 3rd pregnancy in less than 3 years. Yes, this October I will have 3 children under the age of 3. Yes, this was a surprise. Yes, we were planning on having more children, but wanted to wait until Josiah was 2. Guess it's not up to us!
No, I am not certain of my due date, or how far along I am, because I was messed up on birth control pills. No, I have not seen a doctor or midwife yet, & I've never announced a pregnancy without first seeing someone, but because I have some pretty serious morning sickness going on I am confident this little baby is well implanted in there! Finally, no, I will not be finding out the sex of this child. I have always wanted to be surprised, & this may very well be my last pregnancy. (Again, who am I kidding? As if it's really up to me when I get pregnant & how often! It's obviously not!)
So that is that. As I said, I am definately experiencing the morning sickness. I just have to focus on keeping myself hydrated & nibbling constantly to make it through the day. I ought to be a pro at this by now! One thing that is different, however, is there will be no Zofran this time to alleviate the morning sickness. We changed insurance this year going with the low monthly payment, high-deductible plan, thinking we would not be having a baby this year. Therefore, I would have to pay full-price for the Zofran, & it is in the $100's. Maybe $200-$400. I am trying to keep other women in mind who experienced morning sickness but took nothing for it to strengthen me, like my friend Sarah, cousin Kimmie, and my sister of course.
I do not care if it is a boy or girl. I just pray for a healthy child. I am already in boy mode, so another boy would be great. On the other hand, it would be an honor to learn how to raise a little girl as well. We shall see in October.
Switching gears quite drastically, I had a revelation while listening to Third Day's Show Me Your Glory. I absolutely love that song. It brings tears to my eyes. And to think, I never even heard of Third Day until I met Keith. I had very little exposure to Christian music until I met Keith. My parents are wonderful, generous, fun-loving, church-going Christians, but growing up it was kind of like "you go to church on Sundays & forget about it for the rest of the week." And we never went to church as a family. My dad is Catholic, my mom is Lutheran, and that's the way it goes to this day. I was raised Lutheran, so i was baptized as an infant, did the whole first communion and confirmation thing. There was NEVER any Bible reading at home, individual prayer only, & in such a way as to not let anyone else know what you were doing, as if it was an embarassment.
Anyway, back to the song...this past summer when I read about Moses going up to the mountain to meet with God, I realized this story is what the song is based on. I found it bold the way Moses said to God, "Now show me your glory" as though he were giving God a command. Maybe I'm misinterpreting. In any case, it was powerful. This past summer I was also struggling with learning how to handle an 18month old and a newborn-I know, I still haven't learned my lesson-and I told Keith that I want to see God's glory, like it says in the song. Keith went on to say how anyone who has ever seen God's glory like that was never the same again. "Do you know what standard you'd be called to if God revealed his glory to you like that?" he said. He was not trying to discourage me, just keeping it real. I was having such a tough time with my two blessings of children, I just thought, "if only I could see God's glory like Moses did."
All right, I'm rambling. The revelation is this: God's glory has been revealed to me my whole life, only little by little. I'd be willing to bet a lot of Christians' "born-again" experience was not a Paul of Damascus experience, but many little-by-little experiences. However, once you've had an experience like that, you can't go back to who you used to be and the things you used to do. Just like the song says, "When I climb down this mountain & get back to my life, I won't settle for ordinary things." Everytime God shows me a little bit of his glory, I'm brought further along in my walk, or closer to Him in my walk, rather. And I can't go back to the way I was before.
I think there's a devotional book called From Glory to Glory, & I'm pretty sure there's a song of the same or similar title. I think I finally get it. That was today's revelation.
No, I am not certain of my due date, or how far along I am, because I was messed up on birth control pills. No, I have not seen a doctor or midwife yet, & I've never announced a pregnancy without first seeing someone, but because I have some pretty serious morning sickness going on I am confident this little baby is well implanted in there! Finally, no, I will not be finding out the sex of this child. I have always wanted to be surprised, & this may very well be my last pregnancy. (Again, who am I kidding? As if it's really up to me when I get pregnant & how often! It's obviously not!)
So that is that. As I said, I am definately experiencing the morning sickness. I just have to focus on keeping myself hydrated & nibbling constantly to make it through the day. I ought to be a pro at this by now! One thing that is different, however, is there will be no Zofran this time to alleviate the morning sickness. We changed insurance this year going with the low monthly payment, high-deductible plan, thinking we would not be having a baby this year. Therefore, I would have to pay full-price for the Zofran, & it is in the $100's. Maybe $200-$400. I am trying to keep other women in mind who experienced morning sickness but took nothing for it to strengthen me, like my friend Sarah, cousin Kimmie, and my sister of course.
I do not care if it is a boy or girl. I just pray for a healthy child. I am already in boy mode, so another boy would be great. On the other hand, it would be an honor to learn how to raise a little girl as well. We shall see in October.
Switching gears quite drastically, I had a revelation while listening to Third Day's Show Me Your Glory. I absolutely love that song. It brings tears to my eyes. And to think, I never even heard of Third Day until I met Keith. I had very little exposure to Christian music until I met Keith. My parents are wonderful, generous, fun-loving, church-going Christians, but growing up it was kind of like "you go to church on Sundays & forget about it for the rest of the week." And we never went to church as a family. My dad is Catholic, my mom is Lutheran, and that's the way it goes to this day. I was raised Lutheran, so i was baptized as an infant, did the whole first communion and confirmation thing. There was NEVER any Bible reading at home, individual prayer only, & in such a way as to not let anyone else know what you were doing, as if it was an embarassment.
Anyway, back to the song...this past summer when I read about Moses going up to the mountain to meet with God, I realized this story is what the song is based on. I found it bold the way Moses said to God, "Now show me your glory" as though he were giving God a command. Maybe I'm misinterpreting. In any case, it was powerful. This past summer I was also struggling with learning how to handle an 18month old and a newborn-I know, I still haven't learned my lesson-and I told Keith that I want to see God's glory, like it says in the song. Keith went on to say how anyone who has ever seen God's glory like that was never the same again. "Do you know what standard you'd be called to if God revealed his glory to you like that?" he said. He was not trying to discourage me, just keeping it real. I was having such a tough time with my two blessings of children, I just thought, "if only I could see God's glory like Moses did."
All right, I'm rambling. The revelation is this: God's glory has been revealed to me my whole life, only little by little. I'd be willing to bet a lot of Christians' "born-again" experience was not a Paul of Damascus experience, but many little-by-little experiences. However, once you've had an experience like that, you can't go back to who you used to be and the things you used to do. Just like the song says, "When I climb down this mountain & get back to my life, I won't settle for ordinary things." Everytime God shows me a little bit of his glory, I'm brought further along in my walk, or closer to Him in my walk, rather. And I can't go back to the way I was before.
I think there's a devotional book called From Glory to Glory, & I'm pretty sure there's a song of the same or similar title. I think I finally get it. That was today's revelation.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
I AM FINISHED!
I am happy to announce that this afternoon I finished my Environmental Nutrition homestudy course. Hallelujah! I can't even remember what I was going to read next. For One More Day? Atonement? Either way, I have to catch up to Kelly who just finished book #9!
Where Have I Been?
I don't know where I've been or what I've been doing.
I'm on the last chapter of this Environmental Nutrition homestudy, so that's good. I so want to move on to other books.
Watched the Superbowl with our friends Jess & Phil. Josiah spent the second half of the game sleeping in my arms. Oh, it had been so long since he'd done that! I didn't mind holding him at all! Go Steelers!
Still haven't made any progress on the scrapbooks or my Spanish lessons. The house is dirty again. Haven't lost any weight, nor will I for quite some time, if you know what I mean. If you don't, you will soon. My New Year's resolutions have pretty much gone out the window for the month of February.
Isaac & Josiah are great. Isaac sings so many songs so well now. He counts pretty well too. I just can't get that kid to learn his colors! He picks up on everything else, except colors! It's like, he doesn't care about colors or something. He'd rather do anything than learn colors. Oh well. Josiah walks behind walker toys now. He's into everything: the dog bowls, shaking the lamp, electrical cords, climbing the steps and falling off of them, Isaac's Elmo potty, the bathroom trashcan. He's so hard to keep up with sometimes, but he is so stinkin' cute I can't stand it. I think I'm going to stop laying him down for evening naps now too, because he isn't napping well in the morning anymore. He does about the same at night. I still hear him wake up around 5 or 6, but he usually finds his pacifier and settles himself. This morning he actually slept past 7:30! Woo hoo!
I have a yummy granola recipe to post too! Just don't eat it all in 24 hours like Keith & I did. Then it's not good for you!
4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
You can get creative with this recipe too by adding ground flax seed (I add about 1/2 cup of this), sunflower seeds, raisins, dried fruit, shredded coconut, or chocolate chips (hmm, this sounds good too!). You can use maple syrup instead of honey, or chopped nuts instead of peanut butter.
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Mix all ingredients together and press down into greased baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool slightly. You can either slice it into bars or crumble it into loose granola for yogurt or something.
Enjoy!
I'm on the last chapter of this Environmental Nutrition homestudy, so that's good. I so want to move on to other books.
Watched the Superbowl with our friends Jess & Phil. Josiah spent the second half of the game sleeping in my arms. Oh, it had been so long since he'd done that! I didn't mind holding him at all! Go Steelers!
Still haven't made any progress on the scrapbooks or my Spanish lessons. The house is dirty again. Haven't lost any weight, nor will I for quite some time, if you know what I mean. If you don't, you will soon. My New Year's resolutions have pretty much gone out the window for the month of February.
Isaac & Josiah are great. Isaac sings so many songs so well now. He counts pretty well too. I just can't get that kid to learn his colors! He picks up on everything else, except colors! It's like, he doesn't care about colors or something. He'd rather do anything than learn colors. Oh well. Josiah walks behind walker toys now. He's into everything: the dog bowls, shaking the lamp, electrical cords, climbing the steps and falling off of them, Isaac's Elmo potty, the bathroom trashcan. He's so hard to keep up with sometimes, but he is so stinkin' cute I can't stand it. I think I'm going to stop laying him down for evening naps now too, because he isn't napping well in the morning anymore. He does about the same at night. I still hear him wake up around 5 or 6, but he usually finds his pacifier and settles himself. This morning he actually slept past 7:30! Woo hoo!
I have a yummy granola recipe to post too! Just don't eat it all in 24 hours like Keith & I did. Then it's not good for you!
4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
You can get creative with this recipe too by adding ground flax seed (I add about 1/2 cup of this), sunflower seeds, raisins, dried fruit, shredded coconut, or chocolate chips (hmm, this sounds good too!). You can use maple syrup instead of honey, or chopped nuts instead of peanut butter.
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. Mix all ingredients together and press down into greased baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool slightly. You can either slice it into bars or crumble it into loose granola for yogurt or something.
Enjoy!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Very Long Time, No Blog
I'm already in jeopardy of not reaching my two book per month goal. This Environmental Nutrition course is taking longer that I expected. While it is very interesting, it's not exactly the kind of book you can't put down. Ya know? Neither have I had time to make any more progress in the boys' scrapbooks or begin learning Spanish. Much of this is due to having Isaac's birthday party last weekend. On a positive note, the house is rather clean! It's a little ironic that you clean your house before company comes over, only to have to clean it again after they trash it and leave! Oh well.
Isaac is singing songs like it's nobody's business! He's getting really good at Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the ABC's! The ABC's he started all on his own without any prompting. It's really cute! He loved his birthday party. I made him an Elmo cake, and got him some baloons: one big Elmo, one big Cookie Monster, and a couple happy birthday baloons with Sesame Street characters. Keith & I bought him glow-in-the-dark stars and planets for his ceiling, a Thomas the Train nightlight, and some little, regular (not sippy), plastic cups for him to start practicing with.
Josiah is doing great. He's becoming quite good sleeper. He went through a bad spell there where he wouldn't nap or sleep at night, but I think that was because he never has less that 3 teeth coming in at one time. He's turned into such a pleasant baby. He still doesn't like drinking bottles but he loves eating food!
I know that was a very short update, but I'm meeting a friend for lunch & trying to get some laundry done before I go! If I remember to later I'll post some pics from Isaac's birthday.
Isaac is singing songs like it's nobody's business! He's getting really good at Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the ABC's! The ABC's he started all on his own without any prompting. It's really cute! He loved his birthday party. I made him an Elmo cake, and got him some baloons: one big Elmo, one big Cookie Monster, and a couple happy birthday baloons with Sesame Street characters. Keith & I bought him glow-in-the-dark stars and planets for his ceiling, a Thomas the Train nightlight, and some little, regular (not sippy), plastic cups for him to start practicing with.
Josiah is doing great. He's becoming quite good sleeper. He went through a bad spell there where he wouldn't nap or sleep at night, but I think that was because he never has less that 3 teeth coming in at one time. He's turned into such a pleasant baby. He still doesn't like drinking bottles but he loves eating food!
I know that was a very short update, but I'm meeting a friend for lunch & trying to get some laundry done before I go! If I remember to later I'll post some pics from Isaac's birthday.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Victory!
I wasn't getting anywhere with Isaac in Pull-Ups. They're too much like diapers. He felt totally free to just pee in them rather than going to the potty. Yesterday morning I decided to try just wearing regular cotton underpants on him, without pants, so if he had an accident it wouldn't ruin his entire outfit. He did have a couple of accidents, but he saw his puddle on the floor and knew what happened. He said, "Pee pee, uh oh!" I tried this again after his nap, and he kept himself dry all evening! He said, "pee pee" when he had to go and he'd go to the bathroom where his Elmo potty is! I still can't get him to poop on the potty though. Oh well, we'll just take it one step at a time. I hope he continues to keep himself dry in regular underoos now.
Isaac can also count to 10 and he called his blanket red all by himself the other day! I've been working on colors with him for so long! He also knows orange pretty well, because he loves oranges! Oh, and Isaac's latest crazy thing is that he loves lemons! I bought some for me & Keith to put in our water, but as soon as Isaac spots them in our glasses we have to take them out and give them to him to suck on! Guess I'll have to learn how to make some good fresh lemonade for my boy!
Josiah is just growing by leaps and bounds. Before Christmas he began crawling. On New Year's Eve his first top tooth emerged, and now the second top tooth is poking through. On Monday he pulled himself up to standing by himself! He's doing better and better with his sippy cup and feeding himself those little Gerber star-shaped puff thingies. He's also been trying really hard not to wake up at 5am and scream for two hours. Lately he's been making it to more like 6am, but I make him wait until 7am to come out of his crib. My rule is that nobody gets out of their crib before 7am. Lastly, we've really discovered that Josiah, in spite of how active he is, loves to be held and to cuddle. He will sit on our laps as long as we'll hold him. He never tries to get down!
I just finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon I began my continuing education course on Environmental Nutrition. I had to re-read every paragraph twice. My brain just isn't geared toward that kind of reading anymore. I'll have to re-train it. I also received an email/forward supposedly written by Karl Rove about a friendly competition he and President Bush had going for a few years. The competition was to see how many books they could read in a year. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, if anyone out there is interested in a little friendly competition! Even if no one is, I'd really like to see how many I can read in a year.
If I may, I love learning new vocabulary from the books that I read. For example, in Pride & Prejudice the word "felicity" is everywhere! I had to look it up in the dictionary! But now I know! My new vocabulary words from Anne Frank's diary were "clandestine" and "pedantic." Clandestine: kept secret or hidden, especially for some illicit purpose; surreptitious; furtive. (This prompts me to look up surreptitious and furtive.) Pedantic: 1) laying unnecessary stress on minor or trivial points of learning, displaying a scholarship lacking in judgement or sense of proportion, 2) narrow-minded teaching insisting on exact adherence to a set or\f arbitrary rules.
One of my readers requested I post recipes to help them stick to their resolution to eat healthier in 2009. My first selection is a hummus recipe I got by watching Rachael Ray. I chose it because 1) it's vegetarian, 2) chick peas are a good source of fiber and protein, and 3) I like hummus! What you have to be careful about in this recipe is that although it calls for olive oil, which is a type of "good fat," olive oil is still an oil! It is a fat, with approximately 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. So don't overdo it!
Chick Pea, Roasted Pepper & Rosemary Spread
2 15oz. cans chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained & rinsed
1 6oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic
4 stems fresh rosemary (strip leaves from stems)-I just use some dried rosemary & it turns out just fine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Dippers, such as sliced flat breads or pita, grape tomatoes and zucchini
Combine chick peas, roasted red pepper, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in food processor. turn processor on and stream in olive oil until smooth. Remove spread to a serving bowl and surround with pita/flat breads, grape tomatoes and zucchini.
I like to buy those mini whole wheat pita pockets and stuff them with some hummus and salad. Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it!
Enjoy! Stay tuned for a Cream of Butternut Squash soup recipe!
Isaac can also count to 10 and he called his blanket red all by himself the other day! I've been working on colors with him for so long! He also knows orange pretty well, because he loves oranges! Oh, and Isaac's latest crazy thing is that he loves lemons! I bought some for me & Keith to put in our water, but as soon as Isaac spots them in our glasses we have to take them out and give them to him to suck on! Guess I'll have to learn how to make some good fresh lemonade for my boy!
Josiah is just growing by leaps and bounds. Before Christmas he began crawling. On New Year's Eve his first top tooth emerged, and now the second top tooth is poking through. On Monday he pulled himself up to standing by himself! He's doing better and better with his sippy cup and feeding himself those little Gerber star-shaped puff thingies. He's also been trying really hard not to wake up at 5am and scream for two hours. Lately he's been making it to more like 6am, but I make him wait until 7am to come out of his crib. My rule is that nobody gets out of their crib before 7am. Lastly, we've really discovered that Josiah, in spite of how active he is, loves to be held and to cuddle. He will sit on our laps as long as we'll hold him. He never tries to get down!
I just finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon I began my continuing education course on Environmental Nutrition. I had to re-read every paragraph twice. My brain just isn't geared toward that kind of reading anymore. I'll have to re-train it. I also received an email/forward supposedly written by Karl Rove about a friendly competition he and President Bush had going for a few years. The competition was to see how many books they could read in a year. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, if anyone out there is interested in a little friendly competition! Even if no one is, I'd really like to see how many I can read in a year.
If I may, I love learning new vocabulary from the books that I read. For example, in Pride & Prejudice the word "felicity" is everywhere! I had to look it up in the dictionary! But now I know! My new vocabulary words from Anne Frank's diary were "clandestine" and "pedantic." Clandestine: kept secret or hidden, especially for some illicit purpose; surreptitious; furtive. (This prompts me to look up surreptitious and furtive.) Pedantic: 1) laying unnecessary stress on minor or trivial points of learning, displaying a scholarship lacking in judgement or sense of proportion, 2) narrow-minded teaching insisting on exact adherence to a set or\f arbitrary rules.
One of my readers requested I post recipes to help them stick to their resolution to eat healthier in 2009. My first selection is a hummus recipe I got by watching Rachael Ray. I chose it because 1) it's vegetarian, 2) chick peas are a good source of fiber and protein, and 3) I like hummus! What you have to be careful about in this recipe is that although it calls for olive oil, which is a type of "good fat," olive oil is still an oil! It is a fat, with approximately 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. So don't overdo it!
Chick Pea, Roasted Pepper & Rosemary Spread
2 15oz. cans chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained & rinsed
1 6oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely chopped
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 cloves garlic
4 stems fresh rosemary (strip leaves from stems)-I just use some dried rosemary & it turns out just fine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Dippers, such as sliced flat breads or pita, grape tomatoes and zucchini
Combine chick peas, roasted red pepper, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in food processor. turn processor on and stream in olive oil until smooth. Remove spread to a serving bowl and surround with pita/flat breads, grape tomatoes and zucchini.
I like to buy those mini whole wheat pita pockets and stuff them with some hummus and salad. Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it!
Enjoy! Stay tuned for a Cream of Butternut Squash soup recipe!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
2009 New Year's Resolutions
I would like to begin by saying the only New Year's resolution I ever kept was back when I was about 18 or 19 years old. I resolved to stop at every stop sign that year, and I did. That's the ONLY resolution I ever kept.
Now, let's get this show on the road!
Now, let's get this show on the road!
- Complete Isaac and Josiah's 1st year scrapbooks.
- Read at least two books per month, ideally one non-fiction and one fiction. Non-fiction topics I'm interested in include vaccines, owning rental property, homeschooling, and generally reading about uplifting/inspiring people. I've begun with The Diary of Anne Frank. I must also begin a continuing education course entitled Environmental Nutrition. My fiction selection for the month will most likely be For One More Day by Mitch Albom.
- Learn Spanish.
- Lose weight, of course. Had to throw that one in there.
- Develop and implement a house cleaning schedule. It's the only way I'll learn to get it done on a consistent basis.
- Go through Cleansing Streams at church. I should also join the dance team at church too before I get pregnant again. If I don't do it now, who knows when I will.
That's all I can think of for myself right now.
Maggie's resolution is to stop chasing after other dogs, cats, and bunnies, with special emphasis on not chasing the next door neighbors' cats off of their own back porch. This should be pretty simple for her as she's now kept on a chain at all times when I let her outside.
Isaac's main New Year's resolution is to stop pooping his pants and become fully potty-trained. He also plans to master subjects such as shapes, colors, numbers, letters, drawing, coloring, and singing songs. I can't even begin to imagine what a bigger boy he's going to be at this time next year, when we're welcoming 2010!
Josiah has many resolutions. First and foremost, he resolves to stop doing his scream-for-an-hour-or-two thing at 5am every morning. He also plans to learn walking, drinking from sippy cups, self-feeding finger foods, and words like mommy, daddy, and Maggie. In sum, he will graduate from a baby to a toddler this year. He, too, will be such a bigger boy one year from now!
I don't know about Keith. You'll have to ask him to do a blog and see if he has any resolutions.
Here's to 2009! May it be blessed with peace, health, prosperity, and an ever-growing relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ! My prayer for us all is that He would manifest Himself to us this year as never before, and continue to draw our hearts nearer to His.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
