I just spoke to the realtor and he said we've had 29 showings so far - in 52 days! It's a little frustrating that we haven't had any offers yet, but it really hasn't been that long - less than 2 months. It's just exhausting having so many showings. He's hopeful that based on what's available in our neighborhood that ours will be the next to go for someone interested in our part of town. We'll see!
If we could all just be healthy, it would be easier. S's cold is still hanging on. I called the dr. since it's been 10 days, but she just has a runny nose and a little cough, so it's not really anything they can do something for. DH is still getting over whatever he's got. I think I'm getting an ear infection, or maybe the same cold I had again - started with a sore throat and sneezing just like 2 weeks ago. My dad's got something, too. We just can't seem to shake it this year. Hopefully with spring it will get better.
One cute S note: she's started singing something new in the past couple of weeks. It's so cute, but it never really made any sense to me, until last night. She was moving her hands and then she'd put her arms up and then bring them down, and I got to thinking about it and said, "Are you singing Itsy Bitsy Spider?" She smiled her adorable smile. So we sang it together. I haven't sang it with her for awhile, so I imagine she's been singing it at the sitter's or with my parents. We need to get the camcorder out!
Photo courtesy of R. Peters Photography, http://www.rebeccapetersblog.com/
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Quiverfull vs. Feminism
There was an article on Newsweek's website today about "extreme motherhood" - families with 8, 12, 18 children, and how many of them are like that because they have a Quiverfull ideology. Basically they believe that any form of birth control, even family planning, is the precursor to abortion. They are anti the feminism movement, and pro Biblical submission. While it did a decent job of avoiding passing judgment too harshly, there was definitely a bias insinuating that anyone who thinks this way is a bit of a nut. But for my two cents, people can say they're shocked at the idea that the feminist movement was not all it's cracked up to be, but without it, we wouldn't have become a society that requires double incomes to own a home. Granted some of that is perception; many could afford it if they made other sacrifices, but a great portion of us can't. The fact that most homes have two working parents or single parents leaves our kids to be raised by people other than us. While it does take a village to raise a child, the parents still need to be the ones who are the primary caregivers, and that's usually not the case. Kids spend 40 hours a week in childcare and 20-30 with their parents. Who's really raising them? It's no wonder there's such a backlash. I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom and still hope to achieve that goal at some point, although it's just not possible for us right now. There are many of my friends who feel the same way, but there's a condescension from the public that to lower oneself to being "just" a stay at home mom and not having a "real" job is failing to live up to one's potential. I believe there's no greater job than raising a child and the only way to fully realize my potential is to be a devoted wife and mother. Not to mention how much better our husband's lives would be if we were there to be full time helpmates instead of giving them the leftovers after we've worked all day and taken care of the kids. I'm so proud of my friends who have more than 2-3 kids - the acceptable average it seems - for having the courage to go against the grain and welcome a world of love into their lives. If I were younger when I'd started my family, I would like to think I would have done the same.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
It's a beautiful St. Pat's - sunny and supposed to be up to 80 today. Good thing the heat's finally fixed at the office....
Last weekend we went to St. Louis to visit Aunt J and Uncle K. We went to the zoo on Saturday since it was in the upper 50s and nice out. That was my first time going to the one in St. Louis, and S's first trip to any zoo. It was fun. We went through the kids part and she got to pet the goats and see lemurs and play on a playground. Then we saw elephants, hippos and bears. We went to a frog room where they had guinea pigs, meerkats and snakes. Then we went through the penguin section and saw them and the puffins. While on the train, we saw the tigers. We didn't make it to the giraffes or monkeys which were two areas we wanted to see. We ended up staying about two hours longer than we'd planned, but didn't come close to seeing everything. We'll have to go back again. There were some ducks on the other side of the fence by the pond and S walked over to them and started to put her finger through - thankfully I saw that coming and grabbed her just before the duck almost bit her. She was pretty good although tired. She didn't sleep well at all while we were there. She had a good time playing with the dogs. She started out a little timid, but by the end was playing fetch with Buddy and when he would lie down to rest she would motion with her arms and say "Up! Up!".
Last weekend we went to St. Louis to visit Aunt J and Uncle K. We went to the zoo on Saturday since it was in the upper 50s and nice out. That was my first time going to the one in St. Louis, and S's first trip to any zoo. It was fun. We went through the kids part and she got to pet the goats and see lemurs and play on a playground. Then we saw elephants, hippos and bears. We went to a frog room where they had guinea pigs, meerkats and snakes. Then we went through the penguin section and saw them and the puffins. While on the train, we saw the tigers. We didn't make it to the giraffes or monkeys which were two areas we wanted to see. We ended up staying about two hours longer than we'd planned, but didn't come close to seeing everything. We'll have to go back again. There were some ducks on the other side of the fence by the pond and S walked over to them and started to put her finger through - thankfully I saw that coming and grabbed her just before the duck almost bit her. She was pretty good although tired. She didn't sleep well at all while we were there. She had a good time playing with the dogs. She started out a little timid, but by the end was playing fetch with Buddy and when he would lie down to rest she would motion with her arms and say "Up! Up!".
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Nordic Tuesday...and Wednesday, etc.
There's a FedEx commercial that's out now that shows a bunch of people in an office huddled around a trash can fire on Tuesdays when they turn off the heat as a way of trying to save money.
http://mediacenter.fedex.designcdt.com/node/274
It makes us all laugh here at the office because our heater has been broken for a couple of weeks and we all are wearing our winter coats and gloves and using space heaters to keep warm.
DH started brewing his own beer, and I thought it was a funny hobby for him because #1, he's not much of a beer drinker, and #2, he doesn't have the patience to wait the 10 weeks it takes for it to be done. But whatever makes him happy. :) The first batch is finally done, and he's not thrilled with it. It's still a little green though, so I think it will be fine in a couple of weeks.
S is saying so many new words - one or two a day - it's amazing! She learned "moon" last week so now she looks for it in the daytime, and when she can't find it, she shrugs her shoulders like "where did it go?" So cute! This morning she was snapping and unsnapping the strap on her high chair (one of her fave things to do as she says "snap" over and over), and I said, "You are just a snapping fool!" and she said "a FOO'!" It was so cute - I was cracking up. We have a little Mr. T now. DH has taught her how to put her arms up in her car seat when we go down a hill and say "Whee!" like she's on a roller coaster. So funny! Of course now she's at an age when he can teach her almost anything and that is a little dangerous. We're trying to teach her how to jump, and she's so close, but she kind of gallops more than jumps. She'll get there!
She's struggling a little with bedtime right now, but we're hoping she'll get a little better when we get her big girl bed delivered in a couple of weeks. We were going to get it at the beginning of Feb, but then we put the house on the market and didn't want to mess with it. Still no offers though, and she's thrashing so much in her crib, I am worried she'll hurt herself if we don't move her to a bed, soon. Oh, the drama! She makes me laugh, though, because she has learned how to have a temper tantrum and ease onto the floor instead of flopping. I'm glad because I was always worried about her getting hurt, but it's pretty funny, too, because it's even more obvious that she's just being a drama queen. But we've got to get the sleeping thing figured out. The last few nights have been terrible and last night was the worst - it took two hours to get her down and we ended up just letting her sleep with us.
She really seems to enjoy the daycare we take her to on Mondays now. There is a little boy and a little girl who are her age that are there as well as a dog. The woman who watches her is a sweet, grandmotherly type and the kids just love her.
The house is still on the market. It's a rough time to sell. We've had about 20 showings in 5 1/2 weeks and no offers. Several comments on the kitchen being too small. Unfortunately, not much we can do about that. The realtor is going to stop by this week and see if he can make any suggestions to give the illusion that it's bigger than it is. I told DH maybe we could move the computer out, but we'll see what the realtor says.
We're going to St. Louis this weekend which I'm so excited about. I asked S if she was excited to see her aunt and uncle and she smiled really big. It will be interesting to see how she does with the puppies. We're planning to go to the zoo which should be fun. Hopefully it won't be too cold.
http://mediacenter.fedex.designcdt.com/node/274
It makes us all laugh here at the office because our heater has been broken for a couple of weeks and we all are wearing our winter coats and gloves and using space heaters to keep warm.
DH started brewing his own beer, and I thought it was a funny hobby for him because #1, he's not much of a beer drinker, and #2, he doesn't have the patience to wait the 10 weeks it takes for it to be done. But whatever makes him happy. :) The first batch is finally done, and he's not thrilled with it. It's still a little green though, so I think it will be fine in a couple of weeks.
S is saying so many new words - one or two a day - it's amazing! She learned "moon" last week so now she looks for it in the daytime, and when she can't find it, she shrugs her shoulders like "where did it go?" So cute! This morning she was snapping and unsnapping the strap on her high chair (one of her fave things to do as she says "snap" over and over), and I said, "You are just a snapping fool!" and she said "a FOO'!" It was so cute - I was cracking up. We have a little Mr. T now. DH has taught her how to put her arms up in her car seat when we go down a hill and say "Whee!" like she's on a roller coaster. So funny! Of course now she's at an age when he can teach her almost anything and that is a little dangerous. We're trying to teach her how to jump, and she's so close, but she kind of gallops more than jumps. She'll get there!
She's struggling a little with bedtime right now, but we're hoping she'll get a little better when we get her big girl bed delivered in a couple of weeks. We were going to get it at the beginning of Feb, but then we put the house on the market and didn't want to mess with it. Still no offers though, and she's thrashing so much in her crib, I am worried she'll hurt herself if we don't move her to a bed, soon. Oh, the drama! She makes me laugh, though, because she has learned how to have a temper tantrum and ease onto the floor instead of flopping. I'm glad because I was always worried about her getting hurt, but it's pretty funny, too, because it's even more obvious that she's just being a drama queen. But we've got to get the sleeping thing figured out. The last few nights have been terrible and last night was the worst - it took two hours to get her down and we ended up just letting her sleep with us.
She really seems to enjoy the daycare we take her to on Mondays now. There is a little boy and a little girl who are her age that are there as well as a dog. The woman who watches her is a sweet, grandmotherly type and the kids just love her.
The house is still on the market. It's a rough time to sell. We've had about 20 showings in 5 1/2 weeks and no offers. Several comments on the kitchen being too small. Unfortunately, not much we can do about that. The realtor is going to stop by this week and see if he can make any suggestions to give the illusion that it's bigger than it is. I told DH maybe we could move the computer out, but we'll see what the realtor says.
We're going to St. Louis this weekend which I'm so excited about. I asked S if she was excited to see her aunt and uncle and she smiled really big. It will be interesting to see how she does with the puppies. We're planning to go to the zoo which should be fun. Hopefully it won't be too cold.
Big news!
3/11/09
We found out some big news on Sunday - we're expecting! We'd been trying for a few months but my schedule was all out of whack. Finally I felt like my body was telling me something so I got a pregnancy test, and Sunday we all three checked the results - positive!
3/12/09
Even though I'm thrilled to have another child, I'm dreading the C-section that's sure to happen in a few months. But I was sort of able to get over that fear since it's still pretty far away. My fear of needles, however, is as prevalent as ever, and unfortunately, more in the forefront. When I was pregnant with S, I had low progesterone levels, so I wanted to get checked for that with this pregnancy as well. So Monday morning, I sucked it up and went in for my blood test. The nurse tried my left arm, but I was too tense and she couldn't hit it, so we went back to a room where I could lie down, and she got it from my right arm. Unpleasant, but I survived! The results came back yesterday and my progesterone level was fine, but they saw that my HCG level was only 815, so they wanted to check it again to make sure it had doubled as it should. So back I went yesterday. Luckily the same nurse was there, so we just headed straight for a room and she got it on the first try. Praying that all looks good and I won't need anymore blood drawn for a few months!
3/17/09
Luckily on our drive to St. Louis Friday, we found out that the HCG level was where it should be. Whew! Last night though, I had some bleeding and got a little panicky. I grabbed my What to Expect book and found that can happen sometimes but to monitor it and if it happens in conjunction with cramping or continues for a couple of days, it can be signs of a miscarriage. I had walked to the store with S that evening, so I thought I may have overdone it and laid down for awhile. I'm fine today, so hopefully that's all it was. I haven't had any morning sickness per se, but my stomach doesn't feel very well. I'm not exactly nauseous; it's almost more like a knot in my gut. Two weeks from today is my dr. appt. so hopefully everything will go well until then.
3/18/09
I seem to be fine today. I was worried that I might overdo it when I had to run home to clean the house for a showing this morning - between being gone over the weekend and not feeling well last night, it was a pit! - but I'm feeling fine. Still sending up prayers for the baby to be healthy, though.
3/23/09
Well, the morning sickness has started. I think?? It's been very strange. Friday I felt like I had stomach cramps, kind of like when you eat too much popcorn or too many peanuts. Then I had the chills, so I thought maybe I had a stomach bug? I never felt like I needed to throw up, but I thought I was going to have diarrhea and never did. It got worse and worse as the evening went on so I went to bed a little early. The next morning I felt better - still the uncomfortable knot, but not the painful cramping. Then Saturday night, it happened again, and Sunday, and today. So I called the dr. - I've never heard of morning sickness like this - and the nurse said they hadn't either but to try taking some Zantac. So I'm going to give that a whirl.
4/19/09
So I think that must have been a stomach bug, because it only last 4-5 days. Weird.
I had my first appt. and had an ultrasound. There was just one baby and the heart was beating. Yea! We were going to keep it on the DL until I was 12 weeks, but it's sort of leaked out to different groups over the last week and a half, so after I tell another group of friends this Friday, I'm going to go ahead and post this and send an email to those who haven't heard yet. I'll be 10 weeks by Friday, so that's pretty close.
We found out our level 2 sonogram is June 10th. Assuming the baby cooperates, we will be finding out the sex this time around. :)
S is very cute about the pregnancy. We wanted her involved from the beginning, even though she doesn't really understand it all yet. When I took my pregnancy test, I left it for a few minutes, and then all three of us looked at the results together. Since then, we've occasionally mentioned that there's a baby in mommy's tummy. Daddy will kiss my belly, so now Sammie will say "Kiss baby?", and she'll kiss my belly. So cute!
Other than that, I thought of a cute annoucement idea, so I need to start working on those. And, most importantly (in DH's mind), we need to move!
4/29/09
Today I had my 12 week appointment. We weren't able to hear the heartbeat, but we saw it on the ultrasound and all looks good. It looks like a baby now instead of just a bean so it feels more real. We got two good prints - one of a profile and one of the whole body, - head, torso and legs. I'm feeling well still, and hadn't gained any weight yet (which is good since I'm already heavier than I wanted to be when I got pregnant again). I had planned to make the annoucement a couple of weeks ago but was waiting til I got together with a couple of friends and we had to postpone, so I am going to send it this Friday. DH came up with another girl name that I love, so I don't get to pick again, dang it! But that's ok.
We found out some big news on Sunday - we're expecting! We'd been trying for a few months but my schedule was all out of whack. Finally I felt like my body was telling me something so I got a pregnancy test, and Sunday we all three checked the results - positive!
3/12/09
Even though I'm thrilled to have another child, I'm dreading the C-section that's sure to happen in a few months. But I was sort of able to get over that fear since it's still pretty far away. My fear of needles, however, is as prevalent as ever, and unfortunately, more in the forefront. When I was pregnant with S, I had low progesterone levels, so I wanted to get checked for that with this pregnancy as well. So Monday morning, I sucked it up and went in for my blood test. The nurse tried my left arm, but I was too tense and she couldn't hit it, so we went back to a room where I could lie down, and she got it from my right arm. Unpleasant, but I survived! The results came back yesterday and my progesterone level was fine, but they saw that my HCG level was only 815, so they wanted to check it again to make sure it had doubled as it should. So back I went yesterday. Luckily the same nurse was there, so we just headed straight for a room and she got it on the first try. Praying that all looks good and I won't need anymore blood drawn for a few months!
3/17/09
Luckily on our drive to St. Louis Friday, we found out that the HCG level was where it should be. Whew! Last night though, I had some bleeding and got a little panicky. I grabbed my What to Expect book and found that can happen sometimes but to monitor it and if it happens in conjunction with cramping or continues for a couple of days, it can be signs of a miscarriage. I had walked to the store with S that evening, so I thought I may have overdone it and laid down for awhile. I'm fine today, so hopefully that's all it was. I haven't had any morning sickness per se, but my stomach doesn't feel very well. I'm not exactly nauseous; it's almost more like a knot in my gut. Two weeks from today is my dr. appt. so hopefully everything will go well until then.
3/18/09
I seem to be fine today. I was worried that I might overdo it when I had to run home to clean the house for a showing this morning - between being gone over the weekend and not feeling well last night, it was a pit! - but I'm feeling fine. Still sending up prayers for the baby to be healthy, though.
3/23/09
Well, the morning sickness has started. I think?? It's been very strange. Friday I felt like I had stomach cramps, kind of like when you eat too much popcorn or too many peanuts. Then I had the chills, so I thought maybe I had a stomach bug? I never felt like I needed to throw up, but I thought I was going to have diarrhea and never did. It got worse and worse as the evening went on so I went to bed a little early. The next morning I felt better - still the uncomfortable knot, but not the painful cramping. Then Saturday night, it happened again, and Sunday, and today. So I called the dr. - I've never heard of morning sickness like this - and the nurse said they hadn't either but to try taking some Zantac. So I'm going to give that a whirl.
4/19/09
So I think that must have been a stomach bug, because it only last 4-5 days. Weird.
I had my first appt. and had an ultrasound. There was just one baby and the heart was beating. Yea! We were going to keep it on the DL until I was 12 weeks, but it's sort of leaked out to different groups over the last week and a half, so after I tell another group of friends this Friday, I'm going to go ahead and post this and send an email to those who haven't heard yet. I'll be 10 weeks by Friday, so that's pretty close.
We found out our level 2 sonogram is June 10th. Assuming the baby cooperates, we will be finding out the sex this time around. :)
S is very cute about the pregnancy. We wanted her involved from the beginning, even though she doesn't really understand it all yet. When I took my pregnancy test, I left it for a few minutes, and then all three of us looked at the results together. Since then, we've occasionally mentioned that there's a baby in mommy's tummy. Daddy will kiss my belly, so now Sammie will say "Kiss baby?", and she'll kiss my belly. So cute!
Other than that, I thought of a cute annoucement idea, so I need to start working on those. And, most importantly (in DH's mind), we need to move!
4/29/09
Today I had my 12 week appointment. We weren't able to hear the heartbeat, but we saw it on the ultrasound and all looks good. It looks like a baby now instead of just a bean so it feels more real. We got two good prints - one of a profile and one of the whole body, - head, torso and legs. I'm feeling well still, and hadn't gained any weight yet (which is good since I'm already heavier than I wanted to be when I got pregnant again). I had planned to make the annoucement a couple of weeks ago but was waiting til I got together with a couple of friends and we had to postpone, so I am going to send it this Friday. DH came up with another girl name that I love, so I don't get to pick again, dang it! But that's ok.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Snow and a Battle of Wills
The big news from this weekend is we had a big snowstorm Friday night into Saturday morning. I was disappointed that none of S's snow gear fits anymore; while we often get snow into March, it just didn't seem to make sense to buy more for her for this season. She and DH did play in it for a bit, but it was too cold to make a snowman or go sledding.
This morning we had our first big battle of wills. S accidentally knocked the Cheerios over on the floor so I asked her to pick them up. She got about half of them before deciding she didn't want to do it anymore. An hour and a half and 2 time outs later, she finally finished picking them up. I have a feeling we'll have more of those experiences instead of fewer as time goes on...
KU kicked Mizzou's bootie today! It was very exciting, a from the start which we didn't expect. Samantha watched a lot of fist-pumping "YES!" moments and started imitating us. Good thing it wasn't a losing game. :)
Work was frustrating the last few days. I was there late Friday and had to go in Saturday for a few hours. And I've had a cold again since Wednesday but since I'm out of sick days, I've just been trying to suck it up. Unfortunately, as the days go by, I feel worse instead of better. Just trying to hang in there a few more days as I'm sure it will run its course. On the upside, I was able to get out of work in time to get some scrapbooking in with girls from work which was fun.
I can't believe it's March and S is 19 months old! She's learning more every day. She's gotten very good at putting on her socks and can often get her shoes and pants on by herself (if she's willing to wear clothes, that is!). She is feeding herself with a spoon so well she eats yogurt on her own now, too, although it's still messy. She stacks her shape-sorter blocks 8 high, and loves to "read" her books. She started trying to put a diaper on her baby doll. So cute!
This morning we had our first big battle of wills. S accidentally knocked the Cheerios over on the floor so I asked her to pick them up. She got about half of them before deciding she didn't want to do it anymore. An hour and a half and 2 time outs later, she finally finished picking them up. I have a feeling we'll have more of those experiences instead of fewer as time goes on...
KU kicked Mizzou's bootie today! It was very exciting, a from the start which we didn't expect. Samantha watched a lot of fist-pumping "YES!" moments and started imitating us. Good thing it wasn't a losing game. :)
Work was frustrating the last few days. I was there late Friday and had to go in Saturday for a few hours. And I've had a cold again since Wednesday but since I'm out of sick days, I've just been trying to suck it up. Unfortunately, as the days go by, I feel worse instead of better. Just trying to hang in there a few more days as I'm sure it will run its course. On the upside, I was able to get out of work in time to get some scrapbooking in with girls from work which was fun.
I can't believe it's March and S is 19 months old! She's learning more every day. She's gotten very good at putting on her socks and can often get her shoes and pants on by herself (if she's willing to wear clothes, that is!). She is feeding herself with a spoon so well she eats yogurt on her own now, too, although it's still messy. She stacks her shape-sorter blocks 8 high, and loves to "read" her books. She started trying to put a diaper on her baby doll. So cute!
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