Happy 8 Weeks, Baby Girl!

Eight weeks ago today, she was born and my heart, 

once again, began to beat for someone other than myself.  

We are praising God for this healthy little one that 

He blessed our family with.  

Weekly Menu- August 29th, 2011

Monday evening-  Taco Nite (ground beef with corn and black beans)with toppings, salsa, guacamole and chips

Tuesday evening-  Chicken pot pie

Wednesday evening-  Leftover tacos

Thursday evening-  Breakfast-  Pancakes with baked apples and bacon

Friday evening-  Pork chops(in crockpot), homemade apple sauce, butter beans and rolls

Saturday evening-  Homemade Pizza and salad

Sunday evening-  (Leftover freezer meal) PW Chicken Spaghetti with a veggie and rolls


Another week of eating out of our cabinets and freezer!  I just remembered, after making the menu, that next weekend is a holiday weekend!  Oops!  I might have to sneak in some yummy BBQ and a lemon pie for the Hubster!

 By the way, my parents just got back from a mini vacation from NC and brought home some apples for us!  And thats why there are so many things with "apples" on our menu!  Now we only have to go another month before we can stock up again during our annual apple picking trip!  I have already made Baked Oatmeal and have had quite a few apple and peanut butter snacks with the kids!  Yum O!  I love apple season!  A few other things I plan to make with this bundle of apples is our apple bread, a apple pie and a yummy apple and granola treat for this kids!  :o)

4 Down

Well, we have lost another tooth!  This is number four for our Bubbie and he was so brave getting this one pulled out!  Such a big difference from February when he lost his first one in a delirious state and after much coaxing, holding down, screams and crying!  LOL

Hubbie and I always struggle with what is the "fair" tooth fairy's rate.  The first tooth, we, of course, gave more money than we planned to for the rest.  But for the last two, we can't remember what we gave.  Bubbie got a few dollars when he lost the last tooth, we're assuming and we didn't have "that" much the evening he lost this new one, so we came up with a quick plan....

Bubbie woke up, brought us the note and had tears in his eyes.  He said "Mom, the Tooth Fairy said that my tooth wasn't good enough for money!"  Bless his heart!  I asked him if he had read the note.  He said he had tried, but that he didn't know how to read "this kind of writing" aka cursive!  I quickly told him that the Tooth Fairy was "fancy" and had forgotten that little boys haven't been taught cursive!  LOL  As soon as I read the note, Bubbie was SUPER DUPER excited!  

Whew!  We survived yet another tooth loss!  

Way to go Bubbie!

Fun Outdoors

Today had a cool morning forecasted, so we decided to head over to a local walking track that has some pretty scenery along the river. 

Sweet baby girl hung out in the stroller and she didn't make a peep!  I think she liked the outdoors and the stroller!   

All of the boys walked.  It had to have been at least a mile or two there and back. They did a great job.  

Of course, we had a lot of complaints, many stops along the way, piggy back rides and a few bribes {All payback from my childhood of nasty attitudes on family, outdoor outings- sorry Dad&Mom}, but we did it.  

And look what we found!  The biggest grasshoper I've ever seen!  EEk!  

And don't forget the PARENTS! 

To get a hat like mine, check out Polka Dots and Stripes!  Michelle ships! 

 

Germs and Jesus

Saw this posted on Pinterest( found on etsy) and I giggle every time I see it.  

If you know me, you know I'm a huge GERM-A-PHOBE! And I believe in the power of prayer, because I've seen Him answer in amazing ways!  

Must get this!  :o)  

10 Ways To Prepare Your Preschooler for Kindergarten

FPU Deal and Free Download

Dave Ramsey is offering a free download of the audio from the Great Recovery event.  If you aren't familiar with Dave Ramsey and his ministry, go here and here.  To get the free download and to see the FPU deal, go here.

Whether you need financial help or have any interest in fixing some things, I encourage you to listen to the audio. I got quite emotional listening to people's testimonies of how God used Dave Ramsey and his ministry to bring marriages back together and people back to Him.  I thought the event was phenomenal!   

Hubbie and I know, first hand, that our God is a God of restoration.  Without His forgiveness and love and grace, I'm not sure what would have become of our family.  He restored our marriage and our relationships with Him quite a few years ago after we hit rock bottom in our finances.  God, using the ministry of Financial Peace University and a handful of people's prayers, counseling and help, brought us out of a dark, dark place and back to Him.  We learned how to budget, communicate with each other, live off of one income and most of all, how to have similar and Christ-like goals for our life.  Because of what we learned, we paid off $50,000 and became debt free in September 2010.



      “For great is his love toward us...” Psalm 117:2



**i was not asked to post this by anyone or for any type of gain  this is something that has a special place in our hearts  :o)

First Bible

Bubbie was moved into a new class at church at the beginning of the summer!  He was so excited to be a "big kid" and has a lot of fun!  He was so sweet to tell his little brother, Peanut, that he was going to miss him during kids worship!  Before, when Bubbie was in the Kindergarten class, the toddler class joined the "big kids" for worship!  They always stood next to each other and they enjoyed it so much!

Now that Bubbie is in the big kids class, they are asked to bring their Bibles!  This got me to thinking that he didn't have a "real" Bible!  So off to Lifeway Christian!  We found the perfect "cool" big boy Bible and he is doing such a fantastic job reading it!

Not only are the kids asked to bring their Bibles, but a challenge was issued to learn Psalm 23 for this week!  Bubbie is doing an awesome job and half way through!

Like I've said before, we love our church and the fact that they aren't just another church that is trying to be a "relevant" church and only seeker friendly!  They encourage you to bring your Bibles, learn Scripture, to pray, study daily.... all things that I think churches should be reminded people to do!

First Church Service

August 22, 2011 was Baby Girl's first trip to church and our family's first time back after the birth of our little one.

We had planned to go back to church a few weeks earlier, but a couple of things happened to delay our return!  And, of course, being a germ freak,  I'm always a bit fearful of germs with a little one in the house and sending three kiddos to three different classes!  With an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth and a stomach bug going around town, I was giving it all to God and praying for health and encouragement from our morning!    I think the kids were as excited to be back as I was!  We had talked about our "going back" for a few weeks and the kids missed their classes!

We, of course, kept Baby Girl with us in church and she did great!  I was very anxious about her all of the sudden deciding that she was hungry NOW! and it disturbing the service.  I had one hand on her the entire time, rocking her in the carseat!  Next time, we'll probably show up sportin' our Sleepy Wrap, which is how I prefer to attend church with my itty bitty ones!

The sermon was great and as always, thought provoking!  The kids learn so much from their classes and I am so thankful for finding such a great place for us to learn and grow!  Now that we've moved and had our final itty bitty, we are all anxious to get plugged in and find out where God wants us to serve, in the midst of such a busy time in our lives!

Weekly Meal Plan- August 21st, 2011

Meant to post on Sunday!  oops!  

Sunday- Out

Monday-  Mexican Chicken in tortillas w/ chips (leftover from last week)

Tuesday-  Spaghetti, salad and french bread

Wednesday-  Leftover Mexican chicken

Thursday-  Leftover Spaghetti, corn and rolls

Friday-  Frozen pizza, bread sticks and fruit

Saturday-  Breakfast

Sunday-  Mac and cheese with veggies and rolls


Not an exciting week food wise!  End of the month and a lot of expenses needed next month so I'm trying to make due with the groceries in the house!  :o)  So hopefully we can make do and not wander to area restaurants!!!

I plan to make some granola, granola bars and a yummy new dish I saw on Pinterest.  The kids, schooling, house work and lack of sleep have me feeling quite overwhelmed this week, so we'll see what gets done!

Motherhood and Body Image

Baby Girl is 6 weeks old (update to come... been a busy week) and I have made it through my 6 weeks of c-section recovery with few issues.  I saw my OBGYN today and have been "cleared" for life!  Sadly, I really didn't have much more than two weeks of "down time" and since then, its been life as usual for this Mama of four.

As I begin to plan and focus my thoughts towards weight loss, I can become discouraged that even though I did lose my "baby weight" from this pregnancy, I am no where near the "size" I wore.  Finding pants to fit is becoming rather difficult and skirts and stretchy pants have become my best friend. Even though I just had a baby six weeks ago, I am anxious to lose this weight and get my body back!

I am encouraged by these words below....

Motherhood is a demanding job. It is so demanding and intrusive, in fact, that it takes over your body. It uses your body, oftentimes rather roughly. This can start to bother us.

Our bodies are tools, not treasures. You should not spend your days trying to preserve your body in its eighteen-year-old form. Let it be used. By the time you die, you want to have a very dinged and dinted body. Motherhood uses your body in the way that God designed it to be used. Those are the right kind of damages. There are of course ways to hurt your body that are outside of God’s design for it and disobedient. But motherhood is what your stomach was made for – and any wear and tear that it shows is simply the sign of a well-used tool. We are not to treat our bodies like museum pieces. They were not given to us to preserve, they were given to us to use. So use it cheerfully, and maintain it cheerfully.

Scars and stretch marks and muffin tops are all part of your kingdom work. One of the greatest testimonies Christian women can have in our world today is the testimony of joyfully giving your body to another. While so many women choose to not have children or abort the children they were given, the testimony of women who know the cost and joyfully pay it is profound. So make sure that you aren’t buying into the world’s propaganda. The reason why so many women don’t want to do it is because it is very hard and has very real costs. The Christian view of self is very different, and you need to make sure that it is the one you have.

(Rachel Jankovic – wife and mom to 5)

Peanut's Tongue Incident

WARNING:  PICTURES at the end of the post!  

Last Thursday was a very challenging day.  It wasn't that anything happened that morning, but we had been slow to get on school and I was being a bit lazy about getting the kids motivated on chores, so by the time I started to get my butt into gear, it was late and I began to panic!  We had several errands that had to be done and I preferred to do them BEFORE nap time!  

Something that made last week much worse, was the fact that Hubbie hadn't been home for dinner or the kids bedtime all week.  What a challenge that was!  Peanut was being extremely disobedient, tired, grouchy and just a pain to be around and none of the boys had napped ALL WEEK!  I was an emotional wreck and wasn't a very pleasant mom to be around.  I won't get into what I said and what my attitude was like and who I blamed, but lets just say, I was angry with just about everyone!  

So, anyway, I knew that if we had to do these errands AFTER naps, it would be a wrench in our evening and my ability to get everything done in time for a conference call at 8pm (which I had signed up to do assuming Hubbie would be home to help).  We hurried through most of our school work and it was a hour past lunch when I sat down to nurse babe quickly so that we could get out of the house!  The boys began to complain about missing lunch and I promised them a treat while we were out... HOPING..... that by the time we got home, all would be tuckered, bellies would be full AND maybe...just MAYBE we'd all get naps!  While I nursed, I turned on T.V. for the kids to watch and I noticed Peanut was sitting in Bubbie's lap.  I thought it was SO sweet that Bubba hadn't pushed him off.  Next thing I knew, I heard Bubba yelling "Get off me!"  and then LOTS of crying and blood! I panicked!  I didn't know WHAT had happened, but out of the corner of my eye I had seen Peanut move to Bubbie's back.  I guess he didn't like that and had head butt-ed him in the chin.  I called Peanut over to me, un-latched Baby Girl and hollered for Bubbie to run and get a wet wash cloth from the bathroom!  When I asked Peanut what hurt, he opened his mouth and DARK RED BLOOD gushed out of his tongue!  I thought "Oh my goodness!  He's bitten a hole straight through his tongue!"  GAG ME!  I told Peanut to close his mouth and his eyes got as big as saucers and I heard him doing a loud swallowing noise!  I just knew he was swallowing his tongue or blood or he was about to barf blood all over me!  Oh my goodness!  The babe was crying, because she wasn't done eating.  Buggy was climbing on the couch, trying to kiss his sister (at the worst possible moment!), Peanut was SOBBING and Bubbie was finally bringing the wash cloth!  We got the wash cloth on his tongue and we ran to the bathroom to see if we could investigate what was wrong!  I grabbed my phone and dialed Hubbie.  Of course, he never answers when we have a minor emergency at home!  I then got Peanut to open his mouth and I saw that the hole wasn't straight through his tongue, but that the skin had been ripped off of his tongue and it was BIG AND DEEP!  I called my Mom and thank goodness, she answered!  I asked her to come right away!  I knew that the tongue couldn't really be stitched back together, so I wasn't sure what to do or where to go.  I called the doc office.  They were closed for lunch.  My mom showed up and said it did indeed look bad!  She suggested we call my SIL, who is a nurse.  She agreed that it probably couldn't be stitched up and that if the bleeding had stopped, which is had by this point, that there wasn't much to do.  I finally got ahold of our doc office and they said that if it was the size and depth that I was describing, it needed to be seen and probably stitched.  Mom, all the kids and I hopped in the car and drove across town to see our doc.  The doc walked in and acted like it was a bite on the tongue.  Once Peanut stuck his tongue out, he said, "Whoa! Hang on!" and he went to get an older doc.  The older doc looked at it and said that if they stitched it up, Peanut would just pick and/or eat the stitches out.  Also, that his daughter had done the exact same thing and that she was 23 years older and fine!  What a blessing that God allowed a doctor in our practice to have this experience in order to calm my frantic-Mommy-nerves!   So, anyway, the doc said that within a day, Peanut would be fine.  The "hole" would close up on its own and that we should avoid hard or salty foods for a day or so.  Peanut got some ice cream from McDonalds on the way home.  When he woke up the next morning, it had already closed up quite a bit and by dinner, he was eating normal foods!  

Never did I imagine that life as a Mom would involve so many bodily liquids... especially this much blood!  And we aren't even half way through this parenting gig!  Geez!  

I couldn't have survived the day without my Mother last week and I told Hubbie that never am I moving away!  I try really REALLY hard to not be dependent on my parents for help or support or take them for granted, but after Thursday, I feel especially blessed to have such awesome parents and for the privilege and blessing to live close enough to them!

And of course, unsympathetic little brother thought that every time we asked to see Peanut's tongue, we also wanted to see his as well.  Buggy thought his tongue was "hurt" as well and would do a fake fussing and complaining about his tongue and wouldn't stop until you said "Oh my goodness!  It looks awful!  I'm so sorry!"  He'd walk away and say "Yeah" with a hurt puppy dog expression on his face!  Such a ham!

Home Schooling Co-Op and Daddy With All Four

On Monday evening, I left ALL FOUR KIDS with Hubbie while I went to registration for a home schooling co-op.  Bubbie will be taking a drawing class, an art class and a class about building, designing and programming lego structures.  These classes will be held 3 mornings a month!

If you aren't familiar with a home schooling co-op, its a community of home schoolers that organize classes in different subjects and interests for their children to take.  We debated about doing one while so many little children, but this particular one has a preschool for Peanut, a nursery for Buggy AND were OK with me keeping Baby Girl with me during the morning.  I love the classes that were available for Bubbie.  The women that are involved seem so Godly and very concerned about doing what He is calling the co-op to do.  There is no fussing or bickering.  Everyone seems to be willing to do their share and want what is best of the children.  I am really quite impressed with the group of believers!  I hope and pray, that if this is where God wants us, it will be a place the kids can grow up in and it be a long term co-op for our family!

Anyway, back to Hubbie having ALL the kids!  Because of the way the registration was going to take place, I was afraid that there wouldn't really be any point to be able to stop and nurse the babe.  I figured I'd be gone two hours, MAX, and if babe did fuss, it wouldn't be that long between feedings.  Well, because of me having to talk to someone about a class change and therefore being at the back of the line, again, I was a little later than I expected.  I left the house at 6:30 and came home at 9.  She had nursed at 5 for about 45 mins, so she went 4 hours between feedings!  She does this at night a few times a week, but never during the day!  My sweet Hubbie was able to bath the boys, get the kitchen cleaned and a babe fussing...... with the help of the sleepy wrap!!!  :o)  Yay!

I appreciated Hubbie being willing to care for all four without complaints!  It felt good to leave the house, run into Target and be able to focus on the registration process without a newborn!  I think we're gonna have to make this a weekly or at least, bi weekly thing!  :o)

Baby Girl is 6 Weeks Old

Baby Girl has definitely been growing and changing the past two weeks!  She is now 6 weeks old and did her first "real" smile at her Mama just yesterday!  What a treat!  She has the most beautiful smile and I'll be like the paparazzi until I'm able to get the smile captured!

She is still the most beautiful girl in the world and I fall more in love with her every day!