IT’S A……GIRL!!!

Apparently my motherly instincts are totally wrong – I was sure we were having a blonde haired little boy and instead we have a little girl with a whole head of dark hair!  Gracyn Linnea (Linnea is Tom’s mom and grandma’s middle name) was born yesterday, April 16th at 5:32 p.m.  She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.  She is absolutely beautiful –and the “missing link” between Micah and Makenzie!  Gracyn has her sister’s dark hair and bright eyes but her brother’s nose and mouth.  Makenzie and Micah have done great –they’re both pretty thrilled with baby sister, in fact Micah man had a tough time going to sleep tonight because he was sure baby sister should “nuggle” with him. Hopefully I’ll get pictures uploaded soon –for now, we are home and doing well and SO, SO blessed! 

Just what I needed….

It’s been one of those weeks around here – you know, the kind where mama is way to crabby and the 2 year old isn’t sleeping well and is taking great joy in antagonizing his sister and the 4 year old is testing the little tiny bit of patience that mom still has…..and the daddy is gone for 4 days (not to mention the crabby not so patient mom is also nearly 39 weeks pregnant and slightly freaking out at the prospect of the hubby not making it home if she goes into labor). 

BUT, today has been fantastic!  The sun is shining, the weather is warm, the kids can run and play outside while I sit in my favorite red lawn chair soaking up the sun (and occasionally playing referee), we have a play date with friends after naptime….and the icing on the cake, both babes are down for naps and I found this article on a blog I love to read.  Perhaps my favorite part of the article was the quote at the beginning -- “God doesn’t expect us to be instant experts at something we’ve never done before. And he promises to make up the difference.” 

And I’m SO, SO thankful for His help in this adventure called parenting! 

1st quarter review…..

In case you missed it, I actually made some New Year’s Resolutions this year –and because I don’t want to just make them and forget until December rolls around (that and the fact that I’m not almost 38 weeks pregnant and trying to focus on everything except how ready I am to have this baby!!), I’m going to give you all an update of how I’m doing…..with any luck, I’ll try to do this quarterly, mostly just to keep myself on track!   Here is the short version of the goals -

1.  Read 6 books this year.  I just finished #5…..I started with the Help, then read Made to Crave (by Lysa TerKeurst), Unplanned (by Abby Johnson), Revolutionary Parenting (by George Barna), and Real Marriage (by Mark and Grace Driscoll.  My least favorite has probably been Revolutionary Parenting –overall it’s a good book and it had some GREAT ideas that I hope to implement in my own parenting, but it was a little too statistic/fact heavy for me and sometimes just downright discouraging. 

Our small group is going through Real Marriage, and even though we baled on small group for the time being, I decided to read the book while they were reading it.  Made to Crave has made the list of books to read again in the very near future—it’s on the post-pregnancy list…..working on changing my thinking patterns not just my eating habits to get rid of the baby weight!  Unplanned was really good too – I hadn’t really planned to read it, but Abby Johnson is speaking at a banquet that we’re going to next week and I wanted to read the book before I heard her speak….and now I’m SUPER excited to hear her! 

Next on the list – a couple of Francine Rivers books….I LOVE her books and I decided with baby’s arrival quickly approaching some good novels (i.e. no thinking required) would be good!  I think it’s safe to say this goal will be met this year!

2.  Be more strategic with my kiddos.  This has actually been really fun but definitely isn’t something you do once and check off the list…it’s an ongoing job (and an ongoing STRUGGLE….why is it so easy to be lazy when it comes to the time I spend with my kiddos??).   Seriously, if you have suggestions/ideas for being intentional with your kids – leave me a message, I’d love to hear!!! 

Here and here are two great links to a resource that I found to help me with this – the first is a chart I filled out for each kiddo and the second is a chart with some ideas to help you fill out the first one!  I found this in a magazine called Thriving Family (GREAT magazine by the way…if you have kids you should get on Focus on the Family’s website and subscribe!!) – and found it super helpful to sit down and put together some sort of a plan for the next year.  Makenzie actually helped with hers and set some of her own goals –2 of which she has already accomplished, learning to zip her coat and learning to tie her shoes; and just this week she asked to add 2 new goals, go across the monkey bars by herself and ride her bike without training wheels.  We also set a goal with Makenzie to work on memorizing Bible verses and it’s been really fun to see her soak this up like a little sponge!  We’ve been going through a family devotion book called Step Into the Bible (by Ruth Graham….another REALLY GREAT resource if you’re interested)….the kids and I like to read a story each morning and there’s a bible verse with each story (the bible verse is the same for about a week at a time which makes it easier to get it memorized).  She does an amazing job of remembering all the verses we’ve memorized in past weeks too –I’ll have to post a video of her reciting everything, it’s pretty incredible! 

Micah man has also memorized a bible verse…well kind of (in his own 2 year old way)…which requires a lot of prompting and repeating after mom!  We’ve focused with him on Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”  This is one Makenzie also memorized and it proved to be a good starting place for talking about the fact that God also made them….Micah loves to have you ask him, “Who made you?” And he responds with a big smile, “God”….and then the follow up question, “And that means you’re….”  “Good” he yells with another big smile!  I’ll post more another day about the goals we set and how we’re doing….that deserves a post of it’s own.

I also made a couple of changes in the way I do things – for starters, no more computer in the morning….no email checking until I get to work so that I focus my time and attention on the kids, grocery shopping on Sunday or Monday night instead of Tuesdays with kids, and saving laundry folding until naptime instead of trying to do it while entertaining kids (because that usually means screaming kids and mom). 

Being more strategic has also meant planning more activities to do together instead of just “winging it” each day…..practically speaking, this has meant a whole lot of crafting, coloring, painting because those are the things Makenzie LOVES to do and Micah is happy to join in…..unfortunately, these are things that kind of make me cringe because I really hate messes and any sort of art with a 2 and 4 year old generally means a mess!   We’re loving the warm weather though and looking forward to spending more time outside (and maybe moving the crafts outside)!! 

3.  Make at least one positive change.  This is something I’m still wrestling with and trying to figure out just what “change” is going to look like…..but in the mean time, one little change is that I’m no longer taking juvenile court appointments out of one of the counties I used to work in.  They only have court on Fridays….which means every time I have a hearing, it takes away from time I would otherwise have at home.  I didn’t bail out of the cases I’m currently appointed too, but I’m not taking any new ones – so I hope that in the near future I’ll be completely done with Friday court.  For now, I’m working to consolidate hearings so that I can review multiple cases on one Friday and not have to appear several times a month.  It seems to be working – I had one Friday court hearing this month and now I have NOTHING until June 1st—and I have 3 cases set for that day!  

4.  Get organized at home.   We’ve made good progress on this – the house is all flipped, all the bedrooms are organized and decorated, and the nursery is all set up.  I still have high hopes of doing a little more closet cleaning (mostly cleaning out & hauling to good will) and toy purging and I have a couple “big” projects to finish this year- replacing the front door and living room lights and painting the trim on the house….not that those are really part of getting "organized” but they’re on my home to do list.  

Not bad progress if I do say so myself! I’m pretty sure the next few months will be spent in survival mode as we figure out how to manage three children….so don’t expect quite so much in the next update!

Still here :)

Yep, we’re still here and I’m still preggo…a full 37 weeks!  I had a minor panic attack Monday when the doctor told me I was already 3 cm dilated (sorry if that’s TMI for some of you!)….with Makenzie I never dilated beyond 1 1/2 cm before I was induced at 41 weeks and with Micah I was dilated 2 cm at 38 weeks and in labor 2 days later.   But we’ve made it nearly a week and in that week I’ve gotten everything put together at work so that I can go on maternity leave (hopefully) without any major crises, made a couple meals and bought some MSPI friendly groceries (yay rice milk)!  And most importantly, this baby had another week to grow –my doctor thought baby was pretty small (on track to be a 7 lb baby at 40 weeks….but that meant only about 5 lbs at 36 weeks)….so each week this babe can grow is good!

I wouldn’t mind having 1 more day in the office to finish up a few last minute things….anything beyond that is just a bonus – and I’m sure my partners would prefer I make it another week so that they don’t have to cover my 5 court hearings scheduled between April 2 and 9!  

Reality check

We’ve officially hit the 36 week mark – and here’s a picture to prove it!  Holy basketball belly!  

Hard to believe we’re only 4 weeks from meeting this little monkey (or 2 weeks if this one is as early as Micah or 5 weeks if we’re operating on Makenzie time…I’m hoping for something closer to 2!!)

For the most part, I think we’re ready – the crib is up, baby clothes are washed and put away, hospital bag is semi-packed and I’m pretty well done with being preggo….but there is part of me that keeps remembering that it will not get easier!  Life is about to get a whole lot busier, sleep will be less frequent and instead of 2 kids yelling for mom, we’ll soon have 3.   And when I think about the possibility of a repeat of Micah’s first three weeks, I think maybe I should hope for 6 more months of pregnancy just to prepare myself emotionally.  Micah’s first few weeks were ROUGH - lots of crying, no sleeping, and then figuring out the poor little guy was MISERABLE because he was dairy and soy intolerant.  Things definitely improved once we figured this out – but it still wasn’t easy.  I had to cut all dairy and soy from my diet – and when I inadvertently ate something with dairy or soy in it, we were right back to crying, hurting baby and a guilt laden mama.  Not exactly the recipe for a fun household. 

I’ve spent lots of time praying that this time will be better – that  we won’t have to deal with MSPI issues or if we do, that I’ll be better prepared and it won’t be such a crisis.  And I’ve  spent lots of time putting together a “game plan” for making round 3 better, even if we do have MSPI issues….probably the biggest thing - admitting when I’ve had TOO much and need a break (and not feeling guilty about taking a break from crying baby).  I’ve also decided to start with a dairy/soy free diet as soon as this baby is born – and then we’ll try slowly adding in dairy and soy…I’m hopeful that by doing this we’ll avoid 3 weeks of crying baby and if we notice changes with just a little dairy/soy, it will be easy to correct the problem!  AND, as soon as we know we’re done with MSPI issues….whether that’s right away or in 6-12 months – there will be a PARTY….with lots and lots of ice cream!

Before I was a Mom….

Before I was a mom, I never knew:

* how exasperating putting shoes and socks on a 2 year old  could be….especially when it’s the 4th time I’ve put them on in 20 minutes as we’re trying to get out the door, and I know he’ll take them off as soon as he’s buckled in his car seat which means we’ll put them on yet again before we get to our destination.

* how glorious a WHOLE night of sleep with NO interruptions could be (or how exhausting countless nights with babies waking up too many times to count would be)!

* that I would get tired of words like “mama carry” that some days I would want to scream

And quite frankly, I’m glad I didn’t know these things or I might have chosen differently…..and I wouldn’t have ever known:

* that the sound of little feet sneaking into my bedroom at the crack of dawn would melt my heart and bring a smile to my face.

* that I would be sad when I realize I’ve heard phrases like “mama carry” for the last time because it means my babies are growing up

* the joy and amazement (and understanding of “faith of a child”) that would come in hearing my 4 year old explain that she has eternal life because she asked Jesus into her heart and now He lives there.

A Random Quick 5

I can’t seem to put together a coherent blog post lately, so here’s a quick 5 update:

1.  Mom-cation…..I took a little vacation last week and it was wonderful!  Actually it wasn’t even vacation – it was continuing ed, all day on Friday.  BUT, I decided to make the trip more enjoyable and I took off work at noon on Thursday, picked up kiddos from daycare and brought them home (and put them down for naps so I didn’t have to leave with Micah crying! )  then I took off for Lincoln and spent the afternoon/evening doing a little shopping, having ice cream with a friend and snuggling her 8 week old little guy.  Friday morning I picked up Panera for breakfast  and headed to continuing ed (there’s nothing like a cinnamon crunch bagel to make 8 am continuing education more enjoyable!  I can’t tell you how nice it was to have a little break from the “norm”…I loved getting out of my routine, not getting up with kiddos in the night, and just hanging out with a good friend that I don’t get to spend nearly enough time with!  But, I’d be lying if I didn’t also tell you that I raced home as soon as we were dismissed Friday because I couldn’t wait to get home and snuggle my babies before bedtime! 

2.  Makenzie is growing like a weed!  Seriously.  At one point when we measured her this fall she was 42”….and now she’s nearly 45”.  I just bought her new size 6 jeans.  She’s 4 mind you – just turned 4 in November.    AND she’s hilarious!  She talks like she’s 4 going on 14 – and sometimes her sass gets her in trouble, but sometimes, its just plain funny.  The other day she asked me a question and when I responded, she stopped in her tracks, thought for a minute, looked at me like I was crazy and then said in her most serious voice, “are you kidding me?”  I thought I might die laughing!

3.  Micah is doing SO much better with his sleep!  We actually had several nights in a row last week where he stayed in his bed ALL night –coming into our rom around 5:30 or 6 in the morning and settling in on our floor with no screaming.  Thank you Lord for a good nights sleep!  This was shaken up a bit this weekend when the poor guy came down with a fever and cough but I have high hopes that when he’s done coughing his lungs out, he’ll go right back to sleeping!  And when he’s well rested and feeling good, he’s a total comedian!  He’s into babbling nonsense words, mocking all of his sister’s sassiness, and making funny faces just to get a laugh!  I need to get him on video! 

4.  Whoever invented time changes apparently did not have children.  Enough said. 

5.  We’re (hopefully) less than 6 weeks from meeting this little one!  I keep telling myself that even though my due date is almost 6 weeks away, the ultrasound said baby measured a week earlier and Micah was 10 days early….so I really should have closer to 4 weeks left!   I’m choosing to ignore the fact that Makenzie was a week late and that could happen again….I’ll deal with that if/when the time comes, for now I’m enjoying the idea of only having 4 more weeks of pregnancy left!