For this week

We have been busy around here. Last week we went to Orlando and spent some time at my mom's timeshare. It was a nice week by the pool, vegging in front of the T.V., going to a dinner show, and browsing DT Disney. My mom bought Lily the cutest outfit. I will take a picture of it later. It was nice just being with my family. I did come home for two Drs. appts on Monday and Thursday. Sweet Roy drove me back and forth 2.5 hours each way. I was not going to go to my NST on Thursday but, my blood pressure was high on Monday so I wanted to make sure everything looked ok. It was perfect Thursday. YAY! It's been going up and down a lot lately. Of course it's cause for concern because my OB thinks I am hypertensive. It's a long story but I'm really not. I have not been able to convince him of that though. LOL Even though my BP has been great through this whole pregnancy. It all started when it was high once a year when I went to visit him. Yeah. Ladies, we all know that it's gonna be high on THAT day. Come on. I just never could convince him of that.
My PCP has never had any issues with my BP so... draw your own conclusions.
I know it's normal for it to go up the last few weeks and it was high on Monday. Too high even for my comfort. I drink a ton of water and eat lots of protein but we are coming down to the end.

Today I am waiting on Roy to get home from his dad's house. He and the boys left Orlando and went down to see Grandpa for a day. They should be home at any time now. The girls and I had a fun night with cheap cheeseburgers from McD. and Pride and Prejudice. (The AWESOME version). Today the older girls are doing some school work. Yes, on Memorial Day. We took all of last week off. I am working on laundry and getting my closet and room cleaned up. We need to finish up the floors in our room and hopefully, fingers crossed, paint before Lily gets here in about 26 days. WOW!

I have a pretty full week planned. After I get Roy started on the floors I am moving into the kitchen to get it cleaned and organized a little better. Nest, Nest, Nest! I am taking the Supermom vitamins and Tummy Tuneup from Beeyoutiful and I will say I have noticed it has helped me along with LOTS of water and rest. I can actually get through a whole day before I crash. It's been nice.

I'm having a nice little baby shower with my church on Sunday so I need to finish cleaning up Lily's corner of our bedroom. I have her dresser ready to go just have to wait until Roy finishes up the floor to move it in. We are putting a changing station in our bathroom. We have a huge counter between the sinks so I will be putting the changing pad there and I have some baskets and a Rubbermaid drawer that fits under the counter for her changing needs.

I stole the idea from my friend Michelle. :)

Well, that is all that I have time for now. I hope you all have a great week.

Be Blessed!

Oh yeah, about that...

Today in my devotional time I was really convicted about something. Mainly about my relationship with my kids these last few weeks. Everyone has reassured me it's hormonal, but looking back I think it's just an excuse to escalate my bad attitude. I mean, there has to come a point I stop blaming Lily for everything, right? :)
Anyway, back to my relationship with my kids. It's been rough. I get to the point where I can't stand to hear them. They talk to me and I glare at them. They run around the house playing and I yell at them to STOP! It's pretty ridiculous. I mean, really, why would any of my kids want to have babies if this is what it looks like?!

So today I wrote one short prayer in my prayer journal. Lord, help me to LOVE my children. Help me to have a better relationship with them. Heal all the hurt I have caused.

I also wrote down three expectations for myself. These I came up with while I was showering and thinking. Because, you know mamas, sometimes that quick shower in the morning is the only thinking time we have. :)

* I need to let go of my "Ideal". When you go into motherhood, at least for me, you have this ideal of what it is going to look like. I think for too many years I have strived for this ideal and when it did not happen I got frustrated. Frustrated with myself, frustrated with my children, dare I say it? Frustrated with God. But see my ideal does not work for my family. For starters my kids came with some pretty heavy emotional baggage that they are still struggling with. Second, after having kids I realized just what a selfish, sinner I really was. I don't always want to die to myself everyday so these kids can have what they want/need from me.

*I need to let go of control and learn better how to guide. Another thing I realized after God brought these kids into my life. I am a control FREAK! No lie! I am also paranoid as all get out. It does not bode well for my children. They have to look at least 17 times before they cross the street. And that's for my 10 and 13yos who are actually allowed to cross the street by themselves. :) Maybe I exaggerate a bit much. ;) But seriously, my kids are getting a little older. It is time to let them make some mistakes. I would rather they make the mistakes now while I am here to help clean up then when they are far away from me and need good guidance. SO I need to learn how to guide them through making the tough decisions and stop making the choices for them all the time. I do believe what I told our 13yo the other day. God gave her a mom and dad to know all about the scary stuff in the world and to make rules to keep her safe so she does not have to deal with it all right now. I am by no means ready to throw them to the wolves or let them out from under the umbrella of protection, but I could do a little better in letting them take the lead.

*I need to let God paint the picture of our family. This goes with one and two a lot. Everyone has a picture of what they want their family to look like. Mine resembled some Little House on the Prairie fantasy. My reality is more like the Simpsons. I need to realize that while God has put me here to mold and shape these kids, I need to make sure I am molding and shaping them into what he wants and not so much what I want.

It's a long road and one that I am sure I will have to spend much time repenting and relearning as I go, but it's enough for now that I can see these areas in my life that need taming. I just pray for wisdom and discernment on this path, because we only get this one day to live. Tomorrow is not promised. Tomorrow my 13yo will be 21 and I will be watching the fruit I produced in her life begin to ripen or rot. I will cover her and all of my children in prayer. I will pray for God to show me how to raise them. How to let go of my wants and desires and bend to His will for these kids. I pray for his mercy and grace to cover up the failures and let the kids only see that I love them enough to try. Maybe not cover up as much as minimize the effect they have on them.

That's my prayer.

Be Blessed!

Real Food For Mother and Baby

Click on the book for an amazon link.

I just finished this book. It was a fun read. Lots of the stuff I already knew because she follows Weston Price pretty closely, but it was nice to see it broken down for mom and baby. I love the foods she fed her baby/toddler. I loved reading about what he liked and gravitated to for taste. It was really eye opening. I'd already decided that Lily would not be getting the old cereal and rice routine at 6m. Whole grains will be coming later for her. We also already knew she would get Mother's Milk for the whole first year of her life. Our goal is at least 18-24m, but we'll see how it goes.
I was happy to see that I was already doing most of the stuff she recommends (or had at least restarted to do). I have tried to eat fish, but other than tuna in a can I can't stomach it so I am taking CLO daily. I have researched it a lot and I feel comfortable taking a small dose of CLO even though I live in FL.

I liked that it was not full of recipes and purees. I used to give Jonathan more whole food as a toddler then most people thought was appropriate, but I was always right there and he did a great job chewing. Don't worry I was paranoid enough with some food that I cut it up for him, but some things he just enjoyed gnawing on. LOL

Anyway, I just wanted to recommend this book as a book that was fun to read and informative.

I bought the book from Amazon with my own money. It was well spent!

33 Weeks and GROWING

Well here I am at 33 weeks. We took the kids to the beach and had a nice lunch. They enjoyed playing in the sand and running around with daddy. I did not do any running around. I did manage to waddle a little bit down the beach. It was nice. I cropped out my ENORMOUS feet. I doubled my water intake and they have definitely shown improvement. Of course I was already drinking almost 5 bottles of water a day. 10 is going to kill me for sure. Instead of peeing every 30m I now just wear Depends. Just kidding. LOL

Remember me just a few short weeks ago at 26 weeks? I can't believe how much we have grown in the last 7 weeks. I remember at one point fretting that the belly would never push through the fat. LOL Well, it pushed and fought and has come to live.

Baby did wonderfully at her last growth scan. She went from the 76th percentile down to the 61st. YAY! My OB was rightly impressed. He did not even mention the C word at my last visit. He usually mentions it every visit. He claims he wants to go the other way but he keeps saying I am at a high risk for a C-section. I keep telling him he is at a high risk for a punch in the nose. :) He loves me.

I don't know what makes me so high risk. My A1C is great. My blood sugar is great. My placenta is great. My fluid is great. My baby is measuring well. My blood pressure is perfect. Yeah. I don't think I am going to take the C-section talk lying down. Pun fully intended. :)

In other news I updated my sidebar. If you look over there and think for a minute that I read all of those blogs every day you are sadly mistaken. There are a couple I hop to as often as possible for various reasons, but some of them go a month without being read. They are nice when I want to just chill and read for awhile. I like having the categories now so I can read my foodie blogs when I want and my homemaking blogs when I want. I love the Young Ladies at Home category. I am so inspired to read about these young women making such wise choices. I am hoping to glean wisdom from their lives to share with my young daughters.

I tried to break up the homeschooling, homemaking, motherhood category a bit but nothing worked so yes it is loaded down with all sorts of goodness.

Biblical teaching was made just for Rev. Voddie (he did not fit the other categories) but Ms. Patsy snuck in there. She is just so cute! I love her. If you have suggestions of other blogs of sound Biblical teachers I would love to know.

I love to read blogs. I always come away inspired to try harder. No, I don't want to be just like those people but I am a wisdom taker upper. I will gladly glean what wisdom I can from people who have shown wisdom. I don't always agree with everything I read in those blogs, but I see things that I can use. And use them I do! Oh yes!

I did have some problems switching some blogs over so if you see yours in missing please don't think it was on purpose. Just let me know. I will fix the situation.

Be Blessed!

FYI

I am doing some cleaning up around here. If you see all the blogs in my sidebar disappear it's only temporary.. I promise! :)
Nesting on the blog.
Be Blessed!

Still Here

I'm still around. Just nesting. Getting ready for baby. She will be here in just a few short weeks. (Yes, I heard that chuckle from your experienced birthers out there.. "she said short!" snicker, snort, snicker)
To me time is just flying right now. I have two Dr appts a week, a busy household that just keeps going, baby showers, an upcoming vacation, dance recitals, end of the year parties... it seems my calendar just keeps filling up with fun things.
I know it could and probably will all slow down in the next few weeks. I am already starting to feel the awkwardness and tiredness and lack of overall energy. It slows me down for about an hour in the afternoon and at night I have to go to bed earlier. Although I get up every few hours to go to the bathroom and I have discovered I have to wake up to roll over. LOL Not a lot of good sleep there.
It's all good though. Lily is doing AWESOME! She is in the 61st percentile growth wise.. PERFECT! My health is amazing! God is so good!
I hope all my friends are doing well!
Be Blessed!

Still here

In the kitchen again..sort of

I have been researching and researching and researching... did I mention researching? I KNOW how I am supposed to eat. I KNOW how I am supposed to feed my family. I keep getting off to bumpy starts. I did great eliminating somethings for awhile. My kids were not sick at all this winter. At. All.
Since getting pregnant we have switched to more boxed food and processed stuff. Allergies are flaring up, noses are constantly running, coughing is a continuous chorus in our house. What?
No major illnesses. I attribute that to lots of water, sticking with whole grains, and lot of veggies.
The other stuff I attribute to the fact that cereal and (gasp) hamburger helper actually made it into my kitchen and was being used regularly for a few weeks.
Maybe I'm just weird but I'm going to go with my gut and think, maybe, just maybe, the food is causing some of the illness.
So to my Internet friends I turned.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop has been up on my computer for days now. Reteaching me, re motivating me. I also found Naturally Knocked Up. What a fun website. GNOWFLGINS has been very helpful in the learning process as well. Can't forget Cheeseslave either. One of my first real food blogger reads. The Nourishing Cook has offered inspiration as she takes us through Nourishing Traditions. And of course Kitchen Stewardship. She keeps me on my toes! Love her blog.
I have been reading bits and pieces here and there from their blogs. Really assessing what I am doing. Lord willing I will be nourishing Lily for the next year or so mostly with my body. I have not been the best about her nourishment up til now. It was just easier to follow the advice of the "experts" on what to eat. I KNOW better. I am an intelligent person (well at least a little bit). I have read and reread and researched enough to understand.
My big rule used to be, "Eat it as close to the way God made it as possible". When did that rule change for me? Seriously why do I have a tub of fake butter in my fridge? Why do I have a 1/2 gallon of Splenda sweetened ice cream in the freezer? Because I got lazy (although I prefer the term pregnant) :)
Well, I sat down with my pen and notebook today and wrote down three changes I am making. Simple changes.
1. Back to the coconut oil. Why do I have a jar sitting in my pantry that is still half full from a few months ago? Why? It's a good healthy fat. Something I really need right now. Something my kids need. We use to have some somehow at least once a day!
2. Goodbye sugar free. What do you really have going for you besides not making my blood sugar go crazy? Not to much honestly. I know you are poison to my body and to my baby! Goodbye.
3. Hello real fat. Hello butter and whole milk. I am sorry that I put you aside. It was crazy. Yes, I know better. I have seen the health benefits of both of you. I wish you were real milk. Yes, I do. But I know that Whole is better than 2%. I'm sorry I left you. Real I will get you back soon I promise. Right now we can't afford your $4 a half gallon price.

So for now those are the big changes I am making. Going back to is a better word. I have tried these things before and I have seen the difference in my families health. I don't know what I was thinking. I am a Nourishing Traditions/Weston A Price believer. Though somethings I do compromise on. We will not be eating Liver in this house any time soon. LOL I'm just sayin'. I have looked at different things and this is the one I feel most comfortable with. This is the one I have seen actual results with. Every time I stray I notice more runny noses, more allergies, and more overall wakiness in this house.
Those are just some of my reasons for jumping back in. I have another big one that I will share later.
Be Blessed!

The Empty Womb

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 113:9

This verse has ALWAYS brought me such comfort. It has also reminded me of God's promises. As I look around at my wonderful children I realize I am the woman that verse speaks of! I am the barren woman who keeps the home and is the joyful mother of children. Only now He has blessed me AGAIN! This time by taking my barren womb and creating life. What an awesome God He is.

I know the infertility is a struggle for so many women. I know the longing of an empty womb. The Bible even tell us in Proverbs 30 that a barren womb is one of the things that will never be satisfied or say, "It is enough".

I have changed my diet radically over the past few years. Moving away from processed foods to more Whole/Real food options. Cutting out white sugars, pastas, rice, breads.. moving towards whole grain options.

I did find out that high blood sugar is a big cause of infertility. It creates a not so inviting environment for sp*rm.

I am not 100% sure why God chose this season for our blessing. I do know that He has perfect timing. I am so very grateful to be able to share that God does indeed hear our prayers and is faithful to answer them.

I remember Roy pointing out at one point when I was struggling with being "broken" as a woman, that he could not think of one time in the Bible that a woman cried out to God for a baby and her prayer was not answered. I clung to that hope.

I am so very blessed to be able to share our journey with others. I hope our story in some way blesses you. I am praying for you dear sister with an empty womb. I am praying for your arms to be filled and for God to give you peace in this season of your life. I pray that you are encouraged by my story. That you will not give up praying to God, the creator of Life. Maybe His answer will be different than you want, but He is perfect. He always has our best in mind.

Be Blessed!!