Tired

For the last 3 or 4 weeks I haven't been sleeping well. I'll get a few good hours in, right at first, and then wake up, gasping for air or just wide awake. I can't get comfortable and feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen. So I sit up in bed, or more often go to the couch, and sit and sit and sit, waiting to go to sleep again. It's not that I'm not tired, I just can't go to sleep. It's miserable.

My doctor told me to take a sleep aid, but so far that hasn't helped at all--it's not going to sleep that is the problem, it's staying that way beyond a few hours. I've started exercising, hoping to help my heart not race so frequently, and maybe help me sleep better, but nothing has helped so far. We're getting a new mattress next week, so hopefully that will help...I just don't know. I'm just so tired.

But for now, I wake up tired, go through the day tired and go to bed tired. I"m even tired when I wake up in the middle of the night, over and over. The combination of tired and pregnant lead me to cry. All. The. Time. There's no telling when I'll start crying--someone is nice to me, someone is grumpy to me, I remember tomorrow is the 2nd anniversary of Mom's passing, I talk to my doctor, a song comes on the radio, something in a book stands out to me....I am glad, however, that I get sad instead of mad. I hate being mad even more than I hate being sad.

Stephen and the kids are great--they really take care of things when I'm out of commission. Doing the dishes, preparing meals, reading to the younger kids, tidying up, running errands, taking care of the animals, making me laugh...I am very blessed!!

Eventually I'll sleep again, and hopefully not remember these few weeks of fatigue...most likely just in time to welcome the newest Jones to the family and not sleep all over again!

An October update, or, the Cuteness of Ruthie

First off, a health update (mine). After weeks and weeks (and weeks) of lying in bed, hardly able to function, I had my blood tested and discovered my thyroid is under producing (hypothyroidism). It was so wonderful to have a reason for my constant fatigue and inability to accomplish anything. I've been on a medication for it for the last six weeks, and it has made a world of difference to me. I've been able to make bread, granola and yogurt again, as well as perform basic household duties like making dinner and doing the dishes. Heck, I even cleaned my room! We go in on November 18th for the ultrasound--most of us think this baby is a girl.

Here's some fun pictures from the last month...

The story is that my Grandma Lagerstedt made this dress for my own mom when she was a little girl. It fits Ruth perfectly, and she loves wearing her black shoes with it. Actually, she loves wearing ANY shoes at ANY time. It just happens that I hid her shoes that don't match. :) I'm sneaky like that.

Enjoying a daddy daughter date to Dracula, the ballet.

Helping make/eat granola. I finally found a granola recipe that I love, and it with homemade yogurt (which I also made this day) and frozen fruit is a favorite snack/breakfast at our house.

Helping with bread (I was having a really good day!)

Time for bed--all aboard the Daddy express!

Ruthie insisted on carrying the egg basket all by herself. Miraculously, there was only one casualty.

Going for a horsey ride--this little girl pretty much gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. I don't know how long Sammy was trotting around the house with her like this!

 

The littlest DJ

A girl and her dog--our Sable is a pretty amazing dog!

Sammy and Lincoln have really been enjoying going to the Montessori school part time, but some days I just keep them home. On this particular day I kept them home because Lincoln was starting to act up and not be kind to Trevor. I decided we needed some good time to be together. This is how they spent much of the 2 days home together.

Helping in the kitchen

One of our foster cats, Elaine, sleeps in the funniest positions.

Sundays are our favorite days because we are all home together. It's especially nice to have Elise home as she is gone all day every other day. The boys love to play with her, and she loves them dearly, too!

Having animals has been so wonderful for our family--the kids learn gentleness brings great rewards when the kittens choose to come to them and snuggle. Our animals are also great for reducing stress--who can stay angry while taking the dog for a run up the hill or petting a purring kitten? None of us!

Our family helped clean up a section of the road adopted by UWyo's College of Business. The little boys and I made it about a quarter mile before their complaining got to me and we turned back to the car. I have to admit, the ups and downs and squatting to pick up trash were beginning to get to me, too. And I was packing Ruth on my back...this was one of the first indications that my thyroid meds were kicking in--I couldn't have done this a week prior!

Mom always loved flowers--I have great memories of hiking at Iron Mountain, collecting wild flowers and pressing them. This press is one that we used to use--I think it was made by one of my brothers in Scouts when Mom was a leader. It was fun to pass on the tradition to the next generation.

One of our favorite Family Home Evening lessons is on the law of the harvest--what you sow, you reap. This year the big kids got involved by "planting" fruits and vegetables where they didn't belong--an apple hanging on a bean vine, a pear in the corn, a cucumber in the cherry tree, a tomato with the (dead) watermelon plants, etc. The little boys loved it!

How we watched the General Women's Conference. Another day I could hardly get out of bed. :/

Ruthie has discovered how wonderful books are. She doesn't usually like us to read every page, but does love being read to...just on her own terms. Which totally describes this child! Currently she has 4 favorite blankets. At bedtime they must be placed on her in the correct order. At least I don't worry about her getting cold!

Mason puts sticky notes on his computer to remind him to get certain things done before he starts coding. 

We went ice skating with a homeschool group in Cheyenne. I tell you what, it's hard to break into an established group! It was really fun to be out on the ice again, tho. We've missed our Minnesota park rinks. 

p.s.

Here is the reason I haven't posted in forever (forgive the messy mirror)...

This was 2 weeks ago...I'm now 13 weeks along, due on Sammy's birthday. :) We are very excited, and I am very done with being exhausted and feeling awful all the time.

Ruth's birth story (only a year late!) part 1

Baby #6. Our little Ruth Ann.

Let me start 6 years ago, because that was when I knew that Ruth was going to be joining our family. I wrote about it a little bit in Lincoln's birth story, but it is really Ruth's story...

We had just moved to Provo and Stephen had started the MBA program at BYU. It was a Sunday afternoon; Stephen was upstairs playing with the 3 (at the time) kiddos and I was downstairs reading my scriptures. Out of nowhere I had the thought that there was a little girl named Ruth waiting to come to our family. Okay, good with that. Then another thought that she was going to be born naturally. Again, I can do that. Then that it didn't need to be immediately, just be thinking about it. Okay, can do. And then "you should go tell Stephen."

Over a year later Lincoln was born - most assuredly not a girl. Two years later, along comes Trevor - again, not a girl. And then this pregnancy. In the days leading up to the ultrasound I kept wondering if this was our Ruth. I was excited to be having a baby either way, honestly and truly, because I knew eventually we would get our little girl. As soon as we saw our baby was a girl, Stephen and I looked at each other and knew it was our Ruth.

But now I'm getting ahead of myself, because there was another happening before I got pregnant as well. It's kind of a silly one, but made all the difference to us! Ready? We bought a second car. Funny, right? We've always been a one-car family. For a little while when Stephen and I were dating we each had our own car, but that was it. Thirteen years of one car. And the thing holding us back from having another baby was our 7-seater minivan + a very small student stipend = can't afford a bigger car.

Then my grandpa sent a very generous Christmas present and Stephen said, "why don't we get a second car?" Aaaaaaaah! Lights from heaven! If we had a second car we wouldn't need to buy a bigger car! And that meant...another baby! So we found a car, offered the guy what Grandpa had given us, and away we drove!

There was just one more thing we had to plan for before getting pregnant: the Nutcracker Ballet. We couldn't have a baby until after the ballet in December since both Stephen I serve on the Board of Directors. But after the ballet we would be ready! Stephen would hopefully have a job lined up and we'd be a few short months away from an income again.

Anyhow, the first trimester of pregnancy was rough. Not really any different than the other pregnancies, only it lasted a little longer. I pulled out my super power during this time: the ability to fall asleep any time, anywhere. Like while reading to the kids or singing to Trevor at nap time or sitting in the car waiting for an activity to be over or working on spelling with the older kids. Things were great until about week 35, when I started realizing that being pregnant at age 34 is quite a bit different than being pregnant at 21.

At 32-33 weeks we all flew to Oregon for a final goodbye visit/family reunion with my mom. It was wonderful and awful and physically and emotionally draining. So worth it, but so hard as well.

One of the absolute best moments of the trip was being in the temple together - Dad was sick, but Mom, Stephen, all my brothers and their wives were able to do sealings together and then go visit the Celestial Room and sit and talk and cry. We all knew Mom was on her way out, so being reminded of our temple covenants was especially meaningful.

I was just over 35 weeks pregnant when we had Nutcracker...that was a long and tiring week! By the end of show day I could literally barely walk. A Christmas tree excursion, two concerts (I accompany Mason and Sammy's Boys' Choir), and a Christmas Day later, I could finally start thinking about the baby...

Introducing Trevor David Jones!

I love birth stories. I love reading them and writing them. So, reader beware, this might be TMI for the normal crowd. :o)

My "guess date" was October 12, but I was certain that date would come and go with no news. I was right.

I told my mom to not come on or before the 12th, because I wanted her here for the maximum amount of time after the baby was born. My mom flew in from Oregon at 1:30 on Monday (the 17th) afternoon. We went to Ikea, and walked and walked and walked. And dreamed and planned and bought.

At bedtime that night (11pm), I started having some hard contractions, and knew I'd be home with my baby in the next 24 hours. That was a happy thought to go to sleep to! I woke up at 1:43am, no longer able to sleep through the contractions, but I stayed in bed until around 2:30am. I started timing my contractions and writing down how long they lasted (because I'm terrible at remembering things like that). At 2:30am I came out to the front room so that I could walk around a little and rest on the couch. I found that my favorite position was leaning over something--on my knees leaning on the piano bench, on my feet leaning against the kitchen counter--that was what felt best. I gathered a few last-minute items, and finally decided it was time to call the midwife.

When I was laboring with Lincoln I discovered that counting really helped me make it through each contraction. I focused on each individual contraction, not thinking about anything else. And I would count up to the peak and then backwards again.

I was having to do my low guttural breathing to get through a contraction , and felt some pretty good pressure down below. I woke Stephen up at 4am, telling him I was calling the midwife, but then changed my mind--the contractions were so close I wouldn't have had time to talk between them, so I told Stephen that he was calling the midwife. I gave him my list of contractions and he was able to tell Catherine what was going on. She said to come right in (she was already there with another laboring mom).

Stephen was surprised that she wanted us to come in right away--he was thinking back to Lincoln and how we were at the birthing center for quite a long time before he finally showed up. Truth be told, that is what I was thinking, too--I DID NOT want to be at the birthing center any longer that I needed to be. But I figured, with how I was feeling, I needed some extra help--especially if I was going to feel that way for many more hours. I was dreading that. I knew I could do it--what was my alternative?--but I wasn't looking forward to it. My contractions were almost on top of each other, and so hard.

I was so grateful that Mom had just arrived--as my dad said, "Looks like the calvary made it in the nick of time!"

We arrived at the birthing center at 4:30am. Catherine (my midwife) met us at the door, and in between contractions I told her how I was feeling and what had been going on. We got to the Chocolate Room (don't you love the name?!) where the giant tub was full and waiting for me. She suggested I lay on the bed so she could check me and the baby, but then decided to put me straight in the tub. Oh, it was wonderful to get in that hot water! She checked me in between the next 2 contractions and said, "You are complete! Let me know when you want to start pushing!"

HALLELUJAH!!!!! This wasn't going to last forever! It wasn't going to last much longer at all! I said a very, very heartfelt prayer of gratitude. Stephen turned on Yanni and helped me remember to make low sounds and relax. I really focused on what he was saying, and survived every single contraction--even when I didn't think I could. I kept saying to myself, "Every one of these brings me closer to holding my precious baby." And once out loud, "GOD ALMIGHTY!!!" I was leaning against the side of the tub, in the wonderful water, on my knees. It was just the most comfortable position for me.

In between each contraction I felt perfectly calm--I even remember saying, "Stephen, remind me about how I feel right now next time I want a baby." And all of a sudden I needed to push. Oh my, oh my. Stephen moved in to position (having no idea how to catch a baby). Push one, I can see the head! Push two, you're doing great! Push three, out to the ears!! Push four, he's out!!! GREAT relief--the pain was gone, and replaced with a beautiful baby boy. And I didn't tear at all!! He was born at 5:05am.

Catherine and Stephen put him on my back and gave him a rubdown to encourage him to take his first breath, and then I heard the sweet, sweet sound of my newborn's cry! I rolled over in the water and just held him close to me until the cord stopped pulsing and Stephen cut it. We stayed in the water a bit longer, and then Stephen took the baby and Dana (the birthing assistant) helped dry me off and put me in bed.

Then I just held our little Trevor David and looked at him and loved him. He started rooting around and so we nursed...and nursed...and nursed. And then slept and rested. Our Trevor David is named after two of his uncles--my oldest brother, Trevor Dean, and Stephen's oldest brother, David.

I was able to get up and go to the bathroom, and had some yogurt and fake gatorade. And then we rested and listened to music. Dana and Paula (another of the midwives--Catherine was helping another baby come to the world) did little Trevor's newborn exam and Vitamin K shot, and then Stephen left to get the kids and my mom at about 8:45am. Our "little" Trevor beat out all of his siblings (and namesake) at 9 lb., 11 oz.!!

They were so excited to meet little Trevor! Well...not Lincoln so much...he clung to Stephen most of the time he was there.

Mom made breakfast for all of us in the kitchen, and the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it. :o) What a special memory for all of us to be there together! The birthing center (Morning Star) has been just great! If we have another baby while in MN, I'm definitely going back!

I got home at 11:30am--same day--with a "tuck-in doula" to get me all settled in. I was put on bed rest for 24 hours, and settled in to rest. It was great--I felt so good (considering I had just given birth) and everyone waited on me hand and foot. It was wonderful to have my recovery at home, in my own bed with my own lumpy pillow and my sweet kids poking their heads in to check on the newest brother and I. I could have the door closed and sleep or open and be part of the fun, without any of the responsibility.

We couldn't be happier with our sweet baby Trevor! 5 kids. Wow. We feel so blessed and grateful!

10 years, 5 pregnancies, introducing Mason

Stephen Mason Jones, born April 2004, my age: 23

We were living in Beaverton when I got pregnant with Mason. I was still commuting to Corvallis for school 4 days a week, and the first month of pregnancy was really, really draining. It was such a relief to finally be finished! The time between Elise and Mason when I was finished with school was another unique time for me. Stephen had a good job, and my only job was to take care of Elise. We made friends with another couple in our apartment complex, Ben & Heidi Boyer, who had a little girl 2 months younger than Elise. Heidi was also pregnant, and due 2 months before me. It was such an easy time of life!

Months before I became pregnant with Mason both Stephen and I had an experience in the temple--we were sitting in the chapel with our ward when we both had the impression that there was a little boy waiting to come to our family. Stephen had a vision in his mind of Elise playing with a little brother. We both remember wondering if Heavenly Father was warning us that this child was going to something special.

I had a great pregnancy. I was so much more relaxed this time around than I was with Elise. Heidi and I went walking together with our babies most nice days. We spent lots of time together. I watched her little girl, Rachel, when she went to the hospital to have Elena. She and Ben watched Elise when I went to the hospital to have Mason.

Here's me a week before having Mason:

We had decided on his name, Stephen Mason, after Stephen and his mission president, President Kenneth Mason. We decided to call him Mason--but Mason Stephen just didn't have the same ring to it as Stephen Mason. President Mason was very touched when Stephen called him to tell him the name of our little baby.

I was induced with Mason 2 days after his guess date. It was my midwifes on-call day, and I really wanted her to be the one to deliver Mason. It was also a Monday. We went in at 6am and hooked me up to the machines. Mason was born that afternoon, around 2pm. My epidural wasn't so strong this time, so I was able to move sooner after his birth. Again, I was absolutely famished! He was 8 lb 10 oz, and had the funniest silvery widows peak.

Since we don't like to have a baby birth without some excitement to go along with it, we moved into our first house exactly one week after Mason was born! And not only that, Stephen, his dad and my dad immediately started ripping down walls. Literally. Again, Ann made sure that I had a quiet space before I ever got to the house.

I hung up sheets to make "walls"--and so I wouldn't have to deal with all the dust and wires. Until we moved 4 years later we were always working on the house. It was perfect when we left! Mason grew up wiring, sheetrocking and doing carpentry work. I'll always remember the day after we moved in. Dad Jones was doing yard work (my birthday present was a weed whacker!). Elise was playing on the swing set in the back yard and Mason was in his car seat right next to her. Gene was edging the lawn not 2 feet from where Mason was sleeping--and Mason kept right on sleeping!

When we put him in his own room at about 3 months he figured out the going-to-sleep-on-his-own thing in 2 nights. It was wonderful. It was also wonderful that he was such a good sleeper--I remember Stephen taking out the kids room door frame late one night...with a sawzall.

Mason was very predictable the first two months of his life. EVERY two hours he would eat and poop. It was like clock work. Absolutely amazing. He ballooned up, too!

At 3 weeks:

At 8 weeks:

At 3 months:

By 4 months he was sitting--well, it was more like he had such a wide base that he couldn't tip over. Here's him at 6 months:

He didn't crawl until 11 months or so--he was just too high centered. :o)

And there is the first year of Mason's life! Finally documented.

10 years, 5 pregnancies, introducing Elise

How different my 5th pregnancy has been than my 1st!

Elise, born June 2002, my age: 21

I was going to school full time at Oregon State (in Corvallis, OR) and working part time. I literally walked miles every day--from home to school to work and back home. I took classes pass/no pass and did an internship, so I was all finished with school a week before my guess date. Which came and left. I remember picking strawberries and making jam on that day. Elise was born on a Monday, the first day of finals week at OSU, 7 days after the guess date. In fact, Stephen had to leave the hospital the day after she was born to take a test. My parents left town for Nauvoo the following Thursday, Stephen graduated on Sunday and we moved to Wilsonville on Monday.

Here's what I remember about that first whirlwind week...

My water broke about 11pm on Sunday and the contractions started right away. On the way to the hospital I decided that I wanted an epidural, and once that wonder drug was in I was very comfortable. She was born at 10:29am on Monday. I couldn't move afterwards because of the epidural--it was really weird. I had lots of visitors, and my Grandpa sent me flowers! I remember being famished and devouring a huge hamburger and fries--food had never tasted so good!

Stephen's brother and his wife and 3 kids (one of whom was 3 months old) stopping by. I was terrified to clip Elise's fingernails so Melissa did it for me.

Stephen studying late at night while comforting Elise.

Being SO overwhelmed at having to pack up the house, especially with my mom gone, and receiving a phone call from a friend. She asked, "How is everything?" (Alicen had recently had her first baby). I started to say, "Oh, everything is just fine", but couldn't make it through the lie and started to weep. She said, "I'll be right over." And come she did, with her own baby, and did my dishes. Soon another friend (Dawn) came over with her newborn and folded laundry. I still cry out of gratitude for those friends, who came at a time when I truly needed them.

Going to Stephen's graduation with his parents and John & Melissa (and Caleb, the 3-month-old). I remember sitting in the grand stand as the ceremony went on and on and on and on. I was still figuring out the whole nursing thing (it took months!), and during the 5 or so hours we were there, Elise wouldn't nurse once. I was freaking out, but Elise just slept.

Moving the day after graduation--Elise was exactly one week old. Stephen's parents didn't let me do anything. The first thing Ann had done when the truck was unloaded was set up a spot for me--our old blue recliner from Grandma Cleaver. I felt guilty for not helping, but at the same time was so grateful that I wasn't allowed to do anything! It was quite the deluxe apartment after what we'd always lived in in Corvallis!

Here's us in our new place:

Stephen had an internship in downtown Portland, and then in October got a job at Nike, in Beaverton. He took the car to a park & ride most days, but sometimes I'd drop him off so that I could get out of the apartment.

I took the following semester off of school, so for 6 months I only took care of Elise. Sleeping in until 10am was normal during that time. How wonderful and strange! The following January I started commuting to Corvallis to finish up school. I passed Elise off between my mom (who had started working), my 15-year-old brother, Scotty (who refused to change diapers) and my former Young Women's president, Janet Folsom.

Elise didn't sleep through the night until she was 10 months old--she was the first baby, after all! Her learning to sleep was a painful process for me, but learn she did! We moved to Beaverton, to be closer to Nike, when she was about 11 months old, so my school commute became longer. But I finished at the end of the summer!

We pretty much worshiped this little girl!

Didn't make the cut

NOT on my list of favorite ways to be awakened from a nap:

"Lincoln pooped and it squished out and is all over his legs!"

Last minute doctor visits...

Last week:
Monday - Elise @ orthodontist
Tuesday - me @ midwife
Saturday - Stephen & I @ midwife (class)

This week:
Monday - Elise @ orthodontist
Wednesday - Lincoln @ dentist
Wednesday - me @ midwife

Next week:
Monday - Mason @ doctor
Monday - Sammy @ doctor
Monday - Elise @ orthodontist
Tuesday - me @ midwife
Friday - Elise @ doctor
Friday - Lincoln @ doctor

Next next week:
Monday - Elise @ orthodontist
Tuesday - me @ midwife

Elise is in phase one of getting braces. Yeeha. Or not. She's getting fitted with an roof-expanding device over the next couple of weeks, which I get to turn twice a day for two weeks. Once that is in place we'll leave it there for a couple of months and have her fitted for a retainer with a spacer to hold her mouth in place and move one of her permanent teeth back. It has shifted forward because her molar in front of it is fused to her jaw bone (another extraction in 6-12 months--but not something so easy as Lincoln's--see below). We can't have that tooth extracted until her permanent tooth waiting above is more developed.

A few weeks ago Lincoln fell in the bathtub and did two things: 1) cracked his normal tooth and extra tooth into two teeth (vertically), and 2) cracked his extra tooth in half (horizontally). Today his extra tooth was extracted. Lincoln was a champ! He didn't cry at all, and only fussed a little bit when they gave him a numbing shot in the gum. That is always the worst part. He had to be fastened with a baby straight jacket (more like a sleeping bag with velcro) and breathe in nitrous oxide (to relax him) during the procedure, which took all of 3 minutes.

First of all the dentist removed the bottom loose part of the tooth, and then he pulled out the rest of it. Fortunately there were two separate nerves for the two separate teeth, and the normal tooth's nerve wasn't exposed, so the dentist just smoothed out the tooth's rough edge (and chipped corner). Lincoln was climbing all over, just like normal, as soon as they let him loose! Hopefully, hopefully that was the last dentist bill for awhile!!

On the plus side, I'm learning more than I ever thought possible about dentistry, orthodontics and our amazing teeth and mouths!

All the doctor visits are to catch up for the last year and a half that I haven't taken anybody in. Lincoln and Sammy are due for immunizations (but don't mention that to Sammy!), and since insurance covers well-child visits, I figure I'll take them all in...before there are 5 to take with me. :)

And of course, the midwife visits. I'm 37 weeks today (only 4 more weeks! That's not a typo, btw), so have weekly visits to look forward to. This baby isn't crazy about the head down position, but I'm hopeful he'll get that way by the time he's born. His somersaults are painful sometimes, and I'm getting lots of practice contractions. I'm in the home stretch!

Baby jitters

I haven't been nervous at all about welcoming baby #5 into our home...until last night when I realized how nervous Stephen is about it. The other day he jokingly asked, "Your mom is staying for 2 months after the baby is born, right?" Ha ha ha, I laughed, "I was able to talk her into almost 2 weeks." Then he said, "Seriously, I need her here for at least a month." Ha ha ha, I laughed again.

Um, yeah. He was dead serious.

Until he pointed it out, I hadn't thought too much about the fact that I really do pretty much everything around the house so that he can focus on schoolwork and spend time with the kids. He has so much going on with various school projects--he's not sure how he is going to be able to get everything done without adding a new baby to the mix!

Thinking about that made me think about what he is going to need to do when this baby is born--or rather, what I'm not going to be able to do. I thought about the fatigue, and how I don't do well without sleep...how I get the baby blues, but try to keep up appearances anyhow...how it really takes a lot to run a large household--keeping things tidy-ish, cooking meals, giving everyone what they need...fulfilling my church calling...caring for an infant...

I've decided that I'm just going to plan a month where I push the pause button on everything, and turn my focus towards my own home and family. I'll go into survival mode. I'll stay in my pjs and eat meals out of my freezer (the stocking has already begun), I'll be okay with Elise doing more than she is used to, and having the boys' room not be clean. We'll take a couple of weeks off of formal school, and I might not sweep my floor every day. I'll plan on keeping my front room clean (because I go nuts when it isn't), but be more relaxed about the rest of the house.

I'll let myself cry when I need to, because sometimes I do. I might even let my friends help when they offer. I won't go to the store, and will get outside for the fresh air that I need. I won't worry about having my garden all ready for winter, and I'll take some Sundays off of church. I'll shower and nap and not worry that my other kids are being neglected. I'll let them help, and read to them in my bed. I'll let my assistant compassionate service leader take care of any needs that come up at church. I'll try to remember that by taking care of myself I'm also taking care of my 5 children and husband.

One of my main goals between when we started school and when the baby comes has been to get all the kids (Lincoln excepted) into a consistent routine so that fulfilling their responsibilities will be second nature to them, and they will be quickly obedient with limited reminders. They are doing well...and we still have another month or so to work on it.

I know we'll be fine--we always are, eventually. It's just going to be a bit rough at first. But that, along with the discomforts of pregnancy, is all par for the course. And I'm okay with that. :o)

My latest project

A while ago I decided that I was going to build this bed from ana-white.com. Well, folks, I did it! With a huge amount of help from my wonderful husband, who knows that I have great intentions and am fantastic at beginning projects. This time I actually finished it! Good thing is was pretty easy. :o)

This is me, nearly 8 months pregnant, finishing a project! Go me!

 

And that is a bed to be proud of! Stephen had the idea to use pegboard instead of something plain and boring--now Mason can hang all of his little metal hooks on it and hang up his tools. He thinks it's pretty much the coolest thing ever. He's on top and Sammy is underneath on a memory foam mattress. He does have a real bed, he just likes sleeping under the new bed better.

Elise is sleeping upstairs on our other fort bed (from Ikea). I tell you what, it's great having her in with Lincoln--she puts him back to sleep at night if he wakes up, and gets him up in the mornings.

*Note: Lincoln has indeed fallen off the fort bed (upstairs). He was fine, and it only happened once. Now he is much, much more careful. Phew!