Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Still waiting for a baby to be born. I'm perfectly fine with not going through the whole labor thing and all that pain yet, but Paul and the kids are on the edge of their seats with excitement. Nolan lifts up my shirt daily and yells, "Come out baby!"

I don't think it will be much more than a few days until she's born. The due date is in 10 days, but the other kids were all about 5 days early. The past couple of days I have been eating constantly and I've lost 4 pounds. So I figure I'm either about to give birth soon or I'm going into hibernation. Did you know that bears give birth while they are hibernating? They sleep through the whole thing. Obviously Eve's sin does not effect bears.

If I were going to place a bet, I would put my money on this upcoming Sunday or Wednesday. Wednesday is my birthday and it's also my Aunt Linda's and my Great-Grandma's birthdays (and President Reagan's). I also think Sunday because my girls were both born on Sunday. I told Paul, "You know she's going to be born right in the middle of the SuperBowl."and he said "That's fine.......She'll understand." He got a big punch in the chest for that one. I voted early yesterday just in case I couldn't make it down there for Super Tuesday. Go RP!

Hopefully my next post will include pictures of little Ruby.

Preg Pics

Emily took this picture
Lily had to take a picture, too

Yesterday I realized that I did not have a single picture of me being pregnant this time around, so I grabbed a friend while we were at our Bible study and had her take a picture. Only 2 weeks and 3 days left until the due date so I might as well get the picture now while I'm still pregnant. I really have enjoyed this pregnancy and am a little sad to see it ending. Paul is more excited about the big day than I am, but all that will kick in for me once she's really here. For now I'm just going to continue loving being pregnant and feeling beautiful and round for a reason. The only problem is that I have not been sleeping well lately, so any prayer for sleep is appreciated.

Emily starts science club today. She is way beyond excited. It is bittersweet for me. I'm am so glad that she is getting to do something that she enjoys and that there is a homeschooling mom in our town that wants to teach it, because doing experiments and cleaning them up with two little ones and being so tired is not what I want to do right now. The downside for me is that it is from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. That's NAP TIME! I cherish nap time. Not only for a catnap for myself, but because my kids so need it. Children who sleep better during the day, sleep better at night. Lily and Nolan both go down for nap PROMPTLY at 1pm every day and sleep until 4pm so this will be a little bit of a strain. But, it's only once a week and we will manage through it. They will just have to take their naps two hours late. They do stay up later on Wednesday nights for AWANA, so of all days, this is probably the best one to get a late nap on. I'm sure it will be worth it all for the enjoyment Emily will get out of Science Club.

What a guy

Even though I have never allowed the kids to eat in any other room besides the kitchen, Nolan must have some sort of male instinct that propels him to eat on the couch. I usually let the little ones watch about 30 minutes of t.v. before they take their naps, but I left the room for just a second to help Emily with fractions. Nolan went and got his pizza that he didn't eat at lunch off the table and had to eat it while he lounged. The strangest part is that I let him get away with it. At least he remembered to get his napkin. I'm a sucker for my boy.

I couldn't resist this one...

Raw milk has helped to keep my family healthy, even though we have to cross state lines to get it because it is illegal in the state of Georgia. My children could not consume dairy products, but they drink gallons of raw milk each week. Emily's nebulizer now stays on a top closet shelf and she has not had a breathing treatment for over a year. Funny how something that's so good for us is illegal, but doctors want to put us on drugs that cause more problems that you have to take another drug for that causes another problem, another drug, another problem and so on and so on until we're dead or disabled and dependent on the government to help us buy more drugs. Just one more reason to like this guy.

Painting

I have found that taping poster board to the back doors is the best way for these little guys to paint. They like to be standing up most of the time and the doors are very easy to clean any drips off of. In fact, Lily gets joy out of wiping things down, so that will be her job when they're done. They are also in the sunlight even though it's a little too cold to play outside.

22 days 'till due date

More Snow

We had a pretty good snowball fight, but they ganged up on me. The weird thing is that it was easier for me to walk in the snow because of the natural waddle that I've become use to. The kids are warming up now with hot chocolate. The bad part is that Paul is driving to Atlanta in this mess. He has promised to call me periodically to inform me that he has not slid off an overpass. It's 10 am and I'm ready for a nap. Too bad the kids aren't.

SNOW!

The kids had to leave AWANA early last night because the snow was coming down pretty good. It was already late so the snowball fight was limited to the front porch, but Nolan had the time of his life. Lily was making snowballs barehanded.

Nesting

I think the whole family is nesting in preparation for the new baby. Every kid has gotten out their own baby book several times this week to show off to all the others. Paul has been getting out every family video for us all to watch together. He hates to take the videos, but he loves to watch them. Yes, that's a pink binky that Nolan has in his mouth. Either he is making sure that it is okay for the new baby out of the kindness of his heart, or he is letting me know that he is still the baby. Either way, it's a very mild reaction to his world about to be changing.

We have also been trying to spend more one-on-one time with the kids. Last night Lily and I went to the Belk clearance sale together in search of post-pregnancy clothes. Emily and I went to the movies to see Enchanted on Christmas day. We had the whole theater to ourselves and the movie was great for both of us. We had such a good time and we really needed that time together, too. Paul has been able to take each kid individually with him to work. They love that. The little two have had to be picked up at lunch to take their naps, but it was well worth it. He's been spending time with Adam in the woods behind the shop playing paintball. Actually, they only have one gun, so it's more of a sniper situation.

In other news, I bought myself a yogurt maker for Christmas and I'm really loving it. The first batch was bad, but I'm starting to get pretty good at it. My investment in it will pay off in a few weeks. The kids were eating yogurt so much that Paul and I were never getting any for ourselves. I estimated that they were eating $2-3 worth of yogurt every day, so since the yogurt maker cost $30 it has already paid for itself in two weeks. It doesn't get much better for you than yogurt made from raw milk sweetened with raw honey and cinnamon.

"Curds (yogurt, butter, cheese) and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good." Isaiah 7:15

DISCLAIMER: Paul says that I am not to refer to garlic tonic as "nasty" for any reason at any time. It is a gift from the Lord and it's health benifits far outweigh any non-pleasant taste.

Nolan The Builder

He was singing, "No-nan da biwda. Can fix it? Sure we CAN!"

Thank You for the gift card!

Lily bought a princess tent and backpack with her portion of the gift card from Papa Denny and Grandma Mary
Adam bought a paintball gun set with the gift card along with the cash from Great Grandma and Papa Lewie. Lily bought a stroller for her baby doll and Nolan bought some toy motorcycles and they both have some money left over. Emily is saving her cash.