Family Reunion

Recently, much of my entire extended family had a sort of family reunion in Chicago for my grandma's 90th birthday. My grandma has six kids, 17 grandkids, and, so far, I think 13 great-grandkids (half of her grandkids are too young to have children yet), and all but three grandkids were able to make it to Chicago. Plus, there were a ton of relatives that I didn't know at all who made it as well. It was great because the kids got to spend time with all of their cousins, and I got to spend time with my sisters, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. I love when the family is able to get together like that, but it also makes me a little sad because it is such a rare thing. I truly hate that our kids are no longer growing up with most of their cousins and they don't ever get to see each other. Not only are schedules hard to coordinate, but the bigger issue is that nobody can afford to travel. It's too expensive! This trip never would have been possible for everyone without the generosity of my parents making it happen. But, thankfully, everyone got to do it and we had a great time. Nobody except for my own family will care about the following pictures at all (and Jay will make fun of me for putting them on here), but this is the only place I keep track of pictures. So, I am putting them on here anyway, for my purposes only (in completely random order, I might add). Nobody else has to bother looking at them!

My three sisters, my uncle, and me

I'm not sure why we all look so orange, but I think it has something to do with the lighting. We weren't all hitting the tanning beds before the trip!

Addi, Luke (who now lives in TN), and Jake

Addi and Ryann

Luke and Jake (Jake REALLY misses him)

My grandma with many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Addi reading to my uncle

Killing time in the Bass Pro Shop

If our eyes look a little crazy, it's because I was trying to manually get rid of red-eye and it wasn't working so well for me.

The kids found this store to be quite entertaining!

Addi and my cousin, Clint

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Jake and Addi with my cousin, Nikki

Jay and I with my aunt and uncle (two of my favorite people in the whole world)

Jay with my grandma

The boys - Jackson, Luke, Jake, and Mac, with my cousin, Clint

My dad with two of my uncles (his two youngest brothers)

Our kids with all of their cousins, my parents, and my grandma

Random video of Addi reading to my grandma. I know that there's too much background noise and you can't really hear her, but that's not the point. I just wanted to keep this memory because Addi was so cute with my grandma. It was really surprising to me how Addi kind of took to her because, truthfully, my grandma is not a very endearing woman. Addi was great with her though and it was adorable.

At one point, my grandma was sitting in the family room with the kids while they were watching Finding Nemo, and Jake and Addi were trying to explain to her what was going on in the movie. Oh, if only I could have gotten that on video. A 6 year old and 4 year old trying to explain to a 90 year old who can barely hear, the plot of a cartoon movie about a lost fish. That would have been a keeper for sure.

More Tales From the Money Pit

So, you might remember a couple of months ago when we had major plumbing problems in our money pit of a house, and I casually mentioned that we were just waiting for the hot water heater to go next. I didn't literally mean that we thought it was going to go right away. Well...

I sent the kids upstairs for a bath and shower last night and could not understand why I could hear the water running, but I could also hear the kids running around playing - clearly not in the bath or shower. I started to scold them about the fact that they were wasting water and not doing what I had told them to do, when they informed me that they were just waiting for the water to get hot...and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. After a while, they started to get bored with all the waiting. Sure enough, there was no hot water.

I was hoping that it would be some easy fix for Jay when he got home, but when I went out to the garage to look at the hot water heater and saw that underneath it was soaking wet, I knew there would be no easy fix. A leaking hot water heater means that we now have to buy and install a new one. It's busy season for Jay right now so he's working late every night, and I just didn't have the heart (or the nerve) to call him and tell him about it. Instead, I sprang it on him when he got home at 10:30. He then figured out how to drain it so that the leak wouldn't do more damage, and that's where we're at.

I don't have any idea how much this is going to set us back, but I know that it will be too much. I also know that hot water is not one of the things that I can learn to live without. I don't do cold very well. And, I'm quite certain that you are probably not going to want to get too close to me if you're with me in the very near future because I probably won't smell like a rose. I will go without a shower before I will go with a cold one. Too bad this didn't happen over the summer as we swelter in our 90 degree home with no air conditioning. Then maybe a cold shower wouldn't be so bad!

The Munchkins are in the Know

Well, we finally went ahead and told Jake and Addi that there is a baby on the way, and they are beyond excited. When Jay told them that we had a surprise to tell them about, Jake's immediate response was, "Is Aubrey coming back?" That was without any hints on what the surprise might be, so you can see that even after several months of her not being with us, the kids are still always hoping that she will return. They talk about it all the time.

Jay told him that that wasn't it but that he was sort of on the right track, and after a few guesses and hints, they learned the surprise. They were so excited and, of course, Addi said that she really hopes it's a girl, and Jake said that he really hopes it's a boy. They also decided amongst themselves that if it's a boy, Jake will get to name him (and he has already decided that the name should be Zechariah), and if it's a girl, Addi will get to name her (she has narrowed her choices down to Sarin and Linna - no, I have no idea where she gets those ideas).

After talking about it for a few minutes, they both decided that they needed to check out my belly and declared that, yes, it was definitely bigger. I didn't explain to them that those extra 10 pounds that I've somehow managed to put on in the first trimester are really not baby, just fat.

Jake also said, "I really hope this baby doesn't die in your tummy." Yes, Jake...we really hope so too.

Two More Weeks Down

Okay, here is the pregnancy update...another "normal" ultrasound today. YAY!! The growth is still right on track and the heartbeat is strong. The ultrasound technician had some difficulty today because she wanted to get a specific fluid measurement and the baby was not cooperating. He (or she, of course) was quite comfortable down very low and not moving at all. It's not a good feeling to be sitting there watching the screen and seeing no movement whatsoever. It didn't make Jay and I feel very good. But, we could see the heart beating, so that kept us reassured. Jay also asked if it was a problem that the baby was so low and tucked away in this little crevice, and her response was, "No, I don't think so." I would have much preferred a, "No, not at all." I read into every little thing at this point. Anyway, the woman kept poking at my stomach trying to get the baby to wake up, but nothing was working. He did not want to be awake. Finally, after about 20 minutes of trying, she left the room and came back in soon after that to try again, and the baby had moved to a new position, so she was able to get the measurement that she needed. All in all, we were in there for over an hour. It was the longest ultrasound I have ever had and my sister was worried sick and convinced that something was wrong because she hadn't heard from me yet. I think she called her husband and had her 6 year old son praying with her for a miracle!

We are now officially 12 weeks along, and feeling like it's time to tell the kiddos. More people are starting to know about the pregnancy (and it's starting to get a little more obvious), and I don't want Jake and Addi to accidentally hear about it from someone else. We want to get to share the happy news with them ourselves, so we don't feel like we should wait much longer. On the other hand, we are not yet to the point in the pregnancy where we lost the twins (not that that means anything one way or the other in terms of this pregnancy), but I feel like once we get past that point, I might be a little more at ease. In reality though, I probably won't truly be at ease until we have delivered a healthy baby. So, I think that we have decided to go ahead and tell them sometime this week, but I do have some anxiousness about that. I simply want to spare them from heartache and disappointment if I can.

We have been having ultrasounds every two weeks, but we may not actually get to go back for four weeks this time. I don't really like that plan, but since we're entering the second trimester now, they might not feel like they need to monitor it so frequently. In reality, the frequent monitoring is I think more for our peace of mind than anything else. It's not like I (or the baby) have some known condition that they can do something about if things start to go wrong. Basically, we go in and there's either a heartbeat or there's not. So, they might not keep seeing us so frequently now. I'm not sure. But, I will be sure to post something each time we go in.

P.S. Not that this is an afterthought, but of course we praise God for the miracle that is continuing to grow inside. It is only because of His grace that we receive any blessings at all. I always hesitate to mention the grace of God because I feel a little bit like a hypocrite. I'm just not so sure that I would be singing His praises and talking about His grace if things were to go south, although I know that I should be. Despite our disappointments in the past though, and even if our hearts are broken again, He has always been faithful and will always be faithful to bring us out of the "depths of despair" as Anne of Green Gables would say. Anyway, I didn't want to share our wonderful news without also acknowledging and praising God for His grace and miracle. I know that we have so many people who are continuing to pray for us and for this pregnancy as well, so THANK YOU for that.

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Ha ha ha. That title was just a joke. If you know me, then you probably know that there were no St. Patrick's Day festivities around here. The kids did not wake to green eggs and ham for breakfast, or shamrock decorations, or green footprints left by leprechauns. Always a little too late, I end up thinking things like, "Oh, I wish I would have done something festive to make the day fun for them. Next time, I will." Then the next opportunity comes around, and, again, I forget.

So, I am going to just dispel right now one of the many, many myths that float around out there about homeschoolers and homeschooling moms - we are not supermoms! I know, I know, if you know me, that comes as a bit of a shock (HAHAHA). Granted, that is one of the more positive myths out there about homeschoolers, considering that there are so many negative ones - but, untrue, nonetheless. I guess I should probably clarify that statement by saying that there probably are some homeschooling supermoms out there, but I am just not one of them. I hear people say things like, "Oh, I could never homeschool. I just don't have the patience;" or, "I'm not creative enough, or organized enough, or structured enough, or ________ enough to homeschool." Well, here's a little secret...neither am I! I really wish that I was all of those things, but I am so incredibly flawed. I am constantly losing my patience, usually unprepared with the lessons, and always promising myself that I will do better tomorrow.

But, here's the thing - I still wouldn't choose a different path for our family. Even at my worst, I would rather have my children with me, learning from my example, than with everybody else, learning from the examples of a classroom full of kids who are just as immature as they are. Don't get me wrong, my children do not live under a rock. They are involved in sports and church and with the neighborhood kids, friends, cousins, etc. (Don't get me started on the "socialization" debate because I promise...that one I will win!) But, they spend the majority of their time with me, and with Jay, and with each other. And, yes, because I am NOT a supermom, there are many days when it absolutely DRIVES ME INSANE! But, I still believe it's worth it. One of these days, I will write a post about why I believe it's worth it, because there really are so many reasons. But, not today.

So, coming back now from that huge tangent, and back to St. Patrick's Day. I didn't even realize that it was St. Patrick's Day until mid-morning, when Jake realized that it was the 17th and informed me that it was. How he remembers that March 17th is St. Patrick's Day, I have no idea. It certainly has not been a topic of conversation around here. For the past several years though, our neighbor has left green leprechaun footprints and goodies at the door so that the kids think that a leprechaun visits each year. (Actually, two years ago, she accidentally used non-washable paint for the footprints, and we have had permanent green footprints leading up to our front door ever since. It adds a nice touch.) However, they have been out of town and just returned last night. So, there was no visit from the leprechaun today. I, of course, should have been prepared instead, but, you have already heard about my flaws.

So, the kids just wondered why he didn't visit this year, and were slightly disappointed. They even complained to our neighbor about it when they saw her this morning (having no idea that she is actually the leprechaun). She, of course, did something about it. I kid you not, as I sat here typing this post tonight, with the kids already in bed, I heard a loud knock at the door and knew exactly what it was. I got the kids out of bed (I actually give myself points for that one) and we went down to see who could possibly be knocking. But, ALAS, nobody was there. There were, however, gold coins, and green confetti and a trail of things that the leprechaun had left. Apparently, he was just running late this year. I even went with the kids around the neighborhood for a little while, at bedtime I might add, to try to catch the leprechaun. (More points for me. I probably wouldn't have done that though if I hadn't just been in the middle of writing about how I am no supermom and how I screwed up St. Patrick's Day!)

So, where was I going with all this? I'm not really sure. But now, I'm feeling grateful that even though I'm no supermom who does cutesy projects and festive activities with her kids, at least I have a neighbor who picks up the slack for me sometimes!

Still Lookin' Good!

Well, I am a little over 10 weeks along now and we had another ultrasound today just to verify that things are still progressing as they should be. And, I am happy to report...THEY ARE!! The growth of the baby is right on track and we heard a strong, beating heart. We even got to see him/her moving around a little bit this time. It has been a bit of a nerve-wracking couple of weeks for me, waiting for today to come around. I'm really hoping that I can start to relax a little more in the near future. I know I keep saying that, and hopefully it will really happen...at some point! We have our next ultrasound in two weeks, and I'm telling myself that if things still look good then, I will finally stop analyzing every little thing and stop expecting blood every time I use the bathroom, and actually start to enjoy being pregnant. We still haven't told the kids yet, but we might tell them if things still look good in two weeks. I'm not sure though, so mum's still the word!

Psalm 23

We are working on memorization and presentation skills around here, so here is Psalm 23, recited by Jake and Addi...