Sorry

I do apologize about the lateness of my posting lately. I wish that I could say that I have been terribly busy, but really it is just the normal stuff around here. LOL Honestly, I just find facebook a lot easier to use and spend my writing time over there.

We had a birthday last week! Norman Matthew (aka, Bear) turned 2. He loved his birthday. I think that his favorite part was when the waitresses at Ryans sang the birthday song to him. We had a small party with friends and family and then went trick or treating. Bear got tractors and horses and seemed very pleased with all the attention. For Halloween Greg was Akmed the Dead Terrorist (from Jeff Dunham comedy) and Bear was a dinosaur. Lee put a mask on and carried Bear around for us.

I have been feeling well. Poor Norman has had some medical issues (severally abscessed tooth-infection spread all the way up his jaw!) but seems to be back to normal now. It was a very long couple of weeks for him though.

My pregnancy is progressing normally. I always hate this part when I start to feel better but can't feel the baby move yet. It is almost like it isn't real. LOL At the 12 week doctor's appt. yesterday though, my doctor said that everything is progressing normally and honestly, this isn't my first rodeo :) I am looking forward to feeling the baby move soon though. Norman bought a cute little pink Minnie Mouse onsie and hung it up in the living room....hopefully for good baby girl vibes :) LOL He is so funny but it sure would be a blessing to have a girl this time. I need someone to hang out with while all the testosterone people go do hunting/fishing/playing stuff. LOL Course, I will get the girl that wants to do all those things. Oh well....we will love whatever we get. God has truly blessed our family.

Fall is Here

In South-Central IL, fall has arrived. Generally I like fall......cooler weather, baking, bonfires and hay rides. This year is no exception....but it seems colder this year. Dh laughs at me.

We are all good. Football ended up not working out. Apparently Lee is too small.....we really wish that someone had bothered to tell us that before all this time. Practicing 6 hours a week to be able to play 2-3 mins. a game weekly isn't exactly anyone's efficient use of time. We were under the impression that this was YOUTH football where everyone would get to play. Apparently not. But that's ok. He is willing to wait till high school.....some growing time and different coaches. Greg wants to play JFL next year but he is awful small too....we will see.

Soccer is wrapping up. I think that we have 3 more practices and 3 more games. For the most part the boys are back into taekwondo. That makes me happy :) I love my taekwondo family! Greg tested for a received his 2nd degree black belt last week. It has been a difficult journey for this one and we are very proud of him for sticking it out and never giving up.

I am feeling well. A little morning sickness and I have trouble eating lunch, but breakfast and supper are no problem. So I am managing well. I finally have my "intro" appointment with a nurse practitioner today. Trying to talk to people at that office is like pulling very difficult teeth. It can take all day and talking to 3 people on the phone to get an answer there. LOL Good thing that this isn't my first rodeo :) Hopefully it won't take another 3 weeks to get me in to see the doctor. If it does he will completely have missed my whole first trimester. LOL I guess maybe he doesn't care, but seems a little odd to me......6 weeks to wait to see a doctor. Like I said, good thing I know what I am doing.

Bear is growing by leaps and bounds. He talks all the time. His favorite thing to say is "I said no"....generally after he already said "no" about something and you ask again.....but sometimes he just wanders around saying it. LOL He is obstinant too....maybe the other ones were as well. Time tends to erase all that stuff. There is a reason moms can't remember anything. It is preservation of the species.

Well, that's enough about us. Got work to do. And places to go today, on this wet, wet day. Welcome fall!

Surprise

For those of you who are observant blog readers, you have noticed the new ticker in the left hand side-bar. For the rest of you...........
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I am PREGNANT!

No, this wasn't planned. In fact, 2 weeks ago my dh had a vasectomy. We decided that "we" were done having children. It wasn't that we wouldn't have loved more, it just looked like more fertility treatments were in our future and we just didn't want to do that again. Our family seemed complete and we were both at peace with the decision after much prayer and discussion. Almost immediately after, I started feeling blah. Really blah. Go to bed at 6 and sleep like a rock and please don't wake me up ever kinda blah. And it didn't go away. I had taken a pregnancy test a few days before dh's procedure because my cycles are whacky anyway and it was negative so I refused to take a test again for another week....
Blah turned into "I really don't feel good....peeing all the time.....eating peppermints". I really should have know. LOL So I tested on the 30th of September and got a positive. Spent the last few days having bloodwork and an ultrasound to confirm.....and I am over 7 weeks along! So I was pregnant when I took the last test, it just didn't show. This is the furthest along I have ever been when I found out I was pregnant.

It took a few days to adjust to the news but we are now delighted and excited and overwhelmed (ME!) at the thought of a new little one.
God is GOOD. His plans are always better than ours are. We are so excited to be seeing the way He is working in our lives right now.
So prayers our way for a healthy baby and safe pregnancy are appreciated. It looks like I have a due date of May 20th, 2010. Sounds like a good day to have a baby, doesn't it?

Tot School

I haven't done a tot school post in a while....and sorry, I don't have pictures, but here is what Bear has been doing for school:

Activities:
playdoh - with cookie cutters and small rolling pin and butter knife
"writing" with pen and paper
beans/rice/lentils - scooping/pouring, etc.

Books:
My goodness, he has decided that he wants to be read to all the time. We are having to fight about it because I can't just sit here and read to him 24 hours a day. He wants me to though! Some of his favorites right now are:
The Wheels on the Bus (a book version of the song, we sing it!)
The Grouchy Ladybug
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
John Deere Alphabet Book
The Little Engine That Could
The Digger Book
The Little Engine Book
Pajama Time
O Me, O My, O Dinosaurs
And we will be going to the library tomorrow to trade the 2 we borrowed for more. If he will let me (The Wheels on the Bus is his FAVORITE - a library book LOL).

He also loves playing in the sandbox that my dad filled for him the other day. Greg and Bear are out there right now. There is something about a sandbox that makes little guys (and medium sized guys!) very happy :)

TV Shows:
Bear still won't sit for most shows and I don't push him. There isn't any need for him to sit in front of the TV for hours at a time. He likes Imagination Movers and Handy Manny on Disney. Sometimes they will buy me and Greg a little school time, sometimes not.

Potty training is really a no go. He doesn't want to wear the pull-up but he doesn't want to use the potty. We are trying to feel our way around this. I didn't have any trouble training the other two.....I guess the last one has to be difficult!

For more tot school ideas for your tot, be sure to check out Carisa's site!

Molly's Money-Saving Digest - October

If you haven't ever checked out Molly's Money-Saving Digest, this month is the perfect time to do it! The theme for October is "What Can We Learn From the Great Depression?".



As always, Molly includes many practical resources in her digest. This month these include part 2 of a couponing article by Amy Howard (very practical!), Keeping a Positive attitude (very important during difficult times), ways to purchase yard-sale items and resell for a profit, frugal meal planning and a weeks worth of the author's family's meals (with recipes!!!), parenting advice and making something out of nothing. I loved those articles (especially making something out of nothing....I can feel ideas brewing!) but my favorite part of this issue is the anecdotyl stories from those who lived during the Great Depression. I find it inspiring to realize that life can be lived fully and joyfully during difficult and trying times.



Once again, Molly Green has treated us to a wonderful bit of lifestyle changing wisdom. You can check purchase Molly's Money Saving Digest HERE.

Proverbs 22:17-21

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,
And apply your heart to my knowledge;
For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you;
Let them all be fixed upon your lips,
So that your trust may be in the Lord;
I have instructed you today, even you.
Have I not written to you excellent things
Of counsels and knowledge,
That I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth,
That you may answer words of truth
To those who send to you?

Yet, another good reason to have the Word of God hidden in my heart. I want to be able to share God's goodness, mercy and truth to those who come before me. God, help me as I strive in this goal to become closer to You!

Why Scripture and Bible Study are So Important

2 Timothy 3:15-16
....and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Acts 17:11
These were more fairminded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

I Peter 2:1-2
Therefore laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

I am choosing the following verse as my theme verse for my life:
Psalm 86:11
Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.

This verse is the goal for my life....I have such a long way to go!
Titus 2:3-5
the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things - that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

I have such a long way to go! The Word of God has been washing over me lately and I feel like such a new person :)