Our New Home

We spent all morning signing papers, surrendered a check for a very substantial sum of money, and are now the owners of this amazing 7 bedroom house.







These are pictures from the Real Estate listing. The house is empty right now, and we have plans for remodeling a bathroom, and lots of painting. We want to try to do as much as possible before we move. Our lease is until the end of May, so we have some flexibility.
I'm so excited.

I can't wait to wrap her up in this.

8 weeks left

Here I am at week 32. And starting to feel quite huge.

I've had a rough last couple of weeks, I think due in large part to a nasty little virus that decided to invade my body. I actually lost a couple of pounds, but have gained them back and have really started paying attention to what I eat. My appetite is pathetic, and I'm trying to make sure I don't just live off of cereal (there have been days where four or five bowls of cereal is all I've eaten). I've been forcing myself to eat things like protein bars, and adding protein powder to my smoothies, and even consuming strange things like quinoa. I know our Little Girl is growing rapidly (the books say she is about 19" long and almost 4 pounds) because my abdomen doesn't have any room left. She likes to get a foot up under my ribs, and I'm still surprised at how far to my side she kicks. And I can't really bend over to put my socks on any more.

8 weeks left, give or take. I think I can do this.

A Little Koala

I've always had a strange attraction to koalas. There seems to be a vague memory of a fuzzy little toy as a toddler that may be the spark of this interest. And ever since we found out our Little Girl is on the way, I've wanted to find a way to make a little stuffed creature for her. After sifting through a few pictures online searching for inspiration, I found one that I liked and gave my best attempt at re-creating it. Seeing Ali's adorable creatures probably had something to do with my recent motivation. That, and feeling too crummy to tackle larger projects such as dinner.

The Teaching Home

Several years ago, on a much needed Christmas Break, my dad pulled out a piece he wrote many years ago. I think it was inspired after he read an article in some homeschool magazine about the picture perfect family having an ordinarily perfect morning. He knew it had to have been staged. Life in the morning of a busy family is always chaotic. The following dialog is especially hilarious if you know my family at all. Try to imagine us almost 20 years younger than we are now.



Dad: "Ow! Somebody left Legos in the chair! Here. Push this stuff back so we'll have some room here. These things are supposed to be..."

Samuel: "Hey! Dad! Watch out! That's an Allosaurus eating the Empire State Building."

Dad: "Oh. Well put it over here - I'll be careful. Here, his toe fell off. You can fix it later. That's the Empire State Building?"

Samuel: "Sure, Dad. He's already eaten most of it. Those are the structural underpinnings. He sucked 'em right out of the bedrock. And here's blood running down the side..."

Katie: "Oh Samuel, you're so gross. Don't talk about blood when we're trying to eat."

Bess: (* superloud) "Mom, the oatmeal's burning!" (smoke detector squeals) "I'll get it!" (runs to wave rag at the hideous, chirping siren)

Mom: "Don't do that first! Turn off the burner, for heavens sake! Oh!!!" (oatmeal, smoking, goes out. Door slams.)

Katie: "Tabbachah won't eat it."

Dad: "Did you put your PMS patch on?"

Mom: "YES!!!"

Bess: "Mom, Daniel's poopy. Daniel, you're so gross! I want the red cup! HEY!"

Dad: "I'll change Daniel. He's not gross. That's just what babies do. Don't play with Legos now. Get 'em back there so we don't spill something on them. Katie, put your book away. We're going to eat."

Samuel: "It's okay, Dad. Last week Daniel spilled orange juice all over them and now they stick together better. I want the red cup!"

Mom: "Are you going to change him or do I have to?"

Bess: "Dad, Katie's still reading. I want the Illuminator Hat box!"

Samuel: "You got it yesterday! Daniel, you stink!"

(3 minutes pass. Daniel is changed. Cereal of four different kinds are poured. Each child slumps behind a box so they won't have to see anyone else. This requires continual maneuvering. Samuel falls off his chair.)

Dad: "Okay, Daniel's clean. Here y'go, eat your cereal. Well, Daniel's still got diarrhea."

Katie: "Oh GROSS Dad! Don't say that while we're eating!"

Bess: "Mom, Samuel's smacking."

Dad: "Chew with your mouth closed. Use your best manners here. Remember the Queen of Manneria. Are you going to eat, Diana?"

Katie: "Oh Dad that's a stupid story. You just made it up."

Mom: "No, thanks." (sits down tired) "I've lost my appetite. Maybe I'll eat later."

Dad: "We need to pray. Did anyone pray yet? The Queen of Manneria was actually quite wise. She made the slobs in her kingdom not eat. They learned quick not to be slobs."

Mom: "Quickly."

Dad: "Daniel, will you pray? Let's thank Jesus for our food."

Bess: "Samuel's still smacking."

Dad: "Samuel, take small bites. Everybody stop. We're going to pray. Okay Daniel. Pray."

Daniel:

Dad: "Pray Daniel."

Daniel:

Mom: "Daniel, you can pray now."

Katie: "My cereal's getting soggy."

Bess: "Me too."

Samuel: "Me too."

Dad: "Say 'I too.' Pray, Daniel. Do you want Samuel to pray?"

Daniel: "Thank you Jesus fo' my food, an' for my milk, an' my Legos, an' for da clouds, an' for da sky, and twaactors, an' Mama, an' cereal, an' my spoon..."

Katie: "Dad?"

Dad: "Wait Katie."

Daniel: "... an' for whales, and da twees, an'... Amen!"

Mom: "That was a good prayer, Daniel. Now you may eat."

Dad: "Samuel, if you don't slow down and eat quietly you’ll have to go all week without food.”

Katie: “Really Dad? Samuel, keep smacking!”

Mom: “Greg, that’s unnecessary. Samuel, eat quietly of you’ll have to leave the table.”

Bess: “Mom?”

Mom: “What Bess?”

Bess: “Do worms have appetites?”

Mom: “I don’t know. Ask your father.”

Dad: “Sure Bess. I guess so. They like leaves and dirt, so they must have appetites. We can look it up.”

Bess: “Mom?”

Mom: “What Bess?”

Bess: “Daniel’s taking off this clothes and pouring syrup in his diaper.”

Dad: “Don’t tell Mom. I’ll take care of it.”

Mom: “No, I’ll do it. Daniel, what are you doing? What is the syrup doing out anyway?”

Bess: “I was going to put syrup on my oatmeal.”

Dad: “On oatmeal? We don’t put syrup on oatmeal.”

Bess: “I do. It’s really good. You should try it but I think it’s all gone now.”

Asian

Dinner last night: Pan fried noodles, orange veggies, fried brown rice, sweet and sour chicken and mongolian beef. I think I even got in my protein quota for the day.

Oh yeah.

For those of you who haven't heard, everything seems to be coming right along with The House.

Early last week The Sellers accepted our new-and-improved offer which includes the back lot. We are waiting on the official appraisal to be done, and then we will sit down with the bank and sign away our life savings. We are set to close no later than April 29th. We aren't sure exactly when we should plan to move, and I have a few grand ideas about re-modeling the bathroom before we move in. Our current lease is through the end of May, so we'll have at least a month of over-lap to play with.

God is good.

Third Trimester

Week 29. The pregnancy books say she must be about 17 inches tall, and weigh almost 3 pounds. She must be getting a little cramped in there. It seems like her movements aren't quite as karate-like as they used to be (not as much elbow room for a wind up, I guess), but when she decides it is time for dancing, B and I can't help but laugh at how strange my belly looks squirming and jumping around. Almost every night when I go to bed, she decides it's time practice her epic dance moves, and often wakes me up in the middle of the night. She got hiccups for the first time last week, and still makes me jump with her sudden movements, and I think she found my ribs with her toes for the first time yesterday.

I keep hoping that some of the inconveniences of being pregnant will slowly resolve... but I guess my body just isn't very fond of building another. The morning sickness has improved since the first trimester, but certainly still lingers. Some days I eat very well, with lots of fruits and veggies and proteins. And then there are the days when cereal and potato chips make up most of my caloric intake. I can't seem to go more than a couple of days without throwing up. And the less room I have in there, the worse it seems to get. The same goes for the heartburn. I haven't been able to sleep lying flat for several weeks now. It doesn't seem to matter what or how I eat... I can have a bowl of cheerios and be miserable for hours. And then there's the restless legs, the unbelievably sore neck and back, the muscle twitching, the headaches and migraines, the calf cramps, the sore tongue, the veins everywhere along with many new spider angiomas, the dizziness, and the general fatigue... I really don't think my body enjoys this process very much. Thankfully some days are better than others, and I haven't turned into a complete couch potato. And I know that all of this will just be a faint memory when we finally get to hold her in our arms.