I love this

I have to agree with something in this video - that I really didn't realize until I was home with the baby.  I have a big ball I sit on at work the minimal times that I sit at my desk.  It helped my poster, hips and lower back.  But - sitting at home, nursing and recovering is not easy to do on a ball.  I noticed my hips, lower back and energy level was all going down hill quickly. 
 

I tried to take daily walks with kiwi in the moby wrap but we had a very wet and cool fall.  That did not entice me to get out and walk on days he was particularly fussy and needy or I was particularly tired. 
 

Now that I am feeling a bit more like my old self and kiwi is becoming a little more independent (aka - hanging with dad or sissy for more than five minutes without my presence) I have been regularly running.  That still doesn't take care of the issue of me sitting and nursing, sometimes for up to an hour depending on how needy he is. 

I wish there was a way to do this an nurse???

But, at the very least, I would like something like this at my desk at work. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This year, unlike years before, we traveled to Michigan for Thanksgiving!  We literally packed up our house (kitchen stuff, bed stuff, baby stuff and other stuff) and took the four hour (plus) trek to my hubby's dad.  Not something one should do with a child less than 3 months old (or in reality less than a year) but it was something we needed to do as a family.   

(insert pout from me - but before you judge me - understand it was my idea to travel to Michigan).

My hubby's mom died a year ago and this is his dad's second Thanksgiving alone.  Let alone, there was a new grandson in his life, the need to go home was there.  It was my suggestion since I was on maternity leave and his dad would never travel to Chicago (that's another long story for another time). 

My hubby is ALL ABOUT cooking on Thanksgiving and was not giving that up even by traveling home.  So - the trek was made, the dinner was prepared and family time was had by all. 

I would like to squash my sarcastic stories, pouty moments, frustration and irritation by pointing out what I (we as a family) were thankful for this year (Cause the former was expressed in, text messages to my friends, twitter and facebook - and serves no purpose here.)

This year was a year of God's faithfulness to all that was heavy in our heart as a family.  Natalie had a successful year in 7th grade and ending with straight A's and more confidence in herself.  Rowan grew socially by leaps and bounds and tackled some difficult life decisions well, seeking prayer first (something I need to do a lil more).  My hubby tackled a personal goal and ushered in something very heavy on his heart - a son (such a blessing from God).  I had a wonderfully complication free pregnancy which resulted in a perfect, healthy baby boy (Thank you Jesus) that was such a testament of God's Grace, Mercy and Faithfulness to many of my friends.   All of this occurred stress free (well relatively stress free) during and because of tremendous support from some awesome friends in our life!

From a more worldly point of view - my career advanced (with a raise), my hubby is back at the bike shop working regularly (and happy with this career) and the girls are thriving and striving in Chicago. 

So on this evening of gluttony and football greatness.......

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Out for a walk

Today we ventured out for a walk - using the moby wrap for the first time - and strolled about a mile or so before coming home.  It felt great, thank goodness for yoga pants, and gave me a burst of energy I was desperately needing after the all day nursing marathon. 

We ran into some friends while we were out and stopped to talk for a while.

I must have left my brain at the hospital, I wish they would call and let me know that they found it, because it was all I could do to answer yes and no questions. 

I think, looking at the photo, I look like I'm in a fog. 

The truth, I am completely and utterly enamored in my lil guy as he has me wrapped around his little finger.

Praise God for wonderful weather, the city we live in and his ever faithfulness to what is heavy in our hearts. 

Official Pictures - aka Kiwi's Modeling Debut

The official pictures were taken yesterday, at the hospital, and I started crying as soon as I saw them.

  The pictures taken at the hospital have come a long way.

It's hard to believe that they were one step below school pictures when you see what they have evolved to.

And, in my opinion, it was a long time coming.

Better yet - they are digital!

Woot - wish school pictures were digital to expedite the order, improve the picture you get and make it possible for you to order AFTER the picture is taken.

So - the long and short of it - since I apparently dropped my brain in the delivery room and no one has found it yet - our baby boy is beautiful and the perfect gift from God.

Things that take me longer these days

After having a conversation with someone today, where I was questioned how long it took me to get ready and around "these days" (not that the person was prying they were actually trying to prevent me from coming in to work when I could have worked from home), I realized that my days of popping out of bed and heading out the door were no more.

Where did they go?  I'm pregnant - not a cripple!  I reviewed what my morning routine entails and I was appalled with the major time sucks:

1. I wake up anywhere between 0400 and 0500, wide awake, relishing in my baby's movements - sometimes as if he or she is running a marathon in there.  
2. My morning showers are a luxury to me.  I am in there for many more minutes, wasting water, than I need to be.  BUT, it wakes me up, soothes the baby (who is up and at it at 0500), and relaxes me.
3. I wander from room to room getting ready.  I used to pop out of the shower, get dressed, put the make up on and blow dry the hair.  I now find myself getting half way dressed, fix the hair, put some make up on, finish fixing the hair, maybe get finished getting dressed... lets not forget all the stops for a glass of water, lingering on GMA or just plain laying back feeling the baby move.
4. I am fragmented in my thought process (as if #2 pointed this out) and as much as I think I have my stuff together the night before (ha ha), I find it scattered all over.  Like getting ready in the AM, I wander from room to room, sometimes leaving the object I retrieved from the other room in the room I just retrieved another object.  
5. Mentally - I am just not prepared to leave the house.  Laying back, feet up, feeling the baby move, reading a book and chilling - is what my mind set is these days.

 All of this is good - considering the time to when this baby shows up is winding down (minutes, hours, days... not weeks) - I imagine this is a natural part of the nesting syndrome preparing me for the blissful (sleep deprived) days of a newborn.

I HEART PREGNANCY

It's really quite silly.... or not

Today was the US!  The one day that most prego women can't wait for.  I was really quite underwhelmed by it all.  This is our third baby and I am just thankful that this gift from God is growing inside of me. 

To say I was a little stressed about getting the US done is an understatement.  I didn't even know how stressed until the warm gel hit the belly and the probe made contact.  It's such a hard sell now for all these screenings, amnios, US and genetic work ups.  My hubby and I went into this pregnancy praising God for the opportunity to be parents again and felt very strongly that whatever God gave us was what God wanted.  A screening result would not have changed anything in the course of our pregnancy. 

As soon as the probe made contact with the belly I started crying.  Not tearing up, CRYING.  A fountain of tears came pouring out.  Poor US tech thought I was uncomfortable from the US and my overly full bladder (which I then got to empty). 

What caused this outpouring of tears - the most amazing, beautiful, sight that I could have laid eyes on

 

A beautiful, perfectly created, baby.  A four chambered heart, perfect head circumference, abdominal organs all intact, spinal cord complete, two arms and two legs measuring right at the dates estimated (not too big not too small).  He/she even did acrobatic moves while being filmed.  

Tears of Joy, Tears of Stress - but most of all Tears of Praise that God once again shows his hand in our lives in such a small, yet so big, way!

PRAISE GOD!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a very low keyed Mother's Day.  I tried to keep it low key as my husband is still mourning the loss of his mom over a year ago. 

To me - the greatest Gift from God was my girls and the most recent gift of my pregnancy. 

I could ask for nothing more.

Today - pleasantly surprised - the girls came home from their social outing to tell us they were joining us for Church because:

1. They didn't want to miss Church
2. It's mom's day

While I was shocked and thought that they would be exhausted it was also quite an honor to have Natalie, my oldest, join me in church today.  Her youth group, which meets on Sunday at 0900, does not meet at the 1100 service so her place was with us.  It was a very special treat.  (And a huge show of where she is in her Christian Faith walk.)

For dinner we had grilled beets, asparagus and caprese salad.  YUM  Ok - there was a crock pot full of spare ribs but I just can't tolerate meat, still.  But - the veggies hit a home run! 

For desert Rowan (my sidekick) and I walked briskly to Trader Joes to get a flourless chocolate cake and malt ball cookies. 

Now - I want to chill out, knit and try to mentally prep myself for the beginning of the work week.....

Sigh.....

For now it's good to reflect on the gift of motherhood that I am so very thankful for!

Praise God!

The Bump!

Have I mentioned I LOVE being pregnant!  Just the thought that I am mylenating and gestating fills my life with joy.  To feel that lil guy moving just adds to that.

I am on the cusp of 20 weeks - a time when you can breath a little easier, sit back, feel the baby move daily and know that it's a cake walk from here on out.

So happy I am prego but so not happy with people asking me when I am going to look prego.  So - here is my BUMP at the cusp of 20wga.  There is a bump!

PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!

What I am reading now.....

Finished Green - interesting.  Not as good as the first three books in the series but definitely worth the read. 

I am now reading Radical by David Platt.

This has shown up on many blog posts and other relative media that I decided it was a subtle nudge I should start reading it.


With a point, click and download - this is the book I will curl up with tonight.  While I am concerned it maybe a little in my face about how the Worldly Culture of today is interfering with how we should be seeing, viewing, believing and following God....

I think I need an in your face talk....

Eco Easter Egg Decor

Today the girls dabbled in the Easter Art of "Egg Dying."  I have always hated Egg dying because it seems as if the eggs always have minute cracks and the dye seeps in contaminating the eggs.  I know that PAAS is supposed to be safe but it just never seemed "RIGHT."

Rowan found this at WholeFoods last week when we were off buying groceries.

The first thought that crossed my mind was "How Brilliant" (insert Brittish accent) and the second thought was how expensive?

I know that sounds jaded but, in general, organic, non-toxic, green, natural, eco-freindly products tend to have a higher price tag.

We were pleasantly surprised by the relatively equivalent price to the PAAS and factored in the
 cost of the eggs that we would have to trash because the unfriendly ECO dye would have created
 meant that we were actually getting a better bargain for the price.

I just loved the packaging as well.  I am a big sucker for packaging.  It kind of goes with whole - presentation is everything.  Make it look good, organized, cute, adorable, professional, shiny, etc you can pretty much have a less than perfect product.

So - as we opened the cute dye kit we wondered - would it stand up to the cuteness and create safe adorable colored eggs??????

It got two thumbs up from the girls......

The only downside is that amount of time it takes for each egg to be dyed.

In this age of instant gratification we want everything to take mere minutes.  In order for the eggs to shine their brightest they needed

As little as 10 minutes in the dye and up to 20 minutes for some of the colors.

So - they read between each plop of the egg.....

The really cool thing was the color card that had them experimenting with how long, which cross dye and wiping the egg for special effects.......

The finished product?????

Turned out quite nice if Rowan does say so herself......

Happy Easter!!!

Christ is Risen!!

NMW update

Today Rowan attended my NMW appointment with me.  It was an honor to have her join me at the appointment. 

It appears that pregnancy agrees with me......

Total weight gain since start of pregnancy I have gained a total of 7 pounds with an initial wt loss of 4 pounds.  So + 3.  (not that I am counting - I can run all I want after the baby is born)

Vitals -
HR 60
BP 100/60
RR 24 (ok I'm a bit of a retainer right now)

Rowan was able to hear the FHTs and was fascinated by all the NMW does in comparison to a doctor's visit.  She was struck mostly by the fact they "listen" and gave me a huge opportunity to ask as many questions as I wanted. 

The most interesting thing she liked was the Leopold's maneuver which apparently revealed I am measuring three weeks higher than I should be.  I could have told her the baby was high - but why my bladder still feels squished I'll never know.  I can barely run/walk a mile before I need to search for a port-a-potty and that's with a bathroom break prior to my workout. 

Two things you don't want to hear at your check up.  "well either your baby is 'BIG' or you might have two in there." 

REALLY?

I'm not questioning this beautiful gift that God gave us - but really?  I know that sometimes he does give us more than we think we can handle because he wants us to rely on him...  but twins? 

I guess the only thing left to say is - "Praise God" for a healthy pregnancy that seems to agree with me!

Sad day in Holland

This week we took a trip to Holland, MI.  We love it there.  It's such a cute lil college town with tons of biking lanes/paths and five biking stores.  There are two knitting stores and a really quaint coffee shop that we would hang at every morning and evening. 

This year - we were saddened by the Magic Treehouse bookstore joining the long trend of indie book stores closing. 

We walked up and down the street, cobble stone sidewalks et al, looking for the book store only to come to the place where the Treehouse bookstore used to be.  Yes, USED to be.  Apparently it closed last August. 

The girls and I were bummed.  We were looking forward to picking out a book to read during the torrential down pours, snow, sleet, hail and ice storms we were plagued by.

SIGH

I own a Kindle, an IPod and a Nook color.  I hope to, some day, own an ipad (holding out for generation 4).  I enjoy reading on those devices and so does my one daughter and husband.  HOWEVER, this does not dismiss the advantages of walking into a book store, walking the aisles, reviewing the titles and taking in the smell of new books.  

I live to find an indie bookstore, search the shelves, find a book that peaks my interest and hang out reading it in the local coffee shop.  This is a trait I have passed on to my daughters.  It's as satisfying, as if not more, than finding the LYS in a town we are visiting and getting a skein of sock yarn to "knit a sock from that town."  

A friend lamented it was the sign of the times, economy and ebooks, but I think it's our priorities and shift in decisions we make that have led to the rapid demise of our local indie book stores. 

Heaven and Hell Revisited

Trying to reconnect and spend time in the word.  I thought I would make it easy and search Park's blog for recent posts. What I found was a discussion on the new book by Rob Bell that I refuse to buy.

I only refuse to buy it because it seems to be kicking up quite the controversy and I am not in the mood to be in the middle of a controversy.

I thought this was quite the blog post and confirmed my need to not read the book.  I think that Christians need to be cognizant of what they read and back it up with the Word.  This blog post says it all.   I encourage you to cruise over there and take a look. 

Praise God for the Living Word - to guide us and keep us. 

Running on a treadmill....

I feel like I am running on a treadmill! 

My bible readings, prayer time and alone time is suffering.

Thank GOD the baby is moving now or I would forget I was preggers.... 

Work is closing in and I am not coping well. 

I feel like a failure with my kids - one more dinner plopped in the crock pot today - Baked Zita - with a huge veggie twist (shhhhhhh  they don't need to know there are carrots, zucchinni, cauliflower or squash).  It will be done by lunch and they can snack on it till dinner.  They are home from school and I have parent teacher conference that I smidged in between two meetings - one having me run back to work at a high rate of speed. 

I love living in Chicago - everything is centralized - but at times I feel more frazzled trying to get from point a to point b. 

I will be so glad when 4/16 is here - I am going to plop myself in bed and not get out till the 17th - when we leave on a mini vacay of sorts.

I feel like such a slug and failure.  I have, however, retreated to a quiet room to read prologue from Park. 

I just want to know how I lost control of my time and my commitments?  How does this happen?  How do I prevent it?

Non-Productive

I feel so non-productive today.  I am in a daze.  It's kinda like I am walking in a fog. 

I feel like the only thing I did productive today is start dinner in the crock pot before leaving for work. 

Thank goodness for a year of slow cooking!  Today's dinner - Apricot Chicken and rice. 

I am hoping this turns out better than the root beer pulled pork fiasco.  I almost bought real root beer today - but then I would have to hide it from my children who think root beer is their "treat" since we don't push pop or kool aide in our house.  We have a boring house I am afraid - water and soy milk. 

I am  really anal about what they eat in my home - cause I can control that.  I tell them - if I tightly control what they eat at home (I figure about 80% of the food they eat) then I can let the parties, sleep overs and get to gethers go (the 20% I can't control). 

With that said - I did not buy the root beer but put the recipe on the calender about three weeks from now....  Way after Easter.

UGH - Easter - what am I going to do for Easter dinner!!!!!

Finished Product

This morning, unable to sleep - I got up and finished the other end of the star blanket!

 Natalie and Rowan LOVE the blanket.

Although there is now jealous, amongst the ranks, that the baby is getting custom made outfits.  I tried to explain to them that they too had hand made outfits, only they had hand sewn outfits.

I find that I am very unproductive at night and very productive in the wee hours of the AM.

Unfortunately, my photo taking skills are lacking.  And I just couldn't find a creative way to display the blanket.




I have been looking through the book trying to decide what to make next.

A fabulous book for anyone expecting or anyone knitting for someone expecting!

Getting ready to finish....

I just loved knitting this blanket and think the baby will love it too.  I am now getting ready to cast on the other edge of stars.

I can not wait to cast on another project from this book.

But tonight I am exhausted - and must retire to bed!

Awwwwww

I got flowers delivered at work today......  From a group of people that I worked on a grant with.  It was a bright spot on my day..... 

I feel blessed is so many ways - the flowers add to it!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my bday and all I have to say is that I have received the most precious gift ever!

Praise God!!!

Haircut from Hades

Let me start out by saying - I love my hair stylist!  She is the BOMB.  She has never done me wrong and always brings out the best in me.  She also makes me look like on hot, hip mama - which I am so not.  She is truly gifted at the art of looking at your facial features, your hair type and general demeanor and working magic.

Today - I went in for my "do" and was miserable the entire time!  As soon as she put the goopy dye on my the nape of my neck I felt ill.  Literally - I ran to the bathroom and was sick.  I barely made it through the entire "processing" of the goop.  At the hair washing I received a nice massage only it too made me sick.  At this point she threw away my DD coffee (to my horror) convinced the cream was bad which made me ill.  She finished the cut, I looked awesome (okay a little pasty) but was so happy to get moving in the direction of my home and bed.  I have never had a reaction like this and I am sure she is thrilled I didn't make an appointment to come back anytime too soon.....

It really was the weirdest thing....