What to Do While Waiting for Baby, Part 3

Take the Sunday off from church to avoid all the "You're STILL PREGNANT?!" questions....and go bowling.

This is Parenting

So this morning, I found myself wondering if perhaps this is why our littlest knight has been reluctant to make his appearance--the utter chaos of Boyland. Our middle prince ran up the stairs with a strange, toothy grin on his face...and blood gushing out of it. I took him in the bathroom to inspect, as the youngest came running up the stairs, completely naked (as he had been for the past 15 minutes or so....I'd seen him zoom in and out of the room several times giggling...although Daddy said he did have a swimming Speedo on at one point...) and crying, "My Band-Aid fell off! My Band-Aid fell off!" Daddy brought him into the bathroom to replace the coveted Band-Aid on his toe...as I was busy trying to wipe blood from a VERY strong, wriggling 6-year-old who had a tooth dangling by a string downward out of his mouth but WOULD NOT allow me to just get it out of there. Daddy offered an assist and wrapped his arms around Prince Eaglet, as the child SCREAMED and thrashed as though we were going through another blood draw (see post from 11-12-08.) He kept yelling, "Don't touch it! Don't pull it out!" I noticed somewhere around this time that he had something green stuck to his neck. Turned out it was the Band-Aid from Spunky's toe...which gave us an indication as to how this mess had begun. So Daddy and I noticed now that Spunky was climbing up onto the bathroom counter...he's still completely naked...to take the matter of the Band-Aid into his own hands since his parents were obviously indisposed at the moment. I gotta say I appreciate his initiative. Simultaneously with the naked crawler and screaming and thrashing bloody hostage, in pops Prince Bobcat, who, oblivious to the goings-on of the moment, thrusts a drawing in front of Daddy's face, "Look what I drew!" Daddy and I met eyes and just laughed. "This is parenting", I said. Nobody prepares you for this. I was thinking about the little guy inside, who although a silent bystander, was listening to the whole ordeal. It's no wonder we're sitting at D-Day and he has not made the slightest move to come out and join the party. He knows this party is going to require some major strength, resilience, and readiness. I cannot promise him a peaceful, serene home to grow up in...but I can promise plenty of excitement and love.

What to Do While Waiting for Baby, Part 2

Another great idea from Pam...have the big bros write letters to their baby brother for his baby book! The letters are absolutely precious.

Great Grandma sent a box with some stuffed bears for the boys. They became babies today....here's Eaglet, with babies tucked into bed, practicing his lullabies...


...and the video version...

What to Do While Waiting for Baby

Belly Paint!
My friend Pam gave us this great idea:

Hats off to my little artists...

Boyland Funnies

A few evenings ago, Wise Bobcat came and sat down next to me and told me all about a funny commercial he'd just seen. I politely chuckled at the 8-year-old humor, to which he replied, "Now THAT'S how you make women laugh!" At this remark, I totally cracked up, to which he replied, "And that's ANOTHER way to make women laugh!"

Spunky's take on the true meaning of Christmas: "Mommy? Christmas is NOT about FRUITCAKE!"(A good lesson learned from Max Lucado's A Fruitcake Christmas...)

Somehow while talking about Baby Brother, we got on the topic of caesarean sections. Eaglet, with a worried and furrowed brow, was full of questions. He then proclaimed, "Well, don't worry, Mommy because God is going to make you strong and able to push Baby out." I told him that I believed that also, and that I know God will take care of us. "Well", with a much-relieved expression, he said, "It's a GOOD THING I don't have to worry about THAT--'cause I'm a BOY!"

Bobcat came running up with a revelatory remark: "Guys? Circumcision and circumstition have VERY different meanings!" (Wait for parents' laughter to subside) "Circumcision is when you have to have a pee pee surgery...and circumstition is when you believe something silly to be true!" Circumstition or superstition?

Excitement of excitements: While unloading out of the van this morning, the two older boys went running around to the side entrance of the house--nothing unusual--but then they came running back, yelling. I had just gotten Spunky out of his car seat and was wondering what on earth could be so exciting, when the older brothers loudly blurted out, "There's dog pee next to OUR door!!" At this, all three ran very hurriedly to inspect. What a great day in Boyland!

2009

A fellow blogger asked her readers what we are looking forward to in 2009... There are so many things I'm dreaming about. Here are some that top the list:

• The birth of our little son!!! And along with that, all the wonderful 1st year milestones.
• Getting back into shape after Baby. Thinking of joining a gym, and I'd also love to learn to swim well enough to do lap time.
• Spunky turning 4, Bobcat turning 9, Eaglet turning 7.
• Another possible trip with my mom in February (?) with baby too, of course...to somewhere warm.
• Hopefully a warm, sunny summer this year!
• Camping trips...hopefully without rain! Wait...is that possible?
• Weekend with my guys in Seward. We skipped last year and really missed it.
• In-depth Bible studies...Esther?
• Keep on reading classic literature.
• Hopefully another visit from my grandma who lives in Wisconsin.
• Tony and I will celebrate 15 years this September!
• Finish knitting Baby's sweater and hat.
• Meeting two good friends' new babies! Throwing baby showers!
• Anne of Green Gables meets VPA this spring! How I would LOVE to try out for a part. Probably not the right timing...but trying out for something is on my goal list when it agrees with family life.
• Hatcher Pass--sledding this winter, hiking and blueberry picking in the summer.
• All the things God will teach us and show us...things I can't even imagine. He makes life SO worth living!

Just Snowshoein'

Our Alaskan boys have been out on their new snowshoes every day since Christmas save one. What a great gift from Grandmom and Grandpa...I foresee a lot of use of these for years to come!

Our Little "Joseph"

Our church has a tradition of a "living nativity" the Sunday before Christmas. The preschoolers bless us with a very precious reminder of Christ coming as a little child...while the choir (including the grade-school kids) sing. Our little Spunky played Joseph this year...

The First Load...All Hues of Blue

OOOOO....I love all these blues! I finally was able to indulge in washing the first loads of our newest son's teeny-weeny little clothes. Tony and Spunky have been busy painting and setting up the crib.......so now it's been my turn to fuss about and do the new mommy nesting thing! I love having this room all (almost) set up......and dreaming about all the precious, tender times we will share with our baby son in here. I'm so happy we're having this baby...I'm overwhelmed with the fact that God Himself came to us in this most humble and precious and vulnerable form. I'm overwhelmed with the fact that that same God also has laid out each and every day and purpose for this little one that we're about to meet any day.

"I Winned a Cwuvverin' Test!"

MTA sponsored a kids' coloring contest this year. Here's our little winner:

Rollercoaster of a Weekend

This past weekend will be set in my memory for a long time. It's been packed full of activity, and packed full of emotion. Friday night we rejoiced as our 6-year-old Eaglet overcame his fear and went up on stage for his Christmas concert...
then felt a sting as we sent my beloved Grandma Dorothy back home to Wisconsin.



Early Saturday morning we felt shock and sadness as we learned our church building had been set on fire and extensively damaged...

....and yet felt God's peace and hope...because we know that though someone tried to destroy our church, our Church cannot be destroyed. We joyfully met with friends from Rwanda whom we haven't seen for five years... and then were blessed by my goddaughter's ballet performance. She, like our Eaglet, has worked so hard to overcome her shyness: First coat of paint on the nursery walls, and we were off to "It's a Wonderful Life Night" at some dear friends' home. It was so comforting to enjoy the warmth of their home, group prayer for our church, sustaining food, and friendships. We finally made our way home, exhausted yet content. Today our boys were contentedly at home with Grandmom in charge. It had been a long several days for them, and they needed some time to rest and play and not go anywhere. Tony and I had plans to Christmas shop for the day after attending the Wasilla Bible Church service. We are back to meeting in the Wasilla Middle School--physically displaced, but renewed in faith and hope. The service was packed, and NEVER have I experienced a more Spirit-filled service in our dear church. No frills. No childcare. No Sunday school. Three instruments and five musically gifted brothers and sisters led us in worship. It was deep worship from the heart. Deep emotions. Glory to our Savior. We spilled out of the school after services and made our way back across the parking lot, across the street and into the high school parking lot where we'd had to park. The day was crisp, well below-zero...and beautifully clear and bright. Sunshine poured down and the frosty sillhouettes of trees and foliage shimmered. What a beautiful day. What a blessing to have such a full weekend...such a full life. To borrow a quote from a fellow blogger/friend..."I'm just so thank-FULL."

Blessed Big-Time

Wow. Not even sure I have the words for this post. I was SO BLESSED this past weekend with love, encouragement, prayers, gifts, FRIENDS. This is a group shot from Baby Alek's and my baby shower last Saturday. What an amazing time. Been to a lot of baby showers...but never have I felt such blessing and peace from the Spirit as I did at this one. We had a wonderful, heart-felt group prayer time together and I even had a song written for and performed for me. This will be one of my best life memories; I'll cherish it always. I am truly speechless by the number of positive, loving, God-loving women (and their families) that God has brought into my life. Another precious thing was that my 78-year-old grandma was here from Wisconsin. It was such a blessing to have her at this shower. Thank you to Mom, Grandma, Tracee, Heidi, and all of you who made this such a wonderfully special day for me.
It also seems as though this shower was planned with perfect timing. An appointment with my midwife yesterday confirmed that our little guy is very anxious to make his way out! He dropped Monday night, and I have instructions to take it easy and try and make it another 2 1/2 weeks. If things keep progressing, it will be bed rest time until that 2 1/2 weeks are up. I feel peace in knowing that he will born at the perfect time.
I'm so excited, and find myself in irrational states of nesting. The boys and I went out to buy a car seat yesterday...and bought everything for the baby from Target but a car seat. Now if we could just get that nursery painted...and a crib purchased and put up! Plans are for this weekend--I can't wait to have that little room all ready and waiting for our precious 4th son.

Always Wanted To...

..capture the sweetness and precious, fleeting moments of expectation on film.

Deserves It's Own Post

That's my boy!

More Favorites

JJ's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...

I'm home now. The kids have had a "lunch" of sorts--at 4:00 p.m. Time for me to unload.
It snowed all afternoon and evening and into the morning. It's truly beautiful, except that three little boys and I needed to be dressed, fed and out of the house at 8:30 this morning to make it to a doctor appointment by 9:15. I still have not gotten my studded tires on.
My 3-year-old morning person made his way up the stairs much too early. I knew he was coming by the perpetual, "I'm way too tired because sleep is for the birds" whine which slowly increased in volume. It was soon apparent that he was not the only one who got up on the wrong side of the bed. Our morning routine consisted of much pestering, bickering, moaning, groaning, and in-general--gnashing of teeth. Three little boys finally got out the door (on-time--whew!) and made their way out to the studless family van. We made our way through the slip-sliding morning traffic and arrived at the medical plaza at 9:15. I naively thought, "We did it! All downhill from here!" Three little boys unloaded and we made our way across the parking lot and into the building and down the hall. We were greeted by a dark, shade-drawn office with a note on the door proclaiming, "We moved in October! We finally have a building of our own!" Good for you, and congratulations. WISH YOU'D HAVE BOTHERED TO MENTION THIS LITTLE FACT WHEN I MADE THE APPOINTMENT...OR YESTERDAY WHEN YOU CALLED TO CONFIRM! There was an address on the door, which was totally unfamiliar to me. Upon investigation, I found another little note in another window with a very obscure map on it. Three little boys and their mother (mind you with 4th little boy inside) headed back up the hall, back across the parking lot, and through the ritual of buckling into three little car seats. This sounds innocent enough, but any of you readers with three boys know the facts--it is somewhat similar to herding cats, only much louder. Back out into slip-sliding traffic we trudged. I headed in the general direction of where I thought the new office was located. Taking the back roads, I over-shot where I wanted to be and needed to take a left out onto Parks Highway. Done it many times. It's no big deal if you are patient enough to wait for a reasonable opening. I pulled up to the "stop sign" (more on this later) and waited. Finally it was my time. I safely pulled out, and for some reason, the notion popped into my mind that I was going to get in a car accident on my way and it would be all because the doctor office didn't bother to mention they moved. I had to hang in the middle "suicide lane" momentarily while I waited for the other flow of traffic to open up...and it was there I saw a trooper's lights go on. Crap. Is it illegal to hang momentarily in the middle lane if necessary on a snowy day to avoid a collision? Guess so, or so I thought. This was my last straw. I pulled over and burst into tears; I had absorbed my limit of stress on this morning. I'm talking tears as in, the blubbering, gasping type that do not and will not shut off under any amount of will power. I rolled down my window and apologized to the trooper, asking him to please wait a moment. He had that slightly nervous, large-eyed look that most men get to some degree when faced with a pregnant woman in tears. I finally collected myself enough to answer his question, "So you must know why I pulled you over?" I blubbered out why I had to hang momentarily in the middle lane while the other side of traffic cleared more because of the slippery roads...blah, blah, blah." He replied, "There's a traffic light there now; you ran a red light." (Insert loud gong-type noise that at this point went off in my frazzled little head.) A traffic light. Of course. They put them in last September, or August, or...whatever. At this point, I struggled to come up with all the documents the trooper needed--licence, registration, insurance. Most things were in the glove compartment, and proved a bit difficult to retrieve...as are most things these days which require stooping or bending of any sort. I did not have our most recent insurance card in the van. I apologized through my stream of tears which would not end, and waited for him to do his thing back in the patrol car. At this point I thought I'd try and call the doctor's office. Too bad they were not listed in the phone book. Trooper returns, all apologetic-like, and explains he's giving me a ticket for no insurance and if I just produce that within ten days the ticket is void. For the red light, he explained, "I am just giving you a warning...I can see you're having a REALLY BAD DAY." I blubbered out a barely-audible "thank you do you know where Willow street is?" The slightly-nervous-man-look returned and he began to walk backward in an effort to relieve himself from this pitiful, teary-eyed, desperate, pregnant woman whom he REALLY was wishing he had not bothered to pull over. He apologized that he does not normally patrol Wasilla. Off we went.
By God's grace we found the new office; it was 10:50. We headed in, me still not able to stop crying. What a nuisance tears and emotions can be; I desperately wanted those tears to stop, but they would not concede. The receptionist had no pity that I didn't know the office had moved, but we were still able to see the doctor after every other person who had gotten there on time. The doctor visit went as expected. This was an appointment I had not been looking forward to, and had been putting off for many months. Bobcat gets migraines. Freaky, knock-him-out-with-no-notice, makes-him-puke migraines. I've been hoping and praying for months they would just go away. Finally after another episode this past weekend, I made the appointment. Here's a little fun-fact about myself--I hate radiation. I chalk this up to having gone through radiology courses and training and taking x-rays in my previous life, uh...job. I know too well the dangers and risks associated; I also know it can be necessary and helpful. I just do not like the thought of my babies taking any of it on. I have put off this doctor visit because I knew the doctor would request an MRI. Sure enough, we are going to be heading for an MRI. News I expected, but didn't like. The other thing we needed to do was blood work. No biggie, for most people...including myself, and our 6-year-old and 3-year-old. BIG DEAL for our 8-year-old. Mercy. We spent a long time (3 of us) holding him down while he struggled and plead and cried. It added to the wonderful day we were having.
At this point, we were supposed to be headed to a long-awaited field trip to Matanuska Creamery which began at 11:00. It was now 11:06. Three very bummed-out little boys head to the van, and I tell them we can just head over and maybe they'll let us go on the 2nd tour at 12:00. They did. Ice cream brightened my little crew's day momentarily. We had a couple errands before we could go home. The highlight, which was tucked in between a whole lot of whining and pestering, was knock-down, drag-out hysteria in the Fred Meyer restroom...because my 6-year-old is positively panicked over automatic-flushing toilets. If you heard a blood-curdling, frantic screaming sometime this afternoon...it was us. At this point, I made my summation proclamation, "Well this has been a banner-day for the (insert our last name.) That's all. May you all have a much better day than the one described!
Side note--We choose to give thanks for our days--whether they are good days, or bad days. What a cool thing that after the trooper incident, I could remind the boys of the song we hear regularly on KLOVE, "Praise You in This Storm". They have asked before, "What is this song talking about, Mommy?" I told them today, that days like today are what the song is talking about. We choose to praise Jesus for all our days--because each and every one (YES, including today!) are a gift from Him. We are healthy, together, and have a job that provides a warm home and good food. Jesus is the giver of everything good, and we will praise Him in every storm.

Eaglet and the Big 0-6

Eaglet planned his own party this year. He looked through a cookbook and chose Ice Cream Mice in lieu of cake.
He wanted a "coin hunt", and so we searched the house for chocolate coins.
He wanted to play "Pin the Thomas Jefferson on the 2 dollar bill"...and so we pinned up Andrew Jackson (Mom's mistake) portrait on a giant "bill".
He picked out strawberry Whoppers for appetizers, to proceed Papa Murphy's pizza...
...and received a prized Buffalo toy...many coins for his coin collection...a coin collecting guide, camoflauge overalls, and many Titanic books! Gifts that he totally treasures, but none befitting of the love we feel for him. The years just go by faster and faster. I love this child. He is intense. He is loud. He is full of life and joy. He cares for others. He loves what is right and good and just. Happy 6th Birthday, Eaglet.

Perfect Saturday

My idea of a perfect Saturday...doesn't happen real often...but then "perfect" would become "ordinary", right? We were blessed with such a one a few weeks ago.