Back in the saddle ... err ... sneakers

Now that Abigail is 6 weeks old (eeks!) I've started back into my walk to jog plan. I'm getting very tired of having to start over every year after having a baby. Hopefully that will not be a problem again for at least a few years!

I'm currently on week 3 of the program and, as in the past, I find it increases at just the right pace to allow me to keep up but still be challenged each time I get on the treadmill. With the snowy weather lately and the imminent arrival of winter, I'll be running inside for the next several months, so I just decided to start on the treadmill. Besides, it's kind of embarrassing to go outside when you're walking for 4 minutes and running for just 1.

I bought some new sneakers at a specialty store a few weeks ago and they are great. The last two pairs of sneakers I had used for running I did not love, but these ones are very comfortable. I have to make sure I only allow myself to wear them for running so I don't wear them out too quickly! I'm hoping to pick up another pair after Christmas just so they won't be discontinued by the time I look for them again.

Peter is trying to get some running in lately as well and we think we might sign up for a 10k in the spring somewhere. I've only ever run in one 5k event, so a 10k would be a challenge but should be reasonable. It will be fun to train 'together' even though our runs will have to be solo so someone is home with the kids.

My interim goal (in the absence of a race) is to be able to run 3 or more times a week for 35 minutes at a time by the end of January. I don't want to start too quickly as I've had plantar fasciitis in the past and don't wish for it to return. I typically run at 10 min / mile so that will be my goal for those workouts. Once I get there I can start to increase the distance and speed - yay!

Bathroom renovation - complete (almost)

This update is a bit late, but we finally finished the bathroom renovations in time for all our company to arrive. In fact, Peter's even done quite a bit of work on the downstairs bedroom, but that's for another post.

During the last update, we had the walls primed, the shower half-installed, and no sink or toilet. Since then we have installed a sink and toilet, painted the walls, and finished installing the floor. Voila!

Here is a list of what's left on the bathroom. I would really like to get these items checked off as soon as possible:

1. Doorknob (bought but not yet installed)
2. Touch up paint on trim
3. Last few tiles by door (waiting to hear from flooring expert whether we should wait until laminate is laid in hallway)
4. Mirror (still need to purchase)
5. Install towel racks and toilet paper holder (bought but not yet installed)
   

Halloween

This was the first Halloween that Nathan was excited to go out trick or treating. Seeing his anticipation of this makes me even more excited for Christmas this year. He's going to be so much fun!! Peter took him out to some houses on our street on Sunday afternoon before work. Nathan has been so good with his treats. Every time I say he can have one, he picks one out and says, "This is the one I want to share with Hannah." I am one proud mama when I hear that! (He's not always so kind to his sister - that is our biggest area of discipline with him right now ...)



Nathan also helped carve the pumpkin this year. I still couldn't get him to touch the pumpkin 'guts,' though! Our poor pumpkin just could not rival those of previous years - the pumpkins here kind of suck compared to those back East ... sorry prairie friends, but it's true. I thought about asking my sister to smuggle one out in her suitcase earlier in the month, but I thought that might be a bit much to ask ;)


Oh, and Nathan was a fireman this year. In case it wasn't obvious from the pictures.

Settling in to life with three

Abigail will be one month old in a few days. That is definitely hard to believe, but we are settling in well to life as a family of 5. Abigail is still doing really well. She is usually only up once a night and just eats and goes back to sleep.

Life is very busy, of course. I do find that I'm coping better than before Abby was born. I think it's because I felt so wretched when I was pregnant that I feel like I can take on the world now that I'm getting back to my old self! I carefully guard my evenings after the kids are in bed, but I am managing to keep the main areas of the house tidy most of the time and have even managed to scrub some floors this week.

I am starting to think about Christmas. We have picked up several gifts for the kids and have ideas for some more (we're still looking for ideas for Hannah ... anyone?). This week I wrote a draft of my Christmas letter and ordered our Christmas cards along with an extra picture of Abigail to include in the envelopes. This weekend I'm hoping to print off address change cards to include in the Christmas cards and to make sure I have all the addresses I need. The cards should arrive early next week and I want to get them all addressed by the end of next week. We have company arriving at that point so I would like to have that big job out of the way.

I have a goal to lose all the baby weight by Christmas. It's definitely a reasonable goal if I can keep myself away from the Christmas baking! I have about 15 lbs left to go. I can't wait until after my 6 week appointment so I can start a walk-to-jog plan ... again.

And ... in the past week I've gone through all our baby boy and girl clothes and all of my clothes (maternity and non-maternity). The boy clothes have gone to friends, the girl clothes are all well-sorted, labeled, and back in storage, and only clothes I like are in my drawers and closet. I feel so productive and would like to continue on this decluttering streak. I think toys and kitchen stuff would be the next logical places.

I'm also back into menu planning and have a plan for lunches and suppers for the next couple of weeks. So much less stressful!

Well, that's about all I can think of for this random update. Time to go put a pot of coffee on for Peter ... he's working nights tonight.

Welcome Abigail Elizabeth!

Abigail Elizabeth was born on October 2nd, 2010, at 11:53 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz, and was 21" long.

This labour experience was very different from my last two as we were in a different province (thus different hospital) and we are now an hour from the hospital where she was delivered. I had made it to over 39 weeks pregnant (longer than either of my other two pregnancies), was very uncomfortable, and was definitely ready to have a baby. We hadn't found out if we were having a boy or a girl (although I was convinced we were having a boy) so that added an element of excitement to going into labour.

Peter had gone to work for 8 p.m. on Saturday night, with a strict admonishment from me to keep his phone on him ;) I had been reminding him of this for over two weeks, though, so I don't think he was too worried. I started contracting right after he went to work so I laid down, thinking that would stop any false labour. Instead, about 5 minutes after I laid down, I felt my water break (for anyone who's curious, to me it feels like someone plucked a guitar string in my stomach). My water had broken on its own with Nathan so I was pretty sure that's what happened even though I didn't have the waterfall I had with him. This was around 8:45 and the contractions immediately went to lasting for about a minute every three. I called Peter and the people who were set up to watch Hannah and Nathan, and started to pack my bag and the bag for the other kids. Yes, I hadn't really packed yet. Silly me.

Peter got home around 9 and we were on the road by 9:15 p.m. He did the hour's drive in about 40 minutes and we walked into the hospital just before 10. I was still having contractions about every 3 minutes. We got to the delivery room and I got hooked up to the monitor. The nurse said she could see that I was having lots of contractions but that the test on whether my water had broken was inconclusive.

I told the nurse I wasn't interested in an epidural during her questions. She checked me and I was at 5 cm ... still halfway to go. I was really tired (maybe because I looked after 2 kids all day and then decided to go into labour??) so I quickly told the nurse I had changed my mind. She checked me again (about 20 minutes had passed) and I was already at about 7 cm. Since I was progressing so quickly she told me I wasn't able to get any drugs ... yikes! This hospital didn't have my favourite fentanyl ... I knew this going in but didn't realize my drug choices at this hospital would end up having me do a drug-free labour and delivery.

By about 11:45 p.m. I was ready to push. By this point I was exhausted and didn't have a great amount of energy to push, so I was very glad that it only took 3 pushes for her to be born. She was born at 11:53 p.m. - definitely my shortest labour by far! They placed her on my chest but I still didn't know that she was a 'she'! I asked Peter if she was a boy or girl and when he said girl I thought he might have been teasing me - I was that sure she was a boy! lol. Of course I was / am overjoyed to have another little girl to love.

Abigail is 2 weeks old today and she is definitely the easiest baby of the three I've had. She can put herself to sleep (not always, but some of the time), is usually only up once at night, and is generally very calm when she's awake. The public health nurse expressed surprise at being able to do all her checks on a quiet baby. She really is amazingly calm. It will be interesting to see how her personality develops.

Nathan and Hannah have adapted well to another baby in the house. Hannah is just about ready to walk and has been a bit out of sorts, but that's to be expected. She's just now starting to get back to her old self. Nathan has been great with Abigail - he loves to give her kisses and hugs and wants to read to her. So sweet!


We are so thankful for another healthy baby and are looking forward to the privilege of having her as part of our family :)

It's fall ... back to stitching

I went looking for my last stitching update and found this. I am pleased that my stitching has picked up now that fall is back. Once the baby is born, though, I'm sure it will slow down considerably!

Here are updated progress pics ...

Carousel (Theresa Wentzler)
Started: January 2007 (estimated at 194 hours completed)

At least I can see progress between this picture and the last. I can't wait to be done the horses!

Celtic Summer (Lavender & Lace)
Started: Unknown but later than Feb. 2007 (?? + 24 hours)

I finished the front swirly part of her dress. I still have to fill in the gold but I will do that near the end.

Nativity - Centre Panel (Marbek)
Started: unknown but later than Feb. 2007 (?? + 24 hours)

This piece does not photograph well at all :( This was my second rotation working with a copy of the pattern so I could highlight as I finish sections. I worked on some of the star this rotation and can see that highlighting is going to be a huge help in the sections using blending filament.

Dance of the Roses (Lavender & Lace)
Started: Feb. 2007 (?? + 24 hours)

I felt like I made good progress on this one this rotation. Having the rose ribbon as a delimiter really helps my motivation.

Still here ... still pregnant

After several unproductive months, the past week I have been actually getting things accomplished! My house is presentable, I have a few meals and a dozen apple pies in the freezer, there are no science experiments in my fridge, and we even did a bit of yard work today. Unbelievable!! Some people are saying it's nesting, but I think it's been going on too long to be that. I am attributing it to actually making and using a to do list every morning. It's been almost magical! The only thing I haven't really done off my to do list this week is pack my hospital bag. It makes me laugh.

I am going to the doctor every week and he seems confident I won't go overdue. My next appointment is this coming Tuesday. Tuesday also marks the date in my previous pregnancy where I went into labour with Hannah (Nathan would have been born last Friday). In other words, I've never been pregnant longer than next Tuesday so we'll see what happens. I am not feeling like labour is imminent, but I didn't with Nathan or Hannah either. For some reason I think I might have the baby late next week.

The kids are still having a tough time going to sleep in the same room. More often than not we end up moving Hannah either to the crib in the nursery or to the pack 'n play in our room after fighting with them for an hour. *sigh* Oh well, they'll get it eventually.

Peter's been working steadily on the bathroom ... pictures and post to come soon! I've also been doing more stitching now that fall is here ... again, pictures and post to come soon.

Pregnancy Summary - Week 36

I finally have another real belly pic to post, and what a belly it is! I am definitely ready to have this baby at any point.

As has become customary, I got my final hair cut and colour before the baby today. It's such a 'pick-me-up,' something that is definitely needed at this point in the pregnancy! Unlike when I was pregnant with Nathan, though, I kept a bit of length in my haircut. I realized after I saw the pictures from when I had him that a chin-length haircut only emphasizes how puffy my face is at the end of a pregnancy, so I've kept it long while pregnant every since. Vanity, vanity!

I had my 3-hour glucose test and the results were fine - yay! I don't care so much at this point about what gestational diabetes would mean for the pregnancy / baby, as we are so close to the end, but I know that having it would put me at a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes later in life so I'm glad I've avoided that.

I saw the obstetrician again yesterday and everything looks good. We had a bit of a scare when he went to find the heartbeat with the Doppler and couldn't. That is so unusual at this point in the pregnancy that it had me pretty scared! Thankfully he has an ultrasound machine in his exam room so we just took a quick peak and he used that to measure the heart rate (128 ... definitely supporting my suspicion of boy).

The doctor told me he won't let me go much past 40 weeks. I'm still counting on going early since I haven't made it to 39 weeks with either pregnancy. He also said he doesn't like to have women in labour for too long (he used 50 hours as an example), but since my previous ones were only 9 and 7 hours I don't foresee that being a problem, either.

I did find out about their on-call schedule. He said he is on call 24/7 every second week and that he delivers all of his patients who go during regular business hours. It works out to about a 75% chance that he will do the delivery. Since I've never had my own doctor deliver before I'm not too worried.

I can't believe it's almost time to meet this baby!! We've moved Hannah out of the nursery but I still haven't gone through and found my infant clothes. That is definitely something that has to be done this week. Oh, and packing hospital stuff. So much to do ... hopefully so little time ;)

Homemade fun

This has been the scene at our house for several hours over the past week. Nathan's playdough had all been mixed together and much of it had dried out. So ... being the lazy (didn't want to load both kids up and go out) and cheap (didn't want to spend the money) person that I am, I decided to try making them some playdough. Many of the recipes I found online required alum, which I don't have in my cupboards, so I finally settled on this recipe, from here:

Nature's Playdough

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange.

I did not have beet, spinach, or carrot juice readily available, so I used some of my icing dyes instead. They made wonderfully vibrant shades of play dough. I was worried the colour might rub off when played with, but it doesn't!

I've played with many sticky batches of homemade play dough over the years but this dough is awesome. It feels very much like the stuff from the store, although it smells a bit worse. Oh well. The kids have had it out pretty much every day for the last week and it's still as good as new. The recipe is definitely a keeper!

Hannah - 17 month summary

Mmmm ... warm chocolate chip cookie!

Hannah continues to understand and follow simple directions. She has also started to point to body parts when asked. The ones I've seen her do consistently are nose, mouth, and toes. I think of her as younger than she is because she is not walking, but I forget that her cognitive development is right on track.

Hannah has added a couple of recognizable words (to Peter and I) this month. One is 'giraffe' (her favourite stuffed animal), 'doggie', and 'soo-soo' for soother. I can't remember off the top of my head if there are any more. She gets frustrated when she can't communicate what she wants. An example of this is when Mom and Dad were here earlier this month they gave her orange juice with her breakfast. Well, she doesn't like juice but couldn't quite communicate that. She was cranky all through breakfast until we managed to figure it out. Then she was happy as a clam. I'm hoping that her volatile moods will calm a bit once she is able to get around better and communicate her wants.

Hannah still has her soother. I'm still not happy about it, but there are other changes that need to happen before I can work on it. Within the next week we will be moving Hannah into Nathan's room. It should be interesting, to say the least. Since she is still not very old we will just put a crib mattress on the floor in his room for her to sleep on. If that doesn't work she will have to use the pack 'n play. I'm cutting this transition very close with the baby's due date less than 6 weeks away, but time sort of slipped away from us!

Hannah has made strides toward pulling herself up this month - finally. Even after Nathan was walking he couldn't really get himself to standing very easily for a few months. I think Hannah is going to be the opposite - I think she is going to learn to stand and then cruise, then walk (like most children, I think). Hopefully this will mean less walking around with her holding our hands - that is tiring at 8 months pregnant!

Hannah is definitely down to one nap now. Some days are longer than others - anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 1/2 hours. Her bedtime has moved a bit earlier as well. She is usually in bed and asleep before 7 now.

Hannah got more teeth this month. I think she is up to 11. She loves meat, unlike her brother, and the extra teeth are really helping her chew.

I almost forgot to add that Hannah is finally doing independent playtime consistently!! She is still in the crib (which is going to be tricky when we move her to Nathan's room), but she will do 45 minutes relatively happy. Hopefully when we move to Nathan's room she will play in there happily and Nathan can play downstairs ... if I can get it cleaned up enough. Ugh.

I think that's it for this month. Other than the room transition we won't be too ambitious with teaching skills until after the baby is here.

A Long Obedience ...

I have a confession to make, and hopefully putting it out here will make me accountable to do something about it. My devotional life has been very much lacking since Hannah was born last year. Since then I've had a hard time settling into a routine, something that I find very important in order to keep up a consistent quiet time, and with another baby on the way I am worried that it will only become worse. Soooo ... I've made it my goal that by next year at this time this will no longer be something I struggle with. I will have a consistent quiet time and it will be something I look forward to with anticipation most days (I could say all days, but I know that's unrealistic).

I wanted to choose a motivating devotional book to pair with Scripture to get me started. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene Peterson, is a book I have turned back to multiple times over the years. I bought it when I went to Urbana in 2000, and since the topic obviously relates to my current struggle I'm planning to start with it. If I remember correctly, each chapter deals with one of the ascension psalms (not sure if that is what they are actually called) that the Israelites would sing on their way to Jerusalem. Again, I'm a bit fuzzy on the historical details, but they are laid out in the book so they should become clear again within the next few days :)

I'm going to pick up a new journal this afternoon and get started. I'm still unsure of the best time, but I'm going to try scheduling it for early afternoon. Right after Hannah goes for her nap and Nathan goes for his rest time I'll plan to have my quiet time. I think one of my roadblocks has been that I have this vision in my head that I want to have my quiet time first thing in the morning. Ideally, that is true, and I've always had this notion of getting up before my kids and them waking up and finding me in my quiet time. However, at this stage in my life and given my personality and Peter's work schedule, I really have to give up on this bit of perfectionism and realize that it's more important to actually build my relationship with Christ than to worry about what time of the day I am devoting to quiet meditation. Since Hannah's nap happens at the same time 99% of the time, I figure it's one constant in our schedule that I can count on.

Nathan - 3 1/4 year summary

Wow, I just looked back at my 3 year summary of Nathan and it was very detailed! I doubt this one will be as long-winded, but I only have to cover 3 months instead of a whole year this time.

Nathan has adapted very well to our new town and new way of life. He loves when Daddy is home in the day to play with him. His favourite activities with Peter are wrestling and hockey. Could he be a more typical boy? I have really seen his sense of adventure and his willingness to take risks expand this summer. I think it's healthy and most of the credit for this goes to Peter, too. I tend to be really nervous when he tries new things (like climbing monkey bars) but Peter encourages him to try.

Potty training is still going well. He has very few accidents overall and tells us more often than not when he has to go. Unfortunately he still can't get up on the toilet or pull his pants up very well without us. He can get his pants and underwear off, so that's progress.

Nathan continues to test his boundaries, but I do think he is obeying a bit more than he was 3 months ago. That may just be wishful thinking on my part, and he still oversteps his boundaries with Hannah more than I would like, but he seems to be playing better with other children.

We tried putting Nathan in swimming lessons this summer. We started out with a class where he would go in by himself. He can touch in the shallow end of the pool and loved swimming with Peter and I, but when it came time to go in with his class he screamed and cried very hard. We tried every morning for a week to get him to go with his class, even going so far as getting in the pool with him, but he would not budge. Halfway through the two-week session we switched him to a class where I got in the water with him. Although the content of the class was a bit below him (it had kids from 6 months - 3 years old in it), he did much better socially.

His swimming skills have dramatically improved over the summer. With Peter's schedule and the close proximity of the pool to our house, we have taken the kids to the pool many, many afternoons this summer. Nathan has become a little fish. He loves to go underwater and even enjoys challenging us to see who can stay under the longest. He can do a front float and will open his eyes underwater and has started trying to do a sort of doggie paddle when Peter prompts him. I think the next thing he needs to work on will be a back float ... probably next summer. We will try swimming lessons again next summer, too, and hopefully they will go better.

We also enrolled Nathan in a local VBS (not the one at our church as it was for ages 5 and up). He went with one of his best friends and the first day was rough. Peter ended up staying the whole time. The second day I went with him and stayed, but was out of sight for about 90 minutes out of the 2 hour timeframe. Wednesday he stayed on his own but by Thursday Nathan was really tired. I think all the 'new-ness' was really exhausting for him and he just broke down when we got there on Thursday afternoon. We ended up coming home after the opening time on Thursday and then he stayed on his own on Friday afternoon. I'm glad he did a few days on his own. It gives me hope for him in the future!! I see so much of my own reticence and shy nature in him it's scary. I really hope it's something he can overcome as I am only too familiar with the limitations it places on a person.

We have gotten out of any kind of structured learning time for Nathan this summer. It is something I want to start up again, though, so hopefully with fall right around the corner I can get myself organized.

Nathan seems to be excited about the new baby. He will often come up and hug or pat my belly and say what the baby is doing inside my belly. It is really cute. I hope he's as excited once the baby gets here!

One of Nathan's new favourite words is 'irritating.' A strange word for a 3 year old (and he often uses it incorrectly), but it must be something Peter or I say with some sort of regularity. There's another one, too, that I can't think of right now.

Nathan is no longer napping. It was a fairly easy decision once he started laying awake in bed until 9 or 10 every night. As soon as we cut out the naps he started falling asleep promptly at bedtime (somewhere between 7 and 7:30). I found it really stressful when he was taking so long to fall asleep at night, so losing the afternoon time is worth it to me. He still has 'rest time' in the afternoon, where he can take a few toys and books into our bed for an hour. He seems to enjoy that time to unwind and it gives me a chance to rest, too. The reason he is in our bed is because very soon (within the next week) he and Hannah will begin to share a room. Since Hannah is (obviously) still napping in the afternoon Nathan has to have his rest time elsewhere.

To work on in the next three months:

• Establish at least 30 minutes of learning time per day, 5 days a week.
• Teach Nathan to undress and dress himself. It may not be perfect but it's something I've been slacking on.
• Establish a few (maybe 3) daily chores that he is responsible for. At the moment I'm thinking - making his bed, brushing his teeth (in the morning - we do it at night), and tidying up his room before bed.
  

Pregnancy summary - Week 34

I know I don't look very happy in this picture, but at least it's a recent one that shows how massive I'm getting! I am always surprised by how big I am by the end of a pregnancy. I think I'm just concentrating in this picture - hence the serious expression.

I've seen the obstetrician twice since my last update. I really like him so far. I haven't asked how they work delivery schedule so I'm not sure what my chances are of him actually delivering the baby.

At my appointment yesterday I hadn't gained any weight (yay!!). I am still within the recommended 25 - 35 lb weight gain range. I think I gained about 70 lbs with Nathan and 50 lbs with Hannah, so I am feeling really good about this so far. I really wonder how much moving to the small town has helped - both with the amount of walking we've been doing and with the limited selection of unhealthy restaurants (the only chain fast food restaurant in town is Subway). I ate at McDonald's in the city yesterday since my appointment was at noon and it didn't even taste good. Could I have broken my addiction? Haha. We'll see. I wonder if there are any places to live that don't have access to diet coke ...

My blood pressure was good (120 / 70), so nothing to note there. The doctor did an ultrasound in his office and it was so neat. He said I wouldn't be able to see as much as I could at the 20 week ultrasound but I think he meant as far as getting the overall picture of the baby. I'm terrible at interpreting ultrasound images anyway, so I found the one yesterday much more informative than the earlier one. The doctor showed me the spine, heart (very cool to see the 4 chambers), kidneys, and face. He also measured the baby's abdominal circumference and femur length. He said the baby is positioned perfectly at the moment and that the measurements all looked good.

The worst part of the appointment? There was sugar in my urine so they are making me do the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. Ugh. My veins are small and they roll, so getting 2 or 3 blood draws in one day is not an attractive prospect. Thankfully I can get it done here in town and will do so early next week. I'm not too worried about gestational diabetes simply because I've had sugar in my urine with all three pregnancies and never had a problem. This is the first time for this test, though.

The only thing I'm not so sure about with this obstetrician is he seems to push the epidural quite a bit. Although fentanyl is not an option at this hospital, I'm not sure I'm ready to say yes to the epidural right off the bat. I told him I'd like to play it by ear when the time comes.

Stitching update ... finally!

My stitching progress has slowed down throughout the summer. Lately there has been a feeling of fall in the air and I can tell by my renewed desire to stitch! I finally finished this rotation so, without further ado, here are some updated pictures.

I feel like I'm moving very slowly on this one for some reason. This picture includes 2 hours of work for the next rotation, too, so the next picture will show less progress.

I am really enjoying working on Celtic Summer :)

This piece is much prettier in person. Still working on this tiny little piece of the overall puzzle.

The reason there are two extra hours on Carousel is because I got stalled on this one. Until this rotation I was still stitching this off the original pattern. When I got to it this time I was unwilling to do any more until I got a photocopy of the pattern so I stitched on Carousel until I was able to get it done. The reason I did the little ribbon on the dress is I like to work it in tiers. Next rotation I will be working on yellow, yellow, and a bit of brown ...

Handy Oatmeal Cookies

Peter left yesterday for a week of training and should be back Friday night. Looking at the chaos around me last night and feeling quite overwhelmed I decided it might be worth getting back on the Flylady bandwagon. So far the first 24 hours have been a rousing success. Since I tire easily at the moment - using 10 or 15 minute blocks for cleaning interspersed with lots of rest has helped me make it through the day.

It rained most of the day so the kids and I spent the whole day in the house. To give Nathan something fun to do this afternoon we decided to make cookies. I looked in the fridge ... no eggs. Thankfully I remembered I had this recipe for oatmeal cookies that doesn't require eggs. The recipe is from Vicki Lansky's Kids Cooking.

Here's the recipe (it makes a lot of cookies - probably 4 dozen or so):

1 1/2 c butter
3 c oats
1 1/2 c flour (I wanted to try whole wheat but, again, we're out ... guess I'll have to get some groceries soon!)
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Put all ingredients in a big bowl and mash it all together with your hands. Keep mixing until it is a uniform consistency and everything sticks together. Drop in balls on baking sheet (I think it's best to flatten them a bit). Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes.


They're actually pretty good cookies considering how few ingredients are in them. Probably not in my top three cookie recipes or anything, but they'll do in a pinch :) At least they're nice and chewy.

4 more days until Peter comes home ... :)

Bathroom renovation - plumbing, electrical, and drywall complete

I didn't realize it had been so long since a renovation update! We gutted the downstairs bathroom completely, and Peter spent many hours becoming familiar with how to fix up plumbing and electrical. While he was working on the downstairs bathroom he decided to add an outlet to the upstairs bathroom (neither bathroom had an outlet when we moved in). What a great hubby! It is wonderful to be able to dry and straighten my hair in the bathroom now.

Once Peter got the plumbing and electrical downstairs straightened away (he installed a new fan, outlet, and switch for a light that used to be on a pull cord) a friend came over and they installed the drywall. After about a week for crack-filling, Peter was able to prime the room yesterday and painted the ceiling tonight. It is finally starting to come together! Today I painted the door and the trim before we install them. It is really nice to be doing one room at a time and be able to do things at a more leisurely pace. Painting trim before installation is something we regretted not doing at our previous house. Hopefully it will make touch-ups after installation go much more quickly.

The pictures don't look like much at this point but I'll post them anyway.




I can't wait to get some paint on the walls (still have to decide on a colour) and get the rest of the fixtures installed :)

As for the next task on our list - we will be tackling the downstairs bedroom. The plan is to create a walk-in closet by combining the super-narrow closet with a tiny (and useless) storage room. We will replace the paneling with drywall, install new trim, lights, and eventually flooring (but that will be done when we do the rest of the basement). We'd like to have the bedroom and bathroom completed before the baby arrives ... that date is getting closer!

ETA: I just realized I haven't posted a picture of the floor. Peter tiled and grouted the floor. It looks great!

Sorry folks ... another garden update :)

The garden is still doing well. I took some pictures over a week ago but have yet to post them. The most exciting part of the garden at the moment is watching the vine plants grow. I finally got up two of the three supports I need and it's fun to weave the vines in and out of the netting.

Here is a picture of my middle box. The squash plant in the back is taking over, as are the tomato plants!

As you can see by the difference between the left and right sides of the box, Peter got the weeds done on the left-hand side and not the right. Hopefully that will change soon. He did it so much faster than I am able to at the moment! The beans (in the third row between two tomato plants) definitely need to be tied up a bit. I just need to take out some string.

Here is my biggest cucumber (as of July 31st). I'm hoping to make pickles so I planted 6 plants. I need a 6 quart basket of cucumbers ... anyone have any idea how many cucumbers that would be approximately?

And our first harvest of carrots and beans. There weren't enough of either one ready to eat, but we combined them. There is nothing like carrots straight from the garden :)

That's it for today. Our apples are growing and it looks like we will have enough to last the winter from our McIntosh tree - yay! I am enjoying gardening immensely and already looking forward to next year.

Hannah - 16 month summary

Doesn't she look like a little girl in that picture?? Where's my baby?

Hannah has learned to shake her head and nod in response to questions this month. It's kind of funny, because her default is to shake her head, then she figures out what you asked and changes to a nod if her answer is yes. I tested her a few days ago to see how much she understands. I was folding a load of diapers in the living room. I handed on to her and said, "Take the diaper to your room, please, Hannah." Right away she started her bum shuffle to her room, diaper in hand. It was so cute to see. It surprised me, too. I didn't think she would understand that clearly. I guess I will have to up my expectations for her!

Hannah's newest unprompted word this month is 'shoes.' This makes me laugh all the time because it makes me think she's a true girl! She is mimicking many of the words we say. Pretty much anything is fair game. 'Poopy bum' is one that stands out as being common. I guess it's something I say often.

The soother has reappeared this month. I just gave in and started giving it to her again at nap times and bedtimes. She no longer needs it to get to sleep, but she does get to sleep more quickly when she has it.

One other skill Hannah has been working on this month (no, it's not walking ... sigh), is sitting up from laying on her back. Most mornings and nap times I find her sitting in her crib. It's also nice that she can sit back up when she falls over on the floor now, especially as I am finding it harder and harder to bend over :)

Hannah is pretty much down to one nap. Unfortunately it's not as long as I would like, but she does not have any problem staying up until her nap just after lunch. She does sleep wonderfully at night - at least 13 hours at a time - so I really can't complain.

Hannah got one new tooth on the bottom this month for a grand total of 9 teeth. She can eat just about anything now :)

ETA: I finally started giving Hannah a spoon to eat with this month. They asked me about it at her 1 year appointment, so I am obviously behind. I only started this month by accident. We were at a friend's house for dinner and there was a fork in front of her place. Hannah went nuts wanting that fork! We were having rice with our supper, so it was a bad choice to try for the first time, but she had a good time. I've since given her a spoon several times with various types of food. Tonight she even ate some of her spaghetti with a spoon. I think starting later with this (as with most things) means fewer messes to clean up (we noticed this with potty training Nathan around his third birthday).

Brain-sucking baby

I'm managing to squeeze one last post in before the end of the month, but 4 posts for July is pretty abysmal. Hopefully next month will be better.

I really hope this baby is intelligent, because with this pregnancy, more than the other two, I feel like my own brain is just not functioning. I half-wonder if it's because I'm at home this time (instead of working and being in school), but I really don't know. I can't seem to string together two coherent sentences. This has not helped me keep up with blogging!

Peter worked last night so the kids and I headed out to the yard for some play time this morning. Hannah and Nathan both enjoy playing in the sand box and it is fun to see them play together. I still have to do more refereeing than I would like, but that will hopefully decrease as they get older. While they were playing I continued setting up my trellises for my climbing plants. I will be so glad to have these all ready to go at the start of next year! I now have two set up completely (a gardening post is coming early next week ...). The third, which I need for 4 cucumber plants, has not even been started.

After lunch both kids had a rest (Hannah napped and Nathan played in his room). I sat and read a book for an hour - what bliss! I'm reading through the Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson. I have to ignore approximately one page per book of stuff that I don't want to read about, but other than that I am really enjoying them. I'm on book 6.

After their rest we set up the kid's pool and they played in that while my wonderful husband tore up a bunch of weeds. I have had very few problems with weeds inside my garden boxes, but outside the boxes they had basically taken over. He got about half of them removed today and hopefully he can get to the other half early next week. I watered plants, and generally babied them. I spend way too much time watching them grow.

We took the kids for ice cream in the late afternoon. Hannah ate almost a whole small ice cream! Unbelievable. Of course, since it was so late neither child ate a great supper, but I figure that's ok every once in a while.

And ... since I haven't posted many this month ... here are some pictures I took tonight of the kids. They're not the best pictures, but they'll have to do for now.

Where have I been?

Through text conversations with two people today I was reminded that this blog has been neglected. So ... I thought I'd come and at least post something, even if it's nothing really well thought out or composed.

Our month has been fairly uneventful thus far. I can feel the third trimester draining my energy more each day, but as long as I remember to rest in the afternoon when the kids do and in the evenings after they go to bed I seem to be able to keep up.

Here are some of the highlights of what we've been up to this month ...

Swimming Lessons
We signed Nathan up for swimming lessons. They were every morning for two weeks at the outdoor pool just down the road. We signed him up in a preschool class for ages 3 - 5. He went the first day ... and wouldn't get in the water. It wasn't the water that was the problem, it was the whole atmosphere of having to go in with new kids and without Mom or Dad. We tried for 4 days before admitting defeat and taking him to the parents and tots class. He loved that, but Peter and I were still worried about his hesitance to leave our side. The swimming part he did really well. He loves to go underwater and has even started 'swimming' a bit unassisted. It's messy, but at least we have forward floating :)

VBS
We signed Nathan up for VBS for this week. After our experience with swimming lessons we weren't too sure how this was going to go. Yesterday, Nathan started crying as soon as we entered the church building (it's not at the church we attend, which didn't help). One of his friends is also going to this VBS and we had hoped that would help somewhat. It may have, but Peter still ended up staying for the whole time. Today I took Nathan. I still stayed for the whole time, but after the first few minutes left the room and he stayed with his class. He did so much better today that I'm hoping to leave after the opening time tomorrow. I'm so glad to see progress!

Garden
The garden is growing really well. There are obviously a few things I will do differently next year. I am going to try a different variety of spinach as I wasn't very happy with the yield of the kind I had. I will plant more lettuce, beans, and carrots. I finally got one of my three trellises up with netting for the squash and some cucumbers. One of the other trellises is up but the netting is not finished and the third has yet to be constructed. I can't wait until they are all set but it's getting late!

Stitching
I have been doing a very small amount of stitching lately. Not much to report.

YNAB
What has been taking up most of my free time is playing around with and reading about a new budgeting software I downloaded and eventually bought. It's called YNAB (You Need A Budget), and after using it for the last month I love it!! Peter and I have made multiple budgets throughout the years but this is the first software I've seen that seems to work the same way my brain works. I also love the methodology behind the software.

Hannah
Hannah is still not walking :( I'll do a summary post for her around the first of August so I'll leave the other details for then.

Visitors
Last Friday night my aunt and uncle came for a visit!! It was so nice to see family. The drove from the east coast and stopped in for a night on their way to visit my cousin several hours away. They arrived in time for supper Friday night and headed out early Saturday morning. We had a great time visiting and playing games. Nathan talked about them all day Saturday - so cute!

Well, that's about all the typing I can handle for one night ... I'm out of practice!

Pregnancy Summary - Week 27

I've been putting off doing a pregnancy summary post because I haven't taken an 'official' belly pic in months. However, Peter took these pictures of Nathan and I flying a kite earlier this week and I figured they will have to do.



Hmmm ... changes since my 16 week summary ... lots! lol. The most noticeable difference is my energy level. I am realizing that I can't quite keep up with everything the way I normally do. I'm trying to cut myself some slack, but there's only so much I can let go without the house and kids getting out of control!

In the same vein, I mentioned to the nurse practitioner a couple of weeks ago at my appointment that I'm having some Braxton Hicks contractions when I've been doing a lot of picking things up off the floor. Her solution ... stop picking things up off the floor! lol. Ummm ... not really possible. Thankfully they seem to have disappeared since then.

I had my regular 20 week ultrasound and when I went to my next doctor's appointment they said they needed to do another as they didn't quite get all the measurements they needed. When I went for the second ultrasound the technician said they had been worried about low fluid levels, but that everything looked good. Then, when I went to the obstetrician today he said the radiologist who read the initial ultrasound thought the baby might have club foot ... but that the second ultrasound looked good. I'm really wondering which person was telling me the truth. I'm guessing the obstetrician, but it seems weird I got three different stories.

My first appointment with the obstetrician was today (July 6th). He seemed very nice, although he has me a little worked up since he said my drug of choice (fentanyl) will most likely not be an option for this baby! I have no idea what to do ... I'm going to try and get some more information before I really start to worry.

He asked me to come back in three weeks and then every two weeks after that. I was totally shocked when he said that. I hadn't realized we were at that point in the pregnancy already.

Hannah - 15 month summary

I'm about a week late with this post, but better late than never, right?

Hannah's skin cleared up this month. No more rashes and her eczema seems to be gone for now.

Hannah started giving kisses and hugs this month. So cute!! She is generally not overly affectionate, so being able to get her to lean in for a kiss is precious. She seems to find it quite amusing, too, so that makes it fun.

Hannah is still talking, although hasn't really added many words to her vocabulary this month. It's so close ... she just keeps on babbling all the time.

One big change for Hannah this month is I took her soother away. Peter was away for a week so I decided that was a good time to do it (I know, I'm a sucker for punishment). The first two days were rough - she cried 20 or 30 minutes every time she went down for a sleep. After that she seemed to resign herself to no soother and has been ok for naps and night time since. I still miss it when it would come in handy to keep Hannah quiet (such as at church) but that's the price I pay for having a soother-free toddler :)

We are in the middle of trying out one nap for Hannah. We have moved her afternoon nap to 12:30 or 1:00 instead of 2:00. This time works better for Nathan's rest time, too.

And, the final update for this month ... a few nights ago Hannah had a small fever. She was unusually cranky and wouldn't sleep for her naps at all. Today I noticed she has two new teeth!! So ... I guess I can cut her some slack for being cranky :) She now has 8 teeth (6 top and 2 bottom).

Still no walking progress ... I am ready for that at any time!!

Garden update in pictures ...

I have to go pick Peter up in a few minutes so I'm going to update this quickly, mostly through pictures :) First, the boxes:

(green beans, cucumbers, empty, squash)
(lettuce, broccoli (an experiment), spinach, tomato)

(cucumbers, empty, squash, empty)
(tomato, green beans, yellow beans, tomato)
(empty, peppers, basil, empty)
(carrots, green onions (still going strong!), garlic, spinach)

(watermelon, empty, empty, pumpkin)
(spinach (on its last legs), carrots, lettuce, empty)

A couple of weeks ago a friend had some extra strawberry and raspberry plants that she didn't have space for. She also let me have a couple cuttings from her rhubarb plant. The strawberry plants looked good until I went out today ... hopefully it's just the heat getting to them.


I think only one of the raspberry plants was alive when I got it, but I'm still tending the rest just in case ...


And the rhubarb cuttings seem to be growing new leaves - yay!

Another friend has a big patch of rhubarb that was there when they bought their house, but they won't eat it. So, for this year, I think I am going to be able to harvest theirs while I wait for mine to be ready :)

I would still like to plant another square of broccoli, perhaps some more carrots and cucumbers, but that will have to wait for another day. The weeds outside of the boxes have been insane!! I just can't keep ahead of them. I took these pictures after spending about 45 minutes with a shovel digging them out. Ugh. By next year the plan is to put landscape fabric down in all the spaces and cover them with mulch. Hopefully that helps.

Popsicles

The weather here has been so nice the past few days. It makes me believe summer is really coming!

It had been raining for so long that as soon as the sun peeked through we spent almost every spare minute outside. After a few days of that I made myself at least do my daily cleaning before we headed out yesterday ... the house was starting to look pretty neglected!

Anyway, after the bathroom was cleaned top to bottom we headed out to the little pool in the backyard. The kids had a blast playing in it until we got worried about sunburns and decided it was time to hop out and re-apply some sunscreen. At that point we gave them each a popsicle (Hannah's first time having one to hold by herself!) and they had a blast dripping all over the place. I'm so glad we were outside.

Peter took the opportunity to do an informal photo shoot. Here are a couple of my favourites ...


There are many, many more pictures on our flickr site.