That would be Miss Emmie’s face…it’s hard to see and I’ll tell ya more about that in a second.
First, an answered prayer (lady details here) at 20 weeks the placenta was low lying and really too close to the cervix. So, this check up was to see if the placenta had “moved.” We are praising God that it has. It’s even better news because it is also anterior (in the front), if it had not moved up and I have to have a c-section, that would not have been a fun recovery, etc.
We were also to confirm that Emmie is indeed Emmie. I don’t remember looking with the other girls but it is definitely very clear at 32 weeks. Just an FYI there.
My glucose levels are slightly high (from my fasting times) so Dr. J has me monitoring and maintaining through exercise and diet. It’s not been too bad and the nice result is I’ve lost a bit of weight. I think the lab tech lady was a bit off on the numbers so I don’t think it is as much as she says, but I have lost. And that’s just a little something nice…and totally justified my cheating tonight (pizza…yummy and pizza dessert…even better).
Now more prayers please. While the placenta is in the clear, we are now looking at our first ever breech baby. Her rear is down and her feet are up by her face (as well as her hands). That is one reason our picture is not exactly clear. I have been going to the chiropractor regularly since before I was pregnant. She is a great chiropractor and is going to do what she can to help Miss Emmie face the right direction. We’ll work at home too to get her going right too. Dr. J, in his calm demeanor is not concerned and because I have a “well exercised” uterus said she has a ton of room and will probably go back and forth a few times. He’ll check her out at 36 weeks and from there we may have to do another ultrasound and then discuss options.
So, pray, please, that she turns and stays turned. Mark and I are at peace with whether she turns or not. We’re perfectly happy to see what God has for us and this little one who is growing now. We just laughed when we saw her on the ultrasound and suddenly my belly poking out occasionally made a lot of sense.
Thank you for the prayers and joining us (virtually or in real life) on this fun adventure of parenthood.
Last year, our church purchased a property that included an outbuilding, three acres of land, and a large house. We have been renovating it (members mostly) since August. It’s slow going and for good reason. Our goal is to get it done without acquiring another loan. So, work progresses as finances come in. I praise God that there are several skilled men and women in our church who are able to provide the labor (and lunches) for the work that needs to be done.
In the meantime, we are meeting in homes. Another big praise, is that our home (and thankfully neighbors) are more than accommodating. We’ve all now settled in to a pattern where we divide up the meeting space with another family that has a larger great room area.
We love having a beautiful and talented pianist every time we meet at our house. Our piano gets played and Malachi gets serenaded.
Bryant’s hair when we are trying to grow it long for the winter. There is no hope that mop will lie down until it grows longer.
I had to post two because, well. He’s adorable. We attended a Thanksgiving party with our local homeschool care group. The kids had a blast and Malachi wanted to see the “big tuck.”
Going out has, believe it or not, gotten a bit easier. As the older kids can help the youngers and “fend for themselves,” my main job is making sure we get from A to B without karate chopping any bystanders.
Check out how Vitafamiliae makes it through a parking lot without squashed kids.
Zoe, Ace, and Liam loved the flow rider. We had seen one at the waterpark we went to this past summer but it cost extra. This one was included in our stay. I think they enjoyed it as much as they thought they would.
A fun bonus was seeing so many modest swimsuits. Usually, we are in the minority when we go to water activities as far as dress is concerned. This time, we were the majority. That was just a fun extra to our activities.
Time to talk about how we do things with our bunch. This week Vitafamiliae is talking about laundry. Sorry for the lack of pictures, having trouble getting
So, Vitafamiliae is starting a series on Tuesdays called, “How we do…” I thought I would join in, if anything, to record what our life looks like now so we can laugh about it later.
I’m a week behind. Nevertheless, I’m here.
Last week, she posted on how she does mornings. And here is our take on mornings.
I am usually up around 6:30 or sooner. The sooner being if Malachi is standing at his baby gate whispering for daddy. Daddy, however, is out the door early in the morning before the crew gets up. It’s not fun not having daddy home in the mornings, but he has a long commute and we decided early on in our parentage that we would much rather the kids see him in the evenings and get a longer uninterrupted time with him than for an hour or two in the mornings or an hour or two in the evenings (FYI, his job is flexible enough that he could go in later, come home later if that’s what he wanted…cool job. I know).
So, I’m usually up and at ’em and well on my way to preparing breakfast as the kids get up around 7. Breakfast is usually different every day of the week. We changed our diet about seven years ago and with that change, we added a more substantial breakfast to it. Usually, we have muffins (from scratch), biscuits, or something relatively healthy with a protein. Since we are usually up late on Wednesdays (church), Thursdays are cereal day. The day I took pictures however, was a Wednesday. Wednesdays are Awana. Not a big deal, except that Malachi woke up at 6. That’s not good for a little one who has to take one nap and be up until much later. So, I rocked him. For almost two hours. And he slept in my arms and was content. And I snuggled close while Emmie kicked the fool out of him for invading her space. It was nothing short of sweetness. Because of all that, we got a late start which led to that day being a cereal day. Flexibility is the key my friends.
Once breakfast is out on the table and kids are dressed (very important in our house…otherwise they spend two to three hours getting dressed after breakfast), we sit down and eat. Then, we have a bit of school to start the morning off.
We always start with our Biblical worldview course (found this from Apologia and am thoroughly enjoying getting the basics of what we believe and why set up) and then either History or Science. I read and we discus. Sometimes it’s a lot of discussion and sometimes it’s a lot of correction on how to sit and listen. The kids have Science journals, worldview journals, and History worksheets that they can work on while I read.
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| Zoe didn’t realized I was trying to get action shots of her working. |
After breakfast and Table Time, we do our chores. Chores are set up on our chore chart and I have dreams that one day the children will do them without having to be reminded a 100 times. One can dream, can’t they?
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| Our morning chore chart. Sometimes it’s just the basics (sweep, wash dishes) and others it’s this. |
Anyway, after chores, and general grooming…teeth brushing, hair brushing, changing a diaper…the kids sit down for school. It takes me a good two to three months to get in to a routine for the new school year (especially since we keep adding a kid a year or so), but what works this year is that I do math drills with those that need it (usually, Ace, Liam, and Josiah) and then work on or go over school with Zoe and Ace. Ceili Rain and I can usually get in some flashcard practice or crtical thinking sheets in the morning too. I work with Josiah and Liam in the afternoons.
Michael Ferris was the speaker for the closing ceremonies. Mark said he gave a great speech. It was extremely late and I was shepherding kids to and from the restroom…such is the life.
On the way out of town, Emmie decided we needed pancakes. We stopped at one of the many flapjacks restaurants and enjoyed some yummy food. Apparently, the food took awhile so Josiah sorted and organized the jelly holder for them. Not sure where that OCD tendency came from.
After the extremely late closing ceremonies, we headed for the dessert reception. Our crew was tired and cranky but they managed a big smile before requesting the camera be put away.
Oh and a fun treat was seeing these people:
We walked out of opening ceremonies and I looked up at Family Research Council’s booth and realized I had seen them before but couldn’t place them. In fact, I almost went up and started chatting since I just knew I knew them. It took a half minute to realize…that’s Josh and Anna Duggar (you can’t see Anna in the picture but she is holding their youngest with his head turned). Duh. They weren’t busy and I wanted to go up and actually speak to them…but then, what would I say without looking like a total dork?! Mark wondered the same thing later. Oh well. It was neat seeing them and stalking with the camera.
