A Report From our House

Just a quick update on everybody...

Griffin graduated from feeding therapy today! Whoo-hoo! He is eating all kinds of solid foods. He loves bold flavors like Cheese Puffs, spaghetti and Grandmama's green beans. His favorite food is ice cream. The boy can eat his weight in ice cream. So far weaning from nursing is going well. He's down to just twice in a 24-hour period. Sometimes he is able to skip the bedtime feeding which is really nice. I'm thinking he'll be completely weaned in about another month. He's walking and getting into everything. We will be starting him in speech therapy on Aug. 18. Still no words. I know it'll come as soon as he decides talking is a much more efficient way of getting what he wants. The yelling is killing me.

Lily starts school in less than a month. Yikes! Can hardly believe she is starting school. Seems like just yesterday... We are excited about starting at River's Edge Christian Academy and homeschooling. What a God send to have so much flexibility and to have options like RECA!

Schaeffer is still all boy. Lovin' trucks and Batman. He's smart as a whip. He has begun asking all kinds of "why?" questions. His brain is absorbing at rapid speeds. My favorite thing he said this week... when asked, "What is Jesus going to give you, Schaeff?" His reply, "A sword, a shield, a belt, a helmet, and flip-flops." Ha ha! He always forgets the breastplate, but it's a big word and he's only 3 so I'll give him a break on that one for now.

Baby Four is doing well. This week I'm 12 weeks. I went to Dr. B on Monday and got to hear the heartbeat again. Baby Four was active because the nurse had to chase him/her down with the Doppler and then once she found the heartbeat it was 165-170 bpm. Most of the time when they are resting it is more like 140 bpm. The nurse said it's most certainly because this one was a wiggle worm. I'm not feeling all those wiggles yet but I'm sure I will in another few weeks. I was ecstatic on Monday after my glucose test was completely normal. Dr. B tests me early since I'm higher risk for diabetes (having had it before). I've always failed the screening at 12 weeks. But this time I got a completely normal test result (mine was 109 - below 130 is good). Dr. B will test me again at 24 weeks. And he's not letting me off the hook that easily. He still wants me to follow the diabetes diet because it's a "good diet for everyone, especially pregnant women and those at risk for diabetes." But I admit, I ate a scoop of pralines-and-cream ice cream last night! Par-tay! Dr. B reminded me to not get too excited because he says it's still too early to tell if diabetes really will be a problem in this pregnancy. I'm hoping for the best though.

Summertime Poll

The campaign for Governor is heating up here in TN, but I want to get to the real issues of the summer. Take my poll (in the sidebar to your right) just for fun. Issues we will be getting to the bottom of...

1. Seedless vs. Seeded Watermelon


2. Lipton vs. Luzianne Tea


3. Sweet vs. Unsweet


4. Sunscreen vs. Tanning Oil


5. Pool vs. Beach


6. Bike Ride vs. Boat Ride


7. Lazy Saturdays vs. Action-Packed Saturdays


8. Fescue vs. Bermuda


9. Water vs. Sports Drink


10. Chasing Fireflies vs. Chasing Butterflies

I'd love to hear your responses. Vote now and come back in a few days for a new poll.

Weaning, Stretchy Pants, and Strep 1-2-3

This weekend has been challenging to say the least. Griffin started it off on Friday morning with strep. Lily caught it on Sunday. And Schaeffer began symptoms today. Now all three are on amoxicillin. I'm grateful for our pediatrician who allows me to call him directly on his cell phone and who is proactive and writes prescriptions knowing that when one is sick then they will all be sick before the weekend is over.

We are heading into week 9 with Baby 4. Quite exciting! I'm already breaking out the stretchy pants. It seems to happen sooner and sooner each time. BJ is kind enough to say it's because my body is ultra efficient. Reality says its because my stomach muscles are not what they used to be. It is sort of weird how my belly is already making room even though it won't need the room for another 4-6 weeks. It's days like today when even some of my stretchy pants don't feel good and I become really grateful that I don't have to work outside the home. That way I can be comfy in my extra stretchy-stretchy pants. Check out this video of what happens to the embryo/baby weeks 1-9 of pregnancy. It's pretty cool:



I've begun the weaning process with Griffin. It officially started today. I don't like to stop cold turkey. That seems to be torture for everyone involved and for everyone living under this roof. So for anyone interested, here's the process that I have followed successfully in the past:

1) Wait until the child is eating enough meals and snacks during the day to begin substituting solids for nursing - generally by around 12 months. (For Griffin this has taken longer because of his texture aversion).
2) As always, feed on demand (about every 3-4 hours) but begin offering more substitutes and prolong nursing as much as can be tolerated.
3) Eliminate daytime nursing first. Bedtime and early morning feedings are the last to go because they are the toughest to break for both baby and mommy. Seriously, who wants to warm up a bottle of milk/formula at 4 a.m. when you have the warm "goods" ready to go?!
4) Once daytime weaning is completely done, begin replacing bedtime nursing with something else such as a cup of milk, story time, and cuddle time.
5) The early morning nursing sessions usually fall away as the other ones are replaced.

Viola! Your baby is successfully weaned without traumatic episodes of denial...I hope! I don't really agree with books, such as Babywise, that give such specific details for feedings and sleeping. All children (and parents) are fearfully and wonderfully made. It probably works for many children, but God in His humor has given me 2 children with difficult feeding issues. It is through their difficulties that I learned to pray through each developmental phase, asking God for discernment, patience, and gentleness. And I've learned to trust my God-given mommy instincts which I believe are given at the exact time when I need them and not a moment sooner. I will be sure to share how well the weaning process works for Griffin or if he'll require some different tactics.

8 Weeks and Counting... Can't we count faster?!

We are now at week 8 with Baby 4. It's too bad we can't count by 2's during pregnancy! Ha ha! I'm feeling really pregnant - tired and yucky all the time. The tired factor is multiplied by 3 since I'm still keeping up with other little ones while my body takes over and cares for a 4th. I had a good check-up yesterday with Dr. B. Things are progressing as they should, even though I took myself off of prometrium about 2 weeks ago. I just couldn't handle the side effects of it and neither could Griffin who is still nursing. We both had major GI upset of all sorts. He and I are feeling much better since stopping the drug. It was meant to increase my progesterone level, which it did quite successfully. Since my progesterone level started off "normal" but slightly below "ideal" (according to Dr. B) I decided to take a chance and see if my body would do it's thing. It has! Now I'm the only one experiencing pregnancy symptoms and Griff has returned to his normal self...well, with the exception of a throat infection he got this week. Fortunately for him he got a shot of antibiotics yesterday and he is quickly on the mend.

We've had the privilege of having our niece, Ciera, stay with us a lot this summer. We've done all sorts of fun things and we drag her along with us. She's keeping up with our pace quite well. She has taken over our 3rd floor penthouse as we jokingly call it. That means she has a bedroom, full bath, and bonus room with a sofa and TV. It didn't occur to us until a few days ago that the TV is not working because we didn't hook it back up after removing cable. So I guess the TV doesn't really count, although, Ciera hasn't complained at all. She has her music and lots of family time with us. There's really no time for TV anyway. We hope to get the TV working again so we can watch some movies together...if I can figure out how to stay awake past 8 p.m.

So far it's been a very busy, fun-packed summer. BJ has been taking Lily and Schaeffer over to my parents' neighborhood pool at least once per weekend. I have been a few times, but unfortunately heat and nausea don't mix.

I hope you and your family enjoy a fun July 4 weekend. We may track down some fireworks somewhere and let the kids hide behind our legs from fear. LOL. Lily is actually interested in seeing fireworks this year. Schaeffer is hesitant but I think he'd enjoy the lights. Although, we may have to find him some ear plugs. Happy 4th!!

Meet No. 4

Since it's been a while since my last post, I figured it was time to give an update. And...well, this update is pretty special. We learned about 2 weeks ago that we are expecting baby #4!!!!! On Friday we had our first ultrasound and learned that we were 6 weeks and 2 days. So I guess that makes us 7 weeks today. The little bean looked good and healthy. We heard the little heartbeat at 124 bpm. That was pretty special too! It's always exciting to hear the heartbeat for the first time...and every time after that. Our official due date is Feb. 9 which is just 2 days before Lily's 6th birthday.

I was slow to get an update on here because I started feeling pregnancy symptoms very early on. Mostly fatigue and nausea. I've been resting as much as possible and trying to reserve energy for all the other responsibilities around here. My brain has been fuzzy most of the time - I think it's major pregnancy brain. I've been afraid to write anything for fear it will come out wrong. But I did want to post some commonly asked questions that we've received since we began spreading the news:

Q: Where you expecting this?
A: We don't not expect it. I'm sure that makes no sense at all so let me explain. If you aren't preventing pregnancy and you have already had 3 healthy viable pregnancies before than you can expect to expect it. Although I don't ever put expectations on God's will and I never truly know if He will chose to bless us that way again. So we don't not expect it.

Q: Were you surprised?
A: No. Excited, but not surprised...which leads us to the next question.

Q: Do you know what causes this?
A: Yes, and its so darn fun! (Sorry, but if you are rude enough to ask me this, then please expect a rude answer).

Q: Are you insane?
A: I guess so if loving a large family makes us insane. I'm okay with that label. It's sure better than other labels.

Q: Do you own a TV?
A: Yes

Q: How are you going to keep up with 4 little ones?
A: I don't know but I'm sure it'll happen because we are responsible adults who love our children. We've done fine with 3. I don't suspect that a 4th will totally wreck our home and marriage. I've been told it's just another peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich to make at lunchtime. LOL

Q: You are brave (not really a question, but a statement I get a lot).
A: No, I'm not. My hubby is brave for loving me through another pregnancy (I'm a beast!), but I'm a weak doubting woman who just wants to make it through today.

Purses and Jewelry!

I came across Pursenickety today and really enjoyed browsing through their shop. It has fun purses and accessories inspired by expensive designers. But their prices are actually do-able for frugal gals who still like to be girlie-girls. Enjoy!

Schaeffer's 3rd Birthday Party...and a BIG surprise!

Check out the photos Grandmama posted of Schaeffer's 3rd birthday party. We surprised him by asking some friends of ours to bring over a big piece of heavy equipment, you know, the kind a 3-year old boy would drool over. And they delivered! They brought the Peterbilt out to play! Schaeffer was in awe. He could not believe his eyes when the rig backed into our driveway, and then he realized he could climb up in it and try 'er out. He nearly wet his pants...oh, wait. He did wet his pants! Sorry Shane. Hope it dried ok. (We are still potty training). My little man was in heaven...I'm sure God will have big rigs in heaven for all the little (and big) boys up there. It was such an awesome evening with family and friends. We are such lucky people to be surrounded by such awesome people all the time!