Easter - A Little Late

Finally feeling like taking the time to upload gobs of photos. :) Do you remember last Easter? Rob was deployed, Gideon had just gotten out of the hospital, Zion had had the flu, I got it (mildly) then on Easter on the way to my sister's Gabe got it - and left it all over my car. Sometimes it is good to look back so we can appreciate how well things are really going, how "normal" things are.

This year Rob is home, Gideon's health is much better now that we know what was making him so sick and none of us puked! Woohoo!!!

Saturday morning we passed on the neighborhood egg hunt which is held down the street at our park since the weather was questionable and jumped at the chance to do an indoor egg hunt at my friend's church.


The church had the youngest children in a separate section with the eggs in plain sight. Rob took Gideon and Zion there where I'm told Gideon was at first a bit distracted by the toys. Then he found an egg in the play kitchen and that was all she wrote. He was a Master Egg Hunter after that.

Gabe did a decent job competing against older and far more aggressive children. Way more aggressive. I was astounded. They were like starving locusts tearing through the rooms leaving nothing in their wake.

After the egg hunt we grabbed some lunch and went to the Bible book store. We decided that we didn't really want to do Easter baskets. They would get enough stuff and candy and we didn't really want to add to it but we did want to emphasize the real meaning of Easter. We picked out a Bible for Gabe. His first "real" Bible. You know, not one that is just stories or a few hand picked verses with pretty pictures to go along. Gideon and Zion got to pick out a new video, they chose Boz. Boz is supposed to be a bear. That bugs me to no end. To me he looks completely and totally like a dog to me. It's the ears.


The next morning we got them all dolled up to head to church and then to Jamie's for fun and dinner. I even managed to get a picture of all of them smiling and still looking good before we left.


Gabe takes off with gusto. No locusts to compete against.


Zion's really into it and figuring out all sorts of places to look.


Hey, wait. That's not an egg! Gideon finished finding eggs and felt a snack was in order.



Going through the stash. We had forgotten to bring baskets which is why the kids are using their back packs, but, hey, whatever works right.


Funnily enough, Gideon ended up getting all Laffy Taffy and Gabe got all nerds. Each according to their personality which would have been less funny if it had been planned but it just simply worked out that way.


We borrowed some old t-shirts from Jamae and Jessa so the kids could color eggs without staining their clothes. Zion liked her "dress".


Gathering around the table with Jamie and Jessa to get started.



Gideon's trying to test some theories as to what all the excitement is about regarding these weird white things. Nope, it's not the taste.

"Hey, where'd it go?"

"Don't worry, I'll get it back!"

Later he drops an egg in a little too fast and adds some blue dots to go with his yellow hand. So glad we borrowed those t-shirts.

Gabe is tie-dyeing one of his eggs. He was a little bummed when there were no more eggs to color.

Luckily Jamie had Jell-o eggs to satisfy their interests and their appetites.

Before we knew it it was time to go home. A lovely Easter comes to a close. Thank you Lord, for all you have done for us and for all our blessings.

SOOC Saturday

Wow, it's been so long since I've done one of these. Straight Out Of the Camera Saturdays. :) For this Saturday's unedited fun I offer you ... da da ta da ... Gideon having some fun at lunch:


If you'd like to enter a photo in SOOC all you have to do is post an unedited photo that you have taken on your blog, then go to Slurping Life and add your info to the linky. It's really that easy. And fun. Then you can go and check out what photographs other bloggers have entered. Wee.

Baby's In Da House! (Not really.)

OK, baby's been in the "house" for a while. I don't know what inspired that title, sometimes I just go with whatever comes to mind first and sometimes that can be a little odd.

I have been meaning to post a picture or two of the baby up for a while. I finally remembered today to run upstairs and put one on the scanner so I could do that. So, without further ado...

Our new little one's profile picture at 24weeks 6days and measuring two weeks ahead (I am 29 weeks and 3days today)!

I've got a little over a week to go until my next ultrasound and as much as I like seeing my little babe I kind of hope it's my last ultrasound. I have no idea if the specialist will want to continue monitoring his or her growth because of the cord issue or not but if the baby is still ahead in size I wouldn't be disappointed at all if the next time we laid eyes on him or her it was at birth. There is the whole breech issue though. Keep praying with me that the baby will also be head down at the next visit. That would be another huge relief and answer to prayer on the long list of answered prayers this pregnancy.

Just When I Think

...we have all been sick enough and we'll be healthy for a while we get sick again. Last week Rob and Gabe got sore throats and a cough for a couple of days. I am never one to be outdone when it comes to sickness though and have to "show off" my lack of an immune system so for a week now I've had a sore throat, cough, tiredness (times ten) and sniffles. My cough is nasty and wet and brings up green stuff. Yeah, you really wanted to know that. I won't torture you with more detail just apologize for slacking in the blogging area again.

I really want to post about Easter and some other fun things. I also want to sit down and update my links and my header. I think the pictures of the kids are all about a year old. In kid years that's, like, forever.

So some changes coming up. Don't give up on me. :)

Fun With Fabric

In March Gabe's class at school studied fabric. How exciting - for me! tee hee We got to talk with Gabe about fabric all month (when I remembered), what materials fabric can be made from and what fabric can be made into. At some point Gabe told me that his teacher said he could bring the scarf I made him to school. While I pondered what else I could send as I have so very many examples of knitted fabrics in the house and made from many different fibers I remembered a tidbit of information I'd read somewhere on Ravelry. You can felt in your Kitchen Aid mixer. Seriously. Is your heart beating a little faster like mine did when I first read that? I'm sure it is!

So I thought of a little project for us to do at home. I had some yards of 100% wool left from a project I'd just finished so I knitted up two quick swatches:



On a "quiet" afternoon Gabe and I got our materials together: the swatches, my mixer, a teapot of hot water, a bowl of ice water, a washcloth, a towel, and tongs. Oh, and don't forget a very goofy Gabe.

Start by adding one swatch, the washcloth (for added friction) and some hot water to the mixer and, well, mix. Let it run for a few minutes then give the swatch a dunk in the ice water.

Back and forth from hot and cold water every few minutes until the swatch has felted about how much you like. Then roll in a dry towel and lay flat to dry.


In the end you can see how much the felted piece has changed (and I could have felted it more had I been more comfortable being on my feet). The felted piece is smaller, thinner, and the fibers are tight together instead of loose - no holes! I sent it to school with Gabe with a paper on how we made the felt complete with pictures and a note that his teacher could keep them for later years if she wanted. They haven't returned yet but I did receive a note back saying that Gabe did a great job of telling his classmates how we made the felt. Pretty cool I think. :)

I've Been Sick

... again. Ugh. But, again, it was short lived thanks to a lot of Emergen-C and extra vitamin D but just when I thought I was doing so good blogging more. Anyway, we did get to get outside a bit last weekend (wait, I guess now it was the weekend before that).


First, Gabe, Zion and I pulled the dead flowers out of our little planter and put in some new pansies and white allisium (my favorite because it smells SO wonderful). I wanted to put in petunias like last year but I couldn't find them, they must not be available yet. Then again, the kids are really excited to be planting pumpkins and sunflowers and this is the only place we have for planting. So, I guess this will be a flower and vegetable patch this year. :)

Newly "plowed" ground. My grandma's stepping stone is there for her and the pansies are there for my mom.

Then the kids moved on to "helping" Rob change the sand in the sand box. When you have a sand box and the lid is occasionally left off, or blown off by a strong wind, and you have cats, well... you change the sand often.


Gideon's job is hazard detector. He goes out in to the yard and finds the water hazards, if there is a teaspoon of water to be found he'll find it. My own personal dowser if you will. While he can't drown in most of the quantities that he finds but he can successfully make more laundry at lightning speed and wet down shoes that need to dry for days before they can be worn again (and he just doesn't have that many shoes) and fill the dog's water bucket with dirt and weeds forcing us to refill it pretty much any time he plays outside.

And then we all go in and eat like horses because there's something about being outside that builds a huge appetite and nothing ever tastes so good as food then.

Yep, Another Pregnancy Update

Just wanted to give the latest. I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday and we talked about the ultrasound results. She had spoken with the doctor about the report that morning and confirmed everything. Not only did the placenta move but the doctor no longer considers the cord a velamentous insertion but a marginal insertion which is less risky. That combined with the placenta moving and taking the cord with it we are a GO for a vaginal delivery! Yay!

I hope that no other problems will pop up and that the baby will turn but for now at least it seems as if the worries regarding placenta and cord are a non-issue.

Pregnancy Update

I had my follow up ultrasound this morning. We were all pleasantly surprised, I think the doctor especially. I kept telling God He could move the placenta out of the way and I wouldn't act surprised if it happened. Alas, I couldn't help myself. I WAS surprised. I think I still may be stuck in a state of disbelief. It was not expected that my placenta previa would change because I had such a severe case. It did. It moved. It is no longer in the way - AT ALL. AND!!! It moved in such a way that the cord, while still an issue in itself, is not in between the baby and my cervix which would have been very bad. There was always the possibility that any movement by the placenta would put the cord at risk either by rupturing the cord or moving it in between the baby and cervix but, again, I'm all clear there.

Now that the placenta previa has been taken out of the picture that only leaves the cord issue. #1 problem is that a VCI is fragile. That concern used to be huge because of where the placenta was now that is a minor concern (though still a concern). #2 problem is that VCI cause growth restriction and asymmetrical growth, so really small babies and babies who might have big heads and tiny bodies. My little one is measuring two weeks ahead. Ha! Take that VCI! I am 24 weeks and 6 days today and the baby is measuring 26 weeks and 6 days and they guess weighs about 2lb 2oz. The doctor just smiled and shook his head in disbelief. And smiled some more and said "I don't think we have to worry about your baby." More smiling. :D

Still, he wants to do another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check for growth. No reason to get too cocky, I still have a long way to go and baby has a lot of growing left. We still don't know the gender. Had to avert my eyes a little to avoid accidentally seeing. I also have to talk with my midwife about the ultrasound report. I have no idea if she is comfortable attempting a natural delivery considering the cord problem or if I'll still have to have a c-section. Oh yeah, and the baby is breech now. Stinker. S/he was extremely active during the ultrasound, the tech had a dickens of a time getting all the pictures we needed. Tee hee.

For now my many restrictions have been lifted as well. Now if only that meant I actually had the energy to do anything. But it sure did feel good to help Gideon up the stairs and lift him in his crib without any guilt!

I think that's it. Thank you all so much for your prayers and for sharing in our own little miracle! We would still love to have your prayers that the baby will still grow well, that the cord will pose no issues and the baby will flip to head down (and not flip back). Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank God!

SUH-NY Days...

You know how the song goes. :) We have been having such nice weather here. I think I may have mentioned it at least once already. Yesterday was gorgeous. So much so that we couldn't bear to stay indoors once Rob got home from work. We piled in the van and hit a park in an adjacent town. One that just happens to be next door to an old-fashioned drive-in. Play first...

I wonder if Gabe will ever grow out of the phase where he feels he must play to the camera. I'll never get a shot of his normal smile at this rate. :)

Too bad he doesn't smile so much when he's concentrating on climbing.

Zion cannot be pushed high enough. She always asks for faster and higher.

But she doesn't mind smiling for the camera.

Hey, I actually got one! The elusive normal smile. As normal as one can be with four missing teeth (two on the top, two on the bottom with one top tooth starting to grow in).

And she's ready for take off!

Gideon loves to throw. Really, really loves to throw. I let him as long as he's not throwing AT someone. A little girl tried to tattle on him and I told her he was simply experiencing texture and velocity. Her nanny/babysitter didn't seem to appreciate my answer.

Gideon loves to swing even if at a slower rate than Zion. His smile says it all. We had a great time!

Then we piled in the van again just to drive to the other side of the park fence where the drive-in is located. Corn dogs and fries for Gabe and Zion, chicken nuggets and fries for Gideon, a chicken sandwich and, you guessed it, fries for Rob, and I got a charbroiled burger with the works, onion rings and a chocolate Coke (which, sadly, I had to explain how to make to the teen taking our order). Have I made you hungry? I don't feel bad. It was wonderful. While we sat in the van and ate we saw two antique autos visit the drive-in as well. *sigh* Yep, awesome.

Mommy Brag Moment

I can't help myself. I don't think you could either if you were in my shoes. So this is how it went down. Tonight I took Gabe to Family Reading Night at his school (Rob took Gideon and Zion to swim class as we started a new session tonight). The kids were invited to wear their PJs and bring a pillow and blanket. Gabe was thrilled - he LOVES to wear pajamas. First the Kindergarten through first or second graders met in the "pod" between their classrooms and they each got a bag with a book, egg-timer (the hourglass type, is this the right name for them when they're only a minute?) and a book mark. We got a chance to read together and then be read to, One Fish Two Fish. After that we went to the gym to have a piece of cake, it is after all Dr. Seuss' birthday. (Later, when we got home he told Rob that "even though it wasn't his favorite cherry [cake] it was still very good"). Then we went back to the "pod" and The Cat In The Hat (who looked suspiciously like a teacher in a costume) read us Green Eggs and Ham. Lastly we were told we could linger and read more or go to the library for a timed reading "game".

We lingered and read The Cat In The Hat together. I wanted to go but Gabe wanted to stay so we headed to the library. There they had some teen-aged girls at tables who had the kids read from sheets and counted the words they could read in one minute.

I told the first girl he was at a second grade level but she knew he was in Kindergarten so she had him read 1.4 (first grade, fourth month) instead. He read 84 words in one minute with one mistake. She was impressed. I thought we'd go but Gabe, being who he is, wanted to visit each table. I told the next gal to give him the fifth grade paper just to see how he would do but she asked Gabe what grade he was in and he laughed and said "I'm not in a grade! I'm in Kindergarten!" so she wouldn't do fifth grade. She did do fourth grade though and Gabe read 55 words in a minute about some type of fish that eats coral. That's right - FOURTH grade level!

Lastly, he visited the final table. I told him to just pick a paper that looked like it had an interesting story so he picked the panda story, which was 1.5 reading level. He read 96 words in a minute.

He really had no idea that what he did was unusual or special but I thought it was pretty cool.

Gideon Update

Gideon saw his allergist for his first check up today since his initial visit a month ago. The doctor was pleased with his progress. Nearly NO sign of eczema and he went from 3-6 poopies a day to 1-2 except 3 on the day after I flubbed and gave him a buttermilk biscuit. He says to keep doing what we're doing as far as food goes and we can lighten up on some of the hidden dairy ingredients. We think Gideon's eczema wasn't completely gone because of his swim classes. I loved the docs response to my telling him that the eczema came back when his swim classes started *shrug* "what're ya gonna do, the kid's gotta learn how to swim." I LOVE reasonable doctors. So he gave us a bunch of information on doing hydrating skin treatments at home, what lotions to use, what hydrocortizone cream to use, what antibiotic cream to use if/when it gets angry...

He also cautioned us that he really thinks Gideon will develop more allergies, that the eczema gives a pathway to the immune system and all that. Not to say he's going to end up allergic to everything but the doc REALLY stresses the use of a multi-vitamin + zinc and daily probiotics to help fight allergies and help him from developing more allergies.

Also, he says Gideon has every symptom of a dust mite allergy he just isn't testing positive for it. The doc thinks he will someday. So we're going to get an extra air filter for the house. The doc was also great here saying that the Honeywell brand is the only brand tested and proven to be useful in this area and not to bother spending more than $150. Anything over that is overkill and a waste of money. Good to know.

ALSO - I mentioned at one point that I couldn't lift anymore and after he was done with Gideon he turned and asked "So, how are YOU doing?" and I told him about my placenta previa and velamentous cord insertion. Know what he said? Didn't think so. Anyway, he said his daughter had the SAME conditions. BOTH! I was amazed since I've met many that have had one or the other but never both. But she did have both and had to be extra, extra cautious and he said they celebrated every week that passed and in the end she ended up having TWO ultrasounds each WEEK to check on everything but carried to term. The baby was small (well, 6 lb which isn't entirely small) but is growing like a weed now and is a month old.

He told me we do NOT have to do a no-wheat trial and we don't have to see a GI specialist and to bring Gideon back in 6 months for his next check-up and that if I need anything to just call. He was so nice to say that he understands that getting around is going to be nuts for a while and that he's perfectly willing to do whatever we need to over the phone.

Lastly, when we first got to the appointment Gideon got all excited about getting out of the van and when I opened the door he threw his sippy cup out. Wouldn'tcha know it bounced and then rolled half way under the mini-van parked next to us. Arg! There was no way I was going to be able to fetch it. But then a car pulled in a couple spaces down and a scruffy man with a cigarette in his mouth hopped out. He was my angel for the day and was more than happy to get down on his belly on a dirty parking garage floor to get Gideon's sippy cup for this ol' pregnant lady. God bless him!

Praising God today for small and big steps with Gideon's health and wonderful doctors and strangers who are angels.

Happy Birthday, Gabe!

We have been having unseasonably warm weather here lately. I'm not complaining mind you (though it does make me wonder what is in store in the next couple of months). It meant that we got to move part of Gabe's birthday party, which we had today, out of doors. What a pleasant surprise. :)

Officially, Gabe turned 6 years old at 11:55PM last night. Six years ago after a three-day induction process and two hours of pushing I finally held my first born. I was so tired I didn't care. OK, I cared. I was smitten but I also couldn't hold my own head up I was so exhausted. Not an exaggeration. I did very much enjoy that first night as I think he was super exhausted too and we slept for hours and hours nestled together. So after that little walk down memory lane, we continue with today's tale.

Gabe requested a Zelda themed birthday party. They don't really make much premade for Zelda parties (where as last year I got lucky with the Mario theme). Still, I think it went all right. We started with a "find the Tri-force Gem" game. I made and hid yellow triangular Tri-force gems around the back yard. The children's task was to find three gems and return them to me to earn a shield.


It really was a pretty day for a hunt type game in the backyard.


Zion picked the purple shield and then ran circles around the yard with it.


Gabe insisted on the red shield and then attempted to color the whole thing brown.


Isaac decorated his with fish.

The line up. Gabe, Isaac, Zion, Jordan (a friend of Gabe's from school) and Jonathan. After decorating their shields Gabe got to choose which was his favorite and award that person with a sword. Gabe chose Jonathan's shield as his favorite.


After the games we moved on to gifts. Gabe had a penguin Pillow Pet on his wish list and was excited to get it.


He got a 100 Bible songs and story book from Isaac and family.


We got him Mario Party 8 which later the boys had lots of fun playing.



The Zelda cake. This year hoping to keep it on the cheap and easy I did the cake myself. Nothing fancy or inspiring but a pixelated version of Link, the hero from the Zelda games. Gabe chose cherry chip cake (my favorite so how could I argue), I slather it with vanilla icing and used M&Ms to create Link.


Gabe took his time blowing out the candles. Wasted no great effort in attempting to blow them out all at once. Or after two. Or three...


Zion loved the cake. Ate hers and asked if she could have Gabe's leftover piece as well.

I allowed Gideon a bit of cake and some of his rice milk ice cream. The cake likely had a bit of dairy in it but he's been doing so much better I felt a little cheating for a birthday was OK. His next allergy appointment is Friday, by the way.



Jonathan and Gabe have a sword duel. The birthday boy v. the shield decorating winner. I don't know that anyone won but they looked like they were having fun.



The after party. I know. A bunch of raucous partiers are we. My dad and Rob observing the kids trying out the new toys, and some "old". That's about as wild as it gets around here. :) I am really enjoying the leftover birthday cake though.

Pregnancy Update and A Smile

Just a few thoughts of note. On Monday I had my first appointment with my midwife since the ultrasound. She confirmed that I do have complete placenta previa and said it won't move. Not, it's "unlikely" to move but that it "won't". I kind of feel OK about this because that means the cord won't be compromised by the placenta moving. Of course, I'm also majorly bummed because I have no chance of a natural delivery. I will for sure (barring a miracle which God could supply) be having a c-section. My midwife, Nancy, said that she would set up an appointment for me to meet the doctor who will be doing my c-section when I am about 30 weeks along. If there are no other complications with the pregnancy (like bleeding) the c-section will be when I'm about 38 weeks along.

Let's do a little math here. You know, just for fun (cause everyone who knows me knows that I would do math just for fun - HA!).

The baby is due June 29. 38 weeks is 2 weeks early that = 14 days. June 29 minus 14 days is June 15 (right?). That means that my c-section could be the day before my 8th wedding anniversary. Not how I would ever plan on celebrating. I only mention this because I just realized it today.

Apparently Zion only just realized my belly is getting bigger. Odd since it practically smacks her in the face anytime I turn around. But yesterday she put her hands on either side and said "Wow." I said, "Yeah, it gets bigger as the baby grows." I expected some comment that could be construed as an insult to an adult but would be an innocent observation to a child. No. Instead I got "That. Is SO. Cool." Yeah. Yeah, it is cool.