This is rather interesting!

My five-year-old daughter was counting the letters in her first name (there's five of them) yesterday and so the seven-year-old child decided to count the letters in her name. She actually already knew that there are seven letters in her first name, but she made the interesting discovery that EACH of her names has seven letters! Wild! She thought it was pretty cool that she discovered that she has seven letters in each of her names when she was seven years old.

Incidentally, the five-year-old daughter and I each have five letters each in our first names, eight letters each in our middle names, and then her last name is the same as my married name so we each have seven letters in that name too.

What makes this TOTALLY weird is that our son is going to have seven letters in each of his names. We realized that last night when we were relating the story of the kid with the seven letters in each of her names last night to some friends. We couldn't believe it.

Now my sister and her husband's two children together have five letters in each of their three names, but they did that on purpose. Ours was all a complete accident!

Less than a month to go!

We have now about a month or less before our little boy arrives. The excitement is building for everyone in our family.

We've gotten a lot of nice things for the baby and now a couple of drawers are full of little blankets, sleepers, tiny t-shirts, washcloths, and stuff like that for a sweet little boy.

This month is going to be a busy one as we carry on with all our activities and wait for the baby to come!

Baby gifts

With the birth of our third child and first son drawing closer, we're receiving a lot of nice baby gifts. We had a baby shower this past weekend and got a lot of things like onesie t-shirts, blankets, clothing, and diapers, all things we really needed!

We also got a couple of beautiful hand-crocheted afghans for him in the last couple of days. My grandmother (who died this past weekend) made a yellow and green one and my sister made a gorgeous blue striped one. My mother is working on a couple of quilts for him and she made him a blanket with some fleece my aunt bought for him and using my grandmother's sewing machine.

Now we just need a little boy to wear all the cute clothes and use the beautiful afghans!

Homework in pre-k

My five-year-old pre-kindergarten daughter came home with homework yesterday!

It was actually practice work but I thought it was funny her teacher sent work home, along with reward stickers to go with it!

My daughter had a blast doing her work, which was practice writing her name. She does a great job with that but she could use some more practice with the whole writing on the line thing!

Countdown to baby time!

We are all counting down the time left until our new little one enters our lives ... six weeks now!

We're collecting supplies for the home birth we're planning while trying to be prepared for the hospital in case we have to go, and I'm cleaning up around the house a little at a time. Very slowly we're getting things for the little man to wear and I'm thinking of a few other things we need (a sling, a boppy pillow) and others have things they won't need anymore (a swing, a car seat) to hand on to us.

A baby shower is being planned by one of my friends for next weekend so that is exciting for us.

We've already got a name picked out, although we aren't telling anyone what it is until he's actually born. The girls really want to know what it is but if we want to keep it a surprise we most certainly can't tell them. We've assured them that they will be the first to know what it is as soon as he gets here and then they can tell the whole world!

We aren't preparing a nursery as we've never done that and don't see the need when he's just going to be sleeping with us for the next several months and maybe even the next few years. I'm just figuring out where we'll put his clothing and other things and making sure all the sheets are clean for whatever bed we end up using!

I'm trying to get quite a bit of work done this month so that next month I can focus on more preparations and then the month or so after his birth I can focus on him and the girls. I'll still have some regular assignments but I'd like to have other things out of the way.

Hopefully six more weeks will pass quickly for us as have the previous 34! I'm not so sure about the girls but I'm fairly certain the weeks will pass quickly for me.

An attitude adjustment

With my blossoming belly has come quite a change in attitude about my pregnancy.

At first I was rather upset about the whole thing, having decided that our family had a good balance with two children and having grown quite used to having "big girls" who can do a lot for themselves. Finding out another one on the way meant I had to again give up my body for several months (years actually, counting the pregnancy and breastfeeding) and all of me for many more years to come.

I'd walk by the mirror and observe my growing belly and just shake my head as if to say, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

Along with that was the feeling that although at 36 I'm quite young, that's still a little old in my book to be starting all over with another baby.

But as my belly continued to grow and could no longer be hidden by what I wore, I began to accept and enjoy what was going on inside me and to look forward to the changes in store for our family. Now I look in the mirror and say, "You're beautiful. This is a beautiful thing happening to you."

Now I view it entirely as a blessing and that I'm up to it (might as well be, right?) and that we are all going to be better off for it. I'm actually glad it happened because the girls have gotten so much enjoyment out of seeing my belly grow and from looking forward to the birth of their little brother. That right now makes it all worth it.

As for myself, I know having another child will be a delight. Although the challenges we are facing will be great (we have to learn how to deal with babies all over again and we'll have to adjust to the dynamics of having another person in the house) I believe this child will make us wonder how we ever lived without him.

A father's pride

As we make preparations for the little boy that will be entering our lives soon, we are having fun telling people that it is indeed a little boy. No one is more surprised than we are, the parents of two precious girls.

It's rather annoying when people respond, "Oh, I bet Daddy's so proud." Yes he is, but this comment rubs me rather the wrong way, like he's not proud of our two beautiful daughters or like the prospect of having a son is more exciting for a father than that of having a daughter.

Nothing could be further from the truth. He couldn't be more proud of our little girls and has actually wondered what he should do with a son. (I've told him it shouldn't be any different than what he does with the girls, which is everything. "Bench press him and teach him how to cook," I say. He lays on the floor and picks the girls up like he would a weight, bench press fashion.)

I realize the comments are well-intended, not mean-spirited, so I try not to make a mean-spirited response. My children's father is delighted to have another child, boy or girl, and is proud of all his children.

It's a ... (think blue here)

The specialist who did our second ultrasound really surprised us all when he said to our daughters, "Are you girls ready for a baby brother?"

"Oh, we want a sister," they both politely informed him.

"Well, it's a boy. There are definite boy parts here," he replied. He then proceeded to circle the "parts" on the screen and take a photograph. He gave the photo to us along with several others taken of our little man. They all showed a beautiful and healthy child.

It's probably going to take a while for all of us to get used to the idea of the baby being a boy and for the girls to get over their slight disappointment, but I'm sure there'll be nothing but excitement soon!

Back to school!

The girls went back to school today after having a couple of weeks out. We had loads of fun visiting family and doing things together here at home. They watched movies and played during the times that I worked while they were out of school.

I wasn't quite ready for them to go back to school this morning but I didn't let on since things were going rather smoothly, especially for people who've slept late and enjoyed generally leisurely lives for two weeks!

I remembered to pick them up from school today (got out of the habit of that during their vacation) and then hauled them around on errands for a couple of hours. Poor dears, but they handled it very well and were treated to a trip to Wendy's -- inside, no less -- before we came home.

It was a full day for the first day back to school, and they're back at it tomorrow. At least they only have two more days to this week.

Doctor's visit

The checkup at the doctor's office earlier this week went well and it turns out that we may find out the gender of the baby fairly soon!

The girls went with me and were really excited to hear the baby's heartbeat.

Since I'm over 35, my doctor's office is going to send me to another doctor's office for a more advanced ultrasound designed to detect problems more likely to crop up when a woman my age is pregnant. I have already made up my mind not to allow any invasive testing and really not to accept anything just because I'm told I need to do it because of my age, but the nurse practitioner assured me that it's just an ultrasound, and besides, the gender of the baby will probably show up on this one.

We had an ultrasound when I was 18 weeks pregnant but the little one, for the first time in his or her life, refused to move and reveal any telling information. I wasn't disappointed not to discover the gender, especially since the doctor could see how healthy the baby is. (So there!) I was thinking that we may have another ultrasound later on in the pregnancy, but as it turns out it may be sooner than later.

My doctor's office will make an appointment (and clear all the paperwork) with the other doctor's office and let me know when to show up. So for now we just keep waiting ... and growing!

Another tooth gone!

My daughter lost her second tooth tonight, the second tooth she's lost in three days!

She didn't snatch this one out herself like she did the one night before last. She said she wanted it to "fall out naturally." (Good grief.)

Her dad got after her with a string and that didn't work so finally he grabbed it, saying he was going to count to three and snatched it out on the count of one. She stood there and looked at it until I started cracking up (the whole scene really was funny) and then she started bawling.

She recovered from the whole thing quickly, and proceeded to go around the house flashing grins at everyone.

First tooth gone!

My seven-year-old daughter lost her first tooth tonight! Good thing too, because I was getting tired of being ordered to look into her mouth to watch her wiggle a barely-moving tooth.

She was just sitting there while we were practicing our ASL together after our family Bible study and snatched it out. I actually heard it come out.

Now she has another loose one right beside it!

She was really wanting to lose some teeth. Most of the kids her age have a mouthful (or several) permanent teeth and she has all baby teeth. She was 12 months before she cut this tooth that came out tonight or any of her teeth, so we expected the teeth to be "late" coming out.

Now we'll see how long it takes for this next loose one to come out.

Little seamstresses

My daughters made this quilt and pillow this evening with my mom! Neither one of them have ever sewn anything before.

My seven-year-old daughter grabbed these squares and a needle and thread and started sewing them together. She had NO HELP with the exception of me threading her needle. After she had handsewn all the squares together, she sewed them together on the machine with my mom only operating the foot pedal. My daughter did most of the work on the backing and the binding too.

My five-year-old daughter handsewed the three sides of the little pillow then turned it, poked the corners out, stuffed it, and sewed it closed on the machine with my mom just operating the foot pedal.

My mom and I thought this was pretty good work for two little people who've never sewn anything before!

Ultrasound today!

We had the ultrasound today. It's a ...

BEAUTIFUL HEALTHY BABY that wouldn't cooperate so we could determine the gender!

Everything looked great and saw every body part except the telltale part we were looking for. We got a great look at the nice big round head (like daddy), along with the beating heart, spine, hands, legs, and feet. That little baby just wanted to lay face down with its legs curled up underneath it!

Afterward someone told my husband I should have had coffee or some chocolate before we went in for the ultrasound to get the baby hyped up. Normally I do have coffee first thing but the appointment was so early I didn't have time to make any!

I'm 20 weeks tomorrow according to my LMP but the ultrasound has me at almost 21 weeks. I think it's because this is going to be a BIG BABY! My two other children were a few ounces over eight pounds as well.

The next doctor's visit is Dec. 27 for a regular checkup, so maybe they'll tell me then when they can do another ultrasound. This office may like to wait until later in the pregnancy to do the second one.

My children were so excited to find out what the baby is but they weren't very disappointed that we weren't able to find out. We did go around telling everyone we were going to find out today, so it'll be funny to have to tell them we couldn't make it out.

We have a lot of people wanting us to have a boy -- and wanting us to want a boy, but we honestly do not care -- so they'll have to wait a bit longer to find out.

Got my ring back!

Good news ... I got my wedding ring back this evening! I dropped it (actually it was my engagement ring) Sunday afternoon in the car, and it got stuck up under the metal track under the seat that lets you move the seat back and forth. My husband and I tried to no avail to retrieve it by poking our fingers in every imaginable spot under the seat. Finally he decided he'd have to take the seat out.

This evening after work he got started on the project. First he went to the store and bought two vacuum cleaners (I would find out why he needed those later) and went out to the garage with his lovely little helpers. A little while passed, and the next time I went out there (laundry room's out there, too, and of course there is always much to be done there) he presented the ring to me. This time he did not have as much of a smitten look on his face as he did 10½ years ago when he gave it to me the first time, and he made sure to tell me getting to it required a lot of work! I was just elated to have my precious ring back.

The vacuum cleaners came next. Actually one was for the carpet inside the house and one of my daughters and I tried it other. The other was a shop vacuum for the purpose of shampooing the carpeting in the car. What's the point of taking a seat out of the car if you don't shampoo the interior while you're at it?

Now I've got a clean car AND my beautiful antique white gold wedding set intact on my left ring finger! Hooray!

Wedding ring gone!

I've lost my wedding ring!

Well, actually it's my engagement ring and I actually do know where it is but it's firmly stuck under the seat of the car!

I took my rings off in the car yesterday to get the hair grease (from fixing the girls' hair) from around my ring finger. I dropped my engagement ring in between the seat and that thing where you put your stuff in between the two front seats.

I could see it but the more I tried to get it the further it went down. Finally it got wedged under the track that allows you to move the seat back and forth.

My husband and I both tried to find it but we can't. Looks like we're (he, that is) is going to have to take the seat out to get to it.

It's so aggravating because I haven't been able to wear these beautiful rings in about five years because of the weight gain from my second daughter. I've been wearing just a plain band that I call my "fake wedding ring." I finally got them resized for our 10th anniversary in August and now I loose one.

For the time being my "fake wedding ring" is back on my left hand. I hope it won't be too long before we can get the seat taken out so I can get my beautiful ring back where it belongs.

Another Student of the Month

My four-year-old daughter, who is in public pre-kindergarten program has just been named Student of the Month for October!

She gets to sit in a special place — on the cafeteria stage at one of the specially decorated tables, no less — for lunch one day next week, and her parents are invited to come eat with her.

It's really exciting for her — and for all of us — because her sister was the Student of the Month for second grade last month. My four-year-old preschool child kid was a little upset because she wasn't Student of the Month as well. She had gotten a time-out, though, so I told her if she'd keep being good with no time-outs she'd eventually get to be Student of the Month. So she did.

The school has character words they work on each month, and the Students of the Month are chosen based on their display of these character words. The word for August and September was "respect," so the respect exhibited by my seven-year-old second grade daughter was a factor in her being chosen Student of the Month for August-September.

The word of the month for October was "responsibility." My four-year-old daughter has been talking a lot about this word and what it means. For instance, she told me it was her responsibility to help me do things around the house. I take it she's been exhibiting some responsible behavior at school.

We're proud of our girls for these accomplishments!

Our crazy adventure

This is a true story about the crazy adventure my family has had in the last 24 hours. This story is so crazy you probably won't believe it — you probably won't even be able to read it all — but I'm going tell you anyway.

The short of it is that we have spent the last almost 24 hours with no electricity because we thought the power company shut it off, but all it was was a blown breaker.

Here's the long story. My kids were on the computer at 6 p.m. yesterday and I was fixing their supper when everything electric in the house totally shut down. I finished fixing their supper and we ate while I silently figured that the electricity had been shut off since I hadn't paid the bill, which was due two weeks previously. It was nearly $200 that I did not have and wouldn't have until the end of the week. Mind you, none of the other utilities for this house or our other one we are trying to sell have been paid for this month.

After we finished eating, I went through my bills as it was getting darker in the house. I indeed found an unpaid electric bill due Oct. 5, but surprisingly I found a shut-off notice with a disconnect date set for Oct. 17, the day before. It evidently came late last week when I was going to the hospital an hour away every day while my father was recovering from serious heart surgery. The envelope hadn't even been opened.

My husband came home to total darkness with me trying to herd the kids in the tub and to bed before they stumbled in the dark and hurt themselves. Now he's the one that always thinks the bill hasn't been paid when something shuts off, and he's almost always wrong, but this time he wasn't. He was slightly miffed, not at me but at our bad financial situation brought on by unexpectedly having to keep up two houses on our income that can barely support one. I was expecting a couple of checks by the end of the week; if both arrived they should have been enough to cover the electric bill and maybe even the rest of the utiltities, but one of my checks sometimes doesn't come until Saturday.

I wasn't upset about the situation — you can only do what you can do — until he brought up the fact that the one good car we have is in the garage, the door of which is, of course, electric. I was supposed to be somewhere for work the next day. The car he's been using to get back and forth to work is parked outside but we decided it wasn't reliable enough to get me to my work and back in time to get the girls from school. I realized that I just wouldn't be able to get to my work for the next day, but maybe something would work out for Friday, when I was supposed to go to the same place.

We turned in early, all snuggling in the same bed and thankful that the weather was nice and we didn't need any air. It had been hot during the day but cooled off that evening and we were very appreciative.

We got up early the next morning with the alarm on my cell phone piercing the darkness. A few minutes later everyone got dressed by flashlight, which was rather exciting until, of course, the batteries wore out. My husband and I dropped the girls off at school and he brought me back home with plans for me to walk to school that afternoon and walk the kids back home.

It had started raining by the time I got back home, and there wasn't much for me to do in a dark, dreary house. No computer, no phone, no coffeepot, no nothing but waiting for the mail to run, hoping there'd be a check in the mail. I tried to do a few things but finally the darkness and the pattering of the rain took over and I went back to bed. My cell phone rung at almost noon. My husband decided it was too cold for us to do any walking this afternoon. He came after me during his lunch break and I took him back to work.

I checked the mailbox after I got back home, not really expecting a check and if it actually came, I didn't think the amount would be enough to cover the electric bill plus the reconnection. I nearly had a heart attack when I opened it and it was $200!

After making a trip to the bank, I hustled down to the utility payment office to pay the bill plus the reconnection, and the teller only took the amount for the bill. I explained to her that I needed to have service reconnected, but she said we weren't in her records as disconnected. I let her know that our service indeed had been shut off at 6 p.m. last night and I wanted it turned back on. Again she said we weren't down as disconnected and they don't turn anyone's service off after 3 p.m. every day. She suggested that perhaps it was a breaker.

Immediately I called my husband and he told me where the breaker box was. I flipped the main switch and you won't believe it, but every light in the house came on!!!!

Now, I was glad to have electricity back but aggravated that all it was was a stupid breaker switch that we could have flipped last night! We didn't know though, since that had never happened at this house before, and of course we had the dreaded shut-off notice with a disconnect date set the day before to add to it.

You live and learn I guess. That is one crazy story if you ask me.

Big city driving

Driving in the "big city" sure is frustrating after coming from a small town where nobody is in between you and where you need to go. Especially so is this true when you're trying to get your children to school on time and you have to cross a busy road that everybody in town takes while trying to get to where they need to go on time.

But, thankfully, I'm about to figure out how to drive in the "big city." The two keys I've finally figured out are:

1. Be patient.
Yes, it should only take two minutes to go two miles but you must remember that in the "big city," two bazillion people are going that same way, as opposed to only two others in a little town.

2. You cannot make a left hand turn.
There is just no way to cross two lanes of horrendously busy traffic at one time. Just figure out a route that involves only right hand turns, or be willing to turn right and then left and turn back around to the way you want to go.

Sounds like I'm making progress here. The first month of taking my children to school (HOW HARD COULD IT POSSIBLY BE TO TAKE YOUR CHILDREN LESS THAN A MILE TO SCHOOL???????????????) was just a blood pressure-raising fiasco. I have finally figured out the two keys and the trip to school involves a lot less blood boiling on my part.

Today I was all prepared for the crazy traffic and went the new way (the one where you attempt to cross only one lane of traffic at a time with first a right hand turn and then a left) but there was hardly no traffic!

"Where is all the traffic?" I wondered out loud and then realized it's a holiday today. Not one that calls for school being closed, but one that lets just enough people off work so that making the short trip to school isn't so anguishing for me. That and my newfound keys, that is.

A day with the girls

Today was a girls' day at my house. My two nieces came to visit along with their mom and grandma (my sister-in-law and mother-in-law). They all spent the night with us and my nieces spent this morning with their two cousins, my two girls, while their mom and grandma went to a doctor's appointment.

We spent the morning watching television, eating, and getting dressed for going outside. They had a ball playing together until they all left a little bit after lunch.

Afterward my two girls took a bath and the three of us piled in bed for some reading time and a very long nap!

Though my nieces only live an hour away (in our house "back home") it's always a special treat to see them!