11 Week Ultrasound

11 weeks

Yesterday was an emotional day for me thinking about my ultrasound with the last baby in April. It was a 9 week one but baby was measuring too small and was dying. So yesterday at my 10 week checkup and having my scheduled ultrasound, I cried. I really didn't want to go in and I cried missing Genesis.  I cried all the way to the OB's office, just worried of bad news. I smiled right away when I saw this on the screen because I knew everything was okay. They actually changed my due date so I'm 11 weeks. Baby is growing, healthy, has very strong heartbeat. Now it's tears of joy. My new due date is April 27.  I can't believe I'm having a baby in a different month.  Wow, so different.  My older six kids have birthdays all two weeks apart and then Juliet made her own month.  Now this one is due two weeks before her.  :)

I told the doctor how nauseous I was and she prescribed me some medication.  Also, because of my age I have to take calcium vitamins and a baby aspirin along with my prenatals.  Well, I took the antinausea medicine last night.  I woke up for the first time without throwing up.  I went an entire day without heaving at every smell.  The only problem is I kept falling asleep everywhere.  Oh my gosh!  I couldn't even hardly wake up in the morning and when I finally made my way to the couch I slept more. I got up to make lunch and that wore me out so I put Juliet down for a nap and then put myself down as well. I slept and slept.  When Charles got home he said I looked like a drunk.  I finally went and took a look at that medicine to see if it had something to do with it.  It says right on the box that it causes drowsiness and don't use it if you need to be attentive.  Um yeah, I'm a mom.  I need to be very attentive.  There is no way I'm taking these pills again.  Since I took two last night, I'm took only one tonight to see if it makes a difference at least.  Ohhhh, my house is a mess now that I've been down and out all day.  Please, lets not have tomorrow be a repeat.  Eek! 

A Pain I Never Wanted to Understand

Everything's stopped in our house. The cleaning, homeschooling.... I'm just laying down a lot.  The house looks like the pits.  Stomach hurts still and my back.  Today the pain was bad.  Not horrible but enough to make me catch my breath.  Tomorrow I go in to have a look inside through an ultrasound.  Hopefully everything is good and healthy.  I found out today that when I was in bed that day miscarrying, Kyle was standing outside my door crying.  Charles told me that when he rushed home to be with me, he found Kyle like that.  I feel so sad I didn't know.  No matter how I felt, I would have brought him in, pushed away the pain and just hugged him.  Makes me sad.

I'm tired of laying around.  Every time I say I'm done just laying around, I'm knocked back on my back from exhaustion or from pain.  So I'm taking this week and this is the first time I'm not gonna fight it.  I don't ever take a week off from my work.  I don't like doing that.  I have to though because whenever I think about going back to my daily routine I just feel more tired.  Do I really work that hard every day?  Wow.  I guess I'm always so full of energy I can't ever stand to just sit around.  I enjoy being busy.  I told my husband I have no energy and it must be hard for people who always feel like this to be motivated.  He said, "Welcome to my world."  Really?  Wow, that would be hard.  

Since it's only been two days since miscarrying, I hope the energy comes back soon.  I always think I'm fine and then I just break down sobbing several times a day.  How do people just throw away their babies by choice?  Thousands upon thousands?  Oh gosh.  I'm crying over my little 9 week sweetie in the womb and people walk to the abortion clinic like it's going to the dentist.  What has happened to our nation? God, help us!  These are real human beings we are talking about with their very personality and looks written right into their DNA.  My kids' personalities still are a lot like when they were even in my tummy.  Kyle, my wild one, was also wild in my stomach. That boy would use my hip bones as a jumping point.  He was a very painful boy to hold in my tummy.  Guess what?  He's the same way now. 

I had some warning signs about this pregnancy not going well.  First off, I had told Ivy in the beginning that I would soon start to have morning sickness.  I've always had it with every pregnancy.  She asked me almost every day of those few weeks if I had started getting sick.  I kept saying no.  I wasn't worried till I had hit the 8 week mark and still no sign of morning sickness.  I thought that was a little odd.  Another thing is the word miscarriage kept going through my mind the entire time since I got pregnant.  I just kept brushing it away in my mind because I thought it was just me being worried.  I've always had good, strong babies.  I even started writing on my wall calendar each week that I was progressing in pregnancy.  Every Thursday it would be another week.  I started writing them ahead of time.  I always write all the way up to week 40 for every pregnancy.  It's just fun to stare at it every now and then and count down.  Something told me to stop and so I did.  Then I tried to ignore it by going to week 20.  Then I quit there.  Sigh. Woman's intuition?  I don't know. I know next time I'm pregnant I'm not complaining about morning sickness.  I'm gonna rejoice.  For me it's a sign of a healthy pregnancy. 

I'm sorry to the mommies for all the times I didn't understand what it was like for you to miscarry.  Many a times I've had mommies tell me.  I would tell them I'm so sorry yet not truly understand.  It's so much worse than I thought....

Taking Young Kids to Dissect Frogs for Homeschool

I signed my kids up for a frog dissection class at the science center and it was interesting!  Normally, I'm not such a wimp.  Ohhhhh, I was yesterday. Okay, well back in Junior high I had no problems dissecting my own frog.  Did I have a problem watching it yesterday?  Lets just say I started to see black spots in front of my eyes and I had to leave and have my husband take over.  I felt like I was gonna faint and had to leave.  I felt really bad for a couple of hours after that.  My friend heaved a couple of times. It was pretty funny though because we were both struggling.  I don't know if it's because of my morning sickness or because I'm just becoming more wimpy over time.  Haha!  Well, here are some great photos!

(Above) Ryan dissected a female frog

(Above) Ryan's frog was female so he could see the eggs.

My husband Charles helping the boys since I couldn't get up close

(Above) Chaz's frog was male

Chaz listening to instructions

(Above) The teacher showing Ryan he needs to cut open a little higher

How cool is it that my boys only 10 and 11 years old got to dissect frogs and I wasn't able to till Junior high?  This is what I mean about the excitement of homeschooling.  We do things when we want to and have tons of our own field trips throughout the year.  Even better, daddy gets to be involved!  He has a split shift where he has a 4 hour break in between shifts so he is able to attend these things.  I have such a cool husband and life.  :D  

Charles helping Ryan.  Ryan said it was pretty neat opening the frogs mouth inside and looking to see if there was any food in there.

My friend's son Jeremiah putting on his gloves

Kyle (above) 

A Note From a Distracted Pregnant Lady

Boy, I've been in a different world it seems the last two weeks.  There has been so much going on and things to do with outside of my home that I haven't had much time at home.  Thankfully Charles and kids have been really understanding.  The pressures from it all had just zapped all my energy and I'm a really energetic person.  Charles said my "lack of energy" is everyone else's normal.  Really?  My friend says I'm unusually energetic but I think my sisters are also that way.  With having no energy right now I look at the work load around my house and it just seems a lot.  No wonder "normal energy" women look at me like I'm nuts.  I'm behind on everything.  I've gotten out a lot to deal with some issues and coming home was just too overwhelming.  Not because of my family but because I didn't have anything to distract my mind from it all.  It's hard to explain when I can't tell you the things that have been happening.  Anway...

I'm 32 weeks now and I'm having some really bad acid problems still and laying down at night can be difficult.  When I lay down the acid tries to come up.  I'm downing Tums but my doctor suggests Prilosac instead.  I took my first pill today but it can take up to 4 days to start working.  Since controlling the acid also helps with nausea it should make it easier for me to cook and clean in the kitchen.  I also don't want to become a whiner.  What I'm wondering is, why are guys hitting on my so much  more now than I'm pregnant?  It is sooo strange to me and also very annoying.  Good grief.  It's not like I walk around immodest or anything.  Did you know this company wanted to have me take pictures every week of my bare belly to show pregnancy growth on my blog?  I declined because I'm not baring my stomach on my blog.  Only my husband sees my tummy like that.  :D  Other than the morning sickness and acid, this has been one of my best pregnancies ever.  Amazing being it's the 7th one.  I've gained 20lbs so far and hope not to go over 25lbs total. Crossing my fingers (and eating brownies).

The other night my husband was coughing and coughing.  He couldn't get any rest and had to get up at 4:30am.  Finally I went into the room, rubbed some Vics vapor rub on his feet, then put clean socks over them.  Then I got him his inhaler and some cough drops.  Finally he drifted off to sleep but it was a long night before I had thought of all that.  The next day he talked about it on his job and also to me telling me if felt so good to have his wife take care of him like that in the middle of the night.  Hmmm.... maybe I've been so focused on myself my poor husband is feeling left out.  He has been sooo supportive of me.  The nights I can't sleep and get sick, he always lets me sleep in the next morning since he gets home from work in the morning.  When he gets home the kids are still sleeping so he'll take care of them till I'm ready.  He has yet to ever complain about the lack of home cooked meals because of the morning sickness.  Geesh.  Do I really deserve this guy?  This week I am really gonna focus on him and find ways to make him feel extra special.

30 Week 3D Ultrasound

Yesterday I to the doctors for a 30 week ultrasound for baby Juliet.  This time Charles got to come with me and since we had someone watching the kids we got to go alone. How different and fun!

I told the doctor that baby Juliet is so mellow I was hoping it's just because she's such a mellow baby and not because there was any distress.  They measured her and at 30 weeks she is breech and her legs folded up towards her face.  That's why in the picture you see her foot right in her face.  :D  By 36 weeks if she doesn't turn they are going to have me go to the hospital to try and turn her. (See video at bottom of post on how they turn a breech baby).

Juliet is 3 1/2 lbs already and we saw her smacking her lips and making sucking motions with her mouth.  Was soooo cute!  

They think either she is mellow because:

a) I'm just lucky, 

b) she's breech and how she is laying 

c) I'm such a busy mamma that doesn't sit down much and so the rocking motion puts her to sleep.  Yeah, you don't do a lot of sitting down with 6 kids.  

I told her that I have a lot of acid problems and it keeps me up at night.  Sometimes it makes me wake up to throwing up and choking several times a night.  It's not fun trying to cough up acid out of your lungs the next day.  She recommended Prilosec instead of Tums and said its way more effective.  Also, that'll help with the nausea.  

My dad holding me

We had such a fun time and afterwards Charles I ate at Red Lobster for a date.  It was fun but we were actually happy to sit there quietly and eat rather than chat away.  The waiter probably thought we were mad at each other but we were happy to just share bits and pieces here and there.  It's really nice getting away every now and then but we always miss the kids when we are gone.

Appreciating the Craziness of Children

Anyway, I'm hoping Juliet turns on her own before 36 weeks but in case she doesn't I will have to go to the hospital and have her turned.  I found a neat video that shows how they do it. It doesn't work all the time because the doctors tried it on me with my 3rd child and it didn't work.  However, at the LAST minute before I was to have a c-section, Kyle turned and BOY did I feel it.  He was my biggest kid.

Sick Kids, Broken Carts, and Facebook Backlash

Caleb and Kyle playing soldiers

There is definitely some sicknesses going around and my son caught the bug a couple of nights ago.  Agh... I'm fighting with my morning sickness just to talk about it right now.  Kyle was up all night long Sunday night into the morning getting sick and once I finally went to bed making sure he was okay, he did a lot of getting sick in the room.  I didn't know till the next morning when my husband's friend came over.  They were talking in the living room and I walked down the hallway to get something.  I smelled something funny and tried to make a run for it but threw up my coffee right on the floor. Lovely.  So now the bedroom was giving off fumes and wifey is throwing up on the floor.  Whew.... it was just one of those mornings!  It's seems Kyle's sickness was only 24 hours but he was pretty weak and tired for the rest of the day.  I had him homeschool a little bit but he was just not into it.  I felt really bad for him and had him just go rest for the the day.  He's the kid the never complains about much of anything when it comes to work so I knew he really did feel cruddy.

Last  night I went to Walmart with a friend and bought some homeschool supplies. We were being goofy the whole time and were just laughing like crazy.  It takes us forever to do anything when we are together.  She just had surgery so she was riding in an electric cart that kept stalling.  We'd just be walking along and all of a sudden my friend would be gone.  I'd look back and she would be stuck for a few seconds before the cart would work again.  There were no other carts so we were stuck with it. When we're together we tend to buy more because we talk each other into it.  I'm sure our husbands fear that when we say we are going shopping together.  LOL.  I bought a bulletin board to tack up our bible study we're doing each week and then some dry erase markers for the white board.  I got a jumbo pack of construction paper and some other supplies.  It really is encouraging to have a close friend that homeschools and we can give each other ideas.  We are both in the same boat with being fairly new to schooling our kids at home and really trying to find our way.  That is why we use something to help us along.  As time goes on I've slowly begun pulling away and doing our own stuff. So far I only do that with History and Science.  I use a program for Math, Language Arts, and Bible and I'm really happy with it.  

My husband lectured me this morning about working myself too hard and I need to at least stop working by 9pm.  I told him I enjoy being busy and I don't realize I'm doing that.  He said 9pm I'm done so that's that.  My man has spoken.  :)  Hey, at least he doesn't think I sit on my butt all day and eat bon bons.

Last night I dreamt that God took me to view the world from a distance.  Have you ever been in a plane and when you look out the window the houses seem so tiny?  It always gets me in a deep thought about how we get so caught up in day to day life and forget some important things. When going up in a plane the worries of this world seem to get tiny along with all the buildings.  Well, in my dream God took me out of the world to look at it from a distance.  He said the world is so caught up in the rush of things they don't realize what is coming. We needed to remember what mattered and to keep our hearts right with Him. It was a pretty neat dream but I woke up right after it wondering why I dreamt it and decided to just accept it.  It's true.  We take care of our day to day but one day we will stand before God and need to be ready for that.  Relationships are more important than things.  Working, working, working just so we can have more "stuff" is different than working to make a living and support our family.  The other day on Facebook I made the "mistake" (not really) of saying I appreciated my mom being a homemaker and taking care of us.  If I ever post anything like that I definitely get a verbal whipping from some.  Working moms always feel that I'm trying to send a message to them and each thinks I was secretly throwing a dagger.  I'm not.  It was just a thought that popped in my head and I wanted to send a thanks to my mom.  :)

If you get a chance head on over to my other friend's blog.  Her post today is called "Homeschool Chemistry: A Bunch of Advice From Kerrie"  A good read!

28 Weeks Pregnant!

So today I am officially 7 months pregnant with baby Juliet!  Wow, does time fly when you really aren't paying a lot of attention.  Lets see... I've been married 13 years and have been pregnant basically ever other year.  After I gave birth to my first one I got pregnant almost immediately.  I used to be obsessed by the calendar but then I figured if I'm gonna be pregnant so much I might as well just live life normally.  Took me 7 pregnancies to figure that one out.  Hope it didn't take anyone else as long.  Haha.  Anyway, she is over 2lbs now and safe and sound.  The kids are counting down more than I am so whenever they ask me how many days I just round it out for them.  I tell Kyle that when his best friend has a birthday then Juliet is ready to come out.  I still battle morning sickness and yesterday, while doing baby nursery at church, I had to stick tissues up my nose to change a poopie.  A mom walked in while I was changing the baby and started laughing seeing all this tissue hanging out of my nose and heaving.  I didn't want to be lazy so I wanted to just change the diaper rather than make the other ladies do it.  I guess one of my pet peeves is people using pregnancy as a handicap and excuse to get out of doing some easy stuff.  "Get me this, get me that."  I would rather just stick the darn tissues up my nose and hope I don't throw up rather than sit on my butt not pitching in.

Juliet is so mellow and doesn't abuse me in my stomach like my boys did.  Well, Charles doesn't get to feel her a whole lot but last night while he was sleeping with his hand on my stomach, the baby was kicking his hand like crazy.  LOL, he didn't even know!  It was funny seeing his hand jumping from her wild kicks. 

Crappy Days Have Their Purpose Too

Today I am 27 weeks along in the pregnancy and my morning sickness has not let up AT ALL.  Today I have tried every which way to alleviate it.  One problem was that I woke up to fresh made Tamales that a friend brought over.  Usually I wake up slow, get sick first, THEN have my morning coffee.  If I don't do that then the day is a bit more of a struggle and I fight the queasiness a lot more.  I just ate the tamale without getting sick first and so now I'm in a major battle to keep all food and drink down today. Argh!

Today was the hardest day I've ever had homeschooling.  Ivy was not understanding math and neither was Kyle.  We did the assignment over and over and over hoping it would help and no matter which way I explained it they didn't understand.  It's days like this I want to bang my head on the wall and stomp any ants I find on the ground.  Usually we breeze right through each day but this does happen every now and then when we hit a wall.  I was just hoping I wouldn't have two kids hit a wall at the same time. 

7 months pregnant in a few days!  My son
snuck this picture of me.  Passed out with the
phone and iPad.  lol

I've loved being pregnant but I've been really tired.  I will be in the 3rd trimester next week so I guess it's expected.  The 2nd trimester is known for having more energy.  Well, that plane has departed so I just need to get more rest.  My husband is super, duper gracious about this and since he is home in the morning, he will let me sleep as much as I need.  I love that man!  Sigh.

Ashley playing on the iPad with a
diaper on her head and on her foot.

Tonight Chaz and Ivy's friend from out of town is spending the night since they don't get to see them often.  At first I was gonna say no because we have homeschool every day but then I had to remind myself that these are really loved friends that we don't get to see often.  It's times like these that I loved the freedom of homeschool.  I just need to quit being a drill sargeant and slow down a bit.  

Even in really cruddy days like today where I felt like I got nowhere in homeschooling, zilch in cleaning, and bad morning sickness I know that we can't always have fantastic days.  There will be the bad days where I'm reminded how much I need God's strength.  So much I forget and try to rely on my own strength.  My flesh is weak but but He is strong. Humbling days like these remind me that I am only human and everyone has their limits.  It's days like these that I'm stretched just a bit further.  Instead of seeing them as a flat out failure, I remember that we CAN BE stretched.  How will I grow otherwise?  How will I learn patience?  Gosh, how I don't like learning patience sometimes.  It sure comes in handy though when needed.

When a Bad Day Increasingly Gets Worse

I had a really, really, really cruddy morning.  It was NOT okay.  Sigh.



It's Friday again and my kids attend a school for homeschooled kids so we needed to get there by 8:30am.  Well, recently our transmission in our van went out so my dad kindly offered his car.  My husband needs our other vehicle for work.

What I felt like inside

I woke up with plenty of time to get ready but because I had such bad morning sickness I was stuck in the bathroom for half hour.  By the time I got out the kids only had 10 minutes to finish getting ready.  I didn't have time to dress the two little ones because I didn't want to be late and the kids have a field trip today.  I put Caleb in with just his pajamas and Ashley also.  As I'm loading up the car seat for Caleb I realize that the straps are so tight I can't fit Caleb in them.  Since it's a new seat I couldn't find the release button anywhere.  I searched all over and just couldn't find it. By now I knew we were going to be late to school.  I finally put a booster seat in the car for Caleb and I hated doing that because it's more for kids one year older than he is.  All the way to the school Caleb was trying to escape his seat so Kyle had to hold him down. Well, Caleb didn't like that so he was pulling his big brother's hair.  I was on the freeway so there was nowhere to pull over.  

Finally we pull into the school and after I wave goodbye I started to drive off.  One of the kids must've not shut the door all the way because the side door flew open. The lady behind me is hocking like crazy to tell me.  I had already noticed so I immediately flew out of the car to shut and lock the door.  Caleb then realize there is a lot of neat buttons on the door he can unlock and open.  Oh man, how were we gonna get home?  I put my review mirror right where I could see Caleb the whole way home.  As soon as we get driving Caleb escapes out of his seat.  I pull off the freeway and onto a main road to rebuckle Caleb. This time I reposition his seat in the middle and discover this seatbelt locks in place.  Well, as soon as I got driving again he tries to escape so I reach behind me and hold his leg the rest of the way. He's screaming because I'm doing this and Ashley tells me that she's carsick and gonna throw up.  I look down at my nice cup of coffee that is still half full and wonder if I need to give it up so Ashley has something to throw up in.  It's my dad's car and there is no way I want to return it with a throw up smell and a stain.  I give her my cup of coffee just in time because she filled it to the rim.  Then I started to heave so I rolled down my window and drove with my head sticking out.   Ashley's behind me trying to balance the cup so no throw up spills out of it.  As soon as I get to a stop light I opened my door and emptied the cup.

Finally..... FINALLY, I pulled up to my house.  I had made it home.  I felt like crying I was so happy to be home.  Then it dawns on me.... when I left with my dad's keys I had forgotten to grab my own so that means we were locked out of the house.  Sigh.  "Why?  Whyyyyyyyy?!"  Charles usually comes home around that time so I was pleading with God to not let him run lots of errands or anything like that.  Caleb pooped his diaper really bad and in the rush of just getting the kids to school (and thinking we'd be right back) I didn't grab anything.  Ashley starts to dance because she has to pee.  About an hour later of just sitting there I finally just get out and starting thinking about hopping over the fence to at least let the kids play in the backyard.  I didn't want to hurt my pregnant tummy so I began to "build steps" so I could climb over the wall rather than jump.  It had already been an hour and now I needed to potty.  Out of frustration I wiggle the front door and it opens right up?  What?  "AGgggggghhhh!"  First I thought someone broke in but then I remember that the boys had went out the front door to get something and forgot to lock it.  You mean all this time I've been sitting out here I could've just walked in my house?  Oh man, the frustration and joy were all mixed together. As soon as I discover the front door was unlocked my husband comes home.  Sigh.  I walked in and just sat on the couch.  I didn't want to do anything.  Not wash clothes.  Not wash any dishes.  Nothing.  I was just so happy I  made it home.  It was only 10am and I was completely burned out.  I laid the kids down for a nap so I could nap but the phone wouldn't stop ringing.  It rang about every 5 minutes and so the kids only napped for about 15 minutes.  Sigh.

Oh well.  What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.  Next time someone asks me where I get so much patience, I'll share this story or one like it with them.  Yeah, you learn patience through experiences.  That's the only way.  :)  We all have some to share!

When Christmas Buying Goes Too Far

I think I have violent tendencies in my sleep.  No joke!  One night, in my sleep, I just did a karate kick and flung my laptop off my bed.  Charles said it really flew.  Then not too long ago I flung my fist in the air and punched my husband in the mouth.  He has to get dental work now.  Well, recently I got a french manicure so my nails are longer than what I'm used to.  Last night I hit my headboard in my sleep incredibly hard with my nails. My nails hit so hard I just laid in agony for 10 minutes till the pain subsided enough to fall asleep.  Today they are really sore.  Whenever I do these things I don't just kinda punch something.  My husband said it's with like a super human strength.  Good grief!  One night he turned his back to me he said to protect himself.  Heh heh.  

I'm 17 weeks pregnant and FEELING GREAT!  No more morning sickness (unless I say the word coffee out loud I feel a little weird).  The energy is back and I feel like I'm waking up finally to normalcy.  My husband is just awesome though and since he gets back before anyone wakes up, he lets me sleep in if needed in the morning. (That's how I get my rest, Happy Elf Mom).  Sometimes I'm doing laundry till past midnight until I just can't wash anymore.  Or waiting to mop till kids are in bed.  Sometimes while everyone is asleep I feel a little tap right where the baby is.  He/she is so little though that I have to be really still to feel it.  Pregnancy is such a gift and blessing. I used to rush these things but not anymore.  Babies just grow up way too fast.  I've been changing diapers since the year 2000 with no breaks and I've gotten to the point where there is just no rush to potty train.  We just wait till their 3rd birthday.  Once they blow out those candles we take the 3 year old out to celebrate and pick out their first underwear.  Their excitement is so cute.

Tomorrow we will be done with our Christmas shopping which is gonna make the rest of December completely relaxing!  We keep it pretty simple for Christmas.  We get each kid 3 gifts. One big one and 2 normal size ones.  This year we got each kid a bike and since we purchased it on Black Friday, we only paid $40 for the big ones and $25 for the smaller ones.  We actually didn't go out that day.  My mother-in-law picked them up at Walmart for us.  I didn't want them to have video games this Christmas so I got them stuff to be active and imaginative.  We got them costumes to play in as well.  We always purchase anything we get with cash so if we don't have it, we can't buy it.  That way there is no after Christmas stress or debt.  We've already paid off $19,000 in the past and don't ever want to go back into that.  So, no credit cards for us!  Those are like loaded weapons.  The picture below breaks my heart.  Have you noticed the increase in stories around Black Friday?  I don't even show up to those things anymore because I was hurt pretty bad back in 2002.  It was my first time and I thought everyone just waits in line peaceably.  I had no idea it was gonna be violent.  A drunk guy pushed two carts together and rammed them over and over in the back of me.  I was pregnant with my 3rd child.  I was in a lot of pain but couldn't sit down because I would've been trampled by all the craziness.  That was so scary I never participated again.

My kids can be in such a bubble at times thinking that we don't have a lot.  This makes me sad since I see what goes on in other countries and the kids even here in the states that eat once a day if they are lucky.  Abused kids scared in their own home.  Forget about presents, all they want is a safe place to stay, someone to hug them, and not be hungry.  The other day we were driving past a neighborhood that was really poor.  My kids said, "Mommy, are we in Mexico?  I said no, we are just in a poorer neighborhood.  They were shocked at the condition of the houses and how small they were.  Still, in America, we have it pretty good with all the help.  The poorest people in America are among the richest in certain places in other countries.  It's crazy how spoiled we are in America.  Sure we are all going through economic hardships but I still see some pretty full restaurants and malls.

By the way, there is a cool giveaway going on over at Notes From a Homeschooling Mom and you can check it out also on Facebook.  There are not too many educational games out there so check it out! :D

Reasons to Rejoice, Cry, and Laugh Out Loud

So now I'm 15 weeks along and into my second trimester.  Thank goodness.  I've always disliked the first trimester very much.  It's just not much fun at all since it always comes with morning sickness.  In my first trimester I was hungry every two hours and if I didn't eat, I'd get very sick.  That can make weight gain just go out of this world.  So, now I'm hoping my weight gain slows down.  Babycenter says I should have only gained 5lbs.  Hahahahahahahaha!  Now my appetite has gone down to normal and so it's a lot easier.  Now the fun finally begins.  ;D  This is the trimester of finding out the sex, feeling the baby move, and getting my energy back.  The house is finally clean again!

I'm having a serious issue with my Great Dane and I can stand it right now.  Just recently I had to clean all my carpets because of dog pee. This is a new thing.  He was always trained before so I don't know what to do.  I rented a cleaner and worked on all my carpets for 8 hours to get the smell out.  Just yesterday I walked into my closet and there was dog pee on my laundry.  Smoke was coming out of my ears and I banned my dogged outside till I know what to do.  Today he threw up on my carpet because he had been eating out of our garbage in the middle of the night.  I'm pretty much done with dogs or cats.  I'm not gonna find another home for him but I think he's our last dog for sure.  

On a light night, I found some favorite videos that get my family cracking up every time we see them! This is one of my favorite.  These guys go into Home Depot and cry about everything.  Soooo funny.

Battles with Nausea and Miniature Chickens

Gosh, I have had such bad morning sickness lately that I have to sit outside to avoid any smells in the house.  You know how hard it is when you are hungry but you can't go in the kitchen or you'll get sick?  Or change a poopy diaper without getting sick?  Oh man. I hope I can cook for Thanksgiving.  I will probably have to wear nose plugs and open all the windows.  This morning I tried to do that but the roosters were crowing too loud and Charles was tired so I had to close them.  Little stinkers.  These are my miniature chickens but their crow is still really loud.  In the picture they look big but they are adult size and I can pick them up with one hand.  I'll have to show a picture sometime of them next to the big chickens.  It's gross sometimes having to change out their bedding or refill their water right now. Normally it's not a big deal but next time I using gloves.  So worth it though for all the eggs we get for breakfast.

So my big and tough boys somehow end up here every now and then once we all go to bed. It was around midnight but I turned the lights on to take this picture.  I don't feel guilty about not giving them their own room because they all end up sleeping on the same bed or couch anyway.  Caleb is even sleeping on top of Chaz. Sooooo cute!

I was up at midnight because I tend to be hungry alllllll the time.  If I don't eat I get really bad nausea.  How's that for keeping weight off, eh?  Yeah, this baby is gonna help me get some pounds on if this keeps happening.  The doctor tells me to eat a carrot or something.  Ha!  That's like serving a vegetable dish and putting a candle in it for someone's birthday.  Just mean!

Crazy Middle of the Night Pregnancy Cravings

Call me desperate but last night at 1am I hopped through one of the windows to get to the chicken pen.  I needed an egg to make brownies in the middle of the night.  LOL.  Then I got out my neat brownie pan my friend got me.  She didn't like it so she passed it along to me and I love it!

Have you used one of these to make perfect cut brownies?  First you back the brownies in the pan.

Then put the divider into the pan.....

Place on top of the rack, since pan has removable plate underneath it so when you push down, the plate lifts up.  

Remove divider....

Pull pan back up and take off of rack.  Perfect cut brownies!  Now all I need to do is just buy 2 more of these so I can make more at one time.

My husband is liking my big pregnancy appetite as he has been reaping from it.  I'm hungry almost on the hour so I have to be careful how much I eat.  I'm not kidding when I say I'm eating all the way up till 1am usually.  I will even get up in the middle of the night.  I don't want to hear about weight gain right now.  Ha!  I'll worry about it when it's a good time to.  My first pregnancy I gained the most at 31lbs. I better not break that record and go above it. That's when I'll panic.  McDonalds has been my favorite but I have been known to drive right back to have the burger made just right.

The odd thing about this pregnancy is that the MOMENT I'm hungry, I have instant nausea.  The only cure is eating something.  Is that a recipe for weight gain or what??!  Holy cow. Charles said he's gonna have to get a second income just for my appetite.  Whatever works.  :D

OH, don't forget about the newest contest out right now to win an Little Angels DVD giveaway!  Just click HERE to enter by leaving a comment on that page.