36 Weeks

Finally I'm at 36 weeks. The thought of having to wait another 4 weeks seems impossible. With both boys arriving early, I just can't even think of that possibility! I'd love to have the baby before my mom and dad go on vacation. They have been there for both of my other births and I'd hate for them to miss this one. Plus, I think they'd enjoy their vacation more if they're not thinking about missing the birth, at least my mom will.

We made it through Paul's work trip, thanks to Gramma and her assistance, especially with feeding the boys and taking Elijah to the potty every hour. How do you all do potty training? With Ethan, I waited until he was 2 1/2 and was dry during the night before starting the whole process. It took him about 2 weeks to master potty-training, but even then still didn't like pooping on the toilet. (We're STILL working on him feeling comfortable pooping in public restrooms!) With Elijah, I did a teensy bit of Elimination Communication before he was a year old, to get him to finish peeing in a dirty diaper before I put the clean one on. After he did so well with that, I figured maybe he'd do just as well on the toilet with me making noise to get him to go. Well, it worked and he's been pooping on the potty for 6 months or longer, I think (my pregnancy brain isn't always entirely accurate, but I'm too lazy to get off the couch and look in his scrapbook). He would pee as well on the toilet prior to baths and sometimes at other times.

Now he tells me he has to go to the bathroom (to poop) and occasionally to pee, but he's still wetting his diaper/training pants/pull-up and he's not dry at night. But, he's even told me he has to go when we're out and about and he will use a public restroom. I wonder if it's worth the effort right now to run him to the bathroom every hour. My energy is so limited! We're trying to hit the toilet before meals and bed/nap and when he wakes up, but he's still wet at night. I just don't have the chutzpah to be terribly committed right now, though I'd love not to have two in diapers at the same time!

KIds say the funniest things

At supper the other night, my almost two year old noticed his big brother had a knife and a cloth napkin. "I need a nakin, I need knife, " he said to me so I explained that when he got to be bigger and ate like a man, he could have a knife and a napkin. A few minutes later, he saw Daddy putting salt on his food and said, "I'm a man, I need dalt (salt)"

Prior to buying our cows, my husband was advised to buy 3 or 4 as they like to be together. We have found this to be very true, in fact they stay so close together, they often don't even bother to move out of each other's way before going to the bathroom, which often results in them being coated in cow poo, even on top of their heads. While our cows are females and will either be bred or sold for breeding, we intend to raise cows for our own beef eventually. Knowing this, our then five year old, when he first saw the cows covered with poo said in a very serious voice, "I'm not eating anything with poop on it!"

Blogging Goals?

In starting this blog, I must ask myself, what is my goal with this blog? Do I merely wish to show off pictures of my boys? Do I want to be witty and make all who read laugh until they cry? Do I want to share my inmost thoughts and feelings? I'm still working on this question. You see, I've been faithfully journaling since the summer of 1997 and love the feel of pouring myself out on the pages of a spiral bound diary. Those spiral bound books are locked away in our fire proof gun cabinet, as they are one of my most treasured possessions. I am able to read in them and see all the growing I've done in the past 11 years. (And for those of you who know me well, I've been through some unbelievable ups and downs in that time!) So, I don't want blogging to replace my journaling, and I don't know that I could open myself up the way I have in my journals, but I do want this to have some meaning due to the time spent doing it. I enjoy reading those blogs that have some consistency and thought to them as well as the ones that make me laugh, so we'll see where this one goes!

What are your blogging goals? Why do you blog?

Top Ten Reasons I Love My Husband

10. He is patient with me as well as with the boys.

9. He was excited about me starting a blog, though he thought I should call it "Home on the Ranch" seeing as how we have electric fencing. (If you didn't know, before the electric fencing, we were merely living on the farm.)

8. He appreciates order like I do and I never have to pick up his dirty clothes off the floor.

7. He actively trains our children and is the spiritual head of the household.

6. He is more responsible than I am! (He pays the bills, manages the money, and takes care of all financial responsibilities.)

5. He is HANDSOME!

4. He wants to give our boys a heritage for the future.

3. He is supportive of eating healthy (organic, non-GMO) and living more naturally (cloth diapering at home, homebirth).

2. He is a HARD worker!

1. He loves me so much that right now he is doing the dishes, cleaning up after supper, and feeding the boys (no one wants to swallow tonight just chew, chew, chew), while I'm sitting on the couch with my slightly swollen feet up!

THANKS BABE!!!

The Long Road

Well, I just got back from an appointment with the midwife. I'm 35 weeks and 1 day but measuring ahead a little. Baby's in a good position and the head seems to be on the smaller side right now (hope it stays that way!) Both my boys were early; Ethan was 3 days early (8 lbs. 4 oz.) and Elijah was 5 days early (9 lbs. 3 oz.) so I'm hoping for at least 7 days early with this baby and less than 10 lbs. I've reached the point where I'm done being preggo. I can't do much without getting out of breath, Elijah is about impossible to keep up with and has become very whiny and clingy, and I've got all sorts of aches and pains related to my body's preparation for the baby's arrival. Add to this that Paul's going to be out of town tomorrow through Friday evening. (Thank goodness for Gramma and her willingness to come stay with me and love up the boys while he's gone!) We are all set pretty much for our 2nd homebirth, though I do need to be close to 37 weeks for our midwife to legally assist us. We still have cleaning to do downstairs and setting the watertub up, but that has to wait until I'm a little farther along. Ethan's getting excited, as we all are. I can't wait to see if we're having another boy or a girl this time. My instinct says a boy, though I do have a "stash" of cute pink and purple infant clothes. If the baby is a girl, she's going to wear pink immediately! I get very excited at the thought of cuddling an infant again! There's nothing like it in the world! It's going to be a whole new world having three kids; homeschooling one, keeping up with an active toddler, and nursing a new baby. Feels like we've got a long road ahead of us until baby arrives! My prayer every morning is for strength to make it through the day.

Guess it's a little late. . . . .

to be pondering whether or not I should be starting a blog. Of course, I have plenty else to do, but I'm justifying it by saying how a great a way it is to keep others updated with our life on the range! Blogging is totally new to me, but I've been enjoying so many other people's blogs (people I know as well as those I don't know) that I thought maybe I should try. For those who don't know, I'm married to Paul (a wonderful, godly man), and mom to two boys: Ethan (6) and Elijah (almost 2). We are expecting baby #3 within the month. We live on 10 acres in the country which is all new to me. I'm a city girl at heart, though I love our land and the freedom it provides us. We are the proud owners of a herd of 3 cows and the planters of a large, unweeded garden. I attribute the weeds to the baby belly, as I just can't get out there much lately, other than to pick the monstrously large zucchinis. If you're in need of organic veggies, please stop by! I'm drowning in cucumbers these days!