Week 20

Here we are in week 20 of our pregnancy with Baby #4!  Our ultrasound today proves that baby is as healthy as can be determined and stubborn like his/her mommy and daddy.  Baby, why wouldn't you let us see your face?  :-)

I had some extra money to be spent on the kids today, and at the end of the day I was definitely ready to get out of the house.  We went to Toys r' Us (Whatever happened to the way it used to be - when it was less video-game oriented and warehouse-looking?), which is not my favorite store, but I knew that I could find some great wooden puzzles there.  And I did!  I bought 4 puzzles for the kids - each puzzle a little different - and I am so excited to let them play with them tomorrow!  I think these new additions will make the school days a little more fun and educational for my youngest two, especially.  Can I just say that I LOVE Melissa & Doug products?

I am currently trying to rein in my thoughts about how I need to better prioritize my personal schedule and the activities of my children.  It's overwhelming, but I suppose that shouldn't surprise to me, given the importance of the aspects I aim to improve and/or implement.  How could you not get a bit bogged under the following: physical exercise, personal time, personal spiritual growth and prayer, one-on-one time with each of my kids, household maintenance, hygiene (will showering forever have to be scheduled in?), healthy cooking and eating, educating the children, playing with the children, reading to the children, working, bill paying, etc.?

Well, enough thought has been put into that for the day!  Time to move on...

This weekend Paul's friend Aaron is coming over.  They will both be spending Saturday taking down a spruce tree in our yard.  I must admit, I am not sad to see its demise.  I look forward to walking the whole of our property barefoot, without the fear of stepping on pine needles.  I am gladly anticipating the improvement of our garden next summer, when the sun will not be partially blocked from our plants during part of every day.  I am thrilled about our house being warmer in the winter as the tree will not block the sunlight from one side of our home.  Well, I've gone on long enough.  I think it will be fun and I'm pretty sure the guys are going to have a lot of fun, too.  I think taking down a tree is one of those male things that ranks up there with lots of horsepower, power tools, survivalist techniques, admiration of heavy machinery, etc.

It's day 21 since chicken pox exposure.  But never fear!  We had friends who got the chicken pox independent of the other family we initially met with and had a great play date of sharing juice cups, recorders, and a harmonica with them this last Tuesday.  The countdown begins again.

Oh, I also wanted to add that I learned of these great activity ABC cards and I made a set for my Nadia.  She liked them so much that I knew I needed a laminated set.  So our original set goes to a friend of mine and we have a more heavy-duty set for ourselves that I pray will last through Luke's learning of the alphabet.  I am really pleased about this find and having been keeping my eye out and exploring the internet for more ideas of ways that I can make learning a fun and active and more independent learning experience for Nadia.

Time for this Mommy to get away from the computer and wind down.  Hopefully, I'll be smart enough to go to bed early.  Maybe I'll even be refreshed enough to wake earlier than the rest of my family and have a little "me" time.  I am still planning on implementing that at some point - at least to see if it will work for me.

One more thing - the kids and I and Grandma went to St. Vincent de Paul yesterday and Grandma spotted the most beautiful portrait of Our Lady.  I snatched up the treasure - only $5!  Thanks to Grandma for treating us to lunch and treasures at St. Vinnie's!  I'll try to find a photo of it to share in a later post.

Finally, my friend Krissy reminded me of the wonderful world of craigslist.  We are hoping to pick up an authentic original Sit n Spin tomorrow - for the price of $3!  Thanks, Krissy!  And keep your eyes peeled for the return of the original Big Wheels - if bad fashion trends repeat themselves, then we should certainly see the comeback of the Big Wheel!

Pray for us, St. Damien!!