Feb 11, 2010 update

Here's what's up:

-My vitamin D levels went up to 25, but they need to be at a minimum of 35.  The doctor recommended going up to 1500 iu/day instead of the 1000 iu/day I am currently taking.  The vitamins that I am taking do not include calcium, which aids in absorption, only because I chose not to take additional calcium due to increased calcium in pregnancy tending to lead to constipation issues.  Really, who wants to add uncomfortable side effects if you can avoid it - especially when you are already uncomfortably pregnancy?

After the baby is born, I will probably start taking a vitamin D plus calcium.  Right now, I am just increasing my calcium intake through my food choices.  I also plan on my next purchase of the vitamin D plus calcium being of a higher quality.  Right now, my vitamin is over-the-counter generic.  For some people, this works.  For me, the lack of good increase in my D levels shows that this is not true in my case.

I already have one recommendation of a vitamin/supplement supplier, but I don't have any concrete knowledge of the cost per month.  Do you have any recommendations for me for a good-quality, reasonably-priced vitamin D plus calcium supplement?  I'm having a hard time with justifying paying a lot of money for a small supply of vitamins.  Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated!

-The kids (and now Paul, too) all have colds.  It's okay, because the family has been REMARKABLY healthy all winter and fall (save the chicken pox).  We were probably due.  Still, last night the kids' bedroom sounded like a TB clinic and this morning the coughing from all different directions is starting to drive me a little nuts.  That, and the constant reminders I have to give about covering their mouths with their arms.  This is one of those days where I wonder how much money we would have made if we had invested in Kleenex stock before we got married.  :-)

-The kids needed baths last night and, though I was tired, I was prepared to let them have a long soak and playtime in the water.  This plan was thwarted through Luke pooping in the tub.  Instead, I spent part of the night disinfecting all the tub toys and  doing an extra load of towels (the ones the kids were wrapped up in while I cleaned out and refilled the tub).

Our tub does not drain quickly, as we have an older home with small-diameter plumbing pipes, so Paul and I sped up the draining process by transporting buckets of bath water and pouring them into the toilet.  So I also ended up cleaning the toilet last night and the part of the floor we dripped water on.

Needless to say, the kids did not have playtime in the tub last night.  I just got them clean and got them out.  Fortunately, they understood why their tub time was cut short and no complaints were heard.

-Homeschooling has not been happening lately.  I think it's partly because I am so focused on Baby's upcoming arrival and trying to get done some projects I know will be difficult to work on with 4 little ones around me.  The other part is because Kassia has obviously inherited her mother's perfectionism and this makes any minor and easily-overlooked error something very trying for Kassia to deal with.  For example, if Kassia writes a letter that is not perfectly exact to a preprinted one, she will often give up or break down out of frustration.  She'll wail, "But it's not PERFECT!"

We do try to get out the materials and work on some small things every few days.  Yesterday Kassia worked on identifying items that rhyme with different "letter families."  She did very well.  Today I hope to work on some math with her.  I'm torn between pressing her to get back to steadily working on a few subjects each day, which would show me that her learning is progressing, and just sitting back and letting her readiness dictate what we do.  The latter is much harder for me, but it's been what we've been practicing lately.  It makes me feel like a lazy teacher.  I know some people embrace this method when teaching their young children, but I just can't.  I look forward to having the energy and figuring out how to make the time (while having the younger kids be otherwise occupied) to get back to daily school time with Kassia.

Nadia is doing great with her letters and we've been working on her letter sounds as well.  There are about three letters that she has a tendency to get stuck on, but that's not too bad.

Numbers, however, are a different story.  It seems as though she can't easily identify a single number.  For now, I've been having her count out the number of objects on a flash card corresponding with that number written on the card.  Once she counts the objects, then I have her say the number again.  She does well with counting already, although she sometimes counts again of the objects, and I am not sure that she sees the correlation with the number of objects and the actual number that is also written on the card.  Any tips?

-Though I feel as though I've not been keeping up to my own standards as far as homeschooling, the housekeeping needs are being met quite well.  I've been keeping up with laundry, doing great at slowly organizing things so that our dining room "all-purpose" table is becoming more visible each day, and keeping the kids accountable when it comes to keeping their toys organized enough that clean-up times aren't a huge undertaking.

The kids are doing their part with cleaning up their toys and I also have them feed the cat and do some laundry sorting and putting-away.  I used to have them help me empty the dishwasher, but I've haven't asked them to for awhile now, partly because I don't want to have to go through the whole rigamarole of getting all three kids' hands thoroughly washed before touching our eating utensils.  Is this laziness on my part?  Probably.  But at least the kids have a few jobs that they are still expected to do.  My hope is that when it comes time to add to their chore duties, their familiarity with their small and few chores will mean that they will take on these extra responsibilities without too much difficulty.

-My mind is so occupied with wondering just when the baby will finally come and sometimes it amazes me how consumed my thoughts are about the baby when I am still 3 weeks away from the due date.  I imagine it becomes harder and harder to wait for the due date with each subsequent pregnancy.  I suppose the waiting is good for keeping me patient!  :-)

-I was on a beautiful retreat last weekend with some beautiful friends of mine - led by some truly beautiful Sisters.  I got a lot out of the retreat, but I am only slowly attempting to incorporate a few of the lessons into my life.  So far, what I am practicing the most is embracing greater dependence on God.  While there were other things I have been working on since the retreat, this dependence seems to be key.    Where I am in life right now, being pregnant and feeling in a state of transition and anticipating further transition, really seems to fit with this theme of dependence.  Really, what more can I do but just to fully depend on God to show me where these days are leading?  I can plan all I want and work on my "before-baby's-born" to-do lists, but those things do not guarantee anything.  The only guarantee I have is knowing that God knows His plan for me, and for me to embrace that plan, whatever it holds.  I kind of like it.  To paraphrase the message that one Sister shared with us (and I must note that I am not doing the message justice by putting it here in my own words - if you are one of those who were on retreat, too, feel free to rephrase this for me so that it is closer to what Sister said), the embracing of God's will and plan for your life takes the responsibility of how things end up out of your hands.  This leaves me with a sense of freedom that I am definitely warming up to.

Well, that's about it for now.  I'm going to check on Little Cougher who sounds like he's waking from his nap and then get out some math materials for Kassia.  Read a few books, throw together a meal, have a few clean-up sessions, go to the bathroom a bazillion times, and my day will be pretty much complete. :-)  There's your update.  Back to life!