Still No Baby

Apparently Tex is very comfy in his current location.

I think that perhaps God wants me to know what it is like to have a pre-term baby, an on time baby, and a late baby. I'm having a hard time seeing any humor in it but I am dealing and trusting God for the timing of Tex's arrival.

Jon was 10 days late and his mom said that he was a very laid back and easy baby. I am praying that Tex will be like his daddy!

Starting Tuesday I will have start doing non-stress tests every other day until he comes. Basically I get an ultrasound to make sure there is enough fluid and they run the electric fetal monitor to make sure the baby's heartbeat sounds good. Hopefully this will all be moot since this baby will be coming before Tuesday (I have to say it in faith!).

I am hoping that the baby comes today or tomorrow because my favorite midwives are on call.

I promise I will make a post when I am in labor to let y'all know so you can pray.

Eat the WHAT??

Jamie made a comment a few posts ago about something she saw on the news. The news had a story about how more women are eating their placentas in some form after their birth. Feel free to say ewwwwwwwww but it is an interesting phenomenon.

It is believed that the benefit of eating the placenta can help reduce postpartum hemmorage by helping the uterus contract and also help postpartum depression (ppd). I have read the testimonies of some women who have dried their placentas, encapsulated them and taken the pills after their pregnancies. They say that it helped them with ppd. Women who have tried it after having moderate to severe ppd once say that it helped them tremendously after having their next child. Some women will make milkshakes after the birth and add some placenta to help the uterus contract. Some use recipes to cook the placenta and add it to an entree. To see some recipes for the placenta click here.

The placenta is quite an amazing thing actually. It is an organ that gives life to the baby. It starts from conception and grows along with the baby to provide nutrients to help the baby grow. It is nutrient rich and can be found in shampoos and other products.

You may be wondering what I think about all this. Well, it is definitely interesting. After having pretty bad postpartum depression with Isaac it does sound a little tempting to dry the placenta and encapsulate it. Just a little tempting though. I don't know that I am ready for that in my "crunchiness". I think that it really has helped women and I certainly don't want to discount their testimonies even though I think it is a little unappetizing. I do not have any friends that have tried it and I certainly wouldn't look down on them for it. I would be utterly fascinated in the whole process and would even offer to help.

We do have an option at the birth center to take the placenta home with us. I decided to go for it. There are a few other things you can do with the placenta: bury it in the garden and/or make an art print of it and hang it on the wall. I bought a tupperware container and am going to take the placenta home and put it in the freezer until next year. I thought that I might use it in my Bradley classes to show anyone who is curious to see what a placenta looks like. I know that not everyone is as fascinated with things like that but I know there are others out there like me who think that sort of thing is very cool to examine. Next summer we are going to make a little garden and plant some tomatoes and other vegetables and I will plant the placenta in the dirt to help fertilize the garden.

I haven't considered making an art print out of it but maybe I will be inspired to do something like that when I get home from the birth. I have always wanted to do one of those plaster belly portraits but have never done it. Maybe this will be the next best thing? I am always looking for some good art.

Proper Park Etiquette?

We went to our favorite playground park today (aka "the supercool park"). It has two sections: a younger kids playground and an older kids playground. Both are fabulous and it even has that squishy foamy stuff underneath all the equipment so that if kids fall it is pretty soft. We always play at both parks during our little excursions but today we ran into a snafu. Here is where park etiquette comes in.

Is it proper to bring your dogs to the (playground) park and let them run loose?

I say no for the following reasons:
1. Some children are very afraid of dogs. Why would someone bring their large dogs to the park and let them run around the playground where a multitude of children they don't know are playing? The child came to the park to play not get a panic attack by an unleashed dog.

2. Even if the owner feels positive that their dog would NEVER attack anyone--I think it is wise to keep in mind that dogs are still animals and owners cannot guarantee that their beloved pet would not bite a child.

I am a little sensitive to the issue because Isaac is scared of dogs. He got bit by our neighbors dog, Chipper, back in Texas. Chipper (who by the way is not described as "chipper") stuck her mouth on our side of the fence after Isaac fell and bit his toe. Thankfully the wound was just a small scratch but since then it takes Isaac a long time to warm up to dogs. So, when I take my kids to the playground I want them to be able to run around freely on their turf and not worry about someone's dog freaking him out.

In the past year two of my good friends children were bitten in the face by dogs that were previously fine around children. Both had stitches in their face and one was pretty serious. It just seems to me that the playground dog owner was showing a lack of wisdom in letting her dogs run around the playground.

If she had kept her dogs on a leash I wouldn't have thought twice about it--it is just the fact she let them run around where 10 kids were playing that bothered me. I thought about saying something but I couldn't think of a good question or comment to ask her without sounding rude about it. I wasn't feeling particularly snarky about it and felt that it deserved mention but nothing came to mind.

Perhaps if we run into her at the park again I might think of something to say like, "Pardon me, my 2 year old is really afraid of dogs. Would you mind putting your dogs back on the leash? I don't want him to feel afraid on the playground." All said with a smile and lovely tone of course.

Any ideas of good questions or comments I could make in the future?

An Amazing Hospital Birth Story (not mine)

One of my favorite blogs to read is Navelgazing Midwife. She was a doula at a client's birth recently and shared the birth story. It has some amazing pictures to go along with the birth story. It is sooooo wonderful to hear stories like this in a broken medical world when it comes to birth. If you like reading birth stories then you will LOVE this one. Click here to read on....

37 Weeks

Here is the most recent belly picture. I am 38.5 weeks now so I am planning on taking another picture. I want to compare and see if I have dropped any. I had an appointment today and I am still at 38 cm which either means the baby has dropped or every midwife measures a little differently. I have been 38 cm at my last 3 appointments.

I am having lots of Braxton-Hicks and am just playing the waiting game. The midwife today joked that since I had a pre-term baby and an arrive right on the due date baby that this baby might be post dates. Kinda hard to laugh at that one. I am ready to have this baby but I am also trying to keep an open mind that every pregnancy is different and Tex might wait until after his due date to come. He'll come when he's ready--that is the most important thing. If we get that far I'll have some posts on how we want to handle a "late baby".

I am looking forward to see who wins the poll!

C Is For Cookie

Ahhh, dinner time. A time of conversation, family time, talking about the day, telling jokes, learning manners, and singing the occasional song. That is a picture of what dinner time at our house is like. Throw in some good food and wola! It is one of the best times of the day.

Over the past several months we have been talking and learning about letters; what they look like and the sounds they make. I have been trying to get Ewan ready for Kindergarten next year and of course Isaac is never too far away and as a result has learned some letters too.

One of the first letters the boys learned was the letter "C" from this cookie monster song:
C is for cookie, it's good enough for me
C is for cookie, it's good enough for me
C is for cookie, it's good enough for me
OHHHHH cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C!

A classic, right?

Well, tonight at dinner Isaac decided to put his own spin on the song. Personally I was impressed with his letter and song skills as he put this diddy together:

P is for poo-poo, it's good enough for me
P is for poo-poo, it's good enough for me
P is for poo-poo, it's good enough for me....

Jon, of course, interjects and corrects Isaac for singing and talking about poo-poo at the dinner table--like any mature parent would do. Me, on the other hand, was laughing into my hands and wondering if in that particular instance it was a correctable offense. Shouldn't we be impressed and praising him that he figured out that poo-poo DOES in fact, start with "P" AND that he figured out how to make it fit into the "C is for Cookie" tune?

Well, perhaps it is good not to get into the habit of singing "P is for poo-poo" at the dinner table but I am still impressed that he figured that one out on his own.

Don't Forget!

Don't forget to put your name in the pool of when Tex will make his arrival! (See post below!) I know some of you out there read but don't comment....Come out of the woodworks and join the pool!

The Coolest Swimming Spot EVER

On the recommendation from some friends we went to Raccoon Creek State Park. The park has hiking, camping, fishing, and best of all a beach for swimming. The water is roped off and is shallow for quite a distance which makes it great for taking little kids. The best part: IT'S FREE!!! We have been a handful of times--I was hoping we would find more time to go but with Jon's class, still getting all the transition stuff in order, and rain we haven't been as much as I (or the kids) would like.

It is absolutely beautiful there and so fun. Floating in cool water feels luxurious at this point in the pregnancy and of course the boys can climb on me more since they are also more bouyant in the water.

Both boys have learned to float in their swim vests and can steer themselves in any direction. Ewan can paddle around and Isaac is finally more comfortable around the water. The last time we went swimming he wanted to float by himself and try to swim around. Swim lessons are on our list of things to do this winter!

The Dust Ruffle

So here is Tex's baby corner in our room. I got the Aloha quilt from Pottery Barn Kids that I have been eying since Isaac was born. I have a hard time buying stuff from PBK because it is so overpriced but the blanket that came with the bedding I had for Ewan and Isaac was too fluffy and not very practical. I gave that away and my mom got me the quilt. I thought that since the winters here are so gray that I might enjoy having a beach theme for the baby. Once Tex has his own room then we will decorate it a little more in the Hawaiian/beach theme but for now his little corner works. I think we will go to Party City and get something cheap and cute to hang on the wall over his crib--you know a glittery parrot or something. Haha.

Anyway, back to PBK. The dust ruffle that went with the lovely quilt was $60! I could not buy it--well, couldn't let my mom buy it. All it was, was a white dust ruffle with a 4 or 5 inch red and white hibiscus print (from the quilt) sewed along the bottom. I thought that I could surely make something for WAY less than 60 bucks! I found a $5 dust ruffle and 1 yard of red and white hibiscus material for $10 on ebay. All it was going to take was some sewing and patience (mainly for my sewing machine which is a whole otha' post!) So, maybe my dust ruffle isn't as perfect as Pottery Barn's but it is close enough and I am proud that I finished it.

See a picture of the PBK dust ruffle here to compare.

Canada Trip

Last week we went to Canada to visit Jon's family. They were on vacation at the cottage and we met them half way at Jon's aunt and uncle's (Jodie and David) house. It was about a 4.5 hour drive for us but it was worth it!

David and Jodie are supercool folks to hang out with. David is an architect and Jodie is an artist. They run a bed and breakfast too. Jodie and I have several things in common and I am looking forward to taking advantage of being this close to them. They have kids that are close to Ewan's age. So, their kids are Jon's cousins even though they are 5 and 6 which means they are Ewan and Isaac's 2nd cousins. We spent the night with them on Wednesday night and on Thursday Jon's parents, brother and sis-in-law, and their 2 girls joined the fun. We haven't seen the fam since we moved and Ewan had been looking forward to seeing everyone. We also got to see Jon's grandma (Gamma). She is a dear, dear woman--so sweet and jovial. I love her as if I have known her my whole life. She loves her grandkids and great-grandkids. She gives the best back scratches. She gave Ewan a back scratch and his eyes got glazed over as he stood as still as a rock.

Once everyone arrived we had a birthday celebration for Ewan and his (2nd) cousin, Leah. We had a cookout and then took the kids downtown to splash around in this wading pool/fountain. They had a BLAST! It was really fun to sit in the shade, talk to family, and watch the kiddos play with each other. Here are some pics from our trip:

Ewan with his Great-Gamma.














Sitting around the table before birthday cake.













Ewan got some cool army guys from his Mimi.













At the fountain/wading pool.














Isaac playing with Batman at the fountain.

Another Post....Wanna Join the Pool of Tex's Birthday?

Jon and I came up with an idea tonight at dinner.

Write a comment and pick which day Baby Tex will come. The winner gets to pick from a leftover gift card from Old Navy (with about 4 bucks on it), a leftover Chili's gift card with about 3 bucks on it, or possibly from some other leftover gift card of your choosing. I have to look through my stack.

If no one picks the exact date then whoever chooses the closest date will win. If two or more people choose the same date and it is the winner then we will split up the gift cards amongst the winners.

The official due date is August 26th. To help you pick a date....Ewan came on his due date and Isaac came 6 weeks early. I guess that doesn't really help....

Good luck!

One More Post Today....(I got a million ideas....)

Wanna see the words to my new favorite song?

I have recently discovered Jack Johnson. His music is relaxing, thoughtful, creative, and it draws me in. I like the words to his music and I like the way it makes me feel.

I got the CD In Between Dreams and had tears in my eyes the first time I listened to the song titled Do You Remember.

Do You Remember
Do you remember when we first met? I sure do
It was some time in early September
You were lazy about it, you made me wait around
I was so crazy about you I didn't mind

I was late for class, I locked my bike next to yours
It wasn't hard to find, you painted flowers on it
I guess that I was afraid that if you rolled away
You might not roll back my direction real soon

I was crazy about you then and now
The craziest thing of all is over ten years have gone by
And you're still mine, we're locked in time
Let's rewind

Do you remember when we first moved in together?
The piano took up the living room
You played me boogie-woogie I played you love songs
You'd say we're playing house now you still say we are

We built our getaway up in a tree we found
We felt so far away but we were still in town
Now I remember watching that old tree burn down
I took a picture that I don't like to look at

Well all these times they come and go
And alone don't seem so long
Over ten years have gone by
We can't rewind, we're locked in time
But you're still mine
Do you remember?

It is hard to believe that I have known Jon for 12 years now. This song touches my heart because of some of the similarities in the song and our own story. We have so many memories together and I still love that man of mine.

If you are looking for some new tunes I recommend this one.

Aren't Daisies the Friendly Flower?

I love daisies. Gerber daisies are my favorite flower. Remember the line Meg Ryan says in You've Got Mail...."Don't you just love daisies? They are the friendliest flower." (or something similar to that anyway) Well, I agree. Daisies are happy and inviting. As I have been going for walks around the neighborhood I have been admiring other people's yards. These daisies are the ones that my eye is always drawn to.



Someone had already done landscaping in our yard but some of it has been neglected and overgrown. Our yard needed some color and some friendliness added to it. I added 6 daisy plants and 4 impatiens. We have a mangly, overgrown rose bush (under the flag--which by the way is now a Texas flag hanging proudly!) with red blooms and a pink peony plant. I thought the color scheme would go well together. I love walking up to my house and passing by all the friendly flowers. It makes sitting on our porch swing even more enjoyable than it already was.


The cool thing is that the daisies will come back every year! Ohhh....so pretty!

Ewan's Party

Here is Ewan's superhero cape! They turned out great--although if one were to look close at my sewing abilities they would be appalled. Thankfully 2-5 year olds aren't too picky about that sort of thing. Each child had their own initial put on the cape.









Here is the Spiderman cake. God apparently wanted to use the cake to teach me about the "good enough". I couldn't get the icing to turn bright red like I wanted it to--although it finally (after LOTS of food coloring) turned kinda red. It looks more red in the picture than it really was. After I make the web part I realized that I should have make the round black circular part in a frown shape rather than a smile shape to make it look more like a spider web. As soon as I realized my mistake I started crying, thinking that it was a failure of a cake. Jon quickly pulled me aside and said, "Honey, look at how excited Ewan is about his cake. He doesn't even notice that it would have looked better the other way. He is happy and that is all that matters. If he sees you upset he will get upset. Don't worry about it, it looks great!" I needed to hear that. He was right. If I put aside my desire for perfection and looked at the absolute joy and excitement on Ewan's face about his cake I could hear the Lord speaking to me. "Have grace for yourself. Be OK with the good enough. You are loving your son well already--it doesn't have to be perfect for him to know that."



Here is the Superhero Shooting Gallery. All the superheroes got to practice their shooting skills
with squirt guns by shooting dixie cups off of a music stand.











Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the super deluxe cool Spidey candle.













Eating cake and ice cream.













Opening presents. We won a lot of power rangers off of ebay. We got the idea from our friends and it was a great idea! Ewan loved all his presents!

















Splashing around in the water table and pool. Isaac didn't want to wear his superhero cape and was content to play with the water table during the party---although he did like the shooting gallery and bad guy hunt. We had all the superheroes hunt for "bad guys" (aka cheap army men) I had hidden in the backyard.













Splashing around in the pool after cake and ice cream.













Ewan also got a red power ranger bike helmet and army rain boots. He has been wearing them both non-stop to play in. What a cool combo!