Praise you in this storm

Hillbilly Shopping

Today I went grocery shopping with a two week menu and a list that had only what I absolutely needed on it... AHHH!

I actually didn't do too bad. I went to our local Aldi's and then to Walmart. Oh if only Walmart were as cheap as Aldi's! I did awesome at Aldi's. I got an overflowing cart for a little under my budget. But then when I went to Walmart to get the few things that were unavailable at Aldi's I blew the rest of my budget and more! It's so frustrating! And I didn't even buy diapers!!!

The menu was taken off of a website I found. www.hillbillyhousewife.com.

It was the menu under the $70 list. I think I did pretty good considering I couldn't find everything at the prices she does! One thing I have completely taken out of our menu is cereal. It is overpriced! And pretty unhealthy! So we will be replacing our breakfast meals with eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, pancakes, hot rice and anything else I can think of that doesn't involve sugar coated grains in a cardboard box!

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Well if you haven't figured it out yet. My blog is sort of shifting gears a bit. I found it hard to keep up with the blog on any kind of regular basis. But I have been having a bit of a transformation myself. So I thought I would document it.

Organizing and cleaning of the house is coming along. Although it does take some doing since the kids go back behind me and basically mess it all up! Laundry is a never ending task. And I seem to be cooking a lot. Especially since I have started making EVERYTHING we eat from scratch. I don't even buy bread from the store anymore. I am trying to honor Pete and frugally spend the money he works hard to earn. By doing that I am trying to find new and better ways to cook and save money on groceries. I have also started to sew a lot of my own clothes and intend to sew a bunch for the kids as well.

I like my new found enjoyment in homemaking. Taking care of my kids and awesome husband is a much better job than I had originally thought!

Rising with the chickens

In the last few weeks I have really been studying how I can be a better homemaker. A woman, wife and mother that God wants me to be.

It isn't easy! Especially with little ones. I haven't yet figured out how I am going to be able to get all I want to get done around my home, teach the kiddos and still have time for myself.

One goal I have had and am trying hard to stick to is not to be on the internet so much. When I am on the internet I am actually searching out ways to schedule our family, to clean my home, or just other little tidbits on home keeping and family raising. So in my mind I try to justify it that way! But it still takes up a lot of my time.

I have been trying to work on getting up when Pete gets up and be showered, quiet time done and ready to start my day when Emma wakes at 7am. But it is so hard when I am up late with Abby and I don't get a whole nights sleep! I do admit that on the days I am successful at getting up and ready before 7am I accomplish so much more. I feel so much more productive. The first week I did this I did so well. I got up when Pete got up and showered, dressed and prayed with Pete before he left for work. Then after he left I did my own quiet time and bible study before the kids woke up. That was three weeks ago. Now I am slowly slipping back into bad habits! I don't want to get up! I am so sleepy and I just want to go back to sleep! Last night there were thunderstorms all night that caused me not to sleep very well. So as it stands right now it is almost 9am and I am still in my jammies!

I have to go back to getting up diligently at 5:30 every day because I need to! I often find myself thinking that I shouldn't have to get up that early because I don't have a job to go to. But that isn't true! Raising my kids and caring for my home and family is my job and I shouldn't be late for that any more than I would be late for a job outside of my home.

I am going to start to try and get up again. To fill my mornings with bible reading and prayer. Because when I do this my days go by so much better.

My to do list for today:

-Finish the laundry.
-Finish sewing my skirt.
-Start making lists for packing for our vacation.
-Get dinner started.
-Change our sheets.
-Work on my schedule some more.

Proverbs 31:15 "She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meant to her household, and a portion to her maidens."

Just call me Miss Susie Homemaker

I have totally lost track of all time. Three kids is surely an adventure! I have spent the last month or so trying to create and improve upon a type of schedule or a routine that will make all of our lives much easier!

This can't be a long post because it is actually the kids bedtime. But a comment from Caren caused me to realize that I have sorely neglected my blog! I have decided there is going to be a bit of a difference to my blog. But it is going to take some time to get it like that!

The Lord has really been convicting me to become an even better wife and mother than I have been. I have been studying Proverbs 31 and will be moving on to Titus 2 when I am done. I have not always found joy in the life that God has chosen to give me. God called a woman to be something very important I believe and I think that is the job of being a wife and a mother. Sadly many young girls aren't trained as they should be in how to keep a home, husband and family. How best to take care of them and run a household. More value is put on where that daughter should go to college or what she should do in her life before marriage! Now don't get me wrong. There is a time and a place for everything. And an education can go a long way! But a girl should also be taught the art of homemaking and mothering because it is truly an art.

I plan on working on my own homemaking and mothering skills so as to better equip my own daughters in this before their dad and I entrust them with the man that God has saved for them.

Lastly... A list of new websites that I am finding very interesting and informative.

www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com
www.noblewomanhood.com
www.makinghome.blogspot.com
myblessedhome.blogspot.com
susangodfrey.blogspot.com
www.avirtuouswoman.com
homeliving.blogspot.com
www.thenewhomemaker.com
www.aboverubies.org
www.nogreaterjoy.com
www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com
www.cmomb.com

(Sorry about the links not working. I will have to work on that. In the mean time feel free to cut and paste!)

Enjoy!

From the mouth... of Emma

Said to Pete and I as we passed the "Golden Arches".

"Can we go to Old MacDonald's?? It's good for you!"

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I can't believe a month has gone by since I lasted updated the blog! I need to get on the ball! I have some great pics of the kids I need to share and tell everyone how Abby is getting along! If we could all just stop getting sick life would be so much simpler!

Oh and as promised... an update on the new veggie life.

Meat free for a month and don't miss it at all!!

Quick updates!

Life sure is hectic with three little ones to take care of all the time! Emma is closing in on 3 years old, Josiah is 14 months and Abby is now 6 weeks! I can't believe that it has been six weeks since she was born!

The last three weeks have been pretty busy as well... We have all had horrible colds. Emma was first, then she gave it to Josiah who ended up with RSV/bronchiolitis and breathing treatments. Then Abby got sick with RSV/bronchiolitis and I spent a night in the hospital with her! At the same time Mom and Dad had nasty colds. Mom ended up with a nasty ear infection... and then at some point in the past two weeks four of us have had the stomach flu... Emma eeked by unscathed by the bug!

On a much brighter and happier note... Abby started smiling!!! At 5 weeks! What an awesome reward that was! Josiah waited till 9 weeks to smile so it was nice to see such a cute newborn smile! Josiah started walking this week. I can forsee this will be a new challenge to our every day life. Abby is also sleeping most of the night and I tend to only have to nurse her once in the middle of the night... very nice! Josiah on the other hand is not sleeping well at all again! He went through a great period right before and after Abby was born. Then the molars started coming in and he isn't sleeping again... Making life a little hard at night!

Emma is potty trained during the day now. Pees almost always make it to the potty... We are still having a hard time with the poos... but it will come... It is definitely nice not to have to change her yucky toddler diapers anymore! I am hoping that she will be fully trained by the end of the summer since I would like to look into preschool for her to get out of the house a couple times a week... she is a social butterfly who hates being confined!

And last but not least... Pete and I have decided to go vegetarian. For health reasons as well as ethical reasons. If you want see why we decided to do this check out www.meat.org . Be careful if you have a queasy tummy... the video is very disturbing. I am hoping to be able to blog about our new journey into vegetarianism! This week will be our first veggie grocery trip... I'll share the fun when we get back... for a fun look at some veggie lunches check out my new favorite blog! http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com

Baby goodness!

Finally uploaded some pics to the computer!







Enjoy!!

She's here!!

Turns out I didn't need that induction last Thursday! When I called the office at 3:3o last Thursday they told me there weren't any rooms available for and induction again and told me to call back on Monday.

The whole day I had been having contractions every 7 minutes or so but just chalked it up to what is "normal" for me. So I was pretty disappointed when I found out I was going to have to wait 4 more days to try and schedule the induction again!

About 20 minutes after I hung up the phone with the nurse I started getting contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart while I was up moving around and I couldn't do anything during the contractions. That was at 4pm. By 5pm they were the same and so I sat down to see what they would do.... They stuck around!

Long story short... It was really intense and really fast... The labor really started at 4 and she was born at 8:03pm... Four hour labor!!! And pushed with just one contraction! I will write out all the details soon.

Abigail Lynne
Born on 1/11/07 at 8:03 pm
8lbs 3oz
19 in

As soon as I find the cord for the camera I will post a pic!

They put me on hold!

For two nights in a row there hasn't been any rooms available for inductions at the hospital. And as of this morning my midwife is not in town. At first I was kind of upset about it. Then the more I thought about it I started to hope that I would either be induced today by a different midwife or at the very least I would go into labor this weekend while she is gone...

I know that sounds so harsh but I am currently mad at her! And as a hormonal pregnant woman I would say it's my perrogative! We used to work together 6 years ago... and I think due to the fact that we have a personal relationship is kind of hindering our medical relationship. There have been times she has said things that really hurt my feelings... For example when I would have complaints she would make comments like "Well, Rebekah, you are just like the princess and the pea and you tend to feel everything and it makes you uncomfortable." Okay even if I were a whiner... why would you say that to your patient. I doubt she would say that to any of her other patients.

There have been other things... but then Tuesday when I went in for an appointment we sat and talked about induction... But first I told her about the hard time I have been having with depression and how I am so sure that if I had the baby it would help tremendously because I am becoming so depressed because of all the false labor that creates false hope.... She sighed and said "We agreed to wait till 41 weeks before we talked induction." I said "No... you offered 41 weeks. Therefore as my care provider I assumed you were telling me that was the absolute soonest it could be done. But I know better and I feel like it is important to my mental health to talk about it sooner." She got mad... then got quiet. Then my mom asked her at what point we need to start worrying about me not just the baby. Especially since I am so close to my due date. She got really defensive and said she was thinking about me when she had tried to augment my labor two weeks ago. And my mom argued back that, that had been two weeks ago and I had endured another two weeks of endless and pointless contractions. At this point she finally said she would check with the docs about doing an induction that night or the next. I told her I wasn't looking to be induced that day... but maybe the beginning of next week. She just told me if we are going to do it we may as well do it.

I could tell she was mad about it. She sounded okay on Tuesday when she told me there wasn't a room available and told me she was sorry. But then yesterday when I called to check and see if there was room she told me there wasn't. So I asked her what now. She told me they don't do inductions on Friday, Saturday or Sundays. I told her tomorrow is Thursday! She said oh yeah and then told me that if I wanted to I could call and chat with the midwife that is on call tomorrow (today) and see if she would be willing to head up my induction... I was shocked to say the least... I really feel like it isn't my responsibilty to "check" with the midwife today... If she truly cared about me as she said she does and if she wanted to help me to get past all this by inducing me she would have passed it all on to the other midwives and told me they would contact me in the morning... But nope! It's up to me to call, explain and then ask...

Anyways... If I am not in labor by lunchtime I am thinking about calling the midwife and talking to her about it all... I don't think that another midwife will agree to it... But I can at least check into it.

So still no baby. And no definite info on if I will be induced or not. I am praying that God will allow it to all happen the way He sees fit! But sometimes it isn't the way we want it to happen... is it?

It'll be over soon

I had an appointment today with my midwife. I told her that, emotionally, I just couldn't handle all the contractions anymore. I always think that I am in labor and then hours later when it hasn't progressed then I get so down because this wasn't it again!

For the past week and a half I have been having family come and sit with me during the day because I was so despondant after the failed labor experience that they were all very worried about me. It was hard for me to admit that I needed the help and the company.

Anyways... back to the original topic. After explaining all that to her I told her I just didn't think I could keep going on with all the contractions and always wondering if I was in labor or not... It is never definite for me, never has been! Not to mention it is painful and becomes very draining and tiring over a course of days.

So the final decision was to induce me. This is not exactly my ideal thing to do. I don't like the idea of inducing labor or "forcing" the baby out and I know tons of people are against induction! But I am to the point that I am going crazy! Literally.

The original plan was to induce me tonight. But there were not any rooms available except for the one they try to keep open when it is really busy. Then the midwife just called and said it definitely won't be tonight because they just filled that room and are going to have to start using the overflow rooms! So tomorrow will be another day and we will see if there is an open room tomorrow and go from there. The hope is that they will be able to induce me just by putting some hormones next to my cervix because I am contracting but my cervix is weird and is anywhere from 2-5 cm depending on if I am being checked during a contraction... Then they wouldn't have to use pitocin... which is what I am hoping and praying for.

There is still a chance I won't be able to go in tomorrow either! In which case I think I would have to wait till next Monday to try again... If I have to I will make it to then. Because now I can see a definite planned end to everything. I hope to be able to share wonderful news about Abby by the weekend!

There is always the off chance that I happen to go into labor tonight or tomorrow! Wouldn't that just be funny!

Nada, zilch, nothin'

Still no baby. Lots of false labor. But no baby.

I am having a very difficult time staying positive. Not because of being pregnant but because of all the contractions I have had. On this past Monday night I had them all night long, literally, 2-3 minutes apart. Then they started to space out and I called the midwife crying and telling her I couldn't do this anymore.

Then there was yesterday. ALL DAY LONG. I had contractions that were 6-7 minutes apart. Painful, uncomfortable, take your breath away, contractions. But did I have a baby?? NO!

And then today... The contractions never really stopped. But there is no pattern today. Some are 5 minutes, some are 10 minutes. Either way it's tiring and every time I have a contraction I just pray that they will stay and do something or just go away.

Furthermore. I am 39 weeks today. And while I know technically I am not due until next Sunday I am having a hard time emotionally with this because I had never even made it to 38 weeks previously. So I have seen two more numbers go by that I have never had to experience. And wow... I am glad I didn't have to do this the last two times. I can't believe how incredibly uncomfortable I am!

So if I don't go into labor by the 21st they are going to induce. Normally I would say no... but at this point I don't care anymore... I just want this to be over. I am at the end of my rope emotionally and mentally and anything is better than where I am at right now. And boy... two more weeks of this seems like eternity. I just keep looking back at the week that just went by and reminding myself it went by fairly quickly.

I will try and keep everyone posted! Hopefully Abby will come by the end of the week sometime!