Boys' Room

It is hard to take pictures in small rooms. I had this trouble capturing the bathroom remodel pictures. Also, I was planning on picking up the clutter to take pictures of their room, but why hide what their room looks like 90% of the time? This is real life, not a magazine insert. Just imagine a few more books on the floor and you have the normal state. :) 

* Nursing/reading chair. We spend a lot of time piled in this chair. Sometimes two of us, sometimes four. 

* Blanket on back of chair crocheted by a dear friend for our wedding. It makes a great tent. :) 

* Bunkbed (imagined by me, designed and built by Jared). 

* white, nine cube organizer from Lowes. 

* Wainscoting (on bunkbed) leftover from bathroom. We left the top three cubes open so that they could be accessed from either side. The baby's clothes and burp clothes are stored here. 

* Boxes from Garden of Eden peaches. :)

* Quilts by GC. 

* IKEA crib thrifted for $40 when Warren was born. 

Under the bunk bed. 

Books books books!! You can never have too many good books in the house. We spend a lot of time each day putting away books. This was Jared's idea. He suggested turning the crib, under the bed, so that the boys could have a little reading nook under the bed.  

* Changing table is a dry sink that some friends were getting rid of years ago, before Martin came along. Jared wanted it because it was solid wood. I wanted it because it would make the perfect changing table. We use a towel on it instead of a changing pad because the pad is too high and takes away the effectiveness of the edge. Diapers are stored under the table out of sight. 

* Corduroy was painted by my sister for our wedding. It is one of my favorites things in my entire house!!! 

* Print of Bible verse from Mr. Howard. I snagged it from the church when they remodeled the nurseries. 

* Curtains sewn by me when Martin was born. I have been thinking of updating them to navy or grey to match the boys other stuff, but this is real life. I don't have time to make everything in their room match. 

* The baby sleeps to the right. Crib on loan from my in-laws. 

* Dresser used to be Jared's when he lived alone in the house. 

* Bookshelves were made by my Dad and used to be mine. 

* Storage bins for the different size clothes.  I collect clothes two to three sizes bigger than the boys wear right now and throw them in bins. 
* Books on the shelves are mostly thrifted. When I see a good book I buy it and add it to the collection.  I love old science books! * Quilt on the crib was also made by GC when Martin was born. All the babies have used it. 
After five weeks the boys have adjusted quite nicely to having to all share this space. The older two have been sleeping through the baby's feedings.  Having the rocking chair where it is has been perfect because neither boy can see me in the middle of the night from where they sleep.  So, even if they are roused from sleep a bit, they fall back to sleep quickly.

Both Martin and Warren seem to really like their beds.  Martin loves climbing the ladder (so does Warren - they often play up there during the day).  Warren likes to crawl to the farthest back corner of his bed when he falls asleep.  I guess he likes it dark.  

I love this room.  I am so happy with the way it turned out.  :) 

Mono

(The littles)

Last Thursday I had bloodwork done to see why I've been sick. It came back positive for mono. 

In many ways that is reassuring. It is nice to know what is wrong with me. I'm glad all these crazy fevers and rashes and swollen tonsils can be explained. In other ways it is very intimidating. I am hoping I've had it for a few months and just didn't notice because pregnancy is tiring. Because otherwise, I'm not sure how I'll have the energy to take care of three small children while being so tired. But God always provides. These things help us depend on Him for strengthen instead of ourselves. 

(Little hams)

We are very grateful for all the extra meals and help our church family has offered. I just started to break into my freezer meals after almost a month. And we've only ordered out once. :) We have done a lot of breakfast for dinner. 

(birthday present)

And I have a great "school" curriculum that I'm doing with the boys. It is based off children literature. We read a book for five days in a row and talk about all sorts of aspects of the story, from the artwork to counting objects to discussing the plants and animals in each book to baking items similar to the book and all sorts of fun things. I'm doing it less do schoolwork and more just to have planned activities because I've been exhausted and unable to be as creative as normal on the fly. 

The boys have been great helps with the new baby and everyone is sleeping as well as you can with a new baby. God is good. There are so many things to be thankful for. 

(That face!)

 

Happy 5 Weeks!

Sweet Baby James went to ESL with me to visit the staff. I just couldn't stay away; I have missed my staff and students on Thursday nights.  It wore James out. He placed in the bottom English level. He has some work to do. :) 

The boys turned this box into a rock wall and a slide this morning. We have no where to be today until this afternoon. Maybe we'll stay in our pajamas until lunch. :) 

Constant Motion

They pretty much never stop. Also, those cheeks! Those eyes! Oh, Warren! We love you. 

We had the Orange bowl out the night before because Warren was throwing up. Thankfully, it only lasted three hours (12:30-3:30am - always in the middle of the night) and no one has gotten sick since then. 

In the morning Martin decided that the bowl was a "soldier hat". Yes, the bowl was clean and scrubbed out with soap. But still! Ewwww.  He pulled the purple bowl out and he and Warren marched around like soldiers and "helped people because the fire fighters were busy". 

It is certainly never boring around here (or quiet). James seems to be the only one is still and who can sleep through all the noise. :) And for that I am very grateful! I don't think I could have managed a throwing up toddler and a crying baby well. 

Someday I will get back to normal blogging and have stories about things other than illness. 

Happy 4 Weeks!

We love him. 

Smiles

So... The fever is gone after 12 days. However, now my tonsils are super swollen. It hurts to swallow. Ugh.  My mouth tastes horrible. But my energy is coming back now that the fever is over. 

I have a visit with my GP towards the end of next week. I'm guessing I just have a virus. We will see. 

He's such a happy baby so far! He's made being sick not quite as bad. Who can resist sweet baby smiles? 

The chickens find him very interesting. And I have no idea who he looks like either. 

And the other goobers are doing well. I am so thankful that no one else has gotten sick. What a blessing. 

The littles

So, I was reading them poetry and this happened. 

Baby three. Fever three.

This is my third child and the third time that I have caught some illness or infection about 2-4 weeks post baby. The other two times I knew what they were. This time I have no idea. This is going on day FOUR! 

I actually went to the doctor on Friday (when it started) because I didn't want to miss something over the weekend. They didn't find anything unusual. 

What symptoms do you have? 

General achy ness, my eyes hurt, fever, chills, waking up drenched in sweat, exhaustion...

They told me I was fighting something and it would either flair up and they could give me antibiotics or my body will fight it off and it will go away. 

So until either of those happens, the blogging is going to be a bit slow. I have several posts that are 90% written, but I just don't feel like sitting in front of a computer.  One of them is the bunkbed post that I almost had ready for last Friday and was so excited to share with you. Maybe this Friday if I feel better... I'm off to take a nap while Jared's mom is here to help with the kids. :) 

Oh, and I love the Kinsa thermometer and app! If you have kids it is especially helpful because they get to pop bubbles on the screen while they wait for their reading. Very handy. Also, I like all the stored data. It makes this engineer happy to see trends. 

What's in the freezer

Before the baby was born I made a list of everything as I put it in the freezer so I would be able to make meals quickly. I just doubled a lot of meals the last month I was pregnant an threw half of it in ye freezer. Since, the freezer is small I only freeze parts of meals, usually the meat. 

I put other items on the back of the list, such as waffles, fruit, and English muffins. 

And I knew my brain wouldn't be working completely so I made suggestions on what to use each of the items for. 

As I use them I am crossing them out. As you can see, I've only used two meals so far since James was born. I'm using a third tonight and trying to decide which one appeals to me. I had planned white bean chicken chili on my meal plan, but we had burritos brought to us last night and I think we should do something other than more tex-mex. I'm leaning towards grilled chipotle chicken (which is kind of still tex-mex) on salads.  

This looks familiar, strangely familiar...

Martin. Warren. James. 

How do I have three babies?

How do I have three boys? 

Wow. Sometimes it hits be how weird that is. I don't feel old enough to be a mom, yet alone have three kids. 

Look at that hair on Martin's head! He and Jared have such thick hair. 

Jared and I have noticed that around 9 months is when they start to look like themselves. Until that time, they change so much. So, check back in June and I will tell you who the new baby looks like. :) 

Another Baby Post

He has different eyes than Martin, but he reminds me the most of Martin as a baby. 

He's also the only baby to take a pacifier. The other two fought it. He fusses if he isn't constantly sucking on something.  

It bothers Martin when the bunny is upside down. 

James, 

It seems like much longer than four days ago that we met you. Thanks for not being late. I really really hate being pregnant. It is a miserable nine months, but you make it all seem worth it. We love you. 

Brothers

Martin begs to hold the baby. 

He sings to him and reads him books. 

My three boys. 

My four boys. Even Warren likes to hold the baby. 

Sweet Baby James.

I forgot how restful the hospital is... Ha ha ha. And how creepy it is when they wake you up at 5:30am to draw blood. 

Big yawn.  

He's Here!!

James Benjamin arrived this morning in less than an hour. He's a chunk compared to his brothers.  

8lb 12 oz. 

21-1/4" long. 

Pictures to come after he gets a bath. 

We are all doing well. 

English muffins

I had a great idea the other day! Why do English muffins have to be round? Why do I spend time cutting them out and rerolling the dough and cutting them out again? I introduce you to the square English muffin. All our English muffins in the future will be this shape. They taste the same.  They are easier to make. Win win. 

Do yourself a favor and make a batch today? Or a double batch (freeze some for later). 

Recipe Here!

Also, hooray for homemade bread!!! It is 1,000,000 times better than store bought bread.   

ESL

We stopped by the church office today to work on ESL. It should have taken a few minutes, but everything takes longer than I expect. :) Sure, tally up 32 interview scores and assign them into three classes... Sounds easy right? The hard part is when you find interviews that don't make any sense and that don't have an interviewers name on them... So, there is no way of following up to ask questions and you just have to pray and make the best guess of what class they should be in (example: one student scored a 28 last year, she scored a 49 this year (50 is the highest) and would have rocketed her from beginners to advanced... I talked to her last week and knew there was no way she could handle that class). We ended up being there over two hours. Thankfully, we had no other plans today. 

For that time period the boys were amazingly well behaved. The church secretary let them punch holes and cut paper. There are so balls and traffic cones in the youth room that keep them amused. Then I took them to Chick-fil-A afterwards to celebrate (and because it was two hours past lunch). 

I am glad ESL starts this Thursday and soon all this registration and planning will be behind us. It is exhausting. It is kind of like a wind-up toy, you put all the energy into starting it and once you let it go it goes on its own pretty well. :) I am so thankful that God uses even our weakest efforts to bring Him glory. 

In Two Hours...

...I will be more pregnant then I ever had been before. Granted this baby has another 6 days to show up before he is truly late, but it sure would be nice if he'd follow his brothers' trends and be a bit early. 

Also, I am looking forward to waking up to feed a baby instead of just waking up and being wide awake for no good reason.  This morning I woke up at 4:11am and couldn't get back to sleep. Last night I was up from 1:30-3:15am reading because I was wide awake. Usually when this happens, I have a hundred things running through my brain, which keep me awake. This is different. It is as if someone turned on an on switch in my brain and it starts going, "I'm awake. I'm awake. I'm awake."

It is weird. 

In other news, I finished the front and back of the quilt I am working on. It is all ready to quilt.  Here is an in-progress shot of the front from a week or two ago. 

I don't know if I will be able to quilt it while pregnant. I usually stand up to quilt big projects (this one ended up bigger than I expected), but the baby isn't going to allow that. So, it might have to wait several weeks until after baby comes. It is basted together and waiting in my sewing room. Maybe I can come up with a comfortable way to quilt it... I'll keep you posted. 

I am very pleased with the progress because when I started two weeks ago I didn't think I would even finish the front. I'm glad I didn't wait until after the baby came to start it! 

Moving

Today we (Jared) helped some of our favorite people move ... Far far far away... To Mississippi. Martin asked us on the way home when we come go visit them (so that he could sit in these little chairs again). And because they are also some of his favorite people. 

So far he has only experienced people moving across town. Having conversations about real life (people moving, people getting sick and dying, things breaking and changing, etc.) is a hard part of parenting. You want to protect your children from hard things and sadness, but at the same time you know hard things help you depend on God more. In the end the best thing to do is bring it back to the gospel. The gospel give us hope. 

Everything breaks because of sin, but Jesus came to make all things new. It won't always be this way. Jesus is coming back some day. He'll take all the hurt and the sadness. 

People leave and we can't see them whenever we want, but it is a way to help us not become too comfortable on earth and help us long for our eternal home, where we will not be separated by distance. 

Because of Jesus we have hope. That is a wonderful thing! The most amazing thing. I pray for my children to not avoid hard things, but to see the gospel through them and to learn to depend on Jesus alone for strength to face whatever hard experiences come their way. 

"Like full springs in desert dreary, is the rest the cross supplies. Look to Jesus! "

Pillowcases

We bought Martin a travel size pillow. They only had tan pillowcases in the travel size. Jared thought it would be fun to let Martin pick out his own fabric. Someone gave me a gift card for baby three's shower to Hobby Lobby and so we took a family trip there a few Saturday's ago. Here is what Martin picked. I added the blue bands to coordinate with his navy sheets. 

We may have highly suggested this fire truck fabric. :) 

We couldn't steer him away from this tractor fabric. Many other fabrics were put in the cart and taken out, but this one remained the whole time.

They took about 30 minutes to sew together. Martin even got to help sew some of the seams shut.  He's a good helper. 

I will add pictures of their bedroom soon. 

Tinkertoy Love

I know I have posted about our love for Tinkertoys  before, but we just love these so much that I must mention them again!! For over an hour the boys have been playing with this "lawn mower" that I built them (by request). One of my rules for toys is that it should have multiple purposes (of course we break this rule for cars and trains and such, but I try to live by it). 

If we had a toy lawn mower it wouldn't be played with anymore. They boys would have played with it a few times. Each time would have gotten progressively shorter until it was left sitting outside and never touched (unless perhaps a cousin or friend came over and wanted to use it and then they would fight over it for a while and then ignore it for something else, like a pile of sticks or a ball). 

That's what is great about Tinkertoys, once they are finished with this in a few hours, we take it apart and either put It away or turn it into something else. It never gets old. It keeps their minds working.  

We also love our Tegu magnetic blocks, regular blocks, and Trio blocks. 

Speaking of toys with multiple purposes, have you see the new Lego sets that  can be turned into three differnt things (such as a plane, tractor, and excavator)? I always found Legos frustrating because once you built something it just sat around built. Who wants to take it apart after all that work? I could live with Legos that you can take apart and rebuild into other creations. 

Look at that face. 

Or you can build two lawn mowers!