Mommy Dates!

 All the kiddos are starting to ask for "mommy dates" 

which means it's been a while....like I think since summer!

Last Friday, Ballerina Rosie told Tom and I she wanted a "mommy date" or "daddy date"

she didn't care, but she wanted to watch Prince of Persia after the others went to bed and 

have popcorn and chocolate ice cream.

(which is a GREAT movie, by the way)

She has always been neither mommy or daddy girl,

having no special preference. 

I think it's more about what she can get actually.

Hoping she remembers the time spent with us and not what she got to do so much....

*interesting side note:

Jedi--was always a mama boy til he turned 4...then something happened, he noticed his daddy 

and I had to almost mourn the loss of him on evenings and weekends where he was glued to daddy's side.

I loved it, though, knowing it was what he needed and the importance of daddy.

Ballerina Rosie--neither, independent and strong willed!

Mary Hannah--always a daddy girl!!  She literally only wanted me for my milk when she was a babe.

Colette--mama girl...still is!

Sweetie Pie--mama girl, but she really loves her daddy too, she might change over...

I think the kiddos know these "dates" need to get in before the baby comes, 

so they are planning and trying to figure out times it will work out.

The others want to go to the Adoration Chapel, 

which to me, is a little bit of Heaven to start our evening.

(Ballerina Rosie would have too, but our date was at home)

Jedi wants to then, go to the library where we can pick books out and sit and read, 

then go out to eat....

Mary Hannah wants to then go get her pictures taken at Sears and then out to eat.....

(every time we pass a restaurant, she says, "Hey, mama we could go there for our "mommy date"!)

Colette, doesn't have any preference, she just wants a "mommy date"

Sweetie Pie...doesn't know what she's missing (yet)

Now, I do take different kiddos every other week when I go shopping and we do 

different things with different kiddos, but this is special time, where my time and energy 

is focused on them and not what needs to get done. 

It's time, that I hope makes them feel special and not so lost in a larger family.

Time set aside to look them in the eye with no distractions

and tell them what I love about them and that I'm interested in them.

Christmas Novenas!

I usually pray this St Andrew Novena, every Advent, it is so beautiful.  This prayer card was made by
JOYfilled Family, you can get a printable novena card by clicking on her link!  She did a beautiful job!
It starts tomorrow, the feast of St Andrew and goes til Christmas Eve!

This year, I decided to do the Immaculate Conception Novena too...click on it on my sidebar and you can
join me!!  If you sign up, you can receive daily emails with the prayers, I really love what this man did to start these online novenas.

 This one started this morning and I am praying for such personal things right now and am so emotional
that I cried through the whole thing!  Yesterday and today, my patience are set on very low and my tears are
set on very high.  I'm a blubbering baby right now.

We did get some good news last night.  The Perinatologist (sp?) called last night, personally, from our
hospital here in town.  He said there is no reason the baby couldn't be delivered  here!  We have a Urologist that comes up from the Twin Cities and would be here to do the tests needed when the baby is born.
It is all dependent on the fact that so far, the baby's right kidney is doing fine.  If that changes, then it might change as far as where we deliver.  This is such a blessing to find out one of my many questions.  I did also
find out  that the baby will be in the hospital longer than I will.  Mostly because of the cleft lip/palate, because of feeding issues, learning how to suck for the baby and learning how to feed, for us.  There will also be lots
of tests done because of the kidneys.

So much to pray for and so much to be thankful for, all at the same time.

My thoughts and worries are still the same with a few added things, like how do I go home and try to manage a family at home and a baby in the hospital, when in my heart of hearts, I won't want to leave the hospital
at all?  I did go through this with my first baby, (he was a preemie) but, there were no others at home to
worry about.  I only went home to sleep and pump breastmilk (because the nurses forced me to)

I feel like such a drama queen with all this deep stuff.  I will get some more light hearted posts done soon!
Until then, will you join me in either of these novenas?


Thank you all again for all your precious prayers, they mean the world to me.  I send my prayers back to you
for graces and blessings in your lives.

Quick Update:

Normal Pregnancy fluid levels should be between 5-25

Tuesday I was at a 4 but that was because the cord was covering a pocket, so they couldn't count that.

Today I was at a 6

Low, but safe.

The baby's kidney issue does effect my fluid level. 

Looks like I'll be delivering in December....

Short term goal:

to make it to 35 weeks, for a healthy, strong, lung developed baby!!!

I ended up having 6 appointments this week--in 3 days...glad this week is over!!!

For the last 3 ultrasounds, the baby had his/her head tucked in, towards his/her tummy, so we didn't get to see the face at all!  Little stinker!

Thankful Thanksgiving!

 As flowers carry dewdrops, trembling on the edges of the petals, and ready to fall at the first waft of the wind or brush of bird, so the heart should carry its beaded words of thanksgiving. At the first breath of heavenly flavor, let down the shower perfumed with the heart's gratitude.

-Henry Ward Beecher

 Thankful for big sisters who help little sisters in the snow!

I can't even zip up my coat, so this is a lifesaver!

(click on the picture, the colors are so bright and beautiful!)

Thankful no one broke their necks after sitting in this 

"It's totally safe Mom!" sled.

(oldest daughter, aka risk taker)

 Thankful for rosy cheeks and hot cocoa after playing in the snow

 Thankful for tights and a little girl who will wear them!!

My big girls won't wear them because "they itch"  

(they wear pants or leggings w/their dresses instead)

(I have no idea what my daughter is doing in the background)

 Thankful for tights and for Walmart who sells them cheaply!!

$3 and they are a great quality!

 Thankful (one of my favorite thankfuls this week) 

for little girls who can say so beautifully

"I wuv uuu!"

(I love you!)

 Thankful we finally made out Christ the King cake on Tuesday....

It's been a busy week...don't those M&M's look like jewels on a crown?

 Thankful for turkey pictures galore...

 Thankful  for the deer visiting our backyard...eating the pumpkins we threw in the woods!
Thankful after today's temp of over 50 degrees, the snow is pretty much gone!

 Thankful for this concert/play the kiddos have been planning all week and

the posters taped all over the house so we don't forget...

Thankful for my online friends and IRL friends who are praying for me and this baby, 

it means so much and I am just overwhelmed and over joyed by your kindness.

Thankful for this baby and that in 5 weeks, 4 days I can change from "worry" mode 

to "do" mode.  Although, I'm thinking, now, with the low fluid, it will be sooner than that

(might make that little extra tax deduction this year after all)

Thankful for a cautious doctor, I have another ultrasound tomorrow to 

measure fluid and the size of the baby's kidney.

(this will be my 5th appt this week)

Thankful my husband cancelled our guests for today (a couple weeks ago),
although, I was upset at first, (he knows the only way to slow me down is to force me)
after this stress-filled week, it turned out to be the best thing.

Thankful I've got my turkey in the oven and it's starting to smell heavenly...gotta go get 

potatoes, green beans and noodles on....

Happy Blessed Thanksgiving!

Pots and Pans!

These are the pots and pans I've had since I was first on my own.

(for like 22 years)

They work, but they are falling apart

They have now been donated to my husband's work

(he runs/owns a 90 day treatment home for men in recovery) 

Way back in September, for my birthday, my husband told me to go get some new pots and pans.

Well...it's a big purchase and I never did it.

I never spend that much on myself.

The other day, he went to Sam's Club to pick up my pies

and came home with these.

He said they were for my birthday!

These are so nice, it's hard to use them.

My hash browns stuck last night and I caught myself wishing I still had my old pans,

because it wouldn't matter then.

The pans do matter though, I made perfect sunny side up eggs Sunday evening.

I've never done that.

I love my husband so much.

(and not just because of the pots and pans)

Now to figure out how to get hash browns to not stick....

For pots that mean a little more--go here!

Heartfelt Thanks

Thank you all for all your wonderful prayers.
Graces and blessings are all around
I know this.
I can feel this.
It's all in God's hands.

Something is wrong

I had another Level 2 Ultrasound today to check the baby's progress and growth.

Our baby is about 4 lbs 8 oz right now,

(give or take a 1/2 pound) 

yes, I have 6 weeks left and

 yes, I have good sized babies!

Remember when I mentioned something about the kidneys?

and a few weeks later, 

the kidneys were supposedly not an issue anymore?

Well, they are an issue.

The baby's left kidney

(the doctor drew it backward, it's actually the baby's LEFT kidney, but the drawing helps to understand)

The left kidney is not working properly, it's not flushing out the urine down the ureter.

A normal kidney, the right kidney, is supposed to have those pyramid things in it and no blockage.

The left kidney is enlarged, and kind of jumbled up.

B is for Blatter.

The baby has Hydronephrosis and hydroureter 

(not that I can pronounce those)

Which means another surgery.

They don't know when, maybe at the same time as the cleft lip surgery around 3 months,

maybe sooner.

When the baby is born, they will need to take x-rays and do an ultrasound to figure out the extent of it.

The baby will need to be put on antibiotics immediately also.

(bye bye immune system, right?)

The doctor is telling me "This is not life threatening, your baby is thriving and vigorous, this is fixable"

As I'm walking out, I'm feeling so torn, 

my baby is healthy?

Well, I suppose in a medical way, it's all fixable.

But

In a mother's way, something is wrong with my baby.

I also have low fluid again.

This happened with Jedi,

 (my water broke early, so actually, I had no fluid, but your body keeps producing it daily)

Then, with Sweetie Pie,

 they took her 4 days earlier than the 38 week c-section, because of low fluid

Wish they could take some of the fluid out of my legs and feet and put in there.

We will have to meet with a Pediatric Urologist,

 not sure if it will be before or after the baby is born 

I have 3 appts tomorrow, so I'll hopefully know more tomorrow.

like, if I'll need to deliver in the Twin cities....

We live about 90 miles from there.

OH, I hope not, it would be so hard on the kiddos,

They wouldn't get to see me every day 

C-sections are 4 days in the hospital.

My poor 2 year old, she'll miss her mama

(and her mama will miss her!)

I asked what causes this.

She said they don't know, it just happens and is quite common.

I told God, after the 2nd round of Lice

That I can't take any more

That this is enough.

He knows me better.

He knows what I can take, even if I don't think I can, 

Even if I don't want to.

Because actually, I know I can take a lot 

That kind of scares me and yet it doesn't

I trust Him.

I know whatever happens, is God's will 

and I accept His will.

I need to run to Jesus in Adoration 

and cry

and pray

and give it all to Him

My husband knows this and is home early to let me do so.

Secret Service Secrets

A friend emailed this to me today...very interesting stuff about the past 5 presidents!

Minnesnoooowta!!

 Friday night, around 5pm, Miss Colette learned how to ride her bike!!

She was so excited!!

Then Saturday morning this happened...

and it happened all day....

Now, this is where her bike is....

 Bye bye bike...see you next spring!!

(it's actually supposed to be in the 40's the next 10 days, so bye bye snow!!)

Hello bike!!

We only live about 15 miles from Christine, and look how much more snow she got than us!!

Thankful Thursday!

 Thankful for programs like this one--if you missed my last post, 

Here it is!

Something so easy, yet can mean so much!

 Thankful for this little snacker, she's such a fun baby...and that's it, 

I'm going to have to quit calling her "baby", she may be small, but

she's full of spunk and soon not going to be the "baby"

(can you hear me sobbing?)

 Thankful for silly orange monkey faces!

 Thankful for hot cocoa and cute babies big girls who can sip like the big kiddos!

 She loved it, even though I insisted she wear a bib (she doesn't like wearing bibs)

 Thankful for some reason, the mail order catalog people think we are rich and they send me 

beautiful catalogs like this one so I can wish and dream of ordering

(they really are beautiful clothes)

 Thankful that I think I can call myself  "an expert" on the topic of lice

(I think I'm thankful for that)

It has been a very long, tiring week, full of laundry, and cleaning and hair treatments, 

but we cut all our hair with the summer baseball helmet lice, so no one had to lose 

12 inches of hair or anything (4 of us did in June)

and I knew exactly what to do first.

 Thankful for cold November days...changing of seasons is good, 

it's crisp, it's new, it's a sign of God's unending cycle of life.

 Thankful for big sisters and little sisters...

 Thankful this little girl didn't give up on her mama.

I promised her a "tea party" on Sunday...then, Lice happened, so no time for a tea party.

You see, to her, a tea party means

 homemade cookies and lemonade,

 which she gets to help make and serve.

 I hope my girls remember these days and not the crazy screaming mama days!!

 Thankful for little girls and purses!

I love this stage, she takes her purse everywhere, even outside to play, 

It's along for runs all around the yard and on her bike and to the store!!

 Thankful for Advent books for me, the mama!

I ordered these last year and loved them!

I can't wait to start them again.

 I'm also attempting to start this one....Signs of Life--40 Catholic customs and their biblical roots!!

Our faith is totally bible based and it reminds me of Bishop Sheen's quote:

"There are not over 100 people in the U.S. that hate the Catholic Church, there are millions however, 

who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church."

 Thankful for cute babies  big girls doing puzzles in curly piggy tails!

Thankful, so thankful-

31 weeks today!!

6 weeks, 4 days left 

(c-section scheduled Jan 3rd)

See?  Big as a house--all over!

Next week, the appointments quadruple.

I have 2 ultrasounds 

1 appt with the nurse

1 appt with my O.B.

4 appts per week, til the end....

when I'm not at the clinic, I'll be doing 

laundry, and trying to stay on track with school!

Thankful Thursdays

A time to remember to be thankful

A pause in the week for praise,

thanksgiving and thinking positively

in addition to the normal daily praise

we need to give God.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Holiday Mail for Heroes 2011

I saw this over at Rosary Mom and think it is such a great idea and only takes a few minutes and maybe a few extra prayers for our soldiers. Join us? For information and where to send your cards go to

The American Red Cross!

Prayer Request!

Please send your prayers up for Sarah's soul and her sister Adela and all involved in this whole situation.

Read here

And then, go hug your kids and tell them how special they are!

The Laundromat

You might wonder why my sweet little girl is sitting at the laundromat.

Well...I was there yesterday afternoon,

 for about 2 1/2 hours doing a whole weeks worth of laundry.

Which, I have to say, was actually a pleasant experience.

It felt so good to come home with all the laundry done, 

in one afternoon.

All caught up, right?

Not exactly.

I had been busy non stop washing sheets, bedding, blankets, towels, coats and hats

since Sunday morning 

and 

I'm still at it.

And will be still at it for the next 2 weeks.

Have you guessed it yet?

Yep.

My oldest daughter (who will remain nameless--haha)

likes to get together with her friends a lot.

And they do, you know, girl stuff...

like one thing they do is

each other's hair.

and

Sharing each other's brushes.

LICE

AGAIN

Sunday morning, I cried (and Sunday afternoon and Sunday night)

I prayed like this:

(not knowing how we got this again)

"Why? Why would You do this to us again?

OK, 

Why would you allow this to happen to us again?"

And like this:

"Please show us where we got this, so we can prevent it!!"

It was driving me crazy not knowing the "where?" and the "how?"

Believe me, after the baseball helmet thing back in June, we have been careful.

And it's always in the back of my head.

(the thought of lice, not the lice)

What are the chances?

I do know there is one of my blogger friends who said they had it twice in 6 months....

I remember reading that and thinking, "wow, I hope that doesn't happen to us!"

It didn't.

It happened twice in 5 months!!!

Then, yesterday morning my daughter's friend's mother called and told us to be on the lookout for Lice, 

because they found it last week.

I told her we've already looked out and found it and thanked her over and over for calling!!

We knew the source!!

Thank you God!!!

Thank you for letting me know the "where?" and the "how?"

But, I also caught myself praying like this:

"OK, I'll accept this if You heal my baby of the cleft lip and palate, in fact, I'll gladly accept it!"

And

then, 

I pictured God and the devil and the 

evil one saying 

"Let's see if she's still smiling after this again!"

(hear the devil laughing?)

and God

confident, because He knows I'll accept this cross, 

big and fat and tired and sore, 

up half the night with coughing girls and

with a husband who makes the beds, 

comes home early so I can rest (or go to the laundromat)

and brings home pizza for supper

(so I can do laundry and not cook supper)

He knows I love and accept Him and this baby and

will try to accept my cross happily.

That's the hard part

happily.

I might have blamed this oldest daughter for

 "always having to play with someone"

and

I  might have said 

"it's all your fault"

I  might have done that yesterday.

But

I have apologized and am now

working on that 

"happily"

thing.

Prayers appreciated.

Very much so.

and 

a side note:

we are very clean people, lice like clean hair, really, they do!!

Also:  I  do happily accept this baby no matter what!

Captain America and The Avengers!

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I watched this movie!

I have to say, I was not as excited as him, 

but

I was wrong!

It was great!!

I knew nothing about Captain America and I loved it.

(I have seen the Iron Man movies and he's one of the Avengers)

This was done really nicely and old fashioned too 

(no sex)

(I might have to watch Thor...my husband did, I chose not to)

Captain America leads the Avengers....

Which is coming to theaters in May!

And the Winners Are...

Taking Margaret's advice, I used RANDOM.ORG  and came up with my winners:

Winner Number one:

Suzie!!

and
Winner Number two:

Tammie!!

I know Suzie's address, but Tammie, could you please email me your address?

(jamiejo99 (at) gmail.com)

I ordered from Hillside Education and am sorry to say, the books are backordered, but

She thinks they will be in this week, so the countdown to Advent begins (for me)!

Thank you all so much for playing along!!

Don't be shy, say "hi" much more often!

Happy Advent and if you didn't win, please order this great book:

Destination: Bethlehem

Hallmark Christmas Movies!

They started early this year, but they have to in order to fit them all in.

I love them!

If you have the Hallmark Channel, check them out!

Thankful Thursday

 Thankful for the bright yellow that has 

 illuminated our living room these past couple weeks!

We had a couple windy days though now so, the leaves are all off the tree!

 Thankful for our trampoline!!

I still say it's the best thing we've ever bought!

So sad, it must come down this weekend, before the snow flies

(which will be soon I think)

 Thankful I went through all my tons of cookbooks, you know the ones 

that tempt you at the checkouts?

I have a ton of them

And I rarely use them

But I would have bought more if I wouldn't have looked through these

to remind myself that I don't need any more!

 Like these Holiday ones, I gave them all away, I've never used them!

 Thankful for toddlers that still fall asleep in my arms....I love that, I cherish it.

(yes, that's my boob there)

 Thankful for Amish Friendship bread!

The kiddos think it's the best bread they've ever had....

I'm making more, in fact tomorrow, but not so sure I'll keep it going.  

(I don't like the bags on my counter all the time!)

 Thankful our redneck birdbath is actually empty now....this right before we emptied it, 

see the ice?  It's been getting pretty cold overnight here in MN

 Thankful for running kiddos all over the yard and through the leaves!

 Thankful for these last days of fall, the bright sunshine and beautiful leaves to play in...

 And Thankful for warm soup to have in the evenings!

(I just posted the recipe over on Kitchen Blessings)

 Thankful for Lite Brite!!  Now that it's so dark, so early, it's a fun thing for kiddos to play, 

we've used up all the papers it comes with, but we use construction paper cut into squares and they can 

either make their own designs and then poke them or make it random!

 Thankful I didn't explode when this full Blueberry smoothie went crashing out of one of  the kiddos hands 

splashing all over my leg, and every cupboard in the kitchen, and down the hallway and onto the 

kiddos new winter boots!!

 I actually smiled and grabbed my camera...

What else could I do?

We are still finding spots we've missed, 

Oh, and did I mention this happened 5 minutes before we had to leave for Band yesterday?

Oh, it did.

 Thankful my wedding ring still fits...my ankles and feet you could pop with a pin though!

I didn't think I'd retain water in the winter....I was wrong...

(Oh, gosh, look at my dry wrinkly hands!!  I have my dad's side of the family's fat farmer hands!)

 Thankful for cute, warm hats and mittens on little girls and 

Thankful Sweetie Pie loves wearing them this year!

 Thankful my roses are still blooming, even though they've lost their leaves!!

Thankful mostly that this week is almost done, it felt like a Monday today!

I am thankful for happy, healthy kiddos, even if they are all stinkers and drive me crazy most of the time!

Thankful I have

only

7 weeks, 4 days left 

til this sweet baby comes out!

Thankful Thursdays

A time to remember to be thankful

A pause in the week for praise,

thanksgiving and thinking positively

in addition to the normal daily praise

we need to give God.