Baby Prep 101

Knowing how important food is for domestic harmony, and how potentially busy our kitchen will be after this newest bundle of joy arrives, I have decided to stock the freezer with all kinds of frozen dinners.

Now, I think I have been pregnant too long, and should begin to seriously examine my decisions in other areas, because the insanity of quadrupling a chicken pot pie recipe (that already normally yields two pot pies), all in one afternoon, never occurred to me. Not as we cooked two whole chickens, nor as we peeled and sliced 2 lbs of carrots, cried through 5 diced onions, or even when we cubed 3 lbs of potatoes... but as Jeremiah rolled his 16th pie crust, I think it had occurred to someone else.

In fact, the insanity seemed to have worn on him quite a bit, because instead of continuing to make pretty little hearts on all of his pies...

Peter talked Daddy into making an elephant on the final pie. At least, that is what he said it was.

BUT, now we have 17 frozen meals in our freezer, unfortunately, the selection is limited to Chicken pot pie, baked ziti and mac'n'cheese... perhaps I should have thought of this also, when quadrupling meals?

Summer Time

So, while bathing the kids last night, we realized they have spent "a bit" of time in the sun recently...

Trains, Trains, and more trains...

Peter just recently celebrated his 5th birthday, and anyone who has been around Peter for more than a few minutes will hear stories of his new train pieces, three of which just came in the mail this past week after a most unpleasent 4 days of transit on the UPS truck.

With these three new pieces, which included a turn-table, a switch track, and 6 pedestals to provide for an elevated track. These pieces were a very big deal!

Here below is by far the best track we have ever designed. I am thinking of changing career paths after this successful engineering feat! Now I know what you are saying, "That just looks like a normal toy train set," but to a well trained eye this is incredible. Included in this track layout, is a turn-table, crossover drawbridge, 4 splits, a switch track, a 7 piece long double elevated track, and Cranky the crane.
In this low angle shot, you can see James and Oliver pulling the freight cars through the turn-table one at a time. In the top middle you can see Cranky working hard. On the right is the drawbridge, and to the left is the elevated track.
Here are Thomas and Percy pulling Daisy through the switch track next to Cranky.

Peter was very thrilled with this track, proudly proclaiming, "I never build a train track like this before, it is pretty neat."

And I can't end without saying a very grateful thank you to my assistant track designer, Uncle Philip-pie. We worked hard on this for well over 45 minutes and are very pleased with the results that we obtained.

Daniel discovered "Magic"

Daniel, being the entertainer he is, discovered a new way to captivate the family at dinner time (and conveniently avoid eating his food).



He "magically" makes his bowls and cups disappear...



Now watch closely...

"Where is the bowl," he asks us. No one can find it, it must have dissappeared! And Daniel grins with delight at this exclimation.












Is it under here? No...." and he shakes his head with wonder at the magical disappearance.


















Then, suddenly, when every one is perplexed by this mysterious disappearance, he returns the bowl to its original position, laughing at our confusion and enjoying every moment of the applauses.

And conveniently we have forgotten about the uneaten veggies in his bowl!

Baby Update

Isabelle and I visited with the midwife today. We heard the heart beat, and the midwife (having delivered babies over 20 years) declared the baby a girl with a nice fast heart beat. I am debating pulling out the pink tub of clothes and basking in the frills and lace once more...

There was some debate on potential delivery timing, although both midwives agreed there had been progress made in the last week (3 or 4 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced!). With three weeks to our due date, I am trying hard not to indulge hopes of an early delivery, although some of these contractions are taunting me horribly!

He or She?

During our nesting episode this morning, sorting through the diaper changing table, Isabelle and I began to discuss where we would put our new baby to sleep, and where big brother Daniel would sleep, and would she like to maybe sleep in the room with her new brother or sister? For some reason this last question greatly concerned her. Apparently saying "is the baby a boy or a girl?" never communicated the extreme degree of uncertainty in our situation like asking "is the baby a brother or sister?" So, to relieve her anxiety, and secretly in hopes that a couple guardian angels might shed light on my own uncertainties, I encouraged Isabelle to ask the baby.

After a few minutes of inter-belly button chatting, she declared, "He said he is a sister!"

I think the angels are laughing at me right now... At least Isabelle was satisfied with the answer.

Measurments

After examining the bottle of honey, Peter informed me, "we have about a foot of honey left, see."

He even posed so I could get a picture of exactly what a "foot of honey" looks like, although I am still a little unclear on the details of this measuring system.

He also asked me a few weeks ago, "Are we going to get half a cup of groceries at the store today?"

Things you learn in a fourth pregnancy...

• Compression stockings come in a variety of styles and sizes, none of which include discreet, but all of which require a strong man's assistance to put on, and about fifteen minutes concentrated effort.


• Pill sorting boxes perform a very necessary function when taking more supplements/vitamins/enhancers than my grandmother.


• Varicose veins not only create a lovely design on one's legs, but they also bubble and bulge in ways that fascinate young children.


• A body that is not yet 30 can be remarkable similar to one that is 65...


• There were still crevices in my abdomen which had not previously experienced the wedging of elbows and feet.


• My body seems to actually generate urine ex nihilo so as not to miss it's regular 30 minute appointment with the bathroom, despite all attempts to dehydrate it.

Queso?

Recently I read an interesting article about various foods that not only benefit a particular organ in the body, but also resemble that organ in different ways. So, a tomato is not only good for your heart, but it also is red and has four chambers like the heart. A sliced carrot looks like the eye, with its pupil, iris and radiating lines, and enhances blood flow to the eyes and eye development.

This article brought great clarification to the terrible craving for avocados which I have suffered through during all the other pregnancies, because, as "they" say...

"Eggplant, Avocados and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit."

Unfortunately, it raises another question, namely, why does my mouth water with uncontrollable desire for chips and queso every time I am near a Taco Cabana?

And more importantly, what is behind the cravings of other people???

Ma-zoo-uuum

We decided this year, instead of renewing our Dallas Zoo membership, in August, 9 months pregnant, we would look for indoor, year round, AIR CONDITIONED entertainment. Oh, and educational was nice as well.

So we found the Dallas Children's Museum inside the Museum of Nature and Science, which was cheaper than the zoo pass, and came with it's own farm!

Isabelle could not be happier than to discover all the animals. She spent 45 minutes gathering plastic food in her baskets and delivering them to various animals. After we left, she told us, "Maybe, some day, I will be a farm girl."

Daniel enjoyed the animals too, and gave all of them kisses before we left.

Peter decided he would be the official tractor guy (and didn't realize there were animals around).

And they all had a blast at the sand table!

Demolition Duty

A few weeks ago my parents came into town for a few days, and along with a few brother-in-laws, we transformed our garage into a new school room for the kids. Below are some pics of the progress that we made throughout the weekend.

The old garage was just the studs, so we re-routed cold and hot water pipes through our walls along with enough electrical for 8 new sets of plugs and a 240 line for the dryer.

We installed a new wall just where the garage door tracks end so that we could still have some garage storage. We then moved the washer and dryer and also laid a 70 ft drainline for the washer around the house.
We then insulated and sheet rocked the whole garage. This was by far, the biggest home improvement project I have ever taken on. I was lucky to have a Dad with every imaginable tool available, but we were still always in need of a tape measure, even though when we cleaned up we found about 8 different ones!

We also had lots of little hands available to do the hard work like getting us more Dr. Pepper and beer!
And lots of strong men to help as well....
Peter became fascinated with the chalk line and how it worked, and he became the official chalk line operator, and to commemorate this honorable appointment, we gladly chalked some racing stripes on his face!

Bath, Bed & Buns

The weekend of Peter's birthday party, and the home construction, we had a few extra house guests, forcing Uncle Matty to sleep on a mattress on the floor. After a fun bath, Daniel broke in Uncle Matty's bed (we didn't tell Uncle Matty).

There is nothing more exciting to Daniel than a mattress on the floor!

Then we fixed our hair. Isabelle loves having her hair dried like Mommy.

As does Daniel.

Then we celebrated Peter's REAL birthday the next morning with Peter's very own cinnamon bun.

Baby Update

After 12 weeks of monitoring contractions and being on and off of bed rest, our time for concern is quickly ending. In one week we will be at 36 weeks, cleared to deliver at the birth center, and beyond reasonable concern about the baby's health.

My cervix is VERY ready for delivery, and we have begun to dilate. Unfortunately, my body likes to work up to active labor, and therefor, this only guarantees that at some point we will no longer be pregnant. All the same, we are taking this last week easy before taking laps around the block every night!

We still do not know the sex of the baby, although the grocery-store line guess seems to be heavily weighted towards a boy. Daddy on the other hand is certain this is his second little girl. Peter and Isabelle have withdrawn comments on this one (perhaps still feeling embarrassed about calling Daniel his little sister for nine months?). And mommy, having believed Peter last time, is also withdrawing all guesses. But you are welcome to take a guess...

Daniel's Slide

After watching everyone else on the slip'n'slide, Daniel decided he would like a turn. So we told him to lay down to slide.

This was the result...

More Party Pictures

The kids, and grown ups, enjoyed the party heat with pool time and a few runs on the slip'n'slide.

Although Peter couldn't understand why Ganpa didn't want to slide with the other adults.

But he enjoyed opening all the presents.

And everyone enjoyed helping play with them.

Especially building a new train track around "Boulder Mountain."

This track is the result of a multi-family engineering cooperation, taking only 45 minutes to complete.

Happy Birthday Peter!!!

Peter is no longer four, and if you call him he would love to tell ALL about it.

This is the Thomas ice cream cake from Aunt Mer mer. Peter was really excited about getting an ice cream, until he tasted it. He does not, in fact, like ice cream cakes, but he really enjoys Thomas decorations.

But Daniel loved his ice cream cake, and mommy's, and Aunt Mer mer's and...

And blue Thomas icing loves to leave everything it touches BLUE!