This and That...

or in other words, some ramblings.

There are a lot of little and not so little things I wanted to get written down. You know, before the fall into the deep recesses of my brain, where there is no way out. (That is supposed to be a joke) Ok, where to begin. Please excuse me if I am repeating myself from past posts. My memory seems to be the size of a gnat, so bear with me.

In Jedidiah news, he's lost some weight. The story of his life. His medicine, that he supposedly doesn't need, ran overdue. And I suppose it wasn't being effective. Needless to say there was a lot more throwing up than normal. We just got a new batch made up the other day, so hopefully he will be back in full weight gaining swing soon. He is doing well besides the tummy issues.

I do believe I wrote about my guess on the gender of this baby. I also think I wrote about all the old wives tales and our name thing that "tells" us what we are having. So far, it's all pointing to this baby being a boy. I had an appointment with my midwife this past week and I am measuring on target. Which is a bit scary as I usually start to measure one to two centimeters behind. The only baby to measure on target was Flannery, and she was our biggest baby. The ironic thing was that for most of her pregnancy I was vegetarian. That didn't last as I got these intense cravings for chicken! Hey, I figured that if my body is craving something then it must need it. I never craved any weird food. With Isabella it was cheese, Moira it was potatoes, Flannery it was the chicken, Saoirse it was popcorn with olive oil and salt, with Jedidiah......I was just hungry, hungry, hungry all the time (and ate accordingly, which I am sure had something to do with gaining 50 pounds with him), and with this baby it is avocados. Yeah, weird! I don't even like the taste of avocados! I just like their texture, and with some salad dressing on them, you can't taste their true selves. Ok, back to this baby being a boy. So there is an old wives tale that if the baby's heart rate is high (160's) then it's a girl, if it is low (150) it's a boy. So far with all five kiddos this has proven to be true. So this past weekend we got a heart rate of 148 (which is where Jed's rate was all pregnancy long). So there you have it, in black and white this baby is a boy. Ha, ha! Then there is our name thing. Too long to have to rehash, but suffice it to say that what ever name I feel I have to have, or just sounds right, has been the baby's name...thus gender. Right now the name we have is for a boy. So if this baby comes out and it's a girl, well call me a false prophet :-) I will truly be shocked if it is a girl, the same feeling I had with Jedidiah.

Ok, on to other things. We are taking a week off of school. The kiddos have been....how shall I say....disobedient? Obviously I do not expect perfection. But things were getting bad around here, all my little directions were either ignored or out right defied. That makes for one crazy house! So we are doing some retraining. That and some spring cleaning. Two birds with one stone.

Part of the reason things have been out of control is due to me. At least in the spiritual realm. Someone made this great illustration. When she was younger her father used to take her and her siblings to the ocean to swim while he surfed. He would set up his backpack on the sand and tell them to stay in line with the backpack. She said it never failed they would at some point look up and be far far away from being in line with the backpack. She said that is how it is sometimes when we take our eyes off Jesus. How true!!! That is what has happened to me. I'm just plugging along, things are going downhill, even when there have been other major improvements in the household, and before I know it it's chaos around here. I look up and I'm far from Jesus. Of course it's effortless to get away from Him, just like in the ocean, the current effortlessly carries you away. But to get back...well now you have to paddle against the current. It's a lot harder getting back to where you were. So for the past couple of weeks I've been trying to make my way back. I think this week of refocusing and prioritizing is helping me in that effort.

Ok, I've got Jedidiah in my lap, so typing time will have to be over for now. Hopefully I'll write again soon. I will be busy all day though with the kiddos, so it may take me a while. Right now they are (horror of horrors, watching a movie.....hey this retraining is totally wearing, and an hour of them chilled out, and out of trouble helps me keep my sanity).