progress

I had an appointment today... for the THIRD week in a row, the midwifery center called me to say "don't come" because the MW was laboring someone. I did get to go in this afternoon, but I have to say, I just broke down and cried this morning... WHEN is it going to be my turn??

anyway, I did make slight progress and have the ok to try a castor oil induction tomorrow. I'm excited and hoping and praying that it works. If it doesn't, I am scheduled to go in for a medical induction on Thursday. I don't want that, for many reasons, but I do know that I. am. done.

A little history:
first baby, 42 full weeks, went in for induction, then after being there for two hours, sent home because they needed my room for someone in labor (NOT the same place I birth now!). Went into labor myself, 20+ hours, baby Joey was 9 lbs, 2 oz.
Second baby, 41 weeks and a few days, induced due to low fluid levels, less than three hours from first labor twinge to delivery, but not a fun experience AT ALL. Baby Jessica was 8 lbs, 3 oz.
Third Baby, 39 weeks, 5 days, natural labor and delivery, BEAUTIFUL experience, Baby Joyana was 7 lbs, 7 oz.
Fourth Baby, currently 41 weeks, 3 days, at the ultra sound on Friday they said it was already 9 lbs. We shall see. I don't put a lot of stock in the ultra sound estimates.

by hook or by crook, baby J will be born within the next two days.

I would love any and all prayers that I can have the desire of my heart to go naturally.

Hope to update SOON with news of the birth and pictures and weights and little details like if Baby J is a boy or a girl....

Labor Day Weekend

No. It wasn't a "real" labor day for me. Rotten kid. The baby ticker is correct.

However, I did ask my dear and wonderful husband if we could please just go out and do something since I'm tired to death of sitting around in misery and the kids are just watching way too many movies/ playing too many computer games.

So we did... and a super duper fun day we had!

We started at "big fish store" which the rest of you probably know as Bass Pro Shop. I promise that place is the most fun that can be had for $2.00 if you have little kids. To be accurate, you can have lots of fun for free just looking at the huge fish tank and all the displays, but to truly qualify as a super-duper fun, you do need to spend some quarters on the "shootin' animals" game. I'm sure the US Government didn't intend for me to use my M-16 and marksmanship training in this way, but it DOES come in handy... "Mommy, get the bear!" "Mommy, Get the pig!" "Mommy, make the squirrel spin around!" Done, done, and done.

Thankyouverymuch Uncle Sam.

We also went to McDonald's to play in the play place (and had to make a quick stop at Target to buy socks since they were all wearing crocs with no socks). Then went to World Market which is another totally fun store... and I found a great price on a big basket to hold baby diapers, bye bye cardboard box.

These beautiful water lilies are from the front of the Bass Pro Shop.

Unfortunately (or fortunately....) I did not have firearms handy when we drove up Colonial Parkway and spotted a number of wild turkey. I had to shoot them with the camera, and they were high-tailing it for cover (and I was shooting from the middle seat of the van) so they aren't very clear. Oxen : taken driving down Colonial Parkway right beside Colonial Williamsburg.

Jeff pulled into a little parking spot so I could get out and stretch my legs. The bank down to the water was very steep and I couldn't get close at all, but this bush was literally SWARMING with butterflies. It was SO amazing! I had the camera all the way zoomed but didn't have a tripod, so again, it's not a great shot, but you can see two butterflies.
Once we got up to Jamestown, we took the ferry across the James River over to Surry. We had dinner at The Surry House, and came back on the ferry. The following pictures are from the ferry ride.

Dad and the kids waving from the observation deck. We were on the "Pocahontas"

Me with the BabyJ, Joy, and Jessi.
From the ferry, looking over to the Jamestown Colony site. The obelisk is modern. The brick church is Jamestown Settlement era.
I nearly "got it" from this gull. As I was tracking him right above me to get the shot, it occured to me that I might not be in the very best place. I snapped and jumped and it was just in time--if you know what I mean.

Joy, BabyJ, and I looking off the front of the ferry.

I know this isn't a great picture, but look at Joyana! she is climbing the gate! Silly kid.
Daddy holding Joy to "fly" in the wind.
Look at Joey's pouf! He is such a 50's rockstar (and born on Elvis' birthday, LOL).
On the way back, Joey looking at the sunset.

Daddy and Joyana I love these shots... I think these two are each others' favorite people in the world.

We started

I get a freebie, right?

I figure if I'm THIS pregnant, I get a freebie... a chance to mouth off without having to be careful to be PC about it?

Oh wait, this is my blog, I get to do that anyway.

So... this election... to be frank, I'm not happy with either candidate, I am dismayed with my choices. I was thinking I would be deciding based on who stood closest to my own personal key issues... that doesn't seem like it will work seeing as how I just don't like either one's stance. My latest hope with all the discussion about running mates is that I could choose based on the VP.

So, while I do think that Biden will appeal to those who weren't ready for McCain OR Obama, he doesn't sway my vote. I was REALLY hoping that McCain would choose someone I could really get behind, or at least tolerate.

Not so.

Ok, so the lady may look great for the republican party on paper... but I have a fundamental hang-up with her position on family values.

You know, family values, the watchword and song of the GOP, the reason why they can rally behind pro-life, anti-gay marriage, stiff sentences for drug dealers, etc...

I first heard she was a mother, and in fact one of her children was in the military headed for Iraq. I assumed that meant that her kids were grown, mommy days were over.

Nope. not so.

She has an infant.

A four month old infant.

Yes, I've seen the statement that she made about men being able to fill public office and watch their family grow and how women can do the same. And how her children won't be neglected and how her duties won't get shirked.

Oh How I disagree!

SOME duty WILL be shirked...either her political one or her mothering one.

I spent a horrible 18 months as a working mother. Every day was torture.
Please, understand that I realize not every mother can stay at home full time due to circumstances beyond her control. My own mom was a working mother, she was widow with three kids to support. And she did a bang-up job if I may say so myself. But that is not the issue here.
I was torn daily between my duty as a mom and my duty to the USA (I was active duty military). This was immediately post 9-11 and getting out early was simply out of the question (yes, I did actively look into it). Women are great multi-taskers, of course we are. I can even say that some women can probably do some jobs and do ok at both the job and the mothering. I would still say that it's not ideal, not with an infant. And I would also say that those would be jobs that can afford to be shirked a little if the family needs arise.

VP of the USA is probably not one of those type of part time jobs.

Mrs. Palin HAS a choice, she has a choice between her political career and her infant.

Here's my stance on it... if she's any kind of mother, she will end up being torn between family and political duty. If she's any kind of politician, she will have to choose the political duty "for the greater good" and all that jazz. Which may make her a good political figure, but a poor mother, and thus in my opinion, not someone I want leading me and being held up as a fine example.

To be honest, I haven't even looked closely at her official political views. I just can't get past this whole mother of a young baby thing. How terribly old fashioned of me, I know. And yes, I KNOW that I am blessed beyond measure with my little white-picket-fence life and my husband who amply provides for us. Don't get me wrong... I didn't say that staying home and mothering full-time is easy... merely that it is right; that by having a child, you just created a duty and responsibility for yourself that supercedes all others.

You know what else bothers me? And again, I must admit I haven't had extensive conversations yet about this, but for the most part, the conservatives I've talked to are pretty happy with this choice. I'm a little perturbed about that. Sacrificing the raising of your kids for the good of the party constitutes good family values?

Blech.

uh huh

- my mom got in on Tuesday afternoon, yeah, back up!
- our anniversary was also Tuesday, 8 years.
-still pregnant
-that's about it for now

what?

OK, it is immensely disturbing to log onto my own blog and see that my baby ticker is messed up and it says I am 19 weeks pregnant instead of 39 weeks pregnant! ummm.. nope. not going backwards. not now. I'm not halfway there, I'm there. done. finished. baby cooked.




that's not even what I was going to post about, but it totally sidetracked me and now I haven't a clue.

so instead of posting, here is a picture of Joyana, being simply adorable as usual. she had her well child check the other week and simply wowed the doctor. Apparently, she is perfect. Why did I have to pay a co-pay to find that out?

Some pants for the new baby, top pair is boyish, the other is girly. these are made out of scraps of leftover yarn from many other projects, then I added to the craziness by doing various textures as well. I love how they turned out.



I'm not 19 weeks pregnant. That is seriously throwing me for a loop.

66 years

66 Years.

In some countries that is longer than the life expectancy. Jeff's Grandma passed away last week and yesterday was the funeral. I wasn't able to go (too far away for me to travel this late in pregnancy) but he went and got home last night.

Grandma and Grandpa had been married for 66 years.

They ran away together and got married when she was 17 and he was 21. They had 5 children together, 5 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren... with number 13 due to arrive soon (that would be baby J).

She was a thoroughly modern woman, as she liked to call herself, long before anyone was modern. This self-dubbed modernity stemmed from the simple fact that she couldn't cook at all... never made anything that didn't start out life in a can. She was famous (infamous?) for messing up a green bean casserole by putting chow mein noodles on it instead of those crunchy onion rings. By the time I joined the family, it was tradition to have green bean casserole with chow mein noodles, on purpose, and she would gleefully recount the story of exactly how that had happened. However, there was far more to her than her lack of cooking ability. She was an artist, accomplished in both photography and drawing/cartooning, and a published author with at least one full length novel published (and many more manuscripts), and widely published in various magazines as diverse as children's stories and antique guides.

Speaking of my joining the family, Grandma actually proposed to me before Jeff did. The first time I met all that side of his family was for a 4th of July party at their home (even back then Grandma had a hard time getting around so all functions had to be held on her turf). She called me in for an audience, grilled me pretty good, then pronounced my name to be beautiful... except that last name is a mouthful and I should probably go ahead and change it... what did I think of the last name of Luck? When was I going to marry her doted upon grandson? I replied that while I didn't have a problem with this suggestion, I was going to go ahead and wait until he asked me. I'm not sure when she got to him, but she must have gotten the message across since he did ask me shortly thereafter.

The last time the kids and I saw Grandma was this spring at a party. She was very ill by this time and couldn't get around at all. We had the party in a small house on the property and went up to the big house to visit with her, a few at a time. I took the kids up to see her and after Jeff took them back down to the other house for dinner, I sat with her for a while. We talked about everything...and what stays in my mind is how she wouldn't let me leave. I would mention that I needed to go down and fix a plate and she never said not to go, but would simply reach out and take my hand and keep on talking. This went on for over an hour, we talked and she would just keep an eye on me...if I so much as shifted next to her, she would reach out and take my hand.

I'm so glad now that she did.

This summer she did really go downhill fast and Jeff took the time to go see her, but she was really too ill to take the kids so I didn't get to see her again.

66 years together. Grandpa is lost, his whole adult life has been centered around her, especially the last few years with her declining health--and her stubborn streak about who exactly was allowed to come and help care for her.

A lifetime together, and even though you know it is coming to an end soon... when it does, it's still a shock. Realistically, Jeff and I got married too late to have 66 years, you kind of have to elope as children to pull that one off and we were both staid and pushing 30 when we got married (and honestly Grandma, he did ask me as soon as he could and we got married in an utterly indecent rush after that!), but the life together, the devotion for each other...that we can strive for.

One thing Grandma showed me during that last visit was a poem. I could tell that it was a statement and a reply type dialogue, but what I couldn't tell until she told me, is that she wrote some stanzas and Grandpa wrote the others. They were so in tune... their life was such poetry, that their words and thoughts flowed in sync as if from the same mind.

We miss you Grandma.

ramblings (yes, again)

I know, I know, I hesitate to guess how many posts in the past year or two are called "ramblings" but hey, it's my blog.

so, yes, I'm still pregnant. I should have learned my lesson with Joy and just never even announced I was expecting.. it sure did cut back on the end of pregnancy comments. So yes, I'm miserable, yes I still have a few weeks to go, no we don't know what it is (well, we are pretty sure it's a baby).

Today was our MOPS registration party. Of course it's totally possible to do MOPS registration without a mid-summer party, but we pretty much are deep into withdrawal by this time of summer and really need to have a get-together. We had a great turn out and it looks like we have a number of new mommies joining us, some from our church and some from other places. The theme this year is "Adventures in Motherhood" so it's kind of like a theme park/carnival type theme. In keeping with this, the event today was kind of carnival theme. They (it sounds so weird to say they... for the past three years I've had some kind of official role in MOPS and this year I'm sitting out) hired a bunch of youth group kids that work in the clown ministry to do balloons, face painting, play games, and had little booths with popcorn, snow cones, and candy.

Interesting tidbit, I met a lady who was registering for the first time and we got to talking about kids and school and she is homeschooling this year for the first time. She was saying that she was still confused about filing her NOI (notice of intent) so I got her email addy to send her a link to one of our state homeschool associations that has sample letters. When she wrote it for me, it looked very familiar... her name with the numbers 81900... mine is the same, thing, 8192000, so I asked her if those numbers were meaningful and sure enough, they are her anniversary-- just like me. So that was cool. I have another friend at church with the same anniversary too.

Note: large WHINE ahead!
Now... you all know that I have laid down the law concerning any more sickness in this house, right? it has simply gotten out of hand. first Jeff, then Jeff some more, then Jessi...
Well, dontcha know that Jeff just went and got his toenail cut out last week? Yeppers. I thought the appointment was for a consult with the podiatrist. Nope. I took him in (with all the kids of course, since I found out about it the night before and didnt' have time for a babysitter) and they cut half of it out right then and there. I KNOW he has been suffering with ingrown toenails for 6 months. NO I don't want him to hurt, but by george, I am the one who is hobbling around now...having us both shuffling like senior citizens is just not good!
Now... I do have to say that he is doing GREAT, very little pain at all. Which is good, because he had his follow up with the surgeon today and UGH UGH UGH UGH NOOOOOOOOO WHINE GROAN OWEEEEEEEEE, sure enough he says that he has to go BACK in AGAIN and work on the incisions. On August 14th. Ok ladies and gentlemen, I fully plan on having a baby right about then, if not before! It's not the procedure so much as the recovery I dread. the last time they did this, Jeff was in MORE pain than he had been from the first time (as far as recovery goes that is). I need him in one piece. Seriously, I know that if it has to be done then it has to be done, but come ON!!! Do I eventually get dibs on laying around and getting waited on? If so, when pray tell?

Whine over, it's safe to start reading again.

I have to brag on the kids. I have been feeling really crummy and just not up to much at all, the kids have totally stepped up, at least as much as a 5 and 6 year old can. Obviously they aren't doing cooking and cleaning, but as far as taking care of Joy/keeping her entertained, they have done great, Jessi especially. Joey has stepped up with chores too, not only with his part of the dishes but helping with laundry too so I don't have to carry anything, and even loading the washer and dryer. In fact, today I got a surprise, I knew we had put in a load this morning and then this afternoon went back to switch them out and he had already moved the wet clothes from the washer to the dryer and started refilling the washer from the dirty bin. We have front loaders so he can't reach the controls and I wouldn't want him messing with the detergent anyway, but I was so pleased! I never told him to do the switchout, he just went and did it. Sorry moms of girls, he already has two girls picked out to marry and is quite concerned about which one he will actually choose.

Well, I had another cute story to share but 2 out of 3 kids are asking to go to bed. I probably should take them up on that.