New arrivals while I'm waiting for my new arrival

Well, still waiting on my newest little blessing but I thought I'd share some goodies that came in the mail-

These velour lined, one sized, pinable or snappy-able beauties are from Bouche Bumz at Hyenacart.com-




Next up- another diaper that is organic velour lined from Princess Julianne's Closet called Lil Poo Catchers also found on Hyenacart.com. These are a small with snaps and a cute little robot jersey print.




Last up- a Loveybums cover and diaper I bought super cheap used- barely- from a mama on Diaper Pin forums-
The cover is super soft orange fleece- I love orange for diapers- and a velour inner with a owl print jersey outer.
These are newborn size.



Now if my baby could just come I'd be sooo happy. Yesterday I went to the midwives and they said come back on Thursday. Oh well, I guess he's just not ready!

I Love Glass Jars

I love Glass Jars and I love to store things in them so I thought I would share a few picts of what and how I use them.

We use them for drinks for our children instead of sippy cups but I wouldn't recommend this on ceramic tiled floors.




I also use them for storage in the fridge for yeast, oatmeal, flax seed, ect.




Dog food



Flour, sugar and cookies




and storage of metal measuring cups and tea balls




I also have old cheese boxes on my wall for storage of oatmeal packets and they also fit other items like boxes of flavored teas for easy access



Another thing I do in my small kitchen to save space is I hang things on little hooks everywhere I can find space. Here are my measuring spoons-



And child size brooms and dustpan on hooks above our large crock we use as a trash can




So there are a few examples of how I try and make more room and things more easily accessible in my home. And yes if you are wondering we are still waiting for our new little blessing to arrive!

Still Waiting.....

Well, its been a week since I last posted about waiting for this baby and I'm still pregnant. I went to the midwives on Thursday and I haven't really gotten anywhere. Now I have to say that when things do start happening with me they do seem to progress fast but I'm starting to get a little frustrated because I am having so much lower back pain. My right leg is causing me alot of pain and I am basically crawling up my stairs to get to our only bathroom and the bedroom. This worries me because I dont do pain meds and I walk, walk, walk to get through the pain of my labors and if this back and leg pain keeps up I dont know if I will be able to do that because sometimes it just feels like my leg is going to give out.
So, today I go to the midwives again and I'm hoping that I have progressed far enough that they can just strip my membranes or break my water and we'll be on our way. I have been having contractions and they were pretty regular the other night but now they are just sporadic- that can be normal for me too.
Okay, I'm gonna go now and pray for a quick, safe delivery and a healthy baby before anyone else wakes up and the busy day starts again.

She Shoots and Scores!

After playing all last year with out one basket my girl has scored in the last three games in a row. I am sooooo proud of her for not giving up. Her team has won a few games this year too which didn't happen lastyear. Today her game went into double overtime and although they didn't win- she was so sad- she was happy to keep her point streak going. She has another game tomorrow night and I am praying she scores again. She's a beautiful, shy girl and its so good for her confindence. I'm just so proud of her for being out there playing infront of all those people who come to the games, its something I could have never done at 11 years old.

Bedtime Stories

This is such a sweet series. My husband reads a chapter from a story book each night for the children before they fall asleep as part of our bedtime routine which consists of talking for about 1/2 hour then a bedtime prayer then next the story. Some of the series we have read have been-
The Milly, Molly, Mandy books- so sweet and funny
Betsy, Tacy, Tib
The Penderwicks
and now we are reading The Mary Frances books by Jane Eayre Fryer
We are very picky about what we read to them at night because the smallest things tend to scare at least one of them so we keep our reading to simple, sweet stories with a touch of humor.
The Mary Frances stories are simple and sweet as well as educational. The one we are reading right- Mary Frances and her adventures among the garden people teaches us all about gardening and how plants are classified without you really realizing it. We just finished her adventures among the kitchen people complete with recipes that start as simple as boiling water and making toast and progress to a dinner. All along the way her little friends help her along to learn and they are very comical.
She also has a sewing book, a knitting book, a first aid book- one which we wont read at bedtime-,and a housekeeping book. Those are the ones I can think of off hand. Since I'm typing this at 5:00 am I cant turn on the light to look at my stash.
If your looking for something sweet as well as educational to read to your children you should give these a try.

Here's a quick link to the books to read more about them-

http://www.joyfulhomeresources.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=168

Kit's Waffles

The kids really like these waffles. The recipe is from the American Girls Kits Cooking Studio-

Sift-
1 1/2 cups frour
1/3 cup cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
add in 1/2 cup rolled oats
set aside

in another bowl-
2 cups milk- I use buttermilk if I have it
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
set aside

separate 3 eggs and add the yolks to the milk mixture then add 1/3 cup oil. Add to flour mix- dont over mix

beat egg whites till stiff and then fold in to batter- dont over mix.

cook in waffle iron.

Makes about 12-14.

I stack the extras between parchment or wax paper and freeze them. I actually like them better reheated it the toaster oven because they get a bit crispy.

I have sprinkled in mini chocolate or cinnamon chips before and thats really good too!

Pumpkin hats

Isn't this cute? I made it for my new baby. Hopefully he'll be here in time to wear it. I cant actually knit. I wish I could. I have tried to learn from youtube but I'm left handed and the best I can do is cast on. Cant get any further than that. I made this hat using the knitting circles they sell at craft stores. Super easy to use. My 11 and 9 year old daughters have made hats too. I found my 4 ring set at the Goodwill for only $6.00, beats the $20.00 they cost at the craft store. I have been looking for the set to make blankets and scarves but haven't had any luck. I might have to breakdown and pay the price at the craft store but I'm waiting till they have a 40% off coupon.
I needlefelted on the leaf and stem. I really enjoy needlefelting. The whole hat only took about 2-3 hours in this newborn size. The girls have enjoyed making them for there American girl dolls because this small size doesn't take forever but one their size does take over double the time.

Things I wont miss about being pregnant...

Well, its nearly 3:00 a.m. and I was just woken up by yet another stupid dream. I cant stand dreaming but my dreams are so much more frequent and vivid when I'm pregnant and I wake up several times a night angry, scared, tired and frustrated. Often my head hurts also, so I end up with a stress headache.
Leg cramps are another thing I wont miss. I never get them except when I'm pregnant. I had such a bad one 2 nights ago my calf is still sore. I try and remember not to stretch but I sometimes forget and they hurt so bad you just want to scream.
Next would be those stabbing pains in you sides that make you not be able to move. Its always worse for me at night when I go to roll over and out of no where the pain is so bad your afraid to move. Its always worse in the middle of my pregnancy when I'm growing quickly.
Okay,1 more thing and then I'll stop complaining...acid reflux and heartburn. Just awful. If there were one thing I could do with out it would be this one. Luckily it will-hopefully- go away as soon as the baby is born and I have more room in there. Atleast thats what happened with #4. I cant and couldn't eat anything tomato based with out regretting it, even the smallest amount of ketsup, but the day after he was born a good friend brought me pizza to the hospital to eat and I was fine. I cant wait to have sauce again.
Now somethings I'll miss...
Of course #1 is feeling the baby move. Even though it can be sometimes annoying to have those little toes digging into your ribs I have to admit that I treasure every movement now since having 2 miscarriage's. And with this baby my placenta as mostly in front so I didn't feel him move nearly as much or as early as my other babies.
I am also going to really miss by big round tummy. It has stayed so nice and smooth without stretch marks- those are other places- I just love rubbing it!
I'm also going to miss the feeling of never being alone.
Well, now its nearly 3:30 so I better try to fall back asleep, for a few hours anyway till another stupid dream wakes me and I have to then get up to pee and have a snack. Pretty soon the reason I wake in the middle of the night will be to nurse a sweet baby back to sleep. It seems like that time will never come but it will probably be within a week. I go to the midwives in a few hours so we'll see.
Sweet dreams.

Look what came in the mail!

Oh, I'm so excited, my newborn diapers came in the mail and I love them. They are so soft and wonderful. They are cotton velour from Clover. I got an awesome wool soaker too from Disana and I just love the feel and smell of it. I cant wait to try them on the baby if he ever shows up.
I'm not actually due till the 23 but I'm so used to going early that I'm having a hard time waiting. I'm also nervous about the baby getting bigger, my other children were all around 7-8 lbs with quite a bit of healing afterwards so the bigger he gets the more worried I get about him coming out.

Waiting......

Still waiting for blessing #5. I'm starting to get very impatient. But I feel like this every time. I told my hubby its funny to be so anxious for something to start thats going to cause you so much pain. I dont use any pain meds with my births and instead try to just walk, walk, walk through the pain. My labors are pretty quick though compared to some and usually just when I start to question my decision to not use any pain meds is when I'm sooo close its too late anyway.

This baby is suppost to be another boy -which my son is happy about and so is my hubby, after 3 girls it will be nice to have 2 boys. The ages of our children are- #1 is 11 , #2 is 9, #3 is 7- all girls and # 4 is 4, our son. He just turned 4 a few weeks ago and has tons of 4 year old energy!