My One Thousand Gifts part 1

One Thousand Gifts Blog

I just began reading this book 2 days ago and already I am setting out on a 

journey.

A journey of Thankfulness.

There are so many quotes, and life-changing lessons, but I will start with this quote by Mark Buchanan:

"Being in a hurry.  

Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me.

I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry.  

But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing....

Through all that haste I thought I was making up time.

It turns out I was throwing it away."

Wow.  Such powerful words.  

I wonder what precious memories, what precious moments I have thrown away while hurrying to 

finish dinner, or clean the kitchen, or get out the door to get to Target!

And so begins my Thankful Journal. 

One thousand things...

1.  Army men on their noble steed standing guard even hours after their Master has gone downstairs for school.

2.  Ty's "kiki" left laying in his bed ~ just how he left it.

Warm and snuggly.

Just like him.

"It's not the gifts that fulfill, but the holiness of the space."

What are....

Your policies about 

your children going 

to other people's houses?

We ABSOLUTELY don't do sleepovers.

But, just for an afternoon?

Just wondering.

We've had a situation come up recently and I suppose it will come up

more and more often as they get older.

Um, okay...

Insults of the day:

1.  While at JCPenneys today I was using a $10 dollar off a $10 dollar purchase coupon

or I just might have left.

The lady at the counter who was checking us out said
"when are you due?"

I said 

"June."

{{I always just leave it at June, people are really shocked when I say June 25th.}}

And to this she replied:

YOU'RE HUGE!

2.  My darling husband and I were discussing my state of pregnancy and I said "I'm only 28 weeks."

To this he replied:
"Honey, look at her, does she look just 28 weeks to you, or 38 weeks?" 

K, thanks Babe. 

Ha.  To his and her credit, I am HUGE!

But, I am still going to go lay down in bed with a donut and suck my thumb.

My Sweet Sister-in-Laws...

Or is it sisters-in-law?

There are 2 of them.

Anyway, I digress.

My sil's decided a couple of months ago to throw me a baby shower at our new church.

Which was really sweet of them since I hadn't expected AT ALL to have a shower

for the 5th child.  

But, they love me, er, their brother.

Maybe they love us both.

You see, I had gotten rid of allllllllllllll my baby stuff.

Every bit of it.

Because we were done.

Ha.

So, I can't wait to see what I don't have to buy on Saturday.

And I can't wait to see some people that I haven't seen for months! 

It's gonna be fun.

A couple of weeks ago, Joanna came up to me and said they both wanted to take me and Chloe out 

to get manicures right before my shower.

So, last night, we partied with the peeps at the nail salon.

And the lady doing my nails told me "this ain't no Starbucks, honey."

WELL, I never!

But we laughed and laughed and laughed.

Me and Chloe got to have our first manicure!

It was a blast!

{{Objects in picture appear fatter than they really are.}}

{{{Ha.}}}

This lady doing my nails is the one who informed me that I wasn't at Starbucks.

I still feel emotionally scarred from that.

And you can see Chloe behind me!

After we felt all pretty, we went to the Mexican restaurant where we all gourged ourselves like pigs on white cheese and fried burritos.

And then we walked through WalMart and complained about how very sick we all were from eating too much and swore we would never do that ever again.

{{{{Though we will and hopefully soon!}}}}

My Chloe wanted me to have a girl with both Isaac and Titus.

And then, after all the talk about how great it was to be an only girl, 

she decided that she wanted to remain the only girl this time.

Welcome Annaleah!

So, Christi and Joanna decided that Chloe needed to be made to feel really special for this shower.

{Which I think is so sweet of them.}

They bought her a new dress for Saturday

and let her pick out a gift for Annaleah.

They have really just spoiled me this week.

And I wanted to make a post to thank them.

I am blessed because I get to be part of their family.

Thank you guys!

My Ty~Ty!

I just had a lovely conversation with this boy who is now my favorite child.

Don't tell the others.

{{{Kids, if you ever read this, know that at one point you were each my favorite, this just happens to be Ty's shinning moment.}}}

He has been wearing this Thomas hat lately.

He adores it.

And I adore the way it pushes his ears out.

He came up to me a few minutes ago and here is the conversation:

Ty ~ Mom, do you like my hat?

Me ~ Ty I love your hat!  It's my favorite hat EVER!

Ty ~ you don't have a hat.

Me ~ No, I don't.

Ty ~ Daddy does though.

Me ~ Yep, he's a boy like you Ty, and I'm a girl.

{{He is really into the fact that he is more like Daddy than me lately.}}

Ty ~ Daddy isn't a boy.

Me ~ No?

Ty ~ He's berry berry big {said while holding his hands out to demonstrate just how big Dad is.}

Me ~ Yes he is a man..

Ty ~ a big man.

Me ~ Yep.

Ty ~ but you are just a little girl mom.  Berry berry little.

Now you see why he is my favorite????

Indiana Farmstand Chicken Corn Chowder Mix

Joining another link party...it's fun.

Go check out her blog and see what everyone else is having for dinner.

Here is ours.

I bought it yesterday on a whim. 

It's a soup mix.

With no salt!

I'm swelling like a stuck pig. 

Ha.  

The instructions are pretty simple, you layer beans {which are in the package}

and chicken breast and potatoes {which are not in the package}

at the bottom of your crock pot.   

Add the rest of the ingredients and some water and a couple of other things

and off you go!

I can't wait to try it.

I love corn chowder and have only made it once that it actually tasted good.

I'll let you know.

My Isaac, again.

He's the child that I always say gives us the hardest time,
but in reality, he does have such a tender heart.

Today Isaac and Titus had to get their fingers poked to check their iron levels.
It was quite dramatic.
Lets just say that God did give us some Drama Queens even though we have primarily boys.

At church tonight, our Pastor has a real prayer service.
He does teach....but a good part of the service is prayer requests, praises,  and then prayer.
Justus and I were sitting beside each other with Ty on my other side and Isaac on his other side
and then Ben and Chloe were down from Isaac.
Well, we were busy writing down requests and I heard Preacher say "Yes.."
So I looked up to see who had another request.
It was Isaac.
All by himself.
Raising his little hand.
NONE of our children have ever done this before, so I was just in tears at the sweetness of it.
He said "Pray for my brudder and me, we got pokies today."
OH.MY.GRACIOUS.
He just melts my heart.

Ten Days of Biblical Parenting Giveaways

Ten Days of Biblical Parenting Giveaways

I'm not really sure

What is going on in my life.
I keep thinking that tomorrow it will slow down.
Or, after this certain thing happens, or that.
But, alas....every day seems to bring new challenges.

I just joined an internship program that runs for 12 weeks long...starting now.
That gives me two (or less) weeks off before I have the baby.
So, instead of enjoying this my last pregnancy, I shall be working...
and then working some more...
and then homeschooling...
and then doing laundry for 6 people....
and then doing dishes and cooking.

I'm skeered!
But, I am thankful for this opportunity to learn more about Medical Transcription so that
after lil' Annaleah comes out, I can possibly get a good paying job.
And, not have the stress of wondering how to do it.

So, pray for me if you would as I embark on this new journey.

1. Do you know what your REAL hair color is?

Yes, I am wearing it right now.

2. Do you plan ahead for summer, or fly by the seat of your pants?

I plan to sit outside and enjoy my children this summer....so, yes, I made my plans.

3. What is your favorite meal to cook?

Hmmm, I love to make any Italian meal.

4. Do you get offended by not receiving thank yous?

No.  I have been guilty of forgetting too many times to be offended by someone forgetting me.

5. How did you meet your best friend?

At Mt. Salem Revival Grounds when we were but youngin's.

C~section..

I am going to share my very private and sad c~section story with you...
maybe you have some tips or advice.
I hadn't really intended on ever having to think about it again...and then came Annaleah.

3 weeks before his due date, Titus flipped in my belly to heads up.
I felt it happen.
It was odd.
So I told my midwife and she suggested we go in the next day to do a version (where they physically flip the baby from the outside to heads down again.)

{{And yes, it is as painful as it sounds}}

So, we went in at 6 the next morning.
They flipped him.
And then my labor started.
She wasn't sure if I would just have the version and go home, or if we would do labor that day.
But Titus decided for us.
So, we got set up in a room and began labor.
When it started getting painful, I asked for an epidural.
It was around 3 that afternoon.
Well, they had put a brace on my belly to keep him heads down and when they took it off to give me the epidural, he flipped again.  He was apparently having a great time in there.
And then horror of all horrors!  MY WATER BROKE.
My midwife knew that my last labors were fast after the water broke {Isaac was 20 minutes} so she told me she was going to take me in for an emergency c~section.
Even the day before when she had warned me it could come to this, I didn't believe it would.
I know women who have only had c~sections and were just fine with it.
But I have a serious anxiety to laying on my back.....and I was pretty sure that is where I would be during a c~section. ☺
So, I panicked right there in the birthing suite and just about fell out of the bed.  {Forgot I had an epidural and couldn't get up and run away.}  Whoopsie.  Thank God for Justus who caught me.  Poor guy.
Anyway, so when they finally took me back to the stark operating room, I was a mess.  And I yelled and told the anesthesiologist that I would pop his head off if he didn't get me up.
{{{Which of course, he couldn't, so he just looked at me.}}}  I'm so odd.
And I continued to panic the whole time.  My husband and my wonderful midwife Alice did all they could to keep me calm and keep me thinking about and talking about something else.

Fast forward three years....and here we are again.
A place I never expected to be at.  I never had anxiety problems until this, but I dream about it all the time now.
I have been told I have 3 options:
1.  VBAC
2.  Scheduled c~section
3.  Try VBAC and if there is a problem then I go right into emergency c~section.

I am so torn.

I DO NOT WANT TO BE PUT IN AN EMERGENCY SITUATION AGAIN!
But if I could go natural, I would love to.

Anyone have any advice?  Thoughts?

Thankful Thursday

Oh give thanks unto the Lord;

FOR HE IS GOOD;

for his mercy endureth forever.

I Chronicles 16:34

I have so much to be thankful for.

I'm thankful for the Lord walking us through this last 5 months of our lives.

I'm thankful that He let us know every step of the way that we were doing exactly

what HE wanted of us.

I'm thankful for a husband who led and never wavered.

I'm thankful for this little girl that lives within me....

She was a surprise to us.

At a really bad time.

But, she wasn't a surprise to God.

And, as carnally as this sounds, 

I am thankful for my hairdresser.

She is one of our teenagers all grown up.

I'm proud of her.

And.....she comes to my house to cut my hair.

I wub her.

I hope you have time today to stop and thank God for His blessings.

My father ~ in ~law told me, in his last email to me before he died

that there are blessings laying all around us.

We just never stop and take the time to look at them and pick them up.

I believe that....with my whole heart.