Bread-making

I made bread today! Yesterday I ground my wheat berries and soaked the flour, and today I made the bread. Evan says he can really tell a difference; my nose is stopped up, and I can only tell a little difference (in taste). However, the consistency of the dough is way different! I always struggle mixing up the ingredients to soak and then kneading the bread, but this time it was so much easier that I honestly wondered if I had left out or put too much of something! My only thought is that the freshly milled flour is more moist (?) than flour from the store.
Overall, I am very excited about my grain mill. It is a bit loud for me (I've never done well with loud vacuums, either; I guess I feel like they're going to explode or something), but I don't have to use it every day or week, since I usually bake in bulk. I am also impressed that I can get 25 pounds of wheat berries from my co-op for $12. And that's organic wheat berries. Woo hoo!! I milled 6 cups of wheat berries and got 11 cups of flour.
That's my news for tonight.

Food

Like my new blog entry?
I am a bit obsessed with food lately. I absolutely love to cook, and I've been reading books such as An Eater's Manifesto and Real Food. :-) I am soooo becoming a health nut. ha I was shopping in Whole Foods the other day, and as I looked around I thought, You know, I used to walk in health food stores and inwardly chuckle at the weirdos. Now I AM one of the weirdos. hee hee The Whole Foods shopping started when Evan and I decided that we should switch to organic milk. I still shop at Aldi, but now a lot of the items that were bought at Walmart before are now bought at Whole Foods since I don't want to make THREE grocery stops. And I happened to buy organic carrots one time...and now I'm hooked. The good thing is that I only go to Whole Foods every two weeks or so. Just walking through the produce section of that store makes me want to cook.
To further seal my fate as a health nut, I am now getting a grain mill for Christmas. I have yet to decide which one I am getting, but I am getting one. :-) So much more to say, but I think I'll go for tonight!

Life

The days are going by so quickly! I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is next week. I am so thankful that I will actually be able to eat a Thanksgiving dinner this year!! :-) Last year I had all four wisdom teeth removed the Monday before Thanksgiving. It was as bad as I thought it would be but no more so. And it's over now! I can't believe it's already a whole year later, and this year I have two wonderful children heading into the holiday season!
By the way, I found my first white hair tonight. Evan saw it yesterday, but tonight was the first time I actually saw it for myself. Interesting. I suppose I've earned it this year. ha
Noelle is two and a half months old already. She doesn't appreciate sleep as of yet, but I'm hoping she will soon be won over. :-) With Nathan I was able to be a bit more firm in my schedule and desires; I could sleep whenever he slept the next day. With Noelle, I have learned to be more flexible. Some nights we do whatever it takes to get sleep because I have to be completely awake the next day, and mommy naps are almost unheard of. So, I will have no clue as to whether her sleeping habits are due to my lack of consistency or her personality. ha
Hmmmm, I was going to continue to another topic, but I think I'll stop and actually start a new blog entry. ;-)

What's new?

Well, not too much, actually. :-)
I have started using cloth diapers and wipes, though! So far, so good. The only complaint I have is how big Noelle's backside is with the cloth diapers! ha Other than that, I quite like them. Evan, who was against them, was even impressed with the diapers that I got. ;-) I made my own wipes with one of Nathan's receiving blankets, and they seem to work quite well. I have a spray bottle with a wipe solution that I keep with my diaper things, and I just spray a wipe when I need one. Interesting, no?
I have been on a "crafty" spree lately (I think because Hannah was here), and I knitted Nathan a hat, made a sling for myself/Noelle, and made pajama bottoms for Evan. Oh yeah, I also knitted Noelle a bonnet, but it fits Nathan. ha We all got a good laugh out of it, anyway! I am hoping to find another cute knitted hat pattern for Noelle and get that started. Hancock's had all of their McCalls patterns on sale for $1 last week, so I bought several patterns. Yay!
That's all for my update now!

Walgreens 9/27

My net loss: $1.67.

I would have made a small profit had I not grabbed the wrong dental pick things. Argh. Walgreens had them mislabeled, and I did not double check my ad. See the shirt? One dollar. :-) I'm sending some Theraflu home with my sister-in-law. ha

Refried Beans

2 pounds dried pinto beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed
2 yellow onions, cut in half
2 red onions, cut in half
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 stick of butter
4 t. cumin
2 t. coriander

Place the beans, onions, and garlic in a crockpot on low. Cover with water and add salt. Cook for 8-10 hours. Melt butter in a large pot. Add the beans, leaving the extra juice in the crockpot to add to the beans as needed. Cook and stir the beans for 5-10 minutes. Mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender, adding the extra juice to reach the desired consistency.

I put measure out 2 cups of beans in freezer bags and freeze them. We love these refried beans, and I like knowing what all went in them! Some people skip the "frying" (butter) part altogether; but the butter makes for a much better consistency, in my humble opinion.

I made these this morning and used my nifty new immersion blender!! The beans were so smooth!! :-) Anyway, I now have five bags of frozen refried beans in my freezer. Yay!

The Countdown is over!!

I made it to 37 weeks and 1 day!! Noelle is here and healthy, and she is doing great. We had a little bit of a rocky road the first day because her blood sugar and temperature were low, but she stabilized quickly. I was glad that I got to breastfeed her for an hour after she was born since I didn't get to feed her again until almost twelve hours later. They gave her formula, and I wasn't sure she would go back to breastfeeding, but she did! I even got cleared to stop supplementing with formula before I left the hospital, and she is doing great. Praise God! He is good.
Now I am getting back into the swing of life and finding my new "normal" with two kids. Tomorrow will be the first official day of being alone with my two kids from the time Evan leaves until he gets home. :-) I am just having to readjust my ways for this season of life. I used to get most of my "chores" done during the week while Evan was at work; now I'll most likely be doing most of those things on the weekend when I have Evan around. Of course, I'll do my best to get things done during the week, but I'm just not setting my expectations that high for a while. ha If things get done, fine; if they don't get done, fine.
Yesterday I boiled eggs, made a ton of rice, made cookies, made a menu, grocery shopped, and did laundry. Today I made and froze waffles and black bean burritos. It's so nice to have things in the freezer to pull out on short notice. Plus, I think I am just happy with the fact that I'M BACK IN CONTROL OF MY KITCHEN!!!! Woo hoo! ;-) I love my job, and I'm happy to be back.
Oh, today I also ran to Walgreens and got two packages of True North pistachio chips, two boxes of Triaminic strips, two Cow Tails (interesting), and a bottle of olive oil. My net loss was about $1.50. The overage from the True North chips and the Triaminic almost covered the total amount of the olive oil (which I had just run out of). Yay!

36 Weeks!!

Yay!!! :-)
I am pretty happy about being this far along. I am off all medication as of last night, which means I didn't have to set my alarm for every four hours last night!! It was wonderful to only wake up to empty my bladder! ha ha For some reason, my bladder and my pill-taking schedule never cooperated. You wanted to know that, right??
This morning I cleaned up a bunch of my "bedrest junk." This week is going to be pretty busy, so I felt that it was time for most of it to go. I also have been packing my hospital bad, although I still don't have suckers. Evan has looked for the kind I want and couldn't find them. Now he just tells me that I won't want them anyway. ha I know how it will work: if I don't get any, I'll want them; if I have them in the bag, I won't use them. ;-) Now I just need to pack Nathan's hospital bag for "just in case." We don't plan on having him up there, but I'd like to have a bag ready anyway. All Evan would have to do is give his phone to Nathan and let him watch a movie, really.
Woo hoo!!

35 Weeks, 3 Days

My doctor's appointment today went well. I found out that the "rock" that I was sleeping on last night was my little girl's knee. :-) And she doesn't seem to want to move it. My cervix is still the "same," which I found out means that it is closed but will slightly open when he pushes on it.
I opened a can of worms today, though. I asked a simple question and got way too many possibilities. ha He still seems to think that my cervix will just open up because "it dilated silently last time." (He was talking about Nathan.) Well, my cervix did not open silently last time; I had MORE than plenty contractions, and strong ones at that. I wouldn't really care, except that he thinks that even if I'm dilated to a 2 in the next two weeks we could just go in and "have the baby" to prevent having her at home. I would really like for her to be in there as long as she wants to be in there. There is a reason for the forty weeks, right?? :-) AND I don't want to be induced. I've been trying to keep her in there for how long??? And then they'll try to force my body to have her early?

Then I remind myself of Who is in control. Thankfully, it's not me or the doctors. We are praying that we (Evan and I) would have wisdom in all decisions we have to make and that maybe we won't even have to make any decisions like that. :-) God has been so faithful throughout this entire pregnancy; I actually feel badly for allowing myself to get so worked up over this. :-)
Randomness: Walgreens has had some pretty good deals the last two weeks, which drives me crazy; but my husband and mother have been good enough to go do a few deals for me! I plan it all out, write it all down, gather the coupons, and send them to the store. :-) Evan even went by himself this past weekend! Anyway, yesterday Mom went for me, and here's how it worked out:
Net loss: $16
What I got: 2 packages of Pampers, 3 tubs of Huggies wipes, 3 pencil boxes, 3 12-packs of drinks, 2 bottles of Tylenol, and 1 bottle of Softsoap bodywash.
Two packages of pampers would have cost me $20 at Walmart. :-) There now, that made me smile. hee hee

August 19th

So, I have to say it somewhere: 2 years ago today I lost my little boy. It is amazing how emotions come and go. Today I feel perfectly at peace, while a week ago I was having a hard time getting to sleep because every time I closed my eyes I would think back and remember everything. It's difficult to have a child about whom you really have no "good" memories. I sometimes catch myself wondering what it would be like to have a 20-month-old little boy running around here with Nathan. It's amazing how a baby that I got to hold for only a couple of hours (outside the womb) can still hold such a big place in my heart.

35 Weeks, 1 Day

Thirty-five weeks!! Wow. I actually feel like we're on the downhill slope now. :-) I am trying to stay on "bedrest," even though I've really upped my activity level quite a bit. I do try to stay on the couch a lot and take a nap in my bed once a day. But I also get up, walk around, and do odd things around the house. This weekend I picked my little garden (involved squatting), and yesterday I was going through boxes while Mom and Evan rearranged the green room (involved tailor sitting). We'll see what the doc says this week!

34 Weeks, 5 Days

We're getting so close! It's hard to believe I'm almost to 35 weeks already. My doctor's appointment went really well on Thursday. Everything was still the same. That made me feel really good since I'd been having some discomfort and possible contractions. I think Noelle is just beginning to make me really uncomfortable at times. :-) It's nice to know that what I'm feeling is just normal and isn't actually my body trying to go into labor.
Just two weeks and two days until I'm 37 weeks! We're getting excited about the fact that we will be meeting our little girl soon. I think now that we're slowly getting to come out of the "countdown fog" we can actually be excited that we have a little girl on the way. I guess we've been pretty focused on "just getting to 32 weeks" or "just getting to 34 weeks." :-) I suppose we could set the crib up sometime soon. Of course, that means that some major rearranging needs to be done. ha ha The good thing is that we have most of the essentials for a baby from Nathan.
Well, I'm gonna run!

34 Weeks, 1 Day

I just wanted to let my dedicated readers know that I am back to being mentally stable (for me, anyway...). :-) Really, I had bounced back by yesterday evening. Just so you know. Oh, and I'm still pregnant.

34 Weeks

I should probably wait to post until I'm a little more excited about the title, but I'm not going to. :-) If you want an elated post, go somewhere else. I am tired. I am very thankful we've made it this far, though, very thankful. I'm just tired. I feel like this has been a long and emotional pregnancy.
I've been having some "maybe" contractions yesterday and today; I can't really figure out if Noelle is causing them or if they are happening on their own. I also don't know what to count as "normal" uterus-getting-ready contractions and what to count as cervix-dilating contractions. I actually seem to feel better when I'm up walking around, so I'm wondering if Noelle's growing size and my always laid back positions are not going well together. We just really, really want to make it until 36 or 37 weeks. I guess we'll see at my doctor's appointment this week whether or not these contractions are dilating my cervix.
Anyway, I know I'm just a bit whiny today. Some days I just struggle a bit. :-)

33 Weeks, 1 Day

Can it honestly be interesting to read the ramblings of a pregnant woman who mostly sits on a couch all day? Just wondering.
Tomorrow is Wednesday! In case anyone was wondering. For some reason after Wednesday I just feel like my week goes by so much faster. Thursdays (lately) have been doctor days, Fridays are Fridays (and Evan has been taking off every other Friday to let my mom go home), and the weekend always seems to go by quickly, even on bedrest. :-) Maybe I don't like Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays because those were always the days I got the most housework/chores/grocery shopping done. :-) I still do my menu-planning and list-making on those days, but I think it's just more frustrating since I always realize that I have no clue what we're almost out of or what is in the fridge. Ah well. I'm getting so close, though!!
I probably have too high of hopes for the next couple of weeks. I am really hoping that my cervix is still the same this week and next so that maybe my doc will lighten up on the restrictions. I would love to be able to sit at the table to eat. :-) Of course, I've already lightened up a bit myself over the past two weeks. Every now and then I'll just get up and get something myself because I don't WANT to ask someone to get it for me. ;-)
Can't wait until Thursday!

32 Weeks, 5 days

Okay, so I'm having a bit of trouble with grouchiness. :-) I don't think it has helped that I've had stomach trouble last night and this morning. I'm getting better, though!
My appointment with my doctor went well this week. He said I was still about the same as I have been (my cervix), and he even made a joke about having to induce me post-term. ha ha ha Not funny. ;-) I am thankful that everything is going well, though. Very thankful. I get to stop taking the progesterone in a week (you have no idea how excited that makes me), and two more weeks after that I'll get to stop taking the Procardia (which I have to take every four hours, even through the night). I won't know what to do when I don't have medicine to take all the time! :-)
I can tell that Noelle has been growing lately. Some days my stomach feels like it is about to pop, and my skin gets all tight and itchy. Then I guess everything stretches and goes back to feeling semi-normal again. The doctor says she is head-down, and that is where I want her to stay!

32 Weeks

Another little goal is met! :-) The next goal is 34 weeks and then 36 weeks. Evan is starting to get a bit anxious thinking about labor and delivery again, but the last few weeks I have been feeling no dread or nervousness when I think about it. The only thing that worries me a bit is whether or not I'll know when to get to the hospital. My doctor seems to think the whole process will go very quickly, but my body doesn't generally listen to doctors. ha With Nathan I was dilated between 3 and 4 for at least 2 1/2 weeks and dilated to a 5 for four days (after the doctor said I'd have him in 24 hours). When I got the hospital with Nathan, I was dilated to an 8, and the doctor there said that my doc was an hour and a half away and that I would have Nathan before my doc got there. Do you think my body listened?? No, seven and a half hours later, Nathan finally came out...and my doctor was there. :-) So, I am praying for wisdom to know when to get to the hospital because I do not want an unplanned home/car delivery. That would not be funny. I just don't want to be up at the hospital too long because they want to control the process a bit too much for my liking (especially since I am going to try to go no-meds again).
In other news, my body is definitely rebelling against bedrest. I think my little chickadee is getting big enough to make sleeping difficult, and I'm not as flexible as I was when I was this far along with Nathan. I finally found a comfortable position last night only to discover this morning that I had caused about fifty different muscles to be extremely upset with me. :-) Mom got a good laugh at my expense as I was getting off the couch to walk back to my bathroom. I'm sure I looked rather funny. Pregnancy waddle plus stove-up waddle. ha

31 Weeks, 6 Days

Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks!! Yay! :-) Another milestone almost achieved.
This weekend I've been doing a lot more research on Charlotte Mason's methods and how those methods will actually look in practice. I get so excited looking through the booklists and figuring out which elements of the CM method we will use and which ones we will do differently. I definitely love education. :-) I know we have a while before we actually start formal education, but it is nice to know where we need to be once we get to our "starting point."
Gotta run!

31 weeks, 4 days

I had my appointment yesterday, and it went really well. He said that I am the same as last week, so I haven't dilated or effaced any more. I've been the same for the past three weeks, so I think my doctor is starting to think more positively about getting her farther along than 34 weeks. He even mentioned that it would be great to get her to the point where she would come home from the hospital with me (which he said could actually happen between 36 and 37 weeks).
Mom went home last night for the weekend, so we are on our own. It is nice to have some normal family time, and I think Mom probably appreciates the break from "mommyhood." :-) She has been really great taking care of everything, and Nathan and I usually get an hour or two (throughout the day) of "just us" time. I think it helps Nathan, and I know it helps me feel like I can still be involved with Nathan. I'm so glad that he loves to read so much and that we let him set up his train set on our coffee table! Of course, Evan has totally stepped up in every area, too. Nathan loves all the daddy-time he gets!

31 weeks, 1 day

This week seems to be going pretty slowly. :-) This whole morning I just did not feel well. I felt light-headed and nauseated. After lunch I started feeling better, so I have had a good afternoon. It is so hard sometimes to feel like I'm actually doing any good since I really don't feel like anything is even close to "going wrong." Most of my feeling badly comes from the medicine and lack of exercise. All I have to do to make myself refocus, though, is look online at the risks and challenges preterm babies face. Then I go happily and purposefully to my couch or bed. :-)
I also remind myself of a teacher friend who had to spend 10 or 11 weeks in the hospital on bedrest. Ughhh. That makes me count my blessings. :-) I mean, I got to go out in the sunshine today! That is something worth being thankful for!
Well, this is going to be all for tonight!

30 weeks, 4 days

We're getting so close to 31 weeks! :-) Every week is a huge accomplishment, and I am thankful for every day she stays inside. I have been doing pretty well, although I'm definitely starting to feel the effects of bedrest on my body. I think my emotions are probably pretty normal for someone on bedrest. ha I do pretty well, but occasionally something completely trivial will throw me into the "depths of despair." hee hee This morning the feeling was more like "Can I take a break from all this (my body and my emotions) for a while?" I just felt tired. I am doing better now, though. :-) One definitely has to make a decision to keep a good attitude sometimes. My number one rule: Don't dwell on the bad. My number two rule: Be grateful. (Evan helped me with that one.)

Today's Appointment

I had my weekly outing today. I have been feeling weird today and getting really flushed and hot in my face. My doctor said that bodies start acting weird once they stop moving, so I guess I'll just have to deal! I can tell my blood pressure has been low lately (which is what my medicine does), and today at the doctor's office it was 98/50. Ah well. Everything else was the same as it has been. My doctor says that he doubts I will make it to 37 weeks (I asked about bedrest after 37 weeks); he is just going to be happy to get me to 34. He even said that it may work out that he just lets me off bedrest after 34 or 35 weeks. My biggest concern is that I don't want Noelle to spend time in the NICU if at all possible. :-)

Nice Weekend

I have had a very nice weekend. :-) Mom went back to her house for the weekend and was going to take Nathan, but Evan decided to take Friday off so he could spend time with Nathan. It has been so nice to have a semi-normal weekend at home with the three of us. Evan has had quite a job between taking care of me and Nathan. When Mom is here with me, she gets a bit of a break every now and then when Nathan will come and just chill with me on the couch while reading a book or playing with something. He will also just come and play in the livingroom where I am. When Evan is home, he doesn't get a break from Nathan. Nathan wants to be with Daddy at all times. :-) I love watching them together.
So, I feel much more emotionally stable now. :-) I will be 30 weeks tomorrow, and I am very thankful that Noelle is still kicking around inside me. I'm trying to make small goals to look forward to. After I'm 32 weeks I can deliver at my hospital of choice; before then I have to go to a bigger hospital downtown. After 34 weeks my doctor said that I would have fewer restrictions since babies born at 34 weeks do really well. And at 37 weeks I'll probably be taking myself off bedrest. hee hee Okay, I might listen to my doctor's opinion.
Well, I think I'm going to go sit in my lounge chair outside for a bit! I have been missing the sunshine. And I'm so thankful that I picked up the lounge chair for 50 cents at a garage sale a couple of months ago. I do believe I'm getting my money's worth. :-)

Wowza

Okay, so I am pretty much an emotional wreck right now. ha My cervix is staying between closed and 1 cm. dilated, and my doctor told me today that I'll be on bedrest until I deliver. Hmph. He said I could lighten up a bit at 34 weeks, and there's no way I'll stay on any kind of bedrest after 37 weeks. ;-) I think he doesn't expect me to go that long. So, five weeks more of strict bedrest, and eight more until I'm 37 weeks. Wowza.
I don't like bedrest.
I've been reading my Charlotte Mason book Philosopy of Education and trying to figure out my approach to Nathan's education. :-) I know he's only three, but once Noelle does finally get here I won't be in much of a pondering mood for a while. ha And I truly enjoy reading about education. I look forward to teaching Nathan, and I think I'll be using quite a bit of Charlotte Mason's philosophy regarding education. I just have to figure out what will work best for Nathan, and how everything will fit into Evan's requirements. :-D I wish I had someone to discuss the book with, though.
Hmmm. I made a menu and grocery list tonight. I do not like the fact that I really don't know what is in my refrigerator anymore. Maybe I should follow Pooh's example and sing a Complaining Song. ;-) hee hee

Monday

So, life on bedrest. Funny, I really thought we had gotten past that point. I think my doctors were also thinking we were past that, too, because my specialist had said that the last appointment was more of a formality. I still am wondering exactly what happened. The specialist would’ve actually sent me home even after seeing my cervix shorten if only I hadn’t had another contraction while she was monitoring me. And, I think I only had the contraction because of how I was lying on the exam table. Ha Bodies are weird things anyway. I have an appointment with my regular doctor on Wednesday, so hopefully I’ll get to ask a few questions then.
I am feeling pretty stable today. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were a bit tough. I think those were my “wrap my head around it” days. :-) I just kept thinking of all the things I am not going to be able to do and, truthfully, feeling very sorry for myself. And a bit overwhelmed. Ha I definitely love my job and enjoy taking care of everything in my house. Having to let it all go and watch others do my work (or have it go undone) is a bit hard. I am so thankful to have Mom here to help me, though. I am just having to learn to let go.
Nathan is doing pretty well. I am so thankful that he loves to read and color. We did that together quite a bit today, and it makes me feel so much better to still be doing something with my kiddo. I think he enjoys all the reading, too. :-)

Home!

Wow. What a couple of days.
The past few weeks my cervix has been staying between 3.7 and 4.2 cm long, and my specialist was very happy. Yesterday I had my last appointment with her, more of a formality she had said, and something happened as she was measuring the cervix. The cervix went from 3.7 to 2.7. She said I had a contraction, although I didn’t feel it, and monitored me for thirty minutes. I had another contraction, so she wanted me to go to the hospital to be monitored for a couple of hours and to have my regular doctor digitally check me.
By the time I got to the hospital and was strapped into the monitors, I was freaking out and having light contractions. My doctor checked me and said I was one centimeter dilated. They gave me medicine to make my uterus calm down and also gave me a steroid shot to help mature Noelle’s lungs just in case I had her. Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike hospitals?? Noelle was NOT happy at the monitors being strapped to the outside of her home and proceeded to kick and push the monitors as much as possible. I don’t think that helped my uterus calm down. Ha It wasn’t until this morning that my uterus stopped being so touchy, and Noelle also decided to stop attacking the monitors. I had to laugh last night as the nurse was trying to find Noelle’s heartbeat. Every time the nurse would get the monitor on her, Noelle would kick like crazy and move. The nurse was even laughing and commented at how strong Noelle was (yes, there could be a bit of motherly pride leaking through there…ha).
I hardly slept last night, but I’m thankful that I only had to be there one night. Today my face started feeling really hot, and my eyes started burning. I was really wondering what was happening to me, but my doctor walked in and said that I had a nice steroid flush. Ha My face is still red, but I don’t feel like my eyes are burning anymore. I had to get one more steroid shot before I left the hospital this evening, so I’ll have a nice red glow for the next couple of days. My doctor checked me again this evening and was happy to tell me that my cervix had almost completely closed back up and that it was feeling much thicker than it did yesterday (thicker is good). He wants me on bedrest, and I have to keep taking the medicine for my contractions. Tonight, though, I’m just happy to be home.

Today's Appointment

Today's appointment went really well! My cervix is measuring around 3.77, and my specialist said that she is a happy camper. :-) If my cervix is still above 3 cm at 28 weeks, I'll be done with the specialist! Only 2 1/2 weeks to go! I am so thankful.
She also measured Noelle today and estimated her weight at 1 pound 14 ounces. She said that is four days ahead of schedule. :-) So, I came away from my appointment a very happy girl.
Right now I am procrastinating. I did not get a nap today, and I've been pretty busy getting ready to go camping tomorrow. I made muffins, went to my appointment, took Nathan to library time, ate lunch, made potato salad, roasted and cut up chicken to freeze (not exactly planned, but it had to be done), and made yogurt after supper. Of course, Hannah helped wash dishes and take care of Nathan through all of this, or I would not have gotten it all done. ha
Well, I'm going to go find another way to procrastinate now. ;-)

A post!

No, I haven't been to the doctor yet this week. :-) And it's been wonderful. I go on Thursday. A friend of mine just had her baby last night. At home. After three hours of labor. And forty weeks of pregnancy. So, I can't help but be a wee bit jealous. :-p
Hannah is still here, and I am loving it! She is a lot of help and also a good distraction. She's going to stay another one to three weeks then (hopefully) come back closer to my due date. Am I blessed or what?! All that time and effort I put into her all those years ago... hee hee It's funny, though; I turned twelve the day after she was born, and I carted her around so much that her mother called me her second mom. She's come to see us every summer since we've been married, which means since she was eight or nine years old.
Well, I can tell the Wii has been turned off. I suppose I should go. I'm praying that my cervix is behaving itself! :-)

Quick post

My cervix is now between 3.4-3.8, so my specialist is going to keep me on weekly appointments until 28 weeks. What we do after that will depend on how everything goes between now and then. Right now, I’m still 2 cm. from needing a cerclage, so it looks like I will not be getting one. She usually does not give cerclages after 24 weeks, and I’ll be 24 weeks on Monday. Believe me, I’m not shedding tears over that!
That’s about all I have time for this morning. I saw a TON of garage sale signs on my way to my appointment, but I think I’ll have to let them go this morning. Now that is sad.
P.S. I also got to see her opening and closing her mouth. The tech said it looked like she was drinking. ha I have so many ultrasound pics of this baby! It really isn't even funny.

Okay, so I am really not keeping up with this blog.
My cervix went from 4.8 to 4.0 in two weeks, and I’ve been on weekly appointments since then. However, it has stayed 3.8-4.0 the last two weeks, so the doctor isn’t too concerned. I have an appointment tomorrow, and if my cervix has stayed around the same we’ll go back to two-week appointments. If my cervix is 3.0 or above by the time I’m 28 weeks I won’t see the specialist anymore. I’ll just watch for preterm labor and go from there. Right now I’m 23 ½ weeks. This all sounds so cut and dry, but the last few weeks have been pretty emotional. I am thankful for every new week that I carry this baby, and I’m even more thankful for weeks like this one in which I actually enjoy being pregnant.
Hannah is here, and she is being a lot of help. Nathan was sick for about a week a couple of weeks ago, and between me and him we had three doctor appointments in one week. It was so nice to be able to take naps at weird times on those days and let Hannah watch Nathan.
I’ve made my bread recipe again, and it is still a keeper! I love making bread once a month! I made muffins yesterday, and I’m amazed at the difference it makes to soak the flour in buttermilk rather than yogurt. Soooo much better!
Okay, that’s about as much time as I have right now.

Walgreens today

My net loss: $9.63.

I was completely out of wet Swiffer refills, so this was a great time to stock up. I don't usually use the Swiffer a whole lot, but I will be using it more now since I don't see myself carrying around a bucket of mop water. ha Anyway, I was happy!

Friday!

I was going to go to garage sales this morning, but our 30% chance of rain turned into an all-morning downpour. :-) Maybe next week the weather and our lives will let me go. ha
I haven't snagged any awesome deals lately, but I've been stocking up on toilet paper!! :-) I was running low, so this was a perfect week for stocking up again. I try to buy whenever I can find it under 22 cents a roll. Interesting, hmmm?
I made and froze my own cream of mushroom soup this week; I've used it twice, and I can't tell a difference. I have been trying to slowly organize my freezer and use things that need to be used. I wish I could go ahead and freeze meals for after the baby comes while I actually have energy, but I guess I'll have to wait a few more months. :-)
My garden seems to be doing well. It's really small, but I didn't want to overdo it. I'm hoping that it's not drowning with all the rain we've had in the last week.
Everything on the pregnancy front seems to be going well. OH, I started my new prenatal vitamins this week, and I may just have to eat crow on all the complaining I did! My body seems to LOVE those vitamins! I hope it lasts!!
My next appointment is next week; this week I was grateful for a break.
Okay, I'm out of steam and needing a nap. :-)

Back into the light!

What a week. Actually, to anyone but me I think the week has looked fairly normal. My specialist appointment was okay. My cervix still looks good and long, but I'll probably start the progesterone next appointment since everyone is highly encouraging me to. Have I mentioned I hate medicine or fake hormones?? ;-) The technician did some sort of ultrasound where they look at and measure everything on baby, the uterus, and me that they possibly can. I had no idea that they would be measuring her arm and leg bones. ?? Or her heart chambers, brain lobes, and spinal cord. I probably would have been in a better mood about the whole ordeal had I felt better. I didn't realize that a technician repeatedly rolling the ultrasound "thingy" over my hernia would cause that much pain. Little Chick's heart was right under my hernia and at a weird angle, so the technician was trying to get a better picture.
I remembered the ask the specialist about all the bloodwork that she made me do last time; she hadn't had a chance to "sign off" on it but looked it over and prescribed me a new prenatal and some folic acid. I guess I have something where I don't metabolize folic acid in whatever form it generally comes, and I also have some gene that gives me a slight risk for blood clots. So I have to take a baby aspirin a day. The aspirin is not a big deal. The prenatal is a very big deal. I should take a picture of all the different bottles of prenatals I have tried over the past two years. I finally found one that I could take (2 of 6 pills, anyway), and now I have to switch. I'm not switching until my body recovers from the stress of this week, though. ;-)
I won't even go into my emotional difficulties. ha

Weighing Options

I had my regular ob appointment today, and he verified the fact that we are indeed having a little girl. :-) So I went and bought some girlie yarn. Hopefully she will be easier on her blanket than Nathan has been on his. ha
Anyway, he really recommends that I start taking progesterone. The specialist mentioned it to me, but I didn't really think much about it. My doctor's opinion is that we should do all we can to help my cervix stay at the wonderful length that it's at. I have my next appointment with the specialist tomorrow, so I've been trying to research progesterone a little before then. There is some research that shows positive results in women with a history of preterm labor, although other doctors say that the long-term effects have not been thoroughly studied (and probably won't be for another twenty or thirty years - ha). Soooo, I'm trying to get all the information that I can then go with whatever choice I have the most peace with. I am kind of thinking that if my cervix is still super long I should have plenty of time to start the progesterone if it even hints that it wants to start shortening. Most of the women on whom the studies were done had a cervical length of 1.5 cm or less (mine was 5 cm).
I guess I'm just writing out my options and thoughts. We'll see how the appointment goes tomorrow. I've definitely been a lot more active the past two weeks than I have been over the first part of my pregnancy. I actually think it helped with my dizziness, though. I went to church Sunday, walked up the stairs, and was able to remain standing (and singing)! Usually I don't last more than a minute without having to sit down.
I should go to bed now. My hubs has gone to my brother's apartment for free pizza and study time, and I should be in bed. I had an awful headache today that was probably caused, in part, by several nights of bad sleep. I have to have my sleep. :-)

Walgreens, again

4 Sunsilk - $1.09 each

2 Sunsilk - $2.19 each

Minus 3 $2/2 coupons

Total after tax: $3.48

Received: $6 RR

It would've only been around $1.28 if they'd had more of the $1.09 shampoo, but they did not. Still, I "made" $2.52 on these (plus I'm totally stocked on shampoo!).

I also did another transaction and got two packs of lightbulbs ($1.99 each) and a Colgate toothbrush ($3.29). The total was $6.89; I used a $6 RR and got $3.50 RR back. We needed lightbulbs, and Aldi didn't have any. :-)

I have about $22.50 in Register Rewards right now, and I plan on using them this next week to stock up on Canada Dry! Walgreens is having a sale where you buy 3/$11 and get $5 RR back (on the 12-pack of cans), so I'll be spending around $2 a pack for these. They are around $4 apiece at Walmart.

I went to Aldi today and did my grocery shopping. I have a hard time getting to Aldi because it's out of the way of our normal routes and Evan has been taking me shopping lately. So today I tried to stock up on items that I can't stand buying at Walmart because they are so much higher. I'm still trying to find my groove when it comes to shopping on the weekend and using my time wisely. :-)

Walgreens

6 Degree trial-size deodorant: 99 cents each.
1 Scunci hairband pack: $2.

Minus 6 75cent/1 coupons.

Total: $4.12

Received: $2 RR for hairbands and $6 RR for Degree.





Skintimate: $2.99
Scunci: $2

Total: $5.42

Received: $3 RR for Skintimate and $2 RR for hairbands





1 Cars Valentines w/lollipops pack: 25 cents.
6 trial-size Degree deodorant: 99 cents each.
Minus 6 75cent/1 coupons.

Total: $2.22

Received: $6 RR for Degree.

I spent a total of $11.76 today (including the gift card money and register rewards I used) and got a total of $19 in register rewards back. I love when everything goes as it should.

Refried Beans

I soaked 2 pounds of pinto beans all day yesterday, cooked them all night and some today in the crockpot, and then cooked and mashed them on the stove this afternoon! I was afraid they would be a bit watery because I didn't pour any liquid off, but they were the perfect consistency once they cooled. I cooked them in the crockpot with an onion and a half, 6-7 whole cloves of garlic, salt, cumin, and coriander. When I put them in a pan on the stove, I melted a stick of butter in the pan then put the beans in with a couple of the whole garlic cloves (I took out the onions). I was thoroughly impressed. I froze four bags of the beans and used the rest in our bean burritos this evening for supper. I also made some Mexican-type rice to go in the burritos and froze the rest of the plain rice.

That's about all I got done today. We spent a LOT of time outside. I pulled weeds in the front yard while Nathan dug in his "garden," our unused front flower bed. He just loves playing in the dirt. ha I enjoy having days where I feel like working! And I'm thankful that I am able to work and not have to be extremely cautious with my every move (or on bedrest). :-)

04-13-09

I feel like I've gotten a lot accomplished today, which is always a good feeling. I don't get to have that feeling too often. :-) I used this recipe to make potato soup this evening, and it was very good. We had salad, potato soup, and homemade bread. When I froze all my bread I wasn't too sure how it would reheat, but it is really good! I sliced it before I froze it, so I'm able to take out however many slices I want each time. Very nice. I will definitely be using that bread recipe again.
Well, I thought I would write more, but it's just not going to happen tonight!

Update

Everything went wonderfully at my specialist appointment! Well, except for the 10 or 11 vials of blood that they drew. About four years ago that would have sent me into orbit; it's amazing what having two kids will do for your ability to deal with needles. :-) I really like the specialist; I wasn't sure when I first saw her picture on the internet (yes, I was judging by her looks...ha). She is pretty sure we're having a girl, although I can't seem to commit to that until I hear my regular doc give his opinion. :-)
She was impressed with my cervical length, which said was about 5 cm. That is the distance from the bag of water to the outside of my cervix, and 5 cm. is a very good length. From what I have read, 3.4-4.0 cm. is an average cervix length. She also said my cervix is still curved and said that we would see the cervix straighten out before it starts shortening. All of that to say that we are at a very good starting point! She doesn't seem to think I have classic incompetent cervix (which I had wondered from the beginning), and that's why she ordered all the bloodwork to check for other issues that could have caused my cervix to open prematurely last time. She also said that she won't even consider a stitch unless I go under 2 cm. before 24 weeks.
So, that is what we're working with! I was extremely relieved to hear how long my cervix is and to hear that a cervix that is shortening rarely loses more than 1 cm. in two weeks. I guess all my weird sensations I can actually chalk up to a "normal" pregnancy! :-)
Gotta run!

What I'm up to

I found a bread recipe that we ALL like, not just Nathan!!!! :-) The recipe is here. So far, I have found that her recipes are generally ones that we will like, so I am making a list of different recipes of hers that I want to try! She incorporates a lot of the Nourishing Traditions ideas, too.

I made four loaves of bread and froze one whole and the other three sliced. Evan said he liked the bread, but the proof came the next evening when he made himself two pieces of buttered bread to eat and said again how much he liked the bread. :-) It's always nice to have some success, especially after my pizza dough turned out really hard. The pizzas turned out fine, but I had to call Evan in to roll out the dough because it was so hard!

Today I finally did some much-needed cleaning around here. I didn't get everything done, but I definitely made myself feel better about my surroundings. :-) Tomorrow is my first appointment with my specialist, and I am ready to have that done. I just don't know what to expect from this doctor; I just hope she's good. Of course.

A post I like

At a blog I enjoy...

I have many thoughts on her post, but I don't really have the time to muddle through them to create a post of my own. :-) So I will take from another place.

"Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls--yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills."
Habakkuk 3:17-19

The comfort in those verses is that the whole situation is bad; there is nothing good to be seen. Yet the prophet determines, sets his will, to rejoice in the Lord. For some reason, these verses give me strength today.

Instead of cleaning...

I am blogging. ha My house is in serious disarray after having company over the weekend and pretty much lying around most of the week. My kitchen is clean (if you only count the sink, counter, and stove), and supper is in the crockpot, but my house! I am feeling very overwhelmed, which is probably the reason I am blogging and not being productive. That, and I'm getting off my feet for a few minutes after cooking lunch. :-) I DID pay bills, though! And laundry is actually IN THE WASHING MACHINE!
Oh, Evan took me to Walmart last night, and I spent $9.48! Want to know what I got?? Of course you do. :-) A package of boxers ($7, I'm laughing as I type this because Evan said he must need more since he's been running out; I told him that is only because his wife has been out of commission the last few days...which happened to be the laundry days.), 6 oranges, 4 boxes of Knox gelatin, 2 cans of Pringles, 5 apples, 3 bananas, a package of strawberries, a cantaloupe, and a bottle of Kraft Italian dressing. Isn't it great?!
Anyway, the specialist's office finally called me yesterday and got me scheduled for an appointment next Wednesday, the 8th. I am SO happy that I got in to see my doctor because it would have been horrible stress for the next week if I'd had to wait and wonder that whole time. I wasn't too impressed, though, when I talked to the receptionist at the specialist's office. First she told me that I was 10 1/2 weeks (I'm 15); then she said that they could get me in on the 16th. They were supposed to see me this week. So I told her no, and she miraculously got me in on the 8th. I hope I don't have to be this pushy my whole pregnancy.
On the baby front, I think I have felt the little peanut move a couple of times. Fun, but scary. I have also made the huge step of pulling out my maternity jeans today. :-) Ahhhhhhhh. It's amazing how much better they feel than the one pair of jeans that I was wearing. I can't believe I'm actually in my sixteenth week already.
Okay, I'm going to go switch over the laundry and see if I can get my living room into order. Baby steps, right??

Update

The doctor said my cervix is long, long, long. Yay!! And he was pretty perturbed that the specialist's office had not called me yet. :-) He said that he would call them. Anyway, I was so relieved that I cried...and forgot to ask what the stink was causing the pressure (so now Mom is mad at me - ha). Isn't that nice?

Doctor's appointment today

So, I have a doctor's appointment today. The last three days I have been feeling a lot of pressure, this was the week I was supposed to have my first specialist appointment, and I have had MAJOR issues with getting in with the lack of communication between the doctors' offices themselves and between the doctors' offices and the insurance company. Oh, I didn't mention the lack of communication between the doctor's office and ME. I've had to be a pushy patient this week, but I got through. I still haven't heard from the specialist's office, but I'm supposed to give them until tomorrow.
I finally got through to my nurse, and she is going to work me in this afternoon with my doctor. I feel better today, of course, but I am still going in. I just need to have everything checked for my own peace of mind. The last few days I've been going through every emotion possible, and stress does not do nice things to my body. I told the nurse that I would love to tell myself that it's nothing and not to worry, but I did that last time with bad results. I think once I start going in every week I'll feel better (since I don't think the cervix will just open overnight), but right now I have no clue if my cervix is doing okay or not. It hasn't been looked at since I was nine weeks.
Anyway, that is what is going on around here. I have been lying around and burning up the phone lines. ha I am praying that I get a good report today, although I'll feel guilty that I was so pushy when nothing was wrong. But, I told my doctor beforehand that I was going to be like this. I don't think they can expect anything different. It's hard to blow stuff off whenever you start having flashbacks of what happened last time.

Blathering

The trip to Texas went really well. I got a bit overwhelmed when I got home and needed to clean, wash clothes, grocery plan, and grocery shop. J Cleaning went on the back burner and is just now being slowly done. I am really having to learn flexibility with my grocery shopping since I can’t just take Nathan and go and Evan hasn’t been very available on the weekends (huge project). I always loved doing my grocery shopping in the middle of the week when there weren’t many people at the store, and now that’s about the only time I can shop. Some days that REALLY bugs me. J Ah well. All for a good cause.
Speaking of good causes, my little “cause” is doing well. I went to the doctor on Monday and got to hear the heartbeat. I’m now waiting for a call from the specialist’s office to set up an appointment. I’ve struggled a bit more this week with my thoughts. I guess more little aches and pains and weird feelings are setting in, and it is hard for me to write them off as “normal” anymore. I am trying to take it easy as much as possible since I’m getting close to the time when it matters, but I have such a hard time when there is always something that needs to be done. I hate feeling useless.
Right now I’m taking a break from cleaning. After the heavy task of sweeping (yes, that’s sarcasm), my back and side were hinting that I should stop for a break. Isn’t that ridiculous? The problem is that I don’t know how many of my aches are from a lack of activity and how many are true “take a break” signs. It drives me crazy to feel lazy (ha ha ha), but I would much rather err on the side of caution. I guess I should stop complaining. ;-)
When we came back from Texas I brought home several bags of peas, bell pepper, and squash that were frozen. MeeMaw is trying to clean out some space in her freezers since garden season is almost here again, and I was more than willing to help her out. I would’ve come home with a lot more, but we were limited on space. If Stephen goes to Texas soon, I’m going to be sending him with an ice chest. Ha
Well, my back is feeling better, so I think I’ll try to clean the bathroom now. One of my sister-in-laws is coming in this weekend, so I’m really trying to get the main things clean. Having a son who uses the bathroom on his own is NOT exactly helpful.

Texas, here we come!

I'm taking advantage of what will probably be my last opportunity to go to Texas until the baby comes. I am pretty much done with the nausea, and I'm not to the point where I need to be carefully watched. So I am going. I always hate leaving Evan, but I am actually excited to be going. I think Evan's preoccupation with school and my inability to get out much both contribute to my antsiness. :-)
I have Evan stocked up on food. I roasted a chicken last night then used the bones to make broth. I made chicken salad with half of the leftover chicken, and the other half I used in my chicken noodle soup I made today with the broth. Evan loves chicken noodle soup. :-) He has a few other meals, as well, so he should be set.
Now I'm tired, and I haven't even packed my bags yet. I did make my soaked flour muffins this afternoon, and they turned out really well. I used buttermilk to soak the flour instead of yogurt, and I think it works much better for muffins. I'm taking muffins and other things I've made to try to keep a little of the same diet for me while I'm there.
Well, I should go pack. I guess. Or go watch a movie with Mom and Evan. The bad thing is that I need to get out my maternity clothes and see if there are a few things in there I can wear.

Wipes!

I went to Target today and spent about $6.80 on this stuff. My total before coupons was almost $28. I think I have enough wipes to last me quite a while. :-)

Today

I have a hard time with post titles, especially when I am mainly just rambling. :-)
I scooped poop yesterday; today my back is really hurting. I don't know if it was just the scooping or all the kneading yesterday, as well, that pushed me over the edge. I feel so out of shape, but I don't know if there is much I can do about it.
My half-and-half bread turned out okay. It just has a weird taste, and I'm not sure exactly what it comes from. I have a hard time believing it is just from the wheat flour, but I just don't know. Hmph. ;-)
I did make whole wheat pizza dough this evening, and it turned out really well! I was so happy! It made enough dough for four pizzas, so I made two and froze the dough for the other two. It feels so wonderful when something actually works. ha

03-09-09

I'm officially twelve weeks today. :-) I think this is the "silent period" of pregnancy. I don't feel yucky, and I don't feel anything moving. I just don't really feel pregnant. Okay, other than the fact that I have all of two pairs of pants to wear. ;-) It will probably be another month or so before I can feel baby. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the heartbeat at the next appointment.
I went to Walgreens with Mom this weekend and got about $65-worth of diapers for $15. I almost feel badly for stocking up so early, but it was a really good deal! I also got two huge cans of Planters cashews, two bottles of Coffeemate creamer, Garnier shampo, Glade Sense&Spray, a box of PediaSure snack bars, Colgate toothpaste, and Glad Clingwrap for $9 and some change. :-)
I am going to try to get free Huggies wipes at some point this week. It depends on whether or not I can find them at a Walgreens around here.
This morning I made sourdough waffles, and they were good! Last night I took out a cup of my starter and added two cups of warm water and three cups of flour (two white, one wheat). This morning I added eggs, coconut oil, salt, honey, and baking soda. I was pretty impressed!
I am making bread again today, and I'm trying half white, half wheat. I figure it's better than nothing if Evan will eat it! ;-) I'm ready to see how it turns out. I have one loaf left from last week, but Evan will not eat it. ha I'm hoping to try the sourdough pancake recipe at some point. I want to have things like the waffles and pancakes made ahead and frozen for quick meals for Nathan and me.
I guess that's all for now!

Whew!

I feel so tired! This week has been interesting. Wednesday night I started getting a sore throat, and Thursday morning my lower back was hurting. By lunch my lower abdomen was cramping, and I was pretty scared since everything felt like I was about to "start." I lay down while Nathan was taking a nap then sat for most of the afternoon/evening. Nathan was great and sat almost an hour and a half (with a couple of breaks for potty and jumping up to get something) with me reading books. I don't know if he was feeling a bit down, too; but he was definitely more sedate and cuddly than normal. :-) Thursday night my stomach was starting to feel better, but I had a little fever. When I woke up this morning, I felt pretty much back to normal, other than being a little tired. Hopefully, that's over and nothing else will come of it. Of course, I'm feeling every little ache or pain and trying to ignore them!
Evan actually came home early today, so I was able to go to the grocery store and get that out of the way. We're heading to my parents tonight, and I am very happy. My "running around" has been drastically cut down lately, so I've been feeling pretty couped up, especially since Evan has been so busy. Usually I'm just going to the grocery store or running to Walgreens, but it's funny how those times count as "getting out." I haven't been able to do that much lately just because I can't put Nathan in a cart (I'm not lifting him anymore) and he's not the greatest at making a relaxing shopping trip when he's out of the cart. ha
So, that is life right now. I don't have another appointment for two and a half weeks, but I'll be really happy to hear a heartbeat. After that appointment, I'll be shortly starting the weekly appointments. In some ways, these first almost twelve weeks have flown by.

03-03-09

The bread wasn’t really what I expected. Nathan likes it, though! It is just very different and not at all like MeeMaw’s sourdough bread. Of course, hers is made with white flour, so I suppose that would make a lot of difference. I haven’t decided yet if the bread recipe can be worked with. I might still try the waffles; Nathan will eat them if nothing else. He ate two slices of bread this morning with honey. I ate a piece of bread with eggs on top. It really wasn’t bad. I remember the bread I ate in Russia was a lot like this bread, and I actually got accustomed to it and craved it when I got back home. Hmmmm…
Today I am not being nearly as motivated. I just feel worn out. Ha I do have my beans in the crockpot for Red Beans and Rice, and today is the perfect day for them.
I am still reading my Charlotte Mason books. I just finished School Education and have started Ourselves. So far, I am not getting interested in Ourselves. I am hoping that will change as I read. I did enjoy the end of School Education because she gave her opinion of a general schedule for school. The more I read, the more I feel that her general approach to education is the one that I would love to use. Everything she says rings true with what I learned through my personal and teaching experiences. I am glad I have a bit of time before I have to put the "rubber to the road," though. It's nice to have the time to plan what you want to do and find the books and resources that you will need.

Busy Morning

I feel so productive this morning! I have been making my sourdough starter for a week now, and today is bread-making day! I actually got up before my son today to read; then I made my bread dough. I definitely got my upper-body workout in the 10-12 minutes of kneading. :-) Nathan had his own little piece of dough that he was working on. So, now I wait until my dough doubles (probably sometime this afternoon), and I'll have to knead it again and put it in the bread pans to rise again. Hopefully I'll have bread pictures by the end of the day! ha I hope, hope, hope that it turns out well. I love sourdough bread. I am actually contemplating sourdough waffles tomorrow. Here is the link to my inspiration.
We are having deer roast tonight, so I also had to brown the roast and put that in the crockpot this morning. Since I was already pretty busy, I decided to put my veggies in later in the day. I just put the deer broth (homemade), onion, celery, and garlic in the bottom of the crockpot and put the roast on top; I'll add the carrots and potatoes later. We'll see how that works. Now I'm taking a break before cleaning the kitchen and starting laundry. :-)
By the way, my husband is going straight to the library after work today to work on his research project, so does anyone want supper?? ha ha

A deal!!!

Whew! It's been a while! I don't think I had been to Walgreens in over three weeks! I don't think it hurt me, although I did have two RR's that expired. I have used expired ones before, though; so I am hopeful they will still work.

My profit on the five items in the picture was about $4. :-)

We also stopped by Quiznos today while we were out and picked up our two free subs (Turkey, Bacon, Guacamole). I thought we would at least have to pay tax or something, but we walked out without paying a dime! Since we are going on a pretty strict budget, I was even more happy that we "ate out" without touching our "eat out" money. :-)

Hmmm. I suppose I haven't yet announced to the blogging world that I'm pregnant. So there. :-) We're cautiously optimistic, as Evan says, and I am even thinking about doing the Huggies diaper deal in a couple of weeks. I really haven't let myself get too excited, although I can honestly say that I am hopeful. We have planned for "in case," so I do not think much about having to be on bedrest. I am going to hope for the best and yet know that we are as prepared as we can be for the next-to-worst. Worst, I suppose, would be a repeat of last time.

This blog will probably be the blog that contains all the details of my pregnancy (cervix lengths, appointments, etc.), so be prepared! I am just happy that I actually feel like blogging again. :-) For a while there I was doing good to keep my home from completely going to shambles.

Enough for today!

Character

Here is a quote from Charlotte Mason's School Education:

"...train character and intellectual ‘development’ largely takes care of itself...."

What do you think?
I think I may agree. Now, intellectual development does not mean the aquisition of knowledge, but the actual development of intellect (the capacity for knowledge, the capacity for rational or intellegent thought). Is one's capacity for knowledge and rational thought limited by one's character?
More later...

Homeland - $10.50

Homeland doubles coupons up to a dollar, once per transaction (they won't keep doubling the same coupon). Sometimes this works out really well...


2 Kraft cheese: 2/$4 - $1/2 (coupon doubled)=$2


1 Quaker oats: $2 - $0.60 (doubled)= $0.80

2 Quaker Chewy Bars: $4 - $1/2 (doubled)= $2

2 Quaker Life cereal: $4 - $1/2 (doubled)=$2

2 Wheat Thins: 2/$4 - $2/2=$2

2 Pace Picante Sauce: 2/$3 - $0.75/2 (doubled)=$1.50

1 Kraft Mayo: $2.50 - $0.75 (doubled)=$1

1 pkg. Chinet plates: $2.50 - $1 (doubled)=$0.50

I also used a Homeland coupon for $3 off for buying 5 Quaker products.

My total before coupons was around $28; my total after coupons was $10.50.

Woo hoo!!! Okay, well, I was impressed. ;-)

Homeland

What I bought:
2 8-oz. bags of cheese (2/$4)
2 cans of Hormel chili ($1 each)
1 box of Swiss Miss ($1)
2 bottles of Suave ($1 each)
2 6-oz. cartons of blueberries ($1 each)
2 avocados ($1 each)
1 cucumber ($1), not pictured

My total after coupons and tax: $12.67.

The Suave was free after Homeland doubled my coupon, and the chili was 45 cents a can after my coupon. I probably could have gotten the avocados and cucumber cheaper at Aldi, but I don't know when I'm going, and I needed them. :-) The blueberries were a great deal, though!! I make buttermilk blueberry pancakes with them, and they are GOOD! Nathan and Evan also just like them raw.

Yesterday and today

I started a post yesterday, but it took on too much of a ranting note for my tastes. ha No, it wasn't about politics; it was actually about my frustration with Quicken and the fact that my child decided that he didn't want to use the potty during the time I was frustrated with Quicken. :-) I was a bit tired last night. However, I did get Quicken figured out, and I also swept, mopped, and vacuumed. Yay!
Today I have started my deer broth (I had to use an ax to get the leg bone down to fit my crockpot!), taken the kiddo to get a haircut, read books, and played Legos. I know there are other things to be done, but I haven't thought hard enough about it yet. I am definitely a "list" person. :-) I would actually love to take a nap, but I feel slightly ridiculous since I slept from 9:30 last night until 7:00 this morning. I didn't even hear the alarm! Oh well.

My first time...

So, Nathan and I were reading books this morning, and he handed me a book that was given to him at the library (the library had given everyone at library time a few baby books). I was reading it to him when I noticed something odd about the page on the left. Hmmmm, thought I. Then I kept going. I couldn't get a very good picture of the next page (I would be showing you who was pushing the stroller with the twins), but I did manage to get a good one of the facing page... See anything interesting?

Walgreens 01-18-09

My total after I went in and got my money back...$13.14. And I got $4 in RR back, too. I was a bit irritated because I forgot to use my $4.50 in RR from last time, but they don't expire for a while, so I'm okay.

Magic Erasers (LOVE these): 2/$5

Kleenex: 2/$1.98

Kotex: 2/$6 (then got $1 RR for these)

Tylenol: 2/$10 (then got $3 RR for these)

I used two $0.40/1 coupons on the Kleenex, two $1.50/1 coupons on the Kotex, and two $4/1 coupons on Tylenol. I actually made a dollar on the Tylenol and spent a dollar each on the Kotex. The magic erasers were the most expensive items, but they work really well on our bathtub. The Tylenol rang up $7.49 each the first time around (instead of $5 each), and I figured that out on my way out of the store as I was doing my mental total in my head. ha So I went back and got my $5.40 back. ;-)

What I'm up to

I’m not being as productive today as I was yesterday. Even though yesterday brought some issues that I didn’t greatly enjoy (my son had bowel trouble which began with him soiling, terribly, two pairs of underwear and ended with me giving up and putting a pull-up on him), I still had a fairly productive day. We went to the library for library time, made bread (my first try in a long time), made yogurt, swept the kitchen, let the dogs in, swept the kitchen again, and vacuumed the whole house. Okay, so it doesn’t sound so impressive once I write it out, but I felt really productive! We all really liked the bread recipe I used, so I definitely think I will be making bread again.
I think I have mentioned making Avocado Yogurt Dip; I use avocado, yogurt, and a bit of red pepper. Yesterday I made the dip, left out the red pepper, and added chopped red onion. It was very good! We ate it with pretzels, but I’m trying to think of something better to eat it with…any ideas? I’m trying to stay away from white flour lately (it and sugar seem to give me grief), so I may just have to buy some whole wheat crackers. I wish there were a veggie that went well with avocado dip. I tried carrots…nope.
Hmmm, what else can I talk about… Oh! I am reading through Charlotte Mason’s homeschool series, and I really enjoy the reading. I am almost finished with the first book Home Education, Training and educating children under nine. I don’t know why I always feel obliged to say this about books that I enjoy, but “I do not agree with everything in the book.” Ha There is so much good in the book, though, so many ideas and useful tips. I would almost go as far as to say that every mother should read this book, whether she chooses home, public, or private school. I have many other thoughts about this book, but I’ll save those for a later post.
Well, that is all for now. I can’t believe I was actually in a writing mood today! Now I need to transfer that motivation to some chores around here.

Walgreens 01-12-09

Two Listerine, two Celestial Seasonings tea, and one Revlon eye pencil: $22.48 plus tax, minus $15.49 in coupons ($3 off $10, $10 RR, $3.49 Celestial Seasonings): $5.65.

I paid $5.65 on my Walgreens gift card (and used my $10 RR). I got $4.50 RR and will get $10.99 back on my gift card.
My loss: $0.16

And Evan had just told me this morning that we needed more mouthwash!! ;-) Okay, I was impressed. ha

Walgreens 01-10-09

Four Garnier Fructis gel and one Orajel overnight patch: $20.45 plus tax.
Minus $13.00 in coupons: $9.26.
I spent $9.26 on my Walgreens gift card, and I will get $9.34 back on my gift card. Then I will send in for the Orajel rebate and should get $8.oo back for that.
My profit (about): $8.08

Walgreens 01-10-09

Three Flintstones children's vitamins and one bottle of Flintstones (at Mom's, not pictured).
$20.00 plus tax, minus $7.00 in coupons:
$14.77.

I spent $14.77 in my rebate cash and got $10 Register Rewards back. I am also going to send in for the 1/2 price rebate, so I should get $6.50.
My profit: $1.73.

Alone

I will be without the physical presence of my child for two days next week. I'm a bit unsure of the outcome. The last (and only) time I left him for a couple of days I was with Evan the whole time. This time I will be at home...where he should be. :-) Hmmmm.
My mom offered to keep him for a few days, and I accepted (I could hear the surprise in her voice). I was a bit unsure at first but then decided that there are many things I could get done in two days. So I am now going to work on my list. I must have a list. I am in a "get 'er done" mood today, so I am hoping I can recapture that mood again next week. :-)

Walgreens 01-09-09

I am not posting a picture today. :-) I am cold, and I don't want to get the Ben & Jerry's out of the freezer. ha
My deal:
2 Ben & Jerry's pints of ice cream 2/$6
2 Garnier Fructis $2.99 each
1 Walgreens brand bottle of hand sanitizer 99 cents (had to get this because my coupons were two cents over the cost of the items)

Used two $3/1 Ben & Jerry's coupons
Used EasySaver coupon on Garnier - $2 off each
Used two Garnier $1/1 coupons

I paid $2.07.

I should have found a bag or something that cost less, but the hand sanitizer was close, and I needed some for my purse. :-)

Walgreens 01-08-09

My total: $8.46

Milk 2.79

Milk 2.79

Dish soap 1.69 (clearance)

Dish soap 1.69 (clearance)

Garnier Fructis 2.99

Garnier Fructis 2.99

Garnier Fructis 2.99

Before coupons: $17.93 (without tax)

Used Walgrens EasySaver coupon on Garnier: -$6.00 (on three)

Used three Garnier Fructis mfg. coupons: -$3.00

Used two Seventh Generation online coupons: -$2.00

Plus tax

Homeland Today!

I spent $12.55 at Homeland today.

Milk $2.88/gal.

Kellogg's $4.29 for two (BOGO)

Blueberries $3.00 for two

Broccoli $1.39

Eggs $0.99/each

Total would have been: $17.56 (with tax).

I think I did pretty well!! :-)

New Year!

It's a new year. It's amazing how time flies.
I'm glad I can look back over 2008 with fairly stable emotions. Last year at this time I was looking with hatred upon the year of 2007. Nathan had surgery (not major, but not easy for a 7-month-old and his momma), and we lost Nicholas. It was a year of dashed hopes and much pain. This past year had its ups and downs, but I feel that I finished the year with a brighter outlook. It was a healing year. I feel ready to hope again. I don't feel as if I'm carrying a huge raw wound around trying to dodge offense and pain.
So, we are on to a new year. I have no idea what it holds. I do have hope, though. And hope is good.