Before the Storm

We had several tornado warnings this past Saturday, but right before the bad weather really hit us, this is what we saw in the sky. There are actually two rainbows. A fainter one is right above the vivid one. I always feel blessed every time I see one. I know it is a gift from God. The wind and rain hit us about an hour after that. It only lasted a few minutes. We were in Wal Mart when it hit, but by the time we left, it had already passed. The winds hit a few places in town including destroying the front of our older movie theater.

Tomorrow, I'll be 39 weeks. Going into labor is most of what I'm thinking about at this point. Every pain sends a thought of, "Was that a contraction?" My emotions are pretty much on a roller coaster ride. My hopes are up. My hopes are down. My hopes are up, and so on. Poor Scamp and Beef. I'm so irritable. I've felt a bit more encouraged today, but it is a trying time, a worrisome time. I want everything to be ok with the baby. I don't want to be induced, but at the same time, the waiting is really getting to me.

I'm also worried about the big change that is about to happen in our household. I have a hard time with change. Two children instead of one. How will we all survive?! I was freaked out, too, when I was pregnant with Scamp. I disliked people asking me if I was excited. Yes but more so freaked out about being a mother. I do have a little more confidence since this will be the second one.

This tends to happen to me: I freak out, lose faith, see that everything turns out just the way God intended, then I wonder why I ever doubted. I'm on my own journey through the wilderness. Gee, isn't it funny that that is exactly what we are studying in BSF? The books of Moses as he led the Israelites through the desert. And as if that big honking rainbow in the sky didn't speak clearly enough to me to have hope.

I really could use some prayers.:)

Teen Lit Review and the Blog Party

This post will be stickied until the end of the blog party, but scroll down for new posts.

Hey guys! It's that time of year again to participate with the 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog party, but unfortunately Scamp's Place won't be participating this year (due to the fact I am very pregnant and don't think I can handle trying to manage two blogs with the party).

However, Teen Lit Review (the other blog I run along with Angi), is participating, and we are giving away two teen books. Please click on the TLR link above to go straight to our party. Thanks to any new faces who might come by to say hi!

Scamp's Animal Parade

I had my 38-week doctor's appointment today and found out there has been no progress towards me going into labor. It is getting harder to wait. I took Scamp with me to the office. She is always so good while we're there and hides behind the little changing curtain and pretends it's her house.

After we left the building and got to the car, I cried. Scamp was really concerned and said, "Why you cryin', Mama?" I told her I was just ready to have the baby. She told me we were going to see baby sister soon and not to cry. She was so sweet.

We went to the outlet mall after that and got some specialty chocolates. I needed something to cheer me up. We went home, and I let her play for another hour before bed. I fixed her a snack and told her I was coming up to her room to put her to bed, and this is what I found: Scamp smirking from ear-to-ear and all (I mean all) her animals and babies lined up on the steps for an Animal Parade. This made my day. You've got to see the video below.

Birthday Pool Party

Sunday, we went to my nephew's (Bubby) 6th birthday party at the pool. I can't believe he is six already. He's had a big year with starting kindergarten. He had the stomach flu earlier but was able to still have fun at the party. He even had to be rescued by a lifeguard. He went into the 5 foot area without his life vest on. He was bobbing up and down, not panicking, so the lifeguard near him didn't think anything was wrong. But, another one a little further away saw him and tried to give him a life preserver, but when he didn't take it, she jumped in after him. We got a good scare, but Bubby wasn't even upset. When I was about his age, I went under and had to have my sister, Bubby's mom, pull me out. I cried and didn't want to get back into the pool for awhile.

Scamp had to wear her shades in the indoor pool. The party was in the evening, and the sun wasn't even shining through the windows. She's so adorable. She had the biggest time in the kiddie pool with her other cousins until she got mad at Bubby. She whopped him in the face with her bucket then cried when he yelled at her to stop. We didn't know what had happened until we saw the welt on Bubby's face!

Here's a good preggy shot of me. I'm 38 weeks today and still holding on. I'm ready to have this baby anytime you are, dear Lord!

Week 37

Can you believe I'm at week 37? Many of my friends say that the pregnancy has flown by, and I just laugh. It seems as though I've been pregnant for years! I'm already dilated to 2 1/2 cm and have been for almost 2 weeks. So, I really could go into labor anytime. I'm hoping for next week!

I've been so busy getting the house ready and going through Scamp's old baby clothes. That girl had a lot of teeny baby clothes. And now there all washed and sorted except for one load. Whew!

My 2 sisters-in-law and mother-in-law came over a couple of weeks ago and painted the new nursery for us. It's purple with a 2-foot pink horizontal stripe in the middle of the wall and a 3-inch green stripe on the top and bottom of the pink one. I have some pictures, but I always have trouble uploading them from my laptop.

I have a bag packed for me, Scamp, and new Baby Squirt, so we'll be ready to go when the moment arrives. I'm having the biggest trouble finding pajamas to wear at the hospital though. Hopefully, I'll find some this week.

The one-year anniversary of when we lost the last baby due to an ectopic pregnancy is Monday, March 23. So, Squirt could be born on that day. To see what God has done one year later is amazing, and I am so thankful for the new little life we are about to have.

I miss all my bloggy friends I haven't been able to check up with the last several weeks. I am thinking of all of you!

Snow Days '09

It usually snows here in March, and we certainly didn't miss out on snow this year. We got a whopping 2-3 inches! At least this year, we had enough snow to make a snowman before it melted away. BTW, that's Scamp's birthday cake above.
I was so glad to have a coat that actually zipped. Squirt was all bundled up!


At my parent's home about 30 minutes away they got several more inches. My mom measured 9 inches. This was the second day of snow when Scamp and I traveled up to see my niece, nephew and dad who were off for the day.

I wish I could have rode the sled my dad hitched up to his T-Rex. Maybe next year.

Make-up Worries

I am proud to say that Scamp no longer asks for her pacifiers. She even found one a couple of days ago and brought it straight to me to cut up. Here she is with her first round of Big Girl make-up. I was a little disappointed that all the eye-shadow was cream instead of powder. We end up making a big mess every time we use it, but Scamp loves every minute of it.

(Above) Here is my version of putting make-up on a three year old, just enough to make her eyes shine.

Here's Scamp's version (when she puts it on herself): Scary Eyes as she calls them.

Do you think I'm going to be in some big trouble when she's old enough to wear make-up?

The Great Passey Exchange

My three and almost a half year old Scamp has still been sleeping with a pacifier. I've noticed many people have strong views about passeys, and I used to be one of those people who would question why a two or three year old still had a passey. It's hard to take away something that your child feels they need. Scamp is emotionally attached to her passey like other children are attached to their blankets or stuffed animals. Plus, her daddy and I are attached to it since it has so long served as a calming agent. It's hard to tell a three-year old in the back seat of the car no to her passey when she's screaming and crying uncontrollably.

This past week my mom (aka Nana) offered to buy Scamp the big-girl make-up she's been wanting for months if she threw her passeys away. We talked with Scamp about it everyday, and she would agree until naptime or bedtime rolled around. Finally, I set the passey-throwing away event for yesterday, Monday. As soon as Scamp got up, we cut up her passeys at her request then threw them in the garbage. But, her daddy and I hid two just in case.:)

Scamp and I got dressed and headed to Walgreen's to buy the Hannah Montana make-up kit she chose prior. Scamp was very excited. I even had Scamp tell the cashier why she was getting the make-up to help reinforce her decision to throw the passeys away. We got home and opened the box immediately and let her choose whatever colors she wanted. She called her Nana and her Meme (Beef's mom) to tell them the wonderful news.

I continued to talk with Scamp about how she wouldn't have a passey for nap today, but when her 2:00 pm naptime came, she freaked out. She came running into the bathroom where I was drying my hair, crying and saying she didn't want to be a big girl anymore. I tried to comfort her by telling her she could do it with her responding back that no she couldn't.

Finally, her daddy, who works from home, told her he would put her to bed. She was upset for about ten minutes, but he calmed her down by letting her watch a TV show before bed. She fussed in her bed for several minutes and finally fell asleep. The same reaction happened before bedtime last night as well. But, today was much better. She asked me to buy her more passeys, but she didn't cry for nap today. I'm proud of her and have been telling her that often. I hope the rest of the week goes as well as this afternoon. Way to go Baby Girl!

Silliness at the Doctor's Office

Today, I am 33 weeks and only have six more weeks left until my due date. Hooray! Last week's doctor's visit went well. The baby is growing. Usually, I take Scamp with me to my non-invasive visits (if you know what I mean) as I did this past week.

We are standing at the receptionist's desk in front of several other waiting patrons when Scamp asks, "Mama, do you have to pee in a cup today?"

I can see that the receptionist heard her when a huge grin appears on her face. I'm too embarrassed to turn and see who also has heard. I reply back, laughing, "Yes, baby, I do."

We are sent back to the restroom, and Scamp points to the cups and exclaims, "Get you cup, Mama." She can hardly contain her excitement. When it's her turn to use the potty, she lets me know matter-of-factly that she does not need a cup. "No, you don't, baby. No, you don't," I say trying not to laugh.

Oh, the laughs she gives me. I love my little Scamp.

A-Z Meme

Stole it from FB!

A-Z
Give it a try, but you have to do it right. Copy this whole thing, go to your profile/notes/new note, right click and paste, put the subject back in the title line.

Then comes the hard part. Replace my answers with your own! Then over to the right you can tag as many of your friends as you'd like…include me too, please, so I can see.

A
- Available: nope
- Age: 30
- Annoyance: Why eating makes me feel so bad?!
- Animal: Cats, any type. I can't resist them!

B
- Beer: Never tried it.
- Birthday: You know if you know
- Best Friend: Yes please
- Blind or Deaf: Deaf
- Best weather: cool fall day, hot summer day at the pool
- Been in Love: Yes
- Believe in Magic: I believe in miracles.
- Believe in Santa: no

C
- Candy: chocolate with caramel
- Color: purple
- Chocolate/Vanilla: vanilla ice cream, chocolate everything else
- Chinese/Mexican Food: anytime
- Cake or pie: cake
- Continent to visit: Australia
- Cheese: processed

D
- Day or Night: Day
- Dancing in the rain: no, who has time to take a shower afterward?!

E
- Eyes: brown
- Everyone's got: issues
- Ever failed a class: no

F
- First thoughts waking up: What do I have to do today?
- Food: Homecookin'

G
- Greatest Fear: persecution
- Goals: to be a writer
- Gum: no way
- Get along with your parents: yes, thank goodness!

H
-Hair Color: Highlighted
- Height: 5'8"
- Happy: hormonal!!
- Holiday: birthdays
- How do you want to die: peacefully

I
- Ice Cream: oreo
- Instrument: sax

J
- Jewelry: don't wear much besides my wedding rings
- Job: Baby Mama

K
- Kids: Can't live without them
- Kickboxing or karate: kickboxing
- Keep a journal: a blog

L
- Love: hard
- Laughed so hard you cried: Beef has several embarrassing stories, all of which make me laugh uncontrollably

M
- Milk: Mmm
- Movie: Pride & Prejudice
- Motion sickness: Often, even when I'm not pregnant
- McD’s or BK: McD's

N
- Number: 5 - my softball number. Boy, do I miss playing.

O
- One wish: to build a home

P
- Pepsi/Coke: Coke
- Perfect Pizza: Sausage, but had rather have something else altogether
- Piercings: Ears, but I don't wear earrings very often

Q
- Quail: Chicken

R
- Reality T.V.: Jon and Kate Plus Eight
- Radio Station: whatever Scamp lets me listen to
- Roll your tongue in a circle: no
- Ring size: 5, I think

S
- Song: Anyone Scamp is singing
- Shoe size: 7ish
- Salad Dressing: nope
- Sushi: couldn't even try it
- Shower: wishful thinking
- Strawberries/Blueberries: strawberries

T
- Tattoos: no
- Time for bed: 11:00ish
- Thunderstorms: Only if the power doesn't go out. I like my lights.

V
- Vacation spot(s): Beach

W
- Weakness: wanting things I can't have
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: I'm proud to be an individual!
- Worst feeling: When you're about to pass out!
- Worst Weather: humidity

X
- X-Rays: need some

Y
-Year it is now: 2009.

-Yellow: one of my wedding colors

Z
- Zoo animal: Otters

Professional Belly Pics

The one below will be for the baby's room.

I was hoping to post more Scamp pics today but I can't get to them. Ugh! Anyway, here are a couple of pics my SIL took for me (for those of you who haven't seen them on FB). She's so great to do this, and she got even more great shots I haven't gotten back yet. The weather has been so chaotic lately. These were taken a couple of Sundays ago when it was in the 60s here.

I am 32 weeks and counting. I am beginning to get anxious about having the baby, wanting it to be over and a little nervous about going into labor. My back is giving me some big issues, and I was seeing the chiropractor. I stopped since the pain relief was not substantial, and insurance doesn't cover very much of the cost. I may go back my last few weeks of pregnancy though.

I am thankful to not have any serious medical issues, no high blood pressure or high blood sugar. The baby is growing well, and I am getting to the "uncomfortable" stage. I've been waddling for awhile now! We've got a name picked out but won't be sharing it on the blog. I hope to email all of you with birth announcements though.

Big Decision in the Works

Monday, Scamp and I went to a friend's home for a playdate. My friend homeschools, and I wanted to ask her some questions about it since she has children around Scamp's age. Beef and I have decided to either send Scamp to a private Christian school or homeschool her. Right now with the budget, it's looking more like homeschool is the option for us.

I've been in lots of prayer over this because homeschool is a big endeavor. The decision to homeschool has come up sooner than I thought because Scamp will be four this year, and we are deciding whether to send her to preschool a couple of days a week or not. I've already been working with her on the things she'll need to know to enter kindergarten.

I've discovered many people have strong negative views about homeschool. I mention the word homeschool, and people snarl their noses and say "Doesn't she need to be around other kids?" Homeschool does not mean I lock Scamp in a closet. I'm leaving the decision up to God. What He puts on my heart is what I will do.

God started opening my eyes and making it an option in my life ever since I met Beef in college. Many of you know he and his three siblings were all homeschooled, and they are the brightest, most well-rounded people I know.

I've been researching, and the city and state I live in have great options for homeschoolers. This is an exciting yet scary endeavor, but I know God will be in control of it all.

An Exhausting But Fun Week

Whew! I'm in my comfy clothes today with absolutely no plans. Scamp's still in her jammies, and we just enjoyed some chocolate chip pancakes and eggs for our 11:00 am breakfast. Sleeping in to 10:00 am was nice.

We've had to be out the door before nine almost everyday this week. It doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but being pregnant and not used to putting that much energy into mornings everyday has taken the breath out of me.

Monday was MOPS, and did I have a good time sharing in my small group. All the ladies in my group are so very nice. We plan to have a Girl's Night Out next week.

Tuesday was Toddler Gymnastics. Scamp had a good time learning to do forward rolls and log rolls, walking on the squishy balance beam and singing songs with her teacher. We then went to ABCs 123s to learn the letter T and play train with 20 plus toddlers. Exhausting!

Wednesday was BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). We had to read almost the entire book of Leviticus the few days before class. After class, I dropped Scamp off at home and went to our monthly group fellowship. Again, God has blessed me with wonderful, loving group buddies.

Thursday was another doctor's appointment. I'm 29 weeks and will be going to the doctor every 2 weeks from now on. All is well! The appointment was short, but the drive was long. We went to McDonald's and Wal Mart after the visit. Wal Mart yet again whipped my tushy! Thursday is also our game night. We got some awesome pictures of all the kiddos that came. I hope to share them soon.

Today, Friday. My only tedious task is baths for Scamp and myself. I'm resting up for that! I'll need to rest today to handle the weekend. Saturday won't be too bad, but we have a family breakfast at 8:00 am. I'm not a morning person.:) Sunday, Beef and I have the 3 year olds in nursery. We'll both need a day to recover from that. They're all bundles of energy and fun. Let's hope we can keep up!

More Belly Pics

Here are some more photos of my growing belly. A few people have noticed I'm pregnant now. I was pregnant with Scamp in the summer, and all kinds of people would approach me about my pregnant belly. Now, when I go places I'm all bundled up with my thick coat on, and people don't notice as much.

Scamp is always poking at my belly saying, "Hi, baby." When she sees other tiny babies she says, "I'm gonna have one of those." She asked me today if we we're going to have two babies. I told her no, just one. She seems to be fine with that.

I am 28 weeks today. We're getting very close to delivery. Last week, I had some excessive sharp pains in my lower left side. I have had them since the start of my pregnancy and was told it was a cyst (good thing) that developed on my ovary because of the pregnancy. The pain typically lasts 5-10 minutes and subsides, but I had been in pain for over two hours when I called my doctor. They told me to go to the ER, where they admitted me into Labor and Delivery.

The doctor who performed my surgery for the ectopic pregnancy I had back in March saw me. He did an ultrasound and found out everything was fine. I have a strained ligament, which is pretty common in pregnancy. I haven't had much pain since then. I also found out I'm anemic. It's funny how your pregnancy symptoms are the same as iron deficiency symptoms -- fatigue, irritability, inability to concentrate. I'm taking an iron supplement and am eating an iron-rich diet. Overall, I'm feeling pregnant, but it hasn't been too bad. We are feeling very excited and blessed. Beef has even cleaned out his office for the nursery. We hope to paint soon.

Famous Words of a Sassy Three Year Old

Scamp has such the vocabulary. I don't know where she comes up with half of what she's saying, but she seems to know when to say it. Here are some of her famous sayings:

"I'm not your best friend anymore." (when she's mad at you)

"Mama, are you ready to rock?" (I'm thinking cousin Bubby helped with that one.)

"I can have some of that."

"Oh my goodness!" (she got that from me)

"That was uh accident." (for all things whether intentional or not)

"My girls are comin' over." (think "peeps" or girlfriends like she has her own passe)

"You wanna play with me?"

"I wanna hold you." (for you to pick her up)

"Let's do somethin' fun."

"Let's do a project."

"Baby sister's in my belly. Don't touch it." (I wonder who she heard that from?)

Here are some of her miss sayings:

"I'm goin' to Skunday Skool."

"Can you fix my plughouse?" (her version on clubhouse)

"Pa shot that i-Cody." (Coyote)

Singing "There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-o. Here I-N-G-O, Here-I-N-G-O, ..."

I would love for you to here more of her songs. She's a riot! Oh, and the looks she gives while she's saying some of those things. Like she's saying "I know you did, now don't deny it!" She has got the attitude!

Big Girl Bed

Scamp finally moved from her crib to her big girl bed the night after Christmas. We bought a princess tent for her big bed as a Christmas present. We had tried several times beforehand to get her to move, but she was always too scared. She would ask us to make her a "plughouse" (club house) using a blanket on the top of her crib. She had to sleep like this every night. That's when I got the idea to put a tent up on her big girl bed.

We told her a few days before that she was going to make the move. She has been saying for several months that she is going to sleep in her big girl bed and baby sister is going to sleep in the baby bed. But, when the time came for Scamp to get into her tent bed, she requested to be put back in the crib with her blanket plughouse. Her daddy told her she couldn't have a plughouse for her crib anymore, only her big girl bed. She decided right then she would sleep in her new tent bed so that "the monsters wouldn't get her." She is obsessed with monsters! She is now in her big girl bed with no problems. The crib has been moved to baby sister's room. We eventually hope to put up a canopy on her bed to replace the tent. She has a traditional canopy bed that just happened to be her Meme's (Beef's mom). Plus, Meme is going to make the canopy.

What You Missed While I've Been...Pregnant

Scamp had a big third birthday back in September. We have so many cousins with birthdays in September that we celebrated four out of five of them on one day. It was raining so my mom set up the birthday tables in her garage. There were so many kids running around that we let them play out in the rain. At one point Scamp came running into the garage in the buff. She can't stand wet clothes and instead of telling her mommy that she wanted dry clothes, she took them off herself. Everyone had a big laugh except my dad. Those kinds of things embarrass him.


We celebrated my grandpa's birhtday, too. Here he is with all the grandkids and great-grandkids who attened plus a few other partiers.

We had rented a huge Bounce Castle for the kids the week before the party, but we had to cancel because of the rain. My brother-in-law had bought the cousins on Beef's side of the family a bounce house for Christmas, and he graciously let us borrow it. The rain cleared off enough that we were able to use it. Afterward, we cleaned the house and fit it back in the box for Christmas. Scamp was just as excited with the second round of bouncing on Christmas day.

Some Alone Time

Beef and Scamp were upstairs playing tonight, and I thought I would sneak a soak in the tub alone. Now that I'm pregnant it's hard to bend over the tub to give Scamp a bath so I usually get into the tub with her...which means soaking and relaxing in the bath is out of the question.

But, tonight I filled the tub with a hot non-toddler friendly temperature water and relaxed silently. I could here Scamp in the next room and didn't want to give my secret bath away. I soaked for about ten minutes, long enough to warm my cold feet.

The temperature of the water started to cool, and I was almost ready to get out when Scamp bounded through the door. I expected her to want in right away, but she insisted on pampering me.

"Let me feel the water," she said. "It's still hot." She then insisted that I close the curtain as she threw a few of her toys in for me. "That's my favorite," she said motioning to a rubber ring. "You can have duckie, too. Here's your pitcher. Let me pour this for you," she stated as she poured hot water from a miniature purple pitcher into a bowl. "Eat it." It was as if I were at a spa. The pretend soup was fabulous. Then, she couldn't bear the allure of the tempting bath anymore. "I can get in, too."

"Ok," I told her. She had earned herself a few minutes in the tub with Mama. Five minutes of splashing around sufficed, and she was on to her next adventure: dress-up.

Fun and Embarrassing Facts About Being Pregnant

Experts say your body does many marvelous things during pregnancy, and here are a few of my most frightful (oops, favorite) changes (besides being used by God to create another complete human being):

• Forgetfulness. "Could you repeat what you just said? I forgot." is the phrase that often follows my conversations with others. My best forgetful moment was when I was pregnant with Scamp and needed to do some shopping at Wal Mart. I got halfway there and forgot how to get the rest of the way. After taking several wrong turns I eventually made it.
• Dry Heaving Mornings plus the added feature of peeing on yourself during the process. Why am I sharing this on my blog? I thought you all might want to know! LOL! At least I'm at the stage where it's not happening everyday.
• Having to Quickly Leave the Room after a Hilarious Moment. People, please don't make my laugh so hard because I'm probably going to wet my pants. It's not funny. Stop laughing!!
• Weird Skin Formations. Ok, so this hasn't happened yet this pregnancy, but with Scamp these strange little bumps developed at various stages on my face and neck. I eventually was able to pull them off except for the one on my eye, which is still present.
• Changes in Vision. Besides not being able to see quite as well I've had a couple of episodes where I had spotty vision. Literally, I saw dark spots where peoples faces were supposed to be. It was really scary the first time it happened, but it goes away after about 15 minutes.
• Claustrophobia Magnified. This has been way worse this pregnancy. I've had to leave the church service to sit outside on more than one occasion because people were sitting too close to me. I felt like I couldn't breath and didn't want to pass out, so I had to excuse myself.
• Shortness of Breath especially in the morning. I don't sing out loud in church anymore because I become so winded I feel lightheaded. It's a very similar feeling to the previous episodes.
• Being Hungry and Full at the Same Time. It's strange to feel so hungry, but you just don't think you can fit another ounce inside your stomach. There's no more room.

So, many strange things happen during pregnancy and probably multiple others that I haven't experienced. It's still worth every weird occurrence and embarrassing moment to hold the little life God formed inside your womb. What beyond-belief things have happened to you?

Christmas 2008

 

Here's some of the best pictures we took for Christmas with my family. We always have a good time with lots of love and lots of presents. Scamp was so eager for Christmas to arrive this year. Her enthusiasm helped get me into the Christmas mood, and I even put the tree up before Thanksgiving. I'm also not a huge fan of Christmas music, but if Scamp's in the car we have one of her two Christmas CDs playing. I have more Christmas pictures to post later. Click on the collage to enlarge the pctures.