7 Quick Takes – III

7 quick takes sm1 7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 206)

 

  1. The time of the baby is drawing near! We have settled on baby names as well and have godparents! The baby naming took a bit of time, and since we are convinced we are having a girl, I figured we needed a solid boys name as well, because I just know if we don’t we will have a boy. If found out in the discussion of names that Joshua wasn’t sold completely on the middle name for a girl, so we discussed that and changed it. They are solid names, I promise and no, we don’t share before the birth.
  2. I’ve had hives since Wednesday. There isn’t much I can do for them, except monitor them and take allergy medication if they get annoying. They aren’t too bad this morning, but if I stand for too long, they flare up on my legs. I imagine that is because of blood moving there? Who knows. All I know is that I want them to go away and I’m not very good at offering up all over pain. 🙁
  3. The items I ordered from Target and Amazon are either here or on their way. I also ordered a few more supplies for the birth, mostly post birth things we will need.
  4. I had an appointment with my midwife on Monday and all is well. The baby’s heart rate is around 130, my blood pressure is good, and everything else looks wonderful! Now if these hives would just go away.
  5. I’ve posted before about my nursing issues, that I don’t produce milk, and I have to supplement. I joined an online support group, mainly for help in using the Lact-Aid I bought, but I’ve found the women to be very helpful. I long ago moved on from the sorrow of not being able to fully nurse my babies, but sometimes it is nice to hear from other women who have had this problem. We are 99.9% sure I have this. It is rare, thankfully, but something that even lactation consultants aren’t really aware of.
  6. Is anyone else having sticker shock at the gas pump? Between loss of the Social Security tax holiday and the increase in gas prices, our budget is pretty tight. I am thankful for Joshua’s job and for the side work I do for his company as well. I am also thankful for Impressus Art, because even if it doesn’t make us rich, it provides when we need it. (And shameless plug, if you know a seminarian who is being ordained this year, or know a couple who is getting married, we do holy cards, invitation, and programs.)
  7. In less than a week, we will be saying our final goodbyes to Pope Benedict XVI. Today, on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, let us pray for our Holy Father and for the yet unknown, future Pope.

Long live the Pope! His praises sound again and yet again:
His rule is over space and time; His throne the hearts of men:
All hail! The Shepherd King of Rome, The theme of loving song:
Let all the earth his glory sing, And heav’n the strain prolong.
Let all the earth his glory sing, And heav’n the strain prolong.

Beleaguered by the foes of earth,  Beset by hosts of hell,
He guards the loyal flock of Christ, A watchful sentinel:
And yet, amid the din and strife, The clash of mace and sword,
He bears alone the shepherds staff, This champion of the Lord,
He bears alone the shepherds staff, This champion of the Lord.

His signet is the Fisherman’s; No sceptre does he bear;
In meek and lowly majesty He rules from Peter’s Chair:
And yet from ev’ry tribe and tongue, From clime and zone,
Three hundred million voices sing, The glory of his throne,
Three hundred million voices sing, The glory of his throne,

Then raise the chant, with heart and voice, in church and school and home:
“Long live the Shepherd of the Flock! Long live the Pope of Rome!”
Almighty Father, bless his work, Protect him in his ways,
Receive his pray’rs, fulfil his hopes and grant him “length of days,”
Receive his pray’rs, fulfil his hopes and grant him “length of days.”

 

For more 7 Quick Takes, check out Jennifer’s blog.

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Wow, the Hives, they Itch!

This morning, right before I got out of bed, I was hit with a case of the hives. This is not too uncommon for me and usually they go away when I start making breakfast.

Not today.

Today I had them on my face, on my legs, on my belly, on my scalp, on my neck, and on my arms. I’ve never had them that bad before, ever. They stuck around all day too, until I took allergy medicine, then after an hour, they subsided. Of course, Joshua, who got to hear from me all day about how bad they were, didn’t get to see them when he got home.

Has anyone out there ever gotten bad hives while pregnant? What did you do?

Filed under: General Stuff

And the Punishments

Last night, after the rest of the kids went to bed, we sat down with Margaret to ask her why she decided to take a walk. She didn’t give a reason, so we talked to her about what could have happened and why she must never go adventuring again.

In the end her punishment is that she cannot leave the back patio for a week and when that time is up, she is only able to play in the backyard where I can see her from a window. Caecilia received a one day detention to the back patio, and then will have to follow the same restrictions as Margaret.

This morning, we were getting ready to leave on an errand when Margaret told me that she would not play with the armor we brought home from the birthday party for 4 days and 9 nights. When I asked why, she said that it was because she really likes playing with it and it would be good to not play with it, so she can remember to be good.

Personally, I think she decided on it because she was wearing it on her adventure.

One thing about Margaret is that she knows when she has done something pretty bad and really thinks about what she’s done.

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Someone’s (or sometwo’s) in Trouble.

My midwife was here today and we were finishing up the appointment when I sent the older kids outside to take care of the chickens. The kids take care of the chickens everyday, they let them out and make sure they have food and water, as well as collecting eggs.

As my midwife was getting ready to leave, Karol came in to tell me the girls were missing. I went out and called them. No answer. I had Karol come back inside and sit with Benedict, then grabbed the car keys. I started with the pecan grove, then was heading to the road when my midwife called and said that she found them down the road from us. She was returning them to me. Bad bad girls.

I am amazingly calm about this, surprisingly and the punishment will be decided on when the Papa gets home.

Filed under: General Stuff

A Productive Weekend

This weekend, I think we accomplished a lot. We started with our normal Friday evening Mass, which was followed by Stations of the Cross and Adoration. Karol and Margaret even processed with father around to the different Stations. (insert proud mama heart here) Joshua and Karol were able to go to confession. I planned on going, but while sitting in the pew, with the other kids during adoration, Benedict and Caecilia got a bit crazy, including Benedict talking at the top of his lungs, so I took the kids out. The baby was also sitting in just such a way, that my sciatic nerve was getting pinched, so I was in a bit of pain and just needed to stand up and move around. I’ll make it next weekend though 🙂

On Saturday, Joshua was up early, 630, to work in the yard, as we had a birthday party that afternoon. It was also his birthday, so I was up shortly after, making a special breakfast. I made a coffee cake and fried up some sausage and leftover potatoes. We sang happy birthday and Joshua opened up the cards the kids made for him. They made multiple cards for him and were so happy it was his birthday! Joshua went back to clearing some garden beds and doing other things outside while I cleaned up. He did hair cuts (such a great thing on the family budget) and then we headed to the birthday party.

Oh, and on Saturday I moved the changing table to the hallway and the cradle to our room. I asked Margaret to organize the diapers on the changing table, and guess what, she did a great job! I’m not surprised as she is a good helper, but she even told me that she’d keep them organized and how I can help with that.

After the birthday party, we went to Mass at the parish in Valdosta, then to Target to pick up some things we need. Joshua has received some gift cards to Target using reward points from a printing company he uses, so it was like spending free money. We picked up some pants for the girls, for the yard and bonus, they were $3.50 each! Of course, I forgot the exercise ball, which was a main reason we went, well that and baby socks.

This brings me to a tangent-rant on the state of the Target store near us. Is it just that store, or are they all falling apart and not organized/cleaned? I would take a shirt off of a rack only to have three other ones fall off, because things were just thrown on the shelves. The shoe department was a mess, with shoes all over the place, nothing organized. Also, when you are in a store, isn’t it normal to have your cart to the right and the opposing “traffic” to the left? I thought so. Really, by the time we were ready to go, I was stressed out and needed to leave. It was almost like shopping at Christmas, but without the crowds. And on to baby clothes, I guess because most people find out what they are having, we don’t have gender neutral things anymore? Is this common all over or just here? Plus, there were no plain white baby socks. Target used to be a favorite store of mine, but now I don’t even think to go to it. Kinda sad. 

Since we went to Mass on Saturday (which we did, because we were near by and it helps us save gas) we had Sunday free. When we got up, we had a nice breakfast and then set out to tackle the upstairs. It is picked up and stuff daily, but it really needed to be organized. We spent a good three hours organizing our room and the hall closet. We found another tote of baby girl clothes, a few more onsies, and even a bag of white baby socks.

After lunch, I ordered the things I couldn’t find at the local Target from their online store, plus a few things from Amazon. I’m pretty excited for the control top corset I bought, for post baby. It’s the little things, I know.  I know it won’t work wonders, I just want things smoothed out a bit.

Dinner was chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes. I added a rutabaga and a turnip to the potatoes and they added a nice flavor. I made a peach cobbler for dessert and let me tell you it’s calling my name right now. I will hold off though and eat a real lunch instead.

That was our weekend, productive and I enjoy not having to worry much on Monday about doing a lot.

Edited to add: I can’t believe I forgot to mention this: Our nephew Blake and his wife, Jenna had their first baby, a girl, on Friday! Yay for babies!

Filed under: General Stuff

Van Decor

I have some bad news, the Ron Paul magnet has been removed from the van. I know I said I’d keep it on there for always and forever, but I needed to make room for a magnet that I bought last week. I figured, though, that Dr. Paul would not mind at all being replaced with this:

nolaw
Unjust Law is No Law

 

 

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Knighted!

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Sir Benedict.

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This is the first time in Margaret’s six years, she’s ever been dressed up as a princess. Caecilia’s first time in four years, but to be honest, Caecilia’s dress here is very similar to the way she dresses frond the house, so it was not as shocking as seeing Margaret as Sleeping Beauty.

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It would appear that when you slay the dragon, you place his head on your head.

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I think she is very confused, but as long as she has candy, it doesn’t matter!

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It’s Been Ten Years!

Ten years ago today, I met Joshua. I didn’t know at the time he was to be my husband, as he was a religious brother and I discerning a vocation to the religious life myself.  Even though, when meeting him, I never thought of him as anything more than a brother in Christ, I still remember many trivial details about the day we met, something I am thankful for. Joshua will also tell you that I remember random things about everything, so this isn’t a big deal, but it is to me.

brjoshuabeth2003

 

Here is a picture of us a few months later, having run in to each other during a Hispanic Fest at the Josephinum. (I took a picture of the picture hanging on our fridge and cropped out the other people in it, sorry Andy and Fr. Avram.) Ten years later, I think we both look pretty much the same, don’t you?

 

*When you click on the picture it turns sideways, I’m sorry!*

 

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