Tinkerbell or Bust

We are going to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. I am more into getting things ready rather than being surprised, and I find knowing the gender of the baby helps with the planning.

I did not know how serious the gender of this baby was going to be until Bug and I had our brother/sister talk. It went something like this…

Me- Are you excited to have a new baby brother or sister?

Bug- Yes, if it is a girl I am going to call her Tinkerbell and if it is a boy I am going to punch it in the face.

Me- (shocked into silence)

So Bug and I had a talk about how newborns need lots of love and care from big sisters no matter if they are a boy or a girl. We also talked about how completely unacceptable punching a baby in the face is.

I have been quizzing her on the brother and sister thing in order for me to understand that she understands she may not hit a baby brother. Now when I ask her if she is excited about her new baby brother or sister she says…

Bug- I want the baby to be a girl, but if it is a boy I will not punch it in the face because that is mean and babies need love.

I am happy with that answer, but I will still be keeping an eye on little Bug.

Pregnancy Workout

During all of my pregnancies I tend to gain a lot of weight, fifty to sixty pounds to be exact. By the time I am in the end of the third trimester I am pretty much miserable.

This time I have decided to try to change that and exercise during this pregnancy. I made myself do my workout today and I am happy that I did.

I am not trying to lose weight or even maintain my weight, what I am hoping for is a normal amount of pregnancy weight gain. I am also hoping that working out will ease tension and keep my body loose. I just have to stick with it.

The pregnancy workout that I use is called The Perfect Pregnancy Workout. The instructor is Karyne Steben who is a world-class acrobat formerly with Cirque du Soleil.

She is in her third trimester in the video and looks awesome!

What I like about this video is you can do beginner exercises or the advanced. There is no cheesy remarks or music, the person who narrates talks in a calm and quiet voice. The exercises will get your heart pumping and you can feel the burn in your muscles.

I also like that the instructor is in such great shape, it makes me think twice about having three peanut putter and jelly sandwiches before bedtime.

If you are looking for a good workout to do through your pregnancy (with your doctors ok of course) I recommend The Perfect Pregnancy workout.

Now lets see if I can keep this up.

You Got A Friend

I have had the opportunity to meet wonderful people who I consider friends. People I have things in common with, can spend time with, and care about. Friendship is an important part of life.

When I make new friends it is an exciting experience, but I don’t think anything beats the feeling of old friends. A good thing is that new friends will turn into old friends and that is the beauty of it.

I have two friends who have been through the good, the bad, and the ugly with me, and I thank God they have still decided to stick around.

We have been through the awkward adolescence, the crazy teen years, and the more settled adult life together. We know each other inside and out. There is something special about having people in your life who know every single thing about you.

As we got older, the marriages and children came. New jobs, school and other responsibilities come up that take away time spent with my friends. We may not see each other for weeks, but when we do get together it is like putting on your favorite pair of shoes that you have had for a lifetime, comfortable and familiar.

We are a silly bunch of ladies and can get each other through most any situation with a good talk and a lot of laughs.

There is nothing in this world more important than my husband and children, but sometimes no one can understand you better than the women who have been through it all with you. I am blessed to have the best of both worlds.

You’re never too old to be a BFF. :)

As Long As Old Men Sit And Talk About The Weather

It is 4 below here in Michigan and it feels like 17 below. Winter is really starting to tick me off.

This will be my 33rd winter and as I get older the more winter starts to bother me.

Weather is good way to talk to people you don’t know, especially when it is so cold. Every store you walk into someone will say, “Is it cold enough for you?” or, “Can you believe how cold it is?” Back when I was younger and people would say this to me I would always think to myself, yes I can believe how cold it is, it is was the same last winter and every winter before that.

Now I have become one of those weather-talking people. I am now the first one to tell the cashier at a store how cold I am, or talk to the person behind me in line about how I wish winter would be over. It’s weird how things change when you get older.

When Winter in Michigan rolls around I wonder why my family could not have been from a warmer state, but then I remember how much I love the other seasons and if I get through a few months of living in the Arctic, Spring will be here and all will be well.
Another funny thought went through my head today, I do not own gloves, a hat, or even a scarf. Why? I have no clue. I have a box full of winter gear for the kids but I don’t have any.

I hope winter will end soon, but it does give me something to talk about to people I may not have talked to otherwise. I can be the annoying lady in the store who is always in shock of the weather even though it has been the same every year since I have been born. So there are some good things about winter.


Can you believe how cold it is?

Formula Feeding Vs Nursing

My mind is full of all things baby right now. Most of the time I am thinking about trying to keep my breakfast down, but that’s ok.

Since I have been expecting I have heard about so many other blessed mamas who are expecting also, it is very exciting!

One thing I have been thinking about is the decision to nurse or formula feed this new baby.

Here is some background; No women in my family nursed. The only people I knew who nursed were my great-grandmothers and that was because they were poor. I have never seen a baby nursed in real life until I was in my 20’s and met a friend who nursed, but she was a hippy.

No friends of mine have ever nursed their babies; it is just known around my circle that you formula-feed your children.

Now I have some new friends who all nurse and love doing so. I think it is wonderful that they can give their babies that, I am not sure if it is for me though.

I checked out some books on nursing from the library and read them all. I have searched the Internet and mommy sites that talk about breast-feeding. Some were very informative, but I learned that there is a battle between mothers who nurse and mothers who formula feed. I had no idea such hostility existed.

I for one would never tell a mother how she should nourish her child. I have formula fed all my children and they are quite happy, secure, and loved.

I know all the pros of nursing and I think it can be a beautiful bonding experience, if the mother is comfortable and confident with it.

To judge another mother about how she feeds her baby is just well, crazy to me. This kind of thing is all over these mommy sites and it is very ugly.

I have not come to any conclusion on what I am going to do, nurse or formula feed. I am leaning toward the formula because it is what I know and I am comfortable with it. I may try nursing, who knows. I do know that I would never make a mother feel bad about the way she feeds her child.

I will keep thinking about it and whatever decision I make will be the one best for the new little one and me, and that is all that matters.

Heart Beat

Taking four children to my doctor appointment is not my idea of a good time. Everyone behaved so it wasn't too stressful. My two little ones got a kick out of seeing the ultra sound on the monitor screen.

Even though this is my fifth time going through all these procedures it amazes me every time I have the first ultrasound and see the little bean looking baby. The feeling I get when I see the tiny fluttering heart beat is always a feeling of amazement and relief, no matter how many times I have witnessed it.

It's a beautiful experience.

We're Back

The first day back to school went well. The kids got down to business and did not complain. Lil D actually said, “I kind of missed school, is that weird?” If he is my son than yes that is weird, but I am glad he still likes school.

Miss is getting much faster at Math and is doing pretty well. I don’t think we will need an outside tutor; she has the hang of it now.

The blog The Homeschool Classroom has a post-called My Favorite Things: The Link Edition. One of the links was to a site with a free online reading assessment.

You can have your children take the reading test and you get the results back immediately by e-mail.

I hope our school days continue to go as smooth as today. We have five more months until summer vacation, but I won’t let the kids know that I am counting down the days.

Practical Distributism

Do you need some ideas on how to support economic justice, social peace, and world harmony?

Then you may want to read this article. It lists 102 ideas to do just that.

You can view the article here.

Winding Down

The holidays are winding down and I am ready to get back to my normal life. Doing too much of nothing starts to become a drag after a while.

I am going to post one last thing about Christmas before I move on. I don’t think my family has ever taken a good Christmas picture. For some reason it is beyond are ability to have everyone look at the camera and smile at the same time.


Here is an example, as you can see I must be telling everyone to please just follow the simple directions of picture taking, and as you can also see no one is listening.


This picture was the best we could do. You may notice my beautiful holiday attire. I was dressed up for Church earlier that night, but wearing dress pants held together at the waist by a rubber band was not doing it for me. Before we went to my brother’s house I made a stop at home and threw on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt. The sweatshirt does have red on it.



Big D and I had a little New Years Eve party and we did the seven fish menu. Everyone brought some kind of seafood dish. Eating fish on New Years Eve brings good luck and prosperity. I love seafood but for as long as I can remember my Mom had made the tradition that we all had to eat a piece of pickled herring at midnight on New Years Eve.

I think eating pickled herring is disgusting and I tried to use the nauseas pregnancy excuse this year but my mom still made me eat it. Lil D loves this stuff and will eat the whole jar if I let him, gross!

We played Battle of the sexes, to play this game the females ask men questions about women and the males ask the females questions about men. When we play this game Big D and my brother tap into their feminine side and always win. They know more about female topics than they really should.

We also played Guess What I Am, it is a kid’s game but as you can see the adults had a blast playing it.





It was a great time and I am looking forward to what the new year will bring, and since I ate a piece of raw pickled fish it better bring nothing but good!