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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Life as we know it

I taught Joy School this week.  I'll admit, I was really nervous, especially as I really have spent at least 75% of my day time on the couch the past couple of weeks.  How was I supposed to teach/entertain 5 little girls for 2.5 hours?!  (6 with Abby!)  But it was my turn, so I prepped and prayed.  I spent part of the time, when I could, laying on the couch.  Like when we read stories.  And I tearfully (stupid hormones!) asked two of the moms if they could come help at the end.  So they came 45 minutes from the end and helped me get the girls all ready to go outside, then we spread half of my recycling can all over the back yard and the girls helped me clean up after the Litterbug.  (We were learning about The Joy of the Earth and our responsibility for it.)  Then on Thursday my lesson called for 50 minutes of going to a garden or supermarket and pulling vegetables for our snack.  I'm sorry, but walking to my back yard and picking off a stem of celery does not take 50 minutes.  So I requested the moms come pick up their kids 30 mins early.  And then I gave the girls an extra free play time.  I feel kind of lame this week, copping out of so much, but not really.  I did what I knew I could.  And I asked for help.  4/5 moms in my Joy School co-op are pregnant, but most much further along than I.  So they totally understand and have been super sweet and supportive.  But can I just say how GLAD I am that I'm not teaching for another 5 weeks?!  If I ever do end up homeschooling, I pray that I don't have to do it during first trimester.  I might die.

Honestly, though, it hasn't been horrible, morning sickness-wise.  With Kessa it was totally miserable.  All the time.  With Abby I was exhausted, but still tried to do everything, which made things miserable.  With this one, I had an epiphany.  A new theory. It takes a lot, a lot of energy to grow a baby, especially in the first trimester when everything is developing and not just getting bigger. The only way God knew he could get women to lay down and rest during that period and thus allow the energy to go to the baby was to give us morning sickness.  And if that's true, then I should be choosing to rest and give my baby the best I can give it.  Because I've been doing that, I've found that overall, I feel a lot better, comparatively.  I'm still sick enough that I feel like I should rest.  But it keeps that nausea at bay most of the time.  The days I feel the worst inevitably follow a day of overdoing it.

I decided to look for a new midwife.  Not that I didn't like Heather, my last one.  I did!  I'm just hoping to find one that's closer.  20 minutes away is tough, especially towards the end when I start visiting her often.  Especially with a nap time and two different school schedules.  My neighbor loved her midwife, so I met with her and really clicked with her.  But she just moved her office to Eagle Mountain.  Which is 20 mins away.  And not because of lights and traffic.  But because she's So Stinking Far Away.  Do you have any idea how big Eagle Mountain really is?  It's insane.  She won me over when I said I really didn't want to tear again and she said, "Then you really should pick me as your midwife.  I really hate moms to tear.  I don't like stitching, either.  So I do everything I can to prevent tearing."  Then the next day I met with another midwife from Saratoga Springs.  She came to my house, which was lovely.  But… I just didn't click with her.  Our conversation was more stilted and awkward.  I don't know if it's because I had the girls with me for the first one, so they filled in any lulls, so I didn't notice them, or if there really just weren't any lulls.  Abby was asleep and Kessa at school for the second one.  But the second one would do all of my prenatals at my house!

I'm so conflicted.  On the one hand, the whole reason I decided to switch was to find someone closer.  So the Eagle Mountain one doesn't make sense.  Except I really liked her.  And she'll do everything to help prevent me from tearing!  But on the other hand, the other one will come to my house and totally solve the distance problem.  And maybe it was just an off day?  And it wasn't that I didn't like her.  I just didn't feel like she invited confidence the way the first did.  Or something.  Or maybe I should just keep looking.  [sigh]  Or maybe I should go back to Heather.  I did like her.  Good thing I don't have to pick right away.  I'm only about 6 weeks along and normal prenatals don't start till about 8 weeks.  And even then are only once per month for quite awhile.  I hate decisions!

I had another freezer dinner group this week!  Hooray!  We're having soup from that tonight.  It's so nice having those for BJ to cook, so I don't feel like I'm leaving him high and dry.  You have such an amazing brother, Jessa.  I can only hope you marry someone as incredible as him.  Seriously.  He has taken over the house for me.  He cleans up.  He gets up with the girls in the night.  He gets up with them in the morning so I can sleep a little longer.  He takes care of Kessa's accidents for me.  He changes poopy diapers so I don't have to.  He not only comes up for lunch, but he comes up and makes lunch.  Then he comes home from work, takes care of the kids, and makes dinner.  He'll often take the girls outside or for a walk so I can take a nap.  And I have yet to hear him complain about it.  I know it can't be fun for him.  And he's given up a lot of his own free time for me.  I keep promising him that someday it will get better and I will be useful again.  But he's done this twice now.  He knows I will.

Turns out though, this round of morning sickness might prove helpful for his cooking skills.  I asked him to make mashed potatoes one night because I wasn't feeling well and the CostCo rotisserie chicken I bought earlier that day suddenly smelled disgusting and I wanted something to eat. BJ: "Ok. I've got potatoes and a pot. Now what?"  Haha.  Turns out, he'd never made mashed potatoes before!  But don't worry, they turned out delicious.  In fact, he's in with Kessa right now making banana bread.  Awww.

So, let me tell you about this banana bread.  Kessa watched a show recently that had banana bread in it.  She's been asking to make banana bread ever since.  I happened to have three overripe bananas, so I agreed.  But I just haven't felt well enough to do anything about it.  Yesterday, though, I actually felt pretty darn good.  (I credit going to your mom's house for dinner the night before and actually eating a full meal for the first time in weeks.)  So when Kessa asked that morning, I promised her I would make it with her.  But the day got away from me and between a nap and an impromptu dinner-out with an old friend and her fiancé, we just never had time to make it.  On the way home from the restaurant, Kessa asked, "Will we make banana bread when we get home?"  "No, it's bedtime."  "But Mommy!  You promised!  And now you're breaking that promise!"  Ouch.  Talk about stabbing me in the back and twisting the knife.  So I promised that we'd make it today (Sunday), assuming I was feeling well.  Well, I wasn't, but she was so hopeful.  So I made myself find a recipe, print it out, and start pulling out ingredients.  But I just couldn't keep standing. So my wonderful BJ took over for me.  Kessa got her banana bread, I didn't break yet another promise, BJ got blessings in heaven (and you got a letter written to you!)  Winners all around!

So, you haven't had a garden update in awhile.  Over General Conference weekend we got a light frost that killed most of my tomatoes, peppers, basil and cantaloupe.  So over the past couple of weeks we've been pulling all the dead plants out.  We've filled 2-3 garbage/yard waste cans thus far.  I think we're finally done with the dead stuff.  But we still have a bunch of hardy plants that are thriving.  Parsley, kale, carrots (which have finally been discovered under the cherry tomatoes.  They look pretty sad.), celery, and onions.  Though, many of my onions are ready to harvest and bring inside.  I should do that.  Oh!  And remember me telling you about my cauliflower regrowing on its own?  And how I didn't know whether or not it would actually grow a cauliflower because I've never heard of cauliflower doing that.  Well guess what!  It did!  I have a cauliflower head!  And a couple hints of more heads.  It's all still small, but I'm SO EXCITED!

With the onset of fall, we bought a bunch of mulch (probably about 8-10 cubic yards).  It was delivered on Monday and, I'll be honest, I was nervous.  I simply didn't have a lot of energy to devote to it and 8-10 cubic yards is a lot of mulch to move.  And BJ works all day.  And nightfall comes early lately.  Like, he'd have about 1.5 hours to get off work, eat dinner and move mulch.  Uhh… not gonna happen.  But!  Our home teacher's wife was in YW with me and is the biggest sweetheart.  She gathered a force of workers (largely including her family), and they came and worked hard.  They were done in about 1 hour and 15 minutes!  It was incredible!  I am so, so blessed to live in such a wonderful community that people are willing to stop on a dime and come help those in need.  I love this area so much.  And I love the support system that comes with the Church.  We still have a bunch of mulch piled up in our back flower bed that I want to move into garden beds, but the garden beds aren't empty yet.  I figure we can do that a little at a time, as they become available.  And hopefully that means next year we'll have some pretty awesome soil.  :D

BJ's been playing the piano fairly often lately.  And Abby loves to join him.  Which makes things less-than-simple for him, but it's so adorable to watch.  Teresa asked BJ to accompany her for a solo she's singing in church and came down to practice one evening.  (Though, turns out, it's at the same time as Kessa's primary program, so that's not gonna happen.  Shame.)  I was laying on the couch, looking away from the piano, and didn't realize that Abby was crawling over BJ's arms as he was trying to play.  After they were done with that song I commented, "Sounds like you're going to need to practice that song a little, BJ."  At which point Resa started cracking up laughing, to the point of having a hard time breathing.  Turns out, he was actually doing remarkably well, considering.

Someone on the Board asked him to play a medley of his and my 3 favorite sacrament songs and post it.  So we waited until Abby took a nap.  :)  And just recorded the keyboard and his hands, to preserve anonymity and all that.  He didn't try to perfect it, as it was based on a friend's comment about how she loved his impromptu medleys.  So he made it impromptu.  So there are a few mistakes, but overall, he did really well.  I don't know if your mission president would allow you to watch a video that is simply a medley of hymns or not, but just in case, I'm going to link to it here: http://youtu.be/WBjfKdcS9vo  And if you can't watch it, at least my other readers can.  :)


Part of my calling is to attend primary programs throughout the stake.  I go to about half of them.  Today I went to one where the kids wrote their own parts. It was very touching to hear their pure, simple testimonies. Totally adorable.  My favorites, though? "Heavenly Father made stink bugs" and "I am grateful for my toes."



Apparently I use Audible a lot. I just reached my first anniversary of it and received these stats in my email:

Your anniversary stats:
52 new items added to your collection
828 hours of entertainment enjoyed
$719.63 saved by being an Audible member

Kessa-isms:

  • We were talking about how Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits. Kessa: I know why! Because our spirits go up to him and he keeps their voices clean.
  • Kessa, on a toy phone: Oh, you need that? That's another thing you need? Everything you need we're coming tomorrow. I'll call you when I call you, ok?
  • I told Abby we were going to Mama Homer's house soon. She started talking to herself about Mama, then she lit up, yelled, “Papa!” then ran to the hallway and pointed out Papa's picture.
  • BJ was telling me about an experience he had in elementary school with Jared when Jared found a help wanted ad for an earthworm grower that made $1000/hour.
    Kessa: Oh! I heard about that! At my school!
  • In my dinner prayer I asked, “and please bless Jessa on her mission.” When I was done Kessa giggled and said, “That bounces up to Heavenly Father, then down to Jessa!”
  • Kessa: Does sour cream have a little sour in the middle?  (This after she ate 3 half-pieces of bread, smothered in sour cream!)

1 comment:

Chillygator said...

BJ said I have to ask another question to get him to play a medley for me. I prompted the question and don't even get my own medley! Life is unfair and the worst and [dramatic sigh!] (o:

Don't even worry, Master the Tempest is Raging, O, My Father and Jesus Lover of my Soul are in his future. Tell him to get ready!