37 weeks 6 days

I had my first home visit from my midwife today. She measured me, listened to Ellie's heartbeat and checked out where we would be delivering the baby. At my last visit, I measured 37 (cm's I think) which is right where I should be. Today I measured 33 and she couldn't get over how low the baby was. I told her that my pelvis felt ready to give way and very achy, and she said that all I needed were some regular contractions, and we would have a new baby. I haven't carried this low with my first two pregnancies, so maybe I will finally get a baby with a conehead! Bennett and Rachel both had nice round heads because they didn't engage until right before they came out. I am also getting really tired with not sleeping well at night and the aching back and pelvis are making it hard to be comfortable whether I am standing, sitting, or lying down. I am definitely hoping that this baby comes a little early. Two more weeks seems like an eternity to me! Jeromy gets home tomorrow, so at least Ellie waited to make her appearance until her daddy got home. I am so happy about that!

I Finally Finished A Project!!

I started knitting this blanket when I was pregnant with Rachel, but we didn't find out her sex beforehand, so I didn't feel compelled to finish it. The original plan was to have 4 white/pink squares in the middle and 16 squares altogether, but I don't think I would have ever gotten it done, so I left it at 9. I also had planned on knitting a heart and sewing that on the middle square, but I couldn't figure out the pattern I had for it, so I went with the monogram. It turned out alot better than I thought it would. I was nervous about sewing all the squares together and having it look decent. It feels good to have that done. Now I just have to get started on Rachel's scrapbook!

TO DO

I made a list last night of all the things I need and want to get done:

(Done)-Wash towels/receiving blankets for homebirth
(Almost Done)-Get supplies ready for homebirth
(Done)-Sort and wash baby clothes
-Unpack baby items and get Ellie's room ready
(Done)-Sew together knitted baby blanket squares
-Sew curtains for front door window
(Done)-Shop for Cal King sheets
-Clean Upstairs
-Print out new recipes
-Cook freezer meals
(Done) *2 Meatloafs
(Done)*60 Meatballs
(Done)*Spaghetti Sauce
*Teriyaki Chicken
*BBQ Chicken in Marinade
-Make
(Done)*Salsa
(Done)*Salad Dressing (mix together seasoned salt mix for salad dressing)
(Done)*Salad to eat this week
*Granola

I have so far spent 3 1/2 hours in the kitchen and made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, 60 meatballs, 2 meatloafs, 2 batches of salsa, and a large green salad. I also did a load of laundry that is still in the washer and will probably stay there until this afternoon. I am wiped and don't think I will be doing anything but resting on the couch for the next few hours. Tomorrow I would like to get the upstairs at least vacuumed and the 2 chicken freezer meals done. I know that I have orders to take it easy this week while Jeromy is gone, but I just can't do it. There is too much to get done and not very much time left to do it. My mom came over last night for dinner and helped with the kids, made a pot of chili for us to eat/freeze, gave the kids a bath, cleaned that bathroom while the kids were in the tub, and put them to bed. That was a huge help. Evenings are when I run out of steam and getting the kids ready for bed is enough to kill me! 4 more days until Jeromy gets home and then I can start doing things to encourage the arrival of our little one. Hopefully it will be cool enough to take some long walks.

Turning 30

I don't feel any different today being 30 than I did yesterday being 29. I think the only difference I will encounter is when people ask me my age. My mom has always told me her 30s were so much better than her 20s, but I always thought my 20s were pretty good. I became a Christian at the age of 23, so I spent most of the decade serving the Lord and seeking Him in my decisions. I got married at the age of 24, had Bennett at 25, Rachel at 27, moved to Washington and owned my first home at 28 and sold it at 29. They were very full years, and I am sure the next 10 will be even fuller yet. I still have a desire to adopt a sibling group from Africa, serve in my community more, and get my children involved in giving and serving others. I don't know how that will all look but the desire is there.

I watched an interesting 20/20 program that I had taped today looking at philanthropy and charity in America. The myth is that Americans are stingy and cheap and that America doesn't give enough of our wealth away. Another myth is that liberal people give more than conservative people. It just isn't true. The two people groups that give the highest percentage of their money to charity is the working poor and the rich. People of faith, all faiths, give more than anyone else, not just to their church either. They give more to non-religious groups, they give more blood and donate more of their time. The top 23 of the 24 most generous states are all "red" states. It is true that the US government doesn't give as much of its money away than other countries, but Americans give more individually than any other people. No one else is as generous as Americans with their money.

The program also looked at the uber-rich, the American billionaires. There is a movement within their ranks to give generously... Warren Buffet, Ted Turner, and the Gates have all given away at least a billion of their own dollars. They call it "philanthropy" though, not charity. The difference is that philanthropy creates something new to solve problems in the world, it doesn't just throw money at it. The host interviewed several billionaires and asked them why they don't give more of their money away. Why do they need so much? There were many different answers to that question. Some said that they do give enough, some said that there weren't enough organizations to give to that do a good job, some said that investing their money back into business helps more people by creating jobs for more people and creates more wealth, some said that they can't "afford" to give more. I thought that one was funny. The show was very interesting, and it was nice to hear the truth for a change that Americans aren't all bad.

One thing that their research found was that private charities do a better job than the government does at meeting needs. That means that people like you and me can really make a difference. That is one of the reasons the researchers say that liberal people don't give as much. They live with the philosophy that the government should meet the needs of people. The government should create programs and distribute wealth to the people. That just isn't how churches and the generous American operates. They take it upon themselves to do the job, they don't wait for someone else to do it. Churches start foreign orphanages, schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, and shelters. When they give of their money to these causes, they become invested personally in them.

I feel compelled to do more with the resources the Lord has given me. Give more money, time, energy to serving those less fortunate. I need to start praying that God will lead me to where He wants me to serve. Jeromy too feels the desire to get more involved in our community. We just haven't found where that will be and what God wants us to do. There is so much work to be done, and I want to use my talents wisely. That seems like a good goal for my 30s.

Plumbing Update

Well, the hole in the huge, old cast iron pipe was fixed this morning. We live in a 1940s house and the guy that replumbed it when they rennovated last year was able to come out and fix the pipe. He knows the whole system well, so he knew what was wrong. Unfortunately, the sewage backing up into the house isn't related to the hole in the pipe. What are the odds of that? Now we have had a different set of guys out in our backyard digging for the last several hours. They said the pipe they are trying to get to is alot deeper than they thought it would be. (Of course it was right under my flower bed!!) Hopefully they will be done soon, they can can clear out the blockage, and we will be back online with a working system again. We are going to go to my mom's house tonight to do laundry if they aren't. The first plumber that was here said we could use a little bit of water today, so while I haven't gotten a shower yet, we have flushed a toilet or two and washed our hands when needed. This has made me thankful that we are no longer homeowners and don't have to pay for any of this!

On a much brighter note, my very considerate husband came home during his lunch to clean the very stinky, sewage covered upstairs bathroom. I was so appreciative because my lower back is ON STRIKE today! Thanks honey!

Yuck!

Is there anything more gross than raw sewage coming up from all the drains in your house? I am waiting for the plumber to get here before I clean up the bathroom where it spilled over the toilet. Luckily that was the only place it overflowed although I am not very excited about having to clean it up. Jeromy leaves for his week-long trip in the morning and I need to do laundry so that he has something to wear while he is gone. Pray that the plumber is able to fix the problem ASAP and that I can use our toilet! Yikes, 9 months pregnant and no toilet!

The Benton-Franklin Fair and Rodeo '07

It's that time of year again. We are suckers for the fair. I think we have gone every year since Jeromy and I were dating. We decided to forgo the overly expensive rides for the kids this year since they got to go on some when we were in Minnesota at the Mall of America. Instead, we opted for the overly expensive but not very good fair food, looking/petting the livestock, the rodeo and something called an Elephant Ear. My favorite fair treat is a funnel cake, but we were appalled to find out they were charging $6.50 for a regular size funnel cake. Are these people mad? That is ridiculous even by fair standards! Instead we got an elephant ear which is an enormous piece of deep fried dough covered with cinnamon and sugar. It was good but not funnel cake good. So sad!


Rachel was really scared of the animals unless Jeromy carried her. Actually, she wasn't scared of the chickens, bunnies and bird building, but just of the noisy animals.... pigs, sheep and cows.


That cow in the background was the biggest bull Jeromy or I have ever seen. He must have weighed a good 1200-1500 pounds. He was pretty intimidating.


One of the girls let Bennett feed her pig a treat. Did you know that pigs like red vine licorice? They don't like the cheaper Twizzler variety of licorice (who does?) but they really like red vines.


Me! I still haven't gotten a good hair picture yet. You can't even tell I have any bangs in this shot. I think I need a more head on picture to see all the layers. I can't believe I survived walking around the fair. I wore my belly belt which is a lifesaver on my back and my Dansko clogs which my back can't live without either. By 9:30pm I was done and ready to head home!


A picture of a cool horse-drawn carriage at the rodeo. We didn't get very many good rodeo pictures because we weren't up high enough to get any shots without the fence in front of us. We saw mutton riding (too cute!), steer roping (I couldn't believe how hard you can snap a cows neck without it breaking!), bareback bronco riding, steer wrestling (I am not sure of the correct rodeo term for this, forgive me), and we missed the bull riding because we left early.

It was a fun night for all!

Homemade Tortillas

I LOVE homemade corn tortillas and after having some really good ones last Friday at a restaurant, I thought, "How hard can it be?" I bought some Masa flour at the grocery store, I already have a tortilla press that my in-laws bought me a couple of years before (that I hadn't used yet), and a cast iron skillet. That is all you need. I mixed 2 cups of masa in a bowl with 1/4 tsp of salt and 1 1/2 cups of water. The directions said to mix it for 2 minutes. It was just like kneading regular bread dough, but a little stickier. I think I would have added a little more flour next time. This recipe was supposed to yield 16 tortillas which I figured would be enough for dinner (steak fajitas) and some leftovers.


Mix the dough.


Roll the dough into 16 balls.


Line the tortilla press with wax paper to eliminate sticking. I didn't have any problem with sticking, so the wax paper worked great.


Press and Voila!


Heat the cast iron skillet (It has to be cast iron for the authentic thing) to med-high and cook each side for 50 seconds. I found that the tortillas would start to bubble when ready to be flipped and that it took a little longer than 50 seconds.

There are some things I would do differently next time, and it was so easy that I will definitely make them again. They tasted so good!
-I would only made 8 balls with the recipe next time. The tortillas were too small with the 16 (only 4-5 inches in diameter). I made a few small ones for the kids and then used 2 balls to make the rest. They were a much better taco size.
-I will absolutely double the recipe. We didn't even have enough to satisfy everyone for dinner. We each had 2 and we all wanted more!
-I will roll them out a little thinner than the press makes them. The press left them a little thick, almost like pancakes.
-I will cook them on lower heat (medium) for longer. They didn't really have enough time to brown much, just charred a little in spots.
-I will make sure everything is ready for dinner before I make the tortillas. You have to completely babysit them and can't get anything else ready at the same time. I sauteed onions and bell pepper while making the tortillas and even that was a little hard. You could also cook them first and then get everything else ready. I kept them in a bowl with a wet towel surrounding them and they stayed hot and didn't stick at all. It think it also helps them to finish cooking in the steam.

All in all, it was a culinary success! I love when I go to special work to make something that turns out well. I don't have pictures of the finished product because the camera ran out of batteries. Bummer.

Fun at the Columbia River

A very nice woman, Donna, that Jeromy works with took us out on her boat Saturday morning. The weather was beautiful and we had a great time seeing the sights of the Mid-Columbia from the river. The kids thought it was a blast and played in the water for a while too. Bennett's favorite part was driving over the wakes of other boats and bouncing really high. We were so proud of Rachel hanging from the back platform of the boat kicking and playing in the water. She is usually really cautious about water, but not Saturday. She and Bennett played until we told them we had to head back to the dock. It was so much fun that Jeromy asked Donna alot of questions about owning a boat! That would be fun, especially because we live 5 minutes from the river.

El Prego

Okay, okay, I have succomed to the pressure of posting pregnant pictures of myself. So there you go! I will post pictures of my new hairdo when I get some good pictures of it. If I leave the camera upstairs, there is a much better chance of getting a couple. Happy Monday!

7 Things That Make Me Laugh

I am never good about doing the list of things about myself when tagged, but I just saw this on the Heldts blog and liked this one. Although not tagged, I thought I would play along anyway.

7 Things That Make Me Laugh

1) Animals dressed in clothes, especially chimpanzees and Weimreiner(sp?) dogs.

2) Bennett's new found love of making funny faces. Ask him to make his "gawking" face. It is hilarious!

3) Watching people fall/get hurt. (I got this trait from my mother who used to laugh when she would see us biff it outside. So mean, I know!)

4) When Rachel says a new phrase that we have never heard her say before. (Yesterday it was, "Talk louder, I CAN'T HEAR YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" We were cracking up. Okay, maybe you had to be there.)

5) The Seinfeld episode where Jerry pretends that his girlfriend's stomache talks like the Koolaid guy and says, "Hellooooo, bum bum bum." That episode kills me.

6) When I am in a situation, like church, when something funny happens and I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help myself. No self-control, it's terrible. If my mom is there, it is even worse. She makes this face when she is trying not to laugh that ensures that I will laugh uncontrollably.

7) Bennett dancing to the music in church. It is like he is jumping and shaking uncontrollably with seizures or something. Everyone else laughs too, poor kid.

This was a fun one, feel free to make your own list and link it with a comment in my blog.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Okay, I am sitting at the computer totally uninspired to write anything interesting, but it has been since Monday since I posted, so I feel like I have to!

One potentially problematic piece of Markwort news is that Jeromy will be going to St. Louis, MO for 7 days on August 25th. (BTW, that is my birthday, but I missed his this year too while I was in Minnesota, so it seems only fair!) The problematic part is that we are having a baby in case someone missed my every growing hugeness these days! I have never had a baby early. Bennett was 10 days late, and Rachel was 1 day late. Chances are that I won't go into labor early unless something was wrong. With as fast as my labor went last time (2 hours), there is no way that Jeromy could get home in time to do anything but greet his several hour old baby girl. What complicates matters is that I am planning on staying home, not going to a hospital, so my mom would have to stay with me instead of the kids and the kids would have to chance it alone with grandpa :o) Jeromy said that my only responsibility while he is gone is to keep the baby inside. Someone still needs to take care of our other two children, so sitting around all day resting is totally out of the question. I do need to start slowing down more though because I have been getting really tired and am not sleeping very well at night. This is the craziness that I did yesterday:
-Made marinade for the chicken for dinner
-Drove to Jeromy's work to drop him off some checks
-Returned library books
-Went to the car wash
-Returned a baby monitor at Toys R Us
-Got my haircut at the mall
-Had lunch at the mall
-Costco
-Nap
-Started dinner
-Had a co-worker of Jeromy's with her daughter over for dinner

I have got to slow down one of these days or my back is literally going to quit on me! Anyway, grocery shopping, minimal housekeeping, dishes, laundry, meal preparations and basic childrearing will still have to go on even if Jeromy is gone, and I am supposed to be taking it easy, so I guess we will pray VERY hard that little Ellie doesn't decide on any early arrivals.

On another note, I mentioned that I got my haircut yesterday, and I was a little more daring than usual. My hair has gotten ridiculously long these last couple of years, and I have been a little bored lately with the same 'ol, same 'ol. I got about 3 inches cut off and got it layered and really thinned out. My hair is very thick normally, and I'll bet she took off a pound of hair. The most daring part is that I got bangs. I have been toying with the idea for a while and just decided to go for it. I have a really good hairdresser that I completely trust, and she said that it would look good, so there you go. They are the kind of long, side-swept kind that are just long enough to be in your eyes without being long enough to put behind your ears. Hair in my eye constantly and repeated pushing them off my face has not been my favorite so far, so I think I made a bad decision. I might be using a lot of clippies and headbands until they grow a little bit. Luckily the bangs aren't very thick, so there isn't too much to deal with. I am just not used to having anything on my forehead, so that might be the problem. The funny thing is that I have the same haircut as everyone else seems to have right now. I didn't notice until after the fact, but it has been funny to me to see my hair on all sorts of different heads in all sorts of different colors. I am not one for fads, so I am finding it hilarious to actually be in style right now! I'll post pictures soon, I promise!

35 Weeks 2 Days

I had a checkup today. I gained back the pound I had lost from the last time I was weighed. We talked about all the details of a home birth. She told me that we could have the homebirth anywhere after 37 weeks. We went over the list of things I need to have here for the home birth, the preparations we need to make, and what the midwife will be responsible for. I need to still find/buy the following things:
-10 old towels and washcloths
-Old fitted sheet(s) for our bed which will be a little harder because our bed is a CA King, not the most common size
-Shower curtain (I might just use some old vinyl tablecloths I have.)
-Large bottle of hydrogen peroxide (hopefully we won't need this for any carpet stains)
-Some old receiving blankets I don't care about getting ruined
-Several quarts of the drink Recharge (I drank this after Rachel's birth and it was great. It is an electrolyte drink like gatorade, but natural)
-Snacks and drinks for myself, Jeromy and midwife

I also need to pre-register at the hospital just in case I need to be transferred, so we don't have to worry about it during an emergency. (I live about 3 blocks from the hospital for all of you that are worried about such things!) My biggest concern is probably getting the midwife here in time. My other homebirthing friends that have fast labors have not called early enough and given birth without them. I hope that we are more aware of timing this birth and not ignoring all of the signs that the baby is coming.......soon!

I feel ready mentally to have the baby. I am starting to get uncomfortable and looking forward to having my abdomen back to myself. My ribs and lower back have been really sore this week, but I know it is because I haven't been resting every day like I need to be doing. In fact, I am going to sign off to take a nap right now. ZZZZZZZZZ

What We've Been Up To

I have not felt like I have anything to blog about lately. I haven't been taking any pictures either. We've had people over for dinner, went to a baseball game, had the kids spend the night at my parents for a little break, watched some movies, gone to church/bible study, I have been buying things on ebay, and just played at home alot. I am starting to nest a little bit before Elizabeth (Ellie) Joy makes her entrance into the world. I found a girl's crib bumper at Goodwill for $1.75 which I was extremely excited about. It is pink on one side and pink and white flowers on the other side. I bought some curtain rods for her room as well to hang some lace curtains that I have been carrying around for years, but I don't think the kind of rods I got are going to work. I am wanting to get a glider rocker for the nursery too, so I have been looking around online for one.

I had my midwife appointment canceled this week because my midwife had a birth to attend. I had to reschedule for Monday morning. This will be my last appointment I have to go to her office for. At 36 weeks she makes home visits every week to do the checkup and to get used to getting to my house and where everything is. In case some of you don't know, I am having a homebirth this time around. I just about had one last time around, but we hadn't planned on that one. In WA, health insurance will pay for homebirths, which is the only reason we didn't have one before. The out of pocket costs were too high. Actually, we bought our minivan instead!

I can't believe I only have a little over a month to go. This pregnancy has gone by so fast. I think having two other little ones around has helped that alot. My constant indigestion has magically disappeared, so I am wondering if I have "dropped" already. I don't think I ever did with Bennett or Rachel until I was in labor, but I don't know why the indigestion would be completely gone. My only complaint is my back by the end of the day, but as long as I can take it easy after 7pm I am usually okay. If I am still cleaning up any later than that, I pay for it!

We have been attending Wednesday night Bible study at our church this summer. We are going through a DVD series put out by Focus On The Family called, "The Truth Project." We have been really impressed with it. It is very well done and has been very thought provoking. It basically is looking at science, philosophy, history, government, religion and trying to separate truth from the lies that so pervade our society these days. It is done in a lecture/classroom style with alot of multimedia thrown in (interviews, graphics, comments, etc.) There are interviews with R.C. Sproul, Ravi Zacharias and other very well respected Christians. We gather for a potluck meal beforehand, so it has been a good time of fellowship as well. It is nice to connect midweek with the body of Christ, and we know our days are numbered for doing this type of thing for a while once the baby comes.

That's all that we have been doing around here. I will TRY to get some new pictures this week, and people keep bugging me to post some Samantha pregnant pictures, so I will try to do that as well.

Diapers

I have spent the last week or so compiling diaper prices to find out what brand and what stores have the cheapest diapers. I have always used Pampers with both of my kids, mainly because when I used Huggies, they both leaked out of them. That was enough to make me loyal to Pampers. There are so many other brands out there, but unfortunately you can't just buy a sample of a few diapers. You have to make quite a commitment buying a big pack. Rachel is at the point that I feel like I can try some other brands and use her as a guinea pig. I bought Walmart's brand, Parent's Choice, today and at first glance I wasn't as happy with them as Pampers. They said they had the stretchy tabs, but they didn't seem to stretch to me. I also want to try Costco's brand, Luvs, and Target's brand. Has anyone tried any of these brands? Any likes and dislikes? From what I have found so far at Walmart (I haven't priced Target brand, but have heard good things about them) Parent's Choice is the cheapest followed by Luvs, Costco brand, and Pampers. Pampers are the same price as Luv's though if you can get them at Toys R Us when they have the $5 off coupon. I don't think that comes around very often, but I guess you could stock up when it does. I'll keep you posted with my findings but would love any input you have out there.

Good Friends

We had dinner with some good friends on Saturday night. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and I got some one on one time with my friend while the kids were outside playing with the dads. She is a mother of soon to be four, and I used the time to ask for some advice about my attitude and problems with childrearing lately. For starters, it is always so nice to know that I am not the only mom who struggles. We put on such a brave front for the world that I think it makes us feel isolated when we are having a hard time and feel like no one can possibly understand. I want everyone to feel like having kids is so wonderful that I hide the fact that it is hard and challenging and frustrating at times.

I gained a good piece of advice that I am still mulling over in my head trying to completely understand. God doesn't approach us, His children, with the expectation that we will act perfect and be sinless. He knows we are going to screw up, require reproof, lead us to repentance, and restore our fellowship with Himself. This is a perfect picture of how He expects us to raise the children He gives us. Instead of approaching my children with the expectation that they will remember all the rules and obey every one of them, I need to expect that they will need reproof more often than not. That eliminates my attitude of frustration that they let ME down. My job is not to be disappointed and constantly frustrated with their sin, my job is to be ready to give reproof, lead them to repentance, and restore our relationship.

This is all easier said than done. I am still going to battle my own flesh that wants to get impatient and frustrated, but if I want my children to be followers of Christ, that relationship needs to start now with me showing them the love of Christ. I also want to make a more concerted effort to pray for the salvation of my children, that the Holy Spirit would begin to soften their hearts and dwell within them, leading them to follow Christ. Praying more often for them will help me to remember that they are not saved, and that I want nothing more for them than a life dedicated to the Father. There is no loftier goal as a parent than that.

Attitude

Today I am so disappointed with my attitude. It sounds so ridiculous to say it, but I find myself expecting Bennett to be a perfect version of myself. Not only is he only four, but he is human and will never be perfect. I have been told by more than one person that I really expect a lot out of him, and that is probably a true observation. I know that there must be a balance between requiring obedience with a good attitude from a child and realizing they will never be perfect. I have a hard time knowing which side to fall on.

Maybe the requirement of obedience is the right thing, but my frustration when he fails is where the problem lies. He is going to fail just like I fail, and we all fail. I know that I have good intentions. I want Bennett to learn to obey and respect his parents so that he will learn to obey and respect God, but God doesn't yell and get frustrated with us when we sin. I know that I am much more frazzled and tired lately, but I still need self-control over my actions.

How do we as parents balance Godly expectations of our children with the reality that they are a work in progress and will fail?

32 1/2 Weeks

I had my twice-monthly midwife appointment yesterday. I lost a pound which was no surprise due to the recent stomache flu, and she wasn't worried because I had gained more than necessary the month prior. It all evens out in the end I guess. I have gained 21 pounds so far. I need to look back at Bennett and Rachel's pregnancies to see how much I usually gain the last month or two, but I think I am on track to stay within the 25-35 pound range. The bummer about being pregnant in the summer is that it has been too hot to take many walks. I can't get out the door early enough when it is still tolerable out. By the time we all get dressed, eat breakfast and get out the door, it is starting to get hot. I have never been one to do much exercising while pregnant, but a little walking here and there is nice. I usually feel motivated to exercise when the baby is about 3 months old, and I look like I am still 5 months pregnant. By then it will be snowing out, so I will have to break out the workout tapes. I am not so much driven by vanity as I am clothing that is too tight. Waistbands that are cutting off my circulation really bum me out!

I had such an easy second trimester with this pregnancy that I hardly noticed I was pregnant. The realization has finally hit me that a baby is coming. (The constant indigestion these days is a reminder I can't ignore!) I am feeling twinges of nesting and starting to think about getting out baby clothes and blankets and burp cloths and all that fun stuff. It is strange how fast a pregnancy goes by when you have two little ones already. I haven't thought about it too much. I have talked to other moms with lots of little ones and they say that it only gets worse. You just are too busy to sit around daydreaming. My first pregnancy seemed to take forever, so I think I like it flying by better. I am afraid that these last 7-8 weeks are going to creep along at a snail's pace. I don't think there is any way to ever make the last few weeks go by fast. It is God's way of getting us to go through labor. Motivation!

Oh The Fun You Can Have

You can tell that between the severe heat and a whole week of the flu, we have been spending WAY too much time inside. Bennett has been having fun lately dressing up Rachel for various battles and games they are playing. This is how I found her the other day.


I am not sure what she is supposed to be, but she thought it was pretty funny.


Silly face.


Our little Rachel's dual personality. She is wearing her apron while playing at her play kitchen, but is packing heat while doing it.

Stomache Flu Is Worse Than Death

Unfortunately I was not immune to the ever occuring stomache flu in the Markwort house this time around. Jeromy fell Friday, Rachel Monday, Bennett Tuesday, and I on Wednesday. I think it was of the 24 hour variety, so I am feeling weak but better. I have said all along that I didn't want to gain more than 25-35 pounds this pregnancy, but the flu isn't what I had in mind to accomplish that goal. Third trimester stomache flu is enough to bring on labor I am sure, but for now, baby is still safe inside although probably traumatized by what she heard and felt in there. Two sleepless nights in a row will take a while to recover from, but I did sleep well last night which is a total blessing! Thank you for your prayers. I am sure banking on the fact that having the stomache flu three times while pregnant should ensure that I don't get it again for the next decade at least! I will post again when anything more exciting than laundry happens around here. Have a great weekend.

Wow, What A Night!

There are a few moments in mommyhood that elicit pure terror, and I experienced one of those last night. I will preface this by saying that Jeromy came down with the stomache flu on Friday night and Rachel on Tuesday night, but I thought that Bennett and I would be safe because we have already had it twice this year, and they haven't had it at all. I was wrong. Bennett showed up at our bedroom door at 1 am letting me know that he had thrown up in his bed. Bummer, I thought. I got up and in the midst of asking him a few questions he got sick again, but it looked like blood. Panic! I yelled, "Jeromeeeeeee!" which caused him to shoot out of bed to see what was wrong. Jeromy assured me that the color was due to the bedtime snack of blueberries that Bennett had eaten a few hours earlier. Okay, I'll buy that, but my heart was racing a mile a minute by that time. I can't believe how frozen I became in that moment. I didn't usher Bennett right into the bathroom when he got sick, so the next half hour was spent by my wonderful husband scrubbing our very light color carpet to get out the bluberry stains. I went downstairs to survey the damage and unfortunately the bed was pretty clean, but a trail had been left from the bed to our bedroom. Our house reaks of vinegar this morning, but at least the stains are mostly out. We definitely need to invest in a carpet cleaner of our own.

Bennett finally stopped throwing up every 15-30 minutes at 7:30 this morning, so we are all really tired. Thankfully we will all take a good nap today. My poor little Bennett. He doesn't ever just get sick a couple of times and then it's over. He always is a stomache lining sort of guy. That will make for a sad future I think. I have to admit that through all of this I had a hard time not thinking about myself and how much I don't want to get sick. Twice is enough for anyone while pregnant, so I am praying, praying, praying, I am spared. My hands are raw from all the washing. We'll see, I guess. Now I just have to make it until naptime. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Blueberries and Dinosaurs

A friend of mine has a grandma that lives about 45 minutes west of us that grows organic blueberries. They offer U-pick blueberries for $1/pound. We couldn't resist the lure of fresh, organic (CHEAP) blueberries, so off we went to Zillah with hats and sunscreen in hand. It has been hot here, mind you. I mean 100+ degrees hot. We left here at 7:45 am, a little later than I had wanted, and started picking at about 9 am. There were quite a few people there when we started picking, but they finished very quickly thereafter. We were the lone pickers as the sun started scorching. We finished a little after 11 am (picking blueberries takes longer than I had anticipated!) We had two hot, tired little ones and two hot, tired mamas (my mom came with us as Jeromy came down with the stomache flu Friday night.) All in all, we picked 32.75 pounds of delicious blueberries. That is ALOT of blueberries. I have 4 gallon-size freezer bags in the second freezer, a gallon- size bag of dehydrated ones (that didn't work as well as the cherries. It was quite a mess,) my mom took several pounds home, and we have 2 gallon bags in the fridge to eat. Let me just say that at 31 weeks pregnant, that was too much work for me. I couldn't walk by the end of the evening. Hobbling around was all I could muster. I think I am ready to start taking it easy. I hereby claim that I am going to start reading more and am going to finish knitting the baby blanket I started while pregnant with Rachel. We'll see how the taking it easy goes. I am not so good at it.

Oh yeah, dinosaurs. There is a town called Granger that has built all sorts of life-size dinosaurs around the town. Granger has a park that we called "Dinosaur Park", I am not sure of its real name, where the kids can play on the dinosaurs and climb all over them. After we picked blueberries, we stopped by the park because we were all the way out there and let Bennett play for a little while. It was close to lunch time, so he only played for a little while, we could believe he had the energy to play at all. We found a yummy Mexican restaurant and ate a ridiculous amount of food before calling it a day.

I forgot the camera, so I don't have any pictures to document this fun day, so my narration will have to do.

Fun in the Sun

It has been sooooo HOT here this week. Over a 100 for several days with a couple more to go. Thankfully we have a shady backyard because the kids still want to go out and play. I bought them a little plastic pool, and Jeromy is much more fun than I am and put it underneath their slide. Bennett had fun sliding down into the pool for a while, but then wanted it moved. Rachel was too scared to go into the pool with Bennett sliding down into it, so she just ran around and watched. We have it in a different spot in the yard now, and Rachel spends as much time as Bennett does in it.





I have started potty training Rachel this week and it hasn't been going well to say the least. I don't know whether to persevere or to wait a few weeks and try again later. Does anyone have any good potty training advice for me?????

Trusting God With Your Fertility- Part 2

I left off in Part 1 just having read, "Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions." That night I went home and told Jeromy about everything I had read and showed him the facts about how the Pill works. We made the decision that I would go off the Pill immediately. That was an easy decision for us, but the next question was a little harder, "So what do we use now?"

I researched Natural Family Planning online and decided to order their book. I am not one that is really in tune with her body or knows what is really going on in there. I have never been all that intersted, and the whole charting aspect of NFP didn't really appeal to me. It seemed like alot of work and stress to make SURE I didn't get pregnant. Of course they say that you can also use the method to get pregnant as well, but I didn't really know anyone that used it for that reason.

The same time as all of this was taking place, a co-worker was preparing a Bible study in Genesis and came to work with all sorts of crazy ideas about being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth. The Bible study started taking on a new direction and was affecting the co-worker's ideas about fertility and allowing God room to be in control of the childbearing aspect of marriage. The Lord was beginning to speak to me as well with all the Scripture that was being discussed and wrestled with. I came home daily with these ideas to talk to Jeromy about. I am going to copy the Bible study below for you to read and post comments about if you want. In Part 3, I will discuss the thought process that God took Jeromy and I through to get us to the point of complete surrender and finally freedom with our family plan.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL?

First Scriptural Principle (A basic truth or standard of personal conduct):

• God controls the womb!

1. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”

2. David speaks clearly of God’s active involvement in creating life; Psalm 139:13, 16, “For you have formed my inward parts; you have woven me in my mother’s womb. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me.”

3. Genesis 29:31, “Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”

4. When Rachel then complains to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die,” Jacob accurately responds, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” (Genesis 30: 1,2)

5. Ruth 4:13, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.”

6. Deuteronomy 32:30 tells us plainly, “It is I who put to death and give life.”

Scriptural Principle #2:

• God highly values fruitfulness.

1. Genesis 17:2, the Lord says to Abraham, “I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”

2. Genesis 17:6, He goes on to say, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.”

3. When God wanted to bless His people, He promised fruitfulness. He told the Israelites in Leviticus 16:9, “So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm my covenant with you.”

4. In Deuteronomy 7:13, 14, Moses promised the people, “And He will love you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb…You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle.”

5. Not only does God value fruitfulness…He commands it. In Genesis 1:28 the first command ever given to man was, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.” God’s dealings with Adam are representative of His dealings with all of mankind!

6. Genesis 9: 7, 8 & 9, “And as for you, be fruitful and multiple; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.” Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying; “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you.”

• With your descendants (seed) includes all of the human race

• Nowhere is God’s covenant rescinded concerning fruitfulness in regards to children!

7. In our culture today, fruitfulness is viewed as a curse rather than a blessing, are we thinking Scripturally as we PLAN our families, or are we thinking as the world does?

Scriptural Principle #3:

• God says children are a blessing.

1. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is His reward.”

2. Psalm 127:5 says, “How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

3. Psalm 128:3,4 declares, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, with your house, your children like olive plants around your table. Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.”’

4. Do we truly believe what the Lord is saying? Are we acting as if we believe that children are always a blessing from the Lord? Is the Lord truly the Lord of our life in all ways?


Á cry in the wilderness” by Keith Green

• Let’s face it, children are a lot of trouble and a lot of work! They cry, they fight, they mess up the house, they interrupt our sleep, they need tons of assistance, they need patience, forgiveness, and love. Children force us to become more Christ-like if we are going to be successful in raising them up to follow Christ.

Scriptural Principle #4:

• Our bodies are not our own.

1. Romans 12:1 says, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

2. The Apostle Paul continually refers to himself as a “bond servant of Christ Jesus.” A bond servant is a believer who voluntarily takes the position of a slave to Christ and has no rights of his own. He does always and only the will of his Master. For His part, the Lord binds Himself to care for His servant.

The Heart of God portrayed in Scripture is one that embraces life, children, and fruitfulness rather than voluntary barrenness!

I believe we’ve been too cavalier about family planning and leaving God out of our decision making.

In John 10:27 Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

Proverbs 3:5, 6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Cherries, Cherries, Cherries!

This is one of my favorite times of years for the very reason of............ CHERRIES! The house that we just sold had a cherry tree, and we were sad to move before we could harvest them. What is better than having your own cherry tree in your front yard? Friends that own a whole orchard! A family from church owns a cherry and apple orchard, and they blessed us on Saturday by inviting us over to glean the leftover cherries. We came home with a ridiculous amount of cherries! I put up 6 gallon size bags in the freezer and am working on my second dehydrator full of cherries right now. We have given some to my parents, two sets of friends, and Jeromy's work. We still have a ton leftover to enjoy fresh ourselves. We are in cherry heaven!


Mmmmm, cherries!


Two big shopping bags full of Bing cherries and one of Ranier cherries.


Two 5-gallon buckets full of Van cherries. One is half empty because they were dehydrating.


The dehydrating operation. Jeromy was very generous to help me load the dehydrator. I pitted the cherries, and he cut them in half and loaded them in.


Boy, this is alot of work, but totally worth it! My kitchen looked like it had been splatter painted when we were finshed. It was a sticky mess!

Heyburn State Park

We had a great time camping with Jeromy's parents for a few days. They camped in Yellowstone for 5 days before heading west to meet us at Chatcolet Lake in northern Idaho. The weather was wonderful and much cooler than the Tri-Cities (110 today!) and the kids had a blast at the lake. We borrowed a friend's kayak, and Jeromy's parents brought an inflatable one, so the kids as well as grownups spent the days paddling around. We enjoyed the usual campfires in the evenings, smores, and relaxing. We met a family that was camping next to us that had a 4 year old son as well, and he and Bennett played any time they were both at the campground. Jeromy, the other dad, and their oldest son also spent one night leading us in worship around the campfire with their guitars. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and fun to meet some other Christians. It is always so neat how sharing that bond makes a fast friendship.


Our camp. Yes, we have the world's largest tent! It is one of the two-room kind. It makes it hard to find somewhere to set it up sometimes. We had to use the driveway this time. Mark and Beverlee parked their trailer behind it.


Pop and Popgrandma.


The dirtiest boy ever! We were laughing at our little "Pigpen." When he ran around, he left a trail of dust behind him. Thankfully the campground had showers!


Pop and Popgrandma brought Rachel birthday gifts. She had so much fun with her hula hoop and was getting pretty good at it.


A cool marshy area near our campground. There were lilly pads and lotus blossoms and all sorts of wildlife.


Hiking around.


Chatcolet Lake.


It was hard to get Bennett out of the kayaks. He would have been happy to stay in all day.


Rachel was happiest playing along the shoreline and not going in too deep!


Bennett liked having on all of the flotation devices at once- water wings, life jacket, elmo floaty, goggles and anything else he could get his hands on. I think he thought that the more he had, the safer he would be. It was pretty funny. He got braver as he spent more time in the water. Last year he was comfortable floating around by himself with just a life jacket on, but it is going to take a little more work to get him back to that point again.


Rachel kicking back with her dad. She would get so relaxed floating around that she looked like she was going to fall asleep.


Naptime on the way home. Poor Bennett has a rough time sleeping in his new booster seat. There is nowhere to rest his head like in a carseat, so he has a hard time getting comfortable. At one point, I held a pillow under his head so that it stopped whiplashing forward. He must have a sore neck today.

Camping

We will be gone for a few days. Post pictures when we get back. Enjoy your weekend and the 4th of July. Use the day to remember God's Providence in the creation of this great nation. He was the reason the first settlers came to this country. We should be thankful to live in a country where we are free to worship the Lord, so think upon that as you are enjoying the day off!

Trusting God With Your Fertility- Part 1

Brianna, this series of posts is for you.

This subject is something that I talked about alot a few years ago, but the Lord basically gave me a few years of living it without talking much about it except to those others that I had it in common with. By "it" I mean what is now called being "Quiverfull". It means that Jeromy and I don't use birth control of any kind and are trusting the Lord to plan our family the way He sees fit, whether we have 3 children or 20. It means that we trust that only the Lord knows our future- where we will live, how much money we will have, where Jeromy will work, our physical health, so only He can plan how our family should look.

I was asked to share how we came to this belief, and with much forethought, that is the purpose of this series of posts.

Jeromy and I did not come to this belief easily. It wasn't something that we grew up believing or brought into our marriage with us. A little history of us will be a good foundation to this discussion and will help to see how God got us to where we are now.

I grew up in a Christian home, went to a Christian school through 6th grade, then switched to public school. I was not saved, had never completely given my life to Christ, and didn't live a life that was pleasing to Him. I didn't make that decision until I was 22. Those years of living an unsaved life shaped my worldview and left me a pretty feministic, mainstream Christian. I had lived with a man I wasn't married to for 3 years, looked at having a child as a huge inconvenience at best, was very career focused, and didn't quite know how to mix all these things together with Christian living. A large number of churches these days are having the same struggle for identity (Biblical values vs. secular/watered-down Christianity), and I didn't receive much guidance. I did get to the point where I believed that I would one day have a family, after I established a career, and would even stay home until they went to school.

Jeromy didn't become a Christian until he was 25. He did have very rapid maturity in his Christian walk and was truly a seeker of God. He was so engrossed in the Word that I was embarrassed how much more he knew than I did, even though I had grown up hearing about the Bible. He wanted a wife and a family, but had the same feelings that I did about it. You get married, work a few years, get used to being married and then decide when you want to have a baby. We didn't know there was any other way. No one talked about God being in the equation at all. It wasn't a question of whether we should use birth control, but which one will work the best for us.

Jeromy and I got engaged when he was 30 and I was 24. We were both in college, each having at least 2 years left. No one said, "What happens if you get pregnant," or, "You shouldn't get married until you are ready to have kids." What we did get is counseling that asked us if we had decided on a method of birth control. Of course we had. I didn't want to have a baby, I just wanted to get married. I quickly went on the Pill and we got married 10 months after we had met.

Life was great, we were settling into married life when I picked up a pretty inconvenient book called, Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions? by Randy Alcorn. I was on staff at the local Crisis Pregnancy Center as a counselor, and I had heard a little about the possibility but always quickly ignored it. I read the booklet in a day and knew I had a problem. The answer to that question is, YES, it can cause abortions. I am adamantly against abortion, so I had a definite problem on my hands.

The journey was about to begin.

The Week Modified

I think that I was being overly drastic in my last post. Since being more aware of the problem between the kids, I have been able to do more to correct it, even admist regular life. I am still going to do the tomato staking, but instead of dropping my life to do what the kids want, they will be following me around instead. I will be making a better effort to "play" with them in order to teach them to get along better. It is crazy how a whole day can go by and I realize that I didn't interact enough with them. Since they have each other, it is easy to just send them off to play while I do my thing. I hope to make that a priority this week.

On the issue of potty training, we are going camping soon, so I think I should wait until we get back. I don't want to make a hundred trips to the bathroom with a newly potty trained 2-year-old.

I feel better with this plan for the week. We have Jeromy's parents coming to stay the following week, so I really can't let everything go this week. That is a scary proposition. We also wouldn't have any clothes to wear. Laundry doesn't care about child rearing issues! I am probably just feeling better because I am not facing potty training in the morning, but whatever the reason, things are looking more positive!

Caught Up With Life

I just can't seem to stay on top of things lately. Well, let me actually say that all I can seem to manage is the everyday minimum that it takes to run a household. Cleaning, cooking, shopping, and a mild amount of child rearing. I really hope that it is just being in the third trimester of pregnancy. I am someone that is usually really good about getting everything she wants done, done, but lately I just can't seem to get there. I have had several friends that I have wanted to call recently and chat and invite over, but I can't seem to make phone calls.

My children are a whole other topic, but something drastic will be taking place soon, hopefully. I want to take next week off to devote time to them. They have been bickering and fighting non-stop for weeks now, and something must be done! I am not going to do all the housecleaning as usual, and we will be eating simple meals or things brought home by Jeromy. I am going to practice the art of "tomato staking" my children (raisinggodlytomatoes.com) and keep them with me all day every day until the fighting turns into something much nicer. The theory is that children need to be staked (to me and Jeromy) or else they grow wild and out of control and their fruit drops all over the ground and rots. Pretty good mental picture. I did it with Bennett when he was about 18 months and constantly seemed to be getting into trouble when out of my sight and it worked really well within a few days. I am hoping that the kids just need to be trained to play together, share and just generally be nice to one another. Bennett needs to learn to respect Rachel's personal space, wants and desires and Rachel needs to have that example to follow herself. She has just picked up on his bad habits it seems, but she has now learned to fight back. It isn't pretty!

On top of that, Rachel needs to be potty trained. Not just because she just turned 2, but because she has been ready for quite a while now. I am so gun-shy about doing it though because it has been such a struggle with Bennett. I just don't mind diapers all that much. I know that I need to do it now before the baby comes or it will be a long time before I get around to it. I had said I was going to do it once it got warmer outside and it is definitely warmer. I need to start praying now for a large tank of patience because I really struggled the first time around. Supposedly girls are supposed to be easier, but time will tell.

That's all for now from the Markworts. Have a great weekend!

Rachel's 2nd Birthday Party

The birthday girl had the pleasure of sharing her big day with the Dad's this year. We celebrated everything at once plus my brother's girlfriend's birthday was the weekend before, so we threw that in as well. We BBQd hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken and had a big spread. Rachel was happy with her hot dog and potato chips!


She got a big bunch of balloons that she happily played with all day long!


Isn't she adorable!!


She delicately opened up all of her gifts. No ripping and tearing open for her.


I had a gluten/dairy-free success with the chocolate pie I made! It was so tasty that everyone tried some. Rachel liked her new cel phone so much that I couldn't get her to put it down even for dessert!


Rachel playing with her new toys. She got a stroller, high chair and other feeding toys for her baby dolls. She also got a new purse, cel phone, a new outfit and a bunch of jewelry. The next morning was hilarious seeing Bennett walking around with pearls on, a pink purse over his shoulder and a little girl baby doll in his arms. He has been having as much fun as she has with all the new baby doll stuff. It is about time that Rachel gets to play something besides guns or tools!

Our Two Year Old

Our favorite little girl turned two yesterday. She has been so much fun ever since she was born. She slept through the night by 3 months old, she was never fussy, and she always had a smile for us. (Not for anyone else though!) She loves her brother dearly, and wants to do whatever he is doing. She is so goofy and makes us crack up with her funny faces and things she does and says. I can't imagine a sweeter little girl. She will make such a great big sister, and I know she will a big help. Her favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me" and she sings it quite well! She has become quite the talker, albeit later than her brother, she is making up for lost time. One of her biggest accomplishments is that she is finally growing hair! Yay, we can finally use barrettes and put in pig tails. We are so thankful that God blessed our family with Rachel, and our prayer for her is that she continues to draw people in with her sweet spirit, her generosity, and her love for her family. Happy Birthday, Sissy!