Our New Arrival

About one month ago, our newest family member arrived. We've been busy adjusting, holding the baby, celebrating Halloween, and collecting pictures. He is a delightful little boy who made a big impression on this world by coming into it with a weight of 9 lbs and lenght of 20.5 inches. We are glad that he is here safe and sound.

Excitement at Our House

There is a lot of excitement at our house this morning. The kids were literally bouncing off the walls when I told them the news. Can you guess what it was?

Yep, Grandma is coming to town for a week.

Betcha thought it was something else. That should happen later this week . . . . . .

$5 for Dinner and a Show

Last night we went "out" for dinner to Costco. We bought to two of their huge slices of pieces and a hot dog with a lemonade. We split the pieces in half and shared the hot dog and lemonade. Just enough for everyone to be satisfied but not too full.

Then after dinner we went and looked at toys and Christmas decorations. No extra purchases were made, but the kids had a blast looking at things we don't usually take the time to look at when we are grocery shopping. It was fun to watch the kids checking out the toys and listen to what they found so interesting about each toy or Christmas decoration.

And that is how we paid $5 for dinner and show.

Handfuls of Hair

One day last week I gave Benjamin his monthly buzz cut and Bekah kept asking me if I would cut her hair. I told her no several times and didn't think anymore of it. Then later in the day I sent her downstairs to put a way some safety scissors. Since I was half asleep Bekah must have thought this was the optimal time to give herself a haircut. She took a handful of curls on each side of her head and chopped off her curls.

One handful ended up in the garbage. The other ended up scattered down the stairs. I was so frustrated that I didn't dare look too closely to see how bad the damage was. I told Bekah she lost her scissor privilege until after the baby is born (about 2 weeks or so at that point).

A couple days later when I went to repair the damage, I found out that the initial cut was not as bad as I had anticipated for several reasons. One, Bekah cut her hair below her fist not above it. Two, she cut the hair right above and around her ears instead of off the top. That meant all I had to do was taper the edges and even everything out instead of cutting off most of her hair. Third, her hair is curly so a little unevenness is not as obvious has it would be if her hair were straight.

Bekah was so delighted to get a haircut she doesn't even mind losing her scissor privilege; And the little stinker insisted I take a picture of her haircut to show everyone her pretty hair. I forgot to take pictures of the hair before it was thrown away to show how much was cut off so we just have the after pictures.

Pumpkin Festival

Fall has arrived! We attended the Pumpkin Festival last weekend and saw some of the huge pumpkins grown across our state. When they weighed some of the pumpkins in, they were over 300 pounds! Our kiddos were amazed at how big the pumpkins were and kept asking me if they were fake or real. Yes, they are very real. :)

Look, Mom! This one is flat!

Take my picture with this one . . . . and this one . . . . and this one . . . .

Needless to say, we stopped after the first couple because there were almost 20 pumpkins there to be weighed in for the prize of the largest pumpkin.

Making scarecrows at the kids' craft table.

When Offers to Help Aren't Helpful

I've had a lot of people offer to help during this pregnancy. Some offers have been more helpful than others. A couple of months ago, I reached the point that it was more painful to accept help because I had to go up and down the stairs to answer the door or drive to another town to get help. I know that people mean well when they offer to help but when getting help complicates my life rather than simplifies it, or magnifies the pain I am feeling, it is not really 'helpful' after all.

An offer to help is not helpful when:

• I don't have your phone number, you don't answer your phone, or return my phone calls.
• My kids are picked on by your kids.
• I would have to drive to your house for you to watch my kids when I don't have the energy to drive to the grocery store.
• You are not available when I actually need the help, only when it is convenient for you.
• I feel like you would rather be doing something else but feel obligated to offer to help.
• My house gets rearranged when you come over and 'help' and I can't find the things I need to take care of my family.
• You tell me kids they don't have to listen to me.
• You disregard my rules or requests and do whatever you want in my home.
• You ask what would be helpful or wanted, receive a specific answer, and then do whatever you want.
• There are enough health problems and needs in your own family that you feel obligated to tell me about and are having a hard time taking care of, but you want me to ask for your help in the time that you don't have.
• My offers to help in the past have been rejected.
• You tell me children they have to do things that are not part of our routine or household rules and functioning.
• You tell me how to run my house, parent my children, or what opinions I am allowed to have.
• It is harder to walk down the stairs, answer the door, and carry on a conversation with you about why I am in pain, when it will all be over, and why the doctors don't know what is going on than it is to deal with everything by myself.
• It totally drains all of my energy to load my kids up and haul them to your house and go pick them up, especially when driving intensified my pain.

I really appreciate the help I have received. There have been some wonderful friends who have done a lot to help take care of my children and my sanity the last few months. I'm just tired of explaining things I don't have answers for and telling the same people over and over again that their help would not be useful without being rude. I have no problem accepting help if there is truly a need, but if it is something we can manage ourselves we really don't need extra help, especially if the source does not have respect for our home, our ways of parenting, and me as an individual and mother.

Redecorating and Painting Bedrooms

Since Bekah will be sharing her room with the baby, I decided that I was tired of the mint green walls and painted and redecorated her room. And because I was decorating Bekah's room, Benjamin wanted to decorate his room as well. Thus, I commenced decorating the kids bedrooms and we now have fun decorations on the walls of the kids' rooms.

The kids helped pick out the colors for the decorations and I found some awesome coloring pages online that I used for design templates for the decorations. So now we have one room where airplanes fly in the sky and another room that is decorated with stripes, bugs, and frogs. Can you guess which room belongs to which child?

Health and Safety Fair

Benjamin's school put on a Healthy and Safety Fair last week and the kids were delighted to go and collect 'treasures' from the various booths. We learned a little bit about strangers, railroad safety, personal hygiene, the importance of carseats, why we wear helments while riding our bikes, respecting guns and locking them up, self defense, obeying street signs, what ambulances are, and explored a fire truck. Both Benjamin and Bekah came home with a bag full of prizes that included, water bottles, candy, rulers, bracelets, coloring pages, tooth brushes and toothpaste, magnets, pens and pencils, and balloons.

I'm not quite sure if they learned anything about safety, but they enjoyed the activity. We did discuss some more things in depth at home when we went through their bags afterwards. Benjamin also received an additional surprise at school the next day: he won a warm beanie from the drawing for those that attended the fair the night before. School has been really good for him.

Yes, the Belly is Mine. Keep Your Comments to Yourself.

One of the things that I've noticed this pregnancy is that people constantly feel the need to comment on pregnant women's bodies. I often find myself wondering, "Why did you just say that?" especially when I'm pretty sure that the speaker would not appreciate the same thing being said to them. The thought also occurred to me, we don't tell overweight people they are fat or skinny people they are too thin, so why do we have to comment on how big or little or "pregnant" a pregnant woman is?

At the moment I can review "pregnant" comments with humor because I haven't encountered any today. Other times they make me want to cry, but here are some of the interesting things people have said to me or to my friends while they are expecting.

• Wow! You just popped! All of the sudden your showing! (at 6 months . . . . hmmmm . . . . guess you didn't notice all those other times I passed you in the hall at church . . . . maybe it was the waddle that gave me away . . . .)
• Your huge! You weren't that big a couple of weeks ago. (at 7 months . . . . if I'm 'huge' now, will I be gigantic in two months?)
• You must be due any day now (as I waddle painfully across the room). Nope, not due for another month, but thanks for the reminder.
• You've outgrown your clothes (from a friend's experience a few days after she has passed her due date.)
• It's all worth it. (Duh! If I didn't think it was worth it, do you really think I would be willing to go through something as public, and painful, as pregnancy?)
• You're getting bigger! (Thanks, I hadn't noticed. Actually, sometimes I just try to forget but I appreciate the reminder.)
• You could come early. (Now, this one is just plain cruel. Most babies don't come early. In fact, first babies are usually late. I do know of a handful of people who come early and/or quickly, but not the majority. I find this one especially humurous when people say it to me because I had 4 months of solid contractions with Bekah and she was still late, 6 weeks of varying contractions with Benjamin and he was late, and contractions off and on since week 10 with this one and he's still not here. But, hey, what do I know about my own body now that we have gotten past the 'safe' point for the baby to come?)
• You look like you are uncomfortable. (No, not at all. I'm just walking like this, or gritting my teeth, for your entertainment.)
• It's not that much longer. (Wow! You mean I can begin counting down? Wait, I started that about 5 to 7 months ago.)

. . . . and a number of other things I can't think of at the moment. I do have to add one caveat: I didn't say any of the things in the parantheses, but they definitely crossed my mind either during or after the conversation. Why do we say the things we do?

Jon Schmidt Concert

Like father, like son. Jon Schmidt's son performing a song he wrote.

Jon waiting with his daughter before she performs one number with her brother.

The obnoxious opening act.

I forgot their name, again, but at least they weren't as painfully loud as last year.

For my birthday, we went to the Jon Schmidt concert at the Waterfall Ampitheater. It was delightful and entertaining and I was so glad I felt up to going. And, thanks to the comfy beach chairs, I was able to sit through the whole concert.

Quotes from Blog Hopping

"The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, FOOTBALL, and Winter" - Nicole Tidmore (post title)

"God knows everything we 'google' and he reads everything we write." - Belinda (sidebar)

"Experience: (defined:) a. The apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind; b. To participate in personally; c. An event or a series of evenets participated in or lived through." - Onna (blog profile)

"Butterflies for dinner." (The hot dog and biscuit kind, see her post for more info.) - Missy

"Caution and warning: This is a real family with real adventures and real issues. You may experience laughter, excitement, joy, sadness, and absolute insanity. Hold on because you are on for the ride of your life . . . :)" - Nye family (blog description, under title)

"Every Picture tells a story - You don't learn from your experiences, you learn from reflecting on your experiences." - Mark

" . . . I hate road rage, apathy, liver, and sarcastic remarks (after I say them)." - Kari Way

A New Meaning to Labor Day

At the first part of this week we had a long weekend, Labor Day weekend. That meant that both Benjamin and Daddy were home for an extra day this week. It also meant that Mom was able to make it to the Jon Schmidt concert held Labor Day weekend every year.

A couple of my friends had a different experience this last weekend, they actually went into labor. Congratulations! I so envy you being at the end of you pregnancies, but I am so delighted that your little ones are here safe and sound and that you are doing well.

Wading in the Shade

It just wouldn't be a complete summer without pictures of playing in the Noah's Ark wading pool at the kids gardens. Michael has taken Benjamin and Bekah a couple of times without me, but this time I felt up to going and I remembered my camera. I had so much fun watching the children splash around the wading pool and just be kids. Sometimes I forget that they are children and just need to run and play.

After the kids were tired of playing in the water, or rather when it became to cold to stay in the water because the sun was setting, we moved on to the dirt and wood projects in another section of the gardens. Benjamin had fun climbing and making noise while Bekah was intent on building and digging. I do think their favorite part of this was when they used chunks of wood for sailboats and sent them down the mini stream that flowed down a short hill and ended in a sink-sized pond.

Playing Games with Food

On Monday night, about three weeks ago, we went to Family Night at the Gardens. The theme for the nights activities was "Fun with Food" which the kids found quite enjoyable. They raced banana cars, threw spaghetti at a wall, painted with spuds and pudding, and watched a Diet Coke erupt with the help of a Mentos. We also visited our favorite gardens and Benjamin and Bekah had to play in the fountain in the Secret Garden.

A Budding Friendship

Our current third child, or so the dog thinks, has decided that Benjamin is A-okay. She sleeps in his bed at night, plays with him during the day, and today she decided he would make a good snuggle buddy while sitting on the couch. Yay for little boys and their dogs!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Benjamin and a few of the other Kindergarteners waiting for the bus.

I say a few because we have over 20 in our neighborhood, and this is the 2nd bus stop.

Today was the first day of school for our handsome little man. He has been waiting for this day for so long that he was up and dressed for the day by 7:15 this morning. We headed to the bus stop and found a whole gaggle of anxious Kindergarteners and their moms waiting for the bus. Benjamin was one of the first to board the bus and didn't even say good-bye, not that I am surprised by this at all given that he usually responds this way when we take him and drop him off somewhere.

I didn't even shed a tear because I know how confident and capable our little guy is, and that he is very prepared for this new change in his life. My biggest concern with Benjamin was if he would make it home on the right bus. Bekah, on the other hand, may be a little more challenging. I was afraid she would not cooperate to get out the door on time to walk the 5 houses to the bus stop. I needn't have worried this morning because she was so excited to see Benjamin go to school that she almost beat him to the bus stop. We will see how the rest of the school year goes, especially after baby brother arrives next month.

After school, we went to meet the bus again. This time to pick up Benjamin. He was delighted to see us and even gave me a hug! Then he told us all about his day and asked if he could play on the playground at the bus stop now. I told him not today, but probably another day. It was a good first day and we all survived. I hope to have many more days like this to come.