My New Link

Did you see I have a new link over there to the right?

"Blue Frog and Butterfly Gifts and Collectibles"

I am happy to add that link for a good friend. She has her own business and just got her online store set up! It's an assortment of gift items and collectibles, kind of a "something for everyone" store!

So, just in time for last-minute Christmas shopping (although Dec. 9th is really still early for me!) go check out her store!

When you do, if you buy something please let her know that you were referred by me...Robin102!

And if you are there shopping for me the Colonial Candle Lamp and Amber Lilies Tealight Holder are on my wish list...

TopTen Tuesday

There are so many things I would love to blog about. Several posts are already half written in my head. But today, I'm going to make it simple.

Top Ten Little Things In Life That Make Me Happy!

10) Watching the huge snowflakes fall outside and knowing that I am in for the day!

9) Songs that you hear that make you say "That's exactly how I feel!"

8) Birth stories. I just love to hear mom's tell about the day their little ones were born! I'm sappy that way. (Except of course when you're listening to a mom who seems to still be lacking a maternal instinct even though her child is 4 years old and she talks all about the wretched pain and her begging for drug after drug because nothing worked, not even the epidural, and how it was the most excruciating 3 days of her life and she's still pretty bitter about it. And then she adds that she will never have another baby and all you can think is "Praise God!" Okay, that was exaggerated a bit, but only because I met this woman in the Penny's baby section 10 years ago so her exact words are not fresh in my mind...but her bitterness is!)

7) Waking up in the night to someone whispering "Mommy." (When they're yelling "Mommy" in the night, well, that's different...it's the whispers that make me happy!)

6) Popcorn and Junior Mints. Yum.

5) Triscuits. Proof that I do love something other than chocolate! And when it's important to be drinking plenty of water, like when you're pregnant, they come in very, very handy! (Just thinking about eating them is making me thirsty!)

4) The concordance in my Bible.

3) Decorating cakes! A cake is such a delicious canvas!

2) Aidan's alien pencil sharpener. I am not kidding. Ever since my nice electric one broke 8 years ago, I have gone through several cheap little sharpeners and they make me crazy! Sometimes they work, or they only work for the first 7 pencils. Most of the time, the best they will do is give you a tip that is not quite as dull as when you started trying to sharpen it 12 minutes ago. And sometimes they just break your pencil tip. But this year, Aidan picked a sharpener for school that looks like an alien and one eye is a large tip sharpener and the other eye is a regular pencil sharpener. Every time I use it, I get giddy when I pull it out and find a perfectly sharpened pencil tip. Every time! I love that thing! (And I'm very protective of it and don't like to share. What if something happened to it?)

1) Gingerbread houses! My mom gave us a kit which we will be doing tomorrow night (or tonight if basketball is canceled due to our lovely weather)! Gary's mom loved gingerbread houses and got me hooked on them. There have been years that we didn't get around to making one but it really is one of my favorite things to do during Christmas. This year I'm planning on baking the gingerbread pieces next week, so that when we have 8 kids here for Christmas break we can all make our own house...or something.

I haven't decided what to do yet. The first year with Karen, we made a bird house. We've also made churches, dog houses, and a tee pee! I've got until next week, so if anyone has any ideas for a fun gingerbread house...please share!

*And now I have to add one more...11) The fact that as I've been writing this, Rachel has been talking one goldfish at a time upstairs and feeding them to the cat. How do I know this? Because each time she took one and headed up the stairs she would peek around the corner and tell me "Deedee eat fish." And now she's trying to sneak past me with the whole box. I'm sensing that it's time to start my cleaning!

You're Gonna Miss This...Moment...#2

It's that time of the week again, to look back and savor the moments that will be gone before we know it! Check out Pam's blog and join in!

Well, with a birthday to celebrate this past week, it is not hard to find moments I'm going to miss someday!

I'd use the decorating the cake moment again, but this bad mom didn't get it made yet! Aidan's birthday fell on a school night/basketball night/choir practice night (which means Gary's gone and we watch Kristin's kids for her). So a very busy night indeed...or it was supposed to be. That all changed when Aly woke up with a 101.5 fever Thursday morning. Anyway, the cakes were baked but the frosting never got made (I am determined to do that today!). But the birthday boy got his 8 Swedish pancakes in bed for breakfast, because he turned 8! And he got to choose our dinner, so Pizza Hut was had by all! We skipped basketball, put up our tree had our pizza, and Aidan opened his gifts all before Gary had to leave for choir practice.

And then I spent most of Friday in bed! I think I caught whatever Aly had but I also think I just plain overdid things. Hmmm, good thing I didn't do the cake!

But it's definitely the pancakes in bed that I'm going to miss someday! Although, by the time all the kids are in double digits I will probably be ready to miss that tradition! And for the record, as they get older and therefore get more pancakes, I use a much smaller pan so each pancake is really only the size of half of a Swedish pancake...I'm not completely insane...yet...

8 Pancakes Ago...

How in the world can my first baby boy be turning 8 today?

Eight years ago, I had gone on maternity leave the week of Thanksgiving. We went to church on Dec. 3 and I started having contractions during the service. Not the "Oh, no! Get me to the hospital contractions," but more the "hmm, could this be the beginning?" contractions. We had pizza at Gary's Grandma's house that evening. Later that night I had a thought that I should call my friend Tracy, who lived next door, and ask her if I could call her at any hour to stay with Aly, in the event that labor started in the middle of the night.

It was a good thought.

But I didn't call her that night.

Nope. Instead I called her at 3am when my water broke!

She was not quite awake but gladly said yes and then added, "Just bring Aly over."

I hung up the phone and asked Gary, "If we have to wake Aly up, why don't we just bring her with us?" (both of our mom's were going to be at the hospital)

As we tried to figure out what to do, the phone rang. Tracy had woken up and realized the craziness of what she had offered and told us she'd be right over! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! So, she hung out at our house until Gary's mom came to relieve her.

On the way to the hospital I was trying to time contractions but I couldn't focus because I actually started to get scared! With Aly, I remember not being scared at all. Because I had no idea what was about to happen! But with Aidan, I remembered it all!!!

We got to the hospital at 4am and by 6am I was all settled in and hooked up to monitors and they came in to tell me that they'd be starting Pitocin because I wasn't contracting. I only vaguely remember asking them what exactly I was feeling every 4 minutes if it wasn't contractions but I can't for the life of me remember getting an answer or what the answer was.

I do remember them talking about what a busy night it was and that they were running out of birthing rooms.

So, at 7am they started the pitocin. And right about that time, Gary's mom came up with Aly. Or did they get there at 7:30am? Must have been 7:30 because I remember watching the "Buzz Lightyear" cartoon with her! She was so cute!

Before the shift change, my nurse told me that because I "wasn't contracting on my own", the pitocin would take some time to start working and it would likely be mid-afternoon before things really got underway. (Just a note here to anyone who might read this and has not yet given birth...if some day you do, and your nurse and your body are giving you conflicting reports - do not believe your nurse!) But that nurse went home at 7 and I met my day nurse, who just happened to be the same nurse I had for Aly's delivery! Her I liked!

Unfortunately, I had believed the forecast of a mid-afternoon delivery. By 8am, I was having such bad contractions, that I was convinced I couldn't make it without drugs. So I asked for something (not an epidural...I am so happy for all you mom's who have wonderful pain-free labors but I cannot do it...I've seen women get epidurals on tv and it completely freaks me out. I can't even stand to watch it. I can't explain it, but I can't do it.). Anyway, they gave me something and all it did was make me feel sick and start having slurred speech. What a waste.

So, Gary's sister had come to the hospital and when I stopped having fun, she took Aly out to shop for a gift for the new baby. My brother and his wife also came by and when I stopped being fun, they went to the cafeteria.

A little before 9am, I knew. I whispered to my mom that I needed to push and that I was just going to push a little bit. So she ran out to get the nurse who of course did not want me to push yet...so I did...just a little...just enough for it to feel better, but don't tell.

My doctor came in and told me that I could in fact push and mentioned that he was in his office talking to his nurses about how to clear up his afternoon schedule when he got the call! In between contractions we were all chatting and the doctor asked if he had told us yet if it was a boy or a girl. Gary very proudly said yes, it's a boy! And then the doctor said, "Oh, well then I'm sure I wrote in your chart that it's a girl. If I tell the parents what they're having I always write the opposite in the chart. If I was right you'll never check the chart, but if I was wrong I can show you your chart and say no, see I had it right." I thought that was hilarious. Gary was a little concerned.

And Aidan James made his debut at 10:13am on December 4th!!!

How could that have been 8 years ago?

But it was. So, this morning before school, Aidan got 8 Swedish pancakes in bed!

He was so handsome and so sweet. He settled into an 8pm bedtime almost from the time we brought him home. We had lots of mid-night feedings and cuddles but he always went right back to sleep. He was so easy. And then he started walking at 10 months. Then he was busy, busy, busy. And his big sister, who was always afraid to try anything, well, she started doing anything and everything...as long as Aidan did it first!

And now, I am seeing him become a young man. And he's smart and he's a thinker. And he's got this awesome sense of humor (and if he can learn to control it, then it won't get him in so much trouble at school)! He loves and looks out for his little sister and can be very selfless and put others first. And after all these years, he's still so very handsome...and he still gets cranky when he's hungry.

And my prayer is that as he grows he will become less dependant on Gary and I, and more and more dependant on God! That he will choose for himself to serve the Lord, to trust in Him, to grow in Him.

Entering a Giveaway!

I follow a blog called "Four little men...and girly twins". Brittany is a mom who has...can you guess?...four sons and just had her twin girls in August (who are absolutely beautiful). If you check out her blog you must read her birth story from August. God definitely had His hand on those little ones to bring them into the world safely!

Anyway, she is having a giveaway and "Ollie" has encouraged me to enter! She's giving away a "One Step Ahead Tummy Time Safari" and "Ollie" really wants to win. Especially since he knows I gave most of our baby things away after Rachel. You know. Because I was "done."

So, go check out Brittany's blog, anyone can enter!