Thanksgiving started off with a splutter.  I had all sorts of holiday plans to start the day.  They involved hot creamy coffee, Christmas music, and a warm house.  Instead, the electricity went out around 7 AM and stayed off until sometime before 11 AM.  I was crabby.  Cold and crabby.  I got so cranky I just put myself back to bed after a while to sulk, and stayed there even a smidge after the electricity clicked back on, warming up.  You can tell I have not yet learned the secret of contentment in all things that Paul talks about in Philippians.  I also seem to be lacking a bit in grace under unideal circumstances.  I get so cranky when I get cold.  I’m like a little scowling pillbug, that just curls up and quits functioning.  

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for hot water, for hot creamy coffee, for Christmas music, for a warm house, for a TV that works to watch fun things on, for a oven, a washing machine, a computer, and allllll those other things that run on electricity.  And of course for my sweet little family, whom I shared a relaxing Thanksgiving day with.    And boys in footed PJ’s.  And an awesome church who is very generous to us.  And for a God who wants everyone to know that He has provided a way of relationship with Him through Jesus, who bought my salvation with his death.  And that the story doesn’t stop there, but keeps getting more and more exciting.  :)  But I digress.

We often go to VA for Thanksgiving, but decided to cut back on the traveling load for this month, and celebrate at home.  This afternoon, Tim and I whipped up our own personal Thanksgiving Day feast.  He did the delicious turkey, rubbed with rosemary and other seasonings, cooked with onions and carrots.  I whizzed around making angel biscuits (the best bread ever), mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry salad, brussell sprouts, and pumpkin custard with real whipped cream for dessert.  Ahhhhhh, the eating was good.  We had a festive orange tablecloth with everyday white plates, which Gabe picked to eat off of, and a candle on the table.  I was very proud of our culinary successes for the day.  

After supper, Tim and the boys watched Hook.  Tim has been introducing the boys to some of his favorite childhood movies lately.  They have watched The Black Stallion, and Swiss Family Robinson lately.  After watching The Black Stallion, they galloped around pretending to be horses.  

As we sat stuffing our bellies with Christmas music playing softly in the background, enjoying a Thanksgiving as a family of five, I breathed a sigh of happiness as I felt the holiday season get started.  Soon enough we’ll be stuffing our bellies in Virginia and Indiana, surrounded by family we love.  I can’t wait.  

I am feeling the baby move a lot today.  Finally definite movements.  We find out on Monday what we’re having.  I can’t wait for that either.  :)   

This pregnancy has seemed to go soooooo sllloooowwwww so far.  I just want to fast forward to that snuggly little bundle at the end.  I think one reason it feels so long is the wait to find out if it’s a boy or a girl.  I. CAN’T. WAAAIIITTTT.  to find out, I think particularly because we plan for this to be our last little bebe.  Then I can move on, once I know.  Meanwhile I wait.  :)  My ultrasound is on Nov. 30, when I will be 20 weeks.  

I will be glad to be done with the irritability part of pregnancy.  By the end of every day, my patience has left the building, and almost every night I have. had. it.  No tolerance for any shenanigans or tomfoolery.  Harrumph.  There seem to be a lot of shenanigans and tomfoolery left in little 6 and 4 year-old bodies at the end of the day, however.  Then we move on to Dire Threats and Mean Mommy Eyes.  Bedtime is such a sweet time around here these days…  

Also will be glad to be done with the Queasiness Factor.  Blehhhh.  I am still often queasy, although not to the constant degree I was in my first trimester.  Just still don’t have much of an appetite.  This factor really is different than my previous pregnancies.  

***************

Today we walked down to the tennis courts with the boys to get some run-around-in-the-sunshine time in.  There was very little wind and the sun was bright and we didn’t need our coats.  Tim and Gabe hit a tennis ball back and forth over the net while Israel ran around in circles throwing and swiping at another tennis ball, and Baby churned happily all over swinging a cloth smiley-face racket and hitting a cloth ball.  

Me…well, I lay like a contented dozing cat in the sunshine and gestated.  :)  Lol.  

***************

Zion has taken to DRAGGING his blanket behind him everywhere he goes.  It smells just delightful that way REALLY QUICKLY.    He HATES to have it taken away to wash, and screamed and cried and cried for forever while it was hanging on the line to dry the other day.  Goober.  

He was a happy little squirrel when he got it back, curling right into it and rubbing it under his nose.  Silly dude.

Zion calls Israel “Izzy”.  Gabe often calls Israel that too now, just from hearing Zion say it.  

First Zion was sick for what was close to a week, then got better and started sleeping through the night again…now Israel is sick.  Yyaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnn.  Last night I went to bed around 11:30 PM, then was up at 12, 1, twice during the hour of 2 AM, 5, and 7.  Between Israel, the dog, and Zion.  I’ve been very slouchy and slumpy and seem to list to one side while seated today.  And am sort of wide-eyed with dread, as Israel has slept most of the afternoon.  Oh no.    

He really feels bad though.  A low-grade fever for two days now, no appetite, very listless and lethargic and tired, and he was complaining of his stomach hurting this evening.  

He dozed off on the back of his chair after lunch.

I held his little tiny self (ha!) on the couch for a long while this afternoon; he begs to be held when he doesn’t feel good.  Poor buddy.  

***********

While Zion wasn’t feeling good, he kept wanting me to hold him like this:

Phew, the child gets heavy!!!  :)  Now he just likes me to hold him like that just because.  Scooter.

**************

Here were the two boys in a well moment the other day.

Red suckers with gum in the middle always make the world a better place.  :) I thought they were such cutie pies.  :)

***************

There is a girl from this area, Karissa Yoder, who is 18 years old and attending Rosedale Bible College in Ohio, who was in a very bad car accident a few days ago and is in a coma at the OSU hospital.  Pray for her healing when you remember her.  We have several members of her extended family at our church, and her father is Gabe’s music teacher at school.  If you are interested in reading her story, it is at https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/karissayoder/createorsignin

Nana Carol and Grandpa Norm came to visit this past weekend.  The boys had a smashing time.  Gabe and Israel were particularly excited because they got to sleep in the motel room with them two nights in a row!!!  

They went to see Gabe’s school and meet Gabe’s teacher, Mrs. Warfel.

They also went to the Harvest Hooplah at our church

and rode bicycles and tricycles.  

All of these pictures except the first one I borrowed from Carol.  

Thanks for all your help, Norm and Carol!!

Gabe has been learning to ride his bike over the past week or so.  He “inherited” a bike from his very generous second cousins Calvin and Henry, and Israel moved up to the bike with training wheels as Gabe has learned the ropes without training wheels.  He’s done a great job and is just flushed with success when he sees himself do new “tricks”.  :)  

It was really fun to help him learn, and watch him get it.  Plus I got some exercise.  :)  Good job Gabe!!!

************  

Boo Bear is sick.  Poor dude.  He has a fever and slept a lot yesterday, and ate practically nothing. 

He is a funny little critter.  I found him sitting in Tim’s guitar case the other day, diligently writing on himself.

I also snapped some pictures of him playing in the mini van after we got back from picking Gabe up from school.  The lighting was really good in there.  :)

He is currently quite frightened of Israel’s remote control car and the boys remote control tarantula.  (Incidentally, I have a bit of a problem with that furry nasty thing myself.  I can BARELY bring myself to pick it up when it is out.  Nasty spider nasty legs.  Shudder.)   He starts crying a scared cry right away when they start playing with the car, and I have to go to him and pick him up, and he will NOT let me put him down until the car is no longer in service.  He says over and over, “Car frighten me.  Spider frighten me.”  or “Car scary.  Spider scary.”  

*************

It’s fall.  Bright blue sky, leaves turning.

************

We finally moved the boys room to what was formerly the playroom.

This is in preparation for the next little one, to make one half of the house a whole lot quieter when a baby needs to sleep.  This room is also warmer in the winter than their other one.  It also has a half bath attached, which is very convenient for midnight potty runs.  I definitely like having all their toys in one room.  I also love all the sunlight in this room.

************

Some of us around here have EXCELLENT table manners.  ;)

***************

We seem to have gone from no-cats-ever to man-there’s-a-lot-of-cats-around-here.  This orange one followed us down the street the other day when Gabe was working on bike riding, and then just stayed.  It is very friendly and tolerant of the boys carrying him around, which they LOVE.  

*************

Here’s a Portrait of Gabe in multi-dimensional personality:

Israel also wanted me to take his picture.  This was the face he posed at me over his shoulder.

Apparently that is the Cool Israel face.  :)

Zion got cold the other night in the middle of the night, so I brought him over to our bed and tucked him in.  Now we’ve remedied the situation in his room, but Tim and I both thought it was sort of sweet to wake up to this.  :)  

Of course, I sort of woke up to it over and over before morning arrived, as I teetered on the edge of the bed on my little sliver left, and all, but it was sweet nonetheless.  Lol.  :)

Later in the day the boys and I accompanied Gabe on a field trip to a pumpkin patch.  

It was fun, although I felt awfully weary from a night of interrupted sleep. I discovered that trudging along carrying a heavy camera, two pumpkins, and a two year old is sort of a workout.  Phew.  I sort of wanted to curl up in the sun and sleep at the park where we went to eat our lunch.  :)  

************

Cool story:  After we came back from the park, I took an exhausted nap, and woke up with a POUNDING headache.  I was MISERABLE.  It would not go away.  I took some Tylenol.  Nada.  I asked Tim to pray for my headache to go away.  He and the boys prayed a short prayer.  Nada.  I crept back into bed, basically incapacitated.  After a while, I asked Tim if he would anoint me with oil and pray for me again.  ”Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:14-16)  

Tim carries a vial of oil with him usually in case he has to pray for anyone in a pastoral situation.  Tim put oil on my forehead and prayed for me again, and about 30 seconds later I could sit up.  About a minute after that I felt almost 80% better, and got up and went out to the kitchen with everybody else.  My stomach felt not so well, and right after I got out there, I puked in the sink.  :) And then felt even better.  So about 5 minutes after he prayed for me, my headache was almost completely gone – only a teeny trace left, which did not stop me at all from going to Walmart and getting some Pilsbury cinnamon rolls to bake which I had been craving previously.  :)  It was a total answer to prayer, because it had been unrelieved by anything for several hours.  

Sometimes God chooses to answer our prayers for healing in different ways, or chooses to say no, as he understands things we do not.  (Maybe those statements are even too “pat” for comfort…)  I just was grateful for the “yes” this night.

Thank you, Jesus.  

*************

Lynette and Rusty, Tim’s sister and brother-in-law in Thailand, Skyped us yesterday.  The boys were excited little Energizer bunnies bouncing around the screen.  

It was good to talk to you guys.  

*************

The other day I was startled to find this array of items under my clothesline.  :)

Apparently the boys were playing pretend, using the tablecloth as a tent.  They line up chairs a lot, making a airplane or whatever they are doing.  It makes me sigh a bit tiredly, honestly, because usually I’m the one that ends up putting them back.  

Or then there’s this guy, who is his own personal mess-maker.

Or then there is the other day when I found them making a massive pile in the living room of all the random items they could carry in and pile up, pretending to be filling up a grocery cart.  

 Wide pained eyes.  I put a hasty stop to this activity, but there sure was a lot there to put away already.  Sigh.  This is from a new Wii game that they got for their birthday with birthday money, called Rabbids Go Home, where these rabbits are pushing this shopping cart around everywhere.  

Just sometimes makes a momma tired, and makes her want to sit down and put her weary head in her hands.  One day I’m sure I’ll miss all their little boy antics, but these days I just sort of wish they were entirely independently capable of doing every smidge of cleanup that their current activity of choice often seems to require.  

Yawn.

*************

And for the record, here’s the harried homemaker in person, at 32 years, 9 months.  

I was actually documenting the length of my hair, because I liked it, and decided since I didn’t look horrible in the picture I might as well save it for my children’s record.  Lol.  Since I normally do.  Look horrible in pictures.  Sigh of lack of photogenicity.  

“If, in the duration of pregnancy, one finds oneself with a scarcity of Tootsie Rolls, one may refer oneself instead to Addendum C: Colored Mini Marshmallows or Addendum D: Candy Corn for the gestational emotional well-being of said baby and mother.”  (Handbook of Pregnancy, Miller et al., pg. 479)

Phew.  Glad to know there are meaty pregnancy books out there on the things that REALLY matter.

Zion turned two on Sept. 26.  Yes I am belated in blogging about it, just as his celebration was sort of spread out over a month.  :)  Actual birthday one day, presents another day, birthday cupcake another day.  That’s the nice part about having a child that’s only two.  

(I think he looks like a Miller in the above picture.)

Zion really liked his remote control that he got from his Nana Carol.  And his bath tub drums.  Those were his favorite.  

If you noticed, Zion Fluff got a haircut.  One week it suddenly seemed a bit long and shaggy.  He looks different with his new hair.  A little older.  Still cute as button.

*********

My favorite Zion word of late is “cycle-moty!!”  That is “motorcycle”.  Zion LOVES cycle-moty’s.  

Names for Zion:  Bear, Boo Bear, Critter, Critter Cakes, Love Bug

*********

Zion is such a love bug.  I have just enjoyed his babyhood so much.  He is cuddly and affectionate and loves to be a cheeseball.  He is currently very much into playfully throwing things…such as board books and other items that may also leave a large dent in your skull.  He LOVES to read books.  He particularly loves the David Shannon books:  ”Oops, David!” “No, David!” and just looks and looks at the pictures.  He also heartily loves to empty the bookshelves over and over and over and oVER.  And Over.  Arrgghh.  He is very verbal; talks in four word sentences and knows lots of words.  I love how he wanders the house saying “Maaaa Maaaaa!  Maaaa Maaaaa!” when he’s looking for me.  He really likes to be around us.  He’ll just come and camp out happily on the bed while I am trying (the key word here) to rest, and look at his books and talk and unintentionally bean me over the head with the book, and generally demand that I read it.  Lol.  He loves laps, particularly his Daddy’s.  He likes to push cars and trucks and make motor noises.  I love that.  He likes bellybuttons and noses, and can always be distracted when he is protesting a diaper change by me asking “Where is your belly button??”  He can sometimes take a bit to warm up to new people.  I love his mischievous looks out of the corners of his eyes.  He can hold his own among his brothers in terms of healthy protests.  He loves to dance to music.  Sometimes he sings along.  We all love him very much.  Zion David.  :)

 

Israel turned four on October 15.  His chief desire for his birthday was to go see Grandma, so we decided to do that, since my brother is getting ready to move out to IN to be closer to his sweet baby boy, Oliver.  We went the weekend before his birthday, and it was SUCH a nice time.  Tim was able to put down work and relax, and the last evening we were there, my mom and dad watched the boys so that we could go out with some money someone had given us.  It was just a perfect date, and my only regret was that I didn’t bring my camera.  We drove to Staunton and ate at Taste of India, where we had plenty of time to sit and talk and eat our yummy food, and then we walked to The Dixie Theatre, to see Inception, which was a really good movie.  The evening was just BEAUTIFUL, warm and a gentle wind and a fall colored evening…sigh of bliss.  It was SO just what I needed.

Anywho, back to the birthday boy  Israel also had a stellar time.  The boys ran around outside in the warm air, and played in the gravel pile, and rode around on the golf cart helping Granddaddy feed the cows.  The boys all had birthday present time all around;

Israel got a wheelbarrow and his very own cozy quilt from Grandma with pockets on it to hold toys and books.  He had been very much anticipating this blanket, which was in his “fav’ color green”!!  :)

Gabe got a much longed for Bubble Machine.  This one actually plugs in, which is way better than the battery ones.

Zion got a dump truck.  And maybe something else??  Can’t remember.

And then came the birthday cake.  (One cake, with more or less candles. )

Even though traffic was really bad on the way there and really bad on the way back it was a trip that I think we all found very refreshing.  

We celebrated Israel’s birthday here on the 15th.  

A low key celebration since we had trekked to VA last week.  It’s a pretty good thing that this next baby is due in April; if it were due after Oct. 15, by the time it came around to it’s birthday, I would would have the celebration energy of a log.  A mere smile to celebrate, a candle in his or her supper, accompanied by unwrapped gifts.  :)  I am sort of birthday-ed out by the 15th.  Phew.  

My favorite Israel word of late is his word for “sharp” – he says “shark”.  As in, something has “shark” teeth.  :)  Pretty fitting, really.

Israel is a sweetheart who likes to smile and likes to cuddle.  He still needs his mommy to comfort him sometimes, but also loves to play with his brothers and roughhouse with his daddy.  He loves the color green and likes to make up songs and sing them.  He’s so sturdy and squeezy and I like to hug him.  :)  He finds a lot of security in having Gabe around in unfamiliar situations.  He doesn’t hardly ever have meltdowns any more like he did for the first 3/4 of being three; makes life a lot easier!!!

12 weeks 3 days today.  I had an ultrasound yesterday because I was measuring a week small at both of my last two appointments, but the baby was right on.  Due date April 25th.  He/she was busily moving around, and is 7 cm long.  Such a miracle to see.  

This is the baby at 12 weeks 2 days.

I hope that I’m on the upswing of energy…I hope.  Still queasy, but less.  Still not much of an appetite, though.  Initially I ate a ton of apples, because that was about the only thing that tasted good.  Veggies and fruits and maybe rice are about all that goes down without apprehension.  Twice lately, at around 11:30 PM I have been busy at the stove making my own personal pan of sour cream and cheese mashed potatoes.  :) YUMMY.  I have been really hungry for potatoes lately.  

**************

Here’s me tonight, at 13 weeks 3 days.

Starting to show just a little bit.  I feel like my energy days are flipping as I’m entering the second trimester.  More energy days than not.  Phew.  Glad for that!!!  Energy is one of my very most valuable resources!!!  Also slightly less vomitous.  :)  I’ve only thrown up once, but have had LOTS of close calls.  Phew.  I have been the most queasy of all of my pregnancies with this one.