Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Things I'm happy about...

1- I normally have absolutely horrible heartburn when I'm pregnant, and it has gotten worse with each pregnancy... but so far I DON'T HAVE ANY HEARTBURN!

2- We're back to homeschooling and we (me too) are having so much fun. Today we made a bird's nest out of mud and straw. Big fun. It's all part of N-week, which is also a study of nests, or animal homes... which also is a study of how well God takes care of us (ie. His eye is on the sparrow).

3- We are having a yard sale on Saturday and getting rid of a bunch of stuff! I think I love yard sales as much as Matt hates them, so I hope we sell lots of stuff. That way, he'll be more likely to be supportive of another one ;).

4- Matt installed an invisible fence for Bailey, which means no more chasing her around the neighborhood and no more digging under the fence.

5- There's a big juicy watermelon in the fridge waiting to be eaten.

6- Matt is almost done with school for the year.

7- Matt bought me some beautiful tiger lilies yesterday.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Strep and baby names

It appears that we've got strep, which in some ways is a relief. At least now we're on antibiotics which I hope will end this endless monster cold that keeps lingering. After two doses, I am already starting to feel a difference, thankfully. The bummer is that now I really need to do something about the stinky dishes in the sink and the ever growing mountain of laundry that accumulates each week. Speaking of, I should probably get started...

Before I go though, please keep the baby names coming. It really is helpful. We have one that Matt is sort of interested in, but that could fizzle out pretty quickly. My top picks, which Matt vetoes?... Levi Ransom (after the Levites and the amazing main character from the Space Trilogy), Jonathan David (after the biblical Jonathan and David who stood as righteous men in difficult circumstances), and Noah, because in an entire world of twisted people, God spared him from his sinful self and saved him and his family. In Matt's defense, he doesn't like them due to associations with students that terrorize him and other such understandable things. He does like David, but the man knows too many people! ;)

Monday, May 12, 2008

O! I almost forgot...

It's a boy!! I went to see the midwife on Thursday and she decided to do an ultrasound on the spot, because I was measuring a bit big for 14 weeks. Everything's fine. The midwife said it's normal to measure a bit larger with a fourth baby. I didn't know you could see if the baby was a boy or girl this early, but evidently you can, because it was obvious right away. So, now we're back to the name game again, and there doesn't appear to be a single boy name that we can agree on. Feel free to offer suggestions. We sure could use them!

PICTURES! (or the longest entry I've ever made)

Instead of trying to post five different posts in one day, which is impossible for me, I am going to lump them all together. Hope you enjoy the photos, although the picture quality is probably poor. Our camera is on its last leg. But hey, this post isn't just text. Hurray, for something visually stimulating.


First, I promised pictures of Jane in the ballet recital. We only have a few photos, because Matt took more video than pictures, but here are two.





On Tuesday this week, we found a really nice used sofa set on craigslist for almost nothing. Matt shocked me by being willing to drop everything, arrange a babysitter (thanks Darla) last minute, and drive out to the middle of nowhere to get it. When we saw it, Matt was a little concerned that it wouldn't fit in the living room, but it does and it looks soooo lovely compared to the nasty old hand-me-down ones that I have had for so long. Granted, it's been a good lesson over the years in hospitality to have so many people come through our house for dinner or out of town visits when I feel so insecure about all my borrowed, stained, sloppy stuff. I know God had his hand in it, because it taught me so much, but I do have to say that I'm glad to have a nicer-looking living room. It's already been a little bit of a fire under our butts to get the rest of the living room and dining room finished. We'll see how far we get before the baby comes...







On Wednesday, I gave the girls a haircut, which they've been begging for for a long time. Both of them turned out a little shorter than I intended. I'm certainly no expert, but they're so cute and the girls love the new do.











On Thursday, we packed and ran a million errands so we could go to our friends' Jack and Sarah's wedding in Washington DC. We left at 3:30am on Friday and enjoyed all the benefits of leaving early and taking our time: very little whining, less traffic, no rushing. We even shocked ourselves and got 28 mpg just by driving at or below 65mph the whole way. We saved a ton of money on gas, which is always a good thing.

The best part of the weekend though, was spending time with our friends Joel and Vanessa Sell and their five kids, who live in Philly. We met them in DC and shared a cabin with them while we were there. We haven't seen them in almost two years and I still hadn't met the baby, Jonas. As usual, I forgot to pull out the camera until halfway through the second day, so I don't have as many pictures as I should have. We did have a wonderful time though. The Sells' middle three children are almost the same ages as our three, so all of the kids played well together. Dana really bonded with Elias and Micah and it was so good to see him playing with boys his age. Jane and Eva hit it off in the first few minutes and played the entire time, as did Clara Joy and Mara Joy, who were very much alike. Jonas even let me hold him and coo at him, which was a treat for me. All in all, it left me keenly feeling the weight of their absence in our daily life. They're such dear friends to us and way too far away to see very often. Vanessa is such an encouragement to me as a friend and another homeschooling mom. I wish we lived closer to each other, but I'm thankful for the time we had this weekend too. Despite the drive and lack of sleep, I feel refreshed and encouraged thanks to a great weekend.









Monday, May 05, 2008

It's been awhile since I...

whined about the state of things in Monahan-land. I've been hesitant to go on and on about feeling sick, not because I'm that much of a trooper. I've just been convicted that whining about my nausea woes is pretty pathetic when I have more than one friend who has suffered a miscarriage this year. We also do get quite a few rude comments about the new baby from people who obviously don't understand the gift and miracle each new life is. In an effort to live out our beliefs about the life of each child, I have tried as much as I can to keep the whining to a minimum. I've been trying (not perfectly) to show that this tiny helpless person is worth all of the sickness and much more.

That being said, life has been a little crazy around here and I thought I would give you a peek into what we're up to. I have still not had a prenatal visit to my midwife. I've been too sick to manage the chore of finding childcare for the kids, dropping them off at someone's house, and driving all the way out to the appointment, only to have an INTERNAL EXAM (yuck), and then rush home to pick up my kids and make dinner. It's much easier for all of us to stare bleary-eyed at Sesame Street while I snuggle in my bed with the kids. Before my dear friends worry about me too much I'll say that I do have an exam scheduled for Thursday, which will still be tricky, because Clara, Jane and I all have the remnants of some mutant nasty monster cold. That's actually why I finally scheduled the appointment... I think I may have a sinus infection and rather than suffer for weeks on end, I would like to kick it's nasty butt with some antibiotics this time.

I think I'll try to get Clara in tomorrow. She's had the same cough for weeks and it's getting worse. I don't understand chronic coughs. Could it be asthma, bronchitis, tonsillitis? It's a mystery. I'm trusting our wonderful Dr. Spraggins to sort it all out for me.

Two months of no homeschooling has taken it's toll on Dana. The poor guy is shedding tears over the most ridiculous things. When I kick this cold's butt, Dana and I are going to start setting aside time in the afternoons again. He loves it and it's so good for him. I think this time I'm going to try to get Janie more involved though. She's such a bright little thing and I know she'd be able to handle more of a challenge.

Okay, I'm out of steam. It's that time of night again. Wish I had something to say that was thought-provoking and profound. Blessings to you and yours.