reflections on earth week...

green has been the color of focus this week everywhere you look, a few thoughts...

plants...i'm starting my own patio garden this year, so far we've got tomatoes, peppers and egg plant. i'm going to plant some herbs and spinach soon too. i've also planted my aloe (finally) and bought an english ivy plant for in the house. i want to get more plants for indoors to help keep the air clean and help detox the house...

detox your home...i signed up a long time ago to be a method advocate. first i received a free t-shirt. later on i got a whole pack of their cleaning cloths and sample bottles of various surface cleaners. then a coupon for a big discount on an o-mop. (all of these come with coupons to use/pass out to friends) a few months ago i got a "plastic rehab" tote (supposed to be used for your groceries/shopping, but i love it so much i use it daily for carrying all of my crap around). then i broke the handle off of my o-mop and contacted them to see if they had a replacement handle i could get...nope, but they sent me a coupon for another one for free!!! (i kept the old one, which is now shorter, and am letting the kids use it to mop with) this past week, three....yes, THREE packages came in the mail from them...i was so stoked at the first one, which ended up being two in one day! it was a box with a bottle of baby wash and kids' wash/shampoo...and later in the day came a second package of the same thing!!! so now i've gotten a start on baby supplies! then on thursday, another package came in the mailbox. i had nick open it on the way to his procedure and it was their new book "squeaky green" (not available until sometime in may) which tells of tons of ways to detox your home, and they're not even really pushing their products as much as giving you tons of ways to get the crap outta your home without further intoxicating your family! they make some very valid points about the soaps and chemicals we use to clean our homes and our bodies...kinda scary!

so in my start of detoxing my home we're going to...
*steam clean all of the carpets
*use only non-toxic, chemical free cleaners (as soon as i have available cash, i'll be ordering a snap pack from our web portal
*open windows at least once a week (i read that you should crack windows a little if possible to keep constant air flow in/out of your home)
*buy a better vacuum cleaner asap (looking into one with uv light to kill dust mites, etc.)

green living...several things come to mind that i need to be better at...
*change out all lightbulbs to more energy efficient ones
*start recycling things better, look into recycle pick-up
*not buying bottled water...no plastic to recycle that way, and less of a footprint just by cutting this one thing out
*recycle/reuse things more. i've looked around and am coming up with a lot of ideas for sewing and things i can do to reuse things we no longer use
*buying organic or transitional items
*get a car with better gas mileage...this may not happen as soon as i'd like, but putting premium in my supercharger engine...not so green...i may not be able to get a hybrid, but i can get a 4 cylinder something-or-other to cut down on my emissions
*definitely going to do cloth and gdiapers to keep our environmental impact at a minimum...also going to be breastfeeding (already in the plans), no formula containers to worry about, very few bottles to have to wash, and it's free, natural and healthy!

yep, nick likes to tell me i'm turning into a hippie...that's fine. i'm not really, but i think it's important to take care of our world and do our part to keep it functioning as best we can. as christians, we were told to take care of the earth, so you don't have to be a "liberal tree-hugger" to be a responsible earth citizen...but if you are, that's fine too! (i'm more of a moderate tree-hugger myself...lol)

so much going on...

nick's follow-up was yesterday and it went really well. they had to suck out some gunk that was stuck in his sinuses, but the doctor said it should all be good now. he did have a headache early today, but when we got home he seemed much better. i love that the dark circles are finally going away from under his eyes. i'm just praying that he'll continue to get better and that the neurologist will take him off the meds she prescribed...we'll see her on tuesday.

i'm super behind in schoolwork. i have 2 tests this weekend, and about 10 papers to do. once we get past tomorrow i'll be able to focus on it all. we have a youth fundraiser at our house...parents' night out...how things like this happen sometimes is beyond me. they just seem to appear out of thin air sometimes, and end up at my house. lol

pregnancy issues...pelvic bones are shifting too early, so i'm in a lot of pain...along with lovely round ligament pain... went to the doctor wednesday afternoon, got checked out and everything is fine. so i'm told to stay off of my feet as much as possible...i work at a school, are you kidding me? also, i'm having people at my house tonight...not staying off the feet today...gotta clean the house and then help watch at least a dozen kids! on the plus side, my ultra-sound is tuesday. i can't wait to find out what kind of little bun is in the oven! i've got so many sewing and crafting projects in mind, but need to know what's coming first! then we'll find out if we need to actually agree on a boy name (which we haven't been able to do), or if we'll get to use our chosen girl name... stay tuned!

half-way there...

since elisabeth was born 2 weeks early, and i'm now 19 weeks pregnant...i'm counting it as being half-way there! as far as i'm concerned, this baby can be born in august...it'll save us an extra year of preschool, etc. lol (i'd hate to miss the school cut-off!)

baby's definitely growing! i can feel it moving and kicking quite a bit, but not with my hand on my tummy yet, so i can't let anyone else feel it yet. i think elisabeth is the most excited about the baby, she wants to feel it move so badly, and constantly talks about it coming. she just can't wait.

so i have some great friends. i've already been given a bassinet. i have a crib, matress, toddler bed, stroller, convertible car seat, and exersaucer all promised to me too! it's amazing! there's definitely a jogging stroller/carrier car seat combo we want to purchase, but compared to being given everything else, it's no big deal to buy one big thing for ourselves.

still debating on the cloth diaper issue, but i've been sent a boxful of prefolds, so i can at least give them a try. i'm leaning towards it for the most part and have found a great alternative to disposables when we're out and about and don't want to mess with cloth either...gdiapers...they have a waterproof outer cover that's washable, and disposable liners that you can flush, compost or throw away...and they are 100% biodegradable, good for baby and the environment. we'll see...

so next week is my ultrasound, and this baby had better cooperate! i want to know if it's a boy or a girl so we can decide on the name and start buying stuff. i'm so excited to start sewing the nursery stuff and other items i have planned...but i have to know pink or blue first! it's like waiting for christmas...only worse!

amazed again...

as i mentioned yesterday, jerry delivered the sermon today. i'm not being biased at all, but boy was it good! it never ceases to amaze me how his sermons come together, and usually at the last minute because that's how he and God seem to work best together, and they are so good.

most mornings i sit through two services, so i tend to space out during one of them. this morning i took over youth for the first service and only went to the second one (i had a week off from the worship team since nick had his surgery and is still recovering).

this morning jerry spoke from ezekiel from the passage where he has a vision of the river and goes in to the ankles, then to the knees, then to the waist, and then it's deep and the current is too strong to swim or be in control of the situation. he likened it to how we should be...many of us are in to the ankles, knees or even waist deep, but we haven't come to that place in our relationship with Christ where we will just go in to where it's so deep and so strong that the only way to live is to let Him be in control and take over our lives completely. we want to be in control of something and can't just let the river take us where it may, but that's where the biggest blessings are...the passage talks about fruit trees that bear fruit monthly, and abundant life from the nourishment the water from the river brings...

...i'm jumping in! (or at least trying...i'm a control freak, so that's a hard one!)

it went too fast...

spring break is basically over, we have today and tomorrow and then it's back to school. jerry's preaching tomorrow, so today will be focused on that for him, and then of course church is tomorrow so there's the weekend.

nick's surgery went well. he seems to be recovering rather well too, but last night he was getting a headache from the inflammation. he's been running a lowgrade temp and his poor little face was looking kind of puffy and swollen, but he's a trooper and in a good mood for the most part. i just pray that this will be the "cure" for his headaches. the poor guy has missed over 40 days of school this year and has a few he has to miss coming up for his follow-up and other appointments too. it's been quite a year for him.

i've done almost nothing for my classes this week, i've done some but not as much as i'd hoped. i've also done almost nothing around the house this week either. so i decided to get motivated yesterday and was spray painting furniture that needed refurbished, moving big bins and boxes around in the garage, moving furniture, doing laundry...and i barely put a dent in what needs done and killed my back in the meantime. jerry was aggravated at me for not having him move the heavy stuff...as well he should've been, it was dumb. i'm feeling fine today though, so i'm going to continue to finish the laundry and do the regular cleaning that needs done (vacuuming, mopping, bathrooms, kids' rooms, etc.) but i'm going to put the kids to work on some of it too, at least elisabeth...maybe nick depending on how he's feeling. my nesting instincts have started in, i just haven't had a lot of motivation and energy to do anything about it.

i can feel "sparky" moving quite a bit now, it's kinda cool. i'm still in shock at having another kid, but starting to get excited about meeting this new little one too. i have an ob appointment on monday, hopefully my weight gain hasn't been too bad, but i'm not going to hold my breath. i actually haven't been eating a lot, but we'll see. (i was supposed to be on my way to my skinny, in-shape self right now...not gaining weight! ahhh!) i have an ultrasound in a couple of weeks, so hopefully we'll see the "goods" and know what we're having...

much to do, and the weekend's getting away...

starting to get excited...

i've been watching all of the baby shows on discovery lately...my favorite one is "deliver me", but i've been watching "baby story" and several others too since i'm on spring break and can have the tv on in the mornings while i'm doing stuff around the house (or working on my coursework). now that sparky/sparkle is moving, it's becoming more and more real that we have another little one on the way, and i am starting to say "awwwwww" instead of "oh my"!

i went to target today and just "had" to walk through the baby section...i love love love the contemporary bedding they have there, and the clothes are just so cute too. i'm getting excited about nursing again, and the possibility of cloth diapering (yes, i'm still thinking about it and the more i think about it...the more i'm sure i want to do it). i'm ready to find out what we're having so i can begin planning the nursery. the fact that we have a free crib, mattress, bassinet, and toddler bed coming...that's awesome! i was looking at an email from better homes and gardens about repurposing bookshelves and entertainment centers, and i fell in love with the thing they did with an entertainment center unit. they used it for a laundry station, but it could easily be modified to be used like a little armoire type piece of furniture for a baby's room. here's a pic...

if painted the right color, couldn't that look awesome in a nursery?!?

i'm so excited...and ready for summer break!

(i need to get the sewing machine out and work on some maternity clothes first though...belly's getting big and there's nothing to wear most days!)

i've been thinking...and that can be a dangerous thing sometimes...

there are many things i want to accomplish in the next few months, but one recurring theme seems to be trying to become more frugal and more "green".

one thing i'm looking into is how we can buy a home instead of continuing to rent... there are many homes in our area for sale, and several in our subdivision are super low in price...so there has to be one out there somewhere! a place with a pool would be a bonus, but not totally unlikely, right? this fits into my "frugality" because of the fact that we'd be owning a home and not throwing away money to fund someone else's investment.

another thing...we need a new vehicle for our growing family, but we don't want a minivan. we'd love to have an suv that has seating for 7, but we'd also like to have a hybrid. not sure if we can swing payments for a hybrid, but it's what we'd like...it's not easy being green...

with another baby on the way, it's tempting to go all out and get matching furniture and have an awesome nursery. i'm determined not to spend a ton and reuse previously baby-fied items. we've been given a bassinet (i may make a new cover/skirt or whatever for it to match our decor), have a crib we can get from a friend, a toddler bed and mattress, and a stroller. we have found a carseat/stroller combo we really like, but i think that will be the only major purchase we're going to need to make. once we know if the baby's a boy or girl, i'll be buying fabric to make the crib set and accessories for the nursery.

along with my frugal mentality, i've been looking at patterns and fabric i already have and trying to figure out what i can make for myself for maternity clothing...stuff that's cute but cheap because it's so expensive to buy that stuff and it's only for a little while. i think i can sufficiently make several pairs of shorts/capris and maybe a couple of skirts, and i've looked at a few patterns for tops that i plan to modify so i have some fashionable stuff without having to pay the maternity clothing industry's full prices for them.

another green/frugal thing i've been contemplating...and this is where it gets dangerous and i'm feeling a little crazy for even considering it...cloth diapers. yes, you read that right, i am actually considering using cloth diapers for this baby. i mentioned it at supper tonight and my whole family flipped out. but after looking at sites for info and reading up on it, i really think it will be a good thing. i can even make a lot of them myself if i want, but even if i don't it'd be cheaper than disposables and would save a lot of landfill space too. we'll see. jerry said it's stupid because we can't seem to keep up with the laundry we already have, but if i'm not working full-time, that won't be as much of an issue. guess i'll be catching up on laundry and getting the closets/dressers in better order this summer (while i'm not working) to show him it can actually be done! lol i took it as a challenge to prove him wrong. rofl

i sooo need to update more!

nick's headaches have actually gotten worse recently. he missed all of last week from school and we're on spring break now. he's having sinus surgery to remove a huge polyp from his left maxillary sinus, along with scraping everything out and removing a few other smaller polyps/cysts. i sure hope this is the answer to all of his medical issues, at least the headaches if nothing else!

elisabeth went camping this past weekend with her brownie troop and had a good time. she can't remember everything she did, but she said it was fun. lol she sure missed us though, she was really clingy all day yesterday after she got home. it was kind of nice being missed. saturday evening, when jerry and i were watching tv and nick was playing xbox, it was so quiet around here...i told jerry i'm sure glad we have more than one kid, it would be too quiet and life would be boring. he agreed...now we have another one coming...definitely won't be boring in a few months!

on that note, everything is going well pregnancy-wise. i'm now 17 weeks along, almost halfway there...that blows my mind that it's going so fast! after spring break, there are only 8 weeks left of school and i'll be on leave for the next year and then some...except for a possibility of needing to go back in august for a bit, but i'm not sure about that yet. it's just flying by though.

i go in for another appointment next monday, hopefully my weight gain will be along the lines it's been so far, i really don't want to gain too much. after that, i go in 2 weeks later for my 20 week u/s and hopefully we'll know what we're having so we can focus on baby names and cute little baby things. i've started feeling the baby move lately, so it's helping me to get more excited...it's still overwhelming too though!