Tackled Relaxation!

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning :(

Pregnant mommy had a narcoleptic moment and didn't hear the kids up playing. By the time my older daughter came to me she was saying "Mommy they're into your stuff". I asked her "what stuff?" and she said Mini was writing on things with a marker. Oh dear, "what things?". "The couch, the wall, your pictures."

"NO!"

Happy to be prepared for what my eyes would see in the next room I realized quickly that mommy probably shouldn't keep that sharpie marker so handy in her purse!

This obviously makes the things already in my purse free reign for scribbles!!!

This hurt, because last Tuesday's tackle I spent ALL day making this book of notes for labor couching!

Luckily she mostly only scribbled in places that made things still legible.

I only re-wrote one page.

But I did have a lot of previously blank pages to tear out. OYE! How long was I asleep!!!???

The spots on the couch weren't as bad as I thought they could be...

... the magic eraser will get them out...

... just like it got these marks off of just about EVERY picture on the photo tin I made!

Before the magic eraser...

After the magic eraser...

Praise the Lord for magic erasers!

And praise Him that Mini decided to leave my Bible alone.

And that she didn't write on the newer photo tin I just made.

This was not all I had to deal with yesterday - it was just an exceptionally bad Monday - the kids were not "normal". So I was really worked on relaxation for me and baby in the belly. I realized later in the day that So You Think You Can Dance on YouTube is a great distraction!!! :)

To see what others are Tackling, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Busy day Later today

:)

And yes I am still awake.

Here I am sitting in front of my comp...

(lol - my shirt never wants to stay down anymore!)

• I have been trying to help my sister with her new blog setup thingy.
• I have been packing for the crop I am going to tomorrow.
• I have been making sure I will be able to function at that crop without my computer!
  ...so I've been taking notes of already planned layouts and making sure I have the adjacent sketches in my sketchbook :)

I also still need to take a shower - lol - priorities!

• I am going to my baby shower tomorrow before I scrapbook :) it will be a good day.

Mmmm - New Pictures

Last week I was rearranging my blog...

as you can see I now have two sidebars which is actually reminding me of my very first blog design - which I am now realizing I don't have a picture of here on my blog.

So here it is. My first blog design EVER = the last time I had two sidebars :)...

But that really wasn't what I wanted to show you. I wanted to show you that I added new pictures into the frames on my blog header.

Here are my old pictures...

I was gonna wait for baby to come till I changed these photos, but I was already doing so much fiddling that I just couldn't stop! There were just enough frames to add the 4th baby in there (even if he's only in the form of a bump right now :).

It feels so nice to have newer photos up! My friend Alicia inspired me to update a little as I saw that she did on her blog as well not too long ago.

What do you think guys?

• Do you like the newer pics?
• Do you like the new "extra" sidebar?
• Do you like the new white swirlys?
• Do you like the wider format which lets me use photos that are 30 pixels larger in my posts?

It took me a week or so, but I think I'm happy :)

Pregnancy Update

Today I am having a nauseous day.

But I am happy to have a new found excitement for my upcoming labor from finally going through my old Birthing Program workbook yesterday.

I am now more focused in my pregnancy. Instead of worrying about having a good labor, I know - no matter what happens - it will be good because of a good attitude.

With my 3rd baby my head was totally NOT in the game. Her birth story is posted if you wanna read it, but I failed to mention that I was freaking out through like the whole thing! At home with the first hard contractions, in the car already giving up, in the hospital room not knowing what to do, and then even more so in labor with fear of the Pitocin. I made bad decisions and now know that I should have refreshed my brain on my Birthing Program then as well. I gave up before I even got started.

"A failure to plan is a plan to fail."

Recently I have been feeling like I don't want to get any bigger. I have been impatient.

It hasn't helped to have comments on how HUGE I am and how I MUST be having twins, and if I say I am not having twins I MUST be lieing! (The woman that said that obviously didn't know any better)... But it has also been hard to have other people be impatient right along with me. I tried to get over it, but it was wearing on my emotional pregnant self :).

I was visiting my friend's blog frequently to look back on her beautiful pregnant pic to give myself some hope and perspective...

... it was how I was showing myself that it was okay to still have 2 months and another possible 10 pounds to go! Isn't she and that baby bump just the most beautiful things?!

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Now I am excited to have more time to plan. More time to prepare, to make sure my head is "in the game". I know it will be good.

I am preparing the path ahead to fight! I realized right now - still with 7 weeks to go - I need to focus on staying healthy and rested.

• I need to do my maternity exercises.
• I need to stay rested, physically, emotionally and mentally.
• I need to drink more water!
• And I need to eat more proteins.

Other's weighing in...

I Tackled!

I tackled ALL day yesterday and didn't get done till bedtime, so I am just blogging about it now :).

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It was only one task and it might seem minimal, but it was HUGE to me and I am very excited to have gotten it done! This is part of my plan NOT to set us up to fail.

"A failure to plan is a plan to fail."

I finally went back through my Bradley Birthing Method workbook we had from the classes we took before our first baby in its entirety.

The book is 120 plus pages and it has A LOT of information in it!

I read through the WHOLE thing yesterday. I tried to remember what all really worked for me in labor with my last 3 and what we ended up overlooking. I made notes accordingly.

Here is the book of index cards I made for my coach = my hubby...

Here is proof of all the work... I know it will be worth it...

... it was exciting to be refreshed on all this info. Now I am actually excited for my upcoming labor experience instead of scared or apprehensive like last time. Now I just have to wait another 7 weeks or so :).

Now here is my Tackle-It TO-DO list...

1. Pack hospital bag - STARTED...
   - Finish packing hospital bag.
2. Get kids to doctors appointments - SCHEDULED for June 17th.
3. Get birth certificates and immunization records - SHIPPED and waiting on shots.
4. Get a work-space built for homeschooling in the Fall.
5. Sign-up for general ed. - application COMPLETE and sent in - waiting on return info.
   

The stuff I finished completely...

1. Make labor index cards to help hubby coach - DONE!!!

My Walk Monday

So last week was eye opening with the Lord flat out telling me I refuse to listen, I'm stubborn, I serve myself, and it makes me worthless... But this week there has been even more to meditate on. This was simple to handle compared to actually SEEING consequences to our sin played out!

This past week has been quite emotional for me.

My 2 year old nephew was in the hospital from Wednesday to Sunday for health reasons I child should NEVER have to go through! I have been angry, bitter, unforgiving. I have been pitiful and just not as focused as I could have been on the Lord and His plans through this storm!

God has been there trying to calm me and grab my attention, but I have refused to listen in most ways and have just chosen to focus on the circumstances instead of My God in charge of it all.

I was very thankful when He gave me a comparison that really changed my heart. He showed me that one person's disobedience is the same as the next - it is ALL ugly - and it ALL has consequences!

In Hosea chapter 2 we read the story of Hosea's wife of harlotry. This story is compared to Israel's unfaithfulness and if you read my posts you know recently God has called me to be more consistent / faithful. We know that Hosea's marriage was broken by unfaithfulness, but reconciliation was sought, and not divorce. This nasty picture of disobedience is no different than the nastiness in our own personal ways of disobeying the Lord. God would call us to "put away our harlotry and our adultery"(v.2). In Hosea it commands this and warns "OR"... "or I will strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born"... "I will slay her with thirst"(v.3) ... "also, I will have no compassion on her children"!!!!(v.4) Ouch! ALL disobedience comes with consequences! REAlly - think people! Is holding onto our sin worth the possibility of our children in the hospital!!!!???? ... or even worse!

Would we want it said of us and our children that they were harmed because we ignored the Lord's warning and instead continued to "play the harlot" - trying to cheat on our Lord and Saviour!? I don't want to hear anything along the lines of ... "she who conceived them has acted shamefully"!!!(v.5) "She said, I will go after my lovers" -what is the sin we love? What is it that we chose instead of choosing the path God has laid out right in front of us?!

Do we really want God to have to "hedge up our way with thorns and build a wall against us so we cannot find our path"?(v.6) Do we want Him to get to the point that He takes away all that He has given us?(v.8-9) This He WILL do - because He loves us! He wants to make it so when we pursue this sin in our disobedience we will not fall upon it... that when we seek it we will not find it.(v.7) So that then we will FINALLY SEE it was better for us to obey.

He wants to allure us and speak kindly to us :).

He wants to give us hope and joy. He wants to remove what stands in our path to Him and make a covenant with us. He wants to keep us safe in His arms and have compassion on us and call us His people!

"I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord." Hosea 2 : 19 - 20

He wants me to stop focusing on the storm and the circumstances.

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me." John 14:1

"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

And I want me to have an attitude more like Mary's...

"I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said." Luke 1:38

Lord please forgive me and help me. Have compassion on me and my children. Be with my nephews, be their comfort in this time of need. Bring their mommy and daddy to a place of repentance and desire to live in obedience to You. Help me to have an even MORE heart-wrenching desire to obey - change my heart that I might life more for You and less for me. I love You, please help me to show You by following Your commands.

Mmmm - embellishing...

... my printed Studio J layouts :)

This was FUN! Only working with embellishments and my sewing machine. No paper, no pictures, no trash, no trimmers ext. all over the place. I am really liking this new Studio layout thing!!!

Here I am with my layouts all ready to go - they don't look digital do they :)...

I took some (bad/blurry) close-ups to share with you all. And I will start with the layout that I embellished the least...

- - - 1) whole layout here

I DIDN'T add real ribbon (loved how this title turned out)...

... I added a few staples (loved this circle tag as well)...

... and some real snaps where the digital big brads were (I didn't distress - that ink is printed on)...

- - - 2) whole layout here

I DIDN'T add real ribbon on this one either, but I added some brads (loved the vellum look under the title area here - I never use vellum anymore on my Classic layouts)...

... and some sewing (so easy to add to the Studio layouts - it was great)...

- - - 3) whole layout here

On this one I added decorative brads to the title (love the Studio J Fonts)...

... and some twill to where the digital ribbon was, but that photo hanger I left digital and stuck a real brad in it (totally cute!)...

... I also added some sewing and some swirly clips (the torn paper looks so real!)...

- - - 4) whole layout here

This one was fun. I added some liquid glass to the title, and some real buttons where the digital ones were...

... I also added real ribbon where the digital ribbon was...

... and some sewing in brown :)...

- - - 5) whole layout here

This one was the MOST fun to embellish - I just couldn't stop! I cut the title letters out and popped them up! I sewed in brown again...

... I added real ribbon where the digital ribbon was...

... and real embellishments where the digital embellishments were...

I loved doing all this - It was so fast and easy to have 5 COMPLETELY finished layouts!!!

• I don't think I would have titled the way I did if it wasn't a Studio layout.
• I definitely would NOT have journaled yet.
• I would not have embellished in the patterns I did.

This really got me out of my box and I had a GREAT time doing it!

My layouts are now already slipped into their spots in their albums and with them there I can't even tell the difference between my Studio layouts and my Classic layouts! I am LOVIN' this!

Now that I have officially received my printed layouts and was able to work a little more with them and get them into their place in an album... I can say I would recommend Studio J to any Classic scrapper anyday!

Pregnancy update

I'm 31 weeks pregnant this week and am feeling pretty round. It's hard been hard to breathe already with baby smooching things up in there. It's also been hard to sleep and get cumfy at night, lots of tossing and turning - which makes sleep not so good - which makes days long and tired. He's getting big in there...


As of yesterday I have exactly 60 days left to carry Mr. Baby around and thought I should look for some positive things instead of noticing too much of the negative.

So I looked back to a little chart I kept of my weight when I was pregnant with my oldest. I knew this would help put things in perspective because... here are my start weights with all my babies...

1. 165 lbs.
2. 170 lbs.
3. 175+ lbs?
4. 158 lbs!

The chart from my first shows me that at 21 weeks I weighed 177 lbs. and at 31 weeks (as I am now) I weighed 187 lbs. So on my fourth baby at 31 weeks I now weigh the same at I did from my first at 21 weeks! 177 lbs! I am still 10 below what I was 6 years ago!

This chart also showed me that I have less than 10 more pounds to gain (comparatively) till I am done... good warning to myself - "must still get bigger" :).

Here I am now...

Thanks Rebecca - you are an inspiration with all your cute bump pics on your blog - I wanted to share one as well :).

Others weighing in...

My Walk Monday

It's only been one (long) weekend since my ladies retreat weekend. And I'm gonna be truthful. I've probably read my Bible 2 or 3 times since then.

I read it this morning. Went to a random spot and KNEW my God would speak to me...

"Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying... Thus says the Lord...

Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me, declares the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory ; but they did not listen." Jeremiah 13 : 8 - 11

Um ouch! But thank You Lord. I see that You want me to cling to You. You want me to be all Yours, known as Yours for praise and glory. Forgive me for not fixing my eyes on You as you clearly told me to just one week ago. Please help me with my pride and wickedness. Help me with my willingness and stubbornness. Help me not to be self serving and worthless. I know You have shown me it's time to be useful, but I need to be willing. I love You Lord - I am willing.

So at the ladies retreat two weekends ago the Lord showed me specifically to "Fix my eyes on Jesus" Hebrews 12:2. This is how I will learn to be consistent and faithful. He showed me that when I take my eyes off of Him as Peter did to look at the storm when he was faithfully walking on water, that is when he and I begin to fall. The Lord pinpointed this out for me and showed me how to fix pretty much ANY of my struggles!

And know I am reminded that inactivity is disobedience! I need to take the advise I give to my three young children, "please just listen and obey!"

So today I am making sure I practice "slipping away" ("But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray" Luke 5:16") to fix my eyes on Him. To seek His will and heart in my every circumstance. To focus on how He would react and how He wanted His beloved disciples to react. To thank Him for who He was and is and will always be. To seek to do His ultimate will in my life starting with this obedience to seek after Him and abide in Him.

Tackle it Tuesday

So I tackled for three weeks straight, then it looks as if I didn't tackle at all for three weeks after that! Really I promise I was getting stuff done, the progress was just VERY slow, or I was doing stuff that wasn't for my home.

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I have been slowly chipping away at the paperwork type things on my to-do list (below).

Why is it that paperwork is some of the hardest things for me to get done?!

My oldest daughter's birth certificate! REally CArolyn!?

I have been putting that off for 5 years and now that I need to sign her up for school I have a fire under my butt! She was born in a different county than I am currently in and I don't like the city that that county's recorders office is in. I've known that I could order online but I always made excuses! I finally got the application filed out and notorized this week (which TOTALLY was NOT a big deal) and her certificate is now on it's way :) FINALLY!

I also called her pediatrician from birth, her current pediatrician and made an appointment for a new pediatrician (since we moved) and got all the info I need to get her immunization records completed for school.

I even FINALLY printed out an application for my own schooling. I called the counselor last week and she said I should be able to do ALL my general ed. classes online - yippie!!! On the road to obedience I go! But I am not crossing things officially off my list until they are fully done and complete!

Like the packing of my hospital bag, it's only started. And the making of my labor index cards, lol, I only managed to BUY the cards so far... that's a start, right?

But I did manage to do ONE thing. I got rid of our old car that wasn't running :) I don't have any pictures to prove it like last time, but really I DID get it done :).

I even have a slightly funny blog post on all the cars I've owned :)

Now onto my running TO-DO list...

1. Pack hospital bag - STARTED...
   - Finish packing hospital bag.
2. Make labor index cards to help hubby coach - BOUGHT cards...
   - Start filling out cards.
3. Get kids to doctors appointments - SCHEDULED for June 17th.
4. Get birth certificates and immunization records - SHIPPING and waiting on shots.
5. Get a work-space built for homeschooling in the Fall.
6. Find online courses and sign-up to do my own general ed. - PRINTED application...
   - complete application and start enrollment process.

The stuff I finished completely...

1. Donate car.