Preparing for the New Baby

I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going. I keep thinking I have lots of time left when in reality we only have 5 1/2 weeks until my due date. I went to the doctor yesterday and I am 1 cm dilated. That's not anything too exciting but because I am having alot of Braxton-Hicks contractions she wants me to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. I have never had a baby early and don't intend to this time either, but I realized there are some things I need to take care of soon.

1. Christian has to be moved out of the crib into a big boy bed. Usually I would have done this already. I have been procrastinating because he is such a good sleeper and I am afraid putting him in a new bed will mess that up. Also, I am not looking forward to the couple of days of chasing him back to bed when he realizes he can get out. But, we are going to make the switch this week-end.

2. I would like to get some meals frozen and in the freezer for after the baby comes. I am very blessed to be able to have my mom and dad come for about a week after the baby is born, and to have friends that will provide meals for a few days after that. But, I would like to have some food stocked up for at least another week while I am still recovering and figuring out the baby's schedule. You know how it is when you are trying to make dinner and just when you get started you have a screaming infant.

3. I have to pack my bag for the hospital, and a bag for the children in case I have to drop them off somewhere. Again, I wait for the last minute usually, but I do not want to leave this chore up to my husband.

4. I have to buy some infant diapers.

5. I need to get some clothes ready. While shopping last week-end I bought an outfit to bring her home from the hospital and a few pink sleepers. I still have that little voice in the back of my head that wonders if the tech was wrong and the baby might be a boy, so I am hesitant to take the tags off of some other clothing and bedding my mom bought for me. I have started to go through my baby clothes and pull out all of the neutral colored clothing.

6. The house needs to be cleaned. This is an ongoing chore of course and is never completely cleaned.
I am sure this list will grow as I think of more things that need to be done.

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Easy Valentine Holders

After going to 4 different stores yesterday to pick up Valentines for the children (everyone was sold out that's what I get for waiting) we sat down to fill out the cards. After they were done we made heart carriers to put our Valentines in. We took two pieces of construction paper and folded them in half together. Then we drew half a heart shape on the fold and cut them out. We put the hearts together and used a hole punch to put holes on the side and bottom and wove a piece of yarn to seal them up. Last we taped a handle inside the top of the heart and we had quick, easy, and cheap carriers for our Valentines.

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Christian's First Haircut

All of our boys have been really slow to grow hair. Nick and Alex were both 3 before they had their first haircut, and Anthony at 3 1/2 has still not had one (unless you count the day Alex cut off the ends of his curls.) Christian's hair has always had a lot of hair and it has grown a lot lately, so while we were at my parent's house over the week-end he got his first haircut. He did a good job, but got tired of sitting still pretty fast. I can't believe how grown up it makes him look. My baby has turned into a little man over night.

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Owl Moon Lapbook

We finished the Five in a Row book Owl Moon last Thursday, and this is the lapbook Nick created out of what he had learned. The first page is the painting he did of an Owl in a

Tree. The second page is a notebooking page titled the Great Horned Owl. We filled in facts about the owl such as: What does it eat? Where does it live? What kind of feet, mouth, body covering? How does it protect itself? Is it a mammal, bird, reptile, or fish? Does it give birth to live young or lay eggs? The next page is the poem The Owl by L. Alma-Tadema and Nick copied it on the lines below. Then we did a lesson on What is a Simile? and Units of Time which Nick glued on the next page. The last page was a coloring page on the State Flower and Bird of New Jersey.

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Home Sweet Home

For the week-end, we headed to North West Arkansas to go and visit my parents. My mom and dad wanted to tile their kitchen counters and my dad needed some help. Art has done a couple of other tile projects so we headed up there to help. The children were great on the road. They are pretty well traveled so 3 1/2 hours is pretty easy for them. Art and my dad worked on the kitchen all week-end while my mom and I entertained the children. The kitchen turned out great! I was quite impressed with the children, not only for their good behavior, but also because they took it upon themselves to help clean up my mom and dad's back yard. About 2 weeks ago NWA had a really bad ice storm that led to power outages and trees down everywhere. There are still people in some areas without power. On Sunday when I sent the children out to play, they spent the afternoon stacking up branches that had come down. I thought that was a great way to help their Papa and they didn't even have to be asked to do it. We had a great time visiting, but it is always nice to be back home.

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Medical Insurance

I remember when I was pregnant with Chelsea, and insurance covered the WHOLE thing right down to the prenatal vitamins. Even 5 years later when I had Nick, I had one small co-pay and the rest was covered at 100%. Those days are gone and with every baby we have we are paying more money for insurance with higher deductibles and less coverage. I have had a horrible time with the billing people from my doctor's office this time. She works in a large clinic with many different kinds of physicians that share the same billing people. At the beginning of my pregnancy I was contacted before my first appointment to let me know how much I would be required to pay and by when. I was also told if I could not make the payments they designated my appointments would be rescheduled until I could. I was very angry about this, but I love my doctor and after having 6 different OBGYN's over the last several years due to moves I was not willing to change again. Just when I finally had everything worked out, Art's company changed insurance. So I had to start all over again with the billing people. I will spare you all of the details of the MANY phone calls, and arguments over what I would be required to prepay. To anyone else facing the same battles with DR's offices over insurance I have some advice. Know exactly what your benefits are. Do not take the word of a billing person at an office without double checking your benefits out yourself. In my case, if I had listened to her, I would be prepaying an extra $600 unnecessarily.

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Tasty Tuesday: Cinnamon Rolls

I like to make Cinnamon Rolls on Saturday night for a quick and easy breakfast on Sunday morning. I used to do this every week before I was pregnant, but I got away from it for a little while. Last week-end my oven and stove were out of commission so it was cold cereal for us, but the week before I made Cinnamon Rolls using part of my old recipe and combining it with part of the recipe for A Better Cinnamon Roll in Family Fun magazine. These were the best cinnamon rolls I have ever made.

In the Bread Machine:

3/4 cup warm milk
1 large egg
4 TBSP butter
3 cups flour ( I use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat and 1 1/2 cups all purpose)
3 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

Put on dough setting and let rise. When cycle is finished place on floured surface and knead for 1 minute then let rest for 15. Roll dough out into a rectangle. Then spread on your filling.

For the filling combine:

4 TBSP softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP cinnamon

Roll up the dough to make a long cylinder and pinch the ends closed, then cut into one inch pieces. Place in a greased 9x13 pan and let rise 30-45 minutes. Bake in a 375 oven for 20-25 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes then drizzle with icing. I let them cool then cover them to wait and ice in the morning.

Icing:

1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 TBSP milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

If the icing is too thick to drizzle add a little extra milk a drop at a time until it is the right consistency

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