Update # 1 = pregnancy. My update on my pregnancy is much more interesting than they have been previously. I had an appointment yesterday, at which my doctor revealed that I am 50% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated! While this doesn't really mean that much ( you can be one centimeter dilated for, like, a month) it still feels good to not be starting at zero. I also had another sonogram (yes, another one) which found Jade to be doing just fine at 6 lbs. 7 ounces. All of my other babies have been well over 7 pounds, so I'm taking this to mean she will definitely wait a few more weeks before being ready to emerge. Still, again, it's a great feeling to know how big and healthy she is, should she somehow come really early. Oh, and I will not be posting a new picture of her, since the technician, bless her heart for trying so hard, just could not get a good shot of her face. Apparently she's dropped down so low that her face is mushed into the side of my uterine wall at the very bottom. Now, doesn't that just sound comfortable? Actually, the doc was pretty surprised by that, since I guess once you've had a few babies, the next one doesn't drop until, like, right before birth. Becky, did your last couple drop like that?
Actually, if I didn't know better, it would appear that she is actually planning on coming any day now. Basically every sign my book gives for impending birth, from dropping, to aching hips from the increased pressure, to lots of other things you really don't want to hear about, have appeared in the past two days. I just read these signs today, and one of them even says you will emotionally begin acting like you do just before your period comes. I've never noticed that one before, but wouldn't you know that last night I found myself crying uncontrollably for like twenty minutes over a jibe my husband made at me. So, either I'm going to have this baby any minute now, or Jeremy stands to have a very difficult three weeks. Poor baby.
Since she doesn't have a blog, I also feel it is my privilege and responsibility to update you on Steph's pregnancy, too. Gosh I hope she doesn't mind!! Cause I'm doing it!!! She had a sonogram yesterday,TOO, which makes us, like, Sono-sisters! It was her very first (aaaawwwww! I remember Jacob's first...), and officially confirmed that she is, in fact, having a baby (as opposed to a frog or demonic creature of some sort). So, now you can stop taking the pregnancy tests, Steph! It turns out that she is now 11 weeks along, which puts her due date at, I think, the end of May. Spring baby!! Happy happy, joy joy!
Ok, so that's the pregnancy update. Moving on to...
UPDATE #2 = School
So Jacob is doing so well in his school that I am now horrified to have to admit that it was, in fact, the right decision to stop homeschooling him. I was really hoping it wasn't. There is nothing I would like more than to be able to bring him back home next year, with a "Well, we gave it a try!" and a shrug and a grin. But, he really seems to be flourishing, not just academically, but also in his passion for life and for learning. I know some homeschooling mom's are able to elicit a "Yes! School time!" response from their children all the time, but mine definitely lost that a couple of years ago. They began to seriously look forward to weekends and vacations, with that dreadful "Oh no, school tomorrow" attitude at bedtime every Sunday night. But now, with Jacob, that has definitely changed. In fact, this past Sunday night, he said "Great! Tomorrow's one of my favorite days!" "Oh, is there something particularly fun that your class does on Mondays?" I asked. "No," he cheerfully responded, "it's just that all school days are my favorite days now!" This of course gives me a taste of that heart-wrenching feeling that I'm sure to experience when my first born just can't wait to go off to college. Yes, I'm thrilled that he is so happy, but, man do I wish he missed being home at least a tiny bit!
I really can't say that Joshua is thrilled with school like that (he still gets pretty darn excited to have a random day off like yesterday), but I'm happy with his progress on several fronts this year. Probably the biggest is his maturity in being able to self-regulate. Last year I had to stand over him to get him to do his work, often dropping scolds and dark glances upon him when he dawdled and stared off into space. Now, I give him his assignments and off he goes, checking his own times to make sure he's on schedule and coming to me with any questions and concerns rather than just giving up or sitting like a useless lump with "I didn't know what to do so I didn't do anything" scrawled across the top. He's learning a lot, too, despite the fact that a lot of what he does is on his own now. I would have previously seen this as a failure on my part to spend the proper amount of time teaching him, but now I see it as a sign that he's learning how to learn on his own without someone pointing out all the important stuff to him. That's a really good thing to be able to do, especially as he gets older and more of it will rest upon his shoulders anyway. I am still doing some fun projects with him, of course, and, actually, have found that our crafting time is a fun time to allow Julia to experience the joys of gluing, taping, cutting, etc. as she does some fun little projects of her own. I took a picture of one example of this, which I will possibly add into this post later.... Ok, here it is.
The top one is Josh's chart on the phases of the moon and the bottom one is Julia's picture of the earth, created through her placement of lots of torn pieces of paper into a glue-filled circle. She has great artistic potential, don't you think?
Update #3 = Random Life lessons
Somehow all of my random life lessons involve wildlife lately. Here's a gem I experienced a couple of mornings ago.
First, a question: Are temper tantrums always bad? Ok, before I had kids, and even a little while after, I would have said an unequivocal "Yes!" Why, of course temper tantrums are bad! Children need to be taught to respect our every word and order and obey them to the T as soon as they are uttered! Well, ok, I do still believe that that is mostly true. But I have also come to find that God can work through even the seemingly naughty moments of our children.
Take, for example, the other morning. Julia was in a particularly rambunctious mood (resulting, among other things, in a floor full of cheerios and a chipped bowl. hmmmm....). The boys had just scurried out to the bus stop and I was attempting to put on Julia's sneakers so we could follow. Well, little Miss Chief decided it would be amusing to prevent me from this simple task by kicking her little footsies as quickly and as hard as she could. Kick, kick, wham! The shoe goes sailing through the air, hitting the floor with a small thud. Plop! Wait a minute. What the heck is that large dark object that just flew out of her shoe? Oh yes, it was a spider, black, hairy, roughly half the size of her foot, who had apparently decided that her shoe was the perfect place to spend a chilly night and was now sitting in shock staring back at me, probably thinking something like "Oh sh**". For my part, I looked like something you might find in a wax museum of Horror Film Moments. Unmoving, horrified expression on my face, I sat staring at that abomination as several increasingly worse scenarios of what might have happened scrolled behind my eyes. If she hadn't kicked that shoe out of my hand, if I had tried to put it on her with that, that thing still inside of it....
Well, eventually I did begin moving again, and Julia and I made it out to the bus stop on time, her with a different pair of shoes (I may never use those sneakers again) and me with a heart that still wasn't beating quite right. The spider, well, let's just say that he no longer had anything to worry about either. At all. Ever. No Francis-like mercy that day from me.
So, the moral of the story is, even a seemingly naughty moment, like a tantrum over shoes, can result in something good. Try to remember that the next time your floor is covered in cheerios and milk. I know I certainly will!
Ok, so that is enough updating for now. I have other things to talk about, but, seriously, aren't you weary of me yet? Yes, Becky, I will answer your tag. Just not right now. Thank you for thinking of me, though! Oh, and Laura, your letter to the homeschoolers was so refreshingly honest and hilarious that I just have to mention it. My favorite line: "Should I just punish them quickly and corporally when they piss and moan?" You slay me, woman! Man do I wish everyone was as honest and open as you!
Alrighty then! TTFN!
