"Natural Morning Sickness Remedies"

Ran across this on a blog I follow, so I thought I'd share! Nothing much to do with HG, but for normal morning sickness:

Normal Morning Sickness Remedies

I'm also adding another sidebar category (this will be the first entry) for remedies for "normal" morning sickness. Just for any NVP mamas who wander across!

Week 1 of Fall Challenge

Up late after a long debate with DH, now relaxing with a quick blog post. Tomorrow starts the first week of Women Living Well's Fall Challenge - she is giving one practical and one spiritual tip each week to make our homes inviting and welcoming and loving. I can use all the help I can get! So tomorrow, I'm getting out my candle... and then working on her much-more challenging spiritual tip.

Are You Distracted and Distant or Making Your Home a Haven?

Oh, how very, very, very convicting.... definitely check out her article!

This week will have preschool, AWANA, MOMS Club, and our meeting with the state therapy people - both to transfer our care to the next department, and to set up a schedule for baby's therapy. I find the whole process rather intimidating - I'll be glad when it's over! And the bigger challenge will be finding things to do with our eldest while I am doing therapy with baby. I do NOT want to use the TV as a babysitter, especially multiple times a week. I am considering trying to hire babysitting.... but that could get pricey. I would appreciate prayer for the whole process, and that I would be able to get the scheduling and the personnel issues worked out easily and smoothly!

Have a great week, everyone! Love to all!

Good Stuff, Part I

A while ago, I posted that I was going to make a concerted effort to purposely neglect my hobbies (especially birth-related lore) and to focus on my spiritual life and my family.

It has had great effect! Let me share some of the great things that have happened.

(1) I discovered that there are great resources to be found in Christian mommy/homemaker blogs! I got a recommendation from a friend for one or two, then went off of "blog roll" lists to get more, and am now reading a considerable number of them. I wouldn't have believed it, but they have been SO incredibly helpful! They have encouragement, reminders, gentle correction and admonishment, practical ideas for child-rearing, discipline, family time and a host of other topics, recipes, and other great stuff. So helpful! Here's a partial list - I don't have time to do the links, but if you google them and add "blog" to the end, they'll come up:

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Angel Wings and Apron Strings
AnneElliot.com
Femina
girltalk - Conversations on biblical womanhood
Like a Warm Cup of Coffee
Women Living Well
MckMama
Passionate Homemaking
Raising Homemakers
Raising Olives
Working on a Full House

Good, good stuff. Let me know if you have any others to recommend!

Extra Note: Today I achieved recipe nirvana with a recipe found on one of these blogs: Pumpkin Waffles with Spiced Whipped Cream from Women Living Well. So incredibly good. Try it - and don't forget the whipped cream. Yum yum yum. 

(2) Whenever I get inspired, I start making organizational notebooks. About a month ago, the papers flew as I went into a notebook frenzy! It was just great. I started out by making a notebook with a tab, paper, and page holder for each major holiday. Then, whenever I see an idea or a tradition that I want to add, I can slip the article into the page protector or note down the idea.

This is really helpful for me, because I am clueless when it comes to decorating, traditions, etc. They just don't happen spontaneously for me. So planning is in order! I'm excited to see where they take us as this year's holidays start off.

After that, I made further notebooks:
- A travel notebook - with tabs for ideas, planning, locations, car games, yearly vacations, camping trips, etc.
- A marriage/womanhood notebook - tabs for marriage, personal development, goals, etc.
- A parenting notebook - tons and tons of tabs for parenting advice, school info, snack ideas, etc.

And I'm getting tons of articles from the blogs I'm reading that I copy and print off for my notebooks!

(3) I'm getting serious about planning trips for our family. We've never been into traveling - no money and little motivation. But our trip to Dallas-turned-Tucson this summer made me realize how fun family vacations can be, so I'm now saving and planning for one short family vacation a year plus two overnight camping trips (spring/fall), plus our usual trips to see family.

(4) I've really gotten into using the library. I'm using several anthologies of children's books - "The Read-Aloud Handbook," my favorite, plus "Honey for a Child's Heart" and "Books Children Love" - I order the books every week and pick them up. It has been great! I'm really enjoying getting into children's books, especially now that our son is old enough to enjoy beginning chapter books.

I used to think that writing children's books was rather silly - as in "I could do that while I brush my teeth" - but now, upon reading more, I realize what an art and a craft there is to it. Love it!

(5) I am doing my best to spend time with my family and not obsess over the house. Sort of. I'm an obsessor (sp???) by nature, but I do my best. I am also learning speed cleaning!! I read "Speed Cleaning" by Jeff Dial and the Clean Team, and though I didn't get to finish it before I had to return it, it was excellent and I highly recommend it.

One of the main points of the book was that a majority of "cleaning time" is not spent actually cleaning, but running back and forth getting materials to clean with. This is certainly true for me! Time running back and forth to get the vinegar, the windex, the paper towels, the scratchy pad, etc. etc. The answer, according to the book, is to carry most things on one's person, and other things in a carry-all that goes to each room. That way, one can move around a room only once to clean it, plus another time to vacuum, and then one is done.

So, in my apron (and with me) I now carry a toothbrush, a bottle of windex, a bottle of 409, a moist cleaning towel, a duster, and a whisk brush. In my carry-all I have bathroom cleaner, Barkeeper's Friend, more cleaning cloths, a scratchy pad, and a couple other things I can't remember. I need to get a proper cleaner's apron rather than the flimsy one I have now, but it still works.

And it works! I can now clean my house (sans vacuuming) in 30-40 minutes. So I do that during one of our son's preschool times, and the vacuuming/mopping during the other. It doesn't include deep cleaning, but hey - I wasn't getting to deep cleaning anyway! It's been a big improvement for us.

(6) I resuscitated my prayer life with the uber-new-and-sophisticated Ritz Cracker Box Method, and it's been a big success. Most prayer methods drive me to distraction because of their eternal sameness, but having the variety of this method has been a big improvement. Similarly, my Bible reading time has also been improved simply by borrowing my husband's ESV (rather than my NLT) - I love having a new version (my favorite so far!) and new study notes to read.

(7) I have been purposely studying parenting - reading good books (like "Say Goodbye to Whining, Complaining and Bad Attitudes in You and Your Children" - great book!) and praying daily (and fervently!!!) for wisdom, grace, and the character needed for being a good parent. It has really had great effect.

Parenting is hard. It is the hardest spiritual/emotional thing I've ever done in my life (the hardest physical things are reserved for HG and childbirth). It has tested me beyond anything I could ever imagine - and I'm only 20% done with the first child! (And 5% done with the second!) Some days I have literally ended my day in tears - and I'm not the crying type. I have realized how much I need God's strength, wisdom, spiritual filling, and grace. Focusing on learning about parenting and on praying for wisdom has had great positive impact.

***

I think there's more, but I need to get to bed! More later (if I remember anything), and have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!!!

Blog Notes

(1) I just got around to changing my email address for comment notification, so I may not have seen your comment if it was left during the last 3-4 weeks. I scrolled down my recent entries to see comments, but any comments left on old posts have probably not been seen - if you need me to see something, please resubmit. Sorry about that!

(2) I'm afraid I've been very, very, very bad about using blog category labels - in fact, I haven't done it for the past, oh, 18 months or so. Thus, I have installed search bars on both my blogs so that visitors can search for a subject of interest. I'll probably get rid of the label category side bars soon.

(3) I have added a new side bar - "Various Lines of Thought on HG Prevention" - this is for links from people who believe they have info on preventing HG, usually through pre-conception diet. If you see anything that would belong there, please let me know!

Fall Challenge

Considering that I only completed (maybe) half of the summer marriage challenge at Women Living Well - actually, I'd forgotten about it until I saw this new one - I kind of questioned if I should jump on the wagon again.

However, this new Fall Challenge is super-super-super easy - much easier than the summer challenge - and it's in an area I need serious (i.e. remedial) help in - that is, decorating and seasonal decor, etc., type of stuff. It sounds fun - and more importantly, as I said, easy! - so as of Monday we'll be off! Join me if you feel like it! Here's the summary:

"Is your calendar full like mine? Do you feel a little tense, rushed and even panicked at times when you are running late? Do you feel like the rest of the family is feeling the same way? I believe we women can create a physical environment, as well as a spiritual environment, that can bring peace, harmony and a sense of calmness to our homes if we are willing to be intentional.

"So let me introduce you to the "Making Your Home a Haven" Fall Challenge. Each week I will give you one practical tip and one spiritual tip that you can do to create a haven in your home."

Hurray for my very favorite season - Autumn! Bring it on! (And these near-record heat wave things can leave any time.)

HG Has a Button!

See my sidebar - many thanks to Becky at Refuse to be a Womb Pod!!

Here is the link:

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff104/vbacwarrior/HGawarenessribbon.jpg

I feel special now! I have a button!!

Adventures in Preschool

First, an update on baby - We had our evaluation with the state-run early-start program this past Tuesday (they offer free in-home therapy), and baby more than qualifies - so much so that they're probably going to pass us on to the next level - so we'll be dealing with a different department, one that will probably offer more services. We'll hear back on that this week.

It has been so unusual to note the differences between our sons. Our eldest is the "healthy as a horse" type. He's only been to his pediatrician for sick visits once in his life... he's never had anything wrong with him other than colds.... he is the kind that the doctor has a hard time remembering whenever he does come in.

Our youngest, on the other hand, has so many issues (I know I've written about this before, but it keeps coming up). Besides his main issue of whatever is going on (diagnosis hopefully coming in November/December), he is fussy/delicate about things like temperature and wind, he gets more rashes, he has gotten ringworm (we think), his colds last a lot longer (current cold is on day 8), he can't handle solids well (he throws up if his food isn't smooth enough), etc. At this point, the receptionist at our doctor's office actually knows my voice on the phone. It's crazy. We talk with them constantly. I guess it's just our turn to learn about non-perfect health in children!

Now, our older son:

Our eldest son's preschool does daily "grading" - they get "green" for good behavior, "yellow" for doing something naughty, and "red" for doing something really bad (you are only allowed 2 reds before getting kicked out of the program - yikes).

On Thursday, our son brought home his first "yellow" - for not following directions during P.E. time. I can't say I was surprised - in fact, I had been pleasantly surprised that he went so long (two whole days!) getting "greens"!

It has now been a full two years since we began to be approached by various teachers. Thankfully it's only world-destroyingly-catastrophic the first time - I don't think I took in half of what his two-year-old-class Sunday School teacher told me when she let me know she was having issues with him in class - I was in a state of absolute shock, dismay, panic, denial - the works. It was super-hard to take in.

Since then, I'm afraid I've gotten a bit used to it. We continue to work hard, hard, hard on obedience issues (it is a daily adventure), but the truth remains that our son continues to have absolutely ZILCH interest in group activities, and obedience is a hard sell with him, despite our work. His attitude seems to be "Sure, you guys go over there and do whatever you want; I'll be over here playing with this toy." If you put him in a group of older teens, he's all attention, but with his peers he is distant and unconcerned.

Part of what makes this harder for me is that I was a docile, mild-mannered, pleaser, compliant, disgustingly-goody-two-shoes girl. So my experience with spirited, non-pleaser-type, wilfull, energetic boys, is naught.

I can still remember the only three caregiver-discipline issues of my entire K-6 experience.... #1 - Getting put in time out for spanking a boy who deliberately knocked over my block tower. (I have no regrets! He deserved it, LOL!!!), #2 - Being spoken to firmly after questioning my 2nd grade teacher's directions, #3 - Getting scolded by my mom for bringing home an A- instead of an A+ in some 6th grade subject. Oh, the horror!

(As a matter of fact, I didn't get a non-A grade till college.... it was first-quarter Physics lab - I got an unexpected C. I'm still in therapy for that.)

Oh, and there was that little incident in third grade where I and a friend were almost arrested on suspicion of masterminding a jewel robbery, but that was a frame-up! I swear it!

(As another matter of fact, that really did happen.... Thankfully the school authorities and the police realized that the accusing party - a rather nasty fourth-grade girl - had completely made up the charge to get back at us for reporting her playground bullying.)

Anyhow, this whole thing is rather new to me. As I've said, we are working super-super-hard on constant obedience training, learning more and more parenting techniques, instilling good morals, etc. etc. etc., but for now we are still stuck with having occasional teacher issues.

So for now, we set up consequences for any future "yellows," and we'll be explaining them this weekend. Hopefully they're complete enough for deterrence!

Is this a sign that we need to persevere, and that things will get better? Or is this a sign that our son is not going to have a fun school experience and that we need to still consider homeschooling?

I still have not come to a place of peace about either homeschooling or not homeschooling. Thus, I'm trying to keep an open mind, pray constantly about it, and watch how preschool goes. If we decide on school, then preschool will be preschool.... if we decide on homeschool, then preschool will just be an "enrichment class." I'm just praying for direction and peace with whatever decision God wants us to make.

And if anyone has any parenting suggestions, tips, techniques, or books/websites to recommend for dealing with spirited boys, let me know! I've read some that have been very helpful - every little bit helps!

Have an awesome Sabbath, everyone!!!