MommyCoddle

I guess it’s time to spill the beans

Good morning, friends.

As I sit here this morning, (oh! afternoon, actually)… I've given my girls a break from school. They are off running around in the breezy, sunny outdoors, soaking up the sun and stretching stiff, creaky school-time bodies.

And I am here, enjoying a few moments of quiet before I head into the kitchen to determine what "delicacies" to put on the table for lunch.

But today, today! is the day that I have decided to spill the beans. I have decided it's time to let you in on my secret. My news.

I am happy to share with all of you that I am expecting baby number four at the end of March.

I am blissfully happy to be two weeks into my second trimester, after the most difficult first trimester I have ever experienced.

I can only say that what I went through bordered on what I almost have considered depression. A complete lack of energy. A constant fog. A pile of emotion. A whole lot of exhaustion. A lack of interest in anything. And a constant state of nausea.

But thankfully, as the second trimester approached the fog lifted, and I finally find myself returning to normal.

And while I am being thankful–I could not have made it through that first trimester without my wonderful husband. Who not only worked all day, but became mother and homemaker by night. And when I (often) came to him in tears, drowning in guilt over what I wasn't doing, he simply said, "Your job is to grow a baby and rest. That is all you need to worry about right now."

I've been hesitant to share my news after my experience last fall, and I still find myself somewhat cautious. But as my husband reminds me, "telling people means more people to pray for the health and care of this new baby".

We are happy. The girls are ecstatic. Baby dolls are the new "it" toy around here. Elizabeth tells me she can see the baby in my belly button and "shhhh. he's sleepin'. " And they throw around names like "Texas" and "Susannah".

I think I'll go make some lunch and work on that list of names…..

Good morning, friends.

As I sit here this morning, (oh! afternoon, actually)… I’ve given my girls a break from school. They are off running around in the breezy, sunny outdoors, soaking up the sun and stretching stiff, creaky school-time bodies.

And I am here, enjoying a few moments of quiet before I head into the kitchen to determine what “delicacies” to put on the table for lunch.

But today, today! is the day that I have decided to spill the beans. I have decided it’s time to let you in on my secret. My news.

I am happy to share with all of you that I am expecting baby number four at the end of March. If you’re also pregnant, you can contact Tidewater Physicians For Women for an ultrasound.

I am blissfully happy to be two weeks into my second trimester, after the most difficult first trimester I have ever experienced.

But thankfully, as the second trimester approached the fog lifted, and I finally find myself returning to normal.

And while I am being thankful–I could not have made it through that first trimester without my wonderful husband. Who not only worked all day, but became mother and homemaker by night. And when I (often) came to him in tears, drowning in guilt over what I wasn’t doing, he simply said, “Your job is to grow a baby and rest. That is all you need to worry about right now.”

I’ve been hesitant to share my news after my experience last fall, and I still find myself somewhat cautious. But as my husband reminds me, “telling people means more people to pray for the health and care of this new baby”.

We are happy. The girls are ecstatic. Baby dolls are the new “it” toy around here. Elizabeth tells me she can see the baby in my belly button and “shhhh. he’s sleepin’. ” And they throw around names like “Texas” and “Susannah”.

I think I’ll go make some lunch and work on that list of names…..

139 Comments

secret messages

We are up to our necks in school around here. It is leaving little room for anything else, save barely getting dinner on the table and squeezing in a trip to the grocery store. But so far, fingers crossed, this year is starting off really well. We've got a new curriculum that we're enjoying, some new books that are "clicking", and a better plan and approach than in years past.

Today, Mary delivered this note to me–which I deciphered for you. It is a 'to do' list of the things she wants to accomplish during our upcoming trip to visit her cousins. These notes absolutely, positively kill me. I love them. I want to frame every single one. Dangle them from a clothesline across my dining room. Wallpaper my bathroom with them. Embroider them on pillows. Tattoo them on my forearms. (okay, a stretch.)

You see, Emma was never an "inventive speller". She wanted to know how to do it right, or she wouldn't do it at all. She never sat down, sounded things out and gave it her best shot. She sat at the kitchen table, asked me how to spell it and if I wouldn't give her the straight up answer, she said, never mind. A different approach, and that's okay.

Mary on the other hand, litters my house with these messages.

It never fails to amaze me how my children can tackle the world of learning so differently.

While Mary is leaving me to decipher her inventive notes, Emma has fallen in love with creating her own secret language of hieroglyphics.

We are studying Ancient Egypt and after spending some time this morning trying to write her name in Egyptian hieroglyphics (that barn owl "M" is really tough), I decided to let her create her own alphabet of glyphs.

And we just spent the last hour writing each other secret messages. Hers were all lovey-dovey, mine all business :

We are having tacos for dinner.

We need to do some math.

I have more things to share with you. Ack! But just need a few more hours in the day. I'll be back soon with another sponsor giveaway, and some more news!

Mary on the other hand, litters my house with these messages.

It never fails to amaze me how my children can tackle the world of learning so differently.

While Mary is leaving me to decipher her inventive notes, Emma has fallen in love with creating her own secret language of hieroglyphics.

And we just spent the last hour writing each other secret messages. Hers were all lovey-dovey, mine all business :

We are having tacos for dinner.

We need to do some math.

I have more things to share with you. Ack! But just need a few more hours in the day. I'll be back soon with another sponsor giveaway, and some more news!

20 Comments

animal kingdom / children and nature / DAILY FARM LIFE / life on thomas run

proud mama duck

Last week marked a milestone for our ducks. We let them in on the big secret we've been keeping from them.

I have to confess I was a little bit nervous. I was worried that if we let them know what they've been missing, they might never come home again. They might find that this new discovery was much better than the bits of dry duck mash and the large black tub that they soak in.

But sometimes, a mama duck (that's me, I'm their mama) has to let her ducklings taste a little freedom.

So we headed down to the stream. We called to them and they waddled behind us, keeping up for the whole, long trip. We almost lost them a few times, to the tasty fox tails and bits of bugs in the grass.

But they always caught up.

And once we turned that final corner, they knew exactly what to do. It was almost as if they didn't believe it.

They got in timidly at first, but it wasn't long before they were ducking their heads, splashing water onto their backs, sitting high in the water and flapping wings wildly, darting underwater and searching for bits of green and slime.

I stood back and looked at the scene before me.

My three girls wading and swimming–in various stages of "birthday suit-ness". Dripping clothes hanging from tree branches on the shore–the "laundry" they were drying. My dogs swimming back and forth into the deepest water, chasing after sticks. And my three ducks wading right in the middle of all the action.

Each minding their own business. Each completely happy.

I was a proud mama duck.

And the best part? Once we decided it was time to go home, we gathered up the clothes and the boots and headed back up the trail. And I called once more to the ducks, just in case they still wanted to come home.

And (much more quickly and obediently than my own children) they waddled out of the stream and back up the trail behind us.