An Update to the Update

Sorry I have not posted very regularly. I had thought I would get some pictures on here of B#7 in his new bunkbed. But it just hasn't happened. He did move to his new bed a few nights ago and we are still working on the transition. I am not sure who is struggling more with it, him, me or his brothers who share the room.

As for mom and baby...we are supposed to be resting as much as possible but with two little ones it just isn't happening all that well. I am scheduled for OB visits every Monday and Thursday until the end of July for blood pressure checks and fetal monitoring. The dr. switched my medication to one with much less side effects and so far it seems to be an improvement over the last one. A friend keeps reminding me that although I feel fine and that makes it hard to stay resting, the higher my blood pressure the less oxygen the baby is getting. I do tend to "forget" that as it is so very hard for me to sit still for any length of time. But I am counting down the days until I hit 37 weeks(only 15 more days to go) since I have had most of my babies at 37 weeks with only two of them lasting until 38 weeks.

B#3 helped me take the crib apart today that needs to move to the "nursery" so now we just need to figure out how to take apart B#8's crib to move to the room next to the girls. Lots of moving around, but I like the newest baby to be in the room closest to ours and I like to keep the toddler that is moving in his own familiar bed. I figure they get enough change by moving rooms, why add to that another change of a different crib. Anyway, once that is done, we can start decorating the room all girly which will be fun.

Well I will try to post more regularly if possible, hopefully with some pics of the kiddos.

Pregnancy Update

I would appreciate your prayers if you think about me and baby. Yesterday I just didn't feel quite right, nothing I could put my finger on, other than extreme exhaustion from insomnia. So Dh and I went in to the Dr. to get my blood pressure checked. Unfortunately my regular dr. wasn't in, which I was sad about. But anyway, my blood pressure was 172/115 which is way too high. High blood pressure isn't anything new to me during pregnancy but it has never been that high, even when they chose to induce B#8 because of it. They did blood work and a non-stress test on baby and all of that was fine so they put me on a high blood pressure medicine called Lobetalol, which makes me feel kind of yucky in a different sort of way. But we do praise the Lord that so far that is all that needs to be done. I had read online that they might hospitalize you, induce the baby if at all possible or put you on bed rest and honestly, none of those things sounded good to me. So for now they will watch and see how things progress. I will probably be going to the dr. once a week instead of every two weeks until the end. But again, praise the Lord that the baby is doing well and I do not have any signs of preeclampsia.

20 Years!

I can not believe that this week DH and I will celebrate our 20 year wedding anniversary. I am sure that if you were to track down the preacher who married us so very young all those years ago that he would tell you he never thought it would last. Maybe some of our families felt the same way:) There is no way we could have done it with out the Lord's working in our lives because in and of our selves we are just two selfish sinful people. But here we are 20 years and almost 9 children later to give a testimony to HIM who is able to sustain.

And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make a helper comparable to him". Genesis 2:18

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become on flesh. Genesis 2:24

And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh? So then they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Matthew 19:4-6

Gardening

We have recently started working on our garden. It has been tilled for a while but here where we are we don't usually plant until the end of May or beginning of June but even now we have had so much rain that getting back outside to finish planting or weeding is a bit of a challenge. This morning the children and I went out and weeded in the drizzling rain just to try to get ahead a bit. We still have lots more work to do! Anyway, this afternoon I was looking through a book of B#2's and ran across this about planting your garden so I thought I would share it.

Planting Your Gardens

As you begin the planting season, may I suggest the following for your gardens.

Plant three rows of squash:
1.Squash gossip.
2.Squash criticism.
3.Squash indifference

Plant three rows of peas:
1. Purity
2. Patience
3. Perseverence

Plant six rows of lettuce:
1. Let us be unselfish
2. Let us be faithful to duty
3. Let us search the Scriptures
4. Let us not be weary in well-doing
5. Let us be obedient in all things
6. Let us love one another

No Garden is complete without turnips
1. Turn up for church
2. Turn up with a smile, even when things are difficult
3. Turn up to always do your personal best
4. Turn up for your family and friends as needed.

Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instruction for Homekeeping
by Miriam Lukken

Getting Ready

In a way this pregnancy has flown by. I think that is just the way it is when you already have little ones. I have been doing lots of cleaning and getting rid of lately. I took a load to Goodwill yesterday that filled half of DH truck bed. Boy does it feel good to declutter. I guess you would say I am starting into the "nesting" stage. We have been working on the boys room, getting ready to move B#7 in with the big boys. I found some bunkbeds on craigslist this weekend and after much repair work to them, DH got them put together yesterday. We still need to get a mattress for B#7 so for now he is still in the crib in his "old" room. He is excited about moving to his "bonkbed" as he calls it. I do still have quite a bit to do in the boys room like finding space for all of the clothes and toys that were previously in drawers on B#5's captains bed, which we sold. But it will all come together soon.

At my Dr.s appointment yesterday, the doctor and I agreed to move my due date up to July 30 instead of August 4th. It just made more sense with my dates than with the first ultrasound which can be off by about 5 days. He told me he wouldn't begrudge me 5 days, which can be a long time to a pregnant mom who doesn't sleep:)

We have been having fun sewing and getting things ready to decorate the baby's room, once I move B#8 into B#7's old room. Confused yet? Anyway, here are some pics of what we are working on...

A dear friend gave me lots of great cloth diapers so I thought I would turn some of them into burb cloths so B#4 and I sewed ribbon down the seams on the front and added bias tape along the top and bottom with a zig-zag stitch. I still have several more to get finished.

Dad wanted to be the one to pick the fabric for the baby's blanket, most of our babies have loved their blankies, so off we went to our local fabric store where he chose this adorable lady bug print. I usually an not one to like greens but with this baby we are going with green and pink for the nursery. I just loved these fat little lady bugs.

I looked at lots of crib sets on craigslist but at $60-$100 a set that was just out of the question. So I kept looking, day after day, and sure enough I found this green and white set which came with a bumper, crib skirt, 3 or 4 sheet and a matching basket, all for $20. Now that is more in my price range.

I am not sure if I posted a picture of this already in a different post, but here is a picture of the crib that that we are using. I found this on craigslist too back when we found out about the crib recalls. It is a very sturdy crib and I think it will look so nice with the bedding.

Anyway, that is what we have been up to around here. Staying busy as always...