Crazy Busy

Things have been so very busy around here lately. My stepdad has been coming over when he can to help Dave work on the old kitchen. It is really starting to look impressive now! We have some sheetrock and outlets and lights up now. The insulation is almost all done. That seems to take up a whole lot of time.

We have been having a rat infestation in the old kitchen, too. They want our bags of chicken feed! There is really no other "safe" place for us to store them, besides in our house. I don't really care to have the inside of our house look like a general store, though... Dave has been setting traps every night and we have caught FOUR rats so far. Call me odd, but they are kind of cute. If they didn't possibly carry diseases and such, I would consider making them a pet. I know you can get them at pet stores, too, and they don't have diseases. However, with a fourth child on the way, my life holds enough excitement without a pet at this point! It will be nice when the boys are a bit older and we can have a pet that they can be responsible for.

As I type, Dave and the two older boys are driving to the airport to pick up his halfbrother and halfsister who flew in from Alaska. They are coming to help sheetrock/do whatever needs to be done out there and around the house and help take care of the kids and let me get some rest before the baby comes. They will be here until August 30th. I have to admit, it is a hard thing for me to do, although I know it will be most beneficial in the end and I will enjoy their company.

Things are progressing well with my pregnancy. I am now at 36 wks (tomorrow!), and am feeling quite icky. You know that feeling of "Just come on out so life can go on!" This is my first summer baby, so needless to say, Mr. Air Conditioner and I have become close friends! :D The baby is way past the cute little kicking stage and into the kung fu kicking stage. I feel grumpy and hot and huge, even though everyone says I am not. I have also been having quite the pelvic pains, and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to them. I get them when I walk, when I stand up, whenever! I do have a support belt I have been wearing, but that only helps so much. I didn't go to church last Sunday, because I had been hurting so much the night before and Dave wanted me to rest! They are actually bad enough that I have to breathe through them. If only it WAS labor!!

Speaking of labor, the hospital that I go to now has installed ONE labor tub. My midwives say it is supposed to be ONLY for labor and that the powers that be would get rather upset if they found out someone intentionally gave birth in it. The midwives also said that a few women have given birth in the tub since they didn't get out in time. Now, I think to my self about how rickety I am with my pelvis and pain and such... I might just get in and not be able to get back out in time. I find my pain escalates so much when they make me get out of the shower and on to the bed to be checked! So, maybe I will have a water birth. Maybe I will have an epidural! It is hard to say right now. All I have to say is, I am not trying to be superwoman at this point. As little pain as possible would be excellent after months of this pain I have now!

So, this is why my dear husband felt that our relatives should come out sooner rather than later. My last labor was extremely exhausting and I had been worn out even beforehand, so he doesn't want that to happen again and neither do I! If his sister can take the boys outside to play and I can take a short rest on the couch, that in and of itself would be heaven! ;)

That is the update from northeastern PA! I probably won't have much time to update this while we have our guests. Have a great summer and I will be sure to update when there is baby news!

Mere Pittance

I awoke this morning with glee, knowing that it was my first berry picking excursion of the year! The boys were filled with excitement, too. I purposely didn't give them fruit this morning, knowing how they would stuff themselves with the sweet red fruit once we arrived. I picked up my mom and we drove to the berry farm. The first thing we noticed was a sign stating, "$2.25 per level quart". Ack! I had visions of the woman standing there with a ruler, shaving off the top of the quart boxes, saying, "No, no, missy! These few will have to go into another quart! You have too many!" The berries were also pretty small and not too sweet. Maybe we went a bit too early in the season?

I don't think I plan on going back, though, because of the price! I am now left wondering what would be the proper utilization of my 5 quarts of berries. YES. I only picked 5. You can only squat so much in blazing sun when you're 32 weeks pregnant! :) (I probably fed another 5 to my sons, though... Shhhh...) Jam? Shortcake? Freezing some for the winter (*snort!*)? Eating fresh? So many possibilities!

It was nice to get out for a bit, though, and talk with other people and just enjoy the sun before it got too hot. It only got unbearable toward the end... Timothy stayed in the stroller very nicely and ate what berries we brought him. He would even have his hands folded when I looked at him. Everyone who passed by had to chat him up, so that helped him not to get too itchy sitting there. He didn't like it when I got too far away, though, and I didn't want to drive the stroller into the rows for fear of mowing over what good berries there were, so I stuck close by him.

This makes me want our own berry plants and bushes that much more!!

Taming the Chickens...

Our chickens are going to be so very tame! They put up with a lot from three active little boys. Witness the torture one particular chicken we've nicknamed "The Falcon" goes through within the span of a few minutes!

Petting Zoo

Stephen Resting with a Chicken

Birdy Update

I went to the lilac bush yesterday and saw the baby robin with its eyes open! I chugged back into the house as fast as I could and grabbed my camera to capture a few shots. I am glad I did, because this morning when I went to peek, the bird flew away! How quickly they grow up and "leave the nest"! I think of the every day frustrations I go through in raising my three boys, yet I am still glad they don't grow up and leave as fast as birds do...











This is what the robin did when I spooked it-it crouched down into its feathers to try to hide.

Newborn

It is that time of year again! All of my friends have photos of baby birds on their blogs, so when Matthew found a robin's nest in one of our lilac bushes, I took a few shots of the sleeping baby bird. The boys were all in a twitter about this find and wanted so badly to touch the bird. I explained how we cannot do that, for if the mama bird smelled our scent near the nest, she wouldn't return and the baby would die. Matthew decided if he couldn't touch the nest and bird, he'd climb high into the lilac bush for a better look!

Our Trip to MA

Here are a whole slew of photos from our recent whirlwind trip to Massachusetts. Dave enjoyed seeing all of his family, and the boys enjoyed being spoiled...a lot (*cough*)... This photo is of Dave, the boys, and Dave's grandpa. The boys are watching tv, which we don't usually do. That explains the "zoned" looks. ;)

Stephen and the Sumo Wrestler...

I mean, CAT. Isn't this the biggest cat you've seen in your life? It even has diabetes! How crazy is that?

Sweet Sleep

This is how I wish the boys were alllll the time! :)

Peek a Boo!

The quality isn't that great on this one, but who cares! It is cute! Timothy was so fast at opening and closing those doors, it was impossible to get a great shot.

He's a Strong One...

Timothy pushed Stephen in the wagon all around the yard... Notice the "license plate" on the back of the wagon?? Yes, that used to be Dave's wagon when he was that age. :)