Concerning pregnancy, birth, and crankiness.

I find myself with twenty-four days to go until my due date......yes Christmas Day. I have had an easy pregnancy so far, much like my other two, despite keeping up with two kids, five and two. I have managed to keep up with homeschooling and my house work and most of my daily activities. However, I find myself struggling as of late. I have not slowed down and now my body is starting to protest. It comes in the form of being cranky, and mostly being cranky with my kids. I actually feel relieved when my husband is here because he is pretty good about jumping right in and helping with the kids. Sometimes that means helping me get them rounded up for the night or sometimes just having a second person keeping an eye on them so I can get some things done.

Things that would normally irritate me seem so much bigger and I know it is because I am not slowing down. Why is that so hard for me to do? Part of is because I know I have limited time left and I still feel like I have so much to do. By the time school is finished and basic house cleaning is done it still looks like a tornado has hit. My five year old is pretty good about cleaning up his own messes when you tell him to, but is not the fastest in the world. Of course with a two year old you do a lot of the cleaning and they help. Have I pointed out that bending over makes me even crankier? Then you still have dinner and baths and bedtime. I have not even gotten to anything extra......like the babies room. Today I went in the room one time to look at what else I needed to do in there. I never got the chance to even walk back there again. I started to try my hand at a rosemary wreath, and the kids got in a big fight. I had to quit. Why am I trying to arrange rosemary on a wreath while the kids are getting hungry and tired? It was a stupid plan and one that ended up with screaming all the way around.

One thing I am pleased about is that, along with help from a friend, I was able to get Brylee moved into her new room. It is not finished, I still have decorating to do, but she is in there and making the transition quite well. I was amazed that the day we got all her things moved in she wanted to take a nap in her new room, and has never looked back. Her naps have been fuss free and night time as well. I am truly blessed there, and am more convinced than ever that getting your kids into a sleep schedule early on is a major bonus later. I have two very active kids, and yet both have transitioned from crib to bed and new rooms without losing sleep or routine. I can't believe that is luck, I have to believe that is due to being one thing that I have been very dilligent and consistent about from the beginning.

I am going to try to force myself to just relax a bit, take time to play with my kids, take time to sip my hot tea or sit outside for a few minutes. I think I am getting cranky because I am not allowing myself any down time. It's not even that I don't have time to myself. Time to myself is nice, but I am not even allowing myself to relax. I go from one task to another to another. Some days I really want to get outside, but the house is a mess and I want it to get be clean and inviting when Glenn gets home. So instead of relaxing outside for thirty minutes, I spend that time folding clothes, picking things up off the floor, and on and on. What's more frustrating is that tomorrow the messes and clothes will be there again and so it feels like you do all this work and there is nothing to show for it. No wonder I am cranky! So, starting tomorrow, I am going to try to slow down, do a few more things besides work, actually play with the kids, and see if I am in a better mood.

There is so much stuff going on right now I don't even know where to begin. I'll just go down the list and see where it goes.

Homeschooling: This has been an interesting journey. It has gone smoother than I expected, but there are still days that are challenging. Bodie really likes all his subjects. In reading we had gotten a book called Teach Your Child to Read in One Hundred Easy Lessons. We actually got that before he started preschool because he was so interested in letters and sounds. When I put him in preschool I quit working in it because I did not want to overwhelm him. We were a little more than halfway through it when school started so he only has eight more lessons in that. It has been a really good book. He is reading full pages and even starting to put expression into some of the sentences when he grasps the humor. Yesterday, he wanted to do two lessons. The story was about an old man who couldn't hear and he kept misunderstanding what everyone was saying. The first lesson was part one of the story and he thought it was so funny that he wanted to do the next one also. It is funny to me to watch him pick up on the humor. Math is something he is good at, but has sometimes wanted to skip. I think he gets bored because the worksheets are somewhat repetitive. I may have to incorporate some of those concepts in a more fun way. Science is still his favorite, and he has actually gotten to where he likes handwriting too, although I think it's just because he likes the coloring sheet on the back! The language we do is both writing and verbal. I really like the verbal part because it has him retelling a story, or making one up about a certain thing, or putting things into sequence. I don't think it is his favorite, but mommy likes it. This past week I also found a group around here that does an enrichment club. There are probably twenty kids and the ones that want to get up and do some kind of presentation. A lot of the kids do lapbooks on a subject they are interested in, but some recite poems, or do show n tell. It is mostly about exposing them to speaking in front of people. Next month, if we are able to go, Bodie plans to do a presentation on combines. I am looking forward to that!

Pregnancy: Third time around is a charm....at least that is what I hear. It is hard for me to believe that if I go to fourty weeks (I haven't with the other two) I have only six more weeks left. Throwing a newborn on top of all this may prove to be exciting. I just have got to remind myself to rest. I am probably going to take a week or two off school at that time......if Bodie will let me. We will prob curl up in bed and read and write some, but not so formal for a couple of weeks. I have really been feeling it lately. My body is crankier it seems this time around, age getting to me I guess. She is really active too, moving and kicking all the time, so much for hoping for a laid back kid. LOL

Brylee's room: Another project we have going is trying to get Brylee's room finished. It has really been work becasue we are moving into what was our office/store room. There has been a lot to muddle through and we are still not finished yet. Have not even started on the babies room yet because Bry is still in there. All I know is that I am doing pink and brown in there. I have not been able to get any more creative because I can't picture anything with bry still in there. So these next few weeks those are two big goals I have.