A Shock or Two...

Got a couple of shockers today that really got to my nerves. So have you ever asked yourself, what happens to an empty glass dish that is placed over a burner that's on?? I've always wondered myself...

Josiah was making us all grilled cheese for lunch & he had turned on the wrong burner.. well, there was a pyrex 9x13 clear casserole dish on that wrong burner. He didn't see it - even though it was a clear dish. While he was in the kitchen cooking - the dish exploded all over the kitchen. Boy did I get upset with him! Later, I apologized for getting so upset.

He might as well as dropped the glass dish on the tile floor - it was so loud that I was in the next room and literally jumped. Later, I was just very thankful that no one was hurt. Josiah, amazingly enough, didn't even get scratched.

What I was really upset about wasn't the $20 dish - it was flying pieces of glass - that siblings are often in the kitchen - that he wasn't paying attention - that the stove - isn't a toy - and lastly - cleanup of invisible glass is a miserable experience. No barefeet in the kitchen for a few days. He knows all of that, and yes, mom will still let him make grilled cheese. I may ask him to remove all other pots and pans from the stove first though. He makes fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches...

The other "thing" was Rod got his unemployment package today. Well, to make a long story hopefully short - only 8 of the 12 months that he just worked count. They count the last four months that he was on unemployment as no income and then the first 8 months that he was working under contract - so for his unemployment qualification year - it is lacking his last 4 months of income - so that dramatically affects how much unemployment he's going to be getting. So we sat down and looked at how much he's going to be getting vs. our finances - and I prayed then vegged for awhile. We knew that this day was coming - and really I knew that I no matter what the amount is going to be - that it wouldn't be enough. So I don't know why I feel shocked by it.

On a positive note, baby is growing fine. At 31 weeks I'm 31 cm (tummy measurement) so all looks well there. Apparently, I'm not gaining enough weight. The midwife is okay as long as I'm not loosing weight but I haven't gained a pound in the last two appts... Well, I'm eating - and I can't eat huge meals - there's no room. So, I eat smaller meals - and more of them... And I've been eating cookies (smile) and that hasn't affected my weight... No complaints though, all of my doctors have complained about me not gaining enough weight during pregnancy. And my babies are all 7# & over - so they aren't small!

This pregnancy seems to be going pretty quickly - it's hard to believe that I only have about 2 months left - maybe only 6 weeks! I'm beginning to get bigger, uncomfortably so. I feel baby so much more now. It's feeling more real - which is making me realize that really soon, we're going to have a sweet babe in our arms!!!

Happy New Decade!

(Josiah, Rod & Jaden, at Michaels, while picking out a picture frame to put the painting in - the one that he gave Grandma for Christmas. Dec 2009)

Howdy, howdy, howdy! Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. Happy New Decade. I'll have to post my Christmas card here sometime soon. We had a very nice Christmas & New Year. It's great to spend time with family & friends and catch up on all of the latest. I thought that I would be blogging a lot more often because I'm pregnant - I just have been keeping busy - and staying off of the computer...

Lots has been going on at the Nelsons. I'm 27 weeks pregnant. Can't believe I'm so far along already. It's going to be over before I know it! I guess though, that that would be a good thing. Had an apt. about a week ago - things are status quo - and I will have another apt in about 3 weeks. Boy, I'm starting finally feel big around the middle!

Rod's waiting to hear at work whether or not they are going to extend his contact or not, and if so - for how long. We hear that contract extensions, past one year, do not ever happen - but I guess there are a couple of people who'd like him to stick around. So we'll see where that goes. Either way, I'm okay - I would just like to know. I guess in theory, he should be looking for another job - right now - in case they don't extend his contract. That or he goes back on unemployment. As of right now, he will be done at Microsoft the first week of February. Uh, that's only 3 weeks away! I would like to be able to plan things one way or another... and that's the part that "gets" me.

On a sweet note - not too long ago, someone gave us a birdcage. Well, an empty birdcage screams - BUY A BIRD! So we've been "shopping" for one for a couple of weeks. New Year's Eve we finally went and bought a beautiful little blue Love Bird. Adorable little one. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl - so i've been having a terrible time giving it a name. Right now, the kids are calling him tweety. Which works for me I guess. He's only 4 months old - so we've been working with him this week on many things - but we've all been enjoying him tremendously. I had a cockatiel when I was preteen - and I'd forgotten how much I really know about keeping birds! Will post some pictures soon! I guess Love Birds can have very different temperments - and this one is sweet, doesn't bite hard and loves the kids. He likes Rod though most, I think. So, I'm glad and thankful that it looks like he's going to be a good fit for our family :D

Well, Happy New Year & hopefully, I'll post again soon!

Catching up!

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted! Yikes! What's happening in the Nelson family?

(photo: baby 5 at 21 weeks. Baby's head and five fingers.) Well, I'm about 22 weeks pregnant - yay! over halfway! Went to a doctors apt last week. Had an ultrasound & everything looks fine. For my other FOUR kids - they did an ultrasound at 8 months. Well, then, I was going to different doctors. This time around, unless there's an "issue" I don't have another one. I can't say that I prefer the doctors at the Medical center - the only reason that I'm really going there is because Rod is working in Redmond.

Thinking about deliveries and Rod having to drive home - I thought it would be better to deliver in Mt. Vernon vs. Bellingham. Julia was born in Bellingham at St. Jo's. I really like my doctor, Dr. Madsen. Bummed for needing to switch doctors again - but in the long run, I'd rather Rod make it to my delivery - than having my preferred doctor. Hopefully the swine flu stuff will be mostly done by then, so that friends and family can bring their friends to the hospital to see us.

We haven't seen much of Rod this week. He's been working long hours, because they approved overtime for the moment. It's because they are pre release of the Natal project in this version - and they want to get them out. I'm glad for the overtime, not glad for missing my sweetie.

(Baby 5, 21 weeks, face shot) This week, I think I've seen him after work once. Literally, by the time 8 pm rolls around and he's home after working overtime - well, I'm usually asleep on the couch after dinner. I've been making great evening company for the last few weeks! :D

I've finally begun to really feel baby moving. I thought I was feeling it earlier in this pregnancy. But at 21 weeks it became really obvious. Now i'm looking forward to baby being big enough so that Rod & the kids can feel it. Jedediah was super cute about 2 days ago. I was sitting on the couch and he walked up and said "hello baby" to my stomach.

So, NO we didn't find out which sex the baby is. It's either a boy or a girl. Definitely a baby. Rod & I LOVE the surprise. There are so few true surprises in life - that we are taking advantage of this one. The baby shower will probably be after the baby is born - which works out fine for me - everyone gets to meet my new little one! (Still working on baby names - haven't decided! Expect something that begins with a "J". I know a real shocker!)

I had a talk to Julia & Jaden a week or so ago. Josiah & Jedediah understand that we don't get to pick whether it's a girl or a boy, but Julia & Jaden don't. So, we had a heart to heart about being thankful and happy with whichever the Lord decides to give to us. I think they all would like another sister - but truly, in the grand scheme of things, the Lord knows which would be best for our family. And that's what I'll take!

Holidays in Hand - Free JS Class!

Interested in a free digital scrapbooking class??
It's a Jessica Sprague class www.jessicasprague.com.

She does great stuff and this class will have freebies & be lots of fun.
I'd recommend it for teens & up!

This would be a great ice breaker into the world of digital scrapbooking and hybrid scrapbooking/memory keeping!

Registration is open as of today.

Class runs November 16-23, 2009.

"No digital scrapbooking or Photoshop experience is needed, just some holiday stories to tell. :)" JS

Bye Bye Bunny

We brought Easter home right before Easter 2006. He was still a baby. We gave him to the kids on Easter morning. We've not ever been easterbunny parents - Easter is about Jesus. Anyway, the kids loved him and we've had him for almost four years.

They've learned a lot about taking care of a pet - cleaning up after him and feeding him daily. We've done silly things like take him to the beach with us... we've brought him in on cold nights to play with. The kids have taken him out to granddad's garden to have a veggie.

Yesterday, Jedediah went out to feed our bunny, Easter - and he was gone. Not missing gone, but dead gone. So we got to spend a good portion of our day processing death from a child's perspective. Bless the kid's hearts - they really are good kids. I got asked good questions, like, "Will I ever see him again?" and "Will Easter be with us in Heaven?" Oh, how it all pulls the heart strings!

Something I realized awhile ago, is that Jed is closer to me emotionally than the rest of the kids. He reacts the way I naturally do. Things affect him/effect him (whatever) the way that things effect me.

So when Jed came in and said that there was something wrong with Easter, I had Josiah go out and check. Yep, he's gone. Jedediah took it so hard. Hard enough, that the rest of us felt so bad that we didn't need to be upset. Jed was carrying that burden for us all. Like I said, that's something that I would do, he reminds me of me!

Last night, I printed six or seven pictures of the kids with Easter. Hoping that that would help the process along...

So, immediately the plans of having bunny babies in the spring fell. I let the kids know that we'll just need to get two bunnies now to have bunny babies instead of a mate for Easter. So, begins, the process of looking for new bunnies. I think I'd like to get dwarf bunnies again, Easter was such a nice manageable size.

Lord, thank you, for using pets, as a way to teach us about the real things of life.