Catching Up

Well, I knew when my daughter (http://www.pecanpastures.blogspot.com/) talked me into doing a blog that I wouldn't be very consistent! That has proven to be true. My intentions are there, I just don't have enough hours in the day!

I am close to 22 weeks along in the pregnancy now. I went to the midwife the day that I figured was 20 weeks (they say I am three days further) for my ultrasound. We debated on just me and my husband going or taking the whole family. We have always taken the children with us to the 20 week ultrasound. We have never had a two year old like Malachi though! I hated for the others to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity, so we all packed up and went. The lady that does the ultrasound was very sweet and didn't seem bothered by the large crowd in her tiny room. Malachi watched the big screen on the wall and immediately said, "baby!" We saw a very healthy baby................................ and decided not to tell anyone! :>) All of our children know except the two youngest. As we were leaving I asked Mariah (6) if she knew what the baby was. I was curious to see if she had picked up on it while everyone was talking. She said, No, I know I can't know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Baseball news


Matthew hit his first home run on the big field!!! It was his goal at the beginning of the season to hit a home run and he really thought it would be cool to hit it over the fence and hit someone's F-150. I told him I thought that was a terrible thing to wish for, but he thought it would really be cool. Well, this week is the last week of the season and he had only hit one home run during a practice. Last night he was up at his first time to bat. He had two strikes on him and he slammed one so hard that it was like a bullet. It flew right over the fence and slammed into the side of a moving.............. yes, you guessed it, a new, white F-150!!! I felt bad for the poor man that was bound to have a big dent in the side of his pick-up truck, but I was so excited for Matthew! He looked like it didn't really sink in with him as he rounded the bases and was greeted by his whole team at home base. It was so cute seeing his grin. For those of you that know Matt, he is a pretty low key guy. He didn't show a whole lot of emotion, but he did have a grin! :>)

We had been praying this whole season that Matthew would have success this season. He is so diligent with his practicing and is just such a good boy. When I see how a lot of boys his age are, I am so thankful that he is still just an innocent boy that works hard and plays hard. When Marc was still coaching high school ball he was told by a fellow coach that didn't understand the life he chose to live that "Good guys finish last." I am so thankful that Matthew is learning at a young age that hard work and diligence pay off. Good guys CAN finish first!

Busy Days

We always look forward to strawberry picking in the spring. We canned about 14 jars of jam so far and have eaten lots of them fresh!Malachi playing hard!

Playing outside. I never know what kind of outfits the girls will be wearing! Madeline out running around with her apron on. McKenzie made it for her for Christmas and she loves it.

Some funny things......................................

One day last week Mariah and I were taking a big brown paper bag of corn shucks out to the horses. When we got outside we saw our two roosters fighting. The white rooster is Mariah's and she is very protective of him. Of the two, he is the friendliest. The black rooster was accidently sent to us last spring when we ordered pullets. He is very aggressive and charges at us anytime we are near him. I was scared to get near their fighting, but it didn't look like the white rooster was doing very well. Mariah ran right in the middle of them swinging her bag at the black rooster and screamed, "Stop it! Stop it! My rooster is a CHRISTIAN rooster!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last weekend we attended a homeschool conference. We don't have television at home so anytime we stay at a hotel it is a big deal to watch something like Animal Planet. I overheard this conversation between Madeline (10) and Mariah (6).

Mariah: "It is a good thing I have a mommy and a daddy because I would watch that thing all the time."

Madeline:"No you can't do that, it kills brain cells."

On the way home the weather was bad so we stopped to get some icecream. Mariah's icecream cone dripped on the table and she stuck her tongue out like she was thinking about licking it off the table. Madeline quickly scolded her and said, "Don't do that! You will get the swine flu!"

(What would we do without those big sisters to look after us!?:>)

Here is Mariah's first day of the first grade. I decided to start now since the baby will be here in September.

Now, some not so funny things! Malachi has been a ball of energy lately. Here are a few of the things he has done just in the last week! Dumped several bottles of shampoo into the tub with him, dropped eggs that had just been gathered onto the laundry room floor, dumped a brand new bottle of liquid dish soap on the kitchen floor (early one morning!). While I was cleaning it up he stood watching and shook his head and said, "Why, why, why, why why!" (I don't know where he has heard that!) This picture shows him climbing the pantry shelves to get the bag of balloons down. The next picture is where I found him this morning when he was out of my site for two minutes! (Notice the laundry detergent. He has something for soap!)

Thank goodness he does go to sleep eventually! :>) This was his first night in a "big boy" bed. He is going to bed like a dream now! Too bad we didn't do it weeks ago.

Nineteen Weeks

Life's Lessons

Well, I missed posting about week seventeen and now I am almost to week eighteen. It has been a very busy week.


This past Thursday was a very trying day. I (like every other day) woke up with my mental (and some on paper too) list of things I wanted to accomplish that day. The day was already not starting great because the night before my husband brought home two seven week old baby boy goats. We were supposed to get girl goats. (That is a whole different story!) The fencing for the goats was not complete so they were put temporarily in the dog pen. The dog (a very high strung yellow lab) was tied out on a chain. I was busy trying to get my agenda done for the day: cleaning, laundry, homeschooling, phone calls, and keeping up with my two year old. It was after lunch and time to lay him down for his nap. I normally lay him down and while he sleeps I go for a run. He has always slept in our walk in closet in his play pen. (It does have an air vent!) He has never been a great sleeper, which is why he has never spent one night in his crib upstairs. It has always been easier just to keep him in his dark little closet with his fan running. It was perfect until he learned how to climb out. This particular day when I had a million things to do, I really needed him to get to sleep. He probably got up at least twenty times! I spanked him and talked to him until I thought I was going to cry. Saying he is going through a strong-willed time is an understatement! My oldest daughter said she thought I was going to cry. I was close. By the time he finally went to sleep I didn't have a lot of time. I had a hair appointment for one of my daughters, so I needed to hurry and get home to shower and get her to town. When the run was over and I was ready to take her to town I remembered that my husband had taken my van to work and I didn't have a set of keys to his car! After a frantic five minutes and almost calling to cancel (which would have messed up her picture appointment scheduled for the next day), I remembered we had a spare key in a drawer. As I was going out to make sure that key fit his car the dog came bounding towards me and I spilled tea all over my legs and she jumped up and scratched me. She somehow had gotten off her chain. With chickens roaming the property, we cannot leave her to run loose so I spent the next few minutes getting her tied back up. I did finally get to the hair appointment and we were only five minutes late! (Oh, and one more thing that happened was the chickens ate all the seeds out of the garden that I had planted!)


Later that night as I was laying in the bed reading my Bible I came across this verse from Proverbs. "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps." Proverbs 16:9 I wish that I could say that I handled the frustrations graciously, but the dog kind of sent me over the edge! I am trying to learn to be more flexible and realize that I am not in control of my day. Kind of funny, I was just talking to my teenage daughter a few days before about being flexible and dying to self and I find I still need to be reminded too!

The perpetrators


One of the other perpetrators!


And the cutest little perpetrator!

Sixteen Weeks!

I almost missed sixteen weeks! I had an appointment on Monday (the day I turned 16 weeks.) The baby's heart beat sounded good and I have certainly gained plenty of weight! :>) Everything is going well. I am feeling better for the most part. I only get sick feeling if I don't eat or if I eat something too heavy. I have energy during the day, but by evening I am ready to lay down (and of course as any mom knows,I don't get to!) Here is a description of week sixteen that I copied off the Internet. It is always so fascinating to read.

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My next appointment is the "big" ultrasound. It is always so much fun. Our first baby we didn't find out the sex. The rest of them we did because my husband just can't wait. I think it would be fun to wait this time. I haven't convinced him. We may compromise and find out and not tell anyone else. We are still very undecided on a name. We are all "M's", so it limits us. Ideas are welcome!

Development at Fifteen Weeks

You may be able to feel movements as baby kicks, flails, twists and turns (but don't panic if you don't yet). She can also grasp, squint, frown, grimace and maybe suck her thumb!
Your baby's legs have grown longer than the arms and the body is now longer than the head.
And you'll be happy to note that he is moving those arms and legs often!
His skin is very thin -- so thin blood vessel are visible. It's covered by a fine, soft layer of hair called lanugo. Lanugo comes from a Latin word meaning "down." This hair is thought to help insulate your little boy.
The three tiny bones in his middle ear have begun to harden. The auditory centers in your baby's brain haven't developed yet, so she might not really understand what you say but her hearing capacity is in the process of developing.
Fingernails and toenails are growing.
Eyebrows are beginning to grow and even the hair his head is sprouting. It will probably change color and texture after birth.
All this and your little one is an amazing 3.98 inches (10.1cm) long and may weigh 2.47 ounces (70gm).

Thankful Mama

Spring has sprung and that means baseball at our house! Matthew has always loved baseball and has been playing since he was just a little guy. He has come a long way from that little five year old that picked weeds in the outfield! He has been blessed with the ability to play well, but what makes me even prouder is what a good kid he is. He had a game tonight and we always sit close to the dugout to monitor what is going on. Where we used to live he played on a home school team which was nice. For the last few years he has played on a community team. There have been some good kids and some not so good. We are looking forward to him trying out for a home school traveling ball team next year. Anyway, I was watching him tonight. I am amazed at how disrespectful some of the kids are to their coaches and umpires. Matthew wouldn't dream of spouting off to an adult. I also have noticed how the young girls hang out behind the fence by the dugout. These are just 11-13 year old kids! There was a little twelve year old "on the prowl" tonight. If she had been mine I would have worn her out! She was doing everything she could to get the boys attention. Unfortunately, several of them gave it to her. I was so proud to see Matthew sitting by himself on the bench focusing on the game. There is one little guy that looks up to Matthew (literally and figuratively! He is a short little guy!) It is neat to see Matthew quietly lead by example. Yes, I am a proud mama tonight! :>)

Notice the heighth difference on these two! :>)

Future ball player!