Exercise during pregnancy

There are several reasons to exercise while pregnant. This may be one of my favorites. This is 4 weeks before Little J was born.

In addition to riding my bike, I walked, swam, participated in my 3/4 PE class (playing capture the flag at 8+ months pregnant is not very comfortable), stretched, and did yoga.

Finally starting again!

There are a lot of things that I said I'd start doing again after we got back from vacation (after Little J was 8 weeks old). I stopped doing a lot of things once I realized how much work a newborn is.  I have also had a lot of company in the past few weeks which makes somethings (baking)  easier and somethings (cleaning) harder.

So, I have once again started yogurt. I had some frozen fruit up to add to it, put it went back in the freezer  when making fajitas last night because we needed the space in the fridge.

I once again have sun tea.

I am making kefir juice today (if the water kefir is still good).

I have bread but need to make buns and begin to soak things again.

Cloth diapering has been going really well. I do need a few  more wipes though because I run out of the nice ones first and fleece is to thick. I use those as liners.

I have been keeping up with the kitchen for the most part- harder with company sometimes but they an also help.

We dehydrated carrots to make carrot chips and because it has been so hot that I wasn't willing to heat up my house to can them. (We have daily been having heat indexes of 105*. 

I have a next on the dehydrate list- halved cherry tomatoes from my tiny garden.

I have a stack of cooking magazines that I need to do something with. I'm not sure yet what.

I need to pull out my housekeeping binder, look at my cleaning shedule, and see if it is practical.

I also need to start putting Little J down for naps so that he doesn't get over tiered on some days and sleep and fuss the entire next day (he never sleeps for very long those days. However, he is starting to nap in his crib, rather than on me or in his bouncy seat. So we are making progress.

I need to start running and swimming again. Though I am almost down to my goal weight.

I need to start pumping so Little J has something to eat when I am at school.

My "need to"s still out weigh my accomplishments, but Little J is happy (overall), healthy, and growing well; and I am not only sane but enjoying most of life. If only it weren't so warm to we could get out more! Now I see why people with babies get little done and believe that maternity leave should be longer than 6 weeks even if it is unpaid! 6 weeks is ridiculously short considering what baby and mom need!

Sewing Project- Baby Blanket

I finally finished my baby blanket and soft rattle. I've been working on them for a while. Neither one was really difficult, I just didn't get around to the different stages for a while.

The cube I actaullay did in one sitting with the exception of closing it. I wanted to put something in it that would cause a rattling sound so I left it open. I finally figured out what to put in it last night. I used  film canister with a few pennies. It was small enough that it was well cusioned and larege enough that it makes a clear "change" sound.  Fun fun.
The blanket has just a flat back that is the same as the edge on the front. It also has a layer of batting in it. (I got a large box of  stuffing and batting for free on a garage sale - YES!) My DH really likes it. He says that he is a little jealous of Baby.  He has plenty of fleece new sews and quilts, but this is the softest one in the entire house. Plus, the raised bumps make it fun to feel.

Baby and Musings.

We've made it another month. Unfortunately this one promises to be a long long. For Justin things are "Warp speed ahead". Which means he is putting in 18 hour days and I am at home or school becoming deprived of my honey. However, I knew this was part of marrying him and am glad that it only happens twice a year. Plus, he is generally home when or before I am in the winter which is very enjoyable.

We are praying that God continues to bless us through April as He has shown me that He is truely to be trusted with my care and is truely loving as He has provided for us time and again in unexpected ways. He continually guards our health and safety. Baby continues to do well and we just got our test results back that we are not anemic and not currently diabetic. These are not a surprise, but do reassure my Dr. and the many others who seem to believe that something horrid is about to happen. I choose to believe that instead God is faithful. He made me to made and have Baby and He made Baby to live here till Heis ready for something else. Also, He had promised both to bless us and not give us more than we can bear, so whatever else, we are in His hands and have nothing to fear. (Thank you also Lord for blessing me with an attitude that is not uptight and that does not need to be in control!)

However, as yet we have no new baby belly picture. (I'll try to put one in above or in a separate post.) We are due for one it is April. Our loving photographer is MIA. We do however have nursery pictures. You can really see the subtle stripes of our walls in some of these. Sorry for the bad quality. Also, I need to reapply a few of our dots, but many of them remain.

We are hoping to get a dresser to put against the wall with the door.  Right now I have the small three drawer tower there. I may want to put it into the corner where the bouncy set it. We intend to use it as a changing table as well. I also need to get my diaper stuff set up. I need to do a bit more shopping in DSM first. I've also decided that I'm not so sure if the bookcase will work but I do want a couple of shelves  on the wall. Just small ones. Maybe I'll make a few floating ones. I do still intend to make some wall art that has a frog, turtle, duck and butterfly on it. I may do these on

square canvases and put them together somewhere. Where, I have not decided. I also like the current tend of name art, but we can't do that until Baby is born since we won't know until then what we are calling Baby. I do have some prototypes but they are top secret, sorry. 
Below you can see that someone (not me) was very anxious to put together my birthday present/ baby gift. (Thanks Mom and Dad/ Grandma and Grandpa H.) It arrived two nights before busy season did. (He really likes it too by the way. He says that it is very user friendly- folds and adjusts easily.)
We are starting to get very excited but at this point content with waiting two more months (about) to meet Baby. Justin did tell Baby the night he put the stroller together, "You just stay right where you are until Daddy is done pulling smoke." (For those of you who do not live in the corn belt this means applying and/or orchestrating the application of anhydrous ammonia, a chemical in the gaseous state knifed (squirted into the ground through knife like tubes) when the soil is at a temperature (not too warm nor too cold) and state (not too muddy) that the nitrogen in the compound will stay in the ground in an state that is available to the corn as it grows. At least, that is my current understanding of it. I will have to see if that is accurate. (There are still many things that I am learning about farming.)

This having been said, please pray for the safely of the farmers and the other ag sector workers as NH3 is a chemical that needs to be handled with great care and can cause serious damage if a person is exposed to it (the damage being proportionate to the amount of exposure) and as there are many more slow-moving vehicles on the road even during dark o'clock.

Happy Easter! He is risen! Hallelujah! (It is already Sunday in most of the world.)

Etsy

I don't know if you have ever heard of Etsy before, but I love the idea. Maybe it is because of all the creativity. Maybe because it is homemade. Maybe because it inspires me that I can do stuff like this too. maybe it is just releaving that you can still get real productes from real people and there are alternatives to big box stores.

Anyway, everyone in a while I think about how I want to decorate the back room to make it into the baby's room, eventually. I really like the idea of nautal colors with bold accents and a pond theme.

Anyway, I saw these on Etsy and  thought that they were adorable. No I was not asked or paid to do this.

I think that a frog or a dragonfly would be perfect. I think that this would be a fun project that I could do with minimal purchases because I could use fabric scraps for parts.

This one would be fun with fabric scraps using a name or "Baby" or the like.

The right one with a variety of bold, basic-like colors, but not so dense, with larger dots.
So you know, the images are items for sale a Harper and Henny.

Maybe next I'll highlight some of the super cute baby toys, or the diapers, or covers, or clothes or ... just check out the sight next time you want something fun or nice for the not so needy or simple loving ones in you life.

Wish List

This is the only way that I can keep track of things that I'd like to have sometime. I'll add/ remove things to it now and then. For example, I'll add things that I don't get for Christmas that I can't justify buying for myself.



Passionate Housewives Desperate for God  bStacy McDonald

The Family by J.R. Miller

Large 10+ in Spring-form pan

A woven baby wrap (non-streachy)

a baby swing?

maybe a twin bed

working dryer

Oops

This is why we need to teach out children how to make real food, think through things, and how to laugh at the little mistakes.

My mom and dad did the first to some degree. The second they tried their best but I was not an ideal student when it came to not being ADHD. However, the third, boy did they triumph!

Thank God for Your grace! Thank you Mom and Dad for your loving encouragement!