This and That ... and lots of it!

I haven't been very good with blogging regularly about what's going on around here, so it's time for a This and That post...

Last month, Jonathan and I waited for a couple of hours in my backup OB's office, then saw him for less than 10 minutes. We only got as much of his time as we did because I kept asking him questions. I couldn't help but think, "and this is one of many reasons why we choose midwifery care." On the bright side, we are in "the system" and don't need to go back again. I will update my charts with the office by fax, and if there is a need for transport (which we don't plan on, of course, but for which we want to be prepared), I should slide into things at the hospital without a bunch of hullabaloo about "not having prenatal care."

Speaking of prenatal care, a couple days after the aforementioned 2 hour wait/<10 minute appt, my midwife's assistant arrived at our home for a prenatal visit. We spent a lovely and mutually respectful hour+ together. We talked about what I'm eating, how I'm feeling, my diastatis, how the baby is lying, and a myriad of other things related to baby and me. We walked around the house and talked about plans for birth, advantages/disadvantages of our house layout, etc. We drank tea together as we chatted. When she left, I felt thoroughly "cared for." THAT is what I call prenatal care. And yes, there are numbers and notes on my chart ... probably in more categories than the Dr's office will know what to do with when I fax it to them.

In other news...

Stephen is definitely going through a stage where he is wanting to exert his will, so he's keeping us on our toes. At the same time, he continues to be such a delight! His imagination is going full-steam, and while he adores playing with his siblings, he also plays happily by himself, totally engrossed in a world of his own making. He particularly enjoys playing with the tub of horses.

The Blessings received five seasons of Daniel Boone on DVD for Christmas. We've been watching it at lunchtime a few times a week and finished Season 1 yesterday. I had never seen it before, so it's been an adventure for all of us.

Last night, Elanor mentioned that she had lost something and had looked all over for it. Stephen pipes up helpfully, "Did you look under the green couch?" "Yes." "Did you look under the gray couch?" "Yes, Stephen." :-)

I've been looking across the table/room/yard/etc lately and realizing that Davey, our eldest Blessing, who will turn 14 in June, is looking more like a young man and less like a "boy." This does funny things to my heart, but mostly makes me realize how much I like this young man.

Have I mentioned that we've finally figured out a laundry system that we can actually make work for us? It's nothing fancy, just a three-bag laundry sorter in the laundry room where all the Blessings' dirty clothes are deposited (two for darks, one for lights/whites), a white basket for light towels/sheets/blankets and a blue basket for dark towels/sheets/blankets. The four older Blessings have the responsibility of doing two loads of laundry from start to finish on "their" laundry day, picking whatever basket or bag is most in need of being done. Kate and Grace help fold and put away, and I need to start working with Kate on Fridays, working towards her having a laundry day as well. For some reason, this system seems to be one that we can make work, and the laundry room floor is no longer covered with dirty laundry 98% of the time.

Our guinea hens have started laying eggs! They actually lay them in the coop, which is wonderful for us. Hopefully as the weather warms they will continue to lay in the coop and not take to the fields as guineas are prone to do.

I finally finished getting our winter/Christmas decorations packed up and ready to go to the attic. They'll go up and perhaps the baby tubs will come down...

The taping seems to be working well for keeping my abdominal separation from worsening. I finally started doing pilates again a couple night ago, and am thankful to be back to it. At the same time, I have to admit... it's kickin' my tail! But that's a good thing.

We have our garden mostly planned out for this year and are eagerly awaiting the warming of the soil so that we can get started! We're going to be using principles from the book Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich. No tilling, established beds/paths, and lots of mulch, for which we've found a good and cheap source. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about it.

Speaking of the soil warming, I feel like I am blossoming as Spring moves in. I've enjoyed several days this week of sitting in the sunshine reading or working on a project. The warmer weather and the smell of spring is such a reminder of our Heavenly Father's faithfulness! Last night, I fell asleep to the rumble of thunder, the patter of rain on the roof, the occasional distant flash of lightening... and woke to the sound of birds chirping while the sunshine streamed in my window. Spring Bliss!

See Yesterday, my photo blog, for some recent pictures. I'll be updating it later today.