Today, Yehoshua (3), Eliyahu (1) and I made some homemade edible play dough!

I have had the recipe saved for over a year, but either didn't have the ingredients, the time, or the energy to actually try it. I have been going through my mountains of torn-out "must try this one sometime" recipes, trying to save only the ones that we'll actually try someday (which is a big folder full, even still!).

When I found the play dough recipe, I decided that today would just have to be the day. Read more...

Has it really been 3 weeks already since the first pregnancy picture I posted here?! Well, I feel bigger, and I think I look bigger too! :)

Joshua snapped this picture of me right before bed... reminding me to smile this time since I somehow always forget to smile until I see the flash! ;) 

Let's see... pregnancy news.

Well, there isn't much news. I guess that's something to be thankful for, when a person has a healthy pregnancy and just chugs along. :)

Since we're not planning to have an ultrasound unless there is a medical reason to have one, we won't be finding out the gender of this baby until the birth. :) I didn't have ultrasounds with either of my other two babies, and we enjoyed the suspense of not knowing before the birth. :) That also meant that basically all of my newborn and little baby clothes was gender-neutral... no big boxes of both pink and blue clothing to store away. :) Since I dislike clutter and love practicality, it was the way to go for us. ;)

And even though we have two boys, we still (as before) have no preference as to the gender of our new little blessing. :) My boys are so fun, and I'm sure little girls are just as much of a blessing, and I honestly will be completely happy with a healthy pregnancy and baby, regardless of whether, as strangers usually say, we "get a girl this time". ;)

I'm definitely into maternity shirts now, and will soon be pulling out my works-for-pregnancy skirts (since I don't have actual "maternity" skirts). :) I am somewhere between the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy right now.

Some days I feel great, and other days I feel awful. I do think I have been feeling better and better, though! Eating well, drinking lots of water, remembering to take my vitamins, and going to bed on time all help a lot... now, to add some exercise! :)

Well, I'm not sure what else to say on this topic right now. I could babble on about pregnancy, birth, and babies all night, but I'm not sure how interesting that all is to everyone who isn't pregnant... I guess if you want to ask questions in the comments, go ahead! :)

Today was busy, from start to finish. I barely had time to take any pictures, but I did get a few... including this one of Yehoshua helping us husk corn for lunch! He loves learning about the different foods from the garden, and doesn't remember much from last year. :) And both Yehoshua and Eliyahu love eating corn on the cob!! :)

My mom came over this morning and we made pizza sauce together. (Read more...)

I really enjoyed having pictures from the different stages of my last pregnancy, and so this evening Joshua took a picture of my growing tummy. :)

As in most of my pregnancy pictures, I'm either forgetting to smile, or not aware that the picture is being taken yet! ;) So I guess this grumpy-face picture will have to do for now. :)

This pregnancy is continuing as it has for the past few months, though some days I do feel more "normal" now, instead of constant sickness. I feel little baby movements, and the heartburn which lasted for a week is now gone. Yay! :)

I'm wearing a combination of small maternity shirts and still a lot of my larger regular-wear shirts, since I don't like anything too tight. :)

I'm continuing to hope for more "better" days, and starting to feel more like planning things (like meals, which have been sadly lacking for months now!). :)

I caught this little green-footed chicken running around in my kitchen the other day! He was so cute, I took his picture. :)

And then, of course, I said, "Yehoshua, don't run around in Mommy's gloves! That's my only pair, and you'll end up poking a hole in them!" Moms always have to spoil the fun, don't they? :)

I've been wearing gloves for washing dishes lately, and it has really helped my hands to not be so dry. I much prefer washing dishes with bare hands (so much easier and faster that way!) but dry, cracked hands (probably from the hot water and harsh dish soap) are no fun. It'd be nice to be able to touch a fleece blanket without it sticking to me! ;)

One of the things I try to do as a parent is to involve my children in everyday things. I can tell a remarkable difference when I live and work beside my children, and not just give orders. Children are so much happier and well-adjusted when they know they have important responsibilities in the home! Constant guidance and direction with our children also keeps them busy and focused.

Back when we made waffles for a new-baby gift, I took photos of Yehoshua as he helped me in the kitchen. He had such a great time getting to help with every step!! Click here for the tutorial! :)

For those of you who are interested in our family life, I thought I'd give a little update about what we've been up to lately! :) Click here for more... :)

Now that Yehoshua's three, he's becoming more of a helper in the kitchen! He's been stirring things for quite a long time, but more recently, he's learning advanced techniques... like cracking eggs! The photo above was taken when we had guests. (Joshua, the children, and I don't eat a dozen eggs for breakfast, in case you were wondering!) :)

We don't always make very fast progress, but we usually keep the messes to a minimum, and Yehoshua loves to help.

Now Eliyahu, on the other hand, is a little troublemaker when he gets up to the kitchen table! I'm still not sure how to cook with a three-year-old and a one-year-old!

It's so good to be home! Thanks for your prayers and patience with this blog during the past week (and longer)! Read more for a few pictures and ramblings... :)

Thank you for all the prayers and words of encouragement. Eliyahu came home last (Friday) evening and is doing very well. They debated sending him home the 2nd night but decided to keep him over one more night because his respiratory rate was still elevated (60bpm instead of a normal 30bpm) and children tend to do worse in the evening. The last thing they wanted was him to end up on another life flight over the weekend.

So Eliyahu is doing well and allowed to do normal activities. He is only slightly wheezy, but even that is clearing up. When I arrived at the hospital on Thursday he popped right up out of bed with a big smile which is a stark difference to when Yehoshua was in the hospital last year when he broke his leg. We were emotionally preparing ourselves for a repeat of last year where Yehoshua was in a lot of pain and needed constant 24-7 care for his spica cast, pain control, and attention. Eliyahu is in no pain, very mobile, and has been more than happy to jump right back into events and tasks going on around him. You can barely tell he was sick! It was kind of shocking that he was life flighted, but air is necessary to live and if you are struggling and fighting for each breath that is pretty serious. We are very blessed to see such a quick recovery :)

So everyone is resting extra hard on this Sabbath. Yehoshua has been a big helper and in a great mood. Tammy's family helped out a lot while Tammy and Eliyahu were at the hospital making my trips to and from the hospital a lot easier. Tammy had as pleasant as possible experience at the hospital, is doing well and getting some much needed sleep and rest. And watching Eliyahu you would have no clue that just a couple days ago he was so sick he needed to get a life flight. (For those curious, his official diagnosis was pneumonia and reactive airway. The pneumonia settled in his lower left lung and some in his upper right lung; the doctors said even if he had gone to the doctor on Tuesday or Wednesday he would have almost surely still ended up in the hospital as the issue was not his cold but the lack of coughing and the onset of the pneumonia was very fast).

We are very blessed and relieved that Eliyahu is doing very well and that we have a long weekend to recover. We are also blessed to have so many people praying for our precious little guy and our family. Thank you very, very much.

Shabbat Shalom!

Joshua