{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~  
Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
{pretty}

We had a lovely Assumption tea party yesterday! Mom and I attended the vigil Mass with the kids, but Zach had to go at noon yesterday (he is done with finals and finished with A's in every class! HURRAY!), so we waited and had a bacon and eggs brunch with lavender shortbread cookies and tea! I used this recipe for the shortbread cookies (the second option, with cane sugar, which I don't usually even have in my house...), and since I wasn't prepared enough to have fresh or dried lavender on hand, I used 1/2 teaspoon of organic lavender essential oil (from Mountain Rose Herbs). They were so delicious!

These flowers have helped me keep smiling. There's another bunch on my nightstand. I am always in awe of the beauty in God's creation.

I think this was take 5...Emma is looking a little tired of smiling, and I was lucky to get Tony to look my way.

This child-sized table was a birthday gift from Tony's Dee and Grandpop and has been indispensable with having extra children in the house. Do you see the pretty colored glasses? I have 3 sets of them, thanks to my Mom. They're Italian, I think, and awesome. (Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Ross carry them - go pick up a box!) They also make it very easy to keep track of cups during the day (unless, of course, you have more than 6 children....).

We continued our celebration at dinner - grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, sweet potato salad, and potato salad with homemade mayo and PICKLES! Our CSA has had an abundance of cucumbers, and I finally got my act together and made a batch of lacto-fermented pickles. They are really yummy. For dessert we made the LMLD brownies, and topped them with ice cream - like heaven in your mouth. It was quite a feast!

{happy}

Apple picking! There is an apple tree on campus that is laden with fruit, so we went over the other day and picked a bunch. They're smaller, slightly tart green apples, but still tasty enough to eat right off the tree, and I've already made one crockpot of applesauce. The rest will probably be diced for the freezer (this is laziness you hear - who wants to peel a bunch of small apples? Not me. Mom offered, but hopefully we'll be busy with a baby soon enough and she won't have time either.).

Tony helped out by putting the apples in the bag. He loves being given a job. Sometimes I forget how badly toddlers want to be involved, and that it's important to find them something productive to do so they don't end up being destructive.

Emma with a *shiny* apple.

{funny}

This was Monica's pose of choice. I love kids. (Yes, that sweater is about 3 sizes too small. We did not expect to be needing JACKETS in August, and they came a little unprepared. Raiding Tony's closet, this is what she found.)

{real}

I never thought I would still be pregnant today. After having Tony at 37.5 weeks, and going on bed rest this time, I anticipated having a week or two old baby by now. Mentally, as far as I'm concerned, I'm two weeks overdue. Which might sound silly, but based on my experience, that's how it feels. However, God seems to be continuing my lesson of how to let go of things that are out of my control. Which is okay. Babies have to come out, I know that. They come in their own time, I know that, too. When this one finally decides to put in an appearance, it will hopefully be quick and easy, since I'm already 5cm, and the baby is low, low, low. (No, I don't listen to FloRida, that just popped into my head and I couldn't help myself.)

Please keep us in your prayers for a safe and healthy birth!

38 Weeks!

 We have made it to safe, and beyond, and I am praying that Baby comes soon. As in, tomorrow. Or tonight. I'm still having strong contractions every.single.day, and don't know how much longer I can handle the mental and emotional roller coaster ride of "is this labor?" Each night I go to bed wondering if I'm going to wake up in labor. My Mom has been helping me get an afternoon nap, which has been really nice, since I'm not sleeping well. Please pray that I am either endowed with more patience, or that Baby makes an appearance shortly.

Also, Zach starts finals tomorrow, so please keep him in your prayers!

Love,

Jess

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

Sweet little Cora is turning one on the 19th, and I wanted to do something special for her. While walking around Wal-Mart one afternoon, I came across a spool of ribbon on clearance that was too cute and made me think of her. So I bought it, hoping that I could come up with something to use it on.

I can't remember if it was Google or Pinterest that led me to this Peasant Dress Pattern, but it was the only thing I could find that didn't say to just use a shirt you already have for your bodice (which I would have done, had I found a 12 month top in my bin of girl clothes).

Isn't that ribbon adorable? So simple, but something about the blue, with the pink dots...it spoke to me. The bodice fabric is from a shirt that my Mom gave me to convert into a maternity top (which I haven't done, because I'm lame). It had long sleeves, so I cut them off where I wanted, and between the two it was enough for the front and back!

The bird fabric has been in my stash for some time. I think I was pregnant with Tony when I picked it up. Just a half-yard of each, with a quilt in mind, should he have been a girl. If you can see in the picture, I gathered the center piece on the sides. I love that look. It did take a good deal of trimming at the top and bottom to make the hem even once it was attached. I think it still dips a tad lower than the rest. Oh well.

I even serged the inside seams! (Except the center back, which makes me sad, but by the time I figured the tension problem out, it was too late for that one.)

The bodice looked really wide to me, so I added elastic to the waist. Seeing Cora again this week, it would have fit her just fine, but it looks a little more princess-y with the gathered waist. 

{happy}

 In between trips up here, my parents made new wooden drawers for me! I only have three drawers in my kitchen, and they were plastic and broken off of their runners. The fronts are wood, and attached by L brackets, so it was really simple to put the new ones on. They're so nice and clean and work much better.

 Cabinet doors! Some of the doors still need a little bit of paint work, unfortunately, but they are done enough to be on, and it has brightened up the kitchen. I'm rethinking the green on the top, but that can be dealt with at some point in the future.

{funny}

 This goose seemed as interested in Tony as Tony was in it. Thankfully he wasn't hissing. Zach laughs at my fear of the geese, but when you're faced with over 25 geese, and they are hissing at you, it's a little unsettling.

 I was trying so hard to get his face in a picture, but he kept foiling me. That's what happens when you are pregnant and slow. 

Even more than watching geese, Tony loves to chase them. He likes to chase them into the pond if he can. It's the cutest thing.

{real}

In an attempt to be prepared for Baby coming early, we set up and filled the birth pool. It had been up for just over a week, when I heard a dripping sound...I thought it was rain, but for whatever reason looked into the living room, and there was water dripping off the plaster, onto the table, and on the floor. I sent Zach a text and ran upstairs to start the pump to drain it, which wasn't working as fast as I hoped. Zach made it home quickly, and ended up opening the window in Tony's room, scooping buckets out and dumping them out the window. He was like Superman. He had it empty in a blink, and then went downstairs to figure out what to do. As you can see in the picture, plaster and slats came down. Thankfully it will fixable with sheetrock, and we have a bucket of ceiling paint in the basement for when that is done.


When I called my Mom to tell her, I jokingly said that it was going to put me into labor. She started packing up to head back here. I did start having contractions in the afternoon that went on for a couple of hours. Deb came to check me in the evening and I had dilated to 4-5cm, but things slowed down and we're still waiting. Hopefully it won't be too long, though! I'm still having random sets of contractions (honest to goodness contractions, not Braxton Hicks), which is good, but can be frustrating because every time you start to hope it's kicking in for real. I'm so happy to have my Mom here, though. It definitely makes the days go by more enjoyably, and I don't have to worry about what we will do with Tony when I do go into labor.

I really didn't want to lose my water birth, so Zach set up the pool on the back porch and hung sheets over the windows so it will be private. It's a little crazy sounding, but we don't have to worry about water damage! The neighbors were gawking while Zach was putting it all together, which makes me laugh, despite the rudeness of it. I'm wondering what they will think when I'm in labor (if it's during a time that they will be outside). I doubt they can really think we're any more weird than they already do, haha.

Head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for more...

We Made It!

Hello, 36 weeks! I am so glad to have reached you! If we can get through another 3 days, I will be more than happy to meet Baby any time. *hint, hint*

In an effort to help Baby be as ready as possible in the event of going into labor at the end of this week, I am eating lots of eggs (the choline in eggs helps with lung development) and ice cream (for weight gain). I've been taking 1,000mg of fish oil for some time, along with Vitamin D and K2, so I think I've covered all of the bases that can be covered. I won't say I'm not hoping to go into labor this week, because I am. Sometimes I feel guilty about that, but after two and a half weeks of bed rest, I'm ready to be on the other side of things.

Tony was measuring my belly today. It was the cutest thing ever. He found the measuring tape on my craft table and brought it to me, pulled my shirt up, trying to say, "Measure." He then proceeded to pull it over my belly.

We have the birth pool set up, which is awfully exciting. When Tony first saw it, I told him it was for when the baby comes. His follow-up question was, "Deb?" Now he tells us, "Tub. Water. Baby. Deb. *pause* PUSH THE BUTTON!!" I love it. I can't wait to be on the other side of labor, learning the ropes of life with two little people.

During my confinement on the couch, I have finished three books, and started a couple more. First, I read, "Mommy, Teach Me To Read!" by Barbara Curtis. I really liked it. I would recommend it to other moms of young children who are thinking about homeschooling. Next, Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth." The ending depressed me, but I suppose it is more honest than the ending I hoped for. "To Kill A Mockingbird" followed. I had not read it before, and enjoyed it. I think I read it in less than 24 hours, if that tells you anything. Now I want to get a copy of the movie, since I've also never seen that. Currently I am going back and forth between C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" and Sienkiewicz's "Quo Vadis." I'm reading "Quo Vadis" through Amazon Kindle on my phone, which isn't as enjoyable as an actual book, but there isn't a copy at my library, and I can probably finish it before it gets to my library through the loan system. I never would have though of reading it, but my interest was piqued by the discussion on Like Mother, Like Daughter, and I've found it to be very interesting (not dull at all, which would probably make me abandon it until I could get a real copy of it). I remember watching the 1951 film as a younger person, and even though it's been a while, I still have enough memory that makes reading the full story more enjoyable.

Part of me cannot believe that I have not driven a vehicle in nearly two weeks, and until yesterday, I had not left the house in 9 days. It feels kind of like being in jail. I have to remind myself that it isn't going to change any time soon, though, because I will be confined again after Baby comes. At least then I will have a new distraction. 

Now I am going to go brush Tony's teeth...after many months of struggle, I stumbled across a great way to get him to let me brush his teeth: his teeth are named after engines from Thomas the Tank Engine and we have to clean them. He loves it. He will bring me his tooth brush and ask to clean "Harvey and Douglas." Thank goodness. 

Hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Love,

Jess

Tony turns TWO!

 Happy 2nd Birthday, Tony!

It seems impossible that it has already been two years since I held that 7 pound bundle of newborn for the first time. I say it a lot, but he brings so much joy and love to our life, and to the people around us. I simply can't imagine life without Tony.

Still such a baby face at 1! And those two little teeth!

At the lake on his 1st birthday!

Today was originally going to be a very quiet day - just the three of us, with the possibility of a couple of honorary uncles for dessert. Due to my invalid status, and my Mom's arrival with three of my brothers, and little Cora, it feels like more of a party! We opened presents after breakfast, and then everyone went with Grandma to do my shopping in Ithaca. When Grandma told Tony they were going to the Market, he said "Market. Donut!" He is too smart for my own good - when we go to the Market I usually get him an apple cider donut. If I don't do that first, he asks me constantly while I'm picking up our CSA veggies and meat.

It is so difficult to get him to look at the camera and smile!

Tony made out like a bandit in the gift department... I can't wait to read him The Story About Ping, The Fox Went Out On a Chilly Night, and Noah's Ark. We have animal and ABC magnets. A child-size table and chairs, that I set up a couple of days ago and has already been much used! Bertie the Bus has joined the collection of Thomas trains. And a Thomas ride-on, which has a compartment under the seat perfect for hauling most of his other gifts in. Tonight he gets to enjoy his new favorite food: hotdogs. He has been asking me for them since the 4th of July. We got lucky and Smitty found a single package in the freezer, after he originally said they were out.

Uncle and Nephew. So precious.

Flash back - Tony was a day old and Teddy was 2.

I don't know what I would do without my Mom here. Keeping the contractions away has required spending 99% of the day laying on the couch, with short periods of sitting, though that is fairly uncomfortable because Baby's head is so low. There is no way I could be making meals, or taking care of Tony. It would have been a stretch to even make a cake tonight, especially since I can't grocery shop.

James and Bertie, being driven with great concentration.

 Next weekend the festivities will resume with my Dad and all of my siblings joining us for another birthday celebration! 

A bit of chubby cuteness. Cora will be 1 next month!

This bit of nothing is brought to you from the comfort (and boredom) of my couch. Even my minimal amount of on my feet time yesterday must have been too much.

So today I'm giving the full-on bed rest thing a try. Minus the bed part, because Tony won't sit up there with me. 

I'm trying to keep things in perspective by thinking about Dwija and baby Nicholas who is only 20 weeks with a tear in the sac. If my baby came today it could be a matter of 2-14 days in the hospital - not even the NICU, necessarily.

One of the hardest things is staying hydrated. 700mg of magnesium and hourly doses of cramp bark are not being kind to my system, though they do seem to be helping a lot today with the contractions.

I appreciate all of the prayers, and ask for some for my Mom, who is coming back to help me out. She's leaving 10 of her babies behind to help keep mine inside.

Love,
Jess

Hey, Baby!

I don't know if it's the shirt, or reality, but I feel like my belly looks a good deal bigger today.

My awesome midwife came to our house today. I emailed her yesterday because I started freaking out. I had a contraction that woke me up in the middle of the night, which hasn't happened before. After going to Ithaca and doing all of my errands, I was feeling pretty good, but had this nagging worry. So, I went ahead and tried to check myself. I don't really know why I did. I have limited (read: next to none) experience, but in a moment of pregnancy panic, I gave it a shot. And totally felt like I was about 2cm.

That added to my panic, and got me to send an email off to Deb. (I'm the world's biggest baby when it comes to calling. It makes me feel like there really is a problem, and I just cry.)

When she wrote me back and said that we should meet today, I was prepared to drive to her office, but she was going to be passing by us in a roundabout way and saved me the trip.

She confirmed my guess that I'm about 2cm, and said I'm 50% effaced with baby at -1 to 0 station. In spite of the ramifications of that confirmation, I was glad to know that my guessing was accurate.

Since we're still two weeks from the minimum ideal delivery time, I've been put on light duty only and am not allowed to travel far (no more Ithaca until Baby gets here!). Once I get to 36 weeks I can resume normal activities, but still have to stay close to home.

Please pray that the next two weeks go smoothly. Deb is highly doubtful that I will make it past 38 weeks, and we could be looking at sooner than that. Which is exciting and also kind of like, "Oh my gosh. I am totally not ready for this."

Tony turns 2 on Saturday, and I can't believe it's already been 2 years since he made his entrance into the world. He brings me so much joy, and amazes me every day with the things he learns.

Hope a good Sunday was had by all!
Love,
Jess

Happy Week 33!

I'm not loving this picture, but it was the best of the bunch that I managed last night. 

I had my 32 week appointment on Friday and had lots of great news! All of my blood work came back fantastic. My hemoglobin is at 12 or 13, my vitamin D is at 38, which falls in their "sufficient" range, and the glucose test was totally normal. After finally having a good bit of belly growth at my previous appointment, I was measuring small again this time, but I think I measured small most of my pregnancy with Tony. Baby is head down, and terribly active. Deb is feeling confident that I'm going to make it to term this time. I wouldn't mind going early, but I'm not holding my breath at this point. 40 weeks is only 7 weeks away, and time is passing so quickly, that I feel like I will blink and it will be over. My in-laws are planning to come in September (there WILL be a baby by then, without any question!), and when my Mother-in-law was saying goodbye, she said she couldn't believe that next time the baby would be here. Yeah. Wow.

Tony loves going to see Deb. He talked about it all weekend. He gets to push the button on the doppler, which is a huge deal to a little kid. 

I don't know why he was biting her hand. He loves this doll. It warms my heart when he says "Don't cry, don't cry."

Our last two weekends have been busy, busy. We had my Mother- and sister-in-law for a visit last weekend, and my Mom, Grandma, and three sisters this weekend. I don't know if Tony will know what to do with himself without all of the extra people to play with him. Coming off of a couple weeks of Zach studying like crazy for midterms, it was so nice for me to have company. 

Yesterday we quickly organized the attic, which had turned into a jungle. AND, we moved things around in Tony's room to accommodate the birth pool! I need to remember how quickly things can come together with an extra set of hands. Some days I feel so discouraged because there's only one me, often with Tony hanging on my leg.

See all of that space in the back right corner? It wasn't there yesterday! Now we can build the whole train track!

We're in a bit of a situation about the baptism, and if there are any spare prayers out there that could be directed at Fr. John Hardon, I would appreciate it. I know that we can have the baby baptized by the priest who says the Latin Mass we attend. My only issue is that it is an hour away, and I don't really want to have to drive that far a week or two postpartum. Talking about it with my Grandma yesterday, she suggested that I email him and see if there is perhaps a religious order in the area who might be willing to come to our town and baptize the baby in the Old Rite. Last night I found a group of Franciscans just under two hours away who say both the OF and EF, so I emailed them this morning. IF they are willing to make the drive, we would have to get permission from the pastor here, but I don't really see that being an issue. What would be totally awesome is if we could have someone come here, say a Traditional Mass, and baptize the baby! (Yes, I am optimistic!) Why did I bring Fr. Hardon into it? After emailing Grandma the website for the Franciscans, she went to the main website for the Order (Franciscans of the Immaculate, for anyone interested) and found that Cardinal Burke is very close to them, and he was a great friend of Fr. Hardon (who my Grandma knew, and loved).

I was just perusing our wedding pictures from my MIL on Zach's computer. Had to share one.

 Oh, and one more thing, because this isn't long enough. Last night I stumbled upon House Unseen, and read about Dwija's very risky pregnancy. Today while I was looking around, I saw this post: "NFP doesn't work. You have so many kids!"  She makes really good points, and I appreciated reading her perspective. Some of the comments are awesome, too. We had someone close to us ask if this baby was planned. It made me so angry. How do you answer that question? "Yes." is the shortest, end-the-conversation answer, but if you're talking to someone with a contraceptive mindset, to them it probably means that you went off your birth control. Not the impression we want to give. "Well, it wasn't not planned..." I feel like a moron saying that. You could say, "Planned by God." but sometimes that feels like far too mild of a response, depending on the questioning party. Thankfully I encounter that question far less than my poor husband. It makes me so sad that this society looks at children as such a burden! The debt incurred during our four years here will be a far greater burden than a child could ever be! And yet people don't even blink to take on $150k worth of loans to start a career.

On that sunny note...

Fr. Hardon and St. John the Evangelist*, pray for us! 

Love,

Jess 

*St. John the Evangelist is the patron of this baby, should we be having a girl (Evangeline), and perhaps Fr. Hardon's patron, too!

Some preparations for Baby

 Another bad cell picture. The weather has been bad when I think about asking Zach to snap one of me, and taking self shots with the timer is difficult. But, here we are. 32 weeks. 

 Some months ago I read about postpartum belly binding over on Hong Kong Housewife (her post here). Shortly after that my Mom was telling me about a class she was going to that teaches exercises and uses binding to help heal diastasis recti (the technique taught in the class can be found here). If you go searching online you will find all kinds of binders. Most of them are elastic, and short, so you might fix the diastasis recti, but you could end up with a muffin top. No thanks.

 Also, if you're going to be wearing something every day for at least 6 weeks, elastic/polyester is probably not the most comfortable blend.

I almost ordered this traditional Malaysian wrap, called a bengkung, but couldn't get myself to pay $17 to have the thing shipped from Malaysia. Quite luckily, they list the measurement on their website! I had a big piece of linen (I'm hoping it is 100%, but it has been so long I don't remember) in my stash that I decided to use. It needed to be 11 inches by 12 yards, and my fabric was 4 yards long, so I ended up with 2 seams joining the pieces. I used the narrow rolled hem stitch on my serger to finish the edges, which was awesome. From cutting to finishing it took me maybe 30 minutes.

I'm excited to try it out. After Tony was born that empty tummy feeling really bothered me. This is supposed to help with that.

I still need to get Tony's room ready for the birth pool, and I think once that is done I will feel ready. Tony has been potty training like a champ, and I am so happy to have a break from washing diapers for 2 months.

Physically I'm starting to feel very ready. Today I could hardly get myself to move and after breakfast and the dishes were done I did my best to rest. Even spending 3 hours in and out of sleep did nothing to alleviate the utter exhaustion I felt. I'm praying this doesn't become a daily problem.

Speaking of praying, I cannot recommend Cardinal Mercier's prayer to the Holy Spirit enough. I taped it to my bathroom mirror and have been saying it daily (provided my dressing time doesn't get interrupted by a certain little boy). Not even needing to replace the van's battery has upset me the way it would have before. The battery is another humorous story that I hope to share soon.

Anyways, stay cool!
Love,
Jess

A quick update on the sofa...

 This is where I stopped last night. I worked on it for most of the day, stopping only to make dinner. I still have to pull fabric off of the one arm...the number of staples need to be pulled out is exhausting.

 I replaced all of the fabric over the springs - I used drop cloth for both layers, which seems sturdier than what was there before!

 Trying to get both sides to match was a little tricky, but I think I finally managed. I was a cheater and didn't sew it to fit like the original. That would've required more work, and I kind of like the way it looks now better.

 The front piece stapled in!

 Preparing to cut out the seat pieces. The great thing about a project like this is that it is very forgiving. As long as you don't cut too small.

 Under it all.

I'm too lazy to go flip this, but this is the receipt from the fabric I'm using (the fashion fabric, not the drop cloth, though that was in my stash, too). It isn't enough for the seat cushions, but $8.50 for the body of the sofa isn't too bad. Especially considering that I bought it over a year ago. I'm not sure what I want to do for the cushions. I'm thinking maybe stripes? My color thoughts right now are peach, rose, or a pebble brown. I need to find an example of that - like these cacao nibs? I thought of it because that was the thread color I used to stitch all of the seat fabric together. It looked rather pretty. It would also coordinate with peach throw pillows.

I'm hoping to finish the arms tomorrow. I had my midwife appointment this morning, and then had to stop by the lab for slightly late 28 week glucose and CBC. Tonight one of our interns from the student clinic is going to watch Tony so that Zach and I can go out. I've kept up with the dishes, but my haven't done much for the rest of the house while working on the sofa....