Please support homeschooling!

Most of our readers have probably heard already, but a California court recently ruled that it's illegal to homeschool in the state of California. If this goes unchallenged, homeschoolers across the country are threatened. Please visit http://www.hslda.org/ for more info, and to sign a petition to support homeschooling.

(Pickles-related posts coming soon: we promise! We're just swamped with baby prep lately!)

Comin' Down the Home Stretch

Just 8 weeks to go... The pregnancy is going really well. I've really, and I mean REALLY, slowed down. I think the reason I've been so into sewing and needlework lately is that it's something I can do SITTING DOWN and still feel productive! (since I'm really only good for about 2 hrs. of standing-up work each day now) I've got to schedule out carefully all my errands and tasks for the next 2 months. I've got my babysitting job down to just one day a week, which will help immensely with my energy level as well as ability to run errands and get stuff done, let alone get back to homeschooling Miriam again! I still see lots of workbooks in her immediate future though.

Thankfully I still feel pretty good -- I'm not mooing quite yet, but give me a couple more weeks. :) I've got a pillow system worked out that allows me to get a decent night's sleep. And I've been doing exercises to keep myself flexible, so I'm able to do things like stand up when I've been sitting on the floor -- although getting off the sofa in time to answer the phone is becoming an Olympic sport. :) It's funny how each pregnancy has been so different. As one of my OB's said, "You can't compare your children!" With Katie I just felt so big and uncomfortable all the time -- but with this one there's no major discomfort, just lots of little things. I love this cartoon that came in one of my recent BabyCenter emails:



Anyway, enough about me. At long last, here are the ultrasounds from MONTHS ago, back when I was still "cutely pregnant" and not yet "DEFINITELY pregnant". :)
(we don't have a scanner so I had to take digital pics & upload them -- too many steps to get done in a timely manner!)

Yeah, I know, snapshots of ultrasounds are impossible to decipher. Even Mr. Pickles, who was there, had a hard time figuring out what he was seeing. In this one, the top of the baby's head is at the bottom left. I just love seeing all the little fingers.

uh oh, looks like we've got another nail biter...

baby power!!

cootchie cootchie coo...


So who do you think he/she looks like?

Also, betting is now open for gender/birth date. For the record:

-with Miriam, we thought she was a boy. She was born over two weeks early.
-with Katie, I was convinced she was a girl, even though she was extremely active in utero. She was born two days early.
-with this baby, it has about the same activity level as Miriam's, and I've been getting girl vibes. It's due March 28.

So, any takers? A mythical bag of marshmallows goes to the closest guess.

First of February

appropriate poem for today:

The Rainy Day
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the moldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the moldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.


...unless, of course, you're a kid:

in which case this one is perfect:

Spring Rain
by Marchette Chute

The storm came up so very quick
It couldn't have been quicker.
I should have brought my hat along.
I should have brought my slicker.

My hair is wet, my feet are wet,
I couldn't be much wetter.
I fell into a river once,
But this is even better.

Don't hate me...

Your Inner European is French!

Smart and sophisticated. You have the best of everything - at least, *you* think so.

Who's Your Inner European?

What could be more perfect...

than a three-year-old girl...

...wearing fuzzy fairy princess jammies?

FINALLY finished these today, after the fabric sat around waiting for 2 months! Now I can get started on my new obsession with a clean conscience!

Unbelievable

As Mr. Pickles said, "That guy's making a mint off that moronic personality!" We love him though.

And of course you know that he got his portrait into the National Portrait Gallery, right?

He will always be dear to my heart after I saw his version of "The King of Glory" which exactly corresponds with my opinion of that treasured Advent hymn.

I was born in the wrong Millennium

So I recently purchased this pattern that I've had my eye on for a couple years. It was only $2. So how could I NOT get it?


Now can someone help me justify purchasing the fabric for it by telling me where I could wear a dress like this more often than once a year at a Medieval festival?

Please?

Speaking of atheists...

from an atheist-turned-Christian explaining phenomenons like Dawkins and Pullman
(via Mark Shea's blog)

Updates!

I just wanted to draw your attention to the newly revised and updated "What We're Reading" section in the sidebar -- I know this list has always been so blah. So I've finally made the switch to pictures of the book covers to make it more interesting. I plan to add links too (so you can see larger versions of the covers) -- just not this time b/c we're going to bring them all back to the library on Friday anyway! (and I'm tired and want to go to bed!) So enjoy our sidebar's fancy schmancy new look! Hmm, maybe I'll revamp the whole blog's look, with more pretty colors and... wait, is this a manifestation of the nesting instinct?

The rumors of our demise... etc. etc.

Only slightly exaggerated. I'll spare you all the gruesome details, so to sum up: Katie had a stomach bug, followed by a fever. Mr. Pickles had a severely sore throat that merited a trip to an emergency clinic -- but Codeine and antibiotics finally kicked in and allowed him to function again. Now I'm sick -- or maybe plain exhausted. All in all, it's been a long week.

Why, even Katie's bear was sick.

Miriam, miraculously, remained untouched (knock on wood!). Poor kid had to keep herself amused for several days while I tried to get our life back into some semblance of order. She spent lots of time coloring. A benefactor had just given us a stack of colored paper and some princess stencils, so she was pretty happy with those. This is one of my favorites from the week.

a representation of the fall & the promise of redemption. (I love God's frowny face!)

an activity I suggested: marker target practice (the green elastic thingy is about to knock over the black marker)

And THIS is what happens when Mom is left out of the fashion choices for the day. Note everyone's shoes.

Sigh, I WILL get better again, I know I will!