More September pics

We went to Lance's parents house in mid-september. Lance got a new gun he wanted to play with.

Lance's dad recruited him to help cut down a dead tree in his yard. What a big project!

 

Burning the wood

 

 

 

 

Lucas and Cosette playing together

 

 

My little princess

I think she looks like a little porcelain doll here

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures from September

I haven't uploaded pictures from our camera this entire month! yikes.

So, I'm just putting them all in one post.

We went on a field trip to a nature park. They had a little class about turtles and they sang some songs and had loads of fun :-)

 

Hanging out in the front yard

 

Javan's buddies

Great pic of all four of them.

Javan insisted that he put Cosette on the basketball for a pic.

She is a little over 9 months in this pics and just learning how to be mobile.

hmmm.. what's over there...

 

OOh grass.. that looks like fun to crawl on.. is that a walnut. Looks yummy

You can pull on this grass stuff and it rips right out. Pretty cool!

 

Ripping more grass ... the little things in life

I had to run to the store and Lance was babysitting. This is what I came back to. How daddy babysits... put her in the walker and mow the lawn. He didn't know what was so funny about this picture.

looking pretty

whenever i try to brush her hair she takes the brush from me and wants to do it herself. 

of course, you know how it goes...whenever you pull the camera out they dont do it the same. usually she brushes the back and side if her hair not so much her cheek.... you get the idea.

im writing this on my phone and im too lazy to go and check that it worked so please be forgiving if you cant view it and ill fix it in the morning.

Lance went from riding a motorcycle with a babe on the back to riding a bike with a baby on the back.

Hmmm... What did you guys get for ME at the store

Cosette likes to push the stool around. 

Javan made the news

I just put that post on there and then learned (via facebook - gotta love that) that Javan and his buddies made the news :-)

The video is at the bottom. There are commercials in-between so don't stop watching because of a commercial (he's in the clip after the first commercial). He's right in front with a batman shirt on.

http://www.kshb.com/subindex/weather/weather_experts

Homeschool this week

Javan was lucky this week to go on TWO field trips (plus Awana on Wed nights) and we still have Friday park day to go to....phew busy boy.

He went with a friend to Science City on Wednesday and then on Thursday he got to learn about weather with our local weather guy, Gary Lezak

Click to link to see a pic

http://www.kshb.com/gallery/weather/weather_experts/gary--stormy-visit-local-homeschoolers

When exactly have we had any time to do school?!?!? haha. Well, its really only a few hours a day so we just squeeze it in the mornings or while I'm making dinner, worse case we save the fun art/science projects for the weekend. Its amazing how there is plenty of time and if we get  a little behind we just push things back until we make it up. I control the time-line.

Our school experience has been pretty smooth and fairly easy.  Javan is a quick learner and the curriculum hasn't been too terribly challenging

Until this week.

Before this week my reasons for loving homeschooling Javan might have been a bit different.

The curriculum we use for Math is "Singapore Math".  Apparently, its one of the best math programs out there. I was none-the-wiser, I didn't choose it.. it was what was given to me with the virtual charter school.

Here is the deal with Singapore Math - they teach more than just "how to do math" but they teach math techniques in elementary school that make upper level math quicker and easier to understand (or so I am told).

Here is the deal with Javan - he is excellent with addition and subtraction. He can add and subtract in his head rather accurately and fairly quickly. He does not like to use his fingers either. He just does it in his head. Its really crazy watching him do it. (eh hem.. .I still add with my fingers). But, his little brain can't wrap around the technique that the book is trying to teach him. He gets the right answer but doesn't get there the "right" way.

Now, if he was in public school and the teacher marked his work wrong because he wasn't doing it "the right way" I would be all upset about it because he's getting the right answer so why does it matter HOW he gets there.

But, since I'M the teacher, I can't really get mad at myself. (Well, I can but that's strongly discouraged) Instead, I can look ahead through the teacher's manual... understand why they are teaching him what they are teaching him... and think of ways to teach him that works for HIM.  As an individual.  (This technique lays a foundation for being able to teach some more difficult skills in a much easier way... but if he never learns this technique - whether he chooses to use it or not - he will be lost later in the year)

I can also rearrange things a little so we can spend more time on this math skill until we know he's got it right.

So, today we put the math books away. We were both getting frustrated and not getting anywhere. Tonight Lance and I looked through the Math curriculum, talked it through and have a game plan that I'm pretty confident will work for Javan.

I guess its the control freak in me but I love that. I just love being able to slow it down when its challenging and speed it up when its super easy. I love having control over his learning instead of waiting to see what the test scores say. I love when he asks me (which he does every time for some reason) "what if I get them wrong" when I give him a test - I can say "Then we will go back and learn from our mistakes" instead of having a grade dictate to him what kind of student he is.

In our school - as long as he is learning, he is a good student and I love that.

Woolies

I made my first pair of woolies for Cosette. The original reason I made them was because her diapers sometimes leak at night and these just add another layer of protection.  

Wool is naturally repellent and  antibacterial so when its wet you just hang it to dry and it naturally turns urine or whatever to  salt water. Pretty cool, huh. Its also super breathable which is great for her sensitive skin. 

Plus they are super cute!!! 

I now plan on making them for the new baby too. I can just use the basic prefolds (ya know the old fashioned kind of diaps our grandmas used) inside. And how cute would the girls will be in matching diapers!!!

The second reason i made them for Cosette was because they are going to be so helpful on this potty training journey. 

Speaking of the infant potty training...we had to slow our roll big time with all that because life just got all crazy with babysitting and homeschooling and, well, something had to go. 

We still take her potty but we just don't watch for signals like we did. Well yesterday when i was taking her i noticed she was doing the grunting sound i make (the cue) along with me.

TODAY she was laying on the bed playing and i noticed she was making the same grunting sound. All of a sudden it occurred to me that she might be telling us she's pooping!

 

I  took her diaper off and sure enough she was filling her diaper. So we ran to the potty and she finished going there. NOW i just have to teach her to make that sound BEFORE she goes...or teach myself to pay closer attention. Haha 

A big week

Well, last week but kind of a bust for me but ended up finishing off much better.

Tuesday we were all ready to head to a field trip when I could not find my keys anywhere. I walked to the park the day before and I'm still (even now) now sure if I dropped them along the way or just misplaced them... but after loading the kids in the car and ready to drive off to the beanstalk garden, I sadly, had to unpack the kids and break the news that we weren't going anywhere (the spare set was in Lance's car at work).

Then, on Wednesday we had a field trip planned to go to the local farmstead and it got rained out. So, I took them to the library and managed to lose my wallet! oi. Lance did find that for me.

I could go on.. it was just one bad thing after another... but the week did get a little better. I had a midwife appt and got to hear the baby's heartbeat and everything is looking good and we had a friend over and got to have some mommy adult time while Javan played with his new friend. And Friday, of course, is park day... always something we all look forward to so we can get together with our homeschooling friends.

Cosette, on the other hand, had a spectacular week. She learned how to wave. Finally mastered the on the knee crawling (well, one knee and one foot... I must get that on video) - maybe now her shirts won't get AS filthy since with the army crawl she was simultaneously sweeping the floor with her clothes. She pulled herself up for the first time. She is still mastering this still - sometimes she can get herself to standing and others she just ends up on her  knees. AND she cut her first tooth :-)

What a big girl!! Ok, not big... she is only 13.8 pounds. haha but she's doing all the things a normal almost 10 month old should be doing.

Ultrasound pics

I just noticed that when I made the collage it cut off some of the pictures. So, this is for the grandma's...
 

 

 

 

IT'S A GIRL!

I guess I'm losing my touch because I had a dream it was a boy.... and then I was worried it was twins because i'm carrying really high, like unusually high.. but all is well and the baby is measuring exactly what we had figured for the due date. (we said I was 18 weeks and 3 days and u/s said 18 weeks and 4 days) which makes her due date right around mid-February. 

The most important part is that she is perfectly healthy. I can't ask for more than that!

I think that also means that going to the chiropractor has really helped because I didn't experience any prolapse this time around. 

Here she is!!

Its pretty cool they sent home a video of the ultrasound so you can watch it if you like that sort of thing :-)

Last week we had an afternoon free and Lance and I decided to break out the bikes. It was finally cool enough to make it around the block without sweating to death...

But... my back has been hurting a little these days and I've been quite tired so Daddy decided to do the duty of carrying Cosette.

He looked so cute with a baby riding his bike! haha.

Cosette had a blast... daddy goes a LOT faster than mommy does!

Yesterday some connector or something broke on our brand new AC.
Lance got the part (for free since we are still under warrantee) and fixed it when he got home from work. LOVE being married to a guy who knows how to fix things :-)

Yesterday it was hot. The temp outside was over 100 and we were roasty but we survived.

Now, about 30  min after Lance fixed the AC - I noticed that the thermostat screen was blank.

This he could not fix.

I don't know if it was just coincidence or if its related to the original AC problem... but the AC still works... just a blank screen on the thermostat.

Luckily for us, the thermostat is actually owned by KCP&L so today they will be coming out to replace it.... for free.

In the meantime, there is no way to turn the AC on or off or adjust the temperature. I'm sure I can go outside and pull a plug or something if times were desperate but its not too bad.

Javan on the other hand is "freezing".  I think  he is overreacting a bit.

School at its best

Ok this is nothing like a typical day at The Ferris Acadamy. In fact, most days Javan doesn't get any technology time until after Harrison goes home BUT today was an exception and this picture was too cute not to share.

Let's see this week we went to wonderscope - a children's museum and I started feeling the baby bump a little in my tummy. I love that!

Tonight the virtual charter school is hosting a dinner party at the pool. This isn't our normal group of homeschool friends so it will fun to meet some new friends!!

Bye bye nursing baby

So its official. Cosette has completely given up nursing.

I've read that its pretty common for your milk supply to diminish due to pregnancy.  I tried to hold on as long as possible but every day it was just less and less...she would try to nurse and then just start crying out of frustration. 2 days ago was the last time I've nursed her.

Heartbreaking. Truly. I feel like she really is getting the short end of the stick. But that's life and so we move on.

I spoke with our chiropractor about the formula (he actually makes his own as well and was planning on putting it on the market but the cost was too great) and the only thing he said he would do differently was to use coconut milk/almond milk as the base instead of the barley milk I was making. They are just THAT much more nutrient dense.

So we made our own coconut milk today and it was soooooo super easy. Much easier than almond milk, I think.

And there you have it. I left out the Kale because I forgot so it will be more green in the morning. Waiting onn our cod liver oil shipment so I can add in the dha .... other than that...we are formula making machines! Haha

A busy week!

Last week was a CRAZY week!

Not having an extra computer around....well, I guess its more sharing a computer with Javan... makes getting online to check facebook and update the blog a little tricky.

Which, truthfully, has been quite nice to step away from technology and enjoy life a little without that distraction.

I DID, today, discover a blogger app which will make posting hopefully much easier. (but please excuse typos because typing on my phone isn't the easiest task. haha)

So...on to last week...

Monday we had our friend Storey over. Javan and him had to learn how to "fight it out" a little - which was hard to watch- but it was a good training opportunity for them both to learn to work their problems out on their own without mamma's intervening.

Tuesday we went to a morning park day. There weren't a ton of kids javan's age there so we brought he buddy "JJ". Those 2 just get along so well. I love watching them play.

We started our curriculum a bit this week but Javan is way ahead of most of it so we are just working on getting a routine down and going through the chapter reviews while we wait to hear from the "teacher" how to move forward...

A lot of mom's were posting first day of school pictures. So, we decided to post this one of Javan... yes he is in his jammies. haha. That was kind of intentional.  A funny family joke that its cool to school in jammies.

We were working on the letter A with Harrison... hence the "astronaut" and "artist"

Nothing better than doing school out on the deck on a nice day in your jammies :-)

But the BIG news of the week is that Javan lost his tooth!

He was playing on his computer and came in to the kitchen with something small in his hand and asked "what is this?"

I took a look and told him it was his tooth.

SHOCKED he said "No its not!"

I told him to look in the mirror.

He couldnt believe it!

And even still just yesterday he was saying to himself "I can't believe I lost a tooth!"

Cosette has decided she doesn't want to nurse anymore. I'm not sure if its just her deciding its time to give it up on her own...or the pregnancy...or something else. But I offer and offer and she pushes me away.
She will nurse in the morning but that is all. Even middle of the night if she wakes she doesn't want to nurse.
And since I don't think 1 feeding a day is enough and I also prefer not to feed her formula since its chemical content is quite contrivercial. I have decided to make my own formula.

I know..its green/brown and looks totally gross but she likes it and I know what is in it....

Wednesday we had some friends over Haven and Alysa. The kids had a grand old time making a huge mess of the basement. Haha!


Thursday...well...that was one of those days when everything was a little crazy. Its all good..it definitely could have been worse!

Friday was the big zoo day. Yes, I am crazy enough to push 2 babies in a double stroller with a 2 yo by my side and a 6yo up ahead on his scooter.

I know it sounds overwhelming but it was a total blast. (except i was totally wiped out on Friday night and saturday because of it! haha)

There were a whole bunch of homeschool families there but no good way to coordinate such a huge group so we all just went our separate ways. We went with our friend Michelle and her 3 boys. I am drawing a blank what the youngest name is but the two older ones, James and Ryan, were so much fun and they totally hit it off :-)

Ryan and Javan on the train

James kept hiding from the pictures. He apparently doesn't like getting his picture taken.

Misting fan.  The boys LOVED cooling off on it. It was a perfect day out - mid - upper 80's...but it still felt a little warm with all of that walking. 

It took most of Saturday morning to recover from the zoo.. Then Lance's parents came in town and blessed us with a night out! Our first time out on a date without Cosette! It was so nice.

Then Sunday...We bought a fridge!!  It was a much needed purchase. 1. our fridge is so full each week that we can't see anything. we really needed an extra fridge in the garage. 2. our fridge has been leaking water all over our kitchen floor.

We scored our fridge on craigslist for $500 and it is practically brand new. I couldn't sleep last night I was so excited :-D

Ok enough of my morning wasted trying to write this... back to schooling and playing and loving life.

A new Journey

This week a new journey begins....

Monday was my first day without work and I didn't have Ivy and Harrison yet either so I decided to have a date day with Javan.

He decided to go to the pool. Shana babysat Cosette.... our first time leaving her with anyone but us. I was nervous but Aunt Shana seemed to have it under control and she had a very good little helper too...Seth.

Meanwhile Javan and Luke and I hit the pool. Javan decided he wanted to jump off the low dive....

I held my breath and stayed close in case he need mamma to rescue him...

But went for it ... and had a blast!

Then, he decided to get brave and jump off the high dive...Oh boy...

but.... it was a bit too scary. So down he went.

He did that 3 times. On the third time I told him no more.  He can try a gain when he is older.

But he begged "But MOM I'm facing my fears. I'm going to do it this time...really!"

I told him, this is his last chance... if he goes back down the ladder again that will be it for this pool trip.

That must have been enough to push him over the edge because HE DID IT!

Again and again and again....

Cosette is now 8 months old 

(regardless of the fact that my pregnancy brain had myself convince she was really 9 months old and I was wrong all summer...wow, seriously, i can't even remember my own daughter's birthday. amazing)

Anyway, she has officially mastered sitting up and being extremely adorable

She isn't quite a crawler but boy can that girl roll. 

She is also quite good at the army crawl and some amazing planks. Maybe I should get her in baby yoga ;-)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday!

We sent this card to her
(and actually sent the same one to Lance's dad whose birthday was on Sunday)

The front of the card was this picture.



Then inside it had this picture 

inside it read:
Ready or not...

A new grandbaby will be coming soon!

Happy Birthday!

Love Lance, Merrie, Javan, Cosette, and baby

**************

At my postnatal exam the doctor told me that my uterus was tilted back so I would have a problem ever getting pregnant again.  He was soooo wrong. (Not that I'm surprised...he had a tendency to over react).

Also, I was exclusively breastfeeding. I know that breastfeeding is not a form of birth control and I know a lot of people (including Lance's parents) who got pregnant early on while breastfeeding.

But, in those cases the mom always supplemented with formula or was weening.

Cosette NEVER had anything but breastmilk for the first 6 months of her life and i definitely wasn't weening at all.

Anyway, Lance and I had wanted our kids close together. I have this rule that I didn't want to get pregnant after 35. With the diabetes, I'm already high risk and adding the high risk factor that goes along with age in the mix didn't sound like a good idea.

Plus, I am looking forward to enjoying my husband when our kids are grown...

We just decided to let God handle it

and as I told Lance when I told him that I was pregnant
"God must have thought you were such a great dad he wanted to give you another one right away!"

We have no idea when our due date is. We will have to have an ultrasound to figure that out, but my educated guess is mid February.

My blood sugars are back to wacky and I am working hard to control them. At least I know what to do!!

oh and, ironically, about a month or two before I found out I was pregnant I had a dream that I was pregnant with a boy. :-) I guess I need to pay closer attention to my dreams. haha.

My dream with Cosette came true so its definitely a possibility - i know Javan would be happy to have a little brother.

Speaking of Javan. He is thrilled. And woke up this morning wanting to kiss the baby. love him!