Lovin' Every Minute Of It!

I love love being pregnant!

Here I am at 30wks.

It has been a true joy having my girls feel our baby kick and wiggle within me!

We felt a foot....the heel and toes! sigh***

The girls were so amazed!

Its such a special gift for them to feel the life within me!

My boys are interest somewhat, but not as much as my 2 youngest girls!

I love that we are making such great memories together with our new baby and he/she is not even out yet!

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

Pregnancy Update!

This week I will be meeting with my Doula (same gal I used with my last birth).

We will talk about my birth plan for this birth.

I took the 3 hr diabetic screen a few weeks ago and it came back as a NO I do not have diabetes!

But I did have an elevated blood sugar level at the 2hr mark.

You must have 2 elevated numbers to have a formal diagnosis for gestational diabetis.

Though I formally do not have GD my OB wants me to talk with a dietitian

(if my insurance covers it) to see if we can grow a smaller baby!?

My last 3 babies were all over 10#.  

Olivia (my last baby) was delivered 4 days early with an induction and was 10# 11oz

I have also started taking 2 of my calcium magnesium zinc pills instead of 1 and have been drinking about 4 cups of Red Raspberry leaf tea a day!

I now buy it in the bulk section of Fred Myers.

I have not had anymore leg cramps!!! Yeah!

My blood pressure is great,

and I have only gained 22# so far!

My progesterone levels are fine now that I take 400mg a day in pill form.

I was taking 200mg and my levels dipped down for a week.

Things are good now!

I also take a low dose blood thinner injection each night and I'm supposed to be wearing my compression stockings during the day. (I do some of the time) ssshhh don't tell my doctor!

I go every 2 weeks now to see my OB!

(so I go next week)

I can't believe this pregnancy has gone by so fast!

The girls and I spent this weekend cleaning and taking all of my clothes out of the baby crib and washing all the linins and sheep skin!

(the crib was my clean clothes bin) lol sigh****

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

::Today

Today.........
Monday after a 4 day weekend in a house of 8 + many friends over = mess!

:: I will make my coffee (decaf) and eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

:: I will check on my 2 sick kiddos...fevers,chills,headaches and sore thoats.

:: I will dawn my cleaning gloves and wipe down my house with bleach.

:: I will do 4 loads of laundry.

:: Do 2 loads of dishes.

:: Clean 3 bathrooms.

:: Make a few important calls....I have an OB appointment tomorrow and I'm not sure I will be able to go  with sick kiddos needing to be home.

:: I will vacumn the living room and tidy up.

:: I will finish making the turkey soup for dinner.

:: I will clear off our dining table and set up the advent wreath Jackie, Noah and I made last week at church!

:: I will also try to catch a nap!

Well my coffee is ready so off I go to start my day......

What will you be doing today?


Peace and Blessings,
Georgiann

Getting Ready {before and afters}

So far my pregnancy is going well......and tomorrow at 7w 2d I will get a sneak peak of my tiny baby growing within. I am quite nervous....my mind says "what if my baby is not growing, what if there is no heart beat?" I told myself I was not going to do the whay if thing, but find myself  doing it!!!!!!  I hope that hubby can slip away from work to come to my first ultrasound! (Hubby works 2 blocks away)

Yesterday.........

I spend the day cleaning my room and moving the crib/toddler bed from the girls room into my room, as well as a dresser that will be for baby.  I have misplaced the side rail for the crib (I do have 7 months to find it). lol  For now Jackie will sleep in it as a toddler bed in our room and Olivia will sleep with us in our bed. (they were both with us for the past 4yrs) The California king is a bit crowded and with my belly growing.....we all needed another arrangement! The girls will be getting bunk beds for their room over Christmas.

Here are a few before and afters of the space in my room set up for baby. (I know its early to be setting stuff up for baby, but I have a busy schedule over the next few months and needed to clear out the girls room making room for bunk beds!)


                                                                       Before

This is the mess in my room on my side of the bed!

I have a clothes/book case!

Afters

Little Miss Jackie asleep in the toddler bed/crib!

I still need to vacuum and tidy a few more things...

I am trying to hang my clothes in my closet so the black bookcase can be for baby things!

The box next to the crib is trash. (like I said I still have some tidying to do)

In that spot I will get some plastic drawers to keep my cloth diapers.

(just ordered some in a small size...I can't wait till they get here)

Oh and I want to get a new throw rug for next to my bed!

Above the black book case will be a wooden shelf with hooks.

(I still need to paint it....not sure what color I will use)

The shelf will be for toys and the hooks for hanging baby's clothes!

Keep me in your prayer as I am a bit nervous about my ultrasound appointment tomorrow!

Peace and Love.

Georgiann

Look no training wheels!

****Silence my play list before starting the video****

I get great JOY out of watching my kiddos grow their relationship by helping

 each other learn something new!

I beam with such warmth in my heart to witness such LOVE coming from my kiddos.

Olivia has kicked her training wheels off and has been doing awesome!

I have so much I want to share here on my blog but life here has been so busy! (but fruitful)

I still have not finished posting about our 2 week vacation or the past few weeks at the farm.

I have much on my plate for the next month but things should slow down by November!

October's busy schedule

I am planing a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Ceremony and Luncheon to be held at our local church in mid October.

MOPS starts soon!

Olivia will be 4 in a few weeks and there are many sports and back to school activities to attend.

The weather here has been very warm so we have been spending time outside before the autumn rains arrive. I have been trying to weed and clean up my garden. (pull up all the dead stuff from not watering)

Don't forget to go vote for my blog:

The Garden Gate was nominated for

 The Top 25 Big Family Blogs!

You can vote once a day until Oct. 3 2011  5pm PST

On a serious note:

Can all you prayer warriors pray for my friend Kim and her family?

Her daughter Clara (age 16) was killed in a tragic car accident last week. She left behind 2 siblings.

Peace in Christ,

Georgiann

Broken crayons made new again~

For our family the end of July/beginning of August is when we take inventory of our school supplies.

Do we need more paints,crayons,pens or pencils?

With school supply sales at the local stores starting to make their way onto sales flyer's. And some unadvertised sales I have been seeing while grocery shopping. Its time to make a game plan and a list of what we will need in our upcoming school year.

After taking inventory I discovered that we had many broken crayons. 

(scattered through out the house none the less)

 I  decided the other morning to have my girls peel the paper off the old broken crayons so we could melt them down into a new round swirly ones. My daughter Jackie (6) only lasted 10 minutes with the task. It seemed the paper was to much of a chore for her. Olivia on the other hand sat there at the dining room table for about 1 1/2 hours peeling the paper off the crayons. 

After she had been there for 45 minutes I told her she did not have to

finish the job. Though she looked tired.....because of being on our summertime/dad has been home bed time schedule Olivia continued on.

(We will be getting our fall bed time schedule in order soon......that's another post.)

Olivia has always really liked to sit and work with her hands...

you see her here hulling beans when she was about 20 months.

This year I will only have Olivia (almost 4) home for "home school".

Her and I are now planing and going over what we want our school year to look like together.

I can't wait! The two of us are going to have a great time together.

The rest of my kiddos will be attending our local schools.

That being said, our family has a home school way of life when they are home.

What do your kiddos do with their time when they are home?

What do they view on TV? What music do they listen to?

What do you talk with them about?

Do you spend quality time with your kids?

Learning happens all the time......

There are all sorts of teachable moments in daily life.

Do you seize the moment or keep waiting for the next one to come around before deciding to jump in?

I hope to post again over the weekend.

Next week I will be quite busy with yet another VBS and probley to tired to post??? We'll see?

I forgot to mention after the crayons were in the tray we warmed them in the oven at 225 for about 10 minutes or so.

We put them in the freezer to cool. It made them easy to "pop" out of the mini muffin tin.

Peace and Joy for a productive day~

Georgiann

Stuck.....

Well 2 of my kiddos went with my sister {their Auntie} and her hubby to  go snowboarding up at the local MT.

I pray they are having a fun but safe time sliding down the MT.......but with boys its hard to imagine both fun and safe at the same time! lol I'm sure my sister won't let them do anything stupid!

So while a few of my kiddos are gone with my sis and another few off playing with friends, I am going to attempt to rearrange the living room. I started stirring things around already but think I will snap a picture of the before. It will be more dramatic that way.....you know more of a mess! It should look way better in the after pic. or so I hope?

Well I guess I better quit stalling and get busy?

The way my mind seems to work is......stir stuff around for a bit......trying to get an idea of where to put what....get the creative juices flowing, then get confused and not know what to do next as I sit it a messy pile of stuff!

Do any of you do the same thing? or I'm I the only one?

OK wish me luck and say a few prayers........I am off to get to work!

Peace,

Georgiann

Changing thINGS uP

I can really use your help....

You can see my hubby and son Jacob out in the backyard.....they are putting up the Christmas lights.

Ok I hesitated to show this picture but here it is anyway!

My project this week is to purge and organize ALL the stuff in the corner of this room.

All things in the corner need to find a new home to make way for our Christmas tree.

Our house is kind of like a Rubik Cube. Main pieces of furniture get moved from room to room as the needs of each room/family change.

The green table came from the office....it was to be my sewing/home school desk for Noah. 

Then we adopted Jasper our Border Collie. He is a bit compulsive and there for MUST sleep in a create at night.  He can't be trusted to roam about the house alone at night! He loves to retreat to his create on occasion during the day to rest from the kiddos.

The create needed a home.....so it found its place, tucked under the green table. There fore making it impossible to sit at the table and do school work or sew!

I'm not sure where the create will go now?....hubby says the dog can sleep in the garage...I say NO!

After Christmas this corner will not be home to the same furniture.

I might bring the one of the girls doll houses back down stairs?

Once upon a time this same corner was home to the girls LARGE play kitchen, which is now stuffed in their bedroom. They love it and play with it often so we are not willing to part with it.

Eventually the green table will be in our family closet/laundry room upstairs. It has been 3yrs in the making and is still not finished! I will only dare to show you the before picture when I have the after one in hand to show at the same time! You WILL be blown away! :)

So this is a picture of  the rest our COZY living room.

The kiddos are playing with the GEO train set that is usually stored and forgotten under Noah's bed.

It did take a mint load of batteries to get the engines up and running but it has been hours of fun for the kiddos yesterday.....from 10 am-bedtime (do I dare tell the time?.....9:30pm)

My homeschooled bunch is now up this morning and at play again with the long forgotten train set as they nibble cake donuts in the living room.

I need your help....

While we are on the topic of making changes.....I have been thinking for a while now that I might want to get rid of the red (Berh Glazed Raspberry) from around the fire place. I also have the red on one wall in my dining room to blend the rooms. I was thinking of painting it a blue (I have not even got samples) so I'm not at all sure of a shade...but something grey blue or maybe a bright type blue?

Do any of you have an idea or suggestion of paint colors?

I feel like my living room mimics a MC Donald ketchup packet!

I have green on another wall that is opposite the fireplace.....the green goes into the hall and entry of the house.

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Cozy House

I have to admit....I don't usually like Christmas! I know....how can a Christian not like Christmas?

Well the truth is, as a momma of 6 kiddos I already have to much "stuff" stuffed into my house!

I stress about what has to come out of the living room to make way for the tree. Some days I feel like I'm just stirring the "stuff" around.  Then were to put ALL the gifts the kids receive. (even if we give a few things X it by 6 and it can be a lot! Decorating......hummm?

 Where's the cheesecake? I think I'll have a bath! Is it almost bed time? lol grin :)

Our house is not very big, but that does not matter. I believe one should live the life that God has blest them with, not one that starts when they have the bigger house or the larger pantry, laundry room etc.

Having to much clutter and stuff can weigh a person down!
Clothes,DVDs, books, toys,home school stuff, dishes, Tupperware.....this list goes on.
So much of it not being used.....just sitting there as a comfort I guess. Or at least that what the Hope is.
Only my HOPE needs to be in the Lord. HE will bring me just what, I need when I need it!
I don't even use my Tupperware as nice as it is. Foil over a glass bowl works just fine.

Saving this or that for a life I will someday live "if only"....

God has really spoken to my heart lately.....He wants me to live the life "I have" not the "only if life", because I may not be here tomorrow. None of us knows how long we have.

 In the end....in my final moments of life, all that will matter to me is the relationship I had with

God of course...but also my husband and kiddos.

Now, my house does not look like those on the show Hoarders, but that does not really matter.

My stuff is weighing me down just the same!

I have had a near death experience 2x after the birth of my 5th child back in Spring of 2005.

I was a changed person after that....or at least for a while. Then, the day to day sets back in and well you know! Remember what happened after 911? Everyone started going back to church,showing a bit of patriotism and all. Now most folks have forgotten and gone back to the day to day grind.

As a family we have decided to pray before we purge.

 Asking GOD to guide our hearts and hands. Placing things in the giveaway bag that will bless others.

Let our STUFF be someone else's answer....someone else's "only if".

An answer to their prayer and in a way answering my prayer.

So this year I am starting to look forward to Christmas (my mom is flying out that's a bonus).

My house IS becoming a refection of the true me. Its still a work in progress, but a step in the right direction.

Less is More......

And no, I did not just move it all to the garage! hee hee.
 My neighbor said, a big family like ours needs 2 sheds. I told her no we didn't.
We just need to give the STUFF away not store it.

I will hopefully be brave enough to show some of the before pictures as I go along, not just the afters.

I do get shy about the before photos....people (many) come by my blog and yet only a few comment just once in a while.   I blog for me and my family not for others but comments are nice to have. I know what my befores look like, so I just might only post the afters!? 

Funny thing that happened after church last weekend:

A group was selling some Fair Trade items as a fund raiser....a good cause.

Baskets, trinkets etc.

I told the lady....I already have to much stuff! I don't need another thing.

She kindly suggested that during Lent (that's in Feb.) some folks get rid of one item a day and by the end they have gotten rid of 40 things!

I just chuckled and said, "IF you only knew"!

I have done the get rid of stuff during Lent thing, only with getting rid of one BAG a day, not one item!

So far in the last week I have gotten rid of 8 large bags of stuff!

I just added my post to a 

Simple LivingThursday (meme) over here . 
You can join in or stop over to see how others are
Living Simply.......consuming less and producing more!

So many topics fit: Gardening, raising animals, cooking from scratch, real food, natural cleaners, sewing, recycling, thrifting, a mindset of simplicity, saving a buck…

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Summer Fun~

Hi all~

After taking a break I'm back......sort of? I wanted to post a few pictures but am a girl of few words these days. (only on-line) lol

Summer has flown by so fast! Here in the Pacific Northwest it has been a short season! It was hot the last few days but today smells and feels like fall! My garden has not produce much:) this year!

Over the past month I have hosted a few house guests, the last one left today! I'm trying to get my routine back to normal. My laundry is behind and I have all the bed linens to wash and hang out!
We have been enjoying our new dog Jasper! We work several times a day on dog training and I have 3 new books on the subject and  Border Collies in general.

I have been sipping my new selection of herbal teas I ordered from Mountian Rose Herbs!
Reading, playing with the kiddos and cleaning out the house and garage have kept me real busy.
We can now park the car in it! yahoo!

We also went to and volunteered at 2 VBS (vacation bible schools at our churches) and then 2 of my kiddos attended a third one held in the evenings at the local baptist church.

Tonight my crock pot is cooking dinner......corned beef and cabage. I need to make some mashed potatoes.......so off II go to finish things up for a late dinner. Hubby and 2 of the boys have football practice from 6-8pm and will be home shortly!

When I get back into my routine after this last bout of company I plan to have a giveaway to celebrate my 2nd year blogaverary!

Oh and yesterday our neighbors cat George got hit by a car! We are doing to must him dearly!
I will post a few cute pictures and tell you more about this special cat soon!

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

Weekend Activities~

This weekend I had planed to sew my little Sweethearts some new dresses.....but after reading Amy's post over at Raising Arrows I decided to do a bit of cleaning.

Here at the Bluebird Cottage my cupith overflows.....especially in the laundry room.

Many folks ask for advice on how a momma of many kids keeps track of the laundry and ALL the clothes.......the truth is I don't! The truth is.....the more things you have,the harder it is to manage.

So I was in a mood to clean and purge! Thanks for the motivation Amy!

I ended up with 7 bags total.....I thought I was done for the day so I snapped the picture and hubby loaded up the car.....I ended up with about 2 1/2 more bags.

Sorry there are no photos of my messy laundry room....its not done being picked up. 

My laundry room is more like a storage unit (it was going to be a family closest)..... hubby still needs to sheet rock and finish the room. The room is 16x8. The washer and dryer are in a smaller room (7x5)as you enter. I can hide the mess by pulling a pretty curtain across the entryway to the large family closet.

I tend to wash the clothes....as many as 10 large loads a week sometimes more.....but rarely get it all put away. If I have less clothes it will be more manageable.

(we should have never moved things in the room until it was finished!)

Hubby kept the kids busy doing yard work and washing the cars!

After a long hard day......we enjoyed some BBQ'ed chicken, garden salad and berry iced tea prepared by my 4 year old Jackie!

I pray everyone has a great weekend~

Blessings,

Georgiann

Plantin' Time~

This is me......cleaning out the planting bed!

Noah was out and about the yard taking pictures!

This is me planting!

The black buckets in the picture are for my potatoes.

Last year my back bed was home to my root crop, this year it will house my Brassicas.
I still need to clear out my other raised bed to plant my onions and lettuces.
Hubby still needs to build my berry bed so I can transplant some of my berry bushes and plants!
My main bed will be home to flowers,beans,peas, and my root crops.

I won't be planting that crop for about another 4 weeks. (Mid April)
In large patio containers I will plant tomatoes,peppers,herbs and potatoes!
I will buy my pepper and tomato starts in May sometime!

Well the weather has been just delightful today! Warm and sunny at the same time! 70
Perfect time to put on the gardening gloves and clean out the raised beds along the back fence.

Yesterday I decided to get some cool weather plant starts ie:

Broccoli 27 plants

Cauliflower 27 plants

Cabbages 2 kinds (9 of each Purple and Green)

Chinese Bok Choy 2 plants

Kohlrabi 9 plants

Swiss Chard 9 plants

Garlic 6 plants

Red Onions 9 plants

White Sweet Onion 9 plants

Romaine Lettuce 15 plants

Red Lettuce 9 plants

Hood Strawberry 1 plant

Tristar Strawberry 1 plant

Hecker Strawberry 6 plants

Hubby still needs to till up our main garden spot and build my berry bed. He has has about 4 weeks until it will be warm enough to plant the kinds of crops that will go there.

Last year we ran out of time to build the berry bed, so I just had to put my berries (strawberries,red currants and blueberries) in other places.

I also have 2 new fruit trees that need planted!

1 Peach Tree

1 Graphed Cherry Tree (4 kinds on one tree)

Sometime at the end of April/Beginning of May, I will plant my beans,peas,flowers,herbs starts

(I will start at home with the kids next week).

My root crops and squash I will plant the directly in the ground from seed.

When planting my root crop, I will shake seeds down every 2 weeks starting in Mid April until June for a continued crop all season.

I'm not sure I will plant any corn this year?

I did not yield very much for the space it took up in the garden.

Well....I think its time to make some afternoon tea, sit out back and watch the kids play with the chickens!

Peace and Blessings,

Georgiann

Ladybug Boots~

My sweet Olivia works so hard to put on her shoes or in this case boots all by herself!..... to only take them off every time we get in the van! So then when we get to where we are going, I have to climb ALL over the van to find them....and take more time to put them back on! When we get home its the same thing. I often just carry her into the house.....with only one shoe in my hand! With gorceries and other stuff to carry in I don't often take the time to dig for the second shoe!

I think that on my to do list for today is to retreive all the single shoes out of the van and match them all back up!

Well, the sun has made an apperance today, up in my neck of the woods! So after a few chores I think I will play outside with my kiddos......and dream about my plantting my garden~

 I have some laundry to catch up on before the weekend and some general tidying up ~
Oh I can't wait to start using my clothes line again~

Love and Blessings,
Georgiann

Doggie Spa~

Well those of you that follow my blog know our funny beagle and his love for adventures! Well he found and rolled in something VERY stinky so he was in urgent need of a bath!
As soon as he heard the word bath he went running....and not for the tub!
I had to carry our fat beagle up the stairs to the tub!
Two of my boys were eager to get him all soaped up! A fun time was had by everyone.....and after a good rinse and a quick towel dry, Benson our dog was quit frisky....running all over in a playful way! (very unusual for him)
I think he was glad the stink was finally gone!

Well, one chore done and 99 left to do before my parents get here in 2 days!.....and the BIG bridal shower I'm giving for my sister this weekend at my home!






Hope everyone is having a productive day!

Blessings,
Georgiann

Getting Ready For Fall~

I replaced this white closet style cabinet with a more functional cubby style shelf to house ALL my home school stuff!
My favorite white cabinet has been in my pantry...the living room now maybe in the girls room?
What a mess... You need what? From in there? OK I'm sure I can find it...just give me a minute!I know its in here some where?! LOL

Little Jackie(3) helped me put the cherry wood shelves together. She handed me the dowels and screws and slid the shelves on! She really knew what she was doing!

The shelves are made by Closet Maid and sold at Target....I bought 2 of them a while back and put them side by side. You can check out my older posts here.
My goal is to have the walls of the living room filled with this style of book case. I have 4 so far.
This time I used 2 units and stacked them...there are dowels to hold them from sliding. You will need to bolt the shelf to the wall for safety if you stack them. You don't want a toddler to pull the whole thing over!










I love the cubby style. It allows for the shelves to be better organized and the books don't topple over. I have a cubby for learning games and one for art. There is a different cubby for each subject! Each person also gets a cubby for their workbooks!

I had several small books shelves around the house filled with home school stuff...I was able to marry all the home school things into one central location.
It feels so good see what all we had....and get my plan in order for next fall!
I will be homeschooling Jackie(4) and Noah(7) next year. Olivia will be 2 in the fall and will be learning as well! Little ones are always learning!




Do you have your game plan for fall? It will be here before you know it!

Have an AWESOME day!

Warmly,