Bizarre Pregnancy Symptom #91

My hands have been falling asleep at night.

Dead-asleep, really painful, pins and needles. Enough to wake me up numerous times during that precious period while I should be slumbering.
The first night it happened, I thought it was a fluke. I googled "pregnancy hands falling asleep" and learned that many pregnant women get mild carpal tunnel syndrome at the end of pregnancy. The excess fluid compresses the tunnels in her wrists and presents as achy wrists and the irritatingly painful "pins and needles".

But it has happened many nights since then. Not every night, thanks be to God, but enough to really start to bother me. I have to actually get out of bed and shake, shake, shake my hands while walking around the house, trying to get the blood to go back to where it is supposed to go. I would just walk around the bedroom, but my athletic and adrenaline-infused husband gets hyper-vigilant at night about protecting his home and family. A few times I have been checking on the kids or getting them water, and I- a 6-foot-tall shadow in the dark- will give him such a start that he will nearly punch me square in the face. So now, I scuff the carpet or hum while I walk around to let him know that I am not an intruder.

So in addition to my constant feeling of having to go potty at night, I am joyfully awakened numerous other times, feeling as though my fingers shall surely explode from pressure.

Ah, pregnancy.

Candyland

We played Candyland for the first time!
Almost everyone got the hang of it right away.
I'm very excited that the kids are reaching an age where we can play something like this together. I'm looking forward to long winter mornings, hunkered down with a new baby, playing Candyland and drinking hot chocolate.
Look who joined in, of course. Look at that face. Apparently not everyone was excited to play Candyland. Did I mention she has destroyed my four-year-old-pride-and-joy-impossible-to-kill-houseplant? The one she used to cover up her covert cat droppings? And somehow, somehow, she has bitten off a few of the built-in Christmas lights from the tree. And managed not to get electrocuted.

No, really. That would make us sad.

Christmas Party

The children met Santa Claus up close and personal this past Saturday. We went to Beau's youngest brother's home for a get-together, and Santa was there. Jackson and Rebecca were apprehensive but ended up allowing me to take their picture, as long as Daddy was very close by.And here is some rarely-seen footage of all three brothers together for a picture. They spend time together- Beau and Gabe work together every day!- but there is hardly an opportunity for a photo.
Truly, nothing makes one feel so convicted about one's inherent materialism that listening to one's children relay an endless list of desired Christmas presents. My very small ones know

1) We get most of our Things from stores
2) There are endless Things available at stores
3) Mommy appears to buy whatever Thing she wants from stores
4) Therefore, Mommy should be able to buy whatever Thing children want from stores

The truth is, Mommy goes into specific stores with a list in hand, usually carefully prepared beforehand. Mommy valiantly attempts to stick to her list and budget, but no, not every time. Little slips are noticed by children, I am reminded of. If I deviate from my plan, or even if I buy an extra Matchbox car or flashlight at the Dollar Store when the children beg, I am reinforcing their idea that Things are very important, and should be able to be had whenever the desire arises.

We make Things. We cook and bake and sew and draw and grow. But we are also assaulted continually by ads and commercials and bright colored posters in the stores. So I have been diligently working this Christmas season to reverse the thinking pattern that I have allowed to permeate their little minds. We have an Advent lesson each day (we have abandoned the Advent book and just talk about the biblical Christmas story). We discuss why we go to the grocery store and to Target. We talk beforehand about why we don't need Things not on our list. I am sure this will be a childhood-long training opportunity, but I won't give up. And I will be prepared to learn a few lessons along the way myself.

Look who joined us for breakfast the other morning! We heard him rustling around in his room- usually, he bolts out from the back each morning in search of Daddy. This time, he poked his head out, ducked back into his room, and re-entered the universe as Buzz Lightyear. He has an organizer in his closet- 5 hanging shelves. We noticed that the shelves hold nothing except his Buzz getup.

Shelf 1- Space Suit
Shelf 2- Wings
Shelf 3- Boots
Shelf 4- Purple Cap
Shelf 5- Light-up Goggles

I do believe we have gotten our money's worth out of this investment. And it has given him hours of imaginative play.

Here is the quilt I made for some of Beau's clients. The couple live in Santa Barbara and just purchased a new home by the water, so I found a Moda Layer Cake pattern called "Odyssea". I love the browns and blues and reds together. It was yet another chance to use my awesome ruffler foot. I have never done a blue ruffle and I like it. Jessie is very non-excitedly modeling the blanket for me. There are fish, flower, and damask patterns on the cotton 10x10 pieces, and I backed it with a yummy chocolate brown minkee.
I love this picture. It reminds me of The Wizard of Oz. Somehow a giant basket of laundry landed square on top of a poor baby doll. We checked afterwards. The doll made it out alive.
I had blogged last week about the children climbing into the crib and reading and snuggling together. Here they are again, happy as clams.

Christmas Games for Christians : )

Tomorrow night is our church's annual Christmas Cookie Exchange. I searched the web for an appropriate game to play with the women of our church- having a fun prize draws out our collective competitive spirit and helps people become less shy. I couldn't find a game that I liked, one that was appropriate enough or challenging enough to play with the women of the church. So I quickly typed one up. Feel free to use it for any Christmas event.

Christmas Hymn Game- Fill-in-the-Blanks

32 Weeks

Was anyone else disappointed last night when you went to sit down and watch House and instead found yourself looking at a Carrie Underwood special?

Nothing against Carrie Underwood. She is lovely and talented. I just prefer House, that's all.

I think you will be relieved to know that at 32 weeks pregnant, we are finally starting to feel quite connected to this new little baby. Many mommies have told me that the more pregnancies you have, the more quickly they fly by. I agree and disagree. I agree as I mull over the fabric swatches I have purchased to make fun baby things. I disagree as I step off the scale, weeping, realizing that I still have 8 more weeks to gain- I mean, go.

It is about this time in my pregnancies where I resolve that I shall be fitter than before I got pregnant. This of course, is not reality, for who has time to exercise for two hours a day with three smallish children, but it certainly makes me feel better. I did waste an entire half hour last night, waiting for Beau to get home, watching an infomercial about the Insanity Workout. I believe I will order it, with the best intentions.

Thanks a lot, Carrie Underwood.

We have, we believe, settled on a name for this sweet child. It starts with a "B" and I will not tell you what it is, but my husband will. We are still searching for a middle name. I like Samuel, but this will not work in the initial department for obvious reasons. So we will search on. I know the Lord has already named him, as He formed him in my womb, fearfully and wonderfully, so I am not too worried about it.

We set up his crib and put in his bedding. I will be working on his blanket in the coming weeks, thinking and praying for this new life. With each new child, I am almost overwhelmed with the task that lies ahead. Training up a child for the Lord is humbling. I can nurse him and bathe him and play with him and cuddle him, but I am also responsible for his soul. Of course, only the Lord can save his soul, but I must diligently, patiently, lovingly train him daily. I must teach Scripture, I must work on character, I must instill a fear and love of his Lord. Beau and I always pray that our children would see Christ in their parents, even through the obvious sin and fault. I desire to always be open and honest, but discerning, about my own sin and shortcomings. I want them to know that Mommy and Daddy need Jesus just as much as they do.

Regarding the crib, it is a new source of intrigue and entertainment in our home. The children spent an entire morning being "helpful and useful" ( a favorite phrase from Piglet's Big Movie), assisting me in cleaning and building the crib. Rebecca sterilized it and Jackson wiped it down and helped tighten the screws. Now they are attached to their creation, and yesterday morning, I took a break from housecleaning to walk into B's room and find his older siblings lying side by side in the crib. Jackson was reading Snug House, Bug House to Rebecca, and they were as happy as could be. I took a 3-minute video of this sweet moment and quietly left them to themselves. The baby is almost 4 pounds and could be between 15 and 19 inches long. I had always assumed that since I am nearly 6 feet tall, my babies would be in the 9-10 pound range, but neither Jackson nor Rebecca weighed more than 7.5 pounds. That is kind of nice as one is laboring with a child. Let us hope that the trend continues.

Carrots and Advent

She is the more mischievous one. She likes to open the refrigerator on her own schedule. She is fond of saying, "no!". She will pick Super Why because Jackson picked My Friends Tigger and Pooh. But then she will grab my face with her little hands and say, "I love you, Mom". She will carefully, mezmerizingly, cut a piece of paper into dozens of tiny pieces and then deliberately walk to each person in the room and hand them one of her created treasures. She is the first to ask, "Are you OK?", or "Are you sad? Be happy." She will grab me with both arms after prayers and stories and say, "I want you stay with me, Mommy. Don't leave me". She is my precious work in progress.
We harvested our last crop from the garden today. Doesn't it feel good when you are able to complete a task that you have been asked to do? Beau has looked at me at least three times in the past month and asked, "Are you going to clean up your garden?".

I'm pregnant.

It's cold.

I don't wanna.

It's fun to plant and grow but I don't want to be responsible for the rest of the mess.

But I was a big girl about it. It only took me a month. And I cajoled two little towheads into working with me. That's the thing about work. It makes you feel good. Real, physical work has such a cathartic effect on the soul. It is not at all easy to pull giant leeks out of the dirt. But we did it. We should have changed out of our Bible Study clothes, but what is another load of laundry? We worked. We have, the three of us, been struggling with our attitudes for two days now. But gardening out there for thirty minutes, side by side, dirty hand by dirty hand, we got to relax and just be with each other. We discovered teeny tiny slugs. We examined long slimy earthworms. With satisfaction, we snapped carrot tops off of each miraculous orange growth. We chatted and played. And then, our adventure ended as our adventures usually end.
The children got naked.

It was probably 55 degrees outside, but one cannot properly clean carrots if one is encumbered by clothing.
Here is our final fall bounty.
Then we went inside to have a quick bath and begin our Advent celebration. My dear sister-in-law gifted this Advent calender to our family two years ago. I love it because there is no candy inside. Instead, there are 24 tiny, intricate magnets. Open a door and you will find a star or a lamb or a little wise man. We get to talk about how each figure pertains to the Greatest Story of All. Every day, we peek inside door 24 to gaze at the peaceful, sleeping Baby Jesus. We learn and relearn that Christ came for one purpose- to die for our sinful selves, that the elect may spend eternity with God the Father.
We light the candle and sing a Christmas Hymn. Today I chose my favorite, "O Holy Night" because my voice is amazing when there is no one else around. Kidding. It is pretty bad even then. Anyways, the children lost interest in the song, so tomorrow we will sing a more kid-friendly one.
Jackson pulled out a star first.Then we read from our Advent Storybook. It is not the actual Christmas Story, but is an adorable parallel for very young children, and it serves as a springboard for real Christmas doctrine.

And finally, we have some decorations up. You know your (husband's) TV is too big when your stockings won't fit on the mantle under the television. However, I do believe I like this look better.