*note* This is round two on this blog. I was completely finished with the first copy and then the page closed out on it’s own. So here we go again…
It has been a busy last few weeks here. From a birthday to one of the biggest surprises of my life, there is much to catch up on. I’ll start with the birthday we just celebrated. Joshua turned 5 last week. One of our traditions for birthdays is that the birthday child gets to pick whatever they want for breakfast and dinner. This year Josh chose donuts for breakfast. I suggested he pick something else to go with the donuts. So he chose omelets made by Daddy. (I can not make omelets to save my life!) So bright and early Saturday morning Eric took Josh to the grocery store to pick out a dozen donuts. Then home again to make a delicious breakfast of omelets. I decided to make up Orange Julius’s to go with the donuts and omelets. It was a fun and scrumptious birthday breakfast.
Happy Birthday Joshua!
It has been cold and rainy here. The children and I are so tired of the rain and gray clouds. There is already much talk about all the activities that we can do once it warms up again. But for now, the children have taken over the basement for their play. This house has a huge basement that has been a lifesaver during these winter months. Currently, it has been converted to “Tent City”. They have used every blanket, chair, and box they can get their hands on. There is a Post Office, Restaurant, and Grocery Store. And they each have their own house. They send mail to each other, go shopping, and visit each other in their homes. The other day I walked downstairs and I just laughed. My basement looked like a miniature Hoovervile. Makeshift tents set up everywhere. Sections tied off with sheets to make little rooms. Even trash littered the floor. After taking a tour, I headed back upstairs to the kitchen laughing to myself that my children were so happy to live in tents.
Another adventure this month has been my mission to find a midwife for this pregnancy. I have been looking forward to this. All my past pregnancies have been with a doctor. But this time I wanted to try something different. But Oregon has just about put every midwife out of business because of such high malpractice insurance. So the search was much more difficult then I had planned. I finally found a midwife that I like and met her today for my first appointment. The only down side is that she lives an hour and half away, so the chances of her missing this delivery are pretty high. Which means another home birth on our own. But I would rather choose that than deliver in the van on the way to the hospital with 6 children in the backseat.
This last week we made a trip to the Dentist office. Seven cleanings, one impression, and one loose tooth extraction. My children could not wait to go. They were bouncing off the walls that morning. Maybe it’s because I pick up pizza for lunch on the way there. Or it’s the peanut butter pies that I made and they get to eat after the pizza. Or maybe it’s the movies that they get to watch while waiting for their turn. But I think it’s mostly just going to spend time where Daddy goes to work every day. They love visiting with the patients, exploring the office and filling their pockets up with goodies that you are suppose to get AFTER you get a cleaning. But they do it before. And they always manage to get a whole bag full of tooth brushes, floss and mouthwash. And whatever else they can find. And of course the staff never tells them no. I think if Eric knew how much loot they were making off with he would charge me extra.
But this trip was a little different because Eric was doing a “staff training”. He had recently attended a class on a new method of treating children during their regular cleanings and wanted to teach his staff while using our children as guinea pigs. This works well when you have 6 children ranging in age from one to ten. Everything went well. It was fun to see him working and teaching with his staff. And they all love our children, which makes it a fun experience for them as well.
Josh in the chair
Gabe waiting for his turn.
Hanging out in the waiting room.
Eric taking out Michael’s lose tooth.
Gabe washing his hands because he can reach this sink while standing on the stool. Pure fun.
Training staff on new cleaning methods.
Gabe’s turn.
On our trip home, the older two children complained profusely about their teeth feeling “gritty” and that they liked the old way of cleanings better. I mentioned this to Eric when he got home and he said that the new method is aimed for younger children, but he wanted to see how the older ones reacted. I reminded the children that we live in a community where it is not difficult at all to find people who are missing teeth. Eric is heartbroken every time he has a child come in that has to have extractions done on permanent teeth. One of the reasons he is working hard to change the oral care these children currently lack. I asked our children if having “gritty” teeth for an hour twice a year was worth having a healthy smile. I also informed the boys (who all want to be dentists) that is will be difficult to get into Dental school if they are missing their teeth. They agreed it wasn’t really that bad, in fact they did have a really fun time at the office and would definitely do it again in 6 months.
I realized today that it has been almost a month since Laura took pictures of me. So today was Ben’s turn. I edited the coloring some to compensate for some lighting issues. So today’s photo credits go to Ben.
Maybe you are thinking that I forgot to mention what the surprise is. Nope, it’s not twins. Although I could neither confirm nor deny this. We have an ultrasound scheduled for late February. The children hope every time for twins. Not me. I’m more realistic. Night feedings…twice the training…twice the energy needed…if I were to be given the choice, I would definitely just take one at a time.
This is definitely one of the biggest surprises of my life. It’s about this promise that was made so many years ago that I had completely forgotten about. But one person remembered after all these years. A surprise so big that starting tomorrow morning, my whole life will come to a screeching halt. But that’s enough clues for now. It will be about 2 weeks before I can post anymore. But I will. I promise.
~cheryl
