Apple Hill Farm

Last week Sophia learned all about Johnny appleseed, so... Monday my Mom came down our way and helped me take the kids to an apple tree farm. It was very blustery and chilly, but we had so much fun! We picked a whole bushel of Jonathon apples, played in a teepee, talked to the resident goat and sheep, petted the kitty cat, and bought some apple donuts and apple cider - which we enjoyed once we got home!

I still need to make some applesauce with Sophia using all the apples we bought!

Enjoy reliving our day with some pictures ~

0kay, quick note... Riley was all smiles looking at the sweet little goat, but as soon as the sheep got too near the fence...
His smiles turned into ....
THIS!
Sophia loved the animals though. She even figured out they liked hay and was picking up stray pieces to feed them through the fence.

At least she sees the value of exercise

scene: Sophia, my Mom and myself all sitting quietly in the living room. Out of no where, connected to no other conversation or visible train of thought comes this...

Sophia: Mom, it is actually good when I roll my eyes because it gives them exercise.

Me: (I knew exactly where she was going with this. She is forbidden to roll her eyes in response to another individual, and she's always also trying to think up good reasons around certain rules.) Well, make sure you don't look at anyone when you do it.

Grammy: You should blog that Ruthie.
Sophia, when will you not want your Mom to blog about you anymore? When you're ten?

Sophia: No, now, when I'm four.

:)

Sophia was cuddling us in bed this morning and out of no where she touches her armpit and declares, "I think I'm getting hair in my armpits!" Jamie then shows him his armpit and says she better watch out or her armpits will look like his. :) Her response?

"Ewwww."

Funny enough, this is not the first time Sophia has declared that she's getting armpit hair. You just never know what's going through her brain! :)

***

Poor Riley's belly issues aren't resolved after all. We initially thought switching from dairy to soy had done the trick, and though we've seen some improvements, of which I won't detail, his poor belly still seems upset and it has now been at least two months (minus one random day) since he has had anything but diarrhea when he poops (sorry for being so graphic).

I took him to the dr. yesterday. Because his problems didn't totally resolve when taken off dairy, and since we have seen some slight improvements over time, the dr. seems to think it may not be diet related but rather that around the time Riley stopped nursing and started on milk products he had coincidentally contracted a tummy virus. She explained that tummy viruses in babies and toddlers can actually alter their intestinal tracts and can have a real tendency to linger for a long time.

Riley lost a little weight too, so that is another concern. So, the plan is to wait it out one more week. If he's not well after that we have to submit a stool sample for testing and get Riley weighed again. I'm not sure we're we'd go from there.

Thankfully Riley remains a pretty happy boy, still has a great appetite (which makes the weight loss puzzling), and is sleeping relatively well (though his naps are always cut short in the afternoon due to him being woken up with a messy diaper, poor boy).

Please pray that his tummy issues would resolve on their own this week, and if not that the dr. would have great insight into what is causing all of this.

Thank you!

13 Weeks!

Today marks my 13th week of pregnancy! This always feels like a big week because it is the week that takes me from the 1st trimester (where risk of miscarriage is highest and where I've had to take progesterone supplements each day to try and prevent said miscarriage) into the 2nd, where I no longer need to take my supplement and I can breath a bit easier knowing my risk for early miscarriage is passed. Of course there is always a bit of nervousness until that baby is in my arms! But! I must surrender that fear to the Lord and trust Him with the life of this child.

For those of you wondering... we WILL be finding out the gender of the baby, as long as baby cooperates! :) That won't be until about 20 weeks though, so, sometime in November. The name will remain a secret though. :)

I finally got started, "officially," with school this week with Sophia. We work at it for about an hour to an hour and a half each morning, and we're having a lot of fun! Yesterday we went on a walk to identify different trees by their leaves. Unfortunately it seems all that was planted around here were maples, so we couldn't find all of our specimens. It was fun though and Soph really had fun hunting.

Two of Riley's favorite things are 1) talking on the phone. If it's an actual cell phone he's happiest, but he'll turn any object into a phone if need be. He holds it up to his ear and babbles away. He'll even hand it to you for a second so you can "say hi," then he'll take it back and keep on babbling. It is a riot! 2) He loves to brush/comb his own hair or anyone else's! If he gets his hand on a brush he's very excited! It is so cute to see his little hands wielding my big brush.

It has been very rainy and dreary in our neck of the woods this week. I was hoping to get to an Appletree farm this week as we are studying about Johnny Appleseed, but we may have to postpone that for next week.

Have a great Wednesday!

Some Updates

Sophia is full of funny things to say - as usual! :) Just this morning, as she was getting some morning Mommy cuddles, I told her Dad had to go to church to meet someone and that she could go with. That got her excited and she popped up out of the bed and exclaimed, "Well, I better go, we don't want to be late!" As she scurried off the bed and to the door, she turns around and waves at me and says, "Adios!"

As Sophia has started reading a bit, every time I read to her now, she wants me to put my finger by each word as I read it so that she knows just where I am in the story and what word I'm reading. Yeah, my days of skipping certain parts of certain stories are coming to a swift end.

Sophia is becoming an honest to goodness good helper! She is great at folding laundry, running the vaccum, helping with other simple household cleaning and loves to help wash dishes (though she would probably call it "painting with soap," and you might call it "making a huge watery mess"). :)

***

Riley seems to have some sort of sensitivity to milk. He was strictly nursed until about 11 months, at which point he went on milk based formula. We noticed some changes in his, um, output, shall we say, that were rather unsavory. After a few weeks of just formula, Riley turned one, and so we started to replace a few of his bottles with milk. His output issues only got worse and soon we decided to cut out all dairy from his diet to see what would happen. He's been about a week on his dairy-free diet and many of his issues are finally beginning to improve/resolve themselves. We may experiment some in the next few weeks by reintroducing some dairy (i.e. cheese, yogurt) to see just what he can and cannot tolerate.

Other than this little dietary issue, Riley is doing great! He received a child-sized OSU football for his birthday, and just loves to spike the ball into the ground, or hold it tight and run headlong into you and tackle you! He also loves to sword fight with his Daddy. He is ALL boy and just delights us.

***

You may recall we have had some basement issues this summer, that at this point remain unresolved. We have to have two of our walls completely rebuilt and are in the process of getting multiple estimates. We've had about four guys out thus far and they all agree about what needs done. We're praying to have a decision made by the end of next week as to who we'll choose to do the work and hopefully get the work completed ASAP! These walls would very likely fail to withstand another Ohio winter.

***

I am 12 weeks pregnant now! The baby is growing and should be about 2 inches long and 1/2 an ounce. My pants are getting snug around the middle, though I'm rather in denile that at a measly 12 weeks I might need maternity clothes. I guess with baby number three things expand quicker than with number one and two. :)

So, we are all well. Jamie is working very hard each day and continues to do almost all of the cooking and definitley all the poopy diaper changes! We had a huge blessing in the form of my friend Merrily yesterday! She brought us dinner, swept and mopped my floors, washed my dishes and spent the better part of the day with us. We got to play with her sweet little baby girl and just felt so thankful for such a dear friend. Thank you Merrily!!!

Have a great day! I'm really praying/hoping the next 2-4 weeks prove to show some improvement on the morning sickness front and maybe I'll be up for more regular blogging again. Until then!...

A List

1. It is September 11. Eight years. Crazy. Today, for the first time I had the thoughts that some day I'd have to explain what all this "9/11" business is about to my kids. That will NOT be easy to explain.

Where were you when it happened? I was a junior in college and was observing an open-heart surgery. The first I heard of it was when someone in the room started receiving news reels about it on his pager. The surgeon then asked for the news to be turned on in the actual OR, than, after we all realized how huge and involved the news was, he had it turned off again, I'm guessing so all involved in dealing with this woman's OPEN HEART would be able to stay focused.

I had no idea what the World Trade Center was, or what the Twin Towers were. Not sure why, but I didn't. Now, I do.

Well, today I am remembering and being most thankful that I serve a God who is above all and a Savior who is our true source of meaning, comfort and hope.

2. I am approaching 11 1/2 weeks pregnant, and I am finally starting to have some energy again. I still tire easily, and remain extremely nauseous and have little appetite. BUT! It is wonderful to actually have the energy to get out of bed in the morning and participate in family life! Thanking Jesus for this step in the right direction!

3. Riley loves his new walking legs and is even running some now. He loves his Mama, but I think he's mostly a Daddy's boy. It's fun to see them wrestling and playing "boy" stuff. :)

4. Sophia and I have started doing school again, and she is starting to read!!! It is so fun to hear her sounding out all sorts of 3-letter words. She is also getting really good at simple math and I am simply looking foward to all the learning she will be doing this year. I just love teaching her. Doing school together is one of the most enjoyable things we do together and to see the joy in her eyes as she learns is so precious to me.

5. I think that's it. :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Some new reads

I do a lot of lying in bed right now. After I eat I usually feel awful, so lying flat with little noise and movement is how I cope best. I also feel badly when I start to get hungry, and sometimes I just don't want to eat, especially at night, if I'm not yet asleep. Sleep always chases the hunger away, so there's more time in bed... :)

Well, yesterday, I couldn't fall asleep, yet needed to be lying down. I was really wanting a good book to read. So, I searched our own bookshelf and came across a trilogy I'd never read. Can you guess? I'll give you three hints.

The author is now dead.
The books are Science Fiction.
This author has had two of his other books turned into major motion pictures in recent years.

That's right...


C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy. I'm almost through with the first one, Out of the Silent Planet. I look forward to working my way through the rest of the series.

Have you ever read these books? Do you tend to give Science Fiction a chance? Try them! I think you might like them!

There it is

First item of news, from Sophia herself, who has done an excellent job at not spilling "the secret" even once for over a month!!!!


So, I am ten weeks along and due at the end of March. This baby was more of a "surprise" than our other two, but we are equally as excited and just feeling really blessed. God has been reminding me of my need to trust in Him more fully as I've had 4 other babies lost to miscarriage. These first few weeks are always a bit harrowing, but so far so good!

I am one of the "lucky" who get to experience a lot of nausea, etc... the first 16 weeks or so. It's been much more challanging to deal with already having two children, but this too is something to be thankful for! As long as I feel sick, I know I'm pregnant and baby is doing well.

You all may remember we kept Riley's gender a surprise, even from ourselves! We won't be doing that this time. I've experienced it both ways now, since we did find out with Soph. I prefere knowing, as does Jamie. We'll be sure to share once we know, in another 10 weeks or so... but, the name will remain a secret!

So, now you know why the lack of blogging. Mostly because I've been trying to just survive each day and being on the computer just doesn't make it very often these days! I'll be posting much more frequently again in weeks to come. Until then, do keep us in your prayers! Thank you!

Before I go...

In other news... way past due on reporting -

My son is one! Last Friday, August 28, Riley turned the big ONE! We were visiting friends in a different state, and I was so thankful for my dear friend going the extra mile to bake Riley a birthday cake. It was fun to share the special day with good friends and share his cake too! All six kiddos, and us four adults, enjoyed every last bite.

"Can't wait to taste that frosting!"

"What, me, have a little something on my face?"

"Whose letting me get away with this?"

"You are, Mommy!"

Best shot I could get of the two of them. Seriously! :)