it's all fun and games

pregnancy and books!

this morning, 16.5 wks. im huge. cant wait to see how i look at 26 wks

belly shot!

pregnancy update for those who care. ha!

i had my prenatal appointment on monday. everything went well. now that i am normal patient i go to the clinic and have to wait a bit longer for the dr. when you are seen by on obg your appointments are usually on time. when you go to the clinic there is 1 dr and if someone goes into labour or there is an emergency, back up you wait for the dr! its annoying at times but so far ive been ubber lucky!

i saw the nurses and the rn in 30 mins. then waited an hour to see the dr! i am up 3 pounds from last check up, so about 13ish in total so far? my blood pressure is normal and there is no protein showing its head. which is great!

best part, we got the baby's heartbeat in 30 seconds and listened to it for a good 5-10 mins. 154 bpm. strong and loud! the baby stayed in the same place so we were able to listen with out interruptions. something that NEVER happened with miss moves every second ellie! i am carrying low, but there is no concern about it i carried very low with nate, and i measure a solid 3" belly. wheeee i actually have a belly!

and we have movement! i felt flutters last week and full on baby fishy moves this week. mostly at night, when i am still. haha i hardly even notice im preggers during the day, too busy to think about it. awesome. ha.

there has been NO spotting, cramping, bleeding or other problems. i am in a state of shock, this is a normal-no complications pregnancy! whee!

we find out the sex next months and yes, i want to know and yes, ill be blabbing it.

read a thon! so this yr we did the read a thon for the first time. its a fundraiser to help support the moncton christian home educators . your child reads 10 hrs in 3 wks, you get sponsors for it. you keep 1/2 the money raised to buy books/curriculum at the local home school store and the other 1/2 goes to the mche library for books to borrow.

the home school store is closing and liquidating the books. the stock was quite low and i wasn't able to purchase any curriculum for nate for next year which was the plan. so in stead i was able to purchase educational books that you would find in a school library/text book style book

i made up a chart to keep track of the books nate read and the time it took him. he finished today! im so proud of him! he did it all by himself!

so this morning, i picked up my friend lo to keep me company and we hit up the store. this was my haul of books. to give you a general idea of how expensive books are this is 250.00 worth of books. NOT including curriculum!

ppl ask me if its expensive to home school and i always say, it can be as expensive as you want it to be or as frugal as possible! we have a budget of what i aim to spend on books each year. i tend to come in on the lower side of things...im cheap. haha BUT somethings i do spend the money on...somethings i do are-

-buy at the end of the yr used book sales!!!! i make a list a good yr a head of what i am looking for and see if i can pick it up used!

-sales!! local venders offer discounts and i do buy on line, when things go on sale!

-buy from friends and others in our local group!

-garage sales!! ive loaded up on a lot of books from random sales ive come across

-i try to buy as much reusable currics as i can for all the kids. i buy the text book and then only have to purchase work books annually

-trade books with friends!

chris and i also look at it as a long term investment for all of our kids. the books will be used 3 times making it more cost worthy. ha. besides by the time you add up the costs we save on public school costs it breaks even (meaning saved money on school fees, gas, clothing, extra curric's etc...*NOT comparing the 2 together!!!) anyways!

to answer thou, you can easily home educate a child in elem for 300 a yr. and thats with new/used books

so there ya goes! another load of books to read to nate! he's already bugging me to read the book on the blood guy as he calls it (start of blood collection)

one last nate story. i LOVE this dude!

yesterday i stopped in for my weekly tims (i try to buy 1 coffee a week, cut backs haha) and got a donut for us to share, after nate finished eating i tossed him a wipe knowing his fingers and face would be covered in the sugary-goodness....i saw nate lean over after he took the wipe and i watched him wipe ellies fingers and face. then he asked for another wipe for himself

seriously? my heart.

back to my new books i go, to glaze upon the newness of them....haha

happy thursday!!! 1 comments

Posted by mel at 3:03 PM

kids!

ellie got into nates science tubes and enjoyed herself

my cutie!!

nate is totally into building things with blocks. legos and knex. he usually builds machines or machines in general. ha

one of yesterdays creations
but they are slowly taking over my house....

every where i look i see constructions!

id rather that than video games! check one for creativity! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 9:01 AM

sickies and snow

the sickies hit the house sunday and stayed all day even thou we told them they were not welcome and to leave!
nate was so sick, poor dude. he slept on dad's shoulder for a bit

but he woke up mon feeling back to his normal and was able to return to his kids duties

the snow we got sat night-sun morning. this pick is for mom and dad. good choice on leaving early!

nate found his way into my bed sun night for late night snuggles and cuddles.

we are all better now, it was that 24 hr bug. nasty! thank you chris for dealing with the puke. love you! 2 comments

Posted by mel at 8:57 AM

our wkend in pics

fri morning, i left ellie with nate for a few and found them like this
seriously. my heart. the best valentine's day gift ever.

when i cuddle the 2 kids i giggle inside and think i have all 3 with me! haha

nate wanted to make a sign for nana, papa, quinn and charlie who came up for the weekend
he decorated it himself and dew all the pictures

playing shopping. nate helped her stack her toys so they would stay in the cart

then helped her push it cause it was too heavy
im actually training him for his wife. haha

while waiting for supper to be ready, i sent the active kids to make place cards for each of us
they came up with these. nate wrote and drew the pictures (inside) quinn glued hearts on them

charlie and nate. waiting for supper

the kids running wild

charlie playing with ellies doll house

the only time the kids were quiet all weekend. they were waiting for cake

this morning
company left yesterday to avoid the storm that hit over night
they were back to themselves as bestie bro and sis

awww

that was my crazy valentines day weekend!
how was yours? 1 comments

Posted by mel at 9:53 AM

its been a week!

before i go on complaining. ha. here are a few pics to enjoy. nate loves to leave selfies on my phone

i secretly love it but i always scold him for touching my phone!

the other day ellie woke up ubber early from her nap, which interrupted school time. i nate and i continued at the table, working away and when i looked over we saw this....

silly girl!

this morning, while collecting garbage, making beds and changing sheets i asked nate to play with ellie till i got back. i came back to this...

nate made a ship for them to play on. kept them busy for the 20 mins i was gone

i have had a busy week. unfortch i have nothing to show for it. i am trying to play catch up from my lacking chores over the last few months. i have ben running laundry, cleaning bathrooms, bed rooms, wiping walls, floors, stairs and doors and well anything that 4 little hands LOVE to touch. haha

i just find i can just keep up, not stay ahead, just maintain the "lived in" look my house requires now. AND have friends over to see it. sigh. my standards have lowered a lot. yesterday i was on my knees scrubbing out the bathtub when ellie walked in, taped my leg and saud "hi ya, mama. hi!" i was like "this blows. i dont wanna scrub a tub. i wanna play with my kids" so i quickly finished the job and joined the kids in nates, trashed room!

after school today we were cleaning up the school stuff, cleaning the table off and i walked into the living room to find this

sob sob sob i can;t keep up! hahaha welcome to my lived in house!

ok. v-day. i loath and do not celebrate v-day or other hallmark holidays! this yr i decided to do something, that didn't cost a cent! for nate

i came up with this. i wrote a note "why i love nate" and each day i wrote out a reason why i love him. he really loves this. i write silly and serious reasons why i think he's the best kid. maybe i should have done one for ellie? haha

ellie LOVES the playroom. nate never uses it. she on the other hand LOVES it. and she loves the slide! i love sending them up to play while i have a minute to blog. haha

this is my life. one pile of a mess after another!

BUT i am thankful and content. god has blessed me and i will thank him, even in the mist of the messes, cereal and toast for supper....cough......cough...... 2 comments

Posted by mel at 3:47 PM

pregnancy and kids!

yesterday morning, 15 weeks

yep, im showing way earlier than the other 3!

this pregnancy is the most uneventful, relaxed pregnancy so far! i have my next prenatal next week so i ll have an update on my treatment and what not

so far thou, i am almost sick free! almost because every once and a while it sneaks up on me and i spent the night on the couch. my energy is back, and i am in a routine with the kids. routine is good, everything is getting done!

my cravings are bizarre and weird!

golden delish apples! i went through 12 pounds since christmas! i try not to eat more than 2 a day!

cheese!- any kind! i eat a brick a week

tuna!!!!- LOVE it. seriously who craves tuna???? i do! yummy!

wendys burgers! for real! i have had 2 so far. i dont normally eat fast food, so im being careful

fries!- i make them at home so they are a bit healthier!

i puke a bit in my mouth at the thought of eating salad! and most green veggies

i dont weigh myself so i have no report on weight gain. im guessing 10? not sure. ill know a ball park guess next week at my appointment. i was told to only gain 25 max. HAHAHAHAHA yeah right. i gained 50+ with nate and 40 with ellie. 25? not gonna happen!

i have gas feelings and general bubbles in the tummy at night. so there is movement, nothing that i can say for sure i felt the baby move. i was 17 wks with nate, 16 wks with both ben and ellie when i felt positive movement...so anytime now! yeah!

over all, things are good and i cant be happier about it! and thats my preggo update!

yesterday after church, nate was very talkative. he asked if we could go for lunch or grab a snack to just talk. so we went to tims. nate wanted to sit in the front seat so i pulled over in a parking lot and we chatted. or rather nate talked for 45 MINUTES! i timed it. he shared so much with me, i let him talk and enjoyed listening to him, hes growing up so fast, forming his own thoughts and opinions. its so neat to watch

i enjoyed our date and the secrets of his heart that he shared with me. i hope i can live up to his expectations as a mom. parenting is hard!

yesterday i had to spend a few hrs in the playroom, working on church stuff. i looked over and saw this

nate went and got a snack for them. got them both a container and he filled hers with berries for her. seriously, i can not thank god enough for their bond. nate takes such good care of her! 0 comments

Posted by mel at 9:30 AM

love notes!

the other night i was out, chris put the kids to bed. i came home got ready for bed and found this note on my night stand

sigh

chris joins me a few minutes later, as he put down his glass he heard a crinkle sound, chris said "what's this?"
i said "oh you got a note from nate too! he left me on on my night stand"
chris turned on his light and burst out laughing

bawahhhhhh
i get i love you mom with a heart
chris gets i dont love you dad with a mad face
please note that nate drew himself and then wrote 'me' under it so we know its him and hes not happy with chris

i seriously laughed my butt off. kids are so real, so raw and so honest!
(nate was upset that chris sent him to bed early with no video game playing)