7 Quick Takes from this week:
I started facilitating “The Bible Timeline“ study by Jeff Cavins and Tim Gray this month. Holy Toledo! I am learning so much, and we’re not even halfway into Genesis. Not only do I feel like I’m growing in my head knowledge of Sacred Scripture, but the structured study is instilling the desire to read Sacred Scripture as my own personal love letter from God. I love, love, love it!
As fantastic as “The Bible Timeline” study is by itself, I’m learning so much more by doing the study with Jeff Cavins’ book “Walking With God: A Journey Through the Bible” at my side. Basically, the book breaks down the story of salvation history into 12 periods (the same 12 periods explored in the Bible Timeline), and draws you into the story.
For example, have you ever read the story about Noah getting drunk and passing out naked in his tent? Then, remember how his son Ham shows up and “uncovers his nakedness”? Yeah, I know. I thought it was strange, too. Well, that whole story would have thrown me for a loop had I not had Jeff Cavins’ book nearby. I wouldn’t have known to explore the passages in Leviticus that explain that this Hebrew idiom (“uncover your father’s nakedness”) actually means to have an incestuous relationship.
Having this book as my reading companion (as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church) is helping me to confidently read Sacred Scripture within the heart of the Church.
My hair dryer of 3 years broke, and I got a brand new one. It’s nothing fancy, but I had no idea how terrible my old one was until I got this new one. Am I the only one that was just introduced to the hair dryer retractable cord?! Wow! That feature is amazing! I just push a button on the hair dryer and *zoom* the cord is gone. Even though I carefully kept my old hair dryer cord untangled, it managed to twist itself so tightly that it ended up being more like one of those old school spiral telephone cords. With each use, it would wind itself up more and more, and I’d end up untwisting it at least once a month.
Not only am I loving the retractable cord, but new dryer cuts my hairdrying time in half, and my hair seems less frizzy. When your getting ready time is limited with little kiddos, this is a big deal! Have I dedicated an entire paragraph to my new hair dryer? Yes, yes I have.
We found a steal of a deal on Craigslist for Jane’s new big girl bed. We picked it up the other day, and Jane was so excited that she asked all morning, “Is it naptime yet?!”
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| Pretending to sleep in her big girl bed after we got it set up. |
Jane and Walt are going to share a room, and Baby will move into the nursery when he/she arrives in August. (Jane will sleep in her new big girl bed, Walt will sleep in Jane’s old toddler bed, and Baby will sleep in Walt’s crib.)
The day we got the bed, the kids slept in their own rooms at naptime, but they insisted that Walt get to sleep in Jane’s room that night in the toddler bed. Long story short, it didn’t go so hot, and we haven’t attempted putting them together since. We’ll wait a few more weeks until we attempt it again.
Speaking of attempting things again, Jane finally warmed back up to the idea of potty training. For awhile, she was absolutely terrified of the potty. I think a lot of it had to do with constipation. Thanks to a steady regimen of Miralax, I think we, uh, got that problem all worked out. Unfortunately, she just doesn’t care if she’s wet. In fact, I think she’d stay in the same pull-up all day long if I’d let her. Blech!
She told me before naptime this afternoon that she wants to wear her big girl underwear, so I told her we had to go on the potty to wear them, and she said, “OK!” with a big smile. Here goes nothing!!!
I never thought I’d be potty training a three-year-old, but here we are, and I’m not letting myself worry about it. We’ll get it figured out. As one mom told me, “You know, they never ask you when your child was potty trained on college applications.”
I officially start my third trimester of pregnancy tomorrow. Yay! At yesterday’s OB appointment, I did my blood glucose test for gestational diabetes, and I’m still waiting on the results. I’ve never had it before, but I’m a little nervous about the results this time around for two reasons: 1. I was up 5 lbs. from my last appointment, and 2. I was measuring 31 weeks instead of 28 weeks (and technically, I was still 27 weeks at my appointment). Both of those things don’t bode well. Until I get the results, I’m trying not to obsess over it. If I do have gestational diabetes, I know I should be able to manage it with diet. I guess I’m just nervous that I’ll have a baby that will be so big that I won’t be able to deliver vaginally, and I’d like to avoid a c-section if possible. Hopefully I’ll get the results before the weekend…
Can I break out the violin and play a sad song for my poor body?
The old mare is exhausted. After all, I got pregnant with Thérèse August 2012, miscarried November 2012, got pregnant two weeks later (yay!), and this baby is due August 17, 2013. So, by the time Baby arrives, I will have been pregnant for a year with a two-week “break” from my miscarriage. Don’t get me wrong! I am so, so, so thrilled to be pregnant, and I can’t wait to meet Baby, but my body doesn’t seem to be up to the job these days.
First, I had the back-to-back first trimesters with the two pregnancies. With both, I battled some rough “morning” sickness. The second trimester was pretty uneventful, but the sciatica keeps getting worse, so my OB wrote me a prescription for a maternity belt. If the belt combined with the physical therapy exercises I learned last pregnancy don’t help, I’ll probably start physical therapy up again. Spending any amount of time on my feet makes my legs throb, so it might be time for some sexy compression stockings. More and more varicose veins seem to be appearing on my legs. Youch! Having to sleep on my side doesn’t help matters. Whatever side I’m sleeping on goes numb after awhile, so I wake up to roll over, and I end up having to make a bathroom run. I’m averaging 3-5 bathroom trips a night. I just keep telling myself it’s all practice for the nighttime feedings, right???
Wah, wah, waaaaaaah!
All things considered, this pregnancy has been pretty darn good, and I’m counting my blessings that Baby seems to be doing great in there. I’ll gladly take the physical stuff on my end in exchange for a healthy baby. I just know my limits, and I know that sleep deprivation is the fastest way for me to become a meeeeeeeeeeeeeeean mama. Perhaps a little nighttime Benadryl is in order…
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Want to join the fun?
Head on over to Jen Fulwiler’s blog at Conversion Diary and post your own 7 Quick Takes!
