Canaan, 45 weeks

26 pounds (90%), 31.5" tall (above 95%)
Crawling all over, cruising along furniture and walks while holding on to our fingers
Says bath ("baaa!"), brother ("bubba!"), mama and dada
Nurses throughout the day (and often once at night) and eats solids usually 2-3 times a day, if I remember. ;-)
2 naps per day, 1.5-2 hours each. Goes to bed by 8 and wakes up for the day by 7.
Had his first haircut (by Mommy) last week. He looks like such a big boy now!
Has 8 teeth

Yeah, good idea!

It is that evening tidy-up hour and I said to the kids, "What could we do to make the house look extra-specially nice?" and Caris said, "BALLOONS!" HA HA!

Silver and Staples

I love when I enter a home that is lovingly, carefully decorated, especially when you can tell that it's happened over time and each piece has been chosen because it struck someone's eye and they had to have it. I do not feel this way about my own home yet. Especially around holidays, I tend to beat myself up for not spending more time and money to make my home into a holiday happiness that my family and friends can enjoy. I was feeling that way before Thanksgiving this year. We were having my Mom over and I felt like the house was bare, that I didn't have any special decorations planned, no beautiful Thanksgiving centerpiece, etc. I determined that next year it would be different. Then I went down to the garage for something and what did my eyes behold? A utensil tray full of dirt - AND SILVER! There was a full set of beautiful, tarnished silverware - even serving pieces! I brought it upstairs and admired it. Mom brought over some silver polish and Malachi set to work. He made every piece gleam, and it was gorgeous. Thank you Lord for such a gift!

On Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving at Tony & Rabae's house. Now SHE had a gorgeous Thanksgiving setup! But anyway, right around 1:00 Caris fell backwards from a tug of war game and hit the back of her head on their granite hearth. Alif scooped her up and was getting some ice when I saw that there was blood down the back of her shirt. Thankfully, Tony's brother Nick was there. He is an EMT and really helped out. He said it probably needed a staple, so Canaan & Caris & I took off for urgent care. The doctor agreed, probably a staple or two. A nurse cleaned it all up (was THAT hard to watch!! but Caris laid still and quiet the whole time!) and when the doctor came back in she said it was bigger than she thought. It ended up with three staples. Watching her do that was one of the hardest things ever as a Mom. Caris was so brave, lying still and crying softly into the table. I feel like I let the doctor do something barbaric to my little girl, but what else could be done? Her scalp was gaping open and had to be fixed. It certainly could have been a lot worse, but watching her have to have staples in her head was no fun. She's healing up wonderfully and we even got to wash her hair today.

Kids' Christmas Production

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9551363592

pics

Triplets, anyone?

When the kids and I walked into the WIC office today, everyone was smiling at us. A lady who was there with her kids asked, "are they triplets?" It took me a minute to realize she was referring to Malachi, Graham and Caris. I said, "Oh - no, they're not." She said, "Oh, ok - I saw that they (Malachi and Graham) were twins and then thought that she looks a lot like them too." ROFL! I said, "Oh - they're 9, 7 and 4, but boy triplets would have been a lot of work!" Ha ha ha! I get asked A LOT if Malachi & Graham are twins, but triplets - that was a first.

He's so precious

When I look down and I can just see Canaan's big brown eyes peering up at me, or his little sausage fingers reaching up to see what he can find on top of my desk, or hear his new spitting-all-the-time exuberance, sometimes I get tears in my eyes. I remember to thank God for this most beautiful gift.

Malachi, the white Ninja (no, the colors don't mean anything, they're just generic ninja costumes)
Graham, the red Ninja (or ninya, however you prefer LOL) ;-)
Caris, the big green Dragon - my little princess ROFL
Canaan's 1st Halloween, wearing the same Pooh costume his big brothers wore
Pooh didn't make it very long. We took him to one house trick-or-treating, fed him some carrots out of the split pea soup and then he was pretty much ready for bed. Don't worry, he didn't sleep in his costume. LOL

When I grow up I want to be like my son

Malachi has always had a strong spiritual sense. He has loved the Lord from the beginning and has always craved more of Him. Well, he's 9 now and taking off in his reading and every night he asks if he can read to me. He reads the Bible to me! I don't know anyone who has a hunger for the Word like my little son does. He memorizes it, talks about it, reads it on his own and with me and even prays it. I am praying that God will give me a desire to know the Word the way my son wants to!

And totally off topic: Caris has a hernia! OMGosh! I noticed a squishy lump in her groin area at least a year ago. I mentioned it to her pediatrician. She took a look at it and didn't see anything. I'd always trusted her very much, and she's a very thorough, conservative doctor so my mind was mostly at ease. Every so often I'd see that little soft lump and wonder what it was. Well, yesterday I read a post on a message board. This Mom was talking about how her daughter's surgery had gone that day. Her daughter is Caris' age. She said something about the scar in her groin area and something about a hernia and it made me wonder how she knew her daughter had a hernia. I looked back through the archives and her original post said that she noticed a soft squishy spot in her daughter's right groin. Just like Caris, I thought. I looked it up online and Inguinal Hernia sounded exactly like what I have seen on Caris. I called the doctor's office (they go to the family doctor I have seen for years now that we left the old pediatrician's office) and they made an appointment for her to be seen today. This practitioner saw it right away and gave me a referral to a surgeon. We'll see him on 11/13, though I am wondering if our doctor's office could get us in with him any sooner than that. I am praying that Caris is either healed or that this is easy to fix and never comes back!

Canaan, 36 weeks

-started crawling a few steps at a time
-sits in the big bath and loves to splash! Mommy has to sit him down over and over as he tries to climb all over the bath
-claps hands

Ugly Pumpkin Contest

Ok, I know lots of you are wandering around pumpkin patches this time of year, and just like people, it's amazing to see the variety and to appreciate how different pumpkins can really be when you see 'em up close. But let's have a sense of humor about it and have a little contest and see who can find the ugliest pumpkin out there. E-mail me a picture of the ugliest pumpkin that *YOU FIND* (don't steal any pictures from online please, take your own). HisKids37@sbcglobal.net I'll post the pictures here and on October 25th I will take votes on which one is the ugliest! Have fun! Happy Ugly Pumpkin Hunting! Oh yeah! There's a prize! Winner will receive a $10 gift card to Starbucks! You can use it to enjoy a pumpkin spice latte with YOUR sweet pumpkin! :-)

God made gourds

On our way to soccer practice after the pumpkin patch today, Canaan was really sleepy and sweet Malachi let him hold one of the gourds he'd purchased. After a while Malachi said, "He's falling asleep sucking on that gourd, Mommy." I was like, "aww, take a picture!" I pictured him sucking on a rounded yellow end of the gourd and thought, how cute!

So imagine my surprise when I pried the gourd from him when we got to soccer practice and saw THIS! ROFL!!
I LOL so hard and just had to try to get him to latch . . .
He was all too happy to do so! LOL!

Show and Tell

Caris got a haircut today and it looks so nice & healthy! She is such a pretty girl!
Alif is a super talented artist. I wish you could see the detail in this gorgeous chalk drawing!

Pictures

Just look at those gorgeous blue eyes! My nephew Christian is the cutest thing you've ever seen!!












My dream come true!! Finally seeing both of our babies play together!!











Mr. Mischief climbing the hearth. Shari, thank you for this totally adorable monkey cover. It suits him! ;-)











Graham is looking so grown up. :*) Handsome son!













Proud Grandma at Malachi's soccer game today, holding Christian and Canaan.

Canaan, 35 weeks

-added pumpkin and honeydew melon to his eating repertoire

-chokes himself a dozen times a day on whatever little things he can find all over the ground

-gets on hands & knees and makes a move as if he's going to crawl, but just thrusts forward and grunts instead, over and over, till he gets to what he wants.

-goes from sitting to lying and back with ease

Crazy Hat Day at Awana

Me, of course, then Graham (ha ha!), Caris & Malachi

Canaan, 34 weeks

I am teaching him not to roll over during diaper changes by saying, "No no." and holding his thigh so he can't roll over. Today I said, "Canaan, NO." and did not have my hand on his thigh but he just laid there and cried like he was soooo sad. LOL I guess he's learning! (Side note: just using "no" has not worked for subsequent diaper changes. LOL)

When he is on my & Alif's bed he makes a beeline for the blinds or the alarm clock. He loves when we pull up the blinds and he can look out the window at the trees, the neighbor's dogs etc. When he plays with the alarm clock he wants the music on, but then when he turns the volume knob and the sound goes too high and startles him, he ducks into my side and looks at the alarm clock like it is mean.

I am working on having him in the nursery at church. The last two sundays he's made it about 15 minutes. ;-)

My Awesome Boys

We have been doing our schoolwork on the couch most of the time for the past few weeks, which leaves the table free for crafting endeavors on the part of those not directly involved in schoolwork at the moment. One day I noticed that Graham had some fuzzy purple stuff in his hands and knew it would be taken from him as his level of focus would probably not allow fuzzy purple stuff and also phonics practice at once. I looked over at him and he was looking at me like the picture below. I had to ROFL and take a few pictures before setting the purple stuff aside until after we were done with phonics. He is so awesome!












Malachi has been asking me to teach him to sew for eons. The other day he brought out two pieces of fabric - primary stripes and primary tie dye - and asked if he could make Caris a doll blanket. There is never a good time for something this involved, so I just said yes. He was so proud of himself sewing all on his own! When it was done he ironed it, folded it into quarters, tied a ribbon around it and presented it to Caris. What an awesome brother!

Squash is good

First I grew the butternut squash in my garden. Ok, just kidding, I should have but didn't - I just bought it at the store and baked it:










Then I scooped it out and put it into the Sunbeam-brand "magic bullet" Alif got me. LOVE THAT THING! Also added some rice cereal and breastmilk.














Poured the blended squash into ice cube trays











It's ready to eat!












And it's a huge hit!

Picture Time

Graham lost two teeth this last week!














Uh-oh! Canaan loooooves to find pieces of paper to chew up. Mr. Mischief!!












I love how contemplative he looks in this picture. He is a serene, pleasant baby.

I was IMing with Christina one day and heard "mmmm, mmmm, mmmmm, mmmm" from the living room and found Canaan like this. ROFL

Thank you Mom and Rod for the gift cards for my Birthday! Here's one outfit I picked out:

Canaan asleep in my arms at soccer this last Saturday

Canaan, 33 weeks

Tooth #6 poking through


Gets on hands & feet with ankles crossed


Loves "his" new BabyHawk mei tai baby carrier - will often fall asleep in there snuggled up close to Mommy

Goes from sitting to lying on tummy, though not always gracefully. LOL Also learning to go from lying on tummy to sitting up (only once successfully so far - one leg usually gets stuck facing backwards LOL)

Canaan, 32 weeks

Varies his sleep positions. I have found him sleeping on his back and on his side. He still mostly prefers his tummy.

Lots of rocking on hands & knees, and a few scoots forward. Still mostly backwards, sideways and in circles.

Learned the art of ripping off diapers. Joy!

Canaan, 31 weeks

~Has 5 teeth now! 3 on top, 2 on bottom.
~Had a weird week with Mommy's hospitalizations but did great. He even drank down a whole bottle during the last one.
~Still doing great sleeping all night in the crib. I guess we could say that Caris & Canaan officially share a room!
~Added peaches and oatmeal to his repertoire

Third Time's a Charm

There was more than enough drama in my home last Monday and Tuesday with the whole afib thing. Well, Saturday night I put the kids to bed, visited with Alif and went upstairs for bed. I laid in bed reading my Gospel Wheel Scriptures to recite for our Awana kick-off meeting and then turned out the light and laid down to sleep. I don't know how much time went by, or if I was fully asleep or not, but my heart started pounding. Oh no, I was sooo scared! Not this again, not this again! This is exactly what I had been so afraid of. I went downstairs and told Alif it was happening again and to make a long story short, I ended up in the ambulance and back in the emergency room. I was not in afib, my heart was just racing, and my heart checked out fine. I felt pretty happy about that, though I wondered why it'd started to pound like that in the first place. Seriously, as soon as we left the hospital I started to feel weird. My hands and feet were tingly and I felt lightheaded. I mentioned it and Alif suggested that we go back but I thought no, let's just see how it goes. IT DID NOT GO WELL. We got home from the hospital at 3:30 am and I laid there feeling absolutely horrible all the rest of the night. I had diarrhea, I felt numb, chest pressure and pain coming and going, heart felt like it was pounding, blood pressure was all over the map as was my pulse . . . it just felt like ok so I may not be in afib but what in the world is going on, because something is not right. Finally around 10:30 I asked Alif to take me back to the hospital. He did, and my Mom met me there. They took me straight back to triage, and straight back to a bed. The nurse hooked me up to some oxygen and a heart monitor and said, "This isn't afib." I was having some premature beats of some sort but my heart was doing fine. Another long story short, Jan from church came (bless her!) and between my Mom, Rod, Jan and the doctor we basically summed it up that a) my heart is doing fine and b) anxiety is causing this to keep happening - the heart pounding, anxiety, tingling hands, all of it. I've been so afraid of going into afib that I'm causing my heart to go a little bonkers. He sent me home with an anti-anxiety medication that I have taken 3x. Between the medication and the knowledge I gained during that last visit, I feel so much better. Also Mom sent me some awesome verses that I printed for my desk.

Health issues STINK!!

I was tagged

Hey thanks Theresa! I don't think I've ever been tagged. :-)

1)What is your school name and why?
Prince of Peace Academy. When we made the decision to homeschool, I knew we had found peace. We had struggled and struggled trying to figure out which educational option was the best one, and it was such a peaceful feeling knowing we had heard God's voice. He is our Prince of Peace!
2)How is your weather today?
Hot. It was a very hot day for our first day of the 2007 soccer season.
3)What steals your joy?
Stress
4)Name five blessings you received this week.
1) Love and caring when I had my medical scare
2) Love and caring for my Birthday!
3) I hesitate to call this a blessing, but my brother lost a very dear friend this week and the blessing part is that it reminded me how blessed I really am to have my awesome husband.
4) Smiles, hugs and fun with each of my kids
5) I know I kind of already said this in #1 but it *really* blessed me when my Mom took off work to help me after my afib incident, and that Alif and his parents took amazing care of my kids.
5)Favorite Scripture
He is faithful to complete the good work he began in me. Amazing!
6) Who in the Bible do you think are most like?
That is a hard one. I'm not sure!
7)The passage of scripture you read last:
Matthew 1. I read on a postcard from church that we'll do Acts this year and it would be a great continuation of Matthew, so I thought I would refresh on Matthew.
8) Have you ever praised God for something weird?
Oh, I'm absolutely sure I have. I don't know what at the moment. LOL
9) If you were making a greeting card for God what would it say.
Oh my, it would be the longest greeting card ever but at the top it would say, "I LOVE YOU!"
10) What is the best miricle God has performed in your life, or what is your favorite answered prayer?
Best miracle I know of is that he works in my life nonstop. He never gives up!
11)what is the most fun thing you have done lately.
Laughed until I cried!
12) How did you choose your screen name.
We are God's children and we were married 3/7.
Now I get to play tag!
1 Megan http://www.megmills.blogspot.com/
2 Lynette http://aviewfrommywindow.blogspot.com/
3 Tammy http://bakomom.blogspot.com/
4 Barbie http://www.justinandbarbie.blogspot.com/
5 Raquel http://mopsmommyof4.blogspot.com/

Atrial Fibrillation

On Monday we were having a great day! I was rearranging my dining room, playing with the kids, just having a nice day. We were taking the day off school for Labor Day. At about 12:30 I went upstairs with Canaan and laid down to nurse him for his nap. All of a sudden I started to have heart palpitations and it was beating so hard and just felt out of control. I turned quickly to my stomach and thought, "what is going on??" Then I started to feel faint. I yelled for Malachi to bring me the phone and he called back, "which one?" I said, "ONE THAT WORKS! QUICKLY!" He rushed up and said, "what do you need it for?" I said, "I need to call 911" and he said, "what do you need to call it for?" I called and told them what was going on. I was very scared! I told them I was home alone with four children and he said, "It's ok, ma'am, we'll call law enforcement. They will be fine". Whaaaaaaat? That made me realize that Alif's parents are right across the street so I told Graham, "Go get Grandma and Grandpa". I made my way downstairs (I don't remember this, but Malachi says I told him to take Canaan downstairs) and waited. Fred came over and got the kids and Chamil came and sat with me until the paramedics arrived. What an embarrassing, scary experience. My house was a mess, I was unshowered and in pajamas . . . ugh! They put me on oxygen right away, asked a million questions and loaded me up. On the way to the hospital the paramedic got the IV going and then said, "I'm going to give you a medication that's going to stop your heart for a fraction of a second and it's going to be uncomfortable." Woah, scary! I said, "Is it going to be painful?" He said, "Yes." I said, "How painful?" He said, "It might hurt a lot." GAAA! It wasn't, though. It made my arms and legs hurt but just for a second. I felt so out of it, weak, tired, unclear.

Once I got to the emergency room they just kept asking a million questions and gave me a bunch, bunch more medication. They said my heart rate was fluctuating between 185-200. No wonder I felt so icky! Someone else told me later that it was 220 in the ambulance. After about 3-4 hours it was below 100 and I felt A LOT better, though still very tired & weak. They let Alif come back after about an hour. It felt like forever. They ran a bunch of tests and oh by the way, I had to use a bed pan several times. How's that for embarrassing?? My HUSBAND had to help me with the bedpan! The nurse offered to, of course, but I think I'd rather my own husband help me than some nurse I don't even know - and who was a man, btw.

I was in the emergency room from about 1 till 7:30 or so. I finally got a room on the cardiac floor (I think I was the only patient under age 80) and let me tell you, sinking into that bed was wonderful. Being on a hard gurney all day was not comfortable. I'd had lots of tests done (EKG, chest x-ray, labs) and I was just so tired. They hooked me up to a portable heart monitor that went into a pocket in my gown and that was basically it. No water, no food, but the IV still in. A nurse came out and took the IV out at some point and then it was nice to be able to get up and go to the restroom without the IV pole. I really did not sleep much at night at all. It was so loud in there. I finally fell asleep just before 5 am and the EKG tech came in with a very cheerful voice: "Emily? Hi honey, it's me, Nancy! I'm here to do another EKG, ok?" Then right after her, my CNA came in to do all my vitals - again - and then right after that the hall cleaner came by. AAAAaaaaaa!

Ohh! I forgot! The first doctor who saw me said I could not breastfeed because of the medications I was on. I asked my ER nurse to write all of them down and he very kindly did! I called LaMonica and asked her to look them up in Hale's and guess what? They were all fine!! Alif brought Canaan to me at night to nurse, and 3x the next day, and I pumped like 5-6 times too. Yay!

Ok - so the next day, I waited. I finally got to eat, YAY! I was exhausted but relieved that I wasn't having any more palpitations or anything. My Mom was there all day and we had a nice time chatting. I finally had my Echo at about 4:30 or so and saw the cardiologist at about 6-6:30. He was not helpful. He just smiled and said we'd probably never know what caused the a-fib, that I could go back to life as usual and we'll see you in 2-3 weeks. Umm, not that reassuring! So we went through the discharge process and ohhhhhh I am soooo happy to be HOME!! That first night home I was very, very paranoid. I had that heart monitor on for two days and it was a good feeling to know that at least if something happened they would know it right away. It's creepy to think of something like that happening again, and I still feel like I don't have any answers. I did talk to my friend Jan today, who's a nurse in cardiac recovery, and she had GREAT info and gave me some names of cardiologists. I was able to get in with her favorite within about 2 weeks, so that's good.

Life is precious. I had tears in my eyes in that emergency room, thinking oh my gosh, what if this is it? What if watching my kids leave the house with Fred while I was slumped on the couch was the last time I saw them? The last time they saw ME? I know that my days are in God's hands, and I know that whatever plan He has for me is GOOD. But I'm still human. I'm a wife, a Mommy, a daughter, sister, friend . . . God has blessed me with people I adore and it was so weird to think of the possibility of leaving them all so suddenly. I am thankful that He did not take me home on Monday, as weird as that sounds. I hope that his plan for me includes raising up my children, but I trust His will.

I hope I never go through this again!!!!


http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/Atrial-Fibrillation/Atrial-Fibrillation-Overview

Carrots

Canaan's first time trying carrots - he likes them!
I don't know what it is about carrots but they make him laugh!
Last night Uncle Tony said Canaan has intelligent eyes. I'm not sure what that means exactly but they are beautiful for sure!

Canaan, 30 weeks

~Sleeping all night in the crib. I miss looking over and seeing him in the pack & play but we're both sleeping better and that I enjoy very much.

~Leans to the side when upright, like the wants to see this world from a different angle. So cute!

~Started a funny "cheeese" smile complete with squinty eyes. Funny baby!

~Got his 3rd tooth! Upper left center. His little gums actually bled as it came though. Owie!

Canaan, 29 weeks

I moved him to his crib for nighttime sleeping. The first night he slept until 4:30 before joining Alif & I in bed; the second night he woke around 1:30.

Has now eaten: banana, avocado, brown rice puree, applesauce (by far his favorite), plums and peas. Today I made him a baby smoothie: banana, plum, primadophilus (I'm having a little yeast issue), and brown rice puree.

Can sit really well but we have to be close by because he will still topple to the side randomly.

Doctor, Doctor give me the news

There has been a lot of drama for me in the last few months regarding our pediatrician. We've been with her since our first baby and she has been so wonderful to us. She was very, very unhappy that I had Canaan at home and it has completely changed our relationship. So I made the hard decision to take Canaan to our family doctor for his 6-month check. I called the office and told the receptionist that I needed to know the doctor's stance on homebirth (so I can know if it will be an issue should I have any more babies) and on delayed/selective vaccinating. My doctor called me back personally and discussed both issues with me fully, which I found refreshing and nice. Though I got the impression that he feels like homebirth isn't the safest option and that he finds immunizations amazingly wonderful things, he made it clear that our decisions are up to us and his job is solely to be sure that we are aware of the pros and cons. Eh, that sounded *just ok* to me. I mean, I really figured the visit could go well or poorly based on that, kwim?

Before the visit I typed up the shot schedule we are following for Canaan so that I could take it in with me and be really sure that we're on the same page and I won't get a bunch of lectures when I go in. I scheduled the appointment with the PA in the office since my doctor didn't have an opening for a few weeks. I really like the PA anyway. When she found out I was nursing Caris, who was almost 3 at the time, she smiled and said that was so great. I told her I didn't often hear that from medical personnel and she said with a wistful look in her eyes, "I nursed my kids so long my whole family was scandalized." So you know, I figured that she would be the most receptive to my unconventional parenting practices anyway.

I was nervous the day of the appointment. I had no plans to argue or get defensive. I knew that if this doctor's office couldn't accept the way I do things, there are others who will. I just figured that if we're going to leave our ped, we may as well all go to the same doctor. Well, things seriously could NOT have gone any better. The PA came in and Caris jumped on her right away: "We have another brother and he's at camp this week." LOL PA loved Canaan's chunky-liciousness, praised our nursing and not having started solids yet ("yay!" she said), said not to worry about his breathing issues because he's so obviously healthy, it's probably something he'll outgrow as his lungs grow.

Then I broached the subject of homebirth, and that I'd talked with Dr. to make sure it wouldn't be an issue should we have more babies. She looked confused and said, "an issue for us?" I told her that our ped had had a hard time with it and she just said that medicine changes so much, what was right 10 years ago isn't necessarily right now . . . she said, "we're kind of just . . . ehhh" (shrugged shoulders, like - whatever you want to do, Mom!). I showed her our shot schedule and she said, "Ok, so he's had these?" (pointing to the first couple) and I told her he had, and she said, "Ok, so it looks like you are wanting these three done . . . is it ok to do them all today, or do you want to spread them out?" I told her I wanted to spread them out and so she just did the two I wanted done then. IT WAS ALL JUST NO BIG DEAL! OMGosh it made me so doggone happy. She even asked if I do scheduled feedings and was so relieved when I said no. We just had really a nice visit, and though I'm still sad at losing our relationship with our ped, I'm THRILLED that life will be so easy with our new/old doctor.

Oh yeah - Canaan's 23 lbs and 28.5".

Canaan, 28 weeks

Learned to rub his eyes


Can say "Daddy" in Aramaic. ROFL "abba! abba!"

Became miserable again with either a cold or teething or both, not sure which yet. Tuesday was the worst and then he got better over the next couple days.

Tattling

My kids are in tattling mode today and it is driving me bonkers.

Malachi: "Caris is smiling at me."
Me: "How dare she."

Caris: "Graham said I'm white."
Me: :::blank stare:::

Bah!

Avocado

I gave Canaan avocado yesterday for the first time, and he was not a fan. LOL Today I mixed in double the amount of breastmilk and he loved it.

Go Red Sox!

First of all, my February 2007 Moms message board is so cool. We are so like-minded! Almost all of us use cloth diapers, and pretty much everyone there is AP to one degree or another. We have now had two cloth diaper exchanges, both very successful. Check out this awesome Boston Red Sox cover my swap partner had made for Canaan by www.redearthoriginals.com! I LOVE IT!!

Canaan, 27 weeks

Rolls easily both ways, and does it a lot!

Scoots all over the place.

Gets up on hands & knees.

Started waking up in the night because he'd rolled onto his back. I hope that ends soon!

I Miss Malachi

Malachi boarding the bus under the watchful hand of Ms. Marta.
Malachi and his best church buddy, Christian. They're in the same cabin, yay!

For years I've been excited for when Malachi would be old enough to go to church camp. I went every year when I was younger, from 4th grade through my early college years. It's such an exciting time! Independence, adventure and an intense time of growing in the Lord . . . what more could a child ask for?

Well, this is the year. Malachi will be a fourth-grader in the fall (umm, what's that, 2 weeks away?) and so he's old enough to be at camp. They left on Sunday. I assumed I would be a teary, emotional mess but instead I was just excited and happy for him. I prayed for his safety as I drove away, I have to admit.

That first night was really strange. He's never been away from home alone and I was so curious how he was doing, WHAT he was doing! I reminded myself that Marta had called out from the bus, "No news is good news!" Easy for her to say! She's WITH our precious children! HA HA!

We have all written him letters. We've wondered aloud what he's doing, what he's eating, how he's sleeping. We've counted down the days until he comes home. But it hasn't, as I feared, consumed our week. We miss him and life is definitely weird without him, but things are plugging along.

It helps to know that he's in the absolute best care. His counselor is an amazing father of four himself who's perfectly suited for this role. He's tender and firm and I know that he's caring for our boy and keeping him in line, too. Ms. Marta has known our boy since he was born and I couldn't ask for a more wonderful children's director.

So yeah, he's in pretty much the perfect first time away from home scenario, and things are going fine at home, but I miss my boy. I really, really miss him all of a sudden. I can't wait for him to come home, and it's still two days away. This morning two days seemed so soon, but this afternoon it feels like a week. It's quiet around here, and three kids feels like SO much less than four kids. I thought I'd go crazy without his physical help around here, especially with the baby, but it's his company I miss the most.

I'm still glad he's at camp, but I want him to come home and tell me all about it.

Canaan's First Solids

Here I am taking pics of the kids at swim lessons

Canaan can bust a move

Quirky Caris

Every time Caris eats yogurt, she eats it with a measuring spoon.

When she drinks tea, she uses a straw, a spoon and a medicine cup. She makes a big mess.

Each time she eats a banana, she sits down at the table with it, peels just the top and then cuts off little pieces with a butter knife, eating them as she goes.

Almost every time she walks past me she scratches my back, gives me a hug or a kiss or just cozies up for a second.

When she's hungry she says, "Can I have something to AAANCH!" ROFL

If we are gone from home for a long time she will say, "I miss my blue pillow."

One day I handed her toilet paper - about 4 squares bunched up - and she said, "When Daddy gives me toilet paper, he gives me a lot and he folds it up."

Every time Alif gets home she says, "Can I go help Dada!?"

She can memorize a Scripture after hearing it once or twice.

Homeschool Open House 2007

I just found out today about Homeschool Open House 2007 and just in time, too: it starts tomorrow! Check here for the details: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Tiany/Homeschool%2BOpen%2BHouse%2B2007/

Who we are:
For those of you who haven't visited my blog before, I'm Emily and my husband Alif & I have four children. Malachi is 9, Graham 7, Caris 4 and Canaan almost 6 months. We decided when Malachi was around 2 years old that we would like to homeschool and have been at it ever since!

Our day:
I'm not very scheduled. I am trying to hear God's voice on this right now. I want to have more structure to our day so that I am sure we are doing everything we should be (not just academically but all around) but I don't want to be so scheduled that I burn out and let everything go. Any ideas on that?

The schedule I've decided on before but haven't stuck to very well goes something like this:
rising - 9:00: get ready for the day, eat breakfast, do morning chores
9-12: schoolwork
12-1: lunch, cleanup
1-3: quiet time (Mom's free time to sew, go online, etc.)
3-6: household work, dinner prep, eat dinner
6-8: dinner cleanup, get kids ready for bed
8:30: kids to bed
10:00 Mom to bed

That doesn't seem so daunting, does it?

Curriculum:
We follow The Well-Trained Mind. Here's our breakdown for this year:
Malachi and Graham:
Reading: read-alouds, Phonics Pathways
Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting
Spelling: Spelling Workout
Math: Math-U-See
History: Story of the World IV
Science: Physics Experiments for Children
Foreign Language: Prima Latina
Art: Drawing with Children
Music: Usborne Basic Piano Course, Color the Classics: Godly Composers
Caris:
Five in a Row

Where:
We do most of our book work at the table, though you're also likely to find us on the living room carpet or couches, on someone's bed, or outside on a blanket. Or we might skip book work altogether.

Baby Pictures

Look at my two teeth! They are really sharp so I can't bite people's fingers any more. Boo! But they look so cute when I smile and even when I cry.

See right here on my tummy? I have a red rash all over it. It's on my back too. It's from Roseola and it's not contagious so go ahead and cuddle me anyway.

I learned how to get my foot and it tastes great. One day I bit it and cried.

I'm so flirty. Who can resist me?

Auntie Megan is so cool. She sent me these big-boy shoes and I look awesome in them. My shirt says, "Splish Splash I was born in the bath".

Canaan, 26 weeks

Yikes, he bit me while nursing two times. I took it away and he looked at me like "what in the world are you doing?"

He hasn't seemed sick but has needed breathing treatments several times. I hope and pray he doesn't have asthma.

He can roll more easily now but doesn't very often.

When he's lying on his back he can lift his head up and often does to see what's going on around him.

Started solid food - banana! He especially likes it with breastmilk mixed in.

PTL, I'm actually doing it.

I have been unmotivated to exercise for . . . umm, a long time. Probably 12 years. I mean, I walk here & there and very occasionally do an exercise video but I haven't been committed to an exercise program in a long, long time. I don't know why, but a little segment on Access Hollywood was God's way of motivating me once again. (You can see it here: http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah5131.shtml)

I can't tell you how great it feels to be moving my body again. To know that I'm whittling away at the fat and building underneath it some toned muscles. To know that I'm getting stronger each time I work out. I don't know how God flipped the switch but I'm so glad he did! If you're interested in following my journey you can friend request here: http://myspace.com/spiritledbody

Canaan, 25 weeks

Oh my gosh, we're almost halfway through his first year. Panic attack impending!

When I walk holding Canaan on my hip, he holds his outside arm straight out, like he's not totally sure I have good balance.

More teeth coming, maybe? Grouchy, feverish and waking at night. Update: I was wrong! It was Roseola!

Oops, poor Canaan

So Canaan hasn't had *any* solids yet. AT ALL. Tonight at dinner I smooshed a pea and gave him a small amount. I mean really small - like, I don't know, the size of one of his teeth. LOL He made a face and spit it out with bubbles all over it, so I pushed it back in. He started to gag and threw up! He threw up big too, like he'd totally emptied his little belly. OMGosh! Stupid Mommy! Then Malachi goes, "I guess that's why he isn't supposed to have any solids until he's 6 months." :-P

HP: Thoughts from others

I read this question from Anitha on the Above Rubies yahoogroup and related (except my children know that HP is wrong):

Please tellme the pros and cons of this much discussed series ofbooks. Most of my friends and children are addictedand except that I know in my spirit that the booksarent good...I dont have any concrete explantions tooffer them

Here are some replies that I thought were good:

It's all about witchcraft.. . we are not to have anything to with it. Bible is very against it. That is one book (and the movies), that I would never allow in my home. Alisa

we rented the first movie, and it met our standards :) so i let him read the book - but i flipped through the sequels, and like the author admits, they get "darker" and in my case, i found an unpleasant passage about Harry Potter's friend's treatment of his girlfriend, speaking disrespectfully about her, and being ashamed after "snogging" with her - it just made me feel like i sure would hate it if my son thought that was the way to behave. Also, i didn't like the "dementors" - Stephanie

1) J.K. Rowling's research for the books involved gathering information from real life books of witchcraft and sorcery. 2) Some of the spells and terminology in the book are factual. 3) A person who actually practices Wiccan found it hard to believe that J.K. Rowling did not practice Wiccan herself because of the books seemingly authenticity. Yvonne

If witchcraft is wrong, then it is wrong. Period. It is wrong to read about. It is wrong to watch. It is wrong to participate in. It is wrong. And to say that it is "fantasy" or "make believe" doesn't negate the fact that it is wrong. Would you let your children read a pornographic comic book (they do exist) and say "well it is fantasy and they are strong in their faith and know it's make believe, so what's the problem?" "Fantasy" and "make believe" do not change the fact that it is wrong. That our God says it (porn and witchcraft) is wrong. We are supposed to avoid even the appearance of evil. So make believe or not, we should have nothing to do with Harry Potter and the like. The power for witchcraft is real. Witchcraft is real. And that power comes from Satan. Just because Harry Potter is a novel and not a biography doesn't mean it is okay. The witchcraft spoken of in the HP books is very real. Satan is very real, and we should not wink at those kinds of things and say "it's just make believe". Kathy

And to address those who would say, "but your children read Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia!":

Yes there is a witch in LOTR. She is not Wiccan. NOR IS SHE THE HERO OF THE BOOK!!!! In Harry Potter the Witch is the Hero! If you want to be like the hero(s) of LOTR you will want to be simple, loving of the land, loyal, brave and stand up for truth and right in the face of insurmountable odds. (ie Sam and Froddo). In LOTR the "Evil" is evil. Angela

That was enough to bolster me - how about you?

Canaan, 23 weeks

Got bronchitis again and started breathing treatments. Sometimes he laid still for them and sometimes he cried the whole time. :-(

Started to give wet, slobbery, sucky-face kisses

Canaan, 24 weeks

I do not like it when Canaan's asleep in my bed by himself, because I have to check on him constantly to be sure he's not awake (so he doesn't fall off), but it sure is cute to peer in there and see his little brown self cuddled up in there.

He sleeps on his tummy, and twice today I went in to get him from nap and he was on his back! The first time he looked up at me and laughed - like, "Look what I did!" LOL

When he gets excited or really happy or upset, he kicks his legs in funny little twitches. It's so cute!

Alif was out of town for a few days this week. He came home today, and you should have heard the gleeful giggles when he picked Canaan up from his afternoon nap. If he were able to talk he'd have been screaming, "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" All evening he was smiling at Alif whether Alif was looking at him or not. Absolutely precious! :*)

Caris was watching Batman just now and came to me and said, "Mommy, Joker needs to brush his teeth because they are so yellow!!" (While waving her hand in front of her nose like, "ew, yuck!")

Awwww, isn't Canaan cute in the onesie I bought for him on eBay? It was hot outside on the 4th, even for Moxy!

It is soooooo funny to me how Canaan does his lips when he's just about to grab something (you can see in the bottom left-hand corner of the picture, he's going for a soft/spiky red ball).

Thanks to Grandma, the kids were darling in their matching Fourth of July gear! Of course, they only kept their clothes on for about 15 minutes before they went outside and played on the blow-up waterslide Daddy bought them. LOL

I HAD to have this "gone fishing" AIO from http://www.strawberriesnsunshine.com/ in honor of Canaan's late great-grandfather's love of fishing!

Emma really looooves Canaan, and the way she says "baby Canaan" is so doggone CUTE!

Ok, I really wanted one of those rubbery toothbrushes that you put on your finger, but I couldn't find them at Target. We got this super-soft toddler one instead, and some toddler (fluoride-free) toothpaste. He likes it when we brush his two little teeth! LOL