Book Review: North! Or Be Eaten!

If you love to read adventure stories, you and your kids will love this one. North! Or Be Eaten! is the second book in the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson.

The series is about three children names Tink, Janner, Leeli Igiby who live in a time where evil reigns, and hope seems all but lost. After many adventures in the first book, On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, their story continues as they discover more about their past and their true purpose for their lost country, Anneira. And if you were looking for edge of your seat excitement again, this book delivers! With the Fangs of Dang hot on their heals, the Igibys must make it north to safety. But will it be the haven they were looking for?

These books are wonderful family books, written by a christian man who is a father of three. While the world tells kids they can make it on their own, Andrew Peterson creates flawed heroes who must depend on their parents and grandparents to learn wisdom through trials. You cheer with them through their victories and wince through their mistakes. It is truly refreshing to read books for kids that demonstrate just how important it is to listen to parents, even when their way doesn't seem to make much sense. I highly recommend these book!

Author Bio:
Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book one in the Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew's Begats. He's also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville, TN. Visit his websites: andrew-peterson.com and rabbitroom.com.

As promised..

Only a few, but c'mon people. My manny..uh, I mean Husband went back to work. I can't be snapping pictures all day!

Expect pictures soon...

This is a total tease, but I figured out that I could upload pictures directly to Picasa. I have a new (to me) computer and I didn't want to install the Kodak software for my camera. Once I realized I could just forgo the software altogether, I started taking pictures again since I now have somewhere to put them. Here is a taste of what's to come:

Cool Beans!

Most of you know that I have been highly interested in the whole Elimination Communication thing this time around. I have read a lot about it, and had planned on trying it at some point when things calmed down around here. So it was just lurking the back of my mind. This morning, Bethany sent me an email with a link to someone's blog who was talking about that very subject. It wasn't anything I didn't already know, but it got me thinking about the whole process again.

Then, while I was nursing Daphne earlier, she started fussing and fidgeting. I was pretty sure I knew what was about to happen and after pondering it for a moment, I decided to put her on the potty just to see what she would do. After about 30 seconds, she pooped!! And then she gave me the biggest grin as if to say "Good job, Mommy! You figured it out!" I was ecstatic! I had to get Emma lunch, so I put Daphne down for a moment before we continued nursing. She started fidgeting again, so I figured why not? I put her on the potty again, and lo and behold she peed!! And again, I got the biggest grin!

I have read stories like this time and time again from a hundred different people, but honestly a little part of me was still thinking "yeah, right." It is just so opposite of what we are taught to think! But she really was pleased that she didn't do it on herself, and I could tell she understood that's what the potty was for. So nifty!! Anyway, I will continue to update on how it goes. I know it won't always be this rosy, but I don't really care. Just catching it once or twice a day is pretty cool to me!

A Litte Update

Daphne is doing great and looking cuter (though nothing like her sister) every day!

Her newsworthy accomplishments so far:

Her umbilical cord stump fell off three days ago, and she officially did not enjoy her first bath.

She smiled at me for real yesterday! She was wide awake, there was no gas involved, and she gave me the biggest grin ever. I was so excited!!

She also went on a shopping excursion with her momma and Aunt Sarah on Saturday, and man did she hate it! She was so traumatized that by the time we got her home, she was pale and just staring. She didn't even really want to eat, she just wanted me to hold her. We felt so bad! And it's funny, because going out has NEVER phased Emma. They just could not be more different! I already had the feeling she was dead opposite from her sister just from how different the pregnancies were, and my suspicions have been confirmed with every passing day. They will be good for each other, though. If they don't kill each other...

Sorry no pics to post. My camera is retarded. I will seek to rectify the situation soon!

Daphne's Birth Story (Guys, you really probably want to skip this!)

Many of you know I was having prodromal labor much of the week before I finally went into labor with Daphne. This was agonizing, because it kept me up all night in tons of pain, but then they would just stop in the morning. I was not sleeping, and I felt like a ticking time bomb! So after being up all night on Sunday, I was so frustrated. I spent all day Monday in a complete fog, and I was cramping all day long so I just felt gross. We decided to go out for ice cream with our neighbors to take my mind off things that evening, and while we were there I kept noticing what I thought was Daphne stretching out as hard as she could every so often. We went home, and as the evening went on I realized that the stretching feeling was happening a lot. I realized at that point I was most likely in early real labor, but again, I was super wary. I had thought that before! We sat down to watch a Marley and Me, and went to bed around midnight, but I just couldn't settle.

Finally around 3am, I heard a snap and felt a pop. I LEAPT from the sofa, but there was no gush, so I thought maybe I had imagined it. Then the next contraction hit and that was unbelievably painful! I sat on the PT ball and started to time them, and they were consistently coming less than 2 minutes apart and were lasting around a minute. Then, while I was moving through a contraction on the ball, the gush happened! I bolted across the house to our room where I greeted my sleeping hubby with "Contractions are less than two minutes apart and my water has broken. We need to leave NOW!" That got him moving rather quickly, and he called my mom to come take care of Emma. We knew that we didn't have time to wait for her to get there, so we also called my neighbors to come over until my mom got here. Then we left and drove as fast as we dared to Northside (which is super easy to get to at 4 in the morning!)

As soon as we got out of the car my contractions started coming on top of each other and I could barely walk a few feet without having another one. We got into a room almost immediately, and my first words to the nurse were "Epidural, now!!" I was in agony, and I was terrified we were going to be too late to get one. After a week of no rest whatsoever, I was just not equipped to handle the labor. They were fairly quick to get me the epidural, and when they checked me I was 4 cm. It was not quite 5 at this point. So I settled in so excited to be able to get some sleep! But unfortunately, I spent the next two hours up and extremely nauseous. I knew my blood sugar had dropped precipitously, but you can't eat with an epidural. I had barely eaten on Monday because I felt so gross, so it was just a bad situation. To top it off, I could really really feel pressure with each passing contraction. After 2 or 3 hours, I mentioned to a nurse that I thought they ought to check me. She smiled and said sure and then left and didn't come back. So I tried again with the next nurse, who humored me by checking. And lo and behold, I was 9.5 cm. By this time, they had given me something for the nausea, but heartburn had kicked in so badly that I was on the verge of throwing up stomach acid. I stayed like that for the next hour or so until the midwife realized how miserable I was and said we should try to push. After 20-25 minutes, out came this dark skinned, nearly black haired little baby, and the heartburn ended immediately!!

So there is it in a nutshell. From 32 hours with Emma to less than 7 with Daphne, I would say I would do it again! I did tear, and it was exactly where the episiotomy had been with Emma. A funny side note: I asked the midwife to please not do an episiotomy unless it was absolutely necessary, and she looked at me and said "This is your second baby, and you have no business getting an episitomy with a second baby. What do I look like, a doctor?" I could not stop laughing, and I was so pleased to have her because I felt like she did a fantastic job. She tried super super hard to keep me from tearing, but Daphne was turned exactly like Emma had been, and her right ear was what presented first! My midwife tried to turn her as much as she could, but it was a losing battle. Her position is also what took her so long to get out!

Recovery this time has been a breeze, and I feel fantastic. I feel so good that I have to remind myself to take it easy, which is hard when you see all the things that were neglected when you were pregnant! But we have been getting lots of excellent help, and things are going great. So there it is! If I left anything out, feel free to ask me.

Earth Mama Angel Baby

I have absolutely fallen in love with the company Earth Mama Angel Baby! I did not discover them until Emma was over a year old, but I kept them in mind for this pregnancy, and have loved every product I have tried. So far, I have been using their Natural Labor Companion cd to prepare for my (hopefully normal) delivery. I have also used their Heartburn Tea, which tastes great and really helps the heartburn. And though I have not had a chance to try this yet, I am really looking forward to using their Natural Nipple Butter. They have a lot of great products that are all natural and the prices are honestly not that bad for what the products are. I will report back on some of the postpartum things they have in a few weeks!

Because Curtis is harrassing me...

I suppose it's time for some semblance of an update on this thing before I lose everyone again! I am 35 weeks pregnant now (as my handy little ticker says...) and ready to see this precious girl. This pregnancy has been a lot easier to handle in many ways than Emma's, but I really think it's helped tremendously that I have continued to work out. The worst part about my pregnancy with Emma was all the awful aches and pains that made me feel like I was falling apart! Oh, and I got HUGE. With this one, it's not been anywhere near as bad. When I am asked how far along I am, everyone is always shocked that I am due so soon. This is a nice change of pace from "Wow, you look like you're ready to pop!" or "Are you SURE it isn't twins?" and you're only 30 weeks along. I know part of it is how I am carrying her, but I think I have also just not gained the same weight. So I highly recommend working out. And honestly, I am not THAT consistent with it. I usually work out fairly lightly 3-4 times a week (when I remember) and I still feel I have reaped huge benefits. I did receive one potentially big blow this week at my doctor's appointment. At my 20 week ultrasound, my placenta was less than 1cm from the Os, which is technically called low-lying. It's no big deal at all at 20 weeks because it almost always moves away throughout the next 10 weeks. We decided to do a follow up ultrasound at 32 weeks as a total no big deal but let's just check anyway kind of thing, but the technician could not get a shot that proved it has moved far enough away. She ended up labeling it low-lying again, which miffed my midwife a bit because at 32 weeks we need to be talking in centimeters, not vague "low lying" terms. Basically, if it's 2-3cm away, then it shouldn't be any sort of problem, but if it hasn't moved then we are almost certainly headed for a C-section. I have been desperately trying to schedule another ultrasound and have so far been unsuccessful. With Kaiser, if it's labeled expedited, they make you wait 72 hours and then they are supposed to call you and tell you when you can come in. I waited 72 hours with no call so far and it's the weekend now, which means there won't be a call until Monday at the earliest. And it's funny, because scheduling my ultrasound at 32 weeks took no time, and they saw me within 5 days. Apparently the closer you get to your due date, the more they think they should drag these things out!! So there we are. That's basically the status of things!

Brian is closing in on the CRAZY part of his semester with papers due and exams to study for and crazy mock trial stuff to prepare for. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel though! This is his last Spring semester, and since he took a full time load, he has very little to do this summer and fall. We are almost done!!!!!! Now to find a job...

Emma is great and getting huge as always. We moved her to a twin bed a few weeks ago so we could have the crib mattress back for her little sister and she has done beautifully. It's fun to watch her grow and see where her interests are. She LOVES puzzles, and we're talking the big ones with lots of pieces and complicated pictures. She also does them from the inside out, which I have never seen anyone do. She is practicing very hard to be the best bossy big sister she can be. She already tells me that I am driving the wrong way to get to where we're going (which I am not, thankyouverymuch) and yells at Leo if he so much as looks at her toys. Should be interesting when her little sister doesn't just yield to her will! (You will know when this happens because most likely it will cause an explosion that can be seen from space.) But she is precious when she isn't being bossy, and most every night now she gives me one of her bear friends to sleep with. She loves to snuggle with me on the couch or her bed, and begs me to sleep with her every night. She is so empathetic, and if I so much as pretend to whimper she immediately asks "What's wrong mama? What's wrong? It's okay mama..it's okay!" I am kind of nervous to see how she handles seeing me in a hospital after Daphne is born. Recovery will be harder for sure this time simply because I will have to be very careful about letting Emma see me in pain! I am not too worried about it all, but it's enough to make me wonder. We shall see in a few weeks!