January Reflections and Resolutions

Mid jan and I haven't fully committed to the changes I've wanted to make this year. I've only gotten in 105 min of intentional exercise and my eating is all kinds of stupid. Though I'll be preg/nursing for at least another year I can not wait any longer.

I have no clue what I weighed back then but I know what I felt like and what I feel now is awful. I need to move more ads east better. That's it. That's my goal finishing out this month and for February. Move 15-30min a day during the week and sitting to how I feel on weekends.Less coffee, less carbs, and mor. e water.

 



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The Season of the Chicken - A Family Update

So... hello there? What do you say when it's almost been a year since we've last spoken. I missed you? How've you been? All legit questions but it just feels awkward and insincere. This blog was my baby. And speaking of babies, I have six now. That's where the hashtag #momofmany comes from because I can't keep changing the number with each new addition.


My littlest guy is 8months today and has quite the few polka dots going on as you can see.

But he's still pretty happy about life.


You have no clue who this is do you? This is Z and he was born at home. Read his birth story here.

So how'd this happen? It's all my fault apparently. I came down with a rash that wouldn't go away. At first I thought it was a bug bite gone wrong but then these little blisters formed and I couldn't believe it was shingles. As a kid I don't remember getting spots plus when I asked my mom she couldn't remember either. I was vaccinated so maybe I couldn't gotten the shot as an older kid, who knows but I had the shingles and since then we've been put on self quarantine.

 

One by one we've had one case at a time that last roughly 3wks... 

March - mom gets shingles

April 4th - C gets chicken pox 6

April 19th - then G 4

May 7th - then J 8

May 21st - then N 2

June 5th - now Z 7mos

With each case I was sure it'd be the last... 15wks later and we're just trying to just roll with it.

In my perfect world we all would've gotten it 12 wks ago and been done, but we don't live in that world apparently. The thing is these kids aren't letting life pass them by but I will be mighty glad when this silly, nasty, put your social life on pause virus (which really wasn't as bad as it could've been) is over. Spring/Summer has been full of family trips to grandparents and watching the littlest learn new things, the 4 and 6yo learned to ride 2-wheelers and life is good.

Hey, come see me on IG/twitter/facebook.

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Wordless Wednesday - Spring is Here!

It's been too long since I posted or participated in a wordless Wednesday. I may be a bit rusty, please bare with me :) I take tons of photos on instagram so I'll just share one of my faves.

This was just a few weeks into spring and you can see the leaves weren't fully in yet. Here's my #4 man walking his tricycle up and down the street (he can do that for hours).



Spring,
love it or hate it?

I love the warmth but hate losing the view over the river we have running behind our house.
@ChristyHomeMom

Linking up with:

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God Approved WOrkMAN!

After getting out of the habit of reading my bible first thing in the morning these past few months I did what all normal people do and blasted myself on Facebook. You know, because that motivates you. In my case, sometimes. This morning after getting up with the baby like I normally do I played one full round of Candy Crush Saga on my phone (because candy can't crush itself) and drained my battery. After locating my phone charger  I sat down to read my bible on YouVersion (love that app). I realized how high a priority I've placed a game over God, and not just lately but quite frequently, intermittently. The featured verse spoke directly to me.

'Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.' 2 Tim 2:15 AMP

Yesterday, while trying on clothes on a much needed mommy's night out ALONE, I didn't get depressed. I used to. I didn't stare myself down in the mirror disappointed in what I saw. I normally am. I'm conquering my weight, body image, and self esteem issues and this verse explains how. I have to look to God, know His will, study His word. I'm not pleased with where I am physically/mentally but, I'm doing something to change it with His help.

A workman (re)discovering who they are in Christ
has no cause to be ashamed.

bodyWORK progress...

The 1st and hardest step is starting. TurboFire Day1 4/13/13

My BFF helped me run my first 5k! I got a MEDAL!! 4/21/13

A scheduled rest day but I was still pumped Day after the race day10

day21 @5-6x week I got this!!

mindWORK is also required and just as important. 

WORK hard but rest in His grace:)

I am not a BeachBody coach (yet LOL). This post is not endorsing BeachBody or BeachBody products. I do have a BBcoach and FitFriends who are helping me reach my fitness goals through accoutability and support, check her out on her facebook page for healthy fit tiops. I'm just sharing the tools I use. TurboFire Schedule.







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Baby's Top 5 Yoga Moves

T

his is a story. A true story about my baby. A baby who appears to be doing yoga. These are his top 5 yoga moves captured by me, his one and only Mamarazzi.

Mamarazzi, n;
a parent (usually the mom because they're the ones always left out of the pictures) who takes pictures of EVERY SINGLE THING their child does. From their first crawl to their first car, they save the images for later embarrasment/collateral.

They'll do ANYTHING for the PERFECT SHOT!

Like all baby milestones you want to document every single thing, right? Every burp, fart, smile... all their firsts are happening in this short little moment in time that I know I'll never get back. As a mom of 5, I know these moments well. At the same time I've easily forgotten them and each time it still feels new. I've been lucky enough to capture some of his moves in a series I'd like to call... #BabyYoga

1 - The Pike Plank { Like a plank, only piked. }

At a time when my core is at it's weakest, I AM Envious.
Date: 2/22/13 Age: ~5 months

2 - Happy Feet { He's pulling his feet close to his chest. }

When he found his feet I knew he'd be rolling soon.
Date: 2/26/13 Age: ~5 months

3 - The Side plank { He's on his elbow. He's a beginner.  }
Do advanced babies come all the way up to their wrists?

He's actually rolling from back to belly.
Date: 3/3/13 Age: 5 months

4 - Deep Stretch { Ready for assisted sitting. }

I thought he was ready to try sitting up but he wasn't. He fell over.
Date: 3/5/13 Age: 5 months

5 - The Runner's Stance! { After mastering the above 4 moves... }

I really don't recall any of my other four kids doing this. I took about 15 pics trying to catch this guy in action.
Date: 3/19/13 Age: 5½ months

Noah is ready to Walk & Roll.

{ happy #babyyoga fun }

No babies were harmed. This post is not intended to depict actual developmental stages of a baby.

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DIY Water-Birth:A Peacemaker is Born

She's Baaaaaack!!! Well, not fully or totally but I'm still kicking. Our family welcomed our 7th member Oct. 3rd and life has stayed crazy. I can't say it got crazierrrrr, because we were already there. So crazy is our new normal and we're back to normal after a few hiccups. I've been a horrible mommy blogger by not posting pictures and videos but I've got them archived and will hit you up proper in the months to come. I'm tempted to just vomit them all out in one post to get it over with.

We had our 2nd unassisted water birth and it was amazing. Now let me define amazing before you think I had a zero pain, candle lit, orgasmic experience. Amazing to me means none of the above. This was my 5th birth, here's a quick recapp of the previous four... and all that amazing was not.

PrincessT was born in the hospital after I was violently induced because my water had been broke for 12hrs and hospital policy required it. I wanted med free (like I knew what the heck I wanted back then) but hadn't researched any breathing techniques and I was miserable. I can compare the experience to being hit in the stomach with a bat when I was ten except it happened over and over and over. Did I mention my husband's entire family showed up to the hospital, 20+ people coming in and out of the delivery room anticipating their first grandchild.
Being hit in the pregnant belly... Not Amazing.

PrincessT & Princess J

PrincessJ (The first enforcer) was born at home. We didn't even own our own home but rented and our midwife came to us with her trainee (doula) who wouldn't let me pee in peace. She was just doing her job, but I didn't know her. I was relieved to push when I wanted but tore in the process. Dang 10lb babies :) She was also sucking her finger and had her lovely elbow in the way and got stuck a bit but we got it done no problems.
Better than the hospital but... Not Amazing.

Lil Dreamy was born at home with the same midwife a few weeks early, too early for me but he was the smallest. Smallest, shmallest he hurt the worst, this guy was posterior (sunny side up). This lovely little position caused me the most back pain equaling what I experience in the hospital. He only weighed 7lbs 7oz and was born one day before Valentine's Day.
He's still my sweet heart, but that was Not Amazing.

Lil Dreamy & The Enforcer2

The Enforcer was born at home and was our first go at unassisted. I was super scared but confident, worried but at ease because I'd done this. I thought, 'I got this.' I did everything I'd done in the past except this time I wanted to let my baby push his way out instead of forcing it. I did so well until the final moments and I felt the head crowning. This guy weighed the same as our first 8lbs 4oz. The momma monster in me pushed that baby out and I tore causing a lovely ER visit later that evening to get stitches from an anti homebirth nazi. She was horrible, let me just say every stitch was NOT sewn in love.
Stitches from a Nazis... Not Amazing.

The PeaceMaker (I hadn't thought of a knickname until now) came into this world mostly on his own. This time I challenged myself to enter a place where I wouldn't get in the way of my own body. It was created to birth and I wasn't going to rush or slow that process down, though I don't know how you could possibly slow it down. With every contraction I breathed, moaned, groaned, and towards the end yelled but never felt pain. This birth was manageable. I love that word manageable, this is the word that will help me define amazing.

Amazing...

• I stayed in control, except for that time I thought hubby rubbing my back would be a good thing.


• I prayed and trusted God that he made my body just for this. I stayed connected to friends and family in between contractions and felt their prayers lifting me up.


• I tuned out everything that was wrong with the other births, other people.
  With Baby #
1. too many visitors, hospital policies, taking a drug to manage a drug, not in control
2. The Hubs and doula were joking and carrying on (I do not like laughing while I'm in pain)
3. I could hear my other kids (more laughing) and loud grandparents (annoyed)
4. Again but in a 2 story home I could hear my other kids (again with the laughing) hubby wasn't near me and nearly missed the entire thing.

So I tuned all of that out with earphones. Voila! I felt like a genius. I turned the volume up as loud as it could go and sung my baby out. With every contraction or wave feeling I first hummed along to the music. Towards the end and when hubby could tell the baby was coming I groaned the baby down. I only pushed when it felt better to, when the groans weren't enough.

I believe this lil guy was also posterior from the way I felt afterwards, he came out so quickly after crowing, no one could confirm his position. Maybe because my body is getting older and I'm now in my thirties I don't recover afterwards as well but I couldn't hold him for a few hours and felt so major pain then. I have to say even though i lost 20lbs in 2011, I'm still carrying a good amount that has messed up my alignment in a major way.

This was an experience I can actually look back on and smile because I now know, I can do this. I'm proud of the process from start to finish and I did everything I could and was rewarded greatly. Every birth I've had an experience I learned from, so really the previous 4 are what makes 5 so Amazing.

And again to the lovely question if we'll have anymore...

ehhhhhh as I shrug my shoulders.

And for the lovely man I've been Makin' Babies with, here's what he has to say about homebirths. It was his idea from the beginning, mind you I was more than willing to pass the torch so he could. But I woman'd up and jumped on this chance to be a light unto the world about a cause that's so dear to me.





PS - I had all intentions of posting this video to motivate myself to jump back on the fitness bandwagon but instead wrote the birth story I've needed to post for the past three and a half months :)

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I'm pregnant and I know it!

Just one more week and we'll meet the newest member of our family. I seriously can not believe the time has finally come. We found out officially in February but of course I knew a bit sooner. That was forever ago and I can't seem to wait these last few days, they're killing me. Today was one of our our EDD (estimated due dates) but everything else has said the 22nd-24th.

I feel like everyone assumes I feel confident in my ability to have babies... I mean this is our 5th. It'll be our 4th Homebirth, and 2nd unassisted and hopefully 2nd waterbirth. Instead of an actual birthing pool we've opted for a small kiddie pool. I really would've loved to have the pool I had here but thanks to someone else's little ones it met it's end last summer.

I guess what I'm most anxious about is keeping my cool the entire time. Is that even possible? After reading this post by Mama Birth over at MamaEve I'm not sure it's has to be. It got me thinking how guilty I've felt that I can't seem to control myself. I lose it right at the end, I panic and think the baby will never come out, it'll be stuck and so I push like crazy to get the whole thing over with. I tore the last time because of this and I've felt it was my fault for not easing the head out.

Hubby has said, "Hon we talked about this before and you were on board." Yes but when it comes down to that time and it's happening I really can't guarantee anything really. I was very proud of my efforts up until the end. I moaned and breathed the baby down like I'd read before hand. I could tell the intensity was rising when my volume would rise and towards the end was pretty much yelling.

I can't say we have a plan, my husband's aunt who's a registered nurse and also like my mother in law, will be on call. This time I almost really want to go it alone, maybe that's the reason I freak out. When other people are around I feel like I'm performing almost or that I will fail if I don't do things right. I don't even have time to feel what should be done because I'm too worried about them. Each birth I can say something really annoyed me making the laboring experience hectic...

The first in the hospital we called everyone we knew telling them it was go time, that my water had broke and we were headed to the hospital. In our ignorance we were so happy and didn't realize what a bad decision that'd be. Everyone showed up at the hospital and waited with us. We had my hubby's mom, aunt (2nd mom), sister, brother in law, grandma, aunt, step father, it was really like a dang zoo but we didn't know any better and toughed it out. My mom was there too eating skittles, mind you I was not allowed to eat, I'd been induced with pitocin then given stadol ruining my plan of an all natural birth. I'm so happy and know we were blessed the situation didn't turn into a c-section like so many induced labors do.

The second we researched up on pitocin, hospital procedures and opted to bring birth home. I found a midwife and wanted a water birth but couldn't afford the pool and didn't think it's work in an apartment. I laid on my back again but was annoyed that hubby and the midwife in training that came along were cracking jokes and not giving me their undivided support. I had my biggest baby to date 10lbs but it was amazing after it was all done.

The third (my hardest) was at home with the same midwife and started all wrong from the beginning. I experienced intense back labor and it lasted quite a bit longer than before which really worried me. Once he was born we saw why things were so difficult, the baby was posterior or face up and had a huge chance of getting stuck in the birth canal.

The fourth we figured we could do this alone plus financially some things had changed with the midwife so about half way through we opted to do it alone DIY style. I think I felt so at ease with everything because I'd done so much research beforehand.

So now you'd think I'd feel at ease about doing this again.... I am and I'm not. I am because I know up until that critical point I'll breath correctly, I'll move and walk around, I'll let my body do what it was built to do. I'm not because I have the feeling the baby maybe sunny side up again or breech. I still believe birth is something you should be able to handle but we/re a culture that has totally lost touch with the process. Pregnant moms almost have only doctors to rely on for the information we seek, doctors and TV.

Can I really expect or hope for a painfree labor? You may think I'm weird but watching birthing stories on youtube calms me in the later weeks. Watching and learning the process gets me ready for what to expect and what to do. It also seems that all the painfree labors happen in water. I can't say my waterbirth was pain free but it def was manageable. They say to use words like surges instead of contractions, intense instead of pain or hurt but that crap hurts. It's not called the ring of fire for nothing. I've been praying for peace, patience with myself and confidence that I'll get it done the right way this time. If I feel like pushing I'm gonna push, I'll try my best to ease and let up a bit for the head but I really can't make any promises.

I can't wait to share my 5th birth story, I didn't mean to turn this into the birth history of Home-Mom.






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Thumbsucking:

Aww but they look so cute...
Picture Source

Of my 4 children 3 have sucked their thumb or finger. Battling my first daughter and her binky woes I've since thought the finger a great idea. PT would lose her binky making an impromptu run to the store inevitable. It was a stress to keep up with and keep clean. The same couldn't be said for a finger. PJ was a finger sucker from the get go. Apparently she was sucking her finger during delivery causing quite the cramp in space to enter this world. My midwife, after delivery, said her elbow was in the way and that's why it took forever to push her out. PJ just turned 6 and I can chuckle now but at the time trying to push out a 10lb baby was no laughing matter. thumb sucking

We did break her of her finger habit with hot sauce, that thumb stuff that tastes horrible, and offering chewies in it's place. It was a struggle and because it was so hard on the both of us I haven't broken my boys yet.


After my first daughters you'd think I'd be an expert as to what works best, one was ATTACHED to a binky and the other ATTACHED to her finger. As a mother of 3 and then 4 there was no way I was going to try to keep up with multiple binkies so I voted finger. It'd be a few years before I found out how wrong I was.

Now those boys are 3yrs and 20months old and the fingers have to go!! These are boys I'm talking about. Boys play in dirt or whatever they can get their hands on. My 3yo is now fully potty trained and it grosses me out every time he is finished pottying he comes out sucking his thumb. So today, I finally decided I'm going to do something about this. I also discovered a potential fungus growth on PC's face causing white circles. They look like a pigment disorder so we'll rule the fungus out over the next few weeks. But still the thumbs are out and have to go. So what do I do? I tried the hot sauce on the oldest excerpt he loves spicy food. The yucky stuff doesn't work on him.

I did what all good mothers do, 

and googled it!

I found that some experts say you shouldn't even worry about it until age 4-5 and that most kids stop at this time. I think these kids start going to school and notice everyone doesn't suck their thumb and they don't want to be different. As a homeschooler with more than one thumb sucker that theory is really going to work. I can see teeth movement in their mouths and really don't want to do braces later in life if we can help it now. From my search I found a few pretty creative solutions that I never thought of.


Tape, Socks, or Bandages

Now we've actually done this with PJ. Her fingers got a yeasty looking infection between them and couldn't heal with her pointer in her mouth all the time. So for a week or so she had a sock Velcro'd onto her wrist. She is the persistent type and sucked through the sock anyways but it did heal up.

We already have a few Spiderman bandages so I'll go this route first and see how they hold up. With younger one's I would think about this being a potential chocking hazard as they may not stop sucking until the bandage is off.





Thumbusters

Mory was a father of three daughters who were all serious thumb suckers. After years of thumb sucking which resulted in thumb sores and potential teeth damage, his daughters expressed a desire to quit. After trying Tabasco, socks over their hand, even bribery. He came up with the idea of the Thumbusters! Smart Man :)

Thumbusters is a glove-like device made from Lycra that covers the thumb and is attached by a Velcro band around the wrist. I would have never thought of this but it's ingenious really. And it seems to help many. It's recommended for ages 4-12.



Thumb Guards

These are similar to the previous device and some are crocheted. I can do that now :) I could sew up some as well I'll just need to mess around with pattern designs to see what fits the best.

As we prepare for baby #5 I'm fully Thumbs Down. I don't see a need for little dirty hands to be in a baby's mouth all the time. I know it brings them comfort and if non of these habit breaking techniques work then we'll deal with it until age 5 I guess. I really could have encouraged binky's more if I'd known what I know now. Wish me luck :)



The opinions posted here are my own.  I was not reimbursed for this post but wanted to spread the word about a unique product and idea.

Add your 2 cents...

LIKE  or DISLIKE

Have you raised a thumb sucker?
Did they drop the habit on their own or did they need help?

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Life's about to get CRAZY!

Iam thinking about so much these days. This baby is just 3 months away eeeek!!!! I've dropped a lot of aspects of my blog. Homeschooling is rough, my kids are growing, and some days I feel like I just can't keep up. With all of that going on my kids are still smarter than me, I think that's my biggest obstacle. How can I teach them when I don't know. My blog is still impacting in a way I'm pretty proud of, I was featured today at WeGotKidz.com. Despite it all of this my baby is growing and kicking and will be here before I know it. Hubby's business is about to jump off the ground and soar, it's like a crazy pivotal moment for so many things and my first reaction is to fall down when I should be up and running.

Storm before the Storm source

Financially our world has been turned upside down this past year. Our one family car broke down forcing us to add on another payment (conveniently after we paid the first one off) and even though it's been a year it's like we're not catching up. I see these amazing posts by mommy bloggers who feed their families of 8 with a $100 monthly budget and I really need to head out and research these gals bc we're so there.

I read a really amazing verse today that spoke directly at my circumstance, “When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough..'" http://bible.us/Deut1.6.NLT I'm following Joyce Meyer's Daily Devotional on YouVersion, it's amazing, seriously the only plan I've followed over 5days. The mountain that should have only taken 40 days took 40 years for the Israelites because they were mentally stuck in slavery still.

My oldest has asked me if we are poor and I really want to say yes but poor is a way of thinking and I don't want that. I don't want that for them, I'd love to hear them say when their older, "We were poor but we never knew it". We are on a serious budget but I don't see it lasting too much longer if I can just get up and move. I'll take 40days over 400 anytime. Anyone would, why make a hard journey more difficult.

The sun's up, Run! Source

So as I fix beans and rice for dinner again I'm thankful for a family to cook for. I'm grateful for the tool this blog has become to reach out to others and receive from so many awesome moms out there. I'm excited and scared to run a work from home business and do what we've always dreamed. Instead of the calm before the storm this is more like a storm before a storm and I'm ready.







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We're Expecting...

Great things are coming in 2012 and a baby is one of them. That's right, baby #5 is on the way. Well, has been on the way for almost 11wks now. The responses The Hubs and I have gotten have been all over the place from happy, excited, shocked, saying we're crazy, and even comparing us to the Duggars. I mean really, five is a far cry from twenty, but like Michele Duggar I will never consider myself a Pro when it comes to pregnancy and labor. It's an all new experience each time and I've actually learned a lot each time. I'm even quite certain I can predict gender but it's a bit too early to tell just yet.

Boy or Girl?
With my girls I gained the most weight, swelled up the most, and was very moody. VERY!
With my boys I felt like I was super human most days. I didn't gain as much weight and I felt very active. The day before our youngest was born I was out blowing leaves and raking in the yard for hours.

Miss T wasn't too thrilled at first with the news. She was most concerned with keeping our teams even for the game of the sexes. 5 is an odd number and can't be divided. She's more than happy now and hugs me intermittently throughout the day to say she's glad I make babies and loves me.

Water or no water birth?

Of course I don't care which, I just want a healthy pregnancy, labor, and baby. The plan is to have another homebirth, it'll be my 4th. I got to do an unassisted water birth last time and it did help but I didn't quite feel the epidural effect I was hoping for. The hot water was AMAZING and helped me to relax but I still acted the way I always do, CRAZYily biting every one's head off.




Telling Others...
I was super excited to tell my Mom and close friends of course. To me a baby is good news. No one is excited to share bad news, however it was hard telling some family members. At the heart of it they love me (I think) and know we're responsible parents who can handle all God has called us to. I know they're just pulling from their past personal experiences of hardships and don't want that for us. I get it, I do. In my perfect little world I just wish I could feel more open in sharing things that matter most with people that matter the most to me. For everyone else I wouldn't mind wearing one of these shirts...

and for the infamous Question I'll wear this one.


but I'd change it around to say,
"Yes, I know what causes this"


Can't leave hubby out of this one :)


I especially love his announcement on facebook this week...

"For all those who haven't already heard: (In a Don LaFontaine movie trailer voice) 

Coming this fall... In a world where there is a perfect gender balance, where the boys don't outnumber the girls, one person will break the equilibrium that is the our household... 

Get ready for the scales to be tipped because in September the world will meet... 

baby #5."

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