Fun & Silly

I stole this from a friend's blog because I thought it was cute. I know you're not as dull as I am (it took me a while to figure out about whom she was answering the questions) but I'll go ahead and tell you it's about Jimmy and me :)

1. What are your middle names? Gerald and Bryan (though mine was Lynn before I was married)

2. How long have you been together? dated/engaged for 3.5 years, married 6 years in July

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? about 6 months

4. Who asked who out? Well now that's a funny story. We'd met at summer camp as counselors and had both gone back to college, me in Virginia and he in California. We kept in touch via instant messenger (I know, so romantic). It got to the point where we were "talking" several hours a day and I eventually told him it needed to move on to something more or needed to stop. His response (which I'll never forget): "Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Me: (freaking out) "Why?" Him: "Well, I'd like to think about it. And the intermural water polo playoffs start in five minutes." The next day he "said:" "It would not be correct to say I have no feelings for you." And there you have it :)

5. How old were each of you? I was 20 and he was 18.

6. Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? It's really about equal

7. Do you have any children together? 3 sons, one on the way (gender yet unknown)

8. What about pets? We have a cat, Amos, and we care for two feral cats

9. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? That's a hard one. God has really been gracious to protect us from anything overly difficult. Learning to tread the sometimes difficult waters of relationships (not between each other, but with those outside the marriage) can sometimes be a challenge, but isn't that true for everyone?

10. Did you go to the same school? No. He went to Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA and I went to The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

11. Are you from the same home town? No. Both from VA, but he grew up in the suburbs of DC and I grew up on a farm in central VA.

12. Who is smarter? In most things he is. But I have him beat musically, hands down.

13. Who is more sensitive? I am definitely more sensitive, but I wouldn't be surprised if many people think neither of us is particularly sensitive.

14. Where do you eat out most as a couple? Well that depends on if we have the boys with us or not. If we do, then it's probably somewhere relatively fast. If it's just us, I like to eat non-American food. I LOVE Indian food.

15. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Flying: from VA to CA (several times). Driving: from MO to VA (several times)

16. Who has the craziest exes? I'm the only one who dated before. But my exes aren't crazy as far as I know.

17. Who has the worse temper? We'd both agree: ME

18. Who does the cooking? When I'm pregnant, he does it most of the time. When I'm not pregnant, I do it most of the time.

19. Who is more social? Me, but only by a hair. We're both extroverts.

20. Who is the neat-freak? Both of us care, but about different areas (though neither of us could be described as "neat freaks"). He cares more about clutter; I care more about actual cleanliness.

21. Who is the more stubborn? Interesting question! On the outside probably me, but he just hides it better.

22. Who hogs the bed? Neither of us really, but he hogs the covers.

23. Who wakes up earlier? He does.

24. Where was your first date? I think just at his house! We'd been dating for a while but because of the CA/VA thing we hadn't seen each other. So I think we probably just hung out at his house over Christmas break.

25. Who has the bigger family? He does

26. Do you get flowers often? Not really. But that's ok because I really don't think about it and if I want them I just buy them for myself!

27. How do you spend the holidays? If by "holidays" this means Christmas, we usually are in VA and we spend about an equal amount of time with each family.

28. Who is more jealous? Neither of us gets jealous about anything within the relationship because there's no reason for it.

29. How long did it take to get serious? We pretty much knew we were going to be married after about 7 months. But then he had to spend 3 more years in college before we could get married. Those were a LONG. THREE. YEARS. But wonderful :)

30. Who eats more? Depends on if I'm pregnant or not :)

31. Who does the laundry? He usually washes, I fold

32. Who’s better with the computer? He is

33. Who drives when you are together? Depends. If it's a long car trip I often do the driving because he's taller and can reach the back of the van to tend to the boys. Other than that, though, he does the driving.

Confused about soy

I am really confused by soy products, cheese and yogurt in particular. Let me explain.

Isaac has a milk allergy that we've known about for approximately six weeks. He's had eczema most of his life, but over the past several months it has spread and worsened, at times being so bad that he would scratch himself bloody in places. We had to cover large portions of his skin in hydrocortisone cream every night to prevent all of that scratching overnight, and all that topical steroid isn't good every night. He never complained about it because I think it's just always what he'd known. After doing some research, I learned that eczema in children is almost always the result of a food allergy, and dairy is the most common food allergy for children. We decided to eliminate dairy from his diet (which is at the same time both easier and harder than it sounds) and six weeks later, he's been eczema free for 3-4 weeks.

The boy loves dairy products. I have often said my children could survive on fruit and dairy. Isaac was drinking milk at least twice a day and most lunches had some form of cheese or yogurt. Though he has taken the explanation as to why he can't have dairy very well and his response has been more mature than I was expecting, I've still wanted to have a few of his favorites in non-dairy form. For butter we use (sparingly) margarine and for yogurt I've found a coconut milk yogurt.

And here presents my frustration: there are so many soy products on the market that are supposed to be copying their dairy counterparts, but they have dairy in them! I bought soy yogurt one time and didn't even bother reading the label because why would soy yogurt have dairy in it? Well, we get it home and sure enough, it's not dairy-free. (My friend explained to me that the cultures don't grow in soy milk so they must grow the cultures in cow's milk, strain them out, and then put them in the soy milk to create the yogurt.) Thankfully we found the coconut milk yogurt that is truly dairy free.

Today, at Isaac's request, I was looking for a cheese alternative. I saw two types of soy cheese but they both also had dairy in them (casein, the milk protein). Once again I'm left wondering WHAT'S THE POINT??? The only thing I can come up with is that people who are lactose intolerant might be able to eat these soy versions of dairy favorites, but I know that for a milk allergy they don't work. (But let me do say that if the answer is that they work for people who are lactose intolerant, then obviously it makes sense.)

Anyway, if you know the answer to my question--what's the point of a soy alternative, especially given the amount of estrogen in soy which I don't want in my boys' bodies--or you know a good, dairy-free cheese alternative, I would appreciate it :)

I am about to cry...

...because there is snow accumulating. It's MARCH 26. We've had days near 80 degrees. And today it's been snowing for several hours, it's accumulating, and it makes me want to cry. Oh, Long Beach. Your monotonous weather was boring but never made me think of curling up in the fetal position, shaking my head, and screaming "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!" at the top of my lungs.

Castle Rock Resort & Waterpark

*Unfortunately this post has no pictures because (1) I didn't take very many and (2) even if I had, I don't know where the camera cord is! I will post some once my friend sends me the ones she took on the trip.

This past week was Jimmy's spring break and we went on our first ever family vacation not attended (and paid for!) by our parents! Now we really feel like adults :) We left St. Louis on Wednesday for Castle Rock Resort & Waterpark in Branson, MO. We went with our friends/neighbors whose son Noah is Nathan's age. Our plan was to spend most of our time at the indoor waterpark, go out to eat in the evenings, and possibly do one other Branson attraction. (Let me take a moment to say that Branson really is what you're imagining--a strange place with lots of odd attractions and shows geared for an, ahem, older generation of people. I referred to it as looking like a cheaper version of Las Vegas, though I've never been to Vegas.)

We got there Wednesday early evening, checked into the hotel, and the minute we got into our hotel room (which had a special alcove with bunk beds--amazing!) the boys put on their swimsuits. We went to the waterpark and were having a great time. The waterpark has a few wading pools, one deeper pool, a lazy river, and two water slides one of which is completely enclosed. Nathan was just tall enough for the water slides and absolutely loved them. Isaac wished he could go down, but he was happy enough to go with us on the lazy river or the smaller slides in the wading pools.

At one point Nathan and I were going to go down the enclosed water slide (not together, but one after the other). When we got to the top I saw that the inner tubes I had for us were both for adults and I asked the lifeguard if it would be a problem for Nathan. He said no, and Nathan put his feet down through it instead of sitting on top (he was too small to sit on top). He went down and everything was fine, until he didn't come out. And didn't come out, and didn't come out.....The lifeguard got really concerned and whistled for all of the other lifeguards to come over which meant everyone in the waterpark had to exit the water. I was thinking that perhaps they should turn off the water in the slide because if he was stuck head down water gushing in his face could present a serious problem. There was lots of running around, and I considered going down the slide anyway to free him, but didn't. After a couple of minutes of confusion and delay (any Thomas fans out there? Anyone?) Nathan came out all smiles. The lifeguard was definitely happy to see him and jumped in the pool fully clothed to rescue him :) Nathan said that his his inner tube had gotten stuck and he had to use his feet to free it. His only concern was that bad aliens were coming to get him!

Wednesday night was routine and then Thursday morning we went back to the waterpark. Everyone was having a grand time until Isaac started screaming. I was with him and Toby in a wading pool and he was happily going down the baby slide time and time again. Well, I was sitting to the side so I didn't exactly see what happened but on one of his times down I heard a THUNK and then Isaac cry. When he got out he had blood coming out of his chin. I thought he'd hit his teeth but it was really his chin. Thinking that they probably wouldn't want me cleaning him up with the pool water we went over to our stuff and I cleaned him up with a towel. I motioned to Jimmy who then took Isaac to the lifeguard station. Well, who do you think attended to him? The same lifeguard who'd "saved" Nathan the day before. At this point I was worried we'd be thrown out! They suggested we take him to the emergency room because the gash looked pretty big. We didn't do it right away, but after calling the nurse hotline of our insurance we decided to take him to urgent care that afternoon. Jimmy took him and the poor boy ended up having 5 stitches! They wanted to use the glue that they can use on some cuts but they didn't think it would be strong enough. Jimmy said Isaac was less than thrilled about the experience, but at least this way he'll heal without it taking forever.

Other than those to slightly traumatic things, our vacation was wonderful! On Friday before we left Jimmy and I took all of the boys, including Noah, to a dinosaur museum (and Nathan had gone with Noah's family to an arcade and go carts place the afternoon before). The dino museum provided extreme excitement.....for about 45 minutes. Then we hit the road and came home after lunch. It was nice to get away!

SAD

Yesterday was beautiful; today is even better. (And then there's 5 days of t-storms, rain, etc. in the forecast but I'm trying to live in the present.) I took the boys to the zoo yesterday and was just beside myself with joy. I'm beginning to wonder if I have a mild case of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).

Our first winter here I was looking forward to months of cold, snow, hot drinks, my afghan, and sweaters. We had lived in Southern California for four years and the monotony of weather was trying. I hated it when it was in the 80s in December. That's just wrong. I should need at least pants and a long-sleeved shirt at Thanksgiving. It should be cold by Christmas. But in Long Beach, you can go to the beach almost any day of the year. In February of our first winter in St. Louis, I remember the first signs of spring weather coming in February and I'd get irritated if the high was not below the 40s.

Now, I'm over it. Big time. I still love fall; it's my favorite season. I was a little excited to see snow this past Thanksgiving and I love a cold Christmas. By the middle of January, however, I'm ready to just need a sweater. By the beginning of March I was beginning to wonder if I was depressed. I am such an extrovert that these endless days of being inside were really starting to wear on me. (And yes, I have a lot of interaction with my children which some may think would satisfy my extroverted needs but I also have a need for adult interaction!)

Then at the zoo yesterday, I could smell the freshly cut grass. I was walking around with only a short-sleeved shirt on. Today the windows are open, clothes are drying on the deck, and I'm about to take the boys outside for what will likely be the whole day until dinner tonight. The difference in my mood is astonishing when the weather is better.

So do I think I really have SAD in the real, extreme sense? No, I think we're all affected by the weather, whatever your preference. But now I know that though my first winter here I longed to move to northern Canada, now I'm rethinking that desire!

The one that made me cry

I've just finished cleaning the kitchen and am about to take the boys to a friend's house for a playdate. I had a couple of minutes so I checked my email, etc. and found this poem in a comment on a friend's blog (a blog you should read, by the way). It made me cry. I could go on and on about it but, like I said, we've a playdate to attend. So you read it and you probably won't need me to explain to you why it tugged on my heartstrings.

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

No Facebook = More Blogging

I'm taking a Facebook hiatus for a while so I guess that means I'll be blogging more. I have to get my thoughts out there somehow! I don't really know if anyone is reading this blog on any kind of regular basis at all but any of you who have spent any time with me know that I have a very difficult time keeping my thoughts to myself. So....without Facebook to tell the world about what I'm thinking, I'll put it on here. And if no one reads it, that's OK; I've still put it out there.

First up: The Business of Being Born. I watched that movie last night for the first time. It's a documentary about the birthing "business" in the United States. It goes through some of the history of prenatal care, obstetrics, hospital policies, etc. The movie gives a lot of statistics regarding the infant mortality rate in the US as compared to other similar countries (a statistic which is quite depressing, actually...we're behind Cuba for goodness' sake) and also the amount of money we spend on prenatal/obstetric health care as compared to those countries. Unless the movie is telling a blatant lie, those numbers are also embarrassing because we spend so much more than other countries yet have a much poorer showing for the money spent. The movie also talks a lot about interventions during childbirth and how one thing can lead to another, and it also talks about c-section rates in various parts of the country (some parts of NYC are nearly 50%).

I found it very, very interesting. Yes, it is one-sided, but not in a way I found annoying. The reason I didn't find it annoying is that it's really speaking to a particular audience. The movie doesn't advocate for every woman who is having a child to have a home birth. Yes, of course they like home births, and even prefer them, but only for the right patients. In no way do they suggest that women with any compromising situations, or babies in compromising situations including breech presentation, should have a home birth.

The movie does advocate, however, that all women become knowledgeable about their options. This was my problem with my first birth. I went to the doctor and trusted that she was going to do what was best for my baby and me, never expecting her to do what was best for her schedule. There were many signs along the way that, had I been more knowledgeable, I would have noticed. The real kicker, though, was the elective (on her part) induction that she wanted done at midnight. Now please tell me why it is better for either me or my baby to be induced at midnight. It isn't! But it was better for her. I could labor all night, she could come and deliver the baby before her office opened in the morning, and she wouldn't have to have the inconvenience of delivering a baby during office hours. Unfortunately it didn't work that way and by the end of things I was up for two days straight. That's how I met motherhood (exhausted!!!). After that experience I decided things would change. My next two experiences (and hopefully my fourth) have been much, much better. I knew what I wanted. I knew what kind of doctor I wanted, and I knew that I had the power to choose what happened to me.

All in all, The Business of Being Born is a great movie if for no other reason that it really gets women and their husbands thinking about what kind of birth experience they want. It (hopefully) encourages them to become informed of their options, the possible consequences of those options, and it empowers them to know that this is their baby and their birth and they have the choice to make it happen how they want it.

On Turning 30

So I'll be 30 in two months. This seems like it's supposed to be a pretty big milestone in most people's lives. I will admit that I have been thinking about it off and on since I turned 29 last May. For the most part, I'll be glad to be 30. I've felt 30 for a while now. I remember glancing at an article in a magazine about "Beauty in your 20s, 30s, and 40s." I instinctively turned to the section on the 30s when I realized I was only 28. I guess having children has aged me. :)

Another thing I'm finding interesting about my looming 30th birthday is that I am much more aware of who I am and what I like and dislike. Here are two examples.

I freely admit now that I do not like shorts. I have disliked shorts for most of my life but it's hard to swim upstream when everyone else wears shorts in the summer. Last summer I avoided it most of the time by wearing skirts, but unfortunately there are times that only shorts will do (and since I also loathe being hot I can't just wear pants in the summer). Same with jeans. It feels so weird to admit that I don't particularly like jeans since to say so is practically anti-American. But it's true. I own several pairs because sometimes it's just the most appropriate thing to wear, and they're not horrible, but I will take yoga pants any day of the week over jeans.

I also hate bell peppers. I have never felt the need to like them, but I also always just avoided the subject. Now I'm ok with the fact that I don't like them. I like plenty of other vegetables so I feel no need to force myself to enjoy bell peppers.

The strangest thing about turning 30, though, is that even though ten years ago this is certainly not how I envisioned my life to be at 30, I can't quite come up with that I did think was going to be happening. I guess if you had asked me I would have said I'd be married (hopefully!), teaching full-time, and maybe have a child. If you had told me I'd be pregnant with my fourth child on my 30th birthday I would have laughed until my gut split in half. But that's how the LORD works, and I'm glad his plans are always better than mine.

All in all I'm not at all worried about turning 30. I know it's traumatic for some people but I am really enjoying the fact that I am becoming more and more who God has made me to be. I'm glad my marriage is more mature and is growing deeper roots every day. I'm glad I have three little boys and one little gender-yet-unknown that I can cuddle on the couch while watching Thomas & Friends. And the fact that 30 is much more exciting that I'd imagined makes me look forward to 40 (though I'm glad it won't come for another ten years!).

Jimmy's Grandparents

I love Jimmy's grandparents. I have only known them for about 7 years but I really feel like I have known them for much, much longer. I loved them instantly and they at least let me believe that the feelings are mutual :) The first time I ever met them Jimmy and I had just arrived at the bus station in their city and they were coming to pick us up. I saw them walking into the bus station holding hands. What's not to love?! In the 7 years that I have known them they have been a wonderful example of life-long love and commitment through hard times and good. They are devoted to God above all, and each other next. What's the secret to their marital bliss? Well I guess a lot of things, but mostly that they love God most and each other next like I already said! And it doesn't hurt that they play two games of Scrabble together each night (and boy, are they competitive!). There are so many things I could say....this could be a very long blog post. But, my eyes are already teary thinking about them, and I hadn't planned to write a long blog post so my brain is scrambled just thinking about them.

A couple of weeks ago they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. We were sad we couldn't go, but of course we celebrated with them from afar. Last week I received a letter from Jimmy's grandmother and in it she included a newspaper clipping with this poem on it, and it fits them so well I just had to blog about it. Not that they'll ever read the blog, but I have a feeling they'll hear about it :)

Candleglow by Mary E. Pettengill, Santa Barbara

Love is not only for the very young.
The new-lit candle burns so warm and bright
But, after it's been burning for awhile,
Settles to a glow of richer light.
And so with love. When two as we
Share plans, dream dreams, and weather storm,
Wet by spring's rain, and chilled by winter's wind,
Find the selfsame sunshine keeps us warm.
Thus we know that love grows richer with the years,
Mellowed and made stronger by each passing day.
Such is my deepening love for you,
A candle lighted long ago, seems lighted yesterday.

Now, by request, here are some pictures of the cute couple. The first one is of them with our older two boys in the summer of 2010, and the second one is the same summer and I added it because it captures Jimmy's grandmother perfectly with that beautiful smile and look of pure delight when with her family :)

You probably already know...

...but in case you don't, we're expecting baby Brock #4 in September! We're really excited. This pregnancy has felt completely different than my previous three. First of all, I'm (mostly) a functional human in the evenings. I don't usually get morning sickness, it's more like afternoon and evening sickness. With the other three it was so bad I usually couldn't even sit upright without feeling completely nauseous. This time, however, I can go a whole day without a nap and still feel like a normal person in the evenings. That's a HUGE blessing because who wants to be sick? Also, Jimmy works in the evenings usually. Not every evening, but on the days he does it would be pretty awful if I could only lie on the couch. The boys aren't really old enough to put themselves to bed yet :) Also this time I've got acne like I'm 15. It's really weird. The last three times I could count on pregnancy to give me great skin. Not this time. And a couple of weeks ago I just bought eye cream for the first time. As my friend put it, it's not fair to have zits and wrinkles at the same time! I told her my routine was put on the benzoyl peroxide (for the acne) and then the eye cream. Really? Those two things just shouldn't go together.

We don't know the gender of this baby yet, but I am hoping he/she will cooperate and I'll be able to find out at my next doctor's appointment on March 28. I'm pretty lucky in that my doctor does an ultrasound at every visit so hopefully he'll be able to tell me then (I'll be 15.5 weeks). I'll definitely update when I find out!