Kids - Recipes - Crafts
After having our last child who weighed a little over 9 pounds, I thought there was no way I would ever be able to go through that pain again. I remember asking god to just “take me” because the pain was unbearable. Partly because he was SO big and that he was ready to come out and the nurses told me to STOP pushing because my doctor hadn't arrived yet. I just kept think, “Seriously, we can not wait!” If you have never had a child vaginal or a child that weighed as much as my son did then you know what pain I am referring to When my Doctor finally did arrive (which was only minutes from when they called him) I started pushing. My husband was holding one of my legs as he counted and a nurse was holding the other. All of a sudden one of the head nurses that was also in the room, quickly pushed my husband out of the way, started pushing on my belly, all while my doctor was saying, ”We may need more help in here.” His shoulders were so big that they thought he may need more hands to get through the birth canal. YICKS!. After my perfectly healthy baby boy was born into this world I looked at his father and said this will pro bally be our last one. Even though more kids were once in the cards.
Now after that all went down, I decided against any form of birth control. I feel that if we were to get blessed with another child then it would be our path of life. I am a stay at home mom, of two, while my husband works road construction. Financially, we are doing ok. Some weeks we live pay check to pay check, but I always feel lucky that we have food on the table and a roof over our heads while there are some families who aren't as lucky. In our younger days we did rack up a little dept. And currently we just bought a new house, and have 2 student loans due on top of everything else. I feel lucky if there is $3.10 left in the checking account after everything is paid for. Also, with my husband working road construction he is gone all week long. When he is home on the weekends he likes to go hunting and fishing. Which I understand, he works all week long and deserves some free time. My argument is that he kids would also like to see him. Our relationship struggles a bit with the fact we can not see eye to eye in this area. Therefore, having another child might be a little difficult for us. But just like anything, something we could get use to. Which is a good thing, because on January 7th @ 1:18pm I took a home pregnancy test after being 4 days late, and it was positive.
I decided to change the format of my blog, and start taking things day by day. I would write about my struggles with being a single mom (during the summer) of 2 with one on the way. I figured that this would be a nice thing for me and my kids to look back on when we all get a little older. Even though I didn't do anything like this (even though I though it would be fun, just never started) for my first 2, I though I would be able to go and compare this pregnancy to theirs. Let the fun times begin!
1 month, 1 day along-
I have been late before, 2 days... 4 days, and took pregnancy tests with them all being negative. I always had that “What if” feeling, but knew that when I was pregnant I would know for sure. I feel that it is sometimes a waste of money to buy a pregnancy test. I mean they are $6 bucks, and if it is negative a waste of money (for me). The funny thing was, I would take the test, it would be negative and the next day I would get my period, waste. Same story every time. But this time I felt different. I felt that I didn't need to waste my money, because it would be positive.
I had some errands to run, and my husband stayed home with the kids. I felt this would be the prefect time to get a test. When I was about to walk down the isle there was an employ blocking my way. And of course for some reason, I always feel weird walking down “that” isle, like I am the only one and everyone is going to be looking at me. Well anyways, she was still down there, so I decided to skip it, Gods way of telling me I didn't need one. Well a couple days later I found myself in “that” isle once again. Bought the test, went home, and low and be hold just like I thought, it was positive! Now the ride begins, once again!
SEASON'S GREETINGS
Another year has almost come to a close once again, and I ask myself, “Where has all the time gone”? I feel that in a blink of the eye, we find yourselves entering a new year. My children are no longer babies, and Joey's gray hair is getting much more noticeable. We have gone through way too much this year, just like any other year, which reminds me that this will be the first edition of my Christmas letter, therefore I need to go back to get everyone caught up in the Schuman household.
Abygehl- (Ms. Schuman) will turn 3 on the 7th of December. She believes she is wiser beyond her years, as to when asked how old she will be, she replies “5”. She started potty training and although we haven't yet figured it out, I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Aby is also a VERY big help around the house, whether it be picking up a mess or making one. She is always willing to lend a hand. I recently enrolled her in ECFE classes, which she loves! She plays, sings, and runs around with kids her own age. Aby enjoys her brother (most days), Dora, her dolls, dresses, baking and being outside. It is fun to have someone for both Joey and I to shop with as she likes clothing and Fleet Farm.
Elijah- (Mr. Man) runs the show around here. He started walking when he was 10 months old, which made me nervous, but he needed a way to catch his sister, and now the two of them run laps around me. He turned 1 on the 6th of October, and continues to grow and learn. Along with Aby, I also enrolled him in ECFE classes. He gets the chance to run around and make friends, but he mostly cares what he can fit into his mouth. Last week it was a paint brush with green paint on it. Boys will be Boys, which I am finding out the hard way. He LOVES his sister, trucks, climbing on everything and being outside. The boy never seems to walk but runs everywhere he possibly can. He is a joy to have around!
Joseph- currently is still working with H&R construction out of Dalton. He continues to very much enjoys fishing and hunting. He was even lucky enough to bag a 9 point buck this year. Our freezer is over flowing with game meat. Joey is a wonderful father and we can't wait till he gets laid off for the winter.
Erin- continue to be a stay-at-home mom, working Friday evenings at BINGO and causal at The Cottages in Fergus. I also graduated from college in April with an Associate Degree. Everyday is a new adventure for me. I am consistently trying to find activities and outings for the kids and I. We managed to make it to the Chahinkapa zoo, multiple parks, and lakes this past summer. I was also able to attend 2 scrap-booking retreats this past year, which allowed me to have some much needed time to myself.
The Schumans- At the beginning of 2010 we finally sold our home! We had to move into my parents house for almost 2 months before we could move into our current house. We were able to find a 4 bedroom home with a family room that was more then double the square footage of our old home. We have the joy of seeing wildlife everyday, which includes 5 deer who live in the woods behind our house.
We hope this letter finds everyone healthy, and in good spirits. Another year in the books, and this family is looking forward to what 2011 has to offer!
Love the Schumans- Joesph, Erin, Abygehl, and Elijah
I recently enrolled the kids in Early Childhood classes in our town. I remember going to them when I was little with my mom and knew that if I still had those good memories with my mother then my kids would hopefully be caring these memories with them and share them with their kids (which I don't want to think about yet).
At class last week, we received a recipe for Home Made Play dough. A little nervous at first about making it, we ventured out last evening and gathered our supplies.
The recipe is as follows:
ECFE's Favorite Playdough Recipe
2 cups boiling water
(including any food coloring)
Add:
2 Tbsp oil to boiling water
1 Tbsp powdered alum
Add Alternately:
½ Cup salt
2 Cups flour
Playdough needs to be kneaded to work out flour lumps
(Keep hot mixture away from children until cool)
We made both Orange and Red. Now the recipe doesn't say when to take the mixture off the burner, so for the Orange we left the pot on the burner but turned it off, and for the Red we removed the pot from the burner. I don't think there was much of a difference besides the red might have cooled a little faster. But there you have it. A fun activity to do with the kids!
*Note: I found my Alum at the grocery store. They had 2 different brands, 1 was $2.98 and the other was $1.09. I went with the cheaper one and it worked fine.
-Young Schumom
We (my kids and I) find ourselves in the middle of a minor snow storm. The dish is out, so I figured (while the kids are playing well together) that I would try and attempt to get caught up on my blog posts. I am not very good at making sure I write something every day or even every other day. I value my free time with no little ones around. I have a lot to do around my house considering I am a stay at home mom while my husband is gone during the week. So everything from Monday morning till Friday evening is my responsibility. Did I mention we also have 3 dogs... ruff, ruff, ruff. Therefore, when it snows outside I am the one that should clean the walk, and such. But thankfully we moved to a location that is considered “country”. I use “ “ because everything else around us is town. (I didn't make the rules, I just deal with them.) So any who, we don't have sidewalks and the mailman drives to our mailbox, so if I don't get out there in time, no need to worry about anyone failing... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK! To conclude, I wanted to leave feeling warm, cause when I look out the window at the coldness all around me, I want to think of warm times. ENJOY!
Young Schumom
I came back to the car, said thank you to the gal and hopped in.
Aby said, “Mom, well you have at least one friend!”
Oh Ms. Schuman, how you have stolen my heart. You were a blessing the day you were born, you are MY best friend, my sweet baby girl!
*I would NEVER forget to empty her potty chair, and then find my son in playing in it.
*To avoid the embarrassment of my daughter wetting herself in public, I DID NOT use a thin pad in her underwear to catch any dribbles. Being the mother I am, I would have had many extra pair of pants along, because I LOVE doing laundry everyday!
*Also, I WOULD NEVER allow her to run around a friend's son's first birthday party with just a pullup and t-shirt on cause she wet through everything else, NEVER!
*I would have NEVER put a swim suit bottom on her because I ran out of clean underwear. That would NEVER happen because I LOVE doing laundry.
