Thank Heaven for little boys!

I've wanted to write this post for a while, but wasn't really sure how to say it without people getting offended, so I'm just going to try :)

When Bryan and I found out we were having a baby, I'll admit, we wanted a girl. But, when we went to our ultrasound and saw that it was definitely NOT a girl, I wasn't surprised at all :) I feel like God has just called me to be a mom to a bunch of boys. It really makes me sad as I look at men in the world today. On t.v., men are degraded and made to look stupid while the women of the family seem to control everything in the family. This world has gotten away from allowing men to be who they are supposed to be.

According to the Bible (which my family believes in and tries our hardest to follow..), men are called to be the leader of the family. Men are to love their wives and wives are to respect their husbands. Very sadly, I don't see that happen a lot these days. I think if we followed the Bible's plan for the family and marriage, there wouldn't be so many divorces. I can speak boldly about this, because I have been through a divorce. I am now married to an AMAZING man who is a Godly leader. Because I know that my husband is following God's leadership and doing his best to live his life to please God, I know that I can trust where my husband leads our family.

Anyway, back to having boys. I feel that God is giving me the opportunity to raise these boys to be MEN. Men who love their families, men who strive to please God with their lives. These days, it's okay for men to be withdrawn from families. I see it SO many times and it breaks my heart. Men will come home from work and go to their "man cave" so they can do their own thing instead of being bothered by their children and wife. It's heartbreaking. I want more for my family than that, and I want my boys to grow to want more for their families as they grow and become husbands and fathers (if that's God's plan for their lives).

Thank you, Lord, for trusting Bryan and me with these boys. I pray daily that we raise them the way He wants us to and they become the men that He has created them to be. We have an opportunity to make a difference in the next generation of men and I'm thankful God is going to equip us for the task!

Diet change

We have been having some issues with Cade's behavior and I am at a loss as to what to do for him. The main problems we have with him is he has no sense of personal space. If we try to explain to him why personal space is important, he just doesn't get it. No amount of  talking or discipline gets it through to him. I've done some reading and research and I'm going to be changing his (and all of hour's!) diet. It will be a 6 week transition, each week focusing on something to eliminate.  This week, I will be getting rid of artificial coloring and flavors. I will be shopping tomorrow for new items to add to our diet that is free of these things! Any ideas for snacks for kids that have no artificial colors or flavors would be appreciated! I'll update later with what I found for him and how things are going!

Birth Plan

Leaving my last doctor appointment, I felt very uneasy with where I was getting prenatal care. I have just had an uneasy feeling since starting there. So, I started looking at other options. I had a friend recommend a midwife in this area. I called her on Monday and met with her today. I felt so comfortable with her, and like I would be in good hands. So, we decided to switch my prenatal care to her.

We have also made the decision to have a home birth. Now, this is something I thought I would NEVER have a desire to do. But, I have been researching lately and I have in my head the type of birth I want. I feel like I won't get that in a hospital setting. I'm excited to do this in the comfort of my house, with my body being the judge of how long it takes to give birth. In a hospital, a lot of times if you are not progressing at the speed they want you to, pitocin will be started. I have nothing against that, if that is the route you choose. In fact, I had pitocin and an epidural with Cade and Liam and they were very easy deliveries. Liam did have some problems with the pitocin. It caused his heart rate to go crazy and they kept having to turn off the meds to allow him to "rest." This time around, I'm very much looking forward to a natural birth, letting my body do what it needs to. I've never felt a contraction...so I am a little nervous :) I know this will be completely different from my other births, but I'm so excited to do this.

I cannot wait to meet our sweet baby girl or boy. I already love this baby so much and can't wait to have our family grow!

New Beginnings

I started a new devotional study with You Version called New Beginnings. I'm only on day one and it has already really started speaking to me. This is my blog, so I'm going to be honest, because I want to remember parts of my life when God is trying to teach me something.

I moved to Harrison in August. To say it has been easy for me would be a lie. I've cried more than once during pity parties that I throw for myself. I love my husband so much, so the move to be here with him is worth it. But, it hasn't been easy. I struggle almost every day. I lived in Northwest Arkansas for 7 years. That is the longest I have ever lived anywhere. I consider NWA home. When I moved to Harrison, I left my friends, my church, my kids' friends. It's been hard for me to find my place in Harrison. I don't really have many friends here and I get very lonely. In NWA, I had stay-at-home mom friends that would come over during the day. We would get to talk and our kids would play. I was a part of the single mom's group at my church. It is an amazing group of ladies that I love dearly now. Finding where I fit in here in my new town has been hard.

Through my first day of this devotion, God is showing  me that He has me here because He loves me and He has a plan for me. There is a reason I'm in Harrison. I'm now praying that God will show me where He wants me and that He will bring that friend or friends that I need and that I so much want in my life. I know it's going to get better, and I'm going to try to stop the pity parties, but I'm not making any promises that it will never happen again :) Trusting God is not always an easy thing to do, but I know He has a good plan for my life and will show me where I need to be and where I fit in this new town.

Preschool

This was my first week doing preschool with Liam. He loves it. Every morning, he is begging to do school. We usually finish in about an hour...he would do school for 4 hours if I had enough stuff to keep him occupied for that long! I'm amazed at how much he has already learned in just the first week. He's learning his letters and the sound they make. He's been doing HIPPY (which is kind of preschool. Someone comes to our house each week and brings me the lessons for the week.) Anyway, I feel like the HIPPY lessons are a little below his level and he hasn't learned much. So, he is loving the more challenging work. I've also learned a lot that will help me as I'm homeschooling both of the boys next year. One thing I learned... I need to be more organized! I was a little overwhelmed this week just because of my lack of organization, so I'm going into next week more prepared! It will be a learning process for all of us, but I'm so excited about it! And, Cade can't wait to start next year. I have his curriculum figured out for next year. I have some other friends homeschooling, so I'll list that curriculum here to help you if you are looking for something!

Hooked on Phonics - Reading
Handwriting without Tears - Handwriting
Math-U-See - Math
Exploring Creation (Still deciding between Anatomy and Astronomy. We'll do whichever one Cade decides he wants to do first.) - Science
Positive Action for Christ - Bible
Art Treasury - Art

Confessionsofahomeschooler.com has a US Geography curriculum that looks fun, but I think for our first "semester" we will stick this, and then if we want to add in more, we will do the Geography. We may save that for the next year, though.

With Liam, right now I am doing the Pre-K curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler. Next year, I will do the K-4 from the same place.

Here are a few pictures from our first week:

He's working on learning to hold his pencil the correct way.

Doing some math.

Do-A-Dots are so much fun! Both of the boys loved making things with these this week.

I really wish I had a room or better area to use for homeschooling. This is just set up at the back of our living room. It works but it's hard to keep things organized here. I need to find some organization ideas to make this space work better for us.

First Ultrasound

We went for our first ultrasound on Tuesday. It was so great seeing our sweet baby on the screen and knowing that the baby is growing and healthy. The baby had a heart rate of 174. They did a 4D shot for us and I'm amazed at the detail. I think our baby is already so adorable!

During the ultrasound, the tech did find a cyst on my left ovary. Last week, I was having a lot of pain on my left side. I went to the doctor for it and they said I had a kidney infection.  I still find myself getting pains on occasion, so I'm thinking that pain may actually be from the cyst. I have to have another ultrasound in 4 weeks to make sure the cyst isn't growing. Honestly, I'm not very happy with my doctor's office. I felt so rushed when they were seeing me. I have no clue what will happen if it does grow. I have no idea on what the affects of this is on pregnancy. They didn't tell me anything. I saw the midwife for maybe 1 minute. I'm not pleased, but unfortunately, with our insurance, this is the only doctor's office I have an option to use. If this is how it is every visit, I'm not going to enjoy this very much. I don't like to feel rushed, especially when I was told news that I wasn't expecting at all and have no clue what to expect.

Anyway, feel free to pray for me that when I go back in 4 weeks, there will be no cyst at all!

I'll end this post with a picture of our sweet, sweet baby :)

New Adventure..

So, Bryan and I have made the decision that starting next year when Cade is in 1st grade, I will begin homeschooling. I am SO excited about this. Homeschooling has been what I have wanted to do ever since having kids. But, when I divorced and became a single mom, I really felt that trying to home school would be overwhelming, with it going along with my in-home daycare that I had. So, I gave up on my dream of homeschooling. Well, now I am remarried, we are more settled, and my desire to home school has been back stronger than ever. I want my kids to love to learn, which they already do. Cade is so inquisitive. He questions everything. I want to be able to help him find those answers. And, I want to help him develop skills that I already see he has talent in. Cade loves art. And, he's really good at it. I want to encourage that interest and help him become the best he can be or wants to be with that. I'm not sure what Liam's interest is yet...so far, his interest is Scooby Doo :) Mostly, I want my kids to develop a heart for God and what He wants them to do with their lives. In the end, that's what it's all about.

I am so thankful that I have so many friends that have been able to help me get started. It can be a little overwhelming to even know where to start, but I have had some great friends give me a lot of recommendations and now I feel like I can definitely do this and it's not so overwhelming. I do wish I lived closer to these friends. When I lived in NWA, I had so many friends who home schooled. In my new town, I don't know anyone. It would be helpful to have a support system closer to home. I will be researching any local home school groups to hopefully get involved in.

I'm excited about starting this. I can hardly wait until next school year! I'm so excited about the freedom this is going to give our family and I am excited to make learning exciting for my kids. I want them to experience learning, not sit behind a desk several hours a day. I know it's going to be challenging, but it will be so worth it!