So Jon has this exam coming up. In the actuarial field, to keep progressing and moving up in their career, they have to take these notoriously difficult exams. His next one is on Nov. 9th. He has been studying for months, but a week or two before his exam, he has to devote some serious study time to review all the material. This on top of work, family, and church responsibilities... he's under a lot of pressure, but he's really great at balancing it all.
I came across one of his hundreds of note sheets today and thought I'd scan it... Take a look at this crap...
(By the way, does anyone know how to add the zoom-in feature? It's hard to appreciate unless you see it up close.)
I mean seriously, it looks like a foreign language! Anyway, I just let him do his thing. And I'm grateful he does it so well!
I'm doing ok... definitely pregnant. I have never really experienced morning sickness with the other kids. But this time, it's a different story. Maybe I'm making up for what I missed. I have been really nausious and so exhausted for the last week. The thought of food is repulsive most of the time... but unfortunately that didn't stop me from raiding the good stuff from the kids trunk or treating bags tonight.. ha ha! I justify that they don't need all that candy anyway. Except I didn't touch the older kids bags... they know EXACTLY how many pieces of candy they have. (Darn ;)) Anyway, so I did a little research on morning sickness tonight, and found that if you're more sick than usual, it could be twins. Um... whoa. I think I would seriously go out of my mind.
Celeste is loving school. I met with her teacher for a parent teacher conference recently, and she told me she has gotten a green (which means she's had good behavior) every single day! And apparently, the teacher is pretty liberal about handing out yellows and reds, because she said Celeste was the only one in the class that has gotten a green every day so far. I was sooo pleased with her. I care more about how my kids are developing socially than academically. I want them to be thoughtful, caring, and kind people. And that means more to me than how quickly she can add or how neat her handwriting is. I love my sweet Celeste.
Benny makes me laugh every day. He seems to go from one mini-obsession to the next. Right now, he's obsessed with The Incredibles. He puts on his Mr. Incredible pajamas the minute he walks in the door every day. If he could, he would wear them to school too. He tells everyone that he has Mr. Incredible pjs, and his enthusiasm about it greatly amuses people. He is just the funniest, quirkiest kid, and I love him so much! He is also adjusting really well in school. I'm glad he's in this 4K program, because I think he will be well prepared for kindergarten. I LOVE his little raspy voice, and I wish it would stay that way forever. I still haven't tried to teach him how to pronounce his L's because I think it's so cute the way he says, "I yuv yew."
Charity is my sweet little cuddle bug. I'm enjoying the extra one on one time I get with her every day when the other kids are at school and Jakey takes his nap. She has a very easy going and laid back personality... most of the time. But she is also developing a bit of a 'tude. It's hard for us to get upset with her though because she's so darn cute when she gets mad! ha ha!! But she is such a sweetheart, lately out of the blue she'll say, "Mommy I yuv yew. And I don't want you to die... ever." It melts my heart. She has really gotten into puzzles recently... and she's great at them! She's seriously better than I am. When we go to the library, she and I work on puzzles, and she usually finds where the pieces go before I do. She has a ton of patience and determination, and she'll work on it until it's finished. I love this little girl so much.
And then there's my Jakey buddy. I can't believe he's not my little baby anymore. He is simply a hilarious little kid! He just swings from one emotion to the next, and it is too fun to watch. His face is soooo expressive! He will get upset, but usually he'll have this slight grin, and you know if you tickle him, he'll just start laughing. There is SO MUCH personality crammed in that little body... it's crazy. He loves reading time lately. When I'm in the middle of something else, he'll just bring a book to me, and plant himself in my lap. He's good at reminding me what my priorities are. I remember my grandma always said, she wished she could invent a "kid stopper". I always thought she was a little kooky when she said that... but now I understand.
I guess I had more to write than I thought I did. I am really just grateful for this life I have been given, for my family, for the gospel, and that I can be with these... my favorite people... forever because of Jesus Christ. Life is not perfect, but we are happy.
5 comments:
I remember looking at Tyler's chemical engineering homework and just being amazed that ANYONE knew what it all meant!!! I hope Jon does well on his exam - then you guys can relax.
You have amazing children, Nicole - no doubt they have learned so much from you! I am eager to find out if you're having a boy or girl or twins! Hang in there!
And sometimes differences in morning sickness happen because of the current state of your health...if you've been slacking off (or simply unable to keep up with sleep/nutrition due to, oh, all the other kids!) then the hormones can really knock you down because you don't have much in reserve.
I've also heard that many women have entirely different morning sickness symptoms depending whether they are carrying a girl or a boy...but you've done both ways so that shouldn't be your reason.
I read something recently--I don't remember where--which suggested that a lot of pregnancies may start out as twin/multiple pregnancies and that reabsorbtion of one fetus is actually quite common--leading to early symptoms of twins but still only a single birth. I had a lot of dreams/thoughts about twins early in this pregnancy but there is definitely only one kid in there now, so who knows!
I always feel pretty totally nauseous for the first 3 months. I rarely actually barf, but I generally feel like i'm going to any minute for 3 straight months. I figure that my relatively easy pregnancies are just karma paying me back for having to be morning sick 3 extra times before i ever got a baby out of it. :D
So, you probably know the drill, but if you've never been this sick then maybe not...
**ginger and peppermint help with queasiness (little hard candies to suck on--especially if they have the real ginger/peppermint in them--can be soothing as well)
**vitamin B helps, although most of the pills taste like vomit so that doesn't help. But if you can find palatable sources of B that's really good.
**frequent small meals--always with protein in them. I always crave carbs, but they don't help...but protein always helps. I eat ridiculous amounts of peanut buttered toast when i'm morning sick LOL!
**lots of water. Hydration solves more problems than most of us realize.
i'm excited for you, I hope you get this new variation on pregnancy figured out so you can enjoy this time too. :)
Thank you Jill. You're such a caring friend.
And Mommy Bee... thank you!! I appreciate your insights and suggestions so much. I'll definitely look into those tips on relieving the symptoms of morning sickness. And I'm excited for you too! Not too much longer now, huh?!
Sorry you are feeling yucky...I wish we were closer so I could give you a break and make you whatever you were craving! Nap when they nap...sleep helps everything....don't stress about the house....if you can afford it...get a some help. Last pregnancy Seth got a "team" that cleaned every other week....for 60$. It was wonderful!!!!!! I didn't feel so bad for letting stuff go a little...knowing it would be taken care of soon!!!early Christmas present???? :)
I just clicked on the image, and it blows it up to a "whole screen" size so that I could see Johns paper well. So I think that is the "zoom" feature you are wanting. It works anyway.
It sounds like things are going well. (Except for feeling sick). Hopefully you will feel better soon. That would be awesome if you had twins. I totally thought that I was preg with twins when I had Eli. Maybe that is because Scott came so soon after him, and if felt like I had twins sometimes. It will be fun to see what's going on in a few months. Have you found an O.B. yet? I hope they will give you an early ultrasound my my O.B. does. I love that, because then I know what is going on early on.
I love what you wrote about your kids. They are such cute kids. It is a wonderful thing to be a mother! What blessings they are.
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