Getting Ready !!!!

Well just an update to let everyone know that I'm still here . I have been having contractions off and on for a while now , I am moving so slow lately . I get so emotional during my last trimester , I have been so stressed and short fused , I have even caught myself complaining lately which is not like me at all , I have been praying about this , and today was a lot better , I think just getting to go outside made me feel a lot better , GOD gave us a beautiful day today , I finally got fresh air . This winter has been so cold and snowy . Dallas has helped me out so much , I'm so glad that she has had a lot of snow days because I have needed her , today she cooked supper and baked a cake all on her own , she did a great job . Took the kids to the dentist the other day , Riley's teeth are great but Dallas has to have braces . I checked out a book on breast feeding at the library , It was helpful but not a lot of info on babies like Leah , so I called the health dept and talked with a really nice lady and she was kind enough to mail me a booklet which was very helpful , it seems that babies with cleft lips or palates need mothers milk more than ever because it keeps them from getting sick the first year and it can keep them from getting middle ear infections which they are prone to and it can keep them from getting an illness when they go into the hospital for surgery , also it may take a lot longer to get them to breast feed and you have to be patient , but there is a lot of different positions to try and hopefully I will get a good lactation specialist that will help me even after I leave the hospital . If for some reason she can't nurse I am still going to try to give her breast milk , sometimes they have to make them a special bottle . I don't know why I have waited so long to try to find a breast pump , it seems this pregnancy has gone by so fast , I'm behind on a lot of things . Also update on diapers , since the all in one diapers are so expensive in our country I ordered some from china off of eBay , they are called babyland and I did not research them until after I got them , but most people said that these diapers do not fit newborns and probably won't fit your baby for a while unless you have a big baby , and after they do fit they seem to have a problem with the sides coming out , which I think I could fix that with Velcro , which is what they should have done when they made them , but after researching all the diapers I had already decided to go with prefolds , but I will keep the all in one's for later . I really like prefolds from what I have learned , they are cheaper and you can afford them on any budget , and from what I have read if you do laundry everyday you can get by with 3 covers and 2 dozen prefolds per child . Another thing I like about prefolds , you can choose your size , I went with the Bummis super whisper wrap , they are very thin and not bulky and very tough . Just make sure when you buy your prefolds that you get diaper service quality , the prefolds at the dept. stores are to thin like Gerber brand , I ordered my DSQ prefolds from Zoolikins and I researched it and believe that they are the cheapest , you can also get your Snappies from them, and the Bummis covers are only 11 dollars for white and almost 13 for a design . I have been practicing putting the diapers on a teddy bear , I know it sounds silly but it's all I have right now . I tried to practice with the teddy bear on my moby to but gave up on that til later my stomach is just way to big for that now . I already have my bags packed , I've never had a baby to come early yet but you never know , Riley has had a cough lately , I gave her homemade cough syrup which helped her through the day but not at night , I don't understand why it won't go away during the night , sometimes it chokes her so bad I have to set her up and shake her arm and pat her back to get her to breath , it scares me , I hope it goes away soon , I gave Dallas a break and let her go to my mom and dads to spend the night . Well post more later .......GOD BLESS .

Banana Caterpillars

You will need - 2 med. bananas
                        1/4 cup peanut butter
                        1/4 cup flaked coconut
                        4 raisins
                        thin pretzel sticks
1 - Peel and slice each banana into 10 slices . Make caterpillar by spreading slices with peanut butter and pressing pieces together .

2 - Sprinkle half of coconut over each caterpillar and press lightly with fingertips to coat . Attach raisins to one end with a little bit of peanut butter for eyes . Break pretzel sticks into small pieces and press between banana slices for legs and antennae . Makes 2 servings .

Kids can also be creative and add other types of sliced fruits to their caterpillars .

Happy Birthday Dallas .....

Wow I can't believe my baby is 15 years old today . Time goes by so fast , it's true what they say , little girls do grow up to be your best friends , because your my best friend . I am so proud of you , you try to win souls now and your having your own walk with GOD , I love your boldness and how you reprove people when it comes to GOD'S word , I love how you want to be a mother when you grow up and have as many kids as GOD wants to give you . You are growing up to be the kind of person I wanted you to be . I always hoped you wanted to grow up to be like me , but there are things about you that I would like to be more like you in some ways , you are such a beautiful person , I wish people could see how beautiful you are on the inside and not just on the outside .You truly are a blessing , I could not imagine being without you , just keep following Jesus . I love you ......love mom!!!!!

Happy New Year !!!

Happy new year and merry Christmas , I'm sorry that I didn't get to do the Christmas post I wanted to , 2 weeks before Christmas I started having terrible pains , I have a huge cyst on my right ovary that has never hurt me throughout this pregnancy until now . I never knew about cyst and I never knew how much pain that they can cause , I could hardly walk across the floor . The doctors told me they could do nothing for me unless it ruptures , which was very comforting , they only teach doctors now about conventional medicine and surgery , so after being in pain for a week and a half I decided to go on the Internet and see if there was a natural way to relieve the pain , and I found an article that said to drink 10 glasses of water a day and to sit on a heating pad , and it worked , I am praying daily that God will shrink this cyst or take it away , my doctor wants to do surgery after the baby is born which I don't want , I am trying out this diet that is supposed to shrink cyst , I hope it helps , if anybody has any suggestions please help me . I thank God that 3 days before Christmas I started doing a lot better , so I had even more to be thankful for , It was very hard for me not being able to do anything , being idle makes me crazy , but I tried to keep myself busy which helped a lot I caught up on some reading and scrap booking , I will post some of the pages soon , and me and the kids made banana caterpillars on the coffee table since I couldn't get off the couch , I will post that recipe to . I have enjoyed reading every one's blogs , I'm glad everyone is doing well . We had a wonderful Christmas and a great new years day . God Bless !!!