Tomorrow I intend to get back on my feet. Because tomorrow DD3 will be 2 weeks old and my “babymoon” will be officially over. I’ll be back to cooking healthy, cleaning toilets, and otherwise mothering my three girls.

On my list of things to do:

Finish the soft structured carrier I began the night I went into labor with DD3.

Revive my kefir from it’s refridgerated state and hope I haven’t killed it with neglect.

Make some yogurt

Go grocery shopping. The new NT menu mailer is here and it looks yummy!

Send out my secret pal card

Finish DD3’s birth announcement and post them here for a vote off.

Print some of the mother/daughter images for DD3’s baby book.

Start Halloween Costumes! First, though, figure out what to make! I’m thinking about making DD3 a Raggedy Ann costume and DD2 a Sock Monkey costume. I’m at a loss with DD1, though. She wants to be a princess with a swirly skirt. She was a princess LAST year… So I’m not sure. Anybody have any suggestions? She likes shiney, girly things. And apparently she wants a swirly skirt.

The last “get back into life” thing on my list is to find a good pair of running shoes. I have printed off the training schedule from coolrunnings.org (com?) for the couch to 5k program, and am hoping to start excersising shortly. So, yeah, a good pair of running shoes is a must!

I realize I’ve been fairly absent lately. Consumed by new baby needs and cuddles. Go check out flickr, though, to see the latest images… hopefully that will tide everyone over until I get back to blogging.

Today is Dh’s first day back at work. We had hoped that we’d have more transition time before he had to return. Unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be. So, tonight, I got to stretch my “mommy to three” wings and put the kiddos down for the night all on my own. It took a little longer than usual and required a lot more flexibility on my part. But as of 10:12 p.m. they’re all asleep.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I’ve also uploaded a few more pictures to flickr. Be sure to login to view private photos. I have a number of images public that I will move private in the next few days. Just want to give you a heads up.

Other than that, there isn’t much else to update. Oh, DD3’s belly button fell off yesterday and she weighed a womping 11lbs at her appointment on Tuesday. (Go girl!)

I’m alos gearing myself up to getting back into cooking meals and cleaning house. It’s been a rather short Babymoon. But I guess there is no delaying the inevitable? I got this weeks menu mailer for our Traditional Foods and I’m really excited about what is on the list. Just the thought of eating healthier again, has me feeling good inside.

Did I mention that one of the things that I absolutely LOVE about the menu mailer is that everything she offers come in a gluten/casein free option?

P.S. If you sign up for the mailer, let them know you sent me. I get credit for everyone I refer.

Ainslee Marie
Arrived September 14th, 2007 at 1:08 p.m. Measuring 10 lbs 4oz, 20 3/4 inches long with a
14 inch head and chest circumference

She was born nearly in the caul. Her bag of waters breaking as her chest slipped out.

She’s absolutely gorgeous. A complete mix of everyone. A little of Dh and a little of me. She looks a lot like DD2 did at bith, except she has her eldest sister’s lips.

Unlike my other babies this one has golden hair.

Pictures and birth story to follow soon. I’m headed back to bed.

Keep an eye out here for first glimpse of the baby.

. . . and the midwives are on the way. Dad and Mike are filling the birth tub, my mom is entertaining the girls. Hopefully, soon, we’ll get to meet our new family member.

I checked my kefir this morning and noticed that it was >.< this close to being absolutely the perfect thickness. I was half tempted to strain out the grains and refridgerate the kefir, but made the last minute decision to let it set. Just a little while longer.

Eight hours later I remembered my kefir and was surprised to see that the curds and whey had already seperated. I don't have a blender, so it wasn't an option to try and blend it all back together. So, I strained off the whey and then went through the curds collecting my kefir grains. (For whatever reason I'm propogating several individual grains instead of one large grain.) After weeding the kefir curds from the kefir grains, I tossed the grains back into my kefir jar and added more milk. Putting it on the shelf for tomorrow mornings kefir.

Meanwhile, I decided I'd go ahead and eat the kefir curds (a.l.a. cottage cheese) and not save any for the girls.

Turns out, I didn't seperate the curds from the grains as well as I thought! I munched right into a grain! Sour, slimey, and a little bit starteling considering the sweet milky taste of the curds. I know there are people out there that eat grains. I've never tried it. So, I sat there with a decision. Spit the grains out, eat them...

What to do.

In the end I spit them out. My first thought was to try and recover the grains. But then I quickly came to my senses and realized it’s not very kosher to spit grains out and then add them back to the batch. (I may be operating on pregnancy brain, but I do have some common sense left!) So they’re sitting here. Waiting to get tossed. Although I feel awfully wasteful about it and wish I had better kefir grain fortitude to just eat them up like I know others do.

In other news, my batch of Raw milk for this week is REALLY creamy. Usually the cream settles to the top third of the jug and I just shake it back together before serving. But this time, kid you not, the cream easily occupied more than HALF of my jug!

I skimmed it off and am trying to think what I want to do with it.

Butter? Sour cream? Cream cheese?

Either way, I guess the cows are eating some rich grass this time of year.

I recently ran across a forum discussion about making rag rugs, and was instantly curious. I LOVE the idea of taking old t-shirts and bed sheets and turning them into something useful and beautiful. I did a lot of reading about the construction of braided or crotchetted rag rugs and decided that my best choice was to try to crotchet a rug.

So, I swang by a local thrift shop and picked up three single size bed sheets and I bought a size 10 crotchet hook at JoAnn’s for $1.50. I think my total expense was about $3.50 with tax. I’m sure I could have done it even cheaper had I used some of my own, old sheets… but I was wanting something that would match DD1’s room.

I ripped (i.e. cut with scissors) sheets apart into 1.5 inch strips and then joined together long lengths of the strips to create “rag” balls.

The instructions I had said to chain 6 stitches, join the chain with a slip stitch and then single crochet 6 stitches. Increase and then SC 12 stitches. Unfortunately, that’s where my directions ended. So I did have some major issues with knowing how much and where to continue increasing. The final product did end up a bit wonky/wavy. But my daughter seemed to love it none-the less.

The first night, after finishing the rug, we placed it in her room by her rocking chair. That night, when I checked on her, I found her curled up in bed, using the rug as a blanket. Snuggled against her chest.

I learned quite a bit about basic crochetting while doing this project and have a better idea of how to do another rug. Without the hazardous waviness. I did want to share the finished product, though, for those who are wanting an idea for an easy craft.

Sorry about the lack of updates. It’s just that there isn’t anything to say. Same old same old pregnancy griping. I’m 40 weeks 4 days pregnant today. Have a midwife appointment this morning, but don’t feel very hopeful. I’m not intending on being checked, so asides from checking fetal heart tones and measuring me… there won’t be much for me to tell when we return.

I’m feeling disheartened, a bit like a watched pot, and I’m tired of being pregnant. : /

I’m so ready to meet this child. Why does he/she insist on hanging out in utero?

September 9th would be a good day to have a baby. Don’t you think? Here’s to hoping we meet baby “Tres” today!

Well, no matter how you choose to calculate it. In 30 minutes I will be officially inside the 40 week mark. Completely “term.” Every day beyond September 7th will be catagorized as “post-date.”

As an aside, tonight during her bedtime prayer DD1 asked God to “be with mommy tomorrow when she has baby brudder.”

From her mouth to God’s ears.