Thanksgiving

Only a few more weeks till Baby. Meantime, Happy Thanksgiving.

Excuse This House

Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there,
Ours boasts it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges are on the doors
I should apologize, I guess
For toys strewn on the floor.

But I sat down with my child
And we played and laughed and read
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
His eyes will shine instead.

For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other,
I’d like to cook and clean and scrub,
But first I’ll be a mother.

~ Author Unknown

A Decision is Made, Part 2

You can read part 1 here.

I spent the parts of the weekend that I wasn't texting my Hubbers to texting the 2 friends that had birthed with the midwife in this past year.  I learned a LOT from them both and bit the bullet to set an appointment with the learned lady.

I will only call her Laura here, but she is a beautiful person.  The idea you have in your head of a granny midwife - a little grey, rounded, loving spirit - that is Laura to the T.  I get such a good, bubbly feeling inside my chest when she is around and the idea of birthing with her is so peaceful to me.  She tells me the very same thing.

I've met with Laura twice now and simply adore her!  She is very interested in proper nutrition to balance the body and mind.  I had already begun to turn my own mind that way and everything she had to tell me fits right in with that mindset.


Muscle testing - have you heard of it?  Also called Kinesilogy it is amazing and seems almost magical somehow.  A good friend of mine is a practicioner of this science and I have benefited from it tremendously.  If you're in my area and want the number, please contact me.  Laura also does muscle testing and everything that she has told me through the testing as been backed up by my professional friend.  I think I'm living healthier now than ever before!


As I said, I did a lot of reading about homebirth vs hospital birth and found out that homebirth is STUNNINGLY safer than hospital!  You can read about the Homebirth Choice on Midwifery Today or just about any other website you might want.


In case of complications, the midwife is highly trained in bleeding, distress, and other common problems.  Anything she can't handle and we are less than 20 minutes away from a hospital in either of two directions.  Did you know that most hospitals are unable to call together a team for an emergency in less than 20 minutes?  True and scary.

I will have a gentle birth at home with a birthing pool.  It will be a swimming pool that I used just for that purpose rather than an expensive "professional" pool.  Search Amazon.com for waterbirth I have complete faith in my body to birth easily and without problems.

Laura has brought me several good books to read, too.  Here is a list of a few: Gentle Birth Choices, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Birth without Violence and a few for the kids: Baby, Come Out! and The Room In My Heart.  I also plan on re-reading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way: Revised Edition and someone loaned me a copy of HypnoBirthing: A Celebration of Life.

For pregnancy I really like to read The Birth Book: Everything You Need to Know to Have a Safe and Satisfying Birth (Sears Parenting Library), Your Pregnancy Week by Week, 6th Edition (Your Pregnancy Series), Mayo Clinic Complete Book of Pregnancy & Baby's First Year, and The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth (Revised).  Just to name a few.  We love to read here.  Early and often.

My supplements are coming from Nature's Sunshine other than the Mona Vie I live on.  For the items I can't wait for, including healthy living products like the Black Strap molasses for added iron and Cayenne Tincture, I like Wealth of Health in Idaho Falls.

I can't wait to share some of the recipes Laura has given me for added nutrition and healthy!  I have neglected my blog for so long due to the kids going back to homeschool.  I've just been plain busy!  But here is my pledge: I will post more often with awesome news and events.  Meanwhile, enjoy this cartoon:

Woot! Award! Woot!

Hey! Lookie what Mommy D's Kitchen gave ME?!!  I am stunned.  I recently started reading her blog(s) through her Paranormal side.  Ghosts, ghoulies, unexplained things just intrigue me.  Anyway, she's an awesome read, a great new friend, and a Twitter bud par excellence.  You simply must find her on the web, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

So here's the rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself that others may not know.

3. Pay it forward. Pass this award along to 15 bloggers whom you have recently discovered.

Everyone likes to talk about themselves, so you must know this is the EASY part...

1. I love Ghost Hunters. I Netflix all the disks of the show that I can and watch them on SYFY Rewind.  That's how I found Mommy D.

2. I hate mopping the floor more than I hate scrubbing the toilet.  True story: If I perceive that Hubbers is mad at me, I will hie my hiney to the restroom and clean until it shines.  Nothing like a clean potty.

3. I am a book-a-holic.  If I could keep every book I ever read, I would.  When we moved last year, I had to get rid of BOXES of books.   Just too much to move, too heavy, too much space, and no where to put them in our new house.

4. It's been almost a year since we moved and I just hung up some family photos for the first time two weeks ago.  I guess I've been so busy with homeschooling, kids, new house, and our home biz that I just didn't make time.

5. Uh. Now what.

6. I love my blog, even though I have neglected it pretty badly since Baby D was born.  I used to get comments on every post.  Now, I'm lucky to get one comment a week.  It is sad, but such is the way of life.

7. Here's the big one.  I just found out 1 week ago that we are expecting a new baby.  Yup, a new "Files Baby" will be making an appearance in January 2011, if all goes well.  Right now I'm about 8 weeks along.  Remember how things went with our baby angel Michael.  Pray for me, for baby7, and His gracious peace, please.

Now the HARD part.  15 bloggers I recently discovered.  I guess since Mommy D just found me, I can't find her again, huh?  I'm kind of combining my fav new blogs with some of my fav new Twitter pals.  So, here it goes:

1. Neat-o-rama
2. Cake Wrecks
3. Proverbs Wife
4. Raising Olives
5. Raising Arrows
6. Jeff Yeager
7. Karen Katherine
8. Hurried Homemaker
9. Crochet Spot
10. The Pioneer Woman
11. Weird Al Yankovic
12. Toxel
13. Wild Mother Arts
14. Chris Brady
15. Orrin Woodward

Ok, so those last two are personal leadership mentors for Hubbers and I - not really new reads, but way worth the while.

Thanks again, Mommy D!

The Ubiquitous Letter

It’s the holiday season once again and time for the ubiquitous “letter”. I always tell myself that I’m going to keep track of all the fun stuff we do each month of the year and I succeed for about two months. Then I fall off and get in the groove of slack.

So what happened with us this year? Why, let me tell you:

Oldest Girl got glasses over Easter break and is marveling over how clear things look now. She’ll be 13 in a few months and is very teenaged but we still love her. I haven’t seen the floor in her room in three months.

Curly Girl is 10 and as headstrong as ever. She’s the driving force that I can count on when I need something done. It’s not always done right and it’s not always done pretty, but it is almost always done.

Roo Boo is my girl of two extremes. She’s either very happy and my sunshine, or she’s a very angry tempest. Her mind works so much differently than the older girls and at 8 she keeps me on my toes!

The Boy has started Kindergarten this year and can already read! He is so proud of himself and so am I. He is typical boy: loves bugs, guns and trucks. He’s caught between wanting to be a baby and a big boy.

Baby Bunting is getting big at 18 months and is running everywhere. I recently bought him his first pair of shoes and he loves them so much he doesn’t consider himself dressed until they are on his feet. He’s a bundle of giggles and love.

Big family news, we moved to a new house this July! We moved north just 17 miles and it’s a whole different world. We’ve got a house with a bedroom for each kid and almost 3 acres of land to run on. We’ve complimented the new house with two new cats and a new dog bringing our zoo totals to three cats, two dogs, 1 hamster, 1 river frog, and 1 parakeet.

We’ve also taken the kids out of public school and started to home school this year. With four kids in school, it’s a lot of work for mom, but being able to know exactly what they are learning each day is a blessing and a great benefit. There are no surprise assemblies touting the “greatness” of our current President.

Frank is still an awesome engineer employed at XXX. The kids are turning his hair grey at the temples, but it’s a distinguished look on him. And I, Sara, am looking forward to a great new year with the blessings of God upon all of us.

Merry Christmas!!

Dear Blog

My dearest, beautiful blog. I love you. I love pouring out my thoughts and feelings here. I so much enjoy our time together. Some of my favorite moments are posted upon your goodness.

Lately, though, I've met a new face and have neglected you. I find myself on Facebook at all times of the day. You see, I can access Facebook with my cell phone!

I know; it's not fair. But I haven't forgotten you. I write long, funny bloggy posts in my mind as I lay in bed at night, nursing the babe to sleep. I think of things while I'm driving that would add such grace to your pages!

To make it worse, my house looks like this:


Pretty bad, huh? It must be tackled and SOON.

To make up for the neglect, I've given you a little facelift courtesy of The Cutest Blog on the Block. They make the cutest free blog backgrounds with no nasty HTML to learn or personally edit.

I've also started back to Curves for some exercise. After all, it's been 6 months since BB was born and he's finally at a spot to survive without crying for the hour that it takes to go, exercise, cool down, and return.

To top it all off, I'm still teaching Home Ec to middle schoolers every weekday for an hour AND taking personal sewing jobs. In fact, I've got one that I'm putting off starting right now. It's a slip cover for a hard to fit couch.

So, my sweet little blog, I will be back in full force as soon as I can. Hubbers is leaving for a business trip in Feb for a few days and I'm sure I'll need some adult interaction then. Meanwhile, hold fast! The end is in sight.

Potpourri

I've got all sorts of interesting stuff on my mind lately. Here's a sampling:

Look what I'm making for BB! He has a small one I bought at "Wal-World" (newborn size) that's about outgrown. I thought this was just SO CUTE! Visit Naida's Crochet for instructions and more cute pictures.

I also found a way to clean hairbrushes. I don't expect that these things get dirty too much, but I remember my mom cleaning them when I was little. When I asked about it, she claimed she didn't know. But here's what I found in The "I Hate to Clean" Guide to Home Care from the Regina Cleaning Counsel:

Combs/Brushes/Curlers:
Combine a solution of three tablespoons baking soda, three tablespoons chlorine bleach, and warm water in the bathroom sink. Place combs (etc) in the solution. Let stand one hour, rinse and dry.

Cool. Maybe it will make my hair feel "fresher"? Give it more body? Nah - probably not but it will make me feel like I'm doing something good for myself and family.

My blog is feeling tired. I need a new look for the new year. Any ideas? I've seen a few around that I might like to borrow...

A good book: Master of Dragons by Margaret Weiss.

I just read an update on Redneck Mommy. Tanis, my heart goes out to you in love and care at your loss of BamBam and the viciousness of Dragonlady. I pray that you will find your forever child soon.


Little Debbie Give Away!!

My blog is dusty!

Yes, I know, it's been a while. I'm still trying to get myself in the swing of things and get up before 11 am. Which is important since the kids go back to school in just 6 days.

Meanwhile, here's some baby cuteness to fill in some space. BB's baptism, complete with godparents.

Bloggy Bling From My Bud, AZMom

Thank you Marla, for the awesome award!! You are such a good real life friend and an awesome blogger.


5 Bloggers I nominate:

T With Honey
Fried Okra
SFO Mom
Living on Adrenaline
Chicky Chicky Baby

You guys ALL rock. My twitter and Google reader seldom disappoint in providing me the bloggy love I crave. Except on the weekends when you're on hiatus or hanging with family or something important like that...

Fun with Food

La traviata
Uploaded by Verdegaio

I'm Tired of My Look!

I'm doing a major revamp on my blog today, since it's freakin' hot outside and I don't feel like doing much of anything. So, expect a few changes and tell me if you like it!

And if you've fallen off my blog list, please email me!

Addiction and Return

61%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Mingle² - Online Dating

We're BACK from visiting and SO glad - much cooler here in SE Idaho than at Gramma's house. Good to see ya'll, internets.

CurlyGirl broke the nose pincher part on her glasses and isn't wearing them until we get the new nose pincher buffer in place - hopefully tomorrow. BoyBoy had only 1 accident (travel diarrhea) the whole weekend! Go Boy!

Fatality while gone - the hermie crab is dead. CurlyGirl is devastated. We'll see about getting a few more. They're SO attached to these spider looking thingies!

Catty-fatties are glad to see us and purred everywhere and sat on all of us. Dog went with us, but was ready to go again as we cleaned out the van. She just sat there, awaiting the start of the next trip!

My Little Elephant Boy

I won this cool vintage fabric stuffed elephant from Pleasant View Schoolhouse. He is just gorgeous, isn't he? He's now making himself at home on top of my computer right next to my ceramic Mary and box of business cards - in good company.

Now, I can't say that PVSH will be having any more giveaways, but the blog itself is WONDERFUL, retro, stylin' beyond anything - Lots of big, beautiful pictures and stories. If you've ever visited Alice Cantrell's blog, A Number of Things, or Hello My Name is Heather, you will also like PVSH.

Dyson... (Faux British Accent)

I was visiting over to Many Little Blessings and found

THE COOLEST GIVEAWAY EVER

sponsored by those crazy chicks at Five Minutes for Mom and Dyson.

Check this out:

Frustrated by the poor suction of his vacuum, inventor James Dyson began to dream about how to solve the problem. He went through 5,000 prototypes, but several years later he produced the Dyson cyclone - the first vacuum cleaner that doesn’t lose suction.

(Didn't you use your faux British accent? If not, scroll up and repeat.)

Want a chance to win the newest model, Dyson Slim? All you have to do is click on over to the Five Minutes for Mom site and sign the Mr Linky.

Well, what are you waiting for!? The contest ends 4 April!

Go. NOW!!

Oh yes, one more thing:

I ALWAYS KNEW IT!

You Are an Afternoon Person

You can find energy any time of the day ... or night! You prefer to be out and about when most other people are. Very early mornings or very late nights aren't really your thing. You're practically solar powered, and the afternoon is when do best.

Are You a Morning Person or Night Person?

God Bless Donny Osmond - White and Nerdy to the End!

Who Brought the Chips?

March 2-9. Online ONLY. Everyone's invited. PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED!
Click the image for more info...

Welcome to my house on the Bloggy Block party!! We're not the biggest. Not the cleanest (shhhh... don't tell!). We're just the COOLEST partyin' bloggers in my house! Well, I am anyway, since no one else blogs...

We've got a whole WEEK to get to know each other, so let's start now.

Hi, I'm Sara, mom of The Estrogen Files. My mind is as cluttered as my blog but my family loves me anyway. I have four brats kids who drive me insane hourly. All but the youngest is in school. Hubbers is an engineer who works for the government, which is cause for insanity itself.

I live in snowy Idaho. I've come to the conclusion that Idaho is an Indian word that means "The Wind Never FREAKIN' STOPS blowin'!" We've lived here 10 years and our house is only 1400 square feet. Saying that we're a little cramped is an understatement.

I like to craft with crochet hooks, paper and scrapbooks, and web design. I own my own sewing business called WAHMom.com (Work at Home Mom). Once upon a time I could wear skinny jeans. Now I go to Curves and joined Therefore, What - a weightloss blog.

I enjoy spreading my maniacy (is that a word? kind of maniac and lunacy all rolled together?) to all and sundry. Welcome to The Estrogen Files!

Leave me a comment and I'll be sure to visit your blog, too. I LIVE for comments, you know. Don't we all?

In case that's not enough "sara" for you, check out my 100 Things post.

This is a sticky post -- scroll down for the latest bloggy news below.

Party Pause...

Alright you party fiends - I've partied SO much that my carpal tunnels are awful "hurty"! I'm breaking from the festivities today but will return tomorrow. Back in force, back in the saddle, ready for more chips and dip, soda and fudge, Pepcid and Pepto.

Who DID bring the chips?!

It's Official...

We are a technology savvy family.

How do I know? My 2 year old son just asked me if I was working on my "Bog". (Stunned silence, dawning awe)

Next thing you know, he's going to be asking to work on the "Bog" himself!!

Uuuuh, Oops.

Jeez, I had to visit two different places today to realize that I had missed out on a Bloggy Tradition. A rite of Passage! Something to do instead of Housework!

Upon the challenge encouragement praise of Our Seven QTPies, I hereby present my list of 100 (or nearly so) things about me, in Grand Bloggy Style...

1. I'm 31.

2. No, only for the first time.

3. I have four kids.

4. This breaks down to 3 girls, 1 boy.

5. I own my own business - WAHMom.com

6. It's a sewing business and I enjoy it.

7. But just like the shoemaker, I sadly don't take much time to make things for my kids.

8. At least they're not naked.

9. I volunteer at my kids' charter school as the Box Tops for Education coordinator and Home EC sewing teacher, as well as all around copy maker for the teachers of my children.

10. Only 25 hours per family is required and I usually make that in the first few months.

11. Yes, I do enjoy it! Sara, MISTRESS of the Rizzo (fast copy) MACHINE! Feel my power...

12. I like to eat string cheese with a handful of pretzels. They go really well together.

13. The string cheese thing is a good healthy snack.

14. I'm round as a dumpling and curing this problem at Curves.

15. I've lost 21 pounds since late June.

16. Hubbers is proud but only if prompted - he is an engineer and you KNOW how they are...

17. I wear hard contact lenses or I'd be blind.

18. I hate wearing glasses because I have an adorable (on a kid) button nose that won't hold any sort of implement up to my eyes.

19. My kids have the same nose but only K (age 7) wears glasses.

20. K is making First Communion this year.

21. If she's really good, we might let her actually do it. K has listening issues - she listens to herself and not me.

22. I drive a sage green mini-van.

23. Yes, slider doors on both sides!

24. My neighbor told me when she found out I was pregnant with my last baby that we really ought to get cable.

25. Lucky for her that I know antenna TV doesn't cause babies... DUH!

26. We practice Natural Family Planning, which has a success rate of over 99% if done correctly and adhered to strictly.

27. Hey, this is a family friendly blog - we all know babies come from HEAVEN!

28. Look at that, I made it to 28 without having to think much!

29. Now what?

30. Hubbers and I don't watch TV.

31. Sometimes we watch movies. When we do, I post Flicks for Chix reviews here.

32. My closest in town friend moved to St George last year. Her hubbers is in the army.

33. Hence my addiction to blogging.

34. Not to worry, he got transferred again so they're only a few hours from here when they move this spring.

35. I sing for the Mass once a month.

36. No, it doesn't sound like blackbirds squawking, it's rather nice.

37. I had voice training once upon a time.

38. I can play (or did at one time) the violin, viola, piano.

39. I spend FAR too much time blogging.

40. At least no one is naked or unfed.

41. I taught myself HTML.

42. I learned mostly by trial and error and look and copy. Works for me.

43. Ooops, wrong post and it's not Wednesday.

44. I read a LOT.

45. Except at the dinner table, because not only is it RUDE, it also makes you pay absolutely NO attention to what you've eaten, thereby blocking the "I'M FULL ALREADY" signals.

46. I enjoy books on CD/Tape/MP3.

47. They really fill in the time when I'm cleaning (laughs!), sewing or cooking.

48. Hubbers doesn't know I have ears under the headphones.

49. The kids think it's part of my hair.

50. WHEW! Half way done...

51. I have no grey hair on my head, but my eyebrows are seriously silvering.

52. How odd is that?!

53. Hubbers is gracefully grey at the temples.

54. He says I did it.

55. Yeah, right.

56. Hubbers and I have been married almost 11 years.

57. We have two anniversaries for our wedding.

58. Guess you'll have to wait till I post my Marriage Meme from my good buddy Aimee at The Mother Load to figure THAT one out.

59. Two free alterations to the person who gets it before then!

60. Uuuuuhhhh...

61. My MP3 player is a SanDisk Sansa m240, lipstick pink.

62. I got it for Christmas.

63. It's pretty cute until it got stuck on the Sansa screen and wouldn't go any further.

64. SanDisk wanted me to buy Windows XP just to run the diagnostics on it.

65. I said no and let Hubbers rant on their butts till they agreed to replace it.

66. I am Windows free. I run Debian LINUX on my machine.

67. This means no more Blue Screen of Death.

68. I switched 2 years ago and won't go back.

69. I'm a Catholic convert.

70. Hubbers is a cradle Catholic.

71. I didn't convert just to marry Hubbers. It was for me.

72. Perhaps sometime I'll post my story. I've been a lot of places related to religion and churches.

73. I went to Europe during Lent in 1989. Wouldn't you know that was the year I gave up chocolate?!

74. Yes, I kept my sacrifice.

75. 1989 in Germany. That was the year the wall fell, remember?

76. It was haunting. I still have pieces of that wall in my scrapbook.

77. More haunting than that was the concentration camp we visited - Dachau. No life. No grass. No birds. Nothing. Just ghosts.

78. I still get shivers thinking of it.

79. I sell on eBay. Mostly I enjoy it. Sometimes it's a hassle.

80. We have a circus of pets here. 1 dog, 2 cats, 2 parakeets, 3 hermit crabs, 4 kids, 1 Hubbers.

81. Don't birds make such a cheery noise? Nice and early in the morning? REAL early!?

82. I like white cheddar flavoring on my popcorn. YUM.

83. I'm going to have some if I ever finish this post...

84. My favorite color is blue.

85. Hubbers doesn't think I'm that funny.

86. That's okay - I think I'm funny enough for all of us...

87. We go rollerblading as a family every Saturday.

88. I have a red Dodge Stratus that is a hit and run magnet. 2x in 4 years is 2x too many!

89. Yeah, we're gonna sell it, I think. Do we have to tell 'em it's "The Magnet"?

90. My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Royal Highness Sara the Elegant of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobw

91. I blogged my Christmas letter this year...

92. Yeah, I, uh, just trolled the archives, such as they are, for more material!!

93. This is officially post 152 or theresuch, so it's not exactly my 100th post blogiversary.

94. How do you make strike-throughs? Like this, only without all the spaces:
< s > text < / s >

95. Remember how I said I taught myself HTML? I learned this by Google-ing it.

96. PUSH! Only 4 more!

97. I'd love to have more kids, but I have really bad post partum depression. This stuff is serious. Please get help if you need it!

98. Yes, I know where babies REALLY come from - no need to comment on that, please.

99. I'm applying to become a La Leche League leader!

100. I'm SO done...

So, if you haven't already done it, I tag Barb (SFO Mom), Aimee (The Mother Load), Stephanie (Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood), and T (T with Honey) as well as anyone else who wants to join in!

Remember, everyone loves a comment. Even snarky ones like me...

My Word Cloud - It's a GOOD THING!

I was visiting Baseballs and Bows today and ran across something called a Word Cloud. I was intrigued, of course (anything for a good blog entry, right?) and visited snapshirts.com for my OWN cloud.

You enter your blog address into the slot and away you go. Their GoBot finds your blog, culls words from the past month or so and puts them all together into a block of text that is you.

It's free, just in case you wondered and wanted to be cool like me and Lauren.

So here's mine, the essential ME courtesy of THE ESTROGEN FILES!!!