"If you don't take a picture, did it really happen?!"

This past month Brett and I participated in something called January Whole30. You can find all sorts of people doing this challenge on instagram by looking up the hashtag #whole30...I've had friends do this particular challenge before and from what I could tell the major part of the challenge was taking pictures of your meals. In a very similar way that people take selfies of themselves at the gym.

But being the little rebel that I was, I refused to do this food picture taking business. In fact, I really tried to keep my talk about this challenge to a minimal. I've had a long history of food-issues and I did NOT want be consumed by food or thoughts of food for a month.
However, the month has past and I thought maybe you, like myself have considered this challenge for yourself and so I will now share my take aways.

And so, without further ado....What I learned about Whole30 ( and about myself).

First off, my reason for doing this particular "diet" was to jump start healthy eating habits for the new year. Having a baby + the holidays had left me with one of the worst sugar habits I think I've ever had. It only got worse when I had to give up dairy because of Justice's reflux. Basically any time I I wanted a piece of cheese I'd eat a cookie instead ( makes super sense, right?! ha!)

Secondly, I like a challenge...I wanted to see if I could do it.

Here's what I learned:

1. Eating "healthy" is EXPENSIVE. By the halfway point ( day 15) I had spent the WHOLE MONTHS grocery budget.  This challenge ended up putting my January budget in the Red. This did NOT make me a happy camper. Turns out eating only fresh fruits, veggies, meat, eggs and nuts for a month is basically the MOST expensive way to eat...add in the fact that I was having to "fill up" my husband who was doing this challenge with me-meant that we were going through a trillion million apples and eggs and pounds of meat a week.  In the future I would probably only do this challenge one person in the family at a time. I was also having to feed three other people- my kids and my brother-in-law who lives with us, were obviously not eating under any restrictions...I'm not sure if that helped or hurt my budget.

2. Meal categories are not necessary.
This turned out to be a good thing, particularly since I was having a really hard time eating breakfast in the morning before I started this challenge. I just couldn't seem to find the time or figure out what I should eat. ( something both filling and fast!?! seemed impossible). I learned from this challenge that I have no problem eating lunch and dinner foods for breakfast and thus I have begun eating leftovers mixed with eggs for my breakfast. Weird? yes. Filling and healthier? also yes.

3. Eating healthier foods is time consuming.
Having to prepare fresh foods for every single meal ( unless there were any leftovers...but see the above comment about my husband being "starving" for most of the month...there were rarely leftovers) is beyond time consuming. Add in three kids plus often breastfeeding or pumping and feeding and...yeah. I'm not sure how there was time to do much else this month. I will be SO SO glad to go back to some simpler meals.

4. Eating healthier foods wasn't so hard.
I really really thought that I was going to struggle giving up some of my most favorite things: sugar, bread, rice ( and dairy, but I'd already had to give that one up so I guess that made this easier)....but once I figured out I could make date syrup for my morning coffee...life was pretty much about the same. I actually enjoyed eating this way! If it wasn't for the time and money sucking elements of this whole business I would probably just keep going....oh, and also the chocolate cake. I can't wait to eat some chocolate cake.

5. I have more willpower than I thought.
I've really never kept a diet well before this, I always cheated or obsessed about food the whole time. Maybe it was because I was eating such good foods and not really starving myself of anything ( at least anything GOOD that is!), but I didn't even think about the challenge much. I also found that I could watch my kids eat donuts and not loose my mind. Sure, it was hard, but it didn't kill me. I probably should remember that lesson for the future ;-)

6. Pre-pregnancy weight is a nice bonus.
I did loose something like 15 pounds this month. Which is, well, kind of substantial! Of course, I'm also breastfeeding so that helps a lot and I probably would have lost some weight even without this diet. That said, its nice to have such a kick start in getting back into my old pants ( incidentally I STILL can't fit in my old pants even though I'm back to the old weight...thanks, body, for changing after every kids! My hips, I fear,  will never. ever. be. the. same...sigh)


Final thought:
My hope is that I will implement some of the rules of Whole30 into my normal life. Particularly for breakfast and lunches. I've picked up a couple of recipes that I've really enjoyed that I will probably use in our normal rotation. I am MUCH more aware of all the added sugar in things like salad dressings and pre-packaged foods. Even things like crackers or a lot of meats ( sausages and bacon) have added sugar. I feel much more equipped in making good decisions to keep our family healthy.
And yes, I will probably do Whole30 again in the future...but first I need to save up money for the grocery budget. ;-)

A lot to love: Usborne Books

So, I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day. When I was growing up-particularly in high school-while I never had any "romantic" love to speak of...Papa would often surprise us with a little treat. One year I got the Titanic Soundtrack ( awwww...the late 90s!) and sour cherry candies, and another year I got earrings! Papa never fails to make me feel loved and I kind of like the thought of steering clear of the "romantic" aspect of Valentine's Day for my kids.... So I've landed on one of my favorite things as the perfect Valentine's tradition! BOOKS!

And I'm here today to tell you about one of my newest obsessions. Have YOU heard of Usborne books!? I hadn't until my cousin-in-law messaged me about them the same week I was invited to an Usborne party...and then after some research it turns out I already KNEW about Usborne books I just didn't realize it! They are a great company that publish some incredible quality interactive books for kids. While they don't major on the "plot" aspect like a lot of my favorite picture books- many of which I talked about recently, instead they are heavy on the interactive elements of a hands-on book experience and they add a certain diversity to our library that I love. And sure, sure, I've made it clear how I feel about "house party" type companies in the past...but this is different! This is BOOKS! ;-)

Tabitha is obsessed with the Thousand Things to Spot books- They are PERFECT for nonreaders because they show you what you need to look for, but the great part?! It is really developing her counting skills because usually it also shows that she has to find 5 pirates or 3 shoes or 7 backpacks. The pictures are fascinating all on their own and Tabitha will sit in the car for HOURS ( car trips to prove this) looking at just ONE of these books ( Tabitha Trott gave us the Pirate one) ! *side note* they are also kind of the perfect potty training book because a little one can sit and look at one of these books by themselves for ages while they "work things out" on the potty. haha!

The very first Osborne Books that I had, are these amazing "Not my ____" board books. They have now gone through two kids and are still in PERFECT condition for Justice's future use- and they are hands down some of our favorite board books. The touch and feel aspect is wonderful, and each of the pages holds something eye catching for the tiny tots. ( Tabitha loved with touching all the birds and mice on each page in the train book). We have three of these books ( the puppy, the train and the bunny) and you really can't go wrong with any of them!

Lastly, as we've headed into Homeschooling land this year, I've found that while I tend to major on the "fiction" books-its important to throw in some good nonfiction. Here is where Usborne has REALLY shown brightly for us! Ransom got this Rainforest book for Christmas, and while it tells you about the Rainforest and the creatures that live there, it ALSO has a hidden creature on each page that you can only see when you shine a flashlight on the page! How cool is THAT!?!  ( and there are a  BUNCH of these in the series: secrets of the seashore, secrets of an apple tree, secrets of a vegetable garden...the homeschool themes are just WRITING THEMSELVES)

So, I bet you're curious what I'm planning on getting my kids for Valentine's Day, aren't you?!!

For Ransom I'm looking at this super cool Encyclopedia for Children that has direct links that you can scan to take you to videos and websites set up for kids with even more information.

For Tabitha, I absolutely HAVE TO have this "All Better" book in our lives! It has reusable bandaids that you put on the different animals "boo-boos"-considering her ongoing obsession with bandaids-this book will probably save me money. ;-)

For Justice, probably "Panda in the park" or another one of the look-through books. You know-where you slide the slider and it reveals something hidden on each page. We're lacking in these types of books-even though my kids arguably have loved them, because they just don't LAST-inevitibly someone pulls the little slider too hard and the books get broken. However, I have a feeling with the Usborne quality-this one will last longer.

So, the problem? I can't order these books on Amazon like I do everything else ( I mean, you CAN, but it takes forever to reach you because it goes through individual sellers etc.)-instead you can find some at your local book store ( though, I sadly rarely have time to make it to those any more *tears from heaven*) OR at a house party...or today, for a limited time only you can buy them here! I'm having a virtual Usborne Sale! HOORAY!  I contacted my cousin-in-law and told her I wanted to blog about these awesome books, but that I wanted my readers to be able to have EASY access to purchasing them and BOOM! Just like that she whipped up a link for me! So, you're in luck! If you'd like to discover some of these books for yourself than you can easily buy them online! ( *it should be noted, I'll probably get some sort of kick back for throwing this party-though, being the person that I am, I have NO IDEA how all that works...but just wanted you to know*)

So, let me know, do you already know about Usborne books?!  I want to know your favorites! Just browsing the website is fun but also kind of overwhelming ( and I end up wanting one of everything!) and I love a good recommendation!

P.S. My "virtual Usborne Party" will be going on until Jan. 30 so that you can get your books by Valentine's Day xoxo

The Best Friends ever: book people.

I have so many wonderful friends, I really do, but today I'd like to single out two of them. Miranda and Tabitha are two of my dearest friends and only one small part of that friendship has to do with what I'm going to talk about today-so please do not think less of me for what I'm about to say....Miranda and Tabitha know how to buy my children's love. Heck, they know how to buy my love! And it is by regularly giving my kids wonderful gifts- and usually those gifts will include books.

And not just ANY ol' book. But really really excellent books. And as I have recently come to admit to myself that I have sadly entered a season of life where getting to go and browse a book store is a distant memory- it is REALLY important to me that I have two such wonderful friends who have REALLY GOOD taste in children's books. And not only that, they share my LOVE for children's books. And like me, they know that it is not necessarily important to HAVE a child to spend hours in a children's section of a book store. In fact, now that I have children I have come to realize that its really better if you DONT have children...but I digress. And so over the years I've come to rely on both of them heavily in keeping our Children's library happy, healthy and continually growing.

And recently when I was picking out a book to read to Tabitha before her nap time, I realized that I've been very stingy with you, my dear readers, YOU TOO should benefit from my dear friends! So, today I'm going to share with you the totally GREAT books that they have given us over the years. So, get out your pen and paper, or get your fingers ready to pin or save or share....or whatever else you need to do so that you can use this post as a fail-safe reference of awesome children's books.

I will start with those that are also a series, but that either Miranda or Tabitha introduced us to and now we're obsessed with all of them....

( best read with a thick accent) 

(we now have two of the Snowmen books and they are hilarious and awesome) 

( the first book is so very accurate about children, as a parent I laughed out loud-and by the third book, you will seriously be bawling your eyes out. And your kid will look at you like you are crazy. It will be amazing. ) 

And then here are some books that I found so touching and wonderful that I can't stop gushing about them, go get them and you will see what I mean: 

Or books that make you feel special and great after reading them ( or listening to them!) 

This one is totally a favorite! 

This one is also pretty hilarious which brings me to....

Books that make me and my kids laugh...usually for different reasons ;-) 

Always up for a good pun...

Also, these last two are just fascinating and original and some of my favorites as well...

So there we go! Some

Truly great choices!! 

And now I'm curious- have you been given a treasure of a book recently? Or found one at your library or book store that is making your reading times that much better? I'd love to hear about it!! 

Teaching a 5 year old...

One of the biggest gifts to homeschool Ransom this year- other than Pinterest (ha!) has been Ransom's piano teacher. 

When we first set about having Ransom start piano this year, my goal was to feed his natural musical talent without quenching any enjoyment. 

Well, from watching Ms Sharon in his lessons as well as following her instructions for me for his practice time- I have learned some great ideas that... Duh! I can carry over into other areas of learning! It just clinked that feeding the brain without quenching enjoyment was actually the goal of ALL my teaching! 

So, here are some of the little technices I've learned. 

1. "Don't worry about how long the concentration time is, as long as it is GOOD concentration." 

If I notice that Ransom is starting to get frustrated with a particular lesson, then I stave it off by telling him that the "next thing we are going to do" ( as though it was the plan all along) is do jumping jacks, or run three times around the house, or hop on one foot till we fall.  This helps break the frustration, it also switches his brain to another challenge and helps it return fresh when we return to the piano challenge. Also. Boys. They are physical. Period. 

2. Make repetition fun.

Before the beginning of each lesson I have Ransom pick out 3 jelly beans for his lesson. He then places them in a bowl and then as we start to practice he knows that most things I will have him play over at least 3 times. If so then with each repetition he will use his "pinchers" to move one jelly bean to each cup. When all the cups are full we dump them back into the larger bowl to start on a new repetition. This does several things: using the tongs focuses on a different muscle group for his fingers and brain. Getting up and crossing the room to move the jelly bean defuses any frustration, and the whole "game" makes having to do the same little practice over and over more fun. 

Another repetition game is I have a certain number of Lego men next to me, and each time he plays the piece or the segment, he gets a Lego man to "line up"

Next to him. He loves this particular method of practicing.

And lastly, I draw a circle/face on a piece of paper and every time he does a command as I have asked he gets to draw a new feature on the face- a nose, an ear, some hair, or maybe an arm! If you think about it and depending on how creative we get, I can get a LOT of work out of him by the time the face is complete! 

3. Lower my expectations.

My expectations on how long a practice session can be ( we're doing about 20 minutes with a LOT of interruption) and just how engaged in the discipline of music Ransom is are things that I have had to adjust as we go. I continually return to my goal of "learning plus enjoyment" and even if we only get a little learning and a lot of enjoyment in then I call it a win. 

Prayersolutions part 2

So, a few years ago I told you about my prayer cards that I make each year that, in a lot of ways, take the place of "resolutions". Mostly because the things that I pray for regarding myself and our family are usually kind of "resolution-y" and yet really I have a FAR better chance of having success in those areas if I'm going to the Lord in prayer about them.
THEN I realized that, when I thought hard about it, there were a LOT of things in our lives that we really have NO control over at all, and yet we'd really like the Lord to do some pretty exciting and wonderful things.

And so my prayer card. It is reserved for the BIG things, the MIRACLE sized things. The I'm-gonna-need-365-days-to-pray-about-this things.

So here's how I start: I get myself some pretty pens ( not necessary, but if you're going to look at something for a whole year....) and then I get a note card...something with a little weight behind it, because, like I said I want it to last a whole year! ( I've thought about laminating it, but throughout the year I will often add really big prayers that I may not have known about on January 1st...)

After I get my card, I write the year at the top ( because you're gonna want to keep this card!)

( Minnie Mouse book as table not necessary to process) 

And then we get started...

First I write "Up"
There is a really cool illustration that we like to share with people that explains our life "philosophy" so to speak: check it out here ) and my little titles stem from that illustration.

Up, basically is me pointing up to the Father in heaven and talking to Him about the things that have to do with me and my family, our lives, and our relationship with him.
I then have written all the things that are on my heart for the year regarding where I want to see our family grow and be more in line for what it looks like to be His Followers.

Then I wrote "In"
This, if you've watched the video you know is talking about those that are In the kingdom of God already, those who know Jesus and who are following Him already. This is where I put my prayer requests for those who we know and love who have some really huge prayer requests.  Of course there are too many to count of these types of prayer requests, but some just "stick" and you know that those are things you are suppose to pray for...To be honest, this is my favorite part of my card. I've got some prayer requests that have been on there for years and I do not plan on taking them off till we see an answer-and I BELIEVE that we will have answer one day!! And how excited I will be to get to write the date next to that prayer request, saying that finally it was answered with a "yes"!

Then I have my "out"

This is for those who do not yet know Jesus as their Savior-A lot of these prayers have to do with Brett and my personal ministry, things that we know that WE can't do...but that we know the Holy Spirit most definitely can ( see this answered prayer here. where I got to baptize someone). Once again, I try to make these BIG prayers! Bigger than anything WE could ever do!

So there you have it! My BIG prayer card!


Another thing that is always fun when it comes to "fresh starts" is getting to start a new Bible. It just so happens that I finished up a Bible just at the end of last year so the new year coincided with a new Bible for me! Hooray! I am not one who holds to the "no writing in your Bible" rule, so all the more fun to get a "fresh and clean" Bible! Basically, about 10 years ago I realized that while I had read the Bible through a handful of times at that point, I had NEVER read the Bible in anything other than New American Standard ( the Bible version of Choice in my household growing up). It is still one of my favorite, most comfortable to read versions but I decided I needed to branch out. And so, ever since, I have pushed myself to buy a new Bible every time I finish reading my Bible through* and always buying one in a version I have not read before ( or haven't read in a long time...). This year, however, I did something even MORE different- which I already told you about in my last post). This Bible only has the New Testament-which works out for me right now because I can always pick up some Old Testament reading on my iPhone App while I'm feeding Justice. BUT this particular New Testament is set up pretty cool and I'm already getting a lot out of it. I'll show you the worst picture ever of what the pages look like:

Kinda crazy at first, but you learn to just read the part in bold ( its the part that is possibly repeated between the gospels) and then it starts to read rather smoothly.



Annnnyway, over the years I've read English Standard Version ( my favorite and would probably be my standby if I had a pick), The Message ( ew), New Internation Version, NrSV ( which I honestly can't remember what that stood for! ha!) and The Living Bible that I can remember. I'm probably running out of versions that I'd consider reading...so I'll probably cycle back through. The perk to this method has been that often just a few word changes have made a verse stick out in a new way and make me stop and take a deeper look ( often looking it up in other versions to see just why it stuck out to me this time.). It really has been so helpful in digging deeper into the Word of God!

So there you have it!! My new year is starting off Fresh and I'm already excited about what the Lord is going to do!


I'd looove to hear your own quiet time techniques or methods that help you get Closer to the Lord!

* I've read the Bible straight through, random book order, a mixture of old and New Testament, chronologically... There are tons of ways! 

Taking Root in the New Year.

Happy New Year's Eve, friends! I'm sitting on my bed-with a sweet 2 month old asleep next me. I just gave him a bath so he's smelling fresh and looking extra cuddly. I will refrain from squeezing him. Instead, I will take advantage of this moment of calm..my other two kiddos are watching Madagascar for the trillionth time and belly laughing in the other room. It was my NYE gift to them...and to me. Movies. The crack of toddlers everywhere.

So, I took a second to re-read my 2015 New Years Post and it was, as I suspected, pretty self-fulfilling prophecy. I said our year would be full of change and so it was. I also said at the every end of the post that I wasn't pregnant-and yet within three weeks I would be. Wowzers. Not only did we buy a car, buy a house, "sorta kinda" changed careers we also added a brand new person into our family.
When I look at my prayersolutions card for 2015 I'm struck by how many of our personal prayer requests were answered. God even gave us "someone to live with us" which was on my card right next to "a house that we could fill up with people". We've had my brother-in-law in our back bedroom for 5 months, almost as long as we've been in the house ( a house that we can definitely fill up with people!). It was a prayer that I'd added to my card not knowing at all how it would look- in the end it looked like my kids getting to play with their uncle almost every day. Go figure.

Sure the year had its challenges-most of which I've written about here or on other social media ( I'm all about outsourcing my prayer requests!), some that I haven written about at all-yet when I think about them right now, they all seem to pale in comparison to the many many answered prayers, the many many blessings.

To be honest, the last few months of the year have been a whirl-wind, as they always inevitably are, and yet made SO much more so with the addition of Justice. I'm really looking forward to slowing down and taking root-spending more time with the Lord in prayer and in Bible Study. I admit the stresses and business of life have left me thirsty for more time sitting at Jesus' feet.  I finally completed reading my last Bible through ( granted I'd read the New Testament 3 times through by the time I was completely done-but still! It took 2 years!), and as is my tradition I bought a new Bible-however this time I got JUST the New Testament, The Harmony of the Gospels, to be exact. It basically smashes all four gospels together so that you can see how they are the same, and how they add or subtract various aspects of the Gospel. I'm excited to use it in looking at some cool topics this year. I think its going to be enlightening.

I'm also looking forward to my new prayer card, as always I'll take some time to see what God wants me to put on there-it's for the BIG God-sized prayers after all! I can HARDLY wait to see what He wants me to pray about this year! I have a certain "method" to my prayer card that I realized I didn't go into detail in my last post about it, so I'll hopefully fill you in on it in a few days time. Actually, I've got SO many blog posts bumping around in my brain right now...three kids is definitely an adjustment. I don't know where "eating, sleeping, dressing oneself" are fitting into my day much less writing.

All that said, I know this post is disjointed-but I know that by the end of 2016 I'll have a one year-old, an almost 4 year old (!!) and a 6 year old...and no matter what else, things will be different. I'll be able to laugh at my disjointed ways as a thing of the past ( hopefully!) and my hope is that as much as this year was about "change"-this next year will be about taking "root" into that change and growing and nourishing it. Seeing our home, our ministry, our children all grow and-Lord willing-flourish.

So here's to 2016...I was hoping the word for the year would be "sleep"...but I'm guessing that's just wishful thinking.

Favorite things: free +bible+ my kid

 Today I would like to share one of my new favorite things- or rather one of Ransom's favorite things. Of course in doing so I'll also be admitting something to you... Ransom has been getting regular screen time for about 45 minutes during Tabitha and Justice's afternoon naps. This would normally be the perfect time to do some school with Ransom but the last few weeks I've found that it's also the only time I have to work on Christmas prep and get any to all my house work done... Or even more likely sit on the couch and star into space. So when Ransom comes begging for the iPad I tend to cave. Sigh. 

HOWEVER, as luck would have it, I downloaded a new app from the makers of YouVersion Bible App. It is the Kids Bible App, and it's great!

Ransom spends pretty much ALL his iPad time on this ONE app!

First off, it is has about 20 or so Bible stories that the app reads out loud, along with graphics that will move and do different things as you click on them that correspond with the story.  Then with each story there are three different questions to gauge comprehension, that pop up throughout the stories that you can click on and answer. If you get the question right you get a "star" on the story badge. Apparently this simple act of gathering stars plus some basic graphics are enough to keep Ransom very very happy! 

It also makes me happy to listen to Ransom as he plays the bible stories over and over again. So, since the app is FREE, you should download it as soon as possible! ( it's available on Apple, Google and Amazon products!) 

I, for one, will not be casting any screen time stones your way ;-) 

The new normal: The Christmas Season with 3 kids

So, I bet amidst your holiday hustle and bustle you are wondering how things are going over here at the Wilson house with a brand new baby and all....Well, I am here to take care of those wonderings:

First off, if you missed the blog post where I talked about God healing Justice then I think you should read it!

And if you're one of those motherly types who keeps track of these things feel free to read my Letter to Justice:Month One over on his very own blog ( it's just easier that way...)

But what about the rest of life?! Because we were at Chickfila last night ( as you do) and my kids befriended a little boy who's father then started chatting with me and he mentioned how with "a baby so young I must be canceling Christmas this year"...and I was all like
 "*MANIACAL LAUGHTER*"

Because with a 5 year old and an almost 3 year old you CAN NOT CANCEL CHRISTMAS...besides I love Christmas trees. They are for reals in my top ten favorite things. So that's why even when I was sick with a stomach bug we were decorating the house for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.
Boom.

There are soooo many things I should catch you up on- like homeschooling-which is back on fullish blast ( the ish is important there)....and yet it turns out while I have time to come up with fun activities like "Snowball Diagraphs" and "Christmas Tree Addition"...I do not have time to take pictures of said activities any more...sigh. Sorry.

But today I'd like to talk about Advent.
This year I knew that I wanted to do an every day Advent with my kids to make sure our focus remained where it "should" amongst the hustle of the season-and while I love all those great "activity" advent calendars where people have something Christmasy that they do each day- lets just say the 4 hour stretch of sleep I got last night was not preparing me for something like that...besides I really want our Advent to be about the coming of Jesus...so out came our trusty Jesus Storybook Bible  and this great little Advent plan...it worked out perfectly since we've been reading the Egermeier's Bible Story Book for a while now and it is nice to do something different.

Along with the bible story-which are beautiful by the way-I also know that my kids need a little "fun" so we also incorporated our other two "advents" into our time. It works out great because right now there are just two kids involved so they can take turns each day, going back and forth between the two activities...I suppose we'll have to add in something new in a few years when Justice starts to care...

The stockings each hold a teeny tiny Christmas ornament that the child gets to then put on our teeny tiny tree.

We also have this lovely Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar for the iPad that our sweet friend Judy has given us  as a gift every year since Ransom was born. It has gorgeous graphics and lovely music and each day there is a little video to watch or some interactive "game" for the kids to enjoy. They loooooove it. 



So there you have it! Our advent for 2015! I would love to hear any and all of your own advent traditions, reading material and activities!



My next blog post I hope to be a humble-brag session in regards to the DIY Christmas gifts I had to got to make for some of my nieces this year! We were trying something new where we drew names for the grandkids and hopefully added more of a 'giving' focus to Christmas this year...but somehow this turned into a "make your christmas gifts!" type deal...and we ALL know I'm not the craftiest! That said, I'm pretty happy with how the gifts turned out! I actually think the recipients may like ( important!) their gifts and at the same time my kids were involved in the making process which is nothing short of miraculous... So that post is coming soon! Stay tuned!

The Widow's oil.

One of the things that has been working to help Justice's severe reflux is "thickening" his feedings. Basically, I pump and then I mix what I pump with a little bit of formula (for some extra calories) and then a powder called "thik and clear" which mixed correctly makes my milk into a milkshake. 

We were lucky to have been given a weeks worth of Thik and Clear when we left the hospital however I knew that eventually that supply would run dry so I went to my standby-Amazon- halfway through last week to mail myself some more. 

I was not excited when I saw the hefty price tag on those little packets of thickener but I closed my eyes and pushed "order"... But then I had to open my eyes fast because my order was not eligible for Amazon Prime- 

uh-oh. 

I looked at our fast deminishing supply of thickener and had to swallow an even larger pill and pay even MORE money for expedited shipping. Now, for those of you keeping track my bill was over $100 at this point...but even though that wasn't my favorite way to spent $100  it was worth it for Justice to keep his food down, right?! 

But now that the order was made o started to not-so-patiently wait for my "shipping notification". Days passed and my order still said "waiting to be shipped" next to it. I started to panic! I started to pray that our packets of thickener would turn into a Widow's Oil Type ( Read 2 Kings chapter 4 for the story!)  situation as Thursday turned to Friday and I started calling pharmacies all over town to see if anyone had what I needed in stock with no luck! 

I started to get desperate over the weekend and tried calling the hospital to see if they could help... But I only got answering services. 

And so I prayed... I asked God to somehow work a miracle. 

Today I woke up to one packet left. I made one final call to the hospital and the lady we had worked with us when we had been there answered the phone. She told me of a random pharmacy on the south side and I immediately called. They had two cans left. 

We immediately drove, kids in PJs Info the ghetto and I walked into the pharmacy willing to pay just about any price for that can! 

So you can imagine my surprise when the checkout lady said, "that'll be $8.40."

And so that is how the Lord worked an unlooked for miracle this morning. It wasn't oil, but it was just as good. 

"I didn't expect for this to happen!"

( Read Justice's Birth story before heading into this particular post)

" I didn't expect THIS to happen!"

My thoughts as we headed through rush hour traffic back to the hospital - only 2 short weeks after Justice was born- I also said other things to God that I know He won't hold against me-but basically, I had been SO SURE that when I wrote "healthy pregnancy, healthy baby" on my prayer card for 2015 it was basically a done deal. And yet Justice continued to loose weight, my feelings of doom and gloom had been confirmed at the Doctor's office with an even more significant weight drop and then again after an Upper GI study where the Radiologist had labeled Justice as "in the top 10 refluxing cases I've seen in my whole career!" ( not the top ten list you want to be on)
So to the hospital we were sent with the lovely title of "failure to thrive"...now I've really had some pretty good hospital experiences in my day, I'd say we've been pretty lucky with good doctors, quick and correct diagnosis, and good care-but this experience was NOT. LIKE. THAT.
We had to fight so hard for every little thing...from getting admitted, getting a correct diagnosis ( it seemed straight forward, RIIIIIIGHT!?!), getting the proper treatment- even seeing doctors that would actually READ our history properly seemed like an uphill battle ( we had a doctor condescendingly explain to me that "babies loose weight after birth and that Justice was only about an ounce off from his birth weight" I practically yelled at her to get the facts right and that he was sitting at a pound and HALF under his birth weight!!) . But we kept getting pep talks from family and friends and we kept fighting hard for Justice's cause. The problem was we weren't really sure what was wrong and I was so discouraged by my seemingly unanswered "healthy baby" prayer that I'd been staring in the face since Justice's birth I felt so incredibly lost.

Three days past in a fog of confusion and-to be perfectly honest-hurt...I was so hurt that all this had happened. WHY was God letting something like this happen to us again!?! What had I heard wrong?! Why? WHY?

And then on Tuesday night as I sat in the hospital bed holding my weak and sick baby I hit bottom. I hit complete desperation and I have never in my life felt so homesick ( best word I can think of to describe how I felt) for Jesus. Not just what I know of Jesus but the in the flesh Jesus. It seems strange since I clearly haven't MET the in the flesh Jesus, but I knew right then that I needed Him.  I understood clearly how the parents of those dead and dying children felt who came and pleaded with the Son of God to come heal their babies that are told about in the Bible. I was there. And I asked Him to "come home with me" or the woman who pushed through the crowd to tough the hem of his clothes, or the friends who lowered the lame man through the roof...I was that desperate too.  The next morning I woke up and I heard clear as a bell "This is the day" in my head.  And I wrote this blog post: "This is the Day"  I had been proud and I had been hurt but I had finally gotten to a place where I knew that only the Lord was going to get us through this. And He had shown up and affectively promised that THIS was the day things would turn around...
All of a sudden the thickening of Justice's feedings started to work, the medicine he had been perscribed to move the food through his stomach faster seemed to be affective...Justice gained Three Ounces in one day!! And if this was a neat and tidy story-That would be it! Justice's weight would have kept going up and up and we would have been all smiles-but from the beginning this was not one of those Stories.... Instead for the next three days, while Justice seemed to improve outwardly ( less throwing up etc), his weight continued to drop... By Sunday we were told in no uncertain terms that if things didn't turn around in the next 24 hours we would be facing a feeding tube on Monday morning.

And so back to our knees we went- we prayed and fasted and I questioned all that had happened, it seemed everything was so much harder that I thought it would be:

 "I didn't expect THIS to happen!"
 Once again the phrase went whining its way through my head, but this time we just prayed harder we dug deeper and we waited....And sure enough Monday morning came, and Justice had gained an ounce and a half. It was enough to send him home... Without a feeding tube! 

Over the next four days we saw Justice go from three or four food losses in a day to one...then yesterday he didn't spit up AT ALL. He spit up less then a NORMAL baby would spit up! 

Today at his follow up appointment Jusrice had gained 1 pound 2 ounces in FOUR DAYS! His pediatrician looked at him and said:

 "I didn't expect THIS to happen!"

And that's the thing- that is what I'm just now starting to get my grasp on...none of this story is to be expected, in fact a lot of it can't even be explained- this story is a story of brokenness and healing and the unexpected and it is a story of healing and forgiveness and grace.  And so it is, that Justice begins his Life...I am sure there will be many more "I didn't expect THIS!" moments for him and for us- but one thing we can expect is for Jesus to continue to show up as He so obviously has over the last three weeks of Justice's life. 

Welcoming Justice Tirian

I haven't gone back to look, but I think this might be the longest I have gone before writing my "birth story" but I think it was because I didn't feel like we were "finished"'with the story until now. But I'm getting ahead of myself! Without further ado, the Birth of Justice Tirian Wilson.

Let's just start off by saying, what a great pregnancy! Oh man! Even though pregnancy is basically one of my Least Favorite Things- even *I* had to admit this one was pretty darn smooth. Coincidentally  ( as we would so find out)  the only thing I had really to complain about was the INTENSE indigestion and heart burn that plagued me from the second trimester all the way until Justice was all the way out of me. ( seriously I had heart burn and contractions all at the same lovely time) Annnnnnyway, I started all that to say, the pregnancy was pretty great and I couldn't have asked for a smoother ride. It was so great, in fact, that the day before my due date I went for a nature walk with a friend, I did a craft cooking project with Ransom and I felt relatively calm ( other than really really really wanting to have a baby!) I even had some contractions before bed, but the soon faded and I slept the night away.  And then around 6:30am on my due date-October 27th- I woke up with REAL contractions. They weren't particularly painful, they were just more intense and 'different'. I got up with Brett and the kids and Brett and I discussed whether he should go to work or not. My contractions were still pretty far spread and I was petrified of having a "false alarm". In the end we decided he would just go into work late and see what the morning held. I then went for a walk around our neighborhood....something I had been doing a lot of the last week....it had been rainy and a little cooler that week, but I hadn't cared! I had put on my rain jacket and hit the streets and yet it hadn't seemed to work in inducing labor...till now. This time I walked for about an hour and my contractions went from 7 minutes apart to 5 minutes apart. I decided we could safely go to the hospital without any shame of false labor labels ( I seem to care ridiculously too much about my pregnancy labor street cred in this regard-who knows why!). Lucky for us Brett's brother Josh has been staying with us for several months so we had built in childcare right in the house! So we kissed Ransom and Tabitha, wished Josh good luck and headed to the hospital....

I will now fast forward through the 2 hours of triage and get to the part where they admitted me and we were put in a very nice and large delivery room. It was now around 1pm and I was very much good and ready to have my epidural. My birth plan looked very much like this "get yo self some drugs"...and so I was happily gratified when the anesthesiologist  came a little sooner than expected-I'd been told he was down the hall with another patient but it turns out that other patient had last minute thoughts of grandeur ( or she saw the giant needle) and passed on the epidural! Hooray! I got mine sooner!! And while it didn't quiiiite seem to be taking away all the pain away, I felt SO MUCH BETTER and we continued on "laboring" for a few more hours. My doctor showed up, informed me that he was leaving at 4:30 to pick up his daughter for ballet class so I'd need to kindly hurry up the process ( ha!) and so as he talked to Brett about some pastor guy he really likes from New York he broke my water without even so much as a warning. I decided then and there that I didn't care that much about him delivering my child and was secretly fine with the fact that 4:30 ticked passed without the need to push. However, by 5pm I was MORE THAN READY to push out a baby-and in fact, I was pretty sure that epidural wasn't doing a DARN THING. Boo!! Once again the drugs were failing me and I was going to have to push out a baby with all the pain that nature intended. UNFAIR! 
Ahhh, such is life-literally. And so with that awful realization and a kindly older doctor who wasn't much on talking but turned out to be an excellent coach, I pushed out the most giant baby in the world. Ok, not really but let's just say I made noises I didn't know were possible. 

However-sidenote-remember that women down the hall who had turned down the epidural earlier in the day?! Well, she regretted it. She regretted it big time. She regretted it so loud and with so many curse words we ALL knew how much she regretted it. eek! So, yes, I made some very interesting animal noises that I am thankful were not recorded for posterity-but at least I didn't make sailors blush or anything. So win. 
And yes, Justice was not the largest baby in the world, but he was surprisingly large! I hadn't really been measuring particularly big but at 17:06, weighting a hefty 8 pounds 14 ounces, 20 and 3/4 inches long, Justice Tirian came into the world like a lion! Yelling and mad, he was blue which worried me, but he eventually turned to a more normal red color, but he continued to cry a very horse and mad cry for much much longer than Ransom or Tabitha, and I actually started to worry that we'd gotten ourselves a "spirited" child right off the bat!  But even though he cried a lot the first two hours or so, he eventually calmed down and we could set about admiring his super long fingers and toes, his full head of black hair and just how much he looked JUST LIKE his brother and his sister ( seriously, the gene pool is like a puddle over here!). 


And just as with his brother and sister we found his "birth time" verse in John 17:6 to be very fitting and encouraging: 

" I (Jesus)  have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word." 

And while Justice did seem upset right after he was born, he quickly mellowed out into a very sleepy and mellow baby. The morning after he was born his brother and sister came to see him with Spicy and my sister and Josh. Ransom was incredibly sweet and wanted to hold him right away and seemed very proud of his enlarging big brother status. Tabitha used her high pitched voice to say "awwww! he's so sweet!" and then went on to ignore him completely as she played with her "big sister" princess gift. Ahhh 2 year olds!

And so our time the hospital was up, Justice was really so mellow that it wasn't clear right away that there was anything wrong with him. Yes he kept spitting up- a lot. But the nurses assured me he'd probably just swallowed a lot of fluids during birth. And so two days later we took our sweet chubby cheeked baby home! 

It was so great to have him home and with us all as a family! 

However, on our first night home Justice started spitting up so violently that it practically shot across the room, and some of the spit up had blood in it! Basically the parenting nightmare. All my "calm and collected" this-is-my-third-child-therefore-I-am-chill vibe had left me and we took him to the pediatrician as soon as we possibly could! Sure enough Justice had lost even MORE weight and was now sitting at almost a pound lost in his first week of life. A little too much for comfort. We were sent back to the hospital for an ultra-sound to rule out Pyloric Stenosis. I wasn't allowed to feed Justice until the test was over, and I didn't have a pump yet ( I'd kind of put off buying a new one since my last pump bit the dust)...so of course, this would be the perfect time for my milk supply to come in like a champ! By the time we headed home from the thankfully negative for pyloric stenosis ultrasound I was leaking from EVERYWHERE-but mostly my eyes. I just kept crying and crying as I thought, "But I PRAYED for a healthy baby!!! THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED! THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!" 

Justice was put on some acid reflux medicine and we were sent home to hopefully watch Justice respond well to the meds-which he did-for a few days...but the next week was horrible, really. Luckily I had help from my parents and then Brett's mom, but Brett was working 12 hour night shifts at work, and I was spending 12 hour night shifts at home. While Justice did throw up a lot during the day, it was a million times worse at night. I would have to change the sheets, my clothes and his clothes multiple times a night. I would have to wash all 20 or so burp clothes that I owned every. single. day. Brett would come home from work in the mornings to find me crying and crying that something was terribly wrong. I had a baby scale and I finally had to just stop putting him on it. He was not gaining weight. He was loosing. My once almost 9 pound chunky baby with neck rolls was now under 8 pounds. Everyone tried to be reassuring with their "its going to be ok!" and their "it probably seems like more than it is" but deep in my heart I knew something was really wrong and I felt very very alone and helpless with my sweet baby boy. 

We had another doctors appointment scheduled for that next monday, and I knew it was going to be bad. The problem was I spent my nights researching acid reflux in babies and I knew there wasn't much that could be done for it. I know it sounds dramatic but I felt like I had lost my happy normal life and worst of all I was slowly losing my baby. Justice slept all the time, rarely waking, never crying. Everyone commented about how sweet he was, but I hated it. I felt that it showed just how weak he was and how much his body was working over time to retain calories. 

And so that is how the first two weeks of Justice's life passed....

For the end to this story check out my next post

A new day

If you'll excuse me while I brag on the good things the Lord has done for us in the last 24 hours? It is important that I put this out there because as things started to get better I would stop to send a God-brag text to various people and it seemed that every time I started to text Justice would have a huge barfing fit. Coincidence? I doubt it! But we will not be silenced! This is too good not to share!! Yesterday truly was a turning point for Justice and the only explanation for that turn is the miraculous healing power of Jesus. For instance when I look at yesterday's feeding log there were just as many feeding "losses" as we had before. It seemed that the new plan of "thickening" Justice's feeding wasn't working. The doctors were getting antsy with their desire to step things up a notch. One notch being putting Justice in the NICU...where we would no longer be able to stay with him. ( break my heart into a million pieces). But I asked the doctors to give us "one more day" and even though things did not look any better on paper then they had before, I knew the prayers of the saints can achieve much! So this morning when Justice was weighed ( BEFORE eating, no less!) I was not surprised to see that he didn't gain half an ounce ( the minimum hoped for goal for Justice) or one ounce... No, he gained THREE! A pretty huge leap. 

Today we say way more dirty diapers ( never thought I'd be so happy about that!) and I would even go so far as to say that his appetite might be increasing ever so slightly! Another answer to prayer! Our doctors stopped talking about G-tubes and instead talked about "time lines for sending you home." In a blink of an eye. Yesterday was indeed a turning point.

LIn other interesting news, Justice has had a struggle with his IV lines since we got here. Basically they have been replaced every 12 hours or so- meaning that we were running out of viable spots. So today he was supporting a head IV...which then rolled out of place and started to fill his little head up with fluids. Poor dude looks a bit like Rocky with a swollen half of a head... The good news from this? Well it pushed him loosing his IV up a little and it was decided to see how he fairs without it! I can't wait to see him continue to exceed expectations tonight as he holds his own without the extra fluid help! This would mean we are one more step closer to getting to go home! 

We have been living in Miracle-land today thanks to your wonderful prayers and our Faithful  Lord who Hears and Acts. We praise Him continually for all He has done and will continue to do for Justice. 

This is the day...

This morning I woke up after a night of little to no sleep.- Justice had been vomiting every meal and also lost his IV which meant a 2am scream fest as he got a new line put in. 

This  dawn was dark by all accounts. Justice continues to spit up all feedings- feedings that are smaller than they should be already- we've been told over and over that his reflux is "horrible" and "severe" and "the worst we've ever seen". And a g-tube and fundoplication surgery are discussed as foregone conclusions of our future here. 

But doctors do not know everything. They are not factoring in the fact that we have a Lord who is the Great Healer and that HE can do anything. I know that we have very little time left before we will be pressured both by Justice's continued deterioration and our doctors- but I believe that today is a special day. Today is the turning point. I woke with back to back phone calls offering laying on of hands and prayer and we had a visit from another pastor-Unlooked for- but welcomed: offering more prayers and laying on of hands. I know this is not an accident. Today, despite our circumstances, we will boldly ask the Lord for complete healing for Justice 's "horribly severe" reflux. We ask for a renewed hunger and interest in eating for Justice. We ask that he will require no g-tube, no surgery and will quickly be eating and keeping all food down on his own. I ask for weight gain. And I ask for all these things now, when such possibilities seem next to impossible for then there will be no doubt that Jesus Christ is our Healer and Provider. 

It is an honor, a terrible one, to be put yet again at the great mercy of our Lord in regards to our children. It is by far the most painful thing we have ever had to do. And the words on my mouth today are "Lord, if you are willing..."  

Things to do in the 9th Month of Pregnancy ( the REAL edition)

A few days ago I read a blog article called "20 Must Do's During the Ninth Month of Pregnancy"  I honestly clicked on it because my thought was "Twenty?!? Dang that's a LOT!"

But once I started to read I also started to laugh, it was most CLEARLY written for that lovely first time mom....this was evident by Number 1: Get a Mani/Pedi

*Laugh out Loud Manically*

When you're having baby #3 you're already trying desperately to figure out how to get childcare for your other children for those EVERY WEEK doctors appointments! Finding time to go get a Mani/Pedi is down right laughable.  So here's my own list of "Things to do during the last month of pregnancy". And since this is Baby Number 3, I'd like to think my list is a little bit more down-to-earth and reasonable.


1. Pack that Hospital Bag. Yup, this is legit and my dear first time moms- that article above tells you that you should purchase some adorable going home outfit for yourself and I'm going to tell you to NOT. Instead purchase some Depends. I'm super serious when I say they will be far more comfortable then a giant pad between your legs and you'll definitely be in need of some padding and protection for whatever clothes you are wearing...either way don't skimp on the Depends or the nursing pads-by the time you head home there will be a whole new meaning to the word "leakage" in your vocabulary. So save your pennies for your new outfit for a few weeks down the line when your maternity wears are starting to sag but your pre-pregnancy clothes are inevitably still not fitting well.
Also: ( Don't forget your cellphone charger and your nursing pillow!!)

2. Squirrel away some freezer meals. Now undoubtedly this would be MUCH easier if I didn't have two other kids in the house, because they have this annoying habit of wanting to be fed THREE TIMES A DAY ( at least, its really more like 8 but I'm going to be generous for this post) already and so finding the time to make EXTRA meals can seem nearly impossible. However, this deserves the extra effort since at least I'll be making these meals while only taking care of two children instead of 2+ an infant. So I turned  my multitasking skills to HIGH last week and managed to make a few meals for the future while ALSO making dinner and homeschooling my 5 year old ( I seriously felt like a super star and I really wished I'd had a reality TV crew following me...second best I posted a #humblebrag on instagram).
Here are my go-to Freezer meals:
Chili, Chicken Soup, Crockpot Jambalaya ( everything cut up and prepped to be thrown into the crockpot when needed) and Baked Chicken ( I baked my chicken till about TEN MINUTES before being done so that all I have to do is thaw and throw in the oven for 15 or so minutes and dinner is  done).  MOM TIP: I suggest you NOT make a bunch of pasta meals for your freezer, if you are lucky enough to have people make meals for you during the first few weeks postpartum you'll be guaranteed half a dozen pasta bakes...they are by far the easiest thing for people to make and transport and so you'll be guaranteed half a dozen by the end. You'll be thankful you did alternatives in your own freezer for when the Pasta Bakes run dry.

3. Prepare the baby's room  Get your room ready. 
I'm sorry, but your sweet babies room won't really be used- minus for storage -for at least a month! .....the room you NEED to prep is YOUR room. It is the room where you and your little one are ( HOPEFULLY!) going to be holed up trying to sleep for quite a while. So figure out how you're going to get a little baby bed as-close-to-your-bed-as-possible. Now, there is plenty of literature out there against co-sleeping and I don't really want to get into the pros and cons of such things here on my blog-everyone is different...but I don't care WHO you are...when you're getting up a trillion times a night with your sweet angel you're going to want that sweet angel inches away. So figure out a plan that will work best for you, knowing that when the time comes you want you baby safe and within EASY access of you and your boob in the coming days. Other things to consider having in YOUR room: baby clothes ( they will go through a shocking number of clothing ( if you insist on dressing them) and you don't really want to be running down the hall for a fresh onesie at 2am, burp clothes, diapers and wipes, ointment for your sad, sad nipples because things are about to get REAL very quickly. MOM TIP: There are these super sweet absorbent pads they put under you when you're in the hospital to minimize how many times they have to change your sheets during your delivery/postpartum time ( see #1).....ask for as many extra pads as you can get your hands on and take them home: Then when you're up for a 3am feeding you can throw one down on your bed, change you babies diaper no problem without having to walk anywhere to do a diaper change! Like I said-that gorgeous matching crib and changing station you've got going on? Not that great at 3am.

4. Go get a Mani/Pedi  Go on a date(s). 
Sure, I'm already using up all my babysitting points to get myself to the millions of doctors visits that the last month seems to hold, but I  DO agree with the first child post when it comes to date nights. The hubs and I have completely busted this months date budget in a major way but we just don't care....we'll be trying to get in as many as we can in the coming last days because we know how sparse they will be in the coming months! So enjoy your spouse! Spend as much time together now talking about as many non-baby-related things as you can possibly think of because its about to be baby-all-the-time for the foreseeable future.


5. Get out of the house. 
This mostly has to do with people who already have kids, but really I suggest it even for you first time moms: The next time you go to Target RELISH IT...because it will be the last time you go alone for...basically ever. If you're an extravert than DOUBLE THIS-you'll be going stir crazy in the near future, so try to get out and enjoy as much as you can now. If you're an introvert-try to fight your introverted ways for the next few weeks, I promise you'll thank me later! Plus: bonus it helps the time go by faster!

But as for those of us who already have kids, I've kicked most of my homeschool-at-home stuff to the curb these last two weeks in favor of a million and one outings. I know that even when grandparents are here to help, they are probably going to be stuck at our house for a while ( mostly because I know how hard it is to get out of the house with a 5 and 2 year old even in a town that you're familiar with, much less one you are not!) so I am trying to hit all the outings we can get in. Last week we went to the children's museum, the pumpkin patch, we got Ransom's haircut at fun kid haircut place and we'll be hitting the zoo this week if we can manage it. I see this as my "dates with my kids" and its just as much a priority before baby comes.

6. Clean the bathrooms. 
Ok, I'll be honest, last week I went on a cleaning RAMPAGE and then I nearly died  of exhaustion and Braxton Hicks contractions around 5pm...but it IS kind of important to have at least a clean bathroom when you don't know when you'll be bringing home a baby and probably having extra helpers and friends coming and going in your home! Make sure you've got a nice supply of handsantizer and hand-soap for all those who are going to line up to hold baby too! And if you're a tad-OCD like me, you'll sleep better knowing everyone will be coming into a clean organized house ( or at least on day one...I can't promise you anything after that...)

which brings me to the MOST IMPORTANT PREPARATION OF ALL.....

7. Sleep. 
Sleep in, go to bed early, take a nap between dinner and bedtime, take a morning nap, take an afternoon nap, sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Yes, sleep has become more and more evasive as the days have gotten closer to the end, but I am not going to let that stop me from grabbing any ZZs I can get my hands on. Last night I told Brett the thing I have been most proud of this pregnancy has been how much I  have taken advantage of sleeping.  I know that sounds silly, but sometimes as a mom and wife I feel guilty when I sleep in or I take a nap, but I have made a conscious effort to take advantage of EVER OPPORTUNITY to sleep instead of doing just about anything else. If there is anything my two other children taught me, sleep deprivation is REAL and it NEVER gets better. And, thanks to an AMAZING husband I have gotten to sleep in and take naps like a champ these last 9 months. I know that it won't really make much of a difference when I am actually sleep deprived in a few weeks time-but it will make a difference to me mentally and that really does help. Or at least I'd like to think it will ;-)

8. Get Sibling Gifts
If you do have other kiddos then this is something I most definitely recommend! Ransom STILL talks about the gift "Tabitha" gave him when he first met her in the hospital and it definitely put a positive spin on her entrance into our family. I personally like to make the gift something small, but also something that will hopefully be time-consuming for your child in the coming days since might as well let this Sibling gift serve two purposes! Knowing Tabitha's propensity for all things little that she can line-up and make-believe with, she is getting a set of small Princess figurines. Ransom is getting a Lego set that I know will take him a while to put together but will then serve for some good imaginative play once its together.
I am also taking my kids, since they are older, to pick out a gift for Justice too! I know it will also help them understand that we are all a family. Spoiler: It'll probably be a stuffed animal since both of my children put a HIGH PRIORITY on sleeping with a trillion stuffed animals.

9. Stock up your devices. 
You may not have a smart phone, but I do recommend having something that "glows" ready for those nighttime feedings when staying awake is next to impossible. I personally like trashy TV ( see America's Next Top Model) to keep me awake, but I also like easy to read Non-fiction ( I'm thinking about splurging on Elizabeth Gilbert's latest book in the Kindle version for this baby). But even if it's some mindless game App that you know will keep your eyelids open, set yourself up with a few options. They will be helpful, I promise.
Also, if you have kids, I'm just going to give you a FREE PASS right now for the unlimited amount of screen time they are about to get in the coming weeks. Sure, it shouldn't last forever, but there are certain seasons when watching educational, calm shows are definitely worth it to save your sanity.
We watch the following (some more than others):
Daniel Tiger, Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Little Bear, Word World, Octonauts and Dinosaur Train.
P.S. Also, I personally like to have a breastfeeding App on my phone to help me know when my last feeding was. There are a million free ones to chose from and I personally like knowing which side I started on last, and just how long ago that was....I promise it all starts to bleed together pretty fast!


10. Clean off your cameras/phones. 
Your picture taking really IS going to hit an all time high in the next few weeks, I'm thankful to say that that has not changed with any of my children. I am so grateful for every single one of the millions of pictures and videos of my babies- and I know I will never regret having taken any of them. As much as I am not looking forward to the lack of sleep and craziness after Justice is born, I also really can hardly wait to see his little face. I took the time to download all the pictures from my phone onto my computer ( thus freeing up all that extra space) and then backing up my computer to make sure everything was safe and sound in case of crashes.

My Own Bonus Crazy-Check-List: 
Along with taking my kids to the Pumpkin Patch and purchasing Sibling gifts and making freezer meals- I also had a few other things on my own personal check list. I turned Justice's future room into yet-another incarnation of a guest room. It had had a twin guest bed in it, since my Brother-in-law moved into our guest room several months ago, but once again I needed to house not just single people in my guest room again so another shuffle took place! I am happy with the results and once again SO thankful for the largeness of our home! What a blessing!!

I also wanted to prepare for any extra visitors we might have to our home in the coming weeks. I do hope people will drop by and visit when I'm spending a lot of time in-doors, and I love fall decor so I was on a serious search for the perfect fall Mum. I only found one I liked on Friday and now that I have my fall door in place, my house cleaned ( minus the every-day clutter of my two other kiddos) and my hospital bag packed I am ready for Justice to arrive in a week ( or less!)