Getting the hang of it!

Geez, I leave for an afternoon alone with the kids then all of a sudden I think I'm super woman and I'm running all over town with them for the next few days. It has to be something about being cooped up in the house for so long, I'm enjoying my "newfound" freedom now that I have braved the world alone with the kids. Or maybe I'm just crazy. I enjoy going out with the kids. I even somewhat enjoy the raised eyebrows and "wow! you've got your hands full!" comments as people see me out with the kids.

I experienced a somewhat humerous event today. While at the doctors office waiting to pick up one of my husbands prescriptions, I had a woman ask if she could take my picture with my daughter because she's taking pictures of the employees at work and clients... Probably for a bulletin board or newsletter or something. She said my daughter was beautiful and she thought the sling was so cool, she wanted to capture the image. I said sure! She had me sign a consent form for it. I seem to always be visiting a place that happens to be taking pictures for things like that, because this is not the first time it's happened!

She must not have watched me walk in with the other two...

She came out with a camera and Alexis jumped into the seat next to me and started smiling (she loves her picture being taken...). The woman laughed and said "oh, is she yours too?"

Then I called Andrew over and again "Oh wow, is he yours too?"

She got a ton of pictures of everyone and then Alexis broke the silence with "mommy, I gotta pee!" I gave her a look and she said "oh I'm sorry, mommy I need to use the potty!"

Now, tight bathroom stalls are something I have yet to master... I'm hoping I can figure that one out really, really soon... Because space gets really cramped with a momma and three young'uns!

Kaitlyns Favorites

Kaitlyn has two distinct favorites thus far:

- She loves her head to be rubbed
- And she LOOOOOVEEEESSS to be sung to. her "theme song" seems to be the chorus from "Goodmorning Beautiful" sung by Tim McGraw. You know "Good morning beautiful how was your night, Mine was wonderful with you by my side, And when I opened my eyes and see your sweet face, Its a good morning beautiful day" I find myself singing this to her throughout the day and she just loves it. She either goes to sleep or stares into my eyes as I sing to her.

I love waking up next to her in the morning. She's so warm and snuggly, it really puts a smile on my face.

Just some ramblings. I have some orders to fill from my business that are keeping my busy tonight - the diapering curriculum I finally finished will release by the weekend and I have a ton of orders waiting on that... I'll be relieved when they're all out and I don't have all of this work hanging over my head!

Then at some point I need to tackle the mountain of laundry collecting on the chaise, finish the rest of the dishes, and maybe get around to cleaning the bathroom tonight...

I did it!

Well today I finally did what I had been somewhat concerned about since finding out we were pregnant with number 3: I braved the world alone with them :-) I know, no huge feat and yes I knew I'd have to eventually. But I have to admit I'm glad to have the first outing behind us. The kids were pretty good. Kaitlyn was in the sling any time I had everyone out of their carseats (I had to make three stops). Andrew was on my hip any time we had to walk from car to store/appointment and Alexis always walked. With Kaitlyn in the sling, I still feel like I have two kids.

I constantly remind myself that right now isn't going to be the hard part - when Kaitlyn is a little older I imagine life is going to start getting more complicated.

I am going to take another trip to the library tomorrow morning - I want to get some more books on toddler activities to help get more ideas for both kids. Although I am going to be starting Alexis in preschool on Monday, Andrew has shown he is ready for something a bit more. He's not nearly two, so I won't be really "planning" anything for him. I do, however, want to have some ideas as far as learning activities for him that I can use to reinforce shapes, colors, numbers, alphabet and the basics like that (and have something to keep him occupied while Alexis is busy!)

Pictures!

The big brother!
The big big sister!
And Kaitlyn :-)

Alexis in the garden picking cherry tomatoes Andrew giving my husbands motorcycle kisses....
Our newest addition!

"Boy"

When my husband and I took a trip to Sam's Club a few weeks ago, I was waiting for him near the bathrooms with the kids. A lady came up and commented on how we have a beautiful family and proceeded to ask my daughter what her name was. She told her, and she asked what her little brothers name was. Her reply made me laugh - she said his name was "boy." You would only understand this if you spent a day in our household, as my husband routinely calls Andrew "boy" when he's getting into things. "Boy, get out of the garbage!" or "You are such a BOY!" as he shakes and tickles Andrew above his head in the air. So then I asked Alexis what her brothers real name was and she replied "Andrew boy" ::sigh:: I thought it was kind of funny though.

Andrew does have a soft side I discovered. If I put Kaitlyn on the floor for tummy time, he warms right up to her. He'll lay right next to her and stare at her face, pat her back if she fusses, give her hugs and lots of kisses. I got some adorable pictures. Now, if only my cameras docking station would cooperate with the computer so I could transfer pictures...

Homeschooling to start soon!

Before I actually looked at a calendar, I decided Sept. 1st sounded like a good start date... Until I did look and realised it was a Saturday. Oh well, Monday September 3rd sounds good too!



All we are doing is starting my daughter in preschool. We plan to homeschool through the school years but this year will be very laid back. She'll be 4 next February but she is very excited about learning now! So I am trying to plan our "curriculum" utilizing the internet, our library and our local community to make it fun, educational and low cost. Most of her learning will occur through play because that is the best way for her to learn at such a young age. I will try some worksheets and printed activities though if she shows no interest in them, it's ok!



Speaking of worksheets and printed activities, if you are considering homeschooling or supplementing your childs out of home education - have you looked at what the internet has to offer for free?!? I am easily becoming overwhelmed at the amount of free printables, worksheets and activity ideas out there... It's crazy! I have a *bunch* of links on my website - check out www.motherhoodnaturally.com/info.htm I have some documents in there for preschooling and other grades.



I guess we'll be "eclectic" homeschoolers in the sense that I don't plan on purchasing a curriculum for at least a few years. I think we can get through at least 3rd grade without buying a curriculum. I'm a frugal freak (hehe) and like to do as much as I can on my own, and think I'll feel more comfortable creating a curriculum for my children for as long as I can. Our work will consist of findings on the internet, things I've created on my own, library materials and services, community (and not so local) events and field trips. We have a local Christian homeschooling group I would like to get involved with, and there are probably general homeschooling groups I'm not even aware of. But we'll be mixing and matching what fits for our schooling.



I made up a weekly plan last night that i'll likely be using as my "teachers planner". It consists of a table with columns and rows for days of the week and the "subjects" I'll be teaching. I'll list the things I want to cover for a particular week in that, it also has a row for field trips (which will include errands like grocery shopping (lots of math!) and playgroups) and attendance (I'll check off each day that she's attended school). After that, I have a table for projects/to do's and supplies I'll need. That way if I need to buy anything I will know ahead of time instead of starting a project and realising I dont' have everything. Beneath that is a chart of books we've read and a place to record book information if we want to buy the books. On the back of the sheet is my detailed curriculum for the week where I can list objectives,

Our first "timed event" as a family of five

Sunday was Kaitlyn's dedication. I didn't realise it, but my pastor made a good point (as I was wondering if I was crazy bring a 5 day old infant out of the house) - the first place we brought her was the house of the Lord. I kind of like that.

I was re-considering my decision to leave the house on Saturday because I kept thinking of everything I'd need to get done in order for us to get out of the house on time. I was wondering if I was up for all of it! I started getting us ready at 9am (for 11am services) and we made it to church a minute or two past eleven. As soon as we walked in the doors our pastor started the services. Not too shabby, huh?

The kids sat with us during services and afterwards we had Kaitlyn dedicated. The kids were perfect, and Kaitlyn slept through most of it.

Adjustment has gone surprisingly smooth (so far). I don't really notice much of a difference in extra work (though I'm taking it easy, I am still back to cleaning, cooking and the like), I am enjoying constantly having a little cuddly one in my arms and have been enjoying the heck out of Lexi and Andrew loving on their little sister. I'm pretty confident that things will take a turn for the chaotic as Kaitlyn starts staying up for longer periods and has more demands on our time. Though right now she's perfectly content to soil her diapers, being cuddled and nursed.

Alexis constantly wants to hold her sister, kiss her, hold her hands and play with her. Andrew seems to constantly be puckered-up to give her kisses and hugs. He wants to hold her once in a while, too. In trying to keep myself on the couch to recover more, I've been reading to the kids. It keeps them quiet, out of trouble and within my sight so I'm content to read to them all day! Shortly before going into labor we took a trip to the library and came home with a ton of books for the kids... So, we have plenty of new stuff to read.

I'm off to write up Kaitlyns' birth story, and to write in each of the other kids' journals. I try so hard to keep them updated but rarely remember to write in them when I actually have time... But now i'm making time, there is a lot to catch up on!

Processing the birth...

I am so in love with my newborn baby girl... I feel completely different and seem to have fallen even more in love with each member of my family. I can't really explain it. I keep thinking about the birth and how different it was from my previous births. My firstborn was a hospital birth with midwives. It wasn't a bad experience by any means, however recovery was tough and the more I learned about birthing after the fact, the more I wish I would have changed. My son was our first homebirth and it was very empowering. There was a single moment during transition that I was ready to give up and go to the hospital out of fear from the pain, but I quickly removed the thought from my mind and proceeded on. The birth was uncomplicated and recovery was better than with my daughter. This birth was incredibly empowering. I believe that having been home with the last one erased the thought of "I can't do this anymore" so I went through labor and birth with full confidence. I knew exactly what I needed to do to get through the pain. I really trusted my body this time (last time I wanted a vag exam during transition to see how far dilated I was, then as my body began pushing I asked my midwives if they should check again, but they told me if my body is already pushing to trust it and go with it). When the urge came to push, I trusted that it was time. I knew the process of labor and birth much better (I'm a childbirth educator and have been certified and teaching since 2004. Not long, but long enough to have a better understanding of birth than the first time around!).



The fun part with this birth was the fact that I hit active labor around 2:30am. I birthed at 5:38. Last time I was in labor (decently active) for about 8 hours. This time it was hard and heavy right off the bat, but much shorter. I believe the Lord was with me through the entire thing and He really was taking away the pain. Some people have focal points during labor. I did this time too, only it was the Lord. And what a wonderful focal point He is!

Our baby is here!

August 14th at 5:38AM we brought Kaitlyn Rose Kostyu into the world. She is 7lb, 6oz, and 19 3/4in. long. We didn't know if we were having a girl or a boy, and the birthing experience was so different not knowing. As usual, my husband delivered her in our living room and I will never forget the joy in his voice as he called out her name and announced the sex.


My daughter had one request for the past few weeks. She wanted to give the baby it's first blankie. So, when packing my birth supplies I included some girly and boyish recieving blankets. When the time came for the baby to need a blankie, she ran over, grabbed the right color, unfolded it and covered the baby up with it. This was very important to her!

Here is my beautiful daughter, Alexis, with her brand new baby sister. My son, Andrew, enjoys his little sister but is still young and doesn't realise that the baby can't enjoy peanut butter sandwiches nor does she enjoy having her nose pulled off her face. Eeek. I remember this stage - Alexis was about Andrews age when he was born. He does try to be gentle and has been giving the baby tons and tons of big kisses and hugs.

I'm excited to see how much life changes. This fall we'll begin homeschooling Alexis with preschool stuff. It'll mostly be child led and lots of play. I'm waiting until after we get back on some sort of a schedule with the new baby and get past the initial adjustment issues.

More later. Praise the Lord for another safe homebirth and healthy baby. Most of this labor was spent in prayer. One of my midwives and I both were in prayer a lot through labor and it REALLY made a difference. Our Lord is so good.

It's getting bad...

I'm always a little clumsy during pregnancy. And forgetful. And silly. I've found egg cartons in the freezer, cereal boxes in the fridge, and cheese in my pantry. All put there by me in my absent-mindedness.

These past few days have hit an all time high, however.

I made a special breakfast for the kids yesterday - french toast. I usually sprinkle some powdered sugar on them, but I opened the wrong canister.... And poured on cornstarch. I didn't realise it until I made my plate (which is always last). The funny thing is the kids ate it. Yuck.

Then I managed to wipe out about half of our bowl population and three cups all in one wack. I was attempting to re-stack my bowl stack so it wouldn't fall, and it ended up falling anyway. Crash boom bang! I have room for all of my bowls now, without problem. And I can finally fit every glass we own on the glass shelf in the cabinet. Maybe this was the Lord saying it's time to simplify life... Now!

Oh, there has been more... I just can't think of it now. Of course!