Thursday 13 - 13 Things I forgot about Newborns

1) Newborns make all sorts of strange squeaks and grunts when they are asleep in the middle of the night. Rather than being annoying, it is reassuring to me to hear all of these noises.

2) Newborns poop - a lot! I bet I change 7 or 8 diapers every day just because there is a poop stain in the diaper.

3) Newborns are fun to cuddle and really hard to set down when they are being cute. (See previous post "Time Suck").

4) Taking benedril for a cold usually knocks me out, but when I have been up for several days with a newborn, this normal side effect does not occur!

5) Getting things done with a newborn in the house is possible but you have to have a game plan. For instance I got ALL of the laundry done on Monday - a huge task. Tuesday I didn't have a plan though and spent most of the day holding the baby, getting NOTHING done.

6) Older siblings love to hold babies - they also love to fight about who gets to hold the baby first....

7) People are, for the most part, pretty respectful about not touching a newborn. There are some you have to watch out for but usually you can see them coming. Carrying a baby in a Baby Bjorns helps with this because you can just throw a blanket over the baby and Voila! No baby to touch.

8) Staying up with the baby is a whole lot easier for me than getting up in the middle of the night. Although it does not seem as bad this time around.

9) Cats (at least Miney and Moe) do not like babies and usually walk a wide circle around him. This is just fine with me!

10) I get loopy and giddy on no sleep rather than getting grumpy and mean. That is good for the almost-four-year-old in our house!

11) Babies need alone time too. They need time to explore their new surroundings, if not with their hands then with their eyes. Putting a newborn to bed while he is still awake works better than putting him to bed when he falls asleep on me. I think he remembers what he was doing before he fell asleep. If he wakes up in a different place than he was when he fell asleep, he gets confused and cries.

12) I make really stupid mistakes when I have not slept properly. I walk into a room and forget why I was there, I forget what I was going to say and do often. I forget things easily.

13) Babies are a lot of work but also a lot of fun!

Thursday Thirteen! 13 Things I LOVE about ChristmasI!

I finally rememberd the Thursday 13 Meme on an actual Thursday! Ha ha!

Here are my Top 13 things that I LOVE about Christmas:

1. I love making Christmas cookies. My sister, my mom, and I always had great fun making Christmas cookies when I was growing up. We made lots of cookie cutouts. I am from Iowa - a state that gets a lot of snow. And we had a dog when I was growing up. Therefore, my very favorite cookie to make is a snowman cookie with a little bit of yellow at the bottom of the snowman. It is in honor of my childhood dog!

2. I love buying and wrapping presents. It is neat to go shopping for someone else with the purpose of putting a smile on her/his face.

3. I love Christmas songs. I make myself wait until Thanksgiving to turn on the Christmas tunes, and I love them more every year.

4. I love putting up the Christmas tree. It was fun to have help from my kids this year. I think they love it as much as I do!

5. I love seeing family. We usually travel right after Christmas, and I love to see everyone and hang out and catch up.

6. I love going to the kids' Christmas programs. It is neat to see that they understand the true meaning of Christmas.

7. I love that I can use Santa to make my kids behave. It does not always work, but it is nice to have that little gem in my back pocket. I also love how excited they get about Christmas presents!!

8. I love sending Christmas cards. I keep our Christmas letters from year to year and keep them in my stocking. It is really nice to be able to look back on past years and remember when...

9. I love getting Christmas cards! I love to see what people have been up to. I love seeing pictures of kids growing up, family pictures, birth announcements, all Kodak moments!

10. I love the anticipation of Christmas. I grew up Methodist and I love the advent candle ceremony we would have every Sunday before Christmas. We don't do this at our current church so I am getting my own advent wreath for next year with my kids.

11. I love to see Christmas lights through falling snow. I don't get to see this very often anymore, but I love to see the blurred lights through the snow.

12. I love the quiet in an early morning right after it has snowed. There is absolutely nothing as peaceful and quiet as this.

13. I love that DadOf3 takes the week of Christmas off work so we can all be together. Usually we are traveling, but this year we will be home so I am looking forward to some good family bonding time!

Thanksgiving Thursday 13

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all enjoying your day! I thought it would be appropriate to make my Thursday 13 list of things I am thankful for this year.

1. I am thankful for my family. I feel truly blessed to have my husband and my kids. We have had a great day of playing so far.
2. I am thankful for good health this past year. Our illnesses have been minor so far, and for that I am thankful.
3. I am thankful for my husband and the job that he has. It makes him happy, he is very good at it, and in the economy, those are indeed great blessings.
4. I am thankful that I can continue to stay at home with my children. It is an honor and a priviledge.
5. I am thankful that we have RR here for Thanksgiving this year!
6. I am thankful for our families back in Iowa. Even though we are separated by 1000 miles, they are close in our hearts and we love them all very much.
7. I am thankful for new friends I have made this year. I am so happy to have a friend who is fun to hang out with and who loves my kiddos too.
8. I am thankful that Princess and Prince are doing so well in school this year. And more than that I am thankful that they like school!
9. I am thankful that the Knight and I have had so much one on one time this year. He is a remarkable little guy. He amazes me every day.
10. I am thankful for our kitty pets. They are sweet little animals who put up with a lot of nonsense from our kids.
11. I am thankful for the work we have been able to do on our house the last few years. The deck is DONE except for being sealed!!
12. I am thankful for our expected arrival, and I pray that he will continue to grow big and strong.
13. I am thankful for you, my blogger community. :)

Thursday Thirteen: 13 Things on My To Do List!

Here are the things on my To Do list today:

1. Make a grocery list that includes things for my new diet - I am getting sick of eggs on toast.
2. Return a permission slip to school for my little Prince. We are off to tour a farm this month. The Knight and I are going too! Right now there is only one other chaperone. Wish us luck!
3. Encourage Princess to take a spelling test. They do spelling tests differently in this 2nd Grade class. Last year, Princess received a list of words at the beginning of the week, she studied the words all week, and then Princess took her spelling test every Friday. In 2nd grade, the spelling tests are "self motivated". Sometimes this means that Princess needs to be "Mommy Motivated" to get them done. She studied hard last night and should take a test today. But I do need to remember to ask her about it when she gets home.
4. Get groceries with the Knight. Include the purchase of toys for Operation Christmas Child service project we are doing through MOPS. This is so neat! I am going to have my little Knight pick out some toys to send in the Christmas boxes!
5. Do about 5 loads of laundry. Wash, dry AND put away. :)
6. Call for a vet appointment for the cats. (Just an annual visit)
7. Send grandparents and aunts and uncles school pictures that Princess and Prince brought home from school yesterday! (And hopefully include a nice letter along with the pictures. I am way behind in real letter writing but I love getting real mail, so I like to write letters to other folks.)
8. Clean the following rooms: living room (vacuum, organize desk, return all wandering toys back to their rightful homes), 3 bathrooms. Kitchen is done.
9. Take Halloween decorations down and find Thanksgiving decorations.
10. Talk to our friend R.N. (college student at Texas A&M) to see if he can come here for Thanksgiving!
11. Work on pink baby blankted that I am making for one of DadOf3's co-workers so I can start a blue one.
12. Copy off MOPS newsletter for Friday's MOPS meeting. (I only have 6 more newsletters to write. I am trying to get December's, January's, and February's done early too.)
13. Work on Christmas Calendars for both sides of our families. (Also, look for a coupon - this gives me a target date to get them done before the coupon expires.) I LOVE snapfish.com photo calendars! If you are looking for a fun Christmas present that lasts ALL YEAR LONG, check it out!

That is my Thursday 13 for today! What are yours?

Thursday Thirteen! 13 Things I will miss about Summer!

I am getting a little sad at the thought of summer being over. I love spending time with my kids. I am trying a new meme called Thursday Thirteen to remember what a fun summer we had!

Here are the top 13 things I will miss about summer (in no particular order)!

1) Playing in the backyard with nary a thought about homework!
2) Boating with our friends and SKIING!

3) Going to the park in the mornings!

4) Ice cream!

5) Family time.

6) The fun and excitement of staying in hotel rooms.

7) Amusement Parks!

8) Sparklers!! (And seeing family in Iowa!)

9) Road Trips!!

10) Summer birthday parties!!!

11) Lemonade stands!

12) VBS

13) Taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese!