Iris just yelled "house!" in my ear

Also she apparently loves cuddling with me when I'm full-term. This is sweet, cherishable, and really uncomfortable.

just trying to get my thoughts in order

my mental to do list is going crazy, and all I really want to do is
lie down (lay down?) so I thought I'd come over here and see if
writing it down helps. some of these are just "things to do today" and
others are "things to do before Jonas comes"

I need to put Iris in clothes for today. Right now she's wearing
yesterday's top and no pants. Now that it's actually a bit chilly (I
think Huntsville actually has an autumn season!), I'm trying to get
back into the groove of dressing her every day. Bye-bye naked summer.

I need to wash clothes, fold clothes, and put clothes away. I can't
find any of my maternity clothes, well, not very many, which kinda
leaves me stuck at home because otherwise I'd show more tummy than is
appropriate. And boy do I have a lot of tummy to show. I'm also kinda
trying to figure out how to live with my summery maternity clothes and
the afore mentioned chilly weather. Right now I have one cardigan
that's long that I'm wearing and just buttoning right before my belly
starts, and I guess I can do that for a few more weeks. But we all
desperately need some clothes clean and put away. Laundry is my big
task for today.

I need to make a birth plan. But I want to do it well and in a way
that respects my doctor. He's really a high-risk doctor and he's the
head of obstetrics at the hospital (and I just found out last night he
does pro bono work at Choose Life, the local
more-than-a-crisis-pregnancy center), so I don't want to be all like,
"you don't know about how to have babies!" Most of what I want is in
response to my labor with Iris, which, of course, was all based on a
starting intervention, so I think a lot of it I don't really HAVE to
worry about, and my main concern is having a normal delivery and not a
c-section, so really, I think it should be fairly easy, but I just
want to make it appropriate to my new situation. And I would like to
have a natural birth if I can, but that's just not the most important
thing.

As regards to Jonas actually coming, I need to pack my hospital bag,
put sheets on his three sleeping places, trade dressers with him (more
clothes to put away) (all his clothes are washed with that special
baby detergent--he's not going to go naked, that one.) I also probably
need to fix food and freeze it, too, even though I'm not worried about
us I mean our going hungry. These Huntsville people really love us.
oh, also i need to find out what happens when you go the hospital--we
didn't go to birthing classes this time, so i don't really know what
to expect--i had to ask the doctor last week where we should even go.
(second floor of the womens and childrens building). also i guess i
should wash the boppy cover. oh, and i want to get a changing pad like
the pillowy kind.

let's see...what else is on my plate? i need to go grocery shopping
(we're out of milk).

it looks like the next thing is changing iris. she's running around
the house saying "pooppoo" and "peepee" and i just looked and she
already took her diaper off.

more about her later. she's being really cute lately.

long time no blog

Ouch! Iris just kicked me. I think Jonas might have kicked me at the
same time. Assaulted without and within...what a life.

I just got an email from JCrew telling me that they miss me. I miss
them, too. But it will probably be a while until we are friends again.

I am four and a half weeks away from my due date. That means one and a
half from Jonas being full term. That means we have a lot to do to get
ready for this little man to come. Lots of clothes to wash and
furniture to re-arrange. Even though beyond that, I'm not sure what
needs to be done.

Iris is two now. She is just growing so much in all ways. She's
learning -- or at least repeating -- so many new words every day. I am
trying to start remembering to teach her the children's catechism, but
I don't always remember. I didn't learn all of it until I was nine,
so I guess I shouldn't put my expectations too high. But I still have
the bible I earned for saying it off. I just asked "who made you" and
she said "cow" -- obviously we still have a ways to go. :) We had her
two month doctor appointment and she was normal, even though
apparently she's a staph harbor. She really is such a joy to have
around. She watches too many TV shows right now, even though I've
decided not to feel too bad about it right this second because I am so
darn pregnant. also she definitely loves to run around--she makes a
playground out of our couches if I don't take her outside. she's
learned lots of words from Dora the Explorer, too--words like "bush"
and "cave" and "clock" among others. Her new favorite show is called
"Shaun the Sheep" except she just calls it "Cow!" Also she can say
some sentences--the most usual are "I want some X"--and "a-man" at the
end of prayers. She can recognize the difference between letters and
numbers and SOMETIMES she even gets them right. I think "B" and "2"
are her strongest ones. She's also excited about colors, though she
calls almost every color "red" -- especially green. Right now though,
she seems to get purple right almost every time. So, in short, she's
just a bundle of learning and cuteness. I am also about to learn how
to really braid her hair into little braids. Even though I don't spend
that much time on it right now, I should--and when Jonas comes, I
definitely will be distracted. Her hair is so long--when it's wet and
stretched out, her hair goes more than halfway down her back. Our
pediatrician offered to let me come over and watch her fix her
daughter's hair one night, so I might do that. Iris's hair is always
cute, but it isn't always _groomed_ looking. But she is just really
precious. She definitely makes us excited about welcoming more
children into our family.

The weather change has messed with all our sinuses--not really a great
time to get sick, but hopefully we'll be well before Jonas comes. I
think Iris might be the snottiest one. I am trying to incorporate my
neti pot into my routine and hope that will help. When you have to
wipe two snotty noses instead of just one, every little bit helps.

Also I have a routine of eating poached eggs on toast and coffee for
breakfast. I guess a month or two ago I bought one of my favorite
cereals and ate it for breakfast and it left me totally bereft of
energy, so I decided protein for breakfast was the way to go. I really
enjoy it, though I hope it's okay that I like my yolks runny. We also
recently acquired a french press which at least in my head, makes
making coffee so much easier. Having a breakfast routine makes so much
likelier to clean up the kitchen, just like putting my clothes on
before I go downstairs makes me more likely to want to do laundry and
put it away--it's fun finding clean clothes in my drawers. Hopefully
this will continue after pregnancy and not just be part of that darn
third trimester nesting thing. I know for most of you that is probably
a "duh" thing, but housekeeping has never really been my strong point.
But I really enjoy my eggs in the morning, and making breakfast for
Roy and Iris, too--usually eggs or oatmail. Today is Roy's day off,
though so I think we are having bacon, too.

RUF is going well, too--we really loves our job. or Roy's job?
Whatever--we love being in Huntsville and loving on A&M students. I am
looking forward to next semester when I will hopefully be able to be a
little more involved--I know that's ridiculous to say, when I'll have
two kids instead of one, but pregnancy is just not easy or comfortable
for me, and infants are so nice and portable. We have probably a group
of ten students that are committed. Some come to a Tuesday night bible
study on campus and some come to a Friday night fellowship time at our
house. Some come to both, too, but I don't know all of them. Roy,
after getting his family pretty well settled (his first assignment as
a new campus minister) is finally getting to have more of a presence
on campus. (He painted our entire downstairs, y'all--evidence that he
got us settled). Yesterday he joined the A&M gym, so he'll get to play
basketball on campus. Hurray! I think fundraising is going okay, too.
We should have a newsletter coming out soon, so if you aren't on that
train and want to be on it, let us know in the comments or by email.

I think some quick prayer requests are these: getting more freshman
involved, continued financial support, Roy's ordination stuff is
coming up this month and November, and balancing RUF and Jonas when he
comes. And for me, that I won't be sad when he actually goes to do his
job. This summer he got to spend so much time at home, getting
settled, and doing stuff in his home office we set up, but now that
he's mostly done with that, he has to actually leave the house to go
do his job. I'm so glad that we are now at that point, but Ima be
honest, I miss him a lot when he's gone--that time together was really
sweet. But since a) God's called him to be a CAMPUS minister and b) we
aren't independently wealthy, and c) we don't have an agrarian
lifestyle that would let him be around, even when he's working, I just
need to ...well, I'm not sure exactly what I need. maybe a content
heart or something. Also to realize that I can take my baby and leave
the house, too. Sometimes I forget that mommies and babies can go do
stuff, too, even though doing stuff with Iris is not always easy,
given how pregnant I am and how big her body is. We are still working
on regular obedience things, like not wandering off, and coming when i
call, etc., and just subjugating her (is that the right word?) by
picking her up is not really an option I can do all the time. I'm
pretty sure there's some kind of theological lesson in there, but I'm
going to let you tease it out.

We are building relationships with lots of cool people here in
Huntsville, too, and even getting to know some of our neighbors a
little bit. ALSO, a man just came to our door to tell us that the city
of Huntsville is going to come trim our trees because they are too
close to the power lines. For free. Also we can get free wood chips
from that same operation. This both explains why none of the trees in
our neighborhood look as old as the neighborhood, and totally blows my
mind. The level of city services in Huntsville--well, it might not be
amazing, but compared to Jackson is unbelievable. Of course,
Huntsville still has a tax base and everything, not to mention a
government supported economy, what with NASA and everything. But
still. Nice men just come by and say, "hey, we're going to trim your
trees so they don't cause power outages." Of course my heart is sad
about the trees losing their limbs, but it's nice to feel cared for.

My grandmother (my dad's mom) is in hospice now. She had a stroke last
week. She will be 89 in the 12th. She is comfortable, and responsive
at times, but we are not expecting recovery. We got to go visit with
her and actually most of my siblings last weekend (even though we had
to miss Iris's birthday party and a baby shower both in Huntsville),
and it was so good. Sad, of course, but so good to be there. Of
course, then we had to leave...leaving just a few family members there
to sit with her. I am not very good at bedside sitting when I am
almost nine months pregnant, so I feel like I was not very helpful,
but we left just a few people to do a big job. So, pray for that, too,
that Grandmother would continue to be comfortable, and that the family
there would be able have perseverance and grace and strength, and be
able to have some sort of normality as they adjust their schedule to
grandmother's needs.

Also the weather changed on me, so suddenly, it seemed. Boo on
maternity clothes that you only need for a month.

Sorry, this is kinda a mishmash of information about us. At some
point, I might actually have some sort of thoughtful post about all
sorts of things, but for this is all I've got. Or maybe Roy will write
something. But I have to pick up tissue paper that's all over the
kitchen floor and wash some clothes, since there's no clothes in my
drawers right now -- or that can fit -- and so I can't dressed before
I come downstairs. Also we have baby clothes to wash. And furniture to
move. But Roy's going to move that.

Also, you can still come and visit us.

Love.

oh dear....

"As the brain matures, one thing that happens is the pruning of the
synapses. Synaptic pruning does not occur willy-nilly; it depends
largely on how any one brain pathway is used. By cutting off unused
pathways, the brain eventually settles into a structure that's most
efficient for the owner of that brain, creating well-worn grooves for
the pathways that person uses most. Synaptic pruning intensifies after
rapid brain-cell proliferation during childhood and again in the
period that encompasses adolescence and the 20s. It is the mechanism
of "use it or lose it": the brains we have are shaped largely in
response to the demands made of them."

I guess this explains why I can't do math anymore, even though I used
to be pretty darn good at it."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?pagewanted=4&ref=general&src=me

iris is just like us.

and the older she gets, the more we can tell. It's so encouraging for
me, especially, since it appears that most of my physical traits got
beaten by Roy's genes, to know that she has other traits, like
expressions, or weird preferences that I can say, "you got that from
me! sorry."

for instance, she is just like me in that when she's in the bath and
gets a hair on her hand, she cries until i take it off for her. you
might not know that about me, but I HATE disembodied hairs. it's one
of the grossest things ever. She is apparently just as disturbed by
them as I am.

and she is like roy in the way she keeps moving the stool that i like
to sit on while i cook (or wait for things to cook) back to the table
where it goes.

We think she is on the cusp of being ready to potty train. anybody
have any suggestions about best methods? she's still really young, but
she knows the ideas of peepee and poop and the potty, and doesn't like
being in wet diapers. additionally, it would be FANTASTIC to have only
one kid in diapers at a time.

also I have come to the realization that all the paper, journals,
sketchbooks, etc., that I have saved thinking I might one day develop
a creative genius were REALLY saved so that Iris could scribble on
them. It's so nice to know that they won't be wasted. We got her some
chunky crayons, and it's really amazing how her skills are developing.
She mostly colors on paper that we give her, but sometimes she gets on
the floor, too. And we write her name, for her, too: "EYE - ARE - EYE
- ESS, Iris!" when I say the "Iris" part, I alway make a line under
the word. I'm wondering if that will make her think her name always
has a line underneath it, but I guess that's what school is for, to
fix things like that.

Baby Jonas is due in eleven weeks and one day. We still have a lot to
do to get ready for him, but I think we'll be fine. If anyone has any
baby boy clothes they want to pass on to us, we'll take them. Also I
have been wondering about how to make the transition easier for Iris.
I really don't want to have to tell her that when she was little she
tried to hurt him or anything like that. She seems to be okay with
babies, but she also likes to play with their toys. And she is not
good at all with sharing with older kids. And Jonas will have to take
over a lot of things that she's thought of as hers, like her baby
swing and bouncy seat...I'm a little concerned. The whole big girl
concept doesn't seem to have too much weight with her yet. So, did you
do something to prepare your first child for the second? Iris will be
25 months when Jonas comes. My favorite plan is to get a pet that she
can spend time on/with and be distracted by, but then it seems silly
to add that to a household already going through upheaval. Am I making
too big a deal of this?

Also, soon the RUF at AAMU website will be live. We'll put the address
here as soon as it's up. I am kinda wary of publicly bragging on Roy,
because I just don't think he appreciates it like other people might,
but it's really great to see him get to be a minister of the gospel.
And the website looks great, too. But ask in me in person about him
and I can tell you how wonderful he is. Also, if you want to support
us, this might be the easiest way: www.ruf.org/donate/ or if you just
want to get a support letter and haven't, leave a comment. I think we
could send out emails with a pdf, even though I personally like
sending out paper copies. Our next support letter comes out in
September, but we can send you our summer one first. I'm really
excited about the start of our ministry here, even though I doubt I'll
be doing that much for it, besides taking care of Roy and opening our
home to students--not that I don't think that is important, because I
do, I just feel really PREGNANT.

Also, extra points go to the person who can guess why I love the name
Jonas. I'm thinking that Paula La and Caroline Kimbrough might have
the best chance at this.

Come see us in Huntsville. We have lots of room for guests, and it's
lots easier for me for people to come to my house instead of the other
way. Baby Jonas and I do not travel well.

27 weeks...

Jonas can live outside the womb now if necessary. Hopefully he'll get
to stay in there for another 13 or 12 weeks or so, but he doesn't have
to!

Also, Iris pointed at my belly this morning and said "baby!" hopefully
that means she won't be too surprised when Jonas is born.

How are you?

Man, I've been blogging a lot lately...

I think that means I should be loading my dishwasher.

Anyway, I just came across a new-to-me author (she died in 1974), and
I'm really excited about it. Funnily enough, I found her through the
ibooks application on my new iphone (I promise we're not consumerists,
I promise!)...I was trying to find cheap and not-too-dirty romance
stories to read (yes, it's true...I like books like that. I'm a sucker
for happy endings), and amid all the descriptions of beautiful people
at cross purposes with burning passions (and men without shirts on the
cover), I found these books that had all recently been reprinted, and
also issued in digital editions...and they didn't sound like they'd be
scandalous! Hurray! So, even though I ended up paying $9.99 for what
is really a bunch of ones and zeros, I really enjoyed the book I ended
up purchasing: The Convenient Marriage, by Georgette Heyer. Roy would
really prefer that we get tangible books, and ultimately, I would too,
but it's hard to resist just pushing a button and having several hours
of enjoyment, even though I know that digital editions are such a
headache in the publishing world. Anyway, the book was sweet with
clever dialogue, and I'm planning on going to the library today,
getting my library card, and checking out some paper copies of other
of Georgette Heyer's books. According to wikipedia, she originated the
"Regency Romance" genre. So, yeah. These books don't make me confront
a lot of stuff, but you know, really, let's be honest: all the issues
that I appreciate being raised in literature are basically right here
with me in real life. It is probably more accurate to say that I
appreciate consciousness-raising literature, rather than enjoying it,
in most cases.

I have to get Iris more juice.