Birth plans Shmirth plans

Hooray! This is the first week in AmyBeth's Fetus Friday Carnival. Head over to her blog & read why we are all excited for this time in her life.

First I have to bring attention to my oldest daughter Cyra Lynn. She is 3 days old in this pic. She was born August 12, 1999 at 8:06 a.m. Weighing 6lb 7 oz & 18 3/4 in long. She had the most beautiful black hair...*sigh*

Here's my advice...First edition:

Everyone (over the last decade or so) feels like they MUST have a birth plan. That's the plan you have in place that describes in detail what you want to happen in the delivery process.

For example I have a friend who decided she MUST NOT use drugs. Another one who wanted Enya playing in the background while she was laboring. One who wanted a video camera "down there" documenting that beautiful thing they call birth.

I had my first labor planned in my head too. And then my water broke. It was "supposed" to happen while hubs was home and on a weekend so I could immediately go back to work on Monday morning. Yeah right. It happened on the toilet. Splash. Uh oh.

Then I was supposed to labor for a day while I waited for my parents to come from OR. Nope. I didn't labor at all. Not for 12 hours. Once it did start...I. HAD. 36. MINUTES. TO. PERFORM. That's right 36 minutes from first contraction to delivery.

I had planned to have an epidural, but 36 minutes isn't long enough. Dang it.

So my advice is...don't have such a rigid plan. God has one for you & for your little one. You really have no say in the matter. Roll w/ the punches.

The pain may not be so bad that you need drugs (mine wasn't). You may decide you don't want TIME magazine documenting every curse word or exorcist type outburst (oh yes, you'll have a few). And you may decide to watch Wheel of Fortune instead of listening to your mixtape of relaxing music. "Can I have a W Alex. For WHY ON EARTH DID I EVER GET MYSELF INTO THIS PREDICAMENT. FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY...MAKE IT STOP!?!"

My Mom told me..."The only thing predictable about labor & delivery...is that it's unpredictable." Amen.

No matter how your labor goes, at the end of the day (or 2, or 3, or 36 min) you still have a beautiful baby in your arms. God intended it that way...so you'll keep reproducing. And you will actually WANT to take care of that alien that somehow got your cheek bones.

Dinner at home costs pennies Part 2

It's been so much fun to calculate how much I'm spending on feeding my family each night. I think it's going overboard though. Now I'm trying to see how LITTLE I can spend on feeding my family each night (while not skipping on size or quality).

Tonight I'm making Bruschetta Chicken Bake. I stole borrowed it from Shannon over at Rocksinmydryer. Here the recipe & the cost was only $5.30 for my family!

1 19 ounce can stewed tomatoes, undrained (or 15 oz can of tomato sauce)
1 pkg Stuffing Mix
2 cloves garlic, minced (or garlic powder equivalent)
1.5 lb chicken breasts, cut into bit-sized pieces(I used 1 breast & 2 small thighs)
1 tsp dried basil leaves
2 cups Mozzarella shredded cheese, separated

PREHEAT oven to 400. Place tomatoes in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix and garlic. Stir until moistened.
PLACE chicken pieces in greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle w/ basil and 1 cup cheese. Top with stuffing mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Uncooked chicken sprinkled w/ basil & topped w/ mozzarella
Topped w/ stuffing mixture & more cheese.

Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class

Wall - E was such a great movie. Who else but Disney could keep kids occupied for an hour w/ only a handful of words? No one, that's who. I can't even do that w/ my own kids.

I love the idea of robots having feelings & wanting mates. I also love the awareness it brought to my kids. Buying all that "stuff" & then knowing it all has to go somewhere after it's lost its lustre (usually w/in 24 hours). I'm hoping I can use this story line next time they are begging for a new toy at Stuff Mart.

If you haven't seen it yet...GO NOW! It's really cute.

Positive Post Tuesday

This is my first time participating...feel free to welcome me with open arms. =)

I want to write about my friend Joan. Joan is the mom of 2 and works full time at a bank. She is a woman after God's own heart. Her oldest daughter is in my Girl Scout troop.

There have been so many times I've been discouraged in my role as their leader. It involves SO MANY hours of training. Which means babysitting costs, gas costs, time away from family & sometimes hubs taking time off of work.

I get very little thank you's or support from my moms. Except Joan. She is quick to say "thanks". She's quick to call when an email for help goes out. She understands that I can't do everything myself & doesn't "punish" me for that.

Because she works, she can't volunteer for everything. But does when she can (or sends hubs). They both have been a blessing to me this year. I'm grateful to have them in my life.

40 Day Fast

This is my day to participate in something called The 40 Day Fast (no I'm not fasting for 40 days!) There is a widget on the side bar that you can click for more information or to read the other bloggers' posts. This is an effort to bring attention to organizations that are feeding hungry people all over the world. Check out my teammate Randel's post.

I asked to write about Feed the Children. Check out their humble beginnings, and how you can help in all sorts of ways...big or small. They are committed to feeding families... and not just with food.

I have to admit that I've been feeling the need to fast for about a month now. The idea has presented itself several times while I've ignored it. Even when the 40 Day Fast sign up came out; I found myself signing up, but kept thinking "What am I doing?"

GET THIS: Once I signed up, our church did a sermon on fasting...No coincidence there huh?

Our pastor talked about saying "no" to basic desires. Desires that can take our time, attention & money. Like food. Like tv. Like Twitter. =/ All of the things that bring attention to "me" and my "comfort" my "enjoyment". If I take the energy away from these things for a short time, if I remove those dependencies from my life short term...Whom would I become dependant on instead? To Whom would I direct all that energy? Time? Money?

One of our pastors posted this quote out of Muhammed Yunus' book Banker to the Poor. It took my breath away.

"There are many ways for people to die, but somehow dying of starvation is the most unacceptable of all. It happens in slow motion. Second by second, the distance between life and death becomes smaller and smaller, until the two are in such close proximity that one can hardly tell the difference. Like sleep, death by starvation happens so quickly, so inexorably, one does not even sense it happening. And all for lack of a handful of rice at each meal. In this world of plenty, a tiny baby, who does not yet understand the mystery of the world, is allowed to cry and cry and finally fall asleep without the milk she needs to survive. The next day she may not have the strength to continue living."

I know some of you may already be involved financially with an organization. But let me say that sometimes giving time is just as valuable. Find out if you have a FTC distribution center near you. I go a few times a year and along w/ dozens (sometimes hundreds) of others...we pack MASSIVE amounts of boxes. We touch each item before it goes into the box. Some pray as they do it. Prayers of hope, that those who receive it will feel the love of Christ. Yes, the love of Christ sometimes comes in the form of beans, rice & toothpaste!

I have also distributed those boxes to families in inner city Chicago. Imagine pulling up to the projects in Chicago with truckloads full of food & personal care items for folks that are in some serious need. One little girl, about 3, was alone for the day. Her parents were at work and had left her to fend for herself. She spent the day with me. ME! She helped me hand out boxes to her peers. What an amazing gift for me, for her & for those people. I have prayed numerous times that she remembers that day years from now. That SHE was the face of Christ for her community.

Watch this video of our church members gathering in December (it was 4° that day) to deliver packed boxes to folks in our area from Feed The Children. After packing the boxes, then packing the trucks, we got to hand deliver the items to the actual families. IT. WAS. AMAZING. Praying with people. Helping people. Smiles. Love.


During this fast, my family is taking the money we save on food and giving it to Feed the Children. It's probably around $10. That will feed 1 child FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH.

We are the hands & feet of Jesus. Let's put on some boots & gloves and fight dirty. Are you in? If so, aren't you excited about what that sort of life will look like?

I don't know about you, but a lot of times I feel hungry. Hungry for just the right thing, to hit just the right spot. What if that included an increased diet of the Bible and some Living Water? I know it's a lot to chew on (ok, I'll stop now).

New Vacation Clothes

UPDATE: I've had so many requests for the pattern. Silly me, I forgot to link it. Here it is ladies. Can't wait to see what you all find!

We've had a vacation planned since last August. And through extraordinary circumstances, we're still able to go even through our financial stress.

The girls started asking last week if they were getting new vacation clothes. Sometimes I'll get them a new swimsuit, shorts or dress. I decided to try & see what I could get for $20, which was how much fun money I had to live off of for the month. We went to Goodwill for 1/2 off day, but nothing tickled their fancy. I remembered a pattern I saw once where you used a men's shirt to make a little girls' dress.

We headed to the men's section & found 6 shirts (2 each) and bought them all for $15.

I've gotten pictures of 5 of them. The baby wouldn't hold still for the 6th. Check 'em out.


This Hula one was the hardest. The yoke in the back was round instead of straight. I did a lot of piecing, but it turned out adorable. It was a men's XL.

This orange one was a men's L. So cute. And it's super soft.


Kenady is so tired of being a model. She probably had 4 fittings for the straps. Sorry kiddo.

Cyra about screamed when she saw this flaming shirt. We call it "Little House meets Nascar".

This one was a women's XL and had long sleeves. I ran out of elastic, but as you can see, I'm using the sleeves as knickers.

My hubby was proud of me for taking the time to give them something new and teach them how to reinvent something. I just do it to see that look on their face & to hear "Mom, is my dress clean yet? I want to wear it AGAIN today."