EKjourney Backup

This week has been such a great week! I am finally getting the chance to purge each room of the house! This is something that I have wanted to do since the summer but didn't really get the opportunity. Last month, the clutter really built up as I was not able to even keep up with the basics because I felt so sick with morning sickness. I am doing much better now - having nice chunks of time in the morning where I feel almost normal and I usually can function in the afternoons. By evening, I am nauseous but I am so thankful to have so much of the day where I am not lying on the couch! Anyway...I have been tackling one room at a time, going through every cupboard, every closet, every shelf and purging anything and everything that isn't being used with regularity. I have not been this ruthless since we have lived at this house (for 7 years now). It has been a little hard to get rid of some things that I have had for a long time, but we have limited space, our lifestyle has...

The most cluttered part of the kitchen! My beautiful Le Crueset collection. How I love these cooking pans. They are NOT cheap and I have been fortunate enough to get some from my Gram when she moved. Phil surprised me with the giant yellow casserole one year and the green baking dish this year. My parents got me the blue frying pan for Christmas. I use something from this cupboard daily! What I can do with a clean countertop!!! I can cook pancakes, get out the toppings, and line up everyone's plate. I LOVE this huge counterspace. When we remodeled the kitchen this space was where the refrigerator went and a pantry. There were only 3 small counter sections. The kitchen is one of my two most favorite rooms in the house. Yes, I did take a picture of the inside of my fridge! It was so shiny clean and organized, I couldn't resist!

Christmas was a bit unusual this year. Christmas Eve was canceled (see my last post). Christmas morning my parents came over for a quick breakfast. The evening of Christmas, we finally got together as an extended family for dinner and gift opening. Sawyer trying out his new plane. We have purchased several wooden toys from the Salem Art Faire by an artist named Jake. We decided last minute to change our gift idea for Sawyer and go with one of these neat toys. We searched for Jake's Toys online and arranged to meet him Friday (Christmas Eve day) but then had the fiasco with Evi's stitches. He packed up a number of toys, drove to the Silverton Hospital, waited in the waiting room, and gave our family several free items (probably totally close to 50 dollars)! He let us take a selection of toys to choose from and just said to bring them back and pay for what we like in January. What a blessing to our family! A new doll. I had a hard time finding a regular ol' doll. A...

Sunday: Brighton is really crabby and feverish after his nap...and so it begins... Monday: Sawyer is up most of the night with a fever. Tuesday: Phil spends the day in bed shivering and achy with Influenza. It is also Evi's birthday with a full house of guests. Wednesday: Evi comes down with the fever and aches. Thursday: We think everyone is on the mend! We spend the day in town Christmas shopping. Evi throws up. Friday: Sawyer comes down with the stomach flu and spends the day throwing up and miserable on the bathroom floor. Evi falls on the radiator and splits her eye brow resulting in an ER visit and 3 stitches. The stitches ordeal is way worse than the cut! She had to be held down and 6 numbing injections around the cut. Christmas Eve dinner plans are canceled and we eat leftovers. Saturday: The Kelly's tentatively wait for the next blow. Thankfully, no one is sick or injured Christmas Day! Sunday, Jubilee comes down with a cold. Monday, Brighton comes down ...

This is a bit of a before and after photo. Top are two little ones playing in the box of camping gear. Please excuse the mess in the background! The bottom picture is of a goose egg from a little boy tumbling out of a box of camping gear. Real Urban Farmers wear black socks and flip flops to dig out a foot of mucky poopy duck mud and replace it with pea gravel.

We celebrated Evi's 3rd birthday on Tuesday. Grandma Tracy came down from Washington. Auntie Tina, the cousins, Grammy, and Grampy all came for a birthday breakfast of waffles.

Wouldn't she make a wonderful Alice in Wonderland! Week 9! I don't feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel just yet but I have endured a good 3 1/2 weeks of morning sickness and I am getting some reprieve in the morning. I am not half way through but toward the end of the first trimester, I start gaining more more time in the morning where I feel better and eventually the evening sickness tapers off. By week 14-16, I am usually at the tail end of it. The first trimester is such a trial in so many ways. Relationships are affected. I am the mom that is tired, frequently resting on the couch during the day, and in bed early in the evenings. The children miss an interactive mom, one child in particular, and it grieves me. Phil takes over in the evenings managing the children and trying to keep up on the chores. It seems we hardly have any time together and I miss him. I have a hard time staying in the word and concentrating on my relationship with the Lord, w...

Auntie Tina hosted a cookie decorating party. Should it be legal to have curls like this?

Unfortunately, insomnia is a symptom that I often have in pregnancy. Generally, I am awake around midnight feeling really nauseous and then again at 3:00 for at least an hour. If I have to get up to use the bathroom or feed the baby, I can count on a good 2 hours of tossing and turning. Well, I skipped the 3:00 hour but finally decided to get up 5:00 when it became clear I wouldn't be falling back asleep. What does one do so early in the morning? Finally get around to taking pictures of the new little rex rabbit. Introducing Mr. Carrot. Someday, Mr. Carrot and his betrothed Wee Bonnie Lass (Bon Bon) may have a litter of kits. Mr. Carrot is a house rabbit for right now. Other things to do: Eat toast, drink orange juice, suck on peppermints Help a fussing 2 (almost 3) year old who thinks that "Brother is trying to get her" Rub a calf that is on the verge of a Charlie Horse Update the blog (of course) Send an email to a dear friend Listen to a waking baby cooing and......

Certain seasons in life are definitely all about survival!  Surviving morning sickness for me means:  lots of orange juice, peppermint candy, letting the house and laundry go, minimal homeschooling, relying on Phil to do things I normally take care of, resting..lots of resting, staying home, simple/quick/easy meals, dreaming and planning of gardening in the Spring!  I love my little urban farm and I am so looking forward to feeling good and working hard outside in the fresh air!

The Lord has truly blessed us mightily with four wonderful children and another on the way due at the end of July. I think what amazes me most is the Lord's plan for my life is truly in His hands. It is filled with His vision, His purpose. The more I trust Him, the more I let Him lead, the more I let go of my fleshly thoughts and desires and give my life to Him, the more amazing He becomes. With that being said, LOL, I am now in the most challenging part of child rearing...morning sickness. The end of pregnancy is quite uncomfortable. I have dealt with post partum issues, being overwhelmed and not feeling equiped, personal struggles with being "meek and quiet", but morning sickness takes the cake, every time! I have a really hard time not seeing past the misery of the current moment when I feel like throwing up continually and I have no energy to do the tasks that need to be done. I am so sick that my tolerance for noise and training patience takes a nose dive. My...