Jackson is 6 Months Old!

I know I'm totally neglecting 'Burgher Tots. My attention is split in a hundred different ways right now and seriously, every single time I sit down to blog something, I get called away from it mid-sentence.

I'm doing our fourth-born an injustice though, because I haven't been logging his accomplishments.

Jackson turned 6 months old on the 19th and within a couple days he learned to roll from his back to his belly and became mobile. He's not actually crawling, but using a series of army crawl scooches and rolls, he has figured out how to go from one side of the living room to the other.

He has also started babbling the consonant sounds. Roger wins again... Jackson's first consonant babble was Da-Da. All the kids said dada first.

He is the most sweet, most laid back, happiest baby I have ever encountered. I'm not just saying thing because he's MY baby, either. Everyone who meets him says the same thing. He is just SO sweet. Truly a joy.

Happy 6 Months, Jackson. We love you!

Jackson's baptism

Just popping in

I'm just popping in to say I haven't forgotten you.

I've opened Blogger to write here at least a dozen times and every single time I've been called away because someone needed something.

I'll be back, promise. There is just SO much to do right now.

Jackson Vandervort

Announcing the birth of our fourth child!

Jackson Vandervort

5:01pm, October 19, 2012

7 lbs 13 oz, 19.75in

Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension

I suppose it's about time for me to update on how the Next Vandervort (Sixth Vandervort? Number Four?) is gestating. For the most part, he's getting along well in there. On the other hand, my general "life status" is busy, stressed, etc., which is making my blood pressure high at times.

It's not always high, but high at the doctor's office twice in a row means I've suddenly gone from a normal fourth pregnancy to a "higher risk" fourth pregnancy. Not so high risk that my regular doctor has referred me to the perinatologists at Magee, but higher risk than normal = more doctor's appointments, more tests, more everything ... except rest.

So right now I'm seeing my doctor twice a week and at those appointments I have to have a Non-Stress Test.  I also had to do a 24-hour urine catch test and have a whole bunch of blood work, an ultrasound to check on baby growth... And I have to take my blood pressure at home multiple times a day.

Everything is fine. No test so far has had any elevated level of concern at all. All my blood pressure readings at home are totally normal. It's only high in the doctor's office, yet, I am still signed up for all of the "extras." So they want me to chill out, but they've added all kinds of extras to my days. Coordinating care for Aaron & Lauren during all of this, plus making sure I'm done so I can get Ian off the bus... taking blood pressures... It's a lot to keep up with on top of all the other things I do. Of course I will do it and I will try to stay positive about it. It could be so much worse. We're very blessed and I know that. It doesn't make it easier, though.

I'm SO tired.

Oh, and I gave up coffee/caffeine. So there's that, too.

I'm currently holding steady at 6 pounds of total weight gain, measuring right on schedule, baby is head down & in the 65th percentile for growth.

Ian's first day: Part 2.

Perhaps I shouldn't write the summary of part 2 tonight because I'm pretty sure just writing it down is going to send me into another fit of tears.

Ian didn't have a very good day according to his report when he got home. However, he got a smiley face from the teacher on his daily report (as opposed to the indifferent face or the sad face) so I don't really know what to think. All I know for sure is that Ian was smiling when he got off the bus, but cried on the way home from the bus stop. I'm pretty sure most of his disappointment with day had to do with the unfamiliar and later on, being tired. And I'm praying he has a better day tomorrow. You should pray too.

I feel so bad for him. I wish I could have been there to help him through the frustrating parts. To reassure him that it wouldn't always be hard like that. I know I can't keep him from feeling bad forever, but that doesn't make a "bad" first day any easier to take. I know he probably won't remember this day when he's 30. (I don't remember my first day of Kindergarten, do you? I only remember my shiny new red back pack that was my very own...not a hand me down.) But I don't ever want him to be sad or frustrated or scared.

Onward to better days, Lord willing. Hopefully a good night's sleep puts a whole new spin on things in the morning.

Ian's First Day... Part 1

We had pumpkin pie and bacon for breakfast. We packed his lunch and snack and made sure he had all the things he was supposed to have. We drove up the hill together as a family and saw him off on the bus...and we'll see him again later when we go get him off the bus.

We miss him.

Kindergarten.

For months, I've been trying to wrap my brain around Ian going to kindergarten this year. How can he possibly be big enough? He's still little.

Tomorrow morning we'll take him to the bus stop and wave goodbye for the very first time. And my heart is breaking.

As I was reading to and rocking Lauren tonight, I realized I was sitting in the same exact chair where I rocked my very first baby for the very first time. My baby who is heading off into the big world tomorrow.

He's excited. He doesn't seem nervous at all. And maybe that makes me even more sad? I like having all my chicks in the nest. I might complain about it sometimes and I might pull my hair out while being driven to the brink of insanity by them, but they're my chicks and I like them here with me.

I don't want to send Ian off to spend the better part of his waking hours with someone else. I don't want someone else teaching him, watching his little hands create.

I'm really, really going to miss him.

I think you don't ever fully understand until the moment you're packing that very first lunch, locating and labeling all the supplies, helping him pick out what shirt he wants to wear. It's the first day of the rest of his life... his life where he's apart from me. And it's sad for me. And I'll probably cry most of the night. Hopefully I'll wake up tomorrow with a brave face and at least wait until the bus pulls away to sob into Roger's chest. How can we be here already? The night before Kindergarten.

31 Weeks

To view the full album, click HERE.

My Thoughts on Cooking "Fresh"

With the explosion of blogs written by home-cooks (vs. professional cooks) and Pinterest, I have been tempted and lured by freeze-ahead meals and meal planning. Here's why I don't do many freeze-ahead and extremely pre-planned meals:

1. I prefer "fresh" meals. I prefer the taste and the variety of meals that are prepared from never-frozen, available-right-now ingredients. I prefer the ingredients I use to be as minimally processed and have as few additives/preservatives as possible. I prefer local ingredients. A lot of the recipes I've seen for freeze-ahead and pre-planned meals include highly processed ingredients. I don't like that.

2. I find that having a pantry with staples (pastas, rices, canned tomato sauce, whole grain flours, etc.) and a freezer full of real meat* that I buy in bulk when it's on sale is as much "pre-planning" I need. And it's way more versatile.

3. On any given day I may have a lot or maybe just a little time to prepare dinner. On any give day I may be in the mood for a certain dinner. Why lock myself into a prepared schedule of dinners with little wiggle room because my grocery list that week didn't buy the ingredients I needed for a certain recipe? I do like the idea (and we did it for awhile, probably should start doing it again) where I might plan 7 meals for each week, but not dictate specifically which day each meal will be prepared until the day I make it. That's fine. That amount of variety works for me. I'm too laid-back to be held to a rigid calendar of food preparation.

4. I keep a few frozen casseroles on hand in case of emergency/desperation. That's all I need as far as completely and entirely prepared meals.

5. I like cooking. I would miss it if I prepared every single meal in the crock pot or in bulk ahead of time. Cooking is a stress reliever for me and I don't want a reason to stop spending those minutes each day doing it. A from-fresh-ingredients, home-cooked meal doesn't have to take hours. In fact, some of our most favorite dinners take less than 30 minutes. Even the busiest of people can do something like that.

6. I enjoy crock pot meals and when I was working full time I used my crock pot a lot. Well, a lot more than I do now, but even then, I prepped the crock pot in the morning before I left for work (yes, at 6:00am, while Roger was still snoozing away). I guess I'm just not a freeze-ahead girl. I certainly see why some would choose to be freeze-ahead-ers, but it's just not for me. Since I've been asked so much recently about the topic I decided I'd just put this out there.

*Real meat. Perhaps deserves a blog post of its own. Roger and I over the course of the last year or so have really decided it's worth it to buy local, free from saline solution, free from antibiotics, free from additives of any kind, never-frozen meat as much as possible. It tastes better. It feels better to know that we're eating better. It's a bit of a financial sacrifice, but to us, it's worth it.

Don't even get me started on the state of the food system in America. It's bananas. Highly processed, genetically modified bananas.

The Blessings of Being a Stay at Home Mom

I read this post the other day and my reaction wasn't positive. I get what the author was saying, but in my opinion, there isn't really anything to feel guilty about. Of course I've felt the same way she does on certain points, but instead of letting myself feel guilty, I choose to count myself blessed beyond what words can convey. So I offer to you this:



The Blessings of Being a Stay at Home Mother
I feel blessed for being able to sit here and write.
I feel blessed when I texted my husband that my babies rolled over for the first time.
I feel blessed as I feel the sunshine boldly on my face while my children ride their bikes in circles around me.
I feel blessed for being able to paint pictures and play soccer with my children.
I feel blessed when I will watch my son's Kindergarten concert--sitting alone.
I feel blessed while I sip my morning coffee and check my emails.
I feel blessed while I go shopping and spend money that I did not earn.
I feel blessed for wasting my college education.
I feel blessed that I get to stay home while many other mother's have to go to work.
I feel blessed.
I feel blessed.
I feel blessed. 

The only other thing I have to say is that I don't feel guilty about spending the money that Roger earns because I feel that my contribution to our family right now is worth more than the money I might earn working outside the home. It does make me more conscious of how I spend money.
I'm not even sure why reading the "Guilty" post made me feel so passionately that I needed to write a response, but maybe the author will read it and realize that she shouldn't feel guilty about being a stay at home mom, she should feel blessed.