Everything I'd Like to Be
A journal of my life as a mother, teacher, wife, cook, housemaker and christian.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Goals
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Baby Levi is coming in 8 weeks or less.
The last post was about Charlie the dog. (He even looked a little like Charlie from All Dogs Go To Heaven.) Wow, was that one night with Charlie an interesting one. Sadly, I quickly decided that I was not ready for the responsibility of training an out of control puppy. Just like any puppy would (I think) he chewed holes in two different pairs of my pants, while I was wearing them. He also devoured half a kitchen rug. We have safety gates to our kitchen, so the kitchen was basically his cage during his short stay. I am so happy that he did not chew on kitchen cabinets or something a little harder to replace. A few weeks later we found out that I was pregnant with baby Levi. Maybe the Lord knew that we should wait on the dog adventure until I have more energy and time for basically, what seems to me like having another child.
When thinking about family dogs that I loved I realized that all were over the age of four or more when we got them. My favorite, an old English Sheep dog was actually an old man dog. Prince was his name and he would sleep on the floor beside my bed. I tried placing him on my bed to sleep with me, but he probably needed more leg room. In high school my mother remarried my stepfather Donald Steensma. Prince was truly Don’s dog, but we all loved him and considered him our own.
Now, instead of a new dog, we are going to be the proud parents of three boys. Levi Jacob Perry is due on June 30th, 2011. Each family member is excited and is showing it in his or her own way.
Calvin, my first born, continues his quest for the perfect baby name. His first love was Jack-Jack, which I considered in the form of Levi Jack. If Daddy would have liked it then this could have been the new name. Daily he comes up with a new creation. A few minutes ago he said, “Do you want to name our baby Levi Edward?” I said, “I will think about it.” One day he looked at my belly and with his hand on me he started saying, “Levi, is this your foot or your knee?” I need to remember some of the other cute conversations he is already having with Levi.
Elliot informs us that he has a baby in his tummy too. He also likes to kiss my belly and say “I love you baby Levi.” I asked Elliot where baby Levi was one day and he lifted my shirt and tried looking through my belly button, saying, “in here.” We have a few books that Elliot really likes and I suggest for explaining the baby in mommy’s tummy idea to children. Hello Baby is Elliot’s very favorite and Before You Were Born is also a good one. Thanks to Grandma Steensma, we own both of them.
Dave and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our sweet little babe. We want to know who he looks like and what his temperament will be. Of course, it is easier to see these characteristics a few months or more after the birth. It is fun to wonder what color of eyes and hair he will be given.
Since we are having a third boy I really do not need to buy much. I did treat myself and bought an upholstered, reclining, glider chair and a maternity/nursing pillow off of craigslist. The Theraline pillow is amazing and helping me sleep so much better. I hope it will be just as helpful with nursing. The kids also love my pillow and use it kind of like a beanbag chair to comfortably read books. The new chair is already my favorite in the house. It is so cozy, even to touch, since the fabric is a velvet type.
I made a list of things I want done before Levi comes. The best thing about a list is that I can choose to add and delete new “to do” items anytime I want. I am a crazy list person and love a list for everything, which is part of my OCD personality. I feel so “in control” of my life when I have a list. I do admit that the Lord has worked on me and has more work to do, since I have a hard time giving up “the control” to Him. Almost everything on my list is practical, but some things require a small amount of creativity. For example I want to get our photo albums caught up…very practical. I also want to make curtain hold backs for our master bedroom bay window, practical but I will need some creativity for this task. I bought the orange swirly fabric and ribbon and I do not own a sewing machine, so I am not sure how it will turn out. I know that sewing “by hand” can be very time consuming, but I also find it relaxing.
I wish that I could find more time for writing on my blog, I really enjoy it, even though I am not much of a writer. I usually end up feeling guilty for it, like I am ignoring my children, and I probably am, but I am always drawn back.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Growing up I had three dogs, two of which we had for 6 years or more. Daisy was a my first experience with a dog. She was a Spaniel mix. I loved her very much and I was only 6 or 7 when she passed away. My next dog was Puppy and was a Pekingese. We had him for a very short time and I never had a good bond with this dog. It was this experince that made me realize that I am not a small dog kind of person. My mother remarried when I was a freshman in highschool and into my life came Prince, a sweet and loving Old English Sheep Dog. Prince, by far was my favorite dog, even though he was actually my stepfather's pet. At first I might have been more excited about getting a new dog than my mom remarrying. Don, my stepfather was a sweet man, I was just more interested in animals. I gave Prince many baths. He would not step in and out of the bathtub, so I remember lifting this horse of a dog in and out of dirty dog water many times. He often slept at the foot of my bed. Prince knew when to be calm, but also loved playing fetch in our backyard...a perfect dog.
In the next few hours we will decide between Charile and Benjamin, since both dogs are on hold until 6 p.m. tonight. Both seem like they will be medium sized adult dogs, but Charlie does seem bigger. Charlie seemed calmer, but also more nervous. Benjamin interacted more with Calvin and Elliot and was happy to have attention from anyone, even our kids. After Elliot wakes up from his nap the kids and I are going to visit Charlie again to see if we can get him to open up a little more. I hope to bring him outside and see him play and loosen up a bit.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Why do I always feel overwhelmed?
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sick Day
We have left over rolls of brown paper used for keeping the floors clean when our house was remodeled. The left over paper comes in handy for large pieces of drawing paper, wrapping paper and other craft projects. One day we traced Calvin's body and he drew in some of the detail, but I ended up getting more into than him. I am always trying to get Calvin into art and drawing, but really what he likes best are activities that involve moving. (Although, when it comes to a good book he becomes very focused and into the story.) Today we took a five foot piece of paper and placed it on the ground in the back yard. Calvin, Elliot and I all had a good time lying in the grass and drawing on our giant piece of paper. I ended up drawing a tree in our backyard, Calvin asked me to draw a rocket and Elliot got his daily fiber from the crayon wrappers and a little crayon wax to help it go down smoothly.
For the first time in months both of my children were napping at the same time. Calvin does not take naps anymore. (He sleeps in until 9 or 10 am fairly frequently though.) I chose to fix some fabric picture boards that I had made previously and wanted to make some changes to give them a more clean look. It was fun to start and complete a project without any interuptions. Yippy, I just love it when that happens.
Another recent fun project I did was make Calvin a super hero mask. It was quick and easy, but still, I had so much fun doing it. Now Calvin has a mask to wear along with whatever becomes his cape. He recently watched The Incredibles and is now very into super heroes.
Later I will post pictures of the fabric picture boards I made and of the "SUPER CALVIN" mask.