The Cottage on the Hill

I've met two other women online who are due this summer just like me! Babies!! I'm so glad my online gals are excited for me. It's rather sad that those around me here aren't. It's not that they're not happy. Rather than the cheers and hugs I received after announcing my pregnancy with Baby Girl, I get, "Oh." Just a simple, "Oh." It's gotten so bad that I don't even want to tell anyone else I'm pregnant, especially a certain person who only days before I found out I am pregnant told me she hoped God would hold off pregnancy for me. I guess I just don't understand, especially in the Christian community, the neutral to negative attitudes towards pregnancy and babies. I'll admit, I wasn't aiming for pregnancy this early after giving birth, but every since we started "breeding re-enactors" hubby and I knew we'd take what we were given, when we were given them with such joy and thanksgiving. I received...

Hubby and I are so relieved! I have nausea! Things are looking up for this pregnancy! I'm also convinced that I'm having a boy. All signs point that way. As I go through my first trimester, I'll let you know how I feel because I'm fairly convinced that taking dietary measures are helping me feel better. I cut way back on refined sugars and white flour. I've cut back on carbs and eat loads of proteins (eggs, cheese, nuts, etc). I'm eating more veggies. I'm drinking kombucha, raw milk, and Bulk Herb Store's Pregnancy Tea. I'm taking a multi-vitamin, B6, Cod Liver Oil, and Folic Acid. My typical breakfast is two eggs, fruit and nuts. Lunch is usually a salad topped with feta cheese and cashews. Dinner is balanced. There are many benefits to Bulk Herb Store's Pregnancy Tea, but one unexpected benefit for me is that it quenches my unquenchable pregnancy thirst. I drink plenty of water when I'm pregnant, but I always have an unquenchable ...

I'm not one to leave Christmas decorations up past the New Year. When Christmas is over, it's over. So, down came the decorations and out went the tree in record time. I got everything neatly packed away, taped up and labeled just in case we move. If we don't, at least I'm all the more organized for next year. I did lots of cleaning and organizing today. I had to be creative with my exercise program, so I put in the new Sugarland cd and danced with the kiddos for 1/2 an hour. It feels good to see the house so "open" again. While I enjoyed the coziness of the garlands and the tree and all the little twinkly lights, it's always nice to take everything down. It makes the house look lighter and brighter. In preggy news, I'm still not sick nor am I feeling pregnant in any way. That's not good news. I'm not going to the doctor because they can't do anything anyway. In my second miscarriage, at 8 weeks an ultrasound showed the baby's...

Hubby and I agree that if he does secure a job southwards and we secure a house, then we're going to ask my little brother if he would like to come live with us and search for a better job for himself. *note to my sister---don't say anything yet to him!* Even though we're still in limbo and nothing is definate, I've started a box of stuff that'll go towards our moving sale. If everything falls through, at least I'll have a really great garage sale in 2009! I'm 6 weeks preggers and still no sign of morning sickness. While that's not completely alarming, the fact that I really don't feel pregnant is. I know it is early, but with my viable pregnancies, I was already feeling pregnant and sick by now. With my pregnancies that ended in miscarriage, I didn't feel pregnant and, in fact, felt great! I feel great, which isn't good. I've been through 2 miscarriages before. While they sadden me, I am comforted by the Lord and in knowing that m...

I had made so many plans and had so many dreams for 2009 and the coming years. They've all changed. I'm not upset. I'm just taken aback. Everything I scratched down in notebooks and in my mind needs to be tossed out and room made for even bigger plans. Right now, we're in limbo. We have to wait until after the first of the year. Candy, I think it would be so cool to be neighbors with you! However, hubby doesn't have a job possibility in Oklahoma, though he does in North Carolina. We just have to see if the company will hire him. The foreman wants hubby to work for him, but it's up the company. The company is a union company. Even though hubby is already in the same union, sometimes they have ridiculous and impossible hoops to jump through. One thing I am looking forward to if we do move is the massive cleaning and decluttering that'll go on while packing. Oh, and I have chosen a house already and we hope it's still on the market if hubby does g...

Hubby and I are seriously looking into moving out of the state we live in. In fact, many middle class, average American taxpayers are leaving this state. We're heavily taxed. Jobs aren't that great. The schools are horrible. Our politicians are massively corrupt and are planning on adding more taxes, fees, restrictions, regulations, etc. They don't strip away our personal freedoms outright....they just tax, fee and regulate them so much, we can't afford them! Moving is going to break my mother's heart. It is going to break mine as well. I love where we live. I'm surrounded by family I can see at any given moment. I have love, support, help and prayers at a moment's notice from people I trust whole-heartedly. Yet, at the same time I'm excited at the prospect of moving. The state hubby might have a job offer in has a VERY affordable housing market. We can get a 3-4 bedroom farmhouse on 2-5 acres of land for LESS than what we paid for our tiny 2-bedroom cot...

Yep, only 6 months post-partum, and I'm preggers! Hubby and I are happy, of course. I'm saying it's a boy. The only problem is I'm having very few symptoms, which in the past meant miscarriages for me. So, it's a one-day-at-a-time deal. I'm also wondering if my vast reduction in carbs, particularly refined ones, and my consumption of Vitamin B6-rich raw milk and my daily glass of kombucha are warding off symptoms. Only time will tell. I was sicker with my daughter than with my son, so that's an indicator that I'm having a boy.

Yep, we're not just snowed in, we're iced in! Thankfully, our power didn't go out and I had a blast plowing the driveway with hubby's 4-wheeler! Everything is all crystal-sparkly! I'd take the kiddos for a walk in the woods, but it's too dangerous. While plowing, several branches fell. When they pop off the trees while covered in ice, it sounds like a gun-shot going off. I didn't flinch the first time because I thought it was a gun-shot. (You know you're a country-gal when gun-shots don't bother you!) I've had people come up to me and tell me they can't believe I do my errands with my two children in tow. I don't think much of it. They're hardly apart from me! When the pediatrician asked if my daughter has separation anxiety, I couldn't answer because we're not apart. (When we are apart, she's with someone she's very familiar with, like Grandma or Daddy.) I'm just used to it. Sometimes, it is difficult...

It looks like I'm going to be snowed in for a couple of days. Of course, I don't mind at all. I'm looking forward to it! We already have our Christmas decorations up....except for our tree. That'll go up Saturday! The house looks so comforting when all the indoor Christmas lights are on. We just got word that our town is looking to heavily restrict and regulate the use of outdoor wood boilers. We have one and under the proposed regulations, the town would have the power to make us turn it off and get rid of it, if they so choose. We're attending a public hearing on the issue soon. Not only is this giving the local government too much power, but their reasons behind it are totally ridiculous. They say the environmental impact of these boilers is too heavy. Since when is burning wood an environmental hazzard!! God regulated nature itself to burn wood! Man has been burning wood since Adam and Eve needed it after eviction from the garden. They say it's the...

Hubby and I are actually considering raising quail! I'm excited! I have such a vision for our little bit of earth and raising quail certainly fits into that scheme. From what I understand, quail can't survive winters here, but they're usually bought as chicks in the spring and butchered in time for the holidays. Hubby expressed a desire to be able to work at the farm next door in order to spend more time with his family. The very same desire has been weighing heavily on my heart and mind recently, even more so than usual. Right now we cannot afford it financially. It would take a miracle. I'm stepping out in faith this Christmas season concerning it. How can we put our heads together and make this work?! My mind is swimming and I honestly feel as if someone is deep within my chest screaming, "Cry out to God!" Oh, if only the farm could at least pay him $20.00 an hour. We've gone through some tough and stressful times recently. I am in awe of God...

My computer crashed, so I won't be blogging as often as before.

Thanks to Candy at www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com for awarding me a blog award! I'll have to post it on my blog later. I'm short of time this evening. As Bubby would say, "Mom got a prize!" (He may only be 2 1/2, but I'm very rarely "mommy." Instead, I'm "Mom." At least he doesn't call me "Kate" anymore! It was rather disconcerting and funny to hear him say, "Hey, Kate!" when he wanted me.) I'm making Baby Girl's Christmas stocking. I made it a bit big, but it's still cute. I dug through my fabric boxes and found some red wool and vintage black velvet. I made a ladybug stocking since that's one of her nicknames. At Walmart, I found ladybug buttons, so I'm going to sew them onto her stocking. Samplers used to adorn quiet corners of houses with comforting or convicting phrases or verses. Nowadays, we have paste-on words for our walls or painted-on verses or shabby-chic signage to hang a...

Hubby cleaned out his stuff from the closet in the nursery, so I moved Baby Girl's dresser into the closet. This left a space in the nursery for a the next baby's cradle. (No, that's not a hint. I'm not preggers...yet.) To fill that space, I took the next baby's little dresser and put a lamp I got for $1.00 at a garage sale earlier this year on it. Then, I took my lady's arm chair out of the living room where it somehow became a magazine rack and put it in the empty corner. Now, I have a cozy space in the nursery where I can read books to my babies. Bubby loves it and he's not one to sit still through a book! Out in the living room, I set up Baby Girl's pack-n-play so she has a safe place to wiggle and have tummy time without worrying about a 45 pound dog running her over or a big brother playing too roughly. (And mommy doesn't have to worry about any of big brother's toys finding their into her hands.) Bubby hated his pack-n-play, but B...

FINALLY!!! Ever since we moved into our little cottage on the hill, I've been fighting the battle against soap scum and whatever else coated our bathtub and shower walls. I tried so many things and nothing could get rid of that nasty build-up and back down to the original shower and tub surface. A suggestion from an online acquaintence and a coupon for Ajax did the trick. I bought one of those plastic, no-scratch scouring pads for dishes and no-scratch Ajax and put in some oomph of my own and it WORKED!! Ok, calling all homeschoolers out there. Do any of you have a DVD of algebra I could borrow (I'll pay shipping.) A CD-Rom won't work...computer's too slow and sick. A VHS won't work...I don't have a VHS player. If so, please e-mail me at scottlass at juno dot com.

My wonderful, fantastic, handy, handsome hubby put in heating in the basement. He also did some major cleaning. The basement is warm, dry, smells so much better and there's space!! It is slowly turning into a livable, usable space, which is important to us because our house is so small. I read a question on another website about what the Biblical basis is for going "green." I found this odd because do we really need a Biblical basis for every tiny little thing we do in our lives? Is there a Biblical basis for playing volleyball, going fishing for pleasure, watching a Jane Austen movie, or planting a flower garden? Of course, what we do as Christians should reflect our walk with Christ. But, is there a Biblical basis for going "green?" In a round-about way, perhaps there is. After all, God made us stewards of His creation. A steward takes good care of his charge. Taking care of the environment by living more "green" certainly is good stewardsh...

Emergency Preparations have been on my mind lately. They're a reoccuring thought when one lives in the great Northeast. Winters can be unforgiving at times. I would love love love to find a small cast iron wood cookstove. My father found one at a garage sale for $25.00, but he didn't buy it and he didn't tell me until a few days later. AUGH!! I'd have put it in my basement so we could have heat and be able to cook should the power go out. A great source for emergency preparedness supplies is Sportsmans Guide. You can get stuff like MREs, camping equipment, battery-less radios and flashlights, etc.

November hasn't meant an ease-up in our difficulties, but we're happily plugging away. I've been working out every day this week. It's already paid off. I can get my engagement ring back on! That's no small feat. I was 105 lbs when I got engaged. I was skinny ! Granted, I'm not 105 lbs now. Add about 30 lbs to that and you've got me. :) I also feel stronger and more flexible. I'm actually amazed at how strong I've gotten just in this past year and just in these past 2 months! Even hubby has squeezed my bicepts and said that I'm getting "ripped." Tee hee. It's all that baby lifting! It isn't uncommon for me to have an infant on one hip and a 2 year old on the other! Motherhood...my own personal gym. Anyhoo, I've been doing The Firm, Yoga and Pilates (I recommend Denise Austin as she doesn't get into the religious part of Yoga), and my own strength training. Some times I'll mix it up with step aerobics,...

Hold fast fellow Christians. It's going to be a bumpy ride!

Thanks to all of you who kept us in your prayers. Here's an update on how things are going. Hubby is doing fine. We still don't know if he actually has Lyme Disease, but he's on antibiotics anyway, though they'd make great diet pills. Hubby says they make everything he eats taste terrible! Thanks to a very generous blessing we received, we were able to make our mortgage payment without worry. We feel a bit more stable. To help make ends meet I'm hoping to sell off some of my tea cup collection. While I enjoy these pieces, they have outstayed their usage. I need the shelf they are on for other things now that Baby Girl sits at the table with us. I'm making room on my hutch for use as a buffet for when we take meals rather than spreading out the service dishes on the table. Our dining table is rather small. We STILL have snow on the ground! Hubby will be turning on the outdoor wood boiler by Sunday so I won't have to be careful with the oil heat un...

I'm in Ezekiel now as I read the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. This stood out to me this morning: Ezekiel 2:9, 10; 3:1-3 KJV And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therin; And he spread it before me, and it was written within and without; and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thous findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness. The scroll was full of "lamentations and mournings" and yet when he ate it, it was "as honey for sweetness." It struck me that no matter how unpleasant God's Truth may be at times, no matter how hard His admonitions, trials, and even His wrath, it is still swee...