Georgia Bugs Me

Okay, it is not as if I am new to living on a farm; I grew up on one, for goodness sakes! But good grief, a farm in the plains of Colorado and a farm in humid Georgia are two different things. Want an example?

• The two mammoth spiders living in the mailbox (or I should say were living in the mailbox)...
• The "palmetto bug" (2 points for you if you know what a palmetto bug really is) running over the top of my foot while cooking dinner...
• The brown recluse spider taking a bath in the bathtub (now totally crushed and floating in the septic tank)...
• The wasps and hornet nests that are everywhere! The back porch, the picnic table in the back yard, etc. It is very entertaining watching my husband do the wasp-killing dance, complete with spray-can and fly-swatter...

...and that is just the start! But Jonathan picked up bug-killing-juice to exterminate the house and that has helped over the past couple of days. Hopefully the house will be mostly bug-free by the time Bella (Jonathan's mom) and Mama & Papa arrive later this weekend.

But in other news, I've lost three pounds! Yeah! I guess I'll keep up with Weight Watchers for awhile. :-) It may not seem like such a big deal, but I was encouraged.

I'm off to go wash the dishes before it's time for Emily's "second breakfast"; I think she's part hobbit - she eats all the time and she's short and stout! :-)

Home Sweet Home

Thought y'all might like an update! :-)

Our move to Georgia went well, though it's been raining cats and dogs since we left South Carolina. In some ways it was symbolic; it started pouring just as we were pulling out of Calvary - I guess we were being washed clean. :-D

Anyway, we are currently staying at Jonathan's grandparents farmhouse for the next few months as we get settled and our feet underneath us. Jonathan had his orientation at the school district, and he's also looking forward to starting the work around the farm, too (as soon as it dries out a little). I had so much fun setting up Emily's room; though we couldn't do too much (it is not our house), I have more freedom here than I did at Calvary and it feels more like home here than it ever did there. It's nice to run my own home again; it's been awhile. Mentally, it still feels like we're on vacation and that I'll be going home to my eight kiddos again soon, so I guess it will take awhile to adjust. I've heard things are a little chaotic there, which grieves our hearts for the kids, but we are going through the process of emotionally seperating ourselves. It's hard when we are still getting e-mails from teachers and what not, but that shouldn't happen much more as we pass them on to the director at Calvary. It's an adjustment for us.

That's the main update right now - not too much going on except for unpacking! The kiddies love being farm cats and Carolina wishes she could roam free, too. Jonathan's mom and grandparents will be here for Labor Day and it will be nice to see the family again.

That's all for now!

--Debbie

New Things Are Coming!

We are on the homestretch now - Moving Day is four days away. Thankfully, we don't have too much stuff, as we live in a furnished house and are moving into the furnished farmhouse; our only furniture right now is Emily's crib and changing table. But I guess this means I'm going to have to change the name of my blog; I'm not going to be a professional mommy in the truest sense of the word here very soon. I'm open for name suggestions! :-)

But in the spirit of change, I decided or desperately-needed-since-I-hadn't-had-a-trim-since-April to get a haircut. Here is what I had:



Here's what I have now:


I like it; Jonathan isn't crazy about it (mostly the bangs - he's never seen me in bangs before). I just wanted something new and different, and something that flattered me more as I'm still carrying half of the baby weight and it shows in my face. And it was just getting flat out too long. I still want to get blond highlights in it, but that is going to be saved for my reward for reaching my future goal weight.

I've also just started Weight Watchers, now that I've been cleared by my OB to start gradual weight-loss and more vigorous exercise, and so far, I'm enjoying it. I like that it isn't restrictive on the types of food you eat (though obviously, the healthier you eat, the more you can eat), and it's one of the few programs I can do while still nursing. I do much better on a "program", saying that I'm going to eat less sugar or what not never lasts for too long. For instance, I do great on low-carb, and it's been very effective in the past, but I can't do a weight-loss phase of low-carb while I'm still feeding Emily. So I'm at least going to try it for awhile; Jonathan has done WW and really does like it. Going to the gym again has been great, too; I'd missed it the past few months. I can't wait to start playing tennis with Jonathan again. In fact, Waynesboro just finished building a new tennis complex at their city courts, and we are itching to get down there and try it. Now we just need to buy this:

Or something similar to that for little Miss Emily so she can go bike riding with us. So yep, my weight-loss journey is on! I kind of wish I'd had a few more months to lose weight before I'd gotten pregnant with her. I'd lost 35 pounds before I'd got pregnant with her (and with 40 more to go); now after having her, I have sixty to go to reach my goal weight. It'll probably take a year or so, but that's ok. It didn't come on overnight and won't just fall off overnight either!

Well, that's about it today - time to make snacks for the kiddos! :-)

--Debbie

Emily is 2 months old!

Favorite Picture of the Week

No caption needed.

:-)

A New (Sick) Day

I hate to wake up on Saturday mornings to sick kids. Even worse is waking up with a sick husband. But put them together and it is yucky!!


Yep, Emily had her first sick visit to the doctor this morning (I am truly thankful that our pediatrician is open on Saturday mornings); nothing major, but with six other kids in the house, I was not going to let a yucky, matty eye go without some attention. She technically has a blocked tear-duct, but since her eye is already filling with green goo, she has an eye ointment to prevent pinkeye.



But it was nice to have a weight-check - she is exactly 11 1/2 pounds. Not that I needed a weight check; she has her two-month check-up on Monday. At least she's gaining good! But Jonathan is sick in bed with stomach issues, so I'll try to keep the house quiet this morning. I've got to run to Walmart anyway, and I'll take the kiddos with me there, and maybe to the library. I might even take them to the YMCA; it is cooler today, and Emily won't boil in the heat.

However, I was not thrilled to see the following this week, even though it is cute:






I shouldn't be surprised - I sucked my finger for years...



In totally other news, in case you didn't know, Jonathan and I are leaving Calvary Home. He is going to be working for the school district in Burke County, Georgia, and helping with his grandparent's farm. This is where the majority of our family lives, and we'd eventually like to build on the land Jonathan will receive from his grandparents. We've wanted to be down there eventually; this is a little sooner than we had planned! However, we feel that we've come full cycle with our kiddos at Calvary and that God is leading us in a new direction.



That's about it for now - I need to get feed Emily. Oh, and she kicked me off her blog and did a post of her own this morning. ;-) You can view it at:


http://pictures-of-emily.blogspot.com/


I'll try to post more later!