Watercolor Hundred Chart

Today during school, we combined math and art and created beautiful watercolor hundred charts! When I saw this idea at nurturestore.co.uk I knew we had to make one for ourselves! I found a set of 36 watercolors on Amazon for about $8 (affiliated link below).  As soon as those came in, we got right to work.  This project took about one hour to complete.

The concept of this project is to fill each square (or in our case, rectangle) with a different color!  This was quite the challenge and we ended up with several different grays since the boys wanted to mix so many colors at once!  I let the boys lead the color mixing and we each painted our own chart.  These were so fun to make and I love how they turned out!

                                                          

 

Introducing Eleonorah Sparrow Corbitt

She's here! She was born at 3:02pm September 3rd, 2016 via VBAC! She was 9lbs 1oz and 21 1/4 inches long.

Both her and I are doing well! She's nursing like a champ and her brothers are in LOVE with her. When they came to visit her, Boaz and Emory took turns holding her and reciting what they know of the Ten Commandments.  It was absolutely precious! 

Ok, here is my birth story: 

I started having prodromal labor contractions around 38weeks.  These progressed me to 4cm but never got longer/stronger/closer.  Friday night, I went in to L&D because I thought I might be leaking amniotic fluid.  I was not and contractions were still only 8 minutes apart so they sent me home. Around 2am I could not sleep in between the contractions any longer but they were still 8 minutes apart at best. One of my amazing online friends is a doula and she texted me to ask how I was doing as she knew I had been having prodromal contractions. I confirmed that I was up and contracting and she helped me get labor going. Contractions were getting more intense at this point and with her coaching we got them to be consistently 3 minutes apart.  Around 5am we called Josh's mom to come watch the boys and we headed off to the hospital. Once there I was 5-6cm so they admitted me right away. I was in a lot of pain at this point and exhausted from the week and a half of prodromal labor. I got an epidural and was able to relax. After a nap, I started to notice that I was having a lot of pain in my hip with contractions.  The nurses determined that Norah seemed to be occiput posterior meaning she was head down but facing my abdomen instead of my back just like Emory was. They moved me into a couple different positions to try and spin her but she's stubborn and would not move. My body stopped progressing at 9cm (again just like Emory) so we started pushing to try and spin her on the way out. I was determined to have another VBAC and NOT a c-section.  I pushed for an hour and a half and right as the doctors were ready to do a c-section I pushed her out! She came out laying on her side because she decided to partially spin last minute. Pushing an OP baby out is hard work and I could have never done it without my amazing doctor, nurses, husband, and the support crew that surrounded me in person and online. 

DKA and Pneumonia

Boaz has been sick the last couple of days with what we thought was a cold.  His blood sugar has been all over the place as is common with an illness and he has had some ketones though we have been able to get them down at home.  This afternoon he had a slight fever, his blood sugar was in normal range, he had large ketones, was lethargic and nauseous.  All of these (except the fever) is consistent with symptoms of DKA. Knowing this we decided to head to the ER.  Once there they ran some bloodwork, started fluids, and took a chest X-ray.  The X-ray showed some slight pneumonia and the bloodwork confirmed that he was borderline DKA. He gets pretty irrational when he is in DKA and it is difficult to do the tests and such that is needed.  Please pray for peace for him, that he will understand that everyone is trying to help him feel and get better. 

Bird Seed Feeders

These bird feeders are inspired by this post over at Pink Pistachio.

When I saw the post over at Pink Pistachio I knew the time had come for us to make some bird feeders. The boys had picked up some pine cones at Grandma and Grandpa's and I had promised them we would make some bird feeders, but of course they were still sitting in a box. 

I realized this simple recipe might just be perfect for the pine cones.  I gathered everything up and got to work. 

I made the gelatin and mixed in the bird seed. 

After letting it cool for several minutes, I called the boys to come help me.  

First, we scooped the bird seed with spoons into the cookie cutters and put a straw in at the top to create a hole.  

After we had scooped all we could do, we started rolling the pine cones in the seed/ gelatin mixture.  This worked better than I thought it would! 

We shoved all of this stuff into the fridge to set and waited. When it had set, I took it out and attempted to string them.   Several of the cookie cutter ones broke at the hole but the pine cones held up well!   We did hang one cookie cutter one on the fence but the weight of itself eventually brought it down. 

The pine cones have held up well and we've even seen several birds enjoying their treats!  The boys love to see the birds and had a blast making the feeders!   Head over to Pink Pistachio for the full instructions and let me know how they turn out! 

Greyson's New Trick

This evening after an exciting day of worship and afternoon birthday parties, Greyson decided to show off a new trick.

He pulled up!   Over the last couple of weeks he has been pulling to his knees and I have started to see signs of him wanting on his feet but he just couldn't figure it out.  But tonight he figured it out all on his own! 

Now, about those birthday parties I mentioned earlier. Grey turns TWO on Wednesday.  Can you believe that?!   Also, Josh's birthday was yesterday so this afternoon we celebrated their birthdays together.  It was a lot of fun! 

Here are a few pics from the day: 

Thanks for celebrating Greyson's new milestone with us! 

Inclusion in the Church

As I was studying for an upcoming blog post I stumbled across this verse and it hit me. Hard.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  

Romans 15:5-7 (ESV)

This hit me because this is true inclusion. We (special needs parents) spend so much time and energy trying to help our kids be included, and that is necessary, but this, this is true inclusion. Inclusion because, despite all the differences disability brings out and causes, we always have Christ in common. I challenge you to read this verse, memorize it, lock it in your head and your heart and make an effort to welcome and include one another as Christ has welcomed you.

To the families at IPC: thank you.  Thank you for including and accepting my family. Thank you for never thinking twice about my children's disabilities. Thank you for modeling all of this to your children so that my children have found true friends.  Thank you with the utmost sincerity. Thank you. 

In Case You Haven't Heard...

Yep!  You read that right, baby number 4 is on its way! Baby is due September 6, 2016. We had an ultrasound and got to see our little baby.  I am so in love with this beautiful ultrasound pic! Also, just one baby (there was some speculation of multiples from several people!)! We are overjoyed!