our trip to south dakota: resting, recharging, and finding the lone coffee place in town.

I realize I've been all over the map lately, posting on random topics at random  times.  And I haven't forgotten to finish up telling you about our trip to South Dakota!  So today's erratic post is about our third day at Todd's parents' house a few weeks back.

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This day was basically spent at home, exploring and resting.  Todd went to get the kids up in the morning, and was greeted by this awesome sign, waiting for him at the top of the stairs:

Then Todd's mom made everyone breakfast.  I swear they get more excited about the food than any other part of our yearly trips out there.  "Grandma Jacqi lets us PICK what we get for breakfast!"

Once the kids had eaten breakfast, they headed outside to go exploring.  Todd's dad took three of the kids out on the ATV to wander the woods behind the house.  There's a fort, an old mine, and lots of wildlife back there, so there was no lack of stuff to see.

After a bit, Todd and Atticus decided to go try to find everyone, so they hiked back there as well.

At lunchtime, Papa and Grandma took over kid duties, and Todd and I headed to the local burger place.  THIS PLACE IS SO GOOD.  Worth the seventeen hour drive for its own sake.  My burger had bacon, cream cheese, and jalapeno jelly on it.  Don't you dare knock it until you try it.

Then Todd and I actually found a coffee place downtown that was open (there is a weirrrrrrd lack of coffee up in them thar hills).  I attempted a decaf Americano - with my fingers crossed, since coffee (even black, no-frills decaf) has been giving me the serious shakes and crashes during this pregnancy.  And everything went A-OK!  So I was doubly glad we found this place.

And after that, we headed back home to rest and just hang out.  I seriously love days like this - resting, recharging, eating cream cheese and jalapenos, and drinking good coffee.  Such a great day!

what does a sixth-time mom register for?

When I only had a couple kids, I assumed that moms of lots of kids have pretty much everything they need when a new baby arrives.  But now, each time we get ready to welcome a newborn, I'm weirdly surprised that we still need stuff - some items of which are a bit more obvious (like diapers) and some I just never would have expected.  Here are some of the things I'm wanting to stock up on this time around.

Diapers.

This one is kind of obvious.  We no longer use cloth diapers, so every time a new little one comes, we have to stock up on disposables again.  My favorite favorite favorite diapers for newbies are Pampers Swaddlers - they are so cottony soft and smell like baby powder, and they don't seem to leak as badly as Huggies.  After they outgrow the NB and size 1s in these, my favorite brand is actually the Aldi kind.  I have never had a kid have a leak or blowout in Aldi diapers.

Wipes.

Again, I like Pampers to start - they're sturdy, they smell good, and they don't come out of the stack in a huge strand, if that makes sense.  When you pull out a wipe, you get a wipe.  You don't get twenty-seven wipes in a huge long wipes-rope.  (Huggies and Walmart brand are both awful in this regard.)  Again, after Pampers, my next favorite is Aldi, though you do get some rope-age action going with those.


Sheets and blankets.

At a certain point, crib sheets have to be retired.  They get covered in nasty stains, or they get so worn out they rip in the center.  Another item that you can never have too many of are those muslin swaddling blankets.  Pretty much every large family mom I asked said they hope to get new muslin blankets each time.


Products.

Some gadgets or products have come on the market since I registered for all the 'must-haves' with Atticus.  Things like a Nose Frida, a Rock 'n Play, or one of those infinity-scarf-nursing-cover things are all newer items that look really helpful, and I'd love to try them out.


Replacement items.

Some stuff just gets worn the crap out.  Like our diaper changing pad, for instance.  This is what it looks like with the cover on.

I would like to take a moment to brag that I got this changing pad cover at a garage sale for 12 cents.

Normal, right?  But this is what it looks like with the cover removed.

The plastic is so brittle that it kind of pokes through the cover at this point, and it grosses me out to think that if it gets peed on, the pee will just soak right into that exposed foam.  Blech.  So I'm wanting a new one.

The bouncy seat we got with Atticus has been a lifesaver with all of our babies, but as it has been through five kids, and as it came to us through a friend who found it in a trash heap, I have no idea how many newborns it served in its past life.  It was totally worn out.  Just setting Rocco in it as a newborn made it sag so badly that his back laid flat against the floor.  (Part of that might've been because he weighed 9 lb 11 oz at birth).  We made it work with him, but we'll be getting a new one for Callista.

Other things that get worn out and used up are pacifiers and paci clips, as well as bottles.  When they're cutting teeth, they just chew those things to smithereens.  With Rocco, we had to replace our Pack 'n Play because it was completely worn out.  Car seats expire, and as the still-in-good-standing ones get passed down, the bigger kids need car seats in the next size up.


Updated Gear.

Some stuff has been tried, and has proven itself unworthy of sticking around for a bunch of kids, so it gets replaced.  Things like humongous or noisy gear, or uncomfortable baby carriers, or the goldang Boppy pillow.  (I'm wanting to try out the My Brest Friend pillow which, other than having THE WORST NAME EVER IN THE HISTORY OF TIME, looks amazing.)  Other stuff seems totally worth the upgrade - bouncy seats that BOUNCE THEMSELVES.  Rock and Plays that ROCK THEMSELVES.  You can see where I'm going with this.


Pants/Leggings.

This seems weird to put on a sixth-time-mom list, but baby pants are always a necessity.  Have you ever noticed that you frequently get a lot of onesies as gifts, but no pants to go with them?  And then if the baby has a blowout, the few precious pairs of pants you did somehow manage to get your hands on are suddenly stained beyond salvage.  Babies always need more pants.


Anything Cute.

A lot of the stuff a large family mom owns has been uuuuuuuused.  It's functional, but old and faded and stained.  A cute new outfit or hair bow is always welcomed - it's just a way to make poor baby #10-or-whatever feel a little special.  (People assume newborns don't care, but you know what they say about assuming.)



And, just for funsies, I asked other large family moms what they put on their registries, and the following things came up quite frequently:

Lots of muslin blankets
Nice water bottle for nursing mom
Small footprint bassinet
A second pack and play
New clothing for baby in larger sizes (2T+)
Postpartum mama care items, such as
     Sitz spray
     Bath herbs
     Teas and tinctures for boosting milk supply
     Nursing pads
     This crazy, awesome contraption
     Pads (because large family moms are realists)


So there you have it - what on earth a mom could possibly still need to stock up on after having All The Babies!

pregnancy update: 38 weeks. ish. i think.

Have I mentioned before that there is some confusion about my actual due date this time around?  It all started when I mistakenly gave my midwife the wrong 'first day of last period' date.  (How was I supposed to know the exact date off the top of my head?)  So my due date was set as June 30.  But then I got home and realized it should actually be June 25, according to The Math. 

But The Math never does me right - according to The Math, my babies like to overcook.  Every single one of my babies, with the exception of Penelope, was overdue, and even Penelope was only a day early.  Laurelai was twelve days late.  What has been a more accurate predictor of actual arrival date is the 20 week ultrasound - all of the kids showed up one or two days on either side of the ultrasound date.  This baby's ultrasound date is June 23.

So I've been hanging onto that date in my mind as the most realistic day to figure around.  Which means I'm about ten days away, and I'm in total denial.  I even signed up for a composting class at the library on the 24th, because I can't actually wrap my head around the possibility that in single digit days I will be giving birth.

On the one hand, I'm ready.  I have never been in this much pregnancy-related pain before.  Walking hurts, sitting hurts, laying down hurts, rolling over in bed hurts.  I have crazy heartburn and difficulty sleeping.  I get shooting nerve pain and muscle cramps all through my leg and foot at varying times of the day and night.  And I'm still dealing with blood sugar issues, so if I'm not suuuuper disciplined about what I eat, and how often, I get sick.  Plus, I'm getting to that hormonal-grouchy-weepy stage where everything just feels like the worst and no one likes being around me, for good reason.

BUT.  I'm really kind of still hoping to go past my due date, because the longer she stays in there, the longer I can put off actually giving birth and caring for a newborn.  I am familiar enough with the process by now to never, ever utter words like, "I just want to be done being pregnant," or, "Just get this baby out of me."  HECK. NO.

And of course babies are the sweetest and the tiniest and the yummiest smelling.  I know the opportunity for bonding is incredible, and finally meeting this new little life is going to be indescribable.  It's always totally and completely worth it.  That's why I do it all the time.

But if we're just talking about wanting to be done with hardship, I'm just not totally convinced that I'm in the hardest stages yet.  So I'm willing to hold out a bit longer.  Plus, if I am able to make it to that composting class, I'll get a free compost bin, which would be pretty sweet.  So I'm crossing my fingers for a late arrival.  Want to cross yours for me, too?

'what's up' [last] weekly: TARDY!!! edition.

Okay.  This is officially a tardy post.  I tried to get around the guilt by promising to write on Saturday, but then I didn't have time to do it, and NOW I'm dealing with delinquency and broken promises.  I'm so sorry.

Well, I'm making up for it by posting a WUW post today, which feels weird, but whatever.  At least I'm doing it, right?

Okay, so let's back wayyyyy up to Friday a week ago.  I had my appointment with my midwife.  I actually took my birth plan, which was filled with lots of "IDKs" and "Maybes" and "????s."  I am so mentally not prepared for this.  'Natural or epidural?'  IDK.  'Want to use the birth ball?' Maybe.  'Want to sign the waiver to use the birth tub?'  What? Why is there a waiver?  So it really wasn't an informative birth plan, other than I tried to reiterate over and over and over, DO NOT LET UNNECESSARY OR SUPERFLUOUS PEOPLE ASK ME QUESTIONS OR BE AROUND ME EVER.  JUST LEAVE ME THE CRAP ALONE.  This is literally all I care about at this point.

Friday night after Todd got home, we all loaded into the van and drove up to Des Moines to visit my parents for the weekend.  Saturday morning, we all headed to the zoo.  Afterward, we spent the rest of the day resting, playing outside and eating eating eating.  I'll give you a whole run-down post on the weekend soon!

Sunday, we visited another church in our church planting network, Cottage Grove, which is where my sister and her husband go.  I. LOVED. IT.  It was so great.  Seriously, if you're in the Des Moines area, check it out.  After lunch, we headed home.

On Monday, the gal from the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture stopped by the house to see if our yard was suitable for the garden I'd applied for, and when she saw it was (and found out how pregnant I am), she scheduled the install for later in the week.

Also, Atticus turned EIGHT AND A HALF!!! How is this possible?  I've been able to imagine parenting kids up through age eight, but nine is a whole different thing in my mind.  I have no idea how I have an almost-nine-year-old.

Tuesday was pretty full - a trip to the Amish and hosting Connection Group.  My mom also drove down late that night so she could help me out the next day.

On Wednesday, my mom and I drove the kids to Kansas City for an orthotropics consult.  The big kids need some kind of braces super soon, but orthodontics kind of have me a bit skittish, so I started looking into alternatives and found this guy who practices in KC.  After meeting with him and talking through the kids' needs and treatment options, I am so excited about this process!  This is going to be a really awesome fit for us, I think.

Thursday was another midwife appointment.  I really hate this stage in pregnancy where you have to go every week, and they're just like, "How do you feel," and you're like, "Super pregnant," and they're like, "That's normal," and you're like, "Yeah, that makes sense," and then they bill your insurance and tell you to come back the next week.  And to top it all off, I had all the kids with me (because who can find a weekly sitter for the middle of the day?), and I could tell the midwife was kind of annoyed by having them in the room, so it was just all around unpleasant.  Blech.

And then Friday.  GLORIOUS FRIDAY!  My friend Ana came to wrangle the kids, CCUA came with all the goodies for my new garden beds, and by lunchtime, we were in business to start growing our own foodstuffs.  Installing it was horrible.  Our grass is Bermuda grass, and our soil is clay, and our weather is hot and humid, and I am very pregnant.  It all added up to a few hours of misery.  But once it was all installed, it was clearly so worth it.  Now, I'm just praying that the poor little plants will make it.  I go out to water every day, and some of them are still looking pretty under the weather.  So we'll see.

Atticus LOVED every second of the morning.  He was killing it at ripping out the grass, moving sod clumps, and hauling soil.  He even came prepared with his own work gloves.

That tube thing is a tube composter - apparently, you just put your food scraps directly in it, and the earthworms will eat it and break it down right there in the garden.  I am not sold on it yet, as 1) it is ugly, and 2) with it being so narrow, you kind of have to put all the nasty kitchen scraps in by the millions of small handfuls, instead of just dumping the bowl like you would with a compost bin/pile/heap.  We shall see if it stays.

One of the many, many, MANY things I've loved about the CCUA program is that they provide you with everything you need to start gardening - not just beds and dirt, but seeds, plants and tools.  This sprinkler was a gift from the program, since our nozzle head is broken.  This photo was taken while the sprinkler was still in its prime; shortly thereafter, one kid rope-a-doped another kid into sitting on the oscillating sprinkler head, and it totally busted.  The hour that we owned it was really nice.

And that was our super fun, super full, super pregnant week.

W.U.W.: 'heads up' edition.

This week has been really full of some really fun stuff, which means I should do a 'what's up weekly' post.  I want to do a 'what's up weekly' post.  But I'm also running super far behind on a bunch of things as a result of all the stuff going on, and I kind of ran out of time.  SO.  This is just my way of giving you a heads up that I will post my typical photo-dump, word-vomit Friday post tomorrow.  On Saturday.

Instead of thinking of it as a tardy post, I'm choosing to see it as a bonus post.  That makes it feel less like I'm unraveling.

So here's to the eager anticipation of tomorrow's post.  This is edge-of-your-seats, holding-your-breath kind of stuff here, people.

birth prep: planning meals ahead.

Cooking and grocery shopping are one of the most time-consuming parts of each week for me, and one of the things I hate expending energy on when I have a newborn at home.  So, prior to each baby, I've tried to make it a priority to make sure meals are covered for us for about a month.  I do this a variety of ways.

Meal Trains

The churches we've been part of have always been wonderful about setting up meal trains for us for at least the first week after we get home from the hospital, if not the first two weeks!  It makes life so simple - basically, you just fill in the dates you want meals for, let them know of any food allergies or anything (such as gluten, in my case), and then everyone just signs up by email to bring you dinner one of those nights.  SO EASY.  I'm so grateful this has been done for me in the past, and I try to participate in others' meal trains whenever I can.  (I also love bringing things like paper plates and plastic silverware, just to make things really easy.)


Freezer Meal Showers and Gifts From Others

When I was pregnant with Laurelai, a few friends threw me a meal shower, where guests brought either an already-prepared meal to go in the freezer, or gift cards for restaurants that deliver.  The past few births, I've gotten freezer meals as gifts from friends and my parents.  My mom totally stocked up our freezer last time with I-don't-even-remember how many meals.  Absolutely TONS.  Again, SUCH A HUGE BLESSING.


Make-Ahead Meals I've Prepped Myself

This is the boat I find myself in now - trying to figure out what is easy to make ahead, what freezes well, and what we would actually want to eat in those crazy postpartum days.  I have started streamlining this process by just making HUGE batches of a few different meals we already eat, so I'm doing dinner prepwork and stocking my freezer in one fell swoop.  I have learned that looking up 'freezer' specific meals or Crockpot meals on Pinterest doesn't help me much, because I often find that I'm not a huge fan of some of the new recipes, but I've got like four of the same meal left in the freezer, so we never eat them.  (And I HATE Crockpot-specific food.  I just really don't like it.  I don't mind heating up stove-top-made soup or something in there, but I don't like using it to actually cook anything.) 

A good rule of thumb has become, "Would I be excited to eat this as leftovers tomorrow?"  If the answer is yes, it's a good contender for making in large batches and freezing.

So this year's list is VERY basic.  We will be rotating a lot of the same meals over the course of the first month or so.  But they're meals Todd and I like eating that take very little time or effort to heat/cook, so basic is what works for us!  Here's what I'm planning on making ahead and having on hand:


Breakfasts for Me and the Kids:
Italian sausage and hash brown casserole
Soaked oatmeal muffins
Smoothie bags
Applesauce muffins
Cooked and frozen bacon to have on hand
Sourdough bread for toast
Cooked Italian sausage for sausage and cabbage skillet


Lunches for Me (the kids can prep their own regular veggie lunches):

THM lazy lasagna (individual servings)
Individual servings of soup, listed below
Cooked ground beef for spaghetti squash with jarred red sauce
Cooked chicken for salads


Dinners for Everyone:

Roasted Brats with Onions (x 2)

Chicken, Bacon and Rice Soup (x 3)

Broccoli Cheese Soup (x 3)

Chili (x 2)

Hamburger Soup (x 2)

Whole chicken, cleaned and seasoned for roasting (x 2)

Pot roast, seared and prepared for the oven (x 2)

Lemon chicken breasts (x 2)

White sauce for pasta night ( x 3)

Other (Cheater) Items to Have On Hand:

Pre-formed burger patties
Frozen pizza

Chicken nuggets and fries
Baggies of cooked rice and quinoa

Baggies of cooked ground beef, Italian sausage, and chicken breast

Pantry/Snack/Fill-In Items:
Apples
Peanut butter
Popcorn
String cheese
Deli meat
Deli cheese
Greek yogurt
Frozen berries

In the name of doing fewer dishes, I'll be stocking up on aluminum foil for lining casserole dishes, as well as Crockpot liners for nights that I use it to heat up soup.  I'll also be loading up on paper plates and plastic silverware.  And I'm putting it all into a grocery order for pickup/delivery to avoid having to waddle through the aisles of the store.


And that is how I plan on avoiding cooking and full-on grocery shopping trips for the first month to six weeks with a newborn!  Now, to just find the time to actually prepare all of this! (I'm having to wait until our new carpet is installed, since the deep freeze needs to be cleared out and moved off the carpet area, but the install date keeps getting pushed back!  Hopefully I'll be able to do it all next week.)

prepping for the (imminent) arrival of the newest V.V.

I've been prepping.  Not like doomsday prepping... but kind of like doomsday prepping.  Like, "Do we have enough food and supplies to last us through the lean days a-comin'?"  And now that we are just a little over two weeks from my impending apocalypse due date, I feel like it might be time to buckle down and actually get some things on my list crossed off.  Here's the list, as it stands:

1. Buy a bigger van.  We won't all fit in our minivan in two weeks, and I don't like the idea of not being able to legally drive the kids to the emergency room or something if Todd's at work and we can't split the kids up between two vehicles.  So we need a van.  Unfortunately, the kind of van we're looking isn't just widely available at any dealership.  Most of the ones we're finding are about an hour and a half away.  Which then comes with its own sub-bullet points:
         1a. Secure financing
         1b. Figure out when we'll have time to test drive

2. Square away insurance cards. (Done!) My insurance just switched last month.  I just got the new card in the mail two days ago, so that was an issue for a bit, but it has been resolved.  (Now, to get around to calling them and asking them for a PCP that isn't two hours away...)

3. Contact local doula about placenta encapsulation.  (Done!) Totally gross, I know, but totally effective.  I've done it for my last two births, and the hormonal and physical recovery was drastically better.

4. Plan freezer meals.  (I'll share my freezer meal planning with you tomorrow!)
          a. Make list of meals
          b. Grocery list/grocery order
          c. Meal train?

5. Actually cook freezer meals (but not before carpet install - no deep freeze until then).

6.  Line up kid care and postpartum help. (Done!)

7.  Baby clothes/items out, washed. (Done!)

8.  Registry made for any items we need to replace or add. (Done!)  Target offers a one-time 15% discount on anything you put on the registry, so it's nice to just have it on there so we can get the discount on stuff we were needing to buy anyway.

9.  Figure out dresser/family closet situation for clothing storage.

10. Set up our bedroom with all the newbie items I'll need close at hand. (Done!)

11. Enroll in WIC so I can rent out their hospital-grade pump.

12. Make birth plan. (Done!)

13. Set up hospital tour.

14. Plan for postpartum housekeeping help.

15.  Pack hospital bag.
          a. Remember to bring a paci and the Vitamin K drops from home!

16. Install carseat (clean it first).

18. Choose baby book. (Done!) Amazon has some adorable ones, so I put it on my registry on there.  Does anyone know if they offer a discount for registry purchases?

19. Shave legs and paint toenails.  Because nothing makes you feel less-than-human than turning yourself inside out in front of an audience of strangers.  I like to do what I can to feel at least a little less like a troll when it's all said and done.


So, really, no big deal, right?  I just need to clean out the deep freeze, make it over to WIC, schedule a hospital tour, test drive vans 1.5 hours away, get to IKEA in Kansas City to pick up a family closet setup, clear out the garage and the laundry room so I have room for a family closet setup, and shop for and cook about 25 extra meals.  Also, in the meantime, the kids have an orthodontist appointment 2 hours away, we have a carpet install scheduled for the basement (which means I need to clear all the furniture out of the basement), and we're having a raised bed garden put in on Friday.  Also, weekly doctor visits, weekly chiro visits, a hair cut appointment, and trying to cram in our last-ditch efforts at logging a bunch of school hours.

I've totally got this.  Right? RIGHT?!!?! OH MY WORD I DON'T GOT THIS I'M IN A TOTAL PANIC.

MeS'morial Day.

Almost every Memorial Day, we cook out as a family, and then roast marshmallows and make s'mores.  Todd suggested starting the tradition a long time ago (maybe when Atticus was two or three?) and it's just stuck with us through the years.  It's the one day of the year that I mentally prepare for the stickiness and gooeyness and general mess that is "marshmallows + kids" and just go with the flow. 

This year, I had Todd pick up some brats and hot dogs to throw on the grill for dinner.  Weren't they glorious in their pre-cooked innocence? 

However, as I had a bunch of stuff going on in the house as well, and I'd thrown extra coals on the grill to keep it hot for when we made s'mores later... I kind of charred everything to within an inch of its life.

When Todd kindly suggested he run to the store to grab a few fresh packs of brats, essentially signing the death certificate of the brats I'd already cooked, preggo hormones kicked into high gear.  I was bawling. It was all very festive.

But once Todd got back with the new brats (and carefully cooked them himself over a grill he deemed "Nebuchadnezzar Hot"), things started looking up.  Everyone got changed into jammies (or varying degrees thereof) and headed to the grill to start with the really fun part!

Making memories with the kids is frequently a huge hassle, I'm not going to lie.  I rarely feel like doing the 'out of the ordinary' stuff with them, because it often feels so hard.  Todd is a great balance for me in this way - he's so great at thinking of ways to make certain days special, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen.  I'm so glad we do this each year, and I hope the kids remember these days.  They're good days.

what's up weekly.

This week was not quite the 'slow reintroduction into real life' that I prefer to keep to after coming home from being away.  We got home late last Thursday night, and as we were rolling into town, both Todd and I were pretty sure we were coming down with a stomach bug.  Todd was breaking out in cold sweats, I was insanely nauseous.

Todd worked all day Friday, even though he felt awful, and I stayed on the couch, staring at the piles of laundry and suitcases and backpacks and trash from the van.  Saturday morning was spent basically doing the same.  By the afternoon, we were feeling better, but I was still staring down all the shrapnel from the trip.

Sunday morning, everyone was feeling great.  Todd was scheduled to preach, I was scheduled to coach in children's church, and we actually made it out the door in time!  Everything was going pretty smoothly until Atticus passed out in the middle of worship.  One minute he was singing, the next, he was walking and swerving and swaying up toward the stage, where he just kind of collapsed.

Since Todd had to preach just a few minutes later, I did my best to 'walk' Atticus out.  After lying down on the couch and downing some orange juice and a muffin in the lobby, he said he was feeling better, so we went back in.  Everything was fine through the sermon, but then during worship afterwards he totally puked into Todd's cupped hands and had to be taken out again.  Later that afternoon, he came down with a fever and totally lost his appetite, so we think it was just the onset of a tummy bug.  He woke up Monday morning feeling fine.  So random.

Monday, Todd got to stay home and we celebrated our annual MeS'more-ial Day, which I'll post more about next week, but I'll give you a teaser now: it was a blast!

We also got the privilege of being TOTALLY freaked out by a turkey buzzard just patrolling our neighborhood, and then watching and threatening us from the neighbor's roof.  Downright ominous.

It sat like this for IDK how long, just watching us and making itself huge.  I hated every second of it.

The rest of the week has been spent trying to return the house and van to some semblance of normal, online searching for a new (bigger!) van, and trying to prep for the new baby.  I'm getting into a bit of a state of panic.  Only a few more weeks left, and my list is still loooooooong.  I did get quite a few items checked off, like contacting a doula, setting up the bassinet, making a hospital packing list, and making three gallons of bone broth and seven pounds of ground beef. (I think my 'nesting' impulse has fixated itself on how many gallons of broth I can make between now and then.) 

Last week's photo, in which I look weirdly blonde.

This week's photo, in which I look a little dead behind the eyes because my brain is peeling out.

But my list is still really long, and we have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks - a trip out of town, the carpet install (which got moved back a couple of weeks, and requires us to move ALL of the furniture out of the basement first, so it's no small feat), weekly doctor's appointments, and a trip to Kansas City for orthodontics consults for the two biggest kids.  Also, continuing to run a normal life.  Also, doing all of that in a big vast sore body that moves at the speed of dial-up.   Oh, lawdy.  Wish me luck.

I'll tell you more next week about how I'm prepping for the new baby!

our trip to south dakota: all aboard for a full (and freezing) day.

We had seen that the forecast for Monday, our second day at Todd's parents', was supposed to be rainy and cold, so we tried to think of things that we could do 'inside', but that still got us out and about.  So we reserved our tickets for the 1880 Train.  (Isn't there some kind of joke about how many Van Voorsts you can fit in a single train car?) 

Atticus and Penelope really enjoyed looking out the window and listening to the guide's spiel.

The little kids... well, the little kids were less impressed.  In this photo, Rocco would love to have you believe that he was cool as a cucumber, just enjoying the train life.

This is more of a realistic picture of the hour-long ride, though.  Finneas and Laurelai weren't much better.  We tried to keep them distracted by letting them dig through my purse and smell whatever gum they could find.  (Yeah, they really like doing this.  No, I don't know why.)

Apparently the problem was that Rocco was simply desperate to view Harney's Peak.  Once given the opportunity, he chilled way down.  Except that he kept trying to walk off my lap to climb out the window.  But at least he wasn't crying.  The other kids were kept occupied with tourist maps I had stuck in my purse.  (Parenting tip: kids really, really, really love maps of all kinds.  There is no scenario which is not made better by a map.)

When the train dropped us off in Keystone (where Todd's parents met us with our van and their car to make things outrageously easy), it was surprisingly sunny and seemed like it was getting warmer.  Since we were only five or ten minutes from Mt. Rushmore, we all decided to try our luck at an outdoor activity.

When we pulled into the parking structure, the weather didn't seem to be too bad, so I didn't pull out the winter coats I had stashed in the back of the van.  Big mistake.  HUGE mistake.

As soon as we got out from under the shelter of the structure, the wind became bitterly cold, and it also started POURING down rain.  As a result, we spent most of our time hiding out in the gift shop.  Luckily, the rain finally let up a bit, and we spent a few minutes at the monument before heading back to the car. 

It really was a blessing to know that this wasn't our only opportunity to visit.  We've been here a few times before, and will presumably have many more chances to visit in the future, so we were okay with just taking a little time to look around and then head back to the warm van.

We were clearly the most underprepared people there. 

This is the photo you capture when you ask everyone to stand in a row, looking at the monument, but the three-year-old can't see over the wall, and the big fatty preggo can't juggle two kids at a time.  It's a less-than-classic shot.

When we got home, we fed the kids some lunch and got the little kids down for nap, and then it was time for cowboyin' up.

Properly decked out to watch old Western movies with Papa.

 After dinner, the kids went for a dip in the hot tub.  Laurelai wasn't thoroughly convinced she liked it at first, but after a little coaching from Papa, she got her sea legs.

Did I mention it was still FA-REEZING COLD?!  I sat wrapped up in a blanket the entire time they were playing in the hot tub, since pregnant ladies are banned from enjoying hot tubs.  (And feta and deli meat and margaritas, while I'm complaining about the injustices of being pregnant.  I can't do anything I like.)

Once the little kids were in bed, the big kids and I worked on some school work.  Yeah, yeah, I know we were on vacation, but I am trying to get hours crammed in before the end of the year, so we can just CHILL once the baby's born.  Atticus was clearly thrilled.

And the sun set on another great day in Custer!