Third time around

Now that a lot of people know that I am pregnant, I find a lot of them making the same comment. "Wow, look at you! You are already starting to show!" Maybe they are surprised because they just found out and think that I just found out as well. Nope, I have known for quite some time. Whenever I hear this, I simply smile and nod. Inside I am thinking, "Yes, I know. My belly is huge. Thanks for pointing that out. I wasn't aware that my pants don't really fit anymore." Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is exciting and close friends and family become anxious for that baby to arrive. But, here I am just 12 weeks along, and my belly sticks out far enough for someone to notice. Allow me to illustrate.

Here I am 20 weeks pregnant with B.

Now here I am 16 weeks pregnant with E.

Hold on to your hats, folks. This is me today. Just 12 weeks along.

Goodness gracious! I am either loosey goosey (some may argue that is how I got this way to begin with) due to two prior pregnancies, or there are three babies in there. Either way, heaven help me!

Our 4th of July Adventure

Like we do every year, we headed up to my parent's cabin for the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful, the company divine, and the food plentiful. I always feel like our trip is too short. While we were there, we packed in plenty of activities! We took the boys to a fishing derby the morning of the 4th. All kinds of people had the same idea, so it was hard to get a bite on our lines. The boys still had fun, though.

We took our annual picture and then prepared for the parade. We gussied up the buggy with all kinds of festive gear then headed over to the parade. There were a lot more participants this year which made it fun. After the parade we had some hot dogs for lunch and then headed back to the cabin for a much needed nap.

In the afternoon we got out the remote control Cessna and flew that around the golf course. When I say, "we" I mean Papa and my Prince Charming. The boys were just aching to play with it, but unfortunately it is fragile and would be crushed in their enthusiasm. But they each got a turn to fly it. But, most of the time, they were retrieving it!

Papa got his hands on some sparklers and some firecrackers. Black cats. Boy those were loud! The sparklers were the most exciting for the boys. E just wanted to watch and B got up the courage to hold one himself.

B got to attend his very first golf clinic. He was so excited. He carried his golf bag everywhere.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without some s'mores. Even I had some.

While I type this in sweltering heat, the boys are still up at the cabin with Amee and Papa for a week without the parents enjoying the cool weather. Both were excited to be alone with them. I had a hard time leaving them up there. While I am looking forward to some time to myself, as soon as I left them I wanted to go back to get them. There is something unnatural about not being where my children are. Prince Charming said, "Just wait until they go to college." Bottom line, I don't like being apart from them. However, since that is the situation, we are going to have some fun. A trip to Vegas with Aunt J is planned and very much looked forward to! Vegas, baby.

"Another one?!"

"You're having ANOTHER one?" was B's reaction upon learning that we will be adding another little person to our family come January. Both boys are less than thrilled about the idea. Although, once they found out that they would be sharing a room, they could hardly contain themselves! B immediately suggested things to hang from the ceiling as well as a new "midnight story" tradition that he plans on starting with his brother. I am so relieved that they are excited about sharing their personal space.

As for me, I am totally excited that there will be another baby in this house. On the other hand, I am terrified about all of the unknowns. We are already expecting a third son, although that won't be confirmed for a couple of months. We are tapped for boys names, so should this child be another son, he just might be named, "Boy." At least I still have a ton of boy clothes.

Can I eat, already?

As she finally sits down to start dinner she hears, "Ketchup, please!" Disappointed that she won't get to dive into her delicious looking food and also a little shocked that she didn't think of bringing the ketchup in the first place, she makes her way to the fridge. Upon returning with Ketchup, and finally sitting down, she asks her two smiling boys who would like to say the blessing before dinner. The other responds with, "You forgot our gummies!" She wonders why neither of them heard her question and asks them again. After the blessing as been said, she leaves her plate yet again to find said "gummies." While she is in the kitchen she asks if there is ANYTHING else that they might want before she returns. "No, thank you!"

With two happy boys, she sits down for the third time and puts that first bite of creamy orzo into her mouth. Finally, she can enjoy the yummy dinner she has prepared in it's entirety. "Can I have some mustard for my pork?"

Still waiting for eggs

I check every day, still no eggs. Harriet is 22 weeks this week. Right smack dab in the middle of "let's start laying eggs" time. I know that they will come soon. I have decided that waiting for eggs is like waiting for a baby to be born. With a baby, there is a due date. When that due date comes and goes, we are all left wondering, "will it be today?" Same with eggs. Will it be today?

While we wait, we are still having fun with the chickens. The boys love to feed them scratch. I love it that when I open the door, they come running up to me hoping that I have some treat for them. Their little clucks are so cute and the younger three are starting to get more vocal. Harriet is the loudest, by far. Whenever I am out there she squawks like her life depends on it. I am sure our neighbors are wondering what on earth it is that is making that noise. Fortunately she doesn't do it all day.

I took a video of her chatter the other night. Enjoy.

"THAT chicken comes from chickens?"

It never occurred to me, until that moment that my children don’t know where their food comes from. Why would they? As far as they know, it comes from our refrigerator. Actually, they know that it comes from the grocery store. But how did it get to the grocery store? Where did it come from? They honestly don’t care enough to ask those questions. They just want to eat. I don’t blame them. When I was a kid, I felt the same way. Feed me. As I grew, I learned where chicken, hamburger, and bacon came from and I was okay with it.

Now that I have a family of my own and along with the national movement towards supporting small local farms, I started to ask myself, “Where does my food come from?” In my quest to know the origins and history of the food on my plate, as well as to provide my family with the healthiest options, I decided to start small.

Tomatoes. Since our backyard does not have a prime location for a garden, growing heirloom tomatoes in a couple of pots seemed like an easy thing to do. And, it was! The fresh tomatoes have been so delicious and I really enjoyed knowing that they were grown in my backyard without any pesticides and with the best fertilizer I could find. Talk about fresh! Even the boys were excited to taste the first tomato. B doesn’t even like tomatoes and he eats these from time to time.

Some would say that adding some backyard chickens to our family wouldn’t be considered, “starting small.” I might agree if it weren’t so incredibly easy. These chickens can give us fresh eggs. Not only fresh eggs, but eggs from chickens that have a huge backyard to forage in, are fed organically, and who enjoy the many fresh treats that we bring for them. Our eggs will be richer than any egg I could buy in the grocery store. I think we have some very happy hens. We haven’t had any eggs yet, but when we do I will be able to say that I know exactly where my eggs came from. Plus, I am thrilled that the boys will know too.

B, who after watching me take frozen chicken from the freezer and asking me what it was, uttered the title of this post. Even though we refer to that meat as chicken, it didn’t occur to him that the meat we eat comes from the new friends we have in our backyard. After explaining that we only intend to eat the eggs from our chickens, he returned to playing with his toys. I thought he would quit chicken forever. He didn’t.

That little exchange got my wheels turning. Where does my chicken come from? Costco. That is the best answer I can come up with. Prince Charming and I would love to raise backyard meat birds to feed our family. However, neither of us can stomach the thought of processing the birds. I have been looking for a way around this, but haven’t found one yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me as I have heard that backyard meat birds are superior in flavor and texture than any bird I could buy at the store.

What about pork? What about beef? Safeway. I can do better than that! My dear friend sent me an email about cowpooling this morning. That is where a few families get together and order an entire cow, or a portion of a cow. I have been interested in doing something like this ever since I saw it on Jon and Kate plus 8. They bought a half a cow to feed their family for a year. There are a few reasons why this interests me. First, the cost is cut because I would be buying directly from a local farmer. Second, I would be buying beef that has been GRASS fed (as opposed to grain fed) which is lower in saturated fat and higher in healthy fats than in store bought beef. Plus, I would have the satisfaction of knowing where our beef came from. The same friend pointed me to a website of a local cattle farmer. It is nice to know that I can find a quality product close by. While we haven’t been known to eat high amounts of beef, it would be nice to find a few people to split a cow with us.

As I continue my quest for food knowledge I am comforted in the fact that I am proactive in searching out the best food for my family. In the meantime, I am going to start visiting the downtown farmers market to see what I can see.

Do you know where your food comes from?

E Said

"I love you Mommy Toothbrush."

My favorite thing that E says, lately.