I’m into my sixth month! And Ruthie is the size of an eggplant this week. I can feel her kicks becoming stronger, but I think she may be positioned differently than Alice was. With Alice I could feel her kicks strongly in the front. With Ruthie is it more internal so maybe her feet are towards my back. Who knows!
Alice said sister the other day which melted my heart. And she tries to say Ruthie.
Here is a pic for those who are interested in the baby bump progress.
Lately, several things have sparked me to become more focused in teaching Alice. I have begun to see signs of her retaining things she learns at BSF and it makes me excited to teach her more. My leader also made a comment last week that they train the children’s teachers that if they teach Gods word, he will provide the understanding.
So this week we are starting weekly studies from the bible. I made a list of 52 stories or themes and we will read the real version from my bible, read her children’s bible version, books about the topic, have coloring pages and craft projects, sing songs about it and say our weekly verse as often as we remember.
We made a dry erase board to keep our theme and verse at the front of our minds and a basket with all of our materials for the week. This way daddy can also do some activities when mama is at work. I plan on saving everything in file folders so we can add to the comprehension level as the girls get older. Ruthie can follow in behind as Alice works on more advanced parts of the stories. 
I am super excited about this!!! First up…creation!!!
This past week, I took frugal living to a whole new level. I’ve already been making my own laundry detergent for over a year with great results, so when I saw some more cleaner recipes online, I decided to try them out. I made glass cleaner, all purpose cleaner, fabric softener and dishwasher detergent. They all work great and I had most of the ingredients on hand. Total cost of the materials to make everything was less than $20 and I still have tons to make more batches with.
Here are the recipes:
Dishwasher Detergent (I used fruit fresh instead of citric acid)
My Laundry Detergent Recipe:
1 Cup Borax, 1 Cup Washing Soda and I bar of any soap grated finely. Mix together and use 1 tablespoon per load.
I bought spray bottles at the Dollar Tree and used glass jars for my detergents. My Zen tip is to take off all labels of your household products like hand soaps, etc. It makes for a much cleaner look in your home. Goo Gone works great for taking off labels.
Window and All Purpose Cleaners
Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener
Hand Soap
Dishwasher Detergent and Kitchen Soap
Okay, so I know I have a whole year before my birthday comes around again, but this idea is so cool that I had to share it. Maybe some of you might want to do it for your birthday and I would love to do this on my girls birthdays every year.
I don’t want to ask for any presents, but money for the use of committing random acts of kindness. I’d like to be able to do 32 since that’s how old I’ll be.
This blog and this one have some really awesome ideas. How much better is celebrating your birthday when you know you are making others happy?!
Well, would ya look at that? A pregnancy post and update!
There are a lot of factors that have combined to make the lack of pregnancy pictures so rare.
When I found the camera today, it was dead so I had to wait for it to charge. A lot went into getting this simple picture taken. And it still isn’t that great of a picture. Oh well… Poor Ruthie is not going to have a week by week updated photo album like Alice has. I did, however, start writing to her in a journal last week, so she won’t feel completely left out.
As far as pregnancy news goes, I am over halfway there! I am also feeling Ruthie moving more, plus the weird sensation of her balling up on one side or the other. It won’t be long before others can feel her kicking too. I go for another appointment Tuesday and then the one after that is the sugar test, I think. Which blows. I hate the sugar test.
I haven’t gained nearly as much weight this time, Praise the Lord! Let’s hope it stays that way.
2011 was a fantastic year for the Seabolt’s. We spent our first full calendar year with Alice and learned that we will be adding little Ruthie to our family. We successfully ran Seabolt’s Upholstery without going bankrupt, I was able to quit a normal 9-5 job and stay home with my baby and work a few nights a week bartending, and we were given our daily bread each day by God which is all we ask for. And that is a blessing and success by itself!
I am so looking forward to 2012 as the year we grow to a family of four!! Little Ruthie will be here THIS YEAR! I know it will dramatically change the way our life is now, but isn’t that what life is all about? Changing and growing? Nothing ever stays the same and thank goodness for that. Yesterday at church, our pastor had us read the Covenant Prayer by John Wesley and it profoundly affected my outlook on 2012. I will try and recall it to mind each day.
Covenant Prayer From John Wesley’s Covenant Service , 1780
I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Alice praying in the bathroom yesterday before church. Haha!
I pray each of you has a wonderful and blessed 2012, full of love, grace and happiness.
We had a great Christmas! Busy, but wonderful. We were able to see so many friends and family, watch Alice “get” opening presents and enjoy this season of Advent.
I’ve come to realize that Alice is slightly spoiled. When I say slightly, I mean really freaking spoiled rotten. And it’s not always the most attractive quality she has. She threw her first major tantrum at a friends house in front of lots of people, including the pastor. Hmmm….embarrassing. Certain people in Alice’s life, including myself have made New Years Resolutions to become better disciplinarians. You all know who you are…
Back to Christmas. Here are some pictures of the merriment!
I always like taking pictures of my decorations each year. They bring me so much joy and I hope you enjoy looking at them too. Xoxo.
Alice has been busy.
She has been working at mama and daddy’s new house.
Helping Cece wash the dishes.
Playing in the drawer.
Riding Dumbo.
Being a cotton headed ninny muggins.
Mowing the yard.
Painting Christmas crafts.
Watching it snow.
And eating candy canes! Yum!
We found out on Tuesday that we are having a baby girl! I didn’t tell anyone this, but I was secretly hoping for another girl. I want Alice to have a sister cause sisters are the best friends you can have. Plus it is going to be WAY cheaper to have another girl. haha! And her name will be Scarlett Ruth. My little baby Ruthie!
Tommy is just as thrilled as I am. He says he loves having little girls. I say fast forward 13 years and see what you say then. He is definitely out-numbered, but as my friend Alan says, “Any man can have a boy, but it takes a real man to have girls.”!
And everything else looked great too. She is growing and developing normally and weighs about 8 ounces right now.
An aside note: I was really hoping this baby would be calm, but the ultrasound tech had to apologize for the appointment taking forever because Ruthie wouldn’t stay still long enough to get good pictures. Go figure.
Here is our little baby girl!
Now that I have a toddler, it’s fun to get to do all of those fun kids activities at church. Last night we went to Jesus birthday party and Alice had a blast! She loves to play with other kids and show off in front of people. I told tommy that I’m afraid humility is not going to be one of her strong points…
She surprises me everyday now. Like at the party when they said it was time to pray and she immediately bowed her head and put her hands together. So sweet! She is learning so much!
Here are some pictures of the fun.
You know when you are getting old when all you want for your birthday is a Christmas tree! Haha! I had a great day. Tommy brought me bagels for breakfast, Alice didn’t act too crazy and mama made me a Dexter cake! Morbid suits me.
This impressed me. And I’m not easily impressed so you know it was good. Our church held an event Sunday night called A Night in Bethlehem about events that took place the night Jesus was born. Attendants were led from room to room to see scenes acted out, songs sung, and dances performed. It ended in a live nativity were our pastor read the Christmas story from Luke and we all sang Away in a Manager. Sweet. So sweet.
And it was so well done! The lady who organized it worked on it for a year! All the participants did amazing especially the guy who played Joseph (my Tommy!).
Over 380 people attended and a lot of them were not members so it was a great outreach event. The performers had to do their acts 25 times!
Take a look at these pictures and plan to come next year…I’m sure it will be an annual event!
I know I’ve got to catch up on some thankful posts, but until then I’d like to leave you with ‘The Thanksgiving Letter’ from Awkward Family Photos. I’m pretty sure that if I ever host Thanksgiving, you will all be getting a similar letter. Just a heads up.
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/2009/11/26/awkward-family-story-the-thanksgiving-letter/
Today I am thankful for holiday sales. Without deep markdowns, there is no way we could afford to buy for all the people we love. And I am thankful for my mom teaching me about shopping sales and God for placing me in the right place at the right time.
Today I finished 75% of my shopping, which includes Alice’s gifts and spent about $150. And I got the last Leapfrog Tag Jr at Target for half off! Praise God! And it was pink !
I only have a couple of things left!
Today I’m thankful for having a good job that I enjoy most of the time. It does require hard work sometimes that leaves my feet aching, but I really can’t think of another job where I’d have the hours I do and make the same amount of money. God has really blessed me.
I love when Alice says bye bye. She says it at some funny times, like when tommy got mad that I ate his biscuit and he stormed out the back door and Alice said “bye”. Haha!
CHRISTMAS MUSIC!! It officially started today on 99.5 and me and Alice love it! I have been trying to hard to capture her dancing in her car seat to Mariah Carey Christmas songs and haven’t had success yet. But believe me, it is hilarious and adorable.
I am thankful for my iphone and youtube today. These two things combined allowed us to eat dinner in relative peace at a restaurant for my mother in law’s birthday tonight. Alice sat quietly eating her french fries and grilled cheese while watching Elmo on my phone which was propped up against my water glass. What did people do before iphones??
I am so thankful for orange juice. I have been craving citrus something crazy and drinking OJ by the gallon. I wonder what pregnant women did before they had the grocery store. I would have gone nuts not being able to run out and get whatever I was craving!
