Manwich

Ah pregnancy. It's a miracle. I've waded through the three months of feeling queasy and anxious. Now we are in the sweetspot of cravings and flavor sensations. Only this guy is throwing me some curveballs. I don't recall having headaches with prior pregnancies, or craving CHEESEBURGERS every single day. I am comforted only slightly by a friend's tale that a vegetarian amiga of hers had to give it up and succumb to the beastly cravings during her pregnancy. Here I thought this would be my healthy, amazingly natural SoCal pregnancy. I pictured myself relishing every bite of a mound of vegetables. Ha! Nothing like motherhood to remind you you DON'T control everything. So here he is, growing like a little meat-eating manly man inside me and rapidly taking my hard-earned jogging frame to something much more Rubenesque. Eh, well, I am rolling with it.

This trimester will not be focused on daily updates from baby center on how my little munchkin is growing, nor am I sitting in front of A Baby Story watching other families' dramas unfold. We've been down this road and this time feels like a much faster, easy ride. We're already in week 16. I've got 25 baby chicks, 3 children, 3 dogs, 5 horses and 13 hens to keep me on my feet, a home expansion underway (dude needs a room) and a very busy, hard working husband I hope to see occasionally.

I plan to have a hospital birth with minimal intervention. I will hire a doula to attend the birth. After a somewhat "precipitous labor" with Evelyn, I'll need someone on my side if the baby comes out like a freight train. Al will be there, of course, but I distinctly recall the look of helplessness on his face as I turned to him and said, "HELP ME!" during the last 5 minutes of my last labor. Poor guy looked at me, sweaty-lipped and completely unable to do anything, which is so far from his normal at-the-helm demeanor. I hope a doula can give us all a little more confidence and guidance, or at least run and fetch me a cheeseburger.

Be Mine, Valentine: How to Make a Sweet Backpack

After a fruitless search on Pinterest for a Kindergarteners' Valentine box craft, I came up with this fun, messy craft using tri-fold paper towel boxes (purchased at Target).

The first step was to gently open the boxes from the bottom and remove all the paper towels. I will use them for other crafts, messes and a few puppy accidents around the house! I taped the box shut with a few pieces of regular old scotch tape. 

Then, using a mixture of 1/2 warm water and 1/2 Elmer's glue, the children wet the outside of the boxes completely, using their fingers as paintbrushes. 

Next, they dipped pieces of paper napkins, which I had precut into one-ply squares, into the glue mixture and applied them to the outside of the boxes.

It was really messy fun!

When the children finished covering the entire box with napkins, I pasted one small piece of napkin with their names Sharpied onto the middle of the backside. We allowed the boxes to dry overnight. Then I poked four holes and made shoulder straps out of some inexpensive rope found at Home Depot. 

I cut out the hole for their "mail" following the opening for the napkins.

They were so proud!

 ...and it was a very efficient and fun way for them to distribute their Valentines!