Hopeful About Tonight

This morning at 4:00 a.m. I had some "painful" contractions. If the pattern follows as last year, I should be in labor this evening/early morning and have the baby maybe tomorrow! I'm hoping this is the case. As long as it's after midnight.

The doctor said he doesn't believe I will make it to my next appointment next Friday. I'm 3 cm and have lost a few pounds. He shared that he sees that a lot right before labor starts. We'll see....

Come on little Matthew...

Two Days to Go Picture

Well, here's my last (hopefully last) pregnancy picture. Only two days to go... I'm hoping only 2 hours to go - before labor that is! I really don't want this little one to be born on October 31st. But, my husband who always has a positive outlook on things shared with me that if he were born on that day, it would replace it with something good for us!

Which Came First The Baby or the Bird???

Our first baby chick was just hatched a few minutes ago. He is so cute!!! But, I was hoping to be wrong and that it would have been little Matthew to hatch first. But, I do have hope! He could be born on the same day as the baby birds. The night is not over yet. I only have 4 days left until my due date. We are both so excited. We can't wait to see his little face and I can't wait to hold him to me. I'm hoping to have him before my appointment on Friday. Otherwise, I will update on Friday to share if there's any progress.

Still no baby...

We have seven days left and still no baby. Nothing progressed out of yesterday but I am content and he will be here soon. I'll update if there are any other changes.

Baby May Be on the Way...

Today at my appointment it was found I've gone from 1.5 cm to nearly 3 cm dilation and 70% effacement. I have been having some of the hurting contractions this morning and now after the exam things should pick up in the next several hours or so. I'm guessing we'll have the baby here in the next day or two. I think by this evening after I do some walking we'll be on our way. I'll either post pictures and a birth story in a few days or give an update tomorrow. Lord be with us. Be with our children.

The neat thing about this morning is that I was going to deposit a check from a settlement regarding a car accident I was in in 2005. We received it yesterday. I was so excited after my appointment that I forgot to deposit the check. After making a stop and seeing the check in my purse, I turned around to go to the bank to deposit it. It just shows me how much value human life is over money and the priority of things. I think it was a neat thing to happen.

Which Will Hatch First - The Chicks or the Baby?

I am due in 10 days so I could actually have our baby any day now. Our next batch of incubating chicks are due in 7 days. Which will come first - the chick or the baby???

Matthew thinks we will have our baby first. I on the other hand think it will be after my due date in November. I don't have anything really going on yet. My weekly appointments are on Friday so if there is a change, I will have to post it.

A Day in the Life of the Geraci's

Due to a site I frequent where some wonderful women shared their lives in the course of a 24 hour day, I thought it would be fun to do this as well. So, here we are starting at 4:30 in the afternoon through about 4:30 the next day.

Here is Elisabeth playing in one of her favorite spots before dinner.
She likes to climb in and out of the playpen and watch me sew from here as well.

Here is Hannah playing under the kitchen table by daddy's feet.
She gets more bumps and bruises here and sometimes gets stuck.
Because I'm pregnant, poor daddy has to retrieve her most of the time.

Elisabeth and Hannah helping mommy empty the dishwasher.

Here is our pantry. I'm raising bread on one of the top shelves
and we're incubating eggs on the lower shelf. It's a multi-purpose pantry.

Is that really me?
I'm not that big looking - really! I'm 37 weeks pregnant here but the apron is hiding my little boy in there. I'm making rosemary chicken with some fresh rosemary from our herb garden.

Here's daddy vacuuming. He is a such a big help to me. He already does so much with helping around the house as he is retired. But, he really picks it up after I'm about 30 weeks pregnant and he's got a lot to do outside with our animals, the barn, etc...

Daddy playing with the girls. He chases them around this corner every night.

Here's my loaf of bread a rising!

Daddy on the Homesteading Today forum asking about chickens while the girls are
playing with pillows and blankets.

Time for dinner!

Daddy praying at the table. Hannah is just to my right - she's with us!

Daddy playing with the girls while I clean the dinner dishes.

Here's our kitchen all cleaned up!

And here's our loaf of bread. It was yummy!

Elisabeth settling down before bed.


Hannah is tired and ready for bed. She got in trouble from daddy again. She kept going after the cord to the blinds that we have up high over the couch. She sneaks up the back of the couch and stands to get to it.

Daddy brushing Elisabeth's teeth - or trying to! I give Hannah a bottle before bed each night while he takes care of Elisabeth... teeth and all.

Elisabeth tucked in her bed with her duck.

Mommy giving Hannah her bottle before bed - she is starting to want to get away from her bottle lately as she is on a cup most of the time. I believe this is the Lord's doing as I'll be nursing little Matthew here very soon.

The kids are down now - yeah! So, Matthew is transferring some things from one freezer to another. He bought a bigger freezer today to store some of the $10 barrel of bread we buy at a bread outlet place for our chickens. Cheap feed! And it's nice to have the freezer to store all the fruit we have. We have tons of frozen blackberries from picking them all Summer. Bags of nectarines too.

Here I am having my bowl of cereal (healthy Sugar Puffs) with my husband after the kids go down. We do this each night. Whew! What a relief. It's so nice to have it quiet.

Matthew reading the Bible while I read "Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single Income Family".

THE NEXT DAY

Breakfast - I'm enjoying a piece of toast from the bread I made the night before and we were blessed with a huge amount of cranberries from a friend who owns a cranberry bog. So, I'm enjoying fresh cranberry juice as well.


Elisabeth helping Hannah finish her breakfast.

Daddy leading the chickens out to eat.

Elisabeth watching daddy feed the chickens.

Oh look what our neighbor's cows did to our gate! But, our cow Betsy has torn down some of their fences, etc... So today as I'm writing this Matthew and our neighbor Mike are out helping each other repair "damages".


Hannah and I are going to run off to Walmart and the health food store to buy some bread flour in bulk. I need to buy another bread pan so I can make some friends who are coming over today some fresh bread to take home.

Hannah and I are back and the girls are eating lunch while daddy is canning fresh cranberries. See our cooler on the table filled with fresh cranberries? I bought a good bread pan, some stackable cooling racks and some cute, yellow fabric for .99/yard. I think I will make some cheerful aprons to sell when we start selling our eggs this Spring. At the health food store I found some malt that I bought. I would love to try it in pizza crust. I think it will make a tasty crust.

Here's some of our cranberries. He's already used up a few gallons over the past couple of days. They really blessed us!

Here's Matthew canning the cranberries. They are to die for!

The end to a really good day. My friends, Shirley and Jane came over and brought us a big bag of brand new, baby boy clothes. They are so sweet! We sent them home with some homemade bread, canned cranberries and some of our other canned goods. It is fun to bless one another!

A Gift from God

I first need to thank my God for the breath of life that He gives that all creatures may have the breath of life. I also thank my patient wife who continued to support me even when I had a real bad time trying to raise some beef cattle. She continued to support me and is one-hundred percent with me in this great adventure. Here are our first eggs before going into the incubator, there is also another dozen that was included. They are so pretty and good tasting but we saved these ones for the incubator.


Here are the eggs in the incubator day eighteen. They are in the kitchen pantry (My wife is so special). We are so nervous if one will even hatch, we can't get over the idea that there are little chickens in those eggs.


We were in the kitchen on day twenty and we both heard a little chirp and neither one of us said anything because we just did not think that it was a chick. Tanya (my wife) then asked me if I heard a chirp and I said yes. We both waited and we heard it again. We were so excited. That night the first chick hatched and the next day (day 21) they just started to hatch. I went to check on the chicks and saw one ready to hatch so I took this picture and was just amazed by how the chicks peck their way around the shell and out of it.


This is the same little chick a little later, little guy is really at work. He just keeps pushing away. No free lunch here just hard work for such a little guy.


One more successful hatch. They are chirping the whole time and we are just amazed at the work of God. A chick does come out of the egg. It's one thing to know, it's another to experience.


Wait a minute where did that little guy go? He just hatched thirty seconds ago. Already walking and falling all over the place. Well time for him to dry off. It's hatching day and moving day.


Our first chick. We will forget most of the chicks that are hatched but we won't forget this one. The first one. What a cutie! Black with white tip wings. The drying bucket is right below the incubator in the pantry closet. A nice warm ninety-six Fahrenheit. A little food and water with a sprinkle of sugar in the water. Home sweet home, lots of room I can hear him now, "Where is everyone".


What a crowd, things are getting a little packed in the new home but everyone is cozy and quiet. It's still mid-day and we are thinking room should not be a problem.


Well time to rethink things over, (day 2) the house is getting a little crowed. It's time to move again!


Much better into the mini coop we go. I constructed this out of pallets that the cranberry factory throws away. Just for safety we have two lights; a two-fifty (I.R) and a one-hundred.



An above picture of the chicks (all twenty-three) the two waters, feeder and one of the lights. Will be adding a trough feeder next week.


We're so happy in our new home, look at us how vibrant we are. We're so fortunate to be here for the rest of our days instead of some factory.

Thirty-Nine Days to Go

Well, we have 39 days to go until the due date of our son. I am hoping it will be sooner than that though. I had some contractions last evening from 11:00 until 2:00 or so. They finally subsided and went away.

I am tired today but feeling so content. Life has never been better for me. I am truly blessed. I have such a wonderful husband and children. I have never been happier. I never knew what it was like to be so happy and content and to feel so loved and cherished. I have never prayed so much that the Lord keep me here til old age. I have never prayed so much that He let my husband live another 40 years or so. I've never prayed so much for the health and safety for our children. I'm so happy I followed the Lord in everything. I've never had a richer life. There's nothing better than having peace in your heart and being content.

I have some more pictures to share and will upload them soon. After that I may not post anymore pictures until little Matthew is born. I had a test done recently at Labor and Delivery to see if true labor is immanent and it is not. Only a couple of more weeks and it won't really matter. I hope he comes soon. I can't wait to see his little face and body and to hear his little cry. I can't wait for the girls to see him. I hope they do well with the change. I try to explain to Elisabeth that baby Matthew is in my tummy. I don't think she has a clue! But, she's only 2 years old so I wouldn't expect any different.

We have a wonderful neighbor who will watch the kids when we go to the hospital and a couple of backups. Some people have really been a blessing to us here. I hope that we can be a blessing to others here too. We bought an incubator and will be hatching chicks in about 8 days or so. We plan on selling eggs and some of my pretty bibs, burp cloths, aprons, etc... on Saturdays from March or April through September. It will be fun! We both have our things to do and are enjoying them. Life is rich right now. It hasn't always been so and probably won't always be. I am holding fast to this beautiful season in my life. I thank the Lord for the beauty of it all.

Baby is Still Here

This morning I am having some pretty good contractions again. I have a feeling I'll be going in again. I hope that's not the case. Three weeks is all we really need for him to stay put. It makes all the difference in the world for his health. Our hospital is just a community hospital. The nearest that has a neonatal intensive care unit is 2 hours away. I hope he stays put.

In Need of Prayer

I just got back from Labor and Delivery (L&D). I have had contractions since yesterday. They didn't seem to be doing anything but annoying me after such time. I went in to L&D just to be safe and the contractions were so mild most of them were not showing up on the monitor. They did an exam before releasing me to see if there had been any progress and found me to be at 2 cm and 50% effaced already! This is not a normal thing for me so I started crying. They gave me a shot to stop the contractions and monitored me and baby for another hour, then sent me home. I know it's very typical for many women to walk around 2 cm dilated until they reach full term. I hope this to be one of those cases. I'm really nervous right now as our little Matthew needs another good 4-5 weeks before I feel somewhat good about his arrival. He's in excellent health right now and I pray that he will stay that way.

Elisabeth and Hannah

Here's a good way to start the blog. A beautiful picture of my 2 little girls.

Favorite Pictures of Hannah

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Hannah around her 1st birthday.

Pregnancy

I can't believe I will be 30 weeks along in a couple of days. In just 6 weeks I will have to have the bags packed and be in ready mode. I know the time will continue to go by quickly. Matthew is filleting tuna at the docks right now as he does for a few weeks each Summer. So, I take the girls out with me to the park, the store or stay home and enjoy them and do some baking and sewing. By the time Matthew is done, his father will be coming up in mid-September from San Diego. I haven't met him before but am looking forward to it. When he leaves I guess it will be time to get ready to have the baby.

Little Matthew is a sleeper. He sleeps a lot! I hope he has the wonderful sleeping habits of his sister Elisabeth. She can sleep through anything and sleep forever! Hannah on the other hand will wake at any little creak in the house. Anyways, I am looking forward to the experience of having a boy. I wonder what he will look like. I wonder if I will feel as much love towards him as my girls. I wonder if it will feel different looking at his little face while he's sleeping in my arms. I've already had a few different thoughts. A couple of months ago I had concern for this little one in my belly that he will have to bear the burdens in his own family one day. He will have to be the provider and decision maker on the big issues. I felt for him and he's not even born yet. Yes, we as women have different roles than men and that day I thought of how nice it is to be under a man and his protectiveness and as a provider, etc... I am blessed. I have much.

Preparations for the birth.... I'm already planning of course. Next month I will make some extra meals to freeze for Matthew and the girls while he is home alone. We have a close friend that may be able to watch the girls so Matthew can be in the delivery room with me. I'm so glad he LOVES to be there and be a part of it. He shared the birth story of Hannah many, many times. We ordered a cute crib/bedding set for little Matthew. I will take a picture when we get it. It's adorable and so boyish. Of course I have bought little boy clothes. It's funny how quick you see what you like and don't like for styles for a baby boy. We're not into the sports themes or popular characters but love the puppy dogs, trucks, cars... you know, all the boy stuff!

It's getting nice outside. Something that never happens here so I need to finish these last posts and head outside with the girls.

Hannah Movin Around

As you see, Hannah is starting to move around. Climbing, climbing, did I say climbing? I took this just yesterday. She will be 1 year old in 2 days. I can't believe it. I was so close to Elisabeth last year that I feared not loving the next child as much. My fears were just fears. I love her so very much. They are both so different but so loved. With her birthday coming up, I will have to update this blog sooner than my normal monthly post.