Camian Academy

I am a land birther. My three kids were all born in beds. I never thought I’d even consider a water birth. Now I’m considering it.

Everyone who has had babies both ways rave over the water birth. The only negative I’ve heard is from my friend who said she missed her slimy baby. As Jamie says, no big loss there.

I have this weird fear that the birth pool will fall through the floor. I have the same fear about the bathtub, though, and it doesn’t stop me from taking baths. Yes, I am very strange.

If you’ve had babies both ways, what is it about a water birth that makes you rave over it? If you could do it again, would you choose land or water?

Happy birthday to a wonderful Papa Duk!

We are hosting Thanksgiving this year. There won’t be many people. Just us, my sister’s family of three, my parents, and maybe my aunt. Six or seven adults and four kids ages 1 to 7. Because of this, I insisted our house had to get clean (I’m pregnant, have had several weeks of morning sickness, am still nursing my toddler a lot, and homeschool my older two, so cleaning has just not been high on my list of priorities lately). I also decided we had to rent a steam cleaner because I had become convinced that our carpets stank (really, I was probably right).

So Friday night we emptied out the living room and went and rented the Rug Doctor. We cleaned the living room carpets when we got home. The difference really is amazing. Saturday morning started with me throwing up rather badly. That didn’t bode well, but I pushed on through being tired and nauseas and we got all the other carpets in the house cleaned. For upstairs that was a lot harder than downstairs since one bedroom had become a catch all for whatever we threw in there and the kids’ room was an absolute mess. But now the floors are clean and today we can put stuff back where it belongs since the floors are dry now.

The big kids really helped a lot with the cleaning. So we wanted to reward them somehow. I thought Taco Bell sounded good so we went there for dinner. And then we went to see Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. There’s something very nice about being able to watch a movie and not cringe at anything that is said because your kids are watching too (it’s rated G). All three kids loved it. Even Fritz sat nicely in his booster seat for most of eating popcorn and Reese’s Pieces. Jamie and I enjoyed it very much, too.

All in all, yesterday was probably the most productive day I’ve had in the last 6 weeks. I’m sore today from all the working, but I took some arnica yesterday so I’m sure it could be worse. Looking around the living/dining room is much more pleasant now, too. Now if only we could figure out what the smell in the refrigerator is we’d be good.

Today we finished day 100 of Sonlight Core C. 80 more days to go until we get to move on to Core 1! Core C has been so great and Core 1 sounds even better.

We finished reading Dr. Dolittle today. Cameron especially was very sad to be done with it. He asked me if we could wait until tomorrow to read the last chapter to make it last just a little longer.

Today Cameron read half of his little book he’s been working on this week with very little help from me. He’s really catching on to the whole blending letter sounds into words. It’s so exciting to watch him start to catch on to reading little by little.

Never watch Bizarre Foods on a day when you’ve been fighting throwing up all day. Just trust me on this one.

Why, yes, it is. And we actually are homeschooling here. At least we are most days. Being pregnant is more on the forefront of my mind at the moment, though.

We’re still loving Sonlight. The kids love the read-alouds. Cameron doesn’t like learning to read since it’s not so easy for him like sitting and listening to me read is. Ani’s annoyed that Cameron gets to do all of his language arts and math with me while she has to do most of it on her own.

We are currently reading Hero Tales. Many Sonlighters think it is above the heads of their Core Cers. My kids are a little older for doing Core C than most (but right in the range Sonlight gives, actually). They have no problem with the book. It is interesting to read, though, since missionaries means a very different thing to Protestants than it does to Mormons. Our read aloud is Dr. Dolittle. The kids are absolutely loving that book. We’re learning about bugs in science. Of course the kids love that, too.

Cameron’s still having issues with reading. Thank goodness he’s not in public school where he’d be forced to read in their way on their time. He can remember all the letter sounds, but sometimes I have to remind him what the letter is for him to remember what it says. He is not at all consistent with the letters he forgets. He’s getting better at blending the sounds into words without guessing.

He definitely does not “get” the “families” idea that was a huge hit with Ani. Ani had these sliders shaped like something (like, say, a cat) and it would have the family letters (at) and a space for a letter strip before that and we’d move the strip up and down and she’d read all the words (cat, sat, mat, etc.). Cameron doesn’t think that way. For him to read the word cat, he does it the other way. He figures out that c-a says /ca/ and then puts together /ca/-/t/ to make the word. It works for him so I let him go with it. One day I figure it will all just click. In his own time and in his own way.

For the first 6 years of our marriage, Jamie worked as a contractor on a navy base. For the next almost 2 years he worked for the ADA. I really missed those extra holiday days off when he worked at the ADA. Now he works as a government contractor again, this time for Homeland Security, and it’s so great to have these long weekends.

Today is Veterans Day (Observed - since Veterans Day itself was yesterday). It’s more than just an extra day off, though. It’s a day to remember those who have served, or are servings, in the military. To thank those who fight for us.

Jamie and I have relatives who fought in every major war the US has fought in. Jamie’s 5th great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War. Jamie’s great-great-grandfather fought for the North in the Civil War. I have ancestors who fought on both sides in the Civil War. My grandfather fought in the Atlantic Theater in World War II. Jamie is named after his Uncle Jim served as a bombadier on a B-29 in the Pacific Theater during World War II. His plane was shot down by enemy aircraft fire just three weeks before the end of the war. He is officially listed as MIA since his remains were never recovered. Jamie’s father was on a ship during Vietnam. My father served in the states. My BIL is currently in the Air Force.

To all of these men, and all others who have fought or are fighting, thank you.

My grandmother once told me that when she was pregnant with my aunt she craved apples. Considering my aunt was born in July that was a relatively expensive craving since apples were out of season for the majority of her pregnancy.

With this baby I am craving orange juice and fresh fruits and vegetables. The baby is due in June. Most of my pregnancy will run through fall and winter. Just when the produce prices go down a little the baby will be here.

It could be worse, though. When I was pregnant with Ani I craved shrimp. Those are expensive no matter what the time of year. I always say she was our most expensive baby because of all those shrimp I ate.