Now to understand why that’s a big deal, you have to realize that when Dorian was born and I said I was homeschooling, Irving was 100% against it. He’s a teacher. He liked schools. Over the years, I kept working on him, determined that the kids would be educated at home. He started to come around when Dorian was about 3, but he still wasn’t convinced. “Go ahead and teach him for preschool and we’ll see,” he said. So I did. Then I continued for kindergarten, but I fully expected him to be into the sending Dorian to school for first grade when I got the homeschool jitters.

Not only did Irving NOT want to send the boys to school, he decided to jump on in and give me a hand. A big part of my anxiety was the fact that I have less time than ever with my new position as a freelance manager and with the baby coming, I knew schooling was going to be tough and possibly not top priority. So Irving suggested that he take over some of the subjects and make it easier on me. From being totally against homeschooling to teaching two classes in 6 years? Not so bad!

It is WAY easier to teach when you have that extra support and help. Irving is teaching math and music and on the mornings when I can’t move without vomiting, he often directs other lessons, too. That makes me feel much better, knowing that even if I’m spending the morning hanging over the toilet while answering emails, the boys are still learning!

I really appreciate the extra support that Irving has been giving and the boys LOVE having Papa teach them. To the point where if I say it’s time for school, Dorian isn’t that happy, but if Papa says it’s time, the world is full of rainbows and gumdrops.

Just yesterday, Dorian read a funny story in his reading book and since we were laughing about it, Dante wanted to know what was going on. “Hang on, I’ll read it to you,” Dorian told him and proceeded to go back and read the story on his own and make his brother laugh. It’s the first time he’s really acknowledged that he can read and the very first time he’s willingly read to someone besides myself!

Then other day, we were discussing how schooling is going and Irving told me, “They’ve learned in a week what would take a month in school!” I pointed out that the whole one on one business really helps because they can move at their own pace, but I think he is thoroughly convinced now that this is the way to go and so am I, now that my confidence is back!

I have one hat for Dominic. One. In a country where hats are mandatory if you don’t want your baby to die. So it was obviously time to make a few. I had a couple of tutorials that I’d been dying to try, so I got to work and made a couple of hats last night while watching the movie.

This is the first one I made, from this tutorial.

The pattern was dead simple, but my machine didn’t have enough space for the hem, so I was sewing all scrunched up and the hem turned out wonky. Oh well. I’m going to make a half dozen more of these, since they are easy to whip up from old T-shirts and I figure I’ll adjust the hem slightly so it will fit better in my machine. it can always be turned up for the baby.

The second hat is my absolute favorite. I’m addicted to this hat. I found the tutorial a while back and bought a men’s shirt in the pacas ages ago and even had it all cut out, but didn’t get around to sewing it until last night and it was love at first sight.

This cute little cap is made from ONE sleeve of the shirt. Which means I have tons of fabric left to make other stuff. I’m thinking a matching little jacket and some booties would be perfect. It’s just so . . . BOY. And I was surprised at how easy the hat was to make, albeit a little time consuming. It has lining and a buttonhole, which I wasn’t looking forward to, but it came out fine and even the tricky bits weren’t tricky after all.

I have a couple more shirts that I am going to turn into hats now . . .

It’s not confirmed yet that we will be doing a C-section, because there is still a little bit of time for my obviously stubborn 3rd son to turn his butt around and get his head down, but it isn’t looking good. Not only that, but I’ve been put on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy to make sure a certain little someone doesn’t end up with a prolapsed cord or a foot showing up first. Sigh. So the bathroom painting? Yeah, so not going to happen. The good news is that I’ll have time after the baby and before my sister comes to clean the house. Because I’m sure I’ll be super energetic with a newborn.

IF Dominic does turn around, the doctor doesn’t think he’ll be in there much past mid-February . . . he’s a big kid already, estimated at 7 lbs 6 oz. His head measures 38 weeks, even though we’re only in the 36th week. So who knows exactly how big he is, but it’s sure looking like he’s going to be a February baby!

So, if I only have two weeks left before my munchkin shows up, we had better get a crib. I’d better sew SOMETHING before he gets here, since I wanted to make him a cute little hat to wear home from the hospital. I’d better cook some freezer meals, too. And, and, and . . . well, one weekend left to figure it all out!

A friend of mine here is married to a Guatemalan who is a Spanish teacher. He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet around here and is also a great, experienced teacher. And . . . they recently began to offer online Spanish classes!

Custom Spanish is a website that provides you with personalized online Spanish classes. You not only get to learn at the level you’re at, you get one on one teaching, which is really the best way to learn another language.  I love the idea of online learning because not only does it give you access to a native speaker, it’s also super flexible and you can’t beat the one on one classes.

If you’re interested in learning Spanish but can’t make it down here or want more than just a few days of lessons, check out Custom Spanish and find out how they can help you learn.

Must Do

• Buy a crib.
• Get more batteries for the camera (plan to take LOTS of pics!)
• Wash baby clothes/blankets, etc.
• Make/buy crib sheets.
• Pack hospital bag.
• Discuss birth plan with doctor (I’ve never done this before, so I have plenty of questions for him!)
• Cook freezer meals.
• Stock pantry with foods kids and my sis will/can eat.
• Stock up on tea, I know I’ll want plenty after the munchkin arrives!
• Sort wheat ahead of time for easy grinding for bread after the baby.
• Plan school for the entire month of March so I won’t be scrambling with a newborn to come up with lesson plans.
• Figure out sleeping arrangements for my sister.
• Figure out maternity leave, how, if, when . . .

Should Do

• Finish sewing baby clothes (started!)
• Make a quilt (maybe?)
• Wash windows
• Get rid of any and everything unnecessary to make room for another kid
• Organize school stuff for easy access
• Clean and disinfect the cupboards and get more mouse-proof containers for food
• Paint bathroom (on my wishlist, but probably won’t happen)
• Make a water holder for Loopy Peace (he keeps dumping his water out and if we aren’t home I need to be sure he has plenty to drink)
• Dust entire house
• Replace shower curtain
• Go on a spider/centipede killing spree
• Clean stove/oven
• Make curtains for the bedroom windows at least (so the baby and I can sleep during the day!)

As you can see, there’s a lot of cleaning that needs to be done. Essentially, the entire house needs to be deep cleaned. Irving is good about doing regular sweeping and mopping and washing up, but we definitely need to do a better cleaning job before my sister gets here!

Girl in movie: “Kiss, kiss.”

Dante: “EW! Kiss, kiss! That’s disgusting!”

Dorian: “Maybe not.”

Dante: “Would you kiss that girl?”

Dorian: “Yeah.”

Dante: “You are so DISGUSTING!”

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Dante: “Mama, can you do me a favorite and help me tie my Batman cape?”

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Dante: “Hey, look! I’m turning brown like Papa!”

Me: “Hon, that’s dirt. You need a bath.”

Dante: “No, it’s the same color as Papa. I’m gonna be the same as him.”

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Dorian: “Wait a minute! I thought we were going to YOUR doctor to check the baby!”

Me: “No, you’re the one who’s sick, we’re taking you to your doctor.”

Dorian: “That’s not fair, you didn’t tell me that, I thought this was for the baby. I don’t want to see my doctor!”

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Dorian and I were having a discussion about how I can’t always play with him because I have to work.

Me: “Welcome to Mama’s world.”

Dorian: “Welcome to real life.”

Yesterday, for school, Dorian narrated a story to me to write down and then he illustrated it. It was about dinosaurs, so here we have two dino houses. Inside the big house, there’s a duck hatching out of an egg. My favorite part is the unique spelling of “quack” at the top there . . . this is the first time he’s ever tried to write a word that he doesn’t know already by simply sounding it out, so it was kind of a big deal around here!

My sister, Sarah, is coming down for the first two weeks of March, to help out with the boys and stuff, so we need to figure out where to put her. This little house is getting awfully crowded! It was tight for 4 of us, but soon there will be 5 and then 6 for a couple of weeks. I really want to clean the place up a bit before she gets here, but I’m not sure there’s enough energy left in the reserve tank for that!

Another to do on my list is freezer meals. A bunch of women in my due date club are making freezer meals to ensure they don’t have to cook after the baby comes, which is an awesome idea. I’ve done this before, but some of the recipes I used originally didn’t work so well. So if you have a winning freezer meal recipe, please feel free to share in the comments! I know that I rarely cook after a baby arrives and to tell the truth, I don’t want to rely on Irving’s mayonnaise marinated beef for a few weeks, so . . . freezing it is! If my sister wants to cook while she’s here, I’m not opposed to that either, since she makes a mean bacon weave and potato wedges that the boys gobble down like nobody’s business.

And on that note, off to work for the day.

We made the day special by getting out some dinosaur pencils and erasers that I got in Canada, but the boys were most excited about Papa helping with the teaching! He’s doing math and music, but he helped with the other subjects, too. In fact, he showed us how to do a traditional project from the schools here, where you roll bits of tissue paper into tiny balls with your forefinger and thumb and then glue them to lines. We did the boys’ names because they are still not proficient in writing their own names. Dorian, interestingly enough, could roll with both hands, no problem, whereas even I have issues doing that! I think he might ambidextrous like his aunt and grandmother.

Dante had trouble sitting still for that long, so he was up and down, which is fine, because he concentrates better that way. He spent a large chunk of his time drawing pictures of what we were doing, instead of actually doing the projects. Dorian, on the other hand, was super focused and very meticulous about doing his work well. He takes being in Grade 1 very seriously.

I headed to work at 8:45 and Irving began to work on math with the kids. He finished his planned lesson, but they were all having so much fun, they kept going for another 45 minutes! Guess we’ll be a mathematical household!

Overall, the first day of school was a success and will hopefully continue like this!