Jeremiah is almost done with school for the year. We have decided to homeschool full-time next year. I am super excited about it, as I almost have all the curriculum this time, and have looked through it and love it! I am going to use McRuffy Math and the rest (LA, Reading, Soc. Studies, Science) we’ll use Christian Light Education. We will use additional Spelling, History and maybe Health gathered from different sources. I hope to have an extensive list of what we use, as well as our schedule, posted at least before school starts.
I am just so excited! I’m also very thankful to have gotten EVERYTHING used, so decently priced, so far! I know I will need to get most (if not all) of the workbooks brand new, but that’s fine. I almost have ALL K, 1st, 2nd and 3rd items bought! That is quite a feat for us.
I have to brag on my boys a bit! Jeremiah wrote part of his first song. It is really beautiful, too. Including all spelling errors (only one really!): I love you Lord. I love you more then anything. You are the light of my heart. You are the BEST. /// Isn’t it beautiful?! And today Josiah read 9 Hooked on Phonics books! He is so proud of himself and I am so proud of him too. I love my big guys!!!!
Couponing is going well. Now that we have started and I’ve gotten pretty used to it, I know there’s no way I can go back! I really feel awful buying anything full price now. I am going to start including my couponing stuff on here too. This is going to be a family blog, budgeting/couponing blog, homeschooling blog, and more! It won’t be so boring anymore – I am going to post on it. Yes, some posts may be really small, but that’s fine with me!
Oh, tomorrow we are going to the PBS Kids at the Park! The boys have been counting down the days for a month and a half and it’s finally almost here! They are going to meet the Kratt brothers from Wild Kratts and Zaboomafoo. I hope to have lots of photos!
well this has been a really interesting couple of weeks.
1 – homeschooling. it has been a rough time trying to homeschool. i know if i were a more organized individual it would all be fine, but i am not getting anything done, including homeschooling. we were considering putting jeremiah in public school, and (no offense to anyone) the thought was terrifying to me. i called around the Christian schools, and there is NO WAY we could afford them. i mean, even if my parents went halve-sies with us we still couldn’t afford it. so i was truly about ready to put him into school. then i went back to a thought that i’d dismissed in the past: k12′s Hoosier Academies. it’s a hybrid school – 2 days in the classroom, and 3 days at home. the curriculum is provided, as is any help from teachers if the parent needs it. a friend at church is a teacher there. i am actually excited about everything, except for the driving! it’s about a half hour drive. i’m still trying to figure this out though so we’ll see what we come up with. his semester starts feb. 1.
2 – gas leaks. we have had three gas leaks in the past two months. two outside, one inside. the inside one was paired with one of the outside ones this week. we had to go to our nextdoor neighbor’s house while the gas co. looked at it. it was very scary and i’m thankful i smelled it and that we are ok!
3 – sold extra van. anyone remember the van we were gifted a few years back? when the couple gave it to me, the wife said “i hope this is a blessing and not a burden for you.” ever since then, it has honestly been pretty much a burden. things kept going wrong, it was very hard to get the kids in/out of it, one thing after another. in order to qualify for food stamps, we finally we sold it to my parents for a few dollars, in hopes my dad could sell it. well, he finally did! we were so amazed and felt so blessed to have this money to help us out! now we think that it was God saying, “here, you guys are gonna need this soon.” (more on point 5)
4 – 3/4 boys sick – vomiting, dia. josiah is the only one spared – he is full of energy, totally himself. jamin seems to be the worst-off. please pray that they heal quickly. i may have to take them to the dr if it doesn’t clear up soon. jerry and i are also not feeling well, but the vomiting hasn’t hit us (please pray it doesn’t!)
5 – pothole, resulting issues. this is the biggie. the other day, jerry hit a pothole. the tire was blown. he tried to get the tire off to no avail. he had it towed to get it replaced, but they couldn’t get it off either! he had to leave it there overnight, resulting in a missed night of work. he had to wait until today to take it to another place for them to remove it. it took several men 3+ HOURS to get it off, so what should have cost very little ended up costing a lot. and they said “oh by the way, sorry man, the rim is destroyed” oh really? great. thanks so much. so we thought it would be 55 more bucks. still a lot, but not awful. well, when he got back over there, he was told that was the wrong price, that it was actually 110, but they’d drop it to 90. wow what a steal! so we are out 400 and some odd dollars. AND the brakes are going to go out at any moment. this means who knows when we can pay our house payment, i have to transfer money out of the newly created boys’ savings accounts, and it just stinks.
pardon my pity-party. i am so frustrated right now! i realize how blessed we are and i’m so thankful for all that we have and all that the Lord does for us. it just seems like we can’t cut a break. please keep us in your prayers.
i really can’t believe it’s been so long since i’ve blogged on here. i am forcing myself on here to do it right now, since i do not want to forget a few things!
jace is almost officially walking. he took 5 steps in a row today. i keep thinking “this will be the day” but it hasn’t happened yet. LOL! he is repeating a lot of words now though. “up” “bi bo” (big boy) “a pa” (apple) “uh yu uh” (i love you) “beh beh” (bye bye) and or course mama, dada, baba. jeremiah thinks he said “ni-ni (like ny-ny) for jeremiah (like we used to call him mi-mi (sounds like my-my).
i could really use a lot of prayer and also a virtual kick in the pants. i am so unorganized it seems to be messing up my entire life. please pray.
maybe if i ever get a good photo for Christmas cards i’ll use it to update this poor site!
WHAT?! and this is the first i’ve posted since he was two months old or so?! how can i ever forgive myself for letting so much time go by without blogging?!
my precious baby boy is getting so big. he does the commando crawl like a pro, he has two top teeth almost all the way in, one bottom, and the other bottom has been just below the surface for about a month now lol. he still nurses a lot plus has one bottle of good start formula and one bottle of breast milk per day. (if you have good start coupons or checks, please let me know! this is the only brand we find works for him!) his spitting up is improving SO MUCH. i think it’s just his age, that he’s outgrowing it. we are all so thankful! we were changing his clothes up to 6 times per day, and ours about 3 times per day. he was so uncomfortable and cranky much of the time, and he’s getting much better now. he is out of the carrier carseat and in the bigger one. he’s been out of the bassinet and in the crib for quite a while now. he is still fitting in some 6 month clothes, but most of them are 9 month.
i am just beyond belief in love with him. he is such a joy to each of us. such a wonderful blessing! none of us can imagine what life would be like if he hadn’t come to join our family. the Lord definitely knows what He’s doing. josiah will often talk about “baby sprout” and wish that baby sprout would be alive, but the last time he mentioned it, i told him that if baby sprout had been born, jace would never even have existed. i told him we were sad that baby sprout is gone, but i’m so glad that jace is here now. he agreed, and i haven’t heard baby sprout mentioned in such a way since then.
jace really is a wonderful baby. if ever you know your child will be your “last” child, it’s nice to end on a good note i guess. my only worry is that i will spoil him too much. he is my last baby…so he will be my baby forever, right? i honestly love him so much i feel i will burst sometimes!
in other news, i have been couponing lately. it helps out when you are buying more expensive items, like gluten-free food, like we do. josiah and jamin are both gluten-free now. ask me if you get coupons that you don’t use – i might need them!
josiah’s behavior is a hundred times better now that he’s GF, but there are still a few issues to work on. i’m seriously wondering if he has ADHD. anyone have experience with it? and what is there to do besides pills to help it? i really don’t want my five year old taking medicine that’s going to turn him into a zombie. yes, i said five year old, because in a few months, my little jojobean will be FIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can you believe it?! and my little jaminbug will be THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how on earth do they grow up so fast?!?!?!?!
jamin scared me to death last night. we were upstairs, getting ready for bed, and the boys spotted a spider on the ceiling. all of us know that spiders really are good for your home because they kill other bugs. but since spiders around here don’t kill ants or flies for us, we figure they aren’t doing us any good. plus the boys and i get freaked out by certain ones. so i sprayed it with some bug spray from across the ledge. it fell down the stairs. i went into the bathroom to get jamin’s toothbrush ready for him, and called to him. i turned around and looked at him and he was standing on the recliner, which was reclined all the way back, level with the ledge, and jamin was about 2 feet over the ledge’s edge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i didn’t want to yell to him and scare him over so i ran to him and pulled him down and was yelling and crying, and he started bawling because i was freaking him out….but oh my goodness my heart is racing again just thinking about it. i pray he doesn’t ever do anything like that again. one thing is for sure – we have to get something up against that short wall, because it is too dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
well baby jace needs me, and it’s impossible to type while i’m holding him anymore. he wants to join in and type with his whole hand LOL.
i hadn’t realized it had been so incredibly long since i’ve blogged. over a month! have i ever been that horribly long in between posts after just having a baby? of course this time i have four boys to care for, and that’s no easy task! lol. fun, yes, rewarding, yes, tiring, yes. easy – NO!
after three weeks of living in sort of a dream world of babymooning, things are finally getting to be more “normal” if that’s possible. jerry had three whole weeks off (from both jobs) to spend with us so jace and i spent the time getting to know each other and nurse as much as possible. meanwhile jerry was taking care of the big three, the house, etc. so it’s been quite the culture shock to return to everything. thankfully he’s not freaking out requiring perfection out of me immediately. i plan to get more organized and take care of my home though.
jeremiah is doing so great with his letters. he is sounding out different words, wanting to write. i’m really proud of him. i can’t wait until i have more undivided time for him and his schoolwork. he is still loving drawing – he and josiah draw multiple pictures a day. they both want to turn their pictures into stories. it’s adorable! as for being the biggest brother, he just adores baby jace. he really is a fabulous big brother with him. the other times (with josiah and jamin) he really didn’t seem to care too much…but with jace, he is so loving, caring and helpful – it’s wonderful. he keeps asking me when he can hold him while standing up. ummmm not yet! lol. jace still cries when he holds him sitting down anyway, lol.
josiah is back to being gluten-free, as of this week. his behavior at the beginning of the week was the last straw for me and i put my foot down. it’s hard, expensive, and a pain to do gluten-free with him, but the trade-off is worth it for a more attentive, happier, healthier little boy. he’s not perfect by any means, but i can totally see the difference. it could also be from the different discepline strategies we’ve been using, but more on that in a sec. josiah loves drawing and “writing”. he will draw pictures and write letters (mostly backwards) all over the paper and say “read this mama!” of course i have no idea what it’s supposed to say, so he gets really mad at me! it’s cute though. joe adores jace and aside from not being careful around him is so sweet and gentle with him. he is very loving to him.
we have implemented supernanny’s “naughty spot” idea this week as well. we’re calling it the “discipline step”. while we are not opposed to spanking, it just hasn’t been working for our guys for every offense. i hate spanking the boys, even though i know it’s necessary sometimes. and i know it still is necessary sometimes, but not an all the time thing like it has been lately. josiah’s acting out has been insane and the amount of spankings was just as out of control. now if the discipline step doesn’t work at first, OR if a misbehavior resulted in someone being hurt, one swat is the discipline, PLUS the minute per year on the discipline step. as i said, this is only the first week, so we’ll see how it works when we are consistent with it.
jamin is still so cute and fun and adorable. everyone just loves him so! his sweet, quiet yet bubbly personality is always a favorite. he’s talking a lot more lately, though his words are kinda murky. he loves reading books, building with blocks, and playing with cars and dinosaurs and trains. he also likes following the big boys around and doing whatever they are doing at first then going off to do his own thing. the boys don’t usually let him, so it’s just the fact that he wants to be with them i think. he seems to be proud of being a big brother, but still hasn’t wanted to hold jace, and still doesn’t want to kiss him often. the poor boy has been sick since jace was born, so he really hasn’t had the chance to interact with him as much as i’d like!
i have been keeping updates on facebook about jace’s progress. he has always had a lot of spitups, but he started projectile vomiting a few weeks ago and i started to get concerned. he acted like he was in pain – screaming and crying, etc. he had a test run for pyloric stenosis and it came back negative. so the dr assumes it’s GER or GERD. he is now on axid for it. so far it’s been helping his pain because he isn’t crying as much when he spits up. he isn’t spitting up as much either, and when he does, it’s more rare for it to be projectile vomiting. he is so precious and so adorable and sweet!! on oct 28 when he turned 1 month old, he had a weight check at the WIC office. he was 7lbs 14oz. i wasn’t happy – considering he was born at 7lbs 10oz. but she reminded me that they count weight gain from the lowest weight, and his was 6lbs 11oz i think. so that’s over a pound in less than a month, so she was happy. he is also up 1/4 an inch in length. lol. so he’s 20 3/4 inches.
since i’ve been doing a good job with facebook updates, i’m going to copy them over here for you. i’m starting the day i went into labor. and i plan to update the blog at least once a week. feel free to yell at me if i don’t!
Jenn Case Gigowskiis ready to sing this morning! Please be praying that I do ok and that Jace isn’t too rough during the song!
Jenn Case Gigowskiis going into the hospital to get checked. I’ve been having fairly consistent contractions (for almost 4 hours). Pray this is it – I don’t want to go through this much longer, and I can’t imagine being sent home again (with each boy they sent me home at least once!!!!!!!)
Jenn Case Gigowskibe praying ! Jenn is at the hospital, getting her strep B drip, the dr is in the hospital and will be seeing her soon, probably to break her water– still waiting for someone to come be with the boys so I, gramma, can go to the hospital to be with her! This is It!!!
Jenn Case Gigowskiwell, Jace is here born at 2:41 am 9/28/2009 7 # 10 oz, 20 1/2 inches long , perfect, looks a lot like jeremiah~ more from jenn later !!!!! thanks for prayers! she did it without Any meds! Praise the Lord! the afterpains are hard, so please pray for her! thanks!
Jenn Case Gigowski….is there anyone close-by who can loan me a good, strong electric pump?? Only the hospital grade seems to work for me. Thanks in advance!
the boys came over today to meet their baby brother!! jeremiah has been thrilled beyond belief for him to come. it’s so funny, because at church, we prayed that jace would wait until after i sang to come, so jeremiah assumed that as soon as i was done singing, jace should arrive. so all sunday afternoon, he was demanding to know why jace wasn’t born yet. “i want my baby jace! when is he coming?!” i took a nap and came downstairs and asked where jace was. i told him he was still in my belly, and he said “i thought you were going to the hospital to bring him home!” LOL. so he was thrilled to meet him.
jamin, though he’s been talking a big game about jace for a few weeks, didn’t really want to get involved today. he didn’t want to touch jace, and did a bit of whining. but he stayed pretty close to me most of the time when i was holding jace. i made sure to have jerry hold jace so i could hold jamin for a bit. i think it will be a hard transition for him!
jace is going through that extra sleepy, not wanting to nurse phase. please pray that he gets over it soon! i am really needing to nurse the stinker!!
thanks again for all the prayers. i appreciate them so much. i still can’t believe that he came pretty much when i wanted him to. kind of crazy!!
At 2:41am Jace Isaiah Paul Gigowski arrived. We have been blessed with a 7 lb 10 oz baby boy. He is healthy and beautiful. Updates coming soon. Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes.
P.S.
Jenn did an amazing job. No medicine. No pitocin. No epideral. We came in at 8:05pm and she delivered him nearly 7 hours later. She is doing very well and is a very happy and proud mother
at the hospital, and can’t post to facebook. they have a block on it, as well as on twitter.
i am about 7, 100% and having very real contractions. killer. he broke my water already, and i’m almost done with the strep b iv. they found some meconium, so please pray he doesn’t breathe that in. i also really really wanted skin to skin immediately, and if he can’t breathe when he’s born, they will whisk him to the warmer.
Well, I’m going into the hospital to get checked. I’ve been having fairly consistent contractions (for almost 4 hours). Pray this is it – I don’t want to go through this much longer, and I can’t imagine being sent home again (with each boy they sent me home at least once!!!!!!!)
I’m also very thankful to have gotten EVERYTHING used, so decently priced, so far! I know I will need to get most (if not all) of the workbooks brand new, but that’s fine. I almost have ALL K, 1st, 2nd and 3rd items bought! That is quite a feat for us.
and i plan to update the blog at least once a week. feel free to yell at me if i don’t! 
