at peace

so today is my due date for baby number 4. at my appointment last week we had talked about her inducing me by breaking my water. last night i had many mixed emotions.... here is an email i sent to some of my prayer warriors:

sending out a prayer request. tomorrow i am going into the doc at 10 to talk about her breaking my water. tomorrow is my actual due. cant believe i have made it this long. neither can anyone else actually. last two visits i was 4 cm dilated and baby was low and ready to go. just cant seem to keep consistent contractions coming. i have tried everything..... anyways, as much as i want to get baby here, i am feeling both anxious and guilty tonight.

anxious because "i" will be starting things instead of letting nature take its course. i am concerned about her breaking my water and then labor not progressing to the point that i need pitocin. i really dont want to be put on that. also just anxious about the entire process. at first i was excited about the delivery part of it all b/c brennas had gone so well. my doc this time around is a new one for me and i feel like she is all about what is most convenient for her and of course anxious about the baby being alright. i know god does not want me to worry about these things. camp is all about mission:possible this year. the verse is "... with man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible."

guilty because there is still one more week of camp. dave says he has everything worked out for him to be with me tomorrow and tuesday, i am just feeling like if i am at the point where i am choosing a day to have a baby, i should just wait a few more days until camp is done. dave still us to go ahead with plans tomorrow but i am feeling very selfish.

so please pray for peace in the decision we need to make tomorrow or even that i go into labor tonight :) so i dont have to make the decision

after our appointment with the doc today we decided to let the baby come on Gods timing and not our own. i feel such relief and peace, just was i was praying for. here is my updated email:

dave and i met the doc at 10 this morning at the office, i still was very unsettled about making a decision. she checked me again and said that i had not changed at all since last week. she was willing to break my water but then felt like it would be a pretty good possibility that i would have to go on pit. she knew that was not what i had desired. she told us it was our decision and that since i was doing fine and baby was doing fine that we could choose. she told me then that she would be out of town after wed and the doc on call would have to deliver. the doc on call is one who actually delivered brenna and we really liked him. dave and i were totally ok with that happening again and then just felt a peace about waiting.

SO... that is what we are doing. waiting for baby wid and GODS timing. i have another appointment this thursday with the new doc and they will monitor the baby to make sure he/she is still doing good.

thanks again for your prayers. i do feel peace about waiting and not starting things that arent ready to be started. i need to just let go of the fact that there is an entire camp waiting on us to have a baby. :)

so this is where we are... finding peace in my God and resting in Him knowing that he has this all planned out for our family and that His plans are way better than my own. why i always have to struggle with this concept and worry myself sick first i do not know, but i am so thankful for family and friends who love and encourage us and remind of us our Lords promises.

so i will leave you with one last picture of the shirts dave and i wore to the doc today. since the beginning dave has been saying "three is for quitters" in which my response is " four no more" so i made these shirts up for us. we needed some comic relief today.

laundry soap

well it sure isnt a post about a little new baby but i have to do something to keep the time going by, so you get how to make your own laundry soap instead. i have been wanting to make my own laundry detergent for 2 years now after a good friend had given me a recipe they used and liked. she is a super talented lady with a blog of her own, check her out here.

any how.... i was determined to make it with the kids this summer as it seemed like a project they would get excited about so i put it on the summer "to do" list. after two years i had misplaced heathers recipe so i just looked online for one. there are tons of resources for it but this is one i found. it seemed just like heathers so i went for it.

here are the ingredients:

* 1 bar of soap- one website said to use fels-naptha, a special laundry stain removing soap found in the laundry section of your grocery store. other websites said to use whatever soap you wanted.

* 1/2 cup of borax- also found in the laundry section

* 1 cup of arm and hammer WASHING soda- not the same as baking soda

* about 3 gallons of water

* you will also need a five gallon bucket, a long spoon to stir, a large pot to boil some water and soap, and a cheese grater.
step 1. put about 4 cups of water into the pan on the stove and bring to boil. while you are doing this, grate the entire bar of soap into little bits. after the water boils, add the shredded soap to the pot in small amounts. stir until it is all melted.
step 2: get your large bucket and add three gallons of warm tap water to it. to this bucket add your dry ingredients first. the 1/2 cup of borax and the cup of washing soda. stir well.

step 3: then add the liquid mixture you made on the stove to the large bucket. above is a picture of the kids stirring the final mixture.

you're done! super easy! the consistency of mine was pretty slimmy and as you let it sit it would form a thick layer on top. so make sure to mix your soap before each use.
step 4: instead of leaving my soap in the large bucket i wanted to pour it into smaller containers. you can use saved laundry bottles or in my case i used old juice jugs. there is still enough left in my big bucket to fill another two gallon juice jugs! this makes a ton. i also thought it would be easier to shake each time than stir the large bucket each time.

you use one cup of detergent per load and supposedly this is perfectly safe for HE washers, because it is low sudsing, lets hope so since that is what we have.

i got a lot of reactions on FB when i posted about the laundry soap. if any of you have tried it, share your thoughts here in the comments so everyone can benefit for your knowledge.

confessions of a 39 week pregnant lady

- totally did not think i would have made it to this day... 4 days from my due date

- i have been dilated for weeks now... at this point i am 4 cm dilated and still just hanging on

- doc cant believe i have not gone into labor yet

- she said she would break my water on monday if i didnt have baby by then

- i have been walking like crazy

- i am addicted to burger kings coke icees and french fries

- trident gum has gotten me through this pregnancy. the only time i dont have a piece in my mouth is when i am eating real food or sleeping.

- by about 3 in the afternoon i put daves boxers on b/c they are the only thing that is comfortable

- i feel as though i could sleep all day

- i have shaved my legs "for the last time while being pregnant" to many times

- i have to sit on the edge of the tub to get dressed

- i pee my pants when i sneeze

- i am so anxious to find out if the baby is a boy or girl

- i am super nervous that everything with the delivery will go ok

- i have only had one ultrasound the entire pregnancy, i wish i could see my little baby again

- i am pretty grouchy today, patience has run about out

- so thankful that lynnsey is here

- mom is here now too and the bathroom is spotless

- i am about to make a batch of labor cookies

all right that is all i can think of now. hopefully next time i blog it will be with a photo of Jori Logan Widmaier or Caden Nelson Widmaier.

block heads

just a few more of our sculptures. i think they turned out so fun and colorful.

art show

after science week, we had art week here at the wid house. the kids really enjoyed this week, as did I :) it was garrets idea to have an art show and display ever thing we had created. we planned for a time that daddy would be able to attend and it was also when gram, papa p, and kenzie could be here too. grandma kay and cousin katie even stopped by. the kids were so proud!

i painted this sign for the show. it was the first time i have painted in about 2 years! it felt good to just slop some paint on a canvas.
these are our 3D sculptural pieces. the idea is from Family Fun magazine. I just love that magazine. the kids REALLY enjoyed this project. through out the week we had different vocab words again and talked about a famous artist that also worked in the medium the kids were working in.
we started out with color theory and made color wheels. we talked about primary and secondary colors.
then we did abstract tape art, where we put down pieces of tape on the paper and then painted with water colors over the top. then you could peel the tape off and see the design.
impressionist paintings like those painted by manet
garrets self portrait! i was so proud of him. he really loved this project. we talked about proportions and how to draw features that really looked like what he saw in the mirror. he took his time and i just love the finished product.
this is brennas tape art.
and this is raelyns free time water color art. it was super fun. hope you enjoyed the art show too. :)

4th of july

the kids and i spent the 4th of july with some great families. we were unable to be with daddy because it was the first night of sr high week of camp. like i said in the previous post, we are truly blessed with the friends we have right now. friends that are like family when you cant be with family. we spent the afternoon in the pool, ate yummy burgers and then waited for the sun to go down to do some fireworks that garret and i had picked out. he is getting old enough to know what he is missing out on if we hadnt done anything. it was a really fun night. it made me miss dave a lot with the fun that we had with the other families. we will have to have another pool and picnic night soon.

garret jumped off the diving board for the first time and LOVED it! he is such a good swimmer this summer.
a few wid kid pics



giant sparklers!

a baby shower

i have to start out by saying i have been blessed by the best friends. it has been a long road to be honest. when we first moved to tn i thought i would never make friends, but the lord is good and has given me more than i could have even asked for in godly friendships.

on july 3rd these special ladies had an "essentials" shower for me and baby wid. they planned the entire thing with a black and white color scheme and everyone even wore black an white. i have to say we are a pretty good looking bunch of ladies :)

carrie and marcie are the hostesses and perfected every detail. i love decorating and having parties for people but i have to say it was super nice to be on the receiving end of a beautiful party. i felt so special.
the table was set with china,
each chair had a photo of me hanging with a word that so kindly describe me,
the place settings were gorgeous,
and a yummy hand made lemon cake made by kara (you can check out her super creative blog)
i still cant get over how lovely everything was. i never wanted to leave. so now i have all the essentials for baby and just need baby. any day now.....

thanks gram and papa-p

with much thanks to gram and papa-p we have a pool. the kids have LOVED playing in it almost every day this summer so far. dave and i have even gotten in a few times. i have to admit... i am not a very good "pool boy" though. it is tough to keep that water clear.
garret is a really good swimmer, rae is just about there and brenna wont be long b/c she wants to be like the big kids. the pool is really nice b/c they can all stand with their heads above the water. as long as an adult is watching them, the girls dont need any floatation. i really hope to have realyn swimming on her own by the end of the summer. we still have a membership at the Y and lynnsey has been taking the kids there to really swim too.

date with brenna

with lynnseys help, i have been trying to take the kids out for some one on one time. i had taken the older kids to do a few things and brenna was really feeling left out. i promised to take her to feed the ducks and geese one afternoon. she LOVED it. it is the simple things. we were probably only there for 20 minutes or so, but it was a great time for just me and her. i think she is going to have a harder time with the new baby. she has been the baby for the longer than the other two ever were. i also think she is going to be in love with and SO interested in the baby, but she is by far the most clingy. we talk about her being a big sister and not the baby anymore every day. i am praying the transition isnt to hard on her. for now... here is that sweet girl of mine.

science wek: liquids, solids, and maple syrup

the last science thing i will share with you guys is when we talked liquids and solids. i found this http://www.education.com/activity/article/Solid_Liquid_Maple_Syrup_first/ fun project that we did together. the kids used their journals again and wrote down the vocab and made a chart to put items in the solid or liquid category. this project was fun because we got a special treat at the end. we actually turned liquid maple syrup into solid maple sugar candy. we did this by heating the syrup and evaporating the water from it so when it cooled it turned solid. lynnsey said this was her favorite b/c the candy was so yummy. the photos of the candy dont look so good but it was yum.