St. Patrick's Day Hijinks, and Amish Babies!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, guys and gals! Last night, Ryan and I had corned beef and cabbage to celebrate. (Sadly, no Guinness to complete the Irish circle... a sacrificial gift to my unborn child. Although with a ton of Irish on both sides, maybe Wyatt would have enjoyed some spirits, haha.) We made a lot, so we'll have plenty to keep the tasty Irish food going today. We fixed it a night early because we're going to a party at our next door neighbors' house tonight. But lunch will definitely be Irish leftovers.




Every night, Ryan and I read from a pregnancy journal we got when we found out we had a baby coming back in July. We usually read it the night before the day it represents, so last night it said 12 days (referring, of course, to the time left to the original 3/29 due date). Is it just me, or is that a ridiculously short amount of time? Counting in weeks has been one thing, but now we're in days. And while I realize that I could easily go past my due date (please no!), he's coming really soon either way.


While I'm blogging, I feel like I should mention something about the book I'm reading right now. You may laugh at me or shake your head in dismay, but I'm reading a book called To Train Up a Child. It's a book about raising children based on a lot of the principles that the author observed in the Amish culture. And while I'm obviously more of a tattooed city girl at heart than an Amish mother, I do think there's something to be said for well-behaved children. And the Amish are known for their well-behaved children despite the fact that they don't scream and yell, and rarely need to use harsh punishments. That's pretty impressive. And so, I'm reading the book. It's actually really interesting. The very basic premise is that a well-trained (disciplined) child rarely needs punishment (which the author shows is not the same thing). So the key is early training, and obviously, consistency. And I'll be honest. There is a method to my obsession with well-disciplined children that goes way beyond the views of the Amish. I've found that children who haven't been well-disciplined spend more time unhappy (whining and tantrums and unnecessary boo boos from doing unsafe things aren't fun for them, either), and their parents very quickly lose their social lives. Because let's face it: how much time do you want to spend with people when their children are terrors? It's like a one-way ticket to family hermitdome. (Let's pretend that's a word.) That's something this tattooed city girl thinks is completely unnecessary, and that's why I'm hoping I'll be able to apply some good old fashioned Amish training to an otherwise modern and social family.


Anyway, here are the stats: I'm somewhere between 38wk 2d and 38wk 5d pregnant. That puts me at 9-12 days until my due date. And the longest we'll have to wait will be 22 days. Please send up a prayer that it'll be sooner rather than later. I'm really ready to be done with this pregnancy thing for a while!

Croi follain agus gob fliuch!

(A healthy heart and a wet mouth!)