Catching up

I know I have slacked off the blogging recently. Things are really good, but really, REALLY busy. I'm teaching seven hours a day. The new baby is due in three weeks. It is hard to be away from the kidlets so much, especially since by the time I get home I am too tired to do much with them. I can tell that they are feeling it, too, but we are all coping OK.

My birth kit arrived yesterday, and I am getting really excited! Aside from the birth supplies, I have stocked up on Señorial (a sangria softdrink from Mexico), I've got all the ingredients on hand for a chocolate layer cake with cheesecake filling to be made during early labor, and have been talking with the kids about what to expect. I don't know how much, if any, of the labor they will be around for, but they've seen several birth videos and I've given them examples of the kinds of noises I might make. I was doing some low moaning-type vocalizations and they burst out laughing and said it sounded like a cow mooing. :D It kind of did.

It will come as no surprise to most of you that I have always heard voices and seen things. ;) For the last several weeks, I keep getting pictures in my head of us standing in the middle of a tornado. Everything around us is whirling chaotically, but there is perfect calm inside the spot in the middle where we are. It has been true. Despite everything going on right now, I've felt so much peace. It definitely hasn't come from me, and I am so, so grateful for it. We've been able to happily ride the storm.

We still have a long ways to go. I have three more weeks of class (I keep telling my students that the baby can come as soon as we turn in final grades), then in the middle of July we are planning to head to Puerto Rico for a few weeks. Yeah, I know. The timing is less than ideal. However, when Elena was born, because of passport laws she was too little to go to Mexico so the kids and I stayed here while Carlos went. Based on that experience, I am convinced that it would actually be much easier to take a newborn on a trip like that than try to be here with all four little ones without Carlos.

Still haven't picked out a girl name. I believe that names are extremely important--throughout the Bible, they showed a special significance in people's lives. I keep waiting for the right one to jump out, and it hasn't. At least not for a girl. We agreed a few days after the pregnancy test on a boy name. The ultrasound showed a girl, though... We'll see what happens!

Math is for girls

I adored biology, but didn't enjoy studying math or chemistry much. Apparently, my daughters are headed in a different direction, though. In the car yesterday, Ariana (6 years old) had a very happy conversation about negative numbers, the value of zero, chemical compounds, bacteria and viruses. Afterward, she told me that pathogenic microbiology might be interesting, but she loved math, and when she got older she really wanted to work in a laboratory with lots of chemicals. Then she told me in a frustrated tone that she couldn't decide which would be better--math or chemistry. I replied that she could study both, and that a good chemist also needed a strong foundation in mathematics. Her whole face lit up with pleasure at the thought!

Elena (not quite two) is also becoming interested in the meaning of numbers. Yesterday she asked for a piece of chocolate. Knowing that recently she has been requesting two of everything (one for each hand), I told her that she may have *one* piece of chocolate. Her face grew very intent as she caught my emphasis. Elena has never been one to hold back from boldly pursuing what she wants. After a moments of thought, she said, "Four? Five?" then paused, grinned confidently and shouted, "Thirteen!" (Despite my desire to encourage her, she only got one. We'll practice thirteen with grapes, peas, or pieces of cereal.) :)