Look! I'm still here! For Realz.

Bam! And with that, I'm baaaaaaccckkkk!!!

So... yeah. I haven't done annnything on here in forevvvver. Life, it seems, has been busy.

I've been in a mad frenzy of realizing that I'm going to give birth to Baby Alexy #6 this month, and I had nothing ready. At all. Nadda. Zilch. Zero prep for any type of home birthing situation. I had to rectify that, for my own peace of mind.

The last two weeks have been me zooming around the house trying to get things cleaned (Hah! I still live with 5 kids under 10!), organized (Hah! Refer to the last parenthesized statement), and generally ready for the 'up in the airness' that occurs when you introduce a new being into the family. Last week was full force Freezer Cooking 101, our freezer is now stocked for Hubs once this kid arrives. This makes hearts happy.

Our bedroom has been magically transformed into our very own personal Birthing Suite. We have the space where the pool will go (the pool is not set up, again 5 kids and just add the dog for good measure...), the changing station is set up & stocked, The co-sleeper is set up, the rocker is out, I have all the required absorbency things, a hose and connector thingie for pool water filling-ness. And we are sleeping on the ever-so-wonderful plastic shower curtain under the sheets routine. So. Hot. and So. Crinkly.

So... yeah. Now I feel prepared for the Event. Now I can relax and let this thing play out and just ride it's natural course. Much better.

39weeks on Friday! We got this thing.

(selfie of me, telling the world I need to go wash my mirror... like now...)

Theme Thursday - Boys

Theme Thursday - Boys

Link up for our themed Thursday, head over to Cari's for better written and hopefully more jolly posts.

Haven't done much around here this week. My mind has been other places, mourning our country. But quickly, my boys.

Happy, growing, full of adventure and life.

And this boy.

Not my boy. Someone else's boy, who's now a saint in Heaven watching down on us. Martin Richard was just another child, another family's 8 year old boy, and now he's been ripped away from them. I grieve for what their family is going through.

My prayers are constant for Boston. My prayers are constant for the victims of the Gosnell abortion murder rampage that was allowed to continue even after authorities knew something was going on there. My prayers are constant for West, Texas. My prayers are constant.

My prayers are constant for all our boys, everywhere. Born and unborn. Here or there. May our Lord watch over you and protect you for your future.

**Shannon**

The Great Decluttering 2013

Playroom Minimalist Challenge.

Dude. For real. The kid's playroom.

It's awful, it's a mess, it's impossible to keep clean. I can go in there and completely clean it out, throw away trash/broken bits of this and that... make it nice and neat. Within a week it's Disaster Zone Awful again.

Well, I read this niffty neat blogpost about another mom and her frustration about her children's impossible-to-keep-clean playroom. So, following her lead I bravely stepped into...

This.

Yes, you're allowed to scream, shriek in terror, run and hide. All these options are completely normal and expected... as that's what I would do upon entering DoomRoom, and then back away & close the door...

BUT! Newfound hope in getting rid of anything that wasn't played with on a regular basis. Cleaning out the bookshelves for books that weren't really needed/appreciated - and our local Children's Hospital just put out a request for donations for their library. So, I started.... 

Slowly.... Ever so slowly I filled those two blue bins with unused, unneeded toys.

Look! Floor!!! 

And finally, after a full day of cleaning, weeding, choosing... 

Look! Toy bins not overflowing masses of Doom!!! Books put away without having to stuff them into their shelves! Room for play!! Everything is neat & organized & more importantly easy to put away. No more clutter, no more random toys junking up the place.

It's lasted all weekend so far, with actual playtime. At the end of their play the children were able to put everything away where it needed to go, because they aren't overwhelmed with the crazy overflowing storage bins, or other random areas where I told them to keep things. 

Nothing has been missed or asked for from the bins in the garage. Nothing. Books have been gone through and no one has noticed what I pulled out. I call this a MAJOR SUCCESS.

By the end of this week, those two bins will be going to a local donation place, probably Goodwill because that's just an easy trip up the road, and they just take whatever. Books will go to Cook Children's Hospital. I will hold to the if they ask for it By Name, without looking into the bins in the garage I'll give it back. But no name, no toy. I'm done.

I do wish I could have gotten rid of more, but with 5 kids and one on the way we need a broad range of things. But really, the only things that stayed were building/imaginative toys. The kitchen, train table, play workbench, K'Nex, Lego's and of course some Monster High/Barbie/Ponies all made the cut, with actual useful baby/toddler toys.

This was well worth my Saturday. Well worth it.

**Shannon**

Oh! And thanks to Rebekah for the head's up on the photo editor website!! Tada! I can learn. :)

Seven Quick Takes - Crockolicious!!!

7QT - Crockolicious

So, Friday is Seven Quick Takes day it seems. Where you post 7 things (quickly-ish?) about whatever strikes your fancy. This is my first, and all thanks to Jessica over at her bloggy-blog-blog housewifespice.com because she totally gave me the idea.

Seven super quick (and totally easy to convert into Gluten Free if your needs be like that) crock pot meals that don't require precooking the meat. 'Cause momma don't have time for that.

1.

Beef and Broccoli 

Make this. It is devine. Your family will thank you.

2.

Sesame Chicken

Lets stay on our little Chinese theme here. Mmmmm Sesame Chicken, soooo good.

3.

Taco Chicken Bowls

Easy. Easy, easy, easy annnnd a family favorite, that includes black beans!

Lets just be honest, I make waaaay too many of her recipes. But every-single-one is awesome! Never a fail. Never.

4.

Sausage and Kale Cassoulet

Again with BudgetBytes goodness! (Did I mention she prices out the meal for you? Sweeeetness!)

Sausage & Kale. Enough said.

Uh.... Seven things is a lot, yo.

Lets just move on to easy-peasy soups. I've been doing a lot of soups lately.

5.

Vegetable Noodle Soup

Made this yesterday. Kids & Hubs devoured it.

6.

Black Bean Soup

Made this for the Super Bowl, the men folk - they couldn't get enough.

7!!!! Tada!

Buffalo Chicken Soup

In honor of Bambino #6, buffalo!!! Mmmmmmm Eat the Buffalo.

I will say with this recipe, make sure you use quality cheeses, makes a difference. 

And there you have it. Seven super quick(ish - mostly quick...) meals for your family!!! Yay! I did it!

Now, go on over to Camp Patton for more 7 Quick Takes!! 

**Shannon**

Theme Thursday - Grow

Growth

Many things grow in the Alexy Household. I mean, as long as you aren't looking for plants, those I kill with the swiftness that makes my children shed a tear or two. Sorry kids, momma didn't come with a green thumb...

But I do grow humans. And, overall, I don't do too bad of a job. I think... jury is still out on that probably.

But look at these cute little feet! Growing into momma's shoes!

That's Jules & Em. They like clopping around in my shoes. It's loud. But somewhat bearable, due to their cuteness. And they haven't broken a heel yet....

Speaking of growth, here's another growing human.

 (I needs to learn how to make fancy-schmancy picture collages...)

To the left we have Bambino #6 just starting to make his/her presence known, and to the right we have Bambino 33 weeks along. :) If that's not the epitome of growth... well, I'm not sure what else there is. 

Growing a human inside of yourself is such a blessing. You're challenged and tasked with the ultimate job of protecting and growing and sustaining life that has no other defense besides it's mother's love. Some say that life doesn't start at conception, I can't understand that thought process. I just can't. What else is there but life inside of your womb? It's creation at it's finest, it's God's hand reaching down and using you to create new life! It's a human life, programmed and stamped with his or her own set of personality traits and just waiting to show you all the wonderful things God has in store for the rest of your life. 

Is it always going to be easy? Heck to the No. Is it always going to be wonderful? If you look close enough you can see the wonderful mixed in with the crazy. The good that always is mixed in with the bad. Even when things are crap-crazy, you can see God's hand in your life and sheltering your family. At least, that's been our experience. And believe me, we've had some crap-crazy moments. Yet, we're still here, we're still provided for, we have a home, food, laughter, family.

God grows us. And we find shelter in Him. 

Now it's your turn! This Link Up is hosted over at Cari's page. Have fun! Talk about what Grow means to you, and see what all us other crazy peeps have to say about it. ;)

**Shannon**

Five Favorites Link Up

Five Favorites: Kids, Smells, Foods, & Thinks

Kids:

K getting a new cast after braking her wrist in two places from falling out of a neighbor's treehouse. 

 D just looking awesome on his bed, just after getting his very own bed reading lamp.

 Jules sneaking (yet again) into Em's bed at night and falling asleep like this. Em (yet again) turning on her wall lamp and leaving us to go in there at night to turn in off...

Billy cleaning the boys vanity area for me. Cause he's a super sweetie like that.

Smells:

Rainy days. On a cold, misty, rainy day I'm instantly teleported back to growing up in Holland (Military Brat ftw!). It's comforting, it's homey like... I really, really love the smell of rain. (New Baby Smell is a close second though.)

Foods:

Easy. 

Bam. This bambino inside requires Franks on a (at the very least) weekly basis. I've eaten more buffalo whatever in the last 6 months to last more then a lifetime. This may be my husband's favorite pregnancy of all time, due to this one craving. 

Thinks:

Saint Raymond Nonnatus

patron saint of expectant mothers & midwives.

Maybe it's because bambino #4 was a frank breech, and bambino #5 was posterior, and now this bambino #6 has been sideways, oblique, and I've battled low platelets and crazy stupid headaches... but yeah, upon finding Saint Raymond he's been on my mind a lot. He's the first Saint I've really communicated with in my 5 years of being catholic. He's pretty cool, and really? Nonnatus means 'not born' because his mother died in childbirth and he was born by cesarean. His whole story is amazing, and I think about him a lot.

Oh yes, bambino #6 was head down & vertical at my last prenatal, and I don't expect to find anything different with our appointment tomorrow. 34 weeks and counting!!

Uh... I forgot to add a 5th. (thanks Cari - and yes, I'm going to blame you.)

Random:

A clean laundry room! This has happened once in the year and a half we've lived at this house. It was over a month ago... it does not look like this now... I wish it still looked like this...

Tada! Five Favorites! If you want to see more, add your own or just whatever go over to Moxiewife.com and enjoy picks of her new bambino and then read everyone else's link ups!!! Fun!

**Shannon**

New Diabetic Bear!

And this...

Oh yes, I forgot to mention this facebook find. A new Diabetic Bear to give to newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic kiddos! Donal got his Rufus the Diabetic Bear when we were at the hospital for his week long diagnosis stay.

(Rufus in all his cuteness)

We love Rufus, we'll always have Rufus. But this new high-faluten' Gerry the Diabetic Bear comes with all sorts of bells & whistles.

Where Rufus 'just' had patches to show where we could give site rotation shots, Gerry has actual Blood Glucose readings to stay on-top of! He has carbs to eat and account for! Dude, he talks. What 18month old baby boy wouldn't want a diabetic talking bear to latch on to? It's pretty spiffy.

Can't you just see this (overly bright picture) kid needing his own talking diabetic bear? Thankfully we're not at the 'Newly Diagnosed Not Quite Two' stage anymore, but look at that cute face. A talking bear who was going through the same struggles as he was would'a been awesome.

**Shannon**