This coming weeks are going to be very busy for us. This Saturday, my in-laws' church is throwing me a baby shower before we leave for Texas. We've said that we have everything we could possibly need after having 3 kids, by they insist on it. I guess after living here for 10 months, they have really adopted us. I just wish we could find such a welcoming community of people when we get to our new residence.

On Tuesday, I need to take Matthew with me to our house in VA (3.5 hr drive). The moving company will be there all day on Tuesday to pack our things and then on Wednesday, they will come and load them up in a truck to make the long journey to Texas. My boy and I will sleep over there among boxes of things. We will need to bring some sleeping bag with us.  I will be leaving the twins overnight with their Nana. I am sad about that, but there is no other way.

If there are too many junk in our house to pack in one day, the company have also reserved the 24th. I can't stay away for 2 nights, so I will get hubby to drive to the house to supervise whatever else needs to be done on the 24th. He gets here on the 23rd from Texas.

Then a day or 2 after Christmas, we anticipate all 5 of us to make the very long drive to Texas. It should be fun with a 4 year old and 2.5 year old twins. Phew! We only want to make a minimum of 350 miles a day, so it should take us 2 nights and 3 days.

When we get to Texas, we will live in a corporate housing for one month and then we're on our own. Hubby has already found a house to rent, so that should be no problem. The moving company will then deliver our belongings there, then we'll be busy unpacking. Or actually, I should say I would be busy unpacking as hubby would be busy working at his new job.   And then whenever we sell our house in VA, we would have to look for a house to buy in Texas. I'm just hoping that will not have to be until after baby gets here. At that time, I plan on getting the 3 kids in preschool so it's not hard on me to take care of baby and look for a house at the same time. OY!!

I'm exhausted already just thinking about all the things that need to be done.

Oh, and did I mention that at 23 weeks I look as big as I did at 20 weeks with the twins?
 

Yup, this is how big I am currently and I am only carrying 1 this time! What is going on?

I constantly get a comment, "you're not having twins again, are you?"

 After 10 months of unemployment, my husband finally found a job. We've been living with my in-laws for 9 months while we are selling our house. Unfortunately, due to the state of the economy, not a lot of people are looking to buy a house. It's not been easy living here, but we try to look at the positive. We are thankful for the time the kids get to spend with their grandparents. 

This new chapter of our lives will take us over 1000 miles (1600 km) to Texas. Hubby will start in a week so he will have to go on without us. He will come back for Christmas and spend time here at the in-laws. We then make the long drive the day after Christmas. It's going to be hectic, but we're excited. We will be in a corporate housing for 30 days upon our arrival in Texas, which would give us time to look for a permanent/semi permanent home. And then another move after that once we sell our house, and therefore be able to buy a house in Texas. 

We also found out we're having a boy (due mid April)! We're very happy to have 2 girls and 2 boys. My son is very excited as well, because he wants a room mate. He's a little jealous that his sisters are in the same room together. 

Needless to say, the rest of December will be pretty busy in my household. To that end, I want to go ahead and greet everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! :)  I will be here as much as I can, but it would be more than likely behind the scenes.

Lots of love,

Izzy

Hi all. I noticed that there are contents that have been reported and deleted because they are objectionable though they may not be against Minti's terms. I'd like to remind everyone that because we may object to someone's article or content, it is not a reason to report.  If the resulting discussion gets out of hand and flaming starts to happen, then those comments have the right to be reported. But I think there should be no reason why adults can't engage on a healthy discussion.  Also, for sensitive topics, the discussions and disagreements may even help educate others.

To this point, I want to make a comment on a recent content about rape. There is a comment that have been deleted regarding this subject that implies the following; rape is a biological urge (the difference between a man and a woman) and that women should not hang out with a group of men that is not family, and lastly that rape happens when there is no available outlet for sex.  I find these statements highly objectionable and dangerous.

Rape is most often a crime of control. Rapist rape to feel powerful and in control. Rape is not a matter of urge. There are men who have neither fantasized of rape or even thought about rape. People are not animals driven by urges. And to imply that women are saver with relatives is outright dangerous. Sexual abuse of children are most often committed by family members or someone very familiar to the family. It is a crime of opportunity. As parents, we have to be equally cautious of males that are our relatives, friends and strangers.

As a parent of 3 small children, it is my duty to make sure they are safe and to teach them to be safe.

There is a story recently in my area about a 5 year old little girl that was found dead dumped on the side of the road. She was prostituted by her mother, and the man who raped her killed. My heart aches for this little girl and many others who have met the same fate.

For Minti articles on sexual abuse : http://www.minti.com/search/?query=sexual+abuse&item_type=advice&x=61&y=16

Hello folks,

I have noticed an increase of member reports lately for the reasons of spamming. In resolving this matter, I try to look for evidence. So I would like to remind everyone what spamming isn't.

Advertisement on Minti by way of a member's profile is allowed. We do not want to turn any business oriented people away. As we are all aware of, there are Minti parents who are trying to make ends meet by starting their own business. Advertisement is also allowed within one's own blog or appropriate group blog.

If you see someone abusing their blog and bombarding the activity list with blog posts full of advertising, then they are truly spamming our site. Though I rarely see this happen, you are more than welcome to report members caught doing this.

The only place we want to scrutinize is the advice section. Advice articles containing a parenting related advice and only containing minimum advertisement (about 2 lines) is allowed. Should you see articles with an excessive amount of advertisement, please feel free to report it.

For the reasons I have stated above, I will be resolving to keep some of the members that have been reported.

Regards,
Izzy