I made it to June 1! I’m not due until June 20, but… let me explain. Cameron’s been self-employed for many years, so we’ve always paid for health insurance out of pocket. We’ve had a cheaper plan with a high deductible for most of that time. Recently, Cam got a new client that offered him a salary + benefits for the remainder of 2024 (since it’s a big political year, and they’ll be needing a lot of videos). That gig, which he accepted, comes with an excellent health insurance plan (they’re paying for basically everything!), but it wouldn’t kick in until June 1.

So yay for making it to June 1! I figured I would make it this far since I haven’t gone into labor this early before, but you just never know!

Shout outs!!

I have a lot this time!!

• Thank you Shauna who bought me 3 coffees*!

• Thank you Nikki who bought me 4 coffees!

• Thank you Diamond who sent me a book to read, called The Gift of Failure. We’re going to read it together, book club style, along with about 30 other ladies from Instagram!

• Thank you Marina for a precious book for the kiddos, called All Things Bright and Beautiful, as well as some NB diapers and this Frida Mom healing foam that I used after Charlie and loved.

*The “Buy Me a Coffee” link is at the bottom - it’s like a virtual tip jar🥰

My hospital bag

I finally got this done yesterday🥴 

Here are links to the video version, if you’d rather watch it: Instagram, TikTok.

And here’s the list version:

• Toiletries (toothpaste/brush, shampoo/conditioner, etc)

• Small comb (for acupressure!)

• Bag of pens

• Healing foam

• Grownup diapers 😄 

• A few NB diapers (the hospital should have some)

• 3 NB outfits

• Grippy hospital socks

• Leggings

• Black dress

• 2 nursing bras

• 2 nursing tanks

• Labor/delivery/nursing gown

• Long charging cable

• Headphones

• Birth ball? I haven’t decided… it’s huge, and the hospital may have those birth peanut balls. But I feel like the ball will just get in the way.

Car seat!

Welp, we got the car seat. Now we have to figure out where to put it in the van. Ideally, we’d put the baby behind the driver’s seat.

It’s a Honda Odyssey van, but our middle row has 2 seats - 1 behind each of the front seats - and they can’t be moved! I know in some models, you can move one of the side seats to the middle position, but ours doesn’t allow for that.

Okay, currently, Charlie’s in the middle row, rear facing. The big kids are in the back, in boosters, and they climb in from the other side. If BOTH middle seats have a RF car seat, then the big kids will not be able to get to the back.

My only option, I’m pretty sure, is to switch Charlie with one of the big kids. The only problem I see there, though, is that I won’t be able to easily buckle him in because I’d have to crawl all the way to the back. The big kids can both buckle and unbuckle him, so that could work!

CAM’S THOUGHT - Put new babe all the way in the back, in the middle, with one of the big kids on one side. That would leave the other seat empty for me to sit next to the baby, which is a good idea. Then Charlie would stay where he is, and the other big kid would move to the middle. But then, someone would have to somehow get the baby to her seat… Ack!

His other tiny idea is that maybe we can buy another bucket seat for the middle row so that it becomes 3 seats across. He’s going to check the manual and, if that seems to be an option, we’ll contact the car dealership about it! (UPDATE: He called the dealership. They’d just priced it out for someone else, and you can’t buy the seat - you buy the parts for the seat. And it is around $4,000! Sooo yea, no.)

Greenlight?

Have you heard of Greenlight? It’s like a debit card for kids. But it looks like a lot more than that. The kids can put money into savings or even invest some of it. You can use it to pay them for chores or other tasks.

Cash is fine, and the kids get cash for birthdays and Christmas sometimes. But this could be easier, and I like that they can set up a savings account of their own.

There are 3 different types of cards - the cheapest is $4.99/month, per family, up to 5 kids. And then it goes up from there.

If you’ve got this or something like it, let me know!

I’m also thinking, if we do this, we have GOT to get the kids a wallet or something - so far, they both have a way to keep their cash safe and in one spot. But I feel like this needs something extra. Maybe I’m overthinking it.

What we’re reading/watching

I finished M is for Mama. I started a novel, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m digging non-fiction at the moment, so I just started reading Holy Hygge.

Charlie has a lot of favorite books right now:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar

• My Encyclopedia of Very Important Dinosaurs

  • RELATED: He also really likes watching Dino Dana, which is on Prime Video with some clips on YouTube as well.

• I’m Thinking of a Farm Animal (this whole series)

• Clownfish Aren’t So Funny

Also, Cameron is reading The Intentional Father!

Speaking of reading, Reading Rainbow is on Prime Video! We watched some yesterday, and it was a real fun throwback for me. It’s so informative!!

And as far as what we’re watching? Right now, I’m just rewatching Archive 81 on Netflix. I watched it once, when it first came out, and I remember liking it a lot. It’s sort of horror, mystery, thriller.

Summer school

I had this thought the other day… It’s never occurred to me, but my friend Lydia (who also homeschools) got me thinking.

Since we homeschool, we can basically do what we want. We can use what curriculum we want; we can start and end our days when we want; and we can do school any time of year. That last part just never occurred to me! My friend Emmy lives in Florida where summers are super hot. They do school through the summer and take “summer break” later when it isn’t as hot.

Why did that never occur to me? I just try to match our local schools’ schedules. But really, we can shift that around - no one is saying we can’t do school during the summer and then take the autumn months off. 🤯 Anyway, we’re already on break, so I’d have to convince the kids of this idea. 😄 

Meal plan for ya

I’ll keep it a little simpler and just offer up 6 dinner ideas. I’ll include 1 beef, 1 pork, 1 fish, 2 chicken, and 1 vegetarian.

1. Butter chicken - I’ve made this a million times, and if you haven’t yet tried it, please do. It’s so good!

2. Chicken chili - I make a version of this a few times a month.

3. Homemade hamburger helper

4. Kalua pork - We make this every now and then. It makes a LOT. Then you can eat it in a quesadilla, on rice with sauteed veggies, and a lot of other things. It’s really delicious and versatile!

5. Fish fingers - I have never made this recipe, but we have some white fish in the freezer, and I’m so making this tonight. Yum!

6. Falafels - We had these this week, with roasted sweet potatoes and couscous.

TikTok roundup

If you didn’t see it on IG, then I’ll mention it here: I’ve been making a daily vlog on TikTok that is just a “day in the life” video, every day until the baby comes. Here’s the most recent one!

Okay and here are some others we liked this week:

1. Lattes of the week! I got a few good ideas here.

2. Pretty glass art

3. How long will it take this cat to make a new box his home?

4. Sweet raccoon mama and babies

5. Leo is one of the funniest folks on TikTok. This skit cracked me up.

6. Setting boundaries with kids, from Dr Becky!

7. Maybe the prettiest-dressed wedding party (guests included) ever

8. Shirley Temple float

Final notes

It’s funny to me how different kids are. I think about it a lot, how they’ve been raised basically the same way, and yet, my two big kids are sooo different. A and AB are best buds - they make each other laugh, understand each other more than anyone else can, and like to do things together. But the way they communicate and the things they find fun or interesting are basically opposite.

For example, yesterday, Annabelle said to me, “Your hair looks cute like that!” and then when I was making a meal, she comes out of her room and says, “Ooo that smells good!”

Meanwhile, I’ll make a meal I know is an Alexander favorite, and I’ll ask him how it is. And he says, “It’s fine.” But also, just a few minutes ago, he wanted to make something out of paper (for Annabelle, actually), but it just needed a small piece. And he asked if we had smaller pieces of paper so that he wouldn’t waste a whole sheet.

They are high energy vs low energy; people person vs fine on his own; cheese vs pepperoni pizza; imaginative play vs puzzles and games. What about you?

This email feels really disjointed. No theme, just sort of rambly. But I do try to make sure each email can be useful to ANY sort of reader. So if you found this one useful, send it to a friend 🙂 

Wanna send a little something my way?

If you’d like to support me and my content, then here are three ways:

• Send along an encouraging note, here or on IG or even snail mail!

• You can “Buy Me a Coffee” - it’s a virtual tip jar!

• And finally, here is a link to my Amazon wish list! There are some baby-related items on there too. 🙂 Also, my PO Box is still open!

  • Bethany King

  • PO Box 8152

  • Shreveport LA 71148

Much love,
Bethany

PS If you want to see old emails, here’s a link to all of them!