That’s my facebook blurb. And right now, that’s what I’m doing. That, and trying to get melted crayon out of a bunch of clothes.
Wiping Runny Noses to the Glory of God
Oct 20th, 2011 by ECM
Susanna at 6 Months!
Oct 19th, 2011 by ECM
It’s her half year birthday today! No pictures, because would you believe it, our card reader isn’t working today of all days.
We don’t have her check-up for another couple of weeks, but according to our fancy new scale, she weighs 14 lbs in her clothes.
Other stats…she’s still a peanut, comfortably in 3-6 month clothes and still in size 1 diapers. Her naps have gone down dramatically–1.5 hours in the morning, and just one 2 hour one in the afternoon. She is sleeping about 12 hours at night, still, thank goodness!
She’s sitting up for several seconds at a time and trying to push herself up to her hands and knees occasionally. She’s drooling and putting everything in her mouth, so I accuse her of teething, but I can’t feel the slightest bump in her gums. She loves playing helicopter above my head, though the drool can be kindof gross. We’re going to try introducing solids again this weekend. She is so interactive now–loves playing with the kids toys or having them play with her.
Wowsers, we’re sick
Oct 18th, 2011 by ECM
Sunday was a tough day for Susanna and me–we both were getting sick–but Sunday night was even worse. She couldn’t breathe, poor thing, so she was up crying every hour or so. I couldn’t breathe, either, so between the two of us, I only got 1.5 hours of sleep. The big kids were up and at ’em bright and early on Monday, and Susanna did a series of mini cat naps all day, waking up every time I had a break with the older two and was trying to close my bloodshot eyes. I risked cutting into my milk supply and took a benadryl to help me breathe last night, and Susanna and I both slept through. Now we’re just in that lovely head-going-to-explode-with-congestion stage. I can’t believe how long it just took me to type that. My mind is working at half speed…
Pomegranates
Oct 17th, 2011 by ECM
Here’s the first part of our pomegranate harvest–the fruit that was easy to reach.
I’ve used 17 so far, mainly juicing them for a couple recipes. (Cake=nasty, frozen yogurt=good) There are so many more to use up! We’ll hold off on harvesting the rest that you can see here until my parents come out next month…
I actually didn’t even know what a pomegranate looked like until we moved, so I did some research online this weekend, searching for good recipes. Anyone have any to share?
Another Pancake Helper
Oct 15th, 2011 by ECM
A Typical Morning
Oct 14th, 2011 by ECM
Usually first thing in the morning, I emerge from feeding Susanna to find Tommy hard at work on artwork. This morning, he’s trying to copy the first page of Lentil. Susanna likes to watch.
And Elizabeth is having a picnic breakfast with Lucy.
Little Things
Oct 13th, 2011 by ECM
Elizabeth turns 29 months today. I suddenly think she’s looking like Tommy and not me anymore. I think she’s losing her baby chub! =( She is still erratic in potty training, having either 0 or 6 accidents in a day. This week’s new phrases: “Thank you, Mommy!” (to everything–it is SO sweet!) and “No, I will NOT do X!” (even as she is doing it). Ah, the no-I-will-not stage…how I didn’t miss you this past year and a half…
Susanna is giggling a ton these days. We’ve successfully dropped the supplemental formula for just about two weeks now! This is a huge praise report. It took about 6 weeks of supplementing 2-6 ounces of formula/day, nursing every two hours, drinking tons of vile Mother’s Milk tea, eating oatmeal, keeping my calories up, and pumping at night, but just when I had given up and accepted that she’d just have to have an extra bottle before bed, my body finally kicked back into gear. The bummer is that she still seems to need the extra calories from the before-nap feedings, so when I just put her down during the day without them, she’s waking up hungry in the night. I don’t want to train her to need to be nursed to sleep (she sleeps so much longer when she puts herself to sleep), so we have to figure out what to do about that. I actually don’t care about giving her a bottle occasionally, as long as my milk supply is strong, but her diapers are so much nicer now that the formula is out of her system! Regardless, I’m grateful that my body is back to doing what it should be doing.
Tommy just came and told me that he wants to be a Robin Hood car man when he grows up. Nice. He’s currently singing songs from the Lyle the Kindly Viking Chick-fil-a CD. We’ve been talking about God being outside of time and the concept of infinity this week.
We went to the park in 100 degree heat yesterday. It’s true–dry heat is not as bad.
Sitting Up!
Oct 11th, 2011 by ECM
Look who is sitting up all by herself, for several seconds at a time!
I’d been trying every now and then, but today, something must have clicked.
Housework Help
Oct 11th, 2011 by ECM
Until I can make enough money on etsy to pay for a full-time, live-in maid, I’ve got to keep on top of cleaning myself. Fortunately, Tommy really is getting to the point where he can help with a lot of housework. I don’t really do any of the toy tidying anymore–before naps and bed, the kids put all their toys and books back where they belong. Elizabeth is finally catching on to this. Tommy has started vacuuming for me, and both kids love to swiffer mop. Sometimes while the girls are napping, Tommy and I will pull on old socks and clean the windows, too. Both kids can put their clothes away in the right drawers if I fold it into separate piles first. None of these things are as neat as I would do it, but it’s better than not being done at all. Whenever housework overwhelms me, I’m probably not utilizing my little helpers enough! John Rosemond talks about expecting kids to spend half an hour a day doing chores. (That could include getting dressed, making beds, picking up toys, clearing the table, etc.) That might strike some as a lot, but he points out that the average American child spends well over two hours a day in front of the TV! I remember Anna telling me a couple years ago that I was at the hardest point in terms of juggling small children, housework, cooking, and other chores–in time, it would get easier. When she talked about how helpful Carver and even Ellie were at that point, I felt like my kids would never get there–but they really are quite helpful now.
Fellow moms: What chores are your kids capable of doing? Have you incorporated a set chore time into your schedule? I know I could be more efficient at this if I planned better…
Hospitality, California-Style
Oct 10th, 2011 by ECM
Last night, we had 16 of Derek’s students over for dinner. They’re his mentor group, so we started with them, but eventually, we’ll try to get all 70 students over (in shifts). We had to get creative with seating (Derek and I settled for the stadium seats), and as you see, we had to eat outside. (You can do that in mid-October out here!)
Over the years, we’ve gotten braver about hosting bigger and bigger groups of people. A couple years ago, I posted some thoughts on hospitality, and I think they’re still really applicable. Specifically, we’ve realized that you don’t have to have a spacious dining room and enough fine china to have a group over. In general, I like to use our everyday china because it’s more homey, but that only works for groups of 11 or fewer. Paper plates worked last night, and they cut down on clean-up. I think back to our college adviser, who had 50-70 students over at least every semester. I wanted to find a picture of the night before a spring break trip, when about 40 of us slept over at the Stewart’s house, but all I could find was this Halloween picture from 2000. Good times!
I remember how much fun it was to be in a home (with the Stewart kids running around, sword fighting with anyone who was willing). And last night, several of Derek’s students told us that, too. We fed them from-scratch lasagna (no pre-made noodles or jarred sauce for us), breadsticks, salad, bruschetta, pita chips and dips, pizzelles, and a pound cake that one of his students brought. I was a leetle stressed about all the last-minute prep (and cleaning–there was no point in cleaning the bathroom ahead of time with a potty training girl in the house), but they appreciated homemade food, so the prep and clean-up was worth it.
We also learned a couple things about hosting in California. People are so much more health-conscious here that we’ll have to tweak our menu next time. I’d been thinking it would be 16 people total, but when I realized that didn’t include our family, I made Derek make an extra lasagna–cue You’re-turning-into-your-mother-in-law jokes now–but it turned out that 2 or 3 of the girls were vegetarians and hadn’t told Derek. So they just ate salad. And the only two girls who ate a decent amount of food were the midwesterners. Note for next time: make less food than normal people would eat. Also, while the bruschetta was popular, the homemade whole wheat breadsticks didn’t go. Note: have less carbs next time.
The kids aren’t complaining about the yummy leftovers today, though!
