So, my days are spent overseeing Liam's schooling, changing diapers (Libby is on schedule for potty training in the very near future!!!!), cooking, and cleaning. Or attempting to clean. Housework seems to be the hardest thing for me right now. If it isn't a sink full of dishes, it's a pile of laundry. Or a dirty bathroom. Or a very sticky floor. Oh, I know we all have these things to deal with, but it just seems much harder for me to keep up with now. It's amazing how much laundry one little person can add to the pile! So I am trying to get that all figured out. At times I feel quite overwhelmed with it all. But, as my sis-in–law, Danielle, keeps reminding me, it's okay. It will get done eventually. Don't stress about it. So I am trying to do that. I am In the process of setting a new schedule for myself (the one I used to do just doesn't seem to work now). I am doing better at meal planning and making use of my crock pot. I am trying to make extra of most things so I can have a good stock of freezer meals for those days when cooking just doesn't pan out. And we all know with a newborn that can happen often!
Matt is busy with church, as usual. Things at church are going really well right now. There have been some major things happening in the past few months that I have purposely not mentioned on here, but am going to post about it soon. We are excited about the direction that God is leading Matt and our church, and are seeing some good things going on. Hopefully I can tell you about them very soon!
Liam is still loving school. He is getting much better at writing. I am having him learn cursive, which can be difficult for the hand eye coordination, but he is doing great. He is learning to add, finding out about different countries, learning to tell time, and reading very well. I know moms are always biased about there children, but I really do think he excels at reading. And he reads all the time. Anything and everything. Everywhere! Often I am surprised at what he reads - words I think would be hard. It is so fun to see him develop this skill, and he really loves to read. Many people, when they hear him read, are very surprised to see that he is only 5 years old. Sadly, he can almost read better than some of our teens. Just one of the MANY reasons we homeschool. I do plan to do a post about that one day, too. Oh, the anticipation! :-)
Leila is starting to show an interest in learning. Up until now it was all we could do to get her to sit still during a short Bible story at night. But now she will sit at the table for long periods and "write" and color and draw. This is a good sign since I plan to have her in k4 come fall. Wow. Time sure is flying by! Leila is also giving us a bit of a hard time. She seems to be acting up a bit more and is needing to be corrected much more often. Her favorite thing to do now is take something right out of Libby's hands. And that goes over so well, let me tell you! So we are working on that. I'm not sure if she is acting out to get attention, or just that she is being three years old. Probably both. I have been trying to spend some extra time with her, to see if that would help. I painted her nails last week, which she just loved. She helps me in the kitchen and we read stories together more. She is really excited because she is getting her first REAL haircut on Friday. Her hair is way down, almost to her waist. And while it is so pretty, it is getting unmanageable. So I am taking her to the girl who does my hair and we are getting it trimmed and styled. I am not about to attempt doing this on my own. I love my mom so very much, but I have many memories of my hair being cut a lot shorter than intended with my mom trying to trim it. And I know I will do a horrible job so I am not going to try!
Libby seems to be growing WAY too fast. She is talking so much more and wanting to do everything Liam and Leila do. But she is also our little instigator. She is usually the one causing a lot of the fights (except when Leila takes her toy...). But she is also a big help to me. She is taking to Lexi much better than I thought. She tries to console Lexi when she cries, and is always getting diapers, blankets, or her paci when needed. As I stated earlier, potty training is on the docket here in the near future.
Lexi is, well. Let's see. She is by far the "hardest" baby we have had yet. She cries much, much more than any of the others did. I wouldn't say she is colicky, but it is very wearing on a tired mommy. About two weeks ago she cried for hours each day. She wants to be held all the time. I was very weary after that week and even cried several times over it. I couldn't get anything done, we weren't getting much sleep, and I really wasn't sure what was wrong. Well, we had her in just for a regular dr appt on that Friday, and found that she was not gaining weight very rapidly. As in hardly at all. I did know that she never seemed to be full and was always falling asleep while nursing. So, with talking it over with our dr, we decided to start supplementing with fcrmula.
At first I was quite upset about this. It's not that I am against bottle feeding or formula. I just felt that I had failed my child. That I wasn't doing a good job to provide what she needed. But, her health is so much more important. So, we have been supplementing for over a week and she is doing much better. She still cries, but more just the normal fussing of a baby. Life is getting better! She sleeps well and only wakes up once around three a.m. She is staring to put on some weight, praise the Lord! I am still trying to nurse as well as bottle feed, so I guess she is getting the best of both worlds! I can't believe she is six weeks old now! Wow!
I mentioned in an earlier post about my grandfather passing away on January 30. My mom was here with us when it happened. It's always so hard to lose a loved one, and it was really hard being so far away. But I just have to say that I am so thankful for technology. When we knew it was probably just a matter of hours for Grandpa, my brothers Kip and Jeremy drove the four hours to see him. They had their computer with them, so Mom and I got to see Grandpa. He was highly sedated at the time, and starting to struggle to breathe. But they still thought that he could hear so, through the computer on Skype, my mom was able to say hi, and tell him that she loved him. Then, later that day, they called again, we got to see him one more time, and then about an hour after that call, he passed away. I am so glad my mom was able to do that.
But also, because of technology, my sister and I were able to watch his memorial service via my brother's phone. My grandfather was cremated, so they had a memorial service this past Friday when most of the family could be there. But, unfortunately, my sis and I both could not make it. So it was great to "be" there in a sense. My grandpa was a military man, so they had the service at a cemetery for vets where he now rests. It was a full military service complete with a 21 gun salute, a flag given to Grandma, and the playing of Taps. I have heard that song many times, but it was much more moving hearing played for my Grandpa. I was pretty much sobbing through it. We don't have any sound assurance of where he went when he died, but we are clinging to the hope that, just as the thief on the cross, he cried unto God in his final moments.
Well, that's somewhat of what our life has been lately. I really am going to make it a great effort to post much more often. I feel like I am missing out on recording so many important memories when I go so long without posting! So....
Until next time...
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