Monday, July 30, 2007

Big Stuff Happenin'

Well, we've got some milestones here! :) Savannah is officially riding her bike without training wheels! Yay! What a big kid! I should actually say, she's riding ABBY'S bike, not hers. Unfortunately her bike is a bit big, so she's taken to using Abby's bike, the bike that USED to belong to Savannah. Our neighbor, Rick was working with the girls yesterday and Savannah picked it right up. She was quite wobbly yesterday evening, but today she's been riding a TON! I'm so proud of her. Now we've got to find a bike for Abby because she's feeling really left out. Poor girl! I told Jeremy that we could buy a little bike that we could use for Luke when he gets older, and he seemed to be okay with that idea. Jeremy isn't always keen on the idea of buying the children toys that they're going to quickly grow out of so at least this way I can guarantee it'll get more use.

Just a couple of little notes about Luke also, just so I don't ever forget. He is excellent with grabbing stuff these days. One of the funniest things he does is he'll hold his hands above his face and stare at them. Then it looks as if he's "willing" them into his mouth as he S L O W L Y moves his hands down and into his mouth. It's such a funny looking and oh so purposeful movement. This little guy almost always has his sweet little ankles crossed and when he's not busy (which isn't all that often these days), he's got his little hands folded across his chest. He always looks like he's ready to say prayers. He's always done that and I just think it's SOOOO sweet looking, especially when he's in the sling or something and he's asleep, he looks like such a little angel. He is trying SO hard to roll over these days and he's getting pretty close. He goes easily from tummy to back, but he gets way over on his side from back to tummy but he hasn't made it all the way yet...I know it's just a matter of days though because he gets so determined sometimes and tries and tries and tries! You have to admire the persistence of children, it's pretty amazing.

Last night Luke slept from 8pm until 7:45am without waking once. Of course I didn't sleep well from 5am on because I kept waiting for him to wake up. I know once he gets into the habit of sleeping thru, I will too, but for now I'm just so happy that he does have the occasional phenomenal night. The trouble has been with him GOING TO and STAYING asleep. I usually nurse him to sleep and then put him in his crib. He's usually completely asleep, but about 20 minutes later he's crying again. It's very frustrating because I've had many nights where he's pretty much attached to me all evening long and I can't get anything done. Usually the evenings are my time to catch up on anything that I didn't get done that day, plan homeschool stuff or just enjoy the evening. Thankfully when he does that I can still watch television and all, but I usually get to bed way too late because he doesn't finally go for the night until about 10pm. Way too late in my opinion.

It seems like I do so much writing about Luke and Savannah and not a whole lot about Abby. I really don't know why that is, she really is an adorable, funny little knuckle head. She's always saying very funny, silly things, I guess I just forget them too quickly. I've been trying to keep track of the funny things they say, but of course I'm not too consistent with that...but I'm going to try. And my goal is to come back within the week and write about something silly or funny Abby did or said, because for heaven's sake, they happen ALL THE TIME...the girl is a character! And OH SOOOOO cute! She has to be about the cutest little curly-headed thing I've ever seen.

Jeremy has taken the girls on a "night hike" up the "Tallest Mountain". The "Tallest Mountain" is a hill behind our house that has a water tower and some sort of building with a radio transmitter. They went up there the other night because we keep intercepting radio transmissions over our surround sound speakers...kinda creepy! And sure enough, the guy was up there in the building and he told Jeremy about a HAM radio class and now Jeremy is all interested. Just what Jeremy needs: another expensive hobby! Anyway, they took off at 8:30pm, each of them brandishing a flashlight. It'll be fun to hear what they did and saw. As they were leaving they saw the owl we hear every night, so that's pretty cool. I was telling Jeremy that in no time (probably next year at this time), he'll be able to take ALL of the children while I soak in the tub or something. I need a good soak in the tub from time to time. Don't we all?

Well I should be going now. If I actually have the time and brain cells this evening, I need to start an outline for a business plan for an idea I have. It's an idea I've had for a very, very long time...like at least 8 years...and I'm thinking that it's about time we gave it a go. I told my dad and Jeremy that I really want to do this, but I'm going to really, really need their help...as in, they have to do the majority of the work. My #1 priority is to be a homeschooling mommy and I can't let a business idea get in the way, but it definitely would be something that would be fun for all of us to work on together. Who knows, maybe one day we'll be on "The Big Idea" with Donny Deutsch, you never know!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Savannah ate the concrete yesterday.


Luke and Matthew's First Meeting.


Luke and Matthew met each other for the first time yesterday. It was so cute, they immediately grabbed each other's hands and held on tight. Then, as Jeremy says, Matthew tried to eat Luke! Not really, he was just a bit rough because he's quite a bit bigger than Luke--hey, he's got 4.5 months on Luke!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

New Discoveries!

Luke discovered his knees today. He's been lifting them up to his chest and in the bath tonight he was grabbing at them. Next it'll be his feet! How exciting!!
He is also now able to grab onto a toy that's on his chest and of course, he eats it!

The girls are getting along so well these days. It's so great to see them playing together and be in harmony for longer periods of time. It truly brings joy to my heart. The other day we went for a walk as a family. My mom always says, "why don't you take the kids for a walk??" Hmmmm...perhaps because it's darn near painful! The girls walk so slowly...and I feel bad hurrying them along because they're just being curious children, and I LOVE that...but when we're walking, I want to walk--especially when I've got a crying baby in the stroller! So we're walking, Luke is crying and the girls are exploring (they found some pretty beads in the grass) and this man says, "Do you have a wagon?" I said, "No." and he said, "Oh good...would you like one?". I said, "Sure why not!" So Abby climbed in and Savannah dragged her along for a good portion of the walk...and they both thoroughly enjoyed it. That is, until Savannah got tired of lugging Abby around and Abby decided after resting that she was just too tired to continue walking, then all you know what broke loose. Jeremy came along on his scooter and took ABBY (?!) for a ride and poor Savannah, after having done all of that hard work, started crying, "It's not fair, it's not fair to me". Poor little one. I felt so bad I had her climb in and I dragged the wagon WHILE pushing the stroller. Needless to say, I was so sweaty when we got home. It was a good walk when all was said and done though. It'd be nice if it could be a bit easier--no crying baby would definitely help, so I know the time will come soon for that.
But now that we have that wagon, the girls are constantly pulling eachother around. It looks like so much fun!
Michelle, Hallie, James, Kathryn and Matthew arrived today. For those of you who don't know, they're our WONDERFUL friends who used to be our neighbors. They lived 2 doors down from us for 2.5 years and then moved to Virginia. The girls absolutely adore Hallie (8) and James (6)...they're best friends. Michelle is also my best friend and our families got along so well. So they're out here for nearly a month for a visit. Michelle's parents live here in Novato. It's very exciting also because when they moved, I had just found out that I was pregnant with Luke. Michelle was about 4.5 months pregnant at the time with Matthew (8 months today!). Kathryn (2) was just a little pip squeak. So this will be the first time they meet Luke and we meet Matthew! And of course so much changes when a child goes from 1 year old to 2! I can't wait to see them! I spoke with Michelle today and they were just leaving the airport. She said they'd probably come over tomorrow because today was such a busy day, etc. A little while later Savannah came in the house and said, "Michelle drove by, she said Hallie and James would be over to play tomorrow." She said it so nonchalantly that I didn't really believe her. So I started quizzing her and it appeared that Michelle did indeed drive by and talk to the girls. When I spoke to her later she said that the girls were SO EXCITED when she drove up they were almost shaking! How cute!! She said that Abby is HUGE compared to what she was a year ago--she's definitely sprouted up! But then again, there is a huge difference between a 2.5 year old and a 3.5 year old.

Savannah has been contemplating who she will marry when she grows up. There is a new boy named Josh who she says she is going to marry. Then she said, "Who do you think I should marry: Josh, Drew or James?" Drew is a definite NO and I asked her, "Savannah, does Josh love Jesus?" and she said, "I think he knows God, but he thinks that Jesus is who made the ark. And he also said that the Bible we use for homeschool isn't really a Bible." So I told her, "You know, the most important thing when you're considering who to marry is whether he loves Jesus or not." and she said, "James loves Jesus!" and I said, "Yes he does" and she said, "Okay, I'll marry him." Whew...I'm so glad that one is settled!! Hahaha!! If only it were that simple!

Well that's all the update time I have. At least this time I included the girls and some photos of them as well! Oh, I should note: the other day Abby helped me juice about 25 limes and 15 lemons! She did most of it herself and did a WONDERFUL job! She is an excellent help in the kitchen! I have an electric juicer, but you still have to use a good amount of muscle to do it!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Lukes sleep has gone down the tubes. :(


Well, so much for my EXCELLENT sleeper! For the past week and a half or so, Luke has started waking up 2x during the night and fighting naps like you wouldn't believe. It used to take me about 5-10 minutes for him to fall asleep...I swaddle him, pat and shhhh him until he dozes off, then continue for another minute or so to be sure he's asleep and he'd be off for at least an hour. Not anymore. Now I do the same thing but he SCREAMS and SCREAMS until he finally falls asleep. Yesterday it took me 30 minutes to get him to sleep and he only slept for 40 minutes. It's extremely frustrating!! The days fly by and I feel like I haven't accomplished anything worthwhile in ages. I'm so thankful that the girls are playing together pretty nicely, and they have friends because I feel like the most negligent mother ever. It makes me so sad because I used to be able to do so much with the girls and now I barely have time to do anything. I know it's just part of having a baby and this stage will fly by, but I'm reminded of why I'm not particularly fond of little babies. Oh yes, they've got to be the sweetest, most adorable little critters ever, but man, why do they have to be SO difficult?? I'm really trying hard to enjoy this part of Luke's life, but I'm often finding myself really, really looking forward to the future. Yesterday we went to downtown Novato for a little stroll. There is an old fashioned candy store called Powell's Sweet Shop and we've been wanting to take the girls. It was a fun little stroll...we got to check out some other fun shops (they have a really cool toy store also! I didn't know about it, so I'm rather excited!) but Luke got fussy and we had to cut everything short. I was hoping that he'd take a little snooze while we walked, but no...he didn't sleep the entire time we were out. He was awake from about 3pm until bed at nearly 8. *sigh*. I know that in no time we'll be way beyond this stage and I'll look back with nothing but fond memories...isn't that the way it always goes? So I'm really trying to enjoy this...take in every inch of his sweetness...breathe in that sweet little baby smell, rub his soft, fuzzy head and savor all of those wonderful, gummy baby smiles. And OH how he smiles!
Yes, I'll do updates on the girls shortly as well...again, there's another area where I'm neglecting my poor little chickens.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Luke is SO strong!


Today Luke started pushing himself up on his arms and looking around like such a big guy! He was really having a good time as long as he could hold his head up and it was so adorable. It's always fun when babies have these big jumps in development, he couldn't do this yesterday and today he can...amazing little man!
I'll try to take a picture of him doing it and post it.

Today for his nap I swaddled him with his hand by his mouth. He was having a very hard time falling asleep, so I was hoping that'd help. I guess he slept because he was quiet for about an hour. I'm really hoping that he'll start sucking his fingers. He's a pretty easy going baby, but he's still a bit difficult to get to sleep at times, so anything would help.

**Updated**
The above photo isn't the best one I could get of him lifting his head, but the one where he had his head up the highest, he had a face on like he was really struggling! So this is the cutest/best so far!