Thursday, August 26, 2010

Sleep, sweet sleep...

My sweet little guy slept from 8-2:40 and from 3-7am! He is getting so big and doing such a good job with sleeping--it's fantastic! He's also rolling over every time we put him on his tummy...no more tummy time for this little one!! He's 10 weeks now and he's looking so big...he's growing out of that "newborn" look and looking more like a baby. He smiles like you wouldn't believe...he'll stop nearly anything he's doing (including nursing) if he thinks he can catch you and give you a big ol gummy grin. When this little guy smiles, it's a full-face exercise too. He "sparkles" when he smiles.
When I put him on the floor, he'll lift his entire chest off of the floor--I think he's my strongest baby so far. I swaddle him in a muslin blanket and then a "miracle blanket" (the one with velcro) and he STILL gets out of it at least once a night!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

What a crazy time it's been.

We are here and settled in our new home. We are a couple of doors down from where we were living last time we were here (10 months ago). I think we got a good deal though, we got the remodeled home I required, plus our backyard is a lot more private than the one we had before...and everything in here is fresh--refinished floors, fresh paint, etc. It has been quite a crazy adventure getting here though. We spent 2 weeks in a 2 bedroom apartment. Then we moved into our home and lived for a week and a half with no furniture. We are currently unpacking and the house is a wreck (but getting better each day). I've got most of the important stuff unpacked and we're finding solutions to our issues slowly...the biggest remaining issue is the elusive cordless telephones and pantry drawers, and finding a place for all of our clothing. When we moved, we got rid of a dresser--so now Jeremy and I have no place for OUR clothes. The girls had drawers in their beds, but now only one bed is set up due to space issues AND the drawer hardware is nowhere to be found--and they have no dresser yet. So there are clothes everywhere and I'm battling not to go crazy because although I'm not particularly organized, chaos makes me very anxious. So...*deep breath*, here we are. Everyone is doing very well. The children are very happy to be back here. Jeremy and I are struggling once again with the issues of lack of privacy and children around all of the time and trying to figure out how to manage the influences on our children. That is the biggest challenge of this neighborhood and we have yet to find a good, workable solution. I know what we NEED to do, but actually implementing it is harder than talking about it. This is where I need to pray for strength and wisdom and the willingness to do what it takes to do what's right for my children...this is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

Sooo...it's time for some updates! One of the great things about moving back to the same exact place you just left is not having to relearn all the stuff that comes with a new area: we have the same doctors, same stores, almost the same address! We tried to get the same phone #, but apparently it's now the # for a law firm!
Aaron went to the doctor for the first time since he was a week old. He gained 4lbs since birth and weighed in at 11lbs6oz. He's NICE and chunky and SOOOOO, so sweet! He seems to have gotten over the really fussy stage and is a very happy, sweet, easy-going baby. He LOVES to talk and makes the cutest little noises. That's something I never tire of is a sweet baby talking to me. We are now cloth diapering and it's going great. He seems happy and I'm happy to be saving the $ on diapers. Everyone always makes it sound like it's so difficult, but really, it's not. It requires a tiny bit more time to rinse the diapers and I wash a load each day (I only bought 9 diapers and will buy more if necessary--so far it doesn't seem necessary). I don't mind doing an extra load of laundry--I do laundry every day anyway, so it's no big deal to me. I have a ton of photos that I've taken, but I don't have a way of getting them online just yet....Jeremy is working on setting up my computer. Another plus about being in the same house as before: We know what worked before and what didn't and we know how we want to arrange the house this time to make it better than before. More info to come in the future as we make some interesting changes to this place.
Luke has been a bit of a pest lately. I'm quite positive it's because he just has not been getting much mommy time. I've been so busy trying to get this house in order that it hasn't been a priority to do things with him (how horrible does that sound? Yes, it really IS horrible). All three big kids are in the same room and they're doing well with it. Savannah likes to complain because Abby and Luke aren't angelic sleepers like herself. Abby talks and squirms. Luke wakes her up when he needs something (great for me--I am SO thankful for what she does to help him out so I don't get awakened). Aaron is now in his own room--it's a bittersweet thing. Jeremy and I haven't shared a room since we moved in with my parents, so it's nice to be back to normal like a married couple should be (although with the snoring he does, I kinda like the idea of separate rooms!). Aaron is sleeping pretty well--waking at 1am, 4:30am and 6:30am last night. He came into bed with me at 6:30 and we slept in until about 7:30.
When we were staying at the apartment, Savannah found a Razor scooter. Luke has been riding it and he's quite the little hot dog on it. I'm pretty impressed at his scooter skills! He even knows how to use the brake! Savannah is a total book worm, she's been DEVOURING any book she can get her hands on...she's been reading the Anne of Green Gables series most recently. Abby is actually starting to read a bit on her own too (very exciting for me as she's never been much of a reader). I'm getting ready to start school after Labor day and although I have some apprehension of how it'll be with 2 littler ones around, I'm also very excited. This is the first year I'm using a "boxed" curriculum. We're doing My Father's World and I'm very exited about it...it looks very fun and it'll be nice to have everything pretty much laid out for me and all I have to worry about is the extra stuff I want to do.

Okay, that's enough for now, I know that's not a whole lot of updating, but it's time for bed. Time is scarce these days!