The Very Sleepy Caterpillar

That's how I feel right now. I had a good nights sleep last night, Aaron didn't wake until 5, and then got up for the day around 6:40. I went to sleep at 10pm last night and actually slept pretty well. I did have to wake up every 2 hours to go pee, but that's par for the course, I suppose. By the time Aaron went down for his nap, I needed a nap. I didn't want a nap, I honestly can't stand napping. There is so much to get done in a day that napping doesn't fit in, but I was just so tired I needed one. I woke up after around a half hour or so, but still felt tired. I was just commenting to Jeremy that I think this is the worst part of pregnancy. It's so exhausting. I don't want to do anything, but not doing anything is not an option.

It IS a tooth!!

As the day progressed, the tooth pushed it's way out! Aaron is officially part of the people with teeth world! So at 10 months, 1 week and 6 days old, Aaron has his very first tooth! How exciting! I don't care how many children you have, these little milestones don't get any less exciting! I'm expecting his bottom left one to come through any time now too...I love, love, love gummy babies, but it's always fun to see them get those cute little baby teeth.

Have you ever noticed that baby teeth always seem so perfect while grown up teeth often come in all funky? I wonder why that is? All of my children have had perfect, nicely aligned baby teeth...we have a dentist appointment tomorrow, I think I'll ask!

Almost a tooth!

All of my children have been late teethers. I've always thought they were teething from a much younger age than they probably were, but what do I know?!?! Aaron went through a stage not too long ago where he had a low grade fever, runny poop, runny nose, drooling like crazy, etc. I thought for SURE it was teething and was surprised that he was going through it so "early". Well, a month + passed and still no teeth, I should have known better. Well, now I can TRULY say we're ALMOST there! I can SEE his tooth, but I can't feel it yet...so I'm guessing it's just covered by the smallest amount of gum still, but it's ALMOST here! It's the bottom right tooth and I can almost see the bottom left one as well. It's very exciting to think that we're almost there and my big guy will be entering a new stage of tooth-full ness. :) I told my girls the other day that Aaron was not going to be a gummy baby anymore and they were kinda sad, but I reminded them that VERY soon we'll have a gummy girl and not to worry. I'd take pictures, but I can barely get a glimpse of it in real life, let alone with a camera. Hopefully one of these days soon!

Shutting it down...

April 18th through the 24th is "Screen Free Week", an effort to get people to shut off the "screens" we plant ourselves in front of, some of us practically all day long. Yes, I'm guilty of this. Although I don't have a cell phone, we don't have television service (we DO have a tv), my children play on the computer, they watch movies on the weekend and they love playing wii on the weekends as well. To be totally honest, although I like my computer time, all of the time that is spent by my family, not to mention the AVERAGE American is sickening to me. I'd venture to guess that we spend way less time than average, but even so, it's too much. So, we're going to take this challenge. Starting tomorrow, there will be no TV, no computer and no iPhones! My children are totally hooked on iPhone games and whenever they're around people who HAVE iPhones, that's all they want to do. So we're going to be faced with that this weekend as our family gets together for Easter, and it will be a challenge...but I think we can do it! The one thing I'm going to struggle with is turning on Baby Einstein for Aaron. Sometimes when I need to get things done, especially school work, Baby Einstein entertains him like nothing else and it lends me a free moment or two. So that will be my struggle. Not using the computer will be a challenge as well because I use it for so much, it's so easy to look up this or google that and before you know it, you've been online for an hour! My children use the computer for their math, so either we're going to have to do something different, or we'll have to make an exception. Right now I'm leaning heavily toward doing something different.

Coriander? Really?

I was cooking dinner with Luke this evening and he picked up a container of coriander and smelled it and said, "Mommy, this smells just like you!" Really? I smell like coriander? I guess I could think of things WORSE than coriander to smell like, but that's kinda odd. Luke is my "smelly" child, he sniffs EVERYTHING, he's really into smelling things and he associates smells with things and people. One day I had gone away and I guess he missed me because when I got home, he told me that he was smelling my jacket and it smelled like me. He also picked up a jacket once and smelled it and said, "Yup, this is Papa's!"

Random Cuteness.

The other day I was ironing Jeremy's uniform. I don't particularly care for ironing, but if I don't do it, he has to do it...usually on Sunday evening, our last few minutes together before the work week starts. So I was in the bathroom ironing and Savannah came in the house and asked me if she could do something. I told her no, she begged. I said, "NO. Do not ask me again when I've said NO!". She got a stinky look on her face and said, "Are you just being mean because you're ironing???" Hahaha...no, I really meant NO, but hmmm...there may be something to that. There's a good reason I avoid ironing...it makes me "mean"!!

A certain member of our extended family is convinced that the world is ending on May 21, 2011...yes...in just over a month. Savannah saw something at his house and it kinda made her upset. You know how children are...they want to live their lives, have their children, etc. So she's NOT happy that he thinks that Jesus is coming. I keep trying to tell her, no matter WHEN He comes, we'll all be THRILLED when it happens, but you know, children are children. So anyway, the other day she was looking through the calendar for special dates...she turned to May and looked at me and said, "Hmmm...the end of the world isn't on here!" Weird! :)

Today I let the children watch a movie. It's been really windy and pretty chilly outside...and I NEEDED a nap today. It's not that they won't LET me sleep if they don't watch a movie, it's just that the sound of the TV puts me RIGHT to sleep, keeps them entertained and gives me a way of measuring whether I slept or not--if there is a movie playing and I don't remember what happened, I must have dozed off. I'm not a huge napper, I just need to make it to sleepy-town for a few moments and I'm good to go. Anyway, Luke was watching the beginning of the movie and it said, "D-V-D". Luke says, "D-V-D....that spells DVD!" Hehehe...he's so cute. Yes, Lukie...D-V-D DOES spell DVD! He then proceeded to run to the dining room and write "DVD" on the white board. He informed me that even though the "V" looks a bit like a "U", it is in fact a "V".

Okay is the new great!

You've heard people say, "30 is the new 20", right? It really cracks me up when my mom will say something like, "60 is the new 30!" Hahaha...I wouldn't stretch it THAT far, Mom!

So my friend, Michelle called me today. I asked her how she was doing and she said, "Okay". (They're getting ready to buy their first house, so she's a bit stressed!). I said, "Yeah, I'm doing OKAY too." To which she replied, "Oh, that's good!". No, that is NOT good...that's not the response I was looking for!!! I was fishing! I was looking for an "Oh, what's wrong?" so that I could unload emotionally on her...that IS why she had called, is it not? No, it was not.

I got to thinking. Maybe at this season in my life, Okay is the new Great. It's okay to just be okay. I'm not doing HORRIBLY, and most of the time I'd say I'm leaning heavily toward Good, even--with moments of Greatness in between...but I'm definitely chugging along at Okay, and that's, well...OKAY! John 16:33 says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." No one promised me that things would be easy...no one TOLD me to have all of these children, or to homeschool or to even CARE that my home is kept. Well, no one other than God Himself...and if HE says that I'll have trouble...I guess I should be content that perhaps this is part of His plan at this moment in my life...that He is working character into me...He's refining me, if you will. Yes, refinement is PAINFUL, it's not "fun", but it's also not BAD! I am one of those people who will kick and kick and fight and fight when I need to learn to just sit back and enjoy the ride. I struggle greatly with this...I have a faith issue! But at this point, I'm finding that the more I kick and fight, the more I sink. It's much like swimming...when you relax and just float, it's easy. When you kick and fight and struggle...well, you drown! I told my husband today that it is frustrating when you pray and you quote scripture, it seems like things should just fall into place...but that's not always what happens. Don't get me wrong, I've had moments where I was truly on the verge of losing it, I cried out to the Lord and he relieved me from my distress (Psalm 107:6). But God is not my "Magic Genie" who comes along and grants my wishes...He takes care of my NEEDS. When I come before him and admit, "Lord, I am weary and heavy-laden...I NEED rest", I have to trust that HE knows what kind of rest I need...and how much of it I need. This is not easy. It's a moment to moment walk of faith. Faith is a fruit and fruit is developed through my submission to the Spirit and allowing the Lord to work out my impurities through this process of refinement...and I've got to learn to be Okay with that.

Here is a song by Ginny Owens that has brought me so much encouragement. She went blind at the age of 2, yet is an amazing musician, so she knows what she's talking about!!

My children, doing what they do best...

Savannah, enjoying a good book (as usual!)



Luke, showing off his art work (the girls refer to his people as "Balloon People"--oh and note Hedgie in his hands...that's his best friend!)



And Abby...well, this isn't what she does best, but for anyone who knows Abby, this picture is so fitting! (she did this to herself, by the way!)

If ever there were a time...

...that I wished one of my children was more like another one, this is the time.
Aaron was up at 5:20am this morning (yesterday he was up at 6:15). I put him down for his nap at around 10am (his normal nap time) and he slept for MAYBE an hour. He woke crying and had a big burp--okay, I can't say that I blame him, but he can sit up, burp, and go back to sleep. So he's yawning and yawning and yawning...I tried to put him down again and it was a no go. So here we are, it's around 1:30pm and, although he's happy enough, he's still yawning and could really use a good nap.

MEANWHILE, Luke went to bed last night without a hitch. Yes, I know, he's 4 AND he still takes a paci, but go with me here. He slept in until 7:30ish (which is rather early for him, but it doesn't help that EVERYONE was up early due to a baby crying very early this morning). So Luke is playing and decides that he's really tired. I said, "Fine, go take a nap". So what does he do?? He goes and takes a nap! A 2-hour nap. He puts himself to bed. I went up there to check on him and he's all cozy with a blankie under his head, his stuffed animal under his arm and his paci in his mouth. The covers were over him and he looked so peaceful. I really, really wished I was him for a moment! After 2 hours, I sent Savannah to go wake him up...he does NOT wake up nicely, so it took him about 15 minutes or so to finally come downstairs. The point is, not only is he fantastic about sleeping NOW, he has ALWAYS been a fantastic sleeper. When Luke was born, he slept for 4 hours at a shot in the HOSPITAL. He went straight to his own crib in his own room and slept thru the night at 10 weeks old. Yes, he had his little sleep disturbances, but all in all, he has always been an excellent sleeper...nights AND naps.

I'm not asking for a whole lot with Aaron...I rock/bottle him to sleep, I burp him, I snuggle him...I don't generally let him cry. I know that this could be PART of the problem, but, I've mentioned before, he's only going to be my baby for such a short time, I'll deal with the problem when I HAVE to...for now I'm trying to enjoy every snuggle and sleepy-baby-in-my-arms moment I can get. Thankfully, Aaron is absolutely ADORABLE. Like, really, really, REALLY cute. Not only is he SUPER handsome, but he has SUCH a cute personality too...he's super interactive and chatty...he makes all the right baby noises at the right times, so really, it does make up for his lack of perfection in the sleep department...unfortunately, baby giggles and smiles and all the "Mama's" in the world do NOT give my body the rest it is so in need of right now. I know God has a plan through all of this, I know He will not give me more than I can handle, and I KNOW I'm getting all of the rest I NEED (all I'd LIKE would be good from time to time though). I also know this is a "season" and "this too shall pass", but those thoughts don't really help in the moment. I have to trust in Him and cast all of my cares on Him, but it's a struggle. I know that one day I'll look back at these times as some of the sweetest moments of my life...and they truly are. They're just VERY, very exhausting.

See how cute?!?!


Eeewwww, I just noticed how dirty my dishwasher is! Don't mind that! :)

**EDITED TO ADD: Afternoon nap was approximately 10-15 minutes long...horray!**

Taking Naps

Luke has pretty much grown out of taking naps. Every once in a while he'll tell me that he's tired and he'll head upstairs for a little snoozle. He's always been a fantastic sleeper (he takes after his daddy), so this is nothing novel. But lately, as he's gotten older and doesn't NEED a nap, his naps seem to coincide with the weekends and "waiting" to play Super Mario Galaxy. Now, don't get me wrong...he WAS yawning earlier today, so I don't doubt that he was tired, but when he woke up from his nap, he told me that "Naps give the sun energy so it can go down". I KNOW that his ulterior motive for napping today was to make the day go by faster so that he could play his game. How pathetic. Interesting thought though!