New Stuff

Life is keeping me busy, busy, busy. This is definitely a good thing, but it usually leaves very little time for anything other than the necessary tasks. I manage to get it all done, within reason--I mean, who REALLY needs their clothes folded always? At least they're clean--and dry! I've been trying to cook more from scratch so we only have to buy the staples. The prices of groceries are getting out of control and we're really trying to tighten our proverbial belts in order to save some money in case we ever need it--you know, like if one of our children breaks another window or something?!?! Just sayin'. With children, things happen...and it's nice to have a bit of a buffer. So between cooking and cleaning, diaper changes and homeschooling, life is very full. It's a good full for sure, especially at the end of the day when I'm tired and I look into the lovely eyes of my darling children and they tell me they love me. It's all worth it. Another thing that's all worth it...let me just say, having 2 babies one year apart is VERY difficult. Especially with one very strong-willed one. It is crazy chaotic and at times overwhelming. But when I am nursing the wee one and her sweet brother comes up onto my lap and she stops nursing to giggle at him, oh my goodness, it just melts my heart. The more she laughs (she's a SUPER giggly guppy anyway), the more he tries to make her laugh. It is SO absolutely adorable. They can go on for a good 10-15 minutes just cracking up at each other. Of course I don't have it on video because as soon as we get the camera out, Aaron is more focused on seeing himself in the camera than anything else, but take my word for it, it's SO cute!

One of these days soon I'll get on a photo posting roll again. Naps haven't been our strongest suit lately, and usually around a half hour after I put Lilah to bed, she's crying again, so my quiet evenings have been pretty non-existent. And unfortunately, my evenings are usually the only time I have to get anything on the computer accomplished--in fact, the only reason I'm blogging right now is because Daddy is upstairs with a very grumpy, teething little guy and I just happened to get Lilah into bed...although I really should be folding laundry, I decided to do this instead. I haven't been taking enough photos. I'm still trying to encourage Jeremy to grab the camera more often and snap a photo here and there just so we have some documentation of this crazy time in our lives. One day we'll look back and say, "Hey, how come there are no photos?!?!"

So last night was a big deal. Although Luke is 4 and a half years old, we've allowed him to have his pacifier up to this point because I was willing to do just about anything for a good night's rest, and to me that meant that if we had to get braces for him, so be it...sleep is more important. But I digress. So last night I told Luke that it was time. Jeremy bought some balloons, we tied the pacifiers to the balloons and Luke let them go. There was a little fussing at bed time, but really not much. I was so proud of him. When I went to check on him around 20 minutes after he had gone to bed, he was sound asleep. What a big boy. Today we went to Powell's Sweet Shop and got him a special treat (and some candy for everyone else!). And we went to the library for the first time in a very long time--getting out for anything but the necessities is challenging these days with all of the required naps, schooling, cleaning, cooking, etc., etc., etc.

Lilah is now just over 15lbs, grabbing at everything and making the cutest squeaks. She absolutely refuses to take a bottle and sleeps like a newborn still. She almost always wakes at midnight, I nurse her and put her back to bed, then she usually wakes around 3am and I'll bring her into bed with me and we usually get some good sleep until just after 7am. When we went to my parents house and she had her own room, she slept FANTASTIC. I actually had to WAKE her up to nurse her. I wonder if it was sheer coincidence?!?! One day she'll have her own room and maybe we'll all get some longer stretches of sleep, but for now, I'm just trying to enjoy this time.

Aaron is teething like mad, running all over the place and picking up new words like crazy, his latest being "Shoes", "Doggie" and "Apple". He's SOOOOOOOO cute, and soooo challenging, but I love the little guy to pieces. Oh, he's CONSTANTLY giving kisses too (and biting too, you never know if he's going to kiss or bite--how fun!)

Okay, despite my procrastinating, the laundry has not done itself...I must run. Thankfully dinner is already in the crock pot!