Aaron at 3 months.

Aaron continues to be the sweetest, smiliest, happiest little guy around. He's almost too easy when it comes to getting him to smile. All you have to do is look in his general direction and he flashes a beautiful, sparkly, gummy grin. He's precious. He's easing into a pretty decent schedule. He's waking 2x a night--lately it's been some time around 12 midnight and then again around 4-ish. It varies a bit from night to night, but that's the general schedule. He's usually up just after 7 in the morning, s not too shabby. Of course, I'd love to be sleeping better, but it's nice to have the time to bond with him, even if it's in the middle of the night. He usually takes 2-3 naps a day. Most often he has one really long one--around 3-3.5 hours long. Bless his little baby heart. He's nursing really well still, but I'm starting to get a bit concerned about my milk supply. I've said this in the past, my body seems to be more into MAKING babies than FEEDING babies. He has only gained 1lb 5oz in the past 5 weeks--weighing in now at 12lb10oz. While he's still in the "safe" range for weight gain, he's right on the line. I would have been much happier if he had gained a couple of pounds, but it is what it is. I'm considering supplementing with something, but he's having some slight issues with dairy and/or soy. We were alarmed when we changed his diaper and he had a bit of blood in his stool. It wasn't very much, just the tiniest amount, but enough to warrant a call to the doctor. The doctor told me that 90% of the time that's caused by dairy/soy in the mother's diet. I've been off of both of them and it's gone away, but when I added either back INTO my diet, we had issues again. Sooo...when it comes to supplementing, I'm not quite sure what to supplement with. For now, I'm going to continue nursing, taking my herbal supplements and pumping a couple extra ounces to give him before bed and see if that makes a difference. He's obviously getting enough to be happy though because this guy just does not get crabby--unless he's tired or hungry.
When we go out shopping, he's perfectly content to fall asleep in his car seat. We walked to the park today and he fell asleep on the way there...and again on the way back. He even stayed asleep while I took him out of the car seat and swaddled him and put him into his swing.
Oh yes, I must admit...he's taking naps in his swing still. I'm completely ashamed of myself, but it happened when we moved...and it's working so well, why change it??
My theory has always been: do what works until it stops working...then find something new. So he's swaddled, napping in his swing (he does sleep in his crib at night, for the record), and taking a paci...and guess what?!?! I don't care.

Light Light Therapy

Light Light, Robot Puppy and Turtly Wurtly Gurtly. Those are the names of Luke's newest "friends". Light Light is a round, EXTREMELY bright LED light (actually a series of many lights that Luke calls "eyes"). Robot Puppy is an LED book light that looks strangely like a critter when folded the right way and Turtly Wurtly Gurtly is a toy off of Aaron's little bouncy chair.
Luke has been neglected lately--not that I'm not HERE all day long, but I think he really is at a stage where he needs more one on one attention and often will say, "PLAY WITH ME" to me. I'm not the most creative person in the world, especially first thing in the morning when I'm trying to get some caffeine on board (why can't I just take it intravenously?) and nursing a baby--so we've made a little before nap routine of playing with his friends for 4 minutes. I set the alarm on my watch and he goes right to bed without a fuss afterwards. So, what do we play? Here's where the therapy comes in. We basically have a nice little "chat". I'm Turtly Wurtly Gurtly and he's Light Light (Robot Puppy is just not as fun since he lost his little battery cover) and we "play". I ask him questions and he answers me--from his heart, but AS Light Light. Today he told me that "he" (meaning Light Light) is 3, will be 4 in March. He said he's a good boy but he always gets disciplined because he hurts his sister. When I asked WHY he always hurts her he said because she's stinky to him. So far we haven't gotten past that...I keep trying to encourage him to think of other things he can do than hurting her and he hasn't had a solution--yet. Maybe with frequent "Light Light Therapy", we'll be making progress soon. Regardless, it's nice to have the ability to have heart to heart discussions in a non-threatening way.

Little Boys

I love little boys. Tonight Luke told me at the dinner table that I was the best mommy, that I'm "so nice" and that when he grows up, he wants to marry me! Awwwwhhhh!
I had to tell him that I'm already married ("To who, Daddy??" he asks), but one day I'll help him find a wife just like me!! :)

Pufferbell

Yesterday Luke was playing "delivery man". He'd go outside and come back inside to me with a "package". He'd hand it to me, I'd open it and we'd chat about what was inside. It was pretty cute. He did it over and over again until I opened a "package" and said, "Awwwhhh what a cute little kitty!". (the children have been DYING for a new kitty). He came over and "picked it up" and "pet it", then he named it "Pufferbell". He "played" with Pufferbell for a while and then we put her on a pillow for a rest. The girls came in and Luke "showed" Pufferbell to them. THEY started playing with her. But get this, (this is my children in a nutshell *LONG, DEEP SIGH*) they started ARGUING over Pufferbell. Luke came in and told me that Abby wouldn't let him hold her!! Are you kidding me??? My children will argue over anything...even a fake kitty. It was cute while it lasted, but I'm glad Pufferbell seems to have climbed into a corner somewhere and is "hiding".

Baby Laughs

I love baby laughs and I'm so excited to report that I'm officially on the path of hearing a lot more of them soon!! Tonight daddy was playing with Aaron, making silly duck noises at him and Aaron laughed!! Not once, but TWICE! :) I called the girls in to hear, because I knew they'd ADORE his giggles, but as soon as they arrived, they distracted him and he didn't laugh anymore. :( Oh well, at least I know that from this point on, we'll be hearing more--YAY!!

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!

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!