My Children are Such a Blessing!

Tonight Jeremy is working. I really don't like this schedule, and I really should be in bed...but alas, the quiet evening calls to be enjoyed! So when he works, he leaves at the crack of dawn--before 5am, works all day, spends the night at work and then works the next day until 6:30pm. He gets home that day at 7:30-ish, just in time to help me with baths and bedtime--very much wanted and needed after the night before doing it alone. Well, I can't really say I do it "alone". My children are such wonderful helpers. Tonight all 4 of the "older" ones bathed together. They played house and pretended that Luke and Aaron were the babies. Savannah bathed Aaron, put his diaper and jammies on him and got him all ready for bed. Once he was ready for me, she took Lilah from me and held her while I put Aaron to bed. I get asked quite often how I do it with all 5 of them, but honestly, it's so much easier now than it was when there were only 2 of them. Yes, there is more work now--especially laundry--but with 2 big helpers, things go so much faster and more smoothly. Luke is even getting in on the action and is quickly becoming my dedicated vacuum-operator! He did the stairs the other day nearly PERFECTLY! Tomorrow he will be vacuuming out the car. He really enjoys using the vacuum!

The girls had the privilege of going to Discovery Kingdom today with our friends. It was nice to have some special time with Luke and Aaron (Lilah still sleeps a lot). I was hoping to have a bit more time one on one with Luke, but Aaron decided not to nap well today. Oh well. I took LOTS of pictures today of my precious boys, so I'll post soon...but probably not until Jeremy gets back home and I have a bit more back-up, but we'll see...maybe I can get it done tomorrow! Okay, my bed is calling...I'm hoping Lilah sleeps well tonight...last night she went from 10pm until 3:30am without waking...unfortunately, she was in bed with me, but hey...I was able to stretch out and sleep well, so I can't complain!

My Big Girls

Just being cute & silly...



This is Savannah wearing Daddy's clothes...

2 & 14 Months! :)

My babies are getting bigger by the second! This photo of Lilah was taken a week or so ago, so I DO need a more recent one...but this one of Aaron was tonight, when I decided to give him an early bath so I didn't have to juggle 2 baths with Daddy not here tonight. I tell ya, I'm going to be VERY happy when Jeremy is home EVERY night again. This kind of schedule is for the birds!

Not my PREFERRED way of cooking...

...but a Momma's gotta do what a Momma's gotta do! Rather than get caught up in cooking, I decided to get them involved, which is wonderful with a 4 year old, not so much with a 1 year old! :) It was going great until he decided to take a bite of a tomato and then throw it into the muffin batter. Hmmmm...

And the finished product....very tasty!

I want to post...but....

I'm just SO busy these days. There is very little time for the computer, well...little time that can be spent using my brain. Usually if I'm able to be online, either it's late, or I'm nursing...and I really don't feel like doing a blog post with one hand, that'd take forever!

I've started cooking and baking more because I've issued myself a challenge: I'm going to try to feed my family on $400 or less for the next 30 days. I have quite a bit of food in the freezer and pantry, so I'm kinda cheating, but I'm really working on cutting back on packaged food and cooking more from scratch. Yes, it's wonderful, healthier and less expensive, but it also takes a lot more time. I think once I get a system and get some big things out of the way (big batches of soup and breads), I'll have a bit more time. I'm currently looking for good time and money saving tips to help MY family. There are a lot of great ideas out there, but not everything works for every family.

I've discovered Pinterest.com. Wow, there are a LOT of wonderful ideas and recipes on there....and thankfully it's something I CAN do one-handed! :)

Aaron is officially a toddler...walking most of the time. It's SO cute! Lilah is smiling like crazy all of the time...not sleeping very well though. She's in bed with me for most of the night which I do NOT love. I have to keep reminding myself that she's only 8 weeks old (well, 2 MONTHS old tomorrow!), and she'll figure it out. And on that note, I'm off to bed to hopefully sleep without her for a while.

8 weeks old!

Lilah is 8 weeks old today and making strides!! Today I put her on her tummy on the floor and she rolled over! I thought it was a fluke, so I turned her back over again and she did it again! She is SUCH a strong little girl. Then I put her in her bouncy chair and she reached up and pulled the little toy that plays music. It was pretty amazing. She's looking more like a baby and less like a newborn.

When it rains, it pours.

My goodness! I've been to the doctor 6x in the past week now. Lilah just finished antibiotics for her cough. They worked WONDERS and it's all gone--praise God! :) Aaron is still being treated for thrush, but now he's got this crazy mystery rash. It is all around his mouth and look HORRID...especially now that it's become impetigo. The doctor has no idea what the original rash is...we were thinking hand foot and mouth, but it's all over and he doesn't act sick. Then she said perhaps chicken pox, but again, no sickness and the rash is at different stages on his body. She said she thinks it's some kind of viral rash, but it has probably become worse with the impetigo and of course he has the thrush because his immune system is struggling for some reason. The funny thing is that he's been more cheerful and wonderful than usual lately--talking up a storm and walking everywhere. He's been saying, "Abby" a lot and the other day he crawled up to me and said, "Hello!" in the cutest voice! He's such a little doll. I'll have to get a photo of this rash though, it's really quite funky. I just keep praying that no one else gets it and that it's nothing serious. We missed out on a visit with my brother and his family (the last visit for at least 5 weeks while he goes to school), so I'm quite bummed about that...but we just really didn't want to share cooties. It seems like lately, every time Jeremy is home, I'm off at the doctor's office. We avoided the doctor for quite a long while, I'd like to go back to that again soon, please?!?!