Wednesday, September 12, 2012
(in)Sanity
Today has been one of those days when everything seems off. I am grumpy (thanks aunt flo) and hardly got any sleep last night. The girls were up at 4:30 and jumped into bed with us. I we finally sent them back to bed and after about 10 times putting Autumn back in bed they finally slept, for about another hour. I woke up exhausted and with a short fuse. We were in a rush to get ready for Eli's doctor's appointment from the get go. The house is a total disaster, laundry is behind, dishes are dirty, table is messy. Eli got shots so he's been fussy. Autumn wouldn't take a nap until I put her back into her pack n play (she's been sleeping in the bottom bunk of the bunk beds) and Hannah, although very tired, never took a nap. Eric is working the next 17 of 24hrs, his parents are coming tomorrow, and I've got to make this place presentable. This is just a perfect storm for me to loose my mind. I need to get a better system for cleaning, and I need to have some help from my family members!! I sometimes just feel like a maid, cleaning up behind everyone all day on top of making sure everyone eats, has a clean butt and clean clothes, and somehow I have to find time to go to the bathroom and shower myself! I'm sure once I'm less hormonal things won't seem half as bad, but today is totally insane.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
You Know The Peace
You know the peace you feel when you have made a decision that took many days, months, years of deciding on, and you know it was the right decision? I've got that peace.
After exploring a preschool for Hannah we have decided that we are going to go forward with homeschooling. It feels like the right thing to do, 100%. I think the program was good, the school seemed great, but something inside me made it clear that it wasn't right for us. Since then I have become very intense on researching curriculum, co-ops, ideas and planning. I am hoping to start a preschool co-op this fall, and join a homeschool co-op next fall which has programs for all 3 children. I am so thrilled about this. I have so much I want to share with my children, so much I want to teach them, so many experiences I want them to have, and I get to have those experiences with them. They will not be burdened with homework, held back by the group, feel stupid for being "behind" or have their natural love of learning be stifled by "the system".
This week we got started, and Hannah is loving learning. We studied Matthew 1 and talked about family trees. She created her own and also planted a small branch. We also enjoyed learning about wells and how they work, since we had our well worked on today. She was so into it, and it makes me really proud to see her hunger to learn and ability to understand such complex things at age 4. She's incredible, and although she is feisty and opinionated, she is an amazing kid. I'm so blessed to be her mother.
After exploring a preschool for Hannah we have decided that we are going to go forward with homeschooling. It feels like the right thing to do, 100%. I think the program was good, the school seemed great, but something inside me made it clear that it wasn't right for us. Since then I have become very intense on researching curriculum, co-ops, ideas and planning. I am hoping to start a preschool co-op this fall, and join a homeschool co-op next fall which has programs for all 3 children. I am so thrilled about this. I have so much I want to share with my children, so much I want to teach them, so many experiences I want them to have, and I get to have those experiences with them. They will not be burdened with homework, held back by the group, feel stupid for being "behind" or have their natural love of learning be stifled by "the system".
This week we got started, and Hannah is loving learning. We studied Matthew 1 and talked about family trees. She created her own and also planted a small branch. We also enjoyed learning about wells and how they work, since we had our well worked on today. She was so into it, and it makes me really proud to see her hunger to learn and ability to understand such complex things at age 4. She's incredible, and although she is feisty and opinionated, she is an amazing kid. I'm so blessed to be her mother.
Monday, August 27, 2012
The Summer of Trials
I really wish I would remember to update this blog more often. I do want to have some sort of record of our lives raising our precious children!
Since I last wrote, little Elijah Daniel Samuelson was born on May 10, 2012. After a failed external version to get him from breech to normal position I ended up going into labor a week early and having an emergency c-section. I was so terrified about the surgery and recovery, and looking back at all of the OTHER things we've gone through since he's been born that was the easy part!
Here's the story of the labor and birth:
I woke on the 10th feeling "different." Eric's parents had stayed the night because Marty had an MRI that morning, so they had already left for UofM hospital. Around 8am I started feeling contractions. They were about 5-8min apart. Over the course of the next hour they became 4min apart. I alerted Eric while he was in the shower and he got out, I got in. We called triage and they told us to come in. How convenient that his parents were already at the hospital! We gave them a call and met them at Mott, passed off the girls (I was very emotional and teary eyed at this!) and headed up to triage. They checked me and I was 3cm, and starting to really feel the pain of the contractions (it was at that point about 10:00am). After a consultation with the doctor, they wheeled me into the pre-op room and got me ready for surgery. Eric wanted to get a camera and to call my family to let them know I was going to deliver right away. He left, and I was taken to the OR. I was really scared, but mostly excited! Of course getting the spinal was horrid. It took forever, and they were also trying to get blood from me at the same time, so I was getting poked and prodded all over. Once the spinal was in they allowed Eric to come in. (now it is about 12pm) I was so relieved when I saw him, all decked out in his scrubs. Right away they began the surgery. All of my fears and anxiety were gone, I was just so excited to meet my son. The thought that I would be hearing his cry in just a few minutes made me so thrilled I could hardly contain myself. I was grinning from ear to ear. I could feel a lot of tugging, pushing, and pulling. Eli was crammed way up in my rib cage, so he was hard to get out. Then the moment happened, I heard the doctor say, "Here he is! He's a chunky one!" And then his little cry. They brought him around the curtain and I saw my little guy for the first time. All gooey and chubby, he was perfect, all 9lbs of him. They took him to clean him up, and he made some funny sounds that sounded like, "Oh no!" all of the nurses were laughing! It felt like ages until I could see him again. He peed on the doctor, then on the nurse, then through his blankets, geez. It all happened so fast. One minute I was sitting on my couch watching tv, and 3 hours later I was holding my precious baby boy! After the surgery they wheeled me back to recovery. I was not feeling any pain at all, but was shaking uncontrollably. The shaking started on the operating table, and continued for a couple of hours, it was terrible. I couldn't stop chattering my teeth. Nevertheless, I nursed Eli as soon as I held him. He was ready and latched on right away. He nursed for an hour on each side. It was pure perfection. Eric brought Hannah back to see him, and then Autumn, then Eric's parents each came back to see him too. After a while they took me to my room. Everyone stayed around for a while and then Hannah and Autumn went back to Port Huron with Eric's parents while I was in the hospital. Gradually as the spinal wore off I began feeling some discomfort. It was mostly an ache of my abdominal muscles. I never had any incision pain at all. Over the course of the next 2 days I was able to get out of bed, walk around the room, and on the last day I even took a shower by myself! I was blown away by how much I was able to do, and the severity of the pain was minimal as long as I kept up on the meds. It was hard to get Elijah in and out of his bed, and I couldn't change his diapers yet, but I was so happy to lay in bed and nurse him all day long. We barely got any sleep, although he was a great sleeper....at first. I was absolutely in love, and we had an instant bond.
Now Elijah is 3 1/2 months old. Since his birth we have gone through a lot! Here's a run down:
May- my parents visited after Eli was born for 2 weeks. They were an incredible help to us. Cooking, cleaning and taking care of the girls while I recovered and Eric worked. It was amazing having them here. Eric had just started working at Produce Station, so he was still adjusting. I was still recovering from surgery, and it was very hard to get anything done being sleep deprived, sore, and busy with the children.
June- I am working on figuring out how to manage 3 kids and take care of the house while also starting to pack for our move. It is a huge challenge, and as the summer rolls in it is a HOT one. Lots of days are a wash because of the heat. With only 1 small AC unit, we spend a lot of days holed up in my bedroom. After my birthday things just got worse. I turned 30.
July- Autumn begins getting sick, her breathing gets worse and we decide we need to get to AC soon. Elijah also stopped nursing, so we knew it was time to get cooled off. We had several days in a row over 100, with many over 95 too. We spent a total of 7 days in a hotel. It was so difficult for Eric, having to pack everything we needed by himself in a disaster of a house and in the unbearable heat. He is such a wonderful man. Always making huge sacrifices for me, I am so grateful for him. At the end of July we spent 2 weeks at the Garcia's house in Chelsea while they were in Argentina. This was great! Finally the kids got into a routine. Elijah started sleeping and eating on a routine, and we were able to have normal family life again. Unfortunately Eric had to go back to the old house several times alone to pack. There was SO much to do, and only days to do it. We moved in 2 stages, one Saturday we moved everything to the garage at the new house, then on Tuesday we moved into the house.
August- Our new life begins. We are in the new house! our house has AC, a pool, laundry room, basement and 3 bedrooms- everything we ever wanted! I could not be happier. We begin moving things in slowly from the garage. Since the basement isn't ready yet, we only move in essentials and when it is finished we will be able to finish up with setting things where they go. Eric's schedule is a challenge still, being 1-9pm. I have to figure out dinners, bedtimes, and cleaning/housework all on my own. It is a lot of work! The house is still being worked on, so people are in and out all the time. We enjoyed swimming in the pool and getting settled in general. Elijah is growing like a weed, 17lbs at 3mo old!! We also got our first family pet (besides fish or frogs) Figaro! He is the best cat we could ask for. He tolerates all of the fur pulling, squeezing and chasing from the girls without a problem. He doesn't run and hide under the bed, he loves snuggling and is so mellow. He got loose before we were ready to let him outside and was missing for a couple of days. I was devastated. I had become really attached, and felt really sad that we may never find a cat like him again. Thankfully I was able to find him in the woods next to the house.
And now we are here at the last week of August. I am loving life right now. Most of our major stressors are gone, the heat, sick kids, surgeries, messy house, packing, moving etc. ALL GONE. Now we are on a quest to increase our income once again. I am hoping to find a family who needs childcare in our home. Eric is continuing to seek a higher paying position somewhere in the food industry. We've survived the hardest season in our lives, it feels great to be under God's wing. He has taken us through the fire, and we have come out even more pure on the other side. PRAISE HIM.
Fall is approaching and I am getting ready to start more serious homeschooling with Hannah this year. She is SO hungry for learning, and I see no reason to wait. We are considering sending her to preschool 2-3 days a week for socialization as well. We'll see if that happens. I know she would love it, she asks every day when she gets to go to school. We waiver back and forth about sending her to school. I know I want to do a lot of educating her, but I also see the value in formal education as well. I wish I could send her to school 2 days a week for elementary school. That would be ideal. I don't know if we are allowed to do that, it would probably make it harder on her. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll remember to post before 4 months pass again!
Since I last wrote, little Elijah Daniel Samuelson was born on May 10, 2012. After a failed external version to get him from breech to normal position I ended up going into labor a week early and having an emergency c-section. I was so terrified about the surgery and recovery, and looking back at all of the OTHER things we've gone through since he's been born that was the easy part!
Here's the story of the labor and birth:
I woke on the 10th feeling "different." Eric's parents had stayed the night because Marty had an MRI that morning, so they had already left for UofM hospital. Around 8am I started feeling contractions. They were about 5-8min apart. Over the course of the next hour they became 4min apart. I alerted Eric while he was in the shower and he got out, I got in. We called triage and they told us to come in. How convenient that his parents were already at the hospital! We gave them a call and met them at Mott, passed off the girls (I was very emotional and teary eyed at this!) and headed up to triage. They checked me and I was 3cm, and starting to really feel the pain of the contractions (it was at that point about 10:00am). After a consultation with the doctor, they wheeled me into the pre-op room and got me ready for surgery. Eric wanted to get a camera and to call my family to let them know I was going to deliver right away. He left, and I was taken to the OR. I was really scared, but mostly excited! Of course getting the spinal was horrid. It took forever, and they were also trying to get blood from me at the same time, so I was getting poked and prodded all over. Once the spinal was in they allowed Eric to come in. (now it is about 12pm) I was so relieved when I saw him, all decked out in his scrubs. Right away they began the surgery. All of my fears and anxiety were gone, I was just so excited to meet my son. The thought that I would be hearing his cry in just a few minutes made me so thrilled I could hardly contain myself. I was grinning from ear to ear. I could feel a lot of tugging, pushing, and pulling. Eli was crammed way up in my rib cage, so he was hard to get out. Then the moment happened, I heard the doctor say, "Here he is! He's a chunky one!" And then his little cry. They brought him around the curtain and I saw my little guy for the first time. All gooey and chubby, he was perfect, all 9lbs of him. They took him to clean him up, and he made some funny sounds that sounded like, "Oh no!" all of the nurses were laughing! It felt like ages until I could see him again. He peed on the doctor, then on the nurse, then through his blankets, geez. It all happened so fast. One minute I was sitting on my couch watching tv, and 3 hours later I was holding my precious baby boy! After the surgery they wheeled me back to recovery. I was not feeling any pain at all, but was shaking uncontrollably. The shaking started on the operating table, and continued for a couple of hours, it was terrible. I couldn't stop chattering my teeth. Nevertheless, I nursed Eli as soon as I held him. He was ready and latched on right away. He nursed for an hour on each side. It was pure perfection. Eric brought Hannah back to see him, and then Autumn, then Eric's parents each came back to see him too. After a while they took me to my room. Everyone stayed around for a while and then Hannah and Autumn went back to Port Huron with Eric's parents while I was in the hospital. Gradually as the spinal wore off I began feeling some discomfort. It was mostly an ache of my abdominal muscles. I never had any incision pain at all. Over the course of the next 2 days I was able to get out of bed, walk around the room, and on the last day I even took a shower by myself! I was blown away by how much I was able to do, and the severity of the pain was minimal as long as I kept up on the meds. It was hard to get Elijah in and out of his bed, and I couldn't change his diapers yet, but I was so happy to lay in bed and nurse him all day long. We barely got any sleep, although he was a great sleeper....at first. I was absolutely in love, and we had an instant bond.
Now Elijah is 3 1/2 months old. Since his birth we have gone through a lot! Here's a run down:
May- my parents visited after Eli was born for 2 weeks. They were an incredible help to us. Cooking, cleaning and taking care of the girls while I recovered and Eric worked. It was amazing having them here. Eric had just started working at Produce Station, so he was still adjusting. I was still recovering from surgery, and it was very hard to get anything done being sleep deprived, sore, and busy with the children.
June- I am working on figuring out how to manage 3 kids and take care of the house while also starting to pack for our move. It is a huge challenge, and as the summer rolls in it is a HOT one. Lots of days are a wash because of the heat. With only 1 small AC unit, we spend a lot of days holed up in my bedroom. After my birthday things just got worse. I turned 30.
July- Autumn begins getting sick, her breathing gets worse and we decide we need to get to AC soon. Elijah also stopped nursing, so we knew it was time to get cooled off. We had several days in a row over 100, with many over 95 too. We spent a total of 7 days in a hotel. It was so difficult for Eric, having to pack everything we needed by himself in a disaster of a house and in the unbearable heat. He is such a wonderful man. Always making huge sacrifices for me, I am so grateful for him. At the end of July we spent 2 weeks at the Garcia's house in Chelsea while they were in Argentina. This was great! Finally the kids got into a routine. Elijah started sleeping and eating on a routine, and we were able to have normal family life again. Unfortunately Eric had to go back to the old house several times alone to pack. There was SO much to do, and only days to do it. We moved in 2 stages, one Saturday we moved everything to the garage at the new house, then on Tuesday we moved into the house.
August- Our new life begins. We are in the new house! our house has AC, a pool, laundry room, basement and 3 bedrooms- everything we ever wanted! I could not be happier. We begin moving things in slowly from the garage. Since the basement isn't ready yet, we only move in essentials and when it is finished we will be able to finish up with setting things where they go. Eric's schedule is a challenge still, being 1-9pm. I have to figure out dinners, bedtimes, and cleaning/housework all on my own. It is a lot of work! The house is still being worked on, so people are in and out all the time. We enjoyed swimming in the pool and getting settled in general. Elijah is growing like a weed, 17lbs at 3mo old!! We also got our first family pet (besides fish or frogs) Figaro! He is the best cat we could ask for. He tolerates all of the fur pulling, squeezing and chasing from the girls without a problem. He doesn't run and hide under the bed, he loves snuggling and is so mellow. He got loose before we were ready to let him outside and was missing for a couple of days. I was devastated. I had become really attached, and felt really sad that we may never find a cat like him again. Thankfully I was able to find him in the woods next to the house.
And now we are here at the last week of August. I am loving life right now. Most of our major stressors are gone, the heat, sick kids, surgeries, messy house, packing, moving etc. ALL GONE. Now we are on a quest to increase our income once again. I am hoping to find a family who needs childcare in our home. Eric is continuing to seek a higher paying position somewhere in the food industry. We've survived the hardest season in our lives, it feels great to be under God's wing. He has taken us through the fire, and we have come out even more pure on the other side. PRAISE HIM.
Fall is approaching and I am getting ready to start more serious homeschooling with Hannah this year. She is SO hungry for learning, and I see no reason to wait. We are considering sending her to preschool 2-3 days a week for socialization as well. We'll see if that happens. I know she would love it, she asks every day when she gets to go to school. We waiver back and forth about sending her to school. I know I want to do a lot of educating her, but I also see the value in formal education as well. I wish I could send her to school 2 days a week for elementary school. That would be ideal. I don't know if we are allowed to do that, it would probably make it harder on her. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll remember to post before 4 months pass again!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Tick-Tock
We are down to the wire, and the count down has begun. Just 5 more weeks until my due date! I can not wait to have this precious little baby boy. At 35 weeks now, I'm so uncomfortable that the thought of 5 more weeks of this is just so daunting.He is in a breech position right now, which means his head is pushing up against my diaphragm making it hard to breathe, and nearly impossible to pick anything up off the floor. I know how miserable the last month of pregnancy is, and I know it will end soon, but I'm ready to be done!
Not to mention that meeting our son is so exciting too. Hannah talks about how she wants to hold her baby brother all the time. She is a great big sister and I think she's going to just fall in love with another baby. Autumn really has no idea what's coming except that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. I'm sure it will be a bit of a shocker for her, so I'm preparing myself for the worst! She's been going through some major toddler temper tantrums and testing limits lately, and I'm sure that will just get worse! My hope is that she will be happy to help with the baby in ways that she can and maybe she'll like having a baby around. We are continuing with our home organization and purging to make space for the little guy, and this week we'll be putting together the cradle and setting up what we can now. Our baby shower is in 2 weeks so after then we will be able to know a little better what we need to buy.
I have successfully gotten the girls onto a normal daily routine and they seem to thrive on it. Hannah has her own printed out version with photos and words and she loves to tell me what is next in our day. Autumn has been sleeping well and going to bed at normal times for the most part. I have started a 1 year Bible reading plan that has been working out very well with the help of my Android tablet. It keeps track of what I need to read and brings me right to where I need to start and stop for the day. I am enjoying the consistency of it and when I miss a day I really feel it, which is what I wanted to happen!
Eric is still looking for full time work. His blog has had some really great moments over the last couple months, but nothing that we can fully live off of yet. He predicts it will be about 2 more years of steady growth to get to the point where he can make full-time income off of it. He has had several interviews but no job offers yet. We are just trusting that God knows our needs, we are being faithful with what we have, and He will meet those needs in His timing, and how He sees fit. It can get very discouraging sometimes, but we have to continually renew our faith and remind ourselves of God's perfect provision for us through our entire lives. When you look at His track record- He's ALWAYS pulled us through every situation-even the most dark moments. Praise Him!
Not to mention that meeting our son is so exciting too. Hannah talks about how she wants to hold her baby brother all the time. She is a great big sister and I think she's going to just fall in love with another baby. Autumn really has no idea what's coming except that there is a baby in mommy's tummy. I'm sure it will be a bit of a shocker for her, so I'm preparing myself for the worst! She's been going through some major toddler temper tantrums and testing limits lately, and I'm sure that will just get worse! My hope is that she will be happy to help with the baby in ways that she can and maybe she'll like having a baby around. We are continuing with our home organization and purging to make space for the little guy, and this week we'll be putting together the cradle and setting up what we can now. Our baby shower is in 2 weeks so after then we will be able to know a little better what we need to buy.
I have successfully gotten the girls onto a normal daily routine and they seem to thrive on it. Hannah has her own printed out version with photos and words and she loves to tell me what is next in our day. Autumn has been sleeping well and going to bed at normal times for the most part. I have started a 1 year Bible reading plan that has been working out very well with the help of my Android tablet. It keeps track of what I need to read and brings me right to where I need to start and stop for the day. I am enjoying the consistency of it and when I miss a day I really feel it, which is what I wanted to happen!
Eric is still looking for full time work. His blog has had some really great moments over the last couple months, but nothing that we can fully live off of yet. He predicts it will be about 2 more years of steady growth to get to the point where he can make full-time income off of it. He has had several interviews but no job offers yet. We are just trusting that God knows our needs, we are being faithful with what we have, and He will meet those needs in His timing, and how He sees fit. It can get very discouraging sometimes, but we have to continually renew our faith and remind ourselves of God's perfect provision for us through our entire lives. When you look at His track record- He's ALWAYS pulled us through every situation-even the most dark moments. Praise Him!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Catching Up
I hate the "it's been so long since I posted" type posts, but I've got no choice but to do one here!
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, a boy! A lot changed in the 4 months since my last post, and a lot has stayed the same. Eric is now unemplyed/self employed and looking for full time work. I am still nannying with the girls, and that is going well. Now that the exhaustion and morning sickness are long gone, I am starting to feel the energy to (and the nesting instinct to) reorganize our home. The first thing that needed to be done was a LOT of purging, and there is still plenty of that to be done. I think the imminent birth of another child into our tiny house is making me a little crazy with the whole process. Eric and I tossed out 9 bags of clothing and junk from our bedroom! I have a hard time parting with a lot of the girls' things but I know that it needs to be done or we won't have any room for this next little one!
I am also feeling the need to establish some sort of routine for the kids. Our lives have been in total upheaval for the last year practically, and I know that they suffer from the inconsistency. Now that Autumn is getting older and becoming more of a toddler she is able to participate in more of our family routines. Their sleep schedules have seemed to even out and now Autumn is usually taking one afternoon nap and Hannah takes a nap about once a week or so. They are in bed by 8 at the latest, and they have been sleeping well past 6. Reorganizing and purging is also for their well being. I want them to grow up in an environment that shows appreciation for what we have (not an over abundance of junk and useless things). They need to learn how to take care of their belongings and their own hygiene. Hannah can now dress herself, brush her teeth on her own (she is just now tall enough to reach the sink with her step stool) take care of her own dishes and put them in the dishwasher and tidy up the living room all (mostly) on her own. I am working with her on getting her own shoes on and zipping her coat. She has some real struggles with fine motor skills so these tasks are still a bit beyond her abilities, although she can do most of her shoes on her own. My goal for her in the next 4 months is for her to be able to get herself up, dressed, teeth brushed and ready for breakfast on her own. I need her to be independent because I will have a newborn and an 18mo old that will need a lot of my help!
Establishing a routine of prayer and scripture reading is also on my list. We pray throughout the day together, and I can hear Hannah praying sometimes when she is playing alone. Ideally I'd like a time when we all sit down together and read a passage from the bible and talk about it. Maybe just me and the kids, or maybe as a whole family. If I plan to do homeschooling I will have to figure out how to adapt lessons to each age of my children, and why not start now?
I''m going to come up with a plan of action for getting really organized, maybe I'll break it down into steps. Maybe I'll post it. My life is all about maybes lately!
I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child, a boy! A lot changed in the 4 months since my last post, and a lot has stayed the same. Eric is now unemplyed/self employed and looking for full time work. I am still nannying with the girls, and that is going well. Now that the exhaustion and morning sickness are long gone, I am starting to feel the energy to (and the nesting instinct to) reorganize our home. The first thing that needed to be done was a LOT of purging, and there is still plenty of that to be done. I think the imminent birth of another child into our tiny house is making me a little crazy with the whole process. Eric and I tossed out 9 bags of clothing and junk from our bedroom! I have a hard time parting with a lot of the girls' things but I know that it needs to be done or we won't have any room for this next little one!
I am also feeling the need to establish some sort of routine for the kids. Our lives have been in total upheaval for the last year practically, and I know that they suffer from the inconsistency. Now that Autumn is getting older and becoming more of a toddler she is able to participate in more of our family routines. Their sleep schedules have seemed to even out and now Autumn is usually taking one afternoon nap and Hannah takes a nap about once a week or so. They are in bed by 8 at the latest, and they have been sleeping well past 6. Reorganizing and purging is also for their well being. I want them to grow up in an environment that shows appreciation for what we have (not an over abundance of junk and useless things). They need to learn how to take care of their belongings and their own hygiene. Hannah can now dress herself, brush her teeth on her own (she is just now tall enough to reach the sink with her step stool) take care of her own dishes and put them in the dishwasher and tidy up the living room all (mostly) on her own. I am working with her on getting her own shoes on and zipping her coat. She has some real struggles with fine motor skills so these tasks are still a bit beyond her abilities, although she can do most of her shoes on her own. My goal for her in the next 4 months is for her to be able to get herself up, dressed, teeth brushed and ready for breakfast on her own. I need her to be independent because I will have a newborn and an 18mo old that will need a lot of my help!
Establishing a routine of prayer and scripture reading is also on my list. We pray throughout the day together, and I can hear Hannah praying sometimes when she is playing alone. Ideally I'd like a time when we all sit down together and read a passage from the bible and talk about it. Maybe just me and the kids, or maybe as a whole family. If I plan to do homeschooling I will have to figure out how to adapt lessons to each age of my children, and why not start now?
I''m going to come up with a plan of action for getting really organized, maybe I'll break it down into steps. Maybe I'll post it. My life is all about maybes lately!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday.
Sundays are an important day in our family. We go to church (most important), do ALL of our laundry, and spend time together. They also tend to be the most frustrating, stressful and crazy day of the week. I usually turn into a crazy psycho woman trying to get all of the laundry ready to go down to the van, get the kids dressed and fed, dress myself and get myself ready, pack the diaper bag....eat something myself...ahhhh! It is total chaos. As the day goes on the kids are more agitated, sleep deprived and hungry and it usually sends me into a fit trying to get them to go down for a nap after their 10min catnap in the car on the way home. Lunch is at a weird time, sometimes at 2 or later, and there is piles and piles of laundry to fold and put away. I love Sunday, and I hate it. I wish there was a better way, but morning church is just hard on babies and kids (and their mommies). It is 3:50pm right now, Autumn has not had a nap all day, and has been fussing in her bed on and off for 2hrs without sleeping. Hannah has been up and down playing with toys and screaming "I'm not sleepy!" as she yawns and rubs her eyes. I'm tired and ready to throw in the towel.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Time
It has been a while since I posted, mostly because I just can't find the time/energy to get to it. BLAH. I've been really exhausted lately, and it is hard for me to keep on top of all of the clutter and mess in my house! Eric is very tired when he gets home from work and he hardly has any energy to clean up after dinner. So it leaves me with all of it, which I am glad to do, but it leaves little time for anything else! I've been so tired that I go to bed at 8:30pm. We have to get up sometimes at 5:30am to take Eric to work, so it is a bit exhausting for me. The kids haven't been napping well either, so they are cranky and needy. I am loving having Eric home for dinner, so this job schedule is actually better for me, but he was much happier at his previous job working nights. I hope he is able to get a permanent position soon. This is a post of ramblings. Gotta get ready to go to work with the girls now.
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