check it out... I'm blogging!

I was talking to my friend Bri at the 3rd grade program Thursday evening about how I never get bored because my mind has a constant dialogue running at all times.  so then we started talking about how that's not the case for everyone and I never knew that til a few years ago when I asked Christopher a question and his response led to a conversation about how he's actually capable of being able to think of nothing.  I've never thought of nothing before so that's just such a foreign concept for me.  so I was telling Bri how I used to blog and it really was just me sitting down and typing the dialogue for 20 or 30 minutes just letting my fingers type whatever happened to be running through my mind.  something made me think of that a few minutes ago so I thought maybe I'd start doing that sometimes again.  probably safe to do since no one reads my blog anymore and I can truly type into the void! 

anyway, life is good.  today is the first snow of the season.  it's October 28th.  I checked my journal and apparently the first snow of the season last year was on October 27th.  some years its crazy late or crazy early so it's nice to be consistent two years in a row. 

last night, honey was putting Elizabeth to bed (he's been her bedtime person for a number of months now) and they were watching a music video of some church song (part of their bedtime routine).  everything was fine until Elizabeth ran into Tyler's room SCREAMING bloody murder.  Tyler and I were half a sentence away from finishing llama llama nighty night (his favorite book right now) and I could NOT figure out what was going on.  a few seconds later, honey came in the room and explained that the video had pictured a woman that had fallen on hard times and became homeless.  this was enough to send Elizabeth into a tail spin panic attack about fearing growing up and being homeless as an adult.  I put Tyler in his bed and had honey put Andrew to bed so I could be with Elizabeth.  I mostly just listened while she talked my ear off for 2 straight hours.  I already knew she had a lot of anxiety, but I think I definitely underestimated just how much.  so many fears and concerns. it was just me listening and then talking only enough to assure her that she will never be poor, I will always be her mom, she will have family to take care of her if Chris and I both die and that I will also be there to counsel her on finding a good husband so she can be a stay at home mom.  anyway, I would never wish that anxiety on my kid, but I will say that it ended up being a very tender experience for us and we were able to have a number of really good gospel conversations sprinkled throughout the two hours.  

Tyler is such a fun kid.  he loves walks but will whine if you don't take him on busy roads with a lot of cars for him to watch.  cars are his main interest right now and he loves anyone that will play cars with him.  he's also super into toilets and has been for quite a long time.  after I change his poopy diaper, he runs to the potty to watch me plop his poop in.  then he flushes the potty and waves bye bye to the poop.  we went through a phase for a while where he was just constantly flushing toilets around the house and Chris and I were yelling at him to not waste water.  in the llama llama book, he sits and listens so nicely to the whole thing expect on the page where it says "pjs on, then potty time" which is when he points and exclaims "potty!" and I love it every single time.  which is every single time we read that book.  

Tyler is also talking a lot more now. after our fall break trip to Florida to spend time with Chris's parents, he's picked up grandma and grandpa which both just sound like "pa" and he says the kids' names when we show him pictures of them. he says Andrew's name the best, then Brady.  the girls' names are still tricky for him but he does try.  he's also insanely good at communicating with such limited vocabulary and comprehending instruction and ideas.  he is so helpful and good at following directions like getting a diaper and wipes or throwing away a dirty diaper or putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  

Brady is doing ice hockey again but is playing center this year instead of defense like he did last season.  he scored the first goal of the season but hasn't scored since.  he doesn't play in any of the Sunday games so he's there for less than half of them.  thankfully, he's a really good sport about it.  he's also traded his rubiks cube obsession for yo-yo-ing.  he is doing choir again this year and is also on the student lighthouse committee again (student leadership of the school... they help organize things going on at the school, lead assemblies, give tours around the school to prospective families, and everything else in that realm) doing video announcements. 

Abigail is doing really well.  she decided not to do theater this semester (is considering doing the spring musical) but has gotten involved in our local library instead.  she's on the teen leadership council that organizes and executes extra activities around the library.  their most recent activity was a stuffed animal sleepover and Abigail's favorite part was helping to pose and photograph the stuffed animals all around the empty library.  they played a slideshow of the stuffed animal shenanigans during the craft the kids did the following morning when they came to pick up their stuffed animals.  she also applied and got accepted to be a "big reading buddy" at the library and was super excited to be old enough for that now (you have to be a teenager to apply).  so one hour a week, she does reading and learning/creative activities with her little reading buddy and she loves it.  she was a little reading buddy when she was in first grade and has such fond memories of it and wants to be able to do that same thing for another little girl.  

Andrew is a little reading buddy (so is Elizabeth actually... it's open for 1st - 3rd graders) but has only been once so far.  he's also already gotten strep this year so that's exciting.  he's still the most happy and energetic boy you've ever met and he's everyone's favorite kid.  I always have friends or people I know stopping me to tell me how happy he is and how special he makes them feel.  Andrew's biggest personality con is that he doesn't really love movies or tv and he hates how it captivates the rest of the family.  so when I'd like to just put on a movie for the kids, it frequently turn into Andrew crying or complaining that now he has no one to play with anymore and can I please play a game with him.  

I love volunteering at the kids' school and taking Brady to his hockey practices.  my other favorite things is going on walks with Tyler and listening to an audiobook or talking to Christopher when he's available to come with us.  Christopher has been helping so much around the house and with the kids.  it is such a huge help that he takes Abigail to school in the mornings (that part isn't new though... he's always been Abigail's morning person since she started middle school) and just being present in the evenings so I'm not spread so thin during the busiest time of day.  

we all went to Florida for fall break and it was really great. instead of focusing a lot on getting as much beach time as possible, we just let it go slow and did whatever we felt like. I enjoyed puzzles a lot.  Brady, Andrew, Christopher, and his dad went on a fishing trip one day.  we went mini golfing one night and out to eat two nights.  we had several movie nights and lots of yummy treats.

so, there we go... my second post of 2023!  I'm off to get ready for our trunk or treat.  

happy halloween!

Checking in

Life is in such a good spot right now, I just wanted to check in and record a bit.

Abigail - I almost have a teenager and I am so freaking excited.  Abigail is doing so so well.  She is so polite and easy going.  She has friends and good grades (even though she literally never does homework at home… I’m still trying to figure that part out) and takes care of herself and her responsibilities.  She’s been part of the set and props crew for her middle school play, Newsies, went to Disney with her middle school orchestra over spring break last month, and loves being involved at church and young womens.  She is still an avid reader (Harry Potter is her favorite… she read it in just weeks in the fall) and loves legos (Christmas was 98% Harry Potter lego sets).  She is so low maintenance as she spends a lot of downtime in her room and doesn’t make messes or require a lot of our family or home.  She’s also my least picky eater so you better believe I love that.  

Brady - he’s 10 and, because of his December birthday, has less than a year until he’s in young mens! Blows my mind.  He is my biggest helper with Tyler and loves him so much.  He’s a willing and able babysitter and can handle a fussy baby and poopy diapers.  Sometimes (well, always) I’m running late for church and Brady comes to me and says “what can I do?” and then gets Tyler a clean diaper, dressed for church, buckled in his carseat, and feeds him a banana on the way to church.  Sometimes, after he’s buckled in the car and I’m taking too long, he comes back inside to see what I need help with and offers to help carry stuff out to the car for me.  Not like he never has an attitude, but he is a great mother’s helper.  For better and worse, he’s also very present at home.  So great because he’s always talking to me and sharing stories, but also wants my constant attention and for me to play hockey with him in the basement.  He’s typically a good sport though if I’m busy and will help me make dinner when I’m unable to drop everything and play.  He finished up his first season of hockey and really developed into a great defensive player.  He’s doing 12U inline hockey right now at the field house and really enjoying it. He has a lot of good friends and is so confident and an all around good kid. He’s been really into rubiks cubes since December and started a cubing club (with two of his friends) where they teach cubing each Monday morning before school.  It was initially open to the first ten kids, but everyone signed up on the first day and there are about 25 kids that regularly come.  He has so many interests and loves a good challenge.  After bribing him ($5 per book), he’s on book six of the Harry Potter audiobooks and loving it. 

Elizabeth - this girl is growing up SO fast.  She is super into fashion and style.  Makeup, jewelry, clothes, hair, shoes, you name it.  She keeps asking when she’ll be old enough to wear heels and regularly asks me to help her pick out a cute outfit or do her hair in a certain style.  Abigail is the exact opposite so this is really new and fun for me.  When I was trying to get Brady to read Harry Potter and he was resisting, Elizabeth was BEGGING me to let her get into it.  In a fit of exasperation, I conceded and she devoured the first audiobook in less than 24 hours.  She completed all seven books in two-is months I think and has gone back to relisten to several of them even.  She and Abigail are currently making their way through the movies. Elizabeth has tons of friends and loves to get together for playdates and facetimes them on my phone.  At school, she loves writing the most.  She’s working on a book right now called Dragon Diaries (modeled after owl diaries and unicorn diaries) that I type up and print for her when she’s finished a chapter.  She went from barely reading, at the beginning of the school year, to now being a huge reader, currently into heavily illustrated chapter books (like diary of a pug) and audiobooks. 

Andrew - this kid is so freaking cute.  He is kind and considerate and sensitive.  He’s also turning into such a great helper and following in Brady’s footsteps of loving a challenge and loving to be of assistance.  He had fluid in his ears since august when he first got sick after starting school… repeated ear infections and strep and very noticeable hearing loss for over six months.  He finally got ear tubes (and an adenoidectomy) at the end of March and was a complete rockstar about it.  Doctors and nurses repeatedly told me it was extremely common for kids to be crying and screaming and angry and out of control when they came out of surgery, but I knew that wouldn’t be Andrew.  As predicted, he was so sweet and calm and sleepy and just kept asking when he could put on his shirt and go home.  I thought he would need a few days to rest and recover but, after an hour or two, he was back to his normal self and even insisted on going to hockey practice that afternoon. He’s only five, but we got him special permission to play inline hockey in the 8U league.  He told me he didn’t want to play “shoe hockey” (kinder floor hockey for 4 and 5 year olds) so he chose soccer.  Then I found out about getting special permission (he’s a great skater) and now he’s doing both.  He has such confidence and is SUCH a happy kid.  He is a puppy, personified. 

Tyler - he’s so young that he’s always changing so, so fast.  He was still doing his one legged crawl at 17 months but became a full time walker right before 18 months.  He still doesn’t talk, but he has excellent comprehension and is very obedient and wanting to please.  He signs please and more and all done, but not without prompting and he’s surprisingly good at communicating without words.  His spontaneous games of peek-a-boo are so fun and he’ll sometimes make funny faces repeatedly because he loves how it makes us laugh.  He absolutely loves playing hockey, by himself, with a family member, with all of us in the basement, or wandering around on his own at the field house.  It is absolutely adorable and I love it so much.  I can’t wait to have another hockey player in the family.  Along those lines, he also has shown an interest in golf (they’re very similar for him at this age) but also loves other sports.  When sports are on tv, he will plop himself down in front of the tv and be so intent on whatever game is on.  If we switch to a sitcom, he becomes agitated and restless, but gets calm again when we turn it back to sports.  Blows my mind that he has such obvious preferences at this age.  He is so so so so so by far my pickiest eater at this stage (getting him to eat has always been a struggle) and survives off of bananas, applesauce pouches, and peanut butter sandwiches.  He doesn’t love eating so it’s always a frustrating experience for me as I often make food just to have him reject all of it.  Thankfully, he’s an excellent sleeper.  He’s going through a growth spurt I think and he’s for sure a little under the weather, but his sleeping in til 9-10 has, within the last week or so, turned into sleeping in til 3-4pm.  I watch him on his monitor as he wakes up at a normal time, plays and hangs out in his crib for a while, and then puts himself to sleep for an afternoon nap.  It’s honestly insane to me but I’m a firm believer in giving kids sleep when they’re showing signs that they need it.  Also, it’ll probably pass before I know it.  So, we’ve been skipping napping and he just has one wake time (5-6 hours) before he goes down again for the night.  This would be sad for me except that he is so high maintenance when he’s awake and wants to be held constantly.  I think he’s actually a pretty easy going kid when I’m not around, but as soon as he sees me, he is fussing for me to hold him and then constantly fussing and pointed all around as we chase a want that he hasn’t even actually identified.  I’m hoping this will get better as the weather warms up and we’re outside more where he’ll be more eager to explore.  My favorite thing with him is going on long stroller walks around the neighborhood… it’s such a peaceful time for us.  He’s still nursing, just once or twice a day, briefly.  We’ll see how long it lasts, but as of right now, I have no plans to cut him off before he says he’s done.  He’s such a blessing in our lives and has changed our family dynamic in such a great way… like getting a dog.  Playing with him and caring for him is just such a bonding thing for our entire family and the kids have really stepped up about that too.  Such a different experience than when all of the other kids were babies.  

Our family - so that’s the report.  Life is definitely busy with all the playdates and theater and hockey and everything that comes with five kids, but I feel like we’re just in this special sweet spot right now before Abigail goes to high school and while Tyler still feels like a baby.  Chris has been amazing about stepping up and helping me with all the rides and childcare and everything that come with everyone’s conflicting schedules and I feel like that has made a huge difference for me in making things enjoyable and manageable instead of just surviving the grind.  I still fill out the four year daily journal dad gave me and I can honestly say that, a year ago, I would never have expected to be in such a great spot right now.  Not sure where we’ll be in April 2024, but I’m grateful right now for this moment in time.

from September