Thanksgiving, Decorating, Lego League and Life

Finding time to blog is just not easy.  Usually if I'm on the computer, I'm nursing so have only one hand for typing.  I'm not a fast one handed typist.

Samantha's sleep hasn't been the best.  Somewhere around 8-9 weeks old, she started sleeping in very short spurts-2 and 1 hour stretches.  Occasionally I have been blessed with a three hour stretch.  After several very bad nights, I finally just let her sleep next to me after her first waking.  She still woke up too much, but I was getting more 3 hour stretches and since she's right next to me, I can nurse her and barely wake up.

The kids were part of a First Lego League team thus year. Precise Prince was on the team last year and Creative Princess joined this year.  The kids enjoyed the day and were exhausted by the end.  They didn't place quite as high as last year and that's fine.

Thanksgiving was spent at my youngest sister's house.  It was a quiet holiday with only her family, us and our mom.  It was nice. 

World Traveler will not let me decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving so we started on Black Friday.  It took us all weekend but we I got the inside done and he got the outside.

The past few weeks

A little background:  Creative Princess had a severe milk allergy until she was 7.  We discovered it when she was only a few months old and I was nursing her.  I avoided the foods she was allergic to (which included egg) and continued nursing her until she was 2.  So I have some experience with food allergies in a breastfed baby.

(Warning: poop discussion following)  I noticed a few weeks ago that Little One's diapers seemed off.  Her poo wasn't the brown, seedy poop of a breastfed baby.  This was after we stopped having to supplement with formula due to low blood sugar problems. Having gone through what I did with Creative Princess, I decided to take all milk products out of my diet.  Lo and behold, her poos have been more normal for a couple of days (after a week off milk).  She had her one month dr. appt. today and she confirmed that milk was probably the culprit.  Looks like I'll be going without dairy for awhile.

Little One's check up went great today.  She's gained two pounds since birth and is 2 inches taller.

Sleeping has been going pretty well.  Most nights we start off with a 3 or 4 hour stretch.  Two nights ago, it was 5 hours.  Little One seems to be making her own schedule.  She's has awake time in the morning and evening.  Some evening's she is a bit fussy, but not too bad.  She cluster feeds most evenings-Precise Prince did the same.  I don't mind the cluster feeding but it makes it a challenge to go anywhere in the evening.  Plus I don't want to be judged for it.  Funny, I normally don't care what others think but I feel like I have to defend some of my parenting practices for babies-I feed on demand, refuse bottles for at least 5 weeks (we will start a bottle soon in hopes Little One will take expressed milk occasionally), don't do pacifiers, like baby wearing, don't start solids before  baby is 6 months and sitting on her own, support co-sleeping (and we do co-sleep for part of the night, some nights), and I don't schedule my baby.  Now, I don't care if others don't do things the way I do as long as they are taking care of their babies.  I would say more on these issues but really, I need to go to bed and still have a few more things to type.



I turned 40 recently.  We're having a small BBQ this weekend to celebrate but for my actual birthday, my family spoiled me.  I got a comfy blanket, a new shirt and a gift card to Gene Juarez (can't wait to get a massage but will need to wait until Little One is nursing less.)  My dear older daughter baked me a cake (milk free) and my son cooked dinner (Cornish hens, potatos and corn).  My husband cleaned up and I just relaxed.  It was a perfect day!

Other pictures to share:

Cousins

My niece wouldn't let me get a picture of her holding the baby but her fiance would.  He is a natural!

I didn't go to our church retreat this year.  The night before I didn't get much sleep and the thought of being exhausted and having to nurse undercover in 80 degree weather did not sound good.  World Traveler took the big kids and had fun as usual.

I had to add a couple pictures of me with Little One.  I only have a few. 

Catching Up

Here goes another catch up post.  I intend to stay more updated but I always think I want to have pictures and I haven't been taking many nor have I been putting the pictures I take on the computer in a timely manner so I'll just post a quick update.

I am officially finished with the TOS review crew.  I plan to do one last post in the next week or two highlighting some of our favorite products we reviewed.  Now that we are done, I am working to get us back on schedule with regular school stuff-whatever that means.  So far, we're not there yet. 

I've also ordered the test for the kids.  I expect to get them next week.  The kids don't mind the testing.  It is fun to see how they do from year to year but I go in with the mind that the tests mean only a little.  It doesn't really tell me what they have learned.  The test tells me whether or not they can take a test, and if what they know is what the school systems expect them to know.  I already know the areas of concern for my kids and what areas are their strengths. 

This week we are having new windows installed throughout the house.  My house is a disaster!  I am so ready to feel like we are moved in.  I haven't felt that at all yet.  After the windows, we have  couple of things left to do in our bedroom and we should be done with this years major changes.  My goal is to have the house put together by the end of next week.  Precise Prince and I started on his bedroom and we're over half way finished.  His is the last room in need of major organizational help from mom.

Next weekend Precise Prince starts baseball playoffs.  Creative Princess also has her gymnastics show.  She is so excited but also nervous.  She wasn't nervous for any of the competitions though.  She said it is because they practiced the routines more and she doesn't have the show routine memorized yet.  I am sure she will do fine.  She sure loves to perform in front of people.

Last weekend one of my great nieces was baptized.  It was fun to get together with the whole family.  It's been so crazy that I haven't been seeing my family as much.  Next month my youngest niece turns one and we'll be getting together again.

The pregnancy is going well.  The worst of the morning sickness seems to have passed.  I still have occasional bouts of nausea but they don't last all day and aren't as severe.  I'm very thankful for that!  I am still tired a lot and need a nap almost every day.  I just started iron supplements so I'm hoping that will help.  Yesterday was a tough day.  I was so exhausted and felt bad and apparently my hormones did not like me!  Poor hubby-I think I spent half the day crying over nothing.  Alas, he is great and is very understanding knowing that this is temporary. 

We're not ready for the baby yet, but we're getting closer, I think.  Next weekend we were hoping to get a dresser so I can get all the clothes my sister gave me organized.  With Precise Prince's baseball games and Creative Princess's gymnastics show,  I'm not sure that will happen. 

I'm sure there is more but I can't think of anything right now.

What's Up?

I've been struggling to be in a blog mood.  I spend enough time at my computer-I just don't usually feel like thinking and writing-it's so much easier to just read things.

Really there isn't much to blog about.  We're just getting by day by day around here.  Precise Prince has been having 3-4 baseball games a week to make up for some of the games that were canceled.  Last nights game was canceled so we'll see when that gets rescheduled.  World Traveler is preparing for another trip to Norway for 10 days.  While he is gone, Precise Prince has 6 games.  Sigh.

Creative Princess has her gymnastics two times a week.  The nice thing is baseball and gymnastics haven't overlapped since the actual baseball games started so I don't have to try to figure out how to be at two places at once or get my mom to help me out.  Creative Princess's gymnastics show is the first week of June and then I think she'll have a couple of weeks off before summer session starts.  We'll do the first session-usually part of June and July but I think we'll skip the second session-July and August.  I could use a little break while waiting for the baby to come without running all over the county.

School has been mostly working on review products.  Although there have been some stressful moments with the reviews (like during the first trimester sickness) being part of the TOS review crew has been a big blessing this year.  It has really kept me on track for school.  Even if we weren't doing our "normal" school stuff (which honestly by Jan. we really weren't-we were working on review items), we were still getting school done.  I have only 4 reviews left this year-all due before the end of May-and I just realized this morning that I need to sit down and figure out what we're going to do for the rest of the year.  The plan is to school through July and take August and September off.  I may just start next year's school in June.  That is probably the easiest thing to do.  I didn't reapply for the review crew for next year.  I just know that with a baby, it would be too much for me. I'll be doing a post in June with all of our favorite review products so watch for the wrap up. 

I'm keeping next year simple.  The kids will both have a math and language arts program to work on daily.  Then they will choose a subject to study for 2-4 weeks pretty much on their own.  We'll utilize the library and what we already have.  Of course, the subjects will be chosen from a list I give them, with the exception of the first month.  I'll let them choose the first subject to be anything they want.  I can guarentee Creative Princess will pick something to do with pets-mostly likely dogs.  Precise Prince is harder to pin point.  It will depend on what he is interested in at the time.

I am pretty sure that I'll use the 7th grade Teaching Textbooks for Precise Prince's math. He really wants to do Pre-Algebra.  I do think he could but he tends to rush through his problems and make silly mistakes (adding something wrong simply because he's rushing).  There are a few concepts I want to solidify with him-mostly things like multiplying and dividing mixed fractions and being sure he knows where the decimal goes when muliplying and dividing--things like that.)   For Creative Princess, we'll just go to the teacher's store and I'll let her help me pick out a math workbook.  For fourth grade, I just can't see spending much money on math and the concepts won't take a lot of my time to explain.  We'll be using Writing Tales for language arts.  This was one of our review products that was truly an answer to prayer.


For the purposes of allergies, we are having laminate flooring put in our bedroom to replace the carpet.  Well, you know how this type of thing goes.  Our bedroom has a door out to a small balcony.  The door was leaking.  In the end, we ended having the door replaced.  We actually had planned to replace the door eventually-just not this year.  Originally, we were just going to do the floors but World Traveler decided to have the trim replaced too to match the new floors.  It will look much better that way.  We aren't however, replacing the closet door or the door to our room.  Eventually we will but not this year.  The nice thing about all this is the person who is doing the work for us is my friend's husband's and totally trustworthy.  I love having someone I can trust will do the best job and not cheat us!  If you need work done, I'll pass his info on to you.

What else?  Not much really.  Between the house being torn apart for the floor, school and sports, there isn't time for anything else.  I am very thankful that the nausea has improved greatly!  I am actually able to go 2 hours without needing to eat and I have a bit more energy since I'm feeling better.  I do still need a nap most days but I'm ok with that.  I like a good nap even when I'm not pregnant.

Oh, we did get to meet up with a friend who moved away a few years ago.  She came to our area for a visit and we set up a playdate with the homeschool group.  It was a lot of fun seeing her and the kids!

Bad blogger

I really haven't been doing much blogging lately, have I?  Yes, the reviews are being completed but that isn't what this blog is about.  Those are just bonuses.  I'm still working on the 30 days of blogging.  Maybe I'll post the next one-finally.

Really, we haven't been doing much more than the basics-school and minimal house cleaning and sports.  That with the fact that I pretty much need a nap every day takes up all my time.  World Traveller and I did go see Cirque de Soleil last weekend with my sister and my niece and her family.  That was a fun show and we'll try to take the kids to see it next year. 

We did find out yesterday that we are having a girl.  This girl will be the 14th girl born into the family from my mom's side-between her kids, grandkids and great grandkids.  We have only 3 boys in those generations.  We have definite girl power going on in my family.  :-)  Now it's naming time. 

Precise Prince started baseball-he's in majors this year which means more games and practices.  I wasn't quite ready for the season to begin but I think I'm getting caught up and ready.  His first official game was Wednesday and although it was cold at the ball field-the sun was shining.

Creative Princess is done with her gymnastics competitions for this year.  There is another one she could do but we decided 3 was enough for the first year.  

Not much else I can think of to update.  We are still trying to get boxes unpacked and World Traveler is still working on getting the garage cleaned out and organized.  With all the other activities going on-especially sports, it's hard to find the time.  But eventually it will all get done.

Just an update

A large part of why I keep a blog is so that I can look back over it to remember what we've been up to.  As much I love scrapbooking, I'm slow at it.  It's much faster to type out a quick post here and there on a blog.

I will be 16 weeks pregnant on Monday.  I was hoping that by this time, the morning sickness would be gone, but alas, it isn't.  It has improved but I still feel bad when I wake up in the morning and it takes food and time to start feeling better.  The evenings can be pretty tough too.  Some evenings all I can do is lay on the couch and watch TV that doesn't require me to think (HGTV mostly).  Most nights I'm in bed by 9:30 or 10:00 and fall asleep quickly.  I don't miss the insomnia I would occasionally get.  I am up several times in the night for a bathroom break but I'm usually able to fall right back to sleep.  I try to make sure I get a nap in every day.  It really helps me-it only takes a 30-60 minute nap to help.

Although we aren't getting as much school done as normal, we are keeping up with the most important things.  I've adjusted a bit and have the kids doing more on their own than I used to have them do.  They are old enough but I miss reading and working with them. 

This week was a quiet week.  Creative Princess had a cold so we skipped gymnastics on Tuesday.  On Thursday, I wasn't about to figure out if there was ice on the roads so we stayed home.  (I didn't want to end up stuck somewhere.)

We did get a bit of snow on Wednesday.  I let the kids go out in the AM and I'm glad I did.  By noon it was mostly gone.  The weather was weird that day-rain, snow, hail.

What's Up

We have been busy and keeping up on the blog has just not been priority.  I'm usually too tired in the evening to feel like writing and figuring out pictures. 

Last weekend we bought a small tree and decorated it.  All of our Christmas stuff is in storage.  My mom has a few decorations, but they are in her storage shed, behind everything else we put in there.  (Repeat after me...we have TOO MUCH stuff!)  So we made the decision to just buy some decorations.  The kids picked out some decorations at the Dollar Tree and we bought lights.  We may make a few ornaments too but haven't yet. 

When Nathan was about 2, World Traveller bought a set of mice books that are put in box as an advent calendar. You take out one book (they are numbered) until Christmas Eve. After reading them, they go on the tree. The books are simple board books but even still the kids enjoy them. It's a tradition they love. I am so glad I remembered to not pack them and to bring them to mom's house.

Last year, World Traveller bought a Lego advent calendar. The kids loved it so he bought one again this year (it's different from last year's.) Each day they take turns opening a box and putting together the Lego mini-item. Some of the thins they have put together this year are a snowman, a mini-fire truck, a couple of people and a fireplace.

The other advent tradition we started two years ago is reading an advent book. This year is the third in the series--Tabitha's Travels. The other two we've read the past two Christmas's are Jotham's Journey (this is the first book in the series) and Bartholmew's Passage. The kids and I love these books! World Traveller would enjoy them as well but we have found that he ends up missing most of it because of his Christmas travelling schedule. You read one section in these books every night. The books are fiction stories set right before the birth of Christ. I highly recommend them with one work of caution-very young children may find them a bit scary. The children in these stories are separated from their parents at some point. (The endings are happy but I won't give them away.)

I noticed that Arnold Ytreeide, the author of the advent series has an Easter book out too. I am definitely planning to purchase one this coming year for Easter.

Ok, onto a new subject.  To finish off our obedience unit in KONOS, we had a medieval feast.  The kids took turns serving food and entertaining our guests.  We ended with a play.  It was fun, turned out well and the kids asked if we could do it again.  (We said not anytime soon but we can do something similar at the end of our next unit-but we will make it more simple.)  To see better pictures of the feast, head over to this post from my friend, Aleah.  (I am a bit jealous of her photography skills!)

On Sunday our church had a family Christmas program which the kids participated in.  It was fun to watch and we enjoyed it immensely.  I haven't uploaded the pictures but when I do, if they turned out ok, I may share a few here.

Busy

Accepted an offer on our house

Went house hunting

Put in an offer (accepted) on another house

Finished the camoflauge shirts

Packed up more stuff

Got schoolwork done

Drove everyone where they needed to be

Community group

Catching Up

I haven't posted much lately because we have been busy.  Last week was crazy.  I spent quite a bit of time making up for being sick the previous week.  I had a homeschool meeting, Creative Princess had gymnastics, we have a new tile backsplash going into the kitchen--we're not doing, we hired a friend, (which I've been wanting for two years-now we will be moving LOL), the kids and I had two co-op classes last week-KONOS and Apologia science, plus regular chores and packing up.  A dear friend came over on Wednesday and helped pack and organize-she's coming back this afternoon.  World Traveller and I didn't get quite as much done as I thought we would this weekend, but we got a lot done and I'm feeling good with it.  With my friend coming today, we will probably have 85% of everything finished.

I love having the house in ready to show condition.  I said if we end up not moving for whatever reason, things aren't being unpacked quickly-one box at a time with lots of things going bye-bye!  We have managed to get some things in the give away pile but because we want the house ready to sell by the end of the week, I'm not taking a lot of time with giving things away-just the things that I know we don't need or want.

I'm feeling like we can start getting back into a good routine around here.  The kids and I have finished school today (we got an unusually early start).  I'm taking a short break and then I'm going to start packing and more cleaning.  I have some errands to run and some time today the hospital will call for me to pick up my mother-in-law.  She went in for a test that takes half a day.  My own mom had her gall bladder removed on Friday.  Her boyfriend took her for the surgery and has taken care of her this weekend.  I went and saw her yesterday and she is doing fine!  She looks good.  One of my other sister's was there when I was and I said we were going to pop her stitches making her laugh so much!