A lovely visit.

We had a wonderful Sabbath visit with Lark and Val. It was waaaay to short, only a few hours! I had tried out some new Indian recipes, and found one to keep and one never to try again. I miss Lark so much. she was one of my best friends growing up we flew off to Springvale Academy together, and attended dozens of camps and youth group trips together as well. The sweet thing about our friendship is that the passing of time and the great distance has done little to diminish it. When one of us finally makes contact again, it as if no time has passed at all. I pray she will always reamin my dear friend. and also her hubby Val is cool too. He is like the extra brother I never had. you know, the one who didn't tease me incessnatly. We geeked out together over homebrewing, and I got tons of advice and will begin my first fermentation project as soon as I can get ahold of the equipment.

Now, back to the daily grind. I take the weekends off from cleaning, and I am beginning to think this isn't such a great idea. I had lots of fun on Sunday, shopping and clipping coupons but now I beleive every dish in my kitchen is dirty. If we are going to have breakfast at all today I need to get cracking. But I just don't want too.

wow i am so behind.

I have had a pretty rough winter, dealing with depression and family drama, and I feel like I am finally coming out of it. The change in weather has been good for me, and I hope to get on this more frequently. I have so much to share with all of you! For now, I am trying to get our house company ready. NO before/after shots, as I am truly embarassed at the amount of clutter that has built up around here the last 7 months!

To do:

Prep lasagene, start foccacia, make salad dressing
Tidy up and vaccuum front room
de-clutter kitchen
fold and put away laundry
scrub out bathroom


If I have time:
organize paperwork
boil and sun pocket diapers (they have developed a smell lately)
make apple pie

I'm baaaaack!

well then, the last few months have been jam packed with drama. I'm just done. So here I am again, back into the bloggosphere, ready to muse away at the world, Family and our Ulitmate Purpose in life.

moms of many young siblings...

I have wondered in the past, why it seems there are no blogs out and about written by moms who have lots of little ones. Many of the blogs about big families seem to have teens and older kids, and their advice about getting the big ones to help with the littles is nice, but does not apply to me. At this point I seem to be struggling with everyday existence and just wonder how this is all going to work out. I long for the company of someone else who is walking the same path I am.
I realized something the other day, moms like me just don't have time to do the blogging thing. I certainly don't. I am hoping to get myself back on some sort of schedule soon, in order to free up a bit more time for the blogosphere.

surrender

I have fully resigned myself to my fate...while that sounds rather dismal in reality it is not. I have been embracing the chaos that is this season of my life. When the baby cries, I simply pick her up and tend to her needs. When the boys need a boo boo kissed, I do so and give them a little extra snuggling as well.
This is the good life.
There was a bit of backsliding in this earlier today, I started worrying about getting the house "done" we wound up skipping outside time. BIG mistake. the boys got all wound up and wouldn't stay in bed at naptime. I finally bribed/rewarded them with an offer of going swimming if they stayed in bed.
It looks like I'll be taking them swimming in just another hour or so.
Here is my plan.
J. in life Jacket, playing by himself at the stairs...he LOVES this.
S. in arms
A. in baby seat in the shade.
When J. wants to be carried, trade out the life jacket.
Set a timer, let the boys know we only have until the "Beep beep" goes off, or until the baby cries too much.
Call grandpa and see if he can come over after work and hang out poolside to hold A.

I will be trying to acquire another life jacket, and possibly a hose so we can use our water sprinkler toy in the common areas...for the next couple of weeks anyway.

finding a new routine

The last few days have been an adventure.
Wednesday was frustrating, everything went "wrong"
Thursday was spend in the moment, except for the late evening when cranky boys who hadn't napped wouldn't stay in bed.
Today I thought I had a plan that would work. A. isn't cooperating. She has foregone her usual sleep in an hour later tan everyone else routine and wants to nurse instead. I did get the bathroom cleaned up, and hopefully we will have some breakfast soon.

I am still working on living in the moment. WE had some wonderful success in that yesterday. I read a book about bugs to the boys, then we went outside and found some. I didn't bring a book or my phone, we just wandered around the common area and played in the dirt. A. slept in the sling. Later in the afternoon I was scrubbing down the dining chairs and the kitchen floor and the boys wanted to help. I gave them some plain water and rags, and were they ever helpful!! we even dried the floor together. They also wanted to help with the dishes, which just turned into splashing around in the water while I nursed the baby...again.

we also had some massive failures. We went outside and both the boys melted down initially, J. had an accident. I dragged everybody upstairs in spite of tantrums, feeling quite angry myself, and then realized in our enthusiasm to get outside before the heat, that we forgot to eat breakfast, and use the bathroom! I felt bad then, but we made up a picnic breakfast and went back out for some wonderful play time. Bedtime was a nightmare, I am out of ideas. They just won't stay in bed, and they are totally exhausted. J. has been keeping himself up late and awake during nap time as well, the result is an extremely grumpy and somewhat aggressive toddler. I guess we will just try again today and see what happens.

Mixed feelings

The post partum perioud can be a huge emotional roller coaster. As the body adjusts back to normal hormonal levels things can get a bit wonky.
Yesturday was hard.
Today I am changing priorities a bit. I'm going to attempt to keep a closer watch on my emotional state, to remind myself to remain positive. It tends to melt down in the afternoons. The boys just don't want to be in bed at nap, and I am running out of ideas.
So, take care of self, remain positive, live in the moment.