Rollie Pollie Baby

These last few weeks have brought some milestones of sorts to the house.

The Zeke-monster is now 6 months old. He decided a week prior to the 6 month mark that he was hungry…wanted to start eating more than just milk. We obliged him and gave him his first taste of cereal. He couldn’t get enough! His little mouth was open and waiting and he was gulping! (If babies can gulp runny cereal.) That 1 tablespoon didn’t seem to satisfy him so he is eating one serving of 2 tablespoons worth of the solid (or not so solid…depending how you see it) cereal each day. That hasn’t alleviated our sleep issues as of yet though. He might already be displaying signs of a hollow leg! : )



Zeke has also turned into our rollie pollie baby. Oh, he could role front to back and then back to front but he has discovered he could do more than one at a time allowing him to steamroll around the living room.  He also puts himself up on his hands and knees. You can be sure where you left him you will not find him. You can also be sure that if he rolls to some object that said object will be chewed on, slobbered on and made into his own teething device.

Speaking of teeth…well, I suppose there really is nothing to speak of. When Zeke started chewing and slobbering at the end of month 3 we, or rather I, was fairly confident he was going to be an early teeth-er like his brother. Not so much.  Here we are 3 months later, he still chews and slobbers on everything in site and not a tooth has popped through. What a tease those teeth are!



Lastly I have cut the apron strings.  Zeke now sleeps solely in the crib in his room. I had been slowly moving that way but hadn’t taken the plunge and left him there overnight. He was being a bit fussy after a late night snack so instead of letting him make a ruckus and disturb Dad I took him upstairs. This was an impromptu move and leaving him there was super hard. I cannot tell you the number of times I checked him before I finally feel asleep. It wasn’t a sound sleep mind you, but it was sleep nonetheless! The rest, is as they say, history.

There is never a dull moment around here…change is always just around the corner. More of the other munchkins another day!

Isn't that the way?

The Katie girl dislocated her wrist today. This has happened one other time. It is one of those things where you are holding her hand and for whatever reason, a trip or fall, slip on the ice or her dragging her feet purposefully, her full weight rests on that joint. As you hold her up her wrist slips out of joint and causes her some serious pain. Last time her wrist slipped back within an hour or so.

This time…things didn’t happen near as quickly.

Fortunately for us she doesn’t remain in constant pain, only when the joint is jostled or moved does it bother her. This allowed her to take a nap while still being out of joint. (You might wonder why we didn’t just take her into the Dr.’s office: New Year’s Day + weekend + small town = nothing open but the emergency room.)

So the afternoon passes to the evening. A little pain medicine administered. Many tears shed. The medicine kicks in and we have a new little girl who still is clinching her fingers and not moving her arm but is playing and moving around now. Her hand looks a little swollen (did last time as well) and we are getting a little uncomfortable about her situation. Beloved looks some information up on the internet and we become more worried.

Then I remember…an on-call pediatrician is available at the touch of a button. I call. The Dr. says try to keep it elevated, immobile and apply some ice. That is what we set out to do. I grab a towel and Beloved and I begin rigging up a sling to lay her arm in. This brings on a whole new onslaught of tears. Oh, not because we are hurting her by doing so but because she doesn’t want the towel on her arm.

We have her rigged up all of maybe sixty seconds when she pulls her arm out and shows us both hands and arms and all is well. Honestly I couldn’t have been off the phone more than 5 minutes and she is ‘cured’! Something about how her arm laid or the way she moved it popped things back to their correct position.

If she weren’t so little, had not been so obviously in pain we would have sworn she was faking. She was better that quickly.

I just looked at my Beloved and said, “Are we going to make it through this parenthood thing?” Then I smiled in pure relief and gave thanks.

Isn’t that they way though! Call the Doctor, mention the word hospital and instantly things are fine. I’ll keep that in mind for the next incident that comes our way. : )

Electrifying

This weekend was the first of many a snowfall that will grace our dear state. Oh we've had flurries before now but nothing that has stayed on the ground or warraunted a snowplow to grace the streets.  Our kids proclaimed it "A Winter Wonderland." I told my Beloved that thought will hold true until the year that they are enlisted to clear the drive way off. : )

Both my Beloved and I have gotten a kick out of the fact that our state now names storms coming as if they were hurricanes. I am not sure if they decided we were lonesome for some personalization to the weather systems or if we have name envy from seeing those ocean side states name their weather systems. Who knows?

We had been anticpating this storm for a few days and knew it was going to be a good one. What we hadn't expected was to see fireworks outside our window in the middle of the night. Oh, not literal fireworks, but there was diffintely some glowing and sparking of electrical lines.

We are always a little weary of the electrical lines because we have some trees that hang close to our line. We've had our line ripped off the side of the house during a similar winter storm by these trees so our weariness is not without merit. Both my Beloved and I went to bed fairly sure we would lose power at some point. When we were awakend to a loud buzzing and a click I simply said, "There it goes." I really thought nothing of the noise. (My curiosity is not easily peeked in the middle of the night.) My Beloved jumped out of bed to look out the window and the noise came again and would you believe the electrical line coming into the house was glowing? I was near another window and noticed some bright light from that direction. We aren't too far away from some more substantial lines and it turns out the sparking and bright light was a transformer going just down the hill. Not sure if the current jumped to our line (closest to transformer line) and that was the result of our line glowing or what. Craziness.

Long story short Beloved called the power company and grabbed the ladies attention with the glowing and bright light info. Two very short hours after we lost power it was back on again...in the middle of a fierce storm.

I've got my eye on that electrical line. I'll be stepping smart whenever I need to pass under it. It better be on its best behavior from here on out....or else.  : )

And the thankfulness goes on....

# 113-124

- beautiful Christmas lights

- holiday baking has begun

- beautiful, crisp fallen snow

- a working snow blower (& a man who loves to use it!)

- power only out 2 hours

- the electrical line didn't start on fire or cause damage to the house

- no trees took out our line : )

- nephew ok after seizure last week

- getting to see the sweet faces of some dear family and friends through their Christmas cards

- warm cups of tea (fighting a cold just now)

- kids enjoying and looking forward to Jesse Tree Devotional

- wonderful reading books to go along with era we are studying in history

Nothing Changes

Every year it is the same. Every year. You would think I would learn and attempt this feat earlier than I do. What feat am I yammering about? Getting a picture of the family or at least of the kids'. I know I have been remiss about posting lately and especially posting pictures of the kids. I assure you this will be sufficient coverage of all four!

Least you think I am joking about how very difficult it is to capture them I'll show you just a small portion of my efforts.

There are always those who refuse to look at the camera.

 Those who insist on closing their eyes.

Those who get bored and whose eyes begin to wander.

A random gem that has potential even though each child isn't looking your way.

There are those who are naughty with their squinched up face. (Makes me smile every time. Little weasel!)

Those where they shy away from one another and you hear, "Mom! So and so is touching me!"



And there are those where one child must make it look as though the lighting is much to bright for their delicate eyes.

 

Since I struck out with the group photo's I took a few individual pictures.

There is the oldest, whom even though the smile wasn't always there, was a faithful child looking at the camera for each click of the shutter. She looks a bit worn but did a wonderful job of hanging on to that squiggle worm of a brother.

Then there is him whose eye lashes truly are ridiculous looking all spiffy in that suit Grandma got for him.

Here is she who thinks smiling means this grimace with her tongue placed between her teeth.

Lastly is him who is just so sweet you could eat him up! Those dimples!

To make sure you know I truly have been busy...keeping up if not posting about it...here are some of my 1000 gifts from the last few weeks. You'll have to bear with the list (Its been 3 weeks! Oh, you didn't notice? Never mind then. Read away and be blessed!)

# 76 - 112

-  a warm pair of slippers

- fresh, warm, homemade apple crisp

- a Mom who is intentional about calling no matter how many time zones separate us

- a sweet pen pal for my girl

- few to almost no "accidents" from a girlie who had reverted a bit in the potty training department

- overbites in sweet little mouths

- accountability

- free material for school use from local library

- homemade brownies

- rereading "The Light at Tern Rock"

- a sweet sister making us rethink how we celebrate the birth of Jesus

- the warmth of small bodies on my lap

- that my girl thinks my arms are a safe place to be when the sound of the 'frain' (train) frightens  

  her

- the easy, no tears loss of a tooth

- vacuumed stairs

- neck kisses = much giggling : )

- a meal at home with some dear friends before they moved out of the state

- plants that merely wither, but don't die, to remind me it is watering time

- a stain stick that removes baby spit-up the 1st time through the wash

- a husband who has the Thanksgiving meal all under control and boots me from the kitchen

- girlfriends

- Cat in the Hat school paper

- brothers who take the time to call me

- a little bit of peace and quiet (around here known as bed time for the kiddies)

- kitchen aid mixer

- homemade bread gracing our house after a few years hiatus

- a girlie who was quiet as a mouse sneaking into my bed while her daddy was out of town

- the smell of baby

-the love story that is Christmas

- flannel sheets

- the safe return of my Beloved after a week away (the return of my sanity as well!)

- a cup of sugar borrowing type of neighbor

- a camera that is only maimed, but not broken, after falling prey to curious little hands

- bath time

- facilities nearby where I can take the kids to run off some pent up energy

- an afternoon watching snow fall that belonged in a movie it was so beautiful

-  sunny days in the midst of days upon days of grey

(Yes, I know it isn't Monday...bear with me for being a day late.)

Fumes

Just the other day my Beloved commented on the fact that Zeke is now 4 months old. “Where did the time go?” he asked. He followed that up by saying, “Are we just running on fumes?”

To which I most assuredly replied, “Yes!”

I am not sure why it has worked this way but with babies #1 and #3 I seemed to bounce right back into the swing of things. I hit my stride, if you will, after a month or two. But with babies #2 and #4 it just feels like chaos reigns and here we are four months out and I still haven’t hit my stride. Yet. (Thinking positive.)

Part of the problem is sleep. Yeah, not getting so much of it again these days. I stay up a bit late with Zeke to get a feeding in. He has had some trouble with gas discomfort so often times he wakes up more than once scrim scrambling crying out in pain. Thus sleep time is not solid but broken up. Add to that Katie has taken to waking up early. By early I mean around 6ish. It would be irritating but she wakes up and comes down to the bedroom in the sweetest way.

“I waked up, Mommy,” she says in her little girl voice. She has her blanket in hand and her binks still in her mouth.

“Climb on in Mommy’s bed,” I tell her. She grabs a pillow and snuggles in the covers close to my side. She doesn’t sleep but does doze from time to time. What I most appreciate is that she isn’t a wiggle worm. She just lays there and snuggles and dozes. That gives me a little more time to lay there and doze myself.

Someday I keep telling myself. Someday we’ll get on track. The schedule of nursing every 3 hours will click with all else that we have going on around here. Someday. Perhaps on that day they’ll be some actual gas for us to thrive on. Until then I am afraid the fumes will just have to do!

Blessings 61-75

- a tank that still has fumes

- sweet little girls who snuggle in my covers with me

- babies who forget/forgive mommies for ugly behavior in the middle of the night

- older children keeping baby occupied so I can make lunch

- good old peanut butter and jelly sandwich

- 2 hours or so of quiet at home with just baby while rest of family went to church

- Husbandry allowing me to stay in bed when older children got up after a particularly rough night

- deal on cutest little shoes for Katie

- empty dirty laundry baskets

- no one is sick

- my Beloved doesn’t give me a hard time for coming home to find me still in my jammies and not showered

- long eyelashes (all four have them) to go with beautiful eyes

- children ‘seeing’ that not all kids live the way they do through Mission India’s My Passport to India

- math doesn’t seem to cause Kiersten anywhere near the frustration and boredom as it has previously

- seeing that Isaiah’s penmanship has improved from just 8 weeks ago

A Bun

Each Friday it is a mad race to get Kiersten ready for dance on time. It shouldn't be a big deal and yet it is. See the first week she came home after ballet she promptly informed me that Miss Jean said her hair needed to be in a bun.

Ta-Ta.

You haven't met Miss Jean but if you did you would be well aware she is a force to be reckoned with. If Miss Jean says that's what she wants than that is precisely what Miss Jean will get. Or you will regret it. Promise.

Oh, I don't mean to play her out as some mean lady. She isn't. She is just a person who knows how she wants things done and expects you to follow suit. She knows that what she does she does well. Know what I am talking about?

There is that and the fact that she is 80 some years old. You're getting the picture.

Anyhow, I am not a 'hair' girl. Never have been. I just have uncooperative hair with a mind completely of its own so I have never really taken to 'fixing' it all that often. And what I do consists of no more that 30 minutes tops, for a wedding or some special occasion, and 15 minutes on a regular day. To be honest I mostly just brush it after I shower and let it dry as it is with a bobby pin added here and there to keep hair out of my eyes. When it was longer it just went straight into a ponytail, wet and all.

This order to have Kiersten's hair in a bun had me panicked a bit. I seriously set aside 20 minutes the next week in order to ensure it would get done. That was before I realized that bobby pins fight back. I should have allowed for another 10 minutes.

Each week it is still a challenge to get her hair just so. I not only have to get it in the bun but need to make it so that it stays in a bun despite her moving around dancing. (Last week she came out of dance with a ponytail. Oh, the bobby pins were still logged in her scalp. Chalk that down as a win for the bobby pins and a loss for me.)

This week though...ah, I won. She came home with this lovely bun still intact. Bobby pins 1, Me 1. A tie. I hold no grand illusions. I know the bobby pins will win more than I will but each week I am determined to try hard to give my girl a beautiful bun that stays. Why? Because she feels like a ballerina and because it looks beautiful on her.

Blessings # 46-60

- learning the art of making a good bun for my ballerina

- children who have contagious giggles

- a girlie girl learning to apologize without it being asked of her

- babies who smile in their sleep

- a husband who loves to cook

- a husband who always thinks I am beautiful and often tells me so

- cousins who live close enough for sleepovers

- a little girl declaring, "I'm a princess!" at the top of her lungs because she is in a dress

- homemade caramel corn

- a soft, warm head nuzzling into my neck (a.k.a. a cuddle : ))

- coming home to a vacuumed living room 

- seeing 3 dressed up kiddos, all with tails (kitty, dragon and giraffe)

- clean sheets

- a stolen nap for myself when my energy tank was low

- the Lord wooing me once again

Blessings to you and yours as we head into the Thanksgiving season. : )

Dodged a Bullet

Boy did I luck out the other day.

Isaiah lost his second tooth. It had been hanging on by a thread and while playing he wiggled it out with his tongue. So tooth out means a visit from the Tooth Fairy. He seemed to have the idea that so long as he put the tooth under his pillow, no matter the time of day, the Tooth Fairy would come. When lunch time hit and nothing happened he made a comment.

We reviewed what we knew to be true of the Tooth Fairy: she makes no appearance until all are asleep and in dreamland. It is only then that she comes and then that she makes the trade of some treat from the tooth.

That is what she does if she doesn’t FORGET!

The next day Isaiah and I are by the dining room table and it hits me. I did not make a nighttime trip to his room to deposit a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’. How could I have forgotten? (I know how, I won’t bore you with the details.)

The funny thing is Isaiah didn’t say a thing. Not one word.

I needed to get some clean, dry clothes for Ezekiel so I had good reason to be near their bedrooms. As any good Mom can, I gathered together a ‘gold coin and a lollipop’, without any little people taking notice, and made my way to his room. Sure enough there lay the littlest tooth under his pillow waiting patiently to be taken. I made the swap and headed downstairs.

Of course I couldn’t say anything to him right away lest I appear the culprit. I waited for an hour or so and then asked him about his tooth is some sly way. THEN he mentions that she didn’t come.

“Are you sure?” I asked him. “You’re sure she didn’t come? Let’s go upstairs and look. I cannot believe she didn’t show up!”

Up we went. He lifts up his pillow…”She came!” he shouts. The coin went in the piggy bank and the lollipop in the mouth. All was well and right with the world.

My excuse? I told him there must have been an awful lot of teeth she needed to collect in the night. She was busy. She didn’t forget him, she just hadn’t made it here yet. (Good thing he didn’t remind me about what I had shared with him only the day before regarding when the Tooth Fairy comes!)

Whew! That was a close call.