The Days Are Long...

But, the years are so very short!

It's official.

I am the mother of a kindergartner.  I have a kid who is school-aged.  What?!  It's especially jarring because I don't feel a day over 22.  Too bad my driver's license begs to differ!

Tiny Greek Goddess ISD is officially in session as of last Monday.  Cora was so very excited for school that I really don't think I could have held her off any longer.  So, we jumped in.

When John and I were trying to first figure out this whole home school business, I got together with some friends from church who were part of a program called Classical Conversations.  I wasn't necessarily interested in the program at the time, but more so, just wanted to get some information about what homeschooling looks like.  However, after hearing my friend's 6 year old daughter tell me the history of the world from Creation to present day, I was sold on the program and the philosophy behind it.  It is a lot of memorization during the first few years, but it is carefully designed to give families the opportunity to learn and grow together.  I honestly think that I may learn as much or more than Cora.

We started our first day with a special breakfast.  I likened it to "Muffins with Mom."

Coincidentally, it was also "Meet the Teacher" and "School Supply Drop Off."  (Notice Carys' 'cheese' face! Silly little pickle!)

I decided to fashion our school day in a similar fashion to the schedule I read about in the Foundations guide for this program.  This means, that on an ideal day, we will have some devotional time, then periods of work followed by activity breaks.  During each work period, Cora will first work on her skills independently before we will work together on any new skills or activities for the day.  I love the idea that she should learn to not have to rely on me (or any other teacher) to begin learning.  In each subject area, she is able to begin the learning process on her own.  Fortunately for me, Cora has easily adapted to this format.  Though she sometimes resists the independent work, she knows that she works for the allotted time, but then gets a break.  On most days, we have finished our tasks by noon.

Today was our first day of Classical Conversations.

(Notice two 'cheese' faces! Crazy girls!)

In this program, we meet once a week in a group setting with a tutor.  On our CC day, we work on new memory work, present an informal presentation and also do a fine arts activity and science experiment. This is the basis for the memory work that Cora and I will practice for the next week.

Cora and Carys were both excited to wear new dresses - who doesn't feel special in a brand new 'first day of school' outfit - and to carry their backpacks.  It was a bit of a frenetic day for Cora who is accustomed to a more leisurely pace, but it was fun for her to learn the material and to socialize with some new friends.  I know her stamina will increase the more we participate in the program.  But, the nice thing is that if it doesn't, we can come home at 1 and take a nice long nap - a luxury that wouldn't be afforded to her at our neighborhood school.

The bottom line is that as of two weeks in, I am feeling more and more confident in our decision to home school.  I know not every week/day/hour of this adventure is going to be sunshine and butterflies, but it's nice to see Cora adjust well to this new educational process.  To be continued...

Stats

The little mister had his four month appointment last week.  All you mamas out there know what this means...shots!  And, because this is just the way the cookie crumbles, our pediatrician's office was out of the combo vaccines.  The little mister endured 4 rather than 2 shots, plus the oh-so delicious rotavirus concoction.  He was a bit peeved at me for about a second.  But, he refuses to stay mad at me for long.  This boy loves his mama! (She pretty much is head over heals for him, too!)

That being said, I was not surprised at all to find out that he weighs 15 lbs, 2 oz.  Let's review the girls at 4 months.  Carys weighed 13 lbs, 6 oz; Cora weighed a whopping 9 lbs, 9 oz.  My biceps definitely could testify that he is the biggest of my babies.  Surprisingly to me, this only placed him at the 40th percentile.   Ironically, being 24.25 inches tall, places him in the 12th percentile for height.  To make all this percentile talk even more funny, his head circumference is 17.05 inches or 88th percentile.  In other words, his head circumference is almost equal to 75% of his length! He definitely has his daddy's head.  Let's hope he has his daddy's brains, too!

In other news, I am continually being reminded that just because you have three kiddos doesn't mean you know everything about children.  The little mister has been drooling and gumming things for about a month now.  Everyone has been asking me if he's teething to which I responded, "Naw!" or something equally as eloquent.  Well, shut my mouth!  Guess who cut a tooth last week?  Yup! And, he's rewarding my incredulity by reminding me that there's a tiny little dagger in his mouth at every feeding.  Youch!  Makes me tempted to get little mister a steak to chomp on.  I'm fairly certain he would not refuse it.  Needless to say, we are thrilled with our strapping young man!

Four

I blinked, and you're four months old, little man!  What's happening with you now?

You are in an excellent and predictable day time schedule.  You wake up some time between 7 and 8.  You're up for a couple of hours, and then you go down for a 2 hour nap.  Then, you're up for another couple of hours before your 2 to 3 hour nap.  After that you're up for the evening.  You will usually go to bed around 8 pm.

Your nights, well, let's just say you're a bit unpredictable.  Sometimes you get a nice 6 hour stretch in.  You'll wake once to eat and then sleep through until day time.  But, sometimes, you prefer to seek my company more often at night.  Last night, I had the, ahem, pleasure of your company 4 times.  Perhaps this is your '4 month sleep regression' or perhaps you're just lonely.  Either way, we'll just ride it out; I have confidence that you will become an excellent sleeper like your big sisters.

You remain one of the most social babies I've ever encountered.  You do not need much encouragement to chatter with someone.  Often, as soon as someone glances your way, you will begin to coo and giggle.  Once while skyping with Daddy, you chirped and immediately giggled at some private joke you had made.  You did this several times in a row.  It was wonderfully precious and adorable.

Physically, you are a very strong little guy.  You don't require any encouragement to practice your squats.  If someone supports you under your arms, you will gladly use your strong leg muscles to bounce up and down, up and down.  If it weren't for your terrible (wink) lack of balance, you would be standing on your own.  You certainly have the strength for it.

During tummy time, you are very good at holding your head up high.  You can also roll from tummy to back, but not yet from back to tummy.  You get one poor arm lodged under you like a kick stand and get pretty well stuck.  However, you do get those legs going under you like you want to crawl.  If you had stronger arms and better trunk control, I fear you'd be mobile.

You are almost to the point of being able to grasp a toy.  Though you haven't quite mastered opening and closing your hand around an object, you are an expert at sticking your hands in your mouth.  You love to chomp on your fingers.  We thought for a little while that you might be a thumb sucker, but we haven't seen you single out your thumb as of late.  Now you prefer your entire fist.  I don't think you're teething, but also would not be surprised if I found a pearly white poking through soon.

Your eyes remain blue, but if I'm not mistaken, they have taken a slightly green tinge.  I am anxious to see what color they will become.  Your hair is a very pale strawberry blonde.  Seems like Sissy's hair was also this color as a wee babe.  I wonder if it will change as you grow up.

You continue to be our sweet and precious little man.  We are thankful for you every day!

Camp Mema

About a week or two ago, we headed on down to my parents house for a little family reunion of sorts. Scott and Celeste were coming down with my sweet nieces, and Pa and Gamma were going to come up for the day that Saturday.  This was their first opportunity to meet the little mister.  Pa had a special surprise for the little man - his first cap.  Naturally, it is a cap from the local cotton gin.  I love it!

Here is Farmer Jack in his overalls and cap.

Forgive the quality; I took this picture with my webcam.  But, yes; you're right.  With all that precious cuteness, it IS a wonder that I get anything done.  Thanks for noticing.  

Anyway, that little weekend getaway had another purpose, too.  It was the kick-off weekend for Camp Mema/Gulag P-pa.  On Sunday, John and I left the big girls at my parents house for an entire week.  Now, what's that word I'm thinking of?  That word that describes how it feels to only have one kiddo at the house for 5 days?  Oh yeah, a.w.e.s.o.m.e!  It feels awesome!  I remember the first time I let Cora go to the grandparents for a couple of days.  I cried.  Then, I let both the girls go overnight for the first time about a year ago.  I cried again.  But the next morning, I slept in.  Sweet mercy, it was heavenly.  

As you can imagine, I was looking forward to those 5 days.  The girls were pretty pumped as well.  The plans for Camp Mema sounded pretty outstanding.  It was impressively planned and coordinated and for good reason!  4 kids ranging from age 8 down to 2 1/2 will keep you on your toes.  Gulag P-pa was a little more tongue in cheek.  Where Camp Mema would have water day involving playing in the pool, water day at Gulag P-pa involved water boarding.  As he said, it's "all the fun with only a fraction of the water."  The facebook posts were pretty entertaining as written through the eyes of the Gulag Commandant .  Some of the mayhem included the following:

"Cora K. did a magic trick and made Mema disappear. Now, no one can find her. The panic is setting in. We’ll starve to death. Finally, Hannah L. found her, cowering in fear behind a bedroom door. What have we gotten into?

The inmates are thinking the same thing. Hannah L. said to Cora, “Don’t make Mema disappear again or we’ll all go to Gulag P-Pa. I have a plan to overthrow the condamant.” (Her pronunciation)"

and

"Gulag P-Pa, Day 4: The terror continues. Condamant P-Pa awoke at 5 a.m. Carys K. was standing by his bed, blanky in hand, apparently planning to smother him. He asked what was wrong. “Can’t find Dita,” she said. Nice recovery! “Dita” is short for “Perdita,” a stuffed Dalmatian from the Disney movie. The Condamant got up with flashlight and slipped among the other three sleeping inmates, finally spotting a Dalmatian on the floor. “There’s Dita,” he said. “No, that’s Pongo,” she replied indignantly. One stuffed Dalmatian looks like another to Condamant P-Pa. Eventually, the Condamant found the actual Dita under the covers on Carys K.’s bed, making him suspicious of The Mischief Maker’s true motives."

Meanwhile, I was at home doing pretty much whatever I wanted, including sleeping in to an hour of the morning that seems positively sinful when you have small children.  Heaven!  I also managed to be a bit productive.  I got the girls closet cleaned out and organized.  I sorted and stored toys.  And, I got the house cleaned.  The best part about that last statement is that it stayed clean...all week...I had forgotten what that's like.  What's that word again?  Yup, it, too is AWESOME!

Nevertheless, I was excited to see my girls again that Friday.  Scott and Celeste so kindly offered to bring them back since they would be passing through anyway.  It was pure bliss hearing my sweet Cora yell out "MOMMY!" when she saw me. Carys was a little more subtle with her affections although she did insist on sitting in my lap and cuddling throughout most of lunch.   All four of the cousins were nice and tired out after their week.  The early bedtime for the girls made for an easier transition back to reality.  Sure enough, the next day, my world was back to normal - teetering on the edge of controlled chaos.  We're looking forward to Camp Mema 2014!  

Three

Little man, you are one quarter of the way through your first year.  What's new, my little three monther?

You are our strapping young man.  I'm guessing you weigh around 14 pounds now.  You have completely outgrown the newborn clothing and are about to outgrow your 0-3 month things.  You wear size 2 diapers that hug the adorable rolls on your legs.  You even have the cutest little double chin.  If this trend continues, you will be the same size as your youngest sister by the time you're a year old.

You have such a sweet natured personality.  You love to talk to people.  The first time I dropped you off in the nursery at church, you conned the sweet ladies into holding you and playing with you when you should have been taking a nap.  You are such a little flirt.  My absolute favorite thing is when you see me and your eyes light up while your mouth curls into this adorable little half smile.  It is precious!  You tend to be quite a content little man.  Usually, you only fuss for one of three reasons: hunger, fatigue, or boredom.  The toughest time of the day unfortunately coincides with dinner time.  You seem to have a thing about me being able to sit down and enjoy a meal.  I'm going to savor our time together, though.  Soon enough, you'll be sitting at the table eating along with us.

You are a strong little guy.  You have excellent head control which is necessary since you love to flirt with the ladies.  You are constantly pushing and flexing your legs and abs.  I fear this means you will want to crawl and walk before mama is ready.

You still enjoy hanging out in the sling.  One of the reasons I enjoy baby-wearing so much is that you are incredibly content while snuggled up in there.  I took you grocery shopping last night, and you were happy to people-watch while we strolled around the store.  Maybe you like it so much because you get so much attention.  People just fawn over you while I carry you around.

I suppose that is what has developed over these past few weeks.  Please enjoy this video.  It is one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

Oh, how I love this sweet little man!

Some Days

Some days, parenting is really hard.  You know those days where you put your two year old on the potty and wait and wait and wait for her to use it.  You finally let her up after an unsuccessful half hour, and within five minutes, that same two year old tee tees all over the floor.  sigh

But, then you have days like today where you realize how blessed you truly are.  See, we were out late last night watching fireworks at our local park.  The girls didn't get into bed until close to midnight.  Stinky, tired, yet overstimulated girls out way past their bedtime.  You can imagine the fun we had putting on pajamas.  You know how as an adult, if you go to bed late, you sleep in?  That doesn't apply to my little ladies.  They were both up at the usual hour ready to be fed, clothed and entertained.  Thankfully, the little gentleman slept in.  I managed to occupy them all morning, kept them entertained and fed, and even got them bathed.  I'm sure this seems like no big deal to most people.  Truly, on a normal day, this would be cake.  But, for those of you who may not know me in real life, I'm pretty sure I'm the inspiration for that mattress commercial with the grumpy mama bear.  'Nuff said!

Anywho, the little ladies were almost finished eating lunch when the little gentleman realized that he had failed to interrupt this meal.  (My babies have all had a knack for knowing the exact moment when you sit down to eat.  That is the exact moment that they realize they are starving. STARVING!)  So, I told my little ladies to finish eating, put away their plates, and go to rest time. I was off to nurse little man in the comfort of my own bed. I had no doubt that they would obey, but what I didn't know would happen absolutely made my heart burst.

See, we have a video baby monitor in the girls room.  It gives me great peace of mind having it because it is necessary to check in on baby ninja while she plays in her room.  (After all, she earned that moniker for a reason!)  After they finished eating, Cora and Carys both traipsed into their room where I can hear Cora talking on the monitor.  She takes baby ninja, puts her in the bed and reminds her "Okay Carys, it's rest time!"  She heads over to the closet and turns on the fan.  Before she leaves, she calls out, "Have a good rest time!"  Very gently, she closes the door and headed to the guest room for her rest time.  And, then, my heart melted into a big gooey puddle.

She just amazes me, y'all.  I feel like we walk a fine line with her.  I want her to care enough for her siblings to watch out for them.  But, at the same time, I don't want her to feel as though we expect her to parent her siblings.  For the sake of her sibling relationship, I don't want her to be a bossy pants.  But, I also don't want her to feel like she can't step in and be a leader when the situation calls for it.  Regardless, I'm going to count this as a small success and file this away in my mind for those parenting days that are less like today and more like the first scenario mentioned above.

I can't help but think of Hebrews 12:11.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Normally, I consider this verse in the context of how the Holy Spirit shapes and trains me, yet how apropos it is to this parenting journey as well.  Parents work so hard to shape their children, and we don't always get to see the fruits of that labor on a day to day basis.  But, then, you get that tiny glimpse of how you are training them to become the creature that God created them to be, and it makes cleaning up endless puddles of tee tee worth it.

I am so blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

5

Good golly, Cora!  You're 5!  You're school-aged?!  Inconceivable!

What's new, Coco-loco?

I'm not sure exactly your height or weight, but you are around 36 pounds and 38 inches.  Like your sister, you're a skinny little pickle.  You accidentally put on a pair of Sissy's shorts the other day (sized 18 months), and if they hadn't been scandalously short, you could have worn them quite comfortably.  Is it wrong for me to be jealous of your amazing metabolism?

You are supremely excited about school.  You have told everyone that you will be in kindergarten and that your school is Classical Conversations.  I hope this enthusiasm conveys when we actually start school in a couple of months.  Academically, you are definitely ready.  You know all your letters and have the sounds down pretty well.  You get a little confused with /y/ and /w/, but most others are down pat.  You can count to 39 without help.  You need a little bit of assistance remembering what comes after the 9s, but if I remind you, you will count all the way to 100.  You can create an AB pattern, and you notice other patterns as well.  We will work on more complex ones this year.  You definitely have a solid foundation to build upon.  My only concern is how you will take to the structure we will have to implement.  We are both accustomed to doing what we want, when we want.  Having school every day will be an adjustment for all of us.  

Your motor skills are progressing.  You can write your name, and you can draw pictures.  You love to draw people, rainbows and the sun.  You still have some difficulty gripping the writing implement, and therefore, your penmanship is a bit wobbly so to speak.  But, it is definitely getting better.

You are a social butterfly.  I'm convinced that you have never met a stranger.  You love other kids and adults alike.  Just yesterday, you informed a random parent at church, "My birthday is tomorrow, and I'm going to be 5 years old."  Much to your daddy's dismay, you adore one of the neighborhood boys.  He's a few years older than you - I'm guessing he's 8 or 10.  And, in your oh-so dramatic fashion, you informed me today that you really miss Morgan.  I'm pretty sure your father will need one of these in the next 10 years or so.

You still love dinosaurs although you have branched out in your interests.  They range all over: princesses, animals, the food guide pyramid, planets, sports (currently baseball and basketball), Spanish, music, and on and on.  Speaking of music, you share your dad's proclivity for techno.  I'm sure it warmed Daddy's heart the other day when you asked if he could play some more Deadmau5.  

You still tend to be a very picky eater.  We have been much more diligent about making sure you try the food that is given to you.  After all, this mama is not a short order cook.  You have discovered that you do in fact like some more things.  Your new foods are tortellini with peas, hot dogs, carrots, and cereal with milk.  

You continue to take gymnastics.  Recently, though, you told me that you wanted to take ballet class.  Your gymnastics ends in August, so after swim lessons, you will get to choose whether you will take a dance class or continue gymnastics.

You are an amazing big sister.  You are incredibly sweet to Carys, and you absolutely adore little Jackson.  You love to make him laugh and smile, and he returns the affection in spades.  You are a blessing to them and to us.  We love you and are so proud of our crazy girl!

2 1/2

Carys!  You're 2  1/2!  Everyone tells new parents how quickly time flies when you have your first kid. What they don't tell you is that it speeds up exponentially for your second!

What's new, little pickle?

You are still a tiny little thing.  I'm not sure of your exact height or weight, but you wear 18 month clothes comfortably.  I'm guessing you're around 23 lbs and 32 inches.  We will find out for sure at your well check in a couple of weeks.  

Despite your size (or maybe because of it), you are a feisty little thing.  Once you get an idea in your mind, you are not deterred by anything - including logic and reason.  This includes surprising feats of daring.  It seems that you must learn the hard way that not all furniture is a suitable jumping off point.  You consistently have bruises, but that does not deter you.  I love your ability to get right back on that horse, so to speak.

You have become quite the conversationalist.  I was pretty sure you were going to be the strong silent type, but it turns out you were just holding back on us.  You have the cutest little voice.  Very tiny and high pitched unless you are angry. Then, your voice is not so tiny!  Your conversations crack me up.  You mostly speak to me about food.  It goes something like this:

(Me in the kitchen trying to sneak a snack without you knowing)

Carys: What dat, mama?  Whatchoo put in your mouf?

Me:  (sighs and names said food)

Carys:  I wanna twy dat!

You see, I was trained by your pickier sister and am unaccustomed to having to share!  You do enjoy trying new things.  You love carrots and cucumbers. You love strawberries, blueberries, bananas and yogurt.  And, you'll eat most anything I cook for dinner especially if it is on my plate.  You could have the exact same thing on your plate, and yet you insist on eating mine.  I should start putting my food on your plate!

Speaking of your elocution, you have quite an extensive vocabulary, and you are able to speak in long and complex sentences.  You still struggle a bit with your articulation, and therefore, we sometimes have to ask you to repeat yourself many times.  Thankfully, I am told that the sounds that you are struggling with are totally normal for your age.  

You love to sing.  You warmed my heart the other day when I heard you singing a Casting Crowns song over the baby monitor.  I love when you and Sister sing together.  It won't be long before you will be in the children's choir, too.  

You adore your big sister.  I'm not sure how your going to handle it next week when Sister is at VBS all morning.  You've really only been apart from her once, and you spent most of those couple hours asking, "Where's Shisher (sister)?"  It was so sweet and so heartbreaking all at the same time!  You gave her the biggest, sweetest hug when she got back home.  

You're mostly ambivalent toward your little brother.  You have, however, taken to mothering Perdita and the other animals and babies.  (And, yes, you are still totally in love with that little pup.)  I can no longer keep diapers on the changing table because you will take them to put on all your animals.  You love to give a bottle and to feed the babies.  It's very cute.  

We just love your sweet and complex personality.  I can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next six months!

Two

Little buddy is two months old...

Shut up!

I know!

I can hardly believe it, myself!

We have ourselves in a nice little routine at this point, so even though the days can sometimes seem tough, the weeks rapidly slip by.  What's new Baby Jack?

You are my chunky little thing.  You have gained another almost two pounds since your last weight check.  You are up to 11 lbs, 8 oz (40th percentile).  You are 3 lbs, 9 oz over your birth weight.  You are 21 inches (5th percentile).  This cracks me up because on paper, it would seem that you are a chunk.  But, you are still quite a skinny little guy. No adorable chunky rolls for me to squeeze, yet.  Your head measures 41 cm (95th percentile).   Giant brains!

You are a social butterfly.  You have been cooing and giggling for quite some time.  You love to talk to people, and you have the sweetest little smile.  I love when you give me your open mouthed grin and show off your dimples.  You love to have a conversation right after you eat.  You will smile and coo at me as if I am your absolute favorite person in the world.  (I'm pretty sure I am!)

You hold your head up very well.  You really like to look around and see what's going on.  You do love to be held up by my shoulder.  But, you also love to lay across my arm while I hold you.  You're just a sweet little cuddle bug.

So far, you are pretty laid back.  You have your little routine that you like to stick with, but you are content to hang out in the sling if we're out and about.  In fact, the sling has become my best friend since usually, you will fall asleep pretty quick once you are snuggled within it.  (Forgive the picture; It's harder than I thought to take a selfie with a DSLR while wearing a baby in a sling.  Little man was just on the verge of getting seriously irritated with me!)

You survived your first trip to the beach.  This sums up your enthusiasm for it.  You slept through the pool; You slept through the beach; You slept through the aquarium.  But when you weren't sleeping, you were cuddling with your grandparents.  I don't think you minded missing out on the attractions.

I guess that sums it up!  You are our sweet little buddy.  We can't wait to see how you grow and change over the next month!

Cora's Kidisms: Brutal Honesty Edition

Cora just naturally possesses a very tender heart.  She very rarely says anything ugly or mean-spirited.  And, to my best recollection, anything untoward she has said has never been directed at any person or thing.  She has an innate ability to be genuinely happy for another person's good fortune and achievements.  And, she is very quick with offering praise.  Believe me when I say I am not mentioning this to brag about my superior parenting.  Far from it actually.  She most certainly did not get this tenderness from her mommy.  I pray often that I don't do anything that would ruin this trait in her.  All that being said, witness a conversation that took place as we were looking at pictures of our family the other day.

Me: (to John)  You look really good in this picture!
Cora: (turns to John)  Dada, you look good! (turns to me) Mommy, you're wearing a blue shirt.

le sigh

At least she is honest.

Carys' Kidisms: Language Explosion Edition

So, Carys is talking up a storm.  It was like the switch flipped over night.  I was a little worried about her because it seemed to take her so long to start talking.  She's kind of stubborn like that, though.  Not sure where she gets it from...

Anywho...when Carys did begin talking, her articulation was (and still is) very muddled.  I brought it up with Dr. Mitchell because I was concerned that she couldn't hear us well.  We were referred to the audiologist just to make sure everything is hunky dory.  Knowing how well Cora handles such things, I was a little wary of how this was going to pan out.  Fortunately, Carys did swimmingly with the hearing test.  Her hearing seems a-ok.  But, because nothing can be simple when it comes to my little drama mamas, the visit with the ENT was awful.  All he wanted to do was check her mouth for any physiological issues that may be inhibiting her articulation.  All she had to do was open her mouth.  Yeah, no.  Not gonna happen.  Little missy clamped her mouth shut so tight that I don't think even dynamite would open it.  le sigh  Naturally, we did not get the all clear from the ENT, but I guess we can revisit that if her articulation doesn't improve with age.

All that to say, we are still working on clear pronunciation and speech.  Fortunately for us, this does not keep our little chatterbox from expressing herself.  Her vocabulary is actually quite large for a not yet 2 1/2 year old.  It's just that for the most part, I am the only one who understands her.  Still, she makes me smile when we have a conversation.  For example, when you ask her who she is, she wrinkles up her nose like a little bunny and exclaims "Shishy!" (That's Sissy in Carys-ese.)  Once I asked her, "Are you crazy?"  She creased her sweet little angry brow and exclaimed, "No! I Shishy!" I couldn't help but giggle.

From what I've noticed, Carys has the most difficulty with hard c's, hard g's and r's.  So, for example, if you ask her what is her name, she will say "Tawys."  Or, she will say "tootie" instead of "cookie" unless it is an oreo.  Apparently, oreo and cookie are mutually exclusive terms.  Yesterday, I told her that if she's through with the cookie, then throw it away.  She responded in her sassy, little two year old voice, "It not a tootie. It a ayo (oreo)!"  Mmmmkay!

One of Carys' favorite things to talk about are her bodily functions, specifically passing gas.  (Yes, we are that family.  Fortunately, Jackson will fit right in!)  She will grin and tell you, "I doot (toot)!"  She will also point out if anyone else does.  Apparently, some of the grandparents learned this fact the hard way.  There are no secrets in toddler world!

Needless to say, we're enjoying her charismatic, comedic personality now that she's more verbal.  I'm sure she's going to provide much blog fodder in the future!

One

Little man is one month old...already.

I just have to let that sink in for a moment.

Wow!

Anywho...what's going on, little buddy?

First and foremost, you are in a decent night time routine.  (insert Hallelujah Chorus here).  You usually go to bed around 10:30.  You wake up once around 2, and again around 5:30.  This is a pleasant change from your youngest sister who felt like she needed to wake up about every half hour to hour.  Mommy appreciates this!

You weigh a little over 8 lbs according to our most recent weight check.  Like your sisters, you seem to have a very efficient metabolism.  At four weeks, you were only 4 oz over your birth weight.  While I appreciate the fact that you are light as a feather when I carry you in your carseat, I really want you to be our big strapping boy.

I will say, though, that you seem to be on the upswing as far as weight gain.  As I have recently begun an intense course of study at the prestigious Google School of Medicine, I was able to recognize your tongue tie and get it taken care of.  That was not a particularly pleasant experience for either of us.  You will not remember it, but I certainly will.  shudder After your frenotomy, you seem to become a lot less frustrated while eating.  I'll take that as a good sign.

Now that your tongue has a full range of motion, you smile all.the.time.  You've always been a pretty social baby, but now you are so much more expressive.  You love to show off a big toothless grin when  someone holds you and talks to you.  You have occasionally even cooed and gurgled in response.  You even giggled a little bit today.  It makes this mama pretty happy.

Just like everyone predicted, you are my little cuddle bug.  You love to nestle your head right against my shoulder.  Usually, your little face is pointing at my face.  You will snuggle and stare at me.  I hope you don't grow out of this too quickly!

You are still in that newborn stage where you need to be held most of the time.  You will tolerate short stretches of time in the bouncy chair or on your play gym.  But, for the most part, you prefer to be in someone's arms.  Thankfully, you love to be in the sling.  You try and try to stay awake, but you always fall asleep since you are snuggled up next to my heart.

You are adored by your biggest sister especially.  She always wants to kiss you and talk to you.  She even sings you sweet lullabies when you cry.

This picture makes me giggle.  You look a little frightened at Sister's attention. If she doesn't smother you with sisterly care, you will definitely grow up and appreciate her affection.  

We are so thankful that you are our little man!

So, A Lot Can Happen...

...in almost three months.

As you can see, I am terrible about keeping New Year's resolutions!  We haven't exactly been bumps on stumps for the past few months, but for some reason, I've had major blogger block.  I'm working through it.  Seems like it might require intensive therapy, but the sleep deprived nights I'm having may inspire more productive late night internet usage.  I guess we'll see.

I digress...

In much more interesting and important news, as of Wednesday, our family is now a party of five. Little Mr. Jackson Josiah decided to arrive in dramatic fashion on April 10th.  (Clearly, with his flair for drama, he will fit right into to our little zoo!)  It was a crazy whirlwind of events to get him here to say the least.

We started the process with a power outage at around 10:30 on Tuesday night.  Apparently, there was a pretty bad accident where a car completely took out a power pole.  Because I have a bit of 'princess and the pea' syndrome, I couldn't sleep without my a/c, noise maker, security alarm, etc.  Thankfully, the power came back on about 3 sleepless hours later.  It didn't really matter, though, because just about an hour later, my water broke!  After calling Auntie Linda to come stay with the girls, we headed in to the hospital.

Everything was pretty routine for a while.  There was some concern when we got there that little man was breech.  But, a quick ultra sound confirmed that he was actually in position, but just very high up.  So, we labored as usual.  My goal was just to get to the point where I could have my 'spinal miracle' as John called it.  Soon enough, though, it all started to get a little crazy.  My contractions refused to become regular, so protocol is to administer pitocin.  But, little man refused to tolerate the pitocin, and his heart rate would dip dangerously low and recover very slowly.  The nurse would turn off the pit to make Jackson happy, but then my contractions would taper off.  Big time labor catch-22! Then, when it was finally time to push, little man hated that even more.  Hearing his heart rate dip and seemingly stop on the monitor made my blood pressure and heart rate skyrocket.  It was nerve wracking to say the least.  Both my labor nurse and doctor commented on how many gray hairs this little guy was giving them.  After a few more minutes of little man giving everyone heart palpitations with his antics, my doctor determined that the best course of action was to go ahead with a c section.

Oy!

Honestly, folks, that was my absolute worst fear.  I was terrified to have to have surgery.  I am so thankful for John whose first thought and action was to pray for us.  I know that people like to say that God doesn't give you anything you can't endure.  But, especially after this scenario, I must say I disagree.  While I did make it through this, it was because God carried me through it.  I am confident that I would be a mess without His loving hands upon me throughout.

The craziest part was that the drama did not stop once we arrived in the OR.  Little man kept up his heart rate shenanigans, so my doctor had to begin the procedure before even John could get in to be with me.  Then, when she tried to get him, he actually squirmed away from her.  On the second try, he flipped breech!  Little man was born feet first at 4:04 pm on April 10th.  He came into the world screaming his sweet little head off.

Music to my ears.

Weighing in a 7 lbs, 15 oz and 20 inches, let me present Jackson Josiah.

Drama!

(We wouldn't have it any other way, though!)

We've been home from the hospital for three days now.  The adjustment is not easy, but it's so worth it.  We adore this little guy, drama and all!

Running

Sometimes I can hear a song a thousand times before the meaning really hits me.  And, then when it hits me, it's that awesome moment of clarity, a powerful a-ha moment.  I've mentioned before that I'm not the greatest singer in the world...though after watching the latest American Idol auditions, I'm certainly not the worst either!  But, I do love to sing.  And, I find that a lot of worship music really speaks to me in a way that often just hearing a message does not.  On Sunday we sang Forever Reign.
(Oh) I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign.
And, I started to visualize what it would be like to actually run to Jesus' arms.  You know, to literally run to the arms of my Savior.  It's hard to imagine what kind of joy you would feel.  Suddenly, I was thinking about my sweet babies.  I love that feeling of coming in the door after being away and hearing little feet running and little voices shouting my name joyfully.  I can barely put my things down before I have two little torpedoes barreling toward me.  John doesn't even make it through the door anymore.  Cora has learned to recognize the sound of his truck pulling into the driveway.  As soon as he turns the truck off, she and Carys shoot out the door rain or shine to greet him.  It's not that their day was terrible or that they had spent the day anxious for his return.  It's more so that at that moment, they recognized something was missing.  Something special.  Something safe.  Something that provides and protects.  Something loving and kind.  And, at that moment, all they know is the need to be in those arms.  Nothing is going to keep them from those arms at that moment.  I remember one time when Cora was around 2 years old.  John had to be away for some training; we hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks.  When he came through the door, she could not get to him quickly enough.  She buried her head in his neck and just hugged him as tight as her tiny little arms could manage.  When I tried to hug the both of them, she quite literally just pushed me away.  She was not about to let anyone or anything interfere with her being in his arms.  You see, while she was there, she felt secure and complete.

It's not that John and I don't get a charge out of that kind of devotion, too.  One of my friends told me once that having children is like having your heart walking around on the outside of your body. Isn't that the truth!  Honestly, I had no idea the kind of aching love that you feel for those little selfish, egocentric, helpless and needy, yet in every way amazing creatures.   Having my children scramble to see me after I've been away is pure joy.  It is almost unfathomable to think that God in heaven feels the same way - except, in that case, it is not He who has been away.  He is constantly there; I am the one who thinks I need to do it on my own.  The really fantastic part is that when I recognize that I can't, I don't have to wait for Him to pull in the driveway or come through the door before I run to Him; He is always close.  He is always there with mercy, grace, security and love.  He is constant.  And, even more than that, He feels joy when I draw near.  Imagine that!  The Creator of this universe feels joy because of me!  It begs the question of why I feel I must ever be away?  Well, I'm human, and I'm stubborn, but I hope that one day I will recognize that the security of that embrace is more than anything this world has to offer.  Until then, I guess I'm going to keep on running.

Art

This past weekend was a little touch and go for me.  Apparently, I am highly allergic to the world around me (at least in its current season).  For those of you who are unfamiliar, in this part of the world, it is cedar season.  If you've never heard of cedar fever, please take my word and count your blessings.  It's not necessarily a painful affliction, but it is the type of illness that makes you want to punch yourself in the face just to get some relief from the itching and burning.  It looks like claritin will be my new best friend until late February.  sigh

Cora was being super sweet and took it upon herself to draw me a get well picture.  This was her masterpiece.

Y'all, I was so excited.  For most 4 1/2 year olds, this picture would be no big deal.  But, for my little girl, this was nothing short of a masterpiece.  One of the manifestations of Cora's sensory processing disorder is a motor skill delay.  So, the fact that she actually drew me a picture (of a rainbow - see the colors! :D ) is really exciting for me.  I love the fact that she drew straight, strong lines.  John helped her with writing my name, but everything else was all Cora.  Go girl!  I'm looking forward to more art soon!

{Way Back Weekend} It's A...

When we first told Cora that she was going to be a big sister for the second time, her response was something to the effect of "Ya, you have baby Carys in your tummy."  We had to clear that little misconception up pretty quickly.  Still, she insisted that her new sibling was definitely a girl.  In fact, she named the baby "Jewel."  She was completely adamant about it.  In fact, when we asked her what if baby is a boy, she did reply with an enthusiastic "That would be great!  But, it's a girl!" People, she had me believing....

Then, we went to the anatomy scan.  Yup, we're pretty certain that this little baby is in fact a....BOY!  What a shock!  Even John was a little bit taken aback.  I think Cora had us both believing that we only make girls.  We're pretty excited, though, about meeting this little man.

I will admit that I had a bit of a panic attack thinking about having a boy.  My formative parenting years have been filled with girls.  But, it recently occurred to me that this must be the same type feeling that John went through when we found out Cora was a girl.  And, John is an amazing dad.  That gives me great hope that I can rise up to the challenge of being a great mom to a boy.  Thankfully, God gives me my children as babies so that I can grow into my role as a parent.  I'm sure when little mr. Jackson (middle name tbd) gets here, these worries are going to seem so silly and unnecessary.  Can't wait to find out!

{Way Back Weekend} A Birthday Treat

Cora's 4th birthday very neatly corresponded with the release of Brave.  So, it seemed that Cora was meant to have her first theater experience for her birthday.  To make it even more special, we invited one of Cora's oldest friends, Eliana, to join us.  And, if you're going to a movie for your birthday, you must have some popcorn.  Am I right, or am I right?!

Cora and I really enjoyed the movie.  In fact, Merida and Cora share a lot of similarities.  I was thankful when she received the dvd from Mema and P-pa for Christmas.

After the movie, we had a ladies' lunch with Ms. Susy and Eliana.  Unfortunately, we waited a little too long to try to get a couple of pictures of the girls.  This was the best we could manage.

Such happy campers!  From this picture, you would think that we just fed them spinach and made them clean their rooms rather than wining and dining them all morning.  It was a fun day even if the picture speaks otherwise!

Two Year Well Check

Today was Carys' two year well check.  I learned my lesson to not schedule well checks before Christmas when Cora was 6 months old.  Vaccinations + holiday mayhem = a difficult holiday all around.  And, yet, I was still dreading having the appointment.  I think I may still be a little gun-shy after Cora's memorable 4 year appointment.   Blessedly Cora was invited to some friends' house this morning, leaving me to take Carys by herself.  (Thanks, Rose Marie, Ruth, Erin and Vivi!)  It turns out that Carys was actually current on all her immunizations (sans the flu shot which we do not do).  So, that was an unexpected bonus.  Pretty much everything checked out as normal even her weight.  (Whew!)  She is up to 21.5 lbs and 31 inches, still clinging to the 3rd percentile.  However, her BMI puts her in the 15th percentile.  I'm not sure how that works, but I'm happy that Dr. Mitchell was happy with her weight.  Bebecita did manage to gain 3 lbs since her last well check.

I did have one small concern that I mentioned to Dr. Mitchell.  Sometimes, I'm fairly certain that my background in early childhood education and child development may put unnecessary thoughts in my mind. Nevertheless, I would rather take care of a problem now than wait and have a problem progress.  Anyhow, I have mentioned before in ye olde blog about Carys' speech or sometimes lack thereof.  Though she is a little chatterbox now, her articulation is a bit of a concern for me.  I can probably understand about 80% of what she says, but I am with her all.the.time.  I don't think most others can understand her nearly as well.  My concern is that she's not hearing properly.  I know she can hear.  She responds to her name and to questions.  She can follow complex commands, but  she seems to have some atypical patterns of speech (at least from what I can tell).  For example, she often substitutes several different initial sounds in words with the /d/ sound.  (e.g. 'deemas twee' for Christmas tree; 'Denny' for Penny).  I worry that perhaps there is some sort of issue inside her ears that makes her hear differently.  Dr. Mitchell was not overly concerned, but suggested that we visit a pediatric audiologist simply to make sure that everything is hunky-dory in those sweet little ears.  Most likely everything will check out just fine, but I'll be thankful for the peace of mind.  Then, the best news of all will be that she is in the clear until her next well check.  Praise be to God for our healthy girl!

Resolved

I'm usually not one to make New Year's resolutions.  It's not that I necessarily have something against them; it's just that I feel like I shouldn't have to wait until the beginning of the year to make a change in my life. Furthermore, it's like I have some sort of psychological block specifically against New Year's resolutions.  I just can't seem to keep them up. However, this year, I do have one specific idea that I'm going to work hard to maintain.  This blog is basically my online baby book for the girls - really, it's more like my love letter to my children.  So, my goal is to stay current with this blog.  And, to stay current, I have to get caught up.  In other words, you may see a lot of flashbacks interspersed with our current happenings.  Look for our "Way Back Weekend" posts to find out what we've been up to for the past six months.  Now it's out on the interwebz...hopefully this small measure of accountability will keep me current.  After all, this mama's love still grows!