i think i've sat down to finish this post about 5 times. but it doesn't cry or whine or even politely ask, "mommy, please come play with me", so it has taken the back burner. and i think that's exactly how it should be. :) my 3 squeaky wheels are now in bed, so i'm gonna give this post one more shot!
friday, march 6
amelia is doing so wonderfully these days. she is back on a great routine during the day, so we are praising the Lord for that. and for the last couple of nights, she has stretched out the time between her feedings to about 5 hours! so this mom is beginning to feel slightly rested again! hallelujah!
last week, i was just about to write a post titled, "mama said there'd be days like this", inspired by my mother singing that song after i'd called her who knows how many times in one day to lament about something... the kids fighting, amelia waking up just as i was going to lay down for a nap, the kids fighting, ethan peeing all over the bathroom floor 10 minutes before i needed to leave the house, the piles of laundry taking over the house, my kitchen floor that could not even tell you the last time it has been mopped... but because it was "one of those days", there was never time to write a post about it! and i was exhausted. i'd been waiting for amelia to go a little longer between feedings at night, and it just wasn't happening. i knew it would come, but i really just needed to sleep. in bible study last thursday (where i was trying to go when ethan peed everywhere!), one sweet lady commented, "you look tired!", and i just cried, "i AM tired!" after some tears, i really felt much better! it's amazing what one good little cry will do for you. :) those ladies really must have been praying for me for the next few days because i had a very restful weekend.
this week started off with my incredible sister-in-law taking ethan and caroline for the day! THANK YOU KRISTIE! the plan was for me to get to sleep all day, but i felt so rested by monday that i actually got some things done around the house and just enjoyed a quiet house. it's funny how easy it seemed to take care of one child... though i don't remember things feeling that easy in 2005! by lunch, my quiet house seemed a little too quiet, though. it's amazing how quickly i start to miss those kiddos. here's my crazy bunch this morning... (ethan and caroline love watching amelia under her baby gym that we borrowed from cousin karina.)
so i'm getting some rest, and i even got my kitchen floor mopped yesterday during the kids' naptime! i really can't remember the last time i gave it a good mopping. now i will say that i have one of those floors that "hides dirt", but apparently, i can't hide it from everyone. when ethan walked into the kitchen after naptime, he immediately noticed that the floor was clean. he ran to hug me and exclaimed, "mommy! did you mop the floor?! (gasp.) mommy, thank you for mopping the kitchen floor!" and he then ran to tell brian the good news. so my three year old son's biggest joy of the day was a clean kitchen floor. wow. i felt like a really bad mom at that moment. for so many reasons. but anyway, my floor is clean. and my son is happy. and his wife better know how to use the mop! :) haha.
wednesday, march 11 (but i kept thinking it was tuesday)
ok, tonite i'm really laughing at where i left off on this post last week because this morning, ethan spilled his entire bowl of cheerios and milk onto my (still somewhat) clean kitchen floor. grrrrrrrrrrrrr. but it's just a floor. and it was just an accident. and i love that boy more than my floor (well, i'd surely hope so, given the evidence of how i take care of that floor!).
so how are we doing 5 days later? well, i know why i didn't get to finish this post last weekend. because late friday night/saturday morning, amelia woke up every ninety minutes. so much for the great routine, huh?! she did ok the rest of the weekend, but by tuesday night/yesterday morning, it was obvious that she was 100% in the middle of a growth spurt. once i realized that, it made a lot of sense, and i just fed fed fed that baby girl yesterday. last night she did great, and today she was only awake to eat (another post-growth spurt indicator). i am just hoping that we are about to turn the sleeping-through-the-night corner. that would really be a wonderful thing. but as i've said before, i canNOT complain. amelia is such a good baby. she is so content when she is awake, and she is so tolerant of The Siblings. she usually does very well going to sleep on her own in her bed, and we are just incredibly blessed. but sleeping through the night would just be icing on the cute little amelia cake.
we've been loving the wonderful weather. i've even been taking the kids outside regularly! ethan and caroline are getting so good at swinging on the "big kid swings" on our swingset. we're working on pumping their legs, so hopefully, by the end of the summer, they will be self-sufficient! (just in time for amelia to want to be pushed in a baby swing!) i found another infant swing just like ours at a consignment shop, so i can keep one in the shed and easily bring it out if amelia is awake when we go outside. she loves to look around and listen to all the outside noises. i just have to be super vigilant when ethan decides to play t-ball. or soccer. or paper airplanes. here are the girls showing off the swing...
oh, speaking of the consignment shop, i have a funny story. our favorite little children's consignment shop is on our way to church, so we pass it a few times a week. evvvvverytime we pass it, ethan (and now caroline) says, "there's where we got our trains!" (super huge bag of wooden trains and track for $10!!!) and now it's also "there's where we got amelia's baby swing!" (they also do the same thing for "where we got our bunk beds" and other key locations around town.) anyway, the day i bought the swing, i also found some very nice stride rite sandals for ethan for dirt cheap. so brian's mom was commenting on them the other day and asked where he got them. ethan responded right back with the name of the store. i was kind of surprised that he actually knew the name of the store vs. "the place where we got amelia's swing and my trains". i said to ethan, "i didn't know you knew (name of store)!" and without missing a beat, he said, "i know (name of store), i know church, and i know Jesus!" (in no particular order, of course...)
i'll close with a 6 week shot of amelia. i guess i'm just gonna be a week behind on pictures-- she turns 7 weeks old tomorrow. she looks as if she's brushing up on her gang signs... in her smocked get-up. ha!
we continue to have much for which we should be thankful. God is so good, and if i end up saying that on every post, well... it still would not be enough. God uses these three little blessings everyday to draw me closer to Him and to remind me of His grace. have a wonderful weekend counting your blessings!
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