Life

I keep saying that I am busy, so busy, and unable to update the blog as often as I would like.  But then, I think, what am I busy with?  There's not much going on.  But there is much going on, so much...

 We are busy eating breakfast early on Sunday morning--Bananas for Ada, Bananas for John.

 And then later, attempting to get a photo with the kiddos when we are all actually out of our pajamas and play clothes.

 And very busy enjoying this amazing fall weather!!  This is our neighbor, whom Ada begs to play with on a daily basis.

 Fall weather that beckons us out of our house for long walks around the neighborhood.  Ada insists that it is not cold enough for pants, but definitely cold enough for a hat.

 Busy as little bees;) with school, of course.

 Busy searching for the little bs and the BIG Bs in the week's poem.

 Found one!!

 Busy finalizing paint colors for all rooms downstairs!!  And mom has said she will come help me paint in a few weeks.

 And busy being thankful for the train and praise baby on a day when daddy works late and I need to get dinner ready.

And that is our day-to-day

Monday

A few images from our start to another week.

We're learning B this week...bumblebees, babies, books, balls, bananas, Noah built a big boat...I mean, the possibilities are endless for the direction we could take this thing...

 And here is John showing off his new favorite thing--start on one side of the room, army crawl my way across the room, and promptly pull every single book off of the shelf.  He loves it.

Ada was reading to him (not the real words!!), but he certainly wasn't listening this diligently the whole time.

On this day I am thankful that John slept ALL NIGHT LONG last night!!!  He went to bed at 7 ish, and I think I fed him once more before 9, and then I woke him up at 6:30 am because I was desperately needing to nurse him.  I can't believe it.  We moved him into his bed last night, out of the pack-n-play, and it apparently did the trick.  We'll see if it sticks.  He has also napped in his room all day today. 

I am also thankful that the highs are in the 70s/low 80s all week.  That is such a nice break from the 90s!!! 

Come on, fall.

More Preschool

making an apple tree.

Eating apples and peanut butter and watching an orchestra play Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and then, "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

stove popped popcorn (which has nothing to do with the letter A, it's just what we wanted to snack on) and learning to use scissors.

concentrate...

Things turned around after our initial "slow" start.  I quickly learned that this little girl needs one art project after another.  So...as we read stories and talked about the Letter A and Adam and Eve and eating the fruit in the garden, Ada drew and cut and glued and colored, and the stories seemed to stick. 

The Beach Trip

Ada sees the ocean for the first time, and, by the way, the weather was this beautiful the entire time we were there.  Amazing.  How can anyone doubt that we have a CREATOR, when you see a sight like the Gulf?

And she experiences the ocean for the first time--she loved it, to the point that we had to remind her over and over not to go too far in without an adult. 

And John also sees the ocean for the first time.  He was not impressed, and after that first morning, John stayed in the house, never going to the ocean or the pool.

Here is what John and I did for the rest of that first morning.  He was hot and miserable.  See the workers in the background cleaning up the oil? 

John's favorite toy of all, my keys.  Check out his fat rolls, and that is 100% breast milk, folks, since he still hasn't mastered baby food (which the doctor says we have to work on).

And an unsuccessful attempt to get him out of my lap.  See his crawling stance?  He has become an expert scooter, getting across the room very fast, so he does the crawl position less and less. 

Thoughts on the beach trip--it was exhausting, to say the least, and by 7:00 everyday I was wishing I could crawl into bed.  However, I am thankful for Ada's sake that we were able to go.  I think she loved it.  Plus, the first day we were there, Ann and I had a very relaxing time lying out at the pool while the kids napped, so that afternoon did feel a bit like vacations from the past.  We would have had another relaxing afternoon at the beach, but while Ann, Ellie, and I (everyone else was back at the house) were trying to enjoy the beautiful ocean (no oil in sight, maybe because of the diligent workers?), we were suddenly surrounded by sea gulls.  It was hilarious and frightening, and I wish I had the words to explain the whole scene.  Bottom line, though, the afternoon was not relaxing once the sea gulls arrived.

The six hour drive to and from the beach?  Nightmare.  Absolute Nightmare.  John had multiple breath holding spells in the process, and I was frequently diving into the back seat to try to get him to breath.  Plus, on the drive home, John had a fever and refused to sleep in his car seat.  We are staying put for a while.  No traveling for us. 

Conclusion--give the kids a few years, and I think vacation will be wonderful once again.  I mean, let's face it, vacation is a gift anyway...so I stress again, I am so thankful that we got to go.  I hope that we get to go again.  Ann and I recalled afternoons at the beach growing up when mom and dad planted their chairs in the sand and stayed there all afternoon--we just have to give the kids a few years. 

Ann and I (and Sarah and Kate) sort of "grew up" at Orange Beach, going every summer for as long as I can remember because my dad had work meetings there every year.  It was surreal to see Ada run up the boardwalk to eat at "Sea n' Suds."  Life is coming full circle. 

Anyway...it was fun, I am thankful that we were able to go, and I am very thankful to be home!!!

A Few Tidbits

So, it's about a year later (exaggeration), and I still haven't told you about what is happening over at Scott's blog.  So here it is in summary.

Scott, along with 29 other bloggers, are trying to raise 30,000 dollars, "30 bloggers, 30 days, 30,000 dollars."  "Why?" you ask.  Because 20.00 gives one person 20 years of clean water.  Crazy, right?  If you head over to Scott's blog you can find out the details.  But, please, check it out, and consider donating!! 

No clean water. It quickly puts things into perspective.  These days I find myself fretting over the fact that our budget doesn't allow me to feed my family only grass fed beef and farm fresh eggs laid by pastured chickens, and then I think, but we have clean water.  We have clean water.

On a completely other note...I am in love with the munchkin mesh feeder.  (not the real name).  I am on a crusade to spread the word about this wonderful contraption.  It has saved my sanity, and I think will be my go-to baby gift from now on.  It goes with us everywhere.

John likes it too.  Here it is filled with cooked sweet potato.  He has also used it to eat banana, pear, avocado, and watermelon.  He loves it all.  I stick it in the fridge to make it really cold, and I think it feels good to his teething gums.  I don't have to make his baby food, he's doing it himself.  Self-sufficient; I like it.

And remember all that talk about turning the television off?  We're still watching.

Do you see John showing off his new sitting up skills?  He still hasn't conquered an official crawl, but he is giving it his all.  Any day now, any day.

The 3rd Birthday Post--lots and lots and lots of photos

The older cousins early in the day

And the younger two

And later at Chik-fil-a

(Ada just saw this picture and asked me if I had a baby in my tummy--nope, Ada, no baby)

And finally cake and presents

Tricyle!!  Which wasn't the big hit we were expecting. 

And a few more presents funded by Mary Ann and Mae Mae

So there you go, we properly celebrated age 3.  Now, I am off for a long Sunday afternoon nap.