1) Rebekah confessed to me today that sometimes she thinks we might have too many kids in our family.
But then she followed it up with, "but I can't think of who I would rather not be here," to put it all in perspective. And for the record, she has been telling me regularly we need MORE kids, but not next year as she wants to be sure and finish school on time (which did not happen this year, largely because I was busying being very pregnant and useless for a few weeks at the end, and then recovering from having a baby for a few more weeks). Rebekah definitely has a generous heart and some solid wisdom going for her.
2) Zipporah's birthday was last month and I have yet to blog about it.
Poor Zipporah. Because June was SOOOO busy and her birthday fell on Fathers' Day, of all days, we decided to join her extended family celebration with her older older sister (Rebekah) in early July. But now I have yet to put up her yearly birthday blog post. That's what happens to kid #6 apparently.
3) I have not been actively looking for work, but I accidentally got some.
My hubby and I have had this discussion - should I get a job, part-time, full-time, should we put the kids in school or daycare? And we basically decided me being home and homeschooling them was the best for all and we could make it work on hubby's salary. But suddenly, out of the blue, an ideal part-time, work-at-home job fell in my lap and I am really enjoying it!! It is transcription work and since I have a hidden love of English from my dear English-teacher father, and I love to type, I am finding this kind of work most rewarding and refreshing (as the regular life of a stay-home-mom can be a little mind-numbing). And then a few days later, ANOTHER possible part-time work-at-home has fallen into my lap as a friend asked me to write for a blog. That one is still in the works, but if/when I actually do get it going, I will be sure to let you know!!
4) Peter is sleeping better. . . kinda.
Peter remains a bit of a "needy baby" but he is sleeping better. At least he lets me lay him down now and gives me 3 or 4 hours at a time. Unfortunately last night I think he was attached all night (maybe a growth spurt?) but we were able to sleep in this morning, so that helped. I am so grateful for summer and being able to adjust my schedule as needed.
Also, in my brilliance of dealing with Peter, I noticed he does not care for the baby vibrator chair so much anymore. He still enjoys the Bumbo some, but gets tired of it quickly. Unfortunately he does not tolerate being horizontal on the ground very well AT ALL. Movement is something he really enjoys so I began thinking about a swing. We have had swings in the past, but a 15lb baby weighs down a swing REALLY FAST and makes it eat batteries like crazy. Plug-in swings are expensive and take take up a lot of room so. . . I decided to try an outside baby swing hung on the same hooks as our notorious rings. It actually has worked REALLY WELL.
Peter does not require much pushing and there is lots of help besides. Plus if/when he does fall asleep is he up high enough to not be disturbed by the two-year-old and he is right in the middle of the front room so I can easily keep and eye on him.
5) Rebekah loves to pet-sit.
A friend of ours had some baby chickens that needed attention while they took a short trip over the weekend. (Shhh, don't tell anyone that chickens are not allowed in town.) We kept them in the garage for three days, in a little tub and Rebekah faithfully changed their food and water and gave them fresh paper twice a day. She was IN HEAVEN caring for those little creatures.
Now she is checking on a friend's cat once a day and enjoying that. I'm thinking that she should just be a regular pet-sitter. This way she can make money AND we don't have to get a pet of our own. Win win!!
6) The other day I asked my husband a question about laundry baskets.
Honestly, we need a couple more laundry baskets and we have a hodgepodge right now and they don't really fit together well for stacking so I thought we should be sure to match at least one of our current baskets. I was looking online (as that is where I shop these days) and realized I needed to know the size of baskets we had. When I asked my husband what size he thought one of our baskets was he gave me the oddest look. And then commented, "This is really what you think about?" Yep, that's the glorious life of a stay-home-mom. Running the house means thinking about things like size and shape of laundry baskets. Oh these moments :)
7) Food-body-image- mulling.
I was trying to eat the Whole 30 diet while being pregnant and then after (lately) for a lot of reasons - mostly because it makes me feel good and somewhat because I know it will help me lose extra weight. But I have been struggling with some stomach issues for the past three weeks or so and what do they recommend for upset tummies? Bread - Rice - Applesauce - Toast, right? God has such a great sense of humor, to make me eat almost exactly what I was trying NOT to eat for so long. Thankfully my stomach is FINALLY settling down.
I actually ate junk food the other day and did not feel totally sick afterward - party on! Unfortunately I then felt guilty!! I should be eating healthy. I need to get back in shape! And then I remembered I just had a baby and I need to cut myself some slack. I have never done this in the past - I have always immediately tried to jump back on the bandwagon, working out, no desserts, etc etc. But you know what? Not this time. This time I am giving myself TIME. It took nine months to put this weight on and I'm going to take nine months to take it back off - and maybe more. Although I do wish to be stronger and faster and maybe a little less jiggly, I am still pretty amazing. I can lift and carry my 15lb Peter around the grocery store or on walks - just in my arms. I can strap Peter on in my wrap or a sling and then carry my 2-year-old in my arms beside Peter, around the store or for short walks. I am pretty strong. And I might have little extra softness but my kids all seem to love leaning on those parts of me. I'm still adjusting emotionally to having a biz-zillion kids and trying to figure out my baby's cues. Sometimes I find a little chocolate or another treat makes me a much better momma and I have decided that is OK.
Instead of trying to kill myself in the gym, I have been taking more and longer walks. This way I am gently growing in stamina and not making myself miserable in the process. My favorite alignment guru (Katy Bowman) calls it "stacking your life." Instead of JUST getting some movement, let the movement take you somewhere or do it with others. I do both. Often I walk with Rebekah and we chat it up. Other times I walk to the store or to run an errand. Right now I see no need to sacrifice sleep to get up and dance along to a work-out video. There will be plenty of time for that once Peter is older. And instead of dusting off my free weights, I just pick up my babies. Zipporah is just about the perfect weight for bicep curls.
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