Well-played, little spider

For the first time in the history of EVER I came across a spider in my house AND LET IT LIVE AND REMAIN in my house. Now I realize, I just freed myself from ever hosting anything or anyone in my home ever again, right? :)

This spider came into my house on a towel from our clothes line. I saw it as I picked up said towel and it jumped back into the basket of other towels waiting to be folded. I knew it was there and planned to deal with it later, but life drew me away. Later, upon returning to the basket, the spider had moved on -- probably was somewhere in the laundry room as that is where the basket had been sitting.

Then a few days later I was giving our laundry room a serious overhaul in order to fit a second washer.  (Which has since come to join our happy family and is amazing and God is so good to provide us with that, but anyhow, back to the spider.) As I was picking up a statue of St. Francis and a wolf, I felt something soft on the back and jerked, as I turned the statue -- there was a little web and that same spider when jumping off onto the dresser. I stood there breathing heavily for a moment, feeling the adrenaline rush into my system and then channeled my inner Franciscan Spirit.

St. Francis, for those who don't know, LOVED animals. He got along with them -- all of them -- EVEN SPIDERS. He is especially know for convincing the Wolf of Gubio to stop being a pain to the villagers (hence the wolf on my statue along with Francis).

Slight Tangent:  While I was in Assisi, visiting important places associated with St. Francis (since I went to Franciscan University and all -- and we took a class trip there when I studied at the university's campus in Gaming, Austria) I saw this statue of St. Francis that was located outside of his basilica. This statue ALWAYS has birds on it (according to the sign and in my experience of it while there). As in one or two leave and some come back. Seriously it has birds on it ALL THE TIME because Francis is just that cool.

So back to the spider -- Supposedly there are four kinds of spiders that are dangerous to humans: brown recluse, black widow, hobo spider, and something else. I looked this information up a few days ago and I would have sworn there were four kinds that are extremely dangerous, but now I can only find three and I've looked hit my quota of spider pictures I can stomach for the day, so my research has come to a grinding halt. Feel free to enlighten me in the comments with the fourth kind of severely dangerous spider that exists.

I have concluded the spider I allowed to live in my basement is a dancing or jumping spider (judging by looks). They are extremely smart and although they have a painful bite, are not dangerous.  However, since concluding this, it has come to my attention that these spiders do not make webs. Supposedly they hunt their prey and attach a drag line to it. Brilliant. But unfortunately, that does not explain the mini-web I found on the back of the wolf, where I also found the spider.

But whatever. To sum up:  I let the spider live. I left the web alone. Don't bother visiting me if you have arachnophobia. and especially avoid my basement, really just no matter what, because it is not really ever fit for company anyhow, in any sense.

School Days

School has started. Here we are documenting the occasion. Enjoy.

Serious face because Middle School is serious.

These brothers have got her back. Middle School ain't got nothin' on her.

Journal # 34 -- Life is Good!

Out My Window:

Well, it is dark now, but it was in the 80's today and sunny. Still summery, but not too warm.

Clothing Myself In:

Black t-shirt (advertising boots) and green gym shorts I bought back in college. Some day I will grow up and wear "adult clothes". . . probably. But today is not that day.

Around the House:

Gordie built another triple bunk bed. (Well, technically he did not build the last one, he adapted a regular two-bunk bed to work as a triple bunk, but he still gets credit for "building it" in my eyes.) This allowed us to put up Miriam's toddler bed so we had room to move Zipporah's pen into the room with all the other kids. Eventually Zipporah will sleep on one of the bunks like everyone else, but since she does not climb out of her current bed, I am in no rush to be rid of it. I  am sure her transition to remaining in her own bed -- with no physical boundary to keep her there -- will be long and painful as it was for all the other children.

Peter now has his own room and my "nest" has been moved in there (aka the easy chair and my laptop) so I can relax while nursing him. Peter is our first child to use a mat on the floor as his bed, instead of a crib (as we finally threw the crib out since it was so old and recalled). He seems to like his mat, but has already shown that he can roll off it and I am sure before too long I will have to hunt for him when I come to get him. The plan is to give him Zipporah's pen once she no longer needs it (aka starts sleeping on the bunk beds with the other kids). We'll see if the stars align for that one.

The Baby:

Peter seems to really like his room. He has been sleeping longer and longer stretches. He gave me seven hours straight a few days ago!! He would probably be consistent, too, if I were not constantly messing with his preferred schedule as I run after the other kids and entertain a social life of my own. All in all he does well to adapt. Yesterday I got home LATE - like almost midnight. I had taken him with me and he had napped some at my social engagement, but obviously a good chunk of his night was lost. He made up for it by sleeping in until after 11am (he woke up to nurse once in there).

Generally he is becoming more and more adorable. I really love his grin and his squeals. He enjoys watching his siblings and especially likes music. We have several musical toys that he is fascinated with. But nothing beat Miriam parading around him yesterday with a baby bell in her hand, shaking it for all she was worth and smiling at Peter as she did. He had been in full melt-down, but stopped to smile back at her. She was able to calm him two more times this way while I finished up the meal I was preparing.

The Kids:

Zipporah and Miriam get closer all the time. Those two girls are just hilarious together. A few days ago they were pulling old keyboards across the living room, by their cords, pretending they were dogs. My favorite, though, is when they play dress up or have a tea party. They are adorable.

Miriam really likes her "cow book." (Which is actually a Kumon Pasting book for preschoolers that happens to have a cow on the front. All the kids love the Kumon workbooks.) This gorilla came from said book.

Samuel remains the favored playmate. Jacob and Paul both love to play with him and in Paul's case, do everything he does. Paul would pick Samuel as a playmate over Jacob every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Poor Jacob. Course, he doesn't care. Jacob does his own thing. But he still likes to play with Samuel and does NOT like to be alone. The other day Rebekah, Samuel, and Paul were at play practice. I put the little ones to bed and Jacob was so lost (as he stays up for the second bedtime for the big kids).

Rebekah appears to be doing well. She is such a resilient and self-sufficient (in a lot of ways, though not necessarily all) child that I feel sometimes like I don't spend enough time WITH her if, if that makes sense. But she really likes walking and talking with me -- which we try to do every day, even if it is just around the block. She was appearing a little burned out at the end of the summer, but I think she is back to her usual helpful, joyful, creative self.

Rebekah really likes my woven wrap and is always asking to wear Peter or Zipporah. The wrap in this picture is actually a traveler (aka someone else's that we were borrowing for a week).

As I sort of mentioned, Rebekah, Samuel, and Paul are all going to be in the Hays Community Theater's upcoming production of "Gran's Guide to Stop an Ogre" I'm grateful they have the opportunity to do drama at such a young age and am looking forward to the show!

The Schooling:

School is going well now. We started out a little slow. Some of our books were late. I was very nervous for Rebekah as she is middle school now (6th grade) and that means lots of virtual classes and no more retaking tests she has done poorly on! But we are getting in a groove. Rebekah has two classes a day Mon-Thurs, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, an hour at a time. And then she has a couple assignments due a week. It really is not that bad. . . so far.

Paul and Jacob are supposed to be writing letters on those little chalkboard. Oh boys.

I feel much more confident this year as Rebekah was in 4th grade, Samuel in 2nd, and Jacob in Kindergarten when we started with Lawrence Virtual School two years ago. So now I have done all the grades from K to 5th (as this year Samuel is in 4th, Jacob in 2nd, and Paul in 1st) and I know what to expect. Plus I know the system and how to make it work for us. I can set our schedule to populate as I like it and I know we can do work out of order and how to cut corners if we need to (like do three or four lessons in a row -- how long it will take, etc). Thus, it is still a lot of work, but I am confident we can make it happen.

I was stressing over how to organize the books this year. I was afraid there would be too many to put in our space her or that they would all group together and we would lose books within the shelves as we did last year. Then I was trying to find containers to buy to keep the supplies in. But alas, the boxes the books came in fit perfectly!! It might not be beautiful, but they get the job done. -- Likewise, I was delaying taking a picture, thinking I would clean the shelves up first. But then I realized if I waited for that, I would probably never get a picture taken.

In the Kitchen

Oddly enough, I thought you would never ask. I don't really understand what has happened, but the past week or so I have grown in leaps and bound domestically in the kitchen. I have no idea why.

It all started when I finally bought a griddle to make pancakes on. I used to make pancakes on the stove (like pre-children era) but then we got a gas stove and I could NEVER get the temperature just right, so they were either burned or doughy and sometimes both!! (don't ask me how that happened) Since Samuel has become our waffle man, making waffles, about once a week, I have been looking to upgrade our waffle iron to at least a double, preferably an industrial grade one, but I cannot find anything I like thus far online. So instead I picked up a griddle. Rebekah helped and it cut our cooking time in half.

This is only the beginning. We had at least three, maybe four meals worth of baked yummies by the time we were done. But what can you expect after taking a recipe x12?

I have also been slowly growing some other recipes slowly and now they make me most happy. For example, I like sausage, eggs, and sweet potatoes for breakfast. Those are three foods that really fill me up, taste good with my coffee, and keep me happy! Unfortunately, they take quite a bit of time to cook every morning. So not long ago it dawned on me to combine them. I mix up a dozen eggs with maybe half a cup of coconut oil, throw in some sauteed onion and steamed sweet potatoes, and then add browned sausage and cook for about 40 minutes. It makes this great breakfast casserole that I can keep in the fridge and warm up a piece at a time for breakfast.

I have also finally started using my instant pot as a pressure cooker. I originally bought it to replace my crockpot, figuring a little pressure cooking on the side would be nice. But suddenly I discovered I can cook a whole chicken in about 40 minutes and it is GOOD!  Then I can whip out bone broth from the bones in another couple hours and it is even better!! Plus, chicken was on sale a few days ago, so I stocked up.

This is one of my FAVORITE meals -- chicken salad. Thanks to my pressure cooker and grapes on sale right now ($.88 lb) I have been making a ton of it.

I also have a recipe for a paleo soup that I love. It is basically chicken, sweet potatoes, onions and peppers. I made a giant batch of that for myself and froze several single-serving jars.

And while we are talking food, my giant roaster has been seeing some use as well. Pork roast often goes on sale here and I picked up a couple on my last shopping trip so I could make them up. I roast them all day and then fry them up to give the meat a crunch. It is SO GOOD. 

Tonight I thought I'd make an even more special meal. To go along with the fried pork, I steamed potatoes in my pressure cooker to make mashed potatoes. But we don't have a mixer for potatoes (we use a drill to mix things -- and usually chuck in a paint mixer, that has never seen paint, mind you, to do things like 15 tons of cookie dough or 7lbs of natural peanut butter). Anyhow, using the drill to mix the potatoes was a bad idea as it gave them the consistency of gum. Then Gordie tried to make gravy from my bone broth and it ended up runny and under-seasoned (which is not typical for his gravy -- it is usually amazing). The children appreciated the sentiment, though and at the meal as if it were the best one we had ever prepared. God bless the kids, tonight. Whether they didn't notice or they just didn't say anything -- it was just great to have it well received.

My Job:

This is a new title, but I just have to share. A few months ago now I stumbled up on a job doing transcription work. I have really fallen in love with it. And I would be lying if I told you it was not so satisfying to have someone else recognize when I do a good job. I love staying home with my children and homeschooling them, but there is not solid gratification from that -- not in the same way doing a job and receiving feedback gratifies. 

((P.S. If you ever need something transcribed, be sure to check out Noble Transcription Service.))

I am also writing for a blog called Mamma Tech. I am slowly coming into the vision for that blog. Stay tuned for more on that.

Thinking About:

Getting older. I am only four months postpartum but I am so frustrated with my body lately. I hurt my back a few weeks back and then this morning I woke up with the world's sorest neck. It was bad. I made it to the chiropractor this afternoon, but I'm still feeling it. And all I did was sleep wrong somehow! Imagine if I ever actually go back to serious exercising again.

Bringing Me Joy:

*My husband. We have really been growing closer in a lot of ways lately and it is so wonderful to experience.

*The bathtub of awesome that my husband put in. This five-foot long soaking tub is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. If you ever want to take a swim in it, pop on over. You will not be disappointed.

*Peter. I just love that little guy! His ears sticking out a little bit is definitely his unique feature. I hope they always do.

Pictures to Share:

This was before moving Zipporah to the other room. She has a good daddy.

9 Quick Takes - Things I never thought I'd do

Warning!!  This post is about ME. This is a very reflective, very selfish post. Anyone else appearing in this post (such as children or husband) only do so in reference to me. So if that's cool with you, feel free to read on.

Since high school, my life has been a whirlwind of a ride, consisting of me doing MANY MANY things I swore to myself I would NEVER do (for no good reason, mind you, my initial instinct was simply, "hah, I will never do that"). Some examples might be getting married, having kids, even doing step aerobics! Obviously, over the years, I have realized that this initial "I would NEVER do that" reaction is not to be trusted and I leave the door open now, to eat those words (even if only spoken in my head). This post is going to consist of nine ways I have recently broken down some "I"m never going to do that" areas.

1) Not do a "serious" work-out every day.

This is HUGE people. And honestly, this is almost a post in itself. If you were to ask me what is the most important part of my day, I would tell you my work-out and my prayer time. Those are two MUST-haves. 

Why am I not doing a "serious" work-out, you ask? Well many reasons. First off, I'm getting into this Nutritious Movement stuff as I've said in the past and "they" would probably label my serious work-out as "junk food movement." I'm not even going to try to unpack that right now. Feel free to follow the link and search that phrase on their site if you are so interested. In any case, it is basically "okay" but not the main deal when it comes to movement and body function. If you asked "them" what was most important, they would say walking, following by every other movement you can think of, but done sporadically, in no set pattern or order. 

Second reason I'm not doing a "serious" work-out every day (or really any days yet) is because I'm still recovering from baby #7. Oh sure I've done a few things here and there -- some Aikido, a short jog with my daughter, etc. But the pain (especially in my back -- as in I had to crawl just to get to the bathroom one day) has shown me that my body is just not ready for that yet. And this time, for the first time in seven children, I'm listening!!

2) Not care that I don't have a perfect body.

This is probably even bigger than my number one point. All my life I have disliked my body. I have ALWAYS felt I was too fat. This was my drive in college to take up running and then to hit my exercise groove which has carried me up until about a year ago when I got pregnant with baby #7 (although having children definitely slowed the groove some and gave me some distinct hiccups in this routine).

It was just recently that I was feeling much lighter and more flexible -- not physically this way, but just in a --oh, what's the word I'm looking for? -- personal??  in a personal sense? - -- as in, I feel more free in my personhood because for so long I have been driven so hard to get my daily exercise in! It was SO SO SO important because I had this idea in my head of how I was supposed to look. Or more specifically, what I was supposed to weigh and the size of clothes I was supposed to wear. And at one point I got really close to the weight goal, but then I got pregnant again - haha.

While I am not opposed to losing weight and getting stronger, and being generally "healthy," it is no longer driven by a secret dislike of my body and fear of being "fat." I like me just as I am right now. I like my soft round belly and I even like my giant thighs and generous arse. It is tough to explain, but I just feel comfortable now in my own skin. Whether it is due to age, or my husband loving me as I am, or something else, I don't know, but I'm sure grateful for this new sense of peace in my life.

3) Homeschooling.

I went to public school, followed by Catholic college. I liked college a lot, mostly because the college I went to was/is an awesome bubble of heaven on earth.

It was not until I went to eat lunch with my first grade daughter and got yelled at for putting my trash in the wrong trash can. Then "we" did not line up fast enough at recess so we had to stand still and quiet in line for five minutes (myself included) before parading back to the classroom (so I could gather my keys and get the heck out of there). This visit that was supposed to be a special meal and playtime with my child, brought back a flood of memories and understanding. I realized at that moment I had HATED school. I had always been pretty smart and a little OCD, so I worked hard and did what I was told. But the sense of powerlessness, the waiting, the boredom, social difficulties. I was always anxious and jumpy -- afraid I had done something wrong, feeling like I was suffocating.  After this great moment of catharsis, I started to look into homeschooling.

And I had met and worked with some homsechooled kids in college. (I was a tutor for one). They were THE SWEETEST kids EVER but I just felt like they were going to get taken advantage of in the real world. Now, however, I look at my rowdy, confident, social children and cannot imagine them being as sweet or innocent as those homsechoolers I came across. They must have been a fluke in homsechooling representation.  :)

4) Buy "Shakeology" from Beachbody

This one makes me chuckle hard. From the moment I had friends raving over it and pushy coaches going on and on about how amazing it was. I sat on my high horse and thought, but it has sugar!!  And you need to chew your food, it's good for your mouth muscles!!

And here I am about to sign up mostly because the thought of having one "decent" meal that I don't have to wash, cut, and cook a ton of veggies for sounds like a dream come true!  I have been trying to eat mostly meat and vegetables (avoiding grains and sugar) and partaking in "shakeology" looks like it might turn out to be an invaluable aid on my journey to better health.

Update: So I talked with hubby tonight (after typing this up, but before posting) and we are currently still praying about/considering this expense - haha. Don't worry. I will be sure to let you know how it goes, if it goes.

5) Not have a set prayer time.

My prayer life has always been VERY IMPORTANT to me. But let's be honest. Although I desire a relationship with Jesus and to participate in the inner life of the Trinity, that has not often been the fuel for my reading of Sacred Scripture and scouring theological books. As I reflect now, I would say my main drive to get my daily prayer time in was fear. I was afraid of what might happen if I missed it. It was not even a possibility to skip it. I could add to it, but never lessen. I am a bit OCD you know, and this was how I controlled my prayer time. 

I would read a chapter each from my five currently chosen books of the bible. (I picked five places and read a chapter in each book each day until I finished the book and moved on, so for example I would read a chapter of Genesis, Psalms, Jeremiah, Matthew, and 1 Corinthians.) I would write in my journal -- first noting any bible verses that jumped out at me and then just random thoughts or reflections and I would read my catechism. I would often do the Liturgy of the Hours, as well, saying Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. Plus I would go to an hour of adoration (that was like icing on the cake when I let myself just go and sit) and try for daily Mass as often as possible (which was pretty-much every day in college). This was my favorite way to pray.

Now I am a wife and mother. My desire is still for my previous prayer habits, but my reality is something far far from that. Now I wake and try to squeeze in a quick read of the Daily Mass readings first thing (which I'm not above locking the bathroom door to get some quiet for). Later I might have five minutes to read the Scriptures more in-depth, or a verse might jump out at me that I can bring to mind later. There is a lot less reading and a lot less quiet, but my mind is often on God -- more often than when I was able to spend more time indulging in reading Scripture or being quiet in adoration. Now I find myself almost constantly crying out for help in my heart because let's face it, life can be overwhelming in almost every way!! And being home with the children, setting my own schedule -- that just opens me up to being clueless from moment to moment. What do you want of me now, God? Am I being selfish or realistic? Do I need to push the children harder or show some mercy? Oh goodness they need to eat AGAIN!?!? Where is that daily bread??  :)

I do pray a lot with the children, but their attention spans are shorter so that makes "group prayer" have a much different feel to it. And again, this is another blog post in itself.

6) Not wash my hair with shampoo.

This is a silly one. Recently I looked at all the different kinds of shampoo in my bathroom. I have always felt like a shampoo will work okay for a few days and then I need to switch to another. And honestly no shampoo has ever gotten my hair conditioned just as I want it. So finally, a few days ago, I said, "Enough!!" And it has been about 15 days now since I used shampoo to wash my hair. What is my plan? I have no idea. But I figure I will see how long I can go before washing it again and then reassess if this time has been helpful or just silly. In any case, it has cut down on my shower time!!

7) Leave my house in such disarray.

Houses get dirty. You know it and I know it. I used to clean up every night before bed. As a single person that means a few dishes, maybe some mail. As a married person, a bit more. As a mother of seven it opens a whole new world. Now, if we are not having company or I'm planning something special to prepare int he kitchen I will often let the dishes and the toys sit. 

In fact, just this evening I noted a few plates still at the table. Oh sure, we have a "bring your own plate to the kitchen" rule, but that does not actually prevent there from being plates left at the table -- not in our reality, at least. Tonight it was because Daddy was off with the big kids at play practice and I had to abandon the middle three at the table while eating so I could put the fussy baby to bed. There simply was no one there to remind them of the rule.

In the past, I would have seen that table, that messy kitchen, and immediately went to work putting it right. Now, in my semi-permanent exhausted state I honestly don't care so much. I have definitely let it go. It is very freeing.

As a side note, I believe we are on the verge of the children doing better at helping with the clean up. Not as though they are just getting older and better at that sort of thing, but it is going to have to start happening out of necessity. I simply cannot do it all and I need to train them better to help. They do some now, but I think they are capable of more. It is time for them to learn the details and to learn to obey. It should only take another 18 years or so for them to get it right, the day before the baby moves out.

8) Be able to ignore a crying child.

I don't think I ever let Rebekah cry as a baby. The minute she turned on the waterworks or started wailing I was attending. Now, she was a fairly mellow baby and did not cry much. The other children, I honestly cannot really remember. It all sort-of blends. 

But tonight, the baby was in bed asleep, the other children all put to bed. Hubby and I were in our bedroom, just talking -- and a child began to cry, with a good amount of force, a grumpy, upset cry, but not a hurt cry. We looked at each other a bit wearily and kept talking a bit more. A few minutes later, we checked out the crier. She was fine. It was a matter of a stolen and then returned blanket (stolen by the crier, who was crying that it had been taken back).

I still have compassion and I genuinely care about my children, but flat out wailing and crying just don't have the same effect on me that they used to.

9) Drink so much coffee.

When I was a kid, someone told me not to drink coffee because it would stunt my growth. And I really believed that!! Plus, I wanted to be tall, so why risk it? Of course I did NOT like the taste of coffee anyhow, so it really was not a huge sacrifice to not drink it.

When I was dating my now husband, he would get a cappuccino from his favorite hometown "restaurant" (Little Market) and make me taste it. He claimed it tasted like hot chocolate. Honestly I did not care. Hot chocolate is nice, but not like my favorite thing ever or anything. But he was persistent and INSISTED that I try it. So I would take a sip or two every time he got one. Eventually it got to the point that I would get one when he got one. Then we graduated to real coffee with a generous amount of coffee creamer in it and have never looked back.

Lately I have moved into the realm of more than one cup of coffee a day (and timing them just right) and that is a real game changer. My fear of running only on caffeine has been replaced with unmistakable productivity and joy, all from a little hot beverage with a whole lot of spunk.

What's coming next?

If I were to guess what might be my next "achievement" as far as things I never thought I'd do, I would say maybe a cell phone with an actual contract, or texting (which has always looked appealing but not possible on a landline), or possibly moving out into the country.

Happy Late Birthday, Rebekah!

Rebekah turned 11-years-old in July and I, her dear mother, failed to document it here on my blog. Dearest daughter, I apologize!!  Your milestones are not to be overlooked (for too long). Thus, here is your post.

* Rebekah loves nature. I often find her outside, walking in the dirt, making crowns of flowers, or climbing trees.

* She is very smart, but like her daddy, Rebekah often loses her focus when doing typical "school work." She will, however, read a novel from start to finish in a matter of hours if left to her own devices. (This is probably why we had to work well into the summer to finish "school" our first year of homeschooling through Lawrence Virtual School.)

* Rebekah enjoys drawing and painting. She really likes to draw animals and cartoons, but not necessarily cartoony animals.

* She has a sweet tooth, like her mom, and is always begging for left-over treats in the kitchen. (And often if there is only one or two of something left, like cupcakes, I will let her have them since there's not enough to split for all the other kids.)

* Rebekah loves to listen. Some might call it eavesdropping, but I think it is still done in innocence. She is super curious about EVERYTHING so she sits quietly just out of line-of-sight and takes it all in.

* In conjunction with her listening skill, Rebekah is a mad ninja. Seriously, she can be SO QUIET. I have no idea how she does it as she's not exactly tiny, but she has this skill and it is so awesome.

* Rebekah enjoys her siblings. Being the oldest, I often ask for her help in caring for her younger siblings. But the cool part is that Rebekah really seems to enjoy playing with them and being what I call "a good big sister." It always melts my heart the way she patiently cares for them and plays or reads with them. Many times she has told me that if she does not end up getting married and having kids, she would like to at least have a daycare or something like that because she loves kids.

A fruity birthday cake. Her favorite kind.

Dear God, thank you for the blessing of Rebekah!!  She is a remarkable young lady! Please keep her ever close to your heart.  - Amen.

7 Quick Takes - Peter update

1) Peter is 3.75 (ish) months-old today.

I have stopped doing weekly pictures of him on the day of the week he was born (Friday) -- mostly because I keep forgetting to take the picture. So I have returned to the vague about-a-month or about-a-month-and-a-half to relay his age. It only bothers me because babies change SO FAST and going by week gives a much more accurate understanding. But the general public really doesn't care, I am sure, and are probably much happier to just hear his age in months, so there ya go.

This outfit came from his Grandma. She appreciates the love of superheros that goes on in this house. --  But it should be noted that when Rebekah saw the outfit she exclaimed, "But Peter is not an orphan!!" I explained to her that he can be a new kind of super hero that comes from a nice loving family who continues to live, even while he fights crime or saves the world, or whatever.

2) Peter is liking his new toy.

Although I love to hold my babies, and carry them in my arms, and wear them strapped to my body, sometimes I just need to put them down for five or ten minutes so I can take a shower or work with messy/hot food in the kitchen!  Thus, when a friend was selling her "amazing-toy-of-awesome" (although that was not quite the phrase she used) I decided to give it a try.  At first Peter was too short for it - his feet dangled (as the seat is not adjustable) and he did NOT like that. But this morning (a few weeks later) a thick folded blanket under his feet did the trick and he was able to enjoy this "play-station" while I took a shower.

3) Blowing raspberries is probably Peter's favorite "thing" right now.

I'm not sure this needs explanation. But I will note this is how he woke me up this morning.

4) Peter is better than an alarm clock.

I should qualify that by "better" I mean more effective at awakening me. Unfortunately I cannot figure out how to turn him off, or even set him for a later time. But he does a great job of gagging on my milk, blowing raspberries, wiggling, grunting, etc. to make me wake up with him in the morning.

And he WAS waking up about 7:30am, which is a great time to get up. I can make the coffee for my hubby before work and that is about when the kids start wandering around. But the last few days he has been up and moving around 6:30am which is just so early for this tired-stayed-up-too-late momma! But what's a gal, to do? I know he will sleep better eventually -- probably by the time he is in high school.

5) Peter loves to be talked to.

He will look you in the eye. He will smile. He will coo and screech. He is a big fan of interaction.

6) This stubborn boy will NOT take a binky!!

I have tried and tried to give Peter a binky (because my other children took binkies and it was such a great way to keep them calm and help them sleep). Peter, however, will give me the most horrible face every time I try to put it in his mouth and then he will cry and fuss and generally just be miserable.  He won't suck his thumb, either. Silly boy.

7) Peter enjoys being walked to sleep.

Although I enjoy breastfeeding Peter, as I have all my other children, Peter is the first to not put sleeping right after eating. He will enjoy some milk and then all of a sudden pull off and be "done." So I will burp him and rock him and listen while he cries. And then often I end up walking him around and he dozes off. 

I'm thinking this might be partially accidental training I have done. As you know I have been getting more and more into walking. I see it as my challenge -- can I walk to do this errand?  And the more I carry, the better! So I have been walking and carrying Peter everywhere since he has been born. He is quite used to it now. Hence him enjoying that movement and being soothed to sleep by it. 

Pros: I enjoy walking, so what's a little more to get the little guy down. Cons: Our house is small, so I have to take him outside to really get a good path, but it is often hot and distracting and sometimes buggy. 

"Until we meet again. . . " - Peter