Journal: Fourth of July, middle of Summer

TODAY

Out my window: Hot and windy.  The weather for the Fourth was nearly perfect.  Very light wind, not too hot.  It was a great day!  Warmer today, but the ten day is definitely bearable.

Around the house: I went through my closet/drawers and packed away the clothes I don't wear, or that I wear but don't particularly like.  If I haven't missed them in six months to a year I will donate them.  I also went through all our baby/little girl clothes tubs that I have packed away and was able to get rid of three tubs' worth, still saving enough that were we to have another girl some day she would be adequately clothed.  We came into so many clothes (gifts, hand-me-downs, consignments, etc.) with Gemma, and I kept everything.  We do not need everything.  To that note, if anyone knows of someone with a little girl who will be wearing size 18 month clothes this winter, I would love to pass a big bag along to them.

 

The kiddos:

CLEMENT will be THREE this week.  Three!!!  He is obsessed with the word "poop".  He sings it, he says it., he yells it, he whispers it.  At home.  At Church.  And Church.  It is apparently the awesomest word ever.  (See picture below of the firework aptly named "The Poopy Puppy".  So fitting.)  He has gotten very emphatic with his final consonants, especially when he is trying to make a point.  He can't say words with "R" blends at the beginning.  Or rather, he changes the "R" to an "L".  Gleen instead of green, clunchy instead of crunchy.  I may or may not encourage these words by pronouncing them wrong myself, and will be admittedly devastated when he grows out of this speech habit.  He thought fireworks were pretty neat.  We let all three kids stay up last night and they had SO much fun.  Clement thought the big loud ones were pretty cool as long as he was sitting on my lap.  I'm glad he still likes to snuggle with me sometimes, because he reminds me more than once a day, "I are NOT a baby," said in the sternest, most grumpiest tone you can imagine.  He is a funny kid.

KOLBE was our little pyro on the Fourth of July.  I am glad firecracker day only happens once a year.  He was pretty careful though and had so much fun.  He thought lighting things after dark was pretty much the best thing ever.  He seems to have grown out of his food sensitivities.  Back in May we were at an anniversary celebration and he was positively heartbroken he couldn't have a cupcake, so we fudged and let him have one and figured we'd just take the hit, but then he didn't react to it by breaking out.  Since then we have kept up our typical eating habits at home but have loosened up at grandparents', parties, Church functions, etc. and save for one flare-up after a DQ M&M blizzard, he has weathered it fine.  I am so immensely relieved.  This makes school, and all the food that goes along with it, seem much more doable come this Fall.  Sigh.  Thank you God.

GEMMA is having a good Summer, but I can tell some days she's a little under-stimulated.  I have some guilt about not doing enough educational things with them in the summers (oh, I had plans for math and handwriting and phonics lessons...), but then if I offer to go over math facts or something equally "exciting" it is typically not met with open arms.  (Understatement.)  We really have done some cool "out of the box" educational stuff (and read a ton of great books) this summer, so I rationalize that they can do their bookwork from September to May, and focus on some more of the non-traditional learning activities during the summer months.  That's fair, right?  I hope the first semester of school treats her well.  In Kdg and 1st Grade she seemed to really hit her groove...about February.  Sigh.  I am hoping maybe with Kolbe being in school too (albeit half day) it will make things a little easier.  It's not that she dislikes school, she really seems very content with it overall.  Blah, I don't know.  She will also be preparing for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and Eucharist.  It will be a big year.  We got her uniforms the other day.  They are pretty big, so I am hoping we can squeeze three years out of them (at which point she'll switch to skirts).

All three kids recently had doctor appointments, here are their height and weight stats (this is mainly for my record-keeping purposes, you can skip this part).
Gemma: 7 1/2 years, 53 inches (96%ile), 52.1 lbs (47%ile)
Her hair is finally growing and she was so excited it was long enough to do a "star" on the Fourth of July!!
Kolbe: 5 1/2 years, 47 inches (94%ile), 42.6 lbs (49%ile)
Clement: 3 years, 37 inches (46%ile), 27.6 lbs (12%ile)

In the kitchen: Planning to try and get our digestive systems back after the Fourth and all its, um, festive eating.  Ugh.  Grilling today, homemade pizza tomorrow (I found a great new crust recipe), salads, beef stroganoff and ribs the rest of the week.

Learning:  Blah.  See above.

Reading: Check out my latest Read aloud Thursday post for what I'm reading with the kids.  I am almost finished with Happy Are You Poor.  It has been an incredibly impactful read, and I've been discussing it with Aaron quite a bit.  It is a perspective-changer, that's for sure.  I need to get back into Introduction to the Devout Life, and now that I'm finished with Theology, I picked up a copy of Theology for Beginners as a bit of a review, and for some future Theology work I may be doing.

Watching:  MLB mainly.

Bringing me joy: Family.  Friends.  Summer.  The kids and I are visiting area Churches for daily Mass twice weekly this summer, and that has been a really neat opportunity that I am enjoying immensely.  The kids have been doing pretty decent with Mass, and usually there is a fun new playground at which to play...an added bonus!

Thinking about: Always something.

Pictures to share:  

Three (two pictured) of our very favorite readers visited from out of state, so we had to take some pictures for the blog!!!

Clement is TWO

I thought I would break from the usual Journal posts and give Clem his own little post for his second birthday.

Likes:

• the word "nooooooooooo" (in his defense, when he does say, "yes," it is an adorable "UHH-huh")
• eating strawberries and raspberries
• doing whatever the big kids are doing
• reading books, he will happily sit on my lap and listen to long picture books, by himself or when I am reading to the big kids
• bananas
• giving kisses
• swinging at the park
• daddy.  he is aaron's most enthusiastic greeter when he gets home each evening.
• waving bye-bye to daddy from the front yard.  he stands there waving and yells, "bye-bye daddy-O"
• the color blue, he is very adamant about wearing his blue jammies and blue shirt if they are clean, and is rather irritated when they are not
• trains, he especially likes the little Thomas ones that stick together with magnets (he got a stuffed Thomas, a "James" take-along, and some train books for his birthday)
• his stuffed kitten
• playing Kolbe's "Let's Go Fishing" game

Dislikes:

• being contained
• he used to not really care for black beans, but I think he is eating those now
• milk.  i can not get this child to drink cow's milk.

Things he is doing at two:

• he will repeat almost anything, has probably 3-4 dozen words he uses regularly to communicate, and has starting to string together 3-4 word sentences
• he loves to jump on our little work-out trampoline in the basement
• he can climb and run and slide at the park quite independently
• he has been sleeping on the floor in his room (and still co-sleeping some as well) since March, soon he will move to a big boy bed in the same room as Kolbe.  he still nurses to sleep.
• he recently moved from his high chair to the big table (we had to put another leaf in).  after about a week of this we have decided that a booster seat at meals/snacks is a must. 
• I will come in and add his weight and height when I've taken him in for a well-child visit here soon.  I am guessing he ways around 23-24 pounds.
• he wears size 2T clothing
• he poops on the toilet exclusively and has started showing some interest in potty.  not enough for me to want do any intentional potty-learning with him, but I will continue to encourage.
• he is much less scary on the stairs than he was just a few months ago. I have actually started letting him go down un-accompanied.  But apparently going down head up on his belly is for the birds.  He likes to hold the rail and step down (like a big kid, go figure) or go down on his bottom.
• he has started showing more interest in the television the past four or so months, and will sit down and watch a show with the big kids.  he often holds one of his feet while he is watching tv.
• when I get the camera out he yells, "CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE"
• he is still nursing during the night, some nights only twice, but a lot of nights many more times, for quite long periods sometimes.  it is getting frustrating and uncomfortable for me, and disturbing my sleep (and his) more than I think is necessary at the age of two, so I have decided to night-wean.  we are going to go cold-turkey.  I anticipate several rough nights, but I think if I am empathetic yet firm (vs. being wishy-washy about it and sending him mixed messages) we will make this transition and both come out happier and well-adjusted on the other side.  wish us luck on this journey.  I'll continue to let him nurse at naptime and bedtime as long as he asks, but I may transition him out of that as well when he moves to the big-kid room
• he occasionally skips his nap.  when he does nap it is only for 45 or so minutes.  he goes to bed between 7:30-8pm and gets up between 6:30-7am (typically)

climbing UP the slide at the park

with his backpack, just like the big kids

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR CLEMENT!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Journal: reunions, routines, and lots of rain!!

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and mild.  The weather has been remarkable, we've had so much rain that we actually wish it would dry out a bit (thought I would never say that again!!).  More in the forecast tonight and tomorrow.  We had 3 1/10 inches in one dumping last weekend, goodness!!

Clothing myself in:  bleh.  I have gotten a few new pair of shorts for summer from Old Navy and Target and one off the local swap page that I'm really enjoying.

Around the house:  We had overnight guests last Thursday/Friday in conjunction with a big family reunion on my mom's side of the family.  We had lots of fun (with the guests and the reunion)!  Trying to settle into the "new normal" that Summer brings, which has been hard because we've had VBS, Art Camp, the guests and the Reunion all in a two-week time period.  Nothing like everything at once, we have hardly anything on our calendar for the rest of the Summer haha.

I got some additional juice glasses from Montessori Services now that Clem is no longer using a sippy and ordered a little glass pitcher and some enamelware mugs as well.  I really like all these items, they are so cute and durable.  I'm hoping the pitcher will save trips to and from the fridge for milk refills during dinner.  Now if I could just get Clem to drink cow's milk...  

 

The baby/toddler: We flipped him front-facing after our "big" (1.5 hour) trip this past weekend.  At almost two and 23 lbs we probably could have kept him rear-facing for longer but he is so.stinking.long.  He had mixed emotions at first about being turned around, but now he enjoys telling me "ready, GO" when we are sitting at stoplights, and seems utterly fascinated watching traffic out his window. 

The kiddos:  Gemma really liked VBS again this year.  She was so excited it was CatChat and we have already listened the heck out of the new CD.  It really is very catchy music, for which I am grateful.  She seems to be loving Art Camp (put on at our local Catholic High School) and is very excited for their art show tomorrow!!  The first couple weeks of Summer were rough on her, the girl just does not do well with change.  I asked her if she missed school and she quite frankly answered me, "yes".  She seems to be settling in though, although she and Kolbe have been sparring more.  It's as if she feels she has to re-establish some sort of dominance around here or something.  Sigh.  Gemma's beloved fish Flowercup died this past Sunday, so we had a little "service" for her at the pond behind the house.  She has taken it pretty well, and we are waiting on any new pets since we are planning to be switching bedrooms and such later in the Summer.  Eventually I would really enjoy a 10 gallon aquarium somewhere in the house, so we will see if now is the time for that. 

Kolbe liked VBS too, but it stressed him out.  He was borderline nightmarish to be around last week.  It made me really glad he is not enrolled in preschool this Fall, because after last week I think I would have called and un-enrolled him.  I think it was just a little much for him.  But like I said, he did seem to have a good time, and never said he didn't want to go, and he has mellowed out considerably this week, so all's well that ends well I suppose.  I have started working on his Handwriting Book with him, and he is making some great strides with his pencil grip.

We took the kids to a water park/pool thing at the reunion and oh my we had fun.  I think it was very similar to what we have at the Y here, so now I am really looking forward to doing that a few times this summer.  The kids LOVED the water slides and Clem even had fun going down on my lap (after Aaron convinced me that I would not, indeed, die.  I am a big chicken).  It was a great afternoon despite being a bit chilly.

In the kitchen: Fajitas, crispy chicken lettuce salads, fish muffins, maybe some linguine (I have a bunch of grape tomatoes in the fridge I need to use). 

Crafting: oh for heaven's sake.

Learning:  VBS, Art Camp, a little "school" work here and there.  Hoping to settle into a more regular routine with that once our other activities are over.  Gemma's reading has really been taking off.  On nights that Aaron is working late or mowing and I am putting Clem to bed, she puts Kolbe to bed and has read him to sleep on more than one occasion.  LOVE. 

Reading: Finished Something Other Than God.  It was a great story of conversion.  The atheist aspect, and the fact that she landed in the Catholic Church made it all the more poignant.  Where She Went, which is apparently the sequel to If I Stay which I read a couple weeks ago.  And it appears there are one or two more after this. 

Watching:  New series of Duck Dynasty starts tonight!!

Bringing me joy: Time with extended family.  VBS and the wonderful Catholic community we are blessed to be a part of.  The kids playing with toys that were mine as a child.  Singing VBS songs with the kids and listening to them in the van.  Laughing with my Aunt about how crazy my kids are at Mass (she raised four boys and a girl, so I think she gets it).  Time outdoors in gorgeous sunny weather.  Watching my kids play with their second cousins...the kids of the cousins with whom I played as a child.  A new swimsuit.  Pentecost.  Chocolate.  A tasty glass of wine and cold beer on hot days.  Reading to Gemma, and all the kids.  New pictures of the kids (see sidebar).  Visiting my sister's farm.  An hour (ALONE!!!) in Adoration, and the prospect of getting to do this weekly this summer.  Chatting with my mom.  A quieter schedule on the horizon.  I have so much for which to be grateful, despite the crazies.

Thinking about: Routines.  I hate to be super schedule-oriented, but oh my, my children thrive on at least a general routine and rhythm to our days.  I enjoyed the reunion and VBS and everything, but if we had another week like last week I think my kids (and consequently me) would have completely flipped out.  Sheesh. 

Pictures to share:  

Some pics from the reunion...

Me with  my Aunt Kathy, her hubby Stu and my Uncle Don (and an uncooperative Clem).  Pic 2 is with my cousin Jess (and an even more uncooperative baby).  She, her hubby and their two kids were our overnight guests.

The kids had their first (and only if it's up to me) time on a trampoline.  And everyone lived and I don't think I even have many more grey hairs!!

Clem thought he was hot. stuff.  I am in the background trying not to have a heart-attack.

Some group shots, there were around 60 there from four generations (a few of my grandma's siblings came the first day).

Journal: I think it is going to be Winter forever

TODAY

Out my window:  Um, Spring?  Where are you?? In case you haven't looked at the calendar, it is now mid-April.  Come on already.  That said, we have enjoyed some time outdoors on the (seemingly few) nicer days we've had.  And oh, regarding the snaggle-toothed furry mis-predictor of Spring of whom I spoke quite deprecatingly last week...there was a bit of confusion on my part regarding the opinions of a certain reader in Denver who shall remain unnamed.  While he is understandably experiencing much angst about their current weather, no "hate" is actually being felt toward the mangy perpetrator.  He did however mention something about a bounty...  OK, inside joke over.  In all seriousness though, this kind of weather in mid-April is ultra-depressing.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a t-shirt.  So original. So classy.  

Around the house:  Packed away a bunch of the kids' clothes.  I toss stuff they've outgrown on closet shelves, and then when there's enough I haul it downstairs and toss it in a laundry basket.  And then when it piles up into a big, scary, unruly pile of randomly-sized sort-of folded clothes, I whine and complain and then sort through them all and put them away in the correct tubs.  I do the same thing with my paper filing.  And as soon as I'm done I vow I will always file things the minute they leave my hands.  And I never. do.  Now you know.

The laptop hunt is on.  A friend's hubby (thank you!) took a look at the Toshiba, and even if he replaced the motherboard there is a good chance the same thing could happen again with the USB's.  Ugh.  I'm  managing OK without the USB's, but I'd really like to get a new laptop with Windows7 (read: not Windows8) and I don't now how much longer that is going to be an option.  Stupid technology. 

 

The baby:  Oh goodness he's not crawling yet but boy can he get around!!  Wowza, life is about to get even more interesting (is that possible?) in this house once he takes off.  He can go from belly to sitting now, and is pulling up on his knees.  He had his 9 month well-child last week, he weighed 17 lbs 6 oz and was 28 inches long.   He really likes to feed himself little chunks of food, so much so that I actually gave away the baby food I had made for him.  I do not miss baby food.  He has tried many various veggies, fruits, meats, beans, fish and whole-oat cereal.  He still nurses a lot too.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma is sounding out words and writing left and right.  Her spellings crack me up.  I got confirmation that we will have half-day kindergarten available at our Catholic school next year, so for that I am grateful.  I think it will make our family's (and Gemma's) transition into school much smoother.  I am beginning to really look forward to next year, it'll be a huge change for our family no doubt, but I think school is going to be a very good thing for our Gemma-girl. 

Kolbe had his speech screening last week.  He was very quiet and nervous but the gal doing the screening was really sweet and got him talking even so.  His language (ability to communicate and understand) tested fine, but she gave him a referral for speech, so the next step is to have him tested in our district and see if he qualifies for services.  And then go from there...  We'll see what that brings.  Everyone seems to think that it is quite odd that I'm not planning to send him to preschool, so that's a little frustrating.  I just want him to have the help he needs (IE speech pathology) while still meeting the needs I am able to meet in our home.  Does that make sense?

In the kitchen: Pork cutlets, mashed potatoes/cauliflower, steamed broccoli; Beef/Italian Sausage and Veggie Lasagna with green beans; crock-pot chicken, still debating on sides; Fish Crisp and maybe a fruit salad.  Hubby made sushi over the weekend.  Yum!

Crafting: ahhhh, nope.

Learning: Nothing terribly exciting or out of the ordinary.  Thinking about this Letter of the Week program for Kolbe next year.  And this.

Reading: Finished Bible Basics for Catholics.  Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice overview of Salvation History never-the-less.  Still working through the Catechism.  Started Navigating the Interior Life and A Father Who Keeps His Promises this week.  Those fictions from the library are still on the end-table, but the thought of reading four books at once seems silly.  Yet I haven't taken them back...  So many good books, so. little. time.

Watching:  We're about 3/4's the way through (TV) Episode 4 of The Bible.  I'll just come right out and say I liked the way they portrayed the Old Testament better.  The New just seems really disjointed, like they took a bunch of the stories of Jesus' ministry and just kind of mashed them together so they could cover all His "most quoted" moments.  I don't know, it's just weird to me.  We have about three hours (really probably closer to two once we zip thru commercials) to go, so we'll see what the final verdict is, but honestly I've liked it less the more I've watched.  The thing I DO like though, is it's got me thinking and kind of lit a fire under my butt to read the Bible more, and that's a really good thing.    

Bringing me joy: A date with Aaron.  We went on a walk around the neighborhood and actually visited instead of having a dog and three kids strung out a block-and-a-half between us.  Then we sat at the dinner table.  At home.  For FIFTY minutes.  Yes, five-zero.  And we had our wine and food ON THE TABLE!!  The whole time.  And nobody spilled anything or threw any food.  It is funny for me to think that this was the norm for us five years ago.  We had no idea how good we had it!!  And don't get me wrong, I love my life, love my kids, wouldn't trade it for the world, all that cliche stuff.  But oh, it was nice to have a couple hours together away from the kids. 

Thinking about: Prayer.  How to live a life of prayer amidst my vocation, rather than in spite of it.  My relationship with Gemma, how to help her through the anger and tantrums that she so struggles with.  And just my relationship with her in general.  We are a lot alike and I feel like we are constantly at each other's throats.  And while I don't want (or need) to be her BFF, I'd still like us to have a happy, healthy, loving relationship, and right now it just rarely feels that way. 

Pictures to share: 

Silly monkeys.  Errrr, monkey and dragon.  (Halloween costumes are fun year-round!!)

Kolbe is my child who will fall asleep (and stay asleep) anywhere.

 Look-alike brothers.

Journal (9th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Warm for November.  Very, very warm.

Clothing myself in: the usual.

Around the house: We turned the air conditioner on last night.  On November 9.  Yes, we had our last 80 degree day of the season yesterday...for like the 10th time.  Seriously.  As we were walking to the park in our short sleeves that I had to tackle the basement tubs to get for the kids, GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, it dawned on me that I have gotten this wistful feeling of, "oh, this is the last time I'll take my babies to the park in warm weather until next spring," no less than five times in the past month.  Silly weather.

 

The baby: Had his 4 month well-child visit.  He weighed 13 lbs 14 oz., was 25.5 inches, and peed buckets all over the scale after they weighed him.

I switched him to disposables for nighttime and this has been a convenient good switch.  Still liking our cloth during the day.  A bunch. 

This morning I woke up around 5:30 to Aaron saying, "honey, why is the baby upside down?"  Sure enough, there he was, laying between us laughing and cooing with his feet kicking the headboard.  Still not quite sure how that happened.

 

The kiddos:  Bedtime has been pretty early this week as we adjust to the time-change.  The older two had been on a pretty good 8-8 schedule, but since the time change it's been more like 7:30-7:30 give or take, and I kind of like it and am tempted to keep it this way.  I'm not a huge fan of the earlier mornings, but the early bedtimes have been nice and once we're doing the school thing next year we're really not going to have a choice.  If we're out and about it's tough to get them in bed on time, but since we lead such exciting social lives it's not too much a problem.  I'm sure the coming holidays will throw us for a loop as usual, but alas...  Enough sleep talk.

Kolbe has been really into helping me lately.  Unloading the dishwasher, sorting laundry, putting laundry in/out of washer/dryer, folding laundry, dusting...whatever it is I am doing, he will leave his play and be right by my side like velcro, wanting to help.  It is cute sometimes, frustrating sometimes and helpful sometimes.  Oh that he would always be this eager to do chores. ;-)

In the kitchen:  Stuffed Green Peppers; Chicken Enchiladas; Shepherds Pie, inspired by my MIL and an episode of Symon's Suppers; Chile Rellenos

Crafting:  I have been working on pictures...I like to print about 20 or so a month to keep in albums for the kids to look at.  I was pretty well caught up before Clem was born, and I am ready to get caught back up.  I have everything from July-October printed (except for July), some are written on, they are each in their own envelope, just need to be put in order and in albums.  Hoping to tackle this sometime in November and be caught up, at least temporarily.  Also debating about what to use my free Shutterfly Photobook for. Hmmm.....

Learning: Worked on some turkey crafts from DLTK.  Gemma did especially well with the lowercase alphabet one that's three down from the top.  Both kids have recently gotten into the show Blue's Clues. 

Bringing me joy:  Fall walks wearing the baby and watching the kids on their trikes.  My family.  Time in the evenings with my hubby after the kids are in bed.  Watching the kids play together.  The simple things in life.

Thinking about: My life as a wife and mother.  It is something that brings me so much deep joy in my heart - maybe not always happiness per se - but true joy, that I really can't even put it into words.  The other day my friend Erin wrote this post, and it got me to thinking about my relationship with Aaron and how grateful I am for him, for us, for our family.  Then I read this post and as usual Simcha was spot-on.  There is so much craziness out there (and sometimes in our house!)...whether it's politics, extended-family drama, or any number of things, I am so glad that at the end of the day, each and every day, I am married to my best friend, and that in being married to him I am not only serving and loving him, but serving and loving Him.  Wow.  My life is nothing like what I thought it would be 10 years ago, and if things had gone according to "my plan", well, let's just say it's a good, amazing thing really that God is in control. 

Pictures to share: 

Kolbe picking Clem's nose for him.  Yep, that's how we roll folks.  At least he had the manners to use a tissue!

Mamas and babies...we were all pregnant at roughly the same time, and now four beautiful babes (3 boys and a girl)!  God is so good!!!