TODAY
Out my window: Cloudy and dreary. We got almost 2 inches of rain last night. And the highest temp in the 15 day is 83 as of now. If this is all summer has to throw at us this year, I surely can't complain.
Around the house: I am trying to do most of my weekly chores this weekend as I will essentially be working full time this week. I think I can, I think I can... my FTE is only 1/6 time this year, but since I am a licensed teacher (almost, LOL) I still have to attend all the building/diocesan inservices. Thankfully I can take the baby with me (since the whole reason I am working 1/6 time is so I can be home with her) and I have daycare lined out for the big kids for the week. It will be a long week, but it won't last forever and my schedule once school starts is pretty sweet. Looking forward to settling into our Fall routine. I think I've mentioned that on here and Facebook. Possibly more than once.
The kiddos: They are giving me a run for my money. More structure should do them good when school starts. That said, we've had a really nice weekend. Sometimes I don't realize how much an effect my mood and reactions have on their behavior though. Oy vey. Hopefully the change in schedule in the coming weeks hits the reset button for all of us.
The baby: Four months! Oh my!! She is so sweet. She smiles with her whole body and wiggles and can scoot backwards. She's got the sweetest laugh and her head control is amazing. She wants to sit up so bad, she will sit in her bouncy chair and just strain her neck and back up so she doesn't miss out on what's going on. She's probably ready for the bumbo. My inlaws loaned us one, I've never used one with any of our other kids, so I suppose I should get that out soon. Her nights have been more restless the last month. Seriously, she was sleeping 6-8 hour stretches on a regular basis from the time she was born until about 3 months. Now it's more like 3-4 hour stretches, which is pretty par for what the other kids did. The other night though after she had been restless and wanting to nurse (and had nursed) Aaron took her out to the couch and she went to sleep and then slept a four hour stretch, and I can't EVER remember a baby that young being comforted by daddy during the night. But I should probably stop obsessing (yeah right). I am guessing she weighs around 13 lbs, she has her four month well-child in a couple weeks. Because when you're the fourth kid sometimes it doesn't happen the day you turn four months (aside from inservice next week, our doctor is also out of town so I feel a little less lame about delaying, haha).
In the kitchen: This week is pretty dicey with my work schedule. We may grab a Papa Murph some evening and I have some ground beef in the fridge for things like simple spaghetti or tacos. Maybe some pesto chicken? Tuna salad? We have been doing eggs (breakfast for dinner) more often lately. We now go through over a dozen per meal!
Reading: Making my way through Strangers in a Strange Land and I grabbed/have a few on hold for Aaron from the library. Hahn, Cardinal Sarah (I have no idea how accessible he is...) and something else that's not coming to mind. He has started taking a book to Adoration (he's typically not a reader) and I love that it gives us something else to discuss! He wishes I'd hurry up and finish the Chaput.
The kids have really loved the library this summer. Kolbe especially really has a knack for finding good books on topics that interest him. I still use the hold shelf enough to make our yearly membership worthwhile, but the kids have really taken an interest in checking out their own stuff, which I love because I think they take more ownership in what they check out and end up reading more. Gemma likes Magic Treehouse and Nancy Drew for chapter books and loves checking out informational books about crafts and animals. Kolbe has been super into graphic novels (which I absolutely loathe, but as long as he reads them himself more power to him) and books about Star Wars, animals, chess, science and basketball. Clem loves CD books and usually finds one book that he will obsess over for several weeks at a time before switching to something else. Most recently has been The Story About Ping. Hoping to start The Tale of Despereaux with Gemma soon. I recently updated my bookshelf tab with other reads.
Watching: MLB and this show about knife making called Forged in Fire. We're so exciting. Gold Rush should be starting up here in the next month or so and it seems like there are a few other shows we watch that run during the fall/winter. The kids are starting to outgrow our perennial faves like Max and Ruby and such, so we've been trying some new things with them. Hits so far have been Brain Games, Outrageous Acts of Science and How It's Made. They still watch some of the PBS and NickJr stuff, especially Wild Kratts, but they're definitely losing their attention span for things like that. We've been trying to be more intentional about movie nights around here too. Recent faves have been The Little Rascals (this one reminded me of The Sandlot, only for younger kids) Mr. Peabody and Sherman (I really liked this one), and The Good Dinosaur last night (this one had more sad and scary than I expected but they, especially the boys, liked it). I always appreciate Commonsense Media to double check things before we watch.
Bringing me joy: My husband. I'm so glad we're a team. Can't imagine doing life with anyone else.
Thinking about: lots.I should probably just remove this category though, since I never seem to wax too deeply about things on here (which is probably a good thing).
Pictures to share:
A little kid comparison of Gemma (left) and Maura at the same age, sleeping. Notice the same pink blanket at the bottom of both pics.
