Long Time No Post!

Yeah, it's been a while. Life got busy with a newborn, and then I had things and ideas I wanted to post, but I got behind, and then it just felt overwhelming to post it all. So, the perfectionism in me determined that if I couldn't do it right I just wouldn't do it at all. I hate that. I enjoy blogging, and it's the only way I journal, so I really need to get back to posting again.

Thanksgiving is upon us, and Christmas will be here before we know it. I am not sure how well I'll post trying to start back up again with the busy holidays happening, but I'll do what I can. Here is a little update on life since May.

Rebekah graduated from preschool and spent much of the summer making up stories and typing them on the computer. I translated her misspelled words and put them on Facebook, and there I have a hard copy as well as Rebekah's originals. In addition to her stories she made a doll out of paper who she named Taylor and called her sister. This was her way of coping with the fact that Micah is another little brother. For the first few months of Micah's life Rebekah showed a bit of interest in him, but she mostly did her own thing. However, in July we went to the Smokies and met up with some friends during our vacation. The two girls Rebekah's age doted on Micah and thought he was so cute. They wanted to hold him and play with him. From that moment on Rebekah realized that her baby brother was very special, and she took much more interest in him.

Before long it was time to start school. My little girl started kindergarten! She was so thrilled to attend the academy where she went to preschool. She knew three children in her class, and the only child I was confident she knew attended phase-in with Rebekah. They were so excited to see each other that first day. Rebekah transitioned great into kindergarten. She has enjoyed school very much. Getting up early in the morning is starting to get old now, and she has mentioned homeschooling the past week or so. I am still very much open to that if she would like.

Rebekah has been doing really well academically. She is bringing home a first grade reader since she is one of two students who is reading in her class. Just the other day she decided to read one of her books to us as a family. She held up the book so we could see the pictures. She looked like a little teacher reading to her class.

Joshua is growing by leaps and bounds as well. He started pre-K 3 this year and really likes it. We were concerned that Joshua would not be able to attend a three-year-old class (requirement is potty-trained and not having regular accidents) because he was having poop accidents and not going on the potty. Well, he would hold it more than have accidents. He had a couple of really bad days at the beginning of the year, but he is doing much better, however, even though he doesn't have accidents he doesn't poop on the potty either. At home he asks for a pull-up, and many times I find that he is constipated. I may be making a phone call to the ped's office on how to deal with this because I think he is holding it and backing up himself.

On a good note, Joshua is already starting to read. He can read 2-letter and some 3-letter words. Most words are sight words, but the other day he sounded out 'hot'. I'm sure he is picking up a lot from Rebekah. I've thought about taking the kindergarten readers Rebekah brings home that her class is doing, and let Joshua look at them. I had thought about formally teaching him to read, but then I decided against it. He needs to move at his own pace and according to his own interest. As of now he really likes to figure out what letter certain words start with. For example, he will say "sun" starts with "ssssss" "S!" And he'll ask me to spell words as well. Rebekah did the same thing at about his age. While I'm reading he also likes to point out words he knows, or if he hears a word he likes he'll ask me to point it out to him.

Micah is 8 months now, my little peanut at 14 lbs., and a pretty easy baby overall. He was a great sleeper until at 4 months he started teething, and he went from being a great sleeper to waking in the night wanting to nurse. Over time we ended up spoiling him unintentionally, but because he shares a room with Joshua we didn't want to let him cry it out for long. Just a few days ago I decided to make sure he is on his tummy (he loves to sleep on his tummy) and pat his bottom and rub his back and head. He settled down and slept the rest of the night. We are down to waking once in the night or less now.

Micah has also been a slow gainer. For a while the pediatrician was concerned about his weight. I tried adding bottles, but he had no interest in them. I looked for ways to increase nursings and food feedings, and he did well. He is still slow gaining, and I'm keeping tabs on his weight at home. He is a very happy baby and doesn't complain unless he is really hungry, and we are on the road home. I couldn't ask for a more laid back child!

One exciting thing is that Micah is almost crawling! He has scooted his knees forward a couple of times, but he isn't actually making much progress moving forward yet, although he is so close! We keep watching in anticipation for him to take those first crawling "steps".

Since it has been several months since my last post here are some fairly recent pics of the kids.

More Family Fun

Since the kids go to preschool on Wednesdays I had not planned on doing anything with Carrie today. I figured the kids could play this afternoon while I took Micah to Breastfeeding Support Group and then we might visit a bit, but that would be all. Well, my parents and my sister had decided to go to the zoo today, and since it was cooler this morning they were thinking about going in the afternoon, particularly since I said we'd join them if they waited until lunchtime. So that is what we did. Grandpa is visiting for a few days while Carrie is here so he can see most of his great-grandchildren at once, plus, he hadn't gotten to meet Micah yet.

Yesterday we had a little get together at my parents' house. We had planned to go to Coolidge Park, but it rained us out, so we just hung out at the house instead. Grandpa joined us then and then again for the outing to the zoo. I have to say that I was very impressed that he walked so much. He did great! He used one of the strollers as a support for his balance.

Here Grandpa held Micah for the first time before we headed out to the zoo.


Here are a few animal highlights from our visit.





This mama Tamarin is carrying 2 babies on her back, although you can only see one because the other one is on the other side of her.






What did Micah do the whole time?


Grandpa managed to get all the girls in one place for a brief moment.


While we were looking at the chimps my mom and I saw Rebekah looking at one of the information posts about them. Rebekah told us she read it, so we asked her to read it aloud. Sure enough! She read all but Gombe Forests, and she almost read chimpanzees calling it "chimpanz". I wish I had a photo of it now. She read more than I realized she knew.

Carrie and I took our oldest girls on the carousel (Joshua didn't want to ride it) before heading home. It was a fun afternoon, especially for $1 per person on Dollar Day.

Fun Family Time

First I want to make mention and remind you that I'll be changing my blog address to www.our-3-blessings.blogspot.com on Wednesday. So don't forget to update your blog list or favorites, however you find me. :-)

My sister is in town for a week since they are on spring break at home. Her youngest daughter Katelyn will be a year old at the end of this month, so they threw her a family (and one friend) birthday party on Saturday. The cousins especially enjoyed each other. Rebekah and Taylor always hit it off because they are both girls, and Joshua enjoyed both Taylor and Katelyn. He doted on Katelyn some like he does Micah. Katelyn even was interested in Micah as well. It is so fun to watch them enjoy each other. I just wish we all lived closer so we could spend more time together.


Katelyn crawled over to visit Micah.



Carrie made the cake - too cute!



The funny faces of Kate-Kate (or who Joshua calls Kate-Cake)





Playtime!





By late afternoon Rebekah was not acting herself. She was trying to keep up with Rebekah and Joshua, but she was dragging. She even chose to go lay down after an unsuccessful nap for the three-year-olds. She managed to eat a little bit of dinner but soon curled up my in dad's lap under a blanket. It is unlike her to settle down like that unless she is tired or sick. Since Rebekah was finishing up an antibiotic for an ear infection my first thought was that maybe her ear was acting up again. She had a low-grade fever, so Darrin took her to PM Pediatrics to get checked. The doctor said her ear is fine now, but to continue the medicine, and that she has a viral infection. While there they noticed that Rebekah was developing a rash.

Last night, or early this morning, around 3:30 AM Rebekah came crawling in bed with us scared of the dark. As Darrin was getting ready to leave for work at 6:15 he was going to take Rebekah back to her bed. She cried not wanting to go, so I told him he could let her stay. As I kissed her forehead I noticed she was warm to the touch. Her temp had gone back up to about 100.0. Darrin decided to stay home and take her to the pediatrician since not only was her fever back, but her rash was worse. Dr. R. confirmed that this is a virus. Rebekah was really difficult this morning. It was obvious she wasn't feel the best, but throughout the day she has felt better. Her rash also hurt this morning before giving her Tylenol. She has been back to herself this afternoon playing quietly, making paper books, drawing, dressing up, and even asking to make up a fruit salad concoction of cherry yogurt, chopped apples, sliced bananas, and wheat thins. Her temp has been normal all day, so we will see about getting together with my sister again tomorrow. It will really all depend on if she has a fever again and how she is feeling since the rash itself is not contagious. As long as she doesn't have a fever she won't be contagious.

So, if you would say a little prayer for Rebekah. Hopefully no one else will get sick and we can enjoy some more family time before my sister and her family head back home.

A Little Bit of Randomness

...or maybe a lot. There really is no theme to this post other than sharing a few tidbits here and there.

A couple of comical things Joshua has done or said lately to begin. He is really interested in spelling things now. I'm not sure if he actually figured it out on his own or if it became a sight word, but he can read 'baby'. He started to sound out the 'b' and 'a' when he saw it on a card, and then he blurted out the word. So, one day I was pumping and he read the brand name on my pump:
"M-E-D-E-L-A...Micah's milk!!!"

Joshua is also making up songs lately. He will change the words to a song he knows or sometimes will create his own songs, original melody and all. Keep in mind that some of the words he sang I am dictating how it sounded because I have no clue what he was actually trying to sing.

(To the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell")
The Vitamin Song, The Vitamin Song
Ho-way-in-joo
The Vitamin Song

One day last week Darrin took the kids for a ride on his lawn mower. Don't worry, the blades were turned off!



Doesn't everyone have a pic of dad and baby like this? Sometimes dad is sleeping too.


Micah is staying awake for longer periods of time and is much more alert. Isn't he adorable?!?! I just love my baby boy!


I totally see Rebekah here too. He favors her when she was a baby. See what I mean?


Darrin's sister Donise and her husband Mark came through on Sunday for a brief visit. It had been a while since we had seen them. Although Joshua wasn't too sure about them at first he warmed up quickly, as did Rebekah, and they were showing off for them. Of course, Micah got a lot of attention as well.



I just so happened to get a cross-eyed baby in this shot. It cracks me up!


This week is my first week going solo with the kids. Darrin went back to work on Monday. I had to get the kids dressed, fed, and out the door for preschool my first day. It was hard not to stay in bed, but I did get up earlier than normal. We managed to get out the door and to preschool right after the doors locked, which was better than I was expecting. Joshua proudly helped me to push the stroller down the hallway, especially after picking him up to go home.

Today was a bit more of a challenge because I had the kids all day at home. I had high hopes of doing some homeschooling with Rebekah today, but it didn't happen. How do homeschooling moms do it with a new baby? Micah loves to be held a lot, but I put him down as much as I can so that I can tend to other things around the house. I'm going to try wearing him some so that I can do other things as well.

Speaking of homeschooling, we have decided to let Rebekah go to school for kindergarten next year. We applied and interviewed for the Christian school where she and Joshua attend preschool, and she was accepted. We are thrilled she will be able to attend there in the fall. It was our first choice for schooling other than at home. Part of me really wants to homeschool, but Rebekah desires to go with her friends. For now (through the spring and summer), I will still do some things occasionally with her at home since we have the materials, and I enjoy teaching her. When Rebekah was a baby I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would desire to homeschool. My heart changed a lot over the past five years. We will take it a year at a time. I may still have the opportunity to homeschool in the future, but for now we will send Rebekah to school. I have to say, though, that I am extremely impressed with the academy. They place an extremely high emphasis on praying over the students that will attend there, and they discipline using Scripture - what does the Bible say about this? Every subject they learn has something biblical that ties in with the lesson. I am confident it is a great school, and I'll be eager to see how Rebekah does there.

So, back to the present, Rebekah is starting to show some more interest in her baby brother. She doesn't ask to hold Micah like Joshua does, but she will gladly hold him when I ask her if she wants to. Joshua, on the other hand, will jump and seek to help with his paci or watch me change his diaper with great interest. He will also check out Micah while I'm holding him and say, "Awwwww, he's so cute!" It is just precious! Now tell me, does this not look like the proudest big brother?



Alright, so here's some brotherly and sisterly love. :-)



And finally, the moment you've all been waiting for...a SMILE! Actually, he smiled bigger than this, but I didn't have the camera handy.


So, that's been life in a nutshell. Of course, I didn't share all the loudness in our home, the fighting between the two older children, the daily singing of "Fruit Salad" by the Wiggles - Rebekah- and Joshua-style (yeah, they changed the words to 'yucky, yucky' which has been banned at the expense of being dismissed from the table for time-out), all the fun we've spent outside the last several days, etc. It's been a bit crazy at times. There is no break for mama unless by some miracle Micah is napping at the same time as Joshua, and I can give Rebekah quiet time in her room, but we're still working on that. However, after having had a whole day at home, (and yes, I'm impressed the T.V. stayed off ALL DAY today), I'm looking forward to a day out tomorrow. More to come about that in another post. For now, I'm signing off and heading to bed to get about 3-4 hours of sleep before feeding time.

A Week of Firsts

Many new and exciting things have taken place in the past week. And when you have small children there is a first for everything, especially for a newborn. Micah's umbilical cord came off last week, and he got his first bath in the baby tub on Saturday. It wasn't his favorite thing, but he's becoming more used to them. He had to because he got quite a few due to blow-out diapers and spitting up on himself over the next couple of days.




Sunday was also Micah's first Easter. We were told before leaving the hospital that viruses were still pretty bad going around and to keep him home for the first four weeks. I really wanted to take Micah to church on Easter, and while on the phone with a nurse regarding Joshua's health (by the way, he had a double ear infection this past week) I asked her about taking Micah to church. She told me no, so I heeded that advice. Darrin also did not feel comfortable about taking Micah to church either. My parents graciously offered for us to meet my mom at church between the two services so she could take him to their house and we could attend church as a family. It worked out great! After church we went to my parents' house for Easter lunch and egg hunting.




We had the most beautiful Easter weather we have had in years! It was absolutely gorgeous!

Among other firsts are Micah's first smile and laugh. He smiled at Darrin yesterday and later at me. He has not done it since, so I've not gotten it on camera yet, but rest assured that as soon as I can capture it I will post it! This evening Darrin was holding Micah and as he slept in his Daddy's arms he giggled in his sleep. It was too cute!

Now Micah was not the only child who experienced a first. Joshua did as well, but it wasn't a good first. He lied for the first time. Well, if you don't count the times that he tells you that he does not have a dirty diaper when he does. Joshua was holding something that he had taken out of the dishwasher. When Darrin, who knew Joshua was holding it, asked him if he had it Joshua said "no" and immediately dropped it on the floor. Oh, it is hard to see your children be deliberately deceptive!

But I can't end on a bad note. Joshua got to dye Easter eggs for the first time. Well, he ended up breaking more eggs than coloring them. He didn't want to use the dipper, and if we put an egg in the dye for him he would reach in with his hand and pull it out. Rebekah, on the other hand, was a pro at dying the eggs since this was her third year at it. After the eggs dried Rebekah put stickers on the eggs while Joshua rolled some around on the table pretending they were cars, complete with "brrrrrrrrrrmmmmm" sounds, or he would knock them on the table only to crack the shell. Oh, well. At least we made some memories.




Speaking of Easter fun, the kids had their Resurrection parties at preschool last Wednesday. Darrin kept Micah so that I could attend the parties, and since they were at the same time I went back and forth between the two classrooms.

Rebekah's class did a craft making a Fruit Loops butterfly (that was eaten by the end of the day) followed by lunch.





Joshua's class had lunch first and then made a craft. I totally missed him making his craft, though, because I wasn't expecting the class to make anything.





Boy, has it been a busy week! And things are definitely not slowing down any! For now, the rest will be left for another post.