Routines Rock

The last nine months have been full of change and chaos for our family.  Since we moved back, I've not felt settled.  I think a big part of this is the fact that our home is perpetually messy and not just that, many things still don't have their proper place.  Because certain areas are "in progress" with remodeling, it kind of affects the whole order of things.  Any fellow order-er's out there....please tell  me I'm not crazy?!  ;)

Since I was a little girl (and my mom can attest to this!) I've been a person who needed and craved order.  A place for everything and everything in it's place.  When things are out of place, it affects my mental and physical well-being.   Sometimes I wish it weren't so!  I think it would be so freeing to be able to live happily and creatively in a mess, and be unaffected!  I have been so concerned about restoring order in our house, that I have neglected something even more important....order and routines for our family. 

Camille's sleep schedule has been so erratic.  We've gone from waking up once for a feed and back-to-bed to 3 or even 4 times at night.  I am EXHAUSTED.  Man, lack of sleep can take a major toll on a person's mental health!  She is mildly teething, but apart from that, nothing that would warrant an all night all-you-can-eat buffet at the expense of mom's sleep.  :)   So, I decided to take her to the pediatrician this morning.  Surely something was going on.  Maybe her ears?  Turns out, her ears were fine.  A little clear fluid in there, but no infection at all.

Dr. V gently informed me that Camille is at the age now where she may be "testing" her sleep boundaries with us and that maybe it's time for a little cry-it-out.  I can't belive I didn't consider this!   Now I know why the "baby" of the family  is considered "babied" a little too much!  ;)  I was so hard and fast about routines and schedules with our other two children, we had very few sleep issues.  With Miss Millie, however, I've just been grateful that during this time of transition, she has rolled with it-she is so go-with-the-flow!  Well, now I know that go-with-the-flow has a price tag.  So tonight, we began again our bedtime routine.  Tonight was peaceful and calm, and even the big kids went to bed calmly and without protest. 

We revisited this old favorite with Miss Millie tonight:

And began this classic with the big kids:

It's the "abridged" version, and so far they can't wait for more.

Last year, my father-in-law challenged all of the grandchildren to learn the Lord's prayer, I still can't believe how quickly they learned!  We ended our day by sharing our good and bad thing for the day and praying the Lord's prayer together.  It was such a sweet time.  No fussing, complaining or going to bed frustrated.  I'm thankful and hoping for many more evenings like this one.  Good night!  :)

If You're Happy and You Know It

This has been a week of milestones for Millie.  In addition to clapping :) she's also learned to eat cheerios, teeny-tiny bits of apple and cheese from the tray of her highchair.  *This little clip was at the end of mealtime and she was *finished* with the high chair (as you can see!)  ;)

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to the sweetest big brother two little sisters could ever hope for!

Hello 2011!

I'm glad it's a new year, and am in disbelief at how quickly 2010 went by!  For our family 2010 included: a new baby, a huge move, buying and beginning renovations on our home, and the completion of graduate school.  The Lord sustained us through it all, and we are very grateful that HE is faithful.  

December flew by without a single bloggy nod to the Christmas season!  It was an unusually simple Christmas for our family, in terms of the "trappings" of the holiday season.  With Dan finishing up seminary and about two months of various  illness running through the family, it felt right (and necessary) to keep it simple.  I'll do a little Christmas re-cap soon.   In the meantime a few fun pics of the kiddos!

We have the cutest little orange tree out back; so little in fact, this is it's first and only fruit of the season!  Hannah Reece was thrilled to be the "picker".     

Miss Millie is almost 10 months old now and I can't get enough of her brunette baby hair swirls!  She's a girl on the go, it took quite a few snaps to get this picture.  :)    

It was wonderful having big brother home for 2 weeks over Christmas break.  We ALL missed him terribly when he went back to school on Monday!  I think he especially enjoyed hanging out in his jammies past the early morning hours.  And you know what?  So did I!  :)

 Happy New Year!

Love

Christmas is almost here. Oh, I had lists and ideas and all sorts of wonderful plans for this December, this season of advent to bask in the wonder of Christmas with our children, our first Christmas as a family of five. And then the REALITY of life set in. A husband working furiously to finish finals and papers in order to finish his seminary career (six LONG years of bless-ed seminary, finished-so thankful!!) We have endured two months of sickness between our three children...stomach virus, Strep throat, RSV, Strep throat again. I think I've wished everyone in the pediatrician's office a merry Christmas 4 times this month-every Monday! And on our most recent visit (yesterday) Graham accidentally scratched Daddy in the eye, which resulted in a corneal abrasion. He's been attempting to rest (in excruciating pain) unable to open his eye. Add to that the daily chores, plus attempting to proceed with necessary remodeling projects (we now have one FULLY functioning bathroom, yay!) and still trying to get organized and "settled in" while taking care of one or more sick kiddos for weeks now. Our advent wreath and Christmas Tree are/will be our only decorations out this year.

Today I blew my top. Yelled at our children, yelled at the dog, slammed a door. It was ugly. I struggle to serve patiently and selflessly. Today I became painfully aware of my selfishness, my weakness. Sleep deprivation only makes my weaknesses weaker. I will be heading to bed VERY soon. :)

What is amazing is how God's love casts its ever-present light over the dark spots of life. Millie's belly laughs and adorable "wounded soldier" crawl. Graham waking up in the middle of the night when he heard Dan get up, to help usher him around in the darkness since he can't see with his injured eye. A sweet neighbor bringing by a box of birthday chocolates just as my 2 o'clock hankerin' hit. Grandma inviting Hannah Reece over to make Christmas cookies while I ran some errands. A word of encouragement from a friend. An email asking for prayer for a loved one with cancer. Perspective. Thank you Lord, for perspective.

LOVE. God's love. This is why God sent Jesus to earth, as a baby. To show us what LOVE looks like. Thank you Lord, for this reminder. May you and I be conduits of God's great love this Christmas, and all year long. In our weakness Lord, may your strength, your LOVE shine through.

Egypt Day

Graham goes to a school that implements Core Knowledge.  Core themes are woven into the disciplines, even the basal readers.  Graham comes home excited about what he is learning.  This makes me (a former teacher) very happy.  :) We have really enjoyed the opportunity to extend his learning at home.  It has been so enriching, for ALL of us!   The series of books What Your ----- Needs to Know,   written by Hirsch, is the basis of the Core Knowledge program. 

One of the topics studied in first grade is Ancient Egypt.  A couple of weeks ago, the entire grade culminated their studies with "Egypt Day".  Each classroom was a station and the students enjoyed Egyptian food, played Egypt Bingo, made an Egyptian collar and had a wonderful time.  Here is our "mummy" sporting his best mummy pose.  :)

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"I learned about mummies, and people put the mummies inside sarcophagus'.  Babylon and Egypt both had gods and goddesses.  They were just Egypt gods, not the real GOD.  :)  King Tut was also named Tutankhamen.  Tutankhamen was one of the most famous kings of Egypt.  Queen Nefertiti was one queen of Egypt, too.  Queen Nefertiti was also a very famous queen.  And the people that lived in Egypt also thought that every night a man rose out of a flower on his flying boat and every night he picked the moon in his boat.  People that lived in Egypt had to catch fish to get food.  The people of the Nile river that lived in Egypt shared the Nile river with the people of Babylon.  King Tut died a long time ago and was put in a sarcophagus.  Also, he turned to a King when he was nine years old.  People that lived in Egypt had only pyramids.  The people of Babylon only had Zigurats.  A Zigurat is something that looks like a pyramid except it has bumps and it looks like it has steps.  Only the kings of Babylon and the queens of Babylon could go on top of the Zigurat.  The people of Babylon that were not royalty could not go on top of the Zigurat.  I felt very excited to learn about Egypt.  Learning about Egypt was the best thing I've ever learned about since I started in first grade."  -Graham

Eight Months

Tiny baby with a big, huge personality.  Oh Miss Millie, we're wild about you, girl!

Camille, at eight months:
-says ma-ma, da-da, na-na, and many other squealy, shrieky utterances that would be hard to spell  ;)
-does the cutest crawl, shimmy, stretch move that gets her where she needs to go-fast!
-isn't sitting up without support just yet, but goes from crawl position to a arm-hip lean...almost there!
-is recovering from her first (double) ear infection...the tummy does not tolerate antibiotics well
-has two teeth on the bottom and loves to chew on her "razzberry" toy (a silicone teething toy that's a bumpy rasberry in the shape of a pacifier)
-between teething and the yucky antibiotic tummy-has gone from sleeping through the night to waking 1-3 times a night again
-nurses every 3-ish hours
-eats several ounces of pureed fruits,veggies,meats 2-3 times a day....LOVES yogurt!
-would rather play with the sippy cup than drink from it  ;)
-sometimes, it seems that she's a little bored when G and H are at school...she kind of looks around and whines at times.  They are a constant source of entertainment!
-now recognizes close family members and will enjoy their cuddles, for a few minutes.  Then she begins to glance around, searching and lunging for momma.
-sucks the thumb when sleepy, and loves to cuddle with her blanket and fiddle with it for comfort
-takes two big naps, or one big one and two shorter ones
-is fascinated by the telephone
....is wonderfully made and a precious gift to our family!