Keepin' Busy

We've been managing to squeeze in some fun during our "free" days this past month. It's crazy how much less time we have on our hands now that we have three mornings of preschool for Caleb (one of which is also a preschool day for Leah). On top of that, we have MOPS to keep us busy several other mornings a month. And if that wasn't enough, I'm also watching my neighbors' youngest kid a couple times a week. I've even contemplated trying to get back into subbing, but I'm just not sure how that'll fit into the schedule.

This seemingly busy schedule has made me realize just how precious these early years are. These are the years when we don't have to answer to a 5-days-a-week-all-day school schedule. And we don't have to shuffle kids from one extracurricular activity to the next all week long. For the most part, we have time on our hands to still just do what we want! I also find that the more time we spend just sitting at home, the more likely I am to lose my mind to playing referee ALL.DAY.LONG! Caleb and Leah have definitely hit that phase where they do things just to push each others' buttons. So, the solution is to stay busy and get the heck out of the house when we can!

This past month we've gone to two very fun places:

FAIR OAKS FARMS

(it's a huge dairy farm in Indiana)

THE ZOO

(Daddy even got to join us for this trip)

It's funny how after only a couple of years doing this stay-at-home mom thing, I've realized just how quickly the years go by. I thought staying at home would make things slow down a bit and would give me the chance to soak up these early years a bit more. While I think I've done some major soaking, I also think I tend to take for granted the blessing of being home. There are days when I get so focused on what "needs" to get done that I fail to simply put the vacuum down, hold off on the laundry one more day, and just say "let's go have fun". Now, I'm less than a year away from sending our first baby off to kindergarten and I already wish I could rewind and get some of those earlier days back!

8 Months

There is no way that we are already two thirds of the way through the first year with this little man! He is SUCH a wonderful baby and a true joy in our lives.

EATING: Joel takes 4 bottles a day...each are about 6 ounces. He does great with solids and even seems to be more interested in table food than baby food. He can feed himself puffs, cheerios, peas, and other small foods, so we are going to try to head in that direction soon. Most of the time he swats at the spoon of baby food and makes a huge mess, so we might spare everyone the headache and just start giving him small foods the he can feed himself. Whatever it is, he has to be able to gum it, because he still doesn't have teeth!

SLEEPING: His sleeping schedule is fantastic! He goes down around 7:30 or 8 at night and sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. He takes his first nap around 9:30 and his second nap around 1:30. His naps vary from a little over an hour to 2+ hours in length. He did have a little trouble sticking to that this past month because he had a terrible cold that lasted for two weeks. His sleeping was a bit off, but that was to be expected!

MILESTONES: Despite being sick with a nasty cold, Joel managed to learn a ton of new skills over the past couple of weeks. He is moving much faster and can crawl the correct way, but still prefers the army crawl. He can go from his belly to sitting up all by himself. He has also learned to pull himself up to a stand. All of those skills were mastered within one week. Joel is just like Caleb was and becomes incredibly preoccupied with learning new skills. When he's supposed to be sleeping, he spends time "practicing" his new skills. He's also becoming much better with language. He shakes his head when someone says, "no, no, no" and claps if you say "yaaaay". He occasionally signs for "more" and has a bunch of new consonant sounds that he babbles. One of the newest sounds is da, which of course sounds like DaDa, but I'm not sure I'm willing to call it his first word just yet. There doesn't seem to be much meaning behind the babbling!

Five for Five

It's been awhile since our last post. In fact, it seems as though changing from a family of four to five has made our lives significantly more busy than it was before. Ever since our last member joined the family, the blogging activity has come to almost a complete stop. It's not that he's a tough baby....in fact, he's our easiest one yet.

So much has happened over the last eight months, and I know that one day I'll regret not recording more of it! Anyhow, now that we're beyond the sleep deprived nights, random fussy moments, looooooong summer of siblings spending too much time fighting together, and so on, hopefully we can catch up on blogging. So, I'm starting with an update on the five of us. Five random facts about each of our five lives. No pictures, just info. Here goes:

Tyler...
1....has become one in spirit with Elmer Fudd. He has taken a HUGE liking for hunting the rabbits that destroy our landscaping, poop all over the yard, and taunt him to no end. Don't worry, he has a permit and it's just a pellet gun!
2...has gone running 3 times in the last month, two of which were the past two days. Dare I say, we are forming a good habit?!?
3...spent an entire afternoon in charge of all three kids (I was at a baby shower), while they had awful colds, which meant they fussed, whined, napped poorly, and didn't give him a minute to accomplish anything he wanted to do. There might have been a small, teeny-tiny, part of me that was VERY okay with that!
4...has, after many years of claiming to have better teeth than I, finally tied me with two cavities. He went to the dentist awhile ago and found out he has a cavity (the 2nd one since we've been married). One of my two was from when I was about 7, so I think I might be able to claim the new title for best teeth!
5...is changing jobs, yet again! But this time we're hoping it's for a good, long while. He's moving into pharmaceutical sales and the job seems like a great fit for him and our family. LivingSocial was wonderful to him during this past crazy year, but unfortunately the earning potential just wasn't there for a single-income, family of five!

Sara:
1...is watching the neighbor's youngest kid a few hours each week and loves having an extra kid around to break up the usual arguing. Josie also manages to make me smile or laugh about every 10 minutes because she is the master of adorable, only-a-three-year-old-would-say-that, comments!
2...has become like an 80 year old woman and has to check blood sugar levels throughout the day. It's just a small step in trying to find out what's going on with my whacked out, too many babies in the past 5 years, body. After a little blood work, charting my blood sugar levels, and cutting back on sugar, the doctor should hopefully have some answers next week. The doc was thinking along the lines of hypoglycemia, but let's hope that's not the case :(
3...now LOVES to sleep in the freezing cold. Bring on the open windows and fans....even when it's 40 degrees. Chalk it up again to the whacked out, too many babies in the past 5 years, gets hot flashes at age 30 body!
4...will be playing the role of single mom for 3 weeks (2 in Oct., 1 in Nov.) while Tyler attends trainings for his new job. Mental preparation begins now!
5...desperately needs to do something new with my hair, but can't figure out what. For now, being able to throw it back in a ponytail makes my life a thousand times simpler. And simple is what this lady needs (see fact #4).
Caleb:
1...has started his last year of preschool (sigh). Of course, he loves it.
2...still can't pump on a swing. I've just about given up trying to teach him.
3...is learning to read! He has flown through learning quite a few sight words, is strengthening his knowledge of letter sounds, and does a great job of reading low level books.
4...has turned into an amazing artist. I taught 2nd graders who couldn't color nearly as well as this kid does! You could put him at the table with crayons and paper and he'd been fine for hours.
5...is still the early riser of the family. The rest of us could easily sleep until 8, but this little boy just loves to rise with the sun. We're lucky to keep him in his room until 7!
Leah:
1...has some of the longest, thickest, hair of any two year old I've known. She ended up needing a haircut because it was getting too long. Thankfully, she still is very cooperative with combing, styling, and so on.
2...sleeps on the top bunk and does great. She did hit her head on the ceiling fan the first night, but as her daddy lovingly said "it'll only take one time for her to learn"!
3...talks so much that you'd never know she was in speech therapy a year ago.
4...could still live off of fruits, vegetables, and snacks. The child rarely eats a full meal, but could graze all day if you'd let her.
5...is still our clingy child. She has done well with preschool drop-off, but has had a few moments at church when she hesitates/cries to go to the nursery. She has also had several meltdowns recently when I'm leaving and Tyler's been left in charge.
Joel:
1...is our cuddliest kid yet. If you hand him his beloved blue blankie, he'll grab it, pop his thumb in his mouth, and instantly snuggle his little face into your shoulder/neck. He must know that he's the last baby, because he's soaking up the snuggles!
2...still has NO teeth!
3...just got over what seemed like the longest cold ever! He seems to be taking after his brother's terrible immune system :(
4...loves to clap and I might just be imagining it, but I think he says "yaaaay" when he's doing it.
5...is starting to really dislike the exersaucer or jumpy. This boy just wants the freedom to move!

7 Months

If there was a pause button in life, this would be the point to use it! Our little baby is growing up WAY too fast and it's just not fair. This is the point when you start to think irrational thoughts like, "we could have 10 more kids." Don't worry, this one really is our last, but in all reality he is SUCH a joy that it would seem easy to have more. We know, however, that this golden period of child rearing will end all too soon. He'll be running around, getting into everything, turning into a toddler that tests his limits, fights with his siblings, and gives us a reason to stock up on Tylenol like it's candy! For now, we're just loving every minute with our last baby!

EATING: Joel is now strictly taking bottles of formula. He takes 4 bottles a day...each are about 6 ounces. He has a really hard time finishing his bottles because he gets so distracted by what else is going on around him. Joel is also doing great with baby food. He had yogurt with oatmeal in the morning, fruit at lunch, and veggies at dinner. He loves puffs and cheerios, but still can't quite figure out how to get them from his hand to his mouth. He hasn't done any other foods that require chewing because the little guy STILL doesn't have any teeth. It looks like he might take after his big brother and be later than average for teething.

SLEEPING: Joel has turned from our worst sleeper to our best sleeper in the past month. He is great about putting himself to sleep....thanks to the fact that he sucks his thumb, which can't fall out and get lost like a pacifier! We've also learned that not having the paci helps during a cold (which Joel managed to have halfway through this month thanks to his two sick siblings passing their germs along). When he was quite congested he didn't have the challenge of trying to suck on his paci and breath through his mouth at the same time. Anyhow, his sleeping schedule is fantastic and we're loving it. He goes down around 7:30 or 8 at night and sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. He takes his first nap around 9:30 and his second nap around 1:30. His naps vary from a little over an hour to 2+ hours in length.

MILESTONES: Joel is getting SO close to crawling and is quite preoccupied with this skill right now. He doesn't like to be held or put in his jumper very often. He wiggles until you put him on the floor and let him attempt to get moving. He's got the motion right in his legs, but can't quite figure out how to move his arms forward without falling down. I think that he'll be a full blown mover in the next few weeks! Other than that, there isn't much new this month. Joel is growing out of his 6 month clothes and fits well in 9 month stuff. He is getting a lot more hair and it even seems to have some curl to it. Like I said before, we're waiting for teeth, but there's nothing yet. He is drooling and chewing a ton, so maybe we'll see some pearly whites soon!

Lord help them all....

Last year at this time we sent our first kiddo off to preschool without much hesitation. He's always been a social butterfly, so we knew he'd have no problem making friends and feeling comfortable away from home. Though he was a typical 3 year old and had moments of being a stinker, he was a pretty good kid overall. I figured his teachers wouldn't have too many problems with him and there wasn't much to worry about.

Although I wish I could say the same about #2, I can't! We decided last Spring to sign Leah up for the 2.5 year old program at the same school that Caleb goes to. It's just one morning a week for two hours, so it's a great transition into "real" preschool next year. Everything that I didn't fear about sending Caleb is exactly what I fear with Leah. She's shy in new surroundings...so much so, that she stands there and picks her nose (such a lovely nervous habit, don't ya think?!?). She clams up and doesn't look at or talk to whoever the new person is that she's around. She'll most likely cry when I leave her, and that breaks any mama's heart. Furthermore, once she does warm up and get comfortable (which I really do hope will happen quickly), she slides to the other end of the spectrum and is a terror! If she's anything like she is at home, I think her teachers will need LOTS of prayer! This little girl knows how to throw a great tantrum, hits and bites like a champ, thinks sharing is optional, and finds cleaning up her toys to be worthy of a meltdown every.single.time! With that said, all I can say is good luck to her teachers! I know we sound like we must be the worst parents in the world for putting up with all of this, but we know that our little girl is a work in progress and believe me when I say that we try. For now, I'll just attempt to enjoy my two Leah-free hours every week. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this little girl and she has moments that completely redeem her "difficultness" (a word that has been created just for her), but sometimes a break is just what we need!

And for your viewing pleasure, here is a survey that I had both kids do. Leah answered her questions before Caleb, and I'm not quite sure she "got" it, but it was still entertaining. I might add that it took A LOT of time and redirecting for her to get through answering the questions. Again, good luck preschool teachers. Good. Luck.

What is your name? Leah (pronounced "Weuh")

How old are you? two and a half

What do you want to be when you grow up? a grown up

What is your favorite food? pancakes

What is your favorite drink? milk...followed by "please can I go get my drink?"

What makes you happy? bunny (her cherished sleeping friend)

What makes you sad? bunny (not sure she understood that one)

What is your favorite thing to do at home? play bowling alley (the activity I pulled her away from in order to answer these questions....not quite a favorite, but just what is fresh on her mind)

Who is your best friend? Chesney

Where is your favorite place to go? Grandma's

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? play and see the red spider (he's hanging out by our garbage can lately)

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? play 

What is the best part about Caleb (brother)? he plays

What is the best part about Joel (brother)? playing with him

What is your favorite book? Cars 2 book

What is your favorite movie? Cars 2

Where is your favorite place to eat? in my chair

What is your favorite thing to wear? coats

Preschool....Round 2

 It's so hard to believe that summer is already over! We've been so busy breaking up daily fights because we're spending too much time together enjoying our time together, that these past few months have flown! What's even harder to believe is that my first baby is heading off to his last year of preschool! Although I think the kids DEFINITELY need a break from each other, I am sad to see Caleb leaving us for 3 mornings a week. He's going to love every minute of preschool, just as he did last year, but I'm just not so sure I'm ready to have him gone that much! I guess I better get used to it, though, because next year he'll be gone 5 mornings a week!

And for your viewing pleasure, the annual survey. It's crazy how much he has changed in a year! Survey 2011

What is your name? Caleb

How old are you? 4

What do you want to be when you grow up? a dolphin trainer

What is your favorite food? it's, um, it's, um junk

What is your favorite drink? chocolate milk (which I think he's had once in his lifetime)

What makes you happy? making silly faces

What makes you sad? spankings

What is your favorite thing to do at home? play games

Who is your best friend? David (from MOPS)

Where is your favorite place to go? Ranch Frostie

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? play outside

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? go to Bass Pro Shop

What is the best part about Leah (sister)? that sometimes she gives stuff to me


What is the best part about Joel (brother)? he has some of my letters in his name

What is your favorite book? Cars 2

What is your favorite movie? Tangled

Where is your favorite place to eat? Ranch Frostie..."cause they have hot dogs there"

What is your favorite thing to wear? my green shirt that I took for the "photoger" (we had a professional pics done a few weeks ago)

Lake Road Block Party 2012

I've mentioned it before on our blog and have reason, yet again, to make the claim that we live on the best street ever! We recently had our first ever block party and it was a huge success. It was wonderful to hang out with neighbors that we already know and also get to know some of the other not-so-familiar faces a bit better. Despite the huge storm that blew in during the middle of the party and having a 4 year old stuck inside in front of the tv with a terrible fever, we managed to sneak in a little bit of fun outside. Leah enjoyed running free throughout the street, jumping in the giant bouncy house, and decorating her bike for the "parade". Joel was just happy to be outside taking it all in. Poor Caleb missed out on seeing the firetruck and ambulance that came by for a visit, watching a movie outside (our neighbors hooked up their projector right in front of our garage), and playing like crazy with his neighborhood buddies...but he really didn't seem to mind much because he was allowed to stay inside and watch tv all day long! All in all, we had a blast together and I'm already looking forward to doing it again next summer!