Lifesong

Wednesday is the new Monday

Not in a bad way. I've just gotten way behind and have been neglectful of my thankfulness, which was supposed to be on Monday. It may be a new theme, Monday's Multitude on Wednesday. At least until The Baby is six months or so? I don't know, we will see.

Having three is busy. I won't lie. And while it's still going well, and things are going smoothly, it's just.....busy. I'm not complaining, I just don't have a lot of time these days. I wonder what I did before I had children? I can't recall. Nowadays, there are messes to clean and school to teach and babies to nurse. Paints to get out and lunches to fix and babies to put down for a nap. Floors to sweep and laundry to fold and did I mention messes to clean? Books to read and snuggling on the couch and babies to coo at. Chick-Fil-A runs to make and counters to wipe and grocery trips. Pictures to take and dishes to wash and eggs to gather from the chickens.

I got a little daydreamy. I've always wanted to live on a farm. And by always I mean like for the past few months or so. Is that crazy? Perhaps. I don't really strike you as a farm girl? Maybe. Not a huge farm. But, outside of the mess and HARD WORK and slaughtering and stuff, I think it would be fun. I'd love to have chickens to collect eggs from, and vegetables that we grow all on our own and then fix into yummy meals. And maybe a goat or two.

But back to my blessings. There is still SO MUCH in my life to be thankful for.

So here we go.

76. Five week old babies. Well, my five week old baby, more specifically. Seriously, FIVE WEEKS! It's crazy, but she is SO SO sweet. And stinkin' cute, I might add. But I can't say little, because she's eleven pounds already.

She really is so much more alert these days, you just wouldn't know it from this picture.

77. A husband who senses a rough day and asks 'what can I do to help?'

78. A thank you note in my mailbox.

79. Sunny days where we can all run off some energy.

80. A trampoline for burning of LOTS of energy and playing silly games as a family.

81. These lyrics that I heard at 3 am and touched me: Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops, what if Your healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

82. A four year old's paintings.

83. Spring purging of just one cabinet. Small steps.

84. Fruit flavored water.

85. Tulips blooming by our front porch.

86. Mandatory homeschool testing that Ansley announces is "Easy!"

87. Sweet friends that are still delivering meals to us.

88. Flip flops and pedicures.

89. Sweet baby announcements.

90. A plateful of cucumbers that my kids devour in 30 seconds.

Thankful on Monday

I'm not sure Kota was even aware that she was sleeping next to the baby. Either that, or she thought wow this child is so much calmer than the other two, I think I can sleep next to her.

But either way, it made me laugh. And since this may be the only time in Avery's life that Kota will sleep next to her, I have it documented.

I'm always tempted to not be very fond of Mondays. After a fun weekend with John home, it just seems like not nearly as much fun to start the week off by myself. With three kids.

So that's why this has been good for me, to keep track of my blessings and what I'm thankful for on Mondays. It forces me to see the good side of a Monday. Oh, it's there. You just have to look really (sometimes really, really) hard at times.

Continuing to count my blessings:

61. a baby's umbilical cord finally coming off and the cheers of the older siblings

62. a sweet friend who picked up my two kids for the afternoon

63. another sweet friend who is delivering dinner this evening

64. weekends at home, enjoying family

65. going to the Loft for the first time in over a year

66. birds flooding our feeder

67. sweet siblings who entertain each other (and me!) so well

68. banana pudding milkshake from, where else? CFA

69. walks around the block, breathing in fresh air

70. good doctors who care about my health and comfort (still fighting some kind of infection, going back to the doctor again tomorrow)

71. a happy, full bellied baby

72. flowers poking through the dirt

73. Ibuprofen

74. freshly folded laundry

75. photographs of moments captured in time

Three

Three.

It's still strange sometimes, because I was so used to having two.

And I hesitate to even say this, but so far three has been our easiest transition. There's no I don't know what I'm doing blues, like with the first. There's no sibling jealousy, like with the second. Ansley and Christian have each other to play with, plus they still get plenty of attention, and they love their sister. It will be lots of fun for them, I am sure, when she is more interactive and smiling and cooing at them. I know it will come quickly, when her eyes will follow them and she will laugh at their antics just like I do. The competition is already on to see who can make her laugh first.(And this is QUITE a competitive household, I might add.)

All in all: sweet. It's just been such a sweet time of enjoying our baby, involving our other two, and enjoying time as a family. This was our first weekend alone as a family of five, and it was great. John took the kids to the Lowe's workshop on Saturday morning, and the kids first question was "Is Avery coming too?" She's not into nails and hammering just yet, but in the blink of an eye, she will be, tagging along behind her siblings, wanting to do everything they are doing.

We even went to church yesterday, and it was great. Although I'm contemplating nursing my child til she's five just so I can stay in the nursing Mamas room. I'm joking, of course, but seriously it was so nice! The first time I'd been in there, and it went really great. I'm not good at, nor a fan of, public nursing, but it went well. And I guess technially it's not public since it's just a room full of other nursing Moms, but still. I like to feel some kind of accomplishment for not going out to the car and nursing (which is my usual protocol.) For comparison, it took us about 8 months to resume our church going with Ansley, so we've really come a long way. (Don't judge - I was a germaphobe back then. Ok, I guess I still am, but Ansley was born in September so we had the whole cold/flu season to get through, whereas now it's practically spring. Well that and I've grown a lot in seven years, I like to think.)

Anyway, I think I'm rambling this morning because I'm trying to avoid starting back to school. I like just laying around with a newborn and two helpful kids and playing and laughing and coloring all day. Isn't that kind of like learning?

Thankful today for.....

46. my sweet baby girl that makes me smile

47. thunderstorms that keep us inside, because that's where we need to be anyway

48. the familiarity of routine - getting back to it

49. healing from childbirth

50. Mimi coming to visit for a few days

51. sweet siblings playing happily together, taking a "break" from school

52. tank tops - wearing one, thinking spring

53. the sweet noises that come from Avery.....and sometimes not-so-sweet, but it means she's healthy

54. a fridge full of fruit

55. children drawing pictures for the baby while Mama nurses

56. a yummy lunch to look forward to soon - I'm so hungry!

57. friendship

58. a laughter filled, sometimes noisy, home

59. a husband who loves to play with his children

60. chocolate and peanut butter, the most delightful combination on earth

Full of Thanks

Having a baby is always definitely an adjustment. It's only been a week. But I have to say things are going really well. Sure, I haven't been "on my own" yet. My body really wants to be thin, and my eyes don't want to have tears falling from them, but it isn't, and they still do. And that's okay.

The worst part for me this time around is the emotions. I get so emotional, every time I think of you. No, wait, that's not right. Sometimes the post partum brings crazy 80's thoughts to mind. But I really have been SO emotional, and it's been tough. I feel good, Avery is doing great, I'm even well rested. These pesky emotions just keep coming back and I do.not.like.them.

My mother in law is here this week, and that has been very helpful. She actually took the kids on their field trip this morning, so it's just me and Avery. She's a tough one, lemme tell ya. She eats well, she sleeps well, she doesn't cry, she's sweet.....I just don't know what I'm gonna do with her. We went back to the doctor yesterday and she is already almost back to her birth weight, which they like to see at two weeks. What can I say, all our babies are chunky monkeys with a big appetite.

So today we are pretending it's Monday (I'm a day behind) and I am continuing to count my blessings.....

31. a quiet morning of feeling somewhat back to normal and sipping tea

32. the kindness of friends and neighbors who continue to drop by with food, gifts for Avery and gifts for the older kids and offer their time and friendship

33. this reminder from Ann's book: God is always good and I am always loved. Always.

34. small snippets in my day where I can read and pray and be still and quiet

35. sweet baby girl going for 4 hour stretches at night for two nights in a row

36. a Granna that is making time for the two older kids, keeping them happy and smiling and loved on

37. watching the scale numbers go down despite the fact that I am nowhere close to watching what I eat

38. worship music to soothe my emotions

39. a sweet big sister who just wants to love on her little sister

40. a sweet big brother who is perfectly happy coloring for hours at a time while casually making comments like "baby Avery IS cute"

41. a package in the mail with spring clothes for the kids - all three!

42. a sweet swaddled sleeping baby

43. a thoughtful husband that is tender towards my emotions

44. a load of laundry going

45. waking up at 7:45 and being the only one up; getting showered and dressed in silence

We Love

We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19

We love Valentine's Day around here, and the kids always anticipate the traditions. Our first tradition, started many years ago, is the Valentine's Day scavenger hunt. We did this yesterday, since today could be a little crazy. It's my LAST DAY OF PREGNANCY, did you know? I wasn't sure if I had mentioned it.

This year we had clues that they both worked on together to find a gift that was for both of them, and then the clues separated and they each found their own gift. They both really enjoyed it, as always! Christian does have his shirt on backwards and Ansley has on pajama shorts with a Tennessee jersey. That's how we roll these days.

Christian finding his gift - a Star Wars Play-Doh set and Hershey kisses. He went straight for the kisses.

Ansley finding her gift, a Calico Critters furniture set and Hershey kisses. She was pretty excited about it, and tore right into it. She could care less about the kisses.

Then this morning we continued our chocolate valentine sandwiches for breakfast. They were yummy, and disappeared in about 2.4 seconds. I threw in some strawberries for the sake of healthy. The kids got a kick out of their red milk too.

So thankful for the love we share!

Still thanking God for.......

16. a large belly that kicks with new life

17. kids happy playing with Play-Doh

18. laughter echoing through the house

19. sunshine that makes me squint my eyes

20. family arriving today

21. a new baby coming SOON

22. birds chirping outside the kitchen window

23. weather that feels like springtime

24. chocolate for breakfast

25. feeling thankful

26. the kids going through pictures from when they were babies and asking lots of questions

27. a husband who works hard to provide for his family

28. a good night's sleep

29. an ice cold glass of milk (I stay thirsty these days!)

30. sweet snuggles from my 4 year old

Thankful

I've been reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I've been reading her blog for awhile now, and she just has such a way with words. And it makes me think about being thankful in all moments, in all things, in all circumstances. So I'm jumping in on the challenge: start keeping track of what you are thankful for, and at the end of the year it will be a thousand thank-you's. 

So let's get started.

1. a friend's phone call, just to check on me (hormones haven't been kind to me lately)

2. a daughter that, while sick with a high fever, wants to cuddle and snuggle and have me right next to her

3. the made up conversations of a four year old boy while playing Legos

4. leftovers for dinner

5. the loving husband that originally made that meal last night

6. new life growing inside me

7. sunshine streaming through the windows

8. baby things making appearances throughout the house

9. a clean kitchen, made clean by the loving husband

10. the sound of a purring cat

11. worship music all day echoing in the house

12. knowing that new life will be here soon

13. my kids laughter, despite sickness and germs and yuck

14. answered prayer

15. an ice cold glass of Coke in the middle of the day