Six weeks!! and News

Don't let her fool you - she's sick!

One thing that I've noticed this time around is that I am enjoying the baby-ness a lot more, despite the work of it all. I'm sure this has to do with being "done," that I'm soaking it up while I can. So I am very excited for Anna to be six weeks old. She is more awake and responsive, stretching out her feeding and sleeping a bit, and smiling for sure.  But not much in the past few days, because she has caught a chest cold from her brothers. (That has now spread to her sister, too, to make sure no one feels left out.)

David got it first, and it was enough coughing and sneezing and dripping to keep him home from school for 2 days last week, missing his Valentine party. But he got to go to work with Aunt Mel while I had an appointment, which he said was even better than his party would have been. :)

Next Luke fell victim, and if I thought he was demanding while he's healthy...wow. Then Sunday Anna started to sound congested in her chest and started coughing. I had a little bit of panic, because I remember from my experience with David  (oh my goodness, super chunky baby David on that post!!) that a coughing baby under 2 months goes straight to the dr's office and is watched diligently. So it was the same drill, they were definitely concerned, told me what to watch out for, keep a close eye on, and expect that it may take 2-3 weeks to recover. So I am spending my nights anxiously watching her breathe next to me in bed ("Uncle!!" She's sleeping with us while this is going on because we all need some sleep). The good news is that it's been 3 days and she hasn't gotten any worse. But she sounds SO pitiful when she cries. She's completely hoarse and squeaky and rattling. I can't wait for this to pass.  (Oh, but she was 10 pounds, 3 ounces at the office - so that's good news, she's gaining weight)

Katy's is mild so far, but adding to the difficulties of getting to school in the morning. ("But I have a runny nose, Mom!")  Everyone is waking up in the night several times. Last night at 1am I got a text from Mel that said, "Can you hear Luke crying?" I was so tired that I hadn't noticed Brian get up to comfort him (unsuccessfully).

But surely spring is coming, right? It must be! Right around the corner!

Just moments before bedtime on Feb 14th, after a full day of school parties, appointments, shuffling kids because of illness, and the like.



They make "1st Valentine's Day" shirts for Grammys to buy. Soooo cute.

Last week, I alluded to some news that I now have permission to share. My mom, who has lived in the Pittsburgh area for 13 years, has been looking for a job in this area for several months because she would like to relocate here. Last week, she received a job offer here and accepted it, and she starts March 4th!! She and Greg came this past weekend and looked at houses to buy, and they are looking right here in our part of town. This is so exciting to me. When I was growing up, I had all of my grandparents in town. They were my primary babysitters and we saw them for all birthdays and holidays and Granny and Grandpa even went to the same church. So I have always been sad that this wouldn't be the experience for my kids. But now we are looking forward to seeing what it is like with at least one of the three sets right here in our neighborhood! The kids have been praying for Oma to find a job here in town, and they have been very aware of every step as it has happened. I'm sure that it will take awhile to figure out how it all works - none of us are used to living close by - but I know it will be great. Lots of changes around here in 2013.

Familiar

I'm fairly certain that I've written a similar post when each of my babies have been a month old (5 weeks tomorrow!). Perhaps it is that time frame in which life has returned to its previous pace and responsibilities, yet moms are still not getting much sleep and are exhausted by the demands of a newborn. But whatever the reason, I'm really tired and somewhat overwhelmed.

As I mentioned, Katy's having a hard time at school lately, which has taken a great deal of attention - we're talking and reading a lot about it at night. Mornings are often emotionally challenging. And I'm trying to talk to family and friends about it during the day for support.

Remember how I asked awhile back about David's tendency to be rough and physical, and how it was causing some challenges at preschool? We had his conference today with his teachers, and as I feared, they said that it has gotten worse lately (I've seen it at home, too). They said they think it goes beyond "being a boy" and "needs to be addressed." When I asked for suggestions on how to address it, they said by giving him appropriate outlets for all of his physical energy. They encouraged an organized sport of some kind and were glad to hear that he just started Tae Kwon Do. (By the way, getting there twice a week after school is also making things busy, and I had told Brian that we might just do a month or two and then take a break. But now that his teachers think it's neccessary?) Hopefully when the weather warms up that will be easy to do, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do? They said that lately he isn't able to sit in circle and listen to the teacher and follow directions, even after being redirected. Then she said, "Which is what they expect in kindergarten..." Of course it is...so now I'm worried he won't be ready for that?  The good news is that academically he's right where he should be, so that's a relief.

Luke is mostly potty trained at home, but still refuses to use the potty outside of home, which makes going anywhere a bit of a challenge. And he still has occasional accidents at home, too. He's a demanding 2 year old who very sweetly asks me about 30 times a day, "You want to play with ME?" and shoves a car in my hand. *sigh* That boy is sweet as pie but I feel like I don't have the time to give him the attention he needs right now. His language is through the ROOF. I can't believe how well he is talking, logical explanations for things, etc.

Anna is so sweet and cute (so sorry for the lack of photos this time, more soon). She gives little half smiles and grunts more than she cries. We're still trying to figure out the best strategy for nighttime sleep, as I'm still getting about 5-6 hours per night, not consecutive. She likes the sling, which is nice, and we've gotten out for a few walks on warmer days. The poor girl spends too much time in her car seat on the days that David has school.

Other stuff is starting to get busy, too...we've got to plan the rest of the year for Girl Scouts, I just found out that my Box Tops deadline is March 1st instead of April 1st, and this scholarship committee that I offered to head up needs to be organized in the next couple of weeks. (I did not know the timeline on these things when I volunteered). All of this stuff would feel a lot more feasible if I had some more sleep.

But at the end of the day, we have four great kids. We'll figure all of this out. And get more sleep. Yesterday I got some exciting news that I'm hoping will be official soon so that I can share it here. Coming soon!!