Menu Plan Monday 1/18/2010

It's still taking me some time to learn to type out 2010. It takes me twice as long as typing 2009.

ANYWAY. It's Monday again, folks. And so here's the menu for the week. Sort of a light week because we had extra things going on with the family that we ate with family a lot. And I tried to keep the rest of our week simple.

• Monday

Breakfast~ veggie and egg scramble, toast
Lunch~ leftover chili with ILs
Dinner~ chicken stuffed baked potatoes, green beans

• Tuesday

Breakfast~ oatmeal and apricots
Lunch~ turkey and cheese sandwiches, spinach, yogurt
Dinner~ beans and brown rice, cornbread, salad

• Wednesday

Breakfast~ cereal, apples
Lunch~ hot dogs, peaches
Dinner~ @ my mom and dad's

• Thursday

Breakfast~ PB toast, oranges
Lunch~ Spaghettios
Dinner~ hot dogs and tater tots (Disclaimer: I didn't actually feed them hot dogs two days in a row! Remember, we menu Thursday-Wednesday, so they actually would have had hot dogs on Thursday 1/14, and then will be eating the remainder of the package on 1/20. :))

• Friday

Breakfast~ pancakes, berries
Lunch~ tuna mac, carrots and apples
Dinner~ @ my ILs

• Saturday

Breakfast~ PB toast, banana
Lunch~ @ ILs
Dinner~ @ ILs (we were supposed to have a garage sale with them at their house, so we were there most of the day, even though the garage sale got rained out.)

• Sunday

Breakfast~ cereal
Lunch~ @ my mom and dad's after church
Dinner~ Chicken tortilla soup, guacamole (we actually ended up eating dinner with my parents again.)

There you have it. Not very exciting. And somehow, I still ended up spending well over $100 on this week's groceries. Not sure how that happened! I bought lots of fruits and veggies for Evie's food, but still....hated to have to break that news to Sweet Hubby! :)

Show us Your Life-Diets, Exercise and Weight Loss Tips

If you know me IRL (in real life), then you probably are already giggling or at least smirking to yourself at that title. Honestly, people want to listen to my weight loss tips as much as one would want to listen to *fill in the name of a millionaire hotel heiress here (don't want searches for her leading people here)* giving ideas on how to live on a small budget. Honestly, being overweight is something I've never struggled with...being underweight is. People tend to roll their eyes when I say that sort of thing, but only because they understand my issues about as much as I understand theirs. But it kinda stinks, being underweight. I feel like it makes me look older than I am, and my proportions are weird, so clothes never fit right. So it's not really all that fun being underweight.

All that being said, I do know a bit about nutrition and healthy eating. I believe that it's a lifestyle change that's important for weight loss...not some diet program that you may or may not be able to stay on. Sweet Hubby struggles with his weight and he is currently in the process of trying to lose about 30 pounds. We've changed some of our habits for this reason. So here's the run down of a few things we're doing that are important things to do for EVERYONE to live full and healthy lives. And these are probably things you've heard a million times before....I don't claim that any of these are original ideas.

• Read labels! Generally speaking, it's my belief that the fewer ingredients, the better. Learn how to read labels and nutrition facts.
  
• When buying grains (like bread, pasta and cereals), look for whole grain as the first ingredient. And sugar should be as far down the list as possible....certainly not in the top 2 or 3.
• Everything in moderation! Don't completely deprive yourself of the things you love (like chocolate or soda), just don't indulge several times daily. A soda with a special meal once in a while isn't going to hurt you! Keeping that treat as "forbidden fruit" might later cause you to binge and then feel guilty...that actually CAN hurt you in the long run.
• Find new and creative ways to incorporate veggies in your diet. We always hear we should be eating more, but if you are like me, buying a new veggie and then slapping it down on my plate is not really appealing. If you can plan ahead and find a tasty recipe for that new veggie, you'll be more likely to eat it (and enjoy it, too!). In my own experience, I've found that you can't go wrong grilling or roasting veggies. Hubby and I have found that we LOVE grilled onions and peppers with just about everything!
• PORTION CONTROL. Seriously, folks, this is huge. Portion control is one of the simplest ways to start eating better and see a difference. Learn what proper portions are. You've probably heard it recently, but if not, here's the breakdown of what your plate should be: 1/4 (or less) of lean protein, 1/4 carb and 1/2 fruits or veggies. 3 oz of protein is a serving. It's probably less than you think. So pay attention to serving size and portion sizes.
• Snacks count! Instead of grabbing an empty-calorie snack like chips or candy, make every bite count and have a piece of fruit or some veggies. Even a piece of whole wheat bread with a smear of peanut butter, and a small glass of milk can hold you until your next meal.
• Don't eat until you are miserably full. This kind of goes along with portion control. Your brain is slow in telling you when your tummy is full. So quit eating well before you are full. Put smaller amounts of things on your plate if you have to, so you don't feel guilty about leaving food on the plate. It's OKAY to not eat everything on your plate.
• Don't eat 2-3 hours before bed.
  
• Last but not least, BABY STEPS. There is no way to make every change that you need to make in one day. If you try that, you will fail. Change one or two things, give yourself and your family a couple weeks or a month to get used to it, and then move on to the next thing to change. Start buying whole grain bread first and when you are used to that, stop buying soda and drinking more water, and when you are used to that.....you get the idea. Baby steps folks. And always keep moving in the right direction.

So there you have it. Nothing life changing or earth shattering. Simple, common sense things, really. But things that we all need to be reminded of once in a while (myself included!).

For more ideas and tips, visit Kelly's Korner for Show us Your Life Friday!

Pssst!

Um, I'm guessing you haven't seen Zachary's five year post, yet. You probably just missed it. ;) If you want to check that out, just scroll down a bit....you'll find it now.

Menu Plan Monday

In my attempt to blog more regularly, I wanted to join in on some weekly blog carnivals, so I have SOMETHING to blog, even if I feel like I don't. So. Mondays are now "Menu Plan Mondays" where I post our menu for the week and where I also pretend that you care. :) I menu plan every week anyway, and it's fun to share it and also read other people's menus. All this happens at I'm an Organizing Junkie (find the MPM tab at the top if you are interested). And on Fridays, I'm going to try to participate in Show Us Your Life Fridays at Kelly's Korner (too lazy to link right now, you can catch it on Friday), where every week Kelly picks a certain aspect of our lives and we get to share about it. Past weeks have included wedding dresses, baby nurseries, and New Year's Resolutions....just so you get an idea of what to expect.

On to the menu. I actually do plan everything because we eat just about every meal at home and it's so much easier to not have to think about every single meal. If I'm long on time (ha ha), I'll also plan snacks, but more often than not, we end up just grabbing some crackers or fruit or cereal...all of which we always have on hand. I also plan from Thursday-Wednesday, because hubby gets paid on Thursday and that's when we go grocery shopping. So half of the plan you are about to read has already been eaten, if not enjoyed. :) Also, hubby is trying to eat better, so we are all eating better as a family...when he's home. You'll probably be able to tell the days that he works because those meals aren't as healthful.

• Monday~

Breakfast - oatmeal, bananas
Lunch- Nicoise salad for Mom and Dad, Mac and cheese and fruit for kiddoes (we actually ended up eating the pizza we were supposed to have on Sunday night.
Dinner - Dinner with my in-laws (we eat with them almost every Monday night)

• Tuesday~

Breakfast - Veggie and egg scramble (or just plain scrambled eggs for the kids), toast
Lunch - Turkey and cheese sandwiches, applesauce, baby spinach with dip
Dinner - Omelettes, turkey bacon, fruit (ate this on Sunday)

• Wednesday

Breakfast - cereal and fruit
Lunch - Quesadillas
Dinner - With my parents since the kids have gymnastics and I have choir...this is the same every Wednesday night

• Thursday

Breakfast - Oatmeal, pears
Lunch - Pb & j and yogurt
Dinner - Pancakes, sausage, eggs, berries

• Friday

Breakfast - Fruit smoothies, toast
Lunch - Grilled Cheese sandwiches, spaghettios (don't judge me)
Dinner - Baked chicken drumsticks, spinach salad, mac and cheese, homemade whole wheat bread and butter

• Saturday
  

Breakfast - PB toast, bananas
Lunch - cheese and crackers, carrots with dip, apples
Dinner - ??? I left this blank and for the life of me, I can't remember what we ate!

• Sunday

Breakfast - cereal
Lunch - With my mom and Dad
Dinner - MYO (make your own) veggie chicken pizza, green beans (we actually had omelettes because we were short on time).

Find more "other people's menus" at Organizing Junkie.

Happy Monday, folks!

I'm going to be better and "Eight Months!" and "Five"

I really do want to get better about blogging....especially at this time in my life. There is so much going on now that I know I'm going to love looking back on if I would just take the time to write it down. And since there are a few of you that keep up with our goings-on through my little blog here, it's not fair to you for me to go TWO MONTHS without writing something! So, I'm going to try to be better. I want to set a goal, but I want to be realistic, too. Feel free to hold me accountable and send me "Get with it, woman!" e-mails if you care enough to want to see a new post. :)

SO.

Since the last time I blogged, Evie turned seven and eight months old and Zachary turned five. I don't have posts for any of them. Seven months is just going to have to never happen. But here's an eight month post and in the next day or so, I'll get one up for Zachary's fifth birthday (and pre-date it so it fits in the blog chronology, so look for it a bit further down).

Evie turned eight months 2 days ago. SO much has happened with her in the last 2 months! Here's the rundown.

• She has two teeth!! Both on the bottom, and both like razors. She likes to bite. She's gotten better about not biting while nursing, but probably only because I scared the bejeezus out of her by screaming a couple of times. I'm gun-shy now, and I get a little nauseus during every feed because I'm nervous she's going to bite.
  

• She's wearing mostly 6-9 months clothes, but the 6-9 month pants are too big around the waist and fall down. But with jammies and dresses and such, the 6-9 month size is perfect.

• She graduated to size two diapers a couple weeks ago.

• We had a follow-up appointment a couple weeks ago with the gastroenterologist, and she weighs a little over 14 pounds, which is back to her regular growth curve finally! She's probably closer to 15 pounds now.

• Speaking of weight, she's an eater!! She loves to eat, loves to sit at the table with us and eats just about everything I give her. At this point, she eats avocado, sweet potato, green beans, bananas, pears, peaches, squash, peas, yogurt, oatmeal, chicken, apples, and turkey. I still make a good part of her food, but when we don't eat at home, I don't bother with it. Her favorites are sweet potato and banana, and her least favorite are peas and green beans. She still eats those things, but she just makes a funny face and holds them in her mouth for a long time before she finally swallows. She also hums during her entire meal, which is equal parts cute, funny and annoying.
  

• She's MOBILE. She started creeping just before Christmas and has now just about mastered crawling!

• And TODAY, she pulled up to stand on her own for the first time. It's so funny to watch this little tiny baby do all these things. But she's SO PROUD of herself! (Grrr...the video came out sideways...I don't know why my camera (or computer?) is doing that! Sorry! I'll try to fix it...)

• She is STILL fascinated with my hair. I swear I will be bald before she grows out of it. It hurts, and she always grabs and yanks when I'm not paying attention. Once she gets a handful, I'm totally at her mercy!
  

• She had her first Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was such a joy to have her this year. She did really well being around all those people so much, but you could tell it was overwhelming for her. She didn't really leave my hip at every get together. For her first Christmas, she received a new exersaucer, her first cabbage patch doll, a cute outfit (with ribbon to match for me to make bows!), a fun ball-type toy for her to sit and play with, a touch and feel book, and a couple of little baby toys.

• As far as sleep, she's doing well. She sleeps through about half the time, and when she doesn't she wakes at around 4am or 5am to eat, and then goes back to sleep until she wakes for the day at 7am or 8am.
  

• I've started signing with her, but she hasn't done anything yet. I don't expect her to, but it's fun to do it with her.

And here are her tiara pictures. They were incredibly hard to get because she kept wanting to leap off the chair. There were a couple times she actually almost fell off!

She's so wiggly and wanted OFF that chair!

She seriously almost fell off before I could catch her.

But I was able to distract her a few times.

Or hold her back with my feet.

I eventually let her down on the floor, and she was happy with that...

But not before I got a really good one! She's growing into that tiara so well! I bet it will be a perfect fit for her first birthday pictures!

Five

Zachary! You're FIVE now!! Of course you know that, though. You counted down the days! :) There's something about the fifth birthday that changes a child in my mind. Somehow, you seem older, even though you are the same little boy that you were the day before your birthday. But FIVE. Five is a big boy now. No longer a preschooler, but a boy! You seem so grown up to me somedays. We have great conversation, you offer wise insight, and you seem to understand so much. But then, I sneak into your room at night to grab one more kiss and to make sure you're tucked in, and I see you snuggled with your lovey, sucking your fingers. You seem so little to me when I watch you sleep. So much more like the baby I used to rock to sleep and less like the little boy who read me a book just before bed and insisted he needed no help getting ready for bed.



So let's see....what's been happening since I wrote your 4 year letter....well, for starters, like I already mentioned, you're reading! You got your first library card and LOVE going to the library to "buy books". Fortunately, you may call it "buying books", but you've never had a hard time giving them up when it's time to take them back. But you are reading very well, sounding out and also using context clues....which is outstanding since you aren't technically supposed to start kindergarten for another 7 months or so. You are getting better at writing, but we still have to do a lot of fine motor skill work. Especially since you write with the same hand that you use to suck your fingers. You tend to guard those fingers while writing, and it makes it difficult for you to hold the pencil correctly. As for the rest of school, you aren't doing math quite yet, but everything else, you do with Stephen. So right now you are learning all about nouns, memorizing poetry and bible verses and you are learning all there is for a five year old to know about astronomy. You are keeping right up with everything I gear towards Stephen. You are one smart cookie! Next year, we'll start you on math. In the meantime, you know how to count, skip count by 10s and you are now correctly reading the time from a digital clock.



One of your favorite activities is going to gymanstics. You love it, and you are very good at it. After class, when I ask you what your favorite part was, you tell me "All of it!" I really think gymnastics has also helped your coordination.

You also LOVE going to church. You look forward to it all week. And when we talk about Sunday School after I pick you up, you can tell me all about what you did and what you learned. This week, when I picked you up, you told me I needed to give you money for the offering. :) You look forward to the fall when you can start Kids Rock.

One of the cute things you are doing right now is how you talk about today, yesterday and tomorrow. For some reason, that's not a concept you've quite grasped yet. Frequently (especially when there is something special going on), you'll ask me, "Mama, is tomorrow the day after this day?" Or "Is today tomorrow?" or "When will it be tomorrow?" I admit, I get a little kick out of telling, "Today is yesterday's tomorrow." You love counting down to things, so every day you ask me how many more days until a special event. You usually already know, but you ask me, "Is it 4 more days?"

You. are. STUBBORN. Once something is in your mind a certain way, that's how it is. There is no negotiating with you. You try to negotiate with us, and one day, that will serve you well. Right now, though, it just gets you in trouble.

You still feel things so intensely. In fact, this year, you gained a little sister. And it's obvious your brothers love her. But you. You adore her. And she adores you. You were the first brother she smiled and laughed at. You hate it when she cries and you never want to leave her alone. If I had a nickel for everytime I had to say, "Zachary, get out of her face" or "Zachary, leave her alone" or "ZACHARY. BACK. OFF." I'd be able to pay for your college tuition already. :) It's so sweet how much you love her. You are such a good brother.



You are a great brother to your brothers as well, although, you do seem to fit the "middle child" picture. Sometimes you seem a little left out, but I think that's as much your choosing as it is your brothers'. You're still figuring out your "rank", I think, especially now that Evie has come along. That's okay, though, you'll figure it out....we all know exactly where you belong. Although you are a little different from your brothers, you fit right in in our hearts. Perfectly.

I love you, boy. You are so fun, funny, and you still have that smile that makes your eyes twinkle and that lights up a room. I'm so blessed to be your mama!



Happy Fifth Year!!
Love,
Mama

Six months!

Sooo....our girl turned 6 months on Saturday. And as always I'm behind on her update. Actually, I'm behind on her 5 month post, too, since I never got to it. Anyway, here's what Evie's up to:

• She's had some growth issues, but we seem to be overcoming them. Last we checked, she weighed not quite 12 pounds (I think that was about 3 weeks ago). She has an appointment on Friday, so we'll see then. I'm hoping she hits 13 pounds.
  

• She's still wearing size 1 diapers and 3-6 month clothes. The 3-6 months clothes are just a tiny bit short but she's still too small for the 6-9 month clothes.

• No teeth yet, but she GNAWS like crazy on my hands and toys and such. I'm surprised she doesn't have teeth yet. No sign of one even.

• Evie's really coming into her personality. She's SO.MUCH.FUN. She laughs and giggles and screeches to get our attention. She still wrinkles her nose when she smiles, and she acts like she's going to eat me when I play with her. She grabs me with both hands and lunges toward my face with mouth wide open and act likes she's trying to bite me. I love it.
  

• She's fascinated with my hair. She loves it when I brush my hair against her face and she reaches out and lets it go through her fingers. Sometimes she grabs and shoves it her mouth, but then realizes that's no fun and lets go.

• She's sitting on her own now. Only for a few seconds and that's far less fun than standing, but she can do it and she looks so big and grown up when she does.
  

• She started food a few weeks ago. I posted that video. The girl LOVES to eat. She loves everything we've given her...she wasn't too sure about the oatmeal, but I had just made it, so it was still a little warm. It wasn't hot, but it was definitely warmer than the room temperature or cold avocados and sweet potatoes she had had so far. Now she loves it. I am making as much of her food as possible, and so far, I'm enjoying it as much as I did when I did it for the boys. All she's had so far is avocado, sweet potato and oatmeal. We're taking things kind of slowly, obviously. Not for any particular reason other than I just haven't had time to make more food and I'm trying to feed her avocado as often as possible for all the good fats. The next food will be butternut squash, then maybe green beans and then possibly banana.
  

• She's getting on her hands and knees a lot lately. She's not scooting or actually mobile yet, but she rolls everywhere and I think she scoots very slowly, because if I leave her on the floor for very long (which admittedly, doesn't happen very often), she winds up far from where she started pointed in a totally different direction.

• Hrmmm, what else?? Ever since she started gaining weight again, she's been in such a really good mood. Just fun. She's a pretty easy baby...doesn't cry much and when she does it's easy to fix. Feed her or put her to sleep.

• Speaking of sleep, she's doing pretty good. During the process of trying to get her to gain more weight, she started waking at night again. I love the whole nights of sleep, but I totally didn't mind waking up to feed her in the night because I know she needs it. The last week or so, she's started waking only once a night and it's been getting later and later. I'm hoping that she's gained lots of weight so that if she starts sleeping through the night again, I can let her. Naps are pretty good, too. Not always great, but a lot of the time she'll take a couple 1.5-2 hour naps a day. Sometimes shorter, but only if I didn't give her a good awake time (like if I put her down early for a nap because the boys are getting ready to take their quiet time and I want her to sleep at the same time).

To the tiara pics....I'm adding the 5 and 6 month pictures since I missed last month's post. I took the pictures, but never wrote the post.

Five Months

Six Months

One to Six Months

Three

Marc-Adam~

You're three now!! You've grown up so much in the last year! Such a big boy now! You really understood the concept of turning three, because when I asked you how old you were you yelled, "THREE!" and when I asked you how old you were yesterday, "Two." You are convinced that this additional year has opened all sorts of doors for you because when you wanted to do something today, I told you to wait. You insisted you COULD do it (I knew you could, it just wasn't a good time) and you pleaded to me, "I can, Mama, I can! I'm three!"

(Marc-Adam at 3 years old)

This past year, you moved from your crib to a toddler bed, and now you share the bunk beds with Zachary. You love sharing a room with your brothers, and I can hear you talking or whispering to them when you are supposed to be sleeping, or at least being quiet.

You are still our little firecracker, and I'm convinced that if I look close enough, that one gray hair on the top of my head has your name on it. You had your first ER visit this July when you fell off the bunk bed ladder you weren't supposed to be on. No stitches, thankfully.



You are learning SO MUCH. You seem to soak up a lot of the lessons that I gear towards your brothers and you can say your ABCs, count to 20 (although occasionally you leave out 5-8 and throw in a few extra 15s), you know most of your colors and can even recite the planets for me! You LOVE to work in your workbooks for school and right now your favorite is the Thomas the Train book with the flashcards....I don't know if you ever actually seen the Thomas the Train show.

Speaking of shows, you definitely have favorites. Being the third brother, you've never really gotten to enjoy the toddler shows like your older brothers did. Your favorite show is Phineas and Ferb and I could listen to you say "Perry the Platypus" all.day.long. Arthur is another favorite that you watch because of your brothers. But if given a choice to pick something to watch when no one else will watch it with you, you'll pick Wow! Wow! Wubbzy. For a long time it was Yo Gabba Gabba and can I just say how glad I am that you're off of that kick now? :)

You're at the age when you want to do everything yourself, and you can not be deterred even when you do it wrong. You think which ever way you do it is right. If I tell you you're doing it wrong, you say in a sweet little voice, "It's okay, Mama, it's okay." You also pull out that cuteness when you get caught doing something you shouldn't. It makes it really hard to fuss at you when you say that to me. But I can fuss at you when you are being hard-headed, which you are. A lot. When you get it in your mind that you are going to do something or that you want something, you will not let down...and a lot of times will just keep doing what you want until I either raise my voice or physically stop you.

You are speaking wonderfully now. You talk in normal sentences, about 5-8 words, but I still have to translate for you once in a while, and sometimes even your brothers have to translate for me because I don't understand (but usually only when I can't get the context of what you are saying). One of your most used phrases is, "Mama? Can you come here for a second?" And if you keep saying it so sweetly, I will follow you where ever you want me to go! You have the same language challenge Stephen did at that age and you can't say a hard G or C sound and replace those sounds with a D or T (so you would say "tootie" instead of "cookie"). But you'll grow out of it, I know....hopefully before Evie starts to pick up on it!

Speaking of Evie, you became a big brother this year!! You love having a little sister, and you try to take good care of her. You are a little rough with her sometimes, though, but I don't think you are ever trying to be malicious. You are just curious. Many times, I have to tell, "Please don't make your sister be a pirate" because you think it's funny to close one of her eyes and yell, "Argh!! I'm a PIrate!" She's not so amused. You also like to pull her ears out and make monkey noises. Again, she's not so amused. One of these days, my dear, I think you are going to get payback. ;) Your brothers love playing with you now. You have finally become fun to them. You make them laugh and play right along side them during their pretend play. You'll run through house yelling, "I'm Hulk! HULK SMASH!"


You are still my most daring, and I HOPE we can get you into gymnastics sometime after the first year. You would be so good at it! You also LOVE to play games and can beat any of us at Uno! You are really good at Memory, too. You like to read, but rarely sit still long enough to finish a book and when you do sit still for a while to read, it's because you want to read to me. Your newest favorite book is your storybook bible and you read it to me almost everyday. You think every grown male character on every page is Jesus. And every other character is either happy to see Jesus or sad because he/she misses Jesus.

For a long time, you weren't very affectionate or cuddly, I had to sneak in my hugs and kisses when you weren't paying much attention to what I was doing. But lately, you've loved having me hold you and snuggle you. You give fantastic kisses complete with little growly noises. I think I do something similar to you, but I didn't know you paid that much attention.

My baby boy. I am LOVING getting to know who you are and who you are to become. You are so much fun and even on the days I think I could put you on the curb with a "Free to good home" sign, you still make me laugh and make me thank God that I'm your mom. I love you, boy.

Love,
Mama

(Marc-Adam at 3 months)

Look! A post! And a video!

I know. It's been a while. But I've been thinking about you all and my little blog here. I'm going to be back to blogging real soon, but in the meantime, here's a clip of Evie having her first taste of food. Avocado! (Doesn't it seem like just yesterday when I was posting pics of Marc-Adam's first food?)

SCHOOL!

We finally started school this week. Wednesday was our first day, and so far things are going well. It's still a lot to juggle...the care and feeding of Evie, keeping Marc-Adam entertained, and squeezing in everything we want to get done. But we still get everything (or at least the important things) accomplished.

As much as I enjoyed the curriculum we used at the end of last year, I knew we'd have to do something different this year to better fit our needs. I just don't have the time to plan and go into lengthy projects right now. So we're sticking with the basics and hoping that next year we can dive in to curriculum that's a little more in depth (and fun!).

So, this year, we are sticking with Math-U-See for math. We're doing the Alpha book and plan to take it a lot more slowly than we did the Primer. Math-U-See teaches concepts to mastery, not the spiral approach like other curricula and public schools use. So, this year, we have to make sure that Stephen masters each concept before we move on. That wasn't so important last year. The Alpha level teaches single-digit addition and subtraction, skip counting by 2, 5, and 10 (which he's already pretty familiar with) and even has a lesson for "solving for the unknown". There's also some appendices for telling time, which I've been lazy about teaching. Stephen's concept of time is fantastic. He can tell time from a digital clock and gets that when it says 12:30 that it will be 1:00 in 30 minutes and he knows what time something will happen if I tell him "10 more minutes". There's really nothing else I need to teach him about time other than how to read an analog clock (with the arms and all that). He's actually been asking me to teach him that. I might take a few days to skip ahead to the appendices so that he can learn how to read a clock.

We're also sticking with Handwriting Without Tears for handwriting. This year, Igot Zachary the preschool book, which he's excited about. We didn't work much on handwriting over the summer, but I can already tell that Stephen is picking it up much better than he did last year. I think he just needed a little more time. I've read that some kids just can't write well until they are closer to 7 or 8 and I think that's the case with Stephen. It's too early to tell with Zachary.

For reading, I've worked in more independent reading time for Stephen while I'm working with one of the other boys. Then I ask him questions about the book or ask him to tell it back to me so that I can assure that a) he actually read it and b) he comprehends what he read. I personally have issues with comprehension sometimes, so I want to make sure that's not a problem with him. I'm also starting Scaredy Cat (our version is different than the one in the link) with Zachary. Actually we touched on it last year, but I intend to actually finish it with him. He's doing really well with it so far, and is reading many many "consonant-vowel-consonant" words and is fantastic at sounding words out. He's very excited because he gets to get a library card this year (our rule is that you have to be able to read before you get your own library card, before that you have to use Mom's). We also a couple of Explode the Code books, too, that they enjoy doing. We use those to take a break from our normal books and to enforce what they've already learned. In addition, I'm also using First Language Lessons to start learning grammar and parts of speech and such. Those are easy 5-15 minute lessons that we do a couple times a week.

This year, we're using a separate science curriculum. I found out about Apologia Science several weeks ago....I looked into it and thought that it might be good for us, since I didn't want to take the unit study approach this year. I gave the kids their choice of the different science subjects (they could have chosen from botany, zoology, astronomy....and something else I can't remember) and (of course) they chose Astronomy. We did a little bit of astronomy last year, and they loved it, so we're doing it again. For the whole. year. But this curriculum also has short lessons that we do a couple times a week, so it's just small bites of info. I was thinking about getting Stephen a telescope for Christmas (he's been asking for one), but a friend from church offered to let us borrow theirs. I think I'll take them up on it.

I e-mailed our Children's Director at our church and got a list of the bible verses the kids' are covering in Sunday School each week, and it's my intention to go along with those for our bible time each day. And I got Stephen an awesome devotional bible a couple weeks ago, so we've been reading out of that, too, the last couple of days.

As for Marc-Adam, well, he's welcome to sit in quietly on any of the lessons we're doing, but since nothing is quiet about Marc-Adam, he's usually playing, coloring or playing on the computer while I'm doing the other kids' lessons. He also insists on having a workbook of his own. Last year, I just sat down with him with a coloring book and a fat pencil and he was happy with that. But this year, I got him his own workbook about shapes and colors. I also intend on making sure we cover letters and letter sounds with him this year. But really, I think 3 is much too young for a formal curriculum and that kids that age should just be allowed to learn through daily play and interaction, so I don't want to do too much formal work with him yet. I just give him 5 minutes of "workbook" time, so he doesn't feel left out when the boys are working on their handwriting or math.

So. I guess that's it. Even with all that, we still have lots of time for free play and to play outside. I worked out a schedule for us that I wrote up and hung on a wall, and we have yet to stick to it, so I may have to re-work it. And Stephen (being the classic first child he is) is obsessed with it and gets a little upset if we aren't following it. I just did it so we would have an idea of what we should when and to make sure that we fit everything in. But it might be more trouble than it's worth.

I can't believe that we're starting our second year of homeschooling. I don't feel like such a newbie anymore. I think we're really finding our groove, and again, I'm so thankful that we live in a state that allows us to homeschool in the way we feel best and that Sweet Hubby and I can afford being able to to live on one income so that I can stay home and teach our kids. We are so blessed to live this lifestyle. And I can't imagine doing anything differently.

4 months!

My girl is 4 months today. 1/3 of a year. Yikes. She's such a fun addition, and has really just fit right in to our family in the last 4 months. Here's what's up:

* We go to the doctor tomorrow for her 4 month well check, but I had to take her to the doctor 2 weeks ago (because I freaked out over something weird), and she weighed 11 pounds 2 ounces then. Tiny little thing, but still bigger than her oldest (eldest? whatever) brother was at this point. I'll be surprised if she's broken the 12 pound mark by tomorrow. *UPDATE* She only weighed 10 lbs 12 ounces at the doctor's appointment. The doctor wanted to weigh her again...she peed when I took her diaper off and then she only weighed 10 lbs 10.5 ounces. So we'll be working on getting her weight back up. I'm going to start out by trying to feed her more often and hope that she's actually hungry.

* Stephen made her laugh out loud spontaneously for the first time a few days ago. It's so precious to watch her watch her brothers. They are so in love with her.

* She's trying to turn from back to tummy. She mostly does it when she's mad, and she hasn't completely accomplished it on her own yet, but she's trying. It's still amazing to me that she can roll from tummy to back because the boys didn't start doing it till they were a little more than 4 months.

* Nursing is going great. I've recently started to extend the time between feeds to about 3.5-4 hours and she seems to be doing well with that.

* Sleep is fantastic. At least, night sleep is fantastic, and that's all that matters to me. Not long after her 3 month post, she started sleeping 12 hours at night. And has done it every night since. Naps aren't great. They're ALWAYS hit or miss. But I'm not going to complain. I can deal with whatever she does during the day as long as she sleeps well at night.

* It's clear that her favorite place to be these days is in the sling. When she's having a hard time napping, and I can't commit to sleep training in her room for 30 minutes or more, I put her in the sling. The other day, she was screaming when it was naptime, so I grabbed the sling and as soon as I picked her up and folded her legs the way I do just before I put her in the sling, she immediately quieted down and didn't make another peep for an hour until it was time to eat. Sometimes she sleeps in it, sometimes not, but she always snuggles in and sucks her thumb.

* Speaking of sucking her thumb, she's getting really good at finding it whenever she wants it. She doesn't prefer one over the other and she'll even suck on her fingers if they land in her mouth first, but mostly it's her thumb she wants for comfort. She's ALWAYS got her hands in her mouth and it's really cute when she starts sticking her tongue out and you can see it peeking out from between her fingers.

* Even though she's four months now, I have no intention of starting solids anytime soon. Just not ready.

* She's a sweet baby, but she's stingy with the smiles and laughs (but she has gotten a little more free with the smiles in the last couple days). And she's cranky if you take her out of her normal environment for more than just a couple hours. When we went to my parents' house last week for a little vacation, she was a crank for the first few days and by the time we left to go home, she had gotten used to it and was finally acting like her sweet self.

* We're still dealing with reflux and I'm so glad we go to the doctor tomorrow to get the new dose amount for her meds. I think that might be our problem with naps (well, besides the fact that she's spoiled rotten).

* Toys are getting interesting and she reaches out to grab whatever's there and tries to cram it in her mouth. Of course, she does that with pretty much anything within reach, not just toys (my hair, my shirt, the side of my face). But she loves to play on her mat and grab the toys to try to eat them.

* Still in 0-3 month clothes. Not much change there. 3-6 month clothes just hang on her.


Tiara pictures went much better this month...I even got some smiles!!

They wouldn't have made good pioneers

This afternoon, we had a heckuva storm blow through. It actually passed through pretty quickly, but it was strong. I was sitting in our bedroom nursing Evie when it first started to come through, and Stephen came in to show me (dramatically) how the tree in the back was blowing around (complete with sound effects).

When the thunder started, it was really loud. Normally, the kids (especially Marc-Adam) are afraid of thunder, but I've been trying to calm them down about it every time it thunders. The best thing I could come up with was to tell them that it was "just a sound". I told them it was a sound just like the quack of a duck is just a sound...don't ask me why I compared it to the quack of a duck, it just popped into my head.

So now, anytime they start to freak out about thunder, I say "Quack quack!"

When the thunder started today, they all stayed totally calm, Marc-Adam came to me smiling and said, "Don't worry! It's just a duck, Mama!" :) Love that boy.

Shortly after that, we lost power. At first they were a little lost and confused. They kept saying, "Well we can watch a DVD!" (as opposed to being able to watch the satellite.) Or, "The computer might still work!" And they still attempted to turn the lights on in every room they went in....but then again, so did I. Finally they gave up and we started reading some books and playing silly games like singing everything we said instead of talking. Once they wandered off to play, they kept getting so excited when they found a (battery-operated) toy that worked. Then, when Marc-Adam went to the bathroom, he came out screaming, "The toilet works! The toilet works!"

When dinner time rolled around and the power was still out, that's when the whining and grumbling began. By that time, the storm was long gone and the sun was even shining and we were all starting to get a little sweaty with no A/C and no ceiling fans. I didn't want to open the fridge or freezer so we had to eat of the pantry. We ended up with peanut butter on crackers and a can of fruit salad (I could've come up with more/better, but I'm lazy when I'm hot). Stephen tried to turn on the dining room light and started grumbling about it when it didn't work. I asked him if he had started feeling grateful for all the stuff we take for granted every day. He said, "Yes, but I still want it to come back on now." I told him that there were people in the world right now that live without power every day. Zachary asked me what their names were.

When the lights finally came back on, they weren't even excited about being able to turn the TV or computer on. They were seriously happy that the A/C kicked on! And that they could eat something out of the refrigerator.

It was a fun little break in our day, but I'm so glad I live in the time with all our modern conveniences!

Cue the tight rope music

This week, at the boys' gymnastics place, evaluations were held (and YES, this post is kind of about the kids, but also about me). Every few months, the coaches evaluate the kids to see where they are skills-wise and to make sure that the class that each kid is in is still challenging for them. They last did evaluations in May, and both boys got promoted (they started their new levels in June). Then this week, evaluations were held again, which I thought was kind of soon since they'd just been promoted 2 months ago. But I guess they wanted to move up the kids that didn't move up in June so they could make room for the new folks that are signing up at the beginning of the school year.

ANYWAY, the point of all this is that my boys were VERY excited about it being evaluation time again. I tried to tell them gently that they were not going to be promoted since they've only been in their new levels for 2 months. They understood, but were still excited.

Lo and behold, Stephen got promoted. Again.

Zachary did not.

So began my tightrope walk of being super-excited for Stephen (promoted! again! for the 2nd time in 2 months! to the acclerated level! you're getting so good!) and trying to explain to Zachary that it's okay that he did not (you've only been in the "green" for 2 months. you're still learning all those tricks. you have another full year before the kindergym level and if you promote now, you'll be in the next level for a whole year. we talked about the fact that you were not going to be promoted. it's totally okay! you're are really good, but it's just not time to promote yet.).

Zachary was having none of it. He was totally fine with not promoting until we went to pick Stephen up and Stephen ran up waving his paper that told us what new class he was in. Z didn't understand why Stephen could promote and he couldn't. It was awful trying to contain my excitement for Stephen while being supportive of Zachary. I really am proud of Stephen and was so surprised that he promoted again. But I didn't want to make a huge big deal out of it because Zachary was already feeling badly. It was totally fine that he didn't promote. It doesn't mean he's not good at it. He really is good and he's a quick learner, but like I told him, he's only been in this level for 2 months and he's only got one more level before he starts the kindergym. And he's only been promoted once in the last year. But he didn't care. The fact that Stephen got promoted negated everything else that I tried to tell him. And the more excited Stephen and I were, the more upset he got.

Now, normally, I would just tell Z that that's just how things are and that it's not all about him and that his time will come. But this was genuine disappointment and I'm trying hard to not let him fall into the "middle child syndrome". But it was also hard because I didn't want to hold back our little "mini-celebration" in the car on they way home simply because Zachary was disappointed. That's not fair to Stephen. And we all have to learn to live with disappointment and we have to learn that sometimes other people get what we want.

Thankfully, things have settled down since then. This Sunday is promotion Sunday at church, so the kids will get to step-up to their new Sunday School classes. That helps. I'm just praying that next time evaluations roll around that Stephen will stay put and Z will get promoted (or at least that BOTH will be promoted).

For real!

*When I came back to read this post to Hubby this evening, I realized that the text was broken. It must've been because I just copied and pasted straight out of the e-mail. I think I've fixed it now. Sorry about that.*

My dad forwarded this to me in an e-mail this morning. I was laughing so hard, I had tears and had to quit reading at one point. I e-mailed him back and told him it was like someone followed me around yesterday and wrote down everything I thought about. Ok, so some of it's not stuff I actually think about, but a lot of it is, and it's still hilarious! I did delete a few because they weren't entirely appropriate for what I've got going on the blog here. And just FYI, there are still some words or phrases that aren't appropriate for little eyes that can read.

Random Thoughts of the Day:

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.


* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think
about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own
story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.


* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.


* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be
going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction
from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch
or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that
no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching
directions on the sidewalk.


* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.


* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This
recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be
ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.


* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix
the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to
fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just
figured it out. Today's kids are soft.


* There is a great need for sarcasm font.


* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the hell was going on when I first saw
it.


* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes
stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes
shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right
parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a
millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really,
really gets it.


* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?


* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.


* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.


* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish
a text.


* Was learning cursive really necessary?


* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".


* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.


* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.


* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy,
bro.


* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I
hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".


* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear what they said?


* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to
prevent a **** from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!


* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.


* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.


* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.


* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.


* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.


* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.


* Bad decisions make good stories.


* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile
is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red
Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!


* Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every
year?


* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would
probably just be completely invisible.


* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a
problem....


* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.


* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want
to have to restart my collection.


* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going
to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.


* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I
did not make any changes to.


* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.


* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching
TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if
I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's
only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we
still be friends after this?'


* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China
and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that
when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.


* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!),
but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run
away?


* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing
anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.


* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't
already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.


* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then
I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.


* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but
no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.


* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.


* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.


* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.


* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I’d bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button
from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every
time...


* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?


* It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the
link takes me to a video instead of text.


* I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.


* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.


* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.


* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone
at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and
then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require
such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s
nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

Hey! This is MY blog, too!

I don't really like how my blog has become a place for me to post little snippets of things going on with the kids that I want to remember. I mean, it's great that I have a place like that since I'm so horrible about the baby books, and I'm glad that I can share the happenings of my kids with you, but it's not at all what I really intended. I also meant for my blog to be a place for me to unload thoughts and my own goings-on and to have "conversation" with other folks. The kids are a huge part of my life, obviously, and so of course they will be a huge part of the blog, but I don't really want it to become all about my kids. I really want to get back in the habit of blogging every day or every other day about real life and my experience with it and my thoughts on things in general and some such nonsense.

So.

Now I have to think of something to write about that doesn't have to do with the kids.



*crickets chirping*



Okay, so it'll take some getting used to NOT blogging about the kids since that's obviously become the habit. I'll come up with something. Seriously. I will.

OH! I have something!!

Several months back, when Sweet Hubby was having his health issues, we had to go to a medical supply place to get him some wrist splints to help with the pain/tingling he was feeling in his hands. The lady that owned the place called our insurance company right then and there to make sure that they would cover the cost before she let us out of the place with the splints. She was kind of rude about it, too. That was March. Last week, I got a call from her and she told me that she hired a professional biller of some sort who was supposed to file claims with the insurance companies on about 50 different transactions. Apparently, the biller filed nothing and now the medical supply place lady was sitting on all of these claims that she's not going to get paid for because they are all outside the 90-120 day time limit that providers have to file a claim. She then told me that she tried to file with our insurance company but they said that we are no longer with that insurance company, which is true. May 1st, Hubby's company dropped our previous insurance and put us on with a new company. That sent a little question mark up in my head because how would she know that we were no longer with our old insurance company? She then asked for our NEW insurance information and wanted us to come in and sign a new "delivery slip" with that day's date on it so she could file with our new insurance company. I had big neon signs flashing in my head, saying, "INSURANCE FRAUD! INSURANCE FRAUD!" The lady seriously had no trouble asking me to commit insurance fraud with her. I politely told her that I would get in contact with the old insurance company to find out what she could do. I found out later that when she had called me, she had ALREADY commited fraud because she ALREADY changed the date and then tried to file with the old insurance company. And the date she changed it to was May 5, which is why they denied and is why she knew we were no longer with that company.

She told me that if our old company would't pay, then she would have to charge us for it. But I have no intention of paying because she made a poor decision in hiring that biller. AND, now that I have proof that she commited insurance fraud, I plan on using that information in getting her to back off from us. But I have a feeling that I won't be hearing from her again, because I think she knows she's stuck. She's already lied to me and the insurance company. She can't fix it now.

I'm still fuming about it....the audacity! I can't believe there are people out there whose first solution to a problem is to commit a felony. And that she was so quick to suggest it to me.

Geez.

Little boy

I feel like I've neglected my poor Marc-Adam on my blog lately. It's not because he's not giving me blog-worthy material...he is a constant source of amusement. It's just that most of the time, so many of the wonderful or cute or smart things he says or does can't properly be expressed on the blog. Truth is, he is such an amazing kid. He's smart and funny and hard-headed and sometimes, I just want to squeeze him, he's so sweet.

Today, as Sweet Hubby was putting on his shoes, Marc-Adam asked him where he was going. Hubby told him he had to go to work. Marc-Adam was not happy with this and told Hubby that he was coming too. We tried to explain that he couldn't go, but he asked Hubby, "You going to Mal-Mart?" Hubby said, "Yes, I'm going to work at Wal-Mart." Marc-Adam replied, "You going shopping. I coming with you." :)

When he's lost something and I ask him where he last had it he sadly says, "I tan't mememba." I love how he says that.

He often gets the other boys attention by yelling, "BOY-EEEEEZ!"

Everytime we pray, after we say amen, he yells "For Evie!" while pumping his hand in the air. No idea where he got that from. Our little Braveheart.

The kids were watching some Zula Patrol the other day and someone mentioned Neptune. Marc-Adam hopped up from what he was doing, said, "I know Neptune" and went to the playroom and pointed to the Solar System poster we have hanging up in there. He couldn't point out the exact right planet, but he knew it was a planet.

We were discussing letters and letter sounds one morning, and when I pointed out the B and asked him what sound B made, he replied, "Bzzzzzz!" I wondered what in the world he was saying, and then I realized what he meant (or what he thought I meant).

He goes nowhere without either his goggles, sunglasses or cap, or some combination of the three. One day last week, he went to his Nonny's wearing his sunglasses, bike helmet and his Bob the Builder tool belt. A sight to be seen.

He loves playing Thumb War and Rock Paper Scissors...but I think it's because he always thinks he wins. He yells, "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS SHOOT! I WIN!!!

He came to me the other day and said, "I love Mama and Daddy and Stephen and Zachary." I tried to remind him about Evie and said, "And....?" "And Jesus," he replied.

My sweet baby boy. He's getting so big so fast!

The best sound evah

I'm really trying very hard to not let this blog turn in to "All About Evie". But with all the firsts going on and what with me being SO.IN.LOVE. it's pretty hard. I do have posts currently in the works about the other short people running around my house (that I'm also head over heels in love with), but because I'm using my little blog here as somewhat of a baby book for my own future reference, I have to mention the following:

Evie laughed out loud for the first time yesterday. Well, actually, it was probably more of a series of little grunts. And if she hadn't been smiling while she was doing it, I might have thought she was pooping. But she was smiling. And squirming while I tickled her. And it was definitely her first attempt at a giggle. So sweet.

3 Months!

I almost forgot to do this today and I would've been so disappointed if it had been late again!

Evie's 3 months old today! Here's what's going on in her young life:

• She's becoming much more aware of her surroundings. One of her favorite things to do is sit as our centerpiece in her Bumbo at dinner. As we talk and laugh, she looks from person to person with a very serious look on her face as if she's taking it all in.

• She found her fingers, particularly her thumb, this week. She's constantly trying to cram some combination of her fingers from both hands in her mouth. And she's even using them to self-soothe.

• Up until the last few days, she had been consistently sleeping 8-12 hours at night before waking to sleep. The last few nights it's been closer to 5-6 hours, so I think she hit a growth spurt.

• I haven't weighed her recently, but I think she's up to about 11ish pounds.

• She's wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes, but I can still pull off some of the newborn clothes that I want to get one more wear out of.

• She's rolling over consistently from tummy to back and it's definitely on purpose. She's a tummy sleeper, and most mornings when I go in to check on her, she's laying on her back, looking around and sucking on a finger or 10. She also rolls over to her back when I lay her down for a nap and she's decided it's not naptime.

• Nursing is going great...she eats about every 3 hours (give or take 15-20) during the day. When the boys were her age, they would just close their eyes and get to business, but she likes to look around and look at me. When I talk to her, she tries really hard not to smile but a smile always sneaks out. I love it.

• She is definitely a hip baby and prefers to be held most of her day. Putting her down to "play" only lasts a few minutes at a time, and even then she's looking around for someone to look at or play with. After that, she gets bored and fusses to get picked up. Usually, I happily oblige. :)

• She's putting herself to sleep at night and for naps. Nap lengths are pretty inconsistent, lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, but as long as she puts herself to sleep, I don't mind.

And here are her pics for this month...much less drama than the previous two months. The tiara stays up a little longer before falling in her eyes and she holds herself up longer. I tried my hardest to get a good picture of her smiling, but she wasn't in the best of moods when I took these pictures, so most of them look like she's just tolerating me. And her head was at a weird angle...she wouldn't hold it up and I couldn't get the pillow positioned right to prop her up.

This is actually pretty good one of her face aside from the translucent tiara.

Dear Evie,

It is wise, generally speaking, to not quickly turn your head as I'm trying to kiss your cheek. Because then, somehow, I simultaneously kiss your slobbery open mouth and poke you in the eye with my nose. And then you cry.

So don't do that.

Glad we could clear that up.

Love,
Mom

It's better to just avoid it altogether

We were on the way to my folks' house this afternoon to eat dinner and it just so happened that one of my mom's friends was eating dinner with us tonight, too. In the car, on the way there, I was reminding the boys to use their manners. "Remember to say 'yes, ma'am' and 'no ma'am' and look her in the eye when you are talking or when she's talking to you. And don't forget to say 'Hello, nice to meet you' when she gets there."

Zachary, worried that he might forget his manners, said, "Mama, I just won't talk at all."