I do think about blogging, a lot. But I just keep not doing it. I'm wondering about the future of my blog. I do love keeping my "journal" online, but I'm getting it done less and less often. I know I don't have a readership, and I don't want to acquire readers. I do this for myself. We'll see how it goes this summer. I've got my laptop fixed, and found the power cord. It's been missing for several months, but was pretty low on my list of important things, since we have the big computer and a smart phone for internet. (By the way, the cord was in the dvd cabinet the whole time. I kept searching the computer cabinet and box.)
How is life? Good!
Elsa is sleeping most of the night now. She backed her go-to-sleep time from 11 to 9, and moved forward her waking time. She usually sleeps at least 6 hours, but earlier this week slept 10 hours! If she wakes, it's usually just once, and she finally will go back to sleep in her own bed, without being swaddled. We still have absolutely no daytime schedule. She likes to be held and to nurse a lot of the day. (My milk production is still struggling, so I think she nurses more often than is typical.) She will lay on her blanket or in her bouncy chair, but prefers to be able to see and hear me. So it's really hard to get anything done. But I just try to peck away on projects whenever I have 5 minutes.
My body is feeling (and looking!) all of it's 33 (almost 34) years. I don't know if it was all brought on by this last pregnancy and childbirth, but I feel old! I have an outrageous amount of gray hair falling out during my post-baby molt. People claim they can't see gray in my hair, but I say bull. My skin has been going crazy with extreme dryness and what I have self-diagnosed as rosacea. I switched soap and moisturizer to an all-natural approach, and it seems to have helped a lot. I'm doing the oil cleansing method and moisturizing with a mix of jojoba, coconut, sunflower, avacado, and rose hip seed oil, along with some essential oils. (By the way, I've become a bona fide hippie in the last year.) My metabolism has flat-lined, and I've only lost 10 lbs of baby weight. My varicose veins are better than they were during pregnancy, but are still pretty bad. (My first appointment to repair is next week.) My back has been hurting for 3 weeks, with no known cause. It's getting better slowly (no more stabbing pains), but I'd prefer it be fixed NOW. And there's other hormonal things.... To sum it up, I'd rather just take naps every day. :)
We finished school, for-real-but-not-really, the first week of May. The boys finished their math before Elsa arrived, and were basically done with new material in Language Arts (phonics, spelling, reading, language, poetry, etc), so I let them skip the lessons and just finish their worksheets and readers. The lure of finishing early wasn't enough to make them do 3 days at a time, but they finally got it all done. Summer schedule is reading a story or two, and math flashcards every day, so I am making them do "school" during the summer. I had backed Nathan up a year to 2nd grade Language Arts and he made a HUGE leap (from Kindergarten reading level, to a normal 3rd grade boy level), so we're going to try jumping ahead to 4th grade (where he should be) Language next year.
The boys LOVE being outside. They are constantly out there building (or destroying) things, digging in the dirt, or helping do anything. I am so glad they have the opportunity to just "be boys." Nathan can run the lawnmower, and we recently acquired a pushmower, and Jacob begs to mow with it. If Paul asks them for help doing a project, they leap to join him. I really appreciate their helpfulness, and hope they keep that quality throughout their life. God knows the house would have completely fallen apart had they not been doing the bulk of the cleaning lately.
Zadie starts school this fall also, and she's excited and ready. (She turned 4 last month.) She wants to write her name, and has finally mostly got her colors sorted out. She's such a big girl (literally, and as an expression)! She loves her little sister and is always trying to mother her and snuggle. She keeps telling me about, "when I'm a mommy." I love that she's identified with me. Whereas, I don't think that all women should only be stay-at-home moms, I will encourage her to dream about being a mommy as much as I'd encourage her to be an astronaut, if that's what she wants to do. I think that being a mom is just as important, if not more important, than being a doctor or teacher. She's figured out how to ride her bike, and can actually ride without training wheels, but can't launch or stop, so we keep them on for now.
Gideon is..... a two year old. He amazes us with his vocabulary and ability to communicate (our last two were just starting to use words at his age), but he is a pill. He is a bully and will hit other kids when they don't do what he wants. We've been having a trial with screaming "NO!" tantrums. It's really pleasant at 4 AM, let me tell you. I know it's "just a stage" but.... Oh my. It takes everything I have to stay on him. (And he has figured out the "Mommy is nursing and can't do anything right now.") Not to mention the little bugger can do anything he sets his mind to, even if it could potentially kill him.
We have had basically nonstop rain this month. The garden has only been dry enough to work in for a few days, and that was at the beginning of the month. It now has algae growing in it (future fertilizer?), and standing water in several places. The only way I can see where the peas are, is because they're turning yellow among all the weeds. I complain like a city person, but I think even the farmers are ready for it to end for a while. I know quite a few still haven't gotten all their crops in. When I look at the weather map, there are flood warnings along rivers from Wyoming to Texas to Missouri. It makes me wonder what the rest of the summer will be like.
Well, even though I opened with bragging about Elsa's nighttime sleep schedule, she is thinking about waking up, so I need to get my lap empty and ready for her.
Hopefully I'll be here again soon, blogging about more randomness and discoveries!
