Six weeks!

My sweet little baby number six is six weeks old today! Oh, could I be any more in love?

I'm so glad someone told me many years ago, that those first six weeks are a blur and that it's hard to mess things up too badly. I was advised that at that point, it is more of a beginning time for starting good habits with the baby, and that the goal for the first six weeks is to just survive. That is a big relief to any new mother who is stressing about "doing things right".

I actually usually write off the first three months, myself. Until Janie, all of my babies have had pretty bad colic for the first three months. So, by this time, I have come to expect life to revolve around caring for a newborn for three months, and letting a lot of other seemingly important things slide. OK. I also let a lot of important things slide. I'll admit it.

Janie doesn't have colic. That's just a miracle that I'm still trying to even comprehend! So, I'm quite excited about being able to establish a new six-kid schedule sooner than I had anticipated. The kids are doing school again... at least about 80% of what I would like them to be doing. Yay for checkmarks on those daily schoolwork checklists! It's good to see those again. And since it's really the beginning of a new school year, they are MOSTLY excited and motivated to be studying again.

Besides schoolwork, I'm anxious to get 3 square meals a day going! In anticipation of a new baby, I bought a pantry full of things that the kids could fix for themselves. So, there's been a lot of spaghettios and macaroni and cheese eating going on around here. That's a far cry from our Maker's Diet days! Sydney did learn how to make healthy homemade mac'n cheese when we ran out of boxed. Kurt has been making his own extremely low-calorie meals since Janie was born, which is when he started his diet. We have benefited from some of his cooking, but he's on a different schedule than us, so many times he's offered us great healthy stuff but we had already eaten.

So, now that we have made it to the six week mark, and life is starting to feel a little more like normal, or at least our new normal, I am adding two more tasks to my days besides mothering a newborn. 1.) schoolwork and 2.) feeding my children vegetables. Any other moms out there have such high aspirations as me? Ha ha!

I actually have my own school work to do this year, too. So, I've got papers to write in all my "spare time"... good one, huh? I'm finishing up my degree, finally. Thankfully, I'm able to do almost all of it from home, and Kurt and the kids are very supportive, so they don't mind pitching in and helping with things so I can have some computer time.

Well, this post was supposed to be an encouragement to moms everywhere who have newborns. I know so many right now who have brand new babies in their homes! But instead it became more of an update of my life. Sorry! I really do want to encourage moms with tiny ones that even though it's a tiring and trying time, it is only temporary. Life moves so quickly, and it's alright to extend some grace to ourselves. This is a precious time, and it's quite alright to take things slowly, lower expectations for a little while, and drink in this moment that will someday be a memory...

The Cocoon

A sweet lady at church made Janie a "cocoon" as her shower gift. It's an adorable wrap to take baby pictures with. I've been trying to get a good picture in it since she was born over five weeks ago. Between the full days that come with a newborn and houseful of kids, waiting for her face to clear up a bit from the newborn pimples, and unsuccessful attempts at taking the pics, it took me a while. But here she is... emerging from her cocoon! She wasn't happy about posing at first, but after nursing her to sleep in the cocoon, we tricked her into it. I took my little sleepy girl over to the bed to pose her while Sydney grabbed her hat, the camera, and the blanket to lay her on.






Baby toes are my favorite!!!

Got her all posed...

Sweet little angel...

I love her so much!

My six

Here are a few pics taken recently. Sydney took all of them, except the one of her and Janie, of course. Thanks Syd!

Janie Kate

Sweet little Janie came out to meet us on Wednesday, August 12th. She was born at 11:02 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 6 oz. She tied her big brother Andrew for biggest baby status. She tied her big brother Austin for overdue baby status. She came 5 days after her due date.

It feels really neat to have so many girls in the house! She has dark hair like her biggest sister, Sydney, which is a little blast from the past, since I haven't had a dark-headed baby since 2000!

For now, life is all about Janie! Our days revolve around her.... filling her belly, burping her, wrapping her up, holding her close, breathing in those baby smells, trying to make her smile, changing diapers, and peeking in at her while she sleeps. I know very well how quickly these precious moments fly by!

Cousin Camp (part two)

Any occasion is not complete without "Chubby Bunny".

Cousin Camp

My wonderful sister in law hosted a cousin camp for 12 of the family's cousins. My two little ones made it 14 on this day of cousin camp when we met at the park.

The kids spent a few days together making summer fun memories. Here they are having a jumping jack contest and an egg toss. Notice my little Macy with her big look-alike cousin, Kassandra! And there is Aunt Joanna taking care of one of her campers, cousin Karley.

The kids' picks

While working on the computer today I noticed my little preschooler on the floor flipping through a book, making up a story. I looked over to see what she had pulled off the shelf, and it was one of our Come Look With Me books. It makes me so glad when I see the kids selecting their own favorites off of our schoolroom shelves. It's always so interesting to see what appeals to each different personality. That's why I like to try to keep a variety of books available for them to peruse.

I thought I might take an opportunity to give you a glimpse of what my kids' favorites are at this moment. If I've approved it because it's come highly recommended to me, and then my kids fall in love, then it's definitely worth mentioning.

Macy's (preschool) pick:

Come Look With Me books are a series of fine art books. They aren't the type of books we sit and read from cover to cover, although you could since they are well written. Mostly I've let the kids look and read as much as they desire. The littlest ones often bring them to me to look at like a picture book, and we sit together enjoying the artwork together, commenting as we go. These are great for very small children through the elementary and middle school years. If you are new to fine art yourself, you will appreciate the commentary that helps to explain how to talk about art with your children. Love these!

Andrew's (3-4th grade) pick:

Magic Tree House series. Andrew is devouring these right now. They are mysteries, which also touch on history. There are definitely more serious, classic choices for this age range, but for a reluctant reader, these are a great way to get the reading desire jump-started without compromising your library with other series that bring in bad attitudes and too much "junk food" for the mind. There is some magic, but definite lines are drawn between good and evil.

Sydney's (jr high) pick:

Alone yet not Alone by Tracy Michele Leininger. This is Syd's all time favorite book. It is part of Vision Forum's Beautiful Girlhood series, which is based on the lives of women in history who demonstrated godly character during times of incredible challenge.

Austin's (8-9th grade) pick:

He has loved the last three classics that he's finished and said he recommends them all. They are Moby Dick, The Three Musketeers, and The Count of Monte Cristo.