I’m jumping on the “Journal” bandwagon my friends Erin and Monica do, it’s a nice way to reflect on life and share with family/friends what’s going on. I don’t know how frequently or what day of the week I’ll do this, we’ll just see how it goes. (It took me a little over 2 hours – because of baby breaks – to get this one done so maybe not that often.)

Today: Saturday

Out my window: I’m actually sitting outside as I type this enjoying the wonderous fall breeze while I bounce my baby in the bouncy chair and listen to my kids play in the yard. (I started there but took some baby nursing/sleep breaks since then.)

Clothing myself in: A t-shirt I dug out of the laundry and some old maternity shorts with a blue paint stain. (I know, I’m so glamorous) I will probably put on some pants and a jacket later as it’s a bit chilly in the shade.

The baby: I LOVE him soooo-times-infinity much. He’s 5 weeks already and growing! It’s hard to watch the time go so quickly but I am thankful he is healthy and developing. He nurses well , he sleeps well(thank you God for my baby carriers!), and pees and poops (still only 1x or 2x a week but that’s ok). So far he’s really been a good baby. He doesn’t even cry in the car! I don’t know how much longer that will last (probably until his teething starts) so I’ll enjoy these good time now.

The kiddos: Our daughter is in 3rd grade–Dorothy, we are not in second grade anymore. It was a rough start but I think she (and I) are getting the hang of it better now. We also decided to take her out of volleyball and focus only on gymnastics for now. I hated ‘quitting’ mid-season but it was clear she really wasn’t as interested in volleyball–she’s always doing cartwheels and backbends but never practices vball on her own. We couldn’t invest our time into something she was obviously not as interested in. She seems very happy with the decision, I wonder how far she’ll go with gymnastics. Our oldest son is liking Kindergarten, though I’m wondering if we made the wrong decision and should have put him in full day as he seems bored and desiring more that I can give him right now in the afternoons. Thankfully I discovered PBSkids videos. (And I don’t feel guilty about this, yay me!) Conferences are this week, I look forward to hearing what their teachers have to say. The two-year old will be three in a couple weeks. Sometimes I forget he isn’t three already. He’s been quite the little goober lately but he’s also had some very cute moments too. I miss him being my baby but if he’s going to be a stinker like this he may as well grow up and be a big kids now.

Around the house: The house? Oh yeah. Well I cleaned my side of the bathroom sink today and my daughter cleaned the kids’ bathroom sink this morning. Maybe I’ll get the rest of it cleaned by the end of the day or week. My handy father-in-law came over this week and helped fix a curtain rod and towel rack that had fallen thanks to my boys love of hanging on things that aren’t meant to be hung on.

In my kitchen: I baked pancakes this week for the first time since baby was born! They came out ok and the kids were happy to have them. I quadrupled the recipe and they still didn’t make enough to last that long! We’ve been incredibly blessed with meals brought by friends/family and other freezer meals I made so I’ve hardly had to cook yet. I’m going to look into the SavingDinner.com that Becky suggested to help meal prep not be as stressful. If I was allowed one luxury it would be either a cook to bring us dinner each night or a maid to clean-up after me in the kitchen. I know it will get easier…one day.

Crafting: Nothing right now. I did all that when I was pregnant since I wouldn’t be able to for a while. However, I’d like to have a cell-phone pouch to attach to the side of my purse for easy/quick access. I wonder if I could knit something because I haven’t seen anything in the stores that don’t also have a wallet attached to it.

Bringing me joy: This beautiful fall weather we’ve had, our hammock, the sound of my children laughing and playing nicely together, baby smiles and the joy these bring my husband when he comes home from work.

Thinking about: Different things–upcoming birthdays and the cakes, this article and that whole issue in general. I’ve also started thinking about which room we should move our daughter to in a few months and how we can decorate it (I’m excited for this part!). There are 4 bedrooms upstairs including ours. The three olders currently share the bigger room across from ours.This will become the ‘boys’ room and my daughter will get a room all to herself (lucky her!) My husband uses the next bedroom for his office which is nice because he is close by and doesn’t have to go far when he is on call and gets up in the middle of the night. So that leaves the room above the garage that is currently our “learning room”. The ceiling is too short for my husband to use it as an office. It would be a little hard letting go of this learning room but maybe I can make some space somewhere else. All my initial perfect homeschooling plans I had for our family when we moved in have obviously changed anways. But it’s fine, I like the way God’s plan for us and school is working out. The other problems is this room doesn’t have a closet big enough for her clothes so I’d have to think of something for that, and, there’s no safe ‘escape’ without a room to climb onto in case of a fire but we could still access the room with a long ladder through the window. Hmmmm.

Pictures to share: Some pics my husband took on a recent zoo trip: