7 Quick Takes (vol. 37)

--- 1 ---

Through much of high school and college I processed my thoughts and emotions through journaling. I would spend hours pouring my thoughts, hopes, dreams, and tears into cute little notebooks while sipping Sugar Monkey Plum iced tea at my favorite coffeehouse, waiting for a friend (or stranger, more on that some other time maybe) to stop by my table for a friendly (or not so friendly, probably no more on that later) theological debate. Or I'd curl up with my journal and chai in my room with soft music playing and candles on every surface that would safely hold one.

--- 2 ---

Today I'm typing this post on my phone, lying on my stomach on the playroom floor, trying to entertain JP on his playmat next to me with funny faces and noises. M is using his wonderful imagination and keeps offering me "Lima bean Cheerios" (?!?! My only guess is that the Lima bean bit comes from Veggie Tales). Liam is alternately driving trucks on my back and finding things to jump off of when I chase him away for being too rough. 

--- 3 ---

Proof:

already a master of the one eyebrow raise

don't you want some Lima bean cheerios, dear reader?

Liam, his dump truck, and my foot

--- 4 ---

So yeah. A little bit different. And I feel like I have a lot I need to process, but between the diapers and snacks and stories and never ending laundry and every 2 hours nightly nursing sessions (seriously JP, what is your deal?!) and dishes and toys everywhere and ... What was I talking about? Oh, right. By the time the boys are in bed and the kitchen is clean and Alex and I have finally had a chance to say more than two words to each other without being interrupted and I could, theoretically, light some candles and think something out on paper I barely have energy to drag myself to bed, let alone engage in any sort of introspection. 

--- 5 ---

Another element of my current mental and emotional chaos is trying to find some work as a freelance writer. This year I'm only teaching one class for the Biblical School rather than three, which is fantastic for our daily schedule (not getting myself and all the boys out of the house before 8am twice a week? Yes please!) but more than a little challenging for our budget. So I've been spending a lot of time finding and applying for freelance projects and trying to work on a couple articles to submit various places. It is alternately exciting, fun, discouraging and terrifying. 

--- 6 ---

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but a major part of my motivation this week has been driven by my discovery of Twice online consignment. I know I'm waaay behind the curve here, but if you're not already shopping there and you're interested, would you be so generous as to sign up through my referral link? I'll get some store credit if you decide to buy or sell anything, and then I can indulge myself in some 80%-discounted Limited tops without sacrificing the groceries or mortgage payment ;) 

--- 7 ---

Okay, JP is no longer amused by my absentminded cooing or the endless string of toys, and the big boys have abandoned this entire room of toys to go play on the stairs (not allowed, and therefore always a first choice).

Check out Jen and the rest for more Quick Takes

Boy Talk: The Liam Files

Oh my goodness. This boy and his words. Here are some of our current favorites at the ripe old age of 21 months:

nooch - smooch
huds - hugs
tatu tatu tatu tatu! - thank you
jiu-jies - blueberries
Hah-POHL - John Paul
Za-Za - Liam (your guess is as good as mine)
Dado - Michael
cahs- cars
tuts - trucks
tocter - helicopter or airplane
bye! bye tocter! (with wave) - whenever he hears an airplane overhead
roosrie - rosary
nuch - lunch
nook - milk
ashishus - delicious
paffles - waffles
tah-tos - crackers
tsatser! (always deep and growly) - soccer
dah-poo - diaper
pwack! pwack! - when you ask him what a duck says
a-joo-ja - alleluia

more interested in the pacifier now than he ever has been... and more interested in it than JP is too

such a good big brother

he wouldn't hold still enough for a non-blurry picture, but the hat reads "I hunt for hugs."
It suits him :)

cool dude!

do you think maybe we're related?

flying a "tocter"

getting adventurous with the sprinkler

reading stories with Grandma

Look for more boy talk coming soon from this chatty, busy little fellow! As Liam would say, "Ah joo!" (I love you!)

Photo Dump: John Paul

I can't believe this little guy...
...is already 4 months old. Crazy.

He is such a happy little guy. And for at least a quarter of his life so far he has been an absolutely terrific sleeper (by our standards).

dozing off on his play mat

pictures of sleeping babies are my favorite

more sleeping!

He was sleeping through the night for a couple weeks (so amazing... so very, very amazing), then at about 3 months he went back to waking up once, sometime twice, each night. Not bad at all. And then for the last two weeks or so he has had a really hard time staying asleep. He has slept on his tummy since he was only a couple weeks old and he does not at all like to sleep on his back. Now he rolls over from tummy to back really easily and it is messing with his sleep in a major way. Sad day for Mama. I can't wait for him to figure out rolling back onto his tummy!

One of my favorite things this summer was snuggling and nursing John Paul in bed for an extra hour or so while Alex got up with the bigger boys in the mornings.

carefully propped on his side so he wouldn't wake up immediately

He loves his jumper:

And his grandpa:

He does not love his car seat (again with the being on his back, I think). He's not particularly interested in the pacifier, but it does occasionally help in the car.

are we there yet?

Life is good :)

When life is just kind of a pain...

I had such good intentions of blogging more regularly this summer. I have a whole series of posts brewing in which I plan to share the deep insights and life lessons I've been mulling over as I read the boys their favorite books over and over and over again. Liam's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. John Paul is already four months old. Michael is becoming such a big little boy. I have sooooo many pictures I've been meaning to post.

Shortly after Easter my SI joint alignment issue reared its ugly head again, and I saw the physical therapist for it in early June (I didn't mean to wait so long--I gave it a couple weeks to resolve with stretching, then when it didn't it took another 3 weeks before I could get an appointment. sigh.). And then two weeks ago I went back to my PT for some intense back pain. I was hoping it was just my alignment again, but the PT checked me over and informed me that I was perfectly aligned. This time the problem is an acute herniated disc. Well, rats.

This situation has been all-consuming for me. I already felt overwhelmed and frustrated with the residual sciatic pain and limited range of motion from my alignment issue. Now, of course, I wish it were only that. I thought I had a high tolerance for pain (I confess my natural labors are often more a source of pride for me than they should be!) but this experience has been totally humbling. A big part of why I haven't blogged much recently is that I can't think of anything to say that isn't chock-full of self pity (the other part is that I can't sit at the computer for more than a few minutes, and the kitchen counters are rarely clean/clear enough to to serve as a standing desk). I started this post with the title of "photo dump" and the intention of simply mentioning my back and then posting a bunch of pictures from the last month or so. And then when the explanation started to just flow out in more detail than I had planned, I spent the rest of the evening feeling sorry for myself all over again. There may be future reflections on what I've been learning about myself during this ordeal, and then again there may not. Maybe once I'm back to "normal" (whatever that is; my PT did promise she'd get me there) I'll have a little more perspective and can write something that isn't just whining.

ANYways, here are a couple pictures from our trip to South Dakota for church camp in June. More pictures coming very soon, I promise :)

John Paul Charles and Great Grandpa Chuck

really great Great Grandparents

it was not a particularly photogenic week for Liam...
this was his happiest face from all the family pictures we tried to take

these boys lover their grandparents!

Our New Best Friend

By all rights I should have posted this in March, but, you know, new baby and stuff.

The last time I brought up potty training I was despairing of Michael ever being potty trained. He would go on the toilet, sometimes, but he didn't seem to care if he also went in his pull-up. He was not motivated by anything. M&Ms, watching a show, stickers, wearing big-boy underwear... "No fank you." I was all set to give up and just have three kids in diapers for. ever.

But then! John Paul was born, and Alex had a week of paternity leave. He worked hard with Michael to give him the consistency that I hadn't been able to give, and Michael was doing pretty well except for the whole #2 thing. We were at a total loss. How do you tell a kid how to poop on command? Seriously.

Our last ditch effort was a combination of stickers and a big reward. Michael got a sticker on his chart every time he peed in the toilet, and he was promised a big reward when he finally went poop. Alex and my dad (in town for JP's baptism) took Michael to Walmart to pick out his very own reward. His cousins are big into the Avengers, so I was expecting his to come home with Captain America or maybe Thor. And I was pretty much fine with that. Obviously he needed to be in charge of letting us know what would motivate him, since all of our ideas were total failures (even the Thomas stickers... I thought for sure those would be such a hit).

Well. The guys came home shortly, and Michael proudly produced his reward: the Hulk. Big, green, ugly, angry. Not a toy I would have picked out for him. I gave Alex an "Are you serious?" look, and Alex explained that they didn't have any Captain America figures and Michael really wanted this Hulk. Oh well. We put the box up on the windowsill in the bathroom, and Michael could have his new toy as soon as he pooped in the toilet.

But it worked! Within 24 hours of bring "Hoch" home Michael did poop in the toilet, and he hasn't had a poop-related accident since (knock on wood... oh please don't let me jinx this)! We continued to use the sticker chart for several weeks to help work on a good attitude about going potty when told to do so, and it was helpful for a while. Michael has had several minor accidents (mostly getting distracted playing and just not quite making it to the bathroom in time) and two or three bigger ones (where he apparently didn't realize he was even peeing until he was completely done). 

Alex suggested trying underwear at night about a month or so after JP was born, and I told him he was welcome to try it if he wanted, but as I was going to be nursing the baby all night he would be the one changing sheets when Michael inevitably wet the bed the first night in underwear. Needless to say we waited, but for the last several weeks he has been waking up during the night to go potty (usually pretty traumatic--he is so tired and doesn't want to be awake), and so a few nights ago we finally took the plunge. He is doing great.

So. Thus endeth the potty training epic (unless M totally regresses because I finally got around to blogging about his success). It is still my least favorite thing about parenting, but I feel slightly less despairing about Liam's turn coming up in another two years or so. Besides, now that Michael is potty trained it is going to be his job to potty train his brothers. I'm done.