Simply Wonderful

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."
~Laura Ingalls Wilder

"I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry. And I know you do the same things too, So we're really not that different, me and you."
~Colin Ray

Today I am finding joy and peace and beauty in the simple things. The smiles of each of my girls, the beautiful rose Tyler cut from our yard last night, the way his eyes smile when he looks at me and our girls.... Life is good

Training the dog

I was grilling steak outside and went out to check on it. Kaci was out on the patio looking distressed. I asked her what the problem was.

She said " I got a cockroach smushed and it started walking again."

I looked down at her bare feet and asked if she really stepped on one. (yuck)

She said, "No, I don't have shoes on!" (good... she didn't really step on a cockroach barefoot.)

Then she said "I taught Cocoa to step on them! He didn't do a very good job though, because it started walking again."

So now my question is: How does a 3 year old train a dog to step on a cockroach?

A rainbow in the storm

Last night, all 3 kids were crying at the same time. It was fun. (not)

Kaci was "wrestling" (beating) on Shanna while they were trying to sleep. So, Tyler separated them. Kaci had to go sleep in the guest room. That punished both of them. (Shanna is not so innocent either) Kaci was of course crying because she got removed. Shanna was crying because she was "scared." (I think she missed her sister and also felt a little guilty because she was screaming like she was getting her toe nails pulled out when really she was just being bugged a bit.)

Anyways, just when the noise couldn't get louder, Sara joined in. Luckily her crying never lasts very long. (Who knew that an 8 year old could cry louder and longer than a newborn.)

But then the miracle happened. Sara nursed for the first time! I don't know if I can expect it to ever happen again, but it was like the rainbow in the middle of the storm that lets you know that it will pass soon. For just one feeding, it made all of the special equipment and time spent pumping feel worth it. Maybe she will figure this out after all. We'll see how it goes today!

Plums

These might be as small as cherries, but they are so sweet. I made a small batch of jam out of some of them... Yum!

3 Weeks Old

Sleeping like a princess

No More Mean Kaci

Kaci has been such a stinker lately. Yesterday, I decided she was going to have a nap, or I would lose it. I put a relaxing CD on, and snuggled her and soon she was sleeping like a little angel. When she woke up, she was all smiles and announced that "Mean Kaci" was gone. She told me that she had put "Mean Kaci" into jail and locked her up tight.

"Nice Kaci" hung around for a few hours, and then she started turning back into "Mean Kaci." I asked her if that was how "Nice Kaci" would act. She said "Oh no, Mean Kaci is getting loose!" She then locked up "Mean Kaci" tighter.

Just for the record, her labels of "Mean Kaci" and "Nice Kaci" came from her, not me! I am just happy that she finally gets the whole concept of choosing how to act!

Where does the time go?

No, I have not been slacking, I have been busier than ever before. It makes it difficult some days to do the things that I enjoy. I got pretty spoiled with Shanna and Kaci getting older and being able to occupy themselves and be self sufficient. Sara is such a great baby, but it seems like everything hits the fan all at the same time. This morning (well afternoon...) I was trying to make my bed, make lunch, clean up all of the night time bottles all at the same time. Sara was hungry (feeding her is a story for another day) Kaci was onery, and Shanna wanted to know where I keep the rope and nails. Apparently she wanted to build a human zip line with a car seat. (I'm not kidding.)

Yikes

I am still learning to manage it all. However, those sweet moments of feeling baby breath on my neck when I snuggle Sara, or watching Shanna give her nose kisses, or hearing Kaci sing her a song when she is crying makes it all worth it.