Nakita Baby

Today was amazing. Just had to report. 6.5 hours at grandpa’s pool was extremely therapeutic for each of us. Still had to pry K out of the water at 6:3opm b/c I was about to die of starvation at that point. D’s eyes so red she nearly passed out in her plate during dinner. S totally on the mends…. happiness in the water, a 1 hour nap in the perfect sunshine, and ate really pretty well throughout the day. I, woke up feeling 100% better than yesterday, and the sunshine just set my day in perfect motion. It was quite blissful. And I, for one, feel back on track. Phew : )

Highlight of the day: Went to check on the garden to see if it had just been wiped away in the torrential storms last night, and instead we found a snap pea started, AND a few blossoms coming shortly behind.

Tomorrow…. BEACH!

Love. Summer.

Yes, that’s just the plain honest truth. As much as I LOVE being a mama more than anything in the world…. there are those moments where it just sucks.

Today might be one of those days…. for me.

So the older 2 had wanted to go the pool as of lately, and as much as I was trying to accommodate that, the weather did not seem to want to cooperate with that plan today, so I opted to offer to take them to the Shedd Aquarium for the day and then tomorrow when it looked like a clearer forecast, we could try the pool thing. So, they seemed thrilled with that idea, however before we even got ready to move out the door, K and D were at it again. Now, I’m not a fool to think that sibling rivalry could not possibly exist amongst any set of siblings, even mine. But what’s really really getting to me is the physical-ness of it that ultimately has someone in tears. I try to explain over and over (and over and over and over) again that I, in know way, expect that they agree on absolutely everything, BUT I 110% believe that they could disagree without beating the crap out of each other.

Being at wits end with this phenomena, I made the decision that if/when this happens we bail on our day’s activities and just chill for the day instead. I, honestly, have yet to hold-true to this “threat” until today. And even when I did so today, bailing on the Shedd adventure, I felt totally torn. I mean what does staying home accomplish in the battle of the physical? What good does it do to threaten something unrelated and follow through with it? Aside from making me feel like complete crap. What does it do for them? I can’t really think of anything it’s helping aside from seeing that mom can be a real grouch at times. So here we sat for the day.

Now, I have to say, the rest of the day was really quite pleasant amongst the 2 of them. They played together quite nicely and lots of fun laughter, but really, is that because of the “threat” in the air, or is that b/c they just needed a day at home to chill with each other? I just don’t know. And then the afternoon I plugged away at the computer, feeling quite pleased at what I was accomplishing for myself, but feeling like you-know-what b/c I was accomplishing this stuff for myself. That added to my feeling of yuck about the situation.

To top things off, S did not seem totally better from his stomach-thingy today. Yesterday was a really good day, and today I felt he was doing just fine, but SBJ kept making comments that made me feel otherwise. (Sometimes I think he just does not get that his statements, comments, feedback weigh heavily on me. Bless his heart, I know he does not mean to freak me out, but it just happens sometimes….. I’m sure being an emotional, hormonal preggo woman did not help matters today.) So…. anyway, as much as I am saying he’s doing fine, he’s just recovering from something yuck that wiped him out, I am hearing the opposite. At dinner S did not each much of anything, but keep in mind he had a cookie today, he did take in 1-2 bites of stuff throughout the day, his diapers were wet (well-hydrated), still not a single fever either, so he’s complaints of belly ache are the result of him still trying to kick it and get better. But…. SBJ made a comment about him not eating being a problem and I ultimately start to internally freak out. It was just one-to-many times hearing something like that and being as emotional as I was that I did not handle that one right. I started to really feel like a poopy mommy and called the Dr.. Dr. decides, ultimately that I could bring him to the ER to have him checked out. ER???? REALLY!?!? I mean b/c his belly hurts???

Ugh…. I called my mother and that may have just made me even worse b/c she’s been trying to convince me for the last few days that he needs and xray b/c he could be backed up all the way to his intestines. I mean come on!!! I think I’d get if he was that constipated. He’s in diapers! But, yea, she was agreeing with Dr. and that ER was a good choice. I’m packing bag and thinking, “this really seems totally ridiculous to me!!!” I make sure I have the insurance cards and pack saltines and a water bottle. S sees the saltines and decides he wants to eat those!

Sure enough…. he downs 2-3 saltines AND I made him some Emergen-C to drink which he downed with water as well. Even had some ice cream with D and K after that. I say to SBJ, “you really think this is necessary? He’s eating and drinking well… for having recovered that stomach upset.” SBJ responds with, “I never thought he should go in the first place.”

I…. break down in complete sobbing tears.
I explain to him that things he says made me feel horrible and all day I had been trying to tell him he’s doing well, and yet I felt the opposite from him, and now the Dr and my mother! (He of course apologized saying he did not mean it to sound like that…. ) I am pretty hormonal today I think.

UGH….
S then asks if he could “go to the Dr.” with me, but he really just had his shoes on and wanted to go outside. I took him for a little walk around the building looking for lightening bugs and he walked the whole way, thoroughly enjoying being outdoors and the bugs. He had his ice cream when we returned and he said he was ready for bed.

The stress of trying to keep someone alive and well is just daunting at times. And to HEAR your gut speaking to you, but then to  have the feeling that everyone around you is saying and feeling the complete opposite is just SO daunting. How does a mommy build up the strength to stand strong when following her gut on things like this!!! Likewise…. to be place this on top of my sibling rivalry (internal) battle on how to handle that…. yipes… I’m SO tired!

AND…. I am SO glad that tomorrow is a NEW day!!!
I’m so ready to do-over and find a better way!

(Ironically here I sit watching this freaking show called “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” on TLC… I mean, come one! Are you freakin’ serious?!?! : )

Hectic weekend led to a semi-restful Monday. Starting last week, Friday, we made the insane decision that beach day at Foster and then a drive across Chicago (west-ward) during rush-hour was a wise idea. May not have been so bad if we weren’t in the midst of a torrential down pour, and we hadn’t had the beach day from hell. Well…. it was the getting there and settled that was slightly insane, and then we were thrilled to be there. But apparently it was Chicago’s half-day/last-day of school and it’s “tradition” for everyone to head to Foster on that Friday! And yep…. I had no clue of this lil’ tradition and got suckered into the trek. So parking was a nightmare. Probably a good mile or so from the beach. Beach totally crowded, people on top of each other, which for the J’s just does not fly. BUT…. it was so stinkin’ hot that it was a blessing to be settled and cooling off in the water!

The drive to the b-day party was a nightmare, but again, once we finally arrived, the skies totally cleared and the kids had a blast with their friends. It was a super fun time for all. Of course we all returned home completely wiped out and totally needed to wash people down. It was a late night to say the least.

Sat. I had an au pair meeting, meeting the au pairs at the Custer Street Fair, definitely one of my favorites. S woke up feeling kinda funky. He had a rough night the night before, and was not feeling great that day. He passed out for a nap just before I needed to leave, so I ended up taking K and D to the fair instead of everyone. I met up with the au pairs, and we saw a bit of the fair, but unfortunately, we had to head out quickly as I had another meeting to get to. Kids were bummed and I felt bad b/c they hadn’t gotten to wander the fair much.

Evening meeting was the mamas/daughters group and it was really really nice. I am getting a good feel for where this is going and how it’s evolving and look forward to the time when the girls are involved in the meetings. Looks like we are going to attempt one moms meeting a month and one girls meeting a month. It’ll be great to see how things transpire when the girls are participating.

Father’s Day was lovely and low key. The kids picked out a new bike helmet for daddy’s gift as he’s been quite the biker lately. He’s got the bike and now the helmet and enjoying the exercise he’s getting and the additional special time he’s getting with the kids. The kids each drew nice pictures for him. That is really D’s thing. She loves to draw book-fulls of pix and thoroughly enjoys giving her art to her loved ones. So sweet.

So. After a lounging morning we decided that K and S could get out to the Brickworld festival for a bit and I would hang with the other 2. S was still not feeling tip-top shape so it was not worth trekking around with him and D is not that totally into Legos that paying her admission was worth it. After they got their little traps around the festival we stopped by the garden to see what was left standing…. not much at this point. But hopefully we’ll get at least 1 vegetable out of the whole thing. : ) After that stop-over we headed back to Custer Street Fair. It’s a fun festival and I enjoy peeking around at people’s cool stuff. I swear every year, that the next year I will have a table there. But each year comes and goes and I fail to get my butt in gear to do so. Maybe next year will finally be the year. At least I’d hope so!

Ah… so headed home and everyone crashed. That’s pretty busy for us as I kinda love the more mellow weekend times, but it was really fun and worth it all. S was still not up to par as of yesterday and so we opted to stay home today and kinda catch up and enjoy some down time. Today he’s kinda back and forth on whether on the mends or not. Not even sure what’s happening with him as he seems to only have stomach issues. No fever, nothing else to go on. What I think is going on is teething. Those stinkin’ molars still have not completely come in and I think there’s lots of drool making its way down to his little tummy and he’s got some major upset. I started him on probiotics yesterday seeing as he’s not nursing anymore, I thought that might help. I am hopeful this will pass soon. W/o a fever, cold or any other symptoms I have no clue where to go. He’s diapers are so loose, but yet not so frequent, and he still wants to eat and drink. Thought not eating a ton (or as usual) he wants to eat. And he’s drinking great. So go-figure. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.

Had a good day of Blockus and Wii, drawing and movies. I love those kinda days with the kids, and enjoy the down time for myself. I have been pretty pooped lately. I think it’s time to start turning in far earlier than I have been lately. The belly is growing and baby’s super active. I feel hungry every 2-3 hours and it’s tough to keep up! But so eager and looking forward!

And on that note…. I think I will do as I suggest and hit the hay.

I recently came across this cool suggestion from a website or blog that mentioned taking the time in each day to recognizing your “highlights”. It encourages you to think of and actually write down at least one main highlight in your day and take notice at various other times in your day if you are truly doing what’s most important to you in that given segment of your life/day… and… to stay on track with that, noticing the great feelings and emotions of doing what’s most important to you.

It’s a simple task, and truly takes a wonderful shift in mood and overly feelings at the completion of any given day. I also find it wonderful in helping me document special moments to me with in this period of time. As we all know, life flies by way too fast, and sometimes it just all becomes one big blur.

So my recent highlights:

- A walk I had with the kids from a park in Skokie to a convenience store. Just one of those impermeable great moments that was just a real feel-good time.

- A show that the kids put on for me and SBJ the other evening…. truly hilarious and breath-taking to see budding personalities.

- The massive amounts of giggles that come from the bedroom when SBJ is doing “scaring time” with the kids.

- SBJ turning down a position he was over-qualified for despite is overwhelming stress of choosing to say no to a job offer. It’s not an easy thing to be offered a job and turn it down, and I was so proud that he realized his potential in that moment.

- Witnessing a fire truck and ambulance pull up for a poor mama who was carrying her boy with bloody foot. It looked as though he may have fallen or gotten caught on those pesky escalators, and just realizing how insanely blessed I am at this point in my life with my amazing babies.

- And last, but certainly not least…. When S came to me today, trying to get his shoes on so we could leave for the movies… said, “Ye le bla le ye ne STUPID CROC, le ne ya le ble leh ye, STUPID CROC ON!!!!” As he was explaining to me that the stupid crocs would just not go on his feet today.

Well…. and seeing Shrek 4 in 3-d with the kiddos surely was not too shabby of a moment either. You’d think that by the 4th it’d get old and tired, and it was just as great as all the rest!

Yes, that describes it to a ‘t’….. challenge. I have had good intent to sit down and blog this week and each time I have had not much to chatter about. Life is just good…. great in fact. I am in a state of relief now that classes are over. I really was reaching breaking point with the schedule there, and it’s been so wonderful to have a entered summer time. And summer time it truly has been. The weather has been amazing. Between the rains and the sunshine, one just can not at all complain. We are enjoying at least one park day per week with one of the area homeschool groups, and then a beach day as well. We’ve filled time with finally being able to be one-on-one with friends which seems to have been a long lost past time as of late. So it’s been wonderful to recapture that enjoyable free time with other very cool and special families. We’ve made it out to the garden just a bit. With all of the rain we have not had to go too often, but did make this week to do a bit o’ weeding. Things were looking just so-so there. Hopefully just a temporary cliche of over-watering from mother nature, and with more sunshine we’ll be ok. But there are signs that some things may be problems. The peas are a for instance. A few of the plants look as though they have been munched on by some critter of sorts. All of our strawberry blossoms were gone. And… the lettuce which I though could just grow larger seems more unhappy the larger it gets. But…. again, we shall see. I did not do anything much at all the last time but pull up some weeds. I hope to get back there soon and see how things are when we finally have some dry-time.

I have been feeling baby kicking nearly non-stop. It makes me even more eager to find out who this little person is. We are in for a treat I know that much. I have been having all of these wild dreams lately pointing me in various directions. My anticipation is mounting.

K has been back into the Bionicle scene lately. But also busy with so many projects its hard to keep track. I find him in a very challenging state recently. Many emotions surging through him that result in not-so-fun attacks on me. Something I certainly am not used to, coming from him. But he too seems to gather that its other stuff causing reactions towards me. At least when I ask him “what’s up”… he is able to realize that he’s affected by feeling tired, or the weather, or other factors going on. Nevertheless, it’s been a challenging spot for us, and look forward to this summer of just connecting more so with the laziness of the schedule and the uniqueness of true unscheduled family time.

D has been active as ever and growing each and every night. By 8pm she is asking if she should put her pj’s on…. not wanting to read in the evenings and literally just crashes. The weather and her activeness? Combined with her just sheer go-go-go personality? : ) Growth spurt? She got her first experience with baby this week! That was super fun. Every time baby seems really really active I think it might be a good time for them to feel the baby moving around. She was close enough to catch baby on the move this week and she was so thrilled! It was so cute. She is very eager as well to meet her new brother or sister real soon.

S is just the funniest little man ever. Still not nursing…. well, he’s asked. I’d say in this entire week of ‘not nursing’ he’s asked twice. Both times I reminded him that the milk was gone, but him and his stubbornness wanted to regardless. OMG was it painful as ever. Fortunately, he only latched for less than 5 seconds and had no interest. So in my mind, he’s still pretty weaned. I think that habit of asking will take time, and fortunately we have the summer for that. But he’s done most of the work himself, and that’s loads of pressure off. I still miss it tremendously and cherish that connection. But for me, it’s a great memory now…. too painful to relive! : ) Other… S is going through some very emotional stuff as well. He is getting really funny about certain things, and b/c he tries so hard to be verbal he gets super supper pissed off if you just don’t get it and do it the first time requested. Prime example….. made pasta the other day. Pasta was done and I was putting some in a bowl for D. I asked him if he wanted some and he said yes. So I started to put it in a bowl for him. Well, Mr. Pitch-a-fit showed up. He wanted me to put it back in the pan. (Me…. totally confused, did so.) Then he said he wanted some. Ok… put some in the bowl….. Screaming commences. I put it back. He says he wants it on the spoon. I ask, “OH… you want a bite from this big spoon?” …. “ah-huh”…. Ok… so give him a single noddle on the spoon and he’s happy and smiling all of a sudden. NOW…. he wants it in the bowl. Don’t get me started about when I bring the bowl to the table and try to figure out where he will sit to eat the pasta now! Oh yea…. he’s a handful that one. I tell you…. you just better get it right! ; )

Looking forward to this pretty relaxed weekend. The weather is pretty muggy, but enjoyable. Today SBJ had trouble keeping S awake at about 4pm, so after S crashed for a very unusual nap (as he just does not do so much anymore), he took K and D out for a bike ride. I had an amazing 2 hour span of time where I just enjoyed silence. I checked email, just sat and stared (literally : ), and then started a very YUM dinner. All in complete silence. Wow….

Forecast for tomorrow, beach day, is for rain. Yuck.
Kiddos have been dying to get to a NUG beach day and this was our first planned attempt and the weather not lookin’ like it will cooperate for us. So glad we made it out to park day today, at the very least. Yesterday we spent running around exchanging a few items and attempting to find sandals for K and D. Both of them broke their more recent pair in the exact same places. Weird. But anyway, we headed to Carson’s thinking that the exchanges would cover shoes, and then they don’t even carry children’s shoes. Weirder still. The kids are so well-stocked on clothes b/c of recent b-days that they really did not need much of anything. They each picked out one item and then spent the last $2 of store credit on chocolate bars : )

Wandering around the mall looking for a Game Stop for K to spend his burning $$, we crossed a place for D to get her ears pierced. She’s very interested in doing so, but after several walks past the store she ultimately decided it was not the day to do it. I am sure it’s in the near future, but she’s gonna need a little more mulling time to muster up the courage. K spent his cash in the game store on a new Wii game and was thrilled to go home and try it out. He even put dibs on a new star wars games that is coming out in October. He is over thrilled about that prospect. Of course, I crossed a Payless to pull out a second attempt at sandals, and K found a pair, but D could not in her size.

OK… side gripe here. What the heck is up with girls shoes??? I mean really WTH is up with girls shoes these days??? There isn’t a single place I can find durable, yet cute, sandals for a young girl!!! Seriously, you can either have cute, or you can wear a boy sandal for the durability. What about the sporty girl who would like both?? AND….. NOT spend $50 on a pair that they will inevitably outgrown in just a few months?!?!?

Needless to say, frustration hit there, but we had a few things to exchange a Target, so I thought for sure we’d be OK finding sandals there. That was even worse. Strike 3 we were out and headed home. Fortunate, the weather has shifted to cooler, and not making that much of impact at this point. Hopefully in the next week or so I can track down some reasonably priced, REASONABLE sandals for these intensely growing kids!! : )

Alrighty… so home again, home again I made awesome asian noodles and fruit salad for dinner. Super yum. Today was marathon waffle day. Made us on the much later side to park day, but the beloved waffles were made and become 2 of the three meals today. Scored some size 2 diapers on freecycle for baby and swung by after an amazing park day on the lakefront to pick them up. Home on the later side, made yum-yum bean sandwiches (Gambian style! : ) with a kick-ass chopped salad. Unfortunately, not too many were hungry after the dozens of waffles they munch on all day long, but there are some yum leftovers for tomorrow!

And yes, tomorrow…. it’s predicted to rain, and I really hope it passes on by without interrupting beach day. Would be a bummer to miss another week. I was also looking forward to it b/c Sat I’m in an all-day meeting for work, and looking forward to bliss on the beach with the kiddos before being away for a full day. Likewise, it was as blissful as it could get with no errands to run, things to accomplish, nor dinner to cook! So I’m gonna just hope beach day conquers all.

Tonight I’m kickin’ back with things I could do, but why? Strange an unusual things to view on TV and I hear chocolate cake calling my name. So…. yep, that’s pretty self-explanatory.

The weekend was a blast. Nothing out of the ordinary, but just fabulous. I think I already touched on Saturday’s happenings, and Sunday was much of the same. I had a meeting in the AM with a new group I am joining with D. It’s called Gentle Circle and a group of 6 moms and daughters who are coming together, girls all about the same age (5-7 year range), to grow and cherish special times together as friends and as mother/daughters. I’m looking forward to the group evolving more as we have only had the opportunity to unite twice as mothers. There is the hope that we are able to meet a few more times before the girls join in and we plan more activities with them on a monthly basis. I have enjoyed getting to know the women little by little, but also feel that many are hesitant to share a ton with each other. I feel the sense that the women are worried or cautious about what to, and what not to, share with each other just yet, and wonder if that will evolve to closer more trusting relationships as time elapses. I do hope so, as each woman seems to bring very unique traits to the group and I look forward to learning from each of them and becoming closer friends with each.

After my AM meeting I took the kids over to the garden for some watering. Things are growing well now! I am eager to see what will flourish for us to eat in the next month! We have had a couple strawberries blossom already and the kiddos were able to share 2 of them recently : ) Since it was so stinkin’ hot Sunday I drove to our favorite Dairy Queen spot for our super duper favorite Chocolate French Silk blizzards! SO yum! Brought those over to G’pa’s and since they were melting and a mess, they had a blast running through water and eventually the sprinkler. Oh, well actually, we brought squirt guns to play with, but those just did not hold enough water. G’pa was home and dug out a sprinkler for some real water action!

Monday was Big D’s birthday and this was the same day (Memorial Day 2004) that was born on 6 years back. That was kinda fun! She had an amazing b-day and I have to add… quite pleasant. B’day’s past have not always been so much. There always seemed to be some emotional rupture of tears or what not that made her b-day kinda not as enjoyable as a mother would have hoped : ) However this year, it was quite blissful! She did receive lots of goodies that were on her wish-list and we had G’ma over for homemade pizza and cake. It was very fun. Today we went to an indoor pool in Glenview with G’pa and Subway after for her favorite sandwich. G’pa stuck candles in a cookie for her, and that was quite sweet. She had a remarkably fun b-day celebration! OH… OH… and how can I forget? She lost a tooth on her b-day as well! : )

She is just a remarkable girl I must add as well. Her growth this past year has far surpassed what I would/could have imagined. Makes a mama tear at how quickly time flies, and I get to be with her 24/7! It feels like I just blinked my eyes and yet…. AHHHH. She is amazing in her unknown beauty. Her strength and athletic ability is more than I know what to do with. She thoroughly enjoyed gymnastics this year, and I still have not figured out if it is b/c she just loves to run and throw her body around, or if gymnastic skills are what she really wants to acquire. She is hesitant to try other sports just yet. We may have gotten the nerve up to attempt soccer this fall, but still unsure if she will agree before the deadline. (This season she decided afterwards and so we decided to wait till the fall.) I wish there was someone interested in starting a homeschool track team or practice for this age as she just really truly loves to run a LOT! Basketball seems to be on the ‘maybe’ list and swimming is a definite yes… if I would actually sign her up! ; ) I am hesitant to just do lessons b/c I don’t feel they accomplish more than what she already does on her own. But if I found a team where they actually taught her technique, that’s something she’d really benefit from.

Aside from the logistics, she is just an all around sweet girl. She has her rough moments of course, and much of that stems (IMO) from the middle-child and/or only-girl syndrome. She requires lots more one-on-one in general, and not just with me. She just loves to be with people and constantly ‘doing’ with people. She loves to be busy a full 12 hrs a day and crashes hard the other 10-12. She sleeps so well… and plays so hard! She is coming into her own slowly but surely. She is a very easy-going, kinda fickle, yet not-so-much… a lot like her mother : ) And by that I mean, she finds just about anything interesting and does not fall into a certain “category” of personality type or character. I could never say she’s a girly-girl, but yet she loves to play around with make-up, nail polish and dress up and look pretty. I could never say she is a tom-boy b/c she loves all things girly despite her being a complete jock at times. She is quite smart, but at this stage in life seems to always second-guess herself. I do hope that homeschooling will provide more confidence in her own personal choices and decisions and build a stronger self-esteem (for lack of better words)…. b/c she does not necessarily lack esteem, but this second -guessing if she is right or knows certain things weighs heavily on her at times.

She is a complete giver. She loves art and is always drawing my pictures and writing to me, giving me gifts. It’s precious to see her evolving hand and heart. She is a nurturer as well. She loves her brothers so much, and cares for them as a mama-figure. She is this way with her friends as well. She is everyone’s friend and does not understand when others choose to be only one person’s friend, or is exclusive of others. She cherishes interactions with older girls. Girls Scouts was tremendous for her this year for both this and her independence boost. She is a planner and organizer. This year she enjoyed girl scouts, gymnastics, park days, gym days, clay class, girls club, and probably more that I’m forgetting. She did delve into pen pals in a way she has not before and is enjoying that interaction with kids around the world.

It is an honor to be her mama and I am eager to follow her on her path. She is and will continue to be a truly interesting soul.

You know we have had a perfect end to a beautiful week. We had gorgeous weather Thursday for park day and after the last trip to gymnastics and after quick grocery run, we even made it out to our first full moon jam of the season. We had missed last month’s due to complete exhaustion among the majority of us, and this time we made it out there for a bit. I always love a good jam, and especially love when we can actually view the incredible, large, full moon come up over that lake. It’s breath-taking.

Friday K and I had a ploy that we were going to game club while D and S hung with SBJ at home. But what we really did was head to the stores to b-day shop for Big D as her 6th b-day is just around the bend here. It was super fun to be on a secret mission with K, that is, after he got over his grippiness about not buying anything for himself while we were out. He had a rough start, but it did end on a very positive note, and he even enjoyed picking things out for his lil’ sis’. Quite sweet. We had planned on getting to NUG’s beach day, but by the time we returned home and downed some lunch it was well after 2pm, so we headed to an Evanston beach to at least enjoy some beach time during the amazing afternoon sunshine. Just perfect.

Today I took D out with S to pick out/up her b-day balloons. It’s a fun little tradition that we have developed over the b-days past, that they get to go pick out their own helium balloon stash to enjoy at home. So that was our fun for the early day. Later we had contemplated heading fishing but I don’t know that everyone had enough energy for that, so we headed to a park in Morton Grove we had not been to for some time. One the kids really really enjoy and had not been to for some time. Worked out fabulously for me b/c I had wanted to swing by this phone repair shop I spotted on Oakton to get my phone a desperately needed new battery. I don’t really know how it happened, but S fell asleep in the car sitting in front of the store! No car in motion, and no music on even…. just passed out. : ) So at the park SBJ got to trek around with the kiddos while I hung with the sleeping S in the blissful shade. The weather was just amazing today.

After homemade tacos for dinner we all cuddled up on the couch for a family film night. I just love those as well… What fun, cuddlin’ up and watchin’ Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Of course the kicker for the kids was the special ice cream sundaes I concocted before the film started : )

And during these past few days or more… I have had this overwhelming gratitude. I mean what an amazing blessing to not only be home with my kiddos, but that my kiddos are able to be home with each other! This phenomena has truly shown it’s colors this week in more ways than maybe I can recount. But what I do know for certain is their relationships with each other are far better now than mine are with my brothers as grown adults. Of course, they obviously have their moments when they don’t care for each other all that much, get frustrated, jealous or the like. But…. and the BIG but here, is that they have so much more time to work through those moments and so much MORE time to truly enjoy and love on each other. Their mutual respect for each other sometimes brings happy tears to my eyes. When I see K say, “hey let’s play this game.” And D says, “yes! I want to be ‘x’ person in the game.” And K says, “Yea, ok, and S…. who do you want to be?” And S mumbles something past his ‘geegee’ (pacifier) and they just totally know exactly what he is saying, respect his choices, and help him dress up as that character. Ugh…. I just love that. Makes me melt inside and out and cherish this homeschooling journey even more. For without that time they have together, K and D would not even have a relationship with S due to him being so much younger, and they certainly would not respect him as a true individual either. Their relationships are beautiful beyond words, and it is a blessing to be on this journey with them.

Only other ‘big’ thing I’ll note today is that my belly is actually moving now! : ) Isn’t that the best? I’ve been feeling baby for quite some time, but now baby is big enough that my belly will move and the kids can experience it as well. Of course everytime I call them to see or feel baby, baby stops moving. However one day recently S was laying on my belly and was kicked in the head, literally. He really seemed to have felt it b/c he lifted his head and looked at me funny. SO MUCH FUN!

Slacking off on the updates lately with this week of winding down, and ironically winding up! Last week we had a very cool adventure down to Navy Pier to ride the Tall Ship Windy! As cool as that was, it (the wind) was so bitter cold that it was a little rough to enjoy at a few points. But the staff was well prepared with blankets that helped tremendously. I did mention as some point last week that we visited the kids museum down there as well. Yep, since we had already made the venture we spent the whole day hanging out. Visited the water gardens which they all really got a kick out of, and then the museum which I have to say has really not changed much in several years, and would have been a bit disappointing had we not already had our reciprocal membership in hand! But yes… some fun pix below!

I mentioned my purging mania and successfully prepared us for a garage sale on Saturday. Extremely successful day getting rid of our stuffs, and the things that didn’t go made it on to freecycle since then. Only one box left to leave the house and man does it feel great to have moved that all out! Likewise, I was so fortunate to find a really nice family on freecycle who wanted to fulfill my need for a tall dresser! We acquired that over the weekend and I was able to move S into the bottom 3 drawers and now ready to dig out baby clothes for the top 2! (A project that will happen in next couple of months! I’m on project burnout at this point.)

Somehow I was able to take on a sling order late last week AND complete before Sunday! That certainly was a whirlwind project that feels much of a blur at this point. I loved the sling, however. And hope the client did as well. It was fun to have one of those project again! It has been just way too long since the last!

Then, we found a twin mattress for the big S-man on freecycle as well! It was an awesome organizational weekend as we had needed all of these little things to feel ready for baby. Now bed space available and dresser space available…. what more do ya need?!  : ) Awesome.

Sunday marked a visit to our garden to saturate it in water, and then a trip to the Culture Fest in Skokie. It was nice, but not nearly has large or as attended as in the previous years we have been. But of course, we did go late on Sunday and that’s sort of the end of it all, so maybe that’s why. I think we had usually been on the first day and it’s always been really fun. This year we hung out for an hour or so and then everyone was really kinda done. Since we made a nice chunk of change from our garage sale, I declared an eating-out night. We enjoyed Basha…. a new family favorite. That dude is so super nice and the food so super yum. SBJ and I tried the vegetarian plates and even though we were stuffed, we could not stop. Super yum.

Everyone has had the end of a few classes this week. Monday marked the last clay class (though D wants to take the June 2-week class), and the last Mon. gymnastics. Today, the end of music for S, science for K, and girl scouts for D. D even had her girl scout ceremony tonight and it was quite cute. She really seems hooked on this group of families and I have to say, I am quite pleased as well. A very warm and fuzzy bunch. It’s a nice group to be involved in, and glad that she’s eager to do it again next year. She earned quite a few patches this year, and even a stuffed panda bear prize for her super cookie sales. She was quite proud of the bear this evening! ; ) Super cool.

In bigger news, K has started sitting in the front seat of the car! Yipes. Something a mama just has to gulp, grin and bare I suppose. These phases in life that remind me that my babies are not such babies any more…. Yes, sir-ree-bob. Sunday he wanted to go with me to get the dresser on freecycle and I told him he couldn’t b/c I had to put the back seats down to get the dresser in the car. Well…. he decided then that was the perfect time to bite the bullet and sit in the front seat. He basically had the go-ahead about a month or so back, but just hadn’t done it yet. He was still kinda worried about that jump himself. So Sunday he does it, but he’s totally freaking out the whole time. He was sure we’d be pulled over the police or something. He was sure he would be reported for sitting in the front. What he just could not grasp was that he is of height requirement or we would not have even ok’d it in the first place. And then he explained that he just had not seen any of this friends sitting in the front yet. We had a lengthy chat about that one and he ultimately enjoyed the ride. Even helped me load the dresser!

Then the following day he wanted to give it a go again. We were headed out to get the mattress before clay class and he was a little more at ease about it. Then he seemed even more at ease. He seems to enjoy as we can chat face-to-face and he gets a little more attention being up there. I have to say it’s been quite helpful as well b/c he hands water bottles and snacks around the car and I can actually be a safer driver! Very cool indeed. So today was hilarious and he was wanting to do it again…. this time a few of his friends saw him on the end of our car rides. A few of them mentioning that it was “so cool” that he got to sit in the front. He suddenly is feeling pretty lucky, “cool” to be in the front and enjoying even more now! He even tried to boot his daddy to the back of the car when we went to the girl scout ceremony this evening. Too funny.

Tomorrow, thrilled that it will be a day at home. Several of us needing haircuts (or at least trims) and eager to just ‘be’… Being is well-needed before getting through the rest of this week, and the rest of the ‘ends’ of things/classes. D’s got a big #6 b-day coming up and she’s over-the-top excited. I need to run through the weekly schedule a good 2-3 times a day for her. ; )

Today was another eventful day. Last night we (meaning Sand me) did not sleep a wink. Ironically, I was so pooped from yesterday’s adventure to Navy Pier that I went to bed at about 8p-9p to “catch up” on sleep. Pah. Yea, like that happened. S, at about 11p, decided it was indeed not the night for sleeping. I was kicking myself for not getting to him fast enough, before he gulped the play-water at the children’s museum! Then kicking myself again for the amount of times I caught him sipping my diet coke. I figure between drinking a gulp of the germ-invested water, and drinking gulps of caffeine that I was on the road to pay-back. Then after him catching up on his sleep from about 8a-11a, waking feeling just his happy lil’ self and seeming quite fine, we realized that he may have just been totally starving all along. He ate food continuously from about 11am through 7pm tonight! Quite the funny lil’ man.

So today we were headed to the garden to give it a good watering. Hadn’t rained for a few days, and anticipating it not raining for a few more, we ran out there to saturate. It was so cool to see that the peas had grown just since we had been there Sunday! And we see life of potential watermelon growth as well! That would be pretty cool! After a quick visit with G’pa we headed back home to have friends over for the afternoon. The kiddos thoroughly enjoy their best buds and they had a blast. I get a ton done while they are fully entertained…. I took advantage of Peapod this afternoon. With classes, b-days, and garage sale approaching, I did not know how to get that minor detail done, so this week I delved into Peapod. It’s been so long since I’ve used them, I forgot how extremely lovely that unique concept actually is! Something I could every easily get used to!

After a quick shuffle of getting dinner together we headed to the midwife for a baby check! 24 weeks along now and baby is MOVING!! This one is quite active most of the day, it will be very cool to see who this little person is inside of me! Check up went great…. quick but great. It’s funny, as much as I want to sit and chat with Hillary and get to know her more, this is baby 4 and we don’t have any questions or concerns! Visits are quick! But she is a lovely lady and I appreciate her interactions with the kids during the visits as well. That speaks wonders. K had control of the doppler-dealy today and he tracked down baby’s heartbeat! ; ) Very special!

I’m one room to go in my maniac-nesting-purging state of mind ; ) I’ve done half of the kitchen and need to conquer the other half tomorrow and Friday. We are going to try to have the garage sale on Saturday! I will be thrilled to have those boxes in the middle of the living room gone and feel like I’ve accomplished the full project. While driving through Skokie today we noticed the tents going up for the Culture Fest and I think we’ll head there on Sunday. The kiddos really seem to love that festival and it’s supposed to be amazing weather this weekend!

Off to bed… to “catch up” ; ) Maybe this night we will actually sleep!