Four More Months

We are almost halfway through our short stint in Mississippi. I really like it here and wish we could stay another year or two. I'm sure after a nice hot humid summer I won't be so sorry to head north again though. We are planning on living on Bolling AFB in Washington D.C. I've never really been a city person...it should be an interesting adjustment. We'll also be only five hours from most of our relatives, which seems like a hop, skip, and jump these days. I've already got moving on the mind, and am really trying to declutter big time. We were several thousand pounds over our weight limit this last move, which was bad bad news for us. It's hard because the weight limit is based soley on rank, and not at all on family size. But each person in our family has a bed, dresser, clothes, and other belongings. Plus toys, toys, and more toys! I am determined to pare down though. Our house in DC is also going to be signifcantly smaller than our house in Mississippi, which is significantly smaller than the house we had in Connecticut. I'm just telling myself that every item I can get rid of on this end of the move will be one less thing to pay to move, to unpack, and to clutter up the new place. Once we get to DC we should be there a full four years, and I am so glad! I need a little break from moving.

What an idea

With food and gas costs going through the roof we've made several small changes around our house. One change is that we are now eating beans and rice for dinner one night a week, sandwiches one night, and pancakes and eggs another night. Little Matt is just not sold on the beans and rice dinner. Instead he pushes it around his plate unhappily and asks why he he can't a hamburger instead. I told him that there were lots of kids who had nothing at all on their dinner table tonight, and we needed to just be thankful for what we had. His response: "That's sad. I want to give those kids my beans and rice."

If only it was that simple kiddo!

T-Ball

The kids officially started their t-ball season this weekend. They had opening ceremonies and played in a tournament. The tournament was double elimination and they played two games. The poor little guys had a hard time! Most of the children play well in practice, but I think they were just overwhelmed when it was game time. They were excited, and fifteen different people were screaming at them to do one thing or another. Matt and Beth mostly played in the outfield. It cracked me up because the two of them, plus one other little boy, all stood about a foot away from each other. Beth looked pretty good out there though. At six, she is one of the older kids, and I think that makes a difference. She is also the only little girl! She did play one inning as the pitcher, so that was fun for her. Of course the "pitcher" in t-ball does no pitching, but they do start and end the plays. She saw a lot more action there than in left field.

Matt on the other hand was clueless. I've tried working with him, but he just doesn't get it. What can I say? He's in it for the sharp looking uniform and Capri Suns. During Friday night's game he was wearing his glove on his head when a pop fly flew right to him and landed with a plop right by his feet. He didn't notice. About five other kids ran over to get it, and THEN he decided to pick it up. After he picked it up he held onto it for a few minutes until everyone had finished rounding the bases. He is a very decisive child and needed to plan his next move carefully. During Saturday's game he actually made a pretty good hit. He got all the way to second and then stopped. When the next boy hit and ran to first he just stood on second. Then I yelled to him to run to third next time, and pointed to where third was. The coach came and talked to him and showed him where third was. When the time to run came he ran directly over the pitcher's mound and to home plate. Of course!

I think it is going to be a long season. But the kids are so freaking cute and they love it. Next year Beth will be seven (wow!) so I guess she will be able to move onto Softball.

Beach trip!

Who wouldn't want to be at the beach on a Thursday night? After Matt got off work we loaded the kids up, and headed for the coast. We even got to watch the Blue Angels practicing for this weekend's air show right above us. Good times!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

This is Beth's leprechaun lunch, complete with a rainbow of fruit. She was supposed to have chocolate coins for desert, but I couldn't find any at the store.

Nooo....not yet!

Katy stood up today! I just can't believe it. She hasn't even crawled yet, so I thought I'd have a few more months. Maybe she is going to be one of those kids who skip crawling. My other kids walked between 15-18 months old, so pulling up at nine months seems young to me. I feel like she was just a newborn...like yesterday. All of a sudden she is looking very much like a toddler, just standing there calling "mamamamamama....." Daddy is going to be dropping her crib to the lowest setting tonight.

Nine Months Old

Time is just flying right by!

Katy at nine months old lives on a steady diet of breastmilk and pancakes. That is really about it. She eats a ridiculous amount of pancakes though, and has grown quite plump. She is a good little sleeper, and goes down from about 8pm to 7am every night. She'd sleep later if I didn't need to get her up and ready for the drive to Matt's preschool. She smiles often and finally spoke her first word today - mama of course. She is a mama's girl in every way. She likes smiling at her daddy, and will look for him if I say his name, but does not wish to be left with him. And she REALLY does not wish to be left in the nursery at church or anywhere else for that matter. She rolls everywhere, stands up on her hands and tip-toes (think a pyramid shape) and low crawls where she wants to go. She refuses to actually crawl, and has us wondering if she will in fact go straight to walking. She has no teeth, which is fine, because she doesn't need them for her pancake stacks.

She is very very loved.

Hmmm

My kindergartner told me that today she spent her school day "working up the mountain of self awareness." She also said they didn't have time to do any music activities because they were learning about positive actions, which include learning about and liking yourself.

I can guarantee you that Beth already knows about and likes herself. I would prefer she spent her music class learning about music.

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.”

-Rosaleen Dickson

Overheard

There was a lot of Lego building going on very early this morning at our house. The kids have a large Lego table to work with, but with three different projects in mind, they inevitably ran out of space. At that point Beth and Matt zeroed in on poor Carrie, and decided her sprawling Dora cottage was going to have to be relocated. They asked nicely, she refused, and so then Beth said "I'm sorry Carrie, but this house is really really old. It has been condemned by the government and Dora cannot live here anymore."

Younger Children

Our first two children, Beth and Matt, were born just 14 months apart. I basically raised them as twins. By the time Matt was a few months old they did everything together. They ate at the same times, played at the same times, and napped at the same times. As they got older they started playing sports and doing other activities together as well.

Next in line was our little redhead Carrie. Carrie was such an easy baby. She instantly adapted to fit into the schedule our family already had. She was happy to nap in the car, in the stroller, or at home. She liked being on the go and was just a very easy addition to our family. We didn't even have to really childproof because she never got into anything, and was content to just watch her older siblings play. As she got older she also joined them in many activities. She is 21 months younger than Matt, and just shy of three years younger than Beth.

After Carrie's babyhood I felt like we have the parenting of multiple young children down to a science. I thought that any future children would also just naturally fit into our family fold. So we went ahead and had number four, our little sweetie Katy Ann. After her birth, the realization slowly hit us that Carrie had in fact been born with her easy going personality. That old nature versus nurture debate, remember? Katy however, is not easy going. And she wants a schedule. She would have been a good firstborn. She is eight months old now, and she hates being on the go, has a meltdown if she is late for her nap, and gets into everything! She does love her older siblings though, and is already very anxious to get in on the action.

Right now I am finding it a struggle to balance the older kids' school, t-ball, AWANA's, and just day-to-day activities, with her need to be home and on some sort of schedule. It honestly was easier just to have a house full of babies and toddlers....this mix of little ones and school aged kids takes some juggling.