Running With Spears

Good vs. Easy

You guys, this adorable baby turns ONE tomorrow!!! I just can’t even! Is there anything cuter than that face?!?

And she walks JUST like a zombie. Which may not sound cute, but when she’s toddling unevenly with her arms out in front of her and she is COMING TO GET YOU, it’s the most adorable thing ever. 😀

So…

I think I’ve ranted before about how I HATE it when people ask if your baby is “good” when what they mean is, “easy to take care of.”

Smiles is a perfect example of how those two descriptions are NOT interchangeable! She is the BEST! It doesn’t get better than this. I mean she is the smiliest (which spell check wants to correct to slimiest…sometimes she’s that, too), most joy-filled, adorable, clever, silly, sweet baby… a total answer to prayers and the most amazing blessing imaginable.

But listen, she is not an easy baby to take care of!

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane, shall we? Sometime in her first few days we discovered that she had reflux, which meant, among other things, that I had to hold her upright for half an hour after every time she nursed…all night long. (Mommy confession, sometimes I fell asleep holding her up…exhaustion is a formidable opponent in the early ~~weeks~~ ~~months~~ years.)

But otherwise her first three weeks when Daddy was home were fairly typical for life with a newborn…and then he left.

And she screamed.

And screamed.

And projectile vomited.

If you’ve never seen a baby spew sour milk three feet in the air all over everything, you have no idea what this is like. Compared to spitting up, it’s not just a horse of a different color, it’s a whole different animal.

And she was colicky. (If you have no idea what that means, consider yourself lucky.) 😉

To add to all that, plus never-ever wanting to be set down, her two big sisters somehow always seemed to choose the exact moment she had fallen asleep to scream, or run up and try to lavish all their hugs and kisses on her, or whatever…good intentions or not, Momma needed baby to nap.

Babywearing was sometimes a saving grace, except that it seemed like ridiculously often she covered me and my wraps (and herself) in projective vomit, and then everything was dirty and I couldn’t wear her.

One time, maybe a month or so into this adventure, I remember having her in a wrap, all snug against my chest, and I’d managed to get everyone dressed and ready for a walk outside, when she spat up ALL down my shirt…and ya know what, I wiped up what I could without moving her, shoved a burp cloth over the rest of the mess, and went on that walk anyway. Desperate times, my friends, desperate times.

In addition to all of that, it seemed like she preferred ANYONE else over me. I mean, she was definitely a Daddy’s girl, which I was ok with because it meant I could hand her over to him in the evenings and get some respite…at least when she wasn’t hungry, cause she had some sort of tongue thrust thing and would not take a bottle.

But seriously, friends would come visit, take my screaming baby and soothe her to sleep, hold my precious, peacefully sleeping baby for an hour, then hand her back to me, and she would immediately start to scream again. 🙁

I’m not saying she screamed non-stop. There were lots and lots of great, peaceful, snuggly, wonderful times. And when she wasn’t upset, she smiled and giggled sooner, and more often than any baby I’ve ever seen!

The colic did go away gradually sometime between 3 and 4 months, and the projectile vomiting mostly ended by about 6 months.

She still seriously fights sleep, only naps in my arms, wakes up 3-4 times a night (we co-sleep, so for the most part, I don’t really care, life would be much harder if I always had to get up with her), has ~~occasional~~ nights where I must be cuddling her all night, AND she is just the absolute best!

I mean, have you seen the way she grins? And how she says “YES!” And gives hugs and kisses (Oh my word, just ALL THE AWESOME FEELS!), and pretends to be asleep when she falls on her face, like, “Yep, I meant to do that, look how cute I am sleeping here!” And scrunches her nose, and claps her hands, and plays peek-a-boo, and giggles (Is there anything better than baby giggles? Spoiler alert — there’s not!).

But forget all that. She’s my baby – fearfully and wonderfully made, with her beautiful eyes, and tiny fingers and toes, and those baby cheeks! No, she’s not a very easy baby. But is she good? Of course! Yes! She’s incredible!!!!

Salted Caramel Brownie Amazingness!!!

Quick guest post from my Mom today! This is pretty much the most perfect recipe ever. Simple but to die for! 🙂

I came up with this idea today….mix up the Ghirardelli brownie mix according to directions, pour the batter in a parchment lined 9X9 or 8X8 pan. Sprinkle a little more than half the bag of caramel bits on top (stir them into the batter a little bit), add some pecan pieces on top, then sprinkle a pinch of coarse salt over all. Bake for 40 minutes at 325 degrees. Cool. Serve with the new Blue Bell “Magic Cookie Bar” ice cream!

Keeping It Real

TGIF! Thank God I have Frosting! Or something. I’m too exhausted to be witty and clever. Sorry.

You guys, my 11 month old still refuses to nap anywhere except my arms precisely 99.7% of the time. And she’s been teething for 2.7 weeks and cries like a bajillion times a night. (Apparently .7 is my go to decimal, who knew.)

So…yeah…getting things done around here is so hit or miss it’s not even funny.

At the risk of being a total broken record, I just want to say again that real life, at least my real life, is not pretty and perfect and pinterest worthy.

I decided to bake some pumpkin bars (from a mix, let’s not get crazy). Boo wanted to help, and Smiles woke up on the “I must be in Mommy’s arms or I will scream” side of bed this morning. It didn’t look like those fantastic magazine pictures, let me tell you.

But despite the lack of glamor, today has been pretty much awesometastic! Artist did all of her math work without complaining (much). Boo voluntarily wrote all the letters she’s learned so far this year (remind me to teach her how to write the letter “S” not backwards). A friend watched my oldest two for a few hours, and during that time Smiles miraculously slept NOT in my arms for like 45 minutes, and rather than curl up on the couch and watch Doctor Who, I finally sorted and boxed up all the shoes my girls have outgrown. AND I got dinner started in the crockpot!

We may have eaten Totino’s Party Pizzas and a bagged salad for dinner last night, but tonight we’re having white chicken chilli and for dessert there are pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting (or is it icing, I don’t know…I never thought about it before but I just realized I have no idea what the difference is)!

You’re welcome for this eloquent and informative post. I hadn’t blogged in awhile, Smiles is sleeping/nursing and will not let me unlatch her, and writing seemed like the thing to do. 🙂

Addressing the Crazy

I posted last week that we kicked off our third year of homeschool.

Mid-second week things are still going great…mostly. I haven’t quite figured out how to balance the whole three kids, homeschooling, and keeping up with housework thing yet, lol. My super supportive husband has taken up the slack for now, bless him! <3

Anyway, I met up with two different groups of awesome homeschool moms yesterday, and both times heard people talking about how crazy others think homeschooling is, and the pushback they get from friends and family, and the general notion that homeschooling your kids is not normal. 🙁

Side note: I realized that having been homeschooled, I don’t really face that. I get the occasional remark from acquaintances, but my family is supportive, I have friends that were homeschooled, and my friends that know I was homeschooled don’t tend to call it crazy even if that’s what they think. 😉

Homeschool moms, know that your kids will someday feel so much freedom in choosing what form of education will be best for their kids…so there’s that little bonus.

1005660_520757409143_2145936052_n — Homeschooled kids! We’re awesome, not crazy. 😉

OK, back to my main point. Apparently there’s this notion that homeschooling is just too out there, too hard, too risky, or whatever, for average people to do it.

It makes me sad that families may be in a situation where other schooling options aren’t working, but they feel stuck because something looked upon as crazy must not be viable. So I want to address the notion that this is crazy.

If you’re considering homeschooling but it sounds insane, or you think there’s no way you could pull it off, or you believe only some sort of semi-mythical super mom could do it, or whatever…the rest of this post is dedicated to you.

(I’m not actually sure what all the points against homeschool are, so if I don’t address your concern, let me know…but here’s what I have to say about the main ones I know of.)

1. I don’t know how to teach.

You don’t have to. You know your own kids better than anyone, and that’s really the most important thing. There are sooo many aids out there to help you with all the rest. There’s curriculum that tells you exactly what to do, online programs and DVDs that teach for you, co-ops you can join, and conventions where you can learn from others.

And can I just say…my Mom wasn’t a certified teacher, but she did an excellent job of teaching us. I was a National Merit Commended Scholar. I made about a 29 on my ACT, I don’t remember exactly, but it was well above the national average, and I received a perfect score on the reading portion. You don’t have to have special training, or know all about everything, or whatever you think a homeschool mom has to have…you can simply jump in, and your kids can excel academically.

2. My kids won’t have enough social interaction.

Believe me, your kids can absolutely spend a ton of time socializing if that’s important to you. There are soo many groups you can be a part of, where, by the way, they’ll make friends with kids of all ages. You can finish lessons each day in significantly less time than public school, so there’s actually more time available to do fun stuff. Plus there are dance classes and sports teams and all kinds of other things your kids can do where they can make friends.

To be honest, I’m introverted and would generally rather spend my Friday night reading than at a party. But that’s just my personality. I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I was homeschooled. My siblings each have their own personalities and varying levels of introversion and extroversion.

3. I would go crazy if I didn’t get a break from my kids.

This is probably the toughest one. There are moments when I feel like it would be soo great to have some time to myself. But as another homeschool mom put it, you just get used to it. You figure out what works for you. Maybe you have quiet times when your kids have to stay in their room and look at books for an hour. Or you let them watch Super Why while you sip coffee in the other room and recharge. Or you pay the oldest two to watch the baby for an hour while you clean up the kitchen without interference….maybe that last one is just me, but whatever. 😉

It can be rough. But it can also be incredible. Last week, Artist told me she was so glad she got to be homeschooled. I asked her why, figuring she’d mention one of the fun things we’d done, like sewing a bear or making slime worms with her kids chemistry set. But she exclaimed, “Because I get to spend time with you!”

I don’t know if we’ll homeschool forever, but right now I wouldn’t trade it for the world. And I promise you, I am sooo far from any sort of super-mom it’s laughable. (If you don’t believe me, scroll though some of my past posts…like this one, or this one…or maybe this one.) Yeaaah. If I can do this, anyone can!

Day One…Done!

Third time’s the charm, I guess. We started school one week early because the girls were BEGGING to, and our first day (week at this point) was actually great! (1st day of Kinder was awful, and last year was ok….thus third time’s the charm….pretty sure that only made sense in my head. 😉 )

I’d asked Artist what would make school awesome for her this year and the stuff she asked for was totally doable.

– Request #1 – Lots of fun science!

We got each of the girls their own science kit, and they’re sooo excited to use them each day they jump out of bed at the crack of dawn to get their computer school done so we can do science at 8:30 on the dot (the earliest I told them I’d be willing to start; best bonus of homeschool is no early mornings required).

Request #2 – Learn to Sew.

I hadn’t really planned on letting a 7 year old loose with a real needle yet, but her dream is to be a fashion designer, and she’s always careful, so I figured why not.

Best.Decision.Ever.

I mean, wow, she took to it like pumpkin flavor to ALL THE THINGS in the fall. 😉

The book I selected (Sewing School: 20 Sewing Projects Kids Will Love to Make) starts with a bunch of basic lessons: how to thread a needle, tie a knot, make a bobbin…etc.
I knew we would go through a few of these a day. What I didn’t expect was how confident she would feel after mastering each step, and how quickly she would burn through all the lessons. She spent probably 8 hours sewing on the first day and learned everything in the book, except how to make a casing.

Fortunately there are lots of patterns and project ideas in the book as well, so there’s still plenty for her to do.

I also didn’t expect her to immediately start coming up with, and executing, her own creative ideas about things she could sew.

I’m thinking by mid-year I may need start her on a kid-friendly sewing machine. (I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that…if any of you guys have taught a kid how to use a sewing machine I’d love some tips!)

Request #3 – Lots of reading. Which we were doing all summer and I’m super happy to continue.

Also, piano lessons which she’d already told us she wanted, and we’re blessed to have an awesome friend who teaches piano so we’re starting those next week. And she wants a book on how to draw dresses which I haven’t gotten quite yet, but she’s been too busy sewing to notice.

All in all, she’s sooo excited about the things she asked for that she hasn’t complained once about the things I’ve said she has to also do. In fact, each night as part of our bedtime routine, we tell each other something that was bad about our day, something that was good, and our hope for tomorrow. This week her’s has been something along these lines each day, “Bad was not having more time for school, good was doing lots of fun school, and I hope for tomorrow that we have another great school day!” Be still my heart!!!

I’m totally savoring this week on the off chance that we ever have weeks that aren’t all sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. 😉