Where to even begin! Let's take it person by person:
Bashypoo: Says "Mama" now! Not always, and usually when I'm not around to hear it. When I ask him to say it, he laughs and pats my cheek. He seems to be considering walking a little more, but I don't really expect it for another month or two. Teething is NO FUN for this little man, but he's delightful in every other way.
Rorykins: Silly, goofy girl! She regularly uses 10+ word sentences and her grasp of logic is increasing daily. She asked for waffles for breakfast and when I told her I couldn't make them because we were out of milk, she looked thoughtful, grabbed her purse and said, "Okay, I go to the grocery store 'n get milk, Mama. Okay?" Two expressions she's been using lots are "all the time" and "all night long," which get pretty amusing: "Oh Mama, I hungry all the time!" And, "I wanna kiss. I want kisses all night long!" Sometimes she's so difficult and I feel so burdened with the gigantic task of rearing her in a way that pleases the Lord and teaching her about him; nothing is more important but getting bogged down in the day-to-day can make it such a challenge. Since Rory looooooves to sing, we're going to get her some fun catechism songs for Christmas to make it easier for us to dialogue with her.
Blakey: We're celebrating today because a job just fell into his lap. Who can say that in this economy? We willingly gave up employment because it wasn't working for our family even though we did not have another prospect for him. The next thing we know, the Guidance Center called asking him to come interview (he had never even applied!). Today they officially offered him a job as an EMT! The pay is way better than his previous work (no flight benefits, of course!), and it sounds like interesting work, though definitely challenging. We're optimistic about family-friendly, flexible hours, and there's a possibility of benefits. All we can say is that we're amazed at God's generous provision. We're fumbling and bumbling our way through this crazy stage of life and he continues to be so good to us. We keep getting affirmation that we're doing the right thing; God is so good!
Me: We took Evie to Phoenix to meet up with her daddy a week ago! It was such a sweet reunion, and it's so nice for their family to be together again. Now we're all waiting for baby Gloria's arrival; poor Lindsay was diagnosed with gestational diabetes again, right before Thanksgiving- good grief. She told me she's going to try to "make a deal" with the doctors, which doesn't sound very promising to me, but is kind of amusing.
I finally got around to implementing a toy and book rotation, which is something I've wanted to do for a while. We found that when all the books and toys are out, it proves to be overwhelming for our kiddos. Usually they end up dumping them all on the floor and not really playing with them. I chose to go with a weekly rotation, so I divided all the toys into 4 groups. One group is cycled in at a time. Exceptions include Rory's beloved baby doll and her cradle. A few "big" toys will be left in for multiple rotations before being swapped. I think I'll go every two weeks with the books, leaving approximately half out at a time (a few favorites will always be out). My goals are practicality and simplicity above anything, so I'll certainly tweak and make adjustments as necessary. So far it's been a huge success! The toys out are being played with and hold their attention longer, it's easier to clean up, and they were excited to see the "new" toys yesterday.
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| Bash wearing his papa's old jammies! |
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| Rory went on a date with her baba- they saw Aladdin! |
