4 Months

This girl was four months olds August 26th. She is such a delight and keeps us all smiling at one point or another during the day. She started eating some solid foods and was pretty excited about it. She has yet to sleep through the night but can do a six hour stretch on occasion. She weighed 16lbs 2oz and measured 26 in long at her well child checkup. She loves her sisters and they love love love her. They can’t walk by her without touching her or trying to get her to smile. She loves to babble and grab toys. She can roll from side to side but doesn’t really try to roll over. Her nicknames are Bug, Bethie Lou and Bessie. We are so grateful to have her as part of our family. 

Quiet Time Activities

As part of our daily routine I like to have a quiet time. This consists of me and the baby being able to rest and the other children at home play or read by themselves for a short time in the afternoon.

It is always a challenge for the older girls to learn to be content by themselves for the one-two hour time period. Yesterday I gave Jenna about four different activities (puzzles, books, building magnets) she could do to fill her time.I also had been working on sifting through all our girls clothes to get ready for the seasonal change coming up. There were stacks of clothes on one side of the room. This is what I found after quiet time. 😂😂😂Towards the end of rest time she started folding clothes. I couldn’t believe how much she had gotten done and was quite impressed with her ability! 

She then helped me fold a basket of towels and she did an exceptional job for being three. It is fun to see more of this girls abilities and personality shine with her older sister gone at school. 

Sickness

People kept telling me that when you send your oldest to school, you are in for a year full of sickness. We were only two days into the school year and it came true. 

Last week Natalie, Jenna Justin and even my dad all had a terrible bout of the flu that ended with congestion. Fevering for days, body aches, chills, congestion, sore throats, and eye irritation. It was a nasty virus and put a damper on our week. The original plan was for Justin to go to Utah to help out his family, but everyone came down with sickness and he wasn’t able to make it. 

Natalie fell asleep on a drive we made Sunday in effort to get out of the house.

This girls had two experiences this week that were parenting firsts. She threw up all over herself and the floor at Chik-Fil-A because she stuffed her mouth to full and gagged. A very kind mother sitting next to me ran to grab me extra napkins and tell the employees we were going to need cleanup assistance. It was embarrassing, but I am glad I am as far into my mothering experience as I am, other wise it would have been way more traumatic for me. 

Saturday morning she woke up very tired and wore out from the virus. I made her mad over grabbing a pacifier she was trying to reach and putting it in Beth’s mouth. Bring three, she really wanted to do this herself and being tired compounded her anger. When she gets this angry she has a pattern at times of holding her breath and passing out. I had left the room not realizing how upset she was and heard a loud thump. I ran back in  and she was just passing out and seizing from holding her breath. It was terrifying to me because it was the first time I hadn’t been with her from start to finish on one of these. It took me a while to piece together all that happened and at first was worried the virus had caused it. Thankfully Sunday she was much better and is still improving every day.

It was a miracle that this little babe didn’t get sick. I had a minor form of the virus and my milk must have been making the correct antibodies to protect her. She had a good week and started eating a little bit of solids. She enjoyed this far more than either of her sisters did at her age. She did great at her four month appointment and weighed in at 16lbs 2 oz and 26 inches long. She isn’t rolling yet, but definitely holds herself up well. She is a happy baby as long as she gets her sleep and her belly is full. She loves morning times, mom, and her sisters. She likes to smile at daddy, but has a harder time when he holds her. We will keep working on that. One day she will love him I’m sure. 

It was a long hard week, but we were still blessed along the way. A dinner from my mom, Priesthood blessings, prayers said for us, that kind lady at chik-fil-a, tylenol and ibuprofen, opportunities to exercise patience. It all gives us experience and helps us grow,  because it is hard. 

I am hoping the rest of the school year isn’t this bad with sickness and we can make it through a full week of school this week.

First Week of School

Look at Bethy’s thighs in this picture. Aren’t they just the cutest?

Tonight my grandma came and watched the older two girls so Justin and I could sneak in a date before he leaves to go be with his family. His sister in law is having some health challenges right now, so he will spend time working at the family business. I was grateful for grandma being willing to help. We have not been on a date in a couple of months and it was nice to be able to decompress after a very busy week, with many changes and few hours of sleep by our baby.

With Natalie starting school this week we had earlier wake up times than normal. Then we started doing some babysitting for a couple different families. This coupled with normal routine,  stretched us outside of our comfort levels.

A friend sent me a text tonight saying she heard a mother reflect once that she was going about life busily as though she was a woman without children and would just brush her children off so she could get "stuff" done. She realized she needed to change her heart. I was grateful my friend shared this and after this week I know I need to work on this mindset. I feel like I should be able to be doing more around and outside of the home right now, but find it very difficult when I attempt to. Much of my day is spent holding Beth, whether nursing or trying to get her to sleep. The remaining time is trying to do things with the other girls or making meals or doing dishes. These wise words made me stop and acknowledge I am a woman with children and my days look the way they do because of that truth. I am working all day, just in a  different way then before and it is good work, stop trying to keep up with those who are in a different stage of life than me.

On a different note, here are a few thoughts about us right now.  

Beth is holding herself up better and gaining more control with her ability to grab and let go of items. She also loves to be sung to, especially the wheels on the bus song. 

Jenna is such a good little mommy to Beth and plays and loves her as often as the chance allows. She has enjoyed having other playmates as I babysit other children. She also enjoys having a little more attention with Natalie being gone. She is really maturing and does well as long as she gets enough sleep.She still loves Rapunzel and sleeps with her Rapunzel doll each night.

Natalie loved school. It is fun to hear her share different things she learned. Her first Spanish words were circulo and rectangulo. She also loves Beth and her and Jenna are close friends as well when they aren’t fighting. She is understanding more about the conversations Justin and I have and often asks us about phrases we use. She loves to talk talk talk. I often have a hard time hearing myself think as children are constantly asking questions or making statements hoping for conversation. 

Justin is enjoying a short break before the school year for TVCC starts up again. He has been doing odd and end jobs for a variety of people. He sure does a good job being the husband and dad around here. It isn’t easy with four women.

Summer was so good to us this year. Fall brings change, good and bad. I am grateful for this week, for our growth and for the blessing it is to experience life together, the good and the bad.

The girls dressing Justin up like "Mary...."

Kindergarten

The air is a bit cooler in the mornings and it is harvest season, school time is here. Natalie went to her first day of Kindergarten today. She was excited to go and came home very happy. I nearly lost it when she got off the bus. I was so happy to see her and a bit sad she is so big. A neighbor was over visiting, so I held it together. 

The highlight of her school day was when her teacher read a book. I asked her about the Spanish part of her day and she acted like it was just all fine and normal. This was a relief to me as I am still a little nervous how the Spanish portion is going to go for her.

Natalie ended her day with loosing her first tooth. It was very loose as it had been wiggling for a couple days. I convinced her to let me feel it wiggle and I purposely pushed it back pretty hard and it popped right out. Two milestones in one day and she is smiling about both.

Jenna sees all the new things happening to Natalie and I think feels a little left out. She definitely noticed Natalie’s abscence today, but enjoyed having more attention. She spent most of her day following Justin around the yard requesting he play Let It Go repeatedly on his outdoor speaker or to push her on the swing, "higher,big." She was very tired tonight after getting up early with Natalie the last three days. 

Our scripture we are focusing on for the school year comes from 3 Nephi 18:18. "I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always." We chose this to help teach the girls they can pray anytime they need help or just want to talk to Heavenly Father. I especially want Natalie to know this truth as she will be on her own at school each day, but Heavenly Father constantly watches over her and wants to help her. It is going to be a great year.

Beat the Heat

Some of my favorite memories involve water fights with hoses during the summer time. We added to those memories tonight. Justin mostly soaked us all, but we did our best to get him wet as well. No babies were gotten wet in the process, even though her face would make you think otherwise. 

A Night at the Fair

Before we went to the fair Baby Beth did this.

She has gained a lot more neck control as of this week and felt prettt big sitting in the bumbo. Our little conversations each day are such a bright spot in my day. She loves to coo and make noises as you talk to her.

After admiring our cute baby, we headed to the county fair. I am a fair fanatic and was excited all day to go and see how our entries placed. It was a hot but delightful evening. The managers of the fair worked hard this year to bring the fair back to life and it was impressive what they accomplished.

Our first stop was the Red Barn. The girls were pleased with the results. Jenna placing first and Natalie second. I got a blue ribbon for my wheat wreath and Natalie placed third with my dad’s onions. The onions had the steepest competition with 11 other exhibitors in the same class and most were very competitive. 

We then ate some yummy fair food for dinner. Watched a clogging group quickly walked through a few animal exhibits, and headed for the commercial building.

While waiting for dad at the truck pulls (which are so redneck but thoroughly entertaining, does that make me redneck?) we snapped some fun pictures.

We took a small cooler with water bottles and ice packs. Natalie found the proper use of this ice pack (it is for your eyes😆) Jenna was tired and spent the evening in the wagon.

It was a great evening and we look forward to a few more times at the fair before the week is over.