Bowling and other stuff...

Today we went to home school bowling...our 2nd time back since I had the baby. I'm happy to say Corbin did well today and scored 75 points...only 1 point more than the other top scorer on his team. I don't really know how Hailey and Logan did because the two teams were at complete opposite ends of the alley, but I think they have had kind of a tough time because they are of course playing without bumpers. And, I think they spend much of the time goofing off. ;} I guess everyone is having fun and getting some exercise, which is the point. I was told that there will be a half-session starting after this one is over, and they also do it over the summer. I'm not sure if we'll participate, but we may. It's been nice to get out and see other people, for me and the kids.

Sunday night we had our first all night cry fest...I think Emma just slept too much on Sunday; Karl says she just misses him. :) She woke up to eat at 8 p.m. and never went to sleep until about 4 a.m....she would start to doze off, startle, then start crying. I was trying to get some sleep but was not successful. I kept getting up to reassure her, hold her a moment, change her diaper, feed her when it was time. None of it helped until I fed her at 3:30 a.m....then she went down until I got her up at 8:30 a.m. Well, I tell you I was very determined on Monday to make sure she spent plenty of time awake during the day to try and avoid the whole all night wake time! So, I developed a plan of sorts. When I get her up, I change her diaper, and use a wet cloth to wash her face. This is usually sufficient to get her awake enough to eat. When I stop feeding to burp her mid-way through, I usually use the cloth again and maybe take off her outer layer of clothing (we always keep a Onesie on her right now under her clothes). And once she's done eating I will again check if she needs a diaper change; wipe down her body with a wet cloth; apply lotion to her legs, arms, belly, and back; then re-dress her. All of these things take more time but they do ensure that she is awake for a bit after feeding. I have been tempted to just put her back to bed after feeding sometimes because it's easier than working so hard to have that 'wake time' but it pays off to do the work. Last night she slept great...from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m....and yesterday and today we had great day time sleeping with no fussing. Yeah! I know there are going to be times when she will just be fussy, but I truly believe a schedule minimizes that and makes for a happier baby (and mom). Once we've gotten this wake time thing down we'll be good to go...then I just have to get the rest of us 'scheduled'! We are using the book Baby Wise (maybe you've heard of it) to help with scheduling...we've used it with each child and it really has made things easier.

We started back up with school yesterday, trying to catch up on what we missed these last few weeks. We will be doing just the basics until we've caught up to where we should be. So far, it has worked well. Emma sleeps well enough right now that we can get our reading portion done and any other things that I have to do with them while she's napping. Logan and Hailey get their independent work done right after chores in the mornings so that's a great help. As for me and my chores, I'm working on it. I am able to get laundry done and dishes fairly regularly...it's the floors and cleaning the bathrooms that are taking a backseat. I know as we get into a better routine it will get better. I'm not overwhelmed..things aren't that dirty, but I do want to get to a point where I'm getting things done regularly again. I'm trying to cut myself some slack, but I can only use the old I have a newborn excuse for so long! Something else that is helping us so much is that people have been bringing us meals for the last week, and there are several more to come. It's such a blessing and I'm so grateful! It allows me to do the other necessary things and not worry about getting food on the table while Karl is gone. Maybe by the time he returns everything else will be under control and I can easily incorporate meal preparation back into our lives. :}

There won't be any new pictures for a while. I am taking them with our small camera, but I don't know how to transfer them. So, upon Karl's return we will transfer the newest ones to our computer and post them here all at once. So, please be patient.

We have made a hand and footprint of Emma...just as we did with the other three kids. We just have to send them off for bronzing and we'll be able to put them in the shadow box to display. We actually still don't have Corbin's in a shadow box, nor do we have Logan's or Hailey's hanging up in the new house yet. I guess we'll get that done all at once when they are all ready and we have some time. It could be a while...

Well, nothing else to report. Karl did say he might post about his days as he gets time so check back for that. I have no idea when he'll get to it, but it's sure to be interesting reading. Until later...