A Month After

Well, it’s only taken me all month to write. I guess that’s life as usual for me now. 

January has been good to us, for the most part. The only things that have been a little hard this month are that Daniel is still working like a maniac, and we’ve all been sick all month. Since November, now. We start getting better, and then someone will be hit again, and it cycles through us all over again. It’s especially hard on poor Jack. He doesn’t sleep well when he’s sick, and he’s been sick a lot since Thanksgiving. So he’s been unusually unhappy for about 2 months, and it’s hard. For him, for me … for us all. 

But, on the bright side, I’ve started running again with Heather. We started running another schedule, trying to up our mileage and train for a race or two. It’s been really nice. And I’ve been eating healthy, cutting out sugar as much as possible, lifting weights, and I feel so much better! I feel stronger and healthier, and it’s been really nice.

I’ve also been highly motivated since the beginning of the year to accomplish my goals. I outlined a number of goals and have a running to-do list for the year, and so far, I’ve been able to accomplish things, slowly and surely. Because … kids. I’m learning to use our camera (finally, after 2 years of having it and using it sparingly), I’ve watched my sewing tutorials and have projects in mind, we’ve stayed on our cleaning schedule pretty well all month, and the girls are getting used to having chores (hopefully … or at least, Brooke is), and I’m working towards a couple of reading goals. 

The kids have been mostly good. Camille keeps falling on her head and has a perpetual goose-egg right in the middle of her forehead. She gets bruises on her face all the time, poor thing, and I’m wondering if she’s a little on the clumsy side. She also had the weirdest illness I’ve ever experienced. For about a week, she would complain about not feeling well, and every other day, after complaining, she would actually throw up. But she seemed her normal self all the rest of the time, other than the complaining/throwing up. I took her to see a doc after a week, the doc gave me some pointers, which I followed, and she’s been fine ever since. So weird. 

The girls have also been up to their usual shenanigans: playing with and wasting food (drives both Daniel and myself crazy); pulling the house completely apart; dumping their clothes drawers out and playing with either the clothes or the drawers, sometimes both; not sleeping, getting up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night to play (mostly Camille). They have been loving the nice cool weather and have been playing outside a lot. And we’ve had friends over to play, mainly Turner, but also Elliot and Olive, Jack and Colton. 

They’re cute kids, and we love them. Despite the shenanigans. Jack is especially adorable at his current stage in life, even while being sick. He’s pretty attached to me, and I really can’t complain. He loves me, his face lights up when he sees me, he cries when I leave. And he does this adorable thing where, when he’s tired or needs special comfort, he’ll reach for me, grab onto some piece of my clothing, stick his left thumb in his mouth and cuddle up to me. It melts my heart every. Single. Time. He’s also started saying, “la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la” and it’s my favorite when he does it in a little high-pitched, squeaky voice. He’s just the cutest thing I think I’ve ever seen, and I just love him.

He’s also been pulling himself up to standing, and climbing all over me when I’m laying down in the loft and playing with the kids. And I say, “Bad baby!” and think to myself, “he’s almost one. Where on earth did this year go?”

I can’t lie, though. I am enjoying the sleep. He’s finally sleeping all the way through on most nights. Except when he’s sick (which, admittedly, has been quite frequent), when he’ll wake up once or twice, but usually falls back to sleep himself. And I feel like a brand-new woman!! So much sleep! That is, when the girls are cooperating, as well. Okay. So, maybe not so much sleep. But at least every other night, I get good rest. I’ve been trying to be in bed by 930, and sleeping by 10. I’m not always that successful, but it’s a vast improvement on what it used to be. It helps that I often have to get up at 5 or 530am to run and workout. 

One cute thing about Brooke: I took her for her 5 year checkup, and to have the doc fill out her kindergarten registration form, and the doc asked her what she wants to be when she grows up. She said, “A mom.” And my heart exploded. Doc asked her how many kids she wanted, she said, “I don’t know.” (and then Camille piped up and said she wanted 6 kids.) But, I thought it was the cutest, sweetest thing that she said that, because it made me think maybe she wants to be like me and do what I do. I’m not a perfect mom, I may not even be among the greatest of moms. But I’m trying, and I hope that the girls know how much I love them, and I try to teach them and have fun with them. The fact that Brooke wants to be a mom someday, that that is her aspiration, makes me think maybe I’m doing an okay job. 

Brooke’s 5 year Stats (from 1/25/18):

Height – 42 inches

Weight – 37 lbs 4 oz.

Jack’s 9 month stats (from 1/25/18):

Height – 26.5 inches

Weight – 15 lbs. 10 oz.

Also: 

• Camille said "I have sparks in my feet!" (Her feet were asleep)
• Brooke calls "Netflix" "Neckflix"