Familial Status Updates

Jessica: I’m eternally grateful when I wake up in the morning and realize I only woke up once in the night. Cadrian usually just nurses at midnight and around 5 and then we both go back to sleep.
I’m working on simplifying my life with the 80/20 rule–you know, you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time, use 20% of your recipes 80% of the time, use 80% of your free time in the same 20% way…trying to get maximum return from the least amount. I have been spending a lot of my free time reading or working on scrapbooking. I get more satisfaction from that in the end than I do blogging and cruising the blogs. I’ve been designing journaling cards for Project 365 which I will start on my birthday, unless I can’t wait that long.

I got a new hair straightener that I just love in the mail today.

I am tossing around the idea of actually attending a home school conference this year or putting it off another year. I’ve been working on reaching out and making new friends, and practicing hospitality. And I joined a Bunco group and had a fantabulous night!

Kevin: He’s playing electric bass in his worship band, and just got an acoustic bass that he is working on perfecting.
He is anxious to get out in the fields. He’s been stymied by the weather lately–last night we got sleet! It needs to be dry for about a week to be able to get much field work done. The first project will be to work on the water ways that got all washed out from last year’s heavy rains.

We’ve had several calves, and all our heifers have calved. It’s good to get that out of the way, because they are usually the ones who need help birthin’ their babies. A heifer is a female who has never had a baby; a cow has calved at least once. Our baby chicks come in on Wednesday!

Aviana: She is busy working on her pre-reading skills. Right now she likes to copy a few words from one of her books and ask me what she wrote. Her memory is amazing–she can “read” just about any book we have read at least once. I wonder why she can’t remember to do her laundry at night and put her jammas away in the morning.

She loves to dance, and dress up like a dancer. The other night she wanted to sleep in her leotard, so I let her. The next morning she said, referring to the leotard, “I HAVE DOT to det this tiara off of me! It teeps doe-ing up my bummie and that is NOT tumfterble!” She is also convinced she’ll be ready to dance on stage with Michael Flatley by next year.

She is planning her wedding as well, and at this very moment, is making a list of the names of her children.

I love to hear her pray (it’s super cute how she usually goes into a corner or behind a curtain) and sing praise songs as she goes about her day. She has a great many verses memorized, and even corrected me this morning as I quoted one wrong!

Brielle: She is currently obsessed with purple. Anything purple. I should have seen this coming! She recognizes the logos of Target and Casey’s (a gas station we must stop at a lot) and points them out to me without fail.

She is a planner–we’re going to the zoo next week, and she showed me the outfit she wants to wear, down to the shoes.

I think I can safely say she is potty trained. She “got” it for about a month before Cadrian came, when she was not quite two. She completely regressed after he was born, except for going poo. I’m thankful for that at least–I have only had to change the babies dirty diapers these past seven months! She’s been a week in bundies with only a couple of accidents.

She is full of energy and seems to be a trouble magnet. The other day she was outside playing and got her boot stuck in a mud puddle and Belle (the mischievous yellow lab) knocked her over. It would have been hilarious if it hadn’t been so pathetic.

Cadrian: He’s got a head cold that hit him all of a sudden yesterday. He’s a typical (little) man, complaining vigorously and not allowing anything less than the most ardent coddling. (re–the typical man–I’m just kidding, mostly) Last night was NOT one of the nights he slept well. He seems to be more compliant personality than either of the girls were, and will go to sleep on his own, rather than needed to be rocked or nursed to sleep.

He will also play independently for a lot longer than they ever did. When he wants attention though, you had better believe he will get it! He is securely attached and being left in child care is not one of his favorite things.

He is doing pretty well eating solids if he can feed himself; he generally eschews anything on a spoon. He just started cruising along the couch.

He’s been pulling himself up on anything that holds still for a couple of months, but hasn’t really been moving his feet until now. He is doing stairs, so due to the odd nature of our newel post we have this makeshift gate rigged up. Brielle didn’t close the door to the other stairs after her the other day and Baby Boy followed her right up the steps. All was well until he tried to sit down–and tails over teacups, down he came. Too bad I was in the other room not being a Vigilant Mother. He’s perfectly fine (I guess there’s a reason they say ‘bouncy baby boy, right?), and I’m used to seeing bruises on his little noggin anyway.