Wednesday, November 23, 2016

My Barrett Boy

I just love Barrett's little personality. I can tell that he does things not for attention, but simply because they make him happy. Case in point: Neva's headbands. Packing for a trip, I brought Neva's headband barrel downstairs, and it wasn't long before Barrett discovered it. He sat studiously at the table, desiring no attention, just pulling headband after headband onto his head. His method was as clean as you'd expect from a two year old: pull taut, then pull down over head and hope for the best. Every third headband flew back off his head and sometimes took two or three more with it. By the time I discovered him, he had a veritable helmet of headbands on his head. Laughing, I pulled out the camera- and that's when Will wanted in. "Mom, can you take a video of me? Mom, how do I put these on? Mom, can I see the picture??" That's Will!

Barrett was very pleased with the "hat" that he made, and William got the attention he desired, so everyone was happy. 

 

  
 

(It occurred to me, right after I published this post, that Barrett is like Brian and William is like me. Which fits with our birth order. Brian does things for his own satisfaction. I do things and then seek Brian's approval for them! I guess I really like hearing the words, "Wow! Great job, Maegan!" Firstborn problems.)

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Today

A little bit about Neva. She's a feisty girl. She knows exactly what she wants and doesn't want. I think she's my pickiest eater yet. She'll just spit the bite right out if you manage to trick her. 

She is very musical. At the very hint of a tune she'll start dancing, her whole body wiggling from head to toe. Unless, of course, you're trying to get her to do it on command.

Today she started saying 'uh oh!'

She's got two teeth on the bottom, and on the top she has a gap where her two front teeth should be, and instead she has the teeth on either side so Brian says she looks like a hillbilly.

She's a thumbsucker whenever she feels the fuzzy side of her blanket. She loves books, especially small board books that are just her size. She loves her babies already, and because of them Barrett has a little baby to play with, whom he calls 'baby Jesus,' although baby Jesus is a girl. 

She screams with delight when Brian walks in the door after a long day. "Dada!" And she's crazy about her brothers. They make her laugh like nothing else. 

This is her latest favorite spot. 

 
 
 

This is Barrett and Will and Baby Jesus. 

 
 

7 weeks

What a day! Definitely sacked with exhaustion. I'm at the point in my pregnancy now where I am systematically eliminating foods from my diet because I eat them ravenously one evening and then spend the rest of the night burping them up... the next day, I don't even want to think about them.

I have a mega sensitive nose right now too. It was already very powerful after I had Neva and now it seems my olfactory abilities have further improved! 

Trying to work out every day still, weighing in at 135 pounds. 

It hit me this morning that this is the second Thanksgiving in a row that I'll be pregnant. I've never had pregnancies this close together before. The only people I've told so far are Katie and Kathleen. I'm excited to tell my parents at Christmas with everybody there. I figure the last pregnancy should have a special announcement of sorts. :)

I'm not sure if I'm already showing, or if this is just afternoon bloat, but I'm sure I'll show faster than ever with baby #4. I am thinking that this little baby's going to be a boy. Why? Well, I felt more miserable with Neva than I did for either of the boys, and at this point I don't feel quite as miserable as I remember feeling with her. 

I'm kind of glad I haven't told anyone, because it requires me to put on a brave face and suck it up because I don't want people to know I'm feeling sick and put two and two together. I feel a lot of stress with Christmas coming, and after that the shower and the wedding, and I feel like I have my head in the sand to some degree trying to avoid the reality that I have quite a lot to do right now and it's difficult caring for the kids already (three kids has been quite an adjustment, even over 11 months in!) without feeling crappy on top of it. For example, Thanksgiving is in two days and I have barely had the time or inclination to cook. I have things I need to be doing to prepare for it and instead I'm just sitting on the couch (during a rare and precious triple nap), writing this blog, because I don't want to get up!

For all my griping and whining, I am truly trying to soak up every moment of this. I realize it is very likely this is the last time I'll ever experience pregnancy sickness. My time having babies is nearly over. I try to look into each of my kids' faces every day and treasure them. This is all going by so quickly. So I suppose I don't mind if the time drags on. I guess that's another reason I've got my head in the sand regarding the upcoming events. I know that with everything ahead, the next few months are going to fly by... and with that, a few months of my pregnancy will fly by too. 

 

Monday, November 14, 2016

Home Alone

Brian went to Montana for a long weekend to finally fill a mule deer tag. He brought home a nice buck and we spent the six days doing as much as we could to avoid a black hole of loneliness. 

On Wednesday night we went to church, I covered toddlers nursery, and we stayed extra late to fellowship.

On Thursday, after an errand to the credit union, we picked up Grandma Jo Anne and had another day at the cider mill.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Neva was pretty cute after we got home. She made a nest in the blocks basket and tried to sleep in there. 

 
 

On Friday, we did our Thanksgiving dinner shopping at Meijer; twenty minutes after we got home with a billion groceries, kids hunpgry for dinner, it was time to leave for our evening (great planning). The kids enjoyed a really fun evening at the Thompson's house while I went to the ladies' meeting at church. Then Becca drove back with us!

On Saturday, Becca relaxed with me and the kids. Well, actually, she pretty much took care of the kids all morning while I handled some yardwork that badly needed to be done. Then we took about seven hours to get ready to leave for Target, where we met Hannah and had a really fun little shopping trip. Home, we cooked delicious soup and a casserole for core group on Sunday. We stayed up quite late talking, Hannah and Becca amusing me by debating the same topic for about two hours.

 
 
 

Sunday was core group, where we stayed extra late to talk and play. Back home, the long weekend kind of hit me as there were about four hours to go until bedtime and everybody was exhausted, whiny, and melting down, and the house felt like a wreck. A well timed bath time saved us. 

And today, Brian comes home. 

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Sunday hooky

We didn't exactly play hooky. The nursery was uber full of babies so I decided to sit with Neva in the nursing moms' room and (after nursing) stay and listen to the message. It was the most relaxing, nicest time with my baby I've had all month!

 
 
 
 
 

Election Day 2016

There is always a silver lining, and the silver lining of this year's atrocious presidential election decision was... spending time with my kiddos after waiting in line. 

(Until Barrett peed his pants at the park and had a tearful, screaming meltdown as I carried him back to the car.) Let's remember the good times!

 
(Will and Barrett in their "new-again-this-fall" football hats made by Aunt Kass)

 
 
 
 
 

 
 (William hates the swings!)