Better late than never

 

Two weeks ago I was able to attend church for the first time in almost four months. Last Sunday I didn't go because Paul needed to stay home and do schoolwork and the Weego hadn't arrived yet. This morning I was trying to arrive by 9am (when Sunday School starts) but due to a last minute bath for Oliver (because he spit up and his hair and such was drenched in milk), we were 30 minutes late for Sunday School. It was so nice to be there. I know I've said it before, but there is something extremely special for me to sing praises in a worship service while holding a baby. My heart is filled with tremendous gratitude. It almost brings me to (happy) tears. Also, it was so nice to have many people who have prayed, brought meals, etc. be able to come over and see Oliver in person for the first time. I wish I could bottle those moments up to savor them again in the future! The sermon was on God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3) even when we are going through difficult times. I kept reflecting on my experiences this summer.

As today is the start of a new week, I was reflecting on the goals I wrote about last week. I don't plan to write an update on them every week, but as for the first week here is what transpired. The night time potty training for Ian was a total bust. I was putting a diaper over his underwear so that I wouldn't have a big mess to clean up, but he would have the sensation of being wet. Prior to this he had been waking up dry several days a week and hadn't pooped in his diaper for a couple of weeks. This past week he woke up wet every day and about half of the time he had  also pooped. I had bought some lollipops to use as the reward. For now we're taking a break. I'm open to suggestions! I make sure he doesn't have anything to drink after dinner and pees right before he goes to bed. That did the trick for Nadia (who was day and night trained before she turned two). I'd really like to get him night time trained before he turns 3 as he was day time trained 8 months ago.

His eating skills improived dramatically this week. He likes pears, grapes, and peaches. He struggles more over bologna, peas, carrots, green beans, pasta, and ground beef, but he ate all of those several times this week, which was a BIG step forward. Also his speed of feeding himself toast, applesauce, cream of wheat, and yogurt greatly improved. Meals with Nadia were not very pleasant, but she ate some corn, green beans, carrots, and peas this week. Raisins definitely help. This week I want to work on October's meal plan. Oliver did gain weight, and although it was less than what most consider to be a good amount, the Pediatrician was happy on Friday. I didn't lose any weight. Hopefully the scale will be kind to both Oliver and I this week and show a good gain for him and a loss for me. These trips to the playground I know will eventually result in weight loss for me, especially if I also cut back on how much I'm eating. I walked there 3 times last week. As for Oliver's sleeping habits, he's doing well during the day, but there is definite room for improvement at night. Most nights I am getting 3-5 hours of sleep total (not consecutive). I need more sleep than that if at all possible!

On Monday I printed out the Motivated Mom chore lists for the rest of the year. That's as far as I got with getting back into those routines, which isn't good because the last time the cleaning ladies were here was September 4 so the toilets need to be cleaned. It's not that I didn't do any housework this week. I did 3 loads of laundry, the dishes, swept the kitchen floor every day, etc. On Monday and Tuesday I finished sorting through Paul's books (there were many piles in the dining room and our bedroom). I put all the books in stacks (by topic) on the bookshelves. The project isn't done, but now it's in Paul's hands and at least the piles won't be bugging me. There are still piles of his papers in our bedroom (it would probably be about 8 feet high if it was all on top of each other). Who knows when he'll tackle that project. Another day this week Nadia and I tackled her room and closet, which were in very bad shape. I am open to any suggestions for how to store costumes. I used to hang the dresses in her closet, but she can't reach that high. For now the floor of her closet is where the princess dresses are stored. I did work with the kids a few times this week at teaching them to clean up, and we are definitely making progress with that. Hopefully this week I can do better at accomplishing the chores on the list.

I'm also hoping Paul will ask for some letters of recommendation this week. I found one more job he can apply for (a tenure track position that starts next fall), and what is exciting about this one is that it's the first that is in physical chemistry, and they said they prefer someone who is in computational chemistry, and that's exactly what Paul has been doing. He missed the deadline for the adjunct position that started in January. Hopefully there will be some other possibilities for that semester. Right now I'm hoping he'll apply for the three tenure track positions in the state of PA that he seems to meet the qualifications for (the rest are in other areas of chemistry such as organic, analytical, etc. so he can't apply for those).