The saying "the only constant thing in life is change" has been going through my head a lot lately. Not counting the big changes we hope will occur in 4-5 months (selling the house, moving to another state, Paul starting a new job, etc.), life constantly seems to require flexibility. We were in a routine as far as Oliver's schedule (which then determined many parts of the schedule for Nadia, Ian, and myself) and then he got sick 2 weeks ago. He still has a runny nose, and he's only slept through the night 2 times during that time span. His routine at the moment seems to be to go to bed around 8:30pm and get up around 4am and then after being up for about one hour he sleeps for about two more hours. The good news is that means he is back to getting at least 10 hours total of sleep at night. When he first got the cold he was only sleeping 9 hours total. Also, his day is starting later than usual, and since the other two are generally sleeping until 7am, it means my day is starting later than usual, if I am able to go back to sleep after I feed him. Sometimes I can't get back to sleep. Since he's getting up later, his morning nap is starting later than usual (somewhere around 10am), and he's also decided to make his morning nap really long these days (close to 3 hours). This means there is no way that there is any overlap between Ian and Oliver's naps because he's usually getting up around the time Ian is going down for his nap. Oliver's second nap is also much later than usual (starting sometime between 3-4pm). I've had to wake him up sometimes as I don't want him to take two long naps, and I want him to be awake for at least 3 hours before he goes down at night. One nice thing about the current routine is that he's usually asleep when Nadia, Ian, and I eat lunch and dinner, which is a nice thing since meal times can be challenging.
Here in PA in March the weather is also constantly changing. Last week it was warm enough to play outside without a jacket on, and right now as I am typing Nadia and Ian are outside in their snowsuits and boots playing in the snow. Oi vey. Spring is only 4 days away, and it looks like a winter wonderland out there. At this time two months from now we'll be in Florida. There won't be any snow there! I checked out two books from the library on Tuesday about WDW. Nadia asked me this morning what I was doing, and I told her I was figuring out what rides we should ride at WDW to which she responded, "They have rides? At Disney World?". LOL! I guess she thought it was ONLY a place to meet princesses! If any of you have tips for spending a day at Magic Kingdom with three kids age 4 and under, I am all ears! We're also going to spend a day at Sea World, hang out at the resort for a few days, go swimming with my Aunt Tina in Ponta Vedra Beach on two different days, go to the Jacksonville Zoo with my friend Jo, and spend two nights in San Fernadina Beach with Paul's Aunt Diane and Uncle Jim. Should be a great trip!
Since we stopped going to gymnastics, we haven't been going to the preschool story time at the library on Wedndesdays either. Yesterday we went to the local library's preschool story time for the first time in quite a long time. The librarian (who has been there about 18 months) still isn't as good as the librarian she replaced (in my opinion), but she has definitely improved. At the other library Ian would stay in one area and play with toys while Nadia went to the story time. At this library I asked him to sit on the carpet and listen to the stories. He did fairly well. It was easier than normal yesterday because Paul stayed home to work on finishing his dissertation and also work on finishing another article his advisor wants him to write. He's at work today. Since Paul was home yesterday, I didn't have to bring Oliver to the library. He was napping the whole time we were gone. If Oliver stays on this later schedule, it is going to be a problem for an 11am story time at the library on Fridays. Maybe we'll go every other week or something like that as a compromise.
It will be wonderful for Paul when the PSU chapter is totally done. He's hoping to reach that status in the next two weeks. He has a lot on his plate right now with working FT (most weeks anyhow), wrapping things up at PSU, interviewing for jobs, getting the house ready to sell (he hasn't worked on that for a few weeks), etc. The kids kept thinking that since he was home yesterday he would have time to play with them. Not so much. This too shall pass. As for the job search, I completed application #43 yesterday (another community college in Ohio). Yesterday a college in MA contacted him about doing a phone interview on Wednesday morning for a one year visiting assistant professor position. This is probably our least favorite of the 21 current possibilities, but at the very least it will give him more experience with phone interviews (his 3rd phone interview), and if that was the only place to offer him a job, he'd accept it.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thankful Thursday
1. Although the weather has turned cold again, we really, really enjoyed the gorgeous weather we had Saturday- Monday. I know that soon those temps will become the norm, and the average temp will keep going up, up, up. YAHOO!
2. Oliver slept through the night twice in the past week. On Sunday night he slept for 10 hours, and on Monday night he slept for 10.5 hours straight. It was heavenly to be able to stay in bed until 6:30am on Tuesday morning. The last two mornings he's had a 4am feeding. Hopefully sleeping 10-11 hours straight will become the norm again in the very near future.
3. Nadia loved the chicken parmigiana and spaghetti so much on Tuesday night that she said it was scrumptious, and she asked if she could have it again tomorrow. Given what a picky eater she is, I celebrate each time I find a new food (for dinner) that she likes to eat. Paul also liked the recipe so we shall add that to the rotation!
4. Last night was a very unpleasant meal. I lost track of how many times Ian threw up. My mom graciously bought us pizza; so today's meals should go much more smoothly.
5. My mom came up for a visit yesterday! She spent 26 hours at our house. We hadn't seen her since Christmas. It was so very wonderful to spend some time with her. I'm hoping some day we'll live closer to each other and can see each other more often. If my sister's baby isn't born before Easter (she's due 4/7), my parents will be coming up for Easter. Yay!
6. I'm going to a Casting Crowns concert with my friend, Cheri, this evening! Woohoo!
7. I submitted application #41 for Paul yesterday, and I'm planning on submitting #42 today. Of the 25 that have been submitted in 2013, twenty are still active listings. Hopefully one of these school will hire my hubby!
8. Today I signed Nadia up for a one week theatre camp this summer geared for kids entering Kindergarten or First grade. I wasn't sure if I should sign her up in light of not knowing when we will move, but the cancellation fee is only $5 if we cancel by mid June. For her age group there were two options - a fairy tale theatre camp (no music) or a musical. I picked the non-musical one because if we don't move she'll participate in the musical program again that she was in last summer.
2. Oliver slept through the night twice in the past week. On Sunday night he slept for 10 hours, and on Monday night he slept for 10.5 hours straight. It was heavenly to be able to stay in bed until 6:30am on Tuesday morning. The last two mornings he's had a 4am feeding. Hopefully sleeping 10-11 hours straight will become the norm again in the very near future.
3. Nadia loved the chicken parmigiana and spaghetti so much on Tuesday night that she said it was scrumptious, and she asked if she could have it again tomorrow. Given what a picky eater she is, I celebrate each time I find a new food (for dinner) that she likes to eat. Paul also liked the recipe so we shall add that to the rotation!
4. Last night was a very unpleasant meal. I lost track of how many times Ian threw up. My mom graciously bought us pizza; so today's meals should go much more smoothly.
5. My mom came up for a visit yesterday! She spent 26 hours at our house. We hadn't seen her since Christmas. It was so very wonderful to spend some time with her. I'm hoping some day we'll live closer to each other and can see each other more often. If my sister's baby isn't born before Easter (she's due 4/7), my parents will be coming up for Easter. Yay!
6. I'm going to a Casting Crowns concert with my friend, Cheri, this evening! Woohoo!
7. I submitted application #41 for Paul yesterday, and I'm planning on submitting #42 today. Of the 25 that have been submitted in 2013, twenty are still active listings. Hopefully one of these school will hire my hubby!
8. Today I signed Nadia up for a one week theatre camp this summer geared for kids entering Kindergarten or First grade. I wasn't sure if I should sign her up in light of not knowing when we will move, but the cancellation fee is only $5 if we cancel by mid June. For her age group there were two options - a fairy tale theatre camp (no music) or a musical. I picked the non-musical one because if we don't move she'll participate in the musical program again that she was in last summer.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
3.25 years old
I didn't do my usual monthly posts for Nadia or Ian last month, and I have decided that I'm going to start doing them every 3 months. I'll keep doing Oliver's every month for quite a bit longer since he's still so little and changes so much each month. Today Ian turns 3 1/4 years old!
1. He's really come a long way with eating. Twelve months ago he was living off of EleCare and coconut milk yogurt. He feeds himself breakfast and lunch these days. He has either 2 slices of toast with jelly (cut into small pieces) or a bagel (broken into pieces) plus a glass of EleCare and 2 vitamins for breakfast. For lunch he has pretzels, half a banana, and either a grilled cheese sandwich, cheese and crackers, or a wowbutter and jelly sandwich and a cookie for dessert. I feed him dinner unless we're having a food he REALLY likes (ex. pizza or chocolate chip pancakes). He has been eating baked milk and baked eggs, which means that he now can eat what the rest of us are eating. Last night he had chicken parmigiana and cheese ravioli. He still throws up a couple of times a week (on average) over a texture or because he overstuffed his mouth or because he tried to swallow something before chewing, but most of the time he now seems like a pretty typical three-year-old when it comes to eating, which is an amazing thing considering he had never chewed a thing at this time last year.
2. His favorite toy the past 3 months has definitely been the Little People pirate ship I got him for his birthday. It was easy to know what to get him because he loved playing with that toy at the Ronald McDonald House last August.
3. His favorite stuffed animal at the moment is a tiny little white bear (about 2 inches tall).
4. Although he still prefers to drink EleCare, he's doing a LOT better these days with drinking water. He doesn't like juice, and that's fine by me. I don't drink any juice (only water for me).
5. He's come a LONG way over the past few months with doing jigsaw puzzles. He will now help Nadia and I do a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle. He can do a small jigsaw puzzle by himself (ex. 12 pieces).
6. His favorite song is "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." He sings all throughout the day. One day he was singing "Tomorrow" from Annie in an operetic type voice. Hysterical! I love hearing him sing. His sense of pitch is excellent.
7. He came a long way in gymnastics, but I still decided after 16 weeks of lessons that we should take a break and try again when he's a little older (and hopefully better able to follow instructions).
8. He is a chocoholic. I think his most favorite food in the whole world is a brownie. Great taste, Ian!
9. He usually naps for 1 hour each day, but sometimes his nap is really short (ex 30-45 minutes) and other times it's longer (90-120 minutes). Every once in a while he still wakes up crying, but overall he's come a long way with that over the past 3 months. Thank goodness.
10. He usually sleeps for about 11 hours at night (8pm to 7am). He falls asleep very quickly at night and is a noisy breather. Sometimes he doesn't make it all the way to 7am, but overall he's done better with that over the past month or two. He sweats a lot when he sleeps.
11. He's starting to do a little better with playing games. His lack of impulse control often interferes with his ability to play a board game.
12. He's gotten much better with picking socks that do match his outfit. He also tries to color coordinate his choice of underwear, even though I tell him it doesn't matter. He actually likes wearing dress clothes. This morning when I asked him what he wanted to wear he said his blue (dress) shirt and tie. I told him we'll save that for Sunday. Gotta love a little boy who likes to wear a tie!
13. He gives Oliver many, many kisses every day and often asks to "pet" him. He loves his little brother!
14. He loves to play rough house with Daddy and snuggle with Mommy. Other favorite activities include Play-doh, running, hide and seek, wearing costumes, building with wooden blocks, building with legoes, looking at books, watching dvd's, listening to cd's, playing with his train table, etc.
15. Although he loves to play with Nadia, he still has a long way to go with learning to always be nice to her. Lately he's learned to talk in a NOT nice tone of voice with her. Lovely. Although he's not great at sharing, he is actually better at sharing than Nadia is.
16. A few of his favorite books include: Are you my mother? (and other books by P.D. Eastman), Berenstain Bear books, Happy Birthday, Moon (by Frank Asch), Froggy books, Daddy's little boy, books by Iza Trapani, Clifford books, etc.
17. He now only talks about my time in the hospital about once a week on average (compared to several times a day the first few months).
1. He's really come a long way with eating. Twelve months ago he was living off of EleCare and coconut milk yogurt. He feeds himself breakfast and lunch these days. He has either 2 slices of toast with jelly (cut into small pieces) or a bagel (broken into pieces) plus a glass of EleCare and 2 vitamins for breakfast. For lunch he has pretzels, half a banana, and either a grilled cheese sandwich, cheese and crackers, or a wowbutter and jelly sandwich and a cookie for dessert. I feed him dinner unless we're having a food he REALLY likes (ex. pizza or chocolate chip pancakes). He has been eating baked milk and baked eggs, which means that he now can eat what the rest of us are eating. Last night he had chicken parmigiana and cheese ravioli. He still throws up a couple of times a week (on average) over a texture or because he overstuffed his mouth or because he tried to swallow something before chewing, but most of the time he now seems like a pretty typical three-year-old when it comes to eating, which is an amazing thing considering he had never chewed a thing at this time last year.
2. His favorite toy the past 3 months has definitely been the Little People pirate ship I got him for his birthday. It was easy to know what to get him because he loved playing with that toy at the Ronald McDonald House last August.
3. His favorite stuffed animal at the moment is a tiny little white bear (about 2 inches tall).
4. Although he still prefers to drink EleCare, he's doing a LOT better these days with drinking water. He doesn't like juice, and that's fine by me. I don't drink any juice (only water for me).
5. He's come a LONG way over the past few months with doing jigsaw puzzles. He will now help Nadia and I do a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle. He can do a small jigsaw puzzle by himself (ex. 12 pieces).
6. His favorite song is "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." He sings all throughout the day. One day he was singing "Tomorrow" from Annie in an operetic type voice. Hysterical! I love hearing him sing. His sense of pitch is excellent.
7. He came a long way in gymnastics, but I still decided after 16 weeks of lessons that we should take a break and try again when he's a little older (and hopefully better able to follow instructions).
8. He is a chocoholic. I think his most favorite food in the whole world is a brownie. Great taste, Ian!
9. He usually naps for 1 hour each day, but sometimes his nap is really short (ex 30-45 minutes) and other times it's longer (90-120 minutes). Every once in a while he still wakes up crying, but overall he's come a long way with that over the past 3 months. Thank goodness.
10. He usually sleeps for about 11 hours at night (8pm to 7am). He falls asleep very quickly at night and is a noisy breather. Sometimes he doesn't make it all the way to 7am, but overall he's done better with that over the past month or two. He sweats a lot when he sleeps.
11. He's starting to do a little better with playing games. His lack of impulse control often interferes with his ability to play a board game.
12. He's gotten much better with picking socks that do match his outfit. He also tries to color coordinate his choice of underwear, even though I tell him it doesn't matter. He actually likes wearing dress clothes. This morning when I asked him what he wanted to wear he said his blue (dress) shirt and tie. I told him we'll save that for Sunday. Gotta love a little boy who likes to wear a tie!
13. He gives Oliver many, many kisses every day and often asks to "pet" him. He loves his little brother!
14. He loves to play rough house with Daddy and snuggle with Mommy. Other favorite activities include Play-doh, running, hide and seek, wearing costumes, building with wooden blocks, building with legoes, looking at books, watching dvd's, listening to cd's, playing with his train table, etc.
15. Although he loves to play with Nadia, he still has a long way to go with learning to always be nice to her. Lately he's learned to talk in a NOT nice tone of voice with her. Lovely. Although he's not great at sharing, he is actually better at sharing than Nadia is.
16. A few of his favorite books include: Are you my mother? (and other books by P.D. Eastman), Berenstain Bear books, Happy Birthday, Moon (by Frank Asch), Froggy books, Daddy's little boy, books by Iza Trapani, Clifford books, etc.
17. He now only talks about my time in the hospital about once a week on average (compared to several times a day the first few months).
Monday, March 11, 2013
Growing Girl
I could have done it awhile ago, but last week I promoted Nadia to a cushioned kitchen chair like Paul and I use. No more booster seat for Nadia! Ian is still using a booster, and of course Oliver is in the high chair.
Her new accomplishment today was that she walked to and from the playground for the first time. My back was KILLING me from wearing 15lb Oliver to and from the playgroumd the previous two days. It hurt so badly that I had to wake Paul up and ask him to help me get out of bed at 2am so I could go to the bathroom. Oliver spends the majority of the time he's awake in my arms, but I haven't been "wearing" him lately, and I guess my back wasn't ready to do that it for a couple of hours a day two days in a row. When we went to the park today, Oliver and Ian rode in the double stroller and Nadia helped me push the stroller. I'm not getting quite as much exercise, but this way my back can hopefully recover and also Nadia got more exercise, which isn't a bad thing.
Her appetite for cd's of unabridged books is voracious. Today she finished listening to Pippi Longstocking. Since my throat was so sore, Paul read Ramona and her mother to the kids during lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Oh. My. Goodness. Paul was laughing so hard that he was crying. His laughter got everyone else (except Oliver) laughing right along with him. Since my throat doesn't hurt as much now, I read them some of that book today. Nadia loves Ramona! We have three more Ramona books left to read. I read a different book in between the Ramona books. I think I'm going to start reading the Little House on the Prairie books to her next.
Next Monday she'll have her first soccer practice. She's excited! Some of the teams started their practices this week. Her first game will be on April 6.
Her new accomplishment today was that she walked to and from the playground for the first time. My back was KILLING me from wearing 15lb Oliver to and from the playgroumd the previous two days. It hurt so badly that I had to wake Paul up and ask him to help me get out of bed at 2am so I could go to the bathroom. Oliver spends the majority of the time he's awake in my arms, but I haven't been "wearing" him lately, and I guess my back wasn't ready to do that it for a couple of hours a day two days in a row. When we went to the park today, Oliver and Ian rode in the double stroller and Nadia helped me push the stroller. I'm not getting quite as much exercise, but this way my back can hopefully recover and also Nadia got more exercise, which isn't a bad thing.
Her appetite for cd's of unabridged books is voracious. Today she finished listening to Pippi Longstocking. Since my throat was so sore, Paul read Ramona and her mother to the kids during lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Oh. My. Goodness. Paul was laughing so hard that he was crying. His laughter got everyone else (except Oliver) laughing right along with him. Since my throat doesn't hurt as much now, I read them some of that book today. Nadia loves Ramona! We have three more Ramona books left to read. I read a different book in between the Ramona books. I think I'm going to start reading the Little House on the Prairie books to her next.
Next Monday she'll have her first soccer practice. She's excited! Some of the teams started their practices this week. Her first game will be on April 6.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Must. Let. Go.
Parenting is the process of preparing children to be independent some day. It's painful to think about at times, but of course I don't want them to be forever dependent on their parents. That is not the reason I am going to homeschool Nadia for Kindergarten later this year, but it is an added bonus to be sure. The first "letting go" that has been the hardest for me with each child has been putting them in the nursery. I reached that point with Nadia and Ian when they were 6 months old because I felt they were too noisy to keep in church. Because of my sore throat I thought I could keep Oliver with me today as I wasn't going to sing in the choir. I had to take him to the nursery part way through the sermon. His days of being in my arms during church are over. I know I'll adjust, but it makes me sad right now. At home I'm delighted when he takes a nap in his crib, but at church my arms feel empty. It won't be that way for long though as I am going to have Nadia start coming to the worship service with me starting in September. We enjoyed another trip to the playground today! Thank you, Lord, for warmer weather!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
The sun will come out!
Today has been a great day. First, Paul did one of Oliver's feedings during the night (9:15pm) so I only had to get up at 3:30am to nurse him. I went to bed at 8:15 last night before Paul came home. I was exhausted! The weathermen were right and the temps were up in the mid 50's today. We went to the park after lunch. I wore Oliver facing outward in the Bjorn carrier and pushed the other two kids in the stroller. I quickly realized how very out of shape I am. Wow. It felt HEAVENLY to be outside in the fresh air and to actually see the sun. The kids loved the playground, and Oliver had his very first ride in a swing. He loved it! Nadia loved the swings from the start, but Ian was much older before he started enjoying being in a swing.
I submitted application #38 (to a community college in NY) this morning, and I'm planning on mailing #39 (community college in OH) on Monday.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Big Day
Paul had his first teaching demonstration and interview today for a tenure track job at a 2 year college in New Jersey. He spent 6 hours driving there and back. I gave him (and Ian) a haircut on Wednesday night while Nadia was at Cubbies (my throat was not in any condition for choir rehearsal) in preparation for his interview. They are conducting more interviews tomorrow and next Friday. They will submit three names per position (they were considering Paul for two positions), and then the administration picks from the list of three that the search committee submits. So we will be in suspense for a few weeks probably. If they offer him a job, he will accept it unless something better comes along before then.
Over the past few days I submitted several applications for Paul. I am very happy to help him in this way, but I have to say if I never fill out another application again, it will be too soon. I need his signature on one, and then we will have submitted 38 applications (20 of those in the last few weeks) to schools in the following states: NJ, PA, RI, NY, MA, OH, MD, DE, WV, VA, NC, TN, and IN. If any of my cousins in Indiana are reading this, we submitted an application to Trine University (the first application to a school in IN). Paul has extended the radius a little, but he still isn't interested in positions in Iowa, Florida, Texas, California, etc. Seeing how tedious this process is makes a tenure track position even more desirable. We already preferred a tenure track position (over a 1-2 year temporary or post-doc position) because we would like to put down roots after our next move, but after applying for jobs for 5 months, the idea of doing this again in 1-2 years is very unappealing. We shall see what the Lord has in store for us. If you put together all the jobs I applied for from 1989-2013, the total would be far less than 38 (I had 7 different employers over those 24 years). This is a new experience for me to be submitting so many applications in a short amount of time.
Oliver only got up once last night (3:35am). It's been a week since he got more than 9 hours total of sleep in a night, and the longest stretch he's had in the past week has been 7 hours. I think being sick is one of the hardest parts of motherhood because you don't get a sick day. In light of Paul's interview, the kids will be in bed before he gets home, and obviously he didn't have any time to give them this morning so today was one of those "single parent" type days for me, which was a challenge considering I still have a fever and my throat is raw plus I was trying to help Paul with a few things (like ironing his suit jacket). Ian keeps asking why I am being so quiet (because I was whispering when I read books to them because it hurts too much to talk). It doesn't help that when little kids aren't feeling up to par they are fussier than usual. The good news is that this too shall pass. I am very grateful that Paul managed to escape catching the bug.
Over the past few days I submitted several applications for Paul. I am very happy to help him in this way, but I have to say if I never fill out another application again, it will be too soon. I need his signature on one, and then we will have submitted 38 applications (20 of those in the last few weeks) to schools in the following states: NJ, PA, RI, NY, MA, OH, MD, DE, WV, VA, NC, TN, and IN. If any of my cousins in Indiana are reading this, we submitted an application to Trine University (the first application to a school in IN). Paul has extended the radius a little, but he still isn't interested in positions in Iowa, Florida, Texas, California, etc. Seeing how tedious this process is makes a tenure track position even more desirable. We already preferred a tenure track position (over a 1-2 year temporary or post-doc position) because we would like to put down roots after our next move, but after applying for jobs for 5 months, the idea of doing this again in 1-2 years is very unappealing. We shall see what the Lord has in store for us. If you put together all the jobs I applied for from 1989-2013, the total would be far less than 38 (I had 7 different employers over those 24 years). This is a new experience for me to be submitting so many applications in a short amount of time.
Oliver only got up once last night (3:35am). It's been a week since he got more than 9 hours total of sleep in a night, and the longest stretch he's had in the past week has been 7 hours. I think being sick is one of the hardest parts of motherhood because you don't get a sick day. In light of Paul's interview, the kids will be in bed before he gets home, and obviously he didn't have any time to give them this morning so today was one of those "single parent" type days for me, which was a challenge considering I still have a fever and my throat is raw plus I was trying to help Paul with a few things (like ironing his suit jacket). Ian keeps asking why I am being so quiet (because I was whispering when I read books to them because it hurts too much to talk). It doesn't help that when little kids aren't feeling up to par they are fussier than usual. The good news is that this too shall pass. I am very grateful that Paul managed to escape catching the bug.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
7 Months Old!
1. Oliver weighs 15 pounds as of today, which puts him at 3.8 percentile for his weight. 2. Since he's been sick the past 6 days, I haven't been feeding him solid foods as often. Thus far he's had a variety of fruits, Cheerios, and Gerber rice cereal. Blueberries seem to be his favorite thus far. I doubt he'll be like Nadia who was eating table food by 9 months, but he's certainly enjoying solids more than Ian did. He's still learning how to use his tongue.
3. He's come a long way over the past month with his sitting skills and also playing with toys (for example when he's in his high chair while I'm cooking).
4. He's regressed a lot with his sleeping at night. I hope that once he's over his cold he'll go back to sleeping at least 10 hours straight at night.
6. His eyes are still blue, and his hair is light brown. His hair is coming in more and more.
7. His smiles and laughter absolutely melt my heart.
Thankful Thursday
I haven't been posting as often lately, but I'm writing two posts today!
1. Paul has an interview tomorrow at 4:30pm in New Jersey. Prayers are appreciated! I am very grateful he made it to this stage - at the minimum it will give him experience with interviewing and doing a teaching demonstration and it could possibly result in a job offer.
2. Oliver took two good naps today for the first time in 6 days. Now if he could go back to sleeping better at night. Sometimes he's waking up every hour. I am pooped.
3. Paul has somehow managed to escape catching the bug the rest of us have had. I'm also thankful that Oliver's didn't include a cough like Nadia and Ian have had.
4. Paul has let me start doing cover letters (by modifying some of the previous ones he sent). My goal is that by tomorrow we will have submitted a total of 37 applications (18 were submitted in 2012).
5. In just two days it is supposed to be up in the 50's! Yahooooo! I have cabin fever and cannot wait to start walking to the playground as many days a week as possible. This also will help me reach my weight loss goal.
6. Paul is taking the kids to our local library (that we haven't been to in months) tonight for Cliffords's birthday party. Since Nadia got to wear the Cat in the Hat costume to the other library's party last Saturday, Ian gets to wear the Clifford costume this evening. I told her she could go as Emily Elizabeth. :) Oliver and I will stay home.
7. Nadia has shown great improvement within the last week with her coloring skills.
8. I made refried bean and cheese quesadillas for dinner last night, and Ian loved them! There have been times lately that he has done a better job of eating dinner than Nadia. Considering at this time last year he was only eating coconut milk yogurt and drinking EleCare, that seems nothing short of a miracle! I'm also thankful that he hasn't had any allergic reactions to baked milk or baked eggs. Today I ever so gradually started introducing not baked dairy products into his diet. Hoping for continued success, but even if we need to back track to only baked milk, that will be fine. Today he had a little apple crumb pie for the first time, and he loved that also! The last Sunday in February there was a dinner after the worship service to say farewell to our church's youth pastor. At first Ian was eating any ziti (just the roll that I gave him), but when he saw Nadia eating chocolate cake after eating her ziti, he ate his ziti so he could also have some cake!
9. Oliver is making great progress with sitting independently!
10. Paul brought home some boxes that Al and Millie passed on to him at work earlier this week, and that was greatly appreciated! I have continued to work on packing.
1. Paul has an interview tomorrow at 4:30pm in New Jersey. Prayers are appreciated! I am very grateful he made it to this stage - at the minimum it will give him experience with interviewing and doing a teaching demonstration and it could possibly result in a job offer.
2. Oliver took two good naps today for the first time in 6 days. Now if he could go back to sleeping better at night. Sometimes he's waking up every hour. I am pooped.3. Paul has somehow managed to escape catching the bug the rest of us have had. I'm also thankful that Oliver's didn't include a cough like Nadia and Ian have had.
4. Paul has let me start doing cover letters (by modifying some of the previous ones he sent). My goal is that by tomorrow we will have submitted a total of 37 applications (18 were submitted in 2012).
5. In just two days it is supposed to be up in the 50's! Yahooooo! I have cabin fever and cannot wait to start walking to the playground as many days a week as possible. This also will help me reach my weight loss goal.
6. Paul is taking the kids to our local library (that we haven't been to in months) tonight for Cliffords's birthday party. Since Nadia got to wear the Cat in the Hat costume to the other library's party last Saturday, Ian gets to wear the Clifford costume this evening. I told her she could go as Emily Elizabeth. :) Oliver and I will stay home.
7. Nadia has shown great improvement within the last week with her coloring skills.8. I made refried bean and cheese quesadillas for dinner last night, and Ian loved them! There have been times lately that he has done a better job of eating dinner than Nadia. Considering at this time last year he was only eating coconut milk yogurt and drinking EleCare, that seems nothing short of a miracle! I'm also thankful that he hasn't had any allergic reactions to baked milk or baked eggs. Today I ever so gradually started introducing not baked dairy products into his diet. Hoping for continued success, but even if we need to back track to only baked milk, that will be fine. Today he had a little apple crumb pie for the first time, and he loved that also! The last Sunday in February there was a dinner after the worship service to say farewell to our church's youth pastor. At first Ian was eating any ziti (just the roll that I gave him), but when he saw Nadia eating chocolate cake after eating her ziti, he ate his ziti so he could also have some cake!
9. Oliver is making great progress with sitting independently!
10. Paul brought home some boxes that Al and Millie passed on to him at work earlier this week, and that was greatly appreciated! I have continued to work on packing.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Napping Again
For three decades I never took naps unless I was really sick. After I became a Mom in June 2008, I began to take naps when possible until Nadia was sleeping through the night. It wasn't easy to take naps when Ian wasn't sleeping through the night. Oliver started sleeping through the night earlier than the other two kids so I didn't have a very long time where I attempted to take naps. He hadn't been sleeping through the night as consistently the last couple of months, and then he got a cold so now he's waking up multiple times in the night. Since I have also not been feeling well, I have really wanted naps the last few days. It doesn't always work out that there is an overlap between Ian and Oliver's naps, especially since with his cold some days he has only been taking 30 minute naps. However I did get a nap yesterday. Ironically it was Nadia who woke me up after I had been asleep for about 40 minutes. If she had left me alone, I could have slept for up to 2 hours. I got another nap today. It helped so much. Sleep does a body good.
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